Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and.
Speaker 1: This is our podcast.
Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
Speaker 2: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
Speaker 2: gives your perspective to see God is moving.
Speaker 1: In your life. Enjoy the message.
Speaker 2: If you wouldn't mind standing, I'd like to preach, and
Speaker 2: I want to read the scripture while you stand. And
Speaker 2: I want to just share a simple message today from
Speaker 2: First Samuel classic text. God has given me a fresh
Speaker 2: insight on First Samuel chapter seventeen, and I just want
Speaker 2: to give you verses forty eight through fifty one.
Speaker 1: And I love this little Bible story.
Speaker 2: That's the one where David kills Goliath spoiler alert. And
Speaker 2: I think there'll be some things in this message today
Speaker 2: that will be pertin it to your personal life as
Speaker 2: well as our plight. Is a nation, so I like it.
Speaker 2: Lean in and listen carefully. I believe there is a
Speaker 2: word from the Lord.
Speaker 1: In this house. How many are ready to receive it?
Speaker 1: Come on? Are you excited? How many want to hear
Speaker 1: from God? Today?
Speaker 2: As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran
Speaker 2: quickly toward the battle line. God's people don't run from trouble.
Speaker 2: We run toward it in the name of the Lord.
Speaker 2: He ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him,
Speaker 2: Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he
Speaker 2: slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead, and
Speaker 2: the stone sank into his forehead and he fell face
Speaker 2: down on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine
Speaker 2: with a sling and a stone, without a sword in
Speaker 2: his hand, he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
Speaker 2: David ran and stood over him. He took hold of
Speaker 2: the Philistine's sword, drew it from the sheath. After he
Speaker 2: killed him, cut off his head with his own sword.
Speaker 2: Sometimes you got to take what the devil brings against
Speaker 2: you and put it to use to do the work
Speaker 2: of God. And when the Philistines saw that their hero
Speaker 2: was dead, they turned and ran. They turned and ran.
Speaker 2: Now I need you to announce my title to your neighbor.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: And this might be something that your wife says to
Speaker 2: you when you're driving. You might have said this to
Speaker 2: your husband today trying to find elevation Valentine or whatever
Speaker 2: campus you're at. But would you look at your neighbor
Speaker 2: and give them my title. Say neighbor, don't miss your turn.
Speaker 2: Look at your other neighbor and say you might miss
Speaker 2: your turn. Pay attention, don't miss your turn. Amen, you
Speaker 2: may be seated.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Worship team, Thank you worship team. All are
Speaker 3: worship teams. Oh man, so much I want to say
Speaker 3: to you. Let me just look at you real quick.
Speaker 2: It's a new building, so I don't know where everybody's
Speaker 2: sitting and used to having people all my familiar faces.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm looking for my love. I'm looking for my
Speaker 1: love this school.
Speaker 2: Those of you at the other campuses, you can't see this,
Speaker 2: but the way we've set up the room is very strategic.
Speaker 2: We have it where everybody can keep an eye on
Speaker 2: each other and monitor them to make sure that they
Speaker 2: are paying attention and being responsive in the sermon. So,
Speaker 2: those of you on my right, if these people over
Speaker 2: here start looking like they're dozing off, they start looking bored,
Speaker 2: you could shoot a spitball at them. You can do
Speaker 2: whatever you have to do this side. Over here on
Speaker 2: the left side, these people really love Jesus.
Speaker 1: In fact, it's going to be a competition. We're going
Speaker 1: to get to see over.
Speaker 2: The course of the coming weeks and months which section
Speaker 2: loves Jesus the most, and so it should be interesting.
Speaker 1: But I just want to share a little bit with
Speaker 1: you today.
Speaker 2: I want you to get something on your mind as
Speaker 2: we look at this classic text in the Valley of Elaw,
Speaker 2: where the giant from God, who some say was nine
Speaker 2: three inches tall, has come to defy the armies of
Speaker 2: the Living God, and a boy named David decides to
Speaker 2: do something about it. I want you to think if
Speaker 2: you would just for a moment about something in your
Speaker 2: life that you almost missed out.
Speaker 1: On, and that.
Speaker 2: You you you came really close to missing out on it,
Speaker 2: but you know you did it, and now that you're
Speaker 2: looking back on it, you are like, oh, I'm so
Speaker 2: glad that I didn't let fear or apathy or laziness
Speaker 2: or other people keep me from doing that, because I
Speaker 2: would have missed so much. In fact, some of you,
Speaker 2: to listen to other people, you never gonna come to
Speaker 2: the church, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: And you would have missed out because it is a
Speaker 1: great place. It's great people. I said, this is a
Speaker 1: great place with great people. Come on, y'all, let's break
Speaker 1: it in this building.
Speaker 2: Don't be looking at me stuffy, Amen. Something you would
Speaker 2: have I missed out on Holly, of course, is of
Speaker 2: thinking about if she had said no instead of I do,
Speaker 2: how much she would have missed.
Speaker 1: She would have missed her miracle.
Speaker 2: She would have missed her man, she would have missed
Speaker 2: her moment. Aren't you glad you didn't miss it? You
Speaker 2: know different things in life, opportunities that you had that
Speaker 2: scared you at the time. Amy, Think about if when
Speaker 2: I took unk chunks out the Golden Corral and said
Speaker 2: start the church with me, Hattie said, I.
Speaker 1: Don't want to do it.
Speaker 2: I want to keep on working physical therapy, rubbing on
Speaker 2: old people's backsides.
