WEBVTT - Shut Up and Shine (Holly Furtick)

0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.600
<v Speaker 1>Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation

0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.120
<v Speaker 1>Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank

0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.440
<v Speaker 1>you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope

0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.520
<v Speaker 1>it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to

0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.320
<v Speaker 1>see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message

0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:21.799
<v Speaker 1>today is going to be amazing. Yeah. So this is

0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.040
<v Speaker 1>like not my iPad. This is like not my iPad cover.

0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:28.240
<v Speaker 1>This is a feminine iPad cover, so that can only

0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:32.159
<v Speaker 1>mean one thing. And the table is even marble, so

0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:35.080
<v Speaker 1>that can only mean one thing. Holly Ferdick is bringing

0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:40.040
<v Speaker 1>the word today. Come on, look at this artesian Bible cover.

0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.360
<v Speaker 1>That must mean Holly Ferdick is preaching the word. Look

0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:48.280
<v Speaker 1>at this hand drawn Bible study Philippians. Come on, let's

0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:55.480
<v Speaker 1>thank God for Holly. I'm gonna leave her by herself

0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:59.080
<v Speaker 1>in a minute. Last week I preached to her, and

0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:01.080
<v Speaker 1>now you owe me pay backtime you got to preach

0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:03.760
<v Speaker 1>to me. So I'm gonna go sit in my seat

0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:06.440
<v Speaker 1>and I know that you're excited to hear God's word

0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:10.240
<v Speaker 1>from this woman. You should be, because who preaches to

0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:12.479
<v Speaker 1>you today lives a better sermon than anything that ever

0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:16.040
<v Speaker 1>comes from her lips. Trust me. I live with her

0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:20.480
<v Speaker 1>and the stuff that she doesn't show on Instagram is

0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:22.840
<v Speaker 1>the best stuff. People say to me. I just love Holly.

0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:25.680
<v Speaker 1>I'm like, no, you don't. I love Holly because I

0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.200
<v Speaker 1>know it and I know how deepro authenticity really is,

0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:30.119
<v Speaker 1>and so I thank God for you. But I also

0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:34.480
<v Speaker 1>want to say this, Rebecca Summers. Where's Rebecca. I bet

0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:37.040
<v Speaker 1>she's around the building somewhere doing a chat host or

0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:40.400
<v Speaker 1>something like that, probably praying for somebody, or casting out

0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:43.520
<v Speaker 1>a devil online something like that, doing a digital exorcism.

0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:46.800
<v Speaker 1>She was saying at the Rhythm night that our team

0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:49.000
<v Speaker 1>has been doing a great job for our youth. Make

0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:54.040
<v Speaker 1>sure you subscribe to Elevation Youth on YouTube, Okay, so

0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:56.240
<v Speaker 1>you can get the word. But she was saying I

0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:58.280
<v Speaker 1>heard them do a panel one day and they were

0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:00.800
<v Speaker 1>saying who's influenced you the most? And she said you.

0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:03.160
<v Speaker 1>I think she said a few other people, but you

0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:05.280
<v Speaker 1>were in the top three. She said, Da Da Da

0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:07.840
<v Speaker 1>Da Da and Holly Ferdick. And I was like, if

0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:10.480
<v Speaker 1>you only knew, She's one of these people that the

0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.720
<v Speaker 1>closer that you get, the better that she looks. Some

0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:17.560
<v Speaker 1>people can impress from a distance, but impartation happens up close.

0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:19.320
<v Speaker 1>Thank you, so right now I want you to take

0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.360
<v Speaker 1>this pulpit and minister to the people. I'm excited. I

0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:24.919
<v Speaker 1>got a preview of the word, and I'm gonna sit down,

0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:27.920
<v Speaker 1>just the two of us, just the one of you.

0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:38.799
<v Speaker 1>Let's give it up today. Everybody's saying the Chad, welcome, Holly, well, hello, elevation.

0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:45.400
<v Speaker 1>We're here together. Worshiping again is what we do every week.

0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:47.600
<v Speaker 1>If this is super assignment, sure you come back, because

0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:50.560
<v Speaker 1>we're here over and over again all day to day.

0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.520
<v Speaker 1>If the message minister's to you, share it with someone

0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:56.040
<v Speaker 1>and tell them, hey, you can catch it again. I'm

0:02:56.080 --> 0:03:01.959
<v Speaker 1>thirty eleven, thirty two, five, ten, Hey, all of them,

0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.799
<v Speaker 1>we're here. We want to see you, and we want

0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:07.760
<v Speaker 1>to be able to minister to you every week. I

0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:10.400
<v Speaker 1>am just really excited that you have set aside the

0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:14.680
<v Speaker 1>time today to worship with us. I know that God

0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:16.480
<v Speaker 1>is going to speak to you as you focus your

0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:19.440
<v Speaker 1>attention on Him for just the next few moments that

0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:21.919
<v Speaker 1>we have together. You guys that are in the room

0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:24.560
<v Speaker 1>can go ahead and be seated. This has been a

0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:29.120
<v Speaker 1>really incredible season of ministry. For our church. I just

0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:31.120
<v Speaker 1>every time I get up on this stage, I just

0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:33.800
<v Speaker 1>I'm so proud of our teams. And one of the

0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:37.720
<v Speaker 1>teams at Elevation that has really risen to the occasion

0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:41.120
<v Speaker 1>over the past six months is our E groups teams.

0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:43.280
<v Speaker 1>It's one of my favorite teams. This is a small team.

0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.560
<v Speaker 1>They're not nearly as big as our worship team. And

0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.040
<v Speaker 1>maybe you've been worshiping with us for a while and

0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:51.400
<v Speaker 1>you've heard us talk about E groups but you're not

0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.960
<v Speaker 1>exactly sure what they are. E groups are away for

0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:59.040
<v Speaker 1>the people of Elevation Church to gather together in small

0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:02.000
<v Speaker 1>groups and just support each other and go through life

0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:05.240
<v Speaker 1>together and just offer a place for you to continue

0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:09.280
<v Speaker 1>to grow in your faith. And thanks to technology, we

0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:13.640
<v Speaker 1>have people from all over the world who come together

0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:16.799
<v Speaker 1>each week. Sometimes they're in home, sometimes they're on Zoom.

0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:19.560
<v Speaker 1>And I really want you to be a part of

0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:21.880
<v Speaker 1>an E group. So if you're a part of an

0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.560
<v Speaker 1>E group, though, help me out. Tell the people in

0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:26.960
<v Speaker 1>the chat what are they missing out on? Tell them

0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:29.880
<v Speaker 1>how amazing your eGroup is, and just a few words,

0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:31.960
<v Speaker 1>because nobody wants to read a whole lot of stuff.

0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:34.920
<v Speaker 1>You know, the Bible says that the gates of Hell

0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:39.120
<v Speaker 1>will not prevail against God's Church, and I believe that

0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:43.480
<v Speaker 1>we are stronger than ever. And so I just wanted

0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:45.680
<v Speaker 1>to take a minute because I have the stage, and

0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:50.159
<v Speaker 1>just officially invite you to join an E group because

0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:52.960
<v Speaker 1>now is the time, because over the sixth the past

0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.440
<v Speaker 1>six months, I have been working with our teams on

0:04:56.560 --> 0:05:00.560
<v Speaker 1>a study on the Book of Philippians. Isn't it beauty full? Too?

0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.560
<v Speaker 1>You can get a copy of the study and join us.

0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:07.960
<v Speaker 1>Philippians is the most joyful book in the Bible, but

0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:10.320
<v Speaker 1>yet did you know that it was written from a

0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:14.120
<v Speaker 1>prison cell? And so over the next five weeks, our

0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:16.960
<v Speaker 1>groups are going to be setting aside time to read

0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.839
<v Speaker 1>through the Book of Philippines together and just learn. We

0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:25.160
<v Speaker 1>called it Philippians the Art of Contentment because Paul. How

0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:27.039
<v Speaker 1>was it possible that Paul was able to have so

0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:30.640
<v Speaker 1>much joy in the midst of a literal lockdown? And

0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:32.880
<v Speaker 1>We're gonna study God's word together and we're going to

0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:35.240
<v Speaker 1>talk about it. And I believe that God wants to

0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:38.680
<v Speaker 1>speak to you through E groups in this season of

0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.120
<v Speaker 1>your life. We are not waiting for a virus to

0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:45.120
<v Speaker 1>go away, to have church. We are the church. The

0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:47.800
<v Speaker 1>church is not a building. The church is just a

0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:51.760
<v Speaker 1>group of imperfect people coming together on a journey of faith.

0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:54.680
<v Speaker 1>And we're not waiting until we can pack out a building.

0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:57.440
<v Speaker 1>We're going to pack out homes and we're gonna pack

0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:01.920
<v Speaker 1>out zoom. We have over one thousand groups signed up

0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.960
<v Speaker 1>to do this study because you were not meant to

0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:07.960
<v Speaker 1>go through life alone. So that's my commercial. Don't miss

0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.320
<v Speaker 1>out on this opportunities. Only five weeks, we have the

0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:13.600
<v Speaker 1>perfect group for you. Go to philippianstudy dot com to

0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:16.320
<v Speaker 1>find out more. But don't go right now because I

0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:18.200
<v Speaker 1>have a message that I want to bring to you

0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:22.599
<v Speaker 1>that I'm really really excited on because God has laid

0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:25.279
<v Speaker 1>this one on my heart. Actually, it sparked in my

0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:28.520
<v Speaker 1>heart years ago while I was leading any group for

0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:32.680
<v Speaker 1>married women. I was teaching and we were studying, and

0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.279
<v Speaker 1>I came across this verse in the Bible that said

0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:41.800
<v Speaker 1>that wives could win their husbands over without words. And

0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:46.640
<v Speaker 1>I was so intrigued by this idea of winning someone

0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:54.520
<v Speaker 1>over without words because I love words. If you know me,

0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:59.400
<v Speaker 1>I am a very talkative person. Now, don't ask me

0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.320
<v Speaker 1>how my weekend was unless you really want to hear

0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:07.159
<v Speaker 1>every detail of the sleepover that we had this past

0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:09.559
<v Speaker 1>weekend for Graham's thirteenth birthday, and how I had middle

0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:13.120
<v Speaker 1>school boys and they're dirty socks and all over my house.

