October 6, 2024 • 46 mins
When you know God has been faithful to you, you can’t help but want to offer everything you have back to Him. Pastor Chad Veach encourages us to embrace humility and discover how God wants to use us in “Is There Anything I Can Do For You?”
12% of everything that comes into Elevation Church goes right back out through Outreach efforts, like hurricane relief. You can give here.
We want to worship with you! Find out where Elevation Nights will be next and order your tickets here.
Scripture References:
Romans 12, verses 3-11
Daniel 4, verses 29-30
Ezekiel 28, verses 12-13
Ephesians 2, verse 10
Luke 7, verses 37-38
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
In your life. Enjoy the message. Anybody happy to be
in church today?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
When I was growing up, my parents used to always
quote that scripture. I was glad when they said, unto me,
let us go to the wood, to the house of
the Lord. And I'm just so thankful to be an Elevation.
Do you love your church today? Do you love your
pastors today? I'm a preacher just the moment. But and
(00:50):
again I want to just say I reiterate Pastor JJ
did such a great job. Thank it everybody forgiving. But
just in the aftermath of the hurricane, can we just
own everyone that's being generous and given.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Let's pray, Let's come.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
On, let's really stir off faith to help those that
are in need right now. The devastations overwhelming, and what
an opportunity. I see it as an opportunity for the
church to step up and be what we're called to be.
A men and so I love your church and I
love your pastors, and I got to.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Be with them.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I live in Los Angeles and the tour Elevation Worship
Nights came through Los Angeles, California. I gotta tell you,
LA wasn't ready for Pastor Steven. They weren't ready for him.
And I have never been to a concert where every
single song that they sang when they started it, I
was like.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Oh, this is my favorite one.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
This is my favorite one, This is my favorite Then
they sing another one. I'm like, Oh, put this one
right here, because I got memories with these songs. I've
been through some things with these songs. I cried in
my part of these songs. Come on, clap and give honor.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
We're honoring to.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Do if you're grateful for the cycle bye of Elevation
Church and Pastor Stephen.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
And Holly.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
And we're we're we're called. We're called to give honor
where honor is due. You know how sometimes the rent
is due. Today I feel like the honor is due,
and Pastor Stephen is a gift not just to Charlotte
and the Elevation but to the world.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
To the Body of Christ.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
And I say, right, now just as he's resting today,
I say we pray for him right now, just as
a church, you know, just a hedge of protection over
his family, that the blessing of God would be all
over his home and his life. And Pastor Hawley the same.
Come on, church, let's just pray for Pastor Stephen right now. Father,
we declare in the name of Jesus, your goodness and
(02:44):
your mercy will follow them all the days of their life.
We think you that as they've refreshed Poise and Salt
Lake City and Los Angeles, God, you said that those
the refreshed others, will they themselves be refreshed. So God,
Philip is cup. We thank you God for the pastor
that he is the leader that he is. And we
just thank you for a blessing today in Jesus name.
(03:05):
And everybody said together, come on clap one more time.
Anybody loved the Bible today. We're gonna jump right in
in just a moment. But before you do, turn and
sayhi to somebody. As you take a seat, turn and
say hi to somebody. Go in your bible to Romans
chapter twelve. Romans chapter twelve. It is good to be
(03:27):
in church today. Any married people in church today.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yay.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
My wife and I just celebrated sixteen years of marriage.
She is blessed. Come on, we have four children. We're
about to be in the odds. I'm about to have thirteen, eleven,
nine and seven. We like a rock band. We put
them out every two years. But I stopped that years ago.
(03:59):
I said, oh no more. I told my wife we
would have been good with two. We would have dominated
two kids, but we had two too many. They're dominating
us now. But God has been so good to us.
My wife and I we planted a church in Los Angeles.
We just celebrated nine years of our church in LA.
(04:19):
And in nine years, in nine years, we've seen thirteen
thousand people say yes to Jesus in LA. Come on,
clap if you believe God is good. But it's an
honor to be here. And I want to jump right
in because Romans chapter twelve, we're gonna go to verse four.
What I love about Jesus is that he has offered
(04:43):
us the invitation of a lifetime. And the invitation of
a lifetime to me is not just believing in Jesus.
But I think it gets fun when you start following Jesus.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
But just to believe is not that fun.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
But the adventure of a lifetime to me is when
you say yes to following Jesus.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
You never know where He's going to take your life.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
You never know what God's going to do in you,
and you never know what God's going to do through you.
And so I want to talk today as you discover,
as you walk with God, you discover what has He
gifted you to do on this earth?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
What is He placed in your life. The more I
follow Jesus, the.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
More I discover my gifting, my talents, my unique makeup
to go make a difference in the world. Look here Romans,
Chapter twelve, verse four. I love these scriptures as Paul
He's writing for by the grace given to me. I
say to every one of you, do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought to. That's a word
(05:45):
for cowboy fans. Come on, somebody, helle lojah. I felt
the Holy Ghost when I said it too. I felt
the Holy Ghost when I said it. I was like,
who is it for?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Bam? Cowboy fans. Cowboy fans are so cute. Y'all are cute.
Y'all are cute because every year.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
I let me preest a word, okay, but rather think
of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith
God has distributed to each of you.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
For just as each of.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Us has one body with many members, as these members
do not all have the same function. So in Christ, we,
though many, form one body, and each member belongs to
all the others. You know what I love about seeing
that video about what we're doing to help, is that
we need Samaritans, purse, we need convoy of hope, we
(06:43):
need elevation church.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Come on, anybody, thankful. We're just playing our part in
a really big thing. Verse six.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
We have different gifts according to the grace given to.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Each of us.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
If your gift is prophesigned, then prophesie in accordance with
your faith. If it is serving, then serve. If it
is teaching, then teach. If it is to encourage, then
give encouragement. If it is giving, then give generously. If
it is to lead, do it diligently. If it is
to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere
(07:19):
hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Be
devoted to one another in love, Honor one another above yourselves,
never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor
serving the Lord. Oh, come on, clap today. That's just
good reading right there. That's not even preaching, that's reading.
(07:40):
I want to preach a message today right down the title.
Is there anything I can do for you? Is there
anything that I can do for you?
Speaker 1 (07:48):
See?
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I know how much God has done for me. I
know what God has done in my life. God pulled
me out of a pit, set my feet upon a rock,
put a new song in my mouth. I don't know
about you, but I was dead, but now I'm alive.
I was blind, but now I see. Come on, anybody
thankful today for what Jesus has done? Has God been
(08:09):
good to anybody here today? Come on, give him a
better praise than that. If you believe God is good, God,
God like to say this way. God has been better
than I deserve. And He has been greater than I
could imagine. He has been better than I could ever deserve.
But I'll tell you he has been better than I
(08:30):
have ever imagined. God has been so good to me.
God gave me his spirit. God gave me salvation. God
gave me my health today. God gave me a beautiful family.
God hooked me up so much and gave me two
extra kids. But when I think about all that God
has done for me, how could I not in return
(08:52):
say Lord, is there anything.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
That I could do for you?
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Because I know your faith fulness, I know you're healing power,
I know what you've.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Done for me. But I just want to just pause
for a second and say, Lord, is there anything that this?
Is there anything that.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
I could potentially possibly do for you? When we moved
to LA we left Seattle, Washington to move to Los Angeles.
We got we got out of Egypt, y'all, and so
it rained too much up there. So when we moved down,
we had two kids in those days, just two of them,
and we were driving down. We didn't we didn't have
a staff, we didn't have an office, we didn't have
(09:33):
we didn't have a house.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
We found our house.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
We were on I five in Sacramento and my wife
was looking on Craigelist for a place to live, and
so we found it. But we were in Sacramento, so
we still had a long drive. So we sent a
friend to go check out the house the neighborhood. She
couldn't get in, but she could check out the house.
She said, the neighborhood's fine, So we said yes to
the house. We got the home on Craigslist. We rented
(09:55):
a house to go plant the church while we were there.
While we were driving, my wife mentioned to me that
she has a family friend from New Zealand that was
also moving to LA for a job. And she said,
this home that we just rented has an extra house,
extra room, and she's looking for a place to live.
What do you think about renting out a room to
this to my childhood friend from New Zealand, I was say, well,
(10:17):
we're church planners.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
We need the money. Holley lujah.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Yes. And what I remember about this girl from New
Zealand when we planned a church and she helped us,
there was eleven people that started in our living room.
Started this church is O Way Church in LA. And
what I remember about this girl the most is that
she would go to everybody in the church and she'd
always ask if she could help, like, may.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, can I help you? Mat see anything I could do? Mate? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Shock mock blue yeah, Mike, good on you. But I
remember that's what I remember. Is there anything that I
could do to help? This is like me and my
house with my wife. My wife runs our home, she
runs our house. She is the boss at our house.
