Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
We are a small church plant in Denton, TX. Jesus gave a command: to love one another as he loves us. He goes on to say that "everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." We work to make care for each other, for our city, and for our world the utmost priority in our lives. Love is more than simply a feeling or even a philosophy for us, it is a lifestyle commitment that guides where we live, what we do, how we treat people, and ultimately who we are. This is our church. These are some of our recorded sermons if you'd like to listen.
Your chair. A lot of people are already in their chairs, which is totally cool. So it's a very fixed list of people. My own wife is one of them. Mason is a shrugging sort of bystander.
Joshua:Yeah. He is. He is in the he's like, I'm just beaming Beaming, disobeying the orders. You know? Okay, guys.
Joshua:We've got a few announcements, that we wanna things you need to know about in our community that are going on. And if you're here and you're visiting or you're in dis or you're new or whatever you are, you've been here a few times, we're really glad you're here, and we just want you to feel really welcome. If there's any ways that we can help or questions we can answer, please ask us, me or some of our other leaders. Me, Kurt knows a lot of stuff back there in the Under Armour hat, and Grant's talking today. Yeah.
Joshua:Exactly. So, please don't hesitate. We'd love to help you connect more in our community answer questions you have. So, one of the things we're gonna be talking about today is the, let's do the cohort and, yeah, that thing first. So ways of growing and sort of just leadership in our, community.
Joshua:Our family churches has been doing this thing for a little while, where these are 2 sort of opportunities of growing as a disciple. And so the pastoral cohort is a, a thing where you get to sort of do A, a class combined with sort of a practical element of learning how to lead in churches and how to be a very, very present part of leading in a church community. And so it's it's really cool, but it's more intensive. And so that's really hands on plus some learning from ministers around our family churches. The other thing we have is a college of ministry, which is like a graduate level university course.
Joshua:That's what we've we've really shaped it to, and that's the level that we're trying to but it's really open to anyone who wants to do these. And these both cost money, but they're they're really, really affordable compared to what you might, you know, have to do if you wanted to take just 1 class like a Bible college somewhere around here. And New and Old Testament foundations are things that are offered there. It's really good sort of in-depth about the Old and New Testament, Christian history 101, Christian thought and culture, reconstructing faith, history of evangelicalism, evangelicalism and politics in the These are just a couple of, you know, options of courses that might be offered, this next semester in spring. So what I want you to do if you're in any of these things, is to go to that QR code there because, there's a longer video that explains some of that stuff so you can hear from Brad details about it as well as, they will decide which classes to offer based on the people who are interested in them and which ones they wanna do.
Joshua:And so they're not gonna actually do 6 classes because Brad pretty much, like, oversees all those, and that'll be a lot of work. So, if you're interested in any of these, please go fill that out. You're not, like, actually signing up and ensuring that you must, must do it. But if you're interested, Please go to that QR code and fill out any quick questions I can answer, something I didn't explain very well that's confusing. This would be in the spring, so I think the 1st meeting will be late January.
Joshua:So, yeah, we kind of it kinda tries to operate like a semester kinda deal. Yep. Yep. So, and if you can't do it, your schedule's just too crazy, this will happen again. We'll have this whole conversation again in, like, late May, and that semester will start in July.
Joshua:And so just keep this keep this in your mind. These things are things we wanna offer to help you grow as leaders and grow in your knowledge of scripture and as leaders in our communities and all that stuff. So those things are important to us. Next thing is the there's a grief support group that's really cool that our church in Wiley has started up. And there we go.
Joshua:So, this this is something they've had a lot of fruit from in their church, and they just felt like, we probably should find a way to try to offer this at some of the other churches if they'd like to attend. So if it's something you're kind of interested in, that QR code actually just takes you to a group me. It's not an accident. It's not like an error. Because they don't have, like, a a meeting schedule that's just really We consistent, the one that's that's closer to us because they've been doing it at their own church.
Joshua:They're gonna have certain ones where they meet in Carrollton, where they want anyone who wants to to be able to come. And so the easiest way to be in the know on that stuff, if you're interested in this grief support group, is to just join that GroupMe and keep an An eye on those, messages and stuff, but I do believe that their next one that's in Carrollton that's open to anyone to attend is on The 25th is on there. Nice. Thanks, Courtney. And, and, anyway, it'd be really good for you just to join that if you're interested in it.
Joshua:And I think if we showing up, and we have folks in our church who really wanna be there. They'll wanna do more and more in Carrollton where all a lot of our churches can can attend. So They've placed it there so that Arlington and Denton and other churches can can attend, and it's a little bit more central, and then it's going really well. So we'd want you to know about that, and I think that's a really cool deal if they want to share that with us. So, the next thing are a couple of, well, actually, first yeah.
Joshua:Do we have the breakfast with Grinch slide. Okay. Breakfast with the Grinch. This is nice. So the Martin Luther King Rec center has been doing this event for years, and it was just breakfast with Santa for a while.
