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Beyond The Message is a weekly podcast that dives deeper into the weekend’s teaching. Released after each Sunday service, it offers thoughtful conversation, added insight, and practical reflection to help our community process and apply what they heard. Whether you're revisiting the message or catching up, this podcast is designed to help you go deeper throughout the week.
Welcome to Beyond the Message, the podcast where we take the weekly teaching at Christ Community Chapel and bring it into your week. Uh, each week I'm joined with my friends and colleagues for us to laugh a little bit, to reflect, and to think about how to live out what we are learning. Um, if you haven't heard the sermon yet, that's okay. Just go down to the description. You can find a link to this sermon, listen to it, watch it, whatever you prefer, and then come back over so you can join in on our conversation. My name is Stacey. I'm a part of our team here, and I'm joined today by Lana Chilton. Yeah, hi. Sara Koons. Hi. And Jamie Hewitt. Hey, guys. So glad to have you guys here and to have this conversation with you. Yeah. So good to be here. So good. So good to be together. Um, so to start things off this week, Pastor Zach talked a lot about love, about kind of how our culture probably doesn't get love. Right. So I thought I'd kind of ask a question a little bit. Uh, like that. And just asking you, what is one just really small act of love that felt really big to you? M. That's good. That's a good question. I'll jump in a little bit more. It could be potentially sappier. Has some depth. Ye, yeah. Yeah. Actually, mine does have some depth, I think. Um, it was like 20 some years ago and my now husband and I were in Missouri visiting my future in laws. They were doing some premarital with us. My father in law would do the ceremony. I went to my first Thai restaurant. Oay. Huh? And I love Tai. Had never had it. Ordered something very quickly off the menu because my father in law does not mess around the server there everybody knows what they want. Order. And I mean, you ladies have eaten out with me before. I don't work that way. So I picked something quickly. The food came and I looked at it and was honestly just like terrified. How am I gonna get through this meal? And my now husband just whispered, do you want to trade? And I said, I do. And we traded. And he saved me in that moment. But now it is really. It has been spoken many times. It is now unspoken. If I order something I am not happy with, he will always trade with me. And I always feel so loved. That's really sweet. It is sweet. I like that a lot. Way to go's T.R. all right. My story is a little like, I feel like it puts a little bit of a shame on me, but that's okay. Two interesting stories from Sarah. Here we go, guys. Fair enough. So this was, uh, Matt and I started dating. It was the first birthday that we were together. My birthday. So, I mean, I think in general, it's a little like, hey, you, expectation, big deal, can't feel high. And so, I mean, but we were in college, we didn't have a lot of money, you know, all those types of things. So I feel like I had a reasonable expectation. He wrote this really, really nice card. And then in the card there was like, photographed, like $20 bills. But in it, it said, this money was donated in your name in your honor to a missions, um, organization that we both really love. That should have been my response. I, um, was like, is that it? What's for me? What did I get? I actually said that out loud too. And I think Matt was like, you got treasure in heaven is what she got Sara. That's right. But in the end, I realized him doing that was such an example of just who he is and his character. And now looking back with a little more maturity, I'SAY man, what. What a guy thing that he thought through something that would be super meaningful, that was eternal and not just a shirt or something. Uh, and so I did have to go back to apologize and say, oh, that was acting. Cause you could tell he was like, oh, oh, oh, ye. But it was not a big amount of money, but it was something. So like, he really thought through that and it was special. After I realized it. You have a birthday coming up and he's listening to this podcast probably. So you gonna donate some real twenties this time? That was nice once. That was good. Exactly. I think I should go. Cause I bet yours is gonna be better than mine. Oh, I don't know. You just always have good answers to these. Yeah, I could go all over the place with this. I think my first thought was, again, back when my husband and I were dating, he made a handmade card for me. But now looking back, I would be like. He'd probably be like, what was I thinking? I was, uh. But it was just so meaningful and special, and it was something just really small. But then if I would also fast forward something that I thought about, this prompt was going, man, sometimes now it's just a text from one of my daughters. Yeah, that's what they're thinking about me. Or hey, can we