November 30, 2025 • 42 mins
We all have areas of our lives that we treat with urgency and diligence, and others that we procrastinate. Pastor Jonathan Josephs gives us instruction from the book of Haggai on the blessing that follows when we align our priorities with God’s and move forward in obedience.
If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: ele.vc/tIepfr
Scripture References:
Haggai 1, verses 1-8
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
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.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
In your life. Enjoy the message. What an awesome atmosphere
of thanksgiving and praise today. And I'm so grateful to
be able to be here with you today to share
God's word. My name is Jonathan. If we haven't got
the chance to meet, everybody calls me a lot of
love from over here at Valentine. I have the privilege
of serving here as the Valentine Campus pastor. I've had
(00:35):
the honor of serving under Pastor Stephen and Pastor Hawley
for twelve years now, almost thirteen years now, and it's
been the joy of our life. How man, You're grateful
that pastor of Stephen and Pastor Hawley gave God there
yes and created a place for us to live out
the calling and mandate on our life. And and I'm
so grateful I get to share God's word with you today.
(00:57):
I've been praying about what to share, and I felt
like the Lord gave me a real clear assignment. I
was asking God to give me a word that would
inspire you to give as we are in this special
time in our church, and the Lord said, don't inspire them,
instruct them, And so I came with a word of
instruction today. How many you know that God's words serves
different purposes in our life. He can encourage us through
his word. He can inspire us through this word. Sometimes
(01:19):
this Holy Spirit will give us an insight. But I'm
growing more and more grateful for the times the Lord
shows up with an instruction for me. And that's my
assignment for today. And this really is a special time
a year for us here at Elevation Churches. We're getting
ready for our expansion offering. In just a couple of weeks.
We got a new building coming in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Shout out through our Raleigh campus. We just opened a
(01:43):
brand new Greenville campus. We're about to launch a campus
in Somerville, South Carolina, outside of Charleston. And can we
thank God for all the outreach that's happening Goodest Ministry. Well,
I want to read this scripture to you today from
Hey Guy, Chapter one. If you haven't heard of Hagai.
He's a minor prophet that the Lord uses in a
(02:04):
major way. And one thing that caught my attention was,
you know, in your Bible there's the inspired word, and
then there's the parts the publishers kind of put out
the top of each section to give you an idea
of what that chapter's about. Well, right at the top
of hey guy, chapter one, it says, this a call
to build the House of the Lord. And I just
(02:24):
thought that was so fitting for the season that we're in,
because whether you've been a part of this church for
just a little while, or whether you've been a part
of this church for over a decade or all twenty years,
maybe there's a call on each of us, an assignment
from God right now to build the House of God.
And while, of course, you know this offering will go
towards helping us launch new campuses, y'all know this. It's
never been about new buildings. The Bible says God does
(02:47):
not live in houses built by men, but we are
the temple of the Holy Spirit. It's always been about
seeing people far from God raised to life in Christ.
But there's something powerful that happens in our lives when
we connect our purpose to the purpose and priorities of God.
So let's look at Hagui. Chapter one says in the
second year of King Darius, on the first day of
(03:09):
the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through
the prophet Hagui Ti Zerubabyl son of schieltial I worked
really hard on pronouncing that the governor of Judah and
Joshua son of Josephac the high priest. This is what
the Lord Almighty says. These people say, the time has
not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house. Then the
(03:32):
word of the Lord came through the prophet Hagi. Is
it a time for you yourselves to be living in
paneled houses while this house remains a ruin. Now, this
is what the Lord Almighty says. Give careful thought to
your ways. You applanted much, but harvested little. You eat
but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill.
(03:55):
You put on clothes, but you are not warm. You
earn wages only to put the in a purse with
holes in it. This is what the Lord Almighty says.
Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the
mountains and bring down timber and build my house. Go
up into the mountains, bring down timber, and build my
(04:17):
house so that I may take pleasure in it and
be honored, says the Lord. Title of my message today
is this is the time. This is the time. Touch
your neighbor as you take your seat, say this is
the time. Last week Pastor Stephen preached this is then,
what a powerful word for us, and today I want
(04:40):
to stay in that spirit. This is the time. I
thought about opening up this message with a little bit
of audience participation, but then I decided against it because
I was gonna ask the question. I was gonna have
you raise your hand and self identify if you are
a procrastinator. But the more I thought about it, I
realized you wouldn't be honest, and so better way would
(05:00):
have been to say, raise your hand if you're sitting
next to a procrastinator, and then I'm like a yeah, yeah, yeah.
But the more I thought about it, I thought it's
not really a fair question to ask, because the more
I gave a thought, the more I realized that, well,
each of us have certain areas and aspects of our
life that we treat with urgency and diligence. At the
same time, all of us have areas in our life
(05:22):
where we procrastinate. So what you treat with diligence and
urgency might not be the same thing as someone else.
But there's something you procrastinate on that's probably driving your
spouse nuts. And I thought about. Just a couple of
weeks ago, I got really aggravated with my wife Ann.
And now before I know, I don't get the preacher
all that often. All of you know us, so trust me,
I say, we're good. We've been married fifteen years. She's
(05:43):
the love of my life. She's obsessed with me ever
since I grew out my hair. She calls me her Maui,
her Canadian, Chinese Jamaican Maui. I don't know, and uh.
I always like to make the message weird right at
the top. But a couple of weeks ago, got real
aggravated because one thing I can't stand is subscriptions. And
(06:05):
there's nothing worse than looking at my bank account and
realizing that I've been paying for something that I haven't
even been using. And the other day I open up
my inbox and I see an email that says that
we had subscribed to Apple TV through Amazon Prime. Help
me make sense of this. We'd subscribed to Apple TV
through Amazon Prime. They're all in cahoots, and I said, Anna,
(06:28):
did you subscribe to Apple TV? And she said, yeah,
I did. There was a movie I wanted to watch
with the kids and it was on Apple TV, so
I subscribed it. I said, well, that's not the problem
that you subscribe to Apple TV. The problem is we
already have Apple TV and Amazon Prime. And she's like,
oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that.
She said, don't worry. I already put a reminder in
my phone to cancel it. I said, we'll go ahead
(06:50):
and just cancel it right now, and she's like, well, no,
I'm busy right now, but don't worry. I put a
reminder in my phone to cancel it. And y'all, I
know how this goes. We've been married for fifteen year.
That reminder might go off when our daughter's having a breakdown,
that reminder might go off when she's in the middle
of a conversation, and next thing I know, I might
be paying another to nine ninety nine for Apple TV
(07:11):
through Amazon Prime when I already have Apple TV. So
I said, no, cancel it. Now. This is the time.
This is the time. Now I can share that story
because I'm the one with the microphone. But Anna could
give you hundreds of examples of when my procrastination cost us,
Like when she kept telling me to make sure I
added her engagement ring to our insurance policy in case
(07:33):
it ever got lost, and I didn't add the engagement
ring to the insurance policy. How many you know that
that ring that got lost costs a lot more than
a subscription. But all of us have places in our
life that we procrastinated on, And that's really what the
Lord is addressing in the hearts of his people in
this passage. You see God, of course, you know, had
(07:53):
delivered his people out of Egypt, taken them into the
Promised Land through King Solomon. He built a temple for
the Lord in the Promised Land. Along the way. Through
their disobedience, they get invaded by foreigners, they get taken
into exile. And now when we pick up in the
Book of Hegui, God has brought them back into the
Promised Land and he's giving them this charge to rebuild
his temple because they have been procrastinating on it. Because
(08:17):
what is not a priority to you, you will always
procrastinate on. And so when God sends this word of
instruction to his people, it's because he is trying to
make important to them what is important to him. And
he's frustrated. And how do I know they're frustrated. He's frustrated.
Look at verse two and verse two. It says, this
is what the Lord Almighty says. These people say, not
(08:39):
my people. These people say. It's like when Anna says,
your daughter has an attitude today, these people say. And
the Lord sends this word in his grace and and
his mercy, through the prophet Hagui, to the leaders of
the nation, saying, it's time for you to get back
to work. It's time for you to prioritize in your
life what is important to me. Now, it's important to
(09:01):
know that one of the ways the devil keeps you
stuck in your life is by getting you to procrastinate
and push off the things that God is calling you to.
He's smart, you know. So if the enemy just tried
to get you to disobey, hey, just ignore what God said.
You're too smart for that. And he knows that you'd
be like, Ah, that's the devil. I'm not going to
listen to that. So when the devil can't get you
(09:22):
to disobey, he'll get you to delay. And we have
a way of putting off the things that God has
called us to over and over and over again. And
they're saying, now is not the time. Now is not
the time. They've set a reminder in their phone, and
God's saying, you can't keep putting this off anymore. Now
is the time to build my house. All the parents
can testify with what I'm about to say, and it's
(09:43):
true of the scripture. How many you know that delayed
obedience is still disobedience. All the parents make some noise,
delayed obedience is still disobedience. And the real premise of
this whole text that I want to encourage you with
is the truth that you see in the principle that
you see in this passage of when I build God's house,
(10:05):
He'll bless mine. When I build God's house, He'll bless mine.