Joshua:They added the Grinch in, hugely popular with the kiddos. So, Anyway, this is something we like to help with every year that we possibly can. And so for dudes, instead of having a men's breakfast this this month in December, this is what we are doing instead, but it's also open to anyone to come. So it's not just a dude's only thing, but we go help we basically are the kitchen staff of this event, flipping pancakes, making scrambled eggs and bacon, that kind of stuff. And then so some very, key individuals from our community end up being the Santa and the Grinch as well.
Joshua:And so, you know, what did you say? Who's who? Do do we wanna tell people? We
Question:wanna tell.
Joshua:Or maybe you gotta come to the event to find out. Yeah. I will say if you've ever known one of our folks who has who has played Santa and is was a very big hit with the kids for years and is not here anymore because he's moved. He, I've heard, is planning a return to town, specifically let's just say Santa Claus is coming To town. That's right.
Joshua:Yep. So these are the details we have right now. We don't know exactly I haven't told exactly when they want us to, like, show up and Start flipping pancakes and stuff, but put December 2nd on your calendar. This is a really, really fun event. A lot of students came last time too.
Joshua:It made So fun hanging out in the kitchen and doing stuff, so please don't miss this if you are available on December 2nd. Nope. I did already be clear about that, by the way.
Question:Why does it have to say men's event? But also
Joshua:Because I said instead of our men's breakfast, we're doing this. So we are, Yeah. We are not gonna have a men's breakfast. We are doing this because our only men's event, but we want everyone to come too. So and the dude's like, Alright.
Joshua:Are you? You'll have to see. We'll have to see. Okay. The next thing, can we talk?
Joshua:The mighty networks slide. I'm gonna talk just for a moment about Mighty Networks, which has been the, like, the they our attempt at having sort of a Facebook group outside of Facebook, which, believe it or not, is something that a lot of you guys wanted even though once we told you about it, y'all were like, that sounds lame. So Here's the thing about this. Oh, well, here's sorry. Sorry.
Joshua:I threw that at John last minute. So we had a Facebook group a while ago. And what the cool thing about that is it allows the church to talk to the church. So it's like someone is like, hey. I'm I'm eating you know, I'm free tonight.
Joshua:I'm gonna go eat at Chili's. Anyone wanna come or something like that? Or, hey. I'm doing a board game night, I want people just to come to it. Ethan's been doing those lately.
Joshua:Or, everyone love the chilies example. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Or it's like simple things like, hey.
Joshua:Listen. My I got a flat tire on the corner of wherever wherever. Does anyone happen to be free and available to come help me out? Just stuff like that which allows people to talk to people. We have, like, our men's group meet.
Joshua:We have our women's group meet. But this has been, like, in years past, something helpful to have where anyone can talk to anyone kind of about anything, and also be able to share about announcements and events happening. So we we created this as a way of doing that without having They have different social media accounts that some people have, some people don't, and it's just not like everyone's on the same page with that, which I totally get. But we have not done a really good job of announcing this, And, also, we haven't really done a good job of pushing this, but I will tell you, our Arlington church, they have gone, like, all in on it. And if you ever go into theirs, you can join any of the churches in there and See what's happening.
Joshua:They're, like, posting stuff left and right. They're doing crazy stuff all the time. People are joining in. They're having a blast, and they're making us all look kinda Bad. And also making it look like, man, it would be fun if we were actually taking this seriously.
Joshua:So what I wanna tell you, we don't have to try this forever, but we do wanna keep kinda pushing this and see if It can work and see if it's gonna be valuable to our community. We're not gonna just, like, ride this train forever, but we wanna start pushing it again just to let you guys know about it, let you know what the vision is for the purpose of it, why we think it could be helpful to our community. So that QR code helps you join the thing there. And, and if you need help kind of Navigating it and understanding the structure of it. It does feel to me a lot like how Facebook felt, but also Facebook always changes stuff.
Joshua:So I don't know if it's really, like, the way it really Currently is or the way it was, like, 5 years ago or whatever. But if you need help navigating it and knowing how to join stuff, and the churches and stuff like that on There. Let me know. But all of our churches are on there in varying degrees of, like, engagement. It's also cool to see what the other churches are doing.
Joshua:And, occasionally, someone will post something for everyone, which is like, hey. Focus is having this thing. Anyone can come to it. Like, this alumni night we on Friday night at UTD. Stuff like that, that's really cool to know about across our family of churches, and there's not really another good tool for that that we're aware of at So this is the thing we have at the moment.
Joshua:So that makes sense? Yeah. Cool. Thanks. The last thing is giving.