(11:01):
I don't have a clue what's going on. So I
just every day breakfast, lest your dinner. I'm like, can
I do Can I help? Is there any do you need?
Can I do anything to help? She said the other day,
I finally figured out what your gift is. Your gift
in this home what you do is you're good at
dropping off the kids. And I was like, yeah, I'm
really good at dropping I can get rid of them kids. Yes,
I know how to do that. That's about all I
(11:23):
know how to do. But I wonder today if we
could get to the place where we could come to
God and say, Lord, I don't know what I'm exactly
gifted in, but whatever I have, is there anything that
I could do for you? I'm I'm see you got
(11:44):
to get a life with a view, in view of
your mercy, in view of the cross, in view of
your faithfulness. I can survey and see what you've done
for me, and so God, in response of gratitude, I
just want to ask, is there anything that I can
do for you? See the problem is is that a
lot of us we we we we find out our
(12:05):
gift or our talent, and we fall in love with
our gift more than our God. We we are mesmerized
with our talents and our capabilities. And I want to
just give you four things to write down today. Write
down number one. Don't fall in love with your gift.
Fall in love with the gift giver. Don't fall in
love with your talent. Don't fall in love with how
(12:27):
gifted you are and how amazing you are. If you
got the gift to teach, don't fall in love with
your teaching gift. If you got the gift to sing,
don't fall in love with your singing gift. If you
got whatever your gift is, don't fall in love with
your gift. We live in a culture that is obsessed
with their gift.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
They are.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
They are mesmerized by their talent. They are mesmerized by
their ability. Vanity of vanities. Look at how awesome I am.
Look at how great I am, Look at the business
I can build, Look at the songs I can write. No,
I want to encourage you today. Don't fall in love
with your gift, fall in love with your God, says
(13:06):
Romans Chapter one. Romans Chapter one says they started to
worship creation rather than worshiping the Creator. And we got
to be careful in this culture to not discover our
gift and fall in love with it, to monetize it,
to just make it about us and our kingdom. Know,
(13:27):
as we follow God, he shows us what He's put
inside of us. When you were born, God didn't kind
of come up with a plan like, Wow, what are
we gonna do with this one? No, when you were
in your mother's womb, the Bible says you were fearfully
and wonderfully made. God was stuff in your life with
(13:48):
potential and capability and calling and anointing and future. Jeremiah
said in Jeremiah One, before I was born, you appointed
be a prophet to the nations. God has a plan
for your life. God knows what he wants to do
with your life. God has something for you to do
(14:09):
on this earth. You gotta discover your gift so you
can make a difference in the world.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Don't fall in love with your gift, fall in love
with your God.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Where are the loud people at Let me just hear
you if you're loud. Hey, they were waiting, weren't they loud?
People can't wait to be loud. They just excited, like
they just wake up loud. I'm half Mexican. Any Latins
in the house, I'm underlies. Hey guess now that's end
the Hons. God does not make quiet Latins. This is impossible.
(14:43):
We come out the womb loud like Labama, Mama. We
just bought us. Look us forever, Hans. That's the way
God made you. Where are the quiet people?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
At?
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Quiet people don't even like to raise their hand. That's
the way God made you, and we need you.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
To be you.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Walk confident in your calling, walk confident in your grace.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
But don't fall in love with your grace. Don't fall
in love with your gift. Fall in love with your maker.
Fall in love with your creator.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Fall in love with your savior, fall in love with
his presence. Oh, come on clap today if you want
to love God more than you love yourself. There's a
story in Daniel, chapter four of King nebuk nez King
nebuk Nezzer. One day he walks out on his roof
and he's out on the on the on the rooftop
and he's walking around.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
He's like, dang, you look at me, am I not amazing?
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Look at look at what I've look at what I've created.
Around somebody that's so impressed with himself. You ever be
around somebody that's just like, Wow, you're still talking about you.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
That's crazy. Wow.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Hold on, let me just you drop that name. Let
me give it back to you. Just real, sorry, you
just there's another one. King Nabucanza's walking on the palace,
so he's like, wow, look at me, look at what
I've done.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Is Danis chapter four. Well, you can't make this up.
This's in the Bible Dange four, verse twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Twelve months later, he was taking a walk on the
flat roof of the World Palace in Babylon. As he
looked out across the city, he said, look at this
great city of Babylon. By my own mighty power, I
have built this beautiful city as my row residence to
display my majestic splendor. So you gotta be careful, because
(16:49):
if you don't give glory to God, You're gonna give
glory to you. I always tell you, But I look
at what I've built, look at what I've accomplished, look
at how much money I've made, look at how great
I am. He's walking In fact, God humbles King Nebukaneza'
so much that he drives him out to the wilderness
and makes him grow feathers and nails. And finally he
(17:14):
gets so humble that he acknowledges who God is, and
God restored his sanity. In other words, if you become
a me monster, you're gonna go crazy. But the way
to stay in your right place is to give glory
and honor and worship and praise to an almighty God.
Come on, clap if you're thankful today. I don't need
the glory all. Come on, not to us, not to
(17:37):
us be the glory, but to your name. See this
is the problem. This is what happened with the adversary
of your life. That Satan he wants was a worship leader.
He wants, was the leader of the worship in heaven.
But he got so enamored with his gift, he got
so intoxicated with his own ability that he stopped leading
praise to God, and he wanted praise to him. This
(18:00):
is if it could happen to him, it could happen
to us. And watch what it says in Ezekiel about
the enemy. It says in Ezekiel it says, you were
the model of perfection. You were full of wisdom and
exquisite and beauty. You were in the Eden, in the
garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone.
You were beautiful. What happened? See, don't fall in love
(18:23):
with your gift. Fall in love with your God. And
if you today are fall in love with your gift.
What I love about God that if you're prideful today,
God loves you enough like he did with Neba Canezar,
he will humble you. And God says, if you exalt yourself,
he will humble you. But if you humble yourself, he
(18:43):
will exalt you. The reason why elevation is used around
the world is because this church and our pastors walk
humbly before the Lord, not wanting the praise to us
or to a church. Come on, clap if you believe
it today, Come on, this is our prayer.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
See what God can do through you.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
And and the thing about pride is the moment you
stopped thinking that you have pride is when you're really
gonna mess up. A couple of years ago, I was
in Atlanta, Georgia, and I was preaching that passion City
church for Pastor Louis Giglio, and I love Pastor Louis.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
He is like he is the Steve Jobs of Christianity.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
And so we had this great night at church, and
we went out to dinner afterwards, and and we were
at the valet waiting for the cars to pull up,
and as we're about to leave each other, he passed.
Louis got really close to me, like like up in
my face, and he and he and he says to me, hey,
I want you to and he's like right here, and
I was like, I want you to. And he starts
(19:47):
telling me about going low. I want you to go low.
I want you to be a man of humility, a
man of character. Let's for us, me and you. And
he was so close to me. He could have been
like he could have said, let's go rob a bank.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
It didn't matter. I would have been.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Like, like, he's looking into my soul. So he's in
my face and he's like, let's go low, let's let's
be humble. And I'm like, you know Christians where they
put on the Christian face. I'm just thinking, like, buddy,
(20:23):
you better back up. So he's up in my face.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
He's a go lo.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
So he gave you know, he five ten minutes and
then you know, and we part our ways. And about
two three months later, I was in Atlanta and I
text Pastor Louis, hey, let's get breakfast tomorrow. So we
met up and we had two three hour long breakfast.
We had the best time. And we're leaving and we're
waiting for our ubers outside and he gets up in
my grill and he goes, hey, I want to say
something to you, and he goes, I want us And
(20:49):
I almost said, let me guess, go low, but I
did it. I'm respectful. You guys get it. And so
and he gets me. He gets in my face again.
He gives me the same speech, like word for word,
verbade him. And I thought at first maybe he's older
and he's forgetting. He's forgetting conversations these days, isn't there.
So he's like, I want us to go low. I
(21:10):
want us to be humble men I wanted. And he
get in and I was like, yeah, thank you, one
hundred percent. And when I left, I got on the
airplane to fly home and the Lord, the Lord spoke
to me and said, I send him to you a
second time because you didn't hear it the first Now
(21:33):
the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time,
and I said, Lord, I don't deal with pride, and
he said, you needed this, And the Lord began to
deal with ego. The Lord began to deal with agenda, motives, pride,
living on talent, and.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
That one messed up. Samson.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Samson just just like, oh, man, long hair, don't care.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
You know, I'm good. Come on, man.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
Delilah's like, Sammy, sam.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
They're here again.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
He's like, oh, sugar, you know how I roll, man,
I'll take care of it again. He didn't know what
cost him his life this time. See, my problem is
we fall so much in love with talent, so much
in love with gifts. We're gonna live off gifting, live
off talent, and we're gonna stop being dependent upon the
grace and the provision. And come on, I don't know
(22:39):
about you, but I'm not too powered to beg for
the mercy and the goodness and the grace of my God.
