1 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:02,800 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our 3 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 2: podcast and I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 4 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 2: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 5 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:11,480 Speaker 1: Hope it gives your. 6 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 2: Perspective to see God has moving in your life. 7 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: Enjoy the message. Would you remain standing for just a 8 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: moment because I just think this is the right posture. 9 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: I want to take a moment to honor this house. 10 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: I am grateful for the faith of Elevation Church. I'm 11 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: grateful for the faith of this house that sent riple 12 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: riple waves around the globe and it's reached our house 13 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: in Miami. Our church is stronger because of your faith 14 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,599 Speaker 1: and because of the faith of your leaders, Pastor Stephen 15 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: and Holly Ferdick. How many of you love your pastors? 16 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: Come on, can we put our hands together for them? 17 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: When I think about Pastor Stephen, I think of a 18 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: pastor to pastors, the way that he has led us, 19 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: that he's spoken over our lives in so many different seasons. 20 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: I'm constantly inspired. How when it comes to Pastor Stevens 21 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: walk with God. There's always more, There's more, there's more, hope, 22 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: there's more faith, there's more creativity, and it inspires me 23 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,839 Speaker 1: to dig deep and to believe God that there's always more. 24 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: But I'm also really grateful for Pastor Holly. Come on, 25 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: do you guys love Pastor Holly. She's one of my 26 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,680 Speaker 1: dearest friends in the world. And when she preaches the 27 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: Word of God, she preaches with power and authority. Shains 28 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: are broken. But it's not just what she says on 29 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: the Pulpit's the way that she leads her life. It's 30 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: the way that she leads her family. She's taught me 31 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,559 Speaker 1: what it means to be a great friend, to stand 32 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: with people on mountaintops and in valleys. And I just 33 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: believe the best is yet to come for this house. 34 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: Come on, if you believe that today with you picks 35 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: her hands together with me, I believe it with all 36 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: Oh come on, elevation, I believe it with all my heart. 37 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: And before you're seated, I want to take a moment 38 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: because I'm fully aware that people walked in this room 39 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 1: or are watching online today and you are hanging on 40 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: by a thread. And I want to speak to your 41 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: soul today that before we even open up the Word 42 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: of God, if you feel like you are stuck in 43 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: the middle of a wilderness, if you feel like you 44 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: don't know what to do, where to go, or how 45 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: to even express the state of your heart today, if 46 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 1: you feel like, for the first time in your life, 47 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: you wonder if this whole thing is real, I want 48 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 1: to remind you today. I want to tell you today 49 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: that God sent me here with a message in my heart, 50 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:47,920 Speaker 1: and that he brought you here because He wants to 51 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,640 Speaker 1: meet you right where you are. If anybody can testify 52 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: that He did it for you, come on pict your 53 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: hands together. We serve a faithful God and he sees 54 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: you today. Hey, why don't you high five your neighbor, 55 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: grab your seat, grab your bibles. You can turn with 56 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: me to Isaiah chapter forty, verse thirty one. I brings 57 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: so much love from Miami and a little bit of 58 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 1: sunshine for you. Our church VUK church. We started it 59 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: ten years ago and God's been doing miracles. But I 60 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: believe that what God is doing in twenty twenty five 61 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: is unlike anything that's ever been seen in history. He's 62 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: doing a new thing. My husband rich since his love, 63 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: I've got four babies that I adore. Wyat wild Whalen 64 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: and Wolfgang seven, five, three and six months old. Oh yeah, 65 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: oh yeah, big families. We know there's a big party 66 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: when you're a part of a big family. You may 67 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: be wondering where are you actually from, Don Shri because 68 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: that accent does not sound like Miami. I am from Louisiana. 69 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: I am a rage in Cajun. And you also may 70 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: be wondering what kind of name is Don Sherie, Like, 71 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: where did that come from? Well, the story my parents 72 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: told me is that my dad wanted to name me 73 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 1: down my mom wanted to name me Sharie. And so 74 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:23,600 Speaker 1: as they were sitting in the hospital room trying to 75 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,559 Speaker 1: figure out who is this girl? The day I was born, 76 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: my mom put the names together, wrote a love letter 77 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 1: from me and tucked it under the pillow where my 78 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: dad was sleeping on the couch in the hospital. And 79 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: Don Scherie's been my name ever since. That same day 80 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: that they named me is the day that they gave 81 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: me a life promise. And that's the scripture that I 82 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: want to read to you today. Isaiah forty thirty one. 83 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: They that wait upon the Lord, somebody say wait, they 84 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: shall renew their strength, They shall melt up with wings 85 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they 86 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:12,359 Speaker 1: shall walk and not faint. I want to talk to 87 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: you for the next few minutes from this thought. While 88 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: you were waiting, Let's pray God, thank you for this moment, 89 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: thank you for this house. Thank you Lord, for what 90 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: you are doing in our hearts. Today. We pause, and Lord, 91 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: just like we sang, we breathe you in. Have your 92 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: way and our heart, Oh God, for you and you alone, 93 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: our souls wait. I pray that I would disappear, and Lord, 94 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: that our eyes would behold your promise, that our hearts 95 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:53,359 Speaker 1: would be filled with hope. Today. We love you, Jesus, 96 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: We're here for you. Come on, And everybody said, all 97 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:03,239 Speaker 1: one more time. Everybody said amen. Well. Earlier this year 98 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: in Miami, my husband had his birthday. He turned forty one, 99 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: and we had a family dinner as you do. We 100 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: came back to the house after dinner and we set 101 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,359 Speaker 1: out on our back dock in that humid Miami heat, 102 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: swatting the mosquitoes, just trying to have a calm conversation. 