Welcome And Series Preview

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode of the Midweek Podcast, brought to you by a Fresh Wind Church. Each week our team brings you new content to help you take steps towards Jesus and discover more in Christ. Today's episode is hosted by Pastor Ryan.

SPEAKER_03 0:27

Hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast. Pastor Ryan joined as always with Pastor Tim. And uh this week we kicked off our brand new kind of Easter sermon series, The Reveal, and started off with the Palm Sunday message. And uh over the course of this series, we're gonna look at kind of the we're kind of using this storyline plot of, you know, here's here's what people expected, here's the unexpected turn. That's gonna be good Friday, and then Easter the reveal. Um so I don't think you're gonna want to miss it, but man, started off with uh a pretty incredible message on uh on Sunday um talking about just the expectations of the people. Um I thought you brought out some really, really kind of tough, challenging points.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

It was it was tough. Um thank you for that. That was a great compliment. Um they're few and far between. Yeah, they are. They are. I don't I don't what did David say?

SPEAKER_03 1:24

Lord encourage me because nobody else encourage myself and the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Um yeah, as I was studying it, um been studying it for a couple of weeks now, and I just thought, man, if you just if you lay it out and you do a macro view of the last, you know, 300 years, they're like, We can do we just need the right guy. If we get the right guy, we can we can do this again. And uh and I don't think if you would to interview them, you know, some guy off the street and say, You guys really think you can kick Rome out? I think they would say, No, but God can. We just need the right guy. It's like, oh, okay, wait.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Is it God or is it a guy? Right.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

And I I think um uh Judah, the Maccabees, you know, he made a he made a great leader and then his uh grandson screwed it up. But uh at the end um I think they they were kind of convinced because of the prophets, you know. Prophets had said all these things, and when Jesus came, he started doing those things. And uh I I know the religious leaders looked right at him and said, You're not the guy because I'm in power right now and I don't want to give it up. But the the people were saying, Is this the guy? You know? Uh but there was some doubt out there, don't get me. Even John said, Go ask Jesus if he's the one or are we looking for another? And so this idea of him convincing everybody that he's the guy, I think it it was Lazarus that flipped the switch.

Why The Crowd Expected A Savior

SPEAKER_03 3:15

When you see uh a dead man get up and walk out of a tomb, you're like, all right. Yeah, he's gotta be the guy. Something's going on here. It's uh I I I thought the way, you know, felt felt a little bit like a history lesson to start the sermon on Sunday, but I think it helped build the frame for why these people went all in when they did. Right. Um, I mean the palm branches and the the symbolism of that here's our victorious king, he's the victor. Um and then to lay the the cloak down, and you know, you talked about how that represented their identity, it represented their protection, and to lay that down is a sign of surrender. Right. You have authority over me, you are my identity, that's more important. What why? What would it have been about him? And I think what you said on Sunday, you you kind of went back into the history pages a little bit, talked about the Maccabees, that revolt that happened the last time they they were finally free, and then they start seeing this Jesus guy come on the scene and start doing all this stuff, and they're like, hey, this it's time, let's go. And then fueled by, and I thought this was insightful. Um because they were fueled by the scriptures, right? It's not like they were just making stuff up and hoping on a win. They're like, no, this guy, he said this would happen. Right, and it's happening, it's happening. This is it. Let's go. Um, and they they had all these expectations built up. And I, you know, that's I think that's a pretty common Easter or Palm Sunday message to talk about the expectations of the people. Um past few Easters I've challenged people, like, hey man, it's a big book. We got more stories. You guys come every year and you you only hear this one story, right? Um, because you know, you can only preach on the resurrection so many different ways, right? You can only talk about Palm Sunday so many different ways. Um, but I I thought that angle of like, how did we get to the point where the people were ready to to throw out the palm branches, to lay down their cloaks and say, we're all in on Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

And not fear Rome's retaliation.

SPEAKER_03 5:35

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah. You look what's going on over in Iran right now, and you know, they had people when the US started bombing, they had people out in the streets going nuts, dancing, celebrating. Now, you know, they got a new guy in charge over there. They're like, well, let's not do that so much. But there was people who were excited about it, but then that fear of retaliation from the government, and oh man, what's gonna happen to me if I get spotted on someone's camera, you know, and post it on Facebook. No, these guys were like lying in the streets. We're ready. This is the time, let's do it. Um and a lot can happen in a week. Um we'll we'll find that out Good Friday and then Easter Sunday again. Um lot can happen in a week, but these guys were all in, and it's it's that tension of man, what what do I expect from Jesus? And I think we all we all have got those. We've we've got expectations on on who we think Jesus is and what he's supposed to do, and um what that looks like in my life.

