[ANNOUNCER]
The following
program is brought to you
by the friends and
partners of Time of Grace.
[MUSIC]
Welcome to Time of
Grace; I'm Pastor Mike
Novotny.
He seemed too young to be
an alcoholic.
During my first year as a
pastor, I met a young man
who was in jail because of
the drinking problem that
he couldn't stop.
I talked to him about
Jesus, I explained to him
about forgiveness, and he
started to get better.
When he got out of jail, I
baptized him, we
celebrated, and I watched
him grow until he slid
back.
His struggle got worse and
worse and worse; the
police were called, his
relationships fell apart.
And then one day, weeks
later, I sat with him in
his empty garage and I
told him I run marathons
and not sprints.
I'm going to be with you
for the long haul; I'm not
going to give up just
because you stumbled.
But in my heart, I still
search for the right words
to say.
What do you say when
someone you know and love
is addicted to alcohol?
What if that's your
struggle or your son or
your daughter's or your
best friend's?
Today Pastor Mark Jeske is
going to open God's word
and remind us what to do
and what not to do when
someone we love struggles
with an addiction.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MARK JESKE]
There's a little
quiz; a one question quiz:
How many amendments are
there to the United States
constitution?
Who knows?
[Audience: Laughter]
Alright, I heard 25;
that's warm.
You want to take a shot?
[Audience: Too many.] Too
many, ha!
[Audience: Laughter]
That's the comment from
the peanut gallery here in
the front; too many.
There are 27, which is
what I thought.
I had to look it up though
just to make sure because
if I'm going to lay it out
there to you, then I
better be sure.
Twenty-seven.
Alright, you didn't do so
well on that one.
How about I give you an
easier one: How many of
the amendments to our
constitution have been
repealed?
[Audience: One] Correct;
that's the correct answer.
Which one was repealed?
I can't hear you.
[Audience: Prohibition]
Prohibition; the
eighteenth.
It was passed in 1917, it
took two years to work its
way through ratification
and the Volstead Act under
the leadership of a kind
of - one of our Minnesotan
neighbors who apparently
wanted to do whatever he
could to destroy the
economy of the state of
Wisconsin...
[Audience: Laughter]
...was a
teetotaler and a
tremendous advocate of
prohibition.
The Volstead Act was
passed in 1919.
It was repealed in 1933.
The 21st amendment
repealed the eighteenth.
People in the 1800s hated
what alcohol was doing to
their families - at least
there was enough of a
movement to cause the
powers that be in
Washington to actually go
through all the energy to
pass legislation and amend
the constitution, which
not only you have to do in
Washington, but then it
has to be ratified by a
minimum number of states.
That's a lot of work!
And the Christians were
really behind this
movement, at least a lot
of them were.
One of the most vocal
advocates of what was
called temperance back
then, was the WCTU, the
Women's Christian
Temperance Union.
There was a Christian
evangelist by the name of
Reverend Billy Sunday who
was very famous for his
crusades in those years
and here is what he said
in 1919: "The reign of
tears is over.
The slums will soon be a
memory.
We will turn our prisons
into factories and our
jails into storehouses and
corn cribs.
Men will walk upright now.
Women will smile.
Children will laugh.
Hell will be forever for
rent."
Hmm, not so much.
What actually happened was
by criminalizing something
that the majority of
Americans wanted to do,
all it did was jack up
bootlegging as a criminal
enterprise and modern
organized crime as we know
it really rose out of the
1920s.
Like every other of God's
gifts, the gift of alcohol
can be horribly abused.
It is a gift.
When Jesus and his Father
decided the time had come
to reveal his almighty
power and glory, what did
he do?
Did he heal a leper?
Did he raise up a cripple
from off the ground?
No, he did that plenty of
times later.
What did he do?
He [Audience: Made wine]
He manufactured wine and
not just a little teeny
little sipper glass for
the groom and one for the
bride.
How much wine did Jesus
create in his first
miracle?
One hundred twenty
gallons!
He made a lot of wine
because he liked it and he
wanted these people to
have a sufficient quantity
so that they could have a
great party.
