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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

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Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

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Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope

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Speaker 2: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it

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Speaker 2: gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.

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Speaker 3: Enjoy the message us, get up, give me us Sophia.

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Speaker 4: God, So.

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Speaker 5: Yes, God, our Father born in heaven. How will it

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Speaker 5: be your name, your kingdom?

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Speaker 4: Come, Your will be done.

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Speaker 1: Mynarch, bless it is in heaven.

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Speaker 6: Give us this say our daily bread.

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Speaker 4: And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who

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Speaker 4: sin against us. And lead us not into temptation.

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Speaker 1: But deliver us.

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Speaker 4: Jesus is in this place. Deliver us from evil. For

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Speaker 4: Thine is the Kingdom, power and the glory, forever.

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Speaker 7: And ever, not for five minutes, forever and ever, and

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Speaker 7: right here.

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Speaker 4: I want the whole church say Amen. A men means

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Speaker 4: so be it. A man means I'm coming into agreement

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Speaker 4: with God's plan for my life.

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Speaker 1: Life.

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Speaker 4: Amen means that no word from God returns. Boy. Amen

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Speaker 4: means that my Father has the final Say amen means

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Speaker 4: that I read to the back of the book and

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Speaker 4: I know how this ends. Heaven wins. Amen means I'm

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Speaker 4: born again. Amen means no weapon formed a guess and

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Speaker 4: me will prosper. Amen means I can do all things

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Speaker 4: through Christ, who strengthens me. You didn't know. Amen meant

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Speaker 4: all that digit Say it again. Amen. If he says

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Speaker 4: I'm blessed, I'm blessed. Say amen. If he says my

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Speaker 4: family will be saved, my family will be saved. Say amen.

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Speaker 4: If he said I'm more than a conqueror, I'm more

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Speaker 4: than a conqueror.

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Speaker 1: Say amen.

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Speaker 4: Come on, everybody in the comments right now, even watching

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Speaker 4: this on social media, putting Amen in the comments. Let

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Speaker 4: the devil know. I agree with God. I belong to Jesus.

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Speaker 4: He's the one who never let's go on every mountain.

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Speaker 4: I belonged to him, in every valley. I belonged to him.

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Speaker 4: The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want I'm guided.

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Speaker 4: I got a good shepherd. I'm guarded. He's the Kate,

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Speaker 4: He's the light of the world. He is my risen

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Speaker 4: resurrected king. And I'm getting knocked out of this situation.

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Speaker 4: And I came to praise the Lord. I did not

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Speaker 4: come to feel sorry for myself. I came to praise

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Speaker 4: the Lord. I did not come to impress my neighbors

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Speaker 4: with proper church behavior. I came to raise the Lord.

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Speaker 4: If you knew what he brought me through, you wouldn't

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Speaker 4: call me crazy.

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Speaker 1: You would lift your hands.

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Speaker 4: And raise him too. Say man, what do we how

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Speaker 4: are we gonna get out of this?

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Speaker 6: We can get out?

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Speaker 4: And when the hollywool where, that's what burn? Massa, that's it.

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Speaker 4: Orry to God, Bless the name of the Lord, for

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Speaker 4: he is worthy to be praised. Every season of my life,

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Speaker 4: he's been a friend to me, and he's worthy to

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Speaker 4: be praised. I don't know what I would do without God.

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Speaker 4: I don't know where i'd be without Jesus. I have

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Speaker 4: a kind of idea and it doesn't look good. But

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Speaker 4: look at your neighbor and say, you already look better this.

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Speaker 1: Year than you did last year. Come on, tell him

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Speaker 1: one more thing.

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Speaker 4: Look at him and say look at him and say

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Speaker 4: repeat after me. Say I can tell you've kept your resolutions.

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Speaker 4: Tell them your skin is glowing, your physique is lean.

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Speaker 4: Happy New Year, Elevation Church. For the first time that

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Speaker 4: I've been able to say that to you.

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Speaker 1: Our epham around the world. Let's celebrate our.

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Speaker 8: Brand new campus, our twentieth location elevation Somerville. Happy new Year,

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Speaker 8: happy new campus.

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Speaker 4: So many things to tell you. We've got so much

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Speaker 4: to catch up on. God has been so good. The

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Speaker 4: last time that I stood in the pulpit, we were

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Speaker 4: taking our year end offering, and you stepped up big

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Speaker 4: this year, and I told them to wait until I

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Speaker 4: got back so I could announce to you that you

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Speaker 4: gave to the Lord and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

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Speaker 4: for the building of his kingdom and helping the poor

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Speaker 4: and reaching the loss and serving the world. Eleven million,

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Speaker 4: four hundred and sixty three thousand dollars. Give a soun

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Speaker 4: of praise.

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Speaker 6: All right, good word?

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Speaker 4: We miss that together. So every year, every year I

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Speaker 4: come before you and just say, let's do another one.

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Speaker 4: Y'all want to do another one. Another year of preaching

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Speaker 4: God's word. Another year of releasing worship into the earth

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Speaker 4: that can heal broken hearts. Another year of standing beside

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Speaker 4: children who don't have fathers and mentoring them. Another year

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Speaker 4: of showing up with coats and blankets for people who

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Speaker 4: are cold. Year of reaching into prisons and recovery centers

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Speaker 4: and telling people that their life matters and don't throw

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Speaker 4: it away. And God is not done with you yet

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Speaker 4: another year to invite people who have been told for

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Speaker 4: years that God will never accept you, that it's not

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Speaker 4: too late for him to change your life.

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Speaker 1: If you're not dead.

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Speaker 4: God's not done, and God is not done with this

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Speaker 4: church yet. I'm getting ready for the next twenty years.

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Speaker 4: God is with me with this gray hair. God is

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Speaker 4: with me. And I'm just going to take a moment

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Speaker 4: right now, if you'd stretch your hands toward this pulpit. Lord,

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Speaker 4: let every word that goes forth from this church this

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Speaker 4: year brings salvation, deliverance, miracles, correction, comfort, everything you want

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Speaker 4: to do.

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Speaker 1: God is all about you.

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Speaker 4: I pray that even today, as I preach, that you

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Speaker 4: would see fit to use me like a woodwind instrument,

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Speaker 4: something that your breath could use to produce a sound

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Speaker 4: that would produce a melody from Heaven that would be

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Speaker 4: medicine too someone's heart.

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Speaker 1: Lord. I bring before you every.

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Speaker 4: Person that's in this room, the nineteen other rooms where

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Speaker 4: we physically gather, every place where somebody couldn't go to

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Speaker 4: church or they were just too.

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Speaker 1: Lazy, speak your word. One time, a man said, I

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Speaker 1: don't even need to have.

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Speaker 4: You come in my house, Jesus, if you just speak

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Speaker 4: your word, it's enough to heal.

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Speaker 1: Today.

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Speaker 4: Lord, we just ask for a word from you our

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Speaker 4: daily bread, not enough so we can come to church

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Speaker 4: once at the beginning of the year, check it off

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Speaker 4: the list, and then spend the rest of the year

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Speaker 4: asking God why I didn't show up. But enough word

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Speaker 4: to nourish us for the needs of this moment. You

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Speaker 4: are Jehovah Jirah, and you're.

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Speaker 1: In this place, and I give you the praise in Jesus' name. Amen,

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Speaker 1: clap your hands.

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Speaker 4: Everybody. I'm going to have you seated before I read

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Speaker 4: my scripture, which I don't normally do, but before I do,

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Speaker 4: give out about twenty six hugs divided by two. Give

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Speaker 4: five hugs and tell somebody I'm glad you're here today. Hey,

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Speaker 4: we're sending you a big hug online to our epam

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Speaker 4: all around the world. Just remember, God is speaking this

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Speaker 4: message exactly where you need it to be. He's not

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Speaker 4: limited by time, or by space or by location. May

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Speaker 4: this message speak to your heart today. I have prayed

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Speaker 4: about what to share with you. For my first sermon

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Speaker 4: of the year, and the Lord led and directed me.

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Speaker 1: In a powerful way.

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Speaker 4: Let's thank our band, our worship team for leading us

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Speaker 4: so well in the presence of God today.

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Speaker 1: Make sure you get the new music from Elevation Rhythm.

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Speaker 4: Thank God, I'm free play it everywhere that the devil

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Speaker 4: has been trying to keep you bound and let him

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Speaker 4: know it won't work this year.

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Speaker 1: I'm coming out of these chains.

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Speaker 4: Also, make sure that you get the opportunity to be

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Speaker 4: a part of Elevation Nights.

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Speaker 1: Now.

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Speaker 4: I know that for most of you who are here locally,

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Speaker 4: you probably won't be getting on a plane, but we're

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Speaker 4: going to be visiting eight cities, and these nights are powerful,

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Speaker 4: and these nights are miraculous and these nights are unforgettable.

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Speaker 4: We're going to be in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Brooklyn, New York, Indianapolis, Milwaukee,

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Speaker 4: Grand Rapids, Michigan, Knoxville, Tennessee, Columbus, Ohio, and Rosemont, Illinois.

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Speaker 4: If you have any friends or family, especially the ones

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Speaker 4: who really need Jesus and smell like cigarettes and other

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Speaker 4: stuff like that, send them over.

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Speaker 1: We'll see what we can do for them.

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Speaker 4: Elevation Nights dot Com, where you can get your tickets

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Speaker 4: February twenty fourth through March the fifth. I thank you

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Speaker 4: for the privilege of being able to minister God's word

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Speaker 4: to you another year.

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Speaker 1: What an honor.

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Speaker 4: I'll be sharing today from the Parable of the Seed

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Speaker 4: in Matthew chapter teen, Verses twenty four through thirty.

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Speaker 1: Matthew Chapter fourteen, Versus twenty four through thirty.