Palms And Cloaks As Surrender

SPEAKER_01 6:44

And yeah, and I think the the big reveal to me was the fact that uh as I was studying this that the Maccabees had turned the high priesthood uh into kingship. It all became one thing. So they got it all right. Jesus came and he was gonna be high priest and king. Yeah. And I mean they had everything. This is the guy. We got him. It just wasn't gonna turn out the way He wasn't gonna do it the way they they uh dreamed that he would. So expectations were high. And uh we always do we we do that. Um we're Lord, I'm we make deals with God. Um they never turn out the way we expect them to. And um but we're like, Lord, I I know I'm I'm I got a scripture here, I'm putting my faith in this, and I want you to do this one thing. Can you do this one thing for me? And the expectation is that why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't God do this for me? He knows I love him. And um and then it doesn't turn out the way we think and it hurts. You know, what we were talking about in the service yesterday about the different kind of Jesuses we have, you know. And when we're in a problem and and and we're hurting, we want the problem solver Jesus, you know, we want him to fix our problems. I didn't mean to be in jail, I didn't mean to be facing a judge, I didn't mean to be all this kind of stuff, and suddenly it's like Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, come save me, Jesus, because there's no one else who can save him.

SPEAKER_03 8:32

How many times, you know, as pastors have we had those conversations with people, you know, if if God would do this, then then I'll start coming to church and I'll start reading my Bible. Problem solver Jesus, Jesus, come fix my problems, and then I'll straighten up, I'll get in line. And I'm sorry for behaving the way that I did and got myself into this mess, but if you just come fix it all, yeah, we we want the problem solver, fix it, Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

And I think uh a lot of that mentality is good. The reason that they're talking about the problem fixer Jesus is because they realize if they would have lived their life the way God had intended them to live, they probably wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. So it's not it's not all bad, but the problem is it's a control issue, right? Comes down to control. I want to be in control until my control gets me in trouble, and then I want you to be in control as long as I get out of trouble, and then we'll talk about it. And that's right, that's that's where we are when we're trying to Jesus is our problem solver.

SPEAKER_03 9:35

Yeah, it's tag, you're it. Ah okay, I want back in. Yeah. Um yeah, you you laid out a few. So there's problem solver juice. I think there was the um oh, what was the other one? Um talked about prosperity Jesus. Prosperity Jesus, that was it. Um, you know, God just blessed me, you know. God, I need more money, I need more finances, you know, this, and and he becomes kind of this genie in a bottle sort of thing. Um, where you know, I'm I'm gonna show up and God, if I read the right verses, if I do the right things and I, you know, do all this, then you're gonna give me this, you know. And we got this whole kind of God's in the business of making my life better.

Problem Solver And Prosperity Jesus

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Yeah, and that's bless my plans. It's not all about money, but bless my plans, increase my influence, you know, give me a better position at work or a better position at church or or whatever we're looking for. I think um we think of God that way, and uh unfortunately our identity in Christ gets tied to the outcomes. And if I don't get what I think God what I deserve in Jesus, that is just a weird phrase, what I deserve in Jesus. Um if I don't get that, if the world doesn't treat me like the prince that I am because I'm a son of God, then um I end up having a problem with God. And that's just read the New Testament. They didn't all turn out it didn't all turn out rosy. Um we have a we have a God who who demands our life, and sometimes that's what you have to give.

