WEBVTT - Work It Out (Daniel Floyd) 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:04.840 Welcome to the Elevation Church Podcast. Today we have the 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:08.600 privilege of welcoming Pastor Daniel Floyd from Life Point Church 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:12.560 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. This is Pastor Floyd's first time preaching 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:14.880 at Elevation and we're excited for you to hear what 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:18.200 he shared with our church. We hope you enjoy this message. 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:25.240 What's up, Elevation, Come on, give Jesus your very best, 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:30.240 Come on. Great is the Lord. He's greatly to be praised. 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:34.320 And it's an honor. It's an honor to be with 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.200 you today. I want to welcome all of our locations. 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:38.839 We're actually broadcasting back to Virginia as well at all 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:43.960 of our campuses this weekend. And I kind of I 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:46.640 tell you, it feels like home here, been here so 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:50.160 many times. I was a text Pastor Stephen yesterday and said, 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:54.520 I was thinking about two thousand and seven. I was 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:57.480 trying to plan a church. We didn't know what we 0:00:57.480 --> 0:00:59.440 were doing, really didn't know anything about anything, just knew 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:01.279 we love people and love Jesus and wanted to make 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:04.280 a difference. And so somebody said, you got to go 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:07.640 to Charlotte. There's something happening in Charlotte, and I was like, 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:09.319 all right, I'll go visit. I need to learn some 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:13.679 things and walked into Providence High School and blew my 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:17.440 mind and somehow I ended up meeting Pastor Stephen, and 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:19.959 I knew then in that moment. I was like, my 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:23.720 life needs to be aligned with this man, because how 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:31.720 of you know that alignment comes before assignment? And I 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:33.640 was saying, I never knew how much that moment would 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:36.560 impact my life. In this text to him yesterday, I 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:40.280 can turn back to almost every major turning point in 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:43.680 our ministry. And it was some phone conversation we had. 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:46.720 It was some message he preached, like this is the dream, 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:49.320 or take your seat at the gate. It was some 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.120 environment he created where God gave me a revelation I 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.440 needed for this season ahead for us. And here's what 0:01:55.520 --> 0:01:59.840 I know about environments like this is that when you're 0:01:59.880 --> 0:02:02.320 in them every week, they can become common to you. 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:07.400 And if you don't know, common is the opposite of honor, 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:11.600 and you don't intentionally dishonor something, it just becomes common. 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:14.240 And so can I just encourage you never let this 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:19.639 environment become common. But more important, more important, never let 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:23.800 your leaders. Pastor Stephen and Holly become common in your life. 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:26.959 How you perceive someone is how you will receive them, 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:29.280 and so I hope you'll always perceive them as the 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:31.440 gift that they are Fesis force that he gives gifts 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:33.920 to the body one of those as pastors. God must 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:35.480 love you because He gave you one of the best 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:37.760 gifts you could ever get in your leaders. Come on, 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:40.919 can we thank God for Pastor Stephen and Holly Man? 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:47.040 We love them. Thank God for them. We're not gonna 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.840 stand the whole time. I mean, I'll see you in 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:51.840 a moment, you know, if the message is good at points, 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:53.840 if you feel like you can, you stand if you want. 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:57.119 I don't care. But we are from Virginia. My wife 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:01.200 Tammy is with me. She is pastor of the church. Together. 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.440 My little girl Faith is with us. She's ten and 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:10.560 she's ten going on twenty one. We have four kids, though, 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.919 and it's we call it the greatest show. We don't 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:15.800 want to call it a circus. That's not very life giving. 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:18.560 We call it the greatest show. But I have a 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.680 twelve year old son named Owen. Faith is ten. We 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.640 have a two year old named Abigail, which in Hebrew 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:26.840 means Father's joy. And if you ever meet her, she 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:29.400 just lights up every room she comes into. And she 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:32.120 wasn't a surprise. We did that on purpose. Don't ask 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:33.920 us why. We don't know why. We started over again. 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.440 And then we just adopted. And we have a seventh 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:43.480 month old little boy named Jonas, and yeah, he's he's sweep. 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:50.480 And you say, ah, but he's not sleeping, y'all. And 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:52.760 so pray for that. Pray a spirit of sleep and 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:56.440 Slamber comes over him. If not, Benadrul may come over him. 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.839 I'm I'm joking. Don't call anybody on me, don't call 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:04.360 social services or anything. I'm joking. Have you ready to 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.760 get into the word today? I know this is a 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:10.120 house that loves the Word of God. Let me read 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.280 one verse to you, give you the title the message. 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:14.440 Then we're going to jump into it. James, Chapter two 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:17.279 be on the screen for you, beginning in verse twenty five. 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:20.080 I'm me read verse twenty five and twenty six in 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:24.880 the same way. Was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous. 