Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our
Speaker 2: podcast and I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2: Hope it gives your perspective to see God has moving
Speaker 2: in your life.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the message.
Speaker 3: Are you ready for the word today? I'm excited. Turn
Speaker 3: in your Bible if you have one. If not, we'll
Speaker 3: have it up here on the screens. To Philippians four,
Speaker 3: starting in verse six. Has our pastor not been on
Speaker 3: fire for the last several weeks? I mean like eight
Speaker 3: nine weeks he's been preaching.
Speaker 1: He did the series called called did you enjoy That?
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know about you.
Speaker 3: But every single week this man brought a word for me.
Speaker 1: Did you have a favorite? I think my favorite was Martha? Martha,
Speaker 1: but then I also.
Speaker 3: Like the one about Jacob with the wagons, and then
Speaker 3: I like the one about Samuel.
Speaker 1: And it was like every week I was like, no,
Speaker 1: this one's my favorite.
Speaker 3: And the last week he said, all you have to
Speaker 3: do is don't and that really ministered to me. I
Speaker 3: wish you could see how hard our pastor fights every
Speaker 3: single week.
Speaker 1: He makes it look easy, but he fights so.
Speaker 3: Hard every week to bring us a relevant now word
Speaker 3: for our church.
Speaker 1: Aren't you grateful for our pastor.
Speaker 3: So it's my turn this week, and I feel like
Speaker 3: God has given me a word not just for all
Speaker 3: of the moms here, but for everyone all right.
Speaker 1: So we're in Philippians four.
Speaker 3: Starting in verse six, it says this, do not be
Speaker 3: anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,
Speaker 3: with thanksgiving, present your request to God.
Speaker 1: And the peace of.
Speaker 3: God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and
Speaker 3: minds in Christ Jesus Finally, Brothers and sisters, whatever is true,
Speaker 3: whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever
Speaker 3: is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy,
Speaker 3: think about such things.
Speaker 1: Whatever you have learned or received, or heard from me
Speaker 1: or seen in me, put it into.
Speaker 3: Practice, and the God of Peace will be with you.
Speaker 1: Let's pray.
Speaker 3: Where we think you that your word is a lamp
Speaker 3: into our feet and a light into our path.
Speaker 1: God, we open up our hearts to hear from you today. Lord.
Speaker 3: We know that sometimes Mother's Day can be a day
Speaker 3: that is painful.
Speaker 1: But we're here, Lord, and we want to hear from you.
Speaker 3: Would you shine your light in the darkest areas of
Speaker 3: our hearts today?
Speaker 1: Lord use me. Now it's in your name, I pray Amen.
Speaker 1: All right, So.
Speaker 3: We have a little problem with the DNA in the
Speaker 3: Verdict family. See, I am a very opinionated, like there
Speaker 3: is a right and a wrong kind of person. And
Speaker 3: then I married Stephen Ferdick, who was a very opinionated
Speaker 3: there is a right and a kind of person. So
Speaker 3: together we make a great team when it comes to
Speaker 3: proclaiming the word of God.
Speaker 1: Now I'm not a genetic expert.
Speaker 3: I never really understood that little box with the geen thing.
Speaker 1: I don't even remember what it's called. What is it called?
Speaker 3: Graham Punnet Square? Junior accolade right here?
Speaker 1: So I don't know anything.
Speaker 3: About the Punnett Square, but I can tell you that
Speaker 3: when Stephen and Holly Ferdick made babies, we managed to
Speaker 3: produce three of the most opinionated there is a right
Speaker 3: and wrong, and I need to make sure that it's
Speaker 3: clear kind of people. So all five of us together
Speaker 3: we have a problem. And when a disagreement occurs in
Speaker 3: our family.
Speaker 4: Which is rare, because we're a pastor's family.
Speaker 1: We each have this just innate desire to have the
Speaker 1: last word.
Speaker 3: I know this is not a problem in your house,
Speaker 3: but this is a problem in my house.
Speaker 1: So the other day, the.
Speaker 3: Weather was nice, and Steven and Abby and I we
Speaker 3: were having dinner on.
Speaker 1: Our peaceful porch. And earlier that day.
Speaker 3: I had asked my friend Ashley, whose children go to
Speaker 3: the same school as Abby, if she could bring Abby
Speaker 3: home for me. And so we're having dinner and Abby
Speaker 3: starts talking about her afternoon, as she often does, and
Speaker 3: she started in and talking about how Ashley had Chick
Speaker 3: fil A waiting for her in the car because they
Speaker 3: had to kill an hour until Abby was dismissed. Now,
Speaker 3: Ashley's kids are in the same school Abby, but they're
Speaker 3: in the lower school and they get out like.
Speaker 1: Twenty minutes before Abby.
Speaker 3: So I needed to stop the story right there, because
Speaker 3: I would never inconvenience someone as to make them wait
Speaker 3: an hour to pick up my child. So I had
Speaker 3: to interrupt story. And I said, no, they get out
Speaker 3: at two thirty and.
Speaker 1: You get out at two fifty five.
