How to Make Your Faith Your Own - Pastor Kristin Mockler Young

June 02, 2026 00:38:02
How to Make Your Faith Your Own - Pastor Kristin Mockler Young
The Mosaic Church Podcast
How to Make Your Faith Your Own - Pastor Kristin Mockler Young

Jun 02 2026 | 00:38:02

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Show Notes

Can faith be borrowed? When we adopt the beliefs, practices, truths or opinions of our parents, pastors or other faith leaders, we can end up without a faith of our own. If you’re ready to move from a head knowledge of knowing about God to making your relationship with God personal, this message will show you how to take responsibility of your Christian faith.

Pastor Kristin uses Acts 19-21 to help you grow deeper in your understanding of scripture, tap into the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit and encourage you to live the way of Jesus even when it’s inconvenient.

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Sunday Sermons is the recorded messages from Mosaic Church in Charlotte, NC. You can catch the entire service by joining us live on Sundays at 9:00 and 10:30am EST at mosaicCLT.online.church

Learn more about how we are reclaiming the message and movement of Jesus on our website: MosaicChurch.tv

 Check out our other podcast - Becoming Church - where Pastor Kristin dives deeper into faith through nuanced conversations with pastors, leaders and authors that challenge and inspire us to not just become Christians, but become the church the world needs.

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Episode Transcript

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, guys, this is naive. And you've reached the Mosaic Church Podcast. So excited that you're part of our listening community, and I'd love for you to be even more connected. [00:00:10] Speaker B: So check out our website. [00:00:11] Speaker A: There's more content there, and there's more opportunities for you to get connected in our ministries and events as well. Also, love for you to share this content if this has blessed you. I know that God wants to use you to bless other people with it, so share this podcast. Lastly, would you consider supporting this ministry? This is made possible by other people's generosity, and I'd love for you to pay it forward. Join us to reclaim the message and the movement of Jesus together. So would you consider giving to this ministry? I know that God is able to do immeasurably more through us when we come together. Thank you so much. God bless you and enjoy. [00:00:59] Speaker B: Good morning, Mosaic. How you guys doing? Excellent. Excellent. We are going to be going through Acts chapters 19, 20, and 21 this morning, but before we do that, we have to talk about my outfit. Okay, listen, if you think that I have not sat through my fair share of sports analogies as sermon illustrations, you're gonna be okay for a minute. Okay? You're gonna make it. You're gonna make it. All right, So a couple years ago, I started renting my clothes. Do you remember renting? Like, we'd go to Blockbuster way back in the day and get those things called VHS. Remember, we would have a movie for a little time, we would rent it, and then we would have to take it back. Okay, I do that with my clothes now, where I go to a website and I pick out a couple pieces and I keep them for the month. And when I'm done, I send them right back. I don't have to rewind or wash them. It's amazing. Okay, so I rent my clothes. It's better for the environment. It keeps me from supporting, like, fast fashion, you know, factories that are not treating their workers great. It also saves me a lot of money because I'm no longer constantly shopping for, like, the next event and the next thing. Okay, so renting my clothes has been really great for my closet because I get to cycle through whatever is good for the moment without having to go to the trouble of curating my own closet. But it got me thinking this week as I was picking out my next pieces, if that service was available for our faith, would we do it? Would we rent our faith where we. I know, it sounds crazy, right? We would go onto a website, pick A couple pieces, try them out for a little while, send them back, think about it. I know you're like, this is bananas. But here's what I do think we actually do. We don't rent our faith, but I do think that often we borrow it from other people. And so that sometimes can be why we have a hard time talking about our faith and living out our faith. And I think that if we get to that place, we're like, you know, sometimes it's even just hard to invite somebody to come to church. It might be because we are borrowing a faith that actually belongs to someone else. And so in Acts today, we're gonna look at Paul and some different stories in the book of Acts so that we can identify how we might be borrowing our faith and what we can do instead to own it and make it our own. Okay, are you guys ready to go through this with me today? Yes. All right. This is gonna be a call and response participation Sunday. Okay? All right. So in this part of Acts, Paul is actually traveling quite a lot. And he gets to the city of Ephesus and he stays there for a while. This is actually his longest stay on his travels because Ephesus is a big deal. It's a very, very big city. Maybe think like modern day, like New York City. Okay. There are lots of people from lots of different places because Ephesus is a trade city. That means people would come in from all different parts of the world and kind of all mix together there. So you've got different religions, different cultures, different languages, and everybody's in there buying and selling and trading. Often most of them are just there trying to figure out a way to make a profit. Okay. Ephesus also, we can think of as like an epicenter where politics, power and influence also kind of overlap and intermingle together. So that's the picture in your mind. That's where we're at when we pick it up with Paul in Acts 19 says, While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers? They replied, no, we haven't even heard there is a Holy Spirit. Now, I don't know about you, but like me, when I think of disciples, what do you think of? You think like, holy, right? You're like, disciples, holy. How did the disciples not even know that there was a Holy Spirit? But disciple here actually can be applied to anybody who said, okay, I believe that Jesus is the Messiah. And. And I'm going to commit to learning this new way, the way of Jesus. So this would apply to many of you in the room today. We could also substitute this with the word Christian, and it would still apply. So we keep going. In verse three, then he said. Paul said, into what then were you baptized? They answered into John's baptism. Paul said, john baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is in Jesus. And so the disciples are in a good starting place, right? This is the spot where they need to be, where they took what was presented to them about Jesus. And they were like, got it. We're on board. We're believers. But at this stage, what they're actually doing is they're operating in borrowed belief. And when we have borrowed belief, it leaves us with a shallow understanding of what faith actually is. So the disciples, right now, like, maybe many of you, are faced with a choice. They're faced with a decision where they go, okay, do we rely on that first baptism? Are you gonna rely on what someone explained to you that faith is. Or are they going to be open to what Paul is saying? Are we going to be open to the idea that maybe there is more and more yet to know? And so we see in verse five that says, on hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. So this is a good example, right? This is a good example of what we should do when we are given new information. I'm not saying we take all new information, but we process and we are open to learning. Because when Paul told them about the Holy Spirit, they could have been like, guy, we're good. We said, we believe Jesus is the Messiah. We're committed to doing the best we can to live our lives following his way. Like, we did it. We're done. But they stayed open to learning. And