WEBVTT - It Is What It Is But It's Not What It Seems

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope

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<v Speaker 1>this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.

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<v Speaker 2>Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving

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<v Speaker 2>in your life.

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<v Speaker 1>Enjoy the message.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm very respectful of the presence of God, so

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<v Speaker 2>I want to transition right into the Word because I

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<v Speaker 2>believe that He desires to speak to you in a

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<v Speaker 2>profound way, and I want to move into Romans chapter

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<v Speaker 2>four and speak a message of faith and inspiration over

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<v Speaker 2>your life. Today we're continuing a teaching on functional faith.

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<v Speaker 1>And what I.

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<v Speaker 2>Really pray that these messages are doing is that they

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<v Speaker 2>are showing up after you hear them in another form,

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<v Speaker 2>that as opportunities present themselves to you for you to

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<v Speaker 2>be full of doubt that something that you've heard, You know,

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<v Speaker 2>the Word of God is seed, and so I'm praying

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<v Speaker 2>that it's breaking through the surface and helping you to

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<v Speaker 2>experience God's presence in a new way. Would you just

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<v Speaker 2>tell about five people around you that the presence of

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<v Speaker 2>the Lord is here. Just make sure that they know

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<v Speaker 2>if they didn't get the memo.

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<v Speaker 1>The presence of the Lord is here.

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<v Speaker 2>And what I want to do now, I want to

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<v Speaker 2>plant the seed of the Word in the soil of

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<v Speaker 2>your heart. I believe God has given me good seed

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<v Speaker 2>to sew into you today, but.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't make you good soil.

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<v Speaker 2>And if you sit there distracted or or discouraged, or

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<v Speaker 2>you know, kind of in your own little world or

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<v Speaker 2>kind of like just get it over with, that seed

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<v Speaker 2>is gonna it's gonna fall, it's not gonna take root.

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<v Speaker 1>So why don't you just open your heart now?

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<v Speaker 2>Let me read this scripture to you from Romans chapter four,

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<v Speaker 2>verse eighteen. It's interesting because I have noted in my

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<v Speaker 2>Bible I do something with my Bible.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't.

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<v Speaker 2>I just thought that would be cool to give each

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<v Speaker 2>of my kids a Bible that I had preached through,

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<v Speaker 2>so doing it on like seven year cycles. And I

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<v Speaker 2>gave Elijah after seven years of preaching in this church

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<v Speaker 2>the Bible that I preach from for those seven years,

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<v Speaker 2>and highlight all the passages that I preach.

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<v Speaker 1>From, and then note what the sermon was.

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<v Speaker 2>Just a little something that I can give them, and hopefully,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, an investment I can make in them.

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<v Speaker 1>So this is Graham's. I'm on the second seven years

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<v Speaker 1>right now, and this is.

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<v Speaker 2>Going to be his, and we're like about halfway through

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<v Speaker 2>the second seven years of ministry at the church.

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<v Speaker 1>I think, did I calculate that right? Yeah? Yeah? Year two.

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<v Speaker 2>So I was looking at my notes and I was

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<v Speaker 2>in this passage about the same time of.

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<v Speaker 1>The year two years ago.

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<v Speaker 2>So there must be something about spring that makes me

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<v Speaker 2>want to preach about faith and hope and life. It

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<v Speaker 2>must be something about the greenery on my trees and

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<v Speaker 2>the pollen in my that just gets me thinking that

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<v Speaker 2>maybe it's time for some things to bud forth and

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<v Speaker 2>spring forth in your life. And so I want to

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<v Speaker 2>I want to spend some time in this passage today.

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<v Speaker 1>Romans, chapter four, verse.

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<v Speaker 2>Eighteen, Apostle Paul says, against all hope, Abraham in hope

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<v Speaker 2>believed and so became. Do you know that that's always true,

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<v Speaker 2>that you always become what you believe.

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<v Speaker 1>If you see.

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<v Speaker 2>Yourself as a grasshopper in the land God has promised you,

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<v Speaker 2>you won't take possession of it, not because it wasn't yours,

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<v Speaker 2>but because you didn't see yourself as the rightful owner.

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<v Speaker 1>So what you.

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<v Speaker 2>Believe eventually is reflected.

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<v Speaker 1>In what you become. Just pointing that out. Okay, that's

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<v Speaker 1>not my sermon.

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<v Speaker 2>That's the chips and the salsa before the enchilada.

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<v Speaker 1>Now look at this.

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<v Speaker 2>It says he believed and so became the father of

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<v Speaker 2>many nations, just as it had been said to him,

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<v Speaker 2>So shall your offspring or your seed be without weakening

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<v Speaker 2>in his faith. He faced the fact that his body

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<v Speaker 2>was as good as dead since he was about one

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<v Speaker 2>hundred years old.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, that's definitely not an overstatement.

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<v Speaker 2>Your reproductive days are certainly coming to a close around

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<v Speaker 2>age one hundred, especially if you live in a time

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<v Speaker 2>where there are no little pills. I'm sorry, y'all, let

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<v Speaker 2>me get back on this. And that Sarah's womb was

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<v Speaker 2>also dead. So this is an impossible situation from every angle.

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<v Speaker 2>And yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the

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<v Speaker 2>promise of God, but was strengthened.

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<v Speaker 1>In his faith.

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<v Speaker 2>Come on, you came to the gym today to get

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<v Speaker 2>strengthened in your faith.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the original CrossFit.

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<v Speaker 3>All right, We're going to be strengthened in our faith,

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<v Speaker 3>and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God

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<v Speaker 3>had power to do what he had promised.

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<v Speaker 1>Shout over the scripture.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, so here's my declaration, my title.

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to give your neighbor my title.

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<v Speaker 2>Look them right in the eye and say, neighbor, it

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<v Speaker 2>is what it is, but it's not what it seems.

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<v Speaker 2>My God, I feel fire on that. It's a declaration

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<v Speaker 2>of faith. You understand it. To look at your other neighbor.

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<v Speaker 2>Tell them it is what it is, but it's not.

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<v Speaker 2>Come on, you gotta get into this. Tell them it

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<v Speaker 2>is not. You gotta do your finger like that, but

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<v Speaker 2>it's not what it seems. Come on high, five to

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<v Speaker 2>seven people on your way down, TC, let's get to work.

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<v Speaker 4>Tecond not what it seems. It's not what it seems,

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<v Speaker 4>but it is what it is.

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<v Speaker 2>Essentially, we're walking into the middle of an argument. In

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<v Speaker 2>Romans chapter four, the Paul is presenting against the Judaizers

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<v Speaker 2>who would have the gentile converts to the faith be

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<v Speaker 2>circumcised as an outward expression.

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<v Speaker 1>Of their new commitment to the community of faith.

