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Speaker 1: Hey, don't start clicking off. I promise we're going to

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Speaker 1: get to the preaching in just a moment. But I'm

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Speaker 1: excited about this. This is a very special tradition at Elevation,

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Speaker 1: and we want to speak to all of you who

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Speaker 1: call our church home, especially our extended family, our EPAM

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Speaker 1: around the world, because once a year we have a

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Speaker 1: special series. It's really more than a collection of teachings.

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Speaker 1: It's a faith experience for all of the people who

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Speaker 1: are part of our ministry at Elevation, and this year

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Speaker 1: our theme is game Changer. I think one of the

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Speaker 1: most exciting things that God is doing in our ministry

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Speaker 1: is to open the doors of our ministry beyond our walls.

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Speaker 1: What I mean by that is we are amazed at

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Speaker 1: the thousands and thousands and thousands of you who are

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Speaker 1: letting us know that you're impacted by this ministry in

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Speaker 1: another zip code, in another state, in another country, maybe

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Speaker 1: eventually on another planet. But what I wanted to mention

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Speaker 1: to you is that you can be a part of

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Speaker 1: this beyond just consuming. Many of you have been blessed

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Speaker 1: by God to be a blessing, and I wanted to

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Speaker 1: ask today would you be willing during this special time

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Speaker 1: of year to make a one time donation to the

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Speaker 1: ministry or maybe partner with us on a monthly basis

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Speaker 1: through recurring giving. I believe God could use your gift

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Speaker 1: to enable this ministry to continue to reach, to continue

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Speaker 1: to break paradigms, to continue to lift up Jesus. And

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Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you personally to go to Elevationchurch

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Speaker 1: dot org and you can see the ways to give there.

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Speaker 1: But most importantly, know that we feel a tremendousness of

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Speaker 1: responsibility to minister the Word of God not only to you,

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Speaker 1: but to challenge you to partner with us and reaching

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Speaker 1: people for the Gospel. I believe your gift today could

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Speaker 1: be a game changer, so don't put it off right now.

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Speaker 1: Elevation Church dot org you can find all of the details.

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Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy this message and thank you for

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Speaker 1: being a part of the family. Welcome today to all

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Speaker 1: of our locations. Can we thank God for all of

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Speaker 1: our tampuses and locations? I said, can we thank God

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Speaker 1: for all of our campuses and lots? Amen? I was

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Speaker 1: doing my stalker thing where I go around to all

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Speaker 1: the campuses pushing buttons with cameras that are set up

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Speaker 1: in the auditoriums I've been on. Do I look tired.

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Speaker 1: I was on a trip. I went to Asheville and Columbia,

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Speaker 1: and I even went to Toronto for a minute, all

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Speaker 1: through technology, of course, before I came out to see you.

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Speaker 1: I'm a little jet life. But thank God for the

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Speaker 1: great work he's doing also with our evan around the

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Speaker 1: world and our interns Our Fall twenty eighteen interns come on.

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Speaker 1: Thank God for Thank God for them, thank God for

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Speaker 1: their their wardrobes, for their sense of style and fashion.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you why they're up here in a minute.

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Speaker 1: I want to keep you in suspense. But hey, one

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Speaker 1: thing that I really always feel good about is when

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Speaker 1: I'm doing exactly what I know God wants me to do.

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Speaker 1: When I stand up here on the stage, and as

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Speaker 1: we get ready for next weekend, which is going to

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Speaker 1: be phenomenal, where so many people around the world and

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Speaker 1: here at our church locally are going to participate in

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Speaker 1: our game change or offering where we get to bring

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Speaker 1: God something of significance and value to us, and we

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Speaker 1: all get to make that opportunity count to invest something

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Speaker 1: in what can't be taken away as we have so

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Speaker 1: many times before. As we get ready for that, I

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Speaker 1: pray and I try to see how God wants me

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Speaker 1: to preach that would position us, each of us for

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Speaker 1: the season that He's taking us into. And that's important

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Speaker 1: to me. Not to follow a formula. It's important to me.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with doing it

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Speaker 1: the same way every time, because we take up these

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Speaker 1: offerings for expansion and we use so much of it

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Speaker 1: for outreach each year. So I guess it would be

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Speaker 1: fine if I just repeated the pattern each year, But

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Speaker 1: maybe it's just my personality. I can't do that. And

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Speaker 1: even more than that, I don't want to start trusting

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Speaker 1: in some kind of formula. I guess that's the best

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Speaker 1: way to say it. If I'm going to preach about faith,

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Speaker 1: I want to demonstrate faith in the way that I

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Speaker 1: preach about what I'm preaching about. So does that make

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Speaker 1: sense right anyway? Whether it made sense or not, here's

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Speaker 1: what I'm going to do today. Because when I was

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Speaker 1: praying about what we should do as we set up

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Speaker 1: what's going to happen next weekend, and I pray that

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Speaker 1: you would not skip church next weekend, you know, some

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Speaker 1: people will always do that like it's going to be

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Speaker 1: a guilt trip. It's not. It's not like there's gonna

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Speaker 1: be a cover charge next week or something like that.

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Speaker 1: It's for everyone, but it'll be really beautiful and be special.

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Speaker 1: But this week is probably the most important because this

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Speaker 1: is where we set it up, and any good comedian

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Speaker 1: can tell you that the setup is often more important

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Speaker 1: than the punchline. And so but there's nothing funny about

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Speaker 1: the Word of God. So let's go. Let's go to

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Speaker 1: the Word of God today. I want to share the

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Speaker 1: same scripture just a few verses. If I drop a

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Speaker 1: few verses down from what I shared last week, did

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Speaker 1: you get to hear the message last weekend? It's mine

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Speaker 1: to manage touch somebody say it's God's to give, but

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Speaker 1: it's mine to manage. And I talked about this concept

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Speaker 1: that we are stewards of the story, the story of

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Speaker 1: how God has saved us and how God has sustained us.

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Speaker 1: And as a pastor, I'm coming to understand my role

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Speaker 1: more and more as a steward of the story that

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Speaker 1: God is telling through this church. And it's God's story,

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Speaker 1: but it's ours to manage. So powerful and so let

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Speaker 1: me get into this real quick, and this will be

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Speaker 1: a little different today. I think you can tell that

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Speaker 1: I'm a little I'm excited. I'm really excited, but I'm

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Speaker 1: sitting down. I'm seated, so I'm not going to scream

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Speaker 1: as much. Those of you who don't like all that. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: this is your weekend and I'm just going to talk

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Speaker 1: to you a little bit. Today. You laughed a little

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Speaker 1: too much of that made me feel self conscious. I

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Speaker 1: might holler once or twice, but I really just want

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Speaker 1: to talk to you. And I got all this stuff

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Speaker 1: in my Bible, and I'll tell you what it all

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Speaker 1: is in a moment. Some notes and some money and

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Speaker 1: i'll tell you about that. An envelopes, some post it notes,

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Speaker 1: and we'll get to all that in a moment. But

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Speaker 1: first let me read this. This is so important as

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Speaker 1: a backdrop for what I believe God wants to give

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Speaker 1: you as a backstory today. Every blessing has a backstory. Okay,

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Speaker 1: every blessing has a backstory, and so this is one

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Speaker 1: for the nation of Israel. Joshua for nineteen On the

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Speaker 1: tenth day of the first month, the people went up

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Speaker 1: from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern

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Speaker 1: border of Jericho, and Joshua set up. Everybody say set up,

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Speaker 1: and Joshua was set up at Gilgal. The twelve stones

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Speaker 1: they had taken out of the Jordan. Now they're not

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Speaker 1: in the Promised Land yet, but God is setting them up.

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Speaker 1: And as a part of the setup, it's kind of elaborate.

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Speaker 1: God is like, hey, take the stones from the Jordan,

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Speaker 1: which represents the miracle that I just did for you,

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Speaker 1: and set it up. And then after you set up

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Speaker 1: the stones, this is the purpose of them. They're not

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Speaker 1: just props. I don't want you to just collect these

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Speaker 1: stones for props and put them in a trophy case somewhere.