103 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: And on his birthday, we usually have a tradition to 104 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: start telling memories from over the years, and we started 105 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: sitting on that back deck, and we started early in 106 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: the night, and we went late into the night telling memories. 107 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: And somewhere in that conversation it dawned on me, Rich, 108 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: I think that we cele debraded your birthday together. Twenty 109 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: years ago. We were in Cambridge, Cambridge University, we were 110 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: studying together, and I actually think I have a journal 111 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 1: to prove it. And I ran inside my house and 112 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 1: sure enough, I went through all my bookcases and I 113 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:03,720 Speaker 1: found it. And I came running back out on the 114 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: deck almost near midnight. I said, I found it, and 115 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: we started to open it up, and I had so 116 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: many different memories. But as I started to read this journal, 117 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: I was laughing at the frame of mind of my 118 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: twenty year old self. I got to the end of 119 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: the journal from Cambridge and I was coming back to 120 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: Louisiana for the summer, and I had made a list 121 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: of twenty things that I wanted to accomplish over the summer. 122 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: I mean, I brought this journal all the way from Miami. 123 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: Is anybody would anybody want to know what a twenty 124 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: year old college student wishes to accomplish in one summer? 125 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: You want to hear it? Okay, This is about to 126 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:53,239 Speaker 1: blow your mind. Things I want to do this summer. 127 00:07:54,640 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: Number one read the entire Bible. Might job Number two 128 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: learn Spanish. Now, God was trying to prepare me for Miami. 129 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:12,360 Speaker 1: Number three. Go to all the boys' games. Now five boys, 130 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: I mean my brothers. And that may seem like an 131 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: easy feet except for I have five brothers. That's a 132 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: lot of games in the summer. Number four. Become a 133 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: domestic goddess. That was a popular book. Okay, that has 134 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: just been released. Number five Read an etiquette book. Number six. 135 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: Have a good job. We don't want an ordinary job. 136 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 1: Can I get an amen? We want a good job? Right? 137 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 1: I do want a good job for the summer. Number seven. 138 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: Visit my best friend from college. Number eight exercise dash 139 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: arms defined. Number nine, Sing in the choir. Number ten, 140 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 1: Get involved with youth ministry. Hello. Number eleven. Record a 141 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: worship album. Yeah, let's throw that one in. Yes. Number thirteen. 142 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,600 Speaker 1: Surprise Mom and Dad on their twenty fifth anniversary with 143 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: a love song concert with my brothers. Number fourteen. Interview 144 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: my grandpa and my grandma about their life story. Number fifteen. 145 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 1: Hang out with my great grandfather and my great grandmother. 146 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: Number sixteen, go to the hospitals with my papa to 147 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 1: pray for people. Number seventeen, make a scrap book of 148 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: the summer. And number eighteen Can I get a drum roll? Please? 149 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:48,840 Speaker 1: We've got none other than orthodonist. Figure out a way 150 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: to straighten teeth without bracket braces. If you think that's 151 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: a pretty good list, come on, pick your hands together. 152 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: That's a pretty restive list, friends, What was I thinking? 153 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: That is a setup for disappointment. You've got eighteen things 154 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: that you want to accomplish in one summer. That is 155 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,240 Speaker 1: not a list for a summer. That is a list 156 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 1: for a decade twenty years later to the year. I 157 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: am just now stepping into some of the things that 158 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: I put on that list. I'm just now stepping into them. 159 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: And friends, I don't know if I'll ever be a 160 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 1: domestic goddess. Like everyone's story, mine has involved years and 161 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:49,680 Speaker 1: years of waiting. I know that you have your list too. 162 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:53,200 Speaker 1: We all have our list of what we are waiting 163 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: to step into, waiting not just to step into, but 164 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: what we're waiting to finish. And when we look at 165 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: the story of God, we see that God uses large 166 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:09,079 Speaker 1: spans of time, not just a single summer to accomplish 167 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: His will in his people and in your very life. Today. 168 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:15,720 Speaker 1: Come on, if you believe it today, why don't you 169 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: put your hands together. We serve a God that is 170 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 1: faithful every step of the way. And Isaiah prophesies they 171 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: they that wait for the Lord, They that wait for 172 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: the Lord, shall renew their strength. This is not a 173 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: birth verse. This is a life verse, because I need 174 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: the promise that as I wait upon the Lord, he 175 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: will renew me, not just to start the journey, but 176 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,600 Speaker 1: right there in the middle of the journey and until 177 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: I see him face to face. And I don't know 178 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:54,680 Speaker 1: about you, but I'm right there in the middle. I 179 00:11:54,760 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 1: turned forty this year. You know, scripturally forty represents trials 180 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: and testing. Oh praise God, what a great word to 181 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:11,000 Speaker 1: speak over my life this year. That's exactly what I 182 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,680 Speaker 1: was going for. But you look throughout scripture and you 183 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,320 Speaker 1: see forty represent trials and testing. You can look at 184 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: the life of Moses. You know, Moses spent forty years 185 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:24,239 Speaker 1: in Egypt. Then he spent forty years in the wilderness. 