September 26, 2021 | Against All Odds: Sam & Emmanuel Acho

[Music] [Applause] [Music] let praise be a weapon that conquers all anxiety let it let it rise [Music] we sing your name in the dark and it changes everything that's true we sing with god we claim your victory better [Music] feel [Music] god we praise [Applause] you we praise you [Applause] [Music] so let it rise [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] so i know that it may not be the easiest to just get into worship like jump into worship all the time i'm a singer and i love to sing and it's not always easy for me to just jump straight into worship i do understand but i also know that worship and praise it destroys fear and anxiety and depression and so i want you guys to just allow yourselves to just focus your mind and heart on god and just worship him with everything you have i don't know what situation you're walking in here with but i have a few things on my heart and mind and so i'm going to dedicate myself to focusing on the one and only because he's the only one that can change our situation he cannot he's he's the only one that can turn things around so i want to just give you a moment to focus your heart focus your mind center your heart just allow yourself to enter into worship this morning and lift praises to our god oh holy spirit [Music] come on [Music] here we go [Music] this is what heaven sounds like we praise you we praise you so this is what freedom feels like this is what heaven sounds like we've been raised this is what freedom feels like this is what heaven sounds [Music] this is what freedom feels like this is what heaven sounds like we praise you oh [Music] [Music] we'll [Music] our foreign [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh holy spirit have your way in this place [Music] come on you know this who my sin sing to the lord [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] and we say [Music] lord we sing [Music] [Music] [Music] oh oh [Music] right in this place [Music] is [Music] [Music] come on can we do that this morning [Music] come on [Music] oh [Music] bless [Music] we bless your name we cry [Music] is [Music] you say [Music] let me hear you [Music] is [Music] we're here for you we're leaving space for your holy spirit [Music] there's nothing worth more that will ever [Music] your presence [Music] [Music] the sweetest of loves when my heart becomes free and my shame is undone we believe we believe in your presence [Music] your glory god is [Music] [Music] is [Music] nothing can compare [Music] [Music] becomes free and my [Music] this place [Music] holy spirit [Music] your god is [Music] [Music] holy spirit would you take a minute and have a seat and take a look at this [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] who [Music] support let us feel you let's sing this together let us [Music] let us experience the glory of your goodness let us [Music] [Applause] [Music] let us [Music] [Applause] away [Music] the glory of your goodness [Applause] [Music] will be [Music] foreign [Music] come [Music] your glory god is what our heart is [Music] just speak to his holy spirit [Music] speak to his holy spirit always jesus ever jesus christ [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so [Music] break [Music] [Music] he is all i am [Music] [Music] yes you are is [Music] oh [Music] holy spirit holy spirit leaders speak to us wake our ears revive us [Music] leaning holding cleaning we trust you we fix our eyes on you yes we will [Music] come on [Music] i am is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i oh [Music] [Music] holy spirit [Music] come on [Music] [Music] [Music] holy spirit [Music] we fix our eyes on you jesus [Music] would you lead us would you speak to us guide us [Music] god all of it all of the situations whether good or bad how we lay them at your feet god and we cling to you we hold on to you we trust you god may these songs not just be lyrics that we sing on a sunday morning but will you help us to live these words live this truth out in our lives god we're here for you we're leaning on you be glorified in this place be lifted high jesus we love you it's in your name we pray amen amen come on let's go yeah give them all the praise the holy spirit yeah so good worshiping with you before you take a seat would you just greet someone at church today good morning church um that was some great worship this morning i know that was yeah that was definitely needed for my soul today so i am glad that you guys are here today if we have not had a chance to meet yet or today is your very first time that you are here i'm glad that you're here my name is sandy i'm one of the pastors who are on staff and for those of you who are tuning in online we are so glad that you joined us for worship this morning you know today at church we're calling it our football fiesta where we've got some fun football games and i heard that the churro truck just arrived outside so i'm excited there's still time for you to join us if you are at home come we'd love to celebrate with you after church you know my six-year-old this morning asked me when she heard she goes is today the churro day at church i said yes she goes this is awesome our church is awesome why are we doing this and i just thought it was so funny i had a chuckle i was like that's a great question nora we are doing all sorts of fun things after service this month because we want to create a space where we can feel connected and share in a time of community together so that is really our hope that we would just have some fun after service that you would meet some new people that you would feel like willow wheaton is your home family that you know people here and that you are welcomed and loved and invited and in fact if you feel like you haven't gotten connected to our church yet please stop by our uh guest info table right in the lobby we would love we've got a gift for you we would love to make sure that we know how we can best support you and your family and if you are tuning in online and you want to get