Speaker 3: And she said, no, they get out at two and
Speaker 3: I get out at two fifty five, and I said.
Speaker 1: No, they get out at two thirty.
Speaker 3: And she said, Mom, I think I would know what
Speaker 3: time we get out of school. And Stephen said, guys,
Speaker 3: does this fact really even matter?
Speaker 1: We're having a peaceful meal here.
Speaker 3: So I held my tongue and Abby proceeded with her story.
Speaker 3: And while she was talking, I went on the school
Speaker 3: website and I grabbed a screenshot of the school's dismissal
Speaker 3: times and I sent that off to her. And just
Speaker 3: in case you were wondering, they get out at two
Speaker 3: thirty and Abby gets out at two fifty five. The
Speaker 3: title of my sermon today is hold your Peace. You
Speaker 3: like that? And I want to talk to you about
Speaker 3: the power of peace in your life. And I want
Speaker 3: to show you that sometimes in order, sometimes you have
Speaker 3: to hold your peace in order to hold your peace, okay.
Speaker 1: And I want you to know that you can have peace,
Speaker 1: biblical peace in your.
Speaker 3: Mind and in your relationships, no matter what is going
Speaker 3: on in the world around you.
Speaker 1: As a believer in Christ, we have access to.
Speaker 3: A type of peace that Paul is telling us in
Speaker 3: this scripture that cannot even be explained. He says, it
Speaker 3: transcends all understanding peace in the midst of your pain,
Speaker 3: Peace in the midst of your circumstances, Peace in the midst.
Speaker 1: Of your disappointment. It is a benefit of knowing Jesus.
Speaker 3: Jesus said to his disciples in John sixteen three. He said,
Speaker 3: I have told you these things so that in me
Speaker 3: you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.
Speaker 3: But take heart, I have overcome the world. You see,
Speaker 3: Peace is not the absence of problems in your life,
Speaker 3: Jesus said, in this.
Speaker 1: World you will have trouble.
Speaker 3: So trouble is the common denominator of every person who
Speaker 3: has breath in their lungs. Peace is the addition of
Speaker 3: power to whatever trouble that you're in.
Speaker 1: So before we go any further.
Speaker 3: I need to clear up exactly what kind of peace
Speaker 3: I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: I'm not talking.
Speaker 3: About a mood or a mental state where everything feels well.
Speaker 3: I'm not talking about a spa or a vacation spot.
Speaker 3: Not even talking about a quiet Saturday morning and your
Speaker 3: slippers while everyone else.
Speaker 1: Is asleep, Because I don't know what your life is like.
Speaker 3: But if I have to wait for those moments, if
Speaker 3: I have to wait for that kind of peace, I'm
Speaker 3: not gonna have.
Speaker 1: A very peaceful life.
Speaker 3: Now, there are two types of peace in the Bible
Speaker 3: that we find. There's external peace and then there's internal peace.
Speaker 3: And external peace refers to your relationships with others. Internal
Speaker 3: peace refers to a mental perspective or an attitude towards.
Speaker 1: Your personal or your current trouble.
Speaker 3: And I need you to understand today that the two
Speaker 3: are connected.
Speaker 1: They feed each other.
Speaker 3: So my external piece, my relationships with others, effects my
Speaker 3: internal peace.
Speaker 1: But also my internal.
Speaker 3: Piece affects how I act and how I respond to others.
Speaker 3: So both are really important. And if the enemy can't
Speaker 3: get to your inner piece, he's gonna go after your
Speaker 3: relational piece because he knows the external effects the internal,
Speaker 3: and the internal effects the external. And he knows that
Speaker 3: if he can steal your piece, then he can steal
Speaker 3: your joy.
Speaker 1: Then he can get you to question.
Speaker 3: Your faith, and then it can get you to question
Speaker 3: your calling. So if trouble is the common denominator of
Speaker 3: all humans, then peace is.
Speaker 1: The X factor. It's the thing that sets us apart.
Speaker 3: It's the stabilizing force that allows you to push through
Speaker 3: the trouble. And if the enemy can't get to your
Speaker 3: inner piece. Then he's going to go after your relational piece.
Speaker 1: Do you understand that? And I want to.
Speaker 3: Illustrate this for you today, hopefully in a way that
Speaker 3: you won't forget. I just read Philippians four. I meant
Speaker 3: to read it out of my Bible. I always read
Speaker 3: it off of my iPad, but I want to show you.
Speaker 1: In my Bible.
Speaker 3: So this is Philippians four, which is a letter that
Speaker 3: was written to the apostle Paul, to.
Speaker 1: The church at Philippi. And maybe you know this, maybe
Speaker 1: you don't, but.
Speaker 3: Paul wrote this letter from a p in cel in Rome.
Speaker 3: But this is not the only letter that he wrote.
Speaker 1: He also wrote.
