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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 2: Enjoy the message.

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Speaker 3: Hebrews eleven, Verses seventeen through nineteen. I'm continuing in my

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Speaker 3: series called you know what, God bless you.

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Speaker 1: You're my best friend. Can you give me a hull?

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Speaker 1: I appreciate that. What's your name?

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Speaker 3: Man? Oh, that made me so happy?

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Speaker 1: You love it? I love you. What's your name?

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Speaker 4: Say it?

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Speaker 1: Toston Torston?

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Speaker 3: Torsten Ah Torston the Usher? Now I ask you something, Torstan.

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Speaker 3: Do you feel like God has called you to be

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Speaker 3: an usher?

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Speaker 1: Definitely? Yeah, he said, definitely. I love it so much.

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Speaker 1: Do you have the calling of ushing? I hope? Okay,

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Speaker 1: so this you're going.

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Speaker 3: To love this tourist And I'm going to talk today

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Speaker 3: a little bit about how God calls us all to

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Speaker 3: do some things, and then he calls some to do

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Speaker 3: certain things. And in the theology of it, you have

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Speaker 3: the universal calling of God and then the particular calling

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Speaker 3: of God and there are some things that God has

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Speaker 3: not called us all to do right, and thank God

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Speaker 3: for that. Today we're going to talk about a man

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Speaker 3: named Abraham. God called him to have a baby at

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Speaker 3: age one hundred. How many thank God that God has

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Speaker 3: not called us all.

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Speaker 1: Tstan so so.

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Speaker 3: So we're going to talk about today how God has

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Speaker 3: called us all, and that includes you in the South.

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Speaker 1: We say God called y'all. God called y'all.

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Speaker 3: And in Hebrews chapter eleven, he's giving the whole hall

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Speaker 3: of faith to all these heroes, and he brings up Abraham.

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Speaker 3: And I'll show you in a few moments where God

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Speaker 3: called his name twice, because that's the theme of the series. Simon, Simon, Moses, Moses, Martha, Martha.

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Speaker 1: What other ones have I done?

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Speaker 3: Jacob, Jacob, I've been studying all seven of them, so

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Speaker 3: I'm mixed up.

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Speaker 1: Which ones I've done.

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Speaker 3: Saul, Saul, Paul, Paul, And this week is going to

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Speaker 3: be Abraham Abraham. But I want to go back through

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Speaker 3: the lens of Hebrews eleven. We're given a list of

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Speaker 3: all of these amazing things that God called people to do,

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Speaker 3: and they are particular things, so that we're not all

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Speaker 3: going to lead a nation like Moses did. I don't

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Speaker 3: want to who would want to be the president of

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Speaker 3: this country ever for any reason whatsoever. And you may say, well,

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Speaker 3: God doesn't call me the preacher to sing, I don't

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Speaker 3: want to do those things. Well, there are some things

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Speaker 3: that God has called us all to be kind. God

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Speaker 3: has called us all to be patient. God has called

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Speaker 3: us all to be forgiving. God has called us all

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Speaker 3: to be generous. God has called us all to have faith.

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Speaker 3: God has called us all to be more than conquerors.

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Speaker 3: God has called us all to be agents of healing,

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Speaker 3: the light of the world, the salt of the earth.

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Speaker 3: And we're given this example of Abraham to help us

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Speaker 3: with that. Look at Hebrews chapter eleven, verse seventeen. By

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Speaker 3: faith Abraham when God tested him, When God tested him,

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Speaker 3: I want you to remember that God tested him. When

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Speaker 3: God tested him, he offered Isaac as a sacrifice. That

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Speaker 3: was the son that he waited till he was one

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Speaker 3: hundred to half.

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Speaker 1: He who had embraced.

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Speaker 3: The promises, was about to sacrifice his one and only

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Speaker 3: son verse eighteen, even though God had said to him,

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Speaker 3: it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.

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Speaker 1: Now that's really heavy, and I've.

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Speaker 3: Been saving the sermon because I was intimidated to preach

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Speaker 3: it because it's honestly a very disturbing story in the Bible,

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Speaker 3: where God told Abraham, take your son that you love

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Speaker 3: and offer him to me as a sacrifice, and moving

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Speaker 3: beyond the differences in that time period when child sacrifice

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Speaker 3: was acceptable in the culture, it is still a very

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Speaker 3: very difficult story for us to reader to talk about.

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Speaker 1: But we're going to talk about it today.

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Speaker 3: We're going to talk about it today through a certain

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Speaker 3: lens because look what it says in Hebrews, chapter eleven,

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Speaker 3: verse nineteen. It says Abraham reasoned that God could even

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Speaker 3: raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking,

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Speaker 3: he did receive Isaac back from death. And we know

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Speaker 3: that this is a shadow of another son thousands of

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Speaker 3: years later who would be sacrificed for our sin, and

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Speaker 3: Abo did not have to kill his son. Is a

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Speaker 3: prefigure of a father who would go through with it

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Speaker 3: but raise him from the dead. But Abraham didn't know

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Speaker 3: that story yet, and so sometimes we are having to

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Speaker 3: live in experiences that we have no frame of reference for.

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Speaker 3: And that's what I want to talk to you a

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Speaker 3: little bit about today. It's a simple message, but a

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Speaker 3: profound truth that the Lord showed me. This message is

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Speaker 3: about a certain moment in your life that you will

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Speaker 3: come to from time to time, not just once, but

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Speaker 3: many times. And I'm calling the message when God says

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Speaker 3: let go. When God says let go, because sometimes he will.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes he will.

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Speaker 3: Tell you you're holding it too tightly, and God will say

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Speaker 3: let go. Sometimes he'll tell you this is through and

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Speaker 3: you can't do anything about it, and he'll say let go.

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Speaker 3: And we want to talk today about what to do

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Speaker 3: when God says let go.

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Speaker 4: Father, your word with power and precision.

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Speaker 3: Right now, I thank you in advance for the clarity

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Speaker 3: that you will give me as I preach this word

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Speaker 3: to your children. In Jesus' name. Amen, you may be

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Speaker 3: seated when God says let go. Put that title in

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Speaker 3: the comments. Please on YouTube. When God says let go,

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Speaker 3: control freaks, buckle up. We're going to talk about when

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Speaker 3: God says let go. Helicopter parents bring it in for

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Speaker 3: a landing. For the next thirty forty forty five minutes.

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Speaker 3: You can talk about when God says let go. Now,

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Speaker 3: I need to go in very strongly from the beginning,

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Speaker 3: So let's skip the part of the sermon where you

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Speaker 3: fish your gum out of your purse and have to

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Speaker 3: listen to what I say while I tell you a

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Speaker 3: story that doesn't relate to anything.

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Speaker 1: So you can get settled in.

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Speaker 3: And let me just give you a principle right off

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Speaker 3: the top, because I feel like there are some heavy

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Speaker 3: situations people are carrying today and God is saying let go.

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Speaker 3: When the Bible says in Hebrews chapter eleven, verse seventeen,

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Speaker 3: when Abraham was tested, the specific tints that the language

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Speaker 3: uses of the New Testament, which is quin A Greek,

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Speaker 3: is in present continual tints. So it doesn't mean that

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Speaker 3: Abraham had one moment where his faith was tested and

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Speaker 3: it was over. It's talking about how faith is tested

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Speaker 3: with every step of faith that he took. When the

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Speaker 3: Lord told him to go to a mountain and sacrifice

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Speaker 3: his son, he didn't know that God would provide a

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Speaker 3: ram in the bush and he wouldn't have to do it,

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Speaker 3: so he was tested. Now, this is something I would

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Speaker 3: love for you to write down. It's a little bit long,

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Speaker 3: but I think is powerful. When your faith is being tested,

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Speaker 3: there is something God has already taught taught you that

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Speaker 3: he is calling you to trust in when your faith,

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Speaker 3: not if, but when, when your faith is being tested,

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Speaker 3: there is something that God has already taught you that

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Speaker 3: he is calling you to trust in. God would not

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Speaker 3: be giving you this test if he had not given

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Speaker 3: you the lesson. He's a good teacher. He wouldn't put

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Speaker 3: something in front of you that he didn't prep you for.

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Speaker 3: So we learned to shift in these seasons of testing,

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Speaker 3: to try to remember, God, what is it that you've

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Speaker 3: already taught me that you are calling me to trust in?

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Speaker 3: In this moment, let me say the whole sentence one

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Speaker 3: more time. When your faith is being tested by a

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Speaker 3: medical diagnosis, when your faith is being tested by a

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Speaker 3: dry season in your own soul, when your faith is

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Speaker 3: being tested by the way somebody is acting towards you,

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Speaker 3: that's unfair, but you can't stop it. When your faith

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Speaker 3: is being tested by doubts that just seem to keep

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Speaker 3: coming and multiply in your mind. When not if your

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Speaker 3: faith is being tested, you're in good company.

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Speaker 4: The father of our faith, Abraham.

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Speaker 3: Was tested, and when he was tested, not just once,

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Speaker 3: but many times, there was something that God had already

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Speaker 3: taught him that he was calling him to trust in.

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Speaker 3: So if your faith is being tested, and it will

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Speaker 3: be tested, and if it is not being tested today,

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Speaker 3: let me see you at two PM when your faith

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Speaker 3: is being tested.

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Speaker 1: There is something that.

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Speaker 3: God has already taught you that he is calling you

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Speaker 3: to trust in. Because there's a big difference between him

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Speaker 3: teaching it and me trusting it. And so this moment

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Speaker 3: in your life is about asking, in God, what have

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Speaker 3: you already taught me that you are calling me to

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Speaker 3: trust in?

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Speaker 1: Abraham?

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Speaker 3: Abraham, Abraham and God have a track record. By the

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Speaker 3: time he calls him to give his son back to God,

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Speaker 3: that God, who gave him the son, says, give it

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Speaker 3: back to me, which he has the right to do.

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Speaker 1: Everything comes from him.

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Speaker 3: But even in the midst of Abraham's confusion, there is

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Speaker 3: a sense of continuity.

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Speaker 1: For his calling.

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Speaker 3: The thing about trust when I said, God is calling

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Speaker 3: you to trust in something that he taught you.

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Speaker 1: The thing about trust is that trust is everything.

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Speaker 3: And the greatest way that I can exemplify this to

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Speaker 3: you is through Hebrews chapter eleven, verse eight.

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Speaker 1: God gives a.

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Speaker 3: Little bit of a reminder about something that happened forty

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Speaker 3: years earlier in Abraham's life that prepared him for this moment.

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Speaker 1: Now. I want to look at you right now.

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Speaker 3: Just because you don't feel ready for this moment doesn't

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Speaker 3: mean you're not prepared for it. Just because you're surprised

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Speaker 3: by it doesn't mean that you don't have the supply

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Speaker 3: for it.

