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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation

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Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank

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Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope

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Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to

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Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.

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Speaker 1: Nothing like the Lord, Nobody beside him, nobody like him.

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Speaker 1: Can't contain him, can't describe him. You know, I can

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Speaker 1: tell you about the river, or we can just step

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Speaker 1: right in. And that's the way it is with the Lord.

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Speaker 1: I can tell you, but sometimes you've got to taste

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Speaker 1: and see that the Lord is good. Open your mouth

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Speaker 1: wide and let him feel it today. Come on, open

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Speaker 1: your mouth wide and let him feel it today. Glory, Glory, glory, glory.

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Speaker 1: Thank you Jesus. Thank you for my health. Thank you

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Speaker 1: for my strength. Thank you for my salvation. Thank you Lord,

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Speaker 1: thank you for keeping me. Thank you for my sanity.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for clothes on my body. Thank you for

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Speaker 1: food in my belly. Thank you Lord, Thank you Jesus.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for my wife. Thank you for my three kids.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for my mom. Thank you for this church. God,

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Speaker 1: thank you for the ministry that goes forth from this place.

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Speaker 1: This is holy ground. You're a worthy God. You're a

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Speaker 1: mighty God. You're a magnificent God. You're an all sufficient God.

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Speaker 1: You're a wonder working God. You're away making God. There's

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Speaker 1: nothing too hard for you. I trust you, your God.

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Speaker 1: I love you, your God. I'll worship you. I believe you,

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Speaker 1: take you at your word, I respect you. I need you. Come,

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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit for the moments that we share together. Speak

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Speaker 1: to every heart. I give you all the credit in advance.

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Speaker 1: I know that anything good that happens today won't be

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Speaker 1: because of an idea that I had from my human mind.

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Speaker 1: It'll be because you used my vocal corese and my

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Speaker 1: lips of claim. But God, they've got to have an

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Speaker 1: open heart. Won't do any good for us to sing

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Speaker 1: all this beautiful music and say all the profound words

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Speaker 1: with all of the correct theology if their heart isn't open.

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Speaker 1: So I thank you that heaven is open. May our

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Speaker 1: hearts speak to every distraction. Every disappointment. Got to go

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Speaker 1: out the room right now, because Jesus is here. You

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Speaker 1: have our attention. Lord, have your way Jesus' name, and

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Speaker 1: all God's people sit together. Come on from Valentine to riverwalk.

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Speaker 1: All God's people said together all over the world, our evam,

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Speaker 1: we want you to know you're welcome here, welcome to church.

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Speaker 1: Come on, Valentine, let's send the amnesphe are for all

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Speaker 1: of those words joining us today. I want to go

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Speaker 1: back to Genesis chapter twenty eight as we study God's

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Speaker 1: word together today. I'm so excited about the word that

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Speaker 1: the Lord has given me to gift to you. I

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Speaker 1: pray that I won't mess it up. I don't want

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Speaker 1: to dilute it. I don't want to pollute it. I

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Speaker 1: don't want to take from it. I don't want to

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Speaker 1: add to it. Just what he said. And I pray

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Speaker 1: that in these moments that you would just create that

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Speaker 1: quiet place inside of you, away from all the noise.

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Speaker 1: I know you got three people you need to text back.

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Speaker 1: I know you've got somebody you don't want to see

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Speaker 1: that you got to meet up with it two forty

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Speaker 1: five today. None of that matters. Right now. The Lord

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Speaker 1: is in this place and wherever you are, I say

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Speaker 1: it with equal confidence. You say, well, I'm not in

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Speaker 1: a church building. The Lord is in that place. You say, well,

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Speaker 1: I'm not in a really good place. Right now, man,

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Speaker 1: I really haven't been doing good. I've really just been

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Speaker 1: struggling back with some old things.

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Speaker 2: Again, the Lord is in that place.

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Speaker 1: So as we receive God's word and we stand on

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Speaker 1: God's promise, and we thank him for his presence, let's

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Speaker 1: study together in Genesis chapter twenty eight thirteen. Y'all think

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Speaker 1: when I preach a scripture two weeks in a row,

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Speaker 1: it's because I didn't want to study the second week.

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Speaker 1: It's really just because I didn't get it done the

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Speaker 1: first week. I'm going to read some of the first

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Speaker 1: half where Jacob is running from his brother Esau, who

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Speaker 1: wants to kill him. And Esau is good with the

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Speaker 1: bow and arrow. By the way, Jacob is good with

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Speaker 1: kitchen utensils and good with weapons. So when Jacob steals

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Speaker 1: the blessing from Esau, he gets blessed. But have you

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Speaker 1: ever been blessed? But that's why Thanksgiving is a complicated holiday. Man.

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Speaker 1: It's such a blessing to have all of our family together.

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Speaker 1: But well, I'm gonna let y'all sort that out. On Thursday,

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Speaker 1: this is the day that the Lord has made everybody

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Speaker 1: put in the chat blessed. But tell your neighbor real quick.

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Speaker 1: I'm blessed, but he's blessed, but he's also in the

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Speaker 1: time of isolation. And he's on his way four hundred

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Speaker 1: miles from his father's house to stay with his uncle

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Speaker 1: Laban for a little while till he figures out exactly

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Speaker 1: what he's going to do next. And I preached last

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Speaker 1: week on your next messy step, just to let you

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Speaker 1: know that it's not always clear, and that's okay if

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Speaker 1: you just be strong and courageous every place you set

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Speaker 1: your foot, God will give it to you as you go.

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Speaker 1: But you can't get paralyzed now, and you can't let

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Speaker 1: the fact that you can't see the next five hundred

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Speaker 1: steps keep you from taking the next one. Now, as

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Speaker 1: Jacob is trying to get some sleep on the hard

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Speaker 1: ground with a pillow made out of a rock under

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Speaker 1: his head, the Bible says that there was a ladder

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Speaker 1: that came from heaven, and there above it verse thirteen

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Speaker 1: stood the Lord, and he said, I am the Lord,

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Speaker 1: the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.

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Speaker 1: Notice he does not yet say I'm the God of Jacob,

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Speaker 1: because Jacob has not made that decision yet for himself.

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Speaker 1: That's what we're going to find out. Is he going

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Speaker 1: to be your God too? And he told him, I'm

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Speaker 1: the generational God who made a promise to your grandfather

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Speaker 1: and your father. I will give you and your descendants

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Speaker 1: the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will

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Speaker 1: be like the dust of the earth, and you will

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Speaker 1: spread out to the west and to the east, to

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Speaker 1: the north and to the south. It makes me think

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Speaker 1: chunks about all these campuses that God has given us

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Speaker 1: all over the place. The Lord even gave us one

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Speaker 1: in Canada Happy Month, late Canadian Thanksgiving, to our Toronto campuses.

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Speaker 1: But just God is going to do something so mind blowing,

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Speaker 1: something so much bigger than just our church or our campus.

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Speaker 1: Is this is God's original promise to his people, to

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Speaker 1: his nation Israel. And now, of course we're standing in

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Speaker 1: that promise today as most of us who are maybe

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Speaker 1: gentiles by birth or grafted in through Christ. So that

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Speaker 1: promise is being spoken over Jacob. He said, You're gonna

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Speaker 1: spread out like dust. It's gonna be messy, but I'm

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Speaker 1: going to do it. It's gonna be dirty, but I'm

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Speaker 1: going to do it, and all peoples on earth will

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Speaker 1: be blessed through you. When are you gonna stop just

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Speaker 1: coming to church to be blessed and start asking God,

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Speaker 1: make me a blessing. I want to be a blessing

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Speaker 1: today to somebody. God, he said, all the nations of

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Speaker 1: the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring,

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Speaker 1: even though you don't have children yet. God will speak

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Speaker 1: about things that have not even started yet in the natural,

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Speaker 1: and he'll speak it supernaturally. And this is the promise

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Speaker 1: I want you to receive for yourself today Verse fifteen.

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Speaker 1: I am with you and will watch over you wherever

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Speaker 1: you go, and I'll bring you back to this land.

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Speaker 1: I will not leave you until I have done what

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Speaker 1: I promised you. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought,

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Speaker 1: surely the Lord is in this place. Just took me

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Speaker 1: a while to catch up with it. He was afraid

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Speaker 1: and said, how awesome is this place? This is none

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Speaker 1: other than the House of God. This is the g

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Speaker 1: of Heaven. Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone

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Speaker 1: he had placed under his head and set it up

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Speaker 1: as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.

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Speaker 1: We didn't talk about any of this last week. We're

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Speaker 1: gon't talk about all of it today. He called that

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Speaker 1: place Bethel, which means house of God. Yeah, that's not

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Speaker 1: just a worship ministry out there in California. That's in

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Speaker 1: the Bible. The place was called the House of God.

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Speaker 1: That's what it's named after. And it's not just in

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Speaker 1: one location, it's anywhere that God visits. Yeah, he called

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Speaker 1: that place Bethel though the city used to be called

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Speaker 1: LUs and LUs means almond tree. Wow, that's a big

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Speaker 1: jump from a nut tree to the House of God.

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Speaker 1: Tell somebody next to you, this is crazy. This is crazy.

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Speaker 1: This is crazy now Verse twenty. Then Jacob made a

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Speaker 1: vow saying, if God will be with me and will

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Speaker 1: watch over me on the journey I am taking, and

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Speaker 1: will give me food to eat and clothes to wear,

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Speaker 1: so that I return safely to my father's household, then

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Speaker 1: the Lord will be my God, and this stone that

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Speaker 1: I have set up as a pillar will be God's house.

