Yes to Vulnerability | Dave Stone

Well, hey, Pando community, good to see you. Good to have you here on this beautiful December day. And just want you to know, man, we're so glad you're here. So glad that we get to spend time with you. My name is Matt Reagan, and I'm one of the pastors here at church, and we just wanted to let you know, man, we love you. We love that you get to be a part of this. I love when you all write in. We get so many letters from you all, and I just love hearing from you what's going on, how God's blessed you, how he's showing up in your lives. It's the best to hear. And love that so many of you have subscribed, that you've not just watched, but you're like, hey, I want to be a part of this community. And you've subscribed. We've got over 27,000 people that are part of this family community, and we just feel like it's such a gift to be together. So today, we're gonna have a good day. You're in for a really good one. We've got our good friend, our former senior pastor, Dave Stone, and we're following in our series called Just Say Yes. And so this one is the Jesus filter, say yes to vulnerability. So I know that some of you know this. So many of us have spent so much time protecting our image, protecting what's going on outside,

but there's something that happens powerfully, and I hope that you know this, when you say yes to vulnerability, when you say yes to just letting down the walls, and letting God and letting other people in. And so we're excited about today, really looking forward to that, and literally just want to invite you to prep your heart, prepare your soul, and let's head into worship together right now. ♪♪♪ ♪ Joy to the world, the Lord is come. ♪ ♪ Let every heart prepare Him room. ♪ ♪ In heaven and nature sing. In heaven and nature sing. ♪ ♪ In heaven, in heaven, in nature sing. ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns. ♪ ♪ Let all their songs employ. ♪ ♪ While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains, ♪ ♪ Repeat the sounding joy. Repeat, repeat the sounding joy. ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. ♪ ♪ Yes it is, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, bless His name. All that is within me sing. ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. ♪ ♪ Yeah, we got the joy of the Lord. ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it pour out with no limit. ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it pour out with no limit. ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit. He rules the world with truth and grace. ♪ ♪ And makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness. ♪

♪ Oh, yeah. ♪ ♪ In wonders of His love ♪ ♪ In wonders, wonders of His love ♪ Come on, we put our hands together. Yeah, we got the joy. ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ It's more than a feeling, the joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Sing, oh my soul, oh my soul, bless His name ♪ ♪ All that is within me sing, oh my soul, bless His name ♪ ♪ All that is within me sing, oh my soul, bless His name ♪ ♪ All that is within me sing, oh my soul, bless His name ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Yes, it is ♪ ♪ It is my strength ♪ Thank you. Let's continue to worship. Sing, oh come, all ye faithful. ♪ Oh come, all ye faithful ♪ ♪ Joyful and triumphant ♪ ♪ Oh come, ye, oh come, ye to Bethlehem ♪ Come and behold. ♪ Come and behold Him, born the King of angels ♪ ♪ Oh come, let us adore Him ♪ Would you pour it out to Him this morning, you sing. ♪ Oh come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Oh come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ Sing choirs of angels ♪

♪ Sing in exultation ♪ ♪ Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above ♪ ♪ And glory to God, oh glory in His name ♪ Come on, would you let it rise. Sing, oh come, let us adore Him. We give you our praise. Oh come, let us adore Him. You're so worthy, Lord. Oh come, let us adore Him. Christ the Lord. His name shall be wonderful counselor. His name shall be everlasting Father. His name shall be Prince of Peace, Mighty God. His name shall be Emmanuel. We'll praise Your name forever. We'll praise Your name forever. We'll praise Your name forever. There comes the Lord, His name shall be wonderful counselor. ♪ Wonderful Counselor, His name shall be ♪ ♪ Everlasting Father, His name shall be ♪ ♪ Prince of Peace, Mighty God, His name shall be ♪ ♪ Emmanuel ♪ Thank you, Lord. Amen. Go ahead and grab a seat. Well, family, I just got back from a trip. I was in the Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, and it's such a gift. I think you know one of our move initiatives is for us to just go to a region of the world

where it's just hard, hard ground for the gospel. But we just believe that God's up to some stuff and He's opened some doors. So I got to go over there and it was amazing. It was incredible. And I just gotta be honest, you all don't get to see sometimes what my eyes get to see, but it's just such a gift to just be there and to see the church on display and what God's doing. God's doing stuff over there that even the people over there, they're like, we haven't seen anything like it. I was with this pastor and man, he was telling me, I was like, he's like, you're never gonna believe. I'm like, all right, man, give me some stories. He's like, okay, here's the deal. He said, we have not had literally last year and a half, every single weekend we've gathered for church, we have baptized at least one person in the Persian Gulf. He's like, I know that's normal for you all. That's not normal for us, man. And he's like, and God's just been at work and He's been on the move and we got to see it with our eyes. And I got to see some, there were like five families that moved over. They were like, we're just, you know, they have a profession and that was an opening and so they said, we're just gonna go. So five families, we spent time with them together. The five families had 21 small children

that they moved over there as well. It's like, y'all are crazy, but I kind of like it. It was just amazing as we spent time with the church, man, I just got to be honest. It was so rating, it was so powerful. What God is doing all around the world is crazy. And I was gonna be honest, when I got ready to go over there, I don't know what is in your mind, but in my mind, I was like, man, these are some tough people and some bold people. And I'm excited to be with some of the saints. It's one of the joys I get is being with saints all over the world, underground church, the whole deal. It's when I walked in, I thought I was gonna be overwhelmed by that, but what, that's not what hit me. What hit me was not their boldness. It wasn't that they were like some super powered versions of something that none of us ever really get to. It was the fact that they were, and it's kind of our topic today. They just placed their whole lives in a very vulnerable position because they actually really believe and trust God. They're heavily surveilled. Things could change at any moment. And literally, they got littles. They're not waiting on the right time, the right moment. They just felt God.

