Matt Chandler - Led By Him

if you have your Bibles go ahead and grab those will be by the Providence God in Psalm 23 today who knew four or five months ago when JT English Josh Patterson and Trevor joy were outlining the summer Psalms that Psalm 23 would land on this and that I would be able to step in and preach it when a welcome back our campuses I know many of you have been off the stream for a long time and so my name is Matt Chandler I’m the pastor here at the village as you guys are working towards autonomy it’s just good for us to be together this morning I want to as as you would probably guess just spend a few moments addressing what many of you are aware of a New York Times article concerning us and our subsequent email to our members I’m going to need to read more than I’m going to need to just talk the entire situation for all involved has been heartbreaking we are hopeful that the past and present pain eventually give way to healing for the family and for our church family so I want to take a few minutes to address two important items as we see it one is the case itself and one is the question of care and so what I want to do because I think these things matter they matter so that you might feel safe here they matter so that you might understand the dynamics that play they matter so that we might become a better community of faith and so what I want to do is walk you through the facts of the case and then I want us to talk a little bit about care and then from there we’re gonna get into Psalm 23 and breathe a sigh of relief that there’s a leader who will never fail us and there’s one who will never abandon us and then we’ll close out our time together here is a timeline of events around the case in 2012 the village church attended a children’s camp at Mount Lebanon Baptists encampment there were several other non TBC churches who attended this same camp during the same week at this camp in 2012 there was an alleged sexual assault that took place the family first informed us about this assault from their daughter in February of 2018 six years after the incident no person had been identified at that time as a suspect we immediately double reported this incident the Bragg family reported it the village church reported it it is documented when we decided to remove Matt Tony from staff in May of 2018 for reasons of alcohol abuse we had not been informed that he was the accused this also is well documented as part of the detectives investigation we gathered rosters of who was at the camp who was in specific rooms volunteers and staff present etc we collected as much information as possible to assist with the investigation and to help the detective of the case contact those who needed to be contacted following the lead of the family and the police detective heading up the investigation we communicated about the incident to our church body in September of 2018 it is important to note that at this point we were free to share about the incident but we were not free to share the name of the accused we were told by the detective that sharing Matt Tony’s name at this point could potentially jeopardize the investigation so in September of 2018 we gathered with all the parents that we could contact who had children who were at that camp along with detective Hernandez to share about this incident the Bragg family was in attendance at this meeting and detective Hernandez shared with the group that this was an open investigation and he would not discuss any details about the accused or persons of interest we then shared with the entire church a few days later at all our weekend services we also shared this information on the front page of our website and on our social media channels we chose to communicate this as widely as possible in an effort to aid the investigation specifically to see if there was anyone who may come forward with information helpful to investigators and to see if any other victims would come forward this is every parent’s worst nightmare this is every organization’s worst nightmare at no point did we try to hide or obscure the facts I am NOT interested in defending any name here but to see justice and healing done I am certainly not interested in defending an institution but two hundred years from now nobody will care about throughout all of this well let me let me go to eight continuing to follow the lead of the family and the detective we provided an update in January of 2019 publicly sharing Matt Tony’s name as the accused the detective asked us not to share this information publicly until an arrest warrant was issued directly we once again posted this update on our website social media chant channels encouraging anyone with information that might assist in the case to come forward this was reported in both local and national news outlets at the time it’s important to note that the media did not break this story we broke this story the media do not out Matt Tony the media do not out this case we at both terms both in the case and in the accused were the one to make that information public no this is a lot of information so I’m just gonna pause for a second throughout all of this the family reviewed and gave final approval of all public communication because we wanted to be sensitive to their feelings and to address any concerns that they may have had this brings me to the question of care so so those are the facts of the case I used the word when I’ve talked about the case of we are passive in this role what I meant by passive is not that we’re sitting in our hands sitting on our hands but that rather we can’t do anything to drive the case forward we cannot push the case into trial we cannot maneuver in such a way that we can actively be a part of case the case is in the hands of lawyers and the justice system and so when I talk about passivity I’m not saying that we’re sitting on our hands I’m saying that we have done all that we can do and all that we’ve been instructed to do and and now our praying and hopeful I want to talk about care we are a church that remains committed to caring for hurting people this has been true about the village church for 20 years a little tag line it’s okay to not be okay was not born out of nothing it was born out of a desire for us to be fully human and all our frailty and find the grace and mercy of God because this is true we