Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2: Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving
Speaker 2: in your life.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the message. I thank you that one thought of
Speaker 1: you today, one thought can change the way we see ourselves.
Speaker 4: When God puts something significant in me, the enemy sends
Speaker 4: something significant after me.
Speaker 5: Find your tambourine and figure out how to praise even
Speaker 5: in the waiting.
Speaker 4: And the proof that I know that God still has
Speaker 4: something amazing ahead for your life is that you're still here.
Speaker 6: Hi.
Speaker 5: Everyone, Welcome to church. I hope that you had a
Speaker 5: wonderful Christmas. I hope that you were surrounded by the
Speaker 5: people that you love. I hope that you ate all
Speaker 5: of the amazing foods that you love, because you know
Speaker 5: calories don't count on Christmas. I hope that you had
Speaker 5: time to rest and nap and enjoy the peace that
Speaker 5: this season brings. Now, this is the one Sunday of
Speaker 5: the year where our entire church is epham, So I
Speaker 5: want to see the comments flying right now. Let us
Speaker 5: know where you are joining from. Maybe say hello to
Speaker 5: someone else in the chat that's.
Speaker 6: Not from your state.
Speaker 5: Pastor Steven and I are continually amazed at the people
Speaker 5: that God has brought together across the world who make
Speaker 5: up the people of Elevation Church. And it is the
Speaker 5: honor of a lifetime to get to do ministry with you.
Speaker 5: Today is evident that you are finishing the year strong.
Speaker 5: You're making church a priority, and that is something to
Speaker 5: celebrate because twenty twenty four has been an immeasurably more.
Speaker 7: Year for our church.
Speaker 5: We have seen some true, incredible blessings. We've reached new
Speaker 5: communities all around the world. We've continued to be a
Speaker 5: resource for those in need, and we have seen thousands
Speaker 5: of lives transformed. The impact of our church and our
Speaker 5: ability to share the hope of the Gospel is greater
Speaker 5: than Pastor Stephen and I could have ever thought possible.
Speaker 5: And that is because of you. You give so generously
Speaker 5: of your time and your gifts, and you keep doing
Speaker 5: your part, and God continues to move you know, Jesus
Speaker 5: says in John ten, He says, I have come that
Speaker 5: they may have life and have it to the full.
Speaker 5: And as we continue to be the church, we get
Speaker 5: to experience the fullness of life that God has promised us.
Speaker 6: Looking back on twenty twenty.
Speaker 5: Four, my heart is overflowing with gratitude for the ways
Speaker 5: that we have seen God move, and as.
Speaker 6: We look ahead to.
Speaker 5: Twenty twenty five, I'm feel with expectation, knowing that even
Speaker 5: greater things are yet to come. So today I thought
Speaker 5: it would be fun to take a moment to reflect
Speaker 5: on the incredible moments from the past year and then
Speaker 5: maybe take a peek ahead to all of the amazing
Speaker 5: things that God has for us in the year to come.
Speaker 5: And I thought that I would invite some friends to
Speaker 5: join us. It's going to be a great time, a
Speaker 5: great conversation, and I'm glad that you're here with us.
Speaker 5: So let me introduce to you some of my friends.
Speaker 5: These are all familiar faces, but I just want to
Speaker 5: give you a formal introduction. This is Chris Brown, who
Speaker 5: you probably know from Elevation Worship. And then we've got
Speaker 5: britt at Consola in the middle here, who is our
Speaker 5: ministry's pastor. Pastor Chad Zolo, our online pastor you all
Speaker 5: know him, and Pastor chet Pete, who is our UC
Speaker 5: University City shout out campus pastor. We've got to talk
Speaker 5: about worship first, because this was an incredible year for
Speaker 5: Elevation worship.
Speaker 8: I can't, I can't believe we're what almost twenty years in.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we released our.
Speaker 8: Seventeenth worship album maybe eighteenth nineteen.
Speaker 3: You can see exactly exactly.
Speaker 8: That's a long story, all these years in almost two decades.
Speaker 8: It's crazy how God allows our ministry to go places
Speaker 8: that we may physically never show up or set our feet,
Speaker 8: but the Word of God goes there, and a lot
Speaker 8: of times that's happening through our shorge.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I feel like there are so many people who
Speaker 5: have found our church through elevation.
Speaker 8: It's incredible, so grateful. It is a crazy year. When
Speaker 8: Wind meets Fire.
Speaker 5: Okay to say, I think When Wind meets Fire is
Speaker 5: my favorite Elevation Worship album.
Speaker 8: It's incredible. People ask me what, what's my favorite song?
Speaker 8: What's my favorite album? The favorite album? Answer is always
Speaker 8: what's the most recent one?
Speaker 3: We just did? So I agree it's my favorite too,
Speaker 3: but for good reason.
Speaker 9: Nowavorite song?
Speaker 8: See, it's a album it is you got we might
Speaker 8: get there, but I'll say sure, been good.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love sure been good to the day I died.
Speaker 10: Yeah, Jesus are the albums and the songs are like
Speaker 10: your kids.
Speaker 3: Like you know, you can't choose a favorite.
Speaker 6: I have a favorite take, you have a favorite favorite song?
Speaker 9: Okay, all right, I'm going to say it.
Speaker 8: No when win means fire though the song it's it's
Speaker 8: a rock opera. We got like God is Not against
Speaker 8: Me is on there? Which was what a sermon? It
Speaker 8: turned into a song that also made.
Speaker 6: Chapter in a book.
Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly, and one of the mindsets. I mean, it
Speaker 5: wasn't just a chapter, it was like a section in
Speaker 5: the room.
Speaker 8: Absolutely. I mean, new Thing Coming, which is so fun. Also,
Speaker 8: I mean, what a great song to to end one year.
Speaker 8: So many great songs. I can't believe it's seventeenth album.
Speaker 6: I can't believe it is.
Speaker 3: It's incredible.
Speaker 8: Also, I mean, we got a shout out rhythm for
Speaker 8: Goodbye Yesterday.
Speaker 3: How good is that song?
Speaker 9: It's so good, so good.
Speaker 8: Also, actually another perfect song to end one year, And.
Speaker 3: That's true.
Speaker 6: I love worshiping of that song.
