Let's Debrief: It Won't Always Be Like This!

do people watch it noon today oh okay okay live on face well you're trying to do live on Facebook from here yeah it wouldn't let me got it what it can you log into the church's pate window you can't share peach feed live on face while you're trying to do live on Facebook from here yeah it wouldn't let me so guys I think we are alive now now via YouTube yeah hello to you all who are watching we have been having some technical difficulties over the past week now last week we did a debrief and 20 minutes only 20 minutes of our video was shown and so this week I say you know what perhaps I should try this again with hazel Owens and brandy Allen another debrief session and we're trying to do it again this well today and for whatever reason are the Facebook live wasn't working so we decided to hop here on our YouTube channel so we would ask you all four who are the twitter name to tell somebody that we're here live on YouTube and we're getting ready to debrief Sunday's message it won't always be like this as we continue to sell through the storm with Noah um so if you haven't already viewers continue to subscribe to our YouTube channel and also follow us on Facebook and all the other social media platforms Instagram our podcast and you can get caught up with all that we have going on here at East to start church where Jesus is exalted and the word is explained I have with me as I said earlier brandy Allen and Hazel Owens how are y'all doing this evening so good I'm so excited that you all had an opportunity to try it again we're gonna try to into to get this word out to people that need it and continue to be inspired and encouraging uplifting so let's just hop right into it so somebody's message it won't always be like this again pastor Johnson dealing with the story of Noah as he is sailing through a storm and peripherally we are taking the principles that no applied in his storm um in hopes of you know applying it to our life in the storm that we're currently in collectively together so before we happen to the details of today's message let me just start with brandy what was one of your takeaways from Sunday's message yeah I really appreciate the topic because it certainly doesn't feel like that there's reprieve in life anytime soon just globally and then personally sometimes you get in situations and it's like will this ever end so this is a good thing for me to kind of remind myself like there are seasons in life when we go through things but it's just that it's just a season and as churchy and cliche is this sound like you just have to trust God that the season will eventually end and it's not going to last forever so I think just that the sermon title in general was a great reminder for me that there is light at the end of the tunnel even if can't necessarily see at the moment but yeah yeah definitely yeah again we'll get into to all the details related to that hazel how about you what was one tickler that you got from Sunday's yeah it's so crazy baby and I are so similar in so many ways but it's funny because even today I found myself in a situation and I relist into Sunday's message all over again and the takeaway is still the same I mean in that it's going to work out like it's not gonna always be this way and one of the things even coming out of the situation I was in today where I just became completely overwhelmed and I'm like man I'm tired of this I had to remind myself that it is all gonna work together for my good and you know we quote those things and to Brandi's point it does sound cliche and it's so true and so I had to literally remind myself of the times where it has worked out and then Sunday's message was just right on point with everything that's going on and so that would be what I'm walking away with yeah it's always a good reminder and encourage and encourage me to know like whatever the storm is that we're currently doing you know it won't always be like that and so just being able to trust God knowing that God has a way of changing conditions and that was one of the first things that pastor remind out you know with that as he kinda in a sense debriefed his has you know messages in the beginning dealing with sailing through a storm and how do we get through a storm and knowing that God is always with us and he talked about how one of the ways in which we can stand on the fact that it won't always be like that is that the God we serve has a way of changing conditions and with that you know with this whole sermon it was whole idea of like Noah not staying on the art but coming out of the ark and discerning the voice of God has to like when to make a move and when to remove the covering and I think that was very powerful you know especially dealing with what's going on now with you know governors you know reopening up States and mayors reopening up cities and stores are reopening and all these they're going on churches are opening their doors again and so pastor you know was reminding us like you know we're not just listening to the government the government but we're trying to hear God's voice as to how how do we know when to come out of you know the situation that we're in and knowing that God has a way of changing conditions but as we wait on God to change the condition we must also learn how to handle the waiting rooms of life so hey I want to start you how do we as believers begin to you know discern the voice of God because sometimes we can be honest like it's it's hard to discern God's voice maybe it's our voice you know our parents voice somebody else's like how do we know that it's God speaking to us yeah I think one of the critical ways of discerning God's voice is getting into God's Word right so it's hard to distinguish your own thoughts from thoughts of God when you're not in God's Word to even know what God says in his word what his promises are what the things that God you know is telling us that we should be doing shouldn't be doing or whatever the case may be right and I just I'm a firm believer that God speaks to us in many different methods right so through scripture through maybe sermons and even through other people through dreams even or what have you and so usually for me personally when I'm trying to decide okay is this God speaking to me is this my boss is his thoughts of fear I test it to God's Word and I also look for elements of peace right so if I'm not getting a piece that I can't even explain so even when to the average person nah that's crazy but I have some internal peace that I can't explain I know that's God if I find myself in a situation where I know that it is fear that's holding me back from doing whatever it is and that's the only thing that's holding me back fear that I don't have enough fear that I'm not enough fear that the conditions are not where they needs to be then I know that that's probably where God is trying to lead me towards and I need to follow that and so for me it is trying to assess my own peace and what I'm feeling from that but also bringing it back to God's Word God what do you what does your word say about this thing and does it line up yeah that's good um and that's very important to be able to discern God's voice and no one went to make move and then of course pastor dealt with not just with coming out of the ark for Noah but you know for relationships for jobs for careers for friendships like knowing who to be with who not to be with who to network with what to invest in all of these different things so brandy like as we wait on God's voice how does one handle the waiting lanes of life as pastor pretty because with Noah you know as we talked about a couple weeks ago you know the rain lasted for 40 days and 40 nights but the flood was much longer so how does one wait on the voice of God how do we how do we wait until this time to make a move man it's so hard it's hard to wait I am the most impatient person that I know like I don't like waiting I don't like waiting in the grocery store line I don't like waiting on someone to call me back I don't like waiting for a text message back so waiting on an invisible God is very difficult at times but I think it goes back to Hazel's talking about peace you we have to be patient and I think it's it's also being patient is also being brave because it's easy to jump ahead of God but it's brave to wait on God it's brave to say I am going to wait to hear God's Word before I make a move so I think that we are brave when we have the patience to say I'm going to stay in prayer I'm going to stay in my word and I am NOT going to jump ahead of God I think pastor Johnson used the example of beating the senior citizens to the doctor's office I don't know he's he's getting up there he might be so he mentioned like he's getting mad at everyone else and I think when when we don't get what we want we often revert back to our toddler days like we get mad and we want to throw a fit but can we be mad at God for keeping us safe for keeping us from things unseen no because there are things that God is trying to keep us from so I think it's just patience and trusting yeah and kind of what we talked about last week that you know nobody heard but learning how to continue to be active even while we wait right you know pastor always uses that example of like a waiter at a restaurant and you know I'm sure we all miss restaurants at this point but like when they come to your table and they actually what you want you know the food that you want to finish you're gonna order the treat your drink order they take the order and then they're not just like after they take your order they put the order in they're not gonna like sit at the table with you but they're constantly moving they're constantly waiting on others they're constantly cleaning up stuff picking food up doing all these different things as they wait on you and wait for the food enough and I feel like that's like our responsibilities as believers as well like right like as we wait on the Lord continue to be active and our pastors say this before - like if you're waiting on the voice of God you can always act on what you've heard God say the last time gospel - so just continue to be active with that word and stand on that word and I think - like that's that's the way in which we can wait on God and then going back to Hazel's point to like continue to being in the scriptures continuing to you know listen to sermons continue to listen to the music that that helps you enter into the presence of God so that you can be open to the voice of God and know who's speaking and knowing what move to make as we wait as we wait and so you know thinking through like it won't always be like this yes God has a way of you know changing the conditions and I can't remember how I meant to write this down so I could say it right I'm definitely gonna miss quote oh but how he talked about like you know God changes our situations by allowing the Sun to shine on it blow on it and Father time to sit on that's pretty good man you know but yeah so just allowing you know the son of the son of God in Jesus Christ into our situation and then allowing the wind of the spirits of to maneuver and move in our situation and then me a patient on God knowing that God has a way of changing our conditions because there won't always be like this and with the changing of conditions also as pastor talked about sunday is a constructive consequences so you know one of the days he brought up and he mentioned this before in the series is understanding like yes we will lose some things in the storm and for those of us who you know can attest that we've lost a few things but still being able to understand like there's a blessings in the storm right like you still have a relationship with Jesus all right like you're still connected to the body of Christ the church you still have your loved ones that you can count on and all these things so like learning how to count our blessings while we're still in the storm so like brandy like you know we always say God is working everything out for the good and sometimes it's hard to discover what the good is while you're in the storm he's not come out but you can reflect on like oh wait a minute that was right like for I guess for you you can you can answer this personally or you know even as it relates to the church but like what is the good that you believe God is working on order that God is working out in the midst of this crisis that were yeah so because I'm a student I looked up the word good and Strong's dictionary and it actually it was really powerful it says that good as it relates to the verse describe describes what originates from God and is empowered by him in the life of the believer through faith so good originates from God good empowers us but it's only through faith so and it's seen and unseen so a lot of time mean we know that hindsight is 20/20 meaning we can look back on a such and be like yep I should have seen that coming or now it makes sense a lot of times that we don't it doesn't feel good while we're in it but once God lets us out of it in his timing in his will we can see that it this originated from God and it originated from God and that we it has empowered me to be even better than what I was before and I believe that that is what that good is it's working out for the good because it's coming from him and it's empowering me so another reason why we shouldn't jump ahead of God because it's working out for the good and it's only through faith that we can trust it it is gonna be good because it's from God yeah and you know the scriptures say every good and perfect year comes from God so one of the ways in which we can experience the good in the gifts is knowing what is a gift right and like focusing on what we have left as opposed of complaining about what we've lost in the storm or in the crisis Oh hazel like how do we develop and maintain a grateful heart and a grateful attitude despite of what we lost in the crisis but being able to focus on what we have currently I feel like we could use what we experienced through loss so the grief that we experience through loss as fuel in some way to help change our perspective right so you know what it's like to lose you know what it's like to have to give up something you know how painful that is and so no knowledge in that you don't have to sit there right cuz that would be detrimental but acknowledging what that feels like and then using that and using in some ways we talked about this last time dad as you said no one heard positivity in a way to help reframe some of that right so changing your focus on okay well what is in front of me I know what I've lost I know what I don't have yet but when I can't control is what's happening in front of me I can't control what I have around me right I can't control how I'm looking at a situation or whatever the case may be and so yeah I just think that once we are able to change that perspective then you can start being more grateful for the things that you have because you know what it's like to be without you know what it's like to have legs so you can be grateful for what you have in a now whether it's plenty or or still like in some way but you know it is like that to have loss and and a practical thing journal what you're grateful for right so I remember a couple years ago I started a gratitude jar because I felt like I was going through a season where I was literally being stripped of everything everything I lost people I lost possession I lost a lot and and it was all in the name of trusting God right so I'm trying to move by faith step out on faith and there was a lot of loss that came with that and I had moments that was really hard so I had to change my perspective and I started a gratitude jar and so every day as many days as I could in the week we write down what am i grateful for so when I'm filling down and I'm feeling sad and I'm focusing on the loss I can pull something out of that jar just show myself and remind myself over remember you have this right and so that's just a practical thing to do know yeah awesome you know we talked about even like saying oh my hair but we talked about the last week the power of journaling you know and writing and being able to see like wow like I have although I lost some things like I still have so much stuff that I could be grateful for that other folk lost you know to me like other for loss more than a and I was actually talking to somebody earlier today um kind of just catching up with him about all this you know what's going on with him and his family his job and things like that and you know he eventually he during this time had to basically well he was going into kind of asked for time off with a quit his job but they furloughed him and so in the midst of the furlough he was able to apply for unemployment and then also the stimulus check that came in for him his family and then he was I do do you know that I made more offer that than I was you know getting from my job you know I'm saying so yeah he losted the the but then he's still able to continue to keep to continue to get get some money for his family for his family and even make more than what he made had it not been for the crisis that we're now so I think it's important to have that positive perspective knowing that hey God is gonna stop the storm and change the conditions but in the meantime let me just be grateful for what I had while I'm here as I move forward and to that point one of the things that I've noticed over the years in recent years is that guys math is not my math so as God take things away or as I lose things whether it's for my me doing it to myself or God allowing some things that some people and whatever to fall off God adds and they got multiplies and so I often you know tell people like my math is not guys man so so as you're focusing on what you're grateful for you start to see what wait a minute God is adding and multiplying with this little bit that I have and I don't know how how is happening yeah I mean that's that's uh that's a good what I put it is math in our mat like I mean I'm sure in a desert with five thousand-plus people will never live man all we have is a lunchable I'm sure they were just like what is this you know I mean for so many and being able to have Jesus on your team to divide and multiply the same time it's just good to have that that perspective in their faith knowing yes I may have a little bit but this little bit is so much in odds of God and let me just look at my life to his perspective you know as we continue to sell to the storm and knowing that it won't always be like this and so with that we talked about you know Noah and his family being an art together and they were in the art together for those days with all those animals and I'm sure it could just it was hail right I'm sure was an apparent and all of that while you're with all these animals on art in