1 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:02,800 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,840 Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 3 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,280 Speaker 1: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 4 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 5 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 2: Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving 6 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 2: in your life. 7 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,759 Speaker 1: Enjoy the message. 8 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 2: Well, I'm very respectful of the presence of God, so 9 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 2: I want to transition right into the Word because I 10 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 2: believe that He desires to speak to you in a 11 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 2: profound way, and I want to move into Romans chapter 12 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,479 Speaker 2: four and speak a message of faith and inspiration over 13 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 2: your life. Today we're continuing a teaching on functional faith. 14 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:37,599 Speaker 1: And what I. 15 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 2: Really pray that these messages are doing is that they 16 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 2: are showing up after you hear them in another form, 17 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,239 Speaker 2: that as opportunities present themselves to you for you to 18 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 2: be full of doubt that something that you've heard, You know, 19 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 2: the Word of God is seed, and so I'm praying 20 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 2: that it's breaking through the surface and helping you to 21 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 2: experience God's presence in a new way. Would you just 22 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 2: tell about five people around you that the presence of 23 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 2: the Lord is here. Just make sure that they know 24 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:11,120 Speaker 2: if they didn't get the memo. 25 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:12,400 Speaker 1: The presence of the Lord is here. 26 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 2: And what I want to do now, I want to 27 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 2: plant the seed of the Word in the soil of 28 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 2: your heart. I believe God has given me good seed 29 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 2: to sew into you today, but. 30 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: I can't make you good soil. 31 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 2: And if you sit there distracted or or discouraged, or 32 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 2: you know, kind of in your own little world or 33 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 2: kind of like just get it over with, that seed 34 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 2: is gonna it's gonna fall, it's not gonna take root. 35 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: So why don't you just open your heart now? 36 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 2: Let me read this scripture to you from Romans chapter four, 37 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,920 Speaker 2: verse eighteen. It's interesting because I have noted in my 38 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 2: Bible I do something with my Bible. 39 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:11,799 Speaker 1: I don't. 40 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,079 Speaker 2: I just thought that would be cool to give each 41 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 2: of my kids a Bible that I had preached through, 42 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 2: so doing it on like seven year cycles. And I 43 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 2: gave Elijah after seven years of preaching in this church 44 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 2: the Bible that I preach from for those seven years, 45 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 2: and highlight all the passages that I preach. 46 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: From, and then note what the sermon was. 47 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 2: Just a little something that I can give them, and hopefully, 48 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:38,079 Speaker 2: you know, an investment I can make in them. 49 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: So this is Graham's. I'm on the second seven years 50 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: right now, and this is. 51 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 2: Going to be his, and we're like about halfway through 52 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 2: the second seven years of ministry at the church. 53 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:51,799 Speaker 1: I think, did I calculate that right? Yeah? Yeah? Year two. 54 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,640 Speaker 2: So I was looking at my notes and I was 55 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 2: in this passage about the same time of. 56 00:02:58,160 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: The year two years ago. 57 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 2: So there must be something about spring that makes me 58 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 2: want to preach about faith and hope and life. It 59 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 2: must be something about the greenery on my trees and 60 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 2: the pollen in my that just gets me thinking that 61 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 2: maybe it's time for some things to bud forth and 62 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 2: spring forth in your life. And so I want to 63 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 2: I want to spend some time in this passage today. 64 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: Romans, chapter four, verse. 65 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,519 Speaker 2: Eighteen, Apostle Paul says, against all hope, Abraham in hope 66 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 2: believed and so became. Do you know that that's always true, 67 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 2: that you always become what you believe. 68 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: If you see. 69 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 2: Yourself as a grasshopper in the land God has promised you, 70 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 2: you won't take possession of it, not because it wasn't yours, 71 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 2: but because you didn't see yourself as the rightful owner. 72 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: So what you. 73 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 2: Believe eventually is reflected. 74 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: In what you become. Just pointing that out. Okay, that's 75 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: not my sermon. 76 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 2: That's the chips and the salsa before the enchilada. 77 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: Now look at this. 78 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 2: It says he believed and so became the father of 79 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 2: many nations, just as it had been said to him, 80 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 2: So shall your offspring or your seed be without weakening 81 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 2: in his faith. He faced the fact that his body 82 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 2: was as good as dead since he was about one 83 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 2: hundred years old. 84 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: Well, that's definitely not an overstatement. 85 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 2: Your reproductive days are certainly coming to a close around 86 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 2: age one hundred, especially if you live in a time 87 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:53,040 Speaker 2: where there are no little pills. I'm sorry, y'all, let 88 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 2: me get back on this. And that Sarah's womb was 89 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 2: also dead. So this is an impossible situation from every angle. 