Speaker 1: I want to keep serving. Then nothing wrong being a
Speaker 1: physical therapist. I'm just having a little humor here with you.
Speaker 2: But just imagine you wouldn't even be here on the
Speaker 2: front row watching.
Speaker 1: The grand opening of a location.
Speaker 2: Last night, I gave away almost a quarter of a
Speaker 2: million dollars, because that's what you do when you move into.
Speaker 1: A thirty million dollar building. You give away quarter of
Speaker 1: a million dollars just to make the devil mad, to
Speaker 1: let him know that the church is on the move.
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, I want to make a
Speaker 2: prophetic announcement. This church is not gonna miss our turn
Speaker 2: We are determined in this season in our cities to.
Speaker 1: Shine like never before.
Speaker 2: The world needs us now and we're not gonna miss.
Speaker 1: Our turn out.
Speaker 2: I'm not a big believer in having regrets. I think
Speaker 2: that what's better is if you can learn the lesson,
Speaker 2: get the benefit of the lesson without the burden of
Speaker 2: the regret. You know what I'm saying, get the burden
Speaker 2: of the lesson or the benefit or whatever I said
Speaker 2: of the lesson j LA, without the burden of the regret.
Speaker 1: What I do believe in is the power of pregret.
Speaker 1: I made up the word. I believe that.
Speaker 2: If you can learn how in your life to experience
Speaker 2: what you would experience if you did something dumb in
Speaker 2: your emotions without having to do the dumb thing and
Speaker 2: deal with the consequences and the disaster of your decision,
Speaker 2: I think it's.
Speaker 1: A good thing. I might write a book about this,
Speaker 1: the power of pregret.
Speaker 2: You know, so you can learn how to discern guys
Speaker 2: that you shouldn't date by seeing the patterns that he's
Speaker 2: like the last guy, he's like the last guy, and
Speaker 2: if I go out with him, and if I sleep
Speaker 2: with him, I'm going to end up having to be
Speaker 2: in the same cycle. And so I think there's something
Speaker 2: to learn from the things that we've missed out on,
Speaker 2: the things that we've almost missed out on. You may
Speaker 2: think this is a strange introduction, and I forgot that
Speaker 2: my text was David and Goliath. But this common text
Speaker 2: has an often overlook application I find in First Samuel
Speaker 2: sixteen and seventeen. And those of you at are Matthew's
Speaker 2: campus are going to be particularly interested in this sermon
Speaker 2: because I began to share on this topic with you
Speaker 2: a few weeks ago when I came over in supp
Speaker 2: I do for a visit because I was noticing that
Speaker 2: the climax of the story, when David took his slingshot,
Speaker 2: his rocks, his shepherding equipment, and used it to kill
Speaker 2: a giant named Goliath, it almost didn't happen. It it
Speaker 2: almost didn't happen. It's one of the those famous Bible stories.
Speaker 2: It's epic, and we learned it in Sunday school. Was
Speaker 2: very violent thing to teach our children. But for some reason,
Speaker 2: we do uh that that with with the first of
Speaker 2: five stones, he took him down. That that that David,
Speaker 2: the unlikely one, took down the giant that had defied
Speaker 2: in this challenge of champions, in this ancient format and
Speaker 2: known as representative combat, where the sides would say, instead
Speaker 2: of you sending all of your men and us sending
Speaker 2: all of our men, why don't we eased to send
Speaker 2: our best fighter, and whoever wins that fight will represent
Speaker 2: the rest of the nation. And in this contest, we're
Speaker 2: very familiar with the conquest of David, with the moment
Speaker 2: where he stands Goliath. But I want to suggest to
Speaker 2: you that it almost didn't happen. I think a lot
Speaker 2: of us miss our turn to be used by God
Speaker 2: because of disappointment.
Speaker 1: In our life, setbacks we've experienced.
Speaker 2: On the other side of disappointment, often we can see
Speaker 2: that our disappointments led us to our destiny. I'm preaching
Speaker 2: better than you're talking back to me. I'll give you
Speaker 2: a minute to catch up. Is that some of the
Speaker 2: things that we thought we wanted were the things that
Speaker 2: God had to withhold to make room for the things
Speaker 2: that we ultimately needed. It is easier to clap about
Speaker 2: that when you're not living through it. Have you ever
Speaker 2: noticed how the way we explained something after the event
Speaker 2: has transpired is often much different than how we experienced it.
Speaker 2: And we say, after we've experienced something that you know, well,
Speaker 2: it all turned out for the good.
Speaker 1: But you weren't so sure about that.
Speaker 2: While it was happening. You weren't so sure about that
Speaker 2: during the divorce. But now after the divorce you can say, Okay, well,
Speaker 2: you know I didn't want the divorce, and I'm not
Speaker 2: saying the divorce was God's will, but I can see
Speaker 2: how God's even using that now in my life.
Speaker 1: But when you're going.
Speaker 2: Through it, it feels like death and you can't.
Speaker 1: Even see any life after this.
Speaker 2: You can't see how the fact that they laid you
Speaker 2: off from that job was actually preparing you for something,
Speaker 2: teaching you some things, gonna get you some discipline in
Speaker 2: some areas, and that later on a door would open
Speaker 2: up that God.
Speaker 1: Would use to move you into new dimensions.
Speaker 2: But you can't see the destiny in the face of
Speaker 2: the disappointment. David is an illustration of how to deal
Speaker 2: with disappointment.
