Smokes, Shots & Substances // Talking Elephants & Tipping Cows // Read

You know those topics that are taboo? The topics that polite conversations avoid? The topics that we’re all thinking about it, but we’re not talking about—especially at church? Yeah...we’re going there. Politics, sex, alcohol, suicide, hell, suffering. We’re talking about all of these “Elephants in the Room” and we might even tip some “Sacred Cows” that have been built up in the process. Now you might be thinking: “This is going to be uncomfortable.” You’re right. It’s going to be uncomfortable...and eye-opening, healing, necessary. There is no better, safer place to discuss these topics than church. So with that in mind...can we talk?

Alcohol, marijuana, painkillers, The Opioid Epidemic. We ignore substance abuse to our own peril, and often until it is too late and addiction has set in. We don’t want church to just be a place where people come to heal from substance abuse. We want church to be a place where we help substance abuse never start in the first place. And it all begins with a conversation...

Today, I cannot believe we're at the end of talking elephants and tipping cows. We're in Part Six today, the finale. And it feels like we just started the series. And here we are at the end of it. Now, if you've missed any of these and are wondering, what's pastor Jacob doing? Is there a guest here today? Like, what's going on up here? What we've been doing throughout this series is having discussions about very touchy topics, right? Just having a discussion. That's why the stage is set up like this. We want to visually illustrate that we are not preaching at you but talking with you throughout the series. And so what we have wanted you to do is almost visually impose yourself into this chair, right, like, we're just talking, we're just discussing some very tough topics, some of the things that we've discussed, we discuss politics, and how Christians should engage in them, which is obviously very timely considering the news of the last 48 hours with Roe versus Wade being overturned. We've discussed how we've discussed suffering and pain, and we've discussed sex, we've discussed depression, a lot of very important big touchy issues. And we've wanted a real conversation about these things, a real conversation that makes a difference by studying God's word, studying what he says about all of these things, and then trying to apply it to our life. We have been trying to avoid exactly what we've been seeing play out online over the last 48 hours, right. You've seen it with the news going on. You've seen everybody on the right and left trying to make points. Here's my point. Here's my counterpoint. Here's my counter counterpoint, right, just point point point. And what we're trying to do here at Cornerstone is not make a point to make a difference. We're not trying to talk at people, trying to talk with people trying to facilitate conversations. And that's exactly what we're going to do today with another very touchy and timely topic. Today's sermon title is smokes shots and substances if you're a note-taker. We're talking about substance abuse issues and addiction issues. This is no stranger to us here in the Northeast Ohio area, is it? No, not at all.

This is an insane number. The last year 2021. The United States, for the first time, passed the 100,000 death mark when it comes to overdoses. Last year. During one year, more than 100,000 people died of an overdose due to some sort of substance abuse issue.

Listen, this number, this is insane. This is Cuyahoga County, our neighbor to the north. Listen, this stat doesn't even sound real. Between 2006 and 2017, substance abuse issues went up 1,000%.

And then how about this one? This is a poll that was conducted last year and in 2021. A poll conducted in the previous year found that 36 point 8 million people in the United States admitted to having substance abuse or addiction issues 36 point 8 million. Now what's shocking to me isn't even that number, but just the fact that that's how many people admitted to it.

Right? We know that numbers are higher. Come on, you know, you know the person in your life? Who, what drinking issue? Me? I'm a social drinker, right? I'm going to, I'm going to search and casually drink here and there. But you know, that's not the case.

There are a lot of people dealing with this. And this is what I'll say, and this is what I would bet my life on is that you are either in this room or watching online. You're either the people, you're the person struggling with a substance abuse or addiction issue, or you have a loved one who is. But we all have somebody. We're all going through this fight together. No one is a stranger to the issue that we're discussing today. This affects all of us in very real, very tangible ways. It may not be you, but it's your brother. And they may not be you, but it's your coworker. It's your friend. It's your sister, it's your mom. This is a huge issue. I know it. I've done two funerals just this year of people who have died of an overdose. Just this year. A few years ago, I did a funeral for my buddy, who I played basketball with in high school. Left behind a little boy, heartbreaking stuff. Pastor Brenda has become infamous and known as the funeral pastor in our area because she does so many funerals, specifically for young people who have died of overdoses. I remember sitting in a funeral where pastor Brenda was doing it for a young man who had died of an overdose, specifically sat in the crown. I see some people in here who you're this was one of your

Good friends and you're doing the same stuff that led to his death. And I'm telling you right now that if you don't change things in your life, I will be doing your funeral soon. And sure enough, within three months, she was doing another funeral for someone who attended that one.

