WEBVTT - Now What? (Holly Furtick) 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 --> 0:00:08.280 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Help 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:10.719 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.880 Hope it gives your perspective to see God has moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.440 in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:19.079 Enjoy the message I'm going to be preaching from Acts 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:22.720 chapter nine, starting in verse thirty two. If you don't 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:24.439 have a Bible, we'll have it right here on the 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:25.279 screens for you. 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:25.920 It says this. 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:30.120 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.240 the Lord's people who lived in Lida. There he found 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:36.279 a man named Annius who was paralyzed and had been 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:37.760 bedridden for eight years. 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:41.839 Annius, Peter said to him, Jesus Christ heals you. 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:45.720 Get up, roll up your mat, and immediately Annius got up, 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:48.600 and all those who lived in Lida and Sharon saw 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:52.000 him and turned to the Lord. In Jappa, there was 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:54.960 a disciple named Tabitha. In her name in Greek, her 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:58.320 name is Dorcas. She was always doing good and helping 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:01.560 the poor. About that time she became sick and died, 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:05.319 and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:07.119 Lida was near Joppa. 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:09.960 So when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lida, 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.000 they sent two men to him and urged him please 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.400 come at once. Peter went with them, and when he 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:18.720 arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:20.800 All the widows stood. 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.600 Around him, crying and showing him the robes and other 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:26.319 clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:29.440 Peter sent them all out of the room, and then 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.600 he got down on his knees and prayed, and turning 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.960 toward the dead woman, he said, Tabitha, get up, and 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:38.479 she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:40.720 He took her by the hand and helped her to 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.280 her feet. Then he called the believers, especially the widows, 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:49.640 and presented her to them alive. This became known all 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:54.040 over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:55.120 Let me pray for us. 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:59.840 Lord, thank you for this beautiful day that is before us. 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:03.360 We thank you for all of the women in our 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:07.040 lives who have touched us in some way, every woman 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:11.320 who is nurtured and comfort and encouraged and believed in us. 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:15.280 And I pray for every person on Mother's Day who's hurting. Lord, 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:17.880 I know under the sound of my voice, that there 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:20.720 are some who are longing to be a mother today, 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:24.519 that there's someone who is missing their mom today, or maybe. 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:26.560 A mom who is praying for their child. 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:29.800 Lord, may they know you today as the God of 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:31.160 all comfort. 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:35.919 God. We've gathered here today to hear from you. That's 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:39.919 why we came. We're ready to receive what you have 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:46.200 to say. In Jesus' name. Amen. All right, Well, it's 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:46.799 Mother's Day. 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:50.720 Case you forgot, and I would like to take the 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:52.959 opportunity to pick on my own children for a minute. 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:59.079 You see, all three of my kids now each have 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:01.880 their own phone. 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.320 I know that's kind of a debate about how old 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:06.119 the kids should be when they get a phone. Blah 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:10.679 blah blahlaf just eighteen Graandm's sixteen Abvius thirteen. And as 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:14.880 a mom, it is really comforting to be able to 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:19.280 communicate with and track my children at any moment of 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:19.720 the day. 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:21.200 Amn moms. 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:26.960 Okay, but I am realizing that this also works both ways, 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:30.560 because if I can communicate with them and track them 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:33.440 at any moment of the day, then that means that 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:39.280 they also can communicate with me. Only there's three of them, 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:44.120 so you see the problem with this is that they 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:48.600 do not understand that every time I see their name 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:52.560 pop up on my phone, I feel a lot of things. 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:57.520 I feel happy, I feel scared, I feel excited, and 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:01.200 I feel annoyed all at once. My mind starts to 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:03.040 race are they okay? 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:05.880 Are they in trouble? Did they forget something? Do they 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:10.320 need me? And some days it feels like that is 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:11.480 my full time job. 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:16.880 It's just fielding questions that are an emergency to them. 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:19.000 But not necessarily to me. Here are a few things. 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:20.880 That I went back and saw that my kids have 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.320 texted me. Can you sign me out of school early? 