Speaker 1: Hi everybody.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for subscribing to our video podcast here
Speaker 2: at Elevation Church. We trust that these messages are speaking
Speaker 2: directly to your heart. Beginning January seventh, we're moving to
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Speaker 2: Elevation with Stephen Ferdick. If you'd still like the video,
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Speaker 2: Thanks again for being a part of the family.
Speaker 1: We'll see you soon.
Speaker 3: Well, what incredible time in God's presence this morning, and
Speaker 3: if you're just now joining us, welcome to Elevation Church.
Speaker 3: You know, we spent the last couple of minutes just
Speaker 3: thinking about the faithfulness of God, and that's exactly what
Speaker 3: we're going to do here today. Is we're going to
Speaker 3: look back on twenty twenty three and just thank God
Speaker 3: for all that He's done. We're going to talk about
Speaker 3: some special moments and specifically some sermons that we are
Speaker 3: still thinking about right now.
Speaker 4: And it's not just me.
Speaker 3: I have some other people here Chad, Britt and Jason,
Speaker 3: and we also have some lovely people from some of
Speaker 3: our local Charlotte area campuses.
Speaker 4: So thank you guys for being here today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it really has been an incredible year. It's
Speaker 3: very hard to condense down into just a couple things
Speaker 3: to talk about because God has been so good to
Speaker 3: our church. But I thought before we dive into the sermons,
Speaker 3: the things that really you know, we're still processing chat
Speaker 3: If people have never been part of Coffee Fan before,
Speaker 3: do you want to explain the format today?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So we're taking a little bit different format on
Speaker 2: this last Sunday of the year where we typically talk
Speaker 2: about the message. So, like Colleen said, each week we
Speaker 2: get the opportunity to talk about the message that we
Speaker 2: just heard and we call that Coffee Fam and we
Speaker 2: typically do that live on Wednesday morning at nine am.
Speaker 2: And so a lot of you join in online on
Speaker 2: YouTube or Facebook, and it doesn't matter if you go
Speaker 2: to a physical campus or not. Everybody's joining in to
Speaker 2: really dive in and discuss a little bit deeper of
Speaker 2: what the sermon meant to them. And so today we
Speaker 2: get that opportunity to look back and discuss some of
Speaker 2: these sermons. And I like to say I'm looking for
Speaker 2: those like me too. Moments where it's like, oh, you
Speaker 2: thought that too, that's the thought that I had, or
Speaker 2: you were wondering that too. Well, well I dug into
Speaker 2: that a little bit deeper too. So that's what we
Speaker 2: hope to do to that.
Speaker 3: Makes you feel so much better to know like, oh,
Speaker 3: I'm not the only one who's like struggling through this thing.
Speaker 4: And so yeah, we're excited to talk about all of this.
Speaker 3: So before well, if you tuned into coffee Fan, we
Speaker 3: like to we have to warm up the conversation a
Speaker 3: little bit. And so before we dive into the sermons,
Speaker 3: let's hit just what is like a moment or two
Speaker 3: for you guys that you look back on this here
Speaker 3: and you're like, man, I can't believe I got to
Speaker 3: see God do this or I got to be part
Speaker 3: of this thing.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm tied between two.
Speaker 4: Okay, okay, you got to all.
Speaker 6: First of all, Bailmunt just had his first worship experience
Speaker 6: December twenty fourth.
Speaker 4: Yeah, normally known as Gaston, that's.
Speaker 6: Right, formally non artist, formerly known as Gaston eleven years
Speaker 6: the non permanent.
Speaker 5: We got to move into a permanent.
Speaker 6: Facility, so we got to worship God his faithfulness, it's
Speaker 6: just it's been amazing. But I love about how our
Speaker 6: church has different expressions. Yes, yeah, and so another expression
Speaker 6: is our pop ups. And we went to San Diego. Yes,
Speaker 6: we do a pop up. I went for the first time.
Speaker 6: We baptized eighty five people. So it was my top
Speaker 6: moment just seeing that God is moving in a place
Speaker 6: that we don't have a building. Yes, yeah, yeah, and
Speaker 6: really people are committed to what God is doing in
Speaker 6: Elevation Church.
Speaker 5: I love it.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 7: Okay, okay, well you talked about, you know, buildings and
Speaker 7: pop ups.
Speaker 4: Okay, I'm like you.
Speaker 7: I got like two, all right, I gotta tie, I
Speaker 7: gotta tie.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 7: Number one. It was not really a moment. It was
Speaker 7: like a seven week moment. It was a seven week
Speaker 7: Bible study that we did earlier this year called Immeasurably Born.
Speaker 7: Maybe some of you might know what I'm talking about,
Speaker 7: but it was really a time where we got to
Speaker 7: journey through the Book of Ephesians together as a church.
Speaker 7: Our pastor preached through Ephesians. We got to journey through
Speaker 7: it in small groups. So we you know, buildings, pop ups,
Speaker 7: living rooms, coffee shop, zooms, whatever it takes to see
Speaker 7: the gospel go for So that was one, but then
Speaker 7: I also got to go with Love Week, I mean
Speaker 7: a week where we're in the community, serving around the world.
Speaker 4: Top moment for me twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: How about you, Chechah, I love that well.
Speaker 2: I love the A few weeks back, we shared all
Speaker 2: of these different expressions of church and what you were
Speaker 2: saying of like, it's not just in a building like this,
Speaker 2: but this year, so many of you know, we got
Speaker 2: the opportunity to go to so many different states.
Speaker 1: With Elevation Nights.
Speaker 2: And Elevation Nights is something we've been doing for a
Speaker 2: few years, but it never gets old getting into an
Speaker 2: arena and sitting there with ten fifteen thousand people who
Speaker 2: are worshiping together, who are listening to a message from pastor.
Speaker 2: And we got the opportunity to do that a bunch
Speaker 2: this year. And I can't pick just one, but they're
Speaker 2: always an amazing time and so if you haven't had
Speaker 2: the opportunity to get to one, you got to get
Speaker 2: to thank So we're coming up on another Elevation Nights
Speaker 2: in February, so make sure that you get there.
Speaker 3: The Northeast, We're coming your way. Get excited. Yeah, no,
Speaker 3: I would echo everything you guys said. I'm just always
Speaker 3: in all of like the reach God's given our church.
Speaker 3: When I started coming here, we were meeting in a
Speaker 3: high school, Providence school.
Speaker 4: I don't know if anyone has been around that long,
Speaker 4: but it's just.
Speaker 3: Incredible to be hundreds of thousands of miles away, to
Speaker 3: hear people singing the songs that God brought up out
Speaker 3: of our church, and to meet people who are like,
Speaker 3: my best friends are in my E group, and you're like,
Speaker 3: you live in Texas or California. You're like, this is
Speaker 3: amazing what God is doing. And so I'm incredibly grateful
Speaker 3: to be a part of it, and I know most
Speaker 3: of you are as well. Why don't you go ahead,
Speaker 3: let us go in the chat if you have a
Speaker 3: favorite moment that we haven't said, or maybe we shared yours,
Speaker 3: but you can share it again, or if there's a
Speaker 3: sermon that you're hoping we might talk about. Now, we
Speaker 3: only have so much time, so we we've narrowed it
Speaker 3: down to three. And this is, like I said, I
Speaker 3: don't know how, but we did.
Speaker 4: I don't know when, don't know how.
Speaker 3: That's right, So we have three that we're going to
Speaker 3: talk about Jason.
Speaker 4: You want to start us.
Speaker 5: Off here, absolutely one of my favorite.
Speaker 8: We had a couple of a words that pastors started
Speaker 8: off with.
Speaker 5: For context. The first one was the God of also.
Speaker 8: If you know your favorite a word that is a
Speaker 8: good word.
Speaker 6: Look at chat making them blessed. But we have the
Speaker 6: God of again, you know in the crowds, shout it out.
Speaker 6: But the God of also was one that challenged me
Speaker 6: personally because it was like, God is not just the
Speaker 6: God of Abraham, Isaac or Moses, but he's also doing
Speaker 6: something in my life, not just around my calling of
Speaker 6: what he wants me to do, but who he wants
Speaker 6: me to become. All right, In case you missed it,
Speaker 6: we got a little recap for you, so take a look.
Speaker 9: So the first thing we have to understand when we
Speaker 9: come to God is we must not box him in
Speaker 9: with our broken understanding of who he is or our
Speaker 9: limited language.
Speaker 10: For those God for new He also predestined.
Speaker 9: To be conformed to the image of his son Ah.
Speaker 1: So God's calling is really about character.
Speaker 5: Why is God, who is.
Speaker 10: Holy, stooping down to call himself the God of Jacob.
Speaker 10: Maybe he wants you to know that he doesn't just
Speaker 10: want to be your God when you're living like a prince.
Speaker 5: Maybe he wants you to know that he is also God.
Speaker 9: When I've got it together, but he is.
Speaker 10: God.
Speaker 1: When I don't stop hiding from God.
Speaker 11: When you're feeling ashamed, come to Him and thank Him
Speaker 11: that there's no shame on Jesus.
Speaker 5: So there's no shame on me.
Speaker 11: The biggest comfort in my life is that God knew
Speaker 11: it all when he called me.
Speaker 12: Jesus has given us all a gift that is common
Speaker 12: to us, but it is so specific to us, and
Speaker 12: our identity in Him is the most important thing about us.
Speaker 5: Wow.
Speaker 6: Wow, I'm telling you the God of Also what such
Speaker 6: a challenging moment for I believe all of us.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 6: For me, it was about getting in to our character,
Speaker 6: not just start calling being what we're doing. And the topic.
Speaker 6: Pastor started with the character. He started with what's Moses?
Speaker 8: How Moses was called to deliver the people out of
Speaker 8: Egypt but also called in murder. Yes, he had a
Speaker 8: serious thing he was wrestling through. And I don't know
Speaker 8: about you in the crowd or in the chat, I
Speaker 8: just want you to put that one thing God.
Speaker 6: Developed in your character this year. I want to see
Speaker 6: it for me as a pastor. I know y'all think
Speaker 6: I'm just you know, flowing no angels wings, I think,
Speaker 6: but God developed my You don't think that chat gotcha.
Speaker 5: But he developed my patience.
Speaker 6: And so I really want to know from you guys, like,
Speaker 6: what did God really do that you didn't expect him
Speaker 6: to do in your character as you trusted him.
Speaker 4: It's a great question. You're going deep right away.
Speaker 7: I mean, well, let me start with this because you
Speaker 7: kind of hit on this. But I'm looking back at
Speaker 7: my notes, which this is why I love that we
Speaker 7: do this, because it just brings back.
Speaker 4: All these things to mine. Absolutely, and I highlighted this.
Speaker 7: It says before Moses ever called on God, Yes, God
Speaker 7: called on Moses. And so when you're talking about our character,
Speaker 7: there's times where and I'm not speaking for everyone, just
Speaker 7: those of us that struggle with these little things, right,
Speaker 7: but there's times where I forget like or and I think,
Speaker 7: I like to think I'm a strong, independent woman, right,
Speaker 7: like I got this, I'm on this, you know, like
Speaker 7: I'm doing my thing. But then like before I ever
Speaker 7: get to any of that, God's already called me. And
Speaker 7: it's so funny how sometimes we get amnesia and we
Speaker 7: forget and we think that we can do this like
Speaker 7: in our own strength or in our own way, but
Speaker 7: it all stems from God. So it's just such a
Speaker 7: beautiful picture because I love this quote. Before Moses ever
Speaker 7: called on God, God called on Moses. Before before you
Speaker 7: ever called on God, God called on you, God called
Speaker 7: on me.
Speaker 4: We all have a calling in life, and.
Speaker 7: So for my character, it's like helping me define purpose
Speaker 7: and understand that what God has for me, like I
Speaker 7: can't even like foresee, His ways are greater than our ways.
Speaker 4: So it's just a touching thing to go ick.
Speaker 7: And remember this and how that quote hit me the
Speaker 7: same way as it did when he preached it.
Speaker 1: That's great.
Speaker 2: You did say patience, you didn't expound on it, So
Speaker 2: I'm going to take it to but I'm going to
Speaker 2: expound on it because it's in multiple areas in my life.
Speaker 2: So when I think about patience, I think about certainly
Speaker 2: just my life, my kids. You know, if you have kids,
Speaker 2: you're like God's developing patients in my life as to speed,
Speaker 2: But it's really more about me wanting to see what
Speaker 2: it is that I believe is to come right, not
Speaker 2: just in my kids, but in my own life and
Speaker 2: my workplace, and so as I'm thinking, man, God, I
Speaker 2: thought that it was supposed to look this way. I
Speaker 2: thought that it was supposed to get to that point earlier.
Speaker 2: You know, patience is something for me that I think.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm always thinking that things should be much
Speaker 2: faster than they should be. But what I realize, even
Speaker 2: just looking back on this year is I'm so thankful
Speaker 2: that God.
Speaker 1: Didn't do the things and the timing that I wanted
Speaker 1: him to.
Speaker 2: Do, because then I in a lot of ways, i'd
Speaker 2: be like, yeah, that's right. I knew exactly that's what
Speaker 2: was supposed to happen in that way. When it happens
Speaker 2: like this, which is more often than not, you always
Speaker 2: look back and say, man, God, I'm just so thankful
Speaker 2: that you didn't take my advice on this on this one.
Speaker 2: But I'm following your advice and I'm following the plan
Speaker 2: that you're laying out for me step by step.
Speaker 1: So I think this year it's.
Speaker 2: A common theme for me, though I don't know that
Speaker 2: that's going to go away next year, And saying patience.
Speaker 5: My kid is still going to be in the house.
Speaker 4: That's I was gonna say.
Speaker 3: I was say, the character thing is like it's I
Speaker 3: feel like when God reveals something to your like, got it, God,
Speaker 3: I'm going to work on it. And then it gets
Speaker 3: frustrating when you're like, why am I still working.
Speaker 4: On this thing over and over and over again?
Speaker 3: And Pastor Stevens said a long time ago, he said,
Speaker 3: we will go through a lot of the same stuff
Speaker 3: over and over again, but the fact that we're aware
Speaker 3: of it, we're like circling it at a higher level.
Speaker 3: So like more I wan't even known I was like
Speaker 3: frustrated or not being patient, but now I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 3: God's like putting these old checks in my spear. I
Speaker 3: was telling Britt this morning, I felt like even this morning,
Speaker 3: I think God knew we were going to talk about
Speaker 3: this sermon. But I was walking my dog and I
Speaker 3: let him off at leash. There was no one out
Speaker 3: for a little bit. I know people might come for
Speaker 3: me in the comments for that, but this lady came
Speaker 3: by and she was like, your dog needs to be
Speaker 3: on a leash, and my I like immediately went to
Speaker 3: match your energy where I'm like, I'm not normally like
Speaker 3: a confrontational person, but I'm kind of like, don't tell
Speaker 3: me what to do, and so like I like, I
Speaker 3: was like, he's fine, and I think I told her, like,
Speaker 3: you need to calm down again.
Speaker 1: That great.
Speaker 3: I'm being very vulnerable with you guys right now, but
Speaker 3: I'm not no joke.
Speaker 4: The whole walk back, I was like, why did I
Speaker 4: react like that?
Speaker 5: Right?
Speaker 3: And I was one of the other things past that
Speaker 3: is like your potential is revealed in your maturity. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 3: And so for me, I was just thinking, I'm like, again,
Speaker 3: I'm being hard on myself in this moment, but I
Speaker 3: also am grateful to God, like it was like helping
Speaker 3: me like work through it, like, hey, you should have
Speaker 3: done that, and I'm like, and he forgives me for it,
Speaker 3: and I'm good. But also just to be aware, like
Speaker 3: that's one of the things I gotta keep working on.
Speaker 6: That was the encouraging thing about this arment. How God
Speaker 6: said he didn't just call you on your half points. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 6: he didn't just call you in the places that you're
Speaker 6: proud of, call you your low moments too. Romans eight
Speaker 6: twenty nine, where Pastor kind of came from. He says
Speaker 6: God knew us before we even knew ourselves. Prefsting is
Speaker 6: the word, and he already had a plan laid out
Speaker 6: for our weaknesses and our.
Speaker 5: Shrips when we'll go off on the woman with the dog.
Speaker 6: And for me, for me calling I'm not gonna leave
Speaker 6: you out there by yourself. But for me, I was
Speaker 6: actually in the hospital with my mom when this sermon
Speaker 6: was playing, and my patience was like, God, what are
Speaker 6: you going to do when I'm anticipating and in the
Speaker 6: chat right now?
Speaker 5: We don't know what you're going through, but we would
Speaker 5: love to pray for you.
Speaker 6: Put in the chat right now, maybe your end of
Speaker 6: the year is still hard and you need to see
Speaker 6: the God of also work. But in that moment, I
Speaker 6: got a reminder that God is not just wanting to
Speaker 6: do something for me. He's wanting to do something in me. Yeah,
Speaker 6: He's wanting to develop some character in me. And I
Speaker 6: know some of you.
Speaker 8: Have takeaways and we rent through this.
Speaker 5: Sermon, but we actually have one in our.
Speaker 1: Live studio audience.
Speaker 2: We do.
Speaker 8: We have Robert from the Blakeney campus. Go ahead and
Speaker 8: stand though, Robert. Robert is going to share his takeaway
Speaker 8: from this sermon because I know it impacted me.
Speaker 5: But we want to know how it impacted you.
Speaker 8: Go ahead, Yeah, no, there was a lot, a lot
Speaker 8: to take away from this, this actual, actual message. But
Speaker 8: the thing that rested on me the hardest or the most,
Speaker 8: that kind of like resonated with me and it continues
Speaker 8: to sit on me is God is also the god
Speaker 8: of self development. And the line that he made was
Speaker 8: that self development is the key or is the direction
Speaker 8: to self discoveries. All self development is self discovery. And
Speaker 8: when I realized that, I realized that like, as God
Speaker 8: continues to develop me, I discover more of who I
Speaker 8: am and who He created me to be. And realizing
Speaker 8: that you know, a lot of us think that we
Speaker 8: already know ourselves so well, like I know me, nobody
Speaker 8: knows me better than I know myself. But realizing that
Speaker 8: He knew me before I really got to know myself
Speaker 8: the way I know myself. And so yeah, that was
Speaker 8: a great option.
Speaker 5: Thank you so much, Robert.
Speaker 4: That's beautiful. I love that too.
Speaker 7: Because Pastor, when he was preaching this, he pointed out, like,
Speaker 7: because Jacob had his name changed, yes, but he didn't
Speaker 7: say like, I'm the God of your new fancy name.
Speaker 7: He said, I'm the God of Jacob aka deceiver. Right,
Speaker 7: that's the name that Scripture uses when he says I'm the.
Speaker 4: God of Jacob.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 4: And so I thought that that was beautiful. Thank you
Speaker 4: for sharing that.
Speaker 2: I love that you just shared that about the self
Speaker 2: discovery because that's something that I was thinking about so
Speaker 2: much longer after the message of all of this self development.
Speaker 1: Being this discovery of who I already am.
Speaker 2: And I think that's so much of what this message
Speaker 2: was about, of like, you already are the thing, It's
Speaker 2: just deep inside you. You already are a patient person
Speaker 2: because God is patient and God is kind, and so
Speaker 2: if God is living in me, then then I must have.
Speaker 1: That attribute as well.
Speaker 2: So how am I discovering that I already am that person?
Speaker 1: And that messed with my mind a.
Speaker 2: Lot because I'm like, but I don't feel like I'm
Speaker 2: feel different things that I'm striving to be. But I
Speaker 2: love that Pastor always talks about when when really that
Speaker 2: that that's placed on you, that that development piece is
Speaker 2: placed on you, You'll start to see things pull out
Speaker 2: of you that you didn't think we're in there be like, oh,
Speaker 2: so true, that's inside of me.
Speaker 1: Maybe it wasn't developed. Maybe it's just just being discovered.
Speaker 10: Now.
Speaker 2: Maybe it's something God that that's already been been inside
Speaker 2: of me. And so I try to think back on
Speaker 2: that when I think, Man, I don't have that, I
Speaker 2: don't have the thing that I'm looking at. And I'm like, man, God,
Speaker 2: I wish, I wish I could just be a little
Speaker 2: bit more resilient. And He's like, no, no, No, You're resilient.
Speaker 2: You're resilient. Trust in me, Believe in me. I understand
Speaker 2: that the place that I've put you, I've given you
Speaker 2: everything that you need to stay hand to handle what
Speaker 2: it is that I've put in front of you, and.
Speaker 4: Then develop it. Right, that's the key word, right.
Speaker 7: The development discovery is one phase which as if that's
Speaker 7: not it is difficult sometimes because we don't always see
Speaker 7: those things. And this that's why they say that we
Speaker 7: should always have like people around us to.
Speaker 4: Help us see some of the things.
Speaker 7: Trusted people that like we sometimes overlook or don't recognize
Speaker 7: you doing it not.
Speaker 4: But I'm always here for each That's not going to happen.
Speaker 1: Around But I really believe it.
Speaker 4: I really do believe it.
Speaker 7: And I've really seen it in my own life where
Speaker 7: I won't see something in myself and then somebody will
Speaker 7: see it and they'll give me that opportunity or they'll
Speaker 7: speak that life into me. And it's helped me developed
Speaker 7: to the point that I'm at now because my yes
Speaker 7: is put the demand on me what you talked about,
Speaker 7: so you see, oh, there is that kindness in there.
Speaker 7: You have to put the demands on you to be
Speaker 7: kind to develop it. You need both and so putting
Speaker 7: in the work after the discovery is just as important.
Speaker 4: And that's the part that sometimes I think some.
Speaker 7: Of us will get the glimpse, will we be willing
Speaker 7: to put in the work to actually develop that character
Speaker 7: within us.
Speaker 6: I love how past esteem and kind of land at
Speaker 6: this sermon, and he he kind of reminded us that
Speaker 6: we don't have to be afraid to come to God
Speaker 6: when we've made that mistake on the road to development.
Speaker 4: That's right.
Speaker 6: I think it's really important that we still go to
Speaker 6: God for the things we need, internalities that are not
Speaker 6: developed depending on our own strength or depending on ourselves.
Speaker 6: It's how Moses got in trouble when he tried to
Speaker 6: do it on his own and not depend on God's grace.
Speaker 6: That's when it fell short, and so I don't know
Speaker 6: where you're at today, but we want you to.
Speaker 5: We want to tell you to keep trusting.
Speaker 6: God, keep believing that He is a god of also
Speaker 6: our weaknesses and our strengths.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3: Well, speaking of also not, Holly also preached some incredible
Speaker 3: service this year, Britt. I know you're of a lot
Speaker 3: of favorites, but if we had to pick a one
Speaker 3: to talk.
Speaker 4: About, okay, well, this one's for the ladies. Where are
Speaker 4: my ladies at?
Speaker 7: Don't leave me hanging, make yourself known in the child.
Speaker 7: But in all seriousness, our pastor preaches incredible messages every single.
Speaker 4: Week that are life changing. Yes, that's right.
Speaker 7: I've been under his teachings and preaching for eleven years
Speaker 7: now and it really has changed my life. And with that,
Speaker 7: we also have the amazing gifts of Hollyfordic as well,
Speaker 7: and our first Lady Pastor Holly has preached some amazing
Speaker 7: messages this year. But there is one in particular that
Speaker 7: she preached on Mother's Day actually, and it was called
Speaker 7: Sudden Strength, and it really is a beautiful picture of
Speaker 7: how even in our weakest moments, when we look to
Speaker 7: the right place where dependency. God will strengthen us even
Speaker 7: in those times. And just as a little refresher, let's
Speaker 7: take a look at this.
Speaker 13: When we experience a difficult situation, we have two choices.
Speaker 13: We can wonder why, or we can ask what next.
Speaker 4: When I sit in.
Speaker 13: My pain for too long, I get stale, and I
Speaker 13: get bitter, and nobody.
Speaker 1: Wants to be around me. But when I drag my
Speaker 1: pain to.
Speaker 13: The feet of Jesus, sometimes over and over again, when
Speaker 13: I seek God, he answers.
Speaker 5: We're not fighting in our own power.
Speaker 13: That's the amazing thing, Paul said. Be strong in the
Speaker 13: Lord and in his mighty power. It's his mighty power
Speaker 13: that is at work.
Speaker 4: On the inside of you.
Speaker 13: But sometimes you gotta get up. If you want to
Speaker 13: activate God's power in your life, you gotta move.
Speaker 4: You got to seek.
Speaker 13: Him again and again and again. You gotta arm yourself
Speaker 13: so that you can stand against the enemy. Don't give in,
Speaker 13: don't let him win, keep fighting even when you're tired.
Speaker 4: Do you guys see why I love that so much?
Speaker 7: Esphesian six. You gotta be armed, yes, But I really
Speaker 7: do love so much the handles that she gave us.
Speaker 4: Because she said this, she was.
Speaker 7: Talking about how sometimes an unexpected fight does break out,
Speaker 7: and for me, I can think of the times where, like,
Speaker 7: you know, I was doing good, I was on my grind,
Speaker 7: I was doing my thing, and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 7: out of nowhere, I'm like, where did this come from?
Speaker 7: And because I was so unprepared, like I wasn't expecting it,
Speaker 7: I went into.
Speaker 4: Literal battle.
Speaker 7: And I didn't know where to find my strengths. So
Speaker 7: the tools that she gave us, I hope that we
Speaker 7: all took to heart, and if not, it's fine. We're
Speaker 7: going to unpack them a little bit more today so
Speaker 7: we can really get these in our spirit going into
Speaker 7: twenty twenty four. But here's the deal. She said this,
Speaker 7: and this is kind of where I want to start.
Speaker 7: She asked us the questions like when something does happen
Speaker 7: in our lives, we can wonder why, or we can
Speaker 7: ask what's next? And so I kind of wanted to
Speaker 7: unpack and sit there for just a couple of moments
Speaker 7: with like, can you guys think through a process through
Speaker 7: like when something unexpected happens, like what is your default?
Speaker 7: And then how do you navigate maybe out of what
Speaker 7: your natural default might be?
Speaker 3: Great Yasna say, well, do you want like the church
Speaker 3: answer or like what I actually do?
Speaker 4: I want a real.
Speaker 3: So I think like for me, and I think this
Speaker 3: even goes back to a little bit of Pastor's lest
Speaker 3: sermon is I feel like when something like that happens,
Speaker 3: I am very quick to like try to figure stuff
Speaker 3: out on my own. I'll ask everyone of my friends
Speaker 3: before I come to God, and I will I'll sit
Speaker 3: in it for a minute and it's not good. But
Speaker 3: like that was why her sermon was so helpful for me,
Speaker 3: because I'm like it was such a good perspective shift
Speaker 3: instead of like sitting there asking like like asking God
Speaker 3: why and stuff and you're like no, like He's going
Speaker 3: to use this, like what's next?
Speaker 4: What do I need to do? And so I love
Speaker 4: when she.
Speaker 3: Talked about like what you do today is giving you
Speaker 3: strength for tomorrow. And so even what you said, Britt
Speaker 3: is like you have to like you have to be
Speaker 3: prepared daily to go into that. And so I think
Speaker 3: the thing that I've learned about myself is like I
Speaker 3: have to spend time with God.
Speaker 4: I'm praying in.
Speaker 3: My car, whether that's reading my Bible, whether that's journaling
Speaker 3: things I'm grateful for I have to be filled up
Speaker 3: in order to be prepared when that next thing comes.
Speaker 3: And so am I good at it? Not all the time,
Speaker 3: but I'm learning the things I need to do so
Speaker 3: I am prepared when I.
Speaker 1: Go into it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say I'm good at telling my kids
Speaker 2: that this is preparation for what's next. Yeah, because that's
Speaker 2: the way I see like my life. I mean, everything
Speaker 2: I'm doing for my kids and it's like, well, what,
Speaker 2: I don't want to do that now? No, no, No,
Speaker 2: We're teaching you so that later on this you're gonna
Speaker 2: you're gonna thank us later for this because we're helping
Speaker 2: you to understand you got to clean up after yourself.
Speaker 2: This will go well for you later in life. I'm
Speaker 2: teaching you to be disciplined with the things that you're
Speaker 2: committing to. This will go well for you later in life.
Speaker 2: And they don't necessarily always love it, But when it
Speaker 2: happens to me, it's very much different than that, because
Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm a fighter in the moment when something's happened,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, I don't like, there's got to be
Speaker 2: a reason this is happening in this moment, and it's
Speaker 2: for right now, and so I'm going to bring everything i.
Speaker 1: Have at it. I'm going to fight it because I
Speaker 1: want to fix things.
Speaker 2: I want to make things right. I'm a fixer, you know.
Speaker 2: I'm not one to sit back and be like, let
Speaker 2: me just really believe and think, what is God trying
Speaker 2: to teach me through this? Because that's that is so
Speaker 2: difficult for me to do. That is such a difficult thing.
Speaker 2: It's easy to sit here and talk about to just say, well,
Speaker 2: just do it. One of the things I love that
Speaker 2: Holly said, though, was you got to do the work.
Speaker 2: You got to do the work, and you got to
Speaker 2: do the work to dive in and even just sit
Speaker 2: back and say, God, what are you showing me? That's
Speaker 2: work for me, because it's not work to just get
Speaker 2: up and I'm fighting, I'm going after this. That's not
Speaker 2: really work for me. The work does come when I
Speaker 2: have to sit back and say, God, Okay, what do
Speaker 2: you want to show me through this?
Speaker 1: What are you trying to teach me through this?
Speaker 2: What are you trying to help me understand that this
Speaker 2: is preparation for And that's tough, that's not easy.
Speaker 3: Well, it's the discipline part of what you said is
Speaker 3: because like I think we want it to be easy,
Speaker 3: but I'm like, the discipline part's hard, Like I don't
Speaker 3: always want to read my Bible every day. Like truthfully,
Speaker 3: I'm like, but you have to like make yourself do
Speaker 3: the things and to see like to see the progress
Speaker 3: and to see it working.
Speaker 4: And so it's not easy. But that's what discipline is.
Speaker 6: Yeah, because normally under pressure, we respond so differently from
Speaker 6: a psychological standpoint. They say it's three responses fight, flight
Speaker 6: or freeze.
Speaker 5: Yep, I would love.
Speaker 6: To know which one where my flight people at fight freeze?
Speaker 5: Yeah, sometimes all three. I don't know what to do.
Speaker 6: But as a leader, I find myself always, like you, Chad,
Speaker 6: wanting to solve it.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 6: And I'm also a worst case scenario person, so I'm
Speaker 6: not trying.
Speaker 8: To solve the actual problem. I'm trying to solve the
Speaker 8: worst case scenario.
Speaker 5: Problem's going to help exists yet and.
Speaker 6: I don't know why, And so I feel like my
Speaker 6: imagination can get away from me and try to go
Speaker 6: into mow. And so I love discernment because it teaches
Speaker 6: us how to surrender even in a fight.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's really it's really kind of cool because the
Speaker 7: story that Holly was preaching from it was like about
Speaker 7: David and everything had been taken his wives, which we're
Speaker 7: not going to talk about that right now, but everything
Speaker 7: has been taken and they were all like at their
Speaker 7: lowest point and they're like super weak, like they were exhausted.
Speaker 4: They couldn't have been ment or cry anymore.
Speaker 7: And then like the strength of the Lord came to
Speaker 7: David and that moment, and so what a beautiful picture
Speaker 7: of even.
Speaker 4: Like when we're going through some really difficult things.
Speaker 7: And I mean, I don't know about everyone, but this
Speaker 7: year I've hit some lows, you know, like if life
Speaker 7: has been life in you know, like in all seriousness,
Speaker 7: like you know, like difficult things like mommy is not easy,
Speaker 7: and then you know, I've experienced loss. I've experienced a
Speaker 7: lot of real things this year. And in those moments,
Speaker 7: like when you're talking about all of those, I think
Speaker 7: I do a little bit of all of it. But
Speaker 7: one thing I do very practically in those moments.
Speaker 4: And I don't know if this.
Speaker 7: Is right or not, but I always give myself a
Speaker 7: deadline to feel whatever I want to feel. So like
Speaker 7: when I'm like and I'm like I can wile out,
Speaker 7: I can say what I want.
Speaker 4: Again, I'm not saying this is best.
Speaker 7: I'm just saying I give myself permission to Maybe it
Speaker 7: is like lamenting is fine, right, but like maybe not
Speaker 7: some of the ways I do it.
Speaker 4: But a normal deadline like how long are we talking? Okay?
Speaker 7: It depends on what it is, okay. So like if
Speaker 7: it's something like say like my son or my husband,
Speaker 7: like make me mad, I'm gonna say, you know what,
Speaker 7: I'm gonna go like, I'm literally gonna go take a
Speaker 7: shower and just sit in my room for an hour
Speaker 7: and then I have to get over it because I
Speaker 7: gotta figure it out. Or if it's you know, a
Speaker 7: friend thing, I might take the night and be as
Speaker 7: angry as I want, and then I'm gonna come back,
Speaker 7: you know, the next day and we're gonna figure it out.
Speaker 4: We got to solve this thing. You've got to move
Speaker 4: on from it.
Speaker 7: Or if it's I don't know, it's so different depending
Speaker 7: on I never.
Speaker 4: Let myself sit in it though, too.
Speaker 7: I'm typically one of the next I'm like, you're ready
Speaker 7: for next twenty four hours or less than twenty four hours,
Speaker 7: just because I know if I let myself go too long, right,
Speaker 7: and it's gonna be really bad for me because then
Speaker 7: I've started a spiral and everyone I'm not gonna be
Speaker 7: able to get out. But then there's like different cycles
Speaker 7: like grief. Yeah, maybe I can just do twenty four hours. Yeah,
Speaker 7: but I'm gonna give myself twenty four hours to feel
Speaker 7: everything and then I'm gonna do something. And then when
Speaker 7: it hits me again like a wave, I'm going to
Speaker 7: give myself another time period to just feel whatever I
Speaker 7: need to feel and give myself permission and grace through
Speaker 7: that season.
Speaker 4: And so but it also in my mind, it.
Speaker 7: Just triggers something like you get to be human, you
Speaker 7: get to feel this, you get to experience this because
Speaker 7: you guys know, like I really am a firm believer
Speaker 7: of I know God gave us emotions, but then he
Speaker 7: tells us things like you slow to anger.
Speaker 4: I'm like, you literally gave me the thing.
Speaker 7: I really believe that I read this devotional years ago
Speaker 7: that just and it's always stuck with me. This is
Speaker 7: maybe like ten to fifteen years ago about like emotions
Speaker 7: are meant to catch our attention. So anytime you feel
Speaker 7: like anger, frustration, like that is a signal to you
Speaker 7: not to act out of that, but to bring that
Speaker 7: to God because they caught your attention for a reason.
Speaker 7: And so that is what I've been really working really
Speaker 7: hard to be able to do. And I feel like
Speaker 7: the strength piece though, that holl I taught about in
Speaker 7: those moments is what's so powerful, because if you take
Speaker 7: everything from me, I might be falling out on the
Speaker 7: floor trying to figure it out. What am I going
Speaker 7: to do because I feel some type of way. But
Speaker 7: I love how she was like, no, God will strengthen you.
Speaker 7: And then David went and he got back what was
Speaker 7: his God had given him.
Speaker 6: I love the example of David because in the Book
Speaker 6: of Psalms you see him always expressing what he's feeling,
Speaker 6: what he's going through and going to God and not
Speaker 6: just saying it to his neighbors. So for me, I
Speaker 6: love to complain. I don't know what my complainers are. Yeah,
Speaker 6: I got a lot of issues.
Speaker 1: Guys.
Speaker 4: Therapy right now.
Speaker 6: I feel so therapeutic. But I just want to complain.
Speaker 6: But when I complain to my wife or my friends,
Speaker 6: that causes.
Speaker 5: Like fear or anxiety to them.
Speaker 6: But when I complain in the presence of God, he
Speaker 6: has answers, so and so, just like you, It's like,
Speaker 6: I'll give myself a moment, but I'm like, okay, God,
Speaker 6: how can we circle up?
Speaker 8: This is what I'm really feeling. He's not afraid of
Speaker 8: my doubt, my anxiety.
Speaker 4: My space for all of that.
Speaker 5: He said, Hey, come to me, you know.
Speaker 8: And that's sometimes the hardest part is just to kind
Speaker 8: of go to God.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, totally. It just seems so simple. You're like,
Speaker 3: we'll know the thing to do, but we just don't
Speaker 3: do it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 7: Wonder why or like Holly said, that's right, ask what's next?
Speaker 4: What now? What would you have me do?
Speaker 5: That's great, what's next?
Speaker 4: Perfect?
Speaker 3: We do have someone in the crowd as well who
Speaker 3: has a takeaway from this message.
Speaker 14: I resonated with this sermon so much because I was
Speaker 14: in the middle of a battle of feeling like I
Speaker 14: wasn't equipped to raise our teenage son and hearing her
Speaker 14: say the enemy is out there and he wants you
Speaker 14: to be too tired for the calling God has put
Speaker 14: on your life really encouraged me. Really shot me in
Speaker 14: the gut, if I'm being honest. But the pandemic really
Speaker 14: rocked our teenager's world. He went through a really deep
Speaker 14: depression and he was this kid that showed up for
Speaker 14: church every weekend. He volunteered, he was baptized at our church,
Speaker 14: and now he is questioning God and it's been a
Speaker 14: really long battle. But just listening to the sermon reminded
Speaker 14: me like I can't give up, Like I've got to
Speaker 14: fight this for him. I have two more sons, so
Speaker 14: I'm going to need that strength for them as well.
Speaker 4: So but yeah, so good. Thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 4: That's so powerful and that's so real, and.
Speaker 7: I know that there's a lot of people that are
Speaker 7: here today that can relate to that, And I just
Speaker 7: thank you for being vulnerable and being in it right now,
Speaker 7: because there's so many of us that are in it
Speaker 7: right now. But I also love how the scripture says
Speaker 7: that the strength comes suddenly, yes, right, And so wherever
Speaker 7: you find yourself, that would be our belief in our
Speaker 7: prayer for you, that the strength will come suddenly right now,
Speaker 7: even in this moment, I believe that you'll be strengthened
Speaker 7: just in the presence of what today means for us
Speaker 7: and through this conversation and just knowing that God will
Speaker 7: provide the strength that you need even in the hardest moments,
Speaker 7: like like what Pastor Holly shared, let's start the sermon amazing.
Speaker 3: All right, well, we have one more sermon that we're
Speaker 3: going to get to talk about, Chad, one of your favorites.
Speaker 2: We're going to Week two of this year where Pastor
Speaker 2: rolled out Do the New You, and everybody's shaking their
Speaker 2: head yes because they all pre ordered past this book.
Speaker 2: Pastor just wrote a new book called Do the New Ye,
Speaker 2: and it's based off of this message and some messages
Speaker 2: beyond this.
Speaker 1: But what I love so much.
Speaker 2: Is this kind of ties in so much to everything
Speaker 2: that we've already been talking about, is how the you
Speaker 2: that really is inside of you, the you that God knows.
Speaker 2: It's not always the me that I know, it's not
Speaker 2: the me that that I see on a daily basis,
Speaker 2: but but the me that God wants me to be
Speaker 2: is inside of me. And it's really all about what
Speaker 2: are the different steps that I.
Speaker 1: Need to take in life to see that happens.
Speaker 2: How do I need to really let that come out
Speaker 2: and walk forward in what God has for me?
Speaker 1: And So if if you missed it, I hope you didn't.
Speaker 2: You can certainly watch it on YouTube, and I would
Speaker 2: encourage you to do that, but we have a little
Speaker 2: recap to show you about it.
Speaker 1: To take a look.
Speaker 11: The way that you have been living that has been
Speaker 11: limiting you. It is a product of the patterns of
Speaker 11: the world that you have copied unconsciously. Until now, we
Speaker 11: almost have elevated authenticity to the level.
Speaker 5: Of ultimate authority in our lives.
Speaker 11: To give ourselves permission not to make progress. What wind
Speaker 11: are you cursing because you avoided dealing with the storms inside?
Speaker 11: The awareness of how I start doesn't have to become
Speaker 11: indicative of where I end.
Speaker 1: I believe that.
Speaker 10: There is a power in Christ for you to decide
Speaker 10: that I don't want to be like what I can
Speaker 10: I'm from.
Speaker 5: I want to be like I was created for.
Speaker 1: In the Lord.
Speaker 5: You are being called this year to do the knew you.
Speaker 11: But he said before you were born, before I formed
Speaker 11: you in the room, I before any of the crap happened.
Speaker 11: God said, I had intimate knowledge of your intellect, and he.
Speaker 10: Brought me that sucks to tell me do it?
Speaker 7: To know you?
Speaker 5: I go back.
Speaker 4: I got to go back.
Speaker 1: I got to go back and watch it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that Pastor was was just sharing before
Speaker 2: before we even knew us, he knew everything. And I
Speaker 2: just feel like I said this just a minute ago,
Speaker 2: but that that has just been flown throughout today, that
Speaker 2: that before we even got to the place that we're
Speaker 2: and God knew that we would be in the place
Speaker 2: that we're in. God set us up to be exactly
Speaker 2: where we're at. He gave us everything we need for
Speaker 2: where we're at today. But one of the things that
Speaker 2: Pastor said is what wind are you cursing?
Speaker 1: And knowing that there's so much.
Speaker 2: Going on and you may be saying, oh, man, I
Speaker 2: hate that I'm in that position, or I hate that
Speaker 2: I'm I'm dealing with this right now, or why are
Speaker 2: they doing that again? Or why kids acting up this
Speaker 2: way again? What's the wind in your life that you're
Speaker 2: cursing that that if you stop to sit back and say,
Speaker 2: wait a.
Speaker 1: Minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, God.
Speaker 2: Is that actually the thing that you're trying to do
Speaker 2: in me right now? Is that the me is that
Speaker 2: is that part of me today? And so everybody's been
Speaker 2: asking questions, here's my question, What's what's the what's the
Speaker 2: wind you're cursing today? Jason, what's the wind in life
Speaker 2: that maybe maybe is something that God's put in your life?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I feel like the winding I'm cursing is I
Speaker 6: always go back to my leadership because I leave so
Speaker 6: many people.
Speaker 5: And maybe you can relate to this.
Speaker 6: There's always something to solve, and I'm like, why do
Speaker 6: I have to carry this weight of solving this problem again?
Speaker 6: You know, why do I have to continuously move this
Speaker 6: up forward again? Because sometimes I feel tired. I feel
Speaker 6: like I don't have the answers. People want solutions, they
Speaker 6: want marriage counseling, They won't They want me to be
Speaker 6: the source, and I feel empty sometimes and so it's like, God,
Speaker 6: why are you bringing me all of this that I
Speaker 6: have to carry the weight? And maybe you feel that
Speaker 6: as a parent, maybe you feel that as a business owner,
Speaker 6: like why am I under this weight? Why am I
Speaker 6: here again looking for solutions?
Speaker 5: And people are coming to me for solutions.
Speaker 8: But I feel like that win has definitely put a
Speaker 8: resilience in me to just keep going. Sometimes I may
Speaker 8: not have the answer, and it's okay to be set
Speaker 8: to tell people, Hey.
Speaker 6: I don't know, but we're gonna pray about it. We're
Speaker 6: gonna believe God for it, and not in a cliche way.
Speaker 6: We're actually going to sit and pray and wait on
Speaker 6: God to be there. And so I feel like that
Speaker 6: win comes in moments that I you know, I hate
Speaker 6: to go all the way back to twenty twenty. I
Speaker 6: hate we're going into a new year, but I feel
Speaker 6: like that what that pressure is as a pastor or
Speaker 6: as a leader, it just kept building and building. Okay,
Speaker 6: how can we solve this problem? And this year will
Speaker 6: be full of problems and I already know it, but
Speaker 6: I believe that, you know, if I continue to keep
Speaker 6: my eyes on the one that called me before he
Speaker 6: knew me, before I knew, he knew I would be here,
Speaker 6: he knew I would be under this weight? And so
Speaker 6: how does guy want me to carry it? And so
Speaker 6: I feel like that win for me, it's just constantly
Speaker 6: solving what's next?
Speaker 4: Love that, Yeah, it's really good.
Speaker 7: I mean there's a few things that come to.
Speaker 4: Mind that you're cursing.
Speaker 7: Yeah, in a kind way. No, I think that, like
Speaker 7: it's maybe not the same because actually I'm one of
Speaker 7: those people that's energized by problems. I more so get
Speaker 7: really annoyed with like what I feel like are barriers,
Speaker 7: you know what I mean, And I just get so
Speaker 7: like frustrated at it, and I'm like really like again,
Speaker 7: or like why is this in the way? This could
Speaker 7: be so great if just this or you know, whatever
Speaker 7: that might look like. And so for me, I think
Speaker 7: that's the thing. But you're right, You've already said a
Speaker 7: lot of what I would say, like since you're asking
Speaker 7: such great questions, Chad and forcing us to now process
Speaker 7: this looking back, it really is beautiful how God uses
Speaker 7: that to really like strengthen you and teach you perseverance
Speaker 7: and not to give up. And you have to push
Speaker 7: through that to achieve this for my glory and you know,
Speaker 7: and that looks like all types of different things, but
Speaker 7: like it is interesting, But like barriers are the thing
Speaker 7: I'm always like for real, But maybe it's because I'm
Speaker 7: like naturally like I like to be a go getter
Speaker 7: and like so in some things I feel like it's
Speaker 7: trying to stop me from doing that.
Speaker 4: I get super frustrated and just like.
Speaker 7: Oh, so for real, we're gonna we don't box that
Speaker 7: we got square up right now?
Speaker 4: Because why why are you you know what I mean?
Speaker 4: But like it is that for me, I think right for.
