Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope
Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to
Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1: This is the truth now that we are so we
Speaker 1: are so glad you're here today. If it is your
Speaker 1: first time, come on, let's show all of our first
Speaker 1: time visitors how much we appreciate them. God is so good.
Speaker 1: I believe He brought you here at a strategic moment.
Speaker 1: Our churches, I guess you could say we have a tradition.
Speaker 1: I know they call us the non traditional church. We've
Speaker 1: got people with purple hair, pink hair, and that's the
Speaker 1: same lady, I'm talking about purple and pink hair on
Speaker 1: the sides and the top. You look amazing. And when
Speaker 1: they call us not traditional, what they mean by that
Speaker 1: is that you can come in no matter if you
Speaker 1: have any religious background or that we're not going to
Speaker 1: just like confine God to the way that he moved,
Speaker 1: you know, fifty years ago, and we're always going to
Speaker 1: be seeking what God is doing now then, certainly we
Speaker 1: are non traditional, but that being said, there are a
Speaker 1: few things that are always appropriate, and so as we
Speaker 1: welcome all of our family across all of our locations today,
Speaker 1: I wanted to let you know that just like families
Speaker 1: have traditions maybe around holidays and different special occasions, we
Speaker 1: have a tradition here at Elevation Church which is to
Speaker 1: end each year with appreciation and anticipation at the same time.
Speaker 1: And we've been doing this since twenty fourteen. And the
Speaker 1: reason I said, I'm so glad if you're here for
Speaker 1: the first time, because this is the absolute best time
Speaker 1: that you could have picked. I don't know who drug
Speaker 1: you here, or who drugged you and brought you here.
Speaker 1: We've got some aggressive evangelists at Elevation Church, some unusual tactics,
Speaker 1: but I was going to say that you are about
Speaker 1: to see I believe it, you are about to see
Speaker 1: faith in action over the next five weeks in a
Speaker 1: way that is going to inspire you and bless you.
Speaker 1: And the way we do it is each year we
Speaker 1: select a word. I started this in twenty fourteen. Of
Speaker 1: course the church is on our fourteenth year. But in
Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, the Lord led me to begin. I remember
Speaker 1: sending chunks to text. I want to end the year
Speaker 1: with the season of faith and expansion, and I want
Speaker 1: to challenge the people to bring their best offering to
Speaker 1: God at the end of the year, to commemorate what
Speaker 1: He's done and to prepare for what He's going to do.
Speaker 1: And the thing that's so unusual about it is this
Speaker 1: is not a sad or stingy or weird time for us.
Speaker 1: It's really a privilege. It's really a privilege. And through
Speaker 1: the years, we've chosen different words. I remember one year
Speaker 1: the word was I think the first year the word
Speaker 1: was surround, and then we chose the word beyond, and
Speaker 1: then we chose the word fulfilled. I remember one year
Speaker 1: we did waymaker. Last year we came around the word
Speaker 1: game changer, and we just spent some time teaching around
Speaker 1: this word. This year, the word that God has given
Speaker 1: me is based on a song that we sang a
Speaker 1: few minutes ago, and the word is available, available, and
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about that word together as a
Speaker 1: movement as a global church body that God is. I
Speaker 1: never see you as a crowd, I never do. I
Speaker 1: see you as a living, breathing Advancing Church of Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: and so to take these moments over the next few
Speaker 1: weeks and just ask God to increase how many want
Speaker 1: God to increase your faith? Some of y'all raise your
Speaker 1: hand a little slower because you know what He does
Speaker 1: to increase your faith. He increases your need for faith.
Speaker 1: So we're going to talk about that. And on your
Speaker 1: way to your seat, before I get into the message today,
Speaker 1: just ask the person next to you, not in like
Speaker 1: a creepy swiping kind of way, but ask him are
Speaker 1: you available? Amen, you may be seated. As I already said,
Speaker 1: welcome to all of our locations, our EPAM around the world.
Speaker 1: Come on, Valentine, let's welcome all of our locations and
Speaker 1: our extended family joining us. Now. It's a beautiful scripture
Speaker 1: I want to show you today as we begin this
Speaker 1: journey of faith over the next five weeks. Of course,
Speaker 1: our teaching will culminate in an offering on December the
Speaker 1: seventh and eighth. That weekend, thousands of people will bring
Speaker 1: their best offering. And really, the church is not built
Speaker 1: on special offerings, but people who consistently give to God,
Speaker 1: just like kids aren't raised by uncles that show up
Speaker 1: on Christmas. Right, it's the daily, it's the discipline, and
Speaker 1: so I thank God for each and every one of you.
Speaker 1: But I want to show you a scripture today as
Speaker 1: we begin this journey about being available to God. And
Speaker 1: if I could give you a thesis for this series.
Speaker 1: It goes back to a cliche I heard as a
Speaker 1: young man. And some cliches are corny, but they're still true.
