Podcast Summary: "Cope Like Christ // Triggered (Part 8)"

Transformation Church
Speaker: Pastor Brie Davis
Date: November 9, 2025

Episode Overview

In this deeply personal and practical message, Pastor Brie Davis leads the congregation through Part 8 of the "Triggered" series at Transformation Church, focusing on the theme "Cope Like Christ." Drawing from her own experiences with grief and spiritual bypassing, Pastor Brie challenges listeners to confront their emotional triggers with self-awareness, honesty, and Christ-centered coping mechanisms. The message provides a framework both for understanding unhealthy coping patterns and for embracing a transformative, Jesus-modeled approach to navigating emotional disturbance, stress, and life's inevitable pain.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Understanding Triggers & Spiritual Bypassing

• Definition: Triggers are emotional disturbances or stressors that set us off.
• Cultural Note: The term is much used today, referring to anything from dirty dishes to deep trauma.
• Spiritual Bypassing: Pastor Brie highlights the tendency to use scripture or spiritual language to ignore or avoid painful realities instead of addressing them honestly.
  • Quote: “Spiritual bypassing is when we use scripture or spiritual practices or even God to bypass reality... Instead, we use scripture, slap a scripture on it, and act like it's not a thing at all.” (07:00)

2. Personal Vulnerability & Grief

• Pastor Brie shares her story of losing her son, emphasizing the unpredictable and raw nature of grief.
  • Lesson: True spirituality includes acknowledging pain rather than masking it under gratitude or positivity.
  • Quote: “Shouldn't you be grateful for the life that you have?... Essentially what you're doing is telling your own body, let's ignore the pain and pretend like it's not there.” (10:40)

3. Biblical Foundation for Coping

• Matthew 11:28-30: Jesus’ invitation to find rest: “Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest... my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (13:24)
• Message: Jesus offers a new, lighter way to live, distinct from cultural or family-driven coping mechanisms.
  • Quote: “Our coping mechanisms is only us trying to find some relief... Do you wanna live differently?” (14:25)

4. The COPE Model: Four Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms

Pastor Brie introduces an acronym—COPE—for common ways people "crash out" when triggered:

| Letter | "Crash Out" Coping Style | Description | |--------|--------------------------|-------------| | C | Conflict | Externalizes triggers as a fight with others. Relief sought through control and anger. | | O | Oppression | Internalizes and sinks into emotions, withdrawing and isolating. | | P | Powering Through | Over-functioning and busyness to avoid feelings, sometimes leading to disobedience to God’s actual instructions. | | E | Externalizing | Blames others for one’s emotional disturbances, avoiding personal responsibility. |

a. Conflict (C) (16:00)

• Draws on the story of Saul and David from 1 Samuel 19.
• Telltale signs: picking fights, exaggerating, transferring guilt, using absolutes (“you always,” “you never”).
  • Quote: “Anger is just a surface level emotion. Underneath... they’re probably dealing with some hurt… But for these people, because conflict seems like a safe place and anger feels like a safe place, they can't actually heal.” (18:45)

b. Oppression (O) (24:20)

• Modeled by Elijah post-miraculous exploits.
• Characteristics: withdrawal, becoming invisible, making emotions their god.
  • Quote: “Feel all the feelings, but don’t let the feelings be the driver in your life.” (25:45)

c. Powering Through (P) (26:20)

• Example: Moses strikes the rock twice out of frustration, not obedience, missing the promised land.
• Traits: busyness, neglecting self-care, seeking significance in being needed.
  • Quote: “For every person that acts like you don’t need a Sabbath and you don’t need a day of rest... maybe if I’m needed somewhere, I won’t feel all the feelings that I’m feeling.” (28:55)

d. Externalizing (E) (34:30)

• Pattern: Blaming others for one’s own emotional upheaval (Adam blames Eve, Eve blames serpent in Genesis).

• Takeaway: Ownership is essential for freedom and transformation.

