WEBVTT - I've Tried Everything 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.040 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.399 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.480 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:20.040 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Valentine. 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:27.560 You guys, you look good, you smell good, you sound 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:30.280 real good. And I'm thrilled to be here. My name 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:32.520 is Dustin Stradlie. I'm the campus pastor of our Ronoke, 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:37.480 Virginia location. I know we've got some people from Ronoke here. 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:41.080 What's up, noake, God's doing some amazing things in Roanoke 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:43.320 and at all of our campuses, and so if you're 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.080 here at Valentine, I need you to take that enthusiasm 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:48.479 that I feel right here and translate that through the 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:51.720 camera to everyone tuning in online and give them a 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:55.080 big welcome, show them some love. We are one church, 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:59.760 many locations and people tuning in even in cities where 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:04.160 we don't have a location. I'm excited to share the 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:06.160 word of God with you today. But the reality is 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:08.720 the effectiveness of me sharing the word of God really 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:11.280 depends on your readiness to receive the word of God. 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:13.280 So I need you to do me a favor and 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.360 turn your neighbor right now, say hey, neighbor, are you 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:23.319 ready to receive what God has for you? Now turn 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:25.440 to your second option. I'm not gonna get into why 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:30.000 you chose some second and say, hey, neighbor, I'm ready. 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:36.240 Let's go. I'm gonna jump into John five. You can 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:41.640 follow with me on the screen. You guys can stay 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:44.440 standing in honor of reading God's word if you want to. 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:51.600 I mean, I'm just saying. But sometime later Jesus went 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.880 up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:58.360 there is in Jerusalem, near the Sheepgate a pool which 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:02.320 an era make is Calledesda, which is surrounded by five 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:06.120 covered at colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:10.720 used to lie, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:14.160 who was there had been an invalid for thirty eight years. 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:16.800 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:21.160 had been in this condition, everybody say condition for a 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:25.120 long time, he asks him, do you want to get well? Sir? 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:28.760 The invalid replied, I have no one to help me 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:31.239 into the pool. When the water is stirred. While I'm 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:34.720 trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:38.760 Do you ever feel like you've just tried everything and 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:42.359 every time you try, someone always gets ahead of you. 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:46.919 I'm trying, sir, but someone else goes down ahead of me. 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:51.000 Then Jesus said to him, get up, pick up your mat, 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.240 and walk. And once the man was cured, he picked 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.440 up his mat and walked. I need you to turn 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:00.040 your neighbor and help me announce my titles. Say I 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:08.280 I've tried everything. I've tried everything. Now you can go 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:11.400 ahead and take a seat. And while you're at it, 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:13.440 why don't you go ahead and grab your flippy floppies, 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:15.919 your bathing suit, and your ray bands, because we're heading 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:20.600 down to the pool of Bethesda, where this scene takes place. 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:23.000 Who doesn't love a good pool party. I know that 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.600 our Late Norman campus and our Melbourne campus love a 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.600 good pool party. So let's pick up in verse three 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:32.120 to see who was invited to the pool party and 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:35.720 said to hear a great number of disabled people used 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:42.360 to lie, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed, the cynical, 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:50.480 the addict, the perfectionist, the workaholic, the prideful, the people pleaser. 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.040 If I continue to list them out, I can hit 0:03:54.120 --> 0:04:01.480 yours too. People with various conditions. We all have conditions 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:06.320 in our life. We all have things that we struggle with. 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:10.280 And all of these people with various conditions are gathering 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.120 around the pool for a certain reason. And we find 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:16.640 that in verse four that we read through earlier. So 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:19.119 if you've got your Bible turned to verse four, shout 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:21.960 Amen when you got it, shout a men when you 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:27.400 got it. Gentlemen right here looks confused. You don't have 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:32.280 verse four. I was confused too. When I was reading 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:34.960 the Bible the other day. I noticed that in my 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:37.800 NIV version of the Bible that it went straight from 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:42.479 verse three to verse five, And I thought, is my 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.200 Bible broken? Do I need to get a new Bible? 