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Speaker 1: But rather than just trophies, these are triggers, these stones

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Speaker 1: that you set up because I'm not done with you yet,

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Speaker 1: and there's a great thing that I'm doing through you,

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Speaker 1: and so I want to use the stones as a setup.

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Speaker 1: And then what's verse twenty one. It gives the purpose

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Speaker 1: he said to the Israelites in the future when your

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Speaker 1: descendants ask their parents and not stop right there. He's

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Speaker 1: teaching them to think generationally. He's thinking them. He's teaching

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Speaker 1: them not to just settle for instant gratification and what's

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Speaker 1: in it for me. So in the future, when your

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Speaker 1: kids are asking what do these stones mean, tell them

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Speaker 1: tell them very important, because the stones can't speak for themselves. Right.

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Speaker 1: This is not like Siri, Hey, Siri, bring me lemonade it.

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Speaker 1: This is not that kind of thing. This is not

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Speaker 1: some magic trick. You've got to speak and tell them

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Speaker 1: when you see the stones, when they see the stones,

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Speaker 1: tell them, I love this stuff. I love these Old

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Speaker 1: Testament stories so much, gentlemen, tell them, Israel cross the

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Speaker 1: Jordan on dry ground. Four. The Lord your God dried

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Speaker 1: up the Jordan before you, until you had crossed over.

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Speaker 1: The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he

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Speaker 1: had done to the Red Sea, when he dried it

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Speaker 1: up before us, until we had crossed over. Every generation

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Speaker 1: is to experience their own move of God, not just

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Speaker 1: worship something God did in the past, but to move

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Speaker 1: forward into the future full of faith. And so I

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Speaker 1: want to speak to you for a few moments today

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Speaker 1: on the power of the prompt. The prompt if you'd

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Speaker 1: like to write that down, it's just a little title

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Speaker 1: that I'm giving the message. If you wouldn't like to

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Speaker 1: write it down, it's still the title that I'm giving

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Speaker 1: the message the power of the prompt. So about these interns,

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Speaker 1: they're pretty they're pretty cool. Elevation Church dot org slash

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Speaker 1: Internship shameless plow. They're two weeks out from finishing their

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Speaker 1: internship and I got to meet with them Thursday and

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Speaker 1: we had the best time. Right, were supposed to go

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Speaker 1: ninety minutes and it went two and a half hours.

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Speaker 1: And then, for the first time that this has ever happened,

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Speaker 1: I met them at the movies because as a part

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Speaker 1: of their discipleship process, I took them to see Creed two. Amen.

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Speaker 1: Come on, I'm a good, good pastor. It's who I am. Now.

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Speaker 1: What prompted me to do that? Well, when I was

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Speaker 1: getting to know them, I like to do an icebreaker, Hey,

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Speaker 1: you know, what's your favorite music? And then they'll always

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Speaker 1: say Christian bands because I'm the pastor. And then I

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Speaker 1: turn around, know, what's what do you really listen to?

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Speaker 1: And then they'll uh, I'll ask us your favorite TV shows?

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Speaker 1: They all said the Office. I think everybody said the Office.

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Speaker 1: And I said, cool, y'all are too young for the Office,

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Speaker 1: but anyway, I understand. And then they said I said

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Speaker 1: what's your favorite movie? And one of the kids screams

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Speaker 1: out Rocky. He said it, you know, like you like

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Speaker 1: sometimes you're in a worship service and somebody go Jesus.

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Speaker 1: But he said the name of Rocky. And when he

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Speaker 1: invoked the name of Rocky, he won my heart. In fact,

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Speaker 1: I'll come here, Gabe, real quick, lj just in honor,

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Speaker 1: in honor of Gabe. Let's do this real quick. Go ahead,

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Speaker 1: go ahead, l j Oh, you want to run the stairs?

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Speaker 1: I like that here, big n who goes to us

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Speaker 1: stairs up there? Yet? Hey, by the way, they big

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Speaker 1: upstairs nam dah, don't want to see it again, don't know? Man,

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Speaker 1: make account hurry up the running up tide assist. So

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Speaker 1: this could be you Eleviationchurch dot org slash internship. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for coming. Now let's go sit down here, let's en up,

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Speaker 1: catch your breath. You know, you hadn't done that much

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Speaker 1: cardio in months. So I was like, you like Rocky.

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Speaker 1: He goes yeah. I said, Now this is the real test.

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Speaker 1: I said, what's the best Rocky? He said, And he

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Speaker 1: didn't have to pray, he didn't have to think. And

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Speaker 1: this aw'm a test if he's a true man of God.

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Speaker 1: He said, he wants to go in ministry one day.

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Speaker 1: And there's an answer to this, and it's definitely not

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Speaker 1: it's definitely not five. We all know that could be three.

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Speaker 1: But he said the right answer, he said Rocky four.

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Speaker 1: When he said Rocky four, I said, I perceived that

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Speaker 1: thou art a prophet and the words of life are

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Speaker 1: I was like, just because that's the first one my

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Speaker 1: dad showed me. I remember my dad on a Friday

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Speaker 1: night we stopped by National Home Video in Monk's Corner

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Speaker 1: VHS tape and he said, you're ready for Rocky four.

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Speaker 1: You're ready for You're ready to see. By the way,

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Speaker 1: it's just so I can know who to pray for

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Speaker 1: that needs the Lord. How many of you have not

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Speaker 1: seen Rocky a single Rocky movie? Oh, come to the altar?

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Speaker 1: Are you serious? Your parents haven't shown you Rocky fo

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Speaker 1: We called DSS on those parents. I almost felt like

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Speaker 1: with my kids it was a generational responsibility, you know,

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Speaker 1: to show them how the Cold War really ended with

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Speaker 1: Rocky deceiting Drago and and then so when I found

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Speaker 1: out that Creed two was the sequel to Rocky four,

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Speaker 1: I was like, oh man, this is the this is

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Speaker 1: the equivalent of Joshua and Moses. This is like the

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Speaker 1: Red Sea and the Jordan. You know, is this too?

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Speaker 1: This has probably taken the illustration too far, but I

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Speaker 1: almost had a spiritual experience. I met them at the

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Speaker 1: theater on on Thursday night and we watched Rocky. I

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Speaker 1: think we annoyed everybody in the theater. We were so

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Speaker 1: loud at Stonecrest. But we went to the Temple of

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Speaker 1: Stone Crest and we watched the Gospel according to Roboa,

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Speaker 1: and there's so much gospel and Rocky, but you probably

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Speaker 1: don't know the backstory to it. And so you know,

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Speaker 1: it prompted me. Sermons come to me from all kinds

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Speaker 1: of places. But I'm sitting there. Graham and Elijah went

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Speaker 1: with me, and we're watching Creed two. And I won't

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Speaker 1: tell you how it ends, because your homework this week

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Speaker 1: is to prepare your offering, read your Bible, and go

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Speaker 1: see Creed to and past there and then and then

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Speaker 1: I was thinking, Graham was sitting with me, Elijah was

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Speaker 1: sitting with me. The interns were there, and I was thinking, like, remember,

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Speaker 1: my dad's in heaven now, and so I always remember

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Speaker 1: when he showed me it was just a cool moment

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Speaker 1: where I was, like, every generation gets their own Rocky,

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Speaker 1: it's cool. And then I thought, I wonder how many

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Speaker 1: of them know the backstory of how Rocky Balboa was created.

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Speaker 1: I wonder how many of I wonder how many of

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Speaker 1: them know what these stones mean? You know, they know

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Speaker 1: that Michael B. Jordan wasn't the first Creed. I wonder

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Speaker 1: if they know. And I don't know how much of

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Speaker 1: this you knew gave. But when Sylvester Stallone created Rocky,

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Speaker 1: he was inspired because he was broke, right, he had

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Speaker 1: been in one movie and he had moderate success, but

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Speaker 1: he moved to la because he wanted to start really

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Speaker 1: trying to write, and he would walk around writing stuff,

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Speaker 1: and that he went to see Muhammad Ali fight Chuck Webner.