90 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 2: And yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the 91 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 2: promise of God, but was strengthened. 92 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: In his faith. 93 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 2: Come on, you came to the gym today to get 94 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 2: strengthened in your faith. 95 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: This is the original CrossFit. 96 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,040 Speaker 3: All right, We're going to be strengthened in our faith, 97 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 3: and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God 98 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 3: had power to do what he had promised. 99 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: Shout over the scripture. 100 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 2: Now, so here's my declaration, my title. 101 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: I want you to give your neighbor my title. 102 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 2: Look them right in the eye and say, neighbor, it 103 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 2: is what it is, but it's not what it seems. 104 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:57,800 Speaker 2: My God, I feel fire on that. It's a declaration 105 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 2: of faith. You understand it. To look at your other neighbor. 106 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 2: Tell them it is what it is, but it's not. 107 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 2: Come on, you gotta get into this. Tell them it 108 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 2: is not. You gotta do your finger like that, but 109 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 2: it's not what it seems. Come on high, five to 110 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 2: seven people on your way down, TC, let's get to work. 111 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 4: Tecond not what it seems. It's not what it seems, 112 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 4: but it is what it is. 113 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 2: Essentially, we're walking into the middle of an argument. In 114 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 2: Romans chapter four, the Paul is presenting against the Judaizers 115 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 2: who would have the gentile converts to the faith be 116 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 2: circumcised as an outward expression. 117 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:52,919 Speaker 1: Of their new commitment to the community of faith. 118 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 2: Paul sees this is a grave mistake, for understands that 119 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,799 Speaker 2: it is not the circumcision with human hands that makes 120 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,240 Speaker 2: you a believer. It's the circumcision of your heart. It's 121 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,799 Speaker 2: not something that's cut away from your skin. Is something 122 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 2: that has to be removed from your heart that enables 123 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 2: you to connect with God in this relationship, and in 124 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 2: presenting one of the most important doctrinal beliefs that you'll 125 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 2: find anywhere in the cannon, Paul is elaborating on this 126 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 2: concept of justification by faith. It's never been presented exactly 127 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 2: this way until Paul puts pen to paper and God 128 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 2: uses him to expound upon the fact that you got 129 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 2: to come in on your knees. Relationship with God cannot 130 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 2: be the product of works, although works are a byproduct 131 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 2: of that relationship. And in the middle of this argument 132 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 2: about what it means to have real faith, what it 133 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 2: really takes to have faith, what faith really looks like, 134 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 2: and in this contrast between the scene and the unseen 135 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 2: elements of faith, Paul is using Abraham as an example 136 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 2: because he is the father of faith. Abraham Isaac Jacob. 137 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 2: Jacob's name was changed to Israel. The nation came from Jacob, 138 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 2: but Jacob came from Isaac, and Isaac came from Abraham. 139 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: So sometimes your life is a part of. 140 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 2: A bigger picture that you might not even be the 141 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 2: one to see certain things come to pass, but you 142 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 2: might be the one that God uses in the life 143 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 2: of the one. And that takes faith to have that 144 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 2: kind of perspective. 145 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: On your life. 146 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 2: I texted Pastor Mickey this morning and I didn't tell you, 147 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 2: but we were talking about him, and I just said, 148 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 2: God used you in my life so much. I was 149 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 2: just thinking about you this morning, and we pray for 150 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 2: me because he believed in me at a stage in 151 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 2: my life where my potential was hidden. Now, anybody can 152 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 2: believe in you once your success is evident, but if 153 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 2: you got somebody who believes in you while your potential 154 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 2: is still in seed form, never forget that person. So 155 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 2: that's why I was reaching out to him, just to 156 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 2: tell him, thank you. I'm preaching today, pray for me. 157 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 2: Just had you on my mind. And he doesn't preach 158 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,199 Speaker 2: in a big church, but he does preach in a 159 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 2: big church because his faith lives on through me. So 160 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 2: this is the kind of framework. And last week we 161 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 2: talked on frame game. Have you been working on your 162 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 2: frame game this week? Would you do me a favor? 163 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 2: Would you just frame up your neighbor real quick? At 164 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 2: all of our locations and tell him you look better 165 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:44,439 Speaker 2: than you did last week. I see signs of improvement. 166 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 2: Frame game, and now Abraham enters the frame of the 167 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 2: discussion about faith, and Paul has given us a synopsis 168 00:09:58,040 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 2: of the story. 169 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,840 Speaker 1: Now this is different than a story. 