connected we'd love to hear from you too you can just put a comment right below in the chat and we'll make sure that somebody reaches out to you you know over the past couple weeks i have met lots of new people at our church and it has been very exciting several people have joined our church over kovid they were looking for a place to learn more about god and grow in their relationship with him so they found us online and if that is you and maybe you're like i would like to know more about this church what is our church's history where are we going in the future we have a class designed just for you it starts in october on the 10th called welcome to willow and it is going to be for people who are brand new to our church or maybe you've been around for a really long time and you just want to learn more about us to sign up to attend our church visit willow creek or to sign up to attend our class visit willowcreek.org welcome this service the class is just a half an hour after each service on the 10th and we would love to help you learn more about what it means to be a part of our church how to take next steps how to grow in your relationship with god and get connected here in our community also last couple weeks i've gotten lots of questions about our new willow t-shirts and the truth is next sunday we are calling it free swag sunday because we have a free willow t-shirt for everybody who comes to church next weekend so you want to make sure that you are here and to help us expedite the church process or the t-shirt process i need everybody take out your phone and text the word swag s-w-a-g to the phone number 9-4-0-9-0 you'll just we'll just try to reserve the right size t-shirt for you so this will help us plan and organize so that we can make sure that we get you the right shirt that you need and um that you we know how many shirts to plan for so that would be very helpful for us again that's next sunday and also next sunday is our fall fest so we're going to have a petting zoo outside we're also going to have an inflatable we're going to have some yummy snacks we just want to have an opportunity for us to celebrate this fall run and really make sure that everybody feels connected and known here at our church because you guys are a great group of people and i want everybody to know you and to see how wonderful you are in fact one of my favorite things about you is how generous you are over the past several weeks because of those of you who faithfully tithe we have been able to partner with tons of churches across the globe and our ministry partners to be able to respond in crisis to those who are in need right now we were able to send a sizable check to our church partners who were affected by the hurricanes to haiti the earthquake even we were able to partner with some ministries in afghanistan to help meet the crisis that are happening there so thank you so much for those of you that came prepared to give today you can do so in the black box in the back of the room or if you want you can give online we have several ways that you can give online in fact maybe some of you today want to take the first step of uh being a part of our generous community you can do that by signing up on our website to give or you can even text in as well this tuesday night we are going to continue in our new prayer and worship experience at our ministry center it's at 6 30 p.m with pastor scott and his wife holly we would love for you to be a part of that you can also watch us on instagram at willowcreekwheaton.com scott and holly live stream that so if you're not actually able to make it to the ministry center you can tune in that way but we would love for you to be a part of it feels really good in the middle of the week just to pause and to pray and worship you never know what god's going to do or how he's going to meet you in that space well we are going to continue on today in our series against all odds and today's teachers i'm very excited about this are sam and emmanuel acho if you do not know them they are brothers and they are the sons of nigerian immigrant parents emmanuel is a number one new york times best-selling author and host and producer of the emmy award-winning series uncomfortable conversations with a black man he's also a sports emmy winner a fox sport analyst and a former nfl linebacker he holds a master's degree in sports psychology from the university of texas his brother sam is a 10-year nfl veteran a two-time walter payton man of the year sports finalist and an espn sports analyst he also is a graduate from the university of texas and he has earned a graduate degree from thunderbird school of global management while he was an active player in the nfl he is also the author of amazon's best-selling book let the world see you i am so excited to have you guys welcome with me sam and emmanuel acho as we continue in against all odds [Applause] there's fear on our tvs in our newspapers and in our feeds but fear is nothing new to god when we trust in him we can take down any giant no matter the odds he's ready to fight for us are we ready to let him this is um only my first time speaking in front of an audience since coving so bear with me let me just take it in for a moment um let me pray for us if i may father god i thank you i come to you right now just humbly i'm just honored to be able to be an administer of your word be thou glorified in this moment let hearts move as your word moves and speak and teach and let your love overwhelm us all in your name we pray amen you've got the thing my friend you've got the thing and coming from someone who had the thing and has the thing you my friend you have the thing july 9th 2020. those were the words oprah said to me i finished doing a conversation with oprah for apple tv after i started uncomfortable conversations with a black man i got a call from a no caller id number i've learned to pick up no caller id number calls i got a call from a no caller id number and i hear hi emmanuel oprah winfrey speaking i was like oprah you called it my phone um she's