Grace Over Perfection: Finding Peace in Imperfection - Jeff Ryan - 3TC Podcast - 3/23/25

Jeff Ryan discusses the theme of imperfection and forgiveness, using the movie "Remember the Titans" as an analogy for striving for perfection. He emphasizes that humans are imperfect but defined by God's grace and forgiveness, not by failures. Pastor Jeff reflects on the importance of confessing sins and finding comfort in God's presence, comparing phones to pacifiers for comfort but highlighting that true peace comes from Jesus. The discussion includes a reading from Isaiah 43, which reassures believers of God's unwavering presence and love, even in trials and hardships.

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Transcript

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Welcome to the three timbers podcast. We hope this will encourage and uplift you today. One of my favorite movies is, Remember the Titans, if you're familiar with that movie. And Denzel Washington plays a coach, and in one scene he tells his players, he says, We will be perfect in every aspect of the game. You drop a pass, you run a mile, you fumble the ball, you run a mile. And I think sometimes in life, maybe it's just me, that sometimes that's how I feel, that I've gotta be perfect in every way. And if now that I gotta run and I just keep running and running and running and try to be perfect. And we're not perfect people. Everyone of us is imperfect. Everyone of us comes up short, everyone of us fails. We have to own that. We have to accept that. But that doesn't define us. What defines us is God. What defines us is God's grace. And so we take the time intentionally, while we're gathered as the church, as the people of God, not any better or any worse than anybody who's done in church, but we come before God telling him what he knows our Father, that we have failed, and then we read responsibly the joy that we're forgiven, and that's what defines us. We are not defined by our failure. We're defined by our forgiveness. So let's go to God and let's offer our failures so that we can rejoice in the forgiveness that we have. Heavenly Father, as we come before you this morning, we we know who we are when we look in the mirror, but sometimes we forget whose we are and we belong to you. And when we belong to you, we experience the forgiveness of our sins when we confess them. And so Lord, we confess our sins to you right here, right now in this moment. Lord, it's just you and each one of us, one on one us coming to you our Heavenly Father and saying, Lord, maybe I didn't handle this the right way. Maybe my thoughts weren't the right thoughts. Maybe my actions weren't the right actions. Lord, I confess that I own that. And Lord, You are not angry. You're grateful that we trust you enough to come to you and confess and Lord, because of that, we can now read the words responsibly from Ephesians, one seven that tell us this, in Him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace. Amen, I will ask for some of that grace this morning, as I am a little under the weather, I've got my whole little drug station up here. I know I'm sick because I'm drinking out of a Seattle Seahawks mug. So you know, I'm a little delirious and not out of the cup of glory for the Eagles. And so if I forget something, I'll ask for your grace. But here's the thing, we all forget things. That's one of the commonalities that we all share is every one of us can be forgetful. We can forget all kinds of things, right? We can forget what it is that we're taking to bring back to the store. It's not with us in the car. We left it at home. We can forget the list when we go to the store and we leave that at home. We can forget things like luggage, toothbrush, extra socks, underwear, computer cords. We can forget all types of things every day in our life. Sometimes we forget that when we put a timer on for something to cook and then all of a sudden it starts to smoke and smell, we realize we forgot we had something in the oven or on the stove top. All of us have forgotten about doctors appointments, dentist appointments. Sometimes we forget to pick people up at the airport or at school. We can all be forgetful. So what do we do? Right? We try to set up reminders and processes to make sure we don't forget, and the best way we do that is with our phones, because we never, ever forget our phones. Our phones go with us. Everywhere we go. Our phones go to to work. Our phones go with us in the car. Our phones go with us in the bathroom. And don't pretend like you don't take it in, because you know you do. Our phones go everywhere. And I believe that phones today are adult pacifiers, right? Remember when kids were little, you had the pacifiers, because as long as they had the pacifier, everything was okay, because what does a pacifier do? It comforts just by being with us. It gives us peace through everything, every storm in life, and it's kind of our lifeline when we need help. That's what a pacifier is for a child, and that's kind of what our phones are for, right? Our phones give us comfort. Our phones see us through every storm in life, and our phones are our lifeline when we need help. But here's the thing, phones were not created to do that. We have made them into that. But that's not what phones are created for. The only thing that will bring us comfort through the storm, the only thing that will give us peace, the only thing that can be our lifeline for. Anything is Jesus. And when we understand how faithful God is in Jesus Christ, then we will celebrate who God is, and that God will never leave us. And so before we look at our text, let's pray together for the reading of God's Word. Father God, we thank You for Your word. It is a layup unto our feet, Lord. It is the lighthouse in our storm. Uh, Father, I pray that these words, Lord would just speak to us today in a way that would bring comfort to those who need comfort, conviction to those who need conviction. Father, I pray that you would get me out of the way and your Holy Spirit would speak to us this morning, and Lord, that we would be more than just hearers of these words, but we would be doers. And Father, I pray that we wouldn't just have this be some sort of religious exercise, but