Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope
Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to
Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1: We welcome you once again into the presence of God.
Speaker 1: It's a little bit different this weekend, but I'll tell
Speaker 1: you one thing I know for sure, there is a
Speaker 1: word from God in the house. Pastor Robert Madeu is
Speaker 1: about to come preach the word. And let me tell
Speaker 1: you something when we were talking on the phone when
Speaker 1: all of this craziness started to unfold around this weekend
Speaker 1: of March fourteenth and fifteenth, and we didn't know from
Speaker 1: moment to moment what the restrictions would be. Number One,
Speaker 1: my friend, this amazing gift of a human being, showed
Speaker 1: no hesitation about coming to minister. We had planned it,
Speaker 1: of course, months ago. But one thing that he asked
Speaker 1: me was, are you sure you don't want to cancel me?
Speaker 1: And everything is being Hansel right now? Do you just
Speaker 1: need to preach? And I said, trust me, I'm going
Speaker 1: to speak to our people. I'm going to speak to
Speaker 1: all of the people who are part of our church family.
Speaker 1: But God put it in you what we need this weekend.
Speaker 1: God knew, Hey, there is no finer communicator of the
Speaker 1: Gospel of Jesus Christ that I know than Pastor Robert Madeu.
Speaker 1: So I know that God's word is in him. Today,
Speaker 1: Let's act like there's one hundred thousand people in this
Speaker 1: room right where you are received my friend, Pastor Robert Madou. Oh,
Speaker 1: anybody loved Jesus in this place today? Come on, wherever
Speaker 1: you are, can you give Jesus the biggest handclap of
Speaker 1: praise that you got? Oh, come on, you can do
Speaker 1: better than that. You got a reason to give him
Speaker 1: some praise today. Whoo. I tell you what greetings to you.
Speaker 1: Whether you've being a part of the EPHAM for a
Speaker 1: long time or whether you're part of EPAM by demand today,
Speaker 1: I want you to know this. Whether you're watching this
Speaker 1: in a coffee shop with some friends, or in a
Speaker 1: living room or in the kitchen, or whether it's just
Speaker 1: you and your bathrobe with your cats. You gotta know
Speaker 1: what today is. You gotta know what today is. Hear me.
Speaker 1: Today is the day that the Lord has made Come on,
Speaker 1: we got to rejoice and be glad in it. Come on,
Speaker 1: wherever you are, would you give King Jesus just the
Speaker 1: best praise that you've got. God, we still bless you,
Speaker 1: we still magnifying me. You're still worthy of the praise. Hallelujah.
Speaker 1: You may be seated all the spiritual staff that are here.
Speaker 1: And I tell you what, I am incredibly honored and
Speaker 1: privileged to be back here at Elevation. I think this
Speaker 1: is like my fourth time here, so I'm for sure
Speaker 1: a part of the family by now. And I want
Speaker 1: you to know, especially in times like these, it's just
Speaker 1: proof positive that the Church of Jesus Christ gets to
Speaker 1: shine brighter. Just lets us know that the church is
Speaker 1: not a building you come to. It's not some organization
Speaker 1: that you join. Church is really a family where you belong.
Speaker 1: And I'm just thankful not just for the Church at large,
Speaker 1: but I'm thankful for Elevation Church. It has already had
Speaker 1: a plan in place and just doing what they've been
Speaker 1: doing to make sure come on, that the Gospel of
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ keeps going out wherever you are. You ought
Speaker 1: to thank God for this church. You ought to type
Speaker 1: a man put a fire emoticon. If you're thankful, come
Speaker 1: on for Elevation Church. And it's incredible and this church
Speaker 1: is making an impact literally around the world. But I'm
Speaker 1: thankful for Pastor Stephen Hollyforded for saying yes to the
Speaker 1: call of God. And I got to say this, Pastor
Speaker 1: Stephen is one of the most important and powerful voices
Speaker 1: of this generation, not just by sermon by song. But
Speaker 1: what I'm so thankful for is that he's a friend.
Speaker 1: He's an incredible fan. And I thank God for you
Speaker 1: and for your wife and your family. Come on, can
Speaker 1: we celebrate the great Man of God? Come on, y'all
Speaker 1: can do better than that. We'll blessed. So I'm glad
Speaker 1: to be here. I bring you greetings from the great
Speaker 1: country of Texas. And uh, we're gonna have church at
Speaker 1: here today. If somebody asked me, what you're gonna preach,
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna preach. But I'm really just I'm really
Speaker 1: just giving a news report. That's what I'm doing. I'm
Speaker 1: giving a news report. Puson the gospel is good news.
Speaker 1: I find it interesting that whenever somebody's reporting the news,
Speaker 1: they call that person the anchor It's interesting that whatever
Speaker 1: story you let sink into your soul, it will navigate
Speaker 1: your life. And today I want the Gospel of Jesus
Speaker 1: Christ to sink into your soul today. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: preach it like I feel like. Are you ready? Come on,
Speaker 1: let's jump straight into this word today, Go and meet
Speaker 1: to Acts Chapter three. Acts Chapter three. I want to
Speaker 1: look at verses one through ten, and wherever you are
Speaker 1: watching this, make sure you get in responsive shout like
Speaker 1: the NBA season was still going on. Don't touch anybody,
Speaker 1: but give God some praise. Acts Chapter three. We're gonna
Speaker 1: start at verse number one and we'll land in verse
Speaker 1: number ten. When you're ready to read it, say yeah,
Speaker 1: you need some time, Say hold up, all right. It
Speaker 1: says one day, it's already good. One day, Peter and
Speaker 1: John are going up to the temple at the time
Speaker 1: of prayer at three in the afternoon. Now, a man
Speaker 1: who was a lame from birth was being carried to
Speaker 1: the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every
Speaker 1: day to beg from those going into the temple courts.
