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Message about a Christian’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Testimony by Trent Willis
Message about a Christian’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Testimony by Trent Willis
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Good morning, Redeemer Community Church. Welcome to wherever you are. This is our first live streaming service. Hopefully, we will not have to do many of these. I cannot tell you how awkward this is in this moment.
Jeffrey Heine:But we are gonna gather together wherever you are and, we're gonna take time to look at God's word together. We're gonna hear a testimony. Take time to pray. I think these things are important for us to continue doing, in the weeks ahead. So I'm gonna begin our time together, by reading to you from Psalm 34.
Jeffrey Heine:I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord. Let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
Jeffrey Heine:I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. The poor cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
Jeffrey Heine:Blessed blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack. The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Pray with me. Father, I ask that you would bless this time, that we look at your word, We hear someone share how you have saved them by your grace.
Jeffrey Heine:And how we are encouraged to be more Christ like. Bless this time. In your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. So we're gonna begin this morning, like we began a number of mornings, not just in the reading of scripture, but periodically, about every 3 or 4 weeks, I asked somebody to come and to share their testimony.
Jeffrey Heine:And, poor Trent Willis drew the short straw this morning because, not only does he get to share his testimony, he gets to do our first time ever live streaming it. So Trent, we look forward to hearing from you this morning.
Speaker 2:Good morning, church. So you don't know me, my name's Trent Willis. I'm originally from the North Alabama area, but I've been here in Birmingham for about 7 years. Been going to Redeemer for coming up on 6 years now, and I've got the privilege of leading a home group with my awesome wife, Sydney. When Joel first asked me to share my testimony today, I was pretty terrified, and this definitely didn't help if you guys couldn't notice.
Speaker 2:This is a shirt I slept in. I think I've got a toothpaste stain on it somewhere, and I thought I better say yes. Because if he's gotten all the way down to me on the list, that means a bunch of y'all told him no. I've concerned all week that my story was too plain, continually worried that what I had to share wasn't important. But last night, just trying to read exactly what I'm reading from my laptop right now, I was crying to my wife for almost an hour because I was so scared.
Speaker 2:And if that's not the enemy trying to stop me, then I don't know what is. So whatever I've gotta say, I know that this is what God wants me to tell you guys. I grew up in an extremely loving home. We definitely weren't rolling in it, and we had plenty of issues, but we had everything we needed. We were we were comfortable.
Speaker 2:I was always looked at as the good kid and rule follower, made good grades. It wasn't a bad way to grow up, but church was never a huge part of our lives. We would occasionally go to a Christmas or Easter service when I was really little, but then more or less stopped completely. I definitely tell someone that we were Christian if asked a question, but I don't really have a clue what that meant. When I started middle school, I really had no idea who I was.
Speaker 2:I started acting differently and really started to make some poor decisions that could've led me down the wrong road pretty quickly. Found out I had a world of pornography at my fingertips with the Internet. I had my first sexual encounter when I was just 12, but god was working on me even during this time. I knew deep down some of the things I was getting into were sending me in the wrong direction, and god gave me a clear way out. A guy who would later become one of my very best friends invited me to come play guitars and foosball with him on a Wednesday night at his youth group.
Speaker 2:Liked it so much that I decided to come back, and every now and then, I even listened to the youth pastor. Over the course of several months, I started to listen more and more. And on a Wednesday night shortly after I turned 14, I prayed the Lord would take over my life. I didn't know what life would look like after this this decision, but I knew that I was ready to let god lead the way. That night, I couldn't get enough at church.
Speaker 2:Started 10 Sunday services as well as Wednesday night youth group. If there was a youth group retreat or camp, I was going. I didn't have a clue how to read my Bible, but I gave it a go. I read the entire book of Proverbs from the King James version of the Bible, like, line for line. Not one proverb a day, the whole thing went shot.
Speaker 2:Jesus was definitely present in my life, but something just wasn't quite right. When I looked around the church on Sundays, I saw a bunch of families dressed up They knew all the motions, and I didn't. Jesus was continuing to reveal more and more of himself to me every day, but I could never let myself feel at home in the church pew. I felt like I was missing something and that I didn't belong. During the tail end of my days in high school, my church began to preach more and more about a big capital campaign to pay off a huge new sanctuary they had built, and that conjunction with the nagging feeling like I didn't belong made it pretty easy for me to drift away from the church as I moved off to college.
Speaker 2:College was an extremely strange time for me in my journey. There was something that was keeping me from feeling like I belonged, and I was determined to figure it out. It led me to making one of the most it led to to making me one of the most hypocritical people that you could meet. I convinced myself that the reason that I had felt so out of place at church had nothing to do with me and everything to do with the church. I decided the only way that I could truly figure it out was to explore what I thought were the roots of the church.