And they just said, yes. And there they are, this bright light in this dark place. And it just stood out to me. It was just so radiant. And I just thought, you know, Lord, that is the upside down way of your kingdom. Like I always think it's gonna be the super people. And I always think it's gonna be this, but that's not even how you did it. Like you didn't send Jesus in with like armored tanks and a social media squad. And like you sent him as a baby, dependent on air, dependent on breath. And then he lived a life just vulnerable, open. People could see him, reject him, the real him, not the one that he projected. There's no distance. And I just love that that's who our God is. And that somehow when we drop the stuff and we're just vulnerable and we really trust God with our lives, what he does is wild. He's just so good. And he meets us in those vulnerable places. So today we're about to take communion. And I wanna encourage you with a couple of things. Number one, it is not the super people who take communion. It's people who say, no, I literally am living my life. I'm putting my faith and trust in Christ. And this is how I remember that this is ground zero for me.

But then the second thing I wanna remind you, you are a part of a global community that has seen revival, unlike it has been seen on planet earth. And it's happening before our eyes. So take this with vulnerability, but also I encourage you, take it with joy because Jesus is moving like crazy right now. And we get to be a part of that. Let's take communion together. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ I'm trying to run into the fire of my wrath ♪

♪ So I throw up my hands and praise you again and again ♪ ♪ Cause all that I have is a holy worship you God ♪ ♪ Your holy name God yeah ♪ ♪ I know it's not much I've nothing else before my king ♪ ♪ But you set a full round heart singing hallelujah ♪ ♪ We say oh Lord cause you are the Lord so are they Lord ♪ ♪ Hallelujah hallelujah amen ♪ Church we give a shout of praise to the Lord today because he is worthy to be praised amen, amen. It is going to be an amazing day in the house of God. Lord we love you, we worship you. We prepare our hearts for a message Lord today that we need to hear God. We ask that you would move in our lives, in our hearts even right now in this moment God, that you'd be with us through the darkest valley God. We love you and everybody said amen, amen. Church why don't you guys go ahead, let's take a seat, take a look at the screens together. Since moving to this building in May of 2022 we have been blown away by the way that God has moved. We have more than tripled in weekend attendance causing overcrowding in our worship center. When the Bullitt County Campus launched we saw roughly 700 people here per weekend and right now we're seeing nearly 2,400 people show up. We've seen kids ministry grow with weekend attendance reaching almost 325 children per weekend. They filled our space so quickly

we had to make a new worship space for them including a portable children's chapel out beside our building. We currently average 12 new kids checked into children's ministry each week. We're watching students in our student ministry baptize their parents and their grandparents. They're evangelizing their friends and they are serving all across our church. In the last three years we've seen nearly 400 students experience new life in Jesus through the waters of baptism. But now our middle school and high school ministries have outgrown their space and now they can no longer meet in the student room. Instead they take over our entire building on Sundays and Wednesday nights. In the Bullitt County school system there are over 1,500 children with a disability. This number represents just a fraction of the total population of people with a disability in Bullitt County. So one of the earliest ministries we wanted to launch was Shine. And since then we've seen six Shine friends give their lives to Jesus and be baptized and we're expecting many more to follow. I'm so thankful for the heart of our campus. Right now we have over 100 faithful people who've committed to sitting in an overflow room so that these new guests, new students

and new Shine friends can have an open seat in our worship center. And y'all I'm so grateful for that. We know that God has a plan for the Bullitt County community and he placed us here to reach the lost, to move closer to the broken and to serve the overlooked. And we're asking God, God, how do you wanna move in and through us to continue to work that you're already doing? Well church, I am blown away by what God is doing at our Bullitt County campus under his leadership. When we first prepared for the Bullitt campus we purchased, you might remember this, a recently closed movie theater and we dreamed of filling those seats with people who might come and hear about the hope of Jesus for the first time and get connected to a church family. But honestly, like we had no idea what God was about to do. Today, the Bullitt campus has grown to be one of the largest church communities in the entire state of Kentucky. But what moves me the most isn't the size, it's what Heath just talked about. It's about lives being transformed and families being restored and stories being redeemed one at a time. So God has already done more than we could have asked or imagined in Bullitt County. But I believe, and I really do believe this, he's just getting started.

At the beginning of this year, our whole church family began our move journey of generosity together. And one of the initiatives we laid out was what we called Campus Expansion. And it's been our prayer to be a part of five Campus Expansion projects in the years ahead. When we talked about that, the assumption we made was that Campus Expansion would mean starting a brand new campus somewhere as a way to reach new people and be obedient to the Great Commission. We've already celebrated the launch of our Franklin campus just outside Nashville. But the newest Campus Expansion Project that I'm excited to announce today isn't a new campus location, it's a new sanctuary for our Bullitt County campus. Because of the growth there, we actually considered starting another new campus somewhere else in that county, but then God opened up a door that we didn't expect. Adjoining land right next to our current location became available. And this allows us to expand the sanctuary and add some much needed space for our kids and our students as we double down on reaching the next generations. So the wind is blowing in Bullitt County and we wanna catch it. Bullitt Campus, thank you.