I need him. I need his daily bread today. I
need his provision today. I need his power today. I
need his joy today, I need his peace today. Come on,
anybody thankful today I'm.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Not falling in love and living on my gif I'm
living for the glory of the living God, the one
that died for me, the one that rose from me,
the one that called my name.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Give them a praise today. If you want to live
for God and now yourself, you be careful with that
prideful spirit. You be careful with that worldly spirit. In
a narcissistic society, narcissism wins, but not in kingdom culture.
Jesus said, the first are gonna be last, and the
(23:30):
last are.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Gonna be first.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
He said, the greatest of all of them is the
servant of all of them. You want to know who
I use. I don't use rock stars. I don't use
people that puff themselves up. I use people that go low.
I use people that humble themselves and said, I ain't
nothing without your grace and less you bless me unless
you touch me, unless you raise me.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Give them a praise today.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
If you're thankful for the love of Jesus in your life,
you be careful. You be careful about pride. Watch this,
put it on the screen. Watch what pride does. Pride
is a sinful, arrogant, haughty, self reliant attitude. Or spirit
that causes a person to have an inflated.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Or puffed up view of themselves.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Those who are proud think of themselves as better than
others and look down on others with contempt.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
See the problem with pride is pride is.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
The only disease that makes everybody else sick besides the
person that has it. Pride can be recognized in others
and cannot be seen in yourself.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I got on that plant, Say who are you talking to?
Going low? Who are you talking to?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Going low? Lord said, I'm talking to you, Homi. It's
a sinful, arrogant, conceited, puffed up Am I not awesome?
Am I not amazing? I don't know how to tell
you this. Yeah, man, we saw you. But we're not
(25:07):
impressed with gifting. We're impressed with the one that told
the sun to get up this morning. I'm impressed with
the one that owns a cattle on a thousand hills.
I'm impressed with the one that the earth is the
Lord's and the fullness thereof.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Don't you fall in love with gift? Look at the contrast.
Watch humility. Humility is so beautiful.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Humility is seeing ourselves as we truly are fallen in
sin and helpless without God. Humility is often characterized as
genuine gratitude, a lack of arrogance, and a modest view
of oneself. I like to think of it as an
accurate view of self. Humility is not thinking less of myself.
(25:48):
It's thinking less about myself. Humility has that see pride.
Pride walks into a room and goes here, I am.
Humility walks into the room and goes there, you are.
Humility walks in the room and says, I got something
to give. I've got something to bless, I've got love,
I've got encouragement. I'm not looking to take. Don't I'm
(26:09):
not using you as my agenda for my ego. No.
I came as the servant of the Most High God
to help somebody find freedom and help somebody find salvation.
And I just want to tell you, God, because you
have done so much for me, is there anything I can.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Do for you? Don't fall in love with your gift.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
I'd rather fall in love with God, the one that
gave me these gifts.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Right down number two. I love this.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Your gift and God's mission go hand in hand. Your gift,
whatever God has gifted you to do whatever, whatever it is,
whatever God has gifted you to do. And by the way,
I'm not concerned whether you have one, two, or five,
because all of us are trying to turn our two
into four and our five into ten, or are one
into two. It doesn't matter how many gifts you God
(26:57):
are your talents. None are better than each other. I'm
just telling you, though, When you take your gift and
you put it into God's mission, they go. It's like
peanut butter and jelly. It goes hand in hand. When
you put your gifting your grace, you partner it with
God's mission and God's work. One of my favorite scriptures
(27:18):
Ephesians chapter two, verse ten, put it on the screen
for we are Christ workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which He prepared beforehand.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
God has something for you to do on this earth.
I think this is right.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Why Pastor Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life did
so well because all of us want to wake up
with meaning. We want to wake up with purpose. We
want to discover God. Why do I exist on this earth?
You were created in Christ Jesus for good works. God
prepared something for you to do to help the Body
of Christ to help the Church of the Living God.
(27:56):
You want created to sit on the sideline. God has
called you to get into the game. You got to
fight the good fight. You got to finish the race.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
You got to.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Become who God has called you to become. And when
you put your gift back in God's hands. It's an old,
cheesy saying. I found this one because I heard it
when I was a kid. This this one is called
it depends on whose hands it's in.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I love this one. It depends on whose hands it's in.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
A basketball in my hands is worth about twenty five dollars.
When I read that, I thought, you don't shop at
Dick Sporting good and you don't know inflation. Let's go
forty five dollars. But a basketball in Lebron James hands
is worth about seventy five million dollars. It depends on
whose hands it's in. A baseball in my hands is
(28:46):
worth about eight dollars. Again, let's go back to Dick
Sporting good inflation twenty five dollars. A baseball and show
hey o Tani's hands is worth about two hundred million dollars.
If his bookie doesn't touch it, it depends on whose
hands it's in. A tennis racket in my hands is
worth about seventy five dollars, but a tennis racket in
(29:06):
Serena Williams hands is worth about fifty million dollars.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
It depends on whose hands it is in.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal,
but a rod in Moses's hands will part of a
mighty red sea.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
It depends on whose hands is in.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
A slingshot in my hands is a kid's toy, but
a sling shot in David's hands is a mighty weapon.
It depends on whose hands it's in. A two fish
and five loaves of bread in my hands is a
couple of fish sandwiches, But two fish and five loaves
of bread in Jesus' hands will feed five thousand people.
It depends on whose hands is in. Come on, clap elevation.
(29:44):
I'm putting my life back into his hands. Whoever wants
to save his life must lose his life, totain your soul.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
You gotta lose the world. Come on, give your gift.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
GIF, you're calling, GIF, you're anointing, Give your talent and
put it back into his hands. So many of us
are frustrated because it's in our hands. It's in our hands.
My Bible says, it's not by power, and it's not
by might, but it's by my spirit, says the Lord.
I'm not living off my talent or my gifting or
(30:17):
my own intellect. I'm telling you, in your own strength,
you can build a business, but you put your talent
in God's hand.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
You could build the Kingdom of God. In your own hands.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
You might be able to build a family, but you
put your life into God's hands, and you can build
a legacy for a thousand generations. And your own strength,
you might be able to make some money. But in
God's strength you depend on him. He'll be able to
bless people in North Carolina. He'll be able to bless
people all over America and all over the world. It
depends on whose hands it's in. Some of us are like, uh, well,
(30:51):
you know, I don't know. I don't know if I
have that much. And I just you know, I'm not
like Pastor steven Man. Pastor Stephen was in la at
the Intuit Arena and he was preaching and teaching, and
I'm telling you his forearms were so big on that screen.
Help me God, I said, Man, that's wild. I'm considering
(31:24):
working out after seeing that people would make fun of me,
like you skip leg day. I'm like, fam, I skip
leg life. Okay, you just you chill out, you chill out,
you chill out. But I'm I'm just encouraged today because
(31:46):
I know that in my own power, I can only
be and do so much. But when I surrender and
I live for something bigger than myself, stop living for
your name and start living for His name. So many
(32:06):
of us are secretly in our heart we're praying my
kingdom come and my will be done. But when you
partner with God and you say yes to his mission,
you say your kingdom come and your will be done
on this earth, even as.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
It is in heaven. Do you understand the difference.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
It's pivoting, and instead of asking what God can do
for me today, I start to ask, Lord, is there
anything I can do for you today?
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Hey? Write that down number three? Is that? Ask not
what God can do for you?
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Ask what you can do for God? Anybody today? Come on,
be honest, anybody today. You need a miracle today. Let
me just see your hand. You need a miracle? I
got both my hands up. But you know the Bible
says that before you ever say a prayer, God already knows.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
What you need.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
And if he could take care of grass and he
can take care of birds, how much more can he
take care of you?
Speaker 1 (33:10):
So one thing about God, we know.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
He's gonna be faithful, he's gonna be consistent, he's gonna
be true. And so instead of I don't need to
ask God for anything today because I know He's gonna
take care of me my whole life. You ever sing
that song I love the C. C. Wins version? You
ever sing that song? All my life? You have been faithful?
Don't you love that one?
Speaker 1 (33:33):
I love you?
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Never see anybody sing that song deadpan? All my life?
You have been faithful all my life. You have been
so so good.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
You see people sing this song. Oh they sing this
song because you're like this.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
If I could sing right now like pastor Steven, I
will be hitting those notes right now.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
But he didn't give me that talent.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
When you think about all my life, you have been
so so.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Good to me.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
Your goodness is running after it's running after me, and
I know you're going to continue to be faithful. So
I don't even need to ask today what Because my
whole life you've shocked me and surprised me with your blessing.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Come on, let's be honest.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
You didn't even get this far in your prayers, did you.
You didn't even get this far in your dreams because
God had a better plan. So I don't need to
ask God what he could do for me today. I'm
asking God, is there anything I could do for you?
