Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast.
Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2: Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving
Speaker 2: in your life.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the message.
Speaker 2: Thank you Lord for breath and my lungs today.
Speaker 1: Thank you Lord for waking me up this morning. Thank
Speaker 1: you Lord for feeding me. Thank you Lord for keeping me.
Speaker 1: Thank you Lord for loving me. God is so good.
Speaker 2: I want to call your attention to a few things
Speaker 2: remain standing. For one moment, we'll be beginning our.
Speaker 1: Elevation Night's tour very very shortly. Let's clap our hands
Speaker 1: and thank God for that. I want to see you.
Speaker 2: If you're near Fort Worth, Texas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, It'sburgh, Pennsylvania, Toronto, Canada, Detroit, Michigan, Hartford, Connecticut.
Speaker 1: Newark, New Jersey, or Washington, DC.
Speaker 2: Go to Elevation Nights dot com.
Speaker 1: Limited tickets are available.
Speaker 2: That'll be Tuesday, February twenty fifth through Thursday, March sixth
Speaker 2: I can't wait to see you. We will be singing
Speaker 2: all kinds of songs and we'll be preaching and.
Speaker 1: Be sharing in God's presence together, and I'm grateful.
Speaker 2: I also want to let you know that that song
Speaker 2: we were just singing, I know A name is available
Speaker 2: anywhere you stream.
Speaker 1: Music, so you can get it and sing it and
Speaker 1: just walk around the.
Speaker 2: House singing the name of Jesus. Sing it off key,
Speaker 2: on key, sing it loud song, whatever you got, just
Speaker 2: call on his name. I was reading in the Psalms
Speaker 2: this week where David said when I kept silent, the
Speaker 2: attack continued, And I think that's what the devil wants
Speaker 2: to do sometimes, that's shut us up inside of our
Speaker 2: own heads, in our own minds.
Speaker 1: So even just all of y'all that sit there in.
Speaker 2: Church and don't sing anything you're missing out, open your
Speaker 2: mouth wide and I will fill it.
Speaker 1: Say it the Lord.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna give you one more chance to praise them
Speaker 2: before I move into this world.
Speaker 3: Is today.
Speaker 1: Wordy to God? Now?
Speaker 2: Today might just be the most important day that we've
Speaker 2: ever been here, because this is our first sermon of
Speaker 2: our official twentieth year.
Speaker 1: Of ministry as a church.
Speaker 2: I want to share with you something from Luke chapter
Speaker 2: twenty two, And as you find that in your Bible,
Speaker 2: or just fasten your eyes on the screen for a moment,
Speaker 2: and I call your attention to it.
Speaker 1: I want you to just get in your posture like
Speaker 1: you would get in if something important was about to
Speaker 1: happen in your life. Just your physical.
Speaker 2: Posture, your emotional posture, if something important was about to
Speaker 2: happen in your life. Even if you're watching this at home,
Speaker 2: or even if you're watching this in a I don't know.
Speaker 2: You might not even made it out the bed today.
Speaker 2: And yet I want you to just get in the
Speaker 2: posture that you would get in if something important was
Speaker 2: about to happen in your life.
Speaker 1: And listen to this.
Speaker 2: In Luke chapter twenty two, verses thirty one through thirty four,
Speaker 2: this is Jesus speaking Simon. Simon, Satan has asked to
Speaker 2: sift you as we. In fact, he's asked to sift.
Speaker 1: All of you as we.
Speaker 2: But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith
Speaker 2: may not fail, and when you have turned back, strengthen
Speaker 2: your brothers.
Speaker 1: But he replied, Lord, I'm ready. I'm ready. Let's go.
Speaker 2: I'm ready to go with you to prison and to death.
Speaker 2: Jesus answered, I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows.
Speaker 1: Today you will deny three times that you know me.
Speaker 2: Very heavy text, but let's focus on verse thirty two
Speaker 2: for a moment. One more time. I have prayed for
Speaker 2: you simon, that your faith may not fail, and when
Speaker 2: you have turned back.
Speaker 1: Strengthen your brothers.
Speaker 2: I want to talk to you about prayer for a
Speaker 2: few moments today. I want to speak to you about
Speaker 2: prayer for a few moments today, but not just generic prayer.
Speaker 2: I want to speak to you about a specific prayer
Speaker 2: for your life. And the title of my message today
Speaker 2: is the prayer that repairs.
Speaker 1: The prayer that repairs, And as.
Speaker 2: We talk about it today, I believe the Lord will
Speaker 2: do a deep work in your soul.
Speaker 1: Will you pray with me one more time? Father?
Speaker 2: Fix it in Jesus's name, Amen, and you may be
Speaker 2: seated him.
Speaker 1: Y'all like that, Father, fix it? Somebody shout, Lord, fix it? Yeah,
Speaker 1: put it in his hands now.
Speaker 2: I don't always share with you why I picked certain
Speaker 2: scriptures that I want to preach, but if it's helpful,
Speaker 2: I do, And today, I think is one of those
Speaker 2: occasions where letting you know why I selected this text
Speaker 2: may help you receive it a little bit better. I
Speaker 2: want to help you hear the voice of God more
Speaker 2: in your daily life. I want to help you tune
Speaker 2: in to.
Speaker 1: God's voice when he talks.
Speaker 2: I don't want you to be confused by all the
Speaker 2: noise that's surrounding you and never really get to know
Speaker 2: the God who made you. I said a whole lot
Speaker 2: in that one sentence. I don't want you to be
Speaker 2: so confused by the noise that's surrounding you that you
Speaker 2: never know the God who made you, and never know
Speaker 2: his voice. Jesus said one time, my sheep know my
Speaker 2: voice and they hear me, but it's hard to hear
Speaker 2: from God with so much noise all around. So I
Speaker 2: was going through my Bible just thinking about how great
Speaker 2: it would be to begin this twentieth year of ministry
Speaker 2: in our church to show you about different people who
Speaker 2: heard from God, different people that God spoke to, and
Speaker 2: it happens all through the Bible, so it's kind of
Speaker 2: hard to narrow down. I thought it would take me
Speaker 2: twenty more years to preach every time God spoke to somebody,
Speaker 2: And then I came across an interesting selection of scriptures
Speaker 2: of seven times that God spoke to people in a
Speaker 2: special way. Seven times were either in the Old Testament
Speaker 2: or the New Testament, God, the Holy Spirit or Jesus
Speaker 2: spoke to somebody and said their name, not once, but twice.
Speaker 2: I thought it was interesting. It reminded me of how
Speaker 2: sometimes you have to do that to get your kids attention.
Speaker 1: You know, if I.
Speaker 2: Say Abby, Abby, the second one is because your gracy
Speaker 2: Abrams is way too loud upstairs and you can't hear
Speaker 2: me talking over it. If I say Graham, Graham, it
Speaker 2: means I don't care that you can't pause your video
Speaker 2: game get down here right now. Especially if I say
Speaker 2: your middle name. Your middle name is like a cussword.
Speaker 2: If I have to call your middle name, that means
Speaker 2: you have slipped to the point that we have resorted
Speaker 2: to having to say the second part of your name
Speaker 2: to make sure that you understand.
Speaker 1: What's your middle name? Dave Dave Rick.
Speaker 2: So if they said Dave Rick, oh Rick is trouble
Speaker 2: in the same way, I wondered, are there are times
Speaker 2: where God has to get his children's attention, and so
Speaker 2: he has to speak in such a personal way because
Speaker 2: something so pivotal is happening that he doesn't want them
Speaker 2: to miss it.
Speaker 1: I have a feeling.
Speaker 2: There are a few thousand under the sound of my
Speaker 2: voice today who need to hear the voice of the
Speaker 2: Lord in this season of your life, because this is
Speaker 2: a pivotal.
Speaker 1: Moment for you.
Speaker 2: I'd like to remind you something about pivotal moments in each.
Speaker 1: Of our lives. They're not big, but they make all
Speaker 1: the difference.
Speaker 2: To illustrate, I want you all to zoom out with
Speaker 2: the camera and just show how quickly I can pivot
Speaker 2: almost where you didn't notice. And I've used this to
Speaker 2: illustrate before, both in leadership and in life, how sometimes
Speaker 2: you can make a small adjustment. But if I were
Speaker 2: to make this small adjustment in my stance through pivoting
Speaker 2: on my back foot and to walk that way, the
Speaker 2: number of steps that I took would multiply the importance
Speaker 2: of the decision that I made to pivot. What I
Speaker 2: mean is it doesn't make much difference as long as
Speaker 2: I'm up here, But the longer I walked in that direct,
Speaker 2: I would end up in such a different destination, all
Speaker 2: because of a pivot. My oldest son, Elijah, my middle
Speaker 2: son Graham, my youngest.
Speaker 1: Abby are all here today with us.
Speaker 2: We're all happy, We're all happy because Elijah is home
Speaker 2: from college for a minute.
Speaker 1: We're happy because Abby stays happy.
Speaker 2: We're happy because Graham is on the second row with
Speaker 2: his buddies who are back to back state champions in
Speaker 2: the sport of wrestling.
Speaker 1: I was of yesterday. He asked for that shout out
Speaker 1: and I did it.
Speaker 2: And my oldest son, Elijah, was asking me recently about
Speaker 2: someone that he follows on social media. It's not a
Speaker 2: very big personality, so don't try to guess who I'm
Speaker 2: talking about. But the person is minor league famous, and
Speaker 2: they made a big statement or commitment to Jesus Christ, and.
Speaker 1: Then they went back on it.
Speaker 2: And they went back on it after about two years
Speaker 2: of being very extreme, and the person was a very
Speaker 2: worldly personality, and then they became a very godly personality.
Speaker 2: And when I say godly, I don't mean like you're
Speaker 2: supposed to be where you're receiving the grace of God
Speaker 2: and growing in the grace of God. They were telling
Speaker 2: everybody why they were better than everybody else for those
Speaker 2: two years, and the moment I saw them begin to
Speaker 2: boisterously declare and boldly infer and proclaim that they would
Speaker 2: never sin in these.
Speaker 1: Ways like other people do. Ever again, and they would
Speaker 1: never struggle with what other people struggle with. Again. I've
Speaker 1: told my son Elijah, watch out for the big.
Speaker 2: Swings, because anytime you see something swing that far this way,
Speaker 2: guess what Newton doesn't have to be here to tell
Speaker 2: us is got to come back.
Speaker 1: Be careful for the big swing.
Speaker 2: And I begin to tell them that even though it's
Speaker 2: sad that this person was in the faith and now
Speaker 2: publicly says I reject the faith, even though they said that,
Speaker 2: that doesn't mean that the faith that you have is invalid.
Speaker 1: It just means that you need to think steps not swings.
Speaker 1: Think steps not swings.
Speaker 2: And sometimes when it comes to hearing God's voice and
Speaker 2: knowing God's voice, you'll see people who they swing really
Speaker 2: hard and really far. God spoke to me, and I'm
Speaker 2: never gonna wear pink again. Why I never gonna wear
Speaker 2: pink again? Because the Lord told me that purple is
Speaker 2: the color of royalty. It's like, this is a little
Speaker 2: extreme for you to be eliminating colors from your wardrobes.
Speaker 1: God spoke to me, and I'm never again. I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna drink out of any plastic bottles.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna take communion every morning at four, but I'm
Speaker 2: gonna do at four am. I'm gonna work out at
Speaker 2: three am, and I'm I'm gonna get up and I'm
Speaker 2: a pray.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna pray at two am.
Speaker 2: Then I'm gonna read my Bible at three and then
Speaker 2: I'm gonna take communion at four. But I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: take it out of plastic cup because that's bad.
Speaker 1: For the environment. And we're pink. I'm wear purple because
Speaker 1: it's the color of royalty.
Speaker 2: And when I see somebody swinging that hard in anything,
Speaker 2: a diet or discipleship, it scares me a little bit.
Speaker 2: Sometimes I think that a step is better than a swing.
Speaker 2: Don't get me wrong. Dramatic decisions happen in the presence
Speaker 2: of God. These moments where we say I'm leaving Egypt,
Speaker 2: these moments where we say I'm no longer going to
Speaker 2: live in this compromise, those moments where we say I'm
Speaker 2: stepping into this with my whole heart, those moments where
Speaker 2: we say I'm burning the bridges behind me because I
Speaker 2: can't keep playing with this. Those moments are important. Ah,
Speaker 2: But think steps, not swings. I think pivots those little moves.
Speaker 1: In your life that can lead to great purpose.
Speaker 2: I try to build my ten minutes of my sermon
Speaker 2: that I start with well enough that if you had
Speaker 2: to leave, you would have already gotten something worth coming
Speaker 2: out in the rain for.
Speaker 1: And I think you just got it. And yet we
Speaker 1: haven't even touched this text.
Speaker 2: The tension in this text is difficult for me to
Speaker 2: communicate to you through just reading the four verses that
Speaker 2: I selected. This moment in Jesus's life is pivotal. He's
Speaker 2: going to the cross. It's the Thursday before the Friday
Speaker 2: where he will die, and as such, he's preparing hold
Speaker 2: that word.
Speaker 1: He's preparing his disciples for what they will face.
Speaker 2: And yet there's really no way to prepare them for
Speaker 2: the loss of his physical presence. There's really no way
Speaker 2: for him to prepare them for the pressure of watching
Speaker 2: him die like a criminal. There's really no way to
Speaker 2: prepare them for the soul searching that will happen when
Speaker 2: they watch him laid in Joseph of Arimathea's grave. There's
Speaker 2: really no preparing them for this, and so he has
Speaker 2: a meal with them, the Passover meal. It was a
Speaker 2: Jewish tradition but Jesus was using it for a purpose.
Speaker 2: And as he gets ready to serve the bread, he
Speaker 2: breaks it at the table, And as he gets ready
Speaker 2: to serve the wine, he pours it, and he says,
Speaker 2: this is symbolic of.
Speaker 1: What you're about to watch happen. He's preparing them.
Speaker 2: As he pours the wine, he says, this is my
Speaker 2: blood poured out for you, the blood of my covenant.
Speaker 2: As he breaks the bread, he says, this is my
Speaker 2: body broken for you, and he feeds them and for
Speaker 2: a moment. If you were just to look in on
Speaker 2: this scene without any knowledge of the background, or without
Speaker 2: any knowledge of what's coming next, you would think this
Speaker 2: is a very happy moment, because the Bible says that
Speaker 2: Jesus looked at his disciplesdaring this and said, I've been
Speaker 2: looking forward to sharing this meal with you. In fact,
Speaker 2: he says, I've eagerly anticipated sharing this meal with you.
Speaker 2: I have eagerly longed for this moment with you. And
Speaker 2: they're at the table. The Bible says that Jesus and
Speaker 2: his disciples reclined. So if we were to just walk
Speaker 2: in and watch the scene, cut out a sequence on mute,
Speaker 2: we would think this was a family meal, but it's
Speaker 2: now commonly known as the Last Supper because it's the
Speaker 2: last time that they'll eat with him like this, and
Speaker 2: think about everything that's happening at the table, Jesus is
Speaker 2: sharing with them that he's about to suffer. So now
Speaker 2: put the two together, supper and suffering all at the
Speaker 2: same table. Jesus and Judas all at the same table,
Speaker 2: the bread and the breaking all at the same table,
Speaker 2: the wine and the pouring all at the same table.
Speaker 2: And on one hand, this is a happy moment for Jesus.
