WEBVTT - Blocked Calls (Chet Pete) 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:07.040 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.399 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.440 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:18.880 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Well, hello, chirch, 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.120 my name's Seth Pete. I'm the campus pastor at Elevation 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:27.760 University City and I have the honor of being able 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:32.800 to preach today. Hey University City. Hey, you see, it's 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:34.920 such an honor to be able to preach this weekend. 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:37.560 But before we move forward, can we take a moment 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:43.040 and thank God for our pastor. Pastor Stephen, you can 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:47.400 do better than that. You can do better than that. 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:54.279 We all get to benefit from hearing him preach every 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:56.920 weekend on this stage, but very few get to see 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:00.640 how he pastores people personally off the stage. And this week, 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:03.040 this week he encouraged me. He looked me in my 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:06.119 eyes and said, chat, I believe in you. I'm check 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:08.400 God has a call on your life, and I believe 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:10.199 that God has given you a word that our church 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.800 needs to hear. That's the type of pastor that we 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:19.400 have and started the year off with Flip the Flow. 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.759 Who was here for Flip the Flow? Road right into 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:28.520 Maybe God. It's been so powerful, so you know it. 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:30.920 Throughout Maybe God, God was just dealing with me. And 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.240 as we kind of ended the series last week, I 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:36.120 wanted to share a little bit about what God has 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:38.800 best kind of revealed to me throughout this series of 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:42.560 how do we discern God's voice and recognize the will 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:44.840 that He has for our lives? And we're gonna be 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:48.440 in this text. Mark chapter ten, verses forty six through 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:50.920 fifty two. If you have your Bible and want to 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.320 pull it out, you can do that now. If not, 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:58.160 the scriptures will be on the screen. Mark chapter ten, 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:03.720 versus forty six through fifty two. Story about a blind 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:09.160 man named Bartimaeus. In verse forty six, it says, then 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:12.960 they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:17.160 with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:21.360 man Bartimaeus which means son of Timaeus, was sitting by 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:27.000 the roadside, and he was begging. When he heard that 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:30.239 it was Jesus of Nazrath, he began to shout, Jesus, 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:35.080 son of David, have mercy on me. Many rebuked him 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:37.760 and told him to be quiet, but he shouted, all 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:42.880 the more, Son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:46.600 stopped and said, call him. So they called to the 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:49.400 blind man, cheer up on your feet, he's calling you. 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:53.600 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.640 came to Jesus. What do you want me to do 0:02:56.720 --> 0:03:01.000 for you? Jesus asked him. The blind man said, Rabbi, 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:06.280 I want to see go. Jesus said, your faith has 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:11.120 healed you, and immediately he received a sight and followed 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:15.280 Jesus along the road. The scriptures that I really want 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:17.600 to focus on for our time together are forty eight 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.280 and forty nine. It says many rebuked him and told 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:23.760 him to be quiet, but he shouted, all the more, 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:29.520 son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus stopped. What 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.200 could be in your shout that could make Jesus stop? 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:37.080 What could be on your lips that would make the 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:44.200 Messiah stop in his tracks? He stopped and said call him. 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:46.600 So they called to the blind man, Cheer up on 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:51.720 your feet, he's calling you. The subject of our conversation 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:58.119 today is called blocked calls, blocked calls, block calls. Now, 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:01.320 before you take your seat, can you look at your 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:03.480 neighbor and find out if they're a Duke fan or 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.000 a tar Hill fan? Can you find out? Find out 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:11.720 real quick, find out real quick. Now I understand, I 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:18.440 understand that the tar Hills won last night, and this morning, 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:21.039 I'm more concerned about a different devil that needs to 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:24.960 be up underneath our heel. So can you go ahead 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:27.280 and give them a hug and put your hands together 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.039 as we get in to God's word today, Give a 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:34.760 couple hugs right now, and then you can be seated. 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:41.680 You can be seated, You can be seated. Understand, you 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:46.200 lost an hour of sleep last night, but it didn't 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:48.080 seem like you lost your spirit. It seems like you 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.280 came in ready, ready to praise God and ready to 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.760 hear from him. But as I was reading this text, 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.240 the the thing that kind of caught my attention was 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:00.679 this fact that Bartimaus is crying out to Jesuz, Jesus, 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:03.680 son of David, have mercy on me, Jesus, son of David, 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:07.520 have mercy on me, and he doesn't hear Christ respond. 