WEBVTT - The Power Of A Better Question 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:04.000 Ah, But we love you today, and we worship and 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:09.640 adore you. We're not angels, but we want to gather 0:00:09.720 --> 0:00:11.879 around your throne like they do and give you praise, 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:14.600 and we want to sing what they sing. We want 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:18.280 to say worthy, Worthy, Worthy is the lamb to open 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:21.520 the scroll. We thank you, Lord, that all of history 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:24.760 is in your hands. We thank you that everything in 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:28.840 the past that has happened is now being brought into 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:32.280 perfect alignment with the future that you have prophesied over 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:40.840 us in this moment. We say that because our confidence 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:45.760 is in your unchanging nature and your steadfast character, and 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:49.159 we want to be more like you are. God. We 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:54.840 want to be rooted and grounded in what lasts. So today, Lord, 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:59.080 I thank you for a sustaining blessing over these men 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:03.720 and women, a sustaining blessing over these boys and girls. 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:08.240 We thank you that you are a creator and a keeper. 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.560 So Lord, right now, I thank you that I'm in 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:16.120 the palm of your hand. Right now, I thank you 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:20.920 that your grip is stronger than my resistance. God, I 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.240 thank you that you're stronger at holding me than I 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:26.240 am at letting go. And I thank you that you've 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:30.080 got me right where you want me. I'm not behind, 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:36.600 I'm not off schedule. I'm right where I need to be. 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:41.120 I'm who I need to be. You didn't want to 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:44.360 make me any different than you made me. There wasn't 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:46.679 a missing worker on the assembly line on the day 0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:49.920 that you created me. Before I was born, you knew me. 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:55.080 You set me apart in my mother's womb. Everything that 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:59.640 I'm missing is just an opportunity for a miracle. Every 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.080 space in me is just somewhere for you to show 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:07.680 off in my life. In my weakness, you are strong. 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:18.040 You are a mighty God, a wonderful counselor, an everlasting father, 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:24.440 and the Prince of peace. We call on your great name, Jesus. 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:30.320 Your name is above every other name. Who you are 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:35.440 is what we trust it, and we place our hope 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:40.160 in you. In Jesus' name. Everybody who believes that name 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:44.720 is the name that matters. Shot a mad, come on, 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:54.600 shot a mad awesome awes Well, we were singing the 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.160 names of God. But let me just take a minute, 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.280 and what's your name? Tell three people around you, Hi, 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:01.760 my name is. What's your name? Just get to know 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:08.120 him all right? In the chat? How are you? Where 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:12.680 are you? Let me open this YouTube lane. All right, 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:17.480 in the chat, who are you? Let me know in 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:20.240 the chat, who are you? Somebody? Shout your name right 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:26.400 here at me, real quick, shout your legal name. I 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:29.639 don't know you enough to have a nickname relationship yet 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:34.480 and from all over the world. It's just it would 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:36.240 amaze you. I don't want you to do it because 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:39.640 it would be distracting. But if you saw all the 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.640 people in the chat that are joining us for church today, 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:46.040 it really is true. I didn't know God was literal 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.200 when he said I'm going to stretch your boundaries, but 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:51.720 he did. That's even beyond what we could have thought. 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.320 We built buildings all these many years for the church, 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:56.760 and the Lord was like, that's great. The buildings are great. 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:00.840 Build them. But what God is doing now in the 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:03.680 year twenty twenty one is so far beyond the building. 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:10.880 Come on. And what I love about it is it's 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:14.280 not only it's not only people who watch online, but 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:18.880 they worship, they give, they build. It's our extended family. 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:29.520 Let's welcome our Epham all around the world. I learned 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:33.960 that the Lord's ways are higher than mine. Have you 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:38.040 learned that? Yet? Sooner you learn that Man you're gonna 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:43.400 waste less money, less time, less prayers asking God for 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:45.080 stuff that if He gave it to you, you'd want 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:48.200 to return it back to send her. I'm just trying 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:53.560 to save you some time. That God's ways are better, better, better, 0:04:54.160 --> 0:05:04.279 better better. Yeah, all right, we got Emma, Chris Jane Steven. 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:08.360 What an anointed name that it is with a V. 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:12.240 He spelled it right, Steven, God, bless your mother and 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:17.240 blessed be the fruit of your mother's woman. Samantha from Malaysia. 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:20.440 You see what I'm saying. From Malaysia. I never thought 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.360 I would put a campus in Malaysia, but God did that. 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:29.440 God is gonna do so much more through your life then, 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.560 you know to ask him for right now, so be encouraged. 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:36.760 We're getting ready. We're preparing our year end offering. It's 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:40.760 called the year end offering, is called better this year better. 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:44.760 That's the word God spoke to me. I'm like, Lord, 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:47.599 I can't tell him it's gonna get better. He said, 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:49.560 that's not the point of it. The point is if 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:55.159 it doesn't get better, they will. So. God is gonna 0:05:55.160 --> 0:06:01.080 increase you, make you stronger and wiser. He's gonna do that. 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:03.400 He's doing that sometimes when you don't feel it. I 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:06.760 noticed when I'm working out physically, the moments where I 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:11.120 feel the weakest, I'm growing the most. Wonder is that 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:16.000 true in the spirit? Me too? She said, I hope 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:20.680 so so you had a bad week. I barely made 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.680 it in. I hope you're telling that truth. It was 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.320 amazing though. So many you never know what somebody's going 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:29.520 through right next to you. That's why I hate when 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:33.320 y'all leave when I'm closing my sermon in prayer, when 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:36.080 you slip out so you can get the lunch. It 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:39.719 bothers me because you don't know that person on that road, 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.240 what they came in carrying, and what God is lifting. 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:50.120 One of our longtime volunteers, This is just one example. 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.200 One of our longtime volunteers in the Raleigh Durham area 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:57.520 had just made it back to church last week, and afterwards, 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.479 one of our campus pastors said, I you man, where 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:03.479 have you been? And he said, well, I fell out 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:06.039 for a little while, you know, but this week my 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:11.040 son took his own life. But while that while we 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:14.880 were worshiping, God spoke to me, is going to get better? 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:20.080 Only in God's presence can you receive a truth like that. 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:23.440 I didn't tell him that because that's not my place 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:25.400 to tell him that. I can't imagine what that feels like. 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:30.840 But God can say that, and he does every single 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:34.760 time we get together. How many of you are are 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.960 better in some way or your family is better because 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:42.000 of the ministry right here at Elevation. I mean, even 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:45.080 if it was just one time, if it was just 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:50.240 one time, God spoke to you. So the best thing 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:54.680 we can do is to always invest in what God 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:58.200 is using to feed us. There's no better place to invest. 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.600 So on the December twelfth, we set the date. Really 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:03.400 it's now through the whole end of the year, but 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:06.200 we'll be receiving into offering. We use it for expansion 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:10.200 and outreach and all the great ministries. I'm looking at 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:13.160 a couple dozen people in here who I know are Tithers. 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:16.840 They give God always the first ten percent of what 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:23.640 God gives them, not the leftovers, uh huh, not that 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:28.120 congealed cranberry sauce nobody wanted to eat on Thanksgiving Day. 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:31.360 They don't throw God the scraps, but they come to 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.599 God first and say, I trust you, You're my God. Systematically, 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.920 so thousands begin doing that. During this time, many give 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:41.080 above and beyond. That's what Holly and I. I didn't 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:44.800 tell her the number God gave me yet, but it's 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.080 it's I don't like it. It's kind of bigger than 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:50.240 I wanted it, but I'm always glad that I did it. 