WEBVTT - FLEX 💪 SPACE 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.600 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdeik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.080 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.440 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.480 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:18.720 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:25.480 Come on, somebody saying in the chest shout now out now, 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:40.040 dance now, love now, live now, trust now. Thank you Lord. 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:47.000 What an awesome, awesome, awesome thing to celebrate. Please do 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:49.040 not groove back there, because I will take up all 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:52.440 of my preaching time. That bass guitar in Shae Wooten's 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.639 hands is dangerous. He does these little leaks that make 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:57.600 me start singing again, and I'm not going to fall 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:01.160 for it. The devil is a liar, all right. He's 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:03.720 got hair like Jesus, but he's acting like Judas right now. 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:09.480 He's trying to betray me. Oh, if you know the 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.240 joy of the Lord is in this place. If the 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.959 joy of the Lord is your strength, come on and 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:19.160 give God your favorite emoji. I don't know your favorite emoji, 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:22.119 but if it is church appropriate, put it in the chat. 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:26.640 I want to see you. I want to see you. 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:29.039 You want to fight me, devil, you gotta fight my friend. 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:34.800 I love it. My friend's name was Ish Hall. Remember Ish. 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:39.440 He was the biggest, the biggest, baddest dude. And I 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:42.160 was like, Hey, if you start any ish with me, 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.440 you got to go through Ish to finish it. How 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.680 many know that if if the Devil started it, God 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:57.040 is gonna finish it. Bad no way, way, way, way way, 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:10.959 no way. Do we need to pray? Lord? I pray 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:13.080 for Pastor Steve, and he appears to be losing his 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:17.680 mind in quarantine. I'm kind of glad to lose my mind. 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:23.000 My mind is always overthinking and overanalyzing and making up stories. 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:28.040 I want to live from my spirit. I want to 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.919 see what God is showing me. I want to hear 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.520 what God is speaking Lord. In these moments we have 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:38.160 gathered together, we would much prefer to be together in 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:42.040 a watch party in Chicago, or maybe in a building 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:47.160 at our Concord location or our Greenville location. We barely 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:49.320 got to start that campus and we had to close 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:52.880 it because of quarantine. But we thank you Lord that 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:55.600 you are still making a way for us to meet together, 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:59.040 and we will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.880 That might look like buildings in one season, and it 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:06.480 may look like streams and screens in the next season. 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.760 That's not our concern. But in this moment we have 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:12.520 decided to meet with you. I thank you for my 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.840 brother and my sister on the other side of this screen. 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:18.480 Right now. I pray that you would connect us by 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.000 the power of the Holy Spirit, that the words I 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:23.360 speak today would go straight to their heart. Do a 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:27.680 bypass surgery, bypass all the beliefs that would keep them 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.200 from hearing what you want to say. Get into the 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.000 place where they can, where they can receive your word, 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:36.680 receive a revelation. We give you all the glory today. 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:40.520 We thank you that Holli Ferdick looks better at forty 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:43.920 than she did when I met her. I thank you 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:48.160 Lord that you gave me a wife who she only 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:53.520 goes from glory to glory, from pretty to pretty, from 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:58.160 strength to strength. We bless her today before her fortieth birthday, 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:03.000 that the best is yet to that her ministry has 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:05.200 just begun. We thank you for the words she delivered 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:07.960 to us last week. She told us how you are 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:11.680 the bread God. Would you continue to feed her? Speak 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:15.200 to her nourish her as she refreshes us, may she 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:18.119 herself be refreshed. We thank you for what she means 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:20.760 to our church community around the world. Bless her so 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.640 much that she has to ask you to stop. Give 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:27.320 her a good measure, press down, shaking together, running over, 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:30.240 In Jesus' name, I pray the same thing over your 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.000 life today. Put it in the chat. Which one you 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.760 like the best? Good measure, pressed down, shaking together, running over? 