Get Out Of Your Mind: My Life is Worthless | Albert Tate

hi everybody welcome to Willow Creek and Happy Father's Day Father's Day at Willow Creek is one of my favorite weekends all year long one of the things I love most about it is getting a big group of guys together to do something fun and surprising well now it is it's a little tough to get big groups of people together so we decided to take a look back in our archives to find some of our all-time favorite Father's Day moments to share with you happy Father's Day everybody I think the reason why there are no acoustic guitar solos in rock music just because the sound isn't big enough but I thought I thought maybe on this Father's Day I can invite a couple willow dads up here to help me out with a little acoustic guitar so please say hello to a couple of my friends too Dave [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's way better the sound is a little bit bigger you know what I think we need even more than that say hello to some oh no dad's [Music] do you guys bring any any friends with you you did all right here we go [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] who are pretty darn bad and lumberjack dads even though that's a bad corny dad's whose jokes often flop and dads who like to play classic rock handyman dads with flatbeds Toyota's with tattoos and stylish dads who wear blue suede shoes so if you're a dad or a grand or a stepdad or an adopted dad on our you would you stand to your feet today's your day let's give it up for these father figures happy Father's Day everybody [Music] [Music] [Applause] Jesus to earth [Music] so beautiful same and family were they of every song we could ever see worthy of all the praise we could ever breathe worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live for you sing the name of Jesus Jesus [Music] Jesus feel [Music] every [Music] see there is no one [Music] there is none Oh [Music] who you are [Music] lift your voice seaworthy [Music] every song because [Music] Oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh Jesus the name above every other name Jesus the only one [Music] never be [Music] Oh [Music] beside Oh who you are [Music] [Music] right [Music] lovely crowd give a [Applause] [Music] [Music] vishay [Music] [Music] shake there is this [Music] we [Music] [Music] [Music] I've heard stories of what they think you're like but I've heard the tender whisper of love in the dead of light and you tell that you're pleased and then never runs on you're a good good father you are so you are [Music] - I [Music] see [Music] far in line here [Music] [Music] for we [Music] to [Music] I - I why you are you are [Music] [Applause] [Music] undeniable I can hardly speak and a piece unexplainable line I can hardly think as you go [Applause] merci let's call [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's see [Music] [Music] who you are sir you are loved by so I am sue I am Who I am let's pray together dear Heavenly Father we thank you for being our good good father we thank you that we can build our life on your firm foundation whatever comes our way from the bottom of our hearts we give you all of our praise we give you all of our worship and we surrender to you we surrender to your grace we surrender to your love we surrender to your mercy and we give you thanks we pray this all in the powerful name of Jesus and all God's people said amen amen what cheese does that belong to you nacho cheese I don't know why I've set a 500 times I could still laugh at it why did the singer carry a bucket to her show I'm not sure she had to carry your tunes how do you weigh a millennial in instagrams [Laughter] if you climb your neighbors tree what lower you probably break I think this one was gravity law of gravity things what do you call a fake noodle an imposter [Laughter] are you always the first person to laugh often yes what's the difference between Jesus and pizza and Jesus Jesus can't be taught grace actually told me what Jack and Jill's meanings should not be really funny but it should be funny because it's not funny that's what you don't we have a rule that if if I think it's funny it's funny I say a lot of things to my children that are probably like interpreted as jokes like go do your homework or it's time to come home what I do is I make up songs my daughter says in a line I would just make up a song you know as I'll sing a song that pad that line they get irritated at that so that's funny it's amusing to them and I get pleasure out of jokes help us kind of have a little bit of a replenishment cycle where we can remember that you know it's not always that hard and there are moments that are joyful and joy matters trying to make a connection at like a human level like I can goof around to write I'm human I'm normal and it's okay I think it's important too especially in the season we're in to have some humor to laugh and stuff and I wish I did more of that actually with them sometimes they say dad you're too serious my dad has his doctorate in math okay so he is kind of a structured thinker but he was he was always doing goofy things he picked me up at middle school and if it was snowy sometimes he'd do a Burnout like in the park you might here's my dad with the PhD of math who just every now and then he'd just let loose that he'd do you