1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:04,840 Speaker 1: Church and. 3 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:05,840 Speaker 2: This is our podcast. 4 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,360 Speaker 1: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 5 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 6 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 7 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: Enjoy the message. 8 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 3: There is a passage of scripture that has always fascinated me, 9 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 3: and I knew it was the one to start this 10 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 3: series with because most of my sermon ideas come from 11 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 3: a text, usually a text in the Bible. But this 12 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 3: whole series came to me through a text on my 13 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 3: phone and somebody texted me, but I didn't have their 14 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 3: number in my contacts, but they had texted me before 15 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 3: and their name was in the text. So you know, 16 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 3: Steve Jobs is so smart, even from beyond the grave. 17 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 3: He made a suggestion on my iPhone and he said maybe, 18 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 3: and then it said it could be this person. And 19 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 3: when I saw it on my phone, I realized that 20 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 3: that would make an amazing way to spend several weeks 21 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 3: in the Word of God talking about those times where 22 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 3: we don't know if it's God or not, and so 23 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 3: we're trying to lead our families some of us, or 24 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 3: we're trying to get our education, or we're trying to 25 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:15,919 Speaker 3: decide about jobs or dates, or trying to decide about 26 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 3: moving to a new house or new apartment, or just 27 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 3: trying to figure out what it is that we were 28 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 3: put here on earth for. But the series is called 29 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 3: Maybe God, Maybe God. We worship a God who can 30 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 3: be best explained as mystery, and yet we live in 31 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 3: a culture that worships certainty. And so I want to 32 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 3: talk about that for several weeks with you. And I'm 33 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 3: so glad you're here. Touch somebody and say he's so 34 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 3: happy you're here. That preacher, That preacher is happy you're here. 35 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 2: That's true. I'm so glad you're here. 36 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 3: And what I need you to do right now is 37 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 3: give your attention just to this text in First Samuel, 38 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 3: chapter three, where we will encounter a young man who's 39 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 3: encountering God. And I pray that we will encounter God 40 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 3: in the process today. First Samuel three, verse one. The 41 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 3: boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days, 42 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 3: the word of the Lord was rare. There were not 43 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 3: many visions. One night, Eli, whose eyes were becoming so 44 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 3: weak that he could barely see was lying down in 45 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 3: his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet 46 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 3: gone out. Touch somebody say, there's still time, There's still time. 47 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 3: I know you might have got off track in your life, 48 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,920 Speaker 3: but there's still time. I know there might be some 49 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 3: things out of order in your house, but there's still time. 50 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 3: I know you might have wasted some years chasing your 51 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 3: own ways, but God brought you here because there's still time. 52 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 3: God left you here because there's still time. If you're 53 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 3: still breathing, there's still time. I got a friend named 54 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 3: Perry Noble. His favorite quote is, if you're not dead, 55 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 3: God's not done. 56 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 2: And I just believe that. I believe it. 57 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 3: So the light had not yet gone out, and Samuel 58 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 3: was lying down in the house of the Lord, where 59 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 3: the ark of God, which symbolized the presence of God was, 60 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,679 Speaker 3: And then the Lord called Samuel, and Samuel answered, here 61 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 3: I am. And he ran to Eli and said, here 62 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 3: I am. You called me, but Eli said, I didn't 63 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 3: call go back to sleep, man, wake me up in 64 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 3: the middle of the night. I didn't call you. Go 65 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 3: back and lie down. So he went and lay down again. 66 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 3: The Lord called Samuel, and Samuel got up and went 67 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 3: to Eli and said. 68 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 2: Here, I am. 69 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 3: This is really strange, right like, because you expect when 70 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 3: God calls it'll sound so deep. 71 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 2: So baritone Samuel apparently it sounded. 