Speaker 5: It just makes me so happy and you start like shouting.
Speaker 6: I have decided to follow Jesus.
Speaker 10: I feel like at a youth I mean, I got
Speaker 10: a rhythm night and to hear are you declaring that?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 5: But then to see it on a Sunday morning and
Speaker 5: balanine'e and I mean it like.
Speaker 3: They're going strong, it goes crazy. Also, I mean selfish.
Speaker 8: I'll shout out praise too, because praise just kept released
Speaker 8: it well over a year ago, not not this year,
Speaker 8: but it just kept reaching more people. So the way
Speaker 8: God's working through our ministry, how He's using the songs.
Speaker 6: Is it's incredible.
Speaker 8: I think we have a clipless show saying, hey, I.
Speaker 11: Got you don't get it what we what we call
Speaker 11: don this sol thing. You've never run out big? Put it?
Speaker 12: Put it.
Speaker 11: By God. He's not a dance He's a shires as
Speaker 11: this says a little little wayes Hi.
Speaker 1: Do the songs on the bed room right down.
Speaker 13: Sons to get ready.
Speaker 9: For done the one because I done. The money's a.
Speaker 13: Great shop thing, incredible, amazing, It's amazing how many good songs,
Speaker 13: so that many.
Speaker 6: Song after song after song. I just am blown away.
Speaker 5: Okay, So, Chris, one of the things I want to
Speaker 5: put people on the spot that are on the sofa,
Speaker 5: and I want to know, are there any secrets.
Speaker 12: Five.
Speaker 6: I want to know, are there any.
Speaker 5: Secrets that's the people watching today can can get O?
Speaker 3: All right? All right? So well, can I let me
Speaker 3: share a little story?
Speaker 14: Okay? Stories?
Speaker 3: May of this year, I got a phone call. I
Speaker 3: think you happen to be in the car.
Speaker 7: Okay.
Speaker 8: I got a phone call from your husband, Pastor Stephen,
Speaker 8: and he says, you know, all these songs that have
Speaker 8: been sitting on our phones, We've never recorded them, we've
Speaker 8: never sung them in church, We've never figured out what
Speaker 8: do we want to do with them.
Speaker 3: I got the idea.
Speaker 8: What we need to do is get our friends together, Brandon, Lake, Channer, Moore, Leland, Pat,
Speaker 8: the two of us, and let's just have fun and
Speaker 8: let's record these and let's let's start a new group,
Speaker 8: a new a boy band, if you will, but not
Speaker 8: really a boy band, but a new twenty four twenty
Speaker 8: five man band. And it's going to be called Sons
Speaker 8: of Sunday. My secret is Sons of Sunday SOS. So
Speaker 8: we got together in September and we recorded so many
Speaker 8: songs in this amazing little chapel, and we banged on
Speaker 8: pianos and guitars and tambourines and we cried and we
Speaker 8: laughed and we lost our voice is and we recorded
Speaker 8: so many songs and uh, it's gonna come out in
Speaker 8: full album form, brand new album, all new songs people
Speaker 8: have not heard.
Speaker 3: But it's coming, Sons of Sunday. I'll tell you what
Speaker 3: you need to do.
Speaker 8: You actually need to go on socials right now and
Speaker 8: search up Sons of Sunday because I mean we kind of.
Speaker 5: Have been king and then you'll know when it's out
Speaker 5: exactly and every song is so good and okay.
Speaker 6: Do we have a little.
Speaker 3: All right, so the secrets out?
Speaker 6: Okay, secrets out. Check us out.
Speaker 3: God gets a hold of you.
Speaker 9: It's no town. Watch alluded, nom time, watch.
Speaker 3: Alloud, my gad, fight my key free.
Speaker 1: But if you back, come out, I'm bing out on me.
Speaker 14: I got fawing out.
Speaker 6: Okay, we needn't.
Speaker 3: That's all you get right now.
Speaker 6: So sometime in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3: I'll say sometime very soon, okay.
Speaker 6: And then of course elevation worships on tour.
Speaker 8: We we saw what sixteen cities with elevation nights this
Speaker 8: past year and it was incredible nights in ministry. Yeah,
Speaker 8: and then we're headed right back out in February of
Speaker 8: this year. Yeah, eight more cities in February. Can't wait
Speaker 8: to see what God does.
Speaker 6: I mean, tour is amazing.
Speaker 5: And the thing that I love about tour is it's
Speaker 5: not just Elevation Worship.
Speaker 6: It's like it's like.
Speaker 5: Elevation Church came to your town. It yea and filled
Speaker 5: an arena exactly. And so you get like all your
Speaker 5: favorite songs, and then you get a word from Pastor Stephen,
Speaker 5: and you get Epham you know, in the not the lobby,
Speaker 5: but like whatever it's called the concourse. Of course, you
Speaker 5: get to meet Chad and all of our e fam
Speaker 5: gets to come together, and they're just such incredible nights.
Speaker 5: And we're going back out again and I'm so excited.
Speaker 14: We have the dates.
Speaker 9: But we got another video. We got another video video.
Speaker 6: All right, all right, check this out. Here's Elevation Nights.
Speaker 15: It's amazing because this last time we had I think
Speaker 15: over one hundred and sixty thousand people who showed up
Speaker 15: this year and it is crazy, I mean you were
Speaker 15: saying it, but to gather in person. A lot of
Speaker 15: these people are part of our e fam who watch
Speaker 15: online and so to get everybody in a room together
Speaker 15: is crazy. One of the things I love that we do, though,
Speaker 15: is when we get to meet with a lot of
Speaker 15: the fan people who call Elevation Church family out in
Speaker 15: the concourse. As you were saying, we have these little
Speaker 15: stations set up and people stop by. But what Brick
Speaker 15: gets to do a lot of times share with you
Speaker 15: like your little station that you have.
Speaker 12: It's awesome, it's so special. It's my favorite thing that
Speaker 12: we get to do. So we have an area where
Speaker 12: we get to pray with you, and so you can
Speaker 12: write a prayer request down and even to this day,
Speaker 12: if you've written a request down, we're still praying for you.
Speaker 12: We have our teams hereas that pray over you, your
Speaker 12: family or whatever it is that you need prayer for.
