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

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

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

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

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

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Speaker 1: Turn your attention to Mark chapter eight. We're in week

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Speaker 1: two of a series called Unqualified. How God uses broken

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Speaker 1: people to do big things. Turn to your neighbor and say,

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Speaker 1: I think he wrote this one for you. This sounds

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Speaker 1: like something you need to hear. Mark, chapter eight, verse eleven.

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Speaker 1: March Chapter eight, verse eleven. The Pharisees came and begin

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Speaker 1: to question Jesus to test him. They asked him for

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Speaker 1: a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, why

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Speaker 1: does this generation ask for a sign? Truly, I tell

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Speaker 1: you no sign will be given to it. And then

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Speaker 1: he left them, got back into the boat and crossed

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Speaker 1: to the other side. And I almost didn't even mention

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Speaker 1: those verses, but they're so important as I put this

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Speaker 1: sermon together that I wanted to catch them before we

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Speaker 1: got to fourteen through twenty one.

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Speaker 2: But here's the heart of the message.

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Speaker 1: The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one

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Speaker 1: loaf they had with them in the boat. Be careful,

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Speaker 1: Jesus war and then watch out for the yeast of

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Speaker 1: the Pharisees and that of Herod. Look up right, the

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Speaker 1: disciples are They discussed this with one another and said,

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Speaker 1: because we have no bread. Aware of their discussion, Jesus

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Speaker 1: asked them, why are you talking about having no bread?

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Speaker 1: Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?

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Speaker 1: Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears

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Speaker 1: but failed to hear?

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Speaker 2: And don't you remember.

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Speaker 1: When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,

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Speaker 1: how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?

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Speaker 2: Twelve, they replied.

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Speaker 1: And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,

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Speaker 1: how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? They answered? Soothing,

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Speaker 1: And he said to them, do you still not under

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Speaker 1: when I broke the lows? How many basketfuls of pieces

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Speaker 1: did you pick up? Don't you remember the pieces? I

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Speaker 1: want to speak today from this subject? Piece it together,

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Speaker 1: Piece it together, And on your way down to your seat,

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Speaker 1: ask your neighbor do you still not get it? You

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Speaker 1: still not get it? You may be seated. God has

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Speaker 1: a calling for your life, but you're going to have

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Speaker 1: to piece it together. And my main reaction to the

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Speaker 1: text is essentially one of disbelief that the disciples could

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Speaker 1: have seen all that they saw and still not see

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Speaker 1: what was right before their very eyes. I mean, don't

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Speaker 1: you get it. There's not really a there's not really

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Speaker 1: an excuse. I don't want to come to their defense

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Speaker 1: that they're sitting in the boat with the one who

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Speaker 1: just performed two massive miracles and they're still worried about

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Speaker 1: missing pieces. Apparently somebody didn't do their job, and so

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Speaker 1: there's no lunch for the disciples. So Jesus is teaching

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Speaker 1: a lesson to the disciples that he's trying to take

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Speaker 1: them to the next level of their awareness and understanding

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Speaker 1: of who he is, what he came to do. As

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Speaker 1: he does it, he uses an analogy comparing yeast, which

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Speaker 1: is the self righteousness of the Pharisees who he just left,

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Speaker 1: comparing that self righteousness to the yeast that is in

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Speaker 1: the bread, and how if you allow yourself to get

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Speaker 1: a little self righteous, it's just a matter of time

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Speaker 1: before it takes over every area of your life and

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Speaker 1: well all they hear is bread, and so immediately they

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Speaker 1: start to argue. Some scholars would say that the verse

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Speaker 1: is actually incorrectly translated in English. Instead of saying it

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Speaker 1: is because we have no bread, they were saying something

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Speaker 1: more like, why don't we have any bread? Like Peter

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Speaker 1: Andrew whose job was it to bring the bread? But

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Speaker 1: regardless of the construction of the question in coin a Greek,

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Speaker 1: I think we can all relate to the premise that

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Speaker 1: life is largely about recognition. And I'm realizing more and

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Speaker 1: more of the importance of recognition in my day to

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Speaker 1: day life. Recognition, recognition of what is right before you.

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Speaker 1: Often and when we read the text, it's easy for

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Speaker 1: us to almost see the comedy in it that Jesus

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Speaker 1: was trying to talk to them about the yeast of

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Speaker 1: self righteousness and they're thinking about wheat and raw and pumpernickel.

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Speaker 1: But it's really it's really not fair for us to

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Speaker 1: do that, because, well, we have a benefit that the

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Speaker 1: disciples didn't have. For one, they did not know that

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Speaker 1: they were the main characters in Mark chapter eight, verses

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Speaker 1: fourteen through twenty one. You do realize that when people

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Speaker 1: were writing the Bible and where people were doing the

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Speaker 1: things that were written about in the Bible. They didn't

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Speaker 1: know they were gonna end up in the Bible. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so they weren't thinking, boy, this is going to be

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Speaker 1: a cool story that they're going to preach about an

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Speaker 1: elevation church in twenty sixteen. And we see a little

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Speaker 1: differently because we're looking back on it. Have you noticed

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Speaker 1: how many things look different when you're looking back on them,

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Speaker 1: and how difficult it is to see some things while

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Speaker 1: you're going through that you can see clearly when you're

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Speaker 1: looking back. Talk to me, this is why it is

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Speaker 1: so easy for you to give advice to a teenager.