Speaker 1: When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he
Speaker 1: asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as
Speaker 1: did John, and Peter said, look at us. So the
Speaker 1: man gave them his attention, expecting to get a little
Speaker 1: something from them, and Peter said, silver or gold, I
Speaker 1: do not have. First thing Pete said to him is
Speaker 1: bro I ain't got it. That's actually where a lot
Speaker 1: of people get stuck in life. A lot of people
Speaker 1: get stuck because you're fully aware of what you do
Speaker 1: not have. In fact, I found that the enemy is
Speaker 1: proficient at reminding you of what you do not have.
Speaker 1: He'll tell you you come on, not only one you
Speaker 1: ever been scrolling through the ground heard the enemy loud
Speaker 1: in your ear saying you ain't got that. You ain't
Speaker 1: got that. You better be scared. You don't got this.
Speaker 1: You don't got that. He loves to remind you of
Speaker 1: what you do not have. But thank God for that comma.
Speaker 1: There's power in the punctuation. Peter didn't stop at what
Speaker 1: he did not have. He goes, but what I do have?
Speaker 1: He says, I got something. What I do have, I
Speaker 1: give you, and I'm not giving it in my name,
Speaker 1: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk and
Speaker 1: taking him by the right hand, he helped him up
Speaker 1: and Instantly, the man's feet and ankles became strong. He
Speaker 1: jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he
Speaker 1: went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping
Speaker 1: and praising God. And when all the people saw him
Speaker 1: walking and praising God, they recognized him. They said, hold up,
Speaker 1: as the same man who used to sit begging at
Speaker 1: the temple gate called beautiful. They were filled with wonder
Speaker 1: and amazement at what had happened to him. Can you say,
Speaker 1: a man, I'm intrigued about this man who is stuck
Speaker 1: at a gate called beautiful. Certainly at this time in
Speaker 1: our nation, many of us feel stuck right now. Look
Speaker 1: at where he's stuck. He's stuck at a gate called beautiful.
Speaker 1: I want to talk to you today just using this
Speaker 1: as a title, the beauty of being stuck, the beauty
Speaker 1: of being stuck. Would you just look at somebody around
Speaker 1: you and say there's a beauty Again, don't touch them,
Speaker 1: but you better look at him and say wow. Come on,
Speaker 1: say there's a beauty to being stuck. Come on, let's pray. Father.
Speaker 1: I thank you for your word, but I thank you
Speaker 1: that even in tumultuous times, you are our peace Lord.
Speaker 1: We can hang on to you, Holy Spirit, speak to
Speaker 1: our hearts today. God, We've not come to be entertained.
Speaker 1: We have come to hear from you, So speak to
Speaker 1: our hearts in Jesus' name. Everybody said, oh, come on,
Speaker 1: everybody said, the beauty of being stuck. It's anybody been
Speaker 1: to an airport lately? I have? I have. I flew
Speaker 1: in yesterday and for the first time, after fifteen years
Speaker 1: of traveling, almost three million miles flown. I got to
Speaker 1: the airport and the airport was peaceful. Oh, it was feathful.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you. There was no crazy lines. There were
Speaker 1: just a few people on the flight. People. I flew
Speaker 1: from Dallas to Charlotte for three dollars and fifty five cents.
Speaker 1: It was awesome. It was peaceful. And you're laughing because
Speaker 1: you know that generally the airport is chaotic. Generally it
Speaker 1: is absolutely crazy. It is stressful to travel. In fact,
Speaker 1: I've often said that if you really want to test
Speaker 1: your faith, book you a flight. Okay, just book you
Speaker 1: a flight, all right. If you really think you full
Speaker 1: of the spirit, fly spirit, and then come holler at
Speaker 1: your boy, because it is stressful in these traveling streets.
Speaker 1: In fact, the Bible says. The Bible says that the
Speaker 1: fruit of the spirit. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness.
Speaker 1: Don't forget that last one self control. If you are
Speaker 1: a believer, then that fruit should be evident in your life. However,
Speaker 1: you're watching online or you hear in the room, You're like, man, Robert,
Speaker 1: I got all that fruit, but you've never flown before.
Speaker 1: How do I say this. I don't believe you. Okay,
Speaker 1: I do not believe you because the airport is designed
Speaker 1: to suck the fruit of the spirit out of you.
Speaker 1: The whole airport system is orchestrated to make you lose
Speaker 1: your sanity and your Christianity. So as a consequence, over
Speaker 1: the years, I've developed what I call Robert's rules of flying. Okay,
Speaker 1: I won't bore you with all of them, but I'll
Speaker 1: just give you one. I do NonStop flights only. Okay.
Speaker 1: I'm not about that connection life. Just take me from
Speaker 1: Dallas to my destination. Okay, I'm a NonStop ninja. The
Speaker 1: only problem with my rule is the reality that there
Speaker 1: are just some places in life. If you're going to go,
Speaker 1: you will have to stop and make a connection. Oh
Speaker 1: that I'll a preach. I might say that again later.
Speaker 1: So the challenge for me is when my departing flight
Speaker 1: is late and I got to connect in another city.
Speaker 1: And when I get in that connecting city, I got
Speaker 1: one one point five minutes to get to my next gate.
Speaker 1: And to add to that, I landed at gay A one.
Speaker 1: But my connecting gate is at Gates Z ninety nine,
Speaker 1: and I got one point five minutes to get to
Speaker 1: Gates Z ninety nine church. At this point, I only
Speaker 1: got three options. Okay, I can miss my flight, ain't
Speaker 1: gonna happen. I can call for that cute little cart
Speaker 1: to carry me there and gonna happen. I'm a grown mayor.
Speaker 1: Or I can just run with everything I got, like
Speaker 1: Usain Bolt or Forrest God. Just run to make this flight.
Speaker 1: This happens all the time. One day I was running
Speaker 1: with everything I got, just trying to get to Gate
Speaker 1: Z ninety nine. But one day I was running and
Speaker 1: I just saw something in the distance. I saw something
Speaker 1: that reminded me of the goodness of God. I saw
Speaker 1: something that lets me know that God is still in
Speaker 1: the miracle working business. I saw something that lets me
Speaker 1: know that God can do exceedingly abundantly above all that
Speaker 1: you ain't ask or think. I saw one of those
Speaker 1: who wait for it move ain't walkways. I've never seen
Speaker 1: those before, those a move in walkways. See, I'm about
Speaker 1: to have church on the move walkway because to me,
Speaker 1: the move and walkway is just like having the favor
Speaker 1: of God on your life, because how many know if
Speaker 1: you just start walking on that move and walkway, it
Speaker 1: is gonna expedite your journey. It can get you that
Speaker 1: quicker than you could have in your own strength and
Speaker 1: your own talent and your own ability. I love a move.
