Speaker 1: All right, we're going to get into the message very soon,
Speaker 1: but first an important message for you. This is our
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one year end offering. I love this time
Speaker 1: of year, an amazing time of year because every year
Speaker 1: we end with appreciation for what God has done, expectation
Speaker 1: for what He's going to do. This has been a tradition.
Speaker 1: Like right now, they're going to put up a few
Speaker 1: graphics of all the offerings we've had through the years.
Speaker 1: I can't even remember them, all Game Change or Waymaker beyond.
Speaker 1: But this year, you don't even know the word that
Speaker 1: God gave me. I don't. This is not stage. I
Speaker 1: should reveal it to you. Yeah, this is not scripted,
Speaker 1: and we're doing our own camera work, so I apologize
Speaker 1: at the angle is off. But this year the Lord
Speaker 1: led me to the word better. Everybody say better, better,
Speaker 1: like put it in the chat. And we don't mean
Speaker 1: better than another person, or we don't necessarily mean that.
Speaker 1: You know, we're never content, And what we mean by
Speaker 1: that is is Hag II two nine says that the
Speaker 1: glory of this present house, what God is doing, will
Speaker 1: be greater than the glory of the former house. We
Speaker 1: believe God is always doing something greater. We just have
Speaker 1: to see it. So I want to thank you in
Speaker 1: advance for your gifts. Those of you who already support
Speaker 1: this ministry, you're the reason. You're the reason we get
Speaker 1: to preach the gospel. You're the reason that thousands of
Speaker 1: testimonies that we hear in this ministry are made possible.
Speaker 1: And for those of you who are beginning to give,
Speaker 1: either through a one time year end donation to help
Speaker 1: us with our expansion, or the best way really through
Speaker 1: recurring giving, through putting God first with the tide, or
Speaker 1: maybe an above and beyond offering to say thank you
Speaker 1: to Him and believe Him for better things in faith,
Speaker 1: we want to say thank you, and we're standing with
Speaker 1: you right now as we begin this season of giving
Speaker 1: called Better Now through the end of the year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. Every time you give, it helps
Speaker 1: us to spread the Gospel to the world and beyond,
Speaker 1: and we are so thankful for your partnership with us
Speaker 1: in the gospel. It's going to be an amazing holiday
Speaker 1: season and I can't wait to hear more about better.
Speaker 1: It's going to be better. Better than you ask her
Speaker 1: a match if he's just three twenty, We're believing God
Speaker 1: for you. Now let's go well, thank you for being
Speaker 1: here with us at Elevation Church. I mean, what a
Speaker 1: year that it has been. We're so thankful that you
Speaker 1: decided to be a part today, that you've been worshiping
Speaker 1: with us. I know the room looks a little bit
Speaker 1: different right now because we wanted to get together and
Speaker 1: just talk about some of our favorite moments from the year.
Speaker 1: My name is Chazolo, I'm the online pastor. I'm here
Speaker 1: with some friends. That's right. I'm Colleen Tunas, I'm on
Speaker 1: the programming team. I'm a name Chid, I'm the pastor
Speaker 1: of our University City campus. And I'm Brittany at Cantilla,
Speaker 1: I'm our Egret's pastor. And like I said, we're just
Speaker 1: thankful that you're here in a part of Elevation Church.
Speaker 1: And as we look back and think about all that
Speaker 1: God has done this year, I think about messages. I
Speaker 1: think about significant moments and the the events that we've had. Okay,
Speaker 1: so I think about the beginning of the year, back
Speaker 1: to when Pastor pre beta blessings at the beginning of
Speaker 1: the year and he talked about boat sinking blessings in
Speaker 1: your life. We talked about being built different and sometimes
Speaker 1: we use that time lapse testimony and these are like
Speaker 1: isn't it Like you hear some of these, you're like, wait,
Speaker 1: was that this year? There's unreal that the year reaching
Speaker 1: kept in the dark, it's like one of my top
Speaker 1: five ever like ever or yes you yes, yes, yes, yes, Okay,
Speaker 1: in the chat, let us know what your favorite sermon
Speaker 1: was this year, or maybe it was your favorite moment
Speaker 1: Holly with I don't think I'm ready for this and
Speaker 1: Pastor wrapped up there like kept in the dark. These
Speaker 1: phenomenal messages, but yeah, let us know because there were
Speaker 1: so many moments that probably marked very specific times for you.
Speaker 1: When you hear some of these messages, you think back
Speaker 1: and think, man, that was a that was a big
Speaker 1: moment in my life when that reminded me that God
Speaker 1: had everything in control. Or man, that's when this happened.
Speaker 1: Who remembers copy that copy that? Do you remember when
Speaker 1: Pastor brought Graham up on stage and I because I
Speaker 1: was weeping stop crying them green light at the Red
Speaker 1: Sea or this one the god not I think that one?