Speaker 2:And for me, that looked like joining the Catholic church. So I started attending Catholic churches RCIA, which is essentially a year long education in the history of the church and their beliefs for adults interested in joining. I was confirming to the church and honestly had some really great growth during this time. As you might have guessed, it had nothing to do with the church that I was joining or their beliefs. It was because I was consistently spending time in scripture and growing my relationship with the Lord.
Speaker 2:Despite off all my efforts, still felt like I was out of place in the church and like there was something that I wasn't quite getting right,
Connor Coskery:and
Speaker 2:that was holding me back in my relationship with God and my involvement in the church. I didn't really interact with people when I went to the masses, but I went went in and spent my time praying to the lord to show me what I was missing. I essentially had no community. To try to fill this void of belonging community, I joined a fraternity. Unfortunately, in line with many people's stories in college, I turned down the wrong road in a hurry.
Speaker 2:If there was a chance to get drunk, I took it. I was at a party 3 or 4 times a week, developed a pretty wicked porn addiction, and I started sleeping around. Definitely knew this wasn't the road that god wanted me taking, but I felt like I fit in, in large part because it was really easy to fit in when the criteria is to get drunk and have sex with strangers. Through our list, god never stopped pursuing me. By the grace of god, I graduated from college and took a job in Birmingham.
Speaker 2:Technically, it was closer to Tuscaloosa, but I moved to Birmingham anyway. With no community from a fraternity or from the few churches I tried mass out at, I decided to start looking for a church that had some more active community that I could try out. It's about this time that I met Sydney. And very shortly after we started dating, she invited me to come and visit Redeemer with her. Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:I was really skeptical. I was like, man, I've been down this road before. All these people really seem like they have it together, and they all know each other. It was a small church. Everyone knew each other.
Speaker 2:They all love Sid. Thought that these folks are gonna sniff me out in no time and run me off. I was really into Sid, so I stuck around and joined. Now I've done a few Bible studies in the past, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I got plugged into a home group. I was doing exactly what I'm doing right now that I finally got wiped mud from my eyes.
Speaker 2:I was missing all along. I was sitting in the living room with someone I was just getting to know with a bunch of strangers telling them about how big of a sinner I was. They were doing the same thing. To clarify, they weren't also telling me how big of a sinner I was. They were also sharing their stories of struggles and salvation.
Speaker 2:God started to reveal to me that the reason I constantly felt so out of place and like I didn't belong was because I was making way too much of myself, not enough of him. I can never get over the thought that my sin must be greater than everyone else's around me, but God never let me go during all of my ups and downs and was so extremely persistent in pursuing me until I figured out that what I was looking for all along was just a closer relationship with him. If you're listening to this and you've had some of those same thoughts or feelings, like you're out of place or some like everyone else had it figured out, stop letting the enemy win. The enemy is terrified of what it looks like when we all trust and how much greater the south the savior's redeeming love is than our fears and shame. The tree's already won.
Speaker 2:Thanks for letting me share.
Jeffrey Heine:Thank you, Trent. I know that was, incredibly, awkward. Yet it was powerful. It was so good to hear just the Lord's grace, sovereign grace in your life. And, we're so thankful you're part of our church.
Jeffrey Heine:This is a pretty strange moment for me. Probably is for you as well. I'm not sure where you are or what you are doing in this moment. Hopefully, you're hunkered down in your homes, keeping a safe social distance from one another. I know we do have a number of home groups that are gathering together to listen to this, corporately.
Jeffrey Heine:Keep room for the holy spirit between you as you are gathered together in in your homes. I'm not at home, but I am keeping a safe distance from everybody because I'm currently here in the sanctuary at Redeemer speaking to a mostly empty church. We do have Coria Natika, James Trent, and my wife. That's that's it. We're the only ones here.
Jeffrey Heine:I can't imagine how awkward it is for you guys to be here. I've had dreams in the past of preaching at an empty church, but I didn't know that would become a reality. I'm actually sad to do this. It grieves me that I have to do this. That you all have to listen to me via podcast or livestream, because this is not what we were meant to do.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus, he has made us family, through his spirit and I'm missing my family this morning. I miss hearing you all sing. I miss hearing you say, this is after I say, this is the word of the Lord hearing you say, thanks be to God. I miss being able to look into your eyes as I'm preaching. I miss the creaking floors, the people going up and down the steps and the loud sounds that makes.
