Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdeck. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope
Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to
Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Well,
Speaker 1: we bring you greetings today. You know it's weird. I
Speaker 1: can't see you. I can't see your face, but I
Speaker 1: can see you in the chat. And I just want
Speaker 1: to welcome a few of you. Let me know where
Speaker 1: you're watching from today. This ministry is reaching all over
Speaker 1: the world today. We pray that wherever you are, that
Speaker 1: this time of worship will reach you. So right now
Speaker 1: I'm looking on my YouTube feed and I'm looking to
Speaker 1: see who you are and where you're from. So that
Speaker 1: way we can just have one big choir today. I
Speaker 1: see Donna from Harrison, Arkansas. It's good to see you, Donna.
Speaker 1: I see Chris, Chris from London. I see Patty from Valentine.
Speaker 1: This is the building I'm in Valentine. Let me tell
Speaker 1: you something, Patty. It looks really different here today. It
Speaker 1: looks like the rapture happened and we missed it today.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, it's just really something to get used to.
Speaker 1: I wish we'd all been ready, Chris, did the rapture
Speaker 1: happen and we missed it? Well, God's presence is still
Speaker 1: in the place wherever you're watching from, whether that's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
Speaker 1: I see you, Jakarta, Indonesia. Wow, Vermont is joining us today.
Speaker 1: You don't see Vermont in the chat al lot. I
Speaker 1: just want to. I want to put out a campaign
Speaker 1: for Vermont to come a little stronger next week all
Speaker 1: right on Easter. Hey, we're having Easter next weekend. Did
Speaker 1: you hear that the resurrection wasn't canceled? Say that again,
Speaker 1: Pastor Vernick. The resurrection passing not bit castled, and it
Speaker 1: will be televised. Thank you Lord. The resurrection has not
Speaker 1: been canceled. I might use that for the title of
Speaker 1: my sermon for Easter. The Resurrection has not been canceled.
Speaker 1: Put it in the chat if you know that's true.
Speaker 1: God is still raising up the dead things in our life.
Speaker 1: When we speak the name of Jesus and believed in faith,
Speaker 1: miracles still happen, Miracles still happen, bodies are still being healed.
Speaker 1: How does that song go. Bodies are still being raised.
Speaker 1: Bodies are the resurrection has not been canceled. Aymen, we
Speaker 1: can't go into that again. Brandon starts speaking in tongues
Speaker 1: and all the Baptists people log off the stream, so
Speaker 1: we can't do it. India's here, New York City is here,
Speaker 1: praise the name of the Lord. New Jersey is here.
Speaker 1: That's right, the resurrection has not been canceled. I'm still here, Devil.
Speaker 1: I'm still here from Kansas. I'm still here from Romania.
Speaker 1: I'm still here from Kingsville, Texas. The resurrection has not
Speaker 1: been canceled. I see you. So we're going to see
Speaker 1: you next weekend. We're not closing. The sermons about to
Speaker 1: happen in a minute, but I'm going to I'm going
Speaker 1: to just put out a word that Easter, this Easter
Speaker 1: is going to be magnificent. And what we're going to do,
Speaker 1: We're going to bring resurrection to your home. We're going
Speaker 1: to bring resurrection to your home, resurrection power to your home.
Speaker 1: And how many of you could use some resurrection power
Speaker 1: right now, just even for your energy, or your emotions,
Speaker 1: or your patience, or your or your checking account. I
Speaker 1: don't mean to get personal. God is so good and uh,
Speaker 1: what we're really deciding in this season. I was telling
Speaker 1: the church a few weeks ago. I gathered some of
Speaker 1: our leaders online. These are people who serve and give
Speaker 1: and make such a difference, and I was showing them
Speaker 1: that because they continue to honor God, especially in the
Speaker 1: area of finances, this ministry is positioned for a miracle,
Speaker 1: position for a miracle, and a lot of times I
Speaker 1: think when we say a miracle, we're thinking about the
Speaker 1: miracle that we want to see, But what about the
Speaker 1: miracle that we need to be That's important right now,
Speaker 1: that's important. So if you've been following, we've been trying
Speaker 1: to show you as a church family, I'm like stuck
Speaker 1: on this one camera. Let me give this camera some love. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm really really like these other two
Speaker 1: cameras are probably feeling really left out. Hello, other camera.
Speaker 1: So I was sharing with them how when we trust God,
Speaker 1: we crown him as king by the decisions that we make.
Speaker 1: And so this is the season of our lives, my life,
Speaker 1: your life, Chet's life, Holly's life. Where we decide is
Speaker 1: Jesus king and not like a Burger king, you know,
Speaker 1: Burger King is like, have it your way. Burger King
Speaker 1: is the Jesus who was feeding the five thousand and
Speaker 1: then when he said eat my flesh and drink my blood,
Speaker 1: eye and the bread of life. Then many followed him
Speaker 1: no more, and they decided they didn't want that kind
Speaker 1: of king. And that's kind of what happened leading up
Speaker 1: to Easter Week. We call this Palm Sunday all around
Speaker 1: the world, and it represents the triumphant entry. We call
Speaker 1: it when Jesus came into Jerusalem, but he was riding
Speaker 1: on a donkey, which is such a crazy transportation means
Speaker 1: for a king. It's a prophecy in Zechariah nine to
Speaker 1: nine it said that your king will come, but he's
Speaker 1: going to be riding on a donkey or a cold
Speaker 1: And so when he came into Jerusalem, they were like, Hosanna, hosanna,
Speaker 1: you know, which means save now help us, and they
Speaker 1: threw their cloaks on the road for their king. But
Speaker 1: you know, by the time he got to the cross
Speaker 1: on Friday, they had kind of decided maybe that they
Speaker 1: didn't want this kind of king. Maybe they wanted the
Speaker 1: kind of king that always met their expectations, that liberated
Speaker 1: them from everything oppressive. But the way into his kingdom
Speaker 1: was through suffering, And sometimes we don't like to think
Speaker 1: about that, but it doesn't make it any less true.
