Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - How Sweet the Sound, Part 4: It Is Well With My Soul

Episode Date: April 22, 2018

Chaos crashes on us like waves. Sorrow finds us in our lowest valleys. But in the midst of the storms and the darkness, there’s a strength greater than our own. There’s a redemption deeper than any pain. Sing with us a song of hope—How Sweet the S... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

our life churches, our open network churches, our church online family, all over the world. Before I tell you what's going to happen today, I have to tell you about our next message series. It's called When Pigs Fly. I believe that we serve a God of miracles. Some of you, you really need a miracle. I've been studying for quite some time and cannot wait to teach this message series. We're not just going to look at specific miracles, but we're actually going to look at different categories of miracles. What kind of miracles does God do? God gives us miracles of healing. God does miracles over darkness.

God does miracles of deliverance, saving people who are in trouble. And God is a God who miraculously provides. Our next message series, I cannot wait to teach. It's called When Pigs Fly. Today, we wrap up the message series called How Sweet the Sound, Guess What? You've got one of your favorite staff members teaching today

is one of my closest friends. He oversees all 29 life church locations. Could you please help me welcome today? Pastor Sam Roberts. All right. It is so great to be with all of you at all of our live church locations, of course, at our open network churches

and then all over the globe, truly, at church online. Great to have you with us today. I have been on staff now. This will be my 20th year on the team, and I tell you that because I just want you to know that 20 years ago, when I was 22, Pastor Craig hired me in and took me on a hospital visit with him.

And I remember thinking, man, you know, this guy can preach amazing and it's unbelievable. But then something else, I began to admire him in a whole different way. When I went into a hospital room with a very difficult situation, I watched him pastor, this family. And I was like, that is unbelievable. And I want you to know something you may not naturally see as it. He is an amazing communicator, but he is equally amazing as a pastor. And pastors, his family, his friends, this church staff and ultimately this church, and he does it so well. We have an amazing leader,

an amazing pastor, and Pastor Craig, thank you so much for his leadership at our church. But I'm also under no illusion that he is not like the Yoda Jedi Master of Communication up here on stage, and I have to backfill this, and it's a tall order. I get it. I mean, I'm reminded by my own family. My son, Benjamin, who's 12 years old, comes to me a little, while ago. He says, hey, Daddy, I need to go to Bass Pro Shop. I said, son, there's a lot of stories you could get me to think you need to go to, but Bass Pro Shop is not one of them. What you mean to say is you want to go to Bass Pro Shop. He says, no, sir, I beg to differ. I need to go. And I said, well, explain yourself. He goes, well, you know, you're preaching soon. Well, that got to do

with anything. He goes, well, you know, when you preach, it's kind of tentative. I said, tentative. What's so tentative about my preaching? And he says, Well, you know, I mean, you don't do a good job. Might be like, and I need to get some lures so I can fish to feed the family. I need to go to Bass Pro Shop. A few days later, he comes up in my room and says, hey, Daddy, a girl asked me out. I said, she did. And what did you say?

He said, I told her to get in line. I said, Benjamin, that's tentative. I hope you're good at catching fish because you ain't going to be catching any ladies with that kind of line. That ain't going to work. And all the ladies said, amen, absolutely. Today, we are wrapping up an amazing series that we've been in entitled How Sweet the Sound, where what we've done, if you're new with us, is we've taking these great hymns of the Christian faith and kind of contextualized them, brought a little bit of their meaning and understanding to the song. And what has happened amazing over these last three weeks is that this deep sense of God's presence and his just teaching to our souls has come through these songs, and today will be no different. It reminds me how my dad used to tell me to son, music is good for the soul. It's good for the soul. Isn't it though? Music makes fun times funner and excited, and it makes those hard times sometimes a little more bearable of a good song that just

ministers deeply to you. Music is good for the soul. Today, we're going to be looking at a song entitled, It Is Well with My Soul. Today's message is for those of us, well, perhaps actually all of us, because every single one of us had to deal with loss, with suffering, with maybe an injustice, with pain, discouragement. Maybe you've ever questioned your circumstance and why you are where you are, or even ask the question, God, where are you?

A key verse that what I want to do is just let this verse just is going to truly, I believe, and pray that it will resonate so deep within you that by the time we get done today, this will overflow out of your mouth during the course of this week and coming weeks. And it's found in the book of Psalms, chapter 34, verse 18, where the Bible says that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and he saves those who are crushed in spirit. He's close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. It is well with my soul was written by a guy by the name of Horatio Spafford.

