1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 3 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 4 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:10,719 Speaker 1: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 5 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 2: Hope it gives your perspective to see God has moving 6 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 2: in your life. 7 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: Enjoy the message. 8 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,479 Speaker 3: We're about to jump into the message, but before we do, 9 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 3: I wanted to let you know that Elevation Nights is 10 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,639 Speaker 3: back September twenty fourth through October third, and if you 11 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 3: live on the West Coast, we might be coming to 12 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 3: a city near you. We're going to be in Seattle, Vancouver, Sacramento, 13 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:36,279 Speaker 3: la Anaheim, Boise, Salt Lake City, and Denver. It's going 14 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 3: to be an amazing night with Elevation worship and a 15 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,520 Speaker 3: message from Pastor Stephen. So go to Elevation Nights dot 16 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,480 Speaker 3: com to get your tickets. We cannot wait to see 17 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 3: you there. Now let's go to the message. 18 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: Come on, keep your hands going. Let's take a moment 19 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: and praise Him for every time he's made away in 20 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: our lives, for every time he's roxy group an. I'm 21 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: looking at some people with a testimony this morning, miracle 22 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: after a miracle and last week, our pastor taught us 23 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: what a miracle sometimes feels like. How many of you 24 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: want to give God praise for super natural rest in 25 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: your life. The enemy was throwing arrows at you, and somehow, 26 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,319 Speaker 1: by his hand, he gave you a peace. 27 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:25,400 Speaker 4: Come on, let's praise God one more time for his 28 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 4: hand in our loves. 29 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: Man and man and man, Oh, it's so good to 30 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: be in God's house together, Amen and men. Right about now, 31 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: a concerned spouse is nudging her husband. She said, I 32 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: told you to check and make sure Pastor Stephen was 33 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: preaching on this Labor Day weekend. And if you're that husband, 34 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: nudge your wife. Say you're in the right place. You're 35 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: in the right place. And I believe God has a 36 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: word in the house for us today. I'm so grateful 37 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: to be able to open up the scriptures. I know 38 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: many of you here at Valentine, but if I haven't 39 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: got a chance to meet you, my name is John, 40 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: and I get the privilege of serving here as the 41 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: campus pastor at our Balentine location. At stay stand in 42 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: for just a moment till we get to the scriptures. 43 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: But someone reminded me of this the other day. We 44 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: were talking and it brought back an old story to mind, 45 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: and just to share a little bit about me for 46 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: a moment. About twelve years ago, when I was in seminary, 47 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: Pastor Stephen came to the school Liberty University, where my 48 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 1: wife and I were, and he had just released a 49 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: book called Greater and this book impacted me so much. 50 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: He came to preach at the school and he was 51 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,639 Speaker 1: doing a book signing after and I didn't necessarily care 52 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: about getting the book signed, but I really wanted to 53 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: meet Pastor Steve, and I had just so much respect 54 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: for the anointing on his life. And I was in 55 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: the habit of I believe God had a call on 56 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: my life, and so anytime I had the opportunity to 57 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: be even near a great man or woman of God, 58 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: I'd always ask them for prayer. And so in my mind, 59 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: I thought, Hey, if I can go to this book signing, 60 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: and I know there'll be a lot of people he's 61 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: got to get through, but if I can maybe stay 62 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: to the back of the line, maybe I'll get a 63 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:02,839 Speaker 1: chance to meet Pastor Steven and ask him to pray 64 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: for me. And so I did that. After he spoke, 65 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: I was in the line, and every time someone would 66 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: get behind me, I'd say, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. 67 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: And at the end of that and I'm sure it 68 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: was a long day for Pastor, having preached and then 69 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: done all these book signings, but he was so gracious 70 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: to take a moment and I just shared with him 71 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: the call I felt on my life and asked him 72 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: to pray. And he was so gracious to just take 73 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: a moment and pray for me. And he wrote three 74 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: words when he signed this book to Jonathan and Anna, 75 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: three simple words that would profoundly shape my life. He wrote, 76 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: Greater Things Ahead. And those three words I meant the 77 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: world to us. It would be just a few months 78 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: later that my wife and I would move here to 79 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: be a part of this incredible church. And we're so 80 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: thankful for God that he called us and placed us 81 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: here at Elevation, and so this has been home for us. 82 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: This is where all my kids were born. Real quick, 83 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: just show him a picture of my family, real fast, 84 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: if you got it. This is my son, Zion and 85 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: Elias and Olivia. She's everyone's favorite. Zion's in the room, 86 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: but I can say that we all just say she's 87 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 1: our favorite. We love Olivia, and I'm so grateful that 88 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: God's planted us here. And it won't take you long 89 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: to realize, if you're new here, that this is not 90 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: a perfect church. There's no such thing as a perfect church. 91 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,479 Speaker 1: But I'm so grateful for a healthy church where the 92 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: spirit of God is moving, where people are being reached 93 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: with the gospel. Next week, when you come back for 94 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: block party, you're gonna see what it's all about. Is 95 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: hundreds of people take the step of being baptized and 96 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: publicly declaring their faith in Jesus. Say, man, how many 97 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: you are grateful for God's house for what He's doing 98 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: in this church. And I'm excited to share this word 99 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: with you today. We're gonna be in Acts chapter one, 100 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: in Acts chapter two, and this is the story about 101 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:55,920 Speaker 1: the coming of the Holy Spirit. All the Pentecostals make 102 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: some noise pick up in verse four. On one occasion, 103 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,799 Speaker 1: while he was eating with them, he gave them this command, 104 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my 105 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 1: father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For 106 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: John baptized with water, but in a few days you 107 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then they gathered 108 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: around him and asked, LORDA, you at this time going 109 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: to restore the kingdom to Israel. He said to them, 110 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: it's not for you to know the times or the 111 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: dates the Father has set by his own authority. But 112 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: you will receive power. Everyone say power. You will receive 113 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you 114 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of 115 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,559 Speaker 1: Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 116 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: After he said this, he was taken up before their 117 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 118 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: So Jesus ascends into heaven. Fast forward Acts chapter two. 119 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together 120 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: in one place. Everyone say place. Suddenly a sound like 121 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and 122 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw 123 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and 124 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: came to rest on each of them. All of them 125 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,679 Speaker 1: were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak 126 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now they 127 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: were staying in Jerusalem, God fearing Jews from every nation 128 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: under heaven. Back to Acts chapter two, verse one for 129 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: a moment when the day of Pentecost came, they were 130 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: all together in one place. I want to talk to 131 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: you this morning about the power of a place. The 132 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,039 Speaker 1: power of a place. High five year neighbors, you take 133 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: your seat, say there's power in this place. Come on, 134 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: tell them like you believe it, there's power in this place. 