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Speaker 1: And of all that you give me, God, I know

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Speaker 1: you're my source. Of all that you give me, I

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Speaker 1: have nothing without you. Of all that you give me,

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Speaker 1: I will give you a tenth amen. Verse eleven is

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Speaker 1: where I want to take my title from so that

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Speaker 1: I return safely to my father's household. Then the Lord

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Speaker 1: will be my God. Then the Lord will be my God.

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Speaker 1: Then the Lord will be my God. The Lord told

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Speaker 1: me to preach to you today three words. This is, then,

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Speaker 1: this is then. And I can tell that's a little

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Speaker 1: bit like mystical or whatever. So just turn to your neighbor,

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Speaker 1: give them my subtitle. Tell them God uses stupid. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: tell them this one might be for you, because God,

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Speaker 1: I have a strong feeling. Father, if you can speak

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Speaker 1: through a donkey, speak through me in Jesus' name, Amen,

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Speaker 1: touch three people, say this is your word today, This

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Speaker 1: is then? God uses stupid Now, Pastor Steve, I wish

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Speaker 1: you wouldn't say words like stupid up there in the pulpit.

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Speaker 1: That's not a sanctified word, and I don't appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: I'll bring my kids into service. Well, you ought to

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Speaker 1: drop them in E kids. We have excellent volunteers and

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Speaker 1: juice boxes. Do we give them juice boxes and E kids?

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Speaker 1: I don't know. I hadn't checked. You know how our

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Speaker 1: ministry seems so strategic when you see it up there

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Speaker 1: on the screens, and we have E groups and E kids.

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Speaker 3: And eteams and E bikes and no E cigarettes yet

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Speaker 3: in the church, but it sounds so strategic.

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Speaker 1: I said something last week and I got a testimony

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Speaker 1: of a miracle from one of our campus pastors. So

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Speaker 1: I want to say it again to you, because miracles

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Speaker 1: are already happening in this season. Miracles are already happening

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Speaker 1: in this season. And he was telling me a very

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Speaker 1: difficult season that he's been through, and then God began

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Speaker 1: to bring some resolution and he saw it. And the

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Speaker 1: thing that I said that helped him for his faith

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Speaker 1: is that a lot of times what you explain later

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Speaker 1: as strategy, you experience as surrender. How many heard me

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Speaker 1: say that last week from this very pulpit, and I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna say it again. You experience a lot of things

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Speaker 1: as surrender in real time. What I mean by surrender,

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Speaker 1: you don't know what else to do, and then when

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Speaker 1: you get through it, you look back and you start saying, well,

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Speaker 1: step one, step two, step three, step four. You know,

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Speaker 1: somebody else might struggle with an addiction that you came through,

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Speaker 1: and you're kind of coaching them later. And now you're

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Speaker 1: kind of arrogant because you got, you know, nine or

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Speaker 1: ten years under your belt, and you're like, well, the

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Speaker 1: first thing you need to do, and then the second thing.

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Speaker 1: And I found it very helpful. And you may mean, well,

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Speaker 1: but just make sure you tell them that the first

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Speaker 1: thing you do is help God. I need you. I

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Speaker 1: don't know what to do without you. And some of

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Speaker 1: the things that look strategic in your life you actually

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Speaker 1: stumbled into. If you'll be honest about it, it was

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Speaker 1: the hand of God guiding you. It was the voice

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Speaker 1: of God calling you. It was his net that caught you.

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Speaker 1: It was his word that kept you. Many of the

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Speaker 1: things in our ministry that felt very strategic in year

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Speaker 1: five and in year ten were actually things that at

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Speaker 1: the time just felt like, what do we do next? God,

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Speaker 1: we are a multi let's welcome all of our locations today,

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Speaker 1: all twenty locations our EPAM all over the world. We

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Speaker 1: strategically place these locations on a multi site church with

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Speaker 1: the campuses that we have in the model that we have,

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Speaker 1: so we could reach people. Right, it was strategic, No,

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Speaker 1: it was surrender. We were out of space, no more

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Speaker 1: room to put people. What can we do, Well, maybe

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Speaker 1: we can get another high school auditorium down the road.

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Speaker 1: It was surrender. What do we do? Who do we bribe?

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Speaker 1: Who do we pay off, How can we get that

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Speaker 1: other auditorium? Why isn't the video working? Why isn't the

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Speaker 1: video working again the next week?

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Speaker 4: And it's messy like that, and his steps like that,

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Speaker 4: and it's trusting like that, and is falling like that,

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Speaker 4: and it's standing like that, and it's waiting like that,

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Speaker 4: and it's moving like that, and it's zigging and it's zagging.

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Speaker 1: Remember, and it's zigging and it's zagging, and it's having

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Speaker 1: and it's losing and it's getting back. And this is

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Speaker 1: what growth feels like, more like surrender, less like strategy.

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Speaker 1: Later you can explain it a you can write your

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Speaker 1: book Seven Steps to a Healthier Marriage. But the truth

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Speaker 1: is you got down on your knees that third month

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Speaker 1: of marriage and said, God, I don't believe in divorce,

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Speaker 1: but I don't know where I am a murder. And

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Speaker 1: if you don't help me with this white man.

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Speaker 2: And the strategic explanation off in camouflages the surrendered experience, why.

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Speaker 1: Tell me that? Because I know right now you don't

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Speaker 1: know what to do about this thing in your life.

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Speaker 1: And yet I would suggest to you personally and pastorally

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Speaker 1: that God has already already done enough for you to

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Speaker 1: trust him. I met with a financial adviser and the

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Speaker 1: first time I met him, he said, I just need

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Speaker 1: you to trust me. I said, whoa bukaroo. We ain't

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Speaker 1: about to build a trust off of one meeting when

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Speaker 1: you get paid on commission. The only way trust is

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Speaker 1: going to be building this relationship is through results, and

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Speaker 1: that's gonna take years, not months. So if you need

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Speaker 1: me to trust you from this meeting, just know I

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Speaker 1: don't trust you one bit. I don't trust you. I

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Speaker 1: don't get paid to trust you. And as a matter

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Speaker 1: of fact, I want you to know that I am

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Speaker 1: operating from a fundamental distrust of you because I am

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Speaker 1: not going to work this hard to provide for my family.

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Speaker 1: And then just because you have a nice smile and

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Speaker 1: a button down shirt, I'm supposed to just trust you.

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Speaker 1: I got button down shirts. Serial killers have button down shirts.

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Speaker 1: I don't trust you. You got to show me something

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Speaker 1: to trust in. Is that good wisdom for business? Is

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Speaker 1: that good wisdom for faith? Jacob seems to be saying

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Speaker 1: here at this threshold of his own journey, I don't

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Speaker 1: know if I can trust you yet. God, I don't

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Speaker 1: know you like that. I don't know yet if I

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Speaker 1: can fully believe what you say to me. Oh, Shacob,

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Speaker 1: how dare you doubt the sovereignty of God? People? He's

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Speaker 1: far from home, he doesn't have a Bible to read.

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Speaker 1: He just had a dream or a vision in which

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Speaker 1: he saw a staircase that went from earth to heaven.

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Speaker 1: And he's supposed to just wake up and say, let's

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Speaker 1: go God, wherever you take me, I'm with you. So

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Speaker 1: he does something very interesting, and I want to show

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Speaker 1: it to you because as I studied it, two words

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Speaker 1: stood out to me in the text. And a lot

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Speaker 1: of you have been listening to me preach for a

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Speaker 1: long time. Show of hands or just put a raised

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Speaker 1: hand in the chat. How many of you have been

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Speaker 1: listening to me preach for at least one year? How

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Speaker 1: many have you been listening to me preach for about

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Speaker 1: three years or more? Raise your hand, keep them up

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Speaker 1: five years or more? How many you started listening to

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Speaker 1: me preach before you wanted to? But somebody in your

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Speaker 1: house had me preaching and you had to listen to

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Speaker 1: him because they wouldn't turn it all. That's all right too.

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Speaker 1: I am not going to take this a step further

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Speaker 1: and ask if you even want to be here today.

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Speaker 1: I'm drawing the line, but by the time you've heard

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Speaker 1: me preach, maybe you can pick up my rhythm. There's

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Speaker 1: something Jacob says, and I want you to catch it.

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Speaker 1: It's two words. It's kind of like a continuum that

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Speaker 1: he establishes here, and I believe it's the continuum that

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Speaker 1: we're living in as well. In verse twenty, Jacob makes

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Speaker 1: a vow, and in that vow he said, if God

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Speaker 1: will be with me and we'll watch over me on

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Speaker 1: this journey I am taking, and will give me food

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Speaker 1: to eat and clothes to wear so that I returned

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Speaker 1: safely to my father's household, then the Lord will be

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Speaker 1: my God. The two words are in those two verses,

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Speaker 1: and I wonder if you've been listening to me preach

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Speaker 1: Jim and Livy for like thirteen, fourteen, eighteen years, can

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Speaker 1: you guess which words just went to me? Because I'm

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Speaker 1: picturing this congregation that I'm preaching to remember, some people

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Speaker 1: lost their job this week, some people got a promotion.

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Speaker 1: Some people are complaining about their job. Some people would

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Speaker 1: love to snatch up the job that that person is

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Speaker 1: complaining about. Somebody right here this week is saying I

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Speaker 1: got to lose some weight. Somebody's trying to put on

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Speaker 1: some weight, drinking all the protein they've got. Somebody is

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Speaker 1: wishing they were single again. Somebody is saying, God, rescue

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Speaker 1: me from this season of singleness. Somebody is saying, God,

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Speaker 1: I don't know what to do. Somebody is saying, God,

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Speaker 1: I know what to do, but I don't want to

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Speaker 1: do it. Someone pretend like I don't know what you

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Speaker 1: want me to do, so I can continue to pretend

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Speaker 1: like I'm waiting for direction when really I'm procrastinating my

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Speaker 1: faith and calling it patience. Everything is happening in this room.

