Game On — Stardew Valley

Dina, Julie, and Pastor Seth continue the Game On series by connecting the story of Esther with the everyday rhythms of Stardew Valley. They explore how God often works through ordinary moments, using small acts of faithfulness, steady spiritual habits, and simple obedience to shape us for the purpose He's prepared.

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Transcript

Welcome And Spectacular Banter

SPEAKER_04 0:04

Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the King of Kings podcast, where we dive a little bit deeper into our message series and see what we're taking Beyond Sunday. My name is Dina Newsome, and I have some spectacular is my word for today. Spectacular guests today. Go ahead and say hello. Hi, Julie Easley.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

And I'm Peter Parker, the spectacular campus director. You want spectacular, so that amazing the amazing Spider-Man. So he had several different comic books that ran simultaneously. And one of them was Amazing Spider-Man, another one spectacular Spider-Man. So there's several different things.

SPEAKER_04 0:38

The Amazing Spider-Man and his friends. That's what I remember. So there's a lot of those.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

But just no, I'm just Seth. I'm not Peter Parker. I don't have a Blockbuster movie or anything new like that.

SPEAKER_04 0:48

We'll work on that for next time. Yeah.

Bargain Hunting Stories And Hot Tub

SPEAKER_04 0:51

Okay. I don't know if you guys know this. This week is national bargain hunting news. Thrift stores, garage sales. Yep. Facebook marketplace. Yes. I was gonna say in today's world, Facebook Marketplace. All right. So what's like your favorite or least favorite part of like bargain hunting? Like, do you love a good deal? You like to go searching for one? Or no, this drives you nuts. Oh no, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

I think it's super fun. So, real quick story there's a painting that I love at the Jocelyn Art Museum. And I had always wanted to get a print of it to hang up, but I didn't get to it. And it was kind of expensive at the gift store. I went to Goodwill once, found it huge, beautifully framed for like 10 bucks. I felt like gotta just put it right in my lap.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Love it. I love a good deal. So, like our people, and by our people, I mean like the flicks and the Shermans that make up all of this DNA right here. Very much deal hunters. And even my kids, they ask if we can take them to Goodwill. So, like Micah last week found a two and a half foot tall Godzilla that like moves on his own and breathes. It looks, it's not smoke, but it's like uh some kind of steam. And then there's a light that shines like it's on fire. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_04 2:14

My brother had that growing up.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

He thinks it is the coolest thing in the world. Now, funny story in terms of like finding stuff on Facebook Marketplace. Melinda and I, we are in the gym regularly. We're running regularly, so constant muscle soreness. Cause after the age, we're 45 now, and after a certain age, you can just sneeze and everything hurts. And so for the last like few years, she'll be like, oh, you know what would be great? A hot tub would be great. And I'm like, oh, seriously. Like, I don't know what to do. So I've been watching Facebook Marketplace. And her birthday was at the end of last month. And I've been watching and I've been watching and been watching. And all of a sudden, a inflatable hot tub showed up pretty inexpensively on Facebook Marketplace. So I took care of it all like behind the scenes. And then it was a two days before her birthday or three days before her birthday. I was like, okay, I've got your birthday present. You're gonna have to help me go get it. It was the hottest day of the year. That was the day when it was like 110 degrees, and I was like, this is gonna be a good one. And there was no air movement. This is gonna be the most erratic present. I'm gonna make you so miserable for this. She's like, did we get a hot tub? On the hottest day of the year. We're gonna go back to the battery. We're gonna sit in it.

SPEAKER_04 3:27

It turned into an ice bath that night.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Yeah, no, but it stayed in the garage that night. Yeah. Yeah. Have you set it up since? Oh, yes. Is it amazing? No. Dude, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

To blow it back up again. Just so that she can use it for like 10 minutes. Oh, it's a real labor. That's dedication. That's dedication right there.

SPEAKER_04 3:52

That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Sweet.