72 00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 3: It sounded so much like what he was used to 73 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 3: being around that he ran to the place where he 74 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 3: normally went and he was like, here, I am, you 75 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 3: called me, my son, Eli said, I did not call. 76 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 3: Go back and lie down, but you need an ambient, 77 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 3: a weighted blanket, some. 78 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 2: Milk or cookie. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord. 79 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 3: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed 80 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 3: to him. A third time, the Lord called Samuel, and 81 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 3: Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, here, 82 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 3: I am. 83 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 2: You call me. 84 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 3: I know you're messing with me. Then Eli realized that 85 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 3: the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel 86 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 3: go and lie down. If he calls, you say speak Lord, 87 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 3: for your servant is listening. 88 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:54,160 Speaker 2: The title of this. 89 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:56,599 Speaker 3: Message is something that I have heard people say to 90 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 3: me of all ages, of all ethnicities, of all econo 91 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 3: status positions. And I want you to look at the 92 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,040 Speaker 3: screen for the title of my message. It goes like this, 93 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 3: I'm confused about my calling. I'm confused about my calling. 94 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 3: I love God, and I love my family and I 95 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 3: want to make a difference. But look at somebody next 96 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 3: to you and say you look confused. Tell them I am, 97 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 3: I'm confused about my call. Lord have your way, speak 98 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 3: your word. We're listening in Jesus' name. Amen, Now be seated. 99 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 3: You are forgiven. When I say calling, you roll your 100 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 3: eyes a little bit. It is one of these terms 101 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:55,159 Speaker 3: that is so popular in culture that it almost means 102 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,720 Speaker 3: nothing anymore, and it can be frustrating the older you 103 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 3: get when people talk about lofty ideals like finding your calling. 104 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 2: You need to find your calling, and you know, well, for. 105 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 3: Most of us, that's way outside of the realm of 106 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 3: our everyday life where we're trying to pay bills. It's like, 107 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 3: you know, you need to find your calling, and you're like, well, 108 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 3: I'm doing good to find my keys in the morning, 109 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 3: and you want to talk about finding your calling. And 110 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:28,800 Speaker 3: as much as I understand that, I also understand that 111 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 3: there's a reason that the majority of questions that I 112 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 3: have been asked as a pastor in these thirteen years 113 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 3: going on fourteen years, the reason for it is that 114 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 3: there is something inside of you that wants to find 115 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,159 Speaker 3: the thing that you were made to do, and you 116 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 3: will never be satisfied with anything else. And no matter 117 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:55,279 Speaker 3: how much sex you have, money you make, friends you meet, 118 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 3: no matter how big the house is that you build, 119 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 3: no matter how many cars you park in the driveway, 120 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 3: there will always be something unsatisfied in you until you 121 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 3: find that thing that we call a calling. 122 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 2: And yet, and yet, so much damage has. 123 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 3: Been done in popular culture by the concept of calling 124 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 3: that it actually makes us discontent with our lives, because, 125 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 3: rather than understand the real nature of a calling, we 126 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 3: have a concept of a calling, and often we spend 127 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 3: our lives wishing that we were doing something. 128 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 2: That God did not tell us to do. 129 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 3: The Bible says in verse one that in those days, 130 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 3: while Samuel the twelve year old who was apprenticing in 131 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 3: the tabernacle because his mother Hannah, prayed that she could 132 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 3: have a son, and she had trouble conceiving, And when 133 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 3: she finally had the son, she dedicated him to the Lord, 134 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 3: and she dropped him off at age four and only 135 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 3: saw him once a year, and she put him under Eli, 136 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 3: who wasn't doing a very good job. He was letting 137 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 3: his sons run around in the tabernacle and have sex 138 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 3: with women at the entrance to the tabernacle, and he 139 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 3: knew about it, but he wouldn't do anything about it. 140 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 3: And he was letting his sons beat people up who 141 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 3: had brought their sacrifice to the temple, and they brought 142 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 3: their sacrifice to God, but the priests took it for themselves. 