Borrowed Strength | Pastor Shaun Nepstad

Support doesn't remove the battle, it sustains you in it. Listen, sometimes we're asking God to remove the weight. Sometimes God doesn't remove the weight. He just adds people to help you carry it. Do you remember back in school when you used to have group projects? Some of you loved it because somebody else did all the work. Some of you hated it because you did all the work. You didn't have like teammates, you had witnesses. Come on somebody, you were the group. You did all the research. You made the poster. You prepared for the presentation. And then they want to show up on the day of and be like, Alright, so what are we doing? But then when you get a great small group, I'm telling you, it is a game changer. Because now you have people that are actually doing their part, carrying their weight. You don't have to search for anybody. Nobody's disappearing and it's an amazing experience. That's what small groups ought to be. I'm going to give you some points to write down. If you're a note taker, write this down everybody. If you're not a note taker, write this down. The most connected people in any church, they are serving and in small groups. I can say this is a true statement about any church in the entire world. The most connected people in the entire church are serving on a team somewhere and they're in a small group. So if that's true, I felt the Lord give me that phrase a few years ago. Also, this next phrase is true. So you get to decide and choose how connected or disconnected you want to be. Look at me church, look at me church.

If you're here and you're like, Man, I feel so disconnected. It might be your fault. Because you get to choose how connected or disconnected you'd like to be. I want to take us to Exodus chapter 17. And pastor has already made reference to Moses. Let's just keep that theme. As Moses is here, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites. Verse 9 said, Moses said to Joshua, Choose some of our men and go out and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on top of the hill and I'll have the staff of God in my hand. So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered. And Moses and Aaron and Hur, which by the way, Hur is a hymn. It's just spelled H-U-R. And they went up to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning. But whenever his hands lowered or grew tired, they were not winning. The Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone, put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on one side, one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekites. One of the biggest lies that we have believed in church and Christendom is, if I were stronger, I wouldn't need help. It's a lie. Matter of fact, all through the Bible, some of God's most faithful men and women, they did not lose because they lacked faith. They lost because they stood alone. So we look at Scripture, and we see Exodus 17. This is about two months after the great deliverance from Egypt. 400 years in slavery, and God sends a deliverer named Moses.

He says to Pharaoh, set my people free. And now they're walking out of bondage, out of slavery. And they're in the desert. It's hot. They're stinky. There's no 7-Eleven for a slurpee. Starbucks is too far out of the way. And people grow tired. They're tired. They're lagging behind a little bit, and they're not able to keep up. And Deuteronomy 25 says this. Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt? When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind. They had no fear of God. Church, can I give to you today this idea that this is the first group project in the Bible. Matter of fact, God's people are fresh out of slavery. So they are delivered, but still developing. They're rescued, but not ready yet. They're saved, but not strong. And here they are in the middle of this transition, and the Amalekites begin to attack. I wonder, can anybody relate to the feeling of being attacked? Some of you today, you barely made it to church because of the attack that has been going on with you spiritually. So they're newly delivered, and they get attacked. Watch this. Not from any other direction, but not even from the front. Not the leaders, from the back. The Bible says that they targeted the tired, the slow, and the distracted. How many know the enemy doesn't fight fair, he fights isolated? And when you are feeling attacked, your natural inclination is to hide, isolate.

Can I tell you this? Many of us feel like, well, I don't understand why I'm being attacked. I've been freed in Christ. Yeah, but so were they. They were free. But you have to remember, freedom doesn't mean you're not still vulnerable. Are you going to help me preach this morning? Israel is no longer enslaved, thank God, and they're not settled yet either. It's in this transitional period, this space between rest and rescue, that oftentimes battles are thrown at you. And you'd agree with this statement. Oftentimes, battles are not just before a breakthrough, they come after. Sometimes you go into the deepest depression after a huge win. It's so strange. You would think that it's only on the front end. But the devil's trying to attack you on all sides. And verse 8 says, the Amalekites came and attacked. Can I remind you, you too have an enemy. Look at this verse. Jesus said this, the thief, the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Thank God that's not the end of the verse. Thank God there's a comma. And Jesus said that's what he came to do. Let me tell you what I came to do. I came to give you life. It's abundant life. It's real life. It's eternal life, and it starts right now. Come on, clap your hands if you're grateful for the gift of God. But I also, not to give the devil any glory, but I want you to be aware that you do have an enemy who still wants to try and still kill and destroy.