It's insane. It's everywhere. It's invasive. It's all over the place. It affects all of us. So I don't need just to give you stats because you've got the names. You know who these people are. Maybe it's you, and maybe it's a loved one. But this is something, man, this, this is an all skate today, we talk about that a lot. Your cortisone. This is an all-skate sermon. Whether you're the person who's in it or the person who loves someone who's in it, we all have this issue, and we have to deal with it. Now. How we're going to talk about it today, every week has kind of had its feel right throughout the series, if you've been with us, every week kind of has its distinct kind of feel like the week we talked about, hell was much more of a like, q&a kind of feel for the day. So today will follow that same theme of having a different kind of feel. And basically, what I want us to look at today is I want us to discuss the top five things that I learned that I found through my research and study as I prepared for this sermon that we need to know when it comes to substance abuse or addiction issues. And honestly, everything we're going to be talking about today also applies to other problems in your life. But precisely, it hits the nail about substance abuse issues. And so we're talking about all of it. Today, we're talking about alcohol, we're talking about pot, we're talking about painkillers. I'll say this is the subject that we get the most questions on as pastors here at Cornerstone outside of sex. Sex is like Far and Away number one, but a close, a kind of close. Number two is substance abuse. People want to know, like, how much is too much? What can I smoke? What can I drink? How much can I drink? How much can I smoke? It's something that people wonder about a lot. So let's dive into it. First, I'll say that we just, this is like kind of a paradigm shift for us. And again, this isn't just applicable to substance abuse, but across the board, I think we need to stop asking, Is this right? And start asking, is this wise.

Right? Like, again, of course, when it comes to substance issues, but in every area of life, we're so quick to just, you know, grab the good book, and just let me find if this is right or wrong if it's black and white, so I can find a verse to justify what I want to do. Or I can find a verse to just pull out of context and make me feel better about what I'm doing in life. And that, hey, it's not explicitly wrong. It's not explicitly Right. Right? The Bible doesn't say one way or the other. It's so black and white. And I feel like that's such a wrong way to approach so much in life. Is this right? Or is this wrong, man? Is it wise? Is it wise for you? Is this a wise thing for you to do? This is how the apostle Paul phrases this in his letter to the church, and the emphasis he says this in Ephesians chapter five, verses 15 through 17. I love this, he says, so be careful how you live.

Paul's talking about man, and you live your life with intention. Be careful how you live, don't live like fools. But like those who are wise, this is what it looks like in verse 16. Make the most of every opportunity. And these evil days. That's what it looks like to live wise, making the most of every opportunity, and living your life with intention. Verse 17, don't act thoughtlessly. Don't let life just happen to you don't let things just happen. Don't act thoughtlessly. But understand what the Lord wants you to do. Understand what is wise for you to do, is it wise.

Whenever I was on vacation, about a month back, I told you guys I went to an obstacle course first flight Adventure Park. It was so much fun. My brother-in-law, Aaron, went and did it. And how the course is set up. It's like a real tall pillar in the middle. And then there's, it's like a circle surrounds it. And there are four levels to it. And each level is divided in half. So it's like, here's a course, here's a course. And then you go up a level. And here's the course here's, of course, you don't love when it does that for four levels. So there's a total of eight courses.

