March 3, 2024 • 58 mins
In “With God There’s Always A Way, And By Faith I Will Find It,” Pastor Rich Wilkerson reminds us that our prayers might not be answered when or how we expect, but with God they will be better than we could have imagined.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving
in your life.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Enjoy the message today.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
I am grateful to be worshiping at Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Come on, if you're thankful for this house, if you're
thankful for what He's doing. David said, better is one
day in your.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
House, been a thousand elsewhere a thousand days.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
That's like two and a half years.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
So I don't know what the next two and a
half years, if your life's going to look like. But
if this is the last best day you're in God's house,
come on, somebody celebrate the name of Jesus like this
is the best day in the next two and a
half years.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Come on, we worship you God, We praise you Lord.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I want you to reach for your Bible, turning me
to Mark chapter five. Go ahead and stay standing as
we get ready to read the scripture today. It is
such an honor to be at Elevation Church. It is
a privilege for me and I just love what God
is doing all throughout the earth. Uh. You know, I'm
here today on Sunday, but I've been like with you
(01:20):
all this week because if you don't know, your church
is on tour Elevation Nights, has been changing city after.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
City, and I got to hop in.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I was like a roadie, or maybe I was like
a groupie and maybe more of a groupie. I think
I was more of a groupie. And I was in
Long Island. It was the Ubs Arena.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Is that what it was? Chunks? Y'all?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Did you know that there are people sold out for
Jesus in Long Island?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
In Boston, sold out.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Crowds all up and down the Northeast, And man, it
was powerful seeing that place full people worshiping, singing the songs.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
That were written right out of this house.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Pastor Hawley was up on the stage, just presidential, poised
and beautiful and wonderful. Abby Yo, Abby's up on the
stage preaching fire. Anybody grateful for Pastor Stephen Ferdick Man.
I've heard him preach so much, but this week, man,
the messages he was sharing changing all of us, deep, direct, beautiful,
(02:24):
and I'm so thankful for how God is using this
church all over the world, and I hope you're thankful
for it. Today we're gathering on Sunday, but your church
has been happening every day of the week this past week.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
And it was C. S. Lewis who said it this way.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
He said, friendship is born at the moment that you go, oh,
you two.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I thought I was the only one.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
And Pastor Stephen has a way that when he preaches
from this pulpit, we all go oh. I thought I
was the only one. And I'm so thankful for his life.
I'm thankful for his leadership. His messages right behind this
pulpit have changed my life.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
I gotta be honest with you, the.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Life he lives off of this stage. Man, his pastoring
has changed me, but his friendship has matured me. And
I know he's not in the room today, but come on,
I believe he's watching right now at every location.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Can we just thank God for our pastor?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Come on, make some annoys if you love Pastor Steven,
Pastor Hawley, Elijah Graham, and we love all y'all. Hey, yo,
this is not just a regular series. This is a
life message. I get to preach him. Part three of
do the new you. Try to get that annoyant you
(03:36):
know me, someone say, do the new you, not the
old you, not the projected you, the new you, the
you that God has called you to be. And we've
been talking about these mindsets. And what a powerful message
on is that I just can't encourage. I know these people
watching online right now.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Get the book.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
It just hit New York Times bestseller. But man, what
a tragedy for you just to let him teach you.
Get even deeper. Get into the book because these six
different mindsets will transform your life. How y'all know our
mind is set on something. I hope that when you
come into this house, we're not saying something new, we're
saying something quite old, but we are reminding who you
(04:16):
have been called to be. I'm even believing today right
now it might be a mindset reset. Remember the Nintendo
the game wasn't going good, very good. You pulled that
game out.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Reset.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
May today be a great reset. And we've been talking
about lots of great things. And week one he was
talking about I'm not stuck unless I y'all been listening. Man,
do y'all know the second one?
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Christ is in me?
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Okay, Okay, just making sure y'all been listening to the teacher.
We're gonna get into mindset number three, mark chapter five,
verse twenty two. Let me read it, and then we
will preach it. Then one of the synagogue leaders named
Gyrus came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at
his feet, and he pleaded earnestly with him, My little
(05:13):
daughter is dying.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Please come and put your.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Hands on her so that she will be healed and live.
So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd followed
and pressed around him. And a woman was there who
had been subject to bleeding for twelve years someone say
twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the
care of many doctors and had spent all she had,
Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she
(05:41):
heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the
crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, if I
just touch his clothes, I will be healed.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Talk about a mindset.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her that
she was freed from her suffering. At once, Jesus realized
the power had gone out from him. He turned around
in the crowd and asked, who touched my clothes? You
see the people crowding against you. His disciples answered, and
yet you can ask who touched me? But Jesus kept
(06:20):
looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman,
knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at
his feet, and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.
He said to her daughter, your faith has healed you.
Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Come on, if you.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Received that word today, somebody who's clapped your hands? Mindset
number three. With God, there's always a way, and by
faith I will find it. Do me a favor, Touch
three different people before you sit down and say, by
(07:08):
faith you're going to find it. Say by faith you're
going to find it. By faith, you're going to find it.
How many believe today that God is never late? That
(07:31):
was okay, I said, How many believe that God is
never late? God is never late? But have you ever
realized rarely is he early? No? God is not on
my time. God is not on your time. God is
(07:53):
on time. On time is God time? How many believes
that we serve a God who's on time?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
What's funny?
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Is. I've been serving the Lord for many, many years,
and what I've realized about God is that he's definitely
not on my time. He's certainly not on your time.
But sometimes it feels like to me that God is
on Miami time. I'm from Miami. Maybe you don't know
about Miami time, but in nineteen ninety eight, I moved
all the way from Tacoma, Washington, to the city of Miami.
(08:26):
And when I got to Miami, I discovered this little term.
It's called ish. Do you know about ish? What time
we meet in twelve ish?
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I'll never forget it.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
My first year there, I was fourteen years of age
and I got invited to a wedding. It was a
Puerto Rican Haitian wedding. You haven't lived until you've been
to a Puerto Rican Haitian wedding. The invitation said four PM.
(09:03):
So I showed up like a Caucasian at three forty five.
I'm so white, y'all pray for me.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I got the three forty five. I was like, this
is awesome. I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
This is gonna be incredible, you know, And you know,
four point fifteen hit and I'm like, it's kind of late.
You know, this is strange. Four thirty, four forty five.
I'm breaking out in hives at four forty five and
I'm about to leave, and the guy next to me says, oh,
don't you leave.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
This thing will start. At some point.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Two hours later, six pm at night, the wedding finally began.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
But y'all, ain't no party.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Like a porter Hatian party, because a Puerto Rican Haitian
party don't stop. Once this thing began, it just kept
going and going and going. This was a real This
was a wedding like I had never been to before.
God is not on your time, and he's not on
(10:19):
my time. Sometimes he's on Miami time. And the thing
I know about Miami time is that it might not
be how you planned it, but with God, it's going
to be better than how you expected it. Somebody puts
your hands together and thank him that he's on time,
say God time. I want us to be a church,
(10:40):
and I want us to be a people that understand
that when God begins to move in your life, it
probably won't happen the way that you expected it to happen.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
It's not that I'm against speed.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
I just think that we're living in some interesting times
right now, where people are so used to getting everything
immediately that all it's doing is increasing depression. It's increasing discontentment.
I'm not against speed as long as we all agree
that speed is a luxury, not an entitlement.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Look around today.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
We are living in a world right now that we
all know the price of everything, but some of us
know the value of nothing. Good things, God things take time.
That when God starts something in your life, I don't
know when he's going to start it.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I don't know when he's gonna show up. I don't
know how he's going to intervene.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
But I know this that He who began a good
work in you, he will carry it out under completion.
Somebody take a few moments right now, thank him in
advance that he's always on time.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
God time is on time.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
And in Mark chapter five we have a beautiful, beautiful,
beautiful story about the timing of God. That with God
there's always a way, and by faith I will find it.
The text as we begin reading today starts out with
this story. And really we don't have enough time. But
the text is about two women. This man a name
(12:18):
of Jiros, who is a successful synagogue leader comes to
Jesus with a cry from his heart that his little
twelve year old daughter is about to die.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Not right away.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
As I read the text, what I notice is that
this man has a big position and a big title,
but sometimes your position and your title can't solve all
your problems. And so by faith he comes to the
feet of Jesus and he pleads with Jesus. What it
shows me quickly is that as Jesus hears the man's request,
Jesus is moved by the man's.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Faith, meaning my faith can move God.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Jesus goes with the man to his house to heal
his little daughter. Before they get there, she actually dies
on the way. Then let me just skip to the
end of her store. We'll come back to it in
a moment. But he gets to the house of this
little girl and she's died while Jesus was on the journey.
And when he walks in, there's all these mourners and
there's people crying, and Jesus walked and said, yop, y'all
(13:17):
stop crying, and they start laughing at him. He'sai, no, no, no,
the little girl is just asleep. They're going, haha, no,
you're crazy. And notice what Jesus does is you go
back and read it. He clears the room. I can't
have this kind of mindset around me. I'm about to
bring about a resurrection, and I don't have no time
(13:38):
for doubt and.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
For laughter to be around me.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
A couple weeks ago, Pastor Stephen was preaching the story
about the Walls of Jericho.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
I'm not stuck unless I stop. Remember the word of
the Lord. What does he say to the Israelites? He says,
for six days, march around those walls. But remember there
is a particular command that he gives them. He says,
when you march for six days, don't say a word.
Can you imagine how silly this looks. We're finally here
(14:09):
for a battle. We ain't got no swords, we ain't
got no shields. We're just silent. Why did God tell
them to be silent? Because these are the children of complainers.
And God was saying, there's a miracle in progress. And
(14:34):
I can't allow you to speak right now because you
don't realize it.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
The only enemy is yourself.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
And if I let you start talking while you're marching,
you might talk yourself.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Out of a miracle. So be quiet.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
There's a victory in progress. March in faith. Come on, somebody,
if you believe it. Today Jesus heals this little girl
and resurrects her. The father's reach moves Jesus, but Jesus's
reach resurrects the girl.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
It was all by faith.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
But what I want us to highlight today, if we
can for a few moments, is the timing of God.
Because as Jesus is moved by Jyros towards their home,
the scripture says that there's another woman and what appears
to be an interruption to Jesus on the way to Gyrous' house.