And so no wonder the enemy wants to keep us
in this cycle of delaying and putting off the very
things that God has asked them to do. And if
the enemy can keep us stuck in these cycles of
delay in procrastination, then he can keep us back from
(10:26):
the things that God has in store for us. If
he can delay our sowing, he can delay our reaping.
So God, in his grace sends this word to his
people saying no, no, no, You've been saying the time
is not yet calm, but he's saying, now is the time.
It is a call to build His house. And that
is really the invitation in the season that we have
before us as a church right now. It's not about buildings.
(10:48):
It's not just about this offering. It's about aligning our
priorities with the priorities of God. So much of spiritual
growth in your life is simply that God getting you
to care about the things that matter to His kingdom
and getting you to deprioritize the things that the world
tells you are important. That is spiritual growth. The more
I align my priorities with the priorities of Heaven, the
(11:10):
more peace I have, the more joy I have, the
more blessing I walk in, the more favor I have.
And so God is always calling us into something, and
the enemy will get you to say, ah, it's not
just the time yet. So there's a few things in
this passage of Scripture that I think we're keeping the
Israelites in this moment, in this cycle of waiting, in
the cycle of putting off. See, most people never say
(11:32):
no to God. Sometimes we just say not yet. One
of the things that I think they were waiting on
is that they were waiting on peace. They were waiting
for peace. Now, when I first read this passage, I thought,
what is the problem with They've just come out of exile,
They're back in the land. What's the problem with them
putting together their own homes and making sure that they
(11:55):
have shelter over their heads and for their families. And
once they get through that, then of course they could
the temple. But there's an important detail in this passage.
In this passage, in hey Gi, God says, is it
a time for you to be living in paneled houses?
That's an important detail because the panel was not functional,
it was aesthetic. And so what the Lord is saying
(12:16):
is that you are continuing to live in comfort and
luxury while my house remains and ruins. And listen, God
is not bothered when we have nice things. God is
not upset by our comfort. But sometimes we get so
trapped in comfort and we call it peace. Some of
us are waiting for peace. And when we say the
word peace, we don't mean the peace of God, the
(12:38):
peace that God gives, because the peace that God gives
means the presence of God, even in the midst of trouble,
even in the midst of difficult circumstances. And so sometimes
when we say peace, what we really mean is when
things feel comfortable. I just didn't have peace about that. No,
things just weren't comfortable yet, things just weren't easy. Sometimes
when we say peace, we mean that we're waiting on
(13:00):
the ideal circumstances for everything to line up. And hey,
when I get all my stuff figured out, then I'll
prioritize the things that mattered to God. And so they
stay stuck in this place, saying if then, if I
can just get to this, if I can just get
the kids graduate, then then then we'll prioritize the things
that matter to God. But the other interesting thing is
(13:20):
that this wasn't one year or two years or three
years after they'd been in the land that God sends
us word through Hagui. When God sends this word through
his prophet Hagui to Joshua and to Zarubabel, they had
been back in the land for eight teen years. Eighteen
years they've been living back in the land. That's like
(13:41):
Anna asking me to take the trash out, and I say, oh,
I'll get to it, and I finally do it when
my son is twenty nine years old. Eighteen years then
been waiting in the land. In the Book of Ezra,
it tells us the account of when they got back
out of exile as well, and how they begin right
away rebuilding the temple. And in the first two years
they built the foundation of the temple. But then there
(14:04):
is external attacks from nearby enemies, there was internal discord,
they had pressures from the outside, pressures from the inside.
And after two years of building the foundation and Ezra
chapter four it ends with this horrible verse where it
says that the work on the Lord's house came to
a standstill when the circumstances got hard. They stopped. And
(14:26):
somewhere along the way, we've convinced ourselves or brought into
this idea that following God was supposed to be easy,
and so we say things like, oh, the Lord just
shut the door, the Lord just shut the door, or
you just gave up because it got hard, Because I
know a God who can open up doors that no
man can shut. And if you would just keep moving
in accordance to His word, he could open that door
(14:47):
for you. And so all of us have a decision
we get to make in our life when it comes
to how we live. I can either base my decisions
on my circumstances, or I can base my decisions on
what God says. When and I choose to build my
life on what he says, then I can't consult my circumstances.
And the moment things in their life got difficult, whether
(15:08):
it was a tax from the inside or at tax
from the outside, they stop on the work that God
had called them to do. Two years they built a foundation,
and then for sixteen years it sat there while they
continued to work on their houses. Some of us in
our church we built some of you have built a
foundation of faith. Yeah, there was a time where you
(15:28):
trusted God and you were pushing through and you were
diligent about the things that He had called you to
and you sacrificed and you were living by faith. And
somewhere along the way you said that's good enough, and
you stopped building. What I love why this is a
tradition for us as a church is because this is
not a one time thing. We invite you to be
a part of every year. When we have this year
end offering, it's an opportunity for you to decide is
(15:50):
God finished or is this just the foundation. I don't
want it to be said of me what was said
in Ezra chapter four that the work of the Lord finnish.
I want to continue to see God take me from
glory to glory, to strength to strength. And whether that's
in your own life, or your own family, or your business,
or certainly this ministry. I don't believe that God is
(16:12):
done yet, so I can't keep waiting for the perfect
circumstances and the ideal scenarios before I say yes to
what God has asked us to do. God has asked
us to see people far from God raise to life
in Christ, and that is the invitation before us. Now,
they were waiting for peace, but not the type of
peace that God gives. Because one thing I've just learned
(16:32):
in my life is that very rarely did peace precede
my obedience. Often it was when I obeyed, then I
experience the peace of God. And so when someone gets
up and says we're getting ready for our year end
offering on December fourteenth. Someone might say, I just don't
have peace about that. But what if you sought the Lord,
(16:53):
listen to his voice, and obeyed what he said. I
promise you would experience the peace that God gives on
the other side. The other thing that I think had
them stuck, Thank you, Praise the Lord, everybody. That's a
good word. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because the enemy keeps
us in this cycle because we're saying, ah, it's just
not the right time. The economy's hard. When I get
(17:14):
this deb paid, no, no, no. If the Lord speaks
to you, today is the day to obey. And Hebrews
says today when you hear God's voice, do not harden
your heart. And every time God speaks to you, it's
an opportunity for obedience. Y'all. If you think this message
is just about money, you're missing the point. This is
about obedience to his voice. The other thing that kept
them stuck was that they were waiting for more. Look
(17:36):
at this description that the Lord gives in verse six.
You planted much, but harvested little. You eat but you
never have enough. You drink but you never have your fill.
You put on clothes, but you are not warm. You
earn wages only to put them in a purse with
holes in it? Does that not describe our lives in
so many ways? Sometimes that cycle of discontentment that we
(18:00):
live in, where it feels like no matter what we do,
it's never enough. You look at your bank and you're like,
I know, I got paid. Where did it all go? Target,
that's where it all went. Put it in a purse
just to have holes on it? Where did this end up?
And the Lord is addressing one of the excuses that
so often we care because how many of you have
found yourself in one moment or another in your life
(18:20):
simply saying well, if I had more, I would do more.
If I had more, I would give more. And that's
the place that the Israelites find themselves in. They keep
saying they feel economically frustrated, and they're using that as
a reason not to rebuild the Lord's temple. So they
keep saying, well, we just don't have enough. And it's
(18:41):
interesting how what the Lord is describing here is the
very thing that they use as a reason not to give.
But what the Lord is trying to get them to
see is that what they are calling a reason is
actually the result. Let me say that a little more clearly.
They're saying, well, Lord, if we had more, we would
build your house, and the Lord saying, no, no, no, if
you built my house, you would have more. Because it's
(19:08):
about priorities. His temple represented his priority amongst his people,
his presence amongst his people, And so he's saying no, no, no,
you keep waiting to have more, But when will you
prioritize me and your presence. When you begin to do that,
you'll see that it's better to have God in a
little with me than to have much without God. Amen.
(19:29):
When I was in high school, I spent a month
living on a missions trip in Namibia, Africa. And while
I was there, I met a pastor who had a church.
His church was just a piece of sheet metal off
the side of his house where his church met, and
it made such a profound impact on my life, and
we developed a great relationship. And then when I went
off to college, he actually ended up living with my
family in Canada while he was attending school in Canada,
(19:52):
And so when I was home for the summers, we'd
spend all the time together and we'd go to the
church that I grew up in, and no matter what
the pastor preached on, we'd get back in the car
after church and Kamati would always say to me, John,
why don't they talk about giving? No matter what the message,
why don't they talk about giving? And eventually said, I
don't know, Kaman, I don't know. I don't know the
reasons why they're not talking about I said, sometimes people
(20:12):
feel weird or get upset when you talk about their money.
And he said, John, it's better that they'd be angry
for a day than frustrated for a lifetime. Because what
Kamati knew with just a piece of sheep metal over
the side of his house for a church and unreliable electricity,
(20:33):
what he understood is that without God, it's never enough,
but with God it's always enough.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Just ask the disciples when Jesus asked them to feed
a crowd of people, and they said, all we have
is five loaves and two fishes. It's not enough. It's
not enough, but with God there's leftovers. And the enemy
will keep us delaying and delaying on stepping into the
things that God has called us to as a people. Why,
(21:05):
because He wants to keep us in the cycle of
discontentment where it always feels like I just can't get ahead.
