Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdeck. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church,
Speaker 1: and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you
Speaker 1: for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it
Speaker 1: builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to see
Speaker 1: God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Well,
Speaker 1: we're gonna get to the message in just a moment,
Speaker 1: but I wanted to make sure you knew about Elevation Nights.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be amazing eight cities October twenty sixth through
Speaker 1: November fourth. You got to go to Elevation Nights dot
Speaker 1: com to see if we're coming to a city near you.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be me, Elevation Worship, a few friends, and you.
Speaker 1: I want to see you there. I want to see
Speaker 1: you and everybody that you know there. Go to Elevation
Speaker 1: Nights dot com. I can't wait to see you soon.
Speaker 1: Here's the message. I'm happy. Do I look happy? I
Speaker 1: had a great week. You know why my kids are
Speaker 1: back in school? Feels good. I kind of feel like
Speaker 1: a hypocrite when I drop my kids off at school
Speaker 1: because I'm like, I love you have a great day.
Speaker 1: Learning is fun, And I never really like school, and
Speaker 1: you know, there are some things about being an adult
Speaker 1: that you know aren't so great. But I really think,
Speaker 1: by far the greatest thing about being an adult is
Speaker 1: that I don't ever have to go to school again
Speaker 1: unless I want to. Amen. Okay, have you ever thought
Speaker 1: about all the hypocritical things though, that we do as parents?
Speaker 1: I am the I really think I'm the most hypocritical
Speaker 1: parent ever. All three of my kids are sitting on
Speaker 1: the front row, and they're gonna use everything that I'm
Speaker 1: about to tell you. But I was just thinking about
Speaker 1: all the things that I do, and like how I
Speaker 1: tell them not to eat before dinner, but I'm like
Speaker 1: taste testing while I'm cooking. I tell Graham in particular,
Speaker 1: he's the worst in our house about having clothes all
Speaker 1: over the floor in his room. I don't think that
Speaker 1: Graham has ever noticed that I have this chair that's
Speaker 1: for my not quite dirty, not quite clean clothes, and
Speaker 1: it's usually so full you can't even sit in that chair.
Speaker 1: But they're not on the floor. My clothes are not
Speaker 1: on the floor. Recently, the kids and I were getting
Speaker 1: in the car, and some of us were will bit
Speaker 1: angry because some of us were not in the car yet,
Speaker 1: and they were making us late. And then others of
Speaker 1: us were angry because their phone had less percentage than
Speaker 1: someone else and they needed the charger, and voices started
Speaker 1: rising and people were yelling, and then somebody stepped on
Speaker 1: my purse and I started yell, and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, I just yelled. Everyone stopped yelling. They're looking
Speaker 1: at me like they've never done that before. We've all
Speaker 1: done that before. But I think the craziest, most hypocritical
Speaker 1: thing that we expect our kids to do is when
Speaker 1: we drop them off at a new place where they
Speaker 1: don't know anyone, and we'd tell them, We're like, go on,
Speaker 1: make some friends. Now. I know that this is a
Speaker 1: natural part of life, but have you ever really thought
Speaker 1: about how we do this to our kids. Last summer,
Speaker 1: I signed Abby up for a softball camp and we
Speaker 1: did not know anyone. We didn't know a coach, we
Speaker 1: didn't we just sign up for the camp. No friends
Speaker 1: that she knew were going. And when the camp came around,
Speaker 1: she didn't really want to go, and I'm like, well,
Speaker 1: we paid for you to go to this camp, And
Speaker 1: I was like, you're gonna have a great time. You're
Speaker 1: gonna make friends. And as we pulled up that first
Speaker 1: morning and she got out of the car and she
Speaker 1: walked away, I thought to myself, I was like, make
Speaker 1: some friends. Like when was the last time I walked
Speaker 1: into a place full of strangers and decided that I
Speaker 1: would make some friends? Why I was making friends so
Speaker 1: hard for most of us? I mean, all the super
Speaker 1: extroverted people are in there, were like, I like making friends?
Speaker 1: Don't you like talking to people. I'm not talking about
Speaker 1: talking to people. I'm talking about connecting with people and
Speaker 1: letting people into your life. And I have some bad
Speaker 1: news for all the kids out there who are watching
Speaker 1: and struggling to fit in as you started a new
Speaker 1: school year. Unfortunately, I have to tell you it doesn't
Speaker 1: really get easier. It just gets different. And really, the
Speaker 1: only difference between being a kid and being lonely and
Speaker 1: being an adult and being lonely is that adults have
Speaker 1: learned how to hide it better. Loneliness is an absolute
Speaker 1: epidemic in our world today, and technology, I think has
Speaker 1: given us a false sense of connection. And it's so
Speaker 1: easy and so addicting to just scroll through feeds and
Speaker 1: then we look up and we feel even lonelier than ever,
Speaker 1: lonely because you actually live alone, or you could be
Speaker 1: lonely inside of a marriage. You could be lonely because
Speaker 1: you're old, or lonely because you're divorced, lonely because you
Speaker 1: moved to a new town or started a new job,
Speaker 1: or went away to college. And I think that over
Speaker 1: time we just get tired of trying to get to
Speaker 1: know people. It's easier to just go through life alone
Speaker 1: than taking the risk of letting people in. It's hard
Speaker 1: to let people in. Some of us have tried fitting
Speaker 1: in our entire lives. We just gave up. Some of
Speaker 1: us have been hurt one too many times, and so
Speaker 1: we put up walls to protect ourselves because you know,
Speaker 1: people are complicated. But guess what, you're complicated. And today
Speaker 1: I want to call you back to meaningful connection, real connection,
Speaker 1: face to face connection. This this phone This is not connection.
