WEBVTT - Don't Blow It! 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:08.360 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:11.080 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.600 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:19.800 Enjoy the message. Something God told me very clearly as 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:23.000 we begin this series called Waymaker, is that before we. 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:26.119 Can change the world, we have to change our ways. 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:29.040 Would you please turn with me, if you can find 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:31.480 it in your Bible, to the Old Testament Book of Hagi. 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:36.520 I'll give you about fifteen minutes to find the Book 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:41.239 of Hagi. After that the screens will kick in and 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:47.600 give you assistance. And what we want to look at today, 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:51.680 we want to take a look at. Give me just 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:53.960 a moment. I got my new notebook. Every series I 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:57.480 get a new notebook. I got the one with the 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:02.080 whole World on it. It's a vision series. So I figured, well, 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:05.280 we're gonna touch the world, we better start with a 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:10.160 notebook with the with the whole world. He's got the 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:12.280 whole world. 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:27.679 He's got you and me, brother. 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:37.840 In his sense, in his hands, got. 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.080 The and if you'll permit me, real quick. 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:44.920 Just uh, he's got the Clemson Tigers. Okay, now let's 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:50.160 look at Hagai Chapter one. I'm ready now touch somebody say. 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:54.200 We can't change the world until we change our ways. 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.560 This is the message of Hagid the Prophet. I'm having 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:03.280 you seated because along scripture today fifteen verses we will 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:08.240 endeavor to preach. In the second year of King Darius, 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.600 on the first day of the sixth month, the word 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:11.720 of the Lord came. 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:16.720 Through the prophet Hagi to Zaruba bel son of Schiltiel, 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:20.640 Governor of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Josidac, the 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:21.640 High Priest JJ. 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:23.480 You know how we text about preaching all the time. 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.440 I would have skipped that verse in my first five 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:28.200 years of preaching. 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:31.160 One thing that I want you to do. This will 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:34.359 help you develop your preaching skills. 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:38.679 Take the verses that you naturally want to skip over 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:40.839 and make yourself preach them. 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:44.200 What I did. I went back and I figured I'm 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:45.280 not going to do it, but I could. 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:48.160 Preach verse one for a whole sermon, and what I 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.680 would do if I was going to preach it, And 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:52.680 you might want to preach it sometimes, JJ, because every 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:54.320 once in a while. Let you get up here, and 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:56.440 if your beard keeps scrolling, you might get another shot. 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.880 But I figured you could reach that verse using only 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:02.880 the prepositions. 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:04.720 So watch this. 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:08.640 In the second year of King Darius, on the first 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:12.280 day the sixth month, the word of the Lord came 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:16.600 through the prophet Hagi to Zir Rubebel. So what I 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:20.840 was thinking is it was in the second year. That's 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:28.040 the that's the setting. Okay, it was the word of 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:29.160 the Lord. 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:34.800 That's the source. It came to Zor Rubebel. 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:41.080 Now he's the he's the he's the servant, and it 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:45.160 came through Hagi, and he was the server. 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:47.520 Now all of those start with the letter S. 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:51.920 And what's cool about it is it didn't come from Hagi. 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:56.880 It came through Hagi. So the word of the Lord 0:03:57.240 --> 0:03:58.800 came through Hagi. 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:01.240 You see what I'm saying. This is how God speaks 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:01.680 to people. 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.440 God will speak to you through others. God will speak 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:09.000 to you through life. God will speak to you through hardship. 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:12.840 God will speak to you to through of the Lord, 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:17.279 through the prophet, to the people of the Lord, through 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:19.200 the prophet to the people. 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:21.680 In the second year of. 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.960 Darius, because God's word is not spoken in abstractions and 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:30.880 theoretical constructs. God's word is designed to speak to specific situations. 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:34.920 So this is not a history lesson that we came for. Today. 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:38.960 We came for a word from the living God, and 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:42.880 his word is living and active and sharper than any 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:49.560 double edged sword. Now, so, if anything ever comes out 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:52.039 of my mouth that helps you, it might have come 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:55.960 through me. But it wasn't from me, because I have 0:04:56.279 --> 0:05:01.320 nothing of substance to offer. You are way too desperate 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:03.800 for me to be able to help you of my 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:07.680 own accord. But if God speaks through me to you, 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.640 then anything can happen. Verse two. 