Speaker 1: I think might be my favorite God who walked around
Speaker 1: doing that? Okay, the last message of the pastor Stephen
Speaker 1: preached this year. I think you've probably been doing this
Speaker 1: when Pastor did this, everybody do this. Something good is
Speaker 1: coming from this. How many times did you do that
Speaker 1: in your life these past couple of weeks? Many it's
Speaker 1: has been a staple in my week. Something good God,
Speaker 1: I know it. I'm belie But really it's not just
Speaker 1: the messages from our pastors that were so thankful for
Speaker 1: this year. We really believe God did so much through
Speaker 1: you through this church, through elevation in our campuses. We
Speaker 1: just know God showed up in home, in workout rooms
Speaker 1: and workplaces and egres spread in rhythm nights with our
Speaker 1: youth and e kids watch parties. I mean, we could
Speaker 1: go on and on about all that we saw God do,
Speaker 1: but really just being the church together, yeah, every single
Speaker 1: week and seeing people join from all over the world
Speaker 1: each and every week, and how God is moving through
Speaker 1: this place is pretty incredible. So let us know where
Speaker 1: you're joining from. We always love to see how this
Speaker 1: family isn't just limited to a building here in Charlotte,
Speaker 1: North Carolina, but it's a global family. And today we're
Speaker 1: going to take a few moments and just share some
Speaker 1: of our favorite sermons, our favorite moments, some clips from
Speaker 1: some amazing messages from this year. Because this year wasn't
Speaker 1: just a better year. You know, we're believing for better,
Speaker 1: but better. It was better than ever ever. Okay, so
Speaker 1: we're gonna kick it off. This was one of my
Speaker 1: favorite sermons from this year, and it was right at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the year. This one has helped me
Speaker 1: a lot, not just at the beginning of the year,
Speaker 1: but it's helped shape a out of my perspective throughout
Speaker 1: the year. This one is from Same Devil's New Levels.
Speaker 1: Take a look where in your life are you using
Speaker 1: an old strategy in a new season? Where does that
Speaker 1: need to be upgraded? You know, like when you do
Speaker 1: go through the Legend of Zelda. This is a current
Speaker 1: pop culture reference here, Okay for all the young people.
Speaker 1: When you do go through a video game, you got
Speaker 1: to pick up all the weapons along the way. And
Speaker 1: now the shame of it is when you're fighting with
Speaker 1: an inferior weapon because it reminds you of Gowiith. You know,
Speaker 1: when you're defensive but nobody's attacking you. That's bad. The
Speaker 1: whole thing of whether David lives or die, the whole
Speaker 1: thing on whether your join lives or die, the whole
Speaker 1: thing on whether or not you make it, the whole
Speaker 1: thing on whether or not you live to show your
Speaker 1: kid something different. See, I feel sorry for David. He
Speaker 1: doesn't know how to be a king in this way.
Speaker 1: He had a bad example in Saul. He was only
Speaker 1: the second king that Israel ever had. The whole reason
Speaker 1: Israel wanted a king was because the Philistines were oppressing them.
Speaker 1: The whole reason the Philistines were oppressing them is because
Speaker 1: the Philistines were metalworkers, so they had more weapons. The
Speaker 1: Israelites didn't have the weapons, so they wanted a king.
Speaker 1: But they got a bad king because they selected on
Speaker 1: the basis of hike, not heart. When David came into
Speaker 1: the throne, he had the heart for it, but he
Speaker 1: didn't know how. And that's the thing about the people
Speaker 1: I passed her. I have the heart to be a
Speaker 1: good dad. I have the heart to be a good woman.
Speaker 1: I have the heart to be a good employee. I
Speaker 1: have the heart to make it. I have the heart
Speaker 1: to break these changs. I want to get free, but
Speaker 1: I never saw how. So now I'm out here fighting
Speaker 1: year old giants with fifteen year old tactics, and you
Speaker 1: can't fight grown up battles with teenage tactics. You've got
Speaker 1: to grow into this season. You've got to grow into
Speaker 1: this challenge. You've got to grow into this assignment. You've
Speaker 1: got to grow into the annoying thing that you've had
Speaker 1: all along. It's not automatic. It's not automatic. And whenever
Speaker 1: I face something that scares me, you know what I do?
Speaker 1: They say, say, what is it? New levels, new devils? No,
Speaker 1: when I hit a new devil, I sink back to
Speaker 1: the same level. I go back to the sewer, you know.
Speaker 1: I go back to the dumpster, back when I was
Speaker 1: emotionally homeless and had nothing to eat. I go back
Speaker 1: inside myself and keep counsel with the most unreliable person
Speaker 1: that I know, me unchecked. How does it go? See
Speaker 1: all these crazy things preachers say, new levels, new devils.
Speaker 1: So I wanted to show you, on one hand, how
Speaker 1: this is not Goliath. It just reminds you of him
Speaker 1: and that you have grown. But really, what I want
Speaker 1: to show you is what God did for David when
Speaker 1: he was cornered, and I believe He's going to do
Speaker 1: it for you. I know what we want to happen.
Speaker 1: That is not going to be what happens we want.
Speaker 1: When David's got a sword to his throat. Remember this guy,
Speaker 1: this Ish. I like how his name starts with ish
Speaker 1: because we're all dealing with some Ish, aren't we. That's
Speaker 1: the part of his name. I can't say. Somebody put
Speaker 1: in the chat new Ish, same God, all right, stop
Speaker 1: stop it. He had a sword three hundreds Can you
Speaker 1: believe that that's seven pounds? Can you believe that Golias
Speaker 1: was fifteen pounds six hundred shekels? It was only half
Speaker 1: the size of Golias? Sort? So why couldn't David beat him?
