WEBVTT - Off Menu 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:03.400 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.439 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:11.280 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.440 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:14.000 in your life. 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:15.280 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:34.199 Oh my God, Well. 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:49.199 Well I'm praising you because hey, how big is your 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:50.960 Because let me hear it right now. 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:53.199 If you've got a. 0:00:53.200 --> 0:01:01.960 Reason, don't put the pentiton Pentecostal courts in there on there. 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:04.320 I tell you what. 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:07.640 Somebody's praising him today because they woke up today. 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:09.679 That's a good start. 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:11.279 Now, listen. 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:14.760 Some people don't praise God because they woke up to 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:17.640 see another day. But if you ever thought you wouldn't 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:20.679 see another day and you did, then you have a 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:24.720 reason to praise him. Everything that has breadth and is thankful, 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:34.319 praise the Lord. Somebody's praising him because they had something 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:35.840 to eat today. 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:37.919 Now listen, I'm. 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.840 Not saying it was healthy, that was your decision. I'm 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:44.919 not saying that you aren't still hungry. But somebody's praising 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:51.080 him today because he fed me. Somebody's praising him today 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:54.120 because I had somewhere to sleep last night that was 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:59.600 soft and comfortable. Somebody's praising him because this week you 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:03.080 ailed again, and it's been a long time since that 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:06.320 smile was on your face and you felt a trickle 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.840 of joy, and you're about to see an avalanche of 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:12.080 God's blessing come against your depression. 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:16.000 Somebody's phrasing him today. 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.720 Because somebody's in church with you that you thought would 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:22.919 never be back in church, but they came today. Somebody's 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:27.400 phrasing him because although the medical diagnosis doesn't look good 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:30.520 right now, you know that Jehovah Rapha is your healer 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:34.760 and that he is the resurrection and he is the life. 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:38.680 Somebody's phrasing him today because although I'm not where I 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:42.799 want to be, I look back in my past and 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:46.480 I thank him that I'm not who I used to be. 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:52.359 I'm praising him because now you fill in the blank. 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:56.440 I'm praising him because he's faithful. I'm praising him because 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.760 he's King of kings. I'm praising him because he's my 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.320 I'm praising him because he's my shepherd. 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:05.239 I'm praising him because. 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:06.679 I should my thought. 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.400 I'm praising him because he fit me in the valley. 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:15.440 I'm praising him for every mountain he brought me off from. 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:18.519 A personal praise right now, say put in there. I'm 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:23.680 praising it in cons Oh no, got Brad praising. 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:28.520 Beyond because he's good. I go what he don't pray? 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:30.679 I pray he'll love me. 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:33.480 Baby, got me going for me? 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:37.800 Yeah, I'm praising. 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:45.800 He'll be gol, dude, leave me not. I praid he'll 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:52.960 be good. Leave never and go. Man, you shore just 0:03:54.160 --> 0:04:02.200 y me you jes back. 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:05.840 To me? 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:09.600 Shut. 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:24.440 Oh my god, he's good to me. 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:33.320 He's been good to me. I want seven people say 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:37.720 he's been good to me. Yeah he's really not good. 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:40.160 Yeah he's really. 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:40.640 Worthy of it. 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:42.960 You don't really love him. 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:45.480 I don't really appreciate him, you don't really know him. 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:47.280 Yeah he really did it. 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:58.800 Jesus is real to me. Y'all want to keep singing that? 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:00.440 All? 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:00.680 Right? 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:07.920 Downloaded on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon Music, Go get 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:12.200 a cassette. Sure been good. The new song is out now. 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:15.479 But I have a feeling for some of you that's 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:18.440 not a new song. For some of you, that has 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:20.400 been the song of your heart through every season of 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.479 your life. That life hasn't always been good. And people 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.800 haven't always treated you good, but He's always been good 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:27.320 through it all. 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:31.159 For we know that in all things, God works all 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:36.159 things together for good. They're not all good, He's all good. 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:39.040 How many know what was all God in my life? 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:43.839 That I made it this far? I still want to. 