Joshua:You can give and invest in our church and the ministries that we have and also just division to support college ministry and to make immature disciples here in our town who love and serve and share Jesus. You can do that by giving at the QR code there or on Venmo at Denton North Church. And, without further ado, Grant is gonna come to speak with us. I'm just gonna say Yeah. I'm gonna say a short prayer for Grant as he comes up.
Joshua:Lord, thank you for Grant. Thank you for, just the words you've put on his heart and his mind today. I pray you'd speak through him and help us to listen and hear what you want us to hear and help us continue growing prayer, in your prayer. Amen.
Grant:Amen. Alright. Let me get this thing situated. I'll just put it in my pocket. How about that?
Grant:Got them. Hello, everyone. It's very festive. Make a little bit of room here. Sorry.
Grant:Whoever's gonna come up and move all this stuff back in a minute. I feel like I was not prepared. Alrighty. So hello, everyone. My name is Grant.
Grant:If we haven't met, I'm excited to speak to y'all today. Yeah. So we are talking about listening in prayer as opposed to speaking or trying to at the effects, the results of prayer, that kind of stuff. This is specifically about listening to God in prayer. You might be thinking, wait.
Grant:Isn't that what we did last week? And it is. So Becca did a great job of that in talking about, you know, God being a good shepherd and the sheep know his voice and that kind of stuff. But But this is specifically kind of a q and a thing. So it's not gonna be like a live q and a where there's someone, like, asking me the questions.
Grant:So these are the questions that have been going into the, question box for the last couple weeks, and we've filtered them down to specifically the ones that have to do with listening to God, And that's what we're gonna be talking about today. So I wanted to start by sharing some of my personal journey with this stuff. I don't know where I got this belief from, but when I was coming of age in high school and college, I just kind of assumed that if Christianity is True. Then it should banish all uncertainty and risk and error from my life. Like, if I'm really making contact with heaven, with the Transcendent.
Grant:Then there should be some way to do it where there's not any risk of getting it wrong and having to update my beliefs later. Otherwise, what's the point? I wanted simple rules that were easy to understand and easy to follow that didn't require a lot of discernment, Maturity or community to get it right. And I wanted to be completely protected from some pesky atheist coming along and pointing out a logical Fallacy or some mistake that I had made. You know?
Grant:I grew up in that era of the Internet where there was just an incredible amount of debating Between, like, religious people and atheists. I think I was kind of influenced by that very informational approach. But, yeah, I wanted to build the The brick wall of my knowledge, in a completely linear way. I didn't ever wanna have to, like, reexamine one of the bricks or renovate of the wall. I wanted it to just be adding one thing on another and never having to tear anything down or reevaluate anything.
Grant:And, unfortunately, that just Isn't what Christianity is. That's not what was on offer. But what was on offer was real life Which requires nuance, wisdom, maturity, discernment, and community. So if I could talk to 17 to 25 year old Grant from the past. I would tell him there just aren't any foolproof simple shortcuts.
Grant:But in fact, you need to not be a fool. You need to become wise, and you need to be embedded in wise, healthy Christian community to do so. So as we look at the questions around, listening to the voice of God in prayer. The incessant refrain is gonna be scripture and community, scripture and community, scripture and community. But, unfortunately, just saying those words over and over isn't gonna make us all mature and wise, so we're gonna take a closer look at it along the way.
Grant:So what are our questions that we're gonna be looking at? There's 3 of them that some of them are kinda boiled down and combined, but these were some of the ones that I felt were most important to address. So the first one is why isn't God's voice more obvious and unmistakable? Like, why do we need all this discernment and stuff? If he could make the world however he wants, why isn't it just more clear?
Grant:You know? Second 1 is, what are some scriptures that tell us we can hear voice. And the third one is how do I know if I'm hearing God's voice and not my own or the enemy's? And what questions should I ask To discern if it's his voice. Pretty good questions.
Grant:Right? So the first one, we'll just dive right into it. Why isn't god's voice more obvious and unmistakable? So my first response to this is just to make an observation about the question. This type of question, why why isn't God's voice more obvious and unmistakable, usually comes from a line of thought goes like this.
Grant:If I were God, I would do blah blah blah. Therefore, God would surely also do blah blah blah. And we need to be very wary of that kind of thinking because we're not God. In Isaiah 55, it says, this is God speaking through the prophet. He says, My thoughts are not your thoughts and neither are my ways your ways.
Grant:As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. So turns out his thoughts are so different from ours, we actually can't know them. So that's the end of the story. Just kidding. So I'm gonna answer this question in 2 ways.
Grant:1st, I'm gonna answer it as if it's being asked by Someone who is is not a Christian or is a Christian who is deeply reevaluating the foundations of their faith. And then I'm going to answer it to a Christian in the more normal sense of the word. So answering this the first way, the question is kind of why would god put us in a situation where it's unclear and debatable from our perspective who's telling the truth about him? We've got Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus and Christians and atheists and postmodernists and on and on and on, and it's hard for us to know who to trust and who to believe. And I don't want to be a Christian just because I happen to be born in North America in the 20th century.