SPEAKER_03 11:27

Just read the dis account of the disciples. I mean how many of them lost their life, right? You know, for the for the gospel. Um we we have this idea, and man, that book was real popular years ago, your best life now, or something like that. Um and I know people got a lot of problems with Joel Olstein sometimes. I I don't know that I do, don't have enough knowledge about him as a as a man.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Um knowledge I do have, I don't know if I was told the truth. Right.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

Um, so I'm not gonna sit here and say one way or the other. I think he's a great encourager. Um, I think he's got a great ministry of encouragement and has helped a lot of people um who are down in the dumps. Um and I've I've listened to his church share the gospel before too. Um people say they never about the gospel, it's all about your life. And so I'm not I'm not gonna make any of those judgments, but I will say this whole best life now thing um sometimes doesn't look the way that we we thought. And again, it goes back to expectations. We thought my best life was, you know, house with the white picket fence and you know, golden doodle running around the yard and three vacations a year. Yeah. Um listen, the best work that God's doing in your life is he's turning you into the image of a son. You're gonna look like Jesus. And that usually involves suffering, you know. Um, it's pick up your cross daily, follow me. It's dying to yourself, denying yourself. That that's what it takes. Um, now I think you know, you if you handle money and you handle your time and you steward those things God's way, your talents, you'll probably be better off than if you did it, you know, um, just because God's principles are true. But again, it comes back to those expectations. I expect God to do this. And then when that's not happening, like you said, our identity becomes tied to our outcomes. And when that's not happening, and man, I think men in particular struggle with this. Um, because the kind of paycheck we bring home.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

I am what I do.

SPEAKER_03 13:31

Yep, the balance in our 401k that says a lot to us about the kind of man we are and our ability to provide for our families. And when that thing doesn't seem to be lining up with who we we dreamed that we were gonna be and how our life was gonna go, all of a sudden we're like, man, I got I gave you a shot, but you didn't work. Didn't work, church didn't work. You know, I showed up and it's all still a m. Um, and we've got this prosperity, Jesus. And then um that was the other one that you were talking about uh was it I don't know if it was comfort Jesus, um, but you were talking about I used a different word, but that works. Um like take away my anxiety, make me feel better.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Um yeah, it was the make me be feel better, Jesus. Um and that's you know, a lot of people are looking for that. But you know, that's uh the root issue there, I think, is avoiding transformation. You know, why are you anxious? Where where have you placed your trust? And um uh why do you feel bad? Why why are you angry? Why are you depressed? And uh we gotta look uh deeper and see why we we are struggling in those situations. And I think the Lord, the Lord, man, he swings a lot of straight licks with a crooked stick. And I just believe that um in those situations, God is trying to teach you something about him. And we've gotta take some time for the revelation, you know?

SPEAKER_03 15:04

Yeah. Bridget, uh, she shared this on Facebook uh not too long ago. She said, We don't struggle because God is silent, we struggle because he's already spoken and we're still deciding if we agree.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Ouch.

SPEAKER_03 15:18

Wow. Yeah. Should make her preach next Sunday. No, I'm preaching on Easter. Um, but man, isn't that that's rough? Yeah, you know, we're just waiting on God to speak. And how many I've told people this so he's spoken. Here's 2,000 pages of it. You want to read it? Yeah, um, no, no, no, no. I'm I'm waiting on him to let me. In almost every situation, he's already given us his thoughts on those things. Um, and man, we did that whole series on God's will for your life, and you know, it's it's more about who you're becoming than what you do. And we we we get ourselves all wrapped up into this thing. And I think a lot of times, man, we're we're just avoiding transformation. I'm just gonna sit here. I don't want God messing with this stuff. And does God want you to be anxious? No. Cast all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you. That's what scripture says. Um, and here's the the tricky thing with with these is God cares about all of them. God wants to fix your problems. He does, he wants to give you good things. Every good and perfect gift comes down from your father in heaven. He wants you to cast all your anxiety and care upon him. He wants you to do all these things, but man, we again we kind of use it as this genie in a bottle sort of thing where I just come to the well when I need something. Um and then, all right, you you you go back to the shelf, and next time I need you, I'll I'll get you down again.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

Ugh. And it's unfortunately when it's just like we were talking uh last few weeks about in the shop. You know, we gotta we gotta clean these things up, and and it became becomes uh uh yeah, I gotta get my priorities straight, I gotta get my relationships correct, I gotta get my uh maintenance schedule in, so I can keep what? Well, it's it's not to keep your salvation, it's to keep your relationship the way it should be with Jesus, so he's not uh a box of candy sitting on the top shelf that you don't get out uh until you know you need it. So we need to be um doing those things not to earn our salvation or keep our salvation. We need to do it to to stay in a position where we're focused on our relationship and growing to become more like Jesus instead instead of all right, I've made a breakthrough, I've stepped up here. Okay, I got it from here, Lord, and uh I'll let you know when I need you. Yeah. And uh, but when you think about the whole thing, it w we feel like we're teaching that. You know, no, live your life, you know, follow Jesus, and then uh when you get in trouble, you get serious.