And yet, the Scripture
also tells us repeatedly
that when you no longer
are controlling it and it
starts to control you and
you lose control and you
become addicted that you
forfeit - and you live in
that world - you can
forfeit your eternal
salvation.
There will be no
drunkards; you just heard
me read it a bit ago.
This is the work of our
sinful nature.
Drunkenness is a
punishable sin.
God hates it.
And here we are in the
middle of the human mess
where we've got God's
blessings on the one hand,
a blessing so great - of
all the substances in the
world, what did Jesus pick
to give you his body and
his blood?
Ordinary, world-widely
available substances - he
said a piece of bread and
a sip of wine found in
every country in the
world.
There was no electric
refrigeration back then.
When they had grape juice,
it wouldn't last because
it would immediately, in
that warm climate, start
to ferment.
They didn't have fridges
where they could keep
their Welch's in a nice
little jar or can or
something like that.
Every juice immediately
began to ferment so they
either drank it
immediately or let it go
to wine.
Wine would stabilize and
became an accepted table
beverage and Jesus picked
alcohol to be the vehicle
to give you his blood.
Isn't that amazing?
That shows that this isn't
intrinsically essentially
evil.
It's only what we do with
it.
And now here we are.
There's only two kinds of
people here today - either
you yourself have an
addiction problem,
possibly with - and
there's many things you
can be addicted to; I'm
going to center my remarks
today mostly on alcohol
and addiction to alcohol
but there are many other
things people get addicted
to.
You can be addicted to
street drugs.
You can be addicted to
pills, to prescription
drugs.
You can be addicted to
food.
You can be addicted to
sex.
You can be addicted to all
kinds of stuff.
Some people have
addictions to running;
they run too much and
pound their knees, the
cartilage in their knees,
into slush.
You can do anything too
much and when you're
driven by things you can't
control, you become an
addict.
The other half of you are
people who are friends
with or close to or
related to or married to
someone with an addiction
problem and addiction
always brings shame, it
brings fear, and it brings
an effort to conceal.
The addict, the first
casualty of every
addiction, is lying.
People lie.
They first start lying to
themselves and then they
lie at work and then they
lie to the people in their
home.
And the people who are
married to them or are
children of them or
parents of them often join
in a conspiracy of lying
to protect and shelter
because they don't want it
to come out.
It's the dirty family
secret and so they try to
conceal it and they
pretend.
And it's the pretending
that makes it get worse
and worse until the person
is truly in a pit so deep
he or she cannot climb
out.
I've got some good news
today.
Our Lord Jesus has an
answer!
And if you have a Bible
near you, let me invite
you to look it up.
I'd like you to hear some
thrilling and
inspirational words.
They come from the gospel
of St. John; it's in
chapter eight.
Jesus is talking chiefly
to Pharisees and they
don't like what they're
hearing.
In other words, this is
conflict and yet, here's
the insane thing - Jesus
didn't just say, "Well, to
hell with you all.
If that's what you want,
then go to hell.
I don't care."
He stayed there with them
talking with them.
Why?
Because he liked arguing?
Wrong.
He didn't like arguing any
more than you like
arguing.
He stayed engaged with
them because he gave them
worth and value in spite
of the fact that they
resisted what he was
saying, fought back,
argued against him, and
even joined in a plot.
That gang of Pharisees was
instrumental in organizing
his shameful fake trial
and his basically
executive government,
executive assassination,
through crucifixion.
They bullied Pilate into
having him crucified and
still, Jesus is here,
opening up the gates of
heaven to them to see if
any of them would listen.
And I hasten also to add
not every Pharisee
rejected Jesus and went to
hell.
Some of them did at first
but they changed their
mind later.
One of those Pharisees
that most hated the
teachings of Christ, a man
named Saul, led the
persecutions after Christ
had died and was buried,
rose, and ascended.
And he himself came to
faith.
Paul was a Pharisee and
ended up being the author
of 13 of the books of your
New Testament.
Jesus stayed engaged and I
guess that's sort of clue
number one - I'm going to
talk now to the people
whose lives are touched by
those with addictions.
