Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our
Speaker 2: podcast and I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 2: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope
Speaker 2: it gives your perspective to see God is moving.
Speaker 1: In your life. Enjoy the message.
Speaker 2: I just want to share with you nine verses of
Speaker 2: scripture and finish something that I started back in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 2: It seems like to me that New Year's Eve is
Speaker 2: a perfect time to finish your business. And I started
Speaker 2: something in twenty fourteen. I preached a little message about
Speaker 2: holding on to the promise of God through the storms
Speaker 2: of life. And I called the message from something that
Speaker 2: the apostle Paul said during a shipwreck that he survived.
Speaker 2: I called the message it will happen the first message
Speaker 2: this year. God gave me a sequel to that message
Speaker 2: that I preached a few months ago in our church,
Speaker 2: and it was about making sense of setbacks and that
Speaker 2: after you have survived the storm, you have to find
Speaker 2: out why you survived.
Speaker 1: It was for a reason.
Speaker 2: So we followed Paul from the Adriatic Sea where he
Speaker 2: was adrift with no hope of being saved all the
Speaker 2: way to a little strange island called Malta, where God
Speaker 2: used him to perform miracles and release healing. Not without difficulty,
Speaker 2: but destiny never is. It's difficult by design that way,
Speaker 2: when God uses you, you won't get confused about who is
Speaker 2: doing the great things, and you'll give him the glory.
Speaker 2: And so we preached that message this year, and that
Speaker 2: message was called it had to Happen. And I've heard
Speaker 2: a lot of good feedback about those messages. But tonight
Speaker 2: I want to complete the trilogy, and I want to
Speaker 2: finish this series of messages from Philippians chapter one, verses
Speaker 2: twelve through twenty. We're going to follow Paul all the
Speaker 2: way to Rome. He's crossed the Mediterranean, he's left Malta
Speaker 2: after three months of ministry. He's now, according to many scholars,
Speaker 2: under house arrest in Rome, where the Book of Acts
Speaker 2: incidentally ends. But his ministry did an end where the
Speaker 2: book did. And I want to pick up on this
Speaker 2: letter that he wrote from the prison in Rome and
Speaker 2: just read it to you. I'm going to take my
Speaker 2: time to read it because the context of this message
Speaker 2: will determine whether or not you can receive it at
Speaker 2: a level that will make it effective in your life.
Speaker 2: And starting in verse twelve, Paul says, now I want
Speaker 2: you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened
Speaker 2: to me has actually served to advance the Gospel. As
Speaker 2: a result, it has become clear throughout the whole Palace
Speaker 2: Guard and to everyone else, that I am in chains
Speaker 2: for Christ and because of my chains. Not in spite
Speaker 2: of my chains, but the power of God is being
Speaker 2: released through the thing that you might pity me for
Speaker 2: because of my chains, because of my confinement, there is
Speaker 2: a great purpose unfolding where I am positioned. As a result,
Speaker 2: it has become clear throughout the whole Palace Guard and
Speaker 2: to everyone else that I am in Chaine for Christ,
Speaker 2: and because of my chains. Most of the brothers and
Speaker 2: sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all
Speaker 2: the more to proclaim the Gospel without fear. It's true
Speaker 2: that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but
Speaker 2: others out of love, knowing that I am put here.
Speaker 1: See, when you understand.
Speaker 2: That God is positioning you, you don't fear what people
Speaker 2: might do to you, because there is not a situation
Speaker 2: that they can put you in that God will not
Speaker 2: show up in the midst of don't make me preach,
Speaker 2: because I'm just trying to read the scripture and I
Speaker 2: hadn't even really set it up appropriately yet, and I
Speaker 2: only got so long on this clock. But as those
Speaker 2: Hebrew boys who went into a fiery furnace, if a
Speaker 2: fourth man won't step in just when it gets cranked
Speaker 2: up seven times hotter than it's supposed to be, and
Speaker 2: the only thing that's gonna fall off in the fire
Speaker 2: is the ropes that had you bown. God lets you
Speaker 2: be in the fire to set you free. And so
Speaker 2: he said the former seventeen preached Christ out of selfish ambition,
Speaker 2: not sincerely supposing they can stir up trouble for me
Speaker 2: while I am in chains. This is a cool part
Speaker 2: that only an old man can say. But what does
Speaker 2: it matter. I live enough to let some of my
Speaker 2: concerns fall off of me. Now I have a sense
Speaker 2: of priority, and I'm not concerned about what they say,
Speaker 2: and I'm not concerned about their motives, because God's intention
Speaker 2: is always more powerful than human motive. The important thing
Speaker 2: is that in every way, whether from false motives or true,
Speaker 2: Christ is preached, and because of this. Because of this,
Speaker 2: I rejoice, not because of a new car, but because
Speaker 2: of a calling.
Speaker 1: Because of this, I.
Speaker 2: Rejoice, yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I
Speaker 2: know that, through your prayers and God's provision of the
Speaker 2: Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will
Speaker 2: turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope
Speaker 2: that I will in no way be ashamed, but will
Speaker 2: have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will
Speaker 2: be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
Speaker 2: Now I read all that just to go back to
Speaker 2: verse twelve where I started. Now, I want you to know,
Speaker 2: brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me, what
Speaker 2: has happened to me, has actually served to advance the gospel.
Speaker 2: All right, it will happen. It had to happen. And
Speaker 2: my message for you tonight, if you can say it
Speaker 2: with Paul by faith, is this, it will happen.
Speaker 1: It had to happen.
Speaker 2: But tonight look at your neighbor and say, I want
Speaker 2: you to know I'm glad it happened. Now, this one's
Speaker 2: going to be kind of tough to get with this,
Speaker 2: because there are really two reasons that we put on
Speaker 2: this praise party. One year I turned to Holly, I said,
Speaker 2: we're getting too old to try to stay up on
Speaker 2: New Year's Eve without accountability.
Speaker 1: Let's have church on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 2: And it really serves two purposes if you allow it to.
Speaker 2: It serves the purpose of allowing you to reflect and expect.
Speaker 2: So two questions I want to hang over your head
Speaker 2: as you sit there tonight on whatever campus or around
Speaker 2: whatever screen, how are your viewing this? I want to
Speaker 2: ask you two things. Are you where you want to be?
Speaker 2: And are you ready for what's next? God brought you
Speaker 2: here tonight to give you the opportunity to reflect and
Speaker 2: to expect. So as I reflect, am I where I
Speaker 2: want to be? And as I expect, am I ready
Speaker 2: for what's next? Now, as you reflect, you've got to
Speaker 2: understand that reflection must be done correctly in order to
Speaker 2: be productive. There is a way of reflecting on your life,
Speaker 2: and I think this is why some of us avoid
Speaker 2: looking back that can leave you paralyzed in a sense.
Speaker 2: There is a type of reflection that does not energize you.
Speaker 2: There's a type of reflection that can.
Speaker 1: Bring you into a state of resentment.
Speaker 2: As you look back over what happened to you for
Speaker 2: you this year, there may be a temptation for you
Speaker 2: to reflect to the point of resentment. And there may
Speaker 2: be some people this year who were supposed to support you,
Speaker 2: and maybe you expected them to be standing by you,
Speaker 2: but you find yourself a little more lonely at the
Speaker 2: end of this year. You're even going through your photo
Speaker 2: stream on your phone. I found can be dangerous because
Speaker 2: some of the people that I'm scrolling through that I
Speaker 2: felt one way about in January, I feel differently about
Speaker 2: them in December because and you have to be careful.
Speaker 2: You have to be careful if you want to go
Speaker 2: back on the timeline. You may feel some things and
Speaker 2: when you reflect, it's important that you avoid resentment on
Speaker 2: one level. But I think also you should be very
Speaker 2: careful when you reflect, because not only can you begin
Speaker 2: to resent opportunities that you didn't get or maybe ways
Speaker 2: that you were not acknowledged, which can bring you into
Speaker 2: a state of resentment, but you also got to watch
Speaker 2: out for regret. This is like the devils are in
Speaker 2: r you know, regret and resentment, Now they're really the same.
Speaker 2: Regret is just resentment turned inward. It's when you take
Speaker 2: a look at where you said you would be on
Speaker 2: December thirty one, twenty seventeen, and the scale says something
Speaker 2: different than your list said three sixty five ago. Or
Speaker 2: it can be when you are thinking about all of the.
Speaker 1: Dance recitals that you missed.
Speaker 2: Or it could be that you think about how you
Speaker 2: promised to be more faithful in church this year, but
Speaker 2: you didn't quite make it happen. But you did get
Speaker 2: here tonight, high five of your neighbor and say you're
Speaker 2: ahead for twenty eighteen. You already got a gold star
Speaker 2: on the Jesus Christ chart. Now, there is a type
Speaker 2: of reflection that leads to regret.
Speaker 1: There is a type of reflection that leads to resentment.
Speaker 2: But the right kind of reflection will lead to resolution.
Speaker 2: The right kind of reflection as demonstrated by the apostle
Speaker 2: Paul in Philippians Chapter one from I Believe a Roman
Speaker 2: prison cell, which was really a rented home where.
Speaker 1: He was allowed to see people.
Speaker 2: But remember now he's been waiting for a trial for
Speaker 2: maybe as much as four years, and still after four
Speaker 2: years of bouncing around from prelate to pre late, from
Speaker 2: governor to governor, there's still no resolution for his situation.
Speaker 2: Yet Paul exhibits the kind of attitude in Philippians chapter
Speaker 2: one that I am striving to see.
Speaker 1: Manifest in my own life. As he reflects, he.
Speaker 2: Demonstrates that your spirit does not have to be a
Speaker 2: reflection of your situation. What I'm trying to say is
Speaker 2: you do not have to allow your outlook to be
Speaker 2: defined by the events that brought you to this point.
Speaker 2: Paul proves it clearly in Philippians chapter one, verse twelve
Speaker 2: through twenty. And really I see him in Philippians chapter one,
Speaker 2: verses twelve through twenty, correcting some of the rumors that
Speaker 2: have apparently begun to surface in ephesis about his situation.
Speaker 2: I don't mean to say ephesis, I mean to say Philippi.
Speaker 2: But really, everybody, every church that Paul started has started
Speaker 2: to talk a little bit. I can almost hear them
Speaker 2: whispering behind his back.
Speaker 1: Did you hear about Paul.
Speaker 2: He still hasn't had his trial yet, looks like his
Speaker 2: ministry is over.
Speaker 1: It's horrible what happened to Paul.
Speaker 2: He was only trying to help, but you know, he
Speaker 2: probably pushed it a little too far. He kept on
Speaker 2: preaching to the Gentiles, and the Jews told him to
Speaker 2: stop it, but he wouldn't stop it, and then he
Speaker 2: told those gentiles they didn't have to get circumcised. And well,
Speaker 2: you know, he probably if he would have toned it
Speaker 2: down a little bit, you know, if he wouldn't have
Speaker 2: appealed his case to Caesar, he might have got set
Speaker 2: free by Festus. Did you hear what happened to Paul?
Speaker 2: It's horrible what happened to Paul. Terrible thing what happened
Speaker 2: to Paul. You can almost hear them whispering from the
Speaker 2: church at Philippi, which Paul founded a decade earlier.
Speaker 1: But now some things have happened.
Speaker 2: And not only has time passed, but it seems that
Speaker 2: Paul's ministry has come.
Speaker 1: To a grinding hall.
Speaker 2: There is to be no more movement during this period.
Speaker 1: And I can almost hear.
Speaker 2: The whispers from the Church at Philippi when Paul speaks
Speaker 2: up in verse twelve and says, now, I want you
Speaker 2: to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to
Speaker 2: me has actually somebody say, actually, actually I know what
Speaker 2: you heard. But forget what you heard for a minute.
Speaker 2: Let me set the record straight and you know, I
Speaker 2: hear the spirit of the Lord saying tonight that before
Speaker 2: you leave twenty seventeen, you need to set the record
Speaker 2: straight about.
Speaker 1: What really went down this year. You need to set
Speaker 1: the record straight.
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, we came tonight to give
Speaker 2: God praise for what he brought us through, and we
Speaker 2: came tonight to make our commitment to Him that we
Speaker 2: will follow him throughout the course of this year, no
Speaker 2: matter how the road might wind or where it might
Speaker 2: lead us. But we also came to set the record straight,
Speaker 2: to let the devil know that everything we went through
Speaker 2: this year was a scroof of the promise and the
Speaker 2: power and the unlimited potential of the ever ruling, ever rating,
Speaker 2: ever present. God, tell your neighbor, I came to set
Speaker 2: the record straight. I don't know what you heard. You
Speaker 2: might have heard that I was on the way down,
Speaker 2: but I came to set the record straight. There's some
Speaker 2: things I need you to.
Speaker 1: Know before January hits my watch.
Speaker 2: So one thing I'm trying to before I make a
Speaker 2: New Year's resolution, I want to make a few revisions.
Speaker 2: Paul wants to make a few revisions. Let's talk for
Speaker 2: a moment about the revision. The revision. I've noticed a
Speaker 2: lot of times that when we write a song or
Speaker 2: when I write a sermon, the magic happens not on
Speaker 2: the first draft or the second draft or the third draft,
Speaker 2: but it is in the revision that the potential of
Speaker 2: the song or the sermon is revealed. Oh. I love that,
Speaker 2: because when I think about it, I think that maybe
Speaker 2: there are some things this year where I'm getting the
Speaker 2: story wrong and I need to see it differently. He's
Speaker 2: not looking good for Paul. That looks like he's gonna
Speaker 2: make it. It doesn't look like it's embarrassing when your
Speaker 2: pastor is in jail.
Speaker 1: I would imagine.
Speaker 2: I hope you never have to find out firsthand what
Speaker 2: that's like, not planning that.
Speaker 1: But remember, now.
Speaker 2: He's been driven across the Adriatic Sea, three months in Malta.
Speaker 2: Now he finds himself in Rome and he's still waiting,
Speaker 2: and the situation is still unresolved.
Speaker 1: But he's not.
Speaker 2: Resolution is not an event, It is a decision. And
Speaker 2: as Paul reflects from Rome and looks at what's happening,
Speaker 2: he understands that, Well, sometimes people will misjudge your situation
Speaker 2: because they do not know the backstory, and so he
Speaker 2: is informing them. He's taking the opportunity to inform them
Speaker 2: about what is apparent and what is actual. I love
Speaker 2: it because sometimes what's happening on the surface is not
Speaker 2: the real story. And so Paul is focusing here not
Speaker 2: on what is happening to him, but what is happening
Speaker 2: through him. The story that you tell is dependent on
Speaker 2: the point of view that you have. So while others
Speaker 2: are looking at Paul's life from the outside end, they
Speaker 2: are judging him a failure.
Speaker 1: While others are.
Speaker 2: Looking at Paul's life from the outside end, they're saying
Speaker 2: he's going down now. While others are looking at Paul's
Speaker 2: life from the outside end far away from Philippi across
Speaker 2: the Mediterranean Sea, it doesn't look.
Speaker 1: Good from Paul.
Speaker 2: But Paul is not looking at his situation from the
Speaker 2: outside end. He's looking at his situation from.
Speaker 1: The inside out.
