Podcast Summary: Times Square Church - Sermons

Episode: This Is My Story, This Is My Song
Host: Pastor Tim Dilena
Date: October 12, 2025

Episode Overview

In this sermon, Pastor Tim Dilena explores the power and relevance of Psalm 107, connecting biblical stories of exile, struggle, and redemption to our personal journeys today. With warmth, candor, and illustrative personal anecdotes, Pastor Tim encourages listeners to discover their own story—of wandering, imprisonment, sickness, or storms—within the Psalm, and to recognize God as the unfailing rescuer who rewrites stories with hope. The recurring message: "This is my story, this is my song," referencing the famous hymn and the episode’s central theme, focuses on gratitude for God's steadfast love and the invitation to let God author a new chapter in every life.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Universality of Story & Song in Faith

• Pastor Tim opens with the significance of shared songs and stories in both Christianity and human experience.
• Songs like “Jesus Loves Me,” “Amazing Grace,” and “Blessed Assurance” function as communal anchors, linking believers across generations and geographies ([17:00]).

2. The Psalms as Prayer Language & Lifeline

• Shares personal testimony: “The Book of Psalms saved my life.” For two and a half years, reading—and praying through—five Psalms a day gave him spiritual language and hope ([07:00]).

  “I would take the verses and turn them into prayers. I would pray the Psalms. I would walk the streets or walk in a sanctuary and pray these things. Jonah did it, Jesus did it, the early church did it, and God, I'm doing it too.” - Pastor Tim ([13:00])

• Demonstrates how Jesus, the early church, and figures like Jonah turned to the Psalms during their darkest hours (Jesus quoting Psalm 22 from the cross, Jonah praying Psalms in the fish).

3. Psalm 107: Four Stories, Four Journeys

• Central teaching: Psalm 107 recounts four types of spiritual journeys (“biographies”)—and each is as relevant now as then.

• “Their stories are becoming our stories.”

• The four stories:

  1. Wanderers (Lost their Way):
     • Those who search for purpose or satisfaction everywhere but in God ([28:20]).
     • “You keep coming to dead ends... You're wandering to find something that can only come from God himself.”
  2. Prisoners (Lost their Freedom):
     • Individuals chained to regrets, destructive habits, or past rebellion ([36:00]).

     “Our own pain became our punishment. Boy, those words really got me. It says prisoners to our pain. And he says chained. Chained to our regrets.” - Pastor Tim

  3. Strugglers (Lost their Health):
     • Those battling sickness—physically, mentally, emotionally ([41:00]). Pastor shares a story of praying for a staff member awaiting medical results, highlighting “the mind battle that goes on there.”
  4. Storm-Tossed (Lost All Options):
     • People overwhelmed by life’s uncontrollable storms ([44:30]).

     “Wits end means there's no more options. I'm exhausted. I can't fight anymore.” - Pastor Tim

• All four stories resonate as “our stories”—shared by people in the sanctuary and around the world.

4. God as the Great Rescuer

• Each story resolves through the same pattern: a desperate cry to God—who always responds.

• Refrain: “Then we cried out, ‘Lord, help us, rescue us’… and he did.” Psalm 107 repeats this for each group ([51:45]):

  | Group | Their Cry | God's Response | Our Action | |---------------|------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------| | Wanderers | “Lord, help us, rescue us” ([52:05]) | He led to safety | “Lift up our hands and thank God...” | | Prisoners | “Lord, help us, rescue us” ([52:40]) | He broke their chains | “Give thanks to God...” | | Sick | “Lord, help us, rescue us” ([53:10]) | He healed | “Give thanks to God...” | | Storm-tossed | “Lord, help us, rescue us” ([53:42]) | He stilled the storm | “Give thanks to God...” |

5. Illustrations and Memorable Moments

• Elgin Staples’ Life Jacket Story ([48:00]):
  A WWII sailor twice rescued by the same life jacket—later discovering, incredibly, his mother made it.

  “God has made you and—here it comes—God will rescue you. God is the one that he made you and he is going to rescue you.”

• Fanny Crosby & ‘Blessed Assurance’ ([54:10]):

  • The hymn’s lyricist, blind due to malpractice at six weeks, “lost her health” but wrote over 9,000 songs.
  • “She said, I thank God that he didn't restore my sight. … I saw things that I couldn't see with my natural eyes.”

• Phone Stat Analogy ([57:10]):

  • Average person “touches their phone 2,600 times a day.” Challenged the congregation to “touch God” instead.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “If Jesus prayed the Psalms, and if the early church prayed the Psalms, and Jonah prayed the Psalms, man, it is good ground for me to be when I'm on the Psalms and to turn these into prayers.” ([13:15])
• “God gets his family back.” — quoting Philip Yancey ([19:15])
• “The unhappiest nations are those that try to find peace without the Prince of Peace.” ([30:15])
• “No one ever got anything from God on the grounds that he deserved it. If God answers prayer, it's because God is good.” —A.W. Tozer ([54:00])
• “The God who made you is the God that wants to rescue you today.” ([58:20])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:00] Global welcome and greeting nations/universities
• [07:00 – 17:30] Introduction to the Psalms as prayers; personal testimony
• [19:15] The theme: God gets His family back (Philip Yancey)
• [21:40 – 30:00] Psalm 107 as universal story: four biographies
• [28:20] Story 1: Wanderers
• [36:00] Story 2: Prisoners
• [41:00] Story 3: Strugglers (sickness and despair)
• [44:30] Story 4: Storm-tossed
• [48:00] Elgin Staples’ WWII rescue story
• [51:45] The common pattern: Cry & rescue in each story
• [54:10] Fanny Crosby illustration and singing "Blessed Assurance"
• [57:10] Phone analogy—”Touch God”
• [58:20] The altar call: “God wants to rescue you today.”

Flow & Tone

• The tone is conversational, warm, and earnest, rich with humor (“you’re watching some guy who both speaks and spits at the same time—what is going on here?”) and direct personal address.
• Pastor Tim frequently transitions between biblical exposition, personal anecdotes, and calls to decision, tying every part back to the main theme of rescue and hope.
• The inclusion of stories, global greetings, and even local church news (i.e., Beth Moore event) makes the sermon immediately relevant to both in-person and worldwide listeners.

Conclusion & Call to Action

• The episode closes with a passionate altar call, inviting wanderers, prisoners, the sick, and the storm-tossed to accept God’s offer of rescue and new beginnings (“born again”).
• The repeated assurance: “You get a new story. That’s what I love about that. Jesus said, no man can see the kingdom of heaven unless they are… born again.” ([59:10])
• Invitation for prayer, with an encouragement that “God didn’t come simply to fix this. He’s come to fix your forever.”

For Listeners Who Missed the Episode:
This rich, dynamic sermon offers hope to anyone feeling lost, burdened, or overwhelmed. Pastor Tim draws a straight line from ancient scripture to present experience, assuring all that—no matter where you start—“this is your story, this is your song,” and God is always ready to rescue and redeem.