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:26.360 That's the way you want to start your first time 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:31.120 at elevation reading about a prostitute considered righteous. For what 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:33.560 she did when she gave lodging to the spies and 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:37.400 sent them off in a different direction. As the body 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:43.719 without the spirit is dead. So faith without deeds is dead. 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:48.800 Some trains us and say so faith without works is dead. 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:55.440 Faith without activity, faith without action, faith without works is dead. 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:58.040 If you need a message title today, it's this, work 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:00.960 it out. Work it out. Look at your neighbor and 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:03.719 say work it out. On your way to your seat, 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:06.440 look at your other neighbor and say, work it out, 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:12.560 work it out. I came from a family of five. 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:14.839 I have two older sisters. I'm the baby, I'm the 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:20.120 baby boy. I'm the only boy. I'm the favorite. Come on, somebody, 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:23.120 mamas their baby boys, they're their favorites. They won't say it, 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:25.440 they won't speak it, but I know it right here 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:28.440 in my heart. I'm the favorite. And have of you 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:32.400 know that. When you got siblings, there is conflict. Come on, somebody, 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:34.919 there's conflict. And so there would often be conflict in 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:37.440 the Floyd household and we would go to mom, right 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.880 because Mom's supposed to take sides and solve it. And 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.280 she would say this too, you guys need to go 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.520 learn to work it out. Oh you had that mom too, right, 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:48.800 come on somebody, Yeah, you got to learn to work 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:51.880 it out right. And so some would happen at school, 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:53.680 and my mom was not one of those moms that 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.320 would run to the school and fix everything for me. 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:58.120 She would go, Daniel, you need to go back to 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:00.880 school tomorrow, and you need to learn to work it 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:03.880 out right. And now that I have kids, I have 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.120 for it. And now they come to me with arguments 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:09.039 and I go, you two need to go work it out. 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.360 We just got back from vacation. We were away for 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:13.240 two weeks and by the end of the week, I 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.560 was like, one get away from me. And I love 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:19.000 my kids, but like we've been in two close quarters 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:21.960 for too long. Come on, somebody, and I'm like, any argument. 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.440 You guys need to work it out. Why Because what 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:26.440 we're trying to teach them, what my mom was trying 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:28.880 to teach me, is this is that there's a skill 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:32.279 set gained, and there is a strength gained, an ability 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:35.279 gain when you have to figure something out on your own. 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:37.560 And what my mom knew is that one day she 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:39.240 wanted me to move out of the house. As much 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:40.720 as she loved me, and as much as I love 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:44.600 my four in you know, eighteen years, the last one 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.720 will be out of the house. Theoretically, parenthetically that will 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.680 move out. And I want them to have the ability 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.080 to be able to last in the real world, hello, 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:56.760 on their own. I want them to have the skills 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:58.680 to deal with conflict. I want them to have the 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.279 skills to how to reason all the situation. I don't 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:02.960 want them to have to run. I don't want them 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:04.919 to spend their life going with it was their fault. 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:07.200 I didn't succeed, it was their fault that it didn't 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.320 come through. It was their fault. No, I want them 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:12.720 to take personal responsibility. I want them to learn to 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:17.160 work it out. Somebody shall work it out. And so 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:20.400 what some we think, some of us think we should 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:23.720 do is shelter our kids from that. But rather there 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:27.480 are some situations we should send them back into. And 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:29.119 how many of you know that there are some things 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.800 in life as you grow up that you've got to 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:35.920 learn to work out that there comes some challenging situations 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.960 in life. There comes some difficult things that we all face, 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:41.440 no matter whether you're here at one of our locations. 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:44.240 And you believe in Jesus, don't believe in Jesus. We 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:48.800 all experience life, and I found that life can be difficult, 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.080 and I found that life can throw some things at 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:53.400 you that are hard. And I found that it happens 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.000 from two different angles. One is, sometimes we do it 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.400 to ourselves. Hello, let's be honest. Sometimes we just make 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.320 some dumb choices and we do it to ourselves. And 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:04.480 some things happened to us. We had no control over 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:06.800 the phone call that came and we had no control 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.160 over it. The person that walked out of our life 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:11.560 and we had no control over it. There's some things 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:14.280 that happened because we had no control. But there's some 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.400 things that happened because we had control and we just 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:20.360 caused it. But in either situation, if we assume that 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:23.800 just because God is good, which he is, that he 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.920 will shelter us from everything, we are going to be 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:31.680 sorely disappointed because God, instead of sheltering us, will often 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:37.560 leverage that situation to develop something in us. See. I 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:40.480 found that whenever we face challenging in hard times in life, 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.400 there's usually three responses. We have one we try to 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.480 fix it ourselves. Right, I can do this. I can 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:49.720 pull myself up by my own bootstraps. I can try harder. 