Speaker 1: This is clicking. And what I want to show you
Speaker 1: today is that your connection to others is directly related
Speaker 1: to your connection to Christ. Turn your Bibles to John
Speaker 1: chapter twenty if you've got a Bible. If not, it's okay,
Speaker 1: we're gonna put it up on the screens. John chapter
Speaker 1: twenty verse nineteen. And in this passage we find the
Speaker 1: disciples just after Jesus's death, says this, on the evening
Speaker 1: of that first day of the week, when the disciples
Speaker 1: were together with the doors locked for fear of the
Speaker 1: Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
Speaker 1: peace be with you. After this, he showed them his
Speaker 1: hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw
Speaker 1: the Lord. Today. I want to tell you that you
Speaker 1: were not meant to do this alone. Let's pray. Lord,
Speaker 1: would you use me today? Would you speak through me?
Speaker 1: There are so many people who are lonely today right now,
Speaker 1: even in this room full of people, and even people
Speaker 1: who are watching online. God, we want to hear from
Speaker 1: you today. Would you challenge us, would you encourage us?
Speaker 1: Would you speak to us? We are listening as in
Speaker 1: Jesus name, I pray Amen. So you were created for relationship.
Speaker 1: You were created to experience closeness with God and with others.
Speaker 1: They go together, And in this passage of scripture, so
Speaker 1: much has happened leading up to this moment. The disciples
Speaker 1: have been following Jesus for three years, and they've been
Speaker 1: under the impression that Jesus is going to lead the
Speaker 1: Jewish people in a rebellion against the oppressive Roman government,
Speaker 1: even though Jesus told them on multiple occasions that that
Speaker 1: was not what he was here to do. And he
Speaker 1: warned them, and he told them that he would be
Speaker 1: crucified somehow. In all of the fun and the miracles
Speaker 1: and all of the amazing things that they saw Jesus do,
Speaker 1: they missed that point. And Jesus, their leader, their friend,
Speaker 1: their lord, is dead. He was crucified on Friday night.
Speaker 1: And now it's Sunday night, and not only has Jesus
Speaker 1: been crucified, but his body is missing. And they're afraid
Speaker 1: that the Jewish leaders are coming for them next. So
Speaker 1: they're together with the doors locked, and Jesus comes and
Speaker 1: he appears to them. And when I read this passage
Speaker 1: and I saw that they were together, I wondered, how
Speaker 1: did they all end up back in this place, because
Speaker 1: just three days before they were all in that same
Speaker 1: room taking passover together. That's the part you remember in
Speaker 1: the Bible, when Jesus washed their feet and he served
Speaker 1: them bread and wine. We call it the Last Supper.
Speaker 1: And they sat at the table and Jesus predicted Judas's betrayal,
Speaker 1: and he predicted Peter's denial, and then that night they
Speaker 1: went to the garden of Gesseimone to pray, and then
Speaker 1: Jesus is arrested, and then later that night Peter denies
Speaker 1: ever knowing Christ three times and just like Jesus said,
Speaker 1: And then the next day Jesus goes to the cross,
Speaker 1: and there at the foot of the cross, the only
Speaker 1: disciple out of twelve is John. And then by Friday night,
Speaker 1: Jesus is died, and he's laid in a tomb, not
Speaker 1: by anyone of the twelve people that he had spent
Speaker 1: the last three years with. He's buried by Joseph of
Speaker 1: Arimathea and Nicodemus. The disciples are scattered because they're they're
Speaker 1: confused and they're afraid. They're like, if I get associated
Speaker 1: with him, they're gonna come for me next. This isn't
Speaker 1: the way that they expected it to turn out. And
Speaker 1: everything that they have been working toward for the past
Speaker 1: three years building what they thought was the Kingdom of
Speaker 1: God was it just pretty much exploded and it was gone.
Speaker 1: And so their instinct in that moment was to flee.
Speaker 1: It was every man for himself, and for about twenty
Speaker 1: four hours, we have no idea where that Jesus's disciples
Speaker 1: are now. One of the Gospels mentions them until Sunday,
Speaker 1: and now we have them back together in that same room.
Speaker 1: Rumor is that Jesus is risen from the dead, but
Speaker 1: all they've seen is an empty tomb. What drew them
Speaker 1: back together. The sense of belonging is a core need
Speaker 1: for everyone, and I think that friendship is one of
Speaker 1: the greatest gifts that God has given us. But most
Speaker 1: of the time we don't know how to use it,
Speaker 1: and so we invite the wrong people into our lives
Speaker 1: who lead us down the wrong path. Can I get
Speaker 1: an amen from all the parents of teenagers out there,
Speaker 1: because I speak from experience and I know there's a
Speaker 1: lot of people here who raise their hand and say amen.
Speaker 1: That's true. The wrong people can absolutely ruin your life.
