Christine Caine - Drop The Anchor, Part 1
I never thought it would be such great news to know that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. In a chaotic world, in a world of constant change, in a world of constant transformation, you know that Jesus remains the same. Have you ever felt like life was changing so quickly, you could barely catch up? I sure know that I have. Sometimes it can seem like a constantly moving tide, about to sweep you off your feet. How do we face the waves of life, and not get swept under? Well, in the midst of all the uncertainty and change around us, there is one thing that is immovable, an anchor that can hold us steady through any storm. I'm Christine Caine, and I have a personal mission to "Equip & Empower" people just like you, to connect with your God given purpose and potential. I am so glad that you're joining us today, let's get straight into the message.
Hey, hey everyone, hi, thanks so much for joining us today. I am so excited for every one of you on the other side of the screen. Thanks for tuning in today. I am thrilled about what we're going to talk about. We're talking about making sure that we learn to drop the anchor. My husband Nick is obsessed with boats, and every time we go away on a vacation, we always hire one of those little boats, and Nick likes to go out in the deep sea, in those little boats, and that forces my prayer language to go to a whole new level, because I'm like, "Why are there only ships out here, Nick, and us, in our little boat"? But there was this one day, we were in Greece, you know, we have our A21 headquarters in Greece, and so we were out in the water, and Nick said to me, "Chris, you know, we're going to fish a little bit".
And I'm the kind of girl that I love to fish, as long as I don't touch the fish, because anyone else like that, it's just like you go awesome, I like the whole thought of fishing, I like the, but I don't want to have to touch it, and like I am a screamer, when they come into the boat. But Nick said to me, "Drop the anchor," of which I've got one, right here. And this is a heavy, and you all know what an anchor is, and so I'm thinking okay, I dropped the anchor, and no one ever told me that the anchor actually had to like connect to the ground, you know, like the sand down the bottom of, I just thought like you just throw it, and whatever happens, happens. And so I put it in, now about 20 minutes later, no joke, like we had dropped the anchor in this little bay where there were lots of other boats, and then all of a sudden we sort of look around, and the current, and the wind had taken us really, really, really far out. And Nick goes, "Chris, what did you do"? Well I said, "I threw the anchor, like you told me to throw the anchor". He goes, "Did you check that it actually grabbed the ground, and that it was anchored"? And I was like, "Nobody told me that part of the equation". And he said, "Christine, if it does not connect to the ground, the sea bed, then of course we are going to drift, and we are going to go off course".
Now when that happened, it just made me think the world as we knew it is totally shifting, morally, economically, politically, socially, environmentally, in every realm of life, things are changing. What we once thought to be true seems to no longer be true. Things that we just thought would never happen, are starting to happen. We are filled, you're almost frightened to turn the news on in the morning, because you're wondering what has happened today? Has there been another natural disaster? Has there been another terrorist attack? And there seems to be such fear, and terror, and you're watching people just sway, and people don't where to be anchored, and really the whole purpose of this series that we're going to teach over the next few weeks, is the fact that change is happening, and we are not going to be able to change, because change happens whether you like it or not. But where you are anchored will determine where you end up, and will determine whether you can stay steady in a time of great change and great transformation.
We, the church, do not need to freak out when change is happening, but everywhere that I travel, it is amazing to me that I'm watching Christians being just tossed by the winds, and the storms that are happening in every realm of life. And so I really felt challenged by the holy spirit to say you know what, we need to look at where our anchor is set. Some of us, as Christians, like I was that day in Greece, where I just kind of threw the anchor and just thought, well you know, that's enough. It is not just enough to kind of go well, I'm just hanging on to Jesus, somewhere, and you know, I go to church occasionally, and I read the word every now and again, and I play a really nice Christian song that is not going to cut it in the day, and the age in which we live. If we are truly anchored on the word of God, on Jesus Christ himself, then you know what, it does not matter what storms come, it does not matter what happens on the stock market, it does not matter who ends up in government, it does not matter ultimately what is going on, chaotically in the world around us.
If we are anchored in the truth of Jesus Christ, we do not need to be swept like everybody else. We do not need to be going, just 'cause the world's going cray cray doesn't mean you have to go cray cray. I just need to say that, because I'm watching people, and I'm thinking, look everyone around you is freaking out, you don't have to. Maybe you're watching this today, and everyone in your family, you're like who are these humans? Where did thy come from? These people that I'm living with, but the fact is if you can be stable, in the midst of an unstable world, it is going to be a great testimony to and I don't know that there's a more timely thing that we can speak about, on the planet today.