170 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 2: A synopsis requires some essence of prioritization to try to 171 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 2: figure out what to put out and what to leave in, 172 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 2: you know, and this is something that women would do 173 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 2: well to learn when you're trying to communicate with men. 174 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 2: It's that we typically do better with a synopsis than 175 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 2: the full story. All of the men are leaving me 176 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 2: up here by myself. But you know, you did not 177 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 2: need to know all of that to find out what's 178 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:29,320 Speaker 2: for dinner. And sometimes you just want to press the 179 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 2: button to skip to this synopsis. Can I get a 180 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 2: cliff note? And sometimes you think that in marriage, something 181 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:36,319 Speaker 2: you do you do. I don't think that my wife 182 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 2: is captivating now, speaking of Holly, she's on this kick. 183 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: Lately of audible dot com. 184 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 2: Audible dot com audio that speaks to you wherever you are. 185 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 2: How do I know that because my wife, my wife 186 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 2: folks are up in the house she's listened to. I 187 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 2: don't know over the last year, ten or twelve books 188 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 2: on audible dot com audio. 189 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: That speaks to you wherever you are, and she says 190 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: she read them. 191 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 2: But we kind of have a debate about that because 192 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:15,200 Speaker 2: I always thought reading meant your eyes were involved. 193 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: So she'll say I read a book, and I'll say, 194 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: listen to one under my breath, in my head. And 195 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: one book that she. 196 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:30,679 Speaker 2: Was looking at, she said she was looking at it, 197 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,000 Speaker 2: and she I don't know if she downloaded it or not, 198 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:36,200 Speaker 2: but she said that she wasn't going to listen to 199 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:40,439 Speaker 2: that one because she said that it was narrated by 200 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 2: a child, not that the child read it on audible 201 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 2: dot com, not actually that a child did the voice work, 202 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,080 Speaker 2: but that the point of view of the book was 203 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 2: a child telling the story. 204 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: And she said, I just don't think. 205 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 2: I would enjoy a whole book written from a child's 206 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 2: point of view. 207 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:56,840 Speaker 1: I think that would get old. 208 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,439 Speaker 2: And that was interesting to me because when you think 209 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 2: of elements of a story, you think about the characters, 210 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,560 Speaker 2: and you think about the plot, and you think about 211 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 2: the setting, and it always blows my mind. I don't 212 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 2: know if any of you are fiction readers, but any 213 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 2: fiction readers, if you have any good books that I 214 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 2: should take to the beach this summer, feel free to 215 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,679 Speaker 2: send them my way. I should totally read more fiction. 216 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,560 Speaker 2: It's a good escape, but I don't read enough. But 217 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,719 Speaker 2: I can't figure out how somebody can have enough imagination 218 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 2: to make up a whole world in a fiction book. 219 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:34,199 Speaker 2: I've written books before, but I mean, it's it's real stuff, 220 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 2: and I just don't imagine that I would ever have 221 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 2: the imagination to make up a whole world. You know, 222 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:42,720 Speaker 2: names and where people went to school in cities that 223 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 2: don't really exist, and aliens and zombies and walkers, and 224 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 2: you know, I just can't imagine that I would have 225 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 2: that kind of imagination. 226 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: But some people do yet. Yet. 227 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:56,839 Speaker 2: The plot and the characters and the setting when you're 228 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:01,240 Speaker 2: reading a book are all experienced through the medium of 229 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:05,960 Speaker 2: whoever the author chooses to use to tell the story. 230 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: You'll know where I'm going with this. You guys are 231 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,199 Speaker 1: quick on the draw, because. 232 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:15,239 Speaker 2: I found out that in life, you have to select 233 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 2: a narrator. 234 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: Stay with me on this. 235 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:22,200 Speaker 2: You have to select a narrator because the narrator you 236 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 2: choose will determine the way you. 237 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: Experience the events. 238 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:32,720 Speaker 2: Everybody in here has an internal narrator, somebody who in 239 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 2: every situation is trying to tell you how to think 240 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 2: about that situation, how to interpret the motives of people 241 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,120 Speaker 2: in certain situations, how to look at an opportunity and 242 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 2: to size it up. 243 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: And the Lord told me to come out here and 244 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,679 Speaker 1: tell you today that some of you need a new narrator. 245 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:56,079 Speaker 1: I'm gonna say it again. 246 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 2: Maybe it'll hit the back, maybe it'll hit Providence, maybe 247 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:05,560 Speaker 2: it'll hit Gaston. Some of you have a really annoying, whiny, complaining, suspicious, 248 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:10,440 Speaker 2: negative narrator, and see it swearing you out because you 249 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 2: keep going into situations and your narrator keeps on telling 250 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 2: you what to think about this and what to think 251 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 2: about that. 252 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: But I got good news for you. 253 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 2: Anytime you get ready, you could get a new storyteller. 254 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 2: I'm trying to say, you can have a life narrated 255 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 2: not by feelings, but by faith. I gotta ask a question, 256 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 2: is your life narrated by your feelings or your faith? 