January 26, 2025 • 59 mins
We all go through times when we’re looking ahead, and our future looks uncertain. We want clarity, but instead, God gives us the courage to move forward in faith. It’s in these moments we learn not to be driven by what’s easy but to be pulled forward by purpose.
If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: ele.vc/tIepfr
Scripture References:
Deuteronomy 20, verses 1, 19-20
Ephesians 6, verse 13
Exodus 16, verse 35
John 15, verse 4
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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. Hope
this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Enjoy the message.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
I think they'll be praising God like that in Fort Worth, Texas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Toronto, Canada, Detroit, Michigan, Hartford, Connecticut, Newark,
New Jersey, and Washington, DC.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Elevation Nights is just a few weeks away.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Go to Elevation Nights dot com and get your tickets.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
It'll be good.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
We'll be there worshiping God together. We can't wait to
worship God with you. Also, thank you to all of
the amazing men and women who have signed up to
lead an e group over this next semester. Thank you
for opening your home, your heart. Thank you for saying
yes to God. Pray that God is going to bring
just the right people in those groups who can help
each other. I pray that God would make connections, divine connections,
(01:07):
that God would be.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Like a spiritual matchmaker.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I'm not necessarily talking about a romantic match, although if
the Lord wants to do that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Through an E group, he's God. Amen.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
But just that God would help you find somebody where
they can say, oh, I went through that, and here's
something God gave me. When theologian said that Christianity is
one beggar telling another beggar where they found bread. And
sometimes God gives somebody something.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
That you need in the season that you're in.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
And so when you walk through those E group tents
today or when they come online in a little while
and say hey, sign up, don't put it off and
don't tell fifteen excuses why you're too busy.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I'm tell you that's the problem with you. You're too busy.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
You're too busy, and sometimes you don't slow down enough,
so you spend a lot of effort, but you don't
get a lot of result.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
It's going to come through a line in this season
of your life.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
So this is an amazing opportunity. Holly, You've written an
amazing study. Brit the whole team. I'm so proud of you.
I'm so excited about the change that will be experienced.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
That's on.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Just go to Elevisionchurch dot Org and join an negrew.
Right now, it's time for the Word of God.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Let's go.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
The Book of Philippians, Chapter one. The Book of Philippians,
Chapter one, verse twenty through twenty six. No, no, no,
let's go all the way back to verse eighteen. I
was going to speed it up for time, but I
want to read from verse eighteen.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
So I'm going to read from verse eighteen. And then.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
The Lord gave me this scripture, and then he gave
me a picture. And I want to give both of
you today.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
But what does it matter.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
The important thing is that in every way, whether from
false motives or true, Christ is preached.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And because of this I rejoice.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeah, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know
that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn
out for my deliverance.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Verse twenty says.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no
way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that
now as always Christ will be exalted in my body,
whether by life or by death. For to me, to
live is Christ and to die is Gain. If I
(03:40):
am to go on living in the body this will mean.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Fruitful labor for me. Yet, what shall I choose?
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I don't know. I'm torn between the two. I'm torn
between the two. I'm trying to make a decision. I
don't know which to choose. I'm torn between the two.
I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
or by far? But it's more necessary for you that
I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know
(04:07):
that I will remain. Tell your neighbor you're gonna make it.
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain. Now.
I will continue with all of you for your progress
and joy in the faith, so that through my being
with you again, you're boasting in Christ. Jesus will abound
on account of me. I know you've been standing for
(04:28):
a long time, but stay on your feet one more moment,
because the Lord told me to give you an instruction
today that will be very specific for you.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Goes like this, look forward, not far.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Okay, been distracted, overwhelmed, feel like you're kind of going
crazy sometimes coming from every direction.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
The Lord said, look forward, not far.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Tell your neighbor look forward, not far, And now on
your way to your seat. How your neighbor one thing
you're looking forward to this week. Just go ahead and
tell them real quick, one thing you're looking forward to
this week. I'm looking forward to Pastor Steven finishing the
sermons so I can go to Chipotlet.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I know how y'all are.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
I'm looking forward to the sermon that the Man of
God is about to preach. I'm looking forward to. Put
it in the comments too. I'm gonna read a few
from online. Somebody shout out something appropriate that you're looking
forward to this week, real quick. In the room, looking
forward to it, looking forward to it. Everybody in the
(05:35):
chat put I'm looking forward to it, and then tell
me one thing you're.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Looking forward to forward not far.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
It really helped me because when I walk out to preach,
it's always a little unpredictable.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I never really know how it's going to go, and so.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I do a little trick. And this is a little
bit squeamish for me to tell you about. You might
roll your eyes. And Abby's going to cringe on the
front road because she hates when I say romantic things
in front of thousands of people.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
About her mother.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Bowis squeeze Holly's hand before I go back to get
ready to preach.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
If she's not like deep and rapturous worship, if she's.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
In the Chicaina glory, I just just walk out and
let her have a moment with Jesus. I want to
cut in, but if she's halfway aware, I'll just squeeze
her hand. And it's my reminder that in a few minutes,
however long it takes me to preach this sermon, in
about three and a half hours, no matter what happens
up here, I'm going home with her. Here's what that's
(06:33):
called psychologically anticipatory pleasure. And I don't mean what you
think I mean by that. The chances are all we're
going to do is eat, take a nap. If there's
something we're watching, we might watch it and probably fall
asleep trying to watch it, but something to look forward
to after it's over. It somehow fortifies me for what
(06:56):
I need to do up here. And reminding myself in
a role as preacher or pastor does not exist the
entire definition of who I am as a person. It
takes the performance anxiety off, because whether you love it
or hate it, I'm going home with her. And she
never told me I preached a bad sermon.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
I know she probably thought it, but she never said
it out loud.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
And on the chat right now, there's all kinds of
people say and I'm looking forward to the chiefs winning today.
I'm looking forward to seek him more this week. See
you got spirit and flesh, Spirit and flesh all in
the comments.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I'm looking forward to teach my students. Well that's cool.
I thought that was cool. Just when I read it,
I thought, well, that's not.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
You're looking forward to somebody doing something for you as
you're doing something for somebody. What a cool way to think.
I don't know if you've teln the truth or not,
but might as well frame it that way. Looking forward
to closing a door, looking forward to a few days
off work, looking forward to.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
My I won't say that out loud, looking forward to.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Feeling better. I'm looking forward to. Yeah, it's going too fast.
I don't know how to slow it down, but I
think it's important always in your life to have something.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
To look forward to.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
It's real dangerous if you ever get in a place
where you can't look forward to anything and feel joy,
you need.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
To talk to somebody. That's a dangerous place for you
to stay.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
And I don't just mean for a moment where you're
tired or overwhelmed and you just want everybody leave you alone.
But if you ever get to a place where there
is a prolonged sense of the postponement of joy, do
you know what I mean by postponing joy? Where you're like, well,
I might be happy one day, but I can't see
anything in my immediate future that I look forward to.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
That is a dangerous way to live. Now.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
It doesn't mean that everything you do every day has
to be something that you enjoy, Snowflake, but it does
mean that there ought to be something, even within the
most challenging seasons of your life, that you can go.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I look forward to that.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
That's why I want every married couple doing date nights.
I want you to do it so you can look
forward to that time and you can understand that even
if we've been busy all week, I mean, and then
I'd be an expensive date night, make a sandwich. But
set aside a time that you can look forward to
that you can know, you know, especially if you have
kids or little kids or something like that. Set it
(09:23):
up where you know, Okay, we are so busy managing
this corporation, called our kids.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Excuse me, this terrorist organization called our kids.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
That we need a time set aside that I can
look forward to connecting with my girlfriend, my boyfriend, the
one that I used to spend hours on the phone with.
And I think that's really important that you put something
that you can look forward to, even if it's.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
A little thing.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
That's why I got the fridge stock with fair Life shakes,
because after I've done all my squats and all my curls,
I know there is the taste of artificial sweetener waiting,
just something to trigger my tongue to let me know you.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Did good today. Well done, now, good and faithful servant again.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I'm taking a moment to set this up because if
I don't set it up practically, if we jump straight
to what Paul said from prison, you will think that
this message only applies when you're going through the hardest
situation in your life. But I saw a principle this
week that was so practical that it reminded me about
something that Brendan Manning said in one of his books.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
When a man went to.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Visit Mother Teresa at the House of the Dying in Calcutta,
and this brilliant ethicist John Kavanaugh went to see her
for three months, and on the first day he met
Mother Teresa, and the report goes that he was trying
to figure out what to do with the rest of
his life and he felt foggy about it. Now stop
right here. You might feel the same way today. You
might not be going to see Mother Teresa. She came
(10:54):
Delevation Church, or you clicked on the link and you're
feeling like, what do I do with the rest of
the mine life? Or what do I do in this
next week? Or what do I even do for my
next step? Well, Mother Teresa, upon meeting the man, said
what can I do for you? And he said, I
would love for you to pray for me. And she said,
what would you like for me to pray for you?
(11:16):
And he said, pray that God will give me clarity,
that God will give me clarity. And she said, I
won't do it. I won't do it. I've never had clarity.
And he said, but you always seem to have clarity.
And Mother Teresa said, I've never had clarity. What I've
(11:39):
had is trust. So I will pray that you will
trust in God. The apostle Paul, writing to the church
that he founded, which was the first church in Europe
incidentally was founded when he was in.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Prison an other time. Is now writing to spend eight
hundred miles from Rome, where.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
He is sitting awaiting a verdict of his current imprisonment
for preaching the gospel to the church that he loves,
and he's worried about them and burdened for them. Yodean
SYNIKEI are arguing there seems to be within the Philippian
church a since that when the teacher left class, we
can do whatever we want. He checks in to let
them know I'm proud of you, but you need to
(12:26):
keep making progress.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
And in doing that, he shares with them an update
about his situation. As well.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
As we are expecting Paul to give the exact details
of whether or not he will be released to continue
to preach the gospel or whether he will continue to
be restrained by his chains, he does something very interesting
and different.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
He begins to share with them not about the conclusion.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Of his trial, but about the courage that God has
given him to face it. Y'all missed your chance to
say say, amen, I've been pastoring this church almost twenty
years and y'all still know when I said something good,
I don't.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Have to get loud for it to be good. I said.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Sometimes God won't give you the conclusion. He will just
give you courage. And the people like Mother Teresa and
the Apostle Paul who are really confident, it is not
because they have so much clarity. It's not because they
always know what to do next. It's just that they're
always focused on what God has called them to do now.
(13:32):
And this is a great distinction for all of us
who are overwhelmed. From a man who had every right
to be depressed and despondent, for a man who had
every right to feel and communicate his sense of total
utter despair comes a book like Philippians, where he says, yes,
I will continue to rejoice. Why are you rejoicing, Paul?