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:39.120 Pick one. I gave you four options. Good measure, pressed out, 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:43.240 shaking together, running over, Good measure, pressed out, shaking together, 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:46.240 running over. Put it in the chack. God is with you. 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:51.400 What a mighty god we serve. Anybody who loves him, 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:57.400 say amen at the top of your voice. I love him. 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:02.279 I love him so much. I don't know if you 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:08.960 are ready to receive this word today. It's probably too 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:13.320 encouraging for you. You probably don't want to be encouraged. 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:16.560 You probably want to be scared watching the news or 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.880 something like that, hearing them talk about all of bad 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.960 things that might happen. But I thought, you know, we're 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.680 all get in our fill of that anyway. I want 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:29.160 to bring you a good report today, A good report 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:32.720 and let me share this passage. It's a very, very 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:36.839 very beautiful selection of scripture. Indeed, one of the most 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:42.040 foundational for me in understanding faith and even in church leadership. 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:44.800 How many times have you heard me talk about Isaiah 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:50.240 fifty four where he says to the nation of Israel 0:05:50.400 --> 0:05:54.280 that I want you to enlarge and expand your frame 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.480 of reference. And I believe God is going to show 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:03.560 you some opportunities today that you haven't been seeing. He's 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:07.720 going to show you, by the spirit, some opportunities that 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:11.800 your mind has been unable to recognize. One opportunity that 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:14.800 you have right now is to invite somebody to join 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:17.680 in this worship experience. I'm going to give you just 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:21.479 a moment to find Isaiah fifty four and also to 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:26.440 invite someone to join with you. Send them a text 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:29.160 message say come to church with me. They're going to 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:30.760 be like I didn't think we were allowed to go 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:33.760 to church. Let me get my mask ready, let me 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:35.200 get dressed. I'm not dressed to be like. You don't 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.360 even have You don't need a mask, you don't need mascara, 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:42.520 you need anything. But God has a message for you today. 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:45.400 If you know somebody who's trying to put their life 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:47.560 back together. Text them right now or share this on 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.640 your social media. Put it on your story right now, 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:57.120 because there is a word from the Lord. I'm giving 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:01.720 you a minute. Text me if the people are sharing 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.200 or not. I can't see whether or not they're sharing, 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:11.640 so give me a statistic real quick. Do you remember 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:13.200 that show with Diddy where he was shut down the 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:15.840 studio if they didn't do what he wanted. I'm gonna 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:21.320 shut down the pulpit until y'all share this link. God 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:32.440 bless Shawn Combs Isaiah fifty four, verse one, Sing baron woman, 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:39.200 you who never bore a child, burst into song, shout 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.840 for joy? Why y'all waiting? We just said, don't wait. 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:47.120 Shout now. I read you a scripture. What are y'all 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:50.640 waiting for? One thousand people? Two thousand people in the room, 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:55.880 he said, Sing barn woman and shout for joy. I 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:58.800 know it's gonna scare your kids, but shout real quick, 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:02.880 come on, shout a shout of joy. You've been yelling 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.720 at your kids all week to clean up, But shout 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:15.560 right now, he said, because more are the children of 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:18.040 the desolate woman than of her who has a husband. 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:21.840 Enlarge the place of your tent. Look at somebody and say, 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:26.240 you look bigger than the last time I saw you. 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:30.560 You were scared to say that to your wife, weren't you, Josh. 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:35.600 That's wisdom, brother, enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:41.120 your tent curtains wide, Do not hold back. Strengthen your chords, 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:47.080 or rather, lengthen your chords. Strengthen your steaks. Lengthen your cords. 