Welcome to the Harvest Chapel PA Podcast.
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We're so glad you joined us.
Each week you'll hear powerful messages, testimonies and conversations designed to help you grow
in your faith and encounter Jesus in a fresh way.
Let's dive into today's episode.
All right, how's everybody doing this morning?
Good?
Thank you for all that.
That means a lot.
Time's going by super quick.
I was looking at the calendar and I saw September coming around and it's been three years since
we stepped into that lead pastoral role, so time is flying by.
Uriah turns one next month.
Anna and I celebrate 10 years, married this month.
It's a lot of amazing things happening.
During worship, I just had a few words kind of just come to my spirit and I just want
to be obedient.
Scott, would you stand up real quick?
As we were in worship, I saw a picture of you and you were a part of a pit crew.
And these cars were coming in pretty quick and they needed work done and you were
on it.
You knew exactly what to do.
You knew the right tools to grab.
You knew how to change the tire, but not just do it, but do it well.
And you were so focused on doing what you needed to do.
But then something happened with the driver and the driver started jumping out the
window and he's like, I can't finish the race.
And everyone looked around and you were the only one that knew what it took to get
into that driver's seat.
So I just feel like the Lord is speaking a few different things over you right now.
I feel like he wants to highlight your preparedness.
He wants to highlight your humility that you actually enjoy being in the background.
You enjoy not having to stand up in a room full of people when everyone's looking at
you receiving a word.
But I feel like the Lord said he's prepared you to be able to get into that driver's
seat.
And it's actually your humility that will place you there.
I'm only getting emotional because I can feel the Lord's heart towards you in
this, because a lot of the times people that want to do big things for the
kingdom, they truly don't want to be in front of people.
They don't desire spotlight.
They don't desire the fame.
But a lot of times it's those types of people that the Lord wants to use because
their hearts in the right place.
So I just feel like the Lord wants you to hear this this morning that your heart
is in the right place and there will come a time or an opportunity will present
itself for you to get in the driver's seat.
And when this happened, there was nervousness, but not hesitation.
You were quick to be like, OK, let's do this.
So can we just extend our hands to Scott?
God, we just thank you for his heart.
We thank you for his his life.
We thank you for all the things you're calling him to, all the things he's
stewarding now, but all the things that he will steward in the future.
And God, we just say, have your way in and through him.
Have your way in Jesus name.
One more, Michelle, you stand up.
I couldn't get away from this because I thought it was just Scott and I looked
around and he said, I have one more.
I saw your shirt and just stood out to me.
And I just asked the Lord, what are you saying over your daughter?
What could I tell her today that's going to encourage her, uplift her,
edify her?
And I saw you searching for something with passion, with all of your strength,
all of your energy, you were looking for this thing that was lost.
And you're almost getting a little frustrated because you knew that it's
somewhere, you know that that thing is somewhere.
And I just I got to find it.
Where did I put it? Where did I place it?
And I felt you taking a moment to just put your eyes on him and say, God,
I actually can't find this without you.
So, Lord, whatever I'm looking for, I know it's going to be found,
but it's going to be found when my attention is that hyper focused on you.
And as you put your attention on him, as you sought him, you of course,
you found him because if we seek and we find him, if we knock the door,
we'll be answered.
He answered that door immediately.
And you found what you were looking for in a different way.
And I saw this smile just kind of come over your face and you ended up
looking down and the thing you were looking for was in plain sight.
And you're like, I know I've looked in that place before.
I know I I thought I looked on the counter and I for sure thought that I
didn't see it.
But when your eyes are on him, it allows you to fully see the things around you
differently.
So, God, I just I thank you for the journey that our sister has been on.
God, I thank you for her heart that she's just been searching and looking
and seeking.
And God, I just I just prophesy that as she seeks you with all of her heart,
she is going to find exactly what she's looking for.
And this joy, this unspeakable joy is going to be restored.
And the Lord has given me that right now as we're just speaking that there's
a joy that you have, that you've experienced, but it's been.
Paused, if you will, it's not that it left because this joy doesn't leave
us. But I feel the Lord is going to restore this joy, because when I saw
that smile on your face, it was like redemption is what I have as what I
kind of heard in my spirit.
So, God, we thank you for what you're doing.
We just say have your way and keep seeking, keep looking, but make sure
that we're just your eyes are just hyper focused on him.
And as you as your eyes are, everything that you're looking for will just
begin to fall into place.
Amen. Amen.
Thanks, buddy. So good.
Me and my heart's in a bunch of different places.
And I actually went mountain biking for the first time yesterday.
I know that sounds like a beginning of a joke, but it's actually true.
Now, the joke was.
I thought we were going on a beginner trail.
The gentleman that took me mountain biking, not going to call anybody out.
Our definition of beginning trails a little bit different than my
definition of a beginner's trail.
So I made it down the mountain and then had to just kind of walk back up
the mountain with the bike.
So either way, a good workout was had.
And today I'm sore in places I didn't know I even had muscles.
So praise God, praise God that I'm here.
Amen.
It's good.
I didn't get hurt.
I texted Anna as soon as we got back in the car.
I'm OK. I'm safe.
Pastor Tyler even heard that I was doing this this weekend.
He said, buddy, you think that's wise?
He's like, Pastor Don's out.
I'm out. Pastor Dave's out.
