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Christ Our Courage | Dr. Crawford Loritts | Message — Transcript

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0:01You guys doing all right?
0:03>> There you go. I know every dad next week
0:05will bring will be at the second
0:07service, won't you?
0:09>> Well, good to be with you. My wife told
0:11me the first thing I need to say is to
0:13tell you hello from her. So, if you meet
0:17Karen, tell her I was obedient. And uh
0:20yeah, we uh we got married. We're still
0:22at we were still in college. I'm going
0:24tell a little story about that in a
0:25second. But uh she's the absolute joy of
0:27my life. Next month we will celebrate
0:29our 55th wedding anniversary. Yep.
0:35As I say, she deserves combat pay for
0:38being married to me that long. But she
0:40is amazing. We met we met in in college.
0:43Um uh the summer between my freshman and
0:46sophomore year, about two weeks before I
0:48came back on campus, my high school
0:50sweetheart kicked me to the curb. Can
0:52you imagine somebody getting rid of all
0:54of this? Yeah. He said, "Yeah, I can I I
0:57can see that."
0:59So, this is a true story. I came back on
1:01campus the first day back on campus for
1:03that semester. I was in my dorm room
1:05praying and I said, "God, no more women.
1:07They'll jack you up every time." And uh
1:11I said, "I'm hurting and and I'm not
1:13going to date anybody this semester. You
1:15and me, Jesus. I'm going to focus on my
1:17studies. I'm not going to be distracted
1:19or deterred or disrupted in any way.
1:22Stay focused, Crawford." And uh people
1:25who know me know when my mind's made up,
1:27I can be fairly focused. So I uh left my
1:30dorm room and I was walking down the
1:31street going over this deep-seated
1:33stalwart single-minded commitment to
1:35Jesus. Keep funnel funnel vision here
1:38and don't don't be distracted. I get to
1:40this building on campus and I open the
1:43door and I see somebody that I had never
1:45seen before on campus. And and I don't
1:48know what happened, but I was healed
1:50instantly.
1:52It's like divine healing, Jack. And uh
1:56so my mama taught me to be hospitable to
1:59strangers. And so she was new on campus
2:01and I said, "Hello, my name is Crawford
2:02Litch." She said, "What's your name?"
2:03"My name is Karen Williams." I said,
2:05"Well, you know, I've been assigned to
2:06be your tour guide." So
2:10yeah, I've been showing her around for
2:1255. She's been showing me around for 55
2:15years. Yeah. I'm going to get something
2:16out of the way. Anybody here sleepy,
2:18tired? Tell the truth. Long week.
2:19Anybody sleepy? Y'all ain't telling the
2:22truth. I know church folks here. Okay.
2:24All right. Well, here's the deal. If
2:26you're sleepy, I want to encourage you
2:27to go ahead and go to sleep. I slept on
2:30the best of them. So, what goes around
2:31comes around. All right. But here's the
2:34deal.
2:35Don't fight sleeping. Okay? I can see
2:38far more than you think I can see. And
2:40it's not a good look if you're fighting
2:42sleep. It's downright ugly. So, you
2:45know, don't do like this.
2:48That's distracting. Just go ahead and go
2:50to sleep. Okay.
2:52And the other one, don't do one of these
2:54numbers. This is the Christian lying
2:56thing here. Uh don't pretending as if
2:58you're reading or praying. Now, we got
3:01character issues. That's lying. So,
3:02don't don't don't sin. Just go ahead and
3:04go to sleep. Y'all, you can come up here
3:06and lay down right around here if you
3:08want to. That's uh that's okay. That's
3:11okay. Well, if you have a Bible or
3:13device or an extraordinary memory, turn
3:16with me to Philippians chapter 4 and
3:18just leave it open there for a while.
3:23Holy Father, we bow before you and uh
3:26I'm acutely aware of the fact that
3:27nobody came here to hear my
3:29miscellaneous ramblings about anything.
3:33God, we can't make it without a word
3:35from you. And father, I pray in the name
3:37of your son that you will speak to our
3:39hearts.
3:41I pray that I will not say anything that
3:43would be unduly distracting. I pray Lord
3:45Jesus that what you have to say will
3:48burn with holy delight into our hearts
3:50and to our minds. Give us what we need.
3:54God, I don't I'm not sovereign. I'm not
3:56omnisient. I don't know the stress,
3:58struggle, and strain that some have
4:00walked in here under and what heartache
4:02and burdens that they're carrying. But
4:05we know that you are the great deliverer
4:06and the great burden bearer. So Jesus,
4:09speak Lord. take us to where you want us
4:12to be in Jesus name. Amen.
4:16>> When I'm discouraged or uh feeling the
4:20weight or stress or disappointment or
4:23that kind of thing, you know, you open
4:25your inbox on Monday morning as a pastor
4:27and you thought you preached a great
4:28message and these people blow you up.
