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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: We're in the final week of a series called Kingdom

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Speaker 1: Cloud and have you enjoyed the series? Has it been

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Speaker 1: a blessing to well? You may be seated. We're going

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Speaker 1: to finish it off together today. And it's interesting because

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Speaker 1: my brother asked me, has the series been a success?

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Speaker 1: He's been deployed and so he hasn't been able to

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Speaker 1: get a good Wi Fi connection and watch. He's in

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Speaker 1: the Air Force, and this is a series successful? And

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Speaker 1: it made me pause, and I didn't know how to

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Speaker 1: answer it, because how do you judge something like that?

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Speaker 1: How do you measure the success of a message or

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Speaker 1: message series? Would it be like one book I read

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Speaker 1: said the sermon was a success if it sticks. There's

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Speaker 1: a book I'm preaching. They said you need to make

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Speaker 1: it sticky. Sermon's supposed to stick. I think that's duct

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Speaker 1: tape you're thinking of. It's uh, because like some things

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Speaker 1: are sticky, but they're not significant. I remember the macarena.

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Speaker 1: That doesn't make it a life changing discovery of my life.

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Speaker 1: I remember my first girlfriend's name. She didn't mean anything

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Speaker 1: to me. So it's not necessarily meaningful because you memorized it.

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Speaker 1: Six eight eight four to two oh three is Danny

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Speaker 1: fox Firths's phone number in case you want to call him.

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Speaker 1: Here's my best friend in third grade. I remember his number.

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Speaker 1: People are going to be blowing him up right now.

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Speaker 1: I'm ynny. But it's got to be something more than

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Speaker 1: memorable to make it meaningful. I mean, some of the

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Speaker 1: most meaningful stuff in our life we can't remember. You

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Speaker 1: ever tried to call the role of your kids' names

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Speaker 1: and you can't pull them up, and so it's not

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Speaker 1: that you know. I thought about what makes a successful series.

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Speaker 1: What would make it successful if people watched it on YouTube,

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Speaker 1: then PewDiePie is the greatest preacher in the world. If

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Speaker 1: that's what makes it successful, if it clicks, or how

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Speaker 1: about this, if people enjoyed it, If they enjoyed it. So,

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Speaker 1: if you have a comfortable workout, it was a successful workout.

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Speaker 1: I just had a great workout what was great about it.

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Speaker 1: It was just very relaxing. Oh the thing you did

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Speaker 1: it right, or a successful surgery, it's not measured by

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Speaker 1: the amount of comfort. We didn't get the tumor, but

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Speaker 1: we had a great time. It was really, really, really heartwarm.

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Speaker 1: So when I thought about that was the success, I thought,

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Speaker 1: how many people are asking that about their life? How

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Speaker 1: many people are trying to measure? You know, the more

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Speaker 1: it matters, the harder it is to measure. The stuff

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Speaker 1: that really matters is hard to measure. And so what

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Speaker 1: we do we substitute out what we've been saying in

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Speaker 1: this series, artificial measurements of things that are less significant

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Speaker 1: or that are visible, because the things that are invisible,

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Speaker 1: the Kingdom of God, it comes in a way that's

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Speaker 1: hard to measure. And I don't think there's a person

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Speaker 1: that I'm sitting across the counter from today. That's how

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Speaker 1: I visualize it in my mind, like we're sitting in

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Speaker 1: your kitchen, like I showed up, you poured me a

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Speaker 1: bowl of cereal, and we had this conversation. I don't

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Speaker 1: think there's a person that would be across that counter

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Speaker 1: that would say, in every area of my life I'm

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Speaker 1: killing it. And I don't think there's a person that

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Speaker 1: would sit across and say, there's absolutely nothing in my

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Speaker 1: life that I feel successful at. But me, I'm really

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Speaker 1: hard on myself. And it balances out because Holly is

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Speaker 1: not hard enough on herself. And you're like, why would

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Speaker 1: you say that about your wife? She would tell you

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Speaker 1: the same thing. She keeps me from quitting and I

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Speaker 1: keep her from sitting on the couch all the time. Now,

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Speaker 1: she's a very hard worker. But one thing that I

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Speaker 1: really appreciate about her is she has the ability to

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Speaker 1: encourage herself. She'll be like, I'm eating French fries because

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Speaker 1: I rode my peloton, like it cancels out in her mind. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: I want to close the series today talking about your

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Speaker 1: definition of success because I think it's important and I

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Speaker 1: think a lot of people secretly feel like they're failing,

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Speaker 1: even if people think that they're winning. And that's an

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Speaker 1: interesting thing. Isn't it for people to think one thing,

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Speaker 1: but for you to know another and to really really

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Speaker 1: wrestle with this topic of your definition of success. The

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Speaker 1: first thing we need to do is reclaim the biblical

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Speaker 1: concept of blessing. There's a scripture that I memorized. I

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Speaker 1: guess it was in college, and I don't have it

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Speaker 1: quite as sharp as I did back then. But someone says,

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Speaker 1: blessed is the man who does not walk in the

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Speaker 1: council of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners,

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Speaker 1: or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight

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Speaker 1: is in the law of the Lord. And on his

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Speaker 1: law he meditates day and night. He is like a

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Speaker 1: tree that is planted by streams of water. What's the

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Speaker 1: next part, oh, which yields this fruit? I did not

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Speaker 1: successfully quote the scripture. I guess which yields his fruit

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Speaker 1: in season? And whose leaf does not wither? Whatever he

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Speaker 1: does prospers. And so you're like, by that definition of success,

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Speaker 1: whatever he does prospers or works, I am not successful.

