WEBVTT - All Those Times You Didn’t See 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.280 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:10.680 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.840 Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.560 in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:18.040 Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:20.760 I have a sneaking suspicion that we have a lot 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:22.920 of visitors today. How many of you travel to visit 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:23.600 with us today? 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:28.800 God bless you? Well, that's the whole church. 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:32.480 I could just preach what I've preached last week because 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:33.280 it's all visitors. 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:34.080 Today. 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:37.120 We've got about one hundred of our evam, heart and 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:37.800 soul from. 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:45.960 All over the world. Thank God for y'all. It's been mentioned, 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:47.200 but I didn't get down on it yet. 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:50.479 They're baptizing today over six hundred people at all of 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:51.240 our locations. 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.840 You said five hundred, but I heard six. Might be 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:59.080 seven by the time God gets through. Yeah, look at that. 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:00.000 That's going to be amazing. 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:02.800 And there's still time for you to sign up as well. 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.040 If you believe that God is calling you to be 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.080 baptized today, be an awesome step of. 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:08.880 Faith for you to take. 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:15.440 Go down in that water, leave your shame, leave your sin, leave. 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:16.040 It all behind. 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:20.800 The mercy of God is why, and he can make 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:25.000 you a new creation. Well, today, just like any other day, 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:27.520 I'm going to open my Bible and share with you, 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:30.200 but it is not just like any other day. This 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:33.560 is a special week. This is the final week of 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:34.360 one of my. 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:37.520 Favorite series that I ever preached before in my life. 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:42.080 The series was called Called and we're finishing it up today. 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:43.640 We've talked about so many. 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:45.960 Bible characters, and y'all can bring it down a little bit, 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:50.480 thank you. We've talked about Abraham and Moses, and Martha 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:54.760 and Simon, Simon, Peter, and we talked about who else 0:01:54.760 --> 0:02:02.840 do y'all remember Jacob, Martha, Saul, the artist formerly known 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:05.400 as Saul who became Paul the Great Apostle. 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:08.600 And today we only have one. 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.560 Person left to talk about. And one thing that I 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.160 think is kind of cool about this series. You've kind 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:16.359 of gotten an overview of a lot of the different 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:19.960 Bible stories, and through that I might put out a 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:21.639 book called called One. 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:26.359 Day just with these stories, because it was based. 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:28.280 Around everybody in scripture that God called their name, but 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:32.520 he called it twice, so Martha Martha, Moses, Moses, Abraham, Abraham, 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:35.119 and today we're going to do the final person, Samuel Samuel. 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:39.080 Now my challenge is, I don't know how much of 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:42.040 this story you already know. And if you turn your 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:46.600 Bible to First Samuel, see there's a whole book called Samuel. 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.960 So I can't share everything, but there's actually a sequel 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:55.960 to Second Samuel. So I asked one of our church members, 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.000 how much do you know about Samuel? I was trying 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:00.640 to figure out how much background to fill in, and 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:02.639 she said, the only thing I know about Samuel is 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:07.080 that he spent the night in the lions Den, and 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:09.000 not Samuel. 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:09.200 That's Daniel. 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:15.320 Yeah, but so touch your neighbor and say, we got 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:16.320 a lot of catching up to do. 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:21.520 You're a little behind, but I love that man. 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:23.680 I don't ever want you to feel intimidated come into 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:25.520 this church because you don't. 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:27.520 Know all these Hebrew and Greek words. 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:29.680 I don't know him either, and I paid to go 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:31.800 to school to learn him. I have to look him 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.400 up every week to preach them to you. And you know, 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.760 the Christian life isn't about how much of the Bible 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:41.040 stories you can quote or how spiritual you can look, 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:43.640 but it's just about trusting. 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:46.000 God from this stay forward in your life with all 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:51.480 that you have. And so doesn't matter to me if 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:52.640 you know this story or not. 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:55.960 I actually think if you don't know the story, you 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.360 can hear it fresh sometimes and it puts you in 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:02.040 an advantage. So today I want to take us to 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:06.280 one verse to start out, and its first Samuel chapter three, 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:10.080 verse ten, for the final sermon in my called series. 