Is there anything I could for you? Is there anything?
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Lord? I just want to say, Lord, is there? It
reminds me of this lady.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
She sneaks up on Jesus at a dinner party, and
she is so grateful for her sins to be forgiven
that she sneaks up and she starts to pour out
her worship.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Look here at Luke seven.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
I love this scripture right here put on the screen
verse thirty seven. A woman in that town who lived
a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the
Pharisees house.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
So she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she
began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she
wiped them with her hair and kissed them and poured
perfume on them.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
She's not asking Jesus for anything.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Jesus, Lord, is there anything I could do for you?
You've blessed me, You forgave me my debt, you healed
my body, You've been good to my family. She's pouring
out her worship. I'd rather be in that place than
the one that's saying I need you to hook me
up today. We should just turned the tables. God has
been so good. Why don't we just say?
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Lord? Is there anything? God? Is there? Is there anything
I can do for you?
Speaker 3 (36:08):
One of my favorite stories about Jesus is he sends
these two guys into the town right before he dies
on the cross. He says, go into the town and
there's gonna be a guy in town that has a donkey,
and just tell the man the Lord has need of
it and he'll know and and and bring it back.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
And so two of the disciples going to town.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
Could you imagine having the job of these two disciples
they go, they're just going in town. They're just knocking
on doors, you know, they finally see the God and
they're like, hey, yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
We're team Jesus, and uh, hey, bro, don't get mad
at us. We just you know, we just messengers.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
Uh yeah, the the Lord needs your donkey, bro, don't
be mad at us. The Lord needs your donkey. And
and sure enough the guy has a donkey and he
gladly offers it up. Whenever I read that story, my
imagination goes, I wonder if that morning that man got
(37:09):
up this morning and that morning I just said, Lord,
is there anything in my stable? Is there anything in
my home? Is there anything in my life that you
could you could use?
Speaker 1 (37:20):
See? The Lord knew go to that guy.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
Maybe maybe other people will say no, Maybe other people
will turn your way. May maybe other people are too selfish,
maybe other people are too self centered. But this guy,
I know, he'll give it up. Let's just get some
cultural context. That was not a donkey in his day.
That was like asking for a cybertruck. This was his best.
(37:43):
And they said, the Lord has need of it. The
Lord hath needed need of your donkey, And he said, oh,
it's yours.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
See.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
I wonder today what God could tap into in your
life because he needs it. Here's somebody in your neighborhood,
there's somebody in your family, there's somebody in your life.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
They need your gift.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
They need your talent, they need your anointing, they need
your grace, they need your voice, they need your testimony.
They need what you've gone through, and it will. The
Lord has need of it. The Lord has need of
your time. The Lord has need of your treasure. The
Lord has need of your talent. And what can we
do for the glory of the Living God? Have we
just asked the Lord today?
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Lord? Is there anything that I can do for you? Hey?
Speaker 3 (38:20):
Man, last thing today, Worship team, you can come join me.
Number four write is down. Free yourself from comparison and jealousy.
Free yourself, Give free today. What do they say about comparison?
Comparison is the thief of joy. By the way, when
(38:41):
you get to heaven, you will not be held accountable
for what other people do. You'll be held accountable for you.
And when I stand before my Maker, That's why I
love proverbs for proverbs for says, do not look to
the right or to the left. Keep your eyelids straight
before you, because when I get to heaven, God's gonna
hold me accountable for the gifts and the talents and
(39:02):
the anointing and the calling that He gave my life
and when I show up in heaven, I don't know
about you, I want to hear those words, well done,
my good and my faithful servant, with whom I am
well pleased.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Enter into the joy, and enter into the rest of
your Master.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
You did fight the good fight, and you did finish
your race. And you were faithful, and you were humble.
And we're thankful for what we put in you. You
have the gift of prophesie, and you prophesied with faithfulness.
You had the gift to give, and you gave with faithfulness.
You have the gift of serving, and you serve with
all humility. I don't know about you, but this world
is not my home. I'm a citizen of a greater place.
(39:40):
And when I die, I'm gonna die empty. I'm gonna
die leaving it all out on the table. I'm gonna
die say Lord, I did not live for this world.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
I did not live for the lust to the flesh.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
And the pride of life and the lust of the eyes.
Speaker 5 (39:52):
I live for the glory of the Living God. Oh,
come on, give them a place. Is there anything that.
Speaker 4 (40:04):
I can do for you?
Speaker 1 (40:07):
Stay standing? Stay standing? Is there anything I can do
for you? God? I know I'm not I know I'm
not a Bible expert. I know i'm not the smartest.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
I know i'm not the most talented, and they look
more talented than me. But I'll tell you, God, I
came into this world with nothing. That I'm leaving with nothing.
As for me. In my house, we will serve the
Lord blessed to be the name of my God. I
got nothing without you, Jesus. You're all I've ever had.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Come on, clap today.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
You're all I've ever had. You're all i've ever needed.
You're all I've ever wanted. As a deer paying it
for the water brooks, So my soul.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Longs for you.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
God.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
I'm just telling you.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
I'm telling you you ain't living till you start giving.
You ain't living till you start dying. Come on, I'm dead.
I'm dead to this world. Baba, says Glatians too. I
have been crucified with Christ. I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I that live, but it's Christ
that lives through me and the life that I come on,
(41:02):
somebody now live. I live by faith in the Son
of God, who gave his life as a ransom for
me and I can't believe. I can't believe he called
my name. Do you remember where you were when he
called your name? Do you remember? Do you remember the
metallic taste of sin in your mouth? Do you remember
what he pulled you out of? Do you remember? Do
you remember what he when he set your feet on
(41:23):
that rock and put a new song.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
In your mouth?
Speaker 3 (41:27):
He didn't give you all that grace and all that
talent so you can make money, so you can make
a platform, so you could live for the glory of you.
See what God could do through you? Ask not what
God can do for you today? Why don't you just say, Lord,
(41:49):
is there anything I could do for you today?
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Because you've done so much? Has God done a lot
for you? Are you thankful today?
Speaker 3 (42:00):
Come on? Anybody got the attitude of gratitude today? All
my life? You have been faithful my whole life, You've
been so good? And can you believe that He uses
broke desperate, not all the way putting together people like
(42:23):
us to tell people about the glory of the living God.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
I like to say this way.
Speaker 3 (42:29):
We're just nobody's trying to tell the world about somebody.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Come on, clap if you believe that today I'm a nobody.
I'm a servant. Come on, clap, I'm a servant today.
I'm a servant. I'm gonna die to myself. I'm gonna
make much of his name, not my name.
Speaker 3 (42:50):
We don't live for something bigger than ourselves. You know,
everybody that God used in the Bible had problems. Everybody
that God used in the scriptures had issues. Use no
perfect people, because there are no perfect people. So if
you're already coming up with excuses all past you yet
I can't be used. You know, I gotta I gotta pass,
I got I got, I.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
Got pain, I got you know, issues in my life.
You know I used to be by the way. Can
we just stop.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
Making more much of our past and make a lot
more about our future. We got so many believers today
that can tell me more about what you're coming from
and can't hardly tell me what you're going for.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Come on, your future as greater than your past. Come on,
what's in front of you.
Speaker 3 (43:34):
And what God's got in store for you is greater
than what you came out of. Everybody that God used
in the Bible was just like us, not perfect people
that had problems, people that had stories, people that were
in process, under construction, everybody that God used, but He
still used them.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
Amen, And so God can use you. It's an old,
cheesy list, but put on the screen.
Speaker 3 (43:56):
I love this just to just to kind of teach
you today that God can use people like us.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Look at this.
Speaker 3 (44:00):
Noah was a drunk, Abraham was too old, Isaac was
a daydreamer. Jacob was a liar. Leah was ugly. How
ugly you got to be? Did the Bible call you ugly?
You forever ugly? You asked an eternity?
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Ugly? Joseph was abused.
Speaker 3 (44:25):
Moses had a stuttering problem. Gideon was afraid, Samson had
long hair and was a womanizer. Rayhab was a prostitute.
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young. David was an adulter
and a murderer. Elijah was suicidal. Isaiah preached nicked. May
that never happen in this church in the name of Jesus.
That's a word for pastor tim today.
Speaker 1 (44:47):
Jonah ran from God. Naomi was a widow, Job went bankrupt.
Speaker 3 (44:51):
John the Baptist Ate, Bugs, and Peter did not Christ.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
But they were all used for the glory of the
Living God.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
Come on, let's just ask him today, Lord, is there
anything that I.
Speaker 1 (45:03):
Can do for you? Come on, Elevation lift the hand
of heaven. Father.
