 Hey weirdos, it's Darren and I wanted to share something with you from my church that we had our services this morning and We do online services still thanks to COVID. We do have some people to go and attend in person Doing the social distancing and everything, but we still do it online at the same time So that's how I watched this and the reason that I'm sharing this is because it is so appropriate for what we're going through right now Not only with the pandemic and being self-quarantined, but with the election stuff that's gone through and I know a lot of people who listen, you know, obviously we talk a lot about depression anxiety, but we've all got problems that we're going through as well and This just it the more I watched This service today The more I realized this is something that I needed to share. There's communion at the end of this This message and if you want to take communion You can Just grab like go to your pantry and grab a cracker and maybe some juice out of the fridge if you want to take communion After the song There's a little bit more that greg says that I I think you'd probably want to hear But I'll start the video right at where greg starts speaking So that way you don't have to fast forward through the the worship beforehand in order to get where we where we start the message I think it's definitely appropriate for just about everybody right now And I think you'll agree once you start listening And uh, if you like it feel free to go ahead and share it with anybody and everybody that you want This is particularly good for our our weirdos in christ Anyways, welcome for those of you watching online. Thank you so much for making state line church part of your routine this sunday morning I'm excited to continue in this series that we've been in context clues. How many of you guys like superheroes? Right one person don't lie because think of all the money that is spent on superhero stuff all the movies Right all the marvel blockbusters all the dc movies though the dc movies really aren't nowhere near as good as the marvel movies Right, they're just they just don't stack up to the competition But then you think of all the money on comic books and merchandising and toys that is spent in my two sons For those of you, you don't know. I have two boys jack and luke. They love superheroes They're obsessed with superhero stuff and they love to dress up In superhero outfits all the time. Look how adorable my kids are but you can kind of see this theme here over the halloweens They like to consistently dress up as superheroes and when they dress up as superheroes in this funny way And I don't know what it is with the psyche of a child, but it empowers them It makes them actually feel like they have superpowers I think they think they can run faster and hit a little bit harder and my youngest son luke He's six years old and look how adorable luke is come on Come on guys. I know he's my kid and I'm biased, but that kid's adorable He literally when he dresses up as a superhero not only does he walk a little bit taller But he always he's like sizing me up all the time. He literally wants to fight me constantly He just comes up to me and he starts to attack and it's getting to the point now Where I don't know if I can take him. He really is getting strong But here's the truth just because a kid dresses up like a superhero It doesn't mean they have superpowers, right? But not all kids get that I read this article this week in the national institute of health and it was talking about how there have been many instances of kids dressing up like superheroes And trying to do superhero things For example in this article it talked about one kid who dressed up as spider-man And decided to scale the window out of sight of the two-story Bedroom house that he lived in and of course he doesn't have sticky hands and he doesn't have spider webs and he fell Now the good news is he was okay because he was wearing the doctors think because he was wearing a padded outfit That the padded cushioning inside of the superhero outfit actually kept him safe There were also mention of three different instances in this article of three kids Who decided to take flight with no landing strategy? They just thought that they they were dressed as superman so that they could fly and so they were just jumping off of stuff Now fortunately in this article No child was seriously hurt beyond a few broken bones some some bruises and of course a bruised ego Because the kids had to deal with the sad reality The sad news that they indeed did not have any superpowers But there is a verse in the bible That if you read it And you read this verse it implies something That if we put our hope our trust our faith in jesus That through christ Maybe we can have some supernatural strength That through christ maybe indeed we can have superpowers you all know this verse you've seen it on tim tebow's eye black And john jones has a tattoo to cross his chest Philippians 4 13 for i can do everything Through christ who gives me strength other translations of the bible would say i can do all things Through him who gives me strength so maybe the missing ingredient for these kids Was that they just simply weren't putting their hope or their trust in jesus They weren't letting jesus give them the superpowers that they need because isn't it true that we can do all things All things sounds pretty inclusive right? That we can do all things through christ who strengthens us So i decided this week that i was going to put this verse to the test I wanted to see if it was indeed true that we could do all things everything Through christ who strengthens us now. I know when you look at me you see just a very physically fit specimen and i understand that I totally appreciate that but i have some limitations I can't dunk a basketball and i'm