143 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 3: Hofney and Phineas Eli's sons would send their messenger out 144 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 3: to the tent and say, hey, Hofney said, you got 145 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 3: to give him the fat portion. And the people who 146 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 3: came would be like, well, that's for the Lord. They 147 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 3: can get the portion after it burns off. 148 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 2: That's the priest portion. 149 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 3: But they had gotten confused about what it meant to 150 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,960 Speaker 3: honor God, and they had started honoring themselves and their 151 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:39,199 Speaker 3: opinions and their desires, and they started treating God as common. 152 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 3: And so the Bible says something interesting in verse one. 153 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 3: It says, in those days, with all of that going on, 154 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 3: the word of the Lord was rare because they treated 155 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 3: the Lord as common. The word of the Lord was rare. 156 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 3: Because we live in a day where it is so 157 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 3: easy to get information but so difficult to get truth. 158 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:11,080 Speaker 3: I figured this verse would apply to us. Would you 159 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 3: agree with me? That we are drowning in information, drowning 160 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:22,679 Speaker 3: in opinion, drowning in agenda, drowning in projections, but starving 161 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 3: for truth. You know I'm right about it. It's such 162 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 3: a crazy time. You don't know who to trust anymore. 163 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 3: You don't know if it's real. You don't know if 164 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 3: it's fake, you don't know if it's inflated. You don't 165 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:34,599 Speaker 3: know if it's a statistic. And let me give you 166 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 3: a statistic. Eighty three percent of statistics are made up. 167 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 3: That's a statistic. I made it up. It's a time 168 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 3: where truth is hard to find. And it doesn't mean 169 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 3: that there wasn't access to the Bible. God knows we 170 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 3: have access to the Word of God. You could pull 171 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 3: out your phone right now and a British person will 172 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 3: read you the Bible on the Bible at that made 173 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 3: me think of something real funny time Graham asked me, 174 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 3: do British people find American accents soothing? 175 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 2: Probably not. 176 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,680 Speaker 3: But here's the thing about it. It's not access to 177 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 3: the Word of God. It's our attitude to the Word 178 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 3: of God. 179 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 2: It's our attitude. 180 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 3: It's why some people can come into church and look 181 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,439 Speaker 3: narcoleptic in church It's why some people can come into 182 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 3: church and leave during the invitation because God forbid it 183 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 3: takes you seven minutes to get the cracker barrel. It's 184 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:37,680 Speaker 3: why some people can click around to different sermons and 185 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 3: be like, Ah, I don't know Fredi's not on today. 186 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 3: I'm gonna go over here to this one and that one. 187 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,079 Speaker 3: And that's what seeing. When the word of God becomes 188 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,920 Speaker 3: common to us, we will have access to the Word 189 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 3: of God, but it will not have impact on our life. 190 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 2: And so the first thing I wanted to mention is 191 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 2: the culture. 192 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 3: The culture in Eli's time was a culture of neglect, 193 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 3: a culture where the value of who God was. 194 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 2: And what he said was negotiable. 195 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 3: Therefore there was an absence of that special presence of God. 196 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 3: The word of the Lord was rare because the Lord 197 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 3: of the Word had become common. And I just want 198 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 3: to say to you today that many of our cultural 199 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 3: concepts of calling are really just self help, individualistic, ambition 200 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 3: oriented delusions dressed up in Christian cliches. And because you 201 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:51,200 Speaker 3: got a trophy when you were seven does not mean 202 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:56,319 Speaker 3: you get to play Major League Baseball. And the culture 203 00:11:56,400 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 3: of our day is kind of like instead of worshiping God. 204 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 2: We worship our idea of God's will. 205 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 3: And rather than being in relationship with God, we want 206 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 3: God to be a resource who is more like Siri 207 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 3: than he is like a savior. I don't know if 208 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 3: you'll come back next week the way I'm starting to 209 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 3: discern him, but we need to get something straight right 210 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,559 Speaker 3: off the bat that until I treasure the voice of God, 211 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 3: value the voice of God, hearken to the voice of God, 212 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,160 Speaker 3: make time for the voice of God. 213 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:39,680 Speaker 2: Consecrate myself. I can't get it by skimming. 