Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
Speaker 1: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
Speaker 1: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2: Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving.
Speaker 1: In your life.
Speaker 2: Enjoy the message two King's thirteen fourteen through twenty. This
Speaker 2: parable in action, where we have been looking at an
Speaker 2: object lesson and from this simple little archery instruction where
Speaker 2: the Prophetyli show pulls out a sermon prop and makes
Speaker 2: me feel better about all the props I've used over
Speaker 2: the years, because here the prophet Elisha, one of the
Speaker 2: most powerful preachers that the Bible has ever recorded the
Speaker 2: life of. He instead of speaking to the King about
Speaker 2: what he needs to do, he shows him because sometimes
Speaker 2: actions speak louder than words, and sometimes it's not in
Speaker 2: what we understand or declare, but in what we do
Speaker 2: that are measure of successes determined. And this passage is
Speaker 2: cool because he uses.
Speaker 1: A boat and an arrow.
Speaker 2: And earlier today they were playing some old clips of
Speaker 2: my preaching and showing me with a water gun, and
Speaker 2: I had some grown men on a seesaw. One time
Speaker 2: to talk about giving weight to God's word and how
Speaker 2: many of you were there for that when yeah, And
Speaker 2: I love how our teams through the years, when I
Speaker 2: think of something crazy, they don't look at me crazy.
Speaker 2: I said, I need a seesaw for my sermon, and
Speaker 2: Joe and the team built a seesaw, and we've done
Speaker 2: all these things over the years. And I used to
Speaker 2: feel like that was probably because I was a shallow preacher,
Speaker 2: that I didn't have enough substance, so I had to
Speaker 2: do all this silly stuff to keep people's attention. But
Speaker 2: I don't really see it that way anymore, because you know,
Speaker 2: Jesus was the Word made flesh, and when he came
Speaker 2: to preach, he would often point at stuff to illustrate
Speaker 2: his point. He would use objects to get his message
Speaker 2: or his lesson across. So when he was talking about worry,
Speaker 2: he point to the birds and say, if God can
Speaker 2: feed them, what are you worried about? Now one of
Speaker 2: them falls to the sky without him knowing it, and
Speaker 2: you think God doesn't have his eye on your life.
Speaker 2: He's watching over you, and he would point to the
Speaker 2: birds to prove that. Or he would contrast. Sometimes you
Speaker 2: see that big mountain. You can move it with faith
Speaker 2: the size of a mustard sea.
Speaker 1: If you would believe a little bit, you could do
Speaker 1: a lot.
Speaker 2: One time, he wanted to show them how he was
Speaker 2: the bread of life, so he told the disciples.
Speaker 1: To feed the people. They said, we can't.
Speaker 2: He says, exactly, but when you bring your I can't,
Speaker 2: and bring it to the one who is and was
Speaker 2: and is to come. Anyway, y'all, don't feel like you're
Speaker 2: in all this today. Would you not make me work
Speaker 2: so hard on my birthday to preach those of you
Speaker 2: who never say amen, who just look at me like
Speaker 2: bless me. If you dare, can we do this together today?
Speaker 1: Come on?
Speaker 2: One time Jesus wanted to show how he was the resurrection,
Speaker 2: so he let Lazarus die. Why he needed a prop
Speaker 2: And when he pointed to the tomb and said, Lazarus,
Speaker 2: come forth, he was pointing to every dead thing in
Speaker 2: your life.
Speaker 1: When the word of.
Speaker 2: God hits dead places, disappointed places.
Speaker 1: I feel dreams coming alive in the presence of God.
Speaker 1: So it just makes me feel good that when the
Speaker 1: King came.
Speaker 2: To see Elisha, he he used to a prop and
Speaker 2: I want to read it in case you're new to
Speaker 2: the series, I really want to pull you in. I
Speaker 2: really I want to do my best, whether you've just
Speaker 2: come in here, whether you've been here for the whole thing.
Speaker 1: It's always my aim to pull.
