Life in the City: Discussing a Sermon

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00:00:02

Welcome to the life in the city podcast from Antioch Community Church in Northeast Minneapolis where we explore what it looks like to be a loving family, inviting all people into the life, changing way of Jesus Christ.

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We’re glad you’re here.

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Hey everybody, welcome back to the life in the city podcast from Antioch Community Church.

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I’m Coley Waataja

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And I’m Rachel Love.

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And we are happy to be with you today.

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This has been super fun for us.

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This is one of our earliest podcasts still, so we’re still kind of getting our feet.

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But yeah, I think we’ve got a good one for you today.

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But first, Rachel, how was your weekend?

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Uh, you know this was a pretty big week in the life of Antioch and in the life of all of our church family.

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For sure last week a letter went out to our church family from the elders explaining Pastor Andy and Pastor. Matt’s transition out of Antioch this fall.

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Yeah, mic drop yeah.

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So obviously a lot of emotions, but you know, while we’re sad to see them not be leaders at Antioch anymore, like antiok, I think Andy put it perfectly in saying.

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Rusila church God is still our Good Shepherd and you know, there’s hope for the future. That Antioch will grow and continue to build God’s Kingdom in northeast. Through all of this.

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Yeah, for sure there’s a lot of.

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There’s a lot of hope, and I actually was really encouraged this past Sunday.

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By the time this goes out, we will already have had our congregational meeting, but this past Sunday was just kind of the time for Andy to talk about it and.

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Since the letter and all that, but we were really nervous.

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Andy and I especially, I think, were really nervous about Sunday.

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’cause you know he had said like I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it together.

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You know, I just love you guys and so talking about this stuff.

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Uh, and I had said ages ago that I would cover for the worship team, give Ryan a Sunday off.

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And so it was Eva O’Rourke and his daughter and myself.

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We were the we were it for the team.

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And then we found out that that would be the big bomb drop.

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Sunday and all of that and we were like OK, here we go.

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And sometimes, like pouring your heart out to God in worship, just brings up so many emotions as well.

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Oh my gosh.

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That’s already in your soul and so that combined with like knowing that Andy was going to be.

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Chatting with our church family I’m sure was tough, yeah.

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Yeah, if Andy had cried I would not have been OK, but he didn’t.

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He didn’t so I was OK.

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Yeah, I told David there was one song though that I was like.

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I’ll leave this one, but I can’t think about it while I lead it.

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I guess I’ll just leave it, but but no it was.

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It was a gift and I’m excited for the future of antiok and and for what Andy and Matt get to do next.

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I mean, yeah, I’m so thankful that they’re leaving on good terms that it’s not under duress or.

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Issues or whatever like, it’s just where God’s leading them, but that kind of actually ironically leads in to what we’re going to talk about today of one of the things we’re going to talk about is just sermons. In general, you know, a big part of Sunday morning. You could argue the biggest part is someone preaching the word.

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So that happens every week, usually in our case it’s like 30 ish minutes or so in the word.

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And and in the summer we’ve been going through the summer Psalms as what we call the series and we just pick up where we left off each summer and a couple weeks ago. Bryce Langley, our pastoral resident, spoke on Psalm 69, which I thought he did a great job.

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Yeah, and I think the Psalms, especially in this season of antiok, are so fitting because the Psalms are full of.

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Cries out for God with big motions as well and so yeah, let’s dive into it.

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What part about Sunday, services and sermons do you love about antiok?

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Yeah, it’s something that’s like different from listening to a sermon like on a podcast or a a live stream.

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Even you know, and things that I think we found that in the pandemic that.

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Man, this is not the same and it wasn’t the quality of.

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Production yeah that was I mean.

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Although that was lacking at times.

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Uhm, that wasn’t so much the issue as much as there’s something about hearing the word together in community.

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Yeah, it’s like this implicit accountability.

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Yep to it.

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And also like we’re all in this together.

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Kind of a thing and.

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And then you just get to hear the word read and expounded on by people who know it and love it and are submitted to it as well.

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I just think all of.

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That is.

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Is awesome, I don’t know.

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Is there anything else for you that.

