WEBVTT - When They Found Out 0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:04.640 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.120 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.440 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:12.520 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:15.400 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:21.919 I bring you greetings from Valentine. It's not technically it's Charlotte, 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:24.200 but it's not anyway. I bring you greetings today. Wherever 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:25.840 you are in the world, we know that God is 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:28.080 going to speak to you for the season that you're in. 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:30.400 He is going to supply every need that you have. 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:35.159 I don't know what you need today, but God knows. 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:38.080 Put it in the chat. God knows what I need. 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:40.680 And some of the things you need you can't mention. 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.080 You can't put those in the chat. That's all right. 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.760 God knows those needs too. And sometimes you don't even 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:50.080 know you need it. In that rise, sometimes you don't 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:53.080 even know you need it, and then God just bypasses 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:54.880 what you think you need to give you what you 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.600 really need that you didn't know to ask for. Praise 0:00:57.640 --> 0:01:02.560 the Lord. Well, can't you tell that I'm excited and full? Yeah, 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:08.920 I'm full. I'm full. I feel full. I feel full today. 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:10.400 I want to share a message with you. You You can 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:14.000 be seated. I want to share a message with you 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:16.800 from a passage of scripture that God had me on 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:21.840 a path to study for quite a while. It took 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:23.800 me a while to find what he wanted to say 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:29.839 in this passage, but wow, when I saw it. Okay, 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:35.319 let's get to it. Are you ready? Okay? Are you ready? Yeah, 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:38.120 you're ready. See the kids aren't running around. You've got 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:40.600 them on the kids YouTube channel and all that. You 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.920 got them locked in the basement, whatever doesn't matter. You 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.440 got them on Netflix, it doesn't matter. Just get rid 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:49.960 of them for a minute. Let's talk, all right, because 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:53.360 you need this. You need this, and you have to 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:57.120 feed yourself first or you won't have strength to feed others. 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:00.680 So let's make sure before we started another week that 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.040 we really get what God wants us to have. This 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.960 is an important word. In Mark chapter six, the miracle 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:11.760 known as the Feeding of the five thousand is recorded. 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:14.799 It's not only recorded in Mark chapter six, but I'm 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:17.280 going to begin there. It's recorded in all four Gospels, 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:21.680 each account giving us a different angle on who Jesus is. 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:24.400 And what he does. How many know that as you 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:26.720 go through life, you see Jesus from different angles, you 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:31.200 see God from different angles, and it opens your understanding. 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:36.200 The old hymn said, thou changest not, and he doesn't change. 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:38.840 But the way we see him has to always expand. 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:41.720 If we see him from the same point of view 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:44.400 that we saw him when we were thirteen, we're probably 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:48.240 missing something if we're thirty one. And in the process 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:52.920 of revealing himself to his disciples, Jesus was very responsible 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:57.280 not to give them too much at one time, and 0:02:57.320 --> 0:03:00.760 that was part of his compassion too. He was more 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:04.320 than enough, but he never gave them more than they 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:07.400 could handle. As he ministered to them, he did so 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:13.000 strategically in stages. So when he showed them in John's Gospel, 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.720 for instance, which i'll reference a little bit later, who 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:20.240 he was through what we call the iam statements, it 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.919 was a continuation of the same thing that God began 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:28.040 to show Moses when he said I am that I am. 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.880 It left a blank that Jesus would fill in, not 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:33.880 through just what he said, but what he showed and 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:38.560 what he did. Every time he demonstrated something, he declared 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.560 something and He did that so that we could not 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:44.720 only hear it, but so that we could own it 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:48.200 and know it and get it deep down inside of us. 