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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 as friends and we reflect a little bit and talk about how to live out what we are learning. Uh, if you haven't seen the sermon yet, that's okay. Drop down to the description and you can find a link to it there. And then come back. And I hope you'll join in on this conversation. My name is Stacey DiNardo, and today I'm joined by Sara Koons, Brent Blake, and Jimmy Kozy. Welcome, guys. Hi. Bringing it this morning. Love it. I'm so excited to jump into this conversation, but thought I would start by asking a question. Okay. So Pastor Joe taught us this week, and Pastor Joe talked about. He's a bike, he's a cyclist. Right. We all know this. And he went in and out of The Valley, like, 14 times, did this thing called, I don't know. Teacup. Yeah, Teacup. Teacup. Yeah. And talked about bonking and, like, of course, incredible feats of athleticism. So thought I would ask you guys, what is your greatest athletic accomplishment? Or not or something funny. If you know Pastor Joe, he will talk about, uh, he likes to work out until he starts to see. He can't see, like. Yeah. So he'll black out. He's on a different level. Okay. Yeah. I've looked at his peloton numbers. It's a little bit alarming. No, don't even look at his peloton numbers. Let's not bring it. It's crazy. It makes me feel. Make everybody feel insecure. So anybody got something? Uh, go ahead, Sarah. You said. I feel pretty insecure. Me, too. So it's okay. I got cut from basketball. Okay. This is a safe place. Safe place. Yeah, I know. Um, no, I think my biggest athletic feat is I ran, uh, the relay and the Akron marathon. Love it. But it was like, my sons, my twin sons were like a year and a half. And I did the seven mile. Wow. And I. And it was. Yeah. Uh, and so I was like. But that's when I was young, I was able to do it. You're still young, Sarah. You are still young. Speaking of, as a fellow parent of twins, I don't even know if I remember what was happening at one and a half, let alone running the air race. That was a fun race, too. Yeah. Great job. It was. Yeah. That's awesome. Okay. That's it. Uh, I had some team sports stuff. Like, I was on a football team that played in the state Semifinals. Back to back years. That was fun. And lost both times. What year in school were you? Uh, I was a junior and senior. My junior and senior. So junior and senior year. What position did you play? I played offensive line, which I'm not that size anymore, but, uh, I was a little bigger back then. Okay. I'm with. I'm refraining right now. Okay. Why are. What are you. No. Well, you're. Yeah. You eat so well. You eat so healthy and. Well, it was different era. It was a different era. Yeah. Different era. A lot of peanut butter. We. Brent, do you have anything? Yeah, I mean, I played sports, but I think, um, my freshman year at Southeastern, uh, we didn't have a football team at the time, but we had intramural football. And we compiled a joke of a team. We called ourselves the Gorillaz. Like the music group with a Z. Oh, yeah. And, like, people would. That's a deep cut, people. Yeah, people would, like, make jerseys and stuff for intramural because this is before we had. They have a football team now, but before. And so we took white T shirts and black markers and just made. We were just making a mockery of it. Like, we would line up on the line backwards and, like, do really ridiculous stuff. And we ended up winning the championship, really? Against the RA team. And I bet there was some RA team who was, like, super into it. And they're like, it was the RA team. And, like, one of them is a pastor in Akron. Now. We still talk about it because. Oh, my. Oh, yeah, that crazy church. Because Brett Blake, it might be in Akron. Marked up T shirt. Might be an assembly of God church in Akron. Okay, got it. Anyway, we would trash talk the entire time. Yes. I was going through some things, and I was a freshman. I'm in. And we stomped them. And it's the great. Trash talk is fun. Trash talk is fun. I don't care what anybody says, especially here in intramural football. Okay, well, first of all, I want to just, like, say this was. Jimmy came up with this idea for the icebreaker. I also once scored 27 points in a men's league basketball game. You wanted to say that. That's why. Exactly. And I also did not really do, like, team sports. So I. I mean, you guys, you'll make fun of me, but I. I do CrossFit now. So at my age, which is 48, doing CrossFit, I'm just going to count that as an athletic accomplishment. Yes, you should be proud of that. I don't do CrossFit. I didn't know you did Crossfit. You never stop it. Don't make fun of me. Okay, let's jump in to uh, just a recap to orient ourselves with what this teaching was about. So, Pastor Joe, this is week two of the I am More, um series again in a year where we're looking at more life rooted in John 10, that scripture where Jesus says, I have come to give you life and life abundantly. Um, so this week we looked at the I am statement, I am the bread of life, where Jesus continues to say, no one who comes to me will be hungry. Great, great passage. Um, and I love though that, you know, Pastor Joe kind of teed it up by talking about the more we obey Jesus, the more we surrender him. That is gonna be the sole place of more life. Um, but then he continued on, uh, in the beginning of his sermon to really talk about something that I wanted to start with. And that