Speaker 1: And one man told me when I started walking with
Speaker 1: the Lord, he said, it is not about your ability,
Speaker 1: it's about your availability. I didn't know if he was
Speaker 1: right when he said it, but I promise you I
Speaker 1: am not one of these pastors who had a promising
Speaker 1: career in the NBA but decided to serve God. I
Speaker 1: was five foot eight and a half when God called me.
Speaker 1: If you hear my early preaching tapes, not only did
Speaker 1: I have the same little that I have right now
Speaker 1: that comes through and pops through the microphone, they have
Speaker 1: to get me a special thing on my mic because
Speaker 1: is so strong, you know, and my Southern accent was
Speaker 1: so deep that I think people outside of like four
Speaker 1: States had to have a translator. And I was speaking English.
Speaker 1: But just what he said to me, I want to
Speaker 1: show you today for your own life as well, that
Speaker 1: it is never about our ability how much God uses
Speaker 1: us to an extent, you know, like you definitely don't
Speaker 1: need to move to Nashville and be a country singer
Speaker 1: if your wife doesn't even like the way you sing.
Speaker 1: So there is a talent factor that determines what we
Speaker 1: do with our life. But at the same time, I
Speaker 1: want to show you in Second Corinthians chapter nine, and
Speaker 1: I selected this as the richest New Testament scripture on generosity.
Speaker 1: I think if you want to look ultimately to the
Speaker 1: cross where God gave his son, it is the ultimate
Speaker 1: demonstration of generosity, certainly, but if you want to find
Speaker 1: a teaching on generosity, and not just for our offering
Speaker 1: that we're receiving, but just for the way you live
Speaker 1: your life, I believe that Second Corinthians nine gives us
Speaker 1: a template. So go ahead and turn there, or click there,
Speaker 1: or just look at the screen. Who cares you know?
Speaker 1: Either way, I want you to get this word in
Speaker 1: you and ask the person next to you one more time,
Speaker 1: say are you available? Available? Is that how you ask
Speaker 1: people on a date too? Ask them with a clear voice,
Speaker 1: say are you available? And so a lot of times
Speaker 1: while we're trying to get more of God in our life,
Speaker 1: it's like God is trying to get more of us.
Speaker 1: Are you available? Second Corinthians nine, verse six. It's been
Speaker 1: an awkward letter that Paul has written to the Corinthian
Speaker 1: Church because they are so carnal that when they come
Speaker 1: for communion, some of them are getting drunk and turning
Speaker 1: up at the communion table. And that's a really difficult
Speaker 1: pastoral situation. That's why we pass out the grape juice
Speaker 1: in the little cups, just to make sure. And it's
Speaker 1: not only that, but there's a strained relationship as fathers
Speaker 1: and children often go through, between Paul and the church
Speaker 1: that he started, and he's having to, in the midst
Speaker 1: of all of this tension and conflict, prepare them to
Speaker 1: give an offering. And the offering is specifically for the
Speaker 1: believers in Jerusalem, the believers in Jerusalem who are spiritually
Speaker 1: rich and physically poor. Now, the reason I said it
Speaker 1: like that is because you can have it the other
Speaker 1: way around. You can be very, very rich financially and
Speaker 1: be spiritually poor. Some of you are like, well, I'd
Speaker 1: like to try it, you know what I'm saying. That
Speaker 1: sounds good, but he has a challenging task in order
Speaker 1: to get this church Corinth, these gentile believers to give
Speaker 1: to the Jewish Church, the church in Jerusalem. And the
Speaker 1: reason he thinks it's appropriate is because the faith began
Speaker 1: within the Jewish tradition, and then the Christian Church that
Speaker 1: is in Jerusalem, they're undergoing a severe trial, not only persecution,
Speaker 1: but famine. Now, Paul spent about five years of his
Speaker 1: life preparing this offering, so it's a big deal to him.
Speaker 1: It's a big deal to him. And this is what
Speaker 1: you can'tet people to understand. Some things that you just
Speaker 1: walk into are a big deal to somebody sitting next
Speaker 1: to you. Like, make some noise if this church is
Speaker 1: a big deal to you, Like if this is meaningful
Speaker 1: to you, Like if you're not just watching the lights
Speaker 1: in the show and hoping they play reckless love. But
Speaker 1: this is like really your church where God meets with
Speaker 1: you and his presence is important and you love to
Speaker 1: gather together and you are excited about the work of God.
Speaker 1: If you can't help us shout, then go ahead and
Speaker 1: shout and scare your neighbor. They can get heir plugs
Speaker 1: next week If this is a big deal to you,
Speaker 1: shout Gaston, shout Lake Norman, shout all the way from Kenya.
Speaker 1: If this church is a blessing to you, it's a
Speaker 1: big deal. So for Paul, this offering is so important
Speaker 1: that he's sending some delegates to make sure that the
Speaker 1: Corinthian Church doesn't screw this up like they've been screwing
Speaker 1: everything else up. But he's smart, right, he knows that
Speaker 1: in order to get people sometimes to live up to
Speaker 1: their potential, they need a little competition. And in Second
Speaker 1: Corinthians chapter eight, he moves into this comparison about the
Speaker 1: Macedonian Church who have already contributed to the offering, even
Speaker 1: though they had less money than the Corinthians. And then
Speaker 1: he does this move where he says, and I know
Speaker 1: if they did it, you're gonna do it. And as
Speaker 1: he gets into this, he gives a practical illustration. And
Speaker 1: that's what I want to share with you now. The
Speaker 1: title of this message for installment one of available is
Speaker 1: called Kneaders and Feeders. Kneaders and feeders, and we're going
Speaker 1: to locate ourselves in this text. In Second Corinthians, chapter nine, today,
Speaker 1: verse six, we begin, Remember he says, whoever so sparingly
Speaker 1: will also reap sparingly. And see, you don't even have
Speaker 1: to believe in Moses, Abraham and Jesus to say amen
Speaker 1: to that. This is a principle. He says. You know,
Speaker 1: like we would say, you get out of it what
Speaker 1: you put into it. And that's why I'm always interested
Speaker 1: when someone says, like, well, I went to the church,
Speaker 1: but I didn't get anything out of it. I would
Speaker 1: always ask the question, what did you put into it?
Speaker 1: Because the last time I went to the bank and
Speaker 1: ask them for more money than I put in the
Speaker 1: bank account, it didn't work. And you know, the last
Speaker 1: time I went to church and I went with a
Speaker 1: bad attitude and didn't lift my hands because nobody's going
Speaker 1: to manipulate me and worshiping, I just worship. When I
Speaker 1: go in nature with God, I like dear, it didn't work.
Speaker 1: So he says, whoever thos generously will reap generously. Each
Speaker 1: man should give, each man should give, each man should give,
Speaker 1: each man should give. I'm stuck on that part because
Speaker 1: I think some people make excuses. But each man should give.
Speaker 1: Watch this what he has decided in his heart to give,
Speaker 1: not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Speaker 1: And see, I get that right, right? Because God has
Speaker 1: no needs. The definition of God suggests that he is
Speaker 1: self sufficient, and by extension, we are not. And yet,
Speaker 1: have you ever had somebody do something for you that
Speaker 1: was nice, but the way that they did it made
Speaker 1: you wish that they didn't do it? Holly told me
Speaker 1: that one time, early in our marriage. Two things happened
Speaker 1: early in our marriage. I got fat. I gained fifty
Speaker 1: pounds without exercise. I did all that by diet alone.
Speaker 1: I gained fifty pounds off of fried Rice Fetichini Alfreda.
Speaker 1: And I had a realization. You know what I did.
Speaker 1: I was walking by the mirror with my shirt off,
Speaker 1: and I had a revelation moment. I jumped up and
Speaker 1: everything was still shaking, like thirty seconds later, and I realized,
Speaker 1: if I don't get some disciplines, I'm gonna get I
Speaker 1: can get fat being married to this woman, You know,
Speaker 1: you can get fat. Coming to a church like Elevation,
Speaker 1: you can get fat because these singers are so good
Speaker 1: and these musicians are so good and the people, Oh
Speaker 1: did you see the creators win when you walked in,
Speaker 1: How happy they look. And they've been here since six o'clock.
Speaker 1: Did you see how happy they were to see you?
Speaker 1: Were they happy? I'm just checking. I went through a
Speaker 1: different door. But see, when I was growing up in church, right,
Speaker 1: the church I grew up in was small, and then
Speaker 1: the church that I learned to do ministry and was small.
Speaker 1: It would only have one hundred people in it. And
Speaker 1: what that meant was that if you missed church. When
Speaker 1: Pastor Mickey used to go up and he'd be turning
Speaker 1: to a scripture, he turned to the scripture. While he
Speaker 1: was turning, he had this little notepad, little memo book,
Speaker 1: and he'd be writing something down in the pad. And
Speaker 1: I thought for the longest time that he was writing scriptures,
Speaker 1: that God was giving him, that God was speaking to
Speaker 1: him when he took the pulpit. Then one day asked him,
Speaker 1: He's like, no, that's my seating chart. Because on the
Speaker 1: way home, if you missed church at Santis Circle Baptist Mission,
Speaker 1: you would get a call from Pastor Mickey White's bag phone.
Speaker 1: Zach Morris would call you on the way home from
Speaker 1: church talking about I missed you today, big boy. You
Speaker 1: weren't there on the third row, second seat in like
Speaker 1: you always are. Now I'm gonna see you back next
Speaker 1: to me. I don't care if you were throwing up,
Speaker 1: wear a surgical mask and come to church. He had
Speaker 1: no time for it. We need you here. But in
Speaker 1: a church like this you can begin to feel like
Speaker 1: you are not needed and you are not known. And
Speaker 1: in one sense, you were right. God doesn't need you.