4:30So, I ain't saying that ever happens to
4:32your pastor. He's probably more
4:34consistent than I am. But uh when the
4:37wind gets knocked out of me, I have a
4:39tendency to lean toward the book of
4:41Philippians. And the reason why I do
4:43that is because of the reason why the
4:45book was written. The the the context,
4:48the historical context of the book. Uh
4:51whenever you study a Bible, dig a little
4:53deeper because what is said uh takes on
4:57more of a potency when you realize the
5:00context of what's taking place. You you
5:02know where Paul is when he writes this
5:04book, right? you do know where he is.
5:06He's in jail
5:08and he's in jail for trumped up charges.
5:11And the truth of the matter is it
5:14doesn't look like it's going to end
5:15well. In fact, Paul says that in so many
5:18words in chapter one, right? He said, "I
5:21don't know if I'm going to get out of
5:22this one. I don't know if I'm going to
5:24get out of this one. I I I I I I for me
5:27to live as Christ to die as gain. I'm
5:30I'm not upset about seeing him." But he
5:33faces the reality of where he is. They
5:36lied on him. And not only did they lie
5:40on him, if you read chapter one, um
5:43there they also, please forgive this
5:45line, but I want to say it strongly that
5:47there were those who pimped off of his
5:49ministry. What do I mean by that? This
5:52is disgusting. There are those there are
5:54those in gospel ministry who are were
5:57gigging and they they they say, "Well,
5:59Paul's off the scene, so we got greater
6:01market share."
6:03Isn't that disgusting? And so Paul is,
6:06you know, think about it. You you you're
6:07you're in jail and you know it's not
6:09going to end well. Probably not going to
6:11end well. History tells us he never got
6:13out of this one. He was decapitated
6:16>> for lies.
6:18So as you read the book, you you if you
6:20got that background in the back of your
6:21mind, you you think my man would be in a
6:23fetal position.
6:25I mean,
6:27you know that that he would be over in
6:29the corner someplace
6:31beyond discouragement, mired in
6:34depression.
6:37His platform's gone.
6:40People are doing some pretty awful
6:42things.
6:44He's in jail because they lied on him.
6:47then chances are he's gonna die.
6:52And yet, paradoxically, as you read the
6:55book, the book is baptized in joy.
7:00You go, "Oh, yo, dude, wait. Time out.
7:02Time out. Time out, man. In are you
7:05living in denial?"
7:09No, he's not. Because as you read the
7:11book, he is painfully aware of what is
7:14happening to him.
7:17But he's not living in denial and he's
7:20not depressed and he's not destroyed.
7:23Why? Hear me on this. Hear me on this.
7:26Hear me on this. Because of
7:30not what he's focused on, but who he's
7:33focused on.
7:36And who he f is focused on causes him to
7:39rise above
7:42that which is eating him away.
7:46in this book. Uh you you could say that
7:49there are four sequential pictures of
7:51Jesus.
7:53This is what Paul is celebrating. Uh and
7:56and you get this feeling that he's
7:58ratcheting this thing up. It's coming to
8:00a grand crescendo like a great piece of
8:02classical music.
8:04In chap for example, chapter one, he
8:06pictures Christ as his as his confidence
8:10or his approach to life. Then chapter
8:12two, he pictures Christ as his
8:14commitment or his attitude toward life.
8:18In chapter three, he pictures Christ as
8:20his conviction or his aspiration in
8:24life. And now you come to the grand
8:26crescendo. In chapter four, he pictures
8:28Christ as his courage, dare I say this,
8:31or his advantage in life.
8:38And in so doing, he reminds us we don't
8:40have to be pitiful.
8:42And I just have to I just have to tell
8:44you this. I I have been terribly
8:47disappointed in our brand of
8:49Christianity among our tribe
8:53over the last 10 years. Terribly
8:56disappointed.
8:58We have acted in such pitiful ways.
9:05We've empowered the structure around us.
9:07and who's in office and who's not in
9:09office and the trends in the culture and
9:10what's happening to all of us here.
9:12We're going to hell in the hand basket
9:13and all of this kind of stuff. Gloom and
9:15doom and gloom and doom and it's
9:17eradicated and eroded our faith.
9:22We've empowered the culture
9:27and we act as if we have no options.
9:33We act as if we have no options.
9:38all these complaining sessions.
9:42But the Apostle Paul teaches us with
9:46incredible,
9:47impeccable integrity.
9:52This is how you run through the finish
9:54line.
9:57You're a portrait of the destin. I'm
9:59talking more about this tonight. You're
10:00a portrait of the destination in your
10:02moment in history and not just a
10:04reflection of the mess that's going on.
10:08That's why we are here.
10:13We don't reflect the darkness and the
10:15gloom.
10:17So in chapter 4, he gives us the
10:20instruments of our courage. And he's not
10:23just giving us happy talk here, okay?
10:25This is not just some rah rah locker
10:27room talk. Go out there and get them
10:28boys. No, this is reality. Your courage
10:31is anchored in reality. Your courage is
10:34anchored in real instruments that are
10:36powerful. What are these four
10:38instruments of our courage?
10:41I want to give them to you and hang some
10:42meat on this skeleton. Prayer,
10:46perspective,
10:48power, and provision.