Speaker 1: But the right people, the right people, the people who
Speaker 1: believe in you and who cheer for you and support you,
Speaker 1: and who are there for you. The right people can
Speaker 1: talk you down from fear. The right people can tell
Speaker 1: you you're not a bad mom. The right people can
Speaker 1: tell you you're doing a good job. No no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: it's okay. Connection with the right people can help you
Speaker 1: accomplish everything that God has called you to do, even
Speaker 1: when you feel like giving up, even when you feel
Speaker 1: like everything has fallen apart. And if you've ever experienced that,
Speaker 1: you know. I think even the word connection, though, has
Speaker 1: lost its value because most of the time when we
Speaker 1: think of connection, we think about Wi fi right like,
Speaker 1: the minute your feed won't load, what do you do?
Speaker 1: Check your connection? And some of us, I'm afraid, are
Speaker 1: so much more concerned about our phone's connection than we
Speaker 1: are about our soul's connection. That's what I want to
Speaker 1: talk about today. When you feel anxious, when you feel afraid,
Speaker 1: when you feel like you're lacking joy in your life,
Speaker 1: you've got to check your connection. So today the message
Speaker 1: is simple, very simple, just the heads up. There's no
Speaker 1: twists and turns coming in this message. We're gonna leave
Speaker 1: all of the aha moments for pastor Stephen, because today
Speaker 1: I simply want to ask you to check your connection.
Speaker 1: If you feel anxious, if you feel lonely, if you
Speaker 1: feel afraid, check your connection. The first connection that you
Speaker 1: have to check is your connection to Christ. I told
Speaker 1: you this was simple. In Matthew chapter five, Jesus calls
Speaker 1: four fishermen to be his disciples. They also have him
Speaker 1: to be two pairs of brothers, Andrew and Peter and
Speaker 1: James and John. And the next Jesus picks up Philip
Speaker 1: and Nathaniel, who also live in Galilee. And then later
Speaker 1: Jesus calls Matthew, the tax collector, And by the time
Speaker 1: we get halfway through the Book of Matthew, we have
Speaker 1: all twelve of the disciples listed. These men came from
Speaker 1: different jobs, they came from different backgrounds, different towns. Jesus
Speaker 1: didn't choose them based on age, or qualifications or abilities.
Speaker 1: The one thing that they all had in common was Jesus.
Speaker 1: And for three years they sat under his teaching and
Speaker 1: they watched him perform miracle after miracle. But they each
Speaker 1: had a deep personal connection to Jesus. And when he
Speaker 1: was crucified, they thought that their world was crashing down,
Speaker 1: but really their ministry was just getting started. These are
Speaker 1: the men that would essentially take the Gospel to the world.
Speaker 1: But right now, in John chapter twenty, they are huddled
Speaker 1: in this room with the doors locked for fear, and
Speaker 1: in this moment they needed each other and I got
Speaker 1: to tell you, God did not intend for you to
Speaker 1: go through this life alone. And I'm not talking about marriage,
Speaker 1: I'm talking about friendship. Just to be clear, you were
Speaker 1: not created to muscle through life alone. You were meant
Speaker 1: to have meaningful connection with others. However, your connection to
Speaker 1: others can only be as stable as your connection to Christ.
Speaker 1: And I think that the reason why relationships turn out
Speaker 1: to be so disappointing to us is because we're trying
Speaker 1: to connect to others before we've connected to Christ. And
Speaker 1: some of us are placing expectations and burdens on people
Speaker 1: that we were supposed to be giving to God first.
Speaker 1: Rarely do you find someone asked to serve God alone.
Speaker 1: In the Bible. Think about it. Moses had Aaron, David
Speaker 1: had Jonathan, Paul had Silence, even Jesus he had twelve disciples,
Speaker 1: but there was always a period of time where God
Speaker 1: would draw them out alone. Moses spent forty days on
Speaker 1: Mount Sinai while he received the Ten Commandments from God.
Speaker 1: David was a shepherd away from his family, away from
Speaker 1: town before he became king. Jesus, even Jesus spent forty
Speaker 1: days in the desert just after he was baptized. God
Speaker 1: does not intend for you to go through this life alone,
Speaker 1: but sometimes he has to pull you into a period
Speaker 1: of solitude to help you realize that He is your
Speaker 1: true source. He is the one who gives peace and
Speaker 1: joy and direction and fulfillment. And if you're trying to
Speaker 1: find that in others, you might be frustrated because no
Speaker 1: one can take the place of your own personal, living,
Speaker 1: breathing relationship, walking with God, talking to Jesus. When you
Speaker 1: go through a season where you feel isolated from others,
Speaker 1: you need to ask yourself a few questions, like why
Speaker 1: am I here? Because God will pull you aside when
Speaker 1: he needs you to know that He is your source
Speaker 1: and he has something he's trying to get to you.
Speaker 1: And if your life is so full of other people
Speaker 1: and other people's drama, how in the world are you
Speaker 1: going to be able to hear from God for yourself.
Speaker 1: Like imagine if Moses had tried to receive the Ten
Speaker 1: Commandments while in his tent, the Israelites would have been
Speaker 1: knocking on his flap twenty four seven with their drama.
Speaker 1: And so sometimes what seems like isolation is really just
Speaker 1: a needed season of solitude. But you don't have to
Speaker 1: stay there. God doesn't intend for us to stay in isolation.