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:25.880 Can you give me more Snapchat time? What's for dinner? 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:27.919 Can we go to Starbucks? Where are you? Where are 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:31.000 my car keys? Can I go to Can my friend 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:31.640 come over? 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:36.679 Now? Here is one code that I have cracked. If 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:39.600 they say how's your day going? 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:45.960 It is almost always followed up by can I have 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:46.560 some money? 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:53.800 But the worst one, the one that I just cannot. 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:56.240 Decipher no matter how hard I try, The one that 0:04:56.320 --> 0:05:00.520 makes my heart drop is when they text me one 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:07.479 word in all caps M Now. If I texted my 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:11.280 husband his name in all caps st V E in 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:17.720 that is code for B A D. But to teenagers 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:21.560 everything is an emergency. So when I see my name 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.080 in all cops my mind, you know, are they okay? 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:29.440 Are they in troublesomeone hurt? But in reality, mom can 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:32.240 be followed up by Sephoras having a big sale. 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:32.640 Can we go? 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:39.920 Or Mom, I just backed into our neighbor's mailbox? 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:42.680 Or where's the hot sauce? 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:47.679 Or Mom, the TV fell off the console and it's cracked. 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:49.680 Real life examples. 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:53.320 So after a full day of this, God blessed the 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:57.120 child who texts me next, because if I see Elijah 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:00.160 Graham or Abby's name come up on my phone, I 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:06.040 am going to automatically reply with now what All right? 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:07.960 If you're taking notes, the title. 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:14.560 Of my message today is now what. Life can often seem. 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:17.279 Like a series of now what. 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:21.760 We've been in the most incredible series called ghost Writer. 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:23.520 Have you been loving this? Stephen? 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:28.719 Stephen has been taking us through some of the stories 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:30.600 in the Book of Acts to show us that we 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:34.359 have a divine director called the Holy Spirit, and he 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:38.960 is writing our story and we can trust the one 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.680 who has final cut over our lives. Babe, you have 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:44.440 been on fire. 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:51.720 You had me from the very first sermon. 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:54.120 Which was called Page Turner. I've been so into this 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:58.960 series because I live for stories. I love to hear stories, 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:01.279 I love to read stories, I love to watch stories. 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:03.640 I love to talk about stories. So I even started 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:06.880 my own book club. If you like to read, go 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:08.840 to Hollyfordick dot com. We love for you to join us. 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:13.560 But I think that my favorite kind of story is 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:18.000 the one where the main character is face with a 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:23.840 seemingly insurmountable situation, yet somehow they overcome it. 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:25.280 Do you like those kind of stories? 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:28.360 In my book club, we read a book called The 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:32.960 Choice by Holocaust survivor named doctor Edith Eager, and I 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:36.600 got to interview her thanks to Ashley Tucker, who went 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:42.400 absolute private eye into the depths of social media. Turns 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:46.120 out doctor Eager's granddaughter in law happened to. 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:47.720 Be Ashley's sorority sister. 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.160 I still cannot believe I got to interview this woman. 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:55.440 She is a real life hero. 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:59.840 Here's a picture of us chatting on Instagram Live. So 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:05.800 doctor Edith survived the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, and she 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:09.400 eventually immigrated to the United States, and in her book 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.760 she chronicles not just her journey to survive Auschwitz but 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:17.720 to find life afterwards, and the book brilliantly talks about 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.200 dealing with PTSD and trauma. 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:20.840 And one of my. 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:25.400 Favorite quotes from her book is this She says, survivors 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:32.880 don't have time to ask why me. For survivors, she says, 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:36.120 the only relevant question. 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:37.960 Is what now? 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:39.400 What? 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:39.840 Now? 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:40.840 Now what? 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.320 And I feel like many of us are sitting in 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:48.760 a now what moment today, just like Peter was when 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:51.199 he was asked to raise a. 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:52.760 Woman from the dead. 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:56.280 When we read the Bible, I feel like we really 0:08:56.360 --> 0:09:00.200 need to slow down because we read this verse Peter 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:01.720 sent them all out of the room. 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:02.600 This is verse forty. 