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.560 Strengthen your steaks. We're going to talk about those words 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:54.640 in a moment. For you will spread out to the 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:59.600 right and to the left. Tell somebody I need room. 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.080 I need room. Well, y'all got plenty of it out 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:07.080 there today. For your descendants will dispossess nations and settle 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:10.319 in their desolate cities. Do not be afraid. You will 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:13.199 not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace. You 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:17.240 will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:20.320 your youth, and remember no more at the reproach of 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.360 your widowhood. I want to speak to you from an 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:27.480 unusual title today, but those of you in the construction industry, 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.400 or if you've been renovating a house, or maybe you're 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:32.240 looking at buying a house. Maybe this term will be 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:34.840 a little more familiar. And since we've all been at 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.560 home a lot lately, more than usual, I thought I 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:40.880 would use as a title for this sermon, flex space. 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:47.160 Flex space. You may be seated, Go get your stools 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:53.319 and come back. Ten nine eight seven six five. I 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:56.839 don't think they're going to beat the buzzer on this one. 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:58.960 I wanted to tell you a story I I don't 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:01.600 know if you've ever heard this one for when we 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:04.280 were trying to get the Matthews Plaza where our offices are. 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.960 Now you only know those as the offices of Elevation Church, 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:12.679 But it used to be an Ashley Furniture warehouse, and 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:17.880 then there was a couple other stores. Okay, now stores 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:19.760 were these things that we used to go into to 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:27.000 buy supply. Oh man, The story, though, Abby goes like this, 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:29.800 and then you can ask mister Chunks later if I'm 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:33.760 getting all the details right. But we were planning to 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:38.120 rent about forty two thousand square feet to make it 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:42.560 our offices and to have our Matthews campus back in 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:46.600 two thousand and seven. In two thousand and seven, now, 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:48.560 some of y'all are just new to this ministry, and 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:50.600 you've never been to one of our physical locations. Because 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:52.079 now we have EPAM all over the world and God 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:54.600 is redefining what church is as we speak. We're excited 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.440 about that because our old preconceptions about needing to gather 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.640 together in a physical space to have a spiritual connection 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.440 were so limited that God did not place those limitations 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:04.480 on his church to begin with. He told Abram, go 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:05.959 to the land. I'll show you, and I'm going to 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:07.960 make you a blessing to the whole earth. He told Joshua, 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:09.920 everywhere you put your foot, I'm going to give it 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.000 to you. So God is not confined to a location. 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.439 We've just been confined to a mindset for so long 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.800 that God is exploding some of our limitations in this 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:21.760 season because he wants out of the box. Nevertheless, we 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:27.680 needed an office space. God doesn't need an office. The 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:29.760 earth is his footstool, but we need a desk and 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:34.679 internet connection. So we thought it'd be great because we 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:36.720 could get this forty two thousand square feet rent it. 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.760 The church was growing and exploding, and listen, you need 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:41.520 to know some of the history of the church, because 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:45.400 there are tens of thousands of new family members that 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:47.920 were welcoming to Elevation Church. Over the course of the 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:52.600 last sixty six days, since we have not been able 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:56.760 to meet physically, God has increased our reach like never before. 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:00.440 It's just like him to use a shut down to 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:09.240 show off all ain't ready for me. So we were 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.840 going to raise some money, which you have to have 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:18.360 to rent space. Okay, God inhabits the praises of his people, 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:22.160 but if you want to inhabit a physical space, God 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.000 inhabits the rent payment and then you get to go there. 