know it'd do a doughnut in the snow there was just part of him that was just full of life just wanted to make people laugh I haven't honestly given that a ton of thought like is God funny right I think when God made a platypus that was pretty funny right like like why would you make a platypus right I think that he is obviously the Great Creator and I think he is an entertainer I've got to know him a little better as as as a father as somebody who's very protective and somebody who definitely cares and creates a path for us we are fathers and and yes we are sons God is not only taking care of my children but taking care of me they have their Papa you know heavenly Popeye and their earthly Papa give me one more let's see I got to pick the best one here when does the joke become a dad joke I don't know when the joke becomes a parent [Music] [Laughter] [Music] well happy Father's Day to all the dads the uncles the granddad's the big brothers and the father figures tuning in hey wherever you're watching from today welcome hey our church whether we meet in person or online is filled with people who are learning and growing together supporting each other through good and tough times and extending helping hands to those who are in need man I am so grateful for our community and grateful for our church if you're watching live join us for our post service zoom gather will have staff available that would love to meet you and share ways that you could get connected and plugged into the life of our church well we want to give every dad and everyone who has a dad whether it's been a good experience or a challenging one some ways to reflect and connect maybe you're like me and this Father's Day weekend has hard because of some difficulties in your story with your dad well we put together some exercises where you can walk through prayers of gratitude and prayers of lament around this holiday weekend or maybe you're looking for some resources to help you think about your role as a dad or your relationship with your dad you can check out base camp a monthly gathering for men here at willow you can also listen to the Father's Day recording of the relate podcast or maybe you're looking for some ways to build connections with your kids you can check out camp Paradise where where this summer at home you can experience Camp Paradise through dad camp in a box which provides a week full of activities and conversation starters for dads and kids of all ages and kids we didn't forget about you it's not too late to find ways to celebrate your dad you can download cards to print out and give to your dad for this Father's Day weekend hey you can find all the information about Father's Day and ways to engage on our website at Willow Creek org slash next steps well friends our church is praying then as part of our pastoral response team and our digital hosting team here we'll oh I've had the privilege and the blessing to be able to pray with you all doing weekend services I've loved hearing lares go off at 2:42 in the in the afternoon when we're in meetings for people as a reminder to pray for our church I love seeing how our church has leaned into prayer either at our bi-weekly prayer gatherings on Wednesday evenings or through other prayer experiences we've created like our neighborhood prayer walk church God is on the move and I love how we are connecting with him and engaging with our family in prayer we're able to serve our community and to connect as a family through tithes and offerings hey if you're watching at Willow Creek TV we've got an easy way for you to give there you can simply click the give button at the top of the screen or you could check out the Willow Creek app or you can text the letters W csb to the number seven seventy nine seven seven and you can give that way but thank you for your faithful giving towards the work that God is doing here in our church and in our community well family we're continuing our series get out of your mind would you join me as we welcome one of our teaching pastors pastor Albert ape hey willow family I am so excited to continue in this great series I'm so excited Pastor Dave last week he did such a phenomenal job walking through this passage with Elijah we're coming back to that same passage in first Kings chapter 19 go ahead and grab your Bibles we're going to first Kings chapter 19 I'm gonna start reading around verse 3 but without first I just wanna make a couple of comments so thankful for Pastor Dave and he was so gracious to offer up my phone number last week and I thought about it how can I thank him so much for inviting everyone to call me and I just know his heart already they're new in the city he would just love for people just to spontaneously stop by his home I know he would appreciate people just coming over and he feels loved when you come over at our time of the day because it lets you know that you really really care and that you really really need him so we're gonna put his home address here in in the fee put it in right there and what you just feel the freedom to go by and say hi and drop random things off on his front porch and ring the doorbell and and just leave cuz he just he just wants to hear the doorbell ring and then just run away or bring people over I think that'll be that'll bless his life no I'm just just