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Speaker 1: But here's the thing about it. The psalm starts with

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Speaker 1: a word that we translate blessed, blessed. It's how David

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Speaker 1: psalms start, the ones that are pre particularly significant to him.

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Speaker 1: He starts it with the word blessed, but it's not

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Speaker 1: an English word. It's a Hebrew word, and it can

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Speaker 1: also be translated happy. And I thought that was interesting,

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Speaker 1: because to be successful and miserable is not a blessing.

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Speaker 1: To be skinny and miserable is not a blessing. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: to be disciplined and miserable is not a blessing. On

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Speaker 1: the other hand, we cannot discount the fact that Psalm one.

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Speaker 1: I think it's the best definition of blessed. If you want,

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Speaker 1: just like a good biblical definition of blessing, and you've

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Speaker 1: been wanting one all week. You've been walking around going

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Speaker 1: what is the best definition of blessed in the Bible?

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Speaker 1: Just don't know what it is. So if you want

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Speaker 1: that definition, I think this is a good starting place.

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Speaker 1: Blessed is the one who does not walk in the

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Speaker 1: council of the wicked, who does not get distracted by

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Speaker 1: the crappy value system of this messed up world. Now,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't say that they don't have any friends who

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Speaker 1: don't go to church. I always thought the verse was

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Speaker 1: like code for don't hang out with people who vape

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Speaker 1: that weed. You know, that's my youth pastor interpretation. But

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Speaker 1: when he said blessed is the man who does not

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Speaker 1: walk in the council of the wicked, I realize he's

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Speaker 1: talking about whose voice you value, whose voice you value,

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Speaker 1: and really, who gets to set your definition of success?

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Speaker 1: How am I going to decide if a sermon was successful?

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Speaker 1: I went on Facebook and read the comments, and that

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Speaker 1: didn't help. They were talking more about the holes in

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Speaker 1: my genes than the holes in his hands? Where the nails?

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Speaker 1: So silly? I mean, so who? And I want to

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Speaker 1: use an investigative method for this. I want to start

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Speaker 1: with who, and then I want to talk about what,

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Speaker 1: and then I want to talk about when, and if

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Speaker 1: we have a chance, I'll talk about where. Okay, who, what?

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Speaker 1: And when? Of success? Who told you that you were naked?

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Speaker 1: That's what God asked Adam in the garden when he

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Speaker 1: listened to the serpent. And I found out that whose

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Speaker 1: voice you value determines your standard of success? Can I

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Speaker 1: preach one more week on this topic? So if I

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Speaker 1: judge my standard of success by by what someone else

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Speaker 1: telps me, look, it's like I can always find someone

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Speaker 1: to make me feel successful. I can always find someone

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Speaker 1: to make me feel like a failure. There is somebody

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Speaker 1: on your row who prais less than you. There is

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Speaker 1: somebody on your row that praise more than you, except

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Speaker 1: Greg Weinberger's rowe Him and Autumn pray all the time.

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Speaker 1: Do you ever want to feel bad about your prayer life?

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Speaker 1: Talk to Autumn. But other than them, there is somebody

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Speaker 1: on your row that prays more than you, and there's

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Speaker 1: somebody that prays lefts. And what I'm afraid of is

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Speaker 1: that we have a standard of success and we never

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Speaker 1: even checked on who said it? All right, let me

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Speaker 1: try another way. It really convicted me to realize that

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Speaker 1: if we judge success by current worldly standards, the ministry

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Speaker 1: of Jesus was a complete failure when he left the earth.

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Speaker 1: So Jesus came to bring a kingdom? Right? Did he

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Speaker 1: do it? Before? You give me the yes? He did? Answer,

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Speaker 1: which I appreciate, kind of depends which kingdom you're expecting

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Speaker 1: him to build, if you judge it like how we

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Speaker 1: judge our lives. Because the way we judge our life

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Speaker 1: is we look to see who approves of what we're doing.

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Speaker 1: Or you know, we take a word like blessed, and

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Speaker 1: David says, happy is the man, blessed is the man?

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Speaker 1: He starts. All of his most significant sums that way.

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Speaker 1: But we think blessing is a material thing, and sometimes

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Speaker 1: it is I got a boat, I'm blessed Everybody who

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Speaker 1: thinks a boat is a blessing never had a boat.

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Speaker 1: All it does is break and get fake friends to

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Speaker 1: call you want to use it. Okay, So if a

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Speaker 1: boat isn't a blessed, what is it is? It is?