And it was a lot of fun. It was a blast. But on the way, as we're walking over there, and we did our training, and then as we're walking to it like two to three times, our instructors and different instructors told us Hey, so that you know if you get stuck on the zip line because that's how you get back to the main like nerve center. You finish the course, and a zip line takes you back to the middle. Like, hey, if you get stuck on the zip line like you can't make it all the way across. Don't worry, there's like a little white rope you can pull on and pull yourself the rest of the way over. And like two to three people told us that like different people. I'm like, Okay, this happened a lot. Maybe these aren't good zip lines or something. Why are people getting stuck so much? So I finished the first course.

I come over, and I'm on the platform, and I'm like, let it happen to me. I'm not going to be the guy who's. I'm not doing that, like, I'm going to make sure I make it across like, you know, so if this is the edge of the platform right there, I start way back here. Like I, I make sure I get a running jump off of this thing. And so that's exactly what I did. I backed up, took off, and jumped in, let me tell you, about point five seconds into my jump off of there. I understood why people got stuck. It had nothing to do with the wheels or them not being good. It had to do with people being afraid of heights. And so, many people don't jump off these things. And it's kind of in fall off, so it doesn't take them that far.

So, nothing was wrong with the zipline wheels. They worked great.

Really good. Like these days worked well. So I jump off, and I kid you not, you can hear the wheels. It's like I'm, I'm sailing. I'm going so fast. One of the instructors in the tower sees me coming in, and he yells out.

I was coming in high. It looked like the DeLorean going ADA. There are sparks of smoke. I'm like, fire them. And there's a little platform. And I like I'd started to kind of turn my hip. I banged into that thing like hard. It did not budge. Like there's no give on that thing. I hit it hard. I had a big bruise right here. And I'm not kidding when I say it just kind of went numb. Like for good, maybe two minutes. My leg right here just felt numb. Of course, the guy, the instructor, I hit it. He goes, Whoa, you're right, you okay? And I'm like, Yeah, I'm good. He turns around and, like, hurts so bad, and desserts.

And that wasn't the end of my hurt. Like, as we're doing the rest of the opposite of, of course, there's so many places on it where like, it's not easy, like it's an obstacle course. So places where you're supposed to put your hands. It's not like obvious. It's not like there's a big hand hole for you. It's like a tiny ledge. So you got to use your fingertips a lot and stuff. He was difficult. And the higher you get, the more your muscles kind of tense up, and you're just, you know, trying to hang on for dear life, even though you're connected through the harness. So by the time I got done with the seven-course, like seven out of eight, I had, I'm not joking with you, I had like three blisters on this hand. Another three on this hand, I had a blister on my foot, and my hip is still writhing in pain. All my muscles are just tacks. My forearms feel like they're on fire. And then I looked at the last course, and these instructors who were like 3% body fat, you know, are just as in shape as they can be like that last one. That's, that's a doozy. That's it. I'm like, that's a doozy. What have I been doing? Like, oh my gosh, I decided to look at the last one. Like you want to give it a try? Like, I can't, like I literally can't, maybe next year, whenever I get back here, I'll have you know, I'm trying to prepare for more. But I can't, like I can't do it. I can't do it.

And as I'm thinking about that, I'm thinking about what we're talking about today. My decision-making process on not doing that last course wasn't me asking them how is this right or wrong for me to try this last course. But what a stupid question that would be right. Like, of course, that's not what I was thinking. Would it be wise for me to do that last course, like, I've signed all the paperwork and the waivers, there's nothing right or wrong about it? That's not even a question. Would it be wise? I'm already getting jacked up like this is not good at this last quarter scenes on the stuff on it. I'm like, I'm probably going to end up slipping and scraping my shin or something. I'm like, You know what? It's just not wise for me. And when it comes to that decision, it seems like, Well, of course, that's what you'd be asking is, is this wise or not? Is this right or wrong?

But as obvious as that is, it should be that obvious in many aspects of our life. We don't need to ask, Is this right or wrong? That is such an immature question. When the more mature question is, man, is this a wise thing for me? Like is this? Is this wise, knowing my personal history?

Is it wise for me to drink knowing my history with alcohol? Is it wise for me to do this with my family's history? Is it wise for me to do this knowing my addictive personality, you want to know my dad?