Speaker 1: I should be able to do this. I should be
Speaker 1: able to movement. I always did it this way before.
Speaker 1: And I got up, and you know, my get up
Speaker 1: and go, got up and went. While we're doing cliches,
Speaker 1: you know what's happening right now? Why isn't this working?
Speaker 1: Because it sucks because the moment you mastered the strategy
Speaker 1: of chefs. So like when my oldest became a teenager,
Speaker 1: I'm so proud of him, but I didn't know how
Speaker 1: to raise a teenager. And you know, everybody start telling
Speaker 1: me just give him his space. I says space. So
Speaker 1: let me get this right. This human being that gave
Speaker 1: me no space or sleep for the first two years
Speaker 1: of his life, now I'm Sill's just back afe. That's
Speaker 1: hard to do. Why are y'all looking at me crazy?
Speaker 1: You can't parent a fifteen year old the way you
Speaker 1: parent a two year old. I see people try to
Speaker 1: do it, and then I see the kid explode when
Speaker 1: they get out from under that supervision because you did
Speaker 1: not shift the strategy to match the season. Do you
Speaker 1: think pastoring this church now is like how it was
Speaker 1: pastoring when we had nineteen people. Imagine if we imagine
Speaker 1: if we tried to have the cookout on my grill
Speaker 1: after this sermon like we did back then. There's not
Speaker 1: enough propane in North Carolina. Uh huh uh huh huh
Speaker 1: huh huh. So what you have to do is what abashi?
Speaker 1: I want somebody to name their baby that I wish
Speaker 1: I wouldn't name one of my kids. Abashi. It's a
Speaker 1: good name. No, it's a good name. It means father
Speaker 1: of a gift. And what I wanted for the Bible
Speaker 1: to say, because when I feel like the enemy is
Speaker 1: closing in on me and I'm tired, and I'm spent,
Speaker 1: and I'm out of ideas, and I'm sick of people.
Speaker 1: I wanted to send me an angel. God did not
Speaker 1: send an angel to rescue David. My goodness, I see
Speaker 1: why that's one of your favorites. I just wanted to
Speaker 1: keep going. I wanted to sitting on this front road.
Speaker 1: It's just over and over that it's God, and like
Speaker 1: that's how we started out the year. We started out
Speaker 1: the year so strong, and I know the sermons have
Speaker 1: been speaking to us all year. And there's one other
Speaker 1: thing that I have to say started out real strong, y'all,
Speaker 1: and that is worship them recorded this year called Old
Speaker 1: Church Bases. Yes, good, you know, just a few weeks ago,
Speaker 1: it's been nominated for a couple of Grammys. I'm saying,
Speaker 1: we have Album of the Year, that's right. And then
Speaker 1: we also have two songs Zirah wait on You that
Speaker 1: are also nominated for Grammys. Of course, you remember when
Speaker 1: we got to hear wait on You the preview. I
Speaker 1: was right here, yeah, right there, first time we heard
Speaker 1: that song. Yeah, we got a little exclusive look as
Speaker 1: a staff. And if you are not familiar with it,
Speaker 1: or maybe you just want to relive it for a moment.
Speaker 1: Take a look at this. Okay, so this is one
Speaker 1: of admittedly one of my YouTube repeats. Yes, oh of course,
Speaker 1: and I want that to keep going. We can't do that,
Speaker 1: just keep playing. And speaking of YouTube, can we talk
Speaker 1: about how YouTube has been ministering. It's the year of
Speaker 1: twenty one playing back all the sermons and we've haven't
Speaker 1: seen two new YouTube channels launched, right, So we had
Speaker 1: Elevation plus plus launch this year and that's where you
Speaker 1: can watch back some of the stories that we're able
Speaker 1: to share in church. We actually go live every Wednesday
Speaker 1: and we're able to dive deeper and talk about the sermons.
Speaker 1: But then we also launched Holly's soup channel this year
Speaker 1: and it's been super fun. It's honestly a really fun channel.
Speaker 1: It really is recipes, there's clips of sermons, all types
Speaker 1: of things. It's also inspirational. She's got devotionals on there.
Speaker 1: It's got everything you could possibly want. That's right. But
Speaker 1: the woman of God, Holly Fredick, has been bringing words
Speaker 1: this year that have been ministering to my soul. Can
Speaker 1: we talk about that for a second. Different she's been
Speaker 1: on another level and she preached one of my favorite
Speaker 1: sermons called running on Empty this year, and Colin, you
Speaker 1: probably remember these. We got these after she preached it. Yes,
Speaker 1: it was awesome. It's literally just like a graphic that
Speaker 1: she made to help us remember, and it says cry out,
Speaker 1: reach out, and pour out. These were the points that
Speaker 1: she preached about, and a little bonus point called live
Speaker 1: on what is left. And so take a look at
Speaker 1: this clip. And you know, sometimes we go through seasons
Speaker 1: with the emptiness. So it's more than just it's more
Speaker 1: than just the feeling that we don't have purpose. Sometimes
Speaker 1: it's the feeling that you don't have enough to make it.