If something happens, man, I'm just saying.
I'm like, man, where's your faith, man?
Come on, come on.
But I'm here and Pastor Dave and Kim and Pastor Tyler are
actually at an event in York called Touch a Truck.
So they're partnering with local police and firefighters,
and they're just loving the community.
So with everything happening in our community,
I think it's just a beautiful place for them to be this morning.
So, God, we just thank you for what you're doing there.
And Lord, we thank you for what you're going to do here.
So let's just bow our heads real quick.
Holy Spirit, we thank you for your presence.
God, we thank you.
For what you want to do this morning and God, we just say, have your way.
We yield to you right now in this moment.
God, we thank you for your plans.
God, we thank you for your beautiful presence
that's already here with us this morning.
God, we thank you for that beautiful time of worship.
God, I just pray that we would learn how to do that throughout the week, God.
We would learn how to just pause and be with you at different moments of our life.
So, Lord, we just say, have your way in Jesus' name. Amen.
Man, I just feel like I need to share this, man.
If you're here for the first time, you've never been here before, welcome.
But if this is your first time being here with us at Harvest Chapel,
I just want to know that, I want you to know it's my job to point you to Jesus Christ.
That he is the only way to the Father.
He's not a way, he's the only way.
Jesus came, he lived a perfect life.
He did what none of us could do.
He showed us what it looks like to walk in a perfect relationship
with the Holy Spirit and with the Father.
He was fully God, but yet fully man.
And he was able to stand in the gap and die on that cross for you, as you.
He welcomed us into his victory.
How cool is that?
And he died, he was buried, but then he was raised again.
And if we place our faith and our trust in him, he makes us a brand new creation.
I just have this feeling of like, when is it going to work?
Or when is my life going to shift?
Or when is this finally going to work out?
It's not until you give your life fully to Jesus.
Until you fully surrender your life to Jesus, you're still living for yourself.
You're still living by the standards of this world and the standards of this culture.
When we're called to actually transform culture, not let culture transform us.
And you give your life to him, you surrender your life to him fully and completely.
It's not about just praying a prayer that you kind of mean, but you really don't.
It's giving your whole life to him and saying,
man, I don't know, before I came into this room, I didn't have faith.
It was hard for me to believe, but for whatever reason, my heart is stirred.
Maybe you just experienced the Lord in worship in a new way.
Maybe it's been a while since you felt peace.
And my heart goes out to individuals that aren't in a relationship with the Prince of Peace.
Because if you had to go through the things that we have to go through,
without peace and without joy and without hope, those things can only come in and through Christ.
So sometimes we take that for granted.
We have to realize that we have so much to be thankful for.
Those of us that have given our life to Jesus, those of us that are
walking any relationship with Jesus Christ.
But then my heart goes out to individuals who aren't on that journey yet.
And it's our job to share our personal testimonies and say,
look, this is where I used to be.
I used to be lost, but now I'm found.
This is how I used to be, but this is who I am now and today.
And Pastor Don preached an amazing message on what does it look like to love righteousness,
but also to hate sin.
Like we in the church, we have to hate sin, just like we hate cancer.
I hate cancer.
Cancer has taken out way too many of my personal family members.
So when someone comes to me and they currently have cancer and they want prayer,
man, I'm passionate about laying my hands on the sick because I believe that
they can and will recover.
And we're not going to understand everything on this side of eternity.
And that's hard.
There's lots of questions that I have.
There's lots of conversations that I have with individuals that are like,
Pastor Matt, but what about this and what about this?
I think sometimes the best answer is, I'm not sure.
But we get to have love and joy and peace in the midst of the process.
Imagine your life without hope.
Imagine your life without peace, without true joy that sustains, that actually keeps you.
So if you're here this morning and you've been searching, you've been looking for love,
I'm here to tell you, you can only truly find it in God.
God is love.
God is hope.
God is joy.
All of the things that we want and we desire can only truly be found in him.
It's always going to be about him.
There's never going to be a Sunday or a Monday or a Tuesday or a Wednesday or a
Thursday or a Friday or a Saturday that's not about him.
It's all about him.
God doesn't want a little part of your life.
He wants your entire life.
If he only has a little part of you, he doesn't have any of you.
Half of you isn't enough.
99.9% of you isn't enough.
He wants your whole heart.
He wants your whole attention.
And like I just prophesied, when you put your whole attention on him and you see him
for who he truly is and you experience his grace, you experience his love, you experience
his joy, there's nothing like it.
There is no going back.
I don't believe you would be in this room.
You would be a follower of Christ if you haven't tasted and seen that he's good.
Who's tasted and seen that he's good?
Could you put your hand up?
You've tasted and seen his goodness.
You've tasted and seen his patience.
You've tasted and seen his kindness that can only be found in him.
The only way you can give it away is if you have it in him.
I want to be able to give it away and I want to be able to be an encourager
to others.
But if me myself isn't encouraged by the Lord, if I'm not strengthening myself
from the Lord, I have nothing to give you.
I don't want to give you what I can give you in through my own strength.
There's not going to be enough.
But when I'm in Christ, there's always enough.
We're actually called to be an overflowing source for the world around us.
But the only way we could be an overflowing source is if he's within us overflowing.
And that you're constantly tasting and seeing that he is good.
And I just don't want us to get distracted.
