Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope
Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to
Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message,
Speaker 1: and I get the distinct privilege too to introduce you
Speaker 1: to our guest. Today. We got a special guest. We
Speaker 1: got Pastor Robert Madeu in the house. Him and his
Speaker 1: wife Taylor are with us, and he spoke here three
Speaker 1: months ago at the beginning of this pandemic, and he's
Speaker 1: spoken here multiple times, so I think it's official. We
Speaker 1: no longer call him a special guest. We call him family.
Speaker 1: Pastor Robert will do. Him and his wife, the Medusa
Speaker 1: are having a ministry that's happening all around the world.
Speaker 1: If you haven't had a chance to meet Pastor Robert,
Speaker 1: he's probably the sincerest, most genuine, and maybe one of
Speaker 1: the nicest people you'll ever meet. But even more important
Speaker 1: than that, he loves the Word of God. He's a preacher,
Speaker 1: and we get the distinct privilege of him opening up
Speaker 1: God's word and sharing it with us. Today, So Elevation Church,
Speaker 1: you know how we do it. Let's put our hands together,
Speaker 1: Let's get ready and welcome Pastor Roberts Madou. Come on,
Speaker 1: somebody bless the Lord today. Wherever you're watching, Come on,
Speaker 1: would you give God just the best praise that you're God.
Speaker 1: If you're in your living room, give him praise. If
Speaker 1: you're in your kitchen, give him praise. If you're in
Speaker 1: the car, give him praise. Come on, No matter what
Speaker 1: you're facing right now, his name is still worthy. He
Speaker 1: deserves the glory, the honor, and the phrase God, we
Speaker 1: lift you up because you are here Boom. I'm telling
Speaker 1: you I sense the presence of the Lord right here.
Speaker 1: I don't know where you're watching from Elevation Church, but
Speaker 1: I want you to know God is with you. His
Speaker 1: presence knows no limits, His presence knows no bounds. He
Speaker 1: is there with you right now. He can I tell
Speaker 1: you have a reason to give God praise today, He said, Robert,
Speaker 1: what are you talking about? You don't know what I'm facing.
Speaker 1: If there is still breath in your body, come on,
Speaker 1: you got a reason to give Him praise. If you
Speaker 1: woke up this morning, you still got a reason to
Speaker 1: give him praise. I feel you. I've had moments, especially
Speaker 1: in this the last few weeks, I've just had to say, Lord,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I got it in me to
Speaker 1: lift up my voice. I had to talk to myself.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you're only crazy if you don't
Speaker 1: talk to yourself. Now, do like David did and say,
Speaker 1: Bless the Lord on my soul and all that is
Speaker 1: within me. Bless his Holy name. And I think in
Speaker 1: times like this you need to lean into his presence,
Speaker 1: lean into his word. And I'm believing He's going to
Speaker 1: speak to you today and your life is never going
Speaker 1: to be the same. Amen. Amen, we got some people
Speaker 1: in the room. Y'all can be seated. I'm absolutely honored
Speaker 1: to be back at Elevation Church. There is no place
Speaker 1: like Elevation Church. I get tempted to move to Charlotte
Speaker 1: every time that I come here, and it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 1: Pastor LB mentioned that I am a part of the
Speaker 1: family now and last time I was here. We're at
Speaker 1: the beginning of COVID nineteen, this virus we're trying to
Speaker 1: figure out. Then the challenge of the virus was how
Speaker 1: do we stay apart? So we can stay together. Now
Speaker 1: here we are again back at elevation, and there's another virus,
Speaker 1: virus of racism has been embedded in this nation. Now
Speaker 1: the challenge is we got to come together so we
Speaker 1: don't fall apart. And I'm telling you where my hope
Speaker 1: is in. My hope is in the Church of the
Speaker 1: Living God. Come on, if you're looking for hope and
Speaker 1: look to Jesus and then look to you. We are
Speaker 1: the hope of the world. And I'm believing what Jesus
Speaker 1: prayed his last prayers, that we would be one, that
Speaker 1: we would come together. And to that end, I'm excited
Speaker 1: to minister God's word to you today. It's gonna be good.
Speaker 1: I want you to lean in. I hope you like
Speaker 1: who you're watching the Word of God with today. If
Speaker 1: you don't, just move to another section e faan wherever
Speaker 1: you are. But this word is gonna bless you, it's
Speaker 1: gonna encourage you, and I want to jump straight into it.
Speaker 1: I do bring your greetings from the country of Texas
Speaker 1: where I live and there with my incredible wife who
Speaker 1: is here today help me. Thank God for my wife, Taylor.
Speaker 1: She's here with me. We left the kiddos at home.
Speaker 1: And you know there's no seminary class you can take
Speaker 1: on how to lead in a pandemic, how to lead
Speaker 1: in so much turmoil. But here's what I love is
Speaker 1: that Elevation Church is best blessed with the best of
Speaker 1: the best. I want you to help me thank God
Speaker 1: for Sir Stephen and Holly Fredick, who have set the pace,
Speaker 1: who have set the tone not just for Elevation but
Speaker 1: for the church at large. If they're incredible leadership and
Speaker 1: how they've led so well. And uh man, if you
Speaker 1: got something to be thankful for, be thankful for the
Speaker 1: gift that is in Pastor Stephen Fredick. Every word he
Speaker 1: preaches has minister to our souls. This minister to me
Speaker 1: and you will not find a better preacher. And I'm
Speaker 1: thankful for his friendship. Come on one more time, even
Speaker 1: in the chat, just say thank you so much, Elevation Church.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much Pastor Steven and Holly, and I'm
Speaker 1: glad to be here today. I want you to go
Speaker 1: with me to the Gospel of John today, John chapter
Speaker 1: number eight, and I want to look at verses one
Speaker 1: through eleven John Chapter eight one through eleven, and then
Speaker 1: I want to look at John chapter one, verse fourteen.
Speaker 1: After eight, starting at verse one, will land of verse
Speaker 1: number eleven, and then John chapter one, verse number four teen.