like oprah winfrey speaking i would um uh do you have a moment today she had seen my viral episode uncomfortable conversation with the black man i say do i have a moment does oprah have a moment um i end up facetiming her and we talk i do a conversation with her for apple tv after the conversation that is when she calls my phone i missed the call i highly recommend if oprah calls you all don't miss the call um so i missed the call and um she instantly calls me back and and that's when i pick up and she says you have the thing my friend you have the thing and coming from someone who had the thing that has the thing you my friend you have the thing so i'm thinking to myself well what is the thing um and so she said you have a gift an ability to speak to people and give them harsh truths but they still want to hear it so why am i here today i'm here today to tell you all that each of you have that gift that spiritual gift now there are three points which we'll talk about very very quickly you got to find it you have to develop it and then you got to use it first peter 4 10 it very simply says turn there if you will if not i'm going to read it anyway it very simply says if each has received a gift use it to serve one another as good stewards of god's varied grace whoever speaks is one who speaks oracles of god whoever serves is one who serves by the strength that god supplies in order that in everything god may be glorified through jesus christ to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever so what do we know based upon the text what we know based upon the text is that everyone here has a gift everyone listening everyone watching has a gift everyone has the thing but the kicker is the trick is in finding the thing so how in the world do you find the thing and i was thinking to myself how does one realize and recognize the gifts that the spirit has bestowed upon them well whenever i lose something it typically helps if i want to find it that i solicit help you ever lost your cell phone and you start asking your kids or your friends hey y'all help me find my cell phone it's the same thing i've learned with our gifts that the spirit has bestowed upon us is that oftentimes people will tell us and help us find our gifts see i don't really consider myself a great listener if you would ask my brother he would probably say i'm not a very good listener not even close not a question not quite um i don't consider i don't consider myself very empathetic if you were to ask my brother he would say i'm not very empathetic oh worse at empathy than he is at listening but for some reason people have told me like emmanuel what's what distinguishes you is your ability to listen it's your ability to feel that is how in the middle in the midst of so much chaos in our world i sat down and had a conversation an uncomfortable conversation and it ended up piercing the hearts and minds of so many it leads to oprah calling me because i had help in finding the thing and finding my thing in the same manner you all may need help at times and finding what are you gifted at what is it that you excel at more naturally than anybody else more supernaturally if you will than any body else now after you find it and and i will quickly just read one more passage before i move into really the bulk of the passage and helping yourself find it help identify what the different it's maybe first corinthians 12 4 through 11. now there are variety of gifts but the same spirit and the varieties of service but the same lord varieties of activities but it is the same god who empowers them all and everyone to each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good one is given through the spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same spirit to another faith by the same spirit to another gifts of healing by the one spirit to another the working of miracles to another the working of prophecy to another the ability to distinguish between spirits to another various kinds of tongues to another the ability to interpret tongues all these are empowered by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually you all have the thing you gotta find the thing but here's the secret here's the secret i'll tell you all a couple secrets don't tell anyone um finding it isn't enough the real key is in developing the thing because if you find something but you never developed it well what good does it do you to find it now i know pastor dave talked to you all about the story of david and goliath and i know for the most part everyone here has heard the story of david and goliath but if you turn to first samuel 17 i want to share some bits and pieces that you either may not have heard before you may not have looked at it that particular way because i'm going to pick up at first samuel 17 17. the reason i'm going to pick up there well i find it kind of ironic that in first samuel 17 17 the youngest of all the brothers he tries to act like he's the older brother he's the younger brother he tries to act like he's older the youngest of all the brothers ends up serving his older brother first samuel seventeen seven i'm out guys take for your brothers and f of this parts grain and take 10 loaves and carry them quickly to the camp for your brothers and take these 10 cheeses to the commander of their thousands see if your brothers are well and bring some token for them how come the younger brothers always got to help serve the older brothers i don't know i just find issue with that anyways um so in in first daniel 17 we know the story of david and goliath david was the youngest of the brothers and as you all know and if you all don't know david was a shepherd's boy he was a shepherd's boy he was the youngest and he tended to sheep but there's chaos going on in their society like there's so much chaos going on in our society so what does david do well david hears this macho man goliath philistine talking all of this noise if you will and he thinks to himself why are you talking so crazy does he not know that we are under the hand of the living