Pastor Charlie didn't drink; obviously, he was a pastor in the Free Methodist Church whenever we were part of the Free Methodist denomination. One of their governance rules was that if you're a free Methodist pastor, you must completely abstain from alcohol, so he didn't drink. But apart from that, he told me before I remember talking with him about this. He said You know what, even if I wasn't a pastor in the Free Methodist Church, and I was able to drink, I wouldn't do it. And it has nothing to do with it being right or wrong. Because I don't think there's anything wrong with drinking, like, on its own, you can take it too far. And I think there's anything wrong with that.

No, I'm not basing my decision to not drink on right or wrong. I just know it wouldn't be wise for me. My dad could admit that he knew he had a pretty addictive personality, that there were certain things in his life. And he's like, Man if I would ever even try that if I would try alcohol, I know it wouldn't be good. I know it wouldn't be good if I ever try betting on something. My personality. It's not even a question of right or wrong. It's a question of wisdom. And I know this would not be wise for me to do. We've got to start asking ourselves, is this the smart thing for me? In light of my personal experiences of where I've been and where I'm hoping to go? Is this a wise thing for me to do? Not so much right and wrong? Wise wisdom, which is a perfect segue. So that was the number one ideal segue to our second thing that we need to remember when it comes to substance abuse issues: how: how important it is to identify your why. If you are someone or you know a loved one who is suffering from substance abuse issues, identify the why. Why are they struggling with this? What is the thing that's beneath the thing? Because often, drinking, smoking, and pain pills are things that are like symptoms of the main problem. There's something underneath all of it, and there is a why. And let me tell you, one of the most powerful things you can do is identify your why with substance abuse and any life issues. There is such a power that comes with finding out why you do certain things and why you don't do certain things. Why do you think this way? Why do you think that way?

Listen to how David phrases. This is in Psalm 139, verses 23 through 24. David says, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. I love how David says, " God, search me search my heart, even things that I think I'm doing for a whole, noble, and Godly reason. God, I want you to identify if there's anything in it that's selfish. That's my ambition. God helped me identify my why, search my heart and expose me to identify the why. I'll give you a personal example of how I know this to be true and powerful in my life. I'm a procrastinator.

Is anybody else? Where am I procrastinators out there as my people hey, it's just a victory that you're here today. And you didn't put it off to next week. Right? Amen. You're here, and you're in the house. That's, that's a win. I'm a procrastinator, but I'm not lazy. I don't know about everybody else who is a procrastinator. And so, it's been frustrating to me for years. I'm having a hard time getting started on stuff. And knowing like me, I know I'm not lazy. What is this about? Why do I put things off? Like I love completing things. I'm the kind of person who loves a to-do list. There is such just power in the crossing something off doesn't feel. It's just like cathartic, man. Oh, just crossing it off. I love it so much.

I'll finish something that I didn't have on my to-do list. And I'll add that thing to my to-do list. So I can cross it off. Just boom, there it is. It's done. Like I I'm that kind of person. And so if that's who I am, I'm like, Why do I procrastinate and put things off if I get such enjoyment out of finishing things like what is going on here. I'm not a lazy person. And so I kind of had a King David, Psalm 139 moment where I'm like, God, can you I need you to help me, I need you to help me point out what is going on here because I'm missing it. I'm missing the deeper issue causing me to procrastinate on what is going on in me, and I realized it. I'm a perfectionist.

I'm a perfectionist. And so what I do is I want to put everything off until it's perfect. Like, right you feel me yes, my people, I'm not alone. That's that is exactly where I am. I don't want to start work on that room until I know I have everything I need to finish that room and finish it excellently and make it look great and perfect. I don't want to start that paper or that thing until I know I can do it perfectly. And the conditions are right. But that never comes. Right. Like you can only count on one hand the times in your life where something gets to be like just a perfect 10 That you completed. A lot of times, it's sixes and sevens at best, right? Like it's just that that's kind of where things are. And God revealed that to me and kind of pointed that out my life, man, Jacob, you got to stop waiting for something to be perfect because that day is not coming. Your life will pass you by. You won't accomplish what you wanted to accomplish. You've got to eliminate this out of your life. And so I've been working on it. I'm not yet where I want to be, but I'm better than I used to be. And it all stemmed it all started from me starting to identify the why in my life.