Speaker 1: The only problem now with the move and walkway, My
Speaker 1: only issue with the move and walkway, My only frustration
Speaker 1: with the move and walkway are the people on the
Speaker 1: move and walkway who refuse to move. Oh what is rajo?
Speaker 1: This one I can't even talk about today? What is rawchaw? People?
Speaker 1: Why in the world would you be standing with your
Speaker 1: bigg suitcase that should have been checked? Why are you
Speaker 1: standing on the move just frustrating people standing the move
Speaker 1: and walk away. I think my frustration with you people
Speaker 1: who are watching online right now, it's not that you're standing.
Speaker 1: If you're standing at any other place in the airport,
Speaker 1: I would be cool with it. I think my frustration
Speaker 1: stems from the fact that you have brought stagnation on
Speaker 1: a mechanism that was created for movement. Yeah, that's my frustration,
Speaker 1: is that you have brought stagnation and stuckness to something
Speaker 1: that was actually designed to move you further and faster.
Speaker 1: And any time you have stagnation in a place that
Speaker 1: was created for movement, you will always have frustration or
Speaker 1: always have frustration. Come on, this is traffic. I don't
Speaker 1: mind sitting down for an hour looking out of a
Speaker 1: window listening to some music. Come on, if I'm in
Speaker 1: my house, that's catching the vibe, I don't want to
Speaker 1: do it in my car. Come on. That's why some
Speaker 1: of you right now are in your mind in your house,
Speaker 1: because you are not created to be stuck. And anytime
Speaker 1: you have stagnation in a place created for movement, you
Speaker 1: always have frustration. And I'm wondering today if the reason
Speaker 1: why so many of us are frustrated with our lives
Speaker 1: and where we are is because our lives have become
Speaker 1: stuck still in stationary when God created us for movement.
Speaker 1: Could it be possible even plausible today. The reason you're
Speaker 1: annoyed with where you are is not because you're stuck
Speaker 1: in doors. It is because your life has become stuck
Speaker 1: and God created you for movement. Because you do know
Speaker 1: that God is a god of movement. Oh, come on.
Speaker 1: He has always taken you somewhere. He has always taken
Speaker 1: you from faith to faith. He's always taken you from
Speaker 1: strength to strength. He's taken you from glory to glory.
Speaker 1: God is a God of movement. Come on. That's why
Speaker 1: the Bible says that the steps of the righteous, the
Speaker 1: steps are ordered by the Lord, not the stuckness. The
Speaker 1: steps are ordered the Lord. Why are the steps ordered?
Speaker 1: Because God is a God of movement. One of the
Speaker 1: first things God shows us in the Bible is that
Speaker 1: He is a God of movement. Sore, like, get us
Speaker 1: a scripture for it, Robert, I'll give you a scripture,
Speaker 1: just a chapter one. Chapter one. It says, in the beginning.
Speaker 1: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,
Speaker 1: and the earth was without form and void, and darkness
Speaker 1: covered the face of the deep, and the Spirit of
Speaker 1: God was moving over the face of the waters. The
Speaker 1: first thing that God revealed about himself, is that I
Speaker 1: am a God that moves on your behalf. In fact,
Speaker 1: to me, Genesis was just the commencement of a symphony,
Speaker 1: the beginning of a symphony with God, the cosmic conductor
Speaker 1: just pulls out his big old omnipotent baton and just
Speaker 1: began the melody of movement. Because everything he made it
Speaker 1: had to move. Everything that he created it had a cadence,
Speaker 1: It had a pace to it. Not a single thing
Speaker 1: he made got the luxury of stagnation. Everything he created,
Speaker 1: he said, let there be light, but the whole solar
Speaker 1: system in place. And once everything was set, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: y'all can't be still. Get to move it. And all
Speaker 1: of a sudden and everything just started moving. Everything start
Speaker 1: even right now. We are move right now, we are.
Speaker 1: You can't even feel it, but we are moveing right now. See.
Speaker 1: That's why you gotta stop judging what God is doing
Speaker 1: in your life based off of how you feel. Sometimes
Speaker 1: it has nothing to do with your feelings, nothing to
Speaker 1: do with what you see. Even when you can't see it,
Speaker 1: He is moveing even right now in this nation. He
Speaker 1: is moving. God is a god of movement. Everything he
Speaker 1: made it had to move, he said, let there be
Speaker 1: water and told the water to get to move. It said, water,
Speaker 1: you can't be still. Now that's mosquitoes. Get to move it,
Speaker 1: and the water started moving. Every animal he made it
Speaker 1: had to move. Looked at the cheetah and told the
Speaker 1: cheetah to get to move. And can you see that
Speaker 1: cheetah keeps. Everything he made it had to looked at
Speaker 1: a turtle and had the nerve the audacity to tell
Speaker 1: a turtle to get to move it. The turtle was like, God,
Speaker 1: I'm an introvert. I don't want to come out of
Speaker 1: my shell. He's like, now, you still gotta move. You
Speaker 1: ain't gotta be as fast as the cheetah, but you
Speaker 1: still gotta move. And here comes the turtle. Everything God
Speaker 1: made it had to move. He reaches down and dirt
Speaker 1: creates man breathing to him the breath of lives. And
Speaker 1: guess what your heart started doing. It started move. Man.
Speaker 1: Come on. That's why when you go to the doctor
Speaker 1: for your checkout, he puts in his headphones and he listens.
