Episode 19
Growing the Fruit: Vegetables and Flowers of the Spirit (Growing What is Good Part 2: )
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HeavenEarth Church emerges as a sanctuary for individuals who feel marginalized within traditional religious frameworks, emphasizing the importance of inclusivity and understanding. The founding pastor, Ross Stackhouse, articulates the church's mission to embrace those who may have experienced disconnection from faith, reiterating the profound belief that every human narrative encapsulates a divine story. This episode delves into the personal accounts of congregants, highlighting their journeys of faith, often marked by struggles and rediscovery. The stories shared serve not only as testimonies of individual resilience but also as reflections of the church's commitment to fostering a community where all are welcome, regardless of their past experiences with faith. Through these narratives, listeners are invited to comprehend the transformative power of connection, both with others and with the divine, reinforcing the church's core message that every story is significant and deserving of honor.
The podcast further explores the theme of growth—both personal and communal—through a series called 'Growing the Fruits, Vegetables, and Flowers of the Spirit.' Pastor Ross employs metaphorical language to illustrate the nurturing of spiritual fruits, emphasizing that while individuals may not yet be the fullness of who they are meant to be, they are simultaneously becoming that very person. The discussion navigates the complexities of self-perception and spiritual maturation, encouraging listeners to reflect on their own journeys and recognize that they are in a continual state of becoming. This episode invites the audience to engage deeply with their own identities, urging them to acknowledge their present realities while aspiring towards their divinely intended purposes, fostering hope and encouragement amidst life’s uncertainties.
In a compelling discussion, the episode culminates in a call to action, urging congregants to embody the principles of love, clarity, and presence in their daily lives. Pastor Ross articulates that being 'clear-headed' serves as a prerequisite for meaningful prayer and spiritual engagement. He implores listeners to cultivate an environment where love is the foundational pillar, effectively positioning it as the 'load-bearing wall' of their spiritual existence. The episode culminates with practical insights on hospitality, urging individuals to welcome others into their lives without hesitation or pretense. The overarching message resonates with the idea that community and interpersonal relationships are central to spiritual growth. By intertwining their lives with others, individuals embark on a path that not only enriches their own faith journeys but also contributes to the larger tapestry of the church's mission to foster a transformative and nurturing environment.
Takeaways:
- The essence of Heaven Earth Church revolves around inclusivity, welcoming those who feel disconnected from traditional church settings.
- The stories shared in this podcast highlight the transformative journeys of individuals rediscovering their faith.
- Our belief is that every person's narrative is intertwined with God's larger story and purpose.
- Discipleship at Heaven Earth Church emphasizes continuous growth and humility, recognizing that we are all perpetual learners.
Links referenced in this episode:
Transcript
Welcome to Heaven Earth Church.
Speaker A:My name is Ross Stackhouse.
Speaker A:I'm the founding pastor of Heaven Earth Church.
Speaker A:From the beginning, our heart was to be a church for people who don't fit neatly into church.
Speaker A:Our heart is to meet people where they are, to learn their stories, to honor their stories.
Speaker A:Because in every human story is God's story.
Speaker A:In this podcast, you'll hear more about the people who now call Heaven Earth Church home.
Speaker A:Their stories, in many cases of misfits who are discovering or rediscovering faith.
Speaker B:If you want to know more about.
Speaker A:Us, you can go to heavenorthchurch.org Otherwise, we invite you now into the story.
Speaker C:Hello, good people.
Speaker C:Brad Miller here, the producer of the Heaven Earth Church podcast.
Speaker C:One of the main benefits of being a part of the Heaven Earth Church Catholic community is our Sunday morning conversations taught by founding pastor Ross Stackhouse.
Speaker C:You can watch and participate in the Sunday morning conversation this Sunday morning, 9:30am Eastern time at YouTube.com heavenerthchurch.
Speaker C:The audio version of the Sunday morning conversation is available here on the podcast, which you can find at Apple Podcasts, Spotify and on the website, which is heavenearthchurch.org let's join Pastor Ross Stackhouse in part two of the growing what is Good series called Growing the Fruits, Vegetables and Flowers of the Spirit.
Speaker B:Lord, help us to hear something that we couldn't hear on our own.
Speaker B:To see, to understand, to live your heart, our heart, your spirit, our spirit, your kingdom, your will, in Jesus name, amen.
Speaker B:So this is going to be like a repeat.
Speaker B:Some of you have seen this before, so.
Speaker B:But it's important that I show it again today.
Speaker B:Look at that guy.
Speaker B:Got a nice chili bowl.
Speaker B:Can't smile yet.
Speaker B:Having trouble smiling there.
Speaker B:You know, Part of the good news is that middle school is pretty tough, right?
Speaker B:Very tough.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:High school's pretty tough.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, so I went from this fella who.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I don't know what I'm doing there, but.