Grant:And saying 20th century probably makes me sound kind of old to some of y'all, but was right under the buzzer. If I'm gonna be a Christian, I want to be a Christian because I have good reason to believe in light of the big picture that Jesus reveals the truth about God more deeply and fully than anything or anyone else. If that's not why we're here, then what are we doing here? So in my early twenties, I was really stuck on this question. And in I I didn't know it at the time, but in philosophical terms, it's called the hiddenness of God.
Grant:That's like a technical term. You can go Google to key into the long historical discussion about this. And I think if you want a a Christian answer to this question about the hiddenness of God, I think part of it has to be To remember where we are in the story of history of creation of the world. We believe that there's there's been a fall and that Jesus has acted decisively to rectify that, but he hasn't brought his kingdom fully yet. You know how scientists will people who are, like, real big into geology or stuff like that, they'll talk about, on a geological time scale, humans are just brand new on the scene, and they're like, if if the history of the earth was a 24 hour day, then Humans got here, like, a second and a half ago, and you're like, woah.
Grant:That's so crazy to think about. I think that the Christian story, they call that, like, deep time as opposed to just looking at no normal time James. But I think the Christian story should cause us to ponder the deep future. If the story of the world is a road trip, All that's happened so far in all of human history is we took the the wrong turn out of the driveway, and we haven't even made it out of the neighborhood yet. And when Jesus ushers in the new heaven and new earth and brings the fullness of his kingdom, that's when this story, this road trip is really gonna get going.
Grant:In In light of what is to come, the current world order is not normal or okay or good. And I was really struggling with this when I was a sophomore in college, And I was like, I wanna know what's true. I don't seem to be able to figure it out, but there's this other question coming up, which is what am I gonna do? Because I'm not getting any younger, and I don't wanna just do analysis paralysis my entire life, and then that's what I chose to do. You know?
Grant:So I was really wrestling with that. And I remember When I was a sophomore, sitting outside in the grass with my Kofa, Kevin. Some of you know him. And I remember him asking me or telling me, like, Grant, what you want is if that guy walking over there was Jesus and you could go and talk to him. And I was like, yes.
Grant:You hit the nail on the head. Like, why is he so hidden? And he said, god isn't content with the way the world is right now either. He's working on fixing it, and he's inviting you to join him in that work. And shortly thereafter, because of that conversation and others, I went to Sikkim.
Grant:And while I was there, I was really struck by this verse from Revelation 21 When it's describing this new world order that this is gonna bring in the future, says the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it And the lamb is its lamp. Isn't that beautiful? And then thereafter I noticed other verses that say stuff like that. In Jeremiah 13, it's also brought back up in Hebrews 8. It says, no longer will they teach their neighbor or say to one another, know the Lord, Because they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest.
Grant:And Habakkuk 2 says the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as waters cover the sea. And so as I became more aware of the this part of the biblical story, to put it in childlike terms, the message to me was basically that god is sad too. And the longing and dissatisfaction that I felt suddenly became a point of understanding between me and God rather than a wedge between us. It became something we have in common, and I was like, okay. We can be on the same team about this.
Grant:And so I'm not gonna Go on trying to make a a complete argument to no one in particular that you should become a Christian. It it was it was and has is still a much larger discussion for me and for each of you. But the question is, have you honestly evaluated what you believe in light of the big picture With an open mind and a humble heart. And really what more can you ask of yourself or anyone else than to do that? So I don't I don't know whether sorry.
Grant:If you don't know whether Jesus is lord of your life or you don't know why you call him lord, I I would strongly suggest you give that question your immediate attention. Me and any other Christian would say there's not a more important question for you to figure out about your life. So that's a little bit of a detour, but remember on this question, why isn't God's voice more obvious and unmistakable? And that's what I would say To someone who's asking that from a place of deep questioning and doubt. But if I'm talking to a Christian, and by that I mean someone who has already established for themselves the The authority of Jesus in the Bible.
Grant:And they're asking, well, why isn't God's voice more obvious and unmistakable? The first thing I would say to that is that the most important things God wants to say to us actually are obvious and unmistakable if we're accepting Jesus in the bible. It's just that we don't want to listen, and we've gotten so used to ignoring him that we take ignoring him for granted. God's voice says clearly that we should put off sin, that that we should be humble, that we should ask them for forgiveness, that we should prioritize Christian community and bear with our fellow believers, loving them before ourselves, that we should forgive the people in our lives. Loving our enemies, leaving vengeance to God.
Grant:We should be on it be honest. We should look after the poor and the powerless just to name a few things. And too often what we're saying is, god, I know you've given me many things in scripture that are abundantly Clear. You've given me the tradition of your church, which is the body of Christ. You've given me my local Christian community.
