Faith Under Pressure | When Heaven Meets Tuesday | Pastor Derick Amsler

We are in this series called When Heaven Meets Tuesday. Everybody say heaven. Yeah. This is where we're asking for the revelation and the education and the inspiration that we receive here on a Sunday to collide with midweek routines. We don't want to compartmentalize our religiosity with everyday living.

God loves you so much that what he speaks to us in here, he wants us to live out out there. And so this is the final installment of this series, and let me just remind you where we've been. Basically, Sunday's good intentions aren't enough. We need a robust foundational faith that will collide with Tuesday's pressure. Remember, we've been saying this every week.

Psychologists call Tuesdays the most depressing day of the week because Monday just took it out of you, and you still have more days until the weekend. And in week one, we talked about the result of living like life depends fully on us. And when we try to overly grasp and control, it produces anxiety and even depression and selfishness. We actually implode when we try to overly control. And then we spent a couple weeks looking at the difference between conviction and condemnation.

God will use conviction to redirect our path so that we can get back in alignment with him. The devil uses condemnation, which will limit you and hold you hostage. Last week, we looked at this subject. I believe in God, so why am I so unhappy? Come on.

I can profess and proclaim, the joy of the Lord is my strength, but my joy meter is pretty weak. And why is that? And we looked at that. Tell the person standing or sitting next to you that has a frown on their face. You need last week's message, apparently.

Come on, just let them know, like, hey, you need it. You need it. What's going on with you? Let me go ahead and let the cat out of the bag where we're about to go today, because we're going to be all over the map. But everything has led us into this moment.

When heaven meets Tuesday, here's where we are. My faith is sincere, but I fold under pressure. There's something in me that. I love God deeply. And yet there is a.

There is a paradox living on the inside of me. The man that I want to be I can't always be, and the man that I don't want to be, I can be quite easily.

Where is this breakdown inside of me that the me I want to be for God, the me I promised I was gonna be when I was water baptized? The me that I promised myself I'm gonna be every January When I make New Year's resolutions, and I'm gonna read this chapter, and I'm gonna read through the book of the Bible. And here. And I'm gonna take this. Where is this breakdown of spiritual formation on the inside of me?

I'll tell you where it's at. It's under a heap of pressure. Nobody denies Christ in a spirit of rebellion. Just one morning, that's it. I'm out.

I'm done. We tend to begin to falter and break down and fold when we're under consistent pressure that won't give up.

Think of it this way. Twenty years ago, when my wife and I were first married, we moved here in Ransom, and we lived in a little townhouse community. And I'm not an outdoors guy. I don't have a green thumb. I could really care less about gardens.

Except for a neighbor of ours had this beautiful lush garden teeming with life and vibrant colors. We're talking about every vegetation, fruits, vegetables. And I was like, that is beautiful. One day I'm gonna strike up a conversation with her and I'm gonna ask her how it's done. And then she told me.

And I said, you know what? Forget it. I'll just buy my vegetables at the Old Martins because this ain't worth all that. But there was something about their front yard that looked spectacular. And it started to.

It started. They started to rub me in the wrong way. My entrance, first impressions to my townhouse. So this was 20 years ago. I don't have an actual picture, but this is the closest thing I could find.

Her front yard looked a little bit like this. Her house would be over there. She had a walkway to go to her backyard, a walkway to go to her backyard. It looked like there was a bunch of deer traveling from my front yard to the backyard. Her house is just unbelievable.

In my jealous eye, this is what I thought that her front yard looked like. It was just amazing. I was like, golly, show off. Get a life. So I came home one day and I said, hey, Jessica.

I'm tired of her house looking like a five star resort and our house looking like our house. You know what? I'm going to start watching YouTube videos. I'm going to. I'm going.

I'm going to decorate our house. Within about four or five months, this was my garden right here. Right here. I was just like, you know what? Forget about was more of an emo approach I was going for.

And the difference between her garden and my traveling garden was that was on the other side of this Question.

Is there a gardener? Is there a gardener?

Given the night, given the time of night, Jesus was arrested. Jerusalem should have been asleep. But not tonight. The streets were ablaze with activity, and whispers moved through the ancient roads. Torches lit up the cobblestone steps.

One neighbor told another, what's what is going on? Why all the activity from the Roman soldiers? Why is the city ablaze at this particular hour? And maybe one neighbors told another neighbor, did you not hear what happened? They've arrested the Rabbi.

