Click HERE to view Rev. Rogers’ guided meditation during the service.
Alright. You ever feel lost? All the time! [Laughs] Do you ever get lost and you don’t even realize you’re lost? That you’re so lost you’re the only one who doesn’t know you’re lost?
So tonight, I want to begin a two-month series on “Finding Yourself.” Because I believe, as spiritual beings, that a big part of our spiritual adventure is finding ourselves. Because the reality is that you were created by God, but most of us didn’t get an owner’s manual. [Congregation laughs] And the people that raised many of us weren’t altogether sure exactly who they were to really empower us to be the best version of who we are. And so I think, for most of us, our spiritual journey really is a journey of self-discovery; of finding ourselves; and allowing ourselves to believe that we really could be that much.
Because in the world, it’s actually easier to believe that you’re broken than you’re whole. Most of us can point to many things that demonstrate — that prove — that we’re broken, and we kind of overlook all the things that prove that we’re whole and complete and lacking in nothing.
So over the next several weeks, we’re going to focus on finding: finding yourself; finding who you are; finding your magnificence; finding your power; finding your light; finding who you are … and really allowing yourself to live from that paradigm.
So discover is, in my world, an inside job. And then, as we find it on the inside, we then create a greater outside. And as we continue to discover who we are in greater and greater ways, we create a life that’s radically wonderful. But if we never really discover ourselves, the world that we create is always weird. Has everybody created a world that was weird at a time in your life? It’s like, “And why did I create that? How did that make sense?”
Reading from Matthew 7:7:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the doors will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks will find; to whom who knocks it will be opened.”
I want you to really hear that! Because that is a bold statement that we don’t really believe! Because when we ask, do we truly believe without a doubt that, as we ask, we will receive? Do we believe that every time we search that we will find? Or every time we knock, it will be opened to us? I mean, those are big statements!
And that’s what I really want us to dwell in for the next several weeks is that idea that, as you ask, you will receive; as you knock, it will be opened; as you seek, you will find. And that, over and over again, that’s our job as spiritual beings.
Like, most of us were raised in an environment where we were sometimes shamed for asking too much. Right? Like, “Aren’t you a greedy little piggy?” Right? Like, “Who do you think I am? You think I’m made of money that you’re just going to get all this stuff.”
And it’s like, “Well, no; but you’re not my source! My source is God!”
And so every time we ask, knowing that God is our source, we open the door to greater good. Every time we knock, every time we seek we will find; we will be fulfilled; we will be blessed!
Jesus goes on and says:
“For what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone? Or if he asked for a fish, would give him a serpent If you then, who are evil, weird, wacky, wonderful know how to give good gifts to your children …”
And the “weird, wacky, wonderful” was a paraphrase. He didn’t really say that. [Congregation laughs] I could tell in his heart he wanted to, but …
“… how much more would your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? For whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”
So for the next several weeks, I want you to work on finding yourself. And where we’re going to start tonight is on FINDING YOUR INNER POWER. Because this really is — in my way of thinking — the most important thing. That until you really find your inner power, life is very difficult. And our job in spiritual community is not to place that power within you, because that power was placed within you from the moment that you were created. Our job is to help empower you to find it; to unleash it; to allow you to know yourself in a brand new way — in a greater way. That is really the way of expressing that power in your life in more and more meaningful ways; to do the will and the work of God in a way that transforms your life.
It is so frustrating when you feel disempowered. It is so frustrating when you believe that you don’t have the power to create the life you want. And it would be a cruel God that would send us into the world and not give us enough power to create the life we want. It would be cruel! It would be absolutely criminal if God was to create us and then not give us enough to do that which we wanted to do in our lives.
But that’s not the case! The case is that you’ve been given the full power of God to do that which is yours to do! And Jesus said:
“Truly, truly, I say to you …
In John 14:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.”
That’s a huge statement! “Greater works than these!”
How many of you have raised the dead in the last five or six days? [Congregation laughs] Healed the sick? Fed the multitude? [Laughs] Like, pick! Like, is the problem that it’s not possible? Or is the problem that you don’t believe it’s possible, so you don’t do it?
Because those are very different things! If it’s possible, but you don’t believe it’s possible, then you never really are willing to give it a shot! But if the full power of God is within you, and you just don’t believe it so you never do it, we miss out. We waste so much!
So how powerful would you be willing to believe that you are? And how powerful do you believe that you are working with others to create the world that you desire to live in?