Speaker 1: You know what he's listening for. He's listening for that
Speaker 1: same beat that began in the beginning. And if there's
Speaker 1: a regularities in that beat. That means there's something wrong
Speaker 1: in your body. See, this is why I give God
Speaker 1: the best praise no matter what's coming against me. Not
Speaker 1: because my life is perfect. I'm praising up because I'm
Speaker 1: still here, I'm still alive, I'm not dead. I still
Speaker 1: got a purpose, and that alone is enough for me
Speaker 1: to give God some praise. Oh, I'm telling you, your
Speaker 1: praise ain't quarantined. Ided you to just take ten seconds
Speaker 1: and give God some praise, like you're thankful that you
Speaker 1: still here, that you still standing, that there is breadth
Speaker 1: in your body, that everything that has breath. Praise the Lord.
Speaker 1: I feel like preaching. Now, God is a God of movement. Oh,
Speaker 1: you don't believe God's a God in movement. You don't
Speaker 1: believe he's a God in movement. People. Two thirds of
Speaker 1: his name is God. He defeated death, hell, and the grave.
Speaker 1: He's about to ascend back to the right hand of
Speaker 1: the Father. But before he leaves, the disciples of looking
Speaker 1: at him, like, hold on, can we get like a
Speaker 1: commission or something like a great Commissioner's all? You want
Speaker 1: a commission? All right, go into all the world and
Speaker 1: preach the Gospel to every living making disciples of all nations.
Speaker 1: God is a god movement challenge. The problem that occurs
Speaker 1: is that God is a god in movement. But humanity,
Speaker 1: you and I, we have this tendency, We got this
Speaker 1: propensity to always get stuck. Have you noticed this is
Speaker 1: about us, how we love to get stuck. I'm not
Speaker 1: even talking about what's going on in the world right now.
Speaker 1: I'm just talking about just natural stuff, like like you
Speaker 1: go to the same four restaurants some of y'all all
Speaker 1: the time, Samone, I don't know what to do on
Speaker 1: this weekend because when you go to church, you sit
Speaker 1: in the same section, in the same seat every weekend.
Speaker 1: I know, we've been to church for years. Don't even
Speaker 1: check out the left of the right side of sanctuary.
Speaker 1: You just sit in the same spire all the time.
Speaker 1: Gets stuff. We get stuck in relationships. Some of y'all
Speaker 1: dating the same people, same girl, got a different name,
Speaker 1: but it's the same girl, it's the same person. Just
Speaker 1: get stuck. We get stuck. It is intrinsic within our DNA,
Speaker 1: even a theologically, that all that is wrong with the
Speaker 1: world today is because humanity got stuck. Adam and Eve,
Speaker 1: they got stuck. They didn't keep it moving. They got
Speaker 1: stuck at the wrong tree, listening to the wrong voice,
Speaker 1: so they made the wrong choice, and now we are
Speaker 1: reaping the ramifications of their decisions that they made when
Speaker 1: they were stuck, and intrinsic within our DNA is this
Speaker 1: sickness of stuckness. My text today is an Acts chapter three,
Speaker 1: and no doubt there's a man who is stuck. But
Speaker 1: I mentioned Genesis chapter three would have an eve because
Speaker 1: I think there's actually a connection, there's a synergy between
Speaker 1: Genesis chapter three and Acts chapter three, because if you
Speaker 1: look at Acts chapter three just at a micro level,
Speaker 1: which we will look at today, you're going to see
Speaker 1: a man who is stuck, who is lame, excuse me,
Speaker 1: lame from birth, outside the temple gate, begging no access
Speaker 1: to the presence of God, and one day Peter and
Speaker 1: John full of the Holy Spirit, raise him up. If
Speaker 1: we brought them the scope of this text and look
Speaker 1: at it really at a macro level, keeping Genesis Street
Speaker 1: in mind, I submit to you that this man is
Speaker 1: really just a picture of the spiritual condition of humanity,
Speaker 1: because every single one of us spiritually were lame from birth.
Speaker 1: Oh you know you were born lame, right born lame.
Speaker 1: You came out the womb spiritually speaking, completely lamee saying
Speaker 1: be like, oh, Robert, I'm a good person. No lame.
Speaker 1: You were born spiritually lame, and I'll prove it to you.
Speaker 1: Have you noticed nobody had to teach you how to lie?
Speaker 1: What class did you take on selfishness? No? Not one?
Speaker 1: At two you perfected the art of nahm. That's why
Speaker 1: some of y'all freaking out right now, just getting all
Speaker 1: the toilet paper, Just all the toilet paper. You don't
Speaker 1: want to say nothing, nobody just it is in our DNA,
Speaker 1: just to get stocked, to be selfish, narcissistic, individualistic people.
Speaker 1: This is what sends it to us. We had no
Speaker 1: access to the presence of God. So really, Peter and
Speaker 1: John raising this man up, it's a picture of what
Speaker 1: the Cross did. It is the cross of Jesus Christ
Speaker 1: that raised me up. I don't have to be a
Speaker 1: becker now I actually have access to the presence of God.
Speaker 1: I can approach the throne of Grace with confidence, not
Speaker 1: because of what I did, but because of what He
Speaker 1: did on the cross. It is the blood of Jesus
Speaker 1: that gives me access. So there is a synergy between
Speaker 1: Acts chapter three, in Genesis chapter three, because in Genesis
Speaker 1: chapter three, when Adam and Eve took of that forbidden
Speaker 1: fruit and all of humanity God stuck. In that moment,
Speaker 1: we were all stuck. And it's not the way it
Speaker 1: works in the Bible. This is how my exogetical imagination works. Think,
Speaker 1: let me just pause wherever you are, just Lena, get
Speaker 1: a little water to break real quick. You can give
Speaker 1: God some praise while I get a little water break
Speaker 1: real quick. Boy, you can do better than that. Give
Speaker 1: them some praise. There's no smooth way to do that.
Speaker 1: You just got to give God praise. When Adam and
Speaker 1: he had got stuck. I think that moment, all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, It's not how this is in the Bible.
Speaker 1: This the way my mind works. All of a sudden,
Speaker 1: God the Father, Son Holy Spirit immediately call an executive
Speaker 1: Trinity team meeting in heaven. God the Father's Son, Holy
Speaker 1: Spirit all three there one oh at the same time,
Speaker 1: and they look down and God the Father goes, y'all,
Speaker 1: see what I see? They stuck. You know, they can't
Speaker 1: get themselves out. So one of y'all gonna have to
Speaker 1: go down there and get him out, and immediately Jesus
Speaker 1: looks at the Holy Spirit and says, well, can nobody
Speaker 1: move like you? So haunt you go down there and
Speaker 1: get them out, and the Holy Spirit's like, nah, nah, no, Jesus,
Speaker 1: don't play. Don't play. Come on, come on, you know
Speaker 1: I'm acts chapter two, you Matthew chapter one. Don't try
Speaker 1: to jack up the Bible. Jesus, nah nah nah, you
Speaker 1: to save the other world. You go down there and
Speaker 1: get him out. And Jesus like you right, you're right.
Speaker 1: I'm tripping, and Jesus, check this out, gets on the
Speaker 1: balcony of Heaven, jumps off the balcony of Heaven. It
Speaker 1: was a forty two generation jump, but he lands in
Speaker 1: the womb of a virgin named Mary. I'm a Christmas
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, Mary goes ooh, I'm not
Speaker 1: feeling good, so she called. He calls her fiance josephin
Speaker 1: says I need to talk to you, and Joseph's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: we need to talk. Why you've been so distant lately?
Speaker 1: What you don't want to get married anymore? Mary's like, no, Joseph,
Speaker 1: don't do that. You know I love you. Don't play here,
Speaker 1: come here. He's like what he's like, here, come, and
Speaker 1: she takes Joseph's hand puts it on her stomach. Joseph goes, WHOA,
Speaker 1: some just moved. She goes, yeah, that's what he does.
Speaker 1: All of a sudden, there is tension in their relationship,
Speaker 1: so Mary calls her pregnant cousin Elizabeth. He says, girl,
Speaker 1: I gotta see you, and Mary takes an uber to
Speaker 1: her pregnant cousin Elizabeth's house. But when she gets to
Speaker 1: the uber, she steps out and meets her pregnant cousin Elizabeth,
Speaker 1: and they both waddle up on each other like two
Speaker 1: penguins in Alaska meeting for the very first time. And
Speaker 1: Elizabeth goes, girl, you ain't gonna believe this. I have
Speaker 1: not felt my baby move and weeks, but as soon
Speaker 1: as you got out of that uber, girl, my baby
Speaker 1: started kicking and moving around. I don't know what's on
Speaker 1: the inside of you, but it's making my baby move
Speaker 1: on the inside of me. And Mary goes, yeah, that's
Speaker 1: what he does. All of a sudden, Elizabeth goes, I
Speaker 1: can numb believe you took an uber down here, girl,
Speaker 1: you are pregnant, and Mary goes, yeah, and the uber
Speaker 1: driver was weird too. Elizabeth goes, really, what was his name?
Speaker 1: Mary goes John, Elizabeth goes, whom I like that name.
Speaker 1: Fast forward thirty years later, John the Baptist is baptizing
Speaker 1: people in the Jordan River, and please believe that the
Speaker 1: water is still moving from the same cadence of creation.
Speaker 1: And John almost drowns a dude in the middle of
Speaker 1: the baptism because he looks in the distance and says,
Speaker 1: behold the lamb of God that takes away the sins
Speaker 1: of the world. This is the one I was telling
Speaker 1: y'all about. I'm baptizing you with water, but He's gonna
Speaker 1: baptize you with fire and with the Holy Spirit. Somebody
Speaker 1: else to give him some praise wherever you are. I
Speaker 1: feel like preaching it live. All of a sudden, All
Speaker 1: of a sudden, John and Jesus meet in the water
Speaker 1: and it goes in slow motion, and one of John's
Speaker 1: disciples Lord, he goes, yo, you know this dude, And
Speaker 1: Jonna's like, yes, I know this dude. He is the dude.
Speaker 1: And what's crazy is the first time we met we
Speaker 1: were in water. Now we're meeting again in water. This
Speaker 1: must be a destiny moment you know the story. He
Speaker 1: baptizes Jesus. The Heaven's open up. Jesus starts moving in
Speaker 1: the earth, healing the sick, raising the dead. He gets
Speaker 1: to the cross and defeats Shin, gets up from the
Speaker 1: grave and defeats death, and then he ascends back to
Speaker 1: heaven and the Trinity Executive team meeting is readjourned, and
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit and God the Father look at Jesus
Speaker 1: and go, man, you killed that thing. And Jesus goes,
Speaker 1: you know, I did the best that I could. And
Speaker 1: then they look at the Holy Spirit and say it's
Speaker 1: on you. Now. Holy Spirit goes, I know, I know,
Speaker 1: I know. The Holy Spirit gets on the balcony of Heaven,
Speaker 1: jumps off the balcony of Heaven, but lands in the
Speaker 1: upper room at chapter two, and suddenly a sound, there's
Speaker 1: a mighty rushing wind begin to fill. Some people who
Speaker 1: was stuck in a room was that I'm still gonna
Speaker 1: wait for the promise, even though I'm stuck and can't
Speaker 1: go out, His Presidence can come in and all of us,
Speaker 1: son and all of them. I feel with the Holy
Speaker 1: Spirit in the speaking tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Speaker 1: And in that room was Peter and John. Now I'm
Speaker 1: at my text. By the way, I just gave you
Speaker 1: the whole Bible like in ten minutes when a it's cool,
Speaker 1: just sit there. Sorry, I just sit side. And in
Speaker 1: that room it was Peter and John. Peter and John go, well,
Speaker 1: we just got power to be his witnesses to Jerusalem
Speaker 1: today and Samarian to the ends of the earths s
Speaker 1: would have started in Jerusalem. So Peter and John say, hey,
Speaker 1: what do we do. Well, let's go pray. Let's go pray.
Speaker 1: Let's go to the church and pray. Can you see
Speaker 1: Peter and John walking together to Elevation Church to pray? Peter,
Speaker 1: who and John together going to church? Peter and John
Speaker 1: quick question, what are these two dudes still doing hanging out?