Speaker 1: I believe you want to know the truth about it.
Speaker 2: David was more than just a shepherd, more than just
Speaker 2: a giant killer. He was a future king in training.
Speaker 2: I know many of you know this, but for the
Speaker 2: benefit of those who may not have gotten to go
Speaker 2: to vacation Bible school, let me share a little bit
Speaker 2: of the context for Samuel sixteen.
Speaker 1: Can I teach you a little bit? Can I teach
Speaker 1: you a little bit.
Speaker 2: On the day that Samuel came to town to replace Saul,
Speaker 2: because the Lord was grieved that he made Psaul king,
Speaker 2: because although Saul had the stature of a king, he
Speaker 2: didn't have the.
Speaker 1: Heart of a shepherd. God give us shepherds.
Speaker 2: Even in our nation, in political seats of power, that
Speaker 2: will have a heart for your people. Give us pastors
Speaker 2: and fathers and leaders that.
Speaker 1: Will have a heart for your people.
Speaker 2: And so God said, I'm looking for a man after
Speaker 2: my own heart. Well, when Samuel came to town with
Speaker 2: this horn of oil, which was symbolically.
Speaker 1: Poured on the head of the next king, he.
Speaker 2: Went to Jesse's house because that's where God told him
Speaker 2: to go. He said, the next king is in Jesse's house.
Speaker 2: But he didn't tell him which of Jesse's eight sons
Speaker 2: was going to be the king. Because sometimes God will
Speaker 2: give you enough of the details to get you in
Speaker 2: the right area, but he won't give you enough specifics
Speaker 2: where you don't need him to show you what to
Speaker 2: do next.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we want God to show us.
Speaker 2: Everything about our life and our decisions, but if he did,
Speaker 2: we wouldn't need him. So he gives us enough light
Speaker 2: to know the next step, but not enough light where
Speaker 2: we won't need him to guide us along the path.
Speaker 2: So he goes to Jesse's How Samuel the prophet goes
Speaker 2: to Jesse's house and he and he looks at all
Speaker 2: the sons of Jesse. Eliab was the oldest one. One's
Speaker 2: name was Shemma. All these boys that were so impressive.
Speaker 2: Eliab was very tall, Saul was tall. And God said,
Speaker 2: not him, and not him, and not him, and not him,
Speaker 2: and not him and not him. I love this about God,
Speaker 2: that he selects what man rejects. He uses the weak
Speaker 2: things of the world to confound the wise. And after
Speaker 2: they passed over all seven of the select sons, Samuel says,
Speaker 2: do you have another one? And when Jesse talks about David,
Speaker 2: he doesn't even have the common courtesy.
Speaker 1: To mention his name.
Speaker 2: He calls him, I want to read this to you
Speaker 2: is in verse eleven, Chapter sixteen, Verse eleven, Jesse said, well,
Speaker 2: there's the youngest. There's the youngest. He doesn't identify him
Speaker 2: according to his potential, just his current position.
Speaker 1: You know, life will do this.
Speaker 2: To you, try to label you according to your educational background,
Speaker 2: according to your ethnicity, according to whether you're a man
Speaker 2: or a woman, according to your life will try to label.
Speaker 1: You this way.
Speaker 2: Well, there's the youngest, but he's been in the sheep.
Speaker 2: And Samuel said, sin for him. We won't sit down
Speaker 2: until he arrives. And the one that they didn't.
Speaker 1: Even think to bring in the room, zoom, was the one.
Speaker 2: That God had chosen from the foundation of the world.
Speaker 1: I want to make an announcement.
Speaker 2: You can't disappoint what God has appointed. You can't disappoint
Speaker 2: when God calls your name, when God gets ready to
Speaker 2: use you, when God gets ready to do work in
Speaker 2: your life, when God gets ready to raise you up,
Speaker 2: when God gets ready to send you forward, when God
Speaker 2: gets ready to stir up your gift, when God gets
Speaker 2: ready to.
Speaker 1: Release your purpose. This new stage breach is pretty good.
Speaker 1: I feel good about it.
Speaker 2: Shut somebody next to you and tell him he's calling
Speaker 2: your name, and see. I love God because he knew
Speaker 2: how to find David even in the field.
Speaker 1: He didn't need David to be in the lineup. Do
Speaker 1: you know what.
Speaker 2: You don't have to position yourself in front of people
Speaker 2: to be used by God. You don't have to convince
Speaker 2: a committee that you're good enough for grace of God.
Speaker 1: How many are grateful.
Speaker 2: But God chooses sobidly whom he wills, and uses sofidly
Speaker 2: whom he wills.
Speaker 1: And when God gets.
Speaker 2: Ready to use you, there's no devil in hell.
Speaker 1: They just stop. Touch your neighbors say don't.
Speaker 2: Miss it, don't miss your turn and see. If it
Speaker 2: had been up to people, David wouldn't have gotten his turn.
Speaker 2: But when God says it's your time, he knows exactly
Speaker 2: where to find you. Don't stress out about it. Don't
Speaker 2: worry about whether or not people appreciate you. Don't even
Speaker 2: worry about whether they notice you. Don't even worry about
Speaker 2: whether they call you by your correct name.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: You cannot disappoint what God has appointed. But if David
Speaker 2: hadn't been in the field keeping sheep, he wouldn't have
Speaker 2: been prepared to lead people what he's what he should
Speaker 2: have could have would have seen as being very insignificant,
Speaker 2: was exactly the thing that he needed to prepare him
Speaker 2: for his assignment. It's a funny thing, though, because you
Speaker 2: know you would expect and after this moment where David
Speaker 2: is anointed and pointed and called to be a king,
Speaker 2: that the next scene we would see would be that
Speaker 2: of David.