Political Jesus And Reshaping God

SPEAKER_03 18:09

We're a bunch of uh Christian diabetics. Sugars get low, we reach for the candy bar, right, and then we're good. We're off and running again. Um we're saying, no, we need to we need to level this out. You know, it's it's about the whole diet. Um what are we taking in day by day by day um so that we can we can be healthy when we can accomplish and do all the things that God wants us to do? Um He's not He's not content to be the genie in the bottle. He's not. He wants a relationship with you. Um and man, I think the the last one you you talked about, and in our current culture, this one's like getting punched in the mouth, but you know, the political Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Um or the agenda. Yeah, I want a Jesus who'll get my I can use to throw my agenda around. And um, I think we see a lot of that now.

SPEAKER_03 19:03

Uh on both sides, you know. Um we got that guy down in Texas, um, Democrat guy, and he's quoting Jesus in the Bible for all sorts of stuff, and most Christians are like, what? That that's not what that means, you know. But no, Jesus is gonna get behind this agenda. And and listen, we do it on the uh people on the right do this too. Yeah, um, Jesus is for this and this and this and this. And Jesus is not Republican, he's not a Democrat, he's not a socialist, he's not a communist. Yeah, he he he's God in our it's not about getting Jesus behind your agenda, it's about you getting on the kingdom agenda, right? Um, oh, who was it? Uh was it Tony Evans that wrote those books um about being kingdom-minded Christians? Uh, this is about God's kingdom. Um that that's who we need to be. Absolutely. It's people about the king. You you say this all the time. What's the most important thing in the kingdom? The will of the king.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Right.

SPEAKER_03 20:05

This is about him. And no, we yeah, we want a God in the scripture to support our viewpoints. We try to pigeonhole Jesus into what we already believe instead of letting him come in and just take a wrecking ball to it and say, all right, God, you teach me what's important to you. What does it mean to have a heart after your heart? You we just talked about that a few times over the past month or so. Um, and we're no, no, no, no. I already have these predetermined beliefs and ideas, and Jesus, how do you fit into that?

SPEAKER_01 20:40

And it's it's a difficult thing because we got so many avenues of thinking. We got our uh political, our success, our our occupations, all all, you know, all these things. Um I I think of people who work at the hospital, you know, uh, especially the emergency room. And you got people who are hurting, they're sick, some are dying right in front of you, so you're you're triaging everything, right? But you can never give your whole self to it because you can't emotionally handle it, you know? It's like I gotta get you fixed, I gotta plug your holes, I gotta come over here, oh, you know, you need this medicine, uh, so forth and so on. But you can't say, man, that kid's really scared. I should sit here with him. You just can't do it. And uh you're just but that's the way life is to everybody. And uh the Lord says, Hey, I'm here. Um, let's coach. I'll tell you when you can stay a few minutes longer. I can st I can tell you when this guy, well, you need to let this go and come over here and plug this guy's hole so he don't bleed out. I I can I can help you make those decisions, but we're like, I don't know if I want to get all the way in. And and Jesus was always all the way in. That's right. Uh, whoever he helped. And uh, and some some were just there for Jesus, like the ten lepers, only one came back to thank him. And uh I bet you if uh those other lepers were interviewed, they'd say, Oh no, he was awesome. He was awesome. Well, why didn't you go back and thank him? Well, I I I it was Christmas and I didn't think about it. And so no, but he he he was awesome, but I'm fixed now. I don't need him right now. Uh and that's that's that's what we do with Jesus all the time. But I hate this agenda thing with Jesus. I I hate uh Jesus is gonna be my baseball bat and I'm gonna come in here and and uh start swinging. Um I don't th I I think that does something to our soul. Because sooner or later Jesus is gonna grab that bat and pull it out of your hands and say, put that down and then where are you gonna be? You know, when you can't use Jesus to batter everybody down. And uh I think it I think it hurts us in a in a deep, deeply spiritual way. So uh please um Afreshwin Church. I can't speak to anybody else, but you guys don't do that. Don't let Jesus be your uh wrecking ball in other people's lives deciding what's right for them and what's not. Now, you can use the Bible because the Bible uh helps us do righteous judgments and uh but don't use the person of Jesus to be your um Well Jesus wouldn't like that. Well we don't know what Jesus would do in that situation until you let him show up. And um I don't know where I'm going with this, but I think people get not a burnout, but that you can you can see who people who've done it for a long time they're just angry and um there it doesn't feel like they have any peace.

