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Hey there, and welcome to the City Lights Podcast! City Lights is a church located in the northwestern part of Richmond, Virginia. For more information about City Lights, you can visit us at wearecitylights.com. Now enjoy today's message.
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Welcome to our Wednesday PopUp service. I'm so glad that we can pop up in your news feed right now. My name is Jacob and I'm on the team here at City Lights. Like I said, we're so happy we can pop up and encourage you and give you some hope in your day today.
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Okay, so we've been in a series called How's Your Soul. We've been looking at the soul. What is the soul? Is it something that floats out there? Your soul, as it's defined, is the inside of you. It's a thing in the inside of you. Often we focus on the things outside - external things. And if we have this and that and do this and this and that then we'll be happy. But the truth is, is when you're inside life, when your heart is healed, when your heart is healthy, that will overflow to your outside. So we want to discover what it means to have a healthy soul, which includes your mind, your will, and your emotions. And as we have seen over the past few weeks, the health of your soul is incredibly significant to the overall quality of your life for you to enjoy it and enjoy life.
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Last week we talked about how the soul has hope in God. Even when our emotions, our feelings, are out of control. We can be held in the arms of our loving father and have joy in our journey. So this week, I want to answer the question: Who does my soul hold onto? Who does my soul hold onto. Now, have you ever experienced a time when you figured out that you weren't as strong as you thought you were or you weren't as smart as you thought you were? Better yet, have you ever been through something that you felt like, "Wow, I really need help or this is not gonna go well, cause I ain't strong enough to do it."
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Okay, now, I've been on a journey for the past 10 years called #HSB, which stands for "Hot Summer Body." I haven't gotten it yet. One day, maybe. But I've been on this journey. So back when I lived in Virginia Beach, when I first started this journey of working out, I went to the beach with my roommate, Daniel, and my brother Isaiah for a workout. So my roommate, Daniel and Isaiah, they are in tiptop shape of their lives at that point, I guess they still are now. Maybe. But so anyways, as we were heading to the beach, Daniel gave me this pre workout, like, energy bar, and I ate the whole thing. And he's like, "Oh, no, you're only supposed to eat half of that." "What? You didn't tell me that I just devoured it cause I want to be, like, in tip top shape." Right. Okay, so we get to the beach and here's the workout. The workout is this. 10 rounds, 10 rounds. We gotta do 10 inclined push ups. 50 squats, 10 box jumps. Then we have to sprint on the sand to the middle of the beach where the trash cans are, and then sprint back to the deck. Gotta do that 10 times.
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At first I'm thinking, "Oh, this workout? This finna be a breeze." Like, I'm about to kill this thing, man going doing I'm gonna get my hashtag just beat So this thing will be hard at all First round feel kind of good day I can do this second round Not so good, I instantly it happened that fast. I didn't feel that good Right out in the second round ther around I'm burping up my pre workout bar while I'm springing back like, Oh, this ain't good. Fourth round. As I'm trying to sprint back to the debt, I fall, I fall in the sand pit down. You know, Pastor. Okay? Never mind. I spread and I fought out then down Isaiah, They're like, Oh, no. And so they run, they run and they get me to pick me up. And I'm late for your dragon on the sand as they get me and throw me back on the debt. You know, I barely I barely made that as a give me some water. That was good, you know? So So they had a care man, and I realized at that moment I wasn't strong enough to do that kind of work out without some help. See, in times of trouble off when we discovered in times of trouble. That's when we discover that we are not strong enough by ourselves. When I strong enough viruses were not meant to do life alone. See, our soul needs something to hold onto. Life is fragile and challenging moments appear without warning. I think we all know that right now how fast all of our lives changed instantly see. But we need a stable, solid source of confidence and peace, and I think that's in Jesus now. This makes you think of a story, though of the disciple, Peter is one of the crazier stories in the Bible. There is just bad storm going on, and Jesus and his Jesusdisciples were in a boat and check out Peter's crazy faith. Matthew, 14 says this. Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them. Walk in on the lake. This is crazy. Disciples saw him walking on the lake. They were terrified. It's a ghost, and it's not Casper, they said, and they cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately sets them. Take courage. It is. I don't be afraid, Lord, if is you. Peter Reply. Check this out. What? It is you tell me to come to the water. Come out to the water. Come out to you on the water. Calm, Jesus said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. When he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning the saint cried out. Lord, save me immediately. Jesus reached out his hand and caught him your little faith. He said, Why did you doubt? See Jesus doesn't make storms disappear immediately in our lives. But check this out. He is with you in the storm and he sees you through the storm. We see this with Peter. Notice notice. This is where Peter's help comes from. Peter needed outside source when he's walking on the water and he sees the wind and the waves crashing and gives them the source of help. Can't be something without a soul. See, there's things that we put our source of hope in. We try to hold on to. It is an addiction if it's a bad habit, if it's something that we try to put our hope in, that you can't hold onto those things because when life gets challenging, that addiction is not gonna be the thing that helps you through it. That anger problem is not gonna be thing that helps you through it. Nor can it be in someone who has a soul. Check this out. Someone who has a soul but has the same struggles as we do See, the only on Lee Jesus qualifies to be the anchor for souls. See, if you just try toe hope and hope on other people, that's good. You want to have healthy relationships around you people to support you. But if ask your only hope, I mean, we can't rely on people. Jesus is our hope and I saw can hold on to Jesus. When we feel overwhelmed, God nudges us towards himself. He reminds us that he's with us and he loves us. So I love that story. Because when G's, when Peter began to sink, the Bible says, Jesus immediately picked him up. And then he asked him a question. He says, You have a little faith. Why does your doubt? And that question isn't like a condemnation. I can't believe you doubt it, Peter. No, no, that question is that is a he's trying to remind him. Remember at my graces for you don't have to You don't have to be afraid. You can hold on to me. But why did you doubt like like I'm here, I'm with you. See, it's not about how tight we hold onto the anchor. Rather, is it? It's about how the anchors holding onto us say friends Jesus is holding on to you tight And when you begin to slip when you begin to fall when you cry out Jesus, I need you. He's there for you. We can follow him because his power to rescue us is faithful by heads with me. Let's pray. God, I just thank you. That's your faithful to rescue us, your faithful, the same bliss we call you Answer. So God, I pray that in our life got that that you you'll bring light and love to us so that we can hold on to you as an anchor for our souls that we can hold on to. You know that you are good. You are with us in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, like I said, I'm so glad we can pop up in your feet. I just wanna let you know that. Sure, next days are your best days, and God is with you. Thanks for checking out the city lights podcast. If you'd like to partner with us financially, you can go toe. We're city lights dot com slash giff or you can text any dollar amount to 84321 Thanks for joining us today.