SPEAKER_04 3:54

I love finding a good bargain. I like garage sales because I like to barter. And also when I used to go to Hong Kong in the summers, there's a giant market there called Ladies Market. And they sell- You don't buy ladies, isn't it? You do not buy ladies. There's one corner. No, I'm just saying there's it's just a random collection of new things, handmade things, knockoff brand name things, you know, whatever. And, you know, you walk up and they'll tell you a price. And you kind of will go back and forth a little bit, but then you start walking away. They'll come chasing you down with a new bar. That's one of the best. Like it's really fun to find a good deal and to work with.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

That's usually how it gets framed afterwards, right?

SPEAKER_04 4:34

Yeah. Yes. That's so cool. Um, those are fun. Yeah. All right.

Stardew Valley And Game On Series

SPEAKER_04 4:39

I don't know how to transition from National Bargain Hunting Week to Stardew Valley, but uh, that's our game. This week, sorry, in Game On, our series for this month. This is week two of Game On, and Stardew Valley is our game, which is a farming game or kind of like just a game of life almost. I have not played this game before. Were either of you familiar with it before this? I asked my son when the list of games came out. I was like, okay, which of these have you played? And he actually played Stardew Valley. Oh, that's cool. Like he said a bunch of his friends did for a while. And I said, Did you like it? He goes, It was just what people were playing at the time. But I think it sounds kind of interesting. It sounds to me very much like a you're just doing life. You know what I mean? Like you're starting out and you're just doing life.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

I think that's the kind of game. If I played video games, that's the kind of game I would want to play. I don't want a competition. I don't want to be killed somehow unexpectedly. I just want to make a farm and get along with my neighbors.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

I was thinking you and mine would be different because in real life, I want to make a farm. I get along with my neighbors. In video games, I would torch the pool. And I don't mean by physically harming them, I mean like Mario Kart. Yeah. So we just got a foreign exchange student, and she is so, so sweet. And she was like, could we please play Mario Kart? And I was like, oh yeah. It's on. She might have thought like this American host dad is gonna be really nice to me.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

I was like, ah, running her off the road.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

But what was great is that really caused this really great bridge between the two of us that she knew that she could, you know, just be have fun, be funny, and yet someone who's gonna be here that would still take care of her. So like we've bonded in the last few days over Mario Kart. Because I'm not a gamer guy, but normal life, absolutely. We used to like we'd have our own hobby farms and stuff, the victory farm or whatever you call it. That's fun.

SPEAKER_04 6:24

Yeah. I was never a farmville player either. That was a big one. That was no, but all right. I do enjoy Animal Crossing, which is a little bit of the same thing. You're not necessarily growing a farm, but you got to go around and meet your neighbors and you do favors for them and you earn money by doing work for your neighbors, and then you can build your house and make it bigger. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

That's cool. It is.

Faithfulness In Daily Decisions

SPEAKER_04 6:44

All right. So, what are you taking beyond Sunday from Pastor Greg's message this week?

SPEAKER_01 6:50

I think the thing that stuck out to me is just like the importance of being faithful with the everyday stuff. There's a quote from Annie Dillard, and I can't repeat it word for word, but she said, How you spend your days is how you spend your life. And those daily decisions add up to something substantial. It was a good reminder that you can be faithful to God every day. And you look back on your life and be like, wow, this was an awesome walk with him.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

That's so cool because I was actually just talking. So Tyler is our Fremont campus director. And literally just two hours ago, I was talking with him about Annie Dillard and how like how her writing is so sublime. Like you pick it up or whatever it might be, and you're like, oh, and then you start reading, and you're like, she's just describing everyday life through a lens of good and things that are beautiful and true in a way that I wish like that it's on the tip of your tongue, and you wish you could communicate life that way, because then it would seem so much deeper and richer.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

I completely agree. Every time I read her, I'm like, God gifted her with just an amazing brain for describing life in such a unique and profound and beautiful way.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yep. So what I would take Beyond Sunday from that moment and from what you had said is that faithfulness is infectious in a really positive way. And I think it kind of dovetails with his comment about having peace where you're planted. And as you are faithful, as you're called to faithfulness, you're not just faithful to God, that faithfulness is exhibited in actions and love. And I think people catch that really easily and they absorb it and they appreciate that because if you're faithful, it means you're consistent. And if you're faithful and consistent, I think people will come to you because you're a source of stability and peace. And if you have peace where you're planted, regardless of how chaotic it is, I think that's one of the most regular, daily, ordinary, effective pieces of outreach that we can actually do.