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Yeah, I mean I would say definitely one thing I missed during the height of the pandemic was sitting next to people that I know they’re hearing the same thing that I’m hearing.

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And yeah, you’re right, this implicit accountability to we should apply this to our lives, and I think you know, poor Andy.

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Like having to preach to a computer screen or a video camera every Sunday I’m sure was not.

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Oh my word.

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The ideal thing for him, but I think for especially Andy has said this like when he preaches he’s preaching to himself as well and so I think for our church as a whole to have you know, leaders that seek to not just teach truth to others but to themselves as well.

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That we’re all gospel in each other in community is so important.

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So that’s one thing I love about Sundays in particular.

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Yeah, and one thing that I think is hard though is that it feels like like.

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Why are Sunday mornings harder than any other morning?

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Does that happen to you?

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Oh yeah, definitely.

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OK, ’cause like and it’s not just since I have had Dax, you know, like since we’ve had a little.

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Although that doesn’t help, but like it seems almost like there’s something also spiritual about you.

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Know the enemy of our souls does not want us to come and hear.

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The word of truth.

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And the amount of times even preparing for a Sunday morning service, I’m sure Ryan Maurer, our worship director, could attest to this as well.

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But you know, there’s random Sundays where it’s like, oh we need to make a last minute copy and the copy or Wi-Fi.

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Is not working.

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And it’s like really, today really.

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Yeah, I, this hasn’t happened in a long time, but I remember when I did have to lead worship more often that there were.

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Days where we would hand transpose like hand right in the right, the correct chords because the printer or copier or whatever wasn’t working or.

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Someone forgot something.

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It just yeah, just ridiculous things happen on Sunday mornings that keep us from hearing the word.

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Then there’s lots of distractions in our lives, whether it be outside of us or internally as well, like for a lot of parents in our Sunday morning services like it can be very distracting.

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Trying to either think about is my child OK in childcare or you have a child who refuses to go into childcare and you’re having to go out in the foyer and like try to listen to the sermon.

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And try to care for your child and keep them not screaming.

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Or a legitimate thing?

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I know sometimes on Sundays I haven’t had coffee before I get to church and so then I.

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But that is a act of faith in.

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Itself and then.

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Yeah, I get to church and I get coffee and I’m.

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Like ah, caffeine and then it, like all kicks in and my head is just buzzing and it’s usually during the sermon and I’m thinking of like all the things I need to do and I’m like you know, highly caffeinated.

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But then it’s like wait a second.

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This is not what I should be focusing on, so I don’t know if caffeine is.

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Like a tool of the devil at that point, but it definitely distracts me at times too.

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That’s funny, I find that I I am such a multitasker in my normal everyday life and I realize that’s a misnomer.

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You can’t really multitask, blah blah blah, but but I do lots of things at the same time in a lot of my life and Sunday mornings.

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Listening to a sermon is one of the.

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Only I probably not the only but one of the few times during the week where I if Dax is being good in nursery and I.

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Don’t have to model that as a parent.

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It’s one of the only times I’m only doing one thing at a time, and the temptation, or like those muscles of like I ought to be doing something else at the same time.

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Oh yeah, it’s true.

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Are so strong ’cause like I can listen to a good podcast and do the dishes or I can, you know, watch something and make A to do list or do parts of the list you know.

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But it doesn’t make any sense to do that during a sermon, because you end up missing and you’re checking out, and you’re especially just not listening to the spirit, I think.

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That’s true, we’re used to our brains being so fragmented during the week, and then sometimes it’s hard to turn that off on Sundays.

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So what are some things that you have found even in like entering into like a Sunday morning, even before you get to church?

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To kind of help prepare yourself for Sunday morning sermons.

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Yeah, I I wish I could say I did.

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More you know, I, I think there’s there’s a lot of things that I know that I could do or should do.

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Like if I was really on top of it, I think we know.

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What what Solomon is coming next.

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You know I could read it ahead of time.

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Yeah, that that would help a ton and it does.

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When I when I think to do it I also I something I have done is I try not to drink as much coffee at home because I can’t go with none.

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That’s bless.

