GLM #699 - Phil Tuttle - Lessons From Stretcher Bearers

Summary

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Gull Lake Ministries Podcast

Episode #699 – Phil Tuttle: Lessons From Stretcher Bearers

Date: July 12, 2026
Host/Speaker: Phil Tuttle

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Episode Overview

This episode features Phil Tuttle, President of Walk Thru the Bible, delivering a sermon titled "Lessons From Stretcher Bearers." Using Mark 2 as the foundational text, Phil explores what it means to bring others to Jesus, drawing practical, memorable lessons from the story of the friends who lowered a paralyzed man through a crowded house’s roof to reach Jesus. The message weaves together humor, personal anecdotes, camp participation, and contemporary examples to encourage listeners to be “stretcher bearers”—people who work together to bring others to Christ.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Introduction & Context (00:08–03:27)

• Phil introduces his family and love for Gull Lake, highlighting the joy of multi-generational camp experience.
• Mentions his ministry's global reach, particularly in India, and endorses the synergy between Walk Thru the Bible and Mission India.
• Sets up the week’s main series ("Rooted"), but notes this message is a standalone.

2. Setting the Scene: Mark 2 and Capernaum (03:27–10:47)

• Phil explains Jesus' “home” in Capernaum, not his birthplace but his ministry headquarters.
• Uses humor (e.g., recounting being on Wheel of Fortune and a Jeopardy nightmare) to make biblical context relatable.
• Describes the environment where Jesus is teaching—a home so packed people cannot get in, setting up the tension of the story.

3. Interactive Storytelling: The Stretcher Bearer Scene (07:28–10:47)

• Invites campers to act out the passage, playfully assigning roles (“Cobra Chai” and “Gulsifer”) and reenacting the friends carrying the paralyzed man.
• Uses this as a springboard to identify key “stretcher bearer” qualities.

4. The Five Lessons From Stretcher Bearers (10:47–28:21)

Lesson 1: Stretcher Bearers Work Together (11:22–12:55)

• Evangelism is not a solo act; it’s a team effort.
• Quote: “I know very few people who have come to know Christ where it wasn’t actually a team effort.” (11:39)
• Participatory hand sign: Bring hands together—“work together.”

Lesson 2: Stretcher Bearers Overcome Obstacles (16:45–16:54)

• The friends get creative, digging through the roof to reach Jesus.
• Humor about crowded rooms, flights, and practical camp obstacles.
• Quote: “Whatever the ministry is, there’s always a problem to be solved.” (17:02)
• Hand sign: “Overcome obstacles.”

Lesson 3: Stretcher Bearers Change Lives (17:39–19:30)

• Bringing people to Jesus results in transformation—sins forgiven, lives changed.
• Emphasizes Jesus’ authority and the gravity of forgiveness.
• Quote: “If you place your trust in Jesus…literally, He’s making that statement to you: ‘Ma’am, sir, your sins are forgiven.’” (18:45)
• Hand sign: “Change lives.”

Lesson 4: Stretcher Bearers Experience Opposition (23:45–24:03)

• Sharing faith brings resistance—whether cultural, familial, or spiritual.
• Cites the example of a family Thanksgiving gone awry due to attempts at faith-sharing.
• Quote: “Just expect opposition, expect resistance.” (24:03)
• Hand sign: “Experience opposition.”

Lesson 5: Stretcher Bearers Glorify God (26:34–28:21)

• The outcome is amazement and praise to God from all witnesses.
• Sign-language applause (“jazz hands”) is used as a hand sign.
• Quote: “‘All means all, and that’s all all means.’” (26:44)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Collaboration in Evangelism:
  “It is a group project to bring people to Jesus.” (12:08, Phil Tuttle)
• On Jesus’ Humor and Connection:
  “One of the things I think we’ve done is we’ve edited most of the humor out of the New Testament… I think Jesus made people laugh.” (15:28)
• On Obstacles:
  “There’s always obstacles. There’s always complications. There’s always shortages of funding.” (17:02)
• On Forgiveness and Authority:
  “Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?” (21:16–21:48)
• Family/Camp Humor:
  “Some of you are here because at a weak point, you agreed with your mother-in-law… and you’re going, ‘There are six sessions? That’s like three years of church in one week. Gross.’” (33:47)
• On Inclusion and Teamwork:
  “Reaching people with the good news of Jesus is a team sport—whether that’s all the way in India or 20 miles from here.” (36:51)

