Mark 1:35; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Corinthians 10:12; Philippians 3:12
Why do we have a real moment with God and still act the same three weeks later? Guest speaker Pastor Chris Carmona of People Church teaches that an act of healing does not leave you acting healed; a moment must be stewarded, and we do not get to choose the context. Walking through Jesus at the well, he names four places where healing takes root: alone with God, in His Word, in community, and in your calling.
Key takeaways
- A moment with God is real, but you are still there in the morning; a moment must be stewarded, and stewardship lasts forever.
- We want God's results our way, but healing requires submission and God's ways are often paradoxical, meeting the soul beneath the practical problem.
- Healing begins alone with God, where alone means intention rather than isolation and where waiting on Him leads to self-awareness through God-awareness.
- The Word of God is alive and active and performs surgery on confusion, dividing what has been broken from what is true about you.
- You do not fully know you are healed until you are back among people, so get into community and serve in your calling, where God reveals the gifts He placed in you.
Message notes
Triggered people and the need for healing
Pastor Chris Carmona, who leads People Church with his wife Audrey, opens by describing what he learned pastoring through 2020, when people began switching off mid-message the moment something hit a nerve. Being triggered is real, and there is a big difference between someone wounding you and someone bumping a wound that already exists. The reason we do not grow the way we want to is that we need healing. We all know the person who reports a profound breakthrough with God and then is the same person in traffic three weeks later. "Yes, God was in the moment, but you're still there in the morning." We treat a moment as if it were forever, when a moment should be stewarded, and stewardship lasts forever.
We want God's results our way
Drawing on Moses confronting the assembly as rebels in Numbers 20, Pastor Chris explains that rebellion is our desire for autonomy when God has given us agency under authority. Healing requires submission, doing it God's way, yet what we really want is God's results on our terms and timeline. The kingdom is paradoxical: it achieves what we want in ways that seem contrary. At the well in John 4, the woman asked practical questions about water while Jesus answered her spiritually, healing the brokenness that had her drawing water alone at midday. God heals paradoxically so that we no longer find ourselves at the wrong well drawing the wrong water. If you insist on choosing the context for your healing, be ready to own the outcome; isolation is not transformation, so stack Sundays.
Context one: alone with God
From Mark 1:35, where Jesus rises while it is still dark to pray in a solitary place, the first context of healing is being alone with God. Alone is about intention, not isolation. We tend to give God our scraps and slot Him into busy schedules, but Scripture shows people waiting: Elijah found God in a whisper rather than the earthquake or fire, and Moses pitched a tent of meeting to meet God face to face. Pastor Chris challenges the habit of setting parameters on quiet time and declaring God unreal if He does not show up on schedule. The one willing to wait the longest meets God, and self-awareness starts with God awareness; when God searched him, He revealed that Chris was not the victim.
Context two: in the Word
Hebrews 4:12 says the Word is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, dividing soul and spirit and judging the heart. Jesus has already been defined by Jesus, so we cannot reshape Him to fit what we want to follow. Pastor Chris argues that Christianity is intellectually credible and that everyone runs on faith of some kind. For people muddled by anger and pain they cannot trace, the Word performs surgery, revealing God, reflecting us to ourselves, and bringing restraint. He adds that People Church now takes communion weekly, embracing the mystery.
Context three: in community
From 2 Corinthians 10:12, measuring ourselves by ourselves is unwise. You do not know how healed you are until you are around other people, because people are annoying and bump the wounds. Pastor Chris recalls a photo of a retired Kobe Bryant and sensing God say he was only better because he was in ministry, still in the league where people rub against him. Choose a work-through rather than a workaround. Contrast and confirmation create definition, so lose familiarity and receive the prophets God raises up in your Group, remembering that Nazareth rejected Jesus because they knew His family.
Context four: in your calling
Philippians 3:12 shows Paul pressing on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of him. Spiritual gifts lie dormant when they are not demanded, and the way you lead is the way you heal. Pastor Chris urges Elan to serve on Teams, make coffee, stand in the parking lot, and get it wrong until you get it right, because God reveals who you are as you serve.
God has not abandoned you
Closing, Pastor Chris addresses those who think the presence of problems proves God's absence. Like a father who says no for his children's good, God brings maturity through lessons, and He works all evil toward the good of those who love Him. Salvation seals eternity, and God also offers a flourishing life now so that others ask why and you point them to Him.
