WEBVTT - I Am Number 12 (Dharius Daniels) 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:04.680 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:07.160 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.520 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:12.560 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:16.720 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:23.800 Elevation Church every location. Can we put our hands together 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:32.720 and give Jesus the best praise we got? Yeah? Hey, 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:35.920 let's pray together. I believe preaching should lead from and 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:41.080 to prayer. Father, we are grateful. The fact that we're 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:47.519 able to worship you this week is evidence of your faithfulness. 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:55.560 Your faithfulness is not ordinary. It's been great. Today. We're 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:59.080 reminded of the testimony of the scriptures that when we 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:06.319 were faithless, you were faithful. And even when we walked 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:11.120 away from you, you never walked away from us. We 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:15.880 thank you for that today, thank you for your goodness 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:21.319 that's been demonstrated all around us. We pause for this 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.679 cause of expressing thanksgiving for things that we've taken for 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:31.679 granted this week, things we've looked over, and we declare 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:34.680 that no matter what it is, it doesn't change who 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:38.920 you are. We declare your goodness to our souls this week, 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:43.759 and we pray your your blessing on this gathering. You're 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:46.920 the only one that could say something to all of us, 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:49.520 but say something different to each of us at the 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:55.240 same time. So locate us through your word, find us 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.560 wherever we are, speak to us in a way that 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.639 lets us know that we are seen by you, known 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:05.200 by you, cared about by you. I thank you for this, 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.480 and I pray for the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:11.359 You are annoying and to equip me to teach your 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:14.520 word to your people, and knowing you like we know 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:17.680 you we already have. Well we've asked you for So 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.080 we thank you for these things in the name of 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:22.919 the one that saved our life. His name is Jesus. 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:26.880 If your lover one more time, putting your hands together, 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:33.320 well listen. If you're in the rooms physical locations, you 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:37.320 can be seated. So glad to be with you today, 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:40.639 always an honor. I feel like I'm yall cousin now 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:45.880 we family, and so it's so good to be here. 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:48.799 As always. I just want to give a major shout 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.960 out to my friend and my brother. He I got 0:02:53.000 --> 0:03:00.000 a Wednesday morning appointment with him every Wednesday via YouTube. 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:03.520 Every Wednesday while I'm working out today, I listen to sermons. 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:04.960 I don't listen to a lot of them, but I 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.560 listen to him each week, and he just adds such 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:11.960 tremendous value to my life as a person, as a leader, 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:16.800 and also as one of the greatest communicators of God's 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:23.679 word around the world. We celebrate him today the incredible 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:27.320 leadership he provides. And to his amazing wife Holly, the 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:32.800 kids love the natural family and this spiritual family. This 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:35.480 this incredible team you got here. And you know, I've 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:37.640 been trying to do this church thing for a while, 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:40.520 doing the best I can. I've learned though, you don't 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:42.440 go as far as your dream, you go as far 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:48.960 as your team. So shout out to this incredible team 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.200 that God has sent to this house, and it's using 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.960 the change lives around the world. So something I want 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:58.440 to share today. As I was thinking through and praying 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:02.120 about what direction to go, I was reminded of a 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:06.960 concept that really started stirring in my heart several years ago, 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:10.680 and I did some teachings on it then, but it's 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.240 reemerged because I'm in the process process now write my 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:16.719 next book and it's kind of going to be birthed 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:20.000 from this concept, and so it's just it's all in me. 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.520 I can't get away from it. So now you're gonna 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:26.880 have to suffer for it today, because I want to 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.760 share and unload this. I want to read a small 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.480 part of a scripture found in the Gospel of Matthew, 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:37.880 chapter number fourteen. I want to look at verse twenty eight, 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:40.840 and I want to read just a couple of verses there, 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:43.119 and I want to use that text as a launching 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.160 pad to leap into our lesson. Y'all ready for the 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:53.039 word today? Yes, Matthew chapter fourteen, Verse twenty eight says, 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.320 this is Peter talking. He says, Lord, if it's you, 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:03.640 tell me to come to you on the water, come, 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:09.679 Jesus said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:16.160 walked on water and came toward Jesus. Then Peter got 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:20.039 down out of the boat, walked on water and came 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:24.440 toward Jesus. Then Peter got down out of the boat, 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:28.919 walked on water and came toward Jesus. Then Peter got 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:33.480 down out of the boat, walked on water, and came 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:36.920 toward Jesus. Then Peter got down out of the boat. 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:41.240 He walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus. 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:49.279 I want to use this scripture as a foundation for 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:51.440 this lesson in our time together day. I want to 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:59.880 talk from this subject. I am number twelve. I am 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:12.280 number twelve. Family. There are a number of words that 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:18.520 can be used to describe those of us who have 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:22.760 accepted Jesus as the leader of our life and the 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:27.080 forgiver of our sin. Number of words the Bible uses. 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:37.760 None of those words imply or suggest normal. All through 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:42.560 our scripture we see an array of adjectives that the 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:48.440 authors of Scripture use to describe and depict the nature 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:53.160 and character of God's people, and none of those adjectives 0:06:53.800 --> 0:07:14.280 in any way suggests normal. The Bible uses words like salt, light, special, chosen, royal, blessed, beloved, anointed, peculiar, chosen, head, 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:20.280 not tell above, only, not beneath. All of these words 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:24.760 are used by the authors of scripture to articulate to 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:33.560 us who we are. My question is why, if I 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:36.640 am that, why do you have to tell me that? 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:46.280 And maybe it's because just because something is a spiritual 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:56.720 truth doesn't mean it's my personal experience that The question 0:07:57.040 --> 0:08:02.360 that we need to. I believe ask an answer is 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:06.920 really a question that can be answered by this sage 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:10.960 named Solomon when he says in his collection of Thoughts 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.880 and Axioms, a book of the Bible called Proverbs, when 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.320 he says this, as a man or woman thinks in 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:21.280 their heart, so is he, which means maybe one of 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:26.480 the reasons God reiterates and regularly repeats to us who 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:30.160 we are from his perspective is because God knows we 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.160 will always live in a way that's consistent with the 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:39.880 way you see yourself. Am I'm making sense here? Yeah, 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:44.160 maybe he's trying to do some holy and healthy brain washing. 