Speaker 2: Now, the inside is where the spirit of God lives,
Speaker 2: and the spirit of God lives in you. Greater is
Speaker 2: he that is in you than he that is in
Speaker 2: the world. So it means that no matter what resistance
Speaker 2: is against me, somebody shot, I'm glad it happened. There
Speaker 2: are some things that I went through this year that
Speaker 2: I didn't like. There are some things that I went
Speaker 2: through this year that hurt. And I'm not saying that
Speaker 2: they didn't hurt. They hurt. I'm not saying that they
Speaker 2: didn't hurt. They hurt, Like hell, you should have.
Speaker 1: Left your kids home. It's New Year's Eve. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying that I would have chosen.
Speaker 2: Them if I had had the opportunity. But now that
Speaker 2: I've been through it, there is something that I learned
Speaker 2: through what I went through that made me who I am,
Speaker 2: and I'm standing to take John didn't come to given praise.
Speaker 1: Somebody shot. I'm glad.
Speaker 2: They probably felt sorry for Paul. They were probably signing
Speaker 2: petitions to their senators to get Paul out of prison.
Speaker 2: Paul said, stop all your petitions. Don't feel sorry for me.
Speaker 2: I know I got these chains on me.
Speaker 1: But I'm freer than all y'all.
Speaker 2: Now. I didn't like it at the time. I didn't
Speaker 2: get it at the time.
Speaker 1: It didn't make.
Speaker 2: Sense while I was in it. But I've been here
Speaker 2: long enough to recognize, and I've been through enough storms
Speaker 2: to know. And I held on to the planks of
Speaker 2: the boat and made it across the sea and saw
Speaker 2: Gods provision at a level that now I can tell
Speaker 2: you that actually God is up to something. Vaul says,
Speaker 2: I'm not a hostage. I want you to say that
Speaker 2: because this is a revision that you need to make,
Speaker 2: because some of you have made yourself the victim of
Speaker 2: twenty seventeen, and we need to.
Speaker 1: Make some revisions.
Speaker 2: Because you cannot leave twenty seventeen like a victim and
Speaker 2: go into twenty eighteen like a victor. And you've got
Speaker 2: to make a decision tonight. You've got to revise some
Speaker 2: of the stuff in your story and take a cue
Speaker 2: from Paul. I was confused at first because he said,
Speaker 2: I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has.
Speaker 1: Happened to me.
Speaker 2: But then he gives no detail about what actually happened
Speaker 2: to him. All he talks about is what God did
Speaker 2: through the events that he could have been bitter about.
Speaker 1: I'm not a hostage.
Speaker 2: Don't feel sorry for me. In fact, Paul might say,
Speaker 2: I always wanted to go to Rome to preach the gospel.
Speaker 2: I didn't think I'd have to drag these shackles through
Speaker 2: the streets to do it.
Speaker 1: But it actually works out.
Speaker 2: Pretty good, because all these guards have to listen to
Speaker 2: me preach anytime I open my mouth. I'm not a hostage.
Speaker 2: I'm not a hostage to your opinions. I'm not a
Speaker 2: hostage to what went wrong. I hear Paul saying all
Speaker 2: the way from Rome, shouting across the Mediterranean Sea, shouting
Speaker 2: all the way into twenty seventeen, just before midnight Eastern
Speaker 2: Standard time, shouting to Elevation Blakeney, shouting to University City,
Speaker 2: shouting to Lake Norman, shouting to the overflowing Valentine, shouting
Speaker 2: to the epham watching online. I hear God shouting into
Speaker 2: your iPhone.
Speaker 1: Ten.
Speaker 2: I hear this message. I hear Paul saying, I'm not
Speaker 2: a hostage. I'm a weapon. See, I'm made up my
Speaker 2: mind anywhere God puts me, there's no purpose for it.
Speaker 2: I'm not a hostage. You better stuff your neighbor right now.
Speaker 2: Say I'm not a hostage. I'm a weapon, formed in
Speaker 2: the fire hell, steady, in.
Speaker 1: The hands of God. And it ain't nothing dark it.
Speaker 1: Somebody shut out a weapon, wats out devil.
Speaker 2: Every time he'll cut on me.
Speaker 1: You make me sharper.
Speaker 2: I'm loading now, I'm focused now I mean, now I
Speaker 2: know what matters now. He was like a sphirit of
Speaker 2: God is breaking out on this side of the church.
Speaker 2: Somebody thoughts you were trapped. It's not you this trapped.
Speaker 2: It's the enemy. If you got the devil on the run,
Speaker 2: come to your.
Speaker 1: Back town, go set the record straight. I came here
Speaker 1: and change.
Speaker 2: But because I'm here, somebody's gonna get set free.
Speaker 1: God would be here, not Caesar, not Festus.
Speaker 2: It wasn't the boat that brought me here. It was
Speaker 2: the purpose of God. People goes.
Speaker 1: I thought something out. I found out that I found out.
Speaker 1: I got like twenty six minutes. I found out.
Speaker 2: That that progress is relative to priorities. I'll ask a question.
Speaker 2: It's kind of stupid illustration, but it's late. Uh what
Speaker 2: was that progress? Come on? Now, it depends on what
Speaker 2: destination I intended to arrive at. Just because I stepped
Speaker 2: toward you doesn't mean that's where I had in mind
Speaker 2: to go. So I might have been going the wrong
Speaker 2: way if I really needed to get over here, because
Speaker 2: I was thinking all night how cool it would be
Speaker 2: to preach from up here, just all the way up
Speaker 2: at the top.