Which one? Jesus of Nazareth. How do you know this? John told us that at the moment of his arrest, everyone scattered, and they're taking the Rabbi to the house of the high priest. Well, where's the other disciples?

John said they all scattered. Sidebar we like to talk about Judas the betrayer, but let's just be honest. In this particular moment, they all betrayed. It's hard to stand up for convictions and belief when Roman soldiers are carrying torches and swords and knives. They all scattered.

Every man for himself. Almost everyone. Luke 22 tells us that somewhere along the way, under the shadow of the night, Peter circled around. And the Bible says in verse 54, Peter followed Jesus as at a distance. So you'll put yourself in the text and you'll see that Peter now, he's close enough to see what happens, but he's far enough to still feel safe.

He loves Jesus, but he's also aware that at this particular juncture of the night's hour, if I would associate with Jesus, I could be arrested as well.

So he stays close enough to stay in the middle, close enough to still express the love and loyalty. Far enough away to not be associated with them. Jesus, I want to be close to you, but not close enough where I'll get canceled. I want to be close enough to learn from your teaching, but far enough to not be associated with all. All the teachings.

We know the tension, don't we? Not because we stop believing in Jesus, but because the courtyard under pressure can be intimidating.

The smart aleck co worker that every time the subject of faith is brought up, or every time they see you bow your head and pray over your food at lunch, every time they are talking about what they did on the weekend and you talk about being in the house of God. Every time they talk about what. What. What keeps them up at night and what you are pursuing, their smart mouth pushes you into the shadows. Maybe it's the skeptical family member.

Maybe it's the hostile work environment or the locker room that makes you feel like you're the odd man out and Pressure begins to whisper another story or strategy. Go ahead and love God.

Just do it from a distance. It's when our insecurities then are provoked, where our need for acceptance and the fear of rejection overshadows our sense of conviction. And we find ourselves conflicted. We know that tension. To feel that tension is to be human.

Jesus is brought to the house of the high priest, and Peter moves between the shadows of the night, close enough to Jesus, still far enough to feel safe. He's trying to blend in with the crowd to see. See what is going on and what's going to happen to Jesus. And John tells us, in this moment, one of the officials nearby struck Jesus in the face. Luke 22 tells us, the men who are guarding Jesus begin mocking him and then beating him.

While this was taking place, the crowd outside kindled a fire. Peter sat down among them. A servant girl saw him in the firelight and said, hey, this man. This man was also with Jesus. I think I've seen this guy.

I think he's a Jesus follower. Peter knows what's happening to Jesus on the inside. And so he knows if I associate with him, I'll be next. She says, you were with Jesus. He quickly responds, woman, I don't know him.

Another voice speaks up and says, you're one of them. You're one of the disciples of Jesus. He responds, man, I am not. Another voice rises, certainly this man was with Jesus. And on the third time, the book of Matthew tells us that Peter totally unravels and now he wants to disassociate himself with Jesus so strikingly that he'll actually start cursing and bringing curses upon himself to avoid any identification.

Matthew 64 says, he began to call down curses and he swore, I don't know the man.

Now, nobody plans a denial like that. Nobody wakes up one day and be like, you know what I need to do? They're going to laugh at me for praying over my food or praying for them. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to say this, and then I'm going to walk back my Christianity, my convictions.

I'm going to turn back that I ever even knew about the cross, about my sin nature, my life and the grace. Nobody plans that. That's because denial of this kind is not done from a rebellious heart. It's done under pressure. Pressure.

He begins to call down curses, and he swore, I don't blankety, blank, blank. Know the man. Blank me if I do. One question, one insecurity triggered where the need to be Accepted, spoke louder than his reason and compromised, then felt safer than his own conviction. This is the conversation at work that goes towards faith, but because you know of the response, you quickly change the subject, right?

This is when the moment a family member who doesn't see eye to eye regarding a biblical truth or principle begins to get sarcastic. And so we quickly walk it backwards, or we round the edges of truth so sharply that it's no longer even presented as truth anymore. This is when the opportunity to pray for someone gets buried under the fear of how it's going to be received. So it's better if we just let it be. We know Peter's courtyard and we know the fire he's standing next to because we've stood next to those fires as well, right?