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Contemporary Application: Recovery Program Story (28:21–36:51)

• Phil shares about a group of men in drug and alcohol recovery who attended a Bible study at Billy Graham Cove, relating their story to the lessons of the story (teamwork, transformation, inclusion).
• Highlights how change is possible regardless of background and how many contribute—financiers, staff, hosts—to someone’s journey to faith.
• Quote: “They had a hand in being a stretcher bearer.” (38:00)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:08 — Personal Introduction and Family at Gull Lake
• 03:27 — Introduction to Mark 2 and Capernaum Context
• 07:28 — Interactive Reenactment of Stretcher Bearers
• 11:22 — Five Lessons from Stretcher Bearers Begin
• 16:45 — Overcoming Obstacles and Story Details
• 17:39 — The Power of Change and Forgiveness
• 23:45 — Opposition to Faith and Personal Stories
• 26:34 — Transformative Impact; All Are Amazed
• 28:21 — Modern Parallels: Recovery Program Narrative
• 36:51 — Closing Thoughts and Prayer

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Conclusion

Phil Tuttle delivers a compelling, often humorous, always practical message centered on the story of the stretcher bearers in Mark 2. He emphasizes the power of teamwork, creative problem-solving, persistence in the face of adversity, and the ultimate goal of glorifying God—challenging each listener to consider how they, too, can play a meaningful part in bringing others to Jesus.

Summary of Five Lessons (w/ Actions):

1. Work together (clasp hands)
2. Overcome obstacles (push forward motion)
3. Change lives (hands extended/up)
4. Experience opposition (defensive posture)
5. Glorify God (ASL applause/jazz hands)

As Phil closes:
"Lord, help us not just here, but when we go home to be stretcher bearers." (38:55)

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Transcript

[A]

Hello, my name is Phil, my wife is Ellen and we have two kids, Emily and Philip, who are with us this week. And Philip is married to Erica and they have five kids. So all five of our grandkids are here this week. I've been coming to Gull Lake for like I think eight different times I've been here. It's a whole lot more fun to come to a family camp with your family. I've figured that out already. Erica, our daughter in law, her sister Bridget and her husband Trent and their three kids are here and it's kind of spreading. It's pretty cool. Two years ago we were here. Philip and Erica were here a couple years ago, a couple kids ago I think maybe for them. And they fell in love with this place and said dad, would it offend you if we went to Gull Lake even when you're speaker there? And I'm like yeah, it won't be any good. But no, I didn't, I didn't, I know better than that. But I said of course. So they were here last year and then now they made friends in a certain week. But I go well when I am coming you have to come my week. So they're here. But we love this place, absolutely love this place. We are going to this week be looking at a five part series called Rooted Walk through the Bible. We're in about 140 countries so everything that Jennifer talked about, our strongest field is India. And I think last year we taught 1.8 million people in India which we can high five each other in the hallway about until you realize compared to 1.4 billion that's not very many. And all I can say is Walk through the Bible. God has called us to go like a lot of places. Mission India, as you can tell by the name is very, very focused and I cann endorse strongly enough the Ministry of Mission India. And I'm sure they'll find their way into some stories that I'll be sharing. But we don't have an official like top down partnership. But the folks that Jennifer was talking about and some of our folks, they minister together, we've got a team of about 30 full time trainers that train pastors all year and there's a lot, a lot of overlap as they're doing all this incredible church planting and our tools like this course I think is in 30 languages, 12 of which are the major languages of India. And so there's just a lot of synergy there. But and I'm just telling you you can give to mission India and feel really, really, really good about it. Especially because we share that same philosophy of we invest in nationals. There's always a need for American missionaries. You'll never hear me say anything bad about that.

