WEBVTT - This Doesn't Make Sense (Dustin Stradley) 0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:04.600 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.120 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.440 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.479 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:18.040 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:21.040 My name is Dustin Stradley and I'm the campus pastor 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:25.040 of Elevation Church in rowing Up, Virginia, and I have 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:28.040 the great honor and privilege of sharing the Word of 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:30.800 God today. And I think Pastor Stephen for this opportunity. 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:33.800 In fact, he wrote me a handwritten letter this past 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.120 week just telling me that he believed in me and 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:38.479 that he loves me. And that's the same pastor that 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:40.519 we get to see pour his heart out on this 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:46.400 stage every single weekend. He's the same man off the stage. 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:48.559 But if I can share with you real quick, as 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:52.480 we were singing that last song thinking about God moving mountains, 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.640 we were not just singing lyrics and going through the 0:00:56.680 --> 0:01:00.240 motions of singing another song, but I started to think 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.920 about the mountains that God has moved in my life 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.319 even over the past couple of weeks. What it took 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:13.080 for me to get here to this stage today. It 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:17.120 wasn't any big life circumstance or anything that happened, but 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:19.399 the battles that I faced over the past couple of weeks, 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:24.840 the resistance that I faced to get here today. It 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:26.480 wasn't a battle in front of me or a battle 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.200 around me. It was a battle inside of me. And 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.520 oftentimes those are the hardest battles to fight. But I 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.560 thought about what Pastor preached last weekend as he was 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:38.680 laying right here on this stage, and he said, if 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:41.319 the battle is too big for you, it's not yours. 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:48.760 The battle is the Lord's. And on Wednesday, I was 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:51.920 laying face down on a couch in tears and infrustration, 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:56.120 just all of these insecurities in my mind, just out 0:01:56.160 --> 0:02:00.320 of control. But in that moment, I vividly remember that 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:05.120 picture of surrender the Pastor Stevens showed us last weekend, 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:07.800 and that our battles are not gonna be won by 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:09.640 fighting and working as hard as we can in our 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:13.080 own effort, but it's gonna come through surrender. It's gonna 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.320 come through worship. And that's what I've been hearing today already. 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.600 It's people who came ready to surrender people who came 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:24.560 ready to worship. That's how we see victory. That's how 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:30.520 we fight our battles. And it's an honor to continue 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:32.160 in the flow today to see what God wants to 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:34.200 speak through me. I have nothing to lose at this point. 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:36.880 At this point, I'm here and I'm ready to open 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.720 my mouth and allow God to speak through me into you. 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:43.680 I feel like I am here on an assignment, but 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.240 I believe that you are also here on an assignment. 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:48.560 And if you open your heart and open your mind, 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:52.639 God's gonna deposit into you exactly what you need. So Valentine, 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:54.600 I need you to help me welcome all of our locations, 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:59.280 all of our campuses, tuning in Blakeney Campus, Lake Norman. 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:07.800 You see my favorite campus, Roanoke, Virginia. It's my family 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:10.959 are E fam tuning in online in living rooms, coffee 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:12.840 shops around the world. It's amazing what we get to 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:14.639 be a part of. I hope that we never take 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:16.560 that for granted. But I want to go ahead and 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:18.560 dive into the Word of God. Thank you, choir. Were 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:25.799 they not incredible? By the way. I believe that wherever 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:27.720 you are, God's going to speak something into you today, 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:30.440 we're going to dive into the Book of Luke chapter five. 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:32.280 If you have your Bible, you can pull it out. 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:35.160 If not, you can cheat off your neighbor. I don't 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:37.520 condone cheating in school, but you can cheat off your 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:40.120 neighbor in this instance, I'm gonna dive in right now. 