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Speaker 1: But it was hard for you to be one. You

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Speaker 1: sucked when you were one. But now that you have one,

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Speaker 1: you can tell them what the big picture. That's the

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Speaker 1: other benefit we have. The disciples were inside the frame.

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Speaker 1: Is kind of hard to see the big picture when

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Speaker 1: you're in the frame. So it's easy for you to

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Speaker 1: see what they should have seen when you're not going

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Speaker 1: through what they were going through because they were worried

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Speaker 1: about lunch, and a lot of times in our lives,

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Speaker 1: I think we don't recognize the big picture because we

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Speaker 1: experience life in pieces to groups are contrasted in the scripture,

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Speaker 1: and Jesus direction here is an indication for us of

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Speaker 1: the kind of team he is choosing. We could go

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Speaker 1: back to the beginning of the Gospel record and find

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Speaker 1: Jesus piecing together his team, which even that to me,

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Speaker 1: says a lot about the way that God works in

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Speaker 1: our lives. Is that when God sent Jesus into the

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Speaker 1: world to save the world for a purpose, he didn't

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Speaker 1: send him with a pre assembled team to accomplish the plan.

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Speaker 1: We trained church leaders here over the last week and

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Speaker 1: many of them will ask this question, or a form

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Speaker 1: of it, where do you get your team? That makes

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Speaker 1: me laugh because you think there's a warehouse, because you

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Speaker 1: think there's a build a team store. You think you

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Speaker 1: can walk in and assemble the perfect team, or even better,

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Speaker 1: you think that God's going to give you everything that

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Speaker 1: you need all at once. When he calls you to

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Speaker 1: do something but touch somebody say you got to build it.

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Speaker 1: You got to build it. And Jesus was piecing together

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Speaker 1: as team, and he picked this guy and that guy.

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Speaker 1: But what's funny to me about it is he's moving

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Speaker 1: away from the team that you would have thought he

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Speaker 1: would have selected for an important mission. That's the Pharisees.

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Speaker 1: They were one of three Jewish groups. Their name literally

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Speaker 1: means set apart or separate ones. And not only had

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Speaker 1: they separated themselves from others, but in the process, they

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Speaker 1: had separated themselves from God. They were so focused on

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Speaker 1: a few extreme points of the law that they had

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Speaker 1: missed the big picture, to do justice, to love, mercy,

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Speaker 1: to walk humbly with your God. But they had become

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Speaker 1: so focused on the individual laws and requirements and rules

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Speaker 1: that they had missed the big picture. The Bible says

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Speaker 1: that they tried to qualify Jesus, the nerve, the audacity

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Speaker 1: for the creature, to attempt to qualify the creator. Who

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Speaker 1: in the world do you think you are? When you

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Speaker 1: tell somebody they're not good enough to be a Christian,

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Speaker 1: when you tell somebody that if they were a real Christian,

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Speaker 1: they would when you tell somebody to get this in

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Speaker 1: order and that in order, and then you can be

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Speaker 1: in my church. So Jesus moves away from all of that,

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Speaker 1: this perfection, this picture of perfection that they were trying

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Speaker 1: to present, and he moves forward into his mission. And

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Speaker 1: he's well into his mission now and he's using broken people.

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Speaker 1: In case you don't believe that they're broken, Let's just

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Speaker 1: talk about them a little bit. I pulled something up

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Speaker 1: that it was pretty funny to me. It said, if

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Speaker 1: Jesus had hired a management consultant firm to choose his team,

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Speaker 1: how would they have evaluated these guys that were in

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Speaker 1: the boat? And I want to read to you just

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Speaker 1: a hype of medical memorandum from the Jordan Management Consultant group.

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Speaker 1: I found this online and it was written to Jesus

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Speaker 1: and it says, dear Sir, thank you for submitting the

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Speaker 1: resumes of the twelve men you have picked for management

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Speaker 1: positions in your new organization. All of them have now

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Speaker 1: taken our battery of tests. We have not only run

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Speaker 1: the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews

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Speaker 1: for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant.

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Speaker 1: It is the staff opinion that most of your nominees

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Speaker 1: are lacking in background education and vocational aptitude for the

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Speaker 1: type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have

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Speaker 1: the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your

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Speaker 1: search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.

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Speaker 1: Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper.

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Speaker 1: Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The brothers James

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Speaker 1: and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above

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Speaker 1: company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend

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Speaker 1: to undermine morale. We feel that it is our duty

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Speaker 1: to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the

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Speaker 1: Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alpheus,

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Speaker 1: and Daddius definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered

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Speaker 1: a high score on the Manic Depressive scale. One of

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Speaker 1: the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man

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Speaker 1: of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen

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Speaker 1: business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is

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Speaker 1: highly motivated, ambitious and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as

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Speaker 1: your controller and right hand man. All of the other

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Speaker 1: profiles are self explanatory. All that just to ask, aren't

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Speaker 1: you glad that God doesn't pick people like people pick people?