Speaker 1: God doesn't need me. If I drop this mic, God'll
Speaker 1: put a gift to preaching somebody else and they'll pick
Speaker 1: it up and preach it better. That sets me free,
Speaker 1: by the way, because then I can understand that God
Speaker 1: loves a cheerful giver. And one day Holly cooked for me.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm fifty pounds heavier then when she married me,
Speaker 1: and I was over there washing the dishes, and I
Speaker 1: was so proud. I was washing the dishes, and I
Speaker 1: started whistling, you know, to get her attention so she
Speaker 1: could see I was washing the dishes. And after about
Speaker 1: a little you know, three little statements that I made
Speaker 1: about I don't mind washing the dishes, something I enjoyed
Speaker 1: doing to serve my wife as Christ loved the church,
Speaker 1: you know' and a big deal of it. She said,
Speaker 1: I would rather you not do it if I have
Speaker 1: to hear this much about it. Yeah, asked somebody. They
Speaker 1: did something for you, but they made it look so
Speaker 1: hard while they were doing it. You know, God, I
Speaker 1: thought about calling this message. God doesn't want it. If
Speaker 1: we come to God with an attitude like wow, God
Speaker 1: is so lucky to have us. If we think that
Speaker 1: bringing our presence into the presence of God is a
Speaker 1: favor to him, we probably read the book backwards. See,
Speaker 1: it is not my presence that is honored. It is
Speaker 1: God's presence that is invaluable. And I know in a
Speaker 1: time you know, where we worship celebrities, we don't worship
Speaker 1: the Creator. We worship the gifts that he gave people
Speaker 1: that he created. And that's messed up because See, God
Speaker 1: was God before a celebrity shouted him out. God was God.
Speaker 1: God doesn't need a celebrity to make him cool for
Speaker 1: him to be God. God sits on a throne. God
Speaker 1: feels heaven and earth. God is the Ancient of days.
Speaker 1: God is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the earth.
Speaker 1: God is the Great I Am. God is the breath
Speaker 1: of life. God is el Shadai. God is hello. He
Speaker 1: doesn't need anything, and if he needs it, he'll speak
Speaker 1: it because his word is power. Somebody shout, as you know,
Speaker 1: you'll serve a God who is able to supply your neees.
Speaker 1: So Paul says, I want to give you the privilege
Speaker 1: to give to something bigger than you. And remember this,
Speaker 1: If you so sparingly, you reap sparingly. If you so generously,
Speaker 1: you reap generously. And verse eight is something that I
Speaker 1: want you to internalize and really let it become a
Speaker 1: reflection in your heart. Do you believe what verse eight says?
Speaker 1: And God is able? All right? Take that much? Now
Speaker 1: add this to make all grace abound to you. Please
Speaker 1: forgive me for truncating this. I could spend all five
Speaker 1: weeks on that part of that verse and still not
Speaker 1: do it justice, because, like everything about that verse is
Speaker 1: a challenge for me to believe. And God is able
Speaker 1: to make all grace abound to you. A lot of
Speaker 1: times I believe that God's grace is available to others,
Speaker 1: But do you believe that God is able to make
Speaker 1: all grace abound to you? And he goes further. He says,
Speaker 1: God is able to make all grace abound to you,
Speaker 1: so that in all things, at all times, having all
Speaker 1: that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Speaker 1: As it is written, he has scattered abroad his gifts
Speaker 1: to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. Now he who
Speaker 1: supplies seed to the sower and is about to get
Speaker 1: good because Paul is about to let us in on
Speaker 1: a principle that explains why some of us are struggling
Speaker 1: with discouragement. And even though we pray about it, we
Speaker 1: don't seem to receive what we need from the Lord. Okay,
Speaker 1: so let's slow down and read this. Now, he who
Speaker 1: supplies what talk to me, he who supplies seed to
Speaker 1: the sower and bread for food, will also supply and
Speaker 1: increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest
Speaker 1: of your righteousness. What that verse means is not that
Speaker 1: God will just give you a harvest because you asked
Speaker 1: for it. What the verse says is that God supplies
Speaker 1: seed to the sower. And the question is not is
Speaker 1: God able? The question is are you a sower? Or
Speaker 1: have you allowed yourself to be lulled into a complacent,
Speaker 1: consumeristic Christianity that bears more resemblance to a kid making
Speaker 1: their Christmas list than a Christian who is serving Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: You'll like this message. I'm honestly shocked. I'm honestly shocked
Speaker 1: because a lot of people do get stuck at the
Speaker 1: level of what I need. You know, we get stuck.
