Speaker 1: Everybody's standing. How many are excited about Elevation Nights. We
Speaker 1: are weeks away. Come on, Holly, Holly is gonna tell
Speaker 1: you well, speak of the angel. I love a girl,
Speaker 1: come here, get a wide shot on her. I love
Speaker 1: a girl who can rock, plaid and petty. That's tom petty, plaid,
Speaker 1: petty and praise. She does it all. But right now,
Speaker 1: look in that camera. Tell them where they need to
Speaker 1: go and where we're going to be. Okay, So I
Speaker 1: was thinking about how people watch online every week and
Speaker 1: they wish that they could be here. Telling you Elevation
Speaker 1: Nights is like Elevation Church came to your city. Only
Speaker 1: there's one thing that's better. Yes, we still have you
Speaker 1: the Elevation Nights. So that's amazing. Favorite Pastor, we will
Speaker 1: sing all of your favorite songs, single one. If you
Speaker 1: come to Valentine, we're only going to sing four songs.
Speaker 1: You come to Elevation Nights, We're gonna sing every single
Speaker 1: one of your favorite songs. So here's where we're going.
Speaker 1: We're going Austin, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Denver, Saint Louis,
Speaker 1: Fort Wayne, and Toronto, Ontario. We're coming your way in
Speaker 1: just a few weeks Austin, Texas, Austin, I gotta wait
Speaker 1: till they back up on the screen. Here we go,
Speaker 1: Here we go. You thought I memorized them. Austin, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis,
Speaker 1: Kansas City, Denver, Saint Louis, Fort Wayne, Toronto. And can
Speaker 1: we tell them, tell them that we added some dates
Speaker 1: for the fall? The fall, you can get those two
Speaker 1: elevation Nights dot com to talk. Yes, we might be
Speaker 1: coming close to you. Those aren't yours. We might be
Speaker 1: Just check, just check elevation. Somebody say the angels are coming.
Speaker 1: The angels are coming. Somebody say, Holly's coming, That'ster Steve's coming,
Speaker 1: Elevation Worship's coming, Johnsal's coming, John Sale. Are you an angel?
Speaker 1: Maybe some days you sing like an angel. But Jenna said,
Speaker 1: sometimes you act like the bibble. She told me that
Speaker 1: it's true. Let's see if you got the angels on
Speaker 1: the tour bus on day seven of Elevation Nights. Holly
Speaker 1: and I have so many wonderful friends in ministry. Today.
Speaker 1: Pastor rich Wilkerson us here with us to bring the
Speaker 1: Word of God. He pastors the Great Cool Church based
Speaker 1: out of Miami, Florida, Touching the world for Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: I asked him to take this pulpit and preach God's
Speaker 1: word to you today. Let's tell him we're ready to
Speaker 1: receive it. Let's stop. Church. Welcome Ridge, welcome to Well,
Speaker 1: come on church. Anybody happen to be in the House
Speaker 1: of the Lord today, Hey, come on from around the world,
Speaker 1: right here in Charlotte, North Carolina, wherever you're at, watching
Speaker 1: at home, whatever device you are watching from, can we
Speaker 1: just go ahead and give the Lord a big shout
Speaker 1: of praise. I'm telling you what. There's something in the
Speaker 1: atmosphere here. And I would just say to anyone who's watching,
Speaker 1: who's not here in the room today, if you can
Speaker 1: be out one of these nights, you need to be
Speaker 1: here because the spirit of the God, the Spirit of
Speaker 1: God is moving in this place in a mighty way.
Speaker 1: And I was thinking just as we were worshiping, because man,
Speaker 1: there's just such a tangible sense of God's presence and
Speaker 1: it's beautiful. Where the spear of the Lord is, there
Speaker 1: is freedom. Religion makes you proud of you, but the
Speaker 1: Gospel makes you proud of Jesus. And I don't know
Speaker 1: about you, but I came into this house for one reason,
Speaker 1: which is to give the One True God. Come on
Speaker 1: all the praise, and it's worthy of all of this recalls.
Speaker 1: Lift it up. Let's get them a shout all over
Speaker 1: the room today. We love you Lord. We magnified your God.
Speaker 1: You're crazy, Rod. The angels are coming about to change
Speaker 1: my whole message. Turn it into angel in the outfield.
Speaker 1: You got an angel with you now, that'll preach, that'll preach.
Speaker 1: Do me a favor of find a few people around you,
Speaker 1: just say you look better than I remember. You can
Speaker 1: you can grab a seat. It is good to be
Speaker 1: in God's house today. If you have a Bible with you,
Speaker 1: quickly reach for it. If you don't have it, we'll
Speaker 1: have it up on the screens for you. Turn with
Speaker 1: me to the Book of Mark. Mark. Chapter six is
Speaker 1: where I want to share some thoughts today. The Lord
Speaker 1: has really put a message on my heart. And I
Speaker 1: believe that we are all here today, and I believe
Speaker 1: He's gonna speak to us in a great and mighty way.
Speaker 1: And I just got to be honest with you. It's
Speaker 1: always such a priv and a real honor to get
Speaker 1: to come and preach behind this pulpit. This church is
Speaker 1: touching the world. And it's not just touching the world,
Speaker 1: it's touching me. And I'm so thankful for the ministry
Speaker 1: and the leadership of your pastors, Pastor Steven and Holly.
Speaker 1: I just think that the world's finest. Not only are
Speaker 1: they just incredible preachers and leaders, yeah we can put
Speaker 1: our hands together, but have been just very very good
Speaker 1: friends to my wife and I the children. We just
Speaker 1: admire this family. I think you need a vision and
Speaker 1: a reference for all areas of your life. Vision is
Speaker 1: that thing that gives pain purpose. And you need vision
Speaker 1: for marriage, you need vision for pastors, you need vision
Speaker 1: for your business, and you guys are just a huge
Speaker 1: reference point in our life. And we're just so thankful.
Speaker 1: Thank you for loving us, thank you for encouraging us.
Speaker 1: I heard some dialogue in a movie the other day
Speaker 1: and it was this question was asked, what's more important
Speaker 1: the journey or the death the nation? And the man
Speaker 1: thought about it and he responded the company. That's how
Speaker 1: I kind of feel when I'm around them, that I
Speaker 1: don't really care what we're doing. I want to be
Speaker 1: a part of it, whatever, wherever elevation's at, whatever Pastor
Speaker 1: Steven's doing I just want to be around you guys,
Speaker 1: and thank you so much for your life, thank you
Speaker 1: for who you are. Can we really put our hands again?
Speaker 1: Can we just thank God for them today? Just amazing, amazing.
Speaker 1: Come from Miami, Florida. That is where Jesus lives. If
Speaker 1: you've been wondering. Pastor of church called Food Church, married
Speaker 1: to my wife Dontree. She sends her greetings, and today
Speaker 1: I want to preach from Mark chapter six, starting in
Speaker 1: verse forty five. Let me lay some groundwork and then
Speaker 1: I'm going to preach this thing. This is what the
Speaker 1: scripture says. Starting in verse forty five, he says, immediately
Speaker 1: Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go
Speaker 1: on ahead of him to Bethsadia, while he dismissed the crowd,
Speaker 1: and after leaving them, he went up on a mountain
Speaker 1: side to pray. Later that night, the boat was in
Speaker 1: the middle of the lake and it was alone on land,
Speaker 1: and he saw the disciples straining at the oars because
Speaker 1: the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn, he went
Speaker 1: out to them walking on the lake. He was about
Speaker 1: to pass them by, but when they saw him walk
Speaker 1: on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They
Speaker 1: cried out because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately,
Speaker 1: someone say immediately, immediately spoke to them and said, take courage.