the mid a flood like why everybody else is dead like that's crazy and then at the end of the storm the conditions finally change we hear the voice of God saying come out and what pastor focused on what the scripture says is that they came out together which is very powerful about unity and not just with the family but then also with the community as well so let's talk about there for a second like this whole idea of solidarity with the family the connectivity in community like more than ever I feel like more than ever the people need people need family you know many people need the church and you know whenever if things get back to normal whatever that means for us moving forward like we can come together as a church family like I'm sure people who have never been in church before are gonna make their way to the house of God no like this this time more than ever like I need community I need to be a part of a community a small group of family friends like I need accountability partners all these things and sometimes it takes a storm you know I mean to create that unity so so hazel you know dealing with you know therapy and mental illness and all these things like kind of from that perspective like how do you or how important is it for people to be a part of a community and understand the importance of family well the reality is is that as human beings we're wired for community we're wired to be connected to one another you know we have if you look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs like it's in there who we're wired for that and so stress every day stresses can be the being the catalyst that can separate people if you allow it so one of the things that I am helping my couples and my families understand and do during this crisis is how to make and create new memories together while their worlds have been disrupted and not look at their problems as something that they inherently have but something that they can attack and fight together and not fight each other and the problem is winning right so the hard thing about what we're in right now is that we can't blame the problem on anyone right we can't this pandemic we can't say that my husband calls it or my wife calls it or the kids calls or the doll caused it like we can't do that right and so it's helping people to understand that when you look at the problem together and you come together and fight together not fight each other then that will bring more closeness to one another then you start to create to maintain that you create new memories and so all the the emotional aspect a part of our brain the limbic so that could be rewired easily it's not easy to do but it can be rewired right so we can we can recreate those negative stuff the negative memories replace them with positive ones that will create new memories and now we have a deeper and more emotional connection with one another and so the problem is is getting people or the challenger's to say is getting people to take their eyes off the problem stop focusing on what what is not happening and what is driving your part cuz I can imagine no like you said Noah's on that arc with his whole family any animals in there Trent yeah can you imagine the type of arguments that popped off how Noah and mrs. Noah was like you know what you sleep on the couch or Danny you have accounts but you know you sleep on this other side of the ark like as long as possible what's your address like you know all of it you can't you imagine like just I mean I know if I'm stuck me even with my family and so like we don't get on each other's nerves right and so for them to come out together that means that there was a change that happened in the art where at some point they stopped the arguing they stop the bickering they stop focusing on the problem and they said okay we really need to put our heads together we really need to come together and new memories I guarantee you was create and this my spiritual my imagination was created so that they can come out unify instead of disjoints it from one another that like there's no problem after that that they can't handle like babe whatever argument whatever situation that they've already been through the worst of it if you can get through that like you get through anything I mean you may ever have an argument again it's like remember when we survived absolutely stronger like you you have no other choice but to come out stronger and I think that applies to us too like mm-hmm I'm single I live alone but Jay I mean I'm sure that it's difficult to be stuck in the house with your family all day long like don't admit it online DJ don't you say a word from friends that people are going yeah this can only make us stronger storms can only make us stronger and when we come out we're stronger together well and in that strengthening you're learning new practices right you're learning new ways of communicating you're learning new ways of listening you're learning new ways of being empathetic and holding space for one another and validating one another even when you don't understand why they feel the way that they feel you have you're learning how to be so empathic that I can understand your perspective even if I don't agree with it and so you have all this now you have these new toolkits right or tools in your toolbox that you can pull out when the next argument comes so it's a Brandy's point like if they could survive the arc if you can survive the pandemic if you can survive whatever storm that you're in with your family and and I want to piggyback on the singleness piece too I know it's hard for a lot of singles and I don't want to like over generalize singles but one of the things that has been helpful for me is understanding the power of being consent and understanding how contentment can really satisfy your right so yeah that doesn't mean that there aren't times were like I'm like man I really wish you know my family was here or I can go hang out with my friends or whatever the case may be or I wish I had a booth bangle whatever right and I'm content right and so I think that but in this season this is a great opportunity to learn contentment yeah it's good oh and I was we were talking about the whole graceful piece I was thinking of that scripture about Paul and you know Paul's in Philippi he's he's in jail