The Deeper Journey
A Grace You Might Not Want
This is an excerpt from Pastor Brian’s first sermon in the Deeper Journey series. We include it here because it is a good primer for what the Practice of Surrender is all about. When we encounter God’s grace, it meets us in the places want/need it, but it also meets us in places that we’d rather keep hidden. Dysfunction and sin that we don’t even recognize anymore.
The Lies You’ve Become
A false storyline has been given to you. Something you had to be or do to be loved in this world. Maybe it was repeated enough, or maybe it hit you when you were young and fragile enough - but one way or another you believed it. And as you lived out that belief it was confirmed to be true - the more you lived that false storyline the better it went for you - more love, or at least more acceptance, or at bare minimum it made the world a safer place when you stayed in that storyline.
It was quick repeatable gains in the false story line that ultimately have become or longterm loss. The false story entrenched itself so deeply that now most of our days are riddled with questions like:
Why do some feelings downright consume me the way they do?
Why do some sins dominate my behavior, even though I resent myself when they come out?
Was I always like this? Do I have to stay like this? How did I get here anywhere?
There’s a dark spot in us all where our sins and Satan’s lies (our two greatest enemies) have formed a new monster - a dragon with it’s own fire - called the false self. The only way to conquer it, is to know it, and ride it, and see just how deep and dark the pit is that it calls home.
Burn it All and Start Over
There are lots of offerings presented in the old covenant (the sacrificial system given through the prophet Moses). They're all worth paying attention to, but there is one that we are paying attention to today, and that's called a "burn it all" offering. It's a one-time, no going back thing. The journey in this sermon is more than words and teaching. It's a concept of what happened at the altar during the sacrificial system (before Christ). What happened at the altar points at what needs to happen in our inner being.
The journey of following Jesus is all or nothing. Jesus said this in multiple ways throughout his teachings, and we can't just water it down. There is some deep work that needs to be done. After identifying the false-self that we've attached ourselves to (a big task in and of itself), we can begin the process of surrender. This process can be a painful process. Sometimes taking long periods of reflection.
This week, you'll walk away with an understanding of the altar concept (which we will point back to throughout future teachings), and you will be given a very practical tool to begin practicing self-examination.
For your journal time:
Personal Question: What evidence in my life is indicating that I am placing inordinate value in 1) What I have, 2) What I do, 3) What others think of me?
Community Question: Where am I at in surrendering my whole self to God? (my faith, my baptism, my return to that faith & baptism)
Tiny Choices Every Single Day
(Leviticus 2, Romans 12:1-2)
The grain offering was a “tithe” symbolizing the surrender of the first 10% of our harvest to God. This offering connects to the overarching theme of surrendering a part of our lives upfront, to open up surrender in the rest of our lives. This is the first and best, not the leftovers. As New Testament Christians, we are called to give more than the Old Testament tithe. Not just to a church organization, not just to a good cause. Generosity, giving our first and our best, should be the posture of our lives. This goes far beyond money. This principle touches our time, our attitude, our gratefulness, our family priorities and a hundred other things.
This is the point where idea of "surrender" turns into a regular spiritual "practice." We engage in this practice by consistently offering small aspects of our lives to God as a form of worship. As time passes, we begin to realize that there are additional small things that can be joyfully given to God. A lifelong commitment to this type of progress can lead to a life where what we've gained far exceed what has been given.
Here are the 2 questions that we were asked to process alongside someone we trust spiritually (or in your Missional Community).
Personal Question: What’s the smallest thing that I’m having the biggest problem surrendering to God?
Community Question: What small thing surrender (10%) would make me more alive and surrendered to God in the big things (90%)?
The Shame You’re Smarter Than
How often are you seeking God’s truth in your feelings, in the information you receive? Do you pay attention to your feelings when they warn you? Or are you numbing out and absorbing them, allowing them to stick? Are you allowing yourself to live up to the standard of the people around you, comparing yourself, doing what you “should” do by other people’s standards? Does culture have a hold on you? Or are you boldly living your life as the person you were created to be?
