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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 to. To talk a little bit, reflect, and to figure out how to live out what it is we are learning. This week is a special week once again that we are recording this live after our 7:30 service on Thursday night. That's right. There it is. Love that. Thank you. So glad. I knew we'd get applause eventually. It's just a matter of time. So what did you say? It's your pastor. It was a matter of time. That was all a matter of time. Matter of time. I was like, what? Um, my name's Stacey, and I am joined today. We've got Pastor Joe Coffey with us, Pastor Jimmy Kozy and Pastor Jamie Hewitt. Most of that's for Jamie. Look at that. There we go. So, so glad that we're here. We're gonna open things up. And Pastor Joe, you might be a little bit upset, but I changed things for our opener. Okay, you got it. But we've got this. We got this. You talked about the show 24. Really good show. And it made me think, what is a show that you have binge watched, that we've each been binge watched or it's our binge watch. It's our. Go to most recent, uh, Terminal List and then Terminal List, Dark Wolf off of Amazon Prime. Dark Wolf, Chris Pratt, and then I don't know the actor's name, but Riggins from Friday Night Lights. So Riggins and Chris Bratt is all you need in life. Yeah. Uh, I think Emily and I have watched through the office 20 times. Yeah. You know the Office you do love. I can quote it from end to end, pretty much. I'm not gonna try that. Could be another podcast. That'd be a long podcast. We could do that. I can't. I'll go. I think. I don't. I'm not a huge TV person, but the Pit has been a recent one. What is the premise of the Pit? Really good. Uh, hospital show. So thank you. I couldn't even get through episode one. Come on. No, I didn't like it. It's so good. Sorry. It's really good. Season two's out now. I don't even think it's fully out yet. I should. If I binge it, I should. Yes. How many seasons of 24 are there? That's what I want to know. 8. Because my wife and I've talked about this. Like, I've never watched it. Never Watched it. Never watched. I think watch 24. Huh? That's. I know what you're doing tonight. Yeah. How did you know to use it in your sermon? Well, it hit me. The Internet. Like, I know about the show, so I. So then I had to, uh, Google it. That's how I know there are eight seasons. Yeah. Yeah. I just think, like, if you've ever watched 24, the fact that he has eight days in his life that contain all those, what are the odds? Uh, bro, you need to retire. What are the yards in one hour is more than I will do in my life. And there's always a traitor. Yeah, it's usually. Yeah. Okay. His daughter gets kidnapped. Do you have anything that. I mean, West Wing, we. We were trying to go through West Wing. Still working our way through it, but yeah. Okay. Okay. We are currently watching West Wing. My wife and I, though, show off. Look at that. Okay, well, that wasn't trying to one up. We also watch stuff like, uh, there's a show called High Potential that my wife and I watch. High Potential? What's that? It's like a detective show. Yeah, Potential. Now we've got a new few shows to go and watch. Okay, well, this is the final week of, um, the I Am More series where we've walked through, uh, a lot of the I Am statements in the book of John. And again, in looking and in keeping with the theme of more life for this year. So, Pastor Joe, you taught on John 20 verses 30 and 31. I'm going to read this passage where it says, now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name. Uh, and you walked through three points where you said what you can know, what you can believe, and what you can expect. Uh, really great in thinking about this. The fact that the book of John, 22 pages in your Bible. Uh, that 20 pages in the Bible. In the pew. In The Pew Bible, 20 page. So even. There you go. And that in those 20 pages, John is contained enough so that we can believe. So I wanted to start off just by pointing out that, you know, that was a big point that you make. It said, hey, in this book, this contains what you need to believe. So what would you say to someone that struggles in seeing the Bible as enough? Okay. You guys have anything? Yeah, I got some stuff. Jimmy, start us off. Jimmy, I just preached the whole sermon. Yeah, he Said what he came here to say he's done. Yeah. Um, actually this is one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible, the end of the, of John. Because it always makes me chuckle a little bit because he's like, hey, listen, I could write down everything Jesus did. It's like, oh, he ate a meal and he went to the bathroom. He's like, you don't understand. I didn't need to write down everything he did. I wrote down things for a reason. I think that's what, um, was most impactful to me about this is just the realization that, uh, at its core, the Bible is not, it's not, ah, a history textbook, it's not a science textbook. It is a communication and it's been curated as such. And so you look at the Book of John and it's uh. I know not every event that Jesus participated in is included, but he says at the end he told us these things so that we might believe that Jesus is the son of God. I think that's a good way to think about the Bible is not necessarily as like a, uh, you know, a moral book, book