Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
Speaker 2: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
Speaker 2: gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.
Speaker 2: Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1: Today.
Speaker 2: I'm going to do exactly what I said I would
Speaker 2: do last week, and I'm going to continue in the
Speaker 2: stream of teaching that we started. And I'd like to
Speaker 2: read you a scripture and then I'll sit you down
Speaker 2: and then I'll tell you a story. And then you
Speaker 2: get excited, you'll stand up, You'll be shouting, throwing stuff
Speaker 2: at the stage, and the Lord will be glorified. Now,
Speaker 2: I'm not going to exegete this verse, but just to
Speaker 2: set the table. From Revelation, chapter three, Verse twenty, Jesus said,
Speaker 2: here I am. I stand at the door and knock.
Speaker 2: If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I
Speaker 2: will come in and eat with that person, and they
Speaker 2: with me. I want to teach you a skill today
Speaker 2: that I know is going to help you to pursue
Speaker 2: everything that God has put in your heart in the
Speaker 2: coming year. In the days ahead, and it's something that
Speaker 2: I've had to apply to my life. So such as
Speaker 2: I have, I give unto you. I want to teach
Speaker 2: you about the skill of knocking through the know.
Speaker 1: Knocking through the know.
Speaker 2: And let's pray one more time that God would saturate
Speaker 2: our hearts with his word.
Speaker 1: Today you said you were here. Lord, We take you
Speaker 1: at your word.
Speaker 2: Whatever mountain we're standing on, whatever valley we're going through,
Speaker 2: you're with us.
Speaker 1: We thank you.
Speaker 2: Emanuel made flesh, make this word flesh.
Speaker 1: Today. I offer myself to you. Now.
Speaker 2: I'm just five foot eight and a half and I
Speaker 2: don't know that much, but you can have my vocal cords,
Speaker 2: my lips, my tongue, my mind. I offer it to you.
Speaker 2: I prayed that every person who logged on today or
Speaker 2: came to church would get exactly what they need from you,
Speaker 2: maybe not even what they asked for, but what they
Speaker 2: need from you. I trust you to do it. I
Speaker 2: thank you in advance in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, you
Speaker 2: may be seated one day when I finished my preaching
Speaker 2: ministry and go to take my rest with Moses and
Speaker 2: Elijah and Charles Spurgeon and Billy Graham.
Speaker 1: I know that probably I won't be in all.
Speaker 2: These books as a preacher where they're quoting my sermons
Speaker 2: one hundred years from now. I don't even really feel
Speaker 2: like that's my intention. I'm satisfied, honestly, as a preacher,
Speaker 2: not if they put me in a book for one
Speaker 2: hundred years from now. I'm not saying anything that deep
Speaker 2: up here, and I'm not making any of this up
Speaker 2: up here before people have already said it. I'm satisfied
Speaker 2: just if I can get you to put it on
Speaker 2: a sticky note and put it on a mirror in
Speaker 2: your house and it can get you through Monday. And
Speaker 2: I know that might sound like a low goal, but
Speaker 2: let's be honest, with all the voices, opinions and insights,
Speaker 2: insights that are flooding our phones and our minds and
Speaker 2: our lives, even if we could just get a word
Speaker 2: to get us through the week, that's a powerful thing.
Speaker 2: And last week I did something that was so simple
Speaker 2: it felt almost silly. I did notice, though, that the
Speaker 2: simpler stuff is stickier sometimes so in order to get
Speaker 2: the message to stick sometimes not because I don't respect
Speaker 2: your intelligence. There's nothing I hate more than a preacher
Speaker 2: who will just pander to the audience, trying to get
Speaker 2: a laugh or a shout and really not saying anything
Speaker 2: of substance. I'm not aiming to be that either, trust me.
Speaker 2: But just so we can have a handle to carry
Speaker 2: the suitcase out with, I'll try to give you something
Speaker 2: to think about. Last week I was getting you to
Speaker 2: think about where in your life have you been saying
Speaker 2: one day when and I held up this very note card,
Speaker 2: one day when I get a bigger house, We're gonna
Speaker 2: have some people over. We're gonna make some friends one
Speaker 2: day when we get a bigger house, because we don't
Speaker 2: have a big enough house right now for them. But
Speaker 2: one day when we get we're gonna entertain. One day
Speaker 2: when we get these kids out the house, that's when
Speaker 2: we're gonna start making some friendships and everything. And then
Speaker 2: you die lonely and with a clean house, a small one,
Speaker 2: and because you have to step out in order to expand,
Speaker 2: and you have to start with what you have in
Speaker 2: order to see what it can be. I am preaching already.
Speaker 2: Let he who have an ear to hear hear what
Speaker 2: the to saying to the church. I want you to
Speaker 2: have a vision for your life beyond today and so
Speaker 2: does God. That's why he said in Jeremiah twenty nine
Speaker 2: to eleven, I know the plans I have for you,
Speaker 2: plans to give you a hope and the future. So
Speaker 2: it's wonderful to dream about that bigger house, or the
Speaker 2: resources to really be able to do the things God
Speaker 2: has put in your heart, or the things you would
Speaker 2: enjoy doing, or create the experiences that you want your
Speaker 2: family to have to send them to college and they
Speaker 2: don't have to pay it off until they're ninety seven,
Speaker 2: to be able to step into a season of your
Speaker 2: life that's not just such a struggle to survive all
Speaker 2: the time. I join my faith with yours for all
Speaker 2: the things you're believing God, for all of them that
Speaker 2: He put in your heart, in accordance with Psalm thirty
Speaker 2: seven to four. May He give you the desires of
Speaker 2: your heart as you delight yourself in Him. I am
Speaker 2: convinced that the way we will get to this one
Speaker 2: day when you are free of the addiction, This one
Speaker 2: day when you are capable of expressing yourself with greater clarity,
Speaker 2: This one day when you will feel a closeness and
Speaker 2: a nearness to God that is unencumbered by the demonic
Speaker 2: oppression that has been haunting you these last six months.
Speaker 2: That the way we will get to the one day
Speaker 2: when is through the power of the one day win.
Speaker 2: Everybody who woke up this morning with a new twenty
Speaker 2: four makes some noise a new twenty four, you know,
Speaker 2: like an offensive rebound in basketball, and the shot clock
Speaker 2: would go all the way back to twenty four. Well,
Speaker 2: that's what happened when you woke up this morning. You
Speaker 2: got a new twenty four. Yeah, but I really messed
Speaker 2: it up yesterday. We're not here praising the God of yesterday.
Speaker 2: Jesus said, here I am. I stand at the door
Speaker 2: in knock. Did not just read you the scripture Revelation
Speaker 2: three twenty He said, here I am. Not there I was.
Speaker 1: You should have been there. You missed it.
Speaker 2: Not there I'm gonna be one day when. But here
Speaker 2: I am. Somebody shout, God is here. Tell your neighbor,
Speaker 2: elbow them a little bit, say give me some room.
Speaker 2: God is here, Give me some room. Scoot over a
Speaker 2: little bit. God is with me in this seat. God
Speaker 2: is with me in this marriage. God is with me
Speaker 2: in this singleness. God is with me in this transition.