I just can't get ahead. And the principle of the
tithe is simply this. Every time I give to God
through my tithe, it reminds me that God is my source,
God is my provider. So no matter what I'm looking at,
I know that God is in it with me. And
(21:27):
so they were waiting on more. The last thing I
think they were waiting on is I think they were
waiting on an instruction. Look at this what happens after
God confronts their excuses. He says, go up into the
mountains and bring down timber and build my house so
that I may take pleasure in it and be honored.
Says the Lord. I love that, so that I may
(21:49):
take pleasure in it and be honored. Because so much
of this offering is not just about new buildings and
outreach efforts, It's about honoring the Lord with our lives.
He says, build my house so that I may be
honored in it. And after the Lord gives this instruction,
something miraculous happens in the story that I want to
show you. The Lord gives this word in verse eight, saying,
(22:10):
go bring down timber and build my house. And then
look in verse twelve. Then Zarubabel son of she she had,
she had, Oh man, I worked on it, y'all. Sheltyel
Joshua son of Josephac the high priest, and the whole
remnant of people obeyed the voice of the Lord. There. God,
(22:31):
did you see that miracle in that text? Did you
miss it? It says that the people obeyed, y'all. There's
only a few times in scripture where God sends a
word to his people and they actually obey, And this
is one of those times. And I'm being a little facetious,
But we underestimate the power of obedience, y'all, Lord mark
(22:54):
my life with signs, wonders, miracles. What about if the
Lord marked your life with just simple obedience of being
a follower of Christ. Look like you being someone who
sought his face and when he spoke, you gave him
your yes. So the Lord delivers this word through his leaders,
and it's amazing. It says that as Joshua obeyed and
as Zaruba Bell obeyed, that the whole remnant of people followed. Y'all.
(23:16):
That just made me grateful for the leaders that God
has given us at this church, leaders who didn't settle
at year five, or at year ten or at year fifteen,
but twenty years into this ministry, Pastor Stephen and Pastor
Holly continue to say yes to God and walk and
surrender to His voice into his ways. Because God speaks
to the leaders and then the people followed. And I'm
(23:38):
so grateful for the example of faith that they've given us.
And there's an invitation before us now to prioritize the
things that matter to God in our lives and simply
obey them. That's why, as we talk about this offering
over and over again, we'll say, pray about what the
Lord would have you give, because it's not just about
an amount. It's about being a people who know how
(23:58):
to seek his face, being a people who know how
to hear his voice and obey when he speaks. Isn't
that what Jesus said, My sheep know and hear and
recognize my voice, and they obey. That's the sign of
a follower of Christ. They were waiting on instruction, and
when the Lord spoke, they obeyed. And I believe that
maybe there are some people here today that in your heart.
(24:21):
You're like, I want to trust God in this way.
I want to grow in this way. I just don't
always know how. In twelve years of pastoring, I can't
think of a single time where I talk to someone
about giving and they said, Nope, I don't want to
do that. Had people say I just don't know how
to right now. People say, show me what steps I
can take. I want to get there one day. Never
had someone just say no. But sometimes we're putting off
(24:44):
what God has called us to put on. But they
received an instruction from the Lord and they obeyed. I
remember so vividly when my grandfather sat me down in
his office and he first gave me the instruction of
what it means to trust God and my finances. And
he sat down and he said, the first ten belongs
to God. In my memory, it was like he was
using an abacus, but it was probably just a calculator.
(25:05):
Wasn't that old. I was just a kid, though, And
he said, the first tenth belongs to God. The second
tenth is what you pay yourself in the future by saving. Now,
I know there's some financial advisers in the room who
could give an more nuanced approach to personal finances. But
my grandfather was a blessed man, and so I listened
to him and it stuck with me. The first tenth
(25:27):
belongs to God, the next tenth is for my future.
And I was just a kid, so what was I
going to do? Give God a tenth of my legos?
But it instilled something in me right there that the
first tenth belonged to the Lord. And then when Anna
and I got engaged, my in laws who are here today,
they gave us the gift of signing us up for
Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace course, and we went through Dave
(25:48):
Ramsey's course, and that was powerful instruction in our life.
You know, most couples fight over finances more than anything else.
And I'm so grateful that at the start of our
marriage that we got to go through that course to
get on the same page about how we would approach
our finances. And Dave Ramsey talked about a lot of things,
and he talked, of course, about giving to God, giving
a tenth to him. So every time a paycheck would
show up on our account, you know, you just move
(26:09):
the decimal over a couple times, and that's what you give.
And from the beginning of our marriage, we made the
decision that we would be Tithers. God gave us an
instruction and we walked in it. But I was thinking
about the first time we ever visited Elevation Church, our
very first time. It was the end of twenty twelve.
And this year our offering is called trust in God,
but in twenty twelve it was called our banner year offering.
(26:32):
And me and Anna drove all the way to Charlotte.
We drove like three hours to be at church, and
we're so excited to come and hear Pastor Stephens speak.
And we get to church and guess what. Pastor Stephen
wasn't speaking, and the guest speaker was talking about money,
so I can empathize with you all today. And the
(26:53):
pastor preaching that day got up and he was talking
about generosity, and he was talking about tithing, and he
taught about the Prince the first fruits. So he always
knew that a tithe meant tenth, that I give a
tenth to God. But he taught about the principle of
the first fruits. What meant that not only is a
tithe of tenth, it's the first tenth, the first tenth,
(27:13):
and so all my life I had learned like, well,
I'll give to God off my net. Whatever shows up
in my bank account, I'll give a tenth of that.
And he taught, no, No, it's the principle of the first fruits,
meaning before the government takes their share, and before you
contribute to your retirement account out of your gross, you
give a tenth to God. And our heart was open
that day, and we received the word of instruction from
that pastor and made a decision to obey. I'm so
(27:36):
grateful for the instruction of God in my life. There's
been so many times where God spoke things to me
that I didn't always understand in the moment, but you
know when it's his voice, and when you obey, you
begin to walk in a new level of blessing. And
I thought, maybe there are people here today that you're saying, man,
I want to make God the center of my finances,
because when you prioritize God in one area of your life,
(27:57):
it's amazing how things fall into order in every area
of your life. So I said, seek first the Kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things will
be added. Unto you. It's about priority. You put God first,
things just start to fall into order. The other day
I was on Instagram and a friend of mine, he
pastors a church out in Sacramento, a church that all
(28:18):
of you have been able to help support over the years.
He had this clip where he was talking about the
myths and truth of tithing, and I asked, I texted him,
I said, can you send me that? I want to
share it with the church. And it was so powerful
what he said, And these are his words I'm going
to read, so if you don't like it, you can
email him Jared ls at E two church dot. I
don't even know. I don't know if that's his real email,
(28:40):
but but he said, look at this myth tithing his
Old Testament law. Truth. Tithing predates the law. Both Abraham
and Jacob tithed out of gratitude. The law made tithing
a rule, but the Cross returned it to an act
of worship. Myth you're cursed if you don't tie. Truth,
you're not cursed if you don't tithe. Christ remove the
curse on the Cross. Under the New Covenant, we don't
(29:02):
tie to avoid a curse. We tie because in Christ
we are exceedingly abundantly blessed. Myth, I don't need to
tithe since I'm a generous person. Truth tithing is in generosity,
its obedience. Myth tithing is outdated and no longer needed. Truth.
If God's kingdom is still advancing, and as people are
still gathering, his house still needs building and your treasure
(29:25):
still needs investing. Myth, I don't have to tithe ten percent.
I can give what I want. Truth. Tithing is not
a have to, it's a get to under grace. Ten
percent is a floor, not a ceiling. Myth. I can
tie to an organization of my choosing. Truth. The tithe
belongs to the house of the Lord. Malachi three says
anything else is robbing God. Myth. Someone else will tithe
(29:45):
and take care of my part. Truth. All Christians are
called to tithe, yet only a few church members do.
Churches don't die because of too much money, they die
because of too little. Myth. I should be able to
attend church and experience for free. Truth. Biblical worship always
includes a set sacrifice. As a member of the family,
I have a responsibility to contribute. Guests eat for free,
(30:06):
but family puts food on the table. Myth I've worked
too hard for my money to give it away. Truth,
you worked hard, but God provided. Tithing reminds you that
God is your source, your job has a purpose, and
your money is making an eternal impact. Myth, I can't
afford to tithe. Truth, my friend, with hundreds of promises
(30:29):
and scripture concerning your finances, you can't afford not to die. Myth,
I don't trust the church to handle my money. Truth.
If you trust your church and your pastor to dedicate
your babies, counsel your marriage, support your children, shepherd your soul,
Visit your family members, evangelize your lost loved ones, Pray
for your future, answer your emails, bury your dead, write
(30:49):
your obituary, endure election seasons, preach through global pandemics, send
out missionaries, finance outreach, organization, build buildings, smile through all
the while, maintain integrity. How much more do they need
to do for you to trust them with your tithe.