135 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: Earlier this year, our pastor led us through a series 136 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: through the Book of Acts and talking about the role 137 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit. How many you remember that series 138 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: just in the spring, and it was so impactful for me. 139 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: And one of my favorite messages in that series was 140 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 1: a sermon he preached called Places. Everyone. So consider this 141 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: message life not a part two, but maybe a spin 142 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: off series of that incredible message our pastor preach. But 143 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: that sermon got me thinking about the power of places 144 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: in our life and the way God uses places, the 145 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: places he puts us in to unfold his purposes and plans. 146 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: When we talk about the ways God works in our lives, 147 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: I think all of us would agree that God uses 148 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: people in our lives. Right when I say that, maybe 149 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: maybe a mentor a leader comes to mind, who discipled 150 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: you really made a difference in your life. Maybe what 151 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 1: comes to mind is the person who invited you to 152 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: church or shared the Gospel with you for the first time. 153 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: Maybe you think of a praying grandmother. Everyone, we all 154 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 1: would agree God uses people in our lives, but more 155 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: and more, even in my own life, God is beginning 156 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: to reveal to me how He uses places. Everybody say 157 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: places places. I want to give you an example from 158 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: nature real quick, to kind of set up this point. 159 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: I don't know what you like to do Sundays after 160 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: you leave church. How many you like to go home 161 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: and watch football? Is that your thing? I'll tell you 162 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 1: how cool I am after church on Sundays. You know 163 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: what I like to do. I like to go home 164 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: and watch nature documentaries. That's my thing. The simultaneously informative 165 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: yet relaxing voice of David ATM Sorry, Sir David Attenborough. 166 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: And one of the things I saw recently was this. 167 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 1: Show them the picture of these trees real quick. These 168 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: are California redwords redwoods. These are the tallest trees on 169 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: the planet and some of the fastest growing trees. Look 170 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: at that. Something incredible, though, happened about one hundred years ago. 171 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: Someone took these trees from where they were native to 172 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:55,440 Speaker 1: in California and they decided to plant them in New Zealand. 173 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: And when they planted these trees that were already massive, 174 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,320 Speaker 1: already rapid growing, trees, already remarkable in their own right, 175 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,559 Speaker 1: when they took them from their native environment of California 176 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: and planted them in a new environment of New Zealand, 177 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,680 Speaker 1: something incredible happened. You ready for this, any nature lovers 178 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: in the house today. When they planted these trees in 179 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: New Zealand, in the nutrient rich volcanic soil of New Zealand, 180 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: these trees that were already remarkably fast growing, grew three 181 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: times faster in New Zealand than they did in their 182 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: native land of California. Ooh, the environments you place yourself 183 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:42,320 Speaker 1: in matters. There is potential on the inside of you, 184 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: but how quickly you get there? And some of the 185 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: things that God will unfold in your life have less 186 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:51,680 Speaker 1: to do with your potential and more to do with 187 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: the places that you find yourself in. You can put 188 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: yourself in a place that you are not native to 189 00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: and watch God as he accelerates your lif in ways 190 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:06,359 Speaker 1: you never could a thought or imagine. Places matter to God. 191 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: One thing Jesus would often do throughout the scriptures is 192 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: he would tell these parables to illustrate what the Kingdom 193 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: of God was like. And as Jesus would tell these parables, 194 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: he would use the place he was in to teach principles. Right, 195 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:22,839 Speaker 1: so he would tell a parable about a lost sheep, 196 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:25,720 Speaker 1: probably as he was standing next to a field filled 197 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: with sheep. He would use the place to illustrate the principle, 198 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: or tell a parable about a fig as he's standing 199 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:34,560 Speaker 1: next to a fig, or a vineyard while he's near 200 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: a vineyard. And one time in Matthew thirteen, he tells 201 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: a parable about a sewer who goes out to scatter seed, 202 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: and the Bible says that as the sewer went and 203 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,160 Speaker 1: scattered seed, it fell in four different places. Everybody say places. 204 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: The seed fell in four different places. Some of it 205 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: fell in a place where it was snatched up by birds. 206 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: Some of the seed fell in a place where it 207 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 1: was so rocky it couldn't get roots, so when the 208 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: sun got hot they withered away. Other seeds fell in 209 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: a place where it was choked out by thorns. And 210 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:06,680 Speaker 1: other seed fell on good soil where it produced fruit. 211 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 1: If you're looking at Matthew thirteen in your Bible, it'll 212 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 1: probably have a heading like the Parable of the Sower, 213 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: but a better name for this parable is the parable 214 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:19,440 Speaker 1: of the places. Because what determined the outcome of that 215 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: seed was not the potential within the seed, and it 216 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 1: wasn't the sower. The sower knew what he was doing. 217 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: What determined the outcome of that seed was the place 218 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: that the seed landed. Your life is like a seed, 219 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: and the places you find yourself in can either accelerate 220 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 1: you grow, you expand you feed you. Or if the 221 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 1: good environment can accelerate and grow your life in the 222 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: same way, the wrong environment can squander you, starve you, 223 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: suffocate you from the purposes that God has for your life. 224 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: This is the power of a place. This is why 225 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:58,439 Speaker 1: it's so important that when someone gives their life to 226 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 1: Christ that we help them get can to this church, 227 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: because that they receive the seed of God's grace into 228 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: their heart, but they go back to the same people 229 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: and the same environments. It's one thing to have Jesus 230 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:11,960 Speaker 1: in your heart, but you're going to be frustrated when 231 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,679 Speaker 1: you feel like you're not transforming if you have Jesus 232 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: in your heart but keep going to the same places. 