Shunning is not the right
answer, at least at first.
Though you may be repelled
by the person's behaviors,
shunning never works.
Saying, "Oh, they're so
icky," and just running
away is not good.
Stay engaged.
It's what you do with
somebody with a friend
who's got an addiction is
start with unconditional
love.
That means your love for
that person is not based
on that person's
performance.
Same as Christ's love for
you is not based on your
performance for him; it's
based on his decision to
like you.
It's a big deal.
It's called grace and your
"What to do with somebody
in my family who is caught
up in an addiction?"
starts with grace also.
You have worth.
You have behaviors right
now that are not right but
you have worth.
You matter to me.
You have value.
I'm not going to hate you.
I'm not going to let my
fear and scorn make me
beat you down even farther
because what do you think
- what's behind the
attitudes of people who
are addicted to something?
Whether it's binge eating
or binge throwing up or
whether it's taking pills,
stealing pills or buy
pills and popping them,
what's behind that?
People - alcoholics don't
do it for the sheer pure
pleasure of throwing up
twice a day in the toilet.
They don't drink because
for the pure pleasure of
vomiting.
Why do they drink?
Maybe first to feel good,
then they drink to stop
feeling bad.
They drink because they
don't like their life.
They drink a lot because
they hate their life.
They overload because it's
a variation of a type of
suicide.
They wish it were over.
They wish it would stop.
They want to make the pain
stop somehow and they have
not figured out
constructive ways of doing
that.
And so they take cheap
shortcuts and not only do
they have addictive
instincts, the very
chemical nature of the
drugs or the alcohol that
they're taking interacts
with their body and
creates then a physical
dependency.
But I hasten to add that
the dependency of an
addict is only partially
physical; a lot of it is
mental and emotional, as
well.
You and I are part of
God's rescue team.
We're not here just to run
away from evil stuff but
God also enlisted us as
his agents to care about
the ones slipping away and
doing what Jesus did and
stay engaged and give them
a shot.
Jesus said, "If you hold
to my teaching, you are
really my disciples."
So that's the key to
everything is being a
believer in who Jesus is
and being a believer in
what Jesus did.
And he came to bring
unconditional love and
unconditional forgiveness.
That means our first
message for Pharisees and
for addicts is God loves
you and forgives you not
because of who you are,
but in spite of who you
are.
And his mercy is bigger
than your failures.
His forgiveness is bigger
than your sins.
His love is bigger than
your fear and self-hatred.
But it requires that you
first empty yourself and
stop pretending, stop
lying, stop the games and
that's why when somebody
shows up at an AA meeting,
what's the first thing
they make that person do?
They'll gang up on them if
they have to but step one
of the 12 steps is: "I am
an alcoholic and I'm
helpless to change
myself."
That's humbling, isn't it?
Some people can't get
there.
That's why one of the
strategies of AODA
counselors is some people,
though you want to change
them and their life is
going crazy, they're
risking losing their jobs,
they won't start changing
until they have hit
bottom.
As long as they're still
clinging to some fantasy
about their power, they're
not ready yet to change.
And it's sad to see what
is bottom for people?
Sometimes it's literally
bottom; they get literally
to death's door.
They're that close to
dying before they're
finally ready to say,
"Nothing in my hands I
bring.
Lord Jesus, what have you
got for me?"
Jesus said, "You will know
the truth and I have
truth.
Without me, you don't have
truth."
You have lots of pieces of
truth, you have details
and ideas scattered
around, but I'm the only
one that pulls it all
together to give a
coherent world view that
makes any sense and that
aligns with reality.
And that truth will set
you free.
In other words, you are
slaves but until you
realize your slaves, I
can't help you.
That's your problem,
Pharisees.
They said, "We are
Abraham's descendants.
We've never been slaves of
anyone."
Really?
Remind me what you were
doing in Egypt for several
hundred years.
What was that exodus
about?
Tell me again, exodus from
what?
Who was Moses?
Or what exactly did Moses
do?
Remind me.
What is this "we've never
been slaves?"
They were so into their
race, they were so into
their performance, which
gave them the illusion of
control over their
relationship with God,
they were blind to the
fact that Satan was making
monkeys out of them and
Jesus had to straighten
them out.
"How can you say we shall
be set free?
Jesus said, 'I tell you
the truth, everyone who
sins is a slave to sin.'"
And the problem with
substance addictions is
it's not only a sin
slavery, it now becomes a
chemical slavery, as well.
"A slave has no permanent
place in the family but a
son belongs to it forever.
So if the Son," with a
capital "S", what did
Jesus mean with a Son with
a capital "S?"
Himself.
"If I set you free, you
will be free indeed."
Here is hope to give to
people who are hopeless.
Here's encouragement to
give to people whose only
encouragement, whose only
coping strategy, is to get
another bottle, to crawl
inside that bottle and
then do the jump and jive
and dance and whatever you
have to do to pretend that
you're normal and can
handle your life even as
your life, is obvious to
everybody you, is spinning
out of control.
Tell them the truth.
Cut through the bologna
and lies and the
pretending.
Tell them you've got
nothing.
Tell them that
uncontrolled drunkenness
and surrendering to this
will endanger your
everlasting salvation.
If your life is bad now,
as bad as it is now,
you're not in hell yet.
You may think you're in
hell but you are not; it's
going to get worse.
But give them, as you give
them unconditional love,
give them unconditional
gospel, as well.
That there is mercy even
for someone in your
situation and your Savior
Jesus does not despise
you.
In fact, he came all the
way down to our mud to
show mercy and kindness to
the people who are victims
of Satan's temptations.
But that's your chance.
You need to believe that.
People also need the
experience of expert
guides to get out of an
addictive hole.
And I'm not necessarily
giving a blanket
endorsement to this
organization because I
don't know enough about it
but from all of my
experience over the years,
one of the organizations
that most successfully
caught up in addictions is
AA, Alcoholics Anonymous.
And one of the reasons is
because it's run by former
alcoholics or we call
them, not former, people
who are alcoholics who are
no longer drinking.
And what that does is it
gives them a radar that
they catch people in their
lying, pretending
behaviors.
You can't fool those women
and those dudes sitting in
the circle because they
know all the scams, they
know all the dodges, and
they will call you out and
not let you get away with
making your excuses.
And they'll be brutal.
They don't tippy toe
around because they know,
they've faced death,
they've faced the pit, and
they know we're not going
to dink around.
They will tell you if
you're acting and talking
like an idiot.
You're also hooked up with
a sponsor who's an older
and wiser and more mature
person who's ahead of you
in the recovery scale.
And that's somebody you
can call at two in the
morning when your hand is
already on the vodka
bottle and they are there
for you.
They don't mind being
woken up because they
would rather you call at
two in the morning than
that you smash yourself to
oblivion again drinking
again.
And also, when you fall -
if you fall - they don't
get all judgmental on you
and they will encourage
you, rally around you, and
help you get back on your
feet because hardly
anybody crawls out of the
pit on the first try.
There often are many
relapses and they will
help you reorganize and
reload and start over
again and encourage you
and they will help you
mark your progress and
help you realize that
alcohol has now instead of
a blessing of God, Satan
has turned it into your
worst nightmare.
It's your enemy.
No longer look at it like
as a solution to the
problems of your life.
View it as the cause of
the problems in your life.
The biggest of them all
that you and I have going
for us is the
encouragement from Christ.
In a way, we're all slaves
and it helps us keep a
humble tongue in our
mouths.
The last thing someone
trapped in an addiction
needs is a scolding coming
down hill if you think
you're better than they
are.
That would just make them
run away.
For you to shun them and
ignore them - as you're
like the untouchables,
you're unclean, ick - that
may be a last ditch
desperate tough love
measure.
But until you've gotten to
that point, stay engaged.
Pray for them.
Pray with them.
Go with them to AA or take
them to a meeting.
Get some counseling.
If somebody's really deep
into it, there are detox
places here that you can
just show up at and just
ask for help to shock
somebody out of it.