by writing Philippians talking about how grateful he is and let this might be you there was also Jesus I brought you're in Chains right now all beings like you know like to have that level of faith and confidence in God like that's that's that's that's crazy because there I've been in situations when I feel like everything in my life is blowing up and I'm at peace and it's peace that surpasses all understanding like there is no there's nothing to describe the piece that I had outside of God only and that's we have to rely on that yeah and then to about those you know the Solidarity within the family like in passive admission like you know even if this family came into the ark separately they're coming out together which kind of goes back to your point as like there may be something in the crisis in the storm that brought this family together because you know what you know in my experience what I'm learning in this whole thing like yeah we because I've seen a mean that says something like you know we're not working from home we're working at home in a painting so it's like we're in a pandemic and that's stressful and therefore in our situation and yeah being married and then having a nine month old baby trying to run a daycare and take some calls and meetings all day stressful they know we may be taking a stress out on each other but then the like the crazy thing is like while we're in the crisis like we you can't help but confront your the challenges so it's not like I can say you know what I'm out of here my to go watch the game there aren't any restaurants open so it's like it's almost 4:00 you know me forcing us in a spot where we have to communicate better we have to engage in almost like a kind of like a counseling session within ourselves talking these things out and then understanding to like once we get out of this thing like there's nothing else like if we can endure a pain dinner with an omelet though baby then surely and it's a struggle I mean I hear it every day it is definitely a struggle and I think you know when I'm here for my clients I'm stuck at home like at home with these people I'm stuck at home like like these are the people you chose you chose you chose to have those children you chose the animals that you have like you chose these people so yes I have to help them reframe no you're safe at home you're not stuck at home you're safe there especially if it's a household that's safe and in some cases there there's some you know families that I've been dealing with that this is not a safe space for them and toxic things are coming up and it has caused division and so because it was toxic right but for many of the families it's thinking about how much power are you gonna give over to the negative feelings how much power are you gonna give to the problems that start in the surface because you're having to confront all your stuff being at home how much power are you gonna give that and and depending on how much power you give it that's gonna determine whether you're gonna be unified or are you gonna be disjointed yeah yeah it's I mean it's powerful and then again not just dealing with the whole family piece but you know community and church as well so like how are you you know continuing to reach out to your loved ones and the people that you connect with a church like no you're not sitting together in that same area but you still reach out to check on them continue to be engaged with what you know the church is putting out and you know the churches you know we work behind the scenes to step up our hard in virtual game so that all of us need to be you know engaged in this season and we don't want to leave anybody out as we you know take this thing to the next level we realize that we're rich and way more people than we did we were just you know the brick and mortar to come to church on Sunday and so how do we engage with all these people so that they can feel included you know in these new space with the church so I mean it puts the family in a new space you know the community in the church in a new space but at the end of the day as Jesus says you know how pretty they might be one so perhaps God is using this pandemic to unify us so then you know has weaned before we can move forward you know together in the name of Jesus so this this just keep going to some good stuff so the another piece of this whole like you know it won't always be like this so he would change the conditions it would bring unity within family community constructive consequences and then also efficiency or productivity so like when they came out of the ark the Scriptures used words like multiply increase replenish fruitful and and what we realize is you know God gave Noah and his family you know the tools to be productive after the storm before the storm we've talked about that before like I would give you what you need for the storm before the storm and when they came out of the ark and they begin to come you know fruitful multiply you know with with even with the plants and then the animals it was a male and female at least two of each con to be able to produce and so in order for that to take place there had to be some connectivity as pastor quitting connectivity some seed planting and that's how you know we work in order for God to bless what we work so we can't you know expect for God to bless something that we're not even put into work into doing and it's always like you know I always like to use like you know Jesus's miracles most of his miracles like you know he wasn't the one doing all the work like it was people who had to bring a paralyzed man it was people that had to go fill up dollars of water it was people I had to go bathe in a pool of my all these different things so like the question is like what are you working on so that God can bless your work even after the storm or he during the storm right like what are you working on during the storm staying productive in the midst of it so that guy could continue to bless it and you know pastor use that example again investing in yourself going back to school which all three of us really are doing that hazel you're you're the Blessed One you're at the finish line but all of us have you know invested in ourselves and continuing to work hard during this pandemic so brandy like how important is it