Speaker 12: And so you mentioned it, it's a night of ministry
Speaker 12: and it goes deeper than just like a room full
Speaker 12: of people. We love the opportunity to see the individual
Speaker 12: people and their needs and then align our faith with
Speaker 12: you and what you need to see God do in
Speaker 12: your life.
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, that's awesome, and we're pouring out as a
Speaker 8: ministry into people. But I will say how much I
Speaker 8: feel like, yeah, I get filled when I get to
Speaker 8: read testimonies or you know, read the cards that someone
Speaker 8: wrote a prayer request down and then months later have
Speaker 8: in fact heard the test mony how God answered that prayer.
Speaker 3: We're getting to meet people even there.
Speaker 8: We've done that backstage and gotten to hear personally from them.
Speaker 8: How you know one of our songs carried them through
Speaker 8: a sleepless night and that's just I mean, that's so fueling.
Speaker 8: And it's like I have no business being in the
Speaker 8: position i am, but thank you Jesus. And we just
Speaker 8: get to be a part of a ministry like this.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and we're not just at our campuses and on tour,
Speaker 5: but we also do pop ups.
Speaker 9: I mean pop ups have been amazing.
Speaker 15: We've been doing these for a few years now, and
Speaker 15: it actually started kind of right out of COVID. We
Speaker 15: were like, well, everybody's watching online, now can we actually
Speaker 15: take church to people on Sunday.
Speaker 9: It's not an event, it's just.
Speaker 15: Literally we bring some of the Elevation Worship crew and
Speaker 15: we get people from all over the world who say, hey,
Speaker 15: I'd love to be baptized.
Speaker 9: I'd love to take that step, and we thought, well,
Speaker 9: let's bring a baptism. Thanks to that. Yeah, and let's
Speaker 9: do baptism.
Speaker 15: So this year we've been able to do twelve pop
Speaker 15: up and we're all over the United States.
Speaker 9: We wrapped up this year in Los Angeles.
Speaker 15: We've seen over fifteen thousand people join with us at
Speaker 15: these pages and we've got the opportunity to baptize over
Speaker 15: fifteen hundred people.
Speaker 6: Incredible it is.
Speaker 15: It is absolutely incredible, And every stop it just never
Speaker 15: ceases to.
Speaker 9: Blow a mind.
Speaker 15: There's people lining up around the building. But what's cool
Speaker 15: is every place that we go, it's like it feels
Speaker 15: like church.
Speaker 9: It feels like this is family.
Speaker 15: Yes, and we really try to make it feel that way.
Speaker 15: From you know, if you attend to campus, we want
Speaker 15: you to come and attend one of these and think
Speaker 15: I want you to see the banner and it's like, oh,
Speaker 15: that's my church. They're here, and so as people are
Speaker 15: coming in, you're what you're seeing familiar faces, but as
Speaker 15: people who are part of this family. And so just
Speaker 15: the opportunity that we get, I'm always so blown away,
Speaker 15: Like you said, who are we that we get to
Speaker 15: travel around and do this, like to be able to
Speaker 15: go to a place and bring church like this to
Speaker 15: where so many of you.
Speaker 5: Are One of my favorite things that we did in
Speaker 5: twenty twenty four was my husband released a book, and
Speaker 5: it was his first book in eight years, and.
Speaker 6: The book was called Do the New Year.
Speaker 5: Yes, and the book, I mean, besides like releasing it
Speaker 5: to the world and like all the things that came
Speaker 5: along with it, I just so loved this book. Like
Speaker 5: I'm just continually blown away at how God continues.
Speaker 6: To use our pastor's words.
Speaker 5: So it's it could be when he's preaching, it could
Speaker 5: be through the songs that he's writing, or through the
Speaker 5: words of a book.
Speaker 7: And this particular book.
Speaker 5: He gave us the six mindsets and then the chapters
Speaker 5: within the mindsets, and it was just I mean, it
Speaker 5: was just so much fun to get to read that
Speaker 5: book and release it and to hear people talking about
Speaker 5: it and to hear how it was ministering to all
Speaker 5: of you.
Speaker 10: And I don't know any of you, I think we
Speaker 10: do have to thank God for the way that he
Speaker 10: used your voice because.
Speaker 16: If we remember, oh I remember, if we remember pastors,
Speaker 16: I mean, by the power of the Holly Spirit, God,
Speaker 16: God use your voice to be able to.
Speaker 5: Say, well, it was special for me because you know,
Speaker 5: like everybody needs moments where you feel like, oh, God
Speaker 5: does hear my prayers. God does answer prayers. And it
Speaker 5: was like one of those moments. And we shared the
Speaker 5: story many times where you know, I had just been praying,
Speaker 5: Like we had many conversations and we had this one
Speaker 5: like I wouldn't.
Speaker 7: Say it was a fight, but it was.
Speaker 6: It was a little heated conversation and intense.
Speaker 5: And I just felt, you know, like that's enough, Like
Speaker 5: when you know, and sometimes you're having a conversation with
Speaker 5: somebody that you really love and you're really trying to
Speaker 5: push them, but then you know that like you've said
Speaker 5: enough and it's time to just move on. And and
Speaker 5: so whenever that happens to me, I have said enough
Speaker 5: to that. But then I know that a guy can
Speaker 5: say all my thanks to God, and so I just
Speaker 5: kept leaving it with God. And then it just happened,
Speaker 5: and we got to release the book and it's so good.
Speaker 5: If you haven't read Do the New you you have
Speaker 5: to get a copy. We're leaving all the links, by
Speaker 5: the way, everything that we talk about in the description.
Speaker 5: If you're looking for a link, it's going to be
Speaker 5: right there. So if you want to link to the album,
Speaker 5: you want to link to Do the New You. It's
Speaker 5: everywhere books are sold and it's so incredible. And so
Speaker 5: then we got to do an E group study with
Speaker 5: Do the New You, and that was such an incredible
Speaker 5: I mean, so many people in our church are part
Speaker 5: of an E group. Now if you're not a part
Speaker 5: of any group, it doesn't matter where you live. We
Speaker 5: have E groups for everyone, every age, every area. We
Speaker 5: have groups that meet in person, groups that meet virtual,
Speaker 5: and mostly our groups discuss the sermons. And what was
Speaker 5: cool about Do the New You is that it was
Speaker 5: like everything overlapped, Like.
