WEBVTT - Bonus Episode: Root Check (Holly Furtick) 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:05.320 Welcome to the Elevation Church Podcast. We've got a special 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:08.560 bonus podcast for you today from our very own Hollyfordict. 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:11.360 She recently shared this message with the women of our 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.880 church at our annual event called Reflect. But this message 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.599 is for everyone. We're excited for you to hear it 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.360 and learn how we can all end this year strong. 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:27.600 Enjoy the message? Are you ready for a message? All right? God, 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.440 we thank you so much that we can be here 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:34.839 together tonight. And together looks different this year, but together 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:37.599 this year is beautiful because you are here, and you 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:41.040 are in our presence, and you are coming together with 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:44.640 us across our screens and across our worlds. And so God, 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:48.720 we unite our hearts together, we unite our faith together, 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:52.080 and we open up our minds in our ears because 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.320 we want to hear from you. Lord. Would you speak 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:59.680 to us now, say Jesus, and my prayam many. All right, 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:03.440 So twenty twenty it's been a really special year. And 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:05.640 I don't know if you're like me, but I am 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:09.120 just really thankful that it's November. Not that I think 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:12.600 that the clock is gonna, you know, strike twenty twenty one, 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:15.280 and all of this crazy madness is going to go away. 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:18.240 But as the year winds down and I'm beginning to 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:22.360 reflect on the last nine months, I'm like, wow, a 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:28.120 lot of crazy stuff happened, and like, you know, crazy good, crazy, weird, 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:32.800 crazy bad, And you know what, though, I'd like to 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.319 focus on the good stuff that have happened. There have 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:37.760 been some really cool moments, right, And we've had some 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:42.200 great conversations with our families being forced to be together, 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:46.960 and we've made some great memories. And I'm just starting 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:48.640 to see that, in spite of all the craziness, all 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.400 the madness, that I have actually learned a few new 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:55.200 things this year. Did anybody else learn anything new this year? Like? 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:59.760 Did anybody learn how to cook this year? My friendly 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:01.920 this year? She called me the today, she's a holly. 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.240 I cooked four times this week? Aren't you proud of me? 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:10.040 Did anyone learn how to teach kindergarten this year? Did 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:16.480 anyone learn how to cook, teach kindergarten and work remotely 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:18.400 all at the same time? And I don't know if 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:20.920 I would say that I like mastered those things, but 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:22.680 I did give it my best shot. It's suft for 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:26.280 the kindergarten part, Thank god. I don't have any kindergarteners. 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:30.840 But I did also learn how to remove my own fingernails. 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:32.639 I mean not the actual nail, but you know that 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:36.200 like heavy nail polish that we love to get put on. 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:39.839 And so I thought that we could take a few 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:43.480 moments to look back at all of the beauty blunders 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:46.160 of twenty twenty. As I get started, you know, I 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:48.920 like to start with something funny, and this is reflect 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:50.639 and so it's good to laugh at ourselves. So I'll 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:53.880 start with myself. Here's a picture that I posted back 0:02:53.919 --> 0:03:00.200 in March on Instagram. There I am two hours, two 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:04.400 hours with foil. I was completely incapacitated with foil on 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:07.040 my fingers, soaking those bad boys off because I didn't 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.200 have the little drill you know that they use and 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.960 get them off in twenty minutes. Did anyone just chew 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.480 their nails off? Be honest, Type it in the chat. 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:18.720 Just give me the teeth, EMOCHI, Okay, type it in 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.680 the chat. So now I've been honest with you. Type 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:23.520 it in the chat. If you attempted to wax your 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:30.440 own eyebrows, cut your own bangs. We saw some really 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:34.600 bad bang cuts on Instagram. Abby and I one night 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.000 we wanted to experiment, so we put a semi permanent 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:42.280 pink hair dye on her hair. And Amy has a 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:46.520 lot of hair, and it turned out really great, except 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:48.960 that I spent the next two weeks trying to get 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.200 the dye out of my kitchen sink. So that was 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.640 a little beauty blender for me. Did anyone else attempt 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:57.360 to dye their own hair? I read that Madison read 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:00.520 that's a company that sells at home air kids. Adrian 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:04.320 said she dyed her own hair. Their profits increased seven 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:08.880 hundred and fifty percent during the spring. Of all of 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:11.320 you trying to dye your hair at home, how many 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.040 of you took the approach that, no matter what, you 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.520 were going to wait it out. I think you were 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.080 the same women who realized how many days you could 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.839 actually go without showering before anyone in your family noticed. 