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Speaker 1: It is relative? Write this down. Success is relative. Success

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Speaker 1: also creates relatives, people that you hadn't talked to in years,

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Speaker 1: who call you to borrow some money if you ever

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Speaker 1: get successful. But success is relative. And this is what

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Speaker 1: Jesus knew. Jesus knew that success is relative to who,

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Speaker 1: it's relative to what, it's relative to win, it's relative

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Speaker 1: to war. And I think the reason Jesus was able

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Speaker 1: whether the crowds were clapping for him after he fed them,

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Speaker 1: or whether they were leaving him. No, Jesus would preach

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Speaker 1: a sermon, and here's how good he preached. They would

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Speaker 1: walk away and say he had a demon. So, judging

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Speaker 1: by standards of success from the world Jesus, this is

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Speaker 1: how bad Jesus was at preaching. By our standards, he

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Speaker 1: would preach a parable I preached on one of the

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Speaker 1: weeks of this series. I don't remember if it was

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Speaker 1: last week. When did I do the talent? Yeah, with

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Speaker 1: one bag Billy. That was last week. Okay, so last

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Speaker 1: week I used one of his parables. You know what

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Speaker 1: the disciples did after he got done teaching, They said,

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Speaker 1: explain that to us. He was so good at preaching

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Speaker 1: that his staff didn't even know what he had just said.

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Speaker 1: By our definition of success, jesus message was a failure

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Speaker 1: because he would not settle for the surface, meaning he

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Speaker 1: would not build the kingdom that they wanted him to build.

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Speaker 1: And I just wonder, is there's somebody in here who

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Speaker 1: is waiting for applause from the wrong person. Some of

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Speaker 1: us are doing stuff to impress people who aren't even

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Speaker 1: paying attention. And another thing about Jesus, he was so

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Speaker 1: successful at what he did that his own people killed

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Speaker 1: him for it. Judging by our standards of success. When

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Speaker 1: Jesus went to the cross, which is the thing he

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Speaker 1: came to do, guess what happened. Every one of his

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Speaker 1: followers clicked unfollow except John. That's how successful he was.

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Speaker 1: And yet we take an earthly measure of success and

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Speaker 1: try to apply it to a heavenly calling, and we

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Speaker 1: wonder why we're discouraged and frustrated when we measure our

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Speaker 1: success by the same stuff. The world measures success by

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Speaker 1: and Jesz came along for each and said, bless or

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Speaker 1: pores here that blessed are those who hunger and thirst

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Speaker 1: for righteousness. Blessed who are those who know they're empty?

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Speaker 1: Blessed those who have some self awareness to know that

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Speaker 1: I need God in my life. That is the definition

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Speaker 1: of blessing. Have you noticed how we do this? Though?

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Speaker 1: We attach cultural definitions to biblical terms, and we take

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Speaker 1: a word like blessed or success, you know successes. In

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Speaker 1: the Bible. God told Joshua, I think it's Joshua one

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Speaker 1: to eight. He said, I will give you good success.

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Speaker 1: That's an interesting phrase. Must mean there's a bad success,

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Speaker 1: A success that sucks, sucks, says, I can say it

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Speaker 1: that way? Can I say it that way? You know

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Speaker 1: what kind of success sucks? The one that you project,

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Speaker 1: but it's not real and you don't really possess it

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Speaker 1: right when you need to appear a certain way. So

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Speaker 1: what happens is sometimes we get so addicted to the

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Speaker 1: approval that comes from others that we cannot receive the

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Speaker 1: approval that comes from God. And that has to be

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Speaker 1: an inner voice. Right, Jesus did the will of his

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Speaker 1: father he knew the voice of his father. He did

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Speaker 1: not see it, he knew it at a deeper level. Now,

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Speaker 1: we're living in a time right now where people want

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Speaker 1: to be well known above all else. But there's a difference,

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Speaker 1: and this is how I was thinking about it, tim

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Speaker 1: between being well known and widely known. It's the difference

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Speaker 1: between fruitfulness and famous. Okay, so well known is like, oh, okay,

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Speaker 1: a lot of people know my name or I'm popular.

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Speaker 1: But if you judge the ministry of Jesus by popularity,

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Speaker 1: he was a failure at the moment that he was

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Speaker 1: fulfilling his purpose. And why that's encouraging to me is

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Speaker 1: that being well known only requires that the God who

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Speaker 1: made me has all of me, and that there's no

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Speaker 1: part of my life that is off limits to him.

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Speaker 1: And I just want to talk to you about this

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Speaker 1: today because I'm meeting a lot of people who feel

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Speaker 1: like they're failing and they do not even recognize how

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Speaker 1: much fruit they are bearing. Let that sink in. At

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Speaker 1: the moment that a seed goes into the ground and

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Speaker 1: it starts doing what it was created to do, to

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Speaker 1: break apart, to change forms so that it can produce

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Speaker 1: what was in it. At the moment of its greatest

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Speaker 1: realization of potential, it is broken and hidden. So that

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Speaker 1: means that in my life, sometimes the greatest moments of

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Speaker 1: my maturity, when God is really growing me and really

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Speaker 1: using me and really making a difference through me, are

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Speaker 1: going to be the moments where I feel like I'm breaking,

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Speaker 1: the moments where I feel like I'm hidden. Obscurity is

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Speaker 1: not the enemy. It doesn't matter if they know your name.