I actually believe it's a divine intervention. I actually believe
(15:32):
it's a divine appointment. I actually believe it's God's time.
The Bible says that he is on his way. There's
a woman there who has an issue of blood, and
she's had this issue for twelve years. My father, who
is my hero, wrote a book in the eighties entitled
Private Pain, and the book was based on this woman
(15:55):
with the issue of blood that she is bleeding, but
no one around her is all the way even aware
of her pain.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
It's a private pain.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Come, y'all know it's one thing to have a struggle,
and it's one thing to have an issue. It's another
thing when you have that issue for twelve long years. Now.
I don't know who's watching today, I don't know who
came into this place today, but some of you you
quickly relate to this woman, because although you might not
be bleeding physically, you would say I'm hemorrhaging emotionally.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
I'm hemorrhaging relationally.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
I want to encourage you today as we look at
this passage that with God, there's always a way, and
by faith, you will find it quickly. What I noticed
about this woman is that somehow, this woman who's had
the same struggle for twelve long years, somehow, in all
of the hurt that she has faced in life, her
hurt hasn't stolen her hope. I felt it so deep
(16:53):
in my heart on the way over here. I want
to tell some people who are watching right now, don't
give up hope.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Hope is the building blocks to your faith.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Hope is the belief that although I can't see God,
I can still sense God. Hope is this belief that
although it seems like He might be absent, I'm gonna
firmly believe that He's present. You ever heard someone say
to you, don't get your hopes. Sometimes people say that
(17:25):
they're not saying that to be mean. I know, sometimes
they say that to be merciful, because they don't want
you to put your hope in something and then not
get it and lead to greater disappointment. That's why the
scripture says, hope deferred makes the heart grow sick. But
today the mindset is not about getting your hope up. Now,
that's not what we're teaching today. Hope is too heavy
(17:48):
for you to hold up on your own. No, you
don't hold hope up. Come on, somebody, you put hope
in The Psalmist said, why is my soul so downcast?
Put your hope in God. I don't put my hope
in an outcome. I put my hope in God. I
(18:11):
don't put my hope in an agenda. I put my
hope in God.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Come on, is there anybody.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
In the room today that would say, I'm putting my.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Hope in God. It is not the strength of your.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Faith, it's the object of your faith. We're not teaching
mind over matter here at Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
We are teaching faith over unbelief. It's not faith in faith.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
No, my faith is attached to Jesus Christ, King of Kings,
Lord of lords, author and perfector of my story.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
We attach our faith to Jesus.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
And when I look at this woman quickly, what I
see is that her hope works.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Someone say hope works. Don't get it mistaken.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Hope works. How do I know hope works? Because look
at what the tech says. The text says that this
woman has seen many physicians.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
She's gone to many doctors. In fact, the Bible says.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
That she spent everything that she has had trying to
get well.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
And it's a troubling verse.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
It says that as she spent everything, and as she
tried to go and see different doctors every time, she
just grew worse. Now I'm sad that she suffered in
this way, but I'm grateful that she kept trying. It
shows me that she has hope because hope works. Don't
(19:40):
get it twisted today. If you have hope, you will work.
You will do what you can do, and trust that
God will do what you can't do. I have three
little kids and my oldest boy, his name is Wyatt.
Wesley Wilkerson. He's six years of age. My youngest, who's
my favorite child.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
It's my daughter. Her name is Waylan, she's two.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
And then right in between, I think every time I
come to elevation, I have to always tell you a
story about my boy in between. His name is Wild
and it's wild to name your son Wild and Wyatt.
My oldest is quite large for his age. He's like
in the top ninety percentile for height and weight. And Wild,
on the other hand, is quite small for his age.
(20:21):
He's little, but he's feisty. He's little, but he's scrappy.
And for the most part, this is never really much
of a problem until we go to disney World. Because
at disney World they have these rules and qualifications to
get on a ride. And so we're going to disney
World the other day and Wild's, you know, he really
wants to go on the Slinky roller coaster. He's like, Dad,
(20:43):
I want to go on the Slinky roller coaster. The
problem is you got to be forty four inches to
go on that ride. Wild is like thirty inch something,
you know, I said, wild Man, I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
You know, it's not going to happen.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Bro you're just too short and wild, he says, But Dad,
please try. I said, sure, So what have you got
in mind? And so him and his brother went and
got hair gel, spiked his hair up, put his older
brother's shoes on. Can I show you what a picture
(21:17):
looks like of hope working? This is my son wild.
Look at this photo.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
You want to know what hope looks like. That's all.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I'm not dull enough, but I'm gonna do everything I can.
Sometimes hope looks like you spake it up your hair,
getting some platform shoes on, saying I'm not there yet,
but I am on my way. Is there anybody in
the room today who's got a little bit of hope
in their heart?
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Hope works.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Hoping in God looks like waiting on God.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
You got to learn to wait on the Lord.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
The prophet Isaiah said, wait on.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
The Lord, and he shall renew your strength. While you're waiting.
You're getting stronger.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
While you're waiting, He's developing you. While you're waiting. You
have no idea what he is working out. But there
is a point to the wait. I think waiting on
God is this. Waiting on God means doing everything that
you possibly can and then surrendering everything you can't. So,
if you're sick in your body today, do everything you
(22:37):
can call upon God. Do what James says, call the elders,
get the oil, pray the prayer of faith, take the medication,
go to the doctor, get the surgery for heaven saying.
But then you surrender control and you say, God, I'm
gonna give you my grief. God, I'm not gonna let
the enemy get a foothold of bitterness. Trust you that
(23:01):
you are making a way where there seems to be
no way. If you got a dream in your heart, man,
Pastor Stevens up here ap preaching the do.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
The New You, and you're getting inspired, like that's it. Man,
this is my year twenty twenty four. I got a roar.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
I hear you, So do everything that you can call
upon God.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
God, you put this dream in my heart. God you
started this dream.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
But then get to work, build your network, sharpen your skills,
watch a YouTube video, read a book, and then surrender
everything that you can.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
God, I'm gonna give you my timeline. God, I'm gonna
trust you with it. God, I believe that you have
a plan. If you're single and you want to get married.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Do everything you can call upon God. Lord, I need
a man. I love dating you, Jesus, but I think
we should see other people.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Just came to me right now. That makes me laugh.
Stay interesting every once in a while. Leave your house.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
No, No, I'm just waiting on God. The old thing
you have to like, walk out the door. Now he
can bring my man right here on the front door.
Set all right, sister, I hope you like uber eat
men because that's.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
All you're working with.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
No, do everything that you can and then surrender.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Your control over to God. God. I'm gonna trust you. God.
I'm not gonna lower my standard. God.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I might be single, but I'm gonna remain secure in you.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
God.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
You're the one who completes me. God, You're the one
who's making away.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
With God.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
There's always a way, and by faith I will find it.
It's funny because why I got his hair all spiked.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Though I'm not there yet, but I'm I'm gonna do
whatever I can. We got to the slinky right.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Don't tell Disney, but I put wild on my feet.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
We snuck them on y'all.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
How many can testify that that's your story, that you
weren't qualified.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
You didn't measure up.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
But there's a good Father who stepped in and said,
they that weighed upon the Lord, I will renew their strength.
Humble yourself before God, and in due season, Come on, baby.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
He will lift you all. Somebody get God some praise.
Is how today.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
This woman is doing everything she knows to do. But
although she's doing everything she knows to do, her problem
is not getting better, is getting worse. But then the
Bible says it, she heard about Jesus. Church. We're gonna
(26:28):
keep telling you about Jesus. I just want to encourage
some folks out there. There's power in the name of Jesus.
Come on, if you believe. There's breakthrough in the name
of Jesus.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Come on. There's healing in the name of Jesus. There's
purpose in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
She heard about Jesus. She's tried everything but faith, because
faith begins where your ability ends. The scripture says that
she heard about Jesus. I don't know what she heard,
(27:05):
but something tells me it was good news. We opened
up church today. This is the gospel. This is the
good news. I don't know who's watching right now. But
Jesus did not come to this earth to make bad
little boys good little boys.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
He came for a much deeper reason than that.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
He came to bring people who are dead and bring
them back to life through his healing power.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Anybody thankful for the Gospel. It's always good news.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
I'm grateful for the way that your pastor preaches, because
he preaches with a smile on his face.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
He preaches with the joy of the Lord.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
He preaches every message, bringing it back to the person
of Jesus and bringing it back to the good news.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
She heard about Jesus.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
And then notice it right there. The scripture says that
she heard about Jesus and she thought. Someone says she thought.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
She thought.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
She thought, if I could just touch his clothes, then
I could be made well. Another translation says that she said,
she spoke, if I could just touch the hem of
his garment, then I would be made well. What kind
of a mindset is this? If I could just Who
(28:22):
taught her this? Where did she learn this? If I
could just touch the hem of his garment, then I
would be made well. It started as a thought, and
then the thought erupted into her mouth. See faith talks
Faith speaks, Faith says things.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Faith isn't silent. Faith actually has a sound.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That's why on the seventh march around those walls, God said,
all right, you've been marching six times, but now on
the seventh time, I want you to open up your
mouth and shout, because when you out, those walls are
coming down. Because faith has a sound. I wonder is
the sound at Elevation Church this morning.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Listen to me.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
You have to get a confession that is louder than
your circumstance. She said it before she saw it. Oh,
because that's how faith works. We don't walk by sight.
We walk by faith. Before she sees it, she says it.
(29:35):
When we were first starting the church, probably year one
or year two, I passed her church in Miami, Florida
called Voo Church. And it's always so fun because there's
always people from the Elevation World e fam that.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Are always like I guess taking a cruise out of Miami,
like we came in for the early service.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
You know.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
I love it when you guys come by and say hello.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
But we started this church in Miami and in year
one we were able to rent an off space. Now
I'm gonna be honest with you, like it was. I
think it was thirty five hundred square feet chunks.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It was small.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
But you know, I've always been a faith man. I
don't say what I see. I say what I want
to see. So we didn't call it an office. We
called it the International Headquarters. And so I was at
headquarters one day and I needed to get a ride
home and my brother in law, who had just joined
our team, young in the ministry, just a servant for
(30:30):
the Lord. I said, bro, can you can you give
me a ride home? And so we exit the headquarters
and we make our way to this little parking lot
and where the headquarters was, let's just say it wasn't
a very good area of town. And my brother in law,
God bless him, at the time, was driving a two
thousand and eight Chrysler three hundred gray with twenty inch rims.