If you are someone who is relying on substances to be a fix for you, you need to start digging deeper and realize, okay, what? What's going on here?

What's going on in my life? What is this doing for me? What is this masking? What is this? Trying to hide? Is it depression issues like we talked about last week? Is it anger issues? Is it bitterness? Is it resentment? What is going on? Inside of you? Why do you rely on certain things, because I'll tell you this much, you won't be able to effectively change it and swap out unhealthy ways of dealing with things for healthy habits until you identify why you just won't.

And that's not just Christian biblical teaching. That's what you hear from secular counselors and from people who would tell you about substance abuse issues. That man, if you're, if you're using substances, if you've got an underlying issue, like depression, like anxiety, like guilt, or shame, and you're using pills, or you're using pot, or you're using alcohol, you're using something just to pin that thing down and not have to think about it, just put it out of sight out of mind that is unhealthy. And that will lead you to abuse that substance and take it farther than you ever thought.

So you've got to identify who you are and figure out what's really going on inside my heart inside my soul inside my life that's causing me to rely on these things. Because once you do that, you can start working on how to fix it and replace that coping mechanism with an actual healthy coping mechanism and a healthy management system. This brings us to point number three, one of the best ways to manage addiction in your life is getting good friendships in your life. And again, this isn't even just a substance abuse issue thing, and this is an issue. If you have something in your life that's not where it should be. And you want to manage that. Well. Look at who your friends are. Look at who is investing in your life. If you want to fix your fix, fix your friends. If you're going to improve your fix, fix the thing that you use to try to resolve issues in your life. Fix your friendships. I'm telling you right now. It is that important. This is what the apostle Paul says in First Corinthians 1533. He says Bad company corrupts good character, a men to that Bad company corrupts good character. It is one of the most cliche things, the saying, show me your friends, I'll show you your future. You want to know why that's so cliche. Because it's true, it is true. One of the truest things I have ever been saying is Show me your friends. I'll show you your future.

We don't even realize how much influence people around us have on us. It's crazy. My daughter eats, and she's a she's this is her. You know, she's been in school for quite a few years now. And it's funny. I never noticed this until yesterday. My wife and I were talking. She brought something up like a holy cow. You're right. I've never even thought about that. But Jessica brought it up, and I'm like, I must put that in my sermon. She said, have you noticed that Eden kind of like talks how her teacher talks? Like she mimics what her teacher says, like, What do you mean? So we'll think about it like her first two years she had younger teachers. And then now she's got a little bit older of a teacher. And like thinking about how she talks, I'm like, oh my goodness here, right? So like right now, my daughter even has a little bit older than a teacher. And um, things that she says as we asked her to do something like Hey, Ian, can you run upstairs and grab your brother a diaper real quick. She'll like peek around the corner and go, Yes, dear. Yes, dear. Yes, dear. What in the world? What's that? Another thing, Griffin.

Whenever he's acting like he does something, she thinks it's cute. She'll lean down and be like, well, aren't you just the cutest little thing? Aren't you just the sweetest little thing and sound like a Celica grandma? Where are you hearing? The horror of you? Aren't you the sweetest little thing? And it never hit me. I'm like, That's right. That's probably how her teacher talks. And just further confirmation that her previous teacher is a good friend of someone in our church family. And so we know her outside of school. We've gotten hanging around her a few times. And I started connecting the dots. I'm like, Oh, my goodness. Yeah, that's right. Different things that she said, Eaton would say when she was in her class, I'm like, wow, look at that the influence of the teacher, even just how they talk if that's how she talks, the same thing is happening with you. You may be so close to the situation so close to your friend group. You don't even realize it. But I'm telling you, the people you spend your time around, the people who get to invest in your life, the people who get to speak into your life, you sound like them.