Like, I've heard pastors just shame Peter for denying Jesus. Like, not me. I'm gonna cut him some slack. I'm gonna cut him a break. Not because you and I, not because we don't love Jesus, but because the garden in us, without the right care, without the right gardener, it starts to grow things that we never planted there on purpose, like the wounds of rejection and the need for acceptance and the need for approval and people pleasing and for everyone to understand my intentions.

And there's something growing in the garden of our heart. And so the answer is not to shame the garden. The answer is not to ignore the garden. The answer is to find the right gardener and invite him in. After Peter realized what he did, denying Jesus three times, the Bible says that he went out and he wept bitterly.

The word here in the original language is not bitterly. Like, oh, man, these are like, a lot of tears. It was he. He broke on the inside. This is the moment of intense disappointment.

Have you ever. Have you ever discovered that place in life where it's easier to forgive other people than it is to forgive yourself?

Like, I let them off the hook based on their intentions, but, man, I knew better. This is a moment where Peter breaks because he realizes, I let myself down, I let God down, I let other people down, but how do I rebound? I thought I was stronger than this. Just a couple moments before the moment that we're reading, it was Peter who looked at Jesus eye to eye and said, jesus, though the whole world deny you and run from you, I still will flank your side. I got you.

It was moments before this moment that the Roman soldiers approached Jesus in the garden. And it was Peter, Peter who drew a sword and he went to cut a Roman soldier's head off, and the guy ducked and he just slit his ear. It was Peter that had that kind of faith. But under the right kind of pressure on a Tuesday, oh, how the mighty somehow fall.

Peter runs out and he weeps bitterly.

But the story doesn't end in the courtyard and the story doesn't end in Peter's tears. The story continues after the resurrection. Jesus goes looking for Peter. Now, one might think if we stopped right there, he's looking for him because. Because now he's gonna show him what's up.

I told you you weren't good enough. I told you you were a liar. I told you. Be careful how you project other authority issues onto God, for he is not always how we perceive him to be. Sometimes we think God is petty because we're petty and God's petty and God is overly angry towards us and slow or quick with impatience and slow to patience because those in our life have.

Have. Have exemplified such behavior. But God is not like that. Jesus goes looking for Peter, and when we find him, he doesn't have a gavel in his hand. The Bible says he's got a spatula.

He is cooking breakfast on the shore, calls Peter over, Peter comes in, they sit down and they have a conversation. And Jesus. And this is the familiar scene in the Bible, right, where. Where Jesus asked Peter three times, peter, do you love me? Now watch this.

I've always thought the reason why Jesus asked Peter three times, do you love me? Is because Peter denied Jesus three times. I'm not so sure anymore. To me, that makes him almost petty.

You're upset that you didn't live up to your own conviction, so let me remind you about it three times. Three for three. No, no, no. There's something that shows up in the original language of the text that doesn't show up in English. In English it says, Jesus asked Peter, do you love me?

Do you love me? Do you love me? But remember, in Greek, there's different words for our one word love, agape and phileo. It looked like this. Agape means unconditional, sacrificial, and all in love.

This is the type of love that a parent would have for a child. If a child is about to harm themselves or someone's about to harm them, they would jump in, lay their life down for the love of the other being. Phileo is where we get Philadelphia, a city of brotherly love. So it's more than a friendship, but it's not quite unconditional level just yet. It's affection, it's loyalty.

We're more than just what, like, dude, I Love you. I love you. The first time Jesus asked Peter, peter, do you love me? He says, peter, do you agape me? In other words, do you love me with everything?

Peter responds, lord, you know I phileo, you know I brotherly love you. See what's happening? He's asking, do you love me with everything. But Peter knows he just denied Jesus three times so he can't bring himself to over commit or over promise and anymore. So Jesus, I can't lie to you.

There's something in me that wants to. But I know my brokenness and I know my points of failure and I know my limitations and I know my pressure on a Tuesday. So I love you, but I can't commit all that. The second time Peter is asked by Jesus, peter, do you love me? Do you agape me with everything?

And he responds, lord, you know I brotherly love you. Now watch what happens. Something beautiful and stunning happens in the text. The third time Jesus asked, Peter, do you love me? He switches the words and he says, peter, do you brotherly love me?

He goes, lord, you know I do. And then Jesus begins to reinstate his calling. Watch this. Jesus, out of mercy and grace, for Peter, lowered the standard to the place Peter could commit.

And then he brings him to where he could be.