really not that strong So i went to movement fitness this week and i was putting my faith in god and i decided i'm going to see If i can take it up a level so why don't you take a look at this video? And look who showed up. Hey personal trainer tyler here tyler. He's gonna be my trainer motivator slash coach Yes, you really are the meaning in my life You are my inspiration. Okay. All right. So what are we doing putting this to the test? Yes, so we're gonna test If i can physically do things Through christ who strengthens me. Okay, right. So you picked this first I'm just gonna do a basic ladder drill, which is what like nfl people do. Do you know how to do it? Oh, yeah, all right Let's yeah, all right watch Piece of cake nailed it. That doesn't seem like adjusted. Can you show him? That's that's how it's That looks a little different than what I did All right, so greg is uh five ten Maybe five nine. I think you like that driver's license. Whoa five ten Five nine and a hazel eyes Oh, I thought we were talking about my driver's license. All right, here we go. All right, jesus get into the hammies Come on jesus right into the hammies. I can do all things Through christ who strengthens me Hold on. Hold on. You know those fisher price. It's not quite a ten foot though All right, let's try something else. All right my arm hurts so far We've established That I can do okay through christ who strengthens me and so For the ultimate feat of strength I'm gonna bench press through jesus 300 and what is it 15 pounds? one two three I did I did it nailed it. I count that one chalk one up for jesus Well, here's what we've established. Maybe I'm not as fit as I'd like to be So I got a little work to do and I can do some things But maybe not all things don't count me out yet. Maybe we'll be back next year for part do See ya You know, we've made some stupid videos around here But that one might take the cake though. I want to say that those dumbbells at the end those were 100 pound dumbbells Give or take a zero. Give or take Oh, that's so embarrassing. I'm such an idiot anyways And I was really sore truthfully just from like three things that I did Here's the reality I love jesus But no matter how much I pray How dedicated I am to following jesus the reality is I don't think jesus is getting into these hammies Because I cannot dunk a basketball No matter what I do is just not gonna happen. It's not in the cards So I guess I can't do that through christ who strengthens me now We're not talking about limiting jesus here if jesus wanted to I guess he could But the reality is I need a trampoline in a six foot rim in my own power Now could jesus make a trampoline materialized for me to be able to dunk a basketball Could jesus get into my hamstring muscles and somehow make me super naturally spring into the sky Yeah, I guess he could but just because jesus can do whatever he wants does not mean he does whatever I want And the reality is a lot of times we use philippians 4 13 as a verse To get god to do what we want as opposed to understanding What god wants and we're in this series context clues And we've been talking about over the last few weeks how there are certain scriptures that if we pull them out of their context We we pull them away from the original intention of what they were intended to mean in our life What happens is we can get it to mean whatever we want it to mean But that doesn't mean us getting it to mean whatever we want it to mean Is in line with what god wants it to mean and so to understand scripture You've got to look at the context the who the what the when the how and you use scripture Other scripture to interpret scripture and here's another basic rule of understanding When it comes to interpretation the same intention That the author originally had when they were writing the scripture in the first place Is the same intention now and you say well, why is that? That's because the holy spirit was the same back then as he is now and it'll be the same holy spirit tomorrow now There are cultural realities Cultural distinctives that are in play when you read some of the scripture But just because there are cultural realities or cultural distinctives remember the intention can remain the same So let me give you an example when paul says in the new testimony he says it I want to say three or four times. He says greet each other with a holy kiss Now this is a cultural command. This was part of the customs at this time Now we don't do this now right especially during covid right how awkward would that be if we're like Oh, we got to obey the word of the lord. We got to greet each other with a holy kiss But I don't want to get sick and you don't want to get sick now some of you if you're single you're like Hey, can we bring this back? All right. I like this greet each other with the holy kiss idea All right, but we don't do that All right, we see that as a cultural command But just because we don't actually physically greet each other with a holy kiss doesn't mean that the intention Right the the original meaning behind paul's command just goes away And what is that which is to show genuine love Genuine affection genuine appreciation for our brothers and sisters in christ And so let's look at philippians now Let's go to chapter four and let's find paul's intention by looking at this verse in its context Now a couple of things that I think are important to know as you look at the book of philippians where our philippians 4 13 is found paul is writing this Letter to the church in philipp the philippian church. He's writing this letter from prison And he's been imprisoned for talking about jesus and not only is he imprisoned But many scholars believe this is towards the end of paul's life And he finds himself in prison and he's awaiting trial And it's kind of at this point now as he's