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Speaker 1: It matters if you know what is inside of you.

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Speaker 1: Blessed is the man who does not need the approval

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Speaker 1: of people, because I already got it from God. Already

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Speaker 1: got it. It's already mine. I'm walking in it, I'm

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Speaker 1: living in it, I'm bathed in it, I'm covered by it.

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Speaker 1: I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. Whether

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Speaker 1: you're like me or not, how are you gonna judge

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Speaker 1: if you're a good mom, whether your teenage daughter likes

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Speaker 1: your decision making, you're gonna let the inmates set the curfew? Crazy.

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Speaker 1: I remember when Oprah lost all that weight. When I

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Speaker 1: was a little boy, my mom used to watch Oprah

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Speaker 1: and she came on and everybody clapp because she lost weight,

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Speaker 1: and a few years later she came back and said,

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Speaker 1: I was the least healthy that I had ever been

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Speaker 1: in my life because of the way I lost the weight.

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Speaker 1: But people will clap because you lost it. They don't

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Speaker 1: care what it did to you on the inside. It's

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Speaker 1: just we clapp Let me give you another verse. Now

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Speaker 1: give you another verse. Okay. In uh Luke seventeen twenty,

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Speaker 1: Jesus talking about the Kingdom of God. I went straight

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Speaker 1: from Oprah to Luke seventeen because I am dynamic like that.

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Speaker 1: I am verse stil in this fulpan. So on one occasion,

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Speaker 1: the Bible says, because Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God.

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Speaker 1: In one translation, the phrase appears all throughout the New

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Speaker 1: Testament twenty six times, and on one occasion, having been

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Speaker 1: asked by the Pharisees, those were his enemies. Okay, let's

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Speaker 1: talk about that real quick. You think success is having

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Speaker 1: everybody like you, then Jesus was a failure. You see

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Speaker 1: what I'm We think success is just being able for

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Speaker 1: everybody all the time to be able to get us. Well,

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Speaker 1: they just don't get me. They're not supposed to get you.

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Speaker 1: Only God can get you because you are dysfunctional. So

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Speaker 1: the Pharisees. They didn't get Jesus. They didn't get what

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Speaker 1: he came to do, they didn't get who he really was.

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Speaker 1: And so on one occasion they asked him. This was

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Speaker 1: not a purely motivated question, I might add, they said,

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Speaker 1: when they were inquiring when the Kingdom of God would come,

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Speaker 1: I love the word of God watches Jesus or apply

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Speaker 1: Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation

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Speaker 1: by your standards of success. The Pharisees kept lots of laws,

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Speaker 1: They memorized lots of Bible verses, like how do you

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Speaker 1: know if you're a good Christian? If you memorize more scripture,

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Speaker 1: then the Pharisees would have been the most successful. But

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Speaker 1: they were actually the ones who stood in opposition to

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Speaker 1: what Jesus came to do. Some people think they're good

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Speaker 1: Christians because they read the Bible a lot. Maybe they

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Speaker 1: just like reading. So in the application of the scripture,

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Speaker 1: growth happens, not the knowledge of it. Right, So how

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Speaker 1: do you measure if you're more successful? You're growing in God?

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Speaker 1: It's are you yielding more of yourself to Him so

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Speaker 1: that you can yield the fruit of the purpose that

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Speaker 1: he planted inside of you. They're like, when's the kingdom

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Speaker 1: going to come? And we all want to know that,

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Speaker 1: We all want to know when is God going to

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Speaker 1: do what I want him to do? Raise your hand.

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Speaker 1: I'll stand here all day. Have you ever wondered, when

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Speaker 1: are you going to fix them? Jesus? Or when are

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Speaker 1: you going to fix it? Here's my favorite, When are

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Speaker 1: you going to fix me? About to turn forty, that's

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Speaker 1: forty years in the wilderness of my weirdness? When am

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Speaker 1: I going to be a normal person? Right? But Jesus

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Speaker 1: says something, and I really want you to receive this

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Speaker 1: in this last week of the series. He says, the

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Speaker 1: Kingdom of God. You've got an external definition of success,

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Speaker 1: but the Kingdom give me twenty one. People will not

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Speaker 1: say here it is or there it is, because the

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Speaker 1: Kingdom of God is within you. That's so good, and

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Speaker 1: come on say it, say it, Say it from your diaphragm.

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Speaker 1: The Kingdom is within me. Now. The kingdoms of this

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Speaker 1: world they're out there there, there, there. That's what they're marketing.

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Speaker 1: When they market to you, they are trying to get

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Speaker 1: you to hate here. Wow. Wow. The strategy of the

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Speaker 1: enemy is to get you to hate you're here, right,

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Speaker 1: and the way he does that. Some says he will

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Speaker 1: yield his fruit in season, that that the tree that

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Speaker 1: God plants it will yield it's fruit in season. Always

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Speaker 1: skid past the word is, But it may be the

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Speaker 1: most important part of the verse because it means that

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Speaker 1: if I spend my time being frustrated that I can't

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Speaker 1: bear your fruit, I can only bear furdic fruit. Right,

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Speaker 1: That's all I can bear. That's all I can be.