Speaker 6: We had a song, we had the sermons.
Speaker 5: Week, we had the book to discuss, and then we
Speaker 5: had E groups that were discussing all of it.
Speaker 12: And it was such a great moment. Fun facts about
Speaker 12: twelve thousand people in our church. I'd love to know
Speaker 12: who you are like went through this study together. So
Speaker 12: it was also such a special unifying time in our church.
Speaker 14: But we did. We unpacked these mindsets.
Speaker 17: I love.
Speaker 14: If you've been around, maybe you've heard of say this.
Speaker 12: E groups make our church, a big church feel small,
Speaker 12: and so it's one thing to hear it, it's another
Speaker 12: thing to unpack it and make it personal in your life.
Speaker 12: And that's what we got to do for these six
Speaker 12: weeks together, and so we got to take them to
Speaker 12: another level, really get them in our hearts that we
Speaker 12: can really love them out. And so we loved our
Speaker 12: time together and it was just really special.
Speaker 14: It really was. You let us so well through it too.
Speaker 14: Thank you for videos. Yeah that one, I'm like every
Speaker 14: single one of us were a part of that.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 14: Yeah, it was a really special time together.
Speaker 7: Oh, it was awesome.
Speaker 5: And I just I love the e groups of our
Speaker 5: church because it's a place where I feel like God
Speaker 5: can take what he's speaking to you when you listen
Speaker 5: to the sermon, but it takes It's like the roots
Speaker 5: go deeper when you are able to discuss it with
Speaker 5: other people and you hear other people processing what God
Speaker 5: is speaking to them, and it just solidifies what God
Speaker 5: is speaking. And so I just think it's so powerful
Speaker 5: and you can still be a part of any group
Speaker 5: an elevation. There'll be a link in the description.
Speaker 6: Okay, other fun things that have gone on. Tell us
Speaker 6: a little bit about outreach.
Speaker 12: Okay, you've said this, Pastor Holly, and it has stuck
Speaker 12: with me. You said that if the groups are what
Speaker 12: make a big church feel small, yes, then outreach is
Speaker 12: what makes a big church feel big.
Speaker 14: Yeah, And that is so true.
Speaker 12: Outreach is such a special part of our ministry because
Speaker 12: it really is one of the areas where we get
Speaker 12: to live out our faith. And I feel like if
Speaker 12: you've been a part of it, then you know that
Speaker 12: you've walked through this all year long. I mean, we
Speaker 12: do everything from Dream Week. We kick off the Ears
Speaker 12: Strong with Outreach Love Week, I mean, and then we
Speaker 12: also like go into like you guys remember the response
Speaker 12: that we did, Yeah, Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton.
Speaker 6: What was crazy?
Speaker 5: Was like in my mind, I thought we were just
Speaker 5: gonna be asking our campuses.
Speaker 6: To show up and bring stuff. But Epham was like,
Speaker 6: oh no, you're not doing this without us, and.
Speaker 5: So you can created an Amazon wishless And I don't
Speaker 5: know if anybody remembers this, but the Amazon guy we
Speaker 5: did this video.
Speaker 6: It made me cry because the Amazon delivery man.
Speaker 5: Was like, we haven't seen this many packages since the
Speaker 5: week before Christmas last year and we're all being delivered
Speaker 5: here and yet like it was so incredible because you know,
Speaker 5: we're a big church and sometimes you need to feel
Speaker 5: how big it is. And it was like mobilizing an
Speaker 5: army of people who are like I'll send something, I'll
Speaker 5: sort something, i'll deliver something, everything.
Speaker 12: I mean, it was so immediately, like you guys showed
Speaker 12: up immediately. I mean we just started getting like packages
Speaker 12: and people showing up giving their time.
Speaker 14: And it was such a powerful time to just be like,
Speaker 14: this is the church.
Speaker 13: Yes.
Speaker 5: And it made me so proud of our church because
Speaker 5: I feel like it was a moment where we got
Speaker 5: to see how all of the strategic systems that we've
Speaker 5: been building and how all year it was like everything
Speaker 5: sort of culminated because you know, we say this all
Speaker 5: the time, but twelve percent of every dollar given to Elevation.
Speaker 7: Church goes to our outreach efforts.
Speaker 5: And so when a disaster happens, we're we're ready with funds.
Speaker 5: You don't have to wonder should I give to this organization?
Speaker 18: Is this is this?
Speaker 5: You know, somebody who's being honest with you already give
Speaker 5: to your church, so you know that your church is
Speaker 5: going to support whatever it is. But then throughout the
Speaker 5: year we have events where we're whatever you know, Love
Speaker 5: Week or the Dream Weekend where we're packing backpacks or
Speaker 5: we're making flood kits, and so then whenever disaster happens,
Speaker 5: we're ready emptied out our warehouse. And it was just
Speaker 5: I was so proud to be a part of Elevation
Speaker 5: and Elevation outreach and to be able to represent our
Speaker 5: church in that moment was really special.
Speaker 10: I love how our church shows up in these moments
Speaker 10: where it's these national disasters, but I think sometimes people
Speaker 10: don't realize that there's outreach events happening all the time.
Speaker 10: You know, We've had people going back and forth to
Speaker 10: Ashville since that. We can't like it wasn't just the
Speaker 10: one time and there left. Yeah, I'm proud of the
Speaker 10: way that our church continues to show up. So these
Speaker 10: big moments where we have to show up, but then
Speaker 10: throughout the week, whether it's like meeting with schools or
Speaker 10: feeding teachers.
Speaker 9: Breakfasts and things like that. So that's just the heart
Speaker 9: of our church showing up.
Speaker 10: It's happening all the time, all the time, all the time.
Speaker 10: So we get to do both in the moments that
Speaker 10: it's desperate and we got to show up, and then
Speaker 10: when it's just showing up for people on a day
Speaker 10: to day basis.
Speaker 5: Our church does that too, all right, So God is
Speaker 5: expanding so many areas of our church.
Speaker 7: Chet tell us about some.