god now again i want to focus on the part that was just so sweet to me when you get to first samuel 17 verse 33 david has now essentially convinced everyone to let him fight goliath david has convinced saul david after arguing with his oldest brother david had convinced other people to let him fight goliath so if you pick up in first samuel 17 33 this is where it gets so sweet and saul said to david you were not able to go against the philistine to fight with him for your buddy youth and he has been a man of war since his youth but david said to saul your servant used to keep sheep for his father and when there came a lion or bear and took a lamb from the flock i went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth and if he rose against me i caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him your servant has struck down both lions and bears and this uncircumcised philistine shall be like one of them for he has defied the armies of the living god think for a second david had the thing what was david's thing see david had a supernatural ability if you will with a sling and a slingshot but it's not just that he had the thing and he found his thing david developed his thing because david when no one was watching when he wasn't going to be made a hero had to deliver lamb out of the mouth of lions and out of the mouths of bears and so you all have your gifts but the the beauty is not necessarily in just finding your gifts but rather developing your gifts in the silence develop your gifts in silence because you all do not know when you are going to have to battle goliath see david had delivered sheep from the mouths of lions so he said if i slayed a lion what's the low goliath if sloth slayed a bear what's goliath going to do and and the trick is that he says in verse 37 the lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the philistine so david had the thing he found it but then he developed it and he developed it in quiet and he developed it in silence so again reminding you all first point you got to find it your gift your supernatural spiritual gift because we all have one then after you find it you have to it is imperative that you develop it but remember when you develop a gift you will likely develop it in silence quick tangent quick aside before oprah ever took notice of me and mind you before oprah ever called me academy award winner called matthew mcconaughey called me from another no caller id number um i'll just tell the story we have time y'all are family um i'm sitting i'm sitting in my breakfast table so again if y'all don't know i recorded a video called uncomfortable conversations with a black man i sit down uh after the murder of george floyd and i just answer questions in an all-white room within five days 25 million people had seen the video my whole life changes and so i'm sitting at this my dining room table in austin texas and i get a call from a no caller id number i pick it up ocho mcconaughey speaking i want to have a conversation i'm like what mcconaughey you want to have a conversation uh well i'm free in four days he says let's talk tomorrow mcconaughey wants to talk tomorrow we talk tomorrow i end up sitting down with matthew mcconaughey oprah sees that and that's why oprah calls me anyway i encourage you all pick up no caller id numbers unless it's the irs don't pick up no call right numbers um so anyway so what before all of that happened before uncomfortable conversations with the black man happens i tell that story i had been recording videos in the silence nobody ever gave me recognition for him i was just doing different things based upon different moments in our society that needed that had a need i tried to meet that need but it was developing my it my ability to listen my ability to speak it was developing my it in silence that led me to be able to battle the goliath of the moment the racial tension in our society so you have to find it you have to develop it but then lastly you got to use it after you find it and everybody in here has it after you find it and then you must develop it like david and the quiet and the silence you develop it when nobody's watching you have to use it because first samuel 17 48 and you all know the story and how it goes when the philistine arose and came and drew near to meet david david ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the philistine david put his hand in his bag took out a stone slung it and struck the philistine in his forehead the stone sank into his forehead and he fell on his face on the ground david found it david developed it in the quietness in the silence and lastly he used it but the beauty is once you find it and everyone in here who has it now be conscious and cognitive as you navigate the rest of this day you navigate the rest of this week you navigate the rest of your life you find it make sure you have and if you all haven't you do and if you have make sure now you go on to develop it your gift whatever it is make sure you go on to develop it maybe it's the gift of loving the gift of patience the gift of teaching the gift of prophesying the gift of listening the gift of caretaking because we all need each other's help in our society more now than ever i fervently believe that then lastly you gotta use it but why do you use it you don't just use it for yourself you use it because as david did a whole group a whole nation of people got victory so i will simply end by saying you've got the thing my friends you've got the thing and coming from someone who has the thing you my friends you all have the thing thank you i got some stuff for you today but what happens if you don't believe that you have the thing because stories like these sound great right emmy winner play in the nfl played for the bears all these different things right they sound great [Applause] but not everybody believes that they have the thing not everybody believes that they have the thing um going to my store y'all know me some of y'all know me i go to willow i go to the south lake campus shout out to my south lake