How do you stay stable in the midst of instability? How do you make sure that your anchor has really connected, so that you stay anchored when everything around you is literally, literally being swept? You know, storms are going to come. Trials are going to come, tribulation is going to come. We live in a fallen world. Sometimes I think we think if I'm really in faith, then nothing is going to touch me. That's no where in the Bible. Jesus never said that, there is no precedent in scripture. He says that in the midst of it, if you are anchored in him, then you can still thrive, and you can still flourish, no matter what comes against you, and what happens.
And so, I want to speak about this great news. The Bible says in Hebrews 13:8, now many of you know that at 50, I have prayed that my eyesight would still be strong, and I used to laugh at my mother, all the time, and she used to always say to me, "Christina, where you are, I once was, and where I am, you one day will be". And the fact is, at 50, my mother's still always right. And so, here I am, and so the Bible says in Hebrews 13:8 that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. I don't know if that is good news for you, but that is really, really good news for me, that while everything else seems to be changing, I'm looking at things going, wow, yesterday this was like that, and today in the news, it's changed like that. I never thought it would be such great news to know that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
In a chaotic world, in a world of constant change, in a world of constant transformation, you know that Jesus remains the same. His love remains the same, his mercy remains the same, his grace remains the same, his compassion remains the same. Jesus Christ is the same. Most of us women are not the same one hour to the next. But Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. My husband Nick often says, and especially you know, once you go post 50, and your hormones begin to get really hormonal, he's like, "I'm really glad that Jesus doesn't change, Christine, because you really do, every five seconds". Anyway so, that would be. Our text for this whole series, and we are going to camp here, and I really think that this is going to be beneficial, I hope that you are going to tune in every week, and that you are going to watch this, because I know that Jesus has a word for you. A word of strength, and courage, in the midst of the chaotic, turbulent times, in which we are living in.
We're going to turn to Hebrews 6:13. The Bible says for when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself. That's a perk of being God. There is no one greater than you swear by, but by yourself. Saying, "Surely I will bless you, and multiply you". And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, that would be a big thing for our generation, wouldn't it, to know how to patiently wait. The Bible says that you need faith, and patience, and that's how you're going to inherit the promise. It's not faith alone, faith is not enough. We need patience as well as faith, and we have a generation that is so impatient. Basically if there's not an app for it, we don't want it.
And so we are living in the world where you know, if we want to car, we're going to press our Uber app. If I want to seat at a restaurant, I'm going to go to opentable. I'm not going to line up to get my tickets for anything, I'm going to go to seatgeek. And I don't want to wait for when a television program's on, I'm going to go to Netflix or Hulu, or Amazon. And I do not even want to wait for my groceries to come in a day, I'm going to go to Amazon prime, and I am going to get them in the next hour. And so everything in our life is geared to keep us impatient, and yet if we are going to really lay ahold of the purposes of God, we're going to need faith and patience. I think that is the biggest challenge for this generation, is the fact that we want everything yesterday. We don't want to wait for anything, and yet here it says that we are going to need to patiently wait.
So Abraham, having patiently waited, that sort of happens when you're 100, and you got to pop out a kid, but anyway, so obtained the promise. And so you're going to obtain the promise if you learn to patiently wait. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes, an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly, to the heirs of the promise, that's us, the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things. Isn't it nice to know that there is two unchangeable things, like seriously, you know. I often think if my daughters, I have two daughters, and they are not unchangeable things. If we are going to go out, my 15 year old has hit that stage where honestly, there are 10 outfit changes, just to go to the mall, down the road, like I'm like seriously, Catherine? And so, "Mommy what do you think of this top, and what do you think about that top"? And I thought I don't know if that's just hard wired in.
Now this text, you know, the writer to the Hebrews, he was writing to Jewish Christians, who were undergoing incredible trials and persecution. In fact, it was so bad, people were being martyred for their faith. People were being ostracized by their families, they were being thrown out. You think sometimes it's difficult to be a Christian in the world in which we live in today. I mean to be a Hebrew Christian, a Jewish Christian, to have been someone that converted from Judaism, to Christianity, in these times, it meant that you lost everything. You lost all of you status, you lost any credibility, you were likely to have lost your business, your family certainly would've disowned you. And many people were even being martyred for their faith.