Thank you for your commitment to be a light right where you are. Thank you for the way you serve and invite. Thank you for starting new services and adjusting your schedules to make room for one more. Thank you for standing in the back and sitting in the overflow and never once complaining when there were no seats left in the sanctuary. And church family, thank you for your generosity. As you make your gifts here at the end of the year, I just wanna encourage you to consider, to remember how God might be calling you to continue to respond to the way He's working and moving in our midst. It is incredible the things we get to be a part of, but God's not done. So as a church, we just wanna keep raising the sails. Well, before we get into the teaching today, I wanna encourage you to be thinking about the one person that you can invite to our Christmas services. I know that there are people in your life right now who are just waiting for that invitation. Like they're not gonna come on their own, but if you invite them, they'll come. So can I just challenge you to be bold this Christmas season? Shoot a text, give them a call, invite them to a Christmas Eve service at your campus. It could be that that invitation changes everything for them. Today, we have the privilege of welcoming back

former senior pastor, Dave Stone. Dave is going to be teaching for us today. And in this Christmas season, we're reminded that Jesus said yes to coming to this earth as a vulnerable and helpless baby. And today, Dave is gonna teach us about one of the most vulnerable moments in the life of Jesus when he walked this earth in Mark chapter 14. Dave is a great friend, but he has been a mentor of mine since I was 16 years old. He has taught me and I know so many of you what it looks like to follow Jesus. The last time Dave preached, he talked me out of introducing him. Here's what he said. He said, hey, I would rather just get up and preach instead of coming out to applause. And I know that's what you would prefer, Dave, but guess what, buddy? You're not in charge anymore. So, church family, would you please give a warm welcome to Dave Stone? He never listens to me. Thank you all very much. Thank you. It's great to be back. I love Kyle's leadership. I love his excitement over what Heath was sharing, what's taking place at the Bullitt County Campus.

And that gets me really pumped up just seeing what God's doing. And he's doing it at all of our campuses. And I can't wait just to be a part of this giving at the end, at the year end, and to make a difference with Bullitt County. So make certain that you join in on that. Turning your Bibles to Mark chapter 14. If you got your Bible with you, turn to Mark 14. That's where we're gonna camp out. Now, sometimes when I speak at a conference or a banquet, an administrative assistant will call and ask, do you have any food allergies? And a few years ago, I discovered that I am lactose intolerant, which basically means goodbye happiness. So I let them know that. And the problem is that my information almost never makes it to the food people. So when I get to the luncheon or dinner that I'm speaking at, I mean, they come and they bring me my meal and it's macaroni and cheese and a glass of whole milk and buttermilk pie with a scoop of ice cream, right? That might be a slight exaggeration. Now, there was one exception where I felt like at least it was on their radar screen. It was an event in Nashville, Tennessee. About 70 people were at a dinner.

And after the meal, there was going to be a private concert with a Grammy award winner who was seated about eight feet away from me. And we were all excited. And when we sat down for dinner, the lady in charge of the meal was helping the servers deliver the entrees. And just after a young gal placed a plate down in front of me, the lady in charge from the other side of the table began yelling, no, no, no, he doesn't get that. He's. Lactose intolerant. I mean, the entire place heard it, right? You know, everyone is now staring and whispering, you know, I knew there was something different about him, you know. It was awkward. Everybody is gawking, men, women, Grammy Award winners. I was so embarrassed, even the people at my own table took their chairs and scooted over a few inches. One of them was my wife. So that's my plight in life that I struggle with. Now we all have our struggles that we prefer to keep quiet and private, and some of them we can't change. But the truth be told, our struggles go much deeper than our stomach. Our struggles can be found in our heart, and if we're not careful as Christians, we can become more consumed with concealing to protect our persona or to enhance our image, rather than being genuine and real. And so today, we're going to take a look at Jesus as an example of vulnerability.

And we're in this series called the Jesus filter. We've been looking at different snapshots from the life of Christ, and we're seeing who he is and why it is that he came. And today's message will be no different. We'll see that Jesus said yes to vulnerability. And if you've been a believer in church for a number of years, and you're familiar with the Garden of Gethsemane, it was a retreat for Jesus. It was a place where he could talk with his father. It was on the western slope of the Mount of Olives. The setting here in Mark 14 is right after the Last Supper. And Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives and the garden, and in his infinite knowledge, knowing that he's about to be arrested, and the beatings and scourging that he's going to endure, and then the crucifixion, he is going to go into a time of prayer to see if there's some other way, any other way besides the cross. His divinity knew it was necessary to purchase our salvation, but his humanity did not want to endure the pain and the anguish in the flesh of the most horrific form of death known to man, crucifixion. But Jesus doesn't have to say yes to the unfolding of this. He has options. Now none of those options are good for us, but they would be for him. And I'm certain that Satan was quick to encourage Jesus to take the easy way out, to avoid the cross, but his vulnerability through this tug of war, the tension of Christ, the prayer battle that takes place on that Thursday night, it had to be incredible. No wonder he sweat drops like unto blood. Look in your Bible at Mark chapter 14, verses 32 through 34. They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, sit here while I go and pray. And then he took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, my soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. So this is a powerful moment of vulnerability when the rabbi reveals to his inner circle