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:43.080 So one day, as Jesus was standing by the lake 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:45.840 of Gannessera, the people were crowding around him and listening 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:48.280 to the word of God. He sow at the water's 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:51.880 edge two boats left there by fishermen who were washing 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.360 their nets. He got into one of the boats, the 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:57.280 one belonging to Simon, also known as Peter, and asked 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.800 him to put out a little from the shore. Then 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:03.360 sat down and taught the people from the boat. When 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:05.440 he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:08.400 into deep water let down the nets for a catch. 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:13.160 Simon answered, but, Master, we've worked hard all night and 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:19.320 haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:24.320 elbow your neighbor. And said, because he said so, I 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:29.880 will let down the nets. And when they had done so, 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:31.840 they caught such a large number of fish that their 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:34.960 nets begin to break. I love the word of God, 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.640 he is so faithful. So they signaled their partners in 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:39.840 the other boat to come and help them, and they 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:42.400 came and filled both boats so full that they begin 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.320 to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:49.000 Jesus's knees and said, go away from me. Lord, I 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:52.160 am a sinful man. For he and all his companions 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:54.960 were astonished at the catch a fish they had taken, 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:57.800 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:02.320 Simon's partners. Then Jesus set to assignmon, don't be afraid. 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:06.640 From now on you will fish for people. You will 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.640 fish for people. So they pulled their boats up on shore, 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:13.720 left everything and followed him. I need you to turn 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:15.880 to your neighbor and look at them with the most 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.679 confused look on your face, and help announce my titles. 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:24.680 Say this doesn't make sense. Now turn to your second option, 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:28.200 not going to get into why, with a confused look 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:33.839 on your face, and say this doesn't make sense. Jesus, 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.320 we are honored to be in your presence. It doesn't 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:39.920 make sense God that you would choose someone like us. 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:44.159 It doesn't make sense God that you would send your 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.800 son into this world for our freedom God. But we're 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:50.279 thankful you did. We're thankful that we get to be 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:54.760 in your presence to send Jesus name that everybody said, amen, 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:58.680 you can go ahead and take a seat. I'm just 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:02.280 learning in life that there are many things that don't 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:06.520 make sense. Mattie and I have been married for three 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:13.600 hundred and thirty eight days, twenty two hours, thirty seven minutes, 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:18.039 fourteen seconds, but who's counting? And I remember last July 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.719 when I saw this beautiful woman of God coming down 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:23.600 the aisle, and this white boy jumped as high as 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:27.200 he could jump, which is not too high, and yelled Hallelujah, 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:31.000 true story as she was coming down the aisle. Because 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:34.200 in my mind, it did not make sense that a 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:41.479 woman like this, a thoughtful, encouraging, intentional, anointed, empathetic woman 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:46.080 of God like this, would want to marry someone like me, 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:49.720 with all of my issues and all of my imperfections. 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:53.960 And four months into marriage, we were having coffee one 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:57.640 morning and Maddie said, hey, Babe, I've been listening to 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.560 this new album. I think you'd really like it. I said, oh, yeah, 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:04.559 who's it? Bye? And she said, sir, mix a lot. 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:08.440 I said, like, sir, Mix a Lot from the eighties 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:11.760 nineties rapper producer Sir mix a Lot. She said yeah, 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:14.480 I said, babe, I didn't know you rolled like that. 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:19.040 That's amazing. Like, what's the name of this album? She said, Well, 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:22.080 you were singing it all night last night. It's called 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:26.440 Sir Snores a Lot. Now, my wife can call me 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.640 whatever she wants. But with all of my habits and 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.080 all of my annoyances, like she wants to be married 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.120 to someone like me, doesn't make sense. There's something else 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:40.200 that doesn't make sense. Mathematics. I hated math growing up, 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:43.360 still do to this day. In college, I had a 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:48.120 full semester of math classes except for one class. That semester, 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:52.200 I got a zero point four GPA. The only reason 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:55.080 I didn't completely fail was because I had volleyball and 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:59.400 that resurrected my GPA slightly. The following semester improved. I 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.920 got a zero point five GPA. Almost flunked out of college. 