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:47.919 So then I begin to look at some other translations. 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:51.120 I noticed that verse four was missing from a few 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:54.080 other translations. But I found it. I found it in 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:55.640 the footnote. So let me read it to you and 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:57.760 then talk about why it's not there. It's set in 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.920 verse four, from time to time of the Lord would 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:04.159 come down and stir up the waters, the first one 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:08.400 in to the pool. After each such disturbance would be 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:12.520 cured of whatever disease they had. Now, why this is 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:15.719 missing from certain modern day translations of the Bible is 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:18.520 that it was not in earlier manuscripts of the Bible, 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:22.080 and it was really known as more of a superstition. 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:24.440 There was no proof that an angel of the Lord 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:27.320 was the one stirring up the waters, but instead there 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:30.400 were streams of water that connected to the pool, and 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.160 due to nature, the water would be stirred up. There 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:35.760 was minerals in the water which could provide some medicinal value. 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.560 It's like bathing yourself and all your favorite essential oils, 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:41.080 like you like to do. So all of these people 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:44.719 with conditions are lying out by the pool, trying to 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:48.000 get from one place to another, and if they are 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:51.599 the first one into the water, they would experience healing. 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:57.480 They would experience comfort. The pool represents comfort, and the 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:00.000 man in the passage, there's really a focus on one person, 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:04.479 this man who was an invalid for thirty eight years 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:09.320 of his life. Now, an invalid is someone who is sick, 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:13.480 has some sort of affliction, maybe even paralyzed, and this 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:18.240 man had been carrying his condition for thirty eight years 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:21.200 of his life. And if we all look at our life, 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:26.200 we all have conditions, maybe not a physical condition, but 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:31.320 mentally spiritually, a condition of the heart. If we look 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:33.520 deep down into our life, we all have conditions. I've 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:36.080 got many conditions. If I can be real, I'm just 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.159 going to share at least one of my conditions. I 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:40.000 can stand here for the next three days and share 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:42.599 all of my conditions, all of my issues, because I 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:45.120 got plenty. But there's one that just seems to keep 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:48.240 creeping back in my life. And that's the condition of pride, 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:52.920 which is really me just overcompensating for this inward insecurity 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:57.600 that I have. And I find comfort in achievement. If 0:06:57.600 --> 0:06:59.760 I can just achieve more, if I can just a 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:02.320 more every time I work hard, if I can just 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:04.719 try more and I can achieve more, I find comfort 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:08.240 that really only to find out that it's never enough. 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.440 And we all have conditions that are crippling us from 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:14.920 moving forward. Maybe you're still carrying the shame of a 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:17.840 decision that you made ten years ago. You have a 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:21.880 condition where you can't release it. Maybe it's anxiety within 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:24.680 you because you're comparing yourself to anyone and everyone around 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:28.480 you constantly scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, looks like everyone else has 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.280 their life together, and you think that maybe you're just 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:35.600 not good enough, or maybe you're trying to please everyone 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:40.840 around you, but you're not pleased with yourself. We have conditions. 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:44.840 A few months back, I was driving my fifteen year 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:48.800 old Accura down the highway and paint chipping off and all, 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:52.120 and the steering wheel as I'm driving down the highway 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:55.960 begins to rapidly shake, which I don't know a lot 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.120 about cars, but I know that's probably not a good thing. 