Speaker B:And then I went.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:And then freshman year, it went the other way.
Speaker B:Like, I became like a bean pole, 145 pounds, braces.
Speaker B:It just.
Speaker B:It didn't get better.
Speaker B:And then here's part of the good news.
Speaker B:We are not yet who we are becoming.
Speaker B:We are not yet who we are becoming.
Speaker B:Is that good news for you today?
Speaker B:Maybe not.
Speaker B:Maybe you're like, no, I feel pretty good.
Speaker B:However, we are, here's the part I didn't hear as much in church growing up.
Speaker B:We are already who we're becoming.
Speaker B:What did he just say, is this guy trying to be Yoda this morning?
Speaker B:Some of the things I had in my heart at that age and that awkwardness are still here now.
Speaker B:Some of the things I went through at that age and in junior high are with me now.
Speaker B:When I was 16 years old, 17, I'll never forget, I was standing in the parking lot between Triton Central high school and Triton Elementary.
Speaker B: l pads out of the trunk of my: Speaker B:Let's go.
Speaker B:And I said to him as I pulled my shoulder pads out, I think I'm going to marry this girl.
Speaker B:This girl was Angela.
Speaker B:I did marry her.
Speaker B:So, like, we're not yet who we're becoming, but we already are who we're becoming.
Speaker B:I knew something at that age.
Speaker B:I was wise for a second.
Speaker B:I wasn't often wise in those times, But I want to talk about that as we conclude this growing what is good series.
Speaker B:Because I'm honestly, like, Ross, you're saying the same things, yet you're catching on.
Speaker B:I end up saying a lot of the same things in here.
Speaker B:But before I keep going, I want to.
Speaker B:I want to ask you, where do you feel that you are in your life?
Speaker B:Do you feel like you're.
Speaker B:You're not yet who you're becoming, or do you feel like when you're more on the other side, you feel like, no, I'm actually.
Speaker B:I feel like I'm closer to, like, the person I'm made to be.
Speaker B:Do you feel like you're far away from the person that you were made to be in God, or do you feel like you're pretty close?
Speaker B:Do you feel like you've grown up into it?
Speaker B:For me, it depends on the day.
Speaker B:Online, people.
Speaker B:Wake up.
Speaker B:Let's hear from you, too, Bobo.
Speaker B:So Bobo says she feels like she's right where God means for her to be.
Speaker B:Bobo's entire life is recovery.
Speaker B:She's blessed us with that.
Speaker B:And now she works for I got to be a part of her meeting and share with the young folks that are part of thrive.
Speaker B:And it's such a cool group.
Speaker B:So, yeah.
Speaker B:What about you?
Speaker B:You feel like you're pretty close to, you know, your destiny, if you will, who God has made you to be, or you feel like, oh, man, I just don't feel like I'm there yet.
Speaker B:I feel like I'm pretty far away from who God's made me to be.
Speaker B:Amanda.
Speaker B:Amanda added option D, which actually I agree with.
Speaker B:Which is, like, I feel like I'm where I'm meant to be, but also, I'm never going to have arrived, and that's okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:What about the rest of you, Dina?
Speaker B:I'm where I'm meant to be, but I'm still learning.
Speaker B:You guys are doing a good job with the sermon today.
Speaker B:Glad you showed up.
Speaker B:PT Hello.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So PT has talked about a couple seasons of his life where he could see, like, where he was going and he got there.
Speaker B:But he feels like in this season, there's a.
Speaker B:It's transition time again, where there's a vision about, like, maybe what he's supposed to grow into or a plate of people he's supposed to be alongside or whatever.
Speaker B:He's trying to discern that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But else Amanda for times two.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:She added option either.
Speaker B:Which is, like, maybe in some areas or spheres of our life, we're who God's calling us to be, but maybe in other areas of life, we're lagging, and maybe we're.
Speaker B:And that might be okay, too.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:Good question.
Speaker B:I'm not sure what the original question was.
Speaker B:I was basically saying, like, at that age, I was.
Speaker B:I wasn't who I was becoming yet, and yet I was like, so where.
Speaker B:Where do you feel you are?
Speaker B:Do you feel like you're close to, like, who you are in God?
Speaker B:Like, do you.
Speaker B:Do you feel like you've got.
Speaker B:You're in touch, you're aligned with who God has made you to be?
Speaker B:Or do you feel kind of pretty far away from that?
Speaker B:Hmm.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Constantly feel like you're falling short, Feel like you haven't arrived.
Speaker B:I want to transition on that and just give a ditto to Amanda's thought and what other of you said.
Speaker B:Actually, I think everybody.
Speaker B:I think these were really wise answers.
Speaker B:You're wise.
Speaker B:Cool.
Speaker B:Oh, Jason, go ahead.
