(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)

It looks like we're sitting in the elongated pattern here this morning. I'll have to come out halfway to be in the middle of things, but glad you're all here and look forward to hearing a new faith story this morning. When I talked to Alex beforehand, I saw that he's been attending faith church for 20 years. 

He could barely be any older than that. I told him he actually, even though Margaret and I have attended faith church for almost 60 years, he's attended a larger percentage of his life. Well, let's pray and give thanks before we hear Alex's story. 

Father, we are grateful for being together again. Beautiful day and a beautiful reminder this morning of how we have been forgiven and we need to offer that to those around us, even the ones that are difficult. Thanks for the way your spirit speaks truth to us and your word does the same. 

Help us to learn as we hear Alex's story this morning, the way you've shaped his life. Help ours to not be the same afterwards. We give thanks in Jesus' name. 

Amen. So Alex, welcome. He's attended faith church for as long as he can remember, that's 20 plus years. 

He'll be a junior this fall at IU Indy where he's studying video production and sound design. He's practicing that as we speak. It's wonderful. 

He works part-time at faith as the production manager and has traveled with the church on various mission trips. He's also a semi-professional disc golfer. That needs a little definition, maybe we'll hear about that this morning.

But thank you, Alex, for being here and sharing your story. We'll be glad to learn from you. Yeah, I'm going to sit back here, so I'm staying far away from you guys.

Just kidding. Yeah, I was going to introduce myself, but I guess Phil took care of that, so I don't really know where to start. Good morning, I guess. 

I'm the second of four Miles boys, sons of James and Tina. We're that flavor of Miles. And then as Phil said, I am the production manager here. 

So if you see me check my phone and just start sprinting towards the worship center, that means that something's gone terribly wrong and it's my job to go fix it. And that actually means that we're going to need someone to step in. So John, if you could be ready to give your story if I have to go. 

You're on deck. Oh, I could send John, you're right. Yeah, yeah.

So I would say my faith story doesn't start out super interesting. You know, about a couple years ago, my senior year of high school, I was about to go on a serve and learn trip to Poland. And we were at a meeting beforehand, a really small group of us. 

I think there were four guys who were going from the church. And the Poland team was like, look, we only have so many volunteers who can give testimonies. So if all four of the American group can have testimonies prepared, that'd be great. 

And then you guys can all share and we'll have enough testimonies to last the week. And I had nothing. I grew up going to the church.

I've been a Christian all my life. I've never done drugs and I have all of my limbs. So I was like, I guess part of my flaw, I think, was I didn't think that God could do work in my life in the ordinary things. 

And I struggled to really see his presence through things outside of the ordinary or like, or I only saw his presence in extraordinary things. I struggled to see it in the mundane. And I think that was a symptom of some of the doubts that I was going through at that time of my faith. 

I feel like I was just going through the motions. I'd go into church on Sunday. I'd tell you I was a Christian because I believed that. 

But like, I wasn't really reading my Bible every day. I wasn't really like super invested in worship. And, you know, that kind of leads me into the title of this story, which is that I will be done, which really, it comes from the Lord's prayer.

Because something I've realized as working here and a big portion of my job involves worship and making sure that worship happens, is I get, I listen to the same songs over and over again. And it happens with prayers, too, where this might just be a me thing or might be an everyone thing. But I'm more focused on like the song rather than the lyrics. 

And I'm not really reflecting as much on the verses that I'm singing. And I think that something that's really benefited me recently has been being able to step back and just examine like the deeper meanings of different lyrics and also prayers. Like we grew up and we do the Lord's prayer before dinner every day. 

And it gets to a certain point where it's just now what you're saying before you have food. And I wasn't really thinking deeply. And the phrase, thy will be done, it really resonates with me because it's saying we spend so much time worrying about, you know, today and life and what's going on and what I need and setting myself up for a good future. 

But at the end of the day, we need to just let go and have control and let what the Lord wants to be done in our lives be done. And that was something that I would grow to realize. Now probably the biggest turning point in my faith, which was New Year's Eve of 2023, which, you know, it started pretty mundane. 

My younger brothers and dad were in Pennsylvania celebrating with family. I had to work, my older brother Will had to work, and my mom was sick. So we all stayed back. 

