Resilency

4 Parts to Resiliency 22 Nov 2020

Hello Calvary Family and others who are watching

this video. I am Pastor Greg from Calvary Reformed Church in Mattawan, Michigan.

We just finished up a 5-week series on the Old Testament Book of Esther. It was an amazing series. I learned a lot

And I hope you learned a lot, too…about God's providence within our lives, within the life of the nation.

Today, we're going to look at just one aspect of our life. On the 29th of November, Advent begins. Can you believe that? Advent…four weeks before Christmas.

Before I start, I’d like to have a word of prayer: Father God, I ask that the words that You've given to me

would be words from You, Lord. I seek your wisdom O Lord, to engage and educate Your people today. In Your name we pray, Amen.

A lot of you know that I spent 33 years as an Air Force Air National Guard Chaplain. About seven months ago I retired from the wing chaplaincy in Battle Creek, Michigan. One of the things chaplains get to do is a lot

of what's called briefings… a lot of teachings. Training in front of everybody. One of those briefings was one on resiliency. It’s been on my heart since March. That was the start of the shutting down of businesses and schools.

We went through all of that…then we opened back up -and now we're having things shut down again. There is an emotional struggle that goes on with all that. I was talking with my sister from Alaska this past week. She is a nurse. She said that they are dealing with major depression issues within some of the villages.

I was talking with some pastors the other day on a Zoom meeting…other Reformed Church Pastors and just the reality that teenage suicide ideation is growing. You've all read the statistics that abuse in homes is rising. Child abuse is increasing. We're struggling as a people. We're struggling as a nation. We’re struggling as a church.

The last seven/eight months I've had ten families that have lost their loved ones. Many celebration of life services…too many. In just the last seven months. It weighs down on my heart and it hurts. The struggle that we're going through not being able to celebrate people's lives…I don't know about you; I'm being honest here…

it's been a struggle for me. I'm used to being with people at the base, here at church, leading the bible studies. I’m used to having worship all together.

There has been change within our lives. Resiliency is the

ability to bounce back. The ability to face struggles and then move on in life. I have a short little video that I’d like you to watch. It's myself and three of my grandchildren dealing with resiliency.

**The 2-minute video of 4 square was about two scenes. The 1st scene, the ball has air, and we can play 4 square. The 2nd scene, the ball cannot bounce because there is no air in the ball. So, I asked my grandkids, what does the ball need. They responded, a pump, a needle, the air, and a person to work the pump. The fact is, when the ball is without air the ball has NO resiliency and the ball needs help.

We're going to look at four different ways within our lives that we can have resiliency. Before we do, remember Vince Lombardi? Best known as the Green Bay Packers head coach? He said one time, ‘It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back

up again’. I love that, friends. It's not whether we get knocked down, it's whether we get back up again.

How do we get back up within our lives? I want us to look at four different ideas of what resiliency is within our lives.

The first one deals with the physical aspect of our lives. Whenever I'm walking with someone who’s had a major trauma within their life (myself included), I ask the question, ‘How are you taking care of yourself physically? Are you getting outside to walk or run? Are you eating healthy? Are you getting enough rest? Are you getting the exercise that you need?’

The Apostle Paul says in Romans 12:1 ‘Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship.’

Friends, we are called to take care of our bodies because we offer that to Jesus Christ. We offer our bodies to God as a sacrifice. Paul also says in I Corinthians 6:20 that ‘We have been bought with a price, therefore honor God with our bodies.’ I know some of you have heard it from