kidding I don't know that's not his real address don't go there that could it could something really bad could happen but let's go through the Word of God first kings first Kings chapter 19 verse 3 here it is Elijah was afraid and ran for his life when he came to Bathsheba in Judea in Judah he left his servant there while he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness he came to a broom bush set down under it and prayed that he might die I have had enough Lord he said take my life I am no better than my ancestors then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep let's pray together God thank you so much for this word we pray that you would speak to us like only you can would you - now ear to your voice so that we might hear you ever so clearly would you turn our hearts toward you so that we might experience the fullness of all that you have for us goddess to that end that I ask that you would stand in my body think through my mind speak through my vocal cords those things you would have us say no one do may the words of my mouth the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord you are my strength you are my Redeemer get glory in this place in Jesus name Amen in this series we want to encourage you to kind of get out of your mind a little bit with the weight and the worry and the burden of everything that's going on with the pandemic the social uprising of the injustice that we're seeing literally on our screen we're seeing it in real time and the midst of that we want to make sure that you're taking care of your soul as we as we stay safe in fight for Healthy Families we want you to stay for you care for your soul as we fight against injustice and as we stand in opposition against racism we want you to take care of your soul we find here I mean to be honest Elijah I mean I didn't pick the series I'm new to the teaching pastor role so I I hadn't weighed in yet this is probably gonna be one of the most depressing discouraging series you've ever had in your life I mean just read that like he it ended up with him going to sleep up under a tree and saying I want to die who picked this Dave is this how you really want to start you want to start the series what else is dressed out and land up on the trees you know what to be honest I think this is the best way for us to start you know why because this is our reality and sometimes we have a hard time talking about having a hard time sometimes we have a hard time as believers and in Christian spaces we have a hard time talking about when we're discouraged have a hard time talking about when we're overwhelmed we we we we act as if morning and hope can't live together but it really can so I appreciate our ability to sit in text like this and talk about when we are mentally overwhelmed when our minds are overwhelm and exhausted and tired and unhealthy when we navigate imbalance where's my faith when I'm in depression where's my faith when I'm sad where's my faith in the midst of discouragement so I'm actually excited to talk about this subject because we don't talk about it enough and there's a slight shame there's a there's a shame that goes with sadness with discouragement with depression there's there's this kind of a shaming and a guilt cuz I feel bad because as a Christian I'm supposed to always be hopeful but you can be sad and hold at the same time you can be discouraged and hopeful at the same time we see it over and over again but you just need to know overwhelmingly from your leaders here that it's okay not to be okay it's okay not to be okay Elijah was not okay you can tell from the text he wondered if his life even matter he wondered if his life had worth for the next few moments I just want to talk a little bit about how do you find worth when you feel like your life is worthless you hear his confession it'll be easier for me to die than to try to overcome this pastor dave talked about those suicidal thoughts and if if that's anywhere near your mind I want you to tell you don't you hesitate one second to reach out for help don't you hesitate one second to reach out and call us and the signal someone you love or even the pastoral team here at the church we gladly stand with you our counseling ministry would gladly stand with you don't allow those thoughts just to orbit around unchecked elijah was in that moment i just want to give you three tips three ways to find worse when you feel like you were you your life is worthless three ways to find worth when you feel like your life is worthless number one you find worth in community you find worth in community elijah he did it he missed it he missed an opportunity look at it with me verse verse four while he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness he left his servants while he himself went into a day's journey in the wilderness listen you don't if you go and go through the wilderness huge you don't go by yourself if you don't go through the wilderness don't you go by yourself when you are feeling overwhelmed and discouraged now's not the time to opt in the isolation now's not the time to go and i just need a bunch of a long time I didn't need to be by yourself listen I used to think I was an extrovert until I got quarantined with my family I am an introvert I'm talking i've been converted by Corona I so I get the