Speaker 2: Everybody in, whether you have the Book of Philippians memorized,
Speaker 2: or whether you dated a guy named Philip one time and.
Speaker 1: It didn't go well. Look at verse fifteen.
Speaker 2: Elisha said, get a bow, Get a bow and some arrows,
Speaker 2: and he did so. Take the bow in your hands,
Speaker 2: he said to the King of Israel. And when he
Speaker 2: had taken and now when he looked at it, not
Speaker 2: when he considered it, not when he prayed about it,
Speaker 2: when he had taken it, when he had taken it,
Speaker 2: when he took action on the word that was spoken.
Speaker 2: Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. God's guidance
Speaker 2: is awaiting your participation. When he did what he was
Speaker 2: told to do. I'm thankful that God guides my life.
Speaker 2: That I just saw a picture of how God's.
Speaker 1: Hands have always been on my.
Speaker 2: Hands, even in seasons when I didn't want him to
Speaker 2: lead me, he led me. And when he put his
Speaker 2: hands on the King's hands, he gave him an instruction
Speaker 2: and it's kind of been our theme for the series,
Speaker 2: hasn't it. When he told him open the east window,
Speaker 2: and he opened it, he did not open the window
Speaker 2: for the king. He pointed in the direction of the
Speaker 2: battle that God would give the victory if the king
Speaker 2: would dare to face it and fight it. And when
Speaker 2: he opened the window, the prophet told him to shoot,
Speaker 2: and he shot, and then the prophet declared the Lord's
Speaker 2: arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram, that
Speaker 2: confederation of nations that had been oppressing God's people, the
Speaker 2: arrow of victory over Aram. The arrow represents victory, and
Speaker 2: it's the Lord's victory.
Speaker 1: It's his strength, his arm.
Speaker 2: This is a lesson for us to see, to see
Speaker 2: the victory before we seize the victory. All of these
Speaker 2: things I've mentioned to you, but on this final week
Speaker 2: I want to focus in real, particularly on appointing this passage.
Speaker 1: He said, you.
Speaker 2: Will completely destroy the Arabians at Aphax, and then he
Speaker 2: said take the arrows, and the king took them, and
Speaker 2: Elishah told him strike the ground, and he struck it
Speaker 2: three times and stopped, and the Man of God was
Speaker 2: angry with him and said, you should have struck the
Speaker 2: ground five or six times. Then you could have had
Speaker 2: everything that God wanted.
Speaker 1: You to have.
Speaker 2: But you quit too quick. You quit when you don't
Speaker 2: feel it. You only worship God when he gives you
Speaker 2: a goose pomp.
Speaker 1: I love Elisha. He was a straight shooter, get it arrow.
Speaker 1: He told him what he needed to hear.
Speaker 2: You have, you could have, you would have, but now
Speaker 2: you will defeat it only three times. And I was
Speaker 2: talking to my sixteen year old self, you know, this week,
Speaker 2: and I was imagining how he would preach this passage
Speaker 2: and sixteen year old Stephen. He wouldn't have just preached
Speaker 2: about the arrows. He would have brought an arrow up
Speaker 2: on the stage and used it for a prop. I
Speaker 2: wonder did anybody on the front bringing.
Speaker 1: These spare arrows to church today?
Speaker 2: Oh, Jonathan Joseph, it's our campus pastor.
Speaker 1: Y'all give it up for JJ. Always prepared. You see
Speaker 1: that he was prepared with those arrows. That's why I
Speaker 1: love you JJ.
Speaker 2: That's why you're one of my top fourteen favorite campus fastors.
Speaker 1: Sitting on those arrows ready for him.
Speaker 2: I wonder what you're sitting on that you're not using today?
Speaker 1: Should have used all of your arrows. You should have.
Speaker 2: Taken everything God gave you and kept striking until you
Speaker 2: saw it, until what you see in your life reflects
Speaker 2: what God has spoken over your life. It was not
Speaker 2: a deficiency in the artillery that cost the king to
Speaker 2: be defeated. It was his lack of drive. Can I
Speaker 2: say that that he wouldn't drive every arrow into the ground.