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:04.000 And I immediately pulled into a gas station and got out, 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:06.679 and I realized that the tire is about to pop 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:10.600 on the car. Now. I went to the trunk of 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:12.240 the car, opened the trunk of the car. I see 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:14.120 the spare tire in the trunk of the car, So 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:16.520 I'm going to change the tire. But as I'm looking 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.400 at the tire in the trunk of the car, I 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:24.600 had an epiphany. I don't know how to change the tire. Now. 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:27.840 I'm getting married in twenty six days, y'all to Maddie 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:32.160 on the front road right here, and thank you. And 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:35.640 I've got to stand before this woman as a thirty 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.360 two year old man and tell her that I don't 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:41.640 know how to change the tire on a car, not 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:44.960 on my watch. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:48.160 figure out how to change this tire. So first, thanks, 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:51.800 first owner Manuel in the trunk, take it, toss it out, 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.680 don't need it. I'm a man, right, Maybe pride kicked in, 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:57.160 So I take the spare tire. I go, get on 0:08:57.200 --> 0:08:59.840 my hands and knees next to the car, put the tire. 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:02.520 Then I realized I probably need some tools to get 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.079 the other tire off. Go back to the trunk, find 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:08.120 some tools, take them back over. Then I put one 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:10.600 underneath the car and started to crank the vehicle up. 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:12.320 I don't know what it's called a jack. Maybe start 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:14.640 to crank the car. Don't judge me. It started to 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:17.400 crank the car up. Then I was able to successfully 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:19.400 get the first tire off. I said, I'm doing this 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.520 with ease, y'all, this is common sense. I got this right. 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.400 Now get the first tire off, got ready to put 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:29.200 the spare tire on, and then in slow motion, the 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:33.440 whole car begins to shift and just falls over on 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:35.720 the ground on top of the jack. First thanks first, 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:39.520 I'm like anybody see that we're good. Now we're good. 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:42.679 Nobody's watching them. So I take a tool. I knocked 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:44.960 the jack out from underneath the car, and it pierced 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.080 through the side little skirt of my car, put a 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:50.160 hole in it. But I put it underneath a different 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:52.560 part of the car. I was able to crank the 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.240 car up again. I said, Okay, second time's the charm. 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:57.760 We got this, get ready to put the spare tire on. 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.240 Car begins to shift again, and car falls on the 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:05.360 ground six times, six times. The car falls over four 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:10.960 hours later. I finally just sit down in the parking lot, 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:13.640 take my man card out, toss it in the wind, 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:16.640 and just accept the fact that I'm never gonna be 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:20.000 able to change a tire. And I might as well 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:22.480 accept that that I'm just gonna be here all night 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:27.760 until this big jack Diesel truck pulls in to the 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:32.240 gas station and these country boys get out and walk 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:34.280 over to me and say, well, I made ball. You know. 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:38.120 To me, no, no, don't tire, don't have any idea 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:42.640 what you just said. But they reached down and literally, 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.440 in their own strength, pick up the side of my 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:49.600 car and slide this little doughnut tire on. I said, yeah, bro, 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:52.280 that was my next move. It's taking a break man. 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:57.880 And what I couldn't do in my own strength, they 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:00.960 did with ease. And like this man in the passage, 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:04.600 he spent thirty eight years trying with everything that he 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:07.960 had in his own strength to change his condition. And 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:10.680 we learned two things in this passage about how we 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:14.880 tend to cope with our conditions. And the first one 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:20.520 is the comfort of trying. The comfort of trying. Write 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:24.560 that down now, Trying isn't always a bad thing. I mean, 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:26.640 you're trying to get out of debt, not a bad thing. 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:29.280 Trying to get in shape, that's a good thing. You're 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.199 coming to church, you're trying. You bought somebody's Starbucks, you're 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:34.560 trying to be nice. That's a good thing. Try is 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:36.439 not a bad thing. I'm all about hard work. I'm 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:39.360 all about doing some things and achieving some things. That's great. 