Speaker 1: Let's see, this might be progress.
Speaker 2: I can't tell yet because progress is relative to priorities. Now,
Speaker 2: I didn't come tonight to do cardio. I already got
Speaker 2: my workout before we came, right right down the word,
Speaker 2: did you write down revision? Because there's some parts of
Speaker 2: your story you need to rewrite before we go into
Speaker 2: a new year, because if you carry the mentality that
Speaker 2: you are trapped in a situation, or trapped in what
Speaker 2: they thought, or trapped in what they did, or trapped
Speaker 2: in the event, somebody shot, I'm glad it happened. And
Speaker 2: here's why number two, Because I'm focused on the results.
Speaker 2: I don't have to like the event to celebrate the result.
Speaker 2: And I if you saw it, but Paul said it clearly.
Speaker 2: He said, as a result, that's thirteen as they want
Speaker 2: to reinforce it with screen support. As a result. I
Speaker 2: was talking to one CrossFit dude. We were talking about
Speaker 2: exercise a minute ago. One crossfitter in the whole New
Speaker 2: Year's Eve praise party, and he was meeting me at
Speaker 2: an event that I was preaching at. He said he
Speaker 2: was coming. He was a little lady, wasn't too late.
Speaker 2: But he was apologizing because apparently he likes to be prompt.
Speaker 2: He said, so sorry, I just had a great workout. Now,
Speaker 2: to me, that's paradoxical in nature great workout. I never
Speaker 2: felt that way about a workout. I said, what was
Speaker 2: a great workout? What made it great? He said, I
Speaker 2: threw up three times. Now, brain damage twisted value system.
Speaker 1: But I get it.
Speaker 2: What he enjoyed wasn't how he felt during the routine
Speaker 2: of working out. You don't have to like what it
Speaker 2: felt like to appreciate the change that it is creating.
Speaker 2: And a lot of us when we assess a year,
Speaker 2: we assess it by how much we enjoyed the different
Speaker 2: experiences in that year. I was reading an interesting book
Speaker 2: by the Heath Brothers. They have written several books. They're
Speaker 2: more sociological in nature, but they're also good for businesses.
Speaker 2: Most recent book The Power of Moments. It gave a
Speaker 2: snapshot of what psychologists call the peak ind theory. And
Speaker 2: here's what they say. When we assess our experiences, we
Speaker 2: don't average our minute by minute sensations. Rather, we tend
Speaker 2: to remember flagship moments. That's the peaks, the pits, and
Speaker 2: the transition. They used the example of Disney World. They said,
Speaker 2: if you were rating your experience at Disney World minute
Speaker 2: by minute on a scale of one to ten, your
Speaker 2: average rating would probably be one point seven, and no
Speaker 2: one would ever go if you think of all the
Speaker 2: lines that you stand in and all of the heat
Speaker 2: that you endure, and it's a small, small world after all,
Speaker 2: what a blessing. But you don't assess the experience by
Speaker 2: what did they say? Your minute by minute sensations. Rather,
Speaker 2: we tend to remember the peak and the end, or
Speaker 2: the peaks, the pits and the transition. So when I
Speaker 2: say to you, how was this year for you, don't
Speaker 2: be so quick to call it a bad year just
Speaker 2: because you went through some hard things.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to.
Speaker 2: Get you, by faith to accept whatever God allowed, and
Speaker 2: not only that, but to now see how it actually
Speaker 2: can serve to advance the gospel. If that's not your priority,
Speaker 2: if God is not your focus, then you have no
Speaker 2: way of measuring your progress against a standard that you
Speaker 2: have not set for your life. Paul isn't writing about
Speaker 2: how wonderful the food is. Paul is not writing about
Speaker 2: how strong the Wi Fi signal is in the Roman
Speaker 2: prison system. What he's talking about is the results. He's saying,
Speaker 2: I don't necessarily like what I'm going through. And I'm
Speaker 2: not saying that it's fair. That's not the point. The
Speaker 2: point is that God is achieving a purpose through this
Speaker 2: that is making it clearer and clearer what he put
Speaker 2: me on the earth for. So touch somebody and say
Speaker 2: I'm making progress. I'm making progress, And as long as
Speaker 2: I know I'm making progress, I can endure anything.
Speaker 1: I'm glad it happened.
Speaker 2: I was reminiscent with a friend about something that happened
Speaker 2: earlier this year. What happened was so horrible. At the time,
Speaker 2: we didn't think we could make it through. But you know,
Speaker 2: when we were talking about it and looking back on it,
Speaker 2: we realized that some things are so much better. Now.
Speaker 1: Come on, now, how many of you can relate?
Speaker 2: Somebody broke up with you and you thought you couldn't
Speaker 2: make it without them, And then you looked them up
Speaker 2: on Facebook and you fell on your knees and thank
Speaker 2: God that.
Speaker 1: They broke your heart.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank God they weren't interested in me. Look what
Speaker 2: could have been. Look what the Lord has done. I
Speaker 2: don't always understand the reason, but I praise God for
Speaker 2: the result.
Speaker 1: This takes faith.
Speaker 2: Can you praise God for the result of a situation
Speaker 2: that has not yet resolved, not to say ten years later.