If you need to organize an
intervention where you
gang up on people who are
still in the fog of
pretending, do it because
sometimes it works.
But the power behind it
all is the power of the
Son of God to set them
free.
He promises, right here,
that he will do that as he
does it for you with your
different stupidities and
addictions that you might
have.
The different ways in
which Satan is trying to
enslave you, you may
extend that same
liberating power to people
you know who have become
addicts to some substance.
And Jesus gives people the
ability to have hope,
maybe to see value in
themselves again.
People drink because it's
a form of suicide.
They hate their life and
even hate themselves.
You can just show people
you're worth something.
You can show them
unconditional love and
forgiveness, brokered from
Christ, and let it flow
through you.
And then you will know the
truth and that truth has
the power to set people
free.
Help people on their knees
in humility to look at
Christ as their greatest
asset in their life.
Lord Jesus, nothing in my
hands I bring, simply to
your cross I cling.
Amen.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MICHAEL
NOVOTNY] I can still
remember the color of the
paint on my bedroom
ceiling.
Back in high school, I
struggled with a sin.
It wasn't alcohol and I'm
not sure if you'd call it
an addiction, but it was a
struggle.
And night after night, I'd
stare up at that ceiling
until one day I started to
wonder, "Am I still a
Christian?
Would a Christian struggle
this much and so often?
Would a Christian say
sorry to God one day and
then the next, and then
the next, and really be
sorry?"
It was the first time in
my life that I had really
doubted my salvation; I
really doubted that grace
was grace.
But there's a passage
during those days that
sustained me.
In Romans 7, the Apostle
Paul talked about his
struggle with sin.
He cried out, "The good
things I want to do, I
don't do it.
And the stuff that I hate,
I keep on doing it.
What a wretched person I
am!
Who's ever going to save
or rescue me?"
But do you know what he
said next?
"But thanks be to God who
gives us the victory
through Jesus Christ."
He said there is no
condemnation, no anger or
disappointment from God,
for those who are in
Christ Jesus.
Maybe you struggle with
sin like that, too?
Maybe it's alcohol or
pornography or anger or
shopping or food.
Or maybe it's someone that
you know and love.
What I needed most - and
what you need most - what
we all need most is grace.
Is that reminder from God
that there is still hope
and there is still love
and people like us can be
saved.
Remember that.
It's grace that teaches us
to say no to addictions
and worldly passions.
Let's remember that after
all the sin and all the
struggle, even today is a
time of grace.
I'll be back to pray with
you in a second.
[PROMOTION]
Every single
one of us can relate to
times in life when we need
hope to persevere.
And in our brand new book,
Where Do I Go From Here?
you'll discover how the
Bible says you can
navigate and move forward
from the trials you face
in life.
Where Do I Go From Here is
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power of perseverance
through the lens of
Scripture.
And as you read it, you'll
be reminded of the truth
that regardless of your
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Because in Jesus, you have
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We'll send you Where Do I
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[PASTOR MICHAEL NOVOTNY]
No one escapes an
addiction without a lot of
help, help from God and
help from God's people.
So for all of you as God's
people who pray and
support this ministry so
that we can help those who
are addicted with a
message of grace, thank
you.
Would you join me in
prayer?
Dear God, It is so easy
for us to give up on those
who struggle with the same
sin day after day and even
decade after decade.
In those moments when
we're frustrated and we
feel like giving in and
giving up, would you
remind us of your grace?
Would you remind us that
even when we struggle with
the same things day after
day, you still love and
delight in us and you walk
by our side?
Heavenly Father, I pray
especially for those
friends, those parents,
those spouses who love
someone who's caught in an
addiction.
Give them supernatural
perseverance and
endurance, God, that they
can do things with your
help that they could not
do on their own.
Would you help us to be
your people who bear one
another's burdens, even
the heavy burden of
addiction?
We ask for your strength
and your power today
because we desperately
need it and we ask it all
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
For Time of Grace, I'm
Pastor Mike Novotny and it
all starts now.
[MUSIC]
[ANNOUNCER] The
preceding program was
brought to you by the
friends and partners of
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