Speaker 5: Of the really fun things that we have coming in
Speaker 5: twenty twenty five and some of the things that we
Speaker 5: accomplished in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 10: Well, one of the strategies that you know, we implemented
Speaker 10: I guess a few years ago is that we just
Speaker 10: really wanted to be focused on having some permanency in
Speaker 10: the communities that we were in. So we just wanted
Speaker 10: to focus on what campuses were we setting up and
Speaker 10: tearing down, and maybe we were at the whim of
Speaker 10: the school or whether or not we could have church
Speaker 10: that weekend or do an event. And because of the
Speaker 10: generous people of our church, we were able to really
Speaker 10: start to be aggressive at looking for facilities that we
Speaker 10: would be able to go in and renovate or buy
Speaker 10: land to build so that Elevation Church could be permanent
Speaker 10: in that community. So at the end of last year
Speaker 10: we were able to open up Belmont and so they
Speaker 10: just had a full year ministry and then Columbia was
Speaker 10: able to celebrate Christmas in.
Speaker 3: Their new building this year.
Speaker 10: So yeah, Taylor and Nikki Seidel they had a.
Speaker 1: Parking lot party.
Speaker 7: I saw it.
Speaker 10: I saw it for three hundred people to come just
Speaker 10: to have a night to be ab to worship before
Speaker 10: they open up the building.
Speaker 9: A thousand people showed up.
Speaker 7: That's crazy.
Speaker 10: They had ten salvations that night in the parking lot
Speaker 10: before we even open up the building at Columbia.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 10: So then coming into twenty twenty five, Greenville. Greenville will
Speaker 10: be opening up hopefully summer twenty twenty five. Then we
Speaker 10: have Uptown, who should be opening summer of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 7: We got a really cool location, really cool location.
Speaker 10: When you step out on the Fourier, you're able to
Speaker 10: look up and see the skyline of the city of Charlotte.
Speaker 10: That's pretty amazing. And then Toronto East. Toronto East was
Speaker 10: a new campus that we actually launched this year. No, no,
Speaker 10: don't apologize. It was at the end of last year
Speaker 10: that we launched Toronto East. God's doing so much in Toronto. Last,
Speaker 10: but not least Raleigh, Raleigh, North Carolina. We purchased Land
Speaker 10: and Raleigh and have been working hard over really the
Speaker 10: last year and a half to be able to push
Speaker 10: through permits and all of those things to get it done,
Speaker 10: but we're finally able to start breaking Brown Raleigh. But
Speaker 10: one of the things I wanted to highlight with Raleigh,
Speaker 10: I got a picture of Isaiah being baptized. This is
Speaker 10: on the ground where we're going to be building Elevation Raleigh.
Speaker 10: Here's the beauty beauty of this picture is before we
Speaker 10: break ground, we're already had a baptism.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 10: And the one that I think about this and think
Speaker 10: about the mission of our church so that people far
Speaker 10: from God would be raised to life in Christ. And so, yes,
Speaker 10: we're talking about these buildings. You're seeing some of the
Speaker 10: renderings and all of that, but what we're really excited
Speaker 10: about is the ministry that's going to be happening in
Speaker 10: these walls.
Speaker 1: People.
Speaker 10: I just want to thank all of you faithfully give
Speaker 10: an Elevation Church so that when an opportunity like this
Speaker 10: opens up, we're able to jump on it.
Speaker 3: That's right. We have resource set.
Speaker 10: Aside, we can get ahead of projects because of your
Speaker 10: generosity to be able to jump in and see what
Speaker 10: God can do through through our church.
Speaker 18: Yeah.
Speaker 5: And I love how when people people give, it's this
Speaker 5: spirit of of like, well, this ministry has touched my
Speaker 5: life so much and even though I attend a camp,
Speaker 5: you know, like University City, that is already a permanent
Speaker 5: location the generous spirit of I need.
Speaker 6: I want other people to experience that too. I want
Speaker 6: to create a seat somewhere else.
Speaker 5: It's just such a beautiful thing to see when we
Speaker 5: come together. I mean, it's another way that a big
Speaker 5: church feels big, because when every gift matters, because when
Speaker 5: we pull all of our gifts together, God is able
Speaker 5: to do miracles. Before we leave, I have to spend
Speaker 5: some time talking about some of the amazing sermons that
Speaker 5: we heard just this year, twenty twenty four.
Speaker 7: Now I looked last night.
Speaker 5: I looked at a list of all of Pastor Stephen
Speaker 5: sermons just in twenty four, just the titles, and I
Speaker 5: was blown away.
Speaker 6: I was like, how does this man do this?
Speaker 5: I preached three four, I preached four baby sermons, Okay, okay,
Speaker 5: but this man preached like thirty five times and his
Speaker 5: titles are brilliant and they come together. And we had,
Speaker 5: you know, we had do the New You. We had
Speaker 5: ghost Writers series. We had this series that was towards
Speaker 5: the end of the year. I don't know if it
Speaker 5: ever got a name, but you know, it was like
Speaker 5: God is Oh, now I can't remember all of them
Speaker 5: working in.
Speaker 6: Can you do them all?
Speaker 9: Don't challenge?
Speaker 14: God's got the hard part.
Speaker 7: And then the last one, I'm cheating. I'm looking at
Speaker 7: my nose.
Speaker 6: Oh, God gave it to me.
Speaker 5: I mean, those were incredible messages that we ended the
Speaker 5: year with, but we started the year strong. And so
Speaker 5: I had everybody in this room come with their favorite
Speaker 5: sermon and we're just gonna watch a clip and chat
Speaker 5: about them. Chris, what was your favorite sermon of the year?
Speaker 3: All right?
Speaker 8: So I mean also kind of like picking favorite kids, Yes,
Speaker 8: but totally for the exercise.
Speaker 7: Totally.
Speaker 3: In August, he preached two titles, Me and.
Speaker 8: God getting back together, got Back Together and breaking the
Speaker 8: bondage of wrong belief. So it's in Judges six he's
Speaker 8: talking about Gideon. Gideon's hiding in a wine press because
Speaker 8: the nation of Israel has been in captivity for seven
Speaker 8: years and God shows up. Gideon's feeling like a whimp
Speaker 8: and God. The first thing God says to him is, hey,
Speaker 8: mighty warrior. So he's feeling a certain kind of way.
