Episode 8
Becoming an Overcomer (North OC)
There are things that can stop us from becoming all that God wants us to be. Kyle Lounsbury helps us see how we can overcome to become.
Transcript
Well, good morning everybody.
Speaker:How we doing this morning?
Speaker:My name is Kyle Landsbury and along with my wife Jasmine Landsbury, we help
Speaker:lead our college ministry here in oc,
Speaker:getting some, some love from them right now.
Speaker:That's awesome.
Speaker:Well, before I start, I gotta preface I'm a little discouraged this
Speaker:morning because I was at that UCLA USC game and my dad is a UCLA brew.
Speaker:And it was a heartbreaker for ucla.
Speaker:All right, sc they got the win.
Speaker:It was a great game.
Speaker:My voice is a little scratchy cuz I was out there screaming and jumping.
Speaker:It was a lot of fun.
Speaker:Um, great memory.
Speaker:A lot of fun.
Speaker:And you know, Marcel, happy for you bro.
Speaker:I know you've been waiting a long time for sc to be good again, so for you.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So we're getting some feedback here still.
Speaker:I, I think.
Speaker:Um, but anyways guys, it's great to be with you all this morning.
Speaker:I hope you guys are doing well and, um, you know, we're gonna be continuing our
Speaker:Belong Believe become theme here together.
Speaker:And today we're gonna be talking about becoming an overcomer.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Becoming an overcomer.
Speaker:Let's see if this clicker works.
Speaker:Oh, Jacob already did it.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:There we go.
Speaker:It's up there.
Speaker:Sorry, we don't have monitors up here, so I can't see my slides,
Speaker:so you have to bear with me there.
Speaker:But, um, you know, I wanna start off this morning by asking you a question.
Speaker:Very simple question.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Do you believe that you can overcome?
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Some of us are saying yes.
Speaker:Do you believe that you can overcome?
Speaker:It's a good question to think about.
Speaker:You know, I wanna share a story with you all before we jump into the scriptures
Speaker:this morning that I found that I thought was really impactful for me and just
Speaker:as far as perspective is concerned.
Speaker:And I wanna start off here.
Speaker:It says, A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.
Speaker:He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled
Speaker:to force its body through the little hole at the end of the cocoon.
Speaker:Eventually the butterfly stopped making progress.
Speaker:And it appeared as if it had gone as far as it could and could go no farther.
Speaker:The man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and he snipped
Speaker:off the remaining bit of the cocoon.
Speaker:The butterfly then emerged easily, but it had a swollen
Speaker:body and small shriveled wings.
Speaker:The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that
Speaker:at any moment the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the
Speaker:body, which would contract in time.
Speaker:Neither happened in fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around
Speaker:with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
Speaker:It never was able to fly.
Speaker:What the man in his kindness and has did not understand.
Speaker:Was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly
Speaker:to get through the tiny opening where nature's way of forcing fluid from the
Speaker:body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once
Speaker:it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Speaker:You know, sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in life.
Speaker:If nature allowed us to go through our life without any
Speaker:obstacles, it would cripple us.
Speaker:We would not be as strong as what we could have been.
Speaker:And we too, like the butterfly could never fly Brothers and sisters.
Speaker:This morning we're gonna be talking about overcoming challenges and
Speaker:obstacles, and I wanna share that it's an essential part of our lives
Speaker:as humans, but it's also an essential piece of our spiritual walk with God.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:That we too have to overcome.
Speaker:Obstacles and challenges in our lives.
Speaker:And so today we're gonna look at an example of an overcomer in the Bible.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:And before we jump into that, I'm gonna say a word of prayer.
Speaker:Let's pray.
Speaker:Lord, thank you so much for this morning, this chance to come together
Speaker:to be able to look at your word, to be able to worship and fellowship
Speaker:with my brothers and sisters.
Speaker:God, I pray that as we look at the story of the apostle Peter, as we look at
Speaker:his life and the example that he lived, that we can imitate, the way that he
Speaker:overcame, the way that he relied on you, the way that he turned to you in times
Speaker:of struggle and times of obstacles.