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:05.679 But my dad, who is six foot for two hundred 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:09.960 and seventy pound country boy from Thomasville, North Carolina, where 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:13.160 I grew up, he's brilliant when it comes to math. 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.200 So we would sit down at the dinner table, and 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:21.040 he would teach me long division, mathematics, you know, one 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:25.080 oh one, multiplication and all the things. And I remember 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:27.280 my dad just telling me like, hey boy, man, if 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:28.800 you just take this and you can divide that number 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:30.400 right there, boy, and you carry the two over here, 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:32.120 and you just add sixteen right there, boy. You know, 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:37.880 take that right there. If you meet my dad, it's 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:41.480 exactly what it sounds like. And I said, Dad, this 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:44.640 does not make sense. Shut up, boy. It doesn't have 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:50.720 to make sense to work. And I realized more and 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.600 more that it doesn't have to make sense to work. 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.079 That's what I love about our church is unashamed when 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:59.520 we talk about tithing. It doesn't make sense for me 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:02.199 to take my heart earned money and just bring it 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.600 and give it back to God. But God said, when 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:06.840 we trust him with what he's placed in our hands, 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:10.760 that he will open the floodgates far beyond anything we 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:14.280 can imagine. It doesn't have to make sense to work. 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:19.000 And obeying God's word doesn't always make sense, but it 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:23.400 always works. And as I was looking at this passage, 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:27.920 there's so many things about Peter, and specifically in this 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:32.840 story that just don't make sense. Like Peter, who is 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:38.480 a pro fisherman and doesn't catch any fish at all. 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:44.960 Peter bro You've got one job. This is all you 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:48.920 do to provide for your family and catch the fish. 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:53.000 It didn't make sense for Peter. He was fishing all 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:57.880 night long, couldn't catch a thing. And how many of 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:01.040 you have been working so hard in this season yet 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:04.520 it's still not working. You're going to the gym six 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:10.120 days a week, sugar free, gluten free, dairy free, all 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:13.720 the freeze, yet you still don't have a six pack, 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:19.640 while Philip here eats McDonald's all day long, drinks Coca 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:23.960 Cola and has a twelve pack. Doesn't make sense. Not 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:31.240 bitter about it. Promise you've applied for twenty jobs over 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:36.160 the past two months, yet you're still unemployed. Doesn't make sense. God, 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:39.320 I'm pouring everything I have into my kids, yet they're 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:45.440 still running wild. Doesn't make sense. It also didn't make 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:50.199 sense that Jesus shows up after Peter had been fishing 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:54.400 all night, didn't catch a thing, tells him to throw 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:58.160 the nets right back into the same empty waters that 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:02.679 he had been fishing in out. Peter responded very politely, 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:06.480 very honoring, very obedient. I would like to think that 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:10.600 I would do the same, but maybe not like Jesus. 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:15.120 Bro You're really good at what you do, the whole 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:19.600 healing thing, changing the world. It's amazing. But stay in 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:24.400 your lane. I'm good at this fishing thing. I've been 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:26.480 fishing these waters all night long and there's nothing in 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:30.560 the water. But then he responded, and he said, but 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:36.080 because you say so, I will. And then Peter began 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:39.120 to pull in so many fish that the nets begin 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.640 to break, the boats begin to sink. Come on, boys, 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:45.080 we don't even have enough room in our boats. So 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.480 much blessing, more than he even thought possible. It was 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:55.000 Peter's obedience that prompted God's provision. Breakthrough is always on 0:11:55.040 --> 0:12:02.120 the other side of obedience, but obeying God's word it 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:06.320 doesn't always make sense, but it always works. And there's 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:11.600 something interesting about Peter that also didn't make sense. It 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:15.400 doesn't make sense that Jesus would choose someone like Peter 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:22.199 to be his right hand man, his disciple. Peter doesn't 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:27.040 have a religious background. He's an interesting guy and maybe 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.200 a little bit all over the place. And I feel 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:31.440 like I'll relate to Peter in some ways. But it 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:36.040 doesn't make sense that God would choose someone like Peter. 