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:17.920 This is what the Lord Almighty says. 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:21.279 These people say, the time has not yet come to 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:24.239 rebuild the Lord's house. Then the word of the Lord 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:29.480 came through the prophet Hagi. Is it a time for 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:33.680 you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses while this 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:39.200 house remains a ruin? Now, this is what the Lord 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:46.279 Almighty says. Give careful thought to your ways. There's that 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:52.240 word ways. Give careful thought to your ways. You have 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:59.400 planted much, but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:04.800 You drink but never have your fill. You put on 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:10.720 clothes but are not warm. You earn wages only to 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.960 put them in a purse with holes in it. You 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:19.400 are drowning in information and starving for wisdom. You have 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:23.720 twenty four hour news feeds and twenty four hour ignorance. 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:31.040 This is what the Lord Almighty says. Give careful thought 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:35.479 to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:39.120 down timber and build my house so that I may 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:40.280 take pleasure in it. 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.080 And be honored, says the Lord. 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:48.000 You expected much, but behold, it turned out to be little. 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:50.240 And what you brought home I blew away. 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:54.640 Why, declares the Lord Almighty, because of my house, which. 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.400 Remains a ruin. Well, each of you is busy with 0:06:57.440 --> 0:06:58.119 your own house. 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:05.200 Therefore, because of you, the heavens have withheld their due, 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:11.280 and the earth it's crops. I have a very challenging 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:13.280 message for you today, and I hope you're ready for it, 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:15.440 and I'm gonna need your help to preach it. So 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:17.400 look at the person next to you and say, neighbor. 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:24.200 God has given you a great opportunity. Now look at 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.520 them and give them my title. Say don't blow it, 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:37.840 don't blow it, don't blow it. I think God presents 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:45.040 himself in the form of opportunity, and when you look 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:49.040 at Hagai chapter one, you are seeing a people who 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:53.520 are responding to an opportunity. Is interesting because Hagi has 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:56.480 a very hard job as a preacher. He has to 0:07:56.520 --> 0:08:02.960 deliver a message of urgency in time of discouragement. Often 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:08.040 it's difficult to motivate or inspire people to action when 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:11.840 they are already discouraged about the outcome of their life. 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:15.360 In order to create a sense of motivation, he gives 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:19.760 the people a contrast between their effort and their outcomes. 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:24.880 He has them evaluate the results of their lives relative 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:30.440 to the effort. And so thinking about this passage, of course, 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:35.480 made me begin to think about seventh grade South Carolina 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:40.520 geography class because apparently the people were saying something in 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:44.240 Hagui's time. They had a saying, and God overheard them talking, 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:48.319 and they would say verse two, the people would say, 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:50.880 this is the people from Judah, which is the southern 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:55.640 kingdom of Israel. The time has not yet come to 0:08:55.800 --> 0:09:01.880 rebuild the Lord's house. Notice that these people say, the 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:07.320 time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house. Now, 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:09.480 different cultures have different sayings. 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:10.160 You know this right. 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:12.520 And if you did not grow up in the South, 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:14.520 perhaps from time to time it is shocking to you 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:16.280 to hear some of our sayings and to try to 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:17.480 decipher the meaning of them. 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:20.800 I will never forget Miss Taylor. 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:23.520 I probably should have given her a pseudonym, but I've 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:28.600 said her name now. The day that she corrected my 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:31.520 Southern slang in front of the whole class, Now, granted 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:33.559 I deserved it. I was such a punkin seventh grade. 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:36.440 Granted I deserved it because she had told us to 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:38.560 pull out our books and begin our silent reading time. 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:41.920 Granted I was talking to somebody instead of pulling out 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:42.600 the book like I. 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:43.199 Was told to do. 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:45.720 But did it give her the right to say the 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:50.360 following I'll let you be the judge, Stephen Ferdick. Did 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:52.800 you not hear me say pull out. 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:53.840 Your book now? 0:09:53.880 --> 0:10:00.480 Miss Taylor was Northerner, So what I said next she 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:04.120 had no context for. I said, I'm sorry, Miss Taylor. 