Speaker 3: Ephesians and Colossians, and they're all right here together. And
Speaker 3: throughout these three letters, Paul has a lot to say
Speaker 3: about peace because he's writing to the persecuted believers who
Speaker 3: needed inner peace as well as the new believers who
Speaker 3: needed external peace with one another. So I'm gonna come
Speaker 3: back to Philippians four, but I want to flip back
Speaker 3: one page to Ephesian six to give you a vivid.
Speaker 1: Picture of peace, also written by Paul.
Speaker 3: So this is Ephesian six. We're going to start in
Speaker 3: verse eleven. It says, put on the full armor of God,
Speaker 3: so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
Speaker 3: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
Speaker 3: against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of
Speaker 3: this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil
Speaker 3: in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor
Speaker 3: of God, so when the day of evil comes, you
Speaker 3: may be able to stand your ground. And after you
Speaker 3: have done everything to stand, stand firm and with the
Speaker 3: stand firm, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
Speaker 3: with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your
Speaker 3: feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the.
Speaker 1: Gospel of Peace.
Speaker 3: Paul is painting this picture of a soultier getting ready
Speaker 3: for battle because it's one thing to recognize that there
Speaker 3: is an enemy. It's another thing to realize that you
Speaker 3: have to get ready to fight.
Speaker 1: Back against the enemy.
Speaker 3: And you know, I think that one of the ways
Speaker 3: that the enemy attacks us is by diverting our attention.
Speaker 1: You think your enemy is your boss, or your spouse,
Speaker 1: or maybe your mother in law, not me.
Speaker 3: Some of us wake up in the morning, we're ready
Speaker 3: for a fight with the wrong enemy. Paul says, our
Speaker 3: struggle is not against people, it's not against flesh and blood.
Speaker 1: It is against.
Speaker 3: Spiritual forces in a heavenly realm.
Speaker 1: And you gotta get ready. And here's how you do it.
Speaker 1: He says, you put on your armor.
Speaker 3: Now when we get dressed for the day, At least,
Speaker 3: when I get dressed for the day, the last thing.
Speaker 1: I do is put my shoes on.
Speaker 3: But if you were putting on armor, like you know,
Speaker 3: you're gonna have a breastplate and a shield and a sword,
Speaker 3: your hands are.
Speaker 1: Gonna be tied up. So you gotta.
Speaker 3: Put your shoes on first, right, And Paul says that
Speaker 3: our feet are fitted with the.
Speaker 1: Readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace.
Speaker 3: Look at your neighbor and say I'm ready. Now, look
Speaker 3: down at their shoes and tell tell me how ready
Speaker 3: you think they are.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, how many of you know?
Speaker 3: How many of you are looking at my shoes and
Speaker 3: they're like, she ain't ready.
Speaker 1: Shoes matter. Steven and I have this funny thing that
Speaker 1: we say.
Speaker 3: We got it from a like a book from several
Speaker 3: years ago, and so we.
Speaker 1: Say to each other, did you shoes? Wisely?
Speaker 3: Like he was preaching at an event recently in Orlando,
Speaker 3: and so we had to get up super early, and
Speaker 3: we flew to the location, and we went straight from
Speaker 3: the airport to the convention center.
Speaker 1: And by the time we got.
Speaker 3: To the hotel hours and hours later, he looked at
Speaker 3: me in the elevator and he looked down at my shoes,
Speaker 3: and he.
Speaker 4: Said, did you shoes wisely? I rarely do.
Speaker 1: I'm vain. I always go for fashion first.
Speaker 3: Like have you ever wondered why when I do the welcome,
Speaker 3: Like if my chair is right there, why do I
Speaker 3: not come up these stairs? Why do I walk all
Speaker 3: the way around and come from the back. It's because
Speaker 3: I'm always a little bit unstable in my vanity shoes.
Speaker 3: I just I just am, And I would never come
Speaker 3: up these stairs because I'm so afraid that I'm just
Speaker 3: gonna fall in front of everyone. Let me show you
Speaker 3: my steadiest shoes that I own. I packed a bag
Speaker 3: for this sermon, so reflect bag. These are my hiking boots.
Speaker 3: They are sturdy, and they are waterproof. And when I
Speaker 3: have these shoes on, I really feel like I can
Speaker 3: maybe walk for f not exactly, but the longest time
Speaker 3: in these shoes.
Speaker 1: And Steven and I like to hike together.
Speaker 3: Now, if you're watching this and you live in Colorado,
Speaker 3: you might call what we.
Speaker 1: Do walking in the woods, but it's.
Speaker 3: We live in North Carolina, and we actually, if you
Speaker 3: think of Asheville, we lived like two hours from Ashville.
Speaker 1: So well, what we do, it's hiking to us.
Speaker 3: So we can drive about an hour west of our
Speaker 3: house and find a good trail.
Speaker 1: That's not too long, not too steep.
Speaker 3: Enough for us to feel like we got out in
Speaker 3: the great outdoors and got a little bit of exercise
Speaker 3: and got home by dinner. And so I use this
Speaker 3: app it's called All Trails, to find new trails, to
Speaker 3: download the maps, and so the don't they make the
Speaker 3: most amazing apps these days?
Speaker 1: There's app for everything.