are committed to constantly learning and growing in this area I am NOT unaware of the shortcomings and weaknesses of our church but we remain steadfast in our resolve to posture ourselves as learners and to be transparent when we fall short or fail I said on Tuesday at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting that I was in a place of introspection from a bird’s-eye view we believed that we were carrying well from the family for from the moment the incident was reported there was care from one of our central elders at their home campus of South Lake there was ongoing communication with one of our lead pastors as well as staff and many members of the South Lake campus involved with the Bragg’s there were multiple elders and staff members involved as well as many families who believed they were trying to come alongside the Bragg family this week we have sought out and listened to outside voices who have been helpful clarifying ways we could have done better the truth is and they have acknowledged that there are certain challenges and carrying well for people and complex situations but they’ve given us some points to consider number one looking back it would have been helpful if there was a single point person rather than the multiple front we were operating in this multiple front approach appears to have caused some gaps in the Bragg’s care looking back it would also served them well if there was a documented plan of care that we both agreed upon at the beginning that would have been adequate to set expectations on both sides those would both been that we can already see we need to do that better we need to think more clearly about these things grateful for the outside feedback that we’ve been given us we’ve sought to understand I am personally and we are as a church in a place of ongoing listening as I said we want to continue to grow as a church so if you knew the Bragg’s if you’ve been around this situation and you saw areas that we fell short areas where you think we can grow spaces that we can step in to be better at caring for hurting people we are all ears to listen you can email care at the village church net and from there we I’m we want to excel at this not be good at this to excel at this we can’t do that on our own we’ll need other eyes we are praying for an opportunity to meet with the family and listen to them and we are grieved that they felt unheard and unhealth we are hopeful that the past and present pain will give a way to healing for all who are involved now to two things I want to talk about here is we round up the statement and move to Psalm 23 that for me personally there been these two really heavy points the first is the the Bragg family like they are a hurting hurting family who have experienced you you’re certainly mine and you were our worst nightmare they are not our and they are our family they are of us we our enemies aren’t the New York Times not this reporter not the Bragg family we we have an enemy according to the Bible and it’s not flesh and blood and so I am hurting deeply for the Bragg family what a heartbreaking mess and and then the second thing in here I’m gonna look right at me the other point where I can just feel myself wanting to fling myself on the mercy of Jesus is so many of you here are survivors in your own right you have come from some of the most horrific backgrounds you’ve experienced some of the most horrific pains and and this can be reach Ramadan Singh like to have all this brought up again it can start a descent back in to darkness and as a thought and it’s a pray time just so longed for for that not to happen for you so I wanted to kind of lay out some some just some general care if you’re in this space number one if this is you and and this whole thing has started a downward spiral when you’re ready when you’re able I want to encourage you to reach out to a safe friend or family member number two when you’re ready begin attending counseling with someone who specializes in abuse and in trauma the third thing I would tell you is attend a support group where you feel comfortable if you need to see a psychiatrist for medication to support your recovery process in conjunction with these other spaces then please do that it’s not wrong or sinful to take medicine for a crushed spirit Christ will heal in time and he’s given us common grace in the space between lastly I would say if you don’t know where to go and don’t know what to do please contact our care department at Kerr at the village church dotnet it wasn’t long ago we hired summer Vinson she’s got a background in trauma she’s been helping us over the last six months kind of get her feet underneath her so we can be better in these areas so let me reiterate three things then I want to pray for us here’s number one we have a family one of us they’ve been it restores with us they have been 11 years a member here and they’re hurting badly we want to be prayerful gonna be mindful gonna be generous be compassionate towards this family number two that we have a family of faith here at the village church that is hopeful of being a safe place for the wounded for the broken for the exhausted and for the weary from the elders through our membership we deeply desire to see men and women healed here be strengthened by his grace and walk in holistic restoration and again for many of you I know this is retraumatization to darkness reach out to a safe person reach out to a friend loop in family members if you need to for a season take medicine take medicine if you don’t know what to do please reach out to care at the village church dotnet we are an imperfect place but our heart will be to love you what a mess let me pray father I thank you for these brothers and sisters I thank you for your grace and mercy I thank you that you are at work I don’t pretend to understand that work but I know what the enemy means for evil you’ll flip on its head so we just ask I just want to right now pray for the Bragg family just want to pray peace and healing on that family pray where that sweet girl pray over I can only imagine the anger rage sadness and powerlessness you must feel as a mama or daddy supernaturally step into that space we pray for justice and you care about justice I pray where there is guilt that you bring that guilt to light and that guilt be rightly punished by the laws of this