Speaker:He turned to Jesus.
Speaker:And even in times when he fell, fell short and failed, you were
Speaker:still there to pick him back up.
Speaker:And God, I pray that as we look at the scriptures and apply it to our
Speaker:lives, that we too can connect with how at times we may fall short.
Speaker:We may not be able to overcome the obstacles on our own, but with
Speaker:God and his spirit, we are able.
Speaker:And Lord, we love you.
Speaker:We thank you.
Speaker:We pray for the hearts this morning as we look at your words, speak to us.
Speaker:In Jesus name.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Well, we're gonna look at the story of Peter.
Speaker:So before we jump into that, let me tell you a little bit about,
Speaker:a little bit about who Peter was.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Peter was one of Jesus' first disciples, and he became the
Speaker:spokesman for the apostles.
Speaker:He was a man of faith, but he had many ups and downs.
Speaker:You know, he was also, he was a Jew from Beth Sada.
Speaker:And he never made the cut to be chosen by a Jewish rabbi to follow.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And that time it, it was a part of the culture that if you were a Jew,
Speaker:you would study the Torah and that the, the rabbi would eventually pick
Speaker:the best students to come follow him.
Speaker:And he didn't get picked.
Speaker:Rather, he had to go and learn his father's trade, which was fishing.
Speaker:He became a fisherman.
Speaker:. So some would say that Peter was maybe an unschooled ordinary man, right?
Speaker:We've heard of that before for some of us.
Speaker:But what we see throughout the life of Peter is he had to experience some
Speaker:difficult moments in his life in order to become an overcomer for Christ.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So what we're gonna do is a little different today.
Speaker:We're gonna go through a timeline of Peter's life.
Speaker:All right?
Speaker:So I made this slide here.
Speaker:I don't know if it's okay.
Speaker:There we go.
Speaker:So I made this slide, and we're gonna go and break down some key
Speaker:moments that I feel that really explain the story of Peter.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:The first here is when he first gets called, and the top left there
Speaker:in Mark chapter one, verse 16.
Speaker:If you want to turn there, go for it.
Speaker:It reads, as Jesus walked beside the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his
Speaker:brother Andrew, casting Annette into the lake for they were fishermen.
Speaker:Come follow me.
Speaker:Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people.
Speaker:At once they left their nets and followed him.
Speaker:So what happens here is Peter has been waiting his whole life
Speaker:to be called by a rabbi, and he gets called by the perfect rabbi.
Speaker:Jesus, the son of God.
Speaker:How amazing it is that Jesus calls Peter, right?
Speaker:We see that.
Speaker:And at this time his name wasn't Peter, yet it was Simon.
Speaker:A little bit later.
Speaker:We'll see when he comes Peter, but his name was Simon and
Speaker:Jesus calls him to fall.
Speaker:He was directly chosen by Christ.
Speaker:Many of us in here actually, in fact, all of us in here have been chosen by Christ.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:So we see this is an amazing start to the story of of Peter Simon Peter.
Speaker:He's getting called by Jesus.
Speaker:He's like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna go, I've been waiting for this my whole life.
Speaker:He drops his nets, he goes and he follows Jesus at once.
Speaker:It says he left his nets and he followed Jesus.
Speaker:And then we see.
Speaker:. And the second part here, and the second part of the timeline, he's
Speaker:given the keys to the kingdom.
Speaker:So, so sometime goes by he, he's walking with Jesus, he's
Speaker:living his life following Jesus.
Speaker:Jesus is teaching and training and preaching, and he's learning.
Speaker:And then one day he comes up to Peter or he actually comes to the apostles
Speaker:and he asks them, who do they say I am?
Speaker:Who does?
Speaker:Who do the people think I am?
Speaker:And he goes to Peter in verse 15 of Matthew 16, he says, but what about you?
Speaker:He asked, who do you say I am?
Speaker:Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
Speaker:Jesus replied, blessed are you Simon's son, Jonah, for this
Speaker:was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my father in.
Speaker:It and I tell you that you are Peter.