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Ah, you’re convicting now.

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You bless you, my child.

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But I try to go with less.

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Coffee Sunday mornings.

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Before I get to church because.

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I still want some, you know it’s morning, but I also know that I will get some here and anyone listening.

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You might start to notice it when I’m giving announcements.

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Just just guess how many cups of coffee I’ve had because the number of times I go off off script will definitely correlate with the number.

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Of cups of.

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Coffee, or the number of woos that she asks for.

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From the congregation during her announcement.

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Are you serious?

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I haven’t thought of that.

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Oh my gosh, that’s hilarious.

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But yeah, I mean, even if I haven’t done that, even if I’ve had too much coffee and I haven’t read the the script, the the passage for the.

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Uhm, I do try to at least take a beat you know or really try to just like get down to doing one thing at a time during the worship before the sermon I.

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Think it’s one of the.

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Big blessings of singing before you have to listen.

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Preparing our hearts for, and I think sometimes I’ve struggled with, but the words I’m singing maybe I’m not in the right heart attitude yet.

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To like you know, am I being truthful in what I’m singing but I think somebody I know encouraged me to that.

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Sometimes yes, we are like sinners, right?

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And sometimes the words that we sing we can’t accurately portray them in our sinful fallen selves.

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But they’re aspirational and they are what we want to ascribe to God for who he is.

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And so even though we’re not perfectly worshipping him, like God knows that we’re never perfectly going to worship him with our hearts.

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In a full alignment to who he is, but it’s something we should seek and that does help prepare us to to listen and receive the words that he’s given the preacher on a Sunday morn.

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Right?

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Yeah, that’s really good.

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It reminds me of something I learned ages ago and I’m terrible with like remembering where I’ve learned and heard things.

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So sorry I can’t reference this, but there’s some group of monks in some sect.

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Of course.

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She Hannity

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Might be Eastern Orthodox.

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I can’t remember.

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Somebody can write in and tell me this reference, but that they they pray the Psalms or sing the Psalms through.

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If you.

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Three times a day, morning, afternoon and night.

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Right?

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And so they just go. 123456789 you know wow, and I can’t imagine what you do when you get this on one.

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19 but.

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But what that means is that at some point they see it as praying for, like the whole church.

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You know, in in the name of the church globally and.

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But what that means is that you are often praying things that you don’t feel in that moment.

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But you can still sing them, read them, pray them in light of that, like someone in the global church is going through this right now, and I just I’ve always appreciated that idea of like I may not be in the right place to hear this or or like to to feel this emotion that this Psalm is expressing.

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That’s good, yeah.

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But someone is.

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And I can I can pray for them and then also try and see.

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OK Lord, is there something in here that you want me to?

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To hear, even if I don’t feel like it’s for me.

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And one thing I appreciate about Ryan Maher, our worship director, what he does is, I think he really picked songs that the lyrics are full of good doctrine about who God is and who we are.

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In light of that.

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And so we gospel ourselves.

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And then we might not even like realize it.

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But then later in the week, it’s like.

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Yeah, I sing those words on Sunday.

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Those are really true and I needed that reminder.

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That’s awesome.

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Yeah he told me he wants to be on by the way he wants to come on the podcast so.

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Yes, Ryan, if you’re listening, we’re looking forward to having you on soon.

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Yeah he has.

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A real job though, so we have.

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To we’ll have to figure that out, but.

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But yeah, so I mean some of the things that can help to our that help help really bring the sermon home I think are what we do after the service.

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You know the first thing I have to do is I I keep talking about him, but it’s a big part of life.

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I have to go pick up Dax and many.

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Sundays I forget him in the.

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Nursery and he’s the last one.

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Or a teacher just brings him to me, which is very sweet.

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We know you’re a staff kid when.

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I don’t.

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I don’t think fully John doesn’t forget.

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John had to leave before I did this past Sunday, and he actually texted me.

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Don’t forget Dax.

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Anyway, but one of the things that can really help bring it home is talking about the sermon after Sunday and not just leaving it like in the room.

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And that’s one of the reasons that Andy started this years and years ago, and every every preacher does it now is have discussion questions on the back of the notes or somewhere in the in the bulletin.