You talk like them, and chances are you probably think like them. So what I want to ask you and obviously don't work this out, but just to yourself. I want you to take an inventory of those people in your life, the people that you sound like, the people that you think like, the people who get to invest in input in your life. How do they handle depression? How do they handle anxiety?

How do they handle it when things don't go their way? How do they handle letdowns in life? Do they turn to something, or do they turn to substances? Do they get deeper and deeper into resentment or anger? Or bitterness? And not even just that stuff? How do they handle the good stuff? How do they handle joys and successes in their life? Man, I got new arrays. Let's go out to the bar tonight. Let's go to get trashed. Like, how do they handle these things, because I am telling you, I'm telling you, I'm telling you, if that is a person who gets to invest in input in your life in big ways, that's going to be you.

That's going to be you. It just is. I've been around long enough to see that play out. Pastor Brenda has been around long enough to see that play out happens time and time again. Show me your friends. And I'll show you your future. So you might be thinking to yourself, and somebody's saying pastor Jacob, should I like to dump my friends? Should I dump my friend group? Um, maybe? Maybe.

Again, going back to what we talked about at the beginning? I'm sure you can find a few verses that you'd be able to take out of context and go enough. See, I'm I should still be around just them. You know, like that. That should still be my primary influencer.

But the key thing is, are you being influenced? Or are they being influenced, and nine times out of 10, if you're the one person in there, you're the one who's being influenced, you just are. And so, for you, and for your safety, and your life goals, you're going to have to. Yeah, probably the best thing you can do for some of you if you are being influenced. The best thing you can do is delete that number in the name of Jesus, right? Like, just delete that number out of your phone. Because again, I've seen it play out too often.

I've done funerals for people who are like. I'm not the I'm the influencer. I'm there to be the missionary.

You know, even Jesus didn't go into all this stuff alone. He had a group of 12 guys around him. He had his disciples. He had his followers who would go into some pretty crazy spots, but he had people who were at least somewhat of like mind with him. Do you need that? You need that. So yeah, maybe there may be a friendship, there may be a relationship brain is taking you into murky waters. It's taking you into places where you wouldn't believe where you'll be in five years today. But if you continue to allow them to be your biggest influence, that's exactly where you're headed. So basically, I'm saying this is part four, and it may not make sense at first, but let me elaborate on it. You need to be willing to burn your ships.

Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador in the 1500s. He came to the new world with about 600 men looking to conquer the Aztec empire looking to take over this new land. And regardless of what you think about him as an individual or as a person, he had a fantastic move of leadership that he did. The first thing he did whenever they landed, the first thing once his men and all their equipment got off the boats, as he set their ships on fire.

Think about that for a moment. So is it the 21st century where you can get a new one at like, a boat shop or something like that's it, like this dude, just set on fire, every way of escape that we have every chance of getting back to old the old life that we have, he just torched it just completely, set it on fire, took it to the ground, and basically told his men, hey, look, there is no retreat here? We're not going back to the old way of things. We either conquer, or we die. That's it. Those are two options.

There are some of us who need to be willing to do that with things in our life. Maybe it's a relationship. Maybe it's an old habit. Maybe it's an old routine. But you need to be willing to burn that ship to the ground. That thing that's connecting you to your old life. You can't manage it any longer. You can't. Well, I'm trying to be the influencer there. If you've been in that relationship for five years, and you've been influenced for five years and not done very much influence. And you need to get out.

It's funny. We have like two groups here at Cornerstone. We have people who have been here for 20 years or have been here for like six months. That's what it feels like. We've got a lot of new people. A lot of people have been here for a while. So if you're in the group that's been here for a while, you'll probably know this name. There has been an associate pastor here at Cornerstone for a while named how hair. How it's just an incredible guy, an awesome man of God, great family guy.

And whenever he came to Cornerstone, his whole story is a wild story of how he came here, but they used to live in another state city. And his son Troy, who's a great guy, he's doing awesome right now. He's following the Lord and works in the fire department doing great stuff. But his son Troy, when he was younger, started getting into bad pride, substances, and stuff that he shouldn't do. And his parents saw exactly where that was going to lead and what it was going to do to his life: life, this future to the call of God.