0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:18.120
<v Speaker 1>I can't help it. I like stories, I like description.

0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.920
<v Speaker 1>I just I like talking. I've been this way my

0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.720
<v Speaker 1>whole life. One of the nicest things that anybody ever

0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:27.440
<v Speaker 1>said to me was I was in the middle of

0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:33.200
<v Speaker 1>telling a story and they said, Holly, this story is

0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:38.280
<v Speaker 1>so good, do not leave one detail out. Tell me everything.

0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:40.640
<v Speaker 1>And I was like, I love you, You're my best friend.

0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:44.120
<v Speaker 1>Here we go. Someone actually said that to me. Now

0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.600
<v Speaker 1>sometimes I say that to other people because I don't know.

0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:48.560
<v Speaker 1>Maybe doesn't mean that much people, but I love it.

0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:51.880
<v Speaker 1>People have been telling me to stop talking my entire life.

0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.120
<v Speaker 1>When I was a child, on my report card, there

0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:57.520
<v Speaker 1>was this common theme. When I was a kid, the

0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:00.800
<v Speaker 1>teachers actually hand wrote our report cards, and on the

0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.440
<v Speaker 1>back of it there were these little boxes where they

0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:07.640
<v Speaker 1>could leave some personal thoughts and comments, and there was

0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:11.320
<v Speaker 1>a theme all throughout my childhood that said something like this,

0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:14.520
<v Speaker 1>Holly is a bright child who would do better to

0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:19.280
<v Speaker 1>talk less. I can't help it. I'm a woman of

0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:21.840
<v Speaker 1>many words. And you know, actually sometimes this comes in

0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:24.040
<v Speaker 1>handy when you have to talk to thousands of people

0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:28.120
<v Speaker 1>from a practically empty room, right, But in normal settings,

0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:32.280
<v Speaker 1>I have had to really learn how to rain this in.

0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:35.360
<v Speaker 1>And one of the greatest lessons that I have had

0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:38.200
<v Speaker 1>to learn in the area of being an over talker

0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:42.920
<v Speaker 1>is that you don't have to say everything you think.

0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:46.560
<v Speaker 1>This is really hard for me. I know it's not mean.

0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:49.120
<v Speaker 1>Some of you may be better at this, but I've

0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:50.760
<v Speaker 1>really had to learn this lesson the hard way. One

0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:52.920
<v Speaker 1>time when we were in college. I know my husband's

0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:55.160
<v Speaker 1>told you how we traveled on a ministry team in

0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.560
<v Speaker 1>this van in the summertime, and we traveled all through

0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:02.600
<v Speaker 1>these small towns in South Carolina. And one particular day,

0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.480
<v Speaker 1>we were driving through this really small town and I

0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:09.679
<v Speaker 1>just blurted out, this town is really trashy looking. I

0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:13.920
<v Speaker 1>would hate to live here. And the girl behind me

0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:17.240
<v Speaker 1>and the seat behind me, she just quietly said she

0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:22.200
<v Speaker 1>was like, my whole family's from this town. I was like, oh,

0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:25.040
<v Speaker 1>can I get this shoe emoji in the chat? If

0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:27.560
<v Speaker 1>you're like me and you put your foot in your mouth,

0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:31.920
<v Speaker 1>it's time or two or three or four in your life.

0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:34.880
<v Speaker 1>I just I talk too much. I talk when I

0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:38.640
<v Speaker 1>get excited. I talk when I'm nervous. Sometimes I talk

0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:42.760
<v Speaker 1>because I'm bored. Sometimes I talk because I'm uncomfortable. I'm

0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.920
<v Speaker 1>uncomfortable with silence. Actually, I just I don't I don't

0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:48.480
<v Speaker 1>like silence, and so I just will. If you don't talk,

0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.200
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna talk. And if I'm by myself, I even

0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:54.280
<v Speaker 1>have my aarpods in with an audiobook playing because somebody

0:09:54.320 --> 0:10:00.160
<v Speaker 1>needs to be talking. I talk too much my whole life.

0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.720
<v Speaker 1>I have been trying to learn how to shut my

0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:08.520
<v Speaker 1>mouth and think before I talk. Is there anyone out

0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:10.719
<v Speaker 1>there who can relate to me? Please let me know

0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:15.839
<v Speaker 1>that I'm not alone. I know that no one likes

0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:20.440
<v Speaker 1>to be around someone who just dominates every space with

0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:23.720
<v Speaker 1>the sound of their voice. And I'm trying to fix that. Okay,

0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:26.600
<v Speaker 1>I'm working on it. The Bible actually has a lot

0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:31.079
<v Speaker 1>to say about talkers. Proverbs eighteen twenty one says the

0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.600
<v Speaker 1>power of life and death is in the tongue. The

0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:37.800
<v Speaker 1>psalmist prayed for God to put a guard over his

0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:40.520
<v Speaker 1>mouth and James one of my favorite Bible verses, well,

0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:42.959
<v Speaker 1>I wouldn't say favorite, but one that I've really had

0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:45.440
<v Speaker 1>to tell myself over and over again. He says, be

0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:49.640
<v Speaker 1>quick to listen and slow to speak. And I think

0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.560
<v Speaker 1>all of us, no matter how talkative we are, have

0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:58.000
<v Speaker 1>experienced these moments where we realize the power of our words.

0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:03.120
<v Speaker 1>Have you ever said something that you realize hurts someone deeply?

0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:06.600
<v Speaker 1>Maybe unintentional, and it's not always a direct insult. I

0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:08.440
<v Speaker 1>know we all have a time that we can remember

0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:12.000
<v Speaker 1>when somebody directly insulted us, Like you know, I don't know.

0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:13.600
<v Speaker 1>Lots of people have a story where their father said

0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:16.400
<v Speaker 1>You're never gonna amount to anything. Yeah, we all have

0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:19.559
<v Speaker 1>times like that. But a lot of times we can

0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:23.280
<v Speaker 1>hurt those that we love also with what we don't say,

0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:27.200
<v Speaker 1>or or the thing the ways that we don't encourage them.

0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:32.200
<v Speaker 1>I remember one particular time several years ago, and my

0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:37.960
<v Speaker 1>husband's first book was finally finished, and they mailed a

0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:40.520
<v Speaker 1>case of the books to our house, and I remember

0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:43.880
<v Speaker 1>walking into the room and seeing this big box and

0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:46.080
<v Speaker 1>Stephen was there. He just cut it open and he

0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:49.360
<v Speaker 1>reached out and he pulled out a copy of Son

0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:52.720
<v Speaker 1>Stands Still by Steven Ferdick, and I picked up the

0:11:52.760 --> 0:12:00.360
<v Speaker 1>book and I fanned through it and I said, really,

0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:08.160
<v Speaker 1>big huh? And I saw my husband's shoulders visibly droop,

0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:11.520
<v Speaker 1>and I was like, oh God, oh no, Can I

0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:13.720
<v Speaker 1>get a rewind? I mean, it's amazing. Can I get

0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:17.760
<v Speaker 1>a do over? Because as I thought, that's not what

0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:19.839
<v Speaker 1>I meant to say, I realized that I had spent

0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:25.560
<v Speaker 1>the last eighteen months watching this man agonize over every

0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:28.920
<v Speaker 1>word that was in that book. He went through revision

0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:33.600
<v Speaker 1>after revision, He changed the cover ten times. This was

0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:36.960
<v Speaker 1>his first book, This was his story. Did I say,

0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:43.840
<v Speaker 1>my man, you're a published author. Nope. Did I say

0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:48.400
<v Speaker 1>this book is gonna change people's lives? Nope? I just

0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:50.720
<v Speaker 1>said the first thing that popped into my head. The

0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:57.520
<v Speaker 1>font's kind of big huh hustle. Words hold weight, and

0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:00.600
<v Speaker 1>what you choose to say and what you whoose not

0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:04.080
<v Speaker 1>to say is important. That's why we have to learn

0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:08.160
<v Speaker 1>to pay attention to everything that comes out of our mouths.

0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:11.840
<v Speaker 1>Can we talk about this today? We are living in

0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:15.760
<v Speaker 1>a time where people do not consider the weight of

0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:18.800
<v Speaker 1>their words. Now, some of us may be better at

0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:21.640
<v Speaker 1>not saying everything that we think, but what about typing

0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:27.080
<v Speaker 1>Our thumbs can sometimes cause more damage than our tongue.

0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:29.960
<v Speaker 1>Solomon wrote the power of life and death is in

0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:32.559
<v Speaker 1>the tongue, But I wonder if he'd lived in twenty twenty,

0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:34.800
<v Speaker 1>he might have said, the power of life and death

0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:40.680
<v Speaker 1>is in the thumbs. There is so much noise going

0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.440
<v Speaker 1>on in the world today, and it is hard to

0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:46.840
<v Speaker 1>separate the truth from the fiction. It's hard to know

0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:49.360
<v Speaker 1>when you have a feed coming through, and now we

0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:51.640
<v Speaker 1>all know that our feed is just feeding us what

0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.640
<v Speaker 1>we want to be fed. And it's so hard to

0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:58.120
<v Speaker 1>even have a voice when it feels like everyone is

0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:02.440
<v Speaker 1>just shouting at each other are and not listening at all.

0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:05.280
<v Speaker 1>I want to learn how to be part of the

0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:07.640
<v Speaker 1>solution to the things that are going on around me,

0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:11.360
<v Speaker 1>not just another person who's just adding to the noise.

