20 A Posture of Surrender [TN on Demand]

[00:00:09] Welcome to the creative team talks podcast for Hillsong Creative. [00:00:17] This week, we have something extra special for you. We're bringing you a recent team night message from one of our team. We hope that it blesses you. [00:00:31] Are you good? I love this song that these guys just led. [00:00:36] I asked fish to send the lyrics to me yesterday, and. [00:00:41] Excuse me, I was reading the lyrics. My heart's response to you, my lord, my life is yours alone. Fully surrendered, wholly abandoned. What a beautiful picture to be fully surrendered to the Lord, completely abandoned, arms raised, fully in worship. That's a type of lyric that I just love to belt out with my eyes closed. I'm all in. I'm all about it. But if I'm honest, it's a little bit harder to walk that lyric out than it is to sing it, as much as I love to sing it. And that is my heart before the Lord. But tonight, I want to talk about exactly that. What it looks like to live with the posture of surrender. [00:01:24] I was sick all last week. [00:01:27] That's so sad that you were sick. You didn't even do it, guys. So wham, wham. I was sick last week. [00:01:34] I only needed it once, and I was stuck in bed for like, a week, and it was super, super annoying. And you know, when you're so just bored, I was like, this is so annoying. I had, I don't know. Okay, for an american, you might say whooping cough, but apparently there's a silent w in Australia. Whooping cough. That's weird, right? That's a confusing spelling. Anyways, so I could not. I was, like, contagious. Couldn't go near anybody. So I was just kind of feeling sorry for myself. Stuck in bed, super, super bored. And, you know, when you're so bored, it doesn't matter how many streaming services you have, there might be like 20,000 shows on. You're like, there's nothing to watch. There is literally nothing. There's nothing. I hate this. I'm so bored. So I'd, like, look on Netflix and be like, there's absolutely no. Nothing to watch. I can't do anything. Pick up my phone. I'm sorry. Scrolling. [00:02:21] Half an hour later, I'm like, I hate social media. It's so stupid and annoying. Put my phone down. Like, two minutes later, I'm like, I wonder if there's anything new on social media that I haven't looked at yet. But I was really struck by. And it could just be my algorithm, right? But I was really struck by how much content is aimed at self just a whole inward just at myself, make this much money, have this kind of a life, have this house look like this, be this, do this. That's just what I was like, intaking all week. And at the moment it feels like more than ever, everything is just geared at self, right, whether it's social media or tv or whatever we're watching, but just we're surrounded by these messages that are always pointing our attention back to ourselves. What we want, what we think, who and what we want to be. My stuff, my life, my choices, my truth is a great one. My truth. It's like me, me. [00:03:18] And it's really easy to get swept up in it, right? It is for me. It's easy to get swept up in that. And we can forget that as christians, we are called to a completely different way of living. Completely different. When we made a decision to follow Jesus and we surrendered our life to him, we said, our lives belong to him. Our lives are not our own. And that decision to surrender in that moment actually is a daily surrender and journey of walking out with him that we're called to. But surrender is really countercultural, isn't it? It's not. No other, nothing else is telling us that this is a value or that this is important. [00:04:00] But the life of a follower of Jesus says, your way and your will, not mine. And so surrender really means that God and his word have the ultimate authority in our lives. Like that is the final say above our needs, even above our desires, even above our wants. Things that are very normal, right? That's just a part of life. Of course we want things and desire things, but above all of that, Jesus is our ultimate authority and that we yield and give way to him in every situation, in every season, and we never actually stop. It is this daily thing we do every single day. And in romans twelve one, it talks to us about this different way of living. It says, beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God's marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God, to be his sacred living sacrifices and live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart, for this becomes your genuine expression of worship. That is really how we offer our worship to the Lord. And Jesus modeled, of course he did. He modeled everything for us. But Jesus modeled this life of surrender to his father. He exemplified complete surrender, obviously, until death. Complete surrender. When, before he went to the cross in the garden, he's praying in Luke 22, and he says, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Not my will, but yours. [00:05:36] And you've probably heard or hopefully you've heard or picked up on it on the weekend in church. [00:05:43] There was kind of a change of course, change of plan for this whole month of August. There's always a teaching plan and kind of a direction we're heading in, and they just decided to scrap it. And they were like, we're changing plans. This month is come Holy Spirit. And it's more than just, like, a catchphrase or a slogan or. It's actually the prayer of our heart as a church, that we would just make room for Jesus. We would make space in our services, in worship, in our lives, more than a Sunday, that this would really be what frames the season, that we would intentionally tune our ear to the Holy Spirit and make room for him to move, not just in a service, but in our lives, like, in our hearts, not confined to a Sunday. And if that is where we are heading as a church, then God might start to point out a few things, right? If we've sort of given him permission and made room, like, he might start to put his finger on a few things. I know he's doing that in my life. [00:06:44] He might ask you to lay something down or make some changes or let go of something, maybe like a relationship or just plans or something that's kind of like a fear in your life or just an area that you're trying to control. Or it could be as simple as just, like, surrendering your time. Time to be with him or. Or a change of priorities and putting him first. And it might be a really big decision, but it might be just a really tiny thing. Maybe, like, an area of your heart that you've just sort of kept hidden and