S05E003, Danger Zone, Endurance

 

 

Download - Listen - Transcription

On this episode, we look at the idea of ‘danger zones.’

Endurance is your weekly spiritual workout, whether you think of yourself as a beginner, an intermediate, or advanced!

#GoDeeper

This week Steven kicks off GoDeeper with a passage of Scripture from Mark, chapter 8 where Jesus commands us to take up our cross and follow Him.

He goes on to point out that if you keep certain everyday objects like a car or smart watch hidden away, out of danger, you defeat their purposes. That’s exactly what the servant with one talent did in the parable of the talents.

The apostle Paul practically lived in the “danger zone,” he was the prime example of what Steven and Nathan are talking about this week. However, Paul followed the Holy Spirit’s prompting into the “danger zone.”

Steven relates how his speaking to the camera was him stepping into the danger zone – figuratively speaking. And finally, he challenges us to step out of our comfort zones into the danger zone as and when God leads us to.

You can read the GoDeeper transcript here.

#GoDo

For the final segment, Nathan asks Steven some questions about his GoDeeper talk:

1. Were you suggesting it is more natural for Christians to be in the danger zone?
2. It states in Hebrews that without faith we cannot please God. Ergo, stepping out in faith, or into the ‘danger zone,’ is what pleases God, is it not?
3. You said that we need to take up our Cross. Could you clarify what you mean by a ‘cross’?
4. What colour is your T-shirt?

Check out this week’s episode to find out how Steven answered these questions.

Steven and Nathan

Listen
 

 

Download

 

 

Transcript

Nathan 0:23
Welcome to Endurance, your weekly spiritual workout with Steven and I, and me, Nathan.

Nathan 0:30
This week, we are looking at the idea of being in The Danger Zone. And the idea of not keeping to your comfort zone, to the paths that you are, that feel the safest to places that you feel most comfortable in. And actually being in The Danger Zone, stepping out in faith, is really what we need to do to obey God. And Steven will unravel this mystery for us momentarily.

Nathan 0:55
Because, in many ways, it is rather a difficult one to get your head around. Why would I want to step out into dangerous places? Surely keeping to safe places is the best place to serve God. But, often, God wants us to go into those dangerous places. So enjoy this week's episode of Endurance.

Nathan 1:24
Jesus risked a lot for you. He would have died for you, even if you were the only person needing forgiveness. So don't be afraid of taking risks for Him. #takerisksforChrist #SpeakTruth.

#GoDeeper Transcript

Steven 1:42
This is GoDeeper with me, Steven, looking at the idea of The Danger Zone. Looking at the idea of taking up the cross, as Jesus said in Mark 8. So I shall start with reading that. Mark 8, verse 34, to 35.

Steven 2:02
"Calling the crowd along with just his, with his disciples, he said to them. "If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me, for whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel, will save it."

Steven 2:20
That's what we're looking at the idea of taking up your cross. Entering The Danger Zone. So I've got an analogy to kind of show it. Imagine there's a brand new car that someone receives. And they don't want to get the tyres dirty, so they leave it in the garage and it doesn't get used. It defeatsit's own purpose.

Steven 2:39
Or, perhaps, more basic, a smartwatch. Rather than use it, so it doesn't get broken, you put it somewhere safe, maybe a drawer. It defeats his own purpose.

Steven 2:50
There's an analogy of that simila. Sorry, there's a passage of scripture in the Bible which talks about the talents. I think we're all pretty familiar with it. Three blokes, each one was given an amount of money, which is equivalent to 20 years salary. Quite a lot.

Steven 3:08
One of them just hid the money. He was kind of playing it safe to hit the money. And the other two invested it because it's kind of a risk when you invest money. It might not pay off.

Steven 3:17
But the first two guys spent the money, invested it and it grew. They went into The Danger Zone, where as the first, sorry, last guy, didn't do anything with it. He just hid it. He's doing the exact opposite of what we're talking about here. Interesting. When I looked up the word danger in the Bible, the first thing I got was this from Paul, in 2 Corinthians 11, 26."

Steven 3:43
On frequent journeys, I face dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false prophets.

Steven 3:57
Paul really did step out of his comfort zone. Sorry, did step into The Danger Zone. That's what we're talking about. He really went for it. And, and that's an example that we can follow.

Steven 4:09
Examples in our own lives of how we can step into The Danger Zone might be in public speaking, like what I'm doing now. Not necessarily the most comfortable thing for me in the world, and I do put myself out there on social media and stuff, but it's what I think God's asking me to do, and therefore I do it.

Steven 4:25
Other examples might be, perhaps, if you're with a non Christian friend, and you want to give them the gospel, but you don't want to step into that. So, 'cos there's a risk that you might lose their friendship or what have you. That is taking a risk is what we're talking about. Stepping into The Danger Zone is taking a risk. Obviously listening to the Holy Spirit, following God's leading. That is The Danger Zone that we need to step into.