Speaker B:Oh, Jason feels like he fits really well in the God world.
Speaker B:Like, that makes sense.
Speaker B:Ministry makes sense.
Speaker B:It's kind of the real world that doesn't make as much sense.
Speaker B:And he thought, like, maybe that means I'm supposed to be a pastor, but I'd rather die than pray out loud.
Speaker B:So what's up?
Speaker B:Maggie's on her way.
Speaker B:Hi, Maggie.
Speaker B:Who said that?
Speaker B:Oh, hi, Allison.
Speaker B:She's pretty close, but she wants to be closer.
Speaker B:Hey, online people.
Speaker B:You ate your Wheaties.
Speaker B:We got another one.
Speaker B:Let's go.
Speaker B:Ooh.
Speaker B:I feel perfectly aligned, but hunger for more.
Speaker B:We have five discipleship essentials in our church, so I want to transition on that.
Speaker B:I Don't know if this ties to the sermon today, so help me, Brad.
Speaker B:Our discipleship essential number two is be humble, hungry and willing.
Speaker B:It's actually healthy and spiritually mature to believe that you haven't arrived yet.
Speaker B:Being a disciple is signing up for never having arrived and always being a beginner.
Speaker B:At Heaven Earth Church, we have zero experts, none.
Speaker B:Discipleship, we're all beginners.
Speaker B:That's what keeps people well and mature and yet, like, part of what we believe, what we realize as we grow into our gifts, as we grow with Jesus, we realize that even as we haven't arrived yet, we are becoming.
Speaker B:We are part of something that is so much better, bigger than we ever dreamed.
Speaker B:So the more we grow into our gifts and we grow into, like, our calling, so to speak, it, we.
Speaker B:We have this awakening of, like, man, I am part of something so big in Jesus, and that's what, like, who we are and what we do can be completely joined up with the extraordinary new creation of Jesus.
Speaker B:We've been talking about that for, like, seven weeks now.
Speaker B:We are made to be a part of this new harvest that began with Jesus's life, death and resurrection.
Speaker B:He's invited us to be, like, formed and reformed into the people that he has destined us to be.
Speaker B:We talked a lot about that in discovery.
Speaker B:1 Ephesians 2, 10 says, like, we are God's handiwork or masterpiece created in Christ Jesus for good works.
Speaker B:So, Jason, it's okay, my man.
Speaker B:If you're.
Speaker B:If.
Speaker B:If that's making sense in one world, then I think you're doing okay.
Speaker B:If you're growing up in your masterpiece, identity in your ministry, and you're joining up with Jesus, I think you're doing okay.
Speaker B:Here's what I want to talk to you about.
Speaker B:I want to show you how I got mixed messages, though, as a kid, and I think this is important.
Speaker B:I got mixed messages as I was growing up that kind of flew in the face of this.
Speaker B:So I want to say something that's a little more theoretical, and then we're going to end with really practical stuff.
Speaker B:Are you with me?
Speaker B:When I was growing up, there was this message that we'd read a verse like this, which is an amazing, amazing perspective.
Speaker B:First Peter, chapter two.
Speaker B:Dear friends, since you are immigrants and strangers in the world, Jason, he's talking to you and me, bud.
Speaker B:We feel like weirdos in this world.
Speaker B:I urge that you avoid worldly desires that wage war against your lives.
Speaker B:There would be the.
Speaker B:We'd take verses like this in the Bible, and I'd hear things like in my growing up years, everything here is temporary.
Speaker B:This world is a weird place.
Speaker B:It's temporary.
Speaker B:It's all perishing.
Speaker B:So just remember that and wait for heaven.
Speaker B:Like, just endure this temporary thing so you can get to the thing that's not temporary.
Speaker B:Anybody else ever hear that?
Speaker B:Maybe it's just me.
Speaker B:This is all temporary.
Speaker B:Right now you're suffering, your life, everything's temporary.
Speaker B:Just get to the thing that's not temporary.
Speaker B:Don't waste your time getting upset about what's temporary.
Speaker B:Don't waste your time getting too happy with what's temporary.
Speaker B:Get to what's lasting.
Speaker B:But you know what the message was with that?
Speaker B:That I realized I struggled with growing up, that none of this matters.
Speaker B:Monday at 9:30am doesn't really matter.
Speaker B:Wednesday at 5:00 clock doesn't really matter.
Speaker B:Your suffering doesn't actually matter because it's just temporary.
Speaker B:Don't, hey, don't mourn.
Speaker B:So during much, put a smile on your face because there's this lasting thing that's waiting.
Speaker B:Folks, listen to me.
Speaker B:That is not the Bible's message at all.
Speaker B:Instead, kind of like Amanda did.
Speaker B:Amanda cheated.
Speaker B:Imagine.
Speaker B:So, like, Amanda took a test.
