Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope
Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to
Speaker 1: see God as moving in your life. Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1: Hi everybody, and welcome to all of our locations and
Speaker 1: all of you watching online are e fam No, I'm
Speaker 1: sorry Pastor Stephen is not preaching. I hope it's not
Speaker 1: too much of a disappointment because you're going to have
Speaker 1: to settle for me the other Ferdick. I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1: I know you love me too, and I count it
Speaker 1: such a privilege every time that I get to teach
Speaker 1: on this stage at Elevation. So I'm recording this message
Speaker 1: here to a small group of people, but many of
Speaker 1: you are watching this message as we're celebrating Mother's Day weekend.
Speaker 1: And Mother's Day is such a happy day, but for
Speaker 1: so many we can't ignore the fact that it's also
Speaker 1: a difficult day. And what I love about our church
Speaker 1: is how we take the opportunity to celebrate all women
Speaker 1: on this day. To me, Mother's Day is a day
Speaker 1: to celebrate the beauty in God's creation of the woman.
Speaker 1: He put a nurturing, mothering heart in each one of us,
Speaker 1: whether we have children or not, whether our children are
Speaker 1: still with us or not, And together, as women, we
Speaker 1: are able to contribute to our church and to this
Speaker 1: world in a unique and special way. So can we
Speaker 1: take a minute to celebrate. Find a woman near you
Speaker 1: and tell her you look thinner. So, speaking of looking thinner,
Speaker 1: have you ever experienced one of those moments where your
Speaker 1: kid's honesty was like a slap in the face. You know,
Speaker 1: they really know us, well don't they. We think we
Speaker 1: know them, but they really have us pinned too. So
Speaker 1: I had one of these moments recently. Abby came home
Speaker 1: from school. And Abby is one of those kids too
Speaker 1: who tells you everything about school and my boys. They like,
Speaker 1: I get nothing from my boys, but Abby, I get
Speaker 1: it all. So Abby is in her you know, talking talking, talking,
Speaker 1: and she goes mom. Monday is the bubble test, and
Speaker 1: my teacher said that we need to go to bed
Speaker 1: early so that we can get plenty of rest. And
Speaker 1: she also said that we need to get up and
Speaker 1: need a big breakfast like pancakes and bacon, so that
Speaker 1: we won't be hungry during the test. And then she said,
Speaker 1: and I thought, in my mind, I don't think my
Speaker 1: mom's going to do that. At least she had realistic
Speaker 1: expectations of her mom, right. Being a mom often comes
Speaker 1: along with feeling underappreciated and unqualified, constantly feeling like I'm
Speaker 1: never enough, I can ever do enough, we can never
Speaker 1: be enough, I can't take you enough places. But as
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this message and preparing and praying
Speaker 1: about what I felt like God wanted me to say,
Speaker 1: I started to think, Wait, like, that's not just moms,
Speaker 1: that's all of us. That's called being a grown up.
Speaker 1: That's life, and we all struggle with those feelings. And
Speaker 1: how about this one. Do you ever struggle with the
Speaker 1: feeling of does this really even matter? One time, we
Speaker 1: were in a restaurant with another pastor. My husband was
Speaker 1: preaching at this pastor's church, and he was taking us
Speaker 1: out to dinner and they had a reservation, and so
Speaker 1: we're standing in the entryway of the restaurant and nobody
Speaker 1: was attending to us. Nobody asked us, you know, how
Speaker 1: many people were in our party or anything. And the
Speaker 1: hostess wasn't in the hostess stand, but there were people
Speaker 1: buzzing around, so we all just kind of stood there
Speaker 1: for a few minutes. And this particular pastor, I'm not
Speaker 1: going to tell you who he is, but he's really
Speaker 1: loud and has a really boisterous personality. I know that
Speaker 1: doesn't even narrow it down for you, because that's like
Speaker 1: pretty much every pastor. And you could tell he was
Speaker 1: getting frustrated, and all of a sudden, he just yells,
Speaker 1: I mean yells at the top of his lungs. Does
Speaker 1: anybody even care that we're here? And I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, but have you ever felt like that?
