Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] This has been a very, very, very hard week for our church family.
[00:00:10] But I love the love that is in this room and the faith that is in this room.
[00:00:17] And I'm grateful that we can be together here right now.
[00:00:22] And we're going to talk about it.
[00:00:25] And most of you know, many of you know, if you don't know, I'll tell you what's going on.
[00:00:31] And we're going to seek God together in this because he's with us and he'll help us and he is helping us and he will be glorified.
[00:00:43] Let's pray.
[00:00:48] Father, we do need you.
[00:00:52] As Jake sang to us, Lord, we need you.
[00:00:58] And Lord, we know you are with us today, right now.
[00:01:04] And Lord, our hearts are open and we just pray for the healing grace of Christ to meet us.
[00:01:17] We pray for the peace of Christ to guard our hearts and minds.
[00:01:26] We pray in this moment, Lord, we could grieve and mourn together as you teach us to do.
[00:01:35] And we pray, Lord, that our faith would be strengthened, our love would be sharpened, and your name would be glorified.
[00:01:50] Help us in all this today.
[00:01:52] In Jesus name, amen.
[00:01:59] Well, church, we have a tagline as a church.
[00:02:03] It's real people, real faith, real life.
[00:02:08] And, and we really mean that.
[00:02:14] And we say that as a church, that we are a family.
[00:02:18] And those are not just words to me.
[00:02:22] I mean it.
[00:02:24] And I know you do too.
[00:02:26] And as a church family, You have to bear with me today.
[00:02:38] This doesn't mean it's going to be a shorter sermon though, don't it?
[00:02:43] I did better first service.
[00:02:54] Paul preached through tears. I can preach through tears and I will.
[00:03:04] As a church family, we get to celebrate the highs together. And I love that.
[00:03:12] I love that.
[00:03:14] But we also have the responsibility to carry each other in the lows.
[00:03:21] And we will do that.
[00:03:25] And today, this week, we experience a devastating low.
[00:03:34] Our brother Tony Smirk is with the Lord, but he's not with us here right now.
[00:03:44] And it hurts.
[00:03:46] And it's a low for our church family.
[00:03:50] The apostle Paul says this. He says if one member suffers, all suffer together.
[00:03:58] If one member is honored, all are honored together.
[00:04:03] And so today we're gonna mourn together.
[00:04:10] God calls us to do that. We're in grieve together, but we're also gonna forge our faith together, church.
[00:04:18] And we're also gonna commit to a deeper love towards each other.
[00:04:24] And we're also going to glorify God together.
[00:04:28] And if you did not know, Tony, maybe you're newer to our church family or maybe it's your first time here today.
[00:04:39] Let me just tell you a little bit about him so you can have some context for today and for our church family.
[00:04:47] Tony was a Army combat veteran. He went to Afghanistan.
[00:04:54] He served in the infantry.
[00:04:58] And sometime at the end of his army career, he reconnected with this girl he knew from high school named Ashley.
[00:05:09] Amen.
[00:05:11] And Ashley led him to Christ and they fell in love and they got married.
[00:05:21] The best decision Tony ever made was giving his life to Christ.
[00:05:25] The second best decision was marrying Ashley.
[00:05:34] Ashley has some of the most remarkable faith I've ever seen.
[00:05:41] She is a tree planted by streams of water.
[00:05:46] And the harder life is, the deeper her roots go into Christ.
[00:05:51] And it is inspiring in every way.
[00:05:57] And Ashley and Tony married Ashley. And not too long after that, they came to Christchurch. And we became fast friends.
[00:06:07] And one thing led to another, and as the church kind of grew a little bit, we were able to hire someone full time. And that was kind of like a big deal for our church and a big deal for me. And I remember. It's funny how memory works, isn't it? Like, some things you can't remember at all, and then some things like, you see totally clearly.
[00:06:30] And I remember this conversation with Tony. I was driving in Ridgeville and I was like, at a light, and I called him. I said, hey, man, I want you to pray about coming on full time at our church.
[00:06:44] I said, you need to think about it. You need to pray about it. This is kind of the speech I give everybody.
[00:06:51] You're not gonna make a lot of money, but you're gonna work really hard, so you really need to pray about it. That's my.
[00:06:59] So if you ever hear that speech coming from me.
[00:07:02] And I gave him that speech, but I said, like, really think about it, because it's gonna be a pay cut. Talk to Ashley and let me know. And I drove through that intersection and Tony called me back and he said, yeah, I talked to Ashley. I prayed. I'm in.
[00:07:21] And that was such Tony's heart.