Speaker 1: You realize they don't have to hang out anymore. Jesus
Speaker 1: already ascended to heaven. The only thing that connected them
Speaker 1: was that Jesus hand picked them. He selected them. They
Speaker 1: don't got to hang out anymore. Well in the world
Speaker 1: are Peter and John going to church together? You realize
Speaker 1: they're a walking contradiction. Peter and John, Come on, one
Speaker 1: of these things is not like the other. First of all,
Speaker 1: Peter is much older. John is younger. Okay, let's bring
Speaker 1: it to you. John is walking on TikTok. Peter is
Speaker 1: still on Facebook. Peter and John takegether. But Peter and John,
Speaker 1: they are walking contradiction people. John is a lover, Peter
Speaker 1: is a cusser. They are completely different. When John got
Speaker 1: ready to express his love and his loyalty to Jesus,
Speaker 1: he would put his head on the chest of Jesus.
Speaker 1: He loved to cuddle with Jesus. When Peter got ready
Speaker 1: to express his loyalty for Jesus, Homeo put out a sword,
Speaker 1: a switchblade, cut a dude's ear all the way off.
Speaker 1: Jesus had to heal it real quick, Like, Peter, what
Speaker 1: are you doing. Peter's like, I'm with you, Jesus, I'm
Speaker 1: right to die. I don't know about him, but I'm
Speaker 1: with you. Peter and jud Johnson introvert. He's always to himself.
Speaker 1: Peter gonna say something crazy. I'm just trying to figure
Speaker 1: out how a gangster and Gandhi are going to church
Speaker 1: together talking about it's gonna be a good service. Peter
Speaker 1: jel They're a walking contradiction. Oh maybe that's the point.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's the point. You understand. The healing of this
Speaker 1: layman is the first miracle after the birth of the
Speaker 1: New Testament Church. I submit to you, this is in
Speaker 1: the ordinary miracle. This is a prototype miracle by which
Speaker 1: God is trying to show the church today how his
Speaker 1: power moves in the earth. Perhaps the reason that Peter
Speaker 1: and John are walking together as a walking contradiction, it's
Speaker 1: because God is still trying to get the church today
Speaker 1: to understand that what the culture calls a contradiction, the
Speaker 1: Kingdom calls collaboration. Oh what the culture sees as the
Speaker 1: greatest place of division and separation. How you know, in
Speaker 1: the Kingdom of God, it is the greatest place of collaboration.
Speaker 1: It is the place where lame people can get up again.
Speaker 1: And I want to challenge some of y'all, especially in
Speaker 1: this day and age in which we live, where everybody's
Speaker 1: trying to keep us divided. I know we're divided now
Speaker 1: because we can't touch each other. I'm talking about divided
Speaker 1: in the church, focusing on the contradiction, and I'm telling
Speaker 1: the power is in our ability to collaborate in spite
Speaker 1: of the contradiction. Come on, somebody. This is the power
Speaker 1: of the church. The power of the Church is not
Speaker 1: that we have all everything in common. The power is
Speaker 1: in our differences. But in spite of our differences. If
Speaker 1: we can agree that Jesus Christ is the law to
Speaker 1: the glory of God the Father, if we can agree
Speaker 1: that broken people need to be restored and lay people
Speaker 1: need to get up, if we could just collaborate, Oh,
Speaker 1: I wonder what God would do. It's a trick of
Speaker 1: the enemy to get us to focus on the contradictions.
Speaker 1: You black, I'm white. Oh you're a democrat, I'm a Republican.
Speaker 1: Focusing on the contradictions. I'm telling you our power is
Speaker 1: in our ability to collaborate in spite of the contradictions.
Speaker 1: Isn't it crazy that the first miracle after the birth
Speaker 1: of the New Testament Church was a collaboration between one
Speaker 1: disciple that had a big heart, John and another disciple
Speaker 1: that had a big mouth, Peter. And perhaps it was
Speaker 1: perhaps it was John's compassion that noticed the lame man
Speaker 1: that it took Peter's courage. You know, hey, bro, get
Speaker 1: up and I'm i gonna feel sorry for you. Get
Speaker 1: I still got a knife in my pocket. Get and
Speaker 1: y'all was like Peter Love collaboration. Can't just talk about
Speaker 1: Peter and John. Come on, They're not the star of
Speaker 1: the text today. I think the star of the text
Speaker 1: is a man that many of us right now in
Speaker 1: our world can relate to. It's this man who is
Speaker 1: who is stuck. I didn't tell the camera man I
Speaker 1: was gonna do this, but y'all got all kinds of
Speaker 1: cameras everywhere here, so I know we could. But often
Speaker 1: when I preach a text like this, I will do
Speaker 1: this because I want to feel, even if it's just
Speaker 1: for a moment, who I'm preaching about what they had
Speaker 1: to go through. Can you think about, even in our
Speaker 1: current context today, we don't understand where many of our
Speaker 1: disable to disabled brothers and sisters have to face. Can
Speaker 1: you imagine in Biblical antiquity, no wheelchairs, no hove arounds.
Speaker 1: It was the epitome of being stuck. Somebody dropped you off.
Speaker 1: You better get comfortable, you're gonna be there for a while.
Speaker 1: And I thought about this. The only thing that didn't
Speaker 1: work in this man's life were his legs. Everything else worked, heartbeating.
Speaker 1: I sein cognitive capabilities there. Homeboy probably had good teeth.
Speaker 1: All that was shut down because one thing didn't work.
Speaker 1: It affected his economy, he's got a bag, It affected
Speaker 1: his relationships. Know, when you're stuck, you can only talk
Speaker 1: to other stuck people. Because Lane recognized his life just
Speaker 1: stuck because one thing didn't work. Any crazy how one
Speaker 1: issue in your life can affect everything. Look at our world.