Because this world doesn't have a joy to give you.
This world doesn't have a love to give you.
Those things are only found in Christ Jesus.
And he's enough and he's worth it.
He's so worth it.
If you fully give your life to him completely, you're not going to look back
and go, man, I really wish I didn't give my whole life to Jesus.
You come to the later part of your life and I think we're going to have thoughts
like, man, God, I wish I could have spent more time with you.
I know I'm going to be with you soon.
But man, I want to be in the word.
I wanted to be in the word more.
I want to be able to know this.
I don't want to just be able to quote it here and there.
I want to know this and I want it to know me.
I don't want to just know this book.
I want to know the author.
But if you want to hear a word of the Lord, read your Bible.
If you want to be encouraged, read your Bible.
If you want to know Jesus more, read your Bible.
It's right here.
It's right at your fingertips.
He's given us all of the plans and the blueprints and we just have to take time
to spend with him so that we can become who we're truly called to be.
Amen.
Would you open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter five?
I want us to start a little series just studying the Sermon on the Mount
and specifically talking about the Beatitudes.
And this morning, if I had to give this message a title,
I would call it Our Posture Before God.
So I just want to read the text and then we'll kind of jump back in
and kind of hit bits and pieces.
But I'm going to start right at verse one.
One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside
and he sat down.
His disciples gathered around him and he began to teach them.
Verse three, God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him.
For the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will be satisfied.
God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.
God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
There's so much here in these scriptures and these scriptures can't just be
scriptures that we've read before and we kind of skip past them.
We have to fall in love with the word.
When we read the word of God, I want to read it like I'm reading it for the first time.
And when I'm reading it, I want to go verse by verse.
I want to ask God questions.
I want to ask him, what does this mean?
So we're just going to focus on a few of these each week and really dive into
what Jesus is trying to show us here through this message.
But Jesus begins this famous sermon on the mount, not with rules, but with blessings.
He gives us a blueprint of if you want to live a blessed life,
these are the things you need to do.
These are the things you need to pay attention to.
He describes what true happiness looks like.
We have to understand, not the world's version.
Of happiness, not the world's version of blessing,
but the kingdom's version of blessing, the kingdom's version of what success looks like.
These aren't just nice sayings.
We have to understand that these aren't just nice ideas.
They're kingdom values.
And you have to want these kingdom values for yourself and then for your family.
Amen.
But we can't just say we want this for our family
if we haven't made these kingdom values our personal values.
They're a window into the heart of God.
It's an invitation to a blessed life.
I want to live a blessed life.
Do you want to live a blessed life?
Well, we're reading here what it looks like to live a blessed life.
This starts off with God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
These are the few that we're going to focus on this morning.
God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.
And God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
I believe that our hearts have to begin with being postured in humility,
in surrender, and a hunger after God.
I know that I have all that I have in Christ Jesus, but I want more.
If it's available, I want it.
I don't just want joy.
I want joy everlasting.
I don't just want peace.
I want peace that doesn't make sense.
I want peace that confuses the world.
I want a peace that points people to Jesus Christ, not Matthew Smith.
And the only way you can live that way is if you're surrendered to him truly, fully, completely.
Now we have to understand when we read God blesses those who are poor
and realize their need for him.
I don't believe that this is financial poverty.
It's spiritual poverty.
Being poor in spirit means, God, I can't do this without you.
I can't live this life without you.
The last time I checked, it's really hard to be able to bless
others financially if you're not blessed.
I believe that God is calling the church to be better stewards.
Personal stewards, like your personal finances.
Sometimes we have these thoughts that say, oh, I'll be an extravagant giver when this happens,
or when this happens, or when this happens.
Why not just be an extravagant giver now?
And you truly just trust God.
It doesn't make sense.
God, this doesn't make sense.
You've seen my bills.
You know my bills.
It doesn't make sense.
But God, I'm going to give you this in faith, knowing that this is not going to be
this is the way that you called me to live.
So when we read that, don't partner with a lie that says God wants me to be in poverty.
No, he wants you blessed.
God wants you to be a good steward.
God is thinking about you and your children's children's children when it comes to inheritance.
We can't just think about me, myself, and I.
That's a selfish way of living.
I want God to do the impossible through us and through our finances,
but it requires surrender.
It requires trust.
But I don't believe that we're even talking about that right here and right now.
It's living that life of God.
I don't want to do this without you, but I can't do this without you.
It's the opposite of pride.
It's the opposite of independence or self-righteousness.
Jesus is blessing the person who leans wholly on God as their source.
He can't be a source for you.
He can't be someone that you run to when nothing else works.
He can't just be a 911 source of prayer
where I've tried to do it all, Lord.
So now that I finally tried all that I can do, I'll finally go to you.
That's not what it means for God to be your source.
You wake up feeling a little off.
You wake up feeling a little confused.
God, you're my source.
I surrender to you.
God, I surrender these thoughts to you.
I surrender these emotions to you.
God, I surrender these feelings to you.
I'm not going to allow these feelings to dictate the rest of my day, God,
because it's not I that lives, but Christ that lives in through me.
Jesus, you are my source.
Right now I feel like I'm in lack,
but God, I thank you that I'm lacking nothing in Christ Jesus.
I have more than enough peace.
I have more than enough joy.