[00:07:25] And Tony came to work and we went through Covid together. And it was just a crazy time, but it's filled with so many great memories.
[00:07:39] And during that time, man, God gave Tony an incredible gift. He gave him twin girls, Avery and Addison.
[00:07:52] In church.
[00:07:56] I had the privilege of dedicating them when they were born.
[00:08:02] And what dedication means is that we say as a church family, we will always be there for you and we will support you every step of the journey.
[00:08:17] We promise that as a church because we're Real people, real faith. These are not empty words.
[00:08:26] And we will fulfill that promise. Amen.
[00:08:30] We will fulfill that promise.
[00:08:37] And as time went on, Tony loved to serve people.
[00:08:44] But he also was a warrior at his spirit. It was just how God made him.
[00:08:50] And he, you know, wrestling through it all and thinking, man, I think maybe being a police officer is what I'm meant to do.
[00:09:01] And he went and became a North Olmsted police officer. And it wasn't just a job. It was his calling and just thrived at it.
[00:09:15] And Tony's with the Lord today.
[00:09:20] And I know to many in this room, he was a friend, a brother.
[00:09:30] And this christmas, You will get to celebrate and worship with the risen Christ.
[00:09:43] And I like that thought. That's a happy thought in my heart.
[00:09:49] But this will be hard for us.
[00:09:52] This Christmas will be hard for us.
[00:09:57] And so today, I want to talk about walking through the darkness and the pain.
[00:10:02] Now, today, maybe you're here and you're like, I didn't really know Tony. Not connected. That's okay.
[00:10:08] Then here's what you can do. You could just be praying intercessory prayers for our church and for me and for all that. You could be doing that.
[00:10:19] Or maybe today you're coming in here, but there's other pain that you're bringing in. We got space for that, too today. Church.
[00:10:28] Or maybe today, as we talk about this, it brings up, opens up, you know, hard stuff in our life.
[00:10:37] I'm here for that too. Church. And we're gonna talk about walking through the darkness together. Now, when stuff like this happens, the most natural thing is to go to the why question.
[00:10:56] It's natural.
[00:10:59] And, you know, I don't blame anyone, anyone for doing it. And we say, God, why? And when we're faced with darkness and pain, we lord, why?
[00:11:11] This doesn't make sense.
[00:11:14] And we go there and church. Here's what I found helpful in my life.
[00:11:23] I just want to be dead honest with you today.
[00:11:26] Here's what I found helpful to know that God does not answer to me, but I do answer to him.
[00:11:39] And although his ways are inscrutable, his character is crystal clear, and he is trustworthy. Church.
[00:11:54] And I will worship him when it makes sense, and I will worship him when it doesn't make sense. You with me?
[00:12:03] The apostle Paul says it this way. He says, oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments, how inscrutable his ways.
[00:12:18] Paul says, you won't get it always. That's okay.
[00:12:23] I can Find a peace and knowing. Yeah, I don't have to. I don't have to connect all the dots to trust you.
[00:12:32] And I get going there. I get it.
[00:12:35] But today, I don't want that to be the question we focus on.
[00:12:41] I found in my own life that why can kind of be like a maze that you get lost in and you can't get out of. But I think there's a more helpful question we can ask today if you're open to it.
[00:12:55] And it's the what question.
[00:12:58] It's the what.
[00:13:00] It's the what do we do now?
[00:13:03] Because I find why is amazed. But what is a path?
[00:13:09] What is something I can see and I can walk down and I can take steps. You with me on this?
[00:13:17] And so today I want to talk about what. What do we do in pain? What do we do in darkness? What do we do?
[00:13:27] And today, believe it or not, we're going to talk about the first Christmas, because there's a lot of darkness around it.
[00:13:37] And we're gonna talk about how God shows us what we can do in the darkness. So let me read these verses to you, then we'll explain it. It says this now. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, where is he who has been born King of the Jews?
[00:14:04] For we saw a star when it rose and have come to worship him.
[00:14:08] When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
[00:14:13] And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
[00:14:21] They told him in Bethlehem of Judea. For so it is written by the prophet.
[00:14:27] And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.
[00:14:39] Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
[00:14:46] They sent them to Bethlehem, saying, go and search diligently for the child. When you found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him.
[00:14:56] After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold the star that they had seen when it rose and went before them till it came to rest over the place where the child was.
[00:15:06] When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly, with great joy.
[00:15:11] Going into the house, they saw the child with Mary's mother. They fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
[00:15:21] And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
[00:15:29] And in this story, it's the story of the first Christmas, but it's also a story of a confrontation with the darkness.