Speaker 1: It is I do not be afraid. Then Jesus climbed
Speaker 1: into the boat with them, and the wind died down.
Speaker 1: They were completely someone say completely, They were completely amazed,
Speaker 1: for they had not understood about the loaves. Their hearts
Speaker 1: were hardened. If you got a pen or something, maybe
Speaker 1: underline that passage. Their hearts were hardened. When they had
Speaker 1: crossed over. They landed at Genisrat and anchored there, and
Speaker 1: as soon as they got out of the boat, people
Speaker 1: recognized Jesus. They ran throughout the whole region and carried
Speaker 1: the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was,
Speaker 1: and wherever he went into villages, towns or countryside, they
Speaker 1: placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to
Speaker 1: let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and
Speaker 1: all who touched it were healed. How may'll know there's
Speaker 1: more to the story. Anybody been enjoying the teaching and
Speaker 1: the preaching of your pastor these last few weeks. I
Speaker 1: just love it when he gets on. I love when
Speaker 1: he gets a word from God, because all us preachers
Speaker 1: we get a word from God. There certainly is more
Speaker 1: of the story. I think story and narrative is so important.
Speaker 1: The story you tell yourself will be the life that
Speaker 1: you live. What story are you telling yourself? But today
Speaker 1: I want to kind of draft off where you guys
Speaker 1: have been as a house. And this is what I know.
Speaker 1: I know that there's more of the story. But every
Speaker 1: story has a storm. But every story has its purpose.
Speaker 1: And I want to preach for a few moments day
Speaker 1: from that subject. The storm has its purpose. The storm
Speaker 1: has its purpose. Look at your neighbors, say, neighbor, the
Speaker 1: storm has its purpose. Look at you, o, the neighbor,
Speaker 1: the one you don't like so much. Hopefully you talk
Speaker 1: to your spouse first. Oh, dear God, say the storm
Speaker 1: has its purpose. I love the passage of scripture that
Speaker 1: we're reading today. This is Mark six. This account of
Speaker 1: this storm takes place also in Matthew's Gospel, but here
Speaker 1: in Mark chapter six. This is the Sea of Galilee.
Speaker 1: The Sea of Galilee is interesting. I was just there recently,
Speaker 1: but it sits seven hundred feet below sea level. About
Speaker 1: thirty miles to the north is this big mountain range
Speaker 1: called Mount Herman that sits high up in the air,
Speaker 1: and the cold air from that mountain will mix with
Speaker 1: that warm air from the sea. And if you go there,
Speaker 1: they'll tell you that there's quick, fast storms, massive waves
Speaker 1: that can kind of come out of nowhere. And I
Speaker 1: actually just got to go finally for the first time,
Speaker 1: to the Sea of Galilee back in November. I went
Speaker 1: Miami to the Sea of Galilee. Now, just saying that, right,
Speaker 1: it just sounds so easy, Miami to the Sea of Galilee.
Speaker 1: But how y'all know, it ain't that easy. We took
Speaker 1: a flight Miami to Tel Aviv and I flew with
Speaker 1: my three children, ages five, three, and one and a
Speaker 1: half in economy to tel Aviv. Now it's funny because
Speaker 1: people start the year it's like, yo, Lord, I really
Speaker 1: want you to stretch my faith. Very very easy, very
Speaker 1: very easy. You want to build your faith. In twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, get three toddlers, take an international flight. The
Speaker 1: whole experience is just challenging. You get on the airplane
Speaker 1: and I can literally see people as I'm passing by
Speaker 1: the row side. Let thank god they're not sitting next
Speaker 1: to me. Paris on what I'm talking about. I have
Speaker 1: one friend that when they travel with their kids, they
Speaker 1: bake cookies the night before because they pass it out
Speaker 1: to all of the passengers around them. People are like,
Speaker 1: thank you for the cookies, Like this is a peace offering.
Speaker 1: And we took off. You know what, it's a fourteen
Speaker 1: hours some flight and you know it's just these kids
Speaker 1: are going crazy just trying to get to the Sea
Speaker 1: of Galilee. And on the way over there, we hit turbulence.
Speaker 1: You ever hit turbulence that's so heavy that you start
Speaker 1: confessing hidden sin? I'm talking about We were hitting turbulence
Speaker 1: with these kids, Like I'm just repenting, going God, if
Speaker 1: you're going to take me, take me now. You know
Speaker 1: some some turbulence gets so bad, right, Like you ever
Speaker 1: been in that kind of tournaments where like you could
Speaker 1: take a stone cold atheist and they become a holy
Speaker 1: spirit tongue talking and Hanecostal. There ain't no god turbulence.
Speaker 1: He shun the little bush. I mean, like, bro, it
Speaker 1: was that kind of turbulence. I was sitting on the
Speaker 1: front road and as man, it'd be coolf we can
Speaker 1: bring turbulence to church. Sometimes worship team would love that
Speaker 1: introducing a new song not going so good. Turbulence offerings
Speaker 1: kind of low. Try turbulence, you know, alter call turbulence bro.
Speaker 1: I mean it would work right. The storm has its purpose.
Speaker 1: We landed, got the bags, got on the tour bus.
Speaker 1: I mean, it just took so much time, so many delays,
Speaker 1: finally to arrive at the Sea of Galilee. And I
Speaker 1: sort of just say that upfront as an illustration that
Speaker 1: it sounds easy, Miami through the Sea of Galilee. But
Speaker 1: how may I'll know if you want to get to
Speaker 1: the Sea of Galilee, You're gonna have to go through
Speaker 1: some stuff. It's just the reality. We live in a
Speaker 1: time right now where everybody wants to arrive, but not
Speaker 1: everybody wants to take the trip. I think we all
Speaker 1: want a life of purpose, but very few of us
Speaker 1: really want to walk through the process. If you want
Speaker 1: to get to, you gotta go through. This is a
Speaker 1: biblical principle that you must get deep down in your heart.
Speaker 1: God is taking you to some stuff, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: But more often than not, in order to get to
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to go through. I believe God is
Speaker 1: gonna take you to mountaintops. You go from mountaintop to mountaintop,
Speaker 1: but you gotta go through the valley. He's gonna take
Speaker 1: you from blessing to blessing, but you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: walk through sacrifice. You're gonna go from glory to glory,
Speaker 1: but you gotta walk through some suffering. And you're gonna
Speaker 1: go from mirror a miracle. But how y'all know you're
Speaker 1: gonna actually have to go through the storm. The storm
Speaker 1: has its purpose. I don't know who I'm preaching you today,
Speaker 1: but as you walked into this house, I just sense it.