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:48.240 Paul would call it. I know that was the harsh one. 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:51.559 Paul would call it. Then mind renewal. That's better if Yeah, 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:55.320 he would mind renewal. He wants to retrain the brain 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.440 because he knows you're gonna behave in a way that's 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:03.080 consistent with the way you see. So, like in number thirteen, 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:07.400 when I tell you you can defeat the enemy and 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:12.880 occupy canaanland, you're going to see the giants and look 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:17.200 at yourself and see yourself as a grasshopper. So you're 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.360 not going to fight a fixed fight not because of 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:24.439 who you are, but because of how you see yourself. 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:29.840 And what I what if I told you that in 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:32.559 this season of many of our lives, what God's trying 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:34.800 to do is not just trying to change your mind 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:38.240 about the world or change our mind about external and 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.840 existential things. Maybe what God's trying to do is to 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:48.080 change your mind about you. Maybe what God's trying to 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:51.560 do is to get you to see yourself the way 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.160 He sees you, so that you can behave in a 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:58.360 way that's consistent with the way He sees you and 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:09.280 not the way you see your All throughout Scripture we 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:17.280 see this, and I believe this pattern in Scripture is 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:23.200 a picture of a principle I've affectionately entitled the principle 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:26.960 of exception. I think last time we were here we 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:32.040 talked about the principle of perspective. But this principle is 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:38.080 the principle of exception. What's an exception? Thearius? An exception 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:45.360 is an anomaly, it's a deviation, it's an abnormality. It's 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:51.800 a rule breaker. You do know your God is a 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:58.080 rule breaker. You do know? Last week we celebrated God 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:03.720 breaking the ultimate rule because nobody goes in a tomb 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:09.920 and stays there three days and then gets up. But God, 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:14.880 who's the god of the exception, knows how to break 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:18.720 a rule. Is there anybody watching, anybody that can look 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:22.520 back over your life and remind yourself that he broke 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:25.920 some rules for me. That the only reason I'm saying 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:29.280 in the membrane is because he broke some rules for me. 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:45.479 He's a rule breaker. You know what Grace does, breaks rules. 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:52.440 Theologian Sli Marker calls it scandalous when he describes Grace. 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:55.840 He used the word scandalous. He said that that's just 0:11:55.960 --> 0:12:09.000 not right for God to give me what I don't deserve. Scandalous. 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:16.319 This principle of exception, here's a principal family. What happens 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:21.160 with them does not dictate and determine what happens with me. 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:30.840 What happens with them does not dictate and determine what 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:35.760 happens with me. It suggests that previous patterns are not 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:41.560 accurate indicators of future possibilities. It means that you can't 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:46.040 just lump me into some statistical category and then tell me, 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:50.560 because I fit certain criteria and certain statistics, that that's 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:54.840 gonna dictate my destiny. I can't say what happened with 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:58.360 everybody else, but I do know that I serve the 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:02.360 God who breaks rule. He's the God of the exception, 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.480 and what happens with them does not dictate and determine 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:16.400 what happens with me. I know there may be people 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:18.720 who went through what you're going through and who didn't recover. 