Speaker 1: I'm glad it happened.
Speaker 2: But while you are still sitting in a Roman prison self,
Speaker 2: can you say, God, if you're gonna get some glory
Speaker 2: out of this, I'm glad.
Speaker 1: Paul might have talked to Lazarus.
Speaker 2: He might have. I don't know when Lazarus died the
Speaker 2: second time.
Speaker 1: Now, the first time he died was weird.
Speaker 2: Because Jesus knew he was sick, and he was about
Speaker 2: to go to him, but he delayed his trip to
Speaker 2: let him die. Weirdest thing in the world for the
Speaker 2: Son of God, the savior of a humankind, the compassionate Christ,
Speaker 2: the one who comes the hair of lambs on his
Speaker 2: lap as he sings lullabies to the lambs. You know,
Speaker 2: the Jesus you always hear about. He says something so
Speaker 2: shocking to his disciples when they came to him with
Speaker 2: the news that Lazarus, who he loved, had died. And
Speaker 2: I want to put it on the screen because you
Speaker 2: won't believe it's in the Bible if I don't show
Speaker 2: it to you, He told his disciples plainly, Lazarus is dead.
Speaker 2: Watch what comes next. Not weeping, not tears, but for
Speaker 2: your sake. I'm glad. I'm glad it happened. I'm glad
Speaker 2: I didn't get there in time to heal him. I'm
Speaker 2: glad because now I get to show you a level
Speaker 2: of my glory that you could not see if I
Speaker 2: had shown up and done what you thought I should do.
Speaker 2: I'm glad it happened. I looked at my friend. I said,
Speaker 2: you know, I wouldn't choose what we went through, but
Speaker 2: I don't think i'd change it either. I don't think
Speaker 2: I would change it. See, I'm glad it happened, whatever
Speaker 2: it may be for you. I'm not talking about the promotion.
Speaker 2: Of course you're glad that happened. I'm not talking about
Speaker 2: the miracle breakthrough that you got to check in the mail,
Speaker 2: the tax refund.
Speaker 1: Of course you're glad that happened.
Speaker 2: I'm talking about the thing that other people feel sorry
Speaker 2: for you about having the faith to say, I'm glad
Speaker 2: for my weakness. It led me to deeper strength. Getting
Speaker 2: quiet at the praise party. I know how to preacher
Speaker 2: you into a little bit of frenzy. I can do
Speaker 2: that anytime. This is the deep work that requires mature
Speaker 2: faith to.
Speaker 1: Be able to look at something.
Speaker 2: When I grew up in the Methodist Church, we used
Speaker 2: to have in the youth group, we had prayer request
Speaker 2: and praise reports.
Speaker 1: This is old school. Why don't we bring that back
Speaker 1: into church. That would be wonderful.
Speaker 2: Pastor Steven though people are too crazy and I will
Speaker 2: not give them the mic.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, that's great.
Speaker 2: But Paul would have messed up praise reports and prayer
Speaker 2: requests because the praise reports is where you put the
Speaker 2: good stuff and the prayer request is where you put
Speaker 2: the bad stuff.
Speaker 1: But Paul has.
Speaker 2: Reached the point in his life now where he said,
Speaker 2: I don't know the difference anymore. My prayer requests have
Speaker 2: become my praise reports because I know y'all are praying
Speaker 2: for me to get out of prison, and I gotta be.
Speaker 1: Honest with you.
Speaker 2: I'm running a revival and I'm not sure I'm ready
Speaker 2: to leave yet. So could y'all bring the prayers down
Speaker 2: a little bit, because I think there's something God still
Speaker 2: wants to do while I'm in this prison.
Speaker 1: Are y'all clapping to.
Speaker 2: Be polite or do you really believe that some of
Speaker 2: the things.
Speaker 1: You would have prayed away are the instruments of change.
Speaker 2: And see Paul has no problem rejoicing because he knows
Speaker 2: the result.
Speaker 1: He knows the result when I showed.
Speaker 2: Graham Rockie for I wasn't nervous when Drugo won the
Speaker 2: first three rounds.
Speaker 1: Why I know how this ends.
Speaker 2: Some of y'all need to look at twenty eighteen before
Speaker 2: it even gets started and declare, in the face of the.
Speaker 1: Devil, I'm not nervous. I'm not worried. I'm not anxious.
Speaker 2: I'm not freaked down, stess down, nutched out, I know
Speaker 2: how this is. That take a teen seconds right here
Speaker 2: and brace him for how it is before it even
Speaker 2: on the temple. Hanks says he hates when you get
Speaker 2: glad about what's your eyes have not seen and your
Speaker 2: ears have not heard. God is going to get some
Speaker 2: glory out of everything I've gone through, and the more
Speaker 2: I've gone through, the greater the glory.
Speaker 3: Shout about that this is a resurrection moment. Glad about it.
Speaker 3: I'm glad about it. I'm not glad about the pain.
Speaker 3: I'm glad that in the pain is a purpose. I'm
Speaker 3: glad about it. Somebody say I'm glad about it, I'm
Speaker 3: glad about it. I cried enough about it. I spent
Speaker 3: enough time wishing it would go away.