we would be like children sitting at the feet of our Heavenly Father as you speak to us through Scripture. And we ask this in the name of Jesus, amen, we're going to be in the book of Isaiah, chapter 43 we're going to read the first four verses. I'm going to read from the NIV version. Again, if you've got your Bibles, which I hope you bring to church or bring up your Bible app on your phone, we're going to be in isaiah 43 verses one through four. And I would encourage you to keep this out as we go through the text, just so you can refer back to see kind of what God is saying. So Isaiah, 43 starting in verse one. But now this is what the Lord said, He who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel, do not fear for I have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt for your ransom Cush and Seba in your stead, since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will exchange. I will give people in exchange for you nations, in exchange for your life. When we look at this text, it's important that we understand kind of the macro version of the book of Isaiah, an incredible book that I would encourage you if you haven't read the book of Isaiah, read the book of Isaiah if you've read it, read again. Some of the macro themes are it's about kind of the the wandering of the people wandering away from God, and the warning that God gives them for wandering away from him. It's about the faithlessness of the people and the faithfulness of God. It's about the compromises that people made in their faith, and it's about the conviction of God's Word over their sinful life and some of the things that the people did in this wandering and this faithlessness. They trusted in foreign powers to protect them and provide for them. They didn't believe that God could protect them. They didn't believe that God could provide for them. So they started to trust in something other than God. To do that. They worshiped false gods and idols. And as much as we like to think that we don't do that today, we do. We worship false gods of money. We worship false gods of idols about jobs and material things. They showed apathy to injustice and a lack of concern for the poor and the need. They said, It's not my problem. It doesn't impact me. They weren't being the light of the world that God called them to be. So the people have truly failed God in every way. And so we get down to our words, where it says But now, which implies something came before that? Well, just the verses that precede us in chapter 42 God has just read his people the riot act. Here's what he says to them. They are imitative, they're inattentive, and they fall short of God's plan. They are defeated and disobedient, and they are spiritually stupid and insensitive. I mean, God has laid out his case essentially against his people. He said, You're a mess. You failed. You deserve my wrath. And the people knew that. The people knew that they had not been living the way that God wanted them to, and they fully expected the wrath of God to come to them. But I want you to see, if you look at your text, the words that God says next, he says, I created you, I formed you, and I redeemed you. See they should have received the wrath of God. They should have been taken out of God's presence because they had so messed up, they had so abandoned God that they didn't have one anything to do with God. But God said, You know what, I'm with you. You're mine. I've redeemed you. I've created you. He even addresses them my name. He says, oh, Jacob, oh, Israel. It's personal to God. God loves you, God loves me, and God. Loves his people, and even though they and even though we deserve the wrath of God because we have wandered from God, because we have shown faith less nest towards God, because we haven't cared about the things that God cares about. God says, I'm still going to be with you even when you fail. How comforting is it to know that we are not defined by our past. We are not defined by our past failures in any way. On our trip to Michigan for a family funeral, which we attended yesterday, one of the things we did was a college tour for Levi and as we're touring this college, I just I think back to when I was in college, and I think I'm so grateful that God didn't judge me for my past when I was in college, because the way I thought and the way that I lived, and maybe you feel like that too, that you can look back to when you were younger. Think I'm so grateful that God didn't judge me for my past mistakes. See, we are not our past. We are who God says we are, and we belong to him. And I want you to hear these words again, in case you're doubting that God says this, I've redeemed you. You are mine. God has redeemed you. God has redeemed me in Christ, we are not who we used to be, and we are not who we are going to be we belong to God. And what God was saying to them is, I will be with you, I will protect you, I will provide for you, I will never leave you on your own. How comforting is it to know that God is faithful in a world that has no faith at all? And I don't you understand this when when you read these words, these aren't just biblical or historical, they're personal to God. Listen to how God says, God created you. God created you to be exactly who you are, to look like you look, to live where you live, to be who you are. God created you on purpose and with a purpose, you are not an accident, because God created you. God formed you. The Bible says that He formed us in our mother's womb. God has been personally involved with you since he created you and formed you, and he is still forming you, and you are still going through things right now, because God's not done forming you and everything. God redeemed you, you and I don't deserve being redeemed. All we have to do is look at our life or look at our past and say, Why would God redeem somebody who wanted from him? Why would God redeem somebody who is disobedient to him? Why would some Why would God redeem somebody who didn't care about God? Because God is God, and you and I are not, and we celebrate His faithfulness. God knows your name. He summoned the people by name. And then the other thing that he says here, I think is so cool. He says, You are mine. God claimed you when you