Speaker 2: You should have kept pushing. You know, we all need
Speaker 2: a push every now and then, don't we. I mean,
Speaker 2: we all come to the place in our life where
Speaker 2: we need somebody to help us, motivate us to do
Speaker 2: what we can't do, and to get us started in
Speaker 2: the right direction.
Speaker 1: I feel like it's my job in some ways to
Speaker 1: give you a push as you go into your week.
Speaker 2: You know, just a little nudge, just a little push.
Speaker 2: That's what the worship leaders are doing. They're giving you
Speaker 2: a push. You know, you come in some weeks and
Speaker 2: you don't feel like praising God, and you know you
Speaker 2: cussed at your kids in the van on the way
Speaker 2: to church and said praise the Lord when you saw
Speaker 2: the Parkers. But what I'm saying today really doesn't have
Speaker 2: as much to do with that as it does with
Speaker 2: the other instrument because I was praying. You know, we
Speaker 2: talked about the power of precision. You have to aim
Speaker 2: at something. We've talked about the power of preparation, that
Speaker 2: the ground must be plowed for the harvest to be plentiful.
Speaker 2: Y'all miss that nobody wrote that down in the whole church.
Speaker 2: The ground must be plowed for the harvest to be plentiful.
Speaker 1: Why move the elevation pin bro across the paved back
Speaker 1: and forth.
Speaker 2: He even talked about the power of potential and the
Speaker 2: power of provision, all of these things we've talked about
Speaker 2: using these arrows.
Speaker 1: And as I was praying about how.
Speaker 2: Do we close this series, it was almost like I
Speaker 2: heard the text talking to me. It was almost like
Speaker 2: the text was talking because I've been preaching so much
Speaker 2: about these arrows and how you can't leave any of
Speaker 2: them in your quiver. You cannot quit with arrows left
Speaker 2: in your quiver. We've been preaching so much about the arrows.
Speaker 2: But it's like I heard the text talking to me,
Speaker 2: and it says if the text said, how about the bow,
Speaker 2: because the whole thing started with a bow.
Speaker 1: J J, you got a boat. How about that? He's
Speaker 1: got a bow and some arrows.
Speaker 2: Now, of course we worked this out ahead of time.
Speaker 2: This is Graham's bow, and he didn't even know where
Speaker 2: it was. I told him this week to get his
Speaker 2: bow that Uncle Max gave him a couple of Christmases ago,
Speaker 2: and he couldn't even find it. And I thought, well,
Speaker 2: that's a sermon illustration in itself. You're like a lot
Speaker 2: of Christians. You've wrote it down in a notebook, but
Speaker 2: you never anyway. Uh whoa Oh, But.
Speaker 1: He brought me the bow, and I was thinking.
Speaker 2: In the context of what we've learned about all of
Speaker 2: these principles from God's word, and quick, I promise you,
Speaker 2: I know way better than to point this at any
Speaker 2: of you. So let me turn my back on you
Speaker 2: for a moment. She looks so scared. I promise I
Speaker 2: would never. I would never. I'm extreme, but I'm not crazy.
Speaker 2: Get a bowl, get some arrows. On the count of three,
Speaker 2: we're gonna shoot it.
Speaker 1: You're ready, you ready, LJ one?
Speaker 2: Two?
Speaker 1: Three? Shoot?
Speaker 2: Well that didn't go very far. Let's try again. Colt
Speaker 2: me down, all right, you ready, get a bow? Everybody
Speaker 2: say yeah, but get a bow, get some arrows, take
Speaker 2: the shot on three.
Speaker 1: Here we go.
Speaker 3: One two three.
Speaker 1: You like that.
Speaker 2: I feel kind of stupid up here because in my
Speaker 2: mind I saw the row flying through the air, you know,
Speaker 2: the Lord's aerro victory.
Speaker 1: I saw it like a grave illustration. Am I doing
Speaker 1: something wrong? Oh?
