WEBVTT - Looking Forward To Normal 0:00:01.840 --> 0:00:04.400 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:06.880 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:10.240 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:12.280 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:15.120 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:18.919 All right, let me tell you a story. I'm going 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:21.720 to ease into the message. We are not singing rattle again, 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:24.439 y'all trick me into that last week, and I never 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:27.240 really got to preach a real sermon. You hear me, Joey, 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.600 do not start that Joe Perry guitar thing up again. 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:34.280 That is the devil back there. Get behind me, Satan, 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:38.200 get behind me. Signa, Joey, signa everybody. The greatest rock 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:42.559 and roll worship guitar track of the last twenty years 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:45.960 was on Rattle. And let me tell you, you'll can 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:48.280 go ahead and sit down and stuff and if there's 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.040 any debris around, just clear it out. They're gonna come 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:53.720 back and sit on stools so that I don't feel 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.360 completely and totally alone. You can sit down to if 0:00:56.400 --> 0:00:58.400 you want to. I don't care what you do. Whatever 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:00.960 you need to do to get your faith charged. I 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:03.280 saw some people listening to me preach this week and 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:07.800 they were doing tabata squats with my sermon. I was like, cool, man, 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:12.959 way to be creative, right, that's what I call exercising 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:16.839 your faith. Yeah, it's really cool, and we need some exercise. 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.880 So's I'm looking out for you. I realized that some 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:22.800 of y'all have not moved that much as you just 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:25.959 did in the last eight minutes, in the last eight days. 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:28.400 So we're just trying to look after your spiritual and 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.360 body at Elevation Church. And what God gave me today 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.600 kind of goes along with this idea of just put 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:37.720 this in the chat, all right, that's my thing right now. 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:39.520 I can't touch your neighbor. I can't hug your neighbor. 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:41.800 I can't do anything with neighbors. We're not even allowed 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.280 to make eye contact with our neighbors. I'm so scared 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:46.440 of my neighbors right now. My neighbors are wearing masks 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:47.800 and gloves, and I don't know what to do with 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.440 my neighbors. So we're just chatting. We're just putting it 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:52.400 in the chat. That's the new touch your neighbor. I 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:54.200 want somebody to make a T shirt this week. Put 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.200 it in the chat. It's the new touch your neighbor. 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.640 We're starting it together. It's a revolution. But just put 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:02.080 it in the chat real quick. Say this is not normal. 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:08.400 This is not normal. That's really such an expansive thought 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:12.200 that I think I may spend the next several weeks 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:19.600 just unpacking the idea of normal as we know it 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:24.639 is over. You realize that, right, And so last week 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:29.520 when we were getting ready for Easter, and I was thinking, well, 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:33.280 what do you wear on Easter Sunday when there's nobody 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.760 else in the room. I was like, oh, man, we 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:39.800 should do a nice, normal Easter service because there's going 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:43.720 to be more people watching us than ever before, and 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:45.480 so I don't want to make a bad impression on 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:49.359 the first time visitors or give anybody heart palpitations. And 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:53.000 we were releasing this song called Rattle that sounds like 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:57.040 an Easter song, right, I was like, God, this is 0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:06.240 not normal. Like East There ever was, Like people getting 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:12.040 up out of tombs is so normal. Like the dead 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:18.160 rising again is just an everyday occurrence. Like the idea 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:22.240 that an angel just moved a stone out of the 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.600 way and somebody who had been there hours ago was 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:29.400 no longer there is normal, And they got me thinking 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.520 about this phrase that you're hearing a lot right now 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.240 from people, and I actually want to take my time 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:36.640 with this. I don't know if this message can be 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.720 completed in a week or three weeks or four weeks. 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:42.960 But uh, I don't know if I might preach I 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:46.520 might have to preach long today. Are y'all good? Yeah? 