members uh on the screen uh i live in chicago i played for the bears but two years ago after torn peck i got released by the bears got cut my dreams in a lot of ways were ended i just signed a multi-year multi-million dollar contract with my dream team chicago bears it was a team we were going to playoffs and all the things and all of a sudden i got injured and i don't know what to do my identity had been in what i thought was my thing and by the grace of god someone happened to be in town and that someone was the younger brother emmanuel lacho so we're sitting at a restaurant i'm i'm literally like a little bit distraught because like i said i just done everything i could do to earn this dream to live out this dream to go to the nfl to make it to the nfl to finally get a contract where i said man i belong this is my thing i made it i am here no one can touch me and then i got touched torn pec week three of the season against the tempe buccaneers out for the season soon there after i get released my brother happened to be in town we're sitting at a restaurant and i'm kind of just listening right he had been through his nfl journey though he's younger than me he played in the nfl he finished earlier than i did and he went to his tv career and i'm sitting like i don't know what to do i don't know what's next this is all that i thought that i had he looks at me he says sam you're so much bigger and better in the nfl he said you're the smartest person i know you don't need the nfl there's so much more for you in store than you could have ever imagined see i didn't believe that i had the thing but it took community took someone who knew me someone who was for me someone who was in my corner to remind me of who i was you can't do that alone see the thing about relationships think about love the thing about time together the thing about community is that it's a two-way street you see long before emanuel was ever in a two-time emmy winner yeah i got the mic second bro bruh long time before he was a two-time emmy award winner a long time before his uncomfortable conversations with a black man long time before oprah called or matthew mcconaughey called i was there yes that's right i was there yes yes yes yes i was there and i haven't told you this story but i believe it to be true and if you want to disagree we can turn off his mic we could turn off his mic right so i wrote a book i wrote a book called let the world see you how to be real and a world full of fakes before anybody even knew about this book emanuel knew about this book you knew about the idea about this book he knew about my pain my struggle this book about is about what it means to be seen to be known to be loved to be real to be authentic how do we let the world see us how do we let god see us and how that how does that relationship work and so i shared this idea with emmanuel and i started kind of processing processing and working on it i finished the book and before i said it to anyone i sent it to emmanuel i had him look over it okay danita i see some of my friends in the stage in the audience i had him look over it i had him read through it adam process it this idea of like taking your pain your struggle your doubts your fears the thing that you thought would break you down and saying you know i'm going to stand on these things because with god all things are possible like that story like not the pretty put together i did it all day no it's like i thought i was done but god i shared that story hey man you'll read it he said wow phenomenal book you're such a great writer big bro i love you so much uh he didn't say that part um he did but he didn't say that but what did happen soon thereafter after reading the book he said you know what i mean i need to have some uncomfortable conversation and i'm kind of joking a little bit but something came out inside of him like there was this call to do something more there's this call to say you know what like people might have said that i am uh you know whether it's a good listener or a bad listener empathetic not empathetic i'm too business-oriented or ever but i'm gonna start using the things that god gave me and not shunning or hiding or pretending or minimizing the gifts that are inside of me because like you heard in scripture like you heard from my brother we all have gifts but what he didn't emphasize was that we're supposed to use them for one another you see our gifts they're not just for us i'll say it again our gifts they're not for us whether we are brilliant in the business world whether we are you know pro athletes or speakers or a great caretakers or our gifts aren't for us our gifts are meant to serve one another but like you said sometimes if you don't know you have the thing you need people next to you people in your corner people who are kind of like in in the trenches with you to remind you of who you are you see bat see like we've always called him young hollywood right he moved to l.a doing his thing winning enemies but like since he's been a kid this is who he's been but there may have been times where he wanted to hide that or pretend or not be all who god caused him to be and so when things like that happen it causes me to ask why why would i not use all the things that god gave me why would i not go the places that god called me to go why would i not do the things he caused called me to do and oftentimes that why can come from a hurt from our past a hurt from our presence come from fear from doubt from shame from lies from the enemy we've all been there before all been there before and sometimes the only thing that can bring us out of that mire that dust that dirt is community genesis 1 26 27 then god said let us make man in our image and after our likeness as the bible says let us make man in our image and our likeness it says that god created them male and female he created them in in his image in his likeness genesis 2 17 it's not good for man to be alone it's not good for us to be alone god knew something he planned something he prepped something like we're in a day