WEBVTT - This Is That Day 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:03.400 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.439 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:08.360 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:11.280 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.440 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:14.160 in your life. 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:22.120 Enjoy the message. Happy New Year, Elevation Church. You made 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:22.800 a good. 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:27.400 Decision to get in the house today. I'm telling you, 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:32.320 I'm believing this year that God is going to open 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:34.519 the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:38.280 we will not have room enough to receive. Of course, 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:42.560 as we stand on the precipice of a new year, God, 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:44.920 we thank you for what you've already brought us through. 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:51.560 It's amazing, mind blowing, absolutely incredible what you've done for us. 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:56.160 That we stand before you a new creation in Jesus Christ. 0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:00.880 The old is gone and the newest come. As I 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:04.200 stand behind this pulpit today, God, I thank you for 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:06.680 all of the messages that you're going to preach this 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:10.880 year through this ministry. I thank you in advance that 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.120 these your children will have enough bread for every battle 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:17.720 they face. I thank you for new songs from this 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:21.400 house this year. That will minister to people and become 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:25.360 anthems for every day of their life. I thank you 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:27.640 for all of the people who will be saved through 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.960 this ministry this year, for all of the people who 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:34.880 will be redeemed from their sin. I thank you for 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:38.880 all of the addictions that will be broken this year because. 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:39.800 Of your powerful word. 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:44.360 I thank you for new opportunities for your people this year, 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:48.640 new connections, fresh perspectus. 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.440 I thank you for new relationships in their life this year. 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:55.680 I thank you for the restoration of things that were 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:59.440 given up on. I declare it, I believe it, and 0:01:59.520 --> 0:01:59.960 I give. 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:03.320 You thanks in advance. You're a mighty God. Do whatever 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:07.600 you want to do. We give this year to you 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:09.240 in Jesus' name. 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:16.080 Amen. Somebody shouts headed my way. Put it in the comment, 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:20.399 say it's headed my way. Put your name in the comment. 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:24.280 So God knows where to put your DoorDash delivery. Wouldn't 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:26.840 it be cool if God was like door dash, if 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.320 you could track him and see where it was. But 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:32.760 somebody says headed my way, give me five on that 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.239 it's headed my way. High five five more people say 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:37.799 you got a new thing coming this year. 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:41.240 It's gonna be beautiful. It's gonna be incredible, it's gonna 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:44.799 be powerful. New thing, new thing, new thing. 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:49.840 Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:52.880 Glory to God. I got a new thing. Comment. 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:58.200 Yes, Lord, we wrote that last year, but I saved 0:02:58.200 --> 0:02:58.920 it for new years. 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:00.520 I thought you needed it today. 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.800 All right, we are upon the first sermon of twenty 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:11.359 twenty four. You can't imagine the agony that goes into figuring, 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:14.760 out of all the different texts that the Lord would 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:17.360 speak on this day, what would it be. Because I 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:19.280 know that your heart is in a receptive place today 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:23.480 and that there is a fresh faith stiring. So I 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:25.520 want to share with you from a prophetic scripture in 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:36.400 Isaiah chapter twenty seven. Isaiah chapter twenty seven very meaningful 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:41.240 to me, and I hope you will feel the same way. 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:45.040 A word that the Lord gave to his people long ago, 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:49.680 but it speaks to us today. Somebody shout today today, 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:58.520 Isaiah twenty seven, verses one through six. By the way, 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:00.000 I want to say a huge thank you to our 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.920 our church who gave so generously in our year end 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:06.320 offering that you gave over eleven million. 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:09.280 Dollars to share the. 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:14.640 Gospel, to heal the sick, to clothe the poor. 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:17.000 That's absolutely amazing. 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:21.719 I cry come into church today just thinking how thankful 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:24.880 I am for you, how expectant I am for God 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:28.400 to move in your life. And I want to start 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.279 this year with the prophetic word that God gave me 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:32.440 for you. 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:36.279 Isaiah twenty seven, Verse one. 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:40.120 In that day, the Lord will punish with his sword, 0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:46.080 his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:49.240 Leviathan the coiling serpent. 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:53.560 He will slay the monster of the sea. 