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.560 I'm gonna do better. It's what we do in January, right, y'all. 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:56.920 Remember that diet plan you had giving you a moment 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.880 to think about it. Remember that workout. I'm gonna do keto, 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:02.040 I'm going to get I'm gonna hit the gym. Right. 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:04.119 Some of you are like, oh, yeah, that's still automatically 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:07.080 withdrawing from my account. I haven't been in three months. 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.400 Come on, so and so you get. But I can 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:11.960 do this myself, right. And here's the thing is that 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:14.120 you'll find is that there's some things in life that 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:16.480 no matter how much effort you put into them, it 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:20.240 will not resolve it. Some of us, the next step 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:21.920 is we go we go to find a solution from 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:26.520 everybody else around us, and so we we crowdsource counseling 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:30.000 on social media. Please stop that, by the way, we 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:32.040 go to every person. In the Bible does say that 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.559 in a multitude of counselors there is wisdom. But maybe 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.240 that shouldn't be step one. I found that some of us, 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:40.719 if we don't go to ourselfs or we don't go 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:43.480 to other people, we end up just saying, well, this 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.040 is my lot in life. That I'm just gonna live 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:49.200 stuck that I've just got to live. I've got to 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:50.840 deal with this for I think for some of us, 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:54.080 we somehow have twisted in our mind that maybe the 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.160 life I'm living now and the difficulties I'm facing now, 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.920 I'm paying penance to God for some life that I 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:04.439 lived previously, whenever I before Jesus. And so now I've 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:06.680 just kind of deal with this, and I just I 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:08.760 love this about this house, and I love this about 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:11.719 Pastor Stephen Is. He is bent on letting you know 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.240 you don't have to live stuck in life, that God 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:16.360 does have a good plan for your life. Come on, 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:18.679 that He does have a good purpose for your life, 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:21.520 and you don't have to live stuck in your current situation. 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.680 Life does not have to be a merry go round 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:26.760 where you feel like you're dealing with the same thing 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:30.040 over and over and over and over. The name's changed, 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:32.839 the situation's changed, but I just can't seem to get 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:35.199 out of that. That is not God's plan for you. 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:38.960 And so if it's not, I'll fix it myself. And 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:41.800 it's not other people can fix it for me. And 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:44.880 it's not that I'm just supposed to live less than 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:49.480 life than what is it? Then, these challenging situations, what 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:52.000 are their purpose? Why? I would say this that they 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:56.480 can be leveraged for God to increase the one thing 0:10:56.559 --> 0:11:01.120 that pleases him, and that is faith. The Bible says 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:06.400 that without faith, it's impossible to please God. So the 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:09.720 one thing that pleases God. Not your performance doesn't please God. 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:14.760 Not your best day, not trying harder, not I'll do better, 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:17.720 Not God, Look at me, God, I did the right thing. God, 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:20.680 I didn't. I didn't lay into that person. I didn't, 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:24.360 you know, I didn't tell my coworker what I really thought. God, 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:27.760 didn't I do a great job today? Hello, somebody, I 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:29.880 know you're also spiritual. Y'all don't do that. We were 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:31.839 on vacation and I had my little two year old 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:35.720 and she's a little swimming diaper, right, And there was 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:40.080 this individual, we'll call it that, by the pool at 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:44.160 the resort, and evidently in the condos we were staying in, 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:46.319 evidently there's a rule you can't wear swimming diapers in 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:50.400 this certain pool, and this one lady made sure the 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:52.040 people in charge knew that, so they would come to 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:53.480 us and tell us to get her out. Of the pool. 0:11:55.080 --> 0:12:01.640 So I deemed her the pool Nazi, and I knew 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.320 that I was not walking in the spirit enough to 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.200 go over and have a conversation with her, so I 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:11.760 asked my wife to I was like, go get her baby, 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:15.839 and Tammy's got like that southern sweet thing. Hey, how 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:18.080 are you? What's your name? Like, introduce yourself. I didn't 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:19.720 went over there and been like, what's your problem? Are 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:26.079 you trying to kill my joy? Kill my vacation? You 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:29.199 all with me? I know y'all don't face any days 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:32.520 like that, But maybe in those moments, God's trying to 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:34.640 develop something in me. And I heard the Holy Spirit 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.320 go the fruit of me is self control. It's like, 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.400 all right, let's I may need a day or two 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:42.880 to work on this, Jesus, because if she's at the 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.840 pool tomorrow, I may not have self control. But in 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.280 that moment, God was like, I'm trying to do something 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.560 in you. I'm not trying to do something to you. 