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Speaker 1: This is only for the people who believe that you

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Speaker 1: don't deserve a spot on the team, but you're glad

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Speaker 1: you got one anyway. This is only for the people

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Speaker 1: who are familiar with your weaknesses, and you know deep

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Speaker 1: down that you know that, you know that, you know that,

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Speaker 1: you know that if God didn't look beyond your faults

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Speaker 1: and see your needs, you wouldn't even have a seat

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Speaker 1: in the church auditorium. But you got here by the

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Speaker 1: grace of God because he saw your potential. If you're

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Speaker 1: bold enough look at your neighbors, say I got potential,

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Speaker 1: I got potential, I got potential. See Jesus wants Jesus

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Speaker 1: wants his disciples to seat the potential. And I found

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Speaker 1: out that a lot of people are so quick to

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Speaker 1: recognize what's missing that they miss what's possible. Can I

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Speaker 1: break this down? Can I? Can? I? Can? I because

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Speaker 1: I really want to, because I really want to show

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Speaker 1: you what I study, because I really wanted to show

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Speaker 1: you that they're talking about bread. But Jesus said, I

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Speaker 1: am the bread of life. You don't need to worry

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Speaker 1: about who forgot about the bread. I am the bread.

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Speaker 1: If I'm in the boat, you're gonna have all you need.

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Speaker 1: I am your potential. I am your possibility, I am

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Speaker 1: your future, I am your hope.

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Speaker 3: I am the bread of life.

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Speaker 1: But it's possible that you have become so familiar with

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Speaker 1: your weaknesses that you can no longer see your potential.

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Speaker 1: In many ways, you see what you choose to see.

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Speaker 1: You see what you choose to see. It was about

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Speaker 1: two thousand and four when I speaking at a youth

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Speaker 1: camp and Holly told me, after one of the sessions

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Speaker 1: on a Wednesday night at the youth camp, it's time.

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Speaker 1: It's time to start the church that God put in

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Speaker 1: your heart when you were sixteen. Is time. She could

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Speaker 1: see that God had given us some people that were

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Speaker 1: in our lives for a purpose, and she said, it's time.

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Speaker 1: She could see it. I wasn't so quick to see it,

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Speaker 1: because all I could see was what I didn't have.

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Speaker 1: Where's the bread? We got me money? I'm twenty five.

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Speaker 1: That's all I can see. She saw what was possible.

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Speaker 1: I saw what was missing. You see what you choose

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Speaker 1: to see. Many ways, you see what you want to see.

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Speaker 1: You see what you've trained your eyes to see. All

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Speaker 1: they could see was no bread, But they missed the

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Speaker 1: one who was the source of their life. And it

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Speaker 1: happens all the time. It happens when they told the

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Speaker 1: Beatles they had no future as a band. It happened

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Speaker 1: when they told Walt Disney he lacked imagination all the time. See,

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Speaker 1: you can't trust just anybody to be your talent scout.

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Speaker 1: Let me say that another way. You can't trust yourself

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Speaker 1: to be your talent scout because you're too familiar with

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Speaker 1: your trouble to see your talent. Where's my bread? And

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Speaker 1: you're missing what's.

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Speaker 2: Right in front of you.

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Speaker 1: You can't even recognize your potential. See, potential is realized

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Speaker 1: in pieces. You're never gonna wake up one day and

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Speaker 1: feel like, well, now I've got what it takes. I

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Speaker 1: feel like I've crossed over the readiness line if you

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Speaker 1: do wake up and feel that one day. I haven't

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Speaker 1: had that day yet, and I'm looking forward to that day.

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Speaker 1: And maybe I'll revise a sermon when the day comes.

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Speaker 1: But as up to this point, I've been pastor in

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Speaker 1: ten years, and I never felt ready. I've never felt ready.

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Speaker 1: I've never felt ready. This might scare you, but I've

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Speaker 1: never felt ready to preach. I mean, I just I

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Speaker 1: just gotta go. I reckon this. You know it says

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Speaker 1: about eleven fifty three. I don't think Chris has any

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Speaker 1: more songs playing. Better get up there and do it.

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Speaker 1: I'm prepared, but I'm not ready, never gonna feel ready.

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Speaker 1: You're never gonna feel ready. I want to tell you

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Speaker 1: what I tell Holly when she says, I need five

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Speaker 1: more minutes. Baby, you gotta get ready on the way,

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Speaker 1: because if I wait for you to get ready for

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Speaker 1: us to leave, we're never gonna get there.

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Speaker 2: So get your makeup.

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Speaker 1: I'll drive. You can get ready on the way. Touch

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Speaker 1: three people say get ready on the way. I know

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Speaker 1: they didn't feel ready. I know they didn't look ready.

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Speaker 1: In two thousand and nine, there was a basketball player

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Speaker 1: who wanted to play in the NBA and I found

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Speaker 1: an article about his pre draft scouting report. And this

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Speaker 1: was a scouting report on his perceived weaknesses. There's a phrase,

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Speaker 1: perceived weaknesses. His perceived weaknesses through the eyes of a

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Speaker 1: former NBA coach. Listen to what they said about him.