didn't want to claim you, when nobody else wanted to claim you. God claimed you. God claimed me, and so we celebrate the faithfulness of God. Think about how God has never let his creation be alone. God was with his people when he formed them. God was with his people when he sent Christ, right? Jesus, name Emmanuel. What does that mean? God with us, and when Jesus ascended, what did he say, he says that I will send you a helper, a paraclete, the Holy Spirit, the presence of God. We have always had the Trinitarian presence of God with us. God will never leave us, and God will never forsake us, even when we go through difficult seasons in life, even when we go through difficult situations, whether we created them or not, God will never leave us. See when God called them, oh Jacob, oh Israel, you are mine. He was giving them an identity. Your identity is not your job. Your identity is not your past. Your identity is not your biggest mistake. Your identity is not your biggest success your identity is that you are God's there can never be anything greater in our identity than being a child of God, knowing that God is not just for us, but God is with us in everything that we do. And yes, God will forgive us. Listen to what it says in Deuteronomy. Seven for you are people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you, out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, to be His people, His treasured possession. I want you to hear me when I say this, God chose you. God chose you. He chose to reveal Himself to you in the person of Jesus. He chose to reveal that he loves you to you. He chose to reveal His Grace to You. In Christ, His mercy to you. In Christ, God chose you, you and I did not choose God. God said, I choose you to be my child. Not because of anything we've done, not because we deserve it, not because we've earned it, but because God is good and God is faithful that he chose you and died. When you look at chapter 42 and you see how it ends, and God is laying the people out, he is calling them out. He is laying them out. He's saying, You guys are a mess. You're disobedient, You're terrible. But go back to the beginning of Chapter 42 and I want to read you this chapter 42 verses one through four. Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out or raise his voice in the streets, A bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness, he will bring forth justice. He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on Earth in his teaching, the islands will put in their hope. This is talking about Jesus, that He was saying, there will be hope that I will be with you, that I will address all of the shortcomings that you have. God did this then, and God does this now. God is proclaiming to his people, I'm with you. I am for you. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. I can't tell you how many times I felt like this, and I can't tell you how many times I've had this conversation, and maybe you've said it, when you say, I just don't feel close to God. I feel like God is far away. If God is far away, guess who moved it wasn't God, it was us, and yet God is always right there with us. He never leaves us, even when we feel unworthy, even when we feel abandoned, even as we struggle. God says, I am going to be with you no matter what. That doesn't mean that just because God is with you, you won't have difficult times. There was a time in my life I thought that when you follow Jesus, that means everything goes your way, right? Everything is perfect. You know, you never have struggles, you never have strife. Everything just works out. Man, was I wrong? And there are people out there now that don't understand that, hey, I'm following Jesus, I'm faithful, I'm praying, I'm serving, and I'm still going through strife. Yeah, the thing that we have to remember is God, God will protect us in trials, but not prevent them. And see, we want God to prevent trials, God will protect us in the midst of trials. That means that he says in this text, when we pass through the waters, we will not drown. When we walk through the fires of life, we will not be burned. See sometimes what God does, sometimes he calms the storm, and sometimes he calms us in the middle of the storm. But you have to trust in His faithfulness. You have to trust that God is with me in the middle of this trial, that God is with me through the middle of this junk, of this garbage, of this hard season. I don't know why I'm going through it. I don't like it, but God is with me, and God will use it in some way. I don't like it. I wish he would stop. But God has a plan, because He created you, he formed you, and he's still forming you, and God is with you even in your worst moments, even in the worst trials of your life, when you might feel everybody has left you and you are all alone. Please know that God is with you. Never forget how much you mean to God. He says in here, he says, I redeemed you. God said I paid a ransom for you. God did not have to pay a ransom for you and I, but he did. And God proclaims it here. He says, I love you. We don't say that enough. We don't we don't say man, God loves me. God loves me. When I was a pastor in a church in Florida, we had a Sunday where our our worship leader got ill last minute, and we had no idea what to do about music, so I said, I'll pick the songs. It's the last time I ever picked songs for worship. And one of the songs I picked, and people thought I was kidding. Was Jesus loves me, and they all thought I was joking around. I'm like, I'm not kidding. It's one of the only ones I know, but it's one of the most powerful ones I know Jesus loves me. This, I know, finish the rest of it, for the Bible tells me so God loves you and God loves me, and we need to draw on this when we feel like we're drowning in life. We need to draw on this when we feel overwhelmed in life, when we're drowning in struggles, drowning in addiction, drowning in debt, drowning in loneliness, drowning in everything and anything that we could drown in. We need to remember those words, God loves me, this I know. Bible for the Bible tells me so. And we see the fulfillment of God's love in Jesus. God loves you so much, right? John 316 For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God loves you. God loves me. I want you to think about the story in mark four, Jesus tells His disciples, Hey guys, let's get in a boat. Let's go over to the other side of the lake, and they get in the boat. And what happens? Well, let's read what happens here in mark 437, through 40 a furious Squall. Once you think of hurricane, a furious Squall came up and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him up. Said, If Teacher, don't you care if we drown. He got up, rebuked the wind. Said to the waves, quiet, be still. Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to His disciples, Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? And I want you to notice two things in this text. I want you to notice what the disciples said, Don't you care if I drown. And we may not use those exact words, but I know that I've cried out to God and said, Don't you care? Don't you care what I'm going through. Don't you care about my struggles? Don't you care about this situation? Don't you care? And then I want you to notice something else. Jesus was in the boat with them. The storm came. They cried out. Jesus didn't come. Jesus was already there. He was already in the boat. He's in your boat. Now, whatever storm you are in, whatever rough seas you finding yourself trying to navigate. And yes, you may have water coming into your boat, and you may be getting tossed to and fro, and you may be asking yourself, God, do you even care? Remember this, Jesus is in the boat with you, and he can call in a minute, and he says, Don't you have faith? Do you have faith to know that God is always with you, even in the midst of storms, even in the midst of trials, even when you feel like I can't keep my head up on water, he is with us. Think about when the the Israelites are getting ready to go into the Promised Land, right? This was the moment, this is where they wanted to be, and all of a sudden, the water, it's huge. It's at flood stage. In fact, it says in Joshua 315 now, the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priest who carried the Ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water up from the stream stopped flowing a pile in a heap a great distance away. The Ark of the Covenant that they were carrying carried the presence of God. So as they were getting ready to go into something new, to try something new, the water was at flood stage. If they tried to cross that on their own, they would drown. There seemed to be no way across to get what was just on the other side of the Jordan, that thing that God had promised, how am I going to get what God promised when I'm going to drown? And God provided away the Ark of the Covenant was the presence of God. We saw this earlier when God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, and they had their red sea moment where the Red Sea is before them, the Egyptian army is behind them. But don't forget, when you read that text, a pillar of fire went before them and behind them, because God was with them in the midst of their trials, and he's with us. There have been times where all of us have deserted God, but God has never deserted us. And I know that there are some of us that are going through a hard season. Kind of feel like we're in the fire. And that reminds me of the story of three guys who they're going through a hard time. They had a ruler who was an egomaniac and a ruler who expected everybody to bow down when they heard a certain sound. And if people didn't bow down when they heard this sound, well then they were going to be, literally be thrown into the fire. But these three guys, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, they said, I'm not going to bow down. There's one true God. We worship Him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, he wasn't going to have that. So those three guys were gathered up, and there was literally a furnace, and they're going to get thrown in the furnace, but when they opened the door, the furnace was so hot that these soul. We're going to throw them in they died. But finally, these three men were thrown into a huge furnace. But I want you to hear what Nebuchadnezzar saw. It says in Daniel three, then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisors, weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire. They replied, certainly, Your Majesty. He said, Look, I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods. Even as they were in a fiery furnace, they were not alone. God was with them, and when they came out, not a hair on their head was singed. God is with us in the fiery moments as you walk through the fire of relational challenges and work challenges and health challenges and life challenges and loss and doubt and fear and anxiety. God is with us as we walk through those fires. God is with us when we feel overwhelmed by the flood. God will make a way when there is not a way. And so we celebrate the faithfulness of God. And when you look at this text, he ends up by declaring, he says, I am your Savior, and you are my people. God defines who we are. God defines whose we are, and God says, I'm with you. He loves you. He created you, he formed you, He redeemed you, he claimed you. He's not done with you. God is still working on you and in you, we want to celebrate the faithfulness of God, because God is good. Amen. Wanna ask our worship team to come back up, and as they come back up, let's pray together, Father God, we thank you so much, Lord, that you are not only for us, but you're with us. You walk with us, Lord, through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for you are with us. Father, I pray that I know some of us are walking through a storm, the fiery furnace over overwhelmed by the waters of life, and yet, Lord, we know you're with us, Father, we just continue to ask that we would trust in you, that we know you're here, Lord, and that we would turn to you that you're in the boat with us, Lord, and I pray, Lord, that we would know that you care, you care about us, and You have a plan for us. So thank you, Lord, for Your grace. Amen. Thank you for joining us for more information about three timbers, church, ministries and services. Visit three timbers.org. We would love for you to join us in person. You.