214 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 3: I can't get it by just you know, running around 215 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:50,199 Speaker 3: to this person and that person. It is the revealed 216 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 3: will of God that we're after. It is the revealed 217 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 3: will of God. Now, when I was in my twenties, 218 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 3: I did all this tea and preaching. And now you know, 219 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 3: now that I'm wiser, I turned forty next year. You'll 220 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 3: better start working on my gift now, because it's a 221 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 3: big one. It's kind of cringey for me to look 222 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 3: back on the way I spoke about calling in my 223 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:27,839 Speaker 3: twenties that probably left people feeling at the very least confused, 224 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 3: at worse frustrated, and maybe even full of resentment. Because 225 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:35,600 Speaker 3: the way it happened in my life is different for 226 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 3: all of us. Here's Samuel who is receiving a revelation 227 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 3: of God. And in my life, I never heard anything 228 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 3: audible that God said to me. I never, you know, 229 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,880 Speaker 3: the Lord never said, for Adich Steve, what God called you. 230 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 2: By your last name for something? 231 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 3: But he said, He never said, you know, preach to 232 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 3: me out loud. There were desires, there were opportunities. I 233 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,680 Speaker 3: noticed some effectiveness. It's the weirdest thing. When I first 234 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,800 Speaker 3: got up to pray for Pastor Mickey, who asked me 235 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 3: to pray at a Lions Club meeting, I noticed that 236 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 3: people seemed to be blessed as I prayed, and they 237 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 3: connected him. And it took Pastor Mickey to explain to 238 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,000 Speaker 3: me that that was the hand of God. 239 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 2: All my life I didn't know that. If he hadn't been. 240 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 3: There to guide me, I would have maybe thought I 241 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,920 Speaker 3: was just a charismatic speaker. But he helped me to 242 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 3: see that there was something supernatural involved. And I was 243 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 3: sixteen years old, and I had someone who had been 244 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 3: around long enough to see some things to tell me 245 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 3: it was special. Otherwise I wouldn't have known him. Now, 246 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 3: Here's what I did with that knowledge. I preached in 247 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 3: my twenties that just like God called me to preach, 248 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 3: God has called each Christian. 249 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 2: To do something. 250 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 3: You agree with that, But here's the part that I 251 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 3: think was incomplete. While I'd be up there saying to people, 252 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 3: you need to find your calling. You need to find 253 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 3: your calling. You need to find your calling. You need 254 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:10,960 Speaker 3: to find your calling. You need to find your calling. 255 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 3: You find your calling. You need to find your calling. 256 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 3: You need to find your calling. You need to find 257 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 3: your calling. You need to find your calling. You need 258 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 3: to find a calling. Because he gets annoying after a while, right, 259 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 3: It's like I'm just trying to like, I need a job, man, 260 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 3: I don't know about a calling. 261 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 2: I've seen a raise right now? 262 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,160 Speaker 3: Is that it makes it sound as if it's something 263 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 3: that you can just get and just know. And yet 264 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 3: did you notice in the passage that even Samuel, who 265 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 3: was the link between the period of the Judges and 266 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 3: the monarchy of Israel a thousand years before Jesus, that 267 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 3: even Samuel, who none of his words fell to the ground, 268 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 3: even Samuel didn't get it right the first time. 269 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 2: I don't know why, but that. 270 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 3: Encourages me just reading this little story to know that 271 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 3: there's someone that God used to do something great, and 272 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 3: he called him and he chose him. But even this 273 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 3: great prophet didn't get it right the first time. I 274 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 3: want to set you free today from the feeling that 275 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 3: you have to find your calling. That's a cultural concept. 