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:48.840 I might have to preach long today. I don't know. 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:52.600 So you may need to cancel your lunch plans. What 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:54.600 am I saying? You don't have any lunch plans. You 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:56.440 don't have any plans for anything. This is like a 0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:59.960 preacher's dream come true. You are so captive right now, 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:05.040 so we could just do it, okay, The main thing 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:06.840 you might have to do is turn your crockpot down. 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.360 But this is not normal. This is not normal. And 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:13.560 we hear a phrase a lot. At least I do 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:16.520 right now and listen since this is not a normal weekend. 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.000 I'm not a normal preacher. This is not a normal church. 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.040 You're not a normal person either. Matter of fact, the 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:26.400 only people that think you're normal are the people who 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:31.080 don't know you. John Hortberg wrote a book called everybody's 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:34.960 normal till you get to know them. So anybody that 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:38.640 you think is normal is somebody that you don't really know. 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:42.560 Come on, talk to me. There's like five people that 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:44.040 I'm paying to be out here and I can't get 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:47.480 them to talk to me. Everybody's normal. John Hortburg said, 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.719 till you get to know them. Your wife is weird. 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:53.440 You didn't see the weirdness of your wife when you 0:04:53.480 --> 0:05:02.520 were dating her. You were wife. Your wife was weird 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:04.360 when you met her, You just didn't know her yet. 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:09.400 And so what we're looking at right now is a 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:11.720 sentiment that a lot of people feel. And here's what 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:14.680 I'm doing. I did not give them my title for 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.800 the message because I wanted to try something new today 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:21.240 rather than put it up on the screen fancy. I 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:24.120 wanted to do my own special effects today because I 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:26.000 don't know what's going to happen in the next weeks 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:29.119 to come. But what if we can't put the title 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:31.799 up anymore and I still need to preach to people, Well, 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:34.760 I'm going to make my own title card. Okay, I'm 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:37.440 doing my own stunts today. And here's the phrase I've 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:39.400 been hearing from a lot of people. I'm gonna show 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:40.840 you this. Get ready to zoom in on it once 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.560 I write it. But I've heard this, oh man, like 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:47.279 I've heard it at least one hundred times, whether it's 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:49.120 people on the news or people that I know are 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:52.479 our staff here at Elevation. And here's the phrase. This 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:55.160 seems to be the goal. Let me shut up for 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:57.400 a minute so I can concentrate on writing. I'm not 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:04.560 a very good multitasker spell anything. Oh I love it 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:06.240 because I've heard this a million times, and I bet 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:12.000 you've said it a few times too. Here's the phrase. 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:16.800 I'm hearing this a lot. Can y'all see it? I 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:18.600 can't see whether you can see it or not, because 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.479 there's no like imag in the screen, because there's nobody 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:24.000 in the room that needs to see. I'm mag this 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:27.120 is not normal. Normally, I would just look over here 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:28.520 to my left or my right, and I would see 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:30.279 if it's a tight shot. But can y'all see it? 0:06:30.320 --> 0:06:33.240 Is it a good shot? This is what I'm hearing 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:34.960 a lot of people talk about right now. And this 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:37.359 is just a piece of Elevation Church stationary. I just 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:39.080 wrote it down because this is not a normal Sunday, 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:41.120 So I didn't want to preach a normal sermon to 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:43.240 a normal title, but I'm hearing this right now, like, 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:48.479 oh man, I just can't wait till things get back 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:52.880 to normal. Okay, put that in the chat. If your 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:55.640 thumb still work, put it in the chat. Getting back 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:59.240 to normal. I'm hearing a lot of people talk about 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:02.760 how long is it going to be before things get 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:08.080 back to normal? And honestly, I'm ready for some normalcy 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.720 in the fird E zip code as well. I really am. 