Espresso Yourself - 4
Get the God Stuff Out
October 22, 2006
Pastor Paul W Newell

[Making a cup of espresso...]

I’ve learned a lot about espresso this past month. (And I have drank a lot of espresso in the process!). I won’t say it’s the best drink in the world – Diet Dr. Pepper still holds that place in my ranking – but I think the world is a nicer place because Luigi decided to make espresso.

Luigi was the guy who started this whole espresso thing. The year was 1901 and an engineer and manager of an manufacturing plant was stressing over how long his employees coffee breaks were taking. To answer the problem, Luigi Bezzera came up with “espresso”. In invented a way to get a better (and smaller) cup of coffee for his employees and at the same time save time.

The first machines were hand pumps where water was boiled and then “pressed” through finely grounded coffee beans, but eventually mechanical pumps, electrical heaters and more were added to come up with the complicated machines we see today that heat the water to about 200-degrees and use high pressure water to get the most out of the beans.

There’s a lot that goes into one of these little shots of coffee, but when it’s all said and done – it all comes down to hot, high-pressure water and some good quality beans. It’s all about getting the good stuff out of the beans.

If you’re wondering where I’m going with all of this – our espresso yourself this morning is a lot like this little shot – espresso yourself is all about getting the good that’s in you – out where it can touch your world.

If you are a Christ follower there is some stuff in you that God wants to get out of you. He wants to show it off to the world. For a lot of us – it’s buried inside our beans and God is in the process of applying the heat and pressure to get it out.

What He wants to get out of you is ENTHUSIASM.

Wait a minute, Paul, I’m just not a bounce off the wall kind of person. Or maybe I am. But what does enthusiasm have to do with espresso-ing, expressing God?

Look at that word once: enthusiasm.

Break it down – “en” “thusia”    -   “en”  “theos”  - “theos”  - “God”

Enthusiasm literally means “in God” or “God in you”.

To the point, enthusiasm is basically God in you.

Enthusiasm is all about God in you and GETTING THE GOD STUFF OUT!

Enthusiasm is not an emotion. There is a huge difference between a fan or fanatic and an enthusiast.

A fan will wear the shirt – an enthusiast will wear and share the stuff – because it’s in them just waiting to get out.
The greatest way we can espresso ourselves is to let THE GOD STUFF OUT. The greatest way to espresso ourselves is to be enthusiastic.

When Terrie and I were first married I was a Junior High School teacher at a small private school. We have a lot of students in our class and it was a lot of fun. I loved working with twelve and thirteen year olds – it was never dull. However, there was one kid – his name was Billy – he was always down. I mean nothing seemed to make him happy. To Billy, the whole universe was against him – nothing was right. Everything was a bummer ( a word we used a lot back then). For most of us when things were really bad, we didn’t call them “a bummer” – really, really bad things were “Billy Bummers”. That little teenager had a hard time with enthusiasm.

On the other hand – next to my classroom was Patsy Jeffries. Patsy was a “veteran” teacher and she was always encouraging. I don’t ever remember her not having a smile on her face and an encouraging word for me as a new teacher. She had somehow figured out the key to enthusiasm – letting the God stuff out. It was really in her!

Where are you this morning on the Billy – Patsy scale? Do you lean more toward the Billy Bummer side of things or the enthusiastic Patsy side?

There’s a powerful, bold, espresso kind of passage that talks about this enthusiasm things – it’s found in the New Testament book of Colossians. Here’s what it says:

“For this is the secret, Christ lives in you, and this is our assurance that you will share in his glory. So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn then and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, mature in their relationship to Christ. I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.” (Colossians 1:27-29)

Christ lives in you. God lives in you. That’s enthusiasm.

The secret to the Christian life is not how “good” you do at it – none of us are that good. It’s all about Christ living in you: Enthusiasm.
The secret to the Christian life is not about being perfect – it’s about a pursuit to follow God.

It’s not about our faults, it’s about fellowship with Jesus Christ.

It’s all about enthusiasm – getting the God stuff out.

These little beans have all the makings of a good cup of coffee, but you have to get it out of the beans.

You know, a good cup of espresso has three parts...look at this shot with me...

If you look closely you will see that there is a bottom, a middle, and a foam or crème top. The bottom is called the heart, the middle is called the body, and that little beige top is called the crème. If the crème is not there – don’t drink it, it’s no good.

On top of that, it takes practice to pull a good shot of espresso. Right temperature, right pressure, and right timing. 19-23 seconds for a good shot. Too soon and it’s not flavorful enough. Too long and it’s bitter.

