Welcome to the Mariners Church Life Group Leader Podcast. This weekly conversation is designed to equip and resource youth to build a healthy life group community that studies God's word, practices spiritual rhythms, and changes the world together. Hello, and welcome to the Life Group Leader Podcast. My name is Kirby Wood.
I am the grips pastor here at Marius Church. And in this time, we love to equip you to have a great life group discussion with your group this week. So today I have with me, Tim Leggai. Hey Tim.
Hey everybody, glad to be here. Yes, and Tim is our men's pastor, helping support all of the men's ministry, including all of the men's life groups. So if you are in a men's life group today is a very special episode for you, but also know any man in any group is welcome to be a part of the incredible men's ministry that we have here at Mariners. So Tim, tell us a little bit about what's going on with men's, how are you feeling, and what is the future for this fall?
Yeah, we just kicked off our men's ministry and it was incredible last weekend on Saturday. We had Fernando Arroy, who's one of the men of Mariners over at our testing congregation, and we had all the congregation join us for a breakfast with 600 men, which is incredible. So we already had our first retreat of the year, which was the kayaker retreat that was in September. We have a barbecue next month on November 10th, which will have incredible barbecue, live music and just tons of fun.
So I'm really excited what God's already beginning to do in the lives of the men of our church. That's awesome. I couldn't wait. I'm jealous.
I love barbecue. I am from the south myself. So I have any chance if you have any leftovers, please, give me up. We will have amazing brisket.
Oh my gosh. And there might be some leftovers. I hope so. I hope so.
Well, you guys today's discussion as we look at Steve Bang Lee will be teaching at Mariners Irvine, which we are so grateful for him and the way that he teaches God's word. And so this week, week five of Big Problems, Bigger God is, I am overwhelmed, but God is alive and powerful. Tim, what's kind of your first reaction as I say that title? I just think that it's probably such a relevant emotion and feeling that so many of us are feeling and that can come in moments of the day.
It can come from our days at a time, weeks at a time, or months at a time. Many of us feel very overwhelmed by the state of our world or the state of our personal life. And so it's very relevant for our groups to talk about what does it mean to be overwhelmed, but yet trust that God is unbelievably powerful and ever present. I couldn't agree more.
This is such an incredible one. I feel like I've been so grateful for this series and I know we talk about it each and every week. Wow, I think that they couldn't have been more relevant to my life and then we get to the next week. I'm like, oh, no, this is this one is more relevant to my life.
And honestly, I do feel like that this one. I am overwhelmed. I have to felt that feeling before. I just actually started grad school this month and let me tell you, overwhelmed is a very common feeling.
I feel on a Sunday night when my paper is due at midnight. So I'm sure there's lots of other things in this world and there might be big things or small things or whatever that cause yourself or a group of members in your group to feel a sense of overwhelmed or feel overwhelmed at different times. But we want to help really create space for each individual, their unique experiences, and where they're at. As we begin this discussion, I highly recommend reading through this little description here, but it really just starts out with when it rains, it pours, which I, it says it aptly describes what we feel and were overwhelmed.
And I could not agree more. And hopefully that can set the stage for you and your group. But we look to our first question here, lean in, which Tim and I, we know we both agree that this was such a great question right, Tim? So the movie one.
The movie one. Yeah, so it says, what's a movie or show with a plot twist you didn't see coming? Make sure to give a spoiler alert warning before you share. So cheeky, I love it.
What do you think about that, Tim? Yeah. The immediate movie, if you know me, you know where I'm going, is going to be Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, when it was the biggest surprise in any movie in history, when Darth Vader tells his son Luke that he is his father. Interesting thing about this quote is it's the most misquoted movie one of all.
Everyone believes it says Luke, I am your father. It doesn't. It doesn't. It doesn't.
I am your father. So Darth Shock Luke, he's framed now. He was so upset. No one saw that coming.
This came out 1980. I was not even born yet. However, I was born soon. I wasn't shocked because at that point it was a spoiler.
Sure. However, yeah, I mean, it was a big, it was a big shock. I was overwhelmed. To say the least.
Yeah. And that's actually, I think probably the hope for this question as you think about plot twist, there's that initial moment of overwhelm. And so we're trying to help people in our group call back up, meaning, especially for those who might be not in a season of overwhelm right now, but they're trying to remember also as we think about a plot twist and we think about the overwhelm, but also kind of the, um, the excitement or like the, the reveal of something you didn't expect, which hopefully my prayer is that this will start to illuminate for people, especially as you go through this discussion, that in a sense of overwhelm, when God gives us more than we think we can handle but by his power, he's going to work something out for our good that we may or may not have seen coming. So I kind of like imagining that of like, okay, I think that this is crazy, but in, you know, who knows, any years time, this might be the thing in my life that I go, wow, God did something really crazy with that kind of like a great story.