SPEAKER_04 8:41

What I wrote down for what I was taken was the ordinary days are the point. So it's kind of just along those same lines, you know, that uh I think we wait and we feel like it's just the big moments. But how you spend your time is how you spend your life.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

And that's I think this sermon is a really good example of that because in communicating biblical messages in general, preaching, Bible studies, whatever, oftentimes for examples so that people do lean in, you tell these really high-level superb stories of like human excellence or courage under fire. But that doesn't always, and it's very inspirational, like that's the whole idea. But it usually doesn't connect with everyday life. That's what I really appreciated about what Greg was able to do is root a story that is all about a like palatial life that we don't get to experience. And yet he was able to root it in a way where, like, no, no, no, this is the point, is that it doesn't matter if every day is in a palace or every day is in your home. Your home is your palace. Make the difference where you can there every single day.

SPEAKER_04 9:37

Yeah. That's good. All right. How does the story of Esther relate to the plot and gameplay of Stardew Valley?

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Being that I've never played it before.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Well, it sounds like Stardew Valley is very much an everyday sort of game, and you're slowly building one day on top of another. And from what Greg described, it's about showing consideration for other people. And it sounds like that's the type of person Esther was. It sounds like she was really rockingly beautiful on the outside, but also beautiful on the inside, in that every single person the scripture says that she encountered felt great in her presence. So I think just consideration for others. It feels like a small thing, but it leaves a lasting impression.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

And like kind of to dovetail with that as well, uh, the the word that's used there is favor. She had favor with everyone. I like the fact that Greg was like, this is doesn't seem to be like hyperbole. Like, this is just yeah, in general, she's favor. No, like she had favor amongst all the other people that were present, all the other ladies that were presented to King Xerxes, she had favor over all of them. Within her harem, she had favor with people that were there. And when I asked Macy about Stardew Valley, because I was like, you gotta let me know what's going on with this, because I have no idea. She was like, one of the most important pieces of Stardew Valley is who you choose to connect with for your husband or wife character.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Because that supposedly makes the difference in the whole rest of the game. And there are people, apparently, who can play multiple versions of the game at once, depending upon how they want to sign in. But generally speaking, they'll choose the same partner because they gravitate towards that partner. That's interesting. It's interesting how like people gravitate towards those where they can find that favor. And I think you see that in Stardew Valley, uh, apparently, because I haven't played it again, according to Macy. And you see that with the other people that were in kind of the sphere of Esther's influence.

SPEAKER_04 11:30

I like the idea of it just being dropped into the story. That's what it sounds like to me that you're just dropped into this event in Stardew Valley. You know, here you go. Start, here's your house and your couple coins or whatever, and good luck. And Esther was living just a very mundane almost life, you know what I mean? And then was dropped into this bigger story. And here you go, figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 11:53

Yeah, those are the best beginnings to stories, though. So the storytelling technique, uh, it's called in media race. And I can't remember, but it means like in the middle of time or in the middle, it's something like that, where it makes you have to think about what the backstory is as the story begins. And so it's this thing that like incites curiosity. And I love the way that the spirit used that kind of storytelling with the story of Esther to be like, wait a second, she doesn't have parents. What happened to her parents? Yeah. I want to learn more about what happened in Israel at that time because I know we're not in Israel. So what happened to her parents? And you know, like, why is she there with her cousin? And how does she get to be the queen? Because I know that eventually she'll get there. So, like that storytelling technique is incredibly powerful because I think it makes people try to connect dots and want to lean in. And then all of a sudden you have this beautiful story.