Speaker 1: And in a time like this, where there is so
Speaker 1: much suffering and so much uncertainty, and so much confusion,
Speaker 1: and so much despair, and I'm not talking about what's
Speaker 1: going on in the world, I'm talking about what's going
Speaker 1: on in my heart and your heart. And we're praying
Speaker 1: for those who are on the front lines and those
Speaker 1: who are putting their own bodies and lives at risk
Speaker 1: to help us through this time. And we're praying for them,
Speaker 1: but we also have to make a decision who's on
Speaker 1: the throne in our hearts. And what I thought was
Speaker 1: so cool Chunks, I copied the text that you showed
Speaker 1: me from. I'm not going to say his name, but
Speaker 1: one of our og elevators, original glorifiers, that's what OG
Speaker 1: stands for. In this pulpit. He has been in the
Speaker 1: church for I want to say a decade or more.
Speaker 1: He's not some fly by night click online. Oh, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna check out five different churches on YouTube and see
Speaker 1: which one I like. Oh, he's saying something I don't like.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna skip that one. He's not that kind of
Speaker 1: church member. He's in it all the way, and so
Speaker 1: I copied this. Let me find it real quick what
Speaker 1: he texted to his campus faster listen to this. This
Speaker 1: is such a great message for us as a church,
Speaker 1: as we are positioned to be a miracle, as we
Speaker 1: are positioned to reach people during this time. He was
Speaker 1: sharing after our leadership event. He said, I'm so thankful
Speaker 1: for this message. He said, I have gotten caught up
Speaker 1: into doing what I say I will never do, and
Speaker 1: that is listen to a lot of news and opinions
Speaker 1: that are negative that draw you into dark places. Funny
Speaker 1: how addicting it is, and once you start, it's hard
Speaker 1: to quit, like eating carbs. It's so cool to see
Speaker 1: how we at Elevation have been able to help other
Speaker 1: churches and even increase our outreach and grow in a
Speaker 1: time everyone else is shrinking. It made me very excited
Speaker 1: to know we have been a part of this. Somebody
Speaker 1: put it in the chat on position for a miracle.
Speaker 1: And then he goes on to say, I have questioned
Speaker 1: my giving decisions at times. Who wouldn't you know? The
Speaker 1: first thing that you want to do when things are
Speaker 1: unstable is try to hold on tighter. And so he says,
Speaker 1: I have invested a whole lot into elevation. I started
Speaker 1: to think it wasn't very prudent, but I realize now
Speaker 1: I have a diverse giving portfolio. I like that he's
Speaker 1: watching the dal Jones go down, but he's watching the
Speaker 1: Kingdom of God move forward. He said, I have a
Speaker 1: diverse giving portfolio, heavily loaded with growth stocks. And then
Speaker 1: he spells it out in case in case we're slow,
Speaker 1: I mean elevation and not so much in investments on
Speaker 1: this earth. Last night, he said, seeing what the church
Speaker 1: has done and uplifted my spirits knowing that I had
Speaker 1: zero regrets in my giving. It's truly a high growth,
Speaker 1: high yield investment with a great err eternal rate of return.
Speaker 1: I just made that up, he says in parentheses. Now
Speaker 1: listen to this. This is what I want to say
Speaker 1: to you. Cash is king is the mantra right now
Speaker 1: in business. It is the oxygen to get you through
Speaker 1: this uncertain time. Delay payable, stay on top of receivables,
Speaker 1: and liquidate slow moving inventory. Get and keep cash. The
Speaker 1: next ninety days will be extremely tough and many won't survive.
Speaker 1: We know if we can survive, we will drive. On
Speaker 1: the other end, he says, I believed and have focused
Speaker 1: on cash is King, and it hit me I was
Speaker 1: being a heretic. Christ is King. Christ is King. Right
Speaker 1: here on the verge of Easter Sunday, we declare Christ
Speaker 1: is King. That's what you ought to type right now
Speaker 1: in the chat. Christ is King and my rock and
Speaker 1: where my refuge is. Yes, cash is extremely important, and
Speaker 1: we will focus on cash flow management. But there can
Speaker 1: only be one king. He hasn't failed me yet, and
Speaker 1: we especially need to remember that now. He said, I
Speaker 1: should write a song about that. A crazy thought hit me,
Speaker 1: and this really blessed me because you know, we sing
Speaker 1: songs to God, but where our treasure is, that's where
Speaker 1: our heart is. So listen what he said. A crazy
Speaker 1: thought hit me. What if I give a big check
Speaker 1: now in a time of uncertainty and everyone and everything
Speaker 1: is saying that would be stupid in a time when
Speaker 1: we are losing money and should reduce or eliminate giving.
Speaker 1: What if I wrote the single largest check that I've
Speaker 1: ever written to the church. And then he asked how
Speaker 1: much is that because he didn't have the record and
Speaker 1: then he did it. And I just think that's awesome
Speaker 1: because the man who's that text is watching right now.
Speaker 1: And because of you and your faithfulness to Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: we're positioned for a miracle because you crown Christ as king,
Speaker 1: not just with your lips, Hosannah, Hosanna, Hosannah, but with
Speaker 1: your life. And I want to thank God for the
Speaker 1: thousands of you who do that. You pray, you give,
Speaker 1: you serve, and we're not stopping. Christ is King. If
Speaker 1: you believe it, put it in the chat, and don't
Speaker 1: just put it in the chat. Tell your checkbook, come on,
Speaker 1: tell your you got to tell your emotions. Christ is
Speaker 1: King and everything that comes against him must bow in
Speaker 1: the name of Jesus. If you believe it, give me
Speaker 1: about nineteen twenty second praise break right now, just to
Speaker 1: declare Christ is King. Christ is King, Christ is King.
Speaker 1: Come on, you don't have to be contye ain't to know.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ is King of kings. We crowned kings. So
Speaker 1: thank you, Thank you for your continued generosity positioning us.
Speaker 1: We've reached record numbers of people during this time, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna keep on reaching. So join me this Friday,
Speaker 1: remember seven pm Eastern Time, with a rebroadcast at ten
Speaker 1: Eastern time, and you can do the math on your
Speaker 1: time zone. We're gonna be having a special Good Friday
Speaker 1: time of communion, prayer and worship with me and Holly
Speaker 1: and our team. And then on Easter Sunday we're going
Speaker 1: to add a special extra service for two pm Eastern Time.