Speaker 1: One thing has affected everything. One thing is shut down
Speaker 1: this whole life. And you get stuck. And when you've
Speaker 1: been stuck for a while, you start developing what I
Speaker 1: call systems of stuckness. Start doing what you gotta do
Speaker 1: to get around, Start getting comfortable, because this is the
Speaker 1: way that life is going to be. Start having stuck
Speaker 1: conversations with other stuck people. You've been stuck conversation, Hey, bro,
Speaker 1: what you're gonna do today? Man? Probably lay here for
Speaker 1: a little bit. I was thinking the same thing. I'm
Speaker 1: probably gonna lay here. So you've had stuck conversations with
Speaker 1: other stuck people, just the same thing they talk about
Speaker 1: now gonna be the same thing. Human just stuck. Stuck.
Speaker 1: There's not the worst of being stuck. But how many
Speaker 1: know some of you experienced it. Have you ever been stuck?
Speaker 1: But experience God raising you up. Oh, this is a
Speaker 1: beautiful thing that when you've been stuck. Maybe it's happening
Speaker 1: for some of you right now. You heard a word,
Speaker 1: you heard a worship song when you were Panican, but
Speaker 1: you realize that the favor of the Lord was upon
Speaker 1: you. You You ever been stuck and had God raised you up?
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful thing to be raised up when you've
Speaker 1: been stuck. Well, the problem is you spend so much
Speaker 1: time being stuck. You still got relationships with the stuck people,
Speaker 1: and don't you try to go back and have those
Speaker 1: same stuck conversations. But the jokes ain't funny anymore. You're
Speaker 1: trying to figure out when the world did I ever
Speaker 1: have in common with you? You still doing You're fifty
Speaker 1: years old, You're still trying to turn up in the club.
Speaker 1: You must just still the same thing. And then they
Speaker 1: got the nerve to look at you and say, mmm,
Speaker 1: seem like you're changing. Yeah, it seem like something different
Speaker 1: about you. It seems like you're changing, as if it's
Speaker 1: a bad thing. How many No, that is the point
Speaker 1: of life. You are supposed to be changing. Come on,
Speaker 1: I don't want to be who I always want was
Speaker 1: I want to be everything that God has created and
Speaker 1: ordained me to be. You better believe I'm changing every day.
Speaker 1: I'm changing. I seem like you change. It seemed like
Speaker 1: you stuck up. No, I'm not stuck up. I'm just up.
Speaker 1: You stuck. That's why the conversation ain't working anymore. God
Speaker 1: raises you up when you've been stuck. But that's not
Speaker 1: really what I want to talk about. All that was
Speaker 1: my intro. I think the thing that I missed about
Speaker 1: this text of the Bible says, every day they dropped
Speaker 1: him off in front of the temple. Come on, not
Speaker 1: just on a weakened experience, not just once a week,
Speaker 1: every day they dropped this man and from the temple game.
Speaker 1: So if he got dropped every day, that means there
Speaker 1: are two people in this passage that nobody ever talks about.
Speaker 1: I've never talked about him. Everybody talks about Peter and John.
Speaker 1: But if he got dropped at the temple gate every day,
Speaker 1: that means there are two other people in this passage
Speaker 1: that nobody ever talks about. And guess what, I invited
Speaker 1: them to Elevation Church today. I'm gonna ask them to
Speaker 1: come out real quick, because everybody is focused on the
Speaker 1: lame man and Peter and John. But I want to know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: everybody talks about the lame man. Everybody talks about Peter
Speaker 1: and John. How come nobody talks about y'all because he
Speaker 1: got dropped every day? Come on, I study, I did
Speaker 1: my due diligence. I did an etymologicalspiratory on this word.
Speaker 1: Every day. Guess what every day means? Or a day?
Speaker 1: Every day? They dropped him every day? Do you know
Speaker 1: what every day means? Now? Which is gonna be interesting
Speaker 1: because we're gonna keep our distance here. That means Sunday,
Speaker 1: you came, you picked him up, don't touch them. Come on,
Speaker 1: I just want to abide to the rules. You picked
Speaker 1: him up, you picked him up, You carry him from
Speaker 1: where we lived to the church. You would hold out
Speaker 1: your cup in bed, Just hold out your cup, hold
Speaker 1: out your cup and bed. Maybe y'all would come back
Speaker 1: about five o'clock, pick him right back up, drop him
Speaker 1: back off, and then go about your day. That's Sunday, Monday.
Speaker 1: Here come these two again. Let's give him a name.
Speaker 1: Billy and Bob. Nobody talks about Billy and Bob. Everybody
Speaker 1: talks about Peter and John. That means Monday, you come,
Speaker 1: you pick them up, You carry him all the way
Speaker 1: over here to the church, you hold out the cop
Speaker 1: and bag. You come back about five o'clock, drop him
Speaker 1: back at the house, then you go home. That's Tuesday.
Speaker 1: Wednesday morning, Ding dong. Here come Billy and Bob again.
Speaker 1: They pick him up. Just pretend like you're going to
Speaker 1: don't touch keep it this, Pretend like you gonna pick
Speaker 1: them up. Pet like, don't touch them dewath and you
Speaker 1: pick him up again, and then you come back over
Speaker 1: here and you drop off at the church, holds out
Speaker 1: his cup and bags. They come back about five o'clock
Speaker 1: and then drop him off. That's what every single day.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine the laborious nature of picking him up
Speaker 1: every day, holding out his cup, begging, picking him back up,
Speaker 1: drop him off. And I hope I'm not bringing my
Speaker 1: own presupposition to his biblical passages. But I think one
Speaker 1: of those days, after every day, maybe Billy and Bob
Speaker 1: did out the contents of their heart for like a week,
Speaker 1: scratch that they go to the elevation. They did it
Speaker 1: for like a month every day. I think one of
Speaker 1: those days Billy and Bob dropped them off. He held
Speaker 1: out his cup. He came back about five o'clock looking
Speaker 1: that cup. Yeah, you see what I'll see. There's money
Speaker 1: in that cup. You see what they just did. They
Speaker 1: got their cut. Actually, you took too much. Put some back,
Speaker 1: put some back. Don't do that. Don't do that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: put some back. Now that you have your cut, then
Speaker 1: you pick them back up, not for real. Then you
Speaker 1: take them home. And now they have become collaborators to
Speaker 1: a sick system, somebody who's stuck. How many know at
Speaker 1: this point, Billy and Bob don't want him healed. They
Speaker 1: don't want him home. It would affect their pockets. They
Speaker 1: have become, maybe unbeknowing, the beneficiaries of his brokenness and
Speaker 1: his stuckness. That's why whenever you are stuck, you got
Speaker 1: to check your environment. You got to check who's around
Speaker 1: you and make sure you got to check what you're
Speaker 1: hearing and make sure nobody is benefiting from your stuckness.
