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OverHaulin’
October 8, 2026
While we can take on many good things, they may not all be things that God is calling us to do. We need to listen to God when He gives us a task, and while we are accomplishing it we should feel rested instead of exhausted because He’ll give us all we need to accomplish His work.
Series Richard Ellis Talks
Richard Ellis Talks exists to communicate to all people the good news of the life, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, making disciples of all people.
October 8, 2026 · Richard Ellis Talks
While we can take on many good things, they may not all be things that God is calling us to do. We need to listen to God when He gives us a task, and while we are accomplishing it we should feel rested instead of exhausted because He’ll give us all we need to accomplish His work. ...more Show the full description Show less While we can take on many good things, they may not all be things that God is calling us to do. We need to listen to God when He gives us a task, and while we are accomplishing it we should feel rested instead of exhausted because He’ll give us all we need to accomplish His work.
Series Richard Ellis Talks
0:00 Today on Richard Ellis Talks.0:03 Part of the reason some people get frustrated with church is they come in and they're trying to smile and they're sucking air and they're dying on the vine and they look around and try to shake a few hands and, well, how0:13 are you doing good, God? You know, say all our stuff. And they're like, can't you see I'm about to keel over? And we don't pick up on it because it's not our problem.0:20 You're listening to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. We're so grateful you've tuned into the program. Richard wants to share with you some encouragement, words of hope, and probably a laugh or 2. And0:32 in today's complicated busy life, that's exactly what's needed. Richard's talks are always straight from the Bible, filled with truth. Now you may not be able to hang out with us for the entire program, but you can0:43 always pick it back up at our website, Richard ellis dot com. In fact, you can find all of Richard's talks right there waiting just for you. Richard ellis dot com. So with today's talk, here's Richard0:55 Ellis.0:56 The title of today's message is overhauling. There's a TV show called overhauling. If you've ever seen this thing, they get somebody with a car that's decent but needs to be completely reworked and it's kind of a1:07 surprise. They say it was stolen or it's missing. By the time they figure out what happened, a week later, they've got this old car completely restored, customized beyond what it was to begin with. But our purposes1:19 today, overhauling is going to be something different. We talked recently about dipstick and how that you pop their hood, you pull the dipstick, and in a moment you can kind of read something that's going on deep down
1:29 inside person's life without taking the head gaskets off and all this mess. You just say, you know what? Just by looking at the oil, the levels of the oil, you can tell something's wrong or they need some help. Next, we
1:38 talked about wreckers and that maybe you say, well, this person's in trouble. They're stalled out. Their car's broken down. Their life's a mess. I'm gonna get them somewhere. Today, it's overhauling, and the assumption
1:49 is that if you're involved in ministry and care about people, then you help get them. You meet someone. You don't just leave them on the side of the road. We read the story of the good Samaritan and how that he came
1:59 along, religious people passed this guy by, had been beaten up and just left for dead. And here comes this good Samaritan, puts him on his own animal, takes him to an inn, takes care of him, touches the guy, literally
2:10 taking care of his wounds, you know, got involved, told the innkeeper, I'll be back. On the way back, I'll pay you whatever else it takes. He got in the mess and helped this person. Any church that is doing part of what
2:21 it's supposed to be doing is helping people, taking people in. But 1 of the great challenges is you. You are the people that walk in these doors. And just knowing what's in this room
2:33 alone is enough to scare you to death. But what happens is some people sneak in here or crawl in here or get towed in here, so to speak, and they sit down and it's like, you know, don't ask, don't tell. I know
2:45 you're screwed up. You know you're screwed up. I'm screwed up. You know I'm screwed up. But if we just don't talk about it, maybe we can just come and go and not deal with it. But everybody, beginning with me, in this
2:55 room has got struggles. And if we went row by row, person by person, and said, tell me about this morning. Tell me about last night. Tell me about the last week. I mean, we wouldn't have to go far before
3:07 we could just unearth all kind of junk just in this room. Forget the people out there who are in trouble. We've got struggles. So the importance of our being rightly related to
3:18 God, being healthy ourselves so that we're in a place when these people come in, we say, we're here. We're ready to go. We're the mechanics. This is the garage. We'll help overhaul this person's life. But if you've ever
3:30 been a part of that process, you know it can be exhausting. And we'll talk about that in a little bit. Or you can get in over your head, and we'll talk about that a little bit. But it is our responsibility to take on
3:41 people as they come in and be in a position to do that. Now, some people say, I got extended warranty. And know, if those people aren't smart enough to have bought the extended warranty or driving some old thing that,
3:53 you know, not under warranty to begin with, We're going to hire some professional preachers and it's you people take care of all this stuff. You know what? There are places where there are people with expertise and you
4:02 have to know when to say, you know what? I am in over my head. I'll pass this 1 on. But there's a lot of this stuff that we can do. It's not stuff that needs to be passed on. We got people in this church, couples with
4:14 little kids. 1 guy I think of in particular that took in a teenager who his parents just basically abandoned him. That's crossing a line. You say, Well, I don't want to do that. Well, if you're not supposed to, don't.