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:26.960 I love memes, and I love I try to fill 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.719 my Instagram feed with things that make me laugh. So 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:32.240 I wanted to share with you my absolute favorite meme 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.960 of quarantine. It says coming out of quarantine like So, 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:39.320 I want to know which one you related to the best. 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:43.200 Is it the brows or the roots or the eyelashes 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:49.560 and the fingernails. So okay, the men have no clue 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:54.200 how hard quarantine was on us. It was. There were 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.120 some really hard things that we went through and that 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.200 we had to learn. Put that slide back up because 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.800 my message to and my inspiration from my message comes 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:05.040 from that top right picture. So I want you to 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.200 type it in the chat if you can relate to 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:11.599 needing to get your roots done. I took to Instagram 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:14.200 to ask some of you to send me pictures of 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:20.279 your roots, and that was hilarious. I laughed so hard 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:24.000 that I snorted Chelsea Reynolds, mostly at your picture that 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:26.640 you sent me. Would you like to see a couple 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:28.680 of them that people said me? I did get these 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.520 ladies permission, by the way. Okay, so here we go. 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.719 I just want to highlight a couple just you guys 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:37.880 can go through go through it a little faster. Just 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:41.520 got to see some of these ladies up close. Her 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:47.080 eyelashes look good, though. Let's see another one. Oh, I 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:50.080 like that one. My friend Jess Stack, he was our 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.719 campus pastor wife in Raleigh. She wins the prize for 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.080 the longest routs during quarantine, and she did tell me 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.160 that I could share this picture although, fun fact, I 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.200 got it from her because I texted my friend who's 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:04.240 her hairdresser. I said, did you get there's Jess? Did 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:06.159 you get any good pictures of people with risins? She 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:10.119 sent me this picture of Jess, and bless your heart, Jess, 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:14.240 thanks for sharing that picture with you. Tonight, it is 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:19.840 time for a root check. So look at your neighbor 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.320 if you're sitting with someone, and say, let me check 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:25.520 your roots. If you're watching on zoom, just put your 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:27.560 head up to the camp. I'm just kidding. You don't 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:29.880 have to do that, but do turn in your Bible 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:35.000 to Jeremiah seventeen, verse seven. Let me get mine up here, 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.880 Here we go. I just got a little verse I 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:41.720 want to read. You says this, But blessed is the 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:45.839 one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.200 They will be like a tree planted by the water 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.600 that sends out its roots by the stream. It does 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:53.799 not fear when heat comes. Its leaves are always green, 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.760 It has no worries in a year of drought, and 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:03.000 it never fails to bear. I love the Bible, and 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.039 I love this passage because it paints for us a 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:10.120 beautiful picture of a person who is like a tree. 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.520 And I want to be a tree that has roots 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.800 that go so deep that no matter what the world 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:20.120 throws at me, no matter what happens to me, I 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:25.440 can operate from a place of strength. And it is November, ladies, 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.800 and we all know that this is the busiest season 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:30.960 of the year, and it's in the middle of the 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:35.160 craziest year ever. And I just was wondering if there's 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:37.680 anybody else out there, And you're like me, and you're like, 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.200 by god, I'm going to finish this year strong. Are 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:44.080 you with me? So denight we're going to talk about 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.560 how to have roots that never fail to bear fruit. 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.040 It's easy to be to say that you want to 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:54.000 be a woman with roots, you know, like that woman 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:57.480 who can just handle business, a woman who's a source 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:00.720 of strength for everyone around her, not somebody who's perfect, 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:02.840 but just you never you know, anyone it just seems 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:06.240 to have poised no matter what happens to her. We 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:10.040 all want to be that kind of woman that seems 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:12.960 to just be able to handle any situation. Can you 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.480 think of a woman in your life who has roots, 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:19.880 a woman who has weathered some storms and some droughts, 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:23.040 but always seems to come out on the other side 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:27.120 bearing fruit. Have you ever thought like, I don't know 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:29.920 how she does it. I don't know how she handles it. 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:33.680 I can tell you this right now. Strong women do 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:38.280 not happen by accident. Like, Okay, do you know a 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:42.040 woman who has a killer body? What is the thing 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:47.160 that everyone asks her? How do you do it? Why 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:49.400 do we ask this question? Like we all know the 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:53.599 answer to this question. The answer is diet and exercise. 