Speaker 1: And I know that some of you under the sound
Speaker 1: of my voice, you're like my friend, and you're going
Speaker 1: through the hardest thing you've ever been through. You're fighting
Speaker 1: for your life and the word of the Lord for
Speaker 1: you today. Just keep pouring. You have to keep pouring,
Speaker 1: because the miracle only happens when you move, because it's
Speaker 1: while you pour. Oh, I'm out of dargs. It's while
Speaker 1: you poor that you experience God's strength and his grace
Speaker 1: and the joy that only comes while you pour. Because
Speaker 1: now you're pouring with a purpose. She was pouring for
Speaker 1: those voice. But she was never pouring from a full jar.
Speaker 1: She was pouring from a jar that only had a
Speaker 1: little bit of oil. And if you wait, thanks guys,
Speaker 1: if you wait until you feel full to pour, you
Speaker 1: will never experience the power of God in your life,
Speaker 1: and you'll never experience the miracle a feeling. My God
Speaker 1: is just pouring through you. Sometimes when you pour, it
Speaker 1: does feel like a sacrifice, a sacrifice, and no one
Speaker 1: will ever see. You know what Jesus said, Luke six
Speaker 1: point thirty eight. He said, give and it will be
Speaker 1: given unto you a good measure. Press it down, shaken together,
Speaker 1: Get that jar full, because it will be running over
Speaker 1: into your lap. Jesus said, you just keep giving and
Speaker 1: I will pour into you. Our instinct says, hold on
Speaker 1: tightly to everything you have, but Jesus says, just keep giving.
Speaker 1: Be generous with your love, be generous with your time,
Speaker 1: be generous with your encouragement. When you feel empty, just
Speaker 1: keep pouring. So here's how the story ends. When all
Speaker 1: the jars were full, she said to her sons, bring
Speaker 1: me another one, but he replied, there's not a jar left.
Speaker 1: Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the
Speaker 1: Man of God, and he said, go and sell the
Speaker 1: oil and pay off your debts. You and your sons
Speaker 1: can live on what's left. Can I give you a
Speaker 1: bonus point, Live on what's left? See when you're in
Speaker 1: a pouring season, that season where you're fighting for your
Speaker 1: life and you just keep your head down and you
Speaker 1: keep pouring. You pour when you're tired. You pour when
Speaker 1: you feel like no one notices. You pour when everyone
Speaker 1: else's kids are acting right but yours. You poor when
Speaker 1: your friend gets pregnant by accident but you still can't
Speaker 1: get pregnant on purpose. You pour when someone else gets
Speaker 1: the promotions. You pour when you need a healing in
Speaker 1: your own body. And the next thing you know, you
Speaker 1: made it through another day. You don't know how, but
Speaker 1: you did. And one day you turn around and you've
Speaker 1: got a pantry full of oil to live on. Live
Speaker 1: on what's left. Remember Remember that Bible study that I
Speaker 1: wrote for the women of our church when we were
Speaker 1: in the pandemic. My husband and I were just praying
Speaker 1: about how we could help people during this time, Like
Speaker 1: what else could we do? I said, well, I have
Speaker 1: this little Bible study. So we sent out a message
Speaker 1: on Facebook, and thousands of women from all over the
Speaker 1: world responded, and for eight weeks, every Tuesday night they
Speaker 1: joined me live and we studied how to be a
Speaker 1: godly wife. Somehow you made it through those dark days.
Speaker 1: But now you see, all along, through the pain and
Speaker 1: the confusion and the heartache you've been stockpiling. She lost
Speaker 1: her husband. She's not gonna get her husband back, but
Speaker 1: she had something left to live on. Oh oh, here's
Speaker 1: that friendship that I made sitting in chemo treatments. And
Speaker 1: here's the verse that God gave me when I was
Speaker 1: crying on the couch. And here's the song that I
Speaker 1: listened to every single day for months. And every time
Speaker 1: I hear that song, it just reminds me of the
Speaker 1: faithfulness of God. And oh oh, here's that gratitude journal
Speaker 1: where I learned how to look for the little blessings.
Speaker 1: Now I get to live on what's left miracles. Don't
Speaker 1: be afraid of the empty spaces, because empty is where
Speaker 1: God does his best work. Empty is where God does
Speaker 1: his best work. Now you see why this was Yes
Speaker 1: my favorites, and I get it. That's why I keep
Speaker 1: this reminder in my Bible. Right at second King score
Speaker 1: verses one through seven. Ye, there's a reminder of what
Speaker 1: Holly shared with us, and I remember she wrote, just
Speaker 1: keep pouring, right, and so that's the anthem that I've
Speaker 1: been living through twenty twenty one is just keep That's
Speaker 1: so good. It's such a powerful visual. I think of
Speaker 1: that all the time, of her just holding all of
Speaker 1: their dispers and I actually remember watching that sermon. I
Speaker 1: was like, she's definitely gonna drop on this. She gave
Speaker 1: us a jar, he does. I have it on my desk,
Speaker 1: Alli look at it all the time, and it reminds
Speaker 1: me of that exact thing that you just said is
Speaker 1: gone to a whole nother level. That's right, whole nother level.