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:22.080 I'm fixing too, she said, Stephen ferdie She said, before 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:26.280 you leave my class, I am going to make sure 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:31.839 that you understand how ignorant you sound when you say 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:36.840 things like I'm fixing too. Nobody else in the world 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:41.640 outside of South Carolina says things like I'm fixing too. 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.319 And if you go anywhere. 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.800 Else in the world in your life and say I'm 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:50.440 fixing to, it is going to automatically cause people to 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:54.160 question your intelligence. Not only do you not have your 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:57.079 book out, you are not even able to speak intelligently 0:10:57.360 --> 0:10:59.920 to deliver an excuse about why your book is not. 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:09.400 I said, I'm about to Is that better? And it 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.040 really doesn't matter what you call it. 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:15.640 The problem was procrastination. And I found out we have 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:22.520 a lot of different things we say to disguise our procrastination. 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:25.360 Can I give you one thing we say in church? 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:28.160 We don't say I'm fixing to. We say I'm praying 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:28.719 about it. 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.280 I will preach this word until three people are left 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:39.320 in the first two rows of elevation balanine. And it's cool, 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:42.640 because you do need to pray about some things. But 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:44.959 some things that God just told you to do get 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:48.720 your book out, do not require prayer. 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:51.280 They require action. 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:57.480 And that guy has a hard job because the people 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:01.720 on one level are making progress, at least it seems 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:02.760 to them like progress. 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:04.800 And the question becomes, this is point number one. They'll 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:05.640 put these on the screen. 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:14.800 Is it progress or is it procrastination, because apparently there 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:19.439 were some really nice subdivisions going up in the suburbs 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:23.679 of Judah. The exiles have been back from Babylon now 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:26.200 twenty years and that was a god thing, wasn't it. 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:28.360 I mean, they didn't know if they'd ever come back, 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:32.640 and only because Persian control took the territory of Babylon 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:35.160 back were they able to come back and rebuild their homeland. 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:37.720 And when they first got back, they thought they'd rebuild 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:40.080 the temple because it had been destroyed. 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:42.280 It was the. 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.040 Preeminent place for the presence of God to be manifest 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:46.040 among his people, so that He would have a dwelling place. 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:48.440 You and I understand that now this temple is not 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:51.640 a physical building, but it is you and I the 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:56.160 Temple of the Holy Spirit, where God dwells and where 0:12:56.200 --> 0:13:01.760 God lives. But in the midst of rebuilding this place 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:06.680 where God had appointed his presence to dwell, something was 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:09.319 lacking in their perseverance, or perhaps. 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:11.240 It was just that they got distracted. 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:14.959 This has helped me so much in trying to minister 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.480 to people and challenge people and call people hired to 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:19.280 God's standard. 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:20.319 Is that Often people. 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:27.440 Are not willfully disobedient. They are just distracted, you know 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.439 what I mean. I don't think that people always decide 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:39.520 to live in disobedience. Sometimes life just creates such a scenario. 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.640 And this is what guy said. He said, each of 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:47.240 you is busy with your own house. I thought that 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:50.720 was an interesting phrase that he said, you're busy with 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:52.880 your own house. He didn't say they were bad people, 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:58.319 just that they were busy people. I don't think those 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:00.160 of you who don't serve in the church don't in 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.120 the church because you're Satanic. I just think your kids 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:06.600 probably have soccer. It's not satan at soccer. I'm not 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:11.120 sure the tour that much different. Yeah, no, I hate soccer. Yes, 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:17.760 it's not a secret people. I'm not sure. In a 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:20.040 couple of weeks, we're going to take an offering. And 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:21.800 I don't think there's anybody that will be in the 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:26.240 church who will not appreciate the offering that is given, 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:30.040 because it's the very offering that was given a year ago, 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:33.000 or five years ago or ten years ago that built 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:35.560 the church that you were a part of today, where 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:36.680 God blesses your life. 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:39.239 It is the very. 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:42.680 Sacrifice that happens this time every year, and not just 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:44.760 at the end of the year, but weekly and monthly, 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:47.320 as people give to God and put him first. I 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:51.280 think everybody values that on one level, especially the business owners. 