getting to what he believes is to be the end of his life As he's awaiting trial. He kind of knows essentially he's going to die That if he gets put to trial for preaching about jesus, they are going to put him to death So that's kind of a backdrop for you to understand Where paul's at right some context as we dive into philippine So let's go back a few verses from philippians 4 13 and start at verse 10 How I praise the lord that you are concerned about me again I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn't have the chance to help me Not that I was ever in need for I've learned how to be content With whatever I have I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything I've learned the secret of living in every situation Whether it is with a full stomach or empty With plenty or little for I can do everything through christ Who gives me strength? And so in this passage of scripture here first and foremost you see that what he's doing He has a church that's worried about his well-being and he's thanking them for their concern He's thanking them for checking up on him And then he does what you do when your mom is checking up on you You know how your mom will check up on you all the time. You're like, yes, mom. I'm fine. Yes, mom I have my medicine. Yes mom. I've got the mace. No mom. I won't stop too late. Mom. I'm good mom. Leave me alone. Mom. Okay. I'm okay I'm not hungry. I'm fine right whatever. He's basically doing that with the church. He tells them guys. I'm good Thank you for checking up on me, but I'm good because truthfully I've never been in need Because I've had a lot and I've had a little Right. I've had a ton of money And I've been flat out broke before I've had really good meals before and I know what it's like to live on ramen noodles And I've been good because regardless of all of that I have learned to be content I've learned to be content no matter what's happening to me. What's happening around me. What's happening in my circumstances And he almost is implying to this church. He's saying I know it's crazy Right because you look at my situation and you look at my circumstances How is a guy that's broke now who's lost his freedom who finds himself in jail who might be put to death? How can a guy say that he's content? I'll tell you how Because I can do everything Through christ who strengthens me. I can be in prison Through christ who strengthens me. I can endure the upcoming trial and the trials I've already been through through christ who strengthens me. I can live through the mockings I can live through the beatings of the prison guards through christ who strengthens me. I can do all things Through christ who strengthens me And if you look at this here in context You see now that paul's intention wasn't to show that we can have a supernatural ability to maybe run faster Hit harder or to fly or bench press three hundred and fifteen pounds His intention is to show us That we can be content Even when it seems like we shouldn't be And why Because of jesus Jesus can be Our source of strength And so when paul says I can do everything When I can do all things Really the everything that he's referencing here The all things that he's referencing here Are the hard things The painful things The things that make us suffer The things that we don't want to have to go through But life will throw at us anyways And so paul is insane use this verse To get superpowers Use this verse to achieve your earthly dreams Use this verse to win trophies or conquer the board room or become a rock star That's not what he's saying because this verse is not about having great physical resources like a great job or a great education Or athletic ability this verse is about having strength when you don't have great physical resources Because this verse is not about achievement It's about contentment And we use it out of context though right all the time we hear people Use it for achievement use it for success Like it could be up in the board room as one of those old successories quote with a really cool picture of an eagle flying over something right I can do all things But it's about contentment It's about strength. Yes In the suffering it's about triumph. Yes But in the trials And so paul is telling us this is not a phrase that's going to help you conquer the world This is a phrase a truth that will help you press on When it feels like the world has conquered you Because even if it feels like the world has conquered you the truth is That whether you have a job or no job Whether you have money in the bank or not Whether you have the best athletic prowess Or you find yourself like me None at all What matters Is that you have jesus And the truth here is if you have jesus You have all you need And not only do you have all you need? But this is the supernatural part He can make you content Even in the midst of your suffering He can satisfy your soul even in the midst of your suffering He can give you an internal victory even if your external circumstances seem like chaos and he can help you endure When it seems like others going through the same thing Would fail And how? Because we can do all things Through him who strengthens us You can go through and endure cancer And honor the name of your heavenly father as you fight it How? Because you can do all things through him who strengthens us You can be laid off from work and have heartbreak and go through it and keep a positive outlook And know that god is with you how? Because you can do all things Through him who strengthens us and the world will look at you if you have this type of strength and think How is that possible? How is it possible that they're going through this circumstance and this hard thing and this reality? And yet their perspective is so different than mine because i'm spiraling i'm anxious I'm freaking out