Speaker 1: And his driver making a trip.
Speaker 2: Perhaps Deniman Marcus, come on, if God told you you
Speaker 2: would be the next king, wouldn't you want to go
Speaker 2: try on some robes and some crowns.
Speaker 1: Size forty two short?
Speaker 2: Wouldn't you want to try on some versace crowns Armani wrote,
Speaker 2: I need, I need to get ready for this thing.
Speaker 2: And sometimes we expect that when God announces a change
Speaker 2: in our life, it's going to be activated immediately, and
Speaker 2: we get confused when God says it's your time, but
Speaker 2: he makes us wait our turn. And sometimes God is
Speaker 2: doing things that It was on that day that David
Speaker 2: was announced to be a king, but it would be
Speaker 2: many years later.
Speaker 1: That he would wear the crown.
Speaker 2: You know, when you give your life to Christ in
Speaker 2: a moment, you're saved in a moment you're forgiven, and
Speaker 2: a moment you're cleansed, and a moment you're redeemed. All
Speaker 2: of those things are true of you immediately. All of
Speaker 2: the changes that those new realities are meant to produce
Speaker 2: in your life happened not immediately, but gradually.
Speaker 1: You know what I see people do?
Speaker 2: I see people become very discouraged in the process of
Speaker 2: awaiting the change that God initiated, because we're a little
Speaker 2: bit confused. I remember Elijah was so confused when we
Speaker 2: gave the money to build Elevation Valentine.
Speaker 1: We bought the land back in twenty twelve, and Elijah was.
Speaker 2: Six years old at the time, and he gave an offering.
Speaker 2: Our whole family was supposed to give, and so I
Speaker 2: let Elijah give seventy dollars of my money that we
Speaker 2: pretended was his.
Speaker 1: It's like all the money that he thinks he has.
Speaker 1: And after he gave the.
Speaker 2: Money, he said, so, Daddy, we're having church at Elevation
Speaker 2: Valentine next Sunday, because in his mind I gave money.
Speaker 2: And so now now it's four years later now and
Speaker 2: here we are finally. We bought the land. In one season.
Speaker 1: We built the building in the next.
Speaker 2: And sometimes you walk away from your initial investment because
Speaker 2: you don't see the immediate development. I'm trying to say,
Speaker 2: sometimes you give up on your calling too easily.
Speaker 1: And you miss your turn.
Speaker 2: David didn't go on, try on crowns and practice is
Speaker 2: king wave and practice signing kingly autographs. David went back
Speaker 2: to the sheep field to do what he was doing
Speaker 2: before until one day, everybody say, one day, one day
Speaker 2: he was given an.
Speaker 1: Assignment by his father.
Speaker 2: His father turns to him one day, and I don't
Speaker 2: know if a lot of people know this part of
Speaker 2: the story, because everybody knows about the sling shot, and
Speaker 2: everybody knows about Goliath, and everybody knows about well how
Speaker 2: Goliath fell.
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you what, if you.
Speaker 2: Ever want to be a preacher, you should preach about Goliath.
Speaker 2: People love to hear sermons about Goliath because everybody has
Speaker 2: something in their life that's bigger than them. Everybody has
Speaker 2: something in their life that's been intimidating them. Everybody has
Speaker 2: a fear and anxiety and addiction.
Speaker 1: I could go around the room.
Speaker 2: I think I could probably point in people and look
Speaker 2: at them long enough and guess what your goliath is?
Speaker 2: Some of y'all spend too much. Some y'all eat too much,
Speaker 2: some of y'all talk too much. Some of y'all chudged
Speaker 2: too much. Can I keep going? I won't do it,
Speaker 2: but I could. And everybody has a Goliath right preach
Speaker 2: about Goliath and makes for good preaching, man, And Goliath
Speaker 2: is going to fall down, and you could kill the giant.
Speaker 1: I believe that, man.
Speaker 2: But can I tell you something that fascinating to me?
Speaker 2: If the Lord spoke to me. Lord spoke to me,
Speaker 2: I was studying this text. Lord said to me, most
Speaker 2: of the people you're talking to never even get to Goliath.
Speaker 2: You're trying to teach them how to kill an enemy
Speaker 2: that they're never even going to meet. So when he
Speaker 2: said that to me, you know, not out loud, it
Speaker 2: just kind of this impression I got.
Speaker 1: I was like, what do you mean?
Speaker 2: And I went back to the text and I remembered this.
Speaker 2: I saw this back in college. In fact, I used
Speaker 2: to share about it in college because I thought it
Speaker 2: was important to talk about faithfulness in the small things.
Speaker 2: And it was one day everybody say one day, say
Speaker 2: a loud or say one day touch your neighbors.
Speaker 1: Say this could be your day for a turnaround, now, Jesse.
Speaker 1: This is for Samuel seventeen seventeen.
Speaker 2: It says that this giant from Gaff named Goliath was
Speaker 2: confronting and defying the people of God for forty days,
Speaker 2: and every day he would talk them.
Speaker 1: But Jesse said to his son David, huh.
Speaker 2: Verse seventeen is kind of confusing, because Jesse must have
Speaker 2: forgotten that he was talking to a future king, because
Speaker 2: what he asked him to do was so menial. He said,
Speaker 2: take this etha of roasted grain and these ten loaves
Speaker 2: of bread for your brothers, and hurry to their camp.
