The Unchanging Love of God: Stories of Faith and God’s Faithfulness

Josh Stephens: You may be seated.
To know Madalyn Franklin is to love Madalyn Franklin.
And we are very blessed to have her
here to speak with us today.
So Madalyn, come on up here.
We're gonna say a blessing over you
and then we're gonna give you the floor.
God, we love you and we are so grateful that you love us.
And Father, it's clear to see your good fruit
in Madalyn's life, the way she lives,
but more importantly, the way she loves
reflects you, Lord Jesus.
And so, Holy Spirit, again, I just ask
that you give her your peace right now.
I know she's excited, I know that she's nervous,
I know that she's emotional,
but more than any of that, she's yours.
And you're gonna use her to speak to our minds
and speak to our hearts today.
Thank you for the gift of Madalyn Franklin
and we look forward to hearing you speak through her.
We love you.
Thank you for loving us first, in Jesus' name, amen.
Madalyn Franklin, everybody!
: (audience cheering)
Madalyn Franklin: Okay, so this is kinda crazy, just so you know.
But yes, I'm Madalyn Franklin
and I'm a senior Ag Business major.
Josh asked me to do this chapel talk about two months ago
and I was sitting in a golf cart in Childress, Texas.
Although this is extremely out of character for me,
I remember telling God a long time ago
that if anyone ever asked me to speak in chapel, I would.
So, be careful what you tell God
because he'll probably take you up on the offer.
So, if you know anything about me,
you know that I grew up in a small town called Plains, Texas.
You know that some of my favorite things are music,
singing, cows, people, Master Follies.
I love Master Follies.
Kappa Phi, the Lord, reading, and just being silly.
You know that at some point, I will probably cry
during this chapel talk and like Josh said,
I've already been emotional today, so be prepared.
And if you don't know anything about me,
know all the things above and I'm probably going to cry.
And also know that that's normal and it's okay.
So, jumping back to the golf cart in Childress, Texas.
I was there all summer as a summer youth intern
with Children's Church of Christ.
Shout out to my Childress people.
But at this point in the summer,
I'd lost my voice from too much screaming,
too much singing, too much talking, and allergies.
So, I couldn't really voice my concerns
about speaking in chapel.
Number one, who am I to speak in chapel?
I'm not much of a public speaker,
and as you can see, I'm relying kind of heavily
on what I've written.
I was already feeling like I was either
gonna throw up or pass out,
and really, what was I even gonna talk about?
Josh said that I could talk about anything
that we might need to hear
at the beginning of the semester,
or I could talk about something that's been on my heart.
But my mind started racing because there's
so many different things that I could talk about.
So many things that the Lord has taught me
over my years at LCU.
So many stories that I could share,
and so many directions to take.
So, I started thinking about my journey at LCU thus far.
I started with whenever I graduated from Plains,
and I was about to move into Katie Rogers
with my cousin Ashleigh, who had lived two hours away.
I thought maybe I would tell you about
how excited I was to finally be at LCU.
My aunts, uncles, my parents, my cousins,
and my brother had all come to LCU before me,
and I heard so many wonderful things.
And I couldn't wait to experience social clubs,
Master Follies again, intramurals,
and other activities on campus.
And I also couldn't wait for the relationships
that everyone said would last a lifetime.
But I could also tell you how nervous I was
for what was ahead.
I was gonna be on my own,
and what if everyone thought I was weird
and didn't wanna be my friend?
That was gonna be, that would be terrible.
I was gonna be a loner for four years.
But, I could tell you that I found
some of my best friends in orientation,
in business classes, and through Rush,
and club, and other things.
I could tell you about the relationships
that I made and that I still have today.
Not gonna cry, not yet.
And I can tell you about the relationships
that I didn't steward in the best way.
I could tell you about the classes that were easy for me.
And I could tell you how I struggled in statistics,
and accounting one and two,
because those were really hard for me.
My brain just doesn't work that way.