(30:54):
I think I had one hundred and fifty thousand miles
on it. And as we made our way over to
the car, somebody had smashed his window in.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I just thought that was mean.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
You know, it's like my boys already, you know, struggling
with the whole ride set up, and uh.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
And then to add insult to injury. Is like, really,
you're gonna shadow this man's window.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
You just took his struggle to suffering, you know, and
so you do what you do, you know, Like we
quickly went back into HQ, checked out duct tape and
a plastic sack from supplies, and we came in and
we you know, we duct taped the window to make
it home.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
And we got in the car.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
It's just like a scene, bro, like this old beaten
down car. Now there's glass all over the floor. We
have a duct tape, paper sack, plastic sack makes that
dumb noise come and instantly when we got in the car.
I don't know if remember that old song. It's not
elevation worship, so I hope I don't get in trouble.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
But the stereo came on.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
It was that song you Aren't Good Good Oh, and
we're driving. How was looking at my brother? I'm like, really, we're.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Both like, I ain't singing that you know.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Good?
Speaker 1 (32:23):
You are good good? Oh?
Speaker 3 (32:29):
As I ain't nothing good about this God, this is
a bad situation.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
But I don't know what it was.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
Remember that, remember that that bridge on that song You're
never gonna let You're never gonna let me down down, follow.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Jesus, I promise you. It's an adventure. That bridge came
on and I don't know where it was. I think
it was like the second time that bridge.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
At some point, man, that thing kept going and finally, man,
the spirit of God hit that Chrysler three hundred and
they came into that bridge a second time. But man,
I can't sing very good, but something came out of
the depths of my soul.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
I hit it hard. You are never gonna let it.
You're never gonna let me down good.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
I don't know who I'm preaching to today, but you
gotta have a confession that is louder than your circumstance.
I don't care what you're driving in. I don't care
what the vehicle looks like. Keep on singing, keep on worshiping.
Your card might be busted, but your faith is not broken.
I got a faith and a confession that speaks.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Somebody. Take about five seconds and remind the enemy you
know who you are. You're never gonna let me out
for rich that don't make no sense. I know that's faith.
(34:11):
If you're waiting.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
For it to make sense, you're never gonna step into faith.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Because faith is the absence of sense.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
You can't smell it, you can't taste it, you certainly
can't see it. But you can hear about Jesus. And
faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of the Lord.
She said, if I could just touch, if I could
just touch the hem of his garment, friends, the garment
is not even him. She had a kind of faith
that said, if I could just touch the thing that's
(34:41):
touching him. Ah, I got a revelation today. If the
garment's got power, if the clothes have got power, how
much more power does the body of Jesus Christ have.
Come on somebody, we are the church. I don't know
about you, ma'am, but when we can you gather. This
isn't a cool atmosphere. It's not a concert. This is
(35:04):
the very presence of God. And when you and I
get into this place, you have no idea the miracles
on your left, the miracles on your right. If I
could pass this microphone down the rows, you would start
hearing the testimonies and the stories from right here in
this body of God's wonder working power. I can't miss
a Sunday at Elevation Church. I gotta be in God's house.
(35:25):
You don't know what's going to happen when the body
gets together. If his garment's got power, how much more
power does.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
His body have?
Speaker 3 (35:34):
And I know there's some things that are going around
today about the church and some people hurt by the church,
and I understand it. And there's some things that we
must get right in the church, no doubt about it.
But may I remind everybody in this room. Ain't nobody
have more church hurt than Jesus. And he keeps on
showing up. Come on, somebody thank Jesus today that he's
never let you down, He's never quit.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
He keeps showing up.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
So here comes this woman and if I could just
touch it the hem of his garment, and the scripture
says that she begins to step through the crowd, because
at some point, faith doesn't just talk. Faith has got
to walk. We didn't gather here just to talk. We've
actually gathered here that you might scatter back into wherever
it is that you're going walking the walk of faith.
(36:20):
I hope you know that God is He's motion activated.
Have you know, have you learned about God like he
ever been to one of those like those sinks that
there's water there, but like there's no way to turn
it on. It's motion activated, so you have access to water,
but the water will not begin to flow until you
motion your hands. James said, draw close to God, and
(36:41):
he will draw close to you, because when I move,
God moves just like that. I feel discermon more than
some of y'all responded and ask, Okay, I'm gonna bless
myself off here, come on, how y'all believe that when
you step, it gets the attention of heaven. So here
(37:04):
comes this woman and she's pressing through this crowd an
issue for twelve years, and she's got this belief in
her mind that with God there's always a way, and
my hope is working and I've been waiting, but I'm
gonna keep on trying.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
And as she gets close to Jesus, she touches.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
The hem of his garment, and when she does, the
Bible says that instantly, immediately she's healed.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
So much so that Jesus is like, yo, who touched me.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
One gospel the scripture said that Peter's like, Yo, Jesus,
you gotta love Peter, right, It's like, bro, shut up, please,
you know two thousand years later.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
We're gonna use you in every illustration we gone.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
Jesus, Come on, you don't know who touch you. The
whole crowd's pressing at you. Come on, man, like everyone's
touching you. But Jesus is saying no, no, no no.
There is a difference between the touch of fame and
the touch of faith, meaning.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Just because you come to church don't mean anything's gonna change.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
Have you ever been like in one of those seasons,
maybe you went to an elevation night, You're like, oh
my god, it's too.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
Early to make myself laugh this hard. Oh my god,
I'm on fire. You know this language will use I'm
on fire. You ever been like I'm on fire?
Speaker 3 (38:34):
For God?
Speaker 1 (38:35):
It's like Friday night, I'm on fi. Nothing it can
stop these flames. But then I don't know.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
It's like you go to you know, work on Monday,
or how about you get in traffic on Tuesday and
this fire that was burning so bright is quickly shut
out just with traffic. Yo, spirit fingers, where'd the fire go?
(39:07):
Beca There's a difference from just showing up to the
crowd instead of coming out of the crowd. One of
the most dangerous places you'll find yourself in life. Is
to think that you are on fire for God, but
come to find out you were just sensing the heat
(39:28):
from everyone else around you. I'm not trying to make
you feel less than I'm trying to empower you that
if I just came for one person, if it's just
one person on the other end of that camera, that
you've been struggling with the same thing and you've been trying.
I want to let you know that God sees you,
and God knows your name, and when you make your faith.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Personal, he notices. He senses he didn't come for the crowd.
He came for you. Come on, somebody, thank God today
worship team can start making their way up here.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
And this woman she's pressing through the crowd and she's
stepping towards Jesus and she touches them of his garment
and instantly healed. And as healed, Jesus asked this question,
who touched me? And they say, come on, all sorts
of people were touching. He's like, no, I felt something
to leave my body that was a touch of faith.
And then this woman she speaks up and she says
it was me and she was terrified. He sayd why
(40:28):
was she terrified? Because when Jesus turns to her, she's
not looking at a good teacher, and she's not looking
at a good man.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
She is staring at the face of God. It's the
face of God.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
And this woman, I believe one of the great reasons
why she is in the Bible, and this is an
encouragement for so many of you, is that she is
proof positive that at your weakest moment, you are still
strong enough.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
To touch Jesus. What's amazing is that I sense this
so deeply my heart.
Speaker 3 (41:03):
What's amazing to say if you take listen to me,
if you just take one step towards Jesus, immediately, he
begins working on your behalf.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Immediately immediately.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
The Bible says that the Lord looks to and fro
throughout the whole earth, and he's looking for a humble heart.
He's looking for a righteous heart, someone that he can
come alongside and strengthen.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
I just have this mindset. My mind is set that
God is good and has good things for me. So
I actually believe that God's looking for people to hook up.
God's looking for people to validate.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
God's looking for people to partner with, and as you
just take one step towards Jesus, whether you know it
or not, he starts working.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Listen to me, it doesn't mean.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
As he begins to work that you're immediately taking out
of the fire of your circumstance, not immediately always removed
from it.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
We have to trust and wait on his.
Speaker 3 (41:57):
Time, because God's time is on top. People always ask
that question, Hey, you know what's your favorite food? You
ever heard this question before? And like a lot of times,
when people ask this question, they have two different angles
on it. One angle is what's your favorite food? Meaning
if it was your last meal, you're on your deathbed,
what do you want to eat? Or the other angle
they mean is like, you know, what's your favorite food?
(42:18):
What's the one thing that you would eat every day
if you could? For me, with both crazy hypothetical situations,
I choose the same thing.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
I plead pizza. You want to know what mano was
the early stages of pizza. The other day, I went
to one of my favorite pizza rihas in Miami.
Speaker 3 (42:41):
It's a pretty famous place and I got there when
I showed up and there was like a line out
the door, so many people trying to get in. We
finally got seated and we were waiting for a pizza.
We put our orders in and finally pizza came out.
I'm a pepperoni and cheese guy. It came out and
I took one bite of it, and immediately I was like,
this ain't right. Come on, man, it's soft. It wasn't
(43:02):
holding you know how you want your slice to hold up.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
You know it wasn't holding up. And I can't be
for certain.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
I don't really know what happened, but something tells me
that that day the chef was under such pressure and
under such demand that he started rushing orders. It's another
message for another time, but the fastest way to steal
your sauce. Your sauce is that gift. Your sauce is
that thing that God's called you to do. Your sauce
is that special thing that God's put inside of you.
(43:29):
The fastest way for you to steal your sauce is
start trying to please people more than what God's called
you to do.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
I preach that, I see it right now, but I'm
not gonna it wasn't right.
Speaker 3 (43:47):
Because if you're anything like me, I don't just want
my pizza hot. But in the words of Little Caesars,
it's got to be hot and ready.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
You didn't know I could preach pizza.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Huh.
Speaker 3 (44:12):
This is a place that I can tell is hot.
Your faith might have a sound, and your faith might
even have a step. But just because you're shouting, and
just because you're stepping, doesn't actually mean that you're always ready.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
You know what I love about this book. There's no
doubt that this book is hot.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
But you know when the last time Pastor Stephen wrote
anything on paper and gave it to us, It's been
eight years.
Speaker 1 (44:41):
Eight is the number of new beginnings.