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Speaker 1: There's fifteen of them. I'll share them all. Not a

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Speaker 1: true point guard, out of control at times, shot selection questionable,

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Speaker 1: stuck between one and two. Ability to defend position at

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Speaker 1: next level questionable, lateral quickness, versatility to defend multiple positions,

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Speaker 1: limited upside, questionable backup, fringe starter. College system makes him

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Speaker 1: difficult to evaluate. He went to a small school. We

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Speaker 1: don't know if he's going to make.

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Speaker 2: It in the big lease.

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Speaker 1: Average athleticism, average size, average wingspan, frail frame, relies too

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Speaker 1: heavily on outside shot. But yeah, well, Steph Curry's doing

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Speaker 1: all right in the NBA. He's doing all right in

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Speaker 1: the NBA. Aren't you glad? The scouting report is not

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Speaker 1: the last word over your life. All of those things

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Speaker 1: might have been true. All of those things might have

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Speaker 1: been true. But now that we're looking at now that

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Speaker 1: we're looking back, we can see what they couldn't see.

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Speaker 1: We can see Mark chapter eight, verses fourteen through twenty one.

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Speaker 2: We can put the pieces together.

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Speaker 1: Listen what the Warriors coach said. He said, I hope

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Speaker 1: that scout is no longer evaluating tech. Somebody say you

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Speaker 1: need to fire your scout. You need to fire your scout, Moses,

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Speaker 1: they're going to keep you out of the Promised Land,

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Speaker 1: talking about the giants and forgetting about the grapes. You

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Speaker 1: need to fire your scout. Listen what the GM of

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Speaker 1: the Warriors said. He said. What people who did didn't

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Speaker 1: like him, didn't see is that he's a tremendous worker

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Speaker 1: and cares about the game if you look back. If

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Speaker 1: you look back, he has gotten better every single year.

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Speaker 1: And if you liked him back then you saw a glimpse.

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Speaker 2: Of what he could become. God likes me.

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Speaker 1: It took me a while to figure that out because

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Speaker 1: I thought.

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Speaker 2: He needed me to be like the Pharisees.

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Speaker 1: I thought my life was too broken because I think

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Speaker 1: like this and respond like that. But I found out

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Speaker 1: he likes me. I found out he likes me. If

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Speaker 1: you liked him, you could get a glimpse of what

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Speaker 1: he could become. Some of you can't see what you

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Speaker 1: could be because you don't like who you are. When

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Speaker 1: you don't like yourself, you can't see the picture for

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Speaker 1: the pieces. You can't see what could become. It's kind

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Speaker 1: of hard to see the picture when all you have

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Speaker 1: is the pieces. It's kind of hard to see the provision.

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Speaker 1: That's the second thing I want to talk about. There

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Speaker 1: are three of these that all start with the letter P.

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Speaker 1: The first one was the potential, and the second one

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Speaker 1: was provision. Because potential is realized in pieces. Is putting

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Speaker 1: together what you have, not getting something that you're missing,

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Speaker 1: it's putting together what you have. I just said a

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Speaker 1: lot I said it real quick, so I need to

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Speaker 1: back up over it and drive by.

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Speaker 2: Real slow.

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Speaker 1: Is putting together what you have, Ezekiel, What do you

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Speaker 1: see in the valley? I see bones? But when they

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Speaker 1: came together, they became an army. A lot of churches

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Speaker 1: have a lot of potential, but because they won't come together,

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Speaker 1: they can't realize it. Potential is realized in pieces, and

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Speaker 1: so is provision. Jesus multiplied the loaves and they went

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Speaker 1: home with basketfuls of broken pieces because he saw the

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Speaker 1: potential in a little boy's lunch. The Bible says that

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Speaker 1: he fed five thousand, but that's not really true. It

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Speaker 1: was five thousand men that society didn't even count, the

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Speaker 1: women and the children. It was somebody that they didn't

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Speaker 1: even count that had the seed of the miracle that

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Speaker 1: they all received. Because God sees potential in small places

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Speaker 1: and in overlook people, and in David in the field

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Speaker 1: while his brothers are all lined up waiting to be

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Speaker 1: fitted for a crown and waiting to be anointed with oil.

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Speaker 1: But God calls for the one that nobody else saw

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Speaker 1: the potential in, just the youngest one, just the little boy,

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Speaker 1: just a fisherman in a taxkan the pieces together the potential,

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Speaker 1: and pieces together.

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Speaker 2: The provision, the provision.

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Speaker 1: Understand that your provision is released in pieces, you'll miss

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Speaker 1: it when it comes your emotional provision, your financial provision,

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Speaker 1: your relational provision is gonna come in pieces, and you'll

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Speaker 1: receive one piece in one season, and one piece and another,

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Speaker 1: and by the time you have everything you need, you

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Speaker 1: don't even remember when it exactly got there because it

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Speaker 1: came in pieces. I received my sermons in pieces. All

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Speaker 1: write sometime and go, that's pretty good that I write.

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Speaker 1: Someone's down. I go, that's pretty good, all right, someone's down,

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Speaker 1: and go that's pretty good, all right, someone else down.

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Speaker 2: That's pretty good.