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So I was thinking that like we should just go through those.

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Questions together.

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Yeah, that’d be great.

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I mean, I know our community groups other community groups have done this before, but I think.

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It’s a good practice to get into.

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Yeah, let’s do it.

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Yeah, so I mean just for summarizing what Bryce covered a couple weeks ago from Psalm 69.

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The son is an imprecatory Psalm, which is a big word to basically say that he’s praying ill on his enemies, and there’s lots of big emotions, and it’s it’s kind of intense.

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It’s it’s something that is really, I think, grading sometimes to our post Jesus ears, and was there anything briefly that stood out to you from the sermon?

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Yeah, I mean when I read something like this sometimes I’m like wait this is in the Bible like David is actually praying for like.

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People to like be put to shame for God to wipe them out and it and it’s.

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It’s really yeah strange to us, right?

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’cause it’s like is it OK to?

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Say these things to.

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God, right?

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But you’re right, it is a lot of big emotions and I think it’s it’s good for us to read things like this to realize that God knows our big emotions.

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So there’s no reason hiding them.

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And he can handle it for sure.

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Yeah yeah, and I think sometimes it’s hard to read the songs because, well, they’re in English when you read them, but they were written in Hebrew, so there’s a.

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There’s a poetry to the Hebrew language that is just gorgeous, but.

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If you’ve ever tried to read poetry, that’s been translated, it stuff gets lost.

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Yeah, you know.

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And and my sister Kelsey has a great line.

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I think it’s original to her, but if it’s not I’ll I’ll find out when she tells me after she listens to this.

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But she says reading the Psalms in English, especially in like an overly literal translation like the Nasb.

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Be can be like biking down a cobblestone St, like it’s a bumpy ride and it’s a little.

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Like our rides on the way to Antioch coming down our street as well.

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Street yes, exactly, reading the Psalms can be like trying to drive down Jackson for 12th.

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You’re going to.

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Get where you’re going, but it’s it’s a rough ride and so sometimes because of that you kind of have to look through things a little harder than you maybe would have had.

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Did you know ancient Hebrew been your native language?

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And through the lens of Christ, now, knowing that Jesus is God, we can see in this Psalm that justice is a natural desire of humans, because we’re made in God’s image and justice matters to him. But that responsibility for justice and the wrath that.

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Comes with it is.

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Is God?

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It’s not mine.

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Yeah, you know.

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So even in this song, when the psalmist is praying for terrible things to happen to his enemies, he’s still presenting it to the Lord of like this.

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Is what I want to happen not.

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I’m going to go do this.

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He still is submitted to the Lord in in that.

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And we’ve lived that obviously in the past. You know, 2-3 years with a lot of racial injustice coming to the forefront of our of our brains and in front of our eyes. Even here in minneap.

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Like it is good to mourn injustice that we see around us, right?

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And I think sometimes as Christians we can get stuck in like the morning, but bring it to God.

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And yes, we’re called to be good stewards of bringing justice around us and seeking justice around us, but ultimately.

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There is that underlying piece that we know that justice belongs to the Lord, and that’s the hope.

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That we have.

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Yeah no, that’s really good. Well, let’s look at the discussion questions that Bryce gave us from this sermon. So the first one I’ll just read it talk about your experience in talking about God’s wrath, whether that was in the church or commented on by culture.

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How have your formative years shaped your view of God’s anger, and how do you think we should respond to anger?

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Oh man, OK.

00:17:07

Just a quick question.

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Thanks a lot, price.

00:17:09

Yeah, I would say any personality profile that I have taken of my life.

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I always come up as like the golden retriever, the peacekeeper, like those kind of things.

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And so for me, in my formative years, or how like I grew up like talking about anger and wrath and negative quote, UN quote, like emotions.

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Is so hard and I think as Midwesterners sometimes, especially like we pushed down like those.

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Emotions that aren’t so palatable for others to see in us.

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And we don’t want to make people feel uncomfortable, right?

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And so it’s really strange for us to read psalms like this, ’cause it’s like, well, I would never talk about this to other people, right?