Speaker 1: And I think those sometimes because of our own choices
Speaker 1: though we I mean, we all make mistakes, we all
Speaker 1: say things and make choices that regret, regret, and so
Speaker 1: sometimes there's a period of solitude, but other times there's
Speaker 1: a period of isolation that we bring on ourselves. And
Speaker 1: you know what can make you feel isolated faster than anything, shame?
Speaker 1: Why was Peter alone by the fire when he denied
Speaker 1: Christ three times? He said, I don't know Jesus. People
Speaker 1: kept asking him, aren't you the one that was? He's like, no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: that's not me. And a few hours later Peter is
Speaker 1: nowhere to be seen at the foot of the cross
Speaker 1: of his Lord. I think it's because he was ashamed.
Speaker 1: He couldn't face anyone. And nothing will draw you into
Speaker 1: isolation faster than shame. Well will people think about me?
Speaker 1: I'm the only one who struggles with this. If anyone
Speaker 1: finds out that my marriage is falling apart, people won't
Speaker 1: respect me. Something in Peter knew that he had to
Speaker 1: get back to the disciples, no matter what he had done,
Speaker 1: and he risked their rejection because he knew that he
Speaker 1: needed to draw from their strength. And what did they do?
Speaker 1: They accepted him. Don't let your shame keep you away
Speaker 1: from the people that God has placed in your life.
Speaker 1: If you have the right people in your life, you
Speaker 1: should feel less shame, not more. There was a period
Speaker 1: in my dad's life several years ago where because of shame,
Speaker 1: he had a really difficult time figuring out where he
Speaker 1: belonged in church. But during that season, he regularly met
Speaker 1: with a group of men, and I think those men
Speaker 1: helped him find his place again. And today my dad
Speaker 1: right now is serving on the parking team, connected in
Speaker 1: any group at our Greendale campus, and I think about
Speaker 1: how thankful I am for those men who helped him
Speaker 1: through that season. Shame only grows in isolation, and shame
Speaker 1: does not come from your father. Jesus never shamed Peter
Speaker 1: for denying him. You know what Jesus did when he
Speaker 1: saw Peter, He cooked him a meal and he challenged him.
Speaker 1: Happens just one chapter over in John chapter twenty one.
Speaker 1: Three times Jesus said to Peter, Peter, do you love me?
Speaker 1: Feed my sheep? He challenged him because Jesus knew what
Speaker 1: was to come in Peter's life. He didn't need to
Speaker 1: bring up Peter's mistakes. Peter was well aware of his mistakes.
Speaker 1: Jesus knew that Peter's greatest ministry was to come. What
Speaker 1: if Peter had allowed his shame to keep him from
Speaker 1: coming back to the place where he belonged? And the
Speaker 1: first step to releasing the weight of loneliness on your
Speaker 1: life is to realize that true belonging and security and
Speaker 1: self worth only come from your heavenly father. The Disciples
Speaker 1: were each personally connected to Jesus. But then the next
Speaker 1: step is for you to get back around the right people.
Speaker 1: And something in Peter knew John and Andrew and James
Speaker 1: and Matthew that they were his people, and he was
Speaker 1: willing to risk a few moments of awkward to be
Speaker 1: back with the people he belonged with, and they accepted him.
Speaker 1: There's acceptance when you're among the right people. They were
Speaker 1: connected to each other because of Jesus. So first we
Speaker 1: check our connection to Christ, but then we check our
Speaker 1: connection to others. Are you connected to the right people,
Speaker 1: people who are walking the same path as you? Have
Speaker 1: you ever thought about all that the Disciples experienced together
Speaker 1: like the amazing things that they saw Jesus do, Like
Speaker 1: when they saw him heal the woman who had the
Speaker 1: issue of blood, who simply got healed because she touched
Speaker 1: his garment, but Jesus knew that she had touched his garment,
Speaker 1: Or when we just sing about it today when he
Speaker 1: raised Lazarus from the death, like they saw while Jesus
Speaker 1: raised a dead man back to life, Or when Jesus
Speaker 1: told them to feed the five thousand. He told them
Speaker 1: to give them something to eat, and they were like
Speaker 1: when we have five loaves and a few fish and
Speaker 1: the miracle actually passed through, they were passing out. They
Speaker 1: were the ones that knew how little it was and
Speaker 1: how much it became in Jesus's hands. And I keep thinking,
Speaker 1: like what was it like when they were going home
Speaker 1: after some of those days, they're like, did that just happen? What?
Speaker 1: But you know, there were some times where they were
Speaker 1: also really confused by Jesus. Like there's this one time
Speaker 1: in John chapter four, which is the story of Jesus
Speaker 1: with the woman at the well, and Jesus sends the
Speaker 1: disciples to go get food, and he has this conversation
Speaker 1: with this woman while they're gone, and the disciples come
Speaker 1: back with the food, but Jesus won't eat it, and
Speaker 1: he tells them that he had food to eat that
Speaker 1: they knew not of, and they're so confused. Like they
Speaker 1: come together and they're like, does someone else bring him food?
Speaker 1: You see, when you're connected to the right people, you
Speaker 1: have a place to celebrate what God has done, and
Speaker 1: you have a space, a safe space to process your
Speaker 1: doubt and your confusion. Like I think God said this,
Speaker 1: but I'm not really sure what it means. There's no
Speaker 1: substitute for that. Otherwise you're just stuck in your head
Speaker 1: all the time, and then you wonder why you have
Speaker 1: no joy, why you feel anxious. I love to teach
Speaker 1: about friendship. The women of our church know that. I
Speaker 1: preach it to them all the time, about the importance
Speaker 1: of having the right people in your life. I even
Speaker 1: wrote a Bible study called BFF plug. You can do it.