of morals. Book of what? It's a, it is a communication from God to reveal himself to us so that we might believe in Jesus. I mentioned this to somebody earlier today, I think to Joe, but I just read this recently that I saw that, you know what if I'm somebody that just wishes God would speak to me like he did in the Old Testament. And then the response to that was, well, I bet the people in the Old Testament wished that God had given them his word in writing that they could refer back to all of the time. And I know that impacted me to go like, oh, uh, yeah, I sometimes don't look at God's word as being, being that complete and the voice of God and all this instruction. At the beginning of the Book of Hebrews, the writer says, long ago God spoke to us by prophets, and in many times and in many ways. But then it says, but now he has spoken through his Son. And that's what the Book of John is. I remember being in college and listening to a sermon from a pastor, and he was recounting a time when God had spoken to him. And he's telling this story and it's about eight minutes in that he says, and this was, uh, in Psalm 67 and he was saying, hey, the other morning I was reading my Bible and it was God actually, he was speaking to me. But for like the first eight minutes of this sermon, I'm just like, oh, my gosh. Like, God said that to you, like, how amazing is this? And then just how easy it is for us to take for granted, uh, that God has spoken to us powerfully. Clearly, he's given us everything, everything that we need to know to know him and be saved. Yeah. But as an aside to that, just something you said made me think, like, if you do feel like God is speaking to you, um, one of the most important things you can do is, is take whatever it is that you feel like God might be saying to you and run it through the Bible, run it up against scripture to see, uh, what the Bible has to say about that particular issue. Because that is something I've seen. You know, people maybe misuse the name of God in that way by saying, God told me this is what's going to happen, or God told me this is what I should do. But if. Then what that person is saying is completely contradictory to what the Bible says or what he's already said. You should always look at what God has already said first in Scripture. I think I'd always be asking too, if somebody says that, what exactly is it they think they are struggling with? Because sometimes what people say and what is true are two different things. You have to dig a little bit. So sometimes people have a lifestyle they don't want to give up. And so they're saying, I don't believe because of this. Or. So, yeah, I struggle with God's word being enough because I don't want to give up this thing in my life. Yeah. Okay, let's move on. Another point that you touched on was just about our faith being personal. I think it was when you were saying, you go out there and people say, oh, since you're a minister. My grandpa was a minister. Yeah. Um, so what are indicators for somebody's life that they have made their faith personal? Personal. They're not relying on their family's faith. They're not relying on just the reality. I go to church every week, and that's enough. But how do I know and what would be indicators of that? I feel like the thing that comes to mind for me is transformation. I think if you read through the Gospels, people who encounter Jesus and do not reject him are always changed and transformed. And so if somebody know. Has. Has had that encounter, your life is going to begin to change and transform in. In probably ways that you weren't even expecting. So that's. It's almost like, well, the way, you know, you have a relationship with anybody is if you're willing to Allow their presence in your life or their influence on you to. To change you. And so if you aren't willing. If I'm not willing to allow Jesus to inform my behavior, my worldview, my thought patterns, then it's hard for me to argue that I have any kind of personal faith, because the Bible makes it pretty clear that the nature of our faith is. It is a relationship with Jesus. And so to have a relationship with somebody is to give them that right. Both really good answers. Good job. Um, great job. We did it. Don't leave me hanging. I do. Don't leave them hanging. Oh, sorry. I knew I was on this podcast for a reason. Got fist bumps going on. I love it. Okay, um, so Pastor Joe, you had a quote, and I'm going to read this because it really impacted me. Um, and this is what I said. If Jesus is the Son of God, then he has complete authority. He always knows what is best. And that means he reveals also. He reveals God perfectly. His death has infinite value. And it means that rejecting him is not disagreement. It is rebellion. And trusting him is not just belief. It is coming home. Um, that struck me and was really powerful and made me think about the question of just saying, man, what are ways that we take Jesus too lightly, don't make enough of him in our lives. Where can we get that wrong? And then in so doing, miss out on all that we can have in Jesus? Joe, do you have anything for this? Thanks. I think it's, uh. I think all of us take Jesus too lightly. Um, to me, I write out my sermons. So when I was writing that, um, I think about myself before I think about anybody else. And I just think that Jesus knows best for everything. I