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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 we bring it into your week. Each week, we sit down together and we laugh a little bit, usually talk and reflect on how to live out what it is that we're learning. If you didn't hear this, just drop down to the description where you can find a link to it and then come back and join in on this conversation. I am, um, Stacey DiNardo, and I'm joined today by Caanan Coffey, Lana Chilton, and Jamie Hewitt. Welcome, guys. Good to be together, guys. Good to be around this table. Great to be together. Great to be together. Uh, bright and early on a Sunday. Mornings when we're filming today, spring forward. You guys feeling okay? I'm doing all right. Kind of forgot about it last night, but that's okay. I'm here, you're here. It's all going to be worth it tonight. That's right. And it's gonna be so light out. That's the way to think about it. I'm pretty passionate. It will be that extra hour. Yeah.
Okay, well, to jump in, we'll have a little icebreaker for us. So Pastor Zach spoke this week, and it is on the I am the door statement. So we'll talk more about that in a minute. But he had this analogy that I know was really meaningful to me, but he talked about his house breaking down. So little question for you. What is something in your living space, House space that you walk by day in, day out that is, like, broken. And you just. You. You could do something about it, but instead you just leave it and leave it a mess. I'll start because I'm hitting where to start hitting with it fresh. Mine's this. I think everybody's got something like this. Um, my dryer. I have to run it at least three times to dry my clothes. Oh, wow. So I could just replace it, you know, wouldn't be a big deal, but instead, just keep running it three times. I could go on and on. There's probably like 15 things in my house that are like that. But who's up? Who's up? Who's got something?
I think, uh, it's not a present thing right now. Although my house still is a construction zone. I was wondering about this with you. Cause you've redone your entire house. So we've two houses. So we did our first and then sold it, and then we are redoing our second. But all of my kids grew up living on subfloor for years. Like they learned to crawl and walk such that when they were. I think my oldest, she's now 11. Gosh, she would have been five. And so she's able to talk, she's able to, uh. And when we finally got floors, like as a five year old or whatever, she had never experienced, she's like, what is this? We have floors now. And I'm like, most children, their experience of life is that floors are normal. And so for many, many, for many, many years, we. We walked by the lack of fl. Lowering surface in our house. And, um, just because I was doing other things did not get to that one. Yeah, you are next level with redoing your home. But it is a process. I mean, how long have you been in your house now? Currently? I think four years. Yeah. Our current one. Still chipping right away. Anything chipping away that you're like, oh, this. Oh.
A lot of yesterday was me working on trying to redo my stairs, which has turned into a bear of a project. What do you mean by that? I mean, that was a conversation last year, like a year ago, we were talking about it. I had not started it. I just remember asking for a friend. I'm sorry. I just remember the conversation. Uh, so yesterday was I built new newel posts and I am trying to trim out the base. Cause you use all kinds of hardware and things to install them that you then need to hide. But at least you're fixing it like you're doing. You're not walking by it undone. Yeah. I'll show you guys a picture. Lana, what about you? Do you have something?
Um, it's not exactly broken. It is unsightly. We had a leak, um, a while ago from the master bathroom toilet, which we didn't know about. So now there are water stains on our kitchen ceiling. Oh, um, okay. I had those for a number of years, too. If you could just give me the. Step by step. Little kills little. Little paint. Paint. Get this thing done. If you've solved the water problem. And I think what keeps us from doing things, which maybe, uh, it'll come into our convers later. What keeps us from doing repairs is my husband really likes things to be perfect. M. And so we will sometimes delay on doing something until we know exactly the right way to get it. I can't wait to hear how we're going to talk about that later on, Lena. M. We'll see. Okay.
Yeah. Anything for you. Kanan. I thought about you. I was like, I don't know if. Yeah. Ah, mine is, uh, more. Yeah, just I'm Pretty simple. And so if a light. If a light's pretty dim or goes out, it just usually takes me a while to replace it. I'm like, I'm just. I'm good, I'm good. I got the natural lights, the windows. Okay. And so, yeah, I'm just, uh, yeah, just kind of wait till. Which makes sense because you're in the renting. The renting stage of things until it goes all the way out. I'm like, but I've heard stories about your landlord, so. Have you. Yeah.