Speaker 2: God is with me in this tent. God is with
Speaker 2: me in this custody battle. God is with me. Tell
Speaker 2: him I need some room. God is with me. So
Speaker 2: building upon that concept of the one day win, just
Speaker 2: to let you know that God has given you the
Speaker 2: strength you need for today and the faith you need
Speaker 2: for tomorrow, let's go a little deeper into this principle.
Speaker 1: Are you ready all right? If you'd like to take notes,
Speaker 1: you might want to write this down.
Speaker 2: The doors of tomorrow's opportunity swing on the hinges of
Speaker 2: today's obedience.
Speaker 3: Shall I repeat it for those in the back, The
Speaker 3: doors of tomorrow's opportunity hinge on today's obedience.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about that for a little bit.
Speaker 2: Not from my life or your life, but lessen them
Speaker 2: all the way out and go to a place called
Speaker 2: shoon Him. Shun Them is a city in the Old
Speaker 2: Testament where the prophets would stop by and often receive
Speaker 2: their word from God. If you were a prophet in
Speaker 2: the Old Testament, it was different than being a preacher today.
Speaker 2: You weren't just trying to stand up in a sermon,
Speaker 2: holding up some note cards and hoping people will remember
Speaker 2: what you preached.
Speaker 1: About on Tuesday.
Speaker 2: You spoke a word from God, and it could literally
Speaker 2: rout the enemy in another direction, the military enemy, not
Speaker 2: the enemy like sadness or something like that. Elisha is
Speaker 2: a prophet. I want to tell you about it, because
Speaker 2: he would speak to the king and tell the king
Speaker 2: where the enemy had set up camp, so that the
Speaker 2: king could avoid it or prepare for it and obliterate him.
Speaker 2: He was a very valuable He was an MVP. He
Speaker 2: was a most valuable prophet. And for that reason he
Speaker 2: lived a lonely life. Now when he would get to
Speaker 2: shun him. The Bible says the Second Kings chapter four,
Speaker 2: verse eight through seventeen, that there was a woman in Shunham.
Speaker 2: In fact, let's pick up the story right there, Second
Speaker 2: King's four, verse eight on the screen.
Speaker 1: Please.
Speaker 2: He went to shun him one day, and a well
Speaker 2: to do woman was there who urged him.
Speaker 1: To stay for a meal.
Speaker 2: And I urge you pay every bit of attention you've
Speaker 2: got to every word that comes up here, because all
Speaker 2: of them matter. Some of these little words in this
Speaker 2: text are hinges for you to understand what God wants
Speaker 2: to do in your heart.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna start that verse over so you can
Speaker 1: really listen.
Speaker 2: One day Elisha went to shun him, and a well
Speaker 2: to do woman was there who urged him to stay
Speaker 2: for a meal, So whenever he came by, he stopped
Speaker 2: there to eat. She said to her husband, I know
Speaker 2: that this man who often comes our way is a
Speaker 2: holy man of God.
Speaker 1: That's what Holly says about me. When you'll learn around.
Speaker 2: Let's make verse ten.
Speaker 1: I got an idea.
Speaker 2: Let's make hey, let's make go down to Ikea. It
Speaker 2: doesn't have to be fancy, but let's make a small
Speaker 2: room on the roof. We don't need more square footage
Speaker 2: to do this. We just need more simple faith. We
Speaker 2: don't need more square footage to do this. We already
Speaker 2: have room for it on the roof. We just need
Speaker 2: to take the roof we already have and turn it
Speaker 2: into a room. Why well, I want to put a
Speaker 2: bed and the table and the chair and the lamp.
Speaker 1: That's getting expensive, and.
Speaker 2: I want to put this room together for this prophet, Elisha.
Speaker 2: Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.
Speaker 2: This is a different day, so the technology would not
Speaker 2: enable Elisha to give them a heads up. She said,
Speaker 2: I believe in what this man is speaking so much,
Speaker 2: and I feel compared well to do something for him.
Speaker 1: I can't preach like him.
Speaker 2: I don't have a whole lot of space. But there
Speaker 2: is a room on the roof, and what I'd like
Speaker 2: to do is for simple things. I like a chair
Speaker 2: and a bed, and a table and a lamp.
Speaker 1: And I just want to set it up so.
Speaker 2: That whenever he comes, however he comes, for whatever.
Speaker 1: He comes, he can stay there.
Speaker 2: And she did that. Bible says in verse eleven. One
Speaker 2: day when I've been holding this since last week, y'all,
Speaker 2: I'm hungry for it. One day when it was blocking
Speaker 2: it down, there wasn't it. I do my own special effects.
Speaker 2: I might not be a profit, but I say word
Speaker 2: of the Lord. One day when Elisha came, he went
Speaker 2: up to his room. Whose room?
Speaker 1: A few days ago it was her roof. But now with.
Speaker 2: The power of an idea, the power of an initiative,
Speaker 2: the simple response of a woman and a trip to
Speaker 2: the store, it's his room. And one day when everybody say,
Speaker 2: one day, when one day when he came to shun
Speaker 2: him and he was doing whatever he was doing.
Speaker 1: Remember, he's already eaten several of her meals.
Speaker 2: Now she has expanded the offer and given him an
Speaker 2: open door policy to be able to say whenever you
Speaker 2: stop by, whenever you need to rest, whenever your travels
Speaker 2: bring you through Shunam. We know that you have options,
Speaker 2: but there will always be. You don't need an airbn be,
Speaker 2: you don't need a uh, what's the other one called VRBO?
Speaker 2: You can you when you when you pass through, you
Speaker 2: can stay here. And I wonder does Jesus have that
Speaker 2: kind of open invitation in your life, that Lord, when
Speaker 2: you're looking to encourage someone, when you're looking to make
Speaker 2: a difference, when you're looking to right or wrong, when
Speaker 2: you are looking to meet a need, whenever you want
Speaker 2: to come through, you can stay here.
Speaker 1: I made a room for you now for all of
Speaker 1: the things.
Speaker 2: That you want God to do in your life this year,
Speaker 2: and all the things I want him to do in mind,
Speaker 2: because I got my list too. The question is have
Speaker 2: you made room for him to do it? And whatever
Speaker 2: the answer is to that, it's okay. That's where we're
Speaker 2: going to start. Remember it started as a room and
Speaker 2: it turned into a room. And I think that's a
Speaker 2: revelation in itself, don't you that the roof can become
Speaker 2: a room? And I think it's significant that a roof
Speaker 2: is the highest part of the house. And I think
Speaker 2: it is significant that if she had looked all around
Speaker 2: in the house, she would not have had a place
Speaker 2: for the prophet to stay. But how many knows, sometimes
Speaker 2: you have to go higher in order to see the
Speaker 2: opportunity that God has given you.
Speaker 1: You've got to go higher. Somebody say higher.
Speaker 2: Tell your neighbor, I appreciate your opinion, but sometimes I
Speaker 2: got to go higher. I know you don't think I
Speaker 2: can do it, but you don't have to think I
Speaker 2: can do it. I know I don't look capable of it,
Speaker 2: but I don't have to look capable of it. Man
Speaker 2: looks at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart.