Speaker 1: And I'm just so thankful for our pasty way that
Speaker 1: they continue to poor, poor and poor weekend and week out.
Speaker 1: And one of the other things that I've loved about
Speaker 1: this year is that we were able to sync up
Speaker 1: across all of our campuses and online this year, and
Speaker 1: one of those moments was with Race Like Baptism. It
Speaker 1: was amazing to be able to be in these rooms
Speaker 1: again where we've been shut down for so long and
Speaker 1: doing everything we can to build again, and to have
Speaker 1: this moment. To see people go public with their faith
Speaker 1: in these massive numbers was amazing. You guys got to
Speaker 1: go on the road. Our online team got to go
Speaker 1: to nine different states to baptize people, and you got
Speaker 1: to go to tost I got to go to Colorado.
Speaker 1: Chad was your baptizing people at Valentine and it was
Speaker 1: just so it was really special to be a part of.
Speaker 1: It's amazing to see people that have been waiting for
Speaker 1: an opportunity to be able to go public in faith
Speaker 1: and this moment representing them leaving pain in this water,
Speaker 1: leaving shame in this water, sin, and so many things
Speaker 1: that I feel like Pastor has been used. God's been
Speaker 1: using Pastor to really preach to throughout. That's one of
Speaker 1: my favorite sermons this year was a troubled Mind in
Speaker 1: an open door where Pastor got real practical around what
Speaker 1: does it mean for us to be able to step
Speaker 1: into some of the things that God has called us
Speaker 1: to do. How about we check this clip out now.
Speaker 1: Listen to this what God says to the church at Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: and I believe he might say it to the church
Speaker 1: at Elevation too. I know you have little strength, It's
Speaker 1: not about strength. Can I show you something? This is
Speaker 1: really cool. Everybody says strength, now everybody says scheme. Go
Speaker 1: back to Second Corinthians, Chapter two. Verse eleven is one
Speaker 1: of those that I've read out of context for years.
Speaker 1: I didn't even really know what it meant. I never
Speaker 1: really read it in the context of Paul's conflict. But
Speaker 1: now have and I saw something. He said in verse eleven.
Speaker 1: We got to forgive and get through this in order
Speaker 1: that Satan might not outwit us, for we are not
Speaker 1: aware of his schemes. Now, what was interesting to me
Speaker 1: is he didn't say in order that Satan put the
Speaker 1: verse back up. He didn't say in order that Satan
Speaker 1: might not overpower us. He said outwit us. Because the
Speaker 1: battle is not about strength, it's about strategy. Put this
Speaker 1: in the chat. Say it out loud if you're with
Speaker 1: me in the room. It's about the strategy. And Satan
Speaker 1: is not stronger than you. We just read this. If
Speaker 1: God opens the door, nobody can shut it. No devil,
Speaker 1: no depression, no trauma, no abuse, nothing, nothing can stop
Speaker 1: the Gospel of Jesus Christ from going forth in your life,
Speaker 1: in your heart, in your marriage. We give the devil
Speaker 1: too much credit sometimes because we'll say, oh, well, the
Speaker 1: devil is attacking my marriage, the devil is attacking my finances.
Speaker 1: That's where you're feeling it. But that's not where the
Speaker 1: attack is happening. He didn't say in order that Satan
Speaker 1: might not overpower us, because that would make it about
Speaker 1: your strength. And we already know from John sixteen thirty
Speaker 1: three that Jesus said peace. I give to you my
Speaker 1: peace I leave with you in the world. You will
Speaker 1: have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.
Speaker 1: It's not about the trouble in front of you. We
Speaker 1: could have a testimony service about your trouble. What's the
Speaker 1: point we can all line up and blake. Can I
Speaker 1: top your trouble? I have a headache, I have a
Speaker 1: back ache. I don't have a back, I don't have
Speaker 1: a head I'm decapitated. I've seen people do it, and
Speaker 1: we top each other with our trouble. But that's not
Speaker 1: what this is about, is it. It's not about what's
Speaker 1: happening in my life. Satan's not stronger than you. He
Speaker 1: can't make you do anything. If God opens the door
Speaker 1: to freedom, if God opens the sea, you can go
Speaker 1: through it. I don't care who's chasten you. God don't
Speaker 1: care who said you couldn't. I don't care how long
Speaker 1: you've struggled with it. It's not about who's stronger, it's
Speaker 1: about who's smarter. Because you're like, well, that's Jesus. Jesus
Speaker 1: has overcome the world. I'm not Jesus. But first John
Speaker 1: four for says, greater is he that is in you
Speaker 1: than he that is in the world. So he's not stronger.