Speaker 1: We're just gonna have church all day. We're gonna have
Speaker 1: church until Jesus comes back again. If you didn't already
Speaker 1: come and we missed it, We're gonna keep being here
Speaker 1: showing up. Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord
Speaker 1: of lords. I'm excited about it. Are you excited about
Speaker 1: the Word of God? Thank you Jesus. Well, I'm bringing
Speaker 1: out the secret weapon today. Holly Ferdick is preaching the
Speaker 1: Word of God. Everybody, say hey, Holly, come on, say
Speaker 1: it in a chat so she can see it. Say
Speaker 1: it from Whales and where else from. Welcome her from
Speaker 1: all over the world. This is my wife, this is
Speaker 1: the love of my life. This is my partner. This
Speaker 1: is Somebody said that Holly was their favorite verdict and
Speaker 1: they were like, no, offense, but Hally's my favorite verdict.
Speaker 1: I was like, hey, man, I'm the president of the
Speaker 1: fan club. I am the president of your fan club.
Speaker 1: You live what you teach. You're a better woman than
Speaker 1: even you are a minister. But today, as you look
Speaker 1: into that camera and welcome the world into the presence
Speaker 1: of God, I pray that God would use you. Thank
Speaker 1: you to bring comfort, healing, hope and perspective. Thank you
Speaker 1: to each and every one of us. God, thank you
Speaker 1: for your servant, for this woman of God. Bless it
Speaker 1: as she who comes in the name of the Lord
Speaker 1: in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, Come on, receive Holly, not
Speaker 1: with a kiss, but just tell her hello. I love you, babe.
Speaker 1: Did you just get choked up while you were praying
Speaker 1: for me? I think he did. I really think he did.
Speaker 1: That touches me. I just want to say welcome to
Speaker 1: everyone who's joining us this morning, Happy Palm Sunday. My
Speaker 1: kids have been doing online school, as I know many
Speaker 1: of yours are too, and my kids actually have daily
Speaker 1: check ins where their teachers take role and they type
Speaker 1: in the chat here. So I thought I could take
Speaker 1: roll this morning. I used to be a teacher, so
Speaker 1: let me know if you're here, where you're watching from
Speaker 1: give me some love. Maybe tell me who's watching with you.
Speaker 1: I have my daughter Abby here this morning. She's sitting
Speaker 1: with her dad in my very small cheering section. And
Speaker 1: you know, speaking of Abby's dad who got choked up
Speaker 1: praying for me. There is no way to begin to
Speaker 1: describe the gifting and the anointing that is on my
Speaker 1: husband's life. It can truly only be experienced. And he
Speaker 1: has helped us through so many tough seasons and this
Speaker 1: one is no exception. I wish you could see the
Speaker 1: way he is leading our staff, our teams, our church.
Speaker 1: We are on the move and we have a general
Speaker 1: who is leading the charge. And I don't know if
Speaker 1: you're grateful for him, but I'm grateful for him. So
Speaker 1: when you type in the chat, we love you, Pastor Stephen,
Speaker 1: his messages have just been as always. They inspire me
Speaker 1: and they encourage me, and they challenge me and they're
Speaker 1: relevant all at the same time. And I really don't
Speaker 1: know how he does it. And also I want to
Speaker 1: say I am so proud of our church. I know
Speaker 1: that my husband just read that amazing text message and
Speaker 1: we have gotten to see every week how our church
Speaker 1: is giving back to our communities all around. And I
Speaker 1: just want to encourage you and invite you to be
Speaker 1: involved in our church more now, more than ever. Our
Speaker 1: campus pastors at all of our campuses, our EPAM, they
Speaker 1: are available, They're praying for people. Get involved on your
Speaker 1: campus Facebook page. God is moving and God is working
Speaker 1: and he is ministering to us during this time. And
Speaker 1: our staff. I am so proud of our staff, from
Speaker 1: e kids to outreach to all of our pastoral staff.
Speaker 1: So I just want to encourage you. Don't draw back
Speaker 1: during this time, move forward, get more involved and allow
Speaker 1: us to speak over you and encourage you and pray
Speaker 1: for you. And retweet. I'm not even on Twitter. I
Speaker 1: don't know why I'm saying retweet, but share the things
Speaker 1: that are going on with our church and invite your
Speaker 1: friends to join in what's going on. I feel like
Speaker 1: people are thirstier than ever right now, and they're more
Speaker 1: open because I mean, in reality, they're home and they're bored.
Speaker 1: And so if this message and these the messages of
Speaker 1: this church are speaking to you, share it personally, share it,
Speaker 1: text someone and say this really helped me. I think
Speaker 1: that you'll like it. There's so much content coming out
Speaker 1: of our church right now, and I am so proud
Speaker 1: of to be a part of this movement and to
Speaker 1: be included among the generous people of Elevation Church. It's
Speaker 1: just such an amazing time to be to be a
Speaker 1: part of the family of God. So, Okay, I am
Speaker 1: really excited to get to speak to you this morning
Speaker 1: because God has been speaking so much to me over
Speaker 1: the past few weeks, and I truly I'm bursting. I
Speaker 1: cannot wait to share it with you. I believe that
Speaker 1: you are going to be blessed by this today. So
Speaker 1: would you do me a favor, And wherever you are,
Speaker 1: just turn your hands up in a posture of receiving,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to pray for us. So, Lord, we
Speaker 1: join our hearts together. We join our faith together, all
Speaker 1: across this world, from people who are in their living rooms,
Speaker 1: in their bedrooms, in their kitchens, in their workplaces. God,
Speaker 1: we join our faith together, and we collectively ask that
Speaker 1: you would speak to us. Our hands are open as
Speaker 1: a symbol that we want to receive a word from
Speaker 1: you today. Would you speak to us God, We are listening.
Speaker 1: It's in Jesus name. I pray amen. All right, So
Speaker 1: several weeks ago back when our children went to this
Speaker 1: place called school, my husband and I decided to go
Speaker 1: on a hike on his day off. And here in Charlotte,
Speaker 1: you can drive about an hour to find a decent hike.