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:04.760 Peter sent them all out of the room. Then he 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.000 got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:10.559 dead woman, he said, Tabitha, get up. She opened her 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:11.719 eyes and seeing. 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:12.520 Peter, she sat up. 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:17.600 Can we stop and just say knowledge that that's not normal? 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.240 I mean, sure it happened in the Bible, but really 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:21.960 not that much. 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:22.120 It. 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:24.600 Actually, there's several times that it happened. 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:29.400 Elijah did it once, Elisha did it twice, Jesus did 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.559 it three times. But this is new to Peter, he's 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:36.800 never raised a dead person to life. Now, if you 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.720 missed the sermon last week, you missed a really important 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:42.760 message because it's centered around this idea that the Holy 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.000 Spirit is the director of our story and he has 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:49.480 the final cut in the story of our lives. 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:53.040 And therefore we can believe and cling to that nothing 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:56.400 can happen to us that does not first pass through 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:58.880 the hands of our sovereign God. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.840 And that is what you brilliantly taught us last week. 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:06.040 This week, I want to show you. 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:10.800 That the story is pretty much always the same. The 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:17.200 character faces a problem, the outcome of the story is 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:23.520 determined by how you the character respond to your problem. 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:24.440 Is it okay? 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:26.880 If I go seventh grade language arts teacher on you 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:28.440 for a second, you might not know this about me. 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:31.920 I taught middle school for two very long years. 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:36.560 And just in case you are not paying attention in 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:41.040 seventh grade English, I want to remind you today that 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:46.880 every good story, every book, every movie, TV show, they 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:50.280 always follow pretty much the same sequence. 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:52.840 Now, Babe, as you can see, I borrowed your screen. 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:54.760 We flipped it, but I promise I'm going to put 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.439 it back the way that I found it. 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:58.320 For whenever you want to use it next. 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:05.760 So every starts out with an introduction. This is where 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:09.440 you meet the main characters and maybe establish the setting. 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:14.240 Then we have what's called watch this is going to 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:20.960 do something cool, the inciting incident. This is where the 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:26.439 main character is faced with a problem. This is the 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:31.880 now what moment. Then we have the rising action. That's 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.439 all the things that the character has to learn, or 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:37.640 the relationships that he has to form, or the training 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:41.599 that he has to do in order to overcome the situation. 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:45.520 Then we get to the climax, the moment that everything 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:49.080 has been building toward. The good guy beats the bad guy, 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:50.680 they discover the solution. 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:55.640 Then we have the falling action, and then the resolution. 0:11:56.320 --> 0:12:01.800 The story is the constant part. That's the part that 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:07.920 doesn't change. That's also the part that is mostly outside. 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:08.319 Of your control. 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:12.360 Sure you have some choice in the cast of characters 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:13.400 in the setting. 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:14.240 But not always. 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:16.640 I mean, you don't get to pick the family that 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:18.920 you're born into or the town that you're raised, and 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:22.920 you certainly don't get to pick the problems that you face. 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:36.120 This right here is called life. 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:40.120 And if you think that following Jesus means that you 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:45.319 get to be exempt from this, You're gonna be really disappointed. 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:49.840 This is life, this is human. 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:56.559 Following Jesus means that you never have to walk through 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:00.559 this alone. 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:11.640 But this guy, this is the variable. 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.760 This is the part that can take the story in 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:23.440 any direction. How will she or he respond to the problem? 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:25.760 Now, what will they do? 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:28.680 And in this series, we're in the first Book of 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:32.120 Acts and we're watching the story of the Church unfold 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:35.160 through perhaps one of the most epic characters in the 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:36.360 Bible named Peter. 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:40.959 And Peter has had his fair share of now what moments. 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:45.319 Last week Peter not Peter. Last week Pastor Stephen said that. 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:49.560 We grow through what we go through with God. 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:53.600 And Peter has come a long way. 