Christ lives in you – God wants you to get Him out so others can be blessed with how He has blessed you. So God allows all sorts of different types of pressures. He never allows too much pressure – it’s always what you can handle when you rely upon Him. And sometimes things get a little heated as well. The pressure is on, the heats up – we might even feel a little “ground down” – but when everything is just the right combination – the sweet stuff begins to pour out – THE GOD STUFF STARTS FLOWING

And guess what – it all starts with this little part down here...it starts with the heart.

GETTING THE GOOD STUFF OUT ALWAYS STARTS WITH OUR HEART

Remember this little part down here? That’s the heart. That’s the first part out of the bean – it’s the heart of the espresso. It always starts with the heart.

Look at Ephesians 3:17:

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 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 will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:17-21

Enthusiasm, God in you, starts with Jesus Christ moving into your heart and working there. God in you is all about God working inside you – in your heart.

God is you starts with your heart relationship with Jesus Christ.

Like I said earlier, it’s not about being perfect – it’s about you growing into God’s love. It’s about putting down roots into God’s love and growing strong. It’s about understanding God’s power and love.

Right in the middle of that passage is talks about experiencing God’s love... “how wide, how long, how high, how deep is his love”.

I don’t know about you, but I seem to experience God’s love the greatest when I’m at my weakest. I don’t understand how God’s love works when I think I’m letting Him down – and then I begin to understand a little that God knows all about me and loves me in spite of who I am and what I’ve done. All God wants is to complete me. He wants to finish what He started when He made me and then saved me. He wants me to experience His fullness of life and all of His power through me.

God wants to give me His great espresso – His love and power punch!

God wants to GET THE GOD STUFF OUT OF ME AND INTO THE WORLD.

All of that starts with my heart. God’s working on my heart.

And my heart is where my greatest battles take place.

I battle worry and stress. The only difference between worry and stress is that stress is worry on steroids! Both are enthusiasm killers. Both keep THE GOD STUFF FROM GETTING OUT.

When we worry we are doubting whether or not God has the power to do what He said He will do.

Matthew 6:27 says, Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

Worry doesn’t change anything thing and stressing out just makes things worse.

I try to keep reminding myself what God tells us in Philippians 4:6: Don’t worry [or stress] about anything: instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for what He has done.”

Don’t worry or stress – pray! Tell and thank.

The antidote to worry and stress is to tell God and (and this is a BIG AND) – tell God then thank God. Thank God for what He’s already done. Focus on how He has taken care of you already, then rest assured He will continue to care for you.

When my heart starts to worry and stress (and it does a lot!), I try to remind myself of what God has already done for me.
If worry is an enthusiasm killer, FEAR is even worse.

FEAR is a powerful enthusiasm killer. Fear is the anticipation of harm. Fear is waiting for the worst to happen. We assume the worst. Fear is imagining that we will be harmed.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 

Fear is a heart attack. Fear attacks my heart and when I allow fear to take over my heart it’s impossible to GET THE GOD STUFF OUT.

But fear is not from God. Instead, God gives us His power, and love and discipline. Discipline is God’s power and love put into real practice.

I’m not going to stand here and tell you that I am never afraid – that would be a huge lie. What I am going to share is that when I get afraid – when fear begins to attack my heart – that I can, we can, conquer that fear by acknowledging God’s power and love. He has all the power we need to get through anything that makes us afraid – and God loves us so much that He will take care of us! What we have to do is to discipline ourselves to focus and rely on God’s power and love.

Can I share one more enthusiasm killer? This is one that I face all the time –

COMPARISON IS A HUGE ENTHUSIASM KILLER.

Just a short time after Jesus Christ rose from the dead he had breakfast with His closest followers along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. We find the account of that breakfast in the last chapter of the Gospel of John.

If you’re unfamiliar with the events leading up to this breakfast, Jesus had been betrayed by Judas, brought before and illegal trail, falsely condemned to death and then crucified on a cross. The ones who crucified Jesus didn’t realize that Jesus knew exactly what was going on – and willingly laid down His life that day as a payment for your sins. Jesus died as the ultimate sacrifice for your sin and mine. Then He was buried – and three days later He came back to life. Jesus rose from the dead which not only proved He had power over sin and death – it proved He was God!

Now it’s some time after the resurrection and these followers of Christ are having breakfast with Jesus. At the end of the breakfast Jesus invites one of the followers, Peter, to go for a walk.