Speaker 1: So this particular day, I did a little bit of research,
Speaker 1: and I decided that we were going to go to
Speaker 1: Morol Mountain State Park. And I looked on the park
Speaker 1: website because I wanted to find the most challenging hike,
Speaker 1: and so I decided that we were going to hike
Speaker 1: sugar Loaf Trail. Now, I don't know if you've ever
Speaker 1: tried to hike the state park trails. I don't even
Speaker 1: know if the state parks in other states are different
Speaker 1: than the ones here in North Carolina. But I personally
Speaker 1: have found in my limited experience that the maps make
Speaker 1: everything look so easy on paper. Sugar Loaf Trail is
Speaker 1: the orange triangles. All you have to do is follow
Speaker 1: the orange triangles. But it's a totally different story when
Speaker 1: you actually get on the trail because the trails overlap
Speaker 1: and it can be tricky to stay on the one
Speaker 1: that you want. You would think follow the orange triangles
Speaker 1: is easy, but it's just not not for us. So
Speaker 1: almost every time that we go hiking, which really isn't
Speaker 1: that much, we start on one trail and then we
Speaker 1: finish on another, and it usually isn't that big of
Speaker 1: a deal as long as you end up at your car, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, the verdicts we aren't the most skilled
Speaker 1: when it comes to hiking. We're a little bit better
Speaker 1: at Netflix, but sometimes we have to force ourselves to
Speaker 1: go outdoors and when we do, we don't regret it.
Speaker 1: So anyway, this particular time, I am determined that we
Speaker 1: are going to stay on sugar Loaf Trail because I
Speaker 1: wanted to count as my exercise for the day, and
Speaker 1: the park information said sugar Loaf had the best incline.
Speaker 1: It actually described it as strenuous. But don't get excited
Speaker 1: if you live in Colorado. Don't picture free solo. This
Speaker 1: is the foothills of North Carolina. Okay. So I told Stephen,
Speaker 1: because maybe I should back up and explain to you
Speaker 1: that my husband doesn't have a very good sense of direction.
Speaker 1: I hope he doesn't get mad at me for telling
Speaker 1: you this, But this very morning, this very morning, he
Speaker 1: told me that he got lost coming to Valentine from
Speaker 1: our house and he says, he just missed the turn.
Speaker 1: The thing is, he had so much on his mind.
Speaker 1: He's just so brilliant and so creative that he can't
Speaker 1: pay attention to the turn. So when anyway, that's not
Speaker 1: the point. When we go on a hike, I'm in
Speaker 1: charge of where to go, and so I said to him.
Speaker 1: I was like, this is gonna be The problem is
Speaker 1: I don't have the greatest sense of It's not my
Speaker 1: sense of direction, it's more of my ability to stay
Speaker 1: on track and pay attention. But I'm in charge, and
Speaker 1: so I said, this is going to be so easy.
Speaker 1: All we have to do is follow the orange triangles.
Speaker 1: So everything starts off great. We're walking at a nice pace,
Speaker 1: and we're talking without being interrupted. I think we are
Speaker 1: even holding hands at one point, and the trail is
Speaker 1: so peaceful, and we even walk through this really cool
Speaker 1: tunnel of like baby pine trees that were growing up.
Speaker 1: I think I have a picture here. We are, aren't
Speaker 1: we cute? Don't we look like we're enjoying the great outdoors?
Speaker 1: So we're weaving our way down the trail, and just
Speaker 1: like I expected, we start getting blue squares and white
Speaker 1: circles along with our orange triangles. And I get to
Speaker 1: talking and like I always do, and I realized at
Speaker 1: one point I haven't seen an orange triangle in a
Speaker 1: little while, and so I keep talking and acting like
Speaker 1: everything's okay, and we continue on and I keep thinking
Speaker 1: the orange triangles are going to reappear, but they don't,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't feel right because the trail is getting easier,
Speaker 1: and I started I saw a picnic table, so I remembered, okay,
Speaker 1: a while back, we passed the split in the trail,
Speaker 1: so I think we need to double back and take
Speaker 1: the other path. And I can start to feel pastor
Speaker 1: Steven tense up because he does not like to be lost.
Speaker 1: He doesn't want to be lost in a car, he
Speaker 1: doesn't want to be lost walking in a city, and
Speaker 1: he certainly does not want to be lost hiking in
Speaker 1: the woods. Remember we're Netflix people, so some of you
Speaker 1: might be thinking, what's the big deal of me being
Speaker 1: lost as an adventure, not to him. So we're on
Speaker 1: the second path and we come to this tunnel of
Speaker 1: baby pine trees, and I realized that now we're walking
Speaker 1: back to our car, and so I say, okay, I
Speaker 1: think we need to turn around again, and Stephen looks
Speaker 1: at me. I swear he looks at me and he says, Holly,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to be lost much longer. And I said,
Speaker 1: don't worry. I know exactly where we are now, I
Speaker 1: know the way. I totally lied, thankfully. When we circle
Speaker 1: back one more time, I finally spotted the little orange
Speaker 1: triangle on a tree off in the distance, on a
Speaker 1: very small trail, and we were back on track, and
Speaker 1: we had a great day today. I want to talk
Speaker 1: to you about what you should do when you feel
Speaker 1: like pastor Stephen, and you're thinking, I can't be lost
Speaker 1: for much longer. So my sermon is, I know the way.
Speaker 1: Have you ever noticed that when you start to feel
Speaker 1: lost at first, you coach yourself. You say things like
Speaker 1: everything's fine, orange triangles are going to start to appear
Speaker 1: very soon. You start telling yourself phrases I love idioms.
Speaker 1: I always misuse them, but I just love them so
Speaker 1: and I'll start telling myself phrases like things are off
Speaker 1: to a rocky start, or it's just a bump in
Speaker 1: the road and I just need to stay the path.
Speaker 1: And then maybe you progress to the phase of questioning
Speaker 1: your decisions. I thought this was what I was supposed
Speaker 1: to do. I thought I was supposed to take this
Speaker 1: new job. I felt like the Lord was leading us here,
Speaker 1: but now I'm not so sure. Maybe I heard wrong,
Speaker 1: maybe I did the wrong thing. And then the next
Speaker 1: phase for me is disappointment, and I start to tell
Speaker 1: myself things like this is not how I I thought
Speaker 1: this hike would be. I thought we would just hold
Speaker 1: hands and stay on the trail and climb to the
Speaker 1: top and see the beautiful view. But here I am circling, frustrated, lost,
Speaker 1: And then I start to worry because I realized that
Speaker 1: I can't continue to live in this place, this feeling
Speaker 1: of being lost. I can't be here much longer. I
Speaker 1: can't keep acting like everything's okay. I can't keep pretending
Speaker 1: like I know the way to go. I thought that
Speaker 1: God was leading me here, but now I'm not so sure.