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:54.040 I was talking to a business owner one time. He said, 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:55.360 I'm so glad I don't. 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:56.880 Have your job. I said, why is that. You don't 0:14:56.920 --> 0:14:57.440 like to speak? 0:14:57.600 --> 0:14:59.440 He said, no, I don't mind speaking, he said. I 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:02.520 just can't image imagine running a business where people came 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.000 and decided whether they wanted to pay for the service 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:09.640 or not. I would go broke if I ran my 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:14.120 business like that. But here at our church, over and 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:19.240 over again, people have stepped up sacrificially and consistently. 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:23.080 And here's the keyword, systematically. 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:28.800 To put God first, because I understand that my harvest 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:32.480 is connected to God's house. 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:36.400 Now this is where the word gets rich. 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:41.680 Sometimes you are struggling in your life in ways that 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:46.320 you do not understand, but you are not directly discerning 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:49.600 the source of the dysfunction. Such is the case for 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:52.560 the people in haw Guy's day. He said, you're disappointed, 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:54.480 aren't you. I know you are. 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:56.000 It's August. 0:15:56.960 --> 0:16:02.720 It's the season for figs and grapes and pomegranates, and 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:06.600 you planted a lot of seed, but when you went 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:11.480 to get the harvest, it was only half of what 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:17.760 you expected. Have you ever invested in something or someone? 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:20.920 Keep eye contact with me when I say what I 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:25.480 say next, only to wonder how could I put so 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:29.960 much into it and get so little out of it? 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:38.360 Have you ever? Have you ever? This is the scene? 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:39.720 And how guys they remember? 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:42.000 This is a specific work to specific people, but I 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:45.760 think it has universal application and it is a timeless truth. 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:49.680 Is that when you do not start your process with 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:53.720 God at the center, it will always end in disappointment. 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:57.520 And it will not matter how much energy you give it, 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:02.440 or how much talent that you have, or or or 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.720 how sincere you are in your efforts. 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:07.600 I'm telling you, man. 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:11.399 I have sad with rich people, famous people, people with 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:18.159 great status and no satisfaction, great prosperity, and no peace. 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:23.240 Because any process that does not start with God ends 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:27.520 in disappointment. Write that down, teach it to your kids, 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:28.200 put it. 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:29.160 On your mirror. 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:34.000 Any process that does not start with God ends in disappointment. 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:38.640 You plant much, you reap little, you get dressed, You're 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:43.040 not warm. You drink, you drink you drink, you drink, 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:47.399 you drink, you drink, but you are bottomless, and even 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.960 the blessings that God gives you will be will be. 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:52.720 Can I say it this way? 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:54.160 Hollow? 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:06.240 It's a hollow harvest. And while the people were busy 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:13.080 building their own houses, busy building their own bodies, busy 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:19.800 building their own dreams, busy planning their own future, they 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:25.720 neglected the place of God's presence. I was praying about 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:27.399 this message. I said, God, I can't preach that. I 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:28.879 don't want to make them feel bad. Their lives are 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:35.600 already hard enough. And God told me I didn't hear 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:37.240 this out loud. Its just depression I have. Okay, so 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:40.879 let's get that straight right now. But the impression that 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:44.720 I got is if you don't ever make that connection, 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:49.439 you will live in a continual state of frustration and 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:55.000 wonder why am I doing so much and receiving so little? 0:18:56.520 --> 0:19:00.600 Why am I fishing all night and catching nothing? That's 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:05.639 what happened to Peter, you know, fished all night, caught nothing, 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:12.240 but the moment he gave his boat to Jesus, his 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:17.800 biggest problem was breaking nets. Because God is in charge 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:22.040 of the harvest, there is a certain part of success 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:24.360 and a certain part of life. 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:25.000 That you don't control. 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:29.119 You can decide how much to plant, but without the 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:32.439 cooperation of the elements, it will only grow to be 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:35.960 so much. It takes a little while to learn this 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:40.280 that you can do everything in your human strength that 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:45.040 you know to do to guarantee a happy life, but 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:49.000 there is a certain dimension of life that is outside 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:51.679 of your control. Touch your neighbors, say, don't blow it. 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:58.640 Here are these people. It's been twenty years. I understand. 0:19:58.720 --> 0:19:59.920 They come back from Babylon. 