Speaker 1: As we were singing. Many of you in this room
Speaker 1: you are headed to a breakthrough. Some of you are
Speaker 1: headed to a promotion, some of you are headed to
Speaker 1: a miracle. Some of you are headed to a brand
Speaker 1: new season. But if you're gonna get to you gotta
Speaker 1: go through. Somebody said, Amen, in this room, we might
Speaker 1: have to bring some turbulence in this room today because
Speaker 1: I believe today God wants to speak to you. I
Speaker 1: think through is one of God's favorite words. It's what
Speaker 1: Isaiah said. He said, when you pass through the waters,
Speaker 1: I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers,
Speaker 1: they will not sweep over you. When you walk through
Speaker 1: the fire, you will not be burnt. Anybody in this
Speaker 1: house day, can you testify that you're walking through something
Speaker 1: right now, but you believe in fai God is gonna
Speaker 1: get you to the other side. If there's anybody like
Speaker 1: that in the room today, go ahead and give God
Speaker 1: some praise in this house. He's taking you through. As
Speaker 1: we go through, we face some stuff. But we're gonna
Speaker 1: have to get a new perspective on our storms, on
Speaker 1: our obstacles, on our opposition, on our challenges, because it's
Speaker 1: not a question of if it's a question of when
Speaker 1: you will go through storms. You will go through difficult moments.
Speaker 1: But the story is bigger than you could ever imagine,
Speaker 1: So don't give up in the storm. Mark chapter six
Speaker 1: is the most beautiful illustration of this truth. Because here's Jesus.
Speaker 1: He gets done doing this big miracle where he feeds
Speaker 1: five thousand some people, He stole a kid's lunch, fed everybody,
Speaker 1: sends the disciples in a boat to the other side.
Speaker 1: They finally get to the other side. When they get
Speaker 1: to the other side, Jesus starts healing people over there.
Speaker 1: But in the middle of these two great miracles, they
Speaker 1: have to face a storm. It's interesting because I've read
Speaker 1: Mark six so many different times. But it's important that
Speaker 1: when you're reading the Bible that here's the most important
Speaker 1: rule about reading the Bible. Three rules really context, context,
Speaker 1: and context. You have to put the text in the context.
Speaker 1: And many times I used to always just kind of
Speaker 1: read devotionally in Mark chapter six, and I saw these
Speaker 1: guys in this storm, and it's really really interesting, no
Speaker 1: doubt about it. But you need the full context of
Speaker 1: what's taking place, because I don't know if you see this,
Speaker 1: but when you go back in March chapter six, we
Speaker 1: see that Jesus does a miracle to the masses, and
Speaker 1: then they go into a storm, and then Jesus gets
Speaker 1: over there and again a Sarah and he does a
Speaker 1: miracle to individuals. But in between is a storm. And
Speaker 1: it got me kind of thinking, are you in a
Speaker 1: storm or are you just in between two miracles? Are
Speaker 1: you in a storm or are you just in between
Speaker 1: the thing that God started and the thing that God's
Speaker 1: gonna complete? D you, if you will choose in your
Speaker 1: spirit today, I'm not gonna back down. I'm gonna keep
Speaker 1: moving forward. Do not place a period where God has
Speaker 1: placed to comma. He's taken you through. This thing will
Speaker 1: not take you out. You're gonna get to the other side.
Speaker 1: The storm has its purpose. Are you in a storm?
Speaker 1: Are you just in between two miracles? I've just decided recently,
Speaker 1: when I'm in turbulence, Oh, He's taken me through. I've
Speaker 1: just decided, I'm gonna tell myself over and over again,
Speaker 1: I'm just in between two great things that God is doing.
Speaker 1: When I look at the text, there's just a few
Speaker 1: basic observations that can help you. We could make lots
Speaker 1: of observations, but let's just make a few today, because
Speaker 1: if you're in a difficult moment, if you're in the
Speaker 1: middle of your story and you're thinking about quitting, or
Speaker 1: you're wanting to give up the war of the Lord
Speaker 1: for you today is simply this. The storm has its purpose.
Speaker 1: It's not that I think that God plans all of
Speaker 1: our storms, but I certainly think that God will use
Speaker 1: all of our storms. He will use what you are
Speaker 1: going through, and He will bring meaning and purpose if
Speaker 1: you'll look a little bit deeper. The first reason why
Speaker 1: I believe that God lets us go through storms and
Speaker 1: the purpose of the storms that storms make you realize
Speaker 1: you're not in control. The scripture says that he sends
Speaker 1: the disciples in the boat to the other side. And
Speaker 1: that little passage right there, mark chapter six, verse fifty,
Speaker 1: or yeah, immediately, let me see it. I don't have
Speaker 1: it right there, mark chapter six. It says that they
Speaker 1: were straining at the ors. I don't know, have you
Speaker 1: guys him? Bring that verse up? They were straining at
Speaker 1: the oars with all of their might. I love that
Speaker 1: picture because here's this picture of these disciples trying to
Speaker 1: get to the other side. But as they put all
Speaker 1: of their effort, as they put all of their energy,
Speaker 1: they unable in their own strength to get there. How
Speaker 1: mel No, it's one thing when you fail and you
Speaker 1: didn't really try. It's another thing when you put your heart,
Speaker 1: your soul, all of your focus into something and you
Speaker 1: came up short. These disciples are doing everything they possibly
Speaker 1: can in their effort to get to the other side.
Speaker 1: That's what Jesus had promised them. That's what Jesus had
Speaker 1: told them. Jesus said, get in the boat and go
Speaker 1: to the other side. They're just obeying. Isn't that amazing?
Speaker 1: You can obey Jesus and it can lead you into
Speaker 1: a storm. I think sometimes were like, oh, my goodness,
Speaker 1: if I just follow God, everything's going to be perfect
Speaker 1: and easy. Read the words of Jesus. A wise man
Speaker 1: built his house on the rock, and a foolish man
Speaker 1: built his house on the sand. And when the storm came,
Speaker 1: the wise man's house stood strong, and the foolish man's
Speaker 1: house collapsed. Did you catch it? This doesn't prevent storms.
Speaker 1: You can be wise, you can be educated, you can
Speaker 1: be at church every week. You can do all the
Speaker 1: right stuff and still have to face a storm. I
Speaker 1: don't get to control it. All I get to do
Speaker 1: is prepare my spirit and my foundation for it so
Speaker 1: that when the wind does come, and when the rains
Speaker 1: do come, this house it might bend, but it's not
Speaker 1: gonna pray. And some of us in this room today
Speaker 1: we need to be reminded we are not in control.
Speaker 1: And it's only in a storm that you realize, Oh wow,
Speaker 1: I'm telling you. You You can have all the money in
Speaker 1: the bank account, you can be educated, you can have
Speaker 1: the dream job, dream girl. But all it takes is
Speaker 1: one little storm. All it takes is a phone call
Speaker 1: from the doctor. You have cancer. I don't care how
Speaker 1: healthy you are. I don't care how many sit ups
Speaker 1: you can do. You can't stop cancer. I don't care
Speaker 1: how much resource you have. There are certain things that
Speaker 1: push you back and go I'm not in control. But
Speaker 1: there is something about our God that he loves it.
Speaker 1: When we realize and we are reminded we are not
Speaker 1: in control. The scripture says that there they are, they're
Speaker 1: straining at the oars. You gotta love Jesus. Jesus leaves
Speaker 1: his place of prayer and he walks out under the
Speaker 1: water to them. I just and these guys go, ah,
Speaker 1: it's a ghost, which is hilarious because the only thing
Speaker 1: worse than being in a storm is having a ghost
Speaker 1: in your storm. This is a bad day. It's a gouse.
Speaker 1: But it's it's not a ghost. It's it's Jesus. It's
Speaker 1: not a ghost, it's it's Jesus. But they're in the storm,
Speaker 1: right they're they're dealing with the financial pressure, they're dealing
Speaker 1: with with with the breakup. They're dealing with the heartache,
Speaker 1: they're dealing with the addiction, they're dealing with the pain.
