Speaker 1: 0:00

A couple years ago, I got invited to a CrossFit gym and, like I mentioned last week, I've been on this journey since I was about 19 years old to get my hashtag HSB, which stands for Hot Summer Body. Come on, I haven't got it yet. I haven't got it. But anyways, I got invited to this CrossFit gym by my friend, dave, and when I show up, dave and his friends, they're already at the barbell squat rack and they're crushing it. And I'm thinking, okay, this is what we're doing Leg day, leg day at the gym. Okay, I can do this. And so I go up there and they're rocking it out and I say, all right, my turn. And so I go to the bar and I say I'm going to put a little lightweight on it because I'm not trying to show off, even though there was nothing to show off. But you know, so I do my weight, crush it. After I'm done, I say I feel pretty good. This feels good to me. Okay. Okay, I can do this. I haven't done this in a while, but I can do it. So here you go, dave and his friends. They do their round, they add more weight to it with their round. So it comes back to my turn. All right, let me add a little bit more weight to it. So I add some more weight, rack it, crush it, do it. It goes again, dave and his friends. They add some more weight, they're putting some heavy weight up there. And I say, okay, I got to keep up. I put a little bit more heavy weight on mine, I rack it, crush it. And I'm barely able to do it by the time round five comes, they do it, crush it. I rack it, do it, barely make it. But my legs feel like spaghetti, like my legs, my thighs, my everything is cramping. And I say to myself man, that was a good workout, though I feel good about this. Okay, after we're done with that, dave, he nudges me and says all right, that was a good warm-up. You ready for the workout? I said what I said, I thought that was. He said, no, that was a warm-up. Now it's time to do the workout. Here you go. Here's the thing, guys. I did do it barely. I barely was able to do the exercise because I went so hard on the warm-up.

Speaker 1: 2:10

But here's the thing about life Haven't you ever done something in life where you're going all in but you just keep adding more to your life. You just keep adding another thing, another schedule, another thing that your kids are doing, another commitment, another, another, another, and pretty soon you are so weighed down, you're so exhausted by life you feel like I can't even do the thing I really want to do. I'm so burnt out on the warm-up in life I can't even do the thing that matters the most. Here you go. I believe that we're all made for more. We're made for more not because we're just these awesome people who can do awesome things. No, no, we're made for more because God has put something in your heart and in your life to do great. But the more that you're made for isn't necessarily more things. It's not more things to add to your schedule, more things to do, but the more that you're made for is more of Jesus in your life. Here you go.

Speaker 1: 3:14

We're going to look at this today. What does it look like to get away from being in a rush? What does it look like to remove the hurriness of life? I wonder how many of you, in your own words, would say I always feel a little bit rushed, I always feel a little bit anxious or overwhelmed with all I have to do. It feels like there's not enough hours in the day. Here's a good way to tell if you're in a rush all the time. Ok, here's how you can do like a self-check. Ok, you might be in a rush all the time. That when you're at the grocery store, when it comes time to check in, you always look for the shortest available line and then when you get in the line the line that was your second choice you watch that one to see if those people are finished before you're finished, and if they're finished before you're finished, you say I got the wrong line. You know, you might be in a rush if, when you're driving, you don't just drive a little bit over the speed limit, but you constantly catch yourself going 10, 15 miles over the speed limit, which is reckless driving, by the way. But you might be in a rush. There might be something in you. I used to be so busy that I would multitask in the bathroom. You know what I'm talking about doing business while doing the business Too much, too much, okay, I've never done that before, and it's not just being rushed.

Speaker 1: 4:47

I wonder how many of you would say occasionally, or maybe even say often, you're disappointed with the way your life is going. You're in a rush to go somewhere. You don't even want to go, you don't even want to be. Sometimes you start to think is there something missing or is there something more? I have no time to do the things that I want to do. I have no time to do the things that I love and worship. I have no time to be with the people who I love the most. And you might ask yourself is it really supposed to be this way? Is life supposed to be like this? What if I told you that the greatest enemy to the life that you want might be the life you're currently living, might be the decision, the routine, the schedule that you have going right now? I got to be honest with you. If I heard this message five years ago, if I would have been sitting in the chair that you're sitting in, I would have been thinking to myself I hate this message and this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. This isn't for me.