Speaker 1: That's not why you're stuck. He's not stronger. You have
Speaker 1: the spirit of God. He's not stronger. The condemnation that
Speaker 1: haunts you at light, in your in your midnight hour
Speaker 1: has been nailed to the cross. The written regulations have
Speaker 1: been nailed to the cross. That's dealt with. That is
Speaker 1: not what is standing at the door. Paul said, I
Speaker 1: had an open door, but I had a troubled mind,
Speaker 1: And so he sent Titus with a letter to the
Speaker 1: Corinthian Church because he didn't know if things were going
Speaker 1: to be all right. You know, your body can be
Speaker 1: one place, in your mind can be another. And Paul's
Speaker 1: at Troaz, and God's given him opportunities and he can
Speaker 1: preach the gospel to a whole city, and he said,
Speaker 1: but I couldn't find Titus, so I left. And it
Speaker 1: didn't like he left because he wanted to. When Paul
Speaker 1: says in verse fourteen thirteen, excuse me, I believe it
Speaker 1: is he said, I said goodbye. That's the only time
Speaker 1: he uses that phrase in all of scripture. It's a
Speaker 1: solemn farewell. He's almost embarrassed about it. He's like, I
Speaker 1: couldn't get my mind right, so I couldn't seize the opportunity.
Speaker 1: Now that hit me because I'm trying to raise these kids,
Speaker 1: you see, and I know God has given me an
Speaker 1: opportunity to be a great father. Sometimes, if I'm honest
Speaker 1: with you, I'm sitting at the table with them, and
Speaker 1: my body is there. My body is there, but my
Speaker 1: mind is on other stuff. And some of it is real,
Speaker 1: and some of it is completely fabricated, of stuff that
Speaker 1: might happen three years from now, maybe, and so my
Speaker 1: mind will drift to the possibly and slip away from
Speaker 1: the present. Now. When I saw Paul, I saw us.
Speaker 1: He said, I was intro ass, and so was the
Speaker 1: open door that God gave me, and great things could
Speaker 1: have happened intro ass. But I had to say goodbye,
Speaker 1: not because of the trouble in Troass, but because my
Speaker 1: mind was trouble. The enemy wants to mess with your
Speaker 1: mind so much that you can't even go through the
Speaker 1: doors that God opens for you, that you can't even
Speaker 1: enjoy the moments that God gives you. He wants to
Speaker 1: mess with your mind and scramble your perspective to the
Speaker 1: point where you can't even focus long enough to sit
Speaker 1: down and pray about something. He wants to He wants
Speaker 1: to get you so focused on something. And I put
Speaker 1: down four things that spell the word door with each
Speaker 1: first letter. When was the disappointments in your life? When
Speaker 1: was the outcomes that you can't control? That's the oh,
Speaker 1: disappointments outcomes When we mentioned the offenses that you can't
Speaker 1: get over, and one is the regrets of the opportunities
Speaker 1: that you can't get back. My God. I mean, I
Speaker 1: just I really love the way that Pastor not only
Speaker 1: preaches revelation and it's a spirit that comes in rooms
Speaker 1: to pull you out of out of these dark moments,
Speaker 1: but he gives you practical action steps things that you
Speaker 1: can do, and spelling things so that we can remember
Speaker 1: remember that yes, I'm just so thankful for the way
Speaker 1: that Pastor and Holly has poured out this year. Yes,
Speaker 1: I totally agree. Pastor Steven has preached some incredible messages
Speaker 1: this year. And there's one that probably only a handful
Speaker 1: of people have gotten to here, and that was his
Speaker 1: message for Elevation Nights, and if you don't know what
Speaker 1: that is. We actually got to go on tour this
Speaker 1: year and we got to worship with over sixty five
Speaker 1: thousand people in eight different cities across the United States,
Speaker 1: and it was just a surreal thing to be a
Speaker 1: part to go to Atlanta, both of you guys, It
Speaker 1: was blowing. It was amazing wild just to think of
Speaker 1: the beginning of this year just what church looked like.
Speaker 1: Then to fast forward to the fall where we're worshiping
Speaker 1: in full arenas with people singing songs all across the
Speaker 1: United States. The things that came out of our church.
Speaker 1: And so it's always so special for me to see
Speaker 1: and get to meet our e fam and for you too.
Speaker 1: We got to meet so many people that came up
Speaker 1: to us and said, like, you have no idea how
Speaker 1: God used your church to get me through the last
Speaker 1: eight years. It did feel so much like family. You know,
Speaker 1: that was the thing. You know. We'd go into an
Speaker 1: arena and it was an empty arena, and then when
Speaker 1: it was full, Yeah, it didn't feel like a bunch
Speaker 1: of strangers together. It felt like family together. And working
Speaker 1: and hearing from pastors was amazing, It really was. Well,
Speaker 1: if you didn't get to make it to one of
Speaker 1: those stops or we didn't come near, you, take a
Speaker 1: look at this. Yes, wew you wait on God, you're
Speaker 1: getting strong up. He is a god of yes and
Speaker 1: a men, and he has come through for me in
Speaker 1: the pass and he's not gonna leave me now. Comment.