go get dinner? Or something like that. I mean, it is sometimes it's just small but genuine acts of time spent and things like that absolutely. Yeah, it's Actually pretty similar. I was thinking, uh, as you asked, that I was like, these small things from my kids. Yeah. So dinner one time this week, we were having, like, leftovers or something, and there may have been a moment to my shame where I was like, hey, is. Is this what we're working with at the table? And my sweet daughter Virginia. Huh? Was like, I'll give you half of my dinner if you want it. And so I was thinking, like, there's that moment and then, you know, there are pieces of paper up on my whiteboard in my office that are like, daddy, we're so proud of you. And it's just, I think a lot of times those really simple, small things, uh, from even my kids are. Yeah. Popped up. Sure. That's great. Well, yeah, I think those speak to genuine acts of love. And we'll jump into talking about a lot more of that. But, uh, this is week three of our Rise up series. So first Peter, it's the end of one Peter, chapter one, verses 22 through chapter two, verse three. Um, and Pastor Zac had three points. It was a man. There was a lot of, lot of takeaways, a lot of things that hit home. I know for me, in this sermon, his first point, though, is what we want and do not have. Um, and it just to remind us all that was kind of him talking about the fact that we live in this culture that is obsessed with love in so many ways. I was thinking about all the reality TV shows that are all about trying to create love between people that are so empty, um, and yet how our culture can feel like, so absent of love. So we want this, we don't have it. The second point is what God has and will share and really rooted in that one John 48, where we're saying, like, God says, God is love. He is love. And what that means, um, that we can taste and see that goodness and that can be where, um, kind of our landing spot for all of that. And then the third point is how sharing changes everything. Um, how sharing that it is in Jesus that the contrast that we can be that contrast to our culture, um, because of what Jesus has done and because God is that love. So, uh, lets start with just talking about things that really stood out to you or that hit home. Who wants to start? I mean, I was convicted. Yeah, I will say that I think there was a tie. I think I really will need to spend some time with the Lord. But just this idea of what pride and insecurity does in our hearts and how that distorts our view of ourselves, but then also what we think about, like, am I, you know, especially for the insecure person, you feel unlovable, but then for the prideful person, you feel like you've earned it or done it or whatever. And so I just, it just really was a good reminder of like, hey, what camp are you in and how are you feeling about yourself? And how does that affect your relationship not only with God, but with others? Y. Yeah too. M. Yeah. And how either one of those things are really just an expression of thinking about yourself. Insecurity is self centeredness that's inward facing and pride is self centeredness that's kind of outward. And like you think you're doing it. And we tend to fluctuate and ride this roller coaster between those things depending on how we're doing. But I think Z Pastor Zach said this in the uh, message like when we are self centered, we cannot ever be loving. And so whether it's insecurity or pride, we can't love if that's where we're at, if we're on that roller coaster. Um, that was impactful to me as well. I think I'll add a takeaway for me was in the third point, um, where Zach was like, those of you who are Christian ca becausee there was a lot that he said to those not yet Christians, but those of you who are Christians, we need to be in God's presence in God's word daily, like babies crying for milk, right? To survive and to thrive. How we crave daily spiritual nourishment and we uh, need it. And I loved that he pointed to a couple of those reasons and they're not about knowledge. Like he said in one of the services, he said, this isn't about adding to our knowledge because 1 Corinthians 13 says, what is knowledge? You know. But I think that the things that, I mean, they all struck me so much that we need reminded of who we are because of Jesus and who we are without him. Um, and that we need to mature and to mature is only gonna happen if we are drinking of that spiritual milk. And it's not the knowledge thing. It's not the knowledge. It is the living word of God. Like second two Timothy three says that the word of God changes us. It change. So we need, yeah, Hebrew says change. So we need that. So that, that third point, we can be a contrast to the culture so that others would taste and see that the Lord is good like that really. I guess as a believer hit home for me on I know on Thursday night. Becausee a lot of us see different teachings and it changes with Zach. We can all acknowledge that. Where I was like, wait, was Thursday on as it is? Yeah. But he