Speaker 1: Does anyone even care? Does this even matter? Does it
Speaker 1: even matter? Would I do? I just I wonder that
Speaker 1: so often that things like does it matter that I
Speaker 1: try so hard to provide healthy food and a neat
Speaker 1: house I mean not a perfect house, but a neat
Speaker 1: house and clean clothes for my family, when I mean
Speaker 1: three out of four of my people would just soon
Speaker 1: eat junk food and live in complete Squalor does this
Speaker 1: even matter what I'm doing? Like maybe when you do
Speaker 1: a project at school and you give your all just
Speaker 1: for a great does it even matter? Or a report
Speaker 1: at work Does it even matter if I show up
Speaker 1: to volunteer at elevation? There are hundreds of volunteers. Do
Speaker 1: they really need me? Am I really making a contribution?
Speaker 1: Do you ever feel like you gave your all but
Speaker 1: it probably didn't even matter. We all long for significance
Speaker 1: in our lives. We want to know that what we
Speaker 1: are doing will be worth it. And that's what I
Speaker 1: want to talk about today. So I want to jump
Speaker 1: right into our scripture and get started. We're going to
Speaker 1: read a passage of scripture in Luke, starting at the
Speaker 1: very end of chapter twenty, verse forty five, and I'm
Speaker 1: going to read the whole passage to you. So here
Speaker 1: we go. While all the people were listening, Jesus said
Speaker 1: to his disciples, beware of the teachers of the law.
Speaker 1: They like to walk around in flowing robes and love
Speaker 1: to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have
Speaker 1: the most important seats in the synagogue and the place
Speaker 1: of honor at banquets. They devour widows houses and for
Speaker 1: show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.
Speaker 1: As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their
Speaker 1: gifts into the Temple treasury. He also saw a poor
Speaker 1: widow put in two very small copper coins, also known
Speaker 1: as a widow's mite. Truly, I tell you, he said,
Speaker 1: this poor widow has put in more than all the others.
Speaker 1: All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth,
Speaker 1: but she, out of her poverty, put in all she
Speaker 1: had to live on. The title of my message today
Speaker 1: is when you're all seems small? Yes, look at your
Speaker 1: neighbor and ask them, does your all seem small? Have
Speaker 1: you been enjoying pastors' messages on savage Jesus. Savage Jesus.
Speaker 1: I can't even say it, savage Jesus. I really I
Speaker 1: think this is one of my favorite sermon series that
Speaker 1: we've ever done. I know I say that every time,
Speaker 1: but I really mean it this time. I've been reading
Speaker 1: the Bible differently. I've been seeing Jesus not just as
Speaker 1: the calm and compassionate Jesus. I've been seeing his savagery too.
Speaker 1: Is that a word? Savagery? And I hope that when
Speaker 1: you read your Bible that it's not just on Sundays,
Speaker 1: that you're reading it in between Sundays, not because it
Speaker 1: makes you some sort of a better person or a
Speaker 1: better Christian, but because God wants to speak to you
Speaker 1: personally through his word. Okay, that's totally not my message,
Speaker 1: just like a little little side thought. But as I've
Speaker 1: been reading through the Bible, and I've been looking at
Speaker 1: Jesus's teachings in the Bible, you often find him saying
Speaker 1: this phrase. You have heard it said, but I say,
Speaker 1: and throughout the Scripture, we find Jesus challenging what we value, Okay,
Speaker 1: And that's where we find him in this story. He's
Speaker 1: warning the decide that the Pharisees have their values all
Speaker 1: messed up. And this woman who gave the smallest, most
Speaker 1: insignificant gift really truly gave more than anyone else. And
Speaker 1: so today I want to look at this passage of
Speaker 1: Scripture and I want to challenge your thinking. When you
Speaker 1: feel like your gift doesn't matter, like you're pouring out
Speaker 1: your heart and soul into your job, or into your marriage,
Speaker 1: into a relationship, into your family, into your kids, and
Speaker 1: it feels like just a drop in the bucket, I
Speaker 1: want to challenge your thinking. Maybe you're valuing the wrong thing.