0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:17.559
<v Speaker 1>So today, since our groups are kicking off a study,

0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:20.040
<v Speaker 1>remember you're going to join run Philippianstudy dot com. It's

0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:24.200
<v Speaker 1>not too late. I wanted to preach from Paul's words

0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.120
<v Speaker 1>as well. God has been speaking to me so much

0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:31.320
<v Speaker 1>about this topic and I'm just really excited to bring

0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:34.520
<v Speaker 1>it to you today. So as we open up God's word,

0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:36.800
<v Speaker 1>I just want us to all say a prayer together

0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.440
<v Speaker 1>out loud, so you don't have to close your eyes.

0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.120
<v Speaker 1>We'll just all collectively. If you're in your living room

0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:45.160
<v Speaker 1>or in your car, it's okay, out loud, let's all

0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:52.040
<v Speaker 1>say this. Lord, speak to me. I am listening. Amen.

0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:55.200
<v Speaker 1>All right. If you have a Bible, look with me.

0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:59.760
<v Speaker 1>At Philippians, chapter two, verse fourteen. Because Paul has so

0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:02.720
<v Speaker 1>much that he is going to teach us about our words.

0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:11.320
<v Speaker 1>Says this, do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that

0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:14.760
<v Speaker 1>you may become blameless and pure children of God, without

0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:18.160
<v Speaker 1>fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will

0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:20.840
<v Speaker 1>shine among them like stars in the sky as you

0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:25.880
<v Speaker 1>hold firmly to the word of life. Do everything without

0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:31.920
<v Speaker 1>grumbling or arguing, then you will shine. If you're looking,

0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:33.960
<v Speaker 1>if you're sitting with someone, I want you to look

0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:37.760
<v Speaker 1>at them. Tell them my sermon title say this, shut

0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:41.640
<v Speaker 1>up and shine. Go ahead and put that in the chat.

0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:43.760
<v Speaker 1>Don't worry. It comes right from the Bible. It's okay

0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:47.800
<v Speaker 1>to say shut up, shut up, and shine. So on

0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:50.880
<v Speaker 1>the surface here it looks like Paul is giving us

0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:54.160
<v Speaker 1>a pretty impossible command with the promise, But it's a

0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:56.120
<v Speaker 1>promise that we're never going to achieve because out in

0:15:56.160 --> 0:16:00.200
<v Speaker 1>the world are we supposed to do everything without grumbling

0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:04.040
<v Speaker 1>or arguing. But if you dig into this, these three

0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:07.320
<v Speaker 1>small verses, I want to show you that Paul is

0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:11.440
<v Speaker 1>trying to teach us that how the things that he's

0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:14.040
<v Speaker 1>trying to teach just how the things that you do

0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:19.120
<v Speaker 1>not say can sometimes have just as much power as

0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:23.680
<v Speaker 1>the things that you do say. He's giving us if

0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.600
<v Speaker 1>you look back at it, he's giving us two things

0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:32.080
<v Speaker 1>to not do and two things to do. So he

0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:37.280
<v Speaker 1>begins by telling us to do everything without grumbling or arguing.

0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:40.480
<v Speaker 1>Maybe you're like me and you read it and you're like, yeah,

0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:44.520
<v Speaker 1>that's not going to happen. Everything like zero tolerance policy.

0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:47.160
<v Speaker 1>This is gonna be hard because sometimes complaining is really

0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:51.680
<v Speaker 1>fun and sometimes arguing is just necessary. Of some of

0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:53.760
<v Speaker 1>the married people, give me an amen and the chat.

0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:57.520
<v Speaker 1>When you read the Bible, though, it's important to understand

0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.560
<v Speaker 1>who is writing these words, and where was he when

0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:02.120
<v Speaker 1>he wrote them, and who was he writing them to,

0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.280
<v Speaker 1>because when you put all of that together, the words

0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.399
<v Speaker 1>become more than just commands of dues and don'ts and

0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.439
<v Speaker 1>this and that. They have context and they come alive.

0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:14.920
<v Speaker 1>And the Book of Philippians is a letter written by

0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:18.440
<v Speaker 1>Paul to the people at the Church of Philippi, a

0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:22.160
<v Speaker 1>church that he planted, and a lot of scholars believe,

0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:25.639
<v Speaker 1>based on Paul's words and his tone, that the people

0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:29.280
<v Speaker 1>of the Church of Philippi, they were Paul's secret favorites.

0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:34.520
<v Speaker 1>These were his true friends, the people that he considered

0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:37.960
<v Speaker 1>almost like family, because these people supported him as he

0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:42.200
<v Speaker 1>traveled around and as he ministered and started churches all over.

0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:46.239
<v Speaker 1>And now he's found himself in a Roman prison and

0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:50.560
<v Speaker 1>the Philippians have just sent him a good old fashioned

0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:54.240
<v Speaker 1>care basket and a love offering, and so he's sending

0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.520
<v Speaker 1>them back a letter. And not only is he giving

0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:00.439
<v Speaker 1>them words and an update on how things are going,

0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:04.399
<v Speaker 1>but he's living out what he's saying to them from

0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:08.879
<v Speaker 1>a prison cell. And really he's warning them. He's saying

0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:13.119
<v Speaker 1>in a way that you have to to approach a

0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:17.680
<v Speaker 1>difficult circumstance, the way to approach it is not to complain,

0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:22.360
<v Speaker 1>and the way to have lasting arguments is not to argue.

0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:27.120
<v Speaker 1>Complaining and arguing are our default responses, but they can

0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:32.800
<v Speaker 1>be extremely counterproductive in our lives. You see, complaining rarely

0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:37.439
<v Speaker 1>improves my circumstances. Now, obviously there are times when it's

0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.720
<v Speaker 1>right to make a complaint, Like I have a friend

0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:44.400
<v Speaker 1>who hates to bother her landlord, Like if she has

0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:47.479
<v Speaker 1>a leak or something's broken, she doesn't want to bother her.

0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:50.360
<v Speaker 1>And I'm like, that's like the one perk of renting.

0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:54.400
<v Speaker 1>You don't have to fix stuff. It's okay to complain

0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.160
<v Speaker 1>to your landlord. But someone once gave me a rule

0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.840
<v Speaker 1>of thumb, and it's this, never complain about a situation

0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:05.520
<v Speaker 1>to a person who's powerless to change it. The kind

0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:08.800
<v Speaker 1>of complaining that Paul is talking about here is the

0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:13.919
<v Speaker 1>kind that keeps us stuck blaming something that's outside of

0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:17.520
<v Speaker 1>our control. Have you ever tried to keep track of

0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:20.040
<v Speaker 1>every time you complain? If you've been through missus better half,

0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:22.760
<v Speaker 1>you've done this because we have this one week where

0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:27.280
<v Speaker 1>we try to see how much negativity and how much

0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.520
<v Speaker 1>complaining that we're putting out into the world. And I

0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.520
<v Speaker 1>stole this little challenge from a book that I had

0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:35.359
<v Speaker 1>read and because it meant so much to me. And

0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:37.639
<v Speaker 1>you wear a little bracelet or a hair tie or

0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:41.159
<v Speaker 1>whatever on your wrist, and every time you catch yourself complaining,

0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:44.400
<v Speaker 1>you switch the bracelet over to the other hand. And

0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:46.960
<v Speaker 1>every time that I do this challenge, which I've done

0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:48.919
<v Speaker 1>it a lot, because I've taught many many rounds of

0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.480
<v Speaker 1>missus better half. I keep thinking, maybe I'm going to

0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.359
<v Speaker 1>be better at it this time, maybe I'll have complain less.

0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:58.760
<v Speaker 1>But I always just amazed at how much I complain

0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:01.399
<v Speaker 1>and I don't even realize. And by the end of

0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:04.639
<v Speaker 1>the challenge, my bracelet is falling apart, and I'm starting

0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:08.560
<v Speaker 1>to like punish myself because I'm so mad at them.

0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:12.480
<v Speaker 1>My wrist is red. We say things all day long

0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:16.040
<v Speaker 1>that we're not even aware of. Can you help me

0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:19.520
<v Speaker 1>out if I'm my alone out here? Okay, let me

0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:22.240
<v Speaker 1>know in the chat if you have said in the

0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:25.439
<v Speaker 1>last twenty four hours any of the following things, just

0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:28.560
<v Speaker 1>you know, give me the little hand raising emoji. All right,

0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:32.639
<v Speaker 1>I'm tired. I hate the car line at school, or

0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:34.919
<v Speaker 1>some of you are like, I wish I missed the

0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:38.000
<v Speaker 1>car line at school. Or did you say wearing a

0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:41.359
<v Speaker 1>mask is so uncomfortable, or it's so hot, or it's

0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:44.359
<v Speaker 1>so cold, or what an ugly day? My back hurts,

0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:47.400
<v Speaker 1>I have nothing to wear, there's nothing to eat. Why

0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:53.639
<v Speaker 1>doesn't anyone listen to me in this house? This I

0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:56.199
<v Speaker 1>think I said all of those this week. Sometimes I

0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:58.960
<v Speaker 1>can get really creative with my complaints too. I can

0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:01.920
<v Speaker 1>dress them up, make them all nice and cute, say

0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:05.280
<v Speaker 1>something like I just I wish I had more time,

0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:08.840
<v Speaker 1>or it must be young to be able to eat

0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.000
<v Speaker 1>whatever you want, or maybe some of you have said

0:21:12.040 --> 0:21:17.040
<v Speaker 1>this one this week? When is fall going to get here? Right?

0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:21.600
<v Speaker 1>Sometimes I'll take my complaints and I'll focus them on

0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:25.080
<v Speaker 1>another person. I might say something like I just I

0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:28.280
<v Speaker 1>wish my friend would call me more, or I wish

0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:31.840
<v Speaker 1>my kids were more respectful. I found that as I

0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:37.160
<v Speaker 1>have identified my complaints, they didn't really It didn't really

0:21:37.160 --> 0:21:42.200
<v Speaker 1>make me feel better. I felt increasingly worse about my situation.