Speaker 3: So the other day I wanted us to try a
Speaker 3: new trail that I found is called the Baden Lake Trail.
Speaker 1: So we pull up, we drive. It's about an hour
Speaker 1: and twenty minutes from our house.
Speaker 3: We pull up to the trail and it looks paved
Speaker 3: from the car, and so I decided not to put
Speaker 3: my boots on. Remember I fashioned first, so I'm not
Speaker 3: gonna like. We went to lunch, so I wasn't gonna
Speaker 3: wear these to lunch, so.
Speaker 1: They were in the in the car.
Speaker 3: I had my white hookahs on and I thought that
Speaker 3: they would be fine.
Speaker 1: Maybe you can feel where this story is going.
Speaker 3: The trail was paved for about fifty yards.
Speaker 1: Rookie mistake.
Speaker 3: And we go hiking all the time, and normally, even
Speaker 3: when we do a new trail, I'll read the reviews
Speaker 3: about the trail just I don't know, just to see
Speaker 3: if there's if it's a good one. And for some reason,
Speaker 3: I didn't read the reviews.
Speaker 1: That time, and so I went back when I.
Speaker 3: Was preparing this sermon, and I looked up the reviews
Speaker 3: of this particular trail, and I want to show.
Speaker 1: It to you.
Speaker 3: So it says, oh, it's got four point four stars
Speaker 3: and a thousand people have reviewed this trail, And then
Speaker 3: it says trailgoers are saying highlights include beautiful lake views,
Speaker 3: a well marked trail, and it's dog friendly. Challenges are
Speaker 3: muddy areas, rocky sections, and limited parking. Reviewers suggest sturdy
Speaker 3: footwear and bugscray guys.
Speaker 1: We walked over five.
Speaker 3: Miles and I was trying so hard to keep my
Speaker 3: shoes white.
Speaker 1: So I was like, I.
Speaker 3: Was like hopping over puddles and like we were like
Speaker 3: crossing creeks at times, and my feet were I know
Speaker 3: some of you are like, well, you were in tennis shoes,
Speaker 3: but my feet were like sliding all around in my
Speaker 3: tennis shoes.
Speaker 1: And about mile three.
Speaker 3: I started to get a blister on the bottom of
Speaker 3: one of my toes. And by the time we got
Speaker 3: back to the car, I didn't want to complain, so
Speaker 3: I was trying not to say anything.
Speaker 1: By the time we got to the car, I was
Speaker 1: walking like this, and my shoes were so dirty. I
Speaker 1: did not shoes. Wisely, we could again one more time
Speaker 1: if you's in six point fifteen, it says, and.
Speaker 3: With your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from
Speaker 3: the Gospel of peace.
Speaker 4: Paul is saying, there is a battle going on for
Speaker 4: your very soul, and you have got to fight back,
Speaker 4: and your first line of defense is to make sure
Speaker 4: that your feet are stable with the Gospel of peace.
Speaker 1: So thank you. This is not peace. Don't judge me.
Speaker 1: You steal the hotel slippers too. Also, this these, this
Speaker 1: is not peace. This is peace.
Speaker 3: So some scholars say that Paul is making a reference
Speaker 3: to the Sandals that the Roman soldiers wore and how
Speaker 3: they were like specifically designed to go long distances and
Speaker 3: to go over rough terrains.
Speaker 1: And actually they the Roman soldiers could like, oh, no,
Speaker 1: my pants, I just tied my pants into the hold on.
Speaker 3: Guys, it's really hard to talk and tie your shoes
Speaker 3: at the same time.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: The Roman soldiers they could, they could cover distances like
Speaker 3: twice as fast as the other arm And a lot
Speaker 3: of people say it was because they had spent a
Speaker 3: lot of time on their shoes. They even put like
Speaker 3: metal little tax on the bottom of them so that
Speaker 3: they could they were more sturdy.
Speaker 1: Other people say.
Speaker 3: That Paul was referring to the prophecy from Isaiah when
Speaker 3: he said, sorry, I have to look down here, when
Speaker 3: he said, how beautiful are the feet on the mountains
Speaker 3: that bring the good news? Let me tie this up
Speaker 3: so I can stand up and tell you that I'm
Speaker 3: saying it's both. When you lace up with peace, you're
Speaker 3: getting yourself ready for the fight that's ahead.
Speaker 1: And all the people that are watching you walk up
Speaker 1: that mountain, they're gonna be amazed.
Speaker 3: They're gonna look at your life and they're gonna wonder,
Speaker 3: how are you handling your circumstances, you're gonna You're gonna.
Speaker 1: Try and tell them that what you have is peace.
Speaker 3: But it's indescribable, it's not pretty, but it's what's holding
Speaker 3: you up.
Speaker 1: And if you want to have.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna preach in these shoes the rest of the
Speaker 3: time because they're way more comfortable.
Speaker 1: If you want to.
Speaker 3: Have any chance in this fight, you're gonna have to
Speaker 3: operate from a place of peace.
Speaker 1: If you want to hold your.