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:23.800 But God's the God or the exception. I know, maybe 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:28.160 the likelihood of us overcoming some of the obstacles that 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.640 we are facing, maybe that likelihood is low. But just 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:37.600 because something is unlikely doesn't mean it's impossible. God is 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.880 the God of the exception. What happens with them does 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.120 not dictate and determine what happens with me. It means 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.960 that you can't look at them and then tell me, 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.240 based on what happened with them, what God wants to 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:54.360 do with me. I shouldn't even be here today. I'm 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:59.000 from kill Michael, Mississippi, population six hundred and thirty people. 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:02.960 Your pass us from Monks Corner, South Carolina. I don't 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:07.320 even know where that is, but I know God is 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:12.160 able to look at your history and say that has 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:23.480 absolutely nothing to do with your destiny. See, I want 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:30.800 you to catch this. Exceptionism is not the same as exceptionalism. 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:34.240 I want to be clear on that this what we're 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:36.880 saying from a not cultural, but from a Christian perspective 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:41.280 of this. We're not saying we're better than we're saying 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:50.160 we're different from. This is not a declaration of superiority. 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:55.720 This is a declaration of distinction. And what we're saying 0:14:55.840 --> 0:15:00.800 is our distinction is not always in our experiences, is 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:04.000 oftentimes in our outcomes. What does that mean. It means 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:06.640 that we may go through some of the exact same 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:11.120 things that other people go through, but our distinction is 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:14.400 not in that we don't go through. Our distinction is 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:17.560 the way we come out. We may go in the 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:21.720 same thing, but we're not gonna come out the same way. 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:25.480 I may go into fire refurnace, but I'm gonna come 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:28.520 out not smelling like smock. I may go in the 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:32.119 lions then, but I'm gonna come out not being consumed. 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:38.880 We go through what of us go through, but we 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:41.600 don't have to come out the way others come out. 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:45.520 This is not a denial of norms, but rather a 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:47.920 belief that we don't have to be limited by them, 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:52.120 governed by them. Or imprisoned by them, or defined by them. 0:15:53.520 --> 0:16:02.920 They are always exceptions. Why can't you be one of them? 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:06.200 If you do research, most people that go in lions 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:15.040 dens don't come out. But with Daniel, God made an exception. 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.160 If you were to do a focused group, you discover 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:24.120 women in their nineties don't have babies. But with Sarah, 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:29.640 God made an exception. If you would do a survey 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:35.720 regarding whether or not screaming at walls will make walls 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:40.280 fall down, But when Joshua instructed Israel to do that 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:46.479 with the walls of Jericho, God made an exception. Teenagers 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:51.680 don't defeat giants who've been trained in military warfare their 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:55.640 entire life with a fleeing shot and a rock. But 0:16:55.840 --> 0:17:00.760 with a dude named David, God made an exception. And 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:05.760 watch this, Watch this. Dead men don't go in a grave, 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:11.040 stay there three days and then get up early Sunday morning. 