Speaker 1: It says, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Speaker 1: Now early in the morning he came again into the temple,
Speaker 1: and all the people came to him, and he sat
Speaker 1: down and taught them. The scribes and pharisees brought to
Speaker 1: him a woman caught in adultery. And when they set
Speaker 1: her in the midst they said to him, teacher, this
Speaker 1: woman was caught in adultery in the very act. Now
Speaker 1: Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stone.
Speaker 1: But what do you say this, they said, testing him,
Speaker 1: that they might have something of which to accuse him.
Speaker 1: But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with
Speaker 1: his finger, as though he did not hear, straight up,
Speaker 1: ignoring him. So when they continued asking him, he raised
Speaker 1: himself up and said to them he was without sin
Speaker 1: among you. Let him throw a stone at her first,
Speaker 1: and again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
Speaker 1: Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience,
Speaker 1: went out, one by one, beginning with the oldest even
Speaker 1: to the last, and Jesus was left alone, and the
Speaker 1: woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised himself
Speaker 1: up and saw no one but the woman, he said
Speaker 1: to her, woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has
Speaker 1: no one condemned you? She said, no one. Lord. Jesus
Speaker 1: said to her, neither do I condemn you? Go and
Speaker 1: sin no more? Can you say? Amen? He found wherever
Speaker 1: you're watching. And then John chapter one, verse fourteen, just
Speaker 1: one verse of scripture. Here it says, and the word
Speaker 1: became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld the glory.
Speaker 1: The glory is of the only begotten, of the Father,
Speaker 1: full of grace and truth, Full of grace and truth.
Speaker 1: Jesus is full of grace and truth. Think of all
Speaker 1: the adjectives that we could ascribe to Jesus. Come on,
Speaker 1: we can say he's a provider. We can say he's
Speaker 1: a protector. We can say he's our peace. We can
Speaker 1: say he's our shelter. We could go on and on.
Speaker 1: But I love John because he skips the commas, makes
Speaker 1: it clear and concise, and says, when you see Jesus,
Speaker 1: you will see two things, grace and truth. I had
Speaker 1: an encounter with Jesus. That means you had an encounter
Speaker 1: with grace and truth, the tension of grace. And I
Speaker 1: want to talk to you today from this idea living
Speaker 1: in the tension, living in the tension. There's so much
Speaker 1: tension right now, political tension, economic tension, racial tensent. What
Speaker 1: do you do with grace and tru living in the tension?
Speaker 1: I mean working out one time and I had my
Speaker 1: weights in my hand, and the trainer, while I was
Speaker 1: holding the weights, put this thing as from the devil,
Speaker 1: put one of those resistance bands on me. While I'm
Speaker 1: holding the weight, I said, I already got the weight
Speaker 1: in my hand, what is this for? It just just
Speaker 1: put the resistance band. And I had the resistance band
Speaker 1: on it, and I thought it was good because it
Speaker 1: was already heavy. And the trainer said, no, no no, no, no,
Speaker 1: you got to keep the tension in the resistance band.
Speaker 1: That's what it's for. So here I am already holding
Speaker 1: a weight but also having to deal with the tension.
Speaker 1: What do you do when you're living in the tension.
Speaker 1: That's what I want to talk about today. So let's
Speaker 1: pray as we go into this. Father, thank you for
Speaker 1: your word speak today all the Epham said, Amen, Amen.
Speaker 1: Living in the tension, like many preachers during this quarantine
Speaker 1: and shelter in place and gathering restrictions, I've had to
Speaker 1: adjust how I preach and how I communicate. I've learned
Speaker 1: to calm myself down and preach while sitting in the stool.
Speaker 1: I've learned not to say touch your neighbor, but to
Speaker 1: say type in the chat. Because we've had gathering restrictions.
Speaker 1: I've learned that although we have awesome people here in
Speaker 1: the room, I've learned to make sure I stay connected
Speaker 1: and locked in to the camera. In fact, in this
Speaker 1: room right now, we got camera. There's one, two, three, four,
Speaker 1: about four, five, about eighty cameras in this room all over.
Speaker 1: And these cameras are able to get different angles while
Speaker 1: I'm preaching, different angles. While I'm preaching to be able
Speaker 1: to connect to you different angles, these cameras will get
Speaker 1: different shots. It doesn't change me. It just gives you
Speaker 1: a different angle of me, a different view. And this
Speaker 1: is what I love about the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke,
Speaker 1: and John because all four of these gospel writers are
Speaker 1: talking about the same Jesus, but they give us different angles.
Speaker 1: Say give us different views. These four cameramen, if you will,
Speaker 1: They're all have their view on the same subject who
Speaker 1: is Jesus, but they're able to give us different angles
Speaker 1: of who this Jesus is. I love almost like four
Speaker 1: film directors who've been given the same subject to film,
Speaker 1: but if given their own cinema cinematic license to film it,
Speaker 1: they give us a different view of who Jesus is.
Speaker 1: That's why. If you like long documentaries, please read the
Speaker 1: Book of Matthew. Because Matthew he's writing to a Jewish audience,
Speaker 1: so he begins this long process of letting you know
Speaker 1: that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies.
Speaker 1: If you like sci fi movies, please read the Book
Speaker 1: of Luke, because Luke is the doctor, and so Luke
Speaker 1: goes into detail to explain these miracles that Christ did,
Speaker 1: how his miracles could do what medicine could not do.
Speaker 1: If you like action pack movies, please stay in the
Speaker 1: Book of Mark, because Mark is all about Jesus in action,
Speaker 1: of Jesus who will roll up on you and does
Speaker 1: not play games with you. He's all about the actions
Speaker 1: of Christ. But John, Oh, John, is a love story.
Speaker 1: John is a romantic chick flick. I love the Gospel
Speaker 1: of John. Who else but John, the disciple that always
Speaker 1: had his head on the chest of Jesus. He can
Speaker 1: hear his heart beat. That's why John's gospel pulsates with
Speaker 1: the personality of Jesus Christ. He gives us insight that
Speaker 1: none of the other gospel writers give us love. Who
Speaker 1: else but John would tell us that God so loved
Speaker 1: the world that he gave his only begotten son, that
Speaker 1: whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have
Speaker 1: everlasting life. I love John. John does not give you
Speaker 1: Jesus earthly lineage. But John wants you to understand that
Speaker 1: he is God in the flesh. He wants you to
Speaker 1: understand that he is divined, that he is a deity.
Speaker 1: That's why when he begins his gospel, it's almost like
Speaker 1: he's retweeting the Book of Genesis, because he says, in
Speaker 1: the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
Speaker 1: and the Word was God. All things were made by Him,
Speaker 1: and without him was not anything made that has been made.
Speaker 1: And in the verse fourteen he turns all the way
Speaker 1: up and says, and the Word became flesh and dwelt
Speaker 1: among us the word. Let me pause, right there, the
Speaker 1: word became flesh and it dwelt among us. How many
Speaker 1: you know there is power in that verse right there,
Speaker 1: that the word became flesh and it dwelt among us.
Speaker 1: That is deeper than a Christmas verse. There is power
Speaker 1: in the fact that the word became flesh and dwelt
Speaker 1: among us. Hear me, The only way we can have
Speaker 1: hope in the dark world is because the word became
Speaker 1: flesh and dwelt among us. The only way we can
Speaker 1: have life and hope is because the word became flesh
Speaker 1: and it dwelt among us. You understand that the incarnation
Speaker 1: is the greatest picture of empathy. People want to know,
Speaker 1: how can we change what's going on in our world today?
Speaker 1: We need empathy, and that's what Jesus did in his
Speaker 1: carnation incarnation. He understood that he could not redeem us
Speaker 1: from heaven. He had to put on human skin and
Speaker 1: feel what we feel and know what we go through.
Speaker 1: And the word became flesh and it dwelt among us.
Speaker 1: Thank God for a savior who can feel what I feel,
Speaker 1: and know what I go through, and can understand when
Speaker 1: I'm weeping that night because I'm seeing senseless murders. Can
Speaker 1: understand why tears come down my face and sometimes I
Speaker 1: don't want to lift up my hands. He knows what
Speaker 1: it feels like to have heard and pain because the
Speaker 1: word became flesh and it dwelt among us, some of
Speaker 1: y'all and not getting to see if I'm sick. If
Speaker 1: I'm sick, please don't just throw me a medical book. No,
Speaker 1: get me a doctor. You know why, because that doctor
Speaker 1: personifies the principle that are in the medical book. Soucie.
Speaker 1: If if I'm in trouble with the law, please don't
Speaker 1: just give me a law book. Give me a lawyer.
Speaker 1: You know why. That lawyer personifies the principles that are
Speaker 1: within the law book. Somebod y'all gonna get it in
Speaker 1: a minute. If I'm about to lose my mind, please
Speaker 1: don't give me a book on psychology. Give me a psychologist,
Speaker 1: because that psychologist is going to personify the principles that
Speaker 1: are in the psychology book. Do you understand when humanity
Speaker 1: was lost in our sin and we had no hope
Speaker 1: of redemption, we needed more than just the law. We
Speaker 1: needed more than the Ten Commandments. We needed Jesus because
Speaker 1: Jesus personifies the principles in the Word of God. He
Speaker 1: is the word made flesh. Oh, and it made it
Speaker 1: dwelling among us. And the word was made flesh. That's
Speaker 1: what empathy is. It's the word becoming flesh. He knew
Speaker 1: he could not read EMUs and be removed from us.
Speaker 1: He had to come where we were, and he put
Speaker 1: on human skin, and the word became flesh and dwelt
Speaker 1: among us. Would you just slap your neighbor or whoever
Speaker 1: you're watching with at home and make sure you know him,
Speaker 1: and just say the word became flesh. Now tell him
Speaker 1: the word became flesh and it dwelt among us. We
Speaker 1: beheld the wonder of his glory, the only begonden of
Speaker 1: the Father. Then it says this that he's full of
Speaker 1: grace and truth. He's full of grace and truth. And
Speaker 1: there is the tension. How in the world can Jesus
Speaker 1: be full of grace and truth? Hold up John, Those
Speaker 1: two words don't go together, grace and truth. How can
Speaker 1: Jesus be full of grace and truth? On one of
Speaker 1: these things is not like the other. Grace and truth.
Speaker 1: This is beauty and the beast. How can Jesus be
Speaker 1: full of grace and truth? On the surface, these two
Speaker 1: words do not go together, grace and truth. Come on,
Speaker 1: just for a moment, would you consider if you can
Speaker 1: the grace of God? Come on, if you can even
Speaker 1: fathom the grace of our God, to think that, no
Speaker 1: matter what you've done, no matter where you've been, that
Speaker 1: God's grace can meet you right where you are. How
Speaker 1: many you know there's something incredible about God's grace. If
Speaker 1: grace doesn't make tears well up in your eyes, you
Speaker 1: don't know what grace is to no matter where you've been,
Speaker 1: that God can reach you, no matter what you've done,
Speaker 1: that his grace can come to you. Come on, that
Speaker 1: God would go through a hell that he didn't deserve
Speaker 1: so that we can receive a heaven that we don't deserve.
Speaker 1: There is something about the grace of God to the
Speaker 1: point that his grace has been lavish upon us. Ooh,
Speaker 1: some people are rich in other things. God is rich
Speaker 1: and grace. His grace will never run out. His grace
Speaker 1: can meet you right where you are. That we can
Speaker 1: approach the throne of Grace with confidence, with boldness. There's
Speaker 1: nothing like the grace of God. Amazing grace, How sweet
Speaker 1: the sound that saved the wretch like me. His grace
Speaker 1: is powerful, His grace is intoxicating. His grace is wonderful
Speaker 1: and the right. When you're resting in his grace, then
Speaker 1: you got His truth, his standard, his holiness that is
Speaker 1: so high, that is so perfect, that is so flawless,
Speaker 1: that on your best day, your righteousness is as filthy rags.
Speaker 1: On your best day, your righteousness is ratchet. How in
Speaker 1: the world can you deal with grace and true truth? Oh? Yes,
Speaker 1: His truth will set you free, But how many know
Speaker 1: it generally will tick you off before it does. People
Speaker 1: can't handle the truth. Come on, Amama, only one during
Speaker 1: this COVID nineteen that was forced to look at yourself
Speaker 1: when everything went on pause and you begin to see
Speaker 1: some things, some truth that you did not like. Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm telling you a lot of us can't handle the truth.
Speaker 1: Truth is appealed that everybody wants to give out, but
Speaker 1: nobody wants to swallow. Even right now in the world,
Speaker 1: we're looking at some truth that is ugly. To deal
Speaker 1: with the truth hurts. His grace is wonderful, amazing grace.
Speaker 1: But then you God truth how can he be full
Speaker 1: of grace and truth? This paradox attention is in the
Speaker 1: grace and the truth, And if we're honest, most of
Speaker 1: us go to one of the extremities, grace or truth. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you got the grace people, you know where you are.
Speaker 1: You grace people cannot wait for the shelter in place
Speaker 1: and all these gather restrictions to be gone because you
Speaker 1: just want to hug everybody. You want to love on everybody.
Speaker 1: All you grace people. You're like, grace, Grace, Come, why
Speaker 1: can't we all just get along? Can't we just hug
Speaker 1: it out? Oh grace. People are quick to forgive, they're
Speaker 1: quick to love. Always got a smile on your face,
Speaker 1: talking longer than you should. The people, oh grace, grace,
Speaker 1: grace all over the place, and they just want to love.
Speaker 1: But the problem with the grace people is sometimes in
Speaker 1: an effort to show grace, they lower the standard of truth.
Speaker 1: Then you got the truth people, and all you truth people,
Speaker 1: you will tell it like it is. Truth people aren't
Speaker 1: afraid of anybody. Truth people will let you know what
Speaker 1: they think about you. I mean, they will slap you
Speaker 1: and not wait to see you hit the ground. Truth
Speaker 1: people will get on your Instagram or your Facebook page
Speaker 1: and never like the picture or said anything nice, but
Speaker 1: they will let you know what they think about you.
Speaker 1: In one post truth people are so quick to put
Speaker 1: their finger in your face and let you know, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna tell you about you. I'm gonna tell you who
Speaker 1: you really are. But the problem with the truth people
Speaker 1: that they're so busy touting their truth and pointing their
Speaker 1: finger that they forget they're gonna need the grace that
Speaker 1: they refuse to give the tension of life is how
Speaker 1: do you balance grace and truth? Because grace without truth
Speaker 1: ceases to be grace. Truth without grace crushes people and
Speaker 1: ceases to be truth. Let's say another way, Grace without
Speaker 1: truth is meaningless. Truth without grace is me. Grace and
Speaker 1: truth is medicine. And Jesus says, I Am the total
Speaker 1: amalgamation of grace and truth, and it brings and in
Speaker 1: the world where everything is divided, where there's chaos, how
Speaker 1: many know we need some believers who are tethered to
Speaker 1: the tension of grace and truth, showing grace when it's needed,
Speaker 1: speaking truth when you have to. Oh, not fifty percent truth,
Speaker 1: fifty percent grace but one hundred percent truth, one hundred
Speaker 1: percent grace, because hear me, the Gospel flies on the
Speaker 1: wings of grace and truth. We need both grace and truth,
Speaker 1: the tension of grace and truth. It's like the strings
Speaker 1: on a violin grace. If it's too loose. If it's
Speaker 1: too loose, how many are you gonna get an ugly
Speaker 1: sound out of that string? But if you tighten it
Speaker 1: too tight, truth, people, you're gonna pop the strings on
Speaker 1: the violin. But if you got the perfect tension, all
Speaker 1: of a sudden you will hear beautiful music. And the
Speaker 1: world right now is a list for believers who are
Speaker 1: full of grace and truth. Jesus lived in the tension
Speaker 1: of grace and truth. This is what the teachers of
Speaker 1: the law could not understand. They could not understand how
Speaker 1: this rabbi, this rabbi who was supposed to uphold the truth,
Speaker 1: how he kept hanging out with shady, messed up, disfunctional
Speaker 1: tax collectors and prostitutes. They could not comprehend that if
Speaker 1: he's supposed to uphold the truth, why in the world
Speaker 1: is he hanging out with mess up people. This is
Speaker 1: what the teachers of the law could not comprehend because
Speaker 1: you do know that Jesus had a reputation for hanging
Speaker 1: out with shady, messed up people. Come on, if you
Speaker 1: got issues, you are in great candidate to be connected
Speaker 1: to God because he always just had this draw, this
Speaker 1: pull of marginalized, messed up people they loved coming to Jesus.
Speaker 1: And I think we have to ask ourselves at the
Speaker 1: twenty first century church that if we are not attracting
Speaker 1: the type of people that Jesus attracted, are we really
Speaker 1: preaching the same gospel that Jesus preached Because sinners and
Speaker 1: tax collectors have messed up people that were just drawn
Speaker 1: to him. He loved them. And one day he's in
Speaker 1: the temple teaching and he sat down to teach, and
Speaker 1: it says all the people came to him as he
Speaker 1: sat down to teach. All of a sudden, in the
Speaker 1: middle of his message, the Pharisees, the pretentious, pompous, stuck
Speaker 1: up teachers of the law, they burst in the middle
Speaker 1: of the temple with the woman who has just been
Speaker 1: caught in the act of adultery. They come in, they
Speaker 1: throw the woman in the middle of Jesus preaching, and
Speaker 1: they say, Jesus stop the sermon. You know how religious
Speaker 1: people do. They always look like they smell something in
Speaker 1: the room. They always look like they just caught a
Speaker 1: whiff or something. Just Jesus, stop the sermon. In the
Speaker 1: middle of the message, they throw this woman in front
Speaker 1: of Jesus and say, we just caught her in the
Speaker 1: act of adultery. The law of Moses commands us that
Speaker 1: she should be stolen. But what do you have to
Speaker 1: say in the middle of his message. I don't know
Speaker 1: how you read the Bible. Here's how I read the Bible.
Speaker 1: When I read the Bible, I jump in the page
Speaker 1: of the Bible. Okay, I imagine what it would be
Speaker 1: like to be in that situation. Can you imagine on
Speaker 1: this illustrious Sunday morning, if while I'm preaching, all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, in this side door, somebody comes in and says, Robert,
Speaker 1: stop the sermon. We just caught a woman in the
Speaker 1: act of adultery. Throws her in the middle of the
Speaker 1: elevation church and says, what do you have to say? Hey, uh,
Speaker 1: you're looking for Pastor Ferdick. I'm a dou Ferdick gum.
Speaker 1: Now people get us confused all the time. Now can
Speaker 1: you imagine the shock, the tension in the room. See church,
Speaker 1: people don't know how to deal with tension. Can you
Speaker 1: imagine what the service would have looked like that day?
Speaker 1: Can you imagine the gas forever the people that turned
Speaker 1: their head. Can you imagine how many people say, oh,
Speaker 1: my goodness. Can you imagine the shock in the room.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine what it would have been like to
Speaker 1: have been her? Surely she wanted to meet Jesus, but
Speaker 1: not like this. She's forced in the middle of the
Speaker 1: temple in the church. And I submit to you, of
Speaker 1: all the people that were shocked that day, of all
Speaker 1: the people that sucked in air, there was one person
Speaker 1: who did it, and his name is Jesus. His name
Speaker 1: is Jesus. He was not shocked. In fact, I think
Speaker 1: the whole thing was a set up, not by them,
Speaker 1: but by an awesome God who is trying to reveal
Speaker 1: that I know how to live in the tension of
Speaker 1: grace and true. I think this is a good place
Speaker 1: to insert this thought that Jesus is not shocked by
Speaker 1: your sin. I don't know who needs to hear that today,
Speaker 1: but Jesus is not shocked by your sin. I know
Speaker 1: you're shocked by the messed up things that you did.
Speaker 1: Some of you did it last night. But can I
Speaker 1: tell you, Jesus is not shocked, nor is he appalled,
Speaker 1: nor is he going at your sin. He can handle it.
Speaker 1: In fact, he came from heaven to Earth to defeat sin, death, hell,
Speaker 1: and the grave. Jesus is not shocked, nor is he
Speaker 1: intimidated by your sin. I know you're shocked, but please
Speaker 1: don't think that he was. Oh, he is not shocked
Speaker 1: by your sin. See they thought they could get Jesus
Speaker 1: and pull a TMZ moment and make him go, oh my.
Speaker 1: He is not shocked by your sin. A we get shocked,
Speaker 1: yeahanity does. Because we have the tendency to look at
Speaker 1: sin in categories, don't we, feeling like there's big sin
Speaker 1: and there's little sin. With humans look at sin and categories.
Speaker 1: But that is not how Jesus looks at it. He
Speaker 1: just sees sin at sin. In fact, that is the
Speaker 1: great qualifier of life, that all have sin and fallen
Speaker 1: short of the glory of God. But we look at
Speaker 1: sin in categories, don't we. We look at sin and
Speaker 1: flavors and flavors. I'll never forget back when I could
Speaker 1: go to restaurants and eat and my father and I
Speaker 1: he travels with me sometimes and we try to hold
Speaker 1: each other accountable and we try to eat healthy, and
Speaker 1: I never forget. One day we said, hey, we're gonna
Speaker 1: eat right on this trip. We're not gonna eat bad.
Speaker 1: We go to this restaurant and I leave. The waiter says, hey,
Speaker 1: do you want to deserve? I said, oh, no, I'm good.
Speaker 1: I go to the restroom. I come back. My father
Speaker 1: is eating pecan pie. I said, man, when you do
Speaker 1: my Nigerian fathers, even Compa said what you're doing? What
Speaker 1: we said, we're gonna eat healthy? Why in the world
Speaker 1: are you eating this for Compile? Of course my dad,
Speaker 1: it's only he could do it. And Nigeria says, good
Speaker 1: wordy about me. Okay, don't worry about me. I said, okay,
Speaker 1: it's cool. And the waiter came back said do you
Speaker 1: want some dessert. I said no, I'm good. I'm good.
Speaker 1: She said are you sure. I was like, no, I'm
Speaker 1: good unless you got cheesecake or something. She said, oh,
Speaker 1: we got cheesecake. I said, oh, go ahead and bring
Speaker 1: that cheesecake out real quick, ken and she brings out
Speaker 1: the cheesecake, and there I am eating the cheesecake. Now,
Speaker 1: how crazy would it be for me to be judging
Speaker 1: my father eating pecan pies when I got cheesecake all
Speaker 1: on the side of my face. Wouldn't I look ridiculous
Speaker 1: to me? I can't believe you are eating that cheeseca.
Speaker 1: At least mine has a strawberry on it. I'm getting
Speaker 1: my fruit. Wouldn't that be crazy? Because I mean, my
Speaker 1: body does not care whether it's cheesecake or pecan pie
Speaker 1: or keelm pie. They don't care about the flavor. It's
Speaker 1: just counting the calories. And it's easy to look at
Speaker 1: somebody that doesn't have the sin that you have or
Speaker 1: the issue that you have and to judge them. But
Speaker 1: can I tell you what you make all of us
Speaker 1: just come to the Throne of Grace and said, know
Speaker 1: that all of us have sin, and all of us
Speaker 1: have all in short, and all of us have something. Oh,
Speaker 1: but it's easy to judge people that don't have the
Speaker 1: flavor of said that you have. And they came in
Speaker 1: and thought they were going to get a reaction out
Speaker 1: of Jesus said, we just caught this woman in the act.
Speaker 1: What do you have to say Jesus, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden tension is in the room and they're waiting
Speaker 1: on Jesus' response because they had planned this out for
Speaker 1: a long time. Oh, they had been waiting for this trap.