(31:12):
I'm getting a little jealous y'all are shouting for Jared
more than we But it's a good word. It's a
good word. If you don't trust your church, then find
a trust you do trust. Find a church you do trust.
But if the fruit is evident. Souls are one outreaches accomplished,
children are equipped, families are champion scriptures preach, and God
is glorified than church. This is the time to tithe,
(31:35):
This is the time to tie. But could your neighbors
say this is the time, This is the time. God
gave them an instruction and they obeyed. Be seated for
just a moment. I'm not quite done yet. So powerful though,
and they obeyed, And then look what happened in verse thirteen.
Then hey guy, the Lord's messenger gave this amazing word
(31:57):
to the people, gave this message from the to the people.
I am with you, declares the Lord. What's greater than that?
What's greater than the assurance of his presence. I don't
give to get. I don't get, so give so I
can have more to eat or more clothes to put
on my back. I give because more than anything, I
want his presence. Yes, And when you prioritize them in
(32:19):
his life, when you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
it's amazing as you create space in your heart to
trust them more. The assurance of his presence is provision
his protection. Isn't that what our pastor preached on a
couple of weeks ago. That comes when we trust in God.
And then it goes on to say, so the Lord
stirred up the spirit of Zeruba Bell, he stirred up
(32:42):
the spirit of Joshua, and he stirred up the spirit
of the whole remnant of people. They came and began
to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God.
He stirred up their spirit. I love that language because
I'm excited to be able to open new campuses and
launch new buildings and all the ministry that's going to
(33:02):
happen through through those opportunities as the Lord continues to
expand our church. But more than anything, I want to
see God stir up the spirit of our people. I
want God to stir up my spirit. I want the
Holy Spirit to just begin a work in me that
overflows and touches nations. I want God to stir something
up in our church that proclaims the Gospel all over
(33:23):
the world. And it's a really simple progression that happens
in this story, but it's so powerful. God spoke, they surrendered,
God stirred, God gave him a word. They said yes,
and God, by his spirit stirred up their faith to
do something incredible for him. And that's the same invitation
(33:44):
that God is giving each of us. It's amazing, though,
what God can do with your simple yes. It's amazing
what the Lord can do with your obedience. He spoke,
when we just say yes to him, regardless of our circumstances,
regardless of where we feel like we don't have enough,
when we simply give him our yes, he'll stir up
our spirits. And they went on to build this temple.
And the temple that they rebuilt was the very temple
(34:05):
that Jesus himself would sit in one day. And there's
a story in both Luke and Mark where Jesus is
sitting in the temple and he calls the disciples over
to himselves. And as they are in the building, this
interaction between Jesus and his disciples, the disciples there, they're
making comments about the building. They're saying, look how magnificent
this temple is. Look how look at these stones. But
(34:27):
Jesus isn't interested in the stones. Jesus is about this
witness something much more powerful. Jesus's attention is on sacrifice,
because he calls the disciples over to himself, and while
they're thinking about the stones, he points out a widow
who has just two small copper coins, and Jesus points
her out to the disciples as she goes to give
(34:48):
her offering in the temple, and the scripture says that
she gave all that she had. It wasn't a lot
of money, but it was a lot of faith. It
wasn't a big amount, but it was a lot of trust.
And while other people were giving larger amounts, Jesus wasn't
as interested in that because he was drawn to her
trust in God. She gave all that she had, and
(35:08):
the disciples were so focused on the house of worship,
but what Jesus was drawn to was the heart of worship.
And I'm so grateful that through this offering we're going
to get to build new buildings. But when Jesus steps
into this room, he's not impressed with stages or screens.
He sees our sacrifice, he sees our heart for worship.
And God is honored and and takes pleasure in when
(35:30):
we as His people, we as his temple, develop a
heart of worship that says, Lord, you are everything to me,
and I give you everything, all that I have is yours.
It reflects the heart of the Father, because that's what
Scripture says in Romans, that he who did not even
spare his own son, yet gave him up for us,
had given us all things. All things. Your God is
(35:51):
a giver. And because your God is a giver, you
can trust in him. So at the beginning of this series,
our pastors said that trust is tangible and ready to
bring this offering in just a couple weeks. It's an
opportunity for us to tangibly demonstrate our trust in Him.
And as you seek his face and he speaks to you,
and as you obey his voice and surrender, God stirs
(36:14):
something up in your spirit that I can say, I'm
a house of worship. This is my heart of worship God.
I live for you, I honor you, I worship you.
You are my Lord, You are my God. So that's
the invitation before us. In just a couple of weeks.
I feel like I said everything I was anointed to say. Today.
Can we thank God for that word? If it was
(36:35):
a word of instruction for you who wants a heart
of worship, stand up on your feet for just a moment.
I want to give an invitation right now to someone
who needs to make a decision to give God the
most important thing that you'll ever give to him, and
(36:55):
that's your life. The amazing thing about the Gospel and
the amazing thing about his grave is that He's done
it all for you. All you have to do is
give them your yes, if you'll receive the gift of
His salvation and grace by faith today. The scripture say
that he'll come into your life and he'll make you
a new creation. Jesus died so that you could be forgiven,
and he rose again so that you could have life.
(37:17):
And maybe you're here, or maybe you're joining us at
one of our campuses right now or watching online, and
you've never made the decision to surrender your life to Jesus. Y'all,
this wasn't a message just about giving. This was a
message about surrender. And today is your day of salvation.
God wants to make you new with heads bowed and
eyes closed. All over this place. Want to lead you
in a prayer if that's you today, if you want
(37:38):
to make a decision to make Jesus the Lord and
savior of your life, We're going to pray out loud
together as a church family for the benefit of those
who are coming to God right now. Pray with me, say,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
and the savior of the world. I believe he died
and rose again to forgive myself sin and give me life.
(38:02):
I receive your grace by faith. Come into my life,
make me new. I'll follow you, head still bowed, eyes
still close. If you just prayed that prayer to begin
a relationship with God. Today, when I count to three,
I want to ask you to shoot your hand up
in the air, whether you're at this campus or another one,
shoot your hand up in the air. We want to
celebrate what God has done in your heart today. One, two, three,
(38:25):
shoot your hand up. Hold it up hot. While we're
celebrated new beginnings around this room online, let us know
in the chat we want to call to you. We
want to pray for you. Keep your hand up for
just a moment. Our ushers are coming around with the
Bible that we want to give you church. Can we
thank the Lord for those who made a decision to
give their lives to Jesus.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
That that's one invitation today, But the other invitation is
for some of you in this room to step into
a new level of trust in God this year.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
In a couple of weeks, on December fourteenth, we're going
to bring our year end offering. We're going to get
to come forward and bring a gift above and beyond
that goes towards expansion and outreach as a church. But listen,
you don't have to wait till then to obey the
instruction the Lord gave you today. And if that word
convicted you in any way, or God was stirring something
up in your ear, I want to encourage you to
go home and have a conversation. But what does it
(39:21):
mean to honor the Lord and our wealth? To honor
the Lord in our finances? And you can begin tithing
today That first ten percent belongs to the Lord. It
belongs to the Lord. On the way out, you're going
to get one of these envelopes with the offering card inside.
This is what you're going to bring back with you
on December fourteenth, in just a couple of weeks. In
a couple of weeks, and on this card you can
(39:42):
begin praying about a word that represents what you're believing
God for as you're seeking his face and asking God
what he wants to do in and through your life.
Ask God to give you a word. I really believe
if you ask him, he'll speak something to you. Ask
him for a word that represents what he wants to
do in you or what he wants to do through you,
and write it down on this envelope and put into place.
(40:02):
As we go into this new year, we want to
believe God for what he spoke, and as he speaks
to you about what he's stirring up in your heart,
we get to also bring a gift and offering to
him and offering to him to make space in our
hearts to say, God, you are my Lord, You are
my source, You are my provider, and my trust is
in you. So that's the invitation before us. Now he'll speak.
(40:25):
If you surrender, he'll stir. Amen. Can we thank the
Lord together? Connect hands quickly with someone around you, and
then we'll dismiss Connect hands, connect hands. So Father God,
right now, I pray for my brothers and my sisters
(40:45):
all over this place. God, many of us are facing
circumstances that are difficult right now and hard right now.
We don't always know how to make a way, but
I thank you for the assurance of your word that
tells us that you are with us. You are with us, God,
that you're in it with us, fighting for us God,
and that you are the Lord of our lives. And
our trust is in you. Today. God, I pray for
(41:07):
this church family, for every person under the sound of
my voice, for every person who calls Elevation Church their home.
I believe that You've set our church apart for such
a time as this. I believe there's a mandate on
this house to reach the nations with the hope of Jesus.
And I believe what we're standing in today is just
the foundation, not the finished product. And I thank you
God for the invitation to join our lives to your cause.