Speaker 2: I've looked forward to sharing this with you. I've looked
Speaker 2: forward to this moment. I came for this moment. This
Speaker 2: is the moment I was sent because as they're preparing
Speaker 2: to eat the past over lamb. He is what they're
Speaker 2: about to eat. He is the Lamb of God, slain
Speaker 2: from the foundations of the world. He was prepared for this.
Speaker 2: They weren't. He was looking forward to this, but they
Speaker 2: could not know to anticipate it. Even if mentally they
Speaker 2: understood it, emotionally they couldn't comprehend it.
Speaker 1: So it's a happy moment, but it's a heavy moment.
Speaker 1: And isn't it crazy?
Speaker 2: How a lot of times the heaviest moments and the
Speaker 2: happiest moments are happening all at the same table. If
Speaker 2: there's one thing I could get across to you about
Speaker 2: life as a follower of Christ is that you would
Speaker 2: not be surprised to find that sometimes the happiest times
Speaker 2: and the heaviest times happen at the same time. See,
Speaker 2: it's not like we just have happy seasons and heavy seasons.
Speaker 1: It might be a.
Speaker 2: Season for you where you're sitting at a table surrounded
Speaker 2: by all of the things that you love, carrying all
Speaker 2: of the things that you must endure. There are times
Speaker 2: in all of our lives, especially as grown ups, where
Speaker 2: we have to learn to take the happiness and the
Speaker 2: heaviness in the same hour. The happiness and the heaviness
Speaker 2: in the same seat. Everybody in this room, everybody watching
Speaker 2: me online, has something to be happy about and something
Speaker 2: to be heavy about.
Speaker 1: And the thing about prayer I told you I'm going
Speaker 1: to talk to you.
Speaker 2: About prayer today is that it helps me not to
Speaker 2: let the happiness hide itself behind the heaviness. So it
Speaker 2: means that I can carry heavy situations in my heart
Speaker 2: and still find happiness in Jesus.
Speaker 1: Because I prayed my way through.
Speaker 2: The heaviness to the point that I realized He's in
Speaker 2: the heaviness and he's in the happiness. In fact, if
Speaker 2: I could take it one step further, let me tell
Speaker 2: you why I love Jesus. He is my happiness in
Speaker 2: my heaviness. He is the one that is seated at
Speaker 2: the table, and even while the bread is breaking, I
Speaker 2: know it's in his hands. So that's why I lift
Speaker 2: my hands, because I know my life is in his hands.
Speaker 2: Happiness and heaviness all at the same table.
Speaker 1: Don't you see it in your life? Aren't you a
Speaker 1: witness of it? Today?
Speaker 2: You got that one thing in your life that you're
Speaker 2: happy about and proud of, and that one thing in
Speaker 2: your life that you don't really want to talk about,
Speaker 2: that one thing in your life that you're right now hoping.
Speaker 1: I don't mention it that right now.
Speaker 2: If I started listing stuff, you would hope that I
Speaker 2: would skip the.
Speaker 1: Thing on the list.
Speaker 2: I mean, I just got done with Valentine's Day. So
Speaker 2: there's a lot of people who come to church on
Speaker 2: the Sunday after Valentine's Day just kind of bracing for
Speaker 2: a fight, thinking about all God, if he talks about
Speaker 2: one more time that God is preparing somebody for you,
Speaker 2: and God is preparing you for somebody, and God's going
Speaker 2: to send the right person when you're.
Speaker 1: Ready and touch three people and say get ready.
Speaker 2: And if you make me touch anybody today, they better
Speaker 2: be my husband in about six months, because I can't
Speaker 2: take one more sermon while you talk about that thing
Speaker 2: in my life.
Speaker 1: But yet there's a married person going.
Speaker 2: I hope he doesn't talk about how to get along
Speaker 2: in the house because watch this, and now I'm a
Speaker 2: shift on you.
Speaker 1: She's not even here with me today. We're not even
Speaker 1: speaking right now.
Speaker 2: And that doesn't mean that you're not happy anywhere in
Speaker 2: your life. Just because you're heavy somewhere doesn't mean you're
Speaker 2: not happy anywhere. And just because you're happy somewhere doesn't.
Speaker 1: Mean you're not heavy anywhere. I wonder if he gives
Speaker 1: me that for a balance.
Speaker 2: I wonder if the happy things are to lift me
Speaker 2: up so I don't quit, and the heavy things are
Speaker 2: to keep me grounded so I don't get prideful. And
Speaker 2: I just wish for you today, knowing that happiness and
Speaker 2: heaviness always come in pairs. Walk in Nordstrom and ask
Speaker 2: them to sell you one shoe for the price of half.
Speaker 2: See if they'll do it. See if they'll sell you
Speaker 2: one shoe. Now, I don't really want the left one.
Speaker 2: I just want the right one. They're gonna say, sir,
Speaker 2: they come in a pair. You got to buy them both.
Speaker 2: And when it comes to your calling and your relationship
Speaker 2: with God, you don't get to pick the right one
Speaker 2: and leave the left one and pay half price. The
Speaker 2: happiness and the heaviness go hand in hand, and this
Speaker 2: will help you to understand why sometimes you're having a
Speaker 2: great moment, somewhere in that moment you still feel kind
Speaker 2: of down, and then you think, well, I'm not rightful. No,
Speaker 2: it's not that you're not grateful. You're just grown up.
Speaker 2: And to be grown up is to take responsibility. And
Speaker 2: to take responsibility is to be like Jesus, and to
Speaker 2: sit at a table knowing that John, who loves you
Speaker 2: and Judas who will betray you, are both close enough
Speaker 2: to touch at the same table. To sit at the table
Speaker 2: and to know that my desire for freedom and my
Speaker 2: struggle with the addiction are at the same table. To
Speaker 2: sit at the table and to feast on Jesus, knowing
Speaker 2: that my hope for my future and my regret about
Speaker 2: the past are sitting at the same table. To know
Speaker 2: that my excitement about what God is calling me to
Speaker 2: do and my fear about whether I'm going to be
Speaker 2: able to do it are sitting at the same table.
Speaker 2: Who am I talking to? Come, well, let's have a
Speaker 2: little table talk today, because into this context, Jesus speaks Simon, Simon,
Speaker 2: and he says his name twice. Now we'll do a
Speaker 2: little quiz, okay, and I'll let all of those online
Speaker 2: play along. There are seven times in the Bible that
Speaker 2: God or Jesus and Jesus is God, but I'm saying
Speaker 2: Old Testament where God speaks in different ways, or in
Speaker 2: the New Testament where Jesus would just lean over and tell.
Speaker 1: You because he's physically present.
Speaker 2: There are seven times, and this is one of them
Speaker 2: where someone is called by their name, but they're called twice. Now,
Speaker 2: first of all, put your name in the comments real quick,
Speaker 2: and put it twice, all right, And say your name
Speaker 2: out loud in the room.
Speaker 1: And say it twice. Chris, Chris, say your name out
Speaker 1: loud and say it twice.
Speaker 2: Brad, Brad, say your first name and middle name, like
Speaker 2: you're in trouble, Like your mom has got a switch.
Speaker 2: Your mama didn't break off a switch. If your mom
Speaker 2: didn't break off a switch.
Speaker 1: That was child abuse.
Speaker 2: You need a switch sometimes we need to get back
Speaker 2: to these switch.
Speaker 1: I ain't gonna say nothing else about it. Touch your
Speaker 1: neighbors say get back to the switches. That meant nothing.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna see on the comments, can you guess? Can
Speaker 1: you guess one of the others?
Speaker 2: I'm on YouTube right now, live and if you're watching later,
Speaker 2: don't google it, do not chat GPT it. If you
Speaker 2: chat GPT my sermon question you goes to H E
Speaker 2: L L. This is not an open book test.
Speaker 1: Just guess. I won't make fun of you if you
Speaker 1: get it wrong. That's right. Saul Saul, not just Saul Saul, Saul?
Speaker 1: What does? What does sal? What is Saul doing? This
Speaker 1: so important that he has to get named named twice?