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Speaker 4: Now this is not the parable that's normally called the

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Speaker 4: parable of the seeds. The parable of the seeds that

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Speaker 4: we hear more about is actually the parable of the soils.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Because Jesus taught these parables.

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Speaker 4: He would go out and he would give a teaching,

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Speaker 4: and on one level it would sound simple, but you

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Speaker 4: reflect on it and you pray about it, and it

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Speaker 4: really helps you to see what the Kingdom of God

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Speaker 4: is like, and it helps you to see.

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Speaker 1: What you're like.

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Speaker 4: And one of those parables that has helped me so

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Speaker 4: much through the year, he talks about a seed that

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Speaker 4: was sown in four different places. One was sown on

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Speaker 4: rocky soil, so because the soil was too rocky, the

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Speaker 4: bird came and snatched it up. So that seed got snatched,

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Speaker 4: so it didn't do what it was supposed to do.

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Speaker 4: And then there was one seed that was sown in

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Speaker 4: a place where it was scorched by the sun, which

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Speaker 4: represents the trials of life. So since it didn't have

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Speaker 4: a root or a foundation, the sun was too strong

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Speaker 4: for it, and it got cooked up before it could

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Speaker 4: come forth. I said, it got cooked up before it

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Speaker 4: could come forth. Some promises that God speaks to you,

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Speaker 4: the sun, the affliction, the.

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Speaker 1: Heat of trial.

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Speaker 4: It tests that seed before it has had the chance

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Speaker 4: to develop, and you don't pass the test. The third

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Speaker 4: type of seed that he talks about is one that

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Speaker 4: gets choked out, or we could say, strangled by the

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Speaker 4: cares of this life just getting busy. And in each

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Speaker 4: of these instances, the seed represents the word of God,

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Speaker 4: and the sower is God, and the seed is good

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Speaker 4: in each of those instances, but it is not successful

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Speaker 4: because of the soil that it lands in. One of

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Speaker 4: the soils that Jesus mentions in that parable is the

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Speaker 4: good soil which produces a harvest thirty sixty and one hundredfold.

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Speaker 4: And this always encouraged me as a preacher, because one

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Speaker 4: time I realized most of the people that I preach

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Speaker 4: to won't remember the sermon. Twenty four hours after I

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Speaker 4: preach it, and most of the people that I preach

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Speaker 4: to about a specific topic aren't going to really do

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Speaker 4: what I challenge them to do, even if I give

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Speaker 4: them scripture behind it, because the seed often gets snatched, scorched,

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Speaker 4: or strangled. But the one seed that produced the harvest,

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Speaker 4: watch what it did. It produced thirty, sixty or one

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Speaker 4: hundred fold. So the one seed that was successful made

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Speaker 4: up for all the ones that weren't. God can bless

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Speaker 4: you with one blessing in your life that will make

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Speaker 4: every failure irrelevant. And I came to preach that even

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Speaker 4: though most people won't receive this word, if one does,

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Speaker 4: it will have been worth it. That's what I believe

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Speaker 4: these days. That most won't fine, but if one does,

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Speaker 4: it could branch out and touch the world. If one does.

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Speaker 4: What is one's soul worth? What is one life worth?

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Speaker 4: What is one grandmother's prayers getting answered worth? If one does?

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Speaker 4: And I just want to kind of encourage you on

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Speaker 4: the way to my main text today. I'm not preaching

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Speaker 4: about that one believe it or not.

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Speaker 1: I studied it, but I'm not.

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Speaker 4: Going to preach it because you may be encouraging your

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Speaker 4: kids right now or instructing your kids right now, or

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Speaker 4: working on something in your life. And most of the

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Speaker 4: things that you try, and most of the things that

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Speaker 4: you say, won't get through to them. But if one does,

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Speaker 4: somebody say, if one does. If one does, it can

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Speaker 4: change a life. If one does, it can change the generation.

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Speaker 4: If one does, it can change a bloodline. Most won't.

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Speaker 4: Don't be discouraged by the ones that don't work. Don't

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Speaker 4: be discouraged by the ones who don't call you back.

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Speaker 4: Don't be discouraged by the ones who don't say yes.

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Speaker 4: Don't be discouraged by the ones who don't get you.

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Speaker 4: Because if one does. Look, I asked a lot of

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Speaker 4: girls to be my girlfriend before Holly. Most didn't, but

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Speaker 4: one did. Look at me. Now, look at what the

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Speaker 4: Lord has done.

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Speaker 1: If one does well.

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Speaker 4: This is a scripture that I want to give you

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Speaker 4: today from Matthew chapter thirteen, about a parable of two

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Speaker 4: different types of seed, not different types of soil, which

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Speaker 4: represents the condition of our heart, but two different types

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Speaker 4: of seed. I'm gonna read it to you and then

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Speaker 4: we'll talk about it for just a few moments. Jesus

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Speaker 4: is teaching many parables, and they're collected here for us

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Speaker 4: to read. And it says Jesus told them another parable.

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Speaker 4: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sewed

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Speaker 4: good seed in his field. If you are the underlining

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Speaker 4: your Bible type, just underline.

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Speaker 1: The word good. It was good seed.

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Speaker 4: But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed

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Speaker 4: weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat

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Speaker 4: sprouted and formed heads, then.

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Speaker 1: The weeds also appeared.

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Speaker 4: The owner's servants came to him and said, sir, didn't

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Speaker 4: you sow good seed in your field? Where then, did

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Speaker 4: these weeds come from?

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Speaker 1: An enemy? Did this? He replied.

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Speaker 4: The servants asked him, do you want us to go

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Speaker 4: and pull them up? No, he answered, because while you

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Speaker 4: are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.

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Speaker 4: Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time,

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Speaker 4: I will tell the harvesters, first collect the weeds and

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Speaker 4: tie them in bundles to be burned. Then gather the

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Speaker 4: wheat and bring it into my barn. I have a

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Speaker 4: simple message from the Lord for your heart today. And

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Speaker 4: the Lord told me to tell you don't let the

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Speaker 4: attack distract you.

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Speaker 1: That's what it is. It's a distraction.

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Speaker 4: And he told me to tell you, don't let the

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Speaker 4: attack distract you. Write it down in your notebook, type

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Speaker 4: it in the comments. Don't let the attack distract you.

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Speaker 4: And I love preaching the second Sunday of a new

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Speaker 4: year because by now your new year's resolutions have become

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Speaker 4: good intentions which you have modified to become more realistic.

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Speaker 4: The new year's energy has been sufficiently tapered and sufficiently

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Speaker 4: adjusted to match the realities of daily life for most people.

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Speaker 4: And now we can really preach about the way life

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Speaker 4: is new year's resolution. First Sunday of the year, I'm

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Speaker 4: not cussing anymore. Second week of the year, I'm cutting

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Speaker 4: back on cussing. I'm only going to say these four

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Speaker 4: words this year. But I got to have these four Lord,

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Speaker 4: and you know I do. I'm fast in this fast

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Speaker 4: the first twenty one days, I'm fast the first well,

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Speaker 4: I'm a fast from vegetables the first twenty one days.

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Speaker 1: The Lord will receive it.

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Speaker 4: As an offering, you know, because we modify it in

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Speaker 4: real life. You know, one thing that I noticed about

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Speaker 4: this parable that Jesus gave in the passage, and I

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Speaker 4: believe you noticed it too, is that wherever there is

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Speaker 4: wheat there will always be weeds. You know, Jesus isn't

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Speaker 4: just giving us a little discourse about how problems creep

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Speaker 4: up in our life.

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Speaker 1: Here, he's making a bigger point.

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Speaker 4: Specifically, he's letting us know that it is not your

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Speaker 4: job to judge others. It's not your job. It's not

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Speaker 4: your job because you're not God. And if I can

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Speaker 4: say a little more directly, you suck at judging.

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Speaker 1: That's how you bought that timeshare.

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Speaker 4: That's how you bought that vacuum cleaner, because you suck

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Speaker 4: at judging. Honestly, even when it comes to the work

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Speaker 4: that I create, I've taught myself it's.

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Speaker 1: Not my job to judge it. It's just my job

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Speaker 1: to make it. Especially when you write a song. You

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Speaker 1: don't know Chris Brown, you'll know Chris Brown, formerly an

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Speaker 1: R and B.

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Speaker 4: Singer, but now the main worship leader at Elevation Worship.

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Speaker 4: Look at what the Lord has done. I always call

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Speaker 4: him the real Chris Brown. He's my favorite worship leader

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Speaker 4: in the world, always has been, always will be since

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Speaker 4: first time I heard him. But I'm gonna take something else.

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Speaker 4: He sucks at judging whether a new song is good

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Speaker 4: or not. He called me. One Sunday. We had a

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Speaker 4: new song that we wanted to introduce, and I wasn't

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Speaker 4: going to be there to preach, and he was leading

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Speaker 4: it and he called me after it.

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Speaker 1: I said, how to go?

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Speaker 4: He said, not too good. I don't think the song

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Speaker 4: is very good. The song was Graves into Gardens.

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Speaker 1: You remember that? Remember that, CV you suck at judging.

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Speaker 4: You're great worship leader, you're handsome, you're a great man

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Speaker 4: of God.

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Speaker 1: You're wonderful of being a dad and a husband, but

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Speaker 1: you suck at judging.

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Speaker 4: And I chose to say it that way because some

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Speaker 4: of y'all are so tripping and stumbling over the fact

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Speaker 4: that I said the word suck.

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Speaker 1: Judging me for that, that.

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Speaker 4: You just prove my point, because if you think if

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Speaker 4: the most important thing is whether I say the word

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Speaker 4: suck or whether I say it more fancy, it's not

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Speaker 4: your job to judge. If you're tripping over what I'm saying,

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Speaker 4: you're making the very mistake that I'm warning you about.