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Speaker 1: And if I get enough pieces, it does a matter

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Speaker 1: of time before I have a picture. Oh that might

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Speaker 1: preach if I worked on it a little while. Comes

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Speaker 1: in in pieces, but the pieces don't look like the picture.

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Speaker 1: So what happens is you get stuck on one part

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Speaker 1: of your life where there's a missing piece. We don't

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Speaker 1: have any bread. One part bread is sitting in front

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Speaker 1: of you. We don't have any bread. It's stuck on

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Speaker 1: one thing. Feel horrible about yourself, stuck on one thing,

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Speaker 1: kicking button fifteen categories, making a C minus in one,

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Speaker 1: and all you can see is the sea stuck on

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Speaker 1: the missing piece. Confessing time, I was not the best

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Speaker 1: dad this week. Okay, not anything bad that I did.

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Speaker 1: I slapped my kid across the room, might have thought

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Speaker 1: about it once or twice, didn't do it, thought about

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Speaker 1: it before. I hadn't done it yet. It wasn't like that.

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Speaker 1: I was just busy.

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Speaker 2: I released a book, I.

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Speaker 1: Preached, I traveled, I preached, I trained, I got decermins

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Speaker 1: of things. I'm out everywhere.

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Speaker 2: So this week I.

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Speaker 1: Don't feel like I was like the best dad. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I don't feel like I've knocked it out of the

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Speaker 1: park as a dad. This week I didn't. I didn't

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Speaker 1: get Graham had his first baseball practice for the year.

377
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Speaker 1: I didn't take him to baseball practice. Somebody took him.

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Speaker 1: I didn't take him. He got took but I didn't

379
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Speaker 1: take him. But guess what if I don't sell a book,

380
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Speaker 1: he doesn't have a bat. So this week I gotta

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Speaker 1: sell some books so you can have a bat. And

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Speaker 1: next week I'll watch you swing it. Tell somebody piece

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Speaker 1: it together. I'm not gonna win it everything all at once.

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Speaker 1: I'm not gonna be everything to everybody all at once,

385
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Speaker 1: but my provision comes in pieces, so so I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: be I'm gonna be an excellent dad this week. I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna take him to school at least one day out

388
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Speaker 1: of the week. I'm gonna get that right. I bought

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Speaker 1: some Elijah. You don't even know I bought this yet,

390
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Speaker 1: but I bought, and I told miss Amy to keep it.

391
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Speaker 1: I bought something for us to play with together, because

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Speaker 1: you know, I just figure. Now, listen, people, I don't

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Speaker 1: even like Star Wars, but this thing looked cool to me.

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Speaker 1: Let's see, it's called the the Naboo Starfighter. Naboo Naboo Naboo.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's take a vote. How many say it's

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Speaker 1: Naboo Naboo Naboo. All right, We're gonna call it the ship.

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Speaker 1: This ship. I saw it. I thought, man, we can

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Speaker 1: play with that. And since I didn't get a lot

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Speaker 1: of time with them last week, we're gonna We're gonna

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Speaker 1: go home and fly this thing around. Doesn't matter that

401
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Speaker 1: I don't I'm not a Star Wars fan. My kids

402
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Speaker 1: love Star Wars, and we are gonna take this thing

403
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Speaker 1: and enjoy it. This week. I saw that picture.

404
00:24:48,880 --> 00:25:04,359
Speaker 3: I thought, Man, they're gonna love that.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, man, we I think they saw me a

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Speaker 1: broken ship. I'll take this back to target, cause.

407
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Speaker 2: I'm not supposed to.

408
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:13,760
Speaker 1: What do you do when this doesn't look like this?

409
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:26,800
Speaker 1: What do you do when the pieces don't look like

410
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Speaker 1: the picture, when the process doesn't look like the promise?

411
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Speaker 1: This is ridiculous. Look at this, this, this thing. I

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Speaker 1: bought a ship sixty nine dollars. Shit, this got holes

413
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:08,720
Speaker 1: in it too. Pay sixty nine dollars for this. That's

414
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:22,359
Speaker 1: not what I picture. But maybe maybe it's in pieces.

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Speaker 2: On purpose.

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Speaker 1: Abraham, come out of your tent and count the stars.

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Speaker 1: If you can't, okay, well, now as the stars are

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Speaker 1: in the sky, so shall your descendants be. He's got

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Speaker 1: the picture. But then, but then, but then, every I said,

420
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Speaker 1: but then, see, God will show you the picture and

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Speaker 1: then he'll hand you a piece. What am I supposed

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Speaker 1: to do with this? This is essentially what the first

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Speaker 1: year of marriage is like. By the way, it's when

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00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:23,280
Speaker 1: you had a picture, but you got a piece. All

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00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,040
Speaker 1: of the newly married people, you should look highly confused

426
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Speaker 1: at this point in the sermon, like you don't know

427
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Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. This is what parenting is like too.

428
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Speaker 1: Because you have a picture of raising children. I'm alwais

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Speaker 1: a world sanger. Okay, change a diaper. Come on, come on,

430
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Speaker 1: come on. I'm preaching, Donna. I'm preaching, Donna. You know

431
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:56,040
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to get you to see that you

432
00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:01,760
Speaker 1: can't judge the picture by the peace. You can't judge

433
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,400
Speaker 1: the picture by the piece. Some of you are giving

434
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,719
Speaker 1: up on your picture because you're looking at your piece.