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<v Speaker 2>Paul sees this is a grave mistake, for understands that

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<v Speaker 2>it is not the circumcision with human hands that makes

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<v Speaker 2>you a believer. It's the circumcision of your heart. It's

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<v Speaker 2>not something that's cut away from your skin. Is something

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<v Speaker 2>that has to be removed from your heart that enables

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<v Speaker 2>you to connect with God in this relationship, and in

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<v Speaker 2>presenting one of the most important doctrinal beliefs that you'll

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<v Speaker 2>find anywhere in the cannon, Paul is elaborating on this

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<v Speaker 2>concept of justification by faith. It's never been presented exactly

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<v Speaker 2>this way until Paul puts pen to paper and God

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<v Speaker 2>uses him to expound upon the fact that you got

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<v Speaker 2>to come in on your knees. Relationship with God cannot

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<v Speaker 2>be the product of works, although works are a byproduct

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<v Speaker 2>of that relationship. And in the middle of this argument

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<v Speaker 2>about what it means to have real faith, what it

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<v Speaker 2>really takes to have faith, what faith really looks like,

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<v Speaker 2>and in this contrast between the scene and the unseen

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<v Speaker 2>elements of faith, Paul is using Abraham as an example

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<v Speaker 2>because he is the father of faith. Abraham Isaac Jacob.

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<v Speaker 2>Jacob's name was changed to Israel. The nation came from Jacob,

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<v Speaker 2>but Jacob came from Isaac, and Isaac came from Abraham.

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<v Speaker 1>So sometimes your life is a part of.

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<v Speaker 2>A bigger picture that you might not even be the

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<v Speaker 2>one to see certain things come to pass, but you

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<v Speaker 2>might be the one that God uses in the life

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<v Speaker 2>of the one. And that takes faith to have that

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<v Speaker 2>kind of perspective.

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<v Speaker 1>On your life.

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<v Speaker 2>I texted Pastor Mickey this morning and I didn't tell you,

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<v Speaker 2>but we were talking about him, and I just said,

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<v Speaker 2>God used you in my life so much. I was

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<v Speaker 2>just thinking about you this morning, and we pray for

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<v Speaker 2>me because he believed in me at a stage in

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<v Speaker 2>my life where my potential was hidden. Now, anybody can

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<v Speaker 2>believe in you once your success is evident, but if

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<v Speaker 2>you got somebody who believes in you while your potential

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<v Speaker 2>is still in seed form, never forget that person. So

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<v Speaker 2>that's why I was reaching out to him, just to

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<v Speaker 2>tell him, thank you. I'm preaching today, pray for me.

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<v Speaker 2>Just had you on my mind. And he doesn't preach

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<v Speaker 2>in a big church, but he does preach in a

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<v Speaker 2>big church because his faith lives on through me. So

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<v Speaker 2>this is the kind of framework. And last week we

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<v Speaker 2>talked on frame game. Have you been working on your

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<v Speaker 2>frame game this week? Would you do me a favor?

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<v Speaker 2>Would you just frame up your neighbor real quick? At

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<v Speaker 2>all of our locations and tell him you look better

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<v Speaker 2>than you did last week. I see signs of improvement.

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<v Speaker 2>Frame game, and now Abraham enters the frame of the

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<v Speaker 2>discussion about faith, and Paul has given us a synopsis

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<v Speaker 2>of the story.

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<v Speaker 1>Now this is different than a story.

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<v Speaker 2>A synopsis requires some essence of prioritization to try to

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<v Speaker 2>figure out what to put out and what to leave in,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, and this is something that women would do

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<v Speaker 2>well to learn when you're trying to communicate with men.

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<v Speaker 2>It's that we typically do better with a synopsis than

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<v Speaker 2>the full story. All of the men are leaving me

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<v Speaker 2>up here by myself. But you know, you did not

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<v Speaker 2>need to know all of that to find out what's

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<v Speaker 2>for dinner. And sometimes you just want to press the

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<v Speaker 2>button to skip to this synopsis. Can I get a

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<v Speaker 2>cliff note? And sometimes you think that in marriage, something

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<v Speaker 2>you do you do. I don't think that my wife

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<v Speaker 2>is captivating now, speaking of Holly, she's on this kick.

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<v Speaker 1>Lately of audible dot com.

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<v Speaker 2>Audible dot com audio that speaks to you wherever you are.

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<v Speaker 2>How do I know that because my wife, my wife

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<v Speaker 2>folks are up in the house she's listened to. I

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<v Speaker 2>don't know over the last year, ten or twelve books

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<v Speaker 2>on audible dot com audio.

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<v Speaker 1>That speaks to you wherever you are, and she says

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<v Speaker 1>she read them.

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<v Speaker 2>But we kind of have a debate about that because

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<v Speaker 2>I always thought reading meant your eyes were involved.

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<v Speaker 1>So she'll say I read a book, and I'll say,

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<v Speaker 1>listen to one under my breath, in my head. And

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<v Speaker 1>one book that she.

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<v Speaker 2>Was looking at, she said she was looking at it,

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<v Speaker 2>and she I don't know if she downloaded it or not,

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<v Speaker 2>but she said that she wasn't going to listen to

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<v Speaker 2>that one because she said that it was narrated by

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<v Speaker 2>a child, not that the child read it on audible

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<v Speaker 2>dot com, not actually that a child did the voice work,

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<v Speaker 2>but that the point of view of the book was

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<v Speaker 2>a child telling the story.

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<v Speaker 1>And she said, I just don't think.

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<v Speaker 2>I would enjoy a whole book written from a child's

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<v Speaker 2>point of view.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that would get old.

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<v Speaker 2>And that was interesting to me because when you think

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<v Speaker 2>of elements of a story, you think about the characters,

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<v Speaker 2>and you think about the plot, and you think about

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<v Speaker 2>the setting, and it always blows my mind. I don't

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<v Speaker 2>know if any of you are fiction readers, but any

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<v Speaker 2>fiction readers, if you have any good books that I

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<v Speaker 2>should take to the beach this summer, feel free to

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<v Speaker 2>send them my way. I should totally read more fiction.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a good escape, but I don't read enough. But

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<v Speaker 2>I can't figure out how somebody can have enough imagination

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<v Speaker 2>to make up a whole world in a fiction book.

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<v Speaker 2>I've written books before, but I mean, it's it's real stuff,

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<v Speaker 2>and I just don't imagine that I would ever have

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<v Speaker 2>the imagination to make up a whole world. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>names and where people went to school in cities that

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<v Speaker 2>don't really exist, and aliens and zombies and walkers, and

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<v Speaker 2>you know, I just can't imagine that I would have

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<v Speaker 2>that kind of imagination.

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<v Speaker 1>But some people do yet. Yet.

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<v Speaker 2>The plot and the characters and the setting when you're

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<v Speaker 2>reading a book are all experienced through the medium of

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<v Speaker 2>whoever the author chooses to use to tell the story.

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<v Speaker 1>You'll know where I'm going with this. You guys are

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<v Speaker 1>quick on the draw, because.

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<v Speaker 2>I found out that in life, you have to select

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<v Speaker 2>a narrator.

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<v Speaker 1>Stay with me on this.

0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:22.200
<v Speaker 2>You have to select a narrator because the narrator you

0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:24.640
<v Speaker 2>choose will determine the way you.

0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:27.160
<v Speaker 1>Experience the events.

