WEBVTT - More Than Miracles (Holly Furtick) 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:07.040 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.400 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.440 it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:15.160 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:22.439 Are you excited about God's word today? Holly's gonna preach. 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:24.280 But before she does, no, hold on, I didn't tell 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:26.439 you this. She's walking toward the stage to stay there. 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:29.920 I want to bring up. Both of the boys are 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:33.760 wearing a suit. Graham's is safety pind because the tailor 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.199 is quarantined a safe depend at the bottom, so don't 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:38.880 look at that. And Elijah had some yogurt on this lapel, 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:40.280 but I think we baby wiped it off. And Abby 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:42.199 looks perfectly. She always does. Say you'll come on up 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:52.199 for a minute, and Abby's gonna introduce you. So handsome, 0:00:53.640 --> 0:01:04.040 so handsome, so good, so good. Hey baby, all right, 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:06.800 go ahead and bring out her pulpit. We've got to 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:12.160 be ready at the table, coffee table, whatever here, let's 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:14.720 make up. Let's make a line together. Who stands where? 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:17.960 All right? You hold her mike, then you go on 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:20.720 the other side. You hold her hand and just face 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:22.319 right that way where Holly's about to come up. Don't 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:25.000 don't step back, the table's coming. I did that one time. 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:27.240 I tripped over that table so bad? Did you bring 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:29.800 it out the week I tripped over sixteen sixty sixtet? 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:35.240 Did you thank God for your biceps? Man? You've been 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:42.720 taking a creatine on quarantine? Haven't you creatine on quarantine? Anyway? 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:44.280 Just hold that might you want to hold it yourself? 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:47.960 You hold it? Hold her hand? Boy? How strong would 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:50.840 you you want to hold his hand? All right? Just 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:57.480 read the pig? Yeah, go ahead. I want to tell 0:01:57.520 --> 0:01:59.560 you a little about my mom before she preaches to 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:03.080 you today. You probably already know that she likes to read, 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:05.120 but I bet you didn't know that she doesn't read 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:07.960 the books on paper, but she listens to them on audible. 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:11.760 She probably doesn't want you to know that. She's loved 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:14.040 backs and purses since she was about three years old 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:17.200 and used to take her mom's purses and grocery bags 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:20.239 and put her toys in them. She always takes time 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.280 to cook delicious, healthy meals for our family. But my 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:25.880 favorite thing about her is how she tucks me at 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:29.079 night and reads me and prays for me. So Elevation 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:32.680 Church all over the world, let's welcome my mom Holifredick. 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:39.639 Surely I look like I sent out a dress a 0:02:39.680 --> 0:03:04.959 little remember better than marka for I don't know. There's 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.240 not a lot of people, but the ten who are 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:10.360 here really love you. I'm gonna sit down in a minute, 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:12.800 I promised, But you've got something exciting coming up, and 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.440 I wanted to make sure the entire church family knew 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:19.560 about it, so share it. Okay, So this Wednesday, I 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:25.040 am starting a live, open enrollment of missus better half. 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:29.000 It's a Bible study that I wrote several years ago. 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:33.280 It's actually something that was sort of birthed out of 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:35.920 our house. Exactly. I was going to say that I 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:39.600 would watch her welcome all of these women into our home. 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:41.880 I had to take the kids, and you'll remember we 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:44.880 would go to a movie or go to what's that 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.960 restaurant Highway fifty five, and we would bug out while 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:49.800 she would teach the women the study. And remember the 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:51.800 house would always be full of women and she'd be 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.680 teaching them about being a wife and not really trying 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:57.040 to lecture, but just sharing from experience. So I had 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.280 one group and then another group and then another group, 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:03.000 and was like, you should do this as an actual study. 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:06.200 And you, from my perspective, you're too humble sometimes so 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:08.160 you're like, well, I don't do Bible studies. And then 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:09.960 you did it and God has used it in a 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:13.480 great way. And we were taking a walk the other 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:17.640 day and I said, people right now that either if 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:20.120 they're quarantined or if they're just like they've been spent 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:23.039 too much time with people that they're with, you should 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:26.440 do becoming this is better half study for the whole world, 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:28.919 and do it on Facebook live and and do it 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:31.640 each week. And so she committed to do that, and 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:33.840 I think it's going to be absolutely amazing to share 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.919 this with our family. At this time, I'm really excited. 