Horatio was a successful lawyer in Chicago, Illinois. Doing very well, had five children, a son and four daughters, and was married to Anna. Now, everything was going just fine for the Spafford family up into the point that his son gets pneumonia and dies. The loss of a child for a parent, I can't imagine the depths of pain, that in and of itself. But his loss continued.

He then was a great lawyer, and he had many real estate properties in Chicago that subsequently, the year later, got burned down in the great Chicago fires. All of his investments lost. Reeling from the loss of his son, and then the financial ruin he endured, he decides with Anna to say,

hey, let's just decompress and get away, go on a vacation. We're going to take a European vacation. So they plan a trip with their four daughters to Europe. So right before the trip was to happen, Horatio finds out that there is an urgent matter of business that needs his attention at the law firm. So he tells Anna, listen, you guys go on ahead. I will be two days behind you.

No big deal. I'll get on this next boat. I'll be right there. I'll finish this up. I'll be right behind you. You guys go ahead and start having a good time. They get on the boat and start heading towards Europe. on the way the boat is struck by another sailing vessel and sinks drowning all four of their daughters

Anna is picked up by another sailing vessel on a piece of wreckage and she is taken to Cardiff Wells where she sends this telegram to Horatio and it says saved alone what shall I do What shall I do? Horatio immediately packs a bag, jumps on the very next boat to Cardiff Wells, and heads on over. On the way, the captain of the ship calls him out to the bow and says, Horatio, this is the place where your daughter's vessel was struck and they drowned. And in the vicinity of that place and in the midst of all of that pain, Horatio Spafford pens the lyrics to, It is well with my soul when he writes,

when peace like a river, attendeth my way when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well. It is well with my soul. I don't know, if you're like me, you're asking yourself right now, how does somebody write those lyrics in the middle of the pain that I just described? The truth of how that occurs is very, very deep and very personal and very intimate, but is found in the Psalm that we've talked about that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and he saves those who are crushed and so. spirit. Perhaps today you find yourself in a marriage that you believed was going to go the distance, but the foundations of it are crumbling at your feet and you're asking, what shall I do? Maybe it is the tragic loss of a loved one, untimely in your mind, as it may be, trying to

figure out, God, where are you in this scenario? perhaps it's an addiction, maybe to a substance or perhaps images, that you thought bothered everybody else and everybody else was the people that were going to get addicted, not you, but now you find yourself addicted and you're scared to death. What is going on, you think? And what we need to understand that is in the middle of our pain, God is still present. in the middle of our pain, God is still present because he is close to the brokenhearted, and he saves those who are crushed in spirit.

I remember a time in my own life when I found myself in the middle of quite a bit of pain. And I actually told this story about four years ago in a sermon series called Puzzled, and it's in week two, so if you're interested in the full story, you can go there, and listen to the whole story. But about what happened was five years ago, I was going on a trip with my family, my wife and my five children. We all flew to San Francisco,

and we're going to drive up Highway 101, see the Redwood Forest, go to Cannon Beach, and then we were going to fly out of Portland. Great trip. Everything was going amazing. Until I didn't start, I started feeling bad. Felt flu-like, started feeling run down, things weren't good.

so I go to the hospital, went to the ER, and they drew a blood sample. And when they did, what they found was that my white cell count was actually critically low. And they immediately admitted me to the hospital and then transported me via ambulance from seaside to Portland. I get to Portland. They put me on the oncology floor, which is the cancer floor, and an isolation room. everybody coming in and out of my room was in gloves, mask, full garb, and I'm sitting there asking the question, what is going on? I just thought I had the flu. I'm on vacation. What is happening?

And I finally asked one of the others and I said, excuse me, I was like, listen, there's a lot of activity, but listen, I hate to bother y'all. But like, I got a plane to catch in five days. Am I getting on that plane? And they looked at me and they said, Mr. Roberts, what you've got to really understand is that your white cell counts are critically low. Like, there's no way you're getting on that plane. There's no way. And in fact, I don't know that you're going to walk out of this hospital. Now, I had thought to myself over the course of pastoring for 19 years or something,

and I'd kind of talk myself up as to what I might say, one day if a doctor ever was like, you may, you may die from what you have. I thought, well, the Lord giveth and the Lord takeeth away. I got all these Christianese answers, but you know what, none of those came to my mind. The questions were, what? How could that be? I'm supposed to be on vacation. God, hello? Where are you in this? What is happening? I don't understand. I was upset. I was crying. I was frustrated, I was angry, I was bewildered. All of these emotions were swirling, trying to figure out where are you in this moment, God? And let me pause for just a moment in this and just say, there's some of you going through

some very, very, very difficult things. And you can begin to feel like, oh, I just got to try to pin a rose in my hat and just act like everything's good and put on a smiley face and just, oh, listen, it's all right to not be all right. Okay? And it's okay to not be okay. To be honest with God about how you feel, he is big enough for that. And to be honest, asking God the questions that so torment your mind is, where are you in this? I don't understand. This wasn't in the script. And now all of a sudden, I'm here. But yet, even in the middle of that, I found this place of, you know what, God, I need by faith you to do you. something special. Jamie had just sent me a picture of my kids on the beach enjoying a sunset. And I got it.