Because if Jesus knows, I love you Peter, and I want to accept you, what you can give me in the season of brokenness. But then later on he says to him and the other disciples, go to the upper room. What's going to happen there? I'm going to send you a gift, the Holy Spirit. And you shall receive power from on high.

Jesus knows if Peter stops his devotion to God at brotherly love, the next time he faces a courtyard fire, he's going to cave. Something has to happen on the inside of Peter that will bring him from filet fileto to agape, from I love you to God, I'll give you everything. And that kind of surrender and that kind of direction and hope cannot be man made. And it can't be white knuckled and it can't be just sheer willpower. There has to be a locomotion.

There has to be a power, a strength, a fortified foundation that takes place on the inside of us. Nobody is strong enough to live out our faith all on our own. God knows that. And out of love he meets us where we are. And then he brings us to where he is.

Which is why the story is still not finished. At breakfast with Peter and Jesus, weeks pass. Same city, same Peter, same memories of that Courtyard. Every Acts 2. When the day of Pentecost came, suddenly a sound like a blowing of a violent wind came from heaven.

Heaven meets Tuesday. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of the people that were there. And all were filled with the Holy Spirit. Now watch what happens. This is a monumental moment.

This changes the rest of history and future's history. The Spirit of the living God now takes up residence inside people. Up until this moment, the presence of God was limited to a synagogue or to a tabernacle. In this moment, we become the tabernacle. We become the synagogue, we become the the church.

We become the vessel in which the Spirit of God inhabits. But not everybody understands that. And so in the text, they begin to mock those who just received the Holy Spirit. Peter, the one who just denied him at a fire, now stands in the fire of the Holy Spirit, marked by fire. And he proclaims, men of Israel, hear these words.

Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders. Yeah, this Jesus delivered up according to the defiant plan and the foreknowledge of God. You crucified and you killed. So did I, because it was our sin that did it. But God raised him up.

How does Peter go from a man of good intentions but failing under pressure by one fire, now stands in another fire and boldly proclaims the good news of Jesus. The only difference is a Gardener moved in. First Corinthians 6:19. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside the garden of your heart at the very moment you said yes to Jesus.

So the Bible says that Jesus stands at the door of our heart, and he's a gentleman, so he's not going to force himself in. He stands at the door of our heart and he knocks. And the moment we recognize. My sin is too big for me to manage and I cannot save myself from sin. I need a Savior to save me from sin, and I need a deliverer to get me out of sin.

And I believe that he is Jesus, the unique son of the living God who died on a cross to take away our sins. Three days later, we call it Easter. They called it the Resurrection. He came back to life to have a relationship, relationship with us. The moment we recognize that reality.

The Bible says that he stops knocking. He walks in, and when he comes in, the Holy Spirit comes in with him and he starts rearranging the furniture. We need to move this over here. We need to move this over here. And this, this this, that's gotta go.

And this, this, this. This is what's coming in. That's why the Bible says the fruit or the evidence, the furniture, if you will, of the Holy Spirit is things like love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self control. That's not a checklist. That's evidence that the Holy Spirit is the gardener on the inside of you.

And he's cultivating some things that weren't there before, and he's removing some weeds that were there for too long. The Holy Spirit of God is moving in our life to make us more like Jesus. The gardener is already inside the garden. So think about this. The Holy Spirit is not standing at the gate.

He is down in the soil cultivating everything that is inside of us. He's doing four main things in the text. Let me just show them to you quickly. Of the Holy Spirit. He's going to convict our lives.

And we've talked about this before, so I'll start there. When something is off, he'll put his finger on it. Not to shame you, not to guilt you, but to free you. That's the gardener identifying some weeds in the soil of your heart. The Bible says that he will empower us.

That's not poetic language. That's actual power for actual living. There are some temptations that are too big for you. The Holy Spirit gives you power to resist them and overcome them. There are some challenges in life that you will never accomplish on your own.

You need the power of the Holy Spirit. He guides. He intercedes for us. I just listed four, but the Bible actually says these are the things that the Holy Spirit does inside of the garden of your heart. All of these.

Next slide. All of these. He teaches and he reminds. He brings freedom. He fills believers.

He unifies our lives. He. He leads us. He directs us. He's looking out for us.

He's providing us with discernment. This is why Jesus said, it's better for you that I return to heaven physically, because when I do, I'm going to send you, literally the Holy Spirit, who's going to live on the inside of you and do all of these things. So when heaven's reality meets the stress of Tuesday, you can stand by the fire and you can stand tall, strong and confident. Greater is he that is in me than the pressure that I'm walking through on a Tuesday.