Speaker 1: And David could have said, who do you think you're
Speaker 1: talking to?
Speaker 2: Didn't you hear what Samuel said about me? I am
Speaker 2: a man of potential, and I.
Speaker 1: Don't have time to run your little errands.
Speaker 2: I'm not trying to take bread and cheese to the
Speaker 2: same brothers who didn't even bring me into the room
Speaker 2: when Samuel came to choose a king. But this is
Speaker 2: the test, see to see if David will do the
Speaker 2: basic things. Sometimes we want God to use us to
Speaker 2: do a big thing, and we won't even do the basics.
Speaker 1: Talk to me somebody, how in the world.
Speaker 2: Can God use us to do something big and we
Speaker 2: won't even do something basic. I love David's heart because
Speaker 2: the story could have stopped right here if he had said,
Speaker 2: I'm not doing that. I'm a king, I'm not doing that.
Speaker 2: I'm not your demeaning to me. I'm not doing that.
Speaker 2: You know all the ways that we disobey God, these
Speaker 2: little things that he asked us to do. Call your
Speaker 2: sister and tell her you're sorry. Reach out to somebody
Speaker 2: who looks different than you and listen to them about
Speaker 2: their struggle.
Speaker 1: It's funny to me.
Speaker 2: Some of us want to kill Goliath, but we don't
Speaker 2: want to tend sheep, and we don't want to make deliveries.
Speaker 1: We want to see big victories.
Speaker 2: But how in the world can God use us to
Speaker 2: kill giants if we can't even follow simple instructions.
Speaker 1: The Bible says.
Speaker 2: That David, and I think this is why God used him.
Speaker 2: You know, every time we see David in the scripture,
Speaker 2: he's moving now. He says at first though, that he
Speaker 2: ran to Goliath. But you got to understand before he
Speaker 2: ran to Goliath. Look at verse twenty. It says early
Speaker 2: in the morning, David left the flock in the care of.
Speaker 1: A shepherd, loaded up and set out.
Speaker 2: Now here's what David didn't know at the time, because
Speaker 2: we know it and it's much easier to interpret what
Speaker 2: God is going to do when you know the ending.
Speaker 2: But can I tell you something David did not know
Speaker 2: that this was Fir Samuel seventeen.
Speaker 1: From his perspective, this was just another day.
Speaker 2: Sometimes God raps destiny in what we perceive is just
Speaker 2: another day. The same day that he was told to
Speaker 2: take bread to the battle lines was the same day.
Speaker 1: He stood over Goliath.
Speaker 2: But he didn't know that, and he would have missed
Speaker 2: his turn if he did not obey. And so for me,
Speaker 2: I'm asking God to use me in big ways, but
Speaker 2: will I obey him in the small ways?
Speaker 1: And you know, I bet if you will pray, God
Speaker 1: show me.
Speaker 2: A small way, because we all right now are concern
Speaker 2: about things in our nation. Josh van Allman was telling me.
Speaker 2: He's an officer, he serves. How long have you been
Speaker 2: Charlotte Police. How long have you been on the force.
Speaker 2: He's been twelve years. He's also been serving in the
Speaker 2: church for all ten and.
Speaker 1: A half years.
Speaker 2: Josh drives me to church every week, So I can
Speaker 2: look at my notes in the car, and so I
Speaker 2: thought that's a safer way than me driving and looking
Speaker 2: at my notes, and so I can get ready on
Speaker 2: the way.
Speaker 1: And he was telling me just.
Speaker 2: This week about people black people, white people coming up
Speaker 2: to him and buying lunch for him. I thought that
Speaker 2: was amazing. I thought that just he said it was
Speaker 2: a small thing, he said, but to me, that just
Speaker 2: went a long way. I know his wife appreciates it.
Speaker 2: He also told me how somebody spat on him this
Speaker 2: week while he was walking down the street with his
Speaker 2: little girl.
Speaker 1: And so here's the thing. We can get up in.
Speaker 4: Our churches and preach really big stuff, you know, deep stuff, reconciliation,
Speaker 4: high sounding stuff, unity, But I think probably our small.
Speaker 2: Acts of actual love go a lot farther than our
Speaker 2: loud screaming preaching.
Speaker 1: Like I'm doing right now.
Speaker 2: And God wants to know, will you do the small things?
Speaker 2: Sometimes the blessing of God is in doing the thing
Speaker 2: that seems beneath you. We always want to look beyond,
Speaker 2: God says, sometimes it's in doing the thing that seems
Speaker 2: beneath you that releases the blessing.
Speaker 1: We're on vacation this past.
Speaker 2: Month and we rode our bikes over to the farmer's market.
Speaker 2: Because we're such a charming family, we rode our bike
Speaker 2: over to the farmer market there in the little town
Speaker 2: where we were staying.
Speaker 1: And Holly's idea and.
Speaker 2: When we walked in, just tell you the story kind
Speaker 2: of how it happened.
Speaker 1: Was that air love you man.
Speaker 2: While we walked in, this girl who was behind a booth.
Speaker 2: She was selling cupcakes and and candy and other sugar
Speaker 2: confection items.
Speaker 1: Name was Adie May, Adie May.
Speaker 2: And I'm going to tell you how I know her
Speaker 2: name in a minute.
Speaker 1: But she she started screaming behind her.