SPEAKER_03 24:22

We're not saying to not let your relationship with God in the scriptures affect how you vote or how you think. Uh of course it should. I think we live in a country that gives us a voice, and you should let your relationship with Jesus affect that. Right. Um, we should vote for the things that we think lead us closer uh to what God wants on the planet. Um, Jesus taught us to pray, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Well, in the United States, we have an avenue to help bring that about through voting. Um, and so we we you should that should shape how you respond in culture. Um but we need to allow Jesus in scripture to shape those things and not try to fit Jesus into what the Republican Party says or or the Democrat Party says. Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

And I think that's uh one of the big problems we have tendencies to have. I want to be loyal to Jesus, so I'm gonna cram him in there in this situation. And um, but uh Jesus is all powerful and he doesn't need you. Remember, I've always said this too you don't wield Jesus, he wields you, and that's the difference.

SPEAKER_03 25:43

One of the great dangers in all of this is I and I think this is where a lot of people are. We're we we don't reject Jesus, we reshape him, we just try to mold him into what we want or what we need, and that's a dangerous place to be. You know, Jesus in Revelation He said, Man, I wish you were hot or cold, but because you're lukewarm, I'll spit you out of my mouth. And we're like, we want God, but we want him on our terms and to fit the mold, our expectations. That's what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 26:17

And if you're trying to mold Jesus, sooner or later you're gonna compromise.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

Yep.

Hosanna To Crucify In Five Days

SPEAKER_01 26:21

Hmm. It's that we need to I need to do a series of sermons on that because that's kind of an important thing, especially in our lives now. You just go on YouTube and it's uh uh don't listen to this guy, he's a heretic, listen to me, uh, wield Jesus, I wield Jesus better than he does or whatever. And it's like, no, uh, you're supposed to be, you're supposed to have your cloak off. And uh he's supposed to be running things. So I don't know, that's a that's a deep discussion. We we don't have time to go into it here, but uh we can talk a little bit about the end result here. Uh five days they went from Hosanna, uh, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord to save us now to crucify. Yeah, we're no, we're gonna kill you. That is that is uh that is humanity in a nutshell. I don't I didn't get it the way I wanted it, and so now I'm against you. And I man, I sometimes I look at the United States and how many promises were made by all these guys who run for president or for Congress, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do that, and nothing gets done. My entire lifetime, I'm 60 years old. Why are we in so much? I thought we were gonna fix this. Everybody said we're gonna fix it. Now some things that are unfixable, they don't even bring up, like the budget. We can't fix that, so we're not even gonna talk about it. And uh, but back when I was um, you know, back in the 80s, every president said we're gonna balance the budget. We're gonna balance the budget. We can't go on like this, we can't do this. And but every every four years or every two years or six years with senators, they all promise the same thing and they never do it. I don't I don't know why we haven't started yelling, crucify them, to tell you the truth.

SPEAKER_03 28:23

You know, I this idea of our expectations, and you know, you you said this before we we jumped on and started recording, but we don't think this way, but we we live this way. Right. You know, we we have all these expectations and we bring them into our relationship with God, but we don't really think that that's but man, we hold them to it. And you talked about it in the sermon on Sunday. Every every couple I go through premarital counseling with, I tell them the same thing. Um unvoiced expectations are the killer of relationships. And so, yeah, you you're holding your future wife or your future husband up to this list of expectations, and then you get in and they're they're not living up to it. They don't change the oil every you know three, four, five thousand miles like your dad took care of, and they're expecting you to get your own oil change because it's the stickers in your car just pull into the oil change, you know? Right, and and all of a sudden your engine blew up, and you're like, how come you didn't take care of that? Did you not see the sticker in the window? Um, we have these unvoiced expectations and they kill relationships. And I mean, I I think we come to that same place with Jesus as we got these expectations. He doesn't seem like he's meeting them. And and man, I want to caution you in this because what it could sound like we're saying is you need to have lower expectations. Right. You need to lower your expectations of Jesus. And that if that's what you're taking, you've missed it. You've missed it. Their problem wasn't that their expectations were too high, they were too low.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

Absolutely.