Speaker 1: We got all these things that start clouding that we
Speaker 1: can't see Jesus, and the rain's coming and the wind
Speaker 1: is blowing and it's dark outside, and I can't see Jesus.
Speaker 1: I can't I can't see Jesus. And Jesus is coming
Speaker 1: to help me, but I don't feel like helps on
Speaker 1: the way. I'm scared. I'm trying to be I'm trying
Speaker 1: to row, I'm trying to get there, and all the
Speaker 1: while Jesus is looking right at them. The old preacher
Speaker 1: one time came through and told a story, said the
Speaker 1: house was on fire, and the father came home, and
Speaker 1: when he got home, he saw his little boy up
Speaker 1: in the window. And the little boy was standing in
Speaker 1: the window two stories up, and the smoke is rising.
Speaker 1: The place is on fire. And the dad shouts out
Speaker 1: to the little boy, son jump. And the son's up there,
Speaker 1: says Dad, is that you. That says yes, son jump,
Speaker 1: And the sun says, but Dad, I can't see you
Speaker 1: through the fire. And the dad said, son, I know,
Speaker 1: but I can see you. And I felt like I
Speaker 1: wanted to preach to someone today that you might be
Speaker 1: in the middle of the storm and you might be
Speaker 1: saying I can't see Jesus. I hear you. But the
Speaker 1: good news is he can see you. He's walking through it,
Speaker 1: and he's on the way to you. He sees you.
Speaker 1: The storm has its purpose. You are not in control.
Speaker 1: Here comes Jesus walking on water. And when he shows up,
Speaker 1: sometimes Jesus says stuff in the Bible that you actually
Speaker 1: have to just let it sink in because it's hilarious.
Speaker 1: And also it's like, bro, it's not cool at all.
Speaker 1: That's not cool. It's not what I need right now.
Speaker 1: What does he do? Walks in the water? DA take courage?
Speaker 1: It is? I do not be afraid. Like it's funny,
Speaker 1: and it's also kind of like mean, like, bro, our
Speaker 1: boat is sinking, the wind is block I know, LA,
Speaker 1: take courage it is, I do not be afraid. This
Speaker 1: is fascinating because this is our story. Many times, when
Speaker 1: Jesus shows up, we want him to steal the storm
Speaker 1: and then we'll take courage. It's not how faith works.
Speaker 1: Where's all the control freaks? What are he's feeling me?
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know. I don't you ever interview
Speaker 1: an uber driver? Control free? You know what's your record? Bro?
Speaker 1: Let me say a license. We're control freaks. We want
Speaker 1: to be in control. But look at Mark chapter six,
Speaker 1: verse fifty. This is important Jesus says, immediately spoke to
Speaker 1: them and said, take courage. It is I do not
Speaker 1: be afraid. Notice when Jesus shows up on the scene,
Speaker 1: he doesn't say, da la control. It is I do
Speaker 1: not be afraid. That's what we all want to do
Speaker 1: when we're in a storm, when we're like feeling out
Speaker 1: of control, when when pains in our life, when when
Speaker 1: something's coming our way, our knee jerk reaction is I
Speaker 1: need to take control. But that's not the faith journey.
Speaker 1: You don't get to take control. You get to take courage.
Speaker 1: And a storm reminds you you're not in control. So
Speaker 1: what do I do? Rich When you're in a storm,
Speaker 1: you don't take control, you take courage. Control is God's responsibility.
Speaker 1: Courage is mine. I'm gonna face this thing head on,
Speaker 1: believing that the storm has its purpose. You take courage.
Speaker 1: Watch God what God will do. I've just seen it.
Speaker 1: I can testify about it over and over again. God
Speaker 1: comes through. Take courage. What is courage? Does that mean
Speaker 1: I don't have any fear? Nah? Courage is simply the
Speaker 1: ability to face your fear. I'm done running from it,
Speaker 1: I'm done carrying it. Today's day I'm gonna walk through it.
Speaker 1: He's taking you to the other side, but you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to go through some stuff. This scripture says that
Speaker 1: Jesus says, take courage. It is I don't be afraid.
Speaker 1: And then the Bible says he gets into the boat
Speaker 1: and immediately the storm settles. See, I think the purpose
Speaker 1: of the storm is not just to ride us that
Speaker 1: we're under control. The purpose of the storm is always
Speaker 1: at a give way to new revelations. Oh, if you
Speaker 1: could get this today, Bible says, immediately the storm settled.
Speaker 1: In fact, I think we've got it Matthew, chapter fourteen,
Speaker 1: because I just want to cross references. This is important.
Speaker 1: This is like the first time that the disciples even
Speaker 1: realize that Jesus is divine Matthew fourteen, verse thirty two.
Speaker 1: And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down,
Speaker 1: and those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, truly,
Speaker 1: you are the son of God. It took a storm.
Speaker 1: It took a storm for the disciples to realize Jesus
Speaker 1: is divine. Immediately the wind and the waves died down.
Speaker 1: You ever notice that we're obsessed with suddenly and immediate
Speaker 1: type of things. That's what's going on, bro, Like right now, God,
Speaker 1: do it now. You know I want it now suddenly.
Speaker 1: I grew up in Pentecost church suddenly, and I'm all
Speaker 1: for suddenly. I'm all for immediate. Fact. God could do
Speaker 1: something immediate in your life today. But what I have
Speaker 1: learned more often than not is that God, who does suddenly, immediate,
Speaker 1: right now type of things, is usually on the heels
Speaker 1: of people who are patiently, slowly, faithfully, consistently pursuing him.
Speaker 1: God moved suddenly for those who pursue him patiently. Why
Speaker 1: because this is what nobody told me when I was
Speaker 1: eighteen getting into the ministry, is that God is slow fast.
Speaker 1: This is so important. God is so slow. It's like
Speaker 1: slow bro, slow bro, so slow. It's just like it's
Speaker 1: so slow following God. Like here I am at church again.
Speaker 1: My call time an hour before here we go. We're
Speaker 1: gonna sing some songs so we can get the offering.
Speaker 1: Were a word, okay, imitation and e group and you
Speaker 1: know watch online and slow slow ho hum ho hum
Speaker 1: slow slow slow and then boom whoa whoa immediate. I
Speaker 1: remember the first time I met down Stree. I'm just
Speaker 1: slowly following slow front row kind of a service like this,
Speaker 1: look up, immediate boo, who's that? I saw her? I
Speaker 1: choose you. In one moment, I changed all of my doctrine.
Speaker 1: I named it and claimed I choose you because following God,
Speaker 1: you gotta get This is so slow, and then it's immediate,
Speaker 1: and then it's breakthrough and the it's wow, there's the idea.
Speaker 1: Oh there's the song. Oh that's the word I was
Speaker 1: looking for. Oh that's what I needed. Oh there's my healing.
Speaker 1: Oh there's my promotion. Oh I got to the other side.
Speaker 1: Because God is slow, come on somebody, and then he's fast.
Speaker 1: You need God do something immediate, Just slowly pursue him,
Speaker 1: faithfully follow him, because the scripture says, these guys are
Speaker 1: straining at yours. We are not in control in all
Speaker 1: of our mic, with all of our flesh, I cannot
Speaker 1: get to the other side. But thank God for Jesus,
Speaker 1: here he comes walking on the water. Don't take control,
Speaker 1: take courage. Face the storm gets in the boat, and
Speaker 1: immediately the storm settles, and then they start worshiping him.