Intimacy is at stake here and not an intimacy in human form. An intimacy so much more freeing and pure- like Adam and Eve, naked and feeling no shame in the garden. With a strong sense of who they are and a close communion with God. As we continue to chip away pieces of our false self, we are becoming more and more aware of ourselves as God’s creation and less of ourselves as our own creation. As we continue to chip away pieces, we will be tempted to find a new way, a new comparison. As we continue to chip away pieces, we will find, in our vulnerability the desire to take control.
And it’s a constant battle for truth.
For your journal time:
Personal Question: What evidence in my life is indicating that I am placing inordinate value in 1) What I have, 2) What I do, 3) What others think of me?
Community Question: Where am I at in surrendering my whole self to God? (my faith, my baptism, my return to that faith & baptism)
Being Lonely is a Stupid Choice
As we have been for a few weeks, we encourage you to review, re-listen and journal alongside this sermon.
The false self keeps people out, the true self welcomes people in alongside Jesus. That’s the difference… Jesus is in the middle and makes a safe playground, otherwise we’re constantly afraid of getting hurt (again).
Salvation is deeper by surrendering self to God alongside others.
Here are the 2 questions that we were asked to process alongside someone we trust spiritually (or in your Missional Community).
Personal Question: Are any of my attempts to manage my loneliness actually taking me into a greater place of loneliness? (notice any relational pattern that’s second-rate to real love).
Community Question: What story do I have that I want to celebrate with a faith community? (notice how God met a prayer, gave more than asked for, or just adds joy to everyday life).
The Wounds You’ve Become - Forgiveness Part 1
In this sermon we learned how to examine the wound someone else caused you. We can own how it feels, own what to do about it, but blaming the incident never make a healing treatment.
In many cases, we’ve become our wounds (false self). We know ourselves by the hurts we carry. Others notice us by the hurts we carry (Hurt people keep hurting people - and you’re one of the them).
We tend to tell our stories as the hero or the victim (and accentuate either highlight). We should see and tell it as rescued and redeemed.
Salvation is deeper by surrendering to forgiveness.
Personal Question: How have the wounds I’ve carried shaped my story, my identity, my decisions, and my mind, for better or for worse?
Community Question: How has the cross of Jesus shaped the way I forgive?
Owning Your Part in Making it Right - Forgiveness Part 2
This week, we explore the concept of owning our own part of forgiveness. Forgiveness starts with us, in our own hearts. Just as Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross, we are called to extend forgiveness at our own expense. We must own our part in a conflict or situation, offering sincere apologies, understanding, and explanations to the person who has hurt us. Our goal is to create opportunities for growth and restoration between us and others, recognizing that this process may not always lead to immediate reconciliation. We also understand the need for differentiation, allowing each person to have their own response and setting boundaries when necessary. We acknowledge that forgiveness is not always easy, but it is ultimately an act of obedience and a reflection of God's reckless love for us. Through the power of forgiveness, we can experience healing and reconciliation, balancing ourselves at the foot of the cross where both the body of Christ and His blood were shed for us and for those who have hurt us.
At the end of the sermon, you’ll hear a powerful story about Melissa accepted God’s invitation to give and receive forgiveness. We are all equal at the foot of the cross.
Personal Question: Who has unresolved forgiveness issues between me and them? Do I owe an apology or a correction that has not already been adequately attempted?
Community Question: In one of my specific unresolved forgiveness issues how would I answer “What would be good?” 1) What would be good for me? 2) What would be good for them? 3) What would be good for the community around us?
Can God Really Forgive Me? - Forgiveness Part 3
Through the story of Jesus' crucifixion and his proactive forgiveness to those murdering him, we discover the boundless mercy and love God has for us, even in our darkest moments. If Jesus extends that kind of forgiveness to that group of people, we can trust him when he says "if we confess sin, he is faithful and just to forgive."