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:39.280 And as we look at Peter's life, I think that 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:42.240 you're gonna find yourself saying some of the same things 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.080 that Peter might be saying. You and I both it 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:49.880 doesn't make sense that God would choose someone like you 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.679 or choose someone like me. And so I want to 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:55.600 go through a few things from the life of Peter 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:57.440 that I think that you and I are both going 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:00.400 to connect with if you're honest with yourself, because first, 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.280 it doesn't make sense for God to choose you because 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:08.439 of your failures. Because of your failures, I want you 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:13.079 to write that down, Peter said, Master, We've been working 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:19.360 our butts off all night long, haven't caught a thing. 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:23.839 Peter was staring at failure. It would have made more 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:27.680 sense for Jesus to choose someone who is actually good 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:31.160 at their job. I mean, if I'm an NBA scout 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:34.920 for the Charlotte Hornets, probably gonna pick the guy who's 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:38.800 making the shots. If you're not making any shots, not 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.600 gonna pick you. It would have made more sense for 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.960 Jesus to choose someone who was succeeding. In this moment, 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:49.920 and Peter was standing in the middle of an empty 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:56.680 boat looking at failure. The empty boat to Peter represented failure, 0:13:57.400 --> 0:13:59.240 and many of you in this season, you're standing in 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:02.560 the midst of a failure. Three weeks ago, you lost 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:05.559 your job. You have no idea how you're going to 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:09.040 provide for your family. You failed that class. You don't 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:10.679 even know if you're going to graduate now. And now 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:12.360 you're telling yourself you're so dumb and you don't know 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.720 if you'll ever amount to anything. You felt someone that 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:18.160 you love so much, You felt at that opportunity that 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:21.640 was given to you. Your failures, the failures that we 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:23.320 have in our life. It doesn't make sense that God 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:27.080 could use someone like us because of our failures. A 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:29.600 couple of months ago, Maddie and I and now that 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:31.360 we're married, I'm going to share lots of stories from 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:34.200 my marriage. Are you good with that? Good? Because I'm 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:38.560 going too. But we were at the dinner table. It 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.120 was one night after we had had a long week, 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:43.480 a lot of travel that week, a lot of events, 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:47.160 and we were tired. And this is our designated date 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:50.360 night d d N. Just made that up and we 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:54.280 were gonna we were gonna have some good conversation and 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:57.600 just you know, look into each other's eyes and express 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:00.680 our love for one another. And but I happened to 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:04.720 have my phone out at this date night, And don't 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:09.880 judge me, like you have these little sit down dinners 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:13.040 with your family technology free. Maybe you do, but we didn't. 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:17.120 So I'm on my phone answering a couple of emails, 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:20.200 answering a couple of text messages. Then I end up 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.760 mindlessly scrolling on Facebook, just telling someone happy birthday that 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.320 I haven't seen in fifteen years, very important things. Then 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:31.280 Mattie just so gently and encouragingly I don't even know 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:34.040 if that's a word, just slid her hand over and 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:37.200 placed it on mine and said, hey, babe, is that urgent? 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:40.560 Because I would love just to have a date night 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:44.840 right now. And I got so defensive in that moment. 