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:56.800 Anybody got some stuff you need God to kill this 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:58.800 year in your life that's been dragging you down. 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:01.839 That's what Leviathan was. 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:05.760 Leviathan was a chaos monster, a mythological figure, and many 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:09.440 believe it represented Babylon and Assyria in Egypt, the enemies 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.560 of Israel. But the truth is we all live with 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:16.080 our own Leviathan, don't we. And the Lord promises that 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:20.080 in that day that whatever has you wrapped up, whatever 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:24.839 has you stuck down in yourself, he will punish with 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:30.000 his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:34.400 gliding Serpent. I look at verse two. In that day 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:39.680 sing about a fruitful vineyard. I the Lord watch over it. 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:44.560 I water it continually. I guard it day and night, 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:49.560 so that no one may harm it. I am not angry. 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:53.680 If only there were briars and thorns confronting me, I 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.000 would march against them in battle. 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:59.800 I would set them all on fire. Or else. Let 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:02.640 them come to me for refuge. Let them make. 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:06.479 Peace with me. Yes, let them make peace with me. 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:09.480 Let me give you verse six, and then I'll tell 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:14.240 you our topic for today. In days to come, Jacob 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:19.640 will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:25.200 all the world with fruit. In days to come, Jacob 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:30.000 will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:35.320 all the world with fruit in days to come. I 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:41.680 want to appreciate you today a message. This is that day. 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:48.080 This is somebody shout. This is shout like you're at 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:52.920 a football game. This is that day. Tell your neighbor 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:58.680 this is that day. Other neighbor, this is that day. 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:01.440 Say it again, put it in the chat. This is 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:07.599 that day. I'm breaking out. I'm going forward, I'm growing up, 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:09.320 I'm moving into it. 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:12.600 I'm walking tall because this is. 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:15.480 That day. 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:22.840 In Jesus' name, you may be seated this is that day. 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:30.320 The perspective of Isaiah twenty seven is the perspective of 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:37.000 an integrated faith. An integrated faith not a fragmented faith. 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.120 A fragmented faith is when you believe in God when 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:45.040 things are good and doubt him when things are down. 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:51.880 This is an integrated faith. Everybody say integrated. It means 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:55.920 that in the process of moving forward in what God 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.080 has for you in the days to come, you will 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:04.920 have to make the decision to remain hopeful. When I 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:10.640 say remain hopeful, that also includes leaving room for disappointment. 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:17.160 So for grown ups, believing in God means remaining in 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:20.400 hope while leaving room for disappointment. 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:23.640 That goes to every area of our life. 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:28.200 Hopeful that you might have a good week with your 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:31.600 family or a good meal with your kids. But leaving 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:35.320 some room. Everybody say leave room. That's what I tell 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:37.000 the tailor when he takes my pants in. I say, 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:40.480 leave some room. In case Holly Cook's really good over 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:42.520 the holidays, Just leave me a little growing room. 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:45.000 And I think that leaving room. 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:48.679 For disappointment, that's what I mean by integrated faith. It's 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:51.719 really how our faith is sustained so that we see 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:58.200 disappointments as doorways to greater faith, not dead ends. In case, 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:01.480 the first few years of your walk with God have 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:04.880 been confusing to you because at first things seemed to 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.160 go up when you walked with God, and then things 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:10.120 went down and you thought that following God was always 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:12.160 going to lead you up. God wants to give you 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:16.600 an integrated faith. In case, the first few days of 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:20.960 your new year have sucked, and I thought about saying 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:22.680 have been spiritually challenging. 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:27.600 But when it sucks, it sucks, you know. I just 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:29.600 put it how you put it. This is like this 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:30.960 is the same old, same old. 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:33.760 What we want to talk about today is a little 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:37.440 bit different because we understand that it is our responsibility 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.840 as Christian people to manage our expectation. 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:43.920 Meaning I've got to make. 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:48.760 Sure that I don't let my experiences in life regulate 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:53.080 my expectations of God. Write this down I will not, 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:56.920 or say it out loud, whatever you want to do 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:01.040 to reinforce it, Auditory learner, Okay, just say I will 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:08.319 not allow my experience in life to regulate my expectation 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:08.920 of God. 