Speaker 1: And now I can't hear him and I can't feel him,
Speaker 1: and I don't know the way anymore. And then I
Speaker 1: tell God, God, I just I don't know how much
Speaker 1: longer I can last. Today. I want to look with
Speaker 1: you at Psalm seventy seven, because this passage of Scripture. Sorry,
Speaker 1: that's kind of a a loud. This passage of scripture is
Speaker 1: about a man who has lost his way and he
Speaker 1: can't feel God anymore. And I feel like he has
Speaker 1: so much to teach us. So I've got the verses
Speaker 1: coming up. Let's look at Psalm seventy seven, Verse one.
Speaker 1: I thought I might try sitting for a while, because
Speaker 1: you know, I used to be a teacher, and teachers
Speaker 1: they sit. Psalm seventy seven says I cried out to
Speaker 1: God for help. I cried out to God to hear
Speaker 1: me when I was in distress. I sought the Lord
Speaker 1: at night. I stretched out untiring hands, and I would
Speaker 1: not be comforted. The man is having trouble sleeping. He
Speaker 1: he's in distress and his mind won't let him rest.
Speaker 1: And I have had so many conversations with friends lately
Speaker 1: telling me that they're having trouble sleeping. We're all worried.
Speaker 1: What's keeping you up at night might not be the
Speaker 1: same thing that's keeping me up. Well, I'll just tell
Speaker 1: you what's keeping me up. I'm just going to be
Speaker 1: honest and have a little honest moment here. I keep
Speaker 1: worrying that I have the virus and to the point where,
Speaker 1: about a week ago, I had a really bad allergy
Speaker 1: attack and I woke up in the middle of the
Speaker 1: night coughing, and I couldn't go back to sleep because
Speaker 1: I started making a case. Am I am I alone
Speaker 1: in this? Can somebody please tell me in the chat
Speaker 1: if this has happened to me. I keep making the
Speaker 1: case that I'm in the early stages of the virus,
Speaker 1: and I started thinking, I'm laying awake at night, my
Speaker 1: eyes are wide open, and I'm thinking of all the
Speaker 1: people that I've been in contact with, and what if
Speaker 1: I exposed people, you know, I went to the grocery store.
Speaker 1: What if I got some person sick? And then I
Speaker 1: start worrying about what about my family? Who will take
Speaker 1: care of my family if I get really sick? And
Speaker 1: what if my kids get sick? What if Pastor Stephen
Speaker 1: gets sick and he can't preach to anyone anymore? Anybody
Speaker 1: help me out? Have you been there? Have you been
Speaker 1: awake at night worrying about your finances? Losing sleep because
Speaker 1: I'm afraid? And the Psalmist goes on to say, I
Speaker 1: remembered you, God, I grown I meditated. He's trying to
Speaker 1: do all the right things, but my spirit grew faint.
Speaker 1: You kept my eyes from closing. I was too troubled
Speaker 1: to speak. I thought about the former days, the years
Speaker 1: of long ago. I remembered my songs in the night,
Speaker 1: nighttime questions. They're so dark. They keep you on this
Speaker 1: loop that takes you nowhere, and you can't get your
Speaker 1: mind subtled, and you can't get rest, he says, my
Speaker 1: heart meditated. He's trying to get a hold of himself,
Speaker 1: but then he starts asking crazy questions. Listen to this,
Speaker 1: he says, Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never
Speaker 1: show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Speaker 1: Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten
Speaker 1: to be merciful to me? Has he and his anger
Speaker 1: withheld his compassion? Is God mad at me? Can you
Speaker 1: relate to this? Because I can. When I get anxious,
Speaker 1: I start to jump to these crazy conclusions, and then
Speaker 1: I start to search for an answer for everything. So
Speaker 1: I plan out these elaborate, if then scenarios, and then
Speaker 1: I find myself worried about problems that don't even exist.
Speaker 1: What do you do when you find yourself in this place?
Speaker 1: I want to share with you today some of the
Speaker 1: things that God has been showing me about how to
Speaker 1: break this cycle in my mind. And the Psalmist is
Speaker 1: about to show you. Don't you love the Bible? I
Speaker 1: love the darkness and the humanity in this psalm. I
Speaker 1: love knowing that I'm not the only one who goes
Speaker 1: through periods where God feels far away. He says, God,
Speaker 1: can you are you hearing my cry? I am crying
Speaker 1: out to you? So I want to show you what
Speaker 1: he does next. But spoiler alert, He's not gonna show
Speaker 1: us the way out. We actually ever know who even
Speaker 1: wrote this psalm, what he was going through, or how
Speaker 1: he got out of it. In the end, he's going
Speaker 1: to show us how to shift our perspective. Perspective is everything,
Speaker 1: because I found that my initial response to every situation
Speaker 1: in my life one hundred percent of the time is
Speaker 1: how does this affect me? What if I get sick?
Speaker 1: What about my canceled plans? This is not the way
Speaker 1: I thought this would go. And then after I do that,
Speaker 1: I turn it on God, just like the Psalmist, and
Speaker 1: I think I know why It's easier to blame God
Speaker 1: than to take responsibility for my own heart and my
Speaker 1: own attitude, So it's easier for me to say, God,
Speaker 1: are you hearing me? What about your promises? God? You
Speaker 1: must be angry with me. But thankfully the psalmist doesn't
Speaker 1: stop there, and we won't either. Do you remember my
Speaker 1: husband's sermon from a few weeks ago called There's a
Speaker 1: whole in your story. If you miss that sermon, you
Speaker 1: have to go back and watch it because he said this,
Speaker 1: and it's forever in my mind. He said, don't let
Speaker 1: doubt and self centeredness cut you off in the middle
Speaker 1: of your story. It's okay to feel the doubt. It's
Speaker 1: okay to think about how you're being affected by this situation.
Speaker 1: But realize that we are in the middle of the
Speaker 1: story right now, and you can feel those feelings. But
Speaker 1: you can't stop there. You can't lose faith. You can't
Speaker 1: keep circling in this loop of making up stories. You
Speaker 1: have to get to the next part. So part one
Speaker 1: of this psalm is my worries, Part two is his ways,
Speaker 1: and verse ten is the shift, the shift from going
Speaker 1: from myself to my God. Look at this, says then
Speaker 1: I thought to this, I will appeal in the years
Speaker 1: when the most high stretched out his right hand. Watched
Speaker 1: this because he's about to go from what if to worship.
Speaker 1: He's going to shift his focus from self what if
Speaker 1: God has forgotten me, to the character and the nature
Speaker 1: of God. He says, I will remember the deeds of
Speaker 1: the Lord. I will remember your miracles of long ago.