When we choose to trust the promise of scripture, when we choose to trust the character of God, we can then move on to forgiving ourselves. As we've learned, forgiveness is not forgetting. So, we will always have some sort of memory of the times that we've found ourselves in need of forgiveness (from God and from other people). However, there's a process in which the forgiven need to live in forgiveness. If we go through the process of confessing sin, we also need to go through the process of self-reflection to say "If God has forgiven me, how can I choose to forgive myself when the sting of my sin starts to gain a hold on me again."
Dying to Live
There’s a dark spot in us all where our sins and Satan’s lies (our two greatest enemies) have formed a new monster - a dragon with it’s own fire. Like venom in the veins - once your bit the poison becomes you. You can call it a lie, you can call it evil, or a stronghold, but we think it's best called the false self. Like Adam and Eve after their partnership with Satan, the naked state of lonely shame we sit in feels darker and more constant than the act that got us here in the first place. It’s a dark dragon that’s now at home with us, and we with it.
Gospel redemption is what slays the lies you’ve claimed as your own and revives the new creation are in Jesus.
In turn, you can’t help but slay the evil in the world, bring gospel redemption to every man, woman, child around your circle.
If you need an all-in-one place to find this content or send it to a friend, here is your spot.
Sabbath as Surrender
In a world obsessed with productivity and achievement, Jesus invites us into a different path—a path of rest and surrender. This Sunday we explored the radical concept of Sabbath and how it could be the next invitation of your spiritual journey.
Sabbath is a time to come back to Jesus, sync up with the Holy Spirit, and connect with our truest selves. It allows us to peel back the layers of protection and experience deep rest. Despite the challenges of our busy lives, Sabbath is essential for our well-being in a culture filled with anxiety and busyness.
No One Can Replace You
“Love costs, love hurts, love engages the whole of the self. Indeed, love, as a slowly unfolding process, involves self-giving and self-transcendence that can only happen if there is already a healthy self-possession and a secure sense that self-gift will not become self-destruction.” - Philip Sheldrake
Your surrender can make a difference in the life of someone else. Whether it's systemic change or the change of an individual life, there are deeply held values that can transcend the culture around us and move into acts of compassion and generosity that will confound the world around us.
Personal Question: What values do I hold so deeply that I would interrupt my regular use of time, money, and attention?
Community Question: For what people in need do I want my compassion to be bigger than my capitalism?
Holding Guilt Without Getting Burned
We can do better. And that makes us feel worse. Everything we do seems to reinforce at some time or another that “I am a bad person.” Which is actually true, but the false self is untrue when it says, “I’m an unloveable person.” We need to learn to repent, but as much or moreso we need to learn that we are loved even as the sinful selves we are, love is not waiting for us to repent before he loves us.
Personal Question: What sin do I most want to surrender? Spend some time with the ABC sin surrender process: Admit it was wrong. Believe Jesus forgives. Commit to following Jesus.
Community Question: What do I do to cope on days I don’t get my way?
Deeper Journey: Dark Night of the Soul
Not being able to feel or see God like you used to? Maybe it’s because the self-examination took you so deep and dark in the pit of the false self that you couldn’t see anymore. Maybe it’s because you’re in a dessert between two lands, cut off from other necessities you no longer feel or know your true self.
This sermon is actually a mixture of music, scripture readings and teaching. The intention is to help you encounter the deepest parts of darkness and come out the other side with your faith in tact (most-likely stronger). We hope that you hear the invitation of Jesus in the sermon while you keep coming back to daily surrender.
Personal Question: When I review the events of my past week, in which moments did I walk with God, and in which moments did I not?
Community Question: What has my “Deeper Journey” taught me about the meaning of “Jesus Saves?”
Podcast Links
Many of us listen to this content on the go. Here are the different podcast platforms that you can find these sermons:
Shape of the Circle Podcast
This is our attempt to bridge the gap between what we teach on Sunday and how it affects your everyday efforts to be a disciple-maker for Jesus. Brian and Cammie will bring insights and extras that will help you throughout this sermon series. These are short conversations that are very much worth a listen.
Apple | Spotify | Google Play