Speaker 1: They were waiting to trap. In fact, that's what the
Speaker 1: text says. All this was to trap Jesus. And let
Speaker 1: me tell you why. I got to give the Pharisees
Speaker 1: and the teachers of the law a little bit of
Speaker 1: credit because this is a good trap. Oh, this is
Speaker 1: a brilliant trap. Because you understand that the teachers of
Speaker 1: the law were actually right, because Moses law was clear
Speaker 1: that the punishment for adultry was to be stone. It
Speaker 1: was in Leviticus, it was in Deuteronomy. They knew the word,
Speaker 1: or they had the word memorized, the first five books
Speaker 1: of the Old Testament, the whole Penitive they had it
Speaker 1: memorized because they knew the word. They were profound and
Speaker 1: the word. They knew it down to the letter. Or
Speaker 1: they knew the word. They knew they were right. But
Speaker 1: isn't it crazy how you can be right and wrong
Speaker 1: at the same time. Isn't it crazy how you can
Speaker 1: know the letter of the law but not know the
Speaker 1: spirit of the law, isn't it crazy? Like my grandmother said,
Speaker 1: you can know the word but not know the author.
Speaker 1: And they had forgotten who the author was, and they
Speaker 1: throw this woman down there like haha. We got them
Speaker 1: trapped with the law. We got them trapped in the world.
Speaker 1: And it is a good trap because if Jesus stands
Speaker 1: up and says, hold up, wait a minute, do not
Speaker 1: stone this woman, he is now trampling on the law
Speaker 1: of Moses. And they already downloaded his podcast where he said,
Speaker 1: I did I come to a boist the law. I
Speaker 1: came to fulfill it. On the other hand, if Jesus says,
Speaker 1: you know what you're right, get a big rock, knock
Speaker 1: her out. All of a sudden, this savior who's known
Speaker 1: for his grace and his mercy and his compassion, all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, this Savior says, come to me, no
Speaker 1: matter who you are, now the message has come to me,
Speaker 1: and get stoned to death. So what is Jesus gonna do?
Speaker 1: He's caught in this predicament of do I uphold the
Speaker 1: law or do I protect the woman? What do I do?
Speaker 1: He's caught in this tension of do I trample on
Speaker 1: the word, or do I trample on this woman? Can
Speaker 1: you see the tension that he is facing. Oh? If
Speaker 1: that was me, I don't know if life has ever
Speaker 1: hit you with a situation where you say, I don't
Speaker 1: know what in the world I'm gonna do about this.
Speaker 1: If this was me, I would have been nervous. I
Speaker 1: would have been sweating. I would have been looking for
Speaker 1: a theological book to help me out all. I would
Speaker 1: have been nervous because I am an ordinary man. But
Speaker 1: how many know Jesus was not an ordinary man. He
Speaker 1: was God in the flesh. He was the beginning and
Speaker 1: the end. He was the Alpha and the Omega. See,
Speaker 1: this is what I love about the God that we serve.
Speaker 1: It's not just that he has power. I'm glad that
Speaker 1: he has power and wisdom. Oh it's one thing to
Speaker 1: have power, it's another thing to have power and wisdom.
Speaker 1: Anytime you have somebody that has power and no wisdom,
Speaker 1: you need to be scared of that leader. But thank
Speaker 1: God that he has all power and he has infinite wisdom.
Speaker 1: And when you put that together, that's a god you
Speaker 1: should worship. That's a god you should turn. That's a
Speaker 1: god you can trust because He's got power and wisdom.
Speaker 1: So my question is, why are you stressing about what
Speaker 1: you're stressing about when you got a God who has
Speaker 1: all power and he has all wisdom. He knew before
Speaker 1: the pandemic you were going to be in that situation.
Speaker 1: But how many know He is working it out for
Speaker 1: your good. He's gonna make sure that in the end
Speaker 1: you are going to win. I'll thank God that all
Speaker 1: things work for the good of those that love the
Speaker 1: Lord and are called according to his purpose. I'm glad
Speaker 1: he has power, but I'm glad he has wisdom too.
Speaker 1: Can I just stay here for a minute. I love
Speaker 1: that he has wisdom. Do you realize that your God
Speaker 1: has never thought of anything that he didn't already think of.
Speaker 1: God has never thought of anything that he didn't already
Speaker 1: think of. Because if he could think of something that
Speaker 1: he hadn't already thought of, that means he could learn something.
Speaker 1: And he can't learn anything because he knows everything. He
Speaker 1: I'm saying another way, nothing has ever occurred to your God.
Speaker 1: God has never said, you know what just occurred to me? No,
Speaker 1: he knows everything. That means you can trust him even
Speaker 1: in the darkest season of your life. That he will
Speaker 1: work it out. They thought they had him trapped, so
Speaker 1: they demanded an answer. They said, Jesus, we caught it
Speaker 1: in the act. What do you to say? The Bible
Speaker 1: says Jesus standing there, Sez the woman, ashamed and embarrassed,
Speaker 1: sees the Pharisees with hatred in their eyes. What do
Speaker 1: you have to say, Jesus? His immediate response to get down,
Speaker 1: and he starts doodling in the dirt. All the while
Speaker 1: they're demanding an answer. Jesus, we ain't playing. Lord Moses says,
Speaker 1: you should be stronge. What do you have to say?
Speaker 1: She just starts doodling. It takes us. He acted as
Speaker 1: if he didn't hear. That's a cute way of saying.
Speaker 1: He ignored them and just starts doodling. And I think
Speaker 1: they thought his silence meant that they got him. They're like, oh,
Speaker 1: we got him. Come on, Jesus, tell me she should
Speaker 1: be stole. What do you have to say? What do
Speaker 1: I have? So he just starts doodling in the third
Speaker 1: And I don't know who this is for today, but
Speaker 1: some of you need to take a cue from Jesus
Speaker 1: and quit being so quick to react to your critics.
Speaker 1: Sometimes the best thing you can do when the enemy
Speaker 1: comes in your life with all kinds of drama and
Speaker 1: all kinds of chaos, sometimes the best thing you can
Speaker 1: do is just turn your back and get on your
Speaker 1: knee and remind yourself that God is the author and
Speaker 1: the finisher of your faith that He's got you. Quit
Speaker 1: being so quick to give a reaction to the enemy,
Speaker 1: because you do know that's what the enemy wants in
Speaker 1: your life. He loves to come in your life with
Speaker 1: chaos because he wants you to give a reaction. But
Speaker 1: how man you know you don't need to give a reaction.