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:09.800 And it made me realize that a lot of times 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.680 in my life I'm praying and praying and praying, and 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:15.920 I'm calling out to God and I don't hear him 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:19.960 call back to me. It could be so frustrating. Ask 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:23.960 myself the question, has Jesus blocked my call? Like cass 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:28.279 he blocked me? Is he just sitting up there looking 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:34.720 at his phone like, Ugh, that's Susie today, She's always sad. 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:39.880 I don't got time for that. Why is Anthony so angry? Ugh? 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:43.159 Don got toughing? I know what that feels like, just 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:45.400 to be calling out to God over and over and 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:48.520 over again and not hearing anything. We feel like something's 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:53.559 blocking us from hearing it. And makes me think about 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:55.719 you know, on my way home, I drive forty five 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:58.560 on my way to the house in Charlotte, drive forty 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:01.440 five and I get off on exit twenty three right here, 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:04.320 and there's this one spot when I get off on 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:07.040 the exit where every time if I'm on the phone, 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:10.719 the call will drop. I could be talking the whole time, 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:12.640 the whole time, and I get to this one spot 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.679 and the call drops. I was talking to them before 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.640 I got to that spot. And so what I realize 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:23.039 is that maybe God is talking. Maybe God is talking. 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:27.160 Maybe there's nothing wrong with the service, but something's blocking 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:31.760 the signal. What is blocking the signal in this season? 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:33.760 You know, cause I know what it feels like. It's like, 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:35.880 does guy have a track phone or something. I just 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.960 it seems like it's not getting through, you know, or 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.360 maybe this is this will make you understand it. Me 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.559 and my wife, we have identical twin boys, Carson and Carter. 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:49.440 They are seven years old and we just got them, 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:52.400 just got them an Xbox One for Christmas this past year, 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:57.160 and they don't play Fortnite. I haven't did it. I've 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:59.240 been trying to figure out what's the appropriate age for 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.760 your kids to play Fortnite? You know, is it ten? 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:06.480 It's eleven? Heard somebody say never never never, never never. 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:08.479 But you know, they love they love it. They play 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:11.560 NBA two K and they're constantly playing this game. And 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:13.760 I've realized since they've had the game, I could be 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:15.840 sitting in my room and I call out to them, 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:24.240 Carson Carter, and I hear nothing. Hey boys, Hey hear nothing. 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:27.600 Carson and Carter hear nothing. I get up out my bed. 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:29.800 They ignoring me. What are they doing? And I walk 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:33.200 in and they're so fixated on this game that they 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:36.960 didn't even hear my voice. What I'm realizing in our lives, 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:40.160 there's some things that were so fixated on and it's 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:43.840 blocking us from hearing what God has to say. It's 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.920 not that God isn't calling you, but there's some things 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:50.560 that are blocking you from hearing His call. And so 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:52.800 what I want to do today is talk about a 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.640 few things, a few things in this text that I 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:59.360 believe will help us understand what's blocking us from hearing God. 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.360 While I open up this water, can we thank God 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:05.640 for all of our campuses that are tuning in today? 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.800 Can we thank God for e fam people watching on 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:11.640 a cell phone right now getting the presence of God? 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:19.120 But what is blocking you? What is blocking you from 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:20.920 hearing God? I believe there's a lot that we can 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.680 learn in this sext. The first thing that I want 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.560 you to write down that may be blocking you is 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:32.920 what I hear? What I hear and now you see, 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:37.360 hearing is so important to Bartimaez because he couldn't see. 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:41.120 It's so so vital to him that he hears well 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:44.520 and he hears his surroundings. And it starts off saying 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:48.200 that he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was coming through, 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:51.480 and that's when he responded and started to shout. But 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:54.560 then at verse forty eight, there's another thing that he heard. 0:08:55.520 --> 0:09:01.440 It says many rebuked him and told him to be quiet. 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:09.120 It just made me think that there's some people. There's 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:15.000 some people. There's some people, some negative people, some condescending people. 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:19.000 There's some people. There's some pessimistic people, some people that 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:21.400 when I talk to they rip the spirit all the 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:25.000 way out of me. There's some people. There's some people 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:27.760 that just you know, I have to do everything about 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:32.199 power to stay sane dealing with them. There's some people. 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:35.200 You have to watch what you hear. You have to 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:36.920 watch what you hear. You have to watch what you 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.400 hear because there's some people around you that could be 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:44.199 blocking you from hearing what God has to say. And 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:46.480 it just made me think. It's just made me think, 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.520 I'm gonna help you guys out today. I'm gonna help 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:53.160 you guys out with a little iPhone tutorial. Is that okay? 