233 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 1: The same bars, the same club get. We got to 234 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 1: help people get out of the environment that they were 235 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 1: in and into a life giving environment where the purposes 236 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: of God can begin to unfold. I'm so grateful God 237 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 1: planted me in this house, in this soil, in this soil, 238 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,640 Speaker 1: because I've seen God do incredible things. I always knew 239 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:40,760 Speaker 1: God's hand was on my life. I knew I would 240 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 1: see God do incredible I never could have imagined some 241 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: of the things I'd get to see God do because 242 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: of where He planted me. I remember one author saying, 243 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:50,839 Speaker 1: he said, if you want to see a move of God, 244 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,319 Speaker 1: put yourself in a place where God is moving. If 245 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: you want to see God move in a big way, 246 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: and how many of you want to see God move 247 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: in a big way in your life. If you want 248 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: to see God move in a big way in your life, 249 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 1: put yourself in a place where God is moving. That's 250 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 1: true for so many areas of our life. If you 251 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,400 Speaker 1: want to see a miracle in your life, put yourself 252 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,440 Speaker 1: in a place where God is still doing miracles. If 253 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,200 Speaker 1: you want to see your marriage thrive and prosper, put 254 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: yourself in a place where you're surrounded by healthy miracles, 255 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: by healthy marriages. If you want to see God do something, 256 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: get in a place where the spirit of God is moving. 257 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:29,559 Speaker 1: When you plant yourself in a place where the spirit 258 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 1: of God is moving and watering, there is no limit 259 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:37,079 Speaker 1: to what God can do in and through your life. 260 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 1: And like I mentioned, the same is true the opposite way, 261 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: Like if you put man, I love nature so much. 262 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 1: Here's my third nature analogy. But if you put a 263 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: fish in a small aquarium, it won't limit how much 264 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 1: it can grow. Many of us are limited not by 265 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: our potential, but by our places. In one passage of scripture, 266 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: Jesus comes across a man who had been paralyzed since birth, 267 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 1: and the scripture says that he was laying near a 268 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:06,440 Speaker 1: pool called Bethesda. And the scripture specifically points out that 269 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 1: at this pool that there is a great number of 270 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,560 Speaker 1: sick and ill people. And Jesus goes up to this 271 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: man who was laying by this pool, and he asked 272 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: him a question. He says, do you want to get well? 273 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: And of course the answer to that is obvious for 274 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: this man who's been laying by this pool, for you, 275 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:24,720 Speaker 1: do you want to get well? The man says, yes, 276 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: I want to get well. Interestingly enough, Jesus doesn't say 277 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: to him, you're healed. Jesus says, pick up your mat 278 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,640 Speaker 1: and go. When the man expresses that he wants to 279 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: get well, the first thing Jesus tells him to do 280 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 1: is change your environment, because if you want to walk, 281 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: the first thing you need to do is stop hanging 282 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: around lame people. When you want to see God do 283 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: something different in your life, you've got to Often, God 284 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: will force you out of environments that you're native to 285 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: places that are comfortable for you in order to bring 286 00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 1: you into His purposes. Amen, I didn't forget about the 287 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: Book of Acts. Let's go there for a minute. Talk 288 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: about the potential of a place, this little upper room, 289 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 1: this little upper room, where God would send his spirit, 290 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: and the effects of that for the last two thousand 291 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 1: years have been resounding and trembling throughout the whole earth, 292 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: and on the Day of Pentecost. One thing you need 293 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: to know is that the Day of Pentecost was one 294 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: day in a festival called the Feast of Weeks, and 295 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 1: during the Feast of Weeks, this is where the Israelites 296 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 1: would celebrate when God gave the law the Torah to Moses, 297 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: and thus started the nation of Israel. So the feast 298 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: of Weeks where they is where they would celebrate the 299 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:44,920 Speaker 1: beginning of the Hebrew people becoming a nation. Now, for 300 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: us as believers, when we think about the Day of Pentecost, 301 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,840 Speaker 1: it's not about God sending his law, but God sending 302 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: his spirit. And it's not about the birth of a nation, 303 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,040 Speaker 1: but the birth of God's Church that since that day 304 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 1: when He poured out his spirit, has been resonating throughout 305 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: the whole earth, to Ukraine, to Brazil, to Toronto to Charlotte, 306 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: North Carolina. All the beautiful expressions of the Body of 307 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 1: Christ that came out of that moment when God birth 308 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,119 Speaker 1: this church in that little upper room. It's the potential 309 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: of a place. And sometimes I read this story and 310 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: I think it would be so cool to have been 311 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: one of the apostles in that room on that day. 312 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: It would have been so amazing to be in that 313 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: place as God sends the spirit and all of a 314 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: sudden it fills the house and it fills the people. 315 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 1: And this scripture will go on to say that right 316 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: after that, Peter and the other eleven they stand up 317 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 1: and they give one of the most beautiful expressions of 318 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: the gospel message of Jesus Christ, and that day three 319 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: thousand people get added to the church. What would it 320 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 1: have been like to been in the middle of a 321 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 1: move of God like that? I think, Oh, it would 322 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: be so cool to be in the upper room. But 323 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: think with me for a second what this must have 324 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 1: felt like for the apostles who are there. See, for 325 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: three years they've been following Jesus from place place. Remember 326 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: he called them out of there for Peter. He said, 327 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 1: leave your fishing, but leave the thing that's not only 328 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: comfortable for you but also lucrative for you, and come 329 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,960 Speaker 1: and follow me. And so for three years these disciples 330 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,960 Speaker 1: have been following Jesus from place to place, everybody say place. 331 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:19,440 Speaker 1: And then they watch Jesus as he gets crucified in 332 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: a place called Golgatha. They even told them, Jesus, don't 333 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: do it, but it was his purpose and plan all 334 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: along to go to that place and give his life. 335 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 1: And so, in their pain and confusion and grief, they 336 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: watched them get crucified. And just when things couldn't get 337 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,120 Speaker 1: more confusing, three days later they go to the tomb, 338 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,680 Speaker 1: and what happens. He wasn't in that place the Angel said, 339 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:42,959 Speaker 1: he's not here, he's risen. And then they meet the 340 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,920 Speaker 1: resurrected Jesus, and from that point for another forty days, 341 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 1: they're with the resurrected Jesus, and in some of his 342 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: last words to them before he ascends into heaven, he says, 343 00:17:54,640 --> 00:18:01,199 Speaker 1: wait in Jerusalem. Wait in Jerusalem, says, my father's going 344 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: to send you the gift of the Holy Spirit, but 345 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,159 Speaker 1: you need to wait in Jerusalem. How many patient people 346 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,399 Speaker 1: in the House of God today self identified patient people. 