[00:15:40] Cause this is a story of two different kings.
[00:15:43] There's the rightful king and there's King Herod.
[00:15:48] And King Herod here in this story, we know from history that King Herod was very powerful.
[00:15:57] And he had, through great political savviness, he had worked himself into this position and he had consolidated power.
[00:16:07] And Herod built these tremendous things that you can still go to Israel today. And you can see there was a genius in him.
[00:16:15] But Herod was also absolutely ruthless.
[00:16:20] And Herod was a man who brought darkness into the world.
[00:16:26] And in the story, these magi go to Herod and they say, hey, where's the one who was born the King of Israel? And in one of the great understatements of the Bible, it says, herod was disturbed.
[00:16:42] See, when you talk to an egomaniac like Herod and you say, well, hey, where's the real king?
[00:16:48] He doesn't take it well.
[00:16:51] And here's what Matthew wants us to ask.
[00:16:55] Who is the real king?
[00:17:00] Is it Herod or is it Jesus?
[00:17:05] Herod has all the power, but. But Herod also brings the darkness.
[00:17:12] Where's the real King Jesus? And what do we do in the darkness?
[00:17:19] Here's the first thing.
[00:17:21] We look into our own hearts and we ask ourselves this question that Matthew is leading us to. Who's the real king of your heart in your life?
[00:17:34] Who should be on the throne?
[00:17:36] What Matthew is going to show us is that that throne was not Herod's.
[00:17:43] It was the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:17:46] By the way, he took that throne.
[00:17:49] But Church, here's what I want us to see today.
[00:17:54] The throne of your life, your heart. That throne does not belong to you.
[00:18:02] It belongs to Christ.
[00:18:04] What do you do in the darkness?
[00:18:08] Here's what you do. You kneel before Jesus Christ and you say, you are king of kings and Lord of lords.
[00:18:19] And you quit trying to take the throne. You quit trying to have those power battles in your heart and your life. And you say, no, no, no, no, no, this is actually yours, and I will step aside.
[00:18:32] Church, what do we do in the darkness?
[00:18:36] We commit ourselves to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
[00:18:41] And today, maybe some of us, maybe we've drifted from God and we've run away with the throne, or we've tried to. And today is the day to give it to Christ.
[00:18:56] Maybe some of us, we've had kind of one foot in and one foot out, and we've been sort of playing these games with God.
[00:19:04] What do you do in the darkness? You kneel before the real king and you say, the throne is yours.
[00:19:14] And then we would see in the story that Herod would try to fight and to keep this throne.
[00:19:22] And we didn't read it today, but the story goes on.
[00:19:25] And in Herod's attempt to keep the throne, he ends up killing all the young baby boys around the area where Jesus was born. And it's a horrible scene of darkness, because what happens when we try to take the throne, that is Christ, we create darkness around us.
[00:19:47] And that's exactly what Herod did.
[00:19:49] But the Bible says that the prophet Jeremiah talked about this day, and he says that there will be weeping and lamentation.
[00:19:59] What do we do in the darkness?
[00:20:02] We give our lives to Christ.
[00:20:05] And we weep at the darkness.
[00:20:09] We weep at the darkness.
[00:20:12] Church. Our hearts can be broken, but it doesn't mean our faith is you with me. There's place for both.
[00:20:21] There's place for both our hearts can be. And we need to weep at the darkness.
[00:20:27] We need to allow space for that.
[00:20:32] Brothers, I've just thought a lot this week about when Jesus heard that his friend Lazarus died.
[00:20:44] The Bible says he wept.
[00:20:48] Jesus was the strongest man that ever lived, and he wept at the darkness.
[00:20:56] Brothers, if you're like me, you might need permission to do that, and I'm giving that to you.
[00:21:02] If you're all emotionally jacked up like I am, I'm like, let's just bury this all really deep.
[00:21:07] This is not the time for that.
[00:21:09] You with me.
[00:21:11] We can weep together, and we can be together. And we need to do that.
[00:21:19] And we need to open our hearts, and we need to support each other and pray for each other.
[00:21:27] And I know we're doing that today.
[00:21:30] A lot of people over the years have told me that I give out horrible hugs.
[00:21:40] Isn't that a weird thing to, like, be told multiple times?
[00:21:43] I'm not exaggerating at all.
[00:21:46] And then they'll often they'll, like, imitate it. They'll be like, you do this.
[00:21:49] Sorry, I do. I don't like vulnerability, Church. It's part of my brokenness.