186 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: And you may think he was at the end, but 187 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: he has a burning bush experience that then catapults him 188 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: into the most important forty years of his life as 189 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 1: he leads God's people. And you may be like Moses. 190 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: You may be like Moses, thinking, oh, I'm at the end, 191 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: the great things of God are behind me, when you 192 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 1: have no idea You're just about to step into the 193 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:52,680 Speaker 1: very calling and purpose of God that He ordained for 194 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:58,319 Speaker 1: you before your life began. You have no idea what 195 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:03,560 Speaker 1: He's prepared for you. He prepared it for you. Or 196 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,680 Speaker 1: maybe you know good and well that you're in the middle. 197 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: You know that you are right there in the middle 198 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:15,960 Speaker 1: of the story, and friends, you are miserable. Can I 199 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: tell you today that I operated with this perspective for 200 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: many seasons in my life, moving to a city where 201 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: I didn't know anyone, walking through eight years of infertility, 202 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: starting a church. There have been many seasons of waiting 203 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 1: that I just wanted to fast forward through, that I 204 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: just wanted to get to the other side, though I 205 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 1: may not have admitted it or even been able to 206 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: articulate it until God got a hold of my heart 207 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: with a game changer. Waiting is not a season. Waiting 208 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 1: is life. So the question you and I have before 209 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:02,559 Speaker 1: us is this, will we live in the wait because 210 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:06,679 Speaker 1: there is life, and life abundantly, not at the finish line, 211 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,680 Speaker 1: not ten years from now, but right here, right now. 212 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: If you believe it today, somebody give God praise. In 213 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: this house we can live while we wait. Waiting isn't 214 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:27,720 Speaker 1: a curse. Waiting is an invitation. It's an invitation from 215 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:31,280 Speaker 1: the throne room of heaven. Charles Swindle once put it 216 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: like this. We don't like waiting, but that's when God 217 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: does some of his best work on our souls, some 218 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 1: of his best work. Hold up, wait, are you serious? 219 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: God does some of his best work while we wait. Well, 220 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: if that's the truth today, then how do we actually wait? 221 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:03,920 Speaker 1: How do we live in the wait? How do we 222 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 1: embrace the weight? And if waiting is truly life, then 223 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: how do we live right here, right now? Back in Louisiana, 224 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 1: I grew up with bonfires. Now I've had to explain 225 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 1: this to the people in Miami because bonfires are illegal 226 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: in Miami. But I have hope in you today. I 227 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: believe you know exactly what I'm talking about when I 228 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: say a bonfire. This is my favorite Friday night pastime. 229 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: We would pull the trucks up, We would pull the 230 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: chairs out, you get a lot of wood, you light 231 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: that thing on fire, and that bonfire is the center 232 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: of attention. Everyone is facing the fire, and as it burns, 233 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: you make memories and you don't want the night to 234 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: end because you've been looking forward to Friday night all 235 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 1: week long. Can I just tell you today, we are 236 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 1: conditioned in culture to live for the bonfire moments. We 237 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 1: are conditioned in culture to wait for the bonfire moments 238 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: that say, Oh, I'm just gonna wait until I get 239 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:19,560 Speaker 1: to the other side of this trial. I'm just gonna 240 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 1: wait until I get through this wilderness. When my life 241 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 1: is a bonfire, when I'm blazing with the glory of God, 242 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:32,560 Speaker 1: light me up. I'm on fire. But friends, what if 243 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 1: your walk with God was purposed to look more like 244 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:42,680 Speaker 1: smoke than a flame, because you seem I grew up 245 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,560 Speaker 1: with bonfires. I love bonfires. But my husband, when I 246 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: met and when we were seventeen, he loves to burn incense. 247 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: For the last twenty three years, we've been burning incense 248 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: in our house. People walk into my home to this 249 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: day and the first thing they say, they don't notice 250 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: the furniture, they don't notice the decor. They say, what 251 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:15,960 Speaker 1: is that smell. It's not what they see, it's what 252 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: they sense. It's not anything that they notice with their 253 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:26,640 Speaker 1: physical eyes, but it's a fragrance that is intoxicating. They 254 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: can't even find out where it is or where it's burning, 255 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:34,480 Speaker 1: but they notice it from the moment they walk through 256 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: the door. You know, the word incense comes from the 257 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 1: Latin word incend there and it simply means to burn. 258 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:44,920 Speaker 1: Do you know? The incense is found throughout the scriptures 259 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,640 Speaker 1: that in the very beginning that God speaks to Moses 260 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: in the books of Exodus, and he tells Moses, he says, 261 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:55,199 Speaker 1: I want you to set up an incense altar in 262 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:59,640 Speaker 1: my house, and every morning and every evening, I want 263 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: you Aaron the priest, to bring an incense offering. So 264 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:09,679 Speaker 1: every morning there would be an altar in the Holy Place, 265 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: and in the Holy Place, Aarin the priest would bring 266 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:19,439 Speaker 1: the incense and he would pour the incense on the altar. 