Speaker 1: He's forcing himself to remember. He says, I will consider
Speaker 1: all of your works and meditate on all of your
Speaker 1: mighty deeds. Your ways, God are holy. What God is
Speaker 1: as great as our God. He's reminding himself about who
Speaker 1: his God is. You are the God who performs miracles.
Speaker 1: You display your power among the people with your mighty arm.
Speaker 1: You redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
Speaker 1: Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind. Your lightning lit
Speaker 1: up the world. The earth trembled and quaked. He serve
Speaker 1: a big God, he says. Your path led through the sea,
Speaker 1: your way through the mighty waters. Though your footprints were
Speaker 1: not seen. You led your people like a flock by
Speaker 1: the hand of Moses and Aaron. Sometimes the only way
Speaker 1: forward is to circle back. This is so beautiful to me.
Speaker 1: What do you do when you're awake in the night
Speaker 1: instead of circling on all of those questions, in all
Speaker 1: of those stories, you stop and you remember how great
Speaker 1: and how powerful our God is. He's a good God.
Speaker 1: He's a miracle working God. He's a deliverer. He is
Speaker 1: the God who makes himself known to his people and
Speaker 1: his promises. Do stand What has God done for you?
Speaker 1: Can you take a second and look back over your life?
Speaker 1: Because He's been there for you, He's provided for you.
Speaker 1: And what makes you think that he's going to stop now?
Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but this is not my
Speaker 1: first dark night. The problem is when you're in the
Speaker 1: middle of the night, it's hard to remember the things
Speaker 1: that you have come through. For some reason, it always
Speaker 1: feels like it's never been this bad before. But if
Speaker 1: you can just force yourself to remember, he was with
Speaker 1: me the last time, he will be with me all
Speaker 1: the way through this one. I love the part where
Speaker 1: he says your way was through the sea. You're digging deep.
Speaker 1: You've got to remember how God parted the Red Sea
Speaker 1: and he brought his people through on dry land. What
Speaker 1: does the song say, We just sing it. You made
Speaker 1: seas into highways. Instead of worrying about well, what is coming,
Speaker 1: You've got to use all of that energy, all of
Speaker 1: that fear, and rechannel it to recall the times where
Speaker 1: He was with you in the past, the times where
Speaker 1: He made a way through for you. I wish we
Speaker 1: could shout about all the times that He was with us.
Speaker 1: I wish we could play popcorn. We used to do
Speaker 1: that when I was a teenager in youth group, and
Speaker 1: you would just shout out things. And I wish you
Speaker 1: would shout out in the chat that when you were sick,
Speaker 1: that He healed you in your body, when you were
Speaker 1: going through a divorce, he was with you all along
Speaker 1: the way. When you lost your job, he provided for you.
Speaker 1: Tell me the ways that God has been with you,
Speaker 1: because I know that we serve a God who makes
Speaker 1: a way for us, though his footprints were not seen
Speaker 1: at the time. When I look back look at the
Speaker 1: verse again, it says your path made away through the
Speaker 1: mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. Even when
Speaker 1: you don't see it, He's working. And the Psalm closes
Speaker 1: by telling us that he leads us like a flock.
Speaker 1: I love all of the metaphors in the Bible that
Speaker 1: remind us about the Lord being our shepherd. It's truly
Speaker 1: throughout the Bible, but my favorite one, and probably yours too,
Speaker 1: is Psalm twenty three. The Lord is my shepherd. I
Speaker 1: shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.
Speaker 1: He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
Speaker 1: He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Speaker 1: What a comfort it is to know that our shepherd
Speaker 1: is leading his flock, and he knows where the green
Speaker 1: pastures are. He leads us to the water when we're thirsty.
Speaker 1: He is with us every step of the way. And
Speaker 1: when I think about God being our guide, I think
Speaker 1: about a few years ago, we got to go to Israel,
Speaker 1: and of course we hired a guide, because that's what
Speaker 1: you do when you go to Israel. Otherwise you would
Speaker 1: just roam around and wonder what things were. Our guide
Speaker 1: his name was Aria, and it was Aria's job as
Speaker 1: our guide to take us around to all of the
Speaker 1: famous sites in the Bible that we could squeeze into
Speaker 1: our ten day trip. So of course you want to
Speaker 1: hit the Garden of gessimone and the tomb and Mount
Speaker 1: Carmel where Elijah called down the prophets, and the Mount
Speaker 1: of Olives where Jesus fed the five thousand and the
Speaker 1: Jordan River in the upper room, and we wanted to
Speaker 1: see all of these sites. We had a list of
Speaker 1: the things we wanted to do. But while we were
Speaker 1: driving from place to place, our guide were a microphone,
Speaker 1: and he was constantly pointing things out to us along
Speaker 1: the way from within the bus. He would say, this
Speaker 1: is an olive grove. Look out to the left, this
Speaker 1: is an olive grove. And then he would teach us
Speaker 1: and he would say, olive trees are stable enough to
Speaker 1: live thousands of years through droughts and through storms, and
Speaker 1: the oil that comes from olives is what represents the
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. And he would just teach us all along
Speaker 1: the way. I remember one particular day we were on
Speaker 1: our way to the Sea of Galilee and he pulled
Speaker 1: the bus over to the side of the road and
Speaker 1: he said, we got out here. I'm telling you. We
Speaker 1: were literally on the side of the road, the highway
Speaker 1: with cars going past, and we walked up this rocky
Speaker 1: hill and he said, I want to show you. This
Speaker 1: is a cistern. This is what a cistern looks like.
Speaker 1: A cistern is where Joseph's brothers threw him when they
Speaker 1: were about to throw throw what did they sell him
Speaker 1: into slavery? And then he began to teach us about shepherds,
Speaker 1: and he told us he said the shepherds would live
Speaker 1: just outside of town right here. See how you can
Speaker 1: see the town off in the distance. And he'd say,
Speaker 1: they would live right here, And they would while the
Speaker 1: sheep were having babies and the lambs were young, they
Speaker 1: would stay just out side of the city so that
Speaker 1: the sheep could drink from these cisterns. But as soon
Speaker 1: as the lambs were old enough to travel, they would
Speaker 1: go up to two hours away from the city and
Speaker 1: lead the sheep to graze in greener pastures near the springs.