Speaker 3 (44:45):
It is no surprise to me whatsoever that it's a
New York Times bestseller, because it's not that it's just
hot and passionate. It's that it's ready. It's that it's
the right time. I want to encourage some people. Right now,
you're hot, but you might not be ready. I want
to encourage you to keep up your passion, keep stirring
up the gift on the inside of you. But just
(45:07):
because you're passionate and just because you're excited doesn't necessarily
mean that you're ready. I know some of you right now,
I'm in the oven of life. The heat is turning up. Man,
when's he gonna.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
Pull me out? And I just want to encourage you trust.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
God's timing because God is the master chef.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
Somebody say, let him cook today. He knows the right
time of when he's gonna pull you out.
Speaker 3 (45:33):
And this woman, what I see about her, and it's
just an observation, is something tells me is that she's
not just hot and passionate, is that she's ready for
her breakthrough.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
We don't get her name.
Speaker 3 (45:44):
Did you notice that she's preached as the woman with
the issue of blood. That's that's how we know her,
the woman with the issue of blood. And see, the
great lie that many of us buy into is that
your issue is you. But the power of the Gospel
(46:07):
is to remind you over and over and over again
that your identity is not made up of your issues.
Speaker 1 (46:15):
You are not your mistake. You are not your failure.
Speaker 3 (46:17):
You're not your doubt, you're not your insecurity, you're not
your bouts with depression. You're not your mistake from last year.
You're not even your mistake of tomorrow. We all got issues, but.
Speaker 1 (46:28):
It's one thing.
Speaker 3 (46:29):
When your issue has you, it's one thing that have issues.
It's another thing when you're controlled by your issues.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
And notice this woman.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
This woman showcases us that she's not just mind over
matter and shouting and stepping, but we see something that
she has a clue about and that her behavior is
breaking past every label on her life. She's a woman,
and in that time period that was an issue. She
had a sociological issue. She was not allowed to go
(46:59):
up to man and touch a man. Remember that woman
in Luke chapter seven when she brought the alabaster box.
It wasn't even the world that scolded her, the very
disciples of Jesus said, why are you letting this woman
touch you? She doesn't just have a sociological issue, She's
got a theological issue.
Speaker 1 (47:15):
This bleeding that.
Speaker 3 (47:16):
She's got going on means that she is unclean. If
you're unclean, you can't touch Jesus, let alone. You can't
touch a rabbi.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
But this woman.
Speaker 3 (47:26):
With a sociological issue, with a physical issue, with a
theological issue. She's got a religion that's preventing her. But
the very hope and calling of relationship is pulling her
(47:46):
and Jesus instantly and immediately heals her.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
And I just thought today.
Speaker 3 (47:51):
I thought it was important to point out that I'm
really glad that her issue of the bleeding stop. I'm
really grateful that she got healed. I'm really grateful that
the suffering in her body stop. But let's be honest,
that's not really the power of the story, because how
do you know she's gonna have some more issues in
the future. The story that we're reading about isn't just
(48:11):
simply that her blood flows stop. The story is in
the Bible because she has a faith that was so
powerful and so strong that made a way, and the
way that it made it is that she reissued her identity.
Speaker 1 (48:27):
She re issued her identity.
Speaker 3 (48:29):
Because everyone's like, yo, yo, you can't go and touch
a man. No, no, no, no, I'm not just some girl.
I'm actually his dog.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
No no, no, you're bleeding, you're unclean. No no no,
I'm hurt.
Speaker 3 (48:50):
And I know the man that I'm reaching out to,
I know that he sees me and he cares about me.
Speaker 1 (48:57):
The power of this story is a.
Speaker 3 (48:59):
Faith that reissued an identity. The news you, I want
to say it so boldly in my heart. If you
will approach God like a father every time, he will
only treat you like a daughter. I don't know, and
who needs to hear that today? Woman of God, Man
(49:19):
of God. If you'll approach him like dad, he'll treat
you like a son.
Speaker 1 (49:23):
He'll treat you like a daughter.
Speaker 3 (49:24):
Would you believe that this is the only time in
the New Testament that Jesus Christ looks at someone and
calls them daughter.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Because she had a.
Speaker 3 (49:33):
Faith that reissued her identity. Yeah, I'm glad that I
got my healing. But bigger than that, and greater than that,
is that I know it's been twelve years of suffering.
Speaker 1 (49:44):
Oh but baby girl, it's.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
Gonna be worth it because you're now gonna have an
eternity of rejoicing. I know it wasn't your time. It's
called God time. It's called God time.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
You are not your issue.
Speaker 3 (50:05):
Your identity is child of God. Your identity when you
put your faith in Jesus is son.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
It is dark.
Speaker 3 (50:17):
I just can't help but see it what I think
about the timing of God, because please understand, the story
began with Jyris, who has.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
A twelve year old daughter who's so sick she's about
to die. And it just so happens.
Speaker 3 (50:35):
That there's a woman who has an issue for twelve
long years. One is dying slowly, the other has died suddenly.
Speaker 1 (50:48):
I don't think it's a coincidence.
Speaker 3 (50:50):
I don't think that the very year that this little
girl was born, this problem began.
Speaker 1 (50:58):
See how I said that right there? But here comes
the reframing of it.
Speaker 3 (51:04):
The very moment your problem began, a pathway to your
promise was born. And I just think that these two
stories overlap and intersect and have this interruption because it
(51:25):
is a divine appointment of God's timing. That what He's
wanting to say to every one of us, that if
you are in the room today and you ain't got
a daddy like Gyros, maybe somebody dropped you, maybe somebody
hurts you. Maybe you've ever had anybody plead for you
on your behalf. Maybe you've been betrayed and let down
and people have let you go. I just want to
(51:46):
encourage you. I think the story's in the Bible because
if you ain't got a daddy like Gyros Woo, you
still got to save your name Jesus who shows.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
Up right on time. Would you believe me.
Speaker 3 (52:03):
If I told you that twelve is the number of
order in the Bible, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve disciples,
read the Book of Revelation. When he restores the New Jerusalem,
there will be twelve pillars of foundations, twelve gates, and
twelve angels, because twelve represents order, and God's timing is
(52:25):
divine order.
Speaker 1 (52:27):
If you believe it, Somebody give God some praise in
this house. It wasn't a coincidence.
Speaker 3 (52:35):
It was God set up from the very beginning that
he was bringing these moments together. And he wants to
remind everybody in this room today. I know you maybe
have some issues, and I'm not underestimating your issues. But
more than issues, you, my friend, you have an inheritance
because you are a child of God. So may I
say it the way your pastor has been preaching it.
(52:56):
Don't do the old Jew, don't do your issues, do
the new you. You're a child, you're a son, you're
a daughter. Come on, if you know who you are today,
stand upon your feet.
Speaker 1 (53:07):
You've got some praise and worship him. Let you know
who you are.
Speaker 3 (53:18):
Some would say, with God, there's always a way, and
by faith I will find it. With God, there's always
a way, and by faith I will find it. This
(53:40):
woman's got a blood issue. Let's be honest, we've all
got a blood issue. It really wasn't That's not really
the best way to say it. Blood issue. What this
woman has is a blood disorder that what is meant
to happen periodically is now happening perpetually. But the very
(54:04):
same thing is true for you and I that all
the way back in the garden, when Adam ate that fruit.
It's set a blood disorder intomotion. But I'm grateful right there.
The promise began at the moment of sin, God said,
I've already made a way.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
For you.
Speaker 3 (54:25):
Will bruise his heel, but he will stomp your head
the moment your problem began, the promise was born. That
day her blood stopped flowing. But how many of you
know some days later the blood of Jesus would begin
to flow. And his blood is more than enough. His
(54:46):
blood covers a multitude of sins. His blood relinquishes you
from shame and condemnation. You are not what somebody else
says about you. You are not what your parents have
said about you. You're not your mom, you're not your dad,
You're not your mistake. You are not dis qualified today
by grace, through faith, God will make a way and
you too can reissue your identity.
Speaker 4 (55:08):
Go ahead and thank them all over the room today,
do the new you. I want to get people an
opportunity right now to be.
Speaker 3 (55:20):
New, to be made new. That's what salvation is. Old
things have passed away and the new thing has come.
That's why Jesus says we must be reborn. I'm reborn.
I'm born again. Why am I born again? Because you're
(55:40):
not a son by worth, You're a son by birth.
And when you know who you are, you know who
your dad is. Stay with your head bowt and your
eyes closed before we sing the song, just since God's
presence here and of relocation right there on.
Speaker 1 (55:58):
YouTube right now. Know Jesus he's here and he loves you,
and he's for you.
Speaker 3 (56:04):
And I love Sundays because metaphorically, to me, it's like
Jesus is passing through and anybody who reaches out, they
can too be healed. They too can find a new identity.
It's amazing her reach healed her, but Jesus is reach
to that little girl resurrected her. The reach of Jesus
will pull you up out of that slimy pit. Put
(56:25):
your feet on a solid rock, a firm foundation. If
God pulls you out of that oven too soon, you
don't have the foundation to hold up. Trust him, Trust him,
Trust him today. Would you give him your life? On
the count of three, If that's you saying, I want
Jesus to be the lord of my life. I want
to give my life over to him. I want to
repent from my sin, and I want to be reissued
a new identity child of God. On the count of three.
(56:47):
If that's you, be bold, this is your time. This
is a divine appointment. Ready on the count of three. One,
that's you, put your hand up. Two, don't look at
your neighbors. How about you neighbors. That's you put your
hand up ready, one, two, three. If that's you've lived up,
that's me, rich.
Speaker 1 (57:02):
That's me. That's me. That's me. That's me. That's me.
That's me. That's me.
Speaker 3 (57:10):
Church. Can we all lift our hands towards heaven. Bible says,
believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. It
all starts with a belief and a confession. So declare
this out loud, and then we're going to sing. Say
dear Jesus, Today I give you my life. I repent
forgive me. I don't want my way, I want your way.
(57:31):
Today I receive the gift of your righteousness.
Speaker 1 (57:36):
I believe you are.
Speaker 3 (57:38):
Who you said that you are, and I'm throwing my
life into your hands. Take my past, take my present.
I'm even giving you my future. God help me to
do the new me your child in Jesus' name. Come on,
everybody said, come on.