[00:21:57] I want to guard everything as part of how I'm broken.
[00:22:01] But, Church, in this season, we need to be vulnerable and real with each other. You with me.
[00:22:08] And I know for some of us, that's not hard if you're like me, that's harder. But we can weep at the darkness together. You with me?
[00:22:20] Our Lord models it. It's healthy for us, and we're here for it.
[00:22:26] I've also thought this week about how so many of the little things don't matter, and yet I let them get in the way.
[00:22:37] And I just want to remind you today, Church, If there are things that you can let go of that enables you to love people more, let go of them. You with me?
[00:22:55] If there are moments that you know you can just let slip by, don't let them slip by.
[00:23:02] Let's not sweat the small stuff, Church. Amen.
[00:23:06] And let's make sure, man, we remember that so much of this stuff we don't need to worry about, but let's worry about the big stuff. Amen.
[00:23:14] What do we do in the darkness?
[00:23:16] Make Christ King. We weep at it.
[00:23:20] And we support each other, and we love each other.
[00:23:25] But Matthew says this, too. He says, but the one who is the true king, he is the shepherd of Israel.
[00:23:37] I think one of the. Maybe you feel a frustration around this. But when our brothers and sisters are hurting, what do I say?
[00:23:47] What do I do?
[00:23:52] And there's no words we can say. But we show up and we love each other. You with me?
[00:23:59] But I know we feel that frustration. We're like, what do I say? What do I do? And we don't know. But I just love this.
[00:24:08] But we have a shepherd who does know.
[00:24:12] We have a shepherd who does know.
[00:24:15] And what do we do in the darkness? We invite the good shepherd to lead us.
[00:24:22] To lead us.
[00:24:23] He knows what we don't know.
[00:24:27] He will help in ways only he can.
[00:24:31] And we invite him to lead us.
[00:24:33] I couldn't help but think about Psalm 23. This is the type of shepherd he is. It says this. The Lord is my shepherd.
[00:24:40] I shall not want.
[00:24:42] He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
[00:24:49] He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
[00:24:58] Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
[00:25:02] You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows.
[00:25:12] Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
[00:25:19] And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
[00:25:26] How does our shepherd lead us?
[00:25:31] He leads us in a way that fills us. Only he can.
[00:25:37] The Lord is my shepherd.
[00:25:39] I shall not want the world Leaves us wanting and never filled.
[00:25:47] Our shepherd fills us even in our loss.
[00:26:06] My daughter Abby loves Christmas magazines with toys.
[00:26:14] I thought that the Internet had destroyed those things forever, but apparently not.
[00:26:21] And she does.
[00:26:23] We have multiple at her house now.
[00:26:27] And she circles everything in it.
[00:26:31] Like, literally. Like, there'll be, like, two things in there, you know, that aren't circled.
[00:26:36] But she has this huge disconnect. She thinks that if she circled them, she gets them.
[00:26:45] And Christmas is gonna be really disappointing for her.
[00:26:49] But, like, no matter how many magazines she gets, it'll look at it. It's just stupid. All circled, you know?
[00:26:55] Daddy, I got that. Like, no, you didn't. Nope.
[00:27:02] And. But, man, that's just the struggle of being a human being is always wanting and never filled.
[00:27:10] But our shepherd actually fills our soul.
[00:27:15] And he will lead us. He restores our soul.
[00:27:20] The darkness, it hurts.
[00:27:23] It breaks us, it fragments us.
[00:27:27] But he restores.
[00:27:30] He comforts us with his strength.
[00:27:34] With his strength.
[00:27:36] His rod and his staff, they comfort me.
[00:27:40] CHURCH in the darkness, what do you do? You ask the good shepherd every day for his strength, his strength.
[00:27:51] That is my comfort.
[00:27:54] And this one's my favorite. Today, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
[00:28:08] Apparently, I'm a pretty bad driver.
[00:28:13] I.
[00:28:15] The other. I don't know, it was maybe a couple months ago, but I was driving, and the guy in front of me slammed on his brakes for no reason that I could see.
[00:28:23] He gave me the universal sign of friendship.
[00:28:31] Here's the deal as a pastor, I can't give it back because I'm like, what if they go to the church? Not, you know?
[00:28:44] And that really stinks, you know?
[00:28:50] But apparently what I then discerned was that I was just tailing this guy, and I wasn't paying attention, which sounds about right.
[00:29:03] And what I love about these verses is that the mercy of God tails us.
[00:29:14] It's right on our heels. CHURCH and what is God's mercy? God's mercy is his goodness that relieves misery.