267 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: And as he poured the incense on the altar, on 268 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: the heat source, that is the altar, an amazing thing 269 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: would happen. A fragrance would begin to rise, smoke would 270 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:36,239 Speaker 1: begin to rise, and Jewish tradition tells us that this 271 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: smoke didn't just fill the Holy Place, but it filled 272 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:43,919 Speaker 1: the entire surrounding area up to a quarter of a mile. 273 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,920 Speaker 1: The smoke was so thick that every single person who 274 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 1: came to worship God, as they worship God, the fragrance 275 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: would soap into their clothes and they would go about 276 00:18:55,200 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: their daily duties carrying the fragrance of God. The molk 277 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:06,119 Speaker 1: represents the worship and the prayers of God ascending to 278 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: Heaven every morning and every evening. That as you laid 279 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,920 Speaker 1: down your little what you think doesn't have any worth, 280 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 1: what you think isn't a bonfire blazing with the glory 281 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:22,679 Speaker 1: of God. I've got news for you today. All He 282 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 1: asks for you to do is release what is in 283 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 1: your hand, and it becomes a fragrant sacrifice that permeates 284 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:35,959 Speaker 1: the air, touching everything in its midst. You have the 285 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:43,239 Speaker 1: ability today in the weight to bring your little and 286 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:49,200 Speaker 1: you can watch it rise. The priests would set their 287 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: incense on the fire, and when they did, it would 288 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: release an aroma and the smoke would lift high towards Heaven. 289 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: Scripture us that our life is like a vapor. It's 290 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: a vapor. It's here today, it's gone tomorrow a lot 291 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:16,920 Speaker 1: like the smoke of incense. Here's the invitation. Bring what 292 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: you have to God in the weight and watch as 293 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:25,680 Speaker 1: he transforms it, because the powerful thing is that incense. 294 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:30,879 Speaker 1: It is not the fire, but when it's placed on 295 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: the heat source, the very chemical components of what is 296 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:40,000 Speaker 1: laid down transforms into a completely different thing. You are 297 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: looking at your little in the weight, going, this is 298 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 1: all I'll ever have, God is going, Will you release 299 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: it to me and watch what I can do with it? 300 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 1: Because they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. 301 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:56,200 Speaker 1: They will mount up with wings alike eagles and romans. 302 00:20:56,280 --> 00:21:00,959 Speaker 1: Reminds us. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and so, in 303 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: view of God's mercy, to offer your body as living sacrifice, 304 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and 305 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:17,800 Speaker 1: proper worship. You're a living sacrifice. You want to know 306 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,400 Speaker 1: how to live in the weight. You gotta lay your 307 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,879 Speaker 1: life down as a sacrifice, because it's only when you 308 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: become a sacrifice that you actually live. You see, we 309 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:31,920 Speaker 1: want the fire, but God says, I want the surrender. 310 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: We want to receive, but God says, first, you've gotta 311 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,400 Speaker 1: lay it all down. We want to see the end 312 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,240 Speaker 1: of the story. But God says, will you see what 313 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: I want to do right here, right now, in and 314 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:50,040 Speaker 1: through you come on, If anybody's got a praise in 315 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 1: the house, why don't you lift up a shout of 316 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: honor to God. He's here right now, He's here in 317 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 1: the weight, he's here in the wait. It's a slow 318 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:13,439 Speaker 1: burn for those that wait. I grew up celebrating the 319 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: fourth July with a million fireworks. My brothers and I. 320 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: We jump in the car, we drive down the street. 321 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,639 Speaker 1: Stop it a little set up on the side of 322 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:26,200 Speaker 1: the road by everything that we could afford. Come back 323 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: to the house and set those babies off. Now, the 324 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,679 Speaker 1: scariest thought is when you light a firework and then 325 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 1: you step back and you're waiting for that thing to 326 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:46,000 Speaker 1: pop off, and you go, is that thing lit? And 327 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:49,120 Speaker 1: what do you do? You don't run up. You tiptoe up, 328 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:55,960 Speaker 1: cause you know it may be a slow burn, but 329 00:22:56,119 --> 00:23:01,159 Speaker 1: it is burning towards an expected outcome that is gonna 330 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:08,639 Speaker 1: exchange everything. I want to speak faith to your heart today, 331 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 1: your life, your faith, your perseverance, your trials, your wilderness 332 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 1: is not the end game. You are burning towards an 333 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: expected outcome. God has already authored the end of this story, 334 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: and you don't have to wonder if he's gonna carry 335 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:33,000 Speaker 1: it through, because he comes through every single time. But 336 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:39,200 Speaker 1: maybe today you're tiptoeing forward and it's not with expectation, 337 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: it's with a heart that has become disappointed in the way. 338 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:50,879 Speaker 1: Have you ever wondered if your faith was still ignited? 339 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,959 Speaker 1: Have you ever wondered if you actually have what it 340 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: takes to get through the wilderness of the weight, to 341 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,960 Speaker 1: get through the slow burn when life seems to be 342 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:08,639 Speaker 1: crawling and all you want to do is accelerate and 343 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 1: move forward. I've got good news for you today. You 344 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: may feel burned out, You may feel like you don't 345 00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: have what it takes. You may be asking yourself today, 346 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: is my faith still lit? Good news for you today 347 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:27,160 Speaker 1: is you're not the fire, and you can get reignited 348 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: every single moment of the journey. All you gotta do 349 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: is get back to that altar and lay your life 350 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: down once again, and the ignition is on. The fire 351 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:47,880 Speaker 1: starts to blaze, the faith starts to rise. Today, God says, 352 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:52,400 Speaker 1: I want to light the fire within you every moment 353 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: of the slow burn, Come on giving praise in this house. 