Expectations Too Low For God

SPEAKER_03 30:01

You said it on Sunday, read the scripture. My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are higher, they're higher than yours. And so the problem isn't that our expectations are too high, it's that we're too short-sighted. Man, we are so focused on our immediate needs and our immediate relief that we don't even have time to comprehend. And I and I'm I'm gonna talk about this a little bit in the Easter sermon, so you're getting a little bit of a preview there, but we can't see the the grand redemptive story that's unfolding right in front of us. Yeah. Because it is my job, my relationships, my sickness, um, my kids. And listen, God cares about all of it. He does. He wants you to tell him about all of it. Read the psalms, man. We and this gets me sorry, on my soapbox a little bit here, but there's all these guys that get on YouTube and they, man, they just, you know, gospel, gospel, gospel, and it's all about the gospel. But read the Psalms and listen to all the times David's crying out, Lord, where are you? Why do the the the wicked prosper? I mean, he just gives it to God. And God says, Hey, come, bring those things to me. He cares about it. But we need to raise our perspective and realize while God cares about you and He wants to, and He's go not just wants to, He's going to do what's best for you in every situation. At the same time, He's doing what's best for the person next to you, He's doing what's best for the person you hate and can't stand at church. He he's doing what's best for the whole world.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

Right.

SPEAKER_03 31:43

He's God, and we've got to to raise our so I I'm not telling you to lower your expectations of God. And I'm trying to remember the exact quote you said on Sunday. Um I think it was our low expectations of God cause us to miss his greater purpose. I think is is how you said it. And man, I pulled out my phone and put that in notion. I'm like, I need to write that down. Um, because it's true, man. It's the problem isn't our expectations are too high. It's that they're too low. We're too short-sighted, narrow-sighted. We're the horse walking around with blinders on, oblivious to what God's really doing all around us.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

It's easy uh to be disappointed in God. And and I think it's ironic that we can't disappoint him. But he disappoints us all the time. He always knows what we're gonna do or the decision we're gonna make. So he can't be disappointed.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

Never once, like, dang it, didn't see that coming.

SPEAKER_01 32:44

He knew. He knew, he knew. But at the same time, we we get disappointed in him, and it's and like you said, we need to talk to him about those things. Or you'll never get the reveal.

unknown 32:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

You'll never if you don't talk to him about why you're disappointed in these situations that you expected something different, um, you'll you'll never hear the reveal. Well, this is why I did that. This is why I made that connection, and you didn't want that you didn't want that to happen. But I I'm gonna use that to reach these people and um that you don't even like. And so we have we have these things that disappoint us, and um I think we need to talk a little bit about how much higher his ways are. Because Jesus doesn't meet our expectations sometimes because he's after something deeper than your situation. That's right. And I don't I don't know what that would mean, but those people they wanted freedom from Rome. And Jesus said, I want you free from sin. That's what I want.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

Again, it's a immediate need. Rome is the problem, and it's a big problem. But it's it's an immediate problem. And he's like, nah, we're we're doing something eternal here. And again, not too low, but it was too high. Um and you know, that's that's a big deal for us, man. He's after something deeper than this this present situation. And I think we need to say, Lord, open my eyes, let me see what you're really what you're really doing here, not just in this situation, but in my community, in my family, in my church.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

And one of the things he's always doing, and we need to realize this in whatever situation you are, is he's transforming us. And he prioritizes transformation over relief. He just uh he definitely wants you to be transformed more than he wants you to have the relief you're looking for. So um, and and in your situation, in your circumstance, uh your transformation is what he's looking for, not to resolve your circumstance.

SPEAKER_03 35:04

Jesus said this, he said, Take heart, for I've overcome the world. But in this world, listen, you're gonna have trials, you're gonna have tribulation, right? Like it's not all gonna be easy. And I know, and this kind of goes back to the prosperity Jesus we were talking about earlier, the fix it Jesus. Um, a lot of us bought the idea that, man, I'm gonna give my life to Jesus and then everything's gonna get better. Um and then when that doesn't happen, right away. Right, yeah, God, where are you? How could you allow this to happen? I thought you were gonna fix this stuff. Jesus promised us that we were gonna have pain and suffering in the world. He said, Listen, people are gonna hate you, but guess what? They hated me first. Yeah, um, so of course they're gonna hate you. We should expect it. And I said earlier, the greatest thing God's doing in your life is not fixing your situation or getting you a job, it's making you look like Jesus. He's after your transformation.