10:51What do we bring to the table? What do
10:54we bring to crisis? What do we bring to
10:56our moment in history? What do we bring
10:58to uncertainty?
11:00We're not without resources.
11:04We bring prayer.
11:06We bring perspective.
11:08We bring power. And we bring provision.
11:13The first instrument of our courage is
11:15prayer. Now, if you hung around the
11:18church longer than 6 months, you
11:19probably have heard quoted often,
11:21especially if you've gone to any prayer
11:23meeting yourself or so. Philippians 4:6.
11:26Sometimes familiarity will cause us to
11:28be sloppy with what really is said. And
11:31forgive me for being a tad bit gran
11:33granular on this first point, but I do
11:35want to walk through what Paul says in
11:38Philippians 6. And we need to pay very
11:40close attention is actually Philippians
11:424 6 and 7. Um um um there's the
11:46requirement and then there's the promise
11:48in verse 7. The requirement, listen to
11:51what he says, and this ought to be
11:53curious to all of us. Be anxious for
11:56nothing, but in everything by prayer and
11:59supplication with thanksgiving, let your
12:03requests be made known to God. Verse
12:04seven, and the peace of God goes beyond
12:06all human comprehension shall guard your
12:09hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
12:12Now what's curious in verse verse six if
12:15you think about it it is really it is
12:17really contradicts how we think in this
12:21moment about where we are and in human
12:24nature uh because Paul actually commands
12:27an emotion
12:30as if we have control how how dare I say
12:33this in a culture that thinks with its
12:35feelings
12:37but that we actually actually have
12:41control over our emotions. He says be
12:43anxious or nothing. In the Greek text,
12:45it's stronger than that. It it literally
12:47means stop being anxious.
12:50And you, oh, Crawford, how do I do that?
12:54I mean anxiety is just an involuntary
12:56response to not being in control or not
12:59or being uncertain or worry and danger
13:01and this kind of I don't well yeah in a
13:05certain sense Paul knew that because it
13:07is implied by the solution to anxiety
13:09that he gives to us in the verse. Paul
13:12knew human nature. He knew that if you
13:14uh
13:16if you say you're going to stop doing
13:18something but don't replace it with
13:20something else is just an exercise in
13:22futility. You can get down on your knees
13:24all you want to and say, "God, I'm not
13:25going to be anxious. Not going to be
13:26anxious. Not going to be anxious. Not
13:27going to be anxious. Not going to be
13:28look yourself in the mirror. I'm
13:30anxious.
13:33You've got to replace it with something
13:35else." And Paul says, "The choice that
13:38you need to make, the decision that you
13:40need to make is not to be passive with
13:42your anxiety. Cave into it. Be anxious
13:45for nothing, but in everything by prayer
13:49and supplication
13:51with thanksgiving. Notice the intensity
13:53and the descriptive definition of the
13:56kind of praying we need to do. He says,
13:58first of all, by prayer, that word
14:01translated prayer has its roots in uh u
14:04the idea of going to someone who's
14:07greater than you that has all the
14:09resources that you need, pleading your
14:11case, and tapping into that and getting
14:13what you need.
14:18And by way of implication, Paul is
14:20saying that do do you know who you're
14:22talking to when you pray?
14:25Do you understand that? Do you do
14:28understand that God ain't sipping mocks
14:30over your condition, right? You
14:32understand that, right? Do you do
14:35understand that God doesn't need a focus
14:37group to figure out what are we going to
14:38do with Crawford? What do you think?
14:41Seriously,
14:43you know who you're talking to? You're
14:46talking to the ancient of days.
14:50Part of our problem in our circles is
14:52that uh prayer becomes a habit
14:57that's a little ruerless.
14:59For example, how many of you all have
15:01done this? I've done this. You're out
15:02with some friends, with your family in a
15:04restaurant, you're chatting and talking
15:05this kind of thing and you know uh they
15:08they serve you the the appetizer stuff
15:10and everything, but you but you can't
15:13remember if you prayed.
15:16Uh so did we pray? Yes, you you prayed.
15:23You know,
15:26I I have stopped our kids when they were
15:27younger at home, devotion times around
15:30the table, the prayer requests and and
15:32they they got peruncter wrote
15:34regurgitating their prayer just words
15:36coming out of their mouth. I've stopped
15:37in the middle. Hey, hey, Brian. Time
15:40out, buddy. Who you talking to?
15:43Who are you talking to?
15:48by prayer and supplication.
15:52The word supplication is anchored in the
15:54Old Testament. It's a concept of focus,
15:57determined, desire.
16:01In other words, how serious are you
16:02about this?
16:05In a word, it's desperation. Now, I
16:07didn't say despair. Despair is
16:09hopelessness. Desperation is the
16:11passionate pursuit of your only source
16:13of hope.
16:18I'm convinced God allows us to be over
16:21our heads to get our attention. What's
16:23the old line? We often turn to God when
16:25our foundations are shaking, only to
16:26discover it's God who's shaking them.
16:30How desperate are you?