So let's ask some questions, all right? You ready for this? Let's ask some questions. Number one, do you feel like you're in a battle right now? Do you feel like you're being attacked? All right, second question, where? For some of you, it is in your marriage. You might be even sitting next to your spouse. Valentine's Day is approaching, and you don't even want to make plans because things are so bad. It might be in your kids. It might be with your finances, your health. There could be depression that you're wrestling with. It could be anxiety. It could be shame. It could be the addiction. It's any of these and more. So are you being attacked? Where are you being attacked? And then here's another question. Do you feel like you're winning? Because how many know there's a big difference between fighting and winning and fighting and losing? Here's the problem. Most people try to do it alone. Most people try to fight alone. Can I tell you, God never prescribed solo leadership development. Isolation is not a leadership strategy. Come on, talk to me, church. Moses didn't do everything himself.

The next chapter, he'd get rebuked and corrected by his father-in-law because he would be doing too much. But right here, he aced it. He got it right. Joshua, fighting. Moses, praying and interceding. Aaron and Hur, they're supporting. Like, listen, different roles, same mission. That's why you ought to go through Destiny Steps next week. This is not a class that's for the church. It's for you. It's a three-week class where you can hear the vision of the church. You can become a member. You can discover your gifts because you are a 10 somewhere. You may not be a 10 everywhere, but I know who made you, and God doesn't make junk. You're gifted. You might not know what it is. That's why this class is for you. Come on, everybody, this is a gold-digging church. There's gold in you. We're going to dig it out. Some of you don't even believe it yet. So go through this class, put it on the calendar, and make sure that you attend. And what's cool about it, I think it's during the second service next week, you can go to church and go to Destiny Steps or go to Destiny Steps and go to church. It's there for you. But again, you get to choose how connected or disconnected you would like to be. So I want to encourage you.

When Moses lifted up his staff, we don't know why, but when he lifted up his staff, they would win. When his arms came down, they would lose. Finally, God gave them the victory. But can I tell somebody this? Your strength has a shelf life. Look at me, church. I don't care how strong you think you are or how independent you think you are. There is a time where your strength physically will run out. And one of the most vulnerable verses in the Bible is verse 12. The Bible just says, Moses' hands grew tired. Small groups are not about adding another meeting to your week. It's about distributing the weight because you're caring too much. You, how many know this? You can be deeply in love with God and still run out of energy. You can be totally committed and still hit a limit. And I'm here to tell you the danger is not in getting tired. The danger is pretending you won't. Every single person comes to a place in life where they are so tired. Tired. And so God created something called small groups. We didn't come up with that. The church didn't come with that. That's biblical. It's community. It's doing life with other people going the same way as you. But let me point out a couple of things that I have noticed from this text, Aaron and her notice that they didn't shame Moses. Notice they didn't try to spiritualize his exhaustion. All they did was they just got closer. They helped him change his posture and they shared the weight. Let me say that again for everybody in the back. They got closer and then they helped him change his position and they shared the

weight. Look at verse 12. When Moses hands grew tired, they took a stone, put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and her held his hands up one on one side, one on the other. Watch, watch, watch. So his hands remain steady until sunset. Can I also submit to you? He would not have been able to remain steady without them. There are some things you're walking through and you will not be able to remain steady without a small group of people helping you live. I don't care how strong you are. There is a point where you can grow tired, where you were once hopeful and faith filled. You can grow tired where you were once optimistic and confident. You can grow tired. And when that happens, not if when it happens, let me ask you some questions. Who do you turn to and who do you lean on because Moses went to God first, but he also had a small group, Joshua, Aaron and her. Okay, look at this. Everybody look at on the screen. Take notes. Moses small group. They were with him. That's proximity and they were trusted. That's consistency. You need four to seven friends going the same way as you. And that's what small groups are about. So they were with him proximity. You need to be in proximity with people and, and, and really it's necessary for relationship because it's hard to be close to somebody you're not close to. And then secondly, they were trusted. This is consistency. Why? Why do we have three semesters of small groups here at the church? Why do we ask you to meet once a week? Because out of sight, out of mind. How many times have you told somebody, Hey, Hey, Hey, let's connect. We should, we should really connect. Let's get coffee. And then 13 years later, Hey, we should connect.