and they're going through something too and I look at them and they're an oak tree They right there they have faith They have a joy They have a contentment how? I can't manufacture that and myself. How are they able to do that? And it's because of jesus in us. We can do all things and so the true superpower here is contentment in him And if you're sitting there and you think man I feel like i'm lacking a little bit I don't have that type of strength. I want that type of strength and who doesn't Right who doesn't want contentment enjoy in the midst of trial because the reality is trial is coming For all of us some of us guys covet has punched us all in the gut Every single one of us All of us have had to contextualize and deal with it differently But but it's hit us all But some of us have a perspective of joy and contentment and faith while others are spiraling out of control And don't know what to do and the difference is all things endurance through christ who strengthens us and if you're sitting there and you're like I want that I need that In my life Well, this seems obvious But yet it's so easily forgotten That if you want that strength that comes from jesus Then you've got to put your focus on jesus And we're talking about context here and i want to jump a few verses back because paul is literally Unlocking for us his secret as to how he's able to do all things through christ who strengthens him And i love how all of this ties together and these are some very famous passages of scripture But once again look at it in context and then you see the beauty of how all of this is written So we're going to go back to philippines 4 now verse 6 So we're going to chase it back just a few more verses Paul speaking do not be anxious about anything Man some of us are anxious about everything And he says don't be anxious about anything but in every situation By prayer and petition So it doesn't matter what you're going through if it seems like a big deal or a little deal Every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving being grateful present your request to god and the peace of god which transcends all understanding Will guard your hearts and your minds in christ jesus he said don't be anxious About the trials don't be anxious about the prisons that life has you and don't be anxious about your suffering No matter what's going on Good or bad he's saying you can talk to god about it You know even in me saying that we'll talk to god about talk to god about it pray about it pray about it. It seems so cliche Oh, okay Pray about it. Sure. So we'll throw up a flare prayer a token prayer or whatever Guys listen this is so important and it's just it's just true There's nothing cliche about talking to god You have the ability to talk to the god of the universe and when you talk to him, guess what he does He listens to you He listens to you There's nothing cliche about that And when you talk to him your focus is on him and he gives us what this verse says is a peace that passes Understanding well, how does that work? Well, if I could explain it to you then it'd be understandable Right, but I love the idea Paul uses here to try to explain it. He literally says peace will guard your heart In context for now put yourself into the situation. Where's paul writing this from from a prison cell, right? And he's talking about how he has this piece of god that passes all understanding And he's like it doesn't make a lot of sense. I should be more worried. I'm not I should be more sad I'm not I should be angry. I'm not even that angry. I'm pretty content. I'm in jail. I think I'm gonna die I got that going for me. That's nice, right, but he's like I'm content And so then maybe he looks up and as he looks up he sees the prison guard walk by And he's like that's it He's guarding me making sure I stay in here. So maybe god is guarding my heart and making sure the peace stays in there It gets supernatural. I can't explain it But god is guarding me like the like the prison guard is guarding the cell And he's making sure the peace and the joy of god stays in my life because i'm keeping my focus On him and this is the only way that paul could explain something that doesn't make a lot of sense And then look at how paul continues down verse 8 once again famous passage of scripture Finally brothers and sisters whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable If anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me Put it into practice and the god of peace will be with you and there it is again, right the god of peace will be with you Well, how he just told you how to fill your mind with the things of god Put yourself into the word of god Put yourself into worship music put yourself into times of prayer. He says think about things that are true noble, right Pure lovely praiseworthy Think about your blessings Think about what you have to be grateful for Think about your family think about your friends think about your salvation That god has saved you right he saved you Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved the wretch like me That god saved us that we were once lost but now we're found We were once blind but now we can see and paul what he's saying here is like do what i did I've done this He's like follow me it works people it works. So put this into practice And many of us and I found myself there over the last few months As we look at maybe things that aren't of god Put our focus on the news Put our focus on social media Even put our focus on work all the work we have to do or the school the online schooling We have to get through right all of these things that cause chaos and no wonder we don't feel the peace of god When all we can do is focus on what is wrong with the world instead of what's right with god and what god's trying to do In our life And the reality is