354 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:04,359 Speaker 1: He's with you. He's with you, He's with you. You 355 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,280 Speaker 1: don't want to be the fire, then the pressure is 356 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:11,160 Speaker 1: on you to sustain it. No, we're not the fire. 357 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:16,439 Speaker 1: He's the fire. He's the all consuming fire. We just 358 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: bring our little every morning, throughout the day, and every evening, 359 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:25,359 Speaker 1: and we watched as he transforms it. They that wait 360 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:31,879 Speaker 1: again and again and again and again. As you find 361 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:38,479 Speaker 1: yourself surrendering to him, you will renew your strength. But 362 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 1: what is this offering that we bring? I think it's 363 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:46,240 Speaker 1: interesting what God tells Moses to bring. Exodus, chapter thirty, 364 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: verse thirty five speaks very specifically of what our offering 365 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:55,480 Speaker 1: should be. The fragrant sacrifice of incense was to be 366 00:25:55,640 --> 00:26:03,400 Speaker 1: three things, salted and pure and sacred. Friends. If God 367 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: said the offering should be salted, pure and sacred in Exodus, 368 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: I think it's pretty incredible that today that's what our 369 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: very lives should also be. That our very lives, our 370 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 1: offering is sacred. Friends, There is only one blend that 371 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: was allowed in God's house. You couldn't burn it anywhere else. 372 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,440 Speaker 1: If you were burning in your house, you got cut off. 373 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 1: But I know when it comes to my offering for God, 374 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:32,200 Speaker 1: there's a peace in my heart that only belongs to him. 375 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: He is the central focus of my life. That sacred 376 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,439 Speaker 1: space is reserved for him and him alone, and in 377 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,440 Speaker 1: the weight I keep him front and center. It's not 378 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:48,199 Speaker 1: just sacred, it's pure. See our offering to God. It 379 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,840 Speaker 1: isn't a supplement in the slow burn. It's not just 380 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 1: a piece of encouragement or a crutch. No, friends, this 381 00:26:56,359 --> 00:27:00,600 Speaker 1: is pure and complete surrendered to God. This is not 382 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: Jesus pless, self help, Jesus pless, horoscopes, Jesus pless this 383 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:12,359 Speaker 1: or Jesus pless that. It's Jesus and only Jesus that 384 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 1: breaks the shames, that creates the community of life, that 385 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 1: frees me from my bondage. It's a pure sacrifice. But 386 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,639 Speaker 1: it's not just sacred, and it's not just pure. It's salted. 387 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 1: Somebody says, salted salt is actually the ingredient that allows 388 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:41,120 Speaker 1: it to keep on burning. Salt is a preserver. The 389 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: salt keeps it as a steady slow burn that lasts 390 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:51,040 Speaker 1: and elongates the fragrance impact. God says that we're the 391 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: salt of the earth. Maybe today in the slow burn, 392 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:56,199 Speaker 1: you go. I don't know. I feel like I've lost 393 00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: my saltiness. Do you know how long salt lasts? In fact, 394 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: let me ask you, when does salt expire? Have you 395 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:18,480 Speaker 1: ever googled it? I did. Never. Salt never expires. You 396 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 1: think you're past your prime, You're just getting started. You're 397 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:28,119 Speaker 1: gonna be fresh at twenty, fresh at thirty, fresh at forty, freship, 398 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:34,959 Speaker 1: fifty freshed sixty every season of your life, your offering 399 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: is gonna bring a freshness to the world. You were 400 00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 1: created to last because your very life is a preserver, 401 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,120 Speaker 1: and as you lay it on the altar, the fragrance 402 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: is released. Friends, I came to encourage you in the 403 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: slow burn of life. While you are waiting right here, 404 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: right now, there is a fragrance to your faith. Smell 405 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: has saying power. It has in aroma. Did you know 406 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: that your nose has the ability to decipher over one 407 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:18,160 Speaker 1: trillion different sense and that sent is most closely tied 408 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:22,720 Speaker 1: out of all your senses, to your memory. So God 409 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,480 Speaker 1: was doing something, wasn't he? With that incense offering. Every 410 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 1: time you smell that aroma, you're gonna think of the 411 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: worship of God. Every time you smell that aroma. You're 412 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 1: gonna think of the prayers and the dependence upon the Father. 413 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 1: There is a fragrance today to your faith. This past month, 414 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 1: I had some interviews in Nashville. I wrote my first book. 415 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 1: It's called Slowburn, and I had the title over ten 416 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:52,440 Speaker 1: years ago, but I've been waiting because it was in 417 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,560 Speaker 1: the waiting that the message was actually written. And I 418 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: was in Nashville doing some interviews for Slowburn and I've 419 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 1: my youngest son, five months old with me, and we 420 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: got to the airport and I had rented a car 421 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:07,960 Speaker 1: and I went to pick up my car. It was 422 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 1: gonna be a nice car. As I opened up the car, 423 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, this fragrance hit me. Woo. They 424 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:21,719 Speaker 1: had been burning something and it wasn't incence. I am like, 425 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:25,880 Speaker 1: oh my goodness. I try to get in that car. 426 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:30,960 Speaker 1: I'm like, my baby cannot smell this. But I had 427 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: to go straight from the airport to the interviews, so 428 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:35,960 Speaker 1: I cranked the windows down and I'm driving down the 429 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 1: street and I'm just like, oh Lord help me. I'm like, 430 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: when I get there for this interview, they're gonna smell me, 431 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: and I'm gonna get out of the car and say, hey, 432 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: I'm here for the interview on my new book. It's 433 00:30:47,720 --> 00:31:01,520 Speaker 1: called slow Burn. I'm sitting in my car. I'm like, 434 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:05,280 Speaker 1: I don't even know the person who is in this 435 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,960 Speaker 1: car before me. I've never even seen them. They're not 436 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:18,680 Speaker 1: even with me today, and yet their life is getting 437 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 1: on me. And today, all of us we can look 438 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: at our own life and we carry the fragrance of 439 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:33,920 Speaker 1: generational trauma, of labels that people have placed on us, 440 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 1: on pain and circumstances that were far beyond our control. 