Speaker 1: I think these guys kind of got some of it right,
Speaker 1: Like it's good to worship Jesus. But I want to
Speaker 1: be a person and I want to build a church
Speaker 1: that doesn't worship Jesus on the other side of the storm.
Speaker 1: Come on, I want to worship him like I'm in
Speaker 1: the middle of the turbulence, believing that he is the
Speaker 1: Son of God, that at any moment, even though the
Speaker 1: ground beneath me is shaking, my faith is being fortified
Speaker 1: and solidified. And I'm gonna worship you for who you
Speaker 1: really are. I got a revelation that you're in control
Speaker 1: of the storm. Somebody give God some praise. Let's bring
Speaker 1: some turbulence in the room today. The storm has its purpose,
Speaker 1: and the Bible says. The Bible says that when the
Speaker 1: storm sets, then they worshiped him as the son of God. Wow,
Speaker 1: now I know who you are. In fact, look at
Speaker 1: this Mark chapter six, verse fifty one. Then he climbed
Speaker 1: in the boat with them, and the wind died down.
Speaker 1: They were completely I love this, completely amazed Ah, for
Speaker 1: they had not understood this is so good about the loaves.
Speaker 1: Their hearts were hardened. You gotta see that, because some
Speaker 1: of you day you think if you could see some
Speaker 1: miraculous sign, You think if you could just wow, then
Speaker 1: you would be worshiping. Remember the context just a few
Speaker 1: verses earlier. He feeds thousands of people with five loaves
Speaker 1: and two fish, but the disciples had already forgotten about
Speaker 1: maybe one of the most ethnic miracles the humanly has
Speaker 1: ever seen. How may'all know our faith suffers when we forget,
Speaker 1: and this is we could I could come back into
Speaker 1: a five week series here at Elevation Church because God
Speaker 1: has been faithful to this house. God has moved in
Speaker 1: ways that many of us have never ever seen. And
Speaker 1: some of us we think we need a new word
Speaker 1: from God. But in reality, and you just need to
Speaker 1: get back to that old revelation of awe in wonder.
Speaker 1: I know what He's done in the past. My faith
Speaker 1: suffers when I forget. And there they are in the
Speaker 1: storm and their hearts have become hardened because they forgot
Speaker 1: about the loaves. And just so we get some clarity,
Speaker 1: because this is really important, because there's always more to
Speaker 1: the story. The scripture says that he feeds five thousand,
Speaker 1: or like probably fifteen thousand people, and then if you
Speaker 1: can remember, the scripture says that there was leftovers. Your
Speaker 1: mama did not invent that at Thanksgiving. Jesus is lord
Speaker 1: of the leftovers. He's not the god of enough. Whoever's
Speaker 1: watching online right now, he is the god of more
Speaker 1: than enough. Can somebody give him some praise if you
Speaker 1: believe He's got everything you need, more than enough. Any
Speaker 1: Bible nerds in the house, remember exactly how much more
Speaker 1: enough there was? There was twelve baskets left. Any other
Speaker 1: Bible nerds, how many disciples did Jesus have? Hey, guys,
Speaker 1: I'm doing a miracle over here. It's for all the masses.
Speaker 1: What was one to let you know you're about to
Speaker 1: enter into a storm. Don't worry. I've packed you lunch.
Speaker 1: You've each got a basket full of food, so that
Speaker 1: when you get into that storm. I want to remind
Speaker 1: you I've already got a solution to the problem you
Speaker 1: didn't even know existed. I want you to worship God
Speaker 1: to day in faith. Maybe you're in the middle of
Speaker 1: turbulence right now. Maybe you're in the middle of a
Speaker 1: storm right now, But there is more to the story.
Speaker 1: The storm has its purpose. Storm has its purpose. Many
Speaker 1: of us we would never know he's a healer until
Speaker 1: we got sick. Many of us would never know he
Speaker 1: was a restorer until our heart was broken. You want
Speaker 1: to know he was a deliver unless you got addicted.
Speaker 1: We can go through it. The storm is revealing something
Speaker 1: about his character and nature that you need on your journey.
Speaker 1: It has a purpose. I was in Chicago this summer
Speaker 1: and we preachers. If you don't know, just everywhere we go,
Speaker 1: even on vacation, we're just collecting sermons. And I was
Speaker 1: taking this tour of Chicago, which is notably one of
Speaker 1: the best or most impressively designed cities in all of
Speaker 1: the world. It wins architecture and all sorts of awards
Speaker 1: every year. They have a three layered highway. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's remarkable stuff. And I'm on this tour with my
Speaker 1: family and this tour guide is just she's blowing my mind.
Speaker 1: She's up there just she's like an art history major
Speaker 1: and she's just dropping truth. I'm like, dang, this is
Speaker 1: She said. You know, Ko has more skyscrapers than any
Speaker 1: other city. And what's amazing about skyscrapers, if you don't know,
Speaker 1: is that they're built in such a way that they're
Speaker 1: made to sway so they don't snap. I was like,
Speaker 1: you want to preach it? My church. This Sunday got
Speaker 1: that sway annoying, not going snap sway, sway with it
Speaker 1: in the storm. You gotta sway. But she told me
Speaker 1: to look at somebody all love that calm down. She
Speaker 1: told the story of if you don't know about it,
Speaker 1: eighteen seventy one was the Great Chicago Fire. It's like
Speaker 1: the largest urban fire recorded ever and it burned up
Speaker 1: about three square miles. Three hundred buildings destroyed, or seventeen
Speaker 1: thousand buildings destroyed, three hundred some people lost their life.
Speaker 1: It's a really, really wild story because the fire began,
Speaker 1: but then it jumped into the river, and the river
Speaker 1: was so polluted that it kept burning through the river
Speaker 1: and it ended up hitting a paper mill. That's not
Speaker 1: a good place for a fire to hit, and with
Speaker 1: it it just spread and it devastated and destroyed the city.
Speaker 1: I mean, complete annihilation, complete destruction. But what's fascinating as
Speaker 1: you study the history of Chicago is that devastation probably
Speaker 1: became the reason for all of its innovation, because would
Speaker 1: you believe that just fifteen years later the skyscraper was invented.
Speaker 1: Do you know where it was invented? Chicago? Why? Because
Speaker 1: so often in devastation. When all of a sudden things
Speaker 1: come through. I get a new revelation, I get a
Speaker 1: new idea. I discover who my God is. And I
Speaker 1: just felt it in my spirit today that God has
Speaker 1: big things in store for you. There is more to
Speaker 1: the story, but you need to lean into this moment
Speaker 1: right now. You're not in a storm. You're in between
Speaker 1: two miracles. He's taken you from glory to glory. He's
Speaker 1: taken you from miracle to miracle. But you've got to
Speaker 1: go through the storm. I don't know what awaits you
Speaker 1: on the other side, but God has something good if
Speaker 1: you believe, as somebody puts your hands together all over
Speaker 1: this room, the storm has its purpose. The storm has
Speaker 1: its purpose. As the worship team makes their way up here,
Speaker 1: it's just storms their mindus. We're not in control. Storms
Speaker 1: give away to new revelations, but storms also create the
Speaker 1: perfect stage for an audacious response. I just I know
Speaker 1: this is a word for some people here today. Problems
Speaker 1: are platforms for God to show off. We all want miracles,
Speaker 1: but we don't want problems. Problems are a prerequisite to
Speaker 1: a miracle. Your storm is a stage for God. He's
Speaker 1: going to show off. We wouldn't never have the story
Speaker 1: of Jesus walking on water if there wasn't a storm.
