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Speaker 1: How you feel an Elevation church. I tell you what,

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Speaker 1: I counted the highest honor and the privileged, highest privilege

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Speaker 1: really to be back here at Elevation. I do not

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Speaker 1: take this lightly. Tiffany took the words right out of

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Speaker 1: my mouth. I'm not a guest here. I am family.

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Speaker 1: I hope you know that I'm your cousin from the

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Speaker 1: great country of Texas. And it's an honor to be here,

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Speaker 1: especially because of what this house means to me, the

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Speaker 1: impact that this house has made on my life, on

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Speaker 1: my wife's life, on our church's life, and so it's

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Speaker 1: always an honor to come back and to make a

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Speaker 1: deposit into this amazing church. Do you know how blessed

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Speaker 1: you are to be a part of this church? Come on,

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Speaker 1: I hope you know that that deserves more than a

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Speaker 1: golf class. You are not just blessed, you're spoiled, absolutely spoiled.

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Speaker 1: And I hope you know the grass doesn't get greet

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Speaker 1: or anywhere else. You're at the right church at the

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Speaker 1: right time, at the right place, and this is just

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Speaker 1: evidence of God's hand in his favor. But also because

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Speaker 1: you have incredible leaders and incredible pastors. In this month

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Speaker 1: that we take a moment to pause and appreciate pastors.

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Speaker 1: How many you know we have to pause to appreciate

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Speaker 1: Pastor Stephen and Holly Ferdick for who they are. I'm

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Speaker 1: telling you, the leaders they are and the people they are.

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Speaker 1: Come on, would you just let them know how much

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Speaker 1: you love and appreciate them? Elevations. You can do better

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Speaker 1: than that across every location. Let's give honor to what

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Speaker 1: honors do. Please, don't ever take the kid God has

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Speaker 1: given you for granted. I fall short of words to

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Speaker 1: adequately express what Pastor Stephen and Holly mean to my

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Speaker 1: wife and I, but I'll steal something I heard a

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Speaker 1: Swifty say. True though I heard a Swifty say recently,

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Speaker 1: I feel sorry for Taylor Swift, I said, what, So, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I feel sorry for Taylor Swift because Taylor Swift doesn't

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Speaker 1: know what it's like to experience a Taylor Swift concert.

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Speaker 1: That's what I heard a Swift he say. So I'll

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Speaker 1: say that I feel sorry for Pastor Stephen and Holly

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Speaker 1: Ferdy because they don't know what it's like to experience

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Speaker 1: their leadership and to be on the other side of

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Speaker 1: the incredible songs and the sermons and so I love them.

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Speaker 1: I'm thankful for all of the pastors that serve here

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Speaker 1: at Elevation. Can we just thank God for them? From

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Speaker 1: every pastor at every location to the man, the myth,

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Speaker 1: the legion chalks, I celebrate you. I'm thankful for who

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Speaker 1: you are, and I'm just don't pretend like I'm at

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Speaker 1: home because I am. Is that cool? I act like

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Speaker 1: I'm at social Dallas, And I want to jump straight

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Speaker 1: into the Word of God today. I want you to

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Speaker 1: go with me to the Book of Acts, Acts, chapter twenty,

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Speaker 1: and I want to look at verses seven through twelve,

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Speaker 1: Acts Chapter twenty. We started verse number seven and we'll

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Speaker 1: land of verse number twelve. I have to get excused

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Speaker 1: absences from my wife to be at any other church,

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Speaker 1: and so I'm glad that she gave me this excuse absence.

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Speaker 1: But I am families. So can I show you my family.

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Speaker 1: It's been a while. This is the Medu crew. Let

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Speaker 1: me show you my family. I'll got that picture of

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Speaker 1: my family. They are Look at that, y'all. If you

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Speaker 1: wonder why I have this glow emanating from my face,

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Speaker 1: it's not just because I use exfoliating skin products. It's

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Speaker 1: because I am a blessed man. That is the Madou crew,

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Speaker 1: and those are our three little humans. And I'm excited

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Speaker 1: to preach. Let's let's let's go to work. Go to Acts,

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Speaker 1: chapter twenty, and we're gonna start at verse number seven,

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Speaker 1: and we'll land at verse number twelve. When you're ready

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Speaker 1: to read it, say yeah, yeah. If you need a

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Speaker 1: little time to find the book of Acts, say hold up,

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Speaker 1: I heard that. Hold up. I'm wait for you. I'ma

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Speaker 1: wait for your Acts chapter twenty, and we'll start at

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Speaker 1: verse number seven, and it says, on the first day

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Speaker 1: of the week, we came together to break bread. Paul

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Speaker 1: spoke to the people, and because he intended to leave

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Speaker 1: the next day, kept on talking until midnight. How many

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Speaker 1: you would stay here if I just kept preaching till midnight?

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Speaker 1: Anybody'll y'all lieing? Don't lie? Some of y'all gonna leave

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Speaker 1: to catch the brunch, And says there were many lamps

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Speaker 1: in the upstairs room where they were meeting, and seated

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Speaker 1: in a window was a young man named Udicus, who

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Speaker 1: was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on

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Speaker 1: and on, And when he was sound asleep, he fell

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Speaker 1: to the ground from the third story and was picked

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Speaker 1: up dead. And Paul went down, threw himself on the

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Speaker 1: young man and put his arms around him. Don't be alarmed,

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Speaker 1: he said, he's alive. Then he went upstairs again and

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Speaker 1: broke bread and ate. You know, you gangster, when you

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Speaker 1: do a resurrection, don't even wash your hands, and go

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Speaker 1: right upstairs and break bread. And he he said, the

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Speaker 1: people took the young after talking till daylight, he left,

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Speaker 1: and the people took the young man home alive and

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Speaker 1: were greatly comforted. Can you say a man, thank you

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Speaker 1: so much? What a peculiar passage of scripture. I've been

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Speaker 1: obsessed with this scripture for a long time, especially about

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Speaker 1: this young dude name Uticus, because he made the Bible, y'all,

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Speaker 1: not for something he said, but for what he did.

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Speaker 1: Homeboy made the Bible from falling asleep in church, falling

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Speaker 1: out of a window, and dying. He didn't even say anything.

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Speaker 1: But if Uticus could come back today, I think he

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Speaker 1: would tell you what my title is today. He would

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Speaker 1: say to you, who I didn't know I fell asleep.

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Speaker 1: I didn't know I fell asleep. Would you help me

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Speaker 1: preach and look at your neighbor whichever one you like

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Speaker 1: the best across every location. Just say neighbor, O neighbor.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes you don't know when you're asleep. Come on, find

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Speaker 1: another neighbor. In case that neighborhood stuck up, come on,

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Speaker 1: find another neighbor. Come on, say other neighbor. You my

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Speaker 1: second option. But don't sleep on this message. Give God

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Speaker 1: some praise. If you got expectation for him to speak today, Father,

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Speaker 1: have your way, speak to our hearts today in Jesus' name.

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Speaker 1: And man, I didn't know. I fell asleep when I

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Speaker 1: read this text. That immediately took me back to a

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Speaker 1: moment in church that I will never forget. It's happened

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Speaker 1: a few years ago. Actually, during the first year of

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Speaker 1: our marriage. Some of you would know that. Before we

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Speaker 1: planted our church social Dallas, I traveled for sixteen years

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Speaker 1: as an evangelist, had an itinerant ministry, preaching at churches

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Speaker 1: all across the nation and preaching from Genesis all the

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Speaker 1: way to the maps in the back. And I remember

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Speaker 1: we had just gotten we just gotten married, and it

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Speaker 1: was a crazy week of traveling. We're new the wads,

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Speaker 1: and I was actually trying to show my new it's

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Speaker 1: real out here in these ministry streets. It's not vacation.