is that when we really think about these statements like I am the bread of life, like that's a pretty radical statement. Um, so let's take a look real quick at this clip and then we'll jump into talk about it more. So that's why we are going to be looking primarily at what Jesus says about himself. I find it, uh, fascinating that the vast majority of people, not just in America, but around the world, have a very favorable kind of disposition towards Jesus. Uh, even if they're not Christians. They think Jesus was a good man, that he was a good teacher. And that always kind of surprised me. It makes me wonder whether they have really paid attention to what Jesus said about himself. Because what Jesus says about himself is pretty, uh, wild. Uh, it's kind of over the top. It's a little trump esque, if I may say so. Jesus, that was the riskiest thing I'm going to say tonight. Just so you know, Jesus says stuff like, I am the light of the world, I am the good shepherd, I am the true vine that everyone else your branches, and if you're not connected to me, you're a dead branch. Jesus said that. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. So that got me thinking. He went on to then quote a, uh, C.S. lewis quote that just again really drilled this down further even to say, you know, if you can't believe that Jesus is just this good moral teacher, like it was too, uh, it was polarizing, it was radical what he was saying. So I actually reflecting for myself, I often think of Jesus like, he's so good, he's so wonderful. All he's done for me and not that, you know, how absolutely radical and polarizing it is. And that if I only believe in part of who Jesus is and part of the things that he says, I'm. I'm. I'm not believing at all. So, um, I don't know. I just thought I would start by saying, like, how can we miss Jesus by only seeing part of who he is? By not maybe understanding and really thinking about, um, how extreme and how significant the things were that he was saying. So, Sarah, I don't know if you wanna start things off. I really like that quote that he used from CS Lewis from Mere Christianity. If you boil it down, it's kind of like what he's saying is, hey, you gotta choose. That's right. Either God is God or he's a liar or he's a lunatic. Right? And I think even in that question, it's like, wait, there. He never intended there to be an in between. And I think about. I think about when you, especially when you read the Gospels and you look at the things he was saying to the disciples. Even in the times, the disciples were like, wait, it's like, I come to you not to bring peace, but a sword, or, I am the bread of life. Uh, you will eat my body, drink my blood. I mean, these were very, uh, radical statements to make. And then I think even in the reactions that you see with the Pharisees. That's right, right. When he was. And he never backed away, he didn't say, like, oh, I'm sorry, that that made you uncomfortable, or I'm going to, like, receive this persecution from the Pharisees which ultimately led to his death. He stood firm in that. And I think in the end, he is saying like, I am it. Yeah, I'm the source, right? I am the source of life. This made me think of, uh, there's a concept that Timothy Keller wrote about called the Stepford God. I don't know if it's connects back to the movie the Stepford Wives, where the guys, like, create robot versions of their wives that always do what they want and never disag. And I think, uh, sometimes this made me think of sometimes, both societally and then individually, we do this with Jesus, where we pick and choose the things that we like about him, is like, he's good, he's loving. You know, that's why Pastor Joe says, well, generally in society, people have a positive Jesus. It's because they're not actually considering the totality of who he is. They have created an image of Jesus that actually is just. They've. Instead of being created in Jesus image, they have created Jesus in their own image and assumed that he would agree with all of their worldview. And we also do that, uh, do that as individuals, I think, as well, where it's like, if Jesus doesn't ever disagree with you, then you might want to step back and reconsider whether or not you've taken a close enough look. Yeah, yeah, right. I think it just. It made me think that it's important for us to sometimes take a step back and be like, man, am I really surrendering and looking at all of who Jesus is, um, and just taking that for what it truly means and how that should apply to us. So jumping into the bread of life concept, um, Pastor Joe's points were what you need, where you get it and how you keep it. And he kind of started by saying, we need food on a daily basis to live. Um, but then went on to say, but where can you get food? You actually can get it from anywhere right now. Is it going to fill you up? And that's what we're going to talk about. So I just thought I'd ask, like, where do we go to find food that's not in Jesus? Where do we go? And how does that, like, how does that, um, you know, work for us? Brett, I don't know if you. Yeah, I think, like, for me, uh, it's interesting. I got two kids are middle schoolers. And, um, as a parent, like, the older I get and the older they get, uh, my happiness or my mood or different things around me can be connected on my situation. So my kids a lot of times, or my peace or my financial wellbeing. All of those things, huh? We fill it with all, like, it's almost like you have