I have more than enough hope for me and for the people around me.
It's all about right believing leading to right living.
If you believe right, you'll live right.
If your mindsets are all messed up, you need to welcome the Lord into your mind
and say, God, I thank you that you've given me the mind of Christ.
Notice you're not asking him for anything new.
You're thanking him for what he's already done,
what he's already accomplished.
God, it feels like my mind is chaotic,
but God, I thank you that I'm not in chaos.
I'm in Christ.
You guys with me?
But this is about you believing this and then you applying this to your life.
I'm so blessed to be your shepherd.
I'm so blessed to be able to point you to the great shepherd.
But when things happen in your life,
you have to know that Jesus died on the cross
so that you could have a one way relationship with the father.
You don't have to go through me.
It's my job to teach you that.
So when you feel like your life is falling apart,
it's my job to point you to the source
and say, have you spent a moment with peace?
Because right now, you just seem like you're really lacking peace.
But I know that you don't lack peace
because you've given your life to Jesus.
And if that's true, then you have access to the peace
that passes all understanding.
So have you taken a moment to just spend some time
with the Prince of Peace?
Well, no, not yet, Pastor Matt.
I just don't know what to do.
Hang up this phone, get on your knees and spend time with peace
and then call me back and tell me how you feel.
And I can help you in this journey.
We can have other people in our lives
that are helping us do that
and iron sharpens iron relationships, which we need.
But you need him before anything.
Like I said, he can't be a source.
He can't be a part of your life.
He's got to be your whole life.
We should not have any fear of the coming of the Lord.
If you know God and God knows you,
you should have zero fear when it comes to that.
Because you know you're going to be with him.
But until we're with him in the physical form,
I'm going to continue to bring heaven to earth
because that's what Jesus taught us to do.
He said, this is how you pray on earth as it is in heaven.
He didn't say, pray this way, look up into the sky
and say, God, take us out of here.
It's getting too dark and I'm scared.
He didn't say that.
He's never saying that.
He wants us to be able to be a part of the solution,
not because we're amazing, but because he lives within us.
My eyes are fixed on him and I want him to move in this region.
I want him to move in this state.
I want him to move in this nation like never before.
But I'm not looking to get rescued.
I'm waiting for the wedding day.
It's not a rescue mission.
It's a wedding ceremony.
So God, would you keep our eyes so fixed on you
in this season, Lord, that we can't get distracted?
We're not going to partner with a spirit of fear.
We're going to partner with you, God,
and what you want to do in our personal lives,
in our families, in our communities,
in our region, God, because he has a plan.
To be poor in spirit means being humble
before God and others, aware of our need for him,
for forgiveness and for grace.
How many of you need grace?
How many of you in this room would say,
I've had enough grace, brother.
I don't need any more grace for the rest of my life?
Well, I'm not where you're at and I pray I never get there
because I need him.
I need him every day.
I need him on challenging days.
I need him on nights where everything is going perfect.
I need him when everything is lined up.
I need him when all my ducks are in a row.
I need him when all my ducks are scattered
across south central Pennsylvania.
I need him.
I need him.
You need him.
It's not thinking less of yourself.
It's just thinking of yourself less and God more.
We need to be thinking about God more
than we think about self.
The Christian life is a very selfless life.
It's not I that lives,
but Christ that lives in and through me.
It's not about how everything is affecting me
and how my life is perfect.
We're not promised that in scripture.
We're going to get to blessed are those that are persecuted.
Persecution is not Facebook jail.
That's not persecution.
Persecution is that there's hundreds of brothers
and sisters in Christ that are losing their lives
for the gospel this month
because they simply believe.
I want you to be blessed.
I want you to have your heart's desires,
but I want your greatest heart's desire to be him.
Everything else is just a blessing
because when you have him, you have it all.
When you have him, that's all that matters.
When you have him,
you feel like the richest person in the room
because you know what you have in him.
You have it all.
This kind of poverty clears the way for God's kingdom
to truly fill our hearts.
I want my heart to be full of him.
I don't want to have parts of him.
I want to be full of him.
It's an awareness of our inability to save ourselves
leading us to repentance and faith in Christ.
Do you know that repentance is a beautiful thing?
It's us humbling ourselves.
It's us partnering together and saying,
you know what, God, would you search my heart?
Would you truly do what only you could do, God,
because you see it all.
You know it all.
You know every thought that comes through my mind.
You know every action that I do.
You know every action that I wish I could do.
You know it all.
And Lord, I want you to search me
and if there's anything in me, God, that isn't in you,
I want you to highlight those things to me.
God, I don't want to be a bitter person.
I don't want to be an angry person.
As we were prophesying, I don't know who this is for,
but I saw this picture of this heart that was stone.
And it was no matter what, it was just,
it was hard for the Lord to penetrate this hard exterior.
And I don't know why that hard exterior was there,
but I'm hearing the Lord say, just trust me.
Just trust me.
If you're in this room, if you're watching online
and you feel like you're just in a season
where no matter what you do,
it doesn't feel or seem like things are shifting.
It seems like if you go this way, life's going this way,
and if you do this, this is what you need to happen.
If you're just in a season of frustration,
lay it down at his feet.
If you've discerned that your heart is getting bitter,
your heart is getting hard towards the Lord
or towards the body of Christ or towards the church,
would you lay those frustrations down at his feet
and say, God, this isn't how you've created me to be.