Speaker 1: When lady last night I was preaching, and she said,
Speaker 1: we get stuck in me mode, and it's just you know, God,
Speaker 1: bless me, help me, encourage me. And so while you're
Speaker 1: praying about those needs, they're not selfish. It's fine for
Speaker 1: you to bring those things before God. But the way
Speaker 1: He will respond to your need is to give you
Speaker 1: a seed. And that's confusing to us because we want
Speaker 1: God to give us a harvest. But God does not
Speaker 1: respond to our needs with a harvest. He responds to
Speaker 1: our need with a seed. So I have found it
Speaker 1: to be true. I wonder about you that when I
Speaker 1: found myself in need, the best thing for me to
Speaker 1: do is to get out of me mode and to
Speaker 1: get into so mode, sow so mode. I know this
Speaker 1: is not an agricultural society, but if it were, we
Speaker 1: could see that seeding or sowing is a form of
Speaker 1: investment and it is a process. How many times have
Speaker 1: I been discouraged and weary in my own soul, only
Speaker 1: to find that when I took five minutes to be
Speaker 1: a blessing to someone else, when I sowed what God
Speaker 1: gave me, it became what I needed. This is difficult
Speaker 1: because when you are in a season of need in
Speaker 1: your own life, the last thing you want to do
Speaker 1: is to sew into something else. Am I right about it?
Speaker 1: When you are out of energy, the last thing that
Speaker 1: you want to think about is anything other than you.
Speaker 1: But the only way for you to receive what you
Speaker 1: need is to give what you have. Cannot prove it
Speaker 1: from Jesus. Give and it will be given to you.
Speaker 1: That's not a financial scripture, that's a scripture about anything.
Speaker 1: If you give what you have, God will give to
Speaker 1: you what was already inside of you waiting to be
Speaker 1: sown in something that is bigger than you. And God
Speaker 1: helped me for all the times that I got stuck
Speaker 1: in me mode. Bless me, me, me, me, me, me
Speaker 1: me me. What about do re fa so latino? No
Speaker 1: just me me me, me, me me me, none of
Speaker 1: the other ones? Do re mi fa so dorat me,
Speaker 1: fa so dorat me? Do play scale? Keep play scale?
Speaker 1: Real quick. Uh do rey me do re me fa
Speaker 1: so okay, do it again, doray me fa so lati
Speaker 1: do agay doory again. Doray me me me me me
Speaker 1: me me me me me me me me me me
Speaker 1: me me me me me fa so me so me
Speaker 1: so me so. God said, I'm switching you from me
Speaker 1: so me so because you have been so so good
Speaker 1: to me so me so. You saved me, so, you
Speaker 1: filled me so, you bless me so, you gave me life.
Speaker 1: So come on, I'm coming out of memo you made
Speaker 1: away so so, he says. He says, this is good,
Speaker 1: isn't it? This is rich, This is challenging, this is
Speaker 1: difficult because God responds to your need with a bigger need,
Speaker 1: all right. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew chapter fourteen.
Speaker 1: He's like, let's go away and get some rest. And
Speaker 1: they're like, oh good, I need some me time. Where
Speaker 1: is it again? I messed it up. I need some
Speaker 1: Uh no, that's so me. I need some me time,
Speaker 1: all right. So they're gonna get some me time with Jesus.
Speaker 1: John the Bapp's just been behead. It is a rough time.
Speaker 1: Here is going crazy cutting heads off, and now the
Speaker 1: disciples need some rest. She's like, let's go and rest.
Speaker 1: When they get there, how many you'll know this Bible story,
Speaker 1: they're like, oh, good man, we need it, we really
Speaker 1: need it. This is going to be really helpful. Jesus, Wow,
Speaker 1: what wisdom you have because you know you know what
Speaker 1: we need. You hear our needs. Lord. So they get
Speaker 1: there and they need rest, right, and guess what they
Speaker 1: run into when they get there, needy people. So now
Speaker 1: we got the disciples who need rest and the people
Speaker 1: who need healing, and Jesus, who has no need, as
Speaker 1: the go between. But watch what he's about to do.
Speaker 1: He's about to meet the disciples need with the needs
Speaker 1: of the people, and he does it by feeding their faith.
Speaker 1: Now here's the shift. If you can receive it, this
Speaker 1: will be life changing because he is about to take
Speaker 1: them from neededers to feeders. He's about to take them
Speaker 1: from me to so me to sew. And the disciples
Speaker 1: turn to Jesus after he heals like number nine hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty three, there's five thousand men, women, and children.
Speaker 1: It says that Jesus was healing everybody who needed healing.
Speaker 1: Nothing was too small, nothing was too big, nothing was intimidating.
