With all the noise in today’s world from notifications, calendar reminders, ringtones, music, TV shows, movies, podcasts, and more, it’s very difficult to find a quiet place. But when the world around you is loud, what level is your internal noise? What is the soundtrack of your soul? In week 2 of our series What I’m Hearing Here, our chief of staff Brie Davis brings a powerful message on how we can quiet what’s going on in our hearts and minds, and learn to hear and trust God. If this message has been encouraging for you, make sure to let us know & share it with a friend!
today i get the opportunity um to share
a message that has um been
transformative for me and specifically
recently i just got the honor and
privilege to have a sabbatical this year
my first sabbatical ever
listen i love our pastors for that
opportunity seven weeks away from the
work that god was doing here at tc to be
at home with my husband and be with
friends and just by myself a lot of
alone time and it was just so refreshing
and so rejuvenating what god did during
that time and this message really stems
from that time that i’ve had with god
during those seven weeks i i had an
opportunity to not have any work no
obligations no tasks no real
responsibilities ain’t got no kids so
even more so no responsibility now
somebody else about it could look a
little bit different okay if yours at
home with your kids but anyways um
i i got just a lot of free time a lot of
margin to be with myself and to be with
god and there are some things that he
taught me during that time
that at this point
i have been to
i mean hundreds if maybe not thousands
of church services
the holiest experience i had was in my
own house
during my sabbatical
holiest experience i’ve ever
experienced before the holiest time the
most powerful encounter with god i’ve
ever had
was on my sabbatical and it wasn’t no
big grandiose god came in the cloud and
talked to me
a lot of it was sleep
[Music]
a lot of it was just going for walks
it was an opportunity to be with god
similar to what adam had in the garden
of eden
a time to just be with him
and it has changed me from the inside
out and so much so that i am completely
a total evangelist for what i’m about to
preach today okay i am absolutely a
fanatic at this point about what god did
during that time because i believe that
it can change everyone else’s life on
the inside so i’m going to pray and then
we’re going to jump right in god we
thank you so much
thank you for this time that we have
together today god lord we want to hear
from you today
so we open up our ears we thank you for
removing any distractions god whatever
may be taking our focus off of you and
help us to hear your voice
in the name of jesus we pray amen
amen now i i don’t want to you know i’m
not going to play around i i want to
just tell you what my title is today
okay
i know normally you know preachers have
a very creative way of sharing this i
don’t i don’t have all of that matter of
fact i spent too much time trying to get
these bulls to stay on this shirt today
i got a whole glam squad in the back
just for these dog on boats so i’m gonna
tell you right now if tammy jaggers come
up here and fix my boats don’t you dare
say nothing
cause it took us an hour to get these
bows right
[Music]
all right
sorry a little righteous indignation
there all right
the title for today is be quiet and
listen
be quiet and listen and you know it’s so
interesting because i was i was telling
charles this
and
i was going to keep saying it like that
i was telling charles is that i
i had a title in mind i was on a walk
one day and i knew this is what god
wanted me to speak on this topic today
and the title that i thought was true
tc topic i mean the title
what i was going to say is shut up and
listen
that was going to be the title today
because you know at tc we like the shock
and awe baby okay if you haven’t watched
the fu series i’m sorry
but we like the shock and awe here okay
but as i was on that walk and i knew
that this is what i wanted to talk about
i was being quiet and listening to god
and i said oh i’m going to name it shut
up and listen
the holy spirit said to me no no
because shut up and listen sounds like
i’m trying to do some behavior
modification
when i say be quiet today i’m not
talking about changing your behavior
i’m talking about an internal quietness
a place where our soul is at rest
so so this is the thing when it comes to
quietness in today’s time it’s very
difficult to find a quiet place right
like in our society in our culture it’s
very hard to find a place that’s just
quiet okay so we have telephone uh
notifications we got text messages
emails we got all these doggone
streaming ass my husband done all of
them we got netflix hulu pandora spotify
apple music apple tv apple kids youtube
kids we got youtube we got a lord jesus
fandango we got these are just all the
things on my tv at home okay i don’t
know what you got we got all these
different things that just cause so much
noise
in the world that is hard sometimes for
us to get to a place of
quiet
and i think it’s very easy for us to try
to fix quiet by changing everything
externally
turning the tv off turn the radio off
shutting the kids up whatever it is i
ain’t got kids
so things i may say about children i
need y’all to bear with me because
it may be a little wrong i don’t have
that okay i’m just an auntie bless god
uh