SPEAKER_04 12:38

Oh, they're searching for more. All right.

Feeling Like An Exile

SPEAKER_04 12:41

Is there a place in your life where you feel like an exile? Somewhere you didn't choose and maybe wish you weren't. Dun dun dun.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Well, as somebody who's recently moved, um, this last year, and it's not because people at King of Kings or in the Omaha community didn't make us feel welcomed, but anytime you go to a new place, you feel a little bit like an exile. You come with your story, you come with your experiences and your family's experiences, and then you get plopped in a new place and you do kind of still feel not like one of us. And so I still catch myself saying that when I'll be uh when I'm talking about like bad Omaha drivers, you know, as an example.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Like you're now one of them now.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

I'll be like, you guys can't, you guys cannot take a turn at speed to save your life.

SPEAKER_03 13:29

It's the slowest.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

But I catch myself doing that all the time because uh I think that's kind of the sign of the exile. And you almost don't recognize the transition before you become one of us. And I do feel here at church, like our family very quickly felt like one of us. And so that's what I love about the body of Christ. You kind of see that echoed with the relationship between Esther and her cousin, is they were the us. Like they were there, even though they were exiled. They had people to support each other. And, you know, like now we as a family are transitioning less to be exiled. But I would say that would be my prime example recently. How about you, Dina?

SPEAKER_04 14:06

I will say when I first got to King of Kings, I came from working at another church for a very long time. That was the church where I had raised my kids, where my grandkids were baptized. My, you know, my parents attended there. It was just very vested there. And it was circumstances that were not thrilling for me. Um, I was let go from my job there. And that wasn't a great experience. So when I first found myself at King of Kings, it was at a time when I wasn't sure I wanted to keep doing ministry and I didn't know what that looked like or where I was. And I felt very much like an outsider when I first got here because things were different. I mean, the church is the church is the church, but it's still each church operates slightly differently. Operates very differently, which is to its credit. Yeah. And so that was a time where I felt like I didn't choose to be here. And I'm trying to make the best of it. And I I believe this is where God was calling me, you know what I mean? But I didn't feel at home for a while. And then it doesn't take long. King of Kings is so welcoming. The staff here is so great, you know, that I felt like, okay, maybe I understand now, God, why this is part of my story and I can't see the end of it. But, you know, this is the new chapter. And all right. Yeah. Yeah, we'll get there.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

That's good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

How about you, Julie? Uh I'm not trying to take over hosting duties. What happens though is Tina's so good at letting other people speak. I want to make sure that her voice is her dude.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Yeah, no, that's really good. He's practicing.

SPEAKER_04 15:33

I just asked him if uh he could host it an upcoming one. But Peter beat him out to do it.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:41

Next time, next time, Seth.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

I've been practicing my like my hosting. Soothing voice. Hello.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Get a place to the mic. Yeah. Um I would say that I really thought that I would be a grandma by this time. And I thought at least I would be a mother-in-law. And I think I would be excellent at both. And having that not be a part of my life has been really painful. And I feel like God's has just closed that door for a super long time. So that is part of my story that I do not want to be in. And I uh I'm working it through with God.

SPEAKER_04 16:24

You're putting the pressure on your sons here now. I'm just kidding. Everyone's story is.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

I don't talk to them about it at all, by the way. Just so too.

SPEAKER_04 16:35

Are they one of our 14 listeners?

SPEAKER_01 16:38

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

I thought it was 17.

SPEAKER_04 16:42

Maybe okay. Well, we'll go with 17. Sure. Sounds good. I was here last week. I think we probably won't. It jumps up randomly week to week. That's cute. Yeah.