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Speaker 1: I'm living out of the suitcase and going from city

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Speaker 1: to city. And it was a crazy week. We're in

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Speaker 1: a different city every single night, and then Saturday night

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Speaker 1: we get into Middlelothian, Virginia. I'll never forget it. And

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Speaker 1: the pastor picked us up and he said, hey, I

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Speaker 1: just want to let you know that tomorrow we have

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Speaker 1: three Sunday morning services since the first one starts at

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Speaker 1: eight a m. So I looked at my bride, my

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Speaker 1: new bride, and I said, babe, it's been a crazy week.

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Speaker 1: I said, you do not have to go to all

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Speaker 1: three of these services. I said, why don't you just

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Speaker 1: pick one or come to the last one. You don't

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Speaker 1: have to come to all three. Now, keep in mind,

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Speaker 1: this is the first year of our marriage. Okay, now

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Speaker 1: we got eleven years in. We got double digits on

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Speaker 1: the board. If I asked her today, she'd be like,

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Speaker 1: I wasn't planning on coming to all three. I'll come to

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Speaker 1: the last one and catch you at lunch. But when

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Speaker 1: you're a newly way that's different. So she's like, Babe, no,

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Speaker 1: I'll come to all three. We can't be disconnected so

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Speaker 1: all right, it's gonna be early morning, and so we

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Speaker 1: get to the church. I'll never forget it. It's the

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Speaker 1: first service of the day and I'm preaching and I'm

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Speaker 1: getting ready to land the sermon, land the plane. My wife,

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Speaker 1: who is on the front row. I look at my

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Speaker 1: peripheral and I see her arms are closed. So my

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Speaker 1: first thought is my first thought is see I picked

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Speaker 1: the right one. She is praying for her man right now.

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Speaker 1: She knows that this is the most important part in

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Speaker 1: the sermon, that I'm about to land the plane, and

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Speaker 1: she is preparing the atmosphere with the gift of Inner session.

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Speaker 1: She is praying for me. Then all of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: I noticed her eyes were all the way in the

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Speaker 1: back of her head and her mouth was open. Then

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Speaker 1: she started rocking like this and going back and forth,

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Speaker 1: and I said, wait, man, we're Pentecosta, but we ain't

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Speaker 1: that Pentecosta. Why is she rocking back and forth? And

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Speaker 1: before you know it, she is sound asleep on the

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Speaker 1: front row of the church. And I'm panicking because I

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Speaker 1: notice it. And then I noticed other people noticing her,

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Speaker 1: and then I just panicked. I just called the worship

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Speaker 1: team back and I said come back, come back out,

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Speaker 1: and everybody stand. Everybody's everybody stand to your feet. She

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Speaker 1: woke up and stood and I prayed the praying ooh.

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Speaker 1: And I went back to the green room. I wasn't

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Speaker 1: living at you. I said, babe, what is wrong with you?

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Speaker 1: I told you you didn't have to come. Did you notice?

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Speaker 1: Everybody notice? And you fall asleep? And she said, in

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Speaker 1: that sweet voice, Babe, I'm sorry. I couldn't help it,

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Speaker 1: and I didn't know I was falling asleep. But I

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Speaker 1: look back, I shouldn't have got mad, because come on,

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Speaker 1: let's be honest. This happened to the best of us,

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Speaker 1: hasn't it. Oh, come on, I don't care how saved,

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Speaker 1: how spiritual you are. You could have floated in here,

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Speaker 1: had communion for breakfast. I promise you you have had

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Speaker 1: you a sleepy sunday. Come you're honest across every location

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Speaker 1: to admit you've had a Sunday where you you were dozing.

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Speaker 1: You're like, look, I'm here. At least I made it.

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Speaker 1: That's the wind today. I'm not impressed with people that

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Speaker 1: tell me they've never fallen to sleep in church. If

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Speaker 1: you've never fallen asleep in church, all you telling me

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Speaker 1: is you don't come to church consistently. That's all you're

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Speaker 1: letting me know. Of course you can stay awake, you

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Speaker 1: just come on Eastern Christmas. Those of us who fall

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Speaker 1: asleep are faithful. We keep showing up even when we

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Speaker 1: worked late last night. So uh, it's not a big deal.

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Speaker 1: In fact, you want to sleep today, it's cool because

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Speaker 1: it's happened to the best of us. And I didn't

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Speaker 1: come all the way from Dallas to Charlotte to tell

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Speaker 1: you that if you fall asleep in church you're gonna die.

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Speaker 1: It's not my assignment today, Nor do I think that's

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Speaker 1: the reason that this story is in the Bible. But

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Speaker 1: the question I have been asking myself is why is

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Speaker 1: this story in the Bible? Come on, of all the

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Speaker 1: things that doctor Luke could have put pen to paper

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Speaker 1: to write about, why do we need to know about

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Speaker 1: this young dude named Uticus that fell asleep in church,

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Speaker 1: Of all the things to put in the Book of Backs,

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Speaker 1: Why do we need to know about this this young

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Speaker 1: dude named Eudicus fallen asleep in church, Of all the

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Speaker 1: things he could have written about in the Book of Acts.

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Speaker 1: You understand that the Book of Acts is giving us

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Speaker 1: the first thirty years of the history of the early Church.

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Speaker 1: It's not telling us everything that happened. It's just telling

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Speaker 1: us snapshots that happened, just a few of the events

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Speaker 1: that happen. I love the Book of Acts. Read it

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Speaker 1: when you get to the crib, because the Book of

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Speaker 1: Acts lets me know that God will always keep his promise.

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Speaker 1: Because you understand that He gave those in the upper

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Speaker 1: room a promise. He said, and the Holy Spirit will

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Speaker 1: come upon you, and you'll receive power to be my

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Speaker 1: witnesses to Jerusalem, Judaeus, Samaria, and to the ends of

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Speaker 1: the earth. Think about that, that something that started with

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Speaker 1: a small group of one twenty in an upper room

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Speaker 1: began to spread around the world, and the gospel is

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Speaker 1: still being preached today. I'm gonna pause right here and

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Speaker 1: tell somebody, don't despise small beginnings. Come you know, you

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Speaker 1: can start small, but if the Holy Spirit starts blowing

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Speaker 1: on the thing that's you know, it has the power

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Speaker 1: to go around the world. Don't despise small beginnings because

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Speaker 1: when God starts something small, the Holy Spirit gets on it,

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Speaker 1: it can get big. Look at what you sitting in

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Speaker 1: here today at Elevation Church, This didn't start with all

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Speaker 1: these campuses and packing out arenas. How many are thankful

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Speaker 1: that some families and pastor Stephen and Holly were faithful

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Speaker 1: to step out and all of a sudden because the

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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit blew on something to change the game. But

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Speaker 1: I'm trying to figure out why we gotta know about

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Speaker 1: Paul and the Unicus. This don't make sense to me.

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Speaker 1: I get knowing about Paul and Antonius. Come on, you know,

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Speaker 1: Paul is like some of y'all. He went from ratchet

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Speaker 1: to righteous. He had a testimony. He actually persecuted the

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Speaker 1: church before he started building the church. God knocked him

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Speaker 1: off his high horse and a light blinded him. Only

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Speaker 1: God could use a light to blind you, and a

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Speaker 1: light blinded him. And he needed Antonius because when God

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Speaker 1: is taking you from who you were to who you're

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Speaker 1: going to be, you need an anonaius to lay their

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Speaker 1: hands on you and show you the way. I get

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Speaker 1: Paul and Antonius. I get Paul and Barnabas, because come on,

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Speaker 1: God didn't just save you for you to come to

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Speaker 1: church and sit on your blessed assurance and do nothing.