Speaker B:A, B and C were options.
Speaker B:And she drew another bubble that was option D and then put an answer there and then filled in her own bubble.
Speaker B:And then she got to the end of the test and came back and drew another bubble for E and then filled in that bubble.
Speaker B:I'm doing the same thing right now.
Speaker B:Here's really what the Bible says everywhere.
Speaker B:Yes, this land is strange and this time is fleeting.
Speaker B:We currently live, like, in an age and a situation that is not yet what it will be.
Speaker B:Are you with me?
Speaker B:We're in the theoretical part.
Speaker B:If your brain's hurting, stay with me.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker B:We are in a situation, a land, a time that is not yet what it will be.
Speaker B:Full stop.
Speaker B:The Bible is, like, uniform on this.
Speaker B:All this stuff is, in a way, perishing.
Speaker B:None of this as it is, will last.
Speaker B:But instead of a period, where's Heather at?
Speaker B:There's a semicolon.
Speaker B:See?
Speaker B:A semicolon.
Speaker B:Grammar nerds are like, dude, this is going to be great.
Speaker B:Semicolon is a separation of two independent clauses that belong together.
Speaker B:This guy's getting way too heady.
Speaker B:I told you we're gonna get practical.
Speaker B:Kurt Vonnegut says never use semicolons.
Speaker B:It just shows that you're arrogant and you went to college.
Speaker B:I think I just did that.
Speaker B:There are two things that belong together.
Speaker B:Here's the point.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:What we're experiencing is not what it will be yet.
Speaker B:It is fleeting.
Speaker B:It is temporary.
Speaker B:God has started a new creation in Jesus.
Speaker B:God is renewing all things.
Speaker B:This situation is not what it will be.
Speaker B:But this all matters so much.
Speaker B:This land and this time are also destined for a glory that will be revealed.
Speaker B:A glory that has already partly been revealed in the resurrection.
Speaker B:Yes, this place will ultimately perish.
Speaker B:And yet the fruits we have grown will somehow endure.
Speaker B:I'm going to try to be simple.
Speaker B:I think that was too much.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:There are things about what we're doing right now on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, that are going to fade away.
Speaker B:There are more eternal things to be a part of.
Speaker B:So be about those things.
Speaker B:But realize the eternal doesn't just mean something way over there after this life, it starts right now.
Speaker B:That's the Bible's uniform message.
Speaker B:Eternal stuff has come here and now.
Speaker B:So when you bear the fruits of the spirit, the Bible has this weird idea that the fruits of the spirit that you bear now, Debbie, will be kind of like the fruits of which we eat in the eternal kingdom.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's like you're preparing the Kingdom of heaven banquet right now.
Speaker B:My dad is a great baker.
Speaker B:My kids know this.
Speaker B:If you want a pumpkin bread, go to this fellow.
Speaker B:He processes the pumpkin.
Speaker B:Like he doesn't go buy the store bought pumpkin stuff.
Speaker B:That's for amateurs.
Speaker B:No offense.
Speaker B:This guy processes the pumpkin, makes the best pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread all the time.
Speaker B:Long after he's gone, I will remember that our lives are like that.
Speaker B:What we bake right now with our lives, the spiritual stuff that we invest in right here, right now, in this ordinary time, this strange land is joined up with the later.
Speaker B:We're building the kingdom of heaven right here, right now.
Speaker B:We are not yet what we're becoming, and yet we are.
Speaker B:How's your brain doing?
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:All right, well, just here's the practical part.
Speaker B:Let's just do that.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker B:So Peter's like, well, what do we do in this time?
Speaker B:How do we like, be a meaningful part of this time while realizing that this time ain't it?
Speaker B:Are you with me?
Speaker B:Maybe that's a simple way of saying it.
Speaker B:This time really matters, but it ain't it.
Speaker B:There, that's the sermon about seven words or so.
Speaker B:First of all, let's read this right here.
Speaker B:If this time didn't matter, there's no way Peter would write words like this in chapter four.
Speaker B:If this time we're just like, just get through it, Melissa.
Speaker B:So you can get to the thing later.
Speaker B:Why would he write things that I'm about to show you?
Speaker B:You may as well just bunker down and wait for heaven.
Speaker B:No, it's not what he says.
Speaker B:He says this instead.
Speaker B:The end of everything has come.
Speaker B:Everything as we, as we've known it is over with.
Speaker B:The new creation has begun.
Speaker B:Therefore, be self controlled and clear headed.
Speaker B:So you can pray.
Speaker B:I have, listen, I have, I think four points that are practical and we're going to end on these.
Speaker B:I think there, I think there are four, let me see.
Speaker B:There are four.
Speaker B:They're all practical.
Speaker B:Hang with me.
