WEBVTT - The Blessing Of A Closed Door (Stephen Chandler) 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.840 All right, we're going to get into the message very soon, 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:07.240 but first an important message for you. This is our 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:11.399 twenty twenty one year end offering. I love this time 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.440 of year, an amazing time of year, because every year 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:18.480 we end with appreciation for what God has done, expectation 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:20.720 for what He's going to do. This has been a tradition. 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:22.840 Like right now, they're going to put up a few 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:25.880 graphics of all the offerings we've had through the years. 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:30.080 I can't even remember them, all Game Change or Waymaker beyond. 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:33.559 But this year, you don't even know the word that 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:36.120 God gave me. I don't. This is not stage. I 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:38.519 should reveal it to me. Yeah, this is not scripted, 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:40.640 and we're doing our own camera work, So I apologize 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:43.600 that the angle is off. But this year the Lord 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:48.960 led me to the word better. Everybody say better, better, 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:52.199 like put it in the chat. And we don't mean 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:56.040 better than another person, or we don't necessarily mean that. 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.639 You know, we're never content, And what we mean by 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:03.000 that is Hag II two nine says that the glory 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:06.240 of this present house, what God is doing, will be 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:10.240 greater than the glory of the former house. We believe 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:12.959 God is always doing something greater, we just have to 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:15.000 see it. So I want to thank you in advance 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:18.200 for your gifts. Those of you who already support this ministry, 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.640 you're the reason. You're the reason we get to preach 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:24.120 the gospel. You're the reason that thousands of testimonies that 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:27.280 we hear in this ministry are made possible. And for 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:29.399 those of you who are beginning to give, either through 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:32.080 a one time year end donation to help us with 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:35.360 our expansion, or the best way really through recurring giving, 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.080 through putting God first with the tide, or maybe an 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:40.399 above and beyond offering to say thank you to Him 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:43.840 and believe Him for better things in faith, we want 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:46.280 to say thank you, and we're standing with you right 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:50.040 now as we begin this season of giving called Better 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.080 Now through the end of the year. Yeah, thank you 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:54.880 so much. Every time you give, it helps us to 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.160 spread the Gospel to the world and beyond, and we 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:02.400 are so thankful for your partnership with us in the gospel. 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:06.280 It's gonna be an amazing holiday season and I can't 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:08.320 wait to hear more about better. It's gonna be better 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:10.760 better than you ask her. Imagine just three twenty we're 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:15.280 believing God for you now let's go. I'm not gonna 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:17.960 lie to y'all. I am bugging out right now. I 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:27.119 am at the elevation, Sir. I can't tell you how 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:31.760 much this church has meant to me over my last 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:35.280 ten years of being a senior pastor in Maryland. I 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:38.080 actually the first year, and you'll sit down in like 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:40.320 two seconds, but we're standing because they're about the screen 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:42.040 for your pastors, so you can stay on your feet. 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:45.239 For the first year, I had a five hundred dollars 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.560 vacation budget. That's all I have for vacation. After year ministry, 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:50.720 I was so ready to quit. I said, I'm gonna 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:53.000 be one and done. Get me out of this. And 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:56.040 I spent my five hundred dollars on a plane ticket 0:02:56.080 --> 0:03:00.000 to Charlotte, renting me a Camaro, got me a cheap 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:02.400 My priorities were in order, got a chief hotel, but 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:09.120 a nice car drove down to the Blakeney location, and 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:11.200 I didn't know how elevation rolled. So I showed up 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.040 to church five minutes before it started. Y'all know I 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:17.120 didn't make it into that, sir. I sat in the 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:20.840 parking lot in the first service, came in the second one, 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.640 and baled my eyes out. The presence of God in 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:34.760 this place literally kept me in the ministry. And year 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.440 after year after the year, we've been to every single 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:39.800 inside Elevation. We were at Lake Norman when it was 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:41.960 over there. Shout out to Lake Norman and all these 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:45.800 different places. And God has used your pastor in this 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:50.280 house to incite something in so many pastors around this 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:53.480 nation and this world to go after all that God 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:57.640 has called us to be. You. I don't know if 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:01.640 you know. You know Elevation is one of God's favorite churches, right, 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:03.440 I don't know if you know that. You may have 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.080 never heard this before. In the Bible, a father would 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:09.600 show his favorite by who he gave gifts. To remember, 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:11.840 he gave his favorite son a coat of many colors. 