When Wreck Meets Redeemer

[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in. Thank you so much for that. I appreciate it. Anybody love Jesus in this place? Come on, let me hear you. Such a beautiful, beautiful thing to be gathered together here on a beautiful Sunday in East Texas. God's people. Even if UT lost again, I guess we're all going to wear maroon and white from now on. For all of our A and M fans, we love you. For all of you UT fans, hey, you're going to be great Cowboys fans. You're already used to it. I want to say welcome to all of you who are watching online from all over the world. Come on, Hyrush family. Give them a big warm round of applause. We love you. We're praying for you. We're so glad that you could find us from wherever you were watching from. It's a big deal. So grab your Bibles, turn to Psalm 107, if you wouldn't mind. Psalm 107. So we're going to spend all of our time today and as we're turning there, I want to say thank you for being an incredibly generous church. You guys make it easy to lead here. So many of you have decided to trust us financially. You're standing behind this ministry faithfully and generously and it is a big deal to be able to serve just all over the world. The things that God is doing through us and through your generosity is just absolutely amazing. It is one of the greatest honors of my life. To watch you stand behind what we're doing and how we can bring relief to so many. Also, we care, by the way, about those that are serving the Lord and serving this community right here. So I'm going to show you a picture of this. We were able to buy breakfast for the Longview administration and I love how they come up to us and say, I want to appreciate high Risk church for always taking care of our teachers and those that are serving our kids. We love Longview isd. We love Pine Tree. We love all the people that are willing to step in and take care of your little brats. Come on, somebody, we gotta give them a little bit of a round of applause. We love you, those of you that are serving our community and we want to be a blessing to those guys. I think a lot of people in our education system get a lot of flack for a lot of things, but they're willing to do it. They're willing to do those things and to invest into the next generation. We want to support you guys. You're not alone. So that's a big deal. So Psalm 107, I want to bring a message today that I think is important. It's called When Wreck Meets Redeemer. It is the story of my life, probably the story of a few people in this place, the story of our lives as well. When Wreck Meets the Redeemer. Come on, somebody. And so, as I talked about last week, I said, we're going to be studying in Psalm 107 for the next few weeks, and we're going to. Going to look at the very first, probably three quarters of this chapter. And there's so many wonderful things that the Lord wants to share with us as we approach the Thanksgiving season. Because Thanksgiving is more than just a pumpkin pie on the table. It's more than just a couple of slices of turkey or eating too much. No. No. Thanksgiving is a biblical concept that needs to take more of a deeper root in each of our lives and to understand what it means to be biblically grateful. And thankful is more than just an attitude of gratitude. It's deeper than what we give it credit for. So last week we did talk a lot about gratitude, and this week I want to take it a little bit deeper. And it says this in Psalm 107. Look at the first two verses. It says, give thanks to the Lord. And it says this, for he is good. We could spend the next week just talking about the simple fact that God is. Is good. Not that he just does good things, but he is good at his nature and his DNA at the core of who he is. He is a good God. He is good. And it goes on to say, his love endures forever. Regardless of how many times I've messed up, God still loves me. God still loves you. No matter where you've come from, what you've done, where you've been. God loves. His love endures forever. It'll be here long after we're gone. His love is eternal. He's a good God. He's a loving God. And then it says this. That, I think, is the part of the scripture where many of us haven't seen before. It says, let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. So when it comes to giving thanks, when it comes to being grateful for what God has done for Us, it says that there's another part to that, and that's an expression. Let the redeemed tell their story. And so as I was digging into this chapter this past week, the Lord was just refining this idea in my life of one of the great failures of modern day Christianity, especially when it comes to thanksgiving and gratitude. One of the things that we do at Thanksgiving is we start thinking appropriately. By the way, we thank God for all the things that he's given us. And you've been given some incredible blessings. Come on, somebody. God has blessed your life. You are blessed. You are more highly blessed than a lot of people around this planet. You've got a lot of things to be thankful for. Amen. Come on. Can we just take a moment, say, thank you, Lord, you've been good to me. God's given us a lot of wonderful things. If you have a hard time counting the blessings of God, if you have a hard time thinking of, do I have anything good in my life that I can be thankful for? Just, just take a breath. Let's start with that, right? Thank you, Lord, that I can breathe. It's appropriate that we thank God for the gifts that he's given us, that we're thankful for our family, that we're thankful for our children, we're thankful for a job, we're thankful for a