(13:54):
Did you just get good news that they're going to
let you out in a week? Why are you rejoicing, Paul?
Did Andy Dufrain just take a rock hammer and crack
halfway through the Shawshank wall Is Morgan Freeman narrating your
last night in prison?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Why are you rejoicing? He said, because everybody say because.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Now one day I want to do a whole series
when I get the opportunity on.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Why you need a better?
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Because a better because verse eighteen, Please again, he says,
I'll continue to rejoice because verse nineteen. Oh no, that's
not where he says it. He says in verse eighteen, yeah, yeah,
And because of this, I rejoice.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
There it is.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I went too far. I went too far. I'm looking
for that word, but I went too far. I went
too far. I dropped down to the end of it.
I went too far. I meant to show you that
word because circle because back there for me, in the back,
justin if you can. And because of this, I rejoice.
(14:54):
Now whatever this is controls you're rejoicing. Paul's this was
the purpose of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, what
he was sent to do. And since that was still happening,
and happening at an accelerated rate, Paul said, I have
a cause to rejoice because my calling is being fulfilled.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
If your cause to rejoice is your.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Comfort being satisfied, then any moment you are uncomfortable, you will.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Not have the ability to rejoice.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
You need a better because some of us need a better,
because when we come to worship, some of us only.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Praise God on the weeks where we feel grateful.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
What a small god you serve that you need a
feeling of gratitude to prompt an act of faith called worship.
Your worship in a god. You can't see your worship
in a.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
God who's not made by human hands.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
You're worshiping a God who does not exist to serve you.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
You exist to serve him.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
So if the reason that I worship is tied to
the work that he does on my behalf or the
wishless that he fulfilled based on my preferences, that is
a limited lens.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Through which to see the God that I worship. Sometimes
it's good for us to lift our.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Hands because he's great, because he's holy, because he's awesome,
because he's sovereign, because he's God all by himself, because
before Abraham was, he was, because he is the great
I am, because he is perfect in all of his ways,
(16:36):
because I'm created to do it, because I love him,
because he first loved me, because he forgave me, because
he sent his son to die for me, because he
gave me breath and my lungs, because I'm living on
borrowed breath, because tomorrow is not promised because God brought
me this far, and if he never does anything else,
(16:58):
he's gone enough to be worthy of the next one.
And Paul is playing games with the devil in this
letter because at the moment that he has every right
to be discouraged, despondent, and at the dead end of
(17:20):
his own despair, he turns his attention outward and begins
to think about that church that God has called him
to serve. He turns his attention outward and he begins
to focus on their future. And it's almost like he's
setting up an appointment. Walk slow with me here, I
want to meet you. In this text, you can see Paul,
(17:40):
who's about fifty five years old at this point in
his life, saying I don't know when, but I'll see
you again.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
What's he doing.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
He's creating a sense of anticipatory joy even though the
timeline is uncertain. He doesn't have clarity, but he trusts God.
And you can see in this wrestling match that is
written on the page and preserved for us through the
passage of time, as Paul is wrestling with his own
(18:16):
volition and will because there's so much about the situation
that he can't control. It's not as if when he says,
what shall I choose, he gets a vote in whether
or not he's executed.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Now, just to make sure you understand.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
The situation, Paul is about to be put on trial,
and they have the power to decide does he live
or does he die. Paul does not have the power
to decide whether he lives or dies, but he still
has the power to choose how he lives in the meantime,
and so here he is wrestling with the decision that's
(18:51):
really not his to make. And I thought it was
kind of funny. And maybe there's even a little swagger
on what Paul's doing here, because he's telling the devil.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
I haven't decided yet. I haven't decided.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Yet whether I'm going to let them kill me so
I can just be done with this and go get
all my crowns from Jesus. I hadn't decided yet whether
I just want to get out of here and see
his face, the one who died for me, the one
who knocked me off my horse on the Damascus Road.
I hadn't decided yet whether I want to be done
with all these trifling pharisees that I used to be
(19:23):
one of that keep running me from.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
City to city. I hadn't decided yet, or do I
want to be done with the storms and the shipwrecks.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
And the stonings and just see him and be known
as I am known. I hadn't decided yet. Do I
just want to leave? Or do I want to stay?
And he is an interesting term. He said, I'm torn
between the two.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
What a picture.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
I'm torn between the two? Recap He's in prison. But
when it came to describing his condition, he didn't say
I'm trapped.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
He said, I'm torn. Two things could happen here, and
I don't know which one God's gonna do yet.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Either my life could be over in a matter of weeks, months,
even days, and I could be with Christ. Or I
could stay here and keep serving Christ longer.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
And I'm torn. Everybody say it, I'm torn.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
I'm torn for everybody today who is feeling torn in
an area of your life.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Let the Apostle Paul administer to you these words of encouragement.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
He says, if I am to go on living in
the body, this will mean fruitful labor. Yet what shall
I choose? I do not know. And write this down
and put it on your mirror. It's okay to not know.
It's okay to not know. It's okay to not have clarity.
It's okay to not have a five year plan. It's
(20:54):
okay to not know how you're going to get out
of this exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
It's okay not to know. If Paul, who said.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
And we know that in all things God works together
for the good of them that love him and call
according to his purpose, said I don't know about this one.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
You have I don't know moments.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
That you have been hiding because you think that somehow
means you don't have faith. And it is okay to
say I don't know. In fact, just say it right now.
It'll feel like one hundred pounds lifted off.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Say I don't know.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
She Just gonna say it proper. I do not know,
I have not the information. Don't say it formal, Just
say I don't know. Paul says, I don't know which
one I want yet. I kind of want to get
out of here, but I kind of think I need
to stay. It'd be awesome if I never had to
deal with the opposition that I'm dealing with.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Again, it's hard out here for a preacher, but.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
I kind of think you need me because you all
are fighting back home.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I kind of think you need me because I've heard
some rumors about you.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
And I don't know if I want to get out
of here or if I need to stay in this
for a little while. And he's acting like he gets
to choose, like he won the coin toss, but nobody's
coming to ask him. So what is he really wrestling with.
Paul is wrestling with detention, of looking forward into a
(22:27):
future that is uncertain, with unwavering confidence in Christ. Everybody
in this room is facing the same challenge. Your future
is not certain and your hope is Christ. I just
hit everybody in the room.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
How do you preach to so many backgrounds of people?
Speaker 3 (22:47):
And there's rich people and poor people, and there's young people,
and there's old people, and there's religious people, and there's
people whose eyes look like they just that, you know,
right before they came to church, they may have something
they went in the Holy Spirit. And how do you
to all those people? Because every single one of you,
your future is uncertain and your hope is Christ. And
in this way you are no different than Paul. And
(23:08):
so he says, I don't know, I'm torn I kind
of want to just see Jesus gotta be nice that
this was all over. I guess because I was preaching
on prison I was doing research and I mentioned Shaw
Shank redemption and then turn off the TV, all of
you that are real religious. We watched The Green Mile
(23:30):
this week too with John Coffey, and The Green Mile
is trippy. I'm gonna give you spoiler alert. The movie
is like forty years old, so if you haven't seen
it by now, you deserve to have it spoil But
at the end you find out that the man, the
prison guard, he can't die. Well he's gonna die, but
(23:50):
he's like one hundred and two and he doesn't know
how long he's going to have to live.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
And that's the end of the movie.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
And me and Graham were watching it together and he goes, well,
that was kind of anti climactic.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I thought it was going to be scary.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
I said, son, that is the scariest thing I've ever
seen in a movie. You don't understand now, but you
will that the thought that this is gonna go on
forever like this. I said, that sounds cool to you.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Right now.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
You're seventeen. I'm forty four. Trust me, this is a
horror movie. That was the scariest scene I've ever seen it.
I've never seen anybody jump out the bushes.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
That was scarier. I've never seen a chainsaw that was scarier.
The fact that I don't know how long I'm gonna
be here. In fact, they've even done studies. They did
a surgery on people and they told them, now.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
The surgery, after six months, the condition might be reversible.
And then they did other people and they said it's
not reversible.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
You're just gonna have to live with this.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
The people that they told in six months, will check
and it might be reversible.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
You might get better, come back in six months. They
were less happy. Then the people who were told it's
this way forever get used to it.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Because the people who were told this is how it's
going to be, they began to adapt.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
And when they begin to.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Adapt, they started to see that I can live with this.
It's not what I wanted, but I can live with this.
It's not what I asked for.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
But I can live with this. It's not what I
would have chosen, but I can live with this.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
The people who were told it might be reversible, they
were living in a suspended state of anticipation that.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
It might get better and it might not.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
And what was worse than the pain they were suffering
was the deferred hope that it might get better. Because
if you just tell me this is the way it's
going to be, then I'll make arrangements around the way
that it is. But to give me the possibility that
it could change, but I'm not sure when or how
it might is the most painful hope at all.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
I want to talk about the ache of faith for
a moment.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
I want to talk about when you know there's something
more in you, but it can't express itself because of
what's blocking you. I want to talk about when you
know you have love to give but no one to
trust to give it to. I want to talk about
the ache of faith today when you know that God
brought you through this for a reason, but you can't
see what it is yet.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Paul said, I'm torn right now. I'm aching in faith
right now.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
A part of my heart wants to be with you,
but a part of my heart says this is hard,
and I don't know.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Which one is better.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
On one hand, he says, I think it's better to
be with Christ. In fact, he says something interesting in
twenty three. I desire to depart. I want to get
out of this. It's better by far.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
But let's go.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Real slow, so everybody can apply this in their life
how they need to.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
It would be better for me if go back to
verse twenty three.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
And I'm torn about it, and I think it would
be better for me if by far.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
But okay, so notice what he's doing.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
He's setting it up that my preference would be that
I go to Jesus now and get my reward. And
I'm not saying anybody in here just wants to die.
I'm just setting that up as a metaphor. I would
like for this to be over, but I would like
for this to end. But twenty four it is more
(27:50):
necessary for you that I remain in the body.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Twenty five.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and
we'll continue with all of you for your progress and
joy in the faith. I want to do the whole
sweeping thing again.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
From twenty three on.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
better by far. So there is something drawing Paul. He says,
to live is Christ, to die is gain. I could
just go to heaven. That would be easier for me.
It would be easier for me twenty four. But you
need me, and this would be easier, but this would
(28:32):
be needed, and I'm torn. It would be easier for
me just to let go and surrender and ask God
to take me now. But you need me here, and
because you need me, I'm gonna let go of what
would be easy, And Paul says, I'm gonna let my
(28:53):
purpose pull me. Wow, come here, Graham, come here, Gavin
Grahama on my left arm, right over here, all the
way down the stairs, Gavin on my right arm.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Real, gentle Gavin is going to be with God.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Graham has stay here and help us pull me a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
I want, I want to be easier. You need me.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
And at some point during Paul's wrestling match, because what
he's doing here is modeling for you what to do
when you are caught in a space where you don't
have clarity but you need courage, where you don't know
how to handle this, but you need his help and
you can't really figure out what to set in front
of you. For some of you, you don't even know
what to look forward too, so it is difficult to
(29:43):
attach faith to a future that you can't even articulate.