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Speaker 1: How many of you didn't know any of this? Just

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Speaker 1: raise your hand real quick. Okay, this is important. This

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Speaker 1: is almost biblical. Rocky is canonical, and I promise you

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Speaker 1: would be in Joshua in just a moment. But let

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Speaker 1: me get the backstory this. And when he was watching

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Speaker 1: Chuck Webner fight Muhammad Ali and go the distance even

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Speaker 1: though he didn't win, and put the champ down, he

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Speaker 1: was inspired by the story of an underdog. He thought,

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Speaker 1: that's what I need to write, and he spent the

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Speaker 1: next three days writing the rough draft of Rocky. Three

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Speaker 1: days three days, so for those of you who don't

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Speaker 1: believe that Rocky is biblical. Three days. And then when

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Speaker 1: he finished writing it, he remember he was prompted just

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Speaker 1: by something that he saw. Talk about the power of

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Speaker 1: a prompt He was prompted watching it. I need to

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Speaker 1: write that. He wrote it, and then somebody asked him

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Speaker 1: what he was working on when he went for an

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Speaker 1: audition one time, and he almost didn't want to tell

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Speaker 1: him because he didn't know if he was any good,

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Speaker 1: but he show him working on this thing. He's prompted.

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Speaker 1: And then they offered him twenty five thousand dollars for

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Speaker 1: the script fifty one hundred no, because they weren't going

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Speaker 1: to let him be Rocky and he wanted to play

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Speaker 1: Rocky on something in and told him, you need to

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Speaker 1: play this character. This is once a lifetime thing. And

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Speaker 1: then they offered him two hundred fifty thousand dollars, three

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Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars, three hundred and sixty thousand dollars. He

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Speaker 1: had one hundred and six dollars in his bank account,

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Speaker 1: and they offered him three hundred and sixty thousand dollars

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Speaker 1: from the script. He said no, he had already sold

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Speaker 1: his dog, Buckus Buckus, He sold his dog Buckus, and

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Speaker 1: he turned it down. And finally they gave him a

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Speaker 1: million dollars to make the movie, which wasn't much, and

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Speaker 1: he made it. And as of twenty seventeen, according to

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Speaker 1: what I Google, the Iraqi franchise has earned in the

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Speaker 1: box office alone over one point four billion dollars. So

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Speaker 1: let's say God for Rocky, and then we'll move on

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Speaker 1: and do something I want to tell you about. I

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Speaker 1: just told you. I can see some of you like,

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Speaker 1: come on, man, I ain't come for all this. Let's

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Speaker 1: shut up. I'm trying to get to something here, all right.

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Speaker 1: I got a reason for telling you this, because everything

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Speaker 1: great that I've ever seen I would attribute to the

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Speaker 1: hand of God in my life started with a prompting.

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Speaker 1: A prompting. And the thing about game changers and game

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Speaker 1: changing decisions is that they don't feel like game changers

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Speaker 1: in the moment. It doesn't. A promise from God usually

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Speaker 1: doesn't feel like a promise. Here's how it operates in

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Speaker 1: the pattern of scripture and that God will give you

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Speaker 1: a promise, and then He will give you a prompting

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Speaker 1: to act on the promise that He gave. And learning

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Speaker 1: to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit is

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Speaker 1: the most crucial skill that you could ever acquire in

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Speaker 1: your life. It takes courage, it takes discernment, it takes

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Speaker 1: sometimes being still shutting the other voices off. But the

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Speaker 1: promptings of the Holy Spirit. I mean, how many times

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Speaker 1: have I missed the blessing of God in an area

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Speaker 1: of my life because I did not respond to a prompting.

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Speaker 1: How many times have we come to church and heard

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Speaker 1: a sermon and then we experienced a prompting, but because

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Speaker 1: we didn't respond to the prompt we did not receive

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Speaker 1: the promise. It could be the smallest things. One time

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Speaker 1: God prompted me to sense somebody of voice memo. They

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Speaker 1: said they saved it for four years on their phone.

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Speaker 1: I didn't know that they were going to save it

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Speaker 1: for four years. I just knew they were going through something,

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Speaker 1: and I sent it to them prompting prompting, And it

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Speaker 1: must have seemed weird to the Israelites. Right set up

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Speaker 1: the stones, but the stones are not there to serve

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Speaker 1: the purpose that they seem to be serving on the surface.

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Speaker 1: They are to prompt the story. Now I'm preaching to

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Speaker 1: you today because there are some things that God has

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Speaker 1: placed in your life and some things that he's doing

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Speaker 1: that if you will pay attention, God is trying to

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Speaker 1: use that thing to prompt you in an area of

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Speaker 1: your life where He intends to bless you. The stones

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Speaker 1: prompt the story, and then the story is meant to

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Speaker 1: prompt the faith of the people so that they can

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Speaker 1: continue on. And this is how God works. So I

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Speaker 1: want to practice this today. I want to do this

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Speaker 1: in front of you. It's one thing to preach it,

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Speaker 1: it's another thing to practice it. And I realized that

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Speaker 1: the Israelites didn't go back to that place in Gilgal

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Speaker 1: and tell their children the story. That's why in Judges

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Speaker 1: two ten it says that the next generation didn't know.

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Speaker 1: Why didn't they know because their parents didn't revisit the place.

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Speaker 1: They got so far from where they started that they

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Speaker 1: lost their sense of who brought them. Now, I don't

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Speaker 1: want that to happen to us as a church, and

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Speaker 1: so I thought what might be appropriate today to help

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Speaker 1: prompt your faith is to share a few stones, not twelve.

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Speaker 1: I'm not going to do twelve like the twelve stones.

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Speaker 1: We don't have that long. If I just want to

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Speaker 1: take five, I just want to take five prompts. And

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Speaker 1: this is where the post it notes come in, because

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Speaker 1: I wrote down five prompts, you know, like a writing

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Speaker 1: prompt that you get writing prompt And I'm going to

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Speaker 1: hand these one at a time to these interns and

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Speaker 1: I'm going to ask them to tell me the story.

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Speaker 1: And you can ask me anything you want, as long

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Speaker 1: as it's exactly what's written on this post it note.

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Speaker 1: I am an answer to prompt. Everybody say prompt, Prompt.

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Speaker 1: That's the word God gave me. Prompt to learn how

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Speaker 1: to respond to the prompting of God. That's what this

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Speaker 1: offering is about. That's what life is about. That's what

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Speaker 1: forgiveness is about. God is going to prompt you, and

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Speaker 1: will you respond to the prompt that determines how you

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Speaker 1: experienced the promise. So I've got five of these and

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Speaker 1: they will prompt the story like those stones prompted the stories,

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Speaker 1: and I pray that God will use it. You want

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Speaker 1: to read the first one you didn't get to go

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Speaker 1: last night. Okay, it's the same ones as last night, though, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I didn't change them because they went good last night.

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Speaker 1: So read me last. Tell me about the time you

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Speaker 1: thought your college roommate was going crazy? What was actually

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Speaker 1: setting an example you would follow for the next twenty years.

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Speaker 1: What a great question. Thank you for asking me that.

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Speaker 1: So my college roommate my junior and senior year, was

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Speaker 1: named Alex Earl, which is funny because he would get

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Speaker 1: up super early and he would pray. I would get

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Speaker 1: up last minute seven fifty seven for an eight am class.

