Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2: Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving
Speaker 2: in your life.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the message.
Speaker 3: You know how I know you're important.
Speaker 2: It takes boldness to call your sermon you must be important.
Speaker 2: It takes boldness to call your sermon that. But I
Speaker 2: know it not because of the car you drive, not
Speaker 2: because of the house you live in, not because I
Speaker 2: looked up how.
Speaker 3: Many Instagram followers you have.
Speaker 2: I know you're important because of your storm. See the
Speaker 2: size of your storm tells me something about your importance.
Speaker 2: The size of your storm lets me know the importance
Speaker 2: of your assignment.
Speaker 3: The devil doesn't.
Speaker 2: Start a storm for somebody who is not threatened by If.
Speaker 3: You're going through a storm, there's something so big on
Speaker 3: the other side. And if you met.
Speaker 2: High five three, people say you must be important because
Speaker 2: that big, bad devil's been huffing and puffing and he
Speaker 2: thought he would blow your house down.
Speaker 4: But the trial to serve to prove your foundation.
Speaker 3: Come on, my house is on the rock.
Speaker 1: I can't. I was so confused for so long.
Speaker 2: I thought the storm meant that God had left me,
Speaker 2: you know, But in this passage, the storm means He's
Speaker 2: on the way.
Speaker 3: Did you hear what I said?
Speaker 5: If you're going through a storm right now, or if
Speaker 5: one happens to hit on Thursday morning, I want you
Speaker 5: to know that the storm is a sign that Grace
Speaker 5: is on the way.
Speaker 2: The Bible says the storm came up suddenly the moment
Speaker 2: Jesus started in the direction of the man, here came
Speaker 2: a storm, not because God wasn't with him, but precisely
Speaker 2: because he was headed.
Speaker 3: In his direction.
Speaker 2: All right, So if that's true, if what I just
Speaker 2: said is true, that there is a storm that proves
Speaker 2: nobody attacks what isn't valuable, I promise you if I
Speaker 2: went to play Game seven today, Lebron wouldn't guard me.
Speaker 1: I promise you.
Speaker 2: They would let me run all round that court and
Speaker 2: do whatever I wanted to do.
Speaker 3: They would hand me the ball gladly.
Speaker 1: You only guard.
Speaker 2: Why would you guard someone who wasn't in a position
Speaker 2: to score?
Speaker 1: I know you're important. Look here, Brooke.
Speaker 2: When I prepared this message, I was like everybody won't
Speaker 2: get this message because they'll do this thing. When I
Speaker 2: get to this man called Legion and I say he
Speaker 2: was living among the tombs and cutting himself with stones,
Speaker 2: they would disassociate themselves and say, well, I got some problems,
Speaker 2: but I'm not that bad. And when he says my
Speaker 2: name is Legion, they'll back up off of him and
Speaker 2: they'll disassociate in the text and they'll say, well, I'm
Speaker 2: like the Disciples going through a storm, but I'm not
Speaker 2: the man called Legion.
Speaker 1: Really, are you so sure?
Speaker 2: Because it said he lived among the tombs, so you
Speaker 2: don't go to dead places?
Speaker 1: Are you sure?
Speaker 2: Are you sure this isn't you somewhere in here? It
Speaker 2: may have a different demonstration, but it's the same dynamic
Speaker 2: because they said they would try to chain him up
Speaker 2: and he would break the chains and they couldn't hold
Speaker 2: him anymore, and he would hurt himself. Are you telling
Speaker 2: me there's no area of your life where you're out
Speaker 2: of control? I started to study the text, thinking I
Speaker 2: was like Jesus, and who do I need to go help.
Speaker 2: The more I studied it, I thought maybe there's some
Speaker 2: Legion in me. I don't mean demonic possession, But I
Speaker 2: do mean oppression. I've got my own chains. I'll tell
Speaker 2: you the greatest secret God ever showed me about you,
Speaker 2: Yes you. He told me that all y'all are crazy.