Well, with that, why don't we jump in, start talking about. Talking about the teaching. So it was Pastor Zach, and It was John 10, 7, 9, is the passage, uh, where Jesus is saying, I am the door of the sheep. I'll read the full thing in just a minute. But, uh, he walked us through, kind of really, um, we just kind of walked through these three points of saying that there is a door. So to like, focus on the reality that of what Jesus is saying by being a door is that there is access to God. Um, and then you must use it. So in the passage, there's talk about, like, thieves coming to steal. And, you know, but we're saying, no, use the door. Don't go around to just try and get out of God. The things that you want out of God, but using the door, going through Jesus, um, for who he is, not just what he has. And then lastly was, you should wear it out. Which I was like, where is Pastor Zach going to go at this point? But, uh, I loved it. I hadn't noticed that in this passage, but it talks about, um, just how the sheep will go in and out to pasture and, and what that kind of says about who Jesus is and about us going, um, in and out of that door ourselves, uh, and having access to God in the way that he wants us to. We're going to talk about that. I thought that, uh, just a good starting point, probably, honestly, with most of these statements, is just to unpack the statement itself. So let me read that.
John 10, 7, 9. One of the things I did want to point out is this text just precedes kind of the text that we are looking at for this whole year, which is John 10:10, where we have the more life kind of, uh, saying that in that you can have life and life abundantly is what Jesus says, that in him we can have life abundantly. So just preceding that are, are these verses where Jesus is telling his audience, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are Thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
Um, so when you think about that, just. I think there's a lot we can see and learn about who God is just from this simple, simple I am statement. So what strikes you? And. Yeah, let's just start there. What strikes you about Jesus? The door for us, that it's the gospel. Like, it's good news that there's a door. Like, without a door, there would be no access. And that was the reality until Jesus came. The reality since the fall. Right. So it's bad news that we needed a door, but it's good news. Jesus is declaring the gospel about himself in that. And, um, yeah, I really hadn't ever read that passage and just thought gospel until Zach's sermon. I think it's really easy in John 10 to just jump straight to the good shepherd when you read that. It just captures you, the metaphor of that. You're like, I want that. And I think it's really easy to kind of move past this I am statement. Uh, it almost gets overshadowed in a way, I think. And so it was really good for me to reflect on it. Me too. In a way that I had not. Or at least in my memory. I don't remember thinking about it this way, but it is such a clear picture of the gospel. And so, yeah, I thought the sermon was great to draw and point towards the accessibility of God being apparent because of Jesus saying that he's the door.
Yeah, yeah, you both said about access. That was like the word that kept coming to my mind as I was. As I was listening and as I was reflecting on it. Just this idea, like, we can draw. I mean, in Hebrews, we can confidently, like, approach him now through that door. Um, which is. Which is pretty, pretty sweet, I think just to add a little bit to it, I. Some of the pictures that came to my mind were. Were the safety, the comfort, the rest, the peace that it is in him. And, you know, of course he is. There is. And we'll talk more about the in and out, like that we can go in and have that safety, security, comfort, rest. And we're also sent out to pastor too. Right. To do the work or do the other things. But I think there's, you know, that God is providing that to us in Jesus as well. Um, is something to know and. And the reality that, you know, like, if you compare it, I think Zach did this a little bit, but Just saying, what's the difference between just if it was a wall versus a door and what that would communicate. And what that would communicate. Right. You're.
And there's something about his presence and being able to be in his presence and having that comfort. That is a beautiful thing. I just thought there's a profound simplicity to Pastor Zach's statement that you build a door somewhere where you want people and are expecting people to go. And I was like, oh, it really does. I feel like, unlock the meaning of this statement. Yeah. That we glossed over because we're in. I have, like you, Jamie. I'm in the sheep pen. I'm thinking of the shepherd. And so I'm so glad we paused on this one this week. And it's almost so simple. It's like you just kind of assume it, but then you past it and miss the significance. Or at least that's what I would say is true for me. Right. Yeah.