441 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,840 Speaker 1: And that person isn't even in our life anymore, but 442 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:50,800 Speaker 1: the fragrance, the fragrance remains. But I'm so grateful today 443 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 1: that we too can say, like Paul, thanks be to 444 00:31:54,520 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 1: God who always leads us to triumph and through spreads 445 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 1: the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ everywhere, because it's 446 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 1: at the name of Jesus that old things pass away. 447 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 1: Let me say it this way. Old fragrances pass away, 448 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: old labels pass away, old generational curses pass away. And 449 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 1: at the name of Jesus, you now bear a fragrance 450 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:32,320 Speaker 1: of faith, of joy, of peace, of forgiveness, of long suffering. 451 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:36,640 Speaker 1: In the slow Burn You've got a sweet fragrance of 452 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 1: the strength of Almighty God. Oh, somebody praise him in 453 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 1: this house. You are marked. You are marked because Jesus 454 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,880 Speaker 1: he bade the ultimate sacrifice. You see this picture of 455 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:58,240 Speaker 1: the incense offering in Exodus. It's just a parable of 456 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: the reality of heaven. Because Jesus two thousand years ago 457 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 1: came to this earth. He laid his very life down. 458 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:10,400 Speaker 1: He didn't offer instance. He offered his own blood in 459 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:14,160 Speaker 1: the Holy of Holies. And when he said it is finished, 460 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:16,920 Speaker 1: we know that for every person who puts their faith 461 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,920 Speaker 1: and trust in Jesus, that our life is marked by 462 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:25,920 Speaker 1: the very fragrance of God. And when you lay down 463 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 1: your little on the altar, when you surrender your life 464 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,840 Speaker 1: to Him, in the slow burn, in the wilderness, in 465 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 1: the waiting, while you are waiting, a beautiful exchange happens. 466 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:41,840 Speaker 1: He will give you beauty for your ashes. You feel 467 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:45,000 Speaker 1: burned out. He wants to give you beauty for your ashes. 468 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 1: He will give you the oil of joy for your mourning. 469 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 1: He will give you a garment of praise for your 470 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:56,400 Speaker 1: spirit of despair. If you just say, all I have 471 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 1: are tears today, he says, those who sow in tears, 472 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:19,719 Speaker 1: we'll reap with shouts of joy. His name is Jesus, Jesus, Jeesus, Jeeesus. 473 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:29,880 Speaker 1: There's just something of that that name. You're my master. 474 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 3: Nice save you, Jeesus, like the fragrance after the rain. 475 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:51,680 Speaker 3: Oh Jeesus, he's my Jesus. 476 00:34:50,160 --> 00:35:05,120 Speaker 1: He's joy Jeesus. Let all heaven under earth pro clue keezay, 477 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:25,400 Speaker 1: kingdoms shell passit that there's something that that name. You see. 478 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 1: I don't think it's gonna be what you wear that 479 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:33,359 Speaker 1: people say there's something about her. I don't think it's 480 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:36,120 Speaker 1: gonna be your house, or the car you drive, or 481 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:38,960 Speaker 1: the label that goes in front of your name. I 482 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,760 Speaker 1: think people are gonna look at you and say there's 483 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:48,160 Speaker 1: something about her. There's something about him. I can't see it, 484 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:52,719 Speaker 1: but I sense it, and I gotta know what it is. 485 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:57,719 Speaker 1: Because you carry the fragrance of the hope of the 486 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:02,120 Speaker 1: risen Savior, and with that out the word, you are 487 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:07,719 Speaker 1: drawing people to the very life that you have found. Oh, 488 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:13,400 Speaker 1: given praise in this house. There's something about that name. 489 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:24,640 Speaker 1: There's something about that name. Today you can make an exchange. 490 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:32,000 Speaker 1: They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. 491 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:35,360 Speaker 1: They shall mount up with wings like eagles. When you 492 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:38,839 Speaker 1: lay it down, you rise. When you lay it down, 493 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:42,680 Speaker 1: you rise. I'm reminded that he says like an eagle. 494 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:46,560 Speaker 1: Why does God say like an eagle, the regal king 495 00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:51,040 Speaker 1: of the skies. When you study eagles, it's really interesting 496 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:54,799 Speaker 1: that they've got one of the largest wingspans out of 497 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,680 Speaker 1: all the birds, but they don't use those wings to 498 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,640 Speaker 1: keep themselves up in the air for five to eight 499 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:04,480 Speaker 1: hours without touching down. Yeah, the littler birds can just 500 00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:07,680 Speaker 1: beat their wings trying to stay a flight, But the 501 00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:12,879 Speaker 1: eagle catches wind, the eagle source and that you will 502 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:17,520 Speaker 1: rarely see an egle beat its wings because it utilizes 503 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:21,720 Speaker 1: the wind to carry it. I'm talking about the breath 504 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:26,799 Speaker 1: of God, the wind of God, the ruok Numa. I'm 505 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:30,359 Speaker 1: talking about the wind that visited the upper room two 506 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:35,200 Speaker 1: thousand years ago and ignited the local church. That fills 507 00:37:35,239 --> 00:37:38,360 Speaker 1: you and I the day that we don't have to strive, 508 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:42,320 Speaker 1: we don't have to work our way into the power 509 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:47,000 Speaker 1: and the authority of God, but we can catch wind. 510 00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:54,960 Speaker 1: Come on giving praise in the house. Are you weary? 