Speaker 3: True story.
Speaker 2: He knew the man was crazy when he got on
Speaker 2: the boat. It didn't stop him from coming. That got
Speaker 2: me excited. I figure maybe he knows about my issues too.
Speaker 3: I am Legion.
Speaker 2: He said, Legion is six thousand foot soldiers. That's a
Speaker 2: lot of demons. Jesus said, what is your name? You
Speaker 2: know my name? Do you know yours? Do you know
Speaker 2: who you are? Or do you have so many different
Speaker 2: personas you know, because we're all Legion, we're all a
Speaker 2: little bit of Legion. There are many means. Somebody told
Speaker 2: me that looks just like me. They say she's your
Speaker 2: mini me. I was like, you don't know how true
Speaker 2: that is. There are many mes.
Speaker 1: Huh. There's online you. There's Sunday Morning you. That's the
Speaker 1: only one I ever get to see.
Speaker 2: But then I found out there's a Friday night You.
Speaker 2: Don't make me interview your spouse, please, I will pull
Speaker 2: them up here and give them the mic.
Speaker 1: There's a you.
Speaker 2: Only she knows he knows there's a youth that only
Speaker 2: you know, there's a youth that cries out there or not.
Speaker 1: You don't cut yourself with stones, I understand that.
Speaker 2: But sometimes you inflict pain on yourself and you can't
Speaker 2: stop it, and you don't even know why you keep
Speaker 2: pushing people away. You've been living among the tombs so long.
Speaker 2: Somebody's tomb is them all. Somebody's tomb is pornography. Somebody's
Speaker 2: tomb is an addiction that if we named it in
Speaker 2: the room, you think surely that person wouldn't come to church.
Speaker 2: You be surprised how quick the demons run to Jesus.
Speaker 2: Those demons ran before Jesus and fell before him and said,
Speaker 2: don't make us leave. Got it like we wanted here?
Speaker 2: We got these people on lockdown. But they knew that
Speaker 2: this man was important to Jesus, and they knew they
Speaker 2: knew that they were about to have to vacate the
Speaker 2: premises of this man's personality and his psychology, and they
Speaker 2: knew that someone strong enough to subdue them had finally
Speaker 2: showed up in the region of the Gharriceanes. Because you've
Speaker 2: tried everything else, and you've run to everyone else. But
Speaker 2: I declared today you were in the presence of a
Speaker 2: greater grace. And what works couldn't do, and the law
Speaker 2: couldn't do, and chains couldn't do, and shackles couldn't do,
Speaker 2: God's about to do it in your life. Grace can
Speaker 2: do what shames can't do. So now we get to
Speaker 2: the part about the pigs. We hadn't even got to
Speaker 2: the pigs yet. The pigs are the most important part.
Speaker 2: This is the part where I'm wondering why the demons
Speaker 2: wanted to get inside the pigs. And on the surface,
Speaker 2: I understand that the devil never wants to give up
Speaker 2: any ground. You understand once he has established a foothold.
Speaker 2: How many of you don't believe in the devil? I
Speaker 2: want to see who hadn't had kids yet? That's all
Speaker 2: I'm trying to do. He doesn't want you to be
Speaker 2: the first one in your family not to need drink
Speaker 2: to feel good about yourself. He doesn't want you to
Speaker 2: be the first one in your family to be able
Speaker 2: to stay stable in a relationship rather than running around.
Speaker 2: So what does he want? He wants to stand guard
Speaker 2: in the area. And this is a brilliant strategy. I
Speaker 2: gotta give it to these devils. The devils are smarter
Speaker 2: than a lot of church people. They know how to
Speaker 2: get information, they know how to accomplish a purpose, and
Speaker 2: they know how to discern what is valuable.
Speaker 1: This is it? Stay with me? Are you with me?
Speaker 3: Come on, We're on something.
Speaker 1: Are you with me?
Speaker 2: Lean into this word, the word you resist, This is the.
Speaker 3: One that you need.