Speaker 2: So for everybody who is still dealing with the root
Speaker 2: of rejection from somebody who didn't see your potential or
Speaker 2: an opportunity that wasn't extended to you because you didn't
Speaker 2: fit the bill, I came with a word, go higher.
Speaker 1: There's a room on the roof.
Speaker 2: I almost preached the whole message called there's room on
Speaker 2: the roof. And what is impossible with man is possible
Speaker 2: with God because his ways are not your ways, and
Speaker 2: his thoughts are not your thoughts. So I'm going higher
Speaker 2: this year, going to the top floor in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: On the spot LJ all right.
Speaker 2: And one day when Elisha came, he went up to
Speaker 2: his room and lay down there.
Speaker 1: The room that she.
Speaker 2: Built for him with no ulterior motive motives matter, the
Speaker 2: room that she built with him for him because it
Speaker 2: was the right thing to do. The room that she
Speaker 2: built for him, completely fat flexible to the schedule of
Speaker 2: the purpose of God, and when the purpose of God
Speaker 2: would pass through. Some of us cannot be used by
Speaker 2: God because we want to stipulate all of the times
Speaker 2: that He can do the things that He wants to
Speaker 2: do in our life for when we are ready and
Speaker 2: refreshed and reset. But she had a different kind of
Speaker 2: obedience to God. And the very first thing, I've got
Speaker 2: three things for you to take notes on. The very
Speaker 2: first thing that you are going to have to be
Speaker 2: to be the kind of person who can see the
Speaker 2: kind of things that you are dreaming about God doing
Speaker 2: in your spirit, not in your flesh, in your heart
Speaker 2: of hearts, not in your habits. But the first thing
Speaker 2: is you're going to have to be obedient. I didn't
Speaker 2: expect a shout on that and you didn't deliver one
Speaker 2: good thing. We were on the same page. I expected
Speaker 2: your stank face and you gave me one, so we're good.
Speaker 1: I was ready for that response.
Speaker 2: Yet there's nothing in the text that says God told
Speaker 2: her to build the room.
Speaker 1: The Lord didn't say build a room. Please build a room,
Speaker 1: which please build a room.
Speaker 2: I'm to tell you why God didn't tell her build room,
Speaker 2: because God had options. Anybody could have built that room.
Speaker 2: It's a privilege to obey God. Sometimes when I stand
Speaker 2: up and greet you, I want to say thank you
Speaker 2: for coming to church, But then that doesn't even feel
Speaker 2: right because on a human behalf, I am thankful because
Speaker 2: I'm really glad you're here. Don't get me wrong, like
Speaker 2: so thank you. But we know we didn't do God
Speaker 2: a favor when we came today, right, we know that, right,
Speaker 2: just so we know that God wasn't Like, if Teresa
Speaker 2: would worship me today, I could have all power. Man,
Speaker 2: if Jimmy would just give me the praise today, I
Speaker 2: could really get it done into word. I just need
Speaker 2: a Jimmy praise today. If Peter would pray, No, God
Speaker 2: doesn't need any of that. And so the kind of
Speaker 2: obedience that I'm talking about in your life is very
Speaker 2: different than the human definition of obedience, and words do
Speaker 2: change over time. Phone used to mean something that you
Speaker 2: talk to somebody else on when I was a kid. Now,
Speaker 2: if my phone rings for somebody to call me, I'm
Speaker 2: annoyed because they interrupted the video I was watching on
Speaker 2: the phone. Phone is very different now. Now listen to me,
Speaker 2: you follow me. Obedience was different back then. Obedience to
Speaker 2: the word of God was different back then. We don't
Speaker 2: do well with obedience to God in our culture. We
Speaker 2: are drowning in too many opinions to respect the power
Speaker 2: of simple obedience to God. I will not lie to
Speaker 2: you and tell you that I always know what God
Speaker 2: is telling me to do. I will say that every
Speaker 2: time I know he's telling me to do it and
Speaker 2: I don't do it, it blocks me up inside and
Speaker 2: I start blaming everything around me. But what I'm blaming
Speaker 2: on the outside is usually a result of what I'm
Speaker 2: blocked from on the inside. Help me preach the word.
Speaker 2: If there are three Pentecostals in this room, identify yourself. Ah,
Speaker 2: I need to establishe that this obedience that the woman
Speaker 2: demonstrated was not to the word of a man or
Speaker 2: the suggestion of a TikTok influence, Sir. Her obedience was
Speaker 2: directed by her inner compulsion for what God was calling
Speaker 2: her to do. And she says to her husband, now
Speaker 2: he's the real obedient one, right, go get a table,
Speaker 2: Go get a chair. We always preach about wives, obey
Speaker 2: your husband's Well hear the husband obeyed the wife and they.
Speaker 4: All got blessed. I'll preach this a reflect next year. Anyway,
Speaker 4: she said, let's just do it.
Speaker 2: But the word that unlocked it for me wasn't that
Speaker 2: God said, you know, on January what's today's date, January fourteenth,
Speaker 2: or whatever time you have to be watching this in
Speaker 2: the future. On January fourteenth, I want you to start
Speaker 2: new business and fill the papers of incorporation. On January fourteenth,
Speaker 2: when you'd ask her out see her third row in
Speaker 2: the back. I want you to join the welcome team
Speaker 2: next year and give her a special welcome with your
Speaker 2: phone number. There's there's no specific there's no specific word
Speaker 2: from God that tells her to do this. She did
Speaker 2: it to accommodate the purpose of God. And you're about
Speaker 2: to be very impressed with this woman. If you're not already,
Speaker 2: because she said verse ten, he can stay there whenever
Speaker 2: he comes. That's an open door invitation for the prophet
Speaker 2: who preached the Word of God with power and rain
Speaker 2: came to the valleys in Second King's three, the prophet
Speaker 2: of God who spoke the word and a widow's oil.
Speaker 1: Flowed in Second King's four, and she.
Speaker 2: Says to the prophet, Hey, I want you to stay,
Speaker 2: and I want you to eat something, and I want.
Speaker 1: You to know that whenever somebody shout.
Speaker 2: Whenever, stop trying to tell God the timeline.
Speaker 1: Stop trying to tell God when.
Speaker 2: It should have happened by, stop trying to control the timeline,
Speaker 2: and start trusting the eternal God who sits on a throne.
Speaker 2: Here I am, said Jesus, I stand at the door
Speaker 2: and knock.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah. What God has been teaching me lately in my
Speaker 2: life is that closed doors are important too, because sometimes
Speaker 2: what was behind that door that he closed would have
Speaker 2: killed me if he would.
Speaker 5: Have opened it before I was ready for it.
Speaker 2: Is this your word today? Is the Lord taking you
Speaker 2: up on the roof of your resources, the roof of
Speaker 2: your relationships. Well, I don't have anybody in my life
Speaker 2: and so I feel very lonely, and I feel very lonely.
Speaker 1: Can I check your whole.