Speaker 1: I want you to consider that God is way more
Speaker 1: concern about how you do something than what you're actually doing. Okay,
Speaker 1: now I know what you're thinking. Wait a minute, didn't
Speaker 1: Pastor Stephen just tell us a couple of weeks ago
Speaker 1: that we don't need to know how. Yes, he did,
Speaker 1: and we're both right. Okay, he's talking about how in
Speaker 1: a context of faith. And by the way, if you
Speaker 1: missed that message, it was called let the Dirt do
Speaker 1: its work, my favorite message of the year. I know
Speaker 1: they're all my favorite, but no, that one was really
Speaker 1: my favorite message of twenty eighteen. So you've got to
Speaker 1: go back and watch it. But Pastor Stephen is talking
Speaker 1: about how in the context of faith today, I want
Speaker 1: to talk about how in the context of like the
Speaker 1: way in which you do something. Okay, God is way
Speaker 1: more concerned with the way I do something than he
Speaker 1: is with what I'm actually doing. Okay, don't worry if
Speaker 1: you're a little bit confused, it'll all make sense. We're
Speaker 1: going to take a closer look at this passage of Scripture,
Speaker 1: and as we look at it, I want to point
Speaker 1: out to you three earthly values that Jesus came to challenge. Okay,
Speaker 1: are you ready? All right, let's look back at verse
Speaker 1: forty five Jesus said, or Luke tells us. While all
Speaker 1: the peace people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples,
Speaker 1: I just have to stop right there. I love how
Speaker 1: Luke is giving us this picture of Jesus, and he
Speaker 1: knows that all these people around are there. But he
Speaker 1: said it to his disciples kind of like when I
Speaker 1: say to my husband, like, I know my kids are
Speaker 1: within earshot, and so I say to my husband, I swear,
Speaker 1: if these people don't start picking up their crap, I'm
Speaker 1: going to start throwing it in the trash. Okay, see,
Speaker 1: Jesus use that device too. He was talking to his disciples.
Speaker 1: He knew that everyone was listening, so he took this
Speaker 1: moment to say this to them. Beware of the teachers
Speaker 1: of the law. They like to walk around in flowing
Speaker 1: robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.
Speaker 1: You see, here's the first thing I want to point
Speaker 1: out to you. We value appearance, but God values attitude.
Speaker 1: I love to throw birthday parties for my kids, and
Speaker 1: I mean, I really get into it. I don't know
Speaker 1: why I never even asked my kids if they like it.
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, if one of my kids said they
Speaker 1: wanted to have a birthday party at one of those
Speaker 1: jumpy places. I'd be like, are you sure, because think
Speaker 1: of all the things we could do. So in the
Speaker 1: past twelve years of my motherhood, I've thrown a lot
Speaker 1: of birthday parties and I just like really get into
Speaker 1: the theme. So whatever my kid is into, we're going
Speaker 1: to have a birthday party with that theme. And I
Speaker 1: particularly get into the snacks. I don't know. I go
Speaker 1: on Pinterest and you know, search Shark birthday party and
Speaker 1: come up with all the decorations and whatever. So I
Speaker 1: love the snacks. One time Graham had a Batman birthday
Speaker 1: party and so we had poison ivy punch to drink.
Speaker 1: And one time Abby had a Rapunzel party, and so
Speaker 1: I went on Pinterest and found this recipe where you
Speaker 1: take a hot dog and then you braid the crescent
Speaker 1: roll dough over it to make it look like a braid.
Speaker 1: It probably looked more like a Pinterest fail, but we
Speaker 1: were gonna eat braids at that birthday party. I get
Speaker 1: into the decorations and the games and everything. Okay, And
Speaker 1: again I really don't know why, but it's just fun
Speaker 1: to me. Okay, So just whatever do what's fun to you.
Speaker 1: But there have been a few birthday parties over the
Speaker 1: years where I have failed. And no, I'm not talking
Speaker 1: about the Rapunzel braid fail. And I'm also not talking
Speaker 1: about the time that Abby had a panda party and
Speaker 1: so I thought it would be really cool if we
Speaker 1: hired a face painter to paint, like you know the
Speaker 1: face painters at Caroin's and your face looks so cool.
Speaker 1: It was like to paint panda faces on the girls.