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:46.200 See in the comments, Hey, Epham, I want in the 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:49.560 comments every because you can think of while you're praising him. 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:52.560 I'm praising him because and just fill in the blank. 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.200 We're praising him today because you're here with us. Elevation Valentine. 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:58.400 Let's welcome our Epham around the world. 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:01.200 Welcome. We're glad you're. 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:07.479 Here for the final installment of our series, Ghostwriter. 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:09.080 This is it, y'all. 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:13.520 We gotta make it count, all right. 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.320 Well, it's at least the series or the season finale, 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.800 and then we might do a season two sometimes. 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:25.080 Because we only got to acts ten. The birthday girl herself, 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:27.880 Holly Ferdick left us last week in Acts chapter nine. 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:31.320 I'm going to pick up where Holly dropped you off 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:34.360 in Acts chapter ten, and I want to say not 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:37.400 only happy birthday to you, Holly, and all the things 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:39.560 that I wrote in that letter that I wrote you 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.239 at four thirty am. So if there were typos, please 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:46.360 forgive them. And if I got a little mushy at 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:49.320 the end or a little inappropriate with some of the 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:52.440 things that I said at the end, you'll forgive me. 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:55.520 But thank you for the way that you nourish our family, 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:59.320 our dreams, for the ways that you fight against our fears, 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.960 and insecure with the loveliness of your poise and the 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.680 precision of your words and encouragement. When I call you 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:12.840 the Holy Spirit, I'm kidding kind of. The Holy Spirit 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:15.320 is the greatest guide that I was ever given in 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:18.800 my life, and the Holy Spirit is the second greatest. 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:24.440 And you know what's crazy, There's so many times where 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.640 the first guide, the Holy Spirit, used the Holy Spirit 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:30.760 in a way to steer me because sometimes I won't 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:33.120 listen to him, but I will listen to you. Thank 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.400 you for seeing the best in us, and thank you 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.480 for bringing the best of you. You're amazing. Is it 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:45.200 a coincidence that today is Pentecost Sunday, fifty days after 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:49.680 the Resurrection, where the Church celebrates the birth of the 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:53.840 Church and the giving of the Holy Spirit, and May 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:55.920 nineteenth happens to be this year a Sunday. 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:04.880 The birthday, not a church, but of my Holy Spirit. 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.760 I told you, listen, I told her, I said, this 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:11.080 week where your birthday falls, I would take the weekend 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:12.080 off and go through it. 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:14.720 She said, well, would you just preach a special birthday 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:18.360 sermon for me? I said, deal, because we wanted to 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:20.840 close this series where we've been talking about the Holy 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:22.880 Spirit and how many are grateful by the way for 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:24.800 the Holy Spirit and for what he's teaching you in 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:29.160 your life. That he is so much more than a 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:32.439 goosebump or a good feeling. He can give you a goosebump. 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:33.880 He can give you a good feeling. If God has 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:35.240 given out goosebumps, I'll take him. 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:35.640 How about you? 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:39.280 People say that faith is not feelings, Well, I need 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:41.960 sometimes to feel God's presence because I feel a lot 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.199 of other things too. But the Book of Acts has 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.720 also spoken of the Holy Spirit in so many ways, 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:51.640 as being the promise of God, the gift of God, 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:55.079 the fountain of God, the outpouring, the baptism of the 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:58.439 Holy Spirit is mentioned, the fullness, the power, the witness, 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:01.199 and the guidance of the Holy And I believe that 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:04.280 the Lord led me to this special passage today, not only, 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:06.880 of course, for Holly, but for all of us as 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:10.360 we are listening now for what the Spirit says. For 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:11.800 those of you who are here for the first time, 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:14.240 we don't stand for the whole sermon. We stand for 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:18.800 the scripture. Then we sit, and then standing as discretionary 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:21.600 from that point forward. But I asked that you stand 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:25.160 wherever you are for the reading of God's word, Acts 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:32.120 chapter ten, verse nine. Maybe you're going to have a 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:35.920 birthday too. Maybe God is going to burst something in 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:43.959 your life that you weren't even prepared for today. The 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.240 Bible says in Acts chapter ten, verse nine, about noon 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:49.520 the following day, as they were on their journey and 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.880 approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.080 He became hungry and wanted something to eat. 0:09:57.880 --> 0:09:59.880 And for some of you, that's your new life verse 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:03.640 