Speaker 2: Text thread for everybody that you asked and reached out.
Speaker 1: To, or did you not even reach out and call
Speaker 1: it rejection?
Speaker 2: If I understand this text correctly, she opened the room.
Speaker 1: She said it apart. It wasn't apparent on.
Speaker 2: The surface, but she took the space she had. God
Speaker 2: will not hold you accountable for what he didn't give you.
Speaker 2: God will not hold me accountable to preach Billy Graham's servants.
Speaker 2: God will not hold you accountable to raise somebody who
Speaker 2: goes to Harvard.
Speaker 1: If your kid is just supposed to graduate high school.
Speaker 2: He knows the plans he has for you and for them.
Speaker 2: And I believe one of the reasons we can't see
Speaker 2: God do what he wants to do in our life
Speaker 2: is there's no room for him.
Speaker 1: To do it because our hearts are so crowded with.
Speaker 2: What we think he should be doing, because of what
Speaker 2: we've seen him do through others. I was impressed by
Speaker 2: her obedience, but I was also impressed. This is the
Speaker 2: second thing you got to be I was impressed because
Speaker 2: not only was she obedient, but she was open. Are
Speaker 2: you open? Are you open if God wants to do
Speaker 2: it through you? And I know I'm being vague because
Speaker 2: in this woman's specific situation, we're about to see.
Speaker 1: What was that thing.
Speaker 2: That she needed that she didn't even know how to
Speaker 2: articulate anymore, I feel that way. I know I need
Speaker 2: something right now, and I would reach out and I
Speaker 2: hear you on that I don't even know how to
Speaker 2: articulate it. In besides that, when I came into church
Speaker 2: today and I walked through those doors, you couldn't see it,
Speaker 2: Pastor Stephen, but I was dragging disappointments behind me a
Speaker 2: mile long, from every time I've had a new year
Speaker 2: and thought it was going to be different than it wasn't.
Speaker 2: From every time I told my friends I'm gonna get clean,
Speaker 2: and now they kind of laugh at me when I
Speaker 2: say it, Yeah, we'll catch up with you in February
Speaker 2: and see how you're doing. For every time that I
Speaker 2: promised God, no, I'm really gonna read my Bible this year.
Speaker 2: I'm in Pastor, I hadn't made it past Genesis twelve,
Speaker 2: and I've been saying that every year, and Genesis is
Speaker 2: the first book in the Bible. In case you were
Speaker 2: slow catching onto that that would be twelve days. In
Speaker 2: case that's where you are today, let me give you
Speaker 2: this woman's story is an encouragement. It's amazing story for
Speaker 2: those of you who are holding a disappointment in your
Speaker 2: heart as I speak to you right now. And I
Speaker 2: never can tell what you carried with you when you
Speaker 2: came to church. I never can tell what you really have.
Speaker 2: I really don't know what happens when you close the
Speaker 2: doors at home. I can't tell that when you come
Speaker 2: in my doors on Sunday. I don't know what the
Speaker 2: conversations are like in your house. I don't know what
Speaker 2: the thoughts are like in your mind. I don't know
Speaker 2: what the doubts are like in the darkness. I don't
Speaker 2: know any of that. But this woman who was so
Speaker 2: great and so generous, and so wealthy and so proactive,
Speaker 2: the Bible says in verse eleven, one day, when Elisha came,
Speaker 2: he went up to his.
Speaker 1: Room and laid down there. Verse twelve.
Speaker 2: Please, he said to his servant Geheesi, hmm, call the Shunamite.
Speaker 1: That's the woman who built the room. You don't even
Speaker 1: know her name.
Speaker 2: She apparently wasn't in it for the credit. She wasn't
Speaker 2: in it for the glory, wasn't in it for the
Speaker 2: approval of people. She was in it for the purpose
Speaker 2: of God. But how many know even if they don't
Speaker 2: call your name, God can Even if they don't say
Speaker 2: thank you, God can fill you with a blessing, good measure,
Speaker 2: pressed down, shaking together and running over. God doesn't need
Speaker 2: them to call your name to know where to drop
Speaker 2: the package. He knows your name, he knows your neighborhood,
Speaker 2: he knows your zip code. What he has for you,
Speaker 2: it is for you, and nothing in heaven or Hell
Speaker 2: can hold it back. When he says it's tod I'm
Speaker 2: gonna show you that. Now I'm gonna prove it to
Speaker 2: you from the text. Don't take my word for it.
Speaker 2: Listen to this, he said, call the Shoonomite. So he
Speaker 2: called her, and she stood before him. Elisha said, tell her,
Speaker 2: you've gone to all this trouble for us. Appreciate chair,
Speaker 2: appreciate lanp, appreciate the bed, appreciate table. Now what can
Speaker 2: be done for you? Now that you did all of
Speaker 2: this for us? What can be done for you? Help
Speaker 2: me say this right, Holy Spirit, because I feel like
Speaker 2: the whole message is going to hinge on this for
Speaker 2: somebody that question. Put verse twelve up again that question
Speaker 2: or verse thirteen, what can be done for you?
Speaker 1: That question?
Speaker 2: And the answer to it hinges on what she did
Speaker 2: in verses eight and nine. What God can do for
Speaker 2: you is not limited to who he is, because he's infinite.
Speaker 2: There's nothing he can't do for you because he's God.
Speaker 2: There's nothing he can't accomplish because he's God. So the
Speaker 2: question is never can he do it for you? The
Speaker 2: question becomes have you given him room to do it?
Speaker 2: Or is your roof so cluttered with past hurts and expectations?
Speaker 2: Are you even hearing me preach this message today? Or
Speaker 2: are you so bitter about the last church where you
Speaker 2: got your feelings hurt that you can't even receive the
Speaker 2: word of the Lord because somebody hurt you in church
Speaker 2: one time? And yet I know you ate at a
Speaker 2: bad restaurant once in your life and you still eat.
Speaker 1: So are you really never going to enter Heaven's.
Speaker 2: Restaurant again because of something that happened back then?
Speaker 1: Now, talk about disappointment.
Speaker 2: I want you to differentiate in your life that there
Speaker 2: is a big distinction between disappointment and bitterness. Disappointment does
Speaker 2: not stop God from producing in your life. Bitterness will.
Speaker 2: Bitterness will choke the seed of the Word of God
Speaker 2: before it has been Bitterness will choke the seed of
Speaker 2: your hope and your potential before it has been developed.
Speaker 2: So I want you to watch a picture of this woman,
Speaker 2: because this is what I want you to.
Speaker 1: Be in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: Whatever happens, whatever doesn't happen, whatever, yes you get, whatever
Speaker 2: no you get, Whoever likes you, whoever can't stand you,
Speaker 2: whoever likes you that you think can't stand you because.
Speaker 1: You read too much into people.
Speaker 2: Whatever happens this year, whenever it happens, watch this woman
Speaker 2: who is disappointed but not bitter. Watch what happens to
Speaker 2: this woman who is disappointed but not bitter. Can you
Speaker 2: forgive it? Can you move past it? Can you give
Speaker 2: God room to move through it?
Speaker 1: What can we do.