Speaker 2: Jesus is in this house. The presence of God is
Speaker 2: in this place. The power of a mighty God is
Speaker 2: in this moment. Now, So Jesus says.
Speaker 3: You gotta go.
Speaker 2: Let that man go. He's important to me. I went
Speaker 2: through the storm to get to him. I went through
Speaker 2: the thunder and the lightning to get to him. I
Speaker 2: went through bucketfuls of water, bail out of Peter's boat
Speaker 2: to get to him. I came two hours across the
Speaker 2: Sea of Galilee. And I've only got three years to
Speaker 2: change the world. This, this man is a vip. I
Speaker 2: know everybody else has forgotten about him, but I want
Speaker 2: him now. Let me say something real quick. If he
Speaker 2: went through the storm for this man, and he went
Speaker 2: to the cross for you, how valuable must you be?
Speaker 3: How much is your life?
Speaker 2: For he said God, and Jesus said, okay, you can
Speaker 2: go into the pigs.
Speaker 1: And they went into the pigs.
Speaker 3: And then they made the pigs trawl.
Speaker 2: Because the demons know two things. One, pigs can't swim.
Speaker 1: But we all know that. What the demons know that
Speaker 1: we don't know.
Speaker 2: I think the demons understood that the people in the
Speaker 2: region cared more about.
Speaker 1: The pigs than they did about the man. This is
Speaker 1: two thousand pigs.
Speaker 2: This represents a significant part of the portfolio of these
Speaker 2: pig owners. This is a region that is known for
Speaker 2: raising pigs. So what does the enemy attack? Whatever you
Speaker 2: value the most, and yes, he knows what you value,
Speaker 2: And yes, he knows how to hit you where it
Speaker 2: hurts the most. And that's why he'll use people to
Speaker 2: get to your relationship with God. What's really most valuable
Speaker 2: is your relationship with God. But he knows if he
Speaker 2: can get people to offend you, you will do what
Speaker 2: the people did. You will send Jesus away because you
Speaker 2: are offended by people.
Speaker 1: He knows where to hit you. He knows where your
Speaker 1: insecurity is.
Speaker 2: He knows your playlist, what you say to yourself about yourself.
Speaker 1: He knows your proclivities, your perversions, he.
Speaker 2: Knows what makes you feel ashamed, so he hits you
Speaker 2: there to make you lash out in anger.
Speaker 1: He knows how to keep you bound.
Speaker 2: And since he couldn't stay in the man, the devil
Speaker 2: went into the pigs. If I killed the pigs, they'll
Speaker 2: send Jesus away. Let me hurt Job. This is when
Speaker 2: the devil had a meeting with God. He said, I've
Speaker 2: been going to and fro looking for somebody to devour.
Speaker 2: And God said, have you checked out my boy?
Speaker 1: Job? Job's a bad dude. This is an updated translation.
Speaker 1: It's a little more modern. Probably says it in your Bible.
Speaker 2: And the devil said, he's only serving you. He's only
Speaker 2: serving you because his herd is still intact. Let me
Speaker 2: touch his body, let me touch his children. The enemy
Speaker 2: will use anything to get to your faith. What he's
Speaker 2: after is your relationship with God. But he will use
Speaker 2: the pigs to get you to push away the presence
Speaker 2: of God. He knows exactly where you're vulnerable. Guess where
Speaker 2: you're the most vulnerable. Wherever you place the greatest value.
Speaker 2: These pigs were worth two million dollars in modern money.
Speaker 1: He said, if I can.
Speaker 2: Get in the pigs and make the pigs drown, in
Speaker 2: the water. The people will be so afraid because they
Speaker 2: lost their pigs that they will send Jesus away. I
Speaker 2: wonder where the enemy attacked you. I bet it was
Speaker 2: in the place of your greatest value. But guess what
Speaker 2: I got good news. He only attacks what's valuable. So
Speaker 2: if he has has attacked you lately, get ready to shallow.