435
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,320
Speaker 1: But if you get enough pieces, I say, if you

436
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,920
Speaker 1: get enough pieces, if Jesus said, don't you remember the pieces?

437
00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:23,360
Speaker 1: If you get enough pieces, if you get enough pieces

438
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,720
Speaker 1: and you have a hold on a second, I'm glad

439
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:32,200
Speaker 1: I got one of these because this is gonna show

440
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:36,640
Speaker 1: me how to make the pieces look like the picture.

441
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:37,600
Speaker 1: Show somebody.

442
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:43,480
Speaker 2: That's why people tell me it's.

443
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:46,760
Speaker 1: Coming in pieces. It's coming in pieces. It's coming in pieces.

444
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:49,520
Speaker 1: God's gonna give you everything you need, but he's gonna

445
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,440
Speaker 1: give it to you in pieces. And you keep thinking

446
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,840
Speaker 1: it's gonna come like a naboo nahboo, noo boo nahboo,

447
00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:05,520
Speaker 1: is coming in pieces, pieces, pieces, God said, bring me

448
00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,520
Speaker 1: your pieces. I know what to do is in pieces

449
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:18,000
Speaker 1: on purpose, all kinds of pieces, all kinds of pieces.

450
00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:27,479
Speaker 1: I realize this thing isn't broken, but see it. It

451
00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:31,560
Speaker 1: looks broken, but it's broken in a way that I

452
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:36,440
Speaker 1: can build with it. God said, I put some deficiencies

453
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:38,760
Speaker 1: in your life because I want you to learn how

454
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,160
Speaker 1: to be interconnected with others.

455
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:43,240
Speaker 2: That's why I had to let you have.

456
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,680
Speaker 1: Some broken places so I would have something to build on.

457
00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:55,760
Speaker 1: Peter James Shaw In pieces, it's in pieces. A lot

458
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,160
Speaker 1: of churches don't realize their potential because they want to

459
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:04,840
Speaker 1: have people with all the same sized pieces. But God said,

460
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:07,959
Speaker 1: when I stocked that box, I put in all kinds

461
00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:13,080
Speaker 1: of pieces, fat pieces and skinny pieces, and long pieces

462
00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,800
Speaker 1: and short pieces. And yet in red, yellow, and black

463
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:22,000
Speaker 1: and white. You know, I can't understand why anybody would

464
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:29,560
Speaker 1: want their church to be all white or all black,

465
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,120
Speaker 1: because for what I'm building, I need a lot of

466
00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:41,840
Speaker 1: different colored pieces. I don't just need one color. I

467
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:48,240
Speaker 1: don't just need one type. Whoo whoo, the power of

468
00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:56,000
Speaker 1: the pieces. Don't you remember the pieces? It's such your

469
00:31:56,040 --> 00:32:00,720
Speaker 1: neighbor one more time and say there's power in the pieces. Ah, God,

470
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,880
Speaker 1: So so you gotta see the potential in the pieces.

471
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,040
Speaker 1: Potential is realized in pieces. You're never gonna feel like

472
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:09,400
Speaker 1: you have what you need. But if you take what

473
00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:11,000
Speaker 1: you have and put it together with what you have,

474
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 1: and put it together with what you have, put together

475
00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:15,200
Speaker 1: with what they have and what they have, you're gonna

476
00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 1: see the provision is released in pieces. And my third

477
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:26,560
Speaker 1: point is purpose is revealed in pieces. Purpose is revealed

478
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:32,040
Speaker 1: in pieces. Purpose is revealed in pieces. It means you

479
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:36,560
Speaker 1: can't see it while you're in it. You can only

480
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:42,920
Speaker 1: see it looking back, looking back. I see it now,

481
00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:45,920
Speaker 1: like I see this church now, and I realize Holly

482
00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:52,600
Speaker 1: was right. Well you can say amen now too, because

483
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:57,160
Speaker 1: it's ten years in. But how about when we only

484
00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:02,840
Speaker 1: had one loaf of bread. It's easy to look back

485
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:06,280
Speaker 1: and say, man, they were successful because they had this.

486
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:08,160
Speaker 2: This said, yeah, you see the picture.

487
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:16,840
Speaker 1: They saw them pieces. They didn't know what to do

488
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,480
Speaker 1: with it either. Life handed them some pain, but they

489
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:25,280
Speaker 1: built with it. Life handed them some crazy stuff, but

490
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:31,280
Speaker 1: they pieced it together. And it's interesting because when you

491
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:32,400
Speaker 1: see the finished.

492
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:32,840
Speaker 2: Product of something.

493
00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,640
Speaker 1: Look at my book, and this pretty.

494
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,640
Speaker 2: So pretty, They're so pretty.