Speaker 2: For you? And he even has a specific idea. How
Speaker 2: about I talked to the king for you. He owes
Speaker 2: me one the king had just been in a drought,
Speaker 2: and Elishah said, you hear no wind and you'll see
Speaker 2: no rain. But dig these ditches in the valleys, and
Speaker 2: your troops will drink and they did. He owes me one.
Speaker 2: I just saved his butt. Let me go talk to
Speaker 2: the king for you what you need? And he said,
Speaker 2: you know, essentially, do you need anything? And she said no.
Speaker 2: Look at verse thirteen. I have a home among my
Speaker 2: own people. I don't need anything from you. You need
Speaker 2: something from me, And I go back up to your
Speaker 2: room and lay down and take a nap and sleep
Speaker 2: at all. I'm good. You know how guarded you are.
Speaker 2: You know how you won't let anybody give you any encouragement.
Speaker 2: The next time they start telling you you're good at it,
Speaker 2: just shut up and say thank you. Oh no, I'm
Speaker 2: not that good.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you.
Speaker 2: I can't stand to compliment a singer in church. You say,
Speaker 2: you sound it so great. It wasn't me, it was
Speaker 2: the Lord, And I just want to say, it wasn't
Speaker 2: that good, honey. If it was the Lord, it would
Speaker 2: have been a little bit better. Well that's good. Now
Speaker 2: we're about to find out why she wouldn't let him,
Speaker 2: and you're about to find out why you.
Speaker 1: Won't let it in either.
Speaker 2: Because I hear God standing at the door of somebody's
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four and he's knocking here I am. I
Speaker 2: stand at the door and knock. I stand at the
Speaker 2: door and knock. I always heard that verse preached when
Speaker 2: people were about to get saved. If you want to
Speaker 2: bring Jesus in your heart, here he is. He stands
Speaker 2: at the door and knocks. But that verse was actually
Speaker 2: written not to sinners who didn't know Jesus. It was
Speaker 2: written to a church who had forgotten how powerful he
Speaker 2: really was. And God said, I'm standing at the door
Speaker 2: of your religious heart, your scripture quoting heart, your good
Speaker 2: doing hard. I don't need anything hard. You're barely getting
Speaker 2: by just surviving. It's another day, it's another year. What
Speaker 2: are you gonna do about it? He said, I stand
Speaker 2: at the door and I knock. That's God knocking. That's
Speaker 2: your heart beating in your chest. That's God knocking to
Speaker 2: let you know that if you are not in fact
Speaker 2: dead and sleeping in the grave, he is not in
Speaker 2: fact done with you yet. And you would be accurate
Speaker 2: to say that if I'm not dead, God's not done.
Speaker 2: And you would be accurate if you said.
Speaker 1: That this is my year.
Speaker 2: And you would be accurate if you were to say
Speaker 2: that this is the day that the Lord has made.
Speaker 5: That all things are possible to the lives.
Speaker 1: Who believes. Are you open.
Speaker 2: The doors of tomorrow's opportunity? You want to tell your
Speaker 2: kids a testimony and leave a legacy to your children's children.
Speaker 2: The doors of tomorrow's opportunity swing on the hinges of
Speaker 2: today's obedience.
Speaker 1: Are you open? Are you open? She said no?
Speaker 2: How are you like this?
Speaker 1: A prophet says you want a blessing? And she says no.
Speaker 2: Everybody say no, I need nothing. Dinner's ready at thirty minutes.
Speaker 2: Lay down, I make the room, I make throws. I
Speaker 2: don't think she was arrogant at all. I think she
Speaker 2: was disappointed. I learned something about God's opportunities, about the
Speaker 2: love he'll bring into your life, about the blessings, about
Speaker 2: the extensions that He will give to you of a
Speaker 2: new season of purpose. I learned something. I learned that
Speaker 2: hope and disappointment swing on the same hinges. And this
Speaker 2: is why you're guarded. To open your door to hope
Speaker 2: is to open your door to disappointment. But let me
Speaker 2: give you this, Like a friend, okay, are we friends? Okay?
Speaker 2: I want to be a friend from a man. Avoiding
Speaker 2: disappointment is not a strategy for happiness. It's a recipe
Speaker 2: for resentment. Avoiding disappointment is not a strategy for happiness.
Speaker 1: Now, maybe this is just for all the middle aged
Speaker 1: men like me.
Speaker 2: Maybe the youth can take a nap while I preach this,
Speaker 2: But for everybody who dragged two or three disappointments through
Speaker 2: the door with you today, I need you to know
Speaker 2: that the way to deal with the disappointments is not
Speaker 2: to close the door of hope. It is not just
Speaker 2: to accept that I'm always going to be an addict.
Speaker 2: It is not just to accept that I guess I
Speaker 2: ruined that relationship and I don't deserve another one. It
Speaker 2: is not to accept.
Speaker 1: That my family has always been treading water. I'm just
Speaker 1: lucky not to drown.
Speaker 2: The grace of God is here, and Jesus is standing
Speaker 2: at the door and knocking, And you think Jesus is
Speaker 2: knocking on the door just so your house won't burn down.
Speaker 2: He wants to come in.
Speaker 1: He wants to eat with you, he wants.
Speaker 2: To cook for you. He wants to create with you.
Speaker 2: He wants to collaborate with you. He wants to guide you,
Speaker 2: he wants to fill you. He wants to reconcile you.
Speaker 2: He wants to make you a masterpiece according to his blueprint.
Speaker 1: He wants to do it. Are you open?
Speaker 2: And she said, Noah, I don't, I don't, I don't.
Speaker 2: My door is always open to you if you want something,
Speaker 2: but my door is closed if you want to do
Speaker 2: something for me. And Elisha gives us a picture of
Speaker 2: the persistence of God, the persistence of this presence. Here
Speaker 2: I am, I stand at the door and knock a
Speaker 2: scripture that was written to disobedient lukewarm churches.
Speaker 1: Here I am, I'm still here. Boom boom.
Speaker 2: Your heart beat is telling you he's still here. Boom boom.
Speaker 2: This word is telling you he's still here. Boom boom.
Speaker 1: That person that came into.
Speaker 2: Your life last week and you already tried to shut
Speaker 2: him out.
Speaker 1: That was God at the door.
Speaker 2: That was God knocking. That thing inside of you that
Speaker 2: flutters a little bit and flickers a little bit when
Speaker 2: you get under a good word and you put Facebook
Speaker 2: off of your phone for fifteen minutes and let this
Speaker 2: word come into your heart, that's God knocking. He still is?
Speaker 2: He still is? Somebody say, he still is? He is
Speaker 2: the Alpha and the Omega, he who was and is
Speaker 2: and is to come and Eli Chalai's there for a
Speaker 2: minute and she tells him, no, I don't want anything.
Speaker 1: And that's like those of you who have said.
Speaker 2: I don't make resolutions, I don't make plans, I don't
Speaker 2: set goals.
Speaker 1: I don't do anything. I don't leave me alone.