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Speaker 1: Now. When Abraham was first.

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Speaker 3: Getting started out in his journey of faith following Y'ahweh,

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Speaker 3: he was seventy five years old.

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Speaker 1: They lived a lot longer than by the way, you.

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Speaker 3: Could have called it a midlife crisis, because he lived

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Speaker 3: to be about one point fifty one sixty. And the

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Speaker 3: Bible says in Hebrews chapter eleven, verse eight, a reminder

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Speaker 3: of something that happened when Abraham first got started. It

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Speaker 3: says by faith, Abraham, when called to go to a

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Speaker 3: place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and

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Speaker 3: went even though he did not know where he was going.

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Speaker 1: That's about the craziest thing I.

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Speaker 3: Ever read in my life, y'all just sitting there looking

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Speaker 3: at me like he went to the grocery store. I

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Speaker 3: just told you, this man uprooted his entire life because

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Speaker 3: of a god he had never heard from told him

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Speaker 3: to go to a place that he wouldn't give him

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Speaker 3: any details about, and there was no ways at on

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Speaker 3: Abraham's iPhone negative thirty four. So we went and obeyed,

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Speaker 3: even though he didn't know somebody say, even though, even

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Speaker 3: though even though he didn't know where it was leading,

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Speaker 3: he set out in faith. And the thing about this

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Speaker 3: kind of trust in your life, my life, Abraham's life,

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Speaker 3: Simon's life, Martha's life, Mary's life, Moses's life. When we

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Speaker 3: go through all the people in the Bible, we get

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Speaker 3: a panoramic view of the patterns that apply to all

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Speaker 3: of us, kind of a sampler of what different people

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Speaker 3: went through that they had to trust God with and

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Speaker 3: steps that they took, and then we find ourselves following

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Speaker 3: in those footsteps. And trust is a funny thing because

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Speaker 3: the deeper the level of trust, the less the need

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Speaker 3: for details. The deeper the level of trust, the less

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Speaker 3: the need for details. Can I break it down. Holly

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Speaker 3: went to get her nails done yesterday. I trust her.

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Speaker 3: I didn't check my phone to see if she actually

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Speaker 3: went to get her nails done. I didn't ask her

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Speaker 3: how long she was going to be there. Who's going

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Speaker 3: to be doing your nails. What kind of acrylic are

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Speaker 3: you planning to get today? And are you going to

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Speaker 3: pay for the extra twenty dollars thing where they put

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Speaker 3: the little things on the things on top of the things.

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Speaker 1: Because I trust.

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Speaker 3: Her, she won't spend it if we don't have it,

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Speaker 3: and she won't lie to me about it. If she does,

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Speaker 3: she'd tell me I spent twenty I don't even have

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Speaker 3: to ask her. Just go get your nails done. I

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Speaker 3: trust her. This is not a marriage seminar. This is

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Speaker 3: not a parenting seminar, but let's pretend like it is

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Speaker 3: because it involves a father and a son with teenagers.

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Speaker 1: How many of you have teenagers?

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Speaker 3: When you trust your teenagers, you are delusional, just kidding.

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Speaker 4: When you trust your teenagers.

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Speaker 3: Because you know they can develop a t record, that

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Speaker 3: you trust them, right, And if you have a teenager

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Speaker 3: that you feel like you can trust as much as

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Speaker 3: you can trust.

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Speaker 1: Any person, including you, because some of.

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Speaker 3: Y'all can't even trust the teenager that's still living in you.

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Speaker 3: So how in the world would you completely trust your teenager?

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Speaker 3: But when they have exemplified trustworthy behavior, even though they

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Speaker 3: have a sinful nature, it changes things.

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Speaker 1: If you don't trust your teenager.

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Speaker 3: Every time they want to go somewhere, you need details.

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Speaker 3: So they will ask you, can I go to the movies,

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Speaker 3: and you will say I need some details. Somebody put

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Speaker 3: it in the chest, say details. Tell your neighbor I

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Speaker 3: need details.

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Speaker 1: Tell them.

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Speaker 3: If I don't trust you, I need details. So can

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Speaker 3: I go to the movie? What movie? What theater? Who

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Speaker 3: are some of the actors in the movies? So I

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Speaker 3: can see if you really plan on seeing this movie?

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Speaker 3: What time is it playing? Who else is going to

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Speaker 3: be on your role? What seat are you sitting in?

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Speaker 3: Show me a screenshot of those seats right now? Will

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Speaker 3: there be popcorn involved? How much butter do you plan

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Speaker 3: on pumping on that popcorn? Because the less I trust you,

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Speaker 3: the more I need details. If I trust you, can

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Speaker 3: I go to the movies?

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Speaker 1: Sure?

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Speaker 4: Be home at eleven thirty. We don't need the details if.

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Speaker 3: We have the trust, and the deeper the level of trust,

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Speaker 3: the less the need for details.

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Speaker 1: The guy who started the.

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Speaker 3: Church with me, he could walk up to me right

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Speaker 3: in the middle of preaching right now and put a

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Speaker 3: contract here and say I need you to sign this

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Speaker 3: while you're preaching, and I would keep preaching and sign

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Speaker 3: it and hand it back to him.

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't ask him what it was about.

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Speaker 3: Maybe you think I'm an idiot, but we've had experiences together.

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Speaker 1: It would not matter what.

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Speaker 3: That particular document said. It is through the now. The

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Speaker 3: first time I met him, I needed details.

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Speaker 5: Now, let me tell.

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Speaker 3: Y'all something because I really want to set this frame

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Speaker 3: so that we don't get lost in an epic story

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Speaker 3: about killing your son or your daughter, which is not

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Speaker 3: what the text is about. It's about trust. God is

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Speaker 3: not calling you to kill your child, you might wish

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Speaker 3: from time to time, but using humor just to lighten

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Speaker 3: the mood so we don't get caught in something that

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Speaker 3: we can't understand and contextualize in our day. This is

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Speaker 3: about trust. The test that you're in right now is

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Speaker 3: about trust. When we started the church, I have eight

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Speaker 3: families who I asked to come with me. This was

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Speaker 3: twenty years ago. Twenty one years ago. I said, I'm

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Speaker 3: called to start a church, and I believe y'all are

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Speaker 3: called to come with me. But here's all I told him.

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Speaker 3: I said, we're going to start a church in a

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Speaker 3: big city somewhere in America.

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Speaker 1: That was the whole pitch.

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Speaker 3: I had not read the sales books yet about how

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Speaker 3: to sell people on your vision.

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Speaker 4: And as a matter of fact, I didn't really.

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Speaker 3: Want them to know what city we were going to

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Speaker 3: because I didn't know yet.

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Speaker 1: And I believe that God knew.

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Speaker 3: And I didn't want them to make a commitment based

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Speaker 3: on a city. I wanted them to make a commitment

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Speaker 3: based on a calling. I didn't want them to commit

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Speaker 3: if we were going to Miami because they liked warm weather.

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Speaker 3: I wanted them to commit even if we went to Minnesota.

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Speaker 3: But I didn't want to tell the Minnesota so that

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Speaker 3: they would say yes and then they'd have to go

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Speaker 3: to Minnesota, because I wanted to trick them into trusting God,

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Speaker 3: not me.

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Speaker 1: Because I look back on that, I think, my goodness, how.

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Speaker 3: Did they trust so much when they were told so little?

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Speaker 3: Somewhere in the United States of America. We couldn't have

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Speaker 3: known we would be in such a wonderful city as Charlotte,

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Speaker 3: North Carolina. We couldn't have known. And I'm not comparing

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Speaker 3: y'all to Abraham. But even though they didn't know, they

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Speaker 3: decided to go. Let's go, let's go do it. They said,

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Speaker 3: we're young and dumb, let's go, might as well find

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Speaker 3: out if God can use us.

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Speaker 1: Let's go.

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Speaker 3: There's something invigorating even talking to you about me reliving those.

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Speaker 1: Let's go moments of our faith.

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Speaker 3: There's something exciting even just to remember, like, I don't

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Speaker 3: even know what it means to start a powerful church,

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Speaker 3: but I don't want to do it.

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Speaker 4: Lord, let's go.

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Speaker 3: And when God said to Abraham, let's go, Abraham didn't

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Speaker 3: say there are a few things I need to know,

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Speaker 3: which lets me now that trust is not only a

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Speaker 3: product of time, it is a product of character. This

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Speaker 3: was not Abraham's third time following God.

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Speaker 1: It was his first.

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Speaker 3: It's not like he had a list of things to

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Speaker 3: point back to where. Well, God, you led me there

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Speaker 3: and it worked out. You told me to take that

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Speaker 3: job and I got a raise, and you told me

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Speaker 3: to marry them and they turned out to be wonderful. No,

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Speaker 3: this is God saying it's me, God, let's go. And

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Speaker 3: when God says let's go, you can resist it, and

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Speaker 3: you'll get more and more miserable.

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Speaker 1: As you fight it.

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Speaker 3: When God says let's go, it's time for you to

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Speaker 3: leave this toxic state and forgive them and move on

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Speaker 3: from what you've been holding them hostage about. When God

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Speaker 3: says let let's go, and you won't move on past that.

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Speaker 4: You will feel stuck in yourself.

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Speaker 3: Until you obey the spoken word of the sovereign God.

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Speaker 3: When God says let's go, you might not even get

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Speaker 3: to ask him where. But if God can be trusted,

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Speaker 3: then the deeper the level of the trust, the less

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Speaker 3: the need for the details. So God says let's go,

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Speaker 3: and you don't ask him where. You just say which

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Speaker 3: shoes should I put on? Can I wear something with heels?

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Speaker 3: Or should I wear something flat? When God says let's go,

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Speaker 3: when he invites you into a new way of living,

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Speaker 3: when he tells you it's time to pursue growth and

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Speaker 3: stop staying stagnant in the grumblings of your past.

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Speaker 1: When God says let's.

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Speaker 3: Go, if you trust him enough, you won't even need

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Speaker 3: the details. And by the way, the more that I

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Speaker 3: trust you, the less details I need to give you too.

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Speaker 1: If I don't trust you, I gotta tell you everything.

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Speaker 3: But in my relationship with God, if I really trust him,

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Speaker 3: why would I need to get him all the details

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Speaker 3: of how he needs to leave me?

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Speaker 1: And I want to live in this for a minute.

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Speaker 3: I love y'all when y'all feel uncomfortable when I'm preaching.

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Speaker 3: That's how I know I heard from God because there

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Speaker 3: are some of you right now whose faith is being tested.

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Speaker 3: But when your faith is being tested, realized that there's

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Speaker 3: something that God already taught you that he is calling

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Speaker 3: you to trust him in.

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Speaker 1: And the deeper the level of trust. Notice I said deeper,

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Speaker 1: not higher.