Jeffrey Heine:I even miss hearing the little clunky, nalgene bottles get knocked over, or hearing or watching people wander aimlessly around while I preach. I miss those things. But mostly, I I miss just what the Lord collectively does in our midst when the temple of God assembles. When we gather together as His church, the spirit of God blows in our midst, and He does something unique in those moments. So what we're doing here is not ideal, but it's the situation we're in.
Jeffrey Heine:It's the best that we could do considering the circumstances. I had actually already written a sermon for today, mostly written it. That was going to be a continuation of our sermon through or sermon series through Genesis. We are going to look at Genesis 34 together, but then as you know, things just kinda got crazy this week. The whole world seemed to be changing minute by minute.
Jeffrey Heine:You couldn't even keep up with the changes. The NBA cancels its season, then the NCAA tournament gets cancelled. Major League Baseball postpones their season, which, no one really cares about. But then colleges begin closing. Then all the k through 12 schools, flights start getting canceled.
Jeffrey Heine:Even Cher canceled her canceled her concert, here at the BJCC in Birmingham, disappointing both Jeff and Matt tremendously. I knew things that got really bad when Nick Saban canceled Alabama's spring practice football and that's kinda like when a Waffle House closes. That is when the alarm is raised as to the severity of a situation. And so it's been crazy. All joking aside, it's been a surreal moment this last moments this past week.
Jeffrey Heine:And somehow, talking about Genesis 34, which is a horrific text, if you look at it. It's about the rape of Dinah. Somehow, that just didn't seem to be what we needed to look at this morning. I might perhaps record that later and send it out maybe midweek. So what do we need to hear today?
Jeffrey Heine:I think we need to be reminded of 3 things. First, we need to be reminded that God is in control. 2nd, that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of love. And 3rd, that we have a tremendous opportunity to love our neighbor. So let's look at these three things.
Jeffrey Heine:1st, that God is in control. We need to be reminded of this because how many of you felt out of control this week? I bet all of you did, and if you didn't feel out of control, well, you should have because none of us ever really have control. Control, over our lives is really just an illusion that we happen to believe when things are going really well for us. A little over a month ago, Lauren and I, we got in the mail the latest statement about our stocks, our mutual funds, and it was really good.
Jeffrey Heine:It was a great statement. It was the highest our our mutual funds had ever been. Now it's not like Lauren and I have a lot, but we we try to squirrel away a little bit here and there. And this statement, it was the highest it's ever been. It actually had grown 15% in 1 month.
Jeffrey Heine:I was so shocked by it. I actually I took a picture of the statement and I texted it to Lauren. We were feeling so good about it. She text back, you know, like, what? Can't believe this.
Jeffrey Heine:We're both really excited. That's how good this made me feel. I thought I was gaining finally some sense of a financial control in my life, and then things change fast, don't they? There's no way I promise you, there's no way I'm even going to open the next statement that I get about this. Because everything seemed to crash overnight.
Jeffrey Heine:Many of you, you don't know what's going to happen. None of us do really. But you don't know what's gonna happen with your jobs, with your retirement plans, what's gonna happen with your schools and your communities, what's gonna happen with your health or perhaps the health of your loved ones. You don't know practical things like who's going to watch your kids as you have to go off to work. You don't know if you should still take that trip that you've been counting on and planning for this spring break.
Jeffrey Heine:Things that you looked forward to that you thought were so certain, now are shaky. Things have gotten unpredictable, and I hope that you'll take time during all this to be reminded because it is a great reminder that you are not in control. It's a good, it's a painful, and it is a sobering reminder that we're never really in control. The entire world with all of its kingdoms, with all of its economies, with all of its health can literally come crashing down in moments. Things that seem so stable.
Jeffrey Heine:Things that you think, well certainly this can never happen. All of a sudden, it happens and it happens so fast. We start realizing that things that we thought were such sure, strong, safe, secure ground. It was actually pretty fragile. The words from James in James chapter 4 kept bouncing around in my head this week.
Jeffrey Heine:Come now, you who say today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such a town, and spend a spend a year there and trade and make profit. Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time, and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will do this or that.
Jeffrey Heine:We can make plans, but we are not in control. The Lord is, though. If the Lord wills, we will do this or that. Whatever the Lord wills to happen, happens. And so I hope you're reminded that our God is still on his throne.
Jeffrey Heine:Everything is still under his sovereign care. And because of this, we don't need to fear anything. This is the second thing that we need to be reminded of that we should not be afraid. Psalm 112 verses 6 through 8, says this, the righteous will never be moved. He will be remembered forever.