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:14.760 Where the Bible says and Ephesians that your pastor is 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.000 a gift from God. And based on the pastor that 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.960 God has given this church, you must speak God's favorite. 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:29.320 Can you honor Pastor Stephen and Pastor Ali? We are grateful, grateful, grateful, 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:32.960 grateful for you're yes, for your sacrifice, for all that 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:36.200 you believed in us. And I'm gonna say us because 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:39.719 I is Elevation today but I'm great. Hey, go ahead, 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.640 grab your seat, Grab your seat. We are gonna jump 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.080 into God's word today. I have a could you deal 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.960 with the word from God? I got a word from 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:52.640 God for you today. Before I preach, I do have 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:57.320 to highlight why I am blessed and highly favored. And 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:00.680 it is this beautiful African woman on a front row. 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:07.560 Can y'all honor my wife, Zi Chandler. I call her 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:11.320 my African Queen. She hails from sile On, West Africa, 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:14.600 and I actually started the church. I passed her. I 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.000 was single for two years, and it was a rough 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:18.440 two years because I had no favor. I had no 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:20.760 annoint see, because the Bible says when you find a wife, 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:24.240 you find favor from the Lord. It's rough, pastor and 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:27.600 without favor. But but I found it eventually, and I 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.760 am grateful, grateful, grateful for your love, for your support, 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:36.200 and we love each other. So we got children. If 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:38.200 you could throw up a picture and I can show 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:40.839 everybody why I am more blessed than they are, because 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:43.960 my family's just better looking than your family. I know 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:48.440 that's mean and ignorant, but it's the truth. In front 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.760 of me is my princess. Her name is Zoe. She's 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.600 five years old. We little hood, so we got rapper 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.800 names for all our kids, so her rapper name is Zozo. 0:05:57.480 --> 0:05:59.840 And then standing next to my wife is my second born. 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:02.760 His name is Roman. His rapper name is Roro. You 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:06.200 can tell we are not very creative people. And then 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.840 our newest edition. We actually took this picture last week 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:12.320 because we didn't have any family pictures with Jade Mariah. 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:18.279 She is four months old. She looks like an angel, 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:23.400 she acts like a fallen angel. Right around three am, 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.240 she up and she's screaming in tongues and yelling and 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:29.479 all this other good stuff. And we are happy, happy, happy, 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:34.560 because we left them back in Baltimore. So we had 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:37.240 the best sleep we've ever had last night. So forgive 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:39.520 me if I preached for the next four hours. But 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:41.960 your brother is a Two people just ran for the 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:44.400 door and said, oh, you're not all right. Turn your bible. 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:48.679 Turn your Bible to John chapter twenty John chapter twenty, 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:52.640 verse nineteen. I got some of my Union Church fam 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:57.880 into building and watching online. Grateful, grateful, grateful for you, John, 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:03.560 chapter twenty nineteen. If you're ready, somebody see you. Oh, 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:07.480 y'all ready ready like this. Here he goes. It says this. 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:13.000 Then the same day, at evening, being the first day 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.280 of the week, which man name was Sunday, when the 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:18.840 doors were shut. Somebody said the doors were shut. The 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:23.440 doors were shut. The disciples were assembled, why for fear 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:27.760 of the Jews. Jesus came and stood in the midst 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:32.120 and said to them, read that with me, peace be 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.760 with you some of all. That's the only message you 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:43.440 need today. Wherever you find yourself shut in, Jesus is 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:47.000 about to step into that place of your life and 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:52.440 breathe his supernatural peace in your life. He said, peace 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:54.800 be with you. And when he said this, he showed 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.360 them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:00.600 glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:03.200 them again, it was so nice. He said it twice. 