Speaker 1: God doesn't mean anything from you. What's our faith? You've
Speaker 1: been in a storm lately, But I see Jesus walking
Speaker 1: over top of your situation. You've been under anxiety. The
Speaker 1: devil's been telling you you're not gonna make it. He's
Speaker 1: a liar. And upon this rock Jesus said, I will
Speaker 1: build my church to make you want to go back
Speaker 1: a bit. I too, truly, truly. So what's crazy about
Speaker 1: this is that we were on the road for our teams,
Speaker 1: were gone for ten days. Pastor Stephen free eight times
Speaker 1: in ten days, and then we got back did we
Speaker 1: get back on Saturday, Friday, Saturday, whatever it was. The
Speaker 1: weekend was right around the corner, and Pastor Stephen just
Speaker 1: jumped in with one of my favorite services from the year,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I don't know how he does it,
Speaker 1: but he did it, and it was called stop Crying.
Speaker 1: It's coming. It's unbelievable. Take a look at this clip.
Speaker 1: He says after Jesus cried, which is important. You know,
Speaker 1: trauma is trauma is real. Seventy years in Babylon will
Speaker 1: make you cry. It'll make you forget to sing when
Speaker 1: you find out what your kids been doing behind your back.
Speaker 1: It'll make you cry when you and your husband don't
Speaker 1: even look at each other except when you're around people
Speaker 1: so you can fake it real good. It'll make you
Speaker 1: cry alone. God doesn't correct the sisters, but glad he
Speaker 1: didn't stop there, and you can't either, because in verse
Speaker 1: thirty eight John eleven thirty eight, it says, not Jesus cried,
Speaker 1: but Jesus wants more deeply moved came, so he cried,
Speaker 1: and then he came. Stop crying is coming. I don't
Speaker 1: want the old temple to keep me from seeing Jesus. Seriously,
Speaker 1: you know how it's said in the verse and Hadi
Speaker 1: that from the day I brought you out of Egypt
Speaker 1: till now, did you catch that really small thing in
Speaker 1: verse five? I didn't make a big deal out of it,
Speaker 1: but it is a big deal. Because they thought that
Speaker 1: Pharaoh had to let them go for them to leave Egypt.
Speaker 1: That wasn't their biggest problem. Their biggest problem was letting
Speaker 1: go of Moses. Because see, Moses gave them the law,
Speaker 1: and they were so committed to that that when Jesus came,
Speaker 1: who is the true image of God to show them
Speaker 1: what God is really like, not to break the law,
Speaker 1: but to feel it. When Jesus came, they could not
Speaker 1: recognize better because they were stuck in before. So while
Speaker 1: we're fighting like, hey Pharaoh, let me go, Hey addiction,
Speaker 1: let me go, Hey temptation, let me go, God's like
Speaker 1: the thing that you're holding onto is the former glory.
Speaker 1: I don't know who it is of his three people,
Speaker 1: as we're saying, you gotta let go a former glory
Speaker 1: to receive present help. Now that means a lot of things.
Speaker 1: It means that the same Jesus who cried at the
Speaker 1: gate came to the tomb. It didn't stop him from
Speaker 1: doing what he came to do, because he didn't come
Speaker 1: just to cry or give him a Hallmark car. He
Speaker 1: didn't just bake him a roast so they could eat
Speaker 1: it three days later. He came to show them who
Speaker 1: he was. He came to reinvent their concept of God
Speaker 1: and to switch their template of truth that not only
Speaker 1: am I a healer, I am resurrection. He came to
Speaker 1: prefigure what he would do. He came so he cried.
Speaker 1: Everybody say, he cried. Come on, don't tap out on me.
Speaker 1: This is the best part of the sermon. I know
Speaker 1: y'all aren't going to listen to a sermon about the
Speaker 1: glory of the Latter House and skip the end of
Speaker 1: the sermon. This is the part I wanted to preach
Speaker 1: us to because he cried, and you've been crying, and
Speaker 1: you have a Christ too, criest, so that's fine. He
Speaker 1: will cry with you, But then you have a Christ too.
Speaker 1: After he stopped crying, he came to the tomb. So
Speaker 1: he's coming to the tomb. He's coming to the park
Speaker 1: that's buried. He's coming to the park that's broken. He's
Speaker 1: coming to the park that's dead. He's coming to the
Speaker 1: park that stinks. He's coming to the park that's rotten.
Speaker 1: He's coming to the park that's given up on. He cried,
Speaker 1: he came. But that's not the good part. The good
Speaker 1: part is verse forty three. There's forty three on the screen. Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly,
Speaker 1: And when Jesus has said this, he called. So he cried,
Speaker 1: he came. And then he called in a loud voice.
Speaker 1: And I hear that voice calling today through the halls
Speaker 1: of history, from the pages of Hagai to this very
Speaker 1: moment in the house of God, Lazarus, Come for, Come
Speaker 1: for he's speaking to your joy. He's speaking to your peace,
Speaker 1: he's speaking to your strategy, he's speaking to your spirit.
Speaker 1: Come far. So you cried a while. It's all right.
Speaker 1: I am convinced that the sufferings of this present time
Speaker 1: are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed.
Speaker 1: Sh did you catch that whole sermon? He cried, he came,
Speaker 1: He called. You got to call some things out today. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah yeah. You ain't not gonna come just automatically. You
Speaker 1: can cry over it as long as you want, But
Speaker 1: I believe that something deeper is call him from the inside.