257 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 2: And I think that's the plot line that we're plucked 258 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 2: into with Abraham, who has a decision to make. In 259 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 2: Romans chapter four, Paul has given us some of the story, 260 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 2: not all of the story. If you read all of 261 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 2: the story, you're gonna read about how Abraham, while he 262 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 2: was waiting on God to give him a son, slept 263 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 2: with his wife's assistance to try to produce something that 264 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 2: he couldn't be patient and wait for. That happened, and 265 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 2: in Genesis we hear about it, but it didn't make 266 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,640 Speaker 2: the trip across the centuries to Romans chapter four. That 267 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 2: interesting that in the story selection process, in the synopsis, 268 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 2: it didn't even make the story. It didn't even make 269 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 2: the story. That Abraham got in trouble one time, and 270 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 2: he was scared because his wife was beautiful, and he 271 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 2: thought that if the king knew that it was his wife, 272 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 2: he'd be in danger. So he told his wife survived 273 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 2: to pretend like she was. 274 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: His sister, and then the king almost slept. 275 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 2: With his wife because he thought that it was Abram's sister. 276 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 2: And then God started messing with the king because God 277 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 2: didn't like it very much that the king was about 278 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 2: to take Abraham's wife, And so the king figured it 279 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 2: out real quick and said, why did you lie to me? 280 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 2: Yet I can't find that in Romans chapter four. And 281 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 2: it's not as if it didn't happen. It's just that 282 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 2: when you narrate your life by grace, When you narrate 283 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 2: your life by grace, this is the context of faith. 284 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 2: And so some of the failures that are most prominent 285 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 2: in your mind didn't even make the cut of the 286 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 2: story in the mind of God, because he sees you 287 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 2: from a different perspective and sees. 288 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: You in a different dimension. I feel the. 289 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 2: Spirit of God on me today. I'm just gonna preach 290 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 2: this like I feel it in my heart. Touch somebody say, 291 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 2: it's not even a part of my story. It's not 292 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 2: even a part of my story. 293 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: But it is. But it is, But it is in 294 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: your story. See, there's a kind of faith that is 295 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: very dangerous. And I'll show you two extremes here, and 296 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: both are warned against in Romans chapter four. Sometimes there is. 297 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 2: A version of faith that really looks more like denial, 298 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 2: and then there is the absence of faith, which creates despair. 299 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 2: And what I see in Romans chapter four Front and 300 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:07,679 Speaker 2: Sinner from the Father of Faith, is that he was 301 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 2: able to avoid both extremes, it says in verse nineteen, 302 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:16,120 Speaker 2: without weakening in his faith. 303 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: He faced the fact. 304 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:23,719 Speaker 2: Now that one phrase helps me understand what faith is 305 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:29,239 Speaker 2: and what faith Isn't that the kind of faith that 306 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 2: I am to emulate from my father Abraham, who seed 307 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 2: I am, is not a sort of denial. And I'm 308 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:44,439 Speaker 2: putting that before you because when we teach about being positive, 309 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 2: it doesn't mean that everything in your life is positive. 310 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:53,920 Speaker 1: And I want you to know that because here's the thing. 311 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 2: Some people don't exercise faith because they live in deny it, 312 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 2: and they actually begin to use their faith as a 313 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 2: cop out and don't confront things for what they are. Somebody, 314 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 2: look at the person next to you and tell them 315 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 2: it is what it is. 316 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:20,480 Speaker 1: Come on, some of you aren't participating and that makes me. 317 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,000 Speaker 2: Really, really, really angry and insecure. 318 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: Look at your neighbor, tell them it is what it is. 319 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 5: Yeah. 320 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: Abraham faced the fact he was old. 321 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,880 Speaker 2: He faced the fact his stuff stopped working a long 322 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:40,440 Speaker 2: time ago. He faced the fact. He looked at himself 323 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 2: and he said, it is what it is. And he 324 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,639 Speaker 2: looked at his wife and said it was what it was, 325 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 2: but hey, what it was now, it is what it is. 326 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:52,119 Speaker 1: We're old now. We could have done this thirty forty 327 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 1: years ago. 328 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 2: Maybe we could have done it fifty sixty years ago. 329 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,439 Speaker 2: But now it is what it is. I didn't go 330 00:18:58,520 --> 00:18:59,120 Speaker 2: to college. 331 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: It is what it is. It is. 332 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:02,640 Speaker 2: I didn't go to high school. It is what it is. 333 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 2: I went through my first marriage. I was too stupid to. 334 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: Make it work. 335 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,440 Speaker 2: You know what, You can't get over what you do 336 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 2: not own, So face it, face it. Faith doesn't mean 337 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:24,160 Speaker 2: living in denial. Faith doesn't mean that. 338 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: It's all cold. 339 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:27,919 Speaker 2: I've got women in my church that were sexually abused. 340 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: It's not all good. I got people in my. 341 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 2: Church who can't get the job because they have a 342 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:34,920 Speaker 2: criminal record. 343 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:36,320 Speaker 1: It's not all good. 344 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 2: I got people in my church under the sound of 345 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:43,120 Speaker 2: my voice right now who didn't grow up with the dad. 346 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: It's not all good. And you know what faith can handle. 347 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: That faith can handle that. 348 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 2: Starting place of authentic faith is honesty. 