Speaker 2: But oh my god, I said, sorry to bother you,
Speaker 2: but I'm like a total fangirl.
Speaker 1: I love your podcast, I love your turns. Can I
Speaker 1: a sealthie? I was like, yes, of course, to take
Speaker 1: a somethie. And she was super nice.
Speaker 2: So we stood there for a minute, talked to her,
Speaker 2: found out you know that where I was from, she
Speaker 2: also had some family from there.
Speaker 1: All stuff.
Speaker 2: We was talked from minute and she goes, boy is
Speaker 2: going to be so excited so jealous when I.
Speaker 1: Tell him I met you. I was like really, and
Speaker 1: I said cool, who's your pastor? She said his name.
Speaker 1: I never heard his name and she said, I said,
Speaker 1: that's great, and she said, uh.
Speaker 2: And in my church, she said, we're having holy convocation
Speaker 2: this week.
Speaker 1: You should come.
Speaker 2: And I'm thinking, in the back of my mind, girl,
Speaker 2: i am on vacation.
Speaker 1: I am not coming to your complication, not this week.
Speaker 1: I love the Lord, I love his church, but I
Speaker 1: am chilling.
Speaker 2: So I'm just thinking that right, And I'm like, oh,
Speaker 2: that's great. I'll come in complications, complications, that's great. And
Speaker 2: so she goes, yeah, it's convocation, and she listed off
Speaker 2: the people who were preaching and.
Speaker 1: The dates and all that, and one of the guys.
Speaker 2: She mentioned is a preacher that I greatly respect and
Speaker 2: I actually have been wanting to meet him.
Speaker 1: And so I was like, well, that's cool. And you know,
Speaker 1: something told me just write it down, just write it down.
Speaker 2: You know, sometimes you just get this little thing and
Speaker 2: you're not even sure if it's God.
Speaker 1: You're not ready to say.
Speaker 2: And the Lord spoke to me, just like, just write
Speaker 2: it down, just a little thought, just write this down,
Speaker 2: just a little thing.
Speaker 1: Everybody say little things. You talked about the little things.
Speaker 1: So I just write it down.
Speaker 2: And uh, you know, and and I wrote it down
Speaker 2: the dates and everything like that, and I walked away,
Speaker 2: and she came back over to our table. She was
Speaker 2: so nice, and she brought all these uh all these
Speaker 2: cupcakes and candies and sugar confection items over to us
Speaker 2: and she was like, I just brought something for your kids.
Speaker 2: And I was like, thanks, and uh, you've can come
Speaker 2: watch them.
Speaker 1: And I just brought you something. It was so sweet, right,
Speaker 1: And she was like.
Speaker 5: And I just called my pastor and and she said
Speaker 5: and he and he and he told me that we
Speaker 5: had actually invited you to come speak at our convocation,
Speaker 5: but your office told us that you were.
Speaker 1: On vacation this week.
Speaker 2: And so I said, well, obviously you can see that
Speaker 2: I am there was.
Speaker 1: We really are on vacation.
Speaker 2: So anyway, I texted Jess and said, hey, just I said,
Speaker 2: reach out to this pastor, the one that was coming
Speaker 2: to town and on this certain date, I said, and
Speaker 2: see if he wants to meet up for lunch.
Speaker 1: We'd been trying to meet each other before and we
Speaker 1: didn't get to.
Speaker 2: I said, just tell him I'm close by to the
Speaker 2: church he's going to be preaching at and I'm not
Speaker 2: going to the church service, but just tell him if
Speaker 2: he wants to eat after before church, I would love
Speaker 2: to have a meal with him, and just let me know.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter, just let me know. I don't just
Speaker 1: let me know. And so, you know, some time passes
Speaker 1: and everything just says I'll let you know, and I
Speaker 1: forget all about it.
Speaker 2: I forget all about the whole.
Speaker 1: Holy convocation among the beach.
Speaker 2: Then one day, it's about three o'clock in the afternoon,
Speaker 2: Jess text me and says, Hey, the pastor was going
Speaker 2: to come and meet with you, but he actually his
Speaker 2: back went out in the airport and they had to
Speaker 2: take him in for emergency surgery and he's not even
Speaker 2: going to be able to make the trip, so he's
Speaker 2: not going.
Speaker 1: To be able to have dinner with you tonight. And
Speaker 1: I'm like, that's cool.
Speaker 2: When I get the text from Jess, I'm reading all this,
Speaker 2: I'm thinking that's cool.
Speaker 1: Moment I put my phone away, something fuck to me again.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure as God at this point, and I
Speaker 2: don't even really want to hear from God at this point,
Speaker 2: but something fuck to me and said, remember they had
Speaker 2: wanted you to come preach at the convocation. Call the church,
Speaker 2: and to which I said, Lord, I don't even know
Speaker 2: the phone number, to which the Lord said, google it.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, what am I gonna do. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: call the church and say, hey, I never invite myself
Speaker 1: to go preach somewhere. That's kind of creepy. Hey I'm
Speaker 1: gonna come preaching your church. I don't do that. I
Speaker 1: don't do that. But the Lord was like, you do
Speaker 1: what I tell you to do.
Speaker 2: So so I by this time, it's three thirty and
Speaker 2: I'm thinking, man, they've already got a speaker.
Speaker 1: There's thing is tonight, but I'll call. This is stupid.
Speaker 2: I'm called church, called church, looked up the number, and
Speaker 2: it rings and rings and rings and rings.
Speaker 1: It rings like five times.
