Here's Pastor Alan Wright with Today's Blessing: A Biblical Faith-Filled Vision. for your life. Bless you, little lamb. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life, and you shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. No need to beg for blessings if you're in Jesus' flock.
His goodness and mercy are already hunting you down. Whether you know it or not, good gifts from God are on your heels whether you feel it or not. His love is in hot pursuit of your soul. Little lamb. No need to wear yourself out chasing after goodness that's already been granted.
No need to worry and strive for mercy. that has already been given. I bless you not to run faster in an attempt to be favored. I bless you to slow down enough. to let God's grace catch you.
Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. There can be something that is really hurting you. But you don't want to let on. We've been trained our whole life to not let on to that inward pain. Instead, we cover it up and we hide that pain and we don't tell anybody about it until.
It gets bad enough. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see yourself in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Free Yourself, Be Yourself.
If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It could be yours for your donation this month to Allen Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastorallen.org. Or call 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-252. 4860. More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright.
The sting of the hidden hornet, and there's a reason why we call it that, which we'll be sharing with you in just a moment. We've been learning about what shame is, we've been learning about just how possible it is that grace, the gospel, can replace all the lies of shame. We've been learning about the power of confession and forgiveness and not letting any bitter root spring up in our heart that would defile many. And I'm excited in this session that we're going to be able to really dig in and give some visuals of how shame gets built and how it gets torn down. I have with me my beautiful, wonderful wife, Ann, and welcome sitting next to me because I wanted to tell the story of the hidden hornet.
I want to tell the story, but I know you could tell it way better than I. We had been in our Church that we were serving, our first church that we'd been serving. And I wanted to be, you know, I wanted to be the perfect pastor. I wanted to be there for everybody. And I had drug you out once again to a funeral, not of a member, but of a member's brother.
And I had so wanted to be able to minister to this fellow. He had been kind of, well, you remember, we had kind of a distant relation. He was a little bit of a porcupine. And we'd gone to the cemetery. It was a hot day.
And I'm going to jumpstart the story here to say that we'd been standing over at the graveside. I wasn't officiating. We'd just gone. Hot day, parked a long way away, stood next to the graveside. And I was just praying, just hoping that I'd get a moment with this parishioner.
Let's call him Sam. And I just wanted to get a moment with Sam just to, you know, be a pastor to him. And this is his brother who had died. And we go over. Over next to this oak tree to stand under the shade.
And we're standing there under the shade. And for the first time, Sam begins to open up with me a little bit. And he says, Yeah, that was the last of my brothers. Began to open up his heart. And I look over at you, and all I can say is that you had a very odd look on your face.
And you began to, well, you began to crouch and wince. And I thought you had to go to the bathroom. And I was like, What am I dealing with here? I finally get a breakthrough moment, and my wife is over here distracted. And that's what I was seeing.
You say that I might have given you kind of a shaming look, but I was just wanting this to go well and okay, we got to tell it fast, pick up the story from there.
Well, I was also committed. We were young when we started in the ministry, and Alan was the senior pastor of a very small church, and I was committed to being the best pastor's wife ever. And that meant supporting my husband. And so we were at the committal service. And it was over 100 degrees.
And you know, those cemeteries are out in the country, and there's not a tree in sight, you know, for miles and miles. And we were out in that cemetery, and we had gotten up. I have to Preface, we had gotten up against the tent, you know, where the actual casket was and the family, and there was a crush of people to get in the shade of that tent. And we couldn't quite reach. There were a lot of people who had come for this service, and so we had rushed in so that.
whoever could could get in the shade of the tent and also we could so that we could hear the little pastor who was doing the service. And he was very quiet. And so we were listening, and there were people behind us, and people around us. And Alan and I had, we were in this. Throng, this crush of people, and we were leaning forward to listen.
And I could feel the sweat dripping down my back. Then I thought I felt something on my legs, and I managed to look down. I had on a real straight that was the days where skirts were a little bit longer and had a slit up the back, a straight skirt, and I had on heels, and I was standing right on top of a red anthill. And we were all crushed in, and I leaned over down and I said, Move over and he said what and I said move Move over.