(41:29):
We attach our hearts to the cause of Christ. As
we give, as we serve, as we pray, as we
preach the Gospel. God, we thank you for the blessing
that flows that when we build your house. I believe
God that you are going to bless ours. So bless
each home, bless each family, bless each individual, bless each business,
all in the mighty name of Jesus. We pray, Amen,
(41:52):
thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
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 (42:11):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
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.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
In your life. Enjoy the message. What an awesome atmosphere
of thanksgiving and praise today. And I'm so grateful to
be able to be here with you today to share
God's word. My name is Jonathan. If we haven't got
the chance to meet, everybody calls me a lot of
love from over here at Valentine. I have the privilege
of serving here as the Valentine Campus pastor. I've had
(00:35):
the honor of serving under Pastor Stephen and Pastor Hawley
for twelve years now, almost thirteen years now, and it's
been the joy of our life. How man, You're grateful
that pastor of Stephen and Pastor Hawley gave God there
yes and created a place for us to live out
the calling and mandate on our life. And and I'm
so grateful I get to share God's word with you today.
(00:57):
I've been praying about what to share, and I felt
like the Lord gave me a real clear assignment. I
was asking God to give me a word that would
inspire you to give as we are in this special
time in our church, and the Lord said, don't inspire them,
instruct them, And so I came with a word of
instruction today. How many you know that God's words serves
different purposes in our life. He can encourage us through
his word. He can inspire us through this word. Sometimes
(01:19):
this Holy Spirit will give us an insight. But I'm
growing more and more grateful for the times the Lord
shows up with an instruction for me. And that's my
assignment for today. And this really is a special time
a year for us here at Elevation Churches. We're getting
ready for our expansion offering. In just a couple of weeks.
We got a new building coming in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Shout out through our Raleigh campus. We just opened a
(01:43):
brand new Greenville campus. We're about to launch a campus
in Somerville, South Carolina, outside of Charleston. And can we
thank God for all the outreach that's happening Goodest Ministry. Well,
I want to read this scripture to you today from
Hey Guy, Chapter one. If you haven't heard of Hagai.
He's a minor prophet that the Lord uses in a
(02:04):
major way. And one thing that caught my attention was,
you know, in your Bible there's the inspired word, and
then there's the parts the publishers kind of put out
the top of each section to give you an idea
of what that chapter's about. Well, right at the top
of hey guy, chapter one, it says, this a call
to build the House of the Lord. And I just
(02:24):
thought that was so fitting for the season that we're in,
because whether you've been a part of this church for
just a little while, or whether you've been a part
of this church for over a decade or all twenty years,
maybe there's a call on each of us, an assignment
from God right now to build the House of God.
And while, of course, you know this offering will go
towards helping us launch new campuses, y'all know this. It's
never been about new buildings. The Bible says God does
(02:47):
not live in houses built by men, but we are
the temple of the Holy Spirit. It's always been about
seeing people far from God raised to life in Christ.
But there's something powerful that happens in our lives when
we connect our purpose to the purpose and priorities of God.
So let's look at Hagui. Chapter one says in the
second year of King Darius, on the first day of
(03:09):
the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through
the prophet Hagui Ti Zerubabyl son of schieltial I worked
really hard on pronouncing that the governor of Judah and
Joshua son of Josephac the high priest. This is what
the Lord Almighty says. These people say, the time has
not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house. Then the
(03:32):
word of the Lord came through the prophet Hagi. Is
it a time for you yourselves to be living in
paneled houses while this house remains a ruin. Now, this
is what the Lord Almighty says. Give careful thought to
your ways. You applanted much, but harvested little. You eat
but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill.
(03:55):
You put on clothes, but you are not warm. You
earn wages only to put the in a purse with
holes in it. This is what the Lord Almighty says.
Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the
mountains and bring down timber and build my house. Go
up into the mountains, bring down timber, and build my
(04:17):
house so that I may take pleasure in it and
be honored, says the Lord. Title of my message today
is this is the time. This is the time. Touch
your neighbor as you take your seat, say this is
the time. Last week Pastor Stephen preached this is then,
what a powerful word for us, and today I want
(04:40):
to stay in that spirit. This is the time. I
thought about opening up this message with a little bit
of audience participation, but then I decided against it because
I was gonna ask the question. I was gonna have
you raise your hand and self identify if you are
a procrastinator. But the more I thought about it, I
realized you wouldn't be honest, and so better way would
(05:00):
have been to say, raise your hand if you're sitting
next to a procrastinator, and then I'm like a yeah, yeah, yeah.
But the more I thought about it, I thought it's
not really a fair question to ask, because the more
I gave a thought, the more I realized that, well,
each of us have certain areas and aspects of our
life that we treat with urgency and diligence. At the
same time, all of us have areas in our life
(05:22):
where we procrastinate. So what you treat with diligence and
urgency might not be the same thing as someone else.
But there's something you procrastinate on that's probably driving your
spouse nuts. And I thought about. Just a couple of
weeks ago, I got really aggravated with my wife Ann.
And now before I know, I don't get the preacher
all that often. All of you know us, so trust me,
I say, we're good. We've been married fifteen years. She's
(05:43):
the love of my life. She's obsessed with me ever
since I grew out my hair. She calls me her Maui,
her Canadian, Chinese Jamaican Maui. I don't know, and uh.
I always like to make the message weird right at
the top. But a couple of weeks ago, got real
aggravated because one thing I can't stand is subscriptions. And
(06:05):
there's nothing worse than looking at my bank account and
realizing that I've been paying for something that I haven't
even been using. And the other day I open up
my inbox and I see an email that says that
we had subscribed to Apple TV through Amazon Prime. Help
me make sense of this. We'd subscribed to Apple TV
through Amazon Prime. They're all in cahoots, and I said, Anna,
(06:28):
did you subscribe to Apple TV? And she said, yeah,
I did. There was a movie I wanted to watch
with the kids and it was on Apple TV, so
I subscribed it. I said, well, that's not the problem
that you subscribe to Apple TV. The problem is we
already have Apple TV and Amazon Prime. And she's like,
oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that.
She said, don't worry. I already put a reminder in
my phone to cancel it. I said, we'll go ahead
(06:50):
and just cancel it right now, and she's like, well, no,
I'm busy right now, but don't worry. I put a
reminder in my phone to cancel it. And y'all, I
know how this goes. We've been married for fifteen year.
That reminder might go off when our daughter's having a breakdown,
that reminder might go off when she's in the middle
of a conversation, and next thing I know, I might
be paying another to nine ninety nine for Apple TV
(07:11):
through Amazon Prime when I already have Apple TV. So
I said, no, cancel it. Now. This is the time.
This is the time. Now I can share that story
because I'm the one with the microphone. But Anna could
give you hundreds of examples of when my procrastination cost us,
Like when she kept telling me to make sure I
added her engagement ring to our insurance policy in case
(07:33):
it ever got lost, and I didn't add the engagement
ring to the insurance policy. How many you know that
that ring that got lost costs a lot more than
a subscription. But all of us have places in our
life that we procrastinated on, And that's really what the
Lord is addressing in the hearts of his people in
this passage. You see God, of course, you know, had
(07:53):
delivered his people out of Egypt, taken them into the
Promised Land through King Solomon. He built a temple for
the Lord in the Promised Land. Along the way. Through
their disobedience, they get invaded by foreigners, they get taken
into exile. And now when we pick up in the
Book of Hegui, God has brought them back into the
Promised Land and he's giving them this charge to rebuild
his temple because they have been procrastinating on it. Because
(08:17):
what is not a priority to you, you will always
procrastinate on. And so when God sends this word of
instruction to his people, it's because he is trying to
make important to them what is important to him. And
he's frustrated. And how do I know they're frustrated. He's frustrated.
Look at verse two and verse two. It says, this
is what the Lord Almighty says. These people say, not
(08:39):
my people. These people say. It's like when Anna says,
your daughter has an attitude today, these people say. And
the Lord sends this word in his grace and and
his mercy, through the prophet Hagui, to the leaders of
the nation, saying, it's time for you to get back
to work. It's time for you to prioritize in your
life what is important to me. Now, it's important to
(09:01):
know that one of the ways the devil keeps you
stuck in your life is by getting you to procrastinate
and push off the things that God is calling you to.
He's smart, you know. So if the enemy just tried
to get you to disobey, hey, just ignore what God said.
You're too smart for that. And he knows that you'd
be like, Ah, that's the devil. I'm not going to
listen to that. So when the devil can't get you
(09:22):
to disobey, he'll get you to delay. And we have
a way of putting off the things that God has
called us to over and over and over again. And
they're saying, now is not the time. Now is not
the time. They've set a reminder in their phone, and
God's saying, you can't keep putting this off anymore. Now
is the time to build my house. All the parents
can testify with what I'm about to say, and it's
(09:43):
true of the scripture. How many you know that delayed
obedience is still disobedience. All the parents make some noise,
delayed obedience is still disobedience. And the real premise of
this whole text that I want to encourage you with
is the truth that you see in the principle that
you see in this passage of when I build God's house,
(10:05):
He'll bless mine. When I build God's house, He'll bless mine.
And so no wonder the enemy wants to keep us
in this cycle of delaying and putting off the very
things that God has asked them to do. And if
the enemy can keep us stuck in these cycles of
delay in procrastination, then he can keep us back from
(10:26):
the things that God has in store for us. If
he can delay our sowing, he can delay our reaping.