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Speaker 1: Come on, you gotta get plugged in. You have a

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Speaker 1: purpose He created you on purpose, for a purpose. So

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Speaker 1: I get Paul and Barnabas. You need Barnabas. Barnabas is

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Speaker 1: the one that got connected to Paul on his first mission.

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Speaker 1: Every journey, I get Paul and Silas because I mean,

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Speaker 1: you know, when you're in a dark place, you need

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Speaker 1: somebody that will praise God with you. I need somebody

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Speaker 1: that when I say high Lay, they say Lujah. When

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Speaker 1: I say praise, they say Lord. I get Paul inside

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Speaker 1: of the But Paul and Unicus, why do I need

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Speaker 1: to know Debby fell asleep in church? Surely the message

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Speaker 1: is don't sleep in church. Surely that can't be the message.

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Speaker 1: Surely the message isn't preach short. I vehementically come against that.

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Speaker 1: That can't be the message of this text. I had

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Speaker 1: a Bible college professor. He said, you should preach fifteen

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Speaker 1: minutes or less fifty minute. He said, yes, the mind

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Speaker 1: cannot retain what the seat cannot endure. Preach fifteen minutes

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Speaker 1: or less. I'm thinking, were you born, you should preach

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Speaker 1: fifteen minutes or less. Surely the message is not preach short,

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Speaker 1: and surely the message can be that the apostle Paul

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Speaker 1: was a boring communicator, because if he was a boring communicator,

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Speaker 1: I believe the text would have said everybody fell asleep,

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Speaker 1: but everybody didn't fall asleep. Eudicus is the only one

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Speaker 1: that started dozing off in the room. That means, oh,

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Speaker 1: I don't know how many people in the room, but

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Speaker 1: Eudicus was the only one that was sleeping. That means

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Speaker 1: everybody else in the room must have been leaning in. Going, Paul,

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Speaker 1: if you got more to say, we got more to receive.

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Speaker 1: If you're gonna pour out, we're ready to receive it.

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Speaker 1: I want to pause right here and thank God that,

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Speaker 1: first of all, Paul had the depth of content to

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Speaker 1: keep preaching past midnight. But I want to shout out

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Speaker 1: to other people in the room that have the depth

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Speaker 1: of capacity to receive what Paul was pouring out. Oh see,

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Speaker 1: sometimes we think that God has doesn't have enough content

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Speaker 1: to pour out to us. But sometimes it has nothing

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Speaker 1: to do with what God wants to pour out, but

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Speaker 1: everything to do with your capacity to receive what God

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Speaker 1: wants to pour out. Is there anybody in here that

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Speaker 1: knows that God has so much more that he wants

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Speaker 1: to pour out, but some of us keep coming to

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Speaker 1: him with a little saucer. Thank God, I'm ready to receive.

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Speaker 1: So I want to shout out the other people in

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Speaker 1: the room that had the depth of capacity to receive

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Speaker 1: what Paul had. I want to shout out the other

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Speaker 1: people in the room that said, Paul, if you got

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Speaker 1: something to say, I am ready with anticipation and I'm

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Speaker 1: ready to hear it. Is there anybody in here that

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Speaker 1: says I came to receive something from God? I actually

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Speaker 1: have expectation. Sometimes we think the problem is with the seed,

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Speaker 1: and it has nothing to do with the seed, but

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Speaker 1: everything to do with the soil that receives it. That's

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Speaker 1: why when Jesus told the parable of the Sower, the

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Speaker 1: thing that was constant was the seed, but the only

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Speaker 1: thing that changed was the soil. Because often times the

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Speaker 1: problem is not with the person that has the microphone,

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Speaker 1: it's with the people that have the capacity to receive it.

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Speaker 1: So sometimes I'll preach a message and it'll be terrible,

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Speaker 1: and somebody'd be like, oh, that's the best message you

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Speaker 1: ever preached, and I'd be like, nah, fam, that's the

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Speaker 1: best time you ever listened. I know that wasn't the

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Speaker 1: best one. But sometimes when you actually have the capacity

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Speaker 1: to receive it, it'll hit the ground better. And I

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Speaker 1: know this room had capacity to received. In fact, they

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Speaker 1: had something that I call proof of expectation. They had

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Speaker 1: proof that they were expecting God to speak to them

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Speaker 1: through Paul. Proof of expectation. I don't ask church people

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Speaker 1: anymore do you have expectation? Because everybody's like, yeah, I

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Speaker 1: got expectation. I asked them, show me the proof of

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Speaker 1: your expectation. Prove to me that you're actually expecting God

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Speaker 1: to do something in your life. Is there anybody in

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Speaker 1: here that actually has proof of your expectation? Somebody will say,

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Speaker 1: I got expectation. I'm believing God for a house. Really?

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Speaker 1: Are you actually sewing right now? Are you giving Nah?

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Speaker 1: I'm just expecting a house. Really. Okay, have you downloaded Zillow? Nah?

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Speaker 1: Not yet, But I'm just expecting a house. Show me, yo,

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Speaker 1: you got to have proof of your expectation. And I'm

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Speaker 1: telling the people in this room they had proof of

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Speaker 1: expectation that God was going to do something. Can you

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Speaker 1: prove it in the text? I will verse number eight

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Speaker 1: of Acts, chapter twenty. I want you to see something.

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Speaker 1: If you read too fast or miss it, it says

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Speaker 1: there were many lamps in the upstairs room where they

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Speaker 1: were meeting. There were how many lamps? How many many?

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Speaker 1: There were so many lamps in that upstairs room. That

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Speaker 1: lets me know the people in the room had expectation

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Speaker 1: to receive, because it's how we're down. I don't think

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Speaker 1: Paul planned to preach law. We never do. I think

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Speaker 1: you jarted off and it kept going and kept going

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Speaker 1: and kept going all throughout the middle of the night.

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Speaker 1: But guess what, the people in the room already knew

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Speaker 1: that this meeting might go long, and Paul's gonna pour

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Speaker 1: out to us and we might not ever see him again.

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Speaker 1: So before they ever got in the room, they set

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Speaker 1: the atmosphere of that room and put many lamps in there.

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Speaker 1: I'm talking to some of y'all, you gotta start setting

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Speaker 1: the atmosphere with some expectation. I'm talking to some of y'all.

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Speaker 1: You gotta start praising God on your way to church.

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Speaker 1: Don't wait till you get in the building. You want

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Speaker 1: to start praising all the way on your way to church.

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Speaker 1: The lamps were proof of their expectation. They had many lamps.

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Speaker 1: You know how long it took them to set up

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Speaker 1: all those lamps. Say, y'all know Paul might get long

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Speaker 1: winded tonight, Let's just set them all up. Setting up

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Speaker 1: all these lamps as proof that they had expectation for

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Speaker 1: something to happen. Then not only that, wait a minute,

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Speaker 1: who you have to also have oil in those lamps.

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Speaker 1: It's not enough just to have the lamps. You better

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Speaker 1: have some oil. You remember when Jesus told the parable

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Speaker 1: about the five foolish bridesmaids and the five wise one,

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Speaker 1: And remember all of them pulled a you kissing, fell asleep,

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Speaker 1: And when the bridegroom came. The only thing that separated

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Speaker 1: the wise one from the foolish ones were the ones

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Speaker 1: that have enough oil that were in their lamps. Is

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Speaker 1: there anybody in here and say, I don't just have

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Speaker 1: the lamps. I got some oil, I got some anointing.

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Speaker 1: I am expecting God. There's something. Those lamps stood as

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Speaker 1: proof that they had expectation for God to speak to

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Speaker 1: them in that upper room. Not only does those lamps

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Speaker 1: stand as proof of their expectation, it also shows the

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Speaker 1: power of illumination. Anytime you see a lamp in the Bible,

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Speaker 1: it is a picture of the word of a God.