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Speaker 1: We went to North Greenville University. It's where I got

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Speaker 1: my degree. It's where I got my wife. If you

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Speaker 1: were to ask me which of those two has served

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Speaker 1: a greater purpose in my life, it would no doubt

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Speaker 1: be that one. So I hadn't shown anybody my degree

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Speaker 1: in a while, but I show her off all the time. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: my roommate was Alex Early. He was very spiritual, but

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Speaker 1: he's also one of these people who wasn't so spiritual

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Speaker 1: that he wasn't funny. He was able to he could

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Speaker 1: quote John Calvin to you, but he could also make

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Speaker 1: the funniest prank phone calls, and he would call. He

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Speaker 1: had this redneck persona called Dwyane McGraw d u w

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Speaker 1: I a n E with a thing over the e

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Speaker 1: because it's French dew Wyane McGraw and he called he

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Speaker 1: modeled after roy D Mercer and had the best time

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Speaker 1: in college. But what I learned from him that I

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Speaker 1: never forget that I'm so glad you asked me about

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Speaker 1: and thank you for asking me. That is one day

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Speaker 1: he came running back to the room between classes and

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Speaker 1: he looked like he looked like he was in a

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Speaker 1: state of absolute emergency. He was in a panic mode.

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Speaker 1: And he starts grabbing out of the drawers all the

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00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:05,800
Speaker 1: money he can find in the room. Not my money,

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Speaker 1: his money. He starts grabbing all the money out of

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Speaker 1: the room. And I was like, what are you doing.

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Speaker 1: He's like, I have time to talk about it. I'll

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Speaker 1: tell you when I get back. I'm like, oh my god,

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Speaker 1: what is Alex? What is Alex into? It's like some

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Speaker 1: Walter White crap going on. And so he he came back.

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Speaker 1: He wouldn't talk, tell me what he was doing. And

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Speaker 1: he came back, he said he looked so relieved. I

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Speaker 1: was like, what was that? And he and he said

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Speaker 1: he was real serious. He goes, God convicted me, Bro,

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Speaker 1: I've been hold on. Let me tell you what he

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Speaker 1: said next, he said, Max. He said, since I've been

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Speaker 1: here at college, I haven't been tied in. He belonged

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Speaker 1: to a church that I really admire in his hometown

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Speaker 1: in Woodstock, Georgia, first Baptist Woodstock pastor Johnny Hunt. And

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Speaker 1: he said, I am I'm sending my tie. I calculated.

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Speaker 1: God spoke to me that his money was in my

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Speaker 1: bank account. And I've been telling myself the whole time

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Speaker 1: I was here at college that, since I was away

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Speaker 1: and since I didn't have much anyway, he said, but

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Speaker 1: God convicted me not to keep his money in my account.

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Speaker 1: And that boy mailed the cash and he had coins

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Speaker 1: and everything he could find and send it in the mail,

428
00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,480
Speaker 1: and God used him. One of the ways God will

429
00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:27,000
Speaker 1: prompt you sometimes is through the example of somebody else.

430
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:31,879
Speaker 1: That's why I always do the giving on the weekend

431
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:33,920
Speaker 1: where people come in and give, because I think that

432
00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:39,720
Speaker 1: sometimes an example is better than a sermon. Amen. And

433
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,040
Speaker 1: when he did that, God spoke to me, you know,

434
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:45,520
Speaker 1: because my mom had taught me the same principle of tithing,

435
00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:50,280
Speaker 1: and yet I had found so many excuses. And you

436
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,119
Speaker 1: know what I did next? Thing I did well. I

437
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:53,960
Speaker 1: had a checking account. I didn't think it had to

438
00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:55,920
Speaker 1: be as ghetto as he made it out to be,

439
00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,119
Speaker 1: like throwing cash in the mail. But I did the

440
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,960
Speaker 1: same thing. I decided, you know what, he's right. He's right.

441
00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,080
Speaker 1: If I can't trust God with that ten percent, how

442
00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:08,760
Speaker 1: can I say everything I have comes from Him and

443
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:13,280
Speaker 1: I sent it? Yeah? Amen, see I'm not I need

444
00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:14,760
Speaker 1: you to know this in case you're new or a

445
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:16,880
Speaker 1: guest or something. I am not one bit timid about

446
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,400
Speaker 1: preaching this stuff. This is my testimony. I don't apologize

447
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:22,920
Speaker 1: for it. I believe in what we do. I believe

448
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,879
Speaker 1: in what God's word teaches. I've seen it in my life.

449
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,159
Speaker 1: So like, if you need me to get up here

450
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:33,880
Speaker 1: and say, eh, if it don't be okay, word of God,

451
00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:36,080
Speaker 1: that's not me. That's not how I feel about God.

452
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,000
Speaker 1: That's not how I feel about his word. That's not

453
00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:39,639
Speaker 1: how I feel about his principles. That's not how I

454
00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:48,879
Speaker 1: feel about his promises. I believe this man so so

455
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,440
Speaker 1: it prompted me, and I never I never kept God's

456
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:54,359
Speaker 1: money in my bank account After that, no matter how

457
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 1: much I had, didn't have, and it got harder when

458
00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,320
Speaker 1: you have more. You know, ten percent of fifty dollars,

459
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:04,200
Speaker 1: isn't that hard to sin? Sin? Got some coupons in

460
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:06,719
Speaker 1: the mall or something like that. But then when God

461
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,000
Speaker 1: starts blessing you, you have to decide do you want

462
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:13,240
Speaker 1: to trust him on the next level? Amen? So I

463
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,760
Speaker 1: believe God's going to prompt some people this year in

464
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,960
Speaker 1: that you've been holding on to what is God's I

465
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,639
Speaker 1: should move on from this point. Feel super uncomfortable, But

466
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,359
Speaker 1: these are just my stones, these are my stories. This

467
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:28,760
Speaker 1: is what God has done for me. So here's another one.

468
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,040
Speaker 1: I really like this one. This is probably my favorite one.

469
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,560
Speaker 1: Who wants to do this one? You want the prompt? Yeah? Okay,

470
00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:38,359
Speaker 1: let's get her a mic. Ben Landier. By the way, Ben,

471
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 1: who's your favorite intern on the stage? Right? Now? Don't

472
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,000
Speaker 1: answer that now? Just give it to Mic. Just give

473
00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:45,680
Speaker 1: a line. Tell me about the big decision you made

474
00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:47,960
Speaker 1: at the kitchen table that made you feel like you

475
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,240
Speaker 1: were going to throw up in your mouth. And I

476
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:53,439
Speaker 1: wrote it in an acceptable way. I think I actually

477
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,600
Speaker 1: did throw up in my mouth and swallow it back down.

478
00:26:55,840 --> 00:27:01,480
Speaker 1: So here's the story. It's too vivid. I understand. You know,

479
00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:05,680
Speaker 1: when Holly and I got married, she taught school and

480
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:11,080
Speaker 1: I traveled, and we saved up and put a down

481
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,679
Speaker 1: payment on a house, and we did what Dave Ramsey

482
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:18,320
Speaker 1: taught in his financial piece, stuff like no debt and

483
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,359
Speaker 1: all that. We tried to do that, but other than

484
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:23,320
Speaker 1: our house. But then another thing we did was he said,

485
00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:27,200
Speaker 1: put an emergency fund. And Dave Ramsey said it. He

486
00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 1: said it. It scared me to not do it the

487
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,160
Speaker 1: way he said it. And he said that it should

488
00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,680
Speaker 1: be a certain amount of your expenses in case something happens,

489
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:36,080
Speaker 1: and he said, do it as quick as you can. Well,

490
00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:38,119
Speaker 1: we were just married, and we didn't start with a

491
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:40,119
Speaker 1: lot of money or anything like that. We started with

492
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,040
Speaker 1: no money, but over time I was able to build up.