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:29.560 That's how that works. It's transactional. And we set up 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:33.640 a meeting to take our donors over to the space 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:37.960 where we were going to lease forty two thousand square 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:40.560 feet and we were going to show them the space 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:44.720 and ask them to pay for it. Okay, I know 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:47.400 you probably remember certain moments in your life where you 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:49.000 got the worst news of your life, and I want 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:50.360 you to think about it right now. It's going to 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:53.080 bring the mood way down. We've been having fun so far. 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.320 This is going to be very much a slam on 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:56.920 the brakes moment, but I want you to do it anyway. 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.680 Think of the worst news that you ever got in 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.960 your life. This is not the worst news I ever 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:05.560 got in my life. At the time it was in 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.600 the top five. A lot of crap has happened since then. 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:10.520 I don't even think this makes the top fifty. Now 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:14.280 at age forty, Live a little while, and it'll demote 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:19.559 the things. You know, God, this is a disaster. Live 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:22.959 a little while, you'll be saying that was a mild disappointment, 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:25.960 that was a temporary setback, or you might even say 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:29.199 that was actually a blessing in disguise. Give it time, 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:32.520 That's what I'm trying to say. Give it time, and 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:35.199 upon reflecting on some of the events of your life, 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:39.280 you can see how the spaces where you thought God 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:44.120 had left you were actually the setups for him to 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.840 do some of the greatest things he did in your life. 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:53.960 And So Chunks, who's our CFO. That's not his legal name, 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:59.720 but he goes by Chunks. James is his legal name. 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:02.240 But this day I wanted to throw him out of 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:05.400 my office because he brought me some bad news. And 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:10.600 he walked in my office Abby and told me the 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:17.160 deal is dead. Don't he said, don't get too upset, 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:19.600 because I've done everything I can do. Don't throw anything 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:21.920 at me. It's not my fault. But there is a 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:25.640 tenant in the strip, mall am I saying this right, 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:28.760 there's a tenant in the plaza that doesn't want us 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:30.280 to meet there, and they have an option in their 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:31.840 least to say that we can't meet there, and they've 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:35.120 decided to exercise their right to say we can't meet. 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:38.000 And I said, well, who can we call? He said, 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.880 I can't call anybody. Can we call ghost No, it 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:43.640 can't call Ghostbusters, can't call anybody. There's nothing left to do. 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:48.880 The deal is dead. I said, okay, and he said, 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:50.880 I guess I'll go ahead and cancel the buses. And 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:52.040 now I don't know what it came over me next, 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:53.840 because I don't always have this much faith. I usually 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:56.320 don't have this much faith, but something in me. Have 0:14:56.400 --> 0:15:00.360 you ever had something in you tell you that although 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.600 everything seems to be against you, that God is for you. 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:06.680 And see in these moments where you feel that on 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.200 the inside you don't even know how God is going 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:13.440 to do it, but something in you becomes so convinced 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:20.320 that neither life nor death, nor angels nor demons, nor 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:24.880 the present, nor the future, nor the past, nor any 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:29.520 other power shall be able to separate me. So something 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:31.880 on the inside of me in that moment. I need 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:35.360 you to get this stood up against what was going 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:39.120 on around me at the moment. And although I didn't 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:43.560 understand what was going on around me, what was inside 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:45.600 of me? And I almost like felt myself saying do 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:47.640 you ever watch yourself saying stuff? And it's like you're 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:49.240 having an out of body experience and you're like, who 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:51.600 even is this talking right now? And I said to him, 0:15:51.800 --> 0:16:01.040 don't cancel anything going anyway. What are we going over 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:05.960 there to do? I said, I don't know, yeah, but 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:14.360 don't cancel the buses. We had two buses booked. Apparently 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:16.760 they were booked on a low budget because they had 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:20.560 no air conditioning. It was a Carolina muggy summer when 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:23.000 we loaded up our donors and said we are taking 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:25.960 you over to a building tonight and we are going 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:28.280 to pray. Now. We didn't march around the building seven 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:30.440 times or anything like that because we didn't want it 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:32.800 to fall down. We just wanted God to let us in. 