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Speaker 3: The deeper the level of trust, the less the need

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Speaker 3: for the details. How did Abraham trust so much when

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Speaker 3: he was told so little? I'm gona close my eyes

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Speaker 3: so y'all won't feel like I'm judging you when you

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Speaker 3: answer this, raise your hand if you would have needed

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Speaker 3: a little more detail than Abraham received in order to

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Speaker 3: leave everything that you knew and set out, but he didn't.

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Speaker 3: I give you the scripture again, and I can't believe

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Speaker 3: those of you who did not raise your hand right there.

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Speaker 3: You won't even go to a party if you don't

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Speaker 3: see the entire guest list. Some of us won't even

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Speaker 3: leave the house unless we plot out where all the

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Speaker 3: bathrooms are going to be. You know, I got to

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Speaker 3: know where, though, And if you drive a tesla, you

400
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Speaker 3: got to know where every charging station is, or you

401
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Speaker 3: can't drive that.

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Speaker 1: So now, why what Abraham did?

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Speaker 3: He obeyed and went, even though he did not know

404
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Speaker 3: where he was going. Verse eight, He obeyed and went

405
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Speaker 3: even though he did not know where he was going.

406
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Speaker 3: He obeyed and went even though he did not know.

407
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Speaker 3: Let's substitute something here. Let's say I must obey and

408
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Speaker 3: go even though I don't know, and where it says

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Speaker 3: where they are going.

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Speaker 1: Just put whatever needs to go in that blank.

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Speaker 3: If I don't know how God is going to do it,

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Speaker 3: I don't need the details because my trust in Him

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Speaker 3: is deeper than the details. So when God speaks to

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Speaker 3: you and he says I want you to give this

415
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Speaker 3: person some money, you don't need the details of why

416
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Speaker 3: God wants you to give it if you trust him deeply.

417
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Speaker 3: When you say, well, I can't trust them, I don't

418
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Speaker 3: know if they're going to spend it on the right thing.

419
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Speaker 3: It's not the depth of your trust in them that

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Speaker 3: determines your level of generosity.

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Speaker 1: You are called to be generous.

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Speaker 3: I think I'm really calling on somebody today who needs

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Speaker 3: to do it without the details. And I don't mean

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Speaker 3: get in your car and drive until an angel speaks

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Speaker 3: and then stop and get a motel room. I'm talking

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Speaker 3: about going forward in what God is speaking to you,

427
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Speaker 3: even though you don't know. A lot of times we

428
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Speaker 3: get trapped in all of the details that we don't know,

429
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Speaker 3: and we don't take.

430
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Speaker 1: The steps that God has called us to take. There

431
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Speaker 1: is a.

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Speaker 3: Distinction between God and the devil, though. See, the devil

433
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Speaker 3: doesn't test us, he tempts us. The devil tempts us

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Speaker 3: outside of God's will. God tests us to bring us

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Speaker 3: deeper into His will. It occurs to me today that

436
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Speaker 3: the devil cannot test you. Only God can test you.

437
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Speaker 3: The devil can tempt you not to trust God in

438
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Speaker 3: this test, but God is the only one who can test.

439
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Speaker 3: Can I preach a little while, Like we're preaching to

440
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Speaker 3: people over the age of five years old. We need

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Speaker 3: to make that distinction because otherwise you will get stuck

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Speaker 3: in the even though and you'll never know.

443
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,280
Speaker 1: So there are amazing let's go moments that we have.

444
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,240
Speaker 3: There are amazing setout in faith moments, And maybe not

445
00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:28,479
Speaker 3: like Abraham to that dramatic extent, but we can surely

446
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,679
Speaker 3: see the disciples having a let's go moment. Write that

447
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,679
Speaker 3: phrase down let's go. Moment they're exciting. Hey, follow me.

448
00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:38,359
Speaker 3: I'll make you fishures of men. Well, what do we

449
00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:40,879
Speaker 3: do about the boats? Just keep those and rent them

450
00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:42,960
Speaker 3: out for a little while. But for the next three

451
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,160
Speaker 3: years you're gonna see amazing things.

452
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:46,080
Speaker 1: Let's go.

453
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,080
Speaker 3: When God speaks to you and tells you to take

454
00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:52,080
Speaker 3: a step of faith, and really, this time, I'm gonna

455
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,880
Speaker 3: put myself into this job. I'm not just gonna work

456
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,320
Speaker 3: here and take a check and quiet quit. I'm really

457
00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:00,400
Speaker 3: gonna step up and lead in this job. When God says,

458
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,040
Speaker 3: let's go. Sometimes he doesn't have to move you from

459
00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:05,439
Speaker 3: the place that you are. He wants to use you

460
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,359
Speaker 3: in the place that you are when you finally decide

461
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:13,000
Speaker 3: let's go. The disciples didn't move from Galilee when Jesus

462
00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:16,400
Speaker 3: called them. They offered their boats so Jesus could use

463
00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:18,120
Speaker 3: them in the place they already were.

464
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:19,240
Speaker 1: Let's go.

465
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 3: Sometimes God will tell you it's time for you to

466
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:24,640
Speaker 3: step into your adulthood.

467
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:25,800
Speaker 1: You have been in a.

468
00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:31,080
Speaker 3: Season of childishness. Not childlike faith, but childishness. Long enough,

469
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,359
Speaker 3: let's go. I'm calling you up. Now you need to

470
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,960
Speaker 3: be a mentor. Now you need to be an example.

471
00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,160
Speaker 3: Now you need to trust me to move forward by faith. Now,

472
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 3: and I wonder is there anybody in here who trusts

473
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,680
Speaker 3: God enough that if he says, let's go, even though

474
00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:49,639
Speaker 3: the arrows are flying, you've got the shield of faith.

475
00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 5: Now.

476
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,560
Speaker 3: Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the

477
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:55,359
Speaker 3: evidence of things not seen.

478
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,439
Speaker 4: Let's go. The weapon may be formed against me, but

479
00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:01,760
Speaker 4: it will not prosper. Let's go.

480
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,400
Speaker 3: Take your stand in against the devil's schemes.

481
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 4: You are not ignorant of his schemes.

482
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 3: Let's go, devil. I don't want to smoke, but if

483
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,840
Speaker 3: you want to bring it, I know somebody who's gotta train.

484
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:16,479
Speaker 3: Let's sail sex Temple.

485
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:24,680
Speaker 4: Let's go, let's show. I don't want to raise this

486
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,200
Speaker 4: kid by myself, but if God didn't give me somebody

487
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:28,639
Speaker 4: else to.

488
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:39,760
Speaker 3: Race them with, he's my tactic partner. Let's go, and

489
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:43,480
Speaker 3: Abraham win fifteen hundred miles.

490
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,959
Speaker 1: Can you imagine fifteen.

491
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,560
Speaker 3: Hundred miles without an APP, without an huber, without a

492
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:54,200
Speaker 3: GPS coordinate feels like that sometimes, But they is the

493
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:58,639
Speaker 3: voice of God saying let's go. Notice he said let's go,

494
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:04,800
Speaker 3: let us go. I'm gonna do this with you. While

495
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:05,640
Speaker 3: I need the details.

496
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:07,560
Speaker 1: Let me give you.

497
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:09,600
Speaker 3: Another example, so I can make this so practical that

498
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:11,480
Speaker 3: but you will have no excuse either to obey it

499
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:13,080
Speaker 3: or disobey it when the Lord speaks it to you.

500
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,040
Speaker 3: When I go on a trip for ministry, if I

501
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:19,640
Speaker 3: go alone, I need every detail. But if somebody comes

502
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:21,920
Speaker 3: from the staff to support me, I don't need to

503
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,800
Speaker 3: know the details because I've got somebody with me that

504
00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:28,720
Speaker 3: I can depend on, and if I can depend on you,

505
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,200
Speaker 3: I don't need details. So the process of my life

506
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:36,520
Speaker 3: and getting closer with God should not be necessarily that

507
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 3: I understand more and more of where He's taking me.

508
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:40,800
Speaker 1: That's why we get.

509
00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:42,880
Speaker 3: Confused when we run up on seasons that we didn't

510
00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:46,119
Speaker 3: see coming, because we think that the depth of our

511
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:49,520
Speaker 3: faith in God will bring clarity about the details of

512
00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:54,680
Speaker 3: where He's leading. But the deeper the trust, I said,

513
00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:59,280
Speaker 3: the deeper the trust. Trust isn't always tall. You can't

514
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:03,560
Speaker 3: always see it. Sometimes it runs deep where you need

515
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:07,960
Speaker 3: it the most. And I believe that's how Abraham was

516
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:13,280
Speaker 3: able to say let's go and then after God spoke

517
00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:17,359
Speaker 3: to him at age seventy five, leaving a metropolitan culture

518
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,800
Speaker 3: for a nomadic one, everything about his life seems to

519
00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:21,760
Speaker 3: be going backwards when he sets out to follow God.

520
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:27,960
Speaker 3: Abraham wasn't moving on up. Y'll never even seen a

521
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:33,960
Speaker 3: TV set. But he followed God what seemed to be down,

522
00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:37,600
Speaker 3: and then God spoke the promise. Now, I want to

523
00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,080
Speaker 3: show you a very pivotal phrase in Hebrews eleven, verse

524
00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:43,840
Speaker 3: eighteen is talking about how Abraham was tested. But when

525
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 3: your faith is being tested, there's something that God has

526
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,720
Speaker 3: already taught you that he is calling you to trust in.

527
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:54,520
Speaker 3: And it says by faith Abraham verse eighteen. Please, even

528
00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:56,200
Speaker 3: though God had said to him, it is through Isaac

529
00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:02,080
Speaker 3: that your offspring will be reckon. So there's another Even

530
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,880
Speaker 3: though go back to verse seven, I'm gonna put this

531
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:06,680
Speaker 3: thing together for you.

532
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:09,880
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put the baloney right in the middle of

533
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,120
Speaker 1: the buns and smash it down.

534
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,960
Speaker 3: By Babe Abraham when called to go verse eight to

535
00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:23,680
Speaker 3: a place he would later receive. This is delayed gratification faith.

536
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:26,240
Speaker 3: Even in his lifetime. He wouldn't see all of it,

537
00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:29,880
Speaker 3: but he obeyed and went, even though he did not

538
00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:32,800
Speaker 3: know where he was going. Now give me verse eighteen. Again,

539
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,760
Speaker 3: he offered his son, even though God had said to him.

540
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:39,240
Speaker 3: But go back to the verse before that, because it

541
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,120
Speaker 3: calls Abraham something very interesting. You know, he's called the

542
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 3: father of faith, and he is His name means father

543
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,920
Speaker 3: of many nations. His name started as Abram, which means

544
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:53,080
Speaker 3: exalted father. But God changed his name to prepare him

545
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:56,440
Speaker 3: for his assignment, and he was called according to what

546
00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:57,440
Speaker 3: he would carry.