I don't know. Does Luke and Darth at the end like having reconciliation or no? Oh, of course. Have you not seen this?
I have, but I'm like trying, I'm like forgetting this moment. Yeah. There's like a loving moment. It's like a movie, Return of the Jedi.
Yeah. Luke eventually has a redemptive moment with his. Great. And then I'm thinking all the way to the most recent one with Kylo Ren, when it's like, he has like this good side and there's all these twists and things.
Lots of twists. Lots of good twists. We're not going to talk Star Wars with you because it's embarrassing. I know.
I can just keep going. And you don't really know what you're talking about. Well, you know, the last time we had you on your right, pretended to no more about sports than I did. So I just like to pretend I know things about ways that I don't.
So here we are. But as we look down at God's word together and you will read Second Corinthians out loud, this, this scripture is just so incredible. And I think it's one of those that we don't often call on, but I think it's a good one to really study together. And rather than just saying what do you see here, the question for you and your group is what do these things reveal about God's nature and list out the contrasts in the passage, which I think will be a really helpful indicator to really see what the scripture, its intended meaning is.
What are you kind of saying, Tim, as you look at the verse? Well, the passage starting in seven, I think through 18, the things that stood out as far as like what characteristics of God was revealed is not what it says. Yeah. What do these things reveal about God, even those like contrasting elements and such?
I think the first part, but not abandoned struck down, but not destroyed. The first part time that we are still hard pressed from every side, like, you know, the jars of clay. However, it's like, although whatever difficult situation, God will not abandon us. He will always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body.
So good. The reminder that regardless of how overwhelmed, how big of trial we're experiencing that our God will not abandon us. He will not forget us. He is always with us.
He will not forsake us. We will never walk alone and he is, he is present. And so, so good. Yeah, that's the first part.
I love that. No, and I think that's one of my favorite personal favorite promises from God is his presence with us regardless of any child, because I think what's so easy that people want to cling to is like being with God means that everything will be happy and smiley and will have no problems. But this verse really points out like we are afflicted or we are perplexed. We are persecuted.
Like when these things happen, like, yes, these things happen, but like you mentioned, they were not, we're not crushed. We're not in despair. We're not destroyed. All of those promises.
And it's not just because of us. It's because of Jesus himself laying himself down and rising from the dead. I mean, we have that power within us. And so that extraordinary power really is hopeful.
The extraordinary power is what we hope that the people in your group are able to see in this text that it's not a promise of nothing bad will ever happen to you. But rather it's a promise that when bad things happen to you, God is at your side, which is such a sweet and beautiful promise. As we look out, this question, as we know, helps people start to prepare for the look in question, but rather than going directly to the look in, we want to kind of, you know, look outwardly and look at those in our lives or culture or things to kind of draw on how overwhelmed shows up or how this specific topic shows up in the world around us. And so I absolutely love this question as we think about those in our lives, but what motivates people to not give up when faced with adversity?
Where have you seen people persevere through big challenges? I mean, I quickly just think about like, you know, like superheroes or things like that. Or, but like when it comes to the true motivations, you know, that people have what it kind of comes to your mind, Tim, things that they think of or are motivated by. I've seen it probably a lot in motive people motivated by their loved ones, by their family, by a life that they want to continue to live in in a health struggle of friends that have both fought and beat cancer and friends that did not and have lost friends that way.
However, you know, they they that's why I even like, like we say, they're in a battle with. Yeah. And so they have to persevere. And I think I've watched them be motivated by their belief in Jesus and they're motivated by I love my family.
I mean, I'm going to fight hard for whatever this may be, whether it's a job loss, a health struggle, a loss of a friend, it's it's deep, usually a deep motivation, probably the one that will win every single time is family and loved ones. Like that's, you know, and their faith and belief in Jesus, of course. But I think that's that can go hand in hand. Absolutely.
Absolutely. And I was also thinking off in a negative sense and maybe not negative is the right word, but maybe those in our lives who don't know the Lord, like what might motivate them. I think there are people like I thought of, it's not Michael Jordan, but maybe it's LeBron James. I'm getting back to sports here.
Like said, who was the basketball player that like said he was like, like he basically invited his old basketball coach to the big award that he got and he said like, through that guy, you know, like, because he never let me play. And it was his motivation all the time was to prove someone wrong. Do you know what I'm talking about? I don't.