when you look at all of these things that cause chaos Right all of these things that cause anxiety All of these things that make us spiral with fear That's not god's fault God has told us what we can do to prevent that from happening That's our fault We have to take responsibility for that But if you let the truth of who god is fill your heart Fill your mind give you perspective Perspective about the election perspective about covid you let them give you perspective Even if your circumstances look the same Even if you have to endure hard things You will be so overwhelmed with god So overwhelmed with whatever is true and noble and good That you won't have energy To worry about the bad things And so now Looking at all of this in context you can see why paul says i have learned The secret of contentment And the secret sauce It's jesus It's jesus above all else it's focused on jesus And with jesus I can endure hardships With jesus i can resist temptation With jesus i can bear with the unbearable bear with people that are almost impossible to be around With jesus i can do all these things Through him who strengthens me but not just get through them but be grateful and joy filled all the while And this my friends Is way better than being able to dunk a basketball Listen you don't need a god to motivate you to get a better job You don't even need a god to motivate you to chase after your dreams The truth is many of us can do that on our own anyways You need a god who makes you strong when life sucks Who gives you a hope when all else fails Who helps you endure when others would quit And one who isn't afraid to get in the mess with you Don't you love that our god gets in the mess with us? He's not like I ain't going down there I'm gonna get in the mess with them. Oh you created it. You don't no no He gets in the mess of our life with us. So if you look at philippians 4 13 It's actually way better than originally advertised because the reality is most of us are find it easy to be content with life When life is going well Right, it's easy to be content when circumstances are going our way But when life falls apart and when you feel stuck in life's prison And you don't know what to do then jesus can come in and give you what you can't get on your own A strength and a hope and a peace that passes all understanding A true contentment in the midst of pain See it's not just about even getting through the bad times It's it's not just about kind of sucking it up and pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps Lots of people can get through bad times, but only jesus can help you get through with a true joy With contentment with peace And if you during all of these chaotic times are getting through things with joy People look at you and they see peace in you when everything else looks like chaos That really is a true superpower That's impressive to a lost and dying world That's a superpower that old moody old batman would love to have And don't be like if you're a comic book nerd, I mean technically batman didn't have superpowers He had a utility belt and so you get my point, okay So listen You can get through kovat Isn't this while I was thinking about this just the other day six months ago We didn't know I didn't know anyone who had it now. I know dozens of people who do Right you you can get through the quarantines you can get through the online schooling You say well, how you can do it through christ who strengthens you If you're going through a divorce heartbreak maybe somebody it's going through a Affair and they're trying to figure out how to navigate it and their heart is broken and they're like, I don't know how I can go on You can go on Because you can do everything through christ Who strengthens you? There's people in this room right now who are going through a lot of pain Physical pain, maybe cancer treatments Maybe they're going through the pain of a miscarriage people online. You know you're going through something right now And you're like, I don't know how I can get through this Well, you can do it through christ who strengthens you You look at god's will for your life And it involves risk it seems daunting and you're not sure how am I going to be able to accomplish god's will And do what god has called me to do. Well, I can do all things Through christ who strengthened me. I'm dealing with temptation I'm afraid to relapse I don't know what to do. Well, I can fight back because I can do all things Through christ who strengthens me. I don't have a job. I don't have any money in the bank I don't know how i'm going to pay my bills, but I can do all things Through christ who strengthens me. I can get through this with hope and joy and contentment They make fun of me. They mock me for my values They mock me for having joy in the midst of all this chaos They mock me and they make fun of me because I said I wanted to wait to have sex until I'm married and they think I'm a freak They mock me because I don't join in on those jokes that they like to kind of tell at the water cooler I like to tell the print room. I don't get into that so they make fun of me But it doesn't matter. I can endure the mocking I can endure them making fun of me because I can do all things Through him who strengthens me And so here's how we're going to wrap up today And I can't think of a better way To celebrate christ's strength in us Then by celebrating communion And so if you have your community you can go and grab it Don't take it yet. We're actually going to take it as we sing the song But I just want you to have it for a second and if you're at home go and grab your communion and And just think about this for a second. Think about what god has done for us You know communion is such a sacred act and you say well, why is it a sacred act? It's sacred because what we're doing is remembering That