Grant:Creation itself reveals your glory. You've given me the indwelling of your Holy Spirit, and the circumstances of my life as they're laid out before me. And all this is meant to mediate yourself to me in a way that I can handle and that I'm ready for, But what I really need is something else, and I think I need this other stuff. Or worse, we're saying, I've actually already mastered all of that and graduated past it, and I'm ready for the next level. And here's what I think the next level should be.
Grant:But But what if what if he's given you exactly what you need if only you'll accept it? And something you might notice in the way I'm reframing this is that for the Christian, hearing god's voice isn't merely about transferring information into your mind. These are all thing everything I listed are things that we do and that we become, and that means obedience. It's what we do with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Everything we do in our, that's what God wants to speak to, not just tell us whatever we're curious about.
Grant:You know? And that's why Hearing God's voice ultimately requires a surrendered heart. After all, why would God speak to us if we're not going to heed his voice? So, yeah, I would say God has been obvious and unmistakable about the most important things, and let's not take that for granted. Let's have the humility to trust that he has been clear about the things that need to be clear.
Grant:So whatever is clear to you right now, walk in it, And trust that humbly yielding to God and obeying him is what will make anything else clear to you if and when it needs to be. My boy, George McDonald said this really well in a sermon from a few 100 years ago. He said, obey him in the First thing you can think of in which you are not obeying him. We must learn to obey him in everything and so must begin somewhere. Let us begin at once and in the very next thing that lies at the door of our conscience.
Grant:That's the only way you can fit yourselves to understand the mind of Christ. None but he who does right can think right. You cannot know Christ To be right until you do as he does as he tells you to do. So that's our first question done. Knocked it out.
Grant:Why isn't God's voice more obvious and unmistakable? So we're gonna do the second one now, which is gonna be a lot quicker. What are some scriptures that tell us we can hear God's voice? What are some scriptures that tell us we can hear God's voice? Hebrews 1, in The very first verse of that book, it says, in the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in These last days, he has spoken to us by his son.
Grant:I think we're included in that us. He has spoken to us by his son. In John 14/23, speaking of his son, Jesus says, anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. So that's not explicitly about God's voice, but if he's he's coming to us and making his home within us.
Grant:It's kind of hard to imagine that with no communication at the same time. You know? Especially when he says stuff like Becca Brought so much attention to last week, my sheep know my voice. And then Paul in first Corinthians well, In Isaiah 40, it it asks the question, who has known the mind of the lord so as to instruct him? And then Paul answers that question in 1st Corinthians.
Grant:He says, we have the mind of Christ. So there's this tension. His thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways, but we also have the mind of Christ. There's kind of a paradox there. In in Philippians 1, Paul is he says what his he writes down his prayer for the Philippians, and it's, that their love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight So that they may be able to discern what is best, that can be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.
Grant:We sing that. I don't know if you noticed, But that's one of our songs, and it says, so that you may be able to discern what is best. We actually can discern this stuff. In Romans 12, it says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what god's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Grant:Paul seems very convinced that we can do this. Like, we can be successful at it. And so that's a very brief sampling and much, much more could be said about it, but I think that makes the point. We can hear God's voice. But that kind of leads into this next question.
Grant:How do I know if I'm hearing god's voice and not my own or the enemy's? And what questions should I ask to discern if it's his voice? How do I know if I'm hearing my, hearing God's voice and not my own or the enemy's? And I I want to acknowledge first that this is a emotionally and historically loaded question. We all come from different perspectives on this.
Grant:Maybe some of you have had very formative and sweet experiences where you believe you've heard God's voice, and you don't want me to problematize that And make you question it and pick it apart and make it too complicated to where we can't believe that God says anything to us personally. Or maybe you've been burned by people taking the lord's name in vain, and you've had to work through a faith crisis or two as a result. And you're very concerned about People not discerning these things properly. Or maybe you just know a little bit about history and you know how much harm has come from Christians who think they're listening to God's voice, but then you can look at the fruit that it bore a 100 years later and be like, oh, something went really wrong there. We need to be careful.
Grant:So no matter where you're coming from, I want you to know that I enter into this question with fear and trembling. I don't want to leave the door wide open where it's like any old thought or feeling, we can say that's from God. And I don't want to slam it shut to where we basically become deists who don't believe that God is is with us as a good shepherd and as a good father. I think the wisdom is somewhere in the middle. And to all that I say, scripture and community.
Grant:Scripture and community. Scripture and community. We cannot do without these things. So Let's say you a certain thought comes into your mind or you feel a a feeling out of nowhere or you have a sensation in your body or the circumstances of your life really get your attention or someone in your life speaks to you or you feel prompted to do something, how do we know If that's god's voice or not. I think the answer to that is scripture and community.