16:33How desperate is our brand of
16:34Christianity at this moment in HISTORY
16:36IN THE WESTERN WORLD?
16:41Are you serious about this, Crawford?
16:44Do you really want me to step into this?
16:49Are you hedging your bets
16:52by prayer and supplication with
16:54thanksgiving?
16:57Now, this thanksgiving works in both
16:59ways. One, I really believe that Paul is
17:02implying that, hey, look, you you have
17:04to have a memory that drives gratitude.
17:09In other words, think about how God has
17:11delivered you in the past.
17:14Think about how impeccably faithful our
17:17great God has been.
17:19Think about how he has carried you and
17:21delivered you and met every last one of
17:24your needs.
17:26You come to him with this spirit of
17:28gratitude, but it also forecasts faith.
17:32I believe God's going to work.
17:37I believe he's going to step into this.
17:41I don't know how,
17:44but I believe him.
17:47So, you make that decision to pray and
17:49down the promise
17:52and the peace of God that goes beyond
17:54human comprehension. The Greek text is
17:56really kind of humorous that literally
17:58literally could have been translated.
18:00And the peace of God, well, don't even
18:01think about it.
18:04You don't even think about it's so far
18:05beyond it doesn't it doesn't make sense.
18:11So guard your hearts. It'll protect you
18:12emotionally
18:14and guard your mind. You'll be able to
18:16think straight. People who see what
18:17you're going through say, you know,
18:20I I know what she's going through, but
18:21she showed up and she wasn't twitching.
18:26In fact, she was pretty coherent
18:32cuz God is carrying him. Our youngest
18:36son,
18:38our youngest son taught me an amazing
18:40lesson on prevailing, persevering
18:43prayer. Let me explain. When he was 7
18:46years old, um in 1988, you saying 1988,
18:51you know the song? Yeah, I'm old as
18:52dirt. I get it. Back back he was he was
18:557 years old. 1988, I my briefcase was
18:58stolen at LAX, Los Angeles airport.
19:01technically was at Alamo rental car
19:04counter and it was right behind my my
19:06right leg. Now, what you need to know, I
19:09I I dreaded calling Karen and here's the
19:11reason why. I I was always getting on
19:13Karen and and the kids when they were
19:15would travel with me to keep your eyes
19:17on your stuff, right?
19:22So, when I called her and said, "Honey,
19:24my somebody stole my briefcases." She,
19:26"Oh, no, not you."
19:31needed some marriage help that with all
19:33that. But but in that briefcase, this
19:35was not this was not good. This was
19:37terrible. It was awful. I had just seen
19:39my cousin who had given me a copy of the
19:41family tree that my grandfather had
19:43written in his own hand. It goes all the
19:45way back to Peter the slave.
19:48And uh that was in there. I just visited
19:51my pastor that had led me to Christ when
19:53I was 13 and a half years old. And he
19:56wanted to give me another Bible. He gave
19:57me another Bible, wrote some things in
19:59there and that was in there.
20:01My father had just retired and they had
20:05given him this uh silver pen and pencil
20:07set and he gave it to me. Well, it
20:09wasn't a big deal cuz he wasn't going to
20:10use it anyway, but anyway, that wasn't
20:12it. And uh and this is probably too much
20:15information, but I I don't like carrying
20:17a lot of stuff in my pockets, right? So,
20:19on the airplane,
20:22I put my wallet in there.
20:25>> Yeah. Not a good day. Wasn't a good day.
20:27So, well, when I came back, got got back
20:29to Atlanta, everything. The kids were
20:31all praying about get daddy back in his
20:33briefcase. Well, everybody else petered
20:35off praying that prayer, including my
20:38sweet wife. And uh but Brendan, that boy
20:41kept praying. This was like in
20:43September. He kept praying every night.
20:45And Jesus, give daddy back his
20:46briefcase. And Jesus, give back. About
20:48two weeks of him praying that way, I was
20:50getting conflicted. I said to Karen, I
20:51don't want to traumatize the boy, but
20:53I'm on to the next thing. We're teaching
20:55them not to give up on praying. So I
20:57don't, you know, what do I do? So I did
21:00what a great father should do, nothing.
21:02And uh so you know,
21:06so the boys praying and I'm saying,
21:09"This kid is getting further in the
21:10ditch on this thing, man." Yeah. All all
21:13September he prayed. October, every
21:16night he prayed
21:18November, every night he prayed. And I'm
21:21saying, "Oh, this is going to be a
21:23crisis of faith for this little dude."
21:25And and then then then December, he
21:27prays and about the middle part of
21:29December, I get this call from this guy
21:32in Roondo Beach, California.
21:35And I had a luggage tag on my briefcase.
21:37Said, "Are you Crawford Lorettes?" I
21:38said, "Yes, sir, I am." He said, the guy
21:40goes, "I'm embarrassed to tell you this,
21:42but way back in September out at the
21:44back of our place of business here, I
21:47found your briefcase and I stuck it in
21:50the back of the business. I just forgot
21:52about it." And uh then I saw it the
21:55other day and it had one of those
21:56luggage tags on it and address. Now,
21:58this is before the TSA stuff and
22:00everything like that. So, he said, "I
22:02want to send this back to you."