And the reality is we can. We can find a way through a wall if we really want to. But I think what he's saying. Yeah. Is there's here, like, there's. There's an easier way. There's an easier way. We'd be a thief or a robber coming in through the door while not accessing the door. Yeah. Yeah.
So something I wanted to talk about was Zach made a statement. Um, I actually. I'll read it to us about if people feeling disconnected from God. And it went like this. If right now you feel like you're disconnected or distant from God, that is never what God wants for you. It's not because of him. The distance between you and God is your choice and not His.
Um, we've all been in. And so I just want to ask you guys, like, I feel like everybody, as a Christian, you're going to walk through seasons where you feel a disconnect, disconnected from God. Um, so if God does want us close to him, what are things that can make us feel distant from God? Let's just start there. I don't know. Lena, do you wanna jump in? Sure. Yeah. Uh, the word that I jotted down, the word that came to my mind, for me anyway. Um, are assumptions. Okay. What do you mean by that? Yeah. I realize I start to feel distant from God when I start making assumptions either about what he would have to say. Okay. Or assumptions that, you know, what I should have. And I've said this on the podcast before, but an easy place for me to go to is if I hadn't done X, Y, and Z, I Wouldn't be in this mess anyway, so that's all he's. You know, I assum. Um. I assume even that it's gonna be a corrective thing and because, yeah, it's just a lot of assumptions or I assume that he just wants me to do what I know I should be doing anyway. And, you know, he's already given me clear directives in the word of God. I don't lean into the idea that he just. I don't wanna jump too far ahead, but Zach made a statement about him just wanting that relationship with us. And I assume my productivity. You replace productivity. I replace productivity with the relationship. And I make all kinds of assumptions, all kinds of assumptions that just make me feel more and more distant. And I can do the same thing with my husband. Right. Like, I can think of any good relationship, and distance grows because of all kinds of assumptions.
As you were talking, that's what I was thinking. I was like, m. A vast majority of the times there's conflict with Carolyn, and I have made an assumption of some sort of what she's thinking, what she's feeling. And then I began to operate off of that. So I did that yesterday. She was gone at a baby, ah, shower. And I had an argument with her while she was gone. In your head. In my head. What is that if not making an assumption about how she's gonna feel, how she's gonna respond, and then executing on that, and then it created a relational distance in my crazy psychotic mind. But, yeah, love that. Love that for me? Thank you. What if they'll, like.
Like, as a Christian, you are, man, you are pursuing. You're trying to get in God's word. All those things are happening, and you still are feeling a, uh, disconnect. I feel like I've been there before. And so even just to Zach's statement, I'm not not wanting to contradict it because I believe it's very true to say God does not want that distance. But I don't know. Have any of you been in a place where you're going, man, I've been in a season that's just felt dry or closed off. And is it really still because of maybe a wrong posture on my part, or is there just like, we're gonna have seasons like that and still pursuing his words? I mean, I would. For me, I could use the word assumption again. But I had to learn, like, being in God's presence, walking with God does not always result in a feeling. And feelings have an expiration date. And so there have been times that I have felt that nearness and that closeness and you know, that just to think of the Lord could bring tears to my eyes or joy to my heart or strength to my soul. And there have been many more times where there are no feelings. But again, I could say that about most of the relationships in my life. And so I think we assume that our feelings are indicative of the reality.
Yeah, I think that's really good. And something that I thought about when you guys were talking earlier is I had a college coach say that disappointment is unmet expectation. And so how often are we entering into God's word or praying just with like this expect, like we. I think we should be expectant. But if we're placing expectations like God, you're gonna do this exact thing that I want. It's getting to the place, where are we going to him? Right. I mean, Zach talked about the assumption things. Yeah. Are we, Zach talked about it. Are we going to him for what we can get from him or purely just for who he is? And that's something that I feel like I've struggled with in a lot of seasons is, um, wanting, wanting the result more than just the relationship. Like wanting what it can give me back instead of just for what it is.