Speaker B:First of all, what you're going to see is how Peter is mapping for us a way of living, a spiritual way of living that actually, that is tangible and concrete.
Speaker B:It's an inside out way of life.
Speaker B:So listen, I'm going to tell you a story that I heard about 30 minutes ago.
Speaker B:I know this guy who loves to golf, he loves to golf and he went to go golf by himself.
Speaker B:That's his sanctuary.
Speaker B:And the like, club pro or whoever, he shows up that day, they know this guy and he says, the club pro is like, hey, can you take this guy with you today?
Speaker B:And my friend, this golfer is like, oh my gosh, I'm going out to my sanctuary.
Speaker B:I don't want to drag this fellow along.
Speaker B:I don't want to do that.
Speaker B:But luckily my friend who's a good guy, he's not a bad guy, he's a good guy.
Speaker B:Wise guy, not that kind of wise guy, not like good fellows, like a guy with wisdom is what I meant.
Speaker B:He goes up to this friend, it's important to have wise people in your life.
Speaker B:He's like, man, can you believe what they did to me?
Speaker B:I came out to be a part of my sanctuary and, and they're making me drag this guy along.
Speaker B:He stinks at golf, I don't wanna drag him along.
Speaker B:And this wise friend goes, he's gonna learn a lot from you today.
Speaker B:His friend didn't co sign his stuff.
Speaker B:Be like, oh yeah, that stinks man, that's awful.
Speaker B:No, he said, hey, he's gonna learn a lot from you today.
Speaker B:This guy, his wife's friend demonstrated a part of what we're gonna see here.
Speaker B:He didn't just say that on the fly.
Speaker B:He shared something with my friend that came from the inside, from spiritual wisdom that was growing within his life.
Speaker B:That guy, his wise friend thinks all the time about people first and he offered the fruit of that.
Speaker B:He doesn't think about himself only he thinks about People.
Speaker B:So I want to show you.
Speaker B:Peter gives us a map for the inside out spiritual life that blesses people and God.
Speaker B:Okay, four things and we'll end with this.
Speaker B:Number one, he says in here, first one is be clear headed.
Speaker B:Point one, here's why this matters.
Speaker B:I like to think that I go to pray to get clear headed.
Speaker B:Are you with me?
Speaker B:I think that I need to go to prayer to go get clear headed.
Speaker B:He says be clear headed so you can pray.
Speaker B:Whoa, that's weird.
Speaker B:He's going first to the inside of your spiritual life.
Speaker B:I think that if I'm like, if I'm experiencing tension in my prayer life, it's because it's my prayer.
Speaker B:I'm not a good prayer.
Speaker B:There's something wrong with my brain.
Speaker B:But actually I'm realizing what this says is that prayer is the seed and it has to be planted in soil that you've prepared.
Speaker B:So like if you're running around and you're not clear headed, you're frantically going and you're constantly multitasking, which doesn't actually exist.
Speaker B:I read an article about this.
Speaker B:There's no such thing as multitasking.
Speaker B:You just switch between tasks really rapidly.
Speaker B:You're training your brain to never be focused on one thing.
Speaker B:How many multitaskers in the room?
Speaker B:Woo.
Speaker B:You're not multitasking anything.
Speaker B:You're teaching your brain to shift rapidly between multiple things.
Speaker B:Fake news.
Speaker B:Heather just said she doesn't want to hear that.
Speaker B:Actually, what I realize is if I'm practicing being present and clear headed in all areas of my life, it's a weird thing when I go to this meditative space with God, I'm more connected.
Speaker B:I still have my distractions, I still have my troubles about being present in prayer.
Speaker B:But I added this daggone app on my phone that attacks me all the time.
Speaker B:It's called the Be Present app, which allows me to set intentions for my screen time.
Speaker B:It attacks.
Speaker B:I got it this morning already.
Speaker B:If I'm on, if I have screen time for an hour, it goes like.
Speaker B:Social media executives appreciate your act of worship today.
Speaker B:They shame me into not doing it, but actually it's helping me to be clear headed.
Speaker B:We teach this as discipleship essential one guys, we wanna be shaped by an inside out relationship with God by being continuously present with God.
Speaker B:So if you're running around multitaskers doing your thing all the time and you're like, okay, now I'm going to sit down and pray, you're making it hard on yourself.
Speaker B:You're asking your brain to like shift speeds.
Speaker B:It's too much practice, awareness and presence all the time.
Speaker B:So that when you go to the meditative space, the soil is prepared to grow the inside out spiritual life.
Speaker B:All right, three more points.
Speaker B:We got to go fast.
Speaker B:No, we don't.
Speaker B:What am I saying?
Speaker B:I just said don't go fast.
Speaker B:Slow down.
Speaker B:The Pacers don't play today.
Speaker B:They already won.
Speaker B:All we got to do is just chill.