land I pray for us as a church pray that you show us where their gaps show us where we might grow show us how we might become all the more the people that you would have us be and I and I pray for my brothers and sisters in this room who this has tilled some soil and in a way where grief and loss and anger is being churned to the surface and I was pretty peace and grace for them healing and hope for them a reminder of your goodness and grace it’s for your beautiful name I pray amen men there is no other passage of Scripture that I am aware of that is as well-known as often quoted and has consistently leaned on by weary exhausted people like the 23rd psalm and God accomplishes this comfort for our souls not am I talking a lot about us but by talking a lot about himself and so I want us to look at the 23rd psalm together today the 23rd psalm in in this mine suppressing me is is actually quite a bit about leadership and a leader who won’t fail us but but there’s some other pieces too so let me let me give you my outline there is a leader who can be trusted all right I didn’t want to talk about where he is leading us and then I want to talk about why he is leading us and then we’ll commend ourselves to God on high so let’s just start by reading the 23rd psalm let me read it over us the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside still waters he restores my soul he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake and even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me and your rod and your staff they comfort me you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever the this passage it might sound strange to you but this this passage in a very real way has to do with leadership and and the leadership namely of the one leader that will never fail us or fall short of our expectations okay if you look at even how this passage is wired when we think about how God has talked about in the Bible we talk about the name of God like if you think about God as creator or God as king or God as Lord they emphasized his transcendence they emphasized his might and his majesty and that should create in us that feeling we feel when we stand in front of the Grand Canyon one of oh and and holy fear but the psalmist here King David right and this didn’t this Psalm didn’t explode out of nothingness gentleman a man who had seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows who’s now saying the Lord is my shepherd yes he is creator yes he is king yeah yes he is the lord of all and yet he is guiding me he is leading me he is for me he is providing for me and he says that he’s the kind of leader that should make us go who else what do we want to lead us right the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want or better translated what else could I want say Jesus himself would say that there’s a kind of leadership that is that’s a bit sketch and there’s a kind that can be submitted to and I’ll read that to you this is John 10 starting in verse 11 the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy I came that they may have life and have it abundantly I am The Good Shepherd and the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the Sheep he who is a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep he sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf snatches them and scatters them but he flees because he is a hired hand and he cares nothing for the Sheep so I don’t know if you’re drawing the the parallels between these two passages but surely you can feel as you look out on the world’s a lack of like who can I possibly trust so let’s just talk briefly if you’re looking at the political climate regardless of what side of the aisle you’re on just looks a little bit messy doesn’t it like who can I trust here who’s telling the truth what’s actually going on hey no matter where you look in the world right now there seems to be a bit of a crisis on who is trustworthy and who is not like who can we say I’m following that person no matter what happens things will go well well Jesus is arguing and I think David is pointing to the fact that a life surrendered to Jesus Christ puts us under the leadership under the authority of the one who will be for us and not against us in fact on repeat the Bible talks about Jesus in this way in Psalm 84 the psalmist says no good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 my grace is sufficient for you in Romans 8 all things work together for the good of those who are in Christ Jesus there is no government official no popular fad no pastor no organization who can lead like Jesus can lead like Jesus so here’s the question where is he leading us to so since Jesus is the the Good Shepherd that the great Shepherd the one that’s leading guiding providing where is it that he’s leading us to well well let’s dive into the text he’s leading us towards rest and restoration that’s verses two and three in fact one of the things I like about it is there are plurals in this that he leads us into what green pastures plural and still waters plural which means it’s not a singular event but an event on a cycle and if you’ve tried to follow Jesus for any length of period of time you you know this to be true like we we go and we’re in green pastures and we feel seen and loved and known and and the presence of God seems near to us and then we get I love what’s coming next cuz they’re gonna know about the valley of the shadow a bit the models got mincing words that life can be hard but then what does he do he will he leads us back to another green pasture and back to another streams of still water the invitation the leadership of Jesus the shepherding of Jesus brings us into rest and it brings us into restoration but it also brings us through difficult times now look right at me it doesn’t cut past the valley there is no gondola to glory one of the things I’m always trying to point out to you and I will not be the kind of pastor that’s not honest with you about the brokenness of the world that we’re in it’s not kind to teach people if they just love Jesus everything goes their way so what the Bible says anywhere unless you cherry-pick verses this just said that even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil why how so look at it some of my favorites my some of my favorite words in the Bible right why because you are