said, um, reading the Bible is a missile to our pride and insecurity. He said that Thursday night. And I know that hit me. It speaks to the act of nature of God's word. But realizing like, yeah, it's not about maybe me just, yeah, understanding something in this new crazy way, but just what God's word does when I read it. Well, let me te up. We have a clip here from Pastor Zach that I just know really struck me. It was a, a big part of, I think point two and just talking about, um, our desire and belief at times that we need to be lovable and really we're unlovable. And that's an okay thing. So let's go ahead and watch that real quick. Friends, you and I have been born into a world that once love but doesn't have it. You and I have been born into a world full of malice and envy and hypocrisy and deceit and slander. Tell me you couldn't break my heart with at least one story that reflects one of those words. I know I could break yours. And the Bible says when you come to see that you are not lovable and yet God loves you, the whole idea of that is like being washed clean. All of a sudden the dirt of the culture of broken love begins to wash out of you. Don't you want that? So, uh, what do you guys. Did you guys have any thoughts when you heard Pastor Zach talking about that yourself? M. That was myeah. Uh, I mean, I think he talked about this in the sermon as well, where he talked about when he first met Amy and he's like, if she had said then you're the most handsome, you'd be like, yeah, you're right. And you're the smartest. Yeah, you're right. And I think a lot of us, we want our love. We want to be loved based on who we are. Mhm. And he's like, but with the passage of time and the gaining of wisdom. And what he said was, if being loved is based on your lovability, then every day you are in danger of losing that. Every day you are on the treadmill. That's not necessarily the language you used of trying to keep up with that. And so I think there's a freedom. Mhm. In what we just listened to, where it washes you clean of having to keep up it washes you clean of wondering when people are actually gonna see who you really are and find out that you're actually not worthy of love. And so, yeah, but that's the flip side heart of it, right? It's the vulnerability that comes from that. I think you're right. There's an immense freedom. Like, a burden feels lifted, like, oh, I don't have to do anything to earn this, but at the same time, I can't do anything to earn this. So people might be able to see the real me, that I'm not lovable because of all these things. And so I think. But that even goes back to what you were saying, Lana, about the maturity of us growing in Christ. Like, we can become more like who Jesus intended us to be as we grow in our maturity. But, yeah, there's. I think for people, like, that's probably hard to reconcile a little bit, don't you think? And it's not just about, like, we need to receive God's love. Recognizing this if we're go going toa give God's love in this. Right. So until we recognize we can't earn it, we will expect other people to earn our love. Y. Until we point we're go goingna reciprocate what we believe. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. If you are like a vacuum that's trying to be loved by others in order to feel worthy, you can't ever pour out. You can't ever pour out to other people. You will expect others to. Yeah, you will do thatah. So a little bit similar. But I wanted to ask you guys. You know, Zach pretty much made just this argument saying that in this world, the malice that the sea that we live in a space where our love is just too thin, insecurity and pride rule, and therefore our love is too thin. And that's why we don't experience and know there's not a genuine love in our culture. So what, like, what do you think of that? Do you think we can love genuinely on our own? Uh, or even just that, you know, thinking about pride and insecurity and where it rears its head or mean. That was first an example of it. Yesterday I had some time with my kids, and I love my kids. I love them a lot. I know you do, Jamie. Love. They're cute. You've got a butt. Amazing kids. Okay, go ahead. But I'm like, seting the stage O Did that love get thin yesterday? There are moments where you see how left to myself. Yes. Uh-huh. When I'm operating as Jamie, not Uh-huh. Jesus in me, through me. I'm like, I'm pretty selfish with my time. Like, there were moments, you know, yesterday where I was at home, and I'm like, I don't want to read a book with you. You know, I don'tnn. I don'tnna spend this time with you, which were acts of self giving love. And, like, I just think acknowledging, like, that is my thinness on display, if I'm willing to be honest about it. And so I think, you know, the answer is. Yeah. Outside of Jesus, we truly cannot know. Yeah. What love is. I think Pastor zac quoted Romans 5. 