0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:45.240
<v Speaker 1>Like when I wish that my kids were more respectful,

0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:48.760
<v Speaker 1>it actually happened because one of them had a friend

0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:52.240
<v Speaker 1>over and the friend was all like, yes, ma'am, and

0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:55.520
<v Speaker 1>missus verdick, where's the garbage can? I don't even think

0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:57.679
<v Speaker 1>my own kids know where the garbage can is in

0:21:57.760 --> 0:21:59.720
<v Speaker 1>my house, And so I'm like, I wish my kids

0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:02.520
<v Speaker 1>were like that, you know, And now I'm like, God,

0:22:02.560 --> 0:22:04.399
<v Speaker 1>I'm a terrible mom. It's my own fault. I mean,

0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:06.560
<v Speaker 1>I'm their mother. I pick up their trash and don't.

0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:09.840
<v Speaker 1>And so it started as wishing that a person in

0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:13.120
<v Speaker 1>my life was different turned in to making myself out

0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:16.880
<v Speaker 1>to be a bad mother, because complaining will spiral out

0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:21.600
<v Speaker 1>of control so fast, and on the surface, it just

0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:24.080
<v Speaker 1>seems like a statement of the fact. But now my

0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:27.399
<v Speaker 1>focus is on the negative, and so is everyone else's

0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:31.440
<v Speaker 1>that's around me. And it's so easy to identify complaining

0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:33.200
<v Speaker 1>in others. It's so easy to be like, yeah, my

0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:35.880
<v Speaker 1>husband needs to stop complaining, but it's harder to see

0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:41.240
<v Speaker 1>it when I'm the one that's doing it. Oh, I'm

0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:48.879
<v Speaker 1>not complaining, I'm reviewing. I'm not saying that reviews aren't helpful.

0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:52.959
<v Speaker 1>Actually they aren't helpful because usually the only people who

0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:56.479
<v Speaker 1>review products are the people who aren't happy with the product. Like,

0:22:56.640 --> 0:22:58.719
<v Speaker 1>if you're happy with the product, you're not gonna go

0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:01.760
<v Speaker 1>back and te ipe out a review. We live in

0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:07.560
<v Speaker 1>a world, though, where people actually consider themselves professional complainers,

0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:14.280
<v Speaker 1>professional yelpers. This is so messed up because negativity slows

0:23:14.560 --> 0:23:19.520
<v Speaker 1>down your progress, it diverts your attention. And Paul is

0:23:19.600 --> 0:23:23.280
<v Speaker 1>warning us that complaining is a slippery slope that can

0:23:23.400 --> 0:23:28.160
<v Speaker 1>distract us from the things that we can actually control

0:23:28.200 --> 0:23:33.320
<v Speaker 1>in our lives, like my attitude. I can control my attitude.

0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:36.760
<v Speaker 1>But watch how Paul doesn't only give us a command,

0:23:37.160 --> 0:23:40.000
<v Speaker 1>but he gives he leads the way. He gives us

0:23:40.040 --> 0:23:44.800
<v Speaker 1>an example, back in chapter one, Paul says this verse

0:23:44.800 --> 0:23:47.399
<v Speaker 1>twelve Philippians one, verse twelve. Now, I want you to know,

0:23:47.480 --> 0:23:50.320
<v Speaker 1>brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has

0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:53.800
<v Speaker 1>actually served to advance the Gospel. As a result, it

0:23:53.840 --> 0:23:56.399
<v Speaker 1>has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to

0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:59.560
<v Speaker 1>everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And

0:23:59.720 --> 0:24:02.760
<v Speaker 1>because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters

0:24:02.760 --> 0:24:05.359
<v Speaker 1>have become confident in the Lord and dare all the

0:24:05.440 --> 0:24:09.480
<v Speaker 1>more to proclaim the Gospel without fear. It blows my

0:24:09.800 --> 0:24:13.439
<v Speaker 1>mind that nowhere in the Book of Philippians will you

0:24:13.640 --> 0:24:19.360
<v Speaker 1>find Paul describing his prison conditions. Nowhere does he say

0:24:19.760 --> 0:24:23.879
<v Speaker 1>it's cold, I'm hungry, they're terrible. I got whipped the

0:24:23.960 --> 0:24:27.760
<v Speaker 1>other day. He never even asks the Philippians to pray

0:24:27.880 --> 0:24:32.520
<v Speaker 1>for his release. He says, I must be in change

0:24:32.560 --> 0:24:36.960
<v Speaker 1>for Christ, because revival is breaking out inside of my prison,

0:24:39.119 --> 0:24:42.399
<v Speaker 1>and revival can break out wherever you are if you

0:24:42.560 --> 0:24:46.360
<v Speaker 1>change your perspective Paul gives us throughout the book. He

0:24:46.440 --> 0:24:49.199
<v Speaker 1>weaves in the antidote to complaining, and you know what

0:24:49.280 --> 0:24:55.920
<v Speaker 1>that is, rejoice. Sixteen times in the Book of Philippians,

0:24:55.960 --> 0:24:59.240
<v Speaker 1>Paul uses the word joy or rejoice. He says it

0:24:59.359 --> 0:25:02.480
<v Speaker 1>over and over again again. I will say rejoice, rejoicing

0:25:02.520 --> 0:25:05.480
<v Speaker 1>the Lord. Always again I will say rejoice. And if

0:25:05.520 --> 0:25:08.960
<v Speaker 1>Paul can look for the opportunity in a hard place,

0:25:09.280 --> 0:25:13.960
<v Speaker 1>so can I. The minute that I catch myself complaining,

0:25:14.680 --> 0:25:18.880
<v Speaker 1>I've gotta flip it. I have got to find something

0:25:19.119 --> 0:25:22.680
<v Speaker 1>to rejoice about. So now I'm gonna use my over

0:25:22.720 --> 0:25:25.439
<v Speaker 1>talking for my own benefit. If I'm gonna if I'm

0:25:25.480 --> 0:25:27.159
<v Speaker 1>gonna talk, I'm gonna talk about the good things. I'm

0:25:27.160 --> 0:25:30.320
<v Speaker 1>gonna find something. I'm gonna call myself back to joy

0:25:30.720 --> 0:25:36.080
<v Speaker 1>over and over and over again. I'm not complaining. I'm

0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:40.640
<v Speaker 1>just saying, well, you know what, if you're just saying,

0:25:40.960 --> 0:25:43.680
<v Speaker 1>if what you're just saying is keeping you stucked, and

0:25:44.119 --> 0:25:48.360
<v Speaker 1>you should probably stop saying. Stop saying I wish our

0:25:48.440 --> 0:25:51.560
<v Speaker 1>kids were young again. Stop saying I wish we had

0:25:51.600 --> 0:25:54.640
<v Speaker 1>more money. Stop saying this house is too small, Stop

0:25:54.680 --> 0:25:58.119
<v Speaker 1>saying it is what it is. No you know the

0:25:58.320 --> 0:26:01.600
<v Speaker 1>Israelites spent so much of the focused complaining about the

0:26:01.640 --> 0:26:04.720
<v Speaker 1>wilderness and wishing that they were back in Egypt, that

0:26:04.840 --> 0:26:08.639
<v Speaker 1>they missed out on the promise that was right in

0:26:08.760 --> 0:26:15.560
<v Speaker 1>front of them. So Paul warns us he's got two things,

0:26:15.920 --> 0:26:20.879
<v Speaker 1>complaining and arguing, because complaining keeps me suck in my circumstances,

0:26:20.880 --> 0:26:26.679
<v Speaker 1>and arguing keeps me from experiencing true connection with those

0:26:27.000 --> 0:26:30.159
<v Speaker 1>that I love. Can I find another honest person in

0:26:30.200 --> 0:26:32.679
<v Speaker 1>the chat? I'm saying that a lot today because I

0:26:32.800 --> 0:26:35.120
<v Speaker 1>just I'm kind of burying my soul and I want

0:26:35.160 --> 0:26:38.080
<v Speaker 1>to make sure that I'm not alone. But am I alone?

0:26:38.560 --> 0:26:41.399
<v Speaker 1>Am I the only person that likes to have the

0:26:41.480 --> 0:26:46.760
<v Speaker 1>last word? Sometimes I feel like I have multiple personalities

0:26:46.800 --> 0:26:50.760
<v Speaker 1>because on one hand, I'm a total people pleaser, like

0:26:51.240 --> 0:26:56.919
<v Speaker 1>I will go to great links to avoid conflict. But

0:26:57.080 --> 0:27:02.639
<v Speaker 1>then there are a few people and a few topics,

0:27:03.359 --> 0:27:05.840
<v Speaker 1>then well if you I'm just gonna put my boxing

0:27:05.880 --> 0:27:08.480
<v Speaker 1>gloves on. And my husband is looking at me right

0:27:08.520 --> 0:27:13.520
<v Speaker 1>now because he knows that I have this one particular trigger,

0:27:13.640 --> 0:27:17.120
<v Speaker 1>Like you can talk about politics, you can talk about policies,

0:27:17.160 --> 0:27:20.199
<v Speaker 1>you can talk about theology, and I will cool as

0:27:20.200 --> 0:27:22.440
<v Speaker 1>a cucumber. But if you bring up this one topic

0:27:22.480 --> 0:27:24.000
<v Speaker 1>and I'm not gonna tell you what it is, because

0:27:24.080 --> 0:27:26.080
<v Speaker 1>I'll just go off. It's kind of a hot topic anyway,

0:27:26.080 --> 0:27:29.080
<v Speaker 1>and probably shouldn't say it on camera, But I'm just saying,

0:27:29.080 --> 0:27:33.000
<v Speaker 1>there's just there's certain topics that I can't not argue about,

0:27:33.359 --> 0:27:38.399
<v Speaker 1>and then there's certain people. Lord knows, the three of

0:27:38.440 --> 0:27:42.120
<v Speaker 1>my favorite people on the planet are Elijah, Graham, and Abby.