Andy 5:01
In 2018, Jo and I were full time children's ministers, loving what we were doing, and wanting to share our resources freely with others to use.

Andy 5:10
Scroll on to years to 2020 and we'd finally launched our BerryBunch.family website chocked full of resources. It was a bit embarrassing we had one video, but we've now got nearly 500 videos for you to use, stream, share, and download with 900 posts, all full of information that you are free to use in your situation, whether that's a church, a family, or just for your own personal use.

Andy 5:35
We've been asked to do all sorts of things!

Andy 5:37
We've made logos for somebody who wanted a new logo for their blog.

Andy 5:41
We've been asked to create a Children's Discipleship group. So we've done that.

Andy 5:45
We've been asked to create a book about Broken Dreams, and Hope! And we've done that as well.

Andy 5:49
We love creating resources that are relevant for your situation so get in touch with what your needs are.

Andy 5:55
Our vision and our passion is to create material that is family safe, For Free, For All, wherever you are in the world. And that is exactly what we do. So if you want to help us continue to do that, or if you want us to make something specific for your situation, then get in touch.

Nathan 6:15
So, this is our last segment of Endurance. Where I'm going to ask Stephen a few pointed questions.

Steven 6:23
You're going to grill me?

Nathan 6:25
I wouldn't put it quite like that. But, yes, you've got the basic gist of it. Right, so first of all.

Steven 6:32
Hold on.

Nathan 6:34
You gonna brace yourself.

Steven 6:36
Go, go. Right, I'm ready.

Nathan 6:37
You ready? Okay. First, were you suggesting that we're made to be in The Danger Zone? Like that's the most natural place for us as Christians, more natural than being in a safe place?

Steven 6:53
I wouldn't say it's the most natural place. But I think, as Christians, we are to take up our cross. That's where we're supposed to be. So I guess you could say, but it doesn't come naturally, does it?

Nathan 7:06
No, no, not natural to our human nature.

Steven 7:09
But maybe to our

Nathan 7:10
But as Christians. It's not natural, natural for us to be comfortable for all of our lives. I mean, Jesus wasn't comfortable his entire life was He/

Steven 7:18
No!

Nathan 7:22
It states in Hebrews that without faith, we cannot please God. Ergo, stepping out in faith, or into The Danger Zone, is what pleases God is it not? So long as it's what He wants?

Steven 7:34
Yeah. That's what the verse says. Yeah. I'd say that's true.

Nathan 7:38
Okay. You've said that we need to take up our cross. I don't much feel like lugging a great big cross around all day. Could you clarify what you mean by that?

Steven 7:49
What Jesus meant by that was carrying the burden of being a Christian. It's, being a Christian quite simply, which isn't easy. It's a hard road to travel. It's, what's it, straight and narrow, a hard road to travel. So it's not a literal cross. It's a spiritual cross. It's a metaphorical cross.

Nathan 8:12
Oh, that's some relief!

Steven 8:14
It's the burden of being a Christian in a sin filled world. Yeah.

Nathan 8:20
Yeah. Okay. So, I've been wondering this for a while, and I've been pondering on it for quite some time, but I've not been able to arrive at an answer myself. What colour is your t shirt? Is it orange? 'Cos it's not quite orange. But it's not brown either. What would you call it?

Steven 8:38
I think it's sunset orange, or

Nathan 8:41
Sunset orange, technical, very technical. I see.

Steven 8:46
Are you satisfied?

Nathan 8:47
Yes. Thank you very much. Okay, so thank you for joining us. I hope you learned a great deal. Now you even know what Steve, colour Stevens t-shirt is. I'm sure you've been wondering just like me. And you can join us next week for our next episode of Endurance.

Jo 9:19
There are many ways to keep in touch with the BerryBunch. Visit our website and sign up to the Berry Bytes Newsletter so that you can be notified of all our videos, posts, exciting news, and seasonal events.

Andy 9:32
Subscribe to our Vimeo and YouTube channels where we post brand new, homegrown, video resources, every week.

Peter 9:39
Join us on DingDash a fabulous place that connects people all around the world. It's Social Media as it should be. Come join the rebellion!

Nathan 9:49
Like us on Facebook, where we hang out and post extra things to encourage and inspire you. We're on Twitter and Tumblr too. You can also follow us on Instagram where we share extra photos from the world of the BerryBunch.

Andy 10:03
If you've enjoyed any of our posts or videos, share it with a friend and encourage them too. And if you want to encourage us then like, comment and share on what we make.

Andy 10:14
To help support the ministry with free provide check us out on Patreon where you can support us financially as you feel led.