because they did, they found themselves with a deeper understanding of faith, and they got to experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit, which they would have completely missed out on had they decided that their Christianity was enough. Now, for some of you, you are newer in your relationship with Jesus, and please hear me clearly, this is where you need to be. This is a good place for you to be, to be studying and learning. And there's nothing wrong with being at your first level of faith. I would really encourage you to jump into community so you have other people that you can wrestle with as you're trying to figure out your questions and what all of this actually means. But for others of us, if we're honest, I think maybe we see our faith not only as a checklist, but as a checklist that we've already completed when we have these thoughts of, like, well, I don't need to read the Bible now. I've read it before. Or like, I maybe I haven't read all the Bible, but I definitely know everything that's in there. Cause I've heard every sermon. Cause I've been in church my whole life. Or when we rely on things like, well, I was baptized as a baby and I did confirmation and I went to all the classes and I did all the things, and we go, okay, well, I guess that's it. I think we're staying in a shallow understanding of what faith actually is. All of these things are great, right? Those are all good things to do. But I'm afraid that too many of us stop where we were only meant to get started in understanding. There's a reason that my daughter Marlee, who, when she was 2 and she wanted to know I was pregnant with her sister and she wanted to know, like, how'd that baby get in there? That I told her at two that God put a baby in my belly, right? But this year, when we had a getting ready for middle school conversation, I explained that process with a little more nuanced and complexity and depth because she was mature enough to handle it and to understand a bigger picture of what that process actually is. Are you with me? Okay. Okay. Much like that much in the same way, I think a lot of us need to get into the Bible on our own so that we can move past the explanation or the interpretation that we were given the first time. Not necessarily because it was wrong, but it was likely incomplete. And so now there are things that God wants you to know that you were not ready to understand before, that you were not at a level of faith or maturity that you were ready to understand before, but you are now. And the only way you'll get there is by digging in yourself. We baptized a couple people in the first service. And the reason that they got baptized today was not because they're like, I have arrived and I know all the things. It's not because they have complete understanding and no more questions. But they decided that they wanted to move from a head knowledge of believing and kind of knowing about who Jesus is to having a deeper understanding of their faith. They wanted to own it and embody it and really make it personal. And so that's why they chose to get baptized today. And if that is something that is interesting to you or something maybe that God has been kind of laying on your heart or in your spirit, you can still do that today. We are also having baptisms next Sunday, so you can just tap that tag in front of you and fill out the interest form. So we go on with our story. Paul stays there for about two years, and God did a bunch of miracles through him, okay? And so he is there and he's doing all of that. But remember, in Ephesus we have a mix of religions. And so Paul is not the only one doing supernatural things. Other people are there coming in for a profit, tapping into different kinds of powers so that they can make a profit by promising people to bring them healing or fertility or success or prosperity. And so we pick it up in verse 13, it says some Jews who, Who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon possessed. They would say, I love this. In the name of that Jesus guy who Paul preaches, in his name, I command you to come out. Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing just that one day. The evil spirit answered them, which I think would be terrifying. Jesus, I know the evil spirit says, and Paul I know about, but who are you? So much shade from an evil spirit. Who are you? And as if that was not embarrassing enough, then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house. How naked. Naked and bleeding. Naked and bleeding. Now, as much as it would be fun to focus on the fact that seven grown men got into such a tussle with the demon that their only option was to streak their way to safety, we could focus on that. But what I actually find more fascinating is that the demon did not respect them the way that it respected Paul because of the power that Paul carried. Because what happens is when we have a borrowed practice, it really only leaves us with superficial power. Borrowed practice only leaves us with superficial power. So these exorcists, borrowed, they did exactly what Paul did, exactly what they saw Paul do. But you can call on the name of Jesus without embodying the true power of. Of his spirit. I also think what this shows us is that when you use the name of Jesus for leverage and your own personal gain, eventually you're going to be stripped of any power that you think you have. And also Your pants, apparently. So if you feel like you're missing something, right, in your spirituality, if you feel like, I just don't know how to tell if God's speaking to me. I don't know if the Holy Spirit is there. If you're like, I don't know if my prayers are working. Other people seem to pray and then, like, stuff happens. And for me, it doesn't seem to work that way. Or maybe you're not getting that feeling that you think you're supposed to get when you read your Bible or have a quiet time. If you have those doubts, I wonder if you might be borrowing a practice from someone else instead of trying to figure out how the Holy Spirit wants to work in you instead. See, we often play these games with God where we try to, like, see low key, manipulate his power by doing a bunch of outward things that we see other people do that we think kind of control God's power, right? And so it could look like this where we're like, all right, God, I will give money, some money to the church, but then I'm gonna need you to give me what I need. Or, okay, God, I will go to that church event. I really like to slip in and out on Sundays, but God, I will go. And buddy, when I get there, my future spouse better also be at this event, right? Maybe we say things to God like, okay, I will read my