Speaker 1: But what's amazing about March chapter six is you fourteen
Speaker 1: tells the same story, but there's some other information given
Speaker 1: to us in Matthew fourteen. We see it. It's not
Speaker 1: just Jesus who walks on the water, but so does
Speaker 1: Peter Peter. Some of you are like he. Peter ain't
Speaker 1: smarter than you. Peter's not more theologically sound than you. Peter,
Speaker 1: Peter sin just as bad as you. Sin isn't amazing.
Speaker 1: Peter and Judas same sin? What if Judas is just
Speaker 1: what a wait is one more day. Peter goes back
Speaker 1: to community, he's back to fishing. That cures him. Judas
Speaker 1: goes into isolation and it just intensifies his pain. Takes
Speaker 1: matter and he takes control. Scripture says that throughout on
Speaker 1: that water and Jesus walks out on the water, take courage.
Speaker 1: It is I do not be afraid some of you
Speaker 1: that you gotta take courage. And that's the right word.
Speaker 1: That's aggressive language. You gotta take it, you gotta put
Speaker 1: it on, you gotta choose it. I gotta take I
Speaker 1: gotta take it on Monday. I gotta take it on
Speaker 1: I gotta take courage. Bible says, as Jesus is out there,
Speaker 1: Peter sees it, and Peter's in the boat. And when
Speaker 1: Peter season, Peter gets the idea, Lord, is that really you?
Speaker 1: And Jesus says it's me, And Peter goes, well, if
Speaker 1: it's you, tell me to come to you on the water.
Speaker 1: I love it because here's the gospel in one word,
Speaker 1: those of you that are watching online. Jesus says, come, come,
Speaker 1: everybody needs saving. Get to all who received him and
Speaker 1: believed in his name. He gave them the right to
Speaker 1: be called children of God. Come to me, all you
Speaker 1: are weird and heavy burden, and I will give you rest. Come.
Speaker 1: Whatever you're caring today, whatever your face to day, whatever
Speaker 1: you're walking with today, just come to Jesus. And Peter
Speaker 1: he doesn't think about it. He just listens to Jesus
Speaker 1: and he steps out, and my man starts walking on water. Peter,
Speaker 1: the cussing sailor is walking on the water. The scripture
Speaker 1: says that when he started looking at the wind and
Speaker 1: the waves, he started to sink. And that's fascinating you
Speaker 1: can't even see wind. That's how this world works. The
Speaker 1: devil wants you to focus your attention on things that
Speaker 1: are not real, things that you can't even see. Imagination's
Speaker 1: in your mind, thoughts that he put in your brain.
Speaker 1: Here's how the Kingdom of God works. Close your eyes
Speaker 1: and open up your ears. Faith comes by hearing and
Speaker 1: hearing the word of the Lord. Seventeen years of age,
Speaker 1: I got a word from God and I have been
Speaker 1: clinging to it now for twenty plus years. Get a
Speaker 1: word from God. Don't let anyone get in the way
Speaker 1: of that. I hear you, Jesus. I hear you, Jesus.
Speaker 1: I hear you, Jesus. I can hear Jesus. Peter, the
Speaker 1: water is liquid, but my word is solid. One step
Speaker 1: out of time, and the scripture says, he starts looking
Speaker 1: at the wind and the waves, and he begins to sink.
Speaker 1: You see, adversity is always a great time for audacity,
Speaker 1: and Peter started right, WHOA, I'm in a storm, but
Speaker 1: maybe this storm could be a stage for the glory
Speaker 1: of God. He starts walking and as he starts sinking,
Speaker 1: he's freaking out. You gotta love Jesus because it's the
Speaker 1: picture of grace. He comes on over there and he
Speaker 1: puts his hand to him, and he helps him back up,
Speaker 1: and he says, Peter, you of little faith, why did
Speaker 1: you doubt? It's amazing because I've heard that preach so
Speaker 1: many times in church. You gotta have great faith. Peter
Speaker 1: had little faith on my whole Tell me you ever
Speaker 1: walk on water? And good news to everybody who's here
Speaker 1: today who's not churchy, who doesn't know how to speak
Speaker 1: in Christianese. According to Jesus, Peter walked on water with
Speaker 1: little faith. What could you do today with some average faith.
Speaker 1: It's never been the size of your faith. It's always
Speaker 1: been about the size of your God. It's not the
Speaker 1: strength of your faith, friend, it's the object of your faith.
Speaker 1: My faith is attached to Jesus. Adversity is a great
Speaker 1: moment for audacity, and storms create a wonderful stage for
Speaker 1: an audacious response. We're still telling the story of Peter.
Speaker 1: My kids were in Voot Kids last week in Miami.
Speaker 1: Whyt came on. I said, what'd you learn to church?
Speaker 1: He said, I heard about the man and walked down
Speaker 1: the water. I want to say when I get to heaven, Hey, Peter,
Speaker 1: I know that storm was scary, But man, what a
Speaker 1: story it turned out to be. What's the story without
Speaker 1: a storm? What's the story without some struggle? Some of
Speaker 1: you curse in every struggle. God, just get me through this.
Speaker 1: Why not pray? God, give me faith, give me a
Speaker 1: capacity to face the storm, to keep moving. God, there's
Speaker 1: a purpose in the storm. There's a purpose in the storm.
Speaker 1: Here's what's amazing to me. I didn't see this till
Speaker 1: just recently. We're not reading Matthew fourthy, we're reading Mark
Speaker 1: chapter six. Just important for all the Bible people out there.
Speaker 1: Mark was not a disciple of Jesus. Mark was a
Speaker 1: disciple of Peter. Almost all scholars and theologians believe that
Speaker 1: Peter dictated to Mark. The Gospel of Mark. Say, which,
Speaker 1: why is this important? I'm saying because in Matthew's Gospel,
Speaker 1: Matthew remembers that night, not just Jesus walking the water.
Speaker 1: He also says, Yo, I was there, and Peter walked
Speaker 1: on water too. I think was wild to me is
Speaker 1: that if I'm Peter, i won't be you. I'll be me.
Speaker 1: And I'm telling this story to my disciple. I'm like, yo, bro,
Speaker 1: night was crazy. Everyone was afraid. I was a little,
Speaker 1: but everyone was freaking out. I was. I was little,
Speaker 1: but not as much as the rest of the guys.
Speaker 1: You'll see in a second. Why So we're out there
Speaker 1: and everyone's rowing so hard. I was praying, I was praying,
Speaker 1: was worshiping, and all of a sudden there came to
Speaker 1: celestial being. I knew, I knew it was Jesus. I
Speaker 1: just know God is good all the time, and all
Speaker 1: the time He's good, all right. And I saw Jesus
Speaker 1: and I was like, yo, Jesus, what you say I
Speaker 1: come out there and hang out with you? And he
Speaker 1: said come. And so it was just, you know, one
Speaker 1: small step for humanity, but one giant step for the
Speaker 1: global Church of Jesus Christ. If I was Peter, that's
Speaker 1: how I would have told the story. Jesus is awesome.