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:12.600 And I'm so glad you made it out for this 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:16.760 today the word of the Lord says for Samuel three 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:24.039 verse ten. And the Lord came and stood calling, as 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:31.719 at other times Samuel Samuel, and Samuel said, speak for 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:37.240 your servant heres in that cool scripture, and the Lord came. 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:41.600 How many want the Lord to come today? How many 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:44.320 want the Lord to come today into your home? How 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:46.560 many want the Lord to come today into your emotions? 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:47.719 How many want the Lord to come? 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:52.039 And the Lord came and stood calling as at other 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:59.679 times Samuel Samuel, and Samuel said, speak for your servant heres, 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:02.680 And today I want to talk to you. Here's my 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:09.400 subject about all those times you didn't see, all those 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:14.919 times you didn't see Father opened your word that we 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.880 might behold your wonder and your glory, and perhaps show 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:23.640 us something today that would be so specific that we 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.560 would not miss your presence in this moment. We thank 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:28.599 you for being God and every season of our life. 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:31.080 And I thank you now for the right now word that. 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:33.320 You are going to speak in Jesus' name. 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:39.240 Amen, you may be seated, And why don't y'all bring 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.400 out my screen today so I can do a little 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:49.159 teach you preachy, preachy teachee any country music fans in 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:55.200 the house. I heard a country songwriter say something the 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:57.760 other day that I thought was an appropriate opening for 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:01.560 our sermon time together. All right, So he's a Grammy 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:05.640 winning country songwriter. He's written many number one hits. He's 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:07.000 about fifty seven years old. 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:08.239 He's been at it a long time. 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:11.880 And he was in an interview and he started explaining 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.520 to the younger songwriter who was interviewing him why he 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:21.280 still cuts his own grass with a push lawnmower. He said, 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.440 I still cut my own grass. I've won all these 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:28.479 Grammys and Billboard Awards and CMA Awards, but I still 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:30.440 cut my own grass with a push mower. 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:33.599 I go out there and I sweat and I cut 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:34.679 the grass. 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.599 And my neighbor said to me one day, why do 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:41.400 you still cut your own grass. Surely you can afford 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.400 somebody to do that for you and do something more 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:47.600 valuable with your time, like write another hit song or 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:48.560 win another Grammy. 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:51.839 And he said, no, I definitely could. 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:54.839 But the reason that I still cut my grass myself 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:57.760 is because it is one of the only, if not 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:00.960 the only, thing left in my life that I can 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:03.720 do and see an immediate. 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:05.279 Return on with my eyes. 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:09.240 It's one of the only things left, if not the 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:12.200 only thing left in my life that the grass can 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:17.880 look bad one minute and better the next. Songwriting isn't 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:21.000 like that, he said. I might write a song today 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.240 and five years later somebody records it on their album. 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.760 And that's assuming it even gets recorded. Cutting the grass, 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.680 I can cut a row right now and smell it 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:37.560 and see it and bask in it. Every Man who 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:39.760 likes to cut your own grass, say I did that. 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:42.920 I did that. 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:45.960 That grass might grow back in three days, but for 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:49.360 the next three days, let the devil know, and let 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.920 those grass blades know. You can't grow back yet, because 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:53.960 I just cut you down. 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:54.480 I did that. 0:07:57.200 --> 0:08:02.200 You know, in songwriting, the most successful songwriters of all 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:04.520 time who end up in the Songwriting Hall of Fame 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:09.240 don't get every song that they wrote recorded. That means 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:11.800 they'll go in and write a song the best they 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:14.960 can and it will never ever even see the light 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:17.920 of day. In fact, keep this statistic in your mind 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:20.160 the next time you hear a song on the radio. 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.600 That for the professional songwriter who writes a song every 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:27.360 day Monday through Friday, that's about two hundred songs per year. 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:30.360 Which most of these professional writers will write two hundred 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:34.600 songs a year, only one of those will end up 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:38.960 being on the radio if they're lucky. That is a 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:43.280 successful statistic. Of course, many more write thousands and they're 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:46.640 never heard. But for everyone that you hear on the radio, 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:51.240 one hundred and ninety nine were written but they didn't 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:56.199 get recorded. Not even did they not get released or 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.320 on the radio. They didn't even get recorded one hundred 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:02.120 and ninety nine times out of two hundreds. So that 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:04.960 means that one hundred and ninety nine times that a 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:07.319 songwriter shows up to work they know they're going to 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:11.959 fail that year, hoping for the one time that maybe 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:12.800 something will happen. 