couple of dollars in your savings account. Those are great things to thank God for and appropriately done. But when was the last time that we expressed our gratitude for where God has brought us from? And we did that not just by saying, thank you, Lord, for where you brought me from, but by expressing that in the form of telling your story to somebody else. And this is where we find the failure of modern day Christianity. This is where we find one of the greatest needs on our planet right now, and how the church has refused to embrace the calling that God has put upon our. When it comes to thanksgiving and gratitude, you have a story. And our world is looking for one thing right now, by the way. In a world of AI filters, in the world of perfection, in the world of public image and making sure you look right to the outside world. Our world is looking for honesty. Our world is looking for transparency. Our world is looking for something that's real. And what could be more real than the story of what God did for you, where God has brought you from, you have a story. And the redeemed of the Lord have an obligation to tell their story. We're going to get into that in Psalm 107 and discover exactly how to do that. What is God asking of me? How can I show my gratitude, my thankfulness to God? By sharing my story? What would I even say? It begins to show us that gratitude is a powerful concept. I want to give you this to make sure that you see it. Gratitude isn't complete until it's expressed. Gratitude is not complete until it's expressed. It's more than a feeling that you have on the inside. It's an expression that we have to get out. So if you're grateful for God for saving your life, for bringing you up out of the depths, if you're grateful for what God did for you, it's not complete until it's expressed. And this is what God is challenging each of us to walk into in this next season. You have a story. Come on, somebody. You have a story. You have a past. It's not easy for us because we're like, yeah, but you don't understand. Like, I don't. I don't talk about those things. I don't want people to know those things like that. That's your testimony. There's power. That's the exact reason why the enemy does not want you to share the parts of your life you don't want to talk about at parties. But when God has brought you through that, when you've seen the hand of God for where he lifted you up from, there's an obligation for us to say, I was, but God, I used to be, but he changed my life. There is trauma there, there is betrayal there. There is sickness, there is disease, there is pain. There is a bunch of bad decisions. But God, there's a story that you have to tell. And Thanksgiving is not complete. Gratitude isn't complete until we start expressing that. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. Any redeemed people in this place today, have you been redeemed? Has God repurposed your life? Has he redeemed you? You've got a story to tell. Is it clean? Is it polished? Is it ugly? Is it dirty? Is it dark? At times? Yes. But that's not where it ends. So in Psalm 107, we have four different testimonies, four different groups of people that it says, we're going to share our story with you. And they don't put some filter on it. They tell you that this is where I was. This is what God did for me. Four different stories. Each of them are dirty in their own way. Each of them are gross or dark in their own way. And each of them have a powerful, powerful point. It's not that I just used to be there. It's that God didn't leave me there. He changed my life. He gave me a future. He gave me a hope. He gave me a purpose. I am thankful to God for what he's done. They're expressing their gratitude, like each of us should do. So let's pick it up in verse three. Here's the first of the four stories. It says, some they wandered in desert wastelands finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and they were thirsty and their lives ebbed away. The Hebrew there says, it's like the tide that keeps going out farther and farther from the shore. Comes back a little bit, then it goes a little farther. It comes back a little bit. Goes a little farther. If you're from East Texas, a little further, A little further. But it's describing their life, their testimony. Drifting and drifting and drifting. It says, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle down. Let them give thanks to the Lord, for He satisfies the thirsty. He fills the hungry with good things. Somebody say Amen right there. God still satisfies. God still feels. And the things that God gives to us are good things. Why? Because he's good. He has good things for you. Here's the second category that we see. It says, some people, they sat in darkness. Not just darkness. It says, in utterance, darkness. Prisoners suffering in iron chains because they rebelled against God's commands and despised the plans of the Most High. Who am I talking about today? That looks like my life. It looks like some of our life. Rebellion and sin, chained up, no hope, says they. They sat in their chains because they rebelled against God's commands. They despised the plans of the Most High. They stumbled and there was no one to help. But then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of that darkness, the utter darkness. He broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love. For he breaks down those gates of bronze. He cuts through the bars of iron. Let somebody say Amen. That's a powerful testimony. Here's category number three. Some became fools. Mr. T would love this part of the message because he pities fools. If you're under 40, you have no idea what I'm talking about. Some became fools. Why would the Bible call somebody a fool? It says they did that through their rebellious ways. And they suffered affliction. They loathed all food. And they drew near the gates of death. Your Bible may say, the shadow of death. The valley of the shadow of death. This is where the foolishness led them to. Then it says this. But they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And God saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and he healed them. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love. Let them tell his works with songs of joy. Notice the completion there. They're singing songs about the joy of the Lord. Why? Because I was a fool and he saved my life. I've got a song to sing. There's a reason why I praise. It's not just to hear a couple of good songs from a good worship band. No, no, no. There's a reason you can't stop that. Why? Because I know where he brought me from. Said, let them sing songs about God's work. Songs of joy. Here's the fourth category. Some went out to the sea in ships and they saw the works of the Lord. His wonderful deeds in the deep. For God spoke and stirred up a tempest and lifted high the waves. It says they mounted up to the heavens. They went down to the depths. I get seasick just thinking about this part of the story. They're going up in the heavens. They're going down in the depths and up in the heavens. And life looks like that sometimes, doesn't it? It's describing people that are walking through a stormy season. So they're suffering. Life's going up and down and up and down. Says they reeled and they staggered back up. One verse, it says they, they mounted up to the heavens. They went down to the depths. In their peril, their courage melted away. That looks like parts of my life right there. They reeled and they staggered. They were at their wits end. And then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And God brought them out of their distress. He steeled the storm to a whisper. The waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm. And he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the Lord. You've got a story to tell. You've got thanks to bring to God. You have a reason to get up and praise God. Why? Because he brought. Brought you out of some darkness. He brought these people out of some darkness. They're sharing their testimony with you. They're doing more than some Christians will ever do in their lifetime. They're like, this is the story of us. This is what God did. For me. And so as we're digging into this story, we're going to break apart those four different groups of people and kind of see what the Lord is speaking to us in Longview, Texas today. If you're a note taker, I want you to write this down. We're going to describe the very first group of people that it talks about here. Starting in verse two. We describe them as the wanderers. It says they, they wandered in desert wastelands. The wanderers notice. It says they, they were suffering. Here's what we know is that some, some people are lost not because of rebellion. They're just free thinkers. They just wonder. They get lost in their own thoughts. They do things. The next thing you know, they. They're lost and they're suffering. And so when it talks about them being lost, it says they wandered in a desert wasteland. Here's what we know. Like, nobody starts out to wander in a desert wasteland. This is not an episode of Kung Fu with David Carradine. Nobody does that. You end up in the desert because you made some bad decisions. You wandered off into the desert. That's a saying, right? I wandered off into the desert. Next thing I know, like, how did I get here? It says they wandered into desert wasteland. The Hebrew word there doesn't mean just lost geographically. It's not speaking about someone just being lost geographically. It's saying they became confused with their own thoughts. And it's describing them as a lone sheep that doesn't have a shepherd. And that's lost community. This is the word that it gives us to describe that parts of their life. It says it's like a sheep that just kind of stuck his head down and started eating. And here's what we know, that sheep that get that, that get curious, it's easy for them to get distracted. And when sheep don't have a shepherd, what they do is they start walking in circles. They just eat in circles. Why? Because it's part of their nature. Part of the nature of sheep is just to wander. They put their head down, they start eating and they start thinking about stuff. And next thing you know, they wake up, they're like, I don't know where I'm at. This is, this is not a. This is not a good place. I don't recognize any of this. This is the word that it's using to describe them. It's like they wandered, and next thing you know, they look up and they're in a desert wasteland. I'm lost. I've lost my people. I've lost my tribe. I don't have community. I don't have a shepherd. I don't have leadership. I got lost in my own thoughts. And next thing I know, I'm at a place where I don't like this. Here's what we know about Scripture, is that in Isaiah 53, it describes all of us. It says, all we like sheep. We do that. All we like sheep have gone astray, and we have turned everyone to his own way. It's really easy for us in today's day and age to get lost in the fact that I can figure it out myself. I can make it happen for myself. I get lost in my own thoughts. And I don't need people, I don't need community. I don't need those things. I don't need to be led by Christ. I don't need a. I don't need a shepherd. I can take care of myself. Isaiah, thousands of