See, the real key is: Whatever the problem, or whatever the challenges in your life, is the opportunity that God has given you to unleash your power. That whatever the problem; whatever the challenge; whatever the need is isn’t really the problem. It’s actually the opportunity. Without that problem — without that challenge — you never really get to discover your power.
So whatever … Does everybody have at least one thing going on in their life? [Congregation laughs] Right? Without that thing, you don’t know your power! But because of that thing, you get to actually call forth the very power of God in ways that are greater than you’ve ever done before to heal it; to transform it; to change it. But it’s within you! The problem is not here to take you out; it’s to reveal yourself to you!
And so, one problem after another will roll into your life until you are willing to unleash the full power of God within you to do that which is yours to do! And it’s like: How many problems do you need before you’re willing to be more powerful?
How many of you feel like you’ve already had enough problems, and that maybe you should have gotten this whole thing already? [Congregation laughs] You know? We think we’re the advanced species on this planet. We’re the special needs community in the universe. Like, we’re the place where the universe sends all the slow learners. Right? Because we just haven’t gotten it yet! Right? And our job is to really be that magnificent for God!
Reading again from … this is from Paul in Romans 8:15:
“For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children of God …”
This is the kicker!
“… If children of God, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”
That’s a huge statement! I mean, that is a huge statement! It says that everything that Jesus did, that power’s in you to do the same thing! Even Jesus said, “And better things than these will you do, because I’m setting the tone; I’m setting the example; I’m showing you how.”
And we say, “Oh, no! Jesus — you go, boy! But that’s not my work. Like, my work is just this small little thing over here.”
And the reality is: We came to be powerful. Louise Hay said it this way:
“You have the power to heal your life, and you need to know that …”
You have the power to heal your life! You need to know that!
“…We think so often that we are helpless, but we are not. We always have the power of our minds to claim and to consciously use our power.”
Cheryl Bernadie said in The Wholeness Revolution:
“An inferiority complex thinks: ‘Everyone else is better than me.’ A superiority complex thinks: ‘I’m better than everyone else.’ A healthy self-concept is based on the belief: ‘I’m just as good as everyone else, and everyone has great potential.’”
Like, I want you to know that not only are you amazing, but everybody’s amazing! That, as you unleash the full power of you, it’s available to all of us. Jesus said:
“If I be lifted up, I draw all people unto me.”
And it’s this idea that, the more powerful you allow yourself to be, you actually set the tone for everyone around you. When you’re doing and being the best, greatest version of you — your most powerful self — the people around you will be inspired or they’ll run like heck. [Congregation laughs] Because you’re that powerful!
There are two kinds of power. One kind kills the spirit. The other nurtures the spirit. The first is power is Power Over. The second power is Personal Power. And it’s about power that allows us to co-create with God and co-create with others.
So I want to name at least eight aspects of power. And I want you to really play with this idea that each one of these eight aspects of power have already been designed into you!
The first is CLARITY IS POWER. That when our mind is clear, we are our most powerful selves. When we see a possibility. See, visionary leaders have seen possibilities that others did not see. But to visionary leaders, those visions were so clear to them; that possibility was so clear to them that they enrolled others in a belief — in a possibility — that most could not see. But they knew it was possible! And they used their words to paint pictures of a world that would work for all and invited us to believe in it. Because clarity is power!
So what’s your vision for your life? Set a goal and define that you can create a plan for your life that actually moves your life in a greater direction than it’s ever been before.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. Know what you want. Know what you need. Know what your potential is. Know what your limitations are. Know what you want from your life. Know what you want for yourself. Identify your purpose and your passion. Know what matters most to you and what drives your life and taps into that infinite presence and power within you.
Clarity is power. Knowledge is power.
And LOVE IS POWER. We have the power, through love, to build a support system. To surround ourselves with people who love us; who believe in us; who support us; who support our goals. We have the ability to have a very strong support system around us that will help motivate us and keep us on track to overcome setbacks.
Love is power.
And FORGIVENESS IS POWER. And the reason that forgiveness is so powerful is: It instantly moves us out of our past and brings us back to this moment. Every time we forgive, it releases all the drama of yesterday and brings us back into this moment. And we are not powerful in yesterday. We cannot create from yesterday. But we can create in this moment. So forgiveness brings us back into this moment.