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:14.160 That is a daily decision you've got to make. 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:19.400 And I think that a lot of the damaged relationships 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:24.520 in our life are because of unmanaged expectations that we 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:27.240 really started depending on somebody to do things for us 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.920 that only God could do for us. We really started 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:34.440 expecting things to be like the perfect little movies we 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.160 make up in our mind of how things are supposed 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:40.479 to go when we show up. And so the integrated 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:44.280 faith that Isaiah describes really beautiful because he says that 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:50.400 there's two things happening. There is a fight. Everybody say fight. 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:53.319 That's verse one of Isaiah twenty seven. In that day, 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:55.360 the Lord will punish with his sword. Now you have 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:59.000 the sword if you're just going through life, strolling through 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.440 your day. So there's a fight happening. And then in 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:05.320 verse two it says, in that day sing about a 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:07.439 fruitful vineyard. So let me point something out to you. 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:12.240 There's a sword in verse one, and there's a song 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:17.800 in verse two. But the sword and the song are 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:24.760 happening on the same day. Okay, This integrated faith will 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:26.920 make me get up in the morning and never say 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:31.920 again it's gonna be one of those days, because it's 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:32.959 always going to be. 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:35.280 One of those days. 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:38.080 Almost got discouraged before I came out today because my 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.880 hair right, there was flat and I couldn't get it up, 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:42.400 and I was going, Oh God, how am I going 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:43.480 to preach if my hair is flat? 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:43.679 Right? 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:43.839 There? 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:44.600 Are you serious? 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.520 You have the word of God and the spirit of God, 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:49.920 and you're gonna have a bad hair day and get 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:52.080 up in the pulpit without confidence. And I think I 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:54.120 fixed it, but I'm still not really sure. So I'm 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:55.880 kind of insecure as I stand before you. 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:00.600 It's amazing. It doesn't it doesn't take. 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:04.120 Much to remove us from a hopeful expectation. 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:11.640 My expectation is my responsibility. 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:21.200 Nobody can ruin my day. I got a verse for that, 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.880 Psalm one eighteen, verse twenty four. It's the year twenty 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:28.600 twenty four, right, all right, this is a verse twenty 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:29.240 four for you. 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:30.280 This is the. 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:38.680 Day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:44.760 glad in it. So if God made this day, nobody 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:47.520 else gets to mess it up. I used to say 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:48.840 to people, when they send me a nice text, you 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:51.360 made my day. I quit saying that because I figure 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:53.080 if they can make my day by sending me a 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:57.559 nice text, they can mess up my day if they 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:00.880 send me another type of text. Now we want to 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:03.880 get up every day this year and say, this is 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:08.760 the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:12.640 and be glad in it. So it's the challenge watch 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:18.280 this to remain in hope while leaving room for disappointment. 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:22.480 I think our expectations this time of year could use 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:28.199 a little HGH holy ghost hormone. 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:30.040 To get us on an expecting path. 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:33.680 That God has given me, a hope in the future 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:37.040 and an expected end. No matter what they did or 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:40.440 didn't do for you, no matter who left or who stayed, 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:43.280 or who called back or who blocked your number, I 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:47.840 have an expected end. And yet as I walk through 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:50.800 these days, I understand that my challenge is to remain. 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.040 Do you want to take notes on my message today? 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:56.560 My first word is remain because I want to challenge 0:13:56.600 --> 0:14:02.160 you to remain in hope this year and leave room 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:03.080 for disappointment. 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.880 And you're like, which one is it? I want you 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:06.439 to do both. 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:13.280 I want you to expect the blessing and accept the mess. 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:19.400 In that day there will be a sword because everybody 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:23.080 in here is fighting something. Everybody in here has a Leviathan. 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.080 I might preach about Leviathan next week, a whole sermon 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:31.960 on Leviathan I might do it next week. Would you 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:34.920 come back if I did? Would you make a hat 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:40.960 about it if I did? Yeah? Then, But notice that 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:45.600 while the sword is fighting Leviathan, because everybody has a Leviathan, 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:50.720 and everybody knows how to hide it. It's a coiling serpent, 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.040 it's a gliding serpent. 