Speaker:This is where he gets his name.
Speaker:And on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of
Speaker:Hades will not overcome it.
Speaker:I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Speaker:Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.
Speaker:Whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven.
Speaker:Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Speaker:You know, we see in this moment, this is a high moment for Peter.
Speaker:This is an amazing time.
Speaker:Think of the times in your life when you have a spiritual high where you're
Speaker:like, oh my gosh, God is blessing me.
Speaker:God is doing so much in my life.
Speaker:He is taking care of me.
Speaker:And we see that Peter comes here and somehow he gets it right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Some of them are saying, oh, maybe you're a prophet, maybe you're something else.
Speaker:But he is like, who do you say I am?
Speaker:And Peter's like, you're the Messiah.
Speaker:Bingo.
Speaker:Peter got it right.
Speaker:He hit the nail on the head.
Speaker:He got it right.
Speaker:And what did you just say?
Speaker:He says, I'm gonna build my church.
Speaker:On this rock, he proclaims that Jesus is a Messiah.
Speaker:And then Jesus gives him the name Peter and the keys to the kingdom of God.
Speaker:Isn't that amazing?
Speaker:So, so far, we already see two amazing moments with Peter in his life.
Speaker:He gets called by Jesus to follow him.
Speaker:Awesome.
Speaker:And then he gets the right answer that nobody could get.
Speaker:And he's proclaiming Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior.
Speaker:And Jesus is like, that's it.
Speaker:You got it.
Speaker:I'm gonna build my church on this rock.
Speaker:But then we see something happen after three years of following Jesus, walking
Speaker:with him every day, being close to him.
Speaker:We see what probably Peter's biggest blemish in his life
Speaker:is in spiritual walk, right?
Speaker:And many of us have heard of this moment.
Speaker:Let's turn to Matthew 26 for 69.
Speaker:I'm so proud.
Speaker:It says, now, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard and a servant girl came to him.
Speaker:You also were with Jesus of Galilee.
Speaker:She said, but he denied it before them all.
Speaker:I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker:He said, then he went out to the gateway where another servant girl saw
Speaker:him and said to the people there, this fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.
Speaker:He denied it again with an oath.
Speaker:I don't know the man.
Speaker:After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said,
Speaker:surely you were one of them.
Speaker:Your accent, it gives you away.
Speaker:Then he began to call, call down curses, and he sorted them.
Speaker:I don't know the man, and immediately a rooster crow.
Speaker:Then Peter remembered the words, Jesus had spoken before.
Speaker:The rooster crows.
Speaker:You will disown me three times, and he went outside and wept bitterly.
Speaker:You know what I find the most interesting about this is that we
Speaker:see these high moments in Peter's life, these spiritual highs.
Speaker:He's calling Jesus the Messiah.
Speaker:He's being told the church is gonna get built on you.
Speaker:You're gonna be one of the main leaders to, I don't even know the man.
Speaker:Imagine the shame he may have felt in that moment.
Speaker:Imagine the, the betrayal that he just portrayed.
Speaker:This is a low moment, this is a weak point.
Speaker:You know, he denied Jesus at Christ's most difficult time.
Speaker:Just before the cross, we see that Peter gave into his fear and gave
Speaker:up on Jesus in this low moment.
Speaker:brothers and sisters.
Speaker:Let's take a moment to think of the times where we may
Speaker:have gave in, given into fear.
Speaker:In what ways?
Speaker:Maybe you have given up on your faith this morning.
Speaker:Think of the times where, man, you, you may have fallen
Speaker:short or you made a mistake.
Speaker:Maybe there's things in your life where you're, you're lacking a
Speaker:lot of faith, and, man, God, I don't know what you're doing.
Speaker:I don't know how this is gonna happen.
Speaker:Maybe for some of us, for some of the parents, it's, it's some of our kids'
Speaker:faith that we've been praying for so long, we've been asking God for so long, and
Speaker:that the, the answer has not yet come.
Speaker:Or maybe for some it's our spouse's faith.