SPEAKER_01 36:00

And that transformation is um how should I say it? It's it's gonna affect the promise that he's given you.

unknown 36:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:09

Uh the scripture says that uh the way you live now is gonna make a difference in the kingdom that comes.

SPEAKER_03 36:15

In eternity, yeah.

Honest Questions And Patient Waiting

SPEAKER_01 36:16

And so we need to we need to realize, yeah, I'm not getting what I want right now, but if I get the transformation, that's gonna make my life with him better. And I think we don't realize that. I think we're so we're not heavenly minded enough. Um I think we need to think eternity in these things, but uh no matter what situation you're in, he's looking for transformation. So the key is is to align with that as soon as you can figure out what he's trying to do. And uh and when you cooperate with that, um things will change. Either you'll change in the midst of your situation, or God will change the situation. And that's that's what uh God is looking to happen. When we were teaching about relationships, um the alignment series in uh in the shop, um people are really struggling with that. I don't want to let this person off the hook. You know, I don't want to, I don't want to forgive them. I don't want to forgive them. Well, what does God want you to do? He wants you to transform. And the number one way we transform is to forgive. You know, I'm gonna change my heart. Even though I don't feel like it, I'm gonna choose to forgive, and and then it opens the door for God to change your heart, to change your bitterness, um, to let that go. But we have to uh cooperate with that. And uh so man, I didn't realize how uh deep this situation was. I preached that first sermon, and I man, I was struggling. And I look back in my life as I was studying, I was like, all the expectations I had for God, and and it didn't turn out the way that I had prayed or the way I had wanted. And um, I basically preached that first sermon for me, you know, and uh so I expected a great response because I'm like, I feel this way, everybody feels this way. And uh and uh I got done and the Lord said, Did you listen to what you said? And I said, No, this is not, you didn't do this to me. He goes, Yeah, that was for you. And uh so I've had a lot of great expectations and uh disappointments in the Lord, and he's transformed me through those, and it hasn't been easy, I'll tell you that. But uh he will, he will, and when you let that transformation happen, um you become free.

SPEAKER_03 38:51

Yeah, I think it's important for us to to take a time to do kind of diagnose those expectations and and um ask ourselves some questions, you know, where where where am I frustrated with God right now? Um that that'll give you some insight into you know some expectations maybe that you've had that you feel like God's not not meeting or living up to. Um what did I expect God to do differently? It's another great question. Um, this is the situation I'm in. What how did I expect that to go? God, what did I think you were gonna do? That'll that'll inform your your expectations you've placed on them.

SPEAKER_01 39:32

Um yeah, and then you need to, especially if you've learned um the discipline of finding a scripture to place your faith in. Um, Lord, what am I gonna do in this situation? Give me a scripture, and and then uh even when you got that scripture, these people had scripture, you know. Even when you have that scripture, you have to ask yourself, is my expectation shaped more by the scripture, or is it shaped by my preferences? Because sometimes, man, we can really do a number on the scripture and weave it into our preferences.

SPEAKER_03 40:12

You can find a verse to support just about anything, yeah, you know, and it's am I keeping this in context? Have I been faithful to what God was saying in this in this verse? Um, does it is it consistent with with the rest of scripture, you know, because and again, politicians are notorious for this. You know, they'll they'll quote verses. Um oh man, was it I think it was Trump. He got up and was sharing a verse one time and said two Corinthians, and you're like, Yeah, he ain't never read that.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

That's what that's what they do in Europe. They don't do the So we have um we have these uh big expectations, but how do how do we get from expectation to patience and revelation? Well, Jesus proved it in the story yesterday. He came in humility. That's right. And when you're in a situation you and you don't know how to get out, and you've turned to Jesus, help me, the first thing you need to do is be humble. Don't you're gonna have Christians come to you, you're gonna have people come to you. Oh, if you cry out to Jesus, he's gonna do this and he's gonna do that. The first thing you need to do is say, Lord, I'm here, I got myself here, um, and I want your help.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

And I'm throwing my cloak down.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

I'm throwing my cloak down. You'll be my identity, you'll be my authority. And uh he's calling you right now. Yeah. So those are the things that um make a big difference in deciding when we're gonna get our expectations met or we're gonna wait till God reveals what he's trying to do in our life. And sometimes it's not about the circumstance, sometimes it's about you.