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:58.920 Anyone who has ABS does not eat French fries. And 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:02.280 yet I keep like, maybe there's she has found some 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:08.559 you know, magic tea that just shrinks her belly after 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:13.080 she eats the French fress. Strength does not happen overnight. 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:18.960 It happens over time, day in and day out, staying faithful, 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:23.440 staying present, working on becoming the best version of yourself 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:27.840 that you can be. And this is hard work because 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:31.200 the easy thing to do is to just blame others 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.840 for my situation. The easy thing to do is to 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:38.160 stay angry and to stay easily offended by every little 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:42.560 thing that doesn't go our way. It's also easy to 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.720 try really hard for one day. Have you ever done this? Like, Okay, 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:49.320 I'm gonna wake up at five and I'm gonna read 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:52.160 my Bible and I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna fast too, 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.960 and then by noon you are on the phone screaming 0:09:56.000 --> 0:10:00.280 at customer service driving through McDonald's. I have now you 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:02.360 Gus McDonalds. I'm just you said you were gonna fast, 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:04.760 and now you're driving to McDonald's. And you know, it's like, 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:08.359 I remember the first time I took a group fitness class. 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.400 Remember I've told you I've never been MVP before. Okay, 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:16.000 So I did not take my first group fitness class 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:20.160 until I was over thirty. And there was this woman 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:22.000 that went to our church and she taught this class 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.520 called body Pump. And anybody ever take body pump before. 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:28.640 It's not very popular class anymore, but at the time 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:32.720 there was this class where you would lift weights to music. 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:37.160 So I show up at the class and the instructor 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:40.000 comes over to me. She was not one of those 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.760 people who ate French fries, and she just says to me, 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.680 she was like, hey, listen, just start light. You can 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.520 even just use the bar because the weights can get 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:53.640 really heavy. And I was like, I can do this 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.120 with the weights. I mean, I don't want to look stupid, 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:02.600 and so very stubbornly I completed the class with the weights. 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:05.120 I probably look stupid anyway trying to do it with 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:09.280 the weights. And when I tell you that I was 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:14.120 sore when I was walking to my car. Oh, guys, 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:19.080 when I woke up the next morning, I said to 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:21.199 my husband, I said, I think I am the flu. 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:26.840 I could not move like I could not move for 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.280 about a week. I could barely go up the stairs. 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.079 I was like an old lady. My kids were like, 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:34.160 there were babies at the time. They were like, mommy, 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:38.120 I'm like, kid, do it. I don't think I went 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.800 back to that class for like a year. That's not 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:44.400 how you build strength. That's not how you get strong 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:46.960 by going to one class one time. You get strong 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:50.760 little by little, day by day. A tree doesn't grow overnight. 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.560 A tree takes the time to put down roots. And 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:56.920 if you want to be a strong woman, a woman 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.400 who fights for the things in your life that are 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:03.080 important to you, you're going to have to have some roots. 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:09.120 Time under tension creates strength. And Jeremiah says that this 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:12.199 tree is planted by the water, and it sends out 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:16.199 its roots by the stream. You see. The most important 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:21.600 part of the tree happens below the surface. It happens 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:25.440 in the places where people cannot see. And I want 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.360 us to finish this year strong. I don't want to 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.480 go limping across the finish line into twenty twenty. I 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:33.280 want to look back on this year and say, you 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.240 know what, twenty twenty threw some stuff at me, but 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.640 I think I'm stronger for it. How do we do this? 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:42.520 How do we do this? We've got to check our roots. 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:44.319 So I want you to turn in your Bible to 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.800 Luke chapter one, and I want to show you a 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:53.559 woman who had weathered some pretty tough droughts and storms. 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.559 And I believe that she has a few things that 0:12:56.600 --> 0:12:59.160 she can teach us tonight about how to have some 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.680 deep roots. So we're gonna look at the life of Mary. 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:06.640 Start with me. In verse twenty six, it says this, 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.640 in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:13.000 angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in gallery Galilee, to 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.840 a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:19.240 a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:23.360 angel went to her and said, greetings, you are highly favored. 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:27.400 The Lord is with you. And Mary was greatly troubled 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:31.000 at his words and wondered what kind of greetingness might be. 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.000 But the Angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:39.720 for you have found favor with God. You will conceive 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:41.640 and give birth to a son, and you are to 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.920 call him Jesus. He will be great, and he will 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.040 be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:48.880 God will give him the throne of his father David, 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:52.439 and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:56.800 will never end. How can this be, Mary asks the angel, 0:13:57.160 --> 0:14:00.720 Since I am a virgin, and the Angel and the 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:04.640 Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:08.200 the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:10.199 to be born will be called the Son of God. 