for us to you know maintain our productivity our somehow I was listening to moody radio the other day and they were talking they had this open line asking people for their QA their quarantine accomplishments so like how important is it for us to you know remain productive stay working so they got complicit yeah and again in our video that didn't get through last week we kind of talked about that like you brought up you know artists and people who have talent your your platform like this is what you've been asking for we have finally have a time where God has forced us to slow down we truly have no excuse to not continue to produce I'm sure that even on the ark Noah still had to work he couldn't let the animals just roam around like there's always work to be done whether it is inside your home in your heart in your mind there's always work to be done and I think that even going beyond that what are you setting yourself up for are you gonna set yourself up for success when this ends you know how are you becoming better whether it's a better person or perfecting your craft perfecting your talent we have been given such an awesome opportunity to be better during this time and it goes back to changing your mindset being grateful like it's really easy to sit at home and be depressed and think like when is this ever gonna end but this is also a great opportunity to say let me get on everything that I've been wanting to do my whole life but never got to be as Gomez one of the importance of being productive and working in the Miss it is so God can bless it when it's old yeah so I am going to be a little therapeutic here just brace y'all because I feel like that there's a balance of productivity and and really an even productivity from the world standards is actually doing something and moving in action day you can that is tangible right I love that Brandi mentioned like this I always want to be done even in your heart in your mind or what have you and so a lot of times when someone is sitting and whether they're meditating or they're just kind of feel right then someone else can look at them and say oh you're not being productive and we'll shame that person with productivity and so so here's a classic example you have a person who is coping with everything going on by being productive because that productivity helps take their mind off of it right which is great however it becomes toxic when you're not ever checking in with the negative feelings right so when you're not ever checking in with the fact that you do feel depressed or that you do feel sad or that you are grieving or what-have-you you using productivity to erase that right so then what happens is all of that gets stored in the body and it stays there and the longer it stays there it becomes toxic stress then you have physical implications the longer that best thing is there so now you're in the hospital because you got headaches because you get stomach pains because of all this these other weird illnesses that come out of nowhere right because you never checked in with your heart you never checked in with your emotions you never checked in with your mental state in the name of productivity there social media is saying be productive be productive be productive so now you comparing your lack of productivity to what's happening in the world right I am not advocating don't be productive I'm saying have a balance that's all I'm saying so it's okay to have a day where you have to check in with yourself that is the work yeah that is working on your mental that's working on your emotional well-being that's the work or a day that you just want to go out for a jog or exercise or what have you that's still work and you need that right and at the same time God has put some gifts in us that we probably never read unwrap right and so now's the time to unwrap those gifts just Canales the time to put those gifts back I can serve the Lord's hand and watch God do the things that he's been trying to get you to do for quite some time and so yeah it's all of that but there there has to be a balance of it all because the reality is we are experiencing collective trauma we all are grieving and we can't ignore that for the sake of productivity we have to have a balance in both oh yeah that's awesome I mean I mean I hit it on the head like productivity is not is not always hands on doing something but sometimes for those of us you know who may have been workaholics or at a big busy schedule before all this happening like it may be productive for you to just sit down somewhere you know what I mean it kind of just it just doing nothing and you know the Bible says that God gives rest to those that he loves God gets sleep to those that he loves and I and I'm a witness that God really loves me because I'm a fine look you know unto me I'm gonna foster sleep but one thing that I've you know during this time that I'm so grateful of is you know being being able to live in the moment I think that's very predicted for all of us you know see my son I really like grow up in this in this stage that he's in and how he's very you know he's exploring he trying to eat on a walk and do all this stuff and so I probably would have missed all of this you know being bogged down with the everyday life but but God put us all on a sabbatical or as one rapper says that God put all of us on house arrest and so now we have no choice but to you know in me sometimes just kind of sit with our dogs and like hazel saying our self-care on being able to take care of that you know I think it was last Tuesday I was on Facebook a lot of looking at King David and second Samuel and how he you know he stayed home from work it was at a time where the king of the Gulf to war he didn't go up he didn't go to war he stayed at home but you know he got in trouble but because there is a difference between you know resting and being lazy learning how to discern between the two knowing that you know laziness is rest with no intention ality no purpose but when you rest you are trying to regain your strength to refresh yourself restore yourself so that you can go out and do some hands-on productivity with your work but I'm just you know I'm grateful that sometimes I think like man I really don't want this to to end like Sunday's I'm enjoying it like some time like