all these jars, and you just fill it with whatever situational. And I think that's true to this point is. And I think Joe talks about is, like, you can have all of these things, um, and be empty still. That was the woman at the well, like, as Jesus sat with her, and she. He's like, you've had all these different husbands and men, and you've been filling your life with all these things. But I'm sitting here like, I'm. I'm what your soul craves for. And so I think for me recognizing, uh, that. So whether it's how much people like me or how much I have or how well my kids are doing or how I present myself, or, uh, all the, you know, winning flag football intramural Championships or. Seems like you've held onto that one. You've held onto flag football. You know, I'm old, and I just thought, I have a bad knee, so that's all I got. I thought this discussion would just even help people that are listening, like, think the trigger in their minds, like, oh, yeah, what is. What is. Where am I going? That's not. To Jesus. What am I actually trying to satisfy myself with? Yeah, I think it's just important. I think it was a really good point that Pastor Joe said that oftentimes they are good things. Yeah. I think. I think it's easy for us to categorize things and say, well, I'm not a. I'm not abusing a substance, or I'm not having an unhealthy relationship, or I'm not, uh, primarily going after financial gain. But I think to your point, Brent, just, like, even, like, the. The success of my kids or the success of my marriage, like, again, those are not bad things in and of themselves. But what happens is we create those as idols in our lives. Right? They become more important than who God is. And, like, years and years ago, there was this guy who wrote this book, and the title was awesome. It just said, jesus plus nothing equals everything. And I just love that because there is not and Jesus, and it's just Jesus. So I think that's something that we've gotta remember. And I think these I am statements are really important for us to, like, lean into that concept. Yeah. I think when things go wrong, you see it the most in your life. So, like, my kids can be an idol, but when things aren't going good or they're not living in a way I want or something happens, God, uh, will expose that really quickly. Because if it's. If it, like, cripples you or it wavers your faith or whatever. Um, and not just about kids, because there's people who don't have kids. It can be anything. Like, your job's not going good, or you don't have enough money in your account, or you don't. You're stuck in Ohio and it's snowing again. You can tell how close one of those things is to being in the wrong spot by how devastated you feel when it gets threatened. And it's like a daily struggle. Oh, sure. Uh, I was just thinking partly to what you said, Brent, but praise God for what he does in people's lives. But we get to sit often and talk with people who are taking the step to become a member here. And in doing that, over just these last couple of weeks, I've sat with two different people who kind of were sharing their story and got to the point where they're saying, I was trying all this stuff. I was seeking this in relationships. I was seeking this in and partying. I was seeking this. And how many times do we hear that story? Then they're like. And then I realized like, it was empty, right? It's Ecclesiastes. Like we hear that in scripture, right? It's all empty. It's nothing. I think the other subtle one that I would just add is not even subtle. It's just, uh, it's just my own self sufficiency, like my own dependence on myself. And I think we go back to that often in this podcast. Cause when things boil down, it's just I'm relying on myself to fix the things with my kids. I'm relying on myself to try and hold all the things together. And the reality is we can't, we can't control it all. And, um, that can, I don't know, I think oftentimes be the underlying current of what all these things that I'm trying to fill myself up with that is still gonna get me absolutely nowhere. Yeah, yeah. Um, another kind of theme that I don't know if any of you have experienced this. Um, Pastor Joe talked about just kind of the idea of bonking, which really is again, where you're, you've pushed so hard physically that you just are done. Like you're, you're out and you're empty. And the reason he talked about that is saying like, if Jesus is our source and he is our bread of life and he is ultimately what we need, we've got to be filling ourself up with him. But I don't know, uh, is there anything that you guys have experienced where like, man, this got me close and Jesus taught me something in the middle of that or. I don't know, uh, do you have anything that. Yeah, I was thinking about this a lot. I think, you know, maybe to use an analogy, I eat pretty healthy. Um, but every once in a while he does. Very healthy. But every once in a while I'll have junk food. And um, when I work out or try to do something active the next day, I immediately feel it. And I think, uh, uh, it's not that I wasn't eating. It's like I in the same day healthy and I ate unhealthy. I did both. Uh, uh, and I think that, that going back to the previous question, talking about how we, you Know, kind of look to other things other than Jesus for that source of life. I think I, I, I think we tend to think of it as a dichotomy, like either I am pursuing Jesus or I'm pursuing these other things. I think what I found is in my life, when I get close to bonking, so to speak, it's not because I stopped pursuing Jesus necessarily. It's because I continued to do the things that I normally do. But also I allowed a competitor to emerge and I began giving, uh, subtly or without knowing it, begin placing more and more emphasis or significance in whatever that thing is, whether it's career or kids or finances or who knows, and you name it. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. That's a good analogy. Because I just think about, like, even just filling yourself with, I don't know, just if you eat something like, super sugary, and then all of a sudden you crash, like right afterwards. Like, that's the reality is these false things, these things that will not sustain us and what they lead us to. Yeah. I think I, I can pinpoint in an exact moment last week where again, it's like, it kind, it doesn't necessarily creep up on you, but you, as soon as it happens, you're like. Because it, it really shakes kind of like my foundation or whatever. And I, I encountered something where I was like, oh, I'm actually looking for the approval of someone else in this. Yeah. And not the Lord. And it made me feel really uncomfortable. Like I didn't feel confident. I was like, questioning myself in the decision I made. And I realized, well, it's, it wasn't because I was looking to the Lord to be like, hey, yeah, God, is this what you want me to do? I was actually doing it because I was looking for the approval of someone else, and I didn't get it. Yeah. And then I was like, I felt really unsure of myself and uncommon. I'm like, why? What? And then I was like, oh, that's looking at other people. And that's the thing. It's like, it's not like I was actively trying to seek the things of the world. I was just, I slipped, you know, and then I was like, oh, yeah, I don't always know it. Yeah. It's like I will feel out of sorts for it. Did it took me a few days? Yep. And it takes me a little bit of time. And often I have to look back two to three days later and be like, oh, wait, I can now connect the dots exactly. This is what happened. This is how I was placing more significance in that than I should have been. And in the moment I wouldn't know it, I'd just be like, I'm out of sorts, and I'm. Or I'm mad or, like, frustrated. And you haven't really figured that out? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that probably segues into just kind of the last thing I wanted to talk about. Pastor Joe talked about his rhythms with him and Karen and just that they. Oh, I need to look at it now. Debrief daily, date weekly and depart quarterly. Uh, and then related it to just us having a regular connection with the Lord. He. I loved what he said. Even just like, turning off the radio and talking to Jesus in the car. Right. Um, so just I thought I'd ask you guys. And just for everybody listening and just practically speaking, where do we. What does it look like for you to practice these types of things as far as connection with the Lord? Where does it work? Where does it not work? Like, I think we're all different people. And we've talked about this on here. As far as sometimes reading the Bible is hard, but listening is an idea, you know? So just. What. How does this work for you? What do practices look like that might be helpful for others? Anybody want to jump in? Brent? Go for it. It's Brent's turn. Yeah, I think. Uh, so this is actually a new one, like a rhythm in our house. Uh, I wake up in the morning and I make my coffee, and I'm. I'm not a morning person, naturally. I don't know what's going on. I've been waking up really early, and I hate it. It probably is getting old, but I don't like it. I just know I. Men get up early. Well, and I drink my coffee in. In the dark and read the newspaper. But, uh, usually I. In the past, you read the newspaper. I'm sorry. I have my cottage cheese. Uh, but I. Before the kids get up, I usually put on, like, sports center or. And if you watch those things, a lot of times it's them arguing back and forth about sports. And that was, like, my chance to see what's going on. Uh, but the one thing we pray with the kids every night is, like, we'd wake up with joy, and we'd wake up with peace. And the mornings are always stressful. I only have two kids. I don't have a small army like you, Jimmy. But, uh, it's still a lot of work to get out the house and get the pickup. And there seems to be conflict a lot of times. So in the Last probably month, I've been waking up and just putting on worship music on YouTube just to kind of like set the atmosphere in the house. Um, and even on the ride to, you know, and I'm not like, oh, we only wish listen to worship music or whatever, but even on the ride to school, yeah, just having worship music on to just try to like feed that peace that we're praying for. I think a lot of times we want things or we desire things, but we don't feed our souls right things. So we're like, oh, there's nothing wrong with sports. There's nothing wrong with wanting to find out what's going on, but I'm feeding the atmosphere. Uh, yeah. And I think that's helpful learning that in your life of. To Joe's point, it's good thing. Like they're not necessarily bad things, but you're feeding your soul at different moments so you can choose to feed the right thing. And it's actually been really great. I've been watching my kids, like they're singing songs that we don't even sing here at church or whatever, but they've now seen like playing