Speaker 1: 5:56

Back then, back then, a little over five years ago, when I was a pastor down in Virginia Beach, man, I was all about the grind. One of my favorite things I used to say is there's no glory without grind. I used to say that I used to love the word hustle. Now that's like a four-letter word in my household, but I would work sometimes 50, 60 hours a week. My motto was first one in, last one, out the office. If there is a project to be done, and it took us to two in the morning, then guess what we're going to finish it, because if the devil ain't sleeping, I ain't sleeping either. That was my mindset. That's my mindset. A little bit of a snapshot to my work life back then Tuesday I worked all day and then, after I worked all day, aaron and I we led a financial peace group for young adults and young marrieds in our church.

Speaker 1: 6:44

Wednesday I did staff meetings and then I had a young adult service. Thursday we did high school service. Friday, middle school service. Saturday and Sunday we had church services all day. I mean, it was non-stop.

Speaker 1: 6:55

And even when Aaron and I, when we moved to Richmond to plant this church, the moment our feet hit Richmond soil, we were trying to meet people. Sometimes we would meet people and have one couple over for dinner at 4 o'clock and then schedule another couple for dinner at 7 o'clock. I mean, and here's the truth, we just thought this is how it's supposed to be. This was normal. This is the way.

Speaker 1: 7:21

If you want to get somewhere in life, you better exhaust yourself until you get it. And that's how we thought, and I'm guessing that a lot of you might be busier than you want to be, because we got places to be jobs to do bills, to play kitchens, to clean kids, to raise news, to read yards, to mow dinner, to cook clothes, to buy clothes, to wash clothes, to wash, more clothes to wash. It never ends. We have soul-numbing Netflix series we got to binge out on and just because the pace of life is what it is, you find yourself going faster and faster until you're sprinting and you realize that you don't have time for things you wish you had time for. We don't even have time for family dinners. We don't have time to have deep conversations with friends. We keep everything surface level.

Speaker 1: 8:21

I was on the phone with someone the other day. He said how are you doing? I said, well, on the surface I'm great, but if you really want to know, I'm drowning right now. But we don't because we're so busy. We got to get to the next conversation, to the next one.

Speaker 1: 8:36

The good news is this here's the good news. Even though we feel busy and we feel rushed, the good news is everyone else feels that way too. So it must be normal, right. It must be the way God intended, it isn't it? What if I were to tell you that the greatest enemy to the life you want might be the life you're currently living, might be the way you're living. You are made for more, but the more you are made for, like I said, it's not more stuff, not another thing to add to my calendar, but more Well, more of Jesus, more of Jesus in your life. But what does that look like? What does that mean? In fact, when you look at the Gospels and take a step back, it's fascinating to think about the way that Jesus lived.

Speaker 1: 9:27

He had three years to do his ministry. Three years is what we see. We see him. We see him, we have three years, and in those three years he embraced the Father's mission. He recruited a team of 12 ragtag dudes and a whole bunch of other socially outcast people, and he trained them in kingdom values, trained them to do the kingdom work. He endured the hatred of the Pharisees. He resisted the temptation of the devil. He healed all sorts of sick and demonized people. He loved all sorts of hurting people. He preached God's word fearlessly. He fulfilled 351 Old Testament prophecies and he did all of this.

Speaker 1: 10:03

And we never get one verse that says and Jesus ran to one appointment to the next. We don't get it. It's not in there. We can't find it, that verse. You can't find that verse when you read the Gospels. There's no record of him running or jogging or skipping or sprinting.

Speaker 1: 10:24

He was busy but never rushed. He never said to his disciples come on, guys, hurry up, keep going, leave Thomas behind. He always missed the important things. He was busy with important stuff but he was never rushed. Here you go. He was never rushed On the inside in his heart. Have you ever been so anxious that you just fill it all up in your heart? Have you ever been so anxious to have a conversation with someone that you just you dread it Messes your sleep up? Have you ever felt that way before?