349 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: It is what it is. 350 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 2: Lord, I'm disappointed right now. 351 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: You know you can tell God that and he won't 352 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 1: hold it against you. 353 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 2: When God spoke to Abraham and said, I'm going to 354 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 2: give you a seed that's going to be your son, 355 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 2: and out of your seed is going to come a 356 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 2: nation as numerous as the stars, Abraham laughed in God's face, 357 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 2: didn't bother God because. 358 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:32,360 Speaker 1: Faith is not a feeling. Faith is a decision. 359 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,200 Speaker 2: I'm gonna say it again to counteract all the wrong 360 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 2: thinking that you've ever had in your life about faith. 361 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: Faith is not a feeling. 362 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 2: You know, you can be a pessimistic person but still 363 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:45,320 Speaker 2: have great faith. 364 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 1: Even great faith has weak moments. 365 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,679 Speaker 2: So the call to faith is first a call to 366 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 2: come out of denial. Otherwise you'll be waiting on God 367 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,399 Speaker 2: to deliver you from a situation that is going to 368 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:00,679 Speaker 2: require discipline. 369 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: I'm gonna say it again this message and sinking in 370 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 1: Joel nine thirty was on fire. 371 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:08,119 Speaker 2: I don't know what happened in the lobby before the 372 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:08,880 Speaker 2: people got here. 373 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:10,640 Speaker 1: Maybe it's better at the other campus. 374 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 2: But when you live in denial, you'll be waiting for 375 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 2: deliverance in a situation that requires discipline. Are you waiting 376 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 2: for deliverance in a situation that is going to require discipline? 377 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 2: In other words, are you waiting on God to cancel 378 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 2: your debts or are you're making a plan to pay 379 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:30,440 Speaker 2: them off? 380 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: Faith doesn't wait on a check. Faith gets up and goes. 381 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 2: To work, or at least looking for work. Faith they'll 382 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:40,160 Speaker 2: do it, but you got to face it. You got 383 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,719 Speaker 2: to face it or you live in denial, and you'll say, well, 384 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 2: I guess the reason that nobody wants to be my 385 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:47,399 Speaker 2: friend is because God has just got me in a 386 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 2: lonely season right now. No, God doesn't have you in 387 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 2: a lonely season. Your bad attitude and poor relational habits 388 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,639 Speaker 2: of not treating people correctly have got you in a 389 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 2: lonely season. And until you face it it, faith can't 390 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,640 Speaker 2: fix it. Until you face it, faith can't fix it. 391 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 2: Faith can't fix what you won't face. So he faced 392 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 2: the fact, but he kept his faith, and you can 393 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,119 Speaker 2: do both. Stay with me camera. He faced the fact. 394 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,679 Speaker 2: I'm not living in denial, but he kept his faith. 395 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,880 Speaker 2: I'm not living in despair. Faith is standing in the 396 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:34,720 Speaker 2: middle and making a decision that it is what it is. 397 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:39,880 Speaker 2: But watch this, it's not what it seems. I got 398 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:43,720 Speaker 2: that beneath the surface faith. I got that Saturday faith 399 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 2: waiting on something to come up out of a tomb 400 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:51,200 Speaker 2: and resurrect for the healing and salvation of the world. 401 00:22:54,440 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 6: So so he narrated his situation with his faith, and 402 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 6: so he became the father of many nations, and we 403 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 6: are his seed. 404 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:08,880 Speaker 1: How cool is. 405 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:19,879 Speaker 2: That that we are the seed of Abraham. See that 406 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 2: made me think about something. Will you think with me 407 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 2: today that when Jesus was trying to explain to the 408 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 2: people what the Kingdom of God was like, he said 409 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 2: in Mark four, verse thirty one, the Kingdom of Heaven 410 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 2: is like a skyscraper, big and bold, big and massive, 411 00:23:55,480 --> 00:24:02,120 Speaker 2: towering structure. No I wish he said that. I wish 412 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 2: my faith was as big as a skyscraper. I wish 413 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:11,479 Speaker 2: I walked around never doubting. You know, I wish all 414 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 2: my stuff worked. That's what I'm trying to say. In fact, 415 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 2: I wish that this stuff that I preach was as 416 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,720 Speaker 2: easy to live as it is to preach. Sometimes talk 417 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,439 Speaker 2: back to me, talk back to me, talk back to me. 418 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 1: Don't you wish it. 419 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 2: Was as easy to live as it is to write 420 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:40,679 Speaker 2: down in your notebook? Cam with Heaven is like a 421 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:50,120 Speaker 2: mustard seed shown the mustard seed shum show. I'm the scene. 422 00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 1: Huh what come on? Talk to me. 423 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 2: It's all right, you can talk in her No it's not. 424 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 2: I mean, that's what it seems to be now that 425 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 2: it's been through the process that it went through. 426 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,720 Speaker 1: And guess what I have in my pocket. No, not 427 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:34,160 Speaker 1: mustard seeds. I got trees in my pocket. I came 428 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: to preach to somebody. 429 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 2: You got trees in your pocket, You got potential in 430 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 2: your life. You got trees in your pocket. You've got 431 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 2: healing in your mouth. You can tell your neighbor you 432 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:52,440 Speaker 2: got trees in your pocket. That's what God was telling Abraham. 433 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 2: I put a seed in you, I put a promise 434 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:57,960 Speaker 2: in you, I put a purpose in you. 435 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: I put potential in you. 436 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 2: And don't judge the tree by the size of the seed, 437 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 2: because when it's grown, it's gonna look like something you can't. 438 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,200 Speaker 1: Even right right now. 439 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 2: So so he says, can you see the tree in 440 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:20,280 Speaker 2: the sea? 441 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 1: And this is the question of faith. 442 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 2: Can you see the hope of the world in a 443 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:35,040 Speaker 2: barren womb? Can you see a leadership potential in your 444 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:35,879 Speaker 2: rebellious child? 445 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 7: Wow? 446 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:41,480 Speaker 1: Good? 447 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 2: Can you see how it might have been a blessing 448 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 2: that one person walked out of your life? Can you 449 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 2: see They say that we missed the forest for the trees, 450 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 2: But sometimes I think we missed the trees for the seeds. 451 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,680 Speaker 2: So Elijah sends his servant up. He's like, hey, check 452 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,720 Speaker 2: it out. Causes about the rain, and the servant comes 453 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 2: back down and says, there is nothing there, And he said, 454 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,120 Speaker 2: go and look again. Now, iija's doing something kind of weird. 455 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:15,879 Speaker 2: While he's sending the servant back and forth, because he 456 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,879 Speaker 2: sends him six times, Bible says that I'm not going 457 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,720 Speaker 2: to attempt to demonstrate this because my flexibility is limited. 458 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 2: But he put his head between his knees, and I 459 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:34,960 Speaker 2: think it's because if he looked at the sky. 460 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 1: If he looked at the situation, if he went by sight. 461 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:41,040 Speaker 1: You know, the Bible says that we walked by faith 462 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:43,680 Speaker 1: and not by sight. 463 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 2: So he had to close his eyes to what was 464 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:55,160 Speaker 2: there in order to see what would be. And finally, 465 00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,439 Speaker 2: after six times, on the seventh time, the little servant 466 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,879 Speaker 2: came back and said, well, it's a cloud up there, 467 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 2: but it's only about the size of a man's hand. 468 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:13,160 Speaker 1: To what shall I compare the Kingdom of Heaven. It's like. 469 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:19,360 Speaker 2: A seed, a cloud the size of a man's hand. 470 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 2: It's like a mustard seed. That's the smallest seed they 471 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:33,040 Speaker 2: knew of at the time. Yet when planted, it grows. 472 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,680 Speaker 2: I love that phrase. I feel the oil of God 473 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:41,320 Speaker 2: and the electric power of the Holy Ghost on that phrase. 474 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:49,040 Speaker 2: Yet when planted it grows. That's your word for this 475 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:55,840 Speaker 2: season of your life, is that. Yes, it's small, yet 476 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 2: when planted it grows. I'm gonna stay right on this 477 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,480 Speaker 2: because I know when God is speaking, and he's speaking 478 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:08,800 Speaker 2: to somebody, it's a cloud the size of a man's hand. 479 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 2: Yet when planted it grows, it's a little boy's lunch. 480 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 2: It's only five loaves and two fish. Jesus said, put 481 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 2: it in my hands, because yet when planted it grows. 482 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,920 Speaker 2: He's just a shepherd boy in a field. He looks 483 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 2: like a seed, yet he's a king. And when planted 484 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 2: in the soil of adversity in Saul's court, David grew 485 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 2: to become a king to what shall I compare the 486 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 2: Kingdom of God. It's like a seed. You can't see 487 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 2: it at first. It doesn't even seem like something worth showing. 488 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:52,920 Speaker 2: It doesn't even seem big enough for the cameras. 489 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:56,520 Speaker 1: To pick up. Yet when planted it grows. 490 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 2: God said his time for you to start planting seeds 491 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:04,960 Speaker 2: of purpose, even in the soil of doubt. If you planted, 492 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 2: it'll grow. If you planted, the cloud will burst. If 493 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,960 Speaker 2: you planted, the rain will fall. If you get your 494 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:17,520 Speaker 2: hands dirty, and have faith and hope against hope. Yet 495 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:22,200 Speaker 2: when planted it grows. Touch seven people tell him it's 496 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,720 Speaker 2: gonna grow. It's gonna grow, It's gonna grow. I feel 497 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 2: a sphere and of faith. I want to impart faith 498 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 2: to you. 499 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,280 Speaker 1: I don't know if you believe in this kind of stuff. 500 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:33,920 Speaker 2: But I believe in a moment, in the presence of God, 501 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 2: he can plant the incorruptible seed of his word in 502 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:38,960 Speaker 2: the soul of an expected heart. 503 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 1: And are ripe, harvet. 504 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:55,280 Speaker 2: You better catch that. You better catch that tree. You 505 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 2: better catch that tree. Come online, burgers. How many thinks 506 00:30:59,000 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 2: I can get it all. 507 00:30:59,560 --> 00:30:59,880 Speaker 1: The way to. 508 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 2: Better catch that tree? You better cutch that tree. You 509 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:07,840 Speaker 2: better put that in your pocket. And this week, when 510 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,680 Speaker 2: you're up in a situation and it looks like a 511 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,680 Speaker 2: small little thing and it looks like it doesn't stand 512 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 2: its heads, and it looks like a little virgin girl 513 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 2: from Nasareth, and it looks like Joseph in a pit, 514 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:22,960 Speaker 2: you need to understand that the pit wasn't a pit. 515 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:26,160 Speaker 2: It was the soil he was planted in so he 516 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 2: could come forth in each of them and bring the 517 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 2: plant nice. Yet, tell somebody I'm growing I'm growing. 518 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:43,720 Speaker 7: I'm growing. I'm growing. I'm growing. I'm growing. I'm growing. 