Whose Energy? Youth, Risk & Courage

Whatever energy you have or don't have doesn't actually belong to you. I mean, you've heard it said more like, god gave you that breath. You know, every breath he's given you is a gift to you. But but whether whatever amount of energy you've got, if if your doctor says you've got forty more years to live, which I don't know any doctor that says that, but or your doctor says you've got six months to live, whose energy is that anyway? Do you really think it's yours? Or is it to be turned back to God and say, whatever you wanna do with this amount that I've got, even if it's 2 copper coins or it's a truckload, I'm offering this to you. It's yours anyway. [00:11:22] (43 seconds)  #EnergyIsNotYours

You is that your vision of me? Because that's another thing. Work back. Work back from that. If you're feeling stingy with your time, energy, resources, whatever, work back to your actual belief because the actual belief is probably something like, I think god is holding out on me. I think he's stingy and we're all about conserving our resources, aren't we, god? He's like, come on. What what what about my life in Christ and and pouring out for you gives you the idea that I'm somehow stingy and and I can't be trusted? Like, work backward. Work back at the line. That that we talked about being numbing out and and burning off energy any way you think is is you want. It tells you about the nihilism or nihilism. [00:21:54] (44 seconds)  #TrustGodsGenerosity

Oh, but I'm afraid. Oh, yay. Welcome. Okay. Humanity. Alright. So you've got this. You've established that. You and I are human. This is good. Now now what? And so courage is a is fear that's said its prayers and says, but we're gonna do it. I'm afraid to do it. I know, son. But we're still gonna do it. Well, that's just terrorizing me. No. I'm actually I'm training you for what's up next. This is true. This is life. That's the kind of Ecclesiastes 11 that we're in. That's that kind of courage. You feel it, but you bring it to god and you sow the seed anyway. [00:29:25] (38 seconds)  #CourageThatPrays

And and this isn't about, I'm just gonna muscle it out for Jesus. I'm just gonna use my own strength to make it happen. No. It's his energy, powerfully works through us, and so we submit ourselves to him and say, okay. Not gonna stop. I'm gonna take a step, but I'm gonna need you to do the work. And I think that's where you're gonna you're gonna see his energy powerfully working in you when you do that. So you'll never know enough to make life safe. Can I get an amen on that? You'll never know enough to make life safe. Aaron, how are your children doing? They're both in the military. How are things going? Like, you I'll never know enough to make life safe. But in Christ, you know enough to make life faithful. You know enough about him to take a step with him. [00:49:33] (52 seconds)  #StepInFaithNotStrength

So I want us to think about that. Think about your strength. Maybe some of you have focus. Good for you. Stop bragging. You know, some of you have creativity or emotional capacity. That's something that god's given you to steward. Say, like, I could listen to a few more stories. I could go sit with a person and hear them out. I could write a few more letters to encourage somebody. I could let someone know they're not alone. I'm not done. I've got energy. I've got compassion. I've got God's given me something I should I'm I'm gonna go with that. I'm gonna I'm gonna run with it. And I'm not asking everyone in the room to be marathon runners or any such thing. But if but if you can get off the couch, God's got options for too. And if you can't get off the couch, you're probably not in this room. And so, let's talk. We'll we'll figure that out. [00:12:05] (52 seconds)  #StewardYourGifts

Well, pastor, I know you're talking about, like, training us to be disciple makers, but I've shared Jesus before, and I got shut down. Wow. Okay. I think that happened to Jesus too. But if his power is available, then maybe you just do it again, and you sow the seed, and you sow the seed, and you sow the seed. It's not naive optimism. It's actually a realism based in the fear of god. Like, who do you fear more? Humans? Of course. But what about fear of god that actually steps us into what he's doing? God knows and you don't. If this isn't clear yet, God works and you can't control it, so you just have to trust him. [00:27:47] (43 seconds)  #SowSeedsAgain

So life is this vapor, this this smoke, this hevel is what the the Hebrew word is. And that's exactly why courage is so important. It's because life is just kinda, whoosh, can't quite grab it. Things are slipping out of your hands. So that's why we need courage. If you already run the universe, you don't really need courage. You're you're done. You got this taken care of. But because you don't, you need courage, and so let's be praying. The good news is the same god who calls you to plant those seeds even when it's uncertain is the god whose energy can powerfully work in you and make those things happen, even when your strength is gone. So I'll just remind you, we're gonna go into the next step here, but I'll remind you, if you wait for a risk free future, you'll wait your life away, and it's not your energy in the first place. So it's a bit of a waste. [00:33:39] (58 seconds)  #CourageInUncertainty

Or you say, I got a ton of energy, and I'm just gonna numb it and kill it. Actually, just bring your fear to god and take a step this this week. I mean, there's all sorts of ways to think about it. If you're younger, if you're older, if you're middle aged or whatever, but there's always just one thing that he's nudging you to do. Try it. See what happens. [00:46:04] (18 seconds)  #TakeOneStepThisWeek