Grant:When Ian Pravam was down here recently he said too many Christians think they can claim Jesus as lord of their lives and yet not take his reading recommendations seriously. And so what he means is, you know, Jesus takes the Old Testament as authoritative. He's very clear about that. And then the people that he entrusted his ministry to First hand wrote the New Testament. So if Jesus is our Lord, we need to take the Bible's authority seriously the same way he did, and the same way he tells us to.
Grant:But it's possible to be biblical and wrong. Do y'all still say that in focus? That used to be an axiom. Okay. Yeah.
Grant:It's possible to be biblical and wrong. The devil himself quoted scripture to Jesus to tempt him to sin. So just because, you know, you have your your thought or your feeling or whatever and you You can make some connection to scripture. That doesn't mean that it's a good one or that it's that you're doing it correctly. So how do we know if we're doing it right?
Grant:What does it mean for the Bible to be authoritative, especially when the vast majority of it is stories, Narratives. How can a story be authoritative? You can look at something like Thou shall not commit adultery, and it's pretty clear how that can be authoritative. It's like, yeah. I need to not do that.
Grant:I understand. But imagine if your parents said to you when you were a kid, okay. Here's my instruction for you today. Once upon a time, blah blah blah blah blah, the end. Now make sure you follow that story today.
Grant:You'd be left saying, how can that story be an authority for me to follow today. And that would be a good question because that's basically what God has done for us with the Bible. And here's an analogy that helps answer that question. This is I I heard it from n t Wright. I don't know if it was if he, like, made it up or whatever.
Grant:But it's a it's an analogy that has to do with Shakespeare. And so Shakespeare plays have 5 acts. And now now we're entering into the hypothetical. They actually do have 5 acts. That's like how they work.
Grant:Five chunks of the story. So suppose that there was a Shakespeare play where the 4th act was lost to history. And suppose that there was a group of Shakespeare scholars, People who have dedicated their lives to understanding Shakespeare and poring over his plays and understanding how he thinks. And they decided to get together and improvise the 4th act. And they take a year to deeply study this play, to think about all the the plot lines and the characters and all this stuff.
Grant:And then they get in their costumes and they dress up as the characters and they go on stage and they're acting out the missing 4th act. The first thing to notice is they could they could do a good job. They could do it in a way that's very faithful to the play and that if Shakespeare saw them perform it, he would be like, yes. You nailed That was perfect. But also there could be good reasons for them to to say, like, pause, cut, wait a second.
Grant:What you just did, that completely contradicts the momentum of the first 3 acts of the play. Or that's totally not what that character character would do. Why would he have changed his mind about everything? We need to explain that. Or given where we left off in act 3 and where we pick up in act 5, That doesn't make any sense.
Grant:You can't kill that guy off. He's in act 5. You know, there will be ways that you can sort of referee the way it's going down. But there's also this element of, like, improvisation and, kind of acting it out. And I'm convinced that this is a very good metaphor For how we can and should submit to the Bible's authority.
Grant:So whenever you have you you're wondering like, well, okay, I'm supposed to look to scripture to know how to interpret my circumstances or my thoughts and to know what's from God. How do I do it well? How do it without attributing the wrong things to God? Well, it's our turn to act out our part in that story, and we need to do it faithfully and in a way that's consistent with what came before and with where we're headed. They're already in the not yet, kind of.
Grant:And so we need to know the story of the bible. Jesus models this a very similar approach in Matthew 19. The Pharisees come to him. I'm gonna, like, paraphrase this, they say, hey. Can a man divorce his wife for any and every reason?
Grant:After all, it says in the law of Moses that a man can divorce his wife. And the way that Jesus answered this is a very good example. It's worth going and looking more closely at in Matthew 19. He says, He's very attentive to the entire story, especially the creation story at the beginning of Genesis and God's intentions for it. And he says, well, yeah, there's that law in there about divorce, but but God gave you that because of the hardness of your hearts.
Grant:That wasn't his his intention. That's not where the momentum of this story is going. What God really wants is for husbands to be loyal to their wives and not Just divorced them because they got old or cooked a bad meal or something, which is seriously what that discussion was about for any and every reason. And those were examples The rabbis were giving back then. And so, obviously, I'm paraphrasing, but it's a very interesting example of Jesus having a an approach like this.
Grant:He didn't just go find some, Oh, yeah. It says we can do divorces, so whatever. He's looking at the big story and the intentions behind it. And I think the letters that we have in the New Testament are they're just artifacts from people who were doing this. They they were working it all out.
Grant:They were thinking, okay. In light of everything we know From the Hebrew scriptures and everything that just went down with Jesus, how do we do this right in our circumstances? And now it's it's our turn to do that for our And so this has been kind of abstract, but I'm bringing the plane down now. Healthy Christian community needs to have easy access To people whose mind and imagination have been soaked in the Bible. And we need each of you To be those people.