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:07.080 He said, peace to you. As the Father has sent me, 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:11.120 I also send you. And when he said this, he 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:15.120 breathes on them. Now you're gonna find out. I'm a 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.120 little ignorant, and I'm not toue culture. And I just 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:21.920 wonder what Jesus is breath smell like. Let me just 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.000 think about it. You can't be the King of Kings 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.000 and the Lord and lawyers that have holotosis. I mean, 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:29.240 it just had to be the miniest breath somebod me 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:33.400 just breathe them. So he breathed on them and said, 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:38.280 receive the Holy Spirit. Let's pray, Father God. We're grateful. 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:43.120 We're thankful God for this divine moment, this collision between 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:46.960 Evan and Earth. God, you are here. God. You're not 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:48.880 just here to have church. You're here to heal in 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:51.680 a transform and to speak and to take us one 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:54.760 step closer to the plan, the purpose, the destiny that 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:57.720 you have for us. So God, preemptively, you make a 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:01.200 decision in this moment that when you speak, we will 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:05.280 obey have your way in our hearts. Thank you for 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:07.600 bringing cam back to Charlotte and Jesus name. We pray. 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:15.960 Amen and amen and amen. Hey, before I jump into 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:19.560 the meat of this message, I just want to prophesy 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.640 over you for a second. Is that okay? Now? If 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:26.240 I do, you can't sit there with your anti propit skepticism. 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:29.320 You gotta lean in. You gotta say I receive it. 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:31.400 I want that, I believe it. If you're with me, 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:37.440 somebody say amen, I believe that the Global Church, the 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:41.280 American Church, Elevation Church, and you, somebody say, we are 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:45.800 the Church are getting ready to walk into a season 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.800 of open doors in our lives that we have never 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:54.400 seen before. I believe you're getting ready to walk into 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:58.040 a season of favor of creative miracles. I believe you're 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:00.800 getting ready to walk into season come on line where 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:03.560 God begins to answer prayers that you didn't even know 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:07.080 to pray for, prayers that are above and beyond all 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:12.199 that you could ever ask, sink, or imagine. There are 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:15.840 relationships in your life that were broken, that you've given 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:19.400 up on, and God is supernaturally mending them back together. 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:23.360 God is getting ready to expand businesses in ways that 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:26.320 you didn't even know possible. Someone's just gonna give you 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.960 a book of their business and you're like, how did 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:34.160 this happen? It's because God is opening doors in your life. Oh, 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:38.720 I I appreciate it. I got about seventeen percent of 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.400 the room like, oh you better appreciate that, Chris Rock, 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:46.080 I love it. I love It's about thirty percent of 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:47.840 this room. Now. She's just like, huh, I mean I 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:51.800 ain't impressed. I mean any makers, Hey, guy's opening doors 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.079 what's so impressive about that? How do you know God's 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:55.760 going to open the door. Well, I'm a little ignorant, 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:56.960 so can I just help you out? How I know 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:58.400 that God is getting ready to open doors for a 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:06.320 church because I read the Bible, and here's what I 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:11.160 find in scripture that there's this pattern where the enemy 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:14.560 will attack, and what God will do is say, hey, 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:18.320 you take your first shot, and when you're done what 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:24.760 you're doing, watch me work. If you remember, in the 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:27.880 Book of Job, Satan came to God and he said, 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:31.560 the only reason why Job is worshiping you is because 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:34.719 Job is blessed. If you took away his blessings, he 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:37.400 wouldn't worship you the same way anybody in here. You know, 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:39.360 you don't worship God just because of what he can 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:41.840 do for you, not just because of his blessings, but 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:46.000 because of who he is. So God said, hey, you 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.400 think that's right, go ahead, take everything that he has 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:50.240 and see what happens. And you read the book, you 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.800 see he lost his children, and his business and his 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:55.800 wealth and in his notoriety. And he said, hey, though 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:59.080 he slay me, I will not curse the Lord. I 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:04.880 know that my redeemer lives. So like thirty eight chapters, 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.320 Job is just going through hell, part of my French. 