I don't want this.
I don't want to live this kind of life.
I don't want to live bitter.
I don't want to live frustrated.
I don't want to partner with anger.
None of those things are found in Christ.
So if that's you this morning, I just challenge you
to just lay it down at his feet.
Just get real with him today at some point.
Just lay it down at his feet.
God, enough's enough.
I don't want to be bitter, God.
I don't want to be angry.
That's not who I am.
That's not who you created me to be.
Just be real with him.
And I promise you, as you shine the light on those areas,
he will bring healing to your hearts.
He will begin to break down that hard exterior.
And he's not going to make your old heart better.
He's going to give you a brand new one.
Because God doesn't make us better.
He makes us brand new.
Thank God that he doesn't make us better versions
of our old selves.
He makes us brand new creations in him.
The old is gone.
The new has come.
This being poor in spirit,
it's an awareness of our inability to save ourselves.
God, we need you to be our savior.
That's why he came.
The poor in spirit are those who have come
to an end of themselves and now just look
to Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and savior.
If you want that, just say, man, I want that.
I want that.
This aligns with Isaiah 66 two where it says,
these are the ones I look on with favor,
those who are humble and contrite in spirit
and who tremble at my word,
who take this seriously,
who truly believe that this is powerful,
that this is life.
This is the only book that can give you life.
He wrote this through many different people,
all pointing to him.
This is so beautiful.
Do you know how many cross references are found in this?
If you just study the word of God,
how everything points to Jesus,
all the prophecies, it's perfect.
It's beautiful.
I want you to fall in love with the word
like never before.
But this is how much we're getting
just out of this little verse
because we read this verse
and we quickly just pass by and say,
okay, poor in spirit.
No, what does that mean?
What does that mean?
What does that look like
for you to live a life fully dependent upon him
where you realize, God, I'm nothing without you.
I need you.
I don't need parts of you.
I need you, God, fully and completely.
Being poor in spirit isn't a one-time realization.
It's a continual posture of humility before God.
I need him, guys.
The spiritually poor never graduate from needing grace.
Never.
They live aware that every good thing flows from God.
So if we just had to break this down
and summarize just this part,
I believe to be poor in spirit
is to live with a humble awareness
of our need for God's grace
fully dependent on him,
free from spiritual pride
and continually surrendering to his rule.
So as you're doing things,
as you're making decisions,
as you're deciding whether I'm going to do this
or whether I'm going to do this,
are we submitting those things to God first?
That's a big part
because sometimes we just make plans
and then we ask God to submit to our plans
and then we're frustrated
that he's not blessing our plans.
And I see the Lord being like,
I'm confused.
I thought your life was mine.
I thought you were living for me now.
I thought you were making decisions
based on what I think is best for you
because I see the beginning from the end.
You see things from this perspective.
I'm seeing things from a heavenly perspective
and son, daughter, would you just trust me?
Trust me, submit to me fully.
Psalms 34 verse 18 says
as we go into the morning part of this scripture,
the Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
Aren't you thankful that we have a rescuer in Jesus?
That we have a comforter in the Holy Spirit.
For some reason, our culture values self-reliance,
independence, but the kingdom values the opposite.
It values a dependence upon God.
I encourage people all the time
when they're going through a hard,
challenging circumstance,
when maybe you've lost a loved one
you weren't anticipating
or just you're going through a hard thing.
Please take the time to mourn,
but make sure you're mourning with and in Jesus.
Make sure you're mourning with the Holy Spirit
because he is your comforter as you mourn,
as you weep.
He wants you to get those feelings
and those emotions out.
He doesn't want those feelings
and emotions to have you.
But if we just push all of these things
under a carpet and we say the right things
and we pretend like we've really dealt
with this pain and hurt.
I don't know about you,
but sometimes years goes by
and all of a sudden now those things
are creeping back up
because we never actually dealt with it.
I want you to actually sit with the Lord
and say, God, I'm frustrated.
I had to do that in our process
of stepping into the promise of children.
God, I'm frustrated.
What am I doing wrong?
I don't know what else to do.
I've only lived for you.
I've only given my life for you.
Anna and I as a married couple
have only served you.
Anna has said to me,
I gave God my entire 20s.
All I want is children.
What is going on?
And as her husband,
I just have to hold her and say,
honey, I don't know.
I love you.
I love God.
I don't understand.
But when I don't understand,
I'm going to choose to love God.
That's all I have.
Am I frustrated?
You bet.
I'm frustrated.
But God's timing is perfect.
I don't know who needs to hear that this morning,
but God's timing is perfect.
It's perfect.
Sometimes I look back at prayers that I've had
and I look back now and I say,
God, thank you for not answering my prayer then.
Because if you answered my prayer then,
I wouldn't have been ready for it.
I wouldn't have been prepared for it.
God wants you to be real with him.
He wants you to be praying.
But even in your prayer life,
don't let it be a laundry list of needs and wants.
Let it just be,
God, I'm thankful for my health.
God, I'm thankful that I have breath in my lungs.
God, I'm thankful that I'm no longer blind,
but I can see.
God, I thank you for salvation.
God, I thank you for the cross.
God, I thank you for forgiveness.
And all of a sudden,
you're preaching yourself happy.