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:16.040 But with Jesus, God made an exception. And the same 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:19.240 God that did it for Daniel, that did it for 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:22.360 the Hebrew Boys, that did it for Joshuas that did 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:25.400 it for David, that did it for Jesus, is the 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:30.120 same God that's doing it right now. I've seen you move, 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:36.240 you move the mountains, and I believe I'll see you 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:57.360 do it again. He's the God of exceptions. I said, 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:01.040 He's the God of exceptions. And there's a word that's 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:08.960 often used to describe those that understand and embrace this principle. 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:11.880 Now recently recently been exploring if you're in the room, 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:17.480 you can please. I've recently been exploring this, uh, this 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:24.640 concept because right now even I've been recently working on 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:27.920 these messages, and I'm working on this message around grace. 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:29.679 And one of the things I've been struggling with is, like, 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:35.239 you know, I think most Christians understand grace conceptually. I 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:43.360 just think I don't think most Christians actually receive it, right. 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:46.600 I think conceptually they could say, yes, I get God 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:51.240 doesn't judge me that I get God's going to respond 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:54.520 to me according to the finished work of Jesus, and 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.359 everything that I do is simply in response to that 0:18:57.359 --> 0:18:59.959 finished work. It's not a substitute to that finished work, 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.240 because if it's finished, it's finished. So I think most 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:05.880 Christians would agree with that conceptually. But if I were 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:10.360 to say, do you struggle with condemnation, they'd probably say yes, 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:16.720 I do because you understand, but understanding it and embracing 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:21.600 it is something different. So there's a word that we 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:25.159 can use to describe those that not only understand this 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:31.320 principle of exception, but embrace it. And I think our 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:37.520 foundational passage here in Matthew gives us an amazing example 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:42.359 of this adjective. This word, and the word is water 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:53.119 Walker's what's that because that's that's an exception. Water walkers 0:19:53.119 --> 0:20:04.160 those that walk on what other people drown in. One writer. 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:08.840 One writer noted that the Bible is inundated with examples 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:14.520 of people who do walking. God walk in the garden 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:16.920 of Eden in the cool of day, Enoch walk with God. 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:20.520 Abraham walked to Mount Mariah. Moses walked through the Red 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:23.880 Sea on dry ground. Joshua walked around the walls of Jericho, 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.960 the Disciples walked on Amaeas Road. Jesus walked the Via 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:32.840 della Rossa. All throughout scripture we see examples of people walking. 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:37.120 But here in Matthew chapter fourteen, we see something different 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:40.880 because in all the other examples I mentioned, people are 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:48.000 walking on the ground. In Matthew chapter fourteen we see 0:20:48.040 --> 0:21:00.520 an exception. We see two people. This is important two 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:08.040 people walking on water. Yeah, it's really interesting. The contextually 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:09.760 what happens here. I think we picked up in the 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:14.000 latter part of the story, but contextually this instance this 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:19.360 story transpires right after Jesus has Matthew records Jesus performing 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:22.200 a miracle with two fish and five blows of bread 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:28.080 so powerful. Verse twenty two actually begins with the word immediately, saying, 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:31.639 as soon as Jesus is finished