I want something to eat, Lord, I claim Acts ten 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:07.199 ten over my life. I want something to eat. And 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:09.720 while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.880 He saw heaven opened in something like a large sheet 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:16.959 being let down to earth by its four corners. It 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:20.160 contained all kinds of four footed animals, as well as 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:24.640 reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, get up, Peter, 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:31.480 kill and eat surely not, Lord. Peter replied, I have 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:37.640 never eaten anything impure or unclean. There's reptiles and birds 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:40.280 on this sheet. I can't eat that. That is not 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.839 on my diet. That is forbidden in Leviticus eleven. And 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:49.000 I am a good observant Jewish boy. I can't do it. Lord, 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.439 I never have, and I'm not going to start now 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:56.080 Verse fifteen. Then the voice spoke to him a second time. 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:01.440 This is the persistence of God. Do not call anything 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:06.360 impure that God has made clean. This happened three times. 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:10.480 Peter's kind of hard headed, and immediately the sheet was 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:14.360 taken back to heaven. While Peter was wondering about the 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.280 meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.480 out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:21.840 They called. 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:27.079 They called out, asking if Simon, who was known as Peter, 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:30.000 was staying there. I'm going to make a whole sandwich 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:32.680 out of that verse, so we'll come back. 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:35.559 To it verse nineteen. While Peter was still thinking about 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:41.200 the vision, the spirit said to him, Simon, I hate 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:44.840 to interrupt your deep thoughts, but three men are looking 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:45.120 for you. 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:49.719 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.920 go with them, for I have sent them. Peter went 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:56.320 down and said to the men, I'm the one you're 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:57.079 looking for. 0:11:58.200 --> 0:11:59.160 Why have you come? 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.640 And replied, we've come from Cornelius to Centurion. He's a 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:07.880 righteous and god fearing man who is respected by all 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:11.800 the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:14.800 you to come to his house so that he could 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:16.360 hear what you have to say. 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:19.599 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:20.200 his guest. 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:23.520 The next day, Peter started out with them, and some 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:27.160 of the believers from Japa went along. The following day, 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:33.839 last verse he arrived in cessarea. Cornelius was expecting them. 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:37.199 Say amen, for the word of the Lord. Say it 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:40.079 again a little louder, please, And then now go back 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:42.839 to this verse. This is the verse I want to 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:47.200 dedicate to Holly and to all of you. On Pentecost Sunday, 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:52.240 Holly's birth day. Verse ten, he became hungry and wanted 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:57.720 something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared. 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:02.480 Now look at your neighbor. Tell them this, God is 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:10.439 preparing something amazing for you. Tell them again, God is 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:14.839 preparing something amazing for you and put that in the 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:20.280 comments to say, God is preparing something amazing for you. 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:23.559 Now flip it a little bit. Turn to your other neighbor, 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:29.360 your second choice. Say say this, say and God is 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:38.400 preparing you for something amazing. Okay, So Peter's hungry. Somebody's 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.719 been hungry. Somebody needs something from the Lord today. You 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.400 need bread from heaven, you need water from the rock 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:47.080 in the wilderness of your despair. Here it comes. God 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.000 is preparing something. But today I want to tell you 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:57.559 a little secret. It's going to be off menu. Off menu. 0:13:58.840 --> 0:13:59.480 The title and. 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.760 Assigned and of my final installment of our series, Ghostwriter 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:10.880 is off menu. Speak Lord, we're listening in Jesus' name. Amen, Amen, 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:17.400 you may be seated. There's something special about to happen 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:24.360 in our lives today. Of all of the wonderful things 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:26.480 that I would miss about Holly if she ever was 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:31.640 raptured and I was left here, I would not miss 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:35.400 the moments before we order our food in a restaurant together. 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:40.080 Our favorite thing to do together. Our second favorite thing 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:43.000 to do together is to go out to eat, and 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:51.920 first favorite is pray and recite Philippians. We're just different. 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.480 Our taste and food is different. But the only thing 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.600 that well, First of all, she likes to order appetizers, 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:01.640 and I have thing that appetizers. 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:02.840 Make the meal take thirty five more minutes, and I 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:08.600 don't like it. The second thing is pretty much. 