and so but there may be things that we
try to do to to quiet the external noise
but today i don’t want to talk about the
external noise because that’s an easy
fix
today i want to talk about the internal
noise
today i want to talk about how jesus
tells us that we can find rest
or quiet for our souls
and the truth is if i were to stop
talking for five minutes
and just be quiet
it’d get real awkward up in here
because the truth is we feel
uncomfortable and quiet sometimes
think about being on an elevator and
there’s no music and it’s strangers it’s
like what do i say i’m panicking the
whole time i’m on the elevator like what
do i say to these people think about
going into a business meeting with some
people that you have you’re doing
business for the first time and the
agenda hasn’t started yet it’s quiet
it’s just weird riding in the car with
somebody with no radio or music or it’s
just awkward because the truth is we
haven’t found the comfort of what quiet
can bring to us and so today we’re not
talking about that external quiet
we’re talking about an internal
quietness and pastor charles says
something last week that that just spoke
to me
today we’re talking about the soundtrack
of our souls
the thing that’s playing over and over
and over again in our souls
now the thing about a soundtrack we all
know what a soundtrack is it’s the music
that goes along with a movie or a tv
show it’s something that reminds us of a
story right so a soundtrack comes on and
we’ll hear it and it’ll automatically
think about the story or the movie that
we heard that that song on i i so what i
want to do is just take a break real
quick i want to play a game with you
okay so i want you to play this game
called name that movie i’m going to ask
our praise team to come out and help me
with this
let’s give it up for our appraised team
[Music]
all right so i asked them bless them
that they have such patience with me
honestly but i asked them to help me out
with this because you know we gonna get
flagged on youtube if i put if i play
music so i ask them to come and sing it
for me today but i want them to sing
some songs and you and the audience and
you at home everybody that’s watching
online to guess what the movie is that
this song was on the soundtrack of okay
first one
for the rest of your day sounds amazing
wow it’s our problem
yes
[Music]
all right
what okay
okay what movie was that from lion king
yes okay all right so you know that one
now this one gets a little bit harder
here we go let’s try our second one
you gotta swing with it come on y’all
swing with it
[Music]
oh yes indeed
yes
okay what movie is that from
greece yes all right that’s good um i
love grease i don’t know why like in my
mind i really want the hair and the
that’s why i wore these pants
that is a revelation i just got okay
it’s neither here nor there all right
next one our next one is
[Music]
feel this in your heart
fill it in your souls
[Music]
[Music]
my heart will go
[Music]
wow
[Applause]
i think i’m done preaching for today
that was amazing okay what movie is that
from
titanic that’s right i don’t know i
don’t know how many men out there was
going to let that woman get on that
piece of wood and go on off but some of
y’all would have knocked the broad off i
know what you would’ve done okay see
they’re here no there see me here no
there stand right there all right next
one and all of our parents will know
this song
yeah you feel it already uh-huh
we don’t talk about bruno no no no
[Music]
do you know what movie that came from
and uh we need to right now stretch our
hands and pray for every person named
bruno because they got shame on their
name already and i feel bad for them
it’s neither here nor there okay here we
go next song
[Music]
so don’t think you’re going
you’re not going anywhere
you’re staying and taking your share
[Music]
and if you get afraid again
i’ll be there
[Music]
[Music]
we are so much more
than just you and i
we
are
growing
free
oh my goodness
that was so good okay what movie is that
from
that’s right and if you haven’t watched
dreamhouse let me tell you something
right now you’re missing out you need to
go and watch that’s one of my favorite
movies okay our last one here
is the top selling soundtrack of all
times
and it goes a little something like this
is
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
you better sing that song girl okay what
movie was that from
some people don’t even know they just
know whitney houston saying that oh
that’s all thank you so much praise
steve i appreciate it let’s give it up
for our praise team
thank you so much for playing along in
other words what we see here is that
there’s something that can replay like
bruno and encanto in your mind over and
over again so much so that it feels like
i can’t get it out of my mind
now let’s talk about your souls for a
second the soundtrack of your souls
what’s what’s replaying
is it anxiety
fear depression
complaining control manipulation
bitterness unforgiveness what are the
things in your soul that just like one
of those songs you just can’t seem to
get it out of your head it just keeps
playing over and over and over again and
how is it that we as believers were
promised by jesus that we would have
rest for our souls and yet we have these
soundtracks playing over and over and
over again
there’s something that there’s a
disconnect there
there’s something that jesus wants to do