495
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,240
Speaker 1: It was made to look like a stained glass because

496
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:53,880
Speaker 1: God uses broken people. He takes the pieces and puts

497
00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:57,960
Speaker 1: them together. I think Peter would have laughed if he

498
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:01,360
Speaker 1: could have seen the cathedrals that would be built in

499
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:04,320
Speaker 1: his honor. You think you ever imagine that there'd be

500
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:09,080
Speaker 1: basilicas named after him. I visited some of the cathedrals

501
00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:15,560
Speaker 1: named after these jokers in the boat. But God knows

502
00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:20,000
Speaker 1: how to arrange the pieces. They didn't see it either.

503
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,600
Speaker 1: They didn't know. Even when they died, they didn't know

504
00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:28,040
Speaker 1: we'd be preaching about them today. So you write a book,

505
00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:32,719
Speaker 1: and I'm proud of this book, and I hope you're

506
00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:34,000
Speaker 1: going to read it, and when you read it, you'll

507
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:37,880
Speaker 1: see the picture. But I don't read it after I

508
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:40,960
Speaker 1: write it because by the time you can see the picture,

509
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:44,120
Speaker 1: I am through with the pieces. I am through. I

510
00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:45,000
Speaker 1: don't even know what's in her.

511
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:46,120
Speaker 2: I don't care. I hope it's good.

512
00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:50,480
Speaker 1: Because I remember all the pieces of the process. You know,

513
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:53,760
Speaker 1: And somebody will say, you raised great kids.

514
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:55,000
Speaker 4: I did.

515
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,960
Speaker 1: They see the picture? You see the pieces? They say, oh, man,

516
00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:07,840
Speaker 1: he's a great guy about Oh, they see the picture,

517
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:14,839
Speaker 1: you see the pieces. One of the things about this

518
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:18,759
Speaker 1: cover of this book is that it's like the twentieth

519
00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:22,480
Speaker 1: one that we did. It's like the twentieth one. It

520
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,240
Speaker 1: was just back and forth and back and forth, finding

521
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:29,239
Speaker 1: a last gasp desperation attempt to create something that the

522
00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:31,440
Speaker 1: publisher would accept them that I would also love. I

523
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:34,879
Speaker 1: told Ryan hollings Worth, put a stained glass motif on it,

524
00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:37,560
Speaker 1: and if it could be Moses, I'd like it to

525
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:38,120
Speaker 1: be Moses.

526
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:40,560
Speaker 2: And he sent this back to me, and I knew.

527
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:41,239
Speaker 2: I said, that's the one.

528
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:43,200
Speaker 1: I don't even care what the publisher says about it.

529
00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 1: I'm telling you that's the one I will self publish

530
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:47,279
Speaker 1: this month. If they don't want to publish it, I

531
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:51,160
Speaker 1: will publish it because that's my cover. I just I

532
00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:55,120
Speaker 1: love the cover. I thought that represented what I was

533
00:35:55,160 --> 00:36:00,000
Speaker 1: trying to say. Broke anyway. Well, he emailed me back

534
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,000
Speaker 1: and said, I'm glad you liked the cover.

535
00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:03,160
Speaker 2: He said, but.

536
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:06,680
Speaker 1: If it's okay, I just want to tell you one

537
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:07,200
Speaker 1: little thing.

538
00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:10,239
Speaker 2: About the inspiration of it. He said.

539
00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:12,760
Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember, back around two thousand

540
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:17,160
Speaker 1: and four, two thousand and five, you spoke at a

541
00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:25,120
Speaker 1: youth camp at Covenant College in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I was

542
00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:29,720
Speaker 1: a counselor at that youth camp. It was the first

543
00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:31,600
Speaker 1: time I had heard you speak. You didn't even know

544
00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:34,879
Speaker 1: me back then. I don't know if you remember that,

545
00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:40,719
Speaker 1: but and of course I did, because that was where

546
00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:42,600
Speaker 1: I was speaking when Holly looked at me and said

547
00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:48,000
Speaker 1: it's time. He didn't know that. I didn't know that.

548
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:52,600
Speaker 1: His inspiration for the cover was the stained glass in

549
00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:59,239
Speaker 1: the chapel of Covenant College, which was the place so

550
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:01,200
Speaker 1: you got to come a place in your life where

551
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:06,640
Speaker 1: you're convinced that God is working all things together for

552
00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:08,880
Speaker 1: the good of those who love him and are called

553
00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:19,799
Speaker 1: according to his purpose. He said, he said, he said,

554
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:22,360
Speaker 1: that's from the stained glass in that college chapel. You

555
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:27,520
Speaker 1: probably don't even remember it. I said, oh yeah, I remember.

556
00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:36,080
Speaker 1: I remember how Holly saw the potential when all I

557
00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:41,879
Speaker 1: could see was the pieces. Because when you're looking at

558
00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:43,920
Speaker 1: something and it's right now, we got to have bread

559
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:46,520
Speaker 1: right now, we got to have lunch right now. When

560
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:50,080
Speaker 1: you're looking at something that close up, it doesn't look

561
00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:55,719
Speaker 1: like anything. I can't see it from here. I can't

562
00:37:55,760 --> 00:38:03,200
Speaker 1: see it. I see something. I'm busy, I'm trying. I'm

563
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:08,319
Speaker 1: in church, I mean, but see, every time you take

564
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:15,200
Speaker 1: a step, you see a little more with every step.