value of just self quiet time but no he went on a journey in the wilderness by himself worst thing you can do is go for a long time in isolation and not invite people to sit with you in what you're sitting in worst thing you can do is go through a long journey and not invite people to sit with you and what you're sitting and invite people to sit with you invite people to sit with you now can I just give you some tips on how to invite people to sit with you and to sit with you in a way that's healthy sit with you don't rush you and don't fix you the temptations sometimes is sometimes and I feel this I feel this when I'm sitting with a friend that's going through a hard time I have a tendency to want to try to rush them through the process to try to get them to feel better quickly my job when I'm sitting with someone that's going through a hard time my job isn't to try to get them to feel better my job is just to be with him get people and just tell them hey I don't need you to fix me I don't need you to get me to feel better I just need you to be with me come on can we be honest sometimes we want them to hurry up and feel better because we ourselves don't like the discomfort of sitting with someone that's going through something hard so we don't want them to rush through it so that they can be better we want them to rush through it so that we can be comfortable because it's uncomfortable sitting with somebody that's going through a hard time and it's hard just to listen in to be you don't believe me act jobs friends they listen for a while but then they started talking in oh Lord the whole thing just got worse when they start talking know how to sit with people if you're gonna go through the wilderness find worth by having people with you that can see you that can support you that can encourage you right where you are my job ain't to fix you in this season our job is to be with you and to encourage you well my favorite favorite favorite Broadway choses of Hamilton gotta be in the room and it happened the room it happen in the room it happen gotta be in the room I love that I love that because being in the room matters you need some people that can be in the room with you when it happens but let me tell you something Jesus would tell you gyrus his daughter when she pad when she when she died and they thought she was dead in me they was soon discovered the she was just asleep remember when when Jesus and gyrus finally got to the house they got to the house everybody thought she was dead they were mourning her death and Jesus says why are you crying she is not dead she's just asleep and they laughed Jesus out of the room they just laughed and Jesus kicked everybody out the room he said everybody out and he only took in gyruss mom and the people that came with Jesus because everybody can't be in the room where it happens some rooms you just need people that can believe God with you some rooms you just need people that are just gonna have faith with you some rooms you just need your prayer warriors they need to be in the room where it's happening don't go through the wilderness by yourself Elijah don't go by yourself because it's in community where people can believe God with you can pray with you can sit with you it is there where you can find Worth and you feel like your life is worthless the next thing next thing we see watch this verse for while he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness he came to a broom bush set down under it and prayed that he might die I have had enough Lord he said he sat down under the broom bush and prayed that he might die when you're looking for worse you need to be real careful with where you sit Elisha I would encourage you don't just sit under the broom bush sit under the presence of God sit in the presence of God now ain't the time just to sit in yourself to sit in your feelings to sit in your thoughts all those things are great sitting those things those are beautiful I'm not encouraging anybody to be in denial in an unhealthy denial no no sitting you're feeling sitting your thoughts sit in your mind but in the midst of that invite God's presence in that and say Lord in a mission that I would sit in your presence you've in your soul discover when you sit in his presence God's got a way of getting you out of your feelings getting you out of your mind and giving you out of the weightiness of the situation because in his presence there is fullness of joy in his presence you'll find hope in his presence you will find peace so as you're sitting there here's a question I would ask where are you sitting where are you sitting are you just sitting in your thoughts are you just sitting in your feelings are you just sitting in bitterness are you sitting in unforgiveness are you sitting in anger are you sitting in frustration are you sitting in his presence it is I think bringing anger bring frustration bring all of that in his presence so to sit in one is not to negate the other no to sit in the one is to surrender the other sit in one is to invite God into the other so bring all of that in there but just know that in the presence of God as you get in his presence he ain't just coming to hang out he's coming to transform you if you encourage if you discourage if you're feeling worthless you'll find worth in his presence