22:05I said, "You're kidding me." And I was
22:07conflicted cuz I I said I don't want it
22:08now. Everything's all jacked up, man.
22:10But he said, he say, "I'll send it back
22:12to you." So, so, okay. So, I show up to
22:16Delta baggage claim and the carousel's
22:19coming around and I'm thinking this
22:21briefcase is going to be awful. I don't
22:23even know why I'm wasting my time here
22:25picking this thing up. And it comes
22:27right looks pretty good. And I grab it.
22:30I'm kind of like, do I really want to
22:32open this thing? And so I open it and
22:35guess what? Everything was in there
22:37except my wallet.
22:39Well, of course they, you know, but
22:41anyway, and he was terribly disappointed
22:44cuz I didn't have much in that wallet
22:45either. But we we get
22:48so so I I get back home. I said, Brendan
22:51is going to be I mean, he's going to be
22:53bouncing off the ceiling when he finds
22:55out about this. And that dad was
22:57persistent in his brain, right? So I I
23:00get home and I walk in the house and B
23:01boy, guess what?
23:04So what dad said? I got my w my my my
23:08briefcase back. And he goes, "Dad, I
23:11told you Jesus give it to you." And he
23:13went to his room.
23:17Talk about anticlimactic, man. You know,
23:21I guess. Yeah. Do you believe God when
23:24you're praying?
23:27>> Do you believe him? me hustle on here.
23:30So Paul is saying, "Ho ho, time out.
23:32We're not without resources. Stop. Stop.
23:36Stop it. Stop letting CNN, Fox News, or
23:40whatever you listen to determine the
23:42level of your spiritual fervor.
23:45Cut it out."
23:47Prayer. Secondly, perspective.
23:51Listen to what he says in verse eight.
23:53Finally, brothers, whatever is true,
23:55whatever is honorable, whatever is just,
23:56whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
23:58whatever is commendable, if there is any
24:00excellence, if there's anything worthy
24:02of praise, now the imperative, think
24:04about these things. Now, I'm not going
24:07to parse each one of those uh virtues
24:09that he outlines here, but the greater
24:11point that he's trying to make is, and
24:13it's a little bit of an ellipsus, and
24:15that is you're going to become, hear me,
24:17hear me on this. I want everybody to
24:18hear, you're going to become what you
24:19think about. I don't care if you're
24:21going to get an Academy Award for being
24:23a hypocrite. Eventually, you will become
24:27what you think about. No doubt about it.
24:31Airtight.
24:33Whatever goes on, there's no such thing
24:35as compartmentalization. Although we say
24:37that, eventually you're going to become
24:40what's in your head.
24:42And what Paul is saying, the larger
24:44point that he's trying to make is that
24:46you don't have to be that way.
24:50You don't have to be that way. You don't
24:52have to be nasty.
24:55You don't have to have a bad attitude.
24:58You can control what you think.
25:02You're not even helpless. And please
25:03forgive me. I'm I'm not being unkind
25:06when I say this, but you don't have to
25:08be what has happened to you.
25:14Your your past may explain you, but it
25:16doesn't excuse you.
25:20We we we don't have to give up
25:24and just fall victim to all of the
25:26nonsense and dysfunction that's all
25:28around us.
25:31You don't have to be that person that
25:33when you walk in a room, everybody else
25:35wants to leave.
25:38Hey, never mind. I'm not going to say
25:40that cuz the pastor's here. But listen,
25:45you you don't have to be that way.
25:49Sooner or later, and this is a big
25:51issue.
25:53This is a big issue that you you've got
25:55to embrace. Sooner or later, you're
25:57going to have to control
25:59how you think and redirect your mind.
26:02The third person of the tr third person,
26:04third person, the Holy Spirit lives
26:06inside of you. I'm not just talking
26:09about the power of positive thinking and
26:11bootstrapping happy talk and
26:12motivational speak here.
26:15We have the third person of the trinity
26:18that can transform our heads,
26:21but we can't be passive in the process.
26:25Sooner or later, you're going to have to
26:26reach a point where you go, "Hey, look,
26:28my background's jacked up. I got all
26:30kinds of stuff happening to me, pain and
26:32all this problem." But there's a certain
26:34point in your life where you got to get
26:35to the verb position. What do you mean
26:37by get in a verb position? You got to
26:38answer the question. Okay, that
26:39happened.
26:41That happened. Awful, terrible, it
26:44sucks, it's bad, all of those things.
26:47But the critical question is, what are
26:49you going to do?
26:51You see, when you're born, this is a
26:53cold-blooded reality of life. Cold
26:55blooded reality of life. When you're
26:57born, you look like your parents, but
26:59when you die, you look like your
27:00decisions.
27:10And if you're passive, you've decided
27:15to let life determine who you are.
27:21So Paul, I mean, I love Pauline, this is
27:25I love Pauline writing because he does
27:28not skirt the reality of issues
27:31in so many words, you know, in the
27:33context here. Yeah. If I sit up in this
27:35jail here
27:37and what happened to me is terrible.