So God, in his grace sends this word to his
people saying no, no, no, You've been saying the time
is not yet calm, but he's saying, now is the time.
It is a call to build His house. And that
is really the invitation in the season that we have
before us as a church right now. It's not about buildings.
(10:48):
It's not just about this offering. It's about aligning our
priorities with the priorities of God. So much of spiritual
growth in your life is simply that God getting you
to care about the things that matter to His kingdom
and getting you to deprioritize the things that the world
tells you are important. That is spiritual growth. The more
I align my priorities with the priorities of Heaven, the
(11:10):
more peace I have, the more joy I have, the
more blessing I walk in, the more favor I have.
And so God is always calling us into something, and
the enemy will get you to say, ah, it's not
just the time yet. So there's a few things in
this passage of Scripture that I think we're keeping the
Israelites in this moment, in this cycle of waiting, in
the cycle of putting off. See, most people never say
(11:32):
no to God. Sometimes we just say not yet. One
of the things that I think they were waiting on
is that they were waiting on peace. They were waiting
for peace. Now, when I first read this passage, I thought,
what is the problem with They've just come out of exile,
They're back in the land. What's the problem with them
putting together their own homes and making sure that they
(11:55):
have shelter over their heads and for their families. And
once they get through that, then of course they could
the temple. But there's an important detail in this passage.
In this passage, in hey Gi, God says, is it
a time for you to be living in paneled houses?
That's an important detail because the panel was not functional,
it was aesthetic. And so what the Lord is saying
(12:16):
is that you are continuing to live in comfort and
luxury while my house remains and ruins. And listen, God
is not bothered when we have nice things. God is
not upset by our comfort. But sometimes we get so
trapped in comfort and we call it peace. Some of
us are waiting for peace. And when we say the
word peace, we don't mean the peace of God, the
(12:38):
peace that God gives, because the peace that God gives
means the presence of God, even in the midst of trouble,
even in the midst of difficult circumstances. And so sometimes
when we say peace, what we really mean is when
things feel comfortable. I just didn't have peace about that. No,
things just weren't comfortable yet, things just weren't easy. Sometimes
when we say peace, we mean that we're waiting on
(13:00):
the ideal circumstances for everything to line up. And hey,
when I get all my stuff figured out, then I'll
prioritize the things that mattered to God. And so they
stay stuck in this place, saying if then, if I
can just get to this, if I can just get
the kids graduate, then then then we'll prioritize the things
that matter to God. But the other interesting thing is
(13:20):
that this wasn't one year or two years or three
years after they'd been in the land that God sends
us word through Hagui. When God sends this word through
his prophet Hagui to Joshua and to Zarubabel, they had
been back in the land for eight teen years. Eighteen
years they've been living back in the land. That's like
(13:41):
Anna asking me to take the trash out, and I say, oh,
I'll get to it, and I finally do it when
my son is twenty nine years old. Eighteen years then
been waiting in the land. In the Book of Ezra,
it tells us the account of when they got back
out of exile as well, and how they begin right
away rebuilding the temple. And in the first two years
they built the foundation of the temple. But then there
(14:04):
is external attacks from nearby enemies, there was internal discord,
they had pressures from the outside, pressures from the inside.
And after two years of building the foundation and Ezra
chapter four it ends with this horrible verse where it
says that the work on the Lord's house came to
a standstill when the circumstances got hard. They stopped. And
(14:26):
somewhere along the way, we've convinced ourselves or brought into
this idea that following God was supposed to be easy,
and so we say things like, oh, the Lord just
shut the door, the Lord just shut the door, or
you just gave up because it got hard, Because I
know a God who can open up doors that no
man can shut. And if you would just keep moving
in accordance to His word, he could open that door
(14:47):
for you. And so all of us have a decision
we get to make in our life when it comes
to how we live. I can either base my decisions
on my circumstances, or I can base my decisions on
what God says. When and I choose to build my
life on what he says, then I can't consult my circumstances.
And the moment things in their life got difficult, whether
(15:08):
it was a tax from the inside or at tax
from the outside, they stop on the work that God
had called them to do. Two years they built a foundation,
and then for sixteen years it sat there while they
continued to work on their houses. Some of us in
our church we built some of you have built a
foundation of faith. Yeah, there was a time where you
(15:28):
trusted God and you were pushing through and you were
diligent about the things that He had called you to
and you sacrificed and you were living by faith. And
somewhere along the way you said that's good enough, and
you stopped building. What I love why this is a
tradition for us as a church is because this is
not a one time thing. We invite you to be
a part of every year. When we have this year
end offering, it's an opportunity for you to decide is
(15:50):
God finished or is this just the foundation. I don't
want it to be said of me what was said
in Ezra chapter four that the work of the Lord finnish.
I want to continue to see God take me from
glory to glory, to strength to strength. And whether that's
in your own life, or your own family, or your business,
or certainly this ministry. I don't believe that God is
(16:12):
done yet, so I can't keep waiting for the perfect
circumstances and the ideal scenarios before I say yes to
what God has asked us to do. God has asked
us to see people far from God raise to life
in Christ, and that is the invitation before us. Now,
they were waiting for peace, but not the type of
peace that God gives. Because one thing I've just learned
(16:32):
in my life is that very rarely did peace precede
my obedience. Often it was when I obeyed, then I
experience the peace of God. And so when someone gets
up and says we're getting ready for our year end
offering on December fourteenth. Someone might say, I just don't
have peace about that. But what if you sought the Lord,
(16:53):
listen to his voice, and obeyed what he said. I
promise you would experience the peace that God gives on
the other side. The other thing that I think had
them stuck, Thank you, Praise the Lord, everybody. That's a
good word. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because the enemy keeps
us in this cycle because we're saying, ah, it's just
not the right time. The economy's hard. When I get
(17:14):
this deb paid, no, no, no. If the Lord speaks
to you, today is the day to obey. And Hebrews
says today when you hear God's voice, do not harden
your heart. And every time God speaks to you, it's
an opportunity for obedience. Y'all. If you think this message
is just about money, you're missing the point. This is
about obedience to his voice. The other thing that kept
them stuck was that they were waiting for more. Look
(17:36):
at this description that the Lord gives in verse six.
You planted much, but harvested little. You eat but you
never have enough. You drink but you never have your fill.
You put on clothes, but you are not warm. You
earn wages only to put them in a purse with
holes in it? Does that not describe our lives in
so many ways? Sometimes that cycle of discontentment that we
(18:00):
live in, where it feels like no matter what we do,
it's never enough. You look at your bank and you're like,
I know, I got paid. Where did it all go? Target,
that's where it all went. Put it in a purse
just to have holes on it? Where did this end up?
And the Lord is addressing one of the excuses that
so often we care because how many of you have
found yourself in one moment or another in your life
(18:20):
simply saying well, if I had more, I would do more.
If I had more, I would give more. And that's
the place that the Israelites find themselves in. They keep
saying they feel economically frustrated, and they're using that as
a reason not to rebuild the Lord's temple. So they
keep saying, well, we just don't have enough. And it's
(18:41):
interesting how what the Lord is describing here is the
very thing that they use as a reason not to give.
But what the Lord is trying to get them to
see is that what they are calling a reason is
actually the result. Let me say that a little more clearly.
They're saying, well, Lord, if we had more, we would
build your house, and the Lord saying, no, no, no, if
you built my house, you would have more. Because it's
(19:08):
about priorities. His temple represented his priority amongst his people,
his presence amongst his people, And so he's saying no, no, no,
you keep waiting to have more, But when will you
prioritize me and your presence. When you begin to do that,
you'll see that it's better to have God in a
little with me than to have much without God. Amen.
(19:29):
When I was in high school, I spent a month
living on a missions trip in Namibia, Africa. And while
I was there, I met a pastor who had a church.
His church was just a piece of sheet metal off
the side of his house where his church met, and
it made such a profound impact on my life, and
we developed a great relationship. And then when I went
off to college, he actually ended up living with my
family in Canada while he was attending school in Canada,
(19:52):
And so when I was home for the summers, we'd
spend all the time together and we'd go to the
church that I grew up in, and no matter what
the pastor preached on, we'd get back in the car
after church and Kamati would always say to me, John,
why don't they talk about giving? No matter what the message,
why don't they talk about giving? And eventually said, I
don't know, Kaman, I don't know. I don't know the
reasons why they're not talking about I said, sometimes people
(20:12):
feel weird or get upset when you talk about their money.
And he said, John, it's better that they'd be angry
for a day than frustrated for a lifetime. Because what
Kamati knew with just a piece of sheep metal over
the side of his house for a church and unreliable electricity,
(20:33):
what he understood is that without God, it's never enough,
but with God it's always enough.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Just ask the disciples when Jesus asked them to feed
a crowd of people, and they said, all we have
is five loaves and two fishes. It's not enough. It's
not enough, but with God there's leftovers. And the enemy
will keep us delaying and delaying on stepping into the
things that God has called us to as a people. Why,
(21:05):
because He wants to keep us in the cycle of
discontentment where it always feels like I just can't get ahead.