0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:32.720
<v Speaker 2>Everybody in here has an internal narrator, somebody who in

0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:36.040
<v Speaker 2>every situation is trying to tell you how to think

0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:40.960
<v Speaker 2>about that situation, how to interpret the motives of people

0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:44.120
<v Speaker 2>in certain situations, how to look at an opportunity and

0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:45.520
<v Speaker 2>to size it up.

0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:47.680
<v Speaker 1>And the Lord told me to come out here and

0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:50.679
<v Speaker 1>tell you today that some of you need a new narrator.

0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:56.079
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna say it again.

0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.520
<v Speaker 2>Maybe it'll hit the back, maybe it'll hit Providence, maybe

0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:05.560
<v Speaker 2>it'll hit Gaston. Some of you have a really annoying, whiny, complaining, suspicious,

0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:10.440
<v Speaker 2>negative narrator, and see it swearing you out because you

0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:14.840
<v Speaker 2>keep going into situations and your narrator keeps on telling

0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:16.800
<v Speaker 2>you what to think about this and what to think

0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:17.320
<v Speaker 2>about that.

0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:19.280
<v Speaker 1>But I got good news for you.

0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:23.160
<v Speaker 2>Anytime you get ready, you could get a new storyteller.

0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.920
<v Speaker 2>I'm trying to say, you can have a life narrated

0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:31.400
<v Speaker 2>not by feelings, but by faith. I gotta ask a question,

0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.640
<v Speaker 2>is your life narrated by your feelings or your faith?

0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:42.560
<v Speaker 2>And I think that's the plot line that we're plucked

0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:47.640
<v Speaker 2>into with Abraham, who has a decision to make. In

0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:51.480
<v Speaker 2>Romans chapter four, Paul has given us some of the story,

0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:53.160
<v Speaker 2>not all of the story. If you read all of

0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:56.480
<v Speaker 2>the story, you're gonna read about how Abraham, while he

0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.000
<v Speaker 2>was waiting on God to give him a son, slept

0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.680
<v Speaker 2>with his wife's assistance to try to produce something that

0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:05.880
<v Speaker 2>he couldn't be patient and wait for. That happened, and

0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.600
<v Speaker 2>in Genesis we hear about it, but it didn't make

0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:12.640
<v Speaker 2>the trip across the centuries to Romans chapter four. That

0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:17.240
<v Speaker 2>interesting that in the story selection process, in the synopsis,

0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:19.680
<v Speaker 2>it didn't even make the story. It didn't even make

0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.200
<v Speaker 2>the story. That Abraham got in trouble one time, and

0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.400
<v Speaker 2>he was scared because his wife was beautiful, and he

0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.200
<v Speaker 2>thought that if the king knew that it was his wife,

0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.120
<v Speaker 2>he'd be in danger. So he told his wife survived

0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:32.200
<v Speaker 2>to pretend like she was.

0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.680
<v Speaker 1>His sister, and then the king almost slept.

0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:37.480
<v Speaker 2>With his wife because he thought that it was Abram's sister.

0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:39.680
<v Speaker 2>And then God started messing with the king because God

0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:41.760
<v Speaker 2>didn't like it very much that the king was about

0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:44.320
<v Speaker 2>to take Abraham's wife, And so the king figured it

0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:46.040
<v Speaker 2>out real quick and said, why did you lie to me?

0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.560
<v Speaker 2>Yet I can't find that in Romans chapter four. And

0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:52.920
<v Speaker 2>it's not as if it didn't happen. It's just that

0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:59.040
<v Speaker 2>when you narrate your life by grace, When you narrate

0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:02.280
<v Speaker 2>your life by grace, this is the context of faith.

0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.520
<v Speaker 2>And so some of the failures that are most prominent

0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.440
<v Speaker 2>in your mind didn't even make the cut of the

0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.600
<v Speaker 2>story in the mind of God, because he sees you

0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.160
<v Speaker 2>from a different perspective and sees.

0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:15.920
<v Speaker 1>You in a different dimension. I feel the.

0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:18.320
<v Speaker 2>Spirit of God on me today. I'm just gonna preach

0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.240
<v Speaker 2>this like I feel it in my heart. Touch somebody say,

0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:23.880
<v Speaker 2>it's not even a part of my story. It's not

0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.680
<v Speaker 2>even a part of my story.

0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:31.840
<v Speaker 1>But it is. But it is, But it is in

0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:36.840
<v Speaker 1>your story. See, there's a kind of faith that is

0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:39.160
<v Speaker 1>very dangerous. And I'll show you two extremes here, and

0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:43.720
<v Speaker 1>both are warned against in Romans chapter four. Sometimes there is.

0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:49.800
<v Speaker 2>A version of faith that really looks more like denial,

0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:58.920
<v Speaker 2>and then there is the absence of faith, which creates despair.

0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.160
<v Speaker 2>And what I see in Romans chapter four Front and

0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:07.679
<v Speaker 2>Sinner from the Father of Faith, is that he was

0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:13.280
<v Speaker 2>able to avoid both extremes, it says in verse nineteen,

0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:16.120
<v Speaker 2>without weakening in his faith.

0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:18.359
<v Speaker 1>He faced the fact.

0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:23.719
<v Speaker 2>Now that one phrase helps me understand what faith is

0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:29.239
<v Speaker 2>and what faith Isn't that the kind of faith that

0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.720
<v Speaker 2>I am to emulate from my father Abraham, who seed

0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:38.840
<v Speaker 2>I am, is not a sort of denial. And I'm

0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:44.439
<v Speaker 2>putting that before you because when we teach about being positive,

0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:48.680
<v Speaker 2>it doesn't mean that everything in your life is positive.

0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:53.920
<v Speaker 1>And I want you to know that because here's the thing.

0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:59.920
<v Speaker 2>Some people don't exercise faith because they live in deny it,

0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:06.920
<v Speaker 2>and they actually begin to use their faith as a

0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:13.520
<v Speaker 2>cop out and don't confront things for what they are. Somebody,

0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:15.200
<v Speaker 2>look at the person next to you and tell them

0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:16.320
<v Speaker 2>it is what it is.

0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:20.480
<v Speaker 1>Come on, some of you aren't participating and that makes me.

0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.000
<v Speaker 2>Really, really, really angry and insecure.

0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:25.560
<v Speaker 1>Look at your neighbor, tell them it is what it is.

0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:26.960
<v Speaker 5>Yeah.

0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:30.240
<v Speaker 1>Abraham faced the fact he was old.

0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:34.880
<v Speaker 2>He faced the fact his stuff stopped working a long

0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:40.440
<v Speaker 2>time ago. He faced the fact. He looked at himself

0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:42.760
<v Speaker 2>and he said, it is what it is. And he

0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:45.639
<v Speaker 2>looked at his wife and said it was what it was,

0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:49.280
<v Speaker 2>but hey, what it was now, it is what it is.

0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:52.119
<v Speaker 1>We're old now. We could have done this thirty forty

0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:52.680
<v Speaker 1>years ago.

0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:55.200
<v Speaker 2>Maybe we could have done it fifty sixty years ago.

0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:58.439
<v Speaker 2>But now it is what it is. I didn't go

0:18:58.520 --> 0:18:59.120
<v Speaker 2>to college.

0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:00.320
<v Speaker 1>It is what it is. It is.