with me so now go back to John 10 what what Jesus said in John 10 is when it comes to the wolves coming when it comes to the dark night of the soul others will leave others will abandon it’s not safe enough for them so they’re getting out of there but Jesus is going I’m not going anywhere I’m gonna kill the wolf even as it tries to kill me for your good and this is what Jesus does in the lame down of his life so that in the valley of the shadow of death you will see who loves you and who does not love you who is for you and who is not for you and in this passage here and in Jesus pointing back to it he says you’re mine I’m not going anywhere the hired hands might run but I’m going nowhere politicians might fail you pastors might fall short other institutions might fail you I’m not going anywhere you have been bought with a price my blood he’s leading us through difficult times and and then look at verse 5 he’s leading us in to joy it’s not it shouldn’t be lost on you that we went from even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me in — you prepare a table before in the presence of my enemies right here’s here’s what here’s what he’s leading us into joy so the leadership of Jesus leads us not not into a real thin kind of happiness based on circumstance but kind of deep-rooted joy that he’s for us and not against us a deep-rooted joy that he was with us through the valley and he wasn’t with us through the valley going if you would have just done this or done that or done this we wouldn’t be here but he’s with us with his rod with the staff comforting leading guiding we’re gonna get through this not abandoning us and we come up out of that valley into a banqueting table with the oil of gladness being poured all over us and the reason it it’s prepared in the face of our enemies is because we battle not against flesh and blood right so imagine if our very real enemy has set his face to destroy us and so difficulty comes and and situations arise in our life where we question the goodness of God anybody been there anybody question the goodness of God in a difficult season is this safe place yeah my hands up this isn’t like I’m saying I have been in a place where I’m wondering about how God’s glory and how God’s goodness can somehow manifest in this like how can he be using this there’s got to be another way and yet when the people of God are navigated through the valley of the shadow of death by the presence of Jesus via the Holy Spirit and they respond with gladness how frustrating to the scheme’s a Bennett of the enemy right like Vey me it’s like I’m gonna destroy this faith I’m gonna squelch out this life I’m gonna choke the vibrancy out of this Saint with this scheme with this plan with this whatever and we respond with if he could like what a terrible thing but he was with me all along they in fact just to encourage one of you just been through it and found him near let me just been through it and found him close right yeah so I mean what this is preparing a banquet before our enemies that when the people of God walk in gladness difficult seasons not happiness I’m not using that word I’ve said for 20 years I think that’s a frail emotion happiness to be taken from you in a second but joy Joyce transcendent joy isn’t determined by circumstances Joy’s rooted in the finished work of Jesus Christ for the saint which means he is not against me he’s forming he’s accomplishing something even if I’m disoriented by it or don’t understand it through difficult times into joys also leading us into confidence goodness and mercy are following us so so I love this like at most people I talked to if we could ever get to like a real level of conversation feel like eventually they’re gonna be out at his fakes and phonies and a lot of people really feel like if we were truly fully known or if God ever truly got full ahold of us certainly he’s coming with judgment certainly he’s coming with some pain for us certainly there’s some punishment on the way and yet David saying hey those footprints you hear behind you that’s goodness and mercy that there is something chasing you there is something in pursuit of you Christian it’s not wrath it’s goodness it’s mercy so I’ll say this plain as I know how to surrender to the leadership of Jesus is to surrender to goodness and mercy to rebel against the leadership of Jesus is to rebel against goodness and mercy our confidence in the future is not in ourselves it’s in the fact that goodness and mercy is following us and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever and so where is he leading us rest and restoration through difficult times into joy and into confidence now why is he leading us now this is now I think verse three be the second part of three is the gravitational pull of Psalm 23 I think if you get three be the second half of verse three then you can be really confident that everything else the psalm has said is true and if you miss that that you won’t be able to believe in that confidence you surely won’t be able to believe that what’s chasing you down as goodness and mercy so so let’s look at that together he leads us in paths of righteousness for the sake of his name now let’s just straight conversation today you and I could not find the path of righteousness with any map app and satellite in the universe you and I perpetually think we’re on the path of righteousness only to discover we’re actually on the path to self righteousness or think we’re on the path of righteousness only to find out we’re on the path to licensure sness like like watch this how many of you at least 50 times in your Christian life have said I’m not gonna do that anymore I’m gonna do this instead look look are you are you serious this is us this is God’s big plan so since we can’t find the path of righteousness to save our lives praise God we have one that will lead us to the path of righteousness and not because we’re good but because he is good right like if you’re trusting if your version of Christianity is that you’ve got to find the path of righteousness you’ve got to be good and then of course you’re gonna be running for God you don’t think those footsteps are goodness and mercy you think it’s wrath and judgment but it’s an understanding that he leads us in the paths of righteousness via back to John 10 by laying down his life for the Sheep and so Jesus