0:27:42.840 --> 0:27:47.960
<v Speaker 1>But those three people, they are professional button pushers, and

0:27:48.240 --> 0:27:52.719
<v Speaker 1>I will stoop to their level and I will argue

0:27:52.760 --> 0:27:56.359
<v Speaker 1>with them, and I will lose my cool, and I

0:27:56.480 --> 0:28:02.560
<v Speaker 1>will keep going and going and going because I am

0:28:02.600 --> 0:28:07.600
<v Speaker 1>the adult and therefore I have the last word. The

0:28:07.720 --> 0:28:10.399
<v Speaker 1>problem is that when I keep doing that, I'm not

0:28:10.480 --> 0:28:14.199
<v Speaker 1>actually proving my authority to them. I'm more compromising, and

0:28:14.400 --> 0:28:18.159
<v Speaker 1>I'm down on their level. And any time that we

0:28:18.240 --> 0:28:22.639
<v Speaker 1>need to win an argument with another person, we compromise

0:28:22.760 --> 0:28:27.920
<v Speaker 1>the relationship somehow. So what I'm learning is that if

0:28:28.040 --> 0:28:33.760
<v Speaker 1>my goal is purely to win, I lose. Well. I

0:28:33.840 --> 0:28:37.240
<v Speaker 1>may win the argument, I may walk away feeling proud

0:28:37.320 --> 0:28:40.480
<v Speaker 1>I was right I put them in their place, but

0:28:40.560 --> 0:28:42.960
<v Speaker 1>I have no concern for how the other person feels,

0:28:44.040 --> 0:28:47.400
<v Speaker 1>and in the process of me winning, I've lost a

0:28:47.440 --> 0:28:50.880
<v Speaker 1>small piece of the relationship that I have, and over time,

0:28:51.440 --> 0:28:56.880
<v Speaker 1>piece by piece, I chip away at the opportunity to

0:28:56.920 --> 0:28:59.960
<v Speaker 1>have a right relationship with a person in my life

0:29:00.280 --> 0:29:05.640
<v Speaker 1>that I love. See, when you argue with an attacking stance,

0:29:06.280 --> 0:29:10.840
<v Speaker 1>you automatically put the other person in a defensive position.

0:29:11.640 --> 0:29:15.800
<v Speaker 1>And when someone is defending, they're most likely not even

0:29:15.880 --> 0:29:19.000
<v Speaker 1>hearing a word that you say because they are in

0:29:19.160 --> 0:29:24.400
<v Speaker 1>protection mode. They're in defense mode. James said, Remember, be

0:29:24.520 --> 0:29:28.720
<v Speaker 1>quick to listen, slow to speak. This means that while

0:29:28.760 --> 0:29:33.080
<v Speaker 1>the other person is talking, I am paying attention to

0:29:33.160 --> 0:29:36.120
<v Speaker 1>what they're saying. I'm not planning what I'm going to

0:29:36.200 --> 0:29:40.760
<v Speaker 1>say next. I'm actually seeking to understand. I'm not just

0:29:41.000 --> 0:29:46.240
<v Speaker 1>airing out my own opinions. And then when I do speak,

0:29:46.320 --> 0:29:49.560
<v Speaker 1>when it's my turn to speak, I choose words that

0:29:49.600 --> 0:29:53.760
<v Speaker 1>are not abrasive or accusing. I told you that I

0:29:53.840 --> 0:29:55.920
<v Speaker 1>have put my foot in my mouth way too many

0:29:55.960 --> 0:29:59.240
<v Speaker 1>times to count, and so years ago I came across

0:29:59.360 --> 0:30:01.480
<v Speaker 1>this verse and immediately put it to memory. It meant

0:30:01.520 --> 0:30:03.840
<v Speaker 1>so much to me. It's Colossians four to six, and

0:30:03.880 --> 0:30:07.760
<v Speaker 1>it says, let your conversation. Always be full of grace,

0:30:08.440 --> 0:30:11.400
<v Speaker 1>seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to

0:30:11.440 --> 0:30:14.680
<v Speaker 1>answer everyone. This verse is talking about how to defend

0:30:14.680 --> 0:30:17.480
<v Speaker 1>the gospel to those who don't believe in Yes, we

0:30:17.640 --> 0:30:21.160
<v Speaker 1>absolutely need to be passionate about the Gospel and the

0:30:21.280 --> 0:30:23.880
<v Speaker 1>values that we have as believers in Christ. But if

0:30:23.880 --> 0:30:26.960
<v Speaker 1>you come out the gate accusing and demeaning and come

0:30:27.000 --> 0:30:30.560
<v Speaker 1>across like you are the enlightened one, you're never going

0:30:30.640 --> 0:30:35.280
<v Speaker 1>to win anyone over. Put a little salt on those words.

0:30:36.640 --> 0:30:39.160
<v Speaker 1>Let the person know that you love them and that

0:30:39.240 --> 0:30:41.880
<v Speaker 1>you hear them, and that you're listening to their side.

0:30:41.920 --> 0:30:46.360
<v Speaker 1>If you are, if you do. Our pastor teaches us

0:30:46.400 --> 0:30:48.960
<v Speaker 1>this all the time. I mean, God, he has been

0:30:49.360 --> 0:30:55.720
<v Speaker 1>on fire the last few weeks, like absolutely. I told

0:30:55.800 --> 0:31:00.000
<v Speaker 1>him that his message last week is in the top three,

0:31:00.080 --> 0:31:03.800
<v Speaker 1>my top three messages of all times. Never ever in

0:31:03.920 --> 0:31:07.880
<v Speaker 1>twenty years of marriage have I suggested that he preach

0:31:07.960 --> 0:31:10.600
<v Speaker 1>on a passage of scripture. And he actually did until

0:31:10.680 --> 0:31:12.880
<v Speaker 1>last week. So that was a win for me, and

0:31:13.200 --> 0:31:15.520
<v Speaker 1>I got my own personal sermon. If you miss it,

0:31:15.640 --> 0:31:17.440
<v Speaker 1>you have to go back and watch it, because that's

0:31:17.480 --> 0:31:20.360
<v Speaker 1>not my point. My point is that the last several

0:31:20.440 --> 0:31:22.960
<v Speaker 1>sermons that he have preached have been sent around this

0:31:23.120 --> 0:31:27.600
<v Speaker 1>idea about the questions that Jesus asked, and he told

0:31:27.720 --> 0:31:32.240
<v Speaker 1>us that everything begins with a question, and buried deep

0:31:32.280 --> 0:31:34.640
<v Speaker 1>in my notes, as I was flipping through, I came

0:31:34.680 --> 0:31:37.000
<v Speaker 1>across this one line that I had written, where he

0:31:37.160 --> 0:31:46.160
<v Speaker 1>said questions create access. Questions create access, but accusations close hearts.

0:31:47.600 --> 0:31:50.520
<v Speaker 1>If we're going to be quick to listen and slow

0:31:50.640 --> 0:31:54.800
<v Speaker 1>to speak, we must learn how to ask questions, and

0:31:54.840 --> 0:32:00.200
<v Speaker 1>we have to ask good questions. For instance, what are

0:32:00.240 --> 0:32:05.160
<v Speaker 1>you thinking? That's not a good question Just because it

0:32:05.200 --> 0:32:08.760
<v Speaker 1>has a little punctuation mark doesn't mean that it works,

0:32:09.080 --> 0:32:11.240
<v Speaker 1>because you might as well tack on the word idiot

0:32:11.280 --> 0:32:15.400
<v Speaker 1>to that. What were you thinking? You idiot? But if

0:32:15.440 --> 0:32:20.000
<v Speaker 1>you say something like can you help me understand? It

0:32:20.040 --> 0:32:25.440
<v Speaker 1>communicates care, It communicates concern. It says I want to

0:32:25.600 --> 0:32:30.880
<v Speaker 1>hear what you have to say, and I care more

0:32:31.320 --> 0:32:35.680
<v Speaker 1>about us than I do about making my point. And

0:32:35.720 --> 0:32:40.240
<v Speaker 1>Paul models this again for us back in chapter one.

0:32:40.880 --> 0:32:44.240
<v Speaker 1>Let's see. He says, if you go to Philpy chapter one,

0:32:44.680 --> 0:32:49.680
<v Speaker 1>verse seventeen, he's talking about the people who were preaching

0:32:49.760 --> 0:32:54.200
<v Speaker 1>Christ for selfish gain, and he doesn't go around crusading

0:32:54.280 --> 0:32:57.160
<v Speaker 1>after them and putting them all in their places. I

0:32:57.200 --> 0:32:58.760
<v Speaker 1>want you to look at what he says. This is

0:32:58.840 --> 0:33:03.520
<v Speaker 1>verse seventeen. Preached Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely

0:33:03.880 --> 0:33:06.200
<v Speaker 1>supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while

0:33:06.240 --> 0:33:09.640
<v Speaker 1>I am in chains. But what does it matter? In

0:33:09.840 --> 0:33:15.280
<v Speaker 1>every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached.

0:33:15.760 --> 0:33:22.240
<v Speaker 1>And because of this I rejoice. There are times where

0:33:22.280 --> 0:33:28.200
<v Speaker 1>I have to ask myself does this really matter? Is

0:33:28.240 --> 0:33:31.680
<v Speaker 1>this argument worth the damage that it might have on

0:33:31.760 --> 0:33:35.600
<v Speaker 1>our relationship? And can I have the humility to let

0:33:35.640 --> 0:33:40.000
<v Speaker 1>it go? In those moments, I have to learn to

0:33:40.120 --> 0:33:45.920
<v Speaker 1>take a second and think, quick to listen, slow to speak.