Yeah. I don't know if God's presence always equals fulfillment or always equals joy. I think Scripture is really clear that we have access to God and his presence with us. And he says, I will be with you to the end of the age. And there's this passage in Philippians 4 that will talk about, uh, bringing all your anxieties to God. And then he'll say that the peace of God which transcends understanding will be with you. And then it will give these list of things as well, uh, that we should be thinking about and setting our mind on. And then it says, the God of peace will be with you. And so that's a promise. And there's an assurance with that that I think we can lean into. And so I do think the distance between us relationally and God is always our making. Whether or not we are turning to Him. That doesn't always mean that we're going to experience fulfillment pain free. Like, you know, there will be discomfort. Jesus doesn't sugarcoat that, but he does say that he's with us in. That's right. Uh, and that's a tricky thing I think, to make sense of. And that's probably at the heart of your question. So I think it's a good question.
Yeah. I only had one thing to add and that would. Lana, uh, I think you're right on as far as disconnecting what you're always feeling. And it made me think about, um, that I think we can all. And I think I talk to folks that I feel like are missing out on more life because they will often. I will often hear the statement like, I love the way church makes me feel. And I hear that over and over again. I get it because I, I feel certain, man, I'm worshiping and it's awesome and I'm, um, you know. But I think you, if we get stuck on saying this is what I am making out, my relationship to be with Jesus is how church makes me feel. You are missing out on so much more. And yeah, it might because it's so much more than a feeling and it's, it is about knowing who he is and his character and his presence and the promises that he's with us even when we don't feel it. So, um, yeah, there's a lot there, but it just a quick note on that.
Okay. I wanted to tee up. Pastor Zach made a. I. It really hit me an analogy that he was connecting things, breaking in his house. So, um, this is actually, this clip that we're going to watch is just after he talked about how he felt like everything was breaking in his house and he was going to evict his kids and then realized that really, um, he was going to have a day when his house would be perfect but he wouldn't have all these and all these broken things, but his kids would be gone and the relationship paralleling that with the relationship God wants to have with us and why he sent Jesus. So I don't want to say too much, but I know that happens before this clip. Let's watch this and then we'll talk about it briefly.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, hear me on this. 2026 is going to be a year of more life. When it is a year of going back through that door as many times as we possibly can. When our days become saturated not with prayer in the churchy sense of, um. How many times did you pray today? Did you have your prayer time today? I don't mean that. But when prayer becomes less a formal thing and more the interspersed reality of our day, it's how we take a five minute drive to the drugstore. It's how we do laundry, it's how we go for a jog, it's how we do for the dishes. It's a running dialogue with a God, who loves us so much, he sent his own son to live in our place and to die in our place and to raise from the dead so that there could be a door.
How much wisdom do we leave on the table because we won't go in? How much grace, how much mercy, how much kindness? See, Jesus says, go in and out, in and out. Wear that door out. Break it. It's okay. He doesn't care. He just wants. You just wanted to talk about that. The reality that he wants us, he wants that kind of relationship. What does. Maybe if you personally feel like you are at a place, you have that continual dialogue, what does that look like for you? Where do you want to get. Where can we help people kind of move towards that type of relationship with Jesus?
I think, um, Zach had mentioned. I'm paraphrasing, but just, you know, where every moment or every part of our day becomes prayer. It's not just formal times of prayer or corporate times of prayer, but it's the car ride, it's the this, it's the washing the dishes. And I think that is where relationship really develops. And as I began to think about that, I thought about this sermon series and us saying Jesus is more life and he has this abundance. And we're pointing, I think, throughout this series to some of those things last week, the clarity that comes from the light of the world and the week before that, the satisfaction that comes from him being the bread of life. Next week is on his leadership as the good Shepherd. But those things are true of him. But it's like in that moment when you're driving and you're realizing you don't know what the outcome of this next meeting or next encounter should be or could. Look, uh, you need his leadership. Or when you're confused, you need that clarity that he brings. And it's that constant declaration of need for him. And so you're saying, how do we help people with that? I think it's just. I think it's just getting comfortable talking to him. Yeah. I don't know. M. Like, instead of speed dial a friend, or instead of texting a friend, instead of Googling an answer, letting him be the default. Yeah, yeah, I love that. Yeah.