Bible, or I'll at least put the app on my phone. But then when I open it, I need you to give me the answer that I'm looking for right there. See, none of these practices, it's not that they don't have power. These are good things to do. But borrowing what we see, working for other people is not the same as figuring out how they can transform your own life. So we continue on with verse 17. It says the story of what happened. You know, the running, streaking, beaten up, naked men. The story spread quickly through Ephesus to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire, much like we did with our secular CDs in the 90s. Anybody remember Revival? The value of the books was several million dollars. So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful now like the disciples in the first story. I almost want to give these exorcists the benefit of the doubt because it is Likely that they were only operating in what they knew and what they had been taught. But what we see here is that once they realized the power of the Holy Spirit that was available to them, they didn't go, okay, great, and then just start copying Paul again. They let it change them in such a way that it changed the way they lived and showed up in the world. And friends, that same power that raised Jesus from the grave, that same power that allowed Paul to do all of these miracles is also available to you. Do you believe that it's true? Or are you more likely to tap into the power that maybe God is giving to someone else? Because maybe you're afraid to trust it, or you're afraid to believe that you actually also have that much value to God that He poured out his spirit for you as well. You have access to power that is so much bigger than something superficial. But we have to learn how to own it. So we go on. And Paul's next message, he actually doesn't show up to preach, but he starts a farewell tour. Because what he does is that he calls in all these leaders and elders and the church leaders from different churches that he had started because he wants to encourage and reteach them some things. Anybody ever need to get a lesson more than once for it to actually stick? Okay, so this is what we're going to see Paul do. In Acts 20, says, when they arrived, he declared, you know, that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now, I have done the Lord's work humbly and with many tears, because crying is a requirement to be in ministry. Just so you know, says I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or. Or privately in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike. The necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God and of having faith in our Lord Jesus. And now he says, I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don't know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering from lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus. Help me read this so we can remember what his goal is. To do the work of telling others the good news about the wonderful grace of God. Now, there are a few different places in Paul's letters where it seems like he's talking to people and he's like, listen, you should not brag about how holy you are. That's not what we're supposed to do. But if anybody could, it is me, okay? This actually is not what he's doing in this moment, though. Paul knows that not only is suffering ahead for him, but that there is suffering lying ahead for these church leaders as well. And so he wants them to know that even when he's not there, to be able to lead them through, that it is actually possible. He's saying, look at my life as an example. Remember all that I've been through and the way that I have stayed committed to the truth. He's reminding them, following the way of Jesus is possible even when it makes you cry. And if that wasn't warning enough, he makes it really clear. In verse 29, he says, I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. We will come back to this verse in a second. Watch out. He says, remember the three years that I was with you by constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many, many, many tears. Now remember that this is still the same speech about suffering. So the warning here is actually that when we have a borrowed truth from someone else, it leaves us with a convenient faith. Borrowed truth leads us to convenient faith. Paul wanted them to know that it is going to be hard to live the way of Jesus. He's like, and people won't like it, and they won't even necessarily understand it when you commit to this way. And we will talk about that next Sunday, actually. But this warning is not because Paul is afraid of people who aren't choosing Jesus. Paul knew that it was even more dangerous when the deception comes from within. This warning is not about a concern with people on the outside. Actually, go back to verse 30, that word distort, where it says there someone is going to come in from your own group and distort the truth in order to draw a following. That word distort in Greek is apospao. Say apospao. Apospao. Okay? The Greek word means draw away. And my study Bible actually took that whole phrase in Greek and said that basically it means that Paul knew that something even more dangerous was going to come in and draw them away to basically create a new party would draw them away to create their own party within the disciples. Now Paul is not concerned about people on the outside coming in with New ideas to turn the Christians into non Christians. That's not the risk. What he is afraid of and what he's warning them is that someone that they trust is going to slowly pull focus away from Jesus towards something that maybe kind of sounds like Jesus and maybe sounds like his teachings, but where the goal is to form a new party or a new religious group that follows a leader with a distorted version of truth. Now, the easiest way, maybe the best way to get someone's loyalty is to take something that they already love, promise to fix all of the hard parts about it, and then give it back to them, telling them how much better it is with you. Not sparing the flock. When we look at that phrase of not sparing the flock was Paul's way of saying that, hey, these false teachers coming in, coming, coming in like what? Wolves don't actually have your best interests in heart. He said they're going to come in like wolves. And if they think that your group here is standing in the way of their mission and their distorted truth, they will destroy you and not blink an eye. Friends, this is a very important conversation for us to still have almost 2,000 years later. And we have to ask ourselves, are we willing to tough it out for the truth, or are we