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:53.400 This particular miracle is connected with the first I Am 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:57.200 statement of Jesus that's in the Gospel of John, and 0:03:57.240 --> 0:03:58.960 I want to read it to you from Mark, because 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:03.760 there's a phrase that really, really really got my attention 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:05.040 this week, and I want to see if you can 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:09.760 find it. It says in Mark, chapter six, verse twenty nine, 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:14.000 will start with twenty nine. On hearing of this, John's 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:17.919 disciples came and took his body and laid it in 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:23.760 a tomb. The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:31.080 him all they had done and taught. Then everybody say, then, then, 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:37.800 because so many people, everybody say, so many people were 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:39.680 coming and going that they did not even have a 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:42.640 chance to eat. He said to them, come with me 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:48.520 by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:55.000 So they went away by themselves in a boat to 0:04:55.080 --> 0:05:00.320 a solitary place with no Wi fi, to a place. 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:07.880 But many who saw them leaving recognize them. You remember 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:09.960 when the kids were a little holly and we used 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:12.320 to wonder, do they have a radar that knows when 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.080 we lay down to take a nap so that they 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:16.240 can start screaming and wake up. Remember, it's like they 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:18.800 just knew and they would just start the moment we 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:22.520 were finally starting to rest, they would they would wake up. Thanks, guys, 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:26.440 that was fun. That's a stage of parenting you go through. 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.040 And the hungry crowds are kind of like my kids, 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:32.160 Like they just the moment that Jesus is moving away, 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:34.799 they're already their way. Have you ever had a problem 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:36.800 waiting for you and you weren't prepared for it when 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:42.159 you got there? Yeah? Did you notice that trouble doesn't 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:47.279 schedule an appointment when it comes? How many of you 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:50.080 bad things? Ask you? Is this a good time before 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:53.799 they happen? Are you feeling rested, because today we would 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:57.560 like to test your faith? No? No, no. The crowd 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:02.160 was what waiting when they found out Jesus was leaving 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:06.200 to get away. The crowd was waiting when they got there. 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:09.000 And I don't know what's waiting for you this week, 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:12.200 and neither do you. So you got to get this 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:15.320 word right now now. Don't need my stool today, move 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:18.400 this stool. You got to get this word right now, 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:22.240 right now, right now, right now, because you don't know 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:25.800 what's waiting this week. Now. I believe that's why you 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:27.440 tuned in, because God wants to give you a word 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:30.040 that'll last you all week, no matter what is waiting. Now. 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:31.920 Watch this. Jesus was the word. And when he went 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:34.240 to the place where he was taking the disciples to 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:35.920 get alone, there was a crowd. When they went away, 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.160 many who saw them recognize them and ran on foot 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:39.720 from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:41.680 And here's the part of the passage that you may 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:45.160 be more familiar with. When Jesus first thirty four landed 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.080 and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:51.839 because they were like sheep without a shepherd, so leaving 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:56.080 and teaching them many things. By this time it was late. 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:05.240 How long did Jesus talk so long? This sermon was 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:09.080 so long? Watch how long it was. His disciples came 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:13.440 to him and said, these people are about to pass out, 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:18.040 and there's no Chick fil A, and so you need 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:22.559 to send them away because this is a remote place 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:25.880 and it's already very late. So send them away so 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:28.400 they can go to the surrounding cities or the surrounding 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:33.000 countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. But 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:35.160 he answered, you give them something to eat. They said 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:39.040 to him that would take eight months of a man's wages. 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.840 Are we to go and spend that that much on 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:49.240 bread and give it to them to eat? How many 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:53.720 loves do you have? He asked, go and see, thank 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:58.680 you Lord. When they found out, they said, five and 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:04.320 to fish. Then everybody say. Then Jesus directed them to 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:06.400 have all the people sit down in groups on the 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:10.920 green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:14.840 and fifties, taking the five loaves and the two fish, 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.040 and looking up to heaven. He gave thanks and broke 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:21.080 the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples, and 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:23.760 they set them before the people. He also divided the 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:28.200 two fish among them. All they all ate and were satisfied. 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:34.240 One version says they ate as much as they wanted. Yeah, 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.400 And all the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.720 pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:43.719 who ate was about five thousand. The title I want 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:45.880 to use comes from verse thirty eight, part be put 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:47.920 it back on the screen please. I want to talk 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:53.000 to you today about when they found out when they 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:59.800 found out. Are there any parents in the room today? 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:05.079 You got kids? Aaron Lj's got kids? How many to 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:09.720 anybody out anybody here? How many? Show me on your fingers? 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:14.000 How many you did? Five? Yeah, chunks did five. I 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.679 don't know what he's planning for the future, some adoption 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.280 in the works or something like that, Holly, if you 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.520 hold up anything other than three and you're yeah, okay. 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.040 So I was talking to a couple on our staff 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:29.120 the other day who's having their first baby, and they 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:32.000 were so excited. And I know this sounds bad, but 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:34.200 I get excited for people when they're having their first kid, 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:37.720 and then after that whatever, you know, because once you 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:40.000 have once you have one, your life is already you know, 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:44.280 just so. But when it's their first I get excited. 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:46.560 And Holly always sends a gift to everybody on our 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:48.840 staff who has a baby. But they were so excited. 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:51.080 I mean, they were so like first time parent excited. 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:55.000 And I said, you guys are sure excited. And I'm 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:56.640 not one of these guys who says, get rid of 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:58.720 they're going to ruin your life, because kids are, you know, 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:03.320 obviously the best thing that ever happened to me seventy 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:06.600 percent of time. And I said, y'all are so excited, 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:10.679 and they said yeah, and we're going Monday to find 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:15.960 out what it is. And I thought, no, you're not. 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.080 You're not gonna find out what it is Monday. I 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:25.600 know what you mean that you're gonna get some blue 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:28.600 or pink balloons. And by the way, since I'm in 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:32.680 my old man stage of ministry, now, these gender reveal parties, 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:35.640 we didn't do all that, So I mean, don't feel 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:38.559 any pressure if you don't have the money to shoot 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.000 a baby seal out of a cannon to show everybody 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:44.199 what people do. This is the crazy stuff I see. 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:48.400 Our gender reveal party was call my mom in the 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:54.240 parking lot after the ultrasound. That was the gender reveal party. 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:56.360 That's how happy we were to find out you were 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:58.160 a boy. It's a boy. That was it. And then 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:04.400 we went home and save money. But watch this, We're 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:07.439 gonna find out what it is. Just the way they 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:12.720 said it. It stuck with me because we often think 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:19.400 that we're gonna know exactly what it is. See, the 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:22.680 doctor has this thing that he can show you, or 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:26.480 she can show you. Maybe they can show you the gender, 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:31.760 but you will not know what it is just based 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:35.959 on male or female. You will not know quote what 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:40.360 it is just based on There is no sonogram that 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.480 can show you how much love you are going to 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:47.080 have for this human being who is going to rip 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:50.679 your heart out of your chest and carry it around 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.920 with them through all of their decisions of life. There's 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.319 no way you can see that on a sonogram. There 0:11:56.360 --> 0:12:00.160 is some stuff you can't see on your sonogram. We're 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.400 gonna find out what it is. I nodded. I was like, cool, 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:06.320 it was great. You know. No, you're not. No, you're not. 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:12.240 We often expect to see what it is before we 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:18.440 even bring it forth. We want to know what it is. 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:20.760 And they found out it was a boy on Monday, 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:24.240 but they didn't find out whether the boy's eyes were 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:29.760 blue on Monday. You find that out progressively, right, it's progressive. 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:34.720 Being a parent is progressive. You find out, you go, oh, 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:37.480 my kid's so quiet. I thought Graham was quiet for 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:40.080 the first five years of his life. I thought he 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:42.600 was quiet for the first five years of his life. 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:45.000 He won't shut up. Now he turns thirteen this month. 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:47.000 He won't shut up. He's making me take him to 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:50.600 Great Wolf Lodge for his birthday. That's torment that only 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.800 a loving parent would endure. And I'm doing it for 0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:55.400 him because I love him. I didn't know how much 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:57.680 I would love him. On a sonogram, I didn't know 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:01.280 his personality just because I knew whether he was, you know, 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:03.840 blue or pink, or a boy or a girl. You 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:06.920 don't know what it is. And the challenge of life 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:11.679 is understanding that you don't really know what is inside 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:15.760 of you, what is inside of others, what is inside 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:19.240 of your gift. See, they can tell you the gender 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.640 of your kid with an ultrasound, but they can't tell 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.960 you the gifts life has to bring that for it. 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:27.760 They can tell you what it is, they can tell 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:29.839 you what it is on a surface level, but they 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:33.439 can't tell you what's in it. See, that's gonna take time, 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:36.840 that's gonna take maturity, that's gonna take I was a 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.719 punk rocker when I was fourteen. I'm a preacher when 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:42.640 I'm forty. My mom didn't know what I was until 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:47.200 I became it. Now, Jesus did not become anything. I'll 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:49.760 prove it. In the beginning was the word, and the 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:53.280 word was with God. And the word was God. Somebody 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:57.199 say he already was. He didn't become sufficient, he didn't 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:00.800 become the Word. He already was, but they didn't know 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.599 what he was until they walked with them enough to 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:08.160 see it in stages. And this is kind of the 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:11.480 first stage of that for the disciples, where he is 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:15.720 showing them I am the Bread of life. He already 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:20.360 was already was, but they didn't know it yet. He 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:26.840 already was already was. So you know how this passage 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:30.920 is like so familiar. How many sermons have you heard 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:35.240 about the feeding of the five thousand? If this is 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:37.240 the first time you've heard about it, you have never 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:40.680 been within five miles of a church. And that's fine too. 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:48.360 How many sermons have you heard? I love y'all so much, 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:56.720 But how many sermons have you heard about the context? 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:00.920 See the first verse? I read a man named John. 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:04.520 This is not John who wrote the Gospel of John. 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:06.360 This is John, the Baptist who got his head cut 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:08.800 off for confronting Harot and tell him you shouldn't sleep 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:13.840 with your your brother's wife. That John, the one who 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:17.800 ate locust and honey and prepared the way for Jesus. 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:22.760 That John, the one who was born six months earlier. 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:25.080 They didn't have gender reveal sonograms at that point. But 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:28.960 they didn't need a gender reveal because when the Angel 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.920 came to Zachariah in the temple, he said, you're gonna 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:33.920 have a boy, and you're gonna name him John. And 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:36.680 Zacharia says, it's not possible. I'm too old for that. 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:40.920 And the moment you start telling God what's not in you, 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.520 the one who made you doesn't know what's in you, 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:49.800 the Angel said, you're not gonna speak until the day 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.160 your baby's born. And that's what it was. And when 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:54.360 they gave the baby the name, the father spoke. He 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:56.400 said his name is John. They said, there's nobody in 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:58.600 your family called John. He said, I'm not going off 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:00.960 of external, I'm going off of internal. This is what 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:04.560 God told me. This is what God spoke right that John. 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:10.640 When he died, his disciples buried him. He didn't have 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:13.280 many disciples left because he gave all of his disciples 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:17.400 to Jesus. He told all of his members to go 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:20.880 to another church, and they did. He said, I must 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:25.000 become less, he must become greater. When he found the Messiah, 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:27.720 the one he had looked for he said, that's the 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:30.840 one he gave up what he thought was important once 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:35.720 he found what was really significant, that John, that John 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:41.880 who died at the hands of Herod's ego, who was beheaded, 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:46.040 That John when he died. The Disciples brought the news 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:51.200 to Jesus, and Jesus wanted to get away when he 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:55.240 found out what had happened to John. He he withdrew 0:16:55.840 --> 0:17:00.000 when he found out right. But see, John and Jesus 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:04.399 had a special relationship because John knew who Jesus was 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:10.359 before they ever met physically. When Elizabeth was six months 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:13.480 pregnant and Mary found out she was pregnant, the first 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.520 thing she did was go find Elizabeth, her cousin, who 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:19.879 was also pregnant. And Elizabeth says, the weirdest thing. And 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:22.280 you only understand this if it's ever happened to you, 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:23.960 and you don't have to be a woman to understand this. 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:26.359 You can understand it on a spiritual level, she said. 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:30.480 As soon as you got here, the baby that was 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:37.800 inside of me started dancing. My baby started walking on water, 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:41.159 My baby started doing the Tutsi slide. The moment I 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:45.240 heard your voice, my baby started dancing on the inside 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.959 of me. So it's crazy how sometimes you know things 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:51.119 before you should know them. Let me give you an 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.000 example of that. Some of you know right now that 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:58.000 God's hand is on your child, but you can't see 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.280 evidence of that yet. But you still know. And some 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.680 things can't be shown. They have to be known by 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:09.320 the spirit of God. Some things you know before you 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:15.560 can show. Like I know this sermon is gonna hit 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:18.320 your heart today, but you don't know that yet. But 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:21.280 God showed it to me, and I know what's in 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:24.560 me before I give it to you. That's very powerful, 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:28.600 because if you wait on circumstances to validate God's voice, 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:32.880 you might be waiting a long time. No no, no, 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:37.320 Faith says, I know it before you show it. I 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:40.000 know it on the inside before I see it on 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:43.680 the outside. And whoever this is for today, God has 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:48.160 shown you something that eyes cannot see, that ears cannot hurt, 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:50.359 that cannot enter in the heart of a man. But 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:54.320 you know it by the spirit of God. John knew 0:18:54.359 --> 0:19:01.160 who Jesus was while they were still both embryonic. This 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.000 might not be good to you, but it's good to 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:06.520 me because you've got to know that. You know that, 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:09.000 you know that, you know that God is with you. 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:11.159 You've got to know that, you know that, you know that, 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:13.800 you know that He's spoken. You've got to know that 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:16.040 you know that, you know that, you know that what 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:17.840 He gave you is enough. So when you face a 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:22.040 circumstance that challenges your dependency and you find yourself in 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:26.119 a season of definite a deficiency, you will know definitely 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:28.199 that God is with you. Give him a praise if 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:36.359 you know he's good. Of course, none of the disciples 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:39.159 really knew what Jesus was carrying, not only the purpose 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:41.520 that he carried to die on the cross for their sins. 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:44.480 They didn't know that yet. They found that out later. 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:48.400 They followed him as he performed miracles. But only he 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:51.560 really knew what he was carrying the burden of it. 