Speaker 3: Peace, you gotta tie it on, you gotta double not it.
Speaker 3: Look how steady I am. Now, Look, I can even
Speaker 3: go up and down the stairs like Pastor Steven.
Speaker 1: When he preaches. And when I'm here you can't even
Speaker 1: see my shoes.
Speaker 3: But when I go back up here, you can see
Speaker 3: the full picture.
Speaker 1: I think life is like that, you.
Speaker 3: Know, like maybe there's someone you know that seems so peaceful.
Speaker 4: Do a close up again, and when you do a close.
Speaker 3: Up, you can there are things about me right now
Speaker 3: you can't see because you're not getting the full picture
Speaker 3: of preparation that I have done to handle whatever trouble
Speaker 3: faces me. You see, you don't see my practices. You
Speaker 3: don't see me double nodding my peace. So that I
Speaker 3: don't lose it with the people that I work with
Speaker 3: or the people that I live with. All Right, now,
Speaker 3: I want to go back to Philippians for and I
Speaker 3: want to talk to you about the practices of peace.
Speaker 3: So Paul gives us a picture in Ephesians, but now
Speaker 3: in Philippians, he's going to give us a practice, and
Speaker 3: it says this, We're going to read the whole thing again.
Speaker 3: Do not be anxious about event anything, but in every situation,
Speaker 3: by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God,
Speaker 3: and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will
Speaker 3: guard your hearts and minds, and Christ.
Speaker 1: Jesus finally, Brothers and sisters.
Speaker 4: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is.
Speaker 3: Pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is
Speaker 3: excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have
Speaker 3: learned or received or heard or seen in me, put
Speaker 3: it into practice, and the God of.
Speaker 1: Peace will be with you.
Speaker 3: You see, I want you to know today that peace
Speaker 3: follows practice. God's presence follows my practice, not the other
Speaker 3: way around. And the truth is, no one likes the practice.
Speaker 3: Like just ask any fourteen year old in piano lessons?
Speaker 1: Are there any fourteen year olds and piano lessons in here? Oh?
Speaker 3: Abby?
Speaker 1: Verdict?
Speaker 3: Abby, would you like to play the piano as well
Speaker 3: as Ella one day? Would you like to play the
Speaker 3: piano as well as LJ one day?
Speaker 1: Okay, that's her goal, right Abby?
Speaker 3: How many hours of practice do you think they have
Speaker 3: on you? She says, she is thousands, thousands, thousands of
Speaker 3: hours of practice. When you see somebody who does something
Speaker 3: really well, they have practiced it.
Speaker 1: So real quick as I close. Don't worry. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to go super long.
Speaker 3: But I do want to show you things that you
Speaker 3: need to practice if you want to hold your peace.
Speaker 3: And I feel really silly in my boots, but I
Speaker 3: hope that this will be a reminder to you. The
Speaker 3: piece is not pretty and practice is not pretty. Practice
Speaker 3: is where you learn from your mistakes. It's not the place.
Speaker 1: Where you perform for others. Okay, So three things. First.
Speaker 1: One is the practice of prayer.
Speaker 3: Sometimes, when I'm faced with a difficult situation, I'm going
Speaker 3: to be honest with you, I do everything but pray.
Speaker 1: I talk about it. I worry about it.
Speaker 3: I worry about it and call it praying. I talk
Speaker 3: about it some more, and then I start time traveling.
Speaker 1: Where any of you here?
Speaker 3: Last week my pastor Stephen said, don't time travel.
Speaker 1: I know that he made that point up about me.
Speaker 3: Because I am a professional time traveler. I go back
Speaker 3: in time and I think of all the things that
Speaker 3: I did wrong. The other day, I got in my
Speaker 3: time machine and I told myself this elaborate story of
Speaker 3: how something in my life today would have been so
Speaker 3: different if I had said no to one question that
Speaker 3: someone asked me ten years ago, and if I had
Speaker 3: said no.
Speaker 1: So I'm in the time machine and I'm just thinking
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 3: I was like, if I had said no to that,
Speaker 3: then this would have happened, and then this wouldn't have happened,
Speaker 3: and then this would have happened.
Speaker 1: And I had pretty much convinced myself.
Speaker 3: That everything today is my fault. And so I said
Speaker 3: to Stephen because I really was convinced, and I said
Speaker 3: to him, I was like, do you ever wonder what
Speaker 3: would have happened if I had said no to that
Speaker 3: one situation?
Speaker 1: And my husband looked back at me and he was like, Holley,
Speaker 1: you can't think that way.
Speaker 3: He said, you're going back and you're changing a past
Speaker 3: situation with future information.
Speaker 1: He said, that's not fair to your past self.
Speaker 3: And furthermore, he doesn't actually say furthermore, but that just
Speaker 3: makes his home his Furthermore, he said, you're not taking
Speaker 3: into account all the things that could have happened if
Speaker 3: you had said yes.
Speaker 1: He said, you're making up the perfect scenario.
Speaker 3: And life is not perfect, and you did the best
Speaker 3: that you could with the information.