and an age in a society where we feel like we're supposed to do it alone we're supposed to build our brand and build our thing and take everything else away and just do it ourselves and god says no no no it's not good for you to be alone you are a church you are my church you are a people you are my people you are one body you see right after that that verse in first samuel when david slayed goliath chapter 17 well chapter 18 talks about a friend that david had in jonathan a friend the bible talks about uh this friend it says uh i'll even read it right here it says as soon as he finished this is david first samuel 18 1 as soon as he finished and saul jonathan excuse me son of saul their souls were knit together son of david david and the son of saul's souls were knit together right like so when you do these big things that you care about and you want to do or you have these big dreams you want to find a thing and develop a thing and use the thing you cannot do it alone especially when you've been through some dirt and lord knows as individuals as a body as a family we've been through it and we're going through it so my question for you my ask is how will you rise up against all odds how will you get out of that dirt that mud that mire and rise will it be with community or will it be by yourself will be with people who have been with you from the beginning people you're trying to come together and do life with will you come out of where you were before and come where you need to go and be who god called you to be or you sit alone hidden fearful of the future stuck in doubt shame anxiety and fear y'all know the verse well god didn't give us a spirit of fear second timothy 1 7 a spirit of power spirit of love and a sound mind i know the times where i get fearful and i love my brother more than almost anybody on this earth but the bible talks about friends that stay closer than a brother not all of us have siblings spouses even kids or parents but sometimes god gives us friends in my darkest times times were either like i talked about being injured being released times where i doubted myself doubted my abilities yes god gave me a brother and i'm so grateful for that but he also gave me friends friends like boomer who will challenge me to be the man that god called me to be friends like lucas who will see the best in me and call it out friends like steve who will pray for me when i don't have the words to pray for myself there have been times where i doubted like what god has me has for me i didn't know how to pray and my friends were praying for me and all of a sudden something's changed the spirit of god inside of me was lifted spirit that same spirit man you'll talk about it that spirit that spirit that spirit we are one body we are one church we are one family but we cannot do it alone number one we have to get up talk about finding it okay we found it we developed it but now we got to get up and use it what does getting up look like it means some of us we're at home right now it's been hard it's been coveted it's been so much doubt and fear and work and all these things it's time to get up it's time to show up the bible says man i was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord we need to change our minds about that let us go into the house of the lord number one get up number two find someone to do life with it's not easy like i got like like i call it my board of directors it's like five people those three names you you heard my dad who's up in this front stage and my wife that's my board my five people and all the good all the bad all the ugly all my fear shame doubt and frustration they know about it because i've seen the hurt and pain that's caused when i hide it and how that how that not only hurts me but hurts everyone right next to me and those around me when you hide when you pretend because he's right we all have it some of us are afraid to use it so i got with my board my friends my people i said hey this is me the worst this is the best do you still love me and they all said yes so okay we found it we developed it now let's use it let's use it together together together together you know when i uh obviously we're talking about this uh against all lives series i've heard about david goliath against allah's heard about even megan last week talking about what she's been through against allah it's even a manual story against all odds and oftentimes we think that our stories are supposed to be easy we think our story is supposed to be in a lot of ways like with all odds and god says if it was easy how could i show up if it was perfect how could i get the glory if you hadn't been through some stuff how can people know about me we shall overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony god's giving us a test so we can have a testimony god has given you a test so you can have a test timoni you can't have a testimony without a test you can't be against allah's if the odds aren't stacked up against you it's really really simple so like we need to kind of reframe our brains instead of thinking oh man this horrible thing happened and i can't believe we've been through this and i don't know what's gonna happen and say you know what god's going to use this for his glory and he's not going to do it alone he's going to use me and my brother and my sister and my family and my not related family and my church because we've been through some stuff but i cannot sit down i cannot go alone i have to go together i had a mentor of mine name is jerry he was my next-door neighbor when i lived in arizona playing with the cardinals and jerry got had cancer about 75 years old been married for 50 years had kids and grandkids business was thriving a brilliant man he got cancer jerry was gregarious and loving and kind and joyful and youthful then all of a sudden saw this message on facebook he's a follower of jesus he was asking for permission to go i'm sitting here like what do you mean like jerry like we've been praying for you we've been supporting you physically emotionally financially we've