Speaker 3 (45:06):
We thank you today that you are good and greatly
to be praised. And so we just asked today Lord,
we humble ourselves. Lord, we go low.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Lord. Here's my gifting, here's my calling, here's my talent,
here's my time. If you can use anything, Lord, you
can use me.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
I live for your name and not my name, in Jesus' name.
And everybody said, together, come on, let's clap and worship
God today.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
You can click the link in the description to give
now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more
information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
God bless you.
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
In your life. Enjoy the message. Anybody happy to be
in church today?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
When I was growing up, my parents used to always
quote that scripture. I was glad when they said, unto me,
let us go to the wood, to the house of
the Lord. And I'm just so thankful to be an Elevation.
Do you love your church today? Do you love your
pastors today? I'm a preacher just the moment. But and
(00:50):
again I want to just say I reiterate Pastor JJ
did such a great job. Thank it everybody forgiving. But
just in the aftermath of the hurricane, can we just
own everyone that's being generous and given.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Let's pray, Let's come.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
On, let's really stir off faith to help those that
are in need right now. The devastations overwhelming, and what
an opportunity. I see it as an opportunity for the
church to step up and be what we're called to be.
A men and so I love your church and I
love your pastors, and I got to.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Be with them.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I live in Los Angeles and the tour Elevation Worship
Nights came through Los Angeles, California. I gotta tell you,
LA wasn't ready for Pastor Steven. They weren't ready for him.
And I have never been to a concert where every
single song that they sang when they started it, I
was like.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Oh, this is my favorite one.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
This is my favorite one, This is my favorite Then
they sing another one. I'm like, Oh, put this one
right here, because I got memories with these songs. I've
been through some things with these songs. I cried in
my part of these songs. Come on, clap and give honor.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
We're honoring to.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Do if you're grateful for the cycle bye of Elevation
Church and Pastor Stephen.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
And Holly.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
And we're we're we're called. We're called to give honor
where honor is due. You know how sometimes the rent
is due. Today I feel like the honor is due,
and Pastor Stephen is a gift not just to Charlotte
and the Elevation but to the world.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
To the Body of Christ.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
And I say, right, now just as he's resting today,
I say we pray for him right now, just as
a church, you know, just a hedge of protection over
his family, that the blessing of God would be all
over his home and his life. And Pastor Hawley the same.
Come on, church, let's just pray for Pastor Stephen right now. Father,
we declare in the name of Jesus, your goodness and
(02:44):
your mercy will follow them all the days of their life.
We think you that as they've refreshed Poise and Salt
Lake City and Los Angeles, God, you said that those
the refreshed others, will they themselves be refreshed. So God,
Philip is cup. We thank you God for the pastor
that he is the leader that he is. And we
just thank you for a blessing today in Jesus name.
(03:05):
And everybody said together, come on clap one more time.
Anybody loved the Bible today. We're gonna jump right in
in just a moment. But before you do, turn and
sayhi to somebody. As you take a seat, turn and
say hi to somebody. Go in your bible to Romans
chapter twelve. Romans chapter twelve. It is good to be
(03:27):
in church today. Any married people in church today.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yay.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
My wife and I just celebrated sixteen years of marriage.
She is blessed. Come on, we have four children. We're
about to be in the odds. I'm about to have thirteen, eleven,
nine and seven. We like a rock band. We put
them out every two years. But I stopped that years ago.
(03:59):
I said, oh no more. I told my wife we
would have been good with two. We would have dominated
two kids, but we had two too many. They're dominating
us now. But God has been so good to us.
My wife and I we planted a church in Los Angeles.
We just celebrated nine years of our church in LA.
(04:19):
And in nine years, in nine years, we've seen thirteen
thousand people say yes to Jesus in LA. Come on,
clap if you believe God is good. But it's an
honor to be here. And I want to jump right
in because Romans chapter twelve, we're gonna go to verse four.
What I love about Jesus is that he has offered
(04:43):
us the invitation of a lifetime. And the invitation of
a lifetime to me is not just believing in Jesus.
But I think it gets fun when you start following Jesus.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
But just to believe is not that fun.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
But the adventure of a lifetime to me is when
you say yes to following Jesus.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
You never know where He's going to take your life.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
You never know what God's going to do in you,
and you never know what God's going to do through you.
And so I want to talk today as you discover,
as you walk with God, you discover what has He
gifted you to do on this earth?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
What is He placed in your life. The more I
follow Jesus, the.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
More I discover my gifting, my talents, my unique makeup
to go make a difference in the world. Look here Romans,
Chapter twelve, verse four. I love these scriptures as Paul
He's writing for by the grace given to me. I
say to every one of you, do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought to. That's a word
(05:45):
for cowboy fans. Come on, somebody, helle lojah. I felt
the Holy Ghost when I said it too. I felt
the Holy Ghost when I said it. I was like,
who is it for?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Bam? Cowboy fans. Cowboy fans are so cute. Y'all are cute.
Y'all are cute because every year.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
I let me preest a word, okay, but rather think
of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith
God has distributed to each of you.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
For just as each of.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Us has one body with many members, as these members
do not all have the same function. So in Christ, we,
though many, form one body, and each member belongs to
all the others. You know what I love about seeing
that video about what we're doing to help, is that
we need Samaritans, purse, we need convoy of hope, we
(06:43):
need elevation church.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Come on, anybody, thankful. We're just playing our part in
a really big thing. Verse six.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
We have different gifts according to the grace given to.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Each of us.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
If your gift is prophesigned, then prophesie in accordance with
your faith. If it is serving, then serve. If it
is teaching, then teach. If it is to encourage, then
give encouragement. If it is giving, then give generously. If
it is to lead, do it diligently. If it is
to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere
(07:19):
hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Be
devoted to one another in love, Honor one another above yourselves,
never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor
serving the Lord. Oh, come on, clap today. That's just
good reading right there. That's not even preaching, that's reading.
(07:40):
I want to preach a message today right down the title.
Is there anything I can do for you? Is there
anything that I can do for you?
Speaker 1 (07:48):
See?
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I know how much God has done for me. I
know what God has done in my life. God pulled
me out of a pit, set my feet upon a rock,
put a new song in my mouth. I don't know
about you, but I was dead, but now I'm alive.
I was blind, but now I see. Come on, anybody
thankful today for what Jesus has done? Has God been
(08:09):
good to anybody here today? Come on, give him a
better praise than that. If you believe God is good, God,
God like to say this way. God has been better
than I deserve. And He has been greater than I
could imagine. He has been better than I could ever deserve.
But I'll tell you he has been better than I
(08:30):
have ever imagined. God has been so good to me.
God gave me his spirit. God gave me salvation. God
gave me my health today. God gave me a beautiful family.
God hooked me up so much and gave me two
extra kids. But when I think about all that God
has done for me, how could I not in return
(08:52):
say Lord, is there anything.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
That I could do for you?
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Because I know your faith fulness, I know you're healing power,
I know what you've.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Done for me. But I just want to just pause
for a second and say, Lord, is there anything that this?
Is there anything that.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
I could potentially possibly do for you? When we moved
to LA we left Seattle, Washington to move to Los Angeles.
We got we got out of Egypt, y'all, and so
it rained too much up there. So when we moved down,
we had two kids in those days, just two of them,
and we were driving down. We didn't we didn't have
a staff, we didn't have an office, we didn't have
(09:33):
we didn't have a house.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
We found our house.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
We were on I five in Sacramento and my wife
was looking on Craigelist for a place to live, and
so we found it. But we were in Sacramento, so
we still had a long drive. So we sent a
friend to go check out the house the neighborhood. She
couldn't get in, but she could check out the house.
She said, the neighborhood's fine, So we said yes to
the house. We got the home on Craigslist. We rented
(09:55):
a house to go plant the church while we were there.
While we were driving, my wife mentioned to me that
she has a family friend from New Zealand that was
also moving to LA for a job. And she said,
this home that we just rented has an extra house,
extra room, and she's looking for a place to live.
What do you think about renting out a room to
this to my childhood friend from New Zealand, I was say, well,
(10:17):
we're church planners.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
We need the money. Holley lujah.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Yes. And what I remember about this girl from New
Zealand when we planned a church and she helped us,
there was eleven people that started in our living room.
Started this church is O Way Church in LA. And
what I remember about this girl the most is that
she would go to everybody in the church and she'd
always ask if she could help, like, may.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, can I help you? Mat see anything I could do? Mate? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Shock mock blue yeah, Mike, good on you. But I
remember that's what I remember. Is there anything that I
could do to help? This is like me and my
house with my wife. My wife runs our home, she
runs our house. She is the boss at our house.
(11:01):
I don't have a clue what's going on. So I
just every day breakfast, lest your dinner. I'm like, can
I do Can I help? Is there any do you need?