Speaker 2: I'm like, Lord, didn't tell me to leave a voicemail,
Speaker 2: so I promise you. On the sixth ring, God picks up,
Speaker 2: says the name of the church and how can.
Speaker 1: I help you. I'm like crap, and I said, hey, man,
Speaker 1: this is my name.
Speaker 2: Is Stephen Ferdick. Come over in Charlotte. And I was
Speaker 2: just calling, I know, to talk to the bishop. I
Speaker 2: know he's not available. I'm sure he's not available. But
Speaker 2: you don't have to give him a message or anything.
Speaker 2: He's no, no, no, I'll give him a message. What's
Speaker 2: a message?
Speaker 1: I said, well, you just tell him. Here's my phone number.
Speaker 1: I'm calling about the revival. If he wants to call
Speaker 1: me back. He doesn't have to call me back. You
Speaker 1: probably have time to call me back or anything like that.
Speaker 1: Just calling about the revival.
Speaker 2: A few minutes later, the pastor and he goes, are
Speaker 2: you serious?
Speaker 1: Are you serious that you're calling me right now?
Speaker 2: I said, yeah, I said, I met Addie May over.
Speaker 1: At the Farmer's market.
Speaker 2: And I told her that I was here on vacation,
Speaker 2: and she told.
Speaker 1: Me that you would invite me. I know you probably
Speaker 1: don't want.
Speaker 2: To do this, and I know you got to cover,
Speaker 2: but I heard that your speaker is back, went out
Speaker 2: and all this, and I'm sure you got it cover
Speaker 2: by now, but I just felt like prompted to tell
Speaker 2: you that if you want me to come preach, and
Speaker 2: I'll preach. I'm on vacation and everything like that, but
Speaker 2: you want to come preach, he said.
Speaker 1: We were praying this morning.
Speaker 2: He said, I've had the most crazy week you can imagine.
Speaker 1: I've done three funerals. This week.
Speaker 2: I called five of my friends and asked them could
Speaker 2: they come preach tonight.
Speaker 1: None of them could come.
Speaker 2: You are the only speaker that we invited to their
Speaker 2: convocation that couldn't come. He said, would you come tonight
Speaker 2: and preach for us? He said, because I was so
Speaker 2: stressed out when I was praying and I got up
Speaker 2: from prayer and one of my staff members looked at
Speaker 2: me and said, don't worry about it.
Speaker 1: Pastor. God has a ram in the bush. And I said, well,
Speaker 1: I'm your ram, baby. What time do I show up
Speaker 1: at the church.
Speaker 2: Where is the church? I don't even know where the
Speaker 2: church is. He said, don't worry about it. I'll send
Speaker 2: you a car. I'll pick you up. And man, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna tell you. They picked me up and I went
Speaker 2: to church. I told him, I said, I don't have
Speaker 2: any church clothes now, because this is holy convocation. People
Speaker 2: got church hats and church dresses. I said, man, all
Speaker 2: I have is T shirts and skinny jeans and Yeezies.
Speaker 1: And he said this all right, I'll wear my jeans
Speaker 1: and my Jeezy's too, he'd get them Jesus. I said
Speaker 1: all right.
Speaker 2: I said, I'll be there and man, it was amazing.
Speaker 2: And he got up and he told his church, he said,
Speaker 2: our speaker.
Speaker 1: Is not here.
Speaker 2: And they all moaned and growned because they all loved
Speaker 2: that preacher couldn't make it.
Speaker 1: And they all moaned and grown and he said, and
Speaker 1: that's y'all's problem.
Speaker 2: Some of y'all come for the personality, oh that you
Speaker 2: come for the principles of the presence of God and
Speaker 2: the power.
Speaker 1: Of the man. He laid them out, and then he
Speaker 1: told the story.
Speaker 2: And just I don't even know how well I preached
Speaker 2: that night or anything like that. I mean, I gave
Speaker 2: it everything I had the best I could on short
Speaker 2: notice in my ye'zis and my T shirt at.
Speaker 1: The Holy Convocation.
Speaker 2: But God shoot up in an amazing when you know that,
Speaker 2: Pastor said to me. He said, in twenty seven years
Speaker 2: of ministry, I've never been more convinced of God's favor
Speaker 2: on my life than to know that he heard my prayer.
Speaker 1: But I told you that story not because not because
Speaker 1: I'm so obedient. I didn't even want to do it.
Speaker 1: It turned out to be a blessing. I would have
Speaker 1: missed it.
Speaker 2: I would have missed the blessing if I would have
Speaker 2: ignored the impression, but really I would have missed the
Speaker 2: blessing of Addie made hadn't brought over a cupcake. When
Speaker 2: Addie May showed up to work that day, she had
Speaker 2: no idea that she.
Speaker 1: Was the answer to her church's prayers. Do you see
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to say to you.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to say that God wants to use.
Speaker 1: You right where you are, with what you have.
Speaker 2: David said, I don't have much. All I got is
Speaker 2: a sling in a stone. But in the name of
Speaker 2: the Lord.
Speaker 6: Goliath, when I do what I do with what I have,
Speaker 6: you've kind of down. And I declare that when the
Speaker 6: people of God do what we can in the.
Speaker 2: Power we have, colia must fall.
Speaker 1: Somebody shout about it.
Speaker 2: Touch your neighbors said, don't miss your turn, don't miss
Speaker 2: your turn. If David had not been willing to do
Speaker 2: the simple thing, he never would have seen the supernatural thing.