Speaker 1: The things that he showed us along the way were
Speaker 1: as memorable to me as the famous sights that we
Speaker 1: had come to see. And I think about if I
Speaker 1: had gotten on the bus each day and put my
Speaker 1: headphones in and taken a nap and gotten to the destination,
Speaker 1: I would have missed out on so much of the
Speaker 1: experience of seeing and taking in everything around me. And
Speaker 1: it has opened up my eyes when I read a
Speaker 1: passage like he guides. He guides us in paths of
Speaker 1: righteousness for his name's sake. I can picture the shepherds
Speaker 1: leading their sheep to the greener grasp. God is your guide,
Speaker 1: and he's revealing himself to you all along the way.
Speaker 1: Every day he's trying to show you. This is my grace,
Speaker 1: here's my joy. And sometimes I think that I miss
Speaker 1: what's right in front of me because I'm worried about
Speaker 1: what's down the road. He guides me in paths of
Speaker 1: righteousness for his namesake. Goes on to say, even though
Speaker 1: I walk through the valley of the shadow of Death,
Speaker 1: I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Speaker 1: It comforts me to know that as we walk through
Speaker 1: the valley the shadow of death, my shepherd is with
Speaker 1: me the whole way. And by the way, it's not death,
Speaker 1: it's just a shadow. And as you walk through the valley,
Speaker 1: just make sure to keep going. And when you're up
Speaker 1: at night and the shadows are so scary, if you
Speaker 1: can shift your focus, you'll find that the shepherd, your shepherd,
Speaker 1: is right there leading you through. He's your guide. He's
Speaker 1: not your uber driver. You're rod in your staff. They
Speaker 1: comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the
Speaker 1: presence of my enemies, And this is my favorite verse
Speaker 1: in Psalm twenty three. It says you anoy my head
Speaker 1: with oil my cup overflows. A couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: I came across this book. It's called A Shepherd looks
Speaker 1: at Psalm twenty three. It's by a man named Philip Keller,
Speaker 1: who was an actual shepherd, and in this book he
Speaker 1: takes you through verse by verse explaining the Psalm from
Speaker 1: a shepherd's perspective. Isn't it amazing how God can take
Speaker 1: a passage of scripture that's so familiar, like Psalm twenty three.
Speaker 1: I memorize it when I was a little girl in kindergarten.
Speaker 1: I have a very vivid memory of my kindergarten teacher
Speaker 1: having our class recite it. But then He can use
Speaker 1: that same passage of scripture and bring you comfort throughout
Speaker 1: your life if you'll just go back to Sometimes when
Speaker 1: I am in a season of feeling lost, I go
Speaker 1: back to the passages of scripture where God has already
Speaker 1: spoken to me before. And God used this book in
Speaker 1: my life a couple of years ago to just make
Speaker 1: this passage come alive. And a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: right before everything started shutting, down. God just brought Psalm
Speaker 1: twenty three. He led me back to this passage of scripture,
Speaker 1: and I pulled out this book and I went to
Speaker 1: my favorite chapter, and it's the chapter on this verse.
Speaker 1: He anoints my head with oil and he talks about
Speaker 1: nose flies. Now, I know that you did not turn
Speaker 1: on church today to hear about nose flies, but I
Speaker 1: have to tell you about this, and I promise you
Speaker 1: it's going to help you. So I'm sorry it's a
Speaker 1: little bit gross, but just stick with me. Nose flies
Speaker 1: attack sheep in the summertime, and what happens is they'll
Speaker 1: land on the sheep's moist nose, and sometimes they'll crawl
Speaker 1: inside and lay eggs in the sheep's nose cavity. And
Speaker 1: let me just read to you from the book. It
Speaker 1: says this their attacks the flies on animals can readily
Speaker 1: turn the golden months of summertime into a time of
Speaker 1: torture for the sheep and drive them to almost distraction.
Speaker 1: For this, for relief from this agonizing annoyance, he tells
Speaker 1: us that the sheep will deliberately beat their heads against
Speaker 1: trees and rocks and posts or brush, And then he
Speaker 1: goes on to say, because of all of this, when
Speaker 1: the nose flies hover around the flock, some of the
Speaker 1: sheep will become frantic with fear and panic in their
Speaker 1: attempt to escape their tormentors. Some may run so much
Speaker 1: that they drop from sheer exhaustion. And on some occasions
Speaker 1: they may refuse to graze in the open at all.
Speaker 1: And when I pulled this out and I read this,
Speaker 1: I was like, this is me right now. I'm afraid
Speaker 1: of the flies that have not even landed on me yet,
Speaker 1: and I'm running around getting groceries, stalking my pantry and
Speaker 1: my freezer like the world is over, watching the news
Speaker 1: and the numbers and making up scenarios, and unable to rest,
Speaker 1: unable to graze, exhausted with worry, irritated with my kids.
Speaker 1: But listen to this. At the first sign of the
Speaker 1: flies among the flock, he will apply an antidote of
Speaker 1: oil to their heads. Once the oil has been applied
Speaker 1: to the sheep's head, there was an immediate change in behavior.
Speaker 1: Gone was the aggravation gone, the frenzy, gone, the irritability
Speaker 1: and the restlessness. Instead, the sheep would start to feed
Speaker 1: quietly again, and then soon lie down in peaceful contentment.
Speaker 1: He anoints my head with oil. He anoints your head
Speaker 1: with oil. So maybe sitting down and tuning in and
Speaker 1: watching church today may have been that breath of fresh
Speaker 1: air that you needed, a time for you to recenter
Speaker 1: your focus. But one hour a week is not enough oil.
Speaker 1: The book says that the sheep have to have the
Speaker 1: oil applied regularly to protect them from the flies throughout
Speaker 1: the summer, and so do you. He anoints my head
Speaker 1: with oil, my cup overflows. My cup cannot overflow if
Speaker 1: my head is not first anointed. So when I feel
Speaker 1: myself getting irritated with everyone around me, when I feel
Speaker 1: the frenzy and the fear creeping in, when I start
Speaker 1: spiraling into my what if scenarios, I need a fresh
Speaker 1: anointing for me. This could come in several different ways.
Speaker 1: It might mean that I turn the TV off and
Speaker 1: turn on a sermon, or I turn on some worship music.