Speaker 2: I went to the dental hygienis ten years ago and
Speaker 2: I said, I need you to know something about me
Speaker 2: before you start working on my teeth. You can say
Speaker 2: anything you want to say. You can give me anything
Speaker 2: you want to give me. You can knock me out
Speaker 2: and put me to sleep. But when I go home,
Speaker 2: I'm not flossing. You could give me a sponsorship for flossing,
Speaker 2: and I'm not flossing.
Speaker 1: I'd rather bring my teeth to you in an ash.
Speaker 2: Tray and ask you to put them back in and
Speaker 2: floss in. Amazing what we already decided we won't do
Speaker 2: before the word even went forth today, And we're not
Speaker 2: talking about a lazy lady. She already built a room.
Speaker 2: Yet there is one thing in her life. There's one
Speaker 2: thing in your life that she will not mention, and
Speaker 2: Unlessa's about to find out about it. Now, that's the
Speaker 2: thing that God is looking for today in your heart.
Speaker 2: That's the thing that God is looking for in your heart.
Speaker 2: Elisha said, man verse fourteen, What can be done for her?
Speaker 2: Persistent little prophet, isn't he I'm not a free loader.
Speaker 2: I won't do something for her. Well, hey, they can
Speaker 2: do it for She built her a room.
Speaker 1: I don't even live here.
Speaker 2: I can't cook for a nigga Gehzi. The servant said, well,
Speaker 2: she has no son and her husband is old. I mean,
Speaker 2: did you see him carrying the table up the store?
Speaker 2: That was sad? And Elia said, all right, now this
Speaker 2: is the turning point of the text. We got to
Speaker 2: get here together.
Speaker 1: Elija said, call her.
Speaker 2: You're like he already called her no, no, no the first
Speaker 2: time she came to Geheese. But this time he called
Speaker 2: her back. And I believe God is calling somebody back
Speaker 2: today because last year this time you had some things
Speaker 2: in your heart. You thought they would have happened by
Speaker 2: now they didn't. You have allowed your timeline to cause
Speaker 2: your faith to die.
Speaker 1: You have allowed your timeline to become the throne at
Speaker 1: which you worship.
Speaker 2: You have allowed your heart to become so crowded with
Speaker 2: disappointment that you cannot receive what God is doing today.
Speaker 1: And Elisha says, and God says, call her, tell her,
Speaker 1: I want her to come back. So he called her.
Speaker 2: And all the years I've been preaching this scripture, since
Speaker 2: I was seventeen years old, since I was seventeen years old,
Speaker 2: I have preached about what that woman did, how she
Speaker 2: was obedient. I have preached about when she did it,
Speaker 2: just whenever he came by. But I have never preached
Speaker 2: about where she stood when he spoke the word that
Speaker 2: changed her life. And I saw it this week like
Speaker 2: it was a word for each and every one of us,
Speaker 2: on every continent, in every county, wherever life finds you. Today,
Speaker 2: the Bible says he called her, and she came and
Speaker 2: put the verse on the screen. She stood in the doorway. Now,
Speaker 2: just a few months ago, this was not a room
Speaker 2: at all. It was just an open space on the roof.
Speaker 2: But one day somebody out one day, one day she decided,
Speaker 2: one day she committed. One day she intended and did it,
Speaker 2: and she built a room. And now she is standing
Speaker 2: not in the room that she built, but in the
Speaker 2: doorway of the room that she built. And I believe
Speaker 2: somebody is standing in the doorway. Today, you are standing
Speaker 2: between two things, and there is a voice calling you forth.
Speaker 1: It is the voice of the Lord.
Speaker 2: Calling you forward into freedom, calling you forward into movement,
Speaker 2: calling you forward into legacy, calling you forward into purity,
Speaker 2: calling you forward into abundance, calling you forward into generosity,
Speaker 2: calling you.
Speaker 1: Forward into your future.
Speaker 6: And the hinges of the door that swing open to
Speaker 6: Elicia's chamber were on the same little hinges that were
Speaker 6: just a simple.
Speaker 1: Act of obedience days earlier.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to get you to see that you keep
Speaker 2: waiting for God to open a door. Maybe He wants
Speaker 2: you to make your own door. Hallelujah, hallelujah. This is
Speaker 2: going to help somebody from dying in the wilderness of
Speaker 2: one day, when, oh, when God opens the door. There
Speaker 2: was no door at the beginning of Second King's four
Speaker 2: There was no room at all. There was just a
Speaker 2: woman with a heart for God to do something, for him,
Speaker 2: to be obedient and to be open. Can God have
Speaker 2: your heart? We keep saying, I surrender it to God.
Speaker 2: But surrenders shouldn't keep you from taking initiative. Surrenders should
Speaker 2: give you initiative to find a way to be a
Speaker 2: blessing to find a way to be free to all
Speaker 2: one of the counselors whose cards you've been looking at
Speaker 2: for years, there was no door. I wish I could
Speaker 2: preach this message, I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1: I wish I could preach.
Speaker 2: It at the Matthews campus that literally used to be
Speaker 2: a shopping center. And when we went to least forty
Speaker 2: two thousand square feet circa two thousand and seven, two
Speaker 2: thousand and eight, we were told by one of the
Speaker 2: tenants in the strip mall no. Everybody shout no, no.
Speaker 2: Can't put a church here. No, can't have a religious
Speaker 2: institution here. It'll strike business down. So for a minute
Speaker 2: I thought, well, maybe we can't put a church there,
Speaker 2: because when you are told no from the outside or
Speaker 2: the inside, and.
Speaker 1: Everything you try to do to move it forward doesn't
Speaker 1: work or makes it worse. You get to a place.
Speaker 1: Watch she's standing in the doorway verse sixteen. I gotta
Speaker 1: give you this. I gotta give you this.
Speaker 2: And Elisha calls her and says, about this time next year,
Speaker 2: where do you want to be this time next year?
Speaker 2: What are you looking forward to having the victory over,
Speaker 2: or at least incremental leverage over this time next year?
Speaker 2: Do you want to know a few scriptures you can quote?
Speaker 1: Do you want to be able to.
Speaker 2: Say, I'm leading a group of middle school boys now
Speaker 2: and helping them not to be as dumb as I was?
Speaker 2: Where you want to be this time next year? And
Speaker 2: Elisha says, I know you didn't ask, and I know
Speaker 2: you said no, but about this time next year, you
Speaker 2: will hold a son in your arms. And her response,
Speaker 2: this woman of great faith.
Speaker 1: Was no, No.
Speaker 2: The devil didn't say no, she did. The devil isn't
Speaker 2: blocking you. You are, thanks mom. No, no, because I've
Speaker 2: been here before.
Speaker 1: Me and Holly had a real big fight. And my
Speaker 1: third point is.
Speaker 2: You gotta be obedient, you gotta be open, and you
Speaker 2: gotta be obnoxious.
Speaker 1: Me and Holly had a fight. Oh y'all are paying
Speaker 1: attention now.
Speaker 2: You want to see where is he going with this pastor?
Speaker 2: Stephen might be sleeping on a room in the roof
Speaker 2: in my house just tonight. Holly's gonna kick him out.