347 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: This is how I know I wouldn't have been a 348 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:16,719 Speaker 1: good disciple because I'm not very good at waiting. So 349 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:18,720 Speaker 1: when we call it the Upper Room, we think, what 350 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: an amazing moment that happened in that place. But for 351 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,119 Speaker 1: the disciples, this wouldn't have felt like a move of God. 352 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: This would have felt like a waiting room, a waiting room, 353 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: a waiting room. They're in that place and it would 354 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,159 Speaker 1: be ten days from when Jesus ascended to when he 355 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: would send the gift of his Holy Spirit. Ten days. 356 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:42,120 Speaker 1: But they don't know that. They don't know that, they 357 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: don't know if it's going to be three days, seven days, 358 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: ten days, one hundred days. In some of his last 359 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: words to them, he says, stay in Jerusalem and wait 360 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,640 Speaker 1: and wait. So they go to this place and they're 361 00:18:55,640 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 1: simply waiting. Imagine how confusing this was for them. The 362 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,639 Speaker 1: worst thing about when you're waiting, like for me, I 363 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 1: always think about when you go to a restaurant and 364 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:07,400 Speaker 1: the weight is taking a little bit longer than you expect. 365 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,199 Speaker 1: In your in you're debating in your mind do I 366 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,199 Speaker 1: just leave and go somewhere else? And yet there's something 367 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: deep down in your spirit telling you that the moment 368 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,640 Speaker 1: I walk out of this door, they're gonna call my name. Right, 369 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: it's this lingering feeling. The moment I leave this place, 370 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,399 Speaker 1: they're gonna say, josephs, your table is ready, and I 371 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:28,640 Speaker 1: won't be in that place. So you just wait, You wait, 372 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 1: you wait, when's it gonna come? When's it gonna come? 373 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: One thing I want you to know is that places 374 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:37,800 Speaker 1: that places where you find yourself waiting are places of preparation. 375 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: Preparation is connected to a place when you find yourself 376 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: in that tormenting space where you don't I know God's 377 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 1: getting ready to do something, but I don't know when 378 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:54,439 Speaker 1: or exactly what He's gonna do. Those are spaces of preparation. 379 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 1: A couple of weeks ago, our pastor taught us about 380 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: this when he talked about King David. Remember, David was 381 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,879 Speaker 1: anointed as king, and yet despite being anointed by the 382 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 1: prophet Samuel to be the king of Israel, he did 383 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 1: not possess the throne right away. And our pastor taught 384 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,920 Speaker 1: us how David spent years running away from the current king, 385 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,439 Speaker 1: King Saul, who was trying to kill him. So he 386 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 1: finds himself living in the wilderness and hiding in caves. 387 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: And our pastor said something so profound to us. He said, 388 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:28,520 Speaker 1: kings are only formed in caves. That cave was a 389 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 1: waiting room. That cave was a place of preparation for 390 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: King David. God knew everything he had in store for David. 391 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,920 Speaker 1: God knew everything that David would become. But in that cave, 392 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: God was forming something in him for the purposes that 393 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:45,879 Speaker 1: he had for him. Consider Joseph for just a moment. 394 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 1: Joseph is an amazing character in the Bible. In fact, 395 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: he would have such profound and prophetic dreams about the 396 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: way that God was going to use them that when 397 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 1: he told his family, they got so jealous of him 398 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,879 Speaker 1: that they sold him into slavery, and through a series 399 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 1: of unfortunate events, Joseph finds himself in a prison cell. 400 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:10,480 Speaker 1: Something incredible happens in that prison cell. We call it 401 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,159 Speaker 1: a prison, but it was a waiting room. God was 402 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,200 Speaker 1: preparing him in that place, because in that waiting room, 403 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 1: the Bible calls him. It calls him Joseph the Dreamer. 404 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,639 Speaker 1: But in that waiting room, in that prison cell, something 405 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,879 Speaker 1: significant happens in Joseph's life. It's not Joseph who's dreaming 406 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: in that prison cell, but the other prisoners. Catch this 407 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: for a moment. When you really begin to operate in 408 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:37,399 Speaker 1: the anointing that God has placed on your life, you 409 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: start to see the people around you. Start to stay 410 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,240 Speaker 1: with me for a minute. When you really start walking 411 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: in the grace God gave you to be an encourager, 412 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 1: you'll see that the people around you start encouraging. When 413 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:50,919 Speaker 1: you begin to walk in the grace God gave you 414 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,639 Speaker 1: to be generous, you'll see the people. So it's not 415 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:56,960 Speaker 1: Joseph having dreams. It's not Joseph the Dreamer having dreams. 416 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: It's the other prisoners. And in that waiting room, in 417 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: that prison cell, these other prisoners are having dreams, and 418 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: Joseph begins to interpret their dreams. Did you catch what 419 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,719 Speaker 1: happens in his life. It's in that waiting room that 420 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:16,200 Speaker 1: Joseph goes from Joseph the dreamer to Joseph the dream interpreter. 421 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: The prison cell was the place where Joseph learned how 422 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 1: to use his gifts, not to serve himself, but serve others. 423 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 1: Come on, any of you been in that place where 424 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: you thought it was all about you and God puts 425 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: you in circumstances where you learned that what He gave you, 426 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,160 Speaker 1: and what he put in you, and what he put 427 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: on your life wasn't just for you, but for others 428 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:42,919 Speaker 1: as well. Ah, he went from a dreamer to a 429 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,439 Speaker 1: dream interpreter. And I want you to know today that 430 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:48,640 Speaker 1: when you are in that place of waiting, I'll need 431 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:50,399 Speaker 1: you to see it as a place of preparation. It 432 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: is possible that in that place God is preparing you 433 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:58,879 Speaker 1: for what He's prepared for you. God is preparing you 434 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,919 Speaker 1: for what He prepared for you. This is what Ephesians 435 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,359 Speaker 1: two ten says. It says that we are God's handiwork, 436 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:09,440 Speaker 1: created to do good works which he prepared for. In 437 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 1: other words, that means that God is shaping you. God 438 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: is forming you. God is working on your life for 439 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: what He has already prepared in advanced for you to do. 440 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:19,199 Speaker 4: So. 441 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:23,840 Speaker 1: Picture the apostles in this upper room waiting for God 442 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,800 Speaker 1: to send a spirit, knowing what God promised them, but 443 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:30,159 Speaker 1: not knowing when he was going to do it. But 444 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:34,119 Speaker 1: in that place, God was preparing them for something so 445 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,680 Speaker 1: significant they never could have When Peter left his boat, 446 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,720 Speaker 1: he never could have imagined that on that day he 447 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:44,360 Speaker 1: would be preaching and three thousand people would give their 448 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:47,439 Speaker 1: lives sick. He never could. But God is preparing you 449 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:51,639 Speaker 1: for what He's prepared for you. I don't want to 450 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,880 Speaker 1: miss out when God finds when God calls my name, 451 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,119 Speaker 1: when he calls me, I want to be in the 452 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 1: place he told me to be. So Jesus said, wait 453 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 1: in Jerusalem, because my father's getting ready to send you something. 454 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:07,439 Speaker 1: I know even as I say that, some of you 455 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:09,360 Speaker 1: are like, I hate the place I'm in right now. 456 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 1: Maybe you feel stuck in a job. Maybe you're at 457 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: a school where it feels like you don't belong, and 458 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 1: everything within you wants to get up and leave that place. 