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Speaker 1: How many have realized that life is above your pay

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Speaker 1: grade and you need a word from God. You need

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Speaker 1: his word for direction. This is what he says. Your

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Speaker 1: word is a lamp unto my feet. It's a light

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Speaker 1: unto my path. This is the power of the word

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Speaker 1: of God. I need his word for direction. Oh, it's

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Speaker 1: a lamp unto my feet, meaning that oftentimes his word

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Speaker 1: will just tell you the next step. Often, when God

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Speaker 1: speaks to you, he's not going to give you a

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Speaker 1: twenty year plan. I know that messes up you planners.

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Speaker 1: He would not giving you a twenty year plan, but

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Speaker 1: he will tell you this is what you do next.

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Speaker 1: This is what you do next. Take this step. And

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Speaker 1: some of you haven't taken that step. You're like, God,

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Speaker 1: I need a new word. He's like, dude, the last

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Speaker 1: one I told you. The lamps proved that his word

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Speaker 1: is illumination in that room, and so all of them

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Speaker 1: had tiptoe anticipation that God was going to speak to

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Speaker 1: the great Apostle Paul, and I have to be honest

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Speaker 1: with you and tell you something. I don't usually like

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Speaker 1: to brag about places that I go, but I've been

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Speaker 1: to this upper room. I've been to this room I've

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Speaker 1: been to this room. I've seen this upper room where

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Speaker 1: they gat that I was there. I wasn't there, y'all,

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Speaker 1: not in reality, in my exegetically imagination. But I went

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Speaker 1: to Troas and I worked all day. I worked long

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Speaker 1: and hard all day, and I was filled with excitement

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Speaker 1: because everybody was talking about how Paul was going to

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Speaker 1: show up at this undisclosed location, and they said he

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Speaker 1: was going to be there, the great Apostle Paul. So

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Speaker 1: after working all day, I went straight from work to

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Speaker 1: this upper room. I remember it, y'all. I remember walking

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Speaker 1: up the flight of stairs three stories. I remember walking in.

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Speaker 1: The room was packed with people. I remember the smell

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Speaker 1: in that room because not everybody took a bass, I

401
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Speaker 1: could tell, and the room was so packed, but nobody

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Speaker 1: cared about the smell because they were just actually excited

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Speaker 1: to hear Paul preach. I was there in the room

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Speaker 1: as we began to take the bread, and we began

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Speaker 1: to have communion, and we remembered the sacrifice of what

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Speaker 1: Jesus did. I remembered the rooms, and I remember that

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Speaker 1: moment when Paul walked in, who the whole room got quiet.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you've ever met your heroes. But

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Speaker 1: I remember seeing Paul walk in the room. I remember

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Speaker 1: seeing the scars that were showing through his tunic, because

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Speaker 1: in his body he bore the scars of what he

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Speaker 1: had suffered from the Gospel. And there I was listening

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Speaker 1: to the Apostle Paul preach, and I was trying to

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Speaker 1: take it all in. It was like drinking from a

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Speaker 1: fire hydrant. He just had death of wisdom and revelation.

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Speaker 1: And there I am listening to the Apostle Paul, and

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Speaker 1: I was so leaned in. Nobody ever spoke like him.

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Speaker 1: And I was with him for the first forty five minutes.

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Speaker 1: I was with him for the first hour. But after

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Speaker 1: an hour and fifteen minutes, he said, bruh, you gotta

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Speaker 1: land this plan. But he kept on preaching, kept on preaching.

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Speaker 1: Then my knees got tired, so I said, I'm as

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Speaker 1: well sit down, and looks like this is gonna be

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Speaker 1: a long message. And I sat down. And I was

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Speaker 1: good for the first hour and fifteen minutes. But then

426
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:03,520
Speaker 1: in an hour and thirty minutes, he's still preaching, y'all.

427
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,320
Speaker 1: In the hour thirty I had to go to the bathroom.

428
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,080
Speaker 1: I had too much of the juice. So I got

429
00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:09,520
Speaker 1: up and I left and I went to the bathroom.

430
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:12,320
Speaker 1: And when I came back from the bathroom, somebody stole

431
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,600
Speaker 1: my seat. I said, ain't that messed up? And Paul

432
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,480
Speaker 1: is still preaching, so watch just stayed in the back

433
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:23,000
Speaker 1: in two hours in. Now he's taken questions. I'm like, Paul,

434
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:26,199
Speaker 1: come on, bro, And he keeps going and going. And

435
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,280
Speaker 1: then it was hot because all know the lamps for

436
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,879
Speaker 1: him the room, and I started again light headed, and

437
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:34,920
Speaker 1: my stomach was full. And he he's two hours and

438
00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:37,879
Speaker 1: thirty eight minutes in, and so finally I was getting

439
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,760
Speaker 1: hot flatchers I went by a window. I went by

440
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:43,280
Speaker 1: the window to just get a little air from my tunic,

441
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,320
Speaker 1: and I started airing out my tunic just a little bit.

442
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,560
Speaker 1: And then when he's three hours in, I had to

443
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,960
Speaker 1: just sit in the window. And then he got going.

444
00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:00,960
Speaker 1: And now he's three and a half hours in, and

445
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:06,400
Speaker 1: the lamps in the room kept flickering, and I saw

446
00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:13,439
Speaker 1: it going fow off something pleasp. Now I was trying

447
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:19,680
Speaker 1: hopping out. I was playing that. I just okay, oh,

448
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:21,399
Speaker 1: walk in And then I started looking out the window.

449
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:23,600
Speaker 1: I said, Lord, what's going on out here because this

450
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:28,159
Speaker 1: is gonna be going on for a long time, finally

451
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:37,720
Speaker 1: laying her head on the window. L shute h n.

452
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 1: Do you see how it happens? Do you see nobody

453
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:58,719
Speaker 1: intends to fall asleep, Nobody plans on going to sleep.

454
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,399
Speaker 1: I went through all that to show you, let's not

455
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:05,440
Speaker 1: be so quick to throw a stone in Uticus when

456
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,919
Speaker 1: it's happened to the best of us. For my issue

457
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:15,959
Speaker 1: with Uticus, it's not really his sleeping. My issue is

458
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:24,520
Speaker 1: with where he chose to sit. Of old places that

459
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:28,800
Speaker 1: were in that upstairs room. What in the workadure would

460
00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:33,760
Speaker 1: you sit and open went on the ledge of an

461
00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,159
Speaker 1: open with My issue is not with his sleep. My

462
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:41,920
Speaker 1: issue is with his seat. I'm gonna say, Ludacris, because

463
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 1: it is ludicrous. Why are you sitting on the ledge

464
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:56,680
Speaker 1: of an open window. That's a dangerous place to set Unicus,

465
00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,320
Speaker 1: I think you should have chose another seat of all

466
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,600
Speaker 1: the seats, because when you sit in an open window

467
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:07,560
Speaker 1: when you're in church, but you're still got open windows

468
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,600
Speaker 1: when you're in church, and yes, you got your attendants,

469
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:14,280
Speaker 1: but God doesn't have your attention. When you're in church,

470
00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:17,400
Speaker 1: but you still got open windows. It's only a matter

471
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:21,280
Speaker 1: of time before you go from a window to a fall,

472
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: because you gotta be careful where you sit in the

473
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:27,520
Speaker 1: House of God. You gotta be careful when you have

474
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:31,720
Speaker 1: open windows. My issue with Uticus is why would you

475
00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:36,840
Speaker 1: sit in such a dangerous place? And I'm wondering there's

476
00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,200
Speaker 1: anybody in here who just like Eudicus And oh, you're

477
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 1: in church. Oh I understand. Judicus is not in the club.