Speaker 2: We had a fight at the end of last year,
Speaker 2: not twenty twenty three. Twenty twenty three, we had no fights.
Speaker 2: Twenty twenty two. It was a fight about her. Oh God,
Speaker 2: I can't believe I'm sharing this witch.
Speaker 1: Trying to get me to see that God input more
Speaker 1: in me than I was getting.
Speaker 2: Not in a nagging way, not in a way that
Speaker 2: was saying like you're not doing enough making me feel bad.
Speaker 2: It wasn't shame based. There was something that I because
Speaker 2: we're talking in the text about a woman who couldn't
Speaker 2: have a baby, but it could represent anything that you
Speaker 2: can't have that is a.
Speaker 1: God given desire.
Speaker 2: I am not talking about all the stuff you want
Speaker 2: because you spend too much time shopping. I'm talking about
Speaker 2: the stuff that you can't have, but it is a
Speaker 2: part of your future and you can't have it yet.
Speaker 1: And so.
Speaker 2: While I'm doing this, go get that box out of
Speaker 2: my office. It's on the where the counter in my
Speaker 2: little Go get it, Josh, Thank you just as quick
Speaker 2: as you can, because I want to show you something
Speaker 2: to help you understand what I'm talking about. One of
Speaker 2: the things that she was getting me was she was
Speaker 2: kept telling me there are more messages in you now.
Speaker 1: The thing that you don't know.
Speaker 2: We keep promoting and we're going to promote it even
Speaker 2: more that I'm putting a book out in a couple
Speaker 2: of weeks.
Speaker 1: A week before my birthday.
Speaker 2: I appreciate your enthusiasm. And Holly was trying to get
Speaker 2: me to see reveal it too soon, mess up my
Speaker 2: illustration of the boxes open officer. When she was yelling
Speaker 2: at me, I mean, when she was exhorting me, she
Speaker 2: wasn't yelling no, Holly.
Speaker 1: Holly can yell in a whisper. It's annoying, it's obnoxious.
Speaker 2: But she was just speaking to the part of me
Speaker 2: that knew that I was supposed to put out a book.
Speaker 2: But I wrote a book in twenty twenty, and when
Speaker 2: I went to publish it, even my own agent said no,
Speaker 2: wasn't it. And for nine months of writing a book
Speaker 2: and then for it to just sit there to bind her,
Speaker 2: I told the Lord, I will preach for THEE, and
Speaker 2: I will post Instagram clips for THEE, and I will
Speaker 2: be a blessing to those that you've called me to
Speaker 2: intersect in life.
Speaker 1: I'm not writing another boat.
Speaker 2: And so I was preparing this message, and I wasn't
Speaker 2: thinking about me. I was thinking about the thousands of
Speaker 2: people who will hear this message. And you're holding a
Speaker 2: disappointment that's so heavy that you have no room to
Speaker 2: receive the thing that God is speaking in your life.
Speaker 2: What is that thing for you? Would you identify it?
Speaker 2: Because the Holy Spirit will do a whole lot better
Speaker 2: job than I could that thing. And while I was
Speaker 2: getting this message ready, and I read what the prophet
Speaker 2: said to the woman verse sixteen, Please, about this time
Speaker 2: next year, you will hold a son in your arms.
Speaker 1: And she said no, Please, Man of God, don't mislead
Speaker 1: your servant.
Speaker 2: You think maybe that's because she'd inc a few false
Speaker 2: prophets before. You think maybe some other prophets had stopped
Speaker 2: by and ate her food and slept in her guest
Speaker 2: room and made her promises. We've all been disappointed. We've
Speaker 2: all been let down, and now life has let you
Speaker 2: down so many times you won't even let hope in
Speaker 2: when it comes to avoid the disappointment. But I love God,
Speaker 2: and I treasure him, and I honor Him as the
Speaker 2: God of my life. Because of Revelation three point twenty
Speaker 2: is true. That means that while my voice is saying no,
Speaker 2: his hand keeps knocking. The Bible says in verse seventeen
Speaker 2: that even though she said no, and even though in
Speaker 2: this area of her life she didn't believe it was possible.
Speaker 2: The woman became pregnant. And I read that text over
Speaker 2: and over. I was looking for the point where she said,
Speaker 2: I believe you, but she never even said it. And
Speaker 2: even though she didn't believe it was possible, the Bible
Speaker 2: says she became pregnant. Why because she didn't have the
Speaker 2: faith to become pregnant, but she had the faith to
Speaker 2: build a room. And I came to say to you
Speaker 2: today that you don't have to know how God is
Speaker 2: going to do it. You don't even have to completely
Speaker 2: believe that He will do it. You don't have to
Speaker 2: quote all of the right responses back to God.
Speaker 1: But God keeps knocking through your no.
Speaker 2: And God is faithful even if you're faithless.
Speaker 1: And I declare and decree over.
Speaker 2: Your life this day that about this time next year,
Speaker 2: I said, about this time next year, I said, about
Speaker 2: this time next year, I said, January twenty twenty five,
Speaker 2: I set about this time next here you will.
Speaker 7: Hold a promise in your arms and in the cool
Speaker 7: how Holly was right, and there was.
Speaker 1: Another book in me.
Speaker 2: And the book came in the mail this week as
Speaker 2: an announcement to you. Then whatever disappointment weighed you down,
Speaker 2: drop it, God said, I got another box with your
Speaker 2: name on it, and if you'll give me some room
Speaker 2: on the roof. Come on, we're knocking through the note.
Speaker 2: We're knocking through the doe. We're knocking through the note.
Speaker 2: I feel a stir of good, like a flood, raising
Speaker 2: up a standard against the enemy.
Speaker 1: He's knocking through your note.
Speaker 2: Oh. One voice is calling you forward, one voice is
Speaker 2: pulling you back. One voice is saying.
Speaker 1: Yes and amen.
Speaker 2: One voice is saying no. And you're standing in the
Speaker 2: doorway deciding. It is truly a matter of life and death.
Speaker 2: You are standing in the doorway deciding.
Speaker 1: And the door.
Speaker 2: Was there because she made room. She didn't even say yes,
Speaker 2: but because she said yes yesterday. I'm telling you what,
Speaker 2: when we talk a year from now, and I know
Speaker 2: all of y'all are gonna still be in this church
Speaker 2: a year from now, because you're not a church hopping
Speaker 2: little baby bottle tote and Christian.
Speaker 8: You're gonna be right here a year from now, and
Speaker 8: you're still gonna and you're gonna be stronger in the
Speaker 8: faith a year from now, and you're gonna have Holkogan
Speaker 8: biceps in the spirit. A year from now, they're going
Speaker 8: to be secure and people aren't going to be able
Speaker 8: to tell you no and put you.
Speaker 2: In depression for a week. A year from now, you
Speaker 2: are going to be holding something because you decided today
Speaker 2: to let hope in the door. I know the devil
Speaker 2: has a way of getting you down and discouraged, and
Speaker 2: I know you have good reasons that you said no.