that you have kind of held tightly and not really allowed God in to move. [00:07:21] But I have good news in case this feels heavy. Does this feel heavy? Okay, good. Phew. [00:07:27] The good news is surrender, although it sounds a bit like a heavy word, it's not a punishment. [00:07:35] It's not a negative. It's not a punishment. It's not just about, like, dying to ourselves, not getting our way or doing something that's uncomfortable or stretching or, like, this is how we have to live before God. And it is definitely not a sign of weakness. Surrender is a brave act of trust and obedience, complete trust and obedience in the Lord. [00:07:58] Because Jesus way, like, this might be news to you. His way is always better than ours. Like, in every situation, at every time, even though we forget and we do our own thing, his way is always, always better. And obedience in surrender, even if they are hard or feel costly in the moment, they always lead to freedom and they always lead to blessing in our lives. [00:08:25] And because God loves us and knows us better than we know ourselves, and he wants the best for us, anytime that we have an opportunity or we have a sense that God is calling us to surrender something to him, there is always something better on the other side. Whatever we are laying down, whatever we are letting go, we are picking up something better or making room in our lives for something better. So, this is so simple. I told you it was, and I really meant it. It is very simple. But tonight I just wanted to ask the question. I wonder what that posture of surrender looks like for you, like right now, today, at this season, at this moment in your life. What does that look like in the psalms? [00:09:10] I love the psalms. I'm so thankful for them. They make me feel normal and like I'm allowed to talk to God and just be. Be real and honest and angry and frustrated and whatever I am, I just feel like they give me permission just to talk to God like I would. But I love. In psalm 139, David prays, and he asks God to search his heart. Because sometimes we don't even see the stuff that's there, do we? We're not even aware of it. And we need to search. We need to search our hearts. And in verse five, in verse 23 through 24, it says this, search me, o God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. And the passion. Like it or not, the passion says it this way. It says, God, I invite you. I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through. Find out everything that may be hidden within me. [00:10:14] I invite you. It is an invitation for God to search us, point out things, put his finger on things that shouldn't be there. [00:10:21] Because surrender keeps us close to Jesus, constantly laying down, constantly choosing his way over ours, deferring to him. It keeps us close to him, it keeps us dependent on him, and it keeps our trust anchored in him. [00:10:39] And surrender clears out the clutter and the stuff that gets in the way and opens our heart to what God's perfect will actually is in our lives. [00:10:50] But I actually want to just take a few moments in worship, and I'm going to maybe change your plans. I know you have a plan and you have a song and all the things, but I would love if we sung, if we sing, if you feel to lead us, if we sung depths again, just the choruses. There's nothing like just singing the name of Jesus. Like, you can't sing the name of Jesus and not have something happen because his name is alive. And when we started singing that song, I was like, oh, Jesus, jesus is here. Something happens when we glorify him. [00:11:24] I'm going to pray. But what I would love for us to do in these next few moments, just invite him. Like, just give him permission to move. Give him permission to put his finger on something. Just talk to God. Let him clean out the clutter. Invite him to search your heart. You might be sitting here and go, I already know exactly what something is, and I need to lay down. I know exactly what it is. It's this thing I've been hiding. It's this decision I haven't been making. It's this relationship that is not great, that I'm just, like, pursuing. And I know it's not what God has for me. And the beautiful thing about Jesus is you just change course and he's like, there you go. Look, I'm going to honor it. I'm going to bless it. [00:12:04] You just chose life. There's freedom there, and so it can look like whatever. It can just look like you talking to Jesus. It can look like us just worshiping. But I just believe if we take a few moments together and just allow the Lord to search our hearts and bring up things that maybe we need to just lay down again or offer up to him, I just believe it's going to be just like another little layer of freedom for God to do what. What he wants to do. [00:12:31] And that will help us step into what he has for us as a team and as a church and just as a disciple of Jesus and a follower of him, to continue to become more like him every single day. [00:12:44] So, can I pray for us? And then you guys can just do whatever you want to do and enjoy us? No, sorry. Stay in the car. [00:12:52] I don't know why I can't just enjoy it. All right. [00:12:57] Jesus, you are good. [00:13:00] You are so good. So kind to us, so faithful. Thank you for your word that is alive and that speaks in every moment, in every situation in our life that is just there for us to constantly come back, to constantly fine tune, constantly reflected, fresh, constantly lean on. And tonight, Lord, I just pray for us as a team and as followers of you, Lord. Our heart is that we would be surrendered to you, Lord, that our lives would more than just in worship or in our words, they would declare that you are the ultimate authority in our life that you are our Lord and we want to live for you and serve you and honor you with every part of our lives. But Lord, I just pray even in these next few moments, just you would just speak, you would just do whatever you want to do and you would have your way in the hearts of your people and you would help us to clear clear away clutter, anything that would keep us from being close to you because we want to be close to you not so that we feel great but so that we can be like you. We want to keep becoming like you. So I just pray for this whole team, Lord, just that you would have your way in our hearts, do something in us, speak to us even as we go throughout our week about what that surrender looks like every single day in our lives. Laying things down and saying yes to you and deferring to you and help us to keep our eyes on you. I pray in Jesus name, amen.