jesus's body Was broken for us that his blood Was shed for us and when you think about and look at those elements and you you picture jesus's broken body And you picture his blood being shed on a cross and you realize he did that for you That he loves you more than you could ever know and more than you could ever imagine man It gives you a lot to be grateful for It gives you a lot to be thankful for It doesn't matter what circumstances are happening to you. You know that you had a god who died for you And man that is so powerful And when christ and when you take the emblems we don't we know it's not magic But it's symbolic and when you take it it's symbolic of christ being in you And when you understand that christ is in you then you can see why maybe you have the strength to endure Because yes, maybe people in this world would fall apart on their own fall apart on their own strength But with christ in you You can do everything through him who strengthens you One of the things we believe around here is that communion is a a sacred gift for believers For someone who has personalized and owned what jesus has done for them And I do want to say if you're here or you're watching online and you don't believe man, thank you so much for just Taking a part of state line church and investigating it We ask that you don't take part in communion Because we want this to be something that's sacred for people who I have identified with jesus, but I will say this If you're sitting here, you're like, I need that strength. I need that hope I need more than what i've been trying to do on my own I've been trying to do it on my own and it's just not working. I want the strength that comes from jesus I want to put my faith in jesus and you can take communion as your first act Of salvation your first act of putting your hope In trust in jesus. You just simply say jesus. I believe your body was broken for me I believe your blood was shed for the forgiveness of my sins And then we're gonna sing a song It's a new song a song we haven't sung around here. It's called I will follow you anywhere And as we sing this song as you're reflecting on what jesus has done for you at any point during this next song You can take communion on your own and for those of you watching online same thing As you're listening to this song at any point when you feel ready Go ahead and take communion on your own And do this as an act of saying not only thank you But keeping your focus on him Of internalizing what jesus has done in your life saying you will be my strength no matter what comes my way You know one last thing I want to read to you. I read a story This week about a young man who was going through leukemia and he unfortunately passed away I want you just to look at this quote from this article I read as to what he said to his pastor in the midst of his struggle He said he said this I have learned that life is not like a vcr You can't fast forward the bad parts kids in here. You can ask your parents later what a vcr is But I have learned that jesus christ is in every frame And right now That's just enough Here's the truth no matter what you're going through As you look at your life It doesn't matter what you're going through doesn't matter where you're at in your life It doesn't matter how things are going all that matters is who is with you And if jesus is with you in every single frame then that's enough It doesn't matter how it's playing now, and I'll tell you what you know what glorifies god It doesn't glorify god if you can dunk a basketball, but it does glorify god when you say jesus I will follow you anywhere no matter what no matter what i'm going through because I can do all things Through him who strengthens me. Let me pray for communion and then pray as we enter into this next song heavenly father just grateful for the ability to take communion to celebrate That jesus body was first of all sent and shown us how we can live and then broken for us And blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins And we don't ever want to take that for granted And then there's this promise that you fill us up that you live within us You give us this power because of what jesus has done now we can be in union and relationship with you And so no matter what circumstances come our way. Let us be the people that will say I will follow you anywhere No matter what's going on because I can do all things through him Who strengthens me we give these next few moments to you amen All right, so a couple of things here to know If for some reason you're here and you're thinking okay this week I really need to put my focus on christ. I I I've been doing this wrong I haven't been putting all my focus on chaos and the news and social media and it's just causing me Anxiety and panic then here's something I want you to do Read Philippians 4 specifically verses 6 through 13 Maybe read it every day every morning first thing you do read that Let that kind of be your reset button for the week Right to to help you get your focus where it needs to be so that you can endure and live in the strength of jesus this week So do that if you're here also and you put your faith in jesus or you're really interested in exploring more about what that means Or even watching online and you're like, hey, I'm really on the fence We'd love to send you this resource called I have decided it really explains some next steps Of what to do when you've put your faith in jesus and it'd be even great if you're still exploring jesus If you go to our app and fill out the connection card You can click right on there either I have decided to follow jesus or you can just put in there I'd love to have an I have decided book and we will mail this to you Or you can get one today if you would like to get one. God bless you guys keep you guys We'll see you next week