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Speaker 4: Thereby validating the wisdom of my point and the way

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Speaker 4: I phraised it. Now, every once in a while, Jesus

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Speaker 4: would explain his parables to his disciples after everybody else

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Speaker 4: was gone, almost like y'all can get it at a

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Speaker 4: deep level the disciples, but the crowds couldn't consume it.

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Speaker 4: And that's why he taught in parables, so that he

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Speaker 4: could have the privilege of pulling aside his disciple and

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Speaker 4: giving them the deeper meaning. We're gonna look at the

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Speaker 4: deeper meaning of this parable that Jesus shared a little

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Speaker 4: bit further in Matthew chapter thirteen. Put it on the screen, please,

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Speaker 4: he let the crowd went into the house. His disciples

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Speaker 4: came to him and said, explained to us the parable

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Speaker 4: of the weeds in the field. He answered, well, the

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Speaker 4: one who sowed the good seed is the son of Man.

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Speaker 4: That's Jesus. The field is the world. The good seed

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Speaker 4: stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are

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Speaker 4: the people of the evil one, and the enemy who

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Speaker 4: sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end

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Speaker 4: of the age, and the harvesters are the angels. As

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Speaker 4: the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire,

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Speaker 4: so it will be at the end of the age

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Speaker 4: the Son of men will send out his angels, and

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Speaker 4: they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin,

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Speaker 4: and all who do evil, they will throw them into

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Speaker 4: the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing

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Speaker 4: of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun

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Speaker 4: and the kingdom of their father.

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Speaker 1: Whoever has ears let them hear.

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Speaker 4: And we read this, and we are so quick to say,

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Speaker 4: that's right. Those evil people, those sinners, those terrible democrats, Republicans, independence,

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Speaker 4: whatever category that you wanted to put right there, it

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Speaker 4: exposed something about your heart, whatever you wanted to see.

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Speaker 1: The weeds as.

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Speaker 4: Tells me something about what you see in the mirror.

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Speaker 4: And let me explain that for a moment. Go back

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Speaker 4: to verse forty two. It says that the evil ones

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Speaker 4: will be thrown into the furnace.

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Speaker 1: But watch this verse forty three.

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Speaker 4: That comes right after it says the kingdom of their father.

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Speaker 4: So the furnace of judgment belongs to the fo not

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Speaker 4: the children.

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Speaker 1: The furnace of judgment is.

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Speaker 4: Not yours to put people in the.

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Speaker 1: Furnace of judgment.

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Speaker 4: Is not your place to have a Facebook conversation about

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Speaker 4: what everybody else thinks and why they're so stupid to

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Speaker 4: think it.

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Speaker 1: I shouldn't be preaching like this. My first Sunday back

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Speaker 1: in the year, I might run, y'all a law from

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Speaker 1: the church.

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Speaker 4: But notice in the parable it says that it was

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Speaker 4: his field. And I'm learning more and more in my

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Speaker 4: life that if it's his field, that means it's his furnace.

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Speaker 4: That means God has to be the one to decide

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Speaker 4: who's right and who's wrong. God has to be the

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Speaker 4: one to decide who is on his side and who

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Speaker 4: is not. I remember, very early in my ministry there

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Speaker 4: was a pastor that I greatly admired, and he was

401
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Speaker 4: mentoring me in many ways, and he was bringing up

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Speaker 4: examples of the right kind of ministry and the wrong

403
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Speaker 4: kind of ministry. And he brought up one minister and

404
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Speaker 4: he said, now, this guy, he's air. This guy, he

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Speaker 4: is not doctrinally sound. This guy, he is not theologically correct.

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Speaker 4: In fact, you can watch him preach and you can

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Speaker 4: see his pride. He's arrogant, and he's self focused, and

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Speaker 4: he's fleshly. And then he brought up another gentleman, and

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Speaker 4: he said, now, this man is humble. This man has

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Speaker 4: the Greek New Testament practically memorized.

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Speaker 1: He's a serious student.

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Speaker 4: This man you can tell by watching him he is meek,

413
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Speaker 4: he is mild, he is christ Like. That's who you

414
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Speaker 4: want to be like. Not this guy over here, that

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Speaker 4: guy right there. Five years later, the guy who knew Greek,

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Speaker 4: the guy who was so humble, was discovered to have

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Speaker 4: been having an affair on foreign mission trips that he

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Speaker 4: was taking pretending to be spreading the Gospel for twelve years.

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Speaker 1: With one woman in Russia while he looked humble.

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Speaker 4: The man who was so prideful and cocky and arrogant

421
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Speaker 4: is still doing the ministry today that he was doing

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Speaker 4: twenty years ago. What am I trying to say? You

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Speaker 4: suck at judging, and so do I. We don't know

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Speaker 4: who God is going to be used in ten years

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Speaker 4: from now. We don't know who God is going to

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Speaker 4: raise up. So why y'all are looking at me like

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Speaker 4: you're confused about this? Let me break it down a

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Speaker 4: little bit finer. Some of the people that you dated

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Speaker 4: are proof of the fact that you are not very

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Speaker 4: good at getting past the packaging. Let me break it

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Speaker 4: down a little bit further. Some of the people that

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Speaker 4: you put in your phone that you knew you needed

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Speaker 4: to block, but you ignored that little instinct that told

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Speaker 4: you there is something about them. You cannot trust your

435
00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:47,800
Speaker 4: own judgment this year, you cannot trust your fleshly, earthly judgment.

436
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:52,240
Speaker 4: When Israel trusted her judgment, she got Saul as king.

437
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Speaker 4: David was a man after God's own heart. But even

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Speaker 4: David had weeds. Ask Bathchieba, the man after God's own

439
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Speaker 4: heart didn't.

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Speaker 1: Always do it God's way.

441
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:05,919
Speaker 4: And what I'm trying to say, and I'm kind of

442
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,600
Speaker 4: going all around the barn to say it, so let

443
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:09,920
Speaker 4: me just land the plane.

444
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:18,840
Speaker 6: We all got weeds. We all got We's say it

445
00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:21,720
Speaker 6: out loud. I got We's put.

446
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:23,360
Speaker 4: The asse at the end of that, just making sure.

447
00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:33,640
Speaker 4: Tell him about the biblical kind of weeds. It's called darnell. Darnell.

448
00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:35,720
Speaker 1: It is this type of weeds seed.

449
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:38,840
Speaker 4: The Bible says, Can I preach about this for a moment.

450
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,480
Speaker 4: The Bible says that the man planted.

451
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:45,800
Speaker 1: A good seed in his field. Everybody say his field.

452
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,160
Speaker 4: I'm gonna point this out to the over and over

453
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:48,760
Speaker 4: again as.

454
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,840
Speaker 1: I preached today. It was his field.

455
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,200
Speaker 4: It belonged to the farmer, It belonged to the man.

456
00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,280
Speaker 4: He planted the seed in his field. It was his property,

457
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,880
Speaker 4: it was his territory. To do with it as he wished.

458
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,520
Speaker 4: He planted a good seed in the field. The seed

459
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:09,080
Speaker 4: was doing what it was supposed to do. It was growing.

460
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,040
Speaker 4: And since the seed was doing what it was supposed

461
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,600
Speaker 4: to do and growing, an enemy noticed the growth of

462
00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 4: the seed and said, if I don't do something about

463
00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:22,040
Speaker 4: this seed, my enemy will triumph over me. So the

464
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:26,680
Speaker 4: Bible says that overnight, while men slept, and enemy came

465
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:29,199
Speaker 4: and planted weeds.

466
00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:34,439
Speaker 1: Among the wheat. Say it weeds among the wheat. Notice

467
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:35,199
Speaker 1: what he couldn't do.

468
00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 4: He could not pluck up what God had planted. He

469
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:48,119
Speaker 4: could not change what had already been done. He could

470
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,320
Speaker 4: not cost the seed that was in the ground to

471
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,880
Speaker 4: stop being what it was meant to be.

472
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:58,639
Speaker 1: He could not destroy the seed.

473
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:05,879
Speaker 4: The only strategy he had was to distract the harvesters.

474
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:10,360
Speaker 1: So here's the progression of growth in our life.

475
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:12,840
Speaker 4: We advance a little bit like the seed was doing,

476
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,400
Speaker 4: and then we get attacked. How many of y'all almost

477
00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:22,440
Speaker 4: have to laugh at how quickly the devil attacked the very.

478
00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 1: Thing you were advancing in this year already just wave

479
00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:25,359
Speaker 1: at me.

480
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:29,800
Speaker 4: It's almost comical, right, It's almost like two on the nose,

481
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:33,760
Speaker 4: Like really devil, like really really like.

482
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:35,720
Speaker 1: That, you're going to be that obvious. You're you're just

483
00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:37,360
Speaker 1: gonna do it right in my face like that.

484
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:40,160
Speaker 4: At least in the parable the man snuck in and

485
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,640
Speaker 4: did it at night. Some of us, the devil's just

486
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:47,360
Speaker 4: doing it in broad daylight, just attacking things that are advancing.

487
00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 4: So now you're advancing. The seed is growing, and you're attacked.

488
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,280
Speaker 4: And when the enemy attacks you and what God is

489
00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 4: doing in you, you get distracted.

490
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:02,640
Speaker 1: He can't destroy the seed.

491
00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:08,240
Speaker 4: It's not his. He can't destroy the seed. It's already planted.

492
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,520
Speaker 4: He can't destroy the seed. What God put in the

493
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:16,080
Speaker 4: seed is still in the sea. He doesn't have permission

494
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 4: to do that. But what he can do is distract

495
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:28,160
Speaker 4: you so that you will destroy yourself and some of

496
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 4: the things that are attacking you in your life right now.

497
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:36,760
Speaker 4: The attack doesn't matter unless it distracts you from what

498
00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 4: God has called you. I'll break it down for you

499
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:42,240
Speaker 4: with a few pastoral examples.