Jeffrey Heine:He is not afraid of bad news. His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady. He will not be afraid. Because we trust in the sovereignty of a good God, we are not afraid of bad news.
Jeffrey Heine:There is nothing that you can read on the Internet. There is nothing that you could hear on TV that should ever make you afraid. That email that your mother just forwarded to you, again, there's no reason to fear that. That article that was just posted on Facebook that says, if you read nothing else, read this, and I've got about 10 of those that I have seen. Whatever you read, you should not fear it.
Jeffrey Heine:Because we know as bad as things get, as bad as the news is that we read, we know that God is working all things together for good. For those who love God and who are called according to His purpose. So, as bad as the news is, we know that our lives, they're built on the rock of Jesus Christ. And that's a safe and secure rock that can withstand any storm that comes our way. Once again, kingdoms come and go.
Jeffrey Heine:Economies come and go. But our God is always on his throne. Always reigning. Everything that happens, happens according to his plan. And because of this, God has given us this unique ability that the rest of the world does not have.
Jeffrey Heine:We have the ability to not be anxious in this thing because we're not trying to gain control. We realize that God is the one in control. I read a number of articles, just put out there, but by different, psychologists or psychiatrists, counselors, talking about the heightened level of anxiety and fear that's happening all over the place because people are losing this sense of control. And and one of the things they say is, don't be anxious. But they don't tell you why not to be anxious.
Jeffrey Heine:They'll tell you focus on something you can control. And perhaps many of you are doing this. That's what you're doing. You're obsessively cleaning your house because it's something you can control. But as Christians, we're given a unique ability to not be anxious, because we don't just cast our cares away, we cast our cares onto Jesus, who is our rock.
Jeffrey Heine:He is the one who will never fail us. This brings me to the 3rd point, which is the situation before us demands that we act out of love and not out of fear. The decision we made to suspend our services, for who knows how long, hopefully not long, But this was a decision we made not out of fear, it was a decision we made out of love, because we love our neighbors and we wanted to make sure that we do everything we can to provide for their health. So out of love, I'm preaching to a largely empty room. The virus and this complete panic, that has happened because of it, It's actually given us this unique opportunity to love our neighbor, in some very tangible and personal ways.
Jeffrey Heine:Listen, I know most of you who are hearing this message, most of you are fairly young. You are fairly young and you are healthy, and so, the worst thing that could probably happen to you is, you might get a little sick or perhaps, get something like the flu. And because of this, there's this temptation for you to just keep on doing whatever you were doing, to be selfish, because it doesn't really affect you. You Some of you might even be a little excited that airfares have dropped, and you can take advantage of these new opportunities. But brothers and sisters, you have been called to love your neighbor.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus has called you to think of others as more important than yourself. You have been called to be a blessing to the world. So although this virus might not be serious for many of you, it certainly can be for many others. It can even be lethal to others. Those who are older, those who have some pre existing health issues, they're especially vulnerable to this.
Jeffrey Heine:People like my mom who she's 80 years old or people like my mother-in-law who is still undergoing chemotherapy and doesn't have any immune system. They are especially vulnerable. We have people like that at our church. People with autoimmune diseases, people with diabetes, people with other factors that make them extremely vulnerable to this virus. And people like that are actually, they're not just in our church, they're all around in your community.
Jeffrey Heine:They're in the places where you work and you live. And so, the loving thing to do, a very practical and loving thing to do, is to think of the ways that you cannot be, you won't be the carrier of this virus to those people or be a carrier to the one who could possibly be a carrier to take the virus to those people. So keeping your social distancing from one another. I I know that sounds so awkward and, and we make jokes about that, but keeping your social distancing from one another for a season is the loving thing to do. Repeatedly washing your hands is a way that you can love your neighbor.
Jeffrey Heine:Not hoarding things, not going to stores and hoarding toilet paper, or hoarding hand sanitizer, is a way you can love people. A matter of fact, you should think of ways if you have those things, you can share them with your neighbor. Calling up a neighbor who is sick or who is elderly, And asking if you could go to the store and shop for them is a way that you could show love to your neighbor. Being extra kind and patient to everyone, is a way that we could show the love of Christ. Everybody's on edge.
Jeffrey Heine:Everyone is anxious. Show them the gentleness and the peace that Christ has given us And that we now can give to them. Yesterday, Lauren was going through Arby's and she just noticed that the the person at the, at the at the window, the drive through window was really distraught. Was wearing it all over her face. And Lauren, just for a moment, just looked the woman in the eyes and said, hey.
Jeffrey Heine:God loves you. You know that God loves you. Don't you? And the lady says, you saw my face, didn't you? She goes, yes.