M. I think for me it's tying into that. I think what comes to mind is just, uh, he can offer that Psalm 23, life. I mean, I think that's one of my favorite psalms. And honestly, as I'm saying this, I should. It's probably a season to get back into it of just, you know, there's guidance, there's restoration of our soul. And um, you know, he can lead us in the leadership. Right. Uh, you know, that, that I feel like that kind of relates to the abundant life and the life that we can have in him. Um, and so I think for me, when I'm in seasons of uh, yeah. Where I am struggling with either finding that space or making him my default or just trusting regardless of outcome, but I feel like that provides that piece again. Um, you know, that the life that we can really have. I'm so struck by the fact that, I mean even how Zach ended that point was just saying like, he wants you. Like if we could just sit in that for a minute and go like, whoa. Like that's incredible that you know, as you were talking, Kanan, I'm thinking about the abide in me passages. Right. And we're not there yet. I know we've talked before we started about giving away other weeks, but just how many of these can are connected to just life in Jesus? Life in Jesus, in him, um, and the fact that he wants us in that way and the gospel. Right. I mean, just to sit in that and be astounded by it once again, you know.
Yeah. There's this beautiful line when Jesus is calling his disciples in Mark where he'll say he called those whom he desired. That's always just stood with me. It's like Jesus posture and heart towards us is desire for us. And I do think that changes, uh, it changes the way you perceive it breaks down a lot of assumptions that we have about who God is and what he'd want with us from us and for us. I think you have both mentioned something. I think if we think about this week ahead is super helpful. And if you just even think about how you want to connect with, with the people closest to you in your life. Right. It's going to be conversation, it's going to be sitting with. Right. Um, and day to day in and out of things. So I do think that's just such a good parallel if we can. Jesus is so much more than those people in our life. And yet at the same time sometimes we feel like there's this not access and distance and all of that. And like man, what if we tried to approach him like we would want, uh, the people closest to us to have that kind of conversation. So. Mhm. That's just, I think super helpful. But practically just one thing I think of trying to build that type of relationship. If it's new, I think it might actually take some structure on the front in order to get to a place where it's unstructured, where it is just like a rhythm and it just happens and it's more spontaneous. Um, uh, new rhythms take. You know, it's like practice when you're playing sports or think the first time you're doing things, it does not feel natural. The goal is, I'm going to do this through the unnaturalness until it becomes something that is natural and I don't have to think about. And so, you know, maybe it is just choosing one spot if that's you and you're listening or watching this. Like, what's one space in your life or rhythm that maybe you have regularly? So something that happened you're already doing right. You know, I think that that's the exact reference in your car. But like, hey, I want this to be a space where I stop to connect with God and then try to step into that, even if it feels clumsy or awkward, just knowing that God wants you. And eventually that can maybe bleed into the kind of prayer life that Paul will talk about where he says pray without ceasing. But it starts there with a little bit of structure and then grows into something that feels natural and open.
I'm so glad you said that. And. And if someone is thinking, yeah, I don't know. Cause my space is all allocated. Sometimes it's making an exchange. It's where are you allowing in a voice right now on a regular basis that you can exchange? Are you listening to the news every morning in a space where you could actually exchange that to listen to his voice and. Or it could be a good thing, but you're gonna exchange it maybe for a better thing. So anyway, I found that. Well, thank you guys. Thanks so much for joining this week. Can't wait for the weeks to come. Cause there is a lot more. That's that. I'm excited to unpack in these statements. So thanks. Thank you. Get to be together guys. Thanks so much for tuning in to Beyond the Message. Before you head out, make sure to subscribe so that you don't miss next week's content. And all week long, we want to provide you opportunities to grow right where you are. So check out our YouTube channel, our app for more opportunities to catch content from Christ Community Chapel. Thanks so much for tuning in and we'll see you next time. It.