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:12.920 Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child, 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.880 and her own her old age, and she who has 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:19.400 said to be unable to conceive as in her sixth month, 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:24.640 for no word from God will ever fail. I am 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:28.160 the Lord's servant, Mary said, May your word to me 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:34.680 be fulfilled, and then the Angel left her. Mary had 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.960 a massive calling on her life. She was going to 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.520 be the mother of the Messiah. She was going to 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:45.640 raise God. I don't know what it's like to raise God. 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.400 I do know what it's like to attempt to raise children, 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:53.160 and that is a massive calling. And we know nothing 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:56.840 about Mary prior to this passage of scripture. As the 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.840 story unfolds, we find out that she's a girl for 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:03.160 Nazareth who's engaged to be married, and an angel comes 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:07.120 to her and says, greeting, Have you ever thought about 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:09.360 all of the ways that God spoke to people in 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:11.880 the Bible up until this point, up until Jesus came. 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:15.640 He spoke through dreams, he spoke through a burning bush, 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:19.400 he spoke through a talking donkey, he spoke through writing 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:23.440 on the wall, and even occasionally an audible voice. But 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:26.760 we come to this passage and we find Mary and 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:29.960 where was she when the angel came to her? What 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:33.360 was she doing? The passage doesn't say that she was 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:36.680 in church, or that she was kneeling in prayer, that 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:39.160 she was sleeping and he came to her in a dream. 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:41.760 It just simply says that an angel came to her. 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.640 And I wonder if God just knew that he could 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:50.760 interrupt any old day in Mary's life that she had 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:55.320 such an awareness of God's presence that she was ready 0:15:55.560 --> 0:16:00.440 to receive from him during her everyday life. And I'm 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:03.400 just wondering, are you aware of God's presence in your 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:07.480 everyday life? Or is your day so loud and so 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:11.440 crowded and so back to back to back that God 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:15.680 would have to strike lightning to get your attention. It's 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:17.840 so popular for us to talk about self care right now, 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.560 and self care it really is important. But what if 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:24.840 self care was not about a girl's night out or 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.880 a day at the spa. What if self care was 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:32.160 not letting your calendar get so full? What if self 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:36.560 care was about saying no to another thing that you 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:39.240 were asked to do, or another sports team for your kid. 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:43.960 What if self care is about taking a break from 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:49.840 social media. I'm talking to myself. But if you think 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:54.160 that being aware of God's presence means that you get 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:56.840 up and pray at five am, that's great and if 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.920 you can do that, you should. I think getting up 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:04.520 is awesome. I just can't do it. I have tried, 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:08.440 and when I get up early, I just fall back asleep. 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:12.760 It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I splash cold 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:15.119 water on my face doesn't matter. I mean, I just 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:18.080 can't get up early. And I do think that setting 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.560 aside time to read and study God's word and pray 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:25.760 and listen to music. I do believe that those things 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.800 are essential for my strength, and I do practice those 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.800 things in my everyday life. It's just that I have 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:35.720 to look for pockets. You may not have an hour 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:40.720 to spend every day in prayer and on your knees, 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:42.520 and it's a beautiful thing, like I said, if you do, 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:45.760 But do you have any pockets? Like? What do you 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:49.000 do on your commute to work? What do you do 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:52.000 when you're sitting at your kids sports practice. I've sat 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:56.040 at a lot of sports practices and play Candy Crush 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:57.959 on my phone. I'm just gonna be honest with you. 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.040 What is playing in the background while you're doing laundry? 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.280 What do you do on your lunch break at work? 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:05.159 Who do you talk to or what do you watch? 