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.600 That's special, and we can see the result of it. 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:18.480 So he said, the way I deal with this failure 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:21.800 rate is I cut my grass. I don't have to 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:24.560 wait five years for the grass to go down. I 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.320 cut it, I look at it. I cut another row, 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:29.480 I look at it. It is one of the only 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:32.800 things left in my life that has a visible and 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:36.120 immediate return. So no matter how many grammys I win, 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:39.679 I'm always going to cut my own grass. Why are 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:43.080 you talking about this, Pastor Steven, Because I wish serving 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:44.600 God was like cutting grass. 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:47.640 That's what I wish. 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:52.440 I wish serving God preaching sermons was like cutting grass. 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:56.120 I wish I could watch sin go down lower while 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:59.160 I was preaching to you today. You know how powerful 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:02.040 that would be if I could see your shame going 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:05.400 down like grass, just cutting it down, just mowing down 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:09.280 all of the bad mindsets as you're cutting grass. Don't 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.080 some of you wish that parenting and raising kids was 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:16.400 more like cutting grass. Come on, where I could see 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:20.160 that I took that bad attitude and I cut it down, 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:22.760 and it might grow back, but I can cut it 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:24.800 again in a week and at least for three days, 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:30.040 you're not going to talk back to me. But kids 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.760 aren't like that, So in the meantime, you got to 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:37.520 buy a lawnmower and cut the grass. Because most of 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:39.959 the efforts that you make in your life that will 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:43.080 be the most valuable will be the least visible. 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:45.360 At first. 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:49.840 Most of the efforts that you make in your life 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:54.280 that are the most valuable will be the least visible 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:59.560 at first. This is contradictory to every cultural impulse that 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.520 we have that encourages us to post every time we 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:09.080 work out. If you post every time you work out 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:11.360 as proof that you work out, I don't think you're 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:15.800 working out right, because the proof that you work out 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.880 should be you. When you don't work out, we will 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:20.880 see it when you're not working out. But if you're 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.400 only posting to show us that you worked out, I'm 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.560 afraid that you're distracted from the real benefit of the workout. 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.800 That is a side rant in the text that I 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.280 read you from First Samuel, chapter three, verse ten. It 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.880 is one of those amazing moments in the life of 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:40.080 a prophet named Samuel. Samuel, of course, would go on 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.160 to be the prophet that would anoint the first king 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:46.280 of Israel, whose name was Saul. He would also anoint 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:50.120 the replacement for Saul, whose name was David, because while 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:54.800 Saul was the people's choice, David was God's choice. And 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.000 when Saul was anointed to be a king, he didn't 0:11:57.000 --> 0:11:59.240 even want to be a king. In fact, God didn't 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:01.280 even want his peace people to have a king. He 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:05.080 wanted to be their king. He was their king, but 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.960 they wanted a king like the other nations. Samuel would 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.160 go on to anoint not only David, but he would 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:15.199 go on to administer justice all throughout the Kingdom of Israel. 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.720 In his reign, he would go from Dan de. 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:22.000 Birsheba yearly and seasonally in a circuit in order to 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.320 administer justice. See, in the time before the kings, they 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:29.920 had judges who were appointed by God seasonally. In other words, 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.520 they were not necessarily going to be there for long, 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:35.439 but they were given a job to do to bring 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:37.400 the people back to God in the way that they 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:42.280 could as deliverers. Samuel was the last judge, and he 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:45.440 anointed the first king. So we begin to see that 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:49.800 his life is a very transitional moment in the nation. 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:53.480 But the Bible says in First Samuel, chapter three, verse ten, 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.840 that one night, as he was sleeping in the temple 0:12:56.880 --> 0:13:01.439 at his usual place, the Lord came and called to Samuel, 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:03.920 and he said his name Samuel. 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:04.920 Samuel. 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:09.240 Now, reading this on the surface is a really good 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:13.760 story about a man who hears God's voice and responds. 