on YouTube and stuff. It's been a really good rhythm for us to help eliminate middle schooler attitude and conflict. Jimmy, Sarah, what do you guys. Anything. I mean, I'm really good at habits, so you know, that, that's. I'm just wired that way. You know, some people are habitual, some are not, and they often marry each other, which we found to be true in my house. Uh, so like, I think for me though it is. I'm gonna show up every morning, right? Because that's just how I'm wired. I think one of the things, a couple of things that have happened recently, I talked about this maybe a couple months ago on this podcast, but, uh, at the beginning of the year I cut off social, uh, media altogether. And uh, I, I really haven't even noticed that like, in terms of what I mean by that is, uh, I don't miss it in, in any meaningful way. And actually I think it's helped me to think more clearly not only in the morning when I'm spending time with Jesus, but throughout the day. It's just one less distraction, variable consider, and one less thing to, to want to look at. And, and obviously the culture on social media is pretty, pretty toxic and bad anyway. But I think, yeah, for me it's, I am very habitual. Um, so I have to be careful that I don't do things simply out of ritual. But, uh, but my habits are, you know, I've moved to listening to the Bible. I found that's easier for me. Just I can throw my AirPods in and be moving around the kitchen in the morning, making coffee or whatever. Uh, and then I, I journal every day. That's one thing I learned a couple of years ago is that. Or almost every day is that, you know, I'm not, I can't just sit down in a chair and pray like m. I'm like, I don't know what to say. If you're moving around, it's going to be 30 seconds and then I'm going to move on to the next thing. But if I can sit down and I write, then I express myself clearly. And I feel like God and I have connected a lot more meaningfully through that. And journaling is a really cool way to like to go back and look at the different things that you had journaled about to see how God has intervened in your life. Okay, I have two things. One, um, something I've started doing on pretty much a daily basis. Um, and I have no problem recommending this. It's called the worship initiative and it's with Shane and Shane and they basically, it's like a 15 minute thing, but they worship and it's singing. And I know some people are like, I don't want to do that. But it really has, it's great. Done something in my heart and I usually do it as I'm walking around the neighborhood. So I know that some of my neighbors are like, what's happening? So you sing along. They always call you out if you're not like, you gotta sing. It's been really meaningful because a lot of times they're just, they really are singing through scripture. Um, so you can just, that's you just go online. If you look up the worship initiative, it's free and you can get on it, subscribe, and they send you a text and they do it five days, five mornings a week. It's really great. Um, the Depart Quarterly, I thought. I don't know. I'm not sure I know how to do that. Yes. And so that's something I was thinking about. Cause I know he talked about coming towards things. He talks about different things we have, which we do have a lot of offerings here. So take advantage of this. But I do think something I don't Quarterly is probably an exaggeration. But I have done is I would take a day, a whole day and try to go somewhere. And I don't even mean like go on A trip. I just mean get out of my house or something and go somewhere where I can spend a few hours really like seeking the Lord and being very intentional and praying. Like even as I'm preparing to go praying, saying like, I know I'm gonna have these few Lord, like guide me, direct me, have some questions. Um, but that is, that was challenging. I was like, wait, how, how would I do that? Well, do any of you do have a rhythm of that? Yeah. The depart court. Not one that I feel like I always tell myself I need to, uh. And I always, I don't. I truly. I don't know how to. So maybe there's accountability. Do you know what I'm saying? She went to a monastery. They're like around here. And you can go like, you can go and say can I have a night in the moment, like stay the night or whatever. Mhm. See, even though, I mean maybe we're going to dovetail into. And we might need to end the podcast. Yeah, we do need to end the podcast. My natural curiosity is like, I don't even know what I would do. I don't know. What do you do? You bring your journal. Okay, well, I mean you bring your journal all day, all day, just sit there and write. Notice I said a few hours. Like for me, I haven't figured. I think it's a baby step. Yeah. And that's like, for me, I think it would be a. Like, like I'm gonna go and take a hike and I'm gonna hike with intentionality for two hours where I'm focusing on the Lord and, and doing that. But yeah, no, you, you guys shared some really wonderful things. I think the. Just to wrap it up, I mean the reality why we're talking about this is if we are not fueling ourself and going to the Lord to sustain us on a regular basis, then we are missing out at the uh, at at best and who knows, you know, what else as far as we could. It could really harm us. So let's just stay connected to him and practical ways to do it. Thanks so much for joining me guys. That was good. Yes. Okay. Thank you. 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. It.