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:57.200 A little iPhone tutorial today. Let me get this popped 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:00.240 up on the screen for you really quick. You will 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:03.920 see my phone mirror there it goes there it goes, 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:08.400 and there's my family. Yeah. Stop, awe at them boys, 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:13.040 Look at my beautiful wife up top right there. Thank 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:19.640 you Jesus, you've been so good to me. Hallelujah, my God, 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:23.800 bless your name. Let me help you out. Let me 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:24.880 help you out. Let me help you out. Let me 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:28.600 help you out. I'm gonna go into my contacts, and 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:31.439 you know what I'm I'm gonna click on Jared Osin. Now, 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.720 if you don't know Jared Osin, that's because he does 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:39.800 his job so well. Jared Osin is our Valentine campus producer. 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:43.000 Can we take a moment and thank God for Jared. 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:45.480 Thank God for Jared. He's the one that leads the 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:47.440 team that makes sure all the lights and all of 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:49.640 this stuff works. I have no idea how my phone's 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:52.080 on the screen, but it's on there. That's Jared that 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:55.040 makes it happen. So I wouldn't normally, never, ever, ever, 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:57.520 ever ever do this to Jared, because he's amazing. He's amazing, 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:01.520 he's amazing leader, amazing friend. But for the sake of 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:05.120 this illustration, there's this little button down to here at 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:08.680 the bottom that says block this caller now when you 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:13.559 click on it. It says you will not receive phone calls, messages, 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:18.600 FaceTime from people on the block list. There are some 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:22.120 people that you need to find this button because when 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.520 you've block them, you're opening up a space so that 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.640 you can hear what God has to say. Some people 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.120 are blocking you from hearing what God has to say 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:34.600 in this season. Everybody can't have access in this season 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:38.080 because they're keeping you from accessing what God has for you. 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.960 There's some people that has to go now. Some of you, 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:43.560 you use this, you know where this is, and you 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:48.439 use it very well. You might be petty, you might 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:50.640 you might be petty. You might be petty. But there's 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:52.680 some of you. I just save you a lot of headaches. 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:55.200 I just save you a lot of headaches because you 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:57.640 have the ability. You have the ability to block their call. 0:11:57.679 --> 0:11:59.959 You know what you should do tonight when you go home. 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:03.280 You should go sit on your bed and you should 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:06.439 go through your phone and have a good old fashioned 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:11.080 block party. What would it look like if you took 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.760 your time and went through your contacts. It said that 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.960 there's some people that's had access in one season that 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.880 don't need it in this season because they're blocking me 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:24.800 from hearing what God has to say. There's some people 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.920 that I cannot let speak into my life because they're 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.880 holding me back for what my God has for me. 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:34.040 There's some people in this season. There's some people like 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.600 maybe JJ, maybe I should go ahead and block You're 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:41.400 a Valentine campus pastor maybe I should block him right now, 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:44.319 block this caller, because maybe right now in this season 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:46.240 I normally wouldn't do it before the sake of illustration, 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:49.800 Block JJ, bye bye. Or maybe I should go all 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:52.760 the way to Ashville, North Carolina and let's just start 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:56.080 blocking some campus pastors. You know, maybe this morning we 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:58.360 would take some time to block them. Where is Brennan? 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:02.320 Where's Brennan? Goddess at there? She goes, I'm sorry, maybe 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:04.800 in this season you got wo would it look like 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.960 if in this season you block some people? Now, this 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:10.760 should be a joyous occasion. Now, when I said block party, 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:13.480 some of you started to think about red cups and 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:15.760 some of you started to think about some different things. 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:20.280 Well what I and LB is calling me right now? LB? 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.720 Why are you calling me in the middle of my sermon? 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:26.559 You know what, some people I can't block. I can't 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:32.120 block LB. But some people I can ignore because right now, 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:35.600 I love LB. LB means a lot to me. But 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:38.200 what's important right now is for me to take a 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:40.200 moment and tell you what God has laid on my 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:42.880 heart for you and some people in this season I 0:13:42.920 --> 0:13:46.840 have to ignore because some of you might have been thinking, 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:48.920 I'm ready to block my husband right now. No no 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.360 no no no no no no no no no no 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:54.400 no no no no no, I'm not. I'm not saying that. 