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:10.880 And when he finally passed that test, God says, Satan, 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:13.760 are you done? Okay, watch this, and he gives Job 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:18.640 back double for his trouble, everything he lost. He gives 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:22.960 him double everything that was stolen by the enemy. And 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:25.800 here's what I know over these last eighteen and twenty 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:27.599 four months, depending on where you live and all that, 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:32.400 we have been through this global panoramic where the enemy 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:36.960 has taken his best shot to divide racially, politically and 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.800 in every other way. And I feel like God was 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.719 just stepping back, let me know when you're done, and 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:46.400 when you're done, watch me step in and move in 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:54.560 people's lives. And if we went through eighteen and twenty 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:57.839 four months of the world being shut down, I think 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.160 we're getting ready to go through forty eight months of 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:05.000 open doors and miracles, signs and wonders in the church, 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:09.040 in your life, and in everything God desires to do 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:13.440 for us. If you believe in somebody shot amen, somebody 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:17.000 say open doors. That's why I want to preach a 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:27.200 message today called the Blessing of a closed door. Because 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:32.040 here's what I've discovered, until you've run into a closed door, 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:37.800 you won't really appreciate an open door. If all you've 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:41.679 experienced is favor and open doors and promotion and all 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.040 that other, you'll begin to take it for granted, and 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:47.760 you'll begin to look at it as if it's happenstance 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:50.880 and not the favor of God on your life. There's 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:54.160 nothing like a closed door that makes you grateful for 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:59.520 an open door. There's nothing like sickness that makes you 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:02.880 grateful that God is a healer. There's nothing like not 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:06.160 having that makes you grateful that He is Jehovah Jira, 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:11.600 our provider. There's nothing like being overlooked that makes you 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:14.360 appreciative that the eyes of God is not just on 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.360 the sparrow, but he is on you, and he sees 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:20.520 every tear that drops from your eye. Hear me, it's 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:25.360 closed doors that make us grateful for the open doors 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:30.160 of God. Growing up, my dad was a pastor longer 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:32.040 than I've been alive. I actually pastor to the church 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:34.640 that he founded back in nineteen ninety seven. But he 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.760 also owned his own business on the side. He had 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:40.560 a medical courier company. He had drivers all over the 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:43.480 state of Maryland, and they would pick up medical specimens 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:46.000 from doctor's offices and drop them off at labs. These 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.920 were blood samples and bow marrow samples and actually some 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:52.040 pretty painful tests to take, so it was a pretty 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:55.440 sensitive job. I remember when I turned sixteen, I got 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:58.920 my driver's license and my dad hired me because I 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:01.440 was a boss's kid. I was the youngest person on 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.800 staff by like twenty years. People didn't think I deserved 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:06.840 the job, and actually I did it, but my dad 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:08.560 was the boss. I was just like, y'all can't do 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:10.680 nothing with me, you can't say nothing to me. And 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:12.800 by the way, my dad writes your paycheck, so eh. 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:17.400 And I would spend about five hours of my day 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:20.040 every single day, from about three pm to eight pm, 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:23.680 driving around Maryland picking up medical specimens and dropping them 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:25.200 off at the lab at the end of the day, 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:27.960 early on when I was sixteen, and actually I did 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.240 it for seven years, and it happened almost every single year. 