Kerry Shook - 30 Second Sermon
What a great weekend it’s been at Woodland Church! It is Super Bowl weekend. I mean, it’s been super; God has been moving. I mean, over a thousand students at Reality Weekend at Woodland Church — unbelievable! I got a chance with my wife, Chris, to go over there last night and just see a thousand junior high and high school students praising God. We’ve taken over the entire Woodland Cynthia Woods Pavilion, and it’s just been amazing. They’re praising God, and then they break into small group Bible studies.
What it’s all about is just learning more about God’s Word and how to put it into their lives so they can stand strong against peer pressure. I really believe God is raising this generation at Woodland Church to change the world. He’s raising this generation around the world to change the world, and that’s what we’re about at Woodland Church. I’m so proud of each and every one of you who care, who give, and who make such a difference so that we can raise up this next generation with God’s power because they face so much today. I don’t know how they do it, but I wanted to show you this video-a little recap of what’s been going on this weekend. Just watch!
Yeah, where to go, students at Woodland Church! Woo! Hey, the title of my message this weekend is «30-Second Sermon,» and I know some of you, when you heard that title, got really excited, didn’t you? Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but the sermon is going to be longer than 30 seconds. Since it’s Super Bowl weekend, we’re going to take several 30-second Super Bowl commercials and let them lead us to some life-changing truths from God’s Word. Did you know that a 30-second Super Bowl commercial this year cost over $8 million just for 30 seconds? Companies will also spend millions more with ad agencies, actors, and directors to produce really creative commercials that get their message across. So I want us to use four Super Bowl commercials today and let the message they’re trying to get across lead us to the real message.
So here’s the first one: What does home mean to me? It’s my sanctuary. It’s the one place I can let my guard down. This is why I can just kick back and be totally comfortable in my own skin. You know what I’m saying? Rocket Mortgage understands that home is where I can be myself, and that feels pretty darn good. Home is where you feel the most comfortable, and Rocket Mortgage helps you feel comfortable financing that home with a personalized and convenient experience centered around you. Rocket Mortgage: Push button, get mortgage. You got this!
Okay, all right, good job! I love that. Yeah, but when you think about it, that’s what we do in life so much of the time. We’re always trying to project strength, and we try to hide our weaknesses. We want to show our strengths, but we don’t want anyone to know about our weaknesses. Some Christ followers think that God can really use my strengths, but He’s ashamed of my weaknesses. But it’s my weaknesses that God can use the most. The Apostle Paul had what he called a thorn in the flesh, and we don’t know what it is; it’s not mentioned in Scripture. It was a huge weakness; it was a great struggle. We don’t know specifically what it was.
Some scholars have speculated that he may have had poor eyesight, which would have been a big problem as he was writing most of the New Testament. Others have speculated that he may have had a speech impediment, which would have been a real struggle as he preached so often. Others have thought he may have struggled with depression. We don’t know what the thorn in the flesh was, but we do know Scripture tells us it was from Satan. Paul prayed for God to take it away three times.
You know, when Paul prayed, I mean, God would just answer instantly; miracles would happen. But this time, God didn’t do that, and God told Paul in this next passage, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, why: «But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, and difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.'»
Paul says he found that the secret to strength is weakness. Paul said he was weak and broken, and it brought him to his knees. But it was there, on his knees, that God filled him up with His supernatural strength. So, are you feeling weak today? Are you feeling worn out today? Maybe you’re going through a struggle that has just worn you down, or you’ve gone through a season of heartache that has left you completely broken. I want you to know that when you’re at your weakest, God’s power is at its greatest. Just know that! So you don’t have to hide your weakness; you don’t have to hide your struggles. On the outside, you may look strong; you may look like you have it all together, but we’re all broken on the inside. We all carry hidden hurts. We all go through struggles. We all have broken, messed-up places in our lives. When we admit that and stop pretending, then we can start depending and experiencing God by depending on His strength.