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:52.080 So it's a chance for you to seek God. That's 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:54.960 the thing is for you to ask God, God, what 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:58.599 would you have me to give? And there's envelopes and details, 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:04.559 but that's not my depart today. My role is to 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:11.920 take this Bible and I'm gonna try to knock that 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:14.280 devil off your shoulder that's been talking to your role. 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:20.040 Let's see, this is a pretty big Bible. By swing 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.760 it hard enough, maybe that devil leave you alone for 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:27.680 a couple of minutes. All right, So thank you worship team. 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:31.360 What an awesome video about the worship ministry. Huh, everybody, 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:34.960 everybody grateful for God's presens Give God a shout of praise. 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:42.600 All right, be seated, classes in session. This is a 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:45.000 lesson today. I've been threatening to teach this for a year. 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:48.280 I keep playing with it, and God confirmed in several 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.400 different ways that this was the word for today. So 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:54.160 I'm very confident about that. I'm going to teach you 0:09:54.200 --> 0:10:00.040 on the subject the power of a better question, The 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.800 power of a better question. I've been flirting with it 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:07.559 for some time now, but today because our word is better. 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:11.480 The prophet hag I asked a series of questions, who 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:13.520 of you is left? Who saw the former house in 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:16.920 its glory? And then he asked how does it look 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:20.520 to you? Now? He's asking questions. Do any of you 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:26.559 know the first question in the Bible? By the way, 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:31.360 anybody I can call on just guess. I won't make 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:33.040 you look dumb. I promise I'm not setting you up. 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:36.520 I would never embarrass you. First question. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:38.680 that's the second question. I thought that was the first 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:42.360 question in the Bible too, Adam, where are you? So 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:44.760 when I was on the thing, going on the chat, 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:47.480 and I said who are you? Where are you? And 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:50.760 I asked that question, you probably put a physical location 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:54.720 geographical Malaysia, or you put a name, right. But the 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:57.040 more specific we got with that question where are you, 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.680 it just becomes endlessly deep. Right, say where are you? 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:07.040 And you're like Topeka? Right? Cool? Now I know your address, 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:11.200 but I don't know your attitude. So where are you? 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.520 If we take it deeper, the depth of the question 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:14.920 can go as deep as you want it to go. 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:17.800 If I say where are you? Well, I'm kind of 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:21.440 offended because last week I was supposed to get invited 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:23.840 to this thing and nobody invited me. And really I'm 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:25.839 mad because I'm always the one doing the invited. So 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:27.920 I'm really in a state of bitterness that seems to 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.560 get darker as I hold on to it, and I'm deepeness. 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:32.880 That could be the answer to the question where are you? Also, 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:35.360 or you could just say Topeka, But it's just depending 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:37.960 on how deep you see the question. So that is 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.320 the first question that God asked in the Bible, but 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:43.960 it's not the first question that appears in the Bible. 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.040 That's what God asked, Adam. I'm glad you said that one, 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.880 because that is such a powerful question. Where are you? 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:54.600 Like I can see that physically Fourth Road Gyra shirt 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:58.439 looks like a good Christian. She's got a Gyra's shirt 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.120 on her back and a blessed hoodie in her lap. 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:04.800 She is double poors and praising God to take you. 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:09.079 I want all of it, God, but I don't know 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:12.199 if I can see like because Adam, Adam was hiding 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:16.080 from God, and so when God says where are you Adam, 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:21.840 He's not asking him for information, He's asking him for location, 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:27.880 not for God, for Adam. That's kind of deep question 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:34.600 where are you? It's like Greenville? Nope, grief, that's where 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:38.760 I am? Right? So how deep do we go? But 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:42.240 we ask people surface questions? You know, what do you 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:46.520 do for a living? You excited about Cam coming back? 