performing this miracle, he 0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:33.760 tells his disciples, now I want you to get on 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:35.440 the boat. I want you to go to the other side, 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:41.639 and I'm gonna pull up on you later. That's what 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:46.399 it says. Get in this boat, you go to the 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:51.840 other side'a pull up on you later. The disciples do 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:55.760 exactly what he said. They get in the boat, and 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:59.320 the Bible says that Jesus does this, he goes off 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:05.919 to a solitary place to pray. This is so interesting 0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:09.440 in me family, So he puts them on the boat, 0:22:10.800 --> 0:22:13.720 sends them ahead of him. He goes off to a 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:18.320 solitary place to pray, which means they have a head start. 0:22:19.440 --> 0:22:22.600 The Bible says they have a head start of hours. 0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:36.679 They have a head start of hours. They're rowing or 0:22:36.800 --> 0:22:42.439 sailing for hours and then all of a sudden, in 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:51.280 the middle of the night, they see Jesus walking. They've 0:22:51.280 --> 0:22:55.960 been rowing, but he's walking. I want you to catch this. 0:22:57.160 --> 0:23:01.359 They had to invest some sweat to get to where 0:23:01.359 --> 0:23:05.120 they were. They probably had to do some straining. Even 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:06.600 if they had to put up a cell, they had 0:23:06.640 --> 0:23:09.320 to strain. If they had to row, they had to strain. 0:23:10.000 --> 0:23:19.040 They're straining, but Jesus is stepping. They have a head start, 0:23:19.200 --> 0:23:28.480 but he catches up because while they are exerting energy 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:38.680 and effort, he's praying. And so because he reset himself spiritually, 0:23:39.560 --> 0:23:43.800 he was able to accelerate himself naturally. I'm gonna say 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:48.600 that one more time. Because he reset himself spiritually, he 0:23:48.680 --> 0:23:52.280 was able to accelerate himself naturally. See some places we're 0:23:52.280 --> 0:23:56.400 trying to get to by straining and rowing and grinding, 0:23:56.840 --> 0:23:59.920 not realizing that to get to some places, you can 0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:03.840 get there quicker if you got spiritual stammin out. So 0:24:04.600 --> 0:24:07.240 it's okay to take a moment and say I got 0:24:07.240 --> 0:24:12.120 to pause for the cause and reset myself spiritually. Because 0:24:12.160 --> 0:24:15.399 while you are rowing your way there, and while you 0:24:15.480 --> 0:24:18.560 have a head start, God knows how to get me 0:24:18.680 --> 0:24:21.920 there another way, right on schedule. And I want to 0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:25.240 encourage somebody right now, Who's who's standing on the shore 0:24:25.560 --> 0:24:28.000 and you see people ahead of you. They're ahead of 0:24:28.000 --> 0:24:31.199 you professionally, they're ahead of you. Relationally, you waiting to 0:24:31.240 --> 0:24:34.080 walk the isle, they've already walked the aisle, they're ahead 0:24:34.119 --> 0:24:36.880 of you spiritually. I want to let you know that 0:24:36.960 --> 0:24:40.400 God is the god of exception, so this means he's 0:24:40.440 --> 0:24:43.919 a god of acceleration. He'll help you make up for 0:24:44.080 --> 0:24:53.680 lost time. This is interesting. Listen to this family. They 0:24:53.760 --> 0:25:00.600 see this silhouette walking on the water and Peter asks, Lord, 0:25:01.800 --> 0:25:09.880 is it you? Here's my question. If you've been walking 0:25:09.920 --> 0:25:14.240 with me, eating with me, learning from me, being mentored 0:25:14.280 --> 0:25:19.720 by me for three years, how do you not know 0:25:20.119 --> 0:25:26.040 what I look like? And maybe it's because, before we 0:25:26.160 --> 0:25:30.800 judge Peter, maybe it's because God doesn't always show up 0:25:30.880 --> 0:25:39.160 looking like God in a Stormy tex says they were 0:25:39.160 --> 0:25:42.240 dealing with some turbulent sea and wrestling with the storm 0:25:42.440 --> 0:25:45.800 and Jesus shows up and Peter's like, who is that? 0:25:46.080 --> 0:25:49.640 Because God doesn't always look like God in a storm, 0:25:49.920 --> 0:25:52.000 And so we got to be careful because the text 0:25:52.040 --> 0:25:55.480 says they said it's a ghost. They said, we got 0:25:55.480 --> 0:25:58.800 to be careful because in a storm, you will prematurely 0:25:59.160 --> 0:26:02.560 label something one thing, and then when the storm is over, 0:26:02.640 --> 0:26:07.000 you'll look back and say, oh, that was God. I'm 0:26:07.040 --> 0:26:10.639 telling somebody. The thing you're calling pain in this season, 0:26:11.000 --> 0:26:13.679 you're gonna look back in another season and say that 0:26:13.880 --> 0:26:17.000 was God. The thing you're saying is a closed door 0:26:17.040 --> 0:26:19.840 in this season, you're gonna look back in another season 0:26:19.880 --> 0:26:22.600 and say that was God. Let me help my singles 0:26:22.600 --> 0:26:25.680 who ready to mingle. The thing you're calling a breakup 0:26:25.720 --> 0:26:28.320 in this season, you're gonna look back in the next 0:26:28.320 --> 0:26:37.399 season and say that was God. Because God doesn't always 0:26:37.440 --> 0:26:46.320 show up looking like God in a storm. Their doors 0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:48.919 that close in my face in certain seasons of my 0:26:49.000 --> 0:26:55.400 life that caused me pain and feelings of rejection and inadequacy. 