Because your eyes are not on all the other things.
They're on him.
He says,
God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
This is more than sadness over loss.
We also have to understand it in context.
Context is important.
This isn't just sadness over loss.
It's about grieving over sin and brokenness
and the pain of this falling world.
It's okay for you to look at the way the world is
and mourn and grieve,
but not allow what's happening on the outside
dictate what you believe is possible.
It's okay to feel.
It's okay to lament.
It's okay to weep.
It's okay to cry.
But when we get those things out,
it's time to get up and say,
God, how do you want me,
how do you want to use me to bring change?
Because it's convenient for change to happen
through somebody else.
Things that we're praying for,
things we're believing for,
for our personal families,
we would love for God to just send someone in
to fix it for us.
But what if God wants you to do it?
What if God wants you to be the bridge
between that lost family member and him?
What if God wants to use you to pray at 3 a.m.
When we wake up and we're wide awake
and we don't know why
and it's that little moment in time
where am I going to give this to the Lord?
Am I going to just roll over
and go right back to sleep?
But we're praying prayers like,
God, I want you to speak to me.
God, I want you to show me what I need to do.
And all of a sudden,
God starts tugging at our heart
and it's not on our time frame.
So then we push it to the side.
You guys okay?
This is good.
Because I want to be challenging this myself.
I want God to be able to woo me
whenever he wants to woo me.
I mean, we make time for everything else,
but we can't not afford
to not have time with God.
You can't afford to not be in the word.
You can't afford to not be in personal worship.
But Pastor Matt,
I'm not the greatest singer.
I don't care.
He wants to hear a joyful noise.
Sometimes it comes out scratching.
It's okay.
He wants to hear you worship and praise.
He wants to hear you give him thanks
in the midst of craziness.
In the midst of everything
not looking like you'd like it to look.
God, man, my family is not where I'd like it to be.
But God, I just thank you that you are worthy.
God, you have a plan.
You have a purpose.
God, I believe that you are working
all things together for my good
because I love you,
and I know I'm called according to your presence.
So you're just praying back scripture.
But you won't know how to pray back scripture
if you don't know scripture.
You got to be in the word
so they can become a part of you.
So that when you come into a situation,
you're already prayed up.
You're already ready to go.
And you're like, man, the devil,
you don't know who you're messing with.
You don't know whose family you're touching.
Man, gotta get passionate about this.
But I want to make this connection
to 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 10.
Man, when we see the letters
that Paul wrote to the churches, man,
what kind of letters would Paul be writing today?
Holy smokes.
Holy smokes.
So we have to read this in context.
But watch this.
It says, for the kind of sorrow
God wants us to experience
leads us away from sin and results in salvation.
There's no regret for that kind of sorrow.
We need to look at sin and go, man, I mourn that.
I don't even want to be,
I don't have anything to do with that.
Even when we find ourselves wanting to be tempted.
Daniel Burton had just preached a message
and I shared it on my Facebook message
and he compared temptation.
Some of us, we actually think temptation itself is sin.
How many know that's not true?
Jesus was tempted in all ways that he did not sin.
He showed us that it was possible to endure temptation
and not fall into the trap of sin.
So what is sin?
Sin is the rattle of a snake.
When you hear that rattle,
what's coming if you don't move?
The strike of sin.
So what's rattling in your life
that you need to take note of,
I need to take care of this
because if I don't take care of this,
that strike is coming.
And the wages of sin is death.
That could be physical death,
it could be emotional,
it could be depression,
it could be anxiety.
I know for me personally,
when I lived most of my life in depression,
it's because I was in sin.
I was in sin doing things I knew I shouldn't be doing,
welcoming the enemy into my life
and all of a sudden I'm struggling with depression,
anxiety, suicidal thoughts.
But the moment I actually looked in the mirror
and went, oh, I'm a part of the problem.
I've been partnering with sin.
God, forgive me.
And all of a sudden my heart is pure, it's real,
because you can be real about it
or you could just say the right things
and then continue living your life normally tomorrow.
And then continue to reap what you're sowing.
Or you could say, man, God,
something's hitting my heart today
and I don't realize what's going on,
but I just feel this conviction.
Conviction is beautiful.
Condemnation is from the pit of hell.
Condemnation says you'll never get through this.
Condemnation says that's always who you'll be.
You'll always be angry.
You'll never treat your wife right.
You'll never love your kids
the way that they deserve to be loved.
That's condemnation speaking.
That's the devil.
Conviction is you're better than that.
Jesus paid a price for you
to not live that way any longer.
You do not have to go to the lusts of the world
to fulfill those things in you
because any one of us in this room
that have partnered with sin in any way,
what comes next?
Shame, guilt, condemnation.
And then we get stuck in this cycle.
It's time to break the cycle.
I saw this beautiful picture once
and it was a picture of a carousel
and the carousel was spinning
and one of the horses was galloping off of it.
But some of us,
we find ourselves stuck on the carousel of life
and God's asking us to gallop.
God's saying,
stop trying to do the same thing
and get different results.
It's time to partner with me
and the plans that I have for you.
Amen.
So I believe that blessed are those who mourn
could be understood as this.
Blessed are those who grieve deeply
over sin and brokenness.
Both their own and the world's
because they will find true comfort
and restoration in their circumstances in God.