Why God Uses Unchosen Seasons

SPEAKER_04 16:52

All right. So, why do you think God places us in seasons or places we wouldn't choose for ourselves? I'll answer this one first. I'll go first on this one. Someone gave me the analogy a long time ago of a rock shaper, a rock smoother. Like it's a big barrel thing that they put rocks in when they want to make them smooth. Yes, a rock tumbler. That's what it is. And that the rock is just going around and around. And they gave the analogy of that is the hard experiences you have. You're in the rock tumbler. It's the day-to-day, it's your whirlwind, it's what you're going through. But at the end, you're going to come out a beautiful stone. And I just constantly think of that. That this is how God is shaping me. You know what I mean? He's putting me through this so that I can grow, so that I can be stretched, so that I can be pushed, so that I can be refined. And this is how I'm going to be a beautiful stone at the end.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

I love that. There's a really neat place pretty close to here that I went on a spiritual retreat for two days and I talked with someone there. And he said about this very experience of feeling like God's just, you know, closing doors on some of my, at least right now, on some of my most precious dreams. And he said, You know, I think what Christ is doing in you right now is very similar to what he did with the apostle Peter when he asked, Peter, do you love me more than these? And I've had to come face to face with the fact that sometimes my earthly dreams have taken precedence over is Jesus really enough for me? And over the course of years, realizing that and deeply coming to the realization that Christ is enough for me in any and every circumstance. And I don't think I would have come to that conclusion as quickly or as powerfully if I didn't have these closed doors, it'd have been so painful.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

I think that's one circumstance when when this is the difficulty that's there. But I think there's another thing, and I don't think they have to be mutually exclusive, although sometimes sometimes they overlap and sometimes they're exclusive, and that is solitary time alone with the Lord is not something we get a lot of. And I think even good godly friends can serve as a bit of a distraction away from just being formed by him. And sometimes it's very negative circumstances allow us to realize that. And so I just heard a pastor talk in this last week about the best place you can be is knocked down because the only place you can look is up. I was like, oh, that's a really interesting way to look at it. You're not saying God knocked you down, you're just saying that there's only one thing that you can look at at that point. And so whether it's the difficult circumstance that allows for that, or like for me, there's just so much that goes on in life, it is very difficult to actually like have enough self-discipline to just spend time alone with the Lord. And the more and more I think about that, the more and more I think about it in terms of, well, that's what I need. But what if I thought about it in terms of like that's what Jesus wants? Well, he doesn't need me. But what if he wants to spend a long time with me? And how much cooler does that make that relationship more real? So then it's not like, well, I just need you, Jesus. And so, like, I have this thing that's going on and I have to cling to you. But instead, it's like, yeah, those are times when I get to be with you as well and I have to rely on you. But I should just like want to spend time with you and want to hear what you have to say about life, and I want to be in your word. And I think that's one of those moments we see with Esther as she approaches the king, because there's no cousin with her in that room. Like she has no other allies in that room. It's just her and the Lord, and that's it. And she says to her cousin, like, if I perish, I perish. If I go to him, because she knew that in Persian palace rules, if you go in uninvited, and she hadn't, if I remember right, she hadn't been to see the king in like 30 days. So she had not been invited to come into his presence. And if you are not invited and then follow a specific protocol, then that's the end of your life. And what's interesting is that even applies to the queen. Like she didn't even have access to him, but she knew if she went in there, and because she did have his favor, if he extends her scepter or to her, his scepter to her, and she's able to touch that scepter, and then he speaks first, then she could continue. Otherwise, she would be killed. And so it's just one of those moments of like it probably took a lot of alone time with her and the Lord and him constantly drawing her closer and closer for her to be the kind of person that in the extraordinary moment she had an ordinary grace. It was something that like her boldness was probably not just that moment, but that boldness had been formed in everyday just life with the Lord.