478
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:49,399
Speaker 1: Judicus came to a campus. He was there, but he

479
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:54,640
Speaker 1: picked a dangerous place to sit. Judicus had some open

480
00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:57,800
Speaker 1: windows in his life even though he was in the

481
00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,919
Speaker 1: house of God. Here's your intention will get you in

482
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,240
Speaker 1: the room, but it's your attention that will keep you

483
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,040
Speaker 1: and the row. It is not enough just to come

484
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:13,000
Speaker 1: to church. You gotta be careful words you sit. And

485
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:17,360
Speaker 1: some of you in here today have some open windows.

486
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,040
Speaker 1: And God just told me to ask you, is that

487
00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:24,679
Speaker 1: the best place for you to sin? Is that the

488
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,320
Speaker 1: best place? You know? You're sitting in an open window

489
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:29,760
Speaker 1: when you're trying to see how close you can get

490
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:35,120
Speaker 1: to the edge of sin without a being sin. When

491
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:40,200
Speaker 1: you're asking questions like well, what is lying really? I mean,

492
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:44,480
Speaker 1: I mean, what's cheating really? It's an open window because

493
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:46,760
Speaker 1: you're trying to see how close you can get to

494
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:49,360
Speaker 1: the last. And God told me to tell somebody in

495
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 1: this place today it is a horrible thing to fight

496
00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,160
Speaker 1: sleep in a window sea. You need to get off

497
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:58,080
Speaker 1: of the window sea, get away from the edge. You

498
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,880
Speaker 1: should go to a wall and end up on something

499
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:06,760
Speaker 1: that's solid. Don't fight sleep in a window seat. That's

500
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 1: a horrible place to try to fight the war of

501
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 1: falling asleep. The issue wasn't his sleep, it was where

502
00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:20,280
Speaker 1: he was sitting. Can we be honest? Have you ever

503
00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,560
Speaker 1: been fighting sleep? I'm talking about in the natural? You

504
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:25,760
Speaker 1: ever been fighting it? You ever see how stupid you

505
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:33,520
Speaker 1: look fighting sleep? Wow? Hitting yourself doing whatever you can't

506
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:35,320
Speaker 1: I'm the worst. I'm telling you. My wife is scared

507
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,040
Speaker 1: to drive with me. I'm telling for me. All long

508
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:41,040
Speaker 1: drives and the engine just drone in and if there's

509
00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,640
Speaker 1: no scenery, I am dangerous behind the wheel if it

510
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:45,480
Speaker 1: is more than a two hour drive, because I'll just

511
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:47,280
Speaker 1: who I see why he went by the window, Because

512
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,120
Speaker 1: that's why I do. I open up the windows when

513
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:50,480
Speaker 1: I'm about to fall asleep, and I'll stick my head

514
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:55,440
Speaker 1: out the window, just fighting so you have been fighting.

515
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,240
Speaker 1: See I'm telling I am dangerous on a highway, just

516
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,760
Speaker 1: doing whatever I can to stay away. I like hip hop,

517
00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:02,320
Speaker 1: but when I'm telling you, when i'm driving, I'll listen

518
00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 1: to whatever I gotta listen to. Just stay awake. If

519
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:05,920
Speaker 1: you ever seen me on the highway with my head

520
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:10,920
Speaker 1: out the window talking about said you up in the like,

521
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:15,120
Speaker 1: was that past the robber? Yeah, shout us. Stay awake.

522
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:20,560
Speaker 1: It's a horrible thing to fight sleep in a window seat.

523
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:23,360
Speaker 1: And all of us disciples have been there, haven't we.

524
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:28,160
Speaker 1: Do you remember when the disciples were with Jesus, Peter, James,

525
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:30,600
Speaker 1: and John in the garden of Guesseimone and he told

526
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,720
Speaker 1: him watch and pray, stay here, just pray with me.

527
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 1: And what did they start doing? They pulled the unicuts

528
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,320
Speaker 1: fall asleep. But do you remember what Jesus said to him.

529
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:46,040
Speaker 1: She went up to him, called him out first, y'all

530
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:47,960
Speaker 1: sleeping you know they did like we do. No, no, man,

531
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:54,120
Speaker 1: we just praying for you. Yeah sure, he said, uh,

532
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:58,480
Speaker 1: watch and pray. He says, be careful that you don't

533
00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:04,320
Speaker 1: fall into ten. It's an awkward thing to say for

534
00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,520
Speaker 1: somebody that's sleeping. Y'all, got real spiritual with it, like,

535
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:13,880
Speaker 1: ooh yeah, what what does temptation have to do with sleeping? Say, boys,

536
00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:15,560
Speaker 1: you just said be careful that you do not fall

537
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:20,520
Speaker 1: into a temperipedic. What does temptation have to do with sleeping?

538
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 1: He says. More, he says, the spirit is willing, but

539
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:31,120
Speaker 1: the flesh is weak. He's given us a metaphor, the

540
00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:33,840
Speaker 1: Great Teacher that in the same way in the natural,

541
00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:39,480
Speaker 1: when you're fighting to stay awake, that is the war

542
00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:45,480
Speaker 1: between your flesh and your spirit. He's trying to let

543
00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:47,760
Speaker 1: you know that we live in a culture that is

544
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:52,080
Speaker 1: always trying to put you to sleep, and you got

545
00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:56,640
Speaker 1: to do whatever you can to fight to stay Oh wake,

546
00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:00,200
Speaker 1: you cannot go to sleep. I don't know who this

547
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:02,440
Speaker 1: is for, but this is your wake up call today

548
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:05,720
Speaker 1: because the enemy is trying to get you to fight

549
00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:11,160
Speaker 1: to sleep it. That's what he's given us, the metaphor

550
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:16,000
Speaker 1: that is hard to stay awake. And I came to

551
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:20,200
Speaker 1: tell you that the disciples with the best intentions often

552
00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:27,520
Speaker 1: fall the sleep. The disciples with the best hearts often

553
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:32,640
Speaker 1: fall asleep. Don't forget what happened in that passage when

554
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:35,840
Speaker 1: the disciples were sleeping. He says that Jesus was sorrowful

555
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:40,160
Speaker 1: to death, but another translation says even the disciples were sorrowful.

556
00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:47,200
Speaker 1: Sometimes sorrow makes you sleepy because you've been through so

557
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:52,360
Speaker 1: much and you've been fighting to stay awake. But the

558
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:58,640
Speaker 1: bain starts lulling you to sleep, and God says, you

559
00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:06,160
Speaker 1: gotta keep on and don't let the culture and the

560
00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:10,760
Speaker 1: things around you put you to sleep. I love the

561
00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:15,440
Speaker 1: Bible because it flows so well together. The Bible is

562
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:19,880
Speaker 1: replete with examples and scriptures about our need to stay vigilant,

563
00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:25,640
Speaker 1: to stay awake. For Thessalonians five, verses five through six says,

564
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:27,400
Speaker 1: you are all children of the light and children of

565
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:29,680
Speaker 1: the day. We do not belong to the night or

566
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,240
Speaker 1: to the darkness. So then let us not be like

567
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,880
Speaker 1: the others who are asleep, but let us be awakened.

568
00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:39,720
Speaker 1: Sober Paul says in Romans thirteen, verse eleven and twelve.

569
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:43,600
Speaker 1: And do this understanding the present time. The hour has

570
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,640
Speaker 1: already come for you to wake up from your slumber,

571
00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:50,240
Speaker 1: because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believe.

572
00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:53,160
Speaker 1: The night is nearly over, the day is almost here.

573
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:55,720
Speaker 1: So let us put aside the deeds of the darkness

574
00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,360
Speaker 1: and put on the armor of light. One Peter five

575
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:04,280
Speaker 1: eight says be alert and a sober mind. Your enemy.