511 00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:59,799 Speaker 1: Are you heavy laden? He says, I will give you rest. 512 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:04,399 Speaker 1: Then I'm not giving you rest by grounding you. I'm 513 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:08,520 Speaker 1: giving you rest by lifting you. I've got a wind 514 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:12,240 Speaker 1: that is about to sweep into your spirit and lift 515 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:16,360 Speaker 1: you up to a higher ground for a higher view. 516 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:20,320 Speaker 1: So you're not looking up at your mountains any longer. 517 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:25,080 Speaker 1: You don't feel like a grasshopper looking up at the big, 518 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:29,399 Speaker 1: big boulders of life, but rather you're looking down going 519 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:33,680 Speaker 1: the things. They used to be big and intimidate my life. Oh, 520 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:37,040 Speaker 1: now they're small because I can see the land, and 521 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:41,960 Speaker 1: the land is mine. You promised it. I'm gonna take it. Oh, 522 00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,759 Speaker 1: come on, if you'd say I'm taking it, why don't 523 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:49,799 Speaker 1: you give away? In this house, he's gonna lift you. 524 00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:55,040 Speaker 1: He's gonna lift you. They that wait upon the Lord, 525 00:38:55,880 --> 00:39:03,040 Speaker 1: wait upon the Lord. In my waiting, eight years of infertility. 526 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:07,000 Speaker 1: In the middle of my waiting, someone spoke a word 527 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:11,080 Speaker 1: over me. They said this to me. They said, I 528 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:13,319 Speaker 1: was in an atmosphere of faith, just like this. I 529 00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:16,600 Speaker 1: was seated in one of the rows, and a woman 530 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:18,799 Speaker 1: i'd never met sat next to me, and in a 531 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:21,240 Speaker 1: moment of prayer, she grabbed my hand and she whispered 532 00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:23,960 Speaker 1: in my ear. She said, you are gonna travel the 533 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:28,000 Speaker 1: world preaching the Gospel with a baby in one hand 534 00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:37,840 Speaker 1: and a Bible in the other. I didn't go home 535 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,400 Speaker 1: and take a pregnancy test and find out I was pregnant. 536 00:39:43,239 --> 00:39:48,600 Speaker 1: I carried that word in my heart for years. I 537 00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:50,560 Speaker 1: tucked it away. I didn't know what to do with it, 538 00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:54,640 Speaker 1: said God, I'm gonna keep trusting you. For years, I 539 00:39:54,719 --> 00:39:59,760 Speaker 1: walked through the weight, wondering, God, is this going to happen? 540 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:05,240 Speaker 1: And eight years in eight years in God did a miracle. 541 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:14,440 Speaker 1: God gave me my first son, Wyat Wesley Wilkerson. But 542 00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,920 Speaker 1: he didn't stop there, because then God gave me a 543 00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:23,200 Speaker 1: second son. Then God gave me a daughter, Wail and 544 00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:32,759 Speaker 1: Wesley the joy of my heart, lady. And this year, 545 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:38,080 Speaker 1: at the age of forty, friends, I got the shock 546 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:43,720 Speaker 1: of my life. Because we serve a God that redeems time. 547 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:47,480 Speaker 1: We serve a God that is not confined by time. 548 00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:51,719 Speaker 1: It's a tool that he uses, He created it. It's his. 549 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:54,600 Speaker 1: He can do anything that he wants, any moment that 550 00:40:54,719 --> 00:40:57,359 Speaker 1: he wants. And let me tell you, as you wait 551 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:01,879 Speaker 1: upon the Lord, he's still doing me the miracles. He's 552 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:11,160 Speaker 1: still healing, he's still restoring, he's still bringing new life. 553 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:15,040 Speaker 1: I have to stay true to my testimony. I came 554 00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:19,120 Speaker 1: here to declare to you that God has not forsaken you. 555 00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:22,279 Speaker 1: He has not left you, He has not forgotten you. 556 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:27,040 Speaker 1: His eye is always on you while you were waiting. 557 00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:31,600 Speaker 1: He's been working while you were waiting. He's been lifting 558 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:34,960 Speaker 1: you to see a higher view, not just your own life, 559 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:39,920 Speaker 1: but to see the story that He is telling throughout history. 560 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:43,960 Speaker 1: And little boy, this is your testimony already. They that 561 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:48,319 Speaker 1: weigh upon the Lord, it's my life, first passed down 562 00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:51,839 Speaker 1: from Isaiah, and now I pass it to you. They 563 00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:55,359 Speaker 1: that weigh upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They 564 00:41:55,360 --> 00:41:58,560 Speaker 1: will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run 565 00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:02,160 Speaker 1: and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. 566 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:04,640 Speaker 1: Come on, if that's the promise for your life, will 567 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:20,520 Speaker 1: you give God praise. The truth is today that some 568 00:42:20,600 --> 00:42:23,400 Speaker 1: of you in this room you're going don shri But 569 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:27,640 Speaker 1: that miracle hasn't come to pass for me. Well, I 570 00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:30,800 Speaker 1: want to tell you that I didn't have the revelation 571 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:33,200 Speaker 1: of living in the wait. Once I held my son 572 00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:36,160 Speaker 1: for the first time, that he met me right in 573 00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:39,319 Speaker 1: the eight years of waiting, and he showed me what 574 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:42,520 Speaker 1: living looks like. He showed me that I have a 575 00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:46,840 Speaker 1: testimony far before I hold my baby in my arms. 576 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:49,920 Speaker 1: But just like the maketriarchs and the patriarchs of our faith, 577 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:53,800 Speaker 1: that they greeted their inheritance from Afar, that they died 578 00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:57,120 Speaker 1: while still believing that they did not hold in their 579 00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:01,120 Speaker 1: hands what was promised, but rather they saw through the 580 00:43:01,239 --> 00:43:04,960 Speaker 1: lens of eternity, and they greeted their inheritance from Afar. 581 00:43:05,719 --> 00:43:07,880 Speaker 1: I read that in the Weight, and the words leapt 582 00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:10,600 Speaker 1: off the page, and I got a picture for my weight. 583 00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:13,760 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, my arms were empty. I didn't have a baby. 584 00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:17,160 Speaker 1: But those arms that are empty, they make gray hands 585 00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:20,760 Speaker 1: of worship to wave through the lens of faith and say, 586 00:43:21,120 --> 00:43:24,959 Speaker 1: you've lifted me high enough not just to see this life, 587 00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:28,880 Speaker 1: but to see eternity that awaits, where there will be 588 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:32,279 Speaker 1: no pain, there will be no tears, there will be 589 00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:36,600 Speaker 1: no sorrow, and there will be no unmet longing in 590 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:41,600 Speaker 1: my life. Because while you were waiting, he was renewing you. 591 00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:45,160 Speaker 1: And while you were waiting, every step of the way 592 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:49,040 Speaker 1: towards eternity, you were being lifted on the wings of eagles. 