0:26:56.280 --> 0:26:58.199 And now I look back at some of those seasons 0:26:58.240 --> 0:27:03.840 and say, that wasn't rejection, that was God. That was protection. 0:27:04.720 --> 0:27:08.000 He was protecting me in a season where I didn't 0:27:08.040 --> 0:27:13.280 have the discernment to avoid walking through the wrong door. 0:27:19.440 --> 0:27:23.840 So Peter says this. He says, Okay, Lord, if it's 0:27:23.880 --> 0:27:29.320 really you, tell me to come to you on the 0:27:29.320 --> 0:27:35.920 water and the Bible says, we read it together. Jesus said, come. 0:27:37.840 --> 0:27:39.960 Peter said, if it's you tell me to come to 0:27:40.000 --> 0:27:43.560 you on the water, and the Bible says Jesus said, come. 0:27:44.280 --> 0:27:47.480 Peter said, if it's you tell me to come to 0:27:47.560 --> 0:27:52.040 you on the water, and the Bible says that Jesus says, come. 0:27:53.400 --> 0:27:58.840 Sometimes we don't walk on water because come is not enough. 0:28:03.040 --> 0:28:05.879 Jesus didn't say, come. Then I'm gonna suspend gravity and 0:28:05.920 --> 0:28:08.720 then you're gonna walk on water. Jesus didn't say come. 0:28:08.760 --> 0:28:10.480 I want you to take twelve steps to the left 0:28:10.520 --> 0:28:13.120 and twelve steps to the right. Because some of us 0:28:13.119 --> 0:28:16.080 are wired like me and we're very detail oriented. I 0:28:16.119 --> 0:28:17.920 don't want to just come. I won't know where we're going, 0:28:18.280 --> 0:28:20.520 which router would take in how long is it gonna 0:28:20.560 --> 0:28:23.000 take for us to get there. But sometimes in dealing 0:28:23.040 --> 0:28:25.800 with God, sometimes if we're gonna walk on water, sometimes 0:28:25.840 --> 0:28:28.040 if we're gonna be the exception, we've got to learn 0:28:28.080 --> 0:28:33.840 how to go on a come. So you got to 0:28:33.880 --> 0:28:36.720 learn how to be able to move with the information 0:28:36.840 --> 0:28:40.560 that I give you at the pace that I give 0:28:40.600 --> 0:28:47.160 it to you. Because God will never inform us incompletely, 0:28:48.160 --> 0:28:55.600 but he will inform us incrementally. He says, I'm gonna 0:28:55.600 --> 0:28:59.680 give you more information on the way. He says, I 0:28:59.720 --> 0:29:02.200 give you the information that you need, not the information 0:29:02.320 --> 0:29:15.520 you prefer. And the Bible says this. Peter steps down 0:29:16.680 --> 0:29:24.080 out of the boat, walks on water. But Matthew tells 0:29:24.160 --> 0:29:28.760 us he does that to come toward Jesus. So he's 0:29:28.840 --> 0:29:32.960 not trying to walk on water simply to walk on water. 0:29:36.000 --> 0:29:39.400 He's not trying to spiritualize his ego and his ambition. 0:29:43.320 --> 0:29:45.640 He's not trying to do something major just to do 0:29:45.720 --> 0:29:48.800 something major. He's not trying to blow up just to 0:29:48.800 --> 0:29:57.440 blow up. He's trying to get to Jesus. But I 0:29:57.480 --> 0:30:05.520 saw something. It's interesting me. The text only says that 0:30:05.520 --> 0:30:11.280 Peter does it. But all the disciples were in the boat, 0:30:14.160 --> 0:30:21.240 but only Peter had enough whatever, And there are number 0:30:21.320 --> 0:30:28.560 words we can put in there, faith, naivety, I don't know, 0:30:30.160 --> 0:30:35.040 but only Peter stepped out. Are you all ready for this? 0:30:39.440 --> 0:30:44.680 There are eleven others in the boat. Peter looks at 0:30:44.680 --> 0:30:51.480 the eleven and said, I'm number twelve. I'm not built 0:30:51.520 --> 0:30:58.960 for the boat, I'm wired for the water. I'm not 0:30:59.080 --> 0:31:02.600 better than you, but I'm different and if you're okay 0:31:02.680 --> 0:31:06.840 in the boat, that's okay, but I'm not. But I 0:31:06.880 --> 0:31:11.520 can't make my personal decision based on whether majority is sitting. 0:31:12.520 --> 0:31:16.600 So Peter says, I see what the eleven are doing, 0:31:17.480 --> 0:31:22.600 but what I'm doing is I'm looking at Jesus, and 0:31:22.680 --> 0:31:26.000 I gotta make a decision. Who's gonna influence what I 0:31:26.120 --> 0:31:32.360 do more, the one walking on the water or the 0:31:32.400 --> 0:31:35.600 eleven sitting in the boat. I'm gonna tell you, if 0:31:35.640 --> 0:31:38.160 you're gonna be a water walker, there are times where 0:31:38.200 --> 0:31:40.680 you're gonna have to make a decision to say, I'd 0:31:40.760 --> 0:31:44.400 rather be like Jesus than the eleven sitting in the boat. 0:31:51.560 --> 0:31:54.880 Can you imagine the pressure he felt? Can you imagine 0:31:54.880 --> 0:32:01.080 that the pressure he felt the eleven bringing to themselves. 0:32:02.920 --> 0:32:09.840 He got out of there anyway. Can you imagine his 0:32:10.040 --> 0:32:18.280 struggling emotionally. But he got out of there anyway, because 0:32:18.440 --> 0:32:21.000 I don't know how big this boat was. But Matthew says, 0:32:21.440 --> 0:32:24.160 we read this that Peter got down out of the 0:32:24.200 --> 0:32:30.120 boat because that's the only way we're able to exemplify 0:32:30.320 --> 0:32:33.720 this principle of exception. Because to get over the ego, 0:32:33.800 --> 0:32:36.280 to get over the insecurity, to get over the potential embassment. 0:32:36.400 --> 0:32:47.000 You gotta go down humility, because all wrestling with the 0:32:47.080 --> 0:32:52.840 ego is is wrestling with pride. He got down out 0:32:52.840 --> 0:32:57.160 of the boat, walked on water, and came toward Jesus. 0:32:58.320 --> 0:33:05.040 And I believe on today that I'm preaching in a 0:33:05.120 --> 0:33:12.560 number twelve church, preaching for a number twelve pastor, preaching 0:33:12.640 --> 0:33:17.959