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.520 I'd drive and I'd get to a doctor's office and 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:35.280 when i'd walk in, the nurse or the administrator the 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:38.720 doctor say hey, we're not quite ready for you. Come 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:42.560 back in about fifteen minutes somebody say fifteen minutes. It 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:45.560 wasn't seventeen, it wasn't fourteen. They were very specific, come 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:47.840 back in fifteen minutes and we'll be ready for you 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.800 to pick up the specimen. Well, I was sixteen, and 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.000 you know not that bright. So I said, fifteen minutes. 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:55.160 That's great. Sounds like enough time to go down to 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:58.920 the mall, get a cheese steak, eat the cheese steak, 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:01.040 run over the game stop. I play about three games 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:04.320 of Madden. I've got time, so I'd go to the 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:05.680 mall and I got a cheef steak. I go on 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:07.560 to game Stop. I'm playing Madden. I'm like in the 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.120 fourth game, and next thing I know, my phone would 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:13.160 ring and my dad would be calling. So hey, Steven, 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:15.120 I'm here at the drop are you ready to drop 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:19.440 off the spence? Look? Oh uh, I got one more pickup. 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:21.560 I'll be right there. I would hang up the phone, 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:25.000 run through the mall, jump in my car, speed across town, 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:28.480 and i'd get back to that doctor's after we're SpongeBob bags. 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:33.080 I'm like two hours later, and I would get there 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:37.640 sometimes and the office would be locked up. Now I'm 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:39.960 not saying like locked like the door's locked and they're 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:43.360 cleaning up inside. I'm talking about locked lights off, buildings 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:46.600 shut down. You can't get in no matter what. Remember 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.360 the first time this happened, I called my dad said, hey, uh, 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.640 the doctor's office closed, and tell them I was there earlier. 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:56.080 They closed and they're locked up. I'll come back tomorrow. 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.520 Let me say, Steve, what do you mean tomorrow. Specimen 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.480 that you're picking up has a three hour shelf life. 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:07.119 If you wait till tomorrow, it will spoil. And hear me, 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:10.199 if it spoils, we will lose that doctor as a client. 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:12.440 And he said, what you gotta understand is that that's 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:14.960 not just one doctor, but that doctor is connected to 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:18.159 seven other doctors. There is an entire practice. If we 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:20.840 lose that one doctor, we're losing all seven of them. 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.640 Steven get in the door, and then he'd hang up. 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:30.480 I figured it out. I'm just like I just told 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:35.240 you a lot. I remember looking at this clock, closed door, 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:36.760 and I'm not gonna lie to you. I talked to 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:38.680 a couple of police officers in Baltimore before I told 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:41.359 the story, just to make sure that the statue of 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:47.240 limitation had passed. But when I tell you that your 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:51.359 boy has broken into more doctor's offices that you can't 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.600 imagine in your life. I am sweet, talk more nurses. 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:58.520 I've given more donuts to security guards, climbed in your windows, 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:03.919 snack your people up. I have. It was in that 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:08.040 season of my life that I learned that a closed 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:12.159 door is not the end of the story, but the 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:16.960 beginning of a decision. Every time I run into a 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:19.639 closed door, I have a decision to make. Am I 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:24.040 gonna surrender to the situation. Am I gonna figure it 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.120 out and figure out a way in? Or I'm gonna 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:28.959 say there's no way I can get around this. And 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:33.760 ear me. God did not die on the cross for 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:39.159 his people to surrender. One of the things that breaks 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.400 my heart are there are too many believers that are 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:47.240 surrendering to sickness. They're surrendering to anxiety and worry and 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:50.399 fear and set back and lack and ear me. Just 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:53.480 because it's a set back, just because it's a closed 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:56.199 door in your life right now, does not mean that 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:59.520 it's a life sentence. It doesn't mean that it's over. 