Speaker 1: You can just go get it. It's online somewhere. But friendship,
Speaker 1: it's not just something for women because women like to talk.
Speaker 1: Friendship is something that we all need. Friendships don't just
Speaker 1: magically happen. Friendships are formed, not found. You might meet
Speaker 1: by chance, but if you are going to have a
Speaker 1: true relationship with someone, it's going to require one main ingredient,
Speaker 1: and that is spelled t ime time talking time, laughing time,
Speaker 1: fishing or hunting time, crying, whatever you want to do,
Speaker 1: it's okay time having hard conversations. Some of us are
Speaker 1: lonely because the minute someone gets annoying, you're just on
Speaker 1: to the next person. And then you wonder why you
Speaker 1: feel lonely. Yes, there are toxic that you don't need
Speaker 1: to spend time around, but you were meant to experience
Speaker 1: life with people, real human beings, not pictures behind a
Speaker 1: screen where you type comments back and forth. Because I
Speaker 1: don't know about you. I don't want a friend who comments.
Speaker 1: I want a friend who listens and a friend who understands.
Speaker 1: I want a friend who is there. And when you
Speaker 1: get connected to the right people, I don't know how
Speaker 1: it happens, but your faith grows. Nineteen years ago, just
Speaker 1: before Steven and I got married, a mutual friend of
Speaker 1: ours introduced us to Chunks and Amy Corbett. Chunks was
Speaker 1: a physical therapist. You've heard Stephen talk about him many times,
Speaker 1: and Amy actually was an engineer, and over the next
Speaker 1: two years we just developed a friendship with them. We
Speaker 1: sort of learned how to be adults together. And when
Speaker 1: Stephen and I felt God calling us to start this church,
Speaker 1: we knew that we wanted Chunks and Amy to do
Speaker 1: it with us, and they prayed about it, and they
Speaker 1: finally they took a really long time, if you ask me,
Speaker 1: but they finally agreed that they would go anywhere that
Speaker 1: we felt God calling us to go. This is a
Speaker 1: picture of us, the four of us in Charleston, before
Speaker 1: we had even decided where we were going to plant
Speaker 1: our church. I know the picture is not the best,
Speaker 1: but you see, back then you couldn't check your picture.
Speaker 1: You got one click, and you don't want to waste
Speaker 1: the film, you know, So that's that's all we got. Okay,
Speaker 1: I got another picture. I got a better one to
Speaker 1: show you. This is us in twenty eighteen, so you know,
Speaker 1: fifteen years almost fifteen years later and in the same spot.
Speaker 1: So now you can see we got to check our
Speaker 1: picture and make sure it was good that time. It
Speaker 1: is a good win. I remember one particular night we
Speaker 1: were eating at our favorite restaurant. It was called me Publito,
Speaker 1: and back then, even in chunks eight chips and so
Speaker 1: we're eating chips and we were talking about where we
Speaker 1: would plant our church, and Stephen, who always does stuff
Speaker 1: like this, he said, Oh, let's drive to Raleigh tonight
Speaker 1: and we can just get a hotel and then spend
Speaker 1: the day tomorrow just exploring the city and see if
Speaker 1: God is speaking to us. And I was like, no,
Speaker 1: we need to make plans. Let's go home. We'll make
Speaker 1: plans and then we'll go next weekend. And everybody else
Speaker 1: was like, oh no, that'd be fun. Let's go tonight.
Speaker 1: So we went. I went, and we got in the
Speaker 1: car and we drove three hours to Raleigh only to
Speaker 1: find that there was a massive basketball conference and there
Speaker 1: were no hotel rooms available anywhere. And I'm not even
Speaker 1: talking about like there weren't even bad hotel rooms available. Also,
Speaker 1: back then you could not book a hotel on your phone,
Speaker 1: like you had to drive to them. And so finally
Speaker 1: at two am we found a hotel that would that
Speaker 1: would give us a room, and the next morning we
Speaker 1: drove around all day and I mean, I think you
Speaker 1: know the end of this story. We didn't feel like
Speaker 1: it was Raleigh, and we drove around, we were like,
Speaker 1: I don't know this isn't. I don't know, Let's go home.
Speaker 1: So the trip kind of seemed unsuccessful. But on the
Speaker 1: way home, we drove through Charlotte and something happened in
Speaker 1: the car. We were driving for eighty five and I
Speaker 1: don't I don't know what it was, but we just
Speaker 1: we just knew. It was like something stirred in each
Speaker 1: of our spirits and we knew that this was the
Speaker 1: place where we would start our church. We stopped for
Speaker 1: dinner by Carolina place small, and we all looked around
Speaker 1: the table. I remember it so vividly, and we were like,
Speaker 1: do you think yeah, I think yeah, this is it.
Speaker 1: This is the place, and we all agreed. And there's
Speaker 1: just nothing like having a group of people where you
Speaker 1: can you can test out. I think God is saying this,
Speaker 1: So you think God is saying this, Let's do this.