So you don't even really know what you're asking God
to do. And it would be easier just for you
to give up, but the need started pulling out. Graham
pulled me like you're stronger than Gavin. And at some
point the need keep going. The need became strong enough
(30:06):
to release Paul from what he wanted so that he
could respond to what was needed. I am teaching the Bible.
I guess my last day in Valentine.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
You see what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
I'm pulled by purpose. So watch this come here. One
thing is pulling me.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
To give up. Oh, it'll be easier to go up
to heaven in the suite.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
By and by fly away, Oh glory.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
But just by the time he's ready to fly away,
something's pulling him back.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
And he said, this would be easy, but this is
what you need. And so at some point, Christians, we
got to decide. Are we just going to be driven
by decisions of what's easy.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Are we going to be pulled by purpose into what
is necessary?
Speaker 3 (30:58):
And I came to let you know that there is
a necessary next in your life.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Help me Hamm in Oregon. There is a necessary next
if the brook dried up, there's a widow in Zarapat
down to her last.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Meal, and God is positioning you in this season for
a need you don't even know about yet. So it's
very important right now that as we look at the
example of Paul, which to me I told you was
a picture, it's a picture of somebody being pulled.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
It's a picture of everybody.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
In this room who is being pulled the easy thing
and the needed thing, the easy thing and the needed thing,
the thing that you want.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Let's see.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Sometimes when you get old, you get far sighted. You
get far sighted. Holly, start looking me funny.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
The other.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
We were in a restaurant and she was looking at me, funny.
I was paying the bill and she was looking at me, funny,
What are you looking at it? I thought she was
looking because I tip bigger than her. I thought she
was scrutinizing my tip percentage because y'all pray for her,
because I'm generous. And I thought she was scrutinizing the bill.
(32:23):
But then later that night she was looking at me funny.
I was in bed reading the book and she was
looking at me, funny. She was looking at me funny.
And a few days later I came home and she said,
I left something for you in the bedroom beside the bed.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
I'm like, oh, She's like, no, it's still something that
I think you need. And that woman looked at me
(32:56):
stone cold ice in her veins and said, it's time.
I watched it at the restaurant.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
I'm not gonna sit there while you pull out your flashlight.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
For fifteen minutes trying to read is it a five
or a seven? They keep it so dark in the restaurants.
Can I preach about.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
How the devil is busy with the light dimming ministry.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
The Prince of darkness? She said, it's time. I said, no, No,
I got more year.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
I can make the font seventy two, and I'll use
my iPad when I preach.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
She said, no, you might want to use a paper bible.
It's time. And you're far sighted.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
I said no, I'm actually close sighted or whatever the
other one, because I can I can see it at
this far. I just can't see it at it's close.
She said, that's what far sighted means, means you can
see far, not close. She said, there's another name she
had done researched. She said, there's another name for it
when you get over forty, it's called aging eyes. Soft
(34:03):
way to say getting old, aging eyes, aging eyes. There
was even some Greek words she used for I don't
even remember. It had presby something in it. Somebody can
Optimologists can send us a text about this message and
correct everything I'm saying this wrong.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
But she said, it's time. Y'all can't even take me
seriously with those own things.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
You're gonna have to get used to it, because I
need to see what's right in front of me in
this season, and I'm afraid that if I can only
see what's far away. Paul said, I want to be
in heaven with Jesus. But God said that's too far. Paul.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
One day, one day, I'll give you a well done,
but not to.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Day, because I still got stuff.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
For you to do that's right in front of you.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
And convinced of this process, I decided that I'm going
to make what's right in front of me that I
could miss if I was too far sighted my focus.
So the word of the Lord is whatever is right
in front of you that God has given you to do.
(35:21):
That is your focus in this season, and all you
have to do with the parts you don't know about
God's plan for your life, because you know Jeremiah twenty
nine to eleven is a wonderful scripture, for I know
the plans I have for you, plans to prosser you,
not the harm you plans to give you hope in
a future that was spoken to prepare them for their
(35:42):
captivity in Babylon, which would last seventy years. And he said,
in the meantime, while you're in Babylon, you need these
because while you are waiting for the future that you
believe God has for you, I don't want you to
get far sighted and miss what's right in front of you.
(36:03):
Put it in the comments. I don't want to miss it.
Tell your neighbor, I don't want to miss it. And
sometimes the reason I miss it is because it's right
here and I'm looking.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Out there now.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
This is for all of the worriers that call themselves planners.
You do know that every time God gives a gift,
the enemy attacks.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
It with a perversion.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
Planning is God's gift to you. Worry is the perversion
of God's gift called planning, And people who are good
at planning.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Are also world class warriors.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
So worrying is watch this when I don't have clarity
about the situation because.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
I'm looking so far.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
And I'll illustrate this one other way because I'm passionate
that you get the picture. Because I don't want to
just preach these messages. And when they say Tuesday, do.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
You go to church? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (36:50):
What he preaches by own God. I want you to
have something that you can remember. And what I see
you doing is this going forward? Right, God direct my past.
But you are looking so far. I promise you I
will not take one more step. Get a white shot
(37:10):
so they can see what I'm saying, y'all. I will
not take one more step. It's too risky for.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Me to go forward looking that far.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
I mean, maybe I could do it.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
It's way, it's way.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
Remember I'm forty four. It's way too risky for me
to take that step. If I'm gonna go forward, that's
what I'm gonna look at next. Now, somebody who wants
me to come up there and give them a hug,
wave at me real quick. Okay, I'm coming for you
in the back row right there. I see who I'm
coming to. Everybod else, put your hand out I'm coming.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
All the way to you. That's my future. But I
am not coming to.
Speaker 3 (37:51):
Give you that hug, which I'm going to give you
in just a few moments.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
I am not I'm gonna come that far. I'm gonna
I'm gonna. I'm gonna come toward you. That is the.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Future, But I am not going to look that far,
because if.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
I look that far, I'll fall.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
That's the definition of anxiety. That's why Peter didn't make
it all the way to Jesus, because he saw.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
The wind in the waves. And when you look too far,
you fall.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
But if you take this next step by faith and
say to the devil, my purpose is pulling me. Now.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
This is the next sandwich I need to make. This
is the next bill I need to pay.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
I'm not gonna think about the other eighteen thousand dollars
in debt right now. This bill, this baby step, this
phone call, this workout, this breath disappointment, this phone call,
this day, this hour, this minute. And I'll tell you
what I found out that the word of God I'm coming, Sis,
(39:01):
I'm coming. I found out give me my camera before
I come, that the word.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
Of God is like headlights on a car.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
When you're driving at night, you can only see as
far as your head lights, but you can make the
whole trip that way three feet at a time. I
promise you, I'm gonna look here while I'm walking there,
And this, to me is the balancing act of great faith.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Look forward, but not far. Look forward now, No, watch,
I'm not gonna do this. I'm definitely not gonna do that.
I got that much down.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
But if the enemy can't get you to look back
on your past, he will try to get you to
go so far into your future.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Okay, what's u that?
Speaker 3 (40:00):
It is just as dangerous for me to look at
where I'm going all the way up there as it
is for me to look back at where I came from.
So it's dangerous not to look forward. It's dangerous not
to have anything to look forward to. It's dangerous for
you not to have a plan for this year of
your life. It's dangerous for you to not have structure
around your day. It's dangerous for you to not have
(40:20):
a budget. It's dangerous for you to not have an
eating plan. It's dangerous for you not have a Bible
reading plan, because you will need a plan to produce
what you're called to produce. It's dangerous not.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
To look forward.
Speaker 3 (40:32):
It is just as dangerous to look too far forward,
to try to control things that only God can control.
To start thinking about the product while you're still in
the process.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Of making it.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
You don't know what it's going to be. And if
you look too far and go, Okay, I'm going.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
To be sober the rest of my life.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
Too far, too far. That can be where you're headed,
that can be where you're going. But what I want
you focused on right now is that the presence of
God is enough to keep me out.
Speaker 1 (41:09):
Of these chains. Today. I'm not drinking it today.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
I'm not doing it today.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
I'm never eating sugar again. That's too far. Don't eat
it this week? Can we do this week?
Speaker 4 (41:27):
Who?
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Big old jump? Just like that? Can we do it
for a week? And in this way, your faith is
like headlights? Paul said in verse twenty. I eagerly expect
you're taking my video. You could do it. I a
preached this just to you. Paul used the term that
(41:48):
you can tell them it too. I want you to
remember it. Oh, this is amazing. You're getting a hug
on the way to the hug. Ooh, that's awesome. You
don't even know what you just did for me. You
preached the sermon.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
You see how much that meant to him that I
hugged him. You see how much that meant that didn't
even what I came up here to do. What if
God wants to use you on the way to where
you think you're going in a greater way than you
could ever be used when you get there.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
What if I had been far sighted?
Speaker 3 (42:27):
What if I couldn't see where I was supposed to stop?
Speaker 1 (42:31):
You? Like the glasses, I feel dignified with these. I
feel theological with these.
Speaker 3 (42:42):
I feel like I need God to hand me these
for the times of my life when I can't see
what's right in front of me.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Soap here this is not back forward, but not far
What is there along the way that God wants to
show you? What is there along the way that God
wants to do? Paul was so good at glasses.
Speaker 3 (43:10):
He looked and saw, Oh, these chains that are on
my wrists are going to be a testimony so that
the guards can get saved. Because I want to have
a bigger church when I leave this prison. Then I
did cool. I'm going to have a prison campus That's
how Paul thought about it. That's what happens when God
gives you a glasses. God give me the glasses this
week to see what's right in front of me. And
then along the way, I see some things. I learned
(43:31):
some things.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
We'll have some moments, but I'm gonna get there.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
I'm gonna do what I promised to do, what I
set out to do. And I'm hug the one that
I thought.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
God bless you, God bless you. You're like my.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
Holly, gave me this set his time, at his time,
and God wants to give you these because you are
missing what's right in front of you. I have one
more thing I want to show you. Are you full?
I can save it until next week, or I can
bring the whole thing and break it down right now
(44:16):
in case you don't feel bad. You know, I can't
trust you to come back every week. I got to
give it to you while you're here.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Now.
Speaker 3 (44:27):
Listen as I make my way back down, Notice what
I'm doing. I'm going far. I'm not looking far right.