Sometimes your circumstances are not gonna line up
with what should be happening in your life
but I can't promise you a life without trial.
I can't promise you a life without tests.
James teaches us, man,
count it all joy.
How many of us go through a really challenging scenario?
The first thing we do honestly is,
man, God, thank you.
When's the last time you went through a trial?
You didn't have money for the bill.
You didn't know how it was gonna get paid.
The phone calls keep coming.
You're just like, God, genuinely, thank you.
But we call it trials.
We call it the devil when we weren't good stewards.
We racked up the debt
and now the debt collector's calling.
Oh, that angry devil's after me, brother.
Nope, bad stewardship.
Shouldn't have got the car when you did.
I'm not saying that to be mean, but that's true.
That's just true.
Before we're buying the car,
before we're buying the home,
before we're switching jobs,
before we're doing,
before we're dating,
before we're getting married,
before we're doing the big things of life,
are you welcoming the Lord into that process?
God, you see it all from the beginning to the end.
Is this right for me right here and right now?
And then to take a step back
and take it a step further,
you have people, real flesh and blood people
in your life that you say,
I trust you to help steward my life
and help shepherd me.
What do you think?
And you're submitting things to people.
But you can't come into my counseling office
and say, Pastor Matt,
God told me to do this
and God told me to do that
and God told me to do that.
What you're doing right now is
you're binding my hands,
you're silencing my voice
from having a voice in your life
because you've already said,
thus saith the Lord.
So then six months from now,
when everything's a train wreck,
do you trust me enough
to lovingly look into your eyes
and say, sweetie, six months ago,
you were saying this is God
and this is God and this is God.
Do you think maybe you were wrong?
Do you think maybe
that's just what you really wanted?
You're gonna know in that moment
if you have a pastor in your life
or if you want a pastor in your life
because at that time,
it's really convenient
to go find another church.
I love you.
I'm giving my life for this thing, man.
I ain't playing games.
I ain't playing games.
I'm not bored.
I'm not here because I'm bored
and I have nothing to do.
I'm here because I'm called
because God's called me
for such a time as this.
And I love you
and it's okay to make bad choices
and go, wow,
I shouldn't have done that
and the Lord can redeem it.
But be real
because either in that moment,
you were wrong or God was
and I'm gonna bank on you.
I love you.
Psalms 30 verse five says,
weeping may last through the night
but joy comes in the morning.
It's a process.
It's a promise.
But we have to be real
with those feelings and emotions,
not allow those feelings and emotions
to drive our life
but we deal with them.
God's comfort isn't just sympathy,
it's strength, it's peace and it's hope
that empowers us to keep moving forward.
God wants you to keep moving forward.
I wanna talk about the meek
and the blessing of surrender.
Jesus says, God blesses those who are humble
for they will inherit the whole earth.
Please hear me clearly.
Meek does not mean weak.
It means strength under control.
Think of a powerful horse
that has been trained still strong
but surrendered to the rider.
James 4 6 says,
God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.
I don't know about you
but I need grace.
You know what that means?
I need to be humble.
I need to walk in humility.
In God's kingdom,
it's not the pushy, the aggressive
or controlling who inherit blessing,
it's the surrendered and gentle.
The kingdom is an upside down kingdom.
The first should be last,
the last should be first.
Nothing makes sense in the world's standards
because God loves to flip it up side down.
You wanna grow in favor, go low.
Do the things that no one else wants to do.
Learn how to wash feet and do it well.
Not washing feet to try to get to somewhere else.
I never went into youth ministry
and looked at it as a stepping stone
because if you do that,
you know who notices that?
The kids.
Jackson Cain never felt that ever.
He's been with me for a long time.
I can look around this room
and see ones that have been with me for a long time.
My brother-in-law, hi.
You're welcome.
We're not about,
it's not about doing something
to get to something to get to something.
It's God, what are you giving me to steward today?
Maybe that's your family.
Maybe that's your children.
Maybe that's your workplace.
Maybe that's the job you've been praying for
that God gave you
and now you're praying yourself out of it.
Maybe God has you for such a time as this.
Moses was called the most humble man on earth,
yet God used him powerfully.
Powerfully to lead a nation.
You can be humble and meek
and still be powerful and strong.
Humility looks like something.
The meek don't have to fight for position
or recognition.
They trust God to exalt them in due time.
In due time.
God knows what he's doing with your life.
God knows where you'll be a year from now.
God knows where you'll be two years from now.
God knows where you'll be 10 years from now.
And just ask him this simple question.
Do I trust God?
Only you can answer that question truthfully.
Do you trust God with your life?
Do you trust that his plan is better than your plan?
God has a plan for you.
I promise you he does.
And the last point I'm gonna make is hunger and thirst.
And I believe this is the blessing of pursuit.
Where Jesus said God blesses those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness
for they will be satisfied.
Hunger and thirst are survival instincts.
Jesus is saying long for God's will
and God's way like your life depends on it.
Are we looking at him like that from that perspective?
Like God I'm gonna do this.
I'm gonna do this and live this life
like my life is dependent upon it.
Psalms 42 verse one says
as the deer longs for streams of water
so I long for you, oh God.
I thirst for God, the living God.
We're not blind to realize that
the world hungers after power.
After pleasure, after possessions.
But only righteousness, a right relationship with God
truly is the only thing that can satisfy your soul.