Speaker 1: And together we have seen God do so much in
Speaker 1: the last nineteen years. When the church that said they
Speaker 1: were gonna help us support us financially backed out right
Speaker 1: after we moved to Charlotte, we were together in our
Speaker 1: fear when the lease for the building that we were
Speaker 1: so sure, I mean, we told everyone, this is the
Speaker 1: building that we're gonna have our first permanent campus. The
Speaker 1: lease fell through. We were confused together. I have another
Speaker 1: picture to show you. This is another vivid memory. This
Speaker 1: is me and Amy. You might not know this, but
Speaker 1: we were the first background vocalists Elevation Worship. I got
Speaker 1: replaced as soon as possible, and I've never been asked
Speaker 1: to sing again. I'm okay with it, but I it was.
Speaker 1: I clearly remember. Uh. Every time that we would do
Speaker 1: something new, whether it was at a new service or
Speaker 1: open up a new campus, we were always unsure, like
Speaker 1: are people gonna come? And and Amy and I would
Speaker 1: peek out from behind the curtain. And I remember one
Speaker 1: time Amy was peaking out. She was like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: look look they're coming. And we were so excited together.
Speaker 1: And when Stephen's father was in his last days of life,
Speaker 1: I remember coming out of the bedroom and finding Junks
Speaker 1: and Amy and others of our friends just there waiting
Speaker 1: together in our time of sadness, saying where like the
Speaker 1: Twelve Disciples or anything, or that all my friendships last forever,
Speaker 1: you know. And I'm not saying that, but I'm saying
Speaker 1: that together we have seen God do some amazing things.
Speaker 1: We've seen people's lives healed. We've seen people's marriages restored.
Speaker 1: We have seen God work through us together together, enjoy,
Speaker 1: together in fear, together in doubt, because God's intentions are
Speaker 1: never for us to struggle alone. And here's the thing
Speaker 1: that you have to remember about friendship, because not only
Speaker 1: are they formed over time, but they must be formed
Speaker 1: before the crisis. In order for you to feel like
Speaker 1: people are there for you in your dark season, you
Speaker 1: have to spend time developing your relationship with them before that. Okay,
Speaker 1: we got to get back to our story. The Disciples,
Speaker 1: they spent three years following Jesus and now their leader
Speaker 1: is dead and they're scattered. Yet something in them knows
Speaker 1: that they need to get back together. And I can't help,
Speaker 1: but wondering if maybe I don't know. Andrew thought back
Speaker 1: to the time where they were fishing all night and
Speaker 1: they caught nothing. They were together, and then Jesus told
Speaker 1: them cast your nets on the other side, and they
Speaker 1: got so many fish that their nets began to break.
Speaker 1: Or the time that they thought they were going to
Speaker 1: die in the boat in the storm, and Jesus came
Speaker 1: walking out on the water. It's them, and he calmed
Speaker 1: the storm and it just made me think about how
Speaker 1: friendships are formed. In the boat. You got to get
Speaker 1: in the boat with some people. And yes, friendship is messy,
Speaker 1: and yes people can hurt you, and yes, some friendships
Speaker 1: they come and go or they ebb and flow. And
Speaker 1: just because someone is meaningful in your life in one season,
Speaker 1: it doesn't necessarily mean that they're you're going to be
Speaker 1: best friends for life, because life happens, and jobs change,
Speaker 1: and people move away, and people get sick, and seasons change,
Speaker 1: and so if a friendship ends, it doesn't necessarily mean
Speaker 1: that you're a terrible person and no one wants to
Speaker 1: be friends with you. That just means that life is happening,
Speaker 1: and it's complicated, and it's messy, and it is painful sometimes.
Speaker 1: But I don't want you to miss out on the
Speaker 1: beauty of friendship just because one or two went bad.
Speaker 1: You're a different person now. And when you align yourself
Speaker 1: with the people that God is placing on your path,
Speaker 1: and you release your shame and you decide to truly
Speaker 1: connect with people, you will find that your faith in
Speaker 1: God grows. Have you ever noticed how much scary things
Speaker 1: are when you're alone. The disciples were afraid that what
Speaker 1: had been done to Jesus. He just died a horrific
Speaker 1: death on a cross, and they were afraid that that
Speaker 1: was what was going to be done to them. But
Speaker 1: somehow they knew that they needed to get back together.
Speaker 1: They were connected to Jesus, they were connected to each other,
Speaker 1: and you know what else, they were connected to a place.