I could tell you many crazy stories
about being an RA in KR,
and about the wonderful relationships that I found there.
I could tell you about becoming
a Master of Follies director my sophomore year,
and losing, which was terrible.
But I could also tell you about the time
that I was the director the next year,
and how we came back and won.
I could tell you about the story of my cousin Ashleigh,
who came to school with me,
and how she was diagnosed with cancer our sophomore year,
and how she passed away that coming March.
I could tell you about the times
that I felt overwhelming feelings of anxiety,
and depression, and grief.
But I could also tell you the times
that I felt joy and peace beyond my understanding.
I could tell you all about my successes and my failures.
I could tell you about the things
that went the way that I hoped they would,
and the things that didn't.
I could tell you about the ways that I encourage people,
and also the ways that I've hurt people.
I could tell you the numerous joys
that I've gotten to experience,
and I can also tell you the number
of heartbreaks I've experienced too.
And I can tell you all about the hills,
the valleys, the mountaintops.
But as all these stories and lessons
were swirling in my mind,
I realized that there have been a lot
of highs and lows in my life thus far,
and I realized that there are more to come.
More highs, successes, joys, but also more failures,
more heartbreak, and more lows as well.
And so sitting in this golf cart,
you can imagine me thinking,
what am I gonna talk about?
All these things are twirling around in my head.
But then it slowly came to me.
Through all the life I've lived so far,
the one thing that remains constant
is God's faithfulness to who he is and his promises.
And so we've all heard the same phrases
once or twice or so many times
that they've kind of lost their weight.
We've all heard that God is faithful,
God is kind, God is good, God is love,
and that he sent his son down to save us from our sins.
And it's easy to hear these things when life's going good.
We just hear them and we kind of just go on with our day,
like, yeah, that's true.
But it's a little harder when we're in one of those lows,
when life isn't going the way that we hoped or planned,
when relationships seem to be crumbling,
when you lose a loved one,
or when you just can't seem to catch a break.
It's easy to say them,
but it's a lot harder to believe them.
So today I want to propose the idea that this God
we talk about sometimes so nonchalantly
is truly who he says he is.
The God of the Bible is true,
and he's living today, he's alive today.
And every single moment of every single day,
he is the same.
And we get to witness these things happening today
in our everyday life.
And so now this is the point where I tell you
that I don't know everything.
I don't have some profound wisdom or great knowledge
that is special, really.
And so today I just want to bring you stories,
personal stories that I've experienced
and how God's revealed himself to me
and how he's changed my life through these things.
So one of my favorite things about God is his kindness.
I know God is kind
because it's one of the fruits of his own spirit.
I think what makes his kindness so great though
is the fact that we don't deserve for him to be kind to us.
If we're being honest,
we've all turned away from him at one point or the other.
We've chosen something other than him,
and sometimes we've even spat in his face.
And even more than that, he is God,
and he can do whatever he wants.
But even though all those things are true,
it doesn't stop him from being himself.
He still continues to bless us
with the things that we don't deserve
because that's who he is
and because he loves us so desperately.
Even me, I'm one of those people
that has turned my face from him at time to time.
I've walked away from him
and I've chosen other things than him.
But continually, he's blessed me
with so many wonderful things.
He's blessed me with those friends
that I was worried about finding.
And these friends and the rest of the LCU community
gathered around me to lean on when Ashleigh was sick
and after she passed away.
Our father showed up for me
in those darkest moments even after,
when I was angry and had a lot of things to say to him.
But he sat with me and he comforted me in those dark times.
And I want y'all to know that he's close
to the brokenhearted
and he's near to those who are crushed in spirit
and that's one thing that doesn't change about him.
He's blessed me with people who've poured into my life
after I've fallen short
and they remind me that God loves me
and that he has good plans for me.
He's blessed me with direction
when I felt lost and confused
and he's led me through difficult seasons
and difficult decisions and placed me on my feet.
And the times that I said
that I chose something other than him,
he's kindly reminded me
that true life is in him alone and no other.