SPEAKER_03 42:06

Sunday, you would challenged everybody. Um, you know, as we head into this Easter season, we're we're looking for God to reveal himself to us and his plan, his purpose for us. And you you challenge people, listen, don't just go with what you expect God to tell you here. Wait. Be patient, wait on on revelation. Um, and so I think there's a couple things that we can do as we kind of lay this out before the Lord and in your in your quiet time, in your devotions with him uh this week, heading up to Easter, is is number one, do that little self-audit that we just talked about and name those expectations honestly before God. In humility, come and say, God, this this is what I expected. This is where I feel you let me down, um, or you didn't live up to that expectation. And I know we're afraid to talk to God that way. He already knows your heart, he already knows you're feeling that way. This is just you being honest, bringing it into the light, and saying, God, man, I honestly, you you kind of hurt me here. Right. I was, I thought you were gonna heal my dad. I thought you were gonna to fix my marriage or this relationship with my kids, God, and and it it didn't happen. And and I'm hurt by that. Why would you allow that? Bring that thing to him. Listen, he's he's bigger than our pain, and and his goodness is better than our suffering. Um, and so you need to bring that thing to him. Um, and then secondly, um, we need to to start anchoring our our expectations in scripture and not our assumptions. Yeah, go back to the word and we and you hear Pastor Tim and I hammer this point home over and over and over again. Man, it's it's the word of God. What is what is God actually promised? Scripture says all of his promises are yes and amen in Christ Jesus. Um, and so when you find those promises in scripture, man, you can you can take it to The bank, you can pin your hope to it. Um, because he's faithful, even when we are faithless, amen. He's gonna come through. Um and then and uh this one takes uh some wisdom, takes some discernment. I mean, look for the deeper work. God, what are you actually forming in me? Um because who you're becoming is more important than what you do or the situation that you find yourself in. And so, God, in this season of disappointment, as I walk through this this valley of uncertainty and confusion, what are you forming in me? What what in it goes back to that whole in the shop series, I guess. Um, getting the diagnostic and the alignment. Um, God is my maintenance schedule out of whack, you know, what what are you forming in me as I go through this? Um and then this is again what your challenge is to on Sunday to be patient, to practice faithfulness in the waiting. Um God, even when it seems silent, even when I'm not hearing the answer, um even when I'm disappointed, I'm gonna keep showing up, I'm gonna keep being faithful.

SPEAKER_01 45:15

Don't quit. Don't quit at the crucifixion and miss the resurrection.

unknown 45:20

Boy.

SPEAKER_01 45:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:22

Say that again.

Prayer Then Ways To Respond

SPEAKER_01 45:23

That's a good quote. Don't miss the resurrection because you quit at the crucifixion. Sometimes our dreams have to die first. And there's whole books on that. But the truth is, um sometimes God's doing something different that's greater, that's higher. And uh we gotta wait for it. We gotta be patient. That's right. Pray for us, Ryan.

SPEAKER_03 45:50

Father, we thank you um again, as is as we do every week for your word. It is true, and it is the thing that never returns void. And so, Father, I I pray that even now, as as people are listening to this podcast, that it would um it would pierce us, um, and it would do a work within us to to begin to cut out the things, um, the the hurt, the disappointment, the expectations, and and father, to begin to to put the right things in. Um Lord, we're we don't want to have low expectations of you. We want to raise our expectations, to raise our perspective, to see things the way that that you see them. Amen. And uh, Father, this this Palm Sunday sermon of these people laying their cloaks down and and shouting, Hosanna, God save us. Lord, I pray that that would be true for each of us. That uh we would lay down our identity and that it would be wrapped up in yours. Um Lord, I know a lot can happen in a week. We're gonna find that out. But I pray that you would make us here at A Freshwind God, make us faithful in the waiting. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen and amen.

SPEAKER_00 47:02

Thanks again for joining us for this episode of the Midweek Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. Let us know how God is using this resource in your life or send any podcast questions or topic ideas to podcast at a freshwind.org. If you would like to support this ministry financially and help us continue offering new resources that equip you to discover more in Christ, simply text any amount to the number 84321. We're so grateful for your support. Make sure to tune in next week for a brand new episode of the Midweek Podcast. Be blessed and have a great week.