Speaker 3: Me, I think I the wind that I'm cursing as
Speaker 3: you is. I have these like benchmarks I set for
Speaker 3: myself where I'm like, I should be here by now
Speaker 3: in this area of my life. I should be here
Speaker 3: in this area of my life. So I think for me,
Speaker 3: it's like season of life where I'm in my head, I'm.
Speaker 4: Like, I thought i'd be here. I thought i'd be
Speaker 4: doing this. I thought, you know.
Speaker 3: All these different things, and so I think it's very
Speaker 3: easy for me to get I don't know, not like
Speaker 3: a I guess. I mean, yeah, sometimes I get upset
Speaker 3: about it, but I think like for me, I'm I'm
Speaker 3: trying to figure out, well, one, these are self imposed
Speaker 3: deadlines I've put on myself. Yeah, it's not like anything
Speaker 3: God was like you were supposed to do this. I'm like, no,
Speaker 3: this is like in my head what I thought. But
Speaker 3: I think you said earlier, like there's so much that
Speaker 3: I'm like he's teaching me in this season, and there's
Speaker 3: so many things that I thought I wanted when I
Speaker 3: was twenty, and I'm like, thank god I didn't get
Speaker 3: that when I was twenty.
Speaker 4: I would have ruined it. So that to me, I
Speaker 4: think is where I struggle the most.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's great, I would agree with that. I
Speaker 2: It's a both then for me because in it Pastor
Speaker 2: talked all about putting off your old self. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: so then I always feel like, well, if I'm putting
Speaker 2: off my old self, then I'm growing toward toward my
Speaker 2: new self. But like you said, it's all about the
Speaker 2: timing and the timelines. And for me, I'm like, so,
Speaker 2: I'm not there yet though, I'm not to what I
Speaker 2: wanted to be. I'm trying to put off the old self,
Speaker 2: but I just can't get there yet. And so when
Speaker 2: I'm looking at these markers like you said that, it
Speaker 2: was like, Man, I thought, by now this would look
Speaker 2: this certain way. I thought by now i'd be done
Speaker 2: with that. I thought by now i'd be hitting that
Speaker 2: gym five to six times a week, three times a week.
Speaker 1: What is the problem?
Speaker 4: Yeah, all right.
Speaker 2: But even in those little things, though, is when I
Speaker 2: start to get discouraged, because I feel like, man, well, God, like,
Speaker 2: if I'm building and working towards who You've created me
Speaker 2: to be, if I'm trying to keep you at the
Speaker 2: center of my life, then I thought things would look
Speaker 2: a little bit different by now, and so that can
Speaker 2: be discouraged, But it really is trusting that, like we've
Speaker 2: been saying, that God placed me right here.
Speaker 1: He knew that I'd be exactly where I.
Speaker 2: He knew that I'd be in the position that I
Speaker 2: am right with the people, that I am right with
Speaker 2: the people that were not. Just all of the different
Speaker 2: situations that you find yourself in and believing that God,
Speaker 2: this was your plan, this is what you had emotional law.
Speaker 6: I love what all bringing up because I felt like
Speaker 6: this year I had to abandon the image of who
Speaker 6: I thought I needed to be.
Speaker 5: I had to abandon the image and I go back.
Speaker 6: This year I got the opportunity to preach in a prison.
Speaker 6: We do a prison ministry here at Elevation Church. I
Speaker 6: think it's incredible and preaching the inmates that are, you know,
Speaker 6: just locked up for life sentences or twelve years. I mean,
Speaker 6: what do you say to them? You know, how do
Speaker 6: you encourage them in such a hard place. But this
Speaker 6: year I experienced the loss of my mom and sharing
Speaker 6: with them that I had to abandon the image that
Speaker 6: God was going to do what I thought he was
Speaker 6: going to do in my life. But once again he
Speaker 6: was doing something in me and I could stand and
Speaker 6: share my pain on my grief with them and say, hey,
Speaker 6: God still can be faithful in a difficult situation.
Speaker 4: That's great.
Speaker 8: So the image of me this year was like, I'm
Speaker 8: gonna be strong, I'm gonna be a great leader, I'm
Speaker 8: gonna do all these incredible things. But guy saw me
Speaker 8: being more vulnerable that extending more hope through the Gospel
Speaker 8: of Jesus Christ and not through my life, but what
Speaker 8: he's done so abandon The image for me was how
Speaker 8: the new me kind of came forth, but I didn't
Speaker 8: think it was coming forth through something so hard.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, as we wrap up this year, I just
Speaker 2: can't think of a better sermon to just reflect on.
Speaker 1: When you think back to.
Speaker 2: The beginning of the year when you first heard this
Speaker 2: and it was like, Okay, this year, this is what.
Speaker 1: I'm going to do.
Speaker 2: Then if I'm going to do the new me, this
Speaker 2: is the thing that I'm Since you start putting things
Speaker 2: in place, and now we're at the end of the
Speaker 2: year and we're like, wait, wait, but here's one thing
Speaker 2: that I love. The pastor said in the message, she
Speaker 2: said it is in obedience, that potential is realized.
Speaker 1: And I think that as we.
Speaker 2: Look back this year, if we can look back and say, God, man,
Speaker 2: it definitely doesn't look like I thought it was going
Speaker 2: to ruk. But what I can say is I've tried
Speaker 2: to be obedient. I've tried to just follow what it
Speaker 2: is that you've put in front of me, step by step.
Speaker 2: If you've closed the door, then you've closed the door.
Speaker 2: If you've opened the door, I've tried to walk through it.
Speaker 5: God.
Speaker 2: I've tried to make new habits and just understanding that
Speaker 2: there's grace for those that are just saying God, I
Speaker 2: just want to.
Speaker 1: Be obedient to you this year.
Speaker 2: And it may not have ended up the way that
Speaker 2: I thought, but if you're being obedient, Pastor said, that's
Speaker 2: where your potential is realized.
Speaker 1: And I really believe that.
Speaker 2: God respects that, and He's like, man, I see you trying.
Speaker 2: And as we look forward to a new year, it's
Speaker 2: exciting just to believe God.
Speaker 1: For what's next.
Speaker 2: You know, Hey, maybe those things didn't happen this year,
Speaker 2: but God, all in your timing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely happen. That's right.
Speaker 3: And I think when you do look back on this year,
Speaker 3: whether you know we're doing this here as a church,
Speaker 3: but like collectively, like look back on your own life,
Speaker 3: like what has God done for you?
Speaker 4: And I think hopefully it'll get as excited for.
Speaker 3: What He going to do next year as we continue
Speaker 3: to press in to Him and you know, keep circling.
Speaker 4: Some of the same stungs at a higher level.
Speaker 1: Exactly.
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Speaker 5: God bless you.