Speaker 2: Guess what that means about you? You must be important, you,
Speaker 2: o God. The devil knows more about your destiny than
Speaker 2: you do. There must be something on your life. Can
Speaker 2: I preach this like God gave it to me? God said,
Speaker 2: some of you are breaking generational curses and you don't
Speaker 2: even know it.
Speaker 3: And that's why it's been so hard.
Speaker 6: And that's why it's been so strong, and that's why
Speaker 6: it's been so dark, because you're so strong, and you're
Speaker 6: so positioned, and you're so important to his purpose.
Speaker 1: You must be important.
Speaker 2: The devil wouldn't tie you up if he wasn't afraid
Speaker 2: of what would happen if you got loose. I can't
Speaker 2: buy an amen, but I don't need one. This is
Speaker 2: good in my soul. I said he wouldn't tie you up.
Speaker 1: It's the opposite. I thought.
Speaker 2: The storm meant God had left me. I found out
Speaker 2: it meant that Grace was on the way. I thought
Speaker 2: the shackles meant God couldn't use me. I found out
Speaker 2: that the shackles mean God is looking for someone.
Speaker 3: Who knows how to break.
Speaker 2: Says now, I just wonder, are there any chain breakers
Speaker 2: in the house today?
Speaker 3: I mean, you see chain.
Speaker 2: Breakers, rock hill shain breakers. If you're a chain breaker
Speaker 2: and you know it, and you've been through some things
Speaker 2: and you have some issues, and you forgot who you
Speaker 2: were for a moment, but in the presence of God today,
Speaker 2: you're starting to remember.
Speaker 3: I am a child of God.
Speaker 4: Take a few moments and praise Him.
Speaker 3: For what's on the other side.
Speaker 4: Come on, children, come on, come on, say breakers, come on.
Speaker 3: And praise him.
Speaker 2: I don't care.
Speaker 3: I'm on the screen.
Speaker 4: Shall it to God with the voice of trial. I
Speaker 4: don't care you belong to a country club. Shallah to
Speaker 4: God with the voice of trial.
Speaker 2: I'm a sane breaker.
Speaker 3: You must be important. He threw you in the.
Speaker 2: Fire so he could show never conniess her that he
Speaker 2: is God.
Speaker 3: You must be important.
Speaker 2: He lets you spend the night with the lions so
Speaker 2: he could shut the lion's mouth and demonstrate his strength.
Speaker 3: You must be important.
Speaker 2: He drowned all those horses in the Red Sea so
Speaker 2: that the nations would know that he is God.
Speaker 3: You must be important.
Speaker 1: Hot five.
Speaker 2: Everybody looks happy and say you must be important.
Speaker 3: You gotta be, You gotta be.
Speaker 2: How else do you explain the fact that you're still here?
Speaker 2: Everything that can be shaken will be shaken, so that
Speaker 2: only that which cannot be shaken will remain. You know
Speaker 2: what it means if you're still here. You weren't shaken.
Speaker 2: The trial came the foundation's quick.
Speaker 4: But the house stood firm because it wasn't on the sand.
Speaker 3: This man.
Speaker 2: Was so important that Jesus went through the storm to.
Speaker 1: Get to him.
Speaker 2: And you were so important that Jesus went through gethseemone
Speaker 2: to get to you. You were so important that he
Speaker 2: passed through the membrane of eternity into the construct called
Speaker 2: time to come to you. Don't you ever let the
Speaker 2: devil tell you against somebody else needs to raise those kids.
Speaker 3: Don't you ever.
Speaker 2: Let the devil tell you against somebody.
Speaker 3: Else belongs in that spot.
Speaker 2: You don't.
Speaker 3: And the next storm that.
Speaker 2: Comes, I want you to wave it on by, because
Speaker 2: there must be something so great on the other side.
Speaker 1: Listen. In my Bible, it says something very strange.
Speaker 2: It says that when Jesus set the man free, the
Speaker 2: man went and got down in the boat because he
Speaker 2: was like, you are not leaving me here with these people.