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:57.360 In fact, the Bible says something interesting. It says that 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:02.040 John's disciples came and told you Jesus that John was dead, 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:06.040 But it doesn't say that Jesus told the disciples. He 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:11.199 told them, let's go rest. He carried it alone. I 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:14.520 want to speak to somebody today who's carrying something alone. 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:19.879 Maybe you're the provider for your family, Maybe you're dealing 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:23.359 with something right now that isn't public material to carry 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:28.159 something alone. That's what I felt from Jesus, that he 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:31.640 was carrying something like Mary was carrying him. Now he's 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:36.399 carrying something, not only the news of John's death, but 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.560 also the potential of the ministry, because in the text 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:41.679 we read it said it was going really good with 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:44.920 the ministry of Jesus, but the ministry of John ended. 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:48.679 And that made me think about how you can be 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:53.320 getting good news in one ear and bad news in 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:58.159 the other, and learning how to balance. That is the 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:05.280 essence of faith. You carry on one hand, sometimes a 0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:08.520 blessing that's so heavy you can barely carry it. You 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:10.879 carry with the other hand a doubt or a question, 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:16.520 and that balance is what keeps you walking straight. Jesus 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:20.600 goes away, the crowds find out they meet him there. Surprise, Jesus, 0:21:20.720 --> 0:21:23.880 we want to be healed. Surprise, Jesus, we're interrupting your vacation. 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:26.960 This is like your in laws and everybody else you 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:29.480 don't want to see showing up on your vacation. Not 0:21:29.520 --> 0:21:32.360 only that, but there's five thousand men and women and children, 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:37.400 and Jesus looked up and he saw them. He saw 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:43.159 he didn't see him as a crowd. He saw them 0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:50.400 with compassion. That amazes me that God knows exactly what 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:55.119 you've been going through this week, because like to me, 0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:59.119 I'm looking in one camera. God doesn't see a crowd 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:02.640 on the other side of the reads. He sees where 0:22:02.640 --> 0:22:05.000 you're hungry, and he sees where you hurt. Do you 0:22:05.000 --> 0:22:08.960 believe that? I don't know if you do. I think 0:22:08.960 --> 0:22:10.840 a lot of people think that Jesus loves them like 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:16.000 it's a group insurance policy, like he just covers everybody 0:22:16.040 --> 0:22:19.199 with his blood. No, No, that the power is that 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:23.200 he sees the one. We would talk about the five thousand, 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:25.919 but he would talk about the one and one at 0:22:25.960 --> 0:22:29.240 a time. He healed everybody that needed healing. And then, 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:31.359 although you know the story, bear with my folly a 0:22:31.359 --> 0:22:37.400 moment he says to them, we need to feed them. 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:44.720 And the disciples start calculating, how many of you are overpackers, overpackers, 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:51.719 overpackers of the world unite? How many suitcases does it 0:22:51.720 --> 0:22:55.440 take us to get away for three days? Right? So 0:22:55.640 --> 0:22:58.720 many suitcases? And it's not her, it's me. I'm worse 0:22:58.760 --> 0:23:04.639 than her. Stereotyper okay is me? Now? The reason I 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:07.720 mentioned it is because it would have been one thing. 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:10.240 If Jesus would have told the disciples, we're gonna feed 0:23:10.280 --> 0:23:14.920 these people before they got there. When did they find 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:18.159 out that he wanted to feed them after it was 0:23:18.200 --> 0:23:22.840 too late to do anything about it? Have you ever 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:26.760 felt like that with God? If God, y'all are so 0:23:27.240 --> 0:23:29.760 fake today, I don't know what's going on. Did you 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:31.919 miss me so much that you can't forgot how to 0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:34.680 respond to a sermon? Have you ever thought God, if 0:23:34.720 --> 0:23:37.679 you would have told me that they were going to 0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:42.480 leave me, I wouldn't have loved him so much. Now 0:23:42.520 --> 0:23:45.240 it's too late for me not to love him. They're gone, 0:23:46.160 --> 0:23:49.359 and they took my love with them. If you would 0:23:49.359 --> 0:23:51.160 have told me it would be like this, I would 0:23:51.200 --> 0:23:55.160 have made preparations. I would have packed sandwiches. We could 0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:58.040 have hired a catering company. We could have got some 0:23:58.160 --> 0:24:01.280 Jersey Mikes to go Bucks. We could have done this right. 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:07.560 Why didn't you tell me beforehand? They found out about 0:24:07.600 --> 0:24:09.960 the need after it was too late to meet it. 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:16.200 That's a fine time to find out. Why didn't God 0:24:16.240 --> 0:24:18.440 tell all of us preachers that our churches weren't gonna 0:24:18.440 --> 0:24:20.919 be able to have people at him for seventeen years 0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:26.080 before we built all our buildings. I could have built 0:24:26.080 --> 0:24:31.560 this thing for less money, a lot less money. Why 0:24:31.560 --> 0:24:35.280 didn't he tell me that? Why didn't he tell you? 0:24:35.480 --> 0:24:38.760