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:49.439 Just surface stuff. That's fine. And I don't think you 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:51.440 should ask people two deeper questions when you're getting the 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:55.120 home as creepy you know what I mean? Oh? What 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:57.200 any of your Graham number you? I don't want to 0:12:57.200 --> 0:12:59.160 talk to you about numbers yet you have not earned 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:04.960 my number yet. Right. But the first question in the 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:10.800 Bible that appears is in Genesis three, before Adam realizes 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:14.320 he's naked, when the serpent asks Eve, do you remember? 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:20.120 Did God really say? The first question that appears in 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:23.120 the Bible isn't the one God asks, it's the one 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:29.920 Satan asks, which makes me wonder sometimes is the first 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:33.440 question that comes to our mind about something not the 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:39.800 best question available? You feel me because sometimes the questions 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:43.200 that I ask about a situation are not the best questions, 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:45.880 and that's why the Lord led me to the power 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:51.120 of a better question. And Abby, my ten year old, 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:56.640 gets this at a deep level. Apparently. I asked her 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.040 this week. She said I hadn't made my Christmas list yet. 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:01.680 I said, well, you better get started. What do you want? 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:13.359 And she said, what should I want? Living with Socrates 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:16.000 in the house? Something like that, You know what I mean. 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:19.280 I'm like, Wow, that's deep. I don't know if she 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:21.600 was trying to provoke me to say, what's my ceiling? 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:25.120 Is this a three hundred dollars Christmas? Is it a five? 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:27.680 How much does the two fairy bring? I'm gonna get up, 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.200 you know, up, hiss eyes, I can go. I don't 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:31.960 even know how deep she meant it, but I thought, wow, 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:36.920 that's the first question Jesus asked in all of the Bible. 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:38.920 The first time we see him talk. He doesn't give 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:44.520 an answer. In John chapter one, Jesus is the answer, sure, 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:53.400 but he's also the question he asked these two guys 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.840 who were following. He said, what do you want? What 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.640 a question? They said, we want to come see where 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:03.400 you're staying, Rabbi. But I think the rest of his 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:07.040 ministry was dealing with that second question, the one Abby asked, 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:11.680 what should I want? Is what I want? Is what 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:14.720 I wish? Is what I think I want? Really what 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:18.040 I want? Or will I get what I want and 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:21.960 not want what I've got in the end. That's called 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:27.120 a midlife crisis. But if we would ask better early 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:32.520 life questions, we wouldn't have midlife crisis. The power of 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:36.680 a better question. I feel anointed in leather today and 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:41.800 I don't know why. So in a minute, I'm going 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:43.720 to give you a scripture from Numbers, chapter thirteen. Go 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:47.600 ahead and start turning there. But in the meantime, let 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:49.480 me give you a few examples what I mean before 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:53.040 we get very deep textually. I told you the first 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.320 question in the Bible came from Satan. Did God really say? 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:59.240 And then he twisted what God actually said and added 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:02.080 to it an exactayted it like the enemy always does. 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.080 And we'll come back to that. But then the question 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:06.760 God asked was simple, not where should you be? Where 0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:11.440 are you? God starts where you are? When I start 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:15.160 with the sermon, I don't start by preparing with what 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:20.960 do I know? Because honestly, what you need goes far 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:24.480 beyond what I know. I don't know how to answer 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.240 the real questions you're asking. I don't know if you 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:29.840 should marry him or whatever. I don't know if you 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:33.320 should move out or move in. I don't know, but 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.000 God does. So I learned to ask the question as 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.720 a preacher, not what do I know? So a lot 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:41.160 of times we come to the Bible and we think 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:43.960 we know it so good, Oh man, I know that story. 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:45.600 Sometimes when I read this, I can see some of you. 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:48.040 Your eyes glaze over. You're like, go, I know this story. 