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:02.760 They're really trying to get acclimated to being back in 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:05.800 a place that has been so ravaged. They're settling into 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:09.600 their towns. Maybe two years, maybe five years, but it's 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:14.159 been twenty years. It's been twenty years now, which is 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:15.880 a significant number for me. Let me tell you why. 0:20:16.320 --> 0:20:18.520 This summer, I was going back and watching some of 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:20.560 the sermons that inspired. 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:21.200 Me to be a preacher. 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:24.560 They're all on YouTube, and it's cool because I don't 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:25.320 have to pay for them. 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:27.440 I can bootleg them now, and. 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:30.240 I've long since lost the cassette tapes, but they're all 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:32.639 online now, And so I was online watching some of 0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:35.160 my favorite preachers that were inspiring me as a boy. 0:20:35.200 --> 0:20:37.880 These were my heroes. I was watching them. 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.600 Just to kind of get in touch with sixteen year 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:43.720 old Stephen, who used to walk around the block with 0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:47.640 the walkman, and I would preach with the preachers and 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:53.160 I would hold an imaginary microphone I've said too much, okay. 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:56.080 And I was listening to them preach, and I was 0:20:56.119 --> 0:21:02.679 watching them on YouTube, and I thought, man, these guys 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:07.560 looked so much older to me. And then I did 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:11.960 some math, and I realized that the guys that I 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:15.840 used to watch when I was sixteen were the age then. 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:19.639 Right that I am. Now. 0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:25.560 You talk about a broken heart, you talk about a 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:27.720 wake up call, because see, I still feel like I 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:29.800 got all this time. You know, I still feel like 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:32.199 we're just getting started. The church is just getting started. 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:34.760 I mean, in my mind, this is still the IPO. 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:38.040 But it was a wake up call for me to 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:43.280 realize that what they were to you, then you are 0:21:43.400 --> 0:21:48.680 to somebody now. In other words, you don't have any 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:52.119 time to waste. Touch your other neighbors say, don't blow it. 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:54.879 You only got so much time. I know. 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:55.920 You keep telling. 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:58.919 Yourself one day when and we're gonna get around to it, 0:21:59.080 --> 0:22:02.880 and I'm fixing, but you might find yourself one day 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:05.440 run it out of strength. What is it your heart 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:08.840 to do? You better do it now. Some of your 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:12.040 neighbors say, do it now, cock a doodle, do this 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:17.720 is your wake up call I was twenty years ago. Man, 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:23.240 if we're gonna build it, we gotta build it now. 0:22:23.880 --> 0:22:27.280 But sometimes the devil will tell you you're being patient 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:29.480 when really you are procrastinating. 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:31.040 And if he can get you. 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:35.520 To mistake procrastination for patients, he can keep you locked 0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:36.960 out of the blessing. 0:22:37.119 --> 0:22:39.240 That is on the other side of your obedience. 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:50.320 Yes, it's a process, I mean, yes. 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:52.480 It takes time, but really twenty years. 0:22:53.359 --> 0:22:55.520 And after all, hat guy says, it looks like somehow 0:22:55.560 --> 0:23:00.400 you found time to build your own house. So glad 0:23:00.400 --> 0:23:02.920 Pastor Mickey taught me that. He beat that into my head. 0:23:03.080 --> 0:23:05.080 He said, boy, you find time for what you want 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:08.840 to do. He said that because I told him I 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:10.680 didn't have time to do something he told me to do. 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:13.280 He said, boy, you find time for what you want 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:17.840 to do. You find time for what you want to do. 0:23:19.560 --> 0:23:24.520 You find passion and energy. If I could get some 0:23:24.560 --> 0:23:26.960 of you to apply the same energy to serving God, 0:23:27.000 --> 0:23:32.320 that you apply to sin. We would turn every county 0:23:33.000 --> 0:23:44.240 in the United States of America, and it looked to 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:46.359 them like progress. But the prophet had guy says, wait 0:23:46.400 --> 0:23:51.600 a minute. Progress is more than just effort. Progress is 0:23:51.720 --> 0:24:01.240 effort in the right direction. Consider your ways, Consider your ways. 0:24:01.520 --> 0:24:04.080 He gets into a vivid description, this sound is so modern. 0:24:04.119 --> 0:24:05.280 When I was reading it, I don't know if you 0:24:05.280 --> 0:24:07.840 had the same experience, because I thought about all the 0:24:08.400 --> 0:24:13.320 streams that we live in now, and the feeds, and 0:24:13.400 --> 0:24:17.199 when he said you eat and are never full, and 0:24:17.240 --> 0:24:23.080 you scroll and are never entertained. He didn't say that, 0:24:23.160 --> 0:24:26.359 but that's what it made me think of. He said, 0:24:26.400 --> 0:24:28.840 you YouTube, and now you're over in cat videos and 0:24:28.880 --> 0:24:30.320 you don't even know how you ended up. 0:24:31.880 --> 0:24:32.399 How did I? 0:24:34.040 --> 0:24:36.520 How did I get here on a Minecraft tutorial? I'm 0:24:36.560 --> 0:24:45.960 thirty seven years old. And then it gets kind of dramatic. 0:24:47.040 --> 0:24:53.239 I don't apologize for God's word. He said, when I 0:24:53.280 --> 0:25:00.160 saw that you were so busy with your own work, 0:25:00.600 --> 0:25:02.480 when I saw that you were so busy with your 0:25:02.480 --> 0:25:06.359 own interest, I didn't mind you building your own house. 0:25:07.920 --> 0:25:11.520 I didn't mind you driving a new car. I didn't 0:25:11.680 --> 0:25:16.000 mind you enjoying yourself on the weekend and telling your 0:25:16.000 --> 0:25:18.240 friend who's always trying to use you that you didn't 0:25:18.240 --> 0:25:19.160 have time to help them move. 0:25:19.200 --> 0:25:21.840 It was fine because they're always asking you in. 0:25:21.800 --> 0:25:28.000 There there, But what I minded was what I minded 0:25:28.240 --> 0:25:37.440