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:14.320 Walk in the restaurant knowing what I'm going to eat, 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:17.800 whether I've been there or not. There's three items that 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:23.680 are pretty common to every menu, protein based, and saw 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:27.080 order one of those. My wife, on the other hand, 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:30.120 I gotta tell you something about her, because you know, 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:32.080 you see her up here on the stage and she 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:35.640 looks wonderful, and she's even more wonderful the more you 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:39.200 get to know her. She mentioned how her favorite kinds 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:42.960 of stories to read are stories where the character goes 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.200 through something and it's really difficult. 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.400 She talked about that last week. Did you hear that message? 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:48.560 Now? 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:48.760 What? 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:51.400 What a word? Because aren't we all wondering that? 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.520 Now what? God, I prayed for this baby, you gave 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:57.960 me this baby. Now what God, I got them out 0:15:57.960 --> 0:15:59.200 of the car seat, Now they want. 0:15:59.080 --> 0:15:59.680 The car keys? 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:00.920 What? 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:05.280 What's such a good word? And in the process of 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:09.520 her speaking to you, she left something out. She said 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:11.560 her favorite thing to read was a story with the 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:12.280 character goes through. 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:13.120 That's not true. 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:15.720 My wife, Hollyford, her favorite thing to read in the 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:23.080 entire world is a menu. I've seen this woman study 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:27.080 a menu at a restaurant that we have gone to 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:30.560 every Thursday night for eighteen months. 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.840 We're not very adventurous. We go to the same restaurants. 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:40.040 It's the same menu, and she studies it like it 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.240 was the Declaration of Independence and she's in an. 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.000 Eighth grade history class. 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:48.280 She studies it like it is a contract for an 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:52.480 entire condominium that she is. She studies it like it 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:56.440 is a Nicholas Sparks notebook letter that she was left 0:16:56.560 --> 0:16:59.400 by her the love of She studies it like it 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:01.800 is this eight capitals and she is about to go 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:04.880 to geography. She studies and I have seen her late 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:07.520 at night before scrolling on her phone. Looks kind of 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:10.600 suspicious because she looks so happy scrolling on the phone, 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:12.560 and I'm like, what are you looking at, Candy Crush? 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.080 Did you beat a new level? What's what's happening over there? 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:19.639 And she will be reading a menu for a restaurant 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:23.040 in a city that we are going to in two 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:28.120 and a half months. The woman loves a menu. Am 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:34.720 I appreciating the truth Abbey Abigail Faith, and I'm picking 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:35.679 on her, but I love. 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:37.479 It because you know, I'm the one who leans over 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:39.560 to her. What would I like here. 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:43.680 After all of that that I just said, It's really 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:48.280 nice to have somebody who studies the menu. But what 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:51.760 I can't understand elevation Church. And forgive me because this 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:53.600 is the last week my series. My wife's birthday is 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:55.040 Pentecost on separate and the Holy. 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:56.399 Spirit and all that. I'm excited about it. 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:01.480 Why would you read the whole menu? Study it in advance? 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:03.760 And I mean she will grill the server. If you 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:05.680 are a server and you get us at the restaurant, 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:07.720 we will tip big. But you will earn it because 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:11.600 you will be answering a quiz. It will be a quiz. 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:12.639 There will be a quiz. 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:15.359 So the what you're doing? 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:20.280 So many times the broccoli chicken with the UH with 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:23.880 the lemon cream sauce. Tell me about the lemon cream sauce. 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:27.120 And the server is always so nice because she's so nice. Well, ma'am, 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:30.880 it's a UH. It's a sauce that consists them lemon 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:38.959 and then there's cream and the level of nuance well, well, 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:42.480 is it like lemony lemony or is it more creamy 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:47.040 lemony cream cream more cream than lemon or more you 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:49.600 know what the to me about the honey sacha, to 0:18:49.720 --> 0:19:00.280 me about the well, ma, it's it's honey siracha, and uhh. 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:01.840 I've come to admire it in a way. Just what 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:03.800 I want to know is I have to hold that. 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:10.800 When the services now, thank you for dining with us tonight. 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.560 We have a few specials that are not on the menu. 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:17.919 Would you like to hear about the hosts? 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:20.800 I'm taking, like, no way she. 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.800 Prepared for this, like it was the bar exam. 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:27.960 We're not just going to take a flyer on something 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:30.119 that the chef whipped up because he was tired of 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:30.960 what he has to. 