Speaker 2: So, in order for the arrow to fulfill its purpose,
Speaker 2: the bow has to be I want to preach today
Speaker 2: for twenty five minutes on the power of the poll,
Speaker 2: because if you go out of this series trying to
Speaker 2: live out these principles in your own strength, you are
Speaker 2: going to look as stupid to the devil as I
Speaker 2: do with this little banshee. But once you understand the
Speaker 2: power of the pull, once you understand that the power
Speaker 2: of God is not in your effort, It is not
Speaker 2: by your might nor by your strength, but by His spirit. See,
Speaker 2: it's good to get a push. It's good to get
Speaker 2: a push. It's really really good to get a push.
Speaker 2: And some people, like this king, they will do what
Speaker 2: they're told as long as somebody is pushing them. Everything
Speaker 2: Elisha told the king to do, he did it. Get
Speaker 2: a bow, he got it, Get some arrows, he got him,
Speaker 2: strike the ground.
Speaker 1: He struck it.
Speaker 2: But it was the moment that Elisha took his hands
Speaker 2: off the King's hands seat. Some people have to be
Speaker 2: pushed to praise God. Other people have something on the
Speaker 2: inside of them that you don't have to prompt.
Speaker 1: Oh God, you don't have to prompt me. I don't
Speaker 1: need you to tell me to lift my hands. My
Speaker 1: hands are lifting up. My mouth is still afraid. It's
Speaker 1: the power of the pull.
Speaker 2: See before I was armed, but now I'm dangerous. The
Speaker 2: devil doesn't fear you with your little I can see
Speaker 2: you right now coming out of here, you know, trying
Speaker 2: to push yourself to live for Jesus. Come on, devil,
Speaker 2: I got something for you, And the devil is scared.
Speaker 1: But I guarantee you.
Speaker 2: With a little bit of leverage. I said, all you
Speaker 2: need is a little bit of leverage.
Speaker 1: I said, all you need is a little bit of leverage.
Speaker 1: Come on, how many are seated.
Speaker 2: In heavenly places with Jesus?
Speaker 1: Somebody shout? I got pulled.
Speaker 2: That's what Paul was saying in Second Corinthians ten, verse three.
Speaker 2: He said, though we walk in the world, we don't
Speaker 2: wage war.
Speaker 1: As the world wages war, We're not throwing our own arrows.
Speaker 1: We have heavenly leverage. The weapons of.
Speaker 2: Our warfare are not Carnival, but our mighty somebody shall power,
Speaker 2: but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
Speaker 4: You've been pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing.
Speaker 2: And that's why it's not working. But God said, if
Speaker 2: you would pull Pruvis, it's a big difference. This is motivation.
Speaker 2: It'll work. If I'm motivate you in church, it'll work
Speaker 2: till Wednesday. I mean, the era went somewhere, but not
Speaker 2: where it could have gone, not all the way over Aaron,
Speaker 2: not complete victory.
Speaker 1: Motivation. But if there's something on the inside of you, and.
Speaker 2: That's what Jehosh didn't have, that's called inspiration. There's something
Speaker 2: pulling on me from the inside that made me want
Speaker 2: to preach on my birthday. I could be on the beach,
Speaker 2: but something pulled me to this pulpit. I wanted to
Speaker 2: do it, not I had to do it. I want
Speaker 2: to do it, I love to do it. I want
Speaker 2: to serve him. I love to serve him. I want
Speaker 2: to worship I love to worship him. I want him,
Speaker 2: I need him, I gotta have him. And I look
Speaker 2: back on my little life, even though it's not been
Speaker 2: a long life yet.
Speaker 1: But God has been pulling me.
Speaker 2: According to his purpose. Now, sometimes I didn't see it
Speaker 2: that way at the time. Sometimes it felt like life
Speaker 2: was pushing me around. I don't know if you've ever
Speaker 2: felt that way. I don't know if you've ever felt
Speaker 2: like life had pushed you past your breaking points, so
Speaker 2: much pressure on you that you didn't know what to do.