and give to us to be rest for our souls
now the soul is important okay let me
tell you why
because our behavior and our actions
play follow the leader to our soul
okay our soul is it’s it’s made up of
our mind our will and our emotions our
minds our thoughts go to our emotions or
our feelings that go to our will or our
desire and in turn our behavior follows
our soul
so the soul is like money it’s not
inherently bad or good it just is what
you make it
god has given each one of us a soul we
are a soul being and what he’s asked us
to do is steward that soul well and to
feed it good food so that he can have
good fruit in this earth but it’s up to
us to take care
of our souls
lord we put so much time
taking care of our bodies
so much time and i know and i’m saying
this from experience the nails the
lashes the hair my god it’s so many
things
so much time that we take taking care of
our relationships
trying to make sure nobody’s mad at us
and everybody’s pleased and happy so
much time we do that lord our money
managing our money so much time taken to
take care of our money but what does it
profit a man to gain the whole wide
world and lose his soul
[Applause]
today god is saying your soul’s the most
precious thing that i have given you
it is the center of your being it is who
you show up in this world as
it’s valuable it’s a treasure it’s a
gift take care of your souls
but how how do we get rest
for our souls
it seems sometimes like they it’s on its
own mission like it’s doing its own
thing
but today i want to talk about rest for
your soul and how in turn that allows us
to be quiet and hear the voice of god we
talk about what i’m hearing here
oftentimes if i were to ask you what are
you hearing here some people may not
have any idea how to answer that
question
you know why because her souls are so
loud
taking up so much space the anxiety is
taking up so much space i can’t hear god
the fear is taking up so much space i
can’t hear his still small voice
the judgment
is taking so much place i can’t hear the
love of god talk about grace and mercy i
don’t have any room for that my soul is
the judge
of myself and other people
the soul the center of your being
has to have attention
has to have care
the only way that we gain rest for our
souls is through trust
it’s the only way now and i know
if you’re a believer and you believe in
jesus christ you may think you trust god
but being a believer and believing that
god is real and trusting god with your
everyday life are two very different
things now how do we know this because
this is the thing when it comes to
belief and trust there’s a huge gap
between the two
belief gets you into heaven
congratulations
trust brings heaven to earth
it’s totally different belief is
something that you see and you feel in
your heart you believe that god is real
but trust shows up in your hands it
shows up in how you obey god and how you
treat other people how you treat
yourself
this is where trust actually shows up
and how do we know that there’s a
difference
go to the first book of the bible in
genesis
the first story of someone ever
disobeying god
eve is talking to the serpent and the
serpent is saying is trying to tempt eve
to eat this fruit and we all can’t stand
eat because she ate the fruit even
though every single one of us would eat
the fruit of wheels and gardens just be
honest okay
the serp is talking to eve and we all
tell the story that the serpent said to
eve eat the fruit
that he said change your behavior eat
the fruit
serpent never said that
what the serpent did was break down
eve’s trust in god
and as he broke her trust down he got a
grab of her soul which in turn her
behavior followed that soul right on out
the door
he said to eve he said did god say that
you can’t eat any trees and she says oh
no just one there’s just one tree right
here he says if we eat it we’re gonna
die he’s like surely you’re not gonna
die that thing never told eve to eat the
fruit
he just said god is a guy you can’t
trust and as he told her that god’s a
god that she can’t trust she started to
make decisions on her own as if she is
god
so there is a difference because believe
me eve believed that god was real
he knew that he was real she knew that
he was real but she didn’t trust him
demons know that god is real
[Applause]
we’re not doing nothing special by just
believing in god believing in god and
trusting him with my everyday life
trusting him with my marriage with my
children with my job with my anxiety
with my depression with my worries with
my fears as something totally different
and the only way that our souls rest is
to trust in god
[Music]
[Applause]
don’t get tripped up by thinking you’re
doing something fancy by believing that
god is real
[Applause]
that is just the starting line of a
relationship with god
as we grow and mature in god our trust
should deepen
so let’s go to mark 9.
mark 9 is a story of jesus healing a
young boy and i love this story because
one of the authentic most authentic
sentences in the bible was said in this
story now what happens here is jesus
comes to a crowd of people he sees that
they are arguing and he’s like what’s
going on here and the father steps out
and he says well i brought my son to you
who’s demon-possessed and i wanted him
to be healed but your disciples couldn’t
heal him for some reason what’s going on
and jesus says bring the boy to me so
let’s pick up in verse 20 mark 9 verse
20.