because it is in his presence that he tells you who you are he reminds you of who you are in his presence so he's not giving his presence because all the lies of the world will just be radiating around you and just be illuminating around you you'll see you here and you were sitting under the under the broom bush but you're not sitting under the shelter of the Almighty God sit in his presence because his presence won't lead you to desire death his presence will lead you to pursue life I know you're sitting in hard times I know you're sitting in some difficult situations and are you sitting in places of struggle but are you sitting in his presence have you invited the king of kings and the Lord of lords to sit right there where you cuz as he's in his presence as you're in his presence he's gonna tell you who you are he's gonna remind you of who you are I think of Exodus I think of when the children of Israel came out of the the the tyranny and the regime of Pharaoh they were they were slaves and they would work from sunup to sundown all day every day and that was their life as a slave to work as a slave all day every day God calls them out and although they called him to the although they go to the wilderness Exodus 16 they go to the wilderness but God provides for them in the wilderness I mean that's something very interesting he says I'm gonna provide man in the morning meat at night and I'm gonna do for six days but on the seventh day I'm not gonna provide anything I'm gonna give you double on the sixth day so that way on the seventh day you can rest mom's are such a big deal to God because on that seven day I need you to rest because it is in you're resting in my presence that I remind you of who you are that I remind you here it is that you're not a slave anymore Pharaoh had you working every day of the week and I need to break that rhythm I need to break that slave rhythm out of your life so every seventh day you are going to rest so that you will know you are no longer under the regime of Egypt and Pharaoh you are under the kingdom of the Lord God Almighty I need you to rest so that I might remind you of who you are and who you are is not a slave who you are is the son who you are your daughter you are the beloved of God I need to remind you of who you are so you need to rest get in my presence so I can remind you you're not a slave anymore Elisha don't just sit under the broom bush sit on in the presence of the Almighty God so he can shout your work he can tell you you're not a slave to discouragement you're not a slave to sadness you're not a slave to the to the enemies to fear you're not a slave you are a son of a love son get in his presence so that you might find worth because in his presence he tells you who you are want to find worth if you want to look for worth looking community number to look in his presence sit in his presence thirdly finally you want to find worth if you want to find worth verse four he says I have had enough Lord he said watch this take my life I am no better than my ancestors then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep he says I've had enough he says take my life says cuz I want to die I want to die he says I've had enough take my life I am no better than my ancestors I want to die Elijah makes a confession he says I've had enough I like this part Elijah I can go with you here I can go with you here because sometimes I don't think we do this enough at church I don't think we tailed we always how you doing Oh blessed and highly favored if I got into heavier I couldn't stand this shut up just lyin sometimes we just lie we don't you cried yourself to sleep last night come on tell the truth you don't feel great today you feel terrible but see we've just got a habit of just not confessing the truth Elijah says I'm not playing I'm not trying to make up no sir I'm telling you I have had enough lord have you ever had that moment have you ever been so overwhelmed with the reality of the world that you said god I've had enough have you ever been so frustrated so overwhelmed with the weight of the world with the crisis of the day but you say Lord I've had enough it's okay to look up to heaven and say Lord I've had enough it's okay to be overwhelmed and say Lord I have enough it's okay not to be okay believer man of God woman of God you still a woman of faith you still a man of faith but you can tell the truth and say enough confess I've had enough but here's the deal Elijah hissed his point number three you can make the confession but you don't get to draw the conclusion you can make the confession but you don't get to draw the conclusion he says I have enough and then he says so I've decided Lord take my life I'm driving the clue I know how this ends no you don't get to say how it ends you get to tell the truth about how you feel but you don't get to say how it ends the sovereign God Almighty gets to dictate the ending of this story you don't get to write it you don't get to get tired and to throw in the towel and say I quit no you don't get to quit on God God didn't quit on you so you don't get to quit on him you can make the confession but you don't get to draw the conclusion because you will soon discover you can find your worth in the confession you can find your worth in convential confession literally means it's