Now a lot of these Christians that were facing imprisonment, at this time, when this text was written, they were wondering, did I do the right thing? And I know that there's a lot of Christians in the world today that feel that way. We feel like there's a lot of persecution, we feel like people are coming against us, that what we believe seems to be irrelevant to the world in which we live. And sometimes just like these Jewish Christians, they're thinking like should I go back? Should I go back to Judaism? Should I go back to the where it was more comfortable, where I was more accepted, where people loved me more? And I know that there are people, as I travel, I see them saying, "Christine, you know it's hard core to be a Christian today".
You know, morally, we don't line up with what popular culture says, and sometimes I'm ridiculed at work, sometimes I'm ridiculed at home. People believe that I'm an idiot, because I believe in Christianity, that somehow it's old fashioned, it's outdated. I mean Christine, to try to keep myself morally pure in a very impure world, to not try to get ahead, and to lie, and to cheat, and maybe you know, cheat on my tax returns, or not to gossip or slander, or steal someone's reputation. People think we are bizarre, because we say that despite the fact that the culture says this is okay, God doesn't say it's okay, and we want to please God, we don't want to please man. Well people think you're a fool for thinking like that, in today's day and age.
People have confused tolerance with endorsement. They think that you know what, it's not only okay to tolerate what the Bible says is not okay, but I must endorse it. And if you don't endorse it, there's something wrong with you, you know, you're either a bigot or you're a racist, or you're misogynist, or you are some kind of 'ist', everyone is an 'ist', you know, and so, the fact is to try to remain loving, and gracious, and inclusive, and not exclusive. And kind, and gentle, but still absolutely obedient to the truth of the word of God. It's not as easy as it once was. It's certainly not as easy. People do not applaud you and think you're awesome, because you're a Christian. In fact, they think that you are weird, and that's good, because the Bible actually says that we are a peculiar people.
And so I think it's about time that Christians have realized this is not our home, we are just passing through. Now that doesn't mean we need to be fruit loops, and weird. And so sometimes, you know, Christians basically give us a bad name. You do not need to be intentionally weird. We're weird enough as it is, so please, please. The Bible says that we're to be in this world, but not of it, and so the fact is, that does not mean we are spiritual fruit loops that walk on water. We've got to understand the world that we are in. Like the children of Issachar, who understand their times, and they knew what they ought to do. We need Christians that are intelligent, we need Christians that understand the world in which we live.
We need Christians that can minister to the world in which we live, that can be salt, and that can be light, and that are not fearful of the world in which we live, but that we're not going to back down. Not because of where we feel arrogant, or exclusive, but because we believe we have good news, because we believe we have truth, because we believe that Jesus is this hope we have as an anchor for our soul, and the fact is, when you actually really believe what you say you believe, you want everyone else to know this good news. Not out of legalism, not out of judgment, we don't want to use the Bible to bash people over the head, but because we believe it's a book of life, it's a book of hope, it's a book of purpose, it's a book of destiny, we believe that if people encounter a living relationship with Jesus Christ, their life will turn upside down. And they will find hope and purpose, in chaotic times.
Well in this day, basically the writer to the Hebrews was reminding them, you can trust the promises of God. God is not a man that he will lie. God, it is impossible for him to lie. If God said it, God would do it, and today, I want to speak to that hope in you. I want to speak to that purpose in you. I want to speak to that potential in you. I want to remind you that God is on your side, and if your God is for you, then who can be against you? And you can continue to trust him, despite the trials, despite the tribulations, despite the challenges, that we want to be anchored to Jesus. In a world of uncertainty, in a world of trials, in a world of disappointments, I want to remind you that Jesus is our hope, and our anchor.
And so through this series, what we will be doing over the next few weeks, so you do not want to miss one of these, and as I keep lifting up this anchor over the next few weeks, I'm going to develop a lot of muscles, because this is much heavier than it seems. I just want you to all to know. Thank God that I've been doing a bit of like, you know, reps, by serving up some course, up here, 'cause this is pretty strong. But we're going to check our chains and our links that are connected to the anchor, because the fact of the matter is Jesus is secure, but are you connected to him? And are the links in your chain secure, and connected to him, because if they're not, the problem isn't Jesus, the problem is us. And the problem is that somewhere along the line, there was a link in the chain that got broken, or that maybe you have a weak link, and I'm believing God through this series, that that weak link is going to be strengthened, so that you can stay connected to this anchor, and you're not going to go AWOL, when the storms come, when the trials come, when the tribulations come, but you are going to stay firmly grounded. Because the truth is, John 16:33, this is what the Bible says, Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in me, you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation".
Now that word does not mean you might have tribulation. It doesn't say that occasionally, perhaps you might, it says you will. Jesus himself said you will have tribulation. I bet you're glad that you tuned in to this broadcast today, didn't you? In this world, and then I love what Jesus says, don't tell me that he does not have a sense of humor. "But be of good cheer". Only Jesus would say that. "In this world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer," why? Because I have overcome the world. So wouldn't it be awesome if Christians actually acted like Jesus had overcome the world? Instead of cowering, and freaking out every time there is a bad report that comes on the television, every time we hear a negative report on Twitter, or Facebook, or Instagram, instead of cowering, and freaking out and running away in fear, we go you know what, I'm going to be of good cheer, because Jesus has overcome the world.
How would, that's when people would look at us, and go, you are peculiar. You are like weird people. And we go I know, I'm not saying that bad things are good, because bad things are bad. And so these trials come uninvited, and unexpected. You never expect tribulation. It's not like whoa, I thought that was going to happen. That's just what happens, and that's the nature of it. That's the nature of trials, someone you thought you could depend on, they've just gone AWOL, and you're like wow. Someone that you trusted has betrayed you, and you're like I didn't expect that. That's the whole point of it, no I didn't expect it. I didn't expect that that investment was and we were going to lose a whole lot of our money, or our accounts, you know. You don't expect it, 'cause if you expected it, you wouldn't have done it. You didn't expect that dream, or that ministry to just go, you didn't expect that kid to go way off course.
You've prayed over that child, you believed God, you've done what you believe the Bible to say, you've trained that child up, and so now, you've got to have the courage to say okay God, that when he's older, or she's older, they will not depart from your way. Or even though it seems like right now, they have way departed, and they've gone AWOL, and they've gone south, God I'm going to continue to trust you. You're never going to know where you are anchored, until the uninvited or unexpected trial comes, and you're going to see your reaction. That reaction will reveal to you where you really are with Jesus. Storms do not, storms just reveal what's already in us. When a trial comes, when a tribulation comes, all that is going to show you is what you really believe. So the point is you better stay anchored before it comes, because the fact is, it's not like that storm caused me to go off course. No, that storm revealed that you were never linked to the anchor, Jesus. Because if your link and your chain was strong, you would not have wavered.
You might've moved a little bit, but the boat wouldn't be in the middle of the ocean, it would still be in the bay, and the anchor, it might've pulled the chain, and you might've moved as far as that rope is, but you wouldn't have gone any further. And if you have now found yourself way off track, the current has taken you out, the wind has taken you out, the storms and the trials have taken you out into the deep ocean, you're like Jesus, where even are you? The issue isn't the anchor, the issue is the links in the chain. Somewhere along the line, somewhere here, something got broken, something got disconnected, and when the storm came, when the current came, when the wind came, that simply revealed to you that hey, you weren't joined, because you would not have wavered in the midst of that, and the whole purpose of this series is to reveal where perhaps some of the links in our chain have been broken, or maybe snapped, or maybe they're just a little bit disconnected, and I'm believing God that together, we are going to restrengthen those links, that we're going to get connected to the anchor, because when we are connected to the anchor, no matter what is going to happen in our future, you do not need to fear the future.
Proverbs 31 says she smiles at the future, and I think a lot of people look at us today, as Christians, and go why are some of you smiling? You know, in the midst of it, do you not see how negative things are? Do you not see the storm clouds coming? We're like ah yeah, but we're not focusing on those. We are fixing our eyes on Jesus, he is the author, he is the finisher, my soul is anchored in him, so no matter what storms come, bring it on, devil, 'cause greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world, in Jesus name, amen, amen. Let me pray for you, as we kick this off.
Father, I thank you that it is impossible for you to lie. Father, many of us have been hurt, many of us have been betrayed. Many of us have been hit by the storms, and even in this chaotic time, in which we're living, I thank you that you our soul, anchored in you, does not need to waver in the midst of great instability, and in the midst of great insecurity. We can know stability, and we can know security, because it doesn't rest in us, it doesn't rest in the economy, it doesn't rest in the circumstances, it doesn't rest in the latest news cycle. It rests in you, Jesus. So we put our hope, our trust, our faith, in you, Jesus Christ, this anchor we have for our soul, both firm, and secure, steadfast, immovable, in Jesus name, amen, amen.