[B]

But.

[A]

But their approach, our approach, which is to invest in nationals, they already know the language, right? They're going to be there. They're not going to come home. After a few years, my wife goes bonus. They like the food and they don't do dumb cultural things like sometimes I do when I visit. So anyway, just my heartfelt endorsement of that ministry. The only trouble with Rooted is there's how many sessions to this?

[B]

Five.

[A]

And I'm speaking six times. So this morning is not rooted. You're now unrooted. And we're just going to. We're going to look at just a standalone message together. And I'm really pumped to be able to share this. If I were to title this message, I would go back and forth between two topics. One, one being mission Possible. If you have your Bible and want to open it up to Mark chapter two, that's where we'll find this story. Or I probably would opt for, instead of Mission Possible, lessons from the Stretcher Bearers. What kind of a weird name is that for a message? Let's pick up Reading in Mark chapter two and we get the setting for this. It says, a few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. What do you mean, come home? Was Jesus born in Capernaum? Now, see, this is one of my recurring nightmares. I was on Wheel of Fortune years ago. I really was. And do not find that video on YouTube and show it this week during my message. If you pay attention all week, then we'll show it. No, we won't. But I did great till the bonus round, or almost the bonus round. And anyway, I snatched defeat from the hands of victory. It was not easy to do after winning four of the first five puzzles. By contrast, my daughter and I frequently watch Jeopardy. Together. And you gotta be smart to go on Jeopardy. Wheel of Fortune. Spelling helps, but other than that, it's. It's not like Jeopardy. One of my recurring nightmares is that I'll go on Jeopardy. Someday. Probably not gonna. And there will be. I have a huge lead going into Final Jeopardy. I cannot be caught. But when I see the Final Jeopardy. Category is the New Testament, I'm like, come on. The Lord hath provided. And so I go all in. And the question was, where was Jesus born? Or it's not. It's in the form of an answer. And I managed to mess it up. And I say, Capernaum, where in fact was Jesus born? Yeah. And not only do I lose all the money, I probably lose my job as president of Walk Thru the Bible in the process of that. What does it mean when he came home? Well, Capernaum is where Jesus established his ministry headquarters. It's right on the north edge of the Sea of Galilee. How many of you have ever been to Israel? Raise your hands. A handful. Not that many. It's opening up again now. It's getting safe again. I might wait a few months if I were you. Last Easter, Easter a year ago. I got to do the

[B]

service.

[A]

Easter sunrise service at the Garden Tomb that then was televised globally by CBN or. Yeah, by CBN all over the place. That's still one of the highlights of my life. If you ever have a chance to go there, take it, Take it. But up on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee, this is where Jesus met Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John, some of his first disciples who were fishermen there. And chapter one tells us about Jesus performed miracles there. He cast out a demon, he healed a leopard. And he's pretty popular there. So when they come home, a crowd gathers there. So many people gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door. And he preached the word to them. So picture this room here. I mean this is a good crowd.

[B]

Look around.

[A]

I mean the vast majority of the seats are filled, even in the front. That's not the amazing part that the back is filled. That happens in a lot of churches every Sunday. But the front is filled up. Can you imagine though, if this were not a gorgeous place like this, like Hoedan was describing to us, but a house, that's where they're meeting. And it's so packed in there that people can't get in. Even people who are trying to look in the door, it's too full. And notice what happens in the next verse. Some men came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four of them. We need. I mean, this is camp. We can have fun. I've got on a long sleeve shirt because it's Sunday morning. Then we'll get casual as the week goes on. But it's camp. We can have fun with this story. I need two High Tide counselors. Counselors first. Two High Tide counselors. I'll take volunteers or voluntold. I don't care. What's your name? Cobra Chai. Cobra Chai. Very nice, very nice. Would you take this? Don't unfold it. Just keep it like half folded like that and spread it out right over there. If you put on the floor. Need another high tide counselor. Who else we got? Yes, Come on up. What's your name? What? Gulsifer? I thought you said Lucifer. I was like, let's not. That would be a weird camp name, man. Let's say Cobra Chai is going to represent in our story. One of you is going to be Jesus. And one of you is going to be. Or no, one of you is not going to be Jesus. You neither one get to be Jesus. One of you is going to be the paralyzed dude. So that's you lie down on the mat and you are his friend. Now, Jesus is meeting at Thessalonians cottage over there, okay? That's where the gathering is. It's a very nice cabin. We happen to live there. And you want to take your friend to go meet Jesus? What are the odds you can pull this? Not good, huh? No. He's paralyzed. Yeah. This is not going to end well. I need three high tide students come up. There's two. Three. Now what would we do? Two in the back. And then I got his right leg. All right, you gotta. You gotta get him to that door over there.

[B]

Hold on.

[A]

Hey, that's close enough. Give them a hand. Give him a hand. Hey, Cobra tie, you got to stay there. You all can grab a seat right over there. Okay, let's keep going with the story. Some men came back bringing to a paralytic. Bringing to him a paralytic carried by how many of him? See how accurate this full reenactment was? I want to teach you five truths about being a stretcher bearer.

[B]

What is a stretcher bearer?

[A]

It's somebody who brings somebody to Jesus. I was trained growing up. I grew up in church and I was trained that like evangelism is like this individual sport. There's nothing wrong with memorizing the verses that tell somebody how they can come to know Christ. There's nothing wrong with seeking to explain the gospel. But what got reinforced in my mind was that all depended on me. Like that was an individual task. I know very people, very few people who have come to know Christ where it wasn't actually a team effort. I mean, you take. Let's take a. Let's take Mission India as a parable for a minute. That guy on the video, he tells a buddy of his about Jesus Christ. Well, he did that. He did that. Well, he didn't do that alone. I happen to know that language group, the Bihar People I know the translation projects of the Bible that went on there for years. There was not one word of scripture in their heart language. Wycliffe and other ministries took care of that. They grabbed a corner of that blanket. You've got that national leader there. You've got all sorts of people praying for them. You've got some of you who just participated in the offering or will later this week. That's you grabbing a corner of that blanket. Okay? So it is a group project to bring people to Jesus. That's our first point is stretcher bearers. Work together. Say that with me.

[B]

Stretcher bearers.

[A]

So Skippy and stretcher bearers just say, work together, alright? Walk through the Bible. Sometimes we do hand signs, not all the time. Today we are. Take your hands like this, bring them together and say, work together. Work together. Excellent. There will be a quiz at the end, so make sure you pay attention or no lunch for you. So they get him to the house when they get there. Verse 4 says, since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. Now, if you grew up around church and you heard this story lots of times, you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. I know this story. Can you imagine if you're sitting there? Better yet, imagine that you're at Gull Lake in the tabernacle and all of a sudden, in the middle of my talk, there's just this bright shaft of light comes in from up there and it shines down over on this group here. And you're like, whoa, what is that? And you kind of look up and these roofs in the Middle east, they're like made of stone and sand. So when they dug through that roof, it wasn't like they just flipped the skylight open, okay? I mean, they're digging through that and so all of a sudden there's these little pieces of sand coming down, then some pretty decent sized rocks falling down. Remember how packed it is in the house? You're sitting there like, this is like when I get in a middle seat on Delta. I've flown 2.9 million miles on Delta and yet every now and then they'll still drop me in a middle seat. And when I'm in the middle seat, three people are unhappy. It's just not a good deal. And you're like, excuse me, could you reach for my headset and help me put it on my head, you know? Or could you butter my Roll for me. That's how packed it is in this room. And then there's now a pretty good sized hole up there. Look up there. There's that hole. It's that round thing in the middle there. And then all of a sudden the hole kind of gets closer, clogged up, and it's blocked. And then you realize something's being lower down through the hole. So they don't just have his bed, they must have some ropes for you there. Cobra chai. And they bring him down and he lands. And suddenly there is room because people are like, you gotta scoot over, dude. And they make room. And there he is. What a disruption. What a distraction. I'll bet Jesus is ticked off. No, he's not. One of the things I think we've done is we've edited most of the humor out of the New Testament. I really believe one of the reasons kids love Jesus so much was because they just sensed his love for him. But why did the common people like him so much? Because he didn't talk in big gobbledygook theological terms. He just talked to their hearts. And I think Jesus made people laugh. In fact, I think there's a lot more humor in the New Testament. And we kind of as preacher types, we edit it all out and make them be serious all the time. I want to ask Jesus, when these guys did this, how did you respond? And he goes, I laughed. What do you think? I thought it was awesome. They're creative problem solvers. I don't know that to be true, but I would bet money on that. This is the second quality of stretcher bearers. What's the first quality? What's the first thing they do? Only you got to do it with your hands. Because your hands learn this before your brain and your mind do, right?