not just the idea of saying all the bad stuff I did no no confession is it literally translated it's the idea of saying what he says so I confess what he says I confess what God declares so I confess about me what God says about me so I confess so that that's that's that's the sin of my life yes God says that sin I agree that's it but to confess with God is to agree with God it's to agree with God and you can find your worth while agreeing with God in your agreement with God if you start agreeing with God make your confession don't draw the conclusion you don't get to dictate how it in but you can make the confession and the confession is I'm gonna agree with God so whatever God says about me I'm gonna agree with that it's kind of like this idea growing up in Mississippi we use another play this this game is universal all around the world it's called Simon Says Simon Says now the other thing is Simon was authoritarian and whatever Simon said you had to do exactly what Simon Says Simon Says go right you better go right Simon said go left you go that Simon Says bunnyhop you better start hopping you know what I mean but here's the thing if Simon didn't say it you better not do it so they'll try to so I said go right go right Sam said go left go there go there go left and if you go or you out you didn't do what Simon Says that's confession every day of my life I'm gonna do it not what Simon Says cuz I'll know who Simon is but I'm gonna do what Jesus says Jesus says take a step forward I'm gonna take a step forward Jesus says go to the right I'm gonna go to the right Jesus says go to the left I'm gonna go to that Jesus says believe me I'm good and I'm God I'm gonna believe you got because you're good Jesus says my life has meaning so Jesus I believe what you say Jesus says my life is worth living so Jesus i'ma believe what you said Jesus says you should have hope you should lift up your head so Jesus I'm gonna lift up my head Jesus says that no weapon formed against you will be able to prosper Jesus says greater is he that is within you than he that is within the world Jesus says I am the I am the Alpha and Omega the beginning in the end there Jesus said it I'm doing it I'm gonna do what Jesus says and you will find your Worth and what Jesus says because Jesus says you're the head and not the tail you will be above and not beneath Jesus says you are his beloved son and daughter so I'm a walk-in I'm gonna believe it I must stay in what Jesus said come on church let's play Jesus says this week let's play Jesus says so that we might find our Worth and we don't live our lives filling as though it is worthless because we found worse in community we found worth in his presence and we found Worth and our confession because we agree with what he said at the end of the passage he goes to sleep but he goes to sleep frustrated and overwhelmed some of you know what that's like to go to sleep frustrated and overwhelm encouraged you get in this presence so that he might get you out of your mind even get your mind in his mind but this mind be in you that is also in Christ Jesus because in his mind as we rested who he is he says come on unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest you can sleep but more than sleep Elijah in the presence of God you can rest you can rest for his glory amen lord I thank you for my brothers and sisters I pray that in their sleeping that they'd find themselves resting resting in a community that can point them to God point them to you Jesus resting in your presence knowing that in your presence there is fullness of joy there's healing there's hope there's deliverance but in your presence there's also an invitation to bring anger bring sadness bring depression bring discouragement but that they can rest in your presence and they can rest in their confession as we all seek to agree father with what you said and what you say about us so maybe we find our worth in your presence in your word in our community it may we rest in what you said about our Worth and who we are in Jesus name Amen god bless you will oh well family as we as we rest in the presence of God in this season we wanting to let you know that we are not alone that God is with us and we found some creative ways to love each other and to connect we've loved seeing the apart but not alone signs throughout our neighborhoods and in our community you can still pick one up you can actually stop by our cell Barrington campus at our D entrance and grab a sign at your convenience hey join us next weekend as one of our teaching pastors Megan Marshman continues our series get out of your mind and if you're watching live join us for our post service zoom gathering will have some staff available that would love to connect with you and share ways that you can get connected and plugged into the life of our church family it's been so good worshiping together on this Father's Day weekend until next time peace and blessings everyone

Channel: Willow Creek Community Church

Views: 9,370

Keywords: Willow Creek Community Church, Love Everyone Always, Willow Creek Church, Willow Creek, Willow, Church, Faith, Hope, Love, God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Bible, Father's Day

Id: zCUtemBFxIY

Length: 48min 29sec (2909 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 21 2020