Grant:Josh and Leslie can't do that for all of us. We all need to be on this journey of going deeper and deeper into the Bible. Like they say in Bible project videos, they they say that the Bible is meditation literature, which means it's designed assuming that you're gonna read it over and over and over throughout your life. There will be things in the beginning of a book that don't make any sense until you've read the end of the books. So they're assuming you're going to take another pass and think about it more and more and more.
Grant:That's how the bible gives its treasures. That's how you come to notice the important connections, and that's how you come to grasp the story and understand your place So if you've been immersing yourself in the bible and you have older, wiser people who have been doing that for longer than you, then When a thought comes into your mind or you have a feeling or a sensation in your body or someone speaks to you or the circumstances of your life get your attention, You'll be much better equipped to discern if it's God's voice and what he might be saying. Scripture, community. Scripture, community. Scripture, community.
Grant:And so the 2nd part of this question is like, okay. Well, what what questions should I ask to discern if it's his voice? And the one I just spent a lot of time talking about is How does this fit into the big picture story of the bible? Another one would be, is this leading me through humility and repentance or Or around them. Seems like so often whenever some kind of spiritual deception comes to people, It comes with, like, man, you are you are just crushing it.
Grant:You are such a good guy. Like, that kind of stuff. And but Jesus says things more like repent, which is not a one time thing. That's a everyday thing, and take up your cross daily. And so Jesus' voice is probably gonna have an element of that.
Grant:And then and, I think a part of this is, Do you think the same Jesus who says to get the plank out of your own eye is talking to you all day about the specs in other people's eyes? I think most often when when the voice of God is coming to us, it's it's not gonna be like, well, here's everything that everyone else is doing wrong that they don't realize. It's gonna be a lot more about, like, hey. Here's here's what you need to do. Here's what you can actually do something about within yourself.
Grant:Another question is, is this leading me into the fruit of the spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, Faithfulness, gentleness, self control. I think God's voice will lead us in those kind of ways. And sometimes indirectly. I don't want to be too simple about that because if you take, like, the lament Psalms, for example, they they get themselves pretty riled up with how how outraged they are at an injustice or things like that or how how broken they are.
Grant:And then they go through that to a place of peace and joy and things like that. So I don't want to be too simple about that. Like, oh, you're not being nice, so you can't say that. You know? Another one is does this resonate with God's character in the bible, Which is revealed most clearly by Jesus in the gospels.
Grant:So yeah. Those are some good questions to discern if if what you're hearing or feeling or seeing or whatever is is a this guide getting through to you. So in conclusion, if I could talk to well, 17 to 25 year old Grant had to get over the fact that there's no simple, foolproof Proof way to discern God's voice. We must not be fools. We need to become wise and mature.
Grant:There's no way around that really. And the way to do that is by immersing ourselves in scripture, and we can't do it alone. We were never meant to. We need to do this as a community with the older and wiser ones helping the younger And so those are the 3 questions I try to get some thoughts on. And I don't know if I just need a little bit more thrill in Wife or what?
Grant:But I kinda wanna do the thing Brad does and let y'all ask me questions, and I'll try to answer them in real time. If we have time for that, do we? Okay. Cool. So I I guess I should have told you that we might be doing that, but if we could do the microphone and stuff.
Grant:But, yeah, if yeah. Go right ahead. I guess I saw Clarissa, but probably Probably wait for the mic, I guess. I don't know. And I reserve the right to just sit here stupidly and be like, I don't know right now.
Grant:I'll have to get back to you. These could be questions about anything I just said or about listening in general. But I have a question.
Question:Okay. So you mentioned at the very beginning this sense of, like, okay. My dissatisfaction Like, Sense of almost like grieving the the state of the world, whatever, are things I have in common with God, Not points of contention between me and God, and I love that perspective. But what I struggle with sometimes, and I wanna know how you think about it, is, like, what do I where do I go from There. Like, with the sense of, like, alright.
Question:Well, we're me and God are both real sad and mad. How do you feel like you've heard from God on where to take what to do with those feelings of dissatisfaction And sort of grievances with the world, knowing he shares them too.
Grant:Mhmm.
Question:Have you found peace in anything you've heard from God or scripture on What to do with those feelings?
Grant:That's a great question.
Question:Thank you so much.
Grant:Yeah. I do feel like, in a way, all I can really do is report on my, like, Subjective experience, but I do feel At peace about it in a way. Like, I feel like it's not like God is just like, man, this stuff And that's and that's the extent of what he has to say about it. But he's entered into human history, and he's promised what he's gonna do in the future and things like that. And placing it within that frame, I have hope, and that gives me some measure of peace.
Grant:I think about the serenity prayer. It says, Accepting as Jesus did this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it, and accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.
Question:So the last
Grant:Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace. Yeah. I don't know. I was talking to a friend recently who Has just really been through the wringer and is just struggling with, like, feeling the like, whenever there's so much extra suffering in life than he's used to, Just like, man, what are we doing here? Like, I hate this.