And so what they did, they didn't try to manage his friendships or relationships. They didn't try to tell him well. You know what, you know, that's okay. You just be the influencer, even though everyone seems to be influencing you. They didn't do any of that. Do you want to know what they did without telling him? One day, they moved. They moved to a new state, not to like a new neighborhood, not to a new city.

Nothing lined up without plans, sold their house, or a new job. But they saw our son was headed down a road where we didn't know what would happen to him. And God helps us in any happening on our watch. It's just not happening. We're getting him out of here. That's exactly what they did. Took Troy took the rest of the family and moved. And it worked.

They burned their ships to the ground. So no, no, no, we will leave it all behind because we are not allowing you to go back there. We are burning this thing to the ground. And I love it. We see a similar example in Scripture in First Kings, chapter 19. The prophet Elijah, this great man of God, he's getting ready to have his life come to an end. He's getting older and knows he doesn't have much longer. So he's looking for a successor. And he finds this man like Shah very similar in his name, who will be the next prophet. And so, this is where scripture picks up. There were 12 teams of oxen in the field. And Elijah was plowing the field with the 12 teams.

Elijah went over to him, threw his cloak across his shoulders, and then walked away. This was a symbolic gesture. Elijah was throwing the leadership mantle on Alicia, saying, Hey, I'm picking you as my apprentice to come to follow me. Alicia left. The oxen standing there ran after Elijah and said to him, hold on, just first, let me go and kiss my father and mother goodbye. And then I'll go with you. Elijah replied, go on back and think about what I've done. So verse 21, so Elijah returned to his oxen and listened to this. This is so powerful that Elijah returned to his oxen, which is what he was doing. When Elijah found him right, he was out in the field, plowing with the oxen and the plow. Elijah returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He then used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah to be his assistant. Do you see what he did there?

The thing that represented his old life, the thing that represented where he was and what he was doing, he burned it to the ground, saying, Yeah, I'm leaving this behind. I'm not giving myself an out. I'm not going to come back to this. I know that this is not where God wants me to be. And so I'm leaving it, I'm burning my ship. And he followed after Elijah. We have got to be willing to do the same thing. What habit in your life needs to be burned to the ground? What? What relationship? What relationship now that you don't love them anymore? You don't pray for them anymore, but allowing them to influence you that needs to be burned to the ground? What relationship is that? What routine? Is that? What's that thing that's leading you to more substance abuse? Are you willing to burn your ships?

So quick recap of where we've been so far. And we've talked about number one that we need to keep in mind again, not just with substance abuse, but with every issue. Stop asking, Is this the right thing? Start asking, Is this the wise thing? Number two, identify your Why. Why do you do the things you do? What's, what's the underlying thing going on there? Identify the why. Number three, fix your friendships, take an inventory of truly, who gets to input in your life, who gets to invest in your life, fix your friendships, and then number four, be willing to burn the ships that God points out in your life. And then the last thing, the last thing number five that we're going to look at today, and I believe this is so I believe this with everything, especially when it comes to substance abuse and addiction issues. We need to renew our reliance on the power of prayer. We've got to do it.

I told this last little part to Saturday night service and Sunday. In this last part, I literally added this like as I was getting ready to preach on Saturday night. So this still isn't fleshed out. So you'll have to forgive me and walk with me as I try to explain this. But what I mean, I feel like there is a growing thing happening in the Christian church. And it's just from what I'm seeing. It's very anecdotal. It's just what I see online, where we don't say we don't believe in the power of prayers and too much. Still, we act like we don't believe in the power of prayer, so much more like it's kind of like a nicety, or you know, it's just a good thing to do, but it doesn't accomplish anything. So let me tease this out a little bit. What I mean by that is, for example, with the big decision that happened just in the last 40 hours, Roe v. Wade, right?