We should really get coffee. So we put it on the calendar for you because you need a group of people to roll with. These people, Aaron, Joshua, her, Moses, they've been rolling together for a while. You need to get a small group that you can roll with for a while. Can I hear an amen? Somebody because write this down. Support doesn't remove the battle. It sustains you in it. Listen, sometimes we're asking God to remove the weight. Sometimes God doesn't remove the weight. He just adds people to help you carry it. You need the right people, not just to stand near you, to stand with you. Cause in life, listen to me, you'll either borrow strength or bleed alone. It's up to you. You're going to need to borrow some strength from somebody. It's how God designed it. And many people are bleeding to death alone because of the pain and the depression and the weight that they are carrying. And they feel like I've just got to be stronger. I'm just going to try to get stronger. You cannot do this by yourself. You need the Lord and you need a church and you need a small group. Clap your hands if you're with me. And here's the reality. I just want to make this normalize. All right. I want them to normalize this. Everybody borrows strength at some time. I was thinking about a bank, a bank. They will not, not, they will not let you borrow without first establishing relationship. Don't believe me. Go into the bank tomorrow. Go to the bank and ask them, can I get 50 G's real quick? My recommendation is that you establish a relationship with the bank. My recommendation is that you establish the relationships today because there's going to come a point in your life where you're going to need to borrow strength

and small groups are where borrowing strength becomes normalized because when you don't have faith, somebody else does. When you can't pray, somebody else can pray. When you can't lift your hands, somebody else can lift you up. That's not called weakness. That's called. wisdom. And Aaron and her didn't have to be asked. They saw the need. We don't have recollection or a place in the Bible where the Bible says Moses asked for help. They just saw it. How many of good godly friends will see the need? They'll see you try to shrink back in depression. You're staying home too much, closing the blinds and just being in depression and they'll come over and they will not let you stay there. They will say, get up. We're going for coffee, slash your pits. Let's go. You need some friends like that because when you're too tired, they'll let you borrow some strength. But these friends, they pulled up a seat, they change his posture and then they joined with him to carry what he could not carry alone. They got involved is what I'm saying. One got on one arm, one got on another and they lifted up when he did not have the strength to lift his arms up himself. I love large gatherings. These large gatherings are amazing. This is where we get inspired, but small groups teach us to show up for people. Small groups are where, where we, we can be known and where faith gets practical and where, where our pain is shared. So there's only three areas in life that you will ever be in and throw this on the screen. Number one, your arms are tired and you're being lifted up like Moses. This is where a lot of you are. You're just so tired and other people are going to come alongside of you to help lift. But then maybe you move into another area where you're holding someone else up and this is like Aaron and her, or maybe you're like Joshua. You're, you're the one fighting right now, supported by prayer and people. Okay, watch, watch, watch, watch. Healthy churches help people move from different roles and not get stuck in one. Because a lot of us, we start, we start here and if, by the way, if you start here like Moses and somebody else is lifting your arms up, it's okay to start there. Look, look, look, look. The goal's not though that you stay there for the rest of your life. At some point you need to turn around and begin to ask whose arms can I now lift? The way that I was greeted, the way that I was loved, the way that I was accepted, the way that I was, I was prayed for and encouraged. I don't want to just stay in one category all my life. The goal is maturity. The goal is at some point I have to trade

my bib for an apron. Come on somebody. And I want to now not just say feed me. I want to say who can I feed? Who can I help? Who can I serve? Who can I love? Who, who can I help? I want to hold your arms up. So you move from this transitional season because in different seasons you'll need some, some help and then other seasons you'll give help but both matter. And, and we have to realize you were never meant to carry everything. You were never meant to pray for everything. You were never meant to fight for everything and to process everything, but we all need some people who are going to be with us when we walk through hard seasons. So let me ask another question. What battle are you going through right now? Who's lifting you up and who are you lifting? Okay, look at me, look at me. If you have to think about this too long, you're not in the right position. If you can't name faces and, and people right away, then you, you're in isolation. You're lagging behind. You're on the fringe. Can I tell you the devil always attacks the fringe. He cannot attack the herd. There's strength in the herd. Talk to me, church. There's strength in the church, but he will get you on the fringe when you're isolated. That's why, like, like, like these predators on anybody watching National Geographic, love that show. The lion comes in, the predator comes in. He doesn't attack the herd. There's strength in the herd, but he'll get that one little lonely gazelle. Just over here eating lunch. I'll be, I'll be up. I'll be with y'all in a minute. Just getting myself a little lunch. He becomes lunch. Don't be on the fringe of church. Don't be on the fringe. Come on church. There's strength in the herd. Don't, don't just come sit in the back, come late, leave early and never get to know anybody. This is not the season to do life alone. This is a season to get in the herd, to get in the church because we strengthen each other. Moses, one of the legends of the faith. Let's just be honest. He didn't even do life alone. He understood this is a group project. And in the same way, you need a small group that says we're going to be with you. And then you need to turn around and say I'm going to be the small group to be with you so we can learn together, so we can grow together, so we can support together and pray together, and cry together, and develop together, and win together. Like this is a moment where I know life sometimes throws stuff at you that's difficult but it becomes less difficult when you have other people standing with you so you're not alone.