[B]

Stretcher bearers.

[A]

Secondly, stretch your bears. Overcome obstacles. Here's our hand. Sign for that. Say, overcome obstacles.

[B]

So stretch your bears.

[A]

What?

[B]

Stretcher bears?

[A]

Whatever the ministry is, there's always a problem to be solved. I mean, there will be problems this week at camp that most of us don't even know about. You know, somebody's toilet's going to overflow, some shipment of food isn't going to arrive on time. And so the kitchen staff is going to improvise. It's all about overcoming obstacles. Some of you had to overcome obstacles just to get here. You had this date on the calendar for all this time, and then you find out there's a project at work and it's like, ah, it's Killing me. Our son's a Chick Fil A operator. Tuesday is cow day. How rude of Chick Fil A to schedule cow day this year on the day when our operator son is going to be here. That's an obstacle he had to overcome. He's got good directors. Hopefully they're going to handle it and it's all going to work out. But there's always obstacles. There's always complications. There's always shortages of funding. There's times when you're trying to get into India with a group and you get turned around at the border because the government's watching you. Stretcher bearers overcome obstacles. When Jesus, verse 5 saw their faith, he said to the paralytic son, your sins are forgiven. This is the third truth about stretcher bearers. Stretcher bearers change lives. Go like this. Stretcher bearers change lives. Imagine hearing from Jesus himself, your sins are forgiven. Well, we're going to experience that. I mean, if you place your trust in Jesus as your savior, if you believe he died in your place, that you owed a debt you could never pay, and he paid a debt he didn't even owe, then literally he's making that statement to you. Ma', am, sir, your sins are forgiven. Stretch your bearers change lives. If this had music behind it, the keyboards would shift to the minor key. At this point now, some teachers of the law, verse six were sitting there thinking to themselves, why does this fellow talk like this? He's blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? So Jesus statement is really his claim to not just be a rabbi, a good teacher, a good moral example, but to be God himself, which Jesus really was. Fully human, but also fully divine, fully God. Who can forgive sins but God alone. Immediately, Jesus knew in his spirit that this is what they were thinking in their hearts. Aren't you glad I don't have that skill set? Lady in the seventh row, four seats in, you're thinking, when is this session going to end? I'm really hungry. I didn't get breakfast. I was feeding the kids. I see that thought, ma'. Am. Now we're glad God doesn't give this ability to all of us, aren't we? Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier? Okay, you got to answer this question. Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up, take your mat and walk. Which is easier? Your sins are forgiven, or stand up, take your mat and go home? How many say, it's easier to say sins are forgiven? Raise Your hands, raise them high. It's pretty much about half the people. How many say no? It's easier to say, you're healed, take up your mat and walk. Raise your hands. Okay, that didn't add up to the whole group. I know what you're thinking. No, I don't know what you're thinking. Everybody's got to vote. You got to pick one.