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:41.400 But I'm talking about the kind of trying that we 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:46.680 saw in verse four. The first one in wins mentality 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.760 that we have in our culture. If I can get 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.840 into the pool first, I will get the healing. And 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.480 so as all of these different people with their conditions 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:58.880 are lying out by the pool. You got blind people, 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.120 you got lame people, you got paralyze people with all 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:05.600 kinds of various conditions. My man is laying here, tanning 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:09.600 his backside and chilling by the pool. Let's just say 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:13.160 he's paralyzed from the waist down, and he's thinking to himself, 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:17.520 if I can get from here to there, I'll have 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:21.200 the comfort that I'm looking for. And they're fighting over 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:25.200 each other. They're elbowing each other, crawling their way, knocking 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:27.280 each other out. If you get close enough, hold somebody 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:30.760 under the water. Whatever you gotta do to get what 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:34.600 you need, work hard enough, try it with everything you got, 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.200 and don't we do the same thing in our culture today. 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:39.840 If I can just get a few more followers, if 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.160 I can just get a few more likes, if I 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:44.400 can just make a little bit more money, if I 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:46.680 can just work a little bit harder for that house, 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:48.720 if I can just try a little bit harder for 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:51.760 that car, if I can just collect a few more trophies, 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.440 if I can just please a few more people. I 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:56.200 know my dad didn't accept me, but if I sleep 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:58.520 around with so many men, maybe somebody will accept me. 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:01.240 If I just work a little bit hard. I'm exhausted. 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:05.560 Maybe I'll fall short, but then I can work harder, 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.240 because if i can get from here to there, then 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:13.120 I'll have the comfort that I'm looking for. And some 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:14.960 of you, not only are you trying to get from 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:17.040 here to there, but some of you you made it 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:20.880 to the pool. You got in the pool, but you 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:22.440 found out it wasn't what you thought it would be. 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:25.440 You've got more money than you could ever imagine, but 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:29.280 you're still completely empty on the inside. You've got more influence, 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.679 your social media following is through the roof, but you're 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:36.280 still crying yourself to sleep at night. And a couple 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:38.640 of years ago, I got a call from Wade joy 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.040 Or worship pastor. Don't you guys love Wade. He's amazing. 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:46.520 He preached a couple of weeks back, and Wade said, Dustin, 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:49.120 Pastor Stephen and I have been talking and Pastor would 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:51.960 love to give you the opportunity to preach the Word 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:56.439 of God to the entire church. I said, stop it. 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.920 He says, stop what I said? No, Like, I'm just saying, 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:02.040 are you for real? Said? He said, yeah, like we 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:04.079 see something in you. And Pastor Sema would love to 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:07.000 give you the opportunity to preach. And that's a big 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:10.120 deal for me, y'all, because ten years ago I had 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:12.840 just gotten out of jail for a dui. Four days later, 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:16.480 somebody brings me to Elevation uptown campus. I got saved 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:19.480 in this church. I got baptized in this church. I 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.520 started volunteering at our blatanety campus. I was a greader. 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.560 I would hold the door open, smile, hung on people, 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:28.200 love on people. Ten years later, I'm a pastor in 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:30.800 this church, and now you're gonna give me the opportunity 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:33.560 to preach the word of God to the entire church. 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:35.960 And the same love and the same grace that he 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:37.880 brought to my life. I could share about it with 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:44.840 the church. What won't he do it? He's so good. 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:49.520 I say yes, I'll preach. Thank you. Hung up the phone. 