Speaker 1: But I found out that the power comes from the pressure.
Speaker 2: I could use a lot of biblical examples of this,
Speaker 2: but I chose Joseph because he said, at the end
Speaker 2: of his life, after he saw what God's purpose had
Speaker 2: been all along, fully fulfilled, and he saw the portrait
Speaker 2: of it, not just one little part of it. He
Speaker 2: saw the whole panoramic view. He was able to say
Speaker 2: to his brother, you minute for evil, because see his
Speaker 2: brothers had pushed him into a pit. Have you ever
Speaker 2: been pushed around? Ever been rejected? Just wave at me?
Speaker 2: So okay, So you might need to know this verse.
Speaker 2: He said, you meant it for evil. You were pushing me,
Speaker 2: But while you were.
Speaker 1: Pushing the hand of God was pulling it. He was
Speaker 1: pulling me.
Speaker 2: When it didn't go the way I wanted it to.
Speaker 1: When they talked about me.
Speaker 2: They were pushing, God was pulling it. The hand of
Speaker 2: God has always been on your life. While people were
Speaker 2: pushing with one hand, God was pulling with the other.
Speaker 2: It's the power of the pool to know that God
Speaker 2: was positioning me for exactly where He wanted me to be.
Speaker 2: And when you understand the power of the poll, life
Speaker 2: doesn't seem so random anymore. You understand that there was
Speaker 2: a purpose behind all of it. If you look out here,
Speaker 2: you can't see it. But if you look back, If
Speaker 2: you look back, you'll see that your dad didn't make
Speaker 2: you come to church that night. You thought he made
Speaker 2: you come to church that night, But it was that
Speaker 2: your dad pushing you.
Speaker 1: To come to church that made you come to church.
Speaker 1: God was he used your dad. Your dad's in heaven now.
Speaker 1: My dad's in heaven.
Speaker 2: Now they're probably eating some carb free angel food cake
Speaker 2: to celebrate my birthday together thirty seven candles Jesus.
Speaker 1: But Cody.
Speaker 2: Cody bugged me to get me to church the night
Speaker 2: I got saved. He was He was pushy about it too.
Speaker 2: He showed up in his pickup truck, and in my
Speaker 2: mind he was being pushy. But while he was pushing me,
Speaker 2: God was pulling me. On February nineteenth, nineteen eighty I
Speaker 2: came into the world because.
Speaker 1: She pushed me. Is this too graphic?
Speaker 2: But at the same time she was pushing, God was pulling.
Speaker 2: I wasn't born on accident, and neither were you. God
Speaker 2: knew you needed to be here. God brought you here.
Speaker 1: Right here, right now.
Speaker 3: It was his hand.
Speaker 1: Your car didn't bring you to church. God brought you
Speaker 1: to church.
Speaker 2: Get a boat, get some arrows, and let me give
Speaker 2: you an object lesson on the way God works. God
Speaker 2: is pulling you. God is drawing you to himself. God
Speaker 2: has drawing you into purpose. Yes, sometimes it's painful. Yes,
Speaker 2: sometimes it feels like.
Speaker 1: You're going backwards.
Speaker 2: But wait till you see the trajectory of God's purpose.
Speaker 1: Come on a shut o to God pulling me.
Speaker 2: He pulled me out of some relationships I didn't need
Speaker 2: to be in.
Speaker 1: Yes he did. He pulled me.
Speaker 2: Out of some pits that I fell into with my
Speaker 2: own dumb decisions. How many are grateful for the hands
Speaker 2: of God that pulls you out.
Speaker 1: Pulling it? He's pulling.
Speaker 2: What was Elisha doing when Elijah threw his mantle on
Speaker 2: his shoulders. Does anybody remember in verse Kings nineteen. Now,
Speaker 2: remember Elisha wasn't looking to become a prophet. Elisha was
Speaker 2: a plowman. He was simply driving plows in a field
Speaker 2: one day, and he wasn't pointing himself out to be
Speaker 2: used by God. Because when you are in position of
Speaker 2: your purpose, God will point you out.