Speaker 1: Nothing was inconsequential. And after he gets done teaching and
Speaker 1: healing and meeting every need, the disciples look at verse
Speaker 1: fifteen as evening approached, said to him, this is a
Speaker 1: remote place and it's already getting late, and so you
Speaker 1: need to send the crowds away so they can go
Speaker 1: to the villages and buy themselves some food. See how
Speaker 1: spiritual that sounds on the surface, Jesus, we are concerned
Speaker 1: about these precious sheep for which you came. The truth
Speaker 1: of it is, Peter was hungry. They didn't get to
Speaker 1: eat either. They it wasn't like the disciples were in
Speaker 1: a place of plenty. And so sometimes when you are
Speaker 1: in a state of great need, you miss opportunities because
Speaker 1: you are too hungry and weak to see the potential
Speaker 1: to fulfill the need. Y'all, don't look at me like
Speaker 1: I'm crazy. I'm preaching good because we get in situations where, like,
Speaker 1: you know, Jesus is like, you know what would be
Speaker 1: cool if we fed them? And the disciples are like,
Speaker 1: you know what would have been cool if you would
Speaker 1: have told us ahead of times so we could have
Speaker 1: hired a catering company. Jesus is like no, I'm door Dash,
Speaker 1: Uber Eats, and a catering company all rolled into one.
Speaker 1: I am the Christ, the son of the Lop. I
Speaker 1: am the bread of life. What't you talking about? You
Speaker 1: don't have any bread. I am bread, I am presents,
Speaker 1: I am provision, I am your shepherd. I am enough.
Speaker 1: So anyway, they didn't know that yet, and Jesus needed
Speaker 1: to show them who he was, so he replied in
Speaker 1: verse sixteen. They sixteen, Yeah, they do not need to
Speaker 1: go away. You give them something to eat. Now. You
Speaker 1: will never know what you really have until God shows
Speaker 1: you a need that is bigger than you. And you
Speaker 1: will never know that God is able until he puts
Speaker 1: you in a situation where you are not. So he
Speaker 1: has orchestrated this opportunity. And I don't know what in
Speaker 1: your life is like that today. If I could guess,
Speaker 1: I would say that for some of us it is
Speaker 1: a physical need, and for others it occupies a different
Speaker 1: category of real estate. In our life, it often takes
Speaker 1: the shape of a relational need, or a lot of
Speaker 1: times in my life is just not knowing what I
Speaker 1: need to do and wave at me. If you've got
Speaker 1: a situation right in front of you right now where
Speaker 1: the need seems to be more than the supply, right,
Speaker 1: I'm praying. I'm praying for the people who didn't raise
Speaker 1: their hands because they have no place for God to
Speaker 1: show up. Raise your hand again. If you've got a
Speaker 1: situation where the need seems to be greater than the supply,
Speaker 1: here's what's about to happen. You are about you are
Speaker 1: about to see yourself going from needer to feeder. We
Speaker 1: have always taught the text in Matthew chapter fourteen that
Speaker 1: Jesus fed the multitudes. That's not exactly accurate. If you
Speaker 1: read the text, Jesus told the disciples they do not
Speaker 1: need to go away. You give them something to eat.
Speaker 1: What happens next is one of the greatest revelations that
Speaker 1: you can ever receive, because when they mentioned their limited supply,
Speaker 1: we have here only five loaves and to fish, that
Speaker 1: was their answer. That was what was available to them.
Speaker 1: But God is able, But we do not have enough.
Speaker 1: But God is a And see, this is when you
Speaker 1: get the opportunity to believe tewod Corinthians chapter nine, that
Speaker 1: God is able when you are in a situation where
Speaker 1: you are not able. So this thing came alive for me.
Speaker 1: I always thought that Jesus fed the five thousand, but
Speaker 1: he didn't watch what he did. He enabled the disciples
Speaker 1: to feed the five thousand. So God said, I am
Speaker 1: putting you in a season where I'm going to give
Speaker 1: you what you need. But it is not just for you.
Speaker 1: It is not just for you to consume. It is
Speaker 1: not just for you to have a good feeling. It
Speaker 1: is not just for you to get a goosebump. It
Speaker 1: is for you to be a feeder. Because I put
Speaker 1: you in the earth for my glory, and I gave
Speaker 1: you gifts for a purpose, and I gave you an
Speaker 1: assignment for the sake of my great name. And your
Speaker 1: supply is in your assignment. And when you bring me
Speaker 1: what little bit you have and put it in my
Speaker 1: capable hands, I know no need. For my hand created
Speaker 1: the earth, and my works estates the world. And I
Speaker 1: am God over the galaxies, and I am God of
Speaker 1: time and space, and I am God before you got here,
Speaker 1: and I will be God when you're gone. And I
Speaker 1: cannot be impeached, and I never will step down because
Speaker 1: I see your need and I am your supply. And
Speaker 1: he said in verse eighteen, bring them here to me,
Speaker 1: It's not are you able? It's are you available? Are
Speaker 1: you does he gives seed to the sower? Are you
Speaker 1: a sower? I don't just mean money. Please stop thinking
Speaker 1: about this as a money thing. I know that that's
Speaker 1: how people use it, but that's not what the Bible means.
Speaker 1: Paul is using this opportunity to help them to see
Speaker 1: that in God's dictionary, sacrifice looks a lot different than
Speaker 1: in our dictionary. Was thinking of a person who's been
Speaker 1: in the church with us, and I would say their
Speaker 1: name because they're actually in this worship experience. But they
Speaker 1: don't like a lot of you know, trumpet blowing stuff.
Speaker 1: I'm washing the dishes. They're not like that. They don't care,
Speaker 1: They don't they don't want to be known. They just
Speaker 1: want to sew. But I wrote them a letter the
Speaker 1: other day and I had to start it over because
Speaker 1: I wrote down something, thank you for all the sacrifices
Speaker 1: that you've made to make this church possible. Because here's
Speaker 1: the deal. People can come to this church and never
Speaker 1: give anything, and we still feed them. That's our job.
Speaker 1: That's my job. It's our job. If you pull up
Speaker 1: the table to the table, go back for seconds, burp
Speaker 1: and walk off. We're still going to feed you next week.
Speaker 1: If you watch the sermon and then click off, or
Speaker 1: you know, click over to something else, we'll still feed
Speaker 1: you every week. Every week we'll be here. That's not
Speaker 1: the question. Do you really want to spend the rest
Speaker 1: of your life as a needer and not see what
Speaker 1: God could do through you if you brought him what
Speaker 1: you have to feed others, because it will never be
Speaker 1: enough when you bring it to him, It'll start as
Speaker 1: a seed. And that's the contrast seed and sacrifice. So
Speaker 1: when I was writing the note, I said, thank you
Speaker 1: for your sacrifices, and then I remembered one time I
Speaker 1: told them that, and they said back to me, it's
Speaker 1: not a sacrifice. After all God has done for us,
Speaker 1: it's not a sacrifice. That really stuck with me. How
Speaker 1: they didn't see it as a sacrifice. Paul tells the church.
Speaker 1: He goes, I want you to have the opportunity to
Speaker 1: give to something bigger than you, to sew. He doesn't
Speaker 1: ever use the word sacrifice. He says, I want you
Speaker 1: to sew. See sacrifice means you give something and it
Speaker 1: goes away. So means you give something and it gets bigger.
Speaker 1: They said, it's not a sacrifice, it's a seed. When
Speaker 1: God gave his son as a sacrifice, Jesus was a seed.
Speaker 1: God sold Jesus as the first born among many brethren
Speaker 1: so that we could become the children of God. It's
Speaker 1: not a sacrifice. God doesn't even want it when we
Speaker 1: think it is some sacrifice. He is God, and so
Speaker 1: to give to him is not a sacrifice. It's a privilege.
Speaker 1: Y'all look at me for a minute. You remember how
Speaker 1: I told you that this is the best New Testament
Speaker 1: scripture for teaching generosity. Let me give you the picture
Speaker 1: of it from the Old Testamon. When God called Abraham.
Speaker 1: You've heard of Abraham before, right, he's called the father
Speaker 1: of faith. When God called him, he said, I'm going
Speaker 1: to give you a son. And it took maybe as
Speaker 1: many as twenty five years. The timeline is unclear, but
Speaker 1: it took a period of decades for that promise to
Speaker 1: become a reality to where Abraham had a son named Isaac,
Speaker 1: and he was the child of the promise. And God
Speaker 1: said I'm going to bless the earth through Isaac. And
Speaker 1: Abraham was too old to have kids, and they didn't
Speaker 1: have pharmaceuticals to help with stuff like that. In that day,
Speaker 1: I'm going to leave that alone. You can talk to
Speaker 1: your parents. But what happened in Abraham's case was God
Speaker 1: did something supernaturally at the appointed time. And then the
Speaker 1: part that I've always struggled with because I have three kids.
Speaker 1: Abby is eight, Grandma's twelve, Elijah is fourteen, and by
Speaker 1: this point Isaac was a teenager. And God told him
Speaker 1: one day, I want you to take Isaac and sacrifice
Speaker 1: him to me. And when Abraham got up the mountain
Speaker 1: and he was ready to sacrifice Isaac, God got his
Speaker 1: attention at the last moment and showed him that there
Speaker 1: was a ram in the bush and God didn't want
Speaker 1: him to lay a hand on his son. And so
Speaker 1: in that moment it must have been confusing to Abraham
Speaker 1: that he thought God was calling him to sacrifice what
Speaker 1: God gave him. But really, what we see in the
Speaker 1: pattern of God is that God never really calls us
Speaker 1: to sacrifice anything, and that anything that we give to
Speaker 1: Him is not sacrificed, it is sown. God had already
Speaker 1: made a provision for Abraham to obey him, and when
Speaker 1: he did it, when he listened to the voice of
Speaker 1: the Lord when he made himself available to God. The
Speaker 1: Bible says in Genesis twenty two, verse fifteen, that the
Speaker 1: Angel of the Lord spoke to Abraham a second time
Speaker 1: out of heaven. The Angel said, go to verse sixteen.