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Speaker 1: All I can be if I can say it this

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Speaker 1: way is the most fruitful verdict that I know how

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Speaker 1: to be. Now, my temptation is to see the fruit

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Speaker 1: that you bear, or the life that you have, or

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Speaker 1: the talent that you have, or the personality that you have.

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Speaker 1: I usually don't want other people's lives. I want other

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Speaker 1: people's personalities because they're chill. And I wonder what would

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Speaker 1: it be like to have just a day where you

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Speaker 1: were not so uptight like some of y'all's personality looks

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Speaker 1: so tropical, so sunny. Wow, that would be so cool.

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Speaker 1: Did you see how they just handled that? They didn't

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Speaker 1: even get upset. But there's a certain way that God

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Speaker 1: wired me within me, he will be like a tree

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Speaker 1: planted by the streams that will bear its fruit, will

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Speaker 1: yield it's fruit. Help me preach this and tell the

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Speaker 1: person next to you. Yield your fruit. Yield your fruit.

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Speaker 1: Do your thing, make your mark, do your job, hold

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Speaker 1: down your spot, stay on your post. If you're coaching, coach,

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Speaker 1: if you're teaching, teach, if you're helping help, If you're

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Speaker 1: a shouter, shout, yield your fruit. I might not be famous,

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Speaker 1: but I'm gonna be fruitful. God created me to produce

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Speaker 1: a purpose. I feel freedom coming through this house. I

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Speaker 1: feel freedom from the frustration. God said he wanted to

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Speaker 1: set you free from the frustration of trying to produce

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Speaker 1: somebody else's through. He's such a good apple tree until

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Speaker 1: you see some oranges. It's just the word of God.

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Speaker 1: She said. The kingdom is within you. He said, you'd

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Speaker 1: be like a tree planted by streams of water. Now,

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Speaker 1: problem with the loves is we can't produce anything because

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Speaker 1: we don't get planted anywhere, because it's not sexy to

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Speaker 1: stay planted. Even preachers. Preachers do the weirdest stuff. How

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Speaker 1: many sermons did I preach about Peter walking on water

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Speaker 1: and never said anything about Andrew who stayed in the boat.

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Speaker 1: All Jesus told them to do was get in the

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Speaker 1: boat and go to the other side. Peter was the

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Speaker 1: one who needed a spectacular sign. Andrew was content to

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Speaker 1: just stay in the boat in the storm because this

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Speaker 1: is what God told us to do. And I'm looking

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Speaker 1: for some people who will just go home and be

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Speaker 1: a dad, and be a mom, and be a husband

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Speaker 1: and be a wife. Oh, by the way, we live

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Speaker 1: in a culture where you are not considered successful if

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Speaker 1: you are still single at a certain age. By that standard,

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Speaker 1: Jesus died a failure. He'd be like a tree planted

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Speaker 1: by streams of water, streams, streams, streams. Isn't that what

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Speaker 1: they call it on feeds streams? To be planted by

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Speaker 1: the streams of water produces the fruit that's already in.

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Speaker 1: But the temptation to think when Jesus left the earth,

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Speaker 1: he left behind some dysfunctional disciples. Can you imagine if

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Speaker 1: your greatest protege was Peter. When Jesus trying to go

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Speaker 1: to the cross and die like the lamb of God's

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Speaker 1: silent before the shearers to pay the price for humanity sin,

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Speaker 1: Peter was pulling out his sword, hacking off ears. Did

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Speaker 1: Jesus succeed in teaching his disciples? But you judge it

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Speaker 1: too soon. You judge it too soon. Oh, I'm not

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Speaker 1: really making a difference. The Bible says train up a

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Speaker 1: child in the way that they should go, and when

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Speaker 1: they are old, they won't depart from it. Hold on,

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Speaker 1: let's take a moment. Everybody repeat after me, how old Lord?

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Speaker 1: I just need to know, like an age, so I

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Speaker 1: can pace myself in the process. But really, to judge

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Speaker 1: your influence like that would be a shame because Pastor

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Speaker 1: Mickey's church only grew to two hundred. But here I

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Speaker 1: am preaching to you, and he's the one who gave

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Speaker 1: me a chance. So I want to ask the question

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Speaker 1: again today, are you going to chase clout or are

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Speaker 1: you gonna embrace calling? Because those are two different things.

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Speaker 1: Those are really really different, and you just can't know.

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Speaker 1: You just can't know. So bear your fruit in season.

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Speaker 1: That's the win in season. I mean, what if this

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Speaker 1: message today, What if somebody in Russia we translate our

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Speaker 1: sermons into Russian? Man, what if somebody in russ needs

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Speaker 1: a message? I don't know if I liked it today? Hm?