00:17:48

How I’m angry and even how maybe sometimes I’m questioning like God, why are you allowed this?

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Why do you allow this to happen to me?

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Yeah, totally, I I grew up in a very I grew up in rural Minnesota and so even there it’s even more pronounced of like that Midwestern.

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Low emotion, you know.

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Your excitement is a smile.

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Your anger is a not smile.

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You know like that’s kind of it for a lot of a lot of people.

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But I’m I’m wired differently than that.

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A little bit I, I’m borderline bombastic at times.

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Come and so I actually tend to be wired for positivity like I can see the good in situations I you know, I’m pretty hopeful and all that, but so then when I do feel.

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These you know things like anger I I’m quick to overlook them because I I’m quick to jump to.

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Like you know, justice is mine, says the Lord, you know, I’m like, you know what.

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Forgive, move on, let it go, leave.

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It at the.

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But then that also means that I don’t like, appreciate, or acknowledge always how much it’s affecting me, and so I may just.

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Call it irritating or something when deeper down.

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It’s like no, I’m upset or I’m angry or this isn’t fair, you know?

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Acknowledge what it really means, how it’s affecting you totally.

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But on the other hand I.

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Also grew up, uh?

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Around some people who would be more in the fundamentalist Christianity category, which unfortunately gets labeled evangelicalism a lot right now in culture, but I would argue that there’s more of.

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A subset called.

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Fundamentalism which we won’t get into right now, but sometimes the fundamentalist side of things will.

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Actually, like revel in God’s wrath.

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And like be happy when evil comes upon anybody, whether they deserve it, you know.

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But what that leaves a bad taste in my mouth because.

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I don’t think that Scripture shows us God even reveling in his wrath.

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You know, he wills that all would come to repentance and and acknowledge him.

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So it’s like we don’t want to go to that other alternative of enjoying the wrath of God on others.

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And it can be really tricky when we put God in boxes, right?

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We have like this Old Testament God who is like full of like righteous anger and justice and wrath, right?

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And he.

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He gets rid of all these people who are trying to overtake his chosen people Israel right?

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And then we get to the New Testament.

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We’re like, OK now in this box we have like sweet loving.

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Jesus, right sweet baby.

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Yeah, right?

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And then it’s like OK, well we’re not really looking at his whole character as a person.

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If we put him in boxes and just pick and choose what kind of Jesus we like on a certain day.

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And and I liked in our previous sermon series from the heart of Jesus where Pastor Andy kind of.

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Pulled a lot from the book, gentle and lowly by Dane Ortlund.

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One of the aspects of Christ personality that Andy talked about was his anger or wrath.

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And I love how Dane Ortlund put it.

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That and how Andy explained it that it’s really just ferocious.

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Love that it’s not 2.

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Opposite things, this wrath and this love, but really because.

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Christ loves us so much, loves his church, loves the Holiness that belongs to God.

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He is going to be angry when he encounters sin or sinful acts enacted upon his people, and so it’s good for us to just like Jesus abour what is evil and to hope and the promise.

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That Christ is going to restore all things because he is a just God.

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Yeah, that’s really good.

00:21:24

Bryce said a similar thing to where he said anger is just something that happens when what you love most is threatened.

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That there’s no love without anger.

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At least in a sinful world.

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Because those things will be threatened.

00:21:41

And point #2 on Bryce’s discussion. Was you know it’s good to reread?

00:21:46

Psalm 69 as well, and I think for the sake of timing on this podcast.

00:21:50

We won’t re.

00:21:50

Read the whole thing, but if you are listening to this and you have not read Psalm 69, we encourage you to do that.

00:21:58

Uhm, it is.

00:21:59

It’s it’s a beautiful way for David to just really lament the.

00:22:04

Darkness that surround him but also like just tell God how he’s feeling and what he hopes happens to those that are seeking to come and trap him.

00:22:15

But he does end it with this like beautiful hope of that, the that God will save him right?

00:22:22

And that’s the God who saved Zion.

00:22:24

And those who love his name will dwell in this land.