500
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,960
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. It feels good to be wanted, feels.

501
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,560
Speaker 4: Good to be loved, feels good to be supported. But

502
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:50,800
Speaker 4: you know, you have to preach through all kinds of seasons,

503
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,360
Speaker 4: And there have been seasons in this ministry where I

504
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:56,360
Speaker 4: have had to preach what God gave me to preach

505
00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:00,920
Speaker 4: even though I felt attacked. And in my earlier years

506
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:04,040
Speaker 4: of preaching, I would become hyper focused on any attack

507
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,320
Speaker 4: that was coming my way. I don't just mean critics,

508
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,880
Speaker 4: I mean any attack. Like if a staff member resigned,

509
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,280
Speaker 4: I would call it an attack. Well, no, maybe they

510
00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:14,840
Speaker 4: just need to move to Florida to take care of

511
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:15,320
Speaker 4: their parents.

512
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,320
Speaker 1: No, it's an attack. I rebuke the devil. Why do

513
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:23,440
Speaker 1: you rebuke it. It's not an attack. It's an adjustment.

514
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,960
Speaker 4: You got to adapt. Life just happens. But there have

515
00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:32,560
Speaker 4: been seasons, and I remembered one very specifically. Well, I've

516
00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:34,680
Speaker 4: been looking forward to sharing this with you because it

517
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,560
Speaker 4: was so fresh and so vivid. What was happening in

518
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:40,640
Speaker 4: our church was explosive, and much like the seed in

519
00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:44,160
Speaker 4: the Passage, it was growing, growing, growing. God planted this

520
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:47,240
Speaker 4: church in Charlotte in two thousand and six. I didn't

521
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:47,719
Speaker 4: plant it.

522
00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:48,280
Speaker 1: He did.

523
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:54,000
Speaker 4: And what God plants, God protects. And God was doing

524
00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:56,560
Speaker 4: all kinds of miracles for us. If we needed a building,

525
00:30:56,560 --> 00:31:00,320
Speaker 4: he opened a building. If we needed a volunteer, scent

526
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,560
Speaker 4: a volunteer, if we needed funds. He would send people

527
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:08,880
Speaker 4: with money. God was just providing and protecting. But in

528
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,240
Speaker 4: one season of our ministry, and it was over ten

529
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:16,280
Speaker 4: years ago, this vicious attack began. And if anybody was

530
00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:19,240
Speaker 4: here at the time, you will remember several phases of

531
00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:19,720
Speaker 4: the attack.

532
00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:21,880
Speaker 1: The last phase of the attack was the hardest for.

533
00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:25,440
Speaker 4: Me to stomach, because they begin to imply, on news

534
00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:27,960
Speaker 4: stories that were on the eleven o'clock news that at

535
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:32,040
Speaker 4: Elevation Church we fake baptisms. In other words, they were

536
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,800
Speaker 4: saying that we have people pretending to be baptized.

537
00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:37,560
Speaker 1: I guess, just so we could put it on camera.

538
00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,160
Speaker 4: Not only was that not true, but it was a

539
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,960
Speaker 4: direct assault against the most meaningful expression of faith that

540
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,280
Speaker 4: a person can make, to be baptized.

541
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,960
Speaker 1: And I felt so attacked not only.

542
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,560
Speaker 4: On my own behalf, but on behalf of everyone who

543
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,040
Speaker 4: was going to work who had been baptized at this church,

544
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,560
Speaker 4: hearing the lie that had been perpetuated, the attack that

545
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:03,640
Speaker 4: had been age saying your baptism was it fake? And

546
00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:06,360
Speaker 4: I was praying about this one day, and I was

547
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:09,560
Speaker 4: asking God very specifically something that you may have been

548
00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:12,320
Speaker 4: praying about a situation or an attack in your life

549
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:12,800
Speaker 4: as well.

550
00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 1: I prayed, God, make it stop, Make it stop.

551
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,880
Speaker 4: By this point, there had been several attacks against our church,

552
00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:24,000
Speaker 4: and this one just felt like too much.

553
00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:26,600
Speaker 1: And I said, God, make it stop.

554
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,200
Speaker 4: And I will never forget what the Lord said to

555
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,640
Speaker 4: me in my spirit, not in audible words or not

556
00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:34,360
Speaker 4: in a physical impression, but in a way that he

557
00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:36,320
Speaker 4: gave me a thought that I have carried with me

558
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,760
Speaker 4: to this moment, and I share it with you today.

559
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:43,320
Speaker 4: The Lord said, I can stop the attack, but if

560
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,880
Speaker 4: I stopped the attack, I have to stop the impact

561
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 4: that created it. So now you have to decide do

562
00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,800
Speaker 4: you want the attack to stop bad enough to give

563
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:03,800
Speaker 4: up the impact that brought it? Because if you weren't

564
00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:07,400
Speaker 4: baptizing anybody, they wouldn't be making.

565
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:09,280
Speaker 1: Up stories about your baptisms.

566
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:15,800
Speaker 4: But maybe what God was doing in this church was

567
00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:20,880
Speaker 4: so unbelievable that the enemy saw it and said, if

568
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:25,160
Speaker 4: they keep baptizing people like this, there's gonna be a

569
00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:29,240
Speaker 4: water shortage in Charlotte and a people shortage in Hell.

570
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:33,840
Speaker 4: And so I got a plant, a little lie to

571
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:38,800
Speaker 4: try to get them to stop doing what God's started.

572
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:43,920
Speaker 4: But God said, if you want the impact, you got

573
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:48,640
Speaker 4: a man up and button your pants, and tighten your belt,

574
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:52,880
Speaker 4: and lace your boots, and open your bible, and open

575
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:57,400
Speaker 4: your mouth, and take your next breath, and lift your voice,

576
00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:01,440
Speaker 4: and lift your head, and swing your sword in the

577
00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:05,560
Speaker 4: name of the Lord, and realize that he who began

578
00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:10,440
Speaker 4: a good work in you will be faithful to bring

579
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:15,400
Speaker 4: it full circle till the day when the angels gather,

580
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:28,080
Speaker 4: the tears shall be burned in the fire. I wanted

581
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:31,360
Speaker 4: to tell you about that. I wanted to tell you that.

582
00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:34,560
Speaker 4: Now that I'm through it, I'm glad they attacked me.

583
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:40,839
Speaker 4: I am is set me free of some ego. I'm

584
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:45,200
Speaker 4: glad that happened. I want it to happen again. I'm

585
00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,120
Speaker 4: not asking for another one. I'm not saying if I

586
00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:50,200
Speaker 4: went back in time, I would have walked that path.

587
00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:54,600
Speaker 4: But there is a young man on our staff who

588
00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:56,360
Speaker 4: runs my scriptures every week.

589
00:34:57,239 --> 00:34:58,680
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, put a scripture up.

590
00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:00,279
Speaker 4: There, just in anyone, I don't care which, and just

591
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,280
Speaker 4: put it up there, and just put the week appeared,

592
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:09,080
Speaker 4: We circle the word appeared. Look at that. Why did

593
00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:11,719
Speaker 4: I tell him to do that? Because he started coming

594
00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:17,560
Speaker 4: to the church because he heard about the baptisms on

595
00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:18,560
Speaker 4: the news.

596
00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:23,520
Speaker 1: From the attack. Y'all don't want to mess with me.

597
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,440
Speaker 4: And now he's the one helping me preach the word.

598
00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:33,720
Speaker 4: So God used their words as a weapon.

599
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:35,839
Speaker 1: Oh God, And.

600
00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:38,239
Speaker 4: Now let's talk about you.

601
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:43,480
Speaker 5: No weapon forved against you shall prosper.

602
00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:47,680
Speaker 4: And that brings the sun rise.

603
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:52,920
Speaker 5: This against you, you shall convin this is the heretance

604
00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:58,799
Speaker 5: ut the service of the Lord, and their righteousness is

605
00:35:58,880 --> 00:35:59,319
Speaker 5: from me.

606
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:09,120
Speaker 4: So one thing the enemy didn't realize when he was

607
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:13,160
Speaker 4: planting those weeds is that you can plant all the

608
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:15,200
Speaker 4: weeds you want to devil.

609
00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:17,640
Speaker 1: And let me just remind you this year, this year,

610
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:18,800
Speaker 1: there will be weeds.

611
00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:22,000
Speaker 4: There will be no weed free week in your year

612
00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:22,600
Speaker 4: this year.

613
00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:24,919
Speaker 1: Sit back down.

614
00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:28,919
Speaker 4: You know how we do these little New Year's slogans

615
00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:36,560
Speaker 4: come alive in twenty five, you know it's gonna well,

616
00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:40,440
Speaker 4: could be said it's gonna get fixed in twenty six. No,

617
00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:43,520
Speaker 4: it's not either. It's gonna be mixed in twenty six.

618
00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:48,200
Speaker 4: It's gonna be some wheat. It's gonna be some weeds.

619
00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:51,680
Speaker 4: It's gonna be some joy. It's gonna be some morning.

620
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 4: It's gonna be some weeping. It's gonna be some reeping.

621
00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:58,560
Speaker 4: It's gonna be some friends. It's gonna be some enemies.

622
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:01,280
Speaker 4: It's gonna be some frenemy. You can't tell the difference

623
00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,399
Speaker 4: till us over. But don't judge it before God's done

624
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:07,280
Speaker 4: with it, because God might use some of this stuff

625
00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,520
Speaker 4: in your life that you were asking him to remove

626
00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 4: to reveal who He is in your life. And the

627
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:18,160
Speaker 4: only problem is if you start trying to pluck out

628
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:22,200
Speaker 4: the weeds, you might mess around and remove the wheat.

629
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:34,480
Speaker 4: Y'all got enough or keep going? One thing I noticed

630
00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:38,600
Speaker 4: in the text that was really powerful is that the

631
00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:44,640
Speaker 4: Master didn't panic about the attack. He was so cool

632
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:45,160
Speaker 4: about it.