brings peace into the equation with God and he does it in two ways it and they’re both really important when he brings peace between us and God massively important but he doesn’t stop there he also brings peace between us and catch this us let me unpack this in Colossians 1 starting in verse 19 it says this for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell this is speaking of Jesus and through Jesus to reconcile to God all things whether on earth or in heaven by making peace by the blood of its cross so that our unrighteousness our inability to stay on the path of righteousness peace is brought between us and God by the blood of Jesus so now you can believe since righteousness was brought to you peace was brought to you that those footsteps our goodness and mercy and not wrath and judgment but it’s not just this that Jesus the Good Shepherd has accomplished he also has brought peace to us within us let me read this first again I wish we had so much more time than we do first John 3 verse 24 whenever our heart condemns us God is greater than our heart listen this and he knows everything I mean isn’t that an unbelievable verse think about how much time you spend wandering if someone were to know everything about you whether or not you would be accepted think about all that am I good enough questions that kind of serve on you man am I good enough mom I good enough dad am I good enough spouse am I good enough or am I good enough person I good enough and and yet here in this the Bible says hey no no no God who knows everything and here’s what that means like there are things wrong with me right now ways that I am operating but I’m completely unaware that I’m operating in those like there are ways that I’m out of step with what God has for me then I can’t even see him as much as I’m going God show me God show me got to me he’s got to do some things before I can see it and God knows even those and what’s his response his response is to clear my conscience by saying if it was ever gonna be your righteousness this was a lost cause so repent but no I knew what I was buying so when I when I say that little phrase he like Jesus knew what he was buying in the cross like you’re not surprising him I’m not making that stuff up right like I just I got that from the Bible so so the God who knows look at me everything cleanses your conscience with what the righteousness of Jesus so why can the Good Shepherd well well I can David say the Lord is my shepherd what else could I want well I can be confident that this is the way he’s leading us how can we be confident that this is actually our future because Jesus has made peace between us and God and he has made peace between us and us I don’t know how you’re wired no one no one judges me as hard as I judge me in fact most often when I hear criticism about myself I’m moderately pleased it’s like that’s it really I mean I’m certainly guilty of that but if you’ve got all I usually hear is you don’t know me that well yet like yeah I’m just really struggle with you this this and this I’m like that that’s what’s putting you off we you should probably stay at a distance then brother or sister because it only gets uglier from here like no one is as hard on me as I am on me that’s probably true for most people in this room that’s probably a universal human experience I had a friend tell me one time other people were speaking life into him he’s like man if I could only see myself the way other people see me in it that’s nearly impossible so this Holy Spirit whispers to our spirit you’ve been made righteous breathe rest walk in the restoration that the Spirit of God has brought about in Jesus Christ right now I have I’ve been vocal about my concern around our geography here’s what I mean by that but I don’t mean that Dallas is an unattractive place although that could possibly be true III mean more that because you and I are in the Bible Belt per se because you and I are in a place where a lot of people know a lot about Jesus that we can get stuck in a very dangerous game of being able to talk about Jesus to know facts about Jesus and all of that but not necessarily love Jesus and so there’s this odd thing that can happen where we can even talk about him as though we were super close and be really far from him CS Lewis said this in the Great Divorce every poet and musician an artist but for grace is drawn away from the love of the thing he tells to the love of telling till down in deep hell they could not be interested in God at all but only in what they say about him so I think this is Lois from last century looking upon the horizon in saying that if we’re not careful Jesus becomes a punchline and doctrine becomes talking points where our hearts are far from him see the 23rd psalm is meant to orient our spirits orient our minds orient our hearts around not just some bumper sticker theology but the goodness of God in his leading us and his care for us in his love for us and his sacrifice for us and in the invitation to come in — according to John 10:10 life and life to the full and I can’t promise you much but I can promise you that Jesus won’t fail you and he is the great Shepherd he is the Good Shepherd he will give rest he will bring about restoration he will lead us into the fullness of life and may the grace of god be bestowed upon us let’s pray father i lift your name i thank you for the life of king david i thank you for his high highs and his crazy low lows and how and all of those things these words come to us by your Holy Spirit that for such a time as this the 23rd psalm rests on us to remind us to lift up our eyes to let us gaze yet again in the beauty of what it means to be sons and daughters of God where all else fail you will not where all else fall short you cannot and so I ask would you minister to your people today again I lift up the Bragg family again I lift up our church again I lift up those in this room and I many who this season is extremely difficult for in Esprit you meet us all you meet us all then you heal and you restore and you do the things that only you can do that sermons don’t do songs don’t do charismatic personalities don’t do your spirit does so we just lay before you our souls our lives our church our neighborhoods our friends we just ask that you’d be mighty be exalted you be lifted high it’s for your beautiful name Amen