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.240 Are you pulling up are you pulling up the news 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:12.120 or Netflix or Instagram or even here's a really hard 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:13.760 one for me to say. What's the last thing you 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:18.600 do before you fall asleep at night? Mary had space 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.600 in her life for God. And we live in a 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:26.000 day and time where we are so lucky because we 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:29.240 can fill the space in our life with the most 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:33.439 amazing summons from the most incredible preachers around the world, 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:37.000 and worship music is at our fingertips and audio books 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:39.600 and podcasts. But if you don't have a plan, then 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:43.119 you're gonna end up scrolling feeds during every extra second 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:47.680 that you have during your day. And while I am 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:51.520 on the topic about making space in your life, I 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:56.399 just want to say that some of us, I feel like, 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:02.800 are letting church slip through our fingers. When we first 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.560 went into quarantine, you got up early and you got 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:07.720 your family up, or you got to your kitchen table 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:09.720 and you had your coffee and you had your TV on, 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:14.399 and you gave God your full attention. But now maybe 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:18.560 you're just catching it later on YouTube. And by the way, 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:21.880 our buildings are open. I don't know if you knew that. 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:26.080 But also, just about every church that I know is 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:31.560 somehow safely meeting together. And if you're not careful, if 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.960 you let the important things slip through your fingers, you're 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:38.080 gonna find yourself in a very difficult storm and you're 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:40.520 not gonna have the roots to get you through because 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:43.719 you have not made God's presence a priority in your life. 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:47.640 It's time for us to wake up, ladies and position 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:51.360 ourselves to hear God speak to us. Because the strength 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.399 that you need in the next season is that we're 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:57.360 right here in the things that God is speaking to you. Now, 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:02.480 are you aware? Mary aware? And the Angel comes to 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:06.000 her and tells her you have found favor with God. 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:08.800 You're gonna give birth to the son of the Most High, 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:10.600 and the power of the Holy Spirit is gonna come 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:15.240 upon you. And what did Mary say? She said, I 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:21.520 am the Lord's servant. Made a word to me, be fulfilled. Now, 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.760 if they were me, if I were married, when the 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:28.120 Angel came to me and said that, I'm not sure 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:31.359 that I am the Lord's servant, would be the first 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:34.320 thing out of my mouth. You know, like, I have 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:37.040 some things that I would want to know, like if 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:40.639 you qualifying? Like God, did you know that I'm just 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:43.760 a girl and I don't know nothing about raising no baby? 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:49.960 Or God? Did you? Did you? I don't think anybody's 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:55.840 gonna believe me. I mean, a virgin pregnant. How is 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.520 that gonna go? God? I mean, I'm not good enough. 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:02.600 I'm not shruck, I'm not smart enough. What about my past? 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:04.960 What about the things that I've done, the mistakes that 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:07.199 have Mammy, God, you don't want to use me? I 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:10.280 mean I think that you could use her, or you know, 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:13.800 I was actually thinking Lord, that that maybe I could 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:17.480 have a more upfront calling than rather like behind the 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:21.280 scenes calling. Maybe God, I could be a prophetess instead 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:27.399 of a diaper changer. But Mary accepted the calling that 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.720 God had placed on her life. And you've got to 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:35.119 have the root of acceptance in your life because if 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:38.240 you don't, you're going to abandon your calling at the 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:41.520 first sign of trouble. Because the thing about a calling 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:47.280 is your calling is only for you. You can't trade 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:50.760 it for someone else's. Although I know sometimes we look 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:52.520 at somebody else you're like, God, Okay, why didn't you 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:55.359 call me to do that? That looks like so much 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:59.800 more fun than than this. You can't return it for 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:03.359 a different one. I like to return things. It's like 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:05.800 a habit that I have. I like to order things 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:08.320 online and then try them on and then return them. 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:11.840 You can't return your calling. You can either reject it 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:17.760 or you can accept it. And I am so guilty 0:22:18.480 --> 0:22:21.760 of rejecting my own calling. Not outright, of course, I 0:22:21.760 --> 0:22:24.000 mean like, of course Mary was never gonna be like God, 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:26.239 I'm not gonna do that. It's more subtle. It's not 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:29.760 like Jonah, who went in the opposite direction of where 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:33.000 God was calling him. I think I can just sometimes 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:39.640 let myself get stuck, and some days, if I'm being honest, 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:44.760 I'm unwilling to put in the work that's required to 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:47.960 accomplish the things that God wants me to do. I'm 0:22:48.000 --> 0:22:49.880 just gonna say it this way. It's kind of hard 0:22:49.880 --> 0:22:51.280 for you to come out of my mouth, but I'm 0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:55.399 lazy and I would rather watch YouTube videos of someone 0:22:55.440 --> 0:22:58.000 else's day in the life than actually live mine with 0:22:58.080 --> 0:23:01.600 the purpose that God has given me. Someday, Just can 0:23:01.640 --> 0:23:03.960 I be honest? I mean, is anybody with me? And 0:23:04.320 --> 0:23:06.280 some of you were giving me the praise hands that 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:11.240 it took me years. There were years where I just 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:13.800 simply did not want to put in the work that 0:23:13.960 --> 0:23:16.160 was required to preach a good sermon. My husband would 0:23:16.160 --> 0:23:17.399 be like, I want to you to preach. I'm like God, 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:20.399 I'm not good at preaching, But you know what it 0:23:20.440 --> 0:23:23.240 takes work to write a good sermon, and you know 0:23:23.280 --> 0:23:25.200