519 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 7: I'm growing. My faith is growing, my heart is growing, 520 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 7: my capacity to love is growing. But the thing about 521 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 7: the growth of the seed is y'all hate when I 522 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:59,840 Speaker 7: holler like that. I know some of y'all wish I 523 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 7: didn't do it. But I watched some basketball games, THEIRING 524 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 7: Final Four and the NBA playoffs. 525 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 2: I watch all kinds of fans get up with their 526 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,480 Speaker 2: shirts off and their chest painted, and they're jumping around 527 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 2: about some men in some shorts, running up and down 528 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:16,800 Speaker 2: a hardwood floor. I just think they're not faith. 529 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:17,600 Speaker 8: O gonna be enough. 530 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:18,719 Speaker 1: I'm going to get up. 531 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:33,880 Speaker 5: So it's growing, But the process stop. 532 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 1: I want to teach. I want to teach. 533 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 2: Jesus said, I gotta go to the Cross, I gotta 534 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,960 Speaker 2: be crucified, and they're gonna bury me in the ground. 535 00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 2: That's one narration of what happened when they put Jesus 536 00:32:56,560 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 2: in a borrowed tomb. 537 00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:58,680 Speaker 1: He was buried. 538 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,840 Speaker 2: But guess what Jesus said when they put me in 539 00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:08,680 Speaker 2: the ground. I'm not being buried. I'm being planted to 540 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 2: produce a harvest. Do somebody say I'm planted. I'm planted. 541 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 2: I'm planted, and it does not appear yet what. 542 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,080 Speaker 1: I shall be. But when you see me, I'm gonna 543 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 1: look more like him. I got news for you. It 544 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:31,880 Speaker 1: is what it is, but it's not what it. 545 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:36,960 Speaker 8: Was, and your eyes have not seen. 546 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: What it's gonna be. 547 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 2: Shouted humanly. 548 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 1: Planting you. He's planting you. 549 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 2: I want to talk to somebody at the rock Hill 550 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 2: campus right now, because at the rock Hill campus I 551 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,280 Speaker 2: got somebody listening to this sermon who's in a state 552 00:33:56,320 --> 00:34:00,920 Speaker 2: of despair. You figure that, well, if it hadn't happened 553 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:02,800 Speaker 2: by now, it's not gonna happen. And you know what, 554 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:05,680 Speaker 2: it may not happen just the way that you wanted 555 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 2: it to happen, because sometimes you have to put the 556 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:13,240 Speaker 2: seed of your dream in the soil of your faith 557 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:17,040 Speaker 2: so that God's dream for your life can but for. 558 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:22,920 Speaker 1: Yet, when planted, it grows. 559 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:28,280 Speaker 2: And I prayed for you, Peter, that after you failed, 560 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,239 Speaker 2: that your faith would not fail, and that after you 561 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 2: had returned, you would strengthen your brethren. You're coming up 562 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 2: out of the dirt. You're coming up out of this failure. 563 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:43,040 Speaker 2: This is not your final resting place. Don't just stare 564 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,680 Speaker 2: and don't look at what you see, cause we don't. 565 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 8: Fix our eyes on what is seen. What is seen 566 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:53,320 Speaker 8: is temporary. I'm only in this ground for a minute. 567 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:57,239 Speaker 8: But I'm coming up bigger than before. I'm coming up 568 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:01,799 Speaker 8: stronger than before. I'm coming up full of faith, full 569 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:05,520 Speaker 8: of wisdom, full of lessons, full of purpose, full of 570 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:06,760 Speaker 8: love our planet. 571 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:17,400 Speaker 2: Yet the only way for the seed to grow was 572 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:22,319 Speaker 2: for it to disappear into the soil. And the only 573 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:27,160 Speaker 2: way for Abraham's faith to be proven was for his 574 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:32,840 Speaker 2: hope to be blanted in the soil of disappointment. Yet 575 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:38,120 Speaker 2: he didn't waver in his faith. What do you mean, Paul, 576 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:40,480 Speaker 2: he slept. 577 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:45,520 Speaker 1: With his wife's assistant. Yeah, but. 578 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:50,800 Speaker 2: Faith isn't defined by what you do in your weak moments. 579 00:35:54,760 --> 00:36:04,279 Speaker 1: That's not how the narrator the narrator. You know what 580 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:08,320 Speaker 1: you have in your life. You have a third person narrator. 581 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:12,960 Speaker 2: I'm gonna break it down even more for the English teachers, 582 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:17,400 Speaker 2: it's a third person omniscient narrator. 583 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 1: Because you've got different kinds of narrators. It's the first person. 584 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:23,600 Speaker 2: And when you narrate your life in the first person, 585 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:26,040 Speaker 2: you look at yourself and you say it is what 586 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:29,400 Speaker 2: it is. But what a narrator can do in telling 587 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,120 Speaker 2: the story, and this is what faith. 588 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:32,640 Speaker 1: Can do in your life. 589 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:38,000 Speaker 2: Faith can show you that although it is what it is, 590 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:46,120 Speaker 2: it's not what it seems. And in between denial and 591 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:51,000 Speaker 2: despair is destiny. 592 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:53,200 Speaker 1: To stand and know. 593 00:36:55,760 --> 00:37:02,840 Speaker 2: That God has planted me and I will produce my purpose. 594 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:08,239 Speaker 2: You got a disappointment in your life, It is what 595 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:16,960 Speaker 2: it is. No needn't deny it. You fell short. It 596 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:21,640 Speaker 2: is what it is. Boy, Even just that first half 597 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:25,160 Speaker 2: alone would be a good start, wouldn't it, just to 598 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:27,239 Speaker 2: say it. 599 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:27,919 Speaker 1: Is what it is. 600 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:31,799 Speaker 2: That I can't come in church and pretend to be 601 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:36,600 Speaker 2: something that I'm not and expect to be blessed in 602 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:37,719 Speaker 2: my state of pretension. 