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.760 We've seen him go through from moments of sitting by 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:01.520 the fire and denying Jesus to standing up and preaching 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.000 on Pentecost on the day of Pentecost. And we've seen 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:06.240 him go from cutting off the man's ear in the 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.480 garden to healing the lame man at the temple. And 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:11.960 he's been arrested, and he's been thrown into jail, and 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:14.640 he's been flogged, and the Bible says that he considered 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:18.800 himself worthy of suffering for Jesus. And we've watched Peter 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:21.920 make some mistakes, and we've watched Peter do some things right, 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:24.160 and he's continued. 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:27.280 To preach the gospel real quick. 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:31.560 Today, I want to give you four things to consider 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:35.360 when you find yourself in a now what moment. 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:38.000 And the first thing, if you're taking notes you can 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:38.960 write this down. 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:46.920 Is accept the push. Why was Peter in Lyda? Let 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:50.960 me show you This is Acts one eighth, and it 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:57.000 says a great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:00.760 over the church in Jerusalem, and all the blame except 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:06.000 the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:08.880 At this point in the Bible, just one chapter ahead, 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:12.040 Stephen has been stoned for his faith, and Saul is 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:15.960 going around dragging people out of their homes and throwing 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:17.160 them in jail. 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:19.360 And the heading in my Bible for. 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:22.160 Chapter eight says, persecution. 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:23.640 Scatters the believers. 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.240 If the gospel was going to spread throughout the world, 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:33.280 the disciples had to get out of Jerusalem. Remember, Jesus 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:36.880 had told them to take the Gospel to the ends 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:41.040 of the earth. And sometimes I believe that God allows 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:44.280 something to happen in my life so that he can 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:45.640 get me to move. 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.080 It's the push of God. 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:53.239 And oftentimes it feels like abandonment, and it looks like disappointment, 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:56.440 and it seems like failure, and it feels like God 0:15:56.560 --> 0:15:57.280 is against me. 0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:59.680 But really he knows. 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:01.960 That my fear are dug in and the only way 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.560 that he can get me to move is to allow 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:06.720 something that I don't understand. 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:09.960 Now, you don't have to take this literally. 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:12.840 The push of God does not necessarily mean that God 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:16.120 wants you to move towns or neighborhoods or jobs. Sometimes, 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:19.960 but sometimes he allows a relationship to end because that 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:23.200 person is holding you back from your purpose, so he's 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:26.760 got to push you away from that person. Sometimes he 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:29.640 allows you to face a struggle so that you will 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:34.000 turn to him for help. I'm not saying that God 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:38.040 causes bad things to happen to us. Remember, bad things 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:44.520 are part of breathing. But if you decide that you 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:48.400 are going to accept it and let this hard thing 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:51.600 draw you closer to God and to his purpose for 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:55.640 your life, then you're going to experience the fullness of God. 0:16:55.680 --> 0:17:00.040 If not, you're just going to stay stuck. Stuck in 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.160 a way that you are stuck in. 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:05.720 The habits that you'll never break, suck in the unforgiveness 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:09.040 that you feel that's now starting to rot into bitterness, 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:11.400 and nobody wants to be around you. But I want 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.959 to tell you today, you don't have to stay stuck. 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:18.960 My favorite preacher put it this way. You might know 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:23.639 this line. He said, I'm not stuck unless I stop. 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:25.200 You gotta move. 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:29.360 You gotta let God push you into an unknown territory 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:33.760 so that you can grow. Sometimes God is trying to 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:36.359 push you to a resource. He's trying to push you 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:37.840 to something better, but. 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:40.800 You can't receive it what he has for you if 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:41.680 you don't move. 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:47.240 I don't know why this happened, but I'm gonna accept 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.679 that God is using it for the next thing in 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:54.320 my life, the next thing that I am supposed to do. 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.000 So the moment that you realize. 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:03.400 That you're being pushed into uncomfortable, unknown territory, the next 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:06.360 thing you gotta do is find a person. 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:08.119 That's the second point. 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:15.480 Find a person who has been here before, or find 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:19.840 a person who's here right now. It's called support for 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:25.320 a reason because there are special people. I believe handpicked 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:28.760 by God, that are out there that want to help 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:35.320 you walk through this uncharted territory. Now, up until this 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:37.679 point in the Book of Acts, we have seen the 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:40.639 church go from come to life from. 