Speaker 1: Look at verse eighteen. I didn't read it to y'all
Speaker 1: saving him.
Speaker 2: As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who
Speaker 2: was demon possessed begged to go with him. That's like,
Speaker 2: if you're in my car on the way home, that
Speaker 2: would be weird. Now we got a contrast because the
Speaker 2: demons are like, don't make us leave, and the man
Speaker 2: is like, don't make me stay. And it's sexy to
Speaker 2: want to step out into something new. And the brother
Speaker 2: is clothed and in his right mind, and he's amazed
Speaker 2: and he's grateful and he wants to be on Jesus team.
Speaker 2: So he's like, I'm gonna come with you, all right,
Speaker 2: that's cool. I promise no more of that cutting, chain
Speaker 2: breaking stuff. Let me keep the books. I see that
Speaker 2: guy you got Judas. I don't think he the devil
Speaker 2: knows the devil. I'm telling you, let me be your treasurer.
Speaker 2: But something happened so strange to me because I just
Speaker 2: read in Mark two where Jesus called the disciples and
Speaker 2: he said, come follow me. Leave what you know and
Speaker 2: follow me, and I'm gonna show you how to do
Speaker 2: something new for my glory.
Speaker 1: And they had the faith to go.
Speaker 2: And it takes a lot of faith to leave a
Speaker 2: situation you're familiar with. It takes faith to go. But
Speaker 2: Jesus did something kind of strange. She looked back at
Speaker 2: the man and he said, you can't follow me. Jesus
Speaker 2: didn't let him leave, but said, I need you to
Speaker 2: go home to the same situation that I delivered you in.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to take you out of it. I
Speaker 2: took it out of you. I changed your condition, but
Speaker 2: I'm going to leave you in the circumstance.
Speaker 1: Because I want these people to watch this.
Speaker 2: Go home and tell them how much the Lord has
Speaker 2: done for you. Give me my verse please thank you,
Speaker 2: and how he has had mercy on you. I want
Speaker 2: you to be a trophy. In fact, it's better than that.
Speaker 2: Look at Verse twenty touch somebody say you must be
Speaker 2: so important. I don't know why the ushers let me
Speaker 2: sit next to you.
Speaker 1: You must be so important. And he went away and
Speaker 1: begin to tell him to the capitalists.
Speaker 2: That's ten cities. The man became a missionary. You know,
Speaker 2: we could call this sermon from maniac to missionary. I
Speaker 2: need somebody crazy enough.
Speaker 1: Because when the people see how much you've changed, they're
Speaker 1: going to be amazed.
Speaker 2: Sometimes God gives you the faith to go. Other times
Speaker 2: he gives you the grace to stay. And I think
Speaker 2: that's amazing too, because some of you are in a
Speaker 2: difficult place and all you want to do is escape.
Speaker 1: Jesus, take me with you, I mean, let me get
Speaker 1: a new start.
Speaker 2: And sometimes in those moments, and you know, if you're
Speaker 2: in one where you just want to escape the situation
Speaker 2: or the pain of the trial, God says, I'm going
Speaker 2: to give you something better than the faith to go.
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you the grace to stay.
Speaker 2: See, you are so important to me. And who wasn't
Speaker 2: even living with the people, became the first missionary to
Speaker 2: the Gentiles. He was the first one. Some of you
Speaker 2: are going to be the first. You are going to
Speaker 2: be the first to break a chain. None of your
Speaker 2: friends have done it, none of your family did it.
Speaker 2: Nobody around you believes you can do it. And you
Speaker 2: didn't believe in yourself. But in this moment, the presence
Speaker 2: of the Lord is in this place.
Speaker 1: Because now I know who I am.
Speaker 2: I thought I was worthless. I believe that for years,
Speaker 2: But now I know who I am. He came through
Speaker 2: all that for me. Now I know who I am.
Speaker 2: Because the enemy only attacks what's valuable.