Sunday 05/17/26 – Adams Village Baptist Church
Sermon Title: “When You’re Stuck in the Cocoon” – “The Power of Transformation” Sermon Series – (Part 1 of 6) – Romans 7:15-25, Romans 12:1
(Cover
Picture)
This morning, on this “Live
It Out Loud” Sunday, what we used to call “Camp Sunday,” I am starting a new
six-week sermon series called “The Power of Transformation.” The Christian
faith is designed to change or transform us. This means that through our faith
in Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are forgiven, we are loved,
and we are changed. We are not only changed or transformed when we come to
Christ as Lord and Savior, we are not only changed when we come up out of the
waters of baptism, but we are also changed every time that we come to Christ.
The Christian Church exists to proclaims Jesus and His gospel and then to take
the same gospel and “Live It Out Loud” in the world. When the church is at its
best, and when the church is “living” our faith, “out loud,” the community and the
world is better. We are able to love, heal, and forgive, all in the name of
Jesus Christ.
How we live our faith out
can vary, depending on how we are called by God, and by what spiritual gifts
and gifts in general that God has given us, but we are called to “Live It Out
Loud.” For me, I will not “Live It Our Loud” by signing, because I do not like
to inflict spiritual harm on others! We are called to live resurrected lives,
and to be the love and the hope of Christ in a world that desperately needs it
now more than ever.
While
we know all of this, we also know that life on this earth has its difficulties,
does it not? We can probably remember points in all of our lives that we were at
the mountain top, and everything seemed perfect. We maybe have also had all sorts
of moments and experiences from the lowest valleys to everything in between. We
know that we are supposed to trust God and we also know that we are supposed to
live and love like Jesus Christ. Sometimes though, my dear brothers and
sisters, we can get “stuck” in life. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we can
get into a place in our lives, whether briefly or for a longer period of time,
where we feel stuck. Us getting “stuck” can be for a variety of reasons. It can
be because something in our lives did not go the way that we hoped. It could be
because we worked hard and got right were wanted to get to, and then the excitement
of the achievement wore off. It could be because we are struggling in school.
It could be because of the death of one or more loved ones. It could be because
of relationship issues or some other stress in our lives. It could actually
also be because our lives have become entirely too “normal” and too “predictable.”
Sometimes in our loves, we just get “stuck.” Sometimes we maybe have also tried
to clean a tight space or go into a crawl space, and we physically got “struck!”
In
this new six-week sermon series that I am starting this morning then, called “The
Power of Transformation,” what happens friends, brothers, and sisters, “When
You’re Stuck in the Cocoon.”
(Caterpillar
and Butterfly - Picture)
In this picture a Caterpillar
is sitting a table with butterfly, as they do, but not really. The caterpillar
says in this picture to the butterfly “”How did you become this version of you?”
The butterfly then says, “I stopped being afraid to fail.” You will also notice
that the caterpillar and the butterfly have full wine glasses, as well. Since
we are in a Baptist Church however, we can assume those glasses are full of
grape juice.
We
all, friends, brothers and sisters, get into “ruts.” We all sometimes get “stuck
in the cocoon.” The church of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ is here
among many other things to help us get unstuck. The church, at its best, is
here to love us, to challenge us, and to support us, so that as this six-week
sermon series is called, we can all know and feel “The Power of Transformation.”
If we are stuck, if we are “stuck in the cocoon” then it is holding us back
from “The Power of Transformation.” Nothing is more powerful that someone
transformed in Jesus Christ. It is a beautiful thing to witness and to behold.
Further, why this morning do I have this analogy of being
stuck or in a rut around caterpillars and butterflies? Well, here is why: according
to some research that I have done, this is what I learned about caterpillars
and cocoons:
“Caterpillars transform into butterflies through a four-stage process called complete metamorphosis: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and adult. Inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar's body breaks down into a "soup" and reorganizes into wings, legs, and a new body. This incredible transformation typically takes 2–4 weeks.” (https://www.google.com/search?q=catepillar+to+a+butterfly).