0:33:46.520 --> 0:33:49.480
<v Speaker 1>And did you notice what Paul did? He called himself

0:33:49.520 --> 0:33:53.280
<v Speaker 1>back to joy. He said, I'm going to fix my

0:33:53.280 --> 0:33:56.880
<v Speaker 1>focus on the things that do matter. And what matters

0:33:57.000 --> 0:34:01.440
<v Speaker 1>is that Christ is being preached. What matters is the person,

0:34:02.040 --> 0:34:06.480
<v Speaker 1>not my point if the person matters to you, because

0:34:06.520 --> 0:34:11.480
<v Speaker 1>the world does not need another opinion, but the world

0:34:11.600 --> 0:34:20.640
<v Speaker 1>desperately needs some better examples. Paul says, do everything without

0:34:20.680 --> 0:34:25.520
<v Speaker 1>grumbling or arguing, so that you may be become blameless

0:34:25.520 --> 0:34:29.160
<v Speaker 1>and pure children of God. Without fault and a warped

0:34:29.200 --> 0:34:33.120
<v Speaker 1>and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like

0:34:33.280 --> 0:34:36.880
<v Speaker 1>stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the

0:34:36.920 --> 0:34:40.840
<v Speaker 1>word of life. Crooked means bent in the wrong direction.

0:34:41.920 --> 0:34:46.400
<v Speaker 1>But the way to redirect someone is not to shout,

0:34:46.800 --> 0:34:51.520
<v Speaker 1>it's to shine. See I'm a talkative person. But not

0:34:51.560 --> 0:34:54.600
<v Speaker 1>only am I a talkative person, I'm also a really

0:34:54.719 --> 0:34:58.160
<v Speaker 1>loud talker. Again, this kind of comes in handy in

0:34:58.200 --> 0:35:00.560
<v Speaker 1>this sort of setting, but in day to day it

0:35:00.560 --> 0:35:03.320
<v Speaker 1>can be really annoying. I don't know why I'm allowed talker.

0:35:03.360 --> 0:35:05.440
<v Speaker 1>Maybe it's because I'm a middle child and I wanted

0:35:05.440 --> 0:35:07.680
<v Speaker 1>to be heard in my family. Maybe it's because I

0:35:07.800 --> 0:35:10.200
<v Speaker 1>have I actually do have a sister who's hearing impaired,

0:35:10.200 --> 0:35:12.839
<v Speaker 1>and maybe my whole family talks loud. I don't know.

0:35:13.160 --> 0:35:15.960
<v Speaker 1>I don't know why, and I don't even realize it.

0:35:16.040 --> 0:35:19.400
<v Speaker 1>Sometimes I have an out of body experience where I'm like,

0:35:19.520 --> 0:35:22.120
<v Speaker 1>oh God, I'm yelling at this person and they're standing

0:35:22.239 --> 0:35:25.439
<v Speaker 1>right in front of me. The thing that I'm learning, though,

0:35:25.600 --> 0:35:30.640
<v Speaker 1>is that my life speaks louder than my voice ever can.

0:35:33.520 --> 0:35:36.480
<v Speaker 1>When Paul says you will shine like stars in the sky,

0:35:36.960 --> 0:35:39.280
<v Speaker 1>he's referring to a prophecy from the Book of Daniel.

0:35:39.360 --> 0:35:43.360
<v Speaker 1>Somebody sent me this card this summer and they wrote

0:35:43.360 --> 0:35:48.040
<v Speaker 1>this Bible verse on it, and I liked it because

0:35:48.040 --> 0:35:50.279
<v Speaker 1>we do talk about shining like stars and missus better

0:35:50.320 --> 0:35:52.200
<v Speaker 1>half as well. And so I put it up on

0:35:52.360 --> 0:35:55.880
<v Speaker 1>my desk, and I was sitting at my desk working

0:35:55.920 --> 0:35:58.200
<v Speaker 1>and I looked up and I read this verse. I

0:35:58.280 --> 0:36:00.800
<v Speaker 1>want to read it to you. It's in Daniel chapter twelve,

0:36:01.480 --> 0:36:05.840
<v Speaker 1>verse three. Those who are wise will shine like the

0:36:05.840 --> 0:36:09.400
<v Speaker 1>brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to

0:36:09.520 --> 0:36:16.600
<v Speaker 1>righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Daniel was amongst

0:36:16.719 --> 0:36:21.239
<v Speaker 1>a people who did not worship God, and it was

0:36:21.320 --> 0:36:25.279
<v Speaker 1>the life that he lived that impacted an entire nation.

0:36:25.400 --> 0:36:28.160
<v Speaker 1>Remember he's the one that knelt to pray every day,

0:36:28.560 --> 0:36:31.360
<v Speaker 1>even though the king had made an order prohibiting prayer.

0:36:31.520 --> 0:36:36.360
<v Speaker 1>It was his actions that made an impact, not his words.

0:36:37.360 --> 0:36:40.240
<v Speaker 1>Have you ever watched a friend go through something, maybe

0:36:40.280 --> 0:36:44.160
<v Speaker 1>a divorce or an illness, or maybe watch them try

0:36:44.200 --> 0:36:47.920
<v Speaker 1>to navigate a difficult situation with their child. We all

0:36:47.960 --> 0:36:51.719
<v Speaker 1>experience difficult situations that we didn't expect that come up

0:36:51.760 --> 0:36:55.440
<v Speaker 1>along the way. But have you ever watched someone just

0:36:56.000 --> 0:37:01.840
<v Speaker 1>absolutely shine under the hardest circumstances. My friends, she had

0:37:02.360 --> 0:37:05.399
<v Speaker 1>one of the most horrific years last year. I mean

0:37:05.440 --> 0:37:10.399
<v Speaker 1>we joke about twenty twenty, but she lost her job,

0:37:11.360 --> 0:37:14.279
<v Speaker 1>she had to move across the country, away from her

0:37:14.280 --> 0:37:16.719
<v Speaker 1>home where she had lived for almost forty years, and

0:37:16.760 --> 0:37:19.200
<v Speaker 1>try to rebuild her life. And then about a month

0:37:19.480 --> 0:37:22.840
<v Speaker 1>after moving, she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer.

0:37:24.320 --> 0:37:28.400
<v Speaker 1>And every time we talked, she was just she was real.

0:37:29.280 --> 0:37:32.320
<v Speaker 1>She would tell me how she was scared. She was

0:37:33.280 --> 0:37:36.840
<v Speaker 1>obviously alone in the way that she felt she was

0:37:37.520 --> 0:37:41.480
<v Speaker 1>physically alone because her family was so far away, But

0:37:41.600 --> 0:37:45.080
<v Speaker 1>somehow she would just always bring the conversation back to

0:37:45.200 --> 0:37:48.279
<v Speaker 1>all the ways that God was working. And one day,

0:37:48.400 --> 0:37:53.359
<v Speaker 1>through tears, she said, Holly, I know that God has this.

0:37:54.080 --> 0:37:56.080
<v Speaker 1>I know that I'm going to get through it. Everywhere

0:37:56.120 --> 0:37:58.920
<v Speaker 1>I go I see glimpses of him. Scott spoke to

0:37:58.920 --> 0:38:01.880
<v Speaker 1>me today through the lady who checks me out at CBS.

0:38:02.760 --> 0:38:04.960
<v Speaker 1>I just know I'm gonna make it to the other

0:38:05.080 --> 0:38:08.960
<v Speaker 1>side of this. Then you will shine among them like

0:38:09.040 --> 0:38:11.840
<v Speaker 1>stars in the sky as you hold fast to the

0:38:11.880 --> 0:38:14.960
<v Speaker 1>word of life. How do you shine? How do we

0:38:15.000 --> 0:38:17.239
<v Speaker 1>do this? Well? One you refuse to dwell on the

0:38:17.320 --> 0:38:20.960
<v Speaker 1>negative and you let go of the need to be right,

0:38:21.920 --> 0:38:28.320
<v Speaker 1>and then you hold firm to the word of life.

0:38:29.440 --> 0:38:33.400
<v Speaker 1>What is God speaking to you in this season? Maybe

0:38:33.440 --> 0:38:35.600
<v Speaker 1>you have no idea, You're like, I don't know. Okay,

0:38:35.600 --> 0:38:40.040
<v Speaker 1>Well go back. Think what was the last thing that

0:38:40.080 --> 0:38:43.160
<v Speaker 1>God spoke to you. Maybe he whispered very softly to

0:38:43.200 --> 0:38:47.680
<v Speaker 1>you about your attitude at work. Maybe it was something

0:38:47.680 --> 0:38:50.360
<v Speaker 1>that had to do with doing things for others without

0:38:50.400 --> 0:38:53.879
<v Speaker 1>having to be noticed. Maybe it was about focusing on

0:38:53.920 --> 0:38:55.960
<v Speaker 1>all the things that you have to be grateful for

0:38:56.040 --> 0:38:58.719
<v Speaker 1>in a season where things just really aren't turning out

0:38:58.960 --> 0:39:02.040
<v Speaker 1>the way that you think. Maybe, like Daniel, he just

0:39:02.120 --> 0:39:08.040
<v Speaker 1>called you to spend time praying every day. And sometimes

0:39:08.440 --> 0:39:12.880
<v Speaker 1>what we miss is that the best way to impact

0:39:13.239 --> 0:39:16.359
<v Speaker 1>the people around you is to make a change in

0:39:16.400 --> 0:39:22.920
<v Speaker 1>yourself in life. The most difficult lesson of all for

0:39:23.080 --> 0:39:28.000
<v Speaker 1>me has been to understand that at the end of

0:39:28.080 --> 0:39:33.160
<v Speaker 1>the day, the only person that I can really change

0:39:33.440 --> 0:39:37.319
<v Speaker 1>is me. But it's not fun to change me. It's

0:39:37.360 --> 0:39:40.560
<v Speaker 1>easier to try and change others and hope that when

0:39:40.600 --> 0:39:45.040
<v Speaker 1>others change, my life will improve. Right. But when I focus,

0:39:45.040 --> 0:39:48.520
<v Speaker 1>when I place my focus on all the things that

0:39:48.600 --> 0:39:53.120
<v Speaker 1>everyone else needs to change. What happens is I become

0:39:53.160 --> 0:39:56.080
<v Speaker 1>someone I don't want to be. I become a nagging

0:39:56.480 --> 0:39:59.520
<v Speaker 1>and manipulative woman, and then sometimes I give up on

0:39:59.520 --> 0:40:02.120
<v Speaker 1>the nagging in the manipulation that I just become stubborn

0:40:02.480 --> 0:40:06.040
<v Speaker 1>and withdrawn. And then I wonder why I'm never really

0:40:06.040 --> 0:40:09.160
<v Speaker 1>making any progress in my relationships or in my personal life,

0:40:09.440 --> 0:40:12.839
<v Speaker 1>because when I blame others' actions for my problems, I

0:40:12.880 --> 0:40:17.759
<v Speaker 1>can never experience real change in my life. I love

0:40:17.800 --> 0:40:20.040
<v Speaker 1>to tell this story about Graham and Abby. Years ago.