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Speaker 1: And what I saw in the text, it was just

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Speaker 1: two little words. Let's read it again. He said, if

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Speaker 1: that was the first one, if God will be with

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Speaker 1: me and will watch over me on this journey I

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Speaker 1: am taking, and will give me food to eat and

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Speaker 1: clothes to wear. And now, remember God just told him

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you the north, the south, the east,

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Speaker 1: and the west. But that's gonna come later. Jacob says,

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Speaker 1: I don't even need need you to give me real

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Speaker 1: estate right now. If you will just give me food

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Speaker 1: to eat and close to wear. Everybody say if, if

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Speaker 1: you'll do that for me, if you will be with

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Speaker 1: me and give me food to eat and close to wear,

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Speaker 1: If you will be with me, give me food to

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Speaker 1: eat and close to wear, so that I return safely

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Speaker 1: to my father's household, then the Lord will be my God.

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Speaker 1: The second word is then if then if then sounds

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Speaker 1: like the boy thinks he can bargain with the most high.

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Speaker 1: Sounds like the boy thinks that God is trying out

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Speaker 1: to be his financial adviser. Here's what we're gonna do.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna sit there and have a quarterly meeting, and

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Speaker 1: if you profitable to me, then I'll serve you. I

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Speaker 1: don't read it that way at all. At this date

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Speaker 1: age in my life. I think Jacob is saying, it

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Speaker 1: doesn't take much for me to trust you. I just

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Speaker 1: need you to show me enough, just enough that I'll

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Speaker 1: know three things. One that you're with me, One that

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Speaker 1: I've got something to eat and something to wear. I

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Speaker 1: can't run through this desert naked, and I can't go

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Speaker 1: to the next stop hungry. So I need you to

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Speaker 1: be with me. I need you to feed me, and

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Speaker 1: I need you to watch over me. I need you

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Speaker 1: to be with me. I need you to watch over me.

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Speaker 1: I need you to feed me. And if you'll do

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Speaker 1: that that much, that much, if you'll do that much,

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Speaker 1: then you'll be my God. If you'll be with me.

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Speaker 1: That's a prayer for God's presence. When you pray your

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Speaker 1: Thanksgiving prayer this week, thank God for his presence. When

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Speaker 1: you sit down to eat a big old ham, what

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Speaker 1: you're gonna have this week? You know by coming to

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Speaker 1: church the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Your calori these are automatically

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Speaker 1: divided by three. Give the Lord a praise for that

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Speaker 1: fake word I just gave you. I say that every

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Speaker 1: year on this Sunday. Every year, on this Sunday, for

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Speaker 1: every amen that you say, all of the sugar is

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Speaker 1: translated into protein to build your wouldn't that be cool

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Speaker 1: if it worked like that? And when you sit down

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Speaker 1: to pray, whoever's going to pray, say, Lord, I want

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Speaker 1: to thank you first of all for your presence. You've

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Speaker 1: been with me. How many know the truth that God

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Speaker 1: has been with you when nobody else was. You might

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Speaker 1: be there right now, It might have been last night

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Speaker 1: you were saying, God, I sure am lonely, but even

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Speaker 1: in your greatest loneliness. There was light, wasn't there come on?

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Speaker 1: Even when you were a little girl and you were

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Speaker 1: twelve or thirteen years old and you just felt so

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Speaker 1: weird and so strange, there was something inside of you

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Speaker 1: that you knew you weren't alone, even though you felt alone,

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Speaker 1: that even though you didn't get invited to the parties,

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Speaker 1: there was something in you that knew that I have

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Speaker 1: a purpose. You were never alone, not for any of it.

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Speaker 1: He is present, and I don't need a feeling to

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Speaker 1: prove his presence. You know, I don't need more proof

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Speaker 1: of his presence than I already have. He told me

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Speaker 1: he was with me, So he is with me. It's

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Speaker 1: just a matter of me becoming aware of it. Surely

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Speaker 1: the Lord is in this place, and I was not

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Speaker 1: aware of it. So thank God for his presence. Number two,

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Speaker 1: Thank him for his protection, his protection. He said, Lord,

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Speaker 1: if you'll be with me, and if you'll watch over me,

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Speaker 1: if you'll protect me. God. What does it mean that

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Speaker 1: God protected me? It doesn't mean that you never broke

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Speaker 1: your toe and set out. It doesn't mean that he

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Speaker 1: kept every weapon from being formed. It means that, in

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Speaker 1: spite of whatever weapon was formed, you had the faith

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Speaker 1: to endure it. And I want you to thank Him

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Speaker 1: for your shield and your buckler. I want you to

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Speaker 1: thank him that there have been angels around you that

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Speaker 1: kept you from car accidents that you didn't see come in.

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Speaker 1: I want you to thank him for slow drivers that

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Speaker 1: got in front of you and you cussed at them,

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Speaker 1: and they kept you from getting to the next intersection

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Speaker 1: where there was going to be a drunk driver. But

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Speaker 1: you were too busy cussing at the slow driver to

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Speaker 1: know about the drunk driver. So I want you to

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Speaker 1: thank God for the protection that you haven't even recognized yet.

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Speaker 1: I want you to just go back over your life

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Speaker 1: and realize that there were some things that God did.

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Speaker 1: I want you to praise him for the crazy person

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Speaker 1: that you asked him to make fall in love with you,

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Speaker 1: because you had not turned the corner and seen there

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Speaker 1: crazy yet. And you found out four years later that

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Speaker 1: when God said no, when you said please, God was

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Speaker 1: doing you the greatest favor of your life. He was

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Speaker 1: protecting you. Don't you see that He wasn't punishing me

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Speaker 1: because he hated me. He was punishing me to protect me.

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Speaker 1: There is a punishment, a discipline that comes from God

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Speaker 1: that is meant to protect. If God is convicting you

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Speaker 1: right now of a sin in your life, I want

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Speaker 1: you to praise Him for his protection. He's looking out

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Speaker 1: for you. He hasn't given up on you. He's not

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Speaker 1: gonna let your heart get so hard that you keep

428
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,360
Speaker 1: on doing it till you die from it. I want

429
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,560
Speaker 1: you to praise God for his protection. I want you

430
00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,240
Speaker 1: to thank him that he kept your mind from going

431
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:36,679
Speaker 1: absolutely buck wild over twenty twenty five. Your mom lost

432
00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,720
Speaker 1: her mind. You didn't lose yours. You kept your sanity.

433
00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,520
Speaker 1: He brought you here, He woke you up, look at

434
00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,440
Speaker 1: your neighbor and say, you know what's crazy. I woke

435
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:53,680
Speaker 1: up this morning, food on my table, close on my back.

436
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,480
Speaker 1: I thank God for his prisoness w I thank God

437
00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:01,159
Speaker 1: for his protection, and I thank him for his provision.

438
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 1: How many no? God to be a good good father

439
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:09,080
Speaker 1: brains on the righteous and the unrighteous, the just and

440
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,400
Speaker 1: the unjust. He blessed me when I did it right.

441
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 1: He blessed me when I turned left. He provided for me.

442
00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:20,679
Speaker 1: He gave me some things. He opened some doors and

443
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:25,159
Speaker 1: nobody could shut. He closed some doors and nobody could open.

444
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:29,080
Speaker 1: He provided for me. He didn't always give me what

445
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,639
Speaker 1: I wanted, but he gave me what I needed. He

446
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:37,000
Speaker 1: is my Jehovah Jyra. I had to blade in the air,

447
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,640
Speaker 1: but there was a ram in the bush. God made

448
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,680
Speaker 1: a way for me. Didn't look like it would work,

449
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:48,760
Speaker 1: felt like it shouldn't work, probably wasn't gonna work. Already

450
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,959
Speaker 1: planned out my speech, but he left me in the

451
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,760
Speaker 1: middle of the road, and he gave me a ring,

452
00:26:54,840 --> 00:27:01,480
Speaker 1: and he gave me a row. Praise him for his

453
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,040
Speaker 1: pro Oh yeah, I'm trying to get you to praise God.

454
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:08,000
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get you to praise God. I'm trying

455
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,800
Speaker 1: to you know how they use rage bait to try

456
00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,720
Speaker 1: to get you to go off and crash out. You

457
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:18,040
Speaker 1: know that rage bait. How my kids will rage bait

458
00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:20,639
Speaker 1: each other. Well, the Lord told me today, I have

459
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,680
Speaker 1: an assignment for you, Fordick. I want you to praise

460
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:29,080
Speaker 1: bait my people and try to find if you can

461
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,160
Speaker 1: finally push the button, because some of them are waiting

462
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,840
Speaker 1: like they don't have anything to praise me for. But

463
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,440
Speaker 1: if you can get them to look back. Don't even

464
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,840
Speaker 1: have to look back that far. Just look back over

465
00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:51,919
Speaker 1: your last step and you'll see that isn't it have nothing?

466
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,080
Speaker 1: Come on high five three people and say I'm passed.

467
00:27:56,119 --> 00:28:01,199
Speaker 1: Do I'm pasted, dou I'm passed to what you mean? I?