Speaker 1: You need to give a response because there's a difference
Speaker 1: between a reaction and a response. Come on, somebody, There
Speaker 1: is a huge difference between a reaction and a response.
Speaker 1: The enemy wants a reaction. He wants you to react
Speaker 1: the chaos and the drama that came into your life.
Speaker 1: But don't be a reactor. Be a responder. Oh can
Speaker 1: I tell somebody in this season it is important that
Speaker 1: in all the chaos, you don't react, but you give
Speaker 1: a response. There's a difference between a reaction and a response.
Speaker 1: A reaction tends to be quick. It tends to be
Speaker 1: a knee jerker. It's fast. There's a difference between a
Speaker 1: reaction and response. A response is deliberate. You're slow when
Speaker 1: you respond. That's why. And this season is so critical
Speaker 1: to remember what God said and James says, he says,
Speaker 1: be slow to speak, slow to speak, slow to anger,
Speaker 1: because when you give a reaction, that's what the enemy wants.
Speaker 1: There's a difference between a reaction and a response. Enemy
Speaker 1: wants your reaction. Have you notice, thank God, a pandemic
Speaker 1: has shown us what the essential workers are. Have you
Speaker 1: notice that they call them an emergency response team, not
Speaker 1: an emergency reaction team. Can you imagine if it was
Speaker 1: an emergency reaction team and you called ninemal ones saying
Speaker 1: no one, hep, hep, hep, my daughter just got cut.
Speaker 1: Hap hot help, and the person along the line talking
Speaker 1: about want me go down, let me go down, we'd
Speaker 1: be like, oh, I called you. Now they don't give
Speaker 1: a reaction. They give you a response, and the enemy
Speaker 1: wants your reaction. But Jesus never reacted. He responded, he
Speaker 1: took a knee, and he just doodles in the dirt.
Speaker 1: Now we got a pause here because I'm about to
Speaker 1: land the plane. Everybody wants to know, right what was
Speaker 1: Jesus writing in the ground that day? Oh, come on,
Speaker 1: this is a hot topic in theology. Everybody wants to
Speaker 1: know he's Dolars and theologians have postulated what they think
Speaker 1: he wrote in the ground. There's so many different theories.
Speaker 1: Some people think that he wrote, love the Lord your God,
Speaker 1: though of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, Love your
Speaker 1: neighbor as yourself. Some people say that he wrote the
Speaker 1: Ten Commandments. Some people say that he wrote Jeremiah seventeen three.
Speaker 1: Those who forsake you are written in the dust. There's
Speaker 1: so many different theories. One theory is that he wrote
Speaker 1: the names of all of the men who gathered rocks
Speaker 1: that day, and next to their name he wrote their
Speaker 1: particular sin, so that when they looked in the ground
Speaker 1: and they saw their name and what they did next
Speaker 1: to their name, they were like, you know what, I
Speaker 1: wasn't even try to be here anyway. I have some stuff,
Speaker 1: how shy do I don't know if that's true, but
Speaker 1: I like that theory. After studying and reading everything I
Speaker 1: know to read, I have to be honest, I don't
Speaker 1: know what Jesus wrote that day. Which, by the way,
Speaker 1: you do know sometimes it's all right for you to
Speaker 1: say I don't know. I don't know what he wrote
Speaker 1: that day, And to be honest, I don't care, because
Speaker 1: I don't want to be so busy trying to figure
Speaker 1: out what he was writing that I miss out on
Speaker 1: how he was responding. Because when the law caught this
Speaker 1: woman in the act of her sin, Jesus' response to
Speaker 1: the law was to immediately get down on the ground
Speaker 1: and touch the dirt. And after he touched the dirt,
Speaker 1: Bob says something interesting. It says, he raised himself up
Speaker 1: and then he gave a response to the accusations of
Speaker 1: the law. When this woman was caught in the act
Speaker 1: of sin and the law wanted to destroy her, jesus
Speaker 1: immediate response to the law was to get down on
Speaker 1: the ground. He didn't say anything, He just got down
Speaker 1: and he touched the dirt, and then he says, he
Speaker 1: raised himself up and gave a response to the accusations
Speaker 1: of the law. Did you hear what I said? When
Speaker 1: this woman was caught in the act and the law
Speaker 1: wanted to destroy her, Jesus' immediate response was to get
Speaker 1: down on the ground. He was the only one that
Speaker 1: was willing to get down on her level and meet
Speaker 1: her where she was. And he touched the dirt, and
Speaker 1: then he raised himself up and gave a response to
Speaker 1: the accusation of the law. Come on, this is the gospel,
Speaker 1: this is you, this is me. Humanity is this woman.
Speaker 1: We were all caught in the act. And if the
Speaker 1: law had its way, it would have killed us, it
Speaker 1: would have destroyed us. But Jesus' response was to come
Speaker 1: down from heaven. He came down to earth and humbled himself.
Speaker 1: He touched the dirt. We are made of that dirt.
Speaker 1: He could feel our humanity. And then he raised himself
Speaker 1: up on a truss and gave a response to the
Speaker 1: accusation of the law. Oh I am that woman. You
Speaker 1: are that woman. We were caught in the act, and Jesus'
Speaker 1: response was to come down to where we were. Oh,
Speaker 1: what would our world look like if people would just
Speaker 1: come down and humble themself and relate to other people.
Speaker 1: He came down and touched the third and then he
Speaker 1: raised himself up. He raised himself up to the point
Speaker 1: that he says, no man takes my life, I lay
Speaker 1: it down. He raised himself up on the cross, and
Speaker 1: he offered a response to the accusation of the law.
Speaker 1: When he raised himself up, he looked at him and says,
Speaker 1: he who's without sin among you, you'd be the first
Speaker 1: to cast the stone, says One by one, starting with
Speaker 1: the oldest, even to the last, they dropped their rocks
Speaker 1: and walked away. He didn't even wait on him to
Speaker 1: drop the rock. He went right back down to doodling
Speaker 1: in the dirt, and every single one of them walked away.
Speaker 1: He who's without sin among you, you'd be the first
Speaker 1: to cast a stone. What is Jesus saying with that statement?