just need to remind myself, if he is the Son of God, then, uh, anytime I don't obey him, it is rebellion. The coming home thing was good for me because I have. Where I, um, have my quiet time. There's a little drawing. Actually, Jimmy's wife gave it to me, and it's of the prodigal son running, or the father running to the Son. And I always think, um, that's my relationship with Jesus. If I think of that, if I think every time I obey Him, I'm coming home, I want to be home. So, um, yeah, for me, it's a lot of, like, I think I'm going to. There's a sermon coming up. The whole forgiveness of Jesus is just the beginning. It's just scratching the surface. He came to bring a kingdom, and a kingdom in my life that will actually change Everything about me, that's what I want. I think, uh, one of the things that came to mind for me with this particular question is kind of the dual role that Jesus plays in our life of, uh, both Savior and Lord. And I think that, um, it's. You know, the Bible says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. I think that Savior role is a lot easier for us to embrace than that Lord role. But I think it's pretty clear that those two things come together. So, you know, I think you can't say, hey, I'm going to embrace Jesus like the Savior, one is easy to think about because I'm a sinner. I'm going to go to heaven. I'm going to. But, like, actually, the Lord role is just. It's Jesus saying, I have things to say about how you're going to live, how you should live, what's good for you, what's best, what will lead to life and flourishing and so on and so forth. I think it's way easier for us to embrace. Hey, I need saved from my sin. I need, you know, to spend eternity in heaven. That's what I want. Without thinking about, oh, uh, but what that means is if. If Jesus is who he says he is, then I should be listening to what he has to say about all areas of my life and not just my eternal destination. Yeah. Yeah. Jamie, are you going to say something? You don't have to. I was thinking of the. You were never just disagreeing. We're in rebellion. And in some sense, my own tendency to want to find a comfortable middle ground where I can kind of have my cake and eat it too, and do what I want while saying that I'm following Jesus. And Jesus does not allow that. He is saying, I am the way, the truth, the life. I am, um, the only way to rescue and that is available for you if you want that. But the only way to have that is in me. And just that confronts my desire to find a way to be in control. It's kind of the thing I have to be convinced of, though, that, like you said, uh, deep down you want to have your cake and eat it too. And the promise of Jesus is that there's more than you ever could. More than. So that would be robbing yourself of what is really, really great. Great. And I think. I think the same way. I think, yeah, uh, sin is having and having forgiveness. It's like having my cake and eating it's uh, not right. It's CS Lewis saying, we're content to sit in the ditch and play with mud pies while we've been invited to this holiday or vacation by the sea. We think that this is better, and we want to find a way to be, I don't know, incompletely obedient. But we miss out. Yeah. And that's part of what hit me with, uh, when I was thinking about John at the end of his life, and his life was full of all kinds of suffering. But he's saying, I've experienced life the way it should be. That's what made me think of the flux capacitor and all that. But I would love to have that. I mean, having my cake and eating it, too keeps me from experiencing real life, taking all circumstances and making it into something that I. Or letting Jesus make it into something that is fullness. So we're gonna get to the flux capacitor now, moving in that direction. I'm ready. Uh, that was a really, really amazing illustration. One that really struck me about chasing after Zoe and just that fullness of life and what that can look like. Um, I was gonna unpack a little bit here, but you kind of talked about there being two ways to experience that. Right. Chasing after these slivers of perfect moments. M. That. That really, we all know, don't amount to much at all. Or letting us, like, having change deep in our soul, because God is able to convert everything into our life, into Zoe, into that fullness. The difficult things, the beautiful things, it reminded me, and I just wanted to spring more because I feel like this. This is for sometimes the most impactful. One of the most impactful ways I'm. I can see my Christian walk is when I see people that walk through incredibly difficult things. And, you know, it's only because of God. Recently, uh, we were honored to be able to, uh, support a family that was walking through grief and the loss of, um, a husband and a father and Pastor Joe, you did the funeral, and it was amazing. But that was a situation I just. I actually went and I did pull what the wife had put on Facebook. So she's lost her husband very young, had cancer. And again, her testimony and just connection and just pointing to Christ through all of it was amazing. And she just recently wrote this. So many of you have commented on my strength, and you just have to know this is Christ in me, equipping me for these days. And she went on to say, when we walk with God, he does the work in us and the Holy Spirit causes us