This decision happens Supreme Court over, overturns Roe v. Wade. And what I see from many Christians on the left and Christians on the right, and I'm telling you, I've seen this all over the place, isn't one or two people on the right side? Yes, votes matter. And then people on the left say votes matter. Right. And that's, that's the overarching thing that I see. And yes, that is true. Absolutely. Votes do matter.

But it's kind of building up this idea that we have more power than we do. Like, as we think, look at us, like the people on the Christian right are like, look at us at what we were able to accomplish. Look at what we did, through our political action, through our work, what we did. Look at what we were able to accomplish because we voted for the right people. We stumped for the right things. And people on the left are saying, man, look at what we messed up because we didn't vote for the right people. This is who we need to vote for next time. We need to vote to fix this. And it's just kind of cultivating this idea that we have the power. We have a say. So if we throw our weight around the right way, we can do what we want. And it is crazy how this is just happening. I mean, Pastor Brendan will tell you, I can't remember the last time I've had someone ask me what denomination Cornerstone is. Like, people just don't ask that anymore. We used to get asked that all the time. As we used to get asked, what's your denomination, Episcopalian, Methodist, Wesleyan Nazarene? Like, where are you guys at? And the reason people ask that is that typically that's what differentiates churches is is your, you know, your denomination, your theological background because different denominations believe different theological things. Of course, a lot of church governance makes the difference. But for example, different churches will have different views of the Eucharist, the communion of baptism, and different views of atonement and how salvation works. And these things kind of separate us. These are differentiators. But let me tell you, no one's asking that anymore. No one cares. You know what we do get asked all the time, though. Political issues all the time. 24/7. What's going on something about climate change? What do we think about gun control? What's Cornerstone thinking about abortion? What's Cornerstone thinking about gay marriage? What's Cornerstone think about X, Y, and Z? What's going on something? All of these things are like political stances. We're getting asked, Hey, do you guys give out pamphlets on who to vote for around voting time?

Straight party lines are straight party-line D like is that like, how we work? And I just see this culture being built up of self-reliance that we make things happen and vote the right way of doing this and do that. And again, yes, those things matter. Like Pastor, Donnie preached in week one, how Christians are to interact in politics, of course, matters.

But I believe we're building up a cult of self-reliance, where we believe that we have more power than we actually do. And I think every now and then. We need a reminder that you know what, we don't have the power we think we do.

We're not as powerful as we sometimes like to think that we are. And let me tell you, there is nothing. I promise you nothing that will bring you back down to earth and remind you just how powerless and helpless you are as having a loved one struggle with substance abuse. Nothing will remind you how powerless you truly are.

You can bet with them. You can plead with them, try to bribe them, try to scare them, try to love them, try to do everything, and it doesn't work. It's terrifying. And it's scary. I've been in that position before. I guarantee you have been in that position before, where you're where you have someone that you love. And what you're praying is that the call that you get is that they've been arrested because, thank God, they're probably safer in jail than they are outside.

It's a scary thing. And it is a hopeless feeling. And it's a powerless feeling. And the feeling we've had these last couple of days where people feel like Man looks at how powerful we are. Look at what we could accomplish because of our work and our power and what we were able to do to aid us. We need to rely on God in everything. We do renew our reliance on him.

Now and then, we start to build ourselves back up. It's just like the Tower of Babel. We started to think about what we could accomplish from our power in our works. And now and then, we need the reminder. No, no, no, it's all God. We need him. We need him every. Moment, let me tell you when it comes to substance abuse issues that you're dealing with or your loved ones are dealing with. I'm not telling you not to stop working, but I'm telling you, you better be on your knees in prayer. Because that's what moves mountains, that's what changes things. You can beg and plead with someone until you're red.

But prayer, prayer, prayer, prayer, that is the main thing. That is what the Christian church should be known for. And unfortunately, and let me tell you, I am the biggest Senator regarding this. How often I have told people never they've told me their issue. And I say, Yeah, I guess all we can do is pray. God forgive me for having that kind of view of prayer. That's the last resort. It's all we can do now. It needs to be the first thing on our minds. Again, not just in substance abuse issues, but with every point. Focus on prayer.