Speaker 1: And about midway through the party, my husband leans over
Speaker 1: to me and he's like, they kind of look like
Speaker 1: the eighties hairband kiss. Okay, not that failure either. The
Speaker 1: failure that I'm talking about is the times where I
Speaker 1: was doing something for my kids and I was fussing
Speaker 1: at them at the same time, like stop eating the
Speaker 1: cheese off of the cheese tray. This is for other people.
Speaker 1: And you know, don't stop punching the balloons. I bought
Speaker 1: the balloons for them, but I'm so obsessed over the
Speaker 1: way that it looks, and get out of my kitchen.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to throw a party. Can't you see it's funny,
Speaker 1: But it's not funny, you know. There have been so
Speaker 1: many times where maybe I've posted something on social media
Speaker 1: that made it look like everything was awesome, but in reality,
Speaker 1: I am yelling and fussing. If you don't say cheese,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take the phone, I'm gonna smash it, and
Speaker 1: you're never gonna play Fortnite again. And I'm like Happy
Speaker 1: Easter from the Verdige. We live in a day that
Speaker 1: is ultra focused on appearance. And there's nothing wrong with
Speaker 1: caring about the way that you look. Absolutely nothing wrong
Speaker 1: with that. But when you use appearances to cover up
Speaker 1: what's really going on in your heart, that's when you
Speaker 1: get into trouble. One time, Jesus in the Book of
Speaker 1: Matthew was talking about the Pharisees and he called them
Speaker 1: whitewashed tombs. He said, on the outside they're beautiful, but
Speaker 1: on the inside they're full of dead bones. Jesus came
Speaker 1: that we might have life. He doesn't want me to
Speaker 1: be walking death, walking bones. But if I'm hyper focused
Speaker 1: on the way that I appear, God can't even get
Speaker 1: to the inside of me. He can't even get there
Speaker 1: and minister to that part of me and work from
Speaker 1: the inside out like he wants to. If I'm always
Speaker 1: covering everything up, and always concern about how I appear,
Speaker 1: how my family appears to others. I think I'm stepping
Speaker 1: on some toes, So let's get back to her our scripture.
Speaker 1: I'm stepping on my own toes, all right, So I'm
Speaker 1: gonna start over again in verse forty six. Beware of
Speaker 1: the teachers of the law. They like to walk around
Speaker 1: and flowing, and love to be greeted with respect in
Speaker 1: the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the
Speaker 1: synagogues and the places of honor at the banquets. They
Speaker 1: devour widows houses. See here, I find that we often
Speaker 1: place value on importance, but God values integrity. The Pharisees
Speaker 1: are running around seeking the seat of importance. Meanwhile they're
Speaker 1: devouring what little a widow has left. Whenever I get
Speaker 1: a chance to teach at our church, I always like
Speaker 1: to highlight a woman. Now. I know I've said this before,
Speaker 1: but Pastor Steven, you know, he's a man's man. He's
Speaker 1: got his speak muscles, and he likes to teach about
Speaker 1: David and bars and battles and savage Jesus. And how
Speaker 1: many of you were here when he did the series
Speaker 1: on Elijah called work your window, and one day I
Speaker 1: want him to do a series all on women of
Speaker 1: the Bible and call it some really feminine like glitz
Speaker 1: and glitter. That was the best I could come up with.
Speaker 1: I tried, really already to come up with something better
Speaker 1: that he might have come up with. But leave the
Speaker 1: creativity to him. He can just get started with glitz
Speaker 1: and glitter. Okay. Anyway, So the woman I want to highlight.
Speaker 1: Do any of you know the story of Rebecca in
Speaker 1: the Book of Genesis. So Rebecca was the wife of Isaac,
Speaker 1: the mother of Jacob and Esaul. Remember another sermon series
Speaker 1: that my husband did on Jacob called Death to Selfie.
Speaker 1: That was years ago. I don't know how many of
Speaker 1: you were here for that. When you talked about the
Speaker 1: Bowl of Beans, and I love that series too, say
Speaker 1: I told you they're all my favorite. Okay. So what
Speaker 1: you might not know about Rebecca is the way that
Speaker 1: she came to be the wife of Isaac. Now I
Speaker 1: don't know about the men, but ladies, we like to
Speaker 1: hear how people got together, you know, So say, so
Speaker 1: how y'all meet? If you ask Rebecca that question, she
Speaker 1: would say, well, it all started with some camels. So
Speaker 1: that interesting for you. I want to read to you
Speaker 1: part of Rebecca's story found in Genesis chapter twenty four.