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:50.120 You fit for Thios And people tell me something I 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:52.360 don't know. Okay, well, maybe God is going to show 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:54.600 you something that you don't know from something that you 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:59.000 think you do. Right. But if I start with what 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.640 do I know? When I read the Bible, I'm gonna 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:06.840 impose all of my influences instead of getting insight from 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:09.320 God's word, I'm gonna bring all to it what I 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:12.359 already think I know. So I don't know what my 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:14.639 message is gonna be about when I start to prepare it. 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.280 I don't start with that. If I start with what 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:20.240 I know, I'm gonna it's gonna be a thirty second sermon. 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:25.400 I'm not that smart. I'm not so how stupid would 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:27.280 it be for you to come out here and take 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:29.560 all this time out of your day? If the starting 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:33.400 place is what does Stephen Ferdick know? I can put 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:35.359 that in a tweet. We don't need a sermon for that. 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:42.080 It's a waste of time. But I start with this, God, 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:47.760 what do they need? That's a better question, because God 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.360 knows that in a way I don't. And he might 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:52.359 sneak to me and say, you need to tell him 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.399 stop crying. It's coming. I'm like, well, God, I didn't 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:57.040 even know to tell him that. I didn't even know 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.480 that there are trumpets and tears what I preach life week. 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:02.600 I didn't come to the text looking for what I 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:07.439 already knew. I came looking for God, what do we need? 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:12.080 Not just you but me? What do we need? And 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:16.560 this amazing thing that your father knows what you need. 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:23.360 He knows what you need. So you start with where 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:25.879 you are, but you don't stop there. You start with 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:30.080 a better question. When I first started preaching again, my 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:32.760 question would always be I'd look at a message and 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:36.720 I'd go, how will this preach? In other words, will 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:41.400 it be exciting dynamic. Will people laugh at it? Will 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:46.080 they go ooh wow and write that down? Yeah, oh, 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:50.159 come on with it for this reaction, But now I 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:54.080 want to know will it produce repentance. Repentance is not 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.399 feeling bad. I'm not saying I want you to feel 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:58.760 bad when you leave. Let me just beat the crap 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:01.440 out of them and come back next Sunday for more. 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:03.960 That's not what I'm looking for, Not how to make 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:05.800 you feel bad. You already do a pretty good job 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:09.040 at that without any instruction. Do not. You do not 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:15.040 need school in how bad you already suck. So this 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:17.320 puppit is not a how much you suck school. You know. 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:20.520 Point number one, you suck. Point number two you used 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:22.840 to suck even more. Point number three, No matter how 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:25.120 much you work, you're still gonna suck. See you next Sunday. 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:29.119 That is not have you been to that church before? 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.720 But see but see, God knows what you need. That's 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:36.800 not gonna help you. That that sin consciousness is not 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:41.400 gonna bring you to repentance. That's not gonna change you. 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:44.520 You need to see Jesus when you come. You need 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:49.200 to know that Christ in you is the hope of glory, 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:56.720 So it's the better question. What should I want? Huh? 0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:01.879 I don't know. Maybe I woul't want the stuff. Maybe 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:05.560 I'm focused on the wrong thing. So then Jesus said, 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:07.960 we'll seek first the kingdom. You know, don't run around 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:12.840 like the Pagans saying what shall we eat? Thanksgiving sermon? 0:20:15.520 --> 0:20:21.040 What shall we wear? If you spent more time today 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:24.240 figuring out what you were going to wear to church 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:29.040 before you got here, then you do asking the question, 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:33.600 what did God speak to me? When you leave here? 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:37.360 Why are y'all looking at me like that wasn't the 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:40.760 best thing that has ever been said from this pulpit? 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:43.879 If you spend more time, I remember one time I 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:46.720 was so into my what do I wear when I preach? 