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:55.880 Just so you know the end of the story. I 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:57.880 took her swimming dipper off. I was like, whatever she does, 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:10.160 she does, get in the pool, baby, shine, potty Trenia. 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:15.640 So I just want you to know that those challenging moments. 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:17.920 It's not that God is doing something to you. Sometimes 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:19.480 we can go God, what are you doing to me? 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.160 And God's going now, I'm not trying to do something 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:24.600 to you. I'm trying to do something in you so 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:27.240 that i can do something through you. But I've got 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.520 to do something in you first before i can do 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.959 the thing through you. I'm trying to elevate your faith. 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:36.440 And here's what I found is that faith does not 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:41.880 grow in comfort. That if you want a comfortable life, 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.240 then you may never have faith that has grown or 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:49.480 elevated to another level. It requires discomfort for faith to grow. 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:53.240 And without faith, it's impossible to please God. So that 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:57.959 means God will allow some uncomfortable situations in your life 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:00.800 so that he can elevate your faith to take you 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.360 to another level. So faith, the Bible says, is evidence 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:07.040 or faith is substance. Are you with me, say, man, 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:10.720 faith is evidence. Faith is not a feeling. It's not 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:14.160 the emotion that you get when elevation worship. Who has 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.439 thankfully written the anthem of generation of a generation? Now, 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:21.120 I mean amazing, But that's not faith. That feeling you 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.480 get that's wonderful, but that's not faith. It's it's not 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:26.720 when the hairs on the back of your neck stand 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.600 up in the goosebunska. That's not faith. The Bible says 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:33.480 faith is evidence. Now I'm no attorney, but I understand 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:35.800 that evidence is what is required whenever you go into 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:39.200 a courtroom, that you have to produce evidence to back 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:42.400 up your case for what you are saying is true. 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:48.400 So faith is evidence, meaning faith is seen, it's tangible, 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:53.000 it's observable in something of my behavior or in my speech. 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.800 So I cannot say that I have faith if my 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:01.680 behavior doesn't follow up what I'm saying. I believe it 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:05.720 is the evidence. Are y'all following me? So faith without 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.560 let's say it this way works. Our faith without evidence 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:14.600 is dead or isn't really faith at all. And so 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:18.320 God will give me the opportunity to produce evidence in 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:21.640 my life that I have faith so that I can 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:25.480 please Him. So the challenging situations in my life are 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:27.800 not God doing something to me. They're God doing something 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:30.440 in me, and it is strengthening my faith. And the 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:36.280 muscle of faith does not grow in comfort. So if 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:38.360 you're in the middle of discomfort right now, you should 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:45.480 rejoice because God is growing something in you, meaning God 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:51.920 is about to do something through you. Come on, somebody, 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:57.120 So how do I work out my faith? Then? How 0:15:57.160 --> 0:15:59.600 do I work it out? Like that sounds all good 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:02.840 and and that's great, But how do I work it out? 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:05.600 What does it look like when God is working out 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:09.640 my faith so that I can grow this faith muscle 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:12.440 to believe for greater things. And here's I want to 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.080 put this caveat. If I could insert this caveat into 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.640 the message so that you understand this clearly that I'm 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:21.720 not talking about working out faith for salvation. She need 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.480 to make that clear for you. You are saved by 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:28.080 faith alone, through grace alone. Are you following me? It 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:29.800 is not of your work, so that you don't get 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:32.360 the credit. It's the gift of God. So none of 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:34.920 us can boast in that. I'm talking about the faith 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:37.840 to believe God for greater things in your life. Are 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:39.560 you with me? All right? So I want us to 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:41.840 look at the story in the Old Testament, Second Samuel 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:45.120 chapter one, the story of Hannah, and I see a 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.160 couple of things in Hannah's life that helps us see 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.720 how God works out faith. I'm sorry. First Samuel chapter one, 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:54.200 first Samuel chapter one. What you need to know real 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:58.280 click cliff notes about Hannah is that she is married 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.200 to a guy. He also has another wife. That's a 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:06.000 whole nother day, Pastor Stephen, w'clear up all that. But 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:10.320 he's and she is unable to have children, and she 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:12.600 she very much desires to have children. So first Samuel 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.160 chapter one, we're gonna start reading in verse three. Verse 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:16.639 three to be on the screen, it says this, the 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:20.040 year after year, this man, being Hannah's husband, he went 