I'm going far, but I'm not looking far.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
That's what God.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Wants you to see. I eagerly expect and hope Verse twenty.
It's a Greek word that Paul used, not for glasses.
But he makes this word apple carudokia, or any of
you in the church the first year that I preached
that apple carldokia.
Speaker 1 (44:53):
It means to stretch the head forward, apple carudokia.
Speaker 3 (44:57):
When he says, I eagerly expect and hope that I
will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient
courage so that whatever happens, Christ will be exalted in
my body, he says, apple carldoki. He says, I stretch
my head forward, but not far, because I'm in chains
right now, forward, not far, little steps, little things, little
(45:20):
moments forward, but not far. And not to make this negative,
but I want to give you the antithesis of Paul's perspective.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
Late to so much.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
See, when the children of Israel had the opportunity to
enter the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses, they
forfeited that. They forfeited that it was theirs, and they
forfeited that it was what God wanted them to have,
and they forfeited that. So the account is pretty well known,
but I don't know that the details have ever really
been looked at up close. When the spies that went
(45:57):
to check out the land where they would have to
fight the battles to win the promise.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
You have to fight the battles to win the promise.
You have to fight the battles to win the promise.
Speaker 3 (46:06):
And when they came back and said, you know, it's
pretty amazing in there in numbers, chapter thirteen, go ahead
and put that scripture on the screen, please, They gave
Moses this account.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
We went into the land to which you sent us, and.
Speaker 3 (46:20):
I'm gonna stop on the sentence for a moment. It
does flow with milk and honey. Here is its fruit?
Where is its fruit?
Speaker 1 (46:28):
Here?
Speaker 3 (46:29):
They brought it back on a pole. Two of them
carried the fruit of Canaan. These people had never eaten
the fruit of the land.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
Many of them had only.
Speaker 3 (46:37):
Existed in Egypt, and so they had never had this kind.
Speaker 1 (46:41):
Of fruit before.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
Well, just about the time that they're looking at the
fruit and seeing a picture, catch this phrase of what
their tomorrow could taste like, what they're tomorrow could taste like.
Sometimes God will give you a taste of what your
tomorrow could be like, what it could be like if
you were open and free of what it could be like,
if you were focused and not distracted of what it
(47:04):
could be like if you were a servant, rather than
seeing yourself as a continual chaser of status. God will
give you a glimpse and a taste of what tomorrow
could be like.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Here is it's.
Speaker 3 (47:17):
Fruit, But the people who live there are powerful and
are fortified and very large.
Speaker 1 (47:27):
We even saw.
Speaker 3 (47:29):
Descendants of anak there. Go back to verse twenty seven.
Here is its fruit. It's fruitful, it's beautiful, it's amazing.
We saw it with our own eyes. It's fruitful and
it flows. But watch this verse twenty eight. It's fortified
and we're going to have to fight.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
Now.
Speaker 3 (47:51):
Fortified means that it's protected. Some of you will remember
that the first city that they thought was Jericho. Significance
about Jericho was not the size of the city.
Speaker 1 (48:02):
It was the height of the walls.
Speaker 3 (48:05):
So when they said it's fortified, they said, it's got
really big walls. Right, it's fortified. It's fruitful, but it's fortified.
Now here comes the decision. Paul said, what shall I choose?
One is pulling me toward purpose, one is pulling me
toward what is easy. I'm gonna go with the purpose
of God in this season of my life, Apple Caradoki,
(48:27):
I'm stretching my head forward, and that.
Speaker 1 (48:30):
Just the moment that the people of God could have
gone forward, they got far sighted.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
They started thinking about who they were gonna have to
fight when they got there.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
But here's the bad thing about.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
Forecasting a fight before you are even on site to
fight it. You don't realize that God is going to
give you the backup when you show up. You don't
know the future that when you look at those fortified
Jericho walls, those hard things in your life, those tall things,
(49:08):
those strongholds in your life, you don't realize that as
you think about them in the future, they are fortified.
But when you get there, God's gonna give you a
trumpet to blow, and when you blow that trumpet, something
supernatural is going to happen that only God could do.
Speaker 1 (49:27):
You couldn't do it.
Speaker 3 (49:28):
I like shaking my glasses at you feel like a
wise old man full of passion and insight, because when
you get there you will have to strength for there.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
You've got to go forward, but not too far. You
gotta go forward and don't start thinking about what is
this gonna be in three years? What is it gonna
be at three minutes. When we first start tech.
Speaker 3 (49:54):
I don't know if you remember this trunk, but people
used to always meet with us. The church grew so fast, right,
and we would meet with people. And at the time,
most of people coming to the church were teenagers and
their parents. There was no in betweens. And I figured
out what happened. The teenagers came, they thought it was cool.
The parents came to see if it was a cult,
and that exactly what happened. And we just grew both
(50:15):
ways there and then the parents came there like not
a cult, but it is pretty cool, you know. And
everybody stayed and we preached Christ and God did amazing miracles.
But when we sat down for the first time to
meet with many of the couples that were coming, they
would ask a question, and I think three in a
row asked this.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
They said, well, what's the plan.
Speaker 3 (50:31):
For Elevation Church if you get hit by a bus pastor?
And when the first person asked it, I was like,
oh no, Second person asked them like, I don't know,
third person asked them like, do you know something about
a bus driver that is there?
Speaker 1 (50:46):
I mean bus phobia.
Speaker 3 (50:49):
Still kind of cringe when I see a bus kids
just traumatizing. What is the church going to do without you?
They would ask, And I finally looked at the third ones.
I don't even know what church gonna do with me.
I never did this before.
Speaker 1 (51:04):
What happens if you get hit by the bus? What
happens if I don't. I don't even know the second one.
How could I know the first one?
Speaker 3 (51:12):
And I believe in a succession plan, and I believe
in contingencies, and I believe in plan beasts. But I
also believe that you need to trust God, that you
need to trust God, trust him so you don't trip.
Speaker 1 (51:36):
Trust him, so you don't trip trust him.
Speaker 3 (51:39):
Right now, Paul says, so that now as always, Christ
will be exalted in my body. So there are two
groups of people in here. The first one is like
the Israelites and when they thought about what was ahead
of them in the fight and the expense of it.
And those of us who live in states of mind
that are always forecasting the fights in the future. This
is what happens in Fen of Exodus. I think this
(52:01):
is one of the or in numbers. This is one
of the saddest scriptures that you will ever see. The
people of God who were poised in promise to be
possessors of the land. They start questioning, God, why is
the Lord bringing us to this land only to let
us fall by the sword our wives and children will
be taking as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us
to go back to Egypt? And you can't go forward
(52:25):
looking back like that, and you can't go forward trying
to forecast what's going to happen with a wall that
God is going to knock down that you don't even
know about yet.
Speaker 1 (52:36):
Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?
First four? And they said to each other, we should
choose a leader and go back to Egypt. Paul does
just the opposite. In the moment of uncertainty. He says,
I'm not going back anywhere.
Speaker 3 (52:54):
I'm going forward, and I'm going to focus on what's
right in front of me at this moment, and I'm
letting go of what I can't control. Is this your word, man,
because there is somebody in here who is being.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
Pulled back, dragged back, pimpted back, distracted back. And the
word of the Lord is forward, not far, not far.
Speaker 3 (53:19):
This is going to be a step by step miracle.
This is going to be a breath by breath miracle.
This is going to be a day by day, moment
by moment miracle. And God is doing it in your life.
Just so long as you know that you can stretch
your head forward in faith. You can only see three feet,
(53:42):
but you can make the whole trip that way. And
by the way, Holly, they were one hundred and fifty
miles from Egypt, only fifty miles from Canaan. It would
have been closer for them to keep going forward than
it would to go back. I came to tell somebody,
(54:03):
You're closer than you think you are.
Speaker 1 (54:05):
You cannot go back now. No, No, listen to me.
You have come too far, you hear me.
Speaker 3 (54:13):
You have come too far to forfeit this. After all
that He's done, after all that you've seen, after all
that he brought you through.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
Don't you want to run on and see what the.
Speaker 4 (54:28):
End is going to be?
Speaker 3 (54:31):
Somebody say, I will go. I sall go, and Father,
I thank you for your prevailing word. All flesh is
like the grass of the field. It pales and it withers,
and it fades and it dies.
Speaker 1 (54:50):
But the word of the Lord stands forever.
Speaker 3 (54:53):
God, I thank you for the great faith of the
Apostle Paul, who gives us a picture today of what
it means to be in a space that never would
have been his choice. But I thank you Lord that
he gave us a picture of what to do when
the situation that is surrounding us does not correspond to
(55:15):
the promise that is inside of us.
Speaker 1 (55:17):
I'm stretching forward.
Speaker 3 (55:20):
If all I can stretch forward is my head, I
stretch my head forward. If all I can stretch forward
is a weak prayer, I stretch that forward too, because
I know that you did not bring me this far
to leave me.
Speaker 1 (55:37):
I thank you God that you do have.
Speaker 3 (55:39):
Plans, a hope, a future for each and everyone that
you sent me to minister to today. I thank you
that this week they're going to get your glasses. I
pray God this week that when parents are starting to
worry too much, teenagers would hand them some glasses. I
(56:02):
pray that when teenagers are starting to get too distracted
by what's out in the front, that a parent will
hand them some glasses.
Speaker 1 (56:08):
I pray that when we're all alone in.
Speaker 3 (56:10):
The secrecy of our own self sabotage and the thoughts.
Speaker 1 (56:13):
That we think that torment us.
Speaker 3 (56:16):
That you would give us your glasses so that we
would go forward and realize that you are not far.
Thank you for drawing near to us today. God, it's
amazing how you meet with us. Thank you for the
promise that when we draw near to you, you will
draw near to us, and that if we humble ourself
under your mighty hand, you'll lift us up in due time.
(56:37):
I pray for each person today who is experiencing a
prison sentence of sorts. I pray that they would not
have clarity, but that they would trust in God.
Speaker 1 (56:54):
I pray that you would trust in God. I trust
in God. Singing myself.
Speaker 3 (57:10):
Will never fail. That's my prayer for you. That's what
Paul said, Trust God.
Speaker 1 (57:25):
Ye see, that's for me. In my house, we trust
in God. We will serve the Lord. Serving win is cloudy.
Serving Winn is tight.
Speaker 5 (57:42):
Trust in God serving winness confusing. My purpose is pulling
me forward. Right now, come on, let the word think in.
Speaker 1 (57:55):
Respond in worship, and the word will go deeper. The
word will go deeper. You worship hard, trusted.
Speaker 4 (58:04):
You must sa.
Speaker 1 (58:15):
I want that bridge. Now lift your hands a head
the f Come.
Speaker 4 (58:20):
On, sap my the mine.