493
00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:45,840
Speaker 1: And I'll never forget. Like we're in our house at

494
00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:49,000
Speaker 1: three point thirty dell Wood Drive, Shelby, North Carolina. Could

495
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:50,960
Speaker 1: go by there and knock on the door and ask

496
00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:53,200
Speaker 1: the person and say hey hello, and then go into

497
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,320
Speaker 1: the kitchen and then sit down and you'll see the

498
00:27:55,359 --> 00:28:00,960
Speaker 1: spot where this happened. Okay, all right, So we we

499
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:02,960
Speaker 1: had just put that amount of money. We just hit

500
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,560
Speaker 1: the amount in the savings account. And I was going

501
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:07,919
Speaker 1: in to tell Holly, hey, good news, we got our

502
00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:09,960
Speaker 1: emergency fund. We hit the number because we set the number,

503
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:12,679
Speaker 1: hit the number. And when I went in to tell her,

504
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:18,000
Speaker 1: prompt something prompted me. And at first I thought it

505
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,760
Speaker 1: was the Devil. I really did, because it was like, hey,

506
00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:25,320
Speaker 1: what if you gave that money instead? We didn't have

507
00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:29,800
Speaker 1: kids yet, we didn't have that pressure of providing for children. Yet,

508
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:34,680
Speaker 1: we were young. We could afford number one combos at

509
00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:40,920
Speaker 1: the Mexican restaurant, and so it was like, what if

510
00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 1: you gave it away? Would you do that? So when

511
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 1: I sat down at the table, I told Holly, hey,

512
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:49,080
Speaker 1: I got good news and bad news. The good news

513
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 1: is we've got our emergency fund. Like the less deposit

514
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,880
Speaker 1: we made it to the She said, let's say bad news.

515
00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:00,080
Speaker 1: I think God, God might be I don't know if

516
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,280
Speaker 1: I use the word prompting, but I feel like an

517
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:06,680
Speaker 1: impression that we should give it away. And see, I'm

518
00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:10,360
Speaker 1: counting on her to say that's not God. Like I'm

519
00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:13,040
Speaker 1: counting on her to have no faith, right, because then

520
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,160
Speaker 1: I can say, well, Lord, the woman that you gave me,

521
00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:20,880
Speaker 1: you know, and she goes, oh cool, I trust you.

522
00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:23,680
Speaker 1: God spoke to you this book, you know, just good,

523
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:33,200
Speaker 1: just good, dang it woman. And so I remember sitting

524
00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,680
Speaker 1: down writing five checks. I remember who we wrote them to.

525
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,680
Speaker 1: It's not important. We didn't have Elevation Church at the

526
00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:41,520
Speaker 1: church we were part of at the time, another ministry,

527
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:44,720
Speaker 1: and we gave it away. But the funniest thing was

528
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:46,680
Speaker 1: while I was doing it, I was like my hands

529
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:49,479
Speaker 1: were shaking, and right when I've written the last one,

530
00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 1: I felt like a piece. And the way that I

531
00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,040
Speaker 1: interpreted what the piece that I felt was like God

532
00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,480
Speaker 1: was saying to me, keep your hands open to me,

533
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,920
Speaker 1: no matter how much I bless you with, no matter

534
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:06,560
Speaker 1: how hard things get at certain times in your life,

535
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,120
Speaker 1: or how tired it seems. And I've experienced both of those.

536
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,720
Speaker 1: Keep your hands open, and if you'll keep your hands

537
00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 1: open to me, you'll always have everything you need to

538
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:23,200
Speaker 1: do everything I've called you to do. Now, let me

539
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:25,960
Speaker 1: tell you the sequel to that, Because every Rocky four

540
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,080
Speaker 1: has a creed to, every Red Sea has a Jordan.

541
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:32,200
Speaker 1: Just this past Monday, I got to sit down with

542
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:34,080
Speaker 1: our kids at the kitchen table, and it wasn't some

543
00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 1: holy sacred moment. In fact, they were running around. They

544
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:40,520
Speaker 1: were I think annoyed that they had to sit and

545
00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,600
Speaker 1: listen to these stories again. I think Graham said, Dad,

546
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,440
Speaker 1: we know this already. But what I did. I told

547
00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,880
Speaker 1: them our testimony, and I asked them to bring all

548
00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:53,120
Speaker 1: their money to the table, which is really technically my money.

549
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,520
Speaker 1: You have no money, you understand that, But bring my

550
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:58,200
Speaker 1: money that I let you pretend like is your money,

551
00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:00,520
Speaker 1: and keep in your little stupid wallet at the table.

552
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:04,240
Speaker 1: Abby has more money than the boys. I don't know

553
00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:06,920
Speaker 1: what she's running on the side of school, selling some

554
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:11,880
Speaker 1: jolly ranchers or something. Abby is so loaded. She's like,

555
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:13,920
Speaker 1: says to her brothers all the time, you need to

556
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:19,920
Speaker 1: visit the bank of Abby seven, I said, And I'm like, hey,

557
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:21,640
Speaker 1: it's time. It's your end offering. You know. We did

558
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:24,120
Speaker 1: this with Waymaker, we did this with Surround, We did this.

559
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,440
Speaker 1: We've been doing this since they were conscious. Like here's

560
00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:31,520
Speaker 1: mommy and daddy and remember da da d bo because

561
00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:34,000
Speaker 1: different times we've done that over and over again, not

562
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,680
Speaker 1: the tithe, but above and beyond, and then we pray

563
00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:38,400
Speaker 1: about it and sometimes God will give me like a

564
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,320
Speaker 1: specific number that's meaningful. Sometimes I'll think I have the number,

565
00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:43,600
Speaker 1: and then it's not the right one because it doesn't

566
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:48,120
Speaker 1: take faith. And God will stretch me because one will

567
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,800
Speaker 1: be what I can do, and then one will be

568
00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:53,719
Speaker 1: something that really says how I need him. But when

569
00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:55,240
Speaker 1: I was walking him through that and I'm like, sit

570
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:57,760
Speaker 1: down and listen to this. You know you need to

571
00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:05,960
Speaker 1: hear this story, I realized something that just this year,

572
00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:11,479
Speaker 1: we had a milestone where now Holly and I, by

573
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:14,920
Speaker 1: the grace of God, have been able to give to

574
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:20,000
Speaker 1: this church, Elevation Church, not what we originally gave at

575
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,800
Speaker 1: the kitchen table and shelby the emergency fund, and not

576
00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:26,920
Speaker 1: two times that, but over the course of this church,

577
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:29,200
Speaker 1: we've been able to give not ten times and I

578
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,360
Speaker 1: couldn't really believe this number, not one hundred times, but

579
00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:34,600
Speaker 1: a thousand times what we gave at that kitchen table

580
00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:42,040
Speaker 1: to this ministry. And I'm not going to tell you

581
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:44,520
Speaker 1: the amount because it's not about the size of the gift.

582
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:49,920
Speaker 1: It's about the sacrifice. That's what it's always about. Like

583
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:52,400
Speaker 1: some people sit through this teaching and God prompts them

584
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:55,560
Speaker 1: to give a million dollars and they're able to do that.

585
00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:00,280
Speaker 1: We've seen that. But some people God prompts, and God

586
00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 1: prompts him to do something that would seem small, but

587
00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:07,120
Speaker 1: to him, it's bigger because it represents something that comes

588
00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:10,640
Speaker 1: from your heart. That's all God is. I went, I went,

589
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,280
Speaker 1: I went to elbution. I just talked about money. Now

590
00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,160
Speaker 1: talking about money and talking about your heart. Where your

591
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,920
Speaker 1: treasure is, your heart will be also and we talk

592
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,000
Speaker 1: about every element of your heart. But until this happens,

593
00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,400
Speaker 1: until your hands are open to God. That's that's what

594
00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:28,840
Speaker 1: the offering is about. It's about getting your hands open.

595
00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:30,960
Speaker 1: Not because God needs what you have, You need what

596
00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:37,760
Speaker 1: he has. I'm preaching on this school. I don't even

597
00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:40,920
Speaker 1: need a pulpit for this sermon. I am preaching on

598
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:48,880
Speaker 1: this school. Drago' I'm grateful. You know, like when we

599
00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:52,280
Speaker 1: first gave to Outreach, I had no idea that that

600
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:54,760
Speaker 1: it was a set up. To see it as a

601
00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,720
Speaker 1: stepping stone. It was a stepping stone. God was setting

602
00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:00,880
Speaker 1: the table because when this church didn't have much money,

603
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,760
Speaker 1: Hurricane Katrina hit and I felt a prompting reach out

604
00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,720
Speaker 1: to somebody in New Orleans or in the area, and

605
00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,279
Speaker 1: I found a pastor in slide El Louisiana, and we

606
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:12,960
Speaker 1: sent him sixteen hundred bucks that we did not have.