willing to settle for something that's close enough? What are we going to do? When I see people even today borrowing faith from leaders that claim to be religious, I do believe that most of them have their hearts in the right place and they are just trying to do something and follow someone that sounds Christian and promises things that sound Christian. But also maybe they are also a little more convenient. Maybe they also bring some promises of security or safety. And that's why Paul reminds them that we have to stick to the truth. And what the truth is is that we have to have realistic expectations of what it means to look like Jesus in this world. The truth is that we were never promised that a life following Jesus was going to be easy. God promised to always be with us and that good would come from suffering. But that's the truth that we were handed. See, suffering brings lament, which forces honest conversations for us to have with God. In the wrestling where we get to know him more intimately and pruning and having things, you know, where we have to change when we don't want to, it develops humility and endurance and dependence on God. Hardship can grow and develop and teach us things that we cannot see when things are easy. So, friends, I want us to live lives like Paul modeled and like he was encouraging These early Christians to do where we follow Jesus and what he taught, even when it's inconvenient, to hold his truth. I wonder if maybe Paul knew what was going to happen then, now, and maybe that's why there was so much weeping when Paul was looking at the future of the church, because he knows what the church is called to do and also how easily people can be deceived into something that almost looks like it. We have to make sure we're holding on to the truth. All right, last chapter. You ready? Last chapter. You with me? All right, so we keep traveling. Paul keeps traveling despite different prophecies that tell him, like, hey, basically, only suffering lies ahead for you. And he gets to Jerusalem, and he's received warmly by most people. But the elders, some of the leaders are like, hey, come here a second. So they pull him aside in verse 20, and they say, you see, brother Paul, how many thousands of Jews have believed that Jesus is the Messiah? And all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed, which I guess today they'd be like, did you hear so and so said this? Because it doesn't actually tell us by who, but they have been informed, Paul, that you are teaching all the Jews to live among the Gentiles, to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. This, by the way, is not an accurate accusation because Paul told the Gentiles that they did not have to start to pick up the Jewish tradition in order to become children of God. But he did not tell the Jewish people to stop and turn away and abandon the all of their customs. And so the Jewish leaders now are here, and they're worried because what's happening is there's mixed messaging. There's mixed messaging happening at the beginning of Acts. We know if we think all the way back to the beginning of the series, the only people that were relaying the message of Jesus were eyewitnesses, people who had been there with him firsthand to get those teachings. But now, like when we play the game of telephone, right, the more people that the message of Jesus gets spread through, the more that the message can kind of get changed, and it kind of gets relayed differently and differently. And so as a result, borrowed opinions from people came in and confused the mission, which is the same thing that we see today. If we have borrowed opinions, it leaves us as the church with a confused mission. So in this case, these Jews were zealous. Today we might use the word legalistic, okay? They cared very, very much about laws and rules and the things that they had been always kept up with in tradition. And so they wanted to uphold all of those things. They wanted to defend and honor all of those Jewish traditions because they believed that it made them holy. And they still really wanted to be set apart and different from everybody else. That became the most important part of their identity. But in their opinion, faith was all or nothing. Even in this example, with circumcision, they're like, everyone gets circumcised, or no one has to. It matters, or it doesn't really matter. And so the leaders are like, okay, Paul, come here. Can you please just. We're all on board. We're all on board with Jesus. We are all in agreement there, right? But you're being divisive, Paul. You're being divisive with your new way, this new way of Christianity with grace that is not rooted in our old tradition. So what you gonna do about it? And have you ever been asked a question, even though somebody already knows what the answer is? Okay, that's exactly what happens here in verse 23. They tell them. They're like, all right, Paul, here's what we want you to do. We have four men here who have completed their vow, this ritual. Go with them to the temple and join them in the purification ceremony, paying for them to have their heads ritually shaved. Then everyone will know that the rumors are false and that you yourself observe the Jewish laws. Basically, they're like, paul, can you please just do what we're asking you to do and do it our way so that people can see you and everyone will be chilled with you again? And so Paul agrees, and he does it. And he goes through the purifying ritual, and he goes to the temple to schedule the payment for the offering. And you might be thinking like I was when I read this, like, hold on. Paul has been through so much. Death threats, riots, arrests, mobs. And now he's gonna compromise his values because of the opinions of some other people. But that's not actually what's happening here. See, earlier, a few years later, Paul had written a letter to a church at Corinth, where he said, to the Jews, I became like a Jew to win the Jews. To those under the law, I became like one under the law, even though I myself am not under the law, this Jewish law that they're wanting him to uphold so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law, I became like one not having the law, though I am not free from God's law, but I am under Christ's law. There's a lot of caveats in this passage, okay, so as to win those not having the law, then he makes it simpler to the weak, I became weak. To win the weak, I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. Remember that Paul's mission here, his goal was to spread the unifying message of grace to as many people as possible. This was the same guy who earlier in Acts said we should not make it hard for the people