Speaker 1: You don't have to self promote. You don't have to
Speaker 1: get somebody to like you or notice you when you
Speaker 1: are pulled.
Speaker 2: According see, Elijah wasn't even looking for Elisha until God
Speaker 2: spoke his name and showed him the exact physical location.
Speaker 2: I got to calm down, but I'm excited London because
Speaker 2: I saw it in an illustration.
Speaker 1: I realized.
Speaker 2: That what Elisha was telling the King to do with
Speaker 2: the bow at the end of his life was an
Speaker 2: illustration of what God had been doing to him his
Speaker 2: whole life. He was drawing him, was pulling him. He
Speaker 2: was pulling him the power of him, the pull. And
Speaker 2: one day come here here he's driving. He's driving. It
Speaker 2: says that he was driving twelve yoke of Oxen.
Speaker 1: Now we're gonna act this out. You'd be the ox
Speaker 1: and I'll be the man of God.
Speaker 2: Seems appropriate, and I gave him the verse I be
Speaker 2: honest with you, I preached the sermon a third time
Speaker 2: I preached. I haven't preached it like I wanted to yet,
Speaker 2: And I'm gonna get it right this time because I
Speaker 2: gotta go eat some cake. Then I can't eat cake
Speaker 2: until i'm pre scre Now, what's in First Kings nineteen nineteen.
Speaker 2: It says put the scripture. I just sent this to them.
Speaker 2: I hope they got it there. This Elijah went from
Speaker 2: there and found Elisha.
Speaker 1: Okay, you missed it. The only reason he found him
Speaker 1: is because God led Elijah. He pulled. Okay, okay, I
Speaker 1: gotta I gotta work on this.
Speaker 2: So he found him in a field plowing with twelve
Speaker 2: yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving.
Speaker 1: The twelfth pair. So let's let's go.
Speaker 2: And you know how ox oxen are, because all of
Speaker 2: you have had experience with oxen.
Speaker 5: Oxen are kind of slow. So you gotta drive them,
Speaker 5: drive them. They'll just stop on you. You know, you
Speaker 5: gotta drive them. You gotta drive them.
Speaker 2: And he's driving them, and verse twenty stopped for a second,
Speaker 2: and Verse twenty it said you like this.
Speaker 1: It says that in verse twenty that.
Speaker 2: When Elijah passed by, which represented Elisia's purpose, that he
Speaker 2: wasn't even looking for yet. How many of you weren't
Speaker 2: even looking for God and he found you.
Speaker 1: That's my story.
Speaker 2: I wasn't looking, but he was, and he drew me
Speaker 2: to himself. And in verse nineteen it says that he
Speaker 2: was driving the oxen, but it says in verse twenty,
Speaker 2: if we can go to verse twenty, that Elisha left
Speaker 2: his oxen and ran after Elijah. So now the one
Speaker 2: who was driving just stay there. You're out of the
Speaker 2: illustration now because now the one who was driving is
Speaker 2: being drawn. The one who was driving the oxen plowing
Speaker 2: the field is being drawn by purpose.
Speaker 1: And so now.
Speaker 2: Elisha is being drawn into the purpose of God for
Speaker 2: his life. He's been driving the oxen up until this point,
Speaker 2: but now the one who had been doing the driving
Speaker 2: is being drawn. And this is what happens when grace
Speaker 2: comes into your life. This is what happens when purpose
Speaker 2: takes us place.
Speaker 1: This is what.
Speaker 2: Happens when you let go of your way, when you
Speaker 2: stop trying to push, when you stop trying to manipulate,
Speaker 2: when you stop trying to call your own shops and
Speaker 2: you say, Lord, leave me where you want me to go,
Speaker 2: what you want me to do.
Speaker 1: He drew me. He drew me. He drew me to himself.
Speaker 1: He drew me.