27:39It's awful.
27:41It's But if I sit here stewing about
27:45what has happened to me,
27:49I
27:50I mean I I'm going to deny everything
27:53that I wrote about and preached about.
28:00Sometime as an actor you will you got to
28:02just stop listening to yourself. I as it
28:05uh de Martin Lord Jones f uh famously
28:08said you need to talk to yourself more
28:11than you listen to yourself.
28:16Sometimes you need to look in the mirror
28:17and look into at yourself say look sit
28:19down and shut up.
28:22Yeah.
28:24So, we're not without options,
28:28but we weren't born to be pitiful.
28:32We weren't born to be passive.
28:38This transcends your circumstances.
28:41What do I bring to the table? Prayer.
28:46What do I bring to the table?
28:47Perspective.
28:49Thirdly, what do I bring to the table?
28:53power.
28:57I'm going to quote a verse that I think
28:59is probably,
29:03if not the most, one of the most
29:05misapplied verses in the entire Bible.
29:08Christians misapply this verse all the
29:10time.
29:13Philippians 4:13
29:17says, "I can do all things I can do all
29:19things through him who strengthens me."
29:22So we write that on our cleats and the
29:24sneakers and the bill of our caps and
29:26whatever and we write it all over the
29:28place and everything and we say whatever
29:30I decide to do I can do that because
29:32Christ has strengthened me. That's not
29:33what the verse means.
29:36It's not you. You can't do whatever you
29:38want to do.
29:40Whatever you determine to do, you can't
29:42do that. I wanted to be a center in the
29:44NBA.
29:47I'm a cheater sixoot. That ain't
29:49happening.
29:51So this is not this is not what the
29:54verse is saying. Um I tell you I'm
29:56picking on my son Brendan uh for
29:59whatever reason. But our son uh Brendan
30:02was a
30:03was a phenomenal athlete. I'm not just
30:06saying it cuz I'm a proud dad. I am a
30:08proud dad. But he's not he he didn't
30:10pursue baseball. I'll never forget when
30:12he told me that uh that I really believe
30:15God's called me to lay baseball on the
30:17altar and he's called me to ministry.
30:20And I said, "Are you sure
30:23you know how much you get to sign your
30:25name, son? You can share Christ and
30:27whatever."
30:29I did have him go talk to some of his
30:30mentors about he he was pretty amazing.
30:32He eats left-handed, right left-handed,
30:35but he throws right-handed and he could
30:37switch hit from the time he was just a
30:39little guy. He gets it genetically. My
30:41father played in the old Negro Leagues.
30:43I played a little ball, but Brendan was
30:45better than both of us combined. Uh he
30:48pitched and played third base when he
30:49was in in high school. If he had gone on
30:51in the draft, he probably wouldn't have
30:53pitched. His stick was really really
30:54good. However,
30:57there's this one high school game. He
31:00was pitching. Karen and I were there and
31:02uh he was and he was a fairly he was
31:04pretty dominant pitcher, but he wasn't
31:06dominant this day. He was having a way
31:09off game. In fact, I thought my son was
31:11going to get whiplashed watching those
31:12kids circle the base, you know. So, it
31:15was it wasn't good. His body language,
31:18it was just bad. I I wanted to say to
31:21coach, if you don't take him out of the
31:23game, I will. I mean, this is not good.
31:25This is really not good. So, so you
31:28know, he steps off the mound and takes
31:30his hat off and he's looking at the bill
31:32of his hat. And so, Karen, my wife, says
31:34me, Crawford, what is he doing? I said,
31:36he's reading Philippians 4:13, but I
31:38ain't gonna help him find the strike
31:39zone.
31:41I mean, sorry, son. you know, it ain't
31:44going to help you with your release
31:45point. You're having some difficulty.
31:48And I got to tell you the rest of that
31:49story, too. This is this is not my notes
31:52here, but he he So,
31:55this is hilarious. You know, in this
31:57high school fields are small, right?
31:58They can hear people talking to him. So,
32:00his mother is saying Karen's going,
32:02"Throw strikes, Brendan. Throw strikes."
32:04Brendan steps off the mound and goes,
32:06"Mom, what do you think I'm trying to
32:08do?" So,
32:10and I say to Cam, "How'd that work for
32:12you, sweetheart?" She said, "I'm going
32:15to ring his neck when we get old." Soul.
32:19This is not claiming you can do whatever
32:20you want to do.
32:23Listen to it in its context.
32:26Verse 10 says, "I rejoice in the Lord
32:28greatly that now at length you have
32:29revived your concern for me. You were
32:32indeed concerned for me, but you had no
32:34opportunity. Not that I'm speaking of
32:36being in need, for I have learned. I
32:39have learned. I have learned. I have
32:41learned in whatever situation I am to be
32:44content.