Speaker:Maybe some of our spouses in here are not faithful to Christ in this
Speaker:moment, but we're asking, God, please.
Speaker:Or maybe some of us it's financial struggles that we just can't get
Speaker:over the hump, or we're in debt, or we're trying to fight through some.
Speaker:Financial issue, or maybe for some of us, we've given up on our own faith
Speaker:that maybe God is not gonna use me anymore, that it's been too long.
Speaker:There's no glory left for me to share with God.
Speaker:There's no opportunity for me to actually give and serve God.
Speaker:And we've lost faith.
Speaker:We've given up hope that God can still do something with us.
Speaker:We've been overcome by fear.
Speaker:Some of us brothers and sisters, Peter was in the same spot in a low point.
Speaker:He denied.
Speaker:You said, I don't even know the man
Speaker:but one thing I love to see here is that in order to become an overcomer, we
Speaker:must follow the one who overcame death.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Did I say that right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:In order to become an overcomer, we must follow the one who overcame death.
Speaker:In this moment, Jesus hadn't died and resurrected yet guys, we live in
Speaker:a time where we know Jesus died and overcame death on a cross for our sins.
Speaker:Isn't that amazing?
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Jesus is the one who can help us to overcome.
Speaker:He helps Peter to overcome and as we continue looking at the life of
Speaker:Peter, even though he was in a low moment, even though he really blew
Speaker:it and really made a mistake, we see that his life takes a different
Speaker:trajectory cuz he chooses to overcome.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:He chooses to follow Christ, but Christ gives him an opportunity.
Speaker:And so we're gonna continue in the timeline here and we're gonna look
Speaker:at when Jesus reinstates Peter.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Turn with me to John 21 verse 15.
Speaker:Come.
Speaker:There reads, when they had finished eating, Jesus said to
Speaker:Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?
Speaker:Yes, Lord.
Speaker:He said, you know that I love you.
Speaker:Jesus said, we'll, feed my lambs again.
Speaker:Jesus said, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?
Speaker:He answered, yes, Lord.
Speaker:You know that I love you.
Speaker:Jesus said, take care of my sheep.
Speaker:The third time he said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me?
Speaker:And Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, do you love me?
Speaker:He said, Lord, you know all things.
Speaker:You know that I love you.
Speaker:Jesus said, feed my sheep.
Speaker:Some context to the scripture, Peter had actually gone back out fishing.
Speaker:Peter had gone back to what he originally was doing before he was called by Christ.
Speaker:He went back to his old way and was fishing.
Speaker:And then Jesus comes up to him after dying and raising from the dead.
Speaker:He appears to him and says, Peter, what are you doing?
Speaker:Come, let's have some breakfast, and they have a meal together.
Speaker:Good things happen when we eat meals together.
Speaker:All right, brothers and sisters, let's remember that.
Speaker:All right, rusty, I know that's Rusty's love language right there.
Speaker:Good things happen at the dinner table.
Speaker:And then Peter and Jesus have this conversation, this
Speaker:interaction, and they're saying, Jesus asked him, do you love me?
Speaker:I find it interesting.
Speaker:He asked him three times, do you love me?
Speaker:Why?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Maybe Jesus is just wanted to know.
Speaker:Maybe he's clever.
Speaker:I think it's because Peter denied him three times that it
Speaker:was a perfect picture of grace.
Speaker:Come on.
Speaker:It was a perfect picture of, man, you're coming back with me.
Speaker:You, you messed up three times.
Speaker:I got you.
Speaker:I'm gonna cover you three times.
Speaker:And Jesus.
Speaker:Forgives him, reinstates him as an apostle and helps restore Peter's faith.
Speaker:The coolest thing brothers and sisters about following Christ
Speaker:is, yeah, we're gonna mess up.
Speaker:We're gonna have our flaws, we're gonna have our mistakes, but we
Speaker:have a chance to be forgiven.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:We have an opportunity at a new creation, the way that Peter
Speaker:was given the same opportunity.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:And so now we get to look at the fun stuff.
Speaker:We get to see the repentance of Peter.