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.200 You hide your Leviathan behind a smile. 0:14:56.640 --> 0:15:00.600 You hide your Leviathan behind new clothes to the disguise 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:04.840 the fact that I dragged old habits underneath new clothes. 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:09.440 Some of us have new hair. Talked about a bad 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:12.240 hair day. Some of us actually have new hair on 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:13.880 our head in a new year. 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:17.720 Yet notice this in the text. Notice this in the text. 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:21.640 At the same time that God is dealing with the enemy, 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:26.560 he commands you to sing about the fruit that is 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:31.680 coming forth in your life. I love the Bible because 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:36.520 this gives me an integrated expectation of God, that there 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:40.080 will always be a fight in my life, but there 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:44.040 will always be fruit in my life. As a matter 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:48.160 of fact, I learned, the bigger the fight, the bigger 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:49.760 the fruit is going to be. 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:52.120 And the size. 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.360 Of the fight is a preview of. 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:55.840 The size of the fruit. 0:15:56.360 --> 0:16:01.280 I find somebody say it's gonna be big baby. 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:04.720 I'm appreciate today. I don't know what y'all are gonna do. 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:07.600 Shall remain. 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:13.440 He talks about Jacob, He talks about Israel being planted 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:18.240 and bearing fruit, having root and bearing fruit, And I 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:20.600 wonder are you rooted in the right thing? 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:21.960 As this year begins? 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:25.480 And I came to ask one question of our global 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:28.600 EFM and our local campuses all around the world, what 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:29.960 will you do with. 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:31.400 Your twenty four. 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:36.160 I think we're all a little humbler about our new 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:41.680 year's resolutions. After the year formerly known as twenty twenty, 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:45.160 every preacher I know was up preaching about Vision twenty 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:47.280 twenty Vision, and then. 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:51.280 Just completely blindsided by the. 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:53.440 Fact that the Lord didn't give us a prophetic word, 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:55.520 that we would be looking at empty seats all year, 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:56.840 preaching in our empty buildings. 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:00.240 So all the sermons are humbler. In the new year, 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:02.280 all the plans are a. 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:09.040 Little bit moderated, mitigated, modulated. I found a verse for 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:12.159 that too, Proverbs twenty seven to one. 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.520 I put this one in the King James. Check it out. 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:20.520 Both not thyself up tomorrow, for thou knowest not what 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:26.159 a day may bring forth. So when I had you 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:29.119 shout this is that day. Shout it again, this is 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:29.560 that day. 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:36.520 Some of y'all said that in lowercase letters, no exclamation point, 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.560 this is that day. You're You're very deep, so you're like, 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:44.080 what do you mean by that day? 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:47.239 I was just reading the Bible because Isaiah said, in 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:52.120 that day, the Lord's gonna fight your enemies, and in 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.560 that day you will sing of a fruitful vineyard. 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:57.920 That day. 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:01.359 You know that day you dream of. There are many 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.360 of you today who are dreaming of a day. Say 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:07.440 I'm dreaming of a day. If you don't talk back 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:08.880 to me during the sermon, you get a flat tire 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:10.200 when you leave to go in the parking lot. 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:11.480 We've got some guests. 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:17.800 I need to explain the rules, say that day, that day. 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:22.600 And so we have an expectation that God is going 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:26.240 to free us from certain things this year, that God 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.240 is going to deliver us from certain dilemmas this year, 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:32.840 that God is going to provide for us. And expectation 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:37.280 is great as long as it's integrated, because I think 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:41.959 the danger of having expectations about what God is going 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:44.320 to do. You know, twenty twenty four, God's going to 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:47.760 do more in twenty four, I'm leaving the shore in 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:51.960 twenty four. I'm going to get a stronger core in 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:58.480 twenty four. You want another one something I've never seen before. 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:02.240 In twenty twenty four. My ceiling is going to be 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:07.720 my floor. In twenty twenty four not going to be poor. 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:21.359 Why we say that, And while it's good to envision that, 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:23.080 and I'll be honest with you, some of the things 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:24.879 that I'm seeing today in my life are the result 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:27.000 of a vision that God gave me at a time 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:30.600 when I couldn't see anything like what I'm seeing today. 