547
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:01,600
Speaker 1: But when abrahm him received the promise that you will

548
00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:03,800
Speaker 1: have a son, there was a problem.

549
00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:06,560
Speaker 3: It says by faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered

550
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:11,880
Speaker 3: Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced everybody say embraced.

551
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 3: Justin please circle the word embraced. He embraced the promises.

552
00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:23,120
Speaker 3: And that sounds so simple, right, Like God promises you

553
00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:24,920
Speaker 3: you're gonna make it, and you embrace it, and you say,

554
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,560
Speaker 3: I'm gonna make it. God promises you this is going

555
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,320
Speaker 3: to work out for your good. You embrace it. It's

556
00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 3: going to work out. God promises you that he has

557
00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:36,000
Speaker 3: someone for you, and you embrace the idea that God

558
00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,400
Speaker 3: has someone from you. And the first thing we need

559
00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,480
Speaker 3: to do before we embrace a promise from God is

560
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:43,920
Speaker 3: evaluate is it actually a promise from God?

561
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:47,280
Speaker 1: Or is it just a feeling?

562
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,080
Speaker 3: That we had, or an ideal that we had, but

563
00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:52,480
Speaker 3: put it back up. It says he embraced the promise

564
00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:56,440
Speaker 3: of God that you will have a son. Now, I

565
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,400
Speaker 3: want to point out to you that he embraced the

566
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:04,960
Speaker 3: promise not only for a nine month period, but for

567
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:09,240
Speaker 3: twenty five years between when God spoke it and when

568
00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:09,760
Speaker 3: it happened.

569
00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:11,720
Speaker 1: That's a long time.

570
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,440
Speaker 3: Twenty five years is certainly long enough to start questioning,

571
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,760
Speaker 3: did I really hear God right? Twenty five years was

572
00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:24,840
Speaker 3: long enough for Abraham? Should I tell him the story

573
00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:30,400
Speaker 3: about Hagar? Abraham's wife said, Hey, since our stuff isn't

574
00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,840
Speaker 3: exactly coming together like we thought it would, here is

575
00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,560
Speaker 3: my maid servant Hagar. Sleep with her and have a son.

576
00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:41,480
Speaker 3: And Abraham said, hey, I'm the lord's servant. Whatever you

577
00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 3: need me to do, let's go.

578
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:44,960
Speaker 1: Let's go.

579
00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:47,320
Speaker 3: Abraham is the let's go man. He said, let's go.

580
00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 3: They had a baby named Ishmael. It turned out to

581
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,040
Speaker 3: be a problem, had to throw him out. He became

582
00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 3: a nation to father of many nations. But even through

583
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,000
Speaker 3: the mistake, give it to me again, he embraced the promise.

584
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,200
Speaker 3: Bracing promises doesn't mean you won't make mistakes In the process.

585
00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,600
Speaker 3: Embracing the promise doesn't mean you won't have days where

586
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:09,080
Speaker 3: you go, you know what, forget it.

587
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:11,600
Speaker 1: I don't even care anymore, nobody else does. Why should I.

588
00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:16,440
Speaker 3: Embracing the promise doesn't mean that you never cry the tears.

589
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,960
Speaker 3: Embracing the promise doesn't mean you always understand the plan.

590
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:29,000
Speaker 3: He embraced the promise for twenty five years. He had

591
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:34,520
Speaker 3: to believe something that he couldn't see. For twenty five years,

592
00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,760
Speaker 3: he held on to the promise. So now we've gone

593
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:44,320
Speaker 3: from let's go faith to hold on faith. And there

594
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 3: are a few of you who are in this room

595
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:51,080
Speaker 3: who are in a season of hold on faith, holding.

596
00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:53,960
Speaker 4: On to believe that you really could be free from

597
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:54,760
Speaker 4: this one day.

598
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:59,760
Speaker 3: Holding on to believe that it really could lift off

599
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,560
Speaker 3: of your family one day and it could get better,

600
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:04,640
Speaker 3: holding on to believe that.

601
00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:06,520
Speaker 1: God is going to give you joy again.

602
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,280
Speaker 3: Abraham is a great model for us of this kind

603
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:12,360
Speaker 3: of faith, because no, we're not all going to be

604
00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,200
Speaker 3: the father of many nations, and know we're not going

605
00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:17,960
Speaker 3: to have babies at age one hundred, but there will

606
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:20,560
Speaker 3: be a season of your life where you will have

607
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 3: to hold on to something God's folk. When everything you

608
00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:29,680
Speaker 3: see and everything you feel is telling you a different story,

609
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,760
Speaker 3: you will point back to something God said and say,

610
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:38,480
Speaker 3: I still believe it. I still believe it. Somebody shout,

611
00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:42,520
Speaker 3: I still believe it. Right now, my bank account is

612
00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:44,000
Speaker 3: a liar, but God is true.

613
00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:46,480
Speaker 4: I still believe He's a provider.

614
00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:50,120
Speaker 3: Right now, there are things going through my mind that

615
00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:52,400
Speaker 3: are telling me that it will never come.

616
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:54,560
Speaker 1: To pass, but I still believe it.

617
00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:57,360
Speaker 3: There aren't a lot of people who believe in me

618
00:33:57,520 --> 00:33:59,800
Speaker 3: right now, but God has called me, and.

619
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:01,280
Speaker 1: He is faithful to keep me.

620
00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,840
Speaker 3: I still believe it in spite of everything I've gone through.

621
00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,719
Speaker 3: Even because of some of the things I've gone through.

622
00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:11,719
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be going through so much if I wasn't

623
00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:16,400
Speaker 3: carrying so much. And I still believe it. Feel like

624
00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:19,920
Speaker 3: preaching to three people who need to hold on.

625
00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:25,000
Speaker 4: Somebody shout, hold on, Tell your neighbor.

626
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:29,520
Speaker 3: I'm holding on, sometimes barely by a fingernail, but I'm

627
00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:32,799
Speaker 3: holding on. Sometimes I feel like free solo, like I'm

628
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,560
Speaker 3: about to plunge down to my bloody death, but I'm

629
00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:36,160
Speaker 3: holding on.

630
00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:39,640
Speaker 4: I'm climbing higher, I'm coming up, I'm.

631
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:40,360
Speaker 1: Moving through it.

632
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:44,720
Speaker 3: I'm progressing and advancing and the things of God. Even

633
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:49,960
Speaker 3: as my emotions are clawing at my feet, I still believing.

634
00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:55,759
Speaker 3: But this message is not called when God says hold on,

635
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:02,719
Speaker 3: there are moments it's where you hold on. And then

636
00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:06,279
Speaker 3: for Abraham, there was a season when God said, I

637
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:08,200
Speaker 3: know you're the one who said let's go when I

638
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:11,080
Speaker 3: told you to follow me fifteen hundred miles. I know

639
00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:14,480
Speaker 3: you held on when you waited twenty five years for Isaac.

640
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,480
Speaker 3: And I know that this boy is the son that

641
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:25,160
Speaker 3: you love and you waited for. But the Bible says

642
00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:27,520
Speaker 3: in Genesis twenty two, verse one, that God said to Abraham,

643
00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:31,320
Speaker 3: take your son, your only son, Isaac, only son. I

644
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:33,920
Speaker 3: thought you had another one. Yeah, he threw that one out.

645
00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,880
Speaker 3: This is the one that he had left. This is

646
00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 3: the one that God promised. And I would like to

647
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,279
Speaker 3: speak to you today about how sometimes we let go

648
00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:45,759
Speaker 3: of things that are sins in our life.

649
00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:48,520
Speaker 1: But that's not what this text is about.

650
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:52,360
Speaker 3: I would like to speak to you today about sometimes

651
00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 3: we need to let go of habits that are bad

652
00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:57,600
Speaker 3: for us in our life. But this is not a

653
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:13,560
Speaker 3: text about quitting cigarettes and vapor. Don't worry, I'm not

654
00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:19,040
Speaker 3: preaching about that today, I'm preaching about something deeper, because

655
00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:20,719
Speaker 3: what do you do when God says I want my

656
00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:27,840
Speaker 3: promise back, not because I don't intend to fulfill it,

657
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:31,480
Speaker 3: but because I'll fulfill it when I want to fulfill

658
00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:33,759
Speaker 3: it how I want to fulfill it, And I need

659
00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:36,759
Speaker 3: you to trust me. Now. If you don't have deep

660
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,080
Speaker 3: trust with God in this moment, you will need details.

661
00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:45,080
Speaker 3: You start trying to control everything, You start trying to

662
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,480
Speaker 3: manipulate things. And that is why some of us are

663
00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:51,239
Speaker 3: so stressed right now. Because there's a dream that you

664
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:54,200
Speaker 3: thought God gave you, and maybe he did, but there

665
00:36:54,239 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 3: are details to that dream that are not being met

666
00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:01,480
Speaker 3: on your deadline. You can't call him God and give

667
00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:11,360
Speaker 3: him a deadline. The boss sets the deadline. I know

668
00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:15,360
Speaker 3: what I thought I should have been by now, but

669
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:20,320
Speaker 3: it's not my deadline. Let me set you free with

670
00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:22,359
Speaker 3: one sentence. I like to say one thing that makes

671
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:24,239
Speaker 3: it worth coming, even if you've been sleep the rest

672
00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:26,960
Speaker 3: of the time I've been up here talking, it's not

673
00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:33,440
Speaker 3: my deadline. If God waited until Abraham was one hundred

674
00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:36,239
Speaker 3: to give him a baby, you think God's gonna do

675
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:38,719
Speaker 3: everything you want him to do within the first quarter

676
00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:45,040
Speaker 3: of this year. What do you do when God says

677
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:46,760
Speaker 3: I want you to I want.

678
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:47,200
Speaker 4: You to hold on.

679
00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:48,759
Speaker 1: I got I got I think it all.

680
00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:49,880
Speaker 4: We kind of say this, I just got it.

681
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:52,640
Speaker 1: What do you do when he says, hold on to

682
00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:57,960
Speaker 1: the promise, let go of the plan? What do you do?

683
00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:03,319
Speaker 4: That's our question, right because some of us are really

684
00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:06,279
Speaker 4: good at let's go, let's go. I'm a vision board

685
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:07,360
Speaker 4: let's go, got my goals.

686
00:38:07,239 --> 00:38:07,520
Speaker 1: Let's go.

687
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:09,880
Speaker 4: So you're really good at let's go. But I was

688
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:10,759
Speaker 4: looking for a way to.

689
00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:14,120
Speaker 3: Illustrate this yesterday and I thought, God, if I don't

690
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:16,640
Speaker 3: illustrate it right, they won't hear what they need to hear.