0:40:21.320 --> 0:40:23.799
<v Speaker 1>I asked them to go pack their lunches. It was

0:40:23.840 --> 0:40:27.640
<v Speaker 1>the school night, and in our house, pack your lunch

0:40:27.920 --> 0:40:32.160
<v Speaker 1>means grab a juice box and a lunch box and

0:40:32.280 --> 0:40:35.319
<v Speaker 1>get some prepackaged snacks and then bring it to me

0:40:35.600 --> 0:40:37.719
<v Speaker 1>and I'll put your sandwich in it. Okay, So no

0:40:37.920 --> 0:40:41.920
<v Speaker 1>little beautiful little binto boxes or anything like that. So

0:40:42.040 --> 0:40:45.120
<v Speaker 1>on this particular night, I said, Graham and Abby go

0:40:45.160 --> 0:40:50.800
<v Speaker 1>fix your lunch, and I hear Graham yelling at Abby, Abby,

0:40:51.560 --> 0:40:57.840
<v Speaker 1>pack your lunch, Abby, Mom said, pack your lunch. Abby,

0:40:58.320 --> 0:41:00.239
<v Speaker 1>You need to do it. Mom said, I just went

0:41:00.280 --> 0:41:02.319
<v Speaker 1>on and on, and the kids have like the most

0:41:02.360 --> 0:41:05.560
<v Speaker 1>incredible amount of patience and saying something over and over again,

0:41:05.640 --> 0:41:08.759
<v Speaker 1>while I got tired of it, and I said, Graham,

0:41:09.160 --> 0:41:11.239
<v Speaker 1>come here, come into the kitchen, and he comes in

0:41:11.760 --> 0:41:16.239
<v Speaker 1>empty handed. He's a buddy, where's your lunch? And he goes, Oh,

0:41:16.280 --> 0:41:22.960
<v Speaker 1>I forgot. Graham was so busy picking a fight with

0:41:23.000 --> 0:41:25.239
<v Speaker 1>his sister and telling her what she needed to do,

0:41:25.840 --> 0:41:29.360
<v Speaker 1>that he neglected to pack his own lunch. And what

0:41:29.400 --> 0:41:32.040
<v Speaker 1>I want to tell you today is pack your own lunch.

0:41:34.360 --> 0:41:37.120
<v Speaker 1>You determined to be kind no matter how you're treated.

0:41:38.520 --> 0:41:41.000
<v Speaker 1>You'd be the first one to apologize, even if you

0:41:41.040 --> 0:41:43.080
<v Speaker 1>were only ten percent wrong, which you probably weren't ten

0:41:43.120 --> 0:41:45.479
<v Speaker 1>percent wrong, but you'll be the first one to say

0:41:45.520 --> 0:41:49.440
<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry. What does it matter? You determine that I'm

0:41:49.480 --> 0:41:52.120
<v Speaker 1>gonna bow out of a conversation if it gets ugly somehow,

0:41:52.160 --> 0:41:54.120
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna get out of there. I'm not gonna I'm

0:41:54.120 --> 0:41:56.560
<v Speaker 1>not gonna go there talking about other people. You be

0:41:56.680 --> 0:42:01.040
<v Speaker 1>generous with your time and your money, rich, expecting nothing

0:42:01.080 --> 0:42:04.000
<v Speaker 1>in return, because God has the work that he wants

0:42:04.000 --> 0:42:07.520
<v Speaker 1>to do in you. And if you say hyper focused

0:42:07.800 --> 0:42:11.040
<v Speaker 1>on others and how they need to change and what

0:42:11.200 --> 0:42:14.640
<v Speaker 1>they need to do, you might end up complaining that

0:42:14.719 --> 0:42:20.000
<v Speaker 1>you don't have any lunch, You're gonna be hungry. Sometimes,

0:42:20.600 --> 0:42:23.760
<v Speaker 1>the greatest impact that you will have on the people

0:42:23.800 --> 0:42:27.000
<v Speaker 1>of your life will not be with the words that

0:42:27.040 --> 0:42:30.040
<v Speaker 1>you say. It will be with the life that you live.

0:42:32.080 --> 0:42:37.239
<v Speaker 1>So can we just collectively all decide stop shouting at

0:42:37.280 --> 0:42:43.840
<v Speaker 1>each other and just start shining brighter. I'm not saying

0:42:43.840 --> 0:42:46.080
<v Speaker 1>that we can't be a voice for the voiceless. I'm

0:42:46.120 --> 0:42:49.560
<v Speaker 1>not saying that we don't speak up against injustice. I'm

0:42:49.719 --> 0:42:53.960
<v Speaker 1>just pointing out first John three eighteen. I learned this

0:42:54.040 --> 0:42:55.680
<v Speaker 1>verse when I was a little girl. There was a song.

0:42:55.719 --> 0:42:57.440
<v Speaker 1>I'm not going to sing the song, but it says this,

0:42:57.920 --> 0:43:00.360
<v Speaker 1>let us not love with words or speech, but with

0:43:00.520 --> 0:43:05.360
<v Speaker 1>actions and in truth. I told you that last week's

0:43:05.360 --> 0:43:08.439
<v Speaker 1>sermon was in my top three Stievelfredick sermons of all times.

0:43:08.440 --> 0:43:10.399
<v Speaker 1>And if you miss it, it's called Just the Two

0:43:10.440 --> 0:43:12.239
<v Speaker 1>of Us, you have to go back and watch it.

0:43:13.040 --> 0:43:15.040
<v Speaker 1>But he preached about the Shunamite woman. So I'm hoping

0:43:15.040 --> 0:43:18.560
<v Speaker 1>the most of you heard it, because the Shunamite woman,

0:43:19.480 --> 0:43:23.600
<v Speaker 1>she was the epitome of knowing how to keep her

0:43:23.640 --> 0:43:28.000
<v Speaker 1>mouth shut and go to the one who could fix

0:43:28.040 --> 0:43:31.240
<v Speaker 1>her son. There was only one person who could fix him.

0:43:31.520 --> 0:43:35.879
<v Speaker 1>So you remember, the child died and she placed him

0:43:36.160 --> 0:43:38.880
<v Speaker 1>on the bed, the prophet's bed that was in her home,

0:43:39.280 --> 0:43:42.480
<v Speaker 1>and she set out to find Elisha. And she did

0:43:42.560 --> 0:43:45.560
<v Speaker 1>not waste time arguing with her husband about how he

0:43:45.560 --> 0:43:47.480
<v Speaker 1>should have brought the boy to her sooner, and this

0:43:47.680 --> 0:43:50.440
<v Speaker 1>was his fault. She did not knock on her neighbor's

0:43:50.480 --> 0:43:54.680
<v Speaker 1>door and request prayer. When Elisha's servant came out to

0:43:54.719 --> 0:43:57.439
<v Speaker 1>her and he asked her if everything was all right,

0:43:57.920 --> 0:44:00.319
<v Speaker 1>she did not complain to him. She said, I'm fine,

0:44:00.440 --> 0:44:03.960
<v Speaker 1>everything's fine, and she kept going where she knew she

0:44:04.040 --> 0:44:09.560
<v Speaker 1>needed to be. But when she reached the prophet, the

0:44:09.719 --> 0:44:14.480
<v Speaker 1>verse says that she actually knelt down, and it says

0:44:14.640 --> 0:44:20.080
<v Speaker 1>she took hold of his feet, and she poured out

0:44:20.360 --> 0:44:24.520
<v Speaker 1>her soul to him, to let go of what you

0:44:24.640 --> 0:44:28.719
<v Speaker 1>cannot fix, and you hold firm to what you know,

0:44:29.880 --> 0:44:31.920
<v Speaker 1>then you will shine among them like stars in the sky,

0:44:32.000 --> 0:44:35.319
<v Speaker 1>as you hold firmly to the word of life. She

0:44:35.520 --> 0:44:37.719
<v Speaker 1>knew that she had to get to the one who

0:44:37.760 --> 0:44:41.560
<v Speaker 1>had spoken life to her. Beautiful. He said, you're gonna

0:44:41.600 --> 0:44:43.880
<v Speaker 1>have a son, and that was the promise that she

0:44:44.000 --> 0:44:46.000
<v Speaker 1>was clinging to He said, I was gonna have the sun,

0:44:46.320 --> 0:44:49.440
<v Speaker 1>so he did this, so he's the only one that

0:44:49.560 --> 0:44:52.080
<v Speaker 1>can fix it. She was quiet when it came to

0:44:52.160 --> 0:44:54.560
<v Speaker 1>speaking to others, but when she got in the presence

0:44:54.560 --> 0:44:58.560
<v Speaker 1>of the Prophet, she poured out her soul to him,

0:44:59.480 --> 0:45:03.440
<v Speaker 1>and she i refused to leave his presence because when

0:45:03.480 --> 0:45:06.400
<v Speaker 1>you go to the source, you're never alone in your problem,

0:45:06.440 --> 0:45:10.000
<v Speaker 1>no matter how lonely you feel. So she stuck with them,

0:45:10.800 --> 0:45:14.360
<v Speaker 1>and as they journeyed back to her home, she stayed close.