Speaker 2: I had to be in the choir. It wasn't Arturo
Speaker 2: that recruited me for the choir.
Speaker 1: It was God. God knew I needed to pastor a
Speaker 1: multicultural church. How can I pastor a multicultural church.
Speaker 2: If I can't step into the church.
Speaker 1: God was getting me ready. God is getting you running.
Speaker 6: I don't know who.
Speaker 1: This message is for money, This is for you shall
Speaker 1: right now. My moody's drawing you. He's drawing you. Pull on, somebody,
Speaker 1: say he's drawing me. He's drawing me.
Speaker 2: I've got to leave some doubts behind. I've got to
Speaker 2: leave some dysfunctions behind. He's calling me now. I can't
Speaker 2: spend the rest of my life looking at the backside.
Speaker 1: Of an ox. He's drawing me. He's drawing me.
Speaker 2: My bow broke while I was appreciated.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, it don't have to be pretty for God
Speaker 6: to use it.
Speaker 1: I feel like prising today.
Speaker 2: I feel like precian like is my parthdect breaks faster,
Speaker 2: pulling down of strongholds. I'm not pushing my way through life.
Speaker 2: I've got pull God brought me here.
Speaker 1: See, a sense of purpose will pull you.
Speaker 2: There are there are teenagers under the sound of my
Speaker 2: voice who are being who are being.
Speaker 1: Pushed, pushed by popularity.
Speaker 2: Yes, you're being pushed to fit in with a certain crowd.
Speaker 2: You're you're being pushed. And see, popularity can only get.
Speaker 1: You so far.
Speaker 2: Popularity cannot give you a sense of significance. But if
Speaker 2: you let the purpose of God pull on your I'm
Speaker 2: telling you God's purpose has been pulling on me all
Speaker 2: my life, sock to be here with you today. He's
Speaker 2: pulling on you and has always been on you. He
Speaker 2: was pulling you, directing your pads. Even when you wanted
Speaker 2: to wander. He pulled on you. That's why you're here.
Speaker 2: And when your car is out of alignment, it pulls
Speaker 2: a certain way. And God brought us into this Worker
Speaker 2: Windows series at rock Hill and Concord and Gaston and
Speaker 2: all the other locations and online. God brought us into
Speaker 2: the series for alignment so that we won't constantly I'm
Speaker 2: telling you, if you change your patterns, it will change
Speaker 2: your pull The weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
Speaker 2: That means fleshly. Flesh is a pattern. It pulls you.
Speaker 2: It's what pulls you. Some of you, some of you
Speaker 2: had to make yourself come to church today.
Speaker 1: That's all right. Make yourself come.
Speaker 2: Back enough, push yourself to come back until something pulls
Speaker 2: you to car. I promise if you keep coming, eventually
Speaker 2: your car will pull itself into the Elevation Church parking
Speaker 2: lot like it used to pull into Chrispy Kreme when
Speaker 2: the hot side came on, pulling me according to his purpose.
Speaker 2: I'm pulled by my patterns. I'm pulled by my purpose,
Speaker 2: and I'm pulled by the possibility. It's the Lord's arrow
Speaker 2: of victory over Aaron, Get a bow, get some leverage.
Speaker 2: Don't leave this series trying to live out God's will
Speaker 2: in your strength?
Speaker 1: Were all of sinned and fallen short of the glory
Speaker 1: of God? You know what's interesting about the word sin.
Speaker 1: It's an archery term.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it means to miss the mark, all of sin
Speaker 2: and fallen short of the glory of God. And maybe
Speaker 2: the reason that fell short is because it didn't have leverage.
Speaker 1: You can't throw it far enough, not for these battles.
Speaker 1: That's what the grace of God has been for my life.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry I took your seat, but I feel I
Speaker 1: preach it.