Speaker 1: Most scholars agree that this room that they were huddled
Speaker 1: up in it was the same room that they had
Speaker 1: celebrated passover just days before, and many believe that it's
Speaker 1: the same place that they would gather again in Acts
Speaker 1: chapter one. So for all intents and purposes, this room
Speaker 1: that they're huddled up in is the birthplace of the
Speaker 1: early Church. Look again at our scripture. On the evening
Speaker 1: of that first day of the week, when the disciples
Speaker 1: were together with the doors locked for fear of the
Speaker 1: Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them, and he said,
Speaker 1: peace be with you. And after this he showed them
Speaker 1: his hands on his side. The disciples were overjoyed when
Speaker 1: they saw the Lord. And Jesus said again, peace be
Speaker 1: with you. As the Father has sent me, I am
Speaker 1: sending you. And he breathed on them, and he said
Speaker 1: receive the Holy Spirit. When the disciples were together, Jesus
Speaker 1: came and stood among them, and he brought peace in
Speaker 1: the midst of their greatest fear, and he brought joy
Speaker 1: in the middle of their greatest disappointment. And he breathed
Speaker 1: on them, and he gave them the Spirit, the comforter
Speaker 1: when they were together. And today I want to tell
Speaker 1: you to get back to the place. You see, they
Speaker 1: returned to the place where their faith was connected. And
Speaker 1: I just can't help but think about all of the
Speaker 1: people of God's Church who are scattered right now because
Speaker 1: of their fear. It's a scary time in our world
Speaker 1: right now, and I get that, But the number one
Speaker 1: tool I think that the enemy has on us right
Speaker 1: now is isolation. He wants to keep you away from
Speaker 1: the place. He wants to keep you from connecting with
Speaker 1: people who are on the same journey as you. People
Speaker 1: who are trying to have integrity in their job, people
Speaker 1: who are trying to raise godly kids in this incredibly
Speaker 1: dangerous world, people who are intent on growing their own
Speaker 1: relationship with Jesus. And you are missing out on what
Speaker 1: God wants to do in your life by not being
Speaker 1: a part of a unity of a body of believers.
Speaker 1: Hebrews ten twenty three says this, let us hold unswervingly
Speaker 1: to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Speaker 1: And let us consider how we may spur one another
Speaker 1: on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together,
Speaker 1: as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging
Speaker 1: one another all the more. The Bible is so amazing.
Speaker 1: This was written two thousand years ago, and it could
Speaker 1: not be more true today. We cannot give up meeting together.
Speaker 1: I know you're busy. I know your kids have soccer,
Speaker 1: but Jesus said, we're two or three were gathered there.
Speaker 1: He is with us, and it's time for us to gather,
Speaker 1: because when we gather, our faith grows. I can't tell
Speaker 1: you how many times I have come into this place
Speaker 1: feeling tired, feeling overwhelmed. I know I'm the pastor's wife,
Speaker 1: and I'm not supposed to feel that way, but I do,
Speaker 1: feeling worried about a situation. And I come here and
Speaker 1: the band starts playing, and people around me start lifting
Speaker 1: their hands, so I do it too, and I close
Speaker 1: my eyes and I start worshiping God. And then our
Speaker 1: pastor gets up on the stage and he opens up
Speaker 1: the Word of God, Oh God. When Steven starts preaching,
Speaker 1: and he starts telling us stuff like how owning your
Speaker 1: own doubts does not disqualify your faith. And I'm like
Speaker 1: furiously writing these things down so maybe I won't forget.
Speaker 1: And then he tells me to copy that if by God,
Speaker 1: I go out of here, and I'm so full of
Speaker 1: faith that I feel like I just might burst, because
Speaker 1: there is nothing like gathering together with other believers in
Speaker 1: Christ and this place. What God is building, the global
Speaker 1: church that God is building is special. It's just as
Speaker 1: special as it's ever been, maybe more if you ask me.
Speaker 1: And it is time for you to get back. Some
Speaker 1: of you have an elevation campus in your backyard, and
Speaker 1: you have no idea how much you take that for granted.
Speaker 1: Some of you you live somewhere else and you can't
Speaker 1: get to a campus, and so you watch online every week.
Speaker 1: And what I want to say to you is, maybe
Speaker 1: you could get to a watch party, or maybe you
Speaker 1: could start a watch party, or go to your local church.
Speaker 1: You know, if you have to watch alone, it's better
Speaker 1: than nothing. And we're always going to be here for you.
Speaker 1: Maybe you can invite someone to watch at the same
Speaker 1: time as you, because we have got to get back
Speaker 1: to a place where we look people in the eyes.
Speaker 1: You feel like something's missing in your life. Might I
Speaker 1: suggest that it is your connection. Your peace and your
Speaker 1: joy are directly connected to the people that you align
Speaker 1: yourself with in this season of your life. So we
Speaker 1: started our time together in John chapter twenty, and the
Speaker 1: disciples are together afraid for their lives. And then we
Speaker 1: get to Acts chapter one and Jesus is giving them
Speaker 1: his last instructions. He tells them wait for the Holy Spirit,
Speaker 1: who's going to come, and he's going to empower you,
Speaker 1: and you're going to take the gospel to the ends
Speaker 1: of the earth. And then Jesus ascends to heaven. And
Speaker 1: so the Bible tells us that they retire learned to
Speaker 1: Jerusalem to gather together once again. Many people believe that
Speaker 1: it's the same room where they were with Jesus just
Speaker 1: days before. While they're waiting, how many of you know
Speaker 1: sometimes we have to wait. While they're waiting together, they
Speaker 1: decide to do the next thing that they think they
Speaker 1: should do. So, led by Peter, they take a vote.
Speaker 1: It's the first Church, they take a vote to replace Judas,
Speaker 1: and then look at what happens in Acts chapter two.
Speaker 1: When the day of Pentecost came. They were where all
Speaker 1: together in one place, and suddenly a sound like a
Speaker 1: blowing of a violent wind came in from heaven and
Speaker 1: filled the whole house where they were sitting. And they
Speaker 1: saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated
Speaker 1: and came to rest on each of them. All of
Speaker 1: them were filled with the Holy Spirit began to speak
Speaker 1: in tongues as the Spirit enabled them. When they were
Speaker 1: all together, the spirit came, it's time for you to
Speaker 1: come back together this fall. Our message to those of
Speaker 1: you who call Elevation Church your home is very simple.