Speaker 1 (57:58):
Elevation Church. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (58:11):
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 Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for
more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (58:28):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (58:30):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (58:35):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you.
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving
in your life.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Enjoy the message today.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
I am grateful to be worshiping at Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Come on, if you're thankful for this house, if you're
thankful for what He's doing. David said, better is one
day in your.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
House, been a thousand elsewhere a thousand days.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
That's like two and a half years.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
So I don't know what the next two and a
half years, if your life's going to look like. But
if this is the last best day you're in God's house,
come on, somebody celebrate the name of Jesus like this
is the best day in the next two and a
half years.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Come on, we worship you God, We praise you Lord.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I want you to reach for your Bible, turning me
to Mark chapter five. Go ahead and stay standing as
we get ready to read the scripture today. It is
such an honor to be at Elevation Church. It is
a privilege for me and I just love what God
is doing all throughout the earth. Uh. You know, I'm
here today on Sunday, but I've been like with you
(01:20):
all this week because if you don't know, your church
is on tour Elevation Nights, has been changing city after.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
City, and I got to hop in.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I was like a roadie, or maybe I was like
a groupie and maybe more of a groupie. I think
I was more of a groupie. And I was in
Long Island. It was the Ubs Arena.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Is that what it was? Chunks? Y'all?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Did you know that there are people sold out for
Jesus in Long Island?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
In Boston, sold out.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Crowds all up and down the Northeast, And man, it
was powerful seeing that place full people worshiping, singing the songs.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
That were written right out of this house.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Pastor Hawley was up on the stage, just presidential, poised
and beautiful and wonderful. Abby Yo, Abby's up on the
stage preaching fire. Anybody grateful for Pastor Stephen Ferdick Man.
I've heard him preach so much, but this week, man,
the messages he was sharing changing all of us, deep, direct, beautiful,
(02:24):
and I'm so thankful for how God is using this
church all over the world, and I hope you're thankful
for it. Today we're gathering on Sunday, but your church
has been happening every day of the week this past week.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
And it was C. S. Lewis who said it this way.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
He said, friendship is born at the moment that you go, oh,
you two.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I thought I was the only one.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
And Pastor Stephen has a way that when he preaches
from this pulpit, we all go oh. I thought I
was the only one. And I'm so thankful for his life.
I'm thankful for his leadership. His messages right behind this
pulpit have changed my life.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
I gotta be honest with you, the.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Life he lives off of this stage. Man, his pastoring
has changed me, but his friendship has matured me. And
I know he's not in the room today, but come on,
I believe he's watching right now at every location.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Can we just thank God for our pastor?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Come on, make some annoys if you love Pastor Steven,
Pastor Hawley, Elijah Graham, and we love all y'all. Hey, yo,
this is not just a regular series. This is a
life message. I get to preach him. Part three of
do the new you. Try to get that annoyant you
(03:36):
know me, someone say, do the new you, not the
old you, not the projected you, the new you, the
you that God has called you to be. And we've
been talking about these mindsets. And what a powerful message
on is that I just can't encourage. I know these people
watching online right now.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Get the book.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
It just hit New York Times bestseller. But man, what
a tragedy for you just to let him teach you.
Get even deeper. Get into the book because these six
different mindsets will transform your life. How y'all know our
mind is set on something. I hope that when you
come into this house, we're not saying something new, we're
saying something quite old, but we are reminding who you
(04:16):
have been called to be. I'm even believing today right
now it might be a mindset reset. Remember the Nintendo
the game wasn't going good, very good. You pulled that
game out.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Reset.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
May today be a great reset. And we've been talking
about lots of great things. And week one he was
talking about I'm not stuck unless I y'all been listening. Man,
do y'all know the second one?
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Christ is in me?
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Okay, Okay, just making sure y'all been listening to the teacher.
We're gonna get into mindset number three, mark chapter five,
verse twenty two. Let me read it, and then we
will preach it. Then one of the synagogue leaders named
Gyrus came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at
his feet, and he pleaded earnestly with him, My little
(05:13):
daughter is dying.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Please come and put your.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Hands on her so that she will be healed and live.
So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd followed
and pressed around him. And a woman was there who
had been subject to bleeding for twelve years someone say
twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the
care of many doctors and had spent all she had,
Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she
(05:41):
heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the
crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, if I
just touch his clothes, I will be healed.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Talk about a mindset.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her that
she was freed from her suffering. At once, Jesus realized
the power had gone out from him. He turned around
in the crowd and asked, who touched my clothes? You
see the people crowding against you. His disciples answered, and
yet you can ask who touched me? But Jesus kept
(06:20):
looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman,
knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at
his feet, and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.
He said to her daughter, your faith has healed you.
Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Come on, if you.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Received that word today, somebody who's clapped your hands? Mindset
number three. With God, there's always a way, and by
faith I will find it. Do me a favor, Touch
three different people before you sit down and say, by
(07:08):
faith you're going to find it. Say by faith you're
going to find it. By faith, you're going to find it.
How many believe today that God is never late? That
(07:31):
was okay, I said, How many believe that God is
never late? God is never late? But have you ever
realized rarely is he early? No? God is not on
my time. God is not on your time. God is
(07:53):
on time. On time is God time? How many believes
that we serve a God who's on time?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
What's funny?
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Is. I've been serving the Lord for many, many years,
and what I've realized about God is that he's definitely
not on my time. He's certainly not on your time.
But sometimes it feels like to me that God is
on Miami time. I'm from Miami. Maybe you don't know
about Miami time, but in nineteen ninety eight, I moved
all the way from Tacoma, Washington, to the city of Miami.
(08:26):
And when I got to Miami, I discovered this little term.
It's called ish. Do you know about ish? What time
we meet in twelve ish?
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I'll never forget it.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
My first year there, I was fourteen years of age
and I got invited to a wedding. It was a
Puerto Rican Haitian wedding. You haven't lived until you've been
to a Puerto Rican Haitian wedding. The invitation said four PM.
(09:03):
So I showed up like a Caucasian at three forty five.
I'm so white, y'all pray for me.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I got the three forty five. I was like, this
is awesome. I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
This is gonna be incredible, you know, And you know,
four point fifteen hit and I'm like, it's kind of late.
You know, this is strange. Four thirty, four forty five.
I'm breaking out in hives at four forty five and
I'm about to leave, and the guy next to me says, oh,
don't you leave.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
This thing will start. At some point.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Two hours later, six pm at night, the wedding finally began.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
But y'all, ain't no party.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Like a porter Hatian party, because a Puerto Rican Haitian
party don't stop. Once this thing began, it just kept
going and going and going. This was a real This
was a wedding like I had never been to before.
God is not on your time, and he's not on
(10:19):
my time. Sometimes he's on Miami time. And the thing
I know about Miami time is that it might not
be how you planned it, but with God, it's going
to be better than how you expected it. Somebody puts
your hands together and thank him that he's on time,
say God time. I want us to be a church,
(10:40):
and I want us to be a people that understand
that when God begins to move in your life, it
probably won't happen the way that you expected it to happen.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
It's not that I'm against speed.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
I just think that we're living in some interesting times
right now, where people are so used to getting everything
immediately that all it's doing is increasing depression. It's increasing discontentment.
I'm not against speed as long as we all agree
that speed is a luxury, not an entitlement.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Look around today.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
We are living in a world right now that we
all know the price of everything, but some of us
know the value of nothing. Good things, God things take time.
That when God starts something in your life, I don't
know when he's going to start it.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I don't know when he's gonna show up. I don't
know how he's going to intervene.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
But I know this that He who began a good
work in you, he will carry it out under completion.
Somebody take a few moments right now, thank him in
advance that he's always on time.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
God time is on time.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
And in Mark chapter five we have a beautiful, beautiful,
beautiful story about the timing of God. That with God
there's always a way, and by faith I will find it.
The text as we begin reading today starts out with
this story. And really we don't have enough time. But
the text is about two women. This man a name
(12:18):
of Jiros, who is a successful synagogue leader comes to
Jesus with a cry from his heart that his little
twelve year old daughter is about to die.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Not right away.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
As I read the text, what I notice is that
this man has a big position and a big title,
but sometimes your position and your title can't solve all
your problems. And so by faith he comes to the
feet of Jesus and he pleads with Jesus. What it
shows me quickly is that as Jesus hears the man's request,
Jesus is moved by the man's.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Faith, meaning my faith can move God.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Jesus goes with the man to his house to heal
his little daughter. Before they get there, she actually dies
on the way. Then let me just skip to the
end of her store. We'll come back to it in
a moment. But he gets to the house of this
little girl and she's died while Jesus was on the journey.
And when he walks in, there's all these mourners and
there's people crying, and Jesus walked and said, yop, y'all
(13:17):
stop crying, and they start laughing at him. He'sai, no, no, no,
the little girl is just asleep. They're going, haha, no,
you're crazy. And notice what Jesus does is you go
back and read it. He clears the room. I can't
have this kind of mindset around me. I'm about to
bring about a resurrection, and I don't have no time
(13:38):
for doubt and.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
For laughter to be around me.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
A couple weeks ago, Pastor Stephen was preaching the story
about the Walls of Jericho.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
I'm not stuck unless I stop. Remember the word of
the Lord. What does he say to the Israelites? He says,
for six days, march around those walls. But remember there
is a particular command that he gives them. He says,
when you march for six days, don't say a word.
Can you imagine how silly this looks. We're finally here
(14:09):
for a battle. We ain't got no swords, we ain't
got no shields. We're just silent. Why did God tell
them to be silent? Because these are the children of complainers.
And God was saying, there's a miracle in progress. And
(14:34):
I can't allow you to speak right now because you
don't realize it.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
The only enemy is yourself.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
And if I let you start talking while you're marching,
you might talk yourself.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Out of a miracle. So be quiet.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
There's a victory in progress. March in faith. Come on, somebody,
if you believe it. Today Jesus heals this little girl
and resurrects her. The father's reach moves Jesus, but Jesus's
reach resurrects the girl.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
It was all by faith.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
But what I want us to highlight today, if we
can for a few moments, is the timing of God.
Because as Jesus is moved by Jyros towards their home,
the scripture says that there's another woman and what appears
to be an interruption to Jesus on the way to Gyrous' house.
I actually believe it's a divine intervention. I actually believe
(15:32):
it's a divine appointment. I actually believe it's God's time.