459 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 1: Because it's so painful and so uncomfortable. But I want 460 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 1: you to know that even when you're in that place, 461 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 1: your Father has not forgotten you. It could just be 462 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: that he's preparing you for what He's prepared for you. 463 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: When Jesus tells them wait in Jerusalem, it's interesting to me. 464 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 1: They go to this we call it the Upper Room. 465 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: But if you remember, before Jesus went to the Cross, 466 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,160 Speaker 1: he sent them into Jerusalem and he said, go prepare 467 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: a place for the Passover meal, the first communion, the 468 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,960 Speaker 1: last Supper would take place. This was the same room 469 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: that they had prepared not too much earlier, for the 470 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 1: Passover supper with Jesus. So when Jesus ascends into heaven 471 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:00,920 Speaker 1: and they're left not knowing what to do, they don't 472 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:03,919 Speaker 1: go to a new place. They go to a prepared place. 473 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: And sometimes when you find yourself in the place where 474 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 1: you're not sure what God is going to do or 475 00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:10,920 Speaker 1: when God is going to do it, I want to 476 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,840 Speaker 1: encourage you to stay in the place he last told 477 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,479 Speaker 1: you to be, Stay in the place that he puts you, 478 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,680 Speaker 1: because your father, he hasn't forgotten about you, and he's 479 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: getting ready to do something in your life. So don't 480 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: leave Jerusalem, don't walk away just yet. God is preparing 481 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 1: you for what He's prepared for you. Not only is 482 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 1: preparation connected to a place, but what I love in 483 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,560 Speaker 1: this scripture is that God's provision is connected to a 484 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 1: place as well. Are you with me? One thing? There's 485 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,120 Speaker 1: so much I could tell you about my wife Anna, 486 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,400 Speaker 1: but two things you need to know. One is she's 487 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 1: a really good cook. Amen. The other thing is she's 488 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:56,160 Speaker 1: a really good mom. In fact, my kids eat every 489 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 1: single day. That's how good of a mom she is. 490 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:02,919 Speaker 1: Every single day. So when Anna cooks a meal for 491 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 1: our family, as much as I think my boys would 492 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: love to eat their dinner in the playroom or up 493 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,200 Speaker 1: in their bedroom, when Anna makes the meal for our kids, 494 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: she takes what she prepared and she puts it on 495 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:18,439 Speaker 1: the table, and she says, boys, time to come eat 496 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:20,680 Speaker 1: and as much as they'd like to eat somewhere else. 497 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:22,200 Speaker 1: And I'm not judging you if you're a family who 498 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: eats on the couch or eats on the floor or whatever. 499 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,080 Speaker 1: But in our family, she takes what she prepared and 500 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: she puts it on the table and says, boys, come 501 00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: and eat. In other words, they need to come to 502 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,960 Speaker 1: the place where the food is that they want to eat. 503 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: I want you to know that God is a good father. 504 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 1: God is a good father. He knows how to feed 505 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: you as his sons and as his daughters. He's a 506 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:49,480 Speaker 1: good father. But God is not uber eats. God does 507 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,480 Speaker 1: not take provision to where you are. God puts his 508 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 1: provision to where you're supposed to be. That's what he 509 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,720 Speaker 1: said to Elijah one king seventeen. He said, I'm gonna 510 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: supply food for you down at the break. I'm even 511 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 1: gonna do it in a miraculous way. I'm gonna send 512 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,639 Speaker 1: ravens to feed you there. But Elijah, you gotta be 513 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: in the place I told you to be so that 514 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: I can feed you. Provision is connected to a place 515 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,760 Speaker 1: your father knows how to feed you. But you gotta 516 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 1: be in the place he told you to be. Consider 517 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,399 Speaker 1: for just a moment with me, the story of the 518 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:28,320 Speaker 1: prodigal son that Jesus tells this parable again of a 519 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,439 Speaker 1: son who asks his father early for his inheritance, and 520 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,120 Speaker 1: it says he left his father's house and he went 521 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 1: into a distant country where he squandered everything that he 522 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 1: had been given and then look at this in verse seventeen, 523 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:47,119 Speaker 1: this boy who's gone off to a distant country, squandered 524 00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:49,920 Speaker 1: everything as father has given him. He hires himself out 525 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,040 Speaker 1: to work with the pigs. And while he's with the pigs, 526 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,080 Speaker 1: he's getting envious of what the pigs are eating. Well, 527 00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:58,480 Speaker 1: he's out there starving. In verse seventeen, it says, and 528 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 1: when he came to his senses, he said, how many 529 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:06,239 Speaker 1: of my father's hired servants have food to spare, and 530 00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:10,960 Speaker 1: here I am starving to death. How many of my 531 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:15,000 Speaker 1: father's hired servants have food to eat, and yet I'm 532 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:19,400 Speaker 1: out here starving as a son. In other words, the 533 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 1: provision of his father had nothing to do with his 534 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:26,400 Speaker 1: position and everything to do with his location. I heard 535 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 1: our friend, Pastor Darius said, did you catch what I 536 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,120 Speaker 1: just said? It had nothing to do with his position 537 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:36,080 Speaker 1: and everything to do with his location. Our friend, Pastor 538 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:38,320 Speaker 1: Darius Daniels, he was preaching this. He said, as long 539 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,480 Speaker 1: as the son was in the father's house, he never 540 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,280 Speaker 1: knew what it felt like to be hungry. And you 541 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,200 Speaker 1: have to know, as a child of God, you have 542 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 1: access to the refrigerator of your father, But it is 543 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:54,320 Speaker 1: in the house touch your neighbors say, it's in the 544 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:58,680 Speaker 1: You gotta be in the place that God told you 545 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: to be. Out here staring as a son, when your 546 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 1: father has everything that you need. In the presence of 547 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: the Lord is the fullness of joy at his right hand, 548 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:16,920 Speaker 1: pleasures evermore, My father has everything that I need, and 549 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,200 Speaker 1: the House of God is one of the primary places 550 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 1: your Father will feed you. I know we live in 551 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 1: a day and age when people say I'm just not 552 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:27,479 Speaker 1: into church. I'm spiritual. I connect with God everywhere, and 553 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 1: I get it. God is on the present. If you 554 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:31,120 Speaker 1: like to go on a walk and He speaks to you, 555 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 1: that's amazing. You should have a place in your home 556 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 1: where you read your scriptures and pray and God speaks 557 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 1: to you. But I want you to know that the 558 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,719 Speaker 1: House of God is one of the primary places that 559 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:44,360 Speaker 1: your Father will feed you with what you need. So 560 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: people now say, oh, church is just a build, just 561 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: a building, just a building. Now, when I think about 562 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: how my father met me in the this is not 563 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:57,160 Speaker 1: a building. This is the house of God. Let me 564 00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: show you a table, real quick. Let me show you 565 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: a table. For the last eight years, I've had the 566 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: privilege of being the campus pastor here, And one of 567 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 