276 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,480 Speaker 3: It's not a biblical one. You don't have to find 277 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 3: your calling. In fact, if the text is correct, if 278 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:36,720 Speaker 3: Samuel is an illustration, then I don't have to find 279 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 3: my calling because if I will serve the purpose of 280 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 3: the season that I'm in in my life right now, 281 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 3: watch this, get ready to shout, my calling will find 282 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 3: me in that good news, Christian soldiers, aren't you glad 283 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 3: to know that when Samuel heard a voice and he 284 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 3: didn't even know whose voice it was. 285 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 2: And here's the thing about it. 286 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:06,119 Speaker 3: I want to talk about the culture, and then I 287 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:07,360 Speaker 3: want to talk about. 288 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,199 Speaker 2: The contact, the contact. 289 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 3: Because when he first heard the voice, it sounded like 290 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:16,240 Speaker 3: something he had heard before. Have you ever noticed is 291 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 3: hard to know the difference between when you're speaking to 292 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 3: you and when God is speaking to you. 293 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:24,639 Speaker 2: And watch out for the Christians. 294 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,360 Speaker 3: Who are running around so sure that it's God speaking 295 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 3: to them. Those are the weird ones. Those are the 296 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,360 Speaker 3: crazy ones. I mean, I'm serious. You gotta watch out 297 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 3: for them. And they're here at Elevation, just like they're 298 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 3: at every church, and they'll find you in the bathroom 299 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,280 Speaker 3: and they'll have a word from the Lord for you, 300 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 3: and they don't even know you. 301 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 2: And it's weird because it's the bathroom. Can I wash 302 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 2: my hands? If God spoke to you, he'll do it 303 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 2: in the lobby. Now, let me finish using the bathroom. 304 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,679 Speaker 3: I'm serious because I'm a preacher and people always think 305 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 3: I want to be spiritual, and people will stop me 306 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:53,359 Speaker 3: in the bathroom sometimes at a restaurant and give me 307 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:54,160 Speaker 3: a word from the Lord. 308 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:55,399 Speaker 2: But if it was really the Lord, he would have 309 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 2: told you it's weird to. 310 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:57,760 Speaker 3: Talk to people in the bathroom and wait till a 311 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 3: man gets outside, because there is such a thing as 312 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 3: and God doesn't cancel out terms. I don't want your 313 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 3: prophetic word. Well, I'm trying to so, but because he 314 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:11,480 Speaker 3: gets weird, because he gets weird, we still have to 315 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 3: realize that the only way that the will of God, 316 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 3: or the word of God or the voice of God 317 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,880 Speaker 3: can be recognized. That's what the Bible said that Eli, 318 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 3: who was old, who couldn't see physically. I've been on 319 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 3: this thing lightly that we really need people in our 320 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 3: life who are older than us, who have been along 321 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,480 Speaker 3: the journey, and to respect the price that they paid, 322 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:41,919 Speaker 3: and to not just think that because they don't go 323 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 3: on SoundCloud or because they don't have a lot of 324 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 3: Instagram followers, that they have nothing to teach us. I'm 325 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 3: really seeing the value and people who they may not 326 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:52,840 Speaker 3: have the physical vision that they used to have, but 327 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,680 Speaker 3: they can discern spiritual things. And Eli wasn't even a 328 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:58,560 Speaker 3: perfect priest. In fact, God was in the process of 329 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 3: moving him out of the way. And even in that transition, 330 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 3: because the whole passage is about transition. It's Samuel transitioning 331 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:12,199 Speaker 3: from a boy to a man, from bois to men. 332 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,200 Speaker 3: I was just thinking, you know, it's hard to say goodbye. 