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:43.399 A really big scale. Right several times. 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:45.359 Luke, who's the writer of the Book of Acts, he 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:49.159 tells us thousands were added to their number daily. 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:51.040 He says it like three different times. 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:56.200 But then we get to chapter nine and he zooms down. 0:18:56.560 --> 0:19:01.520 In to show us this one little baby church. 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.879 It's a small group of believers who are gathering in 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:10.080 the town of Joppa, and one of their members, Tabitha, 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:14.359 has died. Now, the Bible doesn't tell us much about Tabitha. 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.720 The scripture says that she was always doing good and 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:21.000 helping the poor, and then it says she became sick 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:21.840 and died. 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:25.240 But there's so much more to this woman. 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:30.159 Because her death caused such a hole in her community 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:33.520 that the people in her life had to go and 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:37.720 get Peter and bring him in to their situation. Last week, 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:39.840 my husband said something so profound, but I feel like 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:42.320 he said it a week too early, because I feel 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:43.560 like it was a word. 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:44.480 For all the moms. 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:46.639 He said, the devil will make you think you have 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:50.359 nothing to give. He wants to keep you stuck in selfishness. 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:52.719 He wants you to think that the mundane things that 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:55.120 you do for people, for the people that you love, 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:59.560 that go unseen and that go unfaked, and that because 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:01.600 they go in an unthink that they don't matter. 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:05.960 So why bother Nothing could be farther from the truth. 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:09.240 And we have this woman who would never. 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:13.600 Preach to thousands, but she was a pillar for her church. 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:17.560 She was a rock for the women in her group. 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:20.440 She saw in need and she filled it. 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.679 And although Tabitha would never stand before thousands of people 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:26.919 like Peter and preach the gospel, she's preaching to us today, 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:30.320 thousands of years later. And among other things, I feel 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:31.960 like she's saying God loves fashion. 0:20:33.720 --> 0:20:34.800 I don't know if you caught it. 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:38.000 I'm kind of kidding, But what I'm trying to say 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:42.439 is God loves anything that you use to help his people. 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:45.160 You see, God has. 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:50.080 Given you an important gift, and if you're not careful, 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:53.800 you'll miss your next step because instead. 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:56.480 Of asking now, what you got stuck on why? 0:20:57.280 --> 0:21:01.240 The Bible doesn't say this exact but I think that 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:04.480 Tabitha was a widow herself, because one of the most 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:08.240 effective places to minister is from the place of your 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:13.520 own pain, and sometimes in your now what moment, you 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:16.800 have to realize that you are not the only person 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:18.920 who has ever been through this before. 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:22.679 I know your situation is unique, but remembered. 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:27.199 There are really no new stories, only new characters in 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:30.440 the stories, and how you respond. 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:37.880 Is your choice. And if you believe the lie. 0:21:36.400 --> 0:21:39.159 They are all alone in your situation, then you are 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:44.840 going to be trudging up this hill, making it take 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:52.760 ten times longer than it should find a person. I 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:54.360 was talking to a friend of mine who was going 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:58.280 through a really bad divorce, and she told me that 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:01.040 God brought two women into her life who were walking 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:03.359 the same road, and she said that those two women, 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:08.840 for about two years, were just a lifeline to her. 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:12.640 I love these women so much because they have been 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:18.440 so greatly impacted by Tabitha that they decide that they're 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:21.520 going to go find someone to help them. And they're 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:26.600 showing us something really really important here. They're showing us 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:34.560 that while bad things do happen to good people, God's 0:22:34.680 --> 0:22:44.639 people know where to take their bad things. Peter just 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:48.520 happens to be nearby in Lydda. 0:22:48.760 --> 0:22:50.800 And they don't know if he can do anything. 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:54.159 They're not sure, but if anyone can, he can, so 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:57.000 they send two men for him. I think they sent 0:22:57.119 --> 0:22:59.760 two men because they figured the men would leave out 0:22:59.760 --> 0:23:05.879 the des Remember, Peter has never raised someone from the 0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:06.639 dead before. 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:10.240 So the less details they give him, the. 0:23:10.280 --> 0:23:12.480 Better chances it is that he's gonna come. 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:14.399 They just need to get him to Joppa. 0:23:14.480 --> 0:23:17.040 They don't need to say we need you, Peter. Look 0:23:17.040 --> 0:23:19.800 at what verse thirty eight says. It says little was 0:23:19.880 --> 0:23:24.200