691
00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:19,640
Speaker 3: And I really want to speak to the person who

692
00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:23,520
Speaker 3: is holding on so tight to their idea of life.

693
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:24,960
Speaker 1: And I'm praying about this.

694
00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:28,640
Speaker 3: I'm thinking about Abraham and Isaac in this crazy scene

695
00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:30,960
Speaker 3: where he is about to take the life of his

696
00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:34,200
Speaker 3: son because he doesn't know that God doesn't want to

697
00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:38,360
Speaker 3: take Isaac. God wasn't taking Isaac. He was testing Abraham.

698
00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:44,480
Speaker 3: And there's the let's go moment, there's the hold on moment.

699
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:47,479
Speaker 3: You will find yourself in both. But when God says

700
00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:51,120
Speaker 3: let go, that can be hard. To hear, because this

701
00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,080
Speaker 3: is something I think he wants me to have, but

702
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:56,480
Speaker 3: he's not doing it how I think he wants me

703
00:38:57,880 --> 00:38:58,279
Speaker 3: to do it.

704
00:38:59,120 --> 00:38:59,759
Speaker 4: What to pray for?

705
00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:01,320
Speaker 1: Would ask for?

706
00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:05,120
Speaker 3: As I'm thinking praying about this illustration, I'm thinking I

707
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:07,839
Speaker 3: look in a book. But then bo runs over, our

708
00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:12,640
Speaker 3: Boston Terrier runs over and he brings me a ball,

709
00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:17,759
Speaker 3: and I first think, I don't have time to play

710
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:18,480
Speaker 3: fetch with you. Bo.

711
00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:21,799
Speaker 6: I am working on a very important sermon for very

712
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:25,480
Speaker 6: important people about a very legendary Bible text, and it

713
00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:27,719
Speaker 6: is a serious text, and I don't have time for

714
00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:30,040
Speaker 6: this because I'm talking about let's go and let go

715
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:30,759
Speaker 6: and all of that.

716
00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:33,120
Speaker 1: And he brings me the ball as if he is

717
00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:34,040
Speaker 1: saying let's go.

718
00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,759
Speaker 3: So I take the ball and I throw the ball,

719
00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:41,560
Speaker 3: and as I'm throwing it, I remembered, Oh, this won't

720
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:46,919
Speaker 3: take long because bo is terrible at fetch. And I'll

721
00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:51,200
Speaker 3: tell you why he's terrible at fetch, because he's really

722
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:52,120
Speaker 3: good at let's go.

723
00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:56,000
Speaker 1: He'll run and get it real quick.

724
00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:00,320
Speaker 3: But once he's got it, he did not hear my

725
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:06,120
Speaker 3: sermon today called when God says let go, and he

726
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:11,120
Speaker 3: is better at retrieving it than he is at releasing it.

727
00:40:12,239 --> 00:40:15,319
Speaker 3: So I can't get him to understand that we could

728
00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:18,640
Speaker 3: do a lot more if you would say, let's go

729
00:40:19,239 --> 00:40:22,600
Speaker 3: and then let go and get in the rhythm of

730
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:28,520
Speaker 3: retrieving and then returning and retrieving and releasing and I.

731
00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:31,439
Speaker 4: Give it and you bring it back, and I give

732
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:33,000
Speaker 4: it and you bring it back.

733
00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:38,000
Speaker 3: And now I understand why God will sometimes call us

734
00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:42,200
Speaker 3: to bring him something that we thought he promised, so

735
00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:46,279
Speaker 3: that he can clarify what he actually promised, so that

736
00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:49,880
Speaker 3: he can do what he said he would do, not

737
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:53,120
Speaker 3: what I thought he would do, not what I wanted

738
00:40:53,239 --> 00:40:57,200
Speaker 3: him to do, not on my deadline, but on his

739
00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:02,160
Speaker 3: destined schedule for the per turp for which he intends

740
00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:06,360
Speaker 3: my life to be a small little peace. So I

741
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:08,880
Speaker 3: want to tell every bowe in the room, let go,

742
00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:15,200
Speaker 3: Let go. How can you say that this is important

743
00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:17,480
Speaker 3: to me? How can you tell me to let go?

744
00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:20,080
Speaker 1: I have to make some plans, don't lie. Yeah, you

745
00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:22,320
Speaker 1: gotta make them, but don't hold them too tight that

746
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:23,000
Speaker 1: you choke them.

747
00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:29,360
Speaker 3: Is it possible, I'm asking the question, Is it possible

748
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:31,560
Speaker 3: that your problem isn't that you don't hold on to

749
00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:33,879
Speaker 3: what you think God told you you hold it too tight,

750
00:41:37,239 --> 00:41:40,160
Speaker 3: because sometimes his timing is different than yours. I don't

751
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:42,719
Speaker 3: know who this is for, but the Lord really wants

752
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:45,360
Speaker 3: you to get this today, because he's saying, let go,

753
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:52,920
Speaker 3: let go. What would that journey have been like to

754
00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:55,439
Speaker 3: the mountain region named Mariah. This is the same region

755
00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:59,640
Speaker 3: where Jesus would die thousands of years later, where God

756
00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:04,040
Speaker 3: would give his sign, different mountains, same region. Abraham had

757
00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:07,120
Speaker 3: no context for that. And so what do you do

758
00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:11,280
Speaker 3: when your faith is being tested but you have no precedence,

759
00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:16,760
Speaker 3: no precedence. I wanted to call this message a promise

760
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:20,840
Speaker 3: with no precedence. In other words, I've never seen this before.

761
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,120
Speaker 3: I've never seen this before. I don't know how to

762
00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:25,200
Speaker 3: do this. I don't know how to be a father

763
00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:27,279
Speaker 3: of many nations. I don't know how to do this.

764
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:30,960
Speaker 3: And you got to lead your son to Isaac is

765
00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:34,400
Speaker 3: fifteen by this time. By the way, he's a teenager.

766
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:39,080
Speaker 3: He's a teenager. We talked a little bit about teenagers

767
00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:42,960
Speaker 3: in trust earlier, and now this teenager and watch the journey.

768
00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:45,400
Speaker 3: There's a conversation that happens because they go three days.

769
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:48,480
Speaker 3: Remember Abraham was tested not in a moment, but in

770
00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:51,719
Speaker 3: a process. The test of your faith will be continual.

771
00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:56,759
Speaker 3: You'll be good one moment the next. Why are y'all

772
00:42:56,840 --> 00:42:57,960
Speaker 3: so fake?

773
00:42:58,080 --> 00:42:58,360
Speaker 1: Today?

774
00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:02,279
Speaker 3: I said, you'll be tested one moment and your faith

775
00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:04,759
Speaker 3: will be really, really good, and then it'll tank the

776
00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:08,080
Speaker 3: next You are only one text message away from your

777
00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,239
Speaker 3: trust in God tanking to an all time level.

778
00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:11,600
Speaker 1: And that's true.

779
00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:18,680
Speaker 3: Need I go further, and they're talking about it, and

780
00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:22,040
Speaker 3: the further they get, the more questions Isaac has, because

781
00:43:22,239 --> 00:43:24,360
Speaker 3: this is not the dad touch trust in the teenager.

782
00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:26,520
Speaker 3: This is the teenager trusting the This thing is flipped.

783
00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:29,840
Speaker 3: And so now Isaac is walking with Abraham and he

784
00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:33,000
Speaker 3: doesn't know either. I should do a parenting seminar on this.

785
00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:35,600
Speaker 3: What do you do when you're leading somebody and you

786
00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:36,200
Speaker 3: don't know either?

787
00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:40,120
Speaker 1: I don't know.

788
00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:43,560
Speaker 3: Abraham's like, let me tell you about me and God.

789
00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:48,760
Speaker 3: He doesn't give me many details because when they start walking,

790
00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:51,960
Speaker 3: and I'm not cheapening the text by lightening the tone,

791
00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:54,759
Speaker 3: I'm trying to bring you into it so that you

792
00:43:54,800 --> 00:43:58,200
Speaker 3: can understand that God doesn't call us all to sacrifice

793
00:43:58,239 --> 00:44:00,000
Speaker 3: our sons. He sacrificed his son for all of us,

794
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:02,920
Speaker 3: but he does call us all to trust in Him

795
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:07,240
Speaker 3: at times times where we can't understand, and they're walking

796
00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:10,040
Speaker 3: three days, and then comes the point where they can't

797
00:44:10,080 --> 00:44:12,680
Speaker 3: take the servants any further, because there will come a

798
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:16,279
Speaker 3: place where you get to a point with God where

799
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:18,040
Speaker 3: no one else can help you figure it out.

800
00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:21,320
Speaker 1: I mean to a point. People can give you advice

801
00:44:21,880 --> 00:44:22,440
Speaker 1: to appoint.

802
00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:25,680
Speaker 3: People will give you wisdom, but don't worship their wisdom

803
00:44:25,719 --> 00:44:28,080
Speaker 3: because their wisdom is based on their experience.

804
00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:32,760
Speaker 1: And God has to show you some things for your life.

805
00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:37,279
Speaker 3: And Genesis twenty two six says that Abraham took the

806
00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:40,720
Speaker 3: wood get the picture, the wood for the burnt offering.

807
00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:42,720
Speaker 1: And placed it on his son Isaac.

808
00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:46,280
Speaker 3: Do we not see Jesus all the way in Genesis

809
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:49,279
Speaker 3: twenty two that he took the wood and put it

810
00:44:49,400 --> 00:44:56,040
Speaker 3: on his son, and he himself carried the fire and

811
00:44:56,160 --> 00:44:59,120
Speaker 3: the knife. As the two of them went on together,

812
00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:03,480
Speaker 3: Isaac started to wonder a little bit, and he spoke up,

813
00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:09,960
Speaker 3: and he said to his father Abraham, Father, yes, my son, Abraham.

814
00:45:09,560 --> 00:45:12,000
Speaker 4: Replied, the fire in the water.

815
00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:12,279
Speaker 5: Here.