of his closest followers that he is at an extremely low point. He's just saying, hey, I need you close. Just join me in prayer. It's a dire request for those who know him best to stand by him in his time of need. Now I know what some of you are thinking right now. You're like, well, why are we not talking about Jesus in the manger? Why are we talking about Jesus in the garden? Others of you are less gracious, and you're thinking, how embarrassing. They invited that nice elderly man to come back and preach, and he got his holidays confused. Well, there are a lot of connections between the birth and the death of Christ. Think about the gifts that the wise men bring to Jesus. According to the customs of the day, gold was a gift for a king, incense was a gift for a priest, and myrrh was a gift for one who is to die. It was used to embalm the bodies of the dead. Why the third gift? Well, they brought gifts that indicated who he truly was, the king of kings, the great high priest, and the one who would die for us. So even at the birth of Christ, the gifts give us a glimpse of the garden of Gethsemane and Golgotha. And he's about to be arrested by a detachment of armed soldiers. That word, detachment. lets us know that it could have been all the way up to 600 soldiers that were armed and were there, and they're ready to take on the miracle man. They're anticipating a showdown with the one who raised the dead, healed the sick, and just had the triumphal entry just a few days before. Might Jesus attempt to neutralize them by using his power and establish an earthly kingdom? But after these moments of vulnerability and prayer, Jesus will emerge from that prayer session, and he will set aside his power, and during the arrest he will not speak a word in his defense. Not at all. We have other moments in his ministry of displaying vulnerability. This isn't the only time. Remember his fatigued condition after he fasted for 40 days? Or how about when his friend Lazarus passed away and the Bible says that he wept? Or maybe the time when he let a woman wash his feet with her tears? And of course at his birth, when God takes on

the form of a tiny, defenseless, hopeless baby. But here in the garden, this is the most dire expression by Jesus. Listen to his language. My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Look in your Bible at verse 35. Jesus went on a little farther, and he fell to the ground. He prayed that if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. Abba Father, he cried out, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me, yet I want your will to be done, not mine. And you see what he prayed. He prayed, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Not my will, but your will be done. I mean, he's both divine and human, and his humanity doesn't want to be beaten, tortured, and nailed to a cross. And so he prays, if it's possible for this cup to be passed from me. And whenever you see that word cup in the Bible, it signified life and death. The term cup is used to also describe punishment and divine retribution. So when Jesus Christ says yes to God's will, he is saying yes to the cross. He is literally taking our punishment, our divine retribution that we deserve. He is taking it when he chooses to drink of that cup. And I want you to notice that after this time of prayer, Jesus moves from this vulnerable space of asking if there's any other way. He gets his answer. It's not the answer that he's hoping for, but when he gets his answer, he never looks back. He accepts it. He walks in obedience all the way to the cross, and he will move with purpose and confidence throughout a grueling stretch of the next 18 hours. And in a matter of minutes, when these soldiers arrive to arrest Jesus, in John's gospel, we read that Peter, I mean, he takes out his sword, and he's going to take them all on. And he strikes the high priest's servant. Do you remember what Jesus says in John 18, verse 11? Jesus commanded Peter, put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me? His decision is made. It's to be obedient. He knows that obedience is God's love language. You do realize that it's a vulnerable prayer when you pray, God, not my will, but your will be done. And prayer has a way of strengthening you to accomplish what it is that God has intended for your life. And Jesus speaks truth. Part of being vulnerable is speaking truth. You may recall from the Christmas story that when the wise men were searching for Jesus, the Bible says that the prideful king, King Herod, was greatly disturbed. See, someone was going to be taking some of the power and spotlight from him. And like Herod, even today, there are plenty of people who are still disturbed during December. Not everybody likes Christmas. And I feel like, I feel like Christians have gradually caved into the culture and succumb to the pressure. So you can't sing Christmas carols in schools because it might

offend someone. Or these are sad days when we begin to realize that Christians can be so intimidated and so fearful of offending someone that we're scared to even say Merry Christmas to another believer. I think it was a great theologian, Forrest Gump, who said, if you go to the zoo, always take some food for the animals even though The signs say, don't feed the animals. It wasn't the animals who put those signs up. And everywhere you look, the world has put up signs. Don't talk about Christmas break, it's holiday break. Don't talk about Jesus, it's about Santa. Don't talk about Bethlehem, it's about the shopping malls. Well, I've got news for you. Jesus wasn't the one that put those signs up. Amen. And Satan has been trying to silence Jesus throughout all of his life. His first attempt was to have Herod kill all of the baby boys under the age of two. But God prevailed. Then Satan tried to silence Jesus after a period of 40 days of fasting and praying in the wilderness by tempting him three times. But God prevailed. Then Satan tried to silence Jesus on the cross by killing him. But God prevailed by raising him from the dead. And Satan tried to silence the church by persecution, but God used the scattering of the believers due to the persecution to spread the gospel to all parts of the earth. He tried to silence the apostles

by having them put in prison, but God used it to give them audiences with kings and queens. And today, Satan still tries to silence Christians through intimidation in the workplace. But God will prevail through you, through your love, through your boldness, through your winsome witness. And the word is getting out more extensively and effectively than ever before. Hey, this is no time for Christians to cower in a corner. This is not the time for us to roll over and play dead. Part of being vulnerable is sharing truth at times when you do feel intimidated or inadequate. And if you are truly convinced that Jesus is the King, then your life and your words and your witness should become an expression of that as you give your gifts back to the King through your time, talent, treasures, and testimony. The apostle Paul said in Romans chapter one, verse 16, he said, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. There is power that comes when we take the advantage of these opportunities that avail themselves. We seize these chances, especially in this month of December. Did you know that statistics show that about one out of every two people that you invite to a Christmas service