[B]

This is forced choice.

[A]

This is not my question. This is Jesus question, which is easier? Your sins are forgiven, raise your hand. Oh, suddenly there's a revival of armpits out there. Great. How many would say no? It's easier to say, take up your mat and walk, Raise your hands. Ah, smaller group over here. Interesting. See, Gull Lake isn't your typical group. You all know you're too smart. You ask a normal group of people, they'll. Almost 80% of them will vote over here.

[B]

Why?

[A]

Because, I mean, we have doctors. Mean I had a hip replacement a few years ago. It made all the difference in the world. I had the surgery at 8:30 in the morning. At 2:30, I'm sitting at home in my own recliner. It was incredible. We even have doctors who can do that. So surely that's easier than your sins are forgiven. That causes most people to vote over here. But you all were paying attention because the question was actually which is easier to say? And you caught that little distinction, didn't you, you smart little Gull Lake people. If I say stand up and walk, we're going to know in about nine seconds if I have game or not. Right, because you can verify it, right? In the fact if I pretend to be Jesus, say, your sins are forgiven, when are we going to find out if that's true? Not till after we die. And there's not many people come back bringing reports of. I mean, we hear these stories and then half of them seem to more get debunked. I don't know. So it's easier to go, your sins are forgiven. That's the implication with that. And so then Jesus says, why are you saying these things? Which is easier to say? The paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up, take your mat and walk. But. Or so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home. Not yet. Are you awake over there? Okay, good, good, good. This is the fourth thing.

[B]

Stretch your bears.

[A]

Experience opposition. Say that with me.

[B]

Stretch your bears.

[A]

Here's our hand sign. Stretch Your bears experience opposition. So we've done four so far. What's the first one?

[B]

Stretch your bears. They,

[A]

they and they. Yeah. Can you verify the truth of that statement? I mean, you're trying to share the good news of Jesus Christ with some people. Just expect opposition, expect resistance. There was a woman in our small group years ago. She goes, hey, please pray for us. Our whole family is getting together at Thanksgiving. Hardly anybody in our family but believes in Jesus Christ as their savior. I mean, we got a highly dysfunctional, crazy family. When we get together, it's not very good. But this year we're hosting, and I want to talk about what I'm thankful for, and I'm going to share about our faith in Jesus Christ. Will you please pray? Our group prayed the first meeting after Thanksgiving. We're all like, how did it go? We really did pray. I mean, we really did pray. And she just starts to cry. Her husband puts his arm around her, and he goes, it was not good. He goes, about a third of the family left before we even sliced the turkey. It just. Arguments broke out about politics. There was conflict about this. And, you know, they saw something hanging on the wall that reflected the family's faith in Christ. And they're like, more of this propaganda, more of blankety blank, blank, blank. And then finally the wife says, and this has been a few years ago, and you're not supposed to know who this person is anyway if you come to Gold Lake. But finally she goes, the only thing missing from our Thanksgiving dinner was Jerry Springer and his film crew. That was opposition. There's always opposition. There's funding problems. There's. There's restrictions and complications and all of that. There's just sometimes people's hardheartedness and stubbornness, but this time, I mean, this is Jesus himself. And he says, hey, Cobra chai, not only are your sins forgiven, but your legs are fixed. Get up, go home, take your mat. Oh, he's going to run. Yeah. Jesus doesn't do, like, halfway healings, you know. Limp on home there. No, very nice.

[B]

Verse 12.