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.960 So it's going to be live every Wednesday night on 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:42.640 Facebook and all you have to do to be a 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:45.880 part is completely free, is go to Hollyfordick dot com 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:49.920 and register because it is a Facebook group, so it's 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.719 not just like open to everyone, it's a group, so 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:53.800 you have to ask to be a part of the 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:56.599 group and we will let you in and you don't 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.240 need a book. Some people will have a book, but 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:01.320 we'll have a digital of the book available for you 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:05.920 within the Facebook group. And I'm kind of nervous about it, 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:08.840 but I'm also really excited. All Right, if you're coming 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:10.560 to the study, say I'm in in the chat so 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.119 she can know she's not going to be better half along. 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.359 That's going to be amazing. And you can jump in 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:18.800 this Wednesday. If you're watching this later, you can jump 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:21.800 in later on as well, completely free. Our gift to 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:25.600 you during this time, ye preach the word you look amazing. 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:29.359 Thank you, you are amazing. I mean that, and I 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:32.280 thank God that God gave you a husband that cleans 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:34.320 up as well as me. I love you, you look good. 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:42.280 Preach the word come on, let's give it up for Holly. 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:46.359 So that was very special, guys. I wanted to go 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:49.400 on record and let everyone know that it was Elijah's 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:53.080 idea for them to dress up and wear suits and 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.119 so not his dad, and his dad said yes, let's 0:05:56.160 --> 0:06:00.640 do it, and Graham said are we we want to 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.719 do that? And guys, thank you, thank you for dressing 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.960 up and being here at Abby, thank you for introducing me. 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:12.160 That was so special. I love you, guys, I love 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:17.320 you too. Everybody watching Hi. Before I start, I have 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:21.920 to say my piece about the Blessing because I am 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:25.599 just continually amazed. I don't know if you are, but 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:28.279 I just can't seem to get used to the fact 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:33.039 that God is continually using this church and this ministry 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:36.440 all across the world. I love how almost every video 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:39.600 showcases people who are part of the Elevation family all 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:43.280 over the world. And the music, the freaking music. Can 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:46.880 I say that God is taking these songs that my 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:49.919 husband and Chris and our Elevation Worship team have written 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:52.960 in He is using them to bring hope and peace 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:56.960 during such a crazy time of uncertainty. And what I 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.320 can't believe is that we get to hear them first. 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.120 Whether you're in the building or you're watching online, we 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.320 get to hear these songs first. They're birthed here and 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:09.640 they're sung here. And the Blessing, all of those people 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:12.160 that were singing the Blessing, we got to sing it 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:16.120 here first on this stage. And I don't I've never 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:19.000 had a song that gets me every time like that 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:21.320 one does, and I can't seem to listen to it enough. 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:25.240 Yesterday I was walking down this greenway and I was 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:27.600 listening and I was like, I was I think I 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:30.720 was by myself, but I was like lifting my hands 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:33.880 and I was singing. And I have to say, personally, 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:37.480 my favorite part of the blessing the live version that's 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:39.840 on the Elevation album Graves in the Gardens. If you 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:43.960 don't have it, you're dumb. But my favorite part of 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.280 my favorite part, Babe, is when you say you take 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.160 the stage. Do you know what I'm about to say? 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.280 And he comes up, and you know, everybody's singing and 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:55.120 it's you wanted to go into the blessing one more time? 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:59.080 And he goes put another blessing on him? Carrie, do 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.239 you know that you do that? It's my favorite part. 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:06.320 So anyway, thank you Pastor Stephen for pushing so hard 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.240 and writing such incredible songs in Elevation Worship. Where have 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.720 you guys went? You are blessing us in this season. 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:16.200 So Happy Mother's Day. It's my turn to say Happy 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.240 Mother's Day to all of the ladies who are watching. 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:23.160 My mom is watching. I love you Mom. This year 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:27.640 I sent my mom a beautiful little framed print of 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:30.920 a church and the title of the print was called 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.679 Vincing's My soul, and I wrote her a little letter 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:37.240 and told her that I was grateful for her for 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:41.280 raising me in the church. Some of my earliest memories 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:44.120 are at church, and it's now the thing that I've 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:46.760 chosen to give my life to. So thank you, Mom 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:51.679 for planning those seeds in me. I love you. I 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:54.640 also feel like Mother's Day is a day to celebrate 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:59.480 all women. A woman's touch is a beautiful thing in 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:02.000 this world, and so I also want to take the 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:04.800 opportunity to say to all of the ladies under the 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.640 sound of my voice, that I honor you today and 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:10.960 I want to thank you for loving and nurturing and 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.920 caring for all of those that God has placed in 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:16.600 your life. I love that they use that scripture Proverbs 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.360 thirty one where it says her children rise up and 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:22.200 call her blessed. And I hope that everyone watching today 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:24.520 will take a moment to reach out to a few women. 