or an Easter service will say yes, one out of two. So they're just waiting for someone to invite them because they know at those times they're supposed to do something spiritual. I need to check that box somehow. And so when you invite them to come to a Christmas Eve service with you this week and say, hey, I'd love to have you come. I mean, you got a good chance that they're gonna say yes. Back in Mark chapter 14, Jesus asks for prayer, but the disciples fall asleep. It's moments like this that I think, hey, I could have been a disciple. Because I mean, I look and I fall asleep, but a lot at night when I'm in the middle of a prayer and my wife will bump me and say, hey, you were praying. And oh yeah, yeah, I was, sure was. If we're being honest, sometimes we read the Bible and compared to Jesus, don't you think sometimes the disciples are kind of lazy? I mean, they're always sitting around, they're always sitting around talking or they're out on the boat, just kind of kick back fishing or they're arguing over who's the greatest or they're sleeping when Jesus begged them to pray. But we can be that way too. I remember one of my favorite Christmas gifts that I ever got, it was about 30 some years ago. It was called the clapper. Y'all remember the clapper?

How many of y'all ever had a clapper? Oh man, these things were, it was a lazy man's dream. All right? And I drove my wife so crazy with that thing, she actually made me get rid of it. And, I donated it to Southeast. Evidently it still works. And we're back. Well in Mark 14, yeah, you want to clap, right? I know you want to do two claps, I understand. Let's do two claps together. Everybody ready? Here we go, ready? That, that was, sorry. Very good tech team, very good. It's the only hour I did that. I just wanted to see if you guys could do two claps. I'm getting ready to celebrate that. I'm like, hey, we're from Kentucky, we can clap. So good job, way to go. What'd you do in church? It was great, we clapped. Yeah, yeah, we did two times in succession, it was great. Okay, back in Mark 14, I slipped away for a minute. The disciples fall asleep again, and Jesus comes over, and instead of praying for him, they're sleeping, and he wakes them up. And he's gonna have them pray again with him, but then he notices this detachment

coming toward him of soldiers, and he says, you know what, get up, my betrayer is here. Here's what I don't want you to miss. Jesus is ready. Jesus has prayed, and if you have prayed, you have prepared. Usually when we think of God, we think of power, and might, and authority, but here in the garden, as Jesus is pouring his heart out, we're exposed to his humanity. He doesn't buy into a fake it till you make it in front of his disciples. Instead, he reveals his fear and his humanity, and he shows his disarming vulnerability. Jesus knows what's coming. He understands the Father's will. So instead of trying to do this on his own, he asks for more prayer, and he prays. You get the significance of this moment, don't you? The one who fed the multitude asks for companionship. The one who calmed the storms now asks for his buddies to pray for him, and he says, Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me, but not my will, your will be done. In Gethsemane, Jesus shows us that vulnerability before God, and he teaches us that it's not failure. It actually is a doorway through which redemption enters the world. Jesus isn't some robot sent from heaven,

pre-programmed, and to always make the right decision. Jesus isn't 50% human and 50% deity. The Bible teaches us that he is fully God and fully man. The Bible says in Hebrews 4, verse 15, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin. And when you're faced with incredible odds, and you know that you're gonna receive ridicule if you follow God's will, and you know that there's gonna be financial stress, and there may even be some physical pain, I don't know, when you know that's gonna happen, you draw strength through prayer. If you wanna act like you're perfect, if you wanna act like you're self-sufficient, if you wanna act like you don't need anyone, you can do that, but I'm just telling you, nobody's believing it, and nobody's buying it, so instead, help your own spiritual and emotional health by seeking authentic community and sharing with others when you're grieving, or when you're fearful, or when you're anxious. Let me share three applications as we wrap up. Here's the first one. When you turn to prayer, you invite God to do his best work. Prayer doesn't remove the struggle, it sustains us through it, and Jesus knew that. I see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,

and he's praying just before this horrendous stretch of events begin to unfold. In his humanity, he has doubts and fears. He's not some masochist. He doesn't wanna go through such pain and torture, but the Father says no to his inquiry, and Jesus says yes to his Father's will, but don't miss this. Prayer gave him the power to accept that will. A few days ago on Thursday, it was the 10th anniversary of my mom passing away, and so I have a lot of memories that go through my mind of my mom the past few days, but the number one one is she was a prayer warrior, and when her health was really bad toward the end, and she didn't have a whole lot of mobility, she just prayed for everyone. She'd write notes to them of what she was praying on their behalf and lifting them up. At her funeral, at the visitation, Dad had three letters that he pulled out when people went through the visitation line, said, hey, we hadn't had a chance to mail this. Here's a letter that my wife wrote to you. She's been praying for you. I can't tell you how many times I sat down there, and my mom had driven down with Dad from Cincinnati, and in the song, just before I would get up to preach, somebody passed a Post-it note down to me in my mom's handwriting, and she'd lean out and look at me, and I'd look at her, and I knew what it was gonna say.