Speaker 1 (58:35):
Have the bye.
Speaker 3 (58:37):
I gotta read, I gotta read.
Speaker 1 (58:48):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (58:49):
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 (59:06):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (59:08):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (59:13):
Thanks again for listening. 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. Hope
this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Enjoy the message.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
I think they'll be praising God like that in Fort Worth, Texas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Toronto, Canada, Detroit, Michigan, Hartford, Connecticut, Newark,
New Jersey, and Washington, DC.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Elevation Nights is just a few weeks away.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Go to Elevation Nights dot com and get your tickets.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
It'll be good.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
We'll be there worshiping God together. We can't wait to
worship God with you. Also, thank you to all of
the amazing men and women who have signed up to
lead an e group over this next semester. Thank you
for opening your home, your heart. Thank you for saying
yes to God. Pray that God is going to bring
just the right people in those groups who can help
each other. I pray that God would make connections, divine connections,
(01:07):
that God would be.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Like a spiritual matchmaker.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I'm not necessarily talking about a romantic match, although if
the Lord wants to do that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Through an E group, he's God. Amen.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
But just that God would help you find somebody where
they can say, oh, I went through that, and here's
something God gave me. When theologian said that Christianity is
one beggar telling another beggar where they found bread. And
sometimes God gives somebody something.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
That you need in the season that you're in.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
And so when you walk through those E group tents
today or when they come online in a little while
and say hey, sign up, don't put it off and
don't tell fifteen excuses why you're too busy.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I'm tell you that's the problem with you. You're too busy.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
You're too busy, and sometimes you don't slow down enough,
so you spend a lot of effort, but you don't
get a lot of result.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
It's going to come through a line in this season
of your life.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
So this is an amazing opportunity. Holly, You've written an
amazing study. Brit the whole team. I'm so proud of you.
I'm so excited about the change that will be experienced.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
That's on.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Just go to Elevisionchurch dot Org and join an negrew.
Right now, it's time for the Word of God.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Let's go.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
The Book of Philippians, Chapter one. The Book of Philippians,
Chapter one, verse twenty through twenty six. No, no, no,
let's go all the way back to verse eighteen. I
was going to speed it up for time, but I
want to read from verse eighteen.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
So I'm going to read from verse eighteen. And then.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
The Lord gave me this scripture, and then he gave
me a picture. And I want to give both of
you today.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
But what does it matter.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
The important thing is that in every way, whether from
false motives or true, Christ is preached.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And because of this I rejoice.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeah, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know
that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn
out for my deliverance.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Verse twenty says.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no
way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that
now as always Christ will be exalted in my body,
whether by life or by death. For to me, to
live is Christ and to die is Gain. If I
(03:40):
am to go on living in the body this will mean.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Fruitful labor for me. Yet, what shall I choose?
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I don't know. I'm torn between the two. I'm torn
between the two. I'm trying to make a decision. I
don't know which to choose. I'm torn between the two.
I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
or by far? But it's more necessary for you that
I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know
(04:07):
that I will remain. Tell your neighbor you're gonna make it.
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain. Now.
I will continue with all of you for your progress
and joy in the faith, so that through my being
with you again, you're boasting in Christ. Jesus will abound
on account of me. I know you've been standing for
(04:28):
a long time, but stay on your feet one more moment,
because the Lord told me to give you an instruction
today that will be very specific for you.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Goes like this, look forward, not far.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Okay, been distracted, overwhelmed, feel like you're kind of going
crazy sometimes coming from every direction.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
The Lord said, look forward, not far.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Tell your neighbor look forward, not far, And now on
your way to your seat. How your neighbor one thing
you're looking forward to this week. Just go ahead and
tell them real quick, one thing you're looking forward to
this week. I'm looking forward to Pastor Steven finishing the
sermons so I can go to Chipotlet.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I know how y'all are.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
I'm looking forward to the sermon that the Man of
God is about to preach. I'm looking forward to. Put
it in the comments too. I'm gonna read a few
from online. Somebody shout out something appropriate that you're looking
forward to this week, real quick. In the room, looking
forward to it, looking forward to it. Everybody in the
(05:35):
chat put I'm looking forward to it, and then tell
me one thing you're.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Looking forward to forward not far.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
It really helped me because when I walk out to preach,
it's always a little unpredictable.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I never really know how it's going to go, and so.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I do a little trick. And this is a little
bit squeamish for me to tell you about. You might
roll your eyes. And Abby's going to cringe on the
front road because she hates when I say romantic things
in front of thousands of people.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
About her mother.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Bowis squeeze Holly's hand before I go back to get
ready to preach.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
If she's not like deep and rapturous worship, if she's.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
In the Chicaina glory, I just just walk out and
let her have a moment with Jesus. I want to
cut in, but if she's halfway aware, I'll just squeeze
her hand. And it's my reminder that in a few minutes,
however long it takes me to preach this sermon, in
about three and a half hours, no matter what happens
up here, I'm going home with her. Here's what that's
(06:33):
called psychologically anticipatory pleasure. And I don't mean what you
think I mean by that. The chances are all we're
going to do is eat, take a nap. If there's
something we're watching, we might watch it and probably fall
asleep trying to watch it, but something to look forward
to after it's over. It somehow fortifies me for what
(06:56):
I need to do up here. And reminding myself in
a role as preacher or pastor does not exist the
entire definition of who I am as a person. It
takes the performance anxiety off, because whether you love it
or hate it, I'm going home with her. And she
never told me I preached a bad sermon.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
I know she probably thought it, but she never said
it out loud.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
And on the chat right now, there's all kinds of
people say and I'm looking forward to the chiefs winning today.
I'm looking forward to seek him more this week. See
you got spirit and flesh, Spirit and flesh all in
the comments.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I'm looking forward to teach my students. Well that's cool.
I thought that was cool. Just when I read it,
I thought, well, that's not.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
You're looking forward to somebody doing something for you as
you're doing something for somebody. What a cool way to think.
I don't know if you've teln the truth or not,
but might as well frame it that way. Looking forward
to closing a door, looking forward to a few days
off work, looking forward to.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
My I won't say that out loud, looking forward to.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Feeling better. I'm looking forward to. Yeah, it's going too fast.
I don't know how to slow it down, but I
think it's important always in your life to have something.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
To look forward to.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
It's real dangerous if you ever get in a place
where you can't look forward to anything and feel joy,
you need.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
To talk to somebody. That's a dangerous place for you
to stay.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
And I don't just mean for a moment where you're
tired or overwhelmed and you just want everybody leave you alone.
But if you ever get to a place where there
is a prolonged sense of the postponement of joy, do
you know what I mean by postponing joy? Where you're like, well,
I might be happy one day, but I can't see
anything in my immediate future that I look forward to.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
That is a dangerous way to live. Now.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
It doesn't mean that everything you do every day has
to be something that you enjoy, Snowflake, but it does
mean that there ought to be something, even within the
most challenging seasons of your life, that you can go.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I look forward to that.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
That's why I want every married couple doing date nights.
I want you to do it so you can look
forward to that time and you can understand that even
if we've been busy all week, I mean, and then
I'd be an expensive date night, make a sandwich. But
set aside a time that you can look forward to
that you can know, you know, especially if you have
kids or little kids or something like that. Set it
(09:23):
up where you know, Okay, we are so busy managing
this corporation, called our kids.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Excuse me, this terrorist organization called our kids.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
That we need a time set aside that I can
look forward to connecting with my girlfriend, my boyfriend, the
one that I used to spend hours on the phone with.
And I think that's really important that you put something
that you can look forward to, even if it's.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
A little thing.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
That's why I got the fridge stock with fair Life shakes,
because after I've done all my squats and all my curls,
I know there is the taste of artificial sweetener waiting,
just something to trigger my tongue to let me know you.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Did good today. Well done, now, good and faithful servant again.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I'm taking a moment to set this up because if
I don't set it up practically, if we jump straight
to what Paul said from prison, you will think that
this message only applies when you're going through the hardest
situation in your life. But I saw a principle this
week that was so practical that it reminded me about
something that Brendan Manning said in one of his books.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
When a man went to.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Visit Mother Teresa at the House of the Dying in Calcutta,
and this brilliant ethicist John Kavanaugh went to see her
for three months, and on the first day he met
Mother Teresa, and the report goes that he was trying
to figure out what to do with the rest of
his life and he felt foggy about it. Now stop
right here. You might feel the same way today. You
might not be going to see Mother Teresa. She came
(10:54):
Delevation Church, or you clicked on the link and you're
feeling like, what do I do with the rest of
the mine life? Or what do I do in this
next week? Or what do I even do for my
next step? Well, Mother Teresa, upon meeting the man, said
what can I do for you? And he said, I
would love for you to pray for me. And she said,
what would you like for me to pray for you?
(11:16):
And he said, pray that God will give me clarity,
that God will give me clarity. And she said, I
won't do it. I won't do it. I've never had clarity.
And he said, but you always seem to have clarity.
And Mother Teresa said, I've never had clarity. What I've
(11:39):
had is trust. So I will pray that you will
trust in God. The apostle Paul, writing to the church
that he founded, which was the first church in Europe
incidentally was founded when he was in.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Prison an other time. Is now writing to spend eight
hundred miles from Rome, where.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
He is sitting awaiting a verdict of his current imprisonment
for preaching the gospel to the church that he loves,
and he's worried about them and burdened for them. Yodean
SYNIKEI are arguing there seems to be within the Philippian
church a since that when the teacher left class, we
can do whatever we want. He checks in to let
them know I'm proud of you, but you need to
(12:26):
keep making progress.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
And in doing that, he shares with them an update
about his situation. As well.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
As we are expecting Paul to give the exact details
of whether or not he will be released to continue
to preach the gospel or whether he will continue to
be restrained by his chains, he does something very interesting
and different.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
He begins to share with them not about the conclusion.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Of his trial, but about the courage that God has
given him to face it. Y'all missed your chance to
say say, amen, I've been pastoring this church almost twenty
years and y'all still know when I said something good,
I don't.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Have to get loud for it to be good. I said.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Sometimes God won't give you the conclusion. He will just
give you courage. And the people like Mother Teresa and
the Apostle Paul who are really confident, it is not
because they have so much clarity. It's not because they
always know what to do next. It's just that they're
always focused on what God has called them to do now.
(13:32):
And this is a great distinction for all of us
who are overwhelmed. From a man who had every right
to be depressed and despondent, for a man who had
every right to feel and communicate his sense of total
utter despair comes a book like Philippians, where he says, yes,
I will continue to rejoice. Why are you rejoicing, Paul?
(13:54):
Did you just get good news that they're going to
let you out in a week? Why are you rejoicing, Paul?