Speaker 2: The grace of God has pulled me and kept me
Speaker 2: at times in my life where or I didn't want
Speaker 2: to continue on. That's where grace kicked and it's the
Speaker 2: power of the pull. And I don't want to pastor
Speaker 2: a church full of people who are striking the ground
Speaker 2: in their own strength and wearing out because they didn't
Speaker 2: have a grip by grace. Right now, in the presence
Speaker 2: of God, there is grace available for whatever ram you're facing.
Speaker 1: And I believe God has drawn somebody.
Speaker 2: In fact, I want to give an invitation for you
Speaker 2: right now like I gave when Eric was at church.
Speaker 2: He was about twenty years old. You may be younger,
Speaker 2: you may be older, but God has drawing you. And
Speaker 2: I want you just to end to your feet at
Speaker 2: all of our locations so I can pray with you.
Speaker 2: I can't push you into this decision.
Speaker 1: It wouldn't be your decision if you feel God drawing
Speaker 1: you right now and.
Speaker 2: You fallen short of the glory of God, because all
Speaker 2: of sin and fallen short of the glory of God.
Speaker 1: I really feel called right now to.
Speaker 2: Well to facilitate the presence of God as he pulls
Speaker 2: you in the spirit. In the bride's say, come, God
Speaker 2: offers an invitation. God will never push you and pull
Speaker 2: you follow me. Jesus made it that simple. Just let
Speaker 2: me pull you. I know where I'm taking you. Uncharted waters.
Speaker 2: I know where I'm taking you, Abraham, just go to
Speaker 2: the land I will show you.
Speaker 1: He leads me. Besides still waters.
Speaker 2: I want you to bow your head and close your
Speaker 2: eyes and realize that God has been leading you all
Speaker 2: your life. He has been pulling you. He's been pulling
Speaker 2: on you. That's what you feel in your heart right now.
Speaker 2: It's not the music behind me. It's the words that
Speaker 2: I've spoken. It is the pull of God. It is
Speaker 2: the grace of God. It is the drawing power of
Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit. God has drawn you in this moment
Speaker 2: to Himself on this day, for all who are far
Speaker 2: away from God and desire to be brought near by
Speaker 2: the blood of Jesus Christ, cleansed and forgiven, redeemed and renewed,
Speaker 2: restored and made righteous. In the presence of God. His
Speaker 2: grace is available, and his grace is enough. He's drawing
Speaker 2: you now. With heads about and eyes closed, We're going
Speaker 2: to pray as a church family for those who are
Speaker 2: coming to God for the first time. We're coming back
Speaker 2: to God. This is a holy moment. I asked that
Speaker 2: no one move at any of our locations as we
Speaker 2: pray out loud for the benefit of those who are
Speaker 2: coming to God. We believe the miracle working power of
Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit is drawing now. Even as I speak,
Speaker 2: heads about, eyes closed. We're praying together as a family,
Speaker 2: Heavenly Father. Today is my day of salvation. I believe
Speaker 2: that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the
Speaker 2: Savior of the world.
Speaker 1: And right now I am a new creation.
Speaker 2: I believe that Jesus Christ died for me and rose
Speaker 2: again to give me life. I receive this new life
Speaker 2: from this day forward. I am a follower of Christ.
Speaker 2: Has still bowed, eyes still close. If you prayed that,
Speaker 2: shoot your hand in the air on the count of three.
Speaker 1: One, two three.
Speaker 2: At every location, hands are flying.
Speaker 1: Up, hands are flying up. Come on, Church, you better
Speaker 1: celebrate better than that. Come on. That's the new beginnings.
Speaker 1: That's the new beginnings. That's a new start. Man. God
Speaker 1: bless me. I see you, man, I see you. This
Speaker 1: is your moment, this is your time. God brought you here.
Speaker 1: Anybody else, shoot your hand off. God is working in
Speaker 1: this moment. He's working in this moment.
Speaker 2: I see the hera victory flying over Arab.
Speaker 1: Come on, open your mouth to die. We gotta race
Speaker 1: and celebrate. Come on, we got a raser. Thank you
Speaker 1: for joining us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give now,
Speaker 2: or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information
Speaker 2: and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You
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Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.