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:47.600 I'm not proud of how I responded. I got a 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:49.800 little bit upset. I said, well, if you need kind 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:53.920 of pressure, you know, going through now, I just she said, yeah, 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:56.160 but were you not just like on Facebook as I 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:58.360 gotta go. Yeah, but you know, I had to respond 0:15:58.400 --> 0:15:59.920 to this message I got. I tried to even just 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:04.080 I'm just making stuff up at that point, and in 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:08.240 that moment, what she didn't realize is that I already 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:13.080 felt like a failure as a pastor, as a leader, 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:17.640 and now I feel like I'm failing her as her husband. 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.640 It's nothing she did. I chose to feel that way. 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.440 But we all have these moments where we're standing in 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:28.480 an empty boat, like Peter, looking at her failure, trying 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:33.160 to make sense of it all. But because Peter's boat 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:38.600 was empty, there was just enough room for Jesus to 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:43.560 step in. If Peter had a full boat, there wouldn't 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:47.720 have been any room for Jesus to step in. And 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:49.840 if you've got some space in your life right now, 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:53.200 some emptiness that you're looking at, some dreams that have died, 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:57.320 some expectations that didn't align with your experience, maybe there's 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:01.240 just enough space in your life for God to step in. 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:05.119 Maybe you're exactly where God needs you for you to 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.040 rely on him. But I know for me, I like 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:10.919 to fill my boat up with all kinds of stuff, busyness. 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.160 I like to put busyness in my boat. We all 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:15.280 have our boats filled up so many times, the money 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:18.520 and success and likes and follows and accolades, and our 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:20.680 boats are so full that we don't even have room 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.320 for God. But I wonder if that empty boat represents 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:27.040 that maybe God can step in and do something for you. 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:28.840 But even then, I still like to come up with 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:30.960 these excuses on why God can't use me because of 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:37.040 my failures. But not only my failures. It's my imperfections, imperfections. 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:41.359 I want you to write that down. See Peter, he 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:45.960 had many imperfections. He was a highly emotional guy. At 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:51.679 one point, Peter's bitterly crying. At another point, Peter's passionately 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:54.800 jumping up and down, cutting people's ears off. And even 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:57.400 Jesus is like, yo, calm down, Peter, let us put 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:01.120 that back on. Man little out of control. Oh, Peter 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:03.439 was all over the place, constantly putting his foot in 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:08.680 his mouth. And we all have things about ourselfs, these weaknesses, 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:11.280 these imperfections. We don't like the way that we look, 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:13.560 we don't like the way that we talk, we don't 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:16.320 like these gifts or those strengths. But we all have 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:19.359 these things. And I know that oftentimes for me, my 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:23.320 imperfections are magnified the most when I'm scrolling and looking 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:27.320 at everyone else's perfect life, or, as Pastor Stephen would 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:30.879 brilliantly say, I'm comparing my behind the scenes to everyone 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:35.880 else's highlight reel, and we think that God only sees 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:41.360 our imperfections, even Moses. God calls Moses to deliver the Israelites, 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:43.040 but Moses is like, no, no no, no, God, you can't 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:46.040 use someone like me. I can't speak well, I've got 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:52.080 a speech impediment. God, my perfections. God, you can't use 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:54.639 someone like me. But God said, no, I want to 0:18:54.720 --> 0:19:00.520 use exactly someone like you, Moses. God doesn't see your imperfections. 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:04.840 He sees pasture imperfections into who he created you to be. 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:09.159 God created you and his image, his perfect image. He 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:11.560 sees you through the lens of grace, He sees you 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:14.360 through the lens of love. He sees you for who 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:18.600 you are, created by Him. But I still tell myself, 0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:22.480 but you still can't use me because of my imperfections. 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:26.760 But if it's not my imperfections, it's my sin, my sin. 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:31.680 I want you to write that down because in verse eight, 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:36.760 Peter responded, after he saw this miraculous catch of fish, 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:39.639 he fell at Jesus' knees and he said, go away 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:45.440 from me, Lord, I am a sinful man. What did 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:49.600 Peter do that was so horrible that he turned his 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:53.119 head in shame. What sin did he have in his 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.399 life that he didn't feel worthy to be in the 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:59.760 presence of God? Because sin will either make us run 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:05.159 to word shame or run towards salvation. And sometimes we 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:08.000 think our sin is so much bigger than the person 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:10.439 sitting next to us on our road right now. And 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:12.920 if they knew what I did, and if they knew 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:14.520 the kind of things that I thought about, what would 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:16.760 they think of me? Or what would they say about me? 