I just can't get ahead. And the principle of the
tithe is simply this. Every time I give to God
through my tithe, it reminds me that God is my source,
God is my provider. So no matter what I'm looking at,
I know that God is in it with me. And
(21:27):
so they were waiting on more. The last thing I
think they were waiting on is I think they were
waiting on an instruction. Look at this what happens after
God confronts their excuses. He says, go up into the
mountains and bring down timber and build my house so
that I may take pleasure in it and be honored.
Says the Lord. I love that, so that I may
(21:49):
take pleasure in it and be honored. Because so much
of this offering is not just about new buildings and
outreach efforts, It's about honoring the Lord with our lives.
He says, build my house so that I may be
honored in it. And after the Lord gives this instruction,
something miraculous happens in the story that I want to
show you. The Lord gives this word in verse eight, saying,
(22:10):
go bring down timber and build my house. And then
look in verse twelve. Then Zarubabel son of she she had,
she had, Oh man, I worked on it, y'all. Sheltyel
Joshua son of Josephac the high priest, and the whole
remnant of people obeyed the voice of the Lord. There. God,
(22:31):
did you see that miracle in that text? Did you
miss it? It says that the people obeyed, y'all. There's
only a few times in scripture where God sends a
word to his people and they actually obey, And this
is one of those times. And I'm being a little facetious,
But we underestimate the power of obedience, y'all, Lord mark
(22:54):
my life with signs, wonders, miracles. What about if the
Lord marked your life with just simple obedience of being
a follower of Christ. Look like you being someone who
sought his face and when he spoke, you gave him
your yes. So the Lord delivers this word through his leaders,
and it's amazing. It says that as Joshua obeyed and
as Zaruba Bell obeyed, that the whole remnant of people followed. Y'all.
(23:16):
That just made me grateful for the leaders that God
has given us at this church, leaders who didn't settle
at year five, or at year ten or at year fifteen,
but twenty years into this ministry, Pastor Stephen and Pastor
Holly continue to say yes to God and walk and
surrender to His voice into his ways. Because God speaks
to the leaders and then the people followed. And I'm
(23:38):
so grateful for the example of faith that they've given us.
And there's an invitation before us now to prioritize the
things that matter to God in our lives and simply
obey them. That's why, as we talk about this offering
over and over again, we'll say, pray about what the
Lord would have you give, because it's not just about
an amount. It's about being a people who know how
(23:58):
to seek his face, being a people who know how
to hear his voice and obey when he speaks. Isn't
that what Jesus said, My sheep know and hear and
recognize my voice, and they obey. That's the sign of
a follower of Christ. They were waiting on instruction, and
when the Lord spoke, they obeyed. And I believe that
maybe there are some people here today that in your heart.
(24:21):
You're like, I want to trust God in this way.
I want to grow in this way. I just don't
always know how. In twelve years of pastoring, I can't
think of a single time where I talk to someone
about giving and they said, Nope, I don't want to
do that. Had people say I just don't know how
to right now. People say, show me what steps I
can take. I want to get there one day. Never
had someone just say no. But sometimes we're putting off
(24:44):
what God has called us to put on. But they
received an instruction from the Lord and they obeyed. I
remember so vividly when my grandfather sat me down in
his office and he first gave me the instruction of
what it means to trust God and my finances. And
he sat down and he said, the first ten belongs
to God. In my memory, it was like he was
using an abacus, but it was probably just a calculator.
(25:05):
Wasn't that old. I was just a kid, though, And
he said, the first tenth belongs to God. The second
tenth is what you pay yourself in the future by saving. Now,
I know there's some financial advisers in the room who
could give an more nuanced approach to personal finances. But
my grandfather was a blessed man, and so I listened
to him and it stuck with me. The first tenth
(25:27):
belongs to God, the next tenth is for my future.
And I was just a kid, so what was I
going to do? Give God a tenth of my legos?
But it instilled something in me right there that the
first tenth belonged to the Lord. And then when Anna
and I got engaged, my in laws who are here today,
they gave us the gift of signing us up for
Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace course, and we went through Dave
(25:48):
Ramsey's course, and that was powerful instruction in our life.
You know, most couples fight over finances more than anything else.
And I'm so grateful that at the start of our
marriage that we got to go through that course to
get on the same page about how we would approach
our finances. And Dave Ramsey talked about a lot of things,
and he talked, of course, about giving to God, giving
a tenth to him. So every time a paycheck would
show up on our account, you know, you just move
(26:09):
the decimal over a couple times, and that's what you give.
And from the beginning of our marriage, we made the
decision that we would be Tithers. God gave us an
instruction and we walked in it. But I was thinking
about the first time we ever visited Elevation Church, our
very first time. It was the end of twenty twelve.
And this year our offering is called trust in God,
but in twenty twelve it was called our banner year offering.
(26:32):
And me and Anna drove all the way to Charlotte.
We drove like three hours to be at church, and
we're so excited to come and hear Pastor Stephens speak.
And we get to church and guess what. Pastor Stephen
wasn't speaking, and the guest speaker was talking about money,
so I can empathize with you all today. And the
(26:53):
pastor preaching that day got up and he was talking
about generosity, and he was talking about tithing, and he
taught about the Prince the first fruits. So he always
knew that a tithe meant tenth, that I give a
tenth to God. But he taught about the principle of
the first fruits. What meant that not only is a
tithe of tenth, it's the first tenth, the first tenth,
(27:13):
and so all my life I had learned like, well,
I'll give to God off my net. Whatever shows up
in my bank account, I'll give a tenth of that.
And he taught, no, No, it's the principle of the first fruits,
meaning before the government takes their share, and before you
contribute to your retirement account out of your gross, you
give a tenth to God. And our heart was open
that day, and we received the word of instruction from
that pastor and made a decision to obey. I'm so
(27:36):
grateful for the instruction of God in my life. There's
been so many times where God spoke things to me
that I didn't always understand in the moment, but you
know when it's his voice, and when you obey, you
begin to walk in a new level of blessing. And
I thought, maybe there are people here today that you're saying, man,
I want to make God the center of my finances,
because when you prioritize God in one area of your life,
(27:57):
it's amazing how things fall into order in every area
of your life. So I said, seek first the Kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things will
be added. Unto you. It's about priority. You put God first,
things just start to fall into order. The other day
I was on Instagram and a friend of mine, he
pastors a church out in Sacramento, a church that all
(28:18):
of you have been able to help support over the years.
He had this clip where he was talking about the
myths and truth of tithing, and I asked, I texted him,
I said, can you send me that? I want to
share it with the church. And it was so powerful
what he said, And these are his words I'm going
to read, so if you don't like it, you can
email him Jared ls at E two church dot. I
don't even know. I don't know if that's his real email,
(28:40):
but but he said, look at this myth tithing his
Old Testament law. Truth. Tithing predates the law. Both Abraham
and Jacob tithed out of gratitude. The law made tithing
a rule, but the Cross returned it to an act
of worship. Myth you're cursed if you don't tie. Truth,
you're not cursed if you don't tithe. Christ remove the
curse on the Cross. Under the New Covenant, we don't
(29:02):
tie to avoid a curse. We tie because in Christ
we are exceedingly abundantly blessed. Myth, I don't need to
tithe since I'm a generous person. Truth tithing is in generosity,
its obedience. Myth tithing is outdated and no longer needed. Truth.
If God's kingdom is still advancing, and as people are
still gathering, his house still needs building and your treasure
(29:25):
still needs investing. Myth, I don't have to tithe ten percent.
I can give what I want. Truth. Tithing is not
a have to, it's a get to under grace. Ten
percent is a floor, not a ceiling. Myth. I can
tie to an organization of my choosing. Truth. The tithe
belongs to the house of the Lord. Malachi three says
anything else is robbing God. Myth. Someone else will tithe
(29:45):
and take care of my part. Truth. All Christians are
called to tithe, yet only a few church members do.
Churches don't die because of too much money, they die
because of too little. Myth. I should be able to
attend church and experience for free. Truth. Biblical worship always
includes a set sacrifice. As a member of the family,
I have a responsibility to contribute. Guests eat for free,
(30:06):
but family puts food on the table. Myth I've worked
too hard for my money to give it away. Truth,
you worked hard, but God provided. Tithing reminds you that
God is your source, your job has a purpose, and
your money is making an eternal impact. Myth, I can't
afford to tithe. Truth, my friend, with hundreds of promises
(30:29):
and scripture concerning your finances, you can't afford not to die. Myth,
I don't trust the church to handle my money. Truth.
If you trust your church and your pastor to dedicate
your babies, counsel your marriage, support your children, shepherd your soul,
Visit your family members, evangelize your lost loved ones, Pray
for your future, answer your emails, bury your dead, write
(30:49):
your obituary, endure election seasons, preach through global pandemics, send
out missionaries, finance outreach, organization, build buildings, smile through all
the while, maintain integrity. How much more do they need
to do for you to trust them with your tithe.
(31:12):
I'm getting a little jealous y'all are shouting for Jared
more than we But it's a good word. It's a
good word. If you don't trust your church, then find
a trust you do trust. Find a church you do trust.