32:45I know how to be brought low and I know
32:49how to abound
32:51in any and every circumstance. I have
32:54learned the secret of facing hunger,
32:57plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
33:00Now verse 13, I can do all things
33:03through him who strengthens me. He what
33:06he's saying is this
33:12Christ presence is greater than my
33:15current crisis.
33:20That he will give me what I need
33:24to face whatever is facing me.
33:28He will give me the strength to greet
33:30it. The strength to play to to to not
33:33lose my mind and to work through it. Our
33:37problem in our circles, the way we teach
33:39and preach is that we teach and preach
33:41that faith is only one-dimensional. That
33:44God will deliver you from it. No, you
33:46got to read your Bible is
33:48three-dimensional. God will deliver you
33:50from it. Sometimes he delivers you
33:51through it. And sometimes he delivers
33:53you in it.
33:54>> Amen.
33:55The emphasis is not getting out of the
33:58jam. The emphasis is the greatness of
34:00Christ in you that DEFIES THE
34:02CIRCUMSTANCES AROUND YOU.
34:06>> So yeah, you can make it.
34:09I say this with a degree of credibility.
34:14I can tell you the crisis that we've
34:16walked through. You don't reach 76
34:18without having a few bumps in the road.
34:21We had a daughter that died.
34:23The pain of all of that,
34:28the waves of grief,
34:35you can make it.
34:40Why? Because the resurrection of Jesus,
34:42if God can resurrect a dead Jesus, you
34:44don't have any given set of
34:46circumstances that he cannot meet and
34:49see you through.
34:52So Paul says, "Hey, I'm I'm in here.
34:56I'm in prison, but prison ain't in my
34:58soul.
35:02You can do it."
35:04So Paul says, "Uh, we're not without
35:07options.
35:08Stop acting that way."
35:11What do you bring to the table? Prayer.
35:15What do you bring to the table?
35:17Perspective.
35:20What do you bring to the table?
35:23A power that is greater than the power
35:25that seeks to destroy me.
35:29And then finally, what did he bring to
35:30the table?
35:32Provision.
35:36Most scholars believe that Paul wrote
35:37the letter to Philippi for probably two
35:41reasons. One was to let them know how he
35:43was doing and what's his frame of mind.
35:46But secondly, because he was it was a
35:49thank you letter that he's sending back
35:50to them because of the gift that they
35:52sent to him. So in this last paragraph,
35:55Paul tells them, "Thank you. Thank you
35:57for your gift." But he lovingly reminds
36:00them of a of a principle that's greater
36:02than the gift that was given to him.
36:05He thanks them for their resource, but
36:07he says that God is his source. Notice
36:10verse 13 uh verse 19. and my God shall
36:13supply every need of yours
36:17according to his riches in glory in
36:21Christ Jesus.
36:23The overarching thing that Paul is
36:25saying is that listen to me,
36:28God will always take care of you.
36:37You have to believe that.
36:41Your investments and your money in the
36:43bank and your job and how smart you are
36:46financially is not your source. It's a
36:49resource.
36:51God is your source.
36:56You can live your life in freedom
37:01cuz God will always always always
37:06provide for you.
37:08Now, you might get some water in your
37:09mouth, but you're not going to drown.
37:13He will take care of you. This is an
37:16anchor lesson that God taught Karen and
37:18myself, our first year of marriage.
37:21And this has been the defining anchor
37:24to our our lives and all these years of
37:27ministry.
37:29And uh
37:32I weep with tears of joy when I see our
37:34kids exercising the same degree of
37:36faith. and God is taking care of them.
37:40Let me tell you this story and I'll land
37:42a plane. I
37:45When Car and I got married, we were I
37:47was still in college and she was she was
37:49uh she was working at Continental
37:51Insurance Company there in Philadelphia
37:53and I was finishing up school and
37:55speaking on weekends and youth things
37:57and what have you. And so we went to
37:59college in Philadelphia. We lived over
38:01the bridge in Camden, New Jersey. Um, we
38:05lived uh we we lived uh in this tiny
38:09when I say tiny teniti tiny we're
38:12talking about very tiny
38:15apartment over this urban mission and we
38:18weren't poor we were po cuz we couldn't
38:21afford the other arm
38:24jack things were tight there man they
38:26were they were really really tight and
38:29you know and to this day my wife is such
38:32a great she is such a great steward when
38:34it comes to resources. If you look at a
38:36dollar bill and Karen's uh out of
38:38Karen's wallet and her purse, uh
38:40Benjamin who who's on a dollar bill,
38:44>> I was just checking. Um
38:47Washington has tears streaming down his
38:49cheeks cuz he hadn't seen the light of
38:50day in a long time. So,
38:53so but I I digress. Not too much. That
38:57is true. But um so so she comes home one
39:02Friday evening um and as soon as she
39:05walked into the apartment she's crying.
39:08I said what what h what's wrong? And she
39:11said honey um Philadelphia which is in
39:14Pennsylvania with the bridge had enacted
39:16this kind of tax for those who lived in
39:19New Jersey but worked in the city and
39:22they made it retroactive. Now,
39:25retroactive for her small check was
39:27wipeout jack. So, we had like 25 cents
39:32to last us two weeks. And to add a
39:35little little little more drama to this
39:37thing here, my dad had said to me, my
39:39father was an incredible provider.
39:41Hardest working man I've ever met in my
39:43life. Unbelievable. Um, so on our
39:47wedding day, he said to me outside the
39:51church, he he he he comes up to me, my
39:54family nickname is CW. He said, "CW, uh,
39:58Karen didn't ask to marry you. You asked
40:01to marry her." And then he looked me in
40:02the eye and said, "Boy, you better take
40:04care of her." And so I'm thinking about
40:06him. I'm going, "Oh, this ain't good
40:08news." And uh so you know, so Karen
40:13said, "Well, what are we what are we
40:14going to do?" And I said, "We're going
40:17to trust God. Those are empty words
40:19coming out of my mouth cuz I was scared,
40:20spitless, man." And so uh said, "We're
40:24going to pray." So we got down on our
40:25knees and we prayed. I quoted every
40:28Bible verse I knew about God's
40:30provision. I quoted some verses that I
40:32thought should have been in the Bible
40:33about his provision. big this thing. My
40:37head's messed up, Jack. So, so uh we
40:41made it through the week and I don't eat
40:42ramen noodles or something. Uh we made
40:44it and uh we we had we had these
40:47highspeed line um cards. They were like
40:50we had gotten that for the month before
40:52the meltdown there. And so she could get
40:54to work and I can get to school that
40:56Monday. I remember never I'm on on that
40:58train and this dark cloud is over me and
41:00I'm panicking. I'm saying, "What in the
41:02world are we going to do? What are we
41:03going to do? What are we going to do?"
41:04So, I get on campus and I go to my
41:06mailbox on campus and um and there was
41:10this card in there. I opened a card. It
41:12was from the father, one of my
41:14classmates. I I had spoken at a youth
41:16for Christ rally or event out in western
41:19Pennsylvania some months before this
41:21time. And he just wrote me some some
41:23very encouraging things. Just encourage
41:25me. Said, "Car, I've been meaning to
41:26send this to you. I've just said some
41:27nice things." And and I I looked in the
41:29envelope, there was a check. I pulled
41:32the check out. It was a check for $250.
41:35That was like a quarter of a million
41:36dollars for me, man. What? And uh
41:42and I just stood there and started
41:44weeping.
41:47And on the way home,
41:50I've never audibly heard the voice of
41:52God, but this is the closest.
41:55The Lord said to me,
41:58Crawford, this is how I want you and
41:59Karen to live for the rest of your
42:01lives.
42:02I will always take care of you.
42:07I will always.
42:09And I couldn't wait for Karen to come
42:11home.
42:12And it was on that day, this is a this
42:14this is a defining moment in my life and
42:16ministry. We dedicated our lives to
42:19trust the Lord.
42:22And God has taken care of us in
42:24impeccable ways.
42:27He will provide for you. He will meet
42:30your need.
42:31Now he promised to meet your lifestyle
42:34desires and this kind of thing and you
42:36get all depressed because you couldn't
42:37buy that third home. Well, so you know,
42:40lucky you got the first one, man. And uh
42:43and he hadn't guaranteed lifestyle stuff
42:46and and and he hadn't guaranteed to bail
42:49you out when you make stupid decisions
42:51about money and you make poor
42:53stewardship choices. Got to live with
42:55the consequences. Experience ain't
42:57always always the best teacher, but it
42:59is the only school a fool will attend.
43:01So, some of us had to learn some hard
43:03lessons. I'm exhibit A and learn some
43:06hard lessons about these things. But God
43:08will take care of you.
43:10You see, this frees you up.
43:13You don't have to sell your soul because
43:15you're afraid.
43:21God will meet your needs.
43:24It's as if Paul is saying, "Straighten
43:26your shoulders up. Lift your head up.
43:28Stop looking so pitiful.
43:31You've got prayer.
43:35You got perspective. They don't own your
43:37attitude.
43:40You got power. Stop putting governors on
43:44God's power.
43:47And you got provision.
43:51What else do you need?
43:59As the body of Christ, I'm going to talk
44:00a little bit more about this
44:03tonight.
44:07We're to bring hope, resilience, and f
44:11and fulfillment to the culture
44:15and not expect the culture to give to us
44:20something that they have no power to do.
44:25We are salt and light.
44:28And that does not mean cultural or
44:30political engagement. It's a statement
44:32of identity.
44:36and we bring that sense of steadiness
44:40and hopefulness to our moment in
44:43history. Father, thank you for your
44:45grace and mercy.
44:47Thank you for what you've done for us.
44:50Thank you for how you've carried us.
44:53Thank you for how you've met our needs.
44:57Thank you, oh God, that you want us to
44:58be humble, confident people
45:03whose lives aspire to tell the truth
45:06about the God we serve.
45:09Lord Jesus, continue to help us. We
45:11pray.
45:13May we make statements about the glory
45:16of God.
45:17May others see the hope of Calvary in
45:19and through our lives in Jesus name.
45:22Amen.

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