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:54.600 I said bye. Then I hung up the phone. So 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.560 I go into a room, shut the door, looking at 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:04.440 a whiteboard. Four hours go by, whiteboard's still empty. I 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:09.800 had another epiphany. It takes me a minute. I don't 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.320 know how to write a sermon. I mean I had 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:16.200 done a few teachings, I had watched other people. I mean, 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:19.120 it's one thing to watch Pastor Stephen preach, it's another 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:21.920 thing to preach. It's one thing to read a book, 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.560 it's another thing to write it. It's one thing to 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:28.240 watch a movie, it's another thing to direct it. But 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:32.760 then my condition kicked in and I thought, Okay, I 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:35.360 got a couple of options. Either I can tell Wade 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:37.880 that I don't know how to preach or write a sermon. 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.720 But obviously he sees something in me. They see something 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:42.720 they believe in me. Maybe it's in there. I just 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:45.760 need to figure it out on my own, because if 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.240 I tell him, I might lose the opportunity. So for 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:51.000 the next four weeks, I locked myself in that room. 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:53.880 I was gonna do anything and everything I could to 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:55.920 figure out how to write a sermon. I was going 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.200 through every translation of the Bible, memorizing scripture right and left. 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:01.320 I was putting annoying to go all over my head. 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:04.440 I was speaking in tongues. I was just anything I 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.800 could do. I was studying other communicators. I was watching sermons. 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:10.120 I was gonna either walk out of that room with 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.120 a sermon in hand, Skyler, or I was gonna be 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:16.320 carried out on a stretcher. Nothing was gonna stop me 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:20.040 from figuring out how to write this sermon. Then I 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:22.600 went on a four night binge, staying up till four 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:25.560 o'clock in the morning, drinking all kinds of caffeine. By 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:27.680 the end of it, I'm on my knees just like 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:31.480 I am, so exhausted. How does he do this every 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:35.880 single week? But isn't that what we do? We try 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:39.120 with everything that we have in our own strength and 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.720 our own power to figure it out, to the point 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:45.200 where we fall on our knees in exhaustion, realizing that 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:53.000 maybe maybe there's a better way. And in this passage, 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:57.880 the man he was trying for thirty eight years he 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:02.480 had this condition, But finally Jesus shows up on the scene, 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:08.520 and Jesus, when he finds the man, ask an interesting question. Now, 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:11.560 when Jesus asked a question, we should pay attention because 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.439 Jesus knows all things. I don't think he's asking a 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.919 question because he needs information. But maybe he's asking a 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:20.639 question because he wants to produce something in the man. 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:24.040 Maybe he's asking a question to help the man discover 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:26.879 a thing beneath the thing. And so let me go 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:30.800 to verse six, when Jesus sees the man lying on 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.240 the mat, and he asked this question. He said, he 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:35.879 saw him lying there, he learned that he had been 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:41.520 in this condition for a long time, so he asked him, 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:48.640 do you want to get well? Do you want change? 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:54.520 Do you really want to get well? And he's asking 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.480 some of you the same question today. Do you want 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:03.159 to get well? Keep trying in your own effort to 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:07.960 do this thing? Do you really want change? See, Jesus 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:12.280 knew that the man had just at this point accepted 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:16.320 that maybe maybe this is all there will ever be 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:23.320 to life. Maybe I should just stop here because nothing 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:28.120 will ever change. Let's talk about the comfort of acceptance. 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:35.399 The comfort of acceptance. Not only was Jesus's question to 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:39.920 the man interesting, but the man's response back to Jesus 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:44.320 was interesting. The man could have easily replied, and I 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:46.520 would hope that maybe and think that we would all 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:51.040 reply in this way. Uh yeah, bro, I want change. 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:54.199 What do you think I'm doing hanging out by the pool. 