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:32.000 I believe in that expectation. 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:35.600 I think the danger we should talk about as you 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:37.679 move into your new year and what God wants to 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:42.000 do through you, is that sometimes your expectation. 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.359 Of the future can become your excuse. 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:51.640 Right now, and I'll break it down to a phrase 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:54.119 that I heard, and I'll use Elijah to give it 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:56.800 to you. When he was very little, we were taking 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:59.560 Easter pictures as a family, and of course our kids 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:00.840 just love taking Easter. 0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:02.440 Pictures because they're the pastor's kids. 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:10.239 They were fighting, they were angry, they were despondent, and 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.280 Elijah finally like after having to change outfits a few times. 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:16.080 This is a legendary line that he said in our family. 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:25.240 He said, I hate Easter when I'm the pastor. So 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:29.240 let's break this down. He said, one day when I'm 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:35.359 the pastor, We're not even gonna have Easter. I'm canceling Easter. 0:20:37.280 --> 0:20:39.480 He was like five, So don't judge him like that. 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:43.320 Oh my god, he was five. But check this out 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:47.520 a five year old's perspective. One day when I'm the pastor. 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:56.600 One day when one day when have you ever been 0:20:56.600 --> 0:21:02.280 a victim of? One day when syndrome. Yeah, I'm not 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:07.159 doing too good right now, but one day, one day 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:09.919 when I get these kids. 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:14.600 Out the house. The problem I have with that plan one. 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:17.159 Day when I get the kids out the house, is 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:20.880 that twenty years ago you were saying one day when 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:26.119 I have kids of my own, and now it's shifted 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:29.280 to a future stage where you think you'll have more 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:35.520 space and less stress. Let's do another one. I'm going 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:39.359 to start a business one day when I have the 0:21:39.440 --> 0:21:43.879 right partner. I used to laugh when teams would come 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:45.879 to see our church and they were starting their own church, 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:48.680 and the pastor would pull me aside and say, hey, 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:50.399 I got a gift that I got an annoying got 0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:52.200 a call star church when we reach people far from God. 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:54.280 But I don't have a team. Where do you get 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:56.800 your team? And I would always make something up. Oh, well, 0:21:56.800 --> 0:21:58.000 you know to build a bear store. 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:00.000 Well they got to build a ministry team store. 0:22:00.359 --> 0:22:02.000 And I went down there and I found the right 0:22:02.040 --> 0:22:04.399 amount of achiever and doer and the right amount of dreamer, 0:22:04.400 --> 0:22:05.439 and I put a team together. 0:22:05.600 --> 0:22:07.840 What do you think the team came from the same 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:09.680 place Jesus got his team. 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:12.520 You find the people that God has placed in your 0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:15.720 life that are imperfect, and you make it happen with. 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:16.440 Who you've got. 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:21.439 Now, if you are expecting a stage in your life 0:22:21.880 --> 0:22:25.080 when the perfect people will come into your life to 0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:30.719 help you figure out your imperfect life, if God sends 0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:33.359 perfect people in your life, you should send them away 0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:38.040 so they stay perfect, because the moment they get tangled 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:39.040 up with you and me, they. 0:22:38.920 --> 0:22:40.359 Won't be perfect anymore. 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:45.720 Did you ever do the one day when thing, Well, 0:22:45.720 --> 0:22:47.720 I'm gonna get in shape one day, when one day 0:22:47.720 --> 0:22:52.119 win what I'm gonna do the diet one day when 0:22:53.080 --> 0:22:55.919 one day when what I'll tell you what happened to me? 0:22:57.280 --> 0:23:01.480 It is so embarrassing. One day I saw in the mirror. 0:23:01.480 --> 0:23:03.359 I don't know how you see forty five pounds that 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:06.800 you've gained all at once, but it. 0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:08.840 Was like a flash of revelation. It was like a 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:12.119 road to Damascus to me. I walked by the mirror 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:15.480 after being married to Holly for eighteen months, with my 0:23:15.520 --> 0:23:19.440 shirt off, and I said, why didn't you. 0:23:19.400 --> 0:23:23.560 Tell me this was happening to me? And why did 0:23:23.560 --> 0:23:28.040 you contribute to it with your cooking? I said, I'm 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:32.680 going on Atkins. That's the diet I knew, and it 0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:38.080 involved bacon, and I like bacon, so I gotta. 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:38.480 Lose this belly. 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:41.560 But I got to use bacon to do it because 0:23:41.600 --> 0:23:43.480 I'm not going to be counting macros anytime soon. 0:23:44.400 --> 0:23:46.960 And Holly said, great, that's great. We could go on 0:23:47.000 --> 0:23:48.359 to diet next week. 0:23:48.400 --> 0:23:51.160 I said, no, I'm not eating another car starting right now, 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:52.640 and I didn't. 0:23:53.520 --> 0:23:57.919 We went the Windy's that night. I donated back the 0:23:57.960 --> 0:24:01.280 bun to the homeless Ministry and just state the patty 0:24:01.880 --> 0:24:06.600 and I did that over and over and over and over, 0:24:06.640 --> 0:24:09.200 and she thought that was so strange. She said, you 0:24:09.240 --> 0:24:10.960 could have gave me time. We could have shopped. 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:15.080 We could have hired a nutritionist, but I knew too 0:24:15.160 --> 0:24:18.040 much to have to give a nutritionist money to start 0:24:18.080 --> 0:24:22.080