0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:02.640
<v Speaker 2>I didn't go to high school. It is what it is.

0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:05.960
<v Speaker 2>I went through my first marriage. I was too stupid to.

0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:06.520
<v Speaker 1>Make it work.

0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:09.440
<v Speaker 2>You know what, You can't get over what you do

0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:20.480
<v Speaker 2>not own, So face it, face it. Faith doesn't mean

0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:24.160
<v Speaker 2>living in denial. Faith doesn't mean that.

0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:24.960
<v Speaker 1>It's all cold.

0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.919
<v Speaker 2>I've got women in my church that were sexually abused.

0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:31.480
<v Speaker 1>It's not all good. I got people in my.

0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:33.960
<v Speaker 2>Church who can't get the job because they have a

0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:34.920
<v Speaker 2>criminal record.

0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:36.320
<v Speaker 1>It's not all good.

0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:40.480
<v Speaker 2>I got people in my church under the sound of

0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:43.120
<v Speaker 2>my voice right now who didn't grow up with the dad.

0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.560
<v Speaker 1>It's not all good. And you know what faith can handle.

0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:50.760
<v Speaker 1>That faith can handle that.

0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:59.600
<v Speaker 2>Starting place of authentic faith is honesty.

0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:00.800
<v Speaker 1>It is what it is.

0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:08.760
<v Speaker 2>Lord, I'm disappointed right now.

0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:13.080
<v Speaker 1>You know you can tell God that and he won't

0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:13.840
<v Speaker 1>hold it against you.

0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:18.399
<v Speaker 2>When God spoke to Abraham and said, I'm going to

0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:20.600
<v Speaker 2>give you a seed that's going to be your son,

0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:22.280
<v Speaker 2>and out of your seed is going to come a

0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:25.560
<v Speaker 2>nation as numerous as the stars, Abraham laughed in God's face,

0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:29.320
<v Speaker 2>didn't bother God because.

0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:32.360
<v Speaker 1>Faith is not a feeling. Faith is a decision.

0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:36.200
<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna say it again to counteract all the wrong

0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:38.359
<v Speaker 2>thinking that you've ever had in your life about faith.

0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:40.760
<v Speaker 1>Faith is not a feeling.

0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:44.280
<v Speaker 2>You know, you can be a pessimistic person but still

0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:45.320
<v Speaker 2>have great faith.

0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:48.760
<v Speaker 1>Even great faith has weak moments.

0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:52.679
<v Speaker 2>So the call to faith is first a call to

0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:56.960
<v Speaker 2>come out of denial. Otherwise you'll be waiting on God

0:20:57.000 --> 0:20:59.399
<v Speaker 2>to deliver you from a situation that is going to

0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:00.679
<v Speaker 2>require discipline.

0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:04.320
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna say it again this message and sinking in

0:21:04.400 --> 0:21:06.359
<v Speaker 1>Joel nine thirty was on fire.

0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:08.119
<v Speaker 2>I don't know what happened in the lobby before the

0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:08.880
<v Speaker 2>people got here.

0:21:09.080 --> 0:21:10.640
<v Speaker 1>Maybe it's better at the other campus.

0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:13.000
<v Speaker 2>But when you live in denial, you'll be waiting for

0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:17.320
<v Speaker 2>deliverance in a situation that requires discipline. Are you waiting

0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:20.800
<v Speaker 2>for deliverance in a situation that is going to require discipline?

0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:23.760
<v Speaker 2>In other words, are you waiting on God to cancel

0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:25.480
<v Speaker 2>your debts or are you're making a plan to pay

0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:30.440
<v Speaker 2>them off?

0:21:30.480 --> 0:21:34.000
<v Speaker 1>Faith doesn't wait on a check. Faith gets up and goes.

0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:36.520
<v Speaker 2>To work, or at least looking for work. Faith they'll

0:21:36.520 --> 0:21:40.160
<v Speaker 2>do it, but you got to face it. You got

0:21:40.160 --> 0:21:42.719
<v Speaker 2>to face it or you live in denial, and you'll say, well,

0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:44.879
<v Speaker 2>I guess the reason that nobody wants to be my

0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:47.399
<v Speaker 2>friend is because God has just got me in a

0:21:47.400 --> 0:21:50.080
<v Speaker 2>lonely season right now. No, God doesn't have you in

0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:54.440
<v Speaker 2>a lonely season. Your bad attitude and poor relational habits

0:21:54.800 --> 0:21:57.639
<v Speaker 2>of not treating people correctly have got you in a

0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:01.080
<v Speaker 2>lonely season. And until you face it it, faith can't

0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:04.640
<v Speaker 2>fix it. Until you face it, faith can't fix it.

0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:13.080
<v Speaker 2>Faith can't fix what you won't face. So he faced

0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:17.760
<v Speaker 2>the fact, but he kept his faith, and you can

0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:21.119
<v Speaker 2>do both. Stay with me camera. He faced the fact.

0:22:21.400 --> 0:22:24.679
<v Speaker 2>I'm not living in denial, but he kept his faith.

0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:28.880
<v Speaker 2>I'm not living in despair. Faith is standing in the

0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:34.720
<v Speaker 2>middle and making a decision that it is what it is.

0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:39.880
<v Speaker 2>But watch this, it's not what it seems. I got

0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:43.720
<v Speaker 2>that beneath the surface faith. I got that Saturday faith

0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:46.560
<v Speaker 2>waiting on something to come up out of a tomb

0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:51.200
<v Speaker 2>and resurrect for the healing and salvation of the world.

0:22:54.440 --> 0:23:03.800
<v Speaker 6>So so he narrated his situation with his faith, and

0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:06.600
<v Speaker 6>so he became the father of many nations, and we

0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:07.320
<v Speaker 6>are his seed.

0:23:08.200 --> 0:23:08.880
<v Speaker 1>How cool is.

0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:19.879
<v Speaker 2>That that we are the seed of Abraham. See that

0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:23.040
<v Speaker 2>made me think about something. Will you think with me

0:23:23.240 --> 0:23:29.879
<v Speaker 2>today that when Jesus was trying to explain to the

0:23:30.000 --> 0:23:37.240
<v Speaker 2>people what the Kingdom of God was like, he said

0:23:37.280 --> 0:23:44.000
<v Speaker 2>in Mark four, verse thirty one, the Kingdom of Heaven

0:23:45.040 --> 0:23:55.320
<v Speaker 2>is like a skyscraper, big and bold, big and massive,

0:23:55.480 --> 0:24:02.120
<v Speaker 2>towering structure. No I wish he said that. I wish

0:24:02.160 --> 0:24:05.960
<v Speaker 2>my faith was as big as a skyscraper. I wish

0:24:06.040 --> 0:24:11.479
<v Speaker 2>I walked around never doubting. You know, I wish all

0:24:11.520 --> 0:24:14.760
<v Speaker 2>my stuff worked. That's what I'm trying to say. In fact,

0:24:14.880 --> 0:24:17.560
<v Speaker 2>I wish that this stuff that I preach was as

0:24:17.600 --> 0:24:20.720
<v Speaker 2>easy to live as it is to preach. Sometimes talk

0:24:20.760 --> 0:24:23.439
<v Speaker 2>back to me, talk back to me, talk back to me.