You're all prayed up for this. And she knew I'd prayed, and she knew that she'd prayed, and she just wanted God to say. say something through me. There's power in prayer. Here's a second application. When you admit your weakness, you become a candidate for God's strength. We see that with Jesus in the garden as he confides with his closest disciples. We also see it with the Apostle Paul in the book of 2 Corinthians, when in a vulnerable moment, he shares about a thorn in the flesh. And this thorn in the flesh that Paul experienced wasn't something that was just a passing problem that he had. It was actually something that was ongoing, a struggle that he had. And it was something major. Theologians think it was poor eyesight that he had. Other people think that it was ongoing bouts that he had with malaria. One pastor in Kentucky thinks that Paul suffered from being lactose intolerant. Whatever it was, it was a big thing, all right? And he prayed for God to take it from him, but God didn't take it from him. 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verses eight through 10. I begged the Lord to take it away.

Each time he said, my grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I'm glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I'm strong. On Tuesday night, Beth and I went to see a movie called The Case for Miracles. It was a project that Lee Strobel had. It was only in theaters for four days, but it was powerful. And on our way home, we were talking about the people that we knew that we would love for God to intervene and perform a miracle in their lives. And we spoke of a couple struggling with infertility. And we pray for a miracle. We pray for God to intervene. We spoke of a young mom in her 30s battling breast cancer. And we pray for a miracle and for God to intervene. Earlier on that day, that Tuesday, I met a man in his 50s. The bad news is that he has colon cancer. The good news is that I met him on his way to the baptistry. And we stood in that water. And he said, I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, my Lord and Savior. I'm telling you, it was a powerful moment. And we pray for a miracle.

And we pray for God to intervene. But can I ask you something? What if God could reach more people through their suffering? What if, just stick with me on this, what if he didn't bring the miracle and he didn't give the healing, but instead people saw the peace that they have and that you have and that I have when we go through pain and suffering? What if somehow the fragrance of Christ became so attractive to those people in seeing how you handle adversity that they said, I think I want that type of faith in my life and they keep talking about Jesus. I guess that's who I need. You do know that God knows better than we do with our limited understanding. I mean, think of it like this. What if God the Father would have intervened with his own son in the garden and he did let the cup pass from him? We'd have no forgiveness. We would have no salvation. We would have no heaven. We would have no hope. Luke describes a scene at Calvary in Luke chapter 23, verse 39. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Jesus.

Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us. Ken Geyer writes, if only Jesus would save himself and us. But Jesus knows something that the man hanging next to him doesn't. He knows he can choose one or the other. He can save himself or he can save us, but he can't do both. And so Jesus chooses us. Jesus chooses you. Hebrews 9.22 says, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. That's why he couldn't do both. One last application. Number three, when you display vulnerability, you deepen relationships. I know it seems counterintuitive, but you've seen it and you've experienced it. Someone opens up and everyone gets a blessing because of it. The others are blessed and the person is blessed. I'm thinking of a time when I was struggling with depression. I was pulling away from people. And I went to a men's Bible study group that I was invited to. And I went there deciding, I am not gonna say anything about what's going on. I'm gonna lay low. I'm just gonna chill and just listen. And they start off by saying,

hey, catch us up. Give us an update. What's going on in your life? And I started talking and I wasn't gonna say anything. And then it was just like, God just said, swallow your pride and pull the veil back. And I said, I'm not doing well. I said, it's been a very difficult season and I'm struggling emotionally. Now that's the last thing I wanted to say to a group of friends. It's the last thing I wanted to say to church members and church leaders. But that's one of the reasons that Christ instituted the church. It's so that we could be there for one another. And they gave me love and affirmation and encouragement. Afterwards, two guys came over to me who I had great respect for. They shared with me about their battle with depression and their openness and their willingness to walk alongside me. We're stronger together than we are apart. For most of us, being vulnerable doesn't come easily or naturally. It's a chore for me. It must be an intentional choice because society has programmed us to only show the best version of yourself to the world.

You have an image to uphold, a persona to display, a confidence to exude. And to show weakness or vulnerability might stop your climb up the corporate ladder because any fear may cause others to draw back and to pull away. But Halloween isn't the only day that people wear masks. Number of years ago, our Bible study group was meeting. We had a number of young couples and singles that met at our home at that time. And in the middle of a lesson, I just asked a question, trying to spur some conversation. I said, can you think of a time when somebody showed you unconditional love? And there was no response. They're usually pretty talkative group. So I kind of reworded the question, still crickets. Finally, the silence was broken when I said, any examples of unconditional love? This young gal in her mid-20s, she had only been in the group for a couple of months and everybody liked her a whole lot. She was so sweet. I didn't know much about her, except that each week she would pull up in a BMW and everybody in the Bible study group thought, now that's a sweet car right there. So she said this, she said, well, last year I was downtown

and a couple had just parked their car and we were on a sidewalk together and they struck up a conversation with me. They were on their way to a restaurant about a block away. After their meal, they came out and they brought me some leftovers and they asked me where I lived. She said, I kind of hem-hauled around, but they were persistent. They said, where do you live? And she said, finally, embarrassed, I pointed at the overpass and I said, I sleep under there. Couple pulled away for a minute. They came back and said, not anymore. You're coming home with us. And they took her into their house. She said, they took me into their home. They invited me to come to church with them. They helped me find a job. Eventually they sold me their BMW for next to nothing. She paused and said, would that be an example of unconditional love? Yeah, maybe, yeah. Rather than remain quiet and paint a rosy facade of her past, she embraced it and she shared it and we grew deeper as a group because of her vulnerability. I can't tell you what her comments that night did for our group. It was like a light switch was flipped.