333 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:23,639 Speaker 3: But when Eli is transitioning out and when Samuel is 334 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 3: transitioning up and he's ultimately stepping into the thing God. 335 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 2: Created him for. 336 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,959 Speaker 3: God deals with Samuel, but he does it through Eli. 337 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 3: And whatever God is going to speak in your life 338 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,479 Speaker 3: is going to come in the context of relationships. And 339 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:48,440 Speaker 3: I chose the word contact to describe it because whoever 340 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 3: you put around you the most will start to affect 341 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:57,199 Speaker 3: the voice inside of you that speaks to you. And 342 00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 3: have you ever noticed that God's voice sometimes in your 343 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 3: life sounds like your wife. Sometimes for me, it sounds 344 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 3: like my kids. Sometimes in my life I've noticed that 345 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 3: if I am not selective about my contacts, I will 346 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 3: start hearing I don't mean like out loud voices. I 347 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:20,400 Speaker 3: don't want you to send me off after I preached 348 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 3: today or anything like that, I mean the voice in 349 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:25,879 Speaker 3: my mind. A lot of times, when when I was 350 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,679 Speaker 3: going through a counseling session to try to understand myself better, 351 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,400 Speaker 3: the one thing that the therapist would keep saying is 352 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 3: whose voice is that? 353 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,360 Speaker 2: You know these things you say to yourself. You go like, uh, you. 354 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 3: Know, I'm so stupid and you never get anything right, 355 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 3: and well, of course you screwed it up, you screw 356 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 3: everything up, you know all that. 357 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 2: And she keeps saying whose voice is that? Whose voice 358 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:46,679 Speaker 2: is that? 359 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 3: And I didn't know she was just trying to get 360 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:50,879 Speaker 3: me to say, you know, it was my dad. 361 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,080 Speaker 2: You know. Oh, like the point of all therapy. My 362 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 2: diapers are too tight? I bet it. But what I 363 00:20:59,160 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 2: realized is. 364 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:05,080 Speaker 3: That most of us who are not clinically insane, don't 365 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:09,800 Speaker 3: actually hear voices. We process thoughts, right, so we say 366 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 3: the voice of God? How does the voice of God 367 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 3: come into your life? 368 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:14,639 Speaker 2: Through thoughts? Through thoughts? 369 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:18,879 Speaker 3: And that's why Samuel was confused, right because he heard something, 370 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,119 Speaker 3: so he went where he knew to go. And I 371 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,679 Speaker 3: want to point out something about this. He did the 372 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:29,919 Speaker 3: right thing. He did the right thing. He ran. I 373 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,360 Speaker 3: noticed the Bible said that when he heard his name 374 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 3: called Samuel. First of all, it didn't sound it didn't 375 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:38,680 Speaker 3: sound strange to him. 376 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 2: It sounded like what he was used to. So he ran. 377 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 3: Because that's what he did, because he had the right passion. 378 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,719 Speaker 2: But he ran to the wrong person. Some of you, 379 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:53,680 Speaker 2: right now. 380 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 3: You have the right passion, but you're running to the 381 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:01,719 Speaker 3: wrong person or the wrong place. Now, this is not 382 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:04,359 Speaker 3: only true in the case of Samuel. It was true 383 00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 3: of Moses. God called him to deliver his people from 384 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 3: the Egyptians. Moses had the right passion, but where he 385 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 3: messed up. 386 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 2: Listen to this. You see when. 387 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,639 Speaker 3: He killed the Egyptian it was the right passion, but 388 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 3: it was misplaced. 389 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 2: He tried to do it his way. 390 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 3: He didn't get it right the first time, and some 391 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:26,400 Speaker 3: of the things that you've gotten wrong in your life, 392 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 3: some of the mistakes that you've made, it was God 393 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 3: stirring you up. But it was Eli that you ran to. 394 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 3: You ran to the thing that God was trying to 395 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 3: remove out of your life because that's what you were 396 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:41,440 Speaker 3: used to. You ran to the thing that you were 397 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 3: familiar with because it's all your mind could understand. And 398 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 3: so God gave you a gift, but you used that 399 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 3: gift for you for a little while until you found out, 400 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,720 Speaker 3: unless I offer the gift back to the giver, it's 401 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 3: going to come back empty. But God brought you here 402 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,920 Speaker 3: today to let you know that was my voice calling you. 403 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:03,720 Speaker 3: That was Me that gave you that talent. That was 404 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:06,199 Speaker 3: me that made you good at that. That was me 405 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 3: that opened the door for you. That was me that 406 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,160 Speaker 3: gave you that responsibility. That was me that gave you health. 407 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:14,600 Speaker 3: That was me that gave you strength, That was Me 408 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:15,920 Speaker 3: that gave you that connection. 409 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 2: It was Him the whole time.