Speaker 2: But let me bring you back to my title. God
Speaker 2: is knocking through the no. And at our Matthew's campus
Speaker 2: today where they told us no, everybody say no. And
Speaker 2: we went out there and prayed in the bargain lot,
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, businessmen and khaki pants in the parking lot,
Speaker 2: littling the loading dock of that building. And not only
Speaker 2: did we end up getting those forty two thousand square feet,
Speaker 2: but eventually we knock down all the walls.
Speaker 1: Because God is known for knocking.
Speaker 2: Through the n You will be sitting in tomorrow what
Speaker 2: you will open your heart to God for today? Agisa
Speaker 2: here I am.
Speaker 1: I stand at the door. You are standing in a doorway.
Speaker 1: Do I go back to it? Or do I go forward?
Speaker 2: Do I go back to these familiar patterns another year?
Speaker 2: Or do I go forward into uncomfortable freedom? Do I
Speaker 2: go back to that horrible relationship, just so I can
Speaker 2: pretend like I have somebody, or do I go forward
Speaker 2: into learning what it means to have a friend that
Speaker 2: sticks closer than a brother.
Speaker 1: I see you.
Speaker 2: I saw you when I was studying, so I know
Speaker 2: the word is right. I see you standing in the
Speaker 2: door like the woman. And there's one door, and there's
Speaker 2: two voices. Which one will win. That's the decision of
Speaker 2: the day, isn't it. God's gonna put an open door
Speaker 2: before you every day. Maybe the tiny door might be
Speaker 2: a great big door. But I know this the doors
Speaker 2: of what God is calling you into, hinge on your
Speaker 2: obedience to Him. Today, I like you to bow your
Speaker 2: head because I don't want you to look around. I
Speaker 2: want you to look inside for the answers to what
Speaker 2: I'm about to ask you. In what area of your
Speaker 2: life have you told God no? In what area of
Speaker 2: your life have you told God no? I would suggest
Speaker 2: to you that it often has to do with who
Speaker 2: he calls us to become, not even just what he
Speaker 2: calls us to do, and the way that works. Just
Speaker 2: like He called the shot of mite and said come here,
Speaker 2: and she stood in the door. God will call you
Speaker 2: something and then you will stand in the door, and
Speaker 2: the decision is, will you believe that voice when he
Speaker 2: calls you holy?
Speaker 1: Will you receive that?
Speaker 2: Now? I want to minister to somebody who's been dealing
Speaker 2: with crippling guilt.
Speaker 1: He called you holy, and every.
Speaker 2: Time that thing inside of you says, no, I'm not,
Speaker 2: I'm not, I'm not, I'm just a piece of trash.
Speaker 2: I'm just You don't even know you're talking to that
Speaker 2: thing that gets on you, that tells you that stuff
Speaker 2: to drag you out of the doorway and back into
Speaker 2: the past. I come against that spirit of condemnation today
Speaker 2: in the name of Jesus and buy his blood to
Speaker 2: tell you that there is therefore now no condemnation for
Speaker 2: those who are in Christ. Jesus he is the door.
Speaker 2: Don't you see it? That everything you need is in Him?
Speaker 1: And today you're in his presence.
Speaker 2: And I leave you now with exactly where we begin
Speaker 2: this message. Here, I am. I stand at the door
Speaker 2: and knock. And if you'll open the door, that's just
Speaker 2: as simple as I know how to make a church,
Speaker 2: if you will open the door. I don't know if
Speaker 2: that's a Bible reading plan. I don't know if that's
Speaker 2: a support group. I don't know if that's to tell
Speaker 2: somebody what's really going on.
Speaker 1: If you will.
Speaker 2: Open the door and make room on the roof, I'm
Speaker 2: believing a year from now you're going to hold something awesome.
Speaker 2: Your arms come on, You're going to accommodate something amazing.
Speaker 1: In your life.
Speaker 2: And Father, we thank you in Jesus's name that for
Speaker 2: all the times we told you no, you knocked again.
Speaker 2: At this moment, I want to give an invitation for
Speaker 2: all of those who need to receive Jesus Christ into
Speaker 2: your life and have a new beginning with him.
Speaker 9: The Bible says that it is by grace we're saved
Speaker 9: through faith is the gift of God, not of word,
Speaker 9: so that no one can boast that if you confess
Speaker 9: with your mouth that Jesus's Lord, and believe in your
Speaker 9: heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Speaker 1: This is an open invitation to anyone who says today.
Speaker 9: Was for me.
Speaker 2: I'm giving my life to God today. I'm not living
Speaker 2: another year my own way. I'm not going to be
Speaker 2: half in, half out. Today. I'm walking through this door
Speaker 2: to make Jesus Christ the lord of my life and
Speaker 2: receive his provision for my life and receive His forgiveness.
Speaker 2: If that's you and this is your word, I'm going
Speaker 2: to pray a prayer with you, and we'll pray it
Speaker 2: out loud for the benefit of those who are coming
Speaker 2: to God for the first time or back to.
Speaker 1: God as a rededication.
Speaker 2: And I want you to repeat this after me with
Speaker 2: confidence in your voice. Say, Heavenly Father, today is my
Speaker 2: day of salvation. I believe that Jesus Christ died for
Speaker 2: my sin that I could be forgiven and rose again
Speaker 2: to give me life. I receive this new life. This
Speaker 2: is my new beginning. On the counter of three, raise
Speaker 2: your hand if you pray that one, two three, I
Speaker 2: want to celebrate with you. I want to celebrate with you.
Speaker 2: The doors are open. Welcome in, man, Welcome in to
Speaker 2: all those online. Just put it in the comments. I
Speaker 2: receive Jesus.
Speaker 1: Today is my day.
Speaker 2: This is my door.
Speaker 6: Hallylujah.
Speaker 2: Let's give God the greatest twenty four seconds of praise.
Speaker 2: We can thank you piesus God Lord, how many no praise?
Speaker 1: Open prison doors play? Why have you heavenly cakes got The.
Speaker 2: King of lowry Man turns, hallylujah, you got seven seconds
Speaker 2: last six five. I pray that you are open to
Speaker 2: what God said today. Hey, y'all with dismiss in a minute,
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you so much, close the doors.
Speaker 1: If that word had your name on it, let me
Speaker 1: know right.
Speaker 2: Now, if that box had your name on it, I
Speaker 2: know it's tricky. I told God I didn't want to
Speaker 2: preach a message of hype, but a message of hope,
Speaker 2: and not a hopepothetical message either, because I don't know
Speaker 2: if it's going to happen just like you want it.
Speaker 2: But about this time next year, about this time next year,
Speaker 2: if we win one day at a time, I believe
Speaker 2: you're carrying something awesome.
Speaker 1: I believe He has something amazing for you.
Speaker 2: Would you stand and give God praise as our campus
Speaker 2: pastors come to close us. I love you, Thank you
Speaker 2: for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who
Speaker 2: give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that
Speaker 2: this ministry is possible. You can click the link in
Speaker 2: the description to give now or visit Elevation Church Slash
Speaker 2: podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast,
Speaker 2: you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
Speaker 2: share it on your social stories and tag us at
Speaker 2: Elevation Church.
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.