468
00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:11,280
Speaker 1: Oh God, this praise. I'm a praise bader, trying to

469
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:13,959
Speaker 1: get you to think about how good he is, trying

470
00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,160
Speaker 1: to get you to think about the mercy he showed you,

471
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:18,920
Speaker 1: Trying to get you to think about what you have left,

472
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:21,560
Speaker 1: Trying to get you to think about how the rain

473
00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:25,719
Speaker 1: came and the wind blew and the storm rolls by

474
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:30,359
Speaker 1: my house. Didn't know by a surviser. I'm bad not

475
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:45,600
Speaker 1: bade praise, and now I'm praising you. Know, somebody probably

476
00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:49,120
Speaker 1: thinks you look stupid praising him like that. Somebody probably

477
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,240
Speaker 1: thinks you look stupid praising him like that. But look

478
00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:57,360
Speaker 1: at your neighbor and say, after all I've seen, I'd

479
00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:03,640
Speaker 1: be stupid not to after all he does for me,

480
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,360
Speaker 1: I'd be stupid not to say thank you. I'd be

481
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:30,400
Speaker 1: stupid not to get an I'd be stupid. Looks pretty

482
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,600
Speaker 1: stupid if you hadn't seen him make away. But if

483
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:35,960
Speaker 1: you were coming up on something and you didn't see

484
00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:39,480
Speaker 1: it away, and all you had in your hand was

485
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:45,400
Speaker 1: a staff and you saw him take something as stupid

486
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:49,600
Speaker 1: as a staff and split something as big as a se.

487
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,880
Speaker 1: It'll make you shake your tambourine when you get on

488
00:29:55,040 --> 00:30:01,000
Speaker 1: the other side. And by the way, one time, the

489
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:04,720
Speaker 1: Lord really spanked me, The Lord really checked me. The

490
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:07,360
Speaker 1: Lord really corrected me. Yeah, he's got to ride in

491
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:10,400
Speaker 1: a staff. One is to comfort and one is to confront.

492
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:14,080
Speaker 1: And I was telling the Lord one day, I'll be

493
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,080
Speaker 1: so thankful when I get through this. When I get

494
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,560
Speaker 1: through this, then I'll be so thankful. The Lord says,

495
00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:27,959
Speaker 1: switch it. When you get thankful, you'll get through this.

496
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:34,480
Speaker 1: Because the way you're thinking right now, you ain't gonna

497
00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,800
Speaker 1: make it. You ain't gonna make it unless you get

498
00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:39,720
Speaker 1: a little crazy, you get a little stupid, start thanking

499
00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:44,640
Speaker 1: God for stupid stuff. Uh huh. And I want to

500
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:46,800
Speaker 1: take it a little bit further. Not only did the

501
00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,959
Speaker 1: things in my life that now look the most strategic

502
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:55,040
Speaker 1: at the time seem the stupidest, but some other people

503
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,920
Speaker 1: said they were stupid. Well, I told my friends that

504
00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:02,760
Speaker 1: want named the church Elevation. And you know, now we

505
00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:06,120
Speaker 1: got a lot of cool church names, but they weren't

506
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,760
Speaker 1: churches called things like Elevation, not that many. I'm never

507
00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,120
Speaker 1: there with some. I'm not saying I'm the originator, but

508
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,040
Speaker 1: I just thought, Wow, it'd be great to call it elevation.

509
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:19,720
Speaker 1: You know, lift up, Jesus, lift up people, you're going high,

510
00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:24,640
Speaker 1: you know, elevation. Remember one dude looked at me and said,

511
00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:27,240
Speaker 1: sounds stupid. It sounds like the name of a youth group.

512
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:31,760
Speaker 1: It sounds like if you two had a youth group.

513
00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:37,160
Speaker 1: That's what he said. It's a fine line. I said.

514
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:38,840
Speaker 1: I like it. I like it. I like it. I

515
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:43,560
Speaker 1: like it. There's a stupid name for a church elevation

516
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:48,160
Speaker 1: that never worked. I had a flashback the other day.

517
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:51,320
Speaker 1: I don't know if y'all remember this Janet this dude,

518
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:53,680
Speaker 1: because think about now. You've got Jacob and he says

519
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:58,600
Speaker 1: this thing. I'm gonna take this rock and I'm gonna

520
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:02,440
Speaker 1: pour oil on it, freaking out man, And this rock

521
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,640
Speaker 1: is gonna be your house. God, I'm gonna turn this

522
00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,560
Speaker 1: stone into your house, and of everything you give me.

523
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:12,080
Speaker 1: I mean, he's just disoriented. He doesn't know what to do.

524
00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 1: So he just says, if you will show me enough,

525
00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,280
Speaker 1: if you give me your presence, your protection, your provision,

526
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:22,560
Speaker 1: I will trust you. And he pours this oil on

527
00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:26,120
Speaker 1: a rock. Well, it made me think about some of

528
00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:27,840
Speaker 1: the things we did that seem stupid at the time

529
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:30,120
Speaker 1: when the church was young, because I want to share

530
00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:32,840
Speaker 1: it with these lovely people, because God still wants to

531
00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:38,160
Speaker 1: use stupid today in your family, in your athletic career,

532
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,000
Speaker 1: in your business, and your spiritual life, in your emotions.

533
00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:45,920
Speaker 1: God wants to use what people call stupid. One of

534
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:48,400
Speaker 1: the first things that I remember was when the man

535
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:54,040
Speaker 1: came to give us a strategy on giving. He said,

536
00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 1: the strategic move when you're starting a church. Now, listen

537
00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:58,760
Speaker 1: to this. Tell me this doesn't sound strategic on the surface,

538
00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:01,720
Speaker 1: because the world's with them sounds strategic on the surface.

539
00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:04,440
Speaker 1: Is how do it? And this is what you get

540
00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:09,000
Speaker 1: right and then you'll be blessed. But so here's what

541
00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:10,320
Speaker 1: he said to do, and to me it felt like

542
00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:12,960
Speaker 1: a compromise of my integrity. He said, you're not going

543
00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,800
Speaker 1: to have any money. That was true. He said, you

544
00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,280
Speaker 1: don't have that many members, and that was true. He said,

545
00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 1: so each of you know somebody who is a member

546
00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:22,720
Speaker 1: of another church, asked them for the next twenty four

547
00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:25,960
Speaker 1: months to redirect their tithe that they would give to

548
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,160
Speaker 1: their church and give it to you instead. Their church

549
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,520
Speaker 1: won't miss it, and it'll make or break you. I

550
00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:34,479
Speaker 1: thanked him for his time. At the time, we were

551
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:36,120
Speaker 1: so broke. I didn't even have any money to pay

552
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:38,520
Speaker 1: him to come and give us the speech. So I

553
00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:41,320
Speaker 1: gave him a Chili's gift card and I said thank

554
00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:43,920
Speaker 1: you for coming. I saw broke. We were so In

555
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,080
Speaker 1: a way, what he said sounded really good. I do

556
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:49,360
Speaker 1: know some people I've been traveling doing ministry. I've got

557
00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:51,320
Speaker 1: some contacts. Maybe I should reach out and do it

558
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,240
Speaker 1: that way, but the spirit of the Lord wouldn't let

559
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:58,680
Speaker 1: me do it like that. You ever had the spirit

560
00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:02,400
Speaker 1: tell you to do something that seems stupid? See that

561
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:06,000
Speaker 1: seems smart. But here's what the Lord told me to

562
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,840
Speaker 1: tell our team Instead. I shut the door, I let

563
00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:10,360
Speaker 1: him leave. I said what he just said. If we

564
00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:12,840
Speaker 1: do it that way, it might work for a while,

565
00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:18,719
Speaker 1: but it's going to set up a pattern where we

566
00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:24,279
Speaker 1: did not build it on the rock. We got to

567
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:28,959
Speaker 1: trust God. Tell your neighbor. I got to trust God,

568
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:31,840
Speaker 1: So I asked him, didn't I said, so, can we

569
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:34,800
Speaker 1: do this instead? While we're still at this church waiting

570
00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:36,920
Speaker 1: to go start our church? We were being sent from

571
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,440
Speaker 1: a church with permission and blessing. I said, while we're

572
00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:42,000
Speaker 1: still under the covering of this church, let's keep giving

573
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,000
Speaker 1: ten percent of our income to this church, and let's

574
00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:49,080
Speaker 1: give an additional ten to the one we're starting. And

575
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:52,480
Speaker 1: they all did it. As far as I know. I

576
00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:57,080
Speaker 1: didn't check the W two's to do the math, but

577
00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:00,760
Speaker 1: they all did it. So when I said you today

578
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:04,799
Speaker 1: that it is my desire as a pastor that every

579
00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,279
Speaker 1: single family in this church, every single individual in this church,

580
00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:11,960
Speaker 1: would put God first through the tithe and give ten percent,

581
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,279
Speaker 1: I'm not telling you that because of a need we have.

582
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:20,719
Speaker 1: I'm telling you that because it's the foundation that everything

583
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:25,080
Speaker 1: you see today was built on. And I say it

584
00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:32,120
Speaker 1: with confidence and I say it with clarity. Well, I

585
00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:34,080
Speaker 1: like that first part of the sermon you were preaching,

586
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:37,520
Speaker 1: Pastor Steve, and that was really good and fun, like

587
00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:41,040
Speaker 1: that calorie cancelation blessing. Can we go back to that? No,

588
00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:43,080
Speaker 1: we can't, because now I got to talk to you.

589
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:47,080
Speaker 1: We all love the part where God said to Jacob,

590
00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:48,919
Speaker 1: I'll be with you. But what about the part where

591
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,960
Speaker 1: Jacob said to God, if you'll be with me, then

592
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:58,640
Speaker 1: I'm with you. I always thought ten percent sounded like

593
00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:01,080
Speaker 1: a lot until I figured out it all came from God,

594
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:05,040
Speaker 1: and maybe the ninety that he lets me keep is

595
00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:07,960
Speaker 1: a lot, and maybe the ten that he asked me

596
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:11,680
Speaker 1: to give isn't that big. Right, I'm just talking to

597
00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:18,680
Speaker 1: you about trust in God. Trust in God is not

598
00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:22,680
Speaker 1: because you sang the chorus really loud. Trust in God

599
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:24,799
Speaker 1: is not because you clapped your hands on the beat.