Did Andy Dufrain just take a rock hammer and crack
halfway through the Shawshank wall Is Morgan Freeman narrating your
last night in prison?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Why are you rejoicing? He said, because everybody say because.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Now one day I want to do a whole series
when I get the opportunity on.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Why you need a better?
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Because a better because verse eighteen, Please again, he says,
I'll continue to rejoice because verse nineteen. Oh no, that's
not where he says it. He says in verse eighteen, yeah, yeah,
And because of this, I rejoice.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
There it is.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I went too far. I went too far. I'm looking
for that word, but I went too far. I went
too far. I dropped down to the end of it.
I went too far. I meant to show you that
word because circle because back there for me, in the back,
justin if you can. And because of this, I rejoice.
(14:54):
Now whatever this is controls you're rejoicing. Paul's this was
the purpose of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, what
he was sent to do. And since that was still happening,
and happening at an accelerated rate, Paul said, I have
a cause to rejoice because my calling is being fulfilled.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
If your cause to rejoice is your.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Comfort being satisfied, then any moment you are uncomfortable, you will.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Not have the ability to rejoice.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
You need a better because some of us need a better,
because when we come to worship, some of us only.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Praise God on the weeks where we feel grateful.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
What a small god you serve that you need a
feeling of gratitude to prompt an act of faith called worship.
Your worship in a god. You can't see your worship
in a.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
God who's not made by human hands.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
You're worshiping a God who does not exist to serve you.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
You exist to serve him.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
So if the reason that I worship is tied to
the work that he does on my behalf or the
wishless that he fulfilled based on my preferences, that is
a limited lens.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Through which to see the God that I worship. Sometimes
it's good for us to lift our.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Hands because he's great, because he's holy, because he's awesome,
because he's sovereign, because he's God all by himself, because
before Abraham was, he was, because he is the great
I am, because he is perfect in all of his ways,
(16:36):
because I'm created to do it, because I love him,
because he first loved me, because he forgave me, because
he sent his son to die for me, because he
gave me breath and my lungs, because I'm living on
borrowed breath, because tomorrow is not promised because God brought
me this far, and if he never does anything else,
(16:58):
he's gone enough to be worthy of the next one.
And Paul is playing games with the devil in this
letter because at the moment that he has every right
to be discouraged, despondent, and at the dead end of
(17:20):
his own despair, he turns his attention outward and begins
to think about that church that God has called him
to serve. He turns his attention outward and he begins
to focus on their future. And it's almost like he's
setting up an appointment. Walk slow with me here, I
want to meet you. In this text, you can see Paul,
(17:40):
who's about fifty five years old at this point in
his life, saying I don't know when, but I'll see
you again.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
What's he doing.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
He's creating a sense of anticipatory joy even though the
timeline is uncertain. He doesn't have clarity, but he trusts God.
And you can see in this wrestling match that is
written on the page and preserved for us through the
passage of time, as Paul is wrestling with his own
(18:16):
volition and will because there's so much about the situation
that he can't control. It's not as if when he says,
what shall I choose, he gets a vote in whether
or not he's executed.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Now, just to make sure you understand.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
The situation, Paul is about to be put on trial,
and they have the power to decide does he live
or does he die. Paul does not have the power
to decide whether he lives or dies, but he still
has the power to choose how he lives in the meantime,
and so here he is wrestling with the decision that's
(18:51):
really not his to make. And I thought it was
kind of funny. And maybe there's even a little swagger
on what Paul's doing here, because he's telling the devil.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
I haven't decided yet. I haven't decided.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Yet whether I'm going to let them kill me so
I can just be done with this and go get
all my crowns from Jesus. I hadn't decided yet whether
I just want to get out of here and see
his face, the one who died for me, the one
who knocked me off my horse on the Damascus Road.
I hadn't decided yet whether I want to be done
with all these trifling pharisees that I used to be
(19:23):
one of that keep running me from.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
City to city. I hadn't decided yet, or do I
want to be done with the storms and the shipwrecks.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
And the stonings and just see him and be known
as I am known. I hadn't decided yet. Do I
just want to leave? Or do I want to stay?
And he is an interesting term. He said, I'm torn
between the two.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
What a picture.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
I'm torn between the two? Recap He's in prison. But
when it came to describing his condition, he didn't say
I'm trapped.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
He said, I'm torn. Two things could happen here, and
I don't know which one God's gonna do yet.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Either my life could be over in a matter of weeks, months,
even days, and I could be with Christ. Or I
could stay here and keep serving Christ longer.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
And I'm torn. Everybody say it, I'm torn.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
I'm torn for everybody today who is feeling torn in
an area of your life.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Let the Apostle Paul administer to you these words of encouragement.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
He says, if I am to go on living in
the body, this will mean fruitful labor. Yet what shall
I choose? I do not know. And write this down
and put it on your mirror. It's okay to not know.
It's okay to not know. It's okay to not have clarity.
It's okay to not have a five year plan. It's
(20:54):
okay to not know how you're going to get out
of this exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
It's okay not to know. If Paul, who said.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
And we know that in all things God works together
for the good of them that love him and call
according to his purpose, said I don't know about this one.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
You have I don't know moments.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
That you have been hiding because you think that somehow
means you don't have faith. And it is okay to
say I don't know. In fact, just say it right now.
It'll feel like one hundred pounds lifted off.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Say I don't know.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
She Just gonna say it proper. I do not know,
I have not the information. Don't say it formal, Just
say I don't know. Paul says, I don't know which
one I want yet. I kind of want to get
out of here, but I kind of think I need
to stay. It'd be awesome if I never had to
deal with the opposition that I'm dealing with.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Again, it's hard out here for a preacher, but.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
I kind of think you need me because you all
are fighting back home.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I kind of think you need me because I've heard
some rumors about you.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
And I don't know if I want to get out
of here or if I need to stay in this
for a little while. And he's acting like he gets
to choose, like he won the coin toss, but nobody's
coming to ask him. So what is he really wrestling with.
Paul is wrestling with detention, of looking forward into a
(22:27):
future that is uncertain, with unwavering confidence in Christ. Everybody
in this room is facing the same challenge. Your future
is not certain and your hope is Christ. I just
hit everybody in the room.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
How do you preach to so many backgrounds of people?
Speaker 3 (22:47):
And there's rich people and poor people, and there's young people,
and there's old people, and there's religious people, and there's
people whose eyes look like they just that, you know,
right before they came to church, they may have something
they went in the Holy Spirit. And how do you
to all those people? Because every single one of you,
your future is uncertain and your hope is Christ. And
in this way you are no different than Paul. And
(23:08):
so he says, I don't know, I'm torn I kind
of want to just see Jesus gotta be nice that
this was all over. I guess because I was preaching
on prison I was doing research and I mentioned Shaw
Shank redemption and then turn off the TV, all of
you that are real religious. We watched The Green Mile
(23:30):
this week too with John Coffey, and The Green Mile
is trippy. I'm gonna give you spoiler alert. The movie
is like forty years old, so if you haven't seen
it by now, you deserve to have it spoil But
at the end you find out that the man, the
prison guard, he can't die. Well he's gonna die, but
(23:50):
he's like one hundred and two and he doesn't know
how long he's going to have to live.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
And that's the end of the movie.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
And me and Graham were watching it together and he goes, well,
that was kind of anti climactic.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I thought it was going to be scary.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
I said, son, that is the scariest thing I've ever
seen in a movie. You don't understand now, but you
will that the thought that this is gonna go on
forever like this. I said, that sounds cool to you.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Right now.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
You're seventeen. I'm forty four. Trust me, this is a
horror movie. That was the scariest scene I've ever seen it.
I've never seen anybody jump out the bushes.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
That was scarier. I've never seen a chainsaw that was scarier.
The fact that I don't know how long I'm gonna
be here. In fact, they've even done studies. They did
a surgery on people and they told them, now.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
The surgery, after six months, the condition might be reversible.
And then they did other people and they said it's
not reversible.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
You're just gonna have to live with this.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
The people that they told in six months, will check
and it might be reversible.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
You might get better, come back in six months. They
were less happy. Then the people who were told it's
this way forever get used to it.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Because the people who were told this is how it's
going to be, they began to adapt.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
And when they begin to.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Adapt, they started to see that I can live with this.
It's not what I wanted, but I can live with this.
It's not what I asked for.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
But I can live with this. It's not what I
would have chosen, but I can live with this.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
The people who were told it might be reversible, they
were living in a suspended state of anticipation that.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
It might get better and it might not.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
And what was worse than the pain they were suffering
was the deferred hope that it might get better. Because
if you just tell me this is the way it's
going to be, then I'll make arrangements around the way
that it is. But to give me the possibility that
it could change, but I'm not sure when or how
it might is the most painful hope at all.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
I want to talk about the ache of faith for
a moment.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
I want to talk about when you know there's something
more in you, but it can't express itself because of
what's blocking you. I want to talk about when you
know you have love to give but no one to
trust to give it to. I want to talk about
the ache of faith today when you know that God
brought you through this for a reason, but you can't
see what it is yet.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Paul said, I'm torn right now. I'm aching in faith
right now.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
A part of my heart wants to be with you,
but a part of my heart says this is hard,
and I don't know.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Which one is better.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
On one hand, he says, I think it's better to
be with Christ. In fact, he says something interesting in
twenty three. I desire to depart. I want to get
out of this. It's better by far.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
But let's go.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Real slow, so everybody can apply this in their life
how they need to.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
It would be better for me if go back to
verse twenty three.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
And I'm torn about it, and I think it would
be better for me if by far.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
But okay, so notice what he's doing.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
He's setting it up that my preference would be that
I go to Jesus now and get my reward. And
I'm not saying anybody in here just wants to die.
I'm just setting that up as a metaphor. I would
like for this to be over, but I would like
for this to end. But twenty four it is more
(27:50):
necessary for you that I remain in the body.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Twenty five.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and
we'll continue with all of you for your progress and
joy in the faith. I want to do the whole
sweeping thing again.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
From twenty three on.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
better by far. So there is something drawing Paul. He says,
to live is Christ, to die is gain. I could
just go to heaven. That would be easier for me.
It would be easier for me twenty four. But you
need me, and this would be easier, but this would
(28:32):
be needed, and I'm torn. It would be easier for
me just to let go and surrender and ask God
to take me now. But you need me here, and
because you need me, I'm gonna let go of what
would be easy, And Paul says, I'm gonna let my
(28:53):
purpose pull me. Wow, come here, Graham, come here, Gavin
Grahama on my left arm, right over here, all the
way down the stairs, Gavin on my right arm.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Real, gentle Gavin is going to be with God.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Graham has stay here and help us pull me a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
I want, I want to be easier. You need me.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
And at some point during Paul's wrestling match, because what
he's doing here is modeling for you what to do
when you are caught in a space where you don't
have clarity but you need courage, where you don't know
how to handle this, but you need his help and
you can't really figure out what to set in front
of you. For some of you, you don't even know
what to look forward too, so it is difficult to
(29:43):
attach faith to a future that you can't even articulate.