And I said, Lord, I want to see a sunset on that beach with my kids before I leave, which would have meant I had to be out of the hospital in not five, but three days. Impossible. Couldn't happen. I was already told there's no way I'm going home in five. So forget three. That's not occurring. But I will tell you this. that in the course of three days, my white cell counts went from being absolutely critically low to that of like almost a bone marrow transplant patient to healthy. And I walked out of the hospital three days later. And this picture is a picture of Jamie and I on the very spot where I watched the sunset on the beach.

In that time, I learned not just to recite, Oh, yeah, the Lord is close to the broken heart, and he saves those crushed in spirit. I get it. It went from here to here. And for those of you today, I pray that that truth drops down from your head into your heart and then sinks deep into your spirit, that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and he saves those who are crushed in spirit. Oswald Chambers had a great quote that I love where he said that any great calamity in the natural world,

death, disease, bereavement will awaken a man when nothing else would. And he's never again the same. We would never know the treasures of darkness if we were always in the place of placid security. What does he mean the treasures of darkness? Seems like an oxymoron. It's like, what? I don't understand. is bad, right? Well, yes, can be, unless it's pushing you to the presence of the light of God.

It's a treasure in the darkness when you begin to understand that the Lord is close to the broken hearted, and he saves those who are crushed in spirit. When that truth transcends your mind and goes to your soul, it does become a treasure in the midst of pain in the darkness. You see, when you walk through something that is dark and hard or valley, or you go through something just scary, when you're walking with somebody you love, what do you do? Don't you step up a little bit closer? You're like, I need to be closer to this person right now, right? Truth is, it's the same way with God. For those of us who walk with Christ, we look at and we see problems a little bit differently because even though we ask the questions, ultimately we begin to turn back to

God, where are you? Okay, you're here. I believe you're with me in this moment and you walk in it, and you get nearer to God. Psalm 73 says that the nearness of God is my good. The nearness of God is my good. You could say that it's a treasure in the darkness. About a year ago or so, We were at a sermon taping here for Pastor Craig, and people from many of the different campuses were coming and just listening and being a part of the audience. And so after the taping, I was standing, actually right down here in front of the stage. And a lady came up to me.

Her name's Mandy. She actually attends our Yukon location and serves on the host team there. And she came up and she just said, hey, listen, I know you don't know me, but there was a message you preached that just truly impacted my life. And so she goes on to tell me that she had endured some significant pain in her life. She was married and, man, due to just events, things happened and ended up in a divorce with the loss of that relationship. And then she also had the loss of a child, which, again, those two things coupled together

is so much pain and heartache. In the middle of that, she makes a decision. She says, I need a fresh start. So she moves from Portland, Oregon to Oklahoma City. She said, I came, and during the course of that transition, I got invited to Life Church. It was going to be Easter weekend, so I decided, hey, let's go, why not? And so I go, and she said it was good.

It wasn't anything bad. She goes, but the problem was that I was so, in such a place, of pain and hurt and questioning and all those things like I talked about when I was looking out that window. She's just, it was hard to connect with God in that moment. And so I didn't come back. Sad to say it, but I didn't come back. And she said, but as people do at Life Church, they kept coming after me with those invite cards and one after another. And finally I'm like, okay, enough's enough. I'll go back. And so she said, I came back. And she said, you were preaching. and she said, you were telling a story about going on vacation.

And I said, yeah. And she said, so you start talking about being in Portland. And she goes, of course, from me being there, I found myself being intrigued by it. And so I was just listening. And she said, but then it all changed. She said, you showed a picture. And I'm actually going to show you. This is actually the message that you're seeing right now from four years ago.