Speaker 1: So in this chapter we have Abraham. So you know,
Speaker 1: you have Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And so Abraham was
Speaker 1: the father of Isaac, and he wanted a wife for
Speaker 1: his son from among his own people. They were living
Speaker 1: in the land of Canaan, and he did not want
Speaker 1: his son Isaac to marry a Canaan Nite woman. So
Speaker 1: we went to his servant and he said, I'm going
Speaker 1: to send you back to my people to find a
Speaker 1: wife for Isaac. Okay, So we find in Genesis chapter
Speaker 1: twenty four Abraham's servant has set out on a journey
Speaker 1: and he's taken along with him ten cammebls. Here's where
Speaker 1: our campbell's come into the picture. And when he finally
Speaker 1: arrives into the town of Nahor, he praised this in
Speaker 1: verse twelve, Lord God of my master Abraham, make me
Speaker 1: successful and show kindness to my master Abraham. See I
Speaker 1: am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the
Speaker 1: townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be
Speaker 1: that when I say to a young woman, please let
Speaker 1: your jar down that I may have a drink, and
Speaker 1: she says, drink, and I'll water your camels too. Let
Speaker 1: her be the one that you have chosen for your servant, Isaac.
Speaker 1: By this I will know that you have shown kindness
Speaker 1: to my master. So here comes Rebecca with her jar,
Speaker 1: and the servant approaches her, and he says, please give
Speaker 1: me a little drink from your jar. And what does
Speaker 1: she say back to him? Drink, my lord, she said,
Speaker 1: and quickly lowered her jar to her hands and gave
Speaker 1: him a drink. After she had given him a drink,
Speaker 1: she said, I'll draw water for your camels too, until
Speaker 1: they have had enough to drink. So she quickly emptied
Speaker 1: her jar into the trough, ran back to the well
Speaker 1: to draw more water, and drew enough for all of
Speaker 1: his camels. Now you're probably thinking, I don't know what
Speaker 1: this worry about Rebecca and camels and this weird tradition
Speaker 1: of sending someone off to find a mate for I
Speaker 1: don't what does this have to do with integrity? Okay,
Speaker 1: it has everything to do with integrity, because did you
Speaker 1: catch how many camels he had with them? He had ten? Okay,
Speaker 1: this man has just made a five hundred mile journey
Speaker 1: with ten camels. Okay, watering his camels was not a
Speaker 1: small task. These are not puppy dogs that you just
Speaker 1: put a little bull down for. Okay, listen to what
Speaker 1: I read this one man say about this event. He said,
Speaker 1: a gallon of water weighs eight pounds. A thirsty camel
Speaker 1: can drink up to thirty gallons of water. There were
Speaker 1: ten camels. You do the math. Okay. This man was
Speaker 1: not important to Rebecca. Okay, she did not know that
Speaker 1: her future husband was writing on these camels. Okay, literally,
Speaker 1: but she had integrity. Integrity is who you you are
Speaker 1: when you don't think anyone is looking. Okay, and God
Speaker 1: blesses integrity. In Luke sixteen ten, one of my favorite
Speaker 1: verses in the whole Bible, a verse that has really
Speaker 1: ministered to me throughout my adulthood. It says one who
Speaker 1: is faithful in the little things is also faithful in
Speaker 1: much And as I was studying for this message and
Speaker 1: thinking about that verse, and I started reading it over
Speaker 1: and over again, and I had this revelation. See, I
Speaker 1: had memorized that verse wrong. I thought that the verse
Speaker 1: said he who is faithful in the little things will
Speaker 1: be made faithful over much. But that's not what it says.
Speaker 1: It says one who is faithful in little things is
Speaker 1: also faithful in much. I was reading the verse like
Speaker 1: a promise, you know, Okay, God, if I'm faithful in
Speaker 1: the little things, then you will entrust me with more.
Speaker 1: But this verse is not a promise. It's a principle. Okay.
Speaker 1: A promise is I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Speaker 1: There's nothing contingent on it. I will never leave you
Speaker 1: nor forsake you, God tells us. But God doesn't make
Speaker 1: if then promises because he will never allow me to
Speaker 1: reduce him down to a formula. God doesn't work that way.