The Bible says that he is on his way. There's
a woman there who has an issue of blood, and
she's had this issue for twelve years. My father, who
is my hero, wrote a book in the eighties entitled
Private Pain, and the book was based on this woman
(15:55):
with the issue of blood that she is bleeding, but
no one around her is all the way even aware
of her pain.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
It's a private pain.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Come, y'all know it's one thing to have a struggle,
and it's one thing to have an issue. It's another
thing when you have that issue for twelve long years. Now.
I don't know who's watching today, I don't know who
came into this place today, but some of you you
quickly relate to this woman, because although you might not
be bleeding physically, you would say I'm hemorrhaging emotionally.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
I'm hemorrhaging relationally.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
I want to encourage you today as we look at
this passage that with God, there's always a way, and
by faith, you will find it quickly. What I noticed
about this woman is that somehow, this woman who's had
the same struggle for twelve long years, somehow, in all
of the hurt that she has faced in life, her
hurt hasn't stolen her hope. I felt it so deep
(16:53):
in my heart on the way over here. I want
to tell some people who are watching right now, don't
give up hope.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Hope is the building blocks to your faith.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Hope is the belief that although I can't see God,
I can still sense God. Hope is this belief that
although it seems like He might be absent, I'm gonna
firmly believe that He's present. You ever heard someone say
to you, don't get your hopes. Sometimes people say that
(17:25):
they're not saying that to be mean. I know, sometimes
they say that to be merciful, because they don't want
you to put your hope in something and then not
get it and lead to greater disappointment. That's why the
scripture says, hope deferred makes the heart grow sick. But
today the mindset is not about getting your hope up. Now,
that's not what we're teaching today. Hope is too heavy
(17:48):
for you to hold up on your own. No, you
don't hold hope up. Come on, somebody, you put hope
in The Psalmist said, why is my soul so downcast?
Put your hope in God. I don't put my hope
in an outcome. I put my hope in God. I
(18:11):
don't put my hope in an agenda. I put my
hope in God.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Come on, is there anybody.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
In the room today that would say, I'm putting my.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Hope in God. It is not the strength of your.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Faith, it's the object of your faith. We're not teaching
mind over matter here at Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
We are teaching faith over unbelief. It's not faith in faith.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
No, my faith is attached to Jesus Christ, King of Kings,
Lord of lords, author and perfector of my story.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
We attach our faith to Jesus.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
And when I look at this woman quickly, what I
see is that her hope works.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Someone say hope works. Don't get it mistaken.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Hope works. How do I know hope works? Because look
at what the tech says. The text says that this
woman has seen many physicians.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
She's gone to many doctors. In fact, the Bible says.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
That she spent everything that she has had trying to
get well.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
And it's a troubling verse.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
It says that as she spent everything, and as she
tried to go and see different doctors every time, she
just grew worse. Now I'm sad that she suffered in
this way, but I'm grateful that she kept trying. It
shows me that she has hope because hope works. Don't
(19:40):
get it twisted today. If you have hope, you will work.
You will do what you can do, and trust that
God will do what you can't do. I have three
little kids and my oldest boy, his name is Wyatt.
Wesley Wilkerson. He's six years of age. My youngest, who's
my favorite child.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
It's my daughter. Her name is Waylan, she's two.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
And then right in between, I think every time I
come to elevation, I have to always tell you a
story about my boy in between. His name is Wild
and it's wild to name your son Wild and Wyatt.
My oldest is quite large for his age. He's like
in the top ninety percentile for height and weight. And Wild,
on the other hand, is quite small for his age.
(20:21):
He's little, but he's feisty. He's little, but he's scrappy.
And for the most part, this is never really much
of a problem until we go to disney World. Because
at disney World they have these rules and qualifications to
get on a ride. And so we're going to disney
World the other day and Wild's, you know, he really
wants to go on the Slinky roller coaster. He's like, Dad,
(20:43):
I want to go on the Slinky roller coaster. The
problem is you got to be forty four inches to
go on that ride. Wild is like thirty inch something,
you know, I said, wild Man, I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
You know, it's not going to happen.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Bro you're just too short and wild, he says, But Dad,
please try. I said, sure, So what have you got
in mind? And so him and his brother went and
got hair gel, spiked his hair up, put his older
brother's shoes on. Can I show you what a picture
(21:17):
looks like of hope working? This is my son wild.
Look at this photo.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
You want to know what hope looks like. That's all.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I'm not dull enough, but I'm gonna do everything I can.
Sometimes hope looks like you spake it up your hair,
getting some platform shoes on, saying I'm not there yet,
but I am on my way. Is there anybody in
the room today who's got a little bit of hope
in their heart?
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Hope works.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Hoping in God looks like waiting on God.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
You got to learn to wait on the Lord.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
The prophet Isaiah said, wait on.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
The Lord, and he shall renew your strength. While you're waiting.
You're getting stronger.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
While you're waiting, He's developing you. While you're waiting. You
have no idea what he is working out. But there
is a point to the wait. I think waiting on
God is this. Waiting on God means doing everything that
you possibly can and then surrendering everything you can't. So,
if you're sick in your body today, do everything you
(22:37):
can call upon God. Do what James says, call the elders,
get the oil, pray the prayer of faith, take the medication,
go to the doctor, get the surgery for heaven saying.
But then you surrender control and you say, God, I'm
gonna give you my grief. God, I'm not gonna let
the enemy get a foothold of bitterness. Trust you that
(23:01):
you are making a way where there seems to be
no way. If you got a dream in your heart, man,
Pastor Stevens up here ap preaching the do.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
The New You, and you're getting inspired, like that's it. Man,
this is my year twenty twenty four. I got a roar.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
I hear you, So do everything that you can call
upon God.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
God, you put this dream in my heart. God you
started this dream.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
But then get to work, build your network, sharpen your skills,
watch a YouTube video, read a book, and then surrender
everything that you can.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
God, I'm gonna give you my timeline. God, I'm gonna
trust you with it. God, I believe that you have
a plan. If you're single and you want to get married.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Do everything you can call upon God. Lord, I need
a man. I love dating you, Jesus, but I think
we should see other people.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Just came to me right now. That makes me laugh.
Stay interesting every once in a while. Leave your house.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
No, No, I'm just waiting on God. The old thing
you have to like, walk out the door. Now he
can bring my man right here on the front door.
Set all right, sister, I hope you like uber eat
men because that's.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
All you're working with.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
No, do everything that you can and then surrender.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Your control over to God. God. I'm gonna trust you. God.
I'm not gonna lower my standard. God.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I might be single, but I'm gonna remain secure in you.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
God.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
You're the one who completes me. God, You're the one
who's making away.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
With God.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
There's always a way, and by faith I will find it.
It's funny because why I got his hair all spiked.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Though I'm not there yet, but I'm I'm gonna do
whatever I can. We got to the slinky right.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Don't tell Disney, but I put wild on my feet.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
We snuck them on y'all.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
How many can testify that that's your story, that you
weren't qualified.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
You didn't measure up.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
But there's a good Father who stepped in and said,
they that weighed upon the Lord, I will renew their strength.
Humble yourself before God, and in due season, Come on, baby.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
He will lift you all. Somebody get God some praise.
Is how today.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
This woman is doing everything she knows to do. But
although she's doing everything she knows to do, her problem
is not getting better, is getting worse. But then the
Bible says it, she heard about Jesus. Church. We're gonna
(26:28):
keep telling you about Jesus. I just want to encourage
some folks out there. There's power in the name of Jesus.
Come on, if you believe. There's breakthrough in the name
of Jesus.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Come on. There's healing in the name of Jesus. There's
purpose in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
She heard about Jesus. She's tried everything but faith, because
faith begins where your ability ends. The scripture says that
she heard about Jesus. I don't know what she heard,
(27:05):
but something tells me it was good news. We opened
up church today. This is the gospel. This is the
good news. I don't know who's watching right now. But
Jesus did not come to this earth to make bad
little boys good little boys.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
He came for a much deeper reason than that.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
He came to bring people who are dead and bring
them back to life through his healing power.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Anybody thankful for the Gospel. It's always good news.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
I'm grateful for the way that your pastor preaches, because
he preaches with a smile on his face.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
He preaches with the joy of the Lord.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
He preaches every message, bringing it back to the person
of Jesus and bringing it back to the good news.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
She heard about Jesus.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
And then notice it right there. The scripture says that
she heard about Jesus and she thought. Someone says she thought.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
She thought.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
She thought, if I could just touch his clothes, then
I could be made well. Another translation says that she said,
she spoke, if I could just touch the hem of
his garment, then I would be made well. What kind
of a mindset is this? If I could just Who
(28:22):
taught her this? Where did she learn this? If I
could just touch the hem of his garment, then I
would be made well. It started as a thought, and
then the thought erupted into her mouth. See faith talks
Faith speaks, Faith says things.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Faith isn't silent. Faith actually has a sound.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That's why on the seventh march around those walls, God said,
all right, you've been marching six times, but now on
the seventh time, I want you to open up your
mouth and shout, because when you out, those walls are
coming down. Because faith has a sound. I wonder is
the sound at Elevation Church this morning.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Listen to me.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
You have to get a confession that is louder than
your circumstance. She said it before she saw it. Oh,
because that's how faith works. We don't walk by sight.
We walk by faith. Before she sees it, she says it.
(29:35):
When we were first starting the church, probably year one
or year two, I passed her church in Miami, Florida
called Voo Church. And it's always so fun because there's
always people from the Elevation World e fam that.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Are always like I guess taking a cruise out of Miami,
like we came in for the early service.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
You know.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
I love it when you guys come by and say hello.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
But we started this church in Miami and in year
one we were able to rent an off space. Now
I'm gonna be honest with you, like it was. I
think it was thirty five hundred square feet chunks.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It was small.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
But you know, I've always been a faith man. I
don't say what I see. I say what I want
to see. So we didn't call it an office. We
called it the International Headquarters. And so I was at
headquarters one day and I needed to get a ride
home and my brother in law, who had just joined
our team, young in the ministry, just a servant for
(30:30):
the Lord. I said, bro, can you can you give
me a ride home? And so we exit the headquarters
and we make our way to this little parking lot
and where the headquarters was, let's just say it wasn't
a very good area of town. And my brother in law,
God bless him, at the time, was driving a two
thousand and eight Chrysler three hundred gray with twenty inch rims.
