Fresh Life Church Podcast

Episode: Wine For The Wounds of Waiting
Host: Pastor Levi Lusko
Date: October 6, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode, led by Pastor Levi Lusko, centers on the difficulty and significance of waiting in a season of uncertainty. Using the miracle at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11) as a foundation, Pastor Levi explores how God meets us in our waiting, turns our pain into purpose, and produces “wine” from the wounds of waiting. The message offers practical waypoints to guide listeners through times when prayers are unanswered, hopes seem delayed, and life feels stuck in holding patterns. Rather than offering easy answers, Pastor Levi encourages listening hearts to worship God in the waiting—and to discover the fresh “wine” He produces from those seasons.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bridging Seasons: From Doctrine to Practice

[00:00-03:00]

• Fresh Life is transitioning from the previous series, "Touch Grass" (on 1 John), into a new season focused on prayer.
• The message serves as a bridge, moving from foundational doctrine to practical application.
• Pastor Levi frames the message as a guide for putting faith into practice amid waiting.

2. Universal Struggle: Hating to Wait

[04:30-08:00]

• Humorous account of picking the wrong checkout line at the grocery store—a relatable introduction to the frustrations of waiting.
  • "This is my Cross the Bear, not yours. But I just wanted to trauma dump a little bit for a few moments this morning." [06:30]
• Draws the connection between everyday impatience (lines, traffic) and deeper, more painful seasons of waiting in life.

3. Shared Experience: Seasons of Waiting

[08:00-10:30]

• Everyone is either about to enter, currently in, or just leaving a season of waiting.
• Lists examples: cancer, infertility, loneliness, pain, heartache.
• Encourages listeners:
  • "If I have to wait, I want to do it with God." [09:55]

4. Is Waiting on God Biblical?

[11:00-13:30]

• Provides biblical examples:
  • Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, Israelites, David, Elizabeth, the disciples, and even Jesus Himself all endured seasons of waiting.
• Emphasizes Jesus’ own 30-year period of preparation before ministry.
• Suggests that waiting is essential to spiritual growth.

5. Seven Waypoints for Waiting

[14:00-41:00] Pastor Levi extracts seven practical lessons from John 2:1-11 to help navigate the waiting:

a. Waiting Does Not Equal Worth

[15:00]

• Jesus was a “plus one” at the wedding—humility is required in waiting.
• "Waiting should never produce in us the disdain for service... but exceptional humility. It should produce in us the ability to serve people in a way that becomes personal." [15:45]
• Celebrate others’ breakthroughs without envy, keeping a table open for more.

b. Waiting is About Will (His Will vs. My Will)

[19:00]

• Jesus’ response to Mary (“My hour has not yet come”) shows submission to God’s timing.
• "Waiting will prove who is Lord in my life. We got three options. Me. The thing I've been waiting for. Or the King of kings." [20:05]
• Submission and trust are essential.

c. Waiting Reveals Our Want (Petitioning God)

[23:00]

• Mary persists in asking Jesus, modeling that waiting is an invitation to ask, seek, and knock.
• "Often we think we've got to grit our way through this. But the best thing we can do is just say, Jesus, this is what I'm facing..." [25:00]

d. Waiting is Work

[28:00]

• The gritty, practical details: the water jars held 120–180 gallons! (A physical, time-consuming task.)
• "Your season of waiting is not meant for you to sit on your hands... He's actually calling us to put our hands to the plow and do something right now." [29:10]
• Pour out your life—worship, obedience, generosity—even, "the tears of my pain, if that's all I have."

e. Waiting Takes Faith

[32:00]

• The servants risked embarrassment and hardship by obeying Jesus and serving the master the water-turned-wine.
• "Waiting takes faith. For us to believe that Jesus will do what he said he will do... that's faith." [32:45]
• Sometimes faith is active, other times it's simply being still. (References Psalm 27.)

f. Waiting Brings Wine

[36:00]

• Out of waiting, God produces “wine” (joy, comfort, healing, the “miracle”).
• "If you'll stay here, I'll have a cup for you... and it's not just a cup, it's the best." [37:15]
• The best is often found after faithful waiting, not by seeking shortcuts or “mediocre.”

g. Waiting Gives Glory to Jesus

[39:20]

• The first miracle was in an obscure place, unnoticed by most—God often reveals greatest glory in humble, hidden places.
• "If we can allow the waiting to move us aside so that he can be revealed, then all of it's worth it." [40:00]
• Our faithful waiting can lead others to believe.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If I gotta wait, and even Jesus had to wait, so I gotta wait too." — [13:15]

• "There’s nothing worse than opening up the fridge… and inevitably, there’s always something slimy in there, right? Because it's been in there too long. I don't want to be that way. I want to be evergreen. I want to be fresh in God’s presence." — [14:15]

• "Waiting should never produce in us the disdain for service... but exceptional humility." — [15:45]

• "Waiting will prove who is Lord in my life." — [20:05]

• "The best thing that we can do is just say, Jesus, this is what I'm facing. This is what I'm going through. And it's up to him to determine the timeline... Ask, seek, knock." — [25:00]

• "Your season of waiting is not meant for you to sit on your hands... He's calling us to put our hands to the plow and do something right now." — [29:10]

• "Sometimes faith is sending it; sometimes faith is just being still. Will you have the faith to wait?" — [34:00-35:10]

• "Waiting brings wine out of my pain... when he moves, it brings the joy and the comfort and the healing and the nearness and the miracle I so desperately need." — [36:20]

• "He has a cup for you, and it's the best. I don’t want to miss God’s best for mediocre." — [37:40]

• "The glory of Jesus revealed through your life is contagious... people will come along because they need the wine you’ve received." — [41:00]

• "Worship while you wait—not what you’re waiting on." — [42:10]

Core Challenge & Encouragement

[43:00-48:00]

• From Lamentations 3:22–26: God’s mercies are new every morning—emphasizing relentless hope, even in suffering.
• "What does worship look like in the waiting? Just seeking him." [44:52]
• Stand in faith together as a church, posturing hearts to seek and worship God—believing for renewed hope, healing, and new “wine” for weary souls.

Anchor of Hope: The Ultimate Promise

[47:30-end]

• Confidence that God’s waiting will be fulfilled on a cosmic scale: the wedding feast of the Lamb, where every need is met.
• "We know that we will receive new wine, because he said there will be another wedding, where he will have his bride… where he will have his new wine being poured out upon us." — [48:30]
• Invites listeners to respond in faith, emphasizing that ultimate victory is assured in Christ.

Closing Prayer & Call to Faith

[50:00-end]

• Bold prayer for those in waiting—declaring victory based on Christ’s promises.
• Invitation and prayer for those wanting to begin a relationship with Jesus.

"I need that new wine to cover my life. I want to live in a relationship with the Lord and Savior, the Creator of the universe." — [52:00]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00-03:00 — Introduction & series bridge
• 04:30-08:00 — Patience tested in mundane moments
• 08:00-10:30 — The universal pain of waiting
• 11:00-13:30 — Biblical precedents for waiting
• 14:00-41:00 — Seven waypoints for waiting
• 43:00-48:00 — Encouragement, Lamentations insight, future hope
• 50:00-end — Closing prayer and call to faith

Final Thoughts

This episode is a compassionate and practical guide for weary hearts in uncertain seasons. Rather than trivializing pain or offering platitudes, Pastor Levi Lusko roots the encouragement in Scripture, pointing to Jesus as both the Example and Answer. Through humility, faith, and persistent seeking, listeners are challenged to worship while they wait, trusting that God always saves the best for those who yield to Him. The wine of waiting is not only for personal refreshment but for God's glory and the good of others.