man I really want to get some more stuff done like I want to read a book that is not on my you know syllabus like I really want to just like got a business stuff that I want to do and then those other days or is like man I really want to go to brew burger but but as we continue to kind of sit through this learning to learning to be productive as we rest and learn to be productive as we put our hands on something so that God can bless and then of course I love I love how how pastor close with this story of Noah you know after he put the he comes off the comes off the ark after all these days and the the Bible says that he builds an altar he builds an altar to worship and like you know Pasadena City Sunday like we always hear all these sermons about Noah Gooding an art but we never hear a sermon about Noah Gooding an altar you know what I mean and that really stuck with me and it's it's awesome to see that after all that he went through he knew to go thank God for forgot protecting and providing and covering him to all that mess but one thing I think is important for us to do not just worship when we know that the storm is over because we know it won't always be like this but worshipping in the midst of what we write not allowing the pandemic to stop our praise like that could be really a shouting tool right there phrase don't stop worshipping God in the mists of your worries because that is a that's laughable right there that's laughable you say but uh but no I think that's that's definitely you know I mean a tool in our toolbox you know me like that's how that's how we get to what we talk about all day like getting to the point we could be grateful for we have having a positive outlook on life learning how to praise and worship even in the midst of what we're going through when our surroundings may not be you know compatible forgotten for praise from us but we can still praise God in the midst of all of that as we as we kind of Lane is playing in a second hazel talked about the importance of praise I know for you you know when you deal with your clients crabs you can even use that as as therapy praising and worshiping God and so absolutely talk about that for a second yeah absolutely I mean anytime that you can reframe messages that are coming in that are not fruitful that are limiting and restrictive and praise and worship is a way to do that that is definitely one way to reframe those restrictive negative limiting binding messages that we either tell ourselves or that we pick up from other people right it is I know for me personally hearing you say that made me think of the time now this seminary experience has been no joke okay no joke when I know I'm not gonna go into the whole thing but Walter I walked away from everything based off a word from God and it's crazy folks thought I was crazy my family still don't understand it and now they're like oh you're graduating like yeah so is this is all of that it makes no sense and I had one of many moments where I literally was like I can't do this no more I'm done and I was really down and it's these moments by myself no one knows about it I'm sad I'm stressed I'm crying non-stop and I kid you not there there's a song that entire year that got me through Lord you are good Lord you've been good to me and he just repeats the same words over and over I kid you not I'm laying in my bed I'm praying and I'm really complaining to God about my situation I'm like this is some mess and I need you to do something like the stupid and that song came over me y'all kid you not through tears laying in my bed I am singing that song praising God to the point where my mindset changed and I kept singing it y'all I sang myself to sleep no lie yeah sing myself to sleep you me and it was the best sleep that night and I woke up so refreshed so rejuvenated so ready to get back out there and do this thing again and deal with the loss and deal with the sacrifices but with a new mindset of seeing what worship can do if I just turn it over back to God if I just praise him in the midst of my problems and so yeah like it is a powerful thing so find that song or songs that really get you stirred up in your spirit and just meditate on them a lot of times we've seen these songs because they sound good they got a nice beat to it or what-have-you but we're not paying attention to the words and so letting those words really get into the heart that can definitely change your mindset yeah brandy house house praise and worship helped you through I mean I can't really beat what hazel just said but I know that um for me I am I'm introverted we kind of talked about that last week and when I get up in the morning I live by myself I don't want to TV on I don't want anything I don't want any noise I you jealous J like no noise at all so like just sitting there and reflecting so praise looks different for everyone I can't sing but reflection for me is praise like I can sit there and thank God like literally looking out my window thank you God that you woke me up this morning thank you God I have coffee in my hand thank you that my rent is paid thank you that I have four tires on my car and they're getting the hard work thank you for the food that I'm gonna have for lunch thank you for my friends that check on me like just again going back to being grateful like your praise doesn't have to look like everyone else's pray so for me it comes out of recognizing what God has done for me and just saying God I appreciate you I appreciate you and I literally said that to God I was driving and I was just like man I didn't say man I was like God like I really appreciate everything that you've done for me and I love you for that and I think I just wants to hear from us and know that we love Him and that we appreciate him just like in any other relationship the scriptures say god inhabits the praises of our people obvious people so he lives in our praise and our worship and as we all go through this thing together you know making sure that our praise and our worship continues to be at a high level knowing like despite of what we going through the guy we start the god we serve is still good you know I mean we always say God is good all the time and all the time God is good like like that's real why are the Tom's may not necessarily be good but God is