Speaker 1: It's not like, okay, God, if I water these camels,
Speaker 1: you're gonna bring me my man. I mean, wouldn't that
Speaker 1: be nice if we could just reduce everything down to
Speaker 1: and if then this is a principle. And because it's
Speaker 1: a principle, it can become my pep talk. Okay. So
Speaker 1: it sounds like this, Holly, if you can't do the
Speaker 1: small things, then you'll never be able to handle the
Speaker 1: big things. So I wake up every day and I
Speaker 1: hear my kids fighting in the kitchen, for the like
Speaker 1: one millionth time, and I think, here come my camels. Well,
Speaker 1: I care for my household if no one else thanks me,
Speaker 1: because it's my calling. I don't need to be acknowledged
Speaker 1: every time I unload the dishwasher. I mean, if that's
Speaker 1: what you're waiting for, you're gonna die waiting. Okay, But
Speaker 1: can I just do these simple things that God has
Speaker 1: called me to because He's called me to them, not
Speaker 1: because I'm waiting for somebody else to pat me on
Speaker 1: the back and say good job, Holly. No, that's not.
Speaker 1: God is so into integrity. What I'm doing when nobody else.
Speaker 1: When I think nobody else is watching, you never know
Speaker 1: who's watching because because the servant was watching Rebecca the
Speaker 1: whole time. Can I do the project at work without
Speaker 1: needing my name to be put on it? Can I
Speaker 1: give my best to something that I know my name's
Speaker 1: never gonna go on? Can I study for the European
Speaker 1: History test that seems like I don't know what I'm
Speaker 1: ever gonna need this? Why don't I just cheat? No?
Speaker 1: Because integrity matters. Camels build my character. Okay. Now, when
Speaker 1: I say that Jesus values integrity over importance, it doesn't
Speaker 1: mean that I don't mean to say that it's bad
Speaker 1: to be important. It doesn't mean that it's wrong to
Speaker 1: desire a promotion. What I'm simply saying is if you
Speaker 1: don't have the character, you won't be able to hold
Speaker 1: the promotion. Jesus ministered to important people and unimportant people
Speaker 1: all the time because it wasn't a thing of who's
Speaker 1: important or who's unimportant. He could see past their exterior
Speaker 1: and into their hearts. And in our passage, Jesus is
Speaker 1: saying to the disciples, hey, guys, beware of those who
Speaker 1: seek the seat of importance, because that will never make
Speaker 1: you happy, that will never fulfill you. I wish that
Speaker 1: you could hear the Holy Spirit speaking through me, whispering
Speaker 1: to you today this one thing. Little things don't lead
Speaker 1: to bigger opportunities. Little things are the opportunity. That's my
Speaker 1: opportunity right here, this person right in front of me
Speaker 1: that God has put in my path, This is my opportunity.
Speaker 1: All right. Finally, to my favorite part, when I look
Speaker 1: back at the passage one more time, pick up where
Speaker 1: we were. They devour widows' houses and for show, make
Speaker 1: lengthy prayers, and then we'll skip down to the very
Speaker 1: end where Jesus says, all these people gave their gifts
Speaker 1: out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty,
Speaker 1: put in all she had to live on. You see,
Speaker 1: we often value show, but God values sacrifice. Jesus looked
Speaker 1: up and he saw all all the wealthy people putting
Speaker 1: their gifts into the offering, and he also saw this
Speaker 1: woman put in all that she had, all that she
Speaker 1: had to live on. God doesn't care about the size
Speaker 1: of your gift. He cares about the size of your sacrifice.
Speaker 1: And what's a sacrifice for you may not be a
Speaker 1: sacrifice for me, And what's a sacrifice for me may
Speaker 1: not be a sacrifice for you. And if you think
Speaker 1: that I'm talking about money, then you've missed the entire
Speaker 1: point of this sermon. Yet. I mean, sometimes it is
Speaker 1: about the actual gift that I bring to God. But
Speaker 1: there are times when I offer a sacrifice to God
Speaker 1: and it may not look like much to you, but
Speaker 1: God knows, and God sees. He knows what I have
Speaker 1: going on, He knows the troubles that are in my heart.