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:56.320 I'm not saying that because there's some people that you 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:58.600 live with, there's some people that you work with, and 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:00.680 it's not that easy just to block them and cancel 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:03.440 them out your life. But what Bartimaeus does in this 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.200 text is when they rebuked him and told him to 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:09.800 be quiet, he shouted. All the more he shouted. He 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:13.280 ignored them so that he can focus on calling out 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:17.080 to his father doing what his father said. What would 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:19.360 it look like in this season if you paid attention 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:24.600 to what you hear because they're blocking you from hearing 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:27.760 what God has to say. You know, there's this repelling 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.880 you can blo for your shoe sneakers. There's a repelling 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:33.720 you know what I mean, that repels things. Why would 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:35.720 I be so focused and by things that we can 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:38.320 repel things off my sneakers, that can keep them things. 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:41.240 And I won't repel people away from my spirit. I 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.320 won't repel people away from my heart. There's some things 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:48.120 in this season. There's some people, some people that I 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:51.280 have to get blocked because they're keeping you from hearing 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:55.040 what God has to say. It's easier, it's easier to 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:58.200 ignore others. But you know, what I found is very 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:03.240 it's very harder. It's much much much harder, is to 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.680 block the thoughts in your head, and so that the 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:12.720 next point are you know, it's it's it's my thoughts, 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:16.520 it's my thoughts, what you think, what I think, what 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:19.880 I think, what I think. It's it's so harder to 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:23.160 do that. It's so so much harder to do that. 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.000 And as I as I read this sext there's some things. 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:30.640 There's some things that it tells us about Bartimaeus. It says, 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:33.880 when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:38.120 began to shout, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:44.000 I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We find the right verse bring 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:47.400 me up forty six, forty six I apologize what I think. 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:52.040 What I think. It says when they came to Jericho, 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:55.320 as Jesus and disciples were together a large crowd, we're 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.840 leaving the city. Now, it's going to tell us a 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:00.000 couple of things about Bartimaeus. The first thing that is 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.680 says is is that Bardimaez was blind, and then it 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:06.040 says Bartimaez, which means Senator mass And then it says 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:09.600 that he was sitting by the roadside begging. So it 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:11.680 tells us a couple of things about Bartimaus. It says 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:14.560 that he's blind, and then it says that he's begging, 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:18.280 and we tend to just call him blind man Bartimaez. 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:22.160 What makes me realize is that we tend to identify 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:26.360 people by their condition. We tend to identify people by 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:29.920 their actions. And what I realize is that Bartimas has 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:32.960 been sitting here, He's been sitting by the roadside begging 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:36.480 for a long time. And I wonder, and I wonder, 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.080 I wonder what were the thoughts going through his head 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.840 all of those years, just sitting there. He's blind, he 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:44.920 can't see, so he has this voice in his head 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:51.040 and it's saying, you're blind, and you're beggar. You're blind 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:58.040 and you're begger. That's all you'll ever be. Just go 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:00.680 ahead and hold the cup out and y'll for some change. 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:04.240 You're blind and you're a beggar, and that's all you'll 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:13.240 ever be. You're you're an addict, You're a failure, You're 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:17.320 you're a divorce c You're a dropout, and that's all 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:20.240 you'll ever be. That's that's what that voice sounds like. 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:24.840 And that voice, that voice is loud. That voice is loud, 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:28.720 It shouts. That voice is piercing. And those thoughts in 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:30.520 your head that you go over and over and over 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:32.359 again on repeat, you know what my voice was telling me, 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.320 that voice right here before I came on stages. Nobody 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.280 wanted to hear anything you have to say. They wish 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:42.359 pastor Steven was here. Anyway, you're not qualified to preach 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.720 the word of God. Who do you think you are? 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.199 Who do you? Who do you think you are? So 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:52.280 waste the time? She'd just sit back down, That's what 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:54.520 That's what that voice is screaming and yelling at me 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:56.960 before I step on this stage. And I want to 0:17:56.960 --> 0:18:00.320 take a moment to celebrate my wife, Whitney. We just 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:08.760 celebrated eleven years of marriage this year, and she has 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:10.679 this voice as well, And I asked her if I 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:14.000 could share this. The voice in my wife's head, that voice, 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:19.000 it's a monster. It's a monster, and it's so loud. 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:22.080 She's so mean, and she's so hateful, and it screams 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:25.160 at my wife, telling her that she's not beautiful, telling 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:27.760 her that she's a horrible wife, telling her that she's 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:30.199 a horrible mother, telling her that she will never be 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:33.360 good enough. This voice is yelling loud, telling her this 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.400 over and over and over again. And I've seen her. 