Nobody fulfills destiny alone, not one person. I was thinking about this, Pastor, compare Aaron and her to the disciples of Jesus. In their level of support, we have Jesus about to go to the cross and this is what he says to his disciples, can you hear the pain of our Savior? He says my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. He turns and he tells them stay here and could you guys just watch with me. That's all he asks. And the Bible says they fell asleep. And I started thinking about this, I wonder how many people have fallen asleep on you instead of being there for you. But before you get too judgy, I wonder how many people we've been falling asleep on too. Everybody can't be there for you. And they're not supposed to be. Your pastors can't have lunch with every single person. They're not supposed to. They wouldn't have time to do anything else. But you do need a small group of people that you can share life with. You hearing what I'm saying? There was a couple in our church and as the band comes, this couple came to our church for two years. Two years. They loved the preaching, they loved the worship, the kids loved youth group, and they were going to leave the church because they felt disconnected. So somebody said have you tried a small group? They said no. What's a small group? By the way, if you're wondering what's a small group, it's very simple. It's a group that's small. This is a large group. Those are small groups. They joined a small group, found community, found relationship, found connection.

Now they're on staff with us changing the world. There was a lady that came to our church. She said this. Tears in her eyes. She said I went to a church of 50 people for a year. Nobody ever said hi to me. 50. And I tell you this because many times people are like, oh, church is too big. I can't get connected. That's a lie. A church of 50 is too big if you don't know anybody. She's talking to me. Tears streaming down her face. She said, Pastor, I'm here now. I have more friends than I've ever had. I'm on teams. I'm in small groups. I'm changing the world. I found my purpose and I'm so connected. Yes. That's the goal. Proverbs 17 says a friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity. I believe there are people in your life that are born to help you get through a hard season. And there are some people you need to be looking for. Like, Lord, you put me on this earth to help people through hard seasons and adversity. Who are they? The Bible says this in Acts 5, 42. Day after day. You know what that means? Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Every day. Day after day in the temple courts, large gatherings, and from house to house, small groups, they never stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. I think it was Rick Warren that told me this several years ago, that here's the dual strategy of the church. First, it's large group worship and small group fellowship. This is the biblical strategy and structure for the church. This is not, let me just attend a church occasionally. This is becoming a part of a family. This is not just listening to and consuming inspirational content online from a podcaster. This is being a part of a family. And again, the most connected people in any church, any church in the world, they are serving and they're in a small group. So, you get to choose how connected or disconnected you would like to be. The question I want to leave you with today is whose arms are you lifting? And who's lifting you? Because you don't win because you're strong, you win because you're supported. Come on, church. This is not the time to sit back and relax. This is the time to get connected, get close, get in a small group, because there's going to come a point where you grow tired. And when you do, you're going to be so grateful that you have people standing with you. I'll end with this. My uncle, Rest, his name is Rest. My uncle, I mean, he died two weeks ago, and I was so sad that he... His life was ended here on the earth. He lived a great life. He was his name. His name is Rest. He was that. He lived in rest. Love God.

But for a long time, about three years, he lived in Palm Desert, Palm Springs area. And he would tell me, Sean, you need to meet this guy. There's a guy in our church. You need to meet him. Oh, my goodness. You guys would like each other. You'd hit off. And I was like, Uncle Rest, that's weird. I'm not going to call somebody and be like, hey, I know we don't know each other, but my uncle said we should know each other. It's weird. The whole time he's telling me this, he's telling this other guy this, like, hey, you need to be my nephew. You guys would really be, you'd hit it off, man. You'd be great friends. And he's thinking the same thing, like, Mr. Rest, this is weird. So we don't, we do nothing with it. One day I go down there to visit my uncle and my aunt. We go to the church, just happened to meet the guy. He became one of my best friends. I was like, Uncle Rest, you were right. And I started thinking about it. I wasted three years of not knowing this guy. He's helped me through hard times. I've helped him through hard times. And all because my uncle said we need to know each other. And how much time did I waste? Because I thought it was a little awkward to, let me be your crazy uncle today to just let you know there's some friends you need to meet in the church. You're going to really hit it off.