Ordinary Days And Connect Groups

SPEAKER_04 21:32

Well, that brings me to our next question. How can ordinary mundane days be seen as part of God's greater plan for our lives? And we've kind of touched base on that before, where that builds the foundation of faithfulness. You know what I mean? That's what you're just putting brick by brick in your chips in your foundation of faithfulness to him. That when the hard times come, you do have him to turn to.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

That is one of the reasons why I love this. Podcast because it takes it beyond Sunday. And some people could say, like, Sunday is this great mountaintop experience, but I have to go back to work on Monday. And so being able to find places where you can reconnect with the Lord. So this podcast is a good one because we're able to talk about the scriptures in a more in-depth way and how it applies in everyday life. So then it's not just a one time a week experience we have with the Lord, but something like this. And Connect groups are great for that too. It's another opportunity during every Wednesday or whenever it is that they meet to be with the Lord in a normal day.

SPEAKER_04 22:31

And I'll just make a plug there. Connect groups are starting in just over a month, September 9th. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

Let's go. All campuses.

SPEAKER_04 22:39

Yeah. If you're not in a Kinect group, check that out. Yeah. And also go back a few podcasts and listen to our Beyond Sunday on Connect Groups. It tells you a lot of the why, and it's really good. All right.

Training With God Not Trying

SPEAKER_04 22:50

Where have you seen faithfulness in small hidden things prepare someone for something larger?

SPEAKER_01 22:57

So I love the concept that Dallas Willard talks about training, not trying. So you come up to a big moment in your life or a turning point or something that's challenging or maybe a new role that you're going to step into. And if you try to meet that just by trying on your own to do your best and to really succeed or to get over that thing, you're inevitably going to fail. But if you've been training with the Lord, learning how to meet with him in the secret place, developing a life of prayer and scripture reading, you know, other spiritual disciplines of solitude and silence, maybe, or fasting, or anything like that. If you've been doing those things faithfully over a long period of time, when that moment of either exaltation or real challenge comes, you're going to be able to meet that because God has fortified within you and forged within you a character that's shaped so much like Christ Himself. So I just want people to think about when those moments come, it's not gritting our teeth and trying to do our best. If Seth and his wife, you know, many years ago said, we're going to run a marathon and we're just going to try really hard and they hadn't trained at all, it would probably be very, very difficult or almost impossible. But with their faithful training day to day, they can now say, Hey, I feel pretty confident I could run this race. So I'm just encouraging you, just think about it as training, training with the Lord. So when those big moments come, you're able to sustain it.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

There isn't anything more I could say, other than like to extend the analogy about how many times does a basketball player shoot a basket before, you know, the moment comes where there's two seconds left and they hit that shot. People look at it and they're like, Oh my goodness, you're so good. But they missed the 10,000 baskets that they shot, mimicking that exact same moment. Yes. So that they were ready for it. Yes. Uh it's interesting. I I heard a sports uh therapist talking this past week about the clutch moments. And he's like, everybody says like this player's great in the clutch. And he's like, No, that's actually not the case. That player is exactly the same statistically as any other time he's got the ball. It's everyone else is that bad in the clutch.

SPEAKER_03 25:14

I was like, that's a really good way to go down.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Because if you think about it, like it took their practice to be able to be that comfortable in that moment when everybody else shies away and they just do not step up. When you practice being in that moment, when you practice being with the Lord, when you practice his presence, those big moments they don't seem as big or as intimidating. Yes. The hard moments are still difficult, but they don't seem as insurmountable, which is interesting because when Paul talks about living the Christian life, one of his favorite words is practice. And he even says, like, imitate me in this practice, which is funny because like modern Christianity, we're like, do as I say, not as I do. No, that's not right. Like, no. No, I'm gonna practice following Jesus and you practice following however you see me connecting with Jesus, but then don't connect my failures with him. Uh, but the more you practice and the more I practice, the closer I think we're gonna be to reflecting what he would want me to reflect. So I loved your insight.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

And just a reminder practice doesn't always look amazing either, right? So there are some days when I'm done reading the word or praying and I'm like, man, I was so distracted today, or that felt like so dry. It's all right. I read the same verse four times. Right, right. That's okay. It is, you know, practice doesn't always feel amazing or like you're doing it right or whatever. So don't feel discouraged on days when you're like, man, did that what did that even accomplish? Yeah. You know, it's all right. It's all right. You're still building that foundation.