Speaker 1: And God sees when you sacrifice your personal time to
Speaker 1: provide for your family, God sees that God. God sees
Speaker 1: when you're driving your kids around like you're their freaking
Speaker 1: uber man, right because he whispers to me, one day,
Speaker 1: they're not going to need a ride from you. God
Speaker 1: sees when you give your weekend to volunteer at your campus.
Speaker 1: He sees that. He sees your sacrifice. If you're a
Speaker 1: teacher who actually cares about your students, God sees that.
Speaker 1: And you may never know what God will do with
Speaker 1: your sacrifice. You may never get to see that. But
Speaker 1: when you give your all, I promise you, when you
Speaker 1: give your all to something, that's when God rolls up
Speaker 1: his sleeves and he rubs his hands together and he says,
Speaker 1: now that's something I can work with. That's what he
Speaker 1: wants to work with. He did it with the little
Speaker 1: boys lunch, just a little kid offering his lunch. He
Speaker 1: did it with the widow's oil. How much oil do
Speaker 1: you have? Just a little bit? And what can God
Speaker 1: do with your little bit? What a David? I defeat
Speaker 1: Goliath with a couple small stones. I really hope and
Speaker 1: I pray that you're encouraged by this message. I don't
Speaker 1: want you to feel discouraged. I don't want you to
Speaker 1: feel like oh, I've been valuing all the wrong things.
Speaker 1: And it's not a message to overwhelm you. My prayer
Speaker 1: is that this message would be a reset for many
Speaker 1: of us, for myself included, who have gotten our hearts
Speaker 1: just set on the wrong values. The beautiful thing about
Speaker 1: Jesus is that he only needs one small cry from us.
Speaker 1: Do you remember just a few chapters before this story,
Speaker 1: the woman with the issue of blood, and Jesus is
Speaker 1: going to heal Jyrus's daughter, and he's walking through a
Speaker 1: crowd and he stops and he says, who touched me?
Speaker 1: And the disciples are like, uh, Jesus, it's crowded. Everybody's
Speaker 1: touched you. You know, like if we're in the Disney World,
Speaker 1: we're going to the parade. We we're like, stay close
Speaker 1: to me, guys. Okay. So Jesus is the crowds are
Speaker 1: crying around me. He says, who touched me? And and
Speaker 1: it's and it's this woman, Because he says, no, no,
Speaker 1: the power went out of me. Somebody, somebody touched me.
Speaker 1: Jesus celebrated her tiny bit of faith, her tiny reach,
Speaker 1: and he healed her. And then he said to her,
Speaker 1: go in peace. What I want to do is. I
Speaker 1: want to pray and ask God to seal this word
Speaker 1: on our hearts. Jesus not only wants to to heal
Speaker 1: you today. Does he not only wants to to reset
Speaker 1: your values. He wants to refocus your mind on the
Speaker 1: things that he values so that he can restore your peace.
Speaker 1: Some of us wonder, why why don't I have any peace? Well,
Speaker 1: it's because my heart is set on all the wrong things.
Speaker 1: So let's pray and ask God to just really seal
Speaker 1: this word on our hearts. God, we cry out to
Speaker 1: you today. We thank you that all we need to
Speaker 1: do is have a mustard seed of faith, just one word,
Speaker 1: just one prayer to you, and you hear us, and
Speaker 1: you respond to us. And I pray that you would
Speaker 1: help us to see all of the things that we're
Speaker 1: chasing after that are the wrong things, and open our
Speaker 1: eyes to see the things that you value. We ask God, that,
Speaker 1: as your word says in tewod Corinthians four eighteen, that
Speaker 1: you would fix our eyes not on what is seen,
Speaker 1: but on what is unseen, because what is seen is temporary,
Speaker 1: but what is unseen is eternal. God, we ask that
Speaker 1: you would do this in our lives today. We love
Speaker 1: you so much in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, if you
Speaker 1: enjoyed today's podcast, there are a couple things I'd love
Speaker 1: for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and
Speaker 1: review this podcast. You can also help us reach others
Speaker 1: by investing today at Elevationchurch dot org. Slash GiB and
Speaker 1: thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast.