WEBVTT - The Hard Work Of Happiness 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.040 Hey there. Before we jump into the amazing message today, 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:05.640 we wanted to let you know about our upcoming tour. 0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:08.520 The starting end just a few days. We're heading out 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:11.240 in the month of August with our friends Carrie, Joe 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:14.680 and Codycarnes, and we're coming to a city near you. 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:17.400 We're going to have an amazing time in the presence 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:20.040 of God. Every single time we gather, He's faithful to 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:23.080 meet with us and do something new and fresh in 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:25.480 our hearts. So we hope you'll join us. Yes, we're 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:29.160 going to be in Dallas, San Antonio, Omaha, We're going 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:32.760 to be in Toledo, Dayton. We're coming to you, Knoxville, Huntsville. Yeah, 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:36.360 we're also going to be in Louisville, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:40.040 and New York. So come out join us, bring your friends, 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:43.440 bring your family. Everything you need tickets and information is 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:47.159 at Elevation Worship dot Com. We'll see us here. You 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:50.000 know what used to be when I would take a 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.440 little summer break the day we would get to our 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:56.280 vacation as a family, and we haven't been on one 0:00:56.320 --> 0:00:58.640 long vacation, but normally we'll go away for a little 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:01.880 while and I would say, start thinking immediately about the 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:06.319 next sermon. So it's weird because I preach, you know, 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:08.319 week after week after week, and I'd be like, Okay, 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:10.160 in a few weeks, i'm gonna get a little break. 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:13.200 I'm not gonna have to tell anybody what to do 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:15.920 for a little while. I could just focus on myself 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:20.119 and get myself right. And so I would start thinking 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:22.960 about the next sermon. And the Lord told me one 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:27.120 day that that was stupid, because he said that if 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:30.560 I'm always thinking about talking to others, how can I 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:34.880 hear from him? And that some of the best stuff 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:37.760 that God speaks in your life doesn't happen when you're 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:42.880 straining to hear it, but just when you're open to 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:47.319 receiving it. So I wasn't trying to think of a 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.240 sermon to preach about. Matter of fact, I was on 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:52.840 a bike ride with Holly. Now we had a big 0:01:53.720 --> 0:02:01.800 celebration since I saw you, our twentieth wedding anniversary. Yeah, 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.600 I think I need to do a marriage series just 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:06.760 to give you all the stuff that I've taught her 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:12.720 in those two decades and then unpack that for you. No, 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:15.960 I've missed y'all. It's good to see you again. But 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:21.560 we were riding bikes to breakfast one day and I 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:23.359 had asked the Lord, I'm not going to try to 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:26.200 write a sermon or a series, but if you say 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:30.079 something to me, I'll write it down. We were riding 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:33.000 a breakfast and I felt like the Lord gave me 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:36.200 what we needed to talk about when we got back together, 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:39.800 so I could say this discermon today is been a 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:42.160 few weeks in the making, and I really think it's 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:44.840 been a few years in the making. A subject that 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:49.920 I never spoke directly about before in this church, not 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:52.600 because I was scared to, but because I didn't think 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:55.799 I was ready to. But I'm gonna speak about it today. 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.720 I've talked indirectly about these things. I probably mentioned it, 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:04.160 But in sixteen years of pastoring Elevation Jurch, I think 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:09.440 I've never put this word in a sermon title until today. 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:19.280 This is historic and the word is happy. When the 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.520 Lord told me riding my bike that he wanted me 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:29.480 to preach about happiness, I laughed. I laughed because I thought, Lord, 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:34.040 you must be confused. Here on vacation. We talk about 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:38.960 holiness in church, not happiness. And if we're going to 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:43.440 talk about happiness. Then we shouldn't talk about happiness. We 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.960 need to talk about joy because you know, joy and 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.960 happiness aren't the same thing. You know, you hear Christians 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:55.080 sometimes make weird distinctions. Well, I'm not happy, but I 0:03:55.160 --> 0:04:01.640 have joy, the doctor joy joy Joy, Oh, joy, down 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:06.080 in my heart? Where zone in my heart? This is 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:11.160 not on your face? And added to that all the 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.560 pharisees that watch my YouTube just to say mean things 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:18.000 to me in the comments. I thought, how can I 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:19.960 preach my happiness? So I start doing a little research. 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:21.800 I thought, if I'm a preacher about this, let me 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:23.599 do a little research. But I'll do it informally, because 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:24.960 I told the Lord I wouldn't work on a sermon 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:26.960 before I came back to the church, so I would 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.640 ask people questions. I asked the family at lunch one day, 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:34.239 I said, who's the happiest person? You know? I didn't 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:37.560 tell them this was a preamble to my sermon in 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:39.800 a few weeks. I just said, who is the happiest 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.400 person you know? Ah, Dad, that's a dumb question. How 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:45.960 can you answer that? You don't really know if people 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:54.560 are happy or not. Ah, Maybe that'll preach, But then 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:59.000 they started listening to happiest people that they knew, and 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:06.640 none of them said you dad. I mean, I eat 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:11.200 it up. You know I'm paying for lunch. I ordered appetizers. 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.400 I let everybody get real drinks. I didn't make them 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:23.480 just drink water. And nobody said it's you. I even listen, 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:25.920 how bad listen how God pray for me and my family. 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:30.119 Because even right before it got to Holly's turn, I said, Holly, 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:35.360 you're the happiest person I know. She said that's so sweet, 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:39.800 and then she said somebody else's name, and I'm thinking, well, 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:42.359 of course, if I was married to me, i'd be 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:46.680 the happiest person I knew too, and she really is. 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.960 Holly is a happy person. So I said, Louri, if 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:54.000 we're gonna preach about happiness, you will have to show 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:57.840 me how, because there's gonna be people that listen to 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:00.760 me preach about happiness, and they they say, I do 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:04.040 not want to be in one of those feel good churches. 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:08.160 This is a feel goods uh huh. And the same 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:15.920 people who say that get massages, eat donuts, do all 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:19.760 kinds of things to feel good, but when it comes 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:24.520 to my faith, I don't want to feel good at all. 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:34.560 Stank me. You are weird everywhere else, but spiritually you 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:37.800 want to feel good. You got butt warmers in your 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:40.839 car and you come to church like kick my butt. 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:43.880 Tell me what I need to hear, make me feel 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:50.080 like God is old and mad and slow, and we'll 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:53.880 have some scriptures about that as we go, because I 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:55.720 think it's gonna take a few weeks, but I want 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:57.440 to jump right in. I didn't want to preach a 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:00.680 little you know, welcome back, sir, and I wanted to 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:03.040 get right into what God told me to preach. I 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:05.680 argued with him. I told him I was a hypocrite 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:08.120 because I'm not the happiest person and I have a 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:15.400 they call it RBF resting blessed face, but I don't 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.040 have one of those. I typically I look mad, I 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.040 mean mug. But the Lord said, okay, then then preach 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:25.520 it like this, talk to the people about the hard 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:37.880 work of happiness in Psalm one twenty six. Y'all open 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:43.400 your bible. Y'all didn't bring your bible. I'm gonna make 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:45.320 you feel bad about it, since that's what you came 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:49.120 to church for and you bring your paper bible, you 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:52.440 digital demon, all right, I'll put it on the screen. 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:58.200 Someone twenty six, did y'all miss me? That's that guy 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.760 with the big arms from that baptist picture? Was that 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:03.760 you up there? They were talking about a baptism earlier 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:07.080 at Valentine's six year anniversary, and Graham, they were over 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:10.000 here celebrating baptism, new life in Christ. And all Graham 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:12.840 said was, Dad, look at that guy's arms on the screen. 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:20.960 You are a distraction, sir. Let me read you this. 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:22.920 Y'all stand up. We need to reset and get serious. 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:26.480 Now here we go. Tell somebody I'm happy to be here. 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:31.240 Put it in the chat. I'm happy to be here. 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:36.240 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:40.320 like those who dream. Our mouths were filled with laughter, 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.520 our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:46.240 among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:51.800 The Lord has done great things for us, and we 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:59.160 are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, Lord like streams, 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:04.360 and then negaf those who sow with tears will reap, 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:12.520 will reap the songs of joy. Yeah, those who go 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:18.440 out weeping carrying seed to sew, will return with songs 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:24.600 of joy, carrying sheaves with them in that cool it's 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:29.319 called a psalm of a scent. Going up to Jerusalem. 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:32.760 They had songs for the three festivals that they would 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:36.360 go to, and they had songs for what we would 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:39.320 call celebration. And then there are two there's fifteen of 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.319 these songs songs of a scent. Two of them are 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:47.520 called songs of lament. And in that interesting how they're 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:52.920 going up to Jerusalem, which is high in elevation physically, geographically, 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:55.760 where the temple is, where they're going to worship and 0:09:55.800 --> 0:10:02.320 celebrate these festivals, but they're singing a song of lament 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:06.960 can be associated with mourning or grief and repentance, whether 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:10.840 it's over sin or devastation. And this is one of 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:14.360 the two songs of lament within the fifteen songs of 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:17.520 a sin. That they would sing this, or that they 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:22.160 would share this, or that they would declare this, or 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:26.680 that they would pray this on their way. Right in 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:29.760 the middle of it, it says those who sow with 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:35.439 tears will read with songs of joy. What really gets 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:42.119 me about that is that somebody on your row, somebody 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:47.480 three seats from you, somebody that's just one room over, 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:52.520 somebody that's just separated by very little physical space from you, 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:58.200 is experiencing something in between those two extremes. As I 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:06.400 speak today, sewing with tears, songs of joy. You know 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:07.880 a lot of times when we come to church, I 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:11.200 think we asked the question, does God have a word 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:14.599 for me today? God speak to me? This is a 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:17.960 community song because when they would come together like this, 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:23.720 they realized it's not just about me. It's not just 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:28.840 about me. This might be for somebody that I know today. 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:31.320 This might be for somebody that I don't. You have 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:33.680 no idea what's going on on your row right now? 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:36.840 Or in the words of my kids, how do I 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:41.680 know who's really happy? I don't really know them. Now, 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:43.440 look at your neighbor and say I don't know you. 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:52.280 I don't know you. Like that, sit down and look 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:55.920 at your other neighbors, say I don't know you. I 0:11:55.960 --> 0:12:00.000 don't know you. You don't know what's going on on 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:04.000 your row. You have no idea what's going on on 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.000 your row? Well, they didn't lift their hands at all 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.800 during worship. They must not really love the Lord. They 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:15.480 might have a shoulder injury, a rotator, cuffed hair. You 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:18.400 know what I'm saying like they barely got the church. 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.120 They couldn't even drive because they're shoulder and you're judging 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:24.120 them because they didn't lift their hands. You don't know them, 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:27.760 You don't really know. This is why it's so hard 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:30.000 to preach about happy because you say who's the happiest 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:33.040 person that you know? And someone will mention the funniest 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:34.840 person that they know. I didn't ask you who's the 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:38.800 funniest person that you know? You ever met a comedian, 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:43.280 These are some of the saddest people. It's true. The 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:46.160 reason they're making all these jokes is because sometimes they're 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:49.720 not all the