Can I do anything to help? She said the other day,
I finally figured out what your gift is. Your gift
in this home what you do is you're good at
dropping off the kids. And I was like, yeah, I'm
really good at dropping I can get rid of them kids. Yes,
I know how to do that. That's about all I
(11:23):
know how to do. But I wonder today if we
could get to the place where we could come to
God and say, Lord, I don't know what I'm exactly
gifted in, but whatever I have, is there anything that
I could do for you? I'm I'm see you got
(11:44):
to get a life with a view, in view of
your mercy, in view of the cross, in view of
your faithfulness. I can survey and see what you've done
for me, and so God, in response of gratitude, I
just want to ask, is there anything that I can
do for you? See the problem is is that a
lot of us we we we we find out our
(12:05):
gift or our talent, and we fall in love with
our gift more than our God. We we are mesmerized
with our talents and our capabilities. And I want to
just give you four things to write down today. Write
down number one. Don't fall in love with your gift.
Fall in love with the gift giver. Don't fall in
love with your talent. Don't fall in love with how
(12:27):
gifted you are and how amazing you are. If you
got the gift to teach, don't fall in love with
your teaching gift. If you got the gift to sing,
don't fall in love with your singing gift. If you
got whatever your gift is, don't fall in love with
your gift. We live in a culture that is obsessed
with their gift.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
They are.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
They are mesmerized by their talent. They are mesmerized by
their ability. Vanity of vanities. Look at how awesome I am.
Look at how great I am, Look at the business
I can build, Look at the songs I can write. No,
I want to encourage you today. Don't fall in love
with your gift, fall in love with your God, says
(13:06):
Romans Chapter one. Romans Chapter one says they started to
worship creation rather than worshiping the Creator. And we got
to be careful in this culture to not discover our
gift and fall in love with it, to monetize it,
to just make it about us and our kingdom. Know,
(13:27):
as we follow God, he shows us what He's put
inside of us. When you were born, God didn't kind
of come up with a plan like, Wow, what are
we gonna do with this one? No, when you were
in your mother's womb, the Bible says you were fearfully
and wonderfully made. God was stuff in your life with
(13:48):
potential and capability and calling and anointing and future. Jeremiah
said in Jeremiah One, before I was born, you appointed
be a prophet to the nations. God has a plan
for your life. God knows what he wants to do
with your life. God has something for you to do
(14:09):
on this earth. You gotta discover your gift so you
can make a difference in the world.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Don't fall in love with your gift, fall in love
with your God.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Where are the loud people at Let me just hear
you if you're loud. Hey, they were waiting, weren't they loud?
People can't wait to be loud. They just excited, like
they just wake up loud. I'm half Mexican. Any Latins
in the house, I'm underlies. Hey guess now that's end
the Hons. God does not make quiet Latins. This is impossible.
(14:43):
We come out the womb loud like Labama, Mama. We
just bought us. Look us forever, Hans. That's the way
God made you. Where are the quiet people?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
At?
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Quiet people don't even like to raise their hand. That's
the way God made you, and we need you.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
To be you.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Walk confident in your calling, walk confident in your grace.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
But don't fall in love with your grace. Don't fall
in love with your gift. Fall in love with your maker.
Fall in love with your creator.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Fall in love with your savior, fall in love with
his presence. Oh, come on clap today if you want
to love God more than you love yourself. There's a
story in Daniel, chapter four of King nebuk nez King
nebuk Nezzer. One day he walks out on his roof
and he's out on the on the on the rooftop
and he's walking around.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
He's like, dang, you look at me, am I not amazing?
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Look at look at what I've look at what I've created.
Around somebody that's so impressed with himself. You ever be
around somebody that's just like, Wow, you're still talking about you.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
That's crazy. Wow.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Hold on, let me just you drop that name. Let
me give it back to you. Just real, sorry, you
just there's another one. King Nabucanza's walking on the palace,
so he's like, wow, look at me, look at what
I've done.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Is Danis chapter four. Well, you can't make this up.
This's in the Bible Dange four, verse twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Twelve months later, he was taking a walk on the
flat roof of the World Palace in Babylon. As he
looked out across the city, he said, look at this
great city of Babylon. By my own mighty power, I
have built this beautiful city as my row residence to
display my majestic splendor. So you gotta be careful, because
(16:49):
if you don't give glory to God, You're gonna give
glory to you. I always tell you, But I look
at what I've built, look at what I've accomplished, look
at how much money I've made, look at how great
I am. He's walking In fact, God humbles King Nebukaneza'
so much that he drives him out to the wilderness
and makes him grow feathers and nails. And finally he
(17:14):
gets so humble that he acknowledges who God is, and
God restored his sanity. In other words, if you become
a me monster, you're gonna go crazy. But the way
to stay in your right place is to give glory
and honor and worship and praise to an almighty God.
Come on, clap if you're thankful today. I don't need
the glory all. Come on, not to us, not to
(17:37):
us be the glory, but to your name. See this
is the problem. This is what happened with the adversary
of your life. That Satan he wants was a worship leader.
He wants, was the leader of the worship in heaven.
But he got so enamored with his gift, he got
so intoxicated with his own ability that he stopped leading
praise to God, and he wanted praise to him. This
(18:00):
is if it could happen to him, it could happen
to us. And watch what it says in Ezekiel about
the enemy. It says in Ezekiel it says, you were
the model of perfection. You were full of wisdom and
exquisite and beauty. You were in the Eden, in the
garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone.
You were beautiful. What happened? See, don't fall in love
(18:23):
with your gift. Fall in love with your God. And
if you today are fall in love with your gift.
What I love about God that if you're prideful today,
God loves you enough like he did with Neba Canezar,
he will humble you. And God says, if you exalt yourself,
he will humble you. But if you humble yourself, he
(18:43):
will exalt you. The reason why elevation is used around
the world is because this church and our pastors walk
humbly before the Lord, not wanting the praise to us
or to a church. Come on, clap if you believe
it today, Come on, this is our prayer.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
See what God can do through you.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
And and the thing about pride is the moment you
stopped thinking that you have pride is when you're really
gonna mess up. A couple of years ago, I was
in Atlanta, Georgia, and I was preaching that passion City
church for Pastor Louis Giglio, and I love Pastor Louis.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
He is like he is the Steve Jobs of Christianity.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
And so we had this great night at church, and
we went out to dinner afterwards, and and we were
at the valet waiting for the cars to pull up,
and as we're about to leave each other, he passed.
Louis got really close to me, like like up in
my face, and he and he and he says to me, hey,
I want you to and he's like right here, and
I was like, I want you to. And he starts
(19:47):
telling me about going low. I want you to go low.
I want you to be a man of humility, a
man of character. Let's for us, me and you. And
he was so close to me. He could have been
like he could have said, let's go rob a bank.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
It didn't matter. I would have been.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Like, like, he's looking into my soul. So he's in
my face and he's like, let's go low, let's let's
be humble. And I'm like, you know Christians where they
put on the Christian face. I'm just thinking, like, buddy,
(20:23):
you better back up. So he's up in my face.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
He's a go lo.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
So he gave you know, he five ten minutes and
then you know, and we part our ways. And about
two three months later, I was in Atlanta and I
text Pastor Louis, hey, let's get breakfast tomorrow. So we
met up and we had two three hour long breakfast.
We had the best time. And we're leaving and we're
waiting for our ubers outside and he gets up in
my grill and he goes, hey, I want to say
something to you, and he goes, I want us And
(20:49):
I almost said, let me guess, go low, but I
did it. I'm respectful. You guys get it. And so
and he gets me. He gets in my face again.
He gives me the same speech, like word for word,
verbade him. And I thought at first maybe he's older
and he's forgetting. He's forgetting conversations these days, isn't there.
So he's like, I want us to go low. I
(21:10):
want us to be humble men I wanted. And he
get in and I was like, yeah, thank you, one
hundred percent. And when I left, I got on the
airplane to fly home and the Lord, the Lord spoke
to me and said, I send him to you a
second time because you didn't hear it the first Now
(21:33):
the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time,
and I said, Lord, I don't deal with pride, and
he said, you needed this, And the Lord began to
deal with ego. The Lord began to deal with agenda, motives, pride,
living on talent, and.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
That one messed up. Samson.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Samson just just like, oh, man, long hair, don't care.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
You know, I'm good. Come on, man.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
Delilah's like, Sammy, sam.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
They're here again.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
He's like, oh, sugar, you know how I roll, man,
I'll take care of it again. He didn't know what
cost him his life this time. See, my problem is
we fall so much in love with talent, so much
in love with gifts. We're gonna live off gifting, live
off talent, and we're gonna stop being dependent upon the
grace and the provision. And come on, I don't know
(22:39):
about you, but I'm not too powered to beg for
the mercy and the goodness and the grace of my God.