607
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:16,840
Speaker 1: We needed that money for our church. But I was

608
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:18,759
Speaker 1: operating out of the same principle. You keep your hands

609
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:22,239
Speaker 1: open to me and see what I will do through you.

610
00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:25,960
Speaker 1: And now the fact that we've given and will have

611
00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,560
Speaker 1: given by the end of this year over forty million

612
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:34,120
Speaker 1: dollars away to those in me. Come on, I'm prompting

613
00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:37,200
Speaker 1: you right now the praise God for what we've been

614
00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:42,320
Speaker 1: able to do around the world. You kind of go

615
00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:49,000
Speaker 1: back and you wonder, you wonder, you wonder what if

616
00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:53,279
Speaker 1: what if we had said no back then? What if

617
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:56,280
Speaker 1: I said now, I'm gonna keep my low sixteen hundred

618
00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,919
Speaker 1: dollars for our outreach. I'm gonna keep my And God

619
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:01,680
Speaker 1: is prompting some of you to open your hands to him,

620
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:05,320
Speaker 1: and I pray that you'll know that. Joy. It's a

621
00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:09,160
Speaker 1: real privilege. It's a real privilege. Just do another prompt.

622
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:11,480
Speaker 1: I think we got time for one or two more.

623
00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:15,800
Speaker 1: You want to do this one? You sure this is

624
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,959
Speaker 1: a big one. Don't screw it up. Take the post

625
00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:24,719
Speaker 1: it now, a shiny cross around your neck. Tell me

626
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:28,840
Speaker 1: about the silver bullet of the church planting, the silver

627
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:31,719
Speaker 1: bullet of church planting. You want to know about that?

628
00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:34,880
Speaker 1: You sure, I don't know if you can handle the

629
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:38,759
Speaker 1: silver bullet of church planting. I certainly wasn't ready for

630
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:41,640
Speaker 1: the silver bullet of church planting. So imagine this church

631
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,080
Speaker 1: has not started yet. I'm meeting with the seven families

632
00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:46,000
Speaker 1: that moved here to start the church. Come on, let's

633
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:47,279
Speaker 1: go back to the Jordan for a minute. You got

634
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:50,040
Speaker 1: to go back to where you started and revisit these miracles.

635
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:55,319
Speaker 1: So at that time, I didn't know anything to teach

636
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:57,239
Speaker 1: these people. So all we did was read books from

637
00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,319
Speaker 1: people who knew how to start church, because we never

638
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:02,920
Speaker 1: start one. I was twenty five years old. I had

639
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:05,560
Speaker 1: no idea. I mean, I'm scared to death, but I

640
00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:07,560
Speaker 1: feel like God is prompting us to start this church.

641
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,719
Speaker 1: And we had just decided to come to Charlotte to

642
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,480
Speaker 1: start it. We'd put up a map and anyway, you

643
00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:15,640
Speaker 1: don't need to know all that point us. I brought

644
00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:18,080
Speaker 1: in a guy who I thought was like an expert

645
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:21,560
Speaker 1: in church planting, and I asked him talk to my

646
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,120
Speaker 1: team and tell him anything you want, and I'll give

647
00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,120
Speaker 1: you a fifty dollars Chili's gift card. At the time,

648
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,919
Speaker 1: that seemed generous. We got it from credit card rebate points, okay,

649
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:32,839
Speaker 1: And so he's like, Ah, you don't have to give

650
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:35,600
Speaker 1: me anything, just I'll come. Nice guy. And he shared

651
00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:38,480
Speaker 1: with us a little bit about evangelism, a little bit

652
00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:42,040
Speaker 1: about marketing, a little bit about team building, unity groups,

653
00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:44,960
Speaker 1: all the typical stuff. But then when it was over,

654
00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:47,399
Speaker 1: we'd been recording the whole session so we could listen

655
00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:49,040
Speaker 1: to it and learn from it and taking notes, and

656
00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:51,239
Speaker 1: all the families are sitting around the table and he's

657
00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:54,200
Speaker 1: like at the end, he goes, okay, can you turn

658
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:59,600
Speaker 1: that off a minute? Can you stop recording? You turn

659
00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:02,040
Speaker 1: it off, and he goes, can you shut the door?

660
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:08,920
Speaker 1: What's about to happen here? And we shut the door

661
00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,600
Speaker 1: and he's like, now I'm going to give you the

662
00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:21,840
Speaker 1: silver bullet of church planting. I'm about I'm about to

663
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:27,640
Speaker 1: hear this. And then he goes, there's friends that you

664
00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:32,000
Speaker 1: have that belong to other churches, and those churches are big,

665
00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:35,240
Speaker 1: and they tied to their church, but their church wouldn't

666
00:37:35,239 --> 00:37:37,440
Speaker 1: miss it if they stopped. Get them to transfer their

667
00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:39,800
Speaker 1: tithe from that big church to your little church for

668
00:37:39,880 --> 00:37:45,959
Speaker 1: twenty four months. And when he said it, it felt

669
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:48,319
Speaker 1: like a bullet, not a silver bullet, but it felt

670
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:51,880
Speaker 1: like if we did that, if we started this church

671
00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:56,279
Speaker 1: on that kind of manipulation, that we would always have

672
00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:59,480
Speaker 1: to manipulate. And I thank them. I didn't correct him

673
00:37:59,719 --> 00:38:02,560
Speaker 1: until left the room. I said, thank you for coming,

674
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:05,759
Speaker 1: appreciate it. God bless you. He prayed, he left, I

675
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:07,360
Speaker 1: shut the door again. When he left, I said to

676
00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:11,319
Speaker 1: the team, I said, we will not build this church

677
00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:15,360
Speaker 1: on those types of principles. If we're going to do

678
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:18,560
Speaker 1: God's work and God's will, we'll have to do it

679
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:29,560
Speaker 1: God's way. And it was a temptation in the moment,

680
00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:33,040
Speaker 1: you know, because it was strategic. And sometimes sometimes you'll

681
00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:36,200
Speaker 1: be prompted to take a shortcut and to do it

682
00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:39,200
Speaker 1: your way and you can justify it, you know. But

683
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:41,879
Speaker 1: in that moment, here's what God prompted me to ask

684
00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,120
Speaker 1: of that team. And these are just normal people, some

685
00:38:44,239 --> 00:38:47,160
Speaker 1: of them with small children, all of them moving with

686
00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:50,120
Speaker 1: no job. We didn't have some big funding. It was

687
00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:53,719
Speaker 1: nothing like that. It's nothing like that. I just said,

688
00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:58,360
Speaker 1: what if we gave ten percent the tithe to the

689
00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:00,520
Speaker 1: church that we're currently a part of till we leave.

690
00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:05,040
Speaker 1: That is sending us and another ten percent to the

691
00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:07,719
Speaker 1: new one we're starting. But if we all committed to

692
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,359
Speaker 1: lead the way and to do that so that when

693
00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:12,359
Speaker 1: we stand up and ask people to be a part

694
00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:15,920
Speaker 1: of this, we will have set an example that they

695
00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:20,200
Speaker 1: can follow. Do you want to know why God is

696
00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:23,080
Speaker 1: using this ministry today and now? Like I look in

697
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:26,840
Speaker 1: the camera and it's like in Singapore and Cape Town

698
00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:32,240
Speaker 1: and Gastonia and all kinds of places all around the world.

699
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:35,560
Speaker 1: It's not because of it's not because of great preaching.

700
00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:39,840
Speaker 1: It's because of personal sacrifice that people were willing to

701
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:45,680
Speaker 1: make and hear me. I appreciate the front row, but

702
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:48,280
Speaker 1: I want to say something to everybody watching this sermon.