But if the fruit is evident. Souls are one outreaches accomplished,
children are equipped, families are champion scriptures preach, and God
is glorified than church. This is the time to tithe,
(31:35):
This is the time to tie. But could your neighbors
say this is the time, This is the time. God
gave them an instruction and they obeyed. Be seated for
just a moment. I'm not quite done yet. So powerful though,
and they obeyed, And then look what happened in verse thirteen.
Then hey guy, the Lord's messenger gave this amazing word
(31:57):
to the people, gave this message from the to the people.
I am with you, declares the Lord. What's greater than that?
What's greater than the assurance of his presence. I don't
give to get. I don't get, so give so I
can have more to eat or more clothes to put
on my back. I give because more than anything, I
want his presence. Yes, And when you prioritize them in
(32:19):
his life, when you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
it's amazing as you create space in your heart to
trust them more. The assurance of his presence is provision
his protection. Isn't that what our pastor preached on a
couple of weeks ago. That comes when we trust in God.
And then it goes on to say, so the Lord
stirred up the spirit of Zeruba Bell, he stirred up
(32:42):
the spirit of Joshua, and he stirred up the spirit
of the whole remnant of people. They came and began
to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God.
He stirred up their spirit. I love that language because
I'm excited to be able to open new campuses and
launch new buildings and all the ministry that's going to
(33:02):
happen through through those opportunities as the Lord continues to
expand our church. But more than anything, I want to
see God stir up the spirit of our people. I
want God to stir up my spirit. I want the
Holy Spirit to just begin a work in me that
overflows and touches nations. I want God to stir something
up in our church that proclaims the Gospel all over
(33:23):
the world. And it's a really simple progression that happens
in this story, but it's so powerful. God spoke, they surrendered,
God stirred, God gave him a word. They said yes,
and God, by his spirit stirred up their faith to
do something incredible for him. And that's the same invitation
(33:44):
that God is giving each of us. It's amazing, though,
what God can do with your simple yes. It's amazing
what the Lord can do with your obedience. He spoke,
when we just say yes to him, regardless of our circumstances,
regardless of where we feel like we don't have enough,
when we simply give him our yes, he'll stir up
our spirits. And they went on to build this temple.
And the temple that they rebuilt was the very temple
(34:05):
that Jesus himself would sit in one day. And there's
a story in both Luke and Mark where Jesus is
sitting in the temple and he calls the disciples over
to himselves. And as they are in the building, this
interaction between Jesus and his disciples, the disciples there, they're
making comments about the building. They're saying, look how magnificent
this temple is. Look how look at these stones. But
(34:27):
Jesus isn't interested in the stones. Jesus is about this
witness something much more powerful. Jesus's attention is on sacrifice,
because he calls the disciples over to himself, and while
they're thinking about the stones, he points out a widow
who has just two small copper coins, and Jesus points
her out to the disciples as she goes to give
(34:48):
her offering in the temple, and the scripture says that
she gave all that she had. It wasn't a lot
of money, but it was a lot of faith. It
wasn't a big amount, but it was a lot of trust.
And while other people were giving larger amounts, Jesus wasn't
as interested in that because he was drawn to her
trust in God. She gave all that she had, and
(35:08):
the disciples were so focused on the house of worship,
but what Jesus was drawn to was the heart of worship.
And I'm so grateful that through this offering we're going
to get to build new buildings. But when Jesus steps
into this room, he's not impressed with stages or screens.
He sees our sacrifice, he sees our heart for worship.
And God is honored and and takes pleasure in when
(35:30):
we as His people, we as his temple, develop a
heart of worship that says, Lord, you are everything to me,
and I give you everything, all that I have is yours.
It reflects the heart of the Father, because that's what
Scripture says in Romans, that he who did not even
spare his own son, yet gave him up for us,
had given us all things. All things. Your God is
(35:51):
a giver. And because your God is a giver, you
can trust in him. So at the beginning of this series,
our pastors said that trust is tangible and ready to
bring this offering in just a couple weeks. It's an
opportunity for us to tangibly demonstrate our trust in Him.
And as you seek his face and he speaks to you,
and as you obey his voice and surrender, God stirs
(36:14):
something up in your spirit that I can say, I'm
a house of worship. This is my heart of worship God.
I live for you, I honor you, I worship you.
You are my Lord, You are my God. So that's
the invitation before us. In just a couple of weeks.
I feel like I said everything I was anointed to say. Today.
Can we thank God for that word? If it was
(36:35):
a word of instruction for you who wants a heart
of worship, stand up on your feet for just a moment.
I want to give an invitation right now to someone
who needs to make a decision to give God the
most important thing that you'll ever give to him, and
(36:55):
that's your life. The amazing thing about the Gospel and
the amazing thing about his grave is that He's done
it all for you. All you have to do is
give them your yes, if you'll receive the gift of
His salvation and grace by faith today. The scripture say
that he'll come into your life and he'll make you
a new creation. Jesus died so that you could be forgiven,
and he rose again so that you could have life.
(37:17):
And maybe you're here, or maybe you're joining us at
one of our campuses right now or watching online, and
you've never made the decision to surrender your life to Jesus. Y'all,
this wasn't a message just about giving. This was a
message about surrender. And today is your day of salvation.
God wants to make you new with heads bowed and
eyes closed. All over this place. Want to lead you
in a prayer if that's you today, if you want
(37:38):
to make a decision to make Jesus the Lord and
savior of your life, We're going to pray out loud
together as a church family for the benefit of those
who are coming to God right now. Pray with me, say,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
and the savior of the world. I believe he died
and rose again to forgive myself sin and give me life.
(38:02):
I receive your grace by faith. Come into my life,
make me new. I'll follow you, head still bowed, eyes
still close. If you just prayed that prayer to begin
a relationship with God. Today, when I count to three,
I want to ask you to shoot your hand up
in the air, whether you're at this campus or another one,
shoot your hand up in the air. We want to
celebrate what God has done in your heart today. One, two, three,
(38:25):
shoot your hand up. Hold it up hot. While we're
celebrated new beginnings around this room online, let us know
in the chat we want to call to you. We
want to pray for you. Keep your hand up for
just a moment. Our ushers are coming around with the
Bible that we want to give you church. Can we
thank the Lord for those who made a decision to
give their lives to Jesus.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
That that's one invitation today, But the other invitation is
for some of you in this room to step into
a new level of trust in God this year.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
In a couple of weeks, on December fourteenth, we're going
to bring our year end offering. We're going to get
to come forward and bring a gift above and beyond
that goes towards expansion and outreach as a church. But listen,
you don't have to wait till then to obey the
instruction the Lord gave you today. And if that word
convicted you in any way, or God was stirring something
up in your ear, I want to encourage you to
go home and have a conversation. But what does it
(39:21):
mean to honor the Lord and our wealth? To honor
the Lord in our finances? And you can begin tithing
today That first ten percent belongs to the Lord. It
belongs to the Lord. On the way out, you're going
to get one of these envelopes with the offering card inside.
This is what you're going to bring back with you
on December fourteenth, in just a couple of weeks. In
a couple of weeks, and on this card you can
(39:42):
begin praying about a word that represents what you're believing
God for as you're seeking his face and asking God
what he wants to do in and through your life.
Ask God to give you a word. I really believe
if you ask him, he'll speak something to you. Ask
him for a word that represents what he wants to
do in you or what he wants to do through you,
and write it down on this envelope and put into place.
(40:02):
As we go into this new year, we want to
believe God for what he spoke, and as he speaks
to you about what he's stirring up in your heart,
we get to also bring a gift and offering to
him and offering to him to make space in our
hearts to say, God, you are my Lord, You are
my source, You are my provider, and my trust is
in you. So that's the invitation before us. Now he'll speak.
(40:25):
If you surrender, he'll stir. Amen. Can we thank the
Lord together? Connect hands quickly with someone around you, and
then we'll dismiss Connect hands, connect hands. So Father God,
right now, I pray for my brothers and my sisters
(40:45):
all over this place. God, many of us are facing
circumstances that are difficult right now and hard right now.
We don't always know how to make a way, but
I thank you for the assurance of your word that
tells us that you are with us. You are with us, God,
that you're in it with us, fighting for us God,
and that you are the Lord of our lives. And
our trust is in you. Today. God, I pray for
(41:07):
this church family, for every person under the sound of
my voice, for every person who calls Elevation Church their home.
I believe that You've set our church apart for such
a time as this. I believe there's a mandate on
this house to reach the nations with the hope of Jesus.
And I believe what we're standing in today is just
the foundation, not the finished product. And I thank you
God for the invitation to join our lives to your cause.
(41:29):
We attach our hearts to the cause of Christ. As
we give, as we serve, as we pray, as we
preach the Gospel. God, we thank you for the blessing
that flows that when we build your house. I believe
God that you are going to bless ours. So bless
each home, bless each family, bless each individual, bless each business,
all in the mighty name of Jesus. We pray, Amen,
(41:52):
thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
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 (42:11):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you.
Host
Steven Furtick
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.