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:04.600 It's just the beginning of your story. So I want 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:06.120 to have about four hours of preach I just want 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:10.760 to give you just three quick I want to give 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:12.919 you just three quick thoughts, three quick thoughts of what 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:15.400 do I do when I run into a closed door 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:18.040 when I'm in that season of life where things looks 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:21.480 like things just aren't moving forward, like I just can't 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:26.360 catch or break. The first thought is this, not all 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:32.000 close doors are the same. When you run into a 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:34.400 season where life is not moving forward, where it doesn't 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:36.919 appear that your prayers are being answered, that you're not 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:39.240 making the progress that you want to make, you gotta 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.680 understand just because the door is closed doesn't mean it's 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:46.200 the same scenario. Here's what we do. We blame every 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:50.200 closed door on God. Every time something doesn't work out, 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:53.119 we don't get the job, the promotion, the relationship doesn't 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:55.639 work out, or whatever. Mavie. We get super spiritual when 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:57.879 we say things like it must not have been God's 0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:00.800 will for my life. That's my su spirtual voice. I 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:05.359 don't know why I pray and it didn't happen, so 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:08.320 it must not have been what God had for me. 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:13.560 Hear me. Just because a door is closed doesn't mean 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:16.920 that God is the one that closed. In our passage 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:20.400 here in John chapter twenty we find the disciples locked 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:25.200 behind a closed door. The Bible says that they were 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:29.280 paralyzed in fear that they were so overcome with the 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:34.280 idea that they had just killed Jesus. And everybody knew 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:36.920 that they were followers of Jesus, so they just had 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:40.399 in their mind, if they killed Jesus, they must be 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:44.400 coming for us. Next. I guess one of my beef 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:45.840 for Christians. I got a lot of beef for Christians, 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:48.159 but but one of my beef for Christians is and 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:50.600 I'll fill myself under the bus with you. We read 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:54.480 the Bible like Christians, how much supposed to read the 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:58.520 Bible like a human? Here here's what I mean by 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.760 as Christians. We read the Bible knowing how the story goes. 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:04.359 So we see them locked in the room like all 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:07.320 you punks. Come on out. He rose from the third day. 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:08.800 He's about to walk through the wall and show you 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:11.520 the nail prince in his hand, don't you know. We 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:14.080 read it knowing the end of the story. But you 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:19.000 have to put yourself in their shoes. They didn't have 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:23.040 the Bible to read. They was the Bible, and as 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:26.960 far as they knew everything that they had given their 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:30.840 life to had just been murdered in front of them 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:34.680 like a criminal. You see these men and women. They 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:39.240 left family businesses. They looked parents in the eye and said, 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:41.920 I don't want the inheritance that you worked your entire 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:46.639 life to build. I'm gonna follow this carpenter's son because 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:48.840 I was told that he has the keys of life 0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:52.280 in his hand. They left everything and followed him for 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:55.119 three years. He said that he was the king of 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:58.120 kings and the Lord of lords. And then he hung 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:03.240 on a cross his head and he died, and a 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:07.840 whole city celebrated. And here are the disciples locked in 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:13.560 a room after the greatest tragedy of their life, thinking, 0:22:13.560 --> 0:22:16.920 if they just killed Jesus, they're coming for us. This 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:19.800 was the lowest moment of faith that they ever had. 0:22:20.200 --> 0:22:23.879 A side note, anybody grateful that all your mistakes and 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:27.639 blunders are not recorded in scripture for billions of people 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:31.680 to read. Anybody grateful today you mess up royally. Only 0:22:31.760 --> 0:22:34.040 you and your three roommates know about it, nobody else. 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:39.960 This was the worst moment in their lives. And here's 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:44.560 what they decided to do. Based on that tragedy and trauma. 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:55.119 They went into a room they opened the door and 0:22:55.160 --> 0:22:59.800 they locked it behind them. The door wasn't closed because 0:22:59.800 --> 0:23:04.359 God God closed it. The door was closed because fear 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:12.040 closed it. One of the things that I've discovered is 0:23:12.080 --> 0:23:14.399 there are so many people that are locked behind a 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:19.399 closed door, not because God did it, but because it 0:23:19.480 --> 0:23:24.159 was the response to that abuse from their childhood. It 0:23:24.280 --> 0:23:28.080 was their response from that divorce ten years ago, the 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:32.440