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:26.520 I mean, I know you've already reached out to your mom, 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:28.640 but if you'll take a minute to reach out to 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:31.440 a few women who've impacted your life today and just 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:33.760 thank them. It could be a teacher, or a friend, 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.040 or just a woman that you look up to. And 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:41.080 let them know how they have impacted your life. You know, 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:45.120 I feel like I feel like these past two months 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:48.840 have been particularly hard on the women, and so I 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:51.080 want to take a second to honor some of the 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:53.920 hero moms that I feel like need to be shouted 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:58.520 out today. Okay, so shout out to the mom whose 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:02.840 kids cannot fix it own cereal. If that's you, just 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:05.559 type it in the chat, yes, Lord, and we all 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:08.280 salute you. All of the moms whose kids can fix 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.600 their own cereal. We we're sorry that you're still in 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:14.040 that stage, but we shout you out. Shout out to 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:16.960 the mom who thought she had an empty nest, but 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:19.760 all your adult children came back to invade what would 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:22.120 have been a very peaceful quarantine for you, and you're 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.439 cooking food for an army of people. If that's you, 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:28.240 type yes Lord in the chat. Okay, Shout out to 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:32.200 the mom whose kids cannot read the directions that were 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:35.720 sent to them by their teacher. If that's you, I'm 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:40.360 so sorry. Just say yes Lord, and we will. We will, 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:43.480 we will give our blessings to you and call you 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:47.000 our hero. This one's for me. I'm shouting myself out. 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:49.600 Shout out to the moms of teenage boys who cannot 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:53.280 get enough to eat. My boys do not accept cereal 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:56.560 for dinner as an answer. Cereal is like a post dinner, 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.640 pre dessert thing in our house. A box of cereal 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:04.560 law one day and poor Abby, you guys, Poor Abby, 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:07.520 She's going to have some serious foodishes because she's always 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.600 hiding food in her room from her brother so that 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:12.560 they don't get it. Do I have any moms have 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:15.560 teenage boys out there to support me? I cooked dinner 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:18.440 last night. I made the same recipe that I made 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:20.680 like I probably made it three months ago, and we 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:24.079 had leftovers, and last night there was there was no 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:26.360 food left and my husband went to get seconds and 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:30.199 he was like, guys's where's the I'm telling you, the 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:34.880 food is an issue in our house. Shout out to 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:37.839 tell the working moms out there, because I cannot tell 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:40.120 you how many zoom calls I've been in where a 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:43.880 mom is walking a baby or kids come in and interrupt. 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:47.319 And I'm also shouting myself out on this one because 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.360 my kids just come in the room like they don't 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:52.560 check to see, they don't listen at the door to 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:54.640 see if you're like talking to yourself or anything. They 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:57.040 just walk in the room talking to you. Anybody, any 0:11:57.160 --> 0:12:00.439 working moms out there, you feel my pain. And Abby 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:02.760 came into my office the other day and I was 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:04.679 on a zoom call and she was like the fourth 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:07.640 person that interrupted me. And my husband wasn't one of them. 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:10.080 I mean, they just kept coming into the room and 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:12.559 she comes in and I turned around and I was 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:17.719 so done, and I looked at her like what and 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:21.560 she goes, you obviously don't want to talk to me 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:23.960 right now, and she stopped out of the room like 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:26.200 I was the one who was being rude. Anyone out 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:29.720 there with me on this Okay. Shout out to the 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:32.360 moms of the kids who have special needs. I just 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:35.760 want to say, your sacrifice is an example to all 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:38.760 of us and you are a hero. And one last time, 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.600 one last shout out. Shout out to all the moms 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:44.480 who have missed milestones these past few months, whether it 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:47.720 was a graduation, or the birth of a grandchild, or 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:51.040 even a wedding. I am I'm so sorry, and I'm 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:54.840 praying that God would multiply back to you everything that 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:58.319 you have missed during this season. Ladies, wherever you are, 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.959 whatever stage of life you're in, You're doing better than 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:05.040 you think you are. That is one of my favorite 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.679 lines from a Stephen Ferdick sermon. How many of you 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:11.160 want another throwback Thursday? I want another throwback Thursday, and 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.440 I'm calling for them to play my husband's sermon. The 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:18.080 most encouraging message you've never heard, and it's a word 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:20.920 for all the moms, because you are doing better than 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:23.880 you think you are. And I'm praying over you today 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:26.360 that no matter what this Mother's Day is like for you, 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:29.160 that you would feel encouraged and that you would feel comforting. 