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.439 up from the town to worship and sacrifice to the 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.760 Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hofni and Phineas not Phineas 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:29.720 and ferb Hello I have little children. The two sons 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:32.919 of Eli were the priests of the Lord. And whenever 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:36.160 the day came for Alcana to sacrifice, he would give 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:39.200 portions of the meat to his wife Pannina and all 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:41.800 of her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:45.200 a double portion because he loved her and the Lord 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.280 had closed her womb. And because the Lord had closed 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:50.679 her womb. Listen to this, the other wife, her rival, 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:54.720 kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.760 on year after year, and whenever Hannah went up to 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.080 the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her until 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:05.200 she wept, and she could not eat till she wept, 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:06.719 and she could not eat. When if you've ever been 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:09.480 in a place in life where you so desired something 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:14.240 but it seemed impossible to obtain it, you know, some 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:19.600 of life's challenges aren't just challenging, they're impossible. They look like, 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:23.480 how could this ever happen? How could this ever come through? 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:26.159 How could I ever find a solution to this? And 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.119 I would say today at all of our locations, that 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:29.520 there's some of you that feel like you're in the 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:34.000 middle of impossible situations. It's where Hannah was. Her womb 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:37.680 was closed. She could not have a child. She could 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:41.000 not control that outcome. You know, life is a lot 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.040 easier when you can control the outcome. She could not 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:48.000 control the outcome. And not only that, but she had 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:52.320 an antagonist in the story that constantly was antagonizing her 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:56.119 and provoking her. Hey, Hannah, you can't have kids. Hey Hannah, 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:57.800 how's it feel? Hey Hannah, look at it? Could you 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:02.400 mind the babysit my kids? While I go out constantly 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:06.280 antagonizing and provoking her and So Hannah was living daily. 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:09.080 Every day she woke up, she lived in the reality 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:11.560 of the deficit that was in her life. The deficit 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:13.800 the gap between where she was and where she wanted 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.080 to be, between what she currently had and what she 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:20.119 was desperately wanting from God. And there was nothing she 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:22.600 could do to change it. And I want you to 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:25.040 notice this that as we would learn to work out 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:27.800 our faiths, we learned to work out our faith. If 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:29.680 your note taker writing this down number one is this 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:36.359 is that the deficit is faith's opportunity. The deficit is 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:40.119 faith's opportunity. Many of us look at the deficits in 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:42.240 our life and look at it as the obstacle. But 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:45.000 it is not the obstacle. It is the opportunity for 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:48.439 our faiths to grow. It's opportunity for the muscle of 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:51.280 faith to get stronger so that we can carry the 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:53.879 weightier thing that God wants to do in our life 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:57.440 in the seasons ahead. Without the deficit, our faith would 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:00.440 not grow. The deficit is required for ours, our faith 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.800 to grow. I remember whenever my daughter Faith was Tammy 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:07.240 was pregnant with her, we went for you know, you 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:09.919 go for all the ultrasounds around twenty weeks, and so 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:11.520 we were going for that. We're gonna find out boy 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:13.440 or girl. We were all excited about that. My first 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:16.120 one was a son, and everybody thought it was a girl. 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:17.479 And I told Tammy, I was like, I make men 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:20.200 at least for the first one, and so it's gonna 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:21.920 be a boy. First one's gonna be a boy, and 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:23.359 the second one. I was like, I want of a 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:25.520 little girl. There's nothing like daddy, and there's the little girls, 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:26.960 you know, and so I was like, I want a girl. 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:28.719 So we went in. We were all excited. Everything, all 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:30.520 the all the visits up to this. We're all healthy, 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:32.639 I know, everything's great. So they do this and then 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:34.240 they calls back and they say we need to go 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:38.439 for a more intense ultrasound. And so we were like, 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:40.679 all right, that doesn't sound good. We haven't done this before. 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:42.919 And so we went for that more intense thing. And 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:44.399 they got done with that and set us down in 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:48.240 that room and they were like, hey, we found a 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:50.720 couple of abnormalities, a couple of spots on the brain. 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:55.280 You know, in those moments where you get that kind 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:57.600 of news, how it just there's like a rush that 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:00.399 goes from your head to your feet like it's like 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:05.119 a mixture of weight and heat and like anxiety, and 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:10.160 then your mind begins to race, doesn't it? All? Right? 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:15.480 The brain is pretty important. And so in my mind 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:22.640 as a dad, I went from from zero to uh, 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:24.240 will I ever be able to walk her down the 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:29.680