Jeffrey Heine:And I just wanted to remind you that God loves you. Just being able to do simple things like that is a way that we spread the love of Christ, and we calm people's fears. Financially helping out those who are most affected by this is a way that you can demonstrate the love of Christ. Restaurant workers, travel agents, cafeteria workers, those who work hourly wages at events that have now been cancelled, These are all people that are under now a huge financial stress. Our church has already been reaching out to different community leaders, around us asking if there's ways that we could come alongside and help those who are now under an ever increasing financial burden.
Jeffrey Heine:As we find out ways that we can help these people, we'll we'll be sure to pass those along. But you find ways to personally help out those who've been financially affected by this virus. Find ways to act out of love and not act out of fear. This is actually a tremendous opportunity for the church to show the sacrificial love of Christ and the peace that we have in him. Actually, if you go throughout history, you're going to find that it was during times of various plagues that the church actually became the city on a hill.
Jeffrey Heine:The church actually became the light to the world. Because it was the Christians who stayed behind during these times and loved on those who were affected. They're the ones who cared for the ones that everybody else seem to neglect. And because of this, the church's witness grew. Many came to know Jesus as their Lord and their savior during these times.
Jeffrey Heine:So be a light shining in darkness. Once again, we have before us a great way to tangibly and personally demonstrate the love of Christ to people. Before I end this sermon, I do wanna talk about just practically what you should do with this time now that is before you. Because now for some of you, you've just gained a whole lot of time. You are watching this from home.
Jeffrey Heine:You might now be working from home. Your kids, if you have them, they are not going to be going to school for weeks. Soccer practices have been cancelled. All team activities are cancelled, the gym where you work out is likely closed, or likely will close. There is not a single sporting event for you to even watch on TV right now.
Jeffrey Heine:So you have, you've lost all of these things that, have typically occupied your time, things that have you have gone to to be a distraction for you. You've lost all sense of structure and things that get crazy pretty quick. Our family yesterday, and it was a Saturday and it was just a typical Saturday in which we all usually are home. We found ourselves on edge. We weren't being as patient and as kind with one another as we should be, because we were thinking, oh my goodness.
Jeffrey Heine:We've got weeks of this ahead of us. And we were beginning to feel things unravel. So what are you supposed to do during this time? Well, I would say for starters, do this. Actually, don't do this.
Jeffrey Heine:Don't wake up in the morning, and the first thing you do is open up your computer or look at your phone and read something that is going to shape your world view. Don't let that be the thing that shapes your worldview. That is only going to lead to anxiety. It's only going to lead to fear. Instead, wake up, grab your cup of coffee, and spend time in God's word, and spend time in prayer.
Jeffrey Heine:Be reminded that God is glorious. That God is in control. And then, like the psalmist says in Psalm 112, you will not fear bad news. And take time to ask God's spirit. What would he have for me today?
Jeffrey Heine:As today unfolds, I recognize that everything I'm going to read, everything that is going to happen is happening according to your plan. And you have pre ordained my footsteps. You have given me good works that I should walk in in this day. What is it that you would have me to do? Is there a tangible way today that I could love my neighbor?
Jeffrey Heine:And then listen to God for his direction. And then I would just also add, that you shouldn't use every night as an excuse to just binge watch Netflix. For one, that's gonna get old really quick. And you can fill up your mind with better things. We're always talking about how we don't have time to do this or that, or we'd be a better person if we have more time.
Jeffrey Heine:You have the time. Many of you do. Make the most of that opportunity. If you really need something to do, feel free to come over to my house to help me scrape and paint my house. I will gladly have you over to help me do that.
Jeffrey Heine:We'll still keep our social distancing. I'll even let you do it by yourself if you want. Why stay inside? But take this time to listen to the spirit. Read his word.
Jeffrey Heine:Listen to his direction, and to ask God to show you the tangible ways you can love your neighbor. I love each and every one of you. Once again, I'm grieved that we cannot be together, and we could sit under God's word together, and we could pray, and we could worship together. But I am praying for you. And that this will be a time, that the church shines in the midst of this darkness.
Jeffrey Heine:To close our time together, I actually wanna read to you, one of my favorite questions from the Heidelberg Catechism. Famous, my favorite question and answer from this. And we have said this often as a church, but it is especially wrong, true over the past week or 2. What is your only comfort in life and death? That I am not my own.
Jeffrey Heine:But belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful savior, Jesus Christ. He has paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly father, not a hair can fall from my head. Indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, And makes me heartily, willing, and ready from now on to live for him.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen. Go in peace.