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:48.520 And I was so into that because I wanted to 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:50.359 look good. You got to be presentable. You know, people 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:51.640 are looking at you up here, A lot of people 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:53.800 are looking at you. And the Lord said, I don't 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:55.919 want you to focus more on your outfit than you 0:20:55.960 --> 0:21:03.239 do your outline. What is is God speaking? If it 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:05.919 took you an hour to figure out what to where 0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:08.920 to get here, that's on me. I'm in bed right 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:11.679 now watching online. Okay, if it took you an hour 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:14.760 to figure out what to watch on YouTube, and you 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:16.639 can't even take ten seconds. That's what the enemy does. 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:19.399 He is gonna snatch the seed before it ever hits 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:22.400 the soil and goes deep enough to make a difference. 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:26.439 And if all you hear what I'm preaching is what 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:29.720 somebody else should do with what I've preached, Boy, I 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:31.720 wish my husband would have come. He could have used 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:39.280 that word. You are not God's mirror holder. Praise the 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:43.800 Lord Numbers, Chapter thirteen. I'm just trying to think about 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:47.240 the power of a better question. I used to ask, 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:49.760 how will this preach? Now I want to know what 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:53.840 kind of person will this preaching produce? So if I 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:59.480 preach something like your haters are elevators, you know rhymes, 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:03.840 it's exciting all of your haters. Tell all your haters. Look. 0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:07.120 The reason that that kind of preaching gets people excited 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:12.320 is because it absolves us from all relational responsibility. So 0:22:12.359 --> 0:22:14.040 if all I do is talk about your haters, your 0:22:14.040 --> 0:22:16.639 haters can't stand you because you're so blessed, you're so favored. No, 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:19.040 your haters can't stand you because you are late to work. 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:29.840 Why whoa what kind of person. Is this preaching producing? 0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:35.600 That's a better question. If you are single and you 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:38.080 are asking God for a man to pop the question 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:41.760 to you. Okay, you need to ask two questions. Not 0:22:41.800 --> 0:22:47.919 only when you meet a man, is he single? And no? 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:51.520 Hold on, not even is he saved? That's a good question. 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:53.520 He should be saved, he should know the Lord. But 0:22:53.680 --> 0:23:00.480 is he sane? Because there are crazy Christians just a 0:23:00.640 --> 0:23:05.840 be he's too, but he's crazy. He can call Colosses, 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:15.840 but he's crazy. Is he sexy? Is he stable? Unstable? 0:23:15.920 --> 0:23:25.359 Is only sexy? So much? For so long numbers Chapter thirteen. 0:23:26.359 --> 0:23:30.520 It's a familiar passage of scripture. The Lord told Moses, 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:33.399 I want you to send twelve men. Everybody shall twelve 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:37.320 twelve men into the land I'm giving. The Israelite says 0:23:37.359 --> 0:23:44.919 there inheritance. The question isn't has God given it? The 0:23:45.040 --> 0:23:49.960 question is will you go forward? I want to speak 0:23:50.000 --> 0:23:51.720 that over every area of your life right now that 0:23:51.760 --> 0:23:57.240 God has promised. The question isn't has God given it? Joy? Peace, 0:23:57.960 --> 0:24:00.800 all the fruit of the spirit, love, patience, It's kindness, goodness, 0:24:00.800 --> 0:24:02.879 fath than generes of control. That's the fruit of the spirit. 0:24:02.920 --> 0:24:05.560 That's what grows from knowing God in the spirit of 0:24:05.600 --> 0:24:07.920 a believer. It's called the fruit of the Spirit in 0:24:08.000 --> 0:24:11.919 Galatians life, and it's all yours. That's not the question 0:24:12.040 --> 0:24:15.240 about the fruit. It's the question will you go forward 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:18.560 into it? Now we're going to see what happens when 0:24:18.640 --> 0:24:22.159 God is bringing you into something and the devil is 0:24:22.200 --> 0:24:26.440 pulling you back to something at the same time the 0:24:26.440 --> 0:24:32.760 power of a better question. Let's go in verse seventeen 0:24:33.880 --> 0:24:38.119 when Moses sent them to explore Canaan. All the leaders 0:24:38.119 --> 0:24:41.280 of the tribes. Just remember the leaders. I won't list 0:24:41.320 --> 0:24:44.760 them all, just the leaders of the tribes, twelve of them, 0:24:45.680 --> 0:24:49.960 to explore Canaan. That's what God had promised Abraham. And 0:24:50.000 --> 0:24:53.480 now he's bringing them into it, and they are right 0:24:54.520 --> 0:24:58.879 on the cusp of it. You don't know how close 0:24:58.960 --> 0:25:03.520 you are. Y'are looking at me and shocking disbelief. So 0:25:03.600 --> 0:25:05.720 tell the person next to you so they'll believe you. You 0:25:05.320 --> 0:25:12.080 You don't know how close you are. You'll know put 0:25:12.119 --> 0:25:16.640 in chat you'll not close you are. They're coming into Canaan. 0:25:17.320 --> 0:25:21.600 But you remember, they just got out of Egypt. So 0:25:23.119 --> 0:25:27.639 he told them go up through the Negev and on 0:25:27.960 --> 0:25:31.520 into the hill country. See what the land is like, 0:25:32.359 --> 0:25:35.800 and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, 0:25:36.240 --> 0:25:41.200 few or many? Okay, it's an exploration. It's an exploration. 0:25:41.920 --> 0:25:45.919 What kind of land do they live in? Is it 0:25:45.960 --> 0:25:50.080 good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? 0:25:50.960 --> 0:25:54.480 Are they unwalled or fourty five? How's the soil? Is 0:25:54.520 --> 0:25:58.359 it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? 0:25:59.200 --> 0:26:01.879