Speaker 1: That you had at that time.
Speaker 3: And maybe that's a word for someone today who's been
Speaker 3: time traveling back and trying to.
Speaker 1: Do something over. But you know what, I'm so good
Speaker 1: at time travel. I can also go forward in time.
Speaker 3: A situation happened with one of my kids recently, and
Speaker 3: I got in my time machine. And the problem is
Speaker 3: I read too much fiction, and so I know a
Speaker 3: lot about time travel and time loops, and so is
Speaker 3: off and I was like, well, what if this happens
Speaker 3: while they're driving?
Speaker 1: And then what if this happens? And then what if
Speaker 1: that happens?
Speaker 3: And then and I was so worried about a scenario
Speaker 3: that was not even happening, And then I wonder.
Speaker 1: Why I feel anxious.
Speaker 3: Pastors even told us last week, all you have to
Speaker 3: do is don't.
Speaker 1: And Paul is backing this up.
Speaker 3: He says, do not be anxious about anything, but by
Speaker 3: prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God,
Speaker 3: and the peace that passes all understanding will guard your
Speaker 3: hearts and minds and Christ Jesus. I feel like the
Speaker 3: Lord sent me here today to tell someone don't talk
Speaker 3: about it any more. Like I say to my kids,
Speaker 3: not another word out of your mouth. Take it to
Speaker 3: the Lord in prayer, and no one else stop talking
Speaker 3: about it. Yes, there are times when you rally praying
Speaker 3: people around you to believe.
Speaker 1: With you for a certain situation.
Speaker 3: I have a handful of women in my life who
Speaker 3: have prayed me through some really hard stuff. But sometimes,
Speaker 3: in all my running around and telling people to pray,
Speaker 3: I neglect to actually pray. And Paul didn't say present
Speaker 3: your request to people. He said, present your request to God,
Speaker 3: and the peace of God that transcends all understanding will
Speaker 3: guard your hearts and minds and Christ Jesus. Sometimes we
Speaker 3: want something so bad for someone we love, but we're
Speaker 3: going about getting it all the wrong way. And I'm
Speaker 3: telling you this because I have learned this the hard way,
Speaker 3: and I still get it wrong.
Speaker 1: I have tried to manipulate situations.
Speaker 3: For people so that I love, and it is exhausting,
Speaker 3: And then I wonder why I'm the only one who's worried.
Speaker 1: But here's the lesson that I have learned.
Speaker 3: When I want something for someone that I love, if
Speaker 3: I take it to God, he will change them.
Speaker 1: Or he'll change my heart.
Speaker 3: Now, a miracle happened in our home last week. This
Speaker 3: has been a miracle that is twenty three years in
Speaker 3: the making for me. Stephen and I are about to
Speaker 3: celebrate twenty three years of being happily married.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Please clap for.
Speaker 3: Us, because we've worked really hard at the happy part.
Speaker 3: And I want you to know that what I'm about
Speaker 3: to share has only come after twenty three years of
Speaker 3: learning the hard way about the power that comes when
Speaker 3: I hold my peace by practicing the work of prayer.
Speaker 1: So the other day Stephen.
Speaker 3: Woke up and he looked at me and he said, Babe,
Speaker 3: I had the craziest dream last night.
Speaker 1: You were talking to me and you were saying the
Speaker 1: nicest things to me, and you were encouraging.
Speaker 3: Me about that situation that we've been talking about. I
Speaker 3: was speechless, which is rare when I tell you that
Speaker 3: the things that he said I was saying to him
Speaker 3: in his dream, they were the very things that I
Speaker 3: had been silently holding my peace about and only talking
Speaker 3: to God about.
Speaker 1: And God, let me speak to that man in his sleep.
Speaker 1: I've got to speak my peace.
Speaker 3: Guys, I have found that God can whisper in the
Speaker 3: ear of the one that I love the very thing
Speaker 3: that I have been shouting at them for months, or
Speaker 3: this one's not as fun. He can whisper to me
Speaker 3: that he has the situation in his hands, and he
Speaker 3: can give me a peace that.
Speaker 1: Only comes by prayer. Peace comes by the practice of prayer.
Speaker 3: The Bible also tells us that peace comes by the
Speaker 3: practice of patterns. Watch for the pattern here Philippians four eight. Finally,
Speaker 3: brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever
Speaker 3: is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable,
Speaker 3: if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think.
Speaker 1: About such things. Keep going. Whatever you have learned or received,
Speaker 1: or heard from me or.
Speaker 3: Seen to me, put it into practice, and the God
Speaker 3: of Peace will be with you.
Speaker 1: Do you see a pattern here? There is power in
Speaker 1: our patterns.
Speaker 3: Our patterns will either accentuate the presence of God, or
Speaker 3: they will diminish our awareness of it.
Speaker 1: It's not that God's presence comes and goes.
Speaker 3: He's always with us. He will never leave us or
Speaker 3: forsake us. It's just my awareness of.
Speaker 1: His presence is affected by my patterns. How many of
Speaker 1: you would agree that you've had a time when.