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:31.800 Am I losing the guys out there? They're like, hello, 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.360 I promise that my message is for everyone today and 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:39.199 I'm about to get to it. So right now, I'm 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:42.160 really excited to bring this word today. I have the 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:45.320 privilege of thinking about my sermons for a lot longer 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:48.520 than Pastor Stephen does. He has an average of six days, 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:51.920 and I, on the other hand, have the ability to 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:55.040 just gather, gather, gather, and mentally think about next time 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:56.760 I preach what I want to preach about. So this 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.199 sermon that I'm bringing you today, I actually started taking 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:02.880 down little notes on it in October and so I 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:05.440 feel like everything came together this week as I've been preparing, 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.320 and I'm really excited about what God has to say 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.520 to us today. So will you pray with me before 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:12.360 we get started. God, First of all, I just want 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:14.400 to lift up all the women under the sound of 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:16.800 my voice. And I pray for those who have lost 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:19.360 their mom. And I pray for those who want to 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:21.440 be a mom, and I pray that you would comfort 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:24.400 them today. God, I pray for the woman that is tired, 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:27.560 that you would encourage her today. And God, I'm just 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:31.120 so thankful for all of the women in my life 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:34.280 who have impacted me and encouraged me and prayed for 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.080 me and pushed me. And I'm just so grateful for 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.920 their touch in my life. And so now, Lord, would 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:45.200 you speak to us. We are listening, our ears are open. 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:47.600 You are such a good God, and we counted a 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.480 privilege every time that we get to open up your 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:52.800 word and hear your voice. And is in Jesus' name 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:57.480 we pray Amen. All right, if you have a Bible, 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:04.800 will you turn to John six. In the Book of John, 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:10.640 Jesus makes seven statements. And last month when I preached, 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:13.040 I talked about there's seven I Am statements. And last 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:15.480 month when I preached, I talked about when Jesus said 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:18.320 I am the Way. Today, I want to go back 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.880 and talk about the very first I AM statement that 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:24.280 Jesus presented to his followers, and that is I am 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:29.280 the bread of life to me. This is perhaps the 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.120 best description Jesus could have given himself. Do I have 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:36.520 any other fellow bread lovers out there? I love bread. 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:40.480 I love bread. I think sourdough is my favorite, but 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:43.240 really any warm bread with butter on it, and I 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.240 will throw any diet out the window. Bread it gives, 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:50.479 It gives comfort, and it gives fullness, and it represents 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:53.680 life and sustenance. And today I want to show you 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:57.320 how when Jesus shows up in your life, he starts 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.640 often with the things that he can do for you, 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.800 but he wants to move you in a space of 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:06.440 who he can be to you. All right, So let's 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:10.200 look at John chapter six, verse twenty eight. We're going 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.920 to pick up just after Jesus has performed the miracle 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:17.040 of feeding the five thousand, and here's what it says. 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.400 Then they asked him what must we do to do 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:25.480 the works God requires? Jesus answered, the work of God 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:28.240 is this to believe in the one he has sent. 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:32.120 So they asked him, what side, then, will you give 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:34.840 that we may see it and believe you. What will 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.840 you do our ancestors eight manna in the wilderness. As 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.400 it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:44.160 Jesus said to them, very truly, I tell you, it 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:46.920 is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:49.520 but it is my Father who gives you the true 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.360 bread from heaven. For the Bread of God is the 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.280 bread that comes down from Heaven and gives life to 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:59.320 the world. Sir, they said, always give us this bread. 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:03.680 And then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:07.680 Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:12.280 believes in me will never be thirsty. Today, I want 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:17.000 to talk to you about moving past miracles. My title 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:23.640 is More than Miracles. Several weeks ago, Pastor Stephen started 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:27.040 this series called Looking Forward to Normal, and this series 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:30.800 has just been mind blowing to me. I feel like 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:34.439 every week he comes with the exact words that I 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:36.840 didn't even know that I was needing to hear, Like 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:40.080 he's on this special tap with the Holy Spirit that 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.800 just goes right into my soul. And ever since he 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:46.040 began this idea of looking forward to normal, I've been 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.600 reading the Bible differently, and I've been seeing that all 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:53.119 throughout Jesus's teachings, he was actually trying to get the 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:56.360 people to look forward to normal. But they had such 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.200 a hard time with this, And in this particular passage 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:02.560 of Scripture and the crowds coming to Jesus and expecting 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:07.320 him to repeat the miracles of Moses and actually physically 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.719 lead them out of Roman oppression. But Jesus came to 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:13.400 do so much more than that. He came to bring 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:17.200 a new life. He came to bring a living hope. 