Speaker:We get to see the change in Peter's life and change in Peter's mind.
Speaker:And we look in verse or in Acts chapter two, verse 36, when he starts the church.
Speaker:Cuz remember he said that Jesus said, I wanna build my church on this rock.
Speaker:And he starts the church at Pentecost and Acts 2 36.
Speaker:He says, therefore this is Peter.
Speaker:Let all Israel be assured of this.
Speaker:God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.
Speaker:When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said
Speaker:to Peter and the other apostles, brothers, what shall we do?
Speaker:Peter replied, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Speaker:Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you'll receive
Speaker:the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker:The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for
Speaker:all whom the Lord our God will call.
Speaker:The promise is for us in 2022.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:The promise is for us, and we see that Peter has this mind change,
Speaker:this repentance, this overcoming of his weakness because he chose
Speaker:to accept the grace of Christ.
Speaker:He chose to follow Jesus again, and Peter preaches that Pentecost
Speaker:and we see miracles happen.
Speaker:He calls people to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of our
Speaker:sins, and 3000 were baptized that day.
Speaker:Isn't that amazing?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:3000 people decided to follow Jesus.
Speaker:So brothers and sisters.
Speaker:I wanna remind you this morning, you are chosen by Christ to overcome, okay?
Speaker:You are chosen by him, and you have a choice to either overcome or
Speaker:continue to give in to the fear or the struggles that are before you.
Speaker:And Jesus gives you the strength to overcome.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Jesus is the one who gives us the possibility to overcome.
Speaker:And so we're gonna close out my favorite passage and Acts four, verse seven.
Speaker:This is when Peter goes from denying Jesus up to standing before the
Speaker:Sanhedrin, which is the strongest and most powerful religious council,
Speaker:and he, they're questioning him.
Speaker:They're saying, by what power do you have this By?
Speaker:And we pick up in verse seven, it says, they had Peter and John brought before
Speaker:them and began to question them by what power or what name did you do this?
Speaker:Then Peter filled with what?
Speaker:The Holy Spirit.
Speaker:Jesus was right there with them, filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, rulers
Speaker:and elders of the people, if we are being called to account today for an act
Speaker:of kindness, shown to a man who is lame and are being asked how he was healed,
Speaker:then know this, you and all the people of Israel, it is by the name of Jesus
Speaker:Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead.
Speaker:That this man stands before you healed.
Speaker:Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone and
Speaker:salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given
Speaker:to mankind, by which we must be saved.
Speaker:Isn't that powerful?
Speaker:Isn't that amazing that we see this transformation that Peter went from
Speaker:denying Jesus saying, I don't know the man to standing up and defending the gospel,
Speaker:risking his life, saying, it's no longer me living, but it's Christ living in me.
Speaker:And he goes from denying Jesus to a servant girl, to standing
Speaker:up to the highest religious court defending the gospel.
Speaker:One of the things we see back in John 21 when Jesus reinstates him is
Speaker:that Peter was broken about his sin.
Speaker:Peter realized, wow, I've, I've stooped solo.
Speaker:I've fallen so short.
Speaker:And he decided to repent.
Speaker:He decided to change.
Speaker:He decided to move forward to have a new view of how the world looks in his eyes.
Speaker:And it's no longer about him, but it's about Christ.
Speaker:Look what he did because he chose to change and overcome.
Speaker:Brothers and sisters come on, he chose to overcome.
Speaker:This is the difference in followers of Christ.
Speaker:When we become overcomers.
Speaker:When we become overcomers, we make impacts.
Speaker:We change the direction of the world, we change the direction of people's eternal
Speaker:destinies when we choose to be overcomers.
Speaker:And that's what we see Peter did here.
Speaker:And so what we're gonna do right now is we actually have a special treat to
Speaker:be able to hear from one of the college students in our campus ministry who's
Speaker:been able to overcome many things in his life and how he has chosen to put
Speaker:Christ first and become an overcomer.
Speaker:And I give you Daniel Samo, he's gonna share a little bit of his story.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Let's go Dan.
Speaker:Hello Church.