I think Peter was fearful of that walk. You see, the night before Jesus was crucified, not only did Judas betray Jesus, but Peter denied Jesus. Peter cursed God and denied that He even knew Jesus – because he was afraid of that the people would do to him.
Talk about losing your enthusiasm – Peter let worry, stress and fear kill his!

But, as Jesus and Peter walked along the lake that day, Jesus simply asked Peter, “Do you love me?” That was a hard question for Peter to answer. He had failed Jesus big time. He had allowed the enthusiasm killers to keep THE GOD STUFF FROM GETTING OUT.

Three times Jesus asked Peter if he (Peter) loved Him (Jesus). And each time Peter hesitated until he finally said, “Lord you know everything, You know I love you.” John 21:17

Lord, you know that I love you – even though I failed you. And the cool thing is that Jesus loves us even in our failures – especially in our failures. What He wants is for us to realize how much He loves us and how much we really do love Him!

But now, one more enthusiasm killer tries to break into Peter’s heart.

As they are walking along, Peter notices that John, had been following them. John always wanted to be close to Jesus. John was one of Peter’s best friends.

Jesus had been talking to Peter and telling Peter some of what he life was going to be like as he grew older – and when Peter saw John he turned around and pointed to John, “What about him, Lord?”

Here you are telling me all this stuff about me – but what about him?

Peter wanted to compare his life to John’s. Was John more “spiritual” that Peter? Was Peter’s life going to be harder than John’s? Was John going to be blessed in areas where Peter wanted to be blessed? Was John’s life going to be as hard as Peters?

I love Jesus’ response to Peter. He doesn’t beat Peter up. He doesn’t even answer Peter’s question. He simply says, “What is that to you?”

What is that to you? If John lives forever, if John he seems to have a better life that you, if it appears that I’m blessing him more than you...what’s that to you? Follow me!

Whenever I start comparing myself to others – it’s hard to GET THE GOD STUFF OUT. When I focus on what God is doing in others lives and stop working on what God is doing in my life – my enthusiasm dies.

Sometimes the comparison starts on the outside instead of the inside. Sometimes I succumb to OTHERS TRYING TO COMPARE ME.

Sometimes I get hit with what other people assume I should be and it’s easy to try to live up to their standards instead of God’s. It’s easy to worry, stress and fear about what others are saying and doing instead of what God is doing.

GETTING THE GOD STUFF OUT STARTS WITH THE HEART.

But when God starts working in our heart, when God starts getting out.

ENTHUSIASM FLOWS TO THE BODY.

Look back at that verse we read earlier,

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

See that last part? “Glory to him in the church...”

God calls the church His body. The body is what people see of us. They don’t see our heart, they don’t see our soul, they see our heart and soul through our body.

The world sees Jesus through His body – His church. We are literally Christ’s visible body – what the world sees of Him here on earth.

When I shake off the enthusiasm killers and allow God to work in me and then through me – it always flows to the other Christ followers around me in the church.

My enthusiasm – your enthusiasm – let’s God out into our church. When we let the God stuff out into ChurchForFamily it’s powerful. Letting God out of us is bold, it’s sweet, it’s caffeinated.

And, when we as a church start letting the God stuff out – it crèmes our world. It flavors our world.

The whole point of espresso yourself is to get the God stuff out. Stop letting criticism and rudeness water down and decaffeinate your expressions. Start appreciating others and let the God stuff out.

Realize that the heat and pressure you are presently facing is God’s way of getting the God stuff out of you. The grinding, refining process that you are going through is God’s way of getting the God stuff out of you and into your world.

Realize that the result will be bold and sweet and powerful.

Stop fighting God in all of your worry, stress, complaining and fear. Stop comparing yourself with others. Stop allowing them to compare you to anything. Instead give in to God and let Him flow through to you.

So what to do with this talk?

You can forget it and walk out of here this morning having had a pleasant experience, but be unchanged. You can continue to experience the weakness of pulling away too soon or the bitterness of not applying all of this soon enough.

On the other hand, you can give into God’s espresso process in your life.

You can allow God to help you shake off the enthusiasm killers and start letting God out.

Think of it this way: every time you are faced with the opportunity to worry or stress – you can choose instead to let God out of your bean!

Every time you are afraid – you can choose to let God out and experience His love, power and discipline in your life.

When you are tempted to get into the comparison game – you can instead let the God stuff out – and keep your focus on what God is calling you to do.

Espresso yourself – let the God stuff out!

Notes: Though the messages and majority of illustrations are original to the author, the theme and outline matierial for this message series Espresso Yourself is adapted from a copyrighted series by Ed Young Jr. used by permission and license. His series can be obtained through creativepastors.com.

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