And that's the picture. And right there, I'm just talking about how beautiful the picture was, but it was the place I wanted to be. And there's the picture of me. That's actually a picture outside of the view I had outside my hospital window. And she says, when you showed that picture, I knew where you were. And she named the hospital that I was in. And I said, how did you know the hospital? And she said, because, and her eyes began to well with tears, she says, because that view, that you had, looking out of that window in your hospital room, asking those questions of God were the same questions I asked

and the same view I had when my child died in that same hospital. Coincidence? Listen, coincidence is just God choosing to remain anonymous. That's not coincidence. She goes on to tell me, in that moment, God impressed a truth on my life that has forever changed me. He said to me in that moment, Mandy, I was with you when you lost your child. I'm with you today.

And I will never leave you nor forsake you. A treasure in the darkness. but as for me, the nearness of my God is my good. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. He saves those who are crushed in spirit. As I survey the context of the scriptures, and I look at all of these different biblical characters out there, It's amazing to me when you look at their lives, the pain and the hardship that they endured.

And you could take any number of different characters. You could talk about Noah or Abraham, Isaac. You could talk about Moses or David or Elijah, Elisha, Peter, Paul. The list just goes on and on and on of characters who have endured pain and understood God's presence in the middle of it. but none, perhaps more profound than that of Jesus. You see, Jesus was the sinless son of God, falsely accused, sentenced to be flogged and then crucified.

He was stripped of his clothing. Lots were cast by the Roman soldiers for his garments. He was then beaten to within every inch of his life. A crown of thorns was placed upon his brow. He was then made to carry

a cross up the hill known as Golgotha, the place of the skull. He was there put upon a cross and nailed to it through spikes through his hands and his feet. He was lifted up. A sign was placed above him that said,

Hail, king of the Jews. And people looked on and they spit at him and they mocked him and they said, He saved others. Let him save himself now. The creation, mocking, the creator. That's a lot of pain. In the middle of all that physical pain, there was also the consequences, the weight of the sins of humanity, both mine, yours, the sins of all humanity placed upon him. The consequences bore on him.

And in that moment, we see written in the book of Matthew, chapter 27, verse 46, we're at about three in the afternoon. Jesus cried out in a loud voice. And he said, Eli, Eli, Lama Sabatanae, which means, my God, my God, why? Why? Have you forsaken me? Where are you? You ever feel like that?

You ever feel like, why? I don't get it. Why is this happening? The truth today that we have to be able to allow to sink deep into us is listen, clearly, Jesus, when he says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It has multiple purposes. Number one, in his humanity, yes, there was pain, significant pain that he was enduring. Both physical and spiritual, the pain and the hurt.

God, where are you? But even more profound than that is that in, not only was he 100% man, he's also 100% God. And in his deity, he is proclaiming something far greater than God, where are you? You see, Jesus was rabbi. Rabbis in ancient times taught by saying the first line of a text that they wanted their followers or students to know. And in an oral teaching tradition, people spent copious amounts of time remembering and reciting scriptures.

And so by saying the first line of the scripture, they would know that everything underneath that flows out as true from that rabbi in that moment. It's kind of like in today's times, if I were to say the first line, line of one of your favorite songs, you would remember every single verse, and it's like it recalls all this thoughts to your mind about that song, where you were, and saying all that. It would be true that when a rabbi would say the first line, that everything that came underneath that would be true. And in this moment, Jesus is pointing everybody who is watching his death upon the cross toward a prophetic and messianic psalm known as Psalm 22,

where what we see is everybody there when he proclaims that truth, everybody would have known that what I'm about to read to you would have been true in their hearing, and they would have seen that what they know now is the fulfillment of that Psalm, watching Jesus on that cross. says Psalm 22, verse 1, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But then it goes on. Why are you so far from saving me? So far from my cries of anguish. My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer. By night, I find no rest. He trusts in the Lord. They say, let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him

since he delights in him. Yet you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust in you, even at my mother's breast. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help me. My mouth is dried up like a pot shared, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me. They pierce my hands and my feet.

All of my bones are on display. People stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them. They cast lots for my garments. But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength. Come quickly to help me. I will declare your name to my people.

In the assembly, I will praise you. For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one. He has not hidden his face from him, but he has listened to his cry for help. All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. and all of the families of the nations will bow down before him. For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. Posterity will serve him. Future generations will be told about the Lord.

They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn. That's you, and it's me, that he has done it. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? is not a question by Jesus of God's presence. It is actually a proclamation of his goodness in the middle of a trial. That in the middle of the pain, this is a treasure in the darkness when the darkest hour of humanity was upon us. And the Savior of the world hung upon a cross.