816
00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:16,280
Speaker 3: I'm doing an inventory. We got everything we need except

817
00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:19,680
Speaker 3: one thing. Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

818
00:45:21,200 --> 00:45:26,279
Speaker 3: In other words, I need some details, and Abraham answered God,

819
00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:30,960
Speaker 3: he only said one thing, one thing, one thing that

820
00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:35,080
Speaker 3: he had found to be true over fifteen hundred miles

821
00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:38,080
Speaker 3: of traveling, one thing that he had found to be

822
00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:41,440
Speaker 3: true when he went to Egypt to survive for a

823
00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:44,200
Speaker 3: little while, One thing that he knew to be true,

824
00:45:44,239 --> 00:45:46,759
Speaker 3: even though he didn't know where this was leading. God

825
00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:54,200
Speaker 3: himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering. And

826
00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:59,640
Speaker 3: in this moment, we wonder was Abraham bluffing? Did he

827
00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:01,680
Speaker 3: really know that that was going to happen, because that

828
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:03,360
Speaker 3: is what happens. It's not a lamb, but it's a

829
00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:05,480
Speaker 3: ram because God isn't going to ever do it exactly

830
00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:09,480
Speaker 3: like you think he is. But he says it like

831
00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:11,920
Speaker 3: he knows that God himself will provide the lamb for

832
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:16,040
Speaker 3: the burnt offering, my son, And watch this. I get

833
00:46:16,120 --> 00:46:20,400
Speaker 3: the picture here that Isaac has seen Abraham trust God before,

834
00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:24,440
Speaker 3: he has seen his father trust God before. Why Because

835
00:46:24,520 --> 00:46:27,160
Speaker 3: the deeper the trust, the less the need for details.

836
00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:31,040
Speaker 3: Isaac told him God will provide, and the two of

837
00:46:31,160 --> 00:46:35,600
Speaker 3: them went on together. He said, God will provide, and

838
00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:40,640
Speaker 3: Isaac said, let's go. And so Isaac is saying, let's

839
00:46:40,719 --> 00:46:45,240
Speaker 3: go while Abraham is letting him go, and the moment comes.

840
00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:48,280
Speaker 1: Now, just lock in with me for a minute.

841
00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:52,760
Speaker 3: When they reached the place God had told him about,

842
00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:56,160
Speaker 3: not the place he knew in his mind, God showed him.

843
00:46:56,160 --> 00:46:59,600
Speaker 1: When he got there, Abraham built an altar, which.

844
00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:01,520
Speaker 3: Was a place of sacrifice, which was a place of death,

845
00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:05,359
Speaker 3: which was a place of worship. He built an offer

846
00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:07,320
Speaker 3: there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his

847
00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:08,880
Speaker 3: son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top

848
00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:10,880
Speaker 3: of what. I know how hard this is for us

849
00:47:10,920 --> 00:47:13,400
Speaker 3: to get our minds around. That's why I was hesitant

850
00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:16,200
Speaker 3: to preach it. But the one that I was most

851
00:47:16,239 --> 00:47:18,080
Speaker 3: hesitant to preach in this whole series is the one

852
00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:21,200
Speaker 3: that healed me the most, because what I saw in

853
00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:24,879
Speaker 3: verse ten changed my life. He reached out his hand

854
00:47:24,960 --> 00:47:29,840
Speaker 3: and he is he is reaching for the instrument, the knife,

855
00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:33,480
Speaker 3: and he's wrapping his fingers around the knife, letting go

856
00:47:33,640 --> 00:47:36,440
Speaker 3: of his son. And as he reached out his hand

857
00:47:36,480 --> 00:47:38,440
Speaker 3: and took the knife to slay his son.

858
00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:39,360
Speaker 1: But.

859
00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:51,360
Speaker 3: The Angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, Abraham, Abraham.

860
00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:56,440
Speaker 3: He said it twice because he was holding the knife

861
00:47:57,520 --> 00:47:59,560
Speaker 3: and he thought his son was about to die.

862
00:48:00,320 --> 00:48:02,040
Speaker 1: And he didn't know what to make sense of it.

863
00:48:03,080 --> 00:48:05,960
Speaker 3: But in the moment that he's holding the knife over

864
00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:12,759
Speaker 3: his son, here comes the Angel at that moment saying, Abraham, Abraham,

865
00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:14,279
Speaker 3: let go.

866
00:48:16,360 --> 00:48:23,840
Speaker 4: God says, let go. At the very moment that Abraham Abraham.

867
00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:24,080
Speaker 1: Thinks it's over.

868
00:48:25,719 --> 00:48:29,040
Speaker 3: And when God said what he said, Abraham, Abraham, here

869
00:48:29,160 --> 00:48:33,240
Speaker 3: I am, he replied verse twelve, do not lay a hand.

870
00:48:33,560 --> 00:48:34,080
Speaker 4: On the boy.

871
00:48:34,200 --> 00:48:38,920
Speaker 3: Somebody shout, let go, shout it again, let go, let go.

872
00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:41,400
Speaker 3: I know you came this far thinking this was how

873
00:48:41,480 --> 00:48:42,200
Speaker 3: it's gonna end.

874
00:48:43,120 --> 00:48:44,840
Speaker 1: But the moment that the.

875
00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:48,279
Speaker 3: Angel spoke, he said, don't lay a hand on the boy,

876
00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:49,879
Speaker 3: don't do anything to him.

877
00:48:50,200 --> 00:48:52,320
Speaker 4: Now I know that you fear God. And now that

878
00:48:52,440 --> 00:48:54,040
Speaker 4: you've let him go, let go.

879
00:48:56,719 --> 00:49:00,480
Speaker 3: Now that I know that I can trust you with

880
00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:04,000
Speaker 3: what I taught you, that I can trust you that.

881
00:49:04,080 --> 00:49:06,040
Speaker 4: You don't love it more than you love me.

882
00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:10,680
Speaker 3: Now that I can trust you that you're embracing my promise,

883
00:49:10,840 --> 00:49:16,600
Speaker 3: not your plan. Now that you have let go, because

884
00:49:16,719 --> 00:49:19,960
Speaker 3: verse twelve, you have not withheld your son.

885
00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:25,320
Speaker 1: You have let go of your son. Now let go

886
00:49:26,120 --> 00:49:26,760
Speaker 1: of the knife.

887
00:49:27,320 --> 00:49:33,160
Speaker 5: And God is so strategic that at the moment that

888
00:49:33,400 --> 00:49:36,840
Speaker 5: Abraham was letting go of the knife, which is what

889
00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:39,920
Speaker 5: he thought he had to do, at the moment that

890
00:49:40,120 --> 00:49:42,520
Speaker 5: God said let go of the knife.

891
00:49:43,120 --> 00:49:46,440
Speaker 3: Verse thirteen says he heard something other than the angel

892
00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:51,279
Speaker 3: rustling in the background. Abraham looked up, and there in

893
00:49:51,400 --> 00:49:56,000
Speaker 3: a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.

894
00:49:56,280 --> 00:50:00,000
Speaker 3: And he went over and took the ram and sacrificed

895
00:50:00,560 --> 00:50:02,760
Speaker 3: as a burnt offering instead.

896
00:50:02,400 --> 00:50:02,919
Speaker 1: Of his son.

897
00:50:03,120 --> 00:50:07,879
Speaker 3: Verse fourteen says, so Abraham called that place the place

898
00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:11,400
Speaker 3: where he thought Isaac would die, that place, the place

899
00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:14,800
Speaker 3: where he thought it was over, that place, the place

900
00:50:14,840 --> 00:50:17,600
Speaker 3: he didn't even know he was going or what God

901
00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:20,600
Speaker 3: would do, but he said he would provide, and he

902
00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:25,280
Speaker 3: did provide, And he called that place the Lord will provide.

903
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:29,080
Speaker 3: It wasn't called the place where Isaac died. It was

904
00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:31,919
Speaker 3: called the place where Jehovah.

905
00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:41,239
Speaker 4: Provided Ben isa Claire, what glory to God. Let's rename

906
00:50:41,400 --> 00:50:42,040
Speaker 4: this place.

907
00:50:43,640 --> 00:50:47,040
Speaker 3: Now. This is for all of the people who are

908
00:50:47,120 --> 00:50:50,200
Speaker 3: letting go of something that you thought would happen, letting

909
00:50:50,280 --> 00:50:51,080
Speaker 3: go of the way.

910
00:50:50,960 --> 00:50:53,120
Speaker 1: You thought somebody was supposed to change.

911
00:50:53,239 --> 00:50:56,680
Speaker 3: Letting go of what you expected from yourself, letting go

912
00:50:56,960 --> 00:50:59,640
Speaker 3: of what you thought God was like letting go of

913
00:50:59,719 --> 00:51:02,560
Speaker 3: what you thought this season would include. This is for

914
00:51:02,760 --> 00:51:07,840
Speaker 3: everybody who's letting go. At the moment that Abraham was

915
00:51:07,960 --> 00:51:11,800
Speaker 3: letting go of the knife, the thicket was grabbing hold

916
00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:12,839
Speaker 3: of the ram.

917
00:51:13,360 --> 00:51:14,879
Speaker 4: What am I trying to say?

918
00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:16,239
Speaker 1: God's got you.

919
00:51:16,360 --> 00:51:23,279
Speaker 3: In this place. God's got you in this place. His

920
00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:28,279
Speaker 3: name is Jehovah. He is Jehovah, Jirah. The Lord will

921
00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:29,239
Speaker 3: provide for me.

922
00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:34,240
Speaker 4: The Lord will provide for my family. The Lord will provide.

923
00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:34,760
Speaker 1: For this church.

924
00:51:39,120 --> 00:51:40,400
Speaker 4: Can't you see the angel.

925
00:51:40,800 --> 00:51:43,520
Speaker 3: At the same moment that one angel is telling Abraham

926
00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:47,000
Speaker 3: to let go of the knife, another angel is telling

927
00:51:47,080 --> 00:51:50,560
Speaker 3: the thicket to grab a hold of the ram. Don't

928
00:51:50,600 --> 00:51:54,320
Speaker 3: you see the timing of God what you call coincidence.

929
00:51:58,200 --> 00:52:02,080
Speaker 3: But Abraham didn't know that. Abraham didn't know that he

930
00:52:02,200 --> 00:52:05,920
Speaker 3: had to go not knowing, And so do you. But

931
00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:09,279
Speaker 3: Hebrews chapter eleven, verse nineteen. Stay standing and hasten me

932
00:52:09,360 --> 00:52:12,120
Speaker 3: to a close and rush me with pressure by standing up.

933
00:52:12,320 --> 00:52:14,440
Speaker 3: If you stand up, I'll start rushing this sermon to

934
00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:17,239
Speaker 3: a conclusion. And you can get the qdoba and sit

935
00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:19,400
Speaker 3: around and eat something that ain't gonna last you for

936
00:52:19,480 --> 00:52:22,120
Speaker 3: two hours of energy instead of getting this word from

937
00:52:22,160 --> 00:52:25,000
Speaker 3: God that can save you from a decade of disappointment

938
00:52:25,239 --> 00:52:27,360
Speaker 3: and break off generations of oppression.

939
00:52:27,680 --> 00:52:30,399
Speaker 4: Walk of your family because my God is the home

940
00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:42,280
Speaker 4: of Chira. When God is testing your faith, not the devil.

941
00:52:43,040 --> 00:52:46,120
Speaker 3: When God is testing your faith, even if the devil

942
00:52:46,160 --> 00:52:48,359
Speaker 3: brings the trial, the Lord will administer the test.

943
00:52:48,680 --> 00:52:51,840
Speaker 4: When God is testing your faith, he already.

944
00:52:51,520 --> 00:52:52,320
Speaker 1: Taught you something.

945
00:52:52,880 --> 00:52:56,920
Speaker 3: Hebrews, Chapter eleven, verse nineteen, One more time. How did

946
00:52:56,960 --> 00:52:59,160
Speaker 3: he make it up that mountain? How do I walk

947
00:52:59,239 --> 00:53:01,840
Speaker 3: through this valley? How do I get through this season

948
00:53:01,880 --> 00:53:02,640
Speaker 3: of uncertainty?

949
00:53:02,960 --> 00:53:05,319
Speaker 1: How do I go not knowing? How do I show

950
00:53:05,400 --> 00:53:06,160
Speaker 1: up not feeling it?

951
00:53:06,440 --> 00:53:08,680
Speaker 3: How do I continue to embrace the promise while not

952
00:53:08,800 --> 00:53:12,200
Speaker 3: holding it too tightly? The writer of Hebrews gives us

953
00:53:12,239 --> 00:53:14,279
Speaker 3: a clue as to what to do when your faith

954
00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:17,200
Speaker 3: is being tested and you know your God can be trusted.

955
00:53:17,520 --> 00:53:24,839
Speaker 7: He said, Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead.

956
00:53:25,960 --> 00:53:29,000
Speaker 7: Now I thought about that thing, and I thought about

957
00:53:29,040 --> 00:53:30,279
Speaker 7: that thing, and.

958
00:53:30,400 --> 00:53:35,560
Speaker 3: I thought about how he reasoned that God could even

959
00:53:35,719 --> 00:53:38,480
Speaker 3: raise the dead, even if it ends, God can bring

960
00:53:38,560 --> 00:53:42,560
Speaker 3: a new beginning. He reasoned that God could raise the

961
00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:45,880
Speaker 3: dead and It made me ask the question, at this

962
00:53:46,080 --> 00:53:50,120
Speaker 3: point in history, when Abraham reason that God would raise

963
00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:53,400
Speaker 3: him from the dead, had there ever been a resurrection

964
00:53:53,600 --> 00:53:59,600
Speaker 3: recorded in the scriptures? And the answer is no, there

965
00:53:59,680 --> 00:54:03,759
Speaker 3: is no recorded resurrection in the scriptures. By Genesis twenty two.

966
00:54:04,719 --> 00:54:08,920
Speaker 3: I could understand if it said Peter reasoned that God

967
00:54:08,960 --> 00:54:10,600
Speaker 3: could raise him from the dead because he saw that

968
00:54:10,680 --> 00:54:13,880
Speaker 3: happen to his boss, so he had seen it before.

969
00:54:14,960 --> 00:54:21,000
Speaker 3: But verse nineteen does not say Abraham remembered that God

970
00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:26,279
Speaker 3: could even raise the dead. For him to remember, he

971
00:54:26,320 --> 00:54:29,839
Speaker 3: would have had to have a previous experience. He would

972
00:54:29,880 --> 00:54:33,000
Speaker 3: have had to have a precedence for the promise. But

973
00:54:33,120 --> 00:54:36,480
Speaker 3: it doesn't say he remembered because it wasn't anything he'd

974
00:54:36,520 --> 00:54:40,400
Speaker 3: ever seen before. So I wondered to myself, what was

975
00:54:40,480 --> 00:54:43,960
Speaker 3: the reason that he believed. It doesn't even say he believed.

976
00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:46,640
Speaker 3: To believe could mean that you think it could happen,

977
00:54:46,719 --> 00:54:49,040
Speaker 3: but you don't know it could happen. It doesn't say

978
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:52,040
Speaker 3: he remembered, he had never seen it before. It doesn't

979
00:54:52,080 --> 00:54:57,919
Speaker 3: say he believed. It says he reasoned. And that made

980
00:54:57,960 --> 00:55:03,040
Speaker 3: me remember what Paul, who we preached about last week,

981
00:55:03,840 --> 00:55:08,360
Speaker 3: said about Abraham, who we're preaching about this week. Watch

982
00:55:08,520 --> 00:55:11,600
Speaker 3: God put the ram in the thicket. Watch God drop

983
00:55:11,680 --> 00:55:14,799
Speaker 3: the knife and stage the ram. Watch God work all

984
00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:16,520
Speaker 3: things together for good in your life.

985
00:55:16,880 --> 00:55:19,840
Speaker 4: Watch God put the right person at the right place,

986
00:55:20,120 --> 00:55:21,400
Speaker 4: at the right time to.

987
00:55:21,480 --> 00:55:24,799
Speaker 3: Do the right thing, to give you the right Watch God,

988
00:55:26,120 --> 00:55:33,840
Speaker 3: watch God. He reasoned, and I wondered why the Bible

989
00:55:34,040 --> 00:55:39,000
Speaker 3: used the word he reasoned, until I remembered that Romans

990
00:55:39,200 --> 00:55:44,200
Speaker 3: four nineteen says that Abraham, without weakening in his faith,

991
00:55:44,640 --> 00:55:46,279
Speaker 3: faced the fact that his.

992
00:55:46,520 --> 00:55:51,200
Speaker 4: Body was as good as dead. Since he was one.

993
00:55:51,239 --> 00:55:55,560
Speaker 3: Hundred, it only stands to reason that his body isn't

994
00:55:55,600 --> 00:55:56,719
Speaker 3: going to get the job done.

995
00:55:57,520 --> 00:55:59,319
Speaker 4: So he says, it's as good as dead.

996
00:55:59,440 --> 00:56:00,160
Speaker 1: And guess what.

997
00:56:01,080 --> 00:56:04,680
Speaker 4: Sarah's womb was also dead.

998
00:56:05,360 --> 00:56:09,080
Speaker 3: So I realized that although he had never seen the

999
00:56:09,160 --> 00:56:13,840
Speaker 3: dead raised, he had seen somebody born from a dead place.

1000
00:56:16,560 --> 00:56:21,080
Speaker 3: I realized that I might not have ever seen this before.

1001
00:56:22,200 --> 00:56:25,520
Speaker 3: I might not have seen it, But how many kids

1002
00:56:25,560 --> 00:56:26,920
Speaker 3: testify I.

1003
00:56:27,080 --> 00:56:28,320
Speaker 7: See something like it.

1004
00:56:29,719 --> 00:56:32,880
Speaker 3: If you do where he brought me from, if you

1005
00:56:33,120 --> 00:56:36,759
Speaker 3: do what he brought me through, you do not understand

1006
00:56:37,440 --> 00:56:38,320
Speaker 3: the reason.

1007
00:56:38,960 --> 00:56:41,920
Speaker 1: The reason? The reason.

1008
00:56:43,160 --> 00:56:46,880
Speaker 4: Hot five three people say I got a reason. I

1009
00:56:47,000 --> 00:56:52,200
Speaker 4: got a reason. I got a reason. I got a reason.

1010
00:56:53,160 --> 00:56:56,120
Speaker 4: I got a reason, I got a reason.

1011
00:56:56,719 --> 00:57:02,680
Speaker 5: I'm not foolish his faith, and I say, pad.

1012
00:57:03,960 --> 00:57:04,600
Speaker 4: Substance.

1013
00:57:06,160 --> 00:57:09,680
Speaker 3: The reason I believe is because I've seen him. Do

1014
00:57:10,400 --> 00:57:14,719
Speaker 3: watch this something kind of like it. You ever seen

1015
00:57:14,760 --> 00:57:17,600
Speaker 3: the dead rays? No, But I saw a dead wound

1016
00:57:17,680 --> 00:57:22,120
Speaker 3: bring forth the baby. I saw something kind of like it.

1017
00:57:23,640 --> 00:57:25,680
Speaker 3: I never been through this challenge before, but I've been

1018
00:57:25,720 --> 00:57:29,240
Speaker 3: through something kind of like it. I never been in

1019
00:57:29,360 --> 00:57:32,440
Speaker 3: this place before, but I've been in something kind of

1020
00:57:32,600 --> 00:57:35,280
Speaker 3: like it. I never dealt with bad news quite like

1021
00:57:35,360 --> 00:57:37,240
Speaker 3: this before, but I've been through bad news that was

1022
00:57:37,960 --> 00:57:41,040
Speaker 3: kind of like it. I never thought a goliath before,

1023
00:57:41,160 --> 00:57:44,080
Speaker 3: but I thought something kind of like it. I never

1024
00:57:44,200 --> 00:57:47,200
Speaker 3: crossed over a red sea before, but nothing but my staff.

1025
00:57:47,280 --> 00:57:49,800
Speaker 3: But I've been through something kind of like it. And

1026
00:57:49,920 --> 00:57:52,240
Speaker 3: I came to tell you today that if you're being

1027
00:57:52,360 --> 00:57:56,240
Speaker 3: tested in your faith, God is telling you to trust

1028
00:57:56,320 --> 00:58:03,720
Speaker 3: him in something he already taught you. If Isaac came

1029
00:58:03,840 --> 00:58:08,760
Speaker 3: from a dead place, Abraham said God a raisin from

1030
00:58:08,840 --> 00:58:13,840
Speaker 3: a dead place. If he wants to, he can do

1031
00:58:13,960 --> 00:58:19,920
Speaker 3: what he wants to. I don't need the details, because

1032
00:58:19,960 --> 00:58:26,080
Speaker 3: the deeper the level of the trust the less the

1033
00:58:26,240 --> 00:58:27,960
Speaker 3: need for details.

1034
00:58:30,240 --> 00:58:31,640
Speaker 1: I reckon God can raise him.

1035
00:58:33,480 --> 00:58:36,800
Speaker 4: I hear Abram holler him back to the servants. We'll

1036
00:58:36,880 --> 00:58:38,000
Speaker 4: be back in a little.

1037
00:58:37,800 --> 00:58:38,360
Speaker 1: While, y'all.

1038
00:58:39,120 --> 00:58:40,080
Speaker 4: Because I don't know.

1039
00:58:40,200 --> 00:58:44,400
Speaker 3: What God's gonna do, but I've seen him do too much.

1040
00:58:45,640 --> 00:58:48,960
Speaker 3: I see them do too much. I see them do

1041
00:58:49,160 --> 00:58:58,160
Speaker 3: too much. Hey, when God tells you to release something,

1042
00:58:58,280 --> 00:59:01,560
Speaker 3: to let go. When God says let go, he's already

1043
00:59:01,600 --> 00:59:02,720
Speaker 3: got the ram in the bush.

1044
00:59:06,320 --> 00:59:08,480
Speaker 1: I want to show you one more thing. I want

1045
00:59:08,560 --> 00:59:11,600
Speaker 1: to show you one more thing. This blue.