600
00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:27,799
Speaker 1: Trust in God is not because you have a good

601
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 1: feeling about this. Trust in God is when you say

602
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:35,520
Speaker 1: I'm in and I know it looks stupid, but you

603
00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:39,319
Speaker 1: gave it all to me. You gave it all to

604
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:43,520
Speaker 1: me anyway, another stupid thing. Can I just tell you

605
00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:46,120
Speaker 1: a little bit of a testimony of stupid stuff that

606
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,080
Speaker 1: God used in our life? This might help you. How

607
00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:51,520
Speaker 1: many of y'all are kind of newly married, like you say,

608
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,000
Speaker 1: like a year or two or something like that. Just

609
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:56,960
Speaker 1: raise your hand at me real quick, newly marry? How

610
00:36:56,960 --> 00:36:58,719
Speaker 1: many of y'all hope to be raising your hand when

611
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:03,160
Speaker 1: I asked that question years from now? All right, check

612
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:06,280
Speaker 1: out the market research in here. This is a great

613
00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:08,799
Speaker 1: place to come to meet all of your life needs.

614
00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:14,640
Speaker 1: I came to her and I said, woman, the Lord

615
00:37:14,719 --> 00:37:17,319
Speaker 1: don't want us to be in debt. The Lord don't

616
00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:19,799
Speaker 1: want us to have cars we can't afford. The Lord

617
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:21,760
Speaker 1: don't want us to have furniture that we haven't paid

618
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:24,000
Speaker 1: for yet. What's the thing that they have where you

619
00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:26,240
Speaker 1: can pay for a jacket and put it eighteen dollars

620
00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:30,239
Speaker 1: a month and be paying for it for eighteen years. Klarna,

621
00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:37,959
Speaker 1: he says, it's called klarna. You said karma. I said,

622
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:40,480
Speaker 1: We're not clarna. We're not laying away. The only way

623
00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:43,000
Speaker 1: we're going to buy for something is if we can

624
00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,480
Speaker 1: afford it. And that meant that our house was filled

625
00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:50,040
Speaker 1: at the beginning of our marriage with furniture that came

626
00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:56,000
Speaker 1: from Eric's dad's trailer and he was over the trailer park,

627
00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:59,360
Speaker 1: so he would repoe people's furniture and save it. And

628
00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:02,400
Speaker 1: so our marriage was built on the foundation of furniture

629
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:04,759
Speaker 1: from the trailer park that was repoed from people who

630
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:09,080
Speaker 1: didn't pay the rent. That's who your pastor is. That's

631
00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:12,760
Speaker 1: how smart I am. Follow me? Is I follow christ?

632
00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:17,000
Speaker 1: That's who I am, buddy. That's who I am, buddy.

633
00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:19,879
Speaker 1: But I paid for everything we ever put in our house,

634
00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:21,400
Speaker 1: and I don't mean that to say, if you're in

635
00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:23,719
Speaker 1: debt that you did it wrong. I'm just telling you,

636
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:25,800
Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, it would feel stupid sometimes.

637
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:27,479
Speaker 1: When I knew we could just put it on a card.

638
00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:34,160
Speaker 1: See what the world calls, Wyse, what the world calls strategic,

639
00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:36,359
Speaker 1: God calls stupid, And what the world calls stupid God

640
00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:40,360
Speaker 1: calls strategic? Ain't that crazy? And as a matter of fact,

641
00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:43,799
Speaker 1: once brother Dave Ramsey got me convinced on the emergency fund,

642
00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:47,239
Speaker 1: how many of y'all did the emergency fund that Dave

643
00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:49,880
Speaker 1: Ramsey talked about. It's a great practice, man. It's like,

644
00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:53,160
Speaker 1: save what is it, three months to six months of

645
00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:56,440
Speaker 1: your living expenses and put it away so that when

646
00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:58,440
Speaker 1: the tire goes flat, you don't have to go in

647
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:01,200
Speaker 1: debt to replace it. Did that like in our first

648
00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:03,839
Speaker 1: two years of marriage. And I was so proud when

649
00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:06,000
Speaker 1: that number hit. I figured out what the number would be.

650
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:08,200
Speaker 1: Boom boom, boom boom boom this how much we need

651
00:39:08,239 --> 00:39:10,880
Speaker 1: to save? Saved it up got to the level and

652
00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:12,400
Speaker 1: that night when I went to tell her in the

653
00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:15,160
Speaker 1: kitchen that we've hit our emergency fund, go, I felt

654
00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:17,720
Speaker 1: a prompting from the Lord that I tried to rebuke

655
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:24,560
Speaker 1: as Satan, and the prompting said give it all away.

656
00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:29,919
Speaker 1: I said, that's stupid, Not to the Lord. I thought

657
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:32,120
Speaker 1: it was the devil. I thought it was the devil

658
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:40,279
Speaker 1: because Dave said I had to save it. I full disclosure. Now,

659
00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:42,839
Speaker 1: many times over the Lord has blessed us, and I

660
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:45,640
Speaker 1: have not kept my savings at Zero's every time since

661
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:49,319
Speaker 1: that day. But I remember walking in and saying, you

662
00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:56,560
Speaker 1: know that emergency fund, it's about to be a missions gift. Stupid,

663
00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:59,319
Speaker 1: isn't it. I don't know. You tell me because when

664
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:02,280
Speaker 1: we wrote those checks at that kitchen table, I remember

665
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:04,279
Speaker 1: the place, so you never forget the place where God

666
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:09,160
Speaker 1: makes you a promise. That's why Jacob named the place Bethel.

667
00:40:09,239 --> 00:40:12,200
Speaker 1: He said, this is God's house. You say it's stupid

668
00:40:12,239 --> 00:40:13,919
Speaker 1: to call a rock the house of God. Not when

669
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:17,799
Speaker 1: God spoke to you there. Stupid unless you had God

670
00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:21,000
Speaker 1: speak to you there. And the Lord spoke to me

671
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:23,719
Speaker 1: two sentences. He said, if you keep your hands open

672
00:40:23,840 --> 00:40:27,280
Speaker 1: to me, then you will always have everything you need.

673
00:40:28,239 --> 00:40:30,480
Speaker 1: You will always be able to do everything I've called

674
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:35,560
Speaker 1: you to do. He spoke that to me at that

675
00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:41,440
Speaker 1: kitchen table that came from the trailer park, repossessed furniture

676
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,279
Speaker 1: that was scratched up and dinged up, and I had

677
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:47,399
Speaker 1: money to buy a new one, and the Lord said,

678
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:49,680
Speaker 1: this time, I want you to give it. We didn't

679
00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:52,960
Speaker 1: have kids yet. It wasn't like we were being irresponsible.

680
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:56,440
Speaker 1: You're like, I can already see people misapplying this message.

681
00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:58,960
Speaker 1: Do you know what I mean? Like the Lord says,

682
00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:02,880
Speaker 1: the Lord said he would use stupid. Baby, that's the

683
00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:05,880
Speaker 1: word I've been waiting for. Did you hear what pastor

684
00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:10,560
Speaker 1: said today? I'm getting a boat. I'm getting a boat.

685
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:15,800
Speaker 1: Man of God said I could get a boat. Don't

686
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:19,759
Speaker 1: pervert this word. You know what I'm talking about. Keep

687
00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:24,840
Speaker 1: me in context. And I want to ask you a question.

688
00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:30,879
Speaker 1: Was it stupid? I don't know. One of the things

689
00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:42,880
Speaker 1: we gave to was this. Look around. Some of your

690
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:47,000
Speaker 1: kids have been baptized here. I don't think it was stupid.

691
00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:50,560
Speaker 1: Some of you had your life put back together here.

692
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:53,640
Speaker 1: I don't think it was stupid. Some of you afraid

693
00:41:53,719 --> 00:41:57,960
Speaker 1: to receive Christ here. I don't call that stupid. He

694
00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:01,640
Speaker 1: is no fool who he gives what he cannot keep

695
00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:06,280
Speaker 1: to gain what he cannot lose. You call it stupid.

696
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:14,360
Speaker 1: I call it surrender. And Jacob takes the oil. Remember

697
00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:17,640
Speaker 1: he has very little with him. He's on the run,

698
00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:20,120
Speaker 1: and he takes the little bit of oil that he

699
00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:24,360
Speaker 1: has and pours it on the rock. The rock is stupid,

700
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:27,720
Speaker 1: The oil is stupid. The whole thing is stupid unless

701
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:33,480
Speaker 1: God is in it. But God uses stupid and he

702
00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:34,000
Speaker 1: says this.

703
00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:37,440
Speaker 5: He says, I'll trust you, and I'll give to you

704
00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:42,000
Speaker 5: if you will be with me, and if you will

705
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:45,080
Speaker 5: give me food, and if you will give me clothes.

706
00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:47,640
Speaker 1: And if you will watch out for me and watch

707
00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:51,000
Speaker 1: over me, if then you will be my God. So

708
00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:53,400
Speaker 1: I want to ask a question, and I need some

709
00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:57,120
Speaker 1: participation on this. How many of you, if we take

710
00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:00,480
Speaker 1: Jacob's rubric, if we take Jacob's grid, if we take

711
00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:04,000
Speaker 1: Jacob's prayer, if we take Jacob's not negotiation, but if

712
00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:07,040
Speaker 1: we take Jacob's surrender to the Lord as a template,

713
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:10,439
Speaker 1: how many of you would say that God has been

714
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:19,759
Speaker 1: with you? Make some noise? How many of you would

715
00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:27,359
Speaker 1: say that God put food on your table. You're cheering

716
00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:31,280
Speaker 1: a little soft about that one. Maybe you're hungry right now,

717
00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:34,320
Speaker 1: but I'm saying you're gonna have something to eat before

718
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:38,200
Speaker 1: the sun goes down. How many of you have clothes

719
00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:43,160
Speaker 1: on your body, even if the waist fits a little

720
00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:46,480
Speaker 1: tighter in November than it did in January. Come on,

721
00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:49,640
Speaker 1: I got clothes on my body, food on my table.