00:22:28

And so, like this beautiful hope that David has that, like he can still praise the name of God with the song, he’s going to magnify him with Thanksgiving, because he rests in the character of who God is.

00:22:38

Despite all of these horrible things that are happening to him.

00:22:41

Well, what does this text teach us about God, justice and wrath?

00:22:46

Yeah, and also what does it teach us about God’s love and merciful response to David? Because I think there’s new details that the Holy Spirit could be showing us about who God is in this Psalm as well.

00:22:57

Yeah he this question was actually three questions in one, so I I only read the first one.

00:23:02

I missed missed the rest.

00:23:03

But he also puts in here what new details is the Holy Spirit showing you and encourages us to share our observations.

00:23:09

And I appreciate that Bryce put it.

00:23:11

Put that in there about what is the Holy Spirit showing you?

00:23:14

Because that’s exactly what the Holy Spirit does.

00:23:17

Jesus said, I will send my spirit and he will remind you and teach you everything that you need to know.

00:23:22

He said that’s the disciples.

00:23:24

Before he ascended into heaven, he, the spirit, continues to do that within us, and so I think as we come to the word, we can remember that like it’s not just about our cleverness and ability to, you know, parse out sentences or whatever, but the Holy Spirit can reveal.

00:23:40

Little truth.

00:23:44

Just when we ask.

00:23:45

Yeah, and I think that’s good for Sunday mornings too.

00:23:47

I mean, while we have some great like teachers and preachers within our congregation like we’re not reliant upon.

00:23:54

Andy, Matt, Darius whoever is teaching us fully.

00:23:59

We have the Holy Spirit to help us as well as we listen as we try to.

00:24:05

Gain more knowledge about who God is, how we should risk.

00:24:08

Bond and I think one thing that stood out to me in this.

00:24:11

Psalm is like.

00:24:12

Just because David was a follower of God, it didn’t mean he was immune to seeing pain and evil in the world.

00:24:17

So I think that’s a question we hear a lot right?

00:24:19

If God is so good, like why do we still see pain and evil?

00:24:23

And I think this is an example of one of those times where David knows like it doesn’t mean God doesn’t love me just because there’s evil around.

00:24:31

And then what he does in that moment too is huge.

00:24:34

Yeah, so he turns to God, right?

00:24:37

I think sometimes in my own life I can be quick to like vent to people.

00:24:40

My husband will tell you that for sure before going to God and David reminds us like listen, God can take your initial emotions, right?

00:24:49

’cause sometimes I like to process them and then like come to God with this nice like.

00:24:54

Rare, but I’m like OK this is this is what I actually want to feel God, but God doesn’t care about what I want to feel.

00:25:01

Necessarily he cares about what I am feeling and he’ll take that, and that’s a good reminder.

00:25:07

Yeah, and I think even sometimes like it’s good to to see as David put like, there’s injustice, but we have this God who.

00:25:16

Brings justice and he gives renewed purpose to our pain in light of eternity.

00:25:21

I had heard recently that.

00:25:23

Even the apostle Paul, you know, before he became this amazing missionary and teacher, he was somebody who persecuted Christians, right?

00:25:31

He’s a zealot and he under his watch so many people were killed and it’s like easy to look at that like Oh my gosh, that’s injustice that’s horrible, but God has this amazing ability to renew all.

00:25:43

Things for his purposes.

00:25:46

And I was reminded that even those who were martyred at the hand of Paul rejoiced when he came to know Christ and and so.

00:25:55

It’s good to know that Christ can turn everything around for good, and we may not see it here, right?

00:26:00

The people that Paul murdered never got to see it here on Earth, right?

00:26:03

But they got to see God do an amazing thing in the life of Paul and his church, even though they had to suffer for it.

00:26:12

Yeah, now I love that in verses 13 and 14 David is pleading for deliverance from his enemies and all of that.

00:26:19

But he has this phrase that stood out to me during the sermon at an acceptable time.

00:26:25

He says at an acceptable time.

00:26:27

Oh Lord, deliver me from the hands or something like that and I just love that because even in like the depths of his pain and fear and whatever he’s experiencing, he’s still saying, like it’s, uh, the timing is up to you.