So every time we forgive, we actually move ourselves forward. And the key to forgiveness is: Don’t take anything personal. No matter what, don’t take it personally! don Miguel Ruiz, one of “The Four Agreements”: Don’t take it personally! [Laughs] Don’t! Just don’t! [Congregation laughs] Right
If you have a wonderful child of God who does not yet understand that they’re a wonderful child of God, and they say something to you that may not be the highest spiritual truth — and it offends you. [Laughs] Do you see how you allow the lowest common denominator in your life to impact it?
“I forgive everything.”
Will you say that with me? [With congregation]: “I forgive everything.”
Five: EVERY WORD THAT YOU SPEAK HAS POWER. Every. Word. That. You. Speak. Has. Power.
Job 22:28:
“You shall decree a thing and it will be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon your way.”
Every word you speak has power to create and define your life. Your words have power! They either are uplifting or they are tearing down. They’re either building you up or you’re ripping you down. Every word we speak has to be an extension of our spirit. It is an extension of our spirit, and it is creating our reality. Our words have power!
FAITH IS POWER. Jesus challenged us over and over again to use the power of our faith to create the life we want. In Matthew 17 he said:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will be done.”
So your faith has power!
THIS MOMENT HAS POWER. And, in fact, every action — everything that you want to create in your life — can only be created in the present moment. It can’t be created in the past; we’re not living in the past. It can’t be created in the future; we’re not living in the future. We live right here in the “Now” moment. The “Now” moment is where your power lives. In this moment, what action; what belief; what word do you want to speak? What do you want to create in this moment?
And LIFE IS POWER. Cultivate a life that enhances your life. Build your health; build your life. Allow yourself to become fully alive.
Okay; you ready? I want you to look at one area in your life that maybe has been an issue for a while. Does everybody have at least one? [Congregation laughs] It could be your health; it could be your finances; it could be your relationship. I want you to pick one. Right? And I want you to see that as an opportunity for you to become more powerful. And I want you to see it just kind of gently giggling at you. [Congregation laughs]
Because whatever the hurdle is; whatever the situation; whatever the need is, it knows that you are powerful enough to heal it; to change it; to transform it. It knows that you’re bigger than the problem! But it keeps poking you until you realize that you are bigger than the problem. And that’s its job! Its job is to annoy you over and over and over again so that you get so sick and tired of the problem that you say, “Enough!” And you step into your power! And you heal it; you change it; you transform it; you speak the word; you have faith; you call it out; and you watch it transform.
You’re not here for little things. You’re not! You’re here to know the full power of God that was placed within you. You really are that! You’re the most powerful thing in the universe; we all are! And we can play small; we can play dumb; we can play the fool; we can play all these games. But it doesn’t take away that the power of God was placed within you the moment you were created.
And all of life is asking you to wake up and to be more powerful than you’ve ever been before. You really are that! You are that amazing, shining example of God’s goodness.
“I am powerful.”
Will you say that with me? [With congregation]: “I am powerful.”
One more time like we mean it! [With congregation]: “I am powerful.”
“I am spiritually powerful.”
Together: [with congregation] “I am spiritually powerful.”
[Laughs and says weakly, simpering and mockingly]: “I am spiritually powerful.” [Congregation laughs]
Okay; so I think there’s just a little more juice in there, okay? So we’re going to say it one more time!
[With congregation powerfully]: “I am spiritually powerful!”
One more time: [with congregation] “I am spiritually powerful!”
Here’s the whole deal: The full power of God is within you. Every enlightened teacher demonstrated a level of power that was greater than most people can even conceive is possible. And every great spiritual teacher said that we could do it, too! And we go, “No! Wacky tobacky … that’s not us!” But it is us! That’s who we were created to be!
And I want you to give thanks for the biggest problems in your life. Whatever your biggest problem is is calling you out to be more powerful and greater than you have ever been before. And I want you to find that power within you and I want you to use it to transform your life.
“I am a powerful expression of God.”
Together: [with congregation] “I am a powerful expression of God.”
Will you pray with me?
And I invite you to open your mind, your heart, your soul to the activity of God. I want you to find yourself tonight. I want you to find the full power of God that was placed within you from the beginning of time. You are a powerful soul; God has placed within you God’s infinite power. And we’re going to call it out! We are going to call it out.
Thank you, God, for all that is in my life that is calling me to be greater. For all the bumps and all the situations that are challenging me to be more than I’ve ever been before. I am ready to be powerful … truly, deeply, profoundly powerful. So in the name and through the power of the Living Christ, we give thanks. And so it is. Amen.