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.719 He came to bring a freedom that went so far 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:25.439 beyond their physical captivity. He came to bring them a 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:30.120 relationship with the Living God that would go so far 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:35.680 beyond their traditional religion of following the law and making sacrifices. 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:38.600 The problem with this is that the people could not 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:42.159 see beyond what they thought the Messiah would do, and 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:46.800 they were disappointed. Have you ever been disappointed because following 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.800 God didn't turn out the way that you thought it would. 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.359 I mean, we've all been there. Maybe you've asked God 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.840 for something and he didn't do it. Maybe you thought 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:59.720 God would change something in your life and he still 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.160 hasn't done it. It's easy for me to stand here 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:06.360 and tell you when God doesn't do something for you, 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:08.639 it's because he has something that he wants to do 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:11.800 in you. But it's harder to believe that when you 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.679 can't get past why God didn't do the thing that 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:17.000 you were expecting him to do in the first place. 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:20.360 It's Mother's Day, so I said, okay if I talk 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:23.600 about being a mom, because being a mom has been 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:26.720 one of the most disappointing experiences of my life. Now, 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:31.440 don't get me wrong, it's also been guys. Sorry, it's 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:35.280 also been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:38.960 But it just didn't turn out the way that I 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:43.359 imagine that it was. You see, I wanted to be 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:47.440 a mom from the very beginning. From my earliest memories. 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:50.359 I loved playing with dolls as a little girl. I 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:53.960 loved playing house with my sisters. I always fought it 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:56.960 to be the mom and my older sister Emily would 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:59.960 be the dad. And I'm ashamed to say that sometimes 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:02.040 we would make our little sister Joy play the dog, 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:06.359 sorry toy. But even as I grew up, I loved 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:09.800 babysitting and I loved working in my church nursery. And 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:13.240 when I married the man of my dreams, I wanted 0:20:13.280 --> 0:20:16.440 to start a family right away. And my husband helped 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:18.840 me off for a couple of years because he was 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:22.680 smarter than me. And finally I got pregnant at the 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:28.199 mature age of twenty four, and this beautiful baby was 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:32.000 placed into my arms. And guys, when I tell you 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:36.040 that he came out crying, he came out screaming, and 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:39.960 he did not stop, like for five years, he did 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:43.199 not stop. And the doctors and the nurses would come 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:46.560 into our hospital room and they'd say, wow, he's got 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:50.359 a great set of lungs. We thought that was a compliment. Really, 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:54.360 it's code for your baby's crying really loud. And then 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:57.440 we took him home and he kept crying, and then 0:20:57.480 --> 0:21:02.200 I started crying, and nothing was the way that I thought. 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:03.800 I have a meme that I want to show you. 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:08.320 This is what you thought motherhood would be like versus 0:21:08.440 --> 0:21:14.520 what it's actually like. This one really ministered to my soul. 0:21:15.080 --> 0:21:19.440 This baby came out and there were no flowers, that 0:21:21.040 --> 0:21:23.760 this wasn't the way that I pictured it. But the 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:29.080 problem wasn't the baby. The problem was my expectations of him. 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:34.160 Babies crying, that's what they do, and so I started 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:37.879 asking God to make him stop crying. And God wanted 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:42.040 to draw me closer to him. And God was building 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:45.240 an inner strength in me that I would need for 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:49.960 every stage that would follow. So much of what I 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:52.639 dreamed about when it came to being a mom was 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:57.360 actually based on my ego. Sorry, this isn't turning out 0:21:57.400 --> 0:21:59.359 to be the most comforting Mother's Day message, is it. 0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:00.760 That's not the thing that we want to hear on 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:06.440 Mother's Day. But I had to realize, and I'm still 0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:10.920 fourteen years later learning this that raising kids is mostly 0:22:10.960 --> 0:22:17.280 about releasing your expectations and embracing who God has created 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:21.800 them to be. Have you ever been disappointed because something 0:22:22.040 --> 0:22:24.840 didn't turn out the way you thought it would. I 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:27.800 think we all feel that way about twenty twenty. God, 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:31.600 this is not the way I pictured this going. And 0:22:31.760 --> 0:22:35.120 that's how the Jewish people felt in John six. They 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:39.840 had spent four hundred years waiting for the promised Messiah. 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:43.840 They had memorized the old Testament prophecies, and they had 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:48.400 built up in their mind what they thought the Messiah 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:51.800