  • Quote: “If somebody else is at fault for your trigger, then that means that they have to be the one to own your freedom. And I don't know about anybody else, but I don't want nobody else having to be the person that gives me my freedom.” (35:35)

5. Coping Like Christ: A New Way

How did Jesus actually cope with ultimate triggers—most notably in the Garden of Gethsemane?

a. Community (C) (39:00)

• “Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled… My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” (Mark 14:33-34)
• Honest vulnerability in the presence of trusted community.
  • Quote: “He invited his community in... and he was vulnerable with them.” (40:00)

b. Obedience (O) (41:00)

• “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Mark 14:36)
• Coping by submitting feelings and desires to God’s will.

c. Prayer (P) (43:20)

• Jesus prayed three times, showing persistence in communicating with the Father.
  • Quote: “When we live a prayerless life, we're living beneath privilege.” (44:30)
• Even the simplest prayers matter: “Sometimes the boldest, biggest prayer that you can say is, God help me.” (44:55)

d. Empowerment (E) (46:30)

• Luke’s Gospel: “Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.” (Luke 22:43)
• God’s Spirit not only comforts but actively empowers believers to live differently—even in small, everyday moments of crisis.
  • Personal Story: Pastor Brie asked the Holy Spirit for patience in a heated marital argument: “By the time I walked over the threshold... I had what I know only came from heaven—a patience that was long suffering in that moment.” (49:27)

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “Spiritual bypassing is when God is actually trying to do some work of transformation in our lives. But because we don't want to do the hard work... we slap a scripture on it and act like it’s not a thing at all.” (07:00)
• “Feel all the feelings, but don’t let the feelings be the driver in your life.” (25:45)
• “There is no such thing as someone making you mad. You have to choose that.” (36:35)
• “As people of God, we should be the most confessional community on earth. And you know why? — because we serve a God that no matter what we do... he still loves us unconditionally.” (37:05)
• “When we live a prayerless life, we’re living beneath privilege. Do you understand that the creator of the entire universe is tuned into you?” (44:30)
• “There is a power... that the world cannot give us, and as the old saints say, the world cannot take away.” (47:10)
• “When we crash out, cope, essentially what we’re saying is that power ain’t strong enough. Today, I think God wants to open up all of our eyes to this empowerment that he wants to give us.” (50:40)

Important Timestamps

• Opening & Introduction to Triggers — (01:10–06:00)
• Spiritual Bypassing & Personal Grief Story — (06:30–11:40)
• Invitation to Self-Awareness & Defining a Trigger — (11:40–13:18)
• Matthew 11 Teaching & Introduction to COPE — (13:18–16:00)
• Conflict (“C”) Coping — (16:00–23:30)
• Oppression (“O”) Coping — (24:20–26:20)
• Powering Through (“P”) Coping — (26:20–34:30)
• Externalizing (“E”) Coping — (34:30–38:50)
• Healthy Coping: Jesus’ Example — (38:50–51:00)
• Personal Application & Empowerment Story — (46:30–50:45)
• Final Call to Transformation & Prayer — (50:45–end)

Tone & Style

Pastor Brie’s message is conversational, warm, honest, and often humorous (“I’m black. I don’t genuinely know what the [soccer league] … okay, anyway, pray for me!”). She combines biblical teaching, real-life anecdotes, and a gentle push toward practical self-awareness and spiritual growth. Her tone is compassionate but direct, encouraging listeners both to own their weaknesses and to reach for the “easy yoke” Jesus offers.

Summary Takeaway

"Cope Like Christ" means exchanging our old, often unhealthy coping mechanisms for Christ-modeled strategies rooted in community, obedience, persistent prayer, and genuine empowerment by the Holy Spirit. Pastor Brie invites listeners to embrace a lifestyle of honesty and transformation, refusing both denial and mere survival, and choosing instead to continually invite God into the very center of our emotional struggles.

“Do you want to live a different way?... Imagine Jesus standing in front of you saying, what do you want me to do? — Because that power lives on the inside of you.” (50:45)