Speaker 1: 11:00

I want to show you this phrase that we see in Mark's gospel. Mark 2 says this I want to show you this phrase that we see in Mark's gospel. Mark 2 says this as he, jesus, walked along, he saw Levi sitting at the tax collector's booth. Follow me. Jesus told him and Levi got up and followed him. I was thinking about Levi, who would become Matthew. I was thinking about Matthew. It's fascinating to me If Jesus was on rush and Levi followed Jesus as Jesus walked, then Levi should have been living an on rush life too. And then I thought about you and I thought about me, I thought about us and I wonder how oftentimes, if we follow an on rush Jesus, then why do we live such a rush life?

Speaker 1: 11:39

How often do we live that is different than the way that Jesus lived? We're often rushed or stressed or overwhelmed or exhausted, trying to get it all done and always falling a little bit short, not replying to every single text message, not responding to every single email, and feeling bad about it. And Jesus and Jesus, he invites us though. He invites you and he invites me. He invites us to come, to come to him, to come to him. And when we come to Jesus, this is what we got to fundamentally get. We got to fundamentally get this because if we don't get this, we're going to miss it and we're going to keep feeling like Jesus is missing something in our lives. Fundamentally, when Jesus talks to us, he invites us to come to him.

Speaker 1: 12:25

First. I want you to hear this he does not invite us to just go out and just do stuff, and even do good stuff for Jesus. You can do good stuff for Jesus and never know Jesus. Jesus actually says that. He actually says in the Bible you cast out demons and you did great things. And I'll say to you well, away from me because I never knew you. But he says to you and he says to me today be with. Well, be with me, come to me.

Speaker 1: 13:02

Eugene Peterson, I like the way he puts it in the message paraphrase of the Bible. He says this. He says are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion? Come to me, get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me. Watch how I do it, notice how he's inviting us into relationship. It's a relationship, he said learn the armed force, rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly. Here you go, man. I just got to put it this way. If my son Jameson had his natural way to play ball, to play basketball, and when he was in middle school. Lebron James the GOAT, come on, lebron James wanted to personally train my son, jameson. I wouldn't say, oh well, his schedule he can't fit daily basketball dribbles with you, lebron. He'll show up to practice when it's convenient for him, and typically it's convenient for him to show up on practice when it's Easter and Christmas. No, no, I would say, okay, show him, show him how to do what you do.

Speaker 1: 14:35

And, friends, jesus, the Savior of the world, invites us, and you and me, and he invites us knowing all the junk that we have. He invites us knowing how we habitually screw things up. He invites us to come and keep company. He says, keep company with me, as if me spending time with Jesus is like the cool thing. He's like, hey, can you just keep company with me? Like Jesus needs a friend and watch what I do.

Speaker 1: 15:04

Here you go, am I preaching to anyone today? Because, fundamentally, guys, our relationship with Jesus will always come up empty if we're always trying to do before we be. And here you go and you'll keep running into that wall of sin that you know you don't want to run into anymore If it's all about I'm going to willpower my way through this sin instead of being with Jesus who gives me the ability to choose something different. Go on preaching to someone. Today I'm going to be with Jesus. Here you go, here you go, here you go. I want you to think about the way he lived.

Speaker 1: 15:45

He only lived for 33 years and he was called to be perfect and save the world. His mission was to give his life away and he waited 30 years before he initiated his public ministry. And then he was baptized by John the Baptist. Heaven opens up, holy Spirit descends upon him and the Father says this is my son, whom I love, with him. I'm well pleased. This beautiful picture of the Holy Trinity together.

Speaker 1: 16:09

And before Jesus does any public ministry, before Jesus goes, before he goes out and does all this stuff, the Holy Spirit does what. After this, the Holy Spirit leads him to a sabbatical. The Holy Spirit leads Jesus to 40 days of rest, leads him to the wild for 40 days and while he's in the wild he calls out to the Father. He draws close to God. He draws close to God. Strengthen his relationship. He fights off the enemy's temptation and his identity is solidified in who he is called to relationship. He fights off the enemy's temptation and his identity is solidified in who he is called to be. He takes 40 days to go be with Jesus. Think about this, think about this. And then, when he does do his first miracle, where was it?