8. God shows his love for us on this. The while we were sinners, Christ died for us. 1 John 3:16 says, Ah, this is how we know what love is, that Jesus laid his life down for us. And so also we ought to lay our lives down for one another. Like, the Bible is so clear that we cannot know love and we cannot love outside of Jesus. Yeah. No, man. I think it dropially, though. Yeah. I was thinking back on, like, pride or insecurity. Which one keeps me from loving? Yes. Both. You're like, all of check y is option C. Both those. All of the above. Yeah. Those closest to me, I think. Cause, I mean, this passage calls us to love earnestly, right from a Since your heart. And sometimes, I mean, I will admit it, with my family, it's like, I don't know if inna love you earnestly because, ah, are you gonna love me earnestly? Like, am I getting and what pride that is? You know? And then with those that maybe we don't feel as comfortable with as our family that, like, well, what if they reject my love? We talk ourselves into and out of a lot of different things. Um, a lot of different perspectives on love that are so thin and so broken and we know better, but I don't always do better. Yeah. I wonder if there's even the language of finin. I just think of the quote from Dietrich Bonhoeer talking about cheap grace. I just feel there's a similarity of, like, thin gr. Like, there's this view that it's thin and cheap love. We don't see that it's cost. So in that moment, home yesterday, inna love my kids, but once it starts to cost me, I'm like, e m not. I'm not so sure in that moment. I'm gonna give a brief, like, brag moment on my husband after the sermon. I think it was Friday, and it was just him and I, and we were eating Dinner. And I started processing something with him that I was struggling with. And it was related to. Yeah, just a personal thing. And he started to chime in on how to fix it and tell me. And I just. And I was like, I just, I don't want you to do that right now. I want you just to listen. And he started to get a little bit oucy and upset. And then major props to him becausee I feel like he came to. Even though I knew I had also probably offended him. And he came to me and he's like, I just want you to know I love you. He's like, and I know what I was doing, and I know what you were doing. And I was like, okay. I think this sermon, it hit us a little bit going like, no, we need to sometimes set our own insecurity pride. Like that was, I think both of us operating out of that in that moment and going, no, because of Jesus, we can run. Yeah. And I think that's the key, right? Cause I think in our human relationships we're always. I mean, we're just gonna run dryh run then because we're sinful, broken human people. But when we have the hope of Jesus and him living inside of us and maturing, we can say when those moments come. Yeah. Or even the really hard things, we can say, okay, I can go to you and say I'm sorry and know that that will be received and we can move forward. It's interestinguse you. I often hear people who either are Christians and have gone through something really hard and like, I can't imagine. Yeah. Doing this without Jesus. And so I think that is personified in those who are walking without the truth of the gospel and the hope of Jesus in their lives. Like it is. That's. Lives fall apart. So, uh, like marriages fall apart. Things happen. Because it's hard to sustain that on your own. Yeah, but it's so much better on the other side, right? Yeah. Like, I mean, laying as hard as it is to lay down pride or lay down insecurity, the result of it is so much better. But it's in that moment, it's. I've been thinking about, uh, Philippians, chapter two. In that chapter, it talks a lot about the example of Christ in laying his life down and the humility and all that he did. And it's a sandwich. And in between it is so the call to us to consider others better than ourselves, to be humble, to put their needs above our needs. And we will not do that apart from looking to Christ, not An authentic way. Not in a sincere way, not in a self sacrificial, costly way. We might for a minute, but it's too thin to sustain unless it's done for Christ because of Christ. Yeah. We cannot be full and overflowing like love is overflowing self. We will be empty. Yeah. Can the gospel actually and really go deep and set into our hearts if we don't see ourselves in what Romans 5. 8 says is saying while we're still sinners. I sit down and talk to and I myself as a Christian, I think so many people that are Christians and maybe have been for a long time that can maybe their story is saying I can't remember a time I wasn't a Christian. Or and we can get to a point that morality and works or we get so comfortable maybe with Jesus in a weird way that we don't remember that we were dead without him. So. And that's what I think, you know that Romans 5. Eight passage is saying and then Ephesians 2, I'll just read a couple of parts but it says and you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked. And then it says stuff about how awful this world is. And then it says but God, he's rich in mercy because of great love in which he loved us. That even when we were dead that we're not breathing, we're