Key points
- 1
1We ache for a home we've never seen because we were made for somewhere else.
Pastor Chris walks through C. S. Lewis's thought experiment of a dog, a bird, and a fish, each finding its heaven in the thing it was built for (the ball, the air, the water), and asks where humanity's equivalent 'home' is. He uses Lewis's own words about desires nothing in this world can satisfy, and Lewis's argument that calling anything 'crooked' or 'broken' assumes a straight standard exists somewhere.
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only reasonable explanation is that I was made for somewhere else”
Illustration
The park/meadow thought experiment about a dog, bird, and fish each finding 'home' in their element
- 2
2We were built for eternal life and unbroken covenant, so death and betrayal overwhelm us in ways we can't just reason our way through.
Pastor Chris connects this back to Eden, saying humans were never designed to die or to have covenants broken. He shares his own experience getting the phone call that his wife Paige had passed, admitting he didn't have the tools to cope, and names how overwhelm pushes people into anti-biblical coping patterns and repeating cycles of anger, bitterness, and bad decisions.
A story from life
Reference to the preacher's wife Paige dying in 2021
A story from life
The phone call informing the preacher of his wife's death and his inability to cope
- 3
3Jesus meets people in weakness and heavy burden, not in having their act together.
He corrects the common misread of Jesus' invitation, pointing out it's not 'come to me once you have it figured out' but 'come to me, all who are weak and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.' He cites a description of the church as 'a hospital for the sinner' rather than 'a museum for saints,' pushing back on a performance-based picture of God.
- 4
4Scripture is honestly full of people in disillusionment and grief, not just highlight-reel heroes.
Using 2 Timothy's description of Scripture as 'God-breathed,' he points out that Sunday school picture books skip the laments, so he reads from David in Psalm 13, Asaph in Psalm 73, Psalm 77, and walks through Job's story of losing everything and crying out, 'I cry out to you but you do not answer.' He notes even 'heroes' like Noah and David were deeply flawed, and the Old Testament points forward to the need for Jesus.
“a church is not a museum for saints but it is a hospital for the sinner”
“the bible's essentially a who's who of losers until Jesus shows up”
Illustration
Retelling of the story of Job, including Satan's challenge to God and Job's suffering
- 5
5The coping cycles the world hands us (bitterness, numbing, vengeance, self-punishment) don't actually work.
He asks pointedly whether bitterness is bringing joy or numbing is healing, naming blame cycles, cycles of anger against God, and 'getting your pound of flesh' through unforgiveness. He compares holding unforgiveness to 'drinking rat poison thinking the other person's gonna get hurt.'
- 6
6God is the potter who takes the shattered plan and offers a new one when we come to Him in humility.
Drawing on Jeremiah 18's image of clay jumping off the wheel and shattering, Pastor Chris says most people just stay on the ground, but God's mercy invites us back onto the wheel for a new plan even after our 'plan A' breaks (whether we broke it or someone else did, or death intervened). He's careful to clarify God hates divorce and death, citing Malachi 2 and John 11, rather than teaching that God planned the tragedy itself.
- 7
7Stop the spiral, drop the coping mechanisms, and roll into renewal by giving your whole life to Jesus.
He builds on the 'stop, drop, and roll' fire safety rule as a simple framework: stop repeating destructive cycles by introducing a disruptor (like actually following Jesus or confessing sin), drop coping mechanisms such as control, isolation, or numbing relationships, and roll into a renewed, ongoing relationship with Jesus rather than a once-a-week routine.
“If you live with unforgiveness, it's very similar to drinking rat poison thinking the other person's gonna get hurt”
“It's like sitting in prison of your own making where you hold the key but you just remain inside of that”
A story from life
Conversation with a Trader Joe's manager about training checkout staff to use a 'disruptor' question
A story from life
Phone call from Rick Warren after Paige's death about not being ready to deal with grief
Application
Pastor Chris's charge is simple: stop, drop, and roll. Stop repeating the cycles that aren't working, whether that's blame, bitterness, numbing out, or punishing yourself, and be willing to let something disrupt the pattern, even something as basic as confession or actually following Jesus. Drop the coping mechanisms that promise safety but really just wall your heart off from love and from God. And roll into renewal by giving your whole life over to Jesus, not as a once-a-week checkbox but as a daily, ongoing relationship. Whether you're the one who was hurt, the one who caused the hurt, or someone grieving a loss you didn't choose, the invitation is the same: come to Jesus as you are, not once you've earned it. He is the potter who takes shattered plans and, in His mercy, offers a new one. The question worth sitting with this week isn't who's to blame, but simply: is what I'm doing right now actually working?