Speaker 8: God doesn't speak to how he's feeling. God speaks to
Speaker 8: how God sees him, and then this is really where
Speaker 8: Pastor spent most of the time. Then the first thing
Speaker 8: God asked him to act on is go and tear
Speaker 8: down the altar of bail of your father. And so
Speaker 8: the question that Pastor kind of kept coming back to
Speaker 8: was what wrong beliefs do we need to break up
Speaker 8: with in order to move forward and see ourselves as
Speaker 8: God does.
Speaker 3: It's so good.
Speaker 8: So I mean kind of a perfect way as we
Speaker 8: step into a new year, like what old mindsets have
Speaker 8: no business going into twenty five with us?
Speaker 6: I think I've got a clip.
Speaker 14: Let's check this out.
Speaker 4: I see some people that I preach to. You're trying
Speaker 4: to build your life back. You're trying to build your
Speaker 4: hope back. You're trying to build your business back. You're
Speaker 4: trying to build your family back. You're trying to build
Speaker 4: your sobriety back. You had eighty one days and now
Speaker 4: you're back on day two. But that's okay, because as
Speaker 4: you are trying to build it back, God wants to
Speaker 4: show you something that will make sure that this time
Speaker 4: you build it, what you build will stand the test
Speaker 4: of the battle that you face.
Speaker 7: Because because if all I.
Speaker 4: Do is build an altar while Pastor Stephen is preaching.
Speaker 4: And if all I do is say, Okay, I'm going
Speaker 4: to stack some new habits and I'm going to do
Speaker 4: some new things, and okay, the Lord is peace.
Speaker 17: Found out something that you cannot have God's peace and
Speaker 17: keep it without having God's priorities. God's peace without God's
Speaker 17: priorities is always temporary. The kind of peace that you've
Speaker 17: been seeking in your life, craving in your life, crying
Speaker 17: out for in your life, that kind of peace, that
Speaker 17: that permanent peace, that storm speaking peace, that lay your
Speaker 17: head on the pillow of a lion's main kind of
Speaker 17: peace that I'm in a fire. But I see the
Speaker 17: fourth Man kind of peace.
Speaker 18: The kind of peace that can know that greater is
Speaker 18: he that is in me than he that is in
Speaker 18: the world, and there's more with us than with them.
Speaker 18: And I don't have to be afraid about any of it.
Speaker 4: That kind of peace only comes from priorities.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm good.
Speaker 6: I wrote this.
Speaker 7: I wrote this in my notes. I thought this was
Speaker 7: so powerful. No breakup, no breakthrough.
Speaker 5: Yes, And it's like until you break up with those habits,
Speaker 5: with those ways of thinking, with those like you said,
Speaker 5: those those mindsets that you've believed about yourself aren't true.
Speaker 7: Until you break up with those things.
Speaker 6: You don't get to have breakthrough.
Speaker 5: And we all want breakthrough, but a lot of times
Speaker 5: we don't want to do the work that it takes
Speaker 5: to get that breakthrough.
Speaker 7: And it was just such a convicting message.
Speaker 10: The whole idea of God's peace is connected to God's priority.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 10: I mean that's enough to go into right there and
Speaker 10: just say, Okay, how am I going to count my day?
Speaker 10: Is this a lot with what God has for me?
Speaker 10: And not be mad when you don't experience the peace
Speaker 10: of God and you haven't taken time to be able
Speaker 10: to prioritize your effect your life effect.
Speaker 15: Is like the daily thing though, because a lot of
Speaker 15: times I think that it's like a moment where it's
Speaker 15: like Okay, I'm gonna go destroy that altar and then
Speaker 15: that's done, like okay, and it's not really that well,
Speaker 15: it's like a daily thing. Every day. God's calling you
Speaker 15: a mighty warrior. Okay, okay, I'll do it today. So
Speaker 15: that's the thing that I feel like I miss a lot.
Speaker 15: It's like it's not a moment, it's a daily decision
Speaker 15: to believe that.
Speaker 9: Okay, God, I'm a mighty warrior. That's tough.
Speaker 12: Yeah. The thing that you need to make real practical, right,
Speaker 12: Like you got to write some of these down. You
Speaker 12: mentioned looking back at our notes. That's a great sermon
Speaker 12: to go back look at your notes. You got to
Speaker 12: write it down. You need to schedule it. You mentioned that, like,
Speaker 12: what does your calendar look like? Like are you scheduling
Speaker 12: according to the priorities that you feel like God's put
Speaker 12: in front of you, and so making it as.
Speaker 14: Practical as you can to be as successful as we
Speaker 14: can at this all.
Speaker 6: Right, Britt, Okay, you like the Easter sermon.
Speaker 14: I love the Easter sermon.
Speaker 12: The Easter sermon was so good, and I mean all
Speaker 12: of pastors Steve and sermons speak to you. This one
Speaker 12: was the one of the year that I feel like
Speaker 12: I felt the most scene because maybe it's just because
Speaker 12: of how I'm wired.
Speaker 6: I don't know, crazy though, how he can do that.
Speaker 6: How like he'll just.
Speaker 5: Say something and you're like, oh my gosh, yes for me,
Speaker 5: I'll actually think I'm like he better stop because I really.
Speaker 3: Feel like he's talk about me.
Speaker 12: But I'm not.
Speaker 5: That's just the Holy Spirit just speaks through him and
Speaker 5: it just like cuts straight to you and sorry interrupted, No.
Speaker 14: No, this is great.
Speaker 12: This sermon was called something in Between maybe you remember it,
Speaker 12: and he preached from Matthew twenty eight and so this
Speaker 12: was our Eastern sermon. So he preached about the Mary's
Speaker 12: going to the tomb. Yeah, and he really camped in
Speaker 12: a verse and you know scripture, and you know, I
Speaker 12: don't know, like maybe you have a tradition where like
Speaker 12: I don't know if you read the Easter Story. Like
Speaker 12: my in laws they read the Easter Story of the
Speaker 12: Christmas Story every holiday. And I'm like, I have read
Speaker 12: this story. I know it so many times. And it
Speaker 12: was such a beautiful revelation that he bulled because he
Speaker 12: specifically camped out whenever he talked about they were leaving
Speaker 12: the tomb and they left with fear yet joy.