703
00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:54,279
Speaker 1: If we become now just consumers Christian consumers where it's

704
00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:56,920
Speaker 1: like I didn't really like the word today. I end

705
00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:00,160
Speaker 1: my song today. I was a guest today. I was this.

706
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:03,680
Speaker 1: If it becomes about that, God will shut it all down,

707
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 1: because that is not what this church was founded on.

708
00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:14,439
Speaker 1: You see how they're looking at me out there. It's

709
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:18,759
Speaker 1: like this, you are sitting right now in somebody else's sacrifice.

710
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:25,160
Speaker 1: I always thought that was so crazy. People come and go.

711
00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:29,400
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't like when the church talks about giving.

712
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:31,080
Speaker 1: How do you think there was a church for you

713
00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:37,960
Speaker 1: to come to if somebody didn't give me too? JJ,

714
00:40:39,239 --> 00:40:43,160
Speaker 1: I love to tell the story of how that original

715
00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:46,480
Speaker 1: core team. They're all still here at the church. By

716
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:49,120
Speaker 1: the way, all of those families. Do you know rare

717
00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:52,520
Speaker 1: that is that God kept those families together these twelve

718
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:55,279
Speaker 1: and a half years. And now God is calling on

719
00:40:56,320 --> 00:41:00,120
Speaker 1: another generation. And I really don't have time for the

720
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:03,000
Speaker 1: last two stones. I'd like to give them to you,

721
00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:05,160
Speaker 1: but I'm I'm only gonna be able to give you

722
00:41:05,239 --> 00:41:07,600
Speaker 1: one of them. And I'm gonna let you vote on

723
00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:10,880
Speaker 1: this one. Which one you want. Do you want to

724
00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:14,200
Speaker 1: hear about the time that John the Baptist came into

725
00:41:14,239 --> 00:41:21,839
Speaker 1: my office? Or option A? Or do you hear about

726
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:24,719
Speaker 1: the time that we took a bus ride from Hell?

727
00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:29,200
Speaker 1: These are your options. Pray about it. See if God

728
00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:32,239
Speaker 1: prompts you. Who wants to hear John the Baptist makes

729
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:36,279
Speaker 1: some noise at every location. Who wants to hear about

730
00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:41,000
Speaker 1: the bus ride from Hell makes some all right? So

731
00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:45,239
Speaker 1: John the Baptist, I'm gonna tell you this one real quick.

732
00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:49,560
Speaker 1: That's the time that John Butler, who was a Baptist

733
00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:53,359
Speaker 1: who yeah, he was a Baptist preacher, and he came

734
00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:55,480
Speaker 1: in my office. Listen to this. You heard this last night,

735
00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:57,120
Speaker 1: but listen again. You need to hear these stories over

736
00:41:57,160 --> 00:41:59,560
Speaker 1: and over again. He came in and he had three

737
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:02,799
Speaker 1: hundred one thousand dollars. He had a denominational job. He'd

738
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:05,120
Speaker 1: been coming to the church. The church was full. He

739
00:42:05,239 --> 00:42:07,000
Speaker 1: sits on my couch in my office. He asked for

740
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:09,680
Speaker 1: meeting with me, and he said, well, preacher, you were

741
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:12,160
Speaker 1: full this Sunday. I noticed you were full. I noticed

742
00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:14,080
Speaker 1: there wasn't an empty seat in the house. And I

743
00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:16,279
Speaker 1: was so proud of that. I was like, yes, sir,

744
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:18,680
Speaker 1: praise the Lord. You know, spiritualize it, but really I

745
00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,200
Speaker 1: was proud of it. Yes, sir, praise the Lord. We

746
00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:24,200
Speaker 1: prayed for it. Praise God. He goes, Preacher, that's a problem.

747
00:42:26,719 --> 00:42:28,520
Speaker 1: I said, no, it's not a problem. It's a goal.

748
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:31,319
Speaker 1: I want a full house. He said, yeah, but you're

749
00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:33,960
Speaker 1: telling these people to bring their friends. Where are their

750
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:38,239
Speaker 1: friend's gonna sit? You need to start another campus. And

751
00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:40,680
Speaker 1: I have three hundred thousand dollars that a little old

752
00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:45,440
Speaker 1: lady who died left to the Baptist Convention for church planting,

753
00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:48,040
Speaker 1: and I'll give it to you if you'll start another campus.

754
00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:49,839
Speaker 1: And here's what I said. And I'm ashamed to tell

755
00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:51,360
Speaker 1: you this to this day because for all of you

756
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:53,120
Speaker 1: that think this is just a brag session to tell

757
00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:55,160
Speaker 1: you about my great faith, it's not. It's about God's

758
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:56,920
Speaker 1: faithfulness in spite of it. Because I looked at that

759
00:42:57,040 --> 00:42:59,480
Speaker 1: man and says, I don't have the gifts to do that.

760
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:18,640
Speaker 1: People will not watch me preach on a screen. So

761
00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:22,200
Speaker 1: I thank God for what he said. Next so powerful.

762
00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:27,800
Speaker 1: He said, here's how it works, preacher. And he's talking

763
00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:32,920
Speaker 1: to me like like like a young punk like I was,

764
00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:36,719
Speaker 1: but he said it would love to He said, if

765
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:40,719
Speaker 1: you get ahead of God trying to obey him, he'll

766
00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:45,920
Speaker 1: just shut the door. If you get behind God and

767
00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:49,000
Speaker 1: won't obey him, he'll just get somebody else to do it.

768
00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:53,120
Speaker 1: You take a few days and pray about it, preacher,

769
00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:55,440
Speaker 1: and let me know what you want to do. And

770
00:43:55,560 --> 00:43:57,440
Speaker 1: he got up to walk out. I say, yeah, come back,

771
00:43:57,520 --> 00:43:59,600
Speaker 1: what do I doing well? Do? I don't want God

772
00:43:59,719 --> 00:44:05,719
Speaker 1: up else? Come on, I want it on this. I

773
00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:08,239
Speaker 1: want to be in the middle of what God is doing.

774
00:44:09,640 --> 00:44:15,000
Speaker 1: And now today watch this over over. I want to

775
00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:18,680
Speaker 1: say it's seventeen locations. This more than that, because somebody's

776
00:44:18,719 --> 00:44:22,200
Speaker 1: watching this in a hospital room on a screen, somebody's

777
00:44:22,239 --> 00:44:26,040
Speaker 1: watching this on television, somebody's watching this in a prison.

778
00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:38,800
Speaker 1: And it all starts when you respond to a prompting. So,

779
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:42,000
Speaker 1: for just a moment, would you, would you just see

780
00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:45,359
Speaker 1: that right there where you are, for a moment, would

781
00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:49,560
Speaker 1: you make a space right now in your heart for

782
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:54,400
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit to prompt you in an area of

783
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:56,560
Speaker 1: your life where He is speaking to you but you

784
00:44:56,640 --> 00:45:01,760
Speaker 1: have not yet responded. Joshua said, set up these stones

785
00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:05,200
Speaker 1: so that when the children of Israel ask you what

786
00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:08,600
Speaker 1: these stones mean, you can tell them what God did.

787
00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:13,239
Speaker 1: I did my best today in the little bit of

788
00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:16,719
Speaker 1: time that we had to tell you some of the

789
00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:20,160
Speaker 1: things that God has done for us in the twelve

790
00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:22,759
Speaker 1: and a half years that we've been a church, some

791
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:24,400
Speaker 1: of it before you got here, some of you have

792
00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:27,680
Speaker 1: been here for many of these miracles. And I did

793
00:45:27,719 --> 00:45:29,520
Speaker 1: it in hopes that it would prompt you to know

794
00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:36,520
Speaker 1: that when faith skips a generation, and when we start

795
00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:38,400
Speaker 1: to stand in the middle of something that God did

796
00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:42,640
Speaker 1: that was extraordinary and treated as common. Miracles start to

797
00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:47,440
Speaker 1: dry up. And all I'm asking you to do as

798
00:45:47,520 --> 00:45:51,120
Speaker 1: we prepare for next weekend online around the world. You know,

799
00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:56,560
Speaker 1: we've already had the conversation with our family. Here's Abby's money.