it says so they brought the boy but when
the evil spirit saw jesus it threw the
child into a violent convulsion and he
fell to the ground writing and foaming
at the mouth
how long has this been happening jesus
asked the boy’s father and the father
replied since he was a little boy the
spirit often throws him into the fire or
into water trying to kill him have mercy
on us and help us
if
you can
and jesus says what do you mean if i can
jesus is a straight thug if i can throw
it back into daddy’s face what do you
mean if i can jesus asks
anything is possible if a person
believes
the father instantly cried out one of
the most authentic sentences said in the
bible
i do believe
but help me overcome my belief
in other words
i believe that you’re a healer
i just don’t trust that you’re going to
do it for me
unless if we were to use that same
sentence in our own lives i believe by
help my unbelief what is the thing in
your life that you’re having trouble
trusting god with
and you know
you know where you have trouble trusting
god is where you have no rest in your
soul a telltale sign that i’m not
trusting god with something is by
looking at how restless my soul is when
it comes to that thing
so god i believe that your provider but
my bills seem too insurmountable so i
don’t trust that you’re going to do this
for me god i believe that you’re a
healer but my anxiety i’ve had it since
the day i was born i can’t see you
healing that i don’t trust that god i
believe that you are near us but i don’t
think you’re involved in the details of
my life i believe that you sit in heaven
but i don’t trust that you’re actually
intricately involved in the details of
my every single day every breath i
breathe comes from you i don’t know if i
trust that
today god is asking us
where do you not trust me
because we can see in the garden of eden
how if you don’t trust god
how your life ends up
even if you believe he’s real
even if you believe he said his son to
die for you on the cross
that doesn’t mean you trust him
so this father comes to jesus and he
says
i believe you but i don’t
i believe you but i need you to help me
because
some of this i just don’t trust that
it’s going to happen now he done brought
the boy to the disciples disciples
couldn’t do nothing he probably even
more so lost some trust in jesus he was
like your boys can do it i uh i’m not
really for sure if you can do this
and jesus goes on to heal this boy and
he does a miracle this boy walks away
completely free of the demon possession
and then he goes on to say something
that’s pivotal in our lives if we were
to jump down to mark 9 and let’s go down
to verse 28.
afterward after jesus healed this boy
jesus was alone in the house with his
disciples
and they asked him
why couldn’t we cast out the evil spirit
like
we did everything we seen you do why why
why couldn’t we cast them out
and jesus replied in verse 29 this kind
can only be cast out by prayer
now some script some versions do say
prayer and fasting the original
text was prayer here so fasting became a
very important part of a christian
spiritual practices and it got added
into this story but originally it is
said that jesus said prayer that this
only comes out by prayer now
think about that
there’s no way in heaven
that the disciples didn’t pray for this
boy
if they did nothing but what they seen
jesus do
if they just mimicked what they saw
jesus do
of course they would have prayed why
would jesus say this kind only comes out
from prayer as if they didn’t pray now
now
correct my math if this is wrong in my
mind a miracle only needs two things to
happen right somebody to believe and
pray
and god’s will to be aligned with what
they believe in praying for
boom equals a miracle obviously god it
was in the will of god for this boy to
be healed
it happened
and they pray
but what was the separation
between jesus
and the disciples
and their prayer
i think it calls into question
how we define
prayer
because all of my life i believe that
prayer was simply talking to god and
communicating with god and i still do
believe that that is a part of prayer is
talking to god and communicating with
him
but what jesus was saying in this
instance is that it’s not just
communicating with god that’s necessary
it’s communion with god
there is a big difference between
talking to someone and communing with
them
communicating with somebody and
communing with them two very different
things now communion is not a word that
is in the regular english language we
don’t just talk about like i’m communing
with my husband tonight we don’t just
say stuff like that so let me break down
what communion means it means fellowship
it means companionship
it means partnership
it means
friendship
what jesus was saying to these disciples
is
this is not a god is not a
slot machine
you don’t get to just throw up prayers
and expect him to come through
this kind what i had to do with this
little boy
only comes out of a love relationship
a friendship with god that just as adam
walked in the garden with god that that
kind of relationship with god is the
only kind of way that you’re going to
see this kind of miracle what jesus was
saying is this kind only comes out
through communion
communion was the separator
just because we believe that god exists
and we have a relationship with him
doesn’t naturally mean that we commune
with him
that we take time just to be with him
i know
we see god as lord
as king
as a master all-powerful almighty
i know that we see him sitting up in
heaven and looking low the earth is his
footstool our god is big he is massive
he is expansive but our god is
our friend
do you see god as your friend
do you see god as the one that when you
are sitting around with friends and
family and you just gut busting laughing
that he’s right next to you cracking up
too
do you see that the knights that your
your