[A]

He got up, he took his mat, and he walked out in full view of them. All this amazed everyone, and they praised God, saying what? We've never seen anything like this. That was awesome. Notice it says this? Amazed who? It's like the little boy who asks his mom, mommy, what does the word all mean? And she goes, well, all means. It's like an inclusive term that means. And he just kind of looks at her. She goes, what do you think it means? And he goes, all means All. And that's all. All means. And she goes, you got it. That would mean this included who. Even the religious leaders who are sitting in the back row going, who does this man claim to be? With this statement, this major shook up their categories. This is the fifth and final thing we learned from stretcher bearers, that stretcher bearers glorify God. And if you have family members or friends with hearing difficulties, you know that applause in asl, American Sign Language. Is this, Isn't that like the coolest thing? I just think this, this is great. So we're going to use this for glorify God. We've learned five lessons from the stretcher bearers. Show them to me.

[B]

Stretch your bears. Stretch your bears. Stretch your bears. Stretch your bears. Stretch your bears.

[A]

Alright, I know you can do it with me. I want to see you do it without me. Grab two, three, four people around you. Stand up real quick. Do it, do it three times. Go. You know what? This is still how it works. Ellen and I, I don't like to schedule things back to back. I like lots of time between them. But I was signed up last week to speak at the Billy Graham Cove down in North Carolina. We finished there Friday at noon. We drove back to Atlanta Friday afternoon. We flew up here yesterday morning. But something really cool happened at that event that I didn't share this message. We didn't talk about this. We were at a Bible intensive. 12 sessions in five days. It was like intense. It was accurately named. You imagine who signs up for events like that. It's skewed older, right? It's not a family camp. There's not stuff for kids to do. So it's primarily like my age and lots of people even older than that. There was one group there that didn't look like your typical Billy Graham Cove group. They happened to be 12 guys who are in a drug and alcohol recovery program up in Virginia. And they were down there with a couple of staff members. I mean, this ministry is amazing. I had never heard of it before, but these 12 guys live in a house, they're together for six months, they learn all sorts of scripture, they get some job skills, because otherwise you go home and you fall back into your same life. About half of them didn't just realize they had a problem with addiction. They actually were either in prison or headed to prison. And they were given a choice. You can serve out the rest of your term or you can go to prison or you can enter this program. And they're like, come on, give me the program right but that program was just a ticket to freedom. A lot of those guys are committed Christ followers, and they have the option of staying on for an extra six months to get even more rooted, which is why they wanted to come to that particular training, because they're now building that into their training up there. It's pretty cool. There were these three guys. I'd always sit up in the second row because I had to get up and speak all the time. And there were these three guys right in front of us from this group. And they were. To me, they were the joy of the week. We ate with them several times. We were just intrigued by them. They were all tatted up like tats on their tats. And, I mean, including their faces. And there was this one guy who. He really intrigued me. And so I asked the director about him. I won't use his name, but his director goes, he's probably the toughest nut to crack we've ever seen. And I said, really? Why do you say that? And he says, he went through our program two years ago, and because he's just such a tough guy, he was able to make himself follow the rules, make himself do all this. He even outwardly changed some because he's just. I mean, he can do whatever he focuses on. And then he got out of prison, and he went back to not just using, but dealing drugs or. He didn't go back to prison. He went home. He got back into all those old habits with all those old friends. And this time he's here not because the court said he had to, but he's like, I'm not ready to be out there yet. And the first day we were studying, the first half, we were studying Joseph, Old Testament, Joseph of Sears called Detour Finding purpose when life doesn't make sense. I taught it here a few years ago, and these three guys, like, instantly came up to me. There's a section on family, and they're like, wait a minute. You're saying that Joseph, as goofed up as his family was, they didn't use the word goofed up. But I'm paraphrasing for Sunday morning at Gold Lake. As goofed up as his family was at the end of his life, when he finally had a chance to nail his brothers, he didn't seek revenge. Our whole lives are built on revenge. You don't get revenge. You're weak. You're not