800
00:45:56,719 --> 00:46:00,719
Speaker 1: That's the biggest money is the kid's money. That's what

801
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:04,360
Speaker 1: God prompted them to do. Holly and I have have

802
00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:07,440
Speaker 1: been praying, and I didn't tell you this yet, but

803
00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:09,880
Speaker 1: in my heart while I was preaching last night, my

804
00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:12,640
Speaker 1: number went up. So we need to talk again because

805
00:46:13,080 --> 00:46:19,680
Speaker 1: one number was comfortable, and then the other number represented

806
00:46:19,719 --> 00:46:23,399
Speaker 1: a commitment to not rest on what God has already done,

807
00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:25,680
Speaker 1: but to make way for what He wants to do.

808
00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:32,680
Speaker 1: And the ask is very simple. Ask God, ask him

809
00:46:32,719 --> 00:46:34,239
Speaker 1: to prompt you. Some of you have never been through

810
00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:36,440
Speaker 1: this process, so you've never taken it seriously, and I

811
00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:41,280
Speaker 1: understand it. It's uncomfortable. But this card is a prompt.

812
00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:45,000
Speaker 1: It's a prompt for you. You know what a great

813
00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:52,239
Speaker 1: word prompt, prompt prompt. It also means a media prompt. Prompt. Yes,

814
00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:55,279
Speaker 1: God is yours. Of course God. Of course I would

815
00:46:55,280 --> 00:46:57,200
Speaker 1: advance your work. Of course I would give to you.

816
00:46:57,520 --> 00:46:59,480
Speaker 1: Of course I would be generous. Of course I would

817
00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:00,840
Speaker 1: want to make a way for someone else like you

818
00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:03,839
Speaker 1: made away from me. Of course, Lord, it's yours. When

819
00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:06,400
Speaker 1: you get that kind of spirit in your heart, you

820
00:47:06,520 --> 00:47:09,360
Speaker 1: begin to experience promises of God that you could never imagine.

821
00:47:09,400 --> 00:47:11,319
Speaker 1: This is not some name it claimant, blab it grab

822
00:47:11,360 --> 00:47:13,319
Speaker 1: it weird theology where I'm telling you that you can

823
00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:15,919
Speaker 1: get a Mercedes if you give God ten dollars. I'm

824
00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:18,000
Speaker 1: believe in that. I'm preach that never have, never will.

825
00:47:18,200 --> 00:47:21,359
Speaker 1: What I'm telling you is a testimony that God has

826
00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:25,239
Speaker 1: made a way for me time after time, and I

827
00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:26,759
Speaker 1: want to see him do the same in your life.

828
00:47:27,719 --> 00:47:29,319
Speaker 1: If that means that right now you're in a season

829
00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:31,400
Speaker 1: where you can't give, then let this be the season

830
00:47:31,480 --> 00:47:33,880
Speaker 1: that someone else carries the load. There's nothing wrong with that,

831
00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:37,879
Speaker 1: but you pray, you pray that those who are able

832
00:47:37,960 --> 00:47:41,800
Speaker 1: to give will give, not on the level that's comfortable,

833
00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:45,400
Speaker 1: but on the level that represents a true commitment to

834
00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:48,640
Speaker 1: the cause of Christ. May we never become like this

835
00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:52,719
Speaker 1: when we started like this. So want you to buy

836
00:47:52,719 --> 00:47:55,200
Speaker 1: your head and close your eyes. No one moving. This

837
00:47:55,320 --> 00:48:00,480
Speaker 1: is a pretty important moment. Right now is set up

838
00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:02,720
Speaker 1: for something that God wants to do in the future.

839
00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:08,120
Speaker 1: And I'd like to just give you one minute, just

840
00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:12,000
Speaker 1: sixty seconds after I stopped talking, and if you would

841
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:14,080
Speaker 1: ask God silently. You don't have to pray out loud

842
00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:15,959
Speaker 1: or anything like that. Maybe you want to just open

843
00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:17,920
Speaker 1: your hands just physically, like right in front of you.

844
00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:20,360
Speaker 1: That's what I'd do sometimes when I'm praying about a

845
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:22,919
Speaker 1: message or when I'm asking God for direction in my life,

846
00:48:24,239 --> 00:48:30,040
Speaker 1: maybe just with your hands open and just say, God,

847
00:48:30,719 --> 00:48:35,920
Speaker 1: would you prompt me? Would you prompt me to respond

848
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:40,000
Speaker 1: to the gospel that You've freely given me as I

849
00:48:40,239 --> 00:48:44,879
Speaker 1: get the opportunity to share it with others. Just speak

850
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:48,080
Speaker 1: to me specifically, God, show me how I can be

851
00:48:48,239 --> 00:48:52,600
Speaker 1: used as I prepare my offering, because i'd give it

852
00:48:53,040 --> 00:48:57,439
Speaker 1: online this week or bring it back next weekend. Show

853
00:48:57,520 --> 00:49:01,799
Speaker 1: me what you've given me from you that I can

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Speaker 1: now give back as an offering. And in just a moment,

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00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:08,839
Speaker 1: I'm gonna allow you to sit. You know, God often

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00:49:08,880 --> 00:49:12,439
Speaker 1: doesn't shout, He doesn't like draw stuff in the sky.

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00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:17,160
Speaker 1: He doesn't always respond with a big sign that comes

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00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:21,239
Speaker 1: from Heaven out loud. He speaks in a whisper, still,

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00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:27,360
Speaker 1: small voice. He prompts you and it is your response

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00:49:27,440 --> 00:49:30,920
Speaker 1: to that prompting that determines how much of His promises

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00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:36,640
Speaker 1: you experienced. So, Father, now speak to your people in

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00:49:36,719 --> 00:49:39,480
Speaker 1: this minute of silence and throughout the next week and

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00:49:39,560 --> 00:49:42,640
Speaker 1: prompt them as to what you would have them to

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Speaker 1: do in obedience. Hey, thanks for joining us today. We

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Speaker 1: really hope you enjoyed the sermon. We want to give

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00:49:49,719 --> 00:49:52,240
Speaker 1: you some practical ways to put what you heard today

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00:49:52,360 --> 00:49:54,960
Speaker 1: into practice. Now, First of all, would you take some

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00:49:55,120 --> 00:49:57,560
Speaker 1: time and think about the stones you have in your life.

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00:49:57,800 --> 00:50:00,600
Speaker 1: Maybe it's the moments when God showed his faith fethfulness

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Speaker 1: across your journey. Second, would you pray about what God

871
00:50:04,239 --> 00:50:06,560
Speaker 1: would have you give to the year end offering here

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00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:09,520
Speaker 1: at Elevation. For some of you who call Elevation home,

873
00:50:10,040 --> 00:50:12,719
Speaker 1: maybe it's just to start tithing, that's giving back to

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00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:16,000
Speaker 1: God the very first ten percent. Now for others of you,

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00:50:16,200 --> 00:50:18,320
Speaker 1: it may be to bring an offering a gift that

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00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:21,760
Speaker 1: will allow us to continue spreading the Gospel all around

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00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:24,759
Speaker 1: the world. And we want everyone to participate by just

878
00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:27,880
Speaker 1: choosing a word or a phrase for twenty nineteen, something

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00:50:27,960 --> 00:50:30,920
Speaker 1: that you're believing God for in this next year. You

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00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:35,279
Speaker 1: can visit Elevationchurch dot org slash give for more details

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00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:37,960
Speaker 1: and how to give and be apart. We're excited to

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00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:40,480
Speaker 1: see how God is going to move in our church

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00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:42,360
Speaker 1: in this season and believe that God wants to do

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Speaker 1: something very special in your life