1: the great privileges of that is that every single week 568 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: I get to sit at this table right here, this table, 569 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,360 Speaker 1: this table. And some of you are like Pastor JJ, 570 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:21,440 Speaker 1: that's not a table, that's a chair. No no, no no. 571 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:24,840 Speaker 1: It might look like a chair to you, But for me, 572 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: that's a table. This is the place where my father 573 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 1: feeds me. This is the place where he speaks to me. 574 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: This is the place where he's where he's comforted me. 575 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: This is the place where he's corrected me. This is 576 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:43,000 Speaker 1: the place where he's given me. This is the place 577 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,680 Speaker 1: where my father feeds me. And so for me, I 578 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:47,840 Speaker 1: want to be at my father's table. And whether it's 579 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: our pastor or anyone else who stands behind that pulpit, 580 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 1: I want to be in the house of God because 581 00:30:55,120 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 1: my Father knows what I need. And one of the 582 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 1: things I see time and time again as a pastor 583 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:05,400 Speaker 1: is sometimes people will come to church and come to 584 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:07,840 Speaker 1: God when their life is falling apart. And God is 585 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:09,880 Speaker 1: so good that the moment you come to him, he 586 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,959 Speaker 1: embraces you with open arms, and he closes you, and 587 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:15,280 Speaker 1: he feeds you. And yet some of us get so 588 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,800 Speaker 1: used to being full that we forget what it felt 589 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:23,280 Speaker 1: like to be hungry, and so we begin to drift 590 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: away from the House of God, and wonder, has God 591 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,760 Speaker 1: forgotten me? Has God forsaken me? Did he forget to 592 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 1: feed you? No, he didn't forget to feed you. He's 593 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,240 Speaker 1: putting food on the table every week. But God needs 594 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,000 Speaker 1: to feed you in the place he called you to be. 595 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: And one of the most amazing things about this church 596 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,239 Speaker 1: is that you can show up week after week and 597 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: get fed and you never have to give a single 598 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: dime to this ministry because there's someone else on your 599 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:56,880 Speaker 1: row right now who believes so much in what God 600 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 1: is doing in this place that they give sacrifice to 601 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:03,480 Speaker 1: see the gospel. Will go forward to build a banquet 602 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: table for the masters, so that all can come and 603 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:08,800 Speaker 1: eat of His goodness, to taste and see that the 604 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: Lord is good. But if this is the place where 605 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 1: God feeds you, I don't know why you wouldn't give 606 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: to help put food on the table. There's someone else 607 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 1: who needs to eat there. The world needs what our 608 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:25,040 Speaker 1: father has. This is the house of God. Provision is 609 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: connected to a place to a place. This is the 610 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:34,000 Speaker 1: place where my father feeds me. So he says to them, 611 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,760 Speaker 1: wait in Jerusalem, because my Father's going to send you 612 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:43,080 Speaker 1: the gift provision, the gift, the gift of what, the 613 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,440 Speaker 1: gift of the Holy Spirit. Of all the ways that 614 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:48,600 Speaker 1: God can provide for you in your life, the greatest 615 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 1: provision of your Father will always be the gift of 616 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:55,000 Speaker 1: his presence. I love the Holy Spirit. I love to 617 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 1: know that no matter what I'm walking through, that God 618 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: is with me. So he says, wait in Jerusalem. My 619 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:04,280 Speaker 1: Father is going to send you the gift. He's going 620 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:06,600 Speaker 1: to provide for you in that place. He's going to 621 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:09,160 Speaker 1: send you the gift of the Holy Spirit. And when 622 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: he sends you the spirit, you will receive power. And 623 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:15,120 Speaker 1: he says, and when you receive power, you will be 624 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,720 Speaker 1: my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, into the 625 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:22,040 Speaker 1: ends of the yearth In other words, not only is 626 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,880 Speaker 1: provision connected to a place, but purpose is connected to 627 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 1: a place as well. When God begins to do something 628 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,760 Speaker 1: in your life, it's always for a purpose greater than you. 629 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:34,440 Speaker 1: He says, I'm going to give you my spirit, but 630 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:37,280 Speaker 1: it's not just for your comfort. Although the apostles did 631 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:39,960 Speaker 1: need comfort. I'm going to give you my spirit, and 632 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 1: it's not just for guidance. Although they wouldn't need God. 633 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,320 Speaker 1: He said, I'm going to give you my spirit, and 634 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:49,360 Speaker 1: when I do, you will receive power power to be 635 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 1: my witnesses. There was a purpose that God was beginning 636 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 1: to unfold through their lives that they would need the 637 00:33:55,680 --> 00:34:00,280 Speaker 1: Holy Spirit for purpose is connected to a place. When 638 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,160 Speaker 1: God spoke to Abraham, he said he gave him an 639 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,400 Speaker 1: incredible promise for his life. He said, I'm gonna bless you, Abraham, 640 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:09,600 Speaker 1: and through you and your seed, I'm gonna bless the 641 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,600 Speaker 1: entire earth. And after he gives him this promise, he 642 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:15,359 Speaker 1: says to him, so go to the place I will 643 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,080 Speaker 1: show you. God had a specific purpose for Abraham, but 644 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,279 Speaker 1: that purpose would unfold in a specific place, and the 645 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,560 Speaker 1: scripture tells us in Hebrews that Abraham left the place 646 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:28,440 Speaker 1: he was native to. He left his home country, and 647 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:31,200 Speaker 1: he set out looking for the place that God had 648 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: established for him, whose builder and architect was God. Because 649 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:37,359 Speaker 1: God had a purpose for his life, but it would 650 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:41,400 Speaker 1: unfold in the place. So it took obedience for Abraham 651 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: to move and leave what was native to him and 652 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:48,320 Speaker 1: begin to step into what God had in store for him. 653 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:52,360 Speaker 1: Purpose is connected to a place. I love reading the 654 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:54,920 Speaker 1: scriptures when I think about all the people that God 655 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:58,680 Speaker 1: used in a significant way many times before God used them, 656 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:03,160 Speaker 1: he moved them. This, this, this blessed me because I'm 657 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,520 Speaker 1: an immigrant. My dad's an immigrant, his dad was an immigrant, 658 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:09,400 Speaker 1: his dad was come from a long line of immigrants. 659 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:12,439 Speaker 1: Then I'm reading the scriptures. How God moved Abraham, God 660 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:17,879 Speaker 1: moved Isaac, God moved Jacob, God moved Jeremiah, God moved Nehemiah, Naomi, Ruth. 661 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,520 Speaker 1: All these people that God used in a significant way, 662 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:24,000 Speaker 1: he first moved. And what's crazy to me is I love. 663 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:26,040 Speaker 1: As I'm getting to know people in our church often 664 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:27,920 Speaker 1: I ask him what brought you to Charlotte? And you 665 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,120 Speaker 1: know what they tell me. God, I'm like, no, no, no, 666 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:32,320 Speaker 1: just give me a come like, was it a job? 667 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 1: Did you have? Grandchildren? Moved God? And I'm beginning to 668 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:37,759 Speaker 1: see more and more. No, that's really how he works. 669 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:40,640 Speaker 1: As sometimes God had a purpose for someone, so he 670 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:43,000 Speaker 1: would lift them up from the place they were native 671 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:45,440 Speaker 1: to and begin to move them to another. 672 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:50,680 Speaker 4: Place so that his purposes and plans could unfold. Just 673 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:52,520 Speaker 4: last night, we were at a couple of cells for dinner. 