Speaker B:Are you being present right now?
Speaker B:Are you thinking about what you got to do?
Speaker B:Are you multitasking?
Speaker B:Are you fully present here?
Speaker B:Okay, he did it too.
Speaker B:He said he didn't just go with answer A.
Speaker B:People are doing that.
Speaker B:They're drawing in the next option and filling in their own bubble.
Speaker B:Okay, number two, make love the load bearing wall.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker B:Yeah, nevermind.
Speaker B:You know what I was going to say there?
Speaker B:Build love as the load bearing wall.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Look at this.
Speaker B:Above all, show sincere love to each other.
Speaker B:Why would he write these things if this time doesn't matter?
Speaker B:Bunker down, hide out and wait for heaven to come.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Start with the inside of your spiritual life and you'll know that your spirit is growing.
Speaker B:If the load bearing wall of your spiritual house is love, he says if you knock down the whole house, but that wall stands, the house will stand.
Speaker B:I know when I look at people who are calling themselves Christian in this time, the greatest indictment I have against them is that I can see love is not the load bearing wall of their lives.
Speaker B:I can see it.
Speaker B:But yet Jesus also asks me every day when I'm present and I'm clear headed.
Speaker B:He asked me in some way or another, hey, Ross, is love, Is it it for you?
Speaker B:Because that's it.
Speaker B:All the scriptures agree on it.
Speaker B:Paul has this big long chapter, chapter 12 in First Corinthians on Spiritual gifts.
Speaker B:But he says there's one that's the most important.
Speaker B:It gets read at all the weddings.
Speaker B:First Corinthians 13.
Speaker B:It's not about like romantic love.
Speaker B:In spite of what I just said a few minutes ago.
Speaker B:It's about like above all things grow.
Speaker B:Like, build that wall up in your life with Jesus's help from the inside out.
Speaker B:You can't graft fruit onto the tree.
Speaker B:Let's let him help you grow it from the inside out.
Speaker B:Point 3.
Speaker B:Are you with me?
Speaker B:Look at that.
Speaker B:We went fast.
Speaker B:People had money on me going over.
Speaker B:You're gonna lose.
Speaker B:Make hospitality a way of life.
Speaker B:What does that mean?
Speaker B:So the story I told you about the golfer, the golfer was like, man, I got my thing to do today.
Speaker B:I'm going to my thing.
Speaker B:This other wise person in his life does this.
Speaker B:The way that he demonstrates love practically in his life is that people are always the.
Speaker B:What did I say?
Speaker B:People are always the.
Speaker B:People are always the.
Speaker B:They're not projects.
Speaker B:They're not a means to your end.
Speaker B:Relationships are everything.
Speaker B:Welcome people into your life all the time.
Speaker B:Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
Speaker B:Don't treat people as inconveniences.
Speaker B:I'm not saying be codependent.
Speaker B:Right, Bobo?
Speaker B:Don't be an unhealthy enneagram too.
Speaker B:That was part of Discovery.
Speaker B:One, be a whole enneagram.
Speaker B:Two, a whole helper again.
Speaker B:Sorry, dad.
Speaker B:You get a little airplay today.
Speaker B:My dad?
Speaker B:Hey, he's a flawed guy, if you want to know.
Speaker B:I'll tell you some stories, okay?
Speaker B:Funny stories.
Speaker B:Great stories.
Speaker B:Man.
Speaker B:I watched.
Speaker B:I have watched him do this my whole life.
Speaker B:I wonder why.
Speaker B:Like, how do I know Jesus the way I do?
Speaker B:Because I watched him do this.
Speaker B:I had troubled friends in high school.
Speaker B:People from broken homes.
Speaker B:People who were drinking and doing drugs.
Speaker B:And they would sit in my father's living room with eyes bloodshot and pupils dilated.
Speaker B:And he would sit with them like they were the only thing he had to do.
Speaker B:What's wrong with me today?
Speaker B:It's because I know this is the heart of life.
Speaker B:People aren't an inconvenience.
Speaker B:They are the only thing.
Speaker B:God made you.
Speaker B:The only thing.
Speaker B:So go do it.
Speaker B:Likewise, be present, clear headed, pray.
Speaker B:Let the fruit of love grow from the inside out and make people the point.
Speaker B:And lastly, I made it to point four.
Speaker B:Steward your gift.
Speaker B:He says it here.
Speaker B:We tried to talk about this in Discovery one, right here.
Speaker B:And serve each other according to the gift.
Speaker B:What's the next two words?
Speaker B:Serve each other according to the gift.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:Ross, are you saying every single person has a special gift from God?
Speaker B:Yes, and steward it.
Speaker B:I could never be as hospitable as my father is.
Speaker B:He can't teach like I can.
Speaker B:I don't see people the way my dad does.
Speaker B:I wish I could.