00:26:39

Lord, at an acceptable time.

00:26:41

Like whenever now I would love to like know how that sounds in Hebrew, ’cause that’s such a great example.

00:26:46

Of like, the translation is probably not as smooth as the original.

00:26:49

You know at an acceptable time.

00:26:51

Dear Lord, you know, like in in your timing, please deliver me from this, but still.

00:26:58

This is what I want, but in your timing I don’t know.

00:27:01

I just think that’s.

00:27:02

And it’s huge.

00:27:03

That’s a good reminder because we know God’s time. It’s not our time, and that’s hard to swallow.

00:27:08

Right, right, yeah?

00:27:09

Well I mean all time is his.

00:27:10

Time so yeah.

00:27:14

Well, one of the reasons we we offer up these discussion questions is because a lot of community groups go through them.

00:27:19

I know our.

00:27:19

Community Group uses the discussion questions at least once a month during our during our gatherings, and so knowing that I think Bryce put in this last.

00:27:29

Question how can you as a community group?

00:27:31

Respond obediently to the text this.

00:27:34

This is a great question because this is where the rubber meets the road.

00:27:37

This is where it goes from just being Oh yeah, that’s a great thought.

00:27:42

We can be honest and Jesus can handle it and I can leave my pain at the foot of it.

00:27:47

You know whatever we want to say, but like, no really how?

00:27:51

Yeah, and just like you pointed out, beginning like hearing.

00:27:54

Sermons together is this like group accountability of like OK?

00:27:58

How are we going to do this not?

00:28:01

How am I going to do this?

00:28:02

I think that’s important, but as a Community group responding together in things and encouraging one another to respond, and so I think one thing I thought about is like, OK, Rachel, don’t be shy about going to God in prayer, you know we always hear like pray without ceasing.

00:28:16

What does that mean?

00:28:18

And and I often talk to my dog.

00:28:21

And my baby during my days and that sounds strange but like they’re around me.

00:28:25

And so something happens like Toby.

00:28:26

Can you believe?

00:28:27

This and he’s a dog.

00:28:28

He just looks at me like bro.

00:28:30

And you know he’s he doesn’t know what.

00:28:32

Do, but like just little things like that, I’ll find myself talking to them.

00:28:36

But it’s like, OK, I know that’s a silly little illustration, but they don’t understand the emotions behind my words or what I’m feeling.

00:28:43

But I have a God who is always with me and so getting in a habit of I think Pastor Andy calls it shooting up little arrow prayers, right?

00:28:52

Getting in a habit of going to God with your emotions first is something that I know I need.

00:28:56

To do but also.

00:28:57

So that I should be encouraging other people to do like when people come to me to vent.

00:29:02

Like am I asking them, hey, have you prayed about it first?

00:29:05

Yeah, not it doesn’t mean we have to cut people off and be like don’t talk to me till you’ve talked to Jesus, you know.

00:29:09

And then.

00:29:10

But I can help bring someone to Jesus in that moment I want to be a safe person for people to talk to you, but I also want to be.

00:29:19

Points them to Jesus yeah, and and then if that means going to him with them.

00:29:24

I think that’s that’s incredible and so creating like a safe space for people to.

00:29:29

I know that’s kind of a buzzword like a safe space, but.

00:29:32

For people to feel and express raw emotions, even if unlike David in the song, like even sometimes if they’re not.

00:29:39

Right?

00:29:40

You know, but to let.

00:29:41

Them feel it where they’re at in that moment and bring it to Jesus and let him do some redeeming work.

00:29:49

In that I can I can have a tendency to want to correct the the lie or the false belief, or the misunderstanding or whatever it is that’s leading to the emotion.

00:30:00

And I can.

00:30:01

I can be tempted to do that too quickly.

00:30:04

When that might be true, and that might be what something that needs to be addressed.

00:30:09

But it’s not the first thing first.

00:30:12

Sometimes people just need.

00:30:13

To be heard.

00:30:14

Yeah, and acknowledge that they have feelings that maybe are different from yours and that right?

00:30:18

You know what they’re feeling in the moment.

00:30:20

But I do agree.