And from that moment on, our group went deeper and deeper. Why? Because someone was willing to be vulnerable to give us a look into their life. And when you're open and honest, you pave the way for others to be open and honest. And in our vulnerability, in our weakness, the result is that the church of Jesus Christ grows stronger. If you follow those three applications, it will be life-changing for you and it will also be life-giving for you. If you've been at Southeast for a number of years, you've probably heard me tell some stories. I had an uncle, Uncle Greg, who had cerebral palsy. He passed. away about 18, 20 years ago, and he was a real inspiration to me. And my parents were a real inspiration to me in how they took care of him and all that they did for him. But when my parents were almost 70 years old, they were providing for so much of his physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. With his cerebral palsy, it was difficult to understand, and he found himself in a hospice unit where people couldn't really understand the things that he was trying to convey. And my mom and dad had gotten pretty good at figuring out what he was saying. But in a vulnerable moment, he shared with my parents how he dreaded the evenings at the hospice place when he was alone, and they understood why. But this is what happened. I called my dad during that stretch in the last days of Greg's life, and he answered on his cell phone, and dad walked down the hall to a window where we could hear better and he could speak more freely, and my father did something he doesn't do very often.

He began to cry. He said that he had been having some conversations with Greg about his future and talking about Jesus, and he said, I just finished reading some psalms to him. And he said, Dave, I barely made it through Psalm 121. Now, I want you to imagine you're lying in a hospital bed, not knowing how long you have to live. You're dying of cancer. The nursing staff loves you, but they can't really figure out what it is that you're saying. You know that you're short for this earth, and you're going to be in heaven soon. With that in mind, just let me read to you some of the verses from Psalm 121. This is what my uncle heard. I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip. He who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from harm. He will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and your going, both now and forevermore. And when Dad finished reading that to Greg, he closed the Bible. He said, you know, Greg, your sister and I have to go home to sleep sometimes. But he said, did you see it? The Lord never sleeps. And he'll be with you all the time. My dad said that when he said that, Greg opened his eyes, the widest that he'd seen in two days, and he nodded yes.

There comes a point in everyone's life when you will need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a loving God who doesn't sleep nor slumber. And when you don't receive the answer that you're wanting, and your prayers for healing or health, or for romance or riches, don't get answered the way that you want, will you still trust him? Think about it. He promises he never will leave you nor forsake you. And in that moment, when like Jesus, you are crushed with grief, he promises to walk beside you. All God asks is that your attitude and your obedience would communicate not my will, but your will be done. Let's pray. Father in heaven, would you help us to choose the more difficult right rather than the easier wrong? And Lord, when we are faced with situations, may we run to you in prayer. May we be so desperate for you that we know that that communication line, the prayer that you have made available through us, through the cross, that that temple veil was torn into from top to bottom, signifying that now we don't have to go through a priest, we don't need to go through a preacher, we can talk directly, we have access to you. And so, Lord, help us to utilize that. And when we're hurting and when we're grieving and we feel like, I don't think I can make the right choice, will you give us the strength through your Holy Spirit that lives inside of every person who has given their life to Christ? It's in his name that we pray. Amen. We always want to give you an opportunity. I want to give you an opportunity to be able to make a decision for Christ. And when you make a decision for Christ, it is the height of vulnerability. So what you're doing is you are swallowing your pride

and you're saying, I need Jesus. You're saying, I'm not perfect, but there's one who is, and I choose to place my trust in him. I'm putting everything all in, he's the one. And I'm gonna, like Kyle talked about a couple of weeks ago, I'm gonna go all in with my faith. This is a great time to do it. Celebrate the birth of Christ, it means God with us, Emmanuel. But we realize that he was born to die. And his death and his burial and his resurrection makes all the difference in the world for us. You do realize that every time you see a baptism, that's what you're seeing reenacted, is the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus. And it reminds us, you know what? I died to an old way of life. There's a word repentance that we don't talk about all that much. I like to talk and preach about grace much more than repentance. But the word repentance means to change directions. Means if I'm going this direction and I'm living for myself, it means I'm gonna change directions and I'm gonna live for him. And that's what I wanna invite you. There are some of you who are listening to my voice right now who have never swallowed your pride and said, I'm in. And today could be your day.

I pray that it is. And if you'd like to talk to someone about that next step, and we have an area room right over here on your left-hand side. And while we sing, if you need prayer, if you need to talk to someone about making Christ the Lord of your life and choosing him, if you wanna recommit and reaffirm your love for Christ and just share that with somebody, these people would love to pray with you, love to help you with that next step. Don't put it off. Be the greatest Christmas gift you'll ever receive. Also might be the greatest Christmas gift you'll ever give to your family and loved ones. You worship as we all stand and sing our great God. God. God. God. ♪ In your ways, you walk through temptation ♪ ♪ You know the weight of shame ♪ ♪ Tested and tried, still perfect, perfect in your ways ♪ ♪ Perfect in your ways ♪ ♪ I need you more than any other thing ♪ ♪ I need you more, my joy and suffering ♪ ♪ I need you more than my heart will ever sing ♪ ♪ I need Jesus, I need you Jesus, yeah ♪ ♪ We need you Jesus ♪ ♪ You're greater in my weakness, you're present in my pain ♪ ♪ Tested and tried, perfect me in your grace ♪