633
00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,879
Speaker 1: Read it again, sir, Now the servants are freaking out

634
00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:51,200
Speaker 1: like we do. Sir, didn't you so good? See it

635
00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:52,680
Speaker 1: in your field? Where's come from? Who did this? What's

636
00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:54,440
Speaker 1: going on? This is the devil? Whose fault is this?

637
00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:55,759
Speaker 1: Only as so many, so many did this?

638
00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:03,360
Speaker 4: And the the Master because he represents God in the parable.

639
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:11,239
Speaker 4: Look at this, He's like an enemy did this because

640
00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:15,160
Speaker 4: that's what an enemy does. That's what an enemy does,

641
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:22,040
Speaker 4: That's what a devil does. I read about a book

642
00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:25,640
Speaker 4: that Mel Robbins wrote called the Let Them Theory. I

643
00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:28,719
Speaker 4: didn't read the book, but I like the title. It's

644
00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:31,640
Speaker 4: like people want to talk about you. Let them. Your

645
00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:34,080
Speaker 4: kids want to leave without a coat and it's cold outside.

646
00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:42,640
Speaker 9: Let them. They're not going to die of hypothermia. They

647
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:44,640
Speaker 9: will figure it out. Kids are resilient.

648
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:51,760
Speaker 1: They need a little frost bite. Let them.

649
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:55,440
Speaker 4: And I wonder if we could write one together today

650
00:38:55,480 --> 00:39:02,120
Speaker 4: this year in your life called let him. Don't let

651
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:04,880
Speaker 4: the attack distract you. You give so much focus on

652
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:07,239
Speaker 4: how the devil is discouraging you, and now discouragement is

653
00:39:07,239 --> 00:39:08,200
Speaker 4: all you see everywhere.

654
00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:12,839
Speaker 1: You got so many things going right in your life,

655
00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:17,080
Speaker 1: so much wheat, but all you see is weeds. You

656
00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:17,600
Speaker 1: a little.

657
00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:23,080
Speaker 4: Perfectionist, your little type a personality, your little enneagram number

658
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:25,759
Speaker 4: one just always could be better. Just oh man, I

659
00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:27,520
Speaker 4: gotta get these weeds out this year.

660
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:30,520
Speaker 1: No you don't. I'll tell you why.

661
00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:34,080
Speaker 4: If Jesus's field wasn't weed free, what makes you think

662
00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:39,560
Speaker 4: yours is gonna be? Jesus couldn't have a weed free field,

663
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:44,480
Speaker 4: but you can. No, it's gonna be mixed in twenty six.

664
00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:50,040
Speaker 4: It's gonna be mixed in twenty six. It's gonna be

665
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:52,000
Speaker 4: at eight am in the morning. This is the day

666
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:55,480
Speaker 4: that the Lord has made. It's gonna be by three

667
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:57,719
Speaker 4: pm in the afternoon. My God, My God, why hast

668
00:39:57,719 --> 00:40:02,680
Speaker 4: thou forsaken me? It's gonna be wea, It's gonna be weeds.

669
00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:06,839
Speaker 4: And stop judging stuff before God is done with it.

670
00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:13,520
Speaker 4: Stop judging stuff before the appointed time. Stop telling me

671
00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:18,239
Speaker 4: graves into gardens in a good song. Stop telling me

672
00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 4: I tried it, it didn't work. And I'll just use

673
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:22,680
Speaker 4: a physical example because we can all relate to it.

674
00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:28,319
Speaker 4: When you work out and you haven't worked out in

675
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:34,600
Speaker 4: a while, not that you would know. The first thing

676
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:37,520
Speaker 4: that is going to indicate that you successfully completed the

677
00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:42,319
Speaker 4: workout is a feeling of soreness. That will feel like

678
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:47,720
Speaker 4: Satan himself brought seven spirits to your body and invaded everything.

679
00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:52,279
Speaker 4: But that just means you're growing. So now you're surprised

680
00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:56,879
Speaker 4: that you're sore, but you wanted to grow. If there

681
00:40:56,920 --> 00:40:59,120
Speaker 4: had been no wheat, there would have been no weeds.

682
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:04,360
Speaker 4: You're praying for God to use you, but you're surprised

683
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:07,080
Speaker 4: that you feel like you're empty on the inside. That's

684
00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,640
Speaker 4: so He can fill you up again. And the promise

685
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:12,760
Speaker 4: of this year is not that it will be weed free.

686
00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:16,160
Speaker 4: I am not trying to keep a weed.

687
00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:18,800
Speaker 1: Free in one sense, I am, but I am not.

688
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:22,200
Speaker 4: Trying to keep a problem a weed free. I'm trying

689
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:27,040
Speaker 4: to be spirit filled this year so that whatever is

690
00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:30,480
Speaker 4: planted around me. And you got to know that the

691
00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:35,440
Speaker 4: Master is very, very methodical in what he plants, and

692
00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:39,480
Speaker 4: he knew from the moment he planted this seed that

693
00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:43,480
Speaker 4: the enemy would attack it. Now, the Master wasn't surprised.

694
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:45,680
Speaker 4: The servants were, so they said, what do you want

695
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:47,719
Speaker 4: us to do about it? Do you want us to

696
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:51,600
Speaker 4: pluck it up? Do you want us to remove it?

697
00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:54,799
Speaker 4: Do you want us to do something about that? I

698
00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:59,520
Speaker 4: was reading a passage in First Kings or maybe Second

699
00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:01,680
Speaker 4: Samuel last week with Graham.

700
00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:03,160
Speaker 1: Which scripture did I give you?

701
00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:07,320
Speaker 4: Justin tewoond Samuel or First Kings, we're reading about David. Yeah,

702
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:11,239
Speaker 4: one time David was running through his city that he

703
00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:14,600
Speaker 4: used to rule over from his son, Absolom, and his

704
00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:17,480
Speaker 4: son was trying to take his crown from him. And

705
00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:20,719
Speaker 4: the son's name was Absolom, and David actually had to

706
00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:23,080
Speaker 4: go flee from his own son. And as he was

707
00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:27,640
Speaker 4: leaving the city, he approached Bahiram. You couldn't pronounce it either,

708
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:29,800
Speaker 4: a man from the same clan, a Sau. His family

709
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:32,120
Speaker 4: came out from there, and so this is one of

710
00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:37,439
Speaker 4: his enemies, right, And his name was Shimmy I, son

711
00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:41,520
Speaker 4: of Gera. And he cursed as he came out, cursing

712
00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:46,239
Speaker 4: at the king. Well, he pelted David in the king's

713
00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:47,640
Speaker 4: officials with stones.

714
00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:52,160
Speaker 1: Now remember David's pretty good with a stone, So this

715
00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:53,759
Speaker 1: is a bad idea.

716
00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:56,160
Speaker 4: Though all the troops in the Special Guard were on

717
00:42:56,239 --> 00:42:57,040
Speaker 4: David's right and left.

718
00:42:57,040 --> 00:42:58,640
Speaker 1: In other words, he could have done something about it.

719
00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:03,400
Speaker 4: And as he cursed, Shimie said, get out, Get out.

720
00:43:03,239 --> 00:43:04,879
Speaker 1: You murderer, you scoundrel.

721
00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:07,759
Speaker 4: The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you

722
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:10,000
Speaker 4: shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you

723
00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:10,920
Speaker 4: have reigned.

724
00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:12,160
Speaker 1: God's getting you back.

725
00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:14,920
Speaker 4: The Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of

726
00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:16,359
Speaker 4: your son Absalom.

727
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:18,520
Speaker 1: You have come to ruin because.

728
00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:21,400
Speaker 4: You are a Murderer's planting all these seeds of doubt

729
00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:24,320
Speaker 4: in David's mind. Then Abishai, which one of David's guys,

730
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:25,520
Speaker 4: said to the King.

731
00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:27,560
Speaker 1: Why should this dead dog curse my lord?

732
00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:27,960
Speaker 4: The King?

733
00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:30,280
Speaker 1: Let me go over and cut off his head.

734
00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:34,960
Speaker 4: But the king, David said, what does this have to

735
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,800
Speaker 4: do with you, sons of zahu Ayah. If he's cursing

736
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:40,200
Speaker 4: because the Lord said to him, curse.

737
00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:42,879
Speaker 1: David, who can ask why do you do this?

738
00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:47,480
Speaker 4: David then said to Abishai and all his officials, my son,

739
00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:50,600
Speaker 4: my own flesh and blood, is trying to kill me.

740
00:43:50,719 --> 00:43:54,200
Speaker 4: In other words, I got bigger problems. I got bigger

741
00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:56,799
Speaker 4: things to deal with than this dude. And I came

742
00:43:56,840 --> 00:44:00,560
Speaker 4: to remind you. You've got bigger priorities. You've got too

743
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:03,480
Speaker 4: much to do to be offended by them. You've got

744
00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:06,680
Speaker 4: bigger fish to fry than this guy, whose name I

745
00:44:06,719 --> 00:44:11,920
Speaker 4: can't even pronounce. You're David, how much more than this Benjamin?

746
00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:17,000
Speaker 4: Leave him alone, let him curse. You want us to

747
00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:21,240
Speaker 4: do something about it, now, let him. Let him curse,

748
00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:25,399
Speaker 4: for the Lord has told him to. It may be, oh,

749
00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:29,600
Speaker 4: this is an anointed verse. If you've been under attack

750
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:33,360
Speaker 4: and the enemy is pelting you with frocks and stones,

751
00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:35,799
Speaker 4: and it may even be coming at the expense of

752
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:39,359
Speaker 4: your own dignity, and you are asking yourself, what do I.

753
00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:42,440
Speaker 1: Do about this attack? David said, it may be that

754
00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:44,359
Speaker 1: the Lord will look upon my.