Speaker B:I'm trying.
Speaker B:Not there yet.
Speaker B:You have a gift.
Speaker B:It is so special and wonderful.
Speaker B:Some of you are enneagram too.
Speaker B:Folks, some of you don't know what the enneagram is.
Speaker B:And that's okay too.
Speaker B:Mark Knudson.
Speaker B:I told you this story 800 times.
Speaker B:He sees himself as a Ninja Turtle.
Speaker B:That's his gift.
Speaker B:He's in the shadows helping people.
Speaker B:So he's gonna steward that gift.
Speaker B:God gave you something so dynamic, unique and special to grow and cultivate and Share.
Speaker B:It's not just for you.
Speaker B:It is for you, and it's for other people.
Speaker B:So, Jason, you're doing a great job.
Speaker B:Okay, Angela, go ahead.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker B:That's an amazing question.
Speaker B:Angela says, is there a standard way to identify that?
Speaker B:No church has tried so, so hard.
Speaker B:Take this Spiritual Gifts inventory.
Speaker B:Have you noticed there's a multiplication of personality tests out there?
Speaker B:How many people love Enneagram?
Speaker B:You just love it.
Speaker B:How many of you have no idea what Enneagram is?
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:Myers, Briggs.
Speaker B:Anybody love that one?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:See?
Speaker B:Anybody love strengths finders?
Speaker B:There's no standard way.
Speaker B:We asked in Discovery One, though, questions like this.
Speaker B:What's something that you do that when you do it, you just completely lose yourself in it.
Speaker B:You lose track of time.
Speaker B:You stop worrying what's something that you did or you learned that didn't take much effort.
Speaker B:You have to work at it, but you didn't have to work as much relative to other things.
Speaker B:Again, I'm disappointing myself.
Speaker B: reached an audition sermon in: Speaker B:Relative, very little effort.
Speaker B:Being hospitable to people.
Speaker B:That's his.
Speaker B:It takes him.
Speaker B:No, my dad shows.
Speaker B:He wakes up in the morning ready to host 50 people.
Speaker B:I don't know how.
Speaker B:Dad, can you bake 50 pumpkin pies?
Speaker B:Yeah, I'll have them do tomorrow.
Speaker B:Like, he's just born to it.
Speaker B:So relative to other people.
Speaker B:Takes him.
Speaker B:All this effort to learn stuff for you, it didn't.
Speaker B:And you get energized by it.
Speaker B:It blesses you.
Speaker B:It blesses other people.
Speaker B:Go take a personality test, too.
Speaker B:But reflect on your life.
Speaker B:What do you do naturally?
Speaker B:What do you learn with little effort?
Speaker B:What do you pour out that energizes you, fills you up in return?
Speaker B:Those are some of the keys to finding out.
Speaker B:Adam, listen.
Speaker B:Adam, hold that thought.
Speaker B:Let the record show you're going over today.
Speaker B:All right, Adam, go ahead.
Speaker B:Yeah, you guys showed up today.
Speaker B:Adam asked like, so what if I'm stewarding my gift or I'm trying to discover my gift that God has given me, trying to grow up in it, share it with others.
Speaker B:But maybe people aren't always reciprocating that.
Speaker B:I feel like I'm giving, giving, giving, giving, giving, and I'm not getting it in return.
Speaker B:This map.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Lifelong, lifelong learning on that, my friend.
Speaker B:Especially for the record, people who've grown up in trauma.
Speaker B:I'm just going to throw that in.
Speaker B:Yeah, but this map, I can't answer.
Speaker B:Let's go get.
Speaker B:Let's go back to what Was it called Burger Poet?
Speaker B:We'll go back and talk about it some more.
Speaker B:This map is great that we've laid out today.
Speaker B:When that happens to you, go back to the inside, shore up your.
Speaker B:The inside life, the inner life.
Speaker B:Like, and maybe that's like, maybe your prayer sounds like God.
Speaker B:I'm sick and tired of feeling like I give and give and give and I get nothing in return.
Speaker B:Maybe God will like, meet you there and speak with you and say like, yeah, that's a bummer.
Speaker B:It's a bummer, man.
Speaker B:Like the Big Lebowski or something.
Speaker B:God doesn't sound like that, I don't think.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Maybe.
Speaker B:Anyways.
Speaker B:But be careful.
Speaker B:God may also hold you to account too, about how you've done it too.
Speaker B:And then God is going to build back up with you and me that load bearing wall.
Speaker B:Love for God has love for us.
Speaker B:We receive that and then we can give it back out.
Speaker B:Great question.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:You are going over today.
Speaker B:It's tough.
Speaker B:It's tough.
Speaker B:Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker B:We're all weepy today, man.
Speaker B:We got a.
Speaker B:It's Jason.
Speaker B:It's so good, man.