So we we managed to do about this kind of move, but not enough that I felt secure that I was away from the red anthill.
So, for the rest of the committal, I just thought. As soon as this is over, I'm running to the car. And then the pastor went on and on. And I thought, as soon as this is over, I'm running to the car. And so as soon as it was over, I turned to leave and Alan said, look, let me give me just a moment with this man who was in our congregation and his wife.
And so we went and we stood with them for a moment and both of them were flanking me and they were looking at Alan. He was across from me. And I was just thinking, I have got red ants crawling all over me. I'm just gonna, but I'm gonna bear up. I'm gonna be a great pastor's wife.
And so I stood there. And this went on for a couple minutes. And then I... I began to feel an excruciating pain. kind of in pr a private area.
And so I began to kind of crouch over. And I looked at Alan as if to communicate, as wives, you know, you can. It's time to go. Without saying it. And he looked at me with the Just stop it and get hold of yourself.
Look. And they were, the couple were kind of looking at Alan. They weren't looking at me. And I just couldn't, it got worse. The pain got worse.
And I realized. That just For life. and the pursuit of happiness. that I was going to need to get hold of what I thought was a colony of red ants that were setting themselves up.
So I just reached back and I grabbed hold of my skirt where that slit was and I pulled it up to about waist high and I just reached down and I just grabbed everything that I could get. And I figured I had gotten hold of it, but now I had just, it was like a loincloth at this time. I had it up right here, and I was holding myself. And I said, hey. Excuse me.
I've got to go. I've got to go. Get the car. I've got to go. Yeah.
He ran off. He didn't even know how to make an appropriate apology. He ran off through the cemetery for the car. And I made my I wasn't about to let go of this thing.
So I just made my way like this. Through the cemetery. Got in the car, and I was so thankful. I've never been thankful for this before or since, but we got in the car. He he was A little miff.
But I got in the corner. I understand. I'm. I'm gonna throw my skirt up and I'm gonna pop it, and something's coming out, and whatever it does, you kill it. And when I did, I threw that skirt up and I popped it and out flew a hornet.
It's a good thing they were. I'm very glad for that hornet. It may have saved my marriage at that moment. And that is the story of the sting of the hidden hornet. Yes, yes.
Thank you, love. I am sorry that I. did not have more compassion. On you that day when there really was something that was stinging you. That's Alan Wright.
and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. If you'd like to change and become more Christ-like, but feel like your best efforts aren't producing much real transformation, maybe you need to change the way you're changing. Surely God wants all his children to become more like him: holy, loving, joyful, and fruitful. But how does it happen? How does the gospel change us?
Alan Wright Ministries exists to reveal the answer. We want to help people flourish by a power not their own, to discover a whole new way of transformation. Pastor Alan's two most recent books, The Power to Bless and Seeing as Jesus Sees, unveil two of the most powerful, grace-filled avenues to personal growth and effective ministry. In The Power to Bless, readers discover how a positive vision spoken in faith over our lives can raise us up and empower us for joyful, fruitful living. In Seeing as Jesus Sees, Alan Wright invites readers into the life-altering practice of Asking Jesus for his perspective.
How we see others, ourselves, and the world determines how we think and feel.
Sometimes all it takes to change Is a new set of lenses. As Allen Wright Ministries comes to the close of the fiscal year this month, we need your partnership to finish strong, to stay on the air, and to reach even more people with the good news of Christ. When you make your fiscal year-end gift this month, we want to say thanks in a very special way. We'll send you both of Pastor Alan's recent books, The Power to Bless and Seeing as Jesus Sees. We'll also send you access to Alan's two video series that align with the books, along with a helpful study guide for each series suitable for small groups or personal study.
When you partner with us, you'll be making a difference in tens of thousands of lives. And when you make your gift today, we'll send you The Power to Bless and Seeing as Jesus Sees bundle so you can change the way you're changing and be transformed by the grace of God. Call us at 877-477. Five four four. 4860 or come to our website.