to bear fruit. Not my doing. It's all him. And, uh, yeah, we could probably. And I'd like us to say, how do we see people in our lives? Where is the beauty of that, the converting of anything that happens into our life into a beautiful thing because of Jesus and because of the hope we have in Him. Yeah. I think we are all drawn to people who have a resilience and a strength and a beauty that flows out of them all the time. Um, and I think we are also, uh, we notice when people are easily crushed, you know, when there's a weakness in them and they need everything to be just so. Um, and I think the people that are the most resilient people the world has ever known are followers of Jesus. If you go throughout history, uh, and being able to be a pastor for as long as I have and being able to see some of those people has, uh, been an amazing thing. Yeah. I think. And, you know, it's where that comes from is that the. At the basis of the worldview of a follower of Jesus is that even the worst possible thing can and will be redeemed for the glory of God and for the good of his people. Which is why when somebody walks through what that woman you're describing walks through, um, they can post things like that. And they're not being disingenuous. They're not being, you know, perfunctory or performative on the Internet. They are genuinely saying, I have grown closer to Jesus because of the way that he's shown up. And we know that, you know, that we know he shows up because we can look back at the cross where he showed up once and for all, for all of us. And that, I think that's where the resilience comes from is just that knowledge that, like, at the end of the day, when all is said and done, Jesus wins out, the cross is there, and we spend our eternity with Him. So whatever may come this way, I'm guessing there were days in that journey where she did not want to post things like that, but that's where it comes from. Yeah. What was interesting is I went to see Paul in the hospital on Wednesday. He died on a Sunday. And when I left, it was obvious Susie, his wife, was still praying that he would be healed. And I remember thinking, man, I wonder what's going to happen if God doesn't heal Paul. And when Paul died, Susie was like, that's part of the thing of saying Jesus is the son of God. That's right. So she was like, he's got it. He's the Son of God. I'm going to trust him. He's my savior. He's my redeemer. I'm going to trust him. And that was what was remarkable. Because I waited to see, you know, uh, because she had made. When you're praying for somebody to be healed, you don't make plans and say, hey, just in case you don't, can we start to plan your funeral? So it hit all at once, for those of you who don't know. Like, Susie was also nine months pregnant at the time, and she is due any minute. But, uh, so it was just a wild time. But to watch her trust was. But time and time again, breathtaking. Yeah, it is absolutely breathtaking. But I know I can think of other people are on the good side of cancer, so they've come out of having cancer and say, man, I miss the intimacy I had with God because of what he showed me in those darkest and most difficult times. And so it is. I love thinking about the fact that the change that happens in us because of God, that converts the difficult, the hard, but the beautiful too, into seeing more of him. I think that's the beauty of who Jesus is, that he came to us. Whereas maybe in another worldview, uh, if you're experiencing suffering, the logic of that worldview would tell you you need to assume that it's because you deserve it. What Jesus says is, actually, I come, I join you. I suffer for you. Yeah. And so that someday you may be given a life that has no suffering. Yeah. Yeah. It's the only religion in the world that even remotely suggests that God cares so much about suffering that he would actually suffer. You know, Hebrews will talk about how. How amazing it is that Jesus became our worthy high priest suffering like us, uh, so that he would. Could sympathize with us. Right? Yeah. So I was in the idea of Zoe being a transformation internally. I was thinking about Paul in Philippians 4 when he says, I've learned to be content in all things, whether in plenty or in want. And that is the new life that I think. Here's Jesus who says, in this world, you'll have tribulation, but take heart, because I've overcome it. And if you trust me, you'll have life and have it abundantly. Like a person who believes that, who has been changed by that. Your whole life is different. You've. You trust him, whatever comes your way. Um, because you believe God, who didn't spare his own son, but gave him up for you, why would he? Why would he not? Have your best in everything. Yeah. Well, that's great. Uh, this is a great series wrapping up this More Life. I Am More Series and more and a year of More Life. So thank you guys all for joining us today. Live audience, let's hear it. Here we go. And we will see you next time. Thanks so much for tuning in to beyond the Message. Before you head out, make sure to subscribe so that you don't miss next week's content. And all week long, we want to provide you opportunities to grow right where you are. So check out our YouTube channel, our app, for more opportunities to catch content from Christ Community Chapel. Thanks so much for tuning in, and we'll see you next time.