Speaker 2: But now I'm standing here with my praise intact in
Speaker 2: my right mind, I'm glad about it. I'm glad. I'm
Speaker 2: glad they rejected me, showed me that God was enough
Speaker 2: and I don't need them.
Speaker 1: Where'd y'all go on that one? Where did you go?
Speaker 2: IU? Didn't hear anything on that one? And so Paul
Speaker 2: makes a resolution. Now he made the revision. He set
Speaker 2: the record straight. He said, I want you to know
Speaker 2: what really was really happening here, because y'all are feeling
Speaker 2: sorry for me, but don't don't feel sorry for me,
Speaker 2: and results God's getting some glory through my life. Don't
Speaker 2: feel sorry for me. Some of y'all need to call
Speaker 2: some people and say, uh, I don't need you to apologize,
Speaker 2: and then if you want to mess with their whole
Speaker 2: mental statement, send them a gift card. Whoever hurts you. No,
Speaker 2: I'm serious about it. When I first preached it will happen,
Speaker 2: I told you about that message. Did I tell you
Speaker 2: about it? I can't remember. It was a It was
Speaker 2: a It was a real tough message to preach because
Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Under attack, for our church was under
Speaker 2: attack about something that was very important to us, which
Speaker 2: was our baptisms. And there was a fictitious story run
Speaker 2: by a very unethical and scrupulous journalist who insinuated that we.
Speaker 1: Fake baptisms in our church.
Speaker 2: Now, I got to be careful right now because this
Speaker 2: is on tape and everything like that, and it's in
Speaker 2: the archives forever, and I don't want to say anything
Speaker 2: right here that could hurt me at a future point.
Speaker 1: Can I tell you I'm actually.
Speaker 2: Glad that he did what he did because when he
Speaker 2: ran that story at the time, he ran the story
Speaker 2: and said we faked our baptisms, we did baptisms only
Speaker 2: once a year and occasionally throughout. But when he ran
Speaker 2: the story, I got the idea that maybe the area
Speaker 2: that they're attacking us is the area where we should advance.
Speaker 2: And now.
Speaker 1: Now we do baptisms every week.
Speaker 2: So now, please, I am not asking for another story,
Speaker 2: but I can say about that one.
Speaker 1: I'm glad it happened.
Speaker 2: I am.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry.
Speaker 2: I know it sounds kind of sadistic. I know it
Speaker 2: sounds kind of weird to be glad that somebody came
Speaker 2: against me. But I'm glad it happened, aren't Aren't you
Speaker 2: glad that the storm stripped away everything that you really
Speaker 2: didn't need so you could know what was core to
Speaker 2: the essential nature of who Christ made you to be.
Speaker 2: Aren't you glad that you're not going into the next
Speaker 2: year carrying dead weight of workless relationships? Aren't you glad
Speaker 2: that God closed some doors so that you wouldn't spend
Speaker 2: years of your life in the wrong room.
Speaker 1: I'm glad it happened. I am glad it happened. I'm glad.
Speaker 1: I might not be able to smile when I say it,
Speaker 1: but I'm getting there. I'm glad. I'm glad it happened.
Speaker 1: He said, I made a resolution. How about this just
Speaker 1: one New Year's resolution. This is the only one you
Speaker 1: really need.
Speaker 2: I mean, do everything else you want to do to
Speaker 2: save the money, put the kids to college fund, go
Speaker 2: to the moon with Elon Musk. I don't care what
Speaker 2: you do, but do this too. This is eighteen b yes,
Speaker 2: and I will continue to rejoice. Now that's the resolution.
Speaker 2: I worry about that word rejoice because.
Speaker 1: I think that you might think that it only means this.
Speaker 2: Or this. No, he's making a decision or a resolution,
Speaker 2: because remember, resolution is a decision, not an event. I'm
Speaker 2: not waiting to see how this turns out before I
Speaker 2: make my decision about my faith. So I reflect and
Speaker 2: I expect, and Paul says, I don't know how this
Speaker 2: is going to turn out. Yet they might kill me.
Speaker 2: I don't know what you're going through this right now,
Speaker 2: but it ain't this bad. That's why I brought Paul
Speaker 2: to the praise party, because if I say this crap,
Speaker 2: you might just think I had never been through anything.
Speaker 2: But you haven't been through You haven't had your life
Speaker 2: on the line for the gospel, not yet. So Paul says,
Speaker 2: I want you to know I've made my resolution and
Speaker 2: I will continue to rejoice.
Speaker 1: Oh Paul, did you get good news? Are they about
Speaker 1: to release it?
Speaker 2: Don't know. Resolution is not an event, it's a decision.
Speaker 2: Now watch the decision. It's verse twenty, verse twenty. He says, Oh,
Speaker 2: we get it. We gotta get nineteen as well. It's
Speaker 2: just too good. I can't do this to nineteen, can't.
Speaker 2: I can't leave nineteen sitting right there just looking all
Speaker 2: pretty for I know that through your prayers and God's
Speaker 2: provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ. What has happened?