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:21.080 Or if God knew? Well, God does know, and he 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:25.359 loves you. Anyway, Jesus came for the very reason that 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:28.600 he knew we all would sin and fall short of 0:20:28.640 --> 0:20:31.000 the glory of God. But he died of death that 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:33.280 you and I should have died. Then he rose again 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:35.840 so that you and I could be set free from 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:42.680 our sin. But I still justify why my sin disqualifies 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:46.680 me from being used by someone like God. Peter said, 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:49.520 turn away from me, Lord, my sin is too bad. 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:53.840 You can't use someone like me. But if it's not 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:59.159 my sin, it's my history, my history. I want you 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:05.040 to write that down. Peter had an interesting history. Peter 0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:09.000 at one point said that he wouldn't deny Jesus, but 0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:12.000 then he denied him three times. Then he broke down 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:14.640 and he felt bad about it. Then at one point 0:21:14.960 --> 0:21:18.600 Jesus looks at Peter and says, get behind me, Satan, 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:21.879 you're being a distraction. I mean, if God said that 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:25.119 to me, I'd be like, oh, snap, does that disqualify? 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:28.040 Am I done? Here? Like I think I'm fired from 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:30.160 the job. I don't think you can use me at 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:35.600 this point. And we all have a history experiences, we're 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:39.920 all predisposed as well. And I wonder for even Peter 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:44.680 what was passed down to him from previous generations. Maybe 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:48.280 your grandfather struggled with alcoholism, Therefore your father struggled with alcoholism, 0:21:48.320 --> 0:21:51.159 and now you're destined in your mind to struggle with alcoholism. 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:54.520 There's no other way. The history says that's the way 0:21:54.560 --> 0:21:57.880 it's got to be. Or your grandmother struggled with abuse, 0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:00.960 and now your mother struggled with abuse. So now you're 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:02.800 trying to figure out who you are in the midst 0:22:02.840 --> 0:22:04.720 of this cycle and can you break the cycle? And 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:08.959 is this what your history has determined for you as well? 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:12.199 Or maybe you're just you're cynical because everyone around you 0:22:12.240 --> 0:22:13.840 is cynical, and that's the history, and that's what it's 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:15.560 always looked like, and that's what it's always been like. 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:17.840 And maybe you're criticizing all of these other people not 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:20.080 because of anything that's wrong with them, but really you're 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:24.200 just not pleased with yourself. We all have a history, 0:22:24.440 --> 0:22:29.000 a background, experiences things that we disqualify ourselves to be 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:33.720 used by God. A few years ago, before Maddie and 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:38.720 I met one another, I was in another relationship and 0:22:39.600 --> 0:22:46.480 we got engaged, and this was obviously a significant decision 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:50.959 for anyone in life to commit to something for a 0:22:51.040 --> 0:22:56.600 lifelong journey. And from the outside, we had this picture 0:22:56.600 --> 0:23:00.560 perfect relationship where everyone would think to themselves it together, 0:23:01.560 --> 0:23:05.560 but on the inside not so much. And I don't 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:07.919 know about you, but how many of you realized just 0:23:07.920 --> 0:23:11.600 because someone has it together on the outside doesn't mean 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:15.200 they have it together on the inside. And I'm pretty 0:23:15.200 --> 0:23:19.240 good at putting a game face on and projecting outwardly confidence, 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:21.280 and yeah, man, you look like you have it together, 0:23:21.840 --> 0:23:27.400 only if you knew the battles I fight, the insecurities 0:23:27.440 --> 0:23:30.440 I wrestle with. And I remember waking up on a 0:23:30.480 --> 0:23:37.040 Thursday morning coming to this realization that this engagement was 0:23:37.080 --> 0:23:42.360 coming to an end, and nothing bad happened or immoral happened, 0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:45.639 but we realized that as hard as we tried to 0:23:45.640 --> 0:23:49.199 make this thing work, it wasn't gonna work, and we 0:23:49.240 --> 0:23:52.280 needed to go our separate ways. And I remember that 0:23:52.359 --> 0:23:54.520 day so vividly because I was driving a box truck 0:23:54.520 --> 0:23:56.840 from North Carolina to Virginia. I was I was taking 0:23:56.880 --> 0:24:01.240 some church supplies back to Roanoke. And as I'm driving 0:24:01.240 --> 0:24:06.960 that box truck, I just had this rage and this frustration, 0:24:07.680 --> 0:24:09.760 and I'm sitting in the front seat driving and I 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:13.720 just started to sob uncontrollably and to the point that 0:24:13.720 --> 0:24:15.639 I could barely even see the road anymore. And I 0:24:15.640 --> 0:24:18.760 pulled over into this abandoned parking lot and I set 0:24:18.760 --> 0:24:21.080