pillow is completely soaked with tears
that your friend is right next to you
crying in the next pillow
do you see this god as when you’re
taking a walk during the day that he’s
striding with you every step that you
take
do you see this god that every time you
whisper anything he hears it
that he’s attentive to it that he’s so
close to you that he’s closer than your
own very breath
or do you believe that our god wants to
use you
he’s anointed you and he wants you to go
do his work
our god wants to be with you
what jesus was saying to these disciples
is
this is a relationship
that as i see god is not how you see god
how i see god is my friend my best bud
the guy that looks over me but also not
only just looks over me but is with me
in every single moment now when we talk
about the friendship of god
that can be a touchy subject
because sometimes we talk about friends
people haven’t had the greatest
experience with friends
but i want you to redefine what
friendship looks like with god
that our god loves us so much
so expansively
that he knows the number of hairs
on your head
now for somebody they think that’s just
an accounting thing
that guys just want to make sure he know
when you start going bald that he want
to let you know you’re thinning thinning
on top
man when you start thinning just go for
it gosh why do you do that like it’s not
cute god anyways okay
that’s not just a county
that’s a love relationship he’s so in
love
he’s so in love with his sons and
daughters he’s so in love with his
friends that he counted every
hair
on your head
that our god so wants a friendship with
us
that he’s not even necessarily asking
anything from us other than to be with
him
i think sometimes
we overcomplicate what it’s like to be a
believer
and we make it about gifts
and we make it about talents and we make
it about anointings
that is so far down the line of what god
wants to do in you and my life
in our lives what he wants is
relationship he wants friendship he
wants trust he wants a mutual love like
he has in the trinity a mutual respect
of one another that includes includes
loving one another that’s all that god
wants and out of that yes the gifts and
the anointing and the talents and all of
that will come
but before the calling into ministry or
the calling into preaching the gospel or
the calling into starting this business
or doing this or having this family
before the calling into that he calls us
into love
so when you’re quiet with god
and you’re having your quiet time or
your devo time with god
does it feel like you’re being loved on
this is i’m going to say this and
somebody’s going to think totally weird
about this but
on my sabbatical i stopped having
devotion time
i stopped
and somebody’s like she should not be up
there preaching okay oh no
i stopped having a certain time of day
that i gave god
and walked out forgetting what we even
talked about
now if we’re honest in here
it don’t matter how deep and spiritual
your devo time with the lord is
let me tell you this is the funniest
thing hold on sorry i just thought
i used to get so mad with my husband
interrupting my devo time
and he’s coming around like what you
want like
obviously it wasn’t sinking in very well
i wanted to experience something
different with god
because oftentimes i would come out of
my quiet time or my devotion time with
god and still feel anger right
afterwards or still for ins feel anxiety
right afterwards like i’ll get in my car
headed to work and still feel the
anxiety that i felt the day before
sometimes i’ll leave for the day and
didn’t even remember the scripture that
i read but i can remember a conversation
that i had the night before
which let me know that it wasn’t just a
conversation with a friend that i was
having it was ritualistic it was
something that i was trying to do to
check something off of my box something
that i thought like this is a rule as a
leader i need to make sure i’m having
devo time so i need to set this time so
i can come in and make sure i said like
i have my prayer time this morning but
did it actually change me
like did i actually feel loved by god in
that instance or did i walk out feeling
like i had a longer to-do list now i got
to treat everybody riding have peace and
instead of just allowing the holy spirit
to invite me into a space where he just
wanted to be with bree
he just wants to be with you
lord god we have so much happening in
our minds that when we think about a
love relationship with god that we think
there’s so many to do’s and
responsibilities that come with it
and that’s it’s not that that’s false
it’s just before all of that
he just wants to love on you
he just wants to be with you
he just wants you to see him as your
friend
on sabbatical i got the time to eat with
god we had a lot of lunches together
we took some naps together and by some i
mean
every day all day
we took some walks together
it was so intimate
to remind myself almost using my
imagination that he was right there in a
human body with me
and that there was nothing that i was
doing no performance to gain any love
from him
he just loved me because i’m
his
i couldn’t come to god and say well you
saw the work i did at the church today
i wouldn’t do no work
all he had was me
and all i had was him
[Music]
and there was nothing else that was in
the middle of that no tasks no
responsibilities
no things that felt like i need to do
this to prove that i love you god
just me and him together
and i know that talking about sabbatical
oil some people are like oh well that’s
you you don’t get it i understand that
and i really do hope that some churches
can hear what’s happening at tc and see
what god is doing here and take notice
of that for their own staff and
leadership because success is not the
numbers
let me clear that up real quick success
is not the numbers at transformation