576
00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:07,400
Speaker 1: The devil prowls around like a roaring line, looking for

577
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:11,560
Speaker 1: someone to devour. I'm trying to show you the Bible

578
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:16,200
Speaker 1: has always been telling us as believers, stay awake because

579
00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:21,200
Speaker 1: it's so easy. Oh a sleep. I know some of

580
00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:24,520
Speaker 1: y'all are super spiritual. You're like, I would never get sleepyre.

581
00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:28,920
Speaker 1: You know how long I've been coming to elevation. I

582
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,800
Speaker 1: have scriptures to memorize. I'm a child at the most

583
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:40,000
Speaker 1: high God. I'm telling you it's easier to fall asleep

584
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:44,719
Speaker 1: than you realize. I would never Okay, you remember Luke

585
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:48,080
Speaker 1: chapter nine when the disciples, three of them, saying three

586
00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:51,480
Speaker 1: that fell asleep, go up to the mount of Transfiguration

587
00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 1: with Jesus and something powerful happens. As Jesus starts praying,

588
00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:58,239
Speaker 1: he starts glowing in the dark. Can you imagine being

589
00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:01,000
Speaker 1: with Jesus on a mountaintop and his clothes get brighter

590
00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:03,680
Speaker 1: than anybody could bleach it. Some of the crazier happens.

591
00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:08,439
Speaker 1: Moses and Elijah show up on the mountain, y'all. I'm

592
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:12,000
Speaker 1: thinking if I'm on a mountaintop with Jesus and Moses

593
00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:16,560
Speaker 1: and Elijah show up and he is glowing in the dark. Oh,

594
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:20,480
Speaker 1: I am wide awake. I am not missing this at all.

595
00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,319
Speaker 1: Matter of fact, I'm gonna have my phone recorded the

596
00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:25,319
Speaker 1: whole thing, saying, who wait till they see this when

597
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:27,279
Speaker 1: I get off this mountain. They ain't gonna believe this.

598
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:32,120
Speaker 1: But guess what happened to the disciples who are on

599
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,000
Speaker 1: a mountain would glow in the dark. Jesus and Moses

600
00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:38,520
Speaker 1: and Elijah, two people who were dead. Look at what

601
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:40,560
Speaker 1: happens in Luke chapter nine, verse thirty two. It's his

602
00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:43,879
Speaker 1: peters and his companions were very sleepy, but when they

603
00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:47,960
Speaker 1: became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two

604
00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:52,240
Speaker 1: men standing with him. They fell asleep on a mountain

605
00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,759
Speaker 1: top with two people who came back from the dead.

606
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,160
Speaker 1: You don't sit up there and tell me, and you

607
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:03,759
Speaker 1: don't just sleep, yeah that you don't get weary. Even

608
00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,320
Speaker 1: the disciples with the best intentions, the best the hearts

609
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:12,880
Speaker 1: fall I sleep. I guess the question that I'm asking

610
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:18,439
Speaker 1: you today is that if I don't know when I'm

611
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:26,440
Speaker 1: falling asleep in the natural, you realize you don't know

612
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:30,480
Speaker 1: when you're sleeping. If I don't know when I'm falling

613
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:37,759
Speaker 1: asleep in the natural until somebody wakes me up, could

614
00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:42,200
Speaker 1: it be possible you don't know when you're falling asleep spiritually.

615
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:50,520
Speaker 1: You don't even know. You could be asleep spiritually for

616
00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:56,800
Speaker 1: years and it's not until somebody says, wake up you

617
00:36:56,920 --> 00:37:01,480
Speaker 1: realize I've been sleeping. Does somebody say wake up? To

618
00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,080
Speaker 1: realize I've just been going through the motions and checking

619
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:06,279
Speaker 1: the box, thinking the church at just the country club

620
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:09,600
Speaker 1: that I come to. It can be years till somebody

621
00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:12,280
Speaker 1: says wake up, and you realis I've never even shared

622
00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:15,239
Speaker 1: my faith with somebody at all. I think I'm in

623
00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:18,120
Speaker 1: the witness protection program and I'm just going to work

624
00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:24,160
Speaker 1: as a secret believer. You don't know when you're asleep

625
00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:29,200
Speaker 1: till somebody says wake I want to give you a

626
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:31,960
Speaker 1: few signs if somebody comes to place softly to let

627
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:38,840
Speaker 1: you know I'm landing the plane. I wrote down some

628
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:43,000
Speaker 1: signs that you're getting spiritually sleepy. This is an exhaustive list,

629
00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:44,799
Speaker 1: but some things I just thought about. You know you're

630
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:48,400
Speaker 1: getting sleepy spiritually when you have little or no desire

631
00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:53,600
Speaker 1: to pray. That's why Jesus told the disciples, watch and pray,

632
00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:57,640
Speaker 1: Watch and pray. Pray is what keeps us vigilants, what

633
00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,320
Speaker 1: keeps us awake and attentive to the pose is in

634
00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:04,120
Speaker 1: the plans of God. You know you're getting sleepy spiritually.

635
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:06,960
Speaker 1: If you have a loss of appetite for the Word

636
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:11,000
Speaker 1: of God. You're losing your appetite for the word. That

637
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:14,080
Speaker 1: might be a sign you're getting sleepy. Anybody in there

638
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:18,280
Speaker 1: ever tried to eat healthy after eating bad, isn't youre crazy?

639
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:20,480
Speaker 1: How it's nasty at first, But if you stay consistent,

640
00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:23,960
Speaker 1: you start craving what You're like, come on, the first

641
00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:26,239
Speaker 1: time you eat that kill, You're like, this is ridiculous.

642
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:29,879
Speaker 1: You stay consistent, You're like, you know what you take

643
00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:32,719
Speaker 1: kill all today. I'm feeling that. It's the same with

644
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:35,520
Speaker 1: the Word of God. You start craving what you eat.

645
00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:39,240
Speaker 1: You know you're getting sleepy spiritually. If you're no longer

646
00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:47,520
Speaker 1: convicted of willful sin, when it doesn't feel anymore like

647
00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:50,439
Speaker 1: a sin and you don't have conviction, that's a sign

648
00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,880
Speaker 1: you know you're getting sleepy. When you have a desire

649
00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:58,800
Speaker 1: to be served rather than serving others, you might be

650
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:04,400
Speaker 1: getting sleepy. If you easily offended, you might be getting sleepy.

651
00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:10,879
Speaker 1: If you're avoiding accountability, you might begin sleepy. If you're

652
00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:17,520
Speaker 1: consistently comparing yourself to other people, you might be getting sleepy.

653
00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:22,799
Speaker 1: If you're spreading or entertaining gossip. That's why someone will

654
00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:27,080
Speaker 1: sleep with my mouth open, I got something to say

655
00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:32,440
Speaker 1: about somebody else. That's a sign getting sleepy. You might

656
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:37,120
Speaker 1: begetting sleepy, hear me. If you've isolated yourself from the

657
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:42,759
Speaker 1: community of believers. The enemy wants you to be isolated

658
00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:47,360
Speaker 1: so you can go to sleep. And this is my

659
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:51,080
Speaker 1: issue with this text. This is my indictment against the

660
00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:54,080
Speaker 1: people that are were in that room that day, because

661
00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:58,480
Speaker 1: if Eudicus is sitting in a window seat, if Eudicus

662
00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:01,120
Speaker 1: is sitting there in that window, see, I just want

663
00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:04,080
Speaker 1: to know, how come nobody in that room walked up

664
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:06,840
Speaker 1: to Eudicus and said, hey, man, I'll see you dozen

665
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:09,960
Speaker 1: that's not a good place to sit. How come nobody

666
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:13,600
Speaker 1: in that room said Eudicus, I wouldn't sit there, stand

667
00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:16,680
Speaker 1: over here by me. How come nobody in that room

668
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,439
Speaker 1: just took a moment to say, Udicus, I've been there before,

669
00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:21,920
Speaker 1: and I worked all day too. Stand right next to me,

670
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:24,720
Speaker 1: and let's keep each other away. The Bible even says

671
00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:27,760
Speaker 1: he was a young person. How come no older person,

672
00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:30,960
Speaker 1: somebody from another generation should have just gone up to

673
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,880
Speaker 1: Eudicus and said, Eudicus, that's a horrible place to say.