PastorAllen.org. Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. I don't think I gave her such a shaming look, but it's funny how it is in life where. You know If that's a good picture, how there can be something that is really hurting you.
But You don't want to let on. We've been trained our whole life to not let on to that inward pain. Instead, we cover it up. And we hide that pain, and we don't tell anybody about it until. It gets bad enough.
Mm-hmm. And sometimes the sting in the soul is just bad enough that we realize I can't keep covering this up. My Uncle Stanley, who Is in heaven now, but he was a wonderful pastor his whole life. And he was the first one that gave me the image of, he said, so many people, it's like they're in the water, and they got all these beach balls there trying to keep them under the water, all of these Problems, we don't want anybody to know about all of these circumstances, all of the turmoil of us, or whatever it might be, and it's exhausting. And I want us to learn in this session about how the stronghold of shame can get built and how it can come down.
Yeah. You notice in The opening part of Genesis: that here God has made paradise. He's made a man and a woman in his own image. He is delighted in them. and they are delighted in God.
Life's perfect. There's no sin. I wonder about Adam and Eve's relationship. I just wonder what did they do with their time? How long did they have before sin entered the world?
Was time even the same as it is? All these questions, these things fascinate me. But I really wonder about their, what was their relationship like? What'd they say to each other? How'd they talk to each other?
What was a relationship like? What was marriage like in paradise? And interestingly, as God would have it, in His word, there's only one verse that tells us anything about their actual relationship. It's Genesis chapter 2, and it's verse 25. And it says, the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
The only thing that we know about our relationship in paradise is that There was no shame. It is a delicious thought. And and if you've ever experienced a moment where there was just no shame, Maybe there was a moment in which You were absolutely 100% Loved and accepted, and nobody seemed to be expecting anything of you. Um. It's, I don't know, maybe a moment.
Like, I think back about honeymoon, and I love honeymoon because you're married to the love of your life, and she loves me. I love her. And to go off on the honeymoon, and nobody expects you to do anything on it. I mean, don't expect you to call them back. You're in honeymoon, you know?
Nobody's expecting anything of you. And I thought, this is delicious. But when we were pulling in, I never stayed at a fancy hotel until our honeymoon. And we're pulling in, I don't think I'd ever had valet parking. And so I didn't even know how to hand off the keys to the guy, right?
You know, I mean, I'm just like handing off. And he looked down at me and he was like, honeymooners. And I felt ashamed that I wasn't more sophisticated. I mean, even in the midst of that, it seems like, but if you can just get a moment where you taste of what it's like to be free, totally free of shame, if you've ever experienced that, it is. It's heaven.
to be really, really loved. to be really, really accepted. It is It's absolutely heavenly. That's what Adam and Eve had. They had it all the time.
The only thing we know about a marriage in paradise. Is they were naked? And they knew no shame. And then, you know the story: as soon as sin enters into the world. What happens is that at verse 8 of chapter 3, they heard the sound of the Lord.
Walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among all the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called the man and said, Where are you? It wasn't because the sovereign, omniscient Lord didn't know where they were. It was because He was highlighting through His question the fact. the silliness of them trying to hide.
But they were hiding. I heard the sound of you, Adam said, and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid myself. And he said, who told you you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?
And the man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree. And I ate.
So The only thing we know about our relationship before sin entered the world is that they were naked and they knew no shame. First thing we learned about a relationship. after sin entered the world is that they became ashamed and with that shame came fear and with that fear they began to cover themselves up and then immediately Adam started becoming blaming and trying to shift all of the shame because you see if you if you become aware If you suddenly become self-conscious and you feel exposed, then your instinct is to just cover up, to close up. And don't let anybody see you. I love the story my friend and mentor Dudley Hall has told about the old days where sometimes there were churches that had the baptismal pool like under the platform.
And they would just move pulpit and stuff out of the way when it came time for the baptisms. And then they'd open up the pool and they just step in there and they would baptize people in the pool right under the platform. And oftentimes they would just have some curtains that were set up on the side of the platform where the baptismal candidates could go and they could change their clothes and come out of their clothes and put on a baptismal gown and be baptized. But in one instance, one evening at this little church, it came time as a woman was being baptized, and while she was being baptized, there was a man. He was behind the curtain.