Speaker 1: WHOA you should have seen me that night. But somehow
Speaker 1: we don't know for certain. Somehow, when we read the story,
Speaker 1: it seems as if when Peter starts telling his side
Speaker 1: of the story, it seems like he leaves out the
Speaker 1: most important part. But maybe, just maybe, to Peter, the
Speaker 1: most important part wasn't him walking on water? Maybe just
Speaker 1: ab Peter had a revelation that the most important part
Speaker 1: was solely and simply Jesus walking on water. Can I
Speaker 1: tell you something today. Some of you are in a storm,
Speaker 1: You are in a crisis, you are in a challenge,
Speaker 1: you are facing real difficulty. But something tells me, if
Speaker 1: you will faithfully follow Jesus, you're gonna get to the
Speaker 1: other side of this thing. And one day you will
Speaker 1: testify from your experience in the storm. And when you
Speaker 1: look back, you're not going to talk about your great faith.
Speaker 1: You're going to talk about the great grace of Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: the God who came to you and found you and
Speaker 1: met you right there in the middle of your mess.
Speaker 1: The storm has its purpose, and it's the glory of God.
Speaker 1: It's the grace of God. I love preaching about faith
Speaker 1: from this text, but can we just all be honest.
Speaker 1: It is impressive that Jesus walked on water, but if
Speaker 1: he is God, don't we all believe he can walk
Speaker 1: on anything. He says, not a story about walking on water.
Speaker 1: This is the gospel right there before your eyes, that
Speaker 1: when I was dead in my sin, when I was
Speaker 1: at my darkest moment, when I was hating God, he
Speaker 1: saw me in all of my depravity, in all of
Speaker 1: my mistakes. And he said, there's no mountain too high,
Speaker 1: there's no valley too low. I'k on water just to
Speaker 1: get to you. He's taking you through. He's taking you through.
Speaker 1: He's taking you through. He'll walk over the failed marriage,
Speaker 1: He'll walk over the broken business. He'll walk right through
Speaker 1: the addiction. He'll walk right on top of your anxiety.
Speaker 1: Your depression does not scare him. He can walk on
Speaker 1: top of things. He's on the way to you. He's
Speaker 1: coming to you because he wants to take you through.
Speaker 1: Storm has its purpose. The storm has its purpose. The
Speaker 1: storm has its purpose. The storm has its purpose. The
Speaker 1: storm has its purpose. If I can just get you
Speaker 1: to think that way tomorrow at work, we have one today.
Speaker 1: If we get to Friday and you are still facing something,
Speaker 1: but you could just tell yourself, I got a little message.
Speaker 1: I don't remember all the message. I don't remember all
Speaker 1: the Bible verses, but I know this. The storm has
Speaker 1: its purpose. There's more to the story. Every story has
Speaker 1: a storm, and every storm has a purpose. We've won.
Speaker 1: See when you're in a storm and we're closing how mey, No,
Speaker 1: it's hard to see and you start forgetting who you are.
Speaker 1: You know you're in a storm when you start praying
Speaker 1: prayers like God, I need a sign. You ever negotiate
Speaker 1: with God. God, if you'll just do this, I promise you,
Speaker 1: that's when you know you're desperate. This past summer, I
Speaker 1: was on a break and I needed I needed a sign.
Speaker 1: I don't pray this prayer as much, but I was
Speaker 1: on this vacation. There was some stuff going on with
Speaker 1: our staff and our team back home, and I just
Speaker 1: know they needed their pastor. I know they needed a
Speaker 1: word from God. And I'm just sitting there on break
Speaker 1: watching Netflix shows, going God give me a sign. For
Speaker 1: three days, I prayed, God give me a sign. God
Speaker 1: give me a sign. And after like day three, I
Speaker 1: don't know, you know, we're just blind to stuff. This.
Speaker 1: I was renting this house and this is the sign
Speaker 1: that was above the television. We pulled it up. So
Speaker 1: I'm praying this prayer, God give me a sign. God
Speaker 1: give me a sign, and above the TV. It's like
Speaker 1: took me three days. Like you know, sometimes I'm like,
Speaker 1: God is like, how dull are you? You know? He
Speaker 1: calls us sheep, study sheep, not smart animals. You know. Ah,
Speaker 1: God give me a sign. God give me a sign.
Speaker 1: Three days, God give me a sign. God give me
Speaker 1: a sign. Finally, day three, I'm like, there's a sign
Speaker 1: above the television. Wow, look at God. I didn't. I
Speaker 1: had no idea what it meant. To my knowledge, I
Speaker 1: had never really seen it. But it's crazy because I
Speaker 1: was watching some TV show this summer about some navy seal.
Speaker 1: I spare the details, and in the background of the show,
Speaker 1: Day two is that exact same sign. I'm like, gott
Speaker 1: ever do that? Who? The next day, I'm on the lake,
Speaker 1: I'm at some restaurant and hanging on the wall is
Speaker 1: the sign. I'm like, WHOA. Day three. Sometimes I'm like,
Speaker 1: is Apple listening to me? Or is this the spirit
Speaker 1: of God? Is this technology or prophecy? Because I gotta
Speaker 1: tell you this, because this is I got an email
Speaker 1: that popped up from twenty sixteen from my good friend
Speaker 1: Levi Leus goes it there, so I'm like it was
Speaker 1: an email he sent me that I had screenshot it
Speaker 1: because I liked it. I had done something with this.
Speaker 1: I was like, what is in the world. While I
Speaker 1: was finishing my vacation and I was actually scheduled to
Speaker 1: go preach in Montana. I walked into Levi Leusco's office
Speaker 1: and look what's hanging on the wall. Can we go
Speaker 1: to the next one? Watch this? So this is what
Speaker 1: Pentecostal is doing this moment. I called our general manager
Speaker 1: because I was flying back for staff retreat, and I said,
Speaker 1: for staff retreat, by one hundred mugs that say, don't
Speaker 1: give up the ship. My guy goes pastor what does
Speaker 1: it mean? I said, I have no idea, but it's gone.
Speaker 1: After we had ordered the mugs, that decided what does
Speaker 1: this mean? And I found out the history of it.
Speaker 1: In the War of eighteen twelve, Captain James Lawrence, they
Speaker 1: had been attacked and their ship was going down and
Speaker 1: he was dying on the ship. In his last and
Speaker 1: final dying words were don't give up the ship. That's cool.
Speaker 1: That's a good battle cry, you know. I guess today
Speaker 1: now it's become an anthem in the Marine Corps, Navy seals.
Speaker 1: You'll see it all over the place, and that's very,
Speaker 1: very meaningful. But I didn't understand, God, what do you mean,
Speaker 1: don't give up the ship? Don't give up the ship, Lord,
Speaker 1: don't give up the ship. What am I? Are we
Speaker 1: going to battle this year? What's happening like? I don't
Speaker 1: know what are we talking about? And I just kept praying,
Speaker 1: kept thinking, don't give up the ship. Don't give up
Speaker 1: the ship. Don't give up the ship. Don't give up
Speaker 1: rich this year. Don't give up. Every story has a storm,
Speaker 1: Every story has a struggle. Don't give up the ship.
Speaker 1: Don't give up the storm. Don't give up the storm.
Speaker 1: Don't give up the storm has Don't give up. The
Speaker 1: storm has its purpose. Don't give up the ship. Don't
Speaker 1: give up the storm has its purpose. So we have
Speaker 1: who church. We just started looking at each other and say,
Speaker 1: you're struggling, if you're struggling, if you're in a challenge.
Speaker 1: You can be struggling and becoming all in the same sentence.
Speaker 1: Are you in a storm, you are on your way
Speaker 1: to the other side. Do not forget who you are.