0:24:23.720 --> 0:24:24.600
<v Speaker 1>Don't you wish it.

0:24:24.520 --> 0:24:26.280
<v Speaker 2>Was as easy to live as it is to write

0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:40.679
<v Speaker 2>down in your notebook? Cam with Heaven is like a

0:24:40.760 --> 0:24:50.120
<v Speaker 2>mustard seed shown the mustard seed shum show. I'm the scene.

0:24:56.080 --> 0:25:01.639
<v Speaker 1>Huh what come on? Talk to me.

0:25:01.680 --> 0:25:04.760
<v Speaker 2>It's all right, you can talk in her No it's not.

0:25:06.680 --> 0:25:12.520
<v Speaker 2>I mean, that's what it seems to be now that

0:25:12.600 --> 0:25:16.480
<v Speaker 2>it's been through the process that it went through.

0:25:22.200 --> 0:25:25.720
<v Speaker 1>And guess what I have in my pocket. No, not

0:25:26.560 --> 0:25:34.160
<v Speaker 1>mustard seeds. I got trees in my pocket. I came

0:25:34.200 --> 0:25:35.359
<v Speaker 1>to preach to somebody.

0:25:35.760 --> 0:25:39.720
<v Speaker 2>You got trees in your pocket, You got potential in

0:25:39.800 --> 0:25:44.440
<v Speaker 2>your life. You got trees in your pocket. You've got

0:25:44.520 --> 0:25:47.080
<v Speaker 2>healing in your mouth. You can tell your neighbor you

0:25:47.200 --> 0:25:52.440
<v Speaker 2>got trees in your pocket. That's what God was telling Abraham.

0:25:52.880 --> 0:25:55.720
<v Speaker 2>I put a seed in you, I put a promise

0:25:55.800 --> 0:25:57.960
<v Speaker 2>in you, I put a purpose in you.

0:25:58.280 --> 0:26:00.000
<v Speaker 1>I put potential in you.

0:26:00.080 --> 0:26:03.320
<v Speaker 2>And don't judge the tree by the size of the seed,

0:26:03.560 --> 0:26:07.520
<v Speaker 2>because when it's grown, it's gonna look like something you can't.

0:26:07.320 --> 0:26:10.200
<v Speaker 1>Even right right now.

0:26:13.040 --> 0:26:19.800
<v Speaker 2>So so he says, can you see the tree in

0:26:19.880 --> 0:26:20.280
<v Speaker 2>the sea?

0:26:20.600 --> 0:26:22.320
<v Speaker 1>And this is the question of faith.

0:26:24.280 --> 0:26:26.480
<v Speaker 2>Can you see the hope of the world in a

0:26:26.520 --> 0:26:35.040
<v Speaker 2>barren womb? Can you see a leadership potential in your

0:26:35.080 --> 0:26:35.879
<v Speaker 2>rebellious child?

0:26:38.080 --> 0:26:38.600
<v Speaker 7>Wow?

0:26:40.520 --> 0:26:41.480
<v Speaker 1>Good?

0:26:43.520 --> 0:26:45.280
<v Speaker 2>Can you see how it might have been a blessing

0:26:46.119 --> 0:26:52.080
<v Speaker 2>that one person walked out of your life? Can you

0:26:52.119 --> 0:26:56.560
<v Speaker 2>see They say that we missed the forest for the trees,

0:26:56.600 --> 0:26:58.920
<v Speaker 2>But sometimes I think we missed the trees for the seeds.

0:27:02.520 --> 0:27:05.680
<v Speaker 2>So Elijah sends his servant up. He's like, hey, check

0:27:05.720 --> 0:27:08.720
<v Speaker 2>it out. Causes about the rain, and the servant comes

0:27:08.760 --> 0:27:11.760
<v Speaker 2>back down and says, there is nothing there, And he said,

0:27:11.760 --> 0:27:14.120
<v Speaker 2>go and look again. Now, iija's doing something kind of weird.

0:27:14.119 --> 0:27:15.879
<v Speaker 2>While he's sending the servant back and forth, because he

0:27:15.920 --> 0:27:17.879
<v Speaker 2>sends him six times, Bible says that I'm not going

0:27:17.880 --> 0:27:20.720
<v Speaker 2>to attempt to demonstrate this because my flexibility is limited.

0:27:23.280 --> 0:27:29.520
<v Speaker 2>But he put his head between his knees, and I

0:27:29.560 --> 0:27:34.960
<v Speaker 2>think it's because if he looked at the sky.

0:27:34.560 --> 0:27:38.560
<v Speaker 1>If he looked at the situation, if he went by sight.

0:27:38.600 --> 0:27:41.040
<v Speaker 1>You know, the Bible says that we walked by faith

0:27:41.560 --> 0:27:43.680
<v Speaker 1>and not by sight.

0:27:43.760 --> 0:27:46.600
<v Speaker 2>So he had to close his eyes to what was

0:27:46.640 --> 0:27:55.160
<v Speaker 2>there in order to see what would be. And finally,

0:27:55.880 --> 0:28:00.439
<v Speaker 2>after six times, on the seventh time, the little servant

0:28:00.440 --> 0:28:03.879
<v Speaker 2>came back and said, well, it's a cloud up there,

0:28:04.840 --> 0:28:07.600
<v Speaker 2>but it's only about the size of a man's hand.

0:28:09.359 --> 0:28:13.160
<v Speaker 1>To what shall I compare the Kingdom of Heaven. It's like.

0:28:14.760 --> 0:28:19.360
<v Speaker 2>A seed, a cloud the size of a man's hand.

0:28:18.600 --> 0:28:24.040
<v Speaker 2>It's like a mustard seed. That's the smallest seed they

0:28:24.119 --> 0:28:33.040
<v Speaker 2>knew of at the time. Yet when planted, it grows.

0:28:34.440 --> 0:28:37.680
<v Speaker 2>I love that phrase. I feel the oil of God

0:28:37.720 --> 0:28:41.320
<v Speaker 2>and the electric power of the Holy Ghost on that phrase.

0:28:42.440 --> 0:28:49.040
<v Speaker 2>Yet when planted it grows. That's your word for this

0:28:49.200 --> 0:28:55.840
<v Speaker 2>season of your life, is that. Yes, it's small, yet

0:28:56.880 --> 0:29:01.720
<v Speaker 2>when planted it grows. I'm gonna stay right on this

0:29:01.800 --> 0:29:04.480
<v Speaker 2>because I know when God is speaking, and he's speaking

0:29:04.520 --> 0:29:08.800
<v Speaker 2>to somebody, it's a cloud the size of a man's hand.

0:29:09.320 --> 0:29:15.200
<v Speaker 2>Yet when planted it grows, it's a little boy's lunch.

0:29:15.520 --> 0:29:20.120
<v Speaker 2>It's only five loaves and two fish. Jesus said, put

0:29:20.160 --> 0:29:25.680
<v Speaker 2>it in my hands, because yet when planted it grows.

0:29:26.400 --> 0:29:29.920
<v Speaker 2>He's just a shepherd boy in a field. He looks

0:29:30.000 --> 0:29:34.120
<v Speaker 2>like a seed, yet he's a king. And when planted

0:29:34.400 --> 0:29:39.360
<v Speaker 2>in the soil of adversity in Saul's court, David grew

0:29:39.440 --> 0:29:42.560
<v Speaker 2>to become a king to what shall I compare the

0:29:42.680 --> 0:29:46.160
<v Speaker 2>Kingdom of God. It's like a seed. You can't see

0:29:46.200 --> 0:29:49.720
<v Speaker 2>it at first. It doesn't even seem like something worth showing.

0:29:50.040 --> 0:29:52.920
<v Speaker 2>It doesn't even seem big enough for the cameras.

0:29:52.440 --> 0:29:56.520
<v Speaker 1>To pick up. Yet when planted it grows.

0:29:57.000 --> 0:30:00.680
<v Speaker 2>God said his time for you to start planting seeds

0:30:00.720 --> 0:30:04.960
<v Speaker 2>of purpose, even in the soil of doubt. If you planted,

0:30:05.400 --> 0:30:09.640
<v Speaker 2>it'll grow. If you planted, the cloud will burst. If

0:30:09.680 --> 0:30:12.960
<v Speaker 2>you planted, the rain will fall. If you get your

0:30:13.040 --> 0:30:17.520
<v Speaker 2>hands dirty, and have faith and hope against hope. Yet

0:30:17.840 --> 0:30:22.200
<v Speaker 2>when planted it grows. Touch seven people tell him it's

0:30:22.240 --> 0:30:25.720
<v Speaker 2>gonna grow. It's gonna grow, It's gonna grow. I feel

0:30:25.720 --> 0:30:28.040
<v Speaker 2>a sphere and of faith. I want to impart faith

0:30:28.120 --> 0:30:28.360
<v Speaker 2>to you.

0:30:28.720 --> 0:30:31.280
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if you believe in this kind of stuff.

0:30:31.120 --> 0:30:33.920
<v Speaker 2>But I believe in a moment, in the presence of God,

0:30:34.200 --> 0:30:37.160
<v Speaker 2>he can plant the incorruptible seed of his word in

0:30:37.240 --> 0:30:38.960
<v Speaker 2>the soul of an expected heart.

0:30:39.240 --> 0:30:40.920
<v Speaker 1>And are ripe, harvet.

0:30:50.480 --> 0:30:55.280
<v Speaker 2>You better catch that. You better catch that tree. You

0:30:55.320 --> 0:30:59.000
<v Speaker 2>better catch that tree. Come online, burgers. How many thinks

0:30:59.000 --> 0:30:59.680
<v Speaker 2>I can get it all.

0:30:59.560 --> 0:30:59.880
<v Speaker 1>The way to.

0:31:01.560 --> 0:31:05.200
<v Speaker 2>Better catch that tree? You better cutch that tree. You

0:31:05.240 --> 0:31:07.840
<v Speaker 2>better put that in your pocket. And this week, when

0:31:07.880 --> 0:31:10.680
<v Speaker 2>you're up in a situation and it looks like a

0:31:10.720 --> 0:31:13.680
<v Speaker 2>small little thing and it looks like it doesn't stand

0:31:13.720 --> 0:31:16.880
<v Speaker 2>its heads, and it looks like a little virgin girl

0:31:16.920 --> 0:31:20.080
<v Speaker 2>from Nasareth, and it looks like Joseph in a pit,

0:31:20.480 --> 0:31:22.960
<v Speaker 2>you need to understand that the pit wasn't a pit.

0:31:23.360 --> 0:31:26.160
<v Speaker 2>It was the soil he was planted in so he

0:31:26.240 --> 0:31:28.680
<v Speaker 2>could come forth in each of them and bring the

0:31:28.800 --> 0:31:38.520
<v Speaker 2>plant nice. Yet, tell somebody I'm growing I'm growing.

0:31:38.880 --> 0:31:43.720
<v Speaker 7>I'm growing. I'm growing. I'm growing. I'm growing. I'm growing.

0:31:44.000 --> 0:31:47.320
<v Speaker 7>I'm growing. My faith is growing, my heart is growing,

0:31:47.560 --> 0:31:50.240
<v Speaker 7>my capacity to love is growing. But the thing about

0:31:50.280 --> 0:31:55.880
<v Speaker 7>the growth of the seed is y'all hate when I

0:31:55.960 --> 0:31:59.840
<v Speaker 7>holler like that. I know some of y'all wish I

0:31:59.880 --> 0:32:03.040
<v Speaker 7>didn't do it. But I watched some basketball games, THEIRING

0:32:03.120 --> 0:32:05.640
<v Speaker 7>Final Four and the NBA playoffs.

0:32:05.920 --> 0:32:08.280
<v Speaker 2>I watch all kinds of fans get up with their

0:32:08.320 --> 0:32:11.480
<v Speaker 2>shirts off and their chest painted, and they're jumping around

0:32:11.560 --> 0:32:14.200
<v Speaker 2>about some men in some shorts, running up and down

0:32:14.200 --> 0:32:16.800
<v Speaker 2>a hardwood floor. I just think they're not faith.

0:32:16.800 --> 0:32:17.600
<v Speaker 8>O gonna be enough.

0:32:17.800 --> 0:32:18.719
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to get up.

0:32:23.840 --> 0:32:33.880
<v Speaker 5>So it's growing, But the process stop.

0:32:34.720 --> 0:32:37.360
<v Speaker 1>I want to teach. I want to teach.

0:32:45.160 --> 0:32:47.200
<v Speaker 2>Jesus said, I gotta go to the Cross, I gotta

0:32:47.200 --> 0:32:50.960
<v Speaker 2>be crucified, and they're gonna bury me in the ground.

0:32:52.600 --> 0:32:56.280
<v Speaker 2>That's one narration of what happened when they put Jesus

0:32:56.560 --> 0:32:57.560
<v Speaker 2>in a borrowed tomb.

0:32:57.800 --> 0:32:58.680
<v Speaker 1>He was buried.

0:32:59.280 --> 0:33:01.840
<v Speaker 2>But guess what Jesus said when they put me in

0:33:01.920 --> 0:33:08.680
<v Speaker 2>the ground. I'm not being buried. I'm being planted to

0:33:08.840 --> 0:33:15.200
<v Speaker 2>produce a harvest. Do somebody say I'm planted. I'm planted.

0:33:15.840 --> 0:33:21.920
<v Speaker 2>I'm planted, and it does not appear yet what.

0:33:22.000 --> 0:33:25.080
<v Speaker 1>I shall be. But when you see me, I'm gonna

0:33:25.080 --> 0:33:29.160
<v Speaker 1>look more like him. I got news for you. It

0:33:29.200 --> 0:33:31.880
<v Speaker 1>is what it is, but it's not what it.

0:33:32.080 --> 0:33:36.960
<v Speaker 8>Was, and your eyes have not seen.

0:33:37.280 --> 0:33:38.320
<v Speaker 1>What it's gonna be.

0:33:39.160 --> 0:33:40.520
<v Speaker 2>Shouted humanly.

0:33:44.560 --> 0:33:46.880
<v Speaker 1>Planting you. He's planting you.

0:33:47.240 --> 0:33:49.720
<v Speaker 2>I want to talk to somebody at the rock Hill

0:33:49.760 --> 0:33:53.200
<v Speaker 2>campus right now, because at the rock Hill campus I

0:33:53.280 --> 0:33:56.280
<v Speaker 2>got somebody listening to this sermon who's in a state

0:33:56.320 --> 0:34:00.920
<v Speaker 2>of despair. You figure that, well, if it hadn't happened

0:34:00.920 --> 0:34:02.800
<v Speaker 2>by now, it's not gonna happen. And you know what,

0:34:03.280 --> 0:34:05.680
<v Speaker 2>it may not happen just the way that you wanted

0:34:05.680 --> 0:34:09.080
<v Speaker 2>it to happen, because sometimes you have to put the

0:34:09.200 --> 0:34:13.240
<v Speaker 2>seed of your dream in the soil of your faith

0:34:13.640 --> 0:34:17.040
<v Speaker 2>so that God's dream for your life can but for.

0:34:18.360 --> 0:34:22.920
<v Speaker 1>Yet, when planted, it grows.

0:34:24.360 --> 0:34:28.280
<v Speaker 2>And I prayed for you, Peter, that after you failed,

0:34:28.280 --> 0:34:31.239
<v Speaker 2>that your faith would not fail, and that after you

0:34:31.400 --> 0:34:35.960
<v Speaker 2>had returned, you would strengthen your brethren. You're coming up

0:34:36.000 --> 0:34:39.040
<v Speaker 2>out of the dirt. You're coming up out of this failure.

0:34:39.360 --> 0:34:43.040
<v Speaker 2>This is not your final resting place. Don't just stare

0:34:43.280 --> 0:34:46.680
<v Speaker 2>and don't look at what you see, cause we don't.

0:34:46.480 --> 0:34:49.560
<v Speaker 8>Fix our eyes on what is seen. What is seen

0:34:49.680 --> 0:34:53.320
<v Speaker 8>is temporary. I'm only in this ground for a minute.

0:34:53.480 --> 0:34:57.239
<v Speaker 8>But I'm coming up bigger than before. I'm coming up

0:34:57.600 --> 0:35:01.799
<v Speaker 8>stronger than before. I'm coming up full of faith, full

0:35:01.840 --> 0:35:05.520
<v Speaker 8>of wisdom, full of lessons, full of purpose, full of

0:35:05.600 --> 0:35:06.760
<v Speaker 8>love our planet.

0:35:13.080 --> 0:35:17.400
<v Speaker 2>Yet the only way for the seed to grow was

0:35:17.440 --> 0:35:22.319
<v Speaker 2>for it to disappear into the soil. And the only

0:35:22.360 --> 0:35:27.160
<v Speaker 2>way for Abraham's faith to be proven was for his

0:35:27.239 --> 0:35:32.840
<v Speaker 2>hope to be blanted in the soil of disappointment. Yet

0:35:34.120 --> 0:35:38.120
<v Speaker 2>he didn't waver in his faith. What do you mean, Paul,

0:35:39.200 --> 0:35:40.480
<v Speaker 2>he slept.

0:35:40.960 --> 0:35:45.520
<v Speaker 1>With his wife's assistant. Yeah, but.

0:35:47.719 --> 0:35:50.800
<v Speaker 2>Faith isn't defined by what you do in your weak moments.

0:35:54.760 --> 0:36:04.279
<v Speaker 1>That's not how the narrator the narrator. You know what

0:36:04.320 --> 0:36:08.320
<v Speaker 1>you have in your life. You have a third person narrator.

0:36:10.640 --> 0:36:12.960
<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna break it down even more for the English teachers,

0:36:13.800 --> 0:36:17.400
<v Speaker 2>it's a third person omniscient narrator.

0:36:18.400 --> 0:36:21.200
<v Speaker 1>Because you've got different kinds of narrators. It's the first person.

0:36:21.400 --> 0:36:23.600
<v Speaker 2>And when you narrate your life in the first person,

0:36:23.840 --> 0:36:26.040
<v Speaker 2>you look at yourself and you say it is what

0:36:26.080 --> 0:36:29.400
<v Speaker 2>it is. But what a narrator can do in telling

0:36:29.440 --> 0:36:31.120
<v Speaker 2>the story, and this is what faith.

0:36:30.880 --> 0:36:32.640
<v Speaker 1>Can do in your life.

0:36:32.960 --> 0:36:38.000
<v Speaker 2>Faith can show you that although it is what it is,

0:36:40.040 --> 0:36:46.120
<v Speaker 2>it's not what it seems. And in between denial and

0:36:46.200 --> 0:36:51.000
<v Speaker 2>despair is destiny.

0:36:52.440 --> 0:36:53.200
<v Speaker 1>To stand and know.

0:36:55.760 --> 0:37:02.840
<v Speaker 2>That God has planted me and I will produce my purpose.

0:37:05.280 --> 0:37:08.239
<v Speaker 2>You got a disappointment in your life, It is what

0:37:08.320 --> 0:37:16.960
<v Speaker 2>it is. No needn't deny it. You fell short. It

0:37:17.040 --> 0:37:21.640
<v Speaker 2>is what it is. Boy, Even just that first half

0:37:21.640 --> 0:37:25.160
<v Speaker 2>alone would be a good start, wouldn't it, just to

0:37:25.200 --> 0:37:27.239
<v Speaker 2>say it.

0:37:27.200 --> 0:37:27.919
<v Speaker 1>Is what it is.

0:37:29.239 --> 0:37:31.799
<v Speaker 2>That I can't come in church and pretend to be

0:37:31.840 --> 0:37:36.600
<v Speaker 2>something that I'm not and expect to be blessed in

0:37:36.680 --> 0:37:37.719
<v Speaker 2>my state of pretension.

0:37:40.000 --> 0:37:42.920
<v Speaker 1>I was reading something because I'm reading.

0:37:42.680 --> 0:37:45.759
<v Speaker 2>Through Mark a little bit, preparing these sermons for you,

0:37:46.640 --> 0:37:48.320
<v Speaker 2>and I started the series in Mark, and I was

0:37:48.480 --> 0:37:50.400
<v Speaker 2>over there about the woman with the issue of blood,

0:37:51.280 --> 0:37:53.480
<v Speaker 2>just for a Bible lesson for you. She had been

0:37:53.880 --> 0:37:55.719
<v Speaker 2>going around to a bunch of different doctors and they

0:37:55.800 --> 0:37:57.920
<v Speaker 2>kept saying, you know, this is what it is, and

0:37:57.960 --> 0:38:00.319
<v Speaker 2>this is what it is. And she came to Jesus

0:38:00.360 --> 0:38:01.879
<v Speaker 2>and he was able to fix it for what it

0:38:01.920 --> 0:38:06.520
<v Speaker 2>really was, because anyway you can try to fix all

0:38:06.560 --> 0:38:08.280
<v Speaker 2>kinds of things in your life because he diagnosed according

0:38:08.280 --> 0:38:10.080
<v Speaker 2>to the symptoms, but never really get down to the