been there for you what do you mean permission to go so i pick up my phone i call him and this man who's usually gregarious and full of life he had probably about 20 percent of the strength left in his voice he said sam i'm ready to see jesus i've lived a long life i've been fighting for years i'm ready to go home and so i didn't really know exactly what to say so i just said hey man like i used to be i used to go to your house all the time we were next door neighbor so i'd sit and listen to you give me wisdom advice he's a lot like my dad in that way just a wise man say give me what you got any wisdom any advice anything give me what you got he said sam i've got two things for you these are the most important things i want you to know as i transition he said number one sam the most important thing you can do on this earth is to get to know jesus he said god takes no greater joy in you getting to know jesus said oh by the way it's a two-way street you will get no greater joy than you getting to know jesus take time to get to know jesus i even i was thinking about as we emanuel and i were prepping for this moment i was like man you want to come off the stage and be great and be excellent and change lives and i feel like the lord was like son if you don't know me none of that matters i don't care how many lives you change on tv espn or fox or emmys or whatever i was mad at him he's like yeah let's do a picture of my brother let's let's do an intro he's like let's do a picture of me playing football a picture of you playing football you know a picture of us in college you know all that kind of stuff picture me with my emmy and i was like come on bro you can just stun on me like that uh but but like all that doesn't matter if we don't know jesus he said the most important thing you can do on this earth is to get to know jesus then he paused pause waiting to hear like if that's number one number two better be good paused second thing that he told me that's what i'll tell you he said sam the second thing i want you to know he said you are worth getting to know never forget that you are worth getting to know those would be the last words i heard from my friend my mentor he would go on to slip into a coma and pass away and be with our lord those words that he share with me the words that i will share with you as i close you are worth getting to know the reason that god gave you the thing the reason that he's allowing you to develop the thing and to use the thing is that people need to see you we got to see you the time for hiding is far gone you are worth getting to know and so if there's ever a reason talking about the church right we're thinking about it yes it's a build yes we're in a building i get that but like this man is being the church at fox in l.a i'm being the church in new york in bristol connecticut with espn where are you going to be the church where are you going to let the world see you where are you going to show up and shine it's not just here yes come here get fed get filled but go out like we got to go out i'm trying to tell y'all like the church has changed times have changed we have to go out we have to come in get filled find it develop it use it all those things but then let the world see you let people see you let them see the god in you let them see the jesus inside of you by how you love by how you serve by how you give and by how you show up and so if there's anything i want you to remember as i close as we close and i'm going to pray yes get to know jesus but the truth is the fact is you are worth getting to know you hear me [Applause] you're worth getting to know god thank you so much for this time god thank you for this family god thank you for this church god thank you for giving me a brother god like emmanuel god who has led me in so many ways who has guided me been a god for me in so many ways thank you for giving me a brother god but also thank you that your word is true you say there is a friend that is closer than a brother god there are people here who don't have a brother or a sister or a parent but god i pray that you would give us a friend who is closer than a brother god i pray that we would do life together with this brother with this sister god with this friend god i pray that we would overcome against allah we would that we would run against the wind god that we would go with you almost like like like gideon went into battle he had he said god said you got 300 and i will give you victory god help us not to think that we have to get all these warriors get all our ducks in a row and figure it all out have the right call god help us to know that with you all things are possible help us to get to know you jesus help us to take the time to get to know you jesus not to overlook it not to brush by it or to rush past it but help us also to remember lord that we are worth getting to know you want to know us you want to see us it's like adam in the garden where are you stop hiding where are you my son my daughter where are you awaken us god to the truth that we are worth getting to know amen well what a great message for today to kick us off on our football fiesta so here's a few fun things to know about what's going on outside the first is the churro truck is here and those are free so please help yourself and then if you want to challenge pastor scott to our football kick extra point game that is on the football field chad is already out there and we have some really fun prizes so we hope that you'll stick around because you are worth getting to know and also if you need prayer we've got some somebody from our prayer team alicia will be down front and then the last thing i want to tell you about is if you would like to purchase sam or emmanuel's book there is a qr code in the lobby that will help you find it right online okay blessings guys have a great day see you outside [Music] you

Channel: Willow Creek Wheaton

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Id: Im3MbO9ngks

Length: 75min 33sec (4533 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021