565
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:20,560
Speaker 1: You see it a little more with every year that passes,

566
00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:29,480
Speaker 1: with every victory, with every defeat. So take another step. Okay, Okay,

567
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:31,319
Speaker 1: I'm seeing something now here comes here, it comes here,

568
00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:36,920
Speaker 1: comes seeing something. So I'm gonna take another step. Okay,

569
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,600
Speaker 1: I think something. I think something's happening. I think there's

570
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,400
Speaker 1: a design to this. I'm trying to get you to

571
00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:44,799
Speaker 1: see your life in a new perspective. I'm trying to

572
00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:47,080
Speaker 1: get you to see that it's not random. I'm trying

573
00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:51,720
Speaker 1: to get you to recognize the beauty that God sees

574
00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:59,760
Speaker 1: in your brokenness and all things work together. You're gonna

575
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:05,440
Speaker 1: see it in the pieces. You're gonna see it in pieces.

576
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:10,160
Speaker 1: You're gonna see it in pieces, piece by piece.

577
00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:12,520
Speaker 5: Step my step.

578
00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:17,280
Speaker 1: If anybody's grateful for purpose, jump up on your feet.

579
00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:23,680
Speaker 5: And give Colim pray. I see it now. I see

580
00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:27,480
Speaker 5: it now, look at it.

581
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:30,239
Speaker 2: Look at how beautiful that was.

582
00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:38,279
Speaker 1: But I can only see it looking back. The key is,

583
00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:44,160
Speaker 1: can you trust moving forward in what you'll only be

584
00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:54,799
Speaker 1: able to see looking back. I'm in this boat. I

585
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:58,520
Speaker 1: don't have any bread. But now, last time he fed people,

586
00:39:58,719 --> 00:40:01,279
Speaker 1: and last time he fed people, and last time he

587
00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:11,640
Speaker 1: saw me through, and last time I'm gonna piece it together. Purpose, provision,

588
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:20,680
Speaker 1: potential is in you. It's not a missing piece that's

589
00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:26,920
Speaker 1: keeping you from seeing God do big things in your life.

590
00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:31,880
Speaker 1: It's your ability to recognize the big picture in the

591
00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:36,360
Speaker 1: little pieces. The Pharisees wanted to sign. They said, we

592
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:40,120
Speaker 1: need to sign, we need to sign. Well, he was

593
00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:43,960
Speaker 1: fulfilling the prophecies. He was speaking the word. They just

594
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:47,000
Speaker 1: couldn't see it in pieces. We can see it now.

595
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:52,280
Speaker 1: They couldn't see it. The disciples were so worried about bread.

596
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:57,799
Speaker 1: But it's not about the brand. It's not about what

597
00:40:57,880 --> 00:40:59,960
Speaker 1: you don't have. It never was not about what you

598
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:05,000
Speaker 1: can't do. It's not about what you did. It's about

599
00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:11,239
Speaker 1: seeing the potential, the provision and the purpose and your

600
00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:14,640
Speaker 1: broken pieces. Can I give you a word of advice,

601
00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:19,880
Speaker 1: bring him your broken pieces. You'd be surprised what he

602
00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:25,600
Speaker 1: can do with broken pieces. I need all the broken

603
00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:28,960
Speaker 1: people who are believing God for blessing in your life

604
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:31,879
Speaker 1: to lift your hands and open your mouth and give

605
00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:32,720
Speaker 1: God a praise.

606
00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:45,520
Speaker 6: Holle see it now, I see it now.

607
00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:58,359
Speaker 7: See it tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to.

608
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:10,480
Speaker 8: Take him at his word, just to rest upon his promise,

609
00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:13,880
Speaker 8: just to know.

610
00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:18,200
Speaker 7: The say the Lord.

611
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:21,560
Speaker 1: I'm so glad.

612
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:28,279
Speaker 8: I've learned to trust him.

613
00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:36,120
Speaker 4: Precious Geesus, save your friend, and I know that thou

614
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:37,319
Speaker 4: art with.

615
00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:45,000
Speaker 1: Me, will be with me to the end. Lifter haas

616
00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:54,040
Speaker 1: Geesus Jesus, How I trust him?

617
00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:58,960
Speaker 2: How cruve him more?

618
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:16,759
Speaker 9: Geeesus jeezus, rassius Jeeesus, Oh for grace to trust his.

619
00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:37,120
Speaker 1: Geezesustee Jesus trust how high brow him sass.

620
00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:44,359
Speaker 9: Esus, Geezus Christus Esus fuck.

621
00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:49,799
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of

622
00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:52,840
Speaker 1: you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of

623
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:55,799
Speaker 1: you that this ministry is possible. You can click the

624
00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:59,160
Speaker 1: link in the description to give now, or visit Elevation

625
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:02,920
Speaker 1: Church dot org slash podcast for more information and if

626
00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:06,239
Speaker 1: you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share

627
00:44:06,239 --> 00:44:08,399
Speaker 1: it with your friends. You can click the share button,

628
00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:10,920
Speaker 1: take a screenshot and share it on your social stories

629
00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:12,640
Speaker 1: and tag us at Elevation Church.

630
00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:19,280
Speaker 2: Thanks again for listening. God bless you