years before you ever stepped foot on this planet, says, yep, it's part of our human nature. We all think that way. All we, like sheep have gone astray. It's an insult today to say, oh, you guys are a bunch of sheep. You just follow the crowd unless you know who the leader is. And by the way, look at me, I'm not that leader, but I serve the one who is, and he's a good shepherd. And when we get lost, we start wandering, we start drifting. We wake up and look around like, oh, I got out here all alone by myself. I've lost the voice of the shepherd because I followed my own way. It says, they're the wanderers. And when it says they didn't have a city where they could settle in this day, when it's speaking about a city, it's speaking of things that are important to us as humans. It's a sense of community, a sense of identity and protection. A city meant that you have walls around you protected from the things that are happening on the outside. And God says, they didn't have a place where they could do that. They're out there on their own. They don't have a people, they don't have an identity. Cities bring you an identity. You know that because some of us, if you introduce yourself to someone, you say, I'm from X, they automatically have this mental picture in their mind of, of what that makes you, right? Because cities have an identity. If somebody says, I'm from New York City, you're like, how you doing? You know, that's New York City. That's them. Like, I don't Talk that way. But because cities have an identity. If they say, I'm from Gilmer, you do that. Why? Because there's a picture that comes into your mind of a city. But he's saying they didn't have an identity. They don't. They don't have a people. They don't have protection. They don't have their. Their. Their tribe. They've wandered off onto their own and it led them into a deserted wasteland where they're afraid and they're alone and they're detached and they're disconnected. They become emotionally and socially and spiritually homeless. Here's what we know, that what God is speaking to us today is that God designed me to connect to his people and for us to follow him together. There is an inherent need inside of you to want to do your own thing. Yet for God to say, my will is for you to be connected. God's design has always been for us to be a people. We are the body of Christ collectively, together. And it's really easy for us to stay disconnected because it feels more safe. And nothing could be more further or farther from the truth. Says he leads them to a city where they could find community and identity. It says they were hungry and thirsty. And those words that they're using to describe in the original language, the Hebrew language here literally describes. It's the hunger not of your stomach, but the hunger of a soul without God. For some of us, that's our story. There's a hunger that's on the inside. I don't even know. Like, it's a hunger that nothing else will fill it. It's the hunger of a soul without God. And those kind of people, man, the wonders. They can look really good on the outside. Why? Because they're free thinkers and they're entrepreneurs and they're people that are. That are driven. They get lost in their own thoughts and they wonder. But it's saying, like, you might look really great from the outside, but spiritually on the inside, you're starving. Here's what we know. We can look like a success on the outside, but be spiritually starving the inside. And these people are describing a group of us like, this is our story. Look really good on the outside. Got it all together. You're able to take care of yourself, but what's going on on the inside, Like, I don't have my people. I don't have protection. I don't have an identity. I don't have God. The Bible would describe those group of people as the wanderers. And it says but they cried out to God. They cried out to God. And what did God do? He said, I heard them, and I delivered from their distress. And he says, I led them to a city where they could. I led them to a group of people, said, these are your people. You need them, and they need you. You're designed to people. Some of us were like, man in. In 2020, like, when the COVID thing was happening and everybody's quarantined, like, I am living my best life. No one is within six foot of me. Praise be to God. This is the way I was designed to be for about six or eight weeks. Then you're like, okay, I hate to admit this, but I need someone to make fun of at least. I need somebody to argue with. At least I need somebody to say, okay, you're. You're worse off than me. I. I need. We recognize that for the first time that no other generation kind of got that. That gift, what life would be like separated from people. We recognize that I need you and you need me, and together we're stronger. We're not meant to do life alone, even if it looks really good and really smart on the outside. So turn to the person next to you, look them straight in the eyes and get weird about it. Say, I need you. Now look at your second choice and say, there's a reason why I turned to this other person first. You need me a lot more than I need you. So you're not listening fast enough. We're going to move a little bit faster. Number two. Here's the second category that it gives us, their testimony. We're going to call these people the bound and the Broken. The bound and broken. Here's what we know is that some people are in chains, and they're suffering because of sin and rebellion, period. They're suffering because of sin and rebellion, and it says it led them through the valley of Death. The shadow of death is where it says that road leads. Sin and rebellion always leads to the valley of death. I'm going to pause there for a second, because some people. You need to hear that. It doesn't go anywhere good. It says, not just darkness, it goes to utter darkness. Sin and rebellion, it says, leads us to the shadow of death. By the way, that term is used 19 times in the Bible. It doesn't just mean it leads to a place of death. No, no. The word in Hebrew means literally, the deepest terror that a human being can feel says, you want to live in sin and rebellion. This is where it goes to the deepest terror That a human being can feel. Say, oh, you want to drift away from God? You want to rebel against his ways? This is where that road leads to the deepest terror that a human being can feel. And it says, they sat in their change, which means they got comfortable. Their identity was wrapped up in my rebellion. I identify as this. It changes the way that I think. It changes the way that I communicate with people. It changes the way that the music that I listen to, the movies that I watch. Why it's all part of my identity. It says, you got comfortable. You sat in those chains. And those chains weren't coming off. It's the chains of sin and rebellion. They sat in those chains. It means you settled in bondage. You're not some temporary captive. It's like that is now defining you. They sat in those chains. And for anybody that's ever lived a life of sin and rebellion, it's difficult sometimes to share our story because those are the kind of stories that make people in East Texas turn their nose up at you. Oh, well, I'm better than you. Like, yeah, you know what? That wasn't the end of my story. I know what it's like to live stuck in chains that I couldn't break. The chains of addiction. This is what this is describing. The chains of pornography and sexual sin and lust when you can't stop yourself. And it becomes not just darkness, it becomes utter darkness with no hope. Describes situations like unforgiveness and the deep, dark pit that that leads us to. But you don't understand. I have a right to feel this way. I get it. I do understand. More than you know. I know what it's like to be betrayed. I know what it's like to be hurt. I know what it's like to have people do things to you that no other human being should ever do to another person. I understand it. But I also know where that road goes. If I don't let that go, that has to be submitted to the authority of Christ, or I walk into darkness, utter darkness. And it becomes chains that I can't break on my own. I need help. And it describes those of us that are bound and broken. It says they sat in those chains with no hope. It says they were. Says they were chains of iron, by the way. And know this, that in the ancient world, iron working is like the highest form of military technology. There is no escape from that. But it says they. They cried out to God. They asked him for help. Help me. I can't fix this. Help me. It says God heard Them and God do. God begins to do what you can't do. It says God begins to break those chains of iron. He does what the most advanced technology could not do. God delivers and he heals. And when it says he breaks those chains of iron, it doesn't say it's temporary freedom. It says this is permanent freedom. That is not you anymore. You've been set free. In John chapter 8 says, whom the son sets free is not free temporarily. He is free indeed. The bound and the broken. That's my story. Some of your story. I know what it feels like to be there but God, Come on, somebody but God. Here's what we know is that there is no darkness, there is no sin, there is no addiction, no terror that is stronger than Jesus. It doesn't stand a chance against him. For those of us that have been bound and broken, here's the third category and that's the self inflicted. We're going to call them the self inflicted. Today the story of the self inflicted. And some people, some of their suffering is not random, but it's the consequences of dumb decisions. I just don't make good decisions. And the reason why I'm suffering is because I, I do dumb things and I know better, but I do it anyway. And it describes a group of people that the Bible calls fools. And by the way, when the Hebrew word uses speaks of fools, it has nothing to do with intelligence because I know some of the smartest people on the planet. That the Bible say you're a fool has nothing to do with intelligence, has nothing to do with how smart you are. The biblical word for fools that it's using here is describing someone that is stubborn and someone that is self destructive. You're doing this to yourself. God didn't do that to you. You did that to you. It's the consequences of your own decisions. A biblical fool, let me put this on the screen, is a person who knows better but refuses correction. You know the word of God, you know the scripture, you were raised better than this. But yet when it comes time to choose between the right and the wrong, you're like, I choose wrong and I know it's wrong and I don't want any help. The Bible would say you are a fool. Now it's difficult for us because we don't use that word in those terms, especially if you're Mexican. We call everybody fool. What's up fool. How you doing? Fool. It's just part of who we are. But a biblical fool is somebody that please hear me, they know better, they were raised better. They understood the works of the Lord. They understood His Word. But it goes to a place where it says they loathed all food. It's not speaking of a hunger for food. It's a hunger for spiritual food. They loathed the word of God. I don't want God's word. I want to do things the way I want to do them. That's not going to work out for you. I don't care. Good luck. And Psalm 107 says, that was. That was my story. That God can love a fool that knew better, that was raised better than that. What does it tell me? It tells me that God still loves and heals and restores backsliding people. God says, there's a home for you. Come home. You were raised to be better than that. And God still loves them. It says his kindness leads them to repentance. How do we know that God still loves people that have turned their back on him? People that were raised in church and raised in the things of the world and they chose the things of the world over the things of God. How do we know that? That God still loves them? I love what it says in Hosea, chapter 14. God Himself says, I will heal their waywardness and I will love them freely. Why? Because my anger is turned away from them. I'm not angry. God says it's this kindness that leads us to repentance. If God's not angry with the backslider, you, you don't have a right to be angry with them either. God says, I love them and I'm going to heal them from that. When they what? When they cry out to me. They just need to cry out to me. And I'm going to bring them back. And their story is going to be of someone that was raised in the ways of God, turned their back and became a fool, but cried out to God and was restored. We call those the self inflicted. Even when my sin caused the pain, God's grace is greater than my bad and dumb decisions. God's grace is greater. Here's the fourth and final category that we see at the end of this chapter. And we're going to call these people the surprised sufferers. The surprised sufferers, it says someone out onto the sea in ships. And it was, no, it's not their fault. They don't control the weather. But a storm came. Here's what we know is that some suffering comes suddenly. And please hear me, it's nobody's fault. One of the statements that I say frequently, if you know Me. It's not your fault. It's your fate. You didn't cause this to happen, but you have no choice but to deal with it. And it's describing a group of people that got hit with a storm that wasn't their fault. I didn't see that coming. And life just hit me and it made me sick. It came out of nowhere. It was up and down and left and right. I'm reeling and I'm staggering and my courage melted away. It's describing a season of life. You didn't see it coming, but you got a phone call or a doctor gave you a diagnosis. It's like your world just comes to a screeching halt. That's part of your story. That's part of their story. Here's what we know as we're looking at this, that it's describing people that went onto ships. Understand this when it's speaking of that in the ancient world, the sailors were considered the geniuses of their time. They're the explorers and they're the architects and they're the engineers of their world. So speaking of people that are high intelligence, it says they saw the works of the Lord in the deep. They understood the deep things, and life still got hard. Here's what we know is that, please hear me, this is important. I feel the Holy Spirit led to say this. Human wisdom will fail you in the storm. I'm going to say it again. This is important. Human wisdom will fail you in the storm. God's wisdom can speak to a storm and say, shut up. God's wisdom speaks to a storm and says, peace be still. That's enough. Your wisdom can't do that. His can. Human wisdom fails us in the storm. They say, I didn't see it coming. This looks like a death or it looks like a loss or a shock or a diagnosis when life gets hard. Since they went up and down and their courage melted away. The Hebrew language for courage melting means that gives us a picture of a soul dissolving within a person. That describes me in moments of my life where I didn't see that coming. That shocked me and my. My soul just dissolved within me. The surprised sufferer. But here's the thing, it says, but he made that. He made the storm be still. It says they cried out to God and God made the storm be still. In theological terms, we call this messianic foreshadowing. This is Jesus in the Old Testament, before Jesus ever even comes on the planet, we have him foreshadowed all the way back in Psalm 107 says, he's going to speak to the storms, and they shut up. He's going to speak to the winds and he's going to speak to the waves. And so when Jesus comes on the scene, by the way, his disciples are like, we've studied scripture about this happening our whole lives, and now we're seeing it in the. In the flesh. Because God still speaks to storms. I love this Scripture where it talks about the storm is happening. The disciples were getting hit every single way. And Jesus comes out walking on the waves, walking on the things that terrorize them, walking on those storms of life. He still walks on storms. He still speaks to storms. And some storms end the moment that you cry out to God. Some storms end with the speed of your obedience, your willingness to cry out to the Lord. Lord, I'm in a storm. Help me. And God says, peace, be still. He still does that. You know, there's still limits on what a storm can do. I hope you know that there are limits. God sets limits on storms. We know this, by the way, from multiple scriptures, but I love it. It's in job 38, where God. God says, I told the sea, you can go no further than this or farther than this, depending on where you're from. He puts limits on the seas. He puts limits on storms, can only do so much. And God allows storms. Please hear me. There's a lot of heretical false gospel that says God, no, no, no. God is good. But God absolutely allows storms. And this scripture proves it. He allows it. Sometimes it's nobody's fault but God. Here's what we know, is that storms show us our limits and God's power. Storms show us your limits, the limits of your wisdom, of your best decisions. You have limits to the kind of storm that you can handle. There's some financial storms at some point. That's your limit. That's all I. That's all I can afford. That's your limit. God allows storms to have limits, and they show you your limits and they show you God's power. Those are the surprise sufferers that we see in Scripture. And in case you didn't know, this psalm is not written by David. Most psalms are written by David or a few other people. He writes a ton of them. But this psalm was written by a very particular group of people which are so important to us today to know who writes this. This is not David sitting in some palace. This is not the shepherd, the great grandfather of Jesus. This is not them. This is a group of people that have just come back from Babylonian exile. And they were in exile because of their sin. The entire country was taken over by Babylon. They were all shipped off to another land to live as slaves. But God, But God delivered them and he was bringing them back to their home. And these people were coming back in, not with some pretty filter on their life, but they're saying, look where we were. But God, he brought us back. And my sin and my parents sin and my grandparents sin had led us into captivity, but God has not brought us back. They're coming in sober and they're coming in thankfully. They're coming in honest and transparent. And each of them are sharing stories about their life of some of us were like this and some of us were like that. If some of us were this way, here's the thing. They could see themselves in every one of those categories. And if I've done my job correctly today, so can you. I don't just look at one of those points of my life. I look at all of them like, that's me, that's you. You don't understand the circumstances of where I ended up. It doesn't matter. Let me say it this way. It doesn't matter how you got there. It matters how you respond. Notice the same repeating line in all four stories. It says they cried out to God and he delivered them. It doesn't matter how you got there. You got a story, I got a story. It's different. Mine's different. Yours is different. Doesn't matter how you got there. What matters is how you respond. And our world is looking for people that are honest and transparent, people that have walked through some stuff because that brings something that our world is so hungry for that they can't find anywhere else. That's the story of real people with real lives, with real mess, with real trouble saying I was but God, because he did that for me, please hear me. He can do it for you. Here's what we know, is that your testimony isn't complete until you shared it with someone that's right where you were. And this is the challenge that God has for his people today. I love for us to gather. I love for us to worship. I love for us to have a great time. I love to talk about your generosity. But here's. Here's the thing. There's something specific for us right now and in this season that God is challenging you to do. Share the story of what God's done for you. He's done so much. He's brought you from such a long way. You have A story to tell. And that story is going to do more for you and for the kingdom than you ever thought possible. This is where God begins to redeem your story. Here's an added bonus, by the way. When you start sharing your story with some honesty and transparency of where God brought you from, here's what you're going to find. You're gonna find a new level of accountability. You're gonna say, now that people know my story, they're looking to me and I'm not going back there. It's amazing to me how much power breaks off of that old, sinful lifestyle. When you start sharing your story of what God's done for you, you start losing its power. It's a powerful thing. You need this. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. You have a story. And I'm believing that if I've done my job correctly today, what's gonna happen over the next few days? Is there going to be people that God has placed around your life that are going to give you an open door? They're going to say things like, man, you ever been here? And you're going to be like, okay, Lord. Well, I don't really share this story a whole lot, but, yeah, I've been there. And what you're about to do, I can just at least tell you, don't do what I did. But God helped me. God met me. And that's not me anymore. It doesn't have to be you either. Every story starts with trouble, but it ends with praise. Your story has some trouble. Your story has some issues. It's dark. I get it. So is mine. If you stay around here long enough, you'll see that one of the things I'm going to give you, I'm just going to be me. Trust me. I'm just as shocked as anybody else that I'm called a pastor. I know me. I know my past. I get it. I don't understand why God would choose to use me. I don't know. I wouldn't see it in me. You would not believe what he can do with you. And I know this because he did it for me. What can God do with your story? It's much, much bigger than what you've given it credit for. Don't let the enemy win. You've had some trouble. We've also got some things to be thankful for. Amen. Would you bow your head and close your eyes with me? Father, we are grateful for where you brought us from. We are grateful that the wreck can meet a Redeemer. We're grateful that our lives, Lord, as messed up as they've been, don't have to stay that way. Because you still redeem people that are broken, those that are bound and those that are suffering, and those that are fools. Lord, those that are in darkness and rebellion and those that are backsliding. You still redeem. You still heal, you still restore. You still meet us at the lowest points of our lives. And, Father, it's not a sexy story. It is not a polished story, but it's my story. It's a story of what you've done for me. And it's real and it's honest. And I pray that you would use this story for your kingdom and for your glory, Lord. Not for me, for you. So that people would know that there is a God in Longview, Texas, that loves people just as they are. Father, we come in hurt. We come in broken. We come in wandering and lost. We come in in our distress. But together we cry out to you and say, help me. I need help. Help me. Perhaps you came here today and you're in a. You're in a place where you say, pastor, you're describing my life. I. I was raised in church, but I've gotten away from God. I've been backsliding. You're talking about my life, my friend. If you could see it right now, God himself is reaching down his hand and saying, come home. Come home. It's time. God led you here today for a reason. For others, you might say, I've never had a relationship with Jesus. I need that, my friend. Yes, you do. You may not even know how to respond. How do I do this? How do I make that change in my life? My friend, it starts with a prayer. And I want to encourage you. I'm going to challenge you right now to pray this prayer with me. I'll tell you the words to say, but as a matter of fact, so that you know I'm not trying to embarrass you, I'm not going to single you out. I'm not here to do that. All of us are going to say this prayer together, but you need to pray this prayer along with us. So, church, family, let's pray this together. Just say, Jesus. Come on, say it like you mean it. Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God. I believe that you came and died. And I believe that you rose from the grave so that I could have life, so that I could have grace, so that I could have forgiveness for all of my sins. Please help me Save me and I will give you the rest of my life in Jesus name. And with heads bowed and eyes closed, if that was you and you prayed that prayer and you meant that prayer, once again, I'm not trying to embarrass you in any way. I would never do that. But if that's you and you prayed that prayer and you meant that prayer, if you're making that decision today with no one else looking around, would you just lift up your hand all across this place and say, that was me. That is me. That's my story. Yes. I'll see you all over this place. Lift up your hands nice and high and proud. I see you. Good for you. You can put your hands down. I want you to know if you, if you lifted your hands, I have something special for you. I have. There's a phone number that's going to appear behind me on a screen and this is just for you. Would you text the words I pray to that number? If you're watching online, it's appearing on your screen as well. Text the words I prayed to that number and I'm going to send you back the link to some things that will help you understand what just happened in your heart and what to do next. And I'm proud of you for doing that. Good for you. And how rich family, go ahead and look up at me if you would. Let's stand to our feet together. If you're watching online, if maybe you're watching this on a Monday afternoon at 4:30, you know, you're working out at the gym, I want you to know that there's, it's such an honor for you to be watching this online. And would you do us a huge favor if you believe our world needs to hear this message? Would you consider using your social media power to share this message with your world? You would be shocked at the thousands of people that are watching what, what is happening right here in Longview, Texas, because faithful people like you are willing to share and willing to risk the story of what's happening in the church on their social media channel. It's a big deal when you do that. And so would you consider sharing that, that, that, that's a huge gift for us. If you wouldn't mind, then I'm also going to have our elders and their wives step forward and they're going to be available to pray for you. Some of us, you come to this place today saying, I wish somebody would pray for me. Well, bro, this is your time to shine. These people will stay right here down front. The only thing standing between you and a word of prayer is your feet. So you got to tell your feet to start walking. Meet these people right down here. And as the service ends, they will pray for you until we're done. Come on, somebody. We still believe in the power of prayer. Amen. And then for everybody else, let me pray for you. Let me bless you as we go. Father, would you bless my friends with an incredible week? Would you watch over them? Would you protect them? Would you give them favor? Would you surround them, Lord, like with your protection, like a shield? I pray that they would have an amazing week following after your voice, being led by your spirit, becoming all that you've called them to be in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus and all of us said together. Amen. God bless you as you go. Have an awesome week. [00:45:14] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. [00:45:26] Speaker B: If you want to be a part. [00:45:27] Speaker A: Of our online community, connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv. Or you can check out our [email protected] lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.