I need him. I need his daily bread today. I
need his provision today. I need his power today. I
need his joy today, I need his peace today. Come on,
anybody thankful today I'm.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Not falling in love and living on my gif I'm
living for the glory of the living God, the one
that died for me, the one that rose from me,
the one that called my name.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Give them a praise today. If you want to live
for God and now yourself, you be careful with that
prideful spirit. You be careful with that worldly spirit. In
a narcissistic society, narcissism wins, but not in kingdom culture.
Jesus said, the first are gonna be last, and the
(23:30):
last are.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Gonna be first.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
He said, the greatest of all of them is the
servant of all of them. You want to know who
I use. I don't use rock stars. I don't use
people that puff themselves up. I use people that go low.
I use people that humble themselves and said, I ain't
nothing without your grace and less you bless me unless
you touch me, unless you raise me.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Give them a praise today.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
If you're thankful for the love of Jesus in your life,
you be careful. You be careful about pride. Watch this,
put it on the screen. Watch what pride does. Pride
is a sinful, arrogant, haughty, self reliant attitude. Or spirit
that causes a person to have an inflated.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Or puffed up view of themselves.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Those who are proud think of themselves as better than
others and look down on others with contempt.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
See the problem with pride is pride is.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
The only disease that makes everybody else sick besides the
person that has it. Pride can be recognized in others
and cannot be seen in yourself.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I got on that plant, Say who are you talking to?
Going low? Who are you talking to?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Going low? Lord said, I'm talking to you, Homi. It's
a sinful, arrogant, conceited, puffed up Am I not awesome?
Am I not amazing? I don't know how to tell
you this. Yeah, man, we saw you. But we're not
(25:07):
impressed with gifting. We're impressed with the one that told
the sun to get up this morning. I'm impressed with
the one that owns a cattle on a thousand hills.
I'm impressed with the one that the earth is the
Lord's and the fullness thereof.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Don't you fall in love with gift? Look at the contrast.
Watch humility. Humility is so beautiful.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Humility is seeing ourselves as we truly are fallen in
sin and helpless without God. Humility is often characterized as
genuine gratitude, a lack of arrogance, and a modest view
of oneself. I like to think of it as an
accurate view of self. Humility is not thinking less of myself.
(25:48):
It's thinking less about myself. Humility has that see pride.
Pride walks into a room and goes here, I am.
Humility walks into the room and goes there, you are.
Humility walks in the room and says, I got something
to give. I've got something to bless, I've got love,
I've got encouragement. I'm not looking to take. Don't I'm
(26:09):
not using you as my agenda for my ego. No.
I came as the servant of the Most High God
to help somebody find freedom and help somebody find salvation.
And I just want to tell you, God, because you
have done so much for me, is there anything I can.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Do for you? Don't fall in love with your gift.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
I'd rather fall in love with God, the one that
gave me these gifts.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Right down number two. I love this.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Your gift and God's mission go hand in hand. Your gift,
whatever God has gifted you to do whatever, whatever it is,
whatever God has gifted you to do. And by the way,
I'm not concerned whether you have one, two, or five,
because all of us are trying to turn our two
into four and our five into ten, or are one
into two. It doesn't matter how many gifts you God
(26:57):
are your talents. None are better than each other. I'm
just telling you, though, When you take your gift and
you put it into God's mission, they go. It's like
peanut butter and jelly. It goes hand in hand. When
you put your gifting your grace, you partner it with
God's mission and God's work. One of my favorite scriptures
(27:18):
Ephesians chapter two, verse ten, put it on the screen
for we are Christ workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which He prepared beforehand.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
God has something for you to do on this earth.
I think this is right.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Why Pastor Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life did
so well because all of us want to wake up
with meaning. We want to wake up with purpose. We
want to discover God. Why do I exist on this earth?
You were created in Christ Jesus for good works. God
prepared something for you to do to help the Body
of Christ to help the Church of the Living God.
(27:56):
You want created to sit on the sideline. God has
called you to get into the game. You got to
fight the good fight. You got to finish the race.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
You got to.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Become who God has called you to become. And when
you put your gift back in God's hands. It's an old,
cheesy saying. I found this one because I heard it
when I was a kid. This this one is called
it depends on whose hands it's in.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I love this one. It depends on whose hands it's in.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
A basketball in my hands is worth about twenty five dollars.
When I read that, I thought, you don't shop at
Dick Sporting good and you don't know inflation. Let's go
forty five dollars. But a basketball in Lebron James hands
is worth about seventy five million dollars. It depends on
whose hands it's in. A baseball in my hands is
(28:46):
worth about eight dollars. Again, let's go back to Dick
Sporting good inflation twenty five dollars. A baseball and show
hey o Tani's hands is worth about two hundred million dollars.
If his bookie doesn't touch it, it depends on whose
hands it's in. A tennis racket in my hands is
worth about seventy five dollars, but a tennis racket in
(29:06):
Serena Williams hands is worth about fifty million dollars.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
It depends on whose hands it is in.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal,
but a rod in Moses's hands will part of a
mighty red sea.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
It depends on whose hands is in.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
A slingshot in my hands is a kid's toy, but
a sling shot in David's hands is a mighty weapon.
It depends on whose hands it's in. A two fish
and five loaves of bread in my hands is a
couple of fish sandwiches, But two fish and five loaves
of bread in Jesus' hands will feed five thousand people.
It depends on whose hands is in. Come on, clap elevation.
(29:44):
I'm putting my life back into his hands. Whoever wants
to save his life must lose his life, totain your soul.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
You gotta lose the world. Come on, give your gift.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
GIF, you're calling, GIF, you're anointing, Give your talent and
put it back into his hands. So many of us
are frustrated because it's in our hands. It's in our hands.
My Bible says, it's not by power, and it's not
by might, but it's by my spirit, says the Lord.
I'm not living off my talent or my gifting or
(30:17):
my own intellect. I'm telling you, in your own strength,
you can build a business, but you put your talent
in God's hand.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
You could build the Kingdom of God. In your own hands.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
You might be able to build a family, but you
put your life into God's hands, and you can build
a legacy for a thousand generations. And your own strength,
you might be able to make some money. But in
God's strength you depend on him. He'll be able to
bless people in North Carolina. He'll be able to bless
people all over America and all over the world. It
depends on whose hands it's in. Some of us are like, uh, well,
(30:51):
you know, I don't know. I don't know if I
have that much. And I just you know, I'm not
like Pastor steven Man. Pastor Stephen was in la at
the Intuit Arena and he was preaching and teaching, and
I'm telling you his forearms were so big on that screen.
Help me God, I said, Man, that's wild. I'm considering
(31:24):
working out after seeing that people would make fun of me,
like you skip leg day. I'm like, fam, I skip
leg life. Okay, you just you chill out, you chill out,
you chill out. But I'm I'm just encouraged today because
(31:46):
I know that in my own power, I can only
be and do so much. But when I surrender and
I live for something bigger than myself, stop living for
your name and start living for His name. So many
(32:06):
of us are secretly in our heart we're praying my
kingdom come and my will be done. But when you
partner with God and you say yes to his mission,
you say your kingdom come and your will be done
on this earth, even as.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
It is in heaven. Do you understand the difference.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
It's pivoting, and instead of asking what God can do
for me today, I start to ask, Lord, is there
anything I can do for you today?
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Hey? Write that down number three? Is that? Ask not
what God can do for you?
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Ask what you can do for God? Anybody today? Come on,
be honest, anybody today. You need a miracle today. Let
me just see your hand. You need a miracle? I
got both my hands up. But you know the Bible
says that before you ever say a prayer, God already knows.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
What you need.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
And if he could take care of grass and he
can take care of birds, how much more can he
take care of you?
Speaker 1 (33:10):
So one thing about God, we know.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
He's gonna be faithful, he's gonna be consistent, he's gonna
be true. And so instead of I don't need to
ask God for anything today because I know He's gonna
take care of me my whole life. You ever sing
that song I love the C. C. Wins version? You
ever sing that song? All my life? You have been faithful?
Don't you love that one?
Speaker 1 (33:33):
I love you?
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Never see anybody sing that song deadpan? All my life?
You have been faithful all my life. You have been
so so good.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
You see people sing this song. Oh they sing this
song because you're like this.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
If I could sing right now like pastor Steven, I
will be hitting those notes right now.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
But he didn't give me that talent.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
When you think about all my life, you have been
so so.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Good to me.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
Your goodness is running after it's running after me, and
I know you're going to continue to be faithful. So
I don't even need to ask today what Because my
whole life you've shocked me and surprised me with your blessing.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Come on, let's be honest.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
You didn't even get this far in your prayers, did you.
You didn't even get this far in your dreams because
God had a better plan. So I don't need to
ask God what he could do for me today. I'm
asking God, is there anything I could do for you?
Is there anything I could for you? Is there anything?