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.440 On the surface of this story, we see Samuel as 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:20.880 somebody who really gets it right the first time. 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:22.120 You can't do much better than that. 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:26.280 And the Lord came and stood calling, as at other times, 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:30.640 Samuel Samuel, and Samuel said, speak for your servant. 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:31.640 Heres. By the way. 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:36.839 Interesting side note, the name Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for. 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.920 Heard by God, heard by God. 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:45.160 The reason he was named Samuel was because his mother 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:49.760 had trouble getting pregnant, and when she finally got her baby, 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:51.960 she named him Samuel. 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:53.839 Because she felt like God heard. 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:58.760 Me finally, so she named him as an answer to 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:03.120 her prayer, and he becomes the answer to the entire 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:06.480 nation's prayer for somebody who can bring the presence of 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:07.120 God back. 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:08.480 The thing that. 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:11.560 You're praying about is bigger than the prayer that you're praying. 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:16.199 She's praying on one level for a baby, and God 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:19.080 is thinking on another level to raise up a prophet. 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:21.760 She's praying that she might have a son. 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:25.760 But God is preparing to send someone to annoying a king. 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:28.840 And it all starts right here when the Lord came 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:33.560 and stood calling As at other times. 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:34.240 Samuel, Samuel. 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:37.120 What got my attention about this was how it said 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:41.480 the Lord was calling As at other times. And I 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:43.320 don't know if you noticed that, but when it says 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:47.280 he called As at other times, it made me want 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:49.840 to back up and see what was happening in the 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:53.160 rest of First Samuel chapter three. If you go all 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:55.800 the way back to the beginning of First Samuel chapter three, 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.160 you get a pretty great story that I want to 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:02.800 share with you today about what was happening at the 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:06.680 moment that God called Samuel. And I believe there are 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:10.000 some people here that God has brought and He is 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:14.480 calling you, and He has been calling you, but you 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:19.080 do not yet recognize that he's calling you, so you 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:24.560 are calling it something else. God is calling you to 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:28.400 a deeper level of faith. You don't yet recognize that 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.600 God is calling you to a deeper level of faith, 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.280 so you just call it the devil is attacking me. 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:38.040 God is calling some of us in this season to 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:41.760 increase our service, but we don't recognize that God is 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:45.120 calling us to increase our service, So we call it 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:49.440 people are taking us for granted. When you don't know 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:52.360 that it's God calling you, you call it what it's not. 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:56.640 When you can't see it immediately, you call it what 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.640 it's not. So you do something and you think it 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:02.960 was work worthless? What if it was not worthless what 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:05.760 you did? What if it was just in the womb 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:09.760 getting ready to come forth? I will show you this 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.640 from First Samuel, chapter three, verse one. 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:15.600 The Bible says, now the boy Samuel. 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:19.600 Was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:21.080 What does that mean. 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.440 It means that he was in a place where a 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:28.480 man was in charge, and the word of the Lord 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:32.520 was rare in those days, there was no frequent vision. 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.480 But he was doing what he was supposed to do, 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:40.600 even though the place where he was was not reflective 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:42.840 of the values that he believed. 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.600 The Bible says that Eli was a. 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:52.800 Very bad priest who had two sons named Hofney and Phineas, 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:55.920 who were doing all kinds of things in the temple 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:59.640 that they shouldn't have done. Not only were they taking 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:03.600 the sacrifices that the people brought for themselves, but they 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:05.520 would sleep with some of the women who came to 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:08.200 volunteer at the temple and Eli. 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.639 Their father was more concerned. 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:15.080 About his sons being happy than he was about God 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:15.640 being holy. 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:18.520 Wow. 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:23.960 He was more concerned about not ruffling them than he 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:25.600 was about being right with God. 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:27.600 And all of this is. 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:29.760 Happening in the temple, which is, of course, not the 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:30.960 temple that would later be built. 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:31.840 It was a tabernacle. 