755
00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:48,480
Speaker 4: Misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of

756
00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:51,920
Speaker 4: his curse today. In other words, what David is saying

757
00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:57,000
Speaker 4: is that he cannot curse what God has already blessed,

758
00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:02,960
Speaker 4: so let him. He cannot destroy what has God's dna.

759
00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:08,120
Speaker 4: He cannot steal what God has spoke. He cannot negate

760
00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:13,480
Speaker 4: what God has established. He cannot cancel out what God

761
00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:16,520
Speaker 4: has called. How many different ways do you need me

762
00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:19,760
Speaker 4: to say it to get you to see it won't work?

763
00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:24,399
Speaker 4: Let him come, let the flood rage. God will lift

764
00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:28,720
Speaker 4: up a standard. It won't work. Don't let the attack

765
00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:31,720
Speaker 4: distract you. Don't let it get you out of your character.

766
00:45:32,080 --> 00:45:34,399
Speaker 4: Don't let it get you out of your joy. Don't

767
00:45:34,440 --> 00:45:36,640
Speaker 4: let it get you out of your peace. Sit there

768
00:45:36,680 --> 00:45:39,319
Speaker 4: and whistle a worship song. If you can't sing one,

769
00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:42,960
Speaker 4: lift your toe. If you can't lift your hands, do

770
00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:45,640
Speaker 4: a body weight squad. If you can't do a real one,

771
00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:49,759
Speaker 4: do something. But whatever you do, remember that if it's

772
00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:54,000
Speaker 4: started with God, it is sustained by God, and there

773
00:45:54,080 --> 00:45:58,279
Speaker 4: is nothing the enemy can plant. Sheremiah said, before I

774
00:45:58,440 --> 00:46:02,120
Speaker 4: was born, he called being set me apart. So that

775
00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:04,760
Speaker 4: means I know the enemy has been busy in your life.

776
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:08,799
Speaker 4: He's been speaking to you. He's been sabotaging you. He's

777
00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:12,000
Speaker 4: been distracting you, trying to get you off your course,

778
00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:14,440
Speaker 4: trying to get you out of your flow, trying to

779
00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:16,560
Speaker 4: get you out of your calling, trying to get you

780
00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:18,560
Speaker 4: out of your nature, trying to get you out of

781
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,560
Speaker 4: your kindness, trying to bring you back to bitterness, trying

782
00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:22,319
Speaker 4: to plant.

783
00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:23,280
Speaker 1: Weeds where there's wheat.

784
00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:26,600
Speaker 4: But there's one thing that the enemy should have realized

785
00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:29,560
Speaker 4: that he didn't realize, and he would have saved his

786
00:46:29,800 --> 00:46:33,480
Speaker 4: energy and realized that the weeds weren't worth planting. Because

787
00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:35,640
Speaker 4: you've got to remember, no matter.

788
00:46:35,360 --> 00:46:41,200
Speaker 10: What the enemy plants in your life, God got there first,

789
00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:51,000
Speaker 10: and he prepares a.

790
00:46:50,960 --> 00:46:54,080
Speaker 1: Table for you in the presence of your enemies.

791
00:46:56,239 --> 00:47:01,040
Speaker 4: So let the devil try, because it must be that

792
00:47:01,120 --> 00:47:04,040
Speaker 4: if God isn't removing those weeds, how many can picture some.

793
00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:05,040
Speaker 1: Weeds that are in your life?

794
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:10,160
Speaker 4: As I speak this word, Every weed free person, run

795
00:47:10,239 --> 00:47:14,120
Speaker 4: to this altar right now, because you have the weed

796
00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:15,640
Speaker 4: of delusion?

797
00:47:20,200 --> 00:47:21,000
Speaker 1: Am I right man?

798
00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:23,600
Speaker 4: And the one thing about it, Graham, check this out. Gee,

799
00:47:24,360 --> 00:47:27,040
Speaker 4: the type of weeds that were growing, you couldn't tell

800
00:47:27,080 --> 00:47:29,839
Speaker 4: that they weren't wheat until they had grown a little bit.

801
00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:34,160
Speaker 4: They looked exactly the same until the head came up

802
00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:36,400
Speaker 4: and then they're like, oh no, this is not wheat,

803
00:47:36,440 --> 00:47:37,120
Speaker 4: this is a weed.

804
00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:43,359
Speaker 1: And sometimes you don't know. Sometimes you don't know. I'm

805
00:47:43,480 --> 00:47:47,319
Speaker 1: never going back to the way I was. Look at

806
00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:51,000
Speaker 1: what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to

807
00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:51,560
Speaker 1: the way.

808
00:47:51,960 --> 00:47:54,480
Speaker 4: A little the video and you know, the kids just

809
00:47:54,520 --> 00:47:57,440
Speaker 4: screaming at the camera, But what if they were singing it,

810
00:47:57,560 --> 00:48:00,799
Speaker 4: like like just for real though, like, look at what

811
00:48:00,880 --> 00:48:02,320
Speaker 4: the Lord has done.

812
00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:06,080
Speaker 11: I'm never going back, but I'm still gonna cuts. You

813
00:48:06,160 --> 00:48:11,600
Speaker 11: know what I'm saying, Look here what the Lord has done.

814
00:48:11,840 --> 00:48:15,480
Speaker 11: I'm never going back, But I still get drunk because

815
00:48:15,520 --> 00:48:19,600
Speaker 11: what we're saying is, look here what the Lord has done.

816
00:48:19,800 --> 00:48:22,680
Speaker 11: I'm never going back, but I'm still gonna lusk.

817
00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:26,680
Speaker 1: You know, just whatever y'all struggle with. The fact is.

818
00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:32,400
Speaker 4: What's really going on in our hearts sometimes doesn't match

819
00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:36,840
Speaker 4: what's coming out of our mouths. And we really do

820
00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:40,000
Speaker 4: want to grow, and we really do want to be free,

821
00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:42,560
Speaker 4: and we really do want to be more loving.

822
00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:48,360
Speaker 10: But the enemy isn't going to stand by and watch

823
00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:51,480
Speaker 10: you grow without attempting to.

824
00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:55,440
Speaker 4: Plant something alongside your destiny that will disrupt it.

825
00:48:57,120 --> 00:49:00,719
Speaker 1: I just want to remind you that the attack is

826
00:49:00,760 --> 00:49:01,440
Speaker 1: a distraction.

827
00:49:02,400 --> 00:49:06,319
Speaker 4: And God knew when he planted you that what he

828
00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:12,960
Speaker 4: gave you was stronger than what would come against you. Right,

829
00:49:19,800 --> 00:49:21,640
Speaker 4: look at what the Lord has done in your life.

830
00:49:23,360 --> 00:49:26,560
Speaker 4: Look how far he has already brought you. How many

831
00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:28,960
Speaker 4: can say I have a testimony. God has done so

832
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:29,920
Speaker 4: much in my life.

833
00:49:30,080 --> 00:49:36,520
Speaker 1: It's amazing. You would say that, but it came with weeds,

834
00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:37,000
Speaker 1: didn't it.

835
00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:41,640
Speaker 4: And you have been believing the lie lately that you

836
00:49:41,719 --> 00:49:44,240
Speaker 4: have got to get rid of all the weeds before

837
00:49:44,280 --> 00:49:45,279
Speaker 4: you can enjoy the weak.

838
00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:48,640
Speaker 1: It's a lie. I come against it.

839
00:49:49,719 --> 00:49:52,720
Speaker 4: I break the spirit of depression off of your soul

840
00:49:53,080 --> 00:49:56,560
Speaker 4: that has been telling you that you cannot worship while

841
00:49:56,560 --> 00:49:57,760
Speaker 4: you still have weeds.

842
00:49:58,120 --> 00:50:00,240
Speaker 1: We all have weeds.

843
00:50:00,239 --> 00:50:03,759
Speaker 4: Surprise you what the person next to you is struggling with.

844
00:50:04,719 --> 00:50:07,359
Speaker 4: And just because you can't see the weeds doesn't mean

845
00:50:07,360 --> 00:50:11,880
Speaker 4: they're not real. But have you come to a point

846
00:50:11,920 --> 00:50:14,880
Speaker 4: in your life where all you are seeing in this

847
00:50:15,040 --> 00:50:19,400
Speaker 4: season is the weeds? Have you got one kid that

848
00:50:19,560 --> 00:50:22,239
Speaker 4: is in trouble and you have failed to appreciate the

849
00:50:22,280 --> 00:50:23,359
Speaker 4: two that are doing good.

850
00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:28,279
Speaker 1: That means you have become two weed focused.

851
00:50:29,960 --> 00:50:32,920
Speaker 4: Have you got nine things in your body that are

852
00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:35,960
Speaker 4: working well, but the one thing that is not working

853
00:50:36,040 --> 00:50:39,320
Speaker 4: right just causes you to obsess and you are googling

854
00:50:39,440 --> 00:50:42,319
Speaker 4: every possible thing that might be wrong with you and

855
00:50:42,360 --> 00:50:45,960
Speaker 4: taking out every life insurance policy because you got a

856
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:50,040
Speaker 4: headache one Thursday. Are you letting one headache really make

857
00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:53,120
Speaker 4: you stop believing that God is my healer and that

858
00:50:53,160 --> 00:50:56,480
Speaker 4: God is my sustainer and that God is my source.

859
00:50:56,800 --> 00:51:00,080
Speaker 4: I'm telling you whatever the enemy plants in your life

860
00:51:00,239 --> 00:51:04,239
Speaker 4: is not more powerful than what God planted, because the

861
00:51:04,239 --> 00:51:06,200
Speaker 4: Bible said he planted good seed.

862
00:51:06,960 --> 00:51:10,200
Speaker 1: Somebody say I'm good seed. I'm good seed.