603 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:42,920 Speaker 1: I was reading something because I'm reading. 604 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:45,759 Speaker 2: Through Mark a little bit, preparing these sermons for you, 605 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:48,320 Speaker 2: and I started the series in Mark, and I was 606 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:50,400 Speaker 2: over there about the woman with the issue of blood, 607 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:53,480 Speaker 2: just for a Bible lesson for you. She had been 608 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:55,719 Speaker 2: going around to a bunch of different doctors and they 609 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:57,920 Speaker 2: kept saying, you know, this is what it is, and 610 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:00,319 Speaker 2: this is what it is. And she came to Jesus 611 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:01,879 Speaker 2: and he was able to fix it for what it 612 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:06,520 Speaker 2: really was, because anyway you can try to fix all 613 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:08,280 Speaker 2: kinds of things in your life because he diagnosed according 614 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 2: to the symptoms, but never really get down to the 615 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:12,680 Speaker 2: systemic parts that cause the symptoms. And you run around 616 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:14,400 Speaker 2: to a bunch of different doctors, a lot of different men, 617 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:15,759 Speaker 2: a lot of different women, a lot of different churches, 618 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:17,520 Speaker 2: a lot of different relationships, a lot of different places, 619 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:19,279 Speaker 2: trying to get it fixed. But until you get to 620 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:21,640 Speaker 2: the guy who really knows what it is, it can't 621 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:31,440 Speaker 2: be healed. What I never noticed before is it said 622 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:33,719 Speaker 2: that the woman when she came to Jesus, because I 623 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,080 Speaker 2: always saw the story like faith, just big faith. She 624 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 2: came through the crowd, and she pressed through the crowd, 625 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:39,719 Speaker 2: and she said, if I can touch the him of 626 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:41,719 Speaker 2: his garment, I'll be made whole. And I always was 627 00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:44,799 Speaker 2: so focused on that that I miss the part where 628 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:47,680 Speaker 2: it said that the woman, knowing what had happened to her, 629 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:50,640 Speaker 2: came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear, 630 00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:51,640 Speaker 2: told him. 631 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:52,280 Speaker 1: The whole truth. 632 00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:59,839 Speaker 2: It was her faith that healed her, but it was 633 00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:12,600 Speaker 2: her honesty that made her faith authentic. So the Lord 634 00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:15,640 Speaker 2: told me to give you two things to come out 635 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:16,120 Speaker 2: of denial. 636 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:20,040 Speaker 1: It is what it is, and you can say it. 637 00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:22,920 Speaker 1: You can say I feel lonely in this season. 638 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:30,160 Speaker 2: Now be careful who you say it too, because you 639 00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:33,400 Speaker 2: can say it in Delilah's barbershop and wake up with 640 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:36,120 Speaker 2: a buzz cut that you weren't expecting. So don't just 641 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:39,759 Speaker 2: say it to anybody. But God can handle it. God 642 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:44,279 Speaker 2: can handle it. I talked to God real as if 643 00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:46,640 Speaker 2: I'm talking to a friend, because the Bible said Abraham 644 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:48,080 Speaker 2: was a friend of God, and if I'm his seed, 645 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,280 Speaker 2: i'm his friend too. And friends can talk to friends. 646 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:52,200 Speaker 2: And he's my father, but he's my friend, and I 647 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:54,160 Speaker 2: can come to him and say, you know, I don't 648 00:39:54,239 --> 00:39:59,359 Speaker 2: get you right now, sir, your majesty, because I don't 649 00:39:59,360 --> 00:39:59,920 Speaker 2: want to lighten. 650 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:04,000 Speaker 1: Or anything like that. So I it is what it is. 651 00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:07,880 Speaker 1: It is what it is. You know. I feel like 652 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:09,200 Speaker 1: nobody appreciates me right now. 653 00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:11,480 Speaker 2: God, just make sure that when you tell God how 654 00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:15,120 Speaker 2: you feel, that you let him narrate what you should 655 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:18,920 Speaker 2: do by faith, not feelings. 656 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:26,560 Speaker 1: It's okay to say it. 657 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:31,480 Speaker 2: It's okay, it's ok it's okay to Abraham. 658 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:31,520 Speaker 1: Face the fact. 659 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:35,279 Speaker 2: Look at all these debts I have, Look at what 660 00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:39,840 Speaker 2: the doctors are saying, face it, face it in faith, 661 00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:47,160 Speaker 2: Face it in faith, Face it in faith. Come out 662 00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:50,759 Speaker 2: of the spirit and realize that whatever it is that 663 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:56,520 Speaker 2: you're looking at, it's not the end. It's a portal 664 00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:07,440 Speaker 2: to your potential. It's not buried, it's planted, it's not over. 665 00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:09,799 Speaker 2: It's just in transition. 666 00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:15,719 Speaker 1: It is what it is, But. 667 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:18,880 Speaker 8: My faith told me to tell. 668 00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:22,560 Speaker 1: You it's not what it seems. 669 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:26,360 Speaker 8: If you receive this word, get. 670 00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:28,040 Speaker 1: Up on your feet and. 671 00:41:28,239 --> 00:41:34,640 Speaker 7: Give your job, a great ray, a heart right, a 672 00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:35,600 Speaker 7: fake rain. 673 00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:39,839 Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us. 674 00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:42,600 Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 675 00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:46,120 Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 676 00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:49,080 Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give now, 677 00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:53,040 Speaker 2: or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more 678 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:56,680 Speaker 2: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 679 00:41:57,120 --> 00:41:59,200 Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends. You can click 680 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:01,279 Speaker 1: the share button, take a screenshot. 681 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:03,000 Speaker 2: And share it on your social stories and tag us 682 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:04,080 Speaker 2: at Elevation Church. 683 00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:05,759 Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you