Speaker 1: Please by myself, I have sworn because you have done
Speaker 1: this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son. See,
Speaker 1: Abraham was willing to let something go that God gave
Speaker 1: him to begin with. There's no such thing as a sacrifice,
Speaker 1: because everything I have came from God. If I loan
Speaker 1: you my car and you give it back, you didn't
Speaker 1: give me anything. You returned to me what was already mine.
Speaker 1: Who gave you that gift, who gave you that breath,
Speaker 1: who gave you that opportunity, who gave you this moment,
Speaker 1: who gave you those children, who gave you that promise,
Speaker 1: who gave you that strength. It's not a sacrifice, But
Speaker 1: God said, because I've seen your heart, because you didn't
Speaker 1: think it was yours, because you offered it back to me,
Speaker 1: Here's what I'm going to do. Blessing. I will bless you,
Speaker 1: and multiplying. I will multiply your descendants as the stars
Speaker 1: of heaven and as the sandwich is on the seashore,
Speaker 1: and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
Speaker 1: What is he saying? God will multiply whatever you are
Speaker 1: willing to sacrifice. God is a giver. God is a
Speaker 1: good God. God is a generous God. God is abundant. God.
Speaker 1: God is able to make all grace abound to you,
Speaker 1: so that in all things, at all times, you will
Speaker 1: have all that you need to do everything He's called
Speaker 1: you to do. This is a moment for you to decide.
Speaker 1: Will you be like the disciples who were so focused
Speaker 1: on their own need that they didn't realize that God
Speaker 1: had called them to feed the people that were right
Speaker 1: in front of them. And I think sometimes we have
Speaker 1: to commission ourselves as Christians to be able to say, God,
Speaker 1: not only do I need you to do something for me,
Speaker 1: I want you to do something through me, through me,
Speaker 1: through me. When's the last time we stopped and asked
Speaker 1: God to do something through us? I know we ask
Speaker 1: Him to do stuff for us all the time. What
Speaker 1: about that thing we were praying about this morning, When's
Speaker 1: the last time we stopped, holly and said, God, what
Speaker 1: do you want to do through us? Maybe? It's not
Speaker 1: about us. Maybe it's not about us getting what we
Speaker 1: need to eat. Maybe God brought you to church today
Speaker 1: to encourage somebody else. And if this preaching is not popular,
Speaker 1: that makes it even more important because the more we
Speaker 1: stay focused in cultural ideas and norms of consumer based Christianity,
Speaker 1: the world starves. The world starves for truth, the world
Speaker 1: starves for hope, the world starves for light. And we
Speaker 1: have the bread. And so I'm asking you a question.
Speaker 1: Are you available? Do you believe that God is able?
Speaker 1: Do you believe that He is your source? Are you
Speaker 1: a channel? Are you a vessel? Are you an instrument?
Speaker 1: Are you willing? Are you available? Stand up at every location.
Speaker 1: I want you to take a posture of prayer. No
Speaker 1: one leaving, I want you to take a posture of prayer.
Speaker 1: Team you can come. He said that God is able.
Speaker 1: That's not the question to make all grace abound, that's
Speaker 1: not in doubt. Are you available? Well, I only got
Speaker 1: five loaves and two fish. You know I'm not one
Speaker 1: of these amazing people. No, no, no, no, it's not
Speaker 1: are you able? It's are you available? Are you? Are
Speaker 1: you a neaeder or a feeder? The real truth is
Speaker 1: you're both, and the way God meets your needs is
Speaker 1: through you meeting the needs of others. So by your head,
Speaker 1: close your eyes. The scripture says that if we will
Speaker 1: make ourselves living sacrifices and offer ourselves to God, we
Speaker 1: will be able to test and approve what His will
Speaker 1: is is good, perfect pleasing will. Lord, You brought us
Speaker 1: together today by the thousands, across multiple backgrounds. You brought
Speaker 1: us together not only to receive from you, but to
Speaker 1: supply us with seeds so that we could give. And
Speaker 1: we miss that sometimes, and we confess it. We miss
Speaker 1: sometimes that everything you give us is not for us.
Speaker 1: But we just take this moment to acknowledge the great
Speaker 1: gifts that you have given us. Forgive us for living
Speaker 1: in me mode. Forgive me for living in me mode.
Speaker 1: What I need, what I want. God, I prayed that
Speaker 1: you would shift our hearts and that we would offer
Speaker 1: all that we are and all that we have. We're
Speaker 1: available to you in Jesus' name. Amen, Thank you for
Speaker 1: joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give
Speaker 1: generously to this ministry. Is because of you that this
Speaker 1: ministry is possible. You can click the link in the
Speaker 1: description to give now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash
Speaker 1: podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast,
Speaker 1: you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 1: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
Speaker 1: share it on your social stories and tag us at
Speaker 1: Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.