863
00:51:10,239 --> 00:51:13,040
Speaker 4: And all things work together for the good of those

864
00:51:13,080 --> 00:51:16,400
Speaker 4: who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.

865
00:51:16,719 --> 00:51:18,960
Speaker 4: So this week I want you to think a little

866
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:21,719
Speaker 4: bit less about the weeds and a little.

867
00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:22,840
Speaker 1: Bit more about the wheat.

868
00:51:23,320 --> 00:51:27,120
Speaker 4: Because when the passage starts, we've got wheat and we've

869
00:51:27,160 --> 00:51:30,359
Speaker 4: got weeds. But at the end of the passage, one

870
00:51:30,440 --> 00:51:32,719
Speaker 4: is going to be burned and one is going to

871
00:51:32,760 --> 00:51:35,480
Speaker 4: be in the barn. And I came to declare today

872
00:51:35,680 --> 00:51:39,160
Speaker 4: the fire will not burn you. You're going to the barn, baby,

873
00:51:39,520 --> 00:51:43,480
Speaker 4: you belong to God. You are God's child, You are

874
00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:48,920
Speaker 4: God's planting, You are God's Oh, you are God's master Peace.

875
00:51:49,360 --> 00:51:53,760
Speaker 4: I belong to God. Try your best, devil, it won't work.

876
00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:57,200
Speaker 4: As a matter of fact, my God might use the

877
00:51:57,280 --> 00:52:00,640
Speaker 4: thing that you are using to curse me and bless

878
00:52:00,800 --> 00:52:04,440
Speaker 4: me even better. God might do something out of this.

879
00:52:05,040 --> 00:52:08,640
Speaker 4: So go ahead, hit me with your best shot. But

880
00:52:08,840 --> 00:52:12,200
Speaker 4: everything you do hats to go through the cross of

881
00:52:12,320 --> 00:52:19,040
Speaker 4: Jesus Christ, and he began a good word, will be

882
00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:21,560
Speaker 4: faithful to complete it.

883
00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:24,040
Speaker 1: Stop judging stuff.

884
00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:27,480
Speaker 4: Before God is done. I asked one parent the other day.

885
00:52:27,680 --> 00:52:30,040
Speaker 4: They said, the kid that gave me the most trouble

886
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:33,760
Speaker 4: ended up bringing me the most blessings. You can't judge

887
00:52:33,800 --> 00:52:37,000
Speaker 4: this thing while it's still growing. You can't label.

888
00:52:36,719 --> 00:52:38,759
Speaker 1: This thing while it's still in process.

889
00:52:39,040 --> 00:52:42,239
Speaker 4: You cannot categorize your life based on the way you

890
00:52:42,280 --> 00:52:45,720
Speaker 4: feel right now. And you cannot quit eleven days into

891
00:52:45,800 --> 00:52:48,040
Speaker 4: January just because it's mixed.

892
00:52:48,080 --> 00:52:48,920
Speaker 1: In twenty six.

893
00:52:49,560 --> 00:52:52,680
Speaker 4: Naw, baby, the Lord is at my right hand. The

894
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:57,399
Speaker 4: Lord stood by my side. Many deserted me. God never did.

895
00:52:57,840 --> 00:53:00,000
Speaker 1: I got battles, I God blessed.

896
00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:04,879
Speaker 4: I got weeds. I got weeds, I got goodness. I've

897
00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:08,960
Speaker 4: got mercy, and they follow me all the days of

898
00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:13,520
Speaker 4: my life. So all I wanted to tell you today

899
00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:22,480
Speaker 4: is don't let the attack distract you. That's what it is.

900
00:53:22,520 --> 00:53:27,600
Speaker 4: It's a distraction. You have been growing. You've got what

901
00:53:27,719 --> 00:53:30,120
Speaker 4: it takes to grow. You've got what it takes to

902
00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:32,960
Speaker 4: make this decision. You have got what it takes to

903
00:53:33,000 --> 00:53:35,319
Speaker 4: do the job. You've got what it takes to learn

904
00:53:35,360 --> 00:53:37,640
Speaker 4: the skills. You've got what it takes to do the

905
00:53:37,640 --> 00:53:39,000
Speaker 4: inner work and get some healing.

906
00:53:39,239 --> 00:53:41,400
Speaker 1: You've got what it takes because you've got God.

907
00:53:43,880 --> 00:53:46,200
Speaker 4: You're in the field He wanted you to be in,

908
00:53:49,800 --> 00:53:51,839
Speaker 4: and God knew there was going to be a fight

909
00:53:51,920 --> 00:53:53,280
Speaker 4: when he puts you in that field.

910
00:53:55,000 --> 00:54:00,000
Speaker 1: Don't tell me he didn't. He's God. I'm built for it.

911
00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:04,239
Speaker 1: High five three. People say you're built for it, too,

912
00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:10,560
Speaker 1: built for it, Yeah, man, built for it.

913
00:54:12,320 --> 00:54:15,400
Speaker 4: You know what I almost called the message, bro, I

914
00:54:15,440 --> 00:54:23,879
Speaker 4: almost called it, don't burn your bread. Don't burn your bread.

915
00:54:25,239 --> 00:54:28,600
Speaker 4: The wheat has the potential in it to be bread

916
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:35,239
Speaker 4: if you don't pluck it up and throw it into

917
00:54:35,280 --> 00:54:38,200
Speaker 4: the fire, if you don't give up on what it

918
00:54:38,239 --> 00:54:40,000
Speaker 4: can be. Because of what it is right now and

919
00:54:40,040 --> 00:54:44,879
Speaker 4: what's against it. Don't burn your bread. I didn't call

920
00:54:44,920 --> 00:54:47,960
Speaker 4: it that. I almost called the message this is my

921
00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:51,200
Speaker 4: other almost called the message. Look at your neighbors, say

922
00:54:51,520 --> 00:54:52,319
Speaker 4: don't pluck it up.

923
00:54:59,080 --> 00:55:03,279
Speaker 1: But I decided that I would just tell you stand

924
00:55:03,320 --> 00:55:09,800
Speaker 1: to your feet. Don't let the attack.

925
00:55:10,880 --> 00:55:14,680
Speaker 4: Distract you, because if you don't let it distract you,

926
00:55:14,760 --> 00:55:15,680
Speaker 4: it can't destroy you.

927
00:55:16,400 --> 00:55:19,160
Speaker 1: The word of God is incorruptible. See you've been born

928
00:55:19,200 --> 00:55:20,520
Speaker 1: again by imperishable sea.

929
00:55:21,360 --> 00:55:27,279
Speaker 4: Don't let it distract you. You make an advance, you

930
00:55:27,320 --> 00:55:31,400
Speaker 4: get attacked, You get attacked, you get distracted, You get distracted,

931
00:55:31,400 --> 00:55:34,839
Speaker 4: you get destroyed. But if you can focus on where

932
00:55:34,880 --> 00:55:38,280
Speaker 4: God is growing you put your hand over your heart.

933
00:55:40,520 --> 00:55:44,600
Speaker 4: Say this is good soil. Say this is God's soil.

934
00:55:46,120 --> 00:55:48,120
Speaker 4: There's something that God spoke to you that you haven't

935
00:55:48,120 --> 00:55:50,000
Speaker 4: really been able to get in touch with lately because

936
00:55:50,000 --> 00:55:51,120
Speaker 4: you've been so distracted.

937
00:55:52,040 --> 00:55:53,239
Speaker 1: You have been so distracted.

938
00:55:53,280 --> 00:55:56,440
Speaker 4: It has been a long long time since you've been

939
00:55:56,440 --> 00:55:58,719
Speaker 4: able to have clarity about what God spoke to you.

940
00:55:59,000 --> 00:56:01,200
Speaker 4: And you found your broken focus leading to a lack

941
00:56:01,239 --> 00:56:04,080
Speaker 4: of peace now, as it always happens. But if we

942
00:56:04,120 --> 00:56:05,759
Speaker 4: can get back to the God who put it in

943
00:56:05,800 --> 00:56:08,600
Speaker 4: you to begin with, you are going to survive whatever

944
00:56:08,640 --> 00:56:11,960
Speaker 4: attack the enemy sins against it. It can't be stronger

945
00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:15,319
Speaker 4: than God. It can't be stronger than his word. It

946
00:56:15,400 --> 00:56:18,359
Speaker 4: can't be better than him. It can't be bigger than him.

947
00:56:18,520 --> 00:56:24,799
Speaker 1: It's not possible. But you've been distracted. So now, Lord,

948
00:56:26,800 --> 00:56:36,040
Speaker 1: our hearts are turn to you. Yes, Lord, our hearts

949
00:56:36,120 --> 00:56:38,040
Speaker 1: are yours.

950
00:56:39,719 --> 00:56:44,400
Speaker 4: Our lives are yours, our dreams are yours, our plans

951
00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:44,920
Speaker 4: are yours.

952
00:56:45,960 --> 00:56:49,600
Speaker 1: Our future is yours. I thank you for where you

953
00:56:49,680 --> 00:56:53,640
Speaker 1: planted me as a seed. God. I thank you for

954
00:56:53,680 --> 00:56:56,040
Speaker 1: where you planted each and every one of these people.

955
00:56:56,840 --> 00:56:58,480
Speaker 4: I think for the gifts you gave them, the abilities

956
00:56:58,480 --> 00:57:00,000
Speaker 4: you gave them, the talent you gave them, the person

957
00:57:00,400 --> 00:57:02,920
Speaker 4: that you gave them, the unique struggles and challenges that

958
00:57:02,960 --> 00:57:04,719
Speaker 4: have formed them and forged them in the fire of

959
00:57:04,800 --> 00:57:06,239
Speaker 4: trials to make them strong.

960
00:57:06,080 --> 00:57:08,239
Speaker 1: And ready for what they're going through.