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Lord? I just want to say, Lord, is there? It
reminds me of this lady.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
She sneaks up on Jesus at a dinner party, and
she is so grateful for her sins to be forgiven
that she sneaks up and she starts to pour out
her worship.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Look here at Luke seven.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
I love this scripture right here put on the screen
verse thirty seven. A woman in that town who lived
a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the
Pharisees house.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
So she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she
began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she
wiped them with her hair and kissed them and poured
perfume on them.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
She's not asking Jesus for anything.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Jesus, Lord, is there anything I could do for you?
You've blessed me, You forgave me my debt, you healed
my body, You've been good to my family. She's pouring
out her worship. I'd rather be in that place than
the one that's saying I need you to hook me
up today. We should just turned the tables. God has
been so good. Why don't we just say?
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Lord? Is there anything? God? Is there? Is there anything
I can do for you?
Speaker 3 (36:08):
One of my favorite stories about Jesus is he sends
these two guys into the town right before he dies
on the cross. He says, go into the town and
there's gonna be a guy in town that has a donkey,
and just tell the man the Lord has need of
it and he'll know and and and bring it back.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
And so two of the disciples going to town.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
Could you imagine having the job of these two disciples
they go, they're just going in town. They're just knocking
on doors, you know, they finally see the God and
they're like, hey, yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
We're team Jesus, and uh, hey, bro, don't get mad
at us. We just you know, we just messengers.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
Uh yeah, the the Lord needs your donkey, bro, don't
be mad at us. The Lord needs your donkey. And
and sure enough the guy has a donkey and he
gladly offers it up. Whenever I read that story, my
imagination goes, I wonder if that morning that man got
(37:09):
up this morning and that morning I just said, Lord,
is there anything in my stable? Is there anything in
my home? Is there anything in my life that you
could you could use?
Speaker 1 (37:20):
See? The Lord knew go to that guy.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
Maybe maybe other people will say no, Maybe other people
will turn your way. May maybe other people are too selfish,
maybe other people are too self centered. But this guy,
I know, he'll give it up. Let's just get some
cultural context. That was not a donkey in his day.
That was like asking for a cybertruck. This was his best.
(37:43):
And they said, the Lord has need of it. The
Lord hath needed need of your donkey, And he said, oh,
it's yours.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
See.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
I wonder today what God could tap into in your
life because he needs it. Here's somebody in your neighborhood,
there's somebody in your family, there's somebody in your life.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
They need your gift.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
They need your talent, they need your anointing, they need
your grace, they need your voice, they need your testimony.
They need what you've gone through, and it will. The
Lord has need of it. The Lord has need of
your time. The Lord has need of your treasure. The
Lord has need of your talent. And what can we
do for the glory of the Living God? Have we
just asked the Lord today?
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Lord? Is there anything that I can do for you? Hey?
Speaker 3 (38:20):
Man, last thing today, Worship team, you can come join me.
Number four write is down. Free yourself from comparison and jealousy.
Free yourself, Give free today. What do they say about comparison?
Comparison is the thief of joy. By the way, when
(38:41):
you get to heaven, you will not be held accountable
for what other people do. You'll be held accountable for you.
And when I stand before my Maker, That's why I
love proverbs for proverbs for says, do not look to
the right or to the left. Keep your eyelids straight
before you, because when I get to heaven, God's gonna
hold me accountable for the gifts and the talents and
(39:02):
the anointing and the calling that He gave my life
and when I show up in heaven, I don't know
about you, I want to hear those words, well done,
my good and my faithful servant, with whom I am
well pleased.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Enter into the joy, and enter into the rest of
your Master.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
You did fight the good fight, and you did finish
your race. And you were faithful, and you were humble.
And we're thankful for what we put in you. You
have the gift of prophesie, and you prophesied with faithfulness.
You had the gift to give, and you gave with faithfulness.
You have the gift of serving, and you serve with
all humility. I don't know about you, but this world
is not my home. I'm a citizen of a greater place.
(39:40):
And when I die, I'm gonna die empty. I'm gonna
die leaving it all out on the table. I'm gonna
die say Lord, I did not live for this world.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
I did not live for the lust to the flesh.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
And the pride of life and the lust of the eyes.
Speaker 5 (39:52):
I live for the glory of the Living God. Oh,
come on, give them a place. Is there anything that.
Speaker 4 (40:04):
I can do for you?
Speaker 1 (40:07):
Stay standing? Stay standing? Is there anything I can do
for you? God? I know I'm not I know I'm
not a Bible expert. I know i'm not the smartest.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
I know i'm not the most talented, and they look
more talented than me. But I'll tell you, God, I
came into this world with nothing. That I'm leaving with nothing.
As for me. In my house, we will serve the
Lord blessed to be the name of my God. I
got nothing without you, Jesus. You're all I've ever had.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Come on, clap today.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
You're all I've ever had. You're all i've ever needed.
You're all I've ever wanted. As a deer paying it
for the water brooks, So my soul.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Longs for you.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
God.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
I'm just telling you.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
I'm telling you you ain't living till you start giving.
You ain't living till you start dying. Come on, I'm dead.
I'm dead to this world. Baba, says Glatians too. I
have been crucified with Christ. I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I that live, but it's Christ
that lives through me and the life that I come on,
(41:02):
somebody now live. I live by faith in the Son
of God, who gave his life as a ransom for
me and I can't believe. I can't believe he called
my name. Do you remember where you were when he
called your name? Do you remember? Do you remember the
metallic taste of sin in your mouth? Do you remember
what he pulled you out of? Do you remember? Do
you remember what he when he set your feet on
(41:23):
that rock and put a new song.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
In your mouth?
Speaker 3 (41:27):
He didn't give you all that grace and all that
talent so you can make money, so you can make
a platform, so you could live for the glory of you.
See what God could do through you? Ask not what
God can do for you today? Why don't you just say, Lord,
(41:49):
is there anything I could do for you today?
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Because you've done so much? Has God done a lot
for you? Are you thankful today?
Speaker 3 (42:00):
Come on? Anybody got the attitude of gratitude today? All
my life? You have been faithful my whole life, You've
been so good? And can you believe that He uses
broke desperate, not all the way putting together people like
(42:23):
us to tell people about the glory of the living God.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
I like to say this way.
Speaker 3 (42:29):
We're just nobody's trying to tell the world about somebody.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Come on, clap if you believe that today I'm a nobody.
I'm a servant. Come on, clap, I'm a servant today.
I'm a servant. I'm gonna die to myself. I'm gonna
make much of his name, not my name.
Speaker 3 (42:50):
We don't live for something bigger than ourselves. You know,
everybody that God used in the Bible had problems. Everybody
that God used in the scriptures had issues. Use no
perfect people, because there are no perfect people. So if
you're already coming up with excuses all past you yet
I can't be used. You know, I gotta I gotta pass,
I got I got, I.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
Got pain, I got you know, issues in my life.
You know I used to be by the way. Can
we just stop.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
Making more much of our past and make a lot
more about our future. We got so many believers today
that can tell me more about what you're coming from
and can't hardly tell me what you're going for.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Come on, your future as greater than your past. Come on,
what's in front of you.
Speaker 3 (43:34):
And what God's got in store for you is greater
than what you came out of. Everybody that God used
in the Bible was just like us, not perfect people
that had problems, people that had stories, people that were
in process, under construction, everybody that God used, but He
still used them.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
Amen, And so God can use you. It's an old,
cheesy list, but put on the screen.
Speaker 3 (43:56):
I love this just to just to kind of teach
you today that God can use people like us.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Look at this.
Speaker 3 (44:00):
Noah was a drunk, Abraham was too old, Isaac was
a daydreamer. Jacob was a liar. Leah was ugly. How
ugly you got to be? Did the Bible call you ugly?
You forever ugly? You asked an eternity?
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Ugly? Joseph was abused.
Speaker 3 (44:25):
Moses had a stuttering problem. Gideon was afraid, Samson had
long hair and was a womanizer. Rayhab was a prostitute.
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young. David was an adulter
and a murderer. Elijah was suicidal. Isaiah preached nicked. May
that never happen in this church in the name of Jesus.
That's a word for pastor tim today.
Speaker 1 (44:47):
Jonah ran from God. Naomi was a widow, Job went bankrupt.
Speaker 3 (44:51):
John the Baptist Ate, Bugs, and Peter did not Christ.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
But they were all used for the glory of the
Living God.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
Come on, let's just ask him today, Lord, is there
anything that I.
Speaker 1 (45:03):
Can do for you? Come on, Elevation lift the hand
of heaven. Father.
Speaker 3 (45:06):
We thank you today that you are good and greatly
to be praised. And so we just asked today Lord,
we humble ourselves. Lord, we go low.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Lord. Here's my gifting, here's my calling, here's my talent,
here's my time. If you can use anything, Lord, you
can use me.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
I live for your name and not my name, in Jesus' name.
And everybody said, together, come on, let's clap and worship
God today.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
You can click the link in the description to give
now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more
information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
God bless you.
Host
Steven Furtick
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