Speaker 2: And I guess why the Lord put this message on
Speaker 2: my heart. Everyone's standing is because in our nation right now,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of supernatural breakthroughs.
Speaker 1: That we need.
Speaker 2: Systemic racism is a real issue.
Speaker 1: There are epidemics in our land and we're praying to
Speaker 1: God about stuff I want to get beyond that. Even
Speaker 1: I want to get beyond that. See.
Speaker 2: I was getting this message ready while I was still
Speaker 2: in Australia and I got on the plane.
Speaker 1: I had my little message ready when I landed.
Speaker 2: While I was in the air, young men gets shot
Speaker 2: in Paton Rouge.
Speaker 1: Young men gets shot in Minnesota. And I look at
Speaker 1: that and I was like, Okay. I was thinking, I
Speaker 1: need to change my message now.
Speaker 2: I've prepared a message on David and Goliath before I
Speaker 2: left Australia. I came back to America and I realized
Speaker 2: everything that's going on, and I thought, well, this isn't
Speaker 2: an appropriate message anymore.
Speaker 1: The Lord said, yeah, it is.
Speaker 2: You're just looking at Goliath on the wrong level. When
Speaker 2: we preach about Goliath, we make it a personal issue,
Speaker 2: your addiction, your struggle.
Speaker 1: Your debt, your depression. But when I was reading it
Speaker 1: this time, the Lord showed.
Speaker 2: Me Goliath wasn't a personal issue for David. It was
Speaker 2: a national issue that was keeping.
Speaker 1: The whole nation deadlocked in the stranglehold of fear.
Speaker 2: Something interesting happened just before David went to fight Goliath.
Speaker 2: The Bible says that when David showed up that day.
Speaker 1: You know, he's got his cheese and his bread. He's
Speaker 1: just doing a simple thing.
Speaker 2: Don't think that because you can't affect something at the
Speaker 2: highest level of power, that God can't use you in
Speaker 2: a great way. David wasn't even in the army and
Speaker 2: he won the war. I said, he wasn't even in
Speaker 2: a uniform. He didn't even have a weapon that was
Speaker 2: fit for combat.
Speaker 1: And he's the one who brought down the giant. So
Speaker 1: so David.
Speaker 2: Here's this giant taunting the armies of God.
Speaker 1: And he says, what's up with this? This isn't right.
Speaker 2: He can't talk that way about my God. He can't
Speaker 2: talk that way about my people. He can't talk that way.
Speaker 2: This isn't right. And his brother overheard him, Eliah, the
Speaker 2: tall one, and he comes up to David, and you know,
Speaker 2: we actually accused this David when Eliah verse twenty eight,
Speaker 2: David's older brother, the one that they thought was fit
Speaker 2: to be a king, the one that you would have
Speaker 2: thought won the battle. When Eliab heard David's conversation, he
Speaker 2: burned with anger at him and asked, why have you
Speaker 2: come down here?
Speaker 1: And with whom did you leave those few shit in
Speaker 1: the wilderness. Do you know what.
Speaker 2: If David and this really spoke to me. And I
Speaker 2: didn't say this in my message last night, but I
Speaker 2: wanted to.
Speaker 1: Say it today.
Speaker 2: If David would have listened to Eliab, he never would
Speaker 2: have even seen Goliath. If David would have fought with
Speaker 2: his brother, he never would have killed his enemy. Do
Speaker 2: you know what I think the devil tries to do
Speaker 2: to keep us from being victorious as a church, as
Speaker 2: a people, as a nation, as the body of Christ.
Speaker 2: He wants to keep us so divided, fighting each other
Speaker 2: that we never even engage our real enemy. We're not
Speaker 2: fighting each other, We're not against each other.
Speaker 1: You're my brother, you're my sister. We're in this together.
Speaker 2: If we're gonna oh my darkness, we gotta stand together.
Speaker 2: So David has his eyes on something bigger, and the
Speaker 2: Bible says in verse twenty nine, I close with this.
Speaker 2: Now what have I done? Can't I even speak? And
Speaker 2: then he did something much. He then turned away to
Speaker 2: someone else. He then turned away. Touch your neighbor one
Speaker 2: more time. This will be the last time, and tell him.
Speaker 1: Don't miss your turn.
Speaker 2: See, because if you get distracted by Eliab. If you
Speaker 2: get distracted by what the media presents to us, that's
Speaker 2: not reality, that's an image that is projected to.
Speaker 1: Sell us on fear.
Speaker 2: If you'll fight Eliath, you'll miss Goliath. But I feel
Speaker 2: a turn coming in the Body of Christ, and we
Speaker 2: will stand together and we will turn together.
Speaker 1: I hear second Chronicles say, if my.
Speaker 2: Vegle who are called by my name, will humble themselves
Speaker 2: and pray and seek my.
Speaker 7: Face and turn and turn and turn. I want to
Speaker 7: plead with the Body of Christ, don't miss your ter.
Speaker 7: You are the light of the world, and you are
Speaker 7: the sought of the earth. And Goliath, my small in
Speaker 7: the name.
Speaker 4: Of the Lord.
Speaker 8: In justice, my small in the name on the law
Speaker 8: prejudice mys all, and.
Speaker 1: How the Lord come on out the church comedy. That's all.
Speaker 3: Name my neighbors, Jesus, kind of the Friend.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 2: this ministry.
Speaker 1: Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for
Speaker 2: more information, and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
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Speaker 2: Elevation Church.
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.