674
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:35,480
Speaker 1: Let me tell you something. I used to be young.

675
00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:37,880
Speaker 1: You better stand over here by me. I'm trying to

676
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:40,759
Speaker 1: tell somebody, this is why you need the church, This

677
00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:43,319
Speaker 1: is why you need community. Because we don't know when

678
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:46,440
Speaker 1: we're getting sleepy, we don't know when we're dozing. All

679
00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:49,520
Speaker 1: so I need somebody around me to say, you got

680
00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:52,320
Speaker 1: some mu's purpose on your life. You can't sit there.

681
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:54,640
Speaker 1: You got too much a nunhing on your life. You

682
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:57,839
Speaker 1: can't go there. No, you can't cat them. No, you

683
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:01,600
Speaker 1: can't lift that low you're calling it. Do I need

684
00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:07,440
Speaker 1: somebody to tell me when I'm falling a thing? Is

685
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:13,000
Speaker 1: there anybody in that room? And I had enough concern

686
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:19,439
Speaker 1: to say, Udicus, don't sit there, Eudicus, there's another place.

687
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:23,000
Speaker 1: How to pick Unicus here and lean home in. Let's

688
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:26,120
Speaker 1: stay awake. I know you wanted to be here. Uticus.

689
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:28,640
Speaker 1: The fact that you're in the room shows me how

690
00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:33,399
Speaker 1: much you love God, get just tired. It worked all

691
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:38,120
Speaker 1: day and Paul's going a long time, So just stand

692
00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:40,000
Speaker 1: by me and don't sit in the window seat. This

693
00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:43,439
Speaker 1: is why when you need the church, because I don't

694
00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:47,120
Speaker 1: know when I'm dozing off, I need somebody to tell

695
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:53,480
Speaker 1: me wake come. Nobody saw Uticus sitting in the window,

696
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:56,239
Speaker 1: and I'm even wondering if they knew when he fell

697
00:41:56,280 --> 00:42:01,440
Speaker 1: out the window. I'm curious. Were they enamored by the

698
00:42:01,440 --> 00:42:04,520
Speaker 1: great preaching of the apostle Paul that they didn't even

699
00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:10,319
Speaker 1: notice that Judiku just fell out the window. Have you

700
00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:13,160
Speaker 1: noticed the people that used to be in church that

701
00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:17,400
Speaker 1: aren't here anymore and the reason God puts you in

702
00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:19,919
Speaker 1: their life so you can call them back in the room.

703
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:22,239
Speaker 1: Are you so concerned with your own life and your

704
00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:24,960
Speaker 1: own blessing and what you need from God that you'd

705
00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:31,960
Speaker 1: know this Eudicus has falling out of the window. I

706
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:34,640
Speaker 1: wonder if it took the commotion outside to get the

707
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:40,080
Speaker 1: room to actually notice. Judith kiss is cane and here's

708
00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:42,160
Speaker 1: what hew else. I know something happened in the room

709
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:46,239
Speaker 1: that breaks my heart. I think the people in the room,

710
00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:50,160
Speaker 1: when they noticed Eudachus was down there, didn't do anything.

711
00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:55,000
Speaker 1: They just looked out the window. I'll tell you how

712
00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:56,480
Speaker 1: I know it in the moment. But isn't that what

713
00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:00,520
Speaker 1: church people do today? I love the church? Crazy? How

714
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:02,480
Speaker 1: sometimes when somebody who's falling out of the window, we

715
00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:05,640
Speaker 1: will stay in the room, you got the window and

716
00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:09,880
Speaker 1: go home. Can you believe that shouldn't have sat there?

717
00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:13,120
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have sat there. I would never do that.

718
00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:14,960
Speaker 1: In fact, let me take somebody just so they can

719
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:16,600
Speaker 1: be praying for you to get and let them know

720
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:22,399
Speaker 1: what happened. Isn't it crazy? Now? Some of those people

721
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:25,440
Speaker 1: who are falling away, we stand at a distance and

722
00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:28,839
Speaker 1: look out the window, talking about how they fell, talking

723
00:43:28,880 --> 00:43:31,520
Speaker 1: about how they shouldn't have sat there. But thank God

724
00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:35,359
Speaker 1: for the apostle Paul. Thank God for Paul, because the

725
00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:39,080
Speaker 1: Bible says perhaps the most powerful words in that passage.

726
00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:41,760
Speaker 1: While everybody else was in the room looking at Uticus

727
00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:44,400
Speaker 1: through the window, the Bible says, what Paul did. The

728
00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:48,040
Speaker 1: Bible says that Paul went down. Paul is showing you

729
00:43:48,239 --> 00:43:51,080
Speaker 1: what a believer it's supposed to do. Paul is showing

730
00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:54,080
Speaker 1: you what ministry really is. That when somebody has falling

731
00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:56,160
Speaker 1: out of the window and gone down and made a

732
00:43:56,200 --> 00:43:59,000
Speaker 1: bad decision. You don't send in judgment from the window.

733
00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:02,640
Speaker 1: The Bible says that Paul Witch down. You want to

734
00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:05,400
Speaker 1: know what ministry looks like. Ministry doesn't start on a

735
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:09,080
Speaker 1: platform or a stage. Ministry is coming down to where

736
00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:12,359
Speaker 1: people are who have fallen an approaches, and you gotta

737
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:15,120
Speaker 1: let them know. We save a God who's the resurrection

738
00:44:16,239 --> 00:44:18,879
Speaker 1: and the life. You don't think his life is over,

739
00:44:19,160 --> 00:44:22,320
Speaker 1: but it's not over. You're theist. You can live a

740
00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:24,400
Speaker 1: den And I don't know who this message is for,

741
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:26,840
Speaker 1: but maybe the other people have told you that the

742
00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:30,279
Speaker 1: marriage is over, the kusiness is over, your child, your

743
00:44:30,360 --> 00:44:32,560
Speaker 1: life is over. But I tend to tell you the

744
00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:36,120
Speaker 1: devil is a liar. God is enough time. Until God

745
00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:44,240
Speaker 1: is time, he can raise anything back to life. Here's

746
00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:50,960
Speaker 1: the resurrection and the life. Tell me, I'm learning more

747
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:54,479
Speaker 1: and more every day. The industry is not about being

748
00:44:54,560 --> 00:45:02,080
Speaker 1: not damn. It's looking Britian preaching illustrious when you do

749
00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:08,880
Speaker 1: like the apostle Paul who went down, threw himself on

750
00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:09,560
Speaker 1: the young.

751
00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:27,200
Speaker 2: Man and said, he's not dead, there's still life in him.

752
00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:32,120
Speaker 1: Isn't this what our savior did for us? And when

753
00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:36,920
Speaker 1: we were falling, stuck in our sin. She did not

754
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:41,120
Speaker 1: try to redeem us from heaven. The King of Clarie

755
00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:47,680
Speaker 1: came down, put on human's skin to feel what we feel,

756
00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:51,080
Speaker 1: go through what we go through, and when humanity had

757
00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:54,839
Speaker 1: no hope, we were all unicus. He said, I'll throw

758
00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:59,520
Speaker 1: my life on a cross, and I'll get up from

759
00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:03,040
Speaker 1: the grave. So then when I get up, is proof

760
00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:07,080
Speaker 1: that no matter what has held you down, you can

761
00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:17,719
Speaker 1: get up to It's crazy because this says that this

762
00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:22,320
Speaker 1: gathering was on the first day of the week, Sunday.