(30:54):
I think I had one hundred and fifty thousand miles
on it. And as we made our way over to
the car, somebody had smashed his window in.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I just thought that was mean.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
You know, it's like my boys already, you know, struggling
with the whole ride set up, and uh.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
And then to add insult to injury. Is like, really,
you're gonna shadow this man's window.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
You just took his struggle to suffering, you know, and
so you do what you do, you know, Like we
quickly went back into HQ, checked out duct tape and
a plastic sack from supplies, and we came in and
we you know, we duct taped the window to make
it home.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
And we got in the car.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
It's just like a scene, bro, like this old beaten
down car. Now there's glass all over the floor. We
have a duct tape, paper sack, plastic sack makes that
dumb noise come and instantly when we got in the car.
I don't know if remember that old song. It's not
elevation worship, so I hope I don't get in trouble.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
But the stereo came on.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
It was that song you Aren't Good Good Oh, and
we're driving. How was looking at my brother? I'm like, really, we're.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Both like, I ain't singing that you know.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Good?
Speaker 1 (32:23):
You are good good? Oh?
Speaker 3 (32:29):
As I ain't nothing good about this God, this is
a bad situation.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
But I don't know what it was.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
Remember that, remember that that bridge on that song You're
never gonna let You're never gonna let me down down, follow.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Jesus, I promise you. It's an adventure. That bridge came
on and I don't know where it was. I think
it was like the second time that bridge.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
At some point, man, that thing kept going and finally, man,
the spirit of God hit that Chrysler three hundred and
they came into that bridge a second time. But man,
I can't sing very good, but something came out of
the depths of my soul.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
I hit it hard. You are never gonna let it.
You're never gonna let me down good.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
I don't know who I'm preaching to today, but you
gotta have a confession that is louder than your circumstance.
I don't care what you're driving in. I don't care
what the vehicle looks like. Keep on singing, keep on worshiping.
Your card might be busted, but your faith is not broken.
I got a faith and a confession that speaks.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Somebody. Take about five seconds and remind the enemy you
know who you are. You're never gonna let me out
for rich that don't make no sense. I know that's faith.
(34:11):
If you're waiting.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
For it to make sense, you're never gonna step into faith.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Because faith is the absence of sense.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
You can't smell it, you can't taste it, you certainly
can't see it. But you can hear about Jesus. And
faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of the Lord.
She said, if I could just touch, if I could
just touch the hem of his garment, friends, the garment
is not even him. She had a kind of faith
that said, if I could just touch the thing that's
(34:41):
touching him. Ah, I got a revelation today. If the
garment's got power, if the clothes have got power, how
much more power does the body of Jesus Christ have.
Come on somebody, we are the church. I don't know
about you, ma'am, but when we can you gather. This
isn't a cool atmosphere. It's not a concert. This is
(35:04):
the very presence of God. And when you and I
get into this place, you have no idea the miracles
on your left, the miracles on your right. If I
could pass this microphone down the rows, you would start
hearing the testimonies and the stories from right here in
this body of God's wonder working power. I can't miss
a Sunday at Elevation Church. I gotta be in God's house.
(35:25):
You don't know what's going to happen when the body
gets together. If his garment's got power, how much more
power does.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
His body have?
Speaker 3 (35:34):
And I know there's some things that are going around
today about the church and some people hurt by the church,
and I understand it. And there's some things that we
must get right in the church, no doubt about it.
But may I remind everybody in this room. Ain't nobody
have more church hurt than Jesus. And he keeps on
showing up. Come on, somebody thank Jesus today that he's
never let you down, He's never quit.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
He keeps showing up.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
So here comes this woman and if I could just
touch it the hem of his garment, and the scripture
says that she begins to step through the crowd, because
at some point, faith doesn't just talk. Faith has got
to walk. We didn't gather here just to talk. We've
actually gathered here that you might scatter back into wherever
it is that you're going walking the walk of faith.
(36:20):
I hope you know that God is He's motion activated.
Have you know, have you learned about God like he
ever been to one of those like those sinks that
there's water there, but like there's no way to turn
it on. It's motion activated, so you have access to water,
but the water will not begin to flow until you
motion your hands. James said, draw close to God, and
(36:41):
he will draw close to you, because when I move,
God moves just like that. I feel discermon more than
some of y'all responded and ask, Okay, I'm gonna bless
myself off here, come on, how y'all believe that when
you step, it gets the attention of heaven. So here
(37:04):
comes this woman and she's pressing through this crowd an
issue for twelve years, and she's got this belief in
her mind that with God there's always a way, and
my hope is working and I've been waiting, but I'm
gonna keep on trying.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
And as she gets close to Jesus, she touches.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
The hem of his garment, and when she does, the
Bible says that instantly, immediately she's healed.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
So much so that Jesus is like, yo, who touched me.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
One gospel the scripture said that Peter's like, Yo, Jesus,
you gotta love Peter, right, It's like, bro, shut up, please,
you know two thousand years later.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
We're gonna use you in every illustration we gone.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
Jesus, Come on, you don't know who touch you. The
whole crowd's pressing at you. Come on, man, like everyone's
touching you. But Jesus is saying no, no, no no.
There is a difference between the touch of fame and
the touch of faith, meaning.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Just because you come to church don't mean anything's gonna change.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
Have you ever been like in one of those seasons,
maybe you went to an elevation night, You're like, oh
my god, it's too.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
Early to make myself laugh this hard. Oh my god,
I'm on fire. You know this language will use I'm
on fire. You ever been like I'm on fire?
Speaker 3 (38:34):
For God?
Speaker 1 (38:35):
It's like Friday night, I'm on fi. Nothing it can
stop these flames. But then I don't know.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
It's like you go to you know, work on Monday,
or how about you get in traffic on Tuesday and
this fire that was burning so bright is quickly shut
out just with traffic. Yo, spirit fingers, where'd the fire go?
(39:07):
Beca There's a difference from just showing up to the
crowd instead of coming out of the crowd. One of
the most dangerous places you'll find yourself in life. Is
to think that you are on fire for God, but
come to find out you were just sensing the heat
(39:28):
from everyone else around you. I'm not trying to make
you feel less than I'm trying to empower you that
if I just came for one person, if it's just
one person on the other end of that camera, that
you've been struggling with the same thing and you've been trying.
I want to let you know that God sees you,
and God knows your name, and when you make your faith.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Personal, he notices. He senses he didn't come for the crowd.
He came for you. Come on, somebody, thank God today
worship team can start making their way up here.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
And this woman she's pressing through the crowd and she's
stepping towards Jesus and she touches them of his garment
and instantly healed. And as healed, Jesus asked this question,
who touched me? And they say, come on, all sorts
of people were touching. He's like, no, I felt something
to leave my body that was a touch of faith.
And then this woman she speaks up and she says
it was me and she was terrified. He sayd why
(40:28):
was she terrified? Because when Jesus turns to her, she's
not looking at a good teacher, and she's not looking
at a good man.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
She is staring at the face of God. It's the
face of God.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
And this woman, I believe one of the great reasons
why she is in the Bible, and this is an
encouragement for so many of you, is that she is
proof positive that at your weakest moment, you are still
strong enough.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
To touch Jesus. What's amazing is that I sense this
so deeply my heart.
Speaker 3 (41:03):
What's amazing to say if you take listen to me,
if you just take one step towards Jesus, immediately, he
begins working on your behalf.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Immediately immediately.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
The Bible says that the Lord looks to and fro
throughout the whole earth, and he's looking for a humble heart.
He's looking for a righteous heart, someone that he can
come alongside and strengthen.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
I just have this mindset. My mind is set that
God is good and has good things for me. So
I actually believe that God's looking for people to hook up.
God's looking for people to validate.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
God's looking for people to partner with, and as you
just take one step towards Jesus, whether you know it
or not, he starts working.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Listen to me, it doesn't mean.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
As he begins to work that you're immediately taking out
of the fire of your circumstance, not immediately always removed
from it.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
We have to trust and wait on his.
Speaker 3 (41:57):
Time, because God's time is on top. People always ask
that question, Hey, you know what's your favorite food? You
ever heard this question before? And like a lot of times,
when people ask this question, they have two different angles
on it. One angle is what's your favorite food? Meaning
if it was your last meal, you're on your deathbed,
what do you want to eat? Or the other angle
they mean is like, you know, what's your favorite food?
(42:18):
What's the one thing that you would eat every day
if you could? For me, with both crazy hypothetical situations,
I choose the same thing.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
I plead pizza. You want to know what mano was
the early stages of pizza. The other day, I went
to one of my favorite pizza rihas in Miami.
Speaker 3 (42:41):
It's a pretty famous place and I got there when
I showed up and there was like a line out
the door, so many people trying to get in. We
finally got seated and we were waiting for a pizza.
We put our orders in and finally pizza came out.
I'm a pepperoni and cheese guy. It came out and
I took one bite of it, and immediately I was like,
this ain't right. Come on, man, it's soft. It wasn't
(43:02):
holding you know how you want your slice to hold up.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
You know it wasn't holding up. And I can't be
for certain.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
I don't really know what happened, but something tells me
that that day the chef was under such pressure and
under such demand that he started rushing orders. It's another
message for another time, but the fastest way to steal
your sauce. Your sauce is that gift. Your sauce is
that thing that God's called you to do. Your sauce
is that special thing that God's put inside of you.
(43:29):
The fastest way for you to steal your sauce is
start trying to please people more than what God's called
you to do.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
I preach that, I see it right now, but I'm
not gonna it wasn't right.
Speaker 3 (43:47):
Because if you're anything like me, I don't just want
my pizza hot. But in the words of Little Caesars,
it's got to be hot and ready.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
You didn't know I could preach pizza.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Huh.
Speaker 3 (44:12):
This is a place that I can tell is hot.
Your faith might have a sound, and your faith might
even have a step. But just because you're shouting, and
just because you're stepping, doesn't actually mean that you're always ready.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
You know what I love about this book. There's no
doubt that this book is hot.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
But you know when the last time Pastor Stephen wrote
anything on paper and gave it to us, It's been
eight years.
Speaker 1 (44:41):
Eight is the number of new beginnings.