4:23 But if God taps you on the shoulder and prompts your heart and says, you know what? There's trouble. There are specific things going on in people's lives, and you're it. You can't just walk away from that without some
4:33 consequence. Now let me read you the definition of overhaul. It is a strict examination with a view to correction or repairs. Part of the definition is to make necessary
4:45 repairs on restore to serviceable condition. And part of the reason some people get frustrated with church is they come in and they're trying to smile and they're sucking air and they're dying on the vine and they look
4:56 around and try to shake a few hands. How are you doing good, God? Don't say all our stuff. And they're like, can't you see I'm about to keel over? And we don't pick up on it because it's not our problem until we make it
5:06 our problem. And from my personal experience, if you even have a brief conversation with someone, if they're dying, you're going to find it out within 4 minutes. Because people that are under so much pressure that
5:18 they're about to just blow, they can't take anymore, They're going to tell you what's going on if you just ask 3 times. You ever shaken somebody's hand and say, how are doing? Good to meet you. Yeah, that's the polite
5:28 lying. How are you? Right? Get the polite stuff out of the way. Then you say, you know what? No, how are you really doing? Well, how was your week? Ask something specific. And they say, well, it's kind of rough. Dude,
5:38 how are you doing? What's going on? And then they realize, wait, you asked me 3 times, you really want to know. Now that person says, I don't want to get into it. You can't force that. But sometimes people just need
5:47 someone to genuinely care enough. Now you better be prepared because it may not just be popping the hood and pulling the dipstick. You may have to take that whole thing apart and it may cost you. And you may get to a
5:57 point where you say, you know what? I've helped you all I can. I really don't know what to do here. How many people in this room, men and women, know how to change the oil on a car? Raise your hand. You could go out in
6:06 the parking lot. Now look around the room. Okay? That's a lot of people. Okay? How many of you could rebuild an engine? Raise your hand. Now look around the room. Look around the room. Rebuilding an engine is popping the
6:18 hood, taking the whole hood off, unbolting things, taking the whole engine out, putting it someplace, taking it apart, doing what needs to be done, put it back together, put it in the car, and close the hood, and the
6:28 thing runs. I mean, some people take an engine apart. I'm not talking about that. Because that's another 1 of our challenges. We get in people's lives and tear them all apart and they'll go, oh, what a mess. God bless
6:39 you. Good luck with that. Now there's a lot of expertise just in the mechanical area. How do you, you people that know how to change oil, change the spark plugs, rebuild an engine, how
6:51 do you know that? You just go, wow. I just all of a sudden think I could rebuild this engine. Watch this. You either watch someone, you had a dad, you worked in a mechanic shop, someone showed you how to do that. Part of
7:01 the verses we're going to read today, the job of the church is to equip the mechanics for the work of rebuilding. You say, well, I want to do that. I'd love to know how to do that. Then you're going to have to come
7:13 alongside or get around people, leadership servants who have been doing it a while and say, you know what? I want to know how to do that. We're not going to reach as many people and change as many lives if we don't
7:22 multiply the number of people who can rebuild an engine. And no matter how long I preach this or how many times we go over it, there are still people who say, you know what? Good for you, Richard. Good for your all your
7:32 little mechanics. You all knock yourselves out. You know what? I'm gonna come. I'm gonna sing a few songs if I want to do that. I'll write a few checks, but don't be asking me to do anything. And then you wonder why your
7:41 life sucks so bad because you're not involved in the process. You're missing out on the privilege, the blessing, the reason God left us on the planet. The scripture talks about laying hold of that for which Christ has
7:52 laid hold of you. Get ahold of what he made you do. You say, well, I'm not a mechanic. Well, you might be able to change some oil. You can do something. Discover what that is. And I want you to think about that during
8:02 the course of this message. Now I'm going to read you not a long list, but I'm going to tell you some of the things that can walk in that door and into our lives, into our church. Just people with relationship problems,
8:13 their marriage is shot or just need some adjustment, boyfriend, girlfriend problems, child parent, friends, business partners, coworkers, neighbors, people got problems. When you hear about
8:25 people, there's movies out about this. You know, neighbors want to shoot their neighbors. I'm talking about with guns. You get on my lawn again, I'm gonna blow your head off. And then bang, bang, bang, you know, some of
8:34 the words. People got bitterness, hatred, wars raging inside of them, and they bring that in here, and that's when you refer them to a sister church. People come in the back door with financial
8:45 problems. They're in debt. Credit cards maxed out. Bankruptcy. Either filed bankruptcy or on the verge of it. Their family's in shambles. The pressures are so great. At home. Husbands
8:57 and wives, the kids, everything's just completely messed up. And that's right here. I don't have to leave the room for that. How are we going to make it? And the temptation, another credit card comes in the mail and you
9:08 say, well, we don't have a job. That's the only way we can do it. And you start charging it again and say, this will help tide it over, and it just turns into another 20000 dollar credit card and the compounding
9:17 interest. And here we go again. Mental, psychological issues. I'll read some of those in a minute. Abuse. I mean, without saying anything in detail, at least as a pastor sitting down with
9:29 people, cannot imagine the atrocities that are perpetrated on small children, on women, on men, and what people walk in the door with. And they got a smile and they can play the game a little
9:41 while, but right right right below the surface, they've had heinous things done to them. I get emails through the years back where I could literally publish a book if it didn't reveal stuff of just detail
9:53 accounting, people just kind of flushing out the stuff that's happened to them. I mean, if I just said in this room alone, and I'm not going to do it, but if I said how many women in this room have been sexually
10:03 molested, abused in their lifetime, it would blow your mind. How many women in this room and listening beyond here? Emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse,
10:15 mental abuse, anxiety or fear, anxiety disorders, phobias that people have, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, people that are afraid to go out into the marketplace, obsessive compulsive
10:27 disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, mood disorder involving usually intense and sustained sadness, melancholia or despair, clinical depression. How many people come in and if you don't notice or know what it
10:38 is, they're just almost clinically depressed, overwhelmed? Bipolar disorder involves abnormally high or pressured mood states known as mania or hypomania,
10:50 OCD, I mentioned that, psychotic disorders, schizophrenia, delusional disorder. We've had all of this, by the way. Eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia, exercise bulimia, binge
11:02 eating disorders, sleep disorders, insomnia, Tourette syndrome, kleptomania, stealing. These people can't stop stealing. Pyromania, people with fire, sexual addictions, substance abuse, alcohol, drugs.
11:14 Man, that's the no brainer stuff for us. Gambling. Was bad enough before. Now you just sit at your computer and screw your life up. You say, well, I don't wanna be in a church with all those problems.
11:26 That's what's coming through the door. And the worse things get, the better they get for us. We have to be prepared. We have to be able to do what we can with people who come in. Now you say, well, I'm trying to help a
11:37 person. They don't want help. You can't force this on anybody. But there are people coming our way who have been coming our way by the thousands and are here now who need help. And it's gonna take some time. You say,
11:48 well, what if I get in there and they're like, you know, 1 of these psychological people, you know, they're psycho, but it seems logical to them. I don't know what to do. Then just say
12:00 that. But you sit down with somebody and say, okay, God, you made me, you know me, and we've had enough experiences. And if you are a Christian and you've gone any distance down the road with Christ, there are some
12:10 things you can do and you're missing out on the sacrifice needed. But the blessing that comes with sitting there and saying, dude, I've been right there. Ma'am, you know, that's what happened to me. And here's how Jesus
12:21 changed my life. And then they say, wow, that's it. That's what I was looking for. Good. Good. I'm done. Help me keep going. That's it. You say, wow, I can do that. Now let me attack something here for a minute. Some
12:32 people are overhauling. You have taken on more than you can carry, more than you can pull, more than the load that you're supposed to be carrying. The way to know whether you're overhauling or not is whether you're
12:43 exhausted or you do what you're doing and you come out rested. Go to Matthew chapter 11. And this is a good gauge if you say, well, I'm helping people, but it's killing me. If you're doing it God's way,
12:55 you don't come out dying. You come out literally refreshed and rested and thinking, wow, how did that happen? If you're doing it by yourself, if you're just some religious do gooder person
13:07 trying to do this all by yourself, you'll burn out. Read this Matthew 11 28 and following with me. This is Jesus speaking. He says, come to me. It doesn't say go to work.
13:19 It says, come to me. If you want a Christian life that works, you've got to start with Jesus. You cannot bypass Jesus and live the Christian life. You've got to go to him 1st. So he says, come to
13:31 me. Who? All you who labor, you're out there laboring and you are heavy laden. And the word here for labor is a derivative, another word that means to feel fatigue by implication to work hard. There's nothing
13:43 wrong with working hard unless you are working hard by yourself trying to accomplish something that God would like to work through you. So come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. And this heavy laden thing
13:54 means to overburden with ceremony or spiritual anxiety. Laid. Be heavy laden. It's too much. And you say, that's how I feel. I'm working for God, but it's killing me. Then you're doing something
14:06 wrong because doing it God's way will refresh you. Look what he says next. All you who labor heavy laden, I will give you rest. Now how does he want me to work and promise me rest? We're not going to get
14:18 anything done. You just want to lay around, Jesus. There's work to be done. He never said we're going to stop. He just said, I'm going to teach you how to do it where I'll give you rest in the labor. Take my yoke upon
14:29 you and learn from me. Now back to the mechanic thing. Someone who doesn't know what they're doing takes an engine apart, it's a disaster. You've got to learn from somebody. The best teacher is Jesus himself. And it's
14:40 this picture of oxen in a yoke and you'd take a big ox and know what he was doing and put a younger 1 next to him. And that other 1 can learn from the big 1 pulling. And there are ways to pull where you don't hurt
14:52 yourself. There's all kind of things like lifting weights. And some of you don't know what I'm talking about, but, you know, if you've ever lifted weights, there's a right way to lift the weight where you don't hurt
15:00 yourself. Right? You don't jerk things off the ground. You get down and you pick them up. You get under the weight. There's a way to do it. Learn how to work and rest at the same time. Take my yoke upon you, learn from
15:12 me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. And it's, again, the picture is while you're working. And the word here for rest for your souls, it comes from another word that
15:24 means intermission by implication, recreation, rest. When was the last time doing ministry was fun? Not that there's not a burden, not there's not challenges, but where you sit down with somebody and go,
15:35 wow, I can see your problem. Unless you're some crooked mechanic, I think 1 of the coolest things in the world, I've got a mechanic that I trust. He's visited here before. I can take 1 of my old cars or whatever, drive
15:46 in this place, leave the car running. That guy can pop the hood, even the hood not up, hear a little noise or something and say, oh, I think it's this. And the satisfaction of just tinkering with that thing, fixing
15:56 something and go, wow, how'd you do that? He knows what he's doing. And there's some great pleasure that comes in someone driving in with something that's not working. You do a little something to it and then drive off
16:06 and it's fixed. Go, wow, that's amazing. You helped me. Thank you so much. Get into the place where you're working his way. You're learning from him. You've got the yoke on you, but you come out like it's an
16:16 intermission, like it's recreation almost. Like, wow. That was fun. Is it always fun? No. But there's great joy doing it Jesus' way and letting him teach you to do it. You've got to have some boundaries.
16:28 Because if you jump out there and try to fix everybody, you're gonna fall apart, then nobody's gonna get fixed because you're not even fixed. I have to be in a state of heart and mind to even help somebody. So don't be
16:39 overhauling more than you can. Get in the yoke. Say, Jesus, show me how to do this. And I know when I'm doing it his way, when I get done, I'm rested. I'm not all beat up and exhausted and,
16:51 oh, woe is me. What a great sacrifice. I cared about somebody. You may be well meaning. I may be well meaning. But you cannot get in these situations where you don't know what you're doing and get in completely over your
17:02 head. Get some help. And these things are going to get more tricky every day, especially financially, because people come in. Somebody says, I lost my job. And they said, I lost my insurance, but they've offered me
17:14 COBRA. I know why they call it COBRA. It is a snake. It's crazy expensive. You say... And then they send that to the church office and say, this person needs help.
17:26 Unless a church is prepared to pay everybody who loses their jobs COBRA, you got to be careful and know where the lines are. 1 of the great challenges in having a multi economic church and what I
17:38 try to even tell the homeless people who come in is don't panhandle. Do not ask for money on a Sunday. Because what happens is someone who looks like they have money, whether they do or not, gets hit on by someone
17:50 who's broke and say, hey, man, can you give me 20 bucks or 100 bucks? Here's my problem. Then that person is tagged. They keep going back to him. Now you're running around trying to hide from somebody. The great model in
18:01 the New Testament, the book of Acts is they brought everything in. They sold property, brought it in, and it was distributed so that we can know how many people are paying and how many people. Because what we discover
18:10 after a few years is some people who come in here hit about 3 or 4 people, worked the rounds, they call the office and I need help before it's all done. They've cashed in. They do need help, but there ought to be some
18:19 accountability and some responsibility. So 1 of the areas that we're going to try to expand in and develop and be better at is probably having a team of people who will coordinate and sit down with these people who have
18:31 some expertise in budgeting and finance and say, look, how can we help you? And is that really going to help you? People got real problems, real needs, but we cannot cross the bounds unless we had unlimited funds. And
18:41 even if we did have unlimited funds, we have to be wise about who we really help, but in the long run hurt. So I'm encouraging you. If someone approaches you and says, hey, I need some help. So you know what? The way our
18:52 church operates is if you will call into the office, they will refer you to someone. You say, I'll be dead by the time I get help. We'll try to do it fast. But we have to figure out ways for this to work. You say, well,
19:04 but so and so stood up and said they needed help and I took them money. Well, then everybody else gets resentful and say, well, I got problems. They ran out of time. Give me a microphone. I need to raise some cash. Well,
19:13 but if you know the preacher, then you get to talk and, you know, then people say, no, it's church politics. We are trying to do this where everybody is on the level ground, but everybody gets help the best way we can.
19:23 And you say, well, that's... You're talking about practical stuff. Exactly. And you sit down with somebody and buy them coffee or go to lunch, and all of a sudden, all this stuff comes out and you go, holy cow. I don't
19:32 know what to do here. Send it up or ask in your small group, does anybody have expertise with this? And try to help them. But keep it with where you are as much as possible and only move the stuff up that you really
19:44 are overwhelmed. And then we'll try to refer them to some counseling or whatever they might need. Throughout the years, we've always had people with substance abuse. I'm not taking in somebody that's, you know, a heroin,
19:54 a crack, whatever addict that needs some rehab. Now we might help them go to rehab and provide something there, but this can get deep. You say, wow. I got to find me a simple church, an easy
20:05 church. They're not out there because where there are people, there are problems. If they had cemetery churches, now that'd be a church. 1 of the cool things about the concept of
20:17 overhauling, especially in regard to the show that existed, is that usually they'd bring an old car in that needed some help. But when they got done with it, it looked better than it did when it came off the showroom
20:26 floor, off the assembly line. And when you bring your life to Jesus, it may take some time. Eternal life is something you can get in a moment. Jesus, I believe you died on the cross. You were buried and raised from the
20:37 dead. I confess that I'm a sinner. I need your forgiveness. I cannot live without you anymore. I will not make it if I die without you. You got to save me. You got to help me. You got to rescue me. Put me in your garage
20:48 and fix me and help me see what needs to be changed and what needs to be done to make me operational, overhaul me, restore me even beyond restoration to what you intended for my life. And he is capable
21:00 of turning out a new creature. Old things passed away, as the scripture says, all things become new. But it is a process. It is going to take time, and all of us are a part of that process.
21:12 Someone helping you, you get into the place where you know what you're doing and help somebody else. And together, there's almost no limit to how many people we can absorb if we are disciples who make disciples who make
21:22 disciples who make disciples. And instead of coming down and staring up here at me and singing songs at a screen, you turn around and watch the doors and say, okay, Jesus, I'm here. I'm ready to go. Back that thing right
21:34 in my stall. I figured out how to help, how to serve, how to work your way. Now use me. And that's what we're here to do.
21:41 Before Richard comes back to wrap things up for us today, I'd like to share a couple important things with you. Let me encourage you to take a minute and check out our website, richard ellis dot
21:53 com. You'll find today's talk right there in the talks page, along with all of Richard's audio and video messages. You can even forward them to a friend so they can hear them too. You'll also find the prayer wall
22:05 to add your prayer requests, a link so you can connect with us, the contribute page for you to be able to give to this ministry, all of our social media links, and much more. So check it out, richard
22:16 ellis dot com. And Richard's back now to wrap up today's talk.
22:22 Alright. Let's pray. And our father, I thank you for your word. I thank you, holy spirit, for the amazing job that you do. And I thank you for what is possible in our lives as proven by the
22:34 countless people that have come through here, Lord, and just seeing what you've done around the world through the millennia. 1st of all, Lord, I pray for believers who are writing things down right now or maybe out there
22:44 listening somewhere beyond here and saying, okay, God, what is it? What is my part in this garage of sorts of a church? And when someone comes in, what experiences do I have? What life events have
22:56 hit me? What abuse? What challenge have I faced? And you have brought me through that if I were willing to share my heart and be honest and real with somebody else, it could provide them some encouragement and point
23:08 them towards some help they might need beyond me. Father, help us see that our real joy, our real fulfillment in life is not holding on to our lives and trying to stay comfortable and cozy and
23:20 not hoeing the rows that you left for us to hoe, but we can climb in that yoke with you, Lord Jesus, and somehow work and rest at the same time. And, father, for those who don't know you at all and either got towed
23:32 in here or somehow pushed the car in themselves of their life, and they're screaming inside. In some cases, they know there needs to be change in an area and they're really scared to let go of whatever it is that's
23:43 destroying their life, but they need help, they need encouragement, and they need to remember that it could take some time, the process can, Lord, but there's 1 thing that can be resolved in a moment, and that's
23:54 receiving this amazing gift of eternal and abundant life. May someone today, either here or beyond, say, God, I get it. I see finally. It's me. I am the problem. I take responsibility for my
24:06 sin. I do believe that Jesus died on that cross, was buried, and raised from the dead to purchase eternal life for me and the forgiveness of my sins. And I accept his forgiveness, and I accept this gift of
24:17 eternal life. I ask you to come live in me and through me and change me from the inside out. Strip me down, rebuild me, make me into the man, the woman, the child, the young person that you intended for me to be, and use
24:29 my life. God, I've wasted so much of my life. Please don't let me waste any more of my life. I know I'll screw up again, probably, but I want to come home fast, and I don't want to minimize what you could do
24:41 through me. Help me to redeem the time and see extraordinary things happen through me. Father, you're amazing. Thank you for your patience, your mercy, your grace, your long suffering with us. Help us to be
24:53 the same way towards others and to realize that in losing our life for your sake, we find it. And we pray it all in Jesus' name. Amen.
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