So you don't even really know what you're asking God
to do. And it would be easier just for you
to give up, but the need started pulling out. Graham
pulled me like you're stronger than Gavin. And at some
point the need keep going. The need became strong enough
(30:06):
to release Paul from what he wanted so that he
could respond to what was needed. I am teaching the Bible.
I guess my last day in Valentine.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
You see what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
I'm pulled by purpose. So watch this come here. One
thing is pulling me.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
To give up. Oh, it'll be easier to go up
to heaven in the suite.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
By and by fly away, Oh glory.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
But just by the time he's ready to fly away,
something's pulling him back.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
And he said, this would be easy, but this is
what you need. And so at some point, Christians, we
got to decide. Are we just going to be driven
by decisions of what's easy.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Are we going to be pulled by purpose into what
is necessary?
Speaker 3 (30:58):
And I came to let you know that there is
a necessary next in your life.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Help me Hamm in Oregon. There is a necessary next
if the brook dried up, there's a widow in Zarapat
down to her last.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Meal, and God is positioning you in this season for
a need you don't even know about yet. So it's
very important right now that as we look at the
example of Paul, which to me I told you was
a picture, it's a picture of somebody being pulled.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
It's a picture of everybody.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
In this room who is being pulled the easy thing
and the needed thing, the easy thing and the needed thing,
the thing that you want.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Let's see.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Sometimes when you get old, you get far sighted. You
get far sighted. Holly, start looking me funny.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
The other.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
We were in a restaurant and she was looking at me, funny.
I was paying the bill and she was looking at me, funny,
What are you looking at it? I thought she was
looking because I tip bigger than her. I thought she
was scrutinizing my tip percentage because y'all pray for her,
because I'm generous. And I thought she was scrutinizing the bill.
(32:23):
But then later that night she was looking at me funny.
I was in bed reading the book and she was
looking at me, funny. She was looking at me funny.
And a few days later I came home and she said,
I left something for you in the bedroom beside the bed.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
I'm like, oh, She's like, no, it's still something that
I think you need. And that woman looked at me
(32:56):
stone cold ice in her veins and said, it's time.
I watched it at the restaurant.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
I'm not gonna sit there while you pull out your flashlight.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
For fifteen minutes trying to read is it a five
or a seven? They keep it so dark in the restaurants.
Can I preach about.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
How the devil is busy with the light dimming ministry.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
The Prince of darkness? She said, it's time. I said, no, No,
I got more year.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
I can make the font seventy two, and I'll use
my iPad when I preach.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
She said, no, you might want to use a paper bible.
It's time. And you're far sighted.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
I said no, I'm actually close sighted or whatever the
other one, because I can I can see it at
this far. I just can't see it at it's close.
She said, that's what far sighted means, means you can
see far, not close. She said, there's another name she
had done researched. She said, there's another name for it
when you get over forty, it's called aging eyes. Soft
(34:03):
way to say getting old, aging eyes, aging eyes. There
was even some Greek words she used for I don't
even remember. It had presby something in it. Somebody can
Optimologists can send us a text about this message and
correct everything I'm saying this wrong.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
But she said, it's time. Y'all can't even take me
seriously with those own things.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
You're gonna have to get used to it, because I
need to see what's right in front of me in
this season, and I'm afraid that if I can only
see what's far away. Paul said, I want to be
in heaven with Jesus. But God said that's too far. Paul.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
One day, one day, I'll give you a well done,
but not to.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Day, because I still got stuff.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
For you to do that's right in front of you.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
And convinced of this process, I decided that I'm going
to make what's right in front of me that I
could miss if I was too far sighted my focus.
So the word of the Lord is whatever is right
in front of you that God has given you to do.
(35:21):
That is your focus in this season, and all you
have to do with the parts you don't know about
God's plan for your life, because you know Jeremiah twenty
nine to eleven is a wonderful scripture, for I know
the plans I have for you, plans to prosser you,
not the harm you plans to give you hope in
a future that was spoken to prepare them for their
(35:42):
captivity in Babylon, which would last seventy years. And he said,
in the meantime, while you're in Babylon, you need these
because while you are waiting for the future that you
believe God has for you, I don't want you to
get far sighted and miss what's right in front of you.
(36:03):
Put it in the comments. I don't want to miss it.
Tell your neighbor, I don't want to miss it. And
sometimes the reason I miss it is because it's right
here and I'm looking.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Out there now.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
This is for all of the worriers that call themselves planners.
You do know that every time God gives a gift,
the enemy attacks.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
It with a perversion.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
Planning is God's gift to you. Worry is the perversion
of God's gift called planning, And people who are good
at planning.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Are also world class warriors.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
So worrying is watch this when I don't have clarity
about the situation because.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
I'm looking so far.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
And I'll illustrate this one other way because I'm passionate
that you get the picture. Because I don't want to
just preach these messages. And when they say Tuesday, do.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
You go to church? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (36:50):
What he preaches by own God. I want you to
have something that you can remember. And what I see
you doing is this going forward? Right, God direct my past.
But you are looking so far. I promise you I
will not take one more step. Get a white shot
(37:10):
so they can see what I'm saying, y'all. I will
not take one more step. It's too risky for.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Me to go forward looking that far.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
I mean, maybe I could do it.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
It's way, it's way.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
Remember I'm forty four. It's way too risky for me
to take that step. If I'm gonna go forward, that's
what I'm gonna look at next. Now, somebody who wants
me to come up there and give them a hug,
wave at me real quick. Okay, I'm coming for you
in the back row right there. I see who I'm
coming to. Everybod else, put your hand out I'm coming.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
All the way to you. That's my future. But I
am not coming to.
Speaker 3 (37:51):
Give you that hug, which I'm going to give you
in just a few moments.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
I am not I'm gonna come that far. I'm gonna
I'm gonna. I'm gonna come toward you. That is the.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Future, But I am not going to look that far,
because if.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
I look that far, I'll fall.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
That's the definition of anxiety. That's why Peter didn't make
it all the way to Jesus, because he saw.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
The wind in the waves. And when you look too far,
you fall.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
But if you take this next step by faith and
say to the devil, my purpose is pulling me. Now.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
This is the next sandwich I need to make. This
is the next bill I need to pay.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
I'm not gonna think about the other eighteen thousand dollars
in debt right now. This bill, this baby step, this
phone call, this workout, this breath disappointment, this phone call,
this day, this hour, this minute. And I'll tell you
what I found out that the word of God I'm coming, Sis,
(39:01):
I'm coming. I found out give me my camera before
I come, that the word.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
Of God is like headlights on a car.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
When you're driving at night, you can only see as
far as your head lights, but you can make the
whole trip that way three feet at a time. I
promise you, I'm gonna look here while I'm walking there,
And this, to me is the balancing act of great faith.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Look forward, but not far. Look forward now, No, watch,
I'm not gonna do this. I'm definitely not gonna do that.
I got that much down.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
But if the enemy can't get you to look back
on your past, he will try to get you to
go so far into your future.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Okay, what's u that?
Speaker 3 (40:00):
It is just as dangerous for me to look at
where I'm going all the way up there as it
is for me to look back at where I came from.
So it's dangerous not to look forward. It's dangerous not
to have anything to look forward to. It's dangerous for
you not to have a plan for this year of
your life. It's dangerous for you to not have structure
around your day. It's dangerous for you to not have
(40:20):
a budget. It's dangerous for you to not have an
eating plan. It's dangerous for you not have a Bible
reading plan, because you will need a plan to produce
what you're called to produce. It's dangerous not.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
To look forward.
Speaker 3 (40:32):
It is just as dangerous to look too far forward,
to try to control things that only God can control.
To start thinking about the product while you're still in
the process.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Of making it.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
You don't know what it's going to be. And if
you look too far and go, Okay, I'm going.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
To be sober the rest of my life.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
Too far, too far. That can be where you're headed,
that can be where you're going. But what I want
you focused on right now is that the presence of
God is enough to keep me out.
Speaker 1 (41:09):
Of these chains. Today. I'm not drinking it today.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
I'm not doing it today.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
I'm never eating sugar again. That's too far. Don't eat
it this week? Can we do this week?
Speaker 4 (41:27):
Who?
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Big old jump? Just like that? Can we do it
for a week? And in this way, your faith is
like headlights? Paul said in verse twenty. I eagerly expect
you're taking my video. You could do it. I a
preached this just to you. Paul used the term that
(41:48):
you can tell them it too. I want you to
remember it. Oh, this is amazing. You're getting a hug
on the way to the hug. Ooh, that's awesome. You
don't even know what you just did for me. You
preached the sermon.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
You see how much that meant to him that I
hugged him. You see how much that meant that didn't
even what I came up here to do. What if
God wants to use you on the way to where
you think you're going in a greater way than you
could ever be used when you get there.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
What if I had been far sighted?
Speaker 3 (42:27):
What if I couldn't see where I was supposed to stop?
Speaker 1 (42:31):
You? Like the glasses, I feel dignified with these. I
feel theological with these.
Speaker 3 (42:42):
I feel like I need God to hand me these
for the times of my life when I can't see
what's right in front of me.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Soap here this is not back forward, but not far
What is there along the way that God wants to
show you? What is there along the way that God
wants to do? Paul was so good at glasses.
Speaker 3 (43:10):
He looked and saw, Oh, these chains that are on
my wrists are going to be a testimony so that
the guards can get saved. Because I want to have
a bigger church when I leave this prison. Then I
did cool. I'm going to have a prison campus That's
how Paul thought about it. That's what happens when God
gives you a glasses. God give me the glasses this
week to see what's right in front of me. And
then along the way, I see some things. I learned
(43:31):
some things.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
We'll have some moments, but I'm gonna get there.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
I'm gonna do what I promised to do, what I
set out to do. And I'm hug the one that
I thought.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
God bless you, God bless you. You're like my.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
Holly, gave me this set his time, at his time,
and God wants to give you these because you are
missing what's right in front of you. I have one
more thing I want to show you. Are you full?
I can save it until next week, or I can
bring the whole thing and break it down right now
(44:16):
in case you don't feel bad. You know, I can't
trust you to come back every week. I got to
give it to you while you're here.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Now.
Speaker 3 (44:27):
Listen as I make my way back down, Notice what
I'm doing. I'm going far. I'm not looking far right.
I'm going far, but I'm not looking far.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
That's what God.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Wants you to see. I eagerly expect and hope Verse twenty.
It's a Greek word that Paul used, not for glasses.
But he makes this word apple carudokia, or any of
you in the church the first year that I preached
that apple carldokia.