Speaker 3 (44:45):
It is no surprise to me whatsoever that it's a
New York Times bestseller, because it's not that it's just
hot and passionate. It's that it's ready. It's that it's
the right time. I want to encourage some people. Right now,
you're hot, but you might not be ready. I want
to encourage you to keep up your passion, keep stirring
up the gift on the inside of you. But just
(45:07):
because you're passionate and just because you're excited doesn't necessarily
mean that you're ready. I know some of you right now,
I'm in the oven of life. The heat is turning up. Man,
when's he gonna.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
Pull me out? And I just want to encourage you trust.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
God's timing because God is the master chef.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
Somebody say, let him cook today. He knows the right
time of when he's gonna pull you out.
Speaker 3 (45:33):
And this woman, what I see about her, and it's
just an observation, is something tells me is that she's
not just hot and passionate, is that she's ready for
her breakthrough.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
We don't get her name.
Speaker 3 (45:44):
Did you notice that she's preached as the woman with
the issue of blood. That's that's how we know her,
the woman with the issue of blood. And see, the
great lie that many of us buy into is that
your issue is you. But the power of the Gospel
(46:07):
is to remind you over and over and over again
that your identity is not made up of your issues.
Speaker 1 (46:15):
You are not your mistake. You are not your failure.
Speaker 3 (46:17):
You're not your doubt, you're not your insecurity, you're not
your bouts with depression. You're not your mistake from last year.
You're not even your mistake of tomorrow. We all got issues, but.
Speaker 1 (46:28):
It's one thing.
Speaker 3 (46:29):
When your issue has you, it's one thing that have issues.
It's another thing when you're controlled by your issues.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
And notice this woman.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
This woman showcases us that she's not just mind over
matter and shouting and stepping, but we see something that
she has a clue about and that her behavior is
breaking past every label on her life. She's a woman,
and in that time period that was an issue. She
had a sociological issue. She was not allowed to go
(46:59):
up to man and touch a man. Remember that woman
in Luke chapter seven when she brought the alabaster box.
It wasn't even the world that scolded her, the very
disciples of Jesus said, why are you letting this woman
touch you? She doesn't just have a sociological issue, She's
got a theological issue.
Speaker 1 (47:15):
This bleeding that.
Speaker 3 (47:16):
She's got going on means that she is unclean. If
you're unclean, you can't touch Jesus, let alone. You can't
touch a rabbi.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
But this woman.
Speaker 3 (47:26):
With a sociological issue, with a physical issue, with a
theological issue. She's got a religion that's preventing her. But
the very hope and calling of relationship is pulling her
(47:46):
and Jesus instantly and immediately heals her.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
And I just thought today.
Speaker 3 (47:51):
I thought it was important to point out that I'm
really glad that her issue of the bleeding stop. I'm
really grateful that she got healed. I'm really grateful that
the suffering in her body stop. But let's be honest,
that's not really the power of the story, because how
do you know she's gonna have some more issues in
the future. The story that we're reading about isn't just
(48:11):
simply that her blood flows stop. The story is in
the Bible because she has a faith that was so
powerful and so strong that made a way, and the
way that it made it is that she reissued her identity.
Speaker 1 (48:27):
She re issued her identity.
Speaker 3 (48:29):
Because everyone's like, yo, yo, you can't go and touch
a man. No, no, no, no, I'm not just some girl.
I'm actually his dog.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
No no, no, you're bleeding, you're unclean. No no no,
I'm hurt.
Speaker 3 (48:50):
And I know the man that I'm reaching out to,
I know that he sees me and he cares about me.
Speaker 1 (48:57):
The power of this story is a.
Speaker 3 (48:59):
Faith that reissued an identity. The news you, I want
to say it so boldly in my heart. If you
will approach God like a father every time, he will
only treat you like a daughter. I don't know, and
who needs to hear that today? Woman of God, Man
(49:19):
of God. If you'll approach him like dad, he'll treat
you like a son.
Speaker 1 (49:23):
He'll treat you like a daughter.
Speaker 3 (49:24):
Would you believe that this is the only time in
the New Testament that Jesus Christ looks at someone and
calls them daughter.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Because she had a.
Speaker 3 (49:33):
Faith that reissued her identity. Yeah, I'm glad that I
got my healing. But bigger than that, and greater than that,
is that I know it's been twelve years of suffering.
Speaker 1 (49:44):
Oh but baby girl, it's.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
Gonna be worth it because you're now gonna have an
eternity of rejoicing. I know it wasn't your time. It's
called God time. It's called God time.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
You are not your issue.
Speaker 3 (50:05):
Your identity is child of God. Your identity when you
put your faith in Jesus is son.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
It is dark.
Speaker 3 (50:17):
I just can't help but see it what I think
about the timing of God, because please understand, the story
began with Jyris, who has.
Speaker 1 (50:26):
A twelve year old daughter who's so sick she's about
to die. And it just so happens.
Speaker 3 (50:35):
That there's a woman who has an issue for twelve
long years. One is dying slowly, the other has died suddenly.
Speaker 1 (50:48):
I don't think it's a coincidence.
Speaker 3 (50:50):
I don't think that the very year that this little
girl was born, this problem began.
Speaker 1 (50:58):
See how I said that right there? But here comes
the reframing of it.
Speaker 3 (51:04):
The very moment your problem began, a pathway to your
promise was born. And I just think that these two
stories overlap and intersect and have this interruption because it
(51:25):
is a divine appointment of God's timing. That what He's
wanting to say to every one of us, that if
you are in the room today and you ain't got
a daddy like Gyros, maybe somebody dropped you, maybe somebody
hurts you. Maybe you've ever had anybody plead for you
on your behalf. Maybe you've been betrayed and let down
and people have let you go. I just want to
(51:46):
encourage you. I think the story's in the Bible because
if you ain't got a daddy like Gyros Woo, you
still got to save your name Jesus who shows.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
Up right on time. Would you believe me.
Speaker 3 (52:03):
If I told you that twelve is the number of
order in the Bible, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve disciples,
read the Book of Revelation. When he restores the New Jerusalem,
there will be twelve pillars of foundations, twelve gates, and
twelve angels, because twelve represents order, and God's timing is
(52:25):
divine order.
Speaker 1 (52:27):
If you believe it, Somebody give God some praise in
this house. It wasn't a coincidence.
Speaker 3 (52:35):
It was God set up from the very beginning that
he was bringing these moments together. And he wants to
remind everybody in this room today. I know you maybe
have some issues, and I'm not underestimating your issues. But
more than issues, you, my friend, you have an inheritance
because you are a child of God. So may I
say it the way your pastor has been preaching it.
(52:56):
Don't do the old Jew, don't do your issues, do
the new you. You're a child, you're a son, you're
a daughter. Come on, if you know who you are today,
stand upon your feet.
Speaker 1 (53:07):
You've got some praise and worship him. Let you know
who you are.
Speaker 3 (53:18):
Some would say, with God, there's always a way, and
by faith I will find it. With God, there's always
a way, and by faith I will find it. This
(53:40):
woman's got a blood issue. Let's be honest, we've all
got a blood issue. It really wasn't That's not really
the best way to say it. Blood issue. What this
woman has is a blood disorder that what is meant
to happen periodically is now happening perpetually. But the very
(54:04):
same thing is true for you and I that all
the way back in the garden, when Adam ate that fruit.
It's set a blood disorder intomotion. But I'm grateful right there.
The promise began at the moment of sin, God said,
I've already made a way.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
For you.
Speaker 3 (54:25):
Will bruise his heel, but he will stomp your head
the moment your problem began, the promise was born. That
day her blood stopped flowing. But how many of you
know some days later the blood of Jesus would begin
to flow. And his blood is more than enough. His
(54:46):
blood covers a multitude of sins. His blood relinquishes you
from shame and condemnation. You are not what somebody else
says about you. You are not what your parents have
said about you. You're not your mom, you're not your dad,
You're not your mistake. You are not dis qualified today
by grace, through faith, God will make a way and
you too can reissue your identity.
Speaker 4 (55:08):
Go ahead and thank them all over the room today,
do the new you. I want to get people an
opportunity right now to be.
Speaker 3 (55:20):
New, to be made new. That's what salvation is. Old
things have passed away and the new thing has come.
That's why Jesus says we must be reborn. I'm reborn.
I'm born again. Why am I born again? Because you're
(55:40):
not a son by worth, You're a son by birth.
And when you know who you are, you know who
your dad is. Stay with your head bowt and your
eyes closed before we sing the song, just since God's
presence here and of relocation right there on.
Speaker 1 (55:58):
YouTube right now. Know Jesus he's here and he loves you,
and he's for you.
Speaker 3 (56:04):
And I love Sundays because metaphorically, to me, it's like
Jesus is passing through and anybody who reaches out, they
can too be healed. They too can find a new identity.
It's amazing her reach healed her, but Jesus is reach
to that little girl resurrected her. The reach of Jesus
will pull you up out of that slimy pit. Put
(56:25):
your feet on a solid rock, a firm foundation. If
God pulls you out of that oven too soon, you
don't have the foundation to hold up. Trust him, Trust him,
Trust him today. Would you give him your life? On
the count of three, If that's you saying, I want
Jesus to be the lord of my life. I want
to give my life over to him. I want to
repent from my sin, and I want to be reissued
a new identity child of God. On the count of three.
(56:47):
If that's you, be bold, this is your time. This
is a divine appointment. Ready on the count of three. One,
that's you, put your hand up. Two, don't look at
your neighbors. How about you neighbors. That's you put your
hand up ready, one, two, three. If that's you've lived up,
that's me, rich.
Speaker 1 (57:02):
That's me. That's me. That's me. That's me. That's me.
That's me. That's me.
Speaker 3 (57:10):
Church. Can we all lift our hands towards heaven. Bible says,
believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. It
all starts with a belief and a confession. So declare
this out loud, and then we're going to sing. Say
dear Jesus, Today I give you my life. I repent
forgive me. I don't want my way, I want your way.
(57:31):
Today I receive the gift of your righteousness.
Speaker 1 (57:36):
I believe you are.
Speaker 3 (57:38):
Who you said that you are, and I'm throwing my
life into your hands. Take my past, take my present.
I'm even giving you my future. God help me to
do the new me your child in Jesus' name. Come on,
everybody said, come on.
Speaker 1 (57:58):
Elevation Church. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (58:11):
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 Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for
more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (58:28):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (58:30):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (58:35):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you.
Host
Steven Furtick
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