Speaker 1: And Billy and Bob could be anybody. Billy and Bob
Speaker 1: could be the news that you're watching. Billy and Bob
Speaker 1: could be a friend. Billy and Bob could be somebody
Speaker 1: a dating some of you. It's awkward because you sit
Speaker 1: next to your Billy and Bob right now. But in
Speaker 1: your life, whenever you're stuck, there will always be Peters
Speaker 1: and John's who are trying to pull you up out
Speaker 1: of your stuckness. They're trying to call you into your
Speaker 1: purpose and your destiny. But there will also be Billies
Speaker 1: and Bob's who want you to stay stuck and not
Speaker 1: step into what God has for you. Thank you so much,
Speaker 1: y'all were brilliant, especially for not touching anybody. Y'all, play
Speaker 1: something real soft and make me sound spiritual. Later we'll
Speaker 1: find out that system of getting picked up and dropped off.
Speaker 1: Don't miss this that went on for fourty years. Forty years.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine forty years? Every day, get picked up,
Speaker 1: hold out my cup, make a few bucks, give them
Speaker 1: their cut, go back home. Forty years, get picked up,
Speaker 1: hold out my cup, make a few bucks, give them
Speaker 1: their cut, go back home. Forty years. After forty years,
Speaker 1: you're just the robot, just going through the motions. Some
Speaker 1: of you I just described your life. You call it
Speaker 1: your job. Go to work, get picked up, make a
Speaker 1: few bucks, give the eye, arrest their cut, go back home.
Speaker 1: Is that why God created you. No, He came that
Speaker 1: you might have a life and life more ab no
Speaker 1: matter where you are, no matter what's going on, even
Speaker 1: in our world right now. You were not created to
Speaker 1: be stuck. God created you from movement. He's taking you somewhere.
Speaker 1: I love it because even after forty years of that system,
Speaker 1: even after forty years, the Bible says, one day, after
Speaker 1: forty years of going through the motions, after forty years
Speaker 1: of never looking up, after forty years of no hope,
Speaker 1: after forty years of the monotonous routine of just going
Speaker 1: through life and not living life. After forty years, the
Speaker 1: Bible says, one day, after forty years, one day, come on,
Speaker 1: don't tell me that you've been stuck in whatever you're
Speaker 1: stuck in too long. You can have the hope of
Speaker 1: one day, somebody watching me right now, this is your
Speaker 1: one day that even after being stuck some of you physically,
Speaker 1: some of you spiritually, some of you for so many years,
Speaker 1: you can have a one day. One day after forty years,
Speaker 1: he hears voices for the Holy Spirit who say, look
Speaker 1: at us. Bible says that he gave Peter and John
Speaker 1: his attention, expecting to get something. He gave them his attention,
Speaker 1: because if God can get your attention, then he can
Speaker 1: shift the direction of your life. If he can get
Speaker 1: your attention, he'll exceed your expectation. But he's got to
Speaker 1: get your attention. I believe even right now, everything some
Speaker 1: of us are going through, God is just God trying
Speaker 1: to get your attention. He's trying to say, come to me,
Speaker 1: you gotta get out of being Stock gave him his
Speaker 1: attention expecting to get something. Peter and John said, silver
Speaker 1: and gold I do not have. But what I do have,
Speaker 1: that's what I give you. Isn't it crazy that his
Speaker 1: greatest miracle was on the other side of his greatest disappointment.
Speaker 1: Can you see him? He finally has Peter trying look
Speaker 1: at him. He's like, woh, I'm about to get paid today.
Speaker 1: They're like, hey, we ain't got it. He's like, what
Speaker 1: what you're looking at me for? Then? Isn't it crazy
Speaker 1: that his greatest miracle was on the other side of
Speaker 1: his greatest disappointment? Because sometimes God will tell your dream
Speaker 1: known if you got the wrong dream, Because sometimes when
Speaker 1: you're stuck, you will downgrade the dream to fit your reality.
Speaker 1: But God never calls you to downgrade your dream to
Speaker 1: fit your reality. Now when he wants to exceed your expectation.
Speaker 1: Silver and gold I do not have. But what I
Speaker 1: do have I give you in the name of Jesus
Speaker 1: Christ of Nazareth. Oh, I need somebody that knows there's
Speaker 1: power in that name. In the name of Jesus Christ
Speaker 1: of Nazareth. I love Peter because he's just name. Drop him.
Speaker 1: Come on. You know people that don't know about that
Speaker 1: kingdom clouds. But sometimes if you don't drop a name,
Speaker 1: you better drop a name that they get. Somebody back
Speaker 1: up again. Drop the name that is above every single name.
Speaker 1: Drop the name that can heal the sick. Drop the
Speaker 1: name that can raise the dad. Drop the name that
Speaker 1: can open up the come on, drop the name that
Speaker 1: can turn grades to godness. Drop the name of Jesus.
Speaker 1: Somebody get up, somebody can Hallelujah. Judy, thank you for
Speaker 1: joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give
Speaker 1: generously to this ministry. Is because of you that this
Speaker 1: ministry is possible. You can click the link in the
Speaker 1: description to give now or visit Elevation Church dot org
Speaker 1: slash podcast for more information, and if you enjoyed the podcast,
Speaker 1: you can subscribe you can share it with your friends.
Speaker 1: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
Speaker 1: share it on your social stories and tag us at
Speaker 1: Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.