Speaker 1: Don't give up the ship, don't give up the storm
Speaker 1: has its purpose. There's a purpose in your struggle. There's
Speaker 1: a purpose in your storm. And if I was at
Speaker 1: my church and I was preaching to my congregation, I
Speaker 1: would just get fancy with it. I just start saying
Speaker 1: all sorts stuff. I would say, don't give up the discipleship.
Speaker 1: I would say, don't give up the stewardship. I would say,
Speaker 1: don't give up the friendship. I would say, don't give
Speaker 1: up the worship, because you are a worshipper no matter
Speaker 1: what you're facing. And as you start to worship of God,
Speaker 1: you're gonna be made aware of his presence. He is
Speaker 1: with you in every store. He is with you in
Speaker 1: every storm. And if he told you he's getting you
Speaker 1: to the other side, you not doubt in the storm
Speaker 1: what he talks you on top ground. Maybe you'll get
Speaker 1: through this thing. You're coming through this thing. There's all
Speaker 1: the story. There's a bigger mirror of flat place. Don't
Speaker 1: give up the ship. Don't give up. Come on, somebody
Speaker 1: give gone some place him, him, some morning him. Come on,
Speaker 1: come on, you hold my laughs, you about myself. Come on, Church,
Speaker 1: You have called me for it. You dese sea. This
Speaker 1: makes your sight you He has his purpose. You take
Speaker 1: current these sept side. You report me for you God.
Speaker 1: This is because you're ready with me. You're working through
Speaker 1: me finely for me. God. It's not it's not you.
Speaker 1: You're reading with me. You're working to me. Finely tall me. God,
Speaker 1: he started dancing you reading with me. You're working to me.
Speaker 1: It's finding tall me. God, it's not against me or
Speaker 1: me erase me. You're working through me. Fine for me. God,
Speaker 1: it's you, didn't me. You're ready with me, working through me.
Speaker 1: Find grass. He's not against you, he's not against you.
Speaker 1: He's for you. He's for you. He's for you. He
Speaker 1: has a plan, he has a purpose. There's purpose to
Speaker 1: the pain. This storm has a purpose. Don't give up
Speaker 1: the ship. Don't give up this week. Don't give up.
Speaker 1: This storm has its purpose. It has its purpose. You're
Speaker 1: not in control, but you could take courage. You're gonna
Speaker 1: learn something about God. You're gonna see something about him.
Speaker 1: You're gonna discover something about him. The intimacy of your
Speaker 1: relationship is gonna grow because of this pain, because of
Speaker 1: this suffering, because of this heart ache. Oh, this is
Speaker 1: a perfect moment right now for an audacious response. You
Speaker 1: want that type of faith that walks on water. Then
Speaker 1: you gotta get out there in the middle of the storm.
Speaker 1: But you watch as your God shows up. He will
Speaker 1: never leave you, he will never forsake you. God. I
Speaker 1: pray over every person in this room right now. God,
Speaker 1: who's struggling. God, any person who's in this room today,
Speaker 1: that walked in today watching online, about to give up
Speaker 1: on the brink of quitting God, may we hear it
Speaker 1: from heaven. There's more to the story. You're the God
Speaker 1: who does more than we could ever ask, think or imagine. God,
Speaker 1: we don't need faith for tomorrow. We need faith for today.
Speaker 1: Give us our daily bread. We're dependent upon you. If
Speaker 1: that's you, if you're just desperate for God, sometimes a
Speaker 1: ward just has to unlock something inside of you. Just
Speaker 1: lift your hands right there, Just lift your hands with there, Receive, receive, receive.
Speaker 1: He doesn't encourage you in your strength. He encourages you
Speaker 1: in his strength. He says, I'm with you, I'm for you.
Speaker 1: No weapon formed against you shall prosper. Read the verse.
Speaker 1: It doesn't say the weapon won't be formed. It just
Speaker 1: declares mightily it will not prosper. I got a sense
Speaker 1: in my spirit that the enemy's coming to attack some people.
Speaker 1: But hear the prophecy of the Lord that when the
Speaker 1: enemy showed up at your house, there is a sign,
Speaker 1: and it says, beware of God. This house is protected,
Speaker 1: this house is covered, This house he's fighting for you. God.
Speaker 1: We received, We receive, We receive, God, We receive, We receive,
Speaker 1: We receive. God. We cannot stop the storms, but Lord,
Speaker 1: may we prepare today, May we build on a solid rock.
Speaker 1: You're here today and you've never met Jesus. I'm telling
Speaker 1: you what this is the gospel. For God so loved
Speaker 1: the world that he gave his only begotten son, that
Speaker 1: whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Speaker 1: For God to not send his son in the world
Speaker 1: to condemn the world, but to save the world. I
Speaker 1: don't know what somebody told you, but God is not
Speaker 1: mad at you. He is madly in love with you.
Speaker 1: He's the God who got up out of heaven, came
Speaker 1: down to this earth, walked in the middle of our mess,
Speaker 1: in the middle of the your sin, just to save us.
Speaker 1: He's for you. He's for you. He's for you, but
Speaker 1: he gives you the opportunity to receive. If that's you today,
Speaker 1: all over the world today you might be in a storm,
Speaker 1: but maybe this storm has a purpose that you would
Speaker 1: meet your savior. If you're desperate today, if you're hurting today,
Speaker 1: he's here on the count of three and that you say, Rich,
Speaker 1: I need Jesus. I want to commit my life to Jesus.
Speaker 1: I recognize my sin and my mistakes. You don't need
Speaker 1: a preacher to tell you how bad you are. You
Speaker 1: need a preacher to remind you about how good your
Speaker 1: God is. He's bigger than your sin. If that's you
Speaker 1: on the kind of three, just be bold. On the
Speaker 1: three you just lift your hand of high enough and
Speaker 1: long up just so I can see it. I want
Speaker 1: to include you in this prayer of solvation. If that's you,
Speaker 1: that's me, Rich, I want Jesus to be the load
Speaker 1: of my life. Online. Ready one, the Bible says, today's
Speaker 1: that day. Two. Don't look at your neighbor. It's not
Speaker 1: about your neighbor. It's between you and Jesus. Ready one, two, three,
Speaker 1: that's you looked up. That's me, Rich, that's me. That's me.
Speaker 1: That's me. Thank you, Thank God, thank you, don good,
Speaker 1: thank you done, thank you Jersus, thank you Gene. Come
Speaker 1: on church. Can we all lift our hands towards heaven.
Speaker 1: Let's pray this prayeric say, dear Jesus, today, I give
Speaker 1: you my life. I repent forgive me. I believe you
Speaker 1: are who you said that you are today, I choose
Speaker 1: to follow you. Thank you for loving me. I confess
Speaker 1: that my storm has a purpose. I'm not going to doubt.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna quit. I'm gonna follow you. In Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: Come on, everybody said, come on, Elevation Church. Can we
Speaker 1: go ahead and get gone a big shadow grace? Come
Speaker 1: on somebody. Hey, thank you for watching the Elevation Church YouTube.
Speaker 1: I want you to subscribe. That way you can know
Speaker 1: when we go live and post new content. Make sure
Speaker 1: leave me a comment, let me know what spoke to
Speaker 1: you today, where you're watching from, and what we can
Speaker 1: pray for you about. And if you'd like to support
Speaker 1: the ministry financially, you can click the give button now
Speaker 1: and help us continue reaching people around the world for
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. Thanks again, I'll see you next time.