And the world watched with bated breath as to what would happen. Understand this, that there was no darkness of any tomb that could contain the treasure and the power of his resurrection, for he has done it. Jesus has died and risen from the grave so that we could have life in the middle of your pain. God is still present. God is still present because he is close, close to the brokenhearted. and he saves those who are crushed in spirit. For some of you, many of you today, the truth of the next lyrics that I'm about to read

is exactly why God has brought you here. To understand those truths is why Horatio Spafford can then write in this verse, my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole thing, is nailed to the cross. I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. A treasure in the darkness. And in the middle of your pain, God is still present. At all of our locations, would you stand to your feet now? It is well with my soul. This is a hymn, not a hymn of deep anguish and questions.

This is a hymn of great hope and expectation of what God is going to do to create a treasure in the darkness. Let's sing now this great hymn of faith. I'm going to do business with God for a moment. There's a lot of emotion in the room today. And I just want to pray for some of you. You know, if you look at the circumstances that you're facing, and they may not even be monumental. For some of you, they are. For some of you, they're subtle, but they're still the collateral impact of struggle and pain and loss and brokenness can be all-consuming.

And they may not feel like a treasure. And if you're in this place today, you're like, I need prayer. I need to experience the presence of God in the situation. that I'm going through, would you just raise your hand, just be bold and honest for just a moment? So many of you. Father, we come to you. You are Jehovah Shalom, the God of our peace. And God, I ask that in the midst of our hurt, you would be our treasure. Your presence is our treasure. God, you don't waste a hurt. Not one. You've promised that you will turn all things and make them work together for good.

And so we believe by faith that you are with us, and we believe that you're going to use these struggles to glorify yourself in some way and to grow your kingdom. We trust you, God. In the midst of this moment, I want you to ask yourself a question and just be honest. the name of this hymn, it is well with my soul. Does that describe you? Because some of you,

your soul isn't well. Every single one of us is created with this void in us that can only be filled by the Redeemer, the forgiver, the creator, the Savior, and yet many of us are trying to fill it with everything but God. And as long as he is not first,

your soul is broken. We need him. The problem is sin. Paul wrote in Romans that every one of us have sinned, every one of us in this room, we've missed the mark. And the penalty,

the cost of that sin is eternal separation from God. That's not a fun thing to talk about, but it is truth. Why is it so important that you and I understand the bad news? Because it makes the good news even better. And the good news is not an idea. It is not a theology.

The good news is a person. His name is Jesus. While we were still sinning, the Bible says, Christ died for us, lived this sinless life, was crucified on a cross, not to pay a debt that he owed, but one that you owe. He paid a debt.

You cannot afford. and it is not just enough to know that he gave his life for you you have to receive it you have to ask him into your heart repent of your sin and give your life to him and in this moment i'm going to ask you to be honest is he first really what do you do you just call out on his name to any who call on the name of lord they will be saved i'm i'm a sinner i need you to save me i'm turning from my way and i'm turning from my way and i'm to you. If that's your prayer, I want you to be bold and just lift up your hand right now. Say, God, I need you that way. Just lift it up. Lift it up. I want to see you. Here, here. I see you. In the back, I got you. Praise God for you. Where over here, I see you.

Hand lifted high right over here. Brother, God loves you so much. Others of you. Jesus, I'm saying yes. I'm saying yes to your grace. May I praise God for you. Others of you. Man, so all of you right over here. Man, I'm so proud of you. Can we just celebrate the goodness of our God? Others of you you before we pray. Listen to me, it's nailed to a cross and I bear it no more. We're going to pray in faith and then you become adopted as a child of God and forget of all your sin. Every voice in this room, pray this will be, Father, I need you. I've sinned. I'm asking you to save me. Jesus, I believe you died. On a cross you did not deserve to pay for my sin. And you rose from the grave to give me life.

Fill me now with your Holy Spirit that I could serve you always. In Jesus' name, I pray. 10 o'clock, can we just celebrate the goodness, the grace, the beauty, the treasure? Thanks again for joining us in today's message, a part of the series, How Sweet the Sound. You know, as a church, it's our honor to play even a small part in all that God is doing in and through your life. and we would love to continue with you on that journey. To find out what your next steps could be

in your relationship with Christ, all you have to do is go to life.church slash next. And we couldn't be more excited about our 29th Life Church location in Omaha, Nebraska. If you live in or around this community, we would love to see you this weekend or we'd love for you to invite your friends and family

on social media. For a full list of service times and locations for Life Church Omaha or any of our other Life Church locations around the United States, you can find that full listing at life.church slash locations. We have a number of live experiences happening throughout the week at church online, and you can join us there as well. Thanks again for joining us today.

We'll see you next time.