♪ And when I face temptation or I'm hiding in my shame ♪ ♪ I look to you Jesus, Lord come, come perfect my faith ♪ ♪ I need you more than any other thing ♪ ♪ I need you more, my joy and suffering ♪ ♪ I need you more than my heart will ever sing ♪ ♪ I need Jesus, I need you Jesus, yeah ♪ ♪ We need you Jesus ♪ We need you here Lord, more of you Jesus, more of you Jesus. Every minute, every hour, you are God and your own worth more. I will never be forsaken, you are here and I'm not alone. So I can stand and not be shaken, find your kindness in the fire. You are God and you're always good. You are God and you're always good. Every minute, every hour, you are God and you're on your throne. I will never be forsaken, you are here and I'm not alone. So I can stand and not be shaken, find your kindness in the fire. You are God and you're always good. You are God and you're always good. You are God and you're always good. You are God. I need you more than any other thing. I need you more. My joy is suffering. I need you more than my heart will ever sing. I need Jesus. I need you Jesus. I need you more than any other thing. I need you more. My joy is suffering. I need you more than my heart will ever sing.

I need Jesus. I need you Jesus. Every minute, every hour, you are God and you're on your throne. I will never be forsaken, you are here and I'm not alone. So I can stand and not be shaken, find your kindness in the fire. You are God and you're always good. You are God and you're always good. You are God and you're always good. You are God. Every minute, every hour, you are God and you're on your throne. I will never be forsaken, you are here and I'm not alone. Every minute, every hour, you are God and you're on your throne. Yes, you are. I will never be forsaken, you are here and I'm not alone. Every minute, every hour, you are God and you're on your throne. I will never be forsaken, you are here and I'm not alone. So I can stand and not be shaken, find your kindness in the fire. You are God and you're always good. You are God and you're always good. Every minute, every hour, you are God and you're on your throne. I will never be forsaken, you are here and I'm not alone. So I can stand and not be shaken, find your kindness in the fire. You are God and you're always good. You are God and you're always good. You are God and you're always good. You are God. I need you more. Believe. ♪ Than any other thing, I need you more ♪ ♪ My joy is suffering, I need you more ♪

♪ Let my heart forever sing, I need Jesus ♪ ♪ I need you Jesus, I need you more ♪ ♪ Than any other thing, I need you more ♪ ♪ My joy is suffering, I need you more ♪ ♪ Let my heart forever sing, I need Jesus ♪ ♪ I need you Jesus, every minute, every hour ♪ ♪ You are God and you're on your throne ♪ ♪ I will never be forsaken, you are here and I'm not alone ♪ ♪ So I can stand and not be shaken, by your kindness in the fire ♪ ♪ You are God and you're always good ♪ ♪ You are God and you're always good ♪ ♪ You are God and you're always good, you are God, yeah ♪ ♪ You are God and you're always good, Lord, yeah ♪ ♪ You are God and you're always good, Lord, yeah ♪ Thanks, family. Well, family, as always, so good to be with you. And I really hope that you really heard Dave and his heart. That would be our heart for you. Would be that you'd say yes to vulnerability and ultimately that you'd say yes to Jesus. I know so many of you have, but I gotta be honest, sometimes you can kinda start to hang around all the good stuff and the good vibes and the positive thinking and not really say yes to Jesus, yes to repentance, yes to relationship, yes to Lordship. And we just wanna invite you just to be vulnerable, to let down the walls and just say, God, I really, if I can be vulnerable, I need you in my life.

I don't just need your stuff, I need you. I need your power, I need your grace, and I just trust you with my life. And so we're praying that you will have the same gift that we have this Christmas. That is just the genuine, real gift of Jesus. It's just changed our lives. So love that we got to spend time together. I hope that you know we have this amazing Christmas at home worship set that we planted on YouTube. Would love for you to be a part of and to see. And so make sure you reach out and grab that. So many of you have already watched that thing. It's just been so powerful. It's just so good to have worship playing around you and to just kind of soak in that. So I hope that you really get an opportunity to do that. And then also, I hope that you remember that podcasts are coming out on Thursdays. So make sure you dial in on Thursdays. Would love for you to be a part of that. And just any way we can get you hooked in this community so that you don't just feel like a number in a crowd, but you really feel like family and you feel like you got connection. So with that said, we love you. Merry Christmas. I know that sometimes these moments are hard. It can be really hard during the Christmas season to be where you're at.

We just want to say, God knows exactly where you are. And if you don't mind, can I just pray for you right now? Father, just pray for our friends right now. Father, you know exactly where they are. You know exactly what is weighing on their hearts. And Father, right now, I just pray that you come directly to them, that you speak to them and you remind them that they have you, that in this time of the season, it's only a time of the season, Father, that you're very close to them, that you love them, that you are planting them into a new family and a new community. And it may seem like they're missing out on some stuff, but God, what they're finding in you and what you have to offer them is better than, you always said, I'm the treasure in the field, that once you find it, you'll go back and sell everything for it. I'm the pearl of great price. That once you find, I find this true, once we find you, I found you, once I realized that, I realized if I had you, I had everything. So God, I pray that during this season, during this time, that you'd be really close to our family members and that you would just give them your presence, give them your spirit,

and let them feel your nearness right now. God, we love you. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your presence. We pray all these things in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen. Love you. Merry Christmas.