It was gonna be super, super low-key, like not a lot of stuff going on. I was gonna like stay at home, eat a frozen pizza. Well, I was gonna split it. 

I wasn't gonna eat a whole frozen pizza myself. But, you know, me and my mom, we'd have some snack foods, watch some football. And this was a time in my life when I was working 6 a.m. coffee shop shifts. 

So sleep was at a premium. I was staying up till midnight had lost its luster. So I was just gonna go to bed early, have a good time. 

And that was that. Things didn't go to plan. My older brother left for a New Year's Eve party, and I, you know, played some video games on my computer or something.

When my mom came into my room and stood in the doorway and said, hey, I just got a phone call from IU Methodist Hospital. And they asked if I know a Will Miles, who's my older brother. And she said that they told her she needed to go to the hospital as soon as possible, and they couldn't share any more details over the phone. 

And so she left, and I was home alone in the most anxiety-ridden state I have ever been in. I kind of paced the house for a bit. I went down to the living room and just sat there, and I'm sure I prayed a little bit or a lot. 

I don't really remember it super in detail. But at a certain point, something in the back of my head said, look, all your life growing up, people have told you when you're in times of need, open your Bible and, you know, read it, and you'll find something to help. And so I decided I'm gonna, you know, open my Bible to a random page, and we're gonna see if God will work through that. 

And it wasn't out of like a knowledge that the Lord's there for me. I am willing to admit I think it was me just testing God and saying, are you gonna be there for me in this moment? And so, you know, I thought like maybe he'll help me. I also thought back to a story I heard growing up about someone opening their Bible to a random page, looking for advice, and reading the passage about Judas hanging himself, which is not good advice. 

So I figured, you know, I either get helpful advice, a funny joke, or maybe I just get genealogy, and that's okay. And so I fully resolved to just test the Lord. I went to my phone because I had a Bible app on there, and I didn't want to go back upstairs to grab my Bible, and I opened it up. 

And as some of you may know about the Bible app on your phone is that it automatically opens to the last page that you read. And for me, from whatever Sunday morning class I had been to the previous week, from whatever night or random Bible reading I had, it was in Matthew 6, and specifically Matthew 6 verses 20 through, I believe, 34 through the end of the chapter, which is a part of the Sermon on the Mount. And this section is titled, The Cure for Anxiety.

And it's Jesus speaking to people, basically saying like, hey, you know, the birds and the flowers, they don't worry about these things. Why are you worrying? The birds don't spend any time sowing nor reaping food, and yet they know the Lord will provide for them, so why do you worry as well? And the one verse that stuck out to me was Matthew 6, 27, which reads, And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to a span of life? That's a funny coincidence, I thought, before putting my phone down and hugging my cat. The cat didn't hug me back, because he's a cat, and I thought more about the verse. 

That verse didn't fill the emptiness I felt when I got a phone call confirming that my older brother had died in a car crash. It didn't make anything feel okay, and it didn't stop me from being anxious, maybe because I didn't let it. But what it did do, though, was provide a reminder after the fact. 

A reminder that, yeah, bad things happen, and yeah, life is terrible sometimes, but even when your brother dies, and whatever life you feel like you had in place, it feels like it gets blown up. Even though he was a great man, and a servant of the church, and died way too early at just 20, and was a fantastic brother, and I miss him more than I can describe in words, that God is still there, and his plan is still there, and he can still bring good from something that is so bad. One of the things that I was struggling with in my faith at the time was I'd spent so much time focusing on the brokenness, I'd say, of Christianity, where you see people, whether it's in day-to-day lives, or modern day, where they're just so hateful, and just incredibly mean to other people, and yet they claim to be Christian. 

And it's like, how can I worship the same God who preaches, love your neighbor, as these people? And they don't seem to live that out at all, and they're just being terrible people, and giving Christians a bad name. Or I thought back to the Crusades, or the conquistadors, who would say, convert to Christianity, or die. And I'm like, how do they worship the same God I do? But I think I spent too much time focusing on the brokenness of Christianity, and I didn't focus on the light, or the Christ-like love that Christians can reflect. 

One of the big parts was people, as soon as I heard the news, like within minutes, people had already shown up at my door, just to be with me, and pray for me, and make sure I was okay. And I specifically remember, I don't remember who it was, but one person was praying for me, and they said something that, along the lines of, and I know they were trying to be comforting, but they said something like, you know, Lord, we know that this isn't a part of your plan, and that broken things happen in a broken world. And I just remember standing there, and thinking, no, I think that this is a part of God's plan. 

And it's a part of his plan, because he's in control of all things, and I have to believe that he's gonna spin this terrible incident into something good. And if I can't believe that, then I didn't know what I would believe. And so I kind of, to use a sports analogy, I was like, ball is in your court, God. 

You know, it's up to you. You say all things are gonna work together for your good. How are you gonna use this for your good? To put it into perspective for people who didn't really know me or my family, my older brother Will was 20, just two years older than me at the time, and you know, we shared a room growing up. 

We were super close. We were the closest we'd ever been, gotten past like the brotherly quarreling and stuff. And so it just really hit me, his loss, losing him. 

But the one thing I made sure to do to handle the emptiness, and kind of stop myself from growing bitter, which I don't mean to brag or anything, but I think I speed ran the five stages of grief really quickly. I got to acceptance crazy fast. But one thing I did is every night before bed, I would just lay there and instead of like counting sheep or anything, I would think through things I could be thankful for in life.

Because why would I focus on losing my brother when I could focus on the fact that, hey, at least I had a good loyal older brother for 18 years. At least I still have two other brothers and loving parents, and I have all these blessings that, you know, other people might not get to have. And so I really wanted to focus on those things so that I could, you know, still think of, you know, the light and not be super bitter. 

And I think that that really helped me get along with time, with the times. So about two weeks after my brother passed, I was gonna go on the serve and learn trip to Poland, which people are like, are you sure you still want to go on it? And I'm like, there is nothing I would rather do than go on a serve and learn trip with my best friend, my small group leader, and Joey Wiesman. It was gonna be a great time. 

And so, you know, just being with some guys who are all godly men and just, you know, fellowship with them and also help other people. So we're there at a morning meeting, probably second, third day of the camp, and they were talking at this meeting that they have someone to give a testimony, but they're a maybe. So they needed a backup just in case. 

And so I raised my hand. I was like, guys, I can do it. And at this point, I had nothing written down. 

And I had spent so much time beforehand in the lead-up worrying about like, oh, I don't have a testimony. And God just handed me one. So seems kind of like a cruel joke, but I don't think it is one. 

But I volunteered. And they said, all right, Alex, if the first person doesn't work out, you can give yours. And in that moment, I just knew, I'm like, I'm giving my testimony tonight. 

Like, there was just something that came over me. It's like, that first option isn't gonna work out. It's not a bad thing. 

I just know that I have to be ready to fully share. And so in the backseat of a stick shift van that the clutch kept sticking in, as we tried to turn left on a divided highway, I remember there were like some people in the car like praying because it was super sketchy and not a good time. But I was just focused on, you know, writing in my notes app on my phone what I was gonna share that night. 

And I don't, I don't even think I read through it a second time after writing it out. I just typed it out. And this was two weeks after the accident. 

So this is just raw, unfiltered emotions that I shared that night. And I don't know the impact that it had. I just remember I finished and I looked out at just a dead silent room. 

And I, you know, went and I sat down. And the kids all went off into the small groups. And I wasn't a part of those small groups.

So I don't know what the impact it had was. But what I did discover is that if you're willing to open up to people, that, that, the, the ability to be able to open up and share those just raw emotions and that like what happened really allows other people to feel like they can open up too. And that kind of let people talk about their, their problems or their losses or the tough things that they were having. 

And that testimony that night looked like what the first portion of this was. A little bit probably more in-depth and a little bit more raw. But it was just this is what happened. 

This was my experience of it. And I don't know what the good that's gonna come out of this looks like right now. At the time all I could say is, I mean, I've grown closer to my family. 

And I've seen the good that good Christians can do firsthand. Because the amount of people who took time out of the day or took like brought us food or just cared for us was really, really good to see. And so, you know, I was told that, you know, people were able to talk. 

It felt like something's switched a little bit at the camp. And that people were more open to talk. But the, the time I felt that story had a better impact. 

Or not necessarily better, but more present to me, was later that year at the Spain serve and learn trip. Where my older brother had gone the year before. And so I was like, initially he had a great time. 

So I was like, I'm gonna go. And then he passed. And I was like, now I really want to go on this trip. 

And so, you know, I volunteered to share testimony. And the first night someone gave a testimony and the kids did not pay attention at all. And I started getting a little bit nervous. 

I'm like, I don't want to give this testimony if these kids are just gonna disrespect me. The second night someone else gave a testimony and the kids were even worse. And they're just super unruly talking and just like goofing off. 

And that night I was scheduled to go the next day. And I was just terrified. And so I walked back up the hill. 

And the kids got ready for bed. And I just was sitting there or standing in the courtyard. And just feeling so anxious. 

And just like, I felt like I couldn't do it. I couldn't give my testimony in front of these people. And so I did something that, I guess regretfully, I can't say I had done before. 

And I decided that I was gonna go up and individually ask someone for prayer. Rather than just like, oh volunteering a prayer request. Which is a good thing. 

And I've done that. But going up to someone with the express intent of asking for prayer. And I saw Nathan Kingsley, Aaron Kostler, and Isaac Stow. 

Nathan, who I've known all my life. Or not all my life. All his time at Faith. 

Which feels like a good while. Aaron, who I'd known sparingly. I barely knew her. 

And Isaac, who I met that week. And I saw them. And they were all like the big leaders. 

And so they looked like they were having a very serious conversation. And so I tried to talk myself out of it. I was like, no. 

They're, you know, they're having a good conversation. I don't want to interrupt it. It seems like they're talking about like, oh someone's breaking the rules. 

And we have to take care of it. But something inside of me. Some voice was like, no. 

Go interrupt them. This is important. And so I went up to them. 

And I said, guys, I hate to interrupt you. But I just need prayer. And I broke down in front of them crying. 

Asking them to pray for me. Because I was just so terrified of sharing my testimony. And these people, two of which who barely knew me, just put their arms around me.

And gave me the most heartfelt prayers that I could have asked for. And as they finished, I just felt calm. And I have to, I like, I have to claim that that's the Holy Spirit washing over me. 

Because I just felt so at peace. And so equipped for being able to share this the next morning. So I was there. 

I went to bed that night. I listened to some worship music. I was like, this is, it's gonna be okay. 

The next morning, still felt good. I was like, I'm gonna pray. And I prayed for the Lord to speak through me. 

I prayed that, don't let it be my words, God. Let it be what you want these people to hear. When I share this testimony. 

And so, you know, we were getting ready to go throughout the day. I get like a little bit of nerves. The kids are playing like a game before it's testimony time. 

And again, just fear and anxiety washes over me. And I was sitting there. And I thought to myself, like the thought came across me. 

I'm like, wait a minute. One of the key parts of this testimony is the time I turned to the perfect verse for the situation. Telling me not to be anxious. 

And how I ignored that. How dare I try to ignore that a second time here? And so I just went back and I read it. And I'm like, you know, why, why am, how's, like, I laughed at myself. 

I was like, how can you ignore that again? And so I did my best. And I think the anxiety kind of like eased a little bit. And I, I went and I shared. 

And I'm gonna be honest, I don't really remember what I said. I had the notes app that I had read off of at the Poland trip in that testimony. But I did, I vowed to not read off that. 

I tried memorizing it beforehand and kind of failed at that. And so that was part of a little bit of the nerves. But I think the Lord chose to speak through me that night.

Because I just don't remember what I said. And it just seemed like I didn't struggle to come across the words that I needed to share. And, you know, we, so I shared it. 

And I remember I stopped talking. And I looked across. And it was a room of just fully silent people. 

Either focused, like locked on to what's happening. Or just turned away crying. And I was like, oh, I guess the prayers were answered about these people not being super distracting. 

And we went to question and answer time. And I answered questions that I don't remember. It just, I felt like I was speaking and I didn't struggle for words. 

And I couldn't tell you what I said. But at the end of it, you know, I went, started going back up the hill to the main meeting area. And I stopped at the, like a handball court.

Like a big pavement area. And I was able to look up at the stars. And I just paused there for a moment. 

And I just, I stared at the stars. And I remember, you know, thinking or even saying out loud. I was like, you know what, Will? We did it.

Like, I'm not letting your death or your life go to waste. I'm going to try to find good out of this. Whether it's me having to work for it. 

Or whether it's going to come on its own. And so that was just a really impactful moment of being able to stare up at the sky. And realize that, like, I didn't know the full effect that this had had. 

But I knew that something was happening. I went back up. I started walking up the hill. 

And a group of girls caught up to me. And these were like some of the big troublemakers. Like the too cool for school kind of people. 

That were, you know, not really having it with the camp. And one of them was just fully in tears. Like the leader of their group. 

And she, she had known Will the year before. And just started, like in full crying, talking to me about how, like, her favorite stories about him from the previous year. Despite only knowing him for a week. 

And how she, like, walked, like, found just randomly one day her, she walked into like her family's room. And they were watching Will's funeral online. And how that just hit her. 

And I think it was another one of those things. That's like, you don't really think about death that much. Like you know it happens. 

But it's not something you think about until it happens to you or your family member or someone close to you. One, one thing that really resonated with me after the initial accident was a Calvin and Hobbes comic. Where the the family has their house broken into while they're away on vacation. 

And one of the parents says to the other, this is seems like always, this this seems like the type of thing that always happens to someone else. And the other one says, well we're all someone else to someone else. And it was that kind of thing. 

Where it's like you don't really think about it until it happens. And so I definitely think that since it was so close and touched, like, Will was someone who every, a lot of people knew. It was something that, you know, people were able to think more about death. 

And really have those conversations. And it opened up a lane for that. And so, you know, I walked back up to the the main building area. 

And this was a point where it was probably 45 minutes after everyone should have gone to bed. But no one was telling anyone to go to bed. Because everyone was busy feeling things. 

And a certain point, my, one of the other counselors, Jose, came up to me. And he was like, Alex look, I was talking to this one girl. And she said that she wanted to put her life in Christ. 

Or her faith in Christ. Because of your story. And I just broke down into tears in front of him.

And I was like, I don't think that that was because of me. Like, I don't know what I was saying down there. I think that the Lord was speaking through me. 

And that that was really the moment when it fully set in. That, you know, I don't, I struggled with the adage of like, why do bad things happen to good people? But I think that was when I kind of realized that, you know, bad things happen to good people. Because it takes those good people to turn those bad things into great things.

Because I know where my brother's soul is. And I know where mine is. And I think that if I could trade my physical life for someone's eternal life, then I think that's a worthy trade. 

Even if it's just one soul that's more, that's, I guess, just increased value. And I think that my brother would take that trade too. And I don't know how many souls he touched with his life and his death. 

Or with me sharing about my experience with that. But I know it's at least one. And so I think that that's worth it. 

Another instance where this story was able, like I was able to see God through this story. Because I went back to the camp the next year. And I'm sitting in a small group. 

And my co-counselor, Isau, is leading. And everyone's speaking in Spanish. And I don't speak, I know like five words in Spanish.

And half of them are numbers. So I was like, I did not know what was going on. And so, you know, we were talking about deeper things. 

And so I knew that my story and my experience with loss was relevant. Just based off of the English questions they had in front of me. And I didn't know what they were saying. 

But I just was like, you know, this could be, like some of these kids know my story. Some of them weren't here last year. So they don't. 

But I think I'll have a good perspective on this. I don't really know if it's my place to share it. They seem pretty deep in thought.

So if Isau turns to me and says, Alex, do you have any thoughts? Then I'll share. And as soon as I had that thought, the guy turns to me and goes, hey, Alex, so what do you think about this? Anything you want to say? And I was like, well. And so I shared. 

And, you know, I think it was another way to get on a deeper level with these kids and let them know that, like, hey, you know, bad stuff happens. But, you know, it kind of helps to talk about it sometimes. And I think that that's one of the, another instance of something that, like, I don't know if it's necessarily past me, but I could chalk it up to just a coincidence. 

I could say that this is a coincidence, that me turning to that Bible verse was a coincidence. But if I can live in a world where I choose that those are coincidences, or if I can choose to believe that it's God, like, having a hand in my life, there's a world that I'd rather live in, and it's the second one. And so that's why I'm going to keep believing that kind of thing. 

Like, I'm going to believe that God's having his hand in here because it seems like it's working for his glory.

(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)