00:30:22

Yeah, getting to the truth of the.

00:30:23

Matter huh?

00:30:25

Yeah, and I think in our day and age like we don’t have the same, at least not yet.

00:30:29

We as Christians don’t have the same kind of persecution that David had.

00:30:33

You know, enemies that are trying to kill him, and he’s living in the wilderness.

00:30:36

So you know like his his Davids own son tried to kill it.

00:30:39

I mean it.

00:30:39

Was he had some?

00:30:40

Stuff, but for our culture.

00:30:42

There’s also a lot.

00:30:43

Internal battles that we face, so whether that’s mental health or just general doubts or false beliefs or that kind of thing, there’s this song by Andrew Peterson.

00:30:55

The name of the song is actually escaping me now.

00:30:57

It might be called be kind to yourself.

00:30:59

Something like that, but there’s a line in there that says.

00:31:02

How does it end when the war that you’re in is just you against you against you?

00:31:07

You’ve got to learn to love your enemies too.

00:31:10

Wow, yeah, and there was a time when I was going through some stuff and I was in a really low place and I I just I heard that song for you.

00:31:18

You know, just in my playlist kind of would be in there and it just struck me so differently that I was like, oh man, ’cause he’s he’s taking from when Jesus says.

00:31:26

But I.

00:31:27

Say love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

00:31:29

And Andrew Peterson takes it and turns it to say like, OK, yeah, but why are you beating yourself up like you can?

00:31:37

You’re not your own enemy, or even if you are, you can take that enemy.

00:31:40

To Jesus to say.

00:31:42

Defeat this one for me too.

00:31:46

It’s not just about about me.

00:31:48

Yeah, I think so many times we think of evil as being outside of ourselves, but we are still sinners, right?

00:31:54

And Christ is still sanctified and redeeming us, but he’s able to even take on the the bad things inside of us as well.

00:32:02

Well, I mean, I think that’s.

00:32:04

That’s great that we can.

00:32:05

Read this together and kind of process some of these things and I think that’s our hope for our community groups throughout the week too or.

00:32:11

DNA groups and you know Bryce closes with this last question, which I think is really good when we’re in Community.

00:32:18

To talk about this.

00:32:19

How can we be praying for one another as we’re processing our own lament and anger?

00:32:24

And I know sometimes we go through seasons where our lament anger might be at the forefront of our brains and we go through seasons where it’s like, well, am I lamenting.

00:32:33

Or angry about something, right?

00:32:34

Now, but that’s where I think we need to actually do some digging in our hearts of like what are the?

00:32:39

Things that maybe, like you had said.

00:32:41

We say we’re irritated about or frustrated and even bring those things to God and be praying for one another as we process and dig and try to find the truth.

00:32:42

Right?

00:32:50

That’s maybe we’re not acknowledging about that anger or whatever is causing us that grief.

00:32:57

Totally and praying that the Holy Spirit would reveal too.

00:33:01

Each other, you know where those places are, so maybe I see something in you that I’m like.

00:33:07

Oh, I think I can kind of see where that is coming from.

00:33:10

Should I address it or not?

00:33:11

But and maybe I don’t know yet, but I can pray for you.

00:33:14

Yeah, and I can pray that the Lord would reveal that to you if that’s what needs to be revealed.

00:33:19

Yeah, you know, and at an appropriate time.

00:33:21

Uh, But yeah, I think that’s awesome.

00:33:23

This has been really fun to talk with you through.

00:33:25

Yeah, it’s been good to talk to you, and I think this is something that I hope the listeners of this podcast will.

00:33:31

Appreciate and know that they can do.

00:33:33

With others to.

00:33:34

Just listen to us.

00:33:35

Do it?

00:33:35

Yeah no, we don’t have all the answers, we just we just have thoughts.

00:33:38

Well thanks for joining us you guys we will see you next time.

00:33:41

Yeah, biante.

00:33:43

This has been the life in the city podcast brought to you by Antioch Community Church in northeast Minneapolis. Join our worship service at 10:00 AM on Sundays in the Waterbury Building or contact us at podcast@antiochcommunity.org. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time.