Folks, in life, you’re either pretending or you’re depending. You’re either pretending you’ve got it all together and you’re making it on your own, doing great, or you’re depending on God. Some of you are pretending, and you’re struggling. They’re overwhelming you; your strength has run out, and it’s time to stop pretending and depend on God’s strength. Maybe you’ve been pretending today. I mean, sometimes we come to church, and someone asks, «How are you doing?» «Great! It’s all good! Oh, wonderful!» Or we use those spiritual phrases like, «God is good all the time,» when we’re dying on the inside. I mean, church ought to be the one place where we can come and not pretend everything’s great when we’re hurting and bleeding on the inside.
So how are you doing, really? How are you doing, really? The people around you want to know; our pastors really want to know. We all go through struggles; we’re all broken. So when you come to church, you can say, «You know what? I’ve been going through hell this week. I need some heaven. I lost my job this week; it’s been crushing. It’s been a real struggle in my marriage; my heart is breaking.» We can be real at church because we’re all broken, but we’re looking to the Healer-the one who makes us whole. And it’s in the broken places of our lives that we try to hide where we experience God the most. It’s in the broken places where God meets us right where we are.
Look at Psalm 34:18. David said, «The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.» It’s in the deepest, darkest moments of life where you can feel God’s presence the most, and it’s unexplainable. It’s called the peace that passes understanding. And it’s in those places, those broken places, when you turn them to God that you see that God is real because He sees you through.
I want to say to you if you’re going through a time like that right now: don’t hide your hurt; bring it to God. God knows it; God sees it; He loves you so much, and He has the strength to hold you up when you don’t have the strength for the next step. And some of you have been trying to do life this week in your own strength, and you’ve been carrying a burden that’s too big for you. Just admit your weakness to God. Turn to His strength. And I know for some of you, this is your 30-second sermon. This is the one that you needed because you’re worn out and you need God’s strength, and He’s right there.
Well, here’s the next 30-second sermon. Just watch! «I’ll always take care of you.» Hey, little bee! Are you ready? Hey! You’re going to be a good boy? Don’t worry! Come on! I’ll be careful! Hey there! They know how to get you, don’t they? I mean, man, that last scene was so touching. I mean, the woman is resting with her baby, her husband, and her dog, thinking, «I love my dog a lot more than my husband.» No, I don’t know! I don’t know about that. She’s thinking back how faithful her dog’s love for her has been over the years. There are some things about a dog that remind me of God. I mean, dog spelled backward is God. Is that a coincidence? I don’t know. If you spell cat backward, it’s «tac,» like stepping on a thumbtack. You know, it’s painful. No, I like cats because they remind you of the devil, and it helps you learn more about the enemy. Some of you are going to send me emails over that; I know. Don’t do it! I really do love cats; we had a cuddly cat for 14 years, so don’t send me those emails, all right?
No, the commercial showed the dog’s faithfulness and love through the years, and we have a God whose faithfulness and love for us is really beyond understanding. Look at Ephesians chapter 3:18: «And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you’ll be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.» Paul here is saying that God’s love is incomprehensible; it’s unfathomable. You know, we can barely grasp it, but if you could just get a glimpse of how much God loves you, then it’s a game-changer. It makes all the difference in your life. Then Paul goes on to pray that we’ll have the power to understand just a little bit of how much God loves us, and that’s really my prayer today-that God will give us the power to understand just a little bit of the depth of God’s love for us because it will change everything in our lives.
A lot of preachers will tell you you just need to love God more-that’s your problem. You need to get serious about God; you need to get more committed to God. You’re not serious like you ought to be; you just need to love God more. You don’t need to love God more; what you need is to know how much God loves you because if you can just get a glimpse of how much God loves you, then it sets you free to surrender everything you are to Him because you know that you can trust a God who loves you that much.
You need to know how much God loves you, but most of us really struggle to comprehend how much God loves us. We struggle with feeling God’s complete, unconditional love for us. Because of that, we struggle to trust Him with our lives. We’re not sure how much God loves us; we have no grasp of how much God loves us, and so we’re afraid to trust Him with everything in our lives. And maybe you’re stressed out and anxious and restless today. You need to rest in God’s love for you. This is the sermon that some of you needed today. If you didn’t get anything else, you needed this: you need to see that God’s love for you is unconditional so you can rest in God’s love.
Look at this passage in Romans 5:8: «But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.» Christ loved us so much that He gave His life for us while we were still sinners. He didn’t wait for me to clean up my act before He died for me. He didn’t wait for me to earn or deserve His forgiveness. He didn’t wait for me to earn and deserve salvation before He bought it for me. I could never earn it. His love is unconditional; our human love is so conditional, and that’s why it’s hard for us to grasp how much God loves us because we don’t really understand unconditional love. I mean, human love is so conditional. It’s, «I love you if…» «I love you if you love me back.» «I love you if you meet my needs.» «I love you if you do these certain things.» And God says, «I love you, period. I love you no matter what.»
I’ve had to remind myself so many times that I can’t do anything to make God love me any more or any less than He does right now. When I mess up, when I disobey Him, when I sin, He doesn’t love me any less. It hurts Him because He knows how much sin is devastating in my life and in my relationships, but He loves me just the same. When I follow Him and I let Him do great things in my life and through my life, He doesn’t love me more. He already loves me completely. His love is unconditional, and sometimes it’s tough love to protect us from going down a painful path. The Bible says the Lord disciplines His children; He disciplines those He loves. But He loves me perfectly, and God’s love for me is not only unconditional; it’s unending.
Look at Lamentations chapter 3:22: «The faithful love of the Lord never ends; his mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.» God’s faithful love for you will never end. Great is His faithfulness; He hasn’t stopped loving you; He never will. Some of you feel like God’s nowhere around today. You’re wrestling with your worries and your fears. You just need to feel God’s love for you today. You realize you can stop wrestling with your worries and fears, and you can rest in God’s love. This is the message some of you needed today; you need to rest in God’s love. You can trust Him with all the things you’re worried about because He cares for you more than you even care about yourself, and He will never let you down. His faithful love will never fail you. Maybe that’s the sermon you needed. You just needed to know you can rest in God’s love. He’s going to take care of you; He loves you so much it’s beyond comprehension. Rest in God’s love today. Stop wrestling with your worries and just rest in God’s love.
Well, here’s the next 30-second sermon.
Hey, Mr. Smith! Want to try out my time machine? It runs on Doritos!
Sure! So now what?
Got to put the whole bag in!
Okay.
Yes, it’s really working!
Jimmy, this is the greatest moment of my life!
Get out of my yard, Jimmy!
You’re so old.
It’s the future!
A lot of us wish we had a real time machine, don’t we? I mean, we wish we could go back to the past and erase our regrets. Sometimes we wish we could skip over the present and our problems in the present and go right into the future. But here’s the secret to happiness: In Psalm 118:24, it says, «This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.» God says if you want to experience joy, you have to live in today. But often, we let past regrets and future worries keep us from choosing joy in the present. But joy is only found in today!
But we fall for the lie of «one day.» «Hey, one day when things settle down, I’ll really put God first. One day when it’s not so busy, I’ll get my priorities straight. You know, I’ll really focus more on relationships. One day when things settle down, I’ll do the most important things. One day when I get this problem out of my life, I’ll really enjoy life, but it’s really stressful right now: one day, one day, one day.»
But today is your one day! You can only live in today. When are we going to wake up and realize this is our life? This is your one and only life! Stop waiting to live! You’re trying to race past the present because of the problems in your life, but you’re missing out on the joy and the miracle in the moment. You see, if you’ve got something to say to someone, you need to say it today! Maybe you need to call someone today who’s made a difference in your life and tell them how grateful you are. You’ve been meaning to do that for the last 30 years; today is the day!
Maybe you need to tell someone that you love them today. If you’re going to do something for someone, do it today. If you’re going to give, give today! Don’t wait! God says today is the day; the miracle is in the moment! And some of you today are trying to fix the moment. You’re trying to change the moment; you’re trying to move past the moment, or you’re trying to make the moment perfect. And that is the easiest way to lose your joy! When you’re trying to fix this moment to make it just right and make it perfect, then you’re trying to make it heaven, and we’re not in heaven yet. There’s no perfect moment.
And maybe this is the sermon you needed today to remind you to choose joy in this moment, or you’re missing it! To choose joy in every moment-in every crowded moment, in every painful moment, in every exhilarating moment, and in every mundane moment-because the miracle is in the moment! Is this the message you needed? Is this the message you needed that you’re trying to fix this moment? Or you’re thinking, «You know, one day when I get through this,» or «I wish I could go back to the past and change this,» but you’re missing this present moment? Today is the day the Lord has made! Let’s stop waiting to live!
Well, here’s the last 30-second sermon.
For many people with blindness or low vision, there hasn’t always been an easy way to capture daily life.
One face cropped. Move your phone down.
One face in frame. Hold for photo.
Dinner for one.
Hello! One face and one person in frame.
Look who’s here!
Two faces in frame.
Happy birthday!
Two faces.
Good morning!
Two faces believe that!
First day in the new place!
Two faces!
You!
Two faces!
Two faces in frame!
Three faces in frame!
Hold for photo.
Capture your life, no matter how you experience it.
Guided frame only on Google Pixel 4.
30 seconds. Here we see through the eyes of someone who is visually impaired, where everything they see is blurry. But a lot of people in life are spiritually visually impaired. I mean, you can have 20/20 vision physically and be spiritually blind. And that’s what it says in 2 Corinthians 4:4. You need to realize this; it’s so important: «The god with a little 'g' of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.» The enemy, Satan, blinds the minds of unbelievers, and that’s why I’m always praying, «God, just open the eyes of all those who haven’t trusted you. Open their eyes because they’re blinded to the Gospel and their eyes need to be opened.»
And so whenever someone comes to Christ, their blindness goes away, and they see for the first time! What a powerful thing it is! So many of you remember when you came to Christ and then you started seeing things clearly. You started understanding what life was all about; you started seeing purpose in life and meaning and joy in life. But then, as a Christ follower, so many times we let our eyes get blurry, our vision get blurry and clouded. And that’s because we begin to look inward. If you want to know a recipe for depression, just look inward at your problems-all the things you’re going through, all your difficulties-how no one else really cares about you. If you start doing that, then everything gets clouded; you don’t see anything clearly; you have no perspective!
But when you get your eyes off yourself and on to God and then to others, that’s when you find the purpose in life! That’s when you realize that serving is what it’s all about. That’s why Jesus, who is God Himself, said, «I came to this earth not to be served but to serve others,» and He did that so that we could see that that’s the secret to true fulfillment in life! It’s not looking inward; that’s when things get blurry! It’s looking outward to God and to others! And when we do that, our needs get met! When you serve, you find fulfillment! Even all the psychiatrists and all the social research today say that the people who are the happiest are those who serve. It’s so true! God made us that way! He made us to serve! But we always think we’re too busy to serve!
We think, «You know, I don’t have time. I’ve got to look at my needs; I’ve got to take care of the things I’m doing. My life is so crowded!» And it becomes so crowded that we have vision that’s clouded. God says, «I want to clear it up today! I want to clear it up today!» Look at Titus 3:14. It says, «Our people must learn to spend their time doing good in order to provide for real needs. They should not live useless lives.» It says if you want purpose in life, you have to serve others.
You know, we have a ministry that’s fairly new at our church called Embrace. It’s our special needs ministry, and I’m so proud of our daughter, Megan, who had this on her heart several years ago, and now it’s come to fruition. We have a woman in charge who’s amazing, a great leader. She’s got a Master’s in special education and taught in the school system for so many years. We have an amazing team in there, and we’ve built out a whole section of our children’s ministry for it, and it goes up through preschool right now, and we’re going to expand it through grade school. It’s a great ministry! But I want you to hear from a great couple in our church, the Castros, who stepped out beyond their comfort zone and started serving in our Embrace ministry. Just watch.
Hello, my name is Eric Castro, and this is my wife, Elanor. And we’ve been serving in the Embrace ministry since June of 2024. We have been married almost four years. For myself, I had been thinking about how to volunteer in the church, wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. One of our friends had mentioned Embrace, and my husband is the one that kept bringing it up our very first time arriving here. We did say a prayer and just felt really good about this opportunity. It had been a while for my husband and I to be involved in anything together, so coming in here and just being excited-nervous, excited-but seeing the support that we’re given and surrounded by these loving kids, that’s the most rewarding thing!
When we first saw the children, I guess that’s when all of the anxiety and the nervousness just melted away immediately. Then, over time, we just started learning more and more, just engaging with them, and it’s just been such an amazing growth experience. Every single time we’ve been coming here, we get excited, and then afterwards, we’ll go out to a nice little breakfast or so and then we’ll kind of talk about our experience and just feeling a lot closer just talking about these beautiful children and just kind of how we feel a lot more connected with our church.
You don’t realize it until you’re actually doing it, and you’re involved with the children; you’re involved with the volunteers. Embrace has just brought such joy to Eric and me- personally, as well as our marriage. Definitely! Coming in here with either no training or limited training should never stop anyone. Don’t be afraid of just trying something new, especially taking care of special needs kids! I mean, there really fundamentally isn’t anything different in terms of how you just love others and love other children. Since that first day, it just felt so easy. It just felt easy because you have the right environment and the people here to support you.
It’s been really kind of strengthening our marriage. I think it’s been making us closer in so many ways. It just kind of brings on a whole new level of our relationship over here, of just kind of volunteering together. I’d like to challenge our church members to volunteer — to, if it’s just taking care of special needs children or just other programs-try something new! Get out of your comfort zone! And this is exactly something that I’ve been really enjoying and wanting to just encourage others who feel that they’re just so busy because you will always be busy every single day — 24/7! And there comes a point in time where, at least I felt it important to just add to my everyday routines of trying something new and something to give back.
That’s the real message, isn’t it? Right there-to move from selfishness to serving. I mean, that’s when you see things clearly. You see what purpose and meaning are all about. That’s when you experience joy! The healthiest emotion you can have is a spirit of generosity and a spirit of serving. All the studies show that! God’s Word has always said it. And so I really encourage you to serve. Come to a service and get fed, and then serve at one of our services. There are so many areas to serve in! If you want to serve in the Embrace or the children’s ministry, we’re going to have a table out there with all the fun and games, and we’re going to have a table that gives you more information about it.
But I just want to tell you, it doesn’t matter what ministry you serve in! Serve! Well, I don’t know what the message is for you today. Maybe you’re weak and worn out and you need His strength, and that was your 30-second sermon. You need to give your weaknesses to God so He can fill you with His strength. Or maybe you’re wrestling with worry and fear and anxiety, and you just need to rest in His love, and that was your sermon for today. Or maybe you’re grumbling about the problems you’re having in the present, talking about «one day» when things settle down, and they’ll never settle down, and you just need to choose joy in this moment.
Maybe that was your message today! Or maybe you have spiritual visual impairment, and you’re not seeing things clearly. But now God’s put on your heart to serve; maybe that was the message that you needed today. Or maybe the message for you was that you realized you’ve been blinded all your life, and the scales are coming off, and now you’re starting to see that Jesus is the only way. You’re starting to see that Christ loves you so much, and He gave His life and died for you and rose again so He can come into your life and change everything and give you the free gift of heaven one day. Maybe that was the message, and you just need to pray and receive Him right now.
Let’s bow together, and I want to give you a chance to do that. Just pray this prayer silently to God and receive His free gift of grace. He already loves you so much. Just pray this prayer: «Dear Jesus Christ, thank you for loving me. I need you; I can’t do this life on my own. So I ask you to forgive me of my sins and come into my life, Lord. Just make me new on the inside. I accept your free gift of salvation and heaven one day that I could never earn. Now help me grow in my faith. I want to put you first in my life and follow you from now on.»
And Lord, I pray for all of us who struggle at times to see a little bit of how much you love us, and sometimes we start falling into thinking if our performance is good enough, you’ll love us more. But, Lord, let us rest in Your love today so that we’ll step out, and we’ll serve and follow You out of love.
And Lord, I just pray for all those who are anxious and worried today. Just help us all rest in Your love. I pray for those who are feeling weak and worn out today that we’d just give you our weakness so that you can shine through and be glorified and give us Your strength. We pray that You would just meet needs today as only You can. For it’s in Jesus' name we pray, amen.