Speaker 1: 16:53

It's interesting to me, jesus does it at a wedding. His first miracle is at a wedding. Jesus went to the wedding and he didn't act like he was all big time at the wedding. Yo, it's me, the SOG, the son of God. I'm up in here. No weddings in that culture would last like a week. That's a long and expensive wedding. And guess what he did? He stayed there to the very end. And not only did he stay there to the very end. When the wine ran out, jesus said fill it up. And he kept the party going. He enjoyed people.

Speaker 1: 17:28

One time, one time, another time again, another time, a synagogue leader came to him. His name was Jairus. He's freaking out. His little girl is dying. He's like my baby girl. She's dying. Come. You got to come, help me. You got to come save her. And Jesus is like you know what? I got you, I'm coming, I'm coming to help you. And then check this out. Jesus starts to walk to the girl. And if I was Jairus and this was my girl, I'd be like, hey, man, can you get a little pep to your step? Can you move along a little bit faster? Because she ain't doing too good? Can you move along a little bit faster because she ain't doing too good? And Jesus is like no, no, I got it, I'm going, I'm going.

Speaker 1: 18:06

And as Jesus is going to see this little girl, another person, a woman who is sick for 12 years, runs up to Jesus, touches him. He felt like power, leave his body. And then Jesus, he does something crazy. He stops, he stops, he pauses and he turns around. And then Jesus, who is already assigned a task to heal this little girl, gives his undivided attention to this woman and spends time with her. He wasn't in a rush. Then Jairus gets word that his little girl dies. He goes and tells Jesus, don't even worry about coming up. And Jesus says don't worry about that, I'm God. And he goes and he heals this little girl too. And Jesus, not for one moment, was rushed, not for one moment.

Speaker 1: 19:11

And then think about this one. This one gets me Right before the crucifixion. Jesus shows up and he could show up. He's Jesus, he can show up. He's Jesus. He can show up on any animal he wants. He can ride up into Jerusalem riding on the back of a lion. That would be cool. He can show up right on the back of a stallion. You want to know what animal Jesus picked to ride up on his triumphant entry? A donkey? You ain't never going to catch a donkey running nowhere. Eeyore ain't in a rush to get anywhere, and yet we see Jesus make his grand entry as he walked, as he walked.

Speaker 1: 20:05

And if Jesus wasn't rushed and if us, as everyday people, are learning how to become Jesus followers, then why are we rushed? Not just for time, but we're rushed in our souls. We feel anxious and depressed and lonely. Something is missing, and maybe one of the things that's missing is that we haven't bought into the gospel message. We bought into the message of if I get more, that means god loves me more, and if I do more, if I'm more productive than man, I guess I can earn god's love more too. But, friends, that's not the gospel, that's consumerism. The gospel says you can't and you won't without being with Jesus. Come to me, come to me, let's continue. Here's my thought to why we're rushed and I'm no psychiatrist, I'm not.

Speaker 1: 21:39

I read a couple books. I think the reason why most of us are rushed? Because we're either running from something or running to something. Most of us are running away from something, are trying to run to something to find a sense of value and significance For me. I can just pick on myself For me, when I started this journey of trying to not be so rushed, I remember in 2020, anyone remember 2020?

Speaker 1: 22:06

It was a year right and I remember meeting with this Christian counselor and going through some things and going through some different things, and what I discovered about myself was I was running away from insignificance and running towards acceptance. And here's the wild part. I want to blow everyone's mind with this one. Here's the wild part, because my motive sounded great on the outside right oh, I want to build a church and I want to reach people for Jesus and I want to do this, but my motivations were actually because I just want to be loved by people. I want to be loved by people. I listen. My dad shared this wonderful video with me about this pastor in the Chicago area.

Speaker 1: 22:47

They were pressuring. They said why don't you go on TV? Why don't you be on TV like some of the other great bishops? Why don't you be on TV. You should do it, you can do it. And the guy looked at him and said I opt to not be on TV because I'm not about self-promotion, I'm about helping people find Jesus.

Speaker 1: 23:05

See the motives. And I would even ask you this what are your motives? I know I'm getting a little heavy here today, but what are your motives to having a good marriage? Is it just so everyone around you can say, oh, look how great they are? What's your motives about getting your kids in so many after-school programs? Is it to say that, oh, it was so good, they're doing so good. Or is it so people can say, wow, they must be great parents?