Speaker:Uh, Kyle mentioned.
Speaker:My name is Daniel Samo.
Speaker:I am a in the campus ministry.
Speaker:I actually finished school this winter, so I'm super excited about that.
Speaker:Uh, but, uh, as Kyle mentioned, I'm gonna share with you, uh, how I overcame,
Speaker:uh, a certain, uh, issue in a time of my life, which wasn't too long ago.
Speaker:Um, but closer.
Speaker:But yeah, so, uh, for me, something I had to overcome was honestly my trust,
Speaker:my trust in, you know, God's people, but more importantly my trust in God.
Speaker:And in order for me to like explain that, I feel like I would tell you
Speaker:a little bit more about my life.
Speaker:So growing up, I grew up in a church, uh, sys church in la uh, and
Speaker:something I realized at a very young age is how relational our church is.
Speaker:For those who kind of grew up in, who's like a teen or in campus now,
Speaker:like you remember those times like where people came over your house or
Speaker:you went over another uh, personality.
Speaker:Your parents just interact with their friends.
Speaker:You just see them have that deep friendship, that deep connection, that
Speaker:deep relationship where you see them pray, you see them just talk, cry together
Speaker:and something I saw that at a young age.
Speaker:I was like, wow, like for some reason I want that, you know, I want to have
Speaker:those deep relationships with people.
Speaker:And whether that was, you know, through sports on my baseball team, whether it
Speaker:was that through school friends or the church especially, like I did get those.
Speaker:And for church for example, like I had those relationships, you know,
Speaker:ever since I became a disciple back in 2014, you know, I've developed
Speaker:these strong relationships with some of the other teen guys in my life.
Speaker:So that was so encouraging.
Speaker:I was like, wow, God.
Speaker:Like I finally get all of this, like, it's amazing.
Speaker:But however, you know, back in 2019, the church I was attending, we went
Speaker:through a little bit of turmoil.
Speaker:And in a place where I thought was a place to worship God, you know, with,
Speaker:with my friends and brothers and sisters turned to a place of like, choosing sides.
Speaker:Like came to a point where it was like a, a ugly divorce and I had to choose
Speaker:which parent I wanted to be with.
Speaker:And, you know, that's something I was like, wow, okay.
Speaker:Um, interesting.
Speaker:But what hurt the most about that time was the fact that the, I had two very
Speaker:close friends that I call my brothers.
Speaker:And the fact that they decided, you know, to leave, I, it left an empty hole
Speaker:in my heart just because, you know, I always desired that deep relationship.
Speaker:And, you know, I finally got it.
Speaker:You know, I was there with them through thick and thin, but in the end I feel
Speaker:like they left me when I most needed, when I needed them the most in my life.
Speaker:So left a hole in my heart.
Speaker:So I was like, wow.
Speaker:Like that's where my mistrust in God's people kind of began.
Speaker:And then later that year, as somebody you may know, my dad had a stroke
Speaker:and he eventually passed away.
Speaker:And I remember throughout that time, you know, um, I remember getting
Speaker:those, uh, Bible scriptures, those verse of the days on the Bible app.
Speaker:And I got this one notification and it was Isaiah 41, verse 10, and it
Speaker:reads, so do not fear for I'm with you.
Speaker:You do not, uh, do not be dismayed for I'm your God.
Speaker:I will strengthen you and help you.
Speaker:I would uphold you with my righteous hand.
Speaker:And just reading that, I remember throwing my phone on the ground just so angry.
Speaker:I was like, God, what are you talking about?
Speaker:I do not feel strengthened by you.
Speaker:I do not feel upheld by you.
Speaker:Like, where are you?
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:And I remember just cursing to God and just, you know, throughout that time
Speaker:just really falling into sin and being entangled by it and looking back on it,
Speaker:you know, that was a time where I really started to, to drift away to a point
Speaker:where I even began to question, do I even wanna continue my relationship with God?
Speaker:And you know, and then after, you know, My dad passed a few months later, we
Speaker:were quarantined and right there I was like, that's a perfect opportunity.