A caterpillar goes into a cocoon within 2-4 weeks and literally
become a new creation. Within 2-4 weeks is transformed, and the process of this
happening while being “stuck in the cocoon” is nothing short of remarkable. Remember
this though, the caterpillar does not stay in the cocoon forever, and when the caterpillar
comes out of the cocoon it is transformed into a new creation. This is why this
morning’s sermon title once again is called “When You’re stuck in the cocoon,”
in this “The Power of Transformation” sermon series.
So, given all of this, how many of us are “stuck,” in a “rut”
or “stuck in the cocoon” this morning? Further, how many of us want to become “unstuck?”
Even further, how many of us were “stuck,” in a “rut,” or “stuck in the cocoon”
but then got out of it? Maybe at one time it seemed like it would last forever,
but we got through it. In the same way when we are “stuck,” in a “rut,” or “stuck
in the cocoon” we have to believe that God, our church, our family, and our
friends can help to lead us out of the “cocoons” that we get stuck in, in this
life. When we are on the other side of being “stuck,” in a “rut,” or “stuck in
the cocoon” then say this, “See It Wasn’t A Cage…It Was a Cocoon!” As people of
faith and as a church we are here for each other.
(See It Wasn’t
A Cage… It Was A Cocoon!- Picture)
Why then, on this “Live it Out Loud,” formerly “Camp”
Sunday, am I talking about being “stuck in the cocoon”? “Way to be Mr. Cheery
and Upbeat Pastor Paul!” I am talking about this, this morning, because we
cannot fully live out our faith and our love for Christ “Out Loud,” if we are
at the same time “stuck in the cocoon.” In fact, of all the of writers of the
New Testament of Bible, the Apostle Paul wrote or is attributed to 48% of the books
of New Testament. His letter or Epistles to the Roman Church or the Romans, the
Corinthians, the Ephesians, the Galatians, the Thessalonians, Timothy, etc.,
make up 48% of the books New Testament. In fact, there is 67 books in the
Bible, 39 books in the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible, and 27 in the New
Testament of the Bible. Of these 27 books of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul
wrote or is attributed to 13 of the 27.
The Apostle Paul was also not one of Jesus’ original twelve
disciples, as he was converted by a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus,
Syria. The Apostle Paul’s letters or epistles like Romans that we just read
some of this morning, are scriptures that contain so much richness and depth.
Even so, the Apostle Paul, like us got “stuck,” in a “rut,” or “stuck in the cocoon.”
How do I know this? Well in our first reading for this morning, the Apostle
Paul say in Romans 7:15, this:
(Romans
7:15- Picture)
15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate (Rom. 7:15, NRSV).
So, the great Apostle Paul, who wrote or is attributed to
48% of the books of the New Testament, who was “Apostle to the Gentiles,” tells
us about this morning in Romans 7:15 he does understand why he still sins sometimes.
He knows he should not do or say certain things, but sometimes he still does?
How can this be? Sometimes brothers and sisters, us being “stuck,” in a “rut,”
or “stuck in the cocoon,” prevents us from fully living our faith “Out Loud.”
So, who got “stuck,” in a “rut,” or “stuck in the cocoon” sometimes, once again?
The great Apostle Paul. Yet this same Apostle Paul started spreading
Christianity to non-Jews, to multiple places, which is why the Apostle Paul who
is called, once again, “The Apostle to the Gentiles.” The Apostle Paul, through
the Holy Spirit, brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to places it had never been
before.
(Apostle Paul-
Picture)
The Apostle Paul continues to write to the church that he
planted in Rome, or the Romans picking up in 7:16, saying this:
16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me (Rom. 7:16-20, NRSV).
In this scripture, the Apostle Paul sounds “stuck,” in a “rut,”
or “stuck in the cocoon,” yet while he has these moments, he gets “out of the
cocoon” and God uses him in mighty ways. The Apostle Paul lived his faith “Out
Loud,” but still, like the rest of us got “stuck,” in a “rut,” or “stuck in the
cocoon.” The Apostle Paul says it is impossible to perfectly follow all of the
rules of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible in the Torah, of the first five books
of the Bible. The Apostle Paul tells that only through Christ can he be worthy
because sin dwells in him, in his flesh. The Apostle Paul throws himself at the
feet of Jesus, over and over, for only through Jesus and His love through the
Holy Spirit can we fully live our faith “Out Loud.”