763
00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:25,040
Speaker 1: Just like this. This is a change. This is the

764
00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:32,160
Speaker 1: first biblically recorded gathering on a Sunday. Sabbath used to

765
00:46:32,200 --> 00:46:34,560
Speaker 1: be a Saturday. Why is it changing because they changed

766
00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:39,840
Speaker 1: it to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, and then they

767
00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:45,400
Speaker 1: just laid Jesus to give them a resurrection on the

768
00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:49,319
Speaker 1: day they're celebrating the Tower of his resurrection. I say

769
00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:52,160
Speaker 1: nothing to say, Eudicus. All hope is not lost. You

770
00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:56,240
Speaker 1: are not defined by your mistake. Even Eudikis's life became

771
00:46:56,280 --> 00:46:59,200
Speaker 1: a testimony that God steal in the business of horaising

772
00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:07,080
Speaker 1: things that were dead back to life. I didn't know

773
00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:11,879
Speaker 1: I fell asleep. But I also didn't know that even

774
00:47:11,920 --> 00:47:16,600
Speaker 1: after I fail, God could bring me back to life.

775
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:19,560
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask every head be bowed and eyes be

776
00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:26,120
Speaker 1: closed today. Father, I thank you today for your word. Lord.

777
00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:29,759
Speaker 1: I thank you that you don't give up on us,

778
00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:34,319
Speaker 1: that when everybody else says it's over, just like the

779
00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:38,160
Speaker 1: Apostle Paul, you come down to where we are, they say, no,

780
00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:43,160
Speaker 1: there's still life there. Father. Today I'm praying for my brother,

781
00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:47,200
Speaker 1: my sister. I don't know what location. I don't know

782
00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:49,799
Speaker 1: if they're Epham, but I do know you're speaking to them,

783
00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:53,520
Speaker 1: and today is not just another sermon. It's their wake

784
00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:57,880
Speaker 1: up God. God. We're so weak, we're made of flesh.

785
00:47:57,880 --> 00:48:00,799
Speaker 1: We don't know when we're dosing off. God. I thank

786
00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:05,440
Speaker 1: you that you always give us wake up calls. God,

787
00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:09,279
Speaker 1: thank you for community that will help us to wake up.

788
00:48:10,120 --> 00:48:13,640
Speaker 1: Don't tell us, don't sit there, it's a dangerous place

789
00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:18,040
Speaker 1: to send. Or let us be attentive to what it

790
00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:20,800
Speaker 1: is you're doing in us and what you want to

791
00:48:20,840 --> 00:48:24,040
Speaker 1: do through us. Heads about ours are closed today, But

792
00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:28,560
Speaker 1: I'm wondering if this is somebody's wake up call, whether

793
00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:32,319
Speaker 1: in this room or watch them online and you need

794
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:36,160
Speaker 1: to surrender your life to this beautiful savior, hear me.

795
00:48:36,239 --> 00:48:38,440
Speaker 1: Maybe you think you got to get yourself together to

796
00:48:38,520 --> 00:48:41,799
Speaker 1: come to him, but you can't get yourself together. You

797
00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:46,799
Speaker 1: just didn't have time to get himself together. You don't

798
00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:48,920
Speaker 1: clean yourself up to come to a savior. You just

799
00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:51,919
Speaker 1: come to him as you are. And so what heads

800
00:48:51,920 --> 00:48:54,960
Speaker 1: about and ours closed? Across every location? If you've never

801
00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:58,440
Speaker 1: surrendered your life to Jesus, today's your day to come home.

802
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:03,279
Speaker 1: He's the as arection and the life doesn't matter what

803
00:49:03,280 --> 00:49:06,279
Speaker 1: the enemy is telling you it's dead. He can breathe

804
00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:10,680
Speaker 1: life back into it. And he didn't come just to

805
00:49:10,719 --> 00:49:15,680
Speaker 1: make bad people good. No, he came to make dead

806
00:49:15,760 --> 00:49:19,719
Speaker 1: people come alive. You can have eternal life today. So

807
00:49:19,800 --> 00:49:22,080
Speaker 1: when heads bout on, iyes close. If that's you, he said,

808
00:49:22,080 --> 00:49:24,640
Speaker 1: Pastor Robert, include me in this clothing prayer. I need

809
00:49:24,680 --> 00:49:26,839
Speaker 1: to surrender my life to Jesus. Would you just lift

810
00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:29,080
Speaker 1: up your hand high enough and long enough to where

811
00:49:29,120 --> 00:49:31,600
Speaker 1: I could see it? Thank you? Yeah, hands are going

812
00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:34,320
Speaker 1: up all over this room, wherever you're watching, across every location.

813
00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:37,479
Speaker 1: Thank you Jesus, Thank you God. Can we just pray

814
00:49:37,520 --> 00:49:39,400
Speaker 1: this prayer as one big family. I'm gonna give you

815
00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:41,560
Speaker 1: the words, but you just say it from your heart.

816
00:49:41,600 --> 00:49:45,680
Speaker 1: Would you say this, say Jesus, I need you. I

817
00:49:45,680 --> 00:49:51,960
Speaker 1: cannot do life without you because you are my life. Jesus,

818
00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:56,239
Speaker 1: I believe that you are the son of God. You

819
00:49:56,360 --> 00:50:00,400
Speaker 1: live the life that I was supposed to live. You

820
00:50:00,600 --> 00:50:04,960
Speaker 1: died to death that I was supposed to die. You

821
00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:09,839
Speaker 1: took my place. So my response is to give you

822
00:50:09,880 --> 00:50:14,920
Speaker 1: all of me, forgive me of my sin, make me

823
00:50:15,120 --> 00:50:19,560
Speaker 1: brand new from this moment, for I'm walking with you

824
00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:25,160
Speaker 1: in Jesus' name. Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen. Come on, if

825
00:50:25,200 --> 00:50:27,920
Speaker 1: you meant what your praise, can we give King Jesus

826
00:50:27,920 --> 00:50:30,360
Speaker 1: praise today? Oh? Come on, you can do better than

827
00:50:30,400 --> 00:50:33,120
Speaker 1: that to your praise. I'm like you know, you got

828
00:50:33,160 --> 00:50:36,520
Speaker 1: your breath back, you got your life back. Come on,

829
00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:39,960
Speaker 1: give them a real, real resurrection and praise today.

830
00:50:41,480 --> 00:50:44,000
Speaker 3: And I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did,

831
00:50:44,560 --> 00:50:47,160
Speaker 3: make sure to share it and subscribe so we can

832
00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:49,759
Speaker 3: get you all of these new messages as soon as

833
00:50:49,800 --> 00:50:52,600
Speaker 3: they're available. I also want to take a moment and

834
00:50:52,680 --> 00:50:54,440
Speaker 3: thank all of you who are a part of Elevation,

835
00:50:54,960 --> 00:50:58,279
Speaker 3: whether you support us financially or serve with us or

836
00:50:58,719 --> 00:51:01,399
Speaker 3: just share these messages. Is because of you that we're

837
00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:04,359
Speaker 3: able to reach people all around the world. And if

838
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:06,879
Speaker 3: you want more information on how to be a part

839
00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:10,839
Speaker 3: of Elevation, click the link in the description. Thanks again

840
00:51:10,880 --> 00:51:13,319
Speaker 3: for listening. Make sure to leave a review, share the

841
00:51:13,360 --> 00:51:14,640
Speaker 3: message and subscribe.

842
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:15,600
Speaker 1: God bless you.