Speaker 1: 23:34

Come on, I want to get all up in your business today. I want to get up in your business today. And the reason why I want to get up in your business today is because I know you're made for more. And the more that you're made for it's not more stuff, it's not more things, it's not more accolades and approval the more that you're made for it's more of you becoming like Jesus, it's more of you releasing your life to Jesus, because there you find hope and freedom and victory and purpose, and there that's how you learn how to make a difference.

Speaker 1: 24:07

Here you go. You're either running from something or running to something. You're running towards success, running towards an image, running towards fame. Here's the problem, guys. The problem is, for most people in today's culture, you're chasing a life that will still leave you empty once you get it. What if the greatest enemy to the life that you want is actually the life that you're living right now? Always rushed, always pushed, always going more.

Speaker 1: 24:51

And I want to say to us today respectfully and I include myself in this statement and I want to say to us today respectfully, and I include myself in this statement you have time for what you choose to have time for. You have time for what you choose to have time for. The solution is not more time. The solution is more of what matters most, what matters most. And the reason why most of us don't have time for what matters most is because we're getting exhausted in the warm-ups and we're not ready for the main workout.

Speaker 1: 25:32

Here you go, practical. Let me get a little practical today. Invest your time in what matters most. Invest your time, notice, I'd use that word invest, not spin, because you spin it, you don't get it back. Invest it, you get a good return on what you invested. So invest your time, invest your time. Invest your time in what you're responsible for, not what you're concerned about. There's a lot of things to be concerned about, but what are you responsible for?

Speaker 1: 26:01

And I and I share my list, and we teach this at local basics as well but I share my list of the things that I'm responsible for. I'm responsible for my relationship with god. I'm responsible for my relationship with myself. What do I mean by that? I mean that no one's going to eat healthy for me but me. No one's going to take care of my soul for me but me. I can't depend on this person or that person. I have to take care of myself. I have to spend time with God. I have to prioritize it. I have to, I have to. And then I'm responsible for my relationship with my wife. I'm responsible for my relationship with my wife. I'm responsible for my relationship with my kids, then my relationship with my close friends and family, then my church, and it's all in that order.

Speaker 1: 26:41

And here's the temptation. The temptation is to say, well, if I do church number one, that's just like God, right, because I'm doing church for God. Like I said, you can serve the church and not know God. We see it happen all the time. All the time, all the time Same thing. For someone who loves to work, you can say, well, I'm serving my family by working, I'm providing a different life for my kids, well, good, that's awesome, but maybe they just want more of you instead of more money. You know what I'm saying. And so here we go, here we go. You have time. You have to determine what are you responsible for. Like you may say this. You may say well, I don't have time to go on a marriage retreat. I know our marriage is suffering a little bit. I don't have time because the kids and their schedules and stuff. But you want to know what you don't have time for is being in a counselor's office for a whole bunch of hours and then being in a divorce office for a whole bunch of hours. You actually don't have time for that, but you do have time to work on your marriage.

Speaker 1: 27:52

I hope I am getting a little too real today. I hope I am stepping on some toes today, honestly. Honestly I am, because if I just preach and you always just feel good, then I'm not preaching right. I'm being honest. We've been, as a church reading the New Testament in a year together and there's still time to sign up for that, if you want to jump in on it. But man, I've been reading. We're in Luke right now, in a year together and there's still time to sign up for that, if you want to jump in on it. But man, I've been reading. We're in Luke right now and there's been times I'm like dang, did Jesus really say that? He said that Because here's the thing, lvc, I don't want to produce a church that helps people learn how to get Jesus to follow them. I hope LVC is a church of everyday people who are following Jesus and living in the tension of what it means to be a Jesus follower Say, hey, I'm going to learn about you, Jesus, I'm going to go all in for you. Let me continue. I'm off my message outline a little bit, so bear with me. But here you go.