Truly, it's the only thing that can satisfy your soul
is you living in a right relationship with God.
The prodigal son was hungry for the world's pleasures.
How did that work out for him?
He ended up starving.
Only when he returned to the father's house
he was filled.
God met him right in that moment.
Where are you at with the Lord right now?
Are you in a good place?
And if you are, let's celebrate that.
Everyone in this room is on different walks with the Lord
but you're never too young or too old
to step into something new.
You're never too young or too old
to step into a different facet of realizing who God is.
I want to be pursuing the Lord
until the last day I take my last breath
on this side of eternity.
Pursuing him, asking questions, going deeper.
But ask yourself, what are you hungry for?
All the things that this world can give you,
those things just, they provide a circumstantial happiness.
A happiness that fades away.
But the joy that you can get in Christ never fades away.
It's the, he's the only one.
You want to have a good, thriving, healthy marriage?
Jesus.
You want to be the best father
that you know you're called to be?
Jesus.
You want to be the mother that you know you can be?
And I'm getting some stuff in my spirit
because sometimes we live life
and we look at different examples
of what's been shown to us
and maybe we've experienced a bad example of a father
so now you believe a lie
that you can never be the father to your children
because you never experienced that father for yourself.
I'm here to tell you that you have a heavenly father
who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Who is perfect.
You want to learn how to be a good father?
You fall in love with God.
You fall in love with him.
You let him teach you.
You let him show you what it means to be a father.
You want to be a good husband.
You fall in love with the Lord like never before.
Guys, guess what?
We need patience, don't we?
We can laugh.
You need patience.
We all need patience
but you want to be more patient?
Spend time with patience.
Love is patient.
God is love.
What are you thirsty for?
I don't want this to just be scriptures
that we just read and we go,
yeah, okay, no, I want to live this out.
I want us to walk this out.
Thank you, Jesus, for your presence.
Thank you, Jesus, for what you're doing,
just even in the room right now, God.
God, we thank you for grace.
I just want to begin to pray for us.
If you could just bow your heads just for a moment.
Jesus, I thank you for everyone in this room.
God, I thank you for every heart
that's represented in this room that's watching online.
That these verses are not just verses
for us to pass by quickly
and for us to say, yeah, we've heard this before,
but God, are we living these scriptures?
Are we choosing to live a humble life?
Are we choosing to live a life
that's so dependent upon you
that we can't do anything without you, God,
that we don't want to move without you?
And earlier I had mentioned some things
that maybe you have that you're holding onto
that God has asked you just to place at his feet.
Only you can do this.
If you feel heavy, if you feel burdened,
if you feel angry, whatever it may be,
just in this moment, God, I lay this down at your feet.
Maybe you have a question that's been so consuming.
It's all you've thought about.
Maybe it's time to lay that question down at his feet
and say, God, I trust you.
Why isn't this happening, Lord?
Why aren't we stepping into this, Lord?
Why isn't this shifting, Lord?
God, I trust you.
God, I trust you.
I know that your plan is better than my plan, God.
I trust you.
Would you let me not get ahead of the game?
God, I want to be in your will.
The best place for you to be is in the will of God.
So Lord, I ask, even as we continue this week,
you would lead us and you'd guide us
and you'd show us different things
that we need to do to surrender completely to you.
God, and I ultimately just say have your way.
Have your way.
I just, we keep praying.
I just, I just kind of see a couple of different things
in my spirit.
I want to ask our prayer team to come forward.
I know we're all sitting.
It's okay.
If you're part of our prayer team, just come forward.
If there's anyone in here that
your heart is just thumping out of your chest,
your heart's beating out of your chest.
You can't really put words to it.
You just feel like there's something happening.
I'm going to ask you to be obedient to the Lord
in this moment and respond.
That may look like coming up and receiving prayer from someone.
That may look like just coming up to the altar
and having a conversation with the Lord,
just being real with him,
laying certain things down at his feet
and just saying, God, I trust you with this.
I trust you with my marriage.
I trust you with my, my career.
God, I trust you with what life looks like right now.
I trust you.
So I know it's sometimes it's hard to stand up
in moments like this.
Someone asked us all just to stand up
as we stand together as a church,
as a church family, as a church body.
So I'm just going to pray one more time.
God, I just thank you for what you're doing in the room.
God, if there's anyone in this room that needs to respond,
I ask that you would give them the courage.
You give them the boldness to respond
that we would want to leave these scriptures
out loud with our lives lived.
God, if you're in this room
and you have any pain in your body,
you're struggling with pain.
If it's a headache, if it's cancer,
if it's dementia, I don't care what it is.
Jesus is here.
Jesus is healer.
So if you would like prayer,
I'm going to ask you to come forward for prayer.
Let us, let us embrace you right where you're at.
Encourage you, remind you who God is,
what he's saying over your life.
So God, we just say have your way in Jesus name.
Amen.
Amen. I love you guys.
I just want to honor the presence that's in the room.
So if you want to come forward for prayer, that's amazing.
If you have to go, that's fine too.
I hope you have an amazing week.
Be blessed.
We're just going to keep going after Jesus.
Amen.
Thanks for listening to the Harvest Chapel PA podcast.
We hope this message encouraged you
and drew you closer to Jesus.
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We can't wait to be with you again next week.