So watch this. That's all good and that's all true. But the day of Pentecost only happened once, so it's not like he keeps going back to the upper room and he keeps reliving this experience. That's because this experience, the impartation, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, it's already on the inside of him. So I want to invite Peter back to the conversation.

Peter, we just told your story. In light of it, tell us two things to keep in mind and if you wouldn't mind, give us one prayer. We can pray on Tuesday. Two things to keep in mind. One prayer we can pray when we're standing by the fire of a courtyard under pressure, having difficulties living out our faith.

I think Peter would say this because, you know, later on in his life, Peter wrote a letter and we have that letter in our Bible. It's called the Book of Peter in first and second Peter in first Peter 4:12, he says, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes. I think he would say don't be surprised by the fire. You can't expect unbelievers to act like believers when they're not believing the same thing as you.

Some of us were walking into hostile environments towards our faith every day, where following Jesus actually cost you something. And feeling that pressure doesn't mean your faith is weak. It just means that God is forming something in your faith. And so encourage yourself. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

That God is doing something in your life. Maybe you are meant to be there for such a time as this as a beacon of hope, as a walking hospital for the hurting. Find the places where people are hurting and the points of pain and just pray for them. I don't have all the answers. You don't have to have all the answers.

People are more concerned about genuine love and authentic care than they are about all the nuance. And you know what they care about too, if they do ask something and you don't know the answer. Just an honest response. You know what? I don't know, but that's a good question.

Let's find out together. You know what they're going to do? Either they're going to go find out with you or they're going to stop asking you questions. One of the two, I think Peter would tell us from his second letter. Notice what's growing in you.

Notice what's growing in you. He lays out a list of things the gardener is producing in our heart. Faith, virtue, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, and that agape love. And then he says, if these qualities are yours, he's asking you to examine what's in your garden. Because they may not be, but if they are, if these qualities are in you and they're increasing, then keep doing what's going to increase.

These virtues in your life, for they keep you from being ineffective. Peter is describing a garden that is being tended by a gardener. This is where you encourage yourself. And this isn't self improvement. This is recognition of the fruit, of the spirit.

You know what? I didn't get everything right today, but I did notice where patience showed up, where anxiety and urgency would have reigned supreme. I noticed today. You know, I didn't win everywhere, but I won here. Where obedience was my default response instead of allowing fear to override my decision.

Where anxiety ruled today at work used to rule at work. Today I was just marked by peace and joy. At least it's growing. And if it's growing, that's something. And if it's something, it's worth recognizing.

Not every courtyard can be avoided. Pressure's coming. Hate to tell you, but here's the good news.

Every garden can be tended. And he who began a good work in you is faithful to see it to the day of completion. God is using you. He's using pacifiers. He'll use future courtyards to work something inside of you.

We call that spiritual formation.

This week I spent some time looking up some prayers written by ancient scholars and theologians, we would call them today Desert Fathers. And I looked up some of their prayers based upon Peter's writings in first and Second Peter. And I kind of boiled them down and then I added a sentence to it. And you'll see what it is and why. But maybe you want to take your phone and maybe you want to take a picture of this.

What if we, as a church, we prayed this every morning, every day for the next week. And let this be a reminder. The Holy Spirit is moving in so I can live the things of Christ out loud. Are you ready? We're actually going to read it out loud together, on the count of three.

Are you ready? One, two, three. Holy Spirit, help me notice you in the moments that matter. Lead my thoughts, steady my reactions. And when pressure comes, give me the courage to stay with you.

Grow what you've planted in me. Pull what you didn't and keep me close. Come on. Isn't that beautiful?

Every day this week, it's just gonna mentally recalibrate our mind and open up our heart. You know what? I don't have have to give up and fold next to the furnace. I can stand on a foundation of conviction. He's got my back.

For the Holy Spirit. Listen me Put your hand over your heart, Spirit of God, in a way that only you can. I pray that you would fill every believer with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to live lives that honor you. You where there is shame and guilt over past courtyard failures. I pray that that would be eradicated as the weed that it is.

And the beauty and the strength and the comfort of and the purity of the Holy Spirit would reside. That you're just calling us back to the shores. Peter. Do you love me? Lord, we love you.

In Jesus name. And everybody said, amen. God bless.