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:38.919 I've seen her fight that voice, because that voice has 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:42.000 tried to take my wife out. If anybody talked to 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:44.120 my wife the way that her voice talks to her, 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:47.080 I'd be in jail right now. I'd be in jail. 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.840 I would be locked up. And so I've seen her. 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.200 If it wasn't for some of our friends and family, 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:54.240 if it wasn't for our eGroup, if you're not in 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:56.560 an egrop and you don't have people around you, I 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:58.480 don't know if we would have been able to push 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:00.000 through this thing, because it's tried to take her out. 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:03.600 But I want to tell you one little thing that 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:06.760 that that that she does, that has been monumental. And 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.800 it might seem small, it might seem really really small, 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:12.960 but it's made a significant difference. And what she did 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:16.080 is she gave it a name. She gave she gave 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:18.919 a voice a name. Now, when I tell you what 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:22.919 this name is, if this is your name, I didn't. 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:26.040 I didn't know you when we came up with it. 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:30.320 I didn't. I didn't, So I apologize. But if you 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:36.560 ever seen the movie Matilda, there's this woman named Agatha, 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:41.720 and Agatha is ugly and she's mean. But what I 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:45.560 realize is that when Agatha shows up, when she shows 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:47.480 up on the scene, it starts to tell her things 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:50.359 that doesn't line up with what God says. I tell 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:52.800 Agatha to go back to the pit of hell where 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:56.239 she came from. She has no place. Yet. What I 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:58.560 want you to know is that you cannot defeat an 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:01.359 unnamed enemy. And so what you have to do is 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:03.120 put a name on that thing. You have to call 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:05.480 it something. You know, when you get phone calls and 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:09.679 it says unknown caller, and you're talking to people and 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:12.400 you don't have a clue who they are, how can 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:14.760 you silence them in how can you tell them things 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:16.480 to shut up and go back to where they came 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:20.200 from if you don't know who they are. I tell 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:23.800 Agatha to get up under my feet. I tell Agatha 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.879 what God says. So maybe what you need to do 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:31.520 is is name that enemy, because that voice is terrorizing 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:36.080 your home, he's terrorizing your life. You know why we 0:20:36.160 --> 0:20:38.159 call them terrorists when we're in a war, we call 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:41.720 them is because we can't identify him. But once we 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:45.000 identify him, we're able to do something about it. We're 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:46.600 able to go and we're able to attack it. And 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:49.959 so in this text, let me show you one interesting 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:52.359 thing that they kind of caught my attention because it 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:55.880 tells you more about Bartimas, but we never talk about it. 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:57.920 It says in verse forty six, it says more than 0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:00.720 just that he was blind because me, it says a 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:06.879 blind man Bartimaeus, which means son of Timaeus. That tells 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:11.119 me that Bartimaeus was a son. That tells me that 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:14.000 Bartimaus is his son. So when that thought comes up, 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:17.479 you gotta remember you're a son and a daughter of 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:20.520 a father in heaven. And Satan does not want you 0:21:20.600 --> 0:21:23.480 to remember your lineage. He does not want you to 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:27.240 remember where you come from. Why don't we call him Bartimaeus, 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:31.320 son of Timaeus? Why don't we call him son? Why 0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:33.040 don't you gotta look in the mirror. I'm a child 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:37.920 of God. I was fearfully and wonderfully made my father 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:40.640 in heaven. He loves me. So I don't care what 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:44.119 Agatha says. You can go back to the place you 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:48.760 came from. But it's these thoughts, see, it's these thoughts. 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:50.680 It's these thoughts in your head that can block us 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:55.760 from hearing what God has to say. The last thing 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:58.160 that I want to talk about that could be blocking 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:03.800 you is what I see, is what I see and 0:22:03.920 --> 0:22:07.200 hearing that you may be like Bartimaus didn't see anything. 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:12.320 He was blind. But what Bartimaeus lacked an eyesight, he 0:22:12.359 --> 0:22:15.359 made up for an insight. There was something in this 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:19.040 text that he saw that nobody around him saw. In 0:22:19.080 --> 0:22:21.600 the way that you see someone will determine how you 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:24.320 respond to them. And so just to just to give 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:26.320 you an example, you know me and I told you 0:22:26.359 --> 0:22:29.879 my wife is an amazing mother, amazing wife, but me 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:34.640 and her both have vastly different parenting styles. We approach 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:37.760 raising your kids a little bit differently, and I feel 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:40.760 like most parents fall into one of these two categories. 0:22:41.280 --> 0:22:44.159 One category, which my wife falls in. I like to 0:22:44.200 --> 0:22:48.280 call the I'm gone us, the I'm gone us, the 0:22:49.480 --> 0:22:54.000 I'm gonna whoop your butt, the the I'm gonna take 0:22:54.040 --> 0:22:57.560 the xbox, the I'm gonna you know, I'm gone us. 0:22:57.600 --> 0:23:03.359 Is there anybody that will identify yourself as I'm gone up? Now? 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:07.119 The other group, the other group which I fall in, 0:23:07.320 --> 0:23:11.880 is the I have and I will. I have bee 0:23:11.960 --> 0:23:15.080 your butt and I will do it again. I have 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:18.200