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:15.720 I'm ready for some I'm ready for some normalcy to 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:20.160 our schedules. I'm ready for some normalcya to date, nights 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.760 with my wife. I mean, I know that sounds like real, 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.400 fancy or freely at a time when people are hurting 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.920 so much, but there's something nice about things just being normal, 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:34.120 even little things being normal. Like I don't even like 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.560 sports that much, but I miss them. I don't even 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:40.080 care about the outcome. I just I just like to 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:44.880 have it in the background because it's normal. It's normal. 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:49.600 Normal is nice, and you really don't realize how much 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:53.720 you need normal until you are forced to live without it. 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:57.280 Because I was talking to one of my friends about 0:07:57.360 --> 0:07:59.680 normal the other day and I promise you I'm gonna 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:01.840 preach from the scripture in a moment, because my scriptures 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:04.920 are Exodus fourteen ten through fifteen and Romans twelve one 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.640 and two. So go ahead and turn to those two books, 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:09.800 one of the Old Testament, one in the New. But 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:12.960 I've been hearing this phrase so much, oh man, I 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:17.160 just can't wait till things get back to normal. But 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:21.240 something arrested my attention the other day is that the 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:24.840 person who was saying to me how much that she 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:28.720 was waiting for stuff to get back to normal had 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:32.720 complained to me two months ago, before any of this 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:37.679 global pandemic started, about how much she hated her life. 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:44.520 And that was weird to me because the normal that 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:49.480 she had been complaining about two months ago was the 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:52.280 normal that she would give anything to get back to 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:57.960 right now. Some of us would give anything for normal 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:03.720 right about now, would give anything to get to deal 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:08.040 with the annoying person that you work next to. If 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:11.760 you could get back to work. Oh, I would sit 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:15.400 next to Teresa all day and pretend like her stories 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.160 were good and funny and interesting and her breath didn't 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:22.319 smell that. I would love some normal right about now. 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:24.800 It's like when you go to college. You know, if 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:27.680 you went to college and you hated your hometown and 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.160 then you get dropped off in the middle of a 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:33.720 new world and nothing is familiar and you were complaining. 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:36.680 I just can't wait to leave Monk's Corner. I shout 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:39.440 out Monk's corner. We sent convoy of hope and elevation, 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:42.960 outreach resources and teams all week to help those who 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:45.600 were devastated. You're gonna be seeing about that soon if 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:49.400 you haven't already. But man, I hated my hometown for 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:53.040 a minute till I left it, and then everything that 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:59.040 felt small to me started to feel I don't know, 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:06.520 like instead of confining, it felt comforting. Here here's what 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:08.040 I'm trying to say, because I think I'm being a 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:10.120 a little bit too vague for you. Okay, some of 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:12.360 the stuff that you're praying for right now is the 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:17.320 same stuff you were praying away two months ago. And 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:23.880 in the weird how quick we can shift to where 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:27.240 what we want to get back to is the same 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:31.160 thing that we wanted to escape from. Y'all ain't helping 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:36.559 the preacher a bit today. It is so so easy 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.439 in a moment like this for us to make our 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:44.360 goal getting back to normal. But here's what the Lord 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.760 showed me. This is where I need my hot pink sharpie. 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:49.760 I think red would have been better, but I couldn't 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:53.839 find one. So I'm doing hot pink and I want 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:55.920 us to shift our mentality today. And this may be 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:58.800 a whole teaching series. I don't know, because I'm hearing 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:00.640 so many people say I want to get back to normal. 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:01.920 I want to get back to the way things were. 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:03.280 I want to get back to I want to get 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.640 back to And the Lord post a question to me 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:15.840 this week, what if normal isn't something to get back to? 