Grant:And, I I wasn't really sure what to say to him, and I was like, I I could tell you the things that you've already heard, but I think you need God to speak that into your heart in a way that only he can. And it sounds like you're waiting on him to do that. And so I'll I'll join you in praying that he'll do that. You know? So I don't know.
Grant:That's all I really got. That's question.
Question:I actually kinda wanted to talk a little bit about that. I recently gave a little bit of advice to a friend of mine. He's like 18, and he just started dating this girl he really liked. And he's one of those guys that's just extremely nervous and has no idea what he's doing. So he was, like, Had this overwhelming amount of anxiety and, like, nerves that he, like, couldn't handle, and so it was coming out really awkward.
Question:And my advice to him was to, like, you like, use that energy. Like, to not just see it as a burden, but to see it as Something that, you know, God has programmed your body to be able to use. And I think that, like, what came to mind is, first of all, yeah, I think our first reaction should always be to humbly submit to god whatever we're experiencing. So 1st and foremost, we should be able to trust him and not have to work out our own peace in the world. But I think that In our day and age, like, there's so much energy for and anxiety about the chaos and brokenness of the world Mhmm.
Question:That I think that A healthy way to manage that is to actually physically do something about it and Build schedules and build routines into your life where you actually work towards, whatever that Dissonances that you feel in your heart. Like, If you feel dissonance about the peace in the Middle East or the the unrest in the Middle East, then do something about the unrest, like, In your family or in the city or, you know, online in the Middle East or about the Middle East, do active prayer and, like, invite other people into it. Like, Dude, like, I I'm a very action oriented kind of person. I'm ADD. I gotta be, like, moving and doing stuff.
Question:So that's that's a lot of How I kind of think about that.
Grant:Mhmm. Yeah. I don't I don't have a lot to add to that. I think that's advice. It's like figuring out something you can do and something you can channel it that into.
Grant:I think that's great.
Question:I was just gonna add. I don't know. I can't remember where I heard this, but just, things that you can be praying for is, like, god, I feel overwhelmed with what's going on, but can you and I don't see working can you open my eyes to see the ways that you are?
Grant:Can you tell me when we need to stop? Yeah. Okay. I
Question:was just wondering if you could speak a little bit on, like, how to discern God's voice for the calling and purposes that he he has on our individual lives.
Grant:When I was in high school, I had this mentor. His name was Joe. He was, like, the interim youth pastor, and then he had to leave. And then I was like, man, I wish I could find someone to, like, meet up with me the way that he was. And there was this ancient dude at church, John Crotty.
Grant:He's still around. I went back home and I talked to him, and I asked how he's been. And he's like, good. I've only died twice. And I was like, sorry.
Grant:What? He had, like, Gone under and been resuscitated after, like, way too long, but he was alright. And so this is a dude who's seen some stuff. But I asked him if he could kind of mentor me, or I asked someone else, and they're like, hey. Well, John would be great.
Grant:And so what he did was he, He went through this book with me called decision making and the will of God, and it was really good. And it Kind of just it was like a huge Bible study and just went through and gave all these examples where, based on the way that The the apostles made decisions or the advice that's given. He argued that God's will is not a dot that we have to find and stand on, but it's like a way of going through life with wisdom, Which makes a lot of sense with, the kind of stuff that Ian Proven was down here talking about if you're at Focus. Like, God created us to be Priests and co rulers with him of creation, and he wants to, like, delegate responsibility to us. So all that to say, I think We're not necessarily listening for a a specific exact command, but maybe there's things that I think we have a lot of freedom and latitude In in general, that would be the normal thing, and then sometimes there's an exception where God says do this exact thing.
Grant:But one of the things in our the practicing the way curriculum that we're using in small groups that said that the that our Emotions and feelings can be part of how God speaks to us. And so if you're feeling like, one of the thing for me recently was, like, man, I'm feeling a lot more excited about Getting to, like, pray for people about stuff that they have going on in their life. Like, I feel like I have more faith that that is worthwhile and that it will make a difference and that I wanna be a part of it. And that's like a feeling that I had. And then with everything I said about looking at the scriptures and how does that fit into the story, I'm like, I think that's from God.
Grant:I don't think the devil is saying, like, Grant, you should Pray for people more. And so if you're having a feeling about doing something that is, good and godly and brings his kingdom into the earth more so. I think those are good signs. And even if there's a lot of your own Personal experience or feelings or things, like, things people have said to you, where you came from that feed into that, I think that can still be from God. And the big question is, like, is this Does this resonate with scripture and the story and all that?
Grant:And then if so, like, why not give it a go kinda? But I guess the the tricky thing is that You could probably think of 10 things that do that that you could all do. And so how do you choose? And I don't really know. So those are some thoughts.
Grant:We're done? Okay. Cool. Yeah. I guess worship people can come back up, and we're gonna do one more