722
00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:59,360
Speaker 1: How many would say God has kept me alive. Jacob said,

723
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:03,600
Speaker 1: if you will be present, if you will protect, and

724
00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:07,839
Speaker 1: if you will provide, if verse twenty one, then you

725
00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:11,879
Speaker 1: will be my God. And the Lord said to tell

726
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,880
Speaker 1: you if he's been with you presence, if he's provided

727
00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:19,239
Speaker 1: for you food and clothing, if he's watched out for

728
00:44:19,360 --> 00:44:23,840
Speaker 1: you protection, if he's done that for you, then this

729
00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:32,680
Speaker 1: is then. You don't need more proof. This is then

730
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:38,160
Speaker 1: say it. This is then, and I know you've been

731
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:42,800
Speaker 1: postponing your joy. Oh I'll be happy then. No, this

732
00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:47,239
Speaker 1: is then when my kids come back to God, I'm

733
00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:49,640
Speaker 1: gonna throw a big party and celebrate. No, no, no,

734
00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:53,080
Speaker 1: God is working in their life right now. I'm gonna

735
00:44:53,120 --> 00:44:56,719
Speaker 1: go down this road with the praise for the prodigal

736
00:44:57,120 --> 00:45:02,040
Speaker 1: because this is then when I get this amount in

737
00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:05,200
Speaker 1: the bank, I'll be secure. No, you won't. You'll pay taxes.

738
00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:09,280
Speaker 1: So the fact that you have enough, you had gas

739
00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:12,200
Speaker 1: in the tank to get here. You had energy in

740
00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:21,640
Speaker 1: your body to get here. This is then you better

741
00:45:21,680 --> 00:45:25,160
Speaker 1: take that rock that you got and that oil that

742
00:45:25,239 --> 00:45:29,000
Speaker 1: you got and pour what you've got on where you're

743
00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:33,160
Speaker 1: at and praise God at a kitchen table that was

744
00:45:33,200 --> 00:45:40,080
Speaker 1: repowed from somebody's trailer park and ask God, what would

745
00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 1: you have me to do next for you? Wow? This

746
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:49,360
Speaker 1: is then the Lord made Jacob a promise. I'm gonna

747
00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:54,200
Speaker 1: bring the blessing of the Lord through your offspring. He

748
00:45:54,239 --> 00:45:59,000
Speaker 1: had no kids, but then he had twelve, and then

749
00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:03,200
Speaker 1: those twelve has some and those became nations, and the

750
00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:06,600
Speaker 1: nations became a tribe. Each of the nations became their

751
00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:10,319
Speaker 1: own tribe. And then those tribes they took the land

752
00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:13,000
Speaker 1: that God had promised to Jacob, that he had promised

753
00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:16,279
Speaker 1: to Isaac, that he had promised to Abraham. God is

754
00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:19,760
Speaker 1: a prophise keeper. He's a promise keeper in your life.

755
00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:22,480
Speaker 1: He's not just getting started in your life. Is already

756
00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:25,440
Speaker 1: in progress. The thing that you're praying about is already

757
00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:28,320
Speaker 1: in progress. The thing that you're worried about, He's already

758
00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:31,080
Speaker 1: working on the thing that you need. He already knows it.

759
00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:34,239
Speaker 1: The thing that you lack, he already supplies the thing

760
00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:37,160
Speaker 1: that you're not. He already is. God's already worked in

761
00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:41,920
Speaker 1: on this, because then that nation gave birth to a savior.

762
00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:45,279
Speaker 1: Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, and the Messiah

763
00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:48,239
Speaker 1: was born, and the Messiah died on a cross. And

764
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:51,680
Speaker 1: the Bible says something very interesting from Jesus's own mouth

765
00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:55,160
Speaker 1: in Matthew twenty one, Verses forty three and forty four,

766
00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:57,200
Speaker 1: he said to them, have you never read into Scriptures

767
00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:03,359
Speaker 1: forty two? The stone? What did Jacob lay his head on?

768
00:47:06,360 --> 00:47:20,840
Speaker 1: The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Somebody shout,

769
00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:25,680
Speaker 1: the Lord has done this, And it is marvelous in

770
00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:30,759
Speaker 1: our eyes. I see it now. I see that Jacob's

771
00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:35,600
Speaker 1: rock was pointing to Jesus. I see that Jacob, who

772
00:47:35,719 --> 00:47:38,480
Speaker 1: was the second born, not the chosen one, was the

773
00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:42,279
Speaker 1: one who was blessed, was pointing to Jesus, who was

774
00:47:42,360 --> 00:47:45,600
Speaker 1: born of a virgin, who became the rock on which

775
00:47:45,719 --> 00:47:49,280
Speaker 1: the church was built. And now I see what Jesus

776
00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:53,799
Speaker 1: means when he says that God selected what man rejected,

777
00:47:54,640 --> 00:47:57,920
Speaker 1: because Jesus was what the people rejected, But it's what

778
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:01,960
Speaker 1: God wanted all along. So Jesus is saying that the

779
00:48:02,040 --> 00:48:04,080
Speaker 1: thing that you need is right in front of you,

780
00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:07,719
Speaker 1: but you are rejecting it, and you cannot expect the

781
00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:10,279
Speaker 1: blessing of God and reject the way he sends it.

782
00:48:11,680 --> 00:48:14,280
Speaker 1: So God says, I know you're in a hard place

783
00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:17,600
Speaker 1: right now, a rocky place right now, a place that

784
00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:21,120
Speaker 1: you can't fully call home right now. I understand that.

785
00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:22,879
Speaker 1: Look at me, Look at me, Look at me. I've

786
00:48:22,920 --> 00:48:25,279
Speaker 1: been praying for you this week. I've been praying that

787
00:48:25,320 --> 00:48:27,719
Speaker 1: God would say what it is right now that he

788
00:48:27,800 --> 00:48:31,040
Speaker 1: wants you to anoint, because you can anoint a rock

789
00:48:31,560 --> 00:48:34,239
Speaker 1: and it can become a place where God meets with you.

790
00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:38,120
Speaker 1: That means you're anointed for the hard place. That means

791
00:48:38,120 --> 00:48:41,600
Speaker 1: you're anointed for the difficult thing. That means God is

792
00:48:41,680 --> 00:48:45,359
Speaker 1: teaching you to trust him in transition. And I hear

793
00:48:45,400 --> 00:48:48,840
Speaker 1: the spirit of the Lord saying, what more do I

794
00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:52,799
Speaker 1: have to do to get you to trust me? When

795
00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:56,839
Speaker 1: is it going to be then for you? If experience

796
00:48:57,000 --> 00:48:59,359
Speaker 1: was going to teach us to trust God, we would

797
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:02,680
Speaker 1: have trusted him by now. He's done enough for you

798
00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:06,840
Speaker 1: to trust him. He's done enough for you to trust him.

799
00:49:07,239 --> 00:49:10,000
Speaker 1: He can be trusted the fact that he put you

800
00:49:10,080 --> 00:49:13,399
Speaker 1: on this planet, the fact that he kept you to

801
00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:17,200
Speaker 1: this day, the fact that he provided for you through

802
00:49:17,280 --> 00:49:21,799
Speaker 1: every season of your life. He's done enough. And if

803
00:49:21,840 --> 00:49:26,480
Speaker 1: he never does anything else, I trust him. If he

804
00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:30,799
Speaker 1: never goes any He died for me, he forgave me,

805
00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:36,120
Speaker 1: He cast my sins from the east to the west.

806
00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:42,640
Speaker 1: And you don't need more proof to trust him. You

807
00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:52,279
Speaker 1: just need more practice. You need more practice saying God,

808
00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:58,720
Speaker 1: I trust you. You know how we get through something

809
00:49:58,760 --> 00:50:01,920
Speaker 1: really hard, and we get through it and then we

810
00:50:02,080 --> 00:50:04,839
Speaker 1: forget that. We told God if we got through it,

811
00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:10,960
Speaker 1: we would serve him. Not this time, baby, This is then.

812
00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:14,120
Speaker 1: You said if God would give you the responsibility, you

813
00:50:14,160 --> 00:50:16,600
Speaker 1: would shoulder it. Well, this is then. You got it. Baby,

814
00:50:16,760 --> 00:50:18,759
Speaker 1: You're the one for the job. You said that if

815
00:50:18,760 --> 00:50:20,640
Speaker 1: God would give you the blessing, you would take care

816
00:50:20,680 --> 00:50:23,120
Speaker 1: of it. This is then, and God is calling you

817
00:50:23,200 --> 00:50:26,120
Speaker 1: to trust him with it because it didn't start with

818
00:50:26,239 --> 00:50:31,799
Speaker 1: you and it's not on you to sustain it. But

819
00:50:31,880 --> 00:50:33,280
Speaker 1: I'm praying that you would show.

820
00:50:33,160 --> 00:50:38,120
Speaker 6: Up with oil to every hard place in your life

821
00:50:38,200 --> 00:50:41,960
Speaker 6: this week, and I'm praying that you would do something

822
00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:47,280
Speaker 6: stupid to see God do something supernatural.