Speaker 1: What is he saying? You know what he's saying. He's saying,
Speaker 1: I see you, I know what you did. You think
Speaker 1: you want to uphold the law. You're using this woman,
Speaker 1: You've dehumanized her to trap me, and you want to
Speaker 1: uphold the law. I am the word, I am the law.
Speaker 1: And if you really cared about the law, the law
Speaker 1: was clear that if somebody was caught in the act
Speaker 1: of adultery, that there had to be two witnesses seeing
Speaker 1: them in that and the law was to bring the
Speaker 1: woman and the man and stone both of them. So,
Speaker 1: if you're really about upholding the law. Quick question, were
Speaker 1: the man where is it with? Many believes that this
Speaker 1: whole situation was a trap. It was a set up,
Speaker 1: not just to get Jesus, but they trapped this woman.
Speaker 1: And the reason the man wasn't there is because he
Speaker 1: was in on it. And Jesus could see to the
Speaker 1: core of who they were, and he says, I know
Speaker 1: what you did. You set this whole thing up. And
Speaker 1: in one statement, they were forced to do the most
Speaker 1: powerful thing any human can do, and that is to
Speaker 1: look at themselves. Oh what would our world look like
Speaker 1: if we all looked on the inside of us the
Speaker 1: truth asked for his grace. One by one they came
Speaker 1: to the understanding, I'm not different than this woman who's
Speaker 1: on the ground. They dropped their rocket and walked away,
Speaker 1: and Jesus was left alone with the woman left alone
Speaker 1: in his presence. And I can see her because I
Speaker 1: think her head was down the whole tome, tears coming
Speaker 1: down her face. I don't even think she noticed that
Speaker 1: they had left. Because sometimes you can go through so
Speaker 1: much and be beating down so much, and be so
Speaker 1: tired and so much pain, you don't even realize Jesus
Speaker 1: has already taken care of the thing that you've been
Speaker 1: crying about. I don't even think she noticed that they
Speaker 1: were gone, and I think he had to get her attention,
Speaker 1: say woman and A, hey, where are your accusers? I
Speaker 1: can see her going Jesus, you don't understand what's going
Speaker 1: on the world. You don't see all. She realized Jesus
Speaker 1: had taken care of the thing that she was weeping about.
Speaker 1: I don't know who this is for today, but you
Speaker 1: need to understand. Jesus is taking care of the thing
Speaker 1: that you're weeping about, that you're crying about that you
Speaker 1: keep beating yourself up about. Jesus is handling it. One
Speaker 1: by one, they dropped their rocks. She realized they were God.
Speaker 1: She said, I have no Lord. Are you gonna condemn me?
Speaker 1: Neither do I condemn. You? Go your way and sin
Speaker 1: no more, not sin no more. Neither do I condemn you.
Speaker 1: Walk shamefree, knowing that I did not come to condemn you.
Speaker 1: And that woman walked away after encountering grace and truth.
Speaker 1: You know what I wish those religious stuck up Pharisees
Speaker 1: would have done. They were right to check them and
Speaker 1: drop their rock, but they shouldn't have walked away. They
Speaker 1: should have came and knelt at the feet of this
Speaker 1: savior who is full of grace and truth and received
Speaker 1: him right where he was. Thank God for a savior
Speaker 1: who is full of grace and truth. This savior, he's
Speaker 1: reaching out to all of us today saying, have an
Speaker 1: encounter with my grace and truth. He's speaking to the
Speaker 1: church today saying, will you be tethered to my character
Speaker 1: and will you start to show grace and truth. Oh God,
Speaker 1: I'm praying in this season where the world is so dark,
Speaker 1: that we would respond with grace and truth to the
Speaker 1: people around us. Give us the wisdom of when to
Speaker 1: show grace and when to speak truth. That's what we
Speaker 1: need this time and in this season, living in the
Speaker 1: tension of grace and true. I'm just gonna ask, wherever
Speaker 1: you're watching this, that your head spowed, your eyes closed.
Speaker 1: No matter where you are, maybe you're watching and you
Speaker 1: feel like this woman so much shame, condemnation. Enemy has
Speaker 1: been tormenting you about mistakes in your past. Can I
Speaker 1: tell you that if Jesus was a condemner, God would
Speaker 1: have sent a condemner in the world. But he didn't.
Speaker 1: He sent a savior. No matter what you're facing, no
Speaker 1: matter what you're going through, This wonderful Savior who is
Speaker 1: full of grace and truth. His arms are open to
Speaker 1: you today. If you need to receive him. I want
Speaker 1: you just right where you're watching, maybe friends are there.
Speaker 1: Just lift up your hand and just as a response
Speaker 1: to say, I need to give this savior my life,
Speaker 1: my life. Thank you God. Maybe you're watching the day
Speaker 1: and you say, you know what I need to be
Speaker 1: a person that lives in the tension of grace and truth.
Speaker 1: You've surrendered your life to Jesus. But maybe you're too
Speaker 1: much grace and don't speak the truth when you need
Speaker 1: to it. Maybe it's too much truth and you're crushing
Speaker 1: people and you don't have the spirit of grace. But
Speaker 1: I'm believing in this season especially, the voice of the
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit is going to be so strong of the
Speaker 1: inside of you to let you know when to operate
Speaker 1: in grace and truth and live in the tension of both.
Speaker 1: If that's your heart's cry, you'll just lift up your
Speaker 1: head and say, Lord, let that be mean, Let that
Speaker 1: be mean. Father. I thank you for your word, but
Speaker 1: I thank you in the midst of a world that
Speaker 1: has so much tension. Father, we can get strong or
Speaker 1: as we live in the tension of grace and truth
Speaker 1: in Jesus' mighty matchless name. Come on, somebody, say amen
Speaker 1: and give God some praise to the Thank you for
Speaker 1: joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give
Speaker 1: generously to this ministry. Is because of you that this
Speaker 1: ministry is possible. You can click the link in the
Speaker 1: description to give now, or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash
Speaker 1: podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast,
Speaker 1: you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 1: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
Speaker 1: share it on your social stories and tag us at
Speaker 1: Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.