Speaker 1: What the prophet told the people was you got to
Speaker 1: do the work. You gotta do. The work is wishing
Speaker 1: for something that you don't have keeping you from working
Speaker 1: with what you do have. I don't know, maybe it's
Speaker 1: just me, but I needed this word that the Lord said.
Speaker 1: You can cry, but eventually you gotta come and you
Speaker 1: got to call those things that be not as though
Speaker 1: they are beneath your feelings. And the promise is it's
Speaker 1: a covenant, not a commitment. Commitments can be broken. Yeah,
Speaker 1: covenants cannot, especially when one of the parties is the
Speaker 1: one who cannot lie. So it's a lot of pain.
Speaker 1: You know. When they laid the foundation, Ezra showed us something.
Speaker 1: Give me Ezra three ten when they got that temple started,
Speaker 1: And I think I'm gonna pick this up next week
Speaker 1: for real, y'all, because y'all got one point. It's your fault.
Speaker 1: You were shouting and receiving and glorifying Die. I didn't
Speaker 1: come to get through my points. I came to give
Speaker 1: you this work. Stop crying. It is common, it's common.
Speaker 1: This message was so challenging and encouraging at the same time.
Speaker 1: And I think that's just one of the things I
Speaker 1: appreciate the most about it. Yeah, you get both, and
Speaker 1: it was so so helpful. We get that time and
Speaker 1: time again all year long, and I hope even just
Speaker 1: reliving some of those moments stirred up some feelings of Man,
Speaker 1: I remember what God was doing in my life at
Speaker 1: those specific moments. Maybe you're new to joining us and
Speaker 1: you're like, I want to see the rest of that.
Speaker 1: Where can I see the rest of that? Well, if
Speaker 1: you head over to Elevation Church's YouTube channel, you can
Speaker 1: catch all of these messages and more finish them up.
Speaker 1: Pastor was saying, I'm going to pick that up next week.
Speaker 1: You can see what he preached them last week. And
Speaker 1: so what we just really hoped that you came away
Speaker 1: with today is a sense of gratitude of what it
Speaker 1: is that you're able to be a part of and
Speaker 1: thankful for how God is moving not just in a
Speaker 1: global church but through you right where you are. And
Speaker 1: that's what we love seeing. You know, we didn't have
Speaker 1: time to hit some other amazing moments this year. Let's
Speaker 1: hit it love. Yes, how many hours too many? The
Speaker 1: people that were impacted by groups? Yeah, yeah, groups, I
Speaker 1: mean we could sit here all day and relive some
Speaker 1: of the amazing moments that we saw God do incredible
Speaker 1: things in our lives, and we're trusting that it happened
Speaker 1: right where you are. And I was just stated again
Speaker 1: what I love about our church is that it's not
Speaker 1: just some people here in Charlotte, but it's people in
Speaker 1: University City, it's people in Florida, it's people in GTA,
Speaker 1: it's people on the other side of the world who
Speaker 1: are mobilized to be the church right where they are.
Speaker 1: And so thank you for what you do, and thank
Speaker 1: you to our pastors. Yeah, I mean, we'd be abissed
Speaker 1: to go any further without saying thank you to Pastor
Speaker 1: Stephen and Holly for your leadership, for you allowing to
Speaker 1: God work in and through you and speak through you
Speaker 1: to the world, literally to the world each each and
Speaker 1: every week. So put it in the chat just as
Speaker 1: we're closing up here, how thankful you are for our pastors.
Speaker 1: We're so thankful for you, Pastor Stephen and Holly, and
Speaker 1: thankful for you Elevation Church. Seeing how God is working
Speaker 1: in and through your life has been amazing, even in
Speaker 1: this year end season, seeing how many of you have
Speaker 1: stepped up for the very first time through giving in
Speaker 1: this year end offering. So many of you said I'm
Speaker 1: placing God first in the ear of my finances and
Speaker 1: we're excited to see how God works in your life
Speaker 1: or maybe some of you, well, we know a lot
Speaker 1: of you went above and beyond and gave thousands of
Speaker 1: you did to say I want to see what God
Speaker 1: can do. Is I trust Him and step out in
Speaker 1: faith and believe for more. And that's what we're believing
Speaker 1: for your life as we wrap up this year and
Speaker 1: really look forward to what's next. We're really excited that
Speaker 1: we get to be a part of something this year
Speaker 1: that was better than ever. That's right. I don't know
Speaker 1: what you thought you were coming into this year with.
Speaker 1: Maybe you were caring some heavy things, but we're just
Speaker 1: that it was better than ever. But we don't have
Speaker 1: to stop here. We're believing that next year is even better.
Speaker 1: Next year is going to be the best year. Yes,
Speaker 1: So thank you for being a part of the church.
Speaker 1: Thank you for letting God move in and through you
Speaker 1: from right where you are. Our prayers of blessing are
Speaker 1: on you today. Thank you cheers for being a part
Speaker 1: well if you enjoyed today's podcast, there are a couple
Speaker 1: of things I'd love for you to do. Make sure
Speaker 1: to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. It can also
Speaker 1: help us reach others by investing today at Elevation Church
Speaker 1: dot org, slash give and thanks again for joining us
Speaker 1: on the Elevation Podcast.