Speaker 3: You came to church or you joined online, and when
Speaker 3: it was over.
Speaker 1: You just had a peace about your situation. Raise your hand,
Speaker 1: I want to see wow. Okay, put in the chat.
Speaker 1: Raise your hand in the chat. Okay. So if that's.
Speaker 3: True, my first question to you is, wouldn't you maybe
Speaker 3: want to come to church a little bit more frequently,
Speaker 3: a little more regularly, Like maybe if you come once
Speaker 3: a month, you could bump it up to twice a month.
Speaker 1: Maybe if you come twice a month, you could bump
Speaker 1: it up again.
Speaker 3: I'm just saying, you raised your hand and you said
Speaker 3: you felt God's presence here when you joined us.
Speaker 1: What are your patterns?
Speaker 3: My second question is why would you limit the presence
Speaker 3: of God to once a week at church?
Speaker 1: We have to look at our daily.
Speaker 3: Routines and habits and evaluate is this promoting peace in
Speaker 3: my life?
Speaker 1: Or is it stealing it.
Speaker 3: For months, I have felt God asking me to do
Speaker 3: this little thing.
Speaker 1: It's so stupid, Okay, but here's what it is.
Speaker 3: For months, I felt like God has been telling me
Speaker 3: stop looking at Instagram first thing in the morning.
Speaker 1: Now he did not ask me to delete Instagram.
Speaker 3: He just said stop going on Instagram first thing in
Speaker 3: the morning. And I have ignored it, and I have
Speaker 3: told myself this is harmless, this is a way to
Speaker 3: just wake up my brain. And I have told myself
Speaker 3: that my feed is very light.
Speaker 1: It's not even news.
Speaker 3: It's like gender reveals and dogs doing cool things and
Speaker 3: people falling down.
Speaker 1: And I told God. I was like, God, it's fine,
Speaker 1: It's just like Kathine for my brain. I'm just like
Speaker 1: using it to wake up. And then last week I
Speaker 1: read this quote in a book by a priest.
Speaker 3: Her name is Tishwarren, and she said this, we've covered
Speaker 3: a lot here. She said, by reaching for my smartphone
Speaker 3: every morning, I had developed a ritual that trained me
Speaker 3: toward a certain end entertainment and stimulation via tech achnology.
Speaker 3: She said, my unexamined daily habit was shaping me into
Speaker 3: a worshiper of glowing screens.
Speaker 1: So they said, Okay, God, I hear you. I won't
Speaker 1: look at Instagram anymore in the morning. Okay, full disclosure.
Speaker 3: I have relapsed once, but I'm back on the wagon.
Speaker 1: My wagons have wings.
Speaker 3: Does your morning practice promote the peace of God in
Speaker 3: your life. I'm not saying that you can't play wordle
Speaker 3: while you're drinking your coffee.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that you.
Speaker 3: Have to wake up at five am and read your
Speaker 3: Bible and journal for an hour.
Speaker 1: Before you start your day. What I am saying is
Speaker 1: if you.
Speaker 3: Do that, that's wonderful. But I'm not a five am
Speaker 3: kind of person. What I am saying is, if your
Speaker 3: priority is a feed social media or news, you might
Speaker 3: not feel very peace. Your peace and your priorities are
Speaker 3: directly connected.
Speaker 1: What patterns do.
Speaker 3: You need to put in your life in order to
Speaker 3: protect your peace, in order to make you more steady
Speaker 3: as you face your day.
Speaker 1: Here's the last one, the practice of praise.
Speaker 3: Paul says, is there anything excellent or praiseworthy?
Speaker 1: Think about such things?
Speaker 3: If you want to steady yourself with the Gospel of Peace,
Speaker 3: you're gonna have to fix your focus on the things
Speaker 3: in your life that are worthy of praise.
Speaker 1: The things that come out of your mouth matter.
Speaker 3: I don't care what you say, It matters what you say.
Speaker 3: Have you ever had a conversation turn negative and you
Speaker 3: can literally feel it drag the mood down.
Speaker 1: It happens, but remember it's okay.
Speaker 3: Pieces practice and practice doesn't make perfect, but maybe in
Speaker 3: this context, practice makes presence. So if we want to
Speaker 3: feel the presence of God in our conversations, we have
Speaker 3: to be careful about.
Speaker 1: What we say.
Speaker 3: I have a friend that I respect so much about
Speaker 3: the way that she is careful about how she talks.
Speaker 1: Like sometimes to the point that I'm annoyed.
Speaker 3: By it, because she is so careful about how she
Speaker 3: talks about her kids, how she talks about her spouse,
Speaker 3: how she talks about her day. I mean, it is
Speaker 3: really hard to get her to speak negatively, not only
Speaker 3: to say something negative, but it's really hard to even
Speaker 3: get her to talk about what she's afraid of.
Speaker 1: I want to be like that. And it's not that
Speaker 1: she's like this perfect person.