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Speaker 1: What if that's your reaction. How could I judge the

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Speaker 1: success of a sermon. What if somebody who hears it

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Speaker 1: in another language two years from now is who really

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Speaker 1: need it? It It happens all the time, and I only

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Speaker 1: share it because preaching is what I do. Whatever you do,

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Speaker 1: you know, you have your own version of this. But

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you usually the sermons that I feel the

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Speaker 1: worst about delivering it, And so when somebody will come

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Speaker 1: back to me later and go, I was on the edge. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I told the Lord I'm gonna I'm gonna give it

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Speaker 1: one more shot. I'm going on the elevation app And

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Speaker 1: you know something really dramatic, you know, or or or

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Speaker 1: or this is the crazy one. They'll be like, I

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Speaker 1: wasn't even trying to watch a sermon and the YouTube

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Speaker 1: Gods put a thing in my h feed that was

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Speaker 1: you preach it, and it was just what I needed. Now,

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Speaker 1: if you judge it in the process of doing it,

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Speaker 1: you interrupt the power of it. How can we know?

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Speaker 1: How can we know what God is doing in your life?

427
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,880
Speaker 1: You're like, well, I'm breaking apart. That's what the seed

428
00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:25,640
Speaker 1: does before it grows. That's what happens before harvest. Have

429
00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:28,000
Speaker 1: you ever thought about that that Jesus was a failure

430
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:32,040
Speaker 1: by our standards of success when he left the earth,

431
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:39,120
Speaker 1: and look what his faithfulness created. I'll speaking to somebody

432
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:45,280
Speaker 1: today who secretly feels like I'm failing, not everywhere in

433
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:49,320
Speaker 1: my personality. It's like you can't even enjoy the places

434
00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,520
Speaker 1: where you're winning because you're so embarrassed about the places

435
00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:55,960
Speaker 1: where you're losing. And I don't feel like I can

436
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,000
Speaker 1: really succeed in every area of my life at the

437
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 1: same time whack them hole and at the game where

438
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:11,240
Speaker 1: you That's how my mind feels. It's like, I'll be honest,

439
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:13,600
Speaker 1: I never feel like a good dad when I get

440
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:18,560
Speaker 1: finished preaching through the weekend. I never do because for

441
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,880
Speaker 1: the twenty four forty eight hours before I preach, I'm

442
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:27,680
Speaker 1: like a like a zombie. I'm just like I'm not

443
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,480
Speaker 1: really there, Like I try. I try. I mean, me

444
00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:32,560
Speaker 1: and Graham we were wrestling this morning when I came in,

445
00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,160
Speaker 1: So I try my best, but I don't feel totally present.

446
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,200
Speaker 1: So the devil is going to try to get me

447
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,200
Speaker 1: to feel after I finish preaching to you bad about

448
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:41,840
Speaker 1: what I couldn't do while I was trying to do this.

449
00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:44,440
Speaker 1: Does that ever happen to you. I don't mean to

450
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,360
Speaker 1: turn this into group therapy, but the issue with most

451
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,080
Speaker 1: of us is when we do produce something over here,

452
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:55,360
Speaker 1: it only causes us to feel worse about and especially

453
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:57,640
Speaker 1: if you have a secret thing that you struggle with,

454
00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,560
Speaker 1: it tends to cancel out your joy over everything else

455
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:04,960
Speaker 1: that you produce. And so into this God speaks a

456
00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,680
Speaker 1: word to those of us who feel like, you know, well,

457
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,640
Speaker 1: I just feel like I'm failing. I feel like I

458
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:16,400
Speaker 1: can't do enough for everybody. You only are responsible to

459
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:23,680
Speaker 1: produce what's in you in this moment here now, the

460
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:27,640
Speaker 1: Kingdom of God is within you. And as we close

461
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:31,600
Speaker 1: our series together, I just want to know, does anybody

462
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:38,840
Speaker 1: want prayer today at any of our locations Matthew's Lake, Norman, University, City, Riverwalk, Orlando, Greenville, Greensboro,

463
00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:43,760
Speaker 1: somebody watching epham online to say that that I want

464
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:48,040
Speaker 1: to be I want to be blessed like the Bible

465
00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:53,840
Speaker 1: says blessed. I want to live in a place that

466
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 1: is happy with the life that I have. I want

467
00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:02,760
Speaker 1: to live in a place where I'm planted by streams

468
00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:06,800
Speaker 1: that actually nourish me. And I really want God's help

469
00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:09,240
Speaker 1: because I feel like I'm failing most of the time.

470
00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:12,800
Speaker 1: But I want God to bring forth the fruit that

471
00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:15,880
Speaker 1: he put in me, and I will not live this

472
00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,719
Speaker 1: next year frustrated over fruit that God never called me

473
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:23,720
Speaker 1: to produce. And I will not quit on the gift

474
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,800
Speaker 1: that He gave me because I do not see it

475
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:35,440
Speaker 1: in a sensational form. So I want to pray for you.

476
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:37,480
Speaker 1: Stand up right now, right where you are, I want

477
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:41,200
Speaker 1: to pray for you. The Lord is working in this moment.

478
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:45,680
Speaker 1: He's always working, but he's working in this moment. He's

479
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:49,440
Speaker 1: trying to show you that when you get set free

480
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:54,959
Speaker 1: from the need for the approval of people, then you

481
00:32:55,000 --> 00:33:00,360
Speaker 1: can receive the approval of God. Is so import that

482
00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,960
Speaker 1: Jesus heard his father say this is my beloved son

483
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,800
Speaker 1: in whom I'm well pleased before he did his ministry

484
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:11,920
Speaker 1: that way, he didn't need their validation, he already had.