Speaker B:You're right where you're meant to be.
Speaker B:If online.
Speaker B:You need to hear this.
Speaker B:Jason applied for like one job in his life and I knew.
Speaker B:I know it's the per.
Speaker B:It was the perfect fit and he didn't get it.
Speaker B:It said everything.
Speaker B:But Jason Baker applied for this job and you didn't get it.
Speaker B:And so you could have experienced that as like an indictment on who you are as a person, but instead you went back to the inner life and God said, whoa, whoa, hold on.
Speaker B:Actually, this is who you are still.
Speaker B:And you're doing it with me.
Speaker B:And I've watched you do it.
Speaker B: alliance of Johnson county in: Speaker B:I've watched him do it.
Speaker B:He's doing his thing.
Speaker B:PT Say it again.
Speaker B:Music was his life, but not his livelihood.
Speaker B:That's a.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's a great at supplement to that, Kirsten.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:Speaking of lifelong learning is.
Speaker B:Is like learning to give and be aware of your expectations as you give.
Speaker B:I always share this line from aa Expectations are pre planned resentments.
Speaker B:So like part of growing in maturity, the inside out life with load is the love bearing wall is being aware, clear headed about your expectations.
Speaker B:When you give, are you giving so that somebody affirms you in return because you're insecure are you giving out of a bounty which you have already received?
Speaker B:That's what the inner life and that load bearing wall does for you.
Speaker B:We'd better have communion now, guys.
Speaker B:This is great stuff.
Speaker B:Praise be to God.
Speaker B:The Holy Spirit is in the place always.
Speaker B:It's just whether we're aware of it or not, we're going to eat this last supper together.
Speaker B:It's the meal that Jesus ate before he died.
Speaker B:I'm not going to run up there and do the stuff, breaking the bread and such.
Speaker B:You know how that goes.
Speaker B:Jesus did all these things.
Speaker B:His entire life was practicing presence with God.
Speaker B:His entire life was one big load bearing wall of love.
Speaker B:He was hospitable to everyone, but prioritized the people who hadn't been welcomed.
Speaker B:And so when he ate this meal, those people were with him at the table and he was offering himself, he was offering his life to restore humankind, to deal with death, evil, sin, to like offer his life the power of God's love in the face of these things, to start a new creation.
Speaker B:And so we eat this meal to remember that he gave his life to start a new life for all of us.
Speaker B:So today you will receive a piece of bread which is symbolically like his body.
Speaker B:You'll receive a little bit of juice which is symbolically like his blood.
Speaker B:We believe at this table Jesus is with us in a powerful way.
Speaker B:So invite you.
Speaker B:This is a time to be present with Jesus, to pray in whatever way you need to pray, to ask for whatever you need to ask to give gratitude.
Speaker B:So in just a minute, Brad is going to be serving the bread which is gluten free today.
Speaker B:All of it's gluten free.
Speaker B:But I think it tastes good, I think, right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Some people don't like the gluten free wafers anyways.
Speaker B:It's all gluten free today.
Speaker B:Brad's going to be serving that.
Speaker B:Debbie, could you serve the juice, do you think?
Speaker B:Okay, thank you.
Speaker B:It's right back there.
Speaker B:There's hand sanitizer too.
Speaker B:So when you're ready, you can come up and get a piece of bread from Brad and some juice from Debbie and then hold it and we'll all eat it together.
Speaker B:We're just sharing in the Lord's last supper together.
Speaker B:First let's pray.
Speaker B:Lord, will you pour out your holy spirit on this bread and this juice that it would be for us, the body and blood, the presence of Jesus, pour out upon us your love that restores all things and renews all things.
Speaker B:Be present with us and help us be present to you at this table.
Speaker B:In Jesus name, Amen.
Speaker C:Thank you for participating in the conversation happening at Heaven Earth Church.
Speaker C:Your next opportunity to do so live is this Sunday morning, 9:30am Eastern Time, either at the main campus at 3:09 East Main in Whiteland, Indiana or online at YouTube Live.
Speaker C:That's@YouTube.com heavenerthchurch the audio podcast is always available at Apple Podcast and on Spotify.
Speaker C:You can help others find out about the Heaven Earth Church podcast by going to Apple Podcast and or Spotify and leaving a find star rating and your review instructions on how to do just that and links are in the show notes.
Speaker C:You can always find out more by going to the church website heavenearthchurch.org we.
Speaker A:Want to thank you for spending time with us today.
Speaker A:My name is Ross Stackhouse, the pastor to Heaven Earth Church and you may think out there that your story is over, but in fact fact your faith story may just be beginning.
Speaker A:If you want more information about our church or you're interested in the next step, you can go to heavenearthchurch.org otherwise we look forward to being with you next time at the Heaven Earth Church Podcast.
Speaker B:It.