Speaker:You know, perfect opportunity to slip through the cracks, you know, as churches
Speaker:online, uh, not really talking to people as much, just because I'm like, you know,
Speaker:I don't, they're just gonna leave me and I'm gonna be left hurt once again.
Speaker:Uh, but for some reason I was like, you know what, like,
Speaker:let's continue doing this.
Speaker:So in August of 2020, I moved here to Orange County.
Speaker:So I was like, wow, this is awesome.
Speaker:You know, new start.
Speaker:All my problems are gonna be left in Los Angeles.
Speaker:Great.
Speaker:Nope.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:The problem was just followed.
Speaker:And I remember moving here one of the first few weeks, I get a phone
Speaker:call from a random phone number and I was like, who the heck?
Speaker:So I pick up the phone and it was Kyle Lundberg who called just
Speaker:saying, Hey, like, you know, we just hired him as a campus minister.
Speaker:He's called me and you know, he is trying to make small so I get to know me.
Speaker:But I was like, I'm not here for it because, you know, one, he's a leader.
Speaker:I already don't have trust in leaders and they'll own God's people.
Speaker:So I'm like, why do I wanna do this?
Speaker:And even living in the house though too, I just remember, you know, my
Speaker:roommates always asking questions about my life and somehow, you know,
Speaker:I'll give 'em little bits and pieces of my an like, about my life, but
Speaker:not really tell 'em the full story.
Speaker:Uh, but in one day, um, I remember being in Long Beach.
Speaker:Uh, I forgot what for, but I just remember, uh, me and my old roommate
Speaker:Chris, actually, you know, we were talking and Chris is a guy, he's interesting.
Speaker:I love him.
Speaker:He always asks questions and he is always a talker.
Speaker:And I'm like, dang.
Speaker:I'm like, I don't know how I can get around this guy.
Speaker:And then he would ask questions like, for this one specific day, I just
Speaker:remember him asking questions, like just drawing my heart out more and more.
Speaker:And then eventually I just remember just breaking down and crying to him.
Speaker:And I'm so grateful for Chris and all the people here in my life because if
Speaker:it wasn't for them, honestly, like I wouldn't have gotten open about it.
Speaker:I wouldn't have gotten open about, you know, where I was
Speaker:at in my life at that time.
Speaker:Um, and you know, I'm, like I said, I'm just so grateful because after
Speaker:doing that, like I just really felt all this weight just off my shoulders.
Speaker:I don't know, it's almost like.
Speaker:When you've been in sin a lot, you've been hiding it.
Speaker:It's kind of like when you kind of confess it, you just feel
Speaker:the weight off your shoulders.
Speaker:And that's what it felt like, honestly.
Speaker:And you know, I just started to, I remember I started to rely
Speaker:on God more, but I also started relying on his people more.
Speaker:I remember just developing those deep relationships with my roommates and
Speaker:then deep relationships with the campus ministry, and then even with some of
Speaker:the married people here too as well.
Speaker:And a scripture that, uh, you know, helped me get through that time that strengthened
Speaker:me was in second Corinthians, uh, 12 verse nine through 10, which reads, this
Speaker:is Paul Ryan, he says, but he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for
Speaker:my power is made perfect and weakness.
Speaker:Therefore, I will boast, uh, all the more gladly about my weakness
Speaker:so that Christ power may rest on me.
Speaker:That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight and weakness and insults in
Speaker:hardships and persecution difficulties.
Speaker:For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Speaker:Isn't that amazing church?
Speaker:Just how Christ's power is with us.
Speaker:Through weakness.
Speaker:And I just remember for some reason, like, you know, whenever I was weak
Speaker:I was like, no, I'm gonna fight it.
Speaker:I'm gonna fight it.
Speaker:I'm gonna get through it.
Speaker:But you know, it didn't come about.
Speaker:You know, obviously you see how my life, you know, was back
Speaker:then going off my own strength.
Speaker:My life was not great at all.
Speaker:But then when I started relying on God more, I got to see, you know,
Speaker:through my weakness, accepting my weakness, relying on God more.