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:36.840 But we got down and we prayed. And I will 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:38.800 never forget the sight because some of you come on 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.360 this church and you're like in a consumer mode, and 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.520 you don't know this part of the faith that it 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:47.200 took for this family to exist all around the world. 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.520 When they got down on their knees in the loading 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:54.880 dock of the Matthews Plaza and prayed, God make a way. 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:57.920 And I need somebody to pray that right now, just 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:02.400 as boldly as you can. God make away. Now. See 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:05.160 the thing about praying God make away is you don't 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:12.399 get to define the way that He makes. So we prayed, 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:15.520 and I think they have a picture of the plaza. 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:17.080 I want to just show you something. This is where 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:20.879 we were, and this is what it looked like. And 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:23.199 now go to the next picture. This is what it is. 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:31.840 I thought y'all would holler for y'ahweigh on that one. 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:34.960 I thought y'all would shout to the Lord like Darlene 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:39.880 check in nineteen ninety six, because show them the first 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:44.480 one again, that's what it was. You can't get in 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:53.880 and here's what it is. Every time I drive up 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:58.720 to our offices, I have to remember that between what 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:02.959 it was go back and what it is was a 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:08.240 space where I did not know what God was doing. 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:13.200 Why are you talking to me about an office plaza? 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:17.159 I'm not. I'm talking to you about this season of 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:21.720 your life, and God told me to call it flex space. 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:27.840 Flex space, the space between. Give them the pictures one 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:31.680 more time, please the space between. Go to the second one, 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:37.520 and that this and that. Don't worry. I'm not raising 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:39.040 any money. We don't even have, can't even go in 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:40.440 our buildings right now. I don't need to buy one. 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:43.480 This is not a message about buildings. This is a 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:51.240 message about belief, about belief. And it was so cool 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:55.280 when Chunks was showing me all the plans for when 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:57.800 we finally were able to rent the space, because he 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:00.840 called me one morning and said the tenant that didn't 0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:04.240 want us in just went out of business. I'm not 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:08.760 saying that God put them out of business. I'm just 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:14.399 saying that God made a way. I'm not here to 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:16.800 tell you the details of how he did. How many 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:19.280 of you know. I'm not saying that I deserve it. 0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:23.399 I'm just saying I've got it. I'm not saying that 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:27.560 it all makes sense. I'm just saying I have faith. Granma, 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:32.439 my preaching too hard for these quarantine Christians. I'm not 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:37.359 saying it's not scary. I'm just saying God is with me. 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:44.840 I can't explain that, but I got it. So he 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:47.840 was showing me how on the blueprint because I'm not 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:51.240 very good at visualizing. This isn't my expertise. This is 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:54.280 Josh Blackson and chunks. They were showing me the square 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:56.560 footage that we were going to take over. We don't 0:19:56.560 --> 0:19:58.520 own forty two thousand square feet of it. We don't 0:19:58.520 --> 0:19:59.959 rent any of it. We own one hundred and four 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:02.359 thousand square feet of it because God blessed us so 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:04.359 much that we're able to use all of it to 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:07.199 get the gospel out all over the world. That's not 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:10.240 my point. My point is this. When he was showing 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:12.840 me the square footage, there was one piece that when 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:15.200 we were buying the property, we were buying the entire 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:18.040 one hundred and forty thousand square feet. I said, what 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:21.760 about that space because it didn't have anything in it. 