Speaker 3: She's never honest and she never has a bad day,
Speaker 3: but she is so careful not to let herself spiral
Speaker 3: into negative talk and negative thoughts. She actually told me
Speaker 3: that she read that it is scientifically proven that venting
Speaker 3: does not make you feel better.
Speaker 1: And it's weird because after she said that, I noticed that.
Speaker 3: Almost every time I vent, every time I just let
Speaker 3: off the little steam, I feel worse because I say
Speaker 3: things that I don't mean, and I exaggerate my situation
Speaker 3: to a place that it hasn't even.
Speaker 1: Gotten to now.
Speaker 5: Processing processing is different from venting and processing with the
Speaker 5: right person, like talk to your therapist, talk to your spouse,
Speaker 5: talk to a friend that you trust. But make sure
Speaker 5: that when you are processing that you begin to take
Speaker 5: a turn and point your soul to whatever is good,
Speaker 5: whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is true, whatever
Speaker 5: is lovely, whatever is admirable, because you will find what
Speaker 5: you are looking for.
Speaker 1: I know they get on your nerves.
Speaker 3: I know it feels like this situation could not get
Speaker 3: any worse. I know you feel frustrated, but remember trouble
Speaker 3: is the common denominator. You've got to get the X
Speaker 3: factor of peace into play. And sometimes that means speaking
Speaker 3: out loud what is praiseworthy. Sometimes that just means going, okay, God,
Speaker 3: I thank you that you were working in places that
Speaker 3: I cannot see. God, I thank you that you are
Speaker 3: bigger than this problem. God, I thank you that you
Speaker 3: are my provider. I praise you because you are Jehovah Jirah.
Speaker 3: You have never let me down. God, I thank you
Speaker 3: that you are gonna give me wisdom and grace as
Speaker 3: I move into this day, and when you begin to
Speaker 3: speak the praises of God, you will sense that peace
Speaker 3: coming around.
Speaker 1: You for whatever is next.
Speaker 3: You don't have to go through this life anxious and
Speaker 3: worried and unsteady. There is a piece that is available
Speaker 3: to you, but it doesn't just fall into your lap.
Speaker 3: You gotta grab it, got a hold tight to it,
Speaker 3: You gotta strap it on, you.
Speaker 1: Gotta practice it.
Speaker 6: Isaiah said, how beautiful are the feet on the mountain
Speaker 6: that proclaim the good news of peace. When you put
Speaker 6: these things into practice, you will not only hold tightly
Speaker 6: to your truth, but others will see it and they'll wonder,
Speaker 6: and you'll try to explain it to them, but you can't.
Speaker 3: Corey Timboom, anybody know Corey Timboom, She's like one of
Speaker 3: my heroes. She was a Holocaust survivor and she was
Speaker 3: a Christian who was imprisoned because they hid Jews in
Speaker 3: their house in Holland, and her sister and her were
Speaker 3: sent to Ravensbrook, the concentration camp in Nazi Germany, and
Speaker 3: she survived to tell her story, and she traveled the
Speaker 3: world and she preached the forgiveness of God. And she
Speaker 3: told this story about how she and her sister had
Speaker 3: a secret Bible study where they would speak out loud
Speaker 3: the things that they could praise God for, and her
Speaker 3: sister would make her praise God for they had a Bible,
Speaker 3: and she would make her praise God for the fleas
Speaker 3: that were in the concentration camp, because the fleee kept
Speaker 3: the guards out and and they, I mean, they just
Speaker 3: went through the most horrific circumstances. And Corey wrote this
Speaker 3: when she described their barracks one time, she said, there
Speaker 3: was no way to walk to and from the meeting
Speaker 3: without passing through every row of bunks and at everyone.
Speaker 3: I would see the light of God in the eyes
Speaker 3: of people facing death, starvation, and cruelty in such a place.
Speaker 1: Peace was not just possible, it was real.
Speaker 3: And I want you to know today you might be
Speaker 3: in your darkest hour, but you can have a peace,
Speaker 3: have guard your heart and mind to an extent that
Speaker 3: you cannot even explain how it is happening.
Speaker 1: You just you just know that it's real. We are
Speaker 1: in a fight.
Speaker 3: It is a battle against spiritual enemies in heavenly realms
Speaker 3: that we cannot even see, and we cannot go into
Speaker 3: it unprepared and unaware. Paul said, if anything is excellent,
Speaker 3: if anything is worthy of praise, sometimes the only way
Speaker 3: to hold your peace is to praise. Drown out the
Speaker 3: noise of the evil one with songs of deliverance in
Speaker 3: your home, in your car.
Speaker 1: At your desk.
Speaker 3: Maybe you've got to put on AirPods, drown out the
Speaker 3: noise of the enemy with songs of.
Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of
Speaker 2: you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of
Speaker 2: you that this ministry is possible. You can click the
Speaker 2: link in the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch
Speaker 2: dot org slash podcast for more information and if you
Speaker 2: enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it
Speaker 2: with your friends. You can click the share button, take
Speaker 2: a screenshot and share it on your social stories and
Speaker 2: tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God
Speaker 2: bless you