Speaker 2: Somebody say, I'm glad it happened. I want that ringing
Speaker 2: in your spirit. So you go out really confessing it
Speaker 2: and really declaring it, and really living in that state
Speaker 2: of rejoicing that is not dependent on the outcome of
Speaker 2: your situation. I know that what has happened to me
Speaker 2: will turn out for my deliverance. And here's the word
Speaker 2: I eagerly expect. How many remember I preached a whole
Speaker 2: sermon on the Greek word that Paul made up because
Speaker 2: he couldn't find a word in the lexicon that described
Speaker 2: how he felt about the situation, because he couldn't say
Speaker 2: I have a good feeling about this. Oh no, no,
Speaker 2: I'm enthusiastic, Bill. It wasn't one of those things. It
Speaker 2: was a from the gut gladness that only comes when
Speaker 2: your sole priority is the glory of God and nothing
Speaker 2: else holds weight in the court of your reasoning. So
Speaker 2: he made up a word from three different words. Remember apo,
Speaker 2: kara dokia three words apo to look away, kara, head, dokia, stretch.
Speaker 2: Paul said, I'm chained to the floor, but these chains
Speaker 2: make a good sermon prop because my feet are bound,
Speaker 2: but my mind is free. And I can't change my
Speaker 2: situation right now, but I can make up my mind.
Speaker 2: And here's when I've decided, and I need about one
Speaker 2: hundred and thirty people who will make this decision.
Speaker 1: I eagerly expect. In other words, I stretch my.
Speaker 2: Head toward my future. I can see we need some exercise.
Speaker 2: Stand up. I'm gonna help you with your New Year's resolution.
Speaker 2: You wanted to exercise more. We're gonna do it before
Speaker 2: you hit the parking lot tonight. High five your neighbors say,
Speaker 2: I'm glad it happened.
Speaker 1: I'm glad it happened. I'm glad it happened. Now I
Speaker 1: want you to do me a favor.
Speaker 2: Everybody, every campus, even the cool people who are too
Speaker 2: cool to high five your neighbor. Every time I tell
Speaker 2: you to high five your neighbor, I want you to
Speaker 2: turn around one hundred and eighty degrees now. If you
Speaker 2: are geometrically challenged, you should be facing the opposite direction
Speaker 2: a moment ago.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 2: The word of God on this pulpit represents the promises
Speaker 2: that God has made to you in the future that
Speaker 2: He has in store.
Speaker 1: And we came to night, to reflect, but also to expect.
Speaker 1: You can't.
Speaker 2: Go into what's next that has your name on it,
Speaker 2: your next assignment, your next breakthrough, your next level of influence,
Speaker 2: your next season of real joy. You can't go into
Speaker 2: it facing this way. What happened happened. It happened, whether
Speaker 2: you wanted it to or not, Whether it was your
Speaker 2: fault or not, happen. Acknowledge it. There were some disappointments
Speaker 2: this year, some stuff that broke your heart. But you
Speaker 2: cannot experience the purpose of God in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: With your head in your past.
Speaker 2: I hear the spirit of God saying, tonight's turnaround time.
Speaker 2: It's turn around time. Don't turn around yet, messing up
Speaker 2: my illustration, Paul said, I eagerly expect that what has
Speaker 2: happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. No,
Speaker 2: I want you to turn ninety degrees, ninety degrees, just ninety,
Speaker 2: just ninety, just ninety degrees. I don't care which ninety,
Speaker 2: just ninety, preferably so you're facing someone else? Could you
Speaker 2: face somebody? Hey, now shut up, don't strike up a conversation.
Speaker 1: But listen. Listen to me.
Speaker 2: You can't go into this next year facing your past,
Speaker 2: and you can't go into this next year facing other people.
Speaker 2: You cannot look to them and compare yourself to them
Speaker 2: and compare your situation to theirs.
Speaker 1: Not in going to the future that God has for you.
Speaker 2: Paul said, I want you to know that what has
Speaker 2: happened to me, what God has for me, is for me.
Speaker 2: And sometimes we are so busy comparing our situation to
Speaker 2: the situation of others. We are locked in cycles of
Speaker 2: resentment and regret. But it's turnaround time. Somebody shouts, turn
Speaker 2: around time.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: I want you to turn another ninety degrees and we
Speaker 2: all should be facing forward.
Speaker 1: This is where, this is where I'm facing.
Speaker 2: I got my eyes, put the camera on the put
Speaker 2: the camera on the puppet.
Speaker 1: I got my eyes on the word that God spoke
Speaker 1: to me.
Speaker 2: My eyes are on the high calling of God.
Speaker 1: In Christ Jesus.
Speaker 2: I got my head out my past, I got my
Speaker 2: feet in my lane.
Speaker 1: I got my eyes on.
Speaker 2: The prize for which God called me heaven word in Christ.
Speaker 1: I'm glad it happened. I'm glad it happened.
Speaker 2: I'm glad for the dangers, the toils, the snares. I'm
Speaker 2: glad for the battles. I'm glad for the blessings. I
Speaker 2: came tonight to give you praise.
Speaker 3: For all of it.
Speaker 2: God, all things work together for the good because I'm called.
Speaker 2: Come on. We only got a few minutes to get
Speaker 2: ready for what's next.
Speaker 1: We only got a few minutes to get ready. Somebody's shot.
Speaker 1: I'm ready now. I've made peace with what's behind me.
Speaker 2: My eyes are all the choice set before me, and
Speaker 2: there is a thought who reads upub me.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for
Speaker 2: more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
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Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.