0:38:10.200 --> 0:38:12.680
<v Speaker 2>systemic parts that cause the symptoms. And you run around

0:38:12.680 --> 0:38:14.400
<v Speaker 2>to a bunch of different doctors, a lot of different men,

0:38:14.400 --> 0:38:15.759
<v Speaker 2>a lot of different women, a lot of different churches,

0:38:15.800 --> 0:38:17.520
<v Speaker 2>a lot of different relationships, a lot of different places,

0:38:17.520 --> 0:38:19.279
<v Speaker 2>trying to get it fixed. But until you get to

0:38:19.320 --> 0:38:21.640
<v Speaker 2>the guy who really knows what it is, it can't

0:38:21.640 --> 0:38:31.440
<v Speaker 2>be healed. What I never noticed before is it said

0:38:31.520 --> 0:38:33.719
<v Speaker 2>that the woman when she came to Jesus, because I

0:38:33.760 --> 0:38:36.080
<v Speaker 2>always saw the story like faith, just big faith. She

0:38:36.080 --> 0:38:38.160
<v Speaker 2>came through the crowd, and she pressed through the crowd,

0:38:38.360 --> 0:38:39.719
<v Speaker 2>and she said, if I can touch the him of

0:38:39.760 --> 0:38:41.719
<v Speaker 2>his garment, I'll be made whole. And I always was

0:38:41.719 --> 0:38:44.799
<v Speaker 2>so focused on that that I miss the part where

0:38:44.800 --> 0:38:47.680
<v Speaker 2>it said that the woman, knowing what had happened to her,

0:38:47.960 --> 0:38:50.640
<v Speaker 2>came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear,

0:38:50.920 --> 0:38:51.640
<v Speaker 2>told him.

0:38:51.480 --> 0:38:52.280
<v Speaker 1>The whole truth.

0:38:56.680 --> 0:38:59.839
<v Speaker 2>It was her faith that healed her, but it was

0:39:00.239 --> 0:39:12.600
<v Speaker 2>her honesty that made her faith authentic. So the Lord

0:39:12.640 --> 0:39:15.640
<v Speaker 2>told me to give you two things to come out

0:39:15.640 --> 0:39:16.120
<v Speaker 2>of denial.

0:39:17.280 --> 0:39:20.040
<v Speaker 1>It is what it is, and you can say it.

0:39:20.080 --> 0:39:22.920
<v Speaker 1>You can say I feel lonely in this season.

0:39:24.560 --> 0:39:30.160
<v Speaker 2>Now be careful who you say it too, because you

0:39:30.239 --> 0:39:33.400
<v Speaker 2>can say it in Delilah's barbershop and wake up with

0:39:33.480 --> 0:39:36.120
<v Speaker 2>a buzz cut that you weren't expecting. So don't just

0:39:36.160 --> 0:39:39.759
<v Speaker 2>say it to anybody. But God can handle it. God

0:39:39.800 --> 0:39:44.279
<v Speaker 2>can handle it. I talked to God real as if

0:39:44.280 --> 0:39:46.640
<v Speaker 2>I'm talking to a friend, because the Bible said Abraham

0:39:46.680 --> 0:39:48.080
<v Speaker 2>was a friend of God, and if I'm his seed,

0:39:48.080 --> 0:39:50.280
<v Speaker 2>i'm his friend too. And friends can talk to friends.

0:39:50.440 --> 0:39:52.200
<v Speaker 2>And he's my father, but he's my friend, and I

0:39:52.200 --> 0:39:54.160
<v Speaker 2>can come to him and say, you know, I don't

0:39:54.239 --> 0:39:59.359
<v Speaker 2>get you right now, sir, your majesty, because I don't

0:39:59.360 --> 0:39:59.920
<v Speaker 2>want to lighten.

0:40:00.200 --> 0:40:04.000
<v Speaker 1>Or anything like that. So I it is what it is.

0:40:05.400 --> 0:40:07.880
<v Speaker 1>It is what it is. You know. I feel like

0:40:07.920 --> 0:40:09.200
<v Speaker 1>nobody appreciates me right now.

0:40:09.280 --> 0:40:11.480
<v Speaker 2>God, just make sure that when you tell God how

0:40:11.520 --> 0:40:15.120
<v Speaker 2>you feel, that you let him narrate what you should

0:40:15.160 --> 0:40:18.920
<v Speaker 2>do by faith, not feelings.

0:40:24.440 --> 0:40:26.560
<v Speaker 1>It's okay to say it.

0:40:26.560 --> 0:40:31.480
<v Speaker 2>It's okay, it's ok it's okay to Abraham.

0:40:30.320 --> 0:40:31.520
<v Speaker 1>Face the fact.

0:40:33.160 --> 0:40:35.279
<v Speaker 2>Look at all these debts I have, Look at what

0:40:35.320 --> 0:40:39.840
<v Speaker 2>the doctors are saying, face it, face it in faith,

0:40:41.600 --> 0:40:47.160
<v Speaker 2>Face it in faith, Face it in faith. Come out

0:40:47.160 --> 0:40:50.759
<v Speaker 2>of the spirit and realize that whatever it is that

0:40:50.800 --> 0:40:56.520
<v Speaker 2>you're looking at, it's not the end. It's a portal

0:40:57.960 --> 0:41:07.440
<v Speaker 2>to your potential. It's not buried, it's planted, it's not over.

0:41:08.239 --> 0:41:09.799
<v Speaker 2>It's just in transition.

0:41:10.960 --> 0:41:15.719
<v Speaker 1>It is what it is, But.

0:41:15.840 --> 0:41:18.880
<v Speaker 8>My faith told me to tell.

0:41:18.680 --> 0:41:22.560
<v Speaker 1>You it's not what it seems.

0:41:23.640 --> 0:41:26.360
<v Speaker 8>If you receive this word, get.

0:41:26.280 --> 0:41:28.040
<v Speaker 1>Up on your feet and.

0:41:28.239 --> 0:41:34.640
<v Speaker 7>Give your job, a great ray, a heart right, a

0:41:34.880 --> 0:41:35.600
<v Speaker 7>fake rain.

0:41:38.719 --> 0:41:39.839
<v Speaker 1>Thank you for joining us.

0:41:40.120 --> 0:41:42.600
<v Speaker 2>Special thanks to those of you who give generously to

0:41:42.640 --> 0:41:46.120
<v Speaker 2>this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.

0:41:46.600 --> 0:41:49.080
<v Speaker 2>You can click the link in the description to give now,

0:41:49.680 --> 0:41:53.040
<v Speaker 2>or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more

0:41:53.040 --> 0:41:56.680
<v Speaker 2>information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

0:41:57.120 --> 0:41:59.200
<v Speaker 1>You can share it with your friends. You can click

0:41:59.200 --> 0:42:01.279
<v Speaker 1>the share button, take a screenshot.

0:42:00.960 --> 0:42:03.000
<v Speaker 2>And share it on your social stories and tag us

0:42:03.000 --> 0:42:04.080
<v Speaker 2>at Elevation Church.

0:42:04.120 --> 0:42:05.759
<v Speaker 1>Thanks again for listening. God bless you