church success is that even though the
numbers keep growing our relationship
with god keeps getting deeper
that’s what success is success is that
our marriages are healthy that our
children love us that we love one
another success is that success is that
we still allow god to speak to us and
humble us when we’ve done something
wrong that we’re still trying to birth
the fruit of the spirit into this earth
that’s what real success is it’s not the
numbers the people the money that’s all
great
but without relationship it doesn’t
matter
and so
this time that i have with him i know
it’s not normal for other people to have
that
but i believe it can be
intertwined into our everyday lives
so today i want you to leave here
remembering three things
and i’m calling them the three s’s
somebody say the three s’s
the three s’s include stillness
solitude and silence
that if we want to have a relationship
with god
that transforms us outside of our quiet
time with him
we have to get into a place of being
still
with no activity
and no performance
being quiet
with no pandemonium and no pride
and being solitude in solitude with no
people
no others
what happens is it forms a ministry of
separation in our lives
now some people call it detachment other
people call it consecration it’s a
ministry of
separation
that as we separate from other things
other people the noise the chaos of this
life as we enter into stillness solitude
and silence with god it separates us
from god so that we can connect with him
it separates us from the things that are
trivial
and temporal and petty the things that
we want worry about and feel anxious
about that 10 years from now we won’t
even be thinking about
it separates us from all of the opinions
of the people all the people that have
something to say about you and how you
lead or how you parent or how you wife a
husband whatever the case may be it
separates you from all of that so that
you can hear one voice and it’s not
yours
it’s god’s
and i know like when i went into the
sabbatical i had a true goal that i
wanted to hear vision from god that i
wanted to know god what’s the future
look like how should i be preparing
myself with next steps for what you want
to do in my life
and for some reason i kept hearing only
one thing
i love you
that in that quiet time with god he he
didn’t want to give me vision
like i thought
that he didn’t want to
to tell me what to do with the ministry
when i got back
that he didn’t want to share prophecies
with me and and visions with me he he
just
wanted to love on me
he just wanted to remind me
i adore you
not because of what you do not because
of good behavior i want you to think of
every good decision you’ve ever made in
your life
and imagine yourself making the opposite
of that every time you were faithful to
your spouse imagine yourself not being
faithful to your spouse every time that
you tithe imagine yourself not tithing
or being generous imagine the flip-flop
of everything that you consider a good
decision and know that if you have made
every bad decision
in place of a good decision
that god would still be madly in love
with you
we think that love is to change us and
it will
love will change you
but love first and foremost isn’t to
change you it’s to just be with you
right where you are if you decided never
to obey god again he still wouldn’t lose
any love for you
no love lost he can’t love us any more
than he already does right now because
he loves us to a hundred percent there
is no more love that we can get from him
because he loves us with every fiber of
his being as expansive as the heavens
and the earth is as expansive as the
galaxies are that’s how big god’s love
is for his sons and his daughters
god loves you and i know
church
and church people and i include myself
in that
have said
it’s about changing the way you act
and eventually it is
but not to start
yeah yeah
right now god just wants to
he just wants to be with you
he don’t need you quoting scriptures to
him
you know the scriptures
he don’t need you using big audacious
words to pray to him
where do we get this from
god wants you to come to him and say
help
god wants you to come to him and say i’m
here i don’t know why i’m here but i’m
here
god wants you to come to him and say
nothing because even sometimes in our
quiet and it’s in our silence it speaks
louder than any words we can ever fathom
make up form or fashion to say to god
sometimes all we can do is be still and
be quiet
and as we spend time in silence
and stillness and solitude away from
everybody else
it reminds us
that an invisible invisible god is very
present
colossians tells us that jesus was a
visual presentation of an invisible god
the more time we spend with this
invisible god
the more real he becomes to us
trust takes
time
i know today we wish we once we think of
all the things that like oh i don’t
trust god with this i don’t trust about
that that we wish that we can just
automatically start trusting him trust
takes time
time with just being with him
time going beyond just communicating to
him and communing with him
time and fellowship with him i believe
that god does not want to use you on
this earth i believe that god wants to
partner with you on this earth i believe
that god wants you to be you and him to
be him on this earth and that as we do
that we bring the kingdom of heaven down
to earth not because we’re being used by
some god who’s using us as a tool or
something
for an intended end instead his friend
he’s with his friend he’s anointed his
friend he’s given authority to his
friend he loves his friend he’s giving
his friends some peace he’s giving his
friends some joy some love some
self-control god just wants to be
friends with us and as we get into a
friendship with god our lives and
everything around us has changed but if
you make it more than that you made it
something that it is not