593 00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:53,040 Speaker 1: While you were waiting, you would run, not grow weary. 594 00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:59,720 Speaker 1: While you were waiting, you would walk and not faint. Today, 595 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:03,200 Speaker 1: the spirit of God says to you, my grace is 596 00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:08,360 Speaker 1: sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 597 00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:12,279 Speaker 1: You bring your little to me, and you've watched me 598 00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:17,160 Speaker 1: transform you. Right here, right now, Somebody give God praise 599 00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:28,080 Speaker 1: in this house. He's faithful, He's able. Would you just 600 00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:30,960 Speaker 1: stand to your feet in this room and bow your heads, 601 00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:40,840 Speaker 1: close your eyes. There are people in this room that 602 00:44:40,880 --> 00:44:46,760 Speaker 1: would say, don Shri, I'm in the way. You're watching 603 00:44:46,800 --> 00:44:53,040 Speaker 1: online today, Don Shri. I'm in the way, and it 604 00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:57,000 Speaker 1: feels like I'm in exile. It feels like I'm in 605 00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:02,319 Speaker 1: a wilderness. I'm peer holding on. I don't think I 606 00:45:02,360 --> 00:45:09,680 Speaker 1: have the strength. You're right, you don't. But he does, 607 00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:15,359 Speaker 1: and He has brought you to this moment because he 608 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:24,920 Speaker 1: adores you. Before your life began, he ordained you to 609 00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:27,400 Speaker 1: be filled with the wind of his spirit, to be 610 00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:31,719 Speaker 1: lifted to a higher view above your obstacles and impossibilities, 611 00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:39,640 Speaker 1: and to know that as his child, he will faithfully 612 00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:42,440 Speaker 1: leave you every step of the way until you are 613 00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:47,120 Speaker 1: face to face. Today, I want to pray first of 614 00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:49,239 Speaker 1: all for people in this room who would You're just 615 00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:54,120 Speaker 1: weary you're watching online and you are exhausted with life. 616 00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:56,480 Speaker 1: You've been beating your wings, You've been given it all 617 00:45:56,520 --> 00:46:01,319 Speaker 1: you got, But today you're gonna catch wind. If that's you, 618 00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:03,719 Speaker 1: I want to pray for you. Would you just lift 619 00:46:03,719 --> 00:46:06,000 Speaker 1: your hand, If you'd say, I need the renewal of 620 00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:09,440 Speaker 1: the spirit of God right there in your car and 621 00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:13,520 Speaker 1: your home and your workplace, Just acknowledge God's presence that 622 00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:16,440 Speaker 1: is there with you right now. If that's you, just 623 00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:19,720 Speaker 1: lift up both of your hands. Lord, Today we surrender 624 00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:24,080 Speaker 1: our lives. Lord. Thank you that every day, every moment, 625 00:46:24,280 --> 00:46:27,279 Speaker 1: morning and evening and throughout our days, we can come 626 00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:31,440 Speaker 1: to you, the all consuming Fire and God when we 627 00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:35,360 Speaker 1: feel like we are at our end. Lord, I thank 628 00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:39,600 Speaker 1: you God that you don't snuff us out. But Lord, 629 00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:42,759 Speaker 1: you light us once again with your faithfulness. You fill 630 00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:45,800 Speaker 1: us with the power that conquered the grave, the power 631 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:50,240 Speaker 1: of your spirit, the power of God. Lord. I thank 632 00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:53,160 Speaker 1: you that right now, as people have their hands raised, Lord, 633 00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:56,200 Speaker 1: you're meeting them right where they are. Lord, You're renewing 634 00:46:56,239 --> 00:46:59,480 Speaker 1: their dreams. You're renewing their heart. God, You're giving them 635 00:46:59,520 --> 00:47:03,160 Speaker 1: a high vision of the situation and the season of life. 636 00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:05,640 Speaker 1: They are in and Lord, through the lens of faith, 637 00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:08,880 Speaker 1: we wave to our inheritance from Afar. Lord. We know 638 00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,479 Speaker 1: that we will see you face to face. But while 639 00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:17,359 Speaker 1: we've been waiting, you're shaping us. You're forming us. Lord, 640 00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:22,520 Speaker 1: You're transforming us by your grace. Also, I'd love to 641 00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:26,319 Speaker 1: give an opportunity for people that don't know Jesus. If 642 00:47:26,360 --> 00:47:30,280 Speaker 1: you're watching, you've never made Jesus your Lord and savior. 643 00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:37,200 Speaker 1: You're in this room and you have some other things 644 00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:39,520 Speaker 1: that have first priority in your life. But you say 645 00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:43,440 Speaker 1: today I'm making Jesus my king. On the counter three, 646 00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:45,919 Speaker 1: I'd love for you to raise your hand. One. This 647 00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:48,799 Speaker 1: is between you and Jesus too. Don't fit off a 648 00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:52,120 Speaker 1: decision for tomorrow that God he brought you to this 649 00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:56,759 Speaker 1: moment today to make three. Would you lift your hand. 650 00:47:56,880 --> 00:48:00,919 Speaker 1: You say, I'm choosing Jesus. I'm choosing Jesus. I see 651 00:48:00,920 --> 00:48:04,480 Speaker 1: your hands, I see your hands wherever you are. As 652 00:48:04,560 --> 00:48:09,600 Speaker 1: you acknowledge that God sees your heart, you know what 653 00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:11,759 Speaker 1: all of us are gonna come around. You're gonna we're 654 00:48:11,760 --> 00:48:15,040 Speaker 1: gonna lift our hands together and surrender. Would you pray 655 00:48:15,040 --> 00:48:18,720 Speaker 1: this prayer with me? Say dear Jesus today I choose 656 00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:25,880 Speaker 1: to throw my life into your hands. I'm celebrating your rescue. 657 00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:30,480 Speaker 1: I believe you died for me, that you rose again, 658 00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:35,960 Speaker 1: forgive me of my sin, wash me clean. I want 659 00:48:35,960 --> 00:48:38,600 Speaker 1: to walk with you, I want to talk with you. 660 00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:42,960 Speaker 1: I love you. Lord in Jesus' name, Come on, And 661 00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:47,000 Speaker 1: everybody said, Amen, Amen, come on. Can Jesus give God 662 00:48:47,040 --> 00:48:49,480 Speaker 1: a shout of praise? God bless you. 663 00:48:52,680 --> 00:48:55,200 Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of 664 00:48:55,239 --> 00:48:58,239 Speaker 2: you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of 665 00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:01,200 Speaker 2: you that this ministry is possible. You can click the 666 00:49:01,239 --> 00:49:04,960 Speaker 2: link in the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch 667 00:49:05,120 --> 00:49:08,400 Speaker 2: dot org slash podcast for more information and if you 668 00:49:08,480 --> 00:49:11,719 Speaker 2: enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it 669 00:49:11,760 --> 00:49:14,040 Speaker 2: with your friends. You can click the share button, take 670 00:49:14,040 --> 00:49:16,400 Speaker 2: a screenshot and share it on your social stories and 671 00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:19,319 Speaker 2: tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God 672 00:49:19,360 --> 00:49:24,719 Speaker 2: bless you.