Speaker 1: It might mean that I get off of Instagram and
Speaker 1: I open up my Bible app And I don't just
Speaker 1: open it up randomly and try to find a random
Speaker 1: passage of scripture, but I select a Bible study plan
Speaker 1: and a passage of scripture that I can read through,
Speaker 1: and that every time I pick up my Bible and
Speaker 1: I pick up my phone, I know where I'm going
Speaker 1: in the scripture. It may mean that in the morning
Speaker 1: when I wake up, that I listen to a scripture
Speaker 1: reading rather than checking the number of confirmed cases that
Speaker 1: happened overnight. Sometimes for me, it's just a moment alone
Speaker 1: when I feel myself becoming overwhelmed and I feel myself
Speaker 1: getting irritated with everyone around me. I just take a
Speaker 1: step back, and I take a moment, and I take
Speaker 1: a couple of deep breaths, and I say a prayer
Speaker 1: for help, And as I'm breathing, I just inhale God's grace,
Speaker 1: and then I exhale a prayer of gratitude. God, Thank
Speaker 1: you that you are with me in this moment. God
Speaker 1: help me. It's a cry for help. As believers in Jesus,
Speaker 1: we have access to the Holy Spirit who stands by
Speaker 1: ready to give us exactly what we need moment by moment.
Speaker 1: But he will not compete. He will not compete with
Speaker 1: CNN and Netflix and Facebook. He anoints my head with oil.
Speaker 1: My cup overflows. They're in that order for a reason.
Speaker 1: You can't overflow and help those around you until you
Speaker 1: are first anointed with oil. I know you don't know
Speaker 1: the way. I know some days that you're faking it.
Speaker 1: I know right now that we are all taking this
Speaker 1: day by day, sometimes minute by minute. Don't wear a mask,
Speaker 1: wear a mask. It's a scary time when our entire
Speaker 1: world is collectively facing an obstacle where we cannot see
Speaker 1: a way through, and we have no idea how much
Speaker 1: longer it's going to last. But you know what we
Speaker 1: do have. We have God's word and it is a
Speaker 1: lamp unto our feet, and it is a light unto
Speaker 1: our paths when we're lost. It is our light. And
Speaker 1: if you will meditate on the words in this book,
Speaker 1: God will speak to you and he will calm your heart.
Speaker 1: I want to close with Jesus's words to his disciples
Speaker 1: because I believe Jesus has something that he wants to
Speaker 1: say to us today. These are God's words for us
Speaker 1: during our time together. This is John fourteen, and Jesus
Speaker 1: is talking to his disciples and he says, do not
Speaker 1: let your hearts be troubled. That's a word for me today.
Speaker 1: Don't let your hearts be troubled. He says, you believe
Speaker 1: in God, believe also in me. My father's house has
Speaker 1: many rooms. If that were not so, would I have
Speaker 1: told you that I'm going there to prepare a place
Speaker 1: for you. And if I go and prepare a place
Speaker 1: for you, I will come back and take you to
Speaker 1: be with me, so that you may be where I am.
Speaker 1: You know the place where I am going. And then
Speaker 1: Thomas speaks up, bless his heart, thank you Thomas for
Speaker 1: asking what everybody is thinking. Don't you love the person
Speaker 1: who asks the question that everybody's thinking. So Thomas says, Lord,
Speaker 1: we don't know where you were going, so how can
Speaker 1: we know the way? And Jesus answered to him, I
Speaker 1: love Jesus's answer to him, Jesus said, I am the way,
Speaker 1: the Truth, and the life. I don't have to know
Speaker 1: the way because I know the way. He is the
Speaker 1: one who was with you in the past. He's the
Speaker 1: one who is with you on this journey right now,
Speaker 1: in this moment today, And like I said, he stands
Speaker 1: by with the oil that you need for each moment.
Speaker 1: And we can find comfort that He has gone before
Speaker 1: us into our future to prepare a place for us.
Speaker 1: What if what God is doing for you in this time,
Speaker 1: is giving you an opportunity for you to know Him deeper,
Speaker 1: for you to truly know Him as your Prince of peace,
Speaker 1: for you to come out on the other side of
Speaker 1: this trial knowing Emmanuel God with us. Thomas was completely
Speaker 1: missing the point, just like we all do. He was like, Lord,
Speaker 1: we don't know the way. He was concerned about the destination.
Speaker 1: He was concerned about the end, and Jesus is saying,
Speaker 1: you don't need to know the end because you know me.
Speaker 1: I am the way. I am with you right here,
Speaker 1: right down, in this very moment. You're not lost. You
Speaker 1: may feel lost, but you know the way. So tonight,
Speaker 1: when you wake up worried, just whisper to yourself, I
Speaker 1: know the way. Tomorrow, when you're tired of being alone
Speaker 1: in your house day after day after day, maybe you
Speaker 1: only have your pets to keep you company, you say
Speaker 1: this out loud, I am not alone. I know the way. Moms,
Speaker 1: when you're wondering how you're going to make it to bedtime,
Speaker 1: take a breath inhale God's peace, exhale, I know the way.
Speaker 1: If you're tired of feeling lost, if you're tired of
Speaker 1: just I can't feel this way much longer. Just remember
Speaker 1: you know the way. I know the way. What a word. Wow.
Speaker 1: I just got home and I just wanted to record
Speaker 1: a video and just pray with you. I thought what
Speaker 1: Holly said today was so personal and so powerful and
Speaker 1: so appropriate for the season that we're in that many
Speaker 1: of us just feel confused and maybe even aimless, restless,
Speaker 1: But we know the way, the way, the truth and
Speaker 1: the life. That's what Jesus called himself. So right now,
Speaker 1: let me just agree with you in prayer. God, would
Speaker 1: you lead us like the shepherd that you are, each
Speaker 1: moment of the days ahead, and help us to hear
Speaker 1: your still small voice as you call us the green
Speaker 1: pastures of your presence. I pray for my brother or
Speaker 1: my sister, whatever their need is today, I know you're
Speaker 1: able to meet it according to your glorious richest in Christ.
Speaker 1: Thank you that your wisdom and your peace are ours
Speaker 1: in abundance in Jesus' name. Amen, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for your love, for your support, those of you who
Speaker 1: give to support this ministry, just so we can keep
Speaker 1: the gospel coming to people, so we can keep telling
Speaker 1: them about who Jesus is and what God is able
Speaker 1: to do. Holly and I love you, our Elevation Church family.
Speaker 1: We're standing strong. We're here for you. Don't forget to subscribe.
Speaker 1: Let us know how we can be praying for you.
Speaker 1: See you real soon, Okay, love you, God bless