if you make it more than a friendship
if you make it more than just a love
relationship with you a god that just
wants to be with you
you made it more than what it is
and you’ve taken the essence
out of a god
who says he is not just
does he doesn’t just have the
characteristic of love he is synonymous
with love
in other words if my relationship with
god is in first and foremost founded
not first and foremost only founded on
love
i’m making god something that he’s not
he’s a judge he’s a king he’s a ruler
but first he is love
today my prayer is that
leaving out of here that someone will
decide
to enter into not just a dictatorship
or some other
judgmental relationship with god
but a friendship
you know how you know you got a
friendship with god
it’s how you treat others
love begets love
grace begets grace
as i grow in love and knowing that god
loves me
i too become love
i become united with god in a way
that when people come into contact with
me and you they experience god
they experience love is an exchange of
love with me and my brother and sister
can exchange love we’re exchanging god
one to another
today god is saying
i just want to be with you
today i wanted to um
end this sermon a little bit differently
than we normally do
i think your friend has something to say
to you
and i could i mean i got all kinds of
notes too if i wanted to keep going but
i’m not
because your friend has something that
he wants to say
i know you’ve placed him as king as
judge as lord
and my god he is all of that
but he’s also the one sitting right next
to you right now
he knows your thoughts are far off
he’s numbered every hair on your head
he knows the ending before the beginning
and he is your friend
if we take serious this stillness
solitude and silence and you
discern on your own how you are to do
that in your own life
it separates us from everything else
but it shows us also what we cannot be
separated from
and that’s the love of god
in romans 8
38-39
it says
and i am convinced
that nothing can ever separate us from
god’s love
neither death nor life
neither angels nor demons
neither our fears for today nor our
worries about tomorrow not even the
powers of hell can separate us from
god’s love
no power in the sky above or in the
earth below indeed nothing in all
creation
will ever be able to separate us from
the love of god that is revealed in
christ jesus our lord
how is god’s love revealed in christ
jesus
because another name for jesus was
emmanuel
that god in his infinite wisdom and
infinite power
decided to
shrink himself down
into a human body and have a human
experience
for nothing else
than to be with us
emmanuel means god with us
he just wants to be with you
don’t complicate it
take it for what it is god loves you so
much
he don’t want to be with you just to
change you he just wants to be with you
and as you allow that love to permeate
your soul
that trust will grow and that soul will
be at rest
so today
we’re not just going to hear
the title of this message we’re going to
actively pursue the title of this
message
what i want you to do wherever you are
to get into a comfortable position maybe
you’re sitting by somebody you need to
move get you some space today we are
going to practice stillness solitude and
silence together
if you’re in your house right now maybe
you want to go to a different room maybe
you want to have some time by yourself
and solitude totally fine
this is for us to help model what it
looks like to just be with god
and remind ourselves that we have to
separate ourselves from everything else
going on in the world
to have time with our friend
and as we separate from everything else
it reminds us of what we can never be
separated from
and that’s his love
god today
all around the world
wherever we may be at work at home with
our children with our families
by ourselves
we take a moment to stop all activity
and be still
no texting no emails no phone calls
no
nothing just be still
and as we are still we decide to to be
in silence
so many things we want to say to you and
the time will come for us to do that but
today we just want our souls to speak to
you
[Music]
help us to release the need for noise
that tricks us into thinking that
the louder it is the more we feel you
[Music]
you want to talk to us in a still small
voice today
and as we sit still and as we sit in
silence
help us to be in a place of solitude
a place where it’s only you
and me
and speak to us
my god
my friend
my lord my king
speak to us today
we’re gonna have just a couple minutes
we’ll listen to some worship
but i want you to just practice
stillness
solitude and silence
amen
[Music]
jesus
[Music]
what a friend
we have in
[Music]
our jesus
and griefs to bear
what a prince
to care
[Music]
all
my sins and grief
ring
everything
to god in prayer
oh
at peace i
[Music]
needless pain i bear
because i did not care
everything to god
[Music]
oh
[Music]
oh
because i do not care
[Music]
carry
everything
to god
in prayer
so lord i
don’t want to rush on ahead
in my own strength
when you’re right here
lord i
don’t want to rush on ahead
[Music]
in my own strength
when you’re right here
i’m not in a hurry
when it comes to your spirit
when it comes to your presence
when it comes to your voice
starting to notice
you
are speaking
[Music]
i want to see what is
[Music]
i want to see where you see
cause i’m not in a hurry
when it comes to your spirit
when it comes to your presence
when it comes to your voice
i’m learning to listen
just to rest in your nearness
i’m starting to notice
you
are speaking
open my eyes
i wanna see you
open my ears
i wanna hear you speak
tell me your thoughts
watch on your
mind
i’ll be your friend
i wanna see through your eyes
i wanna see through your eyes
i wanna see through your eyes
i wanna see me through your eyes
i wanna see through your eyes
cause i’m not in a hurry
when it comes to your spirit