Speaker 7: Yeah, we got a clip. We gotta clip yellows.
Speaker 14: SHOT's watch it.
Speaker 4: And I love this phrase because this is how I
Speaker 4: feel afraid yet filled with joy. This is not a
Speaker 4: translation error, by the way, because most of us think
Speaker 4: like you're either going to be afraid or filled with joy.
Speaker 4: I had somebody ask me the other day, I was
Speaker 4: going to do something that was a big deal, and
Speaker 4: they said, are you looking forward to it or are
Speaker 4: you dreading it? And I was like, are those the
Speaker 4: only two options? Because I'm not exactly looking forward to it.
Speaker 4: I'm not exactly dreading it.
Speaker 1: I'm something and it can change from moment to moment.
Speaker 4: I'm like, really grateful for this life God has given
Speaker 4: me and this influence that He gave me. And then
Speaker 4: sometimes that anticipation feels like anxiety, and sometimes my anxiety
Speaker 4: feels like anticipation, and sometimes listen to this. The difference
Speaker 4: between anticipation and anxiety is the way you label it.
Speaker 4: I stand before you today excited and afraid. I stand
Speaker 4: before you today a sinner and a saint. I stand
Speaker 4: before you today a flawed man and a child of God.
Speaker 4: And I'm never all of both.
Speaker 1: I'm something in between.
Speaker 12: Okay, now I know you guys see why I felt
Speaker 12: so seen because I feel like that is literally me,
Speaker 12: Like we're all Our faith is just a constant journey,
Speaker 12: and it gets so frustrating when you're like, you see
Speaker 12: where it is.
Speaker 14: That God would have you be.
Speaker 12: You're like, okay, Lord, you say love my enemies, to
Speaker 12: pray something, to be kind and to be generous, and
Speaker 12: then somebody says the wrong thing on the wrong day
Speaker 12: and you're like, oh, I was working so hard on this,
Speaker 12: you know, and I'm got slipping, But like no, sometimes
Speaker 12: it is both like yes, like I want to be
Speaker 12: like holy and I want to be closer to God
Speaker 12: in this one. But then also like I understand that
Speaker 12: like God made me where like I am a big
Speaker 12: feeler and I'm both I'm somewhere in between, and so
Speaker 12: I feel like for me, it was really the permission slip,
Speaker 12: that I have permission to keep growing, and it's not
Speaker 12: I'm not a failure because I'm somewhere in between and
Speaker 12: I haven't yet arrived and I may never arrive until
Speaker 12: I get to Heaven, and that okay, as long as
Speaker 12: I'm on my constant journey to growth.
Speaker 5: You know what I loved from the sermon when he said,
Speaker 5: even when it's not all good, it's all God. And man,
Speaker 5: that's like, that's real faith to trust that, even when
Speaker 5: it's not all good, whatever you're going through in your life,
Speaker 5: to be able to say, I know this is all God,
Speaker 5: and I know that it's not good now, but it's
Speaker 5: going to be good. That's right and so powerful.
Speaker 14: He also said it similar like this.
Speaker 12: He said, we're all something in between, so we can
Speaker 12: all find ourselves in this, he said, and we need
Speaker 12: Jesus in between. And sometimes that's the part that I
Speaker 12: think is so easy for us to forget.
Speaker 7: Okay, let's get to mine.
Speaker 5: I wanted to go all the way back to the
Speaker 5: beginning of the year when Pastor Stephen got out his guitar,
Speaker 5: so we had worship Pastor Stephen.
Speaker 6: And this sermon. It just really touched me.
Speaker 7: So check this out.
Speaker 4: It's amazing when you're in tune with the grace of God.
Speaker 4: It's amazing when you're in tune with the voice of God.
Speaker 4: When I'm in tune with you, Lord, I don't have
Speaker 4: to fight so much when I'm in tune.
Speaker 1: With you, Lord.
Speaker 4: I don't have to manipulate so much. When I'm in
Speaker 4: tune with you, Lord, I don't have to defend myself.
Speaker 4: You fight my battles when I'm in tune with you, Lord.
Speaker 4: Somebody say, Lord, I want to be in tune.
Speaker 3: With you.
Speaker 1: When I'm in tune with you.
Speaker 4: Lord, my problems look small. When I'm in tune with you, Lord.
Speaker 4: It feels like all things are possible when I'm in
Speaker 4: tune with you, Lord, I can scale a wall. When
Speaker 4: I'm in in tune with you, Lord, the giant looks
Speaker 4: like an opportunity, not a problem. When I'm in tune
Speaker 4: with you, Lord, I'm able to laugh at what used
Speaker 4: to make me cry. When I'm in tune with you, Lord,
Speaker 4: I'm able to cry and know that tears don't last always,
Speaker 4: but joy comes in the morning.
Speaker 1: When I'm in tune with you, Lord. It's a beautiful
Speaker 1: thing to be in tune.
Speaker 5: This sermon was just like it's just one of those beautiful,
Speaker 5: comforting sermons.
Speaker 7: He said. I just thought this.
Speaker 5: Sometimes, don't you feel like somebody's pastor Steven will say
Speaker 5: something that sort of like sets.
Speaker 7: You free from a certain way that you were feeling.
Speaker 5: And he said, from the same heart comes your greatest
Speaker 5: fears and your greatest faith.
Speaker 7: And so then he said, therefore, your heart is a harp,
Speaker 7: and it has to be tuned to truth.
Speaker 5: And the whole sermon he's talking about tuning your heart
Speaker 5: to truth and being able to hear what God is
Speaker 5: saying to you.
Speaker 6: And so then like as the sermon.
Speaker 5: Progressed, though like first I got a hug and then
Speaker 5: I got a little what would we say earlier, a little.
Speaker 7: Push because he said.
Speaker 6: Tuning feels like tension.
Speaker 5: And it's like, when you think about tuning your heart
Speaker 5: to God's word and to God's praise, you.
Speaker 6: Think it's gonna be like warm.
Speaker 5: And fuzzy feeling, but actually it feels like tension because
Speaker 5: there's something that happens.
Speaker 7: That draws you closer to God.