485
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:20,840
Speaker 1: And we've just got to get this. I don't know

486
00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:23,920
Speaker 1: if you can feel it in this series, but I'm

487
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:29,200
Speaker 1: I'm consumed by it. I'm serious about it. I need

488
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,280
Speaker 1: us to get this that it is not just fame

489
00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:36,400
Speaker 1: and followers and all the fickle stuff. Someone says that

490
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,160
Speaker 1: the man who has planning. His leaf does not wither.

491
00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:42,400
Speaker 1: It is something that remains. It is something that the

492
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:46,200
Speaker 1: world can't take away. Anything they can give, they can take.

493
00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:49,120
Speaker 1: But if it comes from God, if it comes from within,

494
00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:56,600
Speaker 1: if the Kingdom is within you, it will not be

495
00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:01,560
Speaker 1: taken away by your head. For the moment, I want

496
00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 1: you to turn your palms up to heaven as you

497
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:09,520
Speaker 1: lift your hands, and just receive from your Father what

498
00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:17,480
Speaker 1: you need. In this moment, we all walk around wondering, like,

499
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:22,680
Speaker 1: am I getting it right? Am I good husband, good wife,

500
00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:30,319
Speaker 1: good friend, good daughter? Just get in all these we

501
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:37,240
Speaker 1: get all this guilt fed by comparison. Then we compare

502
00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:44,439
Speaker 1: ourselves to stuff that isn't even real, and we keep thinking, oh,

503
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:49,640
Speaker 1: one day when I get there. But God doesn't want

504
00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:55,200
Speaker 1: you to hate. Here. He taught his disciples to pray.

505
00:34:55,360 --> 00:35:01,560
Speaker 1: Jesus taught his disciples to pray My kingdom come, that

506
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:04,800
Speaker 1: I will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

507
00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:15,160
Speaker 1: That's getting heaven here here here. Then God called Isaiah

508
00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:19,200
Speaker 1: the prophet. He just Isaiah said, I'm a sinful man.

509
00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,040
Speaker 1: I have unclean lips. I dwell amongst a people of

510
00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:30,440
Speaker 1: unclean lips. But here I am send me. That's all

511
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:36,160
Speaker 1: God wants from you. Man, Just stop scrolling through all

512
00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:38,400
Speaker 1: these other images of what you think you're supposed to

513
00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:43,160
Speaker 1: be and yield your fruit. I feel the Holy Spirit

514
00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:46,320
Speaker 1: on this that if you will yield your fruit in season,

515
00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:49,239
Speaker 1: your lief will not with her. God wants to give

516
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:53,000
Speaker 1: you a peace that doesn't dry up with circumstances and

517
00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:57,400
Speaker 1: does not change with the conflated tides of popular opinion.

518
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,840
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, lives

519
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:08,680
Speaker 1: in you, and you are enough in him. Give them

520
00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:10,520
Speaker 1: what they need right now, God, you have it. I

521
00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:12,520
Speaker 1: don't just give them what they need. What they need

522
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:14,799
Speaker 1: in your presence. What they need is only found in

523
00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:20,000
Speaker 1: your presence. We receive it. Lord God, would you speak

524
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:23,600
Speaker 1: to the one who, even this week, has been on

525
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:26,399
Speaker 1: this loop. They've been meditating on this thought all week.

526
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,960
Speaker 1: What I do doesn't matter, who I am doesn't matter.

527
00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:36,399
Speaker 1: They just felt like that all week, and pray they'd

528
00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:40,360
Speaker 1: get a new meditation in your presence today. They'd be

529
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,280
Speaker 1: planted by streams of water. You will, you your fruit.

530
00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:46,560
Speaker 1: None of the things are in vain. God's word does

531
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:50,680
Speaker 1: not return void. It can't return void. What God spoke

532
00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:55,440
Speaker 1: over your life. It will bear fruit. So God, we

533
00:36:55,520 --> 00:37:02,480
Speaker 1: release frustration, we release fear. We come to you today

534
00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:06,840
Speaker 1: asking you for a new measure of success. In this moment,

535
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:15,160
Speaker 1: am I fully here. Thank you Lord, Thank you Jesus.

536
00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:20,000
Speaker 1: But you just begin to worship him right now. With

537
00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:23,520
Speaker 1: your mouth, just say thank you, Lord, thank you, thank you.

538
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:27,760
Speaker 1: I receive your presence. I receive your grace, I receive

539
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:30,400
Speaker 1: your mercy. Come on, with your mouth, just say I

540
00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:32,640
Speaker 1: receive it. Lord, I receive your love. I receive your

541
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:36,920
Speaker 1: words of affirmation, clothing, your righteousness. Lord. I am who

542
00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:39,800
Speaker 1: you say I am, and I will accomplish the purpose

543
00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:42,920
Speaker 1: that you intend for me to accomplish. Lord, I worship you.

544
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:46,680
Speaker 1: I worship you. You're a great God. Your name is great.

545
00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:50,640
Speaker 1: You live in me. God, you are such a great God.

546
00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:54,360
Speaker 1: You have blessed me so much. Blessed is the man.