674 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:54,959 Speaker 4: They shared with us how all the reasons they thought 675 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 4: they were moving to Charlotte, and all the other purposes 676 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:01,600 Speaker 4: that God had in store for them. Often, when God 677 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:04,359 Speaker 4: is getting ready to use someone, he'll move them from 678 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:06,719 Speaker 4: a place that they're native, to move them to a 679 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:09,800 Speaker 4: place so His purposes can unfold in their life. 680 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:13,680 Speaker 1: Purpose is connected to a place. This is what I've 681 00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:17,960 Speaker 1: been excited to show you in this passage, because I'm 682 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 1: reading how Jesus is going up to the Father and 683 00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:25,680 Speaker 1: as and before he does, he tells them wait in Jerusalem, 684 00:36:25,719 --> 00:36:28,279 Speaker 1: because my Father's going to send you the spirit there. 685 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:33,399 Speaker 1: And all along I'm asking myself the question, why Jerusalem? 686 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:38,239 Speaker 1: Why Jerusalem? It's his spirit. God could have sent his 687 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:41,840 Speaker 1: spirit anywhere. So as Jesus as sends, why didn't he 688 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:43,640 Speaker 1: Why didn't he let them just kind of get on 689 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:45,680 Speaker 1: their way and when He was ready send the spirit 690 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:50,120 Speaker 1: to where they are? Why Jerusalem? Well, I told you 691 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:52,759 Speaker 1: earlier that the day of Pentecost was part of a 692 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:55,640 Speaker 1: festival called the Feast of Weeks, And one of the 693 00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:58,279 Speaker 1: things that came along with that festival was that in 694 00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:01,800 Speaker 1: Deuteronomy sixteen sixty and God says that during this feast, 695 00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:05,239 Speaker 1: every Jewish person, no matter where they live, needed to 696 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:12,520 Speaker 1: migrate back to Jerusalem. So Jesus speaks to the disciples 697 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:15,680 Speaker 1: and he says, stay in Jerusalem. I'm going to send 698 00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:17,319 Speaker 1: you the gift of my spirit. And when I do, 699 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:21,759 Speaker 1: you're gonna be a witness in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria. 700 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:25,120 Speaker 1: And get this and two the ends of the earth. 701 00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:29,759 Speaker 1: So this is where Acts chapter two, verse five comes in, 702 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:32,200 Speaker 1: because every time I read Acts chapter two, I think 703 00:37:32,239 --> 00:37:34,560 Speaker 1: about them in that house. They're praying, the apostles, the 704 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:37,640 Speaker 1: other women, they're praying, and God sends his spirit, fills 705 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:40,080 Speaker 1: the house like a mighty rushing wind and tongues of 706 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:44,360 Speaker 1: fireland I never paid attention to Acts chapter two, verse five. 707 00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:48,920 Speaker 1: The purpose of this place. Now there were staying in Jerusalem, 708 00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:54,960 Speaker 1: God fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. Do you 709 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:59,719 Speaker 1: see it? Do you see it? God says, wait in Jerusalem, 710 00:37:59,719 --> 00:38:03,880 Speaker 1: because as He's preparing to send his spirit, at the 711 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:09,560 Speaker 1: same time, he's bringing people from every nation under heaven. 712 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:14,440 Speaker 1: So when Peter opens up that door, there are nations 713 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:19,520 Speaker 1: at his doorstep. And Peter begins to open up his 714 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:22,400 Speaker 1: mouth and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Every 715 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:26,680 Speaker 1: person hears that gospel message in their own language. He says, 716 00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:30,920 Speaker 1: you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, 717 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:34,560 Speaker 1: and two the ends of the earth. The apostles wouldn't 718 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:37,400 Speaker 1: go to the ends of the earth because God was 719 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:43,640 Speaker 1: bringing the nations to them. This is the power of 720 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:47,760 Speaker 1: a place that God might just be arranging things where 721 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:50,880 Speaker 1: you find yourself right now, wait in the place he 722 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:53,279 Speaker 1: told you to be. God is up to something that 723 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,120 Speaker 1: you might not see by His plans and purposes are 724 00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:59,640 Speaker 1: unfolding in your life. Eighteen years ago, when Pastor Stephen 725 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:02,279 Speaker 1: and Hall, Chunks and Amy and the core team, we're 726 00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:04,839 Speaker 1: getting ready to launch a church, deciding where do we go? 727 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,120 Speaker 1: Where do we go? And they picked Charlotte, North Carolina. 728 00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:09,640 Speaker 1: I remember Chunk's telling me all along he's going why 729 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:12,759 Speaker 1: Charlotte wasn't where he wanted to be. He keeps saying, 730 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:19,520 Speaker 1: why Charlotte, Why Jerusalem, Why Charlotte? Because of the purposes 731 00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:23,560 Speaker 1: that God had in this place. I want to do 732 00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:27,839 Speaker 1: something real quick. If you're a if you moved here 733 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:30,279 Speaker 1: from another country, or one of your parents moved here 734 00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:43,799 Speaker 1: from another country, would you stand up right now and 735 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:47,160 Speaker 1: right now in the Chat, people from every nation under 736 00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:49,480 Speaker 1: heaven joining us. Put it in the Chat where you're 737 00:39:49,560 --> 00:40:00,759 Speaker 1: joining us from? Right now? Why Charlotte, Why Charlotte? This 738 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:03,920 Speaker 1: church has started at Providence High School just down the road. 739 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:06,799 Speaker 1: Who could have imagined what was in God's heart for 740 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:09,840 Speaker 1: this ministry? Who could have imagined what God had in 741 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:12,879 Speaker 1: so Who could have imagined that from this place the 742 00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:16,880 Speaker 1: Gospel of Jesus Christ would touch the nations of the earth, 743 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:21,960 Speaker 1: that he would draw nations to this place. This is 744 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,200 Speaker 1: the power of a place that God is up to, 745 00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:28,719 Speaker 1: something beyond what we could expect, beyond what we could imagine, 746 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:32,800 Speaker 1: beyond what we could dream. Why Jerusalem, Because as God's 747 00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:38,440 Speaker 1: getting ready to send his spirit, He's drawing nations. And 748 00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:42,680 Speaker 1: that day three thousand people would hear the message of 749 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:45,960 Speaker 1: Jesus and surrender their lives to him, and they would 750 00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:48,719 Speaker 1: go back to the place they came from and in 751 00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:51,560 Speaker 1: their own tongue begin to spread the message. That's how 752 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:54,640 Speaker 1: the Gospel of Jesus began to ripple throughout the earth. 753 00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,520 Speaker 1: This is the purpose of a place. Who knows what 754 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:01,600 Speaker 1: God has his store for you? I asked Jeanie to 755 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:06,120 Speaker 1: sit in this worship experience, in that seat, because she 756 00:41:06,239 --> 00:41:08,240 Speaker 1: was reminding me the other day that it was seven 757 00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:11,239 Speaker 1: years ago that her dad, who immigrated here, came to 758 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:14,160 Speaker 1: our church, sat in that seat and stood to give 759 00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:16,880 Speaker 1: his life to Christ. And it would just be a 760 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:21,320 Speaker 1: few months after that that unexpectedly he passed away. I said, Genie, 761 00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:23,239 Speaker 1: you got to sit in the certa. It'll make sense 762 00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:25,280 Speaker 1: to you when you hear the power of a place. 763 00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 1: What was in God's heart when he brought him all 764 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:32,200 Speaker 1: the way, all the way here to be in this place, 765 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:35,280 Speaker 1: to be in this place so that he could receive, 766 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:38,920 Speaker 1: receive something from God, so that when he'd go to 767 00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:42,680 Speaker 1: a better place, he would have the gift of God's 768 00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:50,480 Speaker 1: grace in God's eternal life. Some of you who stood earlier, 769 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:53,440 Speaker 1: I don't know all your reasons for moving to America. 