Speaker 5: And then I just like again he ended gave us
Speaker 5: some homework, and the homework was so good.
Speaker 7: He said, pause, tune, praise.
Speaker 5: Repeat, and it's like, oh, okay, so Monday morning, when
Speaker 5: I feel the tension, pause tune, Praise repeat, over and
Speaker 5: over and over again. And it was just something so
Speaker 5: practical that really just gave me the momentum.
Speaker 6: For the year that I just really needed.
Speaker 12: Yeah, so good. He said, this is how I wrote
Speaker 12: it down. God's not changing his standard to fit you.
Speaker 12: He's going to bring you up. And that was so powerful.
Speaker 12: Sometimes I don't know if it's just a weird thing
Speaker 12: I do, but sometimes after I hear sermon, I'll write
Speaker 12: down in my notes like how I'm feeling or like
Speaker 12: what it's speaking to me.
Speaker 14: Yeah, And.
Speaker 12: I literally wrote to myself. This is really funny. Reading
Speaker 12: it back, I was like, I know, it couldn't have
Speaker 12: just been me. This had to be thousands. I was like,
Speaker 12: but something shifted in me during that sermon. I've got
Speaker 12: some tuning to do. Yeah, And so it was one
Speaker 12: of those types of messages. And so I'm so glad
Speaker 12: that you picked that one because it's really great to
Speaker 12: just sit here and even revisit it going into the
Speaker 12: new year about like we've got some tuning to do
Speaker 12: going into twenty twenty five.
Speaker 8: Yeah, And he talked about how setting our heart is
Speaker 8: a decision. Yes, yes, it's not as not default, which,
Speaker 8: by the way, I mean one of the greatest illustrations truly,
Speaker 8: but like if also, like heading into this next year,
Speaker 8: we're all wanting to set goals. Those goals are going
Speaker 8: to be accomplished or met through decisions, daily decisions, or
Speaker 8: if we want our minds stayed on Christ, if we
Speaker 8: want our hearts to remain filled with peace that comes
Speaker 8: through decision, not just because we decided one day and
Speaker 8: thought that was going to be the default that lasted
Speaker 8: us for the next month.
Speaker 10: He's us guitar players tune in between songs, you know,
Speaker 10: what I mean. It's this, It's this rhythm of the
Speaker 10: constantly tune one part of the message. He was talking
Speaker 10: about being tuned to tradition, and that's the hardest to change.
Speaker 14: You know.
Speaker 10: How do you tune to truth when this is what
Speaker 10: my mom did, this is my granddad, this is and
Speaker 10: I'm tuned to something that I've seen over and over
Speaker 10: and over again.
Speaker 9: But pause and ask yourself the question, is it the truth?
Speaker 9: Is this what God says?
Speaker 12: Yeah?
Speaker 10: And if not, that tension, yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 10: Being able to commit to that, I think is faiful.
Speaker 18: Yeah.
Speaker 5: This has been so much fun talking with all of you,
Speaker 5: And I want to encourage you. If you're watching right
Speaker 5: now and maybe you have some downtime, The week between
Speaker 5: Christmas and New Year's is like the weirdest week of
Speaker 5: the year, and it's like time between so slow, and
Speaker 5: so I just want to encourage you to go back,
Speaker 5: find your favorite sermon of the year, watch it again,
Speaker 5: find your notes, read through them, and rediscover some of
Speaker 5: the things that God spoke to you in twenty twenty.
Speaker 6: Four as you look forward to twenty twenty five. We've
Speaker 6: got the links to all of these sermons.
Speaker 5: Our favorites of the year, but you've got yours too,
Speaker 5: and they're all there available for you right here on
Speaker 5: the Elevation Church YouTube. And so I just want to
Speaker 5: encourage you to take some time to go back and
Speaker 5: think about the things that God has spoken to you
Speaker 5: this year and the things that God has done for
Speaker 5: you this year, because it has been an incredible year
Speaker 5: and God has sure been good to us, and as
Speaker 5: you've seen today, there is so much more to be
Speaker 5: grateful for and so much to look forward to. And
Speaker 5: next year will actually be in our twentieth year of ministry.
Speaker 6: I cannot believe it. So in February we will.
Speaker 5: Celebrate our nineteen year nineteen, but that launches our twentieth
Speaker 5: year of ministry, and we're making plans to celebrate big
Speaker 5: all year long.
Speaker 7: So more to come on.
Speaker 5: That, but make sure you stay tuned to Elevation because
Speaker 5: twenty twenty five is going to be incredible. So as
Speaker 5: we close out this year, I just want to take
Speaker 5: a moment to thank all of you who have stepped
Speaker 5: out in faith to be a.
Speaker 6: Part of our year in offering.
Speaker 5: We didn't get to talk about that together, but your
Speaker 5: generosity is a powerful testimony of the impact that we're
Speaker 5: making together and it's helping to fuel the next season
Speaker 5: of our church.
Speaker 6: So thank you, thank you, thank.
Speaker 5: You for your partnership and what God is doing through
Speaker 5: this ministry. As you've seen today, this is solid ground
Speaker 5: to put down roots in and stay planted. This is
Speaker 5: a place where you can experience community. It's a place
Speaker 5: where you can hear from God every single week. It's
Speaker 5: a place where you can serve, and it's a place
Speaker 5: where you are truly making a difference. And if you
Speaker 5: hadn't had a chance yet, there's still time to be
Speaker 5: a part of our year end offering. All you have
Speaker 5: to do is go to Elevationchurch dot org and click
Speaker 5: the give now button by December thirty first, which is
Speaker 5: just two days away. So thank you for being with
Speaker 5: us today and let's step into this new year with
Speaker 5: our hearts full of faith and expectation. Let's keep moving
Speaker 5: forward and trusting God every step of the way. I
Speaker 5: cannot wait to see what's ahead for us, And I
Speaker 5: just want you to know that Pastor Stephen and I
Speaker 5: we love you, we're praying for you, and you're so
Speaker 5: grateful to get to do ministry with each and every
Speaker 5: one of you.
Speaker 14: I hope you have a.
Speaker 5: Blessed and happy New Year and I'll see you next Sunday.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more
Speaker 2: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
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Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening.
Speaker 3: God bless you.