1046
00:59:13,000 --> 00:59:15,960
Speaker 3: My mind put a mind blow emoji in the chat

1047
00:59:16,040 --> 00:59:19,600
Speaker 3: by Faith that this is gonna blow your life. When

1048
00:59:19,720 --> 00:59:23,880
Speaker 3: it said that, Abraham said to God, Let's go, even

1049
00:59:23,920 --> 00:59:26,080
Speaker 3: though I don't know. Let's go, even though I don't know.

1050
00:59:26,240 --> 00:59:28,000
Speaker 3: Maybe that's where you are right now. Let's go, even

1051
00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:29,360
Speaker 3: though I don't know I'm gonna take the first step.

1052
00:59:29,440 --> 00:59:30,880
Speaker 3: Let's go, even though I don't know I'm gonna call

1053
00:59:30,920 --> 00:59:32,560
Speaker 3: a therapist. Let's go, even though I don't know I'm

1054
00:59:32,600 --> 00:59:34,480
Speaker 3: saying I sorry. Let's go, even though I don't know

1055
00:59:34,520 --> 00:59:36,400
Speaker 3: I'm going to church today. Let's go, even though I

1056
00:59:36,440 --> 00:59:37,960
Speaker 3: don't know I'm reading my Bible this morre. Let's go

1057
00:59:38,000 --> 00:59:41,680
Speaker 3: even though I don't know when you say that, and

1058
00:59:41,760 --> 00:59:43,440
Speaker 3: then you hold on even though you don't see it,

1059
00:59:45,200 --> 00:59:46,680
Speaker 3: and then God says, I want you to bring this

1060
00:59:46,760 --> 00:59:47,320
Speaker 3: thing back to me.

1061
00:59:47,720 --> 00:59:50,200
Speaker 1: This is the process man, for my life.

1062
00:59:50,240 --> 00:59:53,240
Speaker 3: I just have to keep walking through my life with

1063
00:59:53,400 --> 00:59:56,040
Speaker 3: my kids, my dreams, my goals, my ambitions, my hang ups,

1064
00:59:56,240 --> 00:59:58,480
Speaker 3: my flaws like Abraham's walking with Isaac, and just say

1065
00:59:58,520 --> 01:00:01,520
Speaker 3: the Lord will provide, and keep giving it back to God.

1066
01:00:01,880 --> 01:00:07,320
Speaker 3: And so here's a good prayer. It's yours Lord, it's yours.

1067
01:00:07,360 --> 01:00:08,840
Speaker 3: He gave it to me by grace, so I'm going

1068
01:00:08,880 --> 01:00:22,520
Speaker 3: to finish it by faith. It's yours Lord. When I

1069
01:00:22,640 --> 01:00:24,280
Speaker 3: told you all to start the church with me, and

1070
01:00:24,360 --> 01:00:26,640
Speaker 3: I didn't tell you what city, how did you trust

1071
01:00:26,720 --> 01:00:29,440
Speaker 3: so much when I told you so little? And I

1072
01:00:29,520 --> 01:00:33,000
Speaker 3: realized that although you had never seen this plan, you

1073
01:00:33,080 --> 01:00:33,720
Speaker 3: knew the person.

1074
01:00:35,440 --> 01:00:36,600
Speaker 1: You saw me do some stuff.

1075
01:00:36,680 --> 01:00:38,640
Speaker 3: You saw me start Acchoir in college, you saw me

1076
01:00:38,720 --> 01:00:39,840
Speaker 3: start Acquir in Shelby.

1077
01:00:40,800 --> 01:00:42,240
Speaker 1: You saw me say what I was going to do

1078
01:00:42,920 --> 01:00:43,520
Speaker 1: and then do it.

1079
01:00:44,080 --> 01:00:46,800
Speaker 3: I'm not comparing myself to God. I'm using it as

1080
01:00:46,840 --> 01:00:51,600
Speaker 3: an antithetical analogy. If they trusted me that much seeing

1081
01:00:51,680 --> 01:00:55,240
Speaker 3: me do so little. How could we have seen God

1082
01:00:55,400 --> 01:00:59,800
Speaker 3: do so much and trust him so little? It came,

1083
01:01:00,000 --> 01:01:06,760
Speaker 3: I'm a dead place, he reasoned. So when the thicket

1084
01:01:06,840 --> 01:01:11,080
Speaker 3: started wrestling, Abraham looked up and saw a ram. But

1085
01:01:11,120 --> 01:01:13,240
Speaker 3: if you look at this in the ESV, which gives

1086
01:01:13,280 --> 01:01:15,440
Speaker 3: the exact word that is used when it says that

1087
01:01:15,560 --> 01:01:17,920
Speaker 3: there was a ram in the thicket, it gives you

1088
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:19,560
Speaker 3: one meaning that I want to send you back to

1089
01:01:19,600 --> 01:01:20,080
Speaker 3: your house with.

1090
01:01:20,240 --> 01:01:27,200
Speaker 1: Today. Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold

1091
01:01:28,520 --> 01:01:33,080
Speaker 1: behind him was a ram, caught in the thicket by

1092
01:01:33,120 --> 01:01:38,160
Speaker 1: his horns. Behind him what he needed was in a

1093
01:01:38,200 --> 01:01:39,439
Speaker 1: place he had already walked past.

1094
01:01:45,440 --> 01:01:48,960
Speaker 3: When your faith is being tested, there is something God

1095
01:01:49,040 --> 01:01:53,040
Speaker 3: has already taught you that he is calling you to

1096
01:01:53,160 --> 01:01:55,120
Speaker 3: trust him and take hold of.

1097
01:01:56,400 --> 01:01:59,160
Speaker 1: He took hold of it in the thicket when he

1098
01:01:59,240 --> 01:01:59,959
Speaker 1: walked by the thicket.

1099
01:02:00,200 --> 01:02:03,640
Speaker 3: Perhaps the ram wasn't there yet, But look back the

1100
01:02:03,760 --> 01:02:06,880
Speaker 3: moment that he let go, the bush took.

1101
01:02:06,760 --> 01:02:09,600
Speaker 1: Hold, and the ram was there. And he called that

1102
01:02:09,720 --> 01:02:11,920
Speaker 1: place the Lord will provide.

1103
01:02:11,920 --> 01:02:15,680
Speaker 3: Everyone's standing, heads bowed, eyes closed, no one moving. This

1104
01:02:15,840 --> 01:02:19,120
Speaker 3: place can be called the Lord will provide too. Please stand,

1105
01:02:19,160 --> 01:02:21,400
Speaker 3: if you're physically able it's our sign of respect to

1106
01:02:21,480 --> 01:02:25,320
Speaker 3: God that he is speaking, that this is holy ground.

1107
01:02:26,840 --> 01:02:28,640
Speaker 3: Turn your palms up to the Lord, like you're lifting

1108
01:02:28,680 --> 01:02:33,520
Speaker 3: your hands to receive from him. There's a ram in

1109
01:02:33,560 --> 01:02:38,320
Speaker 3: the thicket, there is honey in the rock, there is

1110
01:02:38,400 --> 01:02:44,240
Speaker 3: water in your wilderness. The Lord will provide. There's something

1111
01:02:44,320 --> 01:02:46,760
Speaker 3: God has already taught you, something you've already walked past,

1112
01:02:47,480 --> 01:02:48,440
Speaker 3: something you've already learned.

1113
01:02:48,480 --> 01:02:50,560
Speaker 1: And letting go in this season will not be easy,

1114
01:02:51,760 --> 01:02:56,800
Speaker 1: but oh it will be so so so relieving to you.

1115
01:02:58,160 --> 01:03:00,560
Speaker 3: Ball up your fist real tight, like your squeeze in something.

1116
01:03:01,200 --> 01:03:03,560
Speaker 3: Come on, real tight, like you're squeezing something, like you

1117
01:03:03,640 --> 01:03:06,000
Speaker 3: think it depends on you, like you gotta make it happen,

1118
01:03:06,080 --> 01:03:07,520
Speaker 3: like you got to figure everything out.

1119
01:03:07,800 --> 01:03:07,920
Speaker 2: Now.

1120
01:03:07,960 --> 01:03:09,440
Speaker 3: When I say three, I want you to do what

1121
01:03:09,600 --> 01:03:15,560
Speaker 3: my sermon says. When God says one, two, three, let go,

1122
01:03:19,440 --> 01:03:27,479
Speaker 3: Let go and hold what God told you. But hold

1123
01:03:27,560 --> 01:03:34,680
Speaker 3: it with open hands. Because if He dresses the lilies

1124
01:03:38,120 --> 01:03:45,680
Speaker 3: with beauty and splendor, come on, how much more will

1125
01:03:45,720 --> 01:03:51,320
Speaker 3: he clothe you? How much more will He clothe you?

1126
01:03:53,440 --> 01:03:57,600
Speaker 3: Faith does not make a fist. Faith holds on with

1127
01:03:57,720 --> 01:04:04,560
Speaker 3: open hands. It's yours, Lord, It's yours Lord, this place,

1128
01:04:05,800 --> 01:04:12,280
Speaker 3: the place of surrender Jehovah Jirah. If he watches over

1129
01:04:13,760 --> 01:04:22,360
Speaker 3: every sparow, how much more does he love you? If

1130
01:04:22,440 --> 01:04:25,720
Speaker 3: he did not spare his son, but gave him up

1131
01:04:26,320 --> 01:04:30,080
Speaker 3: freely for us, If he gave us Jesus, how much

1132
01:04:30,320 --> 01:04:34,080
Speaker 3: more will he not freely give us all things pertaining

1133
01:04:34,680 --> 01:04:36,040
Speaker 3: to life and godliness.

1134
01:04:36,920 --> 01:04:37,680
Speaker 1: There's a ram in.

1135
01:04:37,760 --> 01:04:40,960
Speaker 3: The thicket, there's forgiveness in the thicket.

1136
01:04:40,760 --> 01:04:43,920
Speaker 1: There's grace in the thicket. There's joy in the thicket,

1137
01:04:44,520 --> 01:04:49,080
Speaker 1: and it won't run out. Thank you for joining us.

1138
01:04:49,440 --> 01:04:51,880
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to

1139
01:04:52,000 --> 01:04:55,440
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.

1140
01:04:55,920 --> 01:04:58,120
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give

1141
01:04:58,200 --> 01:05:02,320
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevation dot org slash podcast for more

1142
01:05:02,360 --> 01:05:06,000
Speaker 2: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

1143
01:05:06,440 --> 01:05:07,720
Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends.

1144
01:05:08,080 --> 01:05:10,320
Speaker 2: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and

1145
01:05:10,400 --> 01:05:12,440
Speaker 2: share it on your social stories and tag us at

1146
01:05:12,520 --> 01:05:13,360
Speaker 2: Elevation Church.

1147
01:05:13,440 --> 01:05:15,080
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.