that are coming to God. And the way that he does that is by removing unnecessary barriers like the opinions of people on things that don't matter that much, the opinions that distract us from the gospel. And so Paul does this ritual with them because it mattered to the Jews personally, but is not connected to salvation. He was participating, was his way of saying, I'm gonna put my preference aside to bring unity to the body, to bring unity to all of the believers. So he was not being fake. He was not changing who he is. He was not compromising his morals or his values, but he was keeping the main thing, the main thing, and not letting the opinions of things that didn't matter as much, that maybe were non essential, become as important as Jesus. Friends, same thing happens today when we borrow the opinions of others on things that do not matter to salvation or growing the kingdom of God and we spend our time arguing about who's right and who's wrong. It muddles our mission. And of course we can't bring people to church. Of course we don't know how to talk about our faith or introduce the gospel to someone when we're not even clear of what it really is. Paul was warning them and he's saying we have got to stay clear on what our mission is. To take the good news of the grace of Jesus to all people and not get distracted by all of the other things. That one, don't matter as much and two, actually hurt our credibility as this body that's supposed to be unified. So we end the chapter and Paul is there and he's doing and he's saying all of the right things to kind of appease everybody and make them happy. And yet some other zealous Jews come in and incite a mob and start a riot. And when we end on this chapter, they literally have grabbed him, taken him out of the gates and they are trying to kill him by beating him alive. And that is where we're going to leave Paul today. Now next week we're going to get to what to do when people maybe misunderstand your faith. And so if you know someone, maybe they haven't been to church in a long time. Maybe they're like, I used to be a Christian. I'm not sure what I believe anymore. Maybe they have complicated relationships in their lives right now because they've already tried to kind of change their beliefs or let their faith evolve. And it has. There's been some fallout, we'll say, with people not understanding why they needed to do that. Please invite them next week because we're going to talk about some practical things that you can do when people misunderstand your faith and the way that you live it out. But for today, I want you to ask yourself, where do I need to take ownership of my own faith? Because we all have a next step, right? And so maybe for you, you need to figure out why you believe what you believe and spend some time reading your Bible or praying or listening to worship music. And it's okay if you're in a season where you're like, I can't do this, practice right now. I can't listen to worship music right now, or I can't really read my Bible right now. It's really hard for me. There's apps, there's different things, or just pick something else, it's okay. But if you create time to meet with God, he is going to fill in that space and the Holy Spirit is going to come and meet you there. So spend some time praying and studying and figuring out why you believe what you believe, use that time to personalize and. And develop your relationship with God. It is a relationship, so you have to figure out how it works between the two of you. And maybe some of you need to commit to actually spending time with other people in this community. Because while maybe you've got friends other places and you've got community other places, and we all have very busy lives, it's really good to be able to have accountability as our faith grows and evolves so we know that we're headed in the right direction. And then eventually, when the suffering or the hardship does come, you will know that you have a place and people to come around you, to support you and to comfort you and to encourage you, maybe even to help you make sure that you don't follow an easier way out. So I would encourage you to jump into a small group, a block party, maybe even start a small group in the fall. And you're like, Kristen, it's barely summer. Fall is months out. Well, you got a lot of time to pray about it, then. Okay, but if you've ever thought or maybe playing that, like, game with God, where you're like, I'm gonna try to tap into your power and use it like a magic trick, if you've ever said, like, well, God, I would go to a small group if they had it on this night of the week, or I would go to the small group if it was for this group of people or on this topic or on this part of the city. Like, like I said, you got a couple months now, right, to pray about it and find a leader and figure out how to get that group started. Because I guarantee you, you are not the only one looking for that criteria. All right, if you will stand with me if you're able, I would love to pray for us this morning that God would help you to find your next step. God. We want to just acknowledge, Lord, that we are drawn to ease God in our lives and our faith. Lord, sometimes it is easier to rely on what we already know. God, to not take the extra effort to have the extra conversations or let people know who we are or even God, for us to have to try to get to know somebody else and add to the people that are in our lives. God, would you help us to see, help us to understand, Lord, that easy and convenient is not always the way forward? God. That whether it's relationships, Lord, whether it's wanting to open ourselves up to you again, God, to tapping into the power of your spirit, or even just starting at a place where we believe that we have enough value, God, that you would give your spirit to us, Lord, Would you encourage us this week, God? Would you challenge us this week to see the places that we're choosing? Easy and convenient, God, where we're following a truth or an opinion that kind of sounds like you and kind of looks like you, but is not rooted in the truth of who Jesus is. God, because we know you're not shaming us and you're not mad at us, God, you just extend grace for us to come in and to try again and to put our eyes back on you. Lord, thank you for who you are. Thank you for the grace of Jesus. God. Thank you for these examples that help us understand how to be a Christian in the world right now. Amen. Thanks for listening to this message from Mosaic church in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more audio and video content, visit us at MosaicChurch TV.

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