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:29.600 What if normal is something to look forward to? And 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:33.800 what if the normal that we knew is not the 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:39.200 normal that God is leading us into. Next I'm about 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.360 to throw my title card at uhale. This might be 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:45.760 the most annointed message that I've ever preached in my life. 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:52.720 It's called looking forward to normal. Why do we assume 0:11:53.440 --> 0:12:00.080 that normal is back there? Why would we, as Christians 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:05.839 who serve a God who is always moving forward from 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:09.840 glory to glory, from strength to strength. Why would we 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:15.800 serve a God like that whose very essence is defined 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:20.120 by resurrection? Why would we serve a God who is 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:24.640 defined by resurrection, new beginnings, and think that the whole 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:27.720 goal is to get back to something that we knew before. 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:32.959 And I hope that certain things are normal again. I 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:35.720 hope for God's sake that my kids can go back 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:40.400 to real school again. For God's sake, that certain things 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:44.000 in our society change. I hope for God's sake that 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:47.040 there's a time where, you know, these chairs can be 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:50.679 full of people again. And even the obnoxious parking volunteers 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:53.520 at elevation, I missed them today. You know, the ones 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:56.280 that do too much. You know, the extra parking volunteers 0:12:56.280 --> 0:12:58.559 where you're like, is a forty five and they'll take 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:00.719 all that. Just wave me to my parking man. Just 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:02.320 because you gotta baton doesn't mean you have to act 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:04.920 like a clown. But I even miss I even missed 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:08.960 the hyperactive parking volunteers. I even missed the people in 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:13.240 the church who look bored while I was preaching, the 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:15.880 ones who looked like terrorists when I was preaching to them. 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:20.600 I miss him. Now want normal back. But God has 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:24.040 been speaking to my spirit e family. God has been 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:28.000 speaking to my spirit Indonesia. God has been speaking to 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:30.320 my spirit and yours too, but you just didn't have 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:33.280 the language for it. God said, I'm bringing you into 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:39.040 a new normal because what you thought was normal wasn't 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:45.160 really normal. It was just what you knew. And I'm 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:48.200 going to show you this from the scripture. Turn in 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.280 your bible, or let's be honest, just wait for it 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:55.679 to come on the screen. I'm acting like y'all got 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.440 books spread out all over the coffee table. The fact 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:00.800 of the matter is you're probably stirring your meal right now. 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:06.280 But turn in your Bible to Exodus chapter fourteen, and 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.480 let me show you how God's people have always been 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.679 trying to go back to normal at the moments when 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.560 God is trying to bring us into something new. Now. 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.640 This message is for my business owners in the church, 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:22.120 those of you who are hoping things go back to normal, 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:23.560 but you know that they won't, but you don't know 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:27.160 what to do. This message is for those in the 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:30.000 church who are trying to deal with the level of 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:33.120 uncertainty that was unprecedented in your life before, and you're 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:35.480 just trying to even get a daily schedule figured out. 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.280 This message is for you. This message is even for 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:42.160 those who have lost something in this season that you 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:46.680 will never get back again. And the question becomes, what 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:49.880 is the new normal that God has known all along? 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:54.880 What is the what is the new normal that I 0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:57.320 should look forward to? Now remember this and write it down. 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:04.080 Faith looks forward, Faith looks forward. And you'll see in 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:09.320 Exodus chapter fourteen, remember a nation who has only known 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:15.440 slavery in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years, when 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:20.600 that is all you've known, that's what is normal. On 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:25.400 one hand, they hated it. They hated it because not 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.160 only was there no freedom in it, but there was 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:36.040 frustration that was increasing because the Egyptian task masters had 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:39.840 begun to require more from the Israelites than they could 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:44.000 reasonably do. I mean, they'd make them make bricks, but 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:46.960 they wouldn't give them straw. Go fetch your own straw 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:49.200 and make the same number of bricks. So you still 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.640 got to fulfill your quota, but you're not going to 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:55.040 have enough to do it with. So now listen, this 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:59.040 is a generation of people who had gotten used to 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:05.040 never having enough. I wonder for us, has never enough 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:11.120 become our normal? Like I'm not talking about last week 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:12.960 or the week before that, and I'm not talking about 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:16.520 bank account. I think the spirit of this age is 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:21.000 the spirit of never enough. We can never get enough information, 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:24.320 we can never get enough what we call connection, it's 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:29.160 not really connection. It's just it's just the apparatus. It's 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:31.960 just the illusion of connection that really keeps us more 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:35.280 fragmented than ever before. So now we call ourselves connected 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:38.160 in the world because we have social media. I'm thinking 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:41.920 about introducing a new trend. Social distancing is catching on. 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.520 We're practicing it right now. But how about social media distancing. 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:49.720 That's when you can go more than five minutes without 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:56.000 your phone. Y'all ain't saying nothing. Social media distancing. It's 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:58.920 a thing. Put it in the chat. Five minutes without 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:02.640 your phone. See us now is just completely normal for 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:05.199 us to be overloaded all the time and just to 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.879 have access to everything that's happening in the world. And 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.919 then we wonder, why are we so fearful? Why can't 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:14.520 we feel It's because we were never intended to carry 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.199 so much in our minds and in our hearts. But 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:21.399 to us, it's just normal. We're used to making bricks 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:25.480 without straw. Many of us are used to never really 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:29.840 getting a good night's sleep. It's just normal. We're used 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:32.280 to running around this and that and the other. We're 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:35.960 used to spending too much money. It's normal, totally normal. 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:38.840 It's what the neighbors do, it's what my dad did, 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:42.840 it's what my dad's dead. So what we're seeing in 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:46.880 Exodus fourteen isn't just God's people coming out of Egypt 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:51.120 as a territory. They're coming out of what they've known 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:58.000 as normal. So while it sounds sexy, open the grave, 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:02.560 I'm coming out, I'm gonna live. But what if you've 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:08.200 gotten so used to death that real life seems weird? 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:16.000 Get back to normal? I'm not so sure. Now this 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:21.000 is how the Israelites expressed it. You already Exitus fourteen 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:27.359 to ten, As Pharaoh approached, wait, Pharaoh represents fear. Pharaoh 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:32.600 represents the old got it. Pharaoh said eat you eat. 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:36.679 Pharaoh said make bricks, You make bricks. Pharaoh is the 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.679 old boss, the old regime. Pharaoh is the old ruler. 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:44.280 But he's also the one who fed you. So Pharaoh 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:46.560 is the one who fed you, and Pharaoh is the 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.240 one that you fear. A lot of the things that 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.080 we get used to meet certain needs in our life, 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:54.720 and until we know a better way to meet that need, 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:59.159 we will always depend on the wrong source. That's what 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:05.760 addiction is. It meets a need that's for some of you. 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:08.040 What that person that you keep running back to every 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:11.119 three weeks that isn't good for you is that's a 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:15.240 form of Pharaoh. That's what certain thought patterns that we 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.760 embrace are to us. See, they're familiar. And this is 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:21.879 the principle that I want to show you. When you 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:28.520 are afraid, you reach for what's familiar. When you are afraid, 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:31.399 you reach for what's familiar. And this is very explicit 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:36.240 in Exodus fourteen, chapter fourteen, verse ten. As Pharaoh approached, 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.520 the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians, the 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:44.320 ones they were running from, marching after them. They were 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:50.159 what does the next word say? Terrified? They were afraid. 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:55.879 Put that right there on one side. They were afraid. 