right, we're completely dead. He's made us alive. And last week Pastor Joe talked about the wheel and what's at the center. And I think for a lot of us as Christians, if we don't remember that we are dead without Jesus, we are dead in our sin. Even if we don't feel like we're morally acting horribly that we won't get the gospel. Right. And so for some of us listening, and this is probably really me needing to preach to myself this week, it's just that reminder that Myc. Go ahead. That's right. That the posture of my own heart has got to remember every day. Like man, I without Jesus, I am dead in my sin. I'm going to hell. And just a reminder of that helps us probably to orient all the other things. The pride, the insecurity can go away if we are going no, I. I need Jesus. I'm desperate for him. And he's at the center and hopeless without him. Ye. You were saying? Ye. Yeah, I don't know any other thoughts. I think I just need to preach that to myself. Thise. Well, I just think that's the solution. Right. Mindset there's a lot of humility in that for us to say like, hey, but is that without it, we risk the feeling of pride or like, know whatever. So I think that is kind of our solution of like a daily reminder of, hey, there's a gratefulness for what God has done, but also knowing like, hey, without him, that's right, I'm, um, nothing. And that brings us back to that third point that Zach said. So we are crying for the spiritual nourishment of God's word, to be reminded of who we are and who he is. And if we' not doing that, we will drift farther and farther and farther from the true gospel. And we might look and act and sound and behave like Christian. But are we loving as a Christ centered follower of Jesus, you won't be able to without him. And so that would be, I think, where we can kind of end things and think about things as we like to talk about. What are we gonna take into this week? Um, and there were those reminders at the end about every day, what that looks like to be aware of those things, to, yes, be in God's word, as lan has talked about. We've all talked about. Not again, that it can be this washing and cleansing of us. Um, but are there any other challenges or takeaways that kind of, you feel like could apply to you and maybe to others as we wrap things up? Something that Joe said last week, sort of as a challenge that I've been trying to do more intentionally, is memorize First Peter, part of First Peter. And like, these verses would be great verses to be mindful of and to be rehearsing in your mind. Because what happens is when we're able to do that, that will travel to our hearts and that will be something that will help us have a different outlook. That's great. And so that's something I think is very practical but will be very meaningful. So that's something I'm like, okay, I'm gonna memorize these verses. Good. Yeah. Which, yeah, you guys will have to hold me accountable. That's good. Anybody else? You don't have to. Yeah, I just think of that language, like tasting and seeing, like God's like God of invitation, showing himself to his people. Like, amazing invitation. And so that's why reading the word regularly, it is that missile that confronts us when we actually think, when we're riding the high points of the roller coaster to bring it back to that and we think that we're doing great. It helps us see us as we really are. Like Ephesians 2 and our need. And I think out of that we can like uh, our love of Jesus grows as we recognize our need for him. That's right. Yep, totally. Yeah. I think just a reminder, if you're watching you can see this. If not just every week you're getting a handout, uh, during services. And at the bottom it does have this livid out challenge and that's, it's just an intentional way that we are trying to say, hey, think about what it is out of this teaching that you can take with you and whether it is, hey, I'm go goingna memorize part of First Peter that uh, Pastor Joe challenged us with. What were the. Is it verse nine through, I think three through nine. Three through nine, chapter one verseapter. Uh, chapter one, three through nine. Um, whatever it might be. I mean, uh, each of us sit in different spots, have different things going on and so for each one of us it might look a little different. But think of one thing, one thing that you can do for sure. But thanks so much for having this conversation. It's been great and a huge shout out to everybody else. Like we get the easy part sitting down here and talking about it and then we have amazing people like Marcus and Brent and Hallie, uh, and so many others that m make it all happen. Woo squad. So thanks, we'll see you next week. Thanks so much for tuning in to Beyond The Message before you go, just make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on any content in the future. And also we have content for you all week long on our CCC app, YouTube channel or even on our website so that you can grow where you are all week long. Share that with friends and with family. Until next time. We'll see you soon.