823
00:50:50,600 --> 00:50:55,320
Speaker 1: That is the word of the Lord. Give him praise

824
00:50:55,360 --> 00:51:01,160
Speaker 1: and glory in this house. Give him praise and glory

825
00:51:01,840 --> 00:51:08,960
Speaker 1: and thanks. If he's been good to you, then lift

826
00:51:09,040 --> 00:51:14,799
Speaker 1: up a shout of praise for your own self, for

827
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:23,160
Speaker 1: your own journey. Everyone's standing, no one moving. We'll dismiss altogether.

828
00:51:26,040 --> 00:51:38,719
Speaker 1: This is then. This is then. Jacob said, if you'll

829
00:51:38,760 --> 00:51:43,680
Speaker 1: just be with me, watch over me, and provide for me,

830
00:51:44,560 --> 00:51:46,520
Speaker 1: then you'll be my God. And I'm here to tell

831
00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:52,160
Speaker 1: you He's done all three for me. Thank him for

832
00:51:52,200 --> 00:51:58,400
Speaker 1: his presence, Thank him for his protection, Thank him for

833
00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:03,080
Speaker 1: his provision. Everybody in this church that ain't a tithe

834
00:52:03,200 --> 00:52:05,239
Speaker 1: ought to be online setting up your tithing when I

835
00:52:05,239 --> 00:52:07,640
Speaker 1: finished this message, and I ought not have to beg

836
00:52:07,719 --> 00:52:12,480
Speaker 1: for it. God's been too good to you. What would

837
00:52:12,480 --> 00:52:14,440
Speaker 1: it take? How much more would God have to do

838
00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:17,880
Speaker 1: to get you to trust him? I can't afford not

839
00:52:17,960 --> 00:52:23,000
Speaker 1: to trust him. He's my God, He's my God. I've

840
00:52:23,040 --> 00:52:30,960
Speaker 1: seen too much. This is the Lord's doing, aren't you glad?

841
00:52:31,000 --> 00:52:34,719
Speaker 1: God uses stupid that I don't have to figure it out.

842
00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:39,240
Speaker 1: Just have enough faith to move forward. I want to pray.

843
00:52:39,800 --> 00:52:41,800
Speaker 1: I was thinking about how do I close this message.

844
00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:45,920
Speaker 1: This is such a personal thing to talk about. It's

845
00:52:45,920 --> 00:52:50,480
Speaker 1: such a festive season to be in. It's festive, it's fun,

846
00:52:50,520 --> 00:52:54,800
Speaker 1: it's all that, but it's also so full. Start getting

847
00:52:54,800 --> 00:52:57,160
Speaker 1: panic attacks just seeing Rudolph, you know what I mean,

848
00:52:57,800 --> 00:52:59,960
Speaker 1: Just want to shoot Rudolph and be like, leave me alone.

849
00:53:00,080 --> 00:53:02,160
Speaker 1: Come back next December. I'm not ready for you yet.

850
00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:07,280
Speaker 1: And I know we're all feeling all those different things.

851
00:53:07,719 --> 00:53:11,560
Speaker 1: And here I am challenging you. You're like this, this dude,

852
00:53:11,840 --> 00:53:15,399
Speaker 1: this preacher coming up, You're talking about giving to God.

853
00:53:15,719 --> 00:53:19,759
Speaker 1: Doesn't he understand how stretched we already are? Exactly That's

854
00:53:19,800 --> 00:53:23,680
Speaker 1: why you need God in this situation. And until you

855
00:53:23,719 --> 00:53:28,359
Speaker 1: put him first, you're never going to figure it out.

856
00:53:29,760 --> 00:53:32,040
Speaker 1: I think it's significant that Jacob had to anoint what

857
00:53:32,080 --> 00:53:34,080
Speaker 1: he had before God could give him what he promised.

858
00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:38,040
Speaker 1: Even if all you have isn't that much. What did

859
00:53:38,120 --> 00:53:40,399
Speaker 1: Jesus say when the disciples said, we don't have enough

860
00:53:40,400 --> 00:53:45,799
Speaker 1: food to feed all these what do you have? Bring

861
00:53:45,840 --> 00:53:49,120
Speaker 1: them here to me? And when they brought him the

862
00:53:49,200 --> 00:53:50,719
Speaker 1: fish and the loads, he took it, he blessed it,

863
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:52,239
Speaker 1: he broke it, he gave it to them, And the

864
00:53:52,239 --> 00:53:56,640
Speaker 1: Bible says, then they gave to the people as much

865
00:53:56,640 --> 00:54:03,160
Speaker 1: as they wanted. The Lord said, this is then on

866
00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:05,239
Speaker 1: December the fourteenth, we'll be taking an offering for our

867
00:54:05,239 --> 00:54:08,359
Speaker 1: expansion and our outreach, and it'll be wonderful, but we're

868
00:54:08,360 --> 00:54:11,719
Speaker 1: really taking an offering for your faith. Don't wait to

869
00:54:11,760 --> 00:54:13,680
Speaker 1: do tomorrow what God is telling you to do right now,

870
00:54:14,719 --> 00:54:16,560
Speaker 1: whether it's in the area of your finances, which is

871
00:54:16,640 --> 00:54:19,040
Speaker 1: thousands of you. There are thousands of people connected to

872
00:54:19,080 --> 00:54:21,560
Speaker 1: this ministry who do not yet trust God in this way.

873
00:54:21,680 --> 00:54:25,400
Speaker 1: Today is your day. But as I was praying how

874
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:28,280
Speaker 1: to close it, the Lord said, don't pray about the money,

875
00:54:28,440 --> 00:54:34,640
Speaker 1: pray about the trust. Pray about the trust. That you've

876
00:54:34,640 --> 00:54:37,759
Speaker 1: seen God do enough to trust him. What else would

877
00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:40,920
Speaker 1: he have to do? Come here. This is my best

878
00:54:40,960 --> 00:54:43,080
Speaker 1: friend since high school. You'll give him a hand. Eric Phillips.

879
00:54:49,880 --> 00:54:51,800
Speaker 1: When we were boys, I gave my life to Christ.

880
00:54:52,440 --> 00:54:59,239
Speaker 1: He was still he was still building his testimony. I

881
00:54:59,280 --> 00:55:01,600
Speaker 1: love him to death. Man, he was wild buck wild.

882
00:55:01,600 --> 00:55:04,320
Speaker 1: I sat down with him, and this was on Black Friday.

883
00:55:04,760 --> 00:55:07,560
Speaker 1: We were sixteen years old, and I remember I was

884
00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:10,520
Speaker 1: a very very passionate evangelist, even before I had a church,

885
00:55:11,680 --> 00:55:14,279
Speaker 1: always telling everybody that they needed to get right or

886
00:55:14,280 --> 00:55:18,479
Speaker 1: get left, turn or burn. And I'm telling this guy

887
00:55:19,160 --> 00:55:20,879
Speaker 1: right across the table, I'm like, you know, the Lord

888
00:55:20,960 --> 00:55:22,680
Speaker 1: wants you to get saved, and you can't keep living

889
00:55:22,760 --> 00:55:25,440
Speaker 1: like this. I said, what's it going to take for

890
00:55:25,480 --> 00:55:26,640
Speaker 1: you to give your life to the Lord. What's it

891
00:55:26,640 --> 00:55:28,919
Speaker 1: going to take for God to get your attention? He said,

892
00:55:28,920 --> 00:55:31,040
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm having a lot of fun living

893
00:55:31,080 --> 00:55:32,319
Speaker 1: my life. I think he's going to have to do

894
00:55:32,360 --> 00:55:37,200
Speaker 1: something pretty dramatic. I said, if he does something dramatic,

895
00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:41,560
Speaker 1: then will you give your life to Christ? If then

896
00:55:43,800 --> 00:55:45,640
Speaker 1: the next night he went out and got so drunk

897
00:55:46,360 --> 00:55:48,160
Speaker 1: he had to go to the emergency room. Members died

898
00:55:48,160 --> 00:55:51,400
Speaker 1: of alcohol poisoning. The next Monday, we were sharing a

899
00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:53,880
Speaker 1: testimony at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes where everybody was

900
00:55:53,920 --> 00:56:03,520
Speaker 1: crying about how Doc came into his life. A week later,

901
00:56:03,560 --> 00:56:05,960
Speaker 1: he was back running from God again because the temptation

902
00:56:06,120 --> 00:56:09,000
Speaker 1: was too strong. Two or three years later, he came

903
00:56:09,040 --> 00:56:10,880
Speaker 1: and said, I'm finally ready. Now, I'm finally ready to

904
00:56:10,880 --> 00:56:12,600
Speaker 1: give my life to Christ. I'm finally ready. I said,

905
00:56:12,600 --> 00:56:14,239
Speaker 1: I've seen this song and dance before. You have to

906
00:56:14,280 --> 00:56:16,920
Speaker 1: prove it to me. This time. So I'm really ready now,

907
00:56:16,920 --> 00:56:20,200
Speaker 1: I'm really ready. I'm really ready to receive Jesus and

908
00:56:20,239 --> 00:56:24,120
Speaker 1: we pray and he was one of the first people

909
00:56:24,120 --> 00:56:26,600
Speaker 1: who came here to start the church with us, and

910
00:56:26,640 --> 00:56:37,520
Speaker 1: he's still here. But but I heard the question, what's

911
00:56:37,560 --> 00:56:40,719
Speaker 1: it going to take for you? What's it going to take?