But you know, you're negatively affected. So that motivated you positively to work. Yeah, I know that there are some people and like they're so jaded and it's so hurtful, but like their story of success is oftentimes because someone like put them down. Set up set to prove someone wrong.
Yeah, which is hard. But I also think this ties well into our next question here, what leads people to give up one face with adversity and where have you seen it? Oh, this one makes me like sad and hard as I think about this and I like to have given up on certain things. What do you think, Tom?
Yeah, I think probably a sense of just hopelessness in there, which often can come with an identity of not believing in themselves that they have what it takes, that they are who God created them to be in that, not probably ostracized with their belief in God view. We were created in his image and how they just lose hope. Yeah, that's what came to mind with that. Yeah.
I think we talked a lot about and we talked about the dictions last week, but or even just like hard times and marriages, I just think that in certain couples I speak with and what not, just like when there's just consistent patterns that just don't break, or even maybe patterns within yourself or patterns in life, revealing the same bad thing keeps happening to you. Just people, they're often to dark places of depression or other things like that, that really because they're just sick of them and not me. And I think that's, and it was interesting that we use the word persevere on the question before that where I think that if our motivation isn't rooted on something that's outside of this world, it's so hard to persevere. If your whole motivation is just built around a family member, but if that family member lets you down, then everything falls apart.
So I think it's so important to where the motivations are tied to because that's where your perseverance will come from. Kind of to your point. So hopefully in your groups, these kind of questions won't get too heavy, but they will help us start to analyze, okay, where have I as an individual, maybe secured my motivations to the wrong things that will end up leading me astray. And so for this look in question, you'll see what's something you're faced with that seems too big to push through by yourself.
And I love this because I'm not just calling on different, calling on the one person who struggles with overwhelm, but you yourself, what's that one thing in your life that seems too big to push through by yourself? And I love the word of course by yourself here because it really helps us key into the fact that the things that are feeling too overwhelming, hopefully, not hopefully, but we can turn to God himself to persevere through these things with him. I think I was looking at the last part of the verse that we're looking at this particular week and it says, therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away inwardly, we're being renewed day by day for our light and monetary troubles are achieving for us in eternal glory that outweighs all of them, so that we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
I think this goes back to thinking about life as what scripture says is just but a whisper, but it's but a vapor and it's like, and so when we can have our eyes fixed on what is unseen, which is eternal things like a life with Jesus in heaven without any pain, without any suffering, without any feelings of being overwhelmed, anxiety, depression, addiction, loss, and when we can meditate on eternal things, we can break through and not being alone, one which is why life group leaders, you're going to have this conversation so that they recognize they are not alone and their troubles may actually not be isolated and that actually, oftentimes what happens in groups is validation of I am suffering with that too. And so I think it's super critical to have this conversation. I would note to you group leaders, this might be a group that is heavy and that's okay. This might be a group where you bring out the Kleenex box because hopefully people are going to be honest, real and vulnerable about how they're overwhelmed.
And if they're honest, every single one of them has feelings of being overwhelmed in one way or another or their life entirely is overwhelming. And so I think it opens up the opportunity to shepherd and to love your group and your people well and it could really unite in bond your group in a way that is beautiful and maybe necessary for your group. So lean into that leaders. So good.
I totally agree. Definitely. I love the call to leaning into these moments and not pushing away, especially as you think like we're in this together and we can also continue to pray for one another. But as we look to lastly here, the rhythm reminder, I think this is so in line with everything that you were just saying to him.
But our rhythm reminder this week is worship. And as we kind of continue to think, okay, how can we worship and celebrate who God is? And that will hopefully help us look up and look up and turn our focus and eyes to the one who can save, the one who helps us endure. And like we continue to celebrate here today, the one who is always with us.
And so let me just read this for you guys real quick. We can worship God in many ways like lifting our voices and praise, giving affirmations for how we see God in one another and celebrating how He's been faithful to us. So today reflect on times that you've seen the power of God at work in a difficult season, possibly the season that you just brought up earlier. And by focusing our affections on Him, remembering how He has been faithful in the past, we can remind ourselves in one another that God is present and powerful through all of our struggles.
So end your time. I will say I absolutely loved Him that you just read that verse for us. And so I would encourage everyone maybe reread the end of that verse as you kind of come to the end of your time of worship. And in your prayers, you know, as you close out the group, maybe it's a good time to affirm who God has been to you guys in hard seasons and how He will continue to be there for you in the pressing season.
So we love you guys. We're praying for you and hope you have a great week.