Jesus calls His followers to do the seemingly impossible thing of loving their enemies, because maturity means letting go of self for God's glory and the only way to truly defeat an enemy is to make them a friend.
Jesus, like a good youth pastor, puts His followers in uncomfortable situations that stretch them to do more than they think possible. His hardest teaching is to love our enemies, not with feeling but with disciplined action, because maturity means letting go of self, and because God is still on a rescue mission for the broken souls of the very people who hate us.
A story from life
Story about being pressured into bungee jumping by his youth pastor at camp
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 1 of 5
Jesus, like a good youth pastor, deliberately puts His disciples in uncomfortable situations to grow them
Pastor TJ tells the story of his own youth pastor surprising the group with a bungee jump he was terrified to attempt but ended up loving. He connects this to Jesus taking His disciples up the mountain by the familiar Sea of Galilee and then preaching a sermon that pushed them into deeply uncomfortable territory.
“I'm so thankful for a youth pastor who put me in an uncomfortable situation”
— TJ McConahay
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 2 of 5
Jesus's command to love our enemies is radical and meant to be uncomfortable, not softened by familiarity
Pastor TJ notes that churchgoers have heard 'love your enemy' so many times they've become inoculated to how radical it is. He reframes it starkly: the person who would celebrate your firing, your bankruptcy, your public shame, or even your death is exactly who Jesus says to love.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 3 of 5
Maturity is letting go of self for the glory of God
Borrowing the phrase from his own youth pastor, Pastor TJ explains that growing up in Christ requires repeatedly giving up pieces of self, whether through paying bills, marriage, or raising children, and that God will especially use an enemy to force this growth. He clarifies that biblical love, per 1 Corinthians 13, is action and discipline, not warm feelings, and points to an eternal perspective (illustrated with a long rope representing eternity versus a short marked segment representing earthly suffering) as the reason we can endure it.
“maturity is letting go of self to the glory of God”
— TJ McConahay
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 4 of 5
The only real way to defeat an enemy is to make them a friend
Pastor TJ shares an extended personal story from his early youth ministry career in Oregon, where a volunteer youth pastor named Sonny became a bitter rival after Pastor TJ was hired without Sonny's knowledge. After a prank involving toothpick-tipped 'gotcha darts' accidentally hurt Sonny, the two bonded through laughter, discovered they shared the same calling, and Sonny went on to become a celebrated drug and alcohol counselor using methods they had built together.
A story from life
Story about a conflict with a fellow youth pastor named Sonny that turned into friendship after a dart-game mishap, and Sonny's later career as an addiction counselor
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 5 of 5
We love our enemies because God is the one who made them and is still pursuing their redemption
Pastor TJ highlights Matthew 5:45, love your enemies so that you may become children of your Father in heaven, arguing that recognizing God as our enemy's creator changes how we see them. He illustrates this with a story of crying over his broken balsa wood airplane in sixth grade, telling a friend he still picked it up because it's mine and I love it, and applies that same logic to God's ongoing love for broken people, even those who call themselves God's enemies.
“there's enough courage in you through the Holy Spirit that you can do a miracle so big that only God can get the credit”
— TJ McConahay
“can we be the church that makes enemies of no one and rescues some”
— TJ McConahay
A story from life
Story about breaking his balsa wood airplane at a school assembly and still loving it because it was his
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Take it into your week
Pastor TJ frames the charge as finding the courage to do the impossible: love your enemy.
Application
Love your enemy through action, not feeling
Discipline yourself to act in love toward whoever is against you, per 1 Corinthians 13, regardless of what you feel toward them this week.
Let go of self when God gives you an enemy
Recognize that God may be using a difficult person to grow you into maturity, and choose to release your grip on self rather than demand fairness.
Pursue friendship, not victory, over your enemy
Instead of trying to defeat or grind down someone who opposes you, look for the redemption story God might be writing, aiming to turn the relationship into friendship.
Remember your enemy is God's creation, still pursued by Him
See the person who hates you as someone God still loves and is working to restore, and join Jesus in that rescue mission rather than rooting for their downfall.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI