Our life journeys can be filled with steps of faith and adventure, but also difficulty and challenges. Ricky and Krista Ortiz are certainly familiar with both. After meeting in Bible college they married and then started Meta Church in NYC.
In today’s episode, Ricky and Krista are honest about their personal and marital struggles. At the brink of divorce, they stood before their own Red Sea wondering how they would ever get across.
Join us as we discuss:
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Grief, loss, addiction, and depression
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How Jesus changed their lives
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Serving as pastors in NYC
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How they serve their community in tangible ways
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Living open-handedly with generosity
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Staying faithful despite difficulties
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Making an impact on our world
Ricky and Krista share their story in hopes that all who hear it will know God can work in the midst of theirs too. If you are standing in front of your own Red Sea today, do not be afraid. Stand still. The Lord will fight for you (Exodus 14:13-14). And when God helps you make it to the other side, we pray you stand in awe of Him. Just as Ricky and Krista continue to do.
Quotes:
“We bring our whole histories into marriage but we don’t always bring our whole selves.”
“I wanted to protect this image of who people saw me as and felt like if they did find out about the real me they would abandon me.”
“It was so backward, but I was about performance in ministry rather than substance.”
“No one shared with me that marriage would be hard so I assumed I’d made the wrong decision and chosen the wrong person.”
“We were on a downward spiral to days away from divorce. It went from worse to ‘worser.’ There was no relief.”
“God gave me a passage in Scripture before I even knew I needed it.”
Exodus 14:13-14 “It was in their hopelessness God said do not be afraid. Stand still. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. There is an inclination in all of us to run or fix it ourselves.”
“If God led you there He will not leave you there.”
“Do you know how big my Red Sea is?”
“I stayed because God told me to. Stay where He led you.”
“I was battling so much shame I became depressed and suicidal.”
“God will not abandon you even if you have made bad decisions.”
“It takes work for two to become one.”
“Things won’t get better until they are brought into the light.”
“We don’t just need redemption. We need renewal.”
Romans 12:2 – meta means to transform.
“God wants to transform us so we can experience more than what we thought was possible.”
“This is going to take so much work, but it has so much potential.”
“God will never let you be disgraced.”
“When my marriage crumbled I had nothing else left.”
“Many people are skeptical about the faith, but if you show them your fruit it opens the door for spiritual conversations.”
“Our marriage story was preparation for our ministry story.”
“We want to be the church not just Sunday from 11 to 12 but Monday through Saturday as well.”
“The way God orchestrated people to come into our lives to be His hands and feet helps us want to be those kinds of people to others.”
“One of the best gifts you have is your story of grace and redemption.”
“This is our new Red Sea.”
“We cannot underestimate the significance and impact of our everyday actions.”
“We all want to be seen, heard, and understood.”
“They didn’t start off as apostles, they started off with a yes. If we are willing to start with a yes, what could become of us?”
“Find the people that feel the way you felt and tell them what God can do.”
“Be a funnel and be open-handed. It’s our love offering back to God.”
“Be a love offering by telling your God story.”
Connect with Ricky and Krista:
Meta Church – @metanyc – https://meta.church
Krista – @krista_ortiz – kristaortiz.com
Ricky – @rico6886
Faithbox – @getfaithbox
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