547
00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:58,840
Speaker 1: I am blessed. Somebody shot I am blessed. I am blessed.

548
00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:03,720
Speaker 1: I'm bless with every spiritual blessing in Christ. I'm blessed

549
00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:06,360
Speaker 1: not because of what I have or who I know.

550
00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:10,400
Speaker 1: I'm blessed because the limitless God dwells on the inside

551
00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:13,840
Speaker 1: of me and from my belly will flow rivers of

552
00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:17,120
Speaker 1: living water. I have the spirit of God. I have

553
00:38:17,239 --> 00:38:20,440
Speaker 1: the wisdom of God. I have the joy of the Lord.

554
00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:24,920
Speaker 1: It is my strength. I am blessed. I am blessed,

555
00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:29,279
Speaker 1: I am ful, I am known, I am loved, I

556
00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:36,320
Speaker 1: am significant, I am blessed. All the blessed people, clap

557
00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:41,040
Speaker 1: your hands and give God praise for his blessings. We

558
00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:44,920
Speaker 1: praise you for your blessings. Lord. We praise you for

559
00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:50,320
Speaker 1: your blessing, Lord, your blessing, your blessing. We praise you

560
00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:59,640
Speaker 1: for your blessing. How will I know if it was

561
00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:04,080
Speaker 1: a s says, did you bring forth what God put

562
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:10,359
Speaker 1: in you? That's the definition of success to me. That's

563
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:15,880
Speaker 1: the definition of success to me. Kingdom Cloud, the spirit

564
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:20,680
Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ is upon this church, this ministry, and

565
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:22,840
Speaker 1: I just want to take a moment while we're in

566
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:25,759
Speaker 1: the presence of God to pray for somebody who needs

567
00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:29,120
Speaker 1: to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ before you leave

568
00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:33,080
Speaker 1: this place today. This is really important to me. There

569
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:37,200
Speaker 1: are hundreds today who need to make that step across

570
00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:41,080
Speaker 1: the line from thinking that a relationship with God is

571
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:44,960
Speaker 1: based on what you earn or good behavior, and you

572
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:48,000
Speaker 1: have never really surrendered your life to Christ, and I

573
00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:49,920
Speaker 1: want to do that with you in this moment. So

574
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:52,760
Speaker 1: at every location, would you bow your head and close

575
00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:56,239
Speaker 1: your eyes. For those of you who have a relationship

576
00:39:56,280 --> 00:39:58,239
Speaker 1: with God, I want you to pray with me in

577
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:01,080
Speaker 1: this moment for those who may be around you who

578
00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:03,799
Speaker 1: need a new beginning, who need to be forgiven of

579
00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:07,600
Speaker 1: their sin and trust Christ as savior. Today, with your

580
00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:10,759
Speaker 1: head bowed and your eyes close, I want to tell

581
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:13,880
Speaker 1: you what the Bible says. That it is by grace

582
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:17,200
Speaker 1: that you are saved through faith. It's the gift of God.

583
00:40:17,239 --> 00:40:19,200
Speaker 1: It's not of work, so that no one can boast.

584
00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:23,200
Speaker 1: And if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,

585
00:40:23,239 --> 00:40:25,600
Speaker 1: and believe in your heart that God raised him from

586
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:28,719
Speaker 1: the dead, you will be saved. And right now I

587
00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:32,000
Speaker 1: believe this is your moment to place your faith in Christ. So,

588
00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:34,640
Speaker 1: with our head's bout and our eyes closed, as a

589
00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:36,960
Speaker 1: church family, for the benefit of those who are coming

590
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:40,480
Speaker 1: to God or coming back to God, repeat this prayer

591
00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:47,160
Speaker 1: after me, Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is

592
00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:50,320
Speaker 1: the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

593
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:56,080
Speaker 1: And today I make Jesus the Lord of my life.

594
00:40:56,239 --> 00:41:00,400
Speaker 1: I invite you in to take over my life. I

595
00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:04,719
Speaker 1: give you everything. I believe you die that I could

596
00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:09,759
Speaker 1: be forgiven and rose again to give me life. I

597
00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:15,719
Speaker 1: receive this new life. This is my new beginning. I

598
00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:19,239
Speaker 1: am a child of God. On the count of three

599
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:22,319
Speaker 1: shoots your hand up. If you prayed that one, two, three,

600
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:26,560
Speaker 1: I want to celebrate you right now. Come on, Joe,

601
00:41:26,719 --> 00:41:32,320
Speaker 1: let's celebrate thesef com Come on, let's celebrate these sessions

602
00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:38,279
Speaker 1: to follow Christ. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks

603
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:40,880
Speaker 1: to those of you who give generously to this ministry.

604
00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:44,160
Speaker 1: Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You

605
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:46,560
Speaker 1: can click the link in the description to give now

606
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:50,520
Speaker 1: or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more

607
00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:54,320
Speaker 1: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

608
00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:56,680
Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends. You can click

609
00:41:56,680 --> 00:41:58,920
Speaker 1: the share button, take a screenshot and share it on

610
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:02,080
Speaker 1: your social stories and us at Elevation Church. Thanks again

611
00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:07,920
Speaker 1: for listening. God bless you. M