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.120 Of course, I want change. If I can get from 0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:00.800 from here to there, I'm gonna get the comfort that 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:03.639 I need. I've been living with this thing for thirty 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:05.760 eight years. Why do you think I'm hanging out by 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.359 the ball. He's like educating Jesus on what's going down, 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:14.000 because in verse seven his response, he said, sir, I mean, 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:18.160 at least he was respectful, he had manners. The invalid replied, 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:24.720 I have no one to help me, and everyone always 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:33.000 gets ahead. I've tried everything. Maybe this is all that 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:39.159 life will ever be. Maybe I should just accept that 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:43.840 my marriage will always be this way. Maybe I should 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:51.240 just accept that I'll always live paycheck to paycheck. Here's 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:53.880 when you've heard before, Well, when you when you get 0:19:53.880 --> 0:20:00.520 my age, then you'll under stand, or you just you 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:06.160 don't know what I've been through. You don't understand. If 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:12.199 you knew what happened to me, then you would understand it. 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:15.200 That maybe this is just the way it's always going 0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:18.240 to be. Maybe I'll never change. Maybe I should just 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:23.439 stop right now and accept the fact that nothing is 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:27.199 going to change. Because it's easier to live in the 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:33.520 comfort of dysfunction than to embrace the uncertainty of change. 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:37.040 The dude is still hanging out by the pool with 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:39.919 all of these people in their various conditions. Sometimes we 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:41.600 get to the point where we just accept that, you know, 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:43.520 maybe this is the way it is. So I'm just 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:45.800 going to surround myself with other dysfunctional people and I 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:48.159 don't feel a bad about it. I mean, they're all 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:49.399 going to do the same thing. And so maybe I 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:51.640 don't even have to embrace this process of change now. 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:53.560 Maybe I don't have to tell anyone that deep down 0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:56.879 inside that I need something that I need to get well. 0:20:57.720 --> 0:21:01.480 And I wonder how many of you were still crippled 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:05.000 by the condition in your life and you've just accepted 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.320 you're coming to church. I've tried. I've tried the whole 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:15.840 God thing. I've tried the whole church thing. I worked 0:21:15.880 --> 0:21:18.680 for him, but I don't know if it can work 0:21:18.720 --> 0:21:21.800 for me. If you know what I did. You remember 0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:24.200 the sermon I told you about from a couple of 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:27.280 years ago. So I was getting ready to preach it 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:30.480 in front of some of our pastors and leaders and 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.399 some of our staff five days before I was going 0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:35.960 to preach it to the entire church. So I think 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:37.960 we were at our Blakeney campus at that time, and 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:42.960 I was freaking out on the inside, which maybe nobody knew. 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:44.360 I don't know, Philip, I don't know if you saw 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:46.240 it in me, but I was freaking out, but I 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:49.320 pretty pretty good game face on. And so right before 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:53.040 I go up, I'm standing down on the ground and 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:55.840 we've got worship going, and I'm about to go up 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:58.239 right out of worship, and I'm about to preach, and 0:21:58.280 --> 0:22:01.680 people like Phillip's like, man, you gotta kill this thing. Man, 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:05.040 you got I'm like yeah, thanks, Philing, and it's like, hey, 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:07.680 I got this. I'm like, yeah, dude, come man, God's 0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:10.200 gonna do something awesome. So I get ready to go preach. 0:22:10.840 --> 0:22:13.600 I run up and I just start talking. Man. I 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:16.679 just I start going after and I just start saying things. 0:22:16.960 --> 0:22:19.280 And I had a thirty minute clock, which means I 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:21.960 can't go over thirty minutes, and I can't go under 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:24.640 thirty minutes. I need to fill the entire thirty minute clock. 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:30.640 Twelve minutes in, I ran out of things to say. 0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:36.080 I blacked out. I choked, and even the twelve minutes 0:22:36.080 --> 0:22:38.520 that I did speak, I don't even know what came 0:22:38.560 --> 0:22:41.919 out of my mouth. It was bad, y'all. It's embarrassing 0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:45.000 even to think about. It's embarrassing to look back at. 0:22:45.440 --> 0:22:49.359 It didn't make any sense whatsoever. I bombed it. I 0:22:49.640 --> 0:22:53.440 destroyed it. I knew without a shadow of a dow 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:57.320 that that was just messy. So as quickly as possible, 0:22:57.359 --> 0:23:00.719 I'll say thanks for coming, I'm gonna head out. And 0:23:00.800 --> 0:23:04.679 I left and I went home, and I'm thrown up 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:07.159 a little bit and relas like, oh God, like what 0:23:07.359 --> 0:23:14.960 just happened? And I got another call from Wade, and 0:23:15.000 --> 0:23:17.959 I knew before I even picked up the phone, I 0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:22.240 ruined this opportunity. It was done before I even picked 0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:25.640