Speaker 1: We want you to join us for church and then
Speaker 1: be a part of an E group where you can
Speaker 1: be together with people who are on the same faith
Speaker 1: journey as you. And all we want you to do
Speaker 1: is discuss the things that God is teaching you here
Speaker 1: each week. And so today we have an opportunity for
Speaker 1: you wherever you are, however you're watching, I want you
Speaker 1: to join an E group. Okay, at Elevation we have
Speaker 1: I've created the most amazing community of people who gather
Speaker 1: together on a regular basis. Listen to this. We have
Speaker 1: over thirteen thousand people who already regularly attend an E group,
Speaker 1: whether on person or in person or online. Thirteen thousand people. Okay,
Speaker 1: in fact, now this is incredible. We have groups that
Speaker 1: meet across fifteen different time zones and in eleven different languages,
Speaker 1: which goes to show you you don't have to be
Speaker 1: in Charlotte. WAE. We started in Charlotte, but our walls
Speaker 1: of this church have gone far beyond the city of Charlotte.
Speaker 1: And I promise you, if thirteen thousand people are already
Speaker 1: doing it, which, by the way, good job. If you're
Speaker 1: already doing it, maybe invite someone to join your group.
Speaker 1: I promised you. We're not gonna bite. We're even gonna
Speaker 1: make you do homework. We simply want you to join
Speaker 1: a group where you can discuss the things that God
Speaker 1: is teaching you each week. So in just a second,
Speaker 1: if you're at one of our locations, when you walked in,
Speaker 1: you were given a card to think of. Got one
Speaker 1: it looks like this. All we want you to do
Speaker 1: is fill it out and take it to the E
Speaker 1: group's area at your campus to join a group, and
Speaker 1: when I close, somebody's going to come give you more directions.
Speaker 1: If you're part of our EPAM you're watching online, don't worry.
Speaker 1: Our team is going to come. They're going to give
Speaker 1: you instructions. Even if you're watching this later on YouTube,
Speaker 1: there's going to be a little link in the comments.
Speaker 1: If you want to join an e group, it's time
Speaker 1: to check your connection. Go ahead and do it today.
Speaker 1: Don't go out of here and say, oh yeah, maybe
Speaker 1: we should do that. Go ahead and do it today.
Speaker 1: Would you stand with me? I want to close this
Speaker 1: in prayer. Before I do that, I want to give
Speaker 1: an opportunity to those of you who need to come
Speaker 1: to faith in Jesus. Maybe you need to come back
Speaker 1: to faith in Him. You need to get connected to
Speaker 1: the source before you get connected to a group, and
Speaker 1: I want to give you that opportunity right now. Romans
Speaker 1: ten nine says if you confess with your mouth that
Speaker 1: Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God
Speaker 1: raised him from the dead, you will be saved. If
Speaker 1: you would like to come to faith in Christ, We're
Speaker 1: all going to pray this prayer together for you. We're
Speaker 1: all going to pray this prayer together, but for you,
Speaker 1: this is your moment, So would you pray this prayer
Speaker 1: with me? Heavenly Father, I believe that you are the
Speaker 1: savior of the world and that you died on the
Speaker 1: cross for my sins. Right now I place my faith
Speaker 1: in you. This is my new beginning in Jesus' name. Amen.
Speaker 1: If you just prayed that prayer and the caunt of three,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get you to raise your hand or maybe
Speaker 1: type it in the chat let us know, because we
Speaker 1: want to celebrate with you. One, two, three. Would you
Speaker 1: raise your hand. You've got a Bible that may want
Speaker 1: to give you, type it in the chat. We're gonna
Speaker 1: reach out to you online. If you just accepted Jesus,
Speaker 1: it's amazing. It's amazing what God can do when you
Speaker 1: get among his people. I wish I could tell you
Speaker 1: to join hands through the person next to you. It
Speaker 1: just feels like it's what we should do. But unless
Speaker 1: you're your family member, we'll just join our hearts and
Speaker 1: our faith together and let's pray. God, we come to
Speaker 1: you with full hearts. We're just so grateful that you
Speaker 1: provide people to go with us on this journey of
Speaker 1: life and then always you are with us as well.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank God. Thank you that you are still
Speaker 1: building your church. The gates of hell cannot prevail. That
Speaker 1: you are doing an amazing thing in your church in
Speaker 1: this world, and God, we want to be a part
Speaker 1: of that. We want to grow in our faith. Thank
Speaker 1: you that in your presence there is no shame, and
Speaker 1: among your people we find peace and joy and belonging God.
Speaker 1: I just asked that you would give us the courage
Speaker 1: to step out and get back to the place of connection.
Speaker 1: We love you so in Jesus nay I pray Amen.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of
Speaker 1: you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of
Speaker 1: you that this ministry is possible. You can click the
Speaker 1: link in the description to give now or visit Elevation
Speaker 1: Church dot org slash podcast for more information and if
Speaker 1: you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share
Speaker 1: it with your friends. You can click the share button,
Speaker 1: take a screenshot and share it on your social stories
Speaker 1: and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening.
Speaker 1: God bless you