And he gently leads me back
and he finds me where I am.
There, he doesn't tell me how terrible I am.
He doesn't remind me how I've fallen short.
He doesn't just criticize me over and over again
trying to remind me of how I failed him.
Instead, he picks me up and he keeps walking forward.
And through all these things, he's healed me.
He's shown me that he is good
and through the good and the bad,
his love is more abundant than we can possibly imagine.
He has shown me that he is the God
who kindly provides everything I need
and he shows me how his heart desires
to bless his children with good things
even when we go astray.
Another one of my favorite things about God
is reflected in his son, Jesus.
He said, "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden
"and I will give you rest.
"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me
"for I am gentle and humble in heart
"and you will find rest for your souls."
Now, I don't know anything about you guys
but I can be really hard on myself sometimes.
I try to get everything right the first time
and when I don't, I get pretty upset with myself.
Then I try to fix myself and I try to fix myself
and I try to fix myself but it doesn't work
because I'm not that great.
And then whenever I get tired, I wanna give up.
But the beautiful thing about Jesus is that he waits.
He doesn't rush me, he doesn't try to impose
on me doing my own thing but instead he waits patiently
until I ask for help.
In his humility, he doesn't force his own way on me
and in his gentleness, he picks me up
and he shows me the way back to life.
Over and over again, he has picked me up
and reminded me that he never expected me
to do it all on my own.
He never expected me to do it on my own the first time
or the second time or the third time and so on.
And through this, he's redeemed lies over and over again
that I, and he's told me so many times
and I want y'all to know this too
because it's not just for me, it's for everybody out here
that you're his child and he loves you
and he's gonna go to the ends of the earth for you.
And he reminded me that his grace is sufficient for me
even in my weaknesses and that he will complete
what he started in me.
He is gentle reminding me that this is true
and it is by his grace alone that I'm saved
and that I get to enjoy this,
that I get to enjoy it with him and with other people.
But my absolute favorite thing about God
and this is probably where I'm gonna start crying
just so you know.
My favorite thing about God is his reckless love.
Every single day of my life, Christ has been pursuing me.
Despite all my sins, the ways that I've chosen other things,
the ways that I've tried to keep him away,
like I said earlier, sometimes through the anger,
he has sought me.
And I can't explain it any other way
than whenever I first met Jesus.
I was in the middle of my deepest, darkest sin
and he came crashing through with an overwhelming love
that broke my chains.
Day in and day out, he reminds me of this kind of love.
I can't even see.
And he reminds me of the time that he bore all of this
on the cross so that I could live in freedom
and so that you could live in freedom too.
He didn't just die on the cross
so that you could follow a set of rules.
He died on the cross so that you would experience his love
and so that you would get to experience
what it feels like to love your savior back.
He just wants abundant life for you
and he wants you to experience all the goodness
and all the fullness of himself.
So getting back on track.
I say that Christ is reckless in his love for us
because he's never let the fear of being hurt
stop him from loving us.
He walked willingly into pain and rejection
knowing that we might not love him back
but just for the hope that we may someday
and that we may get to experience the joy of loving him back.
And because of what he did on the cross,
because he died and he bore it all on the cross
so that we wouldn't have to carry any of that anymore
and then he died, he was buried in the grave,
literally dead, and then.
And through the spirit of God, he rose back to life again
so that we could live in new life,
so that we could live in abundant freedom
and so that we could have a hope of eternal life in heaven
where everything is full of joy and goodness
and we're completely healed
from all of the brokenness of this world
and all the brokenness that we've caused ourselves
and the other people have caused us.
And so in all these ways and more,
does God fulfill his promises to us
and show us who he truly is.
He is who he says he is, day in and day out,
every single day, these things and more have proven true.
He is a good God, a holy God.
He is a redeemer of all things.
He is a healer.
He's healed, oh, he's good, no.
(audience laughing)
And he's a shepherd who leads us through the dark valleys
and to green pastures.
Over my life, his faithfulness has been everywhere
and nothing we can say or do can change his character.
He's not gonna stop loving you.
He's not gonna stop giving you good things
because that's who he is.
And that's why I praise him every day
and that's why I follow him.
That's why I give my life to him every day.
He remains constant and he is worth following.
And so to quote the song that I listened to
throughout writing this entire chapel talk,
he's no less God in the shadows.
He's no less faithful when the night leads me astray.
You're the heaven where my heart is
and the highlands and the heartache all the same.
I thought about singing it,
but then I thought that might be really awkward
for everyone here.
(audience laughing)
So as I close, I wanna talk to three different people.
First, I wanna talk to the people who have sworn off God,
Jesus, and the whole Christian thing as a whole.
If you've ever been hurt by the church
or people of the church, I wanna say that I'm sorry
because that's not who God is.
We are broken people and his ways are higher than our ways.
He isn't like us.
He is a good God and he loves you.
In fact, the whole story of Jesus is him inviting people
to experience his love and his healing
no matter how broken they are.
And that is the kingdom of heaven.
Our father is perfect love, mercy, and kindness,
and he's waiting to shower you with his love
and his blessings just because he loves you that much.
So I want to ask you to give him a chance.
And if you've never been to church
or heard about this Jesus guy,
I ask that you would also give him a chance.
And I know that if you give him a true genuine chance,
he won't let you down.
Next, I wanna talk to the people
who have a relationship with Christ
but are in one of these lows.
Know that he sees you, that he hears your prayers,
and he isn't finished with you yet.
Know that the same God that you once praised so easily,
the one who answered your prayers,
is the same God who is alive today.
He is faithful to his character and his promises,
and he's even more faithful to his children.
He loves you too much not to.
Hold on to him, even if it's the hem of his garment,
and look out for blessings along the way
'cause they're gonna come.
And he's not going to leave you.
He works all things for the good of those who love him,
and he won't let you down.
And lastly, for those who have a relationship with God
and are living the high life,
I'm so glad that you're getting to experience these things
because that's what Christ wants to give you.
He wants to give you the fullness of all life and joy.
And I want to encourage you to soak it up,
but I also want to invite you
to experience that with the Lord.
Invite him in.
Don't just experience it by yourself or with other,
this is funny, or other human beings.
I call them dust bunnies, which that makes,
that's dumb, okay.
I don't know why I said that.
But God, he created you,
and he created you to experience his love.
He created you to experience it with him,
and that's why he wants for you,
and that's another reason why Jesus died on the cross,
I believe.
And he loves to see you enjoy life,
and so enjoy it with him.
So in closing, life is ever-changing,
and we all know this.
We'll experience good things,
and we'll experience bad things.
But God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit remain the same.
Bet all you have on them because they're sturdy,
they're safe, they're steadfast,
and they're not gonna change.
And they love you, and they will hold you,
and they will carry you to amazing, wonderful,
great heights that you would never have imagined.
And so now I wanna end with a prayer,
but when I say amen, please don't leave,
because I want to have the privilege
of dismissing everyone.
(laughing)
Okay.
So if you all bow your heads with me.
God, thank you for today.
Thank you for gathering us all here in the Moody Auditorium
to listen to you in spirit, in song, in scripture,
and hopefully through me, God.
And I just pray for every single person in this room
that you would bless them with the knowledge
of how much you love them,
and that you want to give them good things.
God, I ask that you brush off any lie
that Satan might be trying to pressure on them,
that if he's trying to convince them that you're not good,
or that you don't love them,
or that you're too far from them,
that that's not true, God.
And I pray that you would just remove all those things
in the name of Jesus Christ,
that your love would just overflow and break all chains.
God, I just thank you for every person
in this Moody Auditorium.
God, and I just ask that you open their hearts
and their eyes to you, God,
and just fill them with who you are.
And I pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen.
You're dismissed!
: (audience cheering)