time, but sometimes they're compensating for something 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:53.680 on the inside that's not right. That's why we can't 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:56.560 believe it when somebody who has everything that we think 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:59.840 is supposed to make you happy is in a headline 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:04.040 saying that they took their own life. How could they 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:06.720 make me so happy as an actor but they couldn't 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:11.360 make themselves happy in life. I understand there's mental illness, 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:14.160 I understand their issues that are beyond the control of 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:17.720 life decisions. But I think according to someone twenty six, 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:22.960 there are some decisions that you can make in the 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:26.840 dry places of your life that will lead you, no 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:31.720 matter where you're starting from, into a place a super 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:42.160 natural happiness. Super natural happiness. The Lord doesn't care if 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.960 I'm happy. What The Lord doesn't care if you're happy. 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:47.600 You take your kids on a trip and they're sitting 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:50.600 there mad and screaming and yelling and crying, Well, you 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.040 don't care if they're happy. It's just for the experience. No, 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:56.280 you care if your kids are happy. You're just not 0:13:56.400 --> 0:14:00.880 willing to sacrifice their long term good or their short 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:06.360 term happiness. And that's what God is like. So when 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:10.800 we see in Psalm one, this is not happy clappy, 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:15.360 this is not you know, the shortcut to feeling good. 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:19.920 This is actually a spiritual path for the daily decisions 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.360 that we can make in the dry places of our life. 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.560 So I want to give you today yellow right if 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:31.280 I teach? I got notes everywhere for this one because 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.680 the sermon came to me in the restaurant after riding 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:38.840 my bike. My notes were on receipts and I didn't 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:40.800 even move them over to my iPad because I wanted 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:42.720 to preach from the receipt I thought that'd be cool. 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:46.640 I'll be hardcore. I thought, make it feel authentic and gritty. 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:50.400 He was preaching from receipts. My taster never takes a break. 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:54.880 I mean, I'm priding myself on that for years, right, 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.400 because I'm good at hard work. Now ask my kids 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:00.840 who's the hardest working person? You know? They better sing 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:03.320 me because I'm the one who paid for everything they 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:06.280 called drip. If it isn't for my busset, they don't 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:13.080 have any drip. I might not be happy, but we 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:15.320 got central heating and air in the house, don't we 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:18.680 And the fridge is full and you're not hungry. I 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:21.600 prided myself on that for years. I kind of don't 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:24.400 remember the story. I'm gonna get to someone twenty six, 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:27.120 but don't remember the story of the prodigal son in 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:31.920 the Bible. I hadn't been gone six years, y'all. Y'all 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:35.600 remember the Bible, right, So the one boy goes and 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:38.320 he spends all of his father's money and he rolls 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:42.400 around with pigs and lays around with prostitutes and squanders 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:45.480 his fortune because he just had to have it now. 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:48.120 He just had to be happy. He just had to 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.600 go get it. He just had to go see. And 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:53.360 we preach about that boy, not realizing that wasn't the 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:56.800 point of the story Jesus was telling. It was his 0:15:56.880 --> 0:16:03.040 older brother back home, who was home but not happy. 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.840 It wasn't happy when his brother came back. He was 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:11.080 mad that it had dipped into his college fund with 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:15.640 his brother's dumb decisions. In fact, in Luke fifteen, I 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:17.720 should have prepared this for the screen, but I forgot 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:20.960 when the father started throwing a party for the son 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:22.840 who came home, who was lost. He said, he was dead, 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:25.960 he's alive, he's lost. His family have to celebrate. The 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:31.080 older brother said, I've been slaving for you all these years, 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:36.280 and you never did any of this for me. I 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.680 always thought I didn't really relate to that story because 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:40.960 I wasn't that wild in college. I never had this 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:44.600 