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:23.600 This was going to be the creative office, and this 0:20:23.720 --> 0:20:25.639 was going to be the auditorium, and this was going 0:20:25.720 --> 0:20:27.320 to be the meeting room, and this was going to 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:29.479 be the conference room. I said, what about this space? 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:33.119 And there was a blank part right there where it 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:36.600 was just all this square footage that I said, we 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:40.160 We're just going to waste all that space. Now, Keshu's revelation. 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:45.479 He said, no, it's not wasted space. That's flex space. 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:50.000 I said, uh huh, And I know what flex space is, 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:51.680 but just so I can hear your definition of it, 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:55.399 What exactly do you mean when you say flex space? 0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:57.840 And he didn't know it. He thought he was talking 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:01.040 about a building, but he wasn't. He was talking about faith. 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:03.359 He thought he was showing me a floor plan, but 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:05.560 really he was showing me faith. He thought he was 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:07.439 pointing to a blueprint, but really he was teaching me 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:10.480 something about belief. He said, we want to leave this 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:16.040 space empty on purpose, so we can grow into it. 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:22.639 You remember saying all this, You said something like this. 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:26.600 This is the edited version, he said, because he didn't 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:28.560 probably say it this eloquently, but this is how I 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:32.439 heard it. Okay. He said, this space can be anything 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:34.120 we want. So at the time, look how it look. 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:36.760 This was the Ashley Furniture showroom. Look at that. I said, 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:39.399 we're gonna waste all that space. We're not putting anything 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:42.320 in it. He said, it's not wasted, it's flex space. 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:45.200 It's designed to be flexible. We don't want to put 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:48.439 permanent fixtures in this place yet because we don't know 0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:50.800 what it needs to be based on how God is 0:21:50.840 --> 0:21:53.320 going to bless our ministry, so we don't know what 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:56.320 ministry is exactly going to look like. But we're gonna leave. 0:21:56.359 --> 0:21:59.320 We're gonna go ahead and take the space over, but 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:02.440 we're not going to assign a purpose for it. He said, 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:05.639 it's flex space. Now. In the last few years, let 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:08.200 me show you what I've seen. Next picture, I've seen 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:11.600 this space become an opportunity for us to stage and 0:22:11.640 --> 0:22:14.240 set up campuses. You went too far, go back. This 0:22:14.320 --> 0:22:16.480 is the equipment that is going out to one of 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:19.679 our campuses that we started in the last few years 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:23.080 flex space. Do you see all of those cases. That's 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:26.120 our teams getting ready to send out equipment to our 0:22:26.160 --> 0:22:29.200 location so we can have church. Now, we didn't even 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:32.399 know we were starting the location yet when we were 0:22:32.520 --> 0:22:36.119 dayed the space as flex space. But God knew the 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:40.399 space that we would need for the opportunity. We didn't 0:22:40.400 --> 0:22:43.960 even know we would have. Next picture, this is our 0:22:44.280 --> 0:22:47.679 Love Week team where we served our city over one 0:22:47.760 --> 0:22:52.440 hundred thousand hours with Jamie Waldron's air pods Beta air 0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:56.200 Pods with the cord in our ears, smiling because we're 0:22:56.760 --> 0:22:59.800 feeding the hungry, and we're touching the people who know 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:03.280 nobody else is touching, and we're moving from this space. 0:23:03.720 --> 0:23:07.320 This is not a warehouse, it's a headquarters. It's a 0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:12.600 staging room. The stage is being set for compassion to 0:23:12.720 --> 0:23:17.040 be released. Next picture. I saw our staff worship in 0:23:17.119 --> 0:23:21.359 this space as we were growing and expanding, and what 0:23:21.640 --> 0:23:25.320 looked like it was wasted was a stage that God 0:23:25.480 --> 0:23:30.040 was setting. How many No, he takes what the enemy 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:41.680 means for evils. So he told me that Abby, He said, 0:23:41.720 --> 0:23:47.919 that's called flex space. Flex space. Isaiah's preaching about flex 0:23:47.960 --> 0:23:53.159 space to the nation of Israel. See, because this is 0:23:53.200 --> 0:23:57.280 a very encouraging scripture on the surface, let's read it again. 0:23:58.520 --> 0:24:05.400 Sing O baron, sing for you're about to have more 0:24:05.480 --> 0:24:09.520 children than the woman who had children by natural means. 0:24:10.800 --> 0:24:19.320 But I need you to sing before you see. I 0:24:19.359 --> 0:24:23.000 got to tell you this because it's just been going 0:24:23.040 --> 0:24:28.679 through my mind all week. Whatever you do, whatever the 0:24:28.800 --> 0:24:31.879 enemy takes away from you in this season, For some 0:24:31.960 --> 0:24:34.720 of you, he's limited your mobility. Your business is three 0:24:34.800 --> 0:24:36.480 quarters of what it was, or one quarter of what 0:24:36.520 --> 0:24:39.720 it was, or for some of you. You know, in 0:24:39.800 --> 0:24:44.600 this season, it's almost like you lost all the progress 0:24:44.680 --> 0:24:46.400 that you made on the last level. Did you ever 0:24:46.400 --> 0:24:48.200 have somebody cut off your video game and you lost 0:24:48.200 --> 0:24:50.840 your progress? That is kind of what the devil did 0:24:50.840 --> 0:24:52.720