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.040 It was a portable structure that was set up until 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:38.040 the temple would be built. But Samuel was there ministering 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:42.000 to the Lord as a boy in the presence of Eli. 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:43.680 And the word of the Lord was rare in those days. 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:44.920 There was no frequent vision. 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:46.960 So notice this, and you have. 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:50.800 To notice this that before Samuel went on to do 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.359 all of the great things that we would see him do, 0:17:54.800 --> 0:18:00.240 he was doing stuff that nobody saw in a situation 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.800 that he didn't want to be in. And because he 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:07.760 was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli, 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:12.080 God was able to honor his service, even though the 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:15.520 situation he was in was not the situation he would 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:18.800 have chosen to serve in. I'm saying this just in 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:21.840 case you hate your job. I'm saying this just in 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:25.240 case you hate your apartment and your landlord. I'm saying 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:27.200 this just in case you hate having to go to 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:30.320 chemo right now, but you still have to go. I'm 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:32.960 saying this just in case you are in a season 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:36.639 that you did not select. But to know that Samuel 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:40.240 was able to minister to the Lord, and the Lord 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:44.480 was able to mature him because as he ministered to God, 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.520 God matured him. And sometimes where you want to be 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:51.080 and where you are don't match. But there is a 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:54.840 ministry where I am, if I will do what I'm 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:57.520 called to do where I am, And I know what 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:04.040 I'm talking about because this is not the first church 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:07.919 that I served in. I served in a church before 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.760 this church that was falling apart. And as the church 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:13.840 was falling apart, a group of men came to me 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:16.879 and said you should be our pastor because. 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:18.000 They wanted their pastor gone. 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:21.439 And when he said it to me, a part of 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:26.120 me thought that could be cool. And they start saying 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:29.040 all this nice stuff like when you preach, it reminds 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:34.960 us of Billy Graham. Wow, talk about an exaggeration, talk 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:39.240 about a sales job. But it sounded kind of good, 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:43.080 and I listened to him for about twenty minutes, and 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:45.960 I was driving home, and when I got home, Holly 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:46.480 was home. 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:47.080 From teaching school. 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:48.600 She was teaching seventh grade at the time, and she 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.439 was waiting on the porch. And we were newlyweds, you know, 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.240 second year of marriage, third year of marriage. 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:56.639 Something like that, and still working through all of this. 0:19:57.160 --> 0:19:58.800 And as soon as I saw her on the porch, 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:01.239 the Lord spoke to my and said, you go on 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:02.880 that porch, and you make a vow with your wife 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:05.960 right now that you will not do anything that will 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:10.320 dishonor this pastor. You do not skip any of the 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:14.760 steps that I want to use to develop you. You 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:18.040 do not sow anything that you do not want to 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:20.879 later reap in your life in this situation. 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:25.160 And I'm going to tell you this. 0:20:25.720 --> 0:20:28.359 I think the first important ceremony that I did with 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:31.160 Holly was our wedding day. And I think the second 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:33.320 most important ceremony I did with her was on our 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:36.719 porch that day, where I decided that as we are 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:39.960 planted in this church, we will make a decision that 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:43.080 while we were here, even if we hate it here 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:45.800 in certain ways, even if there are people trying to 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:47.600 get in our heads and get in our ears and 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:50.959 tell us that if we just angle and position like this, 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:55.000 I think that was our moment with God where God 0:20:55.119 --> 0:21:02.960 was seeing could he trust us with you? And I'm 0:21:02.960 --> 0:21:06.920 not saying I'm perfect, baby, but I got that one right. 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:08.200 I got that one right. 0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:12.119 Can you imagine if I would have got stuck in scheming. 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:15.560 Can you imagine if I had gotten stuck in trying 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:19.280 to steal something that wasn't even mine. Can you imagine 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:21.320 if I would have let that affect me. And I'm 0:21:21.320 --> 0:21:23.520 not saying this because I don't think that you should 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:26.480 lead this church. I'm saying this because I wouldn't have 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:29.240 been able to start this church if I had listened 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:30.640 to what they said. 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:34.080 So when I look at the camera and say, welcome. 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:36.600 Our EPAM all around the world, I am very well 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:41.080 aware that the ministry that we have today is largely 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:46.600 connected to all those times you didn't see where we 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:51.040 could have done something that we shouldn't have done and 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:57.560