He was changing his clothes. And as the woman was getting out of the pool, she reached up and she grabbed hold of the pole, the curtain that it was hanging on. And when she did, she pulled. Down the curtain accidentally, and there in all his nakedness stood this man who was ready to put on his gown and be baptized. And all he could do was he saw there was a chair, so he just grabbed this chair and hid behind it like this.
Well, some wise deacon ran to the back of the room and cut out the lights.
So now it was dark, and they just left the lights out for what seemed to be an eternity, you know, to give the guy plenty of time to get Out of there, get his gown on or get his clothes on or something. And finally, when it seems safe, they cut the light back on, and there was the man still behind the chair. Because I suppose he just never knew when the light would come back on, you know. And if a chair's all you got, you're going to hold on to that chair.
Well, that's that's the way Adam and Eve felt. They suddenly felt like that when sin came into the world. And the Lord is so gracious that right there in the opening chapters of Genesis, what you begin to see is that though sin has come into the world and those shame has come into the world, what does the Lord do? Does he say, well, you're just going to have to just stand there in all of your nakedness and just feel the weight of the shame? That's not what he does.
Instead, the text says that the Lord made clothing out of skins for them. They had made clothing for themselves out of some kind of leaves or something like that. But the Lord, in the first sacrifice, the first blood offering. The Lord Let blood be shed.
So that clothing could be made.
so that their shame could be covered. Never forget this. The Lord has from the beginning intended Through blood. to cover our shame. Alan Wright.
Today's teaching: Good news: The Sting of the Hidden Hornet. It's from the series Free Yourself, Be Yourself, with a little help from his wife. And Pastor Alan is coming up here in just a moment in the studio with a parting good news thought on this. Stick with us. As Alan Wright Ministries comes to the close of the fiscal year this month, we need your partnership to finish strong, to stay on the air, and to reach even more people with the good news of Christ.
When you make your fiscal year-end gift this month, we want to say thanks in a very special way. We'll send you both of Pastor Alan's recent books, The Power to Bless and Seeing as Jesus Sees. We'll also send you access to Alan's two video series that align with the books, along with a helpful study guide for each series suitable for small groups or personal study. When you partner with us, you'll be making a difference in tens of thousands of lives. And when you make your gift today, we'll send you The Power to Bless and Seeing as Jesus Sees bundle so you can change the way you're changing and be transformed by the grace of God.
When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-500. 544. 4860.
That's 877? Five four four. The majority of the 1980s. Or come to our website. CasterAllen.org.
Back here now with Pastor Alan, and what a delightful story and a great sermon illustration, if there ever was one, right?
Well, we laugh and we say, you know, I think God brings things into our lives. Just so we'll have a good sermon illustration later, but especially in Ann's life, my sweet wife, I tell you. Daniel, you know her. And you know, there's story after story of crazy and unusual things and exciting things and marvels. And plus, she just tells it better than everyone else.
But I leave our listeners with this. You may not have ever had a hornet up your skirt, but Have you ever felt an inward sting that you felt like you just didn't want to tell anybody about?
Well, maybe it's time to tell somebody. Maybe it's time. to find somebody you really trust. And say My soul has been stung. and I feel ashamed, and I need to talk to someone about it, because I can't keep it hidden any more.
You don't have to wait until the pain is so bad, you can do it now. Find somebody. And somebody you trust who understands the grace of God, and share with them, pray together. and watch the healing begin. We have in the past, Daniel, aired messages on the radio that were from the original series that I preached originally called Shame Off You.
But much more recently, we put this into a conference format and just a setting that I love, where we have maybe 30 people that are learning and growing through all these messages about healing from shame. And we just thought this would be a fantastic teaching to air on the radio and share with all of our listeners as if you were in the room with us, with a group of 30 or so people. What I would say is the most liberating truths I've ever discovered. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