961
00:57:08,280 --> 00:57:08,560
Speaker 4: Now.

962
00:57:09,160 --> 00:57:13,160
Speaker 1: They will not burn. They'll be light those Hebrew boys

963
00:57:13,840 --> 00:57:14,360
Speaker 1: who went.

964
00:57:14,239 --> 00:57:16,200
Speaker 4: Into the fire and said, even if God doesn't get

965
00:57:16,280 --> 00:57:17,960
Speaker 4: us out, he'll join us right up in it.

966
00:57:19,120 --> 00:57:24,240
Speaker 1: Because I'm good seed. I'm good seed. Lord.

967
00:57:24,280 --> 00:57:26,760
Speaker 4: I want to pray today for the person who has

968
00:57:26,800 --> 00:57:30,960
Speaker 4: never placed their faith in you. Would you just join

969
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:32,520
Speaker 4: me in this prayer as a church, I'm going to

970
00:57:32,560 --> 00:57:34,280
Speaker 4: pray for someone who needs to give their life to

971
00:57:34,360 --> 00:57:37,680
Speaker 4: Jesus Christ. And right now it is very possible that

972
00:57:37,720 --> 00:57:40,000
Speaker 4: the reason God brought you here today, or the reason

973
00:57:40,000 --> 00:57:43,520
Speaker 4: that you joined us online, is for this moment. If

974
00:57:43,520 --> 00:57:46,720
Speaker 4: you see, it's not by might nor by power that

975
00:57:46,800 --> 00:57:48,160
Speaker 4: we become strong in the Lord.

976
00:57:48,240 --> 00:57:52,360
Speaker 1: No, the seed was good because of who planted it.

977
00:57:54,360 --> 00:57:56,680
Speaker 4: And it's time for you to stop playing around with

978
00:57:56,800 --> 00:58:00,240
Speaker 4: your life and waiting on one day when it's more

979
00:58:00,320 --> 00:58:01,680
Speaker 4: convenient to live for God.

980
00:58:01,800 --> 00:58:06,640
Speaker 12: No, now is your moment of salvation. Today is your

981
00:58:06,680 --> 00:58:10,400
Speaker 12: moment of change. And I don't want you to face

982
00:58:10,440 --> 00:58:12,439
Speaker 12: the fire of judgment. I don't want you to live

983
00:58:12,480 --> 00:58:15,000
Speaker 12: your life apart from God, and neither does God.

984
00:58:15,040 --> 00:58:18,680
Speaker 4: And that's why He sent Jesus, the perfect seed, the

985
00:58:18,680 --> 00:58:21,760
Speaker 4: one who gave his life on the cross and rose

986
00:58:21,800 --> 00:58:23,600
Speaker 4: again that you could have life.

987
00:58:23,680 --> 00:58:26,440
Speaker 1: And now, in this moment, I want to pray with you.

988
00:58:26,440 --> 00:58:28,040
Speaker 4: You know, the Bible says that if you confess with

989
00:58:28,080 --> 00:58:30,600
Speaker 4: your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your

990
00:58:30,600 --> 00:58:32,240
Speaker 4: heart that God raised him from the dead.

991
00:58:32,080 --> 00:58:37,240
Speaker 1: You will be saved. It's not by works it's by grace.

992
00:58:37,280 --> 00:58:40,520
Speaker 1: You are saved through faith. And right now, if you'll

993
00:58:40,560 --> 00:58:43,080
Speaker 1: pray this prayer and mean it with your heart, God

994
00:58:43,120 --> 00:58:43,720
Speaker 1: will hear you.

995
00:58:44,720 --> 00:58:47,720
Speaker 4: God will save you, and you will be born again,

996
00:58:48,440 --> 00:58:50,560
Speaker 4: and this can be your new beginning. We're going to

997
00:58:50,560 --> 00:58:54,080
Speaker 4: pray out loud, repeating after me as a church for

998
00:58:54,160 --> 00:58:56,320
Speaker 4: the benefit of those who are coming to Christ in

999
00:58:56,360 --> 00:59:02,160
Speaker 4: this moment. Repeat after me, Heavenly Father, today is my

1000
00:59:02,400 --> 00:59:07,800
Speaker 4: day of salvation. I am a sinner in need of

1001
00:59:07,840 --> 00:59:13,600
Speaker 4: a savior. And I believe that Jesus Christ is the

1002
00:59:13,640 --> 00:59:17,840
Speaker 4: Son of God and the savior of the world. And

1003
00:59:17,920 --> 00:59:23,360
Speaker 4: today I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I

1004
00:59:23,440 --> 00:59:28,160
Speaker 4: believe he died that I would be forgiven and rose

1005
00:59:28,200 --> 00:59:30,800
Speaker 4: again to give me life.

1006
00:59:31,240 --> 00:59:36,920
Speaker 1: I receive this new life. This is my new beginning.

1007
00:59:37,880 --> 00:59:40,120
Speaker 1: I am a child of God.

1008
00:59:40,920 --> 00:59:42,880
Speaker 4: On the count of three, shoot your hand up. If

1009
00:59:42,920 --> 00:59:46,160
Speaker 4: you prayed that one, two, three, I want to celebrate

1010
00:59:46,200 --> 00:59:46,480
Speaker 4: with you.

1011
00:59:47,200 --> 00:59:53,640
Speaker 1: Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. That's beautiful, Praise the Lord.

1012
00:59:53,680 --> 00:59:54,360
Speaker 4: Online.

1013
00:59:54,880 --> 00:59:55,720
Speaker 1: You could just put.

1014
00:59:55,600 --> 00:59:58,880
Speaker 4: It in the comments I received. Jesus.

1015
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:02,200
Speaker 1: Come on, let's clap our hands all over the room.

1016
01:00:02,280 --> 01:00:06,840
Speaker 4: Everybody, everybody, everybody, come on, Let's thank God.

1017
01:00:06,920 --> 01:00:10,200
Speaker 8: For all the decisions that were made today.

1018
01:00:10,880 --> 01:00:12,160
Speaker 1: God is so good.

1019
01:00:13,760 --> 01:00:17,480
Speaker 4: Well, campus, pastors, you can have it. Grab hands with

1020
01:00:17,560 --> 01:00:20,360
Speaker 4: the person next to you here, Valentine, look at him

1021
01:00:20,400 --> 01:00:24,720
Speaker 4: and tell them don't pluck it up, because God is

1022
01:00:24,760 --> 01:00:29,520
Speaker 4: not through with you yet another day to be in

1023
01:00:29,560 --> 01:00:31,800
Speaker 4: the presence of God. Come on, Holly, I ain't got

1024
01:00:31,800 --> 01:00:36,640
Speaker 4: no hand to hold. It's gonna be an amazing year

1025
01:00:36,680 --> 01:00:45,880
Speaker 4: in your life. Ben Yeah, God's gonna give you wisdom, strength, encouragement, stamina.

1026
01:00:47,080 --> 01:00:48,840
Speaker 1: God's gonna do that for each and every one of

1027
01:00:48,840 --> 01:00:50,280
Speaker 1: these people that we pastor.

1028
01:00:50,080 --> 01:00:53,560
Speaker 4: To look at your neighbor, Look at your neighbor and say,

1029
01:00:53,600 --> 01:00:58,600
Speaker 4: God's gonna do that for you too. Tell him he's

1030
01:00:58,640 --> 01:01:04,760
Speaker 4: gonna meet you, he's gonna fill you, he's gonna carry you,

1031
01:01:06,680 --> 01:01:10,880
Speaker 4: he's going to keep you. Tell him you're gonna grow.

1032
01:01:11,960 --> 01:01:14,320
Speaker 4: Come on, Tell him like a trainer, you're gonna grow.

1033
01:01:15,720 --> 01:01:17,960
Speaker 4: Tell them like they need to do two more reps.

1034
01:01:17,960 --> 01:01:21,480
Speaker 4: Tell them you're gonna grow. Look at them and shall say,

1035
01:01:21,600 --> 01:01:28,680
Speaker 4: don't pluck it. Oh, don't let the attack distract you.

1036
01:01:29,080 --> 01:01:33,240
Speaker 1: It's a sign you're on course. It's a sign you're significant.

1037
01:01:33,400 --> 01:01:37,000
Speaker 4: It's a sign God's got you. And now unto him,

1038
01:01:37,160 --> 01:01:41,120
Speaker 4: lift your hands, who is able to do immeasurably more

1039
01:01:41,480 --> 01:01:46,160
Speaker 4: than you ask, think or imagine, according to his power,

1040
01:01:46,320 --> 01:01:50,840
Speaker 4: Whose power, his power that works mightily in us. To

1041
01:01:51,040 --> 01:01:56,439
Speaker 4: him be gloried through Christ Jesus in the Church. Now

1042
01:01:56,560 --> 01:02:04,440
Speaker 4: and forever, Say amen, same man again, goodbye, see you

1043
01:02:04,520 --> 01:02:07,120
Speaker 4: next week. Don't fuck it up.

1044
01:02:10,800 --> 01:02:11,920
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us.

1045
01:02:12,240 --> 01:02:14,680
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to

1046
01:02:14,760 --> 01:02:18,240
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.

1047
01:02:18,680 --> 01:02:20,880
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give

1048
01:02:20,960 --> 01:02:25,120
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more

1049
01:02:25,120 --> 01:02:28,960
Speaker 2: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

1050
01:02:29,240 --> 01:02:30,560
Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends.

1051
01:02:30,840 --> 01:02:33,120
Speaker 2: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and

1052
01:02:33,160 --> 01:02:35,280
Speaker 2: share it on your social stories and tag us at

1053
01:02:35,320 --> 01:02:36,160
Speaker 2: Elevation Church.

1054
01:02:36,240 --> 01:02:37,240
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening.

1055
01:02:37,280 --> 01:02:42,880
Speaker 4: God bless you.