770 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:56,239 Speaker 1: Maybe you were leaving a good situation and you sacrificed 771 00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:58,600 Speaker 1: a lot. Maybe you were leaving a bed. You might 772 00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:00,520 Speaker 1: have thought you were coming here for a bet. I 773 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:02,160 Speaker 1: want you to know God brought you here for a 774 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:05,759 Speaker 1: greater purpose. There is something on your life that God 775 00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:10,080 Speaker 1: wants to do is drawing you to this place. Stand 776 00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:22,640 Speaker 1: up for you, Look at this. When the day of 777 00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:28,680 Speaker 1: Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly 778 00:42:28,719 --> 00:42:30,960 Speaker 1: a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came 779 00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:36,480 Speaker 1: from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 780 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:41,000 Speaker 1: It's interesting to me that first God filled the place, 781 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:46,160 Speaker 1: and then he filled the people. And that's how it 782 00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,400 Speaker 1: works in our lives, that God will bring us to 783 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:51,920 Speaker 1: a place where he's got something that he's been preparing 784 00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:54,640 Speaker 1: for us, something that we never could have met, something 785 00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:57,239 Speaker 1: that went beyond what we even believed our potential could be, 786 00:42:57,320 --> 00:42:59,840 Speaker 1: and provides for us in that place, and through his 787 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:03,840 Speaker 1: he fills the place, and then He fills the people. 788 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,479 Speaker 1: And when Pastor Stephen preached that sermon places everyone, he says, 789 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:11,680 Speaker 1: first God changes you, and then he changes the places 790 00:43:11,719 --> 00:43:14,840 Speaker 1: you go. When you come into the presence of God 791 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:17,719 Speaker 1: and He touches you and he ministers to you and 792 00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:21,360 Speaker 1: he fills you, then wherever you go, you bring the 793 00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:25,279 Speaker 1: presence of God with you into your school, into your workplace, 794 00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:29,839 Speaker 1: into your home. First God filled the place, and then 795 00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:34,400 Speaker 1: he filled the people. This is not just a building. 796 00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:37,440 Speaker 1: Wherever you are today, down in Orlando, in Greenville, and 797 00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:41,520 Speaker 1: Concord in Toronto, wherever you're watching from joining us. This 798 00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:45,920 Speaker 1: is not just a building. This is the house of God. 799 00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:49,080 Speaker 1: This is where he feeds me. This is where his 800 00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:52,319 Speaker 1: purpose is unfold in my life. This is where he 801 00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:55,560 Speaker 1: fills me. And sometimes we have to have a moment 802 00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:58,480 Speaker 1: like Jacob where he looked at something as simple as 803 00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:01,319 Speaker 1: a rock and he annoyed and he said, surely this 804 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:05,720 Speaker 1: is the house of God. And I wasn't aware. Surely 805 00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:09,239 Speaker 1: this is the house of God. How many of you 806 00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:12,680 Speaker 1: have that testimony about this place today? Say it with me, 807 00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:18,960 Speaker 1: says surely this is the house of God. First he 808 00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:23,319 Speaker 1: filled the place, then he filled the people. God brought 809 00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:26,279 Speaker 1: you here because there's something on your live. Don't leave 810 00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:29,200 Speaker 1: the place he told you to be. Don't run so 811 00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:33,120 Speaker 1: quickly from places that are uncomfortable, don't run so quickly 812 00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:36,400 Speaker 1: from places that are painful. God meant just be preparing 813 00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:39,560 Speaker 1: you there for what He has in store for you. 814 00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:42,640 Speaker 1: This is the power of a place. Did you receive 815 00:44:42,719 --> 00:44:53,560 Speaker 1: something from this message today? I had a real simple 816 00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:57,400 Speaker 1: prayer this morning that just at its most basic level, 817 00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:00,440 Speaker 1: that for some of you it would produce gratitud in 818 00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:02,400 Speaker 1: your heart for the church that you get to be 819 00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:06,120 Speaker 1: a part of This is a special place. Sometimes we 820 00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:09,240 Speaker 1: can take it fort we get so used to being full, 821 00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:12,000 Speaker 1: we forget what it felt like to be hungry. This 822 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:15,960 Speaker 1: is the house of God for others of you. I 823 00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:19,160 Speaker 1: was praying that God would remind you of the purposes 824 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:21,160 Speaker 1: that He had for you and some of the reasons 825 00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:23,000 Speaker 1: he brought you from the place you were and put 826 00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:25,279 Speaker 1: you in this place. Y'all blessed me the other day 827 00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:27,399 Speaker 1: when you were sharing how much God blessed you when 828 00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:30,160 Speaker 1: you left Guatemala, and how He's opening up all those 829 00:45:30,200 --> 00:45:32,880 Speaker 1: doors for you to do ministry. Now, what a blessing. 830 00:45:33,239 --> 00:45:37,640 Speaker 1: It's the power of a place, the power of a place. 831 00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:40,680 Speaker 1: There are things in the heart of the Father for you. 832 00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:44,319 Speaker 1: He sees you, He sees you, and he's getting ready 833 00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:47,560 Speaker 1: to do something. So don't leave Jerusalem. Don't leave the 834 00:45:47,600 --> 00:45:51,080 Speaker 1: place that he called you to be. When I think 835 00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:53,200 Speaker 1: about the power of a place, of course, I think 836 00:45:53,239 --> 00:45:57,319 Speaker 1: about what Jesus did for us. I think about how 837 00:45:57,360 --> 00:46:00,720 Speaker 1: he took the place I deserved when he went that cross. 838 00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:04,600 Speaker 1: I think about how he could have called angels down 839 00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:07,480 Speaker 1: to rescue him as he hung there. But he stayed, 840 00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:10,600 Speaker 1: and he bled and he died, so that we could 841 00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:14,640 Speaker 1: take his place as the righteousness of God. He stayed 842 00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:17,440 Speaker 1: in that place so that we could be forgiven. He 843 00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:21,680 Speaker 1: stayed in that place so we could have life. And 844 00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:23,880 Speaker 1: right now, if you'll give me the honor, I'd love 845 00:46:23,960 --> 00:46:26,360 Speaker 1: to take a moment just to lead you in a prayer, 846 00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:29,840 Speaker 1: because there's someone watching online right now, or someone watching 847 00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:32,439 Speaker 1: at one of our campuses right now. And God brought 848 00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:35,680 Speaker 1: you to this place today so just like Genie's dad, 849 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:39,640 Speaker 1: you could receive the gift of God's salvation. You don't 850 00:46:39,640 --> 00:46:41,960 Speaker 1: know what tomorrow holds, but God knows the plans and 851 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:44,520 Speaker 1: purposes he has for you. He brought you to this 852 00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:47,400 Speaker 1: place today so that you could make the greatest decision 853 00:46:47,480 --> 00:46:50,879 Speaker 1: of your life and give Jesus a place in your heart. 854 00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:53,520 Speaker 1: Would you let him take the throne. We're going to 855 00:46:53,600 --> 00:46:55,440 Speaker 1: bow our heads and close our eyes right now, and 856 00:46:55,840 --> 00:46:59,120 Speaker 1: I want to lead us in a prayer for for 857 00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:01,279 Speaker 1: those who are making it decision today to give their 858 00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:04,759 Speaker 1: life to Jesus. Would you pray with me? Say, I 859 00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:10,279 Speaker 1: believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and 860 00:47:10,360 --> 00:47:14,520 Speaker 1: the savor of the world. I believe he died and 861 00:47:14,640 --> 00:47:19,960 Speaker 1: rose again to forgive my sin and give me life. 862 00:47:20,200 --> 00:47:24,480 Speaker 1: I receive your grace by faith. Come into my life 863 00:47:25,360 --> 00:47:28,839 Speaker 1: and make me new. Headstill bowed, eyes still close. If 864 00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:31,600 Speaker 1: you just prayed that prayer today to begin a relationship 865 00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:33,880 Speaker 1: with God. When I count to three, would you be 866 00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:35,719 Speaker 1: bold enough to shoot your hand up in the air. 867 00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:38,640 Speaker 1: Be my privilege to celebrate what God has done in 868 00:47:38,680 --> 00:47:41,839 Speaker 1: your heart today on three, one, two, three, shoot your 869 00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:44,280 Speaker 1: hand up, holding up high. God, Bless you, my sister. 870 00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:47,839 Speaker 1: God bless you my brother. Come on, can we thank 871 00:47:47,880 --> 00:47:51,399 Speaker 1: the Lord in this place? Thank you for joining us. 872 00:47:51,680 --> 00:47:54,160 Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 873 00:47:54,200 --> 00:47:57,719 Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 874 00:47:58,160 --> 00:48:00,359 Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give 875 00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:04,600 Speaker 2: now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 876 00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:08,400 Speaker 2: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 877 00:48:08,680 --> 00:48:10,000 Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends. 878 00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:12,600 Speaker 2: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 879 00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:14,759 Speaker 2: share it on your social stories and tag us at 880 00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:15,600 Speaker 2: Elevation Church. 881 00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:17,360 Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.