beyond time and God's character is consistent he's the same yesterday today and forever and because we believe that and we recognize that we should be able to give God praise regardless of what we go through so knowing that it won't always be like this you can praise God because of that even in the midst of it all and so I'm grateful I'm praising God for hazal omens and brandy Allen and for all of those who tuned in today on our YouTube life before we get out of here I want I want to ask the question you know as we kind of give you know people something that they can chew on and in hopes of applying to their life like how or where do we grow from here how do we grow from here like we listen to the sermon we digested it we met it's a donor we talked about it and I encourage you know I encourage our viewers and listeners to to do the same thing with your family and friends and your close loved ones like take a sermon you briefly talk about it meditate on and chew on it and then ask yourself well how do I grow from here like what is it about what what are some things from this sermon that I could take and my life applied to my life so that I continue to grow and mature in Christ Bernie let's start with you where where do we as believers the body of Christ we sell in through the storm won't always be like this what do we grow from here I think it has to go back to community we're not in this alone and we're not gonna come out of it alone so when the church door is open back up that's our call to get back in there and get connected I don't have family that lives here and I know that's the situation for a lot of people so my church becomes family my friends become family like I'm in Indianapolis alone but I'm not in it alone because I have friends in church who have become family and I can't wait to get back to to those people that I connect with those people through the church and when we talk about the importance of community the church is everything we are the body of Christ each of us play a very important part in the church because we have to we're all members of one body so just knowing that even though it may feel like you're in this alone you're not in it alone in the church is your family and that's you know whether we can go to church and worship together or do this for the rest of the year we're still in it together and we have to rely on each other and I know that checking on my friends who are family is the thing that's keeping me going it and vice versa so yeah it's good how about you hazel what are we year yeah what came from me is is this whole gift thing right so I was listening to Joe Sexton give a message at this recent years if conference and there's a in fake conference for women and she talked about how her kids do Christmas well and she said that her children have their family they have family on many continents right and so she was saying that her daughter's put together a PowerPoint presentation hop on Zoom with these families from these different continents and in the PowerPoint presentation her teenage daughters are presenting what they want there they're telling the family and all these different continents this is what I would like and then she said and they make it so easy because at the end of the presentation the family members get links to Amazon where everything that they talked about is right there so all that they have to do is just click it and so sure enough because her family is faithful to her daughters they send these gifts so on Christmas Day her daughters are ripping open the gifts really fast right and she said how sad would it be to see your child or to see a child on Christmas Day with a gift and leave it unwrapped how sad would that be and that's what we do in the body of Christ so during this time it's a great time to really search God what gift have you given me that I have not a wrap yet know what gift am i still keeping wrapped because I'm fearful or because I feel like I don't have enough or I'm not enough or whatever the case may be and lord help me to heal from those parts so that I can unwrap the gift because the gift that you have this unwrapped is harming the body of Christ because you're not using it so now the body of Christ can't operate in the way that God wants it to into Brandy's point in community with one another because some of us are sitting on unwrapped gifts oh please and so this is a great way a great time for us to grow knowing that it's not gonna always be this way and even in the midst of it with faith we can still produce whatever it is that God is calling us to produce praise law as as drink and future one said it ought to be alive alive to be a believer to love God to be connected to the church and to unwrap the gifts that God has given us and then to embrace the gifts that live in our home to give to a family community and friendship and so um I appreciate you offer try this again although we have again another week of technical difficulties maybe I don't know hopefully soon I can get you all with no technical difficulties at all okay you continue to push the conversation forward in the kingdom of God and thanks to all those who tuned in to to watch this evening we continue to appreciate your support and generosity over Eddie should start Church where Jesus is exalted and the word is explained make sure you tune in this Sunday for pastor Johnson this Mother's Day on Sunday so happy Mother's Day at all the mothers and hopefully you open up your gifts this this Sunday and get some love from your from your children and those that you've been motherly to so we want to say happy early Mother's Day to all the moms out there listening and make sure you tune in Sunday for pastor Johnson's message I'm sure it will be a blessing to you all um my name is pastor J I was with Hazel Owens and brain in brandy Allen and we'll see y'all soon peace out hey thank you

Channel: Eastern Star Church

Views: 467

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: eastern star church, indianapolis, indy church, indianapolis church, god, faith, hope, inspiration, motivation, jesus, love, christianity, bible study, christian podcast, christian conversations, it won't always be like this, change is coming, new normal

Id: nuz4BeCbqKM

Length: 57min 22sec (3442 seconds)

Published: Wed May 06 2020