when it comes to your presence
when it comes to your voice
i’m learning to listen
just to rest in your nearness
i’m starting to
[Music]
when it comes to your presence
when it comes to your spirit
when it comes to your voice
i’m learning to listen
just to rest in your nearness
i’m starting
notice
you
are speaking
so open my eyes
i want to see you
[Music]
open my ears
i want to hear you
speak
but tell me your thoughts
what’s on your left
i’ll be your friend
i wanna see through your eyes
i wanna see through your eyes
let me see me through your eyes
let me see your children through your
eyes
i wanna see through it’ll rise
[Music]
in this moment
as we’re still in silent
it’s going to take a couple more minutes
and
what i want you to imagine
is jesus
standing right in front of you
as your friend
what does jesus want to say to you today
[Music]
what does he want to say to you about
you
what does he want to speak over you what
does he want to remind you of today
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
so
[Music]
this quiet time feels long
and extensive
what do you need to hear today from god
that he loves you
that he cares for you
that he delights in the details of your
life that there’s nothing that you’ve
done that will ever make him ashamed of
you
that he cares so deeply for you
that you are the apple of his eye not
because of what you do or how you behave
because you’re here
that he dreamed you up
and he sent you to this earth to be a
gift to those around you
our god wants to encourage you today
to let you know
that he’s here with you
that no matter where you are in life
that you’ve never gone too far to be in
his presence
our god is so near and so close to you
that every time you think you’re by
yourself
every time you think that you’re alone
that he’s right there
he’s so present that he feels every
space of the sky
it’s between every blade of grass
our god is so near that there is no
space that his presence doesn’t fill up
today he just wants to remind you
that he’s your friend too
maybe today you’re watching
and you’re having a hard time believing
god to be your friend because you’ve
seen him as judge as king as lord as
master for so long
i want to pray with you
[Music]
god we thank you for today
we thank you that you are a god
that sticks closer than a brother
thank you that when jesus came to this
earth he said i no longer call myself
your master
but i call you friend
because a friend knows one another
god
we’re so grateful that you know us so
intimately
and that you love us so expansively
today we ask
your help
in relaxing in that
love and we don’t have to earn it
that we don’t have to perform for it we
don’t have to prove anything to you
we can breathe deep
[Music]
and relax in your love for us
thank you for being a god that is so
present and so near
we thank you that
as we encounter your presence today that
it goes with us everywhere we go
school pickup
at work
going into our college classes
going home to our family going into the
grocery store
stopping by the bank
god that even in what we consider
mundane activities of our lives folding
laundry
that you’re right there
not to dictate us and tell us what to do
just smiling
just in love with your creation
just so pleased to be with us
[Music]
in this moment there’s somebody that the
bible tells us that god stands at the
door and knocks that he’s knocking at
your heart
and he wants you to receive his free
gift of salvation and he wants a
friendship with you
now
i want you to think about this
the only reason he’s knocking is because
he’s already your friend
he knows where you live
he knows where you are he’s located
right at the end of your rope
and he’s there to meet you and he’s
inviting you into a love relationship
with him
receiving this free gift of salvation is
our first step into
an understanding of that friendship with
god
so if that’s you today
you want to experience your soul
to be at rest
you want to experience what it’s like to
walk and talk with jesus
to experience him being present with you
i want you to pray this prayer with me
and for the benefit of those that are
coming to christ we’ll pray this all
together repeat after me say dear god
thank you for the gift of salvation
thank you for sending your son
[Music]
to die on a cross
and to rise three days later
today i accept your love
i accept your peace
i accept your joy
i accept your salvation
thank you for loving me as i am
and still transforming me
in the name of jesus we pray
amen
amen amen hey if you prayed that prayer
today that’s a prayer that every single
one of us in this room we have prayed
before it’s a prayer that completely
changed my life at 18 years old i prayed
that prayer really really meaning it
wanting a personal relationship with god
not based off on church or my parents
and that thing has changed me from the
inside out
i won’t lie to you it’s not an easy
journey
but the beautiful thing is you have a
friend to take the journey along with
you
today if you pray that prayer we want to
send you some more information so what
we want you to do is take save to the
number eight two 828282 and this is just
to give you some steps that you’re going
to take as you’ve taken such a
phenomenal step already all of heaven is
rejoicing because of your yes today
everybody in this room is rejoicing
because of your yes today
a friendship with god is the sweetest
thing that we could have
so congratulations to you because it is
going to be a wonderful ride
transformation church we are so honored
that you have decided to be a part of
our service today we love you so so much
from the bottom of our hearts from the
depths of our soul so honored to be able
to share this space with you and so
excited for to see what’s going to
happen as you continue forward on your
friendship with god now go out and live
a transformed life
you