season of my life where I developed a horrible addiction 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:48.840 to a substance. And the Lord started showing me recently, 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:55.800 you are often like the brother who stayed home, working 0:16:56.600 --> 0:17:04.600 for something that is already yours. I put a lot 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:08.399 of my worth in my work, put a lot of 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.600 worth in my work. I remember many times when we 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:15.679 were starting in the ministry, thinking if I get there, 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:25.840 I will be happy. Legitimate real One of my Buddies 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:28.560 has a church here in the area, and he had 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.320 two thousand people coming. I remember going to see him 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.199 one time. Now, at this point in our church, we 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:39.119 had twenty about twenty thousand, twenty people like that row, 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:42.080 and five of them were the same ones that are 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:48.800 there right now. I'd be happy if I had two thousand. 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:54.400 And Since we're taking a psalm of assent and we're 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:58.159 talking about the lament within the song, I want to 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:00.360 point the fact out that you can be on your 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:07.879 way up and still have to deal with being down. 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:11.320 Like watch it in the text. Watch it in the text. 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:13.040 I want to ground this thought in the text so 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:15.919 you don't think I'm off on a tangent here. Instead 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:18.439 of talking about truth, I'm talking about feelings. No, watch it, 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:22.200 he said, when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:26.560 we were like those who dreamed. We were shocked. They 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:31.080 have been in Babylon for almost fifty years and God 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:34.879 brought them back. They have been captives in a strange 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:41.320 land for almost fifty years, since five eighty seven, when 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.480 Babylon came and got all of the Jews, and the 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:48.359 ones they didn't kill they deported, and the ones that 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:53.320 they deported, they detained, and for fifty years the people 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:56.480 of God had to live in the patterns of Babylon. 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:59.520 But now we see that they have been brought back. 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:01.240 That's what he means when the Lord put Verse one 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:04.320 up there again, when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion. 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:07.520 This is a past tense event that he's remembering. When 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:11.640 the Lord brought us back, we were shocked. We couldn't 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:16.760 believe it had actually happened. It had been so long 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:20.320 since we had expected this result that when we actually 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:26.600 experienced it, it didn't even feel real. Sometimes you can't 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:30.840 even be settled into your own blessing because you have 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:38.880 gotten so adjusted to a negative experience. This is it, 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:42.560 This is it. This is a decision that you have 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:46.960 to make in the dry places of your life if 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:55.679 you are to really be lastingly happy, last say, lasting happy, 0:19:56.560 --> 0:20:02.040 supernatural happy. What the Bible says as joy, unspeakable and 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:06.479 full of glory in the holy ghost, holy ghost, happy 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:10.960 Jesus joy. The world didn't give it, and the world 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:14.800 can't take it away. Your boyfriend didn't give it, and 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:18.639 your boyfriend can't take it away. Your ex sure didn't 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:22.720 give it, and your ex can't take it away. Situational 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:26.320 happiness has no interest in the Kingdom of God. It 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:29.960 is too cheap and Jesus paid too much for me 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:32.720 to need for my life to be going a certain way, 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:37.760 to feel a certain way. So part of the process 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:40.840 of coming to church and listening to sermons and having 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:43.639 your mind conform not to the patterns of this world, 0:20:43.920 --> 0:20:48.200 but transformed to have a new mind, is this decision. 0:20:48.440 --> 0:20:53.760 Write this down you're ready. Negative is not my normal. 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:05.280 Negative is not my normal. Help me, Holy Angels of God. 0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:10.119 I feel like a hypocrite saying that, because honestly, my 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:12.480 first view of a situation, and I need you raise 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:13.800 your hand if you like me, because I feel awfully 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:16.639 lonely up here. I don't even have a collar on 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:19.240 this jacket to keep me company up here. I feel 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:22.120 all alone with y'all looking at me so judgmental. Right now, 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:29.960 My first instinct in the situation is to see vulnerabilities, liabilities, 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:39.480 and even sometimes hypothetical liabilities. Oh, I am a creative 0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:45.600 finder of things to fear and dread. Y'all pray for Holly, 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.840 the happiest person that I know. This is what she 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:54.480 has to live with. I came by some of it. Honestly. 