Speaker:You know, God really helped bless my life so much.
Speaker:And some of the things he blessed me, to be honest with you guys.
Speaker:Like for one, I never thought I would be in a dating relationship, right?
Speaker:But now I get to be in an awesome, godly dating relationship
Speaker:with my girlfriend, Savannah.
Speaker:And it's just so, thank you.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:It's just so incredible guys, just because for one, like, you know, we have
Speaker:fun, but we really get to honor God.
Speaker:He's the first person we honor at the forefront of our relationship
Speaker:because he is, he blessed me with it.
Speaker:So there's that.
Speaker:But then also, I get to have the most relational job ever,
Speaker:which I never thought I would to.
Speaker:I get to be a campus intern right now and that's been a fun time
Speaker:because like back then, if you asked me two years ago if I wanted to be
Speaker:an intern, I'll be like, no way.
Speaker:I remember Steve always asking me to do it and I'll be like,
Speaker:no, Steve, like Steve Stevenson.
Speaker:I was like, no, you're good bro.
Speaker:Don't do it.
Speaker:But now I get to do it and it's been fun because now I get to, you
Speaker:know, build relationships with the people in the campus ministry, get
Speaker:to be close with them, help with the, the younger, uh, campus people.
Speaker:Cuz I'm one of the older guys now.
Speaker:It's kind of like, I'm always telling them like, hey, like
Speaker:don't make the same mistakes I do.
Speaker:I want you guys to, to thrive.
Speaker:Alright.
Speaker:Like, really rely on God, really love up on the people
Speaker:you have in your life right now.
Speaker:Um, just because I feel like I didn't, you know, get to do that during my campus.
Speaker:Uh, but yeah, um, I know I shared a lot with you guys, but to wrap
Speaker:it all up, I'm just really proud to stand here before you day.
Speaker:Really, truly happy and content of my life where, where I am right now in my
Speaker:life, just overcoming my trust issues with, with God, with God's people.
Speaker:And if there's one thing I want you all to walk away with this
Speaker:morning is if you wanna overcome whatever struggles you have, alright?
Speaker:Of course, there's the basics.
Speaker:You know, you know, dive into the word, be rooted in the word, be rooted
Speaker:in Christ, be rooted in the church.
Speaker:But there's one thing you want to do if you wanna overcome a struggle, especially
Speaker:if something in your past, like for me, is you just gotta accept your past, right?
Speaker:If you don't want to, you know, if you don't make peace with your
Speaker:past, it will never leave you and it will create your future.
Speaker:You know, just like Peter, who, you know, wasn't chosen to be a rabbi or,
Speaker:um, the fact that he denied Jesus, if he were to harp on that, he wouldn't
Speaker:have done so many great things such as, you know, preaching at the Pentecost,
Speaker:calling people to repent and be baptized and having 3000 join the faith that day.
Speaker:You know, uh, overcomers know the only good time to look in the past
Speaker:is to see how far you've come.
Speaker:And just like Peter and myself, I'm proud to see how far I've overcome.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Appreciate you sharing Daniel and brothers and sisters, as we come to a close here.
Speaker:I want to remind us one more time here that when we rely on Christ, when we
Speaker:trust in him, we too can overcome.
Speaker:I know many of us in here have overcome so many things.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:And there's many heroes in the faith in this room today.
Speaker:I'm grateful for you guys that we get to look up to you.
Speaker:We gotta learn from you.
Speaker:Don't give up.
Speaker:Continue to set that example.
Speaker:And for those of us who maybe are struggling with this idea, I want you to
Speaker:examine yourself and ask yourself, are you willing to imitate Peter's example
Speaker:of overcoming not the bad stuff, right?
Speaker:But are you willing to imitate the repentance that Peter exemplify?
Speaker:Brothers and sisters?
Speaker:God gives us the chance to change.
Speaker:And it's amazing when we change.
Speaker:It's, it's so fulfilling.
Speaker:And so as you think about your life this morning, are you willing to surrender
Speaker:to Christ and become an overcomer?
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Amen.