They're going to help you through hard times. You're going to help them through hard times. Do not put this off because I promise you if you do three years from now, you're going to say I just wasted so much time. I could have had all this benefit from the relationships in the church and I missed it. I don't want that to be you. You're going to need to borrow strength. And my friend, you can do that through Christ, His word, and His people. Amen, somebody? Come on, clap your hands if you're with me. Practically, what do we do? Well, there's tables out there. You can go visit. Meet the leader. But I want all of us, what would happen to this church if all of us got in a small group today? So you can go shopping for one. Look at the different groups. There's different types of groups. Somebody told me there's a hair braiding group. I was like, I'm in. Some twists, cornrows, whatever. But that's what I'm saying. There's interest groups. There's not just Bible studies, prayer. There's interest groups because here's what you need to know. Every single group, no matter what the name is about, it's all about one word, relationship. So go try one. If you don't like it, you don't have to go back, but just, I mean, you're going to try a couple.

And then there's going to be one where you're like, man, this is, I think this is my tribe. This is my, this is going to be my group for the next season. And go in with the mentality of, who can I bless? Not just, I'm good right now, Sean, I don't even need a group. Somebody needs you. Let's stop approaching. Church becomes really fun when you stop coming just for you. That's when you come alive, when you're making a difference in somebody else's life. So at two o'clock today, before the Superbowl, you're going to get in a super group. At two o'clock today, you can go online, go on the app here and just shop for it and then sign up for a group. And then they start this week and I believe with all my heart that you're going to say, thank you, Lord, for the people you brought in my life. They helped lift me when I was tired. You can borrow strength. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed, ask the Holy Spirit, God, what are you saying to me right now? He's saying a lot. For some of you, the Holy Spirit is giving you some things that I didn't, I did not even articulate, but the Holy Spirit's kind of tapping you on the shoulder in some areas of your life to surrender to him. And maybe you're here and you say, Sean, my life isn't even right with God. I need it to be. What do I do? Whether this is your first time or you've been coming for four years, we all need to come to that place where we surrender our life to Jesus. So if you're here and you'd say, Sean, how do I do this? I'd like to lead you in a commitment prayer. I'm not going to have you stand to come to the front. We're not trying to embarrass anybody.

It's not how we flow. But if you're here and you say, Sean, I want to give my life to Christ. Could you count me in that prayer? When you pray, I want to give my life to God today. You don't have to go home and fix yourself. Don't believe that lie from the devil either. Because if we could fix ourselves, we would have, we would have done it already. We come to him just as we are. He's the one who heals, forgives, saves, delivers. But I also want to include a second group of people because some of you, you were close to God, but you drifted. You strayed. You're not as close as you used to be. And today you'd like to recommit your life to Jesus. I want to include you in that prayer. So on the count of three, I'm just going to ask you to lift up your hand and say, Sean, count me in that prayer. When you pray it, I'm giving my life or rededicating my life to Jesus today, and I'm going to accept his free gift of grace. Come on, people. One two, three, lift your hand up, lift it high, and lift it high. I'm going to count them all. Count them all. Just leave it up. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Come on, every yes is a hand. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay? Yes. Yes, yes.

Yes, yes. Great. Great. Great. Oh, you put your hands down. So proud of you. This is why we're here, and I'm going to give you the words to pray, kind of like a pastor does at a wedding ceremony to the husband and wife. He gives them the words, but they take those words and they make them their own. I'll give you the words. You make this your own to God. Just say, Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me first. Today I give you my whole life. Forgive me for my sin. Wash me clean. Be my Lord and Savior. I repent and turn to you. From this day forward, I'm all yours. I'll ask him this, Lord, help me pick the right small group for me to bless and for me to be blessed by. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Hey, heaven is celebrating, and we are celebrating with you. And we want to walk this journey together. So if you prayed that prayer, or you just want to know more about Jesus, follow the prompts that are on the screen right now. We are so proud of you. And honestly, God's vision for you is to see you live that better story, epic and eternal. We say like this, to see you holy, healthy, happy, and bring in heaven to earth. And if you're watching and you want to help others find Jesus like that, you can partner

with us and together we can make that epic difference. Hey, giving details are coming up on the screen. And we just say, God's blessed you, you can be a blessing to other people as well. And hey, if you're here in the South Florida area, we'd love to see you in person. Check out the description below for times and the location where you can come to a service. We would love to see you soon. This is History Makers Church, where friends truly become family. See you soon.