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:58.879 I was born into a family called the human race. 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:04.359 My first parent, Adam, he screwed up real bad. He 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:08.199 had the whole thing on luck, walking around with plenty 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:10.960 to eat and no clothes on, and a woman that 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.040 he said was very good, and he had to have 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:17.320 an apple. That was my first father. So I came 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:21.360 by this. I can't really be too hard on myself, 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:24.840 because the Bible says that all have sinned and falls 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:28.200 short of the glory of God. The prophet Jeremiah took 0:22:28.200 --> 0:22:31.359 it further and said that the heart is deceitfully wicked 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:35.159 above all else who can know it. That's why I 0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:38.399 had you tell your neighbor, I don't know you. I 0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:42.080 don't know you like that. I don't know what you 0:22:42.240 --> 0:22:45.600 cry about behind all that clapping that you do when 0:22:45.600 --> 0:22:51.720 we're in church together. I don't know you like that. 0:22:53.480 --> 0:22:55.960 And really it takes a while before you know yourself 0:22:56.000 --> 0:23:03.120 well enough to ask the question, do your patterns match 0:23:03.160 --> 0:23:08.119 your prayers? Someone twenty six is not only a song, 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:13.040 it's a prayer. It's a petition. Lord restore to us 0:23:13.560 --> 0:23:22.000 the fortunes of Zion. Lord restore our fortunes Lord, restore 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:26.879 us to the state, the state that we were intended for. Now, 0:23:27.720 --> 0:23:31.120 I want to make this clear if you are a Christian, 0:23:32.000 --> 0:23:34.399 that it is not normal for you to be ruled 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:37.439 by the same cynicism that you see seething from this 0:23:37.520 --> 0:23:44.199 angry world. It is not normal for you, if you 0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:47.720 are a Christian, to spend all of your time running 0:23:47.840 --> 0:23:52.639 after solutions to problems that God is not staying up 0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:55.200 late about, pacing the halls of Heaven wondering what He's 0:23:55.240 --> 0:23:59.800 going to do about them. Furthermore, for those of you 0:23:59.800 --> 0:24:02.080 who might have grown up in an atmosphere, in a 0:24:02.119 --> 0:24:05.200 family or an environment where you say, like everything was pessimism, 0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:08.600 how I grew up, Well, you know what. That might 0:24:08.680 --> 0:24:13.320 have been your background, that might be your default setting, 0:24:14.760 --> 0:24:22.840 but it is not your destiny in Christ. Hey, spoiler alert. 0:24:23.400 --> 0:24:27.760 That's why I named the Church Elevation because I think 0:24:27.800 --> 0:24:32.080 you're going up. Because I think if Christ is seated 0:24:32.119 --> 0:24:35.440 in heavenly places, you are not going to spend all 0:24:35.480 --> 0:24:39.520 your days down here on this earth, wallowing around in 0:24:39.680 --> 0:24:43.040 stuff that God has called you to win over. I 0:24:43.080 --> 0:24:46.280 don't believe it. I'm not settling for it, and I'm 0:24:46.280 --> 0:24:50.280 not going to be the older son like standing around, going, well, God, 0:24:50.359 --> 0:24:53.399 I'm serving you and it sucks. But one day in 0:24:53.440 --> 0:24:55.879 heaven I'll get wings and sing and play harps, and 0:24:55.920 --> 0:24:58.720 then I'll be happy. You won't be happy playing a harp. 0:25:01.560 --> 0:25:06.560 We're not supposed to be happy till we get to heaven. Well, 0:25:06.640 --> 0:25:10.000 if heaven is happy and they let you in with 0:25:10.040 --> 0:25:12.400 that attitude, it won't be happy once you get there. 0:25:14.400 --> 0:25:20.960 So you're not going because it would ruin the whole program. Negative, 0:25:21.040 --> 0:25:26.480 say it negative is not my normal? No, no, no, no, no. 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:30.040 It might be. It might be natural, but it's not normal, 0:25:30.720 --> 0:25:35.040 not for a believer. Because my Bible says if anyone 0:25:35.119 --> 0:25:39.600 is in Christ, he is a new creation. That means 0:25:39.640 --> 0:25:43.399 I've got a new nature. That means the way I 0:25:43.480 --> 0:25:46.200 wake up in the morning doesn't determine how I walk 0:25:46.240 --> 0:25:50.600 through the day. I gotta get my mind right, my 0:25:50.760 --> 0:25:53.880 heart right. How many of y'all are over forty Wave 0:25:53.960 --> 0:25:56.720 at me real quick? How many of y'all have to 0:25:56.840 --> 0:26:01.760 stretch before your maximum capacity could be achieved? If it's 0:26:01.800 --> 0:26:04.760 true and the body is true in the spirit, you 0:26:04.880 --> 0:26:08.280 really wake up in the morning and consult how you 0:26:08.400 --> 0:26:10.399 feel in your mind to see what kind of day 0:26:10.400 --> 0:26:21.840 you're gonna have. So the psawmist begins this prayer. He says, 0:26:21.840 --> 0:26:24.679 there's two things going on in the song you study it. 0:26:24.720 --> 0:26:28.960 There's what God has done and what God hopefully will do. 0:26:30.080 --> 0:26:32.560 And in the middle of all of that, there's an 0:26:32.640 --> 0:26:36.160 amazing verse. I need to show you this. Slow. Can 0:26:36.200 --> 0:26:39.840 I go slow? Oh man? We might take We might 0:26:39.920 --> 0:26:44.000 take a week, or three weeks or five weeks. I 0:26:44.160 --> 0:26:48.040 might preach this to everybody in the church. Gets happy. 0:26:49.840 --> 0:26:53.680 I might preach this to everybody in the church. Touch somebody, say, 0:26:53.720 --> 0:26:57.560 get your happy back, get your happy back, get your 0:26:57.600 --> 0:27:01.120 happy back. It's been a long time since you had 0:27:01.320 --> 0:27:04.720 what Psalm one twenty six is describe. Our mouths were 0:27:04.760 --> 0:27:07.160 filled with laughter. There was no room in your mouth 0:27:07.160 --> 0:27:10.760