[00:29:27] There is a brand of goodness that. That God has for when his kids are in pain.
[00:29:37] And that is his mercy.
[00:29:40] And it trails us today.
[00:29:43] It's with us today. And I hope today can be a moment where we can just stop and just let it catch up to us a little bit.
[00:29:51] Cause it's here. I feel it, I see it, and it's with us.
[00:29:59] What is the solution to our pain in the darkness?
[00:30:02] It is the mercy of God.
[00:30:06] And Christ says, I am the good shepherd. I have it for you.
[00:30:11] And then I Love in this passage, this whole thing with the star, the star leading them.
[00:30:19] And I think it's so cool.
[00:30:22] Know what it actually looked like, but I bet it was awesome.
[00:30:29] And I also think. It seems to me that a lot of people didn't see the star because they seemed to be one of the few that actually saw it and said, all right, something's going on here that we need to pay attention to.
[00:30:49] And they followed it and it led them to Christ.
[00:30:56] What do we do in the darkness?
[00:30:59] We look for God's light.
[00:31:04] It can be missed, but it's there.
[00:31:09] I see God's light today. Do you, Church?
[00:31:15] I see it in your love.
[00:31:19] It has been unbelievable to just see the prayers and hearts of our church family this week.
[00:31:30] That is God's light.
[00:31:34] All of you have said, and I know you mean it with all your heart. Whatever I could do.
[00:31:41] And I know those are not empty words.
[00:31:46] What is that? That is God's light.
[00:31:49] What do you do in the darkness?
[00:31:51] You look for God's light and you let it lead you to Christ.
[00:32:01] This is a season to find God's light in the scripture, friends.
[00:32:09] His light is in his word.
[00:32:13] We can find light in prayer, praying, but praying with each other, too.
[00:32:23] And we follow God's light.
[00:32:27] And where does it lead us?
[00:32:29] It leads us to worship the. The real king.
[00:32:33] What do we do in the darkness?
[00:32:36] We worship the real king.
[00:32:43] That's what Tony would want you to do. I'll tell you that right now.
[00:32:46] That's what Ashley wants you to do.
[00:32:49] That's what our Lord invites us to do.
[00:32:56] Here's maybe my favorite part of this story.
[00:33:01] Herod seemed pretty powerful, pretty in charge.
[00:33:08] But his kingdom faded, and it faded fast.
[00:33:15] Today. Herod, we got to explain who he is, because nobody knows.
[00:33:21] Because he's just a little blip of a footnote.
[00:33:26] The story of Jesus, his kingdom came to nothing.
[00:33:31] But the kingdom of Christ is here and getting stronger and stronger and stronger. What do we do in the darkness?
[00:33:43] Here's what we do. We need to lay hold of the eternal hope of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
[00:33:53] In the darkness, it looks like Herod maybe is going to win.
[00:33:57] Wrong. He doesn't win.
[00:34:00] Jesus wins.
[00:34:03] When we lose our loved ones, it looks like death wins. Wrong.
[00:34:08] It doesn't win.
[00:34:10] Because in Christ's kingdom, the scriptures say death is no more.
[00:34:16] And we believe that, Church, we hope in that our brother is alive with Christ.
[00:34:26] And we look forward to Christ's kingdom just being fully real. And I know in this room, many of you, you have loved ones that you've lost in Christ.
[00:34:39] And we've got to hold to the hope that we have. That is big, bigger than all this. Because every other kingdom will fall, but Christ remains forever.
[00:34:54] Let's pray.
[00:35:09] Father, we thank you so much for being with us today.
[00:35:13] We thank you that you will meet us in our grief.
[00:35:21] We thank you that you model for us, that we can weep at the darkness, that our hearts can be broken and our faith can still lead us.
[00:35:40] Father, today we pray, Lord, that we would just yield ourselves under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
[00:35:50] Pray today, Lord, that your presence would comfort us and that we could comfort each other.
[00:36:01] We pray, Lord, that your spirit would guide us and would help us.
[00:36:09] We pray for our sister Ashley, Lord, that we could be the family that we've promised to be, that you've called us to be.
[00:36:23] To her and to Addison Avery.
[00:36:26] We pray, Lord, you'd help us today and in the days to come. We pray for the other pain that's brought in this room that maybe no one even knows about.
[00:36:39] We pray for your grace to meet. Your heart is big enough for it all, Lord. Your mercy is big enough for it all. And we're here for it all.
[00:36:48] And we ask this in the great name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:36:54] Amen.