Speaker 1: 28:58

At the core of what God calls us to do is to be loved by Him and to love others, and love is in. You cannot love in a hurry. Let me make this even more personal. I'm not just going to talk about how loving people is hard and loving your kids in a hurry is hard, that's true, but you can't love God and take care of yourself if you're always in a rush. The Apostle Paul gives us insight to this when he describes love in 1 Corinthians. What does he say? The first description is love is patient, it's not rushed, love takes time.

Speaker 1: 29:45

So what I want you to do for the next seven days is this I want you to pray a simple prayer every day. I'm going to pray it soon. I want you to pray this prayer God, help me walk slowly enough to experience Jesus fully and love people deeply, and love people deeply Even right now. Would you? It's in your heart? Would you say that it's in your heart? You don't got to say it out loud, but, god, will you help me walk slowly enough to experience you, jesus, fully, and love people deeply, deeply?

Speaker 1: 30:28

Last week, I asked a question for us. I asked the question what is it? What do you do when it feels like Christianity isn't working? What do you do when it feels like Christianity isn't working? What do you do when you feel like this isn't working, when there's doubts, struggles and pains? And I want to speak to that again today. I want to speak to that because one, we all, we all have doubts.

Speaker 1: 30:51

Doubt is, you don't got to be afraid of doubt. Doubts come, doubts happen. But here's the thing about doubts Doubts are not meant to push us away from God. In fact, doubts are a signpost that we want to draw closer to God and our hearts are unsatisfied with what we have right now, because we need more of Jesus. Is that making sense for us? When there's doubt, when there's tension, when there's things it's not okay, I'm going to give up on this God. It's a God. There's something that is drawing me closer to you, and so I got to get up in your business. I got to get up in your face, god. I got to know you more. I got to know you more. I got to be with you. I got to experience you, god, because there's this signpost in me that makes me want to run away, but I know it's actually pushing me towards you more, the more.

Speaker 1: 31:45

The more you want is not more stuff, it's not more things to consume, more things to add to your schedule, it's more. It's more of Jesus. And so, as everyday people with our everyday ups and downs, how do we learn to become Jesus followers Number one? Be, be Well, be with Jesus, be with Jesus, spend daily time with Him. You will not regret it.

Speaker 1: 32:24

Two questions, two questions that I want us to throw out today for us to think about. Is this what's one thing in your life that's keeping you too busy for God, and what can you let go this week to create space for Him? Second one how can you intentionally slow down this week to love someone deeply, whether it's listening without distraction, spending unhurried time with family or simply being present in the moment? Let's pray God, jesus, holy Spirit. We want more of you. We want more of you, jesus. So we say come, come, holy Spirit. We keep company with you. We keep company with you, come, holy Spirit. Let's pray for the Holy Spirit saying if you're struggling today I actually even want to erase the word struggling right there If you just have doubts, if you have questions, god is drawing you closer to him. He loves you, he's crazy about you.

Speaker 1: 33:58

Deeper levels of your heart, lord, deeper levels of intimacy with you, I just feel like shame. There's so much shame, so much shame, that shame, so much shame, that shame. Man, I'm just going to pray right now. If you're dealing with shame in your life, I don't even have to say what it is. You already know what it is. If you're dealing with shame in your life, I pray healing in Jesus' name, right here and right now. Healing in Jesus' name. You are not supposed to live with the burden of shame. It's not from the Lord. It's not from the Lord. So shame be gone. Come Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit. Freedom in Jesus' name, freedom to be more like you, jesus. Thank you, jesus, and practically, lord. I pray for people to slow down long enough to see you, slow down long enough to see there's people all around us who are in need. So come Holy Spirit.

Speaker 1: 35:29

If you're in here today, you don't know this Jesus I'm talking about. Maybe you did. You grew up in here today. You don't know this Jesus I'm talking about. Maybe you did. You grew up in church, but life got in the way. If you want to make a decision to trust Jesus or trust him again with your life, I just want to pray with you. I'm going to count to three. I just want you to toss your hand up in the air. Don't worry, no-transcript on three. Just touch your hand up in the air. One, two, three. Bless you, bless you, bless you. You can say this prayer with me. You can say it out loud or you can say it in your heart. You can say Jesus, thank you, jesus. I love you, forgive me for my sins, make me new Today. I trust you with my life In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Let's give God some praise in here today.