0:45:15.239 --> 0:45:17.640
<v Speaker 1>And when they got back to her house, the Prophet

0:45:17.680 --> 0:45:21.400
<v Speaker 1>went into the room with her child and shut the door.

0:45:24.600 --> 0:45:26.400
<v Speaker 1>I like to think about how she thought she was

0:45:26.440 --> 0:45:29.680
<v Speaker 1>going to go in with him and he shut the door.

0:45:30.600 --> 0:45:33.680
<v Speaker 1>And when my husband said that sometimes you have to

0:45:33.680 --> 0:45:36.480
<v Speaker 1>stand outside the door while God goes in with your problems,

0:45:36.520 --> 0:45:39.480
<v Speaker 1>I knew that that was a picture that I would

0:45:39.520 --> 0:45:43.560
<v Speaker 1>never forget because I don't know about you, but I've

0:45:43.600 --> 0:45:46.800
<v Speaker 1>had a few times in my life. I've had enough

0:45:46.840 --> 0:45:49.920
<v Speaker 1>times in my life where I've had to stand outside

0:45:49.960 --> 0:45:55.040
<v Speaker 1>the door and just like God handle my situation. And

0:45:55.160 --> 0:46:01.760
<v Speaker 1>she stood there. She was quiet, and she was alone

0:46:02.000 --> 0:46:04.200
<v Speaker 1>because sometimes the things that you go through, they're just

0:46:04.239 --> 0:46:07.239
<v Speaker 1>they're too personal to share in the moment. And so

0:46:07.320 --> 0:46:10.279
<v Speaker 1>she just stood there while the prophet was behind the

0:46:10.320 --> 0:46:15.560
<v Speaker 1>door with her child. And I keep wondering what could

0:46:15.560 --> 0:46:18.080
<v Speaker 1>have possibly been going through her mind, because as a woman,

0:46:18.160 --> 0:46:21.799
<v Speaker 1>it's like, I can fix this, I need to fix this.

0:46:22.280 --> 0:46:25.600
<v Speaker 1>But she couldn't fix it. She had to stand outside

0:46:25.640 --> 0:46:31.440
<v Speaker 1>the door and wait and hold firm to the promise

0:46:32.080 --> 0:46:37.240
<v Speaker 1>that God had given her. Because the thing that enables

0:46:37.320 --> 0:46:42.040
<v Speaker 1>us to shine bright in the darkness, it's not only

0:46:42.080 --> 0:46:45.480
<v Speaker 1>what we don't say, because that's a start, but it's

0:46:45.520 --> 0:46:52.560
<v Speaker 1>what we cling to. You can cling to the promise

0:46:53.160 --> 0:46:56.879
<v Speaker 1>that he will never leave you or forsake you. You

0:46:56.920 --> 0:47:00.400
<v Speaker 1>can cling to the promise that the same Holy Spirit

0:47:00.440 --> 0:47:04.239
<v Speaker 1>that lives inside of you, that he lives inside of

0:47:04.280 --> 0:47:06.879
<v Speaker 1>the people that you love, and he's working on them,

0:47:06.960 --> 0:47:09.680
<v Speaker 1>just like he's working on you. He's working on them.

0:47:10.040 --> 0:47:12.120
<v Speaker 1>You can believe that if he speaks to you, he

0:47:12.160 --> 0:47:16.319
<v Speaker 1>can speak to them without without your mouth, he can

0:47:16.360 --> 0:47:19.000
<v Speaker 1>speak to them, and you can cling to that promise.

0:47:19.040 --> 0:47:24.520
<v Speaker 1>I have a friend whose son is just doing everything

0:47:24.560 --> 0:47:27.279
<v Speaker 1>that he wants to do right now, and she's clinging

0:47:27.520 --> 0:47:31.560
<v Speaker 1>to the promise that God has given her about her son.

0:47:31.600 --> 0:47:34.560
<v Speaker 1>You can cling to the promise that he sees every

0:47:34.600 --> 0:47:37.880
<v Speaker 1>tear that you cry, and he hears every prayer that

0:47:37.920 --> 0:47:41.319
<v Speaker 1>you pray, because he does, so you cling to that.

0:47:42.320 --> 0:47:45.480
<v Speaker 1>You cling to the promise that you serve a God

0:47:45.960 --> 0:47:52.200
<v Speaker 1>who really does turn everything for good. He does, He's

0:47:52.200 --> 0:47:56.640
<v Speaker 1>done it before, he'll do it again. He really does

0:47:56.840 --> 0:48:02.720
<v Speaker 1>turn graves into gardens. And the grave part is not fun,

0:48:02.760 --> 0:48:07.479
<v Speaker 1>but the garden part you look back and can only

0:48:07.520 --> 0:48:11.960
<v Speaker 1>have been God. And cling to that. And when you

0:48:12.000 --> 0:48:16.279
<v Speaker 1>cling to that, your life will shine so bright that

0:48:16.360 --> 0:48:24.560
<v Speaker 1>people can't help but see God glorified in your life. So, Lord,

0:48:24.600 --> 0:48:29.280
<v Speaker 1>we just we open up our hands to you today.

0:48:30.040 --> 0:48:36.280
<v Speaker 1>Pray for the person who's watching this alone. Just whisper

0:48:36.400 --> 0:48:43.000
<v Speaker 1>to them, tell them that they're not pray for the

0:48:43.040 --> 0:48:46.800
<v Speaker 1>person who has been praying for their child for years

0:48:46.840 --> 0:48:52.040
<v Speaker 1>and years and years, because just speak to them. Tell

0:48:52.040 --> 0:48:54.759
<v Speaker 1>them that you love their child more than they do.

0:49:01.719 --> 0:49:05.960
<v Speaker 1>We cling to you today, which you reveal to us

0:49:06.560 --> 0:49:10.080
<v Speaker 1>the things that we need to let go of, and

0:49:10.120 --> 0:49:13.640
<v Speaker 1>then which you just remind us, like you do, of

0:49:13.719 --> 0:49:20.120
<v Speaker 1>the promises that you have spoken over our lives. Your

0:49:20.160 --> 0:49:26.239
<v Speaker 1>promises are good and precious. Your promises are yes and

0:49:26.400 --> 0:49:35.120
<v Speaker 1>amen with buff you Lord, thank you saying Jesus name.

0:49:35.160 --> 0:49:49.880
<v Speaker 1>I pray amen oooh that sermon. I know I'm biased,

0:49:49.920 --> 0:49:54.520
<v Speaker 1>but I think what Holly just preached was the most

0:49:54.719 --> 0:49:58.239
<v Speaker 1>relevant thing that she could have said. You know, we

0:49:58.280 --> 0:50:02.000
<v Speaker 1>always talk about how hers and teaching is bringing the

0:50:02.000 --> 0:50:04.480
<v Speaker 1>Word practically, but there was a prophetic element to that

0:50:04.520 --> 0:50:08.240
<v Speaker 1>message today. And God gave her that message months ago,

0:50:08.719 --> 0:50:10.960
<v Speaker 1>and I believe he wanted you to hear it right now.

0:50:11.000 --> 0:50:13.520
<v Speaker 1>He wanted us to experience it together in this moment.

0:50:14.280 --> 0:50:16.759
<v Speaker 1>So I pray you received it today, and I want

0:50:16.760 --> 0:50:19.320
<v Speaker 1>to thank you. Thanks to all of you who support

0:50:19.400 --> 0:50:26.000
<v Speaker 1>this incredible, worldwide, thriving ministry that is bearing fruit all

0:50:26.080 --> 0:50:29.760
<v Speaker 1>over this planet. And the Bible says that we shouldn't

0:50:29.800 --> 0:50:34.160
<v Speaker 1>just love in word, but indeed action. And some of

0:50:34.200 --> 0:50:38.200
<v Speaker 1>you who who give financially and who pray and share

0:50:38.239 --> 0:50:41.560
<v Speaker 1>the Gospel and serve, you're just You're the best. So

0:50:41.680 --> 0:50:44.440
<v Speaker 1>thank you. I want to thank you for continuing in

0:50:44.520 --> 0:50:47.279
<v Speaker 1>your generosity in this time. And I also wanted to

0:50:47.719 --> 0:50:49.520
<v Speaker 1>encourage you to stay in touch. Those of you who

0:50:49.840 --> 0:50:52.799
<v Speaker 1>attend a local elevation church, you know, check in with

0:50:53.200 --> 0:50:55.479
<v Speaker 1>your campus pastor your campus team, make sure you're getting

0:50:55.560 --> 0:50:59.040
<v Speaker 1>updates on in person worship experiences as more of those

0:50:59.120 --> 0:51:02.360
<v Speaker 1>become a available hopefully in the days ahead, and for

0:51:02.400 --> 0:51:04.040
<v Speaker 1>our EPM around the world, we're going to be right

0:51:04.080 --> 0:51:07.120
<v Speaker 1>here for you every step of the way as we

0:51:07.200 --> 0:51:11.320
<v Speaker 1>navigate this moment in time together. Well, you heard the word,

0:51:11.400 --> 0:51:14.320
<v Speaker 1>and now I want to make sure that you're subscribed

0:51:14.360 --> 0:51:17.200
<v Speaker 1>to the channel. Thank you for your partnership in the gospel.

0:51:17.400 --> 0:51:17.840
<v Speaker 1>I love you.