The Apostle Paul then finishes this scripture telling us,
once again, in Romans 7:21-25, this:
21 So I find it to be
a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For
I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23 but I
see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive
to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched
man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks
be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to
the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin (Rom. 7:21-25,
NRSV).
The Apostle Paul tells is
that he wants to perfectly follow all of the Old Testament laws of God, but he
unable to consistently do this. The Apostle Paul even says in 7:24, 24 Wretched
man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? The Apostle Paul
then tells us in Romans 7:25, once again, when we fail, when we fall, when we
mess us, when get “stuck,” in a “rut,” or “stuck in the cocoon,” 25 Thanks
be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom. 7:25, NRSV). The only perfect
one who ever crossed the horizon of this world was Jesus, and because He was
perfect and is perfect, and because He was fully God and Fully human, He was and
is the only one qualified to die for the sins of the world.
You see my friends if are get “stuck,” in a “rut,” or “stuck
in the cocoon,” we need to realize that we are not in this alone. We have God
who creates, we have Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit, each other. Through
Jesus Christ we are enough. With all of this on this said on this “Live It Out
Loud” Sunday, may we live our faith “Out Loud” today and always!
The other
scripture that was read this morning was Romans 12:1, which says, once again:
(Romans
12:1- Picture)
The New Life in Christ
12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Rom. 12:1, NRSV).
Friends, brothers, and sisters
in Christ if you are “stuck,” in a “rut,” or “stuck in the cocoon,” keep
turning to Jesus, keep being in relationship with us, keep seeking the love of
Jesus. Come to our ministries, serve and love us. In doing so, we will pray
together, laugh together, cry together, and likely hear a few of Pastor Paul’s
corny jokes together! Families and churches are meant to live this not only
individually, but together! Or to say it another way brothers and sisters, “Don’t
Quit in the Cocoon!”
(Don’t Quit
in the Cocoon - Picture)
Wherever you are at on this
“Live It Out Loud” Sunday, Jesus love you, I love you, this church loves you,
and we have cookies. We were designed to live our faith “Out Loud.”
(“Live It
Out Loud” - Picture)
How do we then take this sermon with us to our church dish
to pass/picnic after church this morning, and how do we take this sermon with
us into Adams and the world, to help us live our faith “Out Loud”? Here are some
sermon application points to help us:
Being
stuck in the "cocoon" phase is a profound, often uncomfortable,
period of life transformation, signaling that an old identity is dying and a
new one is emerging. It is a necessary, quiet, and involuntary pause
characterized by feeling stagnant, exhausted, and detached from your usual
life, requiring radical self-care rather than forced productivity.
Understanding
the Cocoon Phase
·
It's Not Laziness: The feeling of being stuck is often
a nervous system response to rapid, unseen transformation, protecting you from
change rather than indicating a lack of ambition.
·
Signs of the Cocoon: You may feel overwhelmed, deeply
tired, socially withdrawn, and that your life is "falling
apart"—which is actually intelligent clearing of what no longer serves
you.
·
The Purpose: The cocoon is a sacred, liminal space—a
"womb" where you move from an old self to a higher self, processing
pain, and building internal strength.
·
The Risk of Escaping Too Soon: Like a butterfly that
needs to struggle to strengthen its wings, pushing to leave this phase too
early can leave you under-prepared for the future, experts suggest.
How to
Handle Being Stuck
·
Embrace the Rest: Allow yourself to heal, grieve, and
sleep without guilt.
·
Reduce Stimulation: Actively limit social media, busy
environments, and toxic relationships to conserve energy.
·
Trust the Process: Believe that this quiet, messy, and
"unpretty" phase is preparing you for a major shift.
·
Focus on Small Things: Don't pressure yourself to have
a "big" breakthrough. Small, mundane steps can slowly build new
momentum.
In
short, the cocoon is not a punishment or a dead-end; it is the birthplace of
your next chapter. Don't fight the darkness, sit with it—you will emerge at the
right time.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, may we today on this “Live It Out Loud” Sunday, and always, live our faith “Out Loud!” Amen.
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