SPEAKER_04 26:44

Going back to that sports analogy, my girls, when they were in middle school, were very intensely playing club basketball and were on multiple teams and played, and there was one girl that they would come up against, and her name was Anna. And Anna seemed like she could make every shot, like just with pressure on her, with no pressure on her. Free throws from the outside, layups, whatever. She just seemed like she could make every single shot. And finally, one of my daughters kind of got to be friends with her just from talking with her and seeing her often. And she said, like, you know, how much do you practice? You have just an amazing shot. And she said, I shoot a thousand shots a week by myself. Those are not the shots that she does in her team practices. Those are not the shots that they warm up games. A thousand shots a week. So that's a hundred and some a day that she shoots by herself. Wow. And so my daughter was like, Oh, yeah, I'm gonna do that. I think we lasted a day and a half. It was like, nope.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

All right, let's take that and see how that we could even challenge ourselves to grow and say, all right, so that's a thousand shots for a sport, which is a game and that's fine. Right. And competition is great and team building is great. Could we log a thousand prayers? Like I don't think we would be anywhere near that. Right. I mean, if we're defining prayer as not just like talking to the Lord continuously throughout the year, I mean, would we do a thousand acts of charity or kindness throughout a week? I would definitely fail at that. But why wouldn't we want to do something similar in terms of like, wow, well, maybe we practice it more and we'll get more comfortable with it. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 28:19

And maybe there's an area in your life that you're looking to stretch yourself, and that's something you can, even if you fail, it's still trying. Yeah.

Flourishing Through Food And Hospitality

SPEAKER_04 28:28

Yep. All righty. How have you seen, or how do you interpret the phrase for such a time as this in your own life?

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Well, it looks wonderful on socks and coffee mugs.

SPEAKER_04 28:41

Yeah, phone cases. I had a phone case once that said that. I like that because I think it's more every day than we think, which kind of goes back to some of the things we've talked about. That it seems like it's this big moment, you know what I mean, for such a time as this, that you're waiting for your big moment where you can make an impact and you can make a difference. And in Esther's story, she did make a really big impact. She did have a really big moment. But I feel like we overlook many of our for such a time as this that could be every day. You know what I mean? Like is helping your neighbor when you see them struggling to carry in their groceries, is that for such a time as this? That they needed somebody to help them with that? Is being able to listen to your friend when they're going through a breakup, is that for such a time as this? I feel like the idea is it's this really big thing. And how do we bring it down to where it's more everyday things that are just as valuable, you know, in impacting our community? All right. What is one practical way you can bring flourishing to your immediate community this week? So, towards the end of the message, Greg talked about flourishing. And in our farming community, we want to flourish, we want to grow, you want to develop those relationships, you want to pet your dog, whatever, you know, all the pieces of that. So, how can we bring some flourishing to our immediate community this week?

SPEAKER_00 30:05

Each campus did something a little bit different as an extension. For us here at the Miller campus, we want our city to thrive and we want people to be cared for and loved, and we want to be a part of that. So we just did a food collection. And it was something simple. And it's not like no church has ever done this before, but it was a really good immediate connection to, yeah, Stardew Valley is about farming and providing food, which is what kind of instigated the idea. But for our, for such a time as this, is there's a lot of people in this specific time that have food insecurity or they just don't have access to the right kind of nutrition. And I thought it was a really heartwarming way for God's people to flourish where they're planted. And they were planted in their own homes and their pantries or whatever, had excess food in it so we can help other people. So this week, hopefully, uh, we'll be distributing those to some places that really need it.

SPEAKER_04 30:53

It's a really big stack in there. I just saw it.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

Our volunteers were so sweaty for his pockets in because they were moving there. Like, it's hot in the worship center.