Speaker 1: Called called by Saul Saul, not just saw saw saw.
Speaker 2: He's riding on his horse going to persecute Christians, and
Speaker 2: Jesus is about to turn him into Paul. You ever
Speaker 2: heard of Paul? You ever heard of Philippians? Four thirteen. Paul,
Speaker 2: I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
Speaker 2: Well before he was.
Speaker 1: Paul, y'all, he was saw Saul, Saul, Saul.
Speaker 2: He called his name to get his attention. He knocked
Speaker 2: him off his horse to get his attention. He blinded
Speaker 2: him with a light to get his attention. He restored
Speaker 2: his sight and gave him a vision. And the gospel
Speaker 2: came to the Gentiles because it was a pivotal moment.
Speaker 2: Saw Saul put it in the chat, Saw Saul, what
Speaker 2: else y'all got? Why y'all are guests and touch your neighbors?
Speaker 2: Say better, call Saul? What else you got?
Speaker 1: Guns n' roses?
Speaker 2: Oh Moses, Moses, I worldly pray for me, Moses, Moses.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 2: Take off your shoes, Moses, because you're about to pivot.
Speaker 2: Take off your shoes, Moses, because the place you stand
Speaker 2: is holy. This is a pivotal moment. This is a
Speaker 2: personal moment, Moses. When God calls your name once, that's personal.
Speaker 2: When he calls your name twice, that's pivotal. When he
Speaker 2: calls your name once is powerful. When he calls your
Speaker 2: name twice, it's a pattern. There are some of you
Speaker 2: under the sound of my voice, and God is trying.
Speaker 1: To get your attention. He is repeating patterns in your life.
Speaker 2: And it's not just that you keep seeing range rovers
Speaker 2: on the road so you think you need to buy one.
Speaker 1: It's deeper than that. God keeps sending you the same
Speaker 1: message different ways. Saul, Saul, Moses, Moses. Have you got
Speaker 1: another one? Samuel? Samuel.
Speaker 2: That's my favorite of them, because this is when he
Speaker 2: was learning to hear God's voice, and he was a
Speaker 2: little boy.
Speaker 1: And some of you, since you've been a child, God
Speaker 1: has been calling you, and he keeps calling you, and some.
Speaker 2: Of you you even spent half of your adult life
Speaker 2: running from the God that was calling.
Speaker 1: You when you were a little kid.
Speaker 2: And he kept calling, and he kept calling, and he
Speaker 2: kept calling.
Speaker 1: Samuel, Samuel.
Speaker 2: He had to come back to him and say it
Speaker 2: again because the first time he thought it was the
Speaker 2: voice of his mentor Eli, So he said it again, Samuel, Samuel,
Speaker 2: you got another one? Martha Martha, Martha, Martha. I didn't
Speaker 2: think anybody would get that, did you get that?
Speaker 1: Nicole?
Speaker 2: Nicole Nicole Martha Martha Luke Chapter ten.
Speaker 1: Talking about Martha Martha, You're worried and distracted.
Speaker 2: You keep trying to do dishes while your sister Mary
Speaker 2: is having a devotion.
Speaker 1: Martha Martha.
Speaker 2: I know why he said her name twice because she
Speaker 2: wasn't listening the first time.
Speaker 1: She was too busy running the vacuum cleaner.
Speaker 2: Martha Martha, Martha middle name.
Speaker 1: I don't want to spend time with you. I want
Speaker 1: to be with you.
Speaker 2: I don't want you to just run around so consumed
Speaker 2: by what you can do for me. So I'm gonna
Speaker 2: say your name twice because I'm more concerned about your
Speaker 2: person than your plans.
Speaker 1: What's another one? Well, that one doesn't count. I guess
Speaker 1: that makes eight. My God, my God.
Speaker 2: But it's technically true because when Jesus was on the cross,
Speaker 2: he was God. So God said to God, my God,
Speaker 2: my God, by and prepare that one.
Speaker 1: Is that Orangeburg? In the house is Orangeburg? In the house, Ormsburg, Orangeburn.
Speaker 1: I got so much family in Orangeburg. I do.
Speaker 2: The one I really struggle with this Abraham, Abraham, because
Speaker 2: that's where God called Abraham and said, go to the
Speaker 2: place I will show you. And then when Abraham set out,
Speaker 2: he didn't give him.
Speaker 1: The exact GPS pen.
Speaker 2: You know how sometimes you just feel like you're taking
Speaker 2: a step, not a swing, just a step. And when
Speaker 2: he called him, he called him Abraham. But then he
Speaker 2: called him to do something very difficult. Now sometimes and
Speaker 2: you're like, God will call you to give up something
Speaker 2: you love. God will call you to give up something
Speaker 2: that you love. Usually when we come to God in prayer,
Speaker 2: we ask him to take away the things that we
Speaker 2: don't like.
Speaker 1: Anyway.
Speaker 2: See, prayer is two ways. It's not just me talking
Speaker 2: to God, it's me listening.
Speaker 1: When I was.
Speaker 2: Taught to pray, I was mostly taught to pray a
Speaker 2: prayer list.
Speaker 1: So I start naming all the things that I want
Speaker 1: God to do, like I'm giving him his checklist for the.
Speaker 2: Day and the date I need him to do it by.
Speaker 1: But prayer is not just listing, it's listening. It's listening, and.
Speaker 2: Sometimes what God says is hard to hear. When he
Speaker 2: said Abraham, Abraham, now in this specific case, God had
Speaker 2: called Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, that he
Speaker 2: waited twenty five years for. He tied him down and
Speaker 2: he was going to plunge the knife in obedience to God.
Speaker 2: And just as the knife was raised, there was a
Speaker 2: pause that led to provision, and God said, don't lay
Speaker 2: a hand on the boy. There's a ram in the bush.
Speaker 2: You passed the test. I didn't want you to kill
Speaker 2: your son. I wanted you to trust me. And he
Speaker 2: sacrificed the ram instead. And at that pivotal moment, just
Speaker 2: before Abraham was about to do it, God said, Abraham, Abraham,
Speaker 2: and he called it twice.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: I think we ought to go through all of these
Speaker 2: over the next few weeks in church. Each of these times, Abraham, Abraham, Moses, Moses.
Speaker 2: I didn't even tell you about Jacob, Jacob, but I
Speaker 2: will how he was going to Egypt to see his
Speaker 2: son Joseph, that he thought was dead, and he had
Speaker 2: so given up on Joseph being alive that he had
Speaker 2: resigned himself to the despair. And God had to call
Speaker 2: his name twice, Jacob Jacob, to tell him that Joseph's
Speaker 2: own hands would close his eyes. That the thing that
Speaker 2: you thought was dead is very much alive. I said,
Speaker 2: The thing that you thought was dead was very much alive.
Speaker 2: I said that the thing that you thought was dead
Speaker 2: is very much alive.
Speaker 1: Jacob, Jacob.
Speaker 2: And today we find ourselves in a pivotal moment for
Speaker 2: Jesus in a pivotal moment for an apostle named Simon Peter,
Speaker 2: and don't you wonder why in Luke chapter twenty two,
Speaker 2: verse thirty one, and I'm almost there, Holly, Holly, Holly,
Speaker 2: I'm almost to the part that inspired me to get
Speaker 2: up and preach this text.
Speaker 1: Because as Jesus is.
Speaker 2: Speaking to all of the disciples, telling them, I must suffer,
Speaker 2: while he is.
Speaker 1: Telling them you are going to rule one.
Speaker 2: Day, while he is preparing them for what the cross
Speaker 2: and the kingdom will be, he pivots his attention from
Speaker 2: the entire table the twelve to one man, and when
Speaker 2: he calls his name, he says, verse thirty one, Luke,
Speaker 2: chapter twenty two, right back where we started, Simon Simon. Question,
Speaker 2: does Simon have another name? What's Simon's other name? Talk
Speaker 2: to me out loud, shout it like you're mad at him?
Speaker 2: Why Simon, Simon?
Speaker 1: Why not Peter Peter. In this moment.
Speaker 2: Of pivotal and necessary instruction for the disciples, and specifically Peter,
Speaker 2: Jesus does something very interesting and to really tease out
Speaker 2: of the text the truth that is lying just under
Speaker 2: the surface. Go back to Luke chapter six In Luke
Speaker 2: Chapter six, verses twelve through sixteen, the author Luke, with
Speaker 2: meticulous detail, tells us that one of those days Jesus
Speaker 2: went out to a mountainside to pray. What did he
Speaker 2: go to do to pray? This is at the very
Speaker 2: beginning of his public ministry. And he goes to pray,
Speaker 2: and he spent the night praying to God. When morning came,
Speaker 2: he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them,
Speaker 2: who he also designated apostles, Simon whom he named Peter,
Speaker 2: and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew Thomas,
Speaker 2: James son of Alpheus, Simon who was called the zealot,
Speaker 2: Judas son of James, and Judas Ascaria, who became a trader.
Speaker 1: But there's a sandwich here.
Speaker 2: Because if you go back to verse fourteen, the first
Speaker 2: one that it names is Simon, who he named Peter.
Speaker 1: And this is a very curious conflict as we study
Speaker 1: the text, because if.
Speaker 2: Jesus named him Peter, and it's recorded in Luke Chapter six,
Speaker 2: and if he's referred to as Peter all throughout Luke's gospel,
Speaker 2: then why at the most pivotal moment in his life.
Speaker 1: When Jesus turns his attention from.
Speaker 2: All the twelve at the table to focus on the
Speaker 2: one and to give a personal word, does he not
Speaker 2: address him as Peter Peter. That would be the way
Speaker 2: to build confidence in the one that you called Peter.
Speaker 1: Peter.
Speaker 2: Don't remember, don't forget to remember when we get to
Speaker 2: the cross, You're the rock. Don't forget to remember when
Speaker 2: we get to the cross, You're the one. Don't forget
Speaker 2: to remember when we get to the cross, how I
Speaker 2: helped you walk on water. Don't forget to remember when
Speaker 2: we get to the cross, how I called you by name.
Speaker 1: Don't forget to remember how we fed five thousand Peter,
Speaker 1: Peter Peter.
Speaker 2: But he doesn't say Peter twice. He doesn't even say
Speaker 2: Simon middle named Peter. He says Simon, Simon.
Speaker 1: So let's look at the cast of characters for.
Speaker 2: A moment, shall we? Simon, you got Satan and you've
Speaker 2: got the Savior, And I believe Verse thirty one really
Speaker 2: describes where a lot of our church is at today
Speaker 2: all over the world. I don't mean our church just
Speaker 2: in this one room. I mean our church all over
Speaker 2: this world. Verse thirty one says Simon. Satan has asked
Speaker 2: to sift you, and so what's about to happen? Let
Speaker 2: me set it up for you. Over the next night,
Speaker 2: over the next few days, is going to be Simon
Speaker 2: versus Satan, Simon versus Satan, and spoiler alert, Simon doesn't win.
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, when it comes to the
Speaker 2: most crucial moment of Simon's life, when he will deny
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ, he does not only deny his power, he
Speaker 2: denies the relationship altogether. He says, I don't even know him,
Speaker 2: and Jesus looks him in his eyes and says Simon, Simon,
Speaker 2: Satan asked to sift you. The answer that we would
Speaker 2: expect from Jesus if Satan asked to sift, and let
Speaker 2: me just slip in here.
Speaker 1: He doesn't get to do it without permission. Whatever the
Speaker 1: devil does to you, he had to go through Jesus
Speaker 1: to do it. So even if Jesus.
Speaker 2: Didn't do that thing for you, it had to go
Speaker 2: through Jesus before it got to you, which means that
Speaker 2: sifting is a process of separation. We don't sift that
Speaker 2: much in our daily lives, so maybe we can't really
Speaker 2: imagine this, but this word used for sift when he
Speaker 2: said Satan desires to sift you.
Speaker 1: This is the only time that word is used.
Speaker 2: In the whole Bible, because it is a shaking so violent,
Speaker 2: it's only used one time. It's shaking out the stuff
Speaker 2: that shouldn't be there to leave the stuff that will
Speaker 2: produce the bread that can feed. And I was interested
Speaker 2: in the fact that Simon Peter was a fisherman and
Speaker 2: Jesus is sifting a fisherman. I thought it was a
Speaker 2: mixed metaphor until I remember that Jesus told Peter feed
Speaker 2: my sheep in John twenty one. So that makes me
Speaker 2: think that he's trying to turn a fisherman into a shepherd.
Speaker 2: And before a fisherman can become a shepherd, before somebody
Speaker 2: who catches fish can become somebody who feeds sheep, there
Speaker 2: must be a sifting.
Speaker 1: Sometimes the sifting in your life is a sign.
Speaker 2: It is a signal that this is a pivotal moment
Speaker 2: that God is changing the season and the stage of
Speaker 2: your life. And before the season shifts, there is a sifting.
Speaker 2: The interesting thing about the sifting, and y'all, I'm so
Speaker 2: full of this word to preach for somebody.
Speaker 1: Is because it doesn't say that Jesus sifted Simon. It
Speaker 1: says that Satan sifted Simon.
Speaker 2: But no matter who sifted him, the one who sifted
Speaker 2: had to get permission to do it. So it means
Speaker 2: that even if I'm being attacked by the enemy, even
Speaker 2: if I'm being attacked by anxiety, even if my body
Speaker 2: is under attack right now, the attack didn't have to
Speaker 2: come from God for the grace to be received by faith.
Speaker 2: It means, simply put, that this sifting season in your.
Speaker 4: Life is only that a season. News flash.
Speaker 1: The more gifted you are, the more sifted you must be.
Speaker 1: Because why Simon Simon? Why not Bartholomew Bartholomew? Why not Judas? Judas?
Speaker 1: Why not Philip? Philip?
Speaker 2: Why not Nathaniel Nathaniel? Why Simon Simon? And this is
Speaker 2: the critical thing for you to understand. Oh, if you
Speaker 2: could understand this, you wouldn't be like, why am I
Speaker 2: getting picked on? Why is my life so hard? Why
Speaker 2: is this happening to me? It would still be heavy,
Speaker 2: it would still be hard, but you would understand this
Speaker 2: simple principle of the kingdom. And it's this the reason
Speaker 2: that he pivoted to Peter in this moment and called
Speaker 2: him Simon. Is because Simon was the most significant one
Speaker 2: sitting at the table. The reason he was singled out
Speaker 2: to be sifted is because he was singled out to
Speaker 2: be significant. This sifting in my life?
Speaker 1: What is it about? What is a sifting about? In
Speaker 1: a sifting season, you will notice your motives are exposed.
Speaker 2: In a sifting season. You will notice that fake friends
Speaker 2: are exposed in a sifting season of your life. You
Speaker 2: will notice that dependencies are exposed. In a sifting season
Speaker 2: of your life. You will notice that things that used.
Speaker 1: To work don't work anymore, and you will wonder is
Speaker 1: this the end? And yet, to think that this is
Speaker 1: the end.
Speaker 2: When you're still sitting at the table and Jesus knows
Speaker 2: you're going to be preaching on the day of Pentecost
Speaker 2: is to miss the message of the gospel. I don't
Speaker 2: think the disciples knew the pressure that Jesus was under.
Speaker 2: While he's busy breaking bread and pouring wine, He's preparing
Speaker 2: his heart, and they really didn't see it until he
Speaker 2: knelt in the garden of Gutsemone. Now I gotta tell
Speaker 2: you about guestsemony because Guesthsemone was the place of the
Speaker 2: olive press, but it was also the place where the
Speaker 2: Savior prayed. And in Guessemone he prayed something very powerful
Speaker 2: to prayers. He prayed, Father, if it's possible, take this
Speaker 2: cup from me, write this down in your notes. That's
Speaker 2: called the prayer that prevents. Sometimes prayer prevents. Sometimes in
Speaker 2: the Bible, will see somebody pray and what was going
Speaker 2: to happen didn't happen because they prayed. It's important that
Speaker 2: we pray and plead the blood of Jesus over our lives,
Speaker 2: because there are some things that your prayers can stop.
Speaker 2: There are when Moses prayed to God, God said, i
Speaker 2: am not going to wipe out the Israelites even though
Speaker 2: they sinned, because you prayed and it prevented it. Moses said, God,
Speaker 2: if you wipe them out, it will defame your glory.
Speaker 2: God said, I'm going to do what you asked, and
Speaker 2: I'm not going to kill them because you asked. You
Speaker 2: can pray things for your children, you can pray things
Speaker 2: for your friends, you can pray things for those you love.
Speaker 2: You can pray things for your own life. But Jesus
Speaker 2: came to drink the cup, and so the father didn't
Speaker 2: take the cup away.
Speaker 1: So after he moves past the prayer that prevents.
Speaker 2: He moved into the prayer that prepares. There is a
Speaker 2: prayer that you can pray that will prepare you. There
Speaker 2: is a prayer that you can pray that God would
Speaker 2: enlighten you. There is a prayer that you could pray
Speaker 2: that God would show you the doors to go through.
Speaker 2: There is a prayer that you can pray before you
Speaker 2: leave your house in the morning. There is a prayer
Speaker 2: you can pray in the bathroom at the office before
Speaker 2: you have to come back out for the next meeting.
Speaker 2: Sometimes you better dead bolt the bathroom door and tell
Speaker 2: the Lord, please clean out my mouth, please cleanse my thoughts,
Speaker 2: Please help me go back in here.
Speaker 1: God give me a.
Speaker 2: Supernatural smile, because I hate every single one of these people.
Speaker 1: There is a prayer that you can pray that will
Speaker 1: prepare you, And sometimes we miss it because I'm gonna
Speaker 1: just be honest, We don't really give the day to God.
Speaker 1: We just get caught off guard by the day.
Speaker 2: Just get caught off guard by the fact that your
Speaker 2: back hurts when you get out of bed.
Speaker 1: Your back hurts every day. Just pray about it.
Speaker 2: And get up and do a stretch and pray and
Speaker 2: pray and prepare. There is a prayer that prepares, and
Speaker 2: so Jesus moves into that prayer. Next he prays, God,
Speaker 2: if it's possible, take this cup from me.
Speaker 1: But God does not remove the cup.
Speaker 2: So then he says, nevertheless, not my will, but yours
Speaker 2: be done.
Speaker 1: What's that. That's the prayer of preparation. It's the prayer
Speaker 1: that gets him ready. It's the prayer that some of
Speaker 1: you have to pray right now. God, this is gonna
Speaker 1: be hard.
Speaker 2: What's coming up next is gonna be heavy, What's coming
Speaker 2: up next?
Speaker 1: This is not going to be easy. What I'm walking into.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna have to walk into this knowing that it's
Speaker 2: going to be painful and it's going to be costly,
Speaker 2: and there is no easy way around this.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna have to go through it.
Speaker 2: So God, prepare me, like Paul prayed for the church
Speaker 2: at Ephesus, Strengthen me in my inner man, that the
Speaker 2: eyes of my understanding may be open, so I can
Speaker 2: understand the inheritance that I have in Him, so that
Speaker 2: when I'm up against the impossible demands of this situation.
Speaker 1: I have a.
Speaker 2: Supply to draw from and a resource to reach for.
Speaker 2: So I'm prepared for this. So when Goliath gets up
Speaker 2: in my face tomorrow, even though I don't even know
Speaker 2: his name yet, I know a name that is greater
Speaker 2: than a giant, and that can bring him down with
Speaker 2: a single stone. Because I've been killing bears and i've
Speaker 2: been killing sheep. I've been keeping sheep, and I've been
Speaker 2: killing lions, and I'm prepared for this. And as a
Speaker 2: matter of fact, that's why I had to come in
Speaker 2: church today even though the rain was pouring sideways.
Speaker 1: I don't even know what was happening, but.
Speaker 2: The Lord dump dumped a bucket of rain sideways out
Speaker 2: of heaven. That's the meteorological explanation for today.
Speaker 1: But some of y'all had to come anyway.
Speaker 2: Because I came to prepare for the fight that I'm in,
Speaker 2: for the season that I'm stepping into, because I'm being
Speaker 2: shaken right now.
Speaker 1: But upon this rock I will build my church.
Speaker 2: Somebody shall God get me ready.
Speaker 1: God get me ready. I don't know what's coming next,
Speaker 1: but God get me ready. It's the prayer that prepares.
Speaker 2: But then sit down, my sermon is about the prayer,
Speaker 2: not that prevents, not that prepairs, but the prayer that repairs.
Speaker 1: And this is for all of you who weren't ready
Speaker 1: for it. This is for all of you who didn't
Speaker 1: see it come in. This is for all of you,
Speaker 1: Simon Simon, who hit a point in your life and
Speaker 1: you didn't pray about it.
Speaker 2: See the thing about Jesus's words in this situation, when
Speaker 2: he says, Simon Simon, that is so meaningful to me
Speaker 2: is that when Satan asked to sift him as we,
Speaker 2: Jesus didn't tell him no. And even standing on the
Speaker 2: eve of Peter's disappointment, Jesus prophesies his destiny.
Speaker 1: Look at verse thirty two.
Speaker 2: Please, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.
Speaker 1: When not if, when not if you turn back.
Speaker 2: Jesus knew in that moment that there would come a
Speaker 2: point in your life, a pivotal point, when the pressure
Speaker 2: would be too great, when the future would be too uncertain,
Speaker 2: when you would not be able to do it like
Speaker 2: you used to do it. And he said, in that moment,
Speaker 2: when you turn back, not if you turn back. When
Speaker 2: you turn back, he knew that there would be a
Speaker 2: moment where you would pray and say, God, fix it.
Speaker 2: I made a mess of this. I have made a
Speaker 2: complete mess of this.
Speaker 1: Fix it.
Speaker 2: And that's the moment he's been waiting for. When my
Speaker 2: kids were very small, I made up a little lie,
Speaker 2: and you could judge me for it. But anytime they
Speaker 2: would get hurt and they would come to me about it,
Speaker 2: I would tell them, Oh, if it was a minor injury.
Speaker 2: If it was a major injury, see your mom. If
Speaker 2: it's a I'll say, don't worry about it. I can
Speaker 2: fix it. And whatever was hurt on their body, I
Speaker 2: would pretend like I knew how to fix it. I'm
Speaker 2: talking when they were very small. So my elbow hurts, Oh,
Speaker 2: come here, I'll fix it. I went to elbow school.
Speaker 2: Oh your big toe hurts. I went to big toe school.
Speaker 2: I went to pinky toe school also, but big toe
Speaker 2: school is the one you need right now.
Speaker 1: Big toe school is what you get.
Speaker 2: Oh your ear hurts, I went to ear school. Oh,
Speaker 2: and if it was a minor injury, I'm telling you.
Speaker 2: Every time it would work. Every time they'd stop crying.
Speaker 2: One time, Graham looked at me and said, you went
Speaker 2: to a lot of schools.
Speaker 1: I went to ear school, I school hand school, every school.
Speaker 2: I went to every school, And even though I didn't
Speaker 2: really have the competency to fix it, their faith made
Speaker 2: them feel better. I didn't even really have the ability
Speaker 2: to fix it. Just their faith that I could was
Speaker 2: enough to make the pain go away.
Speaker 1: If I, as a father.
Speaker 2: With no ability to fix it, can make my kid
Speaker 2: better just by telling them I went to school, how
Speaker 2: much more can your mother, who didn't just go to school,
Speaker 2: he started the university.
Speaker 1: How much more can your father, who.
Speaker 2: Knows how he puts you together, who knows how he
Speaker 2: made you, who knows your temperament, knows your personality, knows
Speaker 2: your background, knows your insecurity, knows your resume, knows your hope,
Speaker 2: nobody find out abouts knows everything that you carry on
Speaker 2: the inside of you. Call your name and say, Simon, Simon.
Speaker 2: I see who you were, I see who you're gonna be.
Speaker 2: And I stand in the middle to let you know
Speaker 2: that Peter is how I see you, and Simon is
Speaker 2: how I found you. And for the next night you
Speaker 2: are gonna be in a Simon state of mind, and
Speaker 2: you're gonna deny me Simon Simon, and you're gonna betray me, Simon, Simon,
Speaker 2: and you're gonna let me down, Simon Simon. But when
Speaker 2: I look at you, I still see Peter, because that's
Speaker 2: the name I gave you, because that's the name I
Speaker 2: called you, because that's the name I chose for you. Now,
Speaker 2: help me preach. Tell your neighbor. He knows your name.
Speaker 2: He knows your name and your other name. He knows
Speaker 2: your name you bring to church and your other name
Speaker 2: you're taking home.
Speaker 1: He knows your name, Simon, Simon.
Speaker 2: Just to remind you that he will speak to your
Speaker 2: Simon until you see your Peter again.
Speaker 1: Praise Ray. So give me a little more vogues.
Speaker 2: Yea, what I'm trying to say, Okay, what I'm trying
Speaker 2: to say, watch this, Simon.
Speaker 1: Is what you're acting like. Peter is what God called you.
Speaker 2: The two are a pair, a pair, everybody say pair
Speaker 2: like boots. They are a pair, like earrings, they are
Speaker 2: a pair, like gloves.
Speaker 1: They are a pair.
Speaker 3: And so when Peter doesn't prevent it, when Peter doesn't
Speaker 3: persevere through it, when Peter isn't prepared for it, and
Speaker 3: Simon sings slow, watch what happens.
Speaker 1: Next, Jesus said I prayed for you, Simon.
Speaker 2: So if this is Simon's faith versus Satan's attack, Satan wins.
Speaker 2: But apparently this is not a fight between Simon's faith
Speaker 2: and Satan's attack. This is a fight between Satan's attack
Speaker 2: and a savior's prayer. And this is not just any prayer.
Speaker 2: This is the prayer that read pairs. This is the
Speaker 2: prayer not that you pray, because sometimes you can't pray,
Speaker 2: and sometimes you don't pray, and sometimes you didn't pray.
Speaker 2: This is not the prayer that prevents, because Peter went
Speaker 2: on to deny Jesus. But when it doesn't prevent, and
Speaker 2: when it doesn't prepare, Jesus says, I got a prayer
Speaker 2: for you, not the one that you pray, the one
Speaker 2: that I prayed. When you are acting like Simon, but
Speaker 2: I know you to be Peter.
Speaker 1: It is the.
Speaker 2: Prayer that Rea pears, the prayer that reminds you who
Speaker 2: you really are, the prayer that reminds you what he
Speaker 2: really spoke.
Speaker 1: The prayer that calls you back to.
Speaker 2: The essence of His spirit and his presence, away from
Speaker 2: the dictates of your flesh. The prayer that brings you
Speaker 2: back to your right mind, the prayer that, like the
Speaker 2: prodigal son, says, how am I starving to death when
Speaker 2: my father has enough food to feed an entire household
Speaker 2: and every employee. I will arise and go back to
Speaker 2: my father. I will repair you. I will bring you
Speaker 2: back into alignment. I am praying for you. I am
Speaker 2: pairing you, because as long as Jesus is your prayer partner,
Speaker 2: your prayers are gonna get in third.
Speaker 1: It is the prayer that repairs.
Speaker 2: So Chris, come here, Come here, So Chris, Chris, come
Speaker 2: up on the stage.
Speaker 1: Chris, Chris. How many of y'all think that Chris lifts?
Speaker 1: How many y'all think Chris lifts? Chris? Chris lists lists,
Speaker 1: and as.
Speaker 2: He is lifting, the Lord gave me a very specific
Speaker 2: picture of this to make it make sense. When he
Speaker 2: is lifting weights, he is hopefully lifting more weight than
Speaker 2: he can successfully complete repetitions for which is called lifting
Speaker 2: to the point of failure for hypertrophy, so that he
Speaker 2: can have muscle gain. When he is lifting weights, to
Speaker 2: the average eye, it appears that he is building muscle,
Speaker 2: but that is not technically true. He does not build
Speaker 2: muscle when he lifts weights. He builds muscles after he
Speaker 2: has lifted weights to the point of failure and goes home.
Speaker 2: While he is lifting weights, not only is he not
Speaker 2: building muscles, he is actually doing the opposite in that
Speaker 2: the muscle fibers are tearing, little micro tears that are
Speaker 2: tearing the muscle fibers.
Speaker 1: So now he's got a tear in there.
Speaker 2: And so when he goes home, his body starts talking
Speaker 2: to itself, saying, we got to do something about this.
Speaker 1: Did you see what he just put us through?
Speaker 2: He made us curl sixty pound dumbbells today, he made
Speaker 2: us do six, seven, eight reps.
Speaker 1: Last time we only did nine. Today he made us
Speaker 1: do ten.
Speaker 2: And he barely got there and he struggled and he
Speaker 2: couldn't get the last one. So since he got to
Speaker 2: that point and started shaking and started shaking, three of
Speaker 2: y'all are listening to my sermons, so I'll preach it
Speaker 2: for three. Since he got to that point, because this
Speaker 2: is the that repairs. Since he got to that point
Speaker 2: and started shaking and couldn't do another one and drop
Speaker 2: the weight, then the body sends a signal to itself
Speaker 2: and it starts sending out satellite cells to the torn
Speaker 2: fibers with the little microtel cells and all the stuff
Speaker 2: that I went to school learned about.
Speaker 1: I went to muscle school too, and I was about
Speaker 1: said the Bible said.
Speaker 2: But the body says, we gotta send more cells to
Speaker 2: build that back.
Speaker 1: Now, I know what Jesus meant in verse thirty two.
Speaker 2: Put it on the screen, please, he said, I prayed
Speaker 2: for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.
Speaker 1: But it did.
Speaker 2: No, it didn't. It didn't fail. It was broken down
Speaker 2: to be built back up.
Speaker 1: Because after you've finished that lift, why y'all take my
Speaker 1: verse down, give me my verse back. I prayed that
Speaker 1: your faith would not fail.
Speaker 2: And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. This
Speaker 2: is the prayer that repairs. Is that after you have
Speaker 2: been broken down, after you were surprised what came out of.
Speaker 5: Yourself, after you made the mistake, you say, God, strengthen
Speaker 5: me for this, And Jesus says, all right, I'm already
Speaker 5: praying for you, and I'm already sending satellite cells all.
Speaker 2: To your torn muscles, all to your broken heart. I'm
Speaker 2: already sending new cells.
Speaker 1: But I'm not just gonna build it back. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: build it back better. On the other side of this night,
Speaker 1: Peter will go on to preach the first sermon that
Speaker 1: was called a sermon in the New Testament Church.
Speaker 2: And I got to think that while he was shaken,
Speaker 2: he didn't feel very strong. I gotta think that while
Speaker 2: he was shaken, while he was sifted, he felt like,
Speaker 2: this is it.
Speaker 1: But Jesus said, Peter, this is.
Speaker 2: Not about your prayer, Simon, It's about my prayer. As
Speaker 2: long as you keep thinking it's about your faith versus
Speaker 2: Satan's attack, you will always feel weak.
Speaker 1: Chris, Chris, I'm done with you coming back down. But
Speaker 1: the moment you realize that this is not.
Speaker 2: Simon's faith versus Satan's attack, this is Satan's attack versus
Speaker 2: the Savior's prayer, the.
Speaker 1: Prayer of repair is his prayer. He's saying, I see you, Simon,
Speaker 1: I see you, Peter. I am repairing you. I'm reminding
Speaker 1: I'm going to use you.
Speaker 2: And don't you think for one moment that when you
Speaker 2: get to this point, you're going to always.
Speaker 1: Be Peter Peter.
Speaker 2: At best, you're going to be Simon Peter, and sometimes
Speaker 2: you're Simon Simon. But don't you love to know that
Speaker 2: the Savior prayed for simonyes That just hit me, man.
Speaker 6: That the Savior prayed Simon. Simon, stand to your feet
Speaker 6: so I can pray for you, the prayer.
Speaker 1: That repairs. See how me and Holly are standing together
Speaker 1: like this.
Speaker 2: We're a pair, We're a couple. That's a visual illustration
Speaker 2: for you and Jesus. If any of you would want
Speaker 2: to come after her, you would.
Speaker 1: Have to go through me, and you might be able
Speaker 1: to do it.
Speaker 2: But I promise you I'll pick up a chair, and
Speaker 2: if the chair didn't do it, I got three state
Speaker 2: champions on the second row and a full security team,
Speaker 2: and I want you to know I would do everything
Speaker 2: in my power to keep you from getting to who
Speaker 2: I'm paired with. You keep thinking that you are paired
Speaker 2: with people, and so when people leave, you think it's over.
Speaker 2: You are a joint heir with Jesus. And in the
Speaker 2: Book of Hebrews, I got to give them Hebrews seven
Speaker 2: day because they'll think that Jesus just prayed for Simon,
Speaker 2: but they won't believe that he's praying for them. In
Speaker 2: the Book of Hebrews, Chapter seven, verse fifteen or verse
Speaker 2: twenty five, the author says Therefore he is able to
Speaker 2: save completely those who come to God through him because
Speaker 2: He always lives.
Speaker 1: To intercede for them. What does it mean that he's interceding.
Speaker 2: He is standing in your shaking place saying, if you
Speaker 2: want to get to them, you've got to go through me.
Speaker 1: That's Jesus speaking.
Speaker 2: Now. There is the prayer Graham helped me down from
Speaker 2: this chair. There is the prayer that prevents. There is
Speaker 2: the prayer that prepares. But I have a feeling I'm
Speaker 2: speaking to a few people online today and even if
Speaker 2: you in the room who prayer didn't prevent it, prayer
Speaker 2: didn't prepare. And like Simon, Simon, you are going through
Speaker 2: something right now, or you've been through something where you
Speaker 2: need the prayer that.
Speaker 1: And the prayer that repairs.
Speaker 2: Is this, Lord, if everything else goes away, if everything
Speaker 2: else is sifted, don't let this trial take my faith.
Speaker 2: Because if my faith doesn't fail, I can make it.
Speaker 2: If my faith doesn't fail, I can come back from this.
Speaker 2: If my faith doesn't fail, I can get resourceful. If
Speaker 2: my faith doesn't fail, I can reach out. If my
Speaker 2: faith doesn't fail, I can pivot. And so, just like
Speaker 2: the Savior, pray for Peter, we want to write now
Speaker 2: pray for you, those of you who are Simon.
Speaker 1: Simon.
Speaker 2: Oh I followed him at a distance. Oh I let
Speaker 2: the pressure get the best of me. But this is
Speaker 2: the prayer that repairs. This is the prayer that brings
Speaker 2: you back to God right now. I believe there are
Speaker 2: many today who have never made the decision to make
Speaker 2: Jesus the.
Speaker 1: Lord of your life.
Speaker 2: I want to lead you in a prayer right now,
Speaker 2: and this is the prayer not only that repairs, but
Speaker 2: this is the prayer that saves.
Speaker 1: The Bible says that if you will.
Speaker 2: Call on the name of the Lord, you will be saved.
Speaker 2: He knows your name, and now it's time for you
Speaker 2: to call his name, the name of Jesus. There is
Speaker 2: no other name in heaven, or on earth or under
Speaker 2: the earth by which man must be saved.
Speaker 1: It is in this name.
Speaker 2: So right now, if God is speaking to you, and
Speaker 2: you realize in your heart, this is my day to
Speaker 2: come to God. This is my day to give him
Speaker 2: my life. I want you to pray this prayer with
Speaker 2: me out loud, and repeat after me. And if you
Speaker 2: mean this with your heart. The Bible says that if
Speaker 2: you confess your sins. He will forgive you of all unrighteousness.
Speaker 2: So right now, if you're ready for a new beginning,
Speaker 2: I'm by you to pray this prayer with me.
Speaker 1: Heavenly Father. I am a sinner in need of a savior.
Speaker 2: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
Speaker 2: and the savior of the world. And today I make
Speaker 2: Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died
Speaker 2: that I would be forgiven and rose again to give
Speaker 2: me life. I receive this new life. This is my
Speaker 2: new beginning. Throw your hand up on the count of three.
Speaker 2: If you prayed that one, two, three, we celebrate too.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. Let's clap a little louder.
Speaker 2: Please, let's welcome leave into the family of God.
Speaker 1: Can you give the Lord.
Speaker 2: A praise if he let vote something to you today?
Speaker 1: Take Lord, Amen.
Speaker 2: I think we're gonna do another one next week. Another one.
Speaker 2: I don't know. It'd be Abraham, Abraham, Moses, Moses, Jacob Jacob.
Speaker 2: Let's take a church vote right now in the comments,
Speaker 2: which one do you want next?
Speaker 1: Make some noise if you want Abraham.
Speaker 2: Abraham, Moses, Moses, Jacob Jacob, Martha, Martha.
Speaker 1: Saul Saul, Samuel Samuel. It's a close call. We'll have
Speaker 1: to come back and see. All over the room.
Speaker 2: People are receiving orange Bibles at each of our campuses.
Speaker 2: Less thank God for every new beginning.
Speaker 1: Raise the Lord. That's so good man.
Speaker 2: One more thing I want to tell you before our
Speaker 2: campus pastors take it. I got such a good illustration
Speaker 2: today of this message that I thought I would give
Speaker 2: you as a take home. It was raining really hard
Speaker 2: today in Charlotte. The rain, as I mentioned earlier, was
Speaker 2: coming so hard and coming from such a strange direction
Speaker 2: that even in my back room there was water that
Speaker 2: came under the doors.
Speaker 1: Now these are good doors, these aren't cheap doors.
Speaker 2: It's not like we have a budget crisis at the
Speaker 2: church and we have to put some weak doors. They
Speaker 2: just weren't prepared for what came in in that direction,
Speaker 2: and so they didn't prevent it. So they weren't prepared,
Speaker 2: they didn't prevent There's water on the floor, and I
Speaker 2: hope they cleaned it up while I was preaching, But
Speaker 2: I didn't slip the thing about it is as silly
Speaker 2: as it would be for me to never come back
Speaker 2: to church again.
Speaker 1: Didn't stop the water from coming in.
Speaker 2: That would be how ridiculous it would be for you
Speaker 2: to let some stupid storm keep you from fulfilling what
Speaker 2: God has for your life and for your family. So
Speaker 2: what am I gonna do? Close down the church? Never
Speaker 2: come again. No, we're gonna fix the doors this week,
Speaker 2: because if they didn't prevent and they didn't prepare, we're
Speaker 2: gonna repair them.
Speaker 1: So I call you back to your right self. I
Speaker 1: call you back to your right mind. I call you
Speaker 1: back to your childlike faith. I call you back to
Speaker 1: your sincere spirit. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for
Speaker 2: more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
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Speaker 2: your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church.
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you