holding up your place in the gang. And I said, he chose not to do that. And then the one guy says to me, he goes, but wait A minute. He goes, you're saying as messed up as his family was, he had a choice about what kind of family he was going to build. I go, you read the same verses as I did. And he goes, does that mean someday if I have kids that I'm not. It's not like predetermined that I'm going to beat them like my dad beat me almost every day growing up. And I go, you have freedom to choose as a result of that. That's our version of the caste system, is it not? That whatever situation, you're just cursed. You're. And you can't overcome that. That's not the message of scripture. The third day we got word from the director. He says, did so and so tell you what happened this afternoon? I go, no, I know they were hiking up to that mountain. It's supposed to take four hours round trip, three and a half to get up and a half hour to roll down, was how it was described to me. The COVID makes you take a radio with you because lots of people decide it was too much. He goes, yeah, they got up and back in two hours. These guys are ridiculously competitive. He says, then I ended up over in the chapel. And he says so and so said to me, last time I was here, he goes, I did all the stuff, but nothing changed here. Will you explain to me again how Jesus died in my place and he asked Jesus to be a savior that afternoon, sitting in that chapel. That is like last week that happened. I think that may happen, yes. I think that could happen this week. It's like, no, no, no. We're regular go, late guests. Some of you are here because at a weak point, you agreed with your mother in law. Okay, we'll go. Because she said she'd pay for it. I know how this works. Okay, and you're going. There's six sessions. Are you kidding me? That's like three years of church. I'm a CEO. Christmas, Christmas and Easter, only I'm a Christian CEO. That's three years worth of church in one week. Gross. This is not going to be between a root canal and a tax audit in difficulty. We're going to have some fun along the way this week, but open up your heart because this may be where you meet Jesus, but it's never one person that just leads somebody to faith in Jesus Christ. There's that guy who runs that program, who led him to Christ. Great. Well, somebody funds that program. Some anonymous donor said, hey, why don't you come down to the COVID I'll Pay. I'll pay for all 12 of the guys if you can get them down here. He doesn't even know who that was. Somebody. Well, a different guy. Oh, by the way, this guy, the director goes, did he tell you about the tats on his face? And I go, no, I didn't want to ask. He goes, ask him. I go, I figure it's more of his past life. And he's like, he's Aryan Brotherhood. If you don't know what that is, Google it if you want to get real depressed this afternoon. It's pure white supremacy stuff. It's a very, very, very violent gang. And he said he's walking away from all of that. Okay. Somebody else who was from a group pretty similar to that, who was there, wrote me a nine page letter before he was left. They had to leave a day early. And he says, will you thank the people here? He goes, we did not expect to be received like this. We don't dress like these people, we don't think like these people. He goes, I saw one other tat the whole week with all of these old people, and it was something. Some guy she used to date, his name was John, and their anniversary was March 16th. And I'm like, no, that would be John 3:16. And it's like, that's the only tatt he could find in the whole room. Nice ink, ma'. Am. Why, thank you. Yours too, son. Said, we did not expect to be received like we received here. They had a hand in being a stretcher bearer. So one more time while I go sit down and somebody comes up to close this service, or do I just close it? You? Me, I can pray before I pray, after I pray. I'll pray now and then as I go sit down. I want to hear five things that the stretcher bearers do. Father, thank you for this simple story. For some, it's the first time we've heard it. For others, we've heard it for years, but hopefully today it kind of came alive as those guys helped us act it out. Lord, you've left us no mystery about how you work this is. Reaching people with the good news of Jesus is a team sport, whether that's all the way in India or 20 miles from here. Lord, so help us. Even this week as we begin to look at Rooted and the story of Timothy, to take these themes and even trace these through some of what we learned together. Lord, use this week to draw all of us closer to you, whether it's opening our hearts for the first time, like my new friend did last week. Whether it's believing you in a fresh way that you mean I can have a family that goes against the culture the way I was raised. I'd love to see some differences in the legacy I build. And Lord, whatever it is you want to do use this week at Gull Lake. It is a privilege to be here and we thank you for it and help us not just here, but when we go home to be stretcher bearers. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

[B]

It.