SPEAKER_02 31:02

And it's toasty.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

It's been a hot summer. I don't know. This last couple of weeks, it's been like, woo. Um, I just think about hospitality. And hospitality doesn't always look like I'm gonna have people over for a big fancy dinner at my perfectly clean house. I mean, I think things as small as, okay, we're in a zipper merge, and instead of refusing to let someone in front of me, I'm going to be hospitable and allow them to go ahead of me, even though everything in my being resists that. Just how can we think about winning favor in our community by and not to draw focus to ourselves, but draw focus on the Lord and what he's doing in our lives. And so how are we extending ourselves to other people? I think about um Karen Lovejoy, who's retiring this week after so many years in care ministry and the ways that she's been hospitable to so many people in challenging circumstances. And I think if we could all just look to her example as someone who shows kindness, who shows mercy and who slows down, if we all model some of what Karen is showing us. And then even more importantly, what Jesus is showing us, our neighborhoods and communities would be a much better place.

SPEAKER_04 32:19

Amen. I think it's looking at what's right around you. We're searching for this big thing, you know, this big impact. And it's looking right outside your door or right at the cube next to you. Or how can I help what's right in front of me already that I'm already coming across? Yeah.

Galatians 6:9 And Closing

SPEAKER_04 32:36

Okay, final takeaways from this message. What really grabbed you? I'll go on this one first. All right. Um, Greg quoted Galatians 6 9 towards the end. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. And he really focused on that part. If we do not give up, it is that consistency to keep trying, whether it's big things or little things, that we just don't give up. That really grabbed me in the idea of, you know, his the ordinaries are the point that it's just the day in, day out. We don't give up. We keep trying to be who God wants us to be, whether we have a good day at it or a not so good day at it.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

I think what's really important to remember is that, again, what fuels our trying is the power of the Holy Spirit. It's not us just saying, Today I'm gonna do my very best, because my very best is not enough. Um, and so I need that empowering of the Holy Spirit, inviting him daily to indwell my person and so that I can reflect Christ truly. Because Julie on her own isn't gonna cut it. Julie with the indwelling power of the spirit can hopefully bless people and help people.

SPEAKER_00 33:55

So I really appreciate how Greg has gone out of his way in the first two weeks to make sure everybody can hear the echo of Jesus in that story. And because both of them had to do with the commentary of three days. And so to think about it in this last one in terms of and a royal robe is placed upon her upon this like three-day time period. It's kind of neat to be able to think about you're not an exile when you're in God's family. So even if you might be transplanted to some other location in the country, you might be from Wisconsin, you come to Omaha, you're still a son or a daughter of the king. And number one, you're expected to be his emissary. Uh, and so you can try as hard as you can to be able to be a faithful emissary. But then also, like, there's something that comes with you from that kingdom that other people are gonna want to connect with. And I think as we again are like faithful and a stable presence and we bring peace, we are bringing that kingdom because we're bringing God's word with us and we're bringing Christ with us. And hopefully other people like hear an echo of Jesus' words and promises through our story too. So I think that's what I would probably take is that intentional connection to Jesus.

SPEAKER_04 35:06

Amen. All right. Thank you guys so much for being here next week, week three of Game On. First of all, check in at whatever campus you are because you'll be entered into the drawing to win one of our next playground systems. And we are diving into Monopoly, right? Everybody knows Monopoly.

SPEAKER_02 35:25

The family breaker-upper.

SPEAKER_00 35:29

That's how it closed. So the two worst games to play with your family are Monopoly and Risk.

SPEAKER_03 35:39

And then there's usually a board being flipped.

SPEAKER_02 35:41

And somebody's crying. And that's usually me. Uno's tough too. Oh, when your kids are little and they get a draw for it, it's just like, oh, here we go.

SPEAKER_04 35:52

It's it's a lot more fun when they're adult children. They're very fun to play that.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

I am actually really looking forward to Monopoly and Uno because these are games that we've played with our kids. And now there's like devious versions of Uno.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

It's like spicy.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

Top four times four. Yep. And then and then Nick Right.

unknown 36:08

Right.

SPEAKER_04 36:10

All right. Well, thanks for being here. We hope to see you on Sunday. And until then, let's keep living our faith beyond Sunday.