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:33.400 Make every night. And she'll lean in and go, yes, 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:37.320 tell me about the specials and leave nothing out. 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:38.520 And I'm going, oh. 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:42.159 God, just bring me a steak or a burger patty 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:44.639 and some a one. I can make it work. Do 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:45.760 you have some peanuts? 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:54.959 I asked her recently, Why do you want to hear 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:58.600 about the specials? She said, well, what is this something fresh? 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:01.560 What if there's something new? 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:04.840 And I guess what she's doing is since I'm so 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:06.920 boring and I take her to the same three restaurants 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:11.200 over and over again, She's creating a new experience in 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:11.960 the same place. 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:15.560 And I want to be a little bit more like you, 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:17.480 because as I get off of. 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:20.800 This way too long opening illustration that I indulged in, 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:23.440 and I thank you for allowing me to indulge, I 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:26.919 was thinking about how in Acts chapter ten you were 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:29.680 probably wondering why I was reading that story to you, Like, 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:33.239 are you what you're reading to me about somebody who 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:36.920 went up on a roof and prayed and went in 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.760 a trance and went downstairs? 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:42.320 What does that have to do with this divorce I'm 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:42.720 going through? 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:48.359 What does that have to do with this situation with 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:51.840 my kid who probably needs to go to rehab but 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:53.679 I can't make them go, and I can't force them, 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:57.119 and now they're not even under my jurisdiction anymore. What 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:02.399 does this that happen two thousand years ago have to 0:21:02.480 --> 0:21:06.679 do with what I'm going through today? So your story 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:11.119 is not really that different from Peter's, other than the 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:13.040 fact that you have air conditioning so you don't have 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:14.640 to go up on a roof to pray to catch 0:21:14.720 --> 0:21:18.560 the breeze that's coming in from the port city called Joppa, 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:23.160 and probably you have a little different diet than Peter. 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:27.920 You know, the Bible talks about how this sheet came 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:31.160 down from heaven while he was praying, and let's take 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:31.600 note of that. 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:34.160 In verse nine before we move any further. 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:37.159 It says about noon the following day, as they were 0:21:37.200 --> 0:21:39.359 on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:42.440 on the roof to pray. I think there are some 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:47.840 situations that you have to pray your way through because 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:51.720 you can't figure them out. Now, anytime life gives you 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:54.919 a situation where you can't figure it out, that's an 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:57.600 opportunity for you to learn to pray your way through 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:02.040 what you can't figure out. And that does not mean 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:05.200 that you will have to spend every waking minute of 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:09.840 your life reciting prayers and reading scriptures. But it does 0:22:10.000 --> 0:22:14.040 mean that you will have to learn how to prepare 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:19.240 yourself for what God has prepared for you. I see 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:23.200 Peter here praying on the roof, and my question is 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:26.119 what is he praying about? And he has a lot 0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:29.040 to pray about. There's a lot of pressure on Peter. 0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:35.200 Anybody got a lot of pressure on you. You're embarrassed 0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:36.639 to say yes to that because you're like, when I 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:40.640 compared to Peter, he's like taking the Gospel to the world. Well, 0:22:40.760 --> 0:22:45.600 I mean, you're taking the Gospel to somebody you're responsible for, somebody. 0:22:46.600 --> 0:22:49.680 You're fighting through something that doesn't seem to want to 0:22:49.720 --> 0:22:54.160 let you go. If nothing else, you have the pressure 0:22:54.240 --> 0:22:58.640 of struggling against that old nature in you that keeps 0:22:58.680 --> 0:23:00.400 making you want to act like you don't know God 0:23:00.440 --> 0:23:03.680 even though you do. If nothing else, you have the 0:23:03.720 --> 0:23:07.240 pressure of waking up another day and feeling like you 0:23:07.440 --> 0:23:09.320 have more agenda than you have energy. 0:23:11.280 --> 0:23:15.320 And so we pray our way through pressure, or. 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:19.920 The pressure pushes us, pushes us over the edge, and 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:23.639 pushes us into places of hiding that are dangerous. I 0:23:23.640 --> 0:23:27.280 don't want to get sidetracked by this, because honestly, I'm 0:23:27.320 --> 0:23:30.520 not just so interested that Peter was praying, or that 0:23:30.640 --> 0:23:33.600 he was praying at noon, which by the way, was 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:37.159 not even a required time to pray. This was like 0:23:37.240 --> 0:23:40.520 a bonus prayer for Peter. Let's take a moment into church, 0:23:40.520 --> 0:23:42.639 because we beat up on Peter a lot. How he 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:45.000 went the walk on water and he slipped and fell, 0:23:45.800 --> 0:23:48.600 How he cut off somebody's ear in the garden when 0:23:48.600 --> 0:23:51.560 they were coming to get Jesus. How he was cussing 0:23:51.680 --> 0:23:54.359 and denying Christ when he went to the cross. Let's 0:23:54.400 --> 0:23:58.159 get Peter like five seconds of atta boy handclapping ovation 0:23:58.520 --> 0:24:00.000 that he's up there praying when he doesn't have to 0:24:00.160 --> 0:24:00.560 be praying. 0:24:01.840 --> 0:24:04.719 I think we should do that. I think we need 0:24:04.800 --> 0:24:06.680 to humanize these Bible characters. 0:24:07.560 --> 0:24:09.480