912
00:56:41,600 --> 00:56:43,480
Speaker 1: How much more will God have to do? And I'm

913
00:56:43,520 --> 00:56:46,040
Speaker 1: asking you now, how much more is God going to

914
00:56:46,080 --> 00:56:49,879
Speaker 1: have to do to get your attention? How much more

915
00:56:49,960 --> 00:56:51,799
Speaker 1: is God going to have to show you that he

916
00:56:51,800 --> 00:56:54,920
Speaker 1: can be trusted and others cannot. How much more is

917
00:56:54,960 --> 00:56:56,719
Speaker 1: God going to have to do to get you to

918
00:56:56,760 --> 00:56:59,440
Speaker 1: see that He has you where he wants you and

919
00:56:59,520 --> 00:57:02,319
Speaker 1: you are the one he chose for that situation. How

920
00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:04,960
Speaker 1: much more is God going to have to do? What

921
00:57:05,080 --> 00:57:10,400
Speaker 1: is your if? Hasn't He already done it? Hasn't he

922
00:57:10,400 --> 00:57:13,400
Speaker 1: already proven to you his love. Hasn't he already shown

923
00:57:13,400 --> 00:57:16,640
Speaker 1: you through every season of your life that He's enough.

924
00:57:17,760 --> 00:57:20,560
Speaker 1: Didn't you have warmth in the winter? Didn't you have

925
00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:24,600
Speaker 1: cool in the summer? Didn't you have his hand undergirding you.

926
00:57:25,600 --> 00:57:29,080
Speaker 1: Didn't you have his love calling you back home? Do

927
00:57:29,120 --> 00:57:30,960
Speaker 1: you not have the forgiveness of your sins. Do you

928
00:57:30,960 --> 00:57:33,120
Speaker 1: not have the assurance of your salvation? What more would

929
00:57:33,160 --> 00:57:36,080
Speaker 1: God have to do to get you to trust him?

930
00:57:36,320 --> 00:57:42,240
Speaker 1: I'm telling you this is Then goal your head and

931
00:57:42,240 --> 00:57:45,800
Speaker 1: close your eyes. Thank you. I wanted to give that

932
00:57:45,840 --> 00:57:49,880
Speaker 1: picture because there's somebody who's there right now. You need

933
00:57:49,880 --> 00:57:51,760
Speaker 1: to give your life to Jesus. You need to trust

934
00:57:51,800 --> 00:57:54,240
Speaker 1: him with your life. Some of you you've trusted him

935
00:57:54,240 --> 00:57:56,480
Speaker 1: with your life, but you're just not trusting him with

936
00:57:56,560 --> 00:58:02,200
Speaker 1: this part of it. Going to say that again, that

937
00:58:02,400 --> 00:58:04,720
Speaker 1: was the word of the Lord to somebody's heart. You've

938
00:58:04,760 --> 00:58:07,920
Speaker 1: trusted him with your life, but not this part of it.

939
00:58:09,760 --> 00:58:11,120
Speaker 1: How much more is he going to have to do

940
00:58:11,160 --> 00:58:15,000
Speaker 1: to show you He's the God of every season, the

941
00:58:15,080 --> 00:58:19,919
Speaker 1: God of every generation. I pray that you would trust God.

942
00:58:22,760 --> 00:58:25,560
Speaker 1: Why don't you just lift your hands to him right now?

943
00:58:26,760 --> 00:58:29,400
Speaker 1: You don't have to. I can't make you, nobody can

944
00:58:29,400 --> 00:58:34,480
Speaker 1: make you surrender. But if you will, if you give

945
00:58:34,480 --> 00:58:37,280
Speaker 1: it to God, he tell you what he told me.

946
00:58:37,320 --> 00:58:39,000
Speaker 1: If you'll keep your hands open to me, you will

947
00:58:39,040 --> 00:58:42,200
Speaker 1: always have everything you need to do everything that I've

948
00:58:42,200 --> 00:58:46,080
Speaker 1: called you to do for every season of your life.

949
00:58:46,360 --> 00:58:48,200
Speaker 1: I speak that over you right now in the name

950
00:58:48,200 --> 00:58:53,480
Speaker 1: of Jesus. So Father, here we are rich and poor,

951
00:58:54,200 --> 00:58:59,480
Speaker 1: great and small, happy and sad, gathered together against all odds,

952
00:58:59,480 --> 00:59:03,200
Speaker 1: built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ, the one

953
00:59:03,240 --> 00:59:06,760
Speaker 1: foundation that the storm can't shake, the foundation of your name.

954
00:59:07,800 --> 00:59:10,560
Speaker 1: We came to say that this is then we're not

955
00:59:10,600 --> 00:59:12,600
Speaker 1: going to trust you in rejoicing you and praise you

956
00:59:12,640 --> 00:59:14,800
Speaker 1: and worship you and serve you when everything looks good,

957
00:59:15,000 --> 00:59:18,680
Speaker 1: sounds good, feels good. No, no, right now, not when we

958
00:59:18,720 --> 00:59:21,720
Speaker 1: see how it turns out. Right now, you're good. So

959
00:59:21,800 --> 00:59:23,600
Speaker 1: I give you this right now, and tomorrow I'll give

960
00:59:23,600 --> 00:59:25,960
Speaker 1: it to you again, and five minutes later I'll give

961
00:59:26,000 --> 00:59:30,120
Speaker 1: it back to you. Surrender. With every step you can

962
00:59:30,160 --> 00:59:32,280
Speaker 1: put your your hands down, but keep your head balant

963
00:59:32,320 --> 00:59:34,280
Speaker 1: and your eyes closed. I want to pray for somebody

964
00:59:34,440 --> 00:59:38,360
Speaker 1: who needs to give your life to Jesus Christ. Please,

965
00:59:38,480 --> 00:59:41,840
Speaker 1: right now, don't let this moment pass you by. What

966
00:59:41,920 --> 00:59:43,680
Speaker 1: is God going to have to do to get your attention?

967
00:59:46,280 --> 00:59:47,720
Speaker 1: What is God going to have to do to show

968
00:59:47,720 --> 00:59:49,480
Speaker 1: you how much He loves you? He brought you here

969
00:59:50,840 --> 00:59:52,560
Speaker 1: so right now I want to lead you in a prayer.

970
00:59:53,440 --> 00:59:56,560
Speaker 1: This prayer is you expressing to God your faith in

971
00:59:56,680 --> 01:00:00,680
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. It's not a magical prayer, but aracle happens

972
01:00:00,680 --> 01:00:03,000
Speaker 1: when you pray it. For the Bible says that if

973
01:00:03,040 --> 01:00:06,080
Speaker 1: you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and

974
01:00:06,120 --> 01:00:08,320
Speaker 1: believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

975
01:00:08,680 --> 01:00:12,040
Speaker 1: you will be saved. It'll happen right now. This is

976
01:00:12,120 --> 01:00:14,800
Speaker 1: your then, this is the moment for you to give

977
01:00:14,800 --> 01:00:18,480
Speaker 1: your life to Christ. Stop running and believe, Stop doubting,

978
01:00:18,520 --> 01:00:21,400
Speaker 1: and have faith. God is here and he loves you

979
01:00:21,520 --> 01:00:24,040
Speaker 1: so much. We're going to pray out loud as a

980
01:00:24,120 --> 01:00:26,800
Speaker 1: church family for the benefit of those who are coming

981
01:00:26,880 --> 01:00:30,120
Speaker 1: to God, are coming back to God. Repeat after me,

982
01:00:30,240 --> 01:00:35,160
Speaker 1: Heavenly Father. I am a sinner in need of a savior,

983
01:00:36,200 --> 01:00:40,960
Speaker 1: and I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of

984
01:00:41,000 --> 01:00:46,520
Speaker 1: God and the savior of the world. And today I

985
01:00:46,640 --> 01:00:51,240
Speaker 1: make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he

986
01:00:51,360 --> 01:00:57,040
Speaker 1: died that I would be forgiven and rose again to

987
01:00:57,120 --> 01:01:02,600
Speaker 1: give me life. I receive this new life. This is

988
01:01:03,480 --> 01:01:08,240
Speaker 1: my new beginning. I am a child of God. On

989
01:01:08,360 --> 01:01:11,320
Speaker 1: the counter, three shoot your hand up one two three.

990
01:01:11,360 --> 01:01:15,240
Speaker 1: If you've prayed that prayer, praise the Lord. I knew

991
01:01:15,240 --> 01:01:17,000
Speaker 1: it would be a lot today I could feel up

992
01:01:17,040 --> 01:01:21,840
Speaker 1: what I preach. This is your homecoming, man, this is

993
01:01:21,840 --> 01:01:25,919
Speaker 1: your homecoming. I praise God for you, so do all

994
01:01:25,960 --> 01:01:29,680
Speaker 1: of these people. We welcome you to the family of God.

995
01:01:30,840 --> 01:01:39,160
Speaker 1: Come on, give the Lord of great soul of praise. Hallelujah.

996
01:01:41,960 --> 01:01:44,520
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of

997
01:01:44,560 --> 01:01:47,560
Speaker 1: you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of

998
01:01:47,600 --> 01:01:50,520
Speaker 1: you that this ministry is possible. You can click the

999
01:01:50,560 --> 01:01:53,800
Speaker 1: link in the description to give now, or visit Elevation

1000
01:01:54,000 --> 01:01:57,600
Speaker 1: Church dot org slash podcast for more information and if

1001
01:01:57,640 --> 01:02:00,919
Speaker 1: you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share

1002
01:02:00,920 --> 01:02:03,160
Speaker 1: it with your friends. You can click the share button,

1003
01:02:03,200 --> 01:02:05,640
Speaker 1: take a screenshot and share it on your social stories

1004
01:02:05,640 --> 01:02:08,400
Speaker 1: and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening.

1005
01:02:08,440 --> 01:02:14,000
Speaker 1: God bless you.