0:19:56.359 --> 0:20:00.480 They experienced fear. They were terrified, And right out to 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.880 the Lord they said to Moses, was it because there 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:08.000 were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:14.520 the desert to die? The sarcasm is dripping in this statement. 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:20.359 Egypt was famous for grapes. Three quarters of their land 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:24.160 mass was set aside for graves. So when they say, 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:26.720 were there no graves in Egypt, it's like saying, were 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:30.320 there no trees in Charlotte. It's like saying, was there 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:35.919 no orange at elevation? It's like saying, was there no 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:40.520 electric guitar in slash? I'm gonna keep trying to light 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:44.800 hit somebody. It's like, that's what Egypt was known for. 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:51.159 It was known for graves. And watch this. When you 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:56.879 feel afraid, you crave familiar, even if familiar is killing you, 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:03.600 killing them. And on one hand, they're crying out, get 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:07.640 us out of here. We'll go anywhere, We'll do anything. God, 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:09.439 just make it stop. Some of y'all were praying that 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:13.720 three months ago. God, I need a change. God. This 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:15.920 is not working. God. I'm not happy. God, I don't 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:21.879 feel joyful. Remember remember three months ago when you were 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:23.840 praying God helped me get my priorities. Remember your New 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:29.160 Year's resolutions. I know that was like BC before Corona. 0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:32.520 You're like, oh, well, I've gained seventeen pounds in sin. 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:34.560 I'm just trying to breathe. That's my new New Year's resolution. 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:36.919 Take another breath, tak another breath, Take another breath. But 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:42.359 when you feel fear, you reach for familiar. When God 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:47.680 showed me this, I realized why to me, sometimes negative 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:54.960 feels normal. A lot of times when I'm feeling uncertain, unstable, 0:21:55.000 --> 0:21:59.000 little thing, big thing, I reached for something negative because 0:21:59.080 --> 0:22:04.160 negative is what I know, not because I had horrible parents. 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:07.720 I had great parents. But I will say this, my 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:11.359 dad was not normal. His childhood was not normal. His 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:13.880 dad killed himself when he was nine on his ninth birthday. 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:17.280 That was not normal. In fact, one of the last 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:19.639 things that my dad said to me while he was alive, 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:26.359 he said, I only ever wanted to be normal. He 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:29.480 was talking about how through his upbringing, when he was 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:34.159 sent to reform school, and just the different things that 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:36.600 happened in his life, you know, blowing through two marriages 0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:38.600 before he met my mom and all of that. He 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:41.840 was saying, I just always wanted to be normal. I've 0:22:41.880 --> 0:22:48.119 never been normal. I've never been normal. I've never been normal. 0:22:50.240 --> 0:22:54.080 The Bible says that about Moses, who was leading the 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:57.159 people out of Egypt. Did you know that says in 0:22:57.240 --> 0:23:03.000 Acts chapter seven, verse twenty that Moses was no ordinary child. 0:23:03.760 --> 0:23:07.200 Isn't that cool? So say this as a compliment to 0:23:07.200 --> 0:23:09.160 whoever you're sitting next to and I hope this doesn't 0:23:09.160 --> 0:23:11.800 start an argument. Tell them you're not normal. In fact, 0:23:11.840 --> 0:23:16.880 tell them stronger, say you've never been normal. You've never 0:23:16.920 --> 0:23:21.120 been normal. There's nothing normal about you. And you look 0:23:21.160 --> 0:23:23.040 at Josh and just tell him. Come on, say it 0:23:23.080 --> 0:23:27.119 in the Josh Blackton voice. You've never been normal, Josh 0:23:27.119 --> 0:23:31.119 blacks in the deepest voice. And the man from Michigan. 0:23:32.640 --> 0:23:35.720 You should have sayen based in a southern gospel quartet. 0:23:36.119 --> 0:23:38.119 Only problem is your tone deaf, but you got the 0:23:38.240 --> 0:23:42.560 range for it. You've never been normal. You were a 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:47.719 boy scout, but you weren't normal. See look, normal is 0:23:47.880 --> 0:23:53.720 just a story that you've told yourself. And so the Israelites, 0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:57.760 God help them. They are standing at a red Sea, 0:23:57.840 --> 0:23:59.720 which is a body of water that they have no 0:23:59.760 --> 0:24:02.840 con coext for. Like us, right now, we have no 0:24:02.960 --> 0:24:06.720 context for this crisis. We have no context for this challenge. 0:24:07.000 --> 0:24:09.880 We have no precedents for this global pandemic because we've 0:24:09.880 --> 0:24:13.560 never lived through one. So when they fell terrified, watch 0:24:13.600 --> 0:24:19.960 what they did. They craved familiar. Were there no graves 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:25.080 in Egypt. We'd rather be dead in Egypt than alive 0:24:25.160 --> 0:24:33.399 in uncertainty. They craved the grave over having to stand 0:24:33.440 --> 0:24:37.399 in front of something in an uncertain situation, And so 0:24:37.560 --> 0:24:40.239 do we We do it all the time. We go 0:24:40.359 --> 0:24:43.280 back to places that kill us, people that kill us, 0:24:43.480 --> 0:24:46.679 patterns that kill us, routines that kill us, bottles that 0:24:47.040 --> 0:24:50.240 kill us, pills that kill us, stations that kill us, 0:24:50.440 --> 0:24:55.320 feeds that kill us, keep going websites that kill us, 0:24:55.560 --> 0:24:59.520 accounts that kill us, thoughts to kill us. Because it's normal. 0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:05.679