Speaker 1 (44:53):
It means to stretch the head forward, apple carudokia.
Speaker 3 (44:57):
When he says, I eagerly expect and hope that I
will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient
courage so that whatever happens, Christ will be exalted in
my body, he says, apple carldoki. He says, I stretch
my head forward, but not far, because I'm in chains
right now, forward, not far, little steps, little things, little
(45:20):
moments forward, but not far. And not to make this negative,
but I want to give you the antithesis of Paul's perspective.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
Late to so much.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
See, when the children of Israel had the opportunity to
enter the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses, they
forfeited that. They forfeited that it was theirs, and they
forfeited that it was what God wanted them to have,
and they forfeited that. So the account is pretty well known,
but I don't know that the details have ever really
been looked at up close. When the spies that went
(45:57):
to check out the land where they would have to
fight the battles to win the promise.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
You have to fight the battles to win the promise.
You have to fight the battles to win the promise.
Speaker 3 (46:06):
And when they came back and said, you know, it's
pretty amazing in there in numbers, chapter thirteen, go ahead
and put that scripture on the screen, please, They gave
Moses this account.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
We went into the land to which you sent us, and.
Speaker 3 (46:20):
I'm gonna stop on the sentence for a moment. It
does flow with milk and honey. Here is its fruit?
Where is its fruit?
Speaker 1 (46:28):
Here?
Speaker 3 (46:29):
They brought it back on a pole. Two of them
carried the fruit of Canaan. These people had never eaten
the fruit of the land.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
Many of them had only.
Speaker 3 (46:37):
Existed in Egypt, and so they had never had this kind.
Speaker 1 (46:41):
Of fruit before.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
Well, just about the time that they're looking at the
fruit and seeing a picture, catch this phrase of what
their tomorrow could taste like, what they're tomorrow could taste like.
Sometimes God will give you a taste of what your
tomorrow could be like, what it could be like if
you were open and free of what it could be like,
if you were focused and not distracted of what it
(47:04):
could be like if you were a servant, rather than
seeing yourself as a continual chaser of status. God will
give you a glimpse and a taste of what tomorrow
could be like.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Here is it's.
Speaker 3 (47:17):
Fruit, But the people who live there are powerful and
are fortified and very large.
Speaker 1 (47:27):
We even saw.
Speaker 3 (47:29):
Descendants of anak there. Go back to verse twenty seven.
Here is its fruit. It's fruitful, it's beautiful, it's amazing.
We saw it with our own eyes. It's fruitful and
it flows. But watch this verse twenty eight. It's fortified
and we're going to have to fight.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
Now.
Speaker 3 (47:51):
Fortified means that it's protected. Some of you will remember
that the first city that they thought was Jericho. Significance
about Jericho was not the size of the city.
Speaker 1 (48:02):
It was the height of the walls.
Speaker 3 (48:05):
So when they said it's fortified, they said, it's got
really big walls. Right, it's fortified. It's fruitful, but it's fortified.
Now here comes the decision. Paul said, what shall I choose?
One is pulling me toward purpose, one is pulling me
toward what is easy. I'm gonna go with the purpose
of God in this season of my life, Apple Caradoki,
(48:27):
I'm stretching my head forward, and that.
Speaker 1 (48:30):
Just the moment that the people of God could have
gone forward, they got far sighted.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
They started thinking about who they were gonna have to
fight when they got there.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
But here's the bad thing about.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
Forecasting a fight before you are even on site to
fight it. You don't realize that God is going to
give you the backup when you show up. You don't
know the future that when you look at those fortified
Jericho walls, those hard things in your life, those tall things,
(49:08):
those strongholds in your life, you don't realize that as
you think about them in the future, they are fortified.
But when you get there, God's gonna give you a
trumpet to blow, and when you blow that trumpet, something
supernatural is going to happen that only God could do.
Speaker 1 (49:27):
You couldn't do it.
Speaker 3 (49:28):
I like shaking my glasses at you feel like a
wise old man full of passion and insight, because when
you get there you will have to strength for there.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
You've got to go forward, but not too far. You
gotta go forward and don't start thinking about what is
this gonna be in three years? What is it gonna
be at three minutes. When we first start tech.
Speaker 3 (49:54):
I don't know if you remember this trunk, but people
used to always meet with us. The church grew so fast, right,
and we would meet with people. And at the time,
most of people coming to the church were teenagers and
their parents. There was no in betweens. And I figured
out what happened. The teenagers came, they thought it was cool.
The parents came to see if it was a cult,
and that exactly what happened. And we just grew both
(50:15):
ways there and then the parents came there like not
a cult, but it is pretty cool, you know. And
everybody stayed and we preached Christ and God did amazing miracles.
But when we sat down for the first time to
meet with many of the couples that were coming, they
would ask a question, and I think three in a
row asked this.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
They said, well, what's the plan.
Speaker 3 (50:31):
For Elevation Church if you get hit by a bus pastor?
And when the first person asked it, I was like,
oh no, Second person asked them like, I don't know,
third person asked them like, do you know something about
a bus driver that is there?
Speaker 1 (50:46):
I mean bus phobia.
Speaker 3 (50:49):
Still kind of cringe when I see a bus kids
just traumatizing. What is the church going to do without you?
They would ask, And I finally looked at the third ones.
I don't even know what church gonna do with me.
I never did this before.
Speaker 1 (51:04):
What happens if you get hit by the bus? What
happens if I don't. I don't even know the second one.
How could I know the first one?
Speaker 3 (51:12):
And I believe in a succession plan, and I believe
in contingencies, and I believe in plan beasts. But I
also believe that you need to trust God, that you
need to trust God, trust him so you don't trip.
Speaker 1 (51:36):
Trust him, so you don't trip trust him.
Speaker 3 (51:39):
Right now, Paul says, so that now as always, Christ
will be exalted in my body. So there are two
groups of people in here. The first one is like
the Israelites and when they thought about what was ahead
of them in the fight and the expense of it.
And those of us who live in states of mind
that are always forecasting the fights in the future. This
is what happens in Fen of Exodus. I think this
(52:01):
is one of the or in numbers. This is one
of the saddest scriptures that you will ever see. The
people of God who were poised in promise to be
possessors of the land. They start questioning, God, why is
the Lord bringing us to this land only to let
us fall by the sword our wives and children will
be taking as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us
to go back to Egypt? And you can't go forward
(52:25):
looking back like that, and you can't go forward trying
to forecast what's going to happen with a wall that
God is going to knock down that you don't even
know about yet.
Speaker 1 (52:36):
Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?
First four? And they said to each other, we should
choose a leader and go back to Egypt. Paul does
just the opposite. In the moment of uncertainty. He says,
I'm not going back anywhere.
Speaker 3 (52:54):
I'm going forward, and I'm going to focus on what's
right in front of me at this moment, and I'm
letting go of what I can't control. Is this your word, man,
because there is somebody in here who is being.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
Pulled back, dragged back, pimpted back, distracted back. And the
word of the Lord is forward, not far, not far.
Speaker 3 (53:19):
This is going to be a step by step miracle.
This is going to be a breath by breath miracle.
This is going to be a day by day, moment
by moment miracle. And God is doing it in your life.
Just so long as you know that you can stretch
your head forward in faith. You can only see three feet,
(53:42):
but you can make the whole trip that way. And
by the way, Holly, they were one hundred and fifty
miles from Egypt, only fifty miles from Canaan. It would
have been closer for them to keep going forward than
it would to go back. I came to tell somebody,
(54:03):
You're closer than you think you are.
Speaker 1 (54:05):
You cannot go back now. No, No, listen to me.
You have come too far, you hear me.
Speaker 3 (54:13):
You have come too far to forfeit this. After all
that He's done, after all that you've seen, after all
that he brought you through.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
Don't you want to run on and see what the.
Speaker 4 (54:28):
End is going to be?
Speaker 3 (54:31):
Somebody say, I will go. I sall go, and Father,
I thank you for your prevailing word. All flesh is
like the grass of the field. It pales and it withers,
and it fades and it dies.
Speaker 1 (54:50):
But the word of the Lord stands forever.
Speaker 3 (54:53):
God, I thank you for the great faith of the
Apostle Paul, who gives us a picture today of what
it means to be in a space that never would
have been his choice. But I thank you Lord that
he gave us a picture of what to do when
the situation that is surrounding us does not correspond to
(55:15):
the promise that is inside of us.
Speaker 1 (55:17):
I'm stretching forward.
Speaker 3 (55:20):
If all I can stretch forward is my head, I
stretch my head forward. If all I can stretch forward
is a weak prayer, I stretch that forward too, because
I know that you did not bring me this far
to leave me.
Speaker 1 (55:37):
I thank you God that you do have.
Speaker 3 (55:39):
Plans, a hope, a future for each and everyone that
you sent me to minister to today. I thank you
that this week they're going to get your glasses. I
pray God this week that when parents are starting to
worry too much, teenagers would hand them some glasses. I
(56:02):
pray that when teenagers are starting to get too distracted
by what's out in the front, that a parent will
hand them some glasses.
Speaker 1 (56:08):
I pray that when we're all alone in.
Speaker 3 (56:10):
The secrecy of our own self sabotage and the thoughts.
Speaker 1 (56:13):
That we think that torment us.
Speaker 3 (56:16):
That you would give us your glasses so that we
would go forward and realize that you are not far.
Thank you for drawing near to us today. God, it's
amazing how you meet with us. Thank you for the
promise that when we draw near to you, you will
draw near to us, and that if we humble ourself
under your mighty hand, you'll lift us up in due time.
(56:37):
I pray for each person today who is experiencing a
prison sentence of sorts. I pray that they would not
have clarity, but that they would trust in God.
Speaker 1 (56:54):
I pray that you would trust in God. I trust
in God. Singing myself.
Speaker 3 (57:10):
Will never fail. That's my prayer for you. That's what
Paul said, Trust God.
Speaker 1 (57:25):
Ye see, that's for me. In my house, we trust
in God. We will serve the Lord. Serving win is cloudy.
Serving Winn is tight.
Speaker 5 (57:42):
Trust in God serving winness confusing. My purpose is pulling
me forward. Right now, come on, let the word think in.
Speaker 1 (57:55):
Respond in worship, and the word will go deeper. The
word will go deeper. You worship hard, trusted.
Speaker 4 (58:04):
You must sa.
Speaker 1 (58:15):
I want that bridge. Now lift your hands a head
the f Come.
Speaker 4 (58:20):
On, sap my the mine.
Speaker 1 (58:35):
Have the bye.
Speaker 3 (58:37):
I gotta read, I gotta read.
Speaker 1 (58:48):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (58:49):
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 (59:06):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (59:08):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (59:13):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you
Host
Steven Furtick
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