WEBVTT - When God Says Let Go | Pastor Steven Furtick 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.440 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:15.120 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:21.560 Hebrews eleven, Verses seventeen through nineteen. I'm continuing in my 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:32.840 series called you know what, God bless you. 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:36.599 You're my best friend. Can you give me a hull? 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:38.840 I appreciate that. What's your name? 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:44.520 Man? Oh, that made me so happy? 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:48.560 You love it? I love you. What's your name? 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:51.159 Say it? 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:53.720 Toston Torston? 0:00:54.160 --> 0:01:02.760 Torsten Ah Torston the Usher? Now I ask you something, Torstan. 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.319 Do you feel like God has called you to be 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:05.800 an usher? 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:10.679 Definitely? Yeah, he said, definitely. I love it so much. 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:16.680 Do you have the calling of ushing? I hope? Okay, 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:18.119 so this you're going. 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:20.399 To love this tourist And I'm going to talk today 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.000 a little bit about how God calls us all to 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:24.880 do some things, and then he calls some to do 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:29.240 certain things. And in the theology of it, you have 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:33.679 the universal calling of God and then the particular calling 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:36.520 of God and there are some things that God has 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.600 not called us all to do right, and thank God 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:42.360 for that. Today we're going to talk about a man 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:46.720 named Abraham. God called him to have a baby at 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:50.200 age one hundred. How many thank God that God has 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:51.800 not called us all. 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:56.520 Tstan so so. 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:58.560 So we're going to talk about today how God has 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:02.520 called us all, and that includes you in the South. 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:07.279 We say God called y'all. God called y'all. 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.560 And in Hebrews chapter eleven, he's giving the whole hall 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.520 of faith to all these heroes, and he brings up Abraham. 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:16.480 And I'll show you in a few moments where God 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:23.359 called his name twice, because that's the theme of the series. Simon, Simon, Moses, Moses, Martha, Martha. 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:24.440 What other ones have I done? 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.680 Jacob, Jacob, I've been studying all seven of them, so 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:28.840 I'm mixed up. 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:29.480 Which ones I've done. 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:32.840 Saul, Saul, Paul, Paul, And this week is going to 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:34.919 be Abraham Abraham. But I want to go back through 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:38.520 the lens of Hebrews eleven. We're given a list of 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:41.919 all of these amazing things that God called people to do, 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:45.760 and they are particular things, so that we're not all 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.359 going to lead a nation like Moses did. I don't 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.320 want to who would want to be the president of 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:56.040 this country ever for any reason whatsoever. And you may say, well, 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:58.000 God doesn't call me the preacher to sing, I don't 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:00.000 want to do those things. Well, there are some things 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:04.960 that God has called us all to be kind. God 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:08.320 has called us all to be patient. God has called 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.680 us all to be forgiving. God has called us all 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:15.320 to be generous. God has called us all to have faith. 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.280 God has called us all to be more than conquerors. 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.200 God has called us all to be agents of healing, 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:23.000 the light of the world, the salt of the earth. 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:25.680 And we're given this example of Abraham to help us 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.519 with that. Look at Hebrews chapter eleven, verse seventeen. By 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:37.040 faith Abraham when God tested him, When God tested him, 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:40.440 I want you to remember that God tested him. When 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:44.400 God tested him, he offered Isaac as a sacrifice. That 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:46.960 was the son that he waited till he was one 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:47.640 hundred to half. 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:51.000 He who had embraced. 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:54.320 The promises, was about to sacrifice his one and only 0:03:54.400 --> 0:04:00.400 son verse eighteen, even though God had said to him, 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:04.040 it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.240 Now that's really heavy, and I've. 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:09.520 Been saving the sermon because I was intimidated to preach 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:13.360 it because it's honestly a very disturbing story in the Bible, 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:16.200 where God told Abraham, take your son that you love 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:20.400 and offer him to me as a sacrifice, and moving 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.360 beyond the differences in that time period when child sacrifice 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:27.039 was acceptable in the culture, it is still a very 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:29.400 very difficult story for us to reader to talk about. 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:30.679 But we're going to talk about it today. 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.080 We're going to talk about it today through a certain 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:35.640 lens because look what it says in Hebrews, chapter eleven, 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:41.600 verse nineteen. It says Abraham reasoned that God could even 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:46.239 raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking, 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:50.479 he did receive Isaac back from death. And we know 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:54.800 that this is a shadow of another son thousands of 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:59.280 years later who would be sacrificed for our sin, and 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:02.560 Abo did not have to kill his son. Is a 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.400 prefigure of a father who would go through with it 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:09.400 but raise him from the dead. But Abraham didn't know 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.400 that story yet, and so sometimes we are having to 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:15.320 live in experiences that we have no frame of reference for. 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:17.240 And that's what I want to talk to you a 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:20.320 little bit about today. It's a simple message, but a 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.919 profound truth that the Lord showed me. This message is 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:25.920 about a certain moment in your life that you will 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.479 come to from time to time, not just once, but 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:32.320 many times. And I'm calling the message when God says 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:40.159 let go. When God says let go, because sometimes he will. 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:42.359 Sometimes he will. 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:46.440 Tell you you're holding it too tightly, and God will say 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:50.359 let go. Sometimes he'll tell you this is through and 0:05:50.400 --> 0:05:53.360 you can't do anything about it, and he'll say let go. 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:55.760 And we want to talk today about what to do 0:05:55.880 --> 0:05:58.719 when God says let go. 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.520 Father, your word with power and precision. 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:06.359 Right now, I thank you in advance for the clarity 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.080 that you will give me as I preach this word 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:13.640 to your children. In Jesus' name. Amen, you may be 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:22.120 seated when God says let go. Put that title in 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:28.240 the comments. Please on YouTube. When God says let go, 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:31.960 control freaks, buckle up. We're going to talk about when 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:37.479 God says let go. Helicopter parents bring it in for 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:41.360 a landing. For the next thirty forty forty five minutes. 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:45.760 You can talk about when God says let go. Now, 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:49.000 I need to go in very strongly from the beginning, 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.520 So let's skip the part of the sermon where you 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.120 fish your gum out of your purse and have to 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:57.080 listen to what I say while I tell you a 0:06:57.120 --> 0:06:58.599 story that doesn't relate to anything. 0:06:58.640 --> 0:06:59.920 So you can get settled in. 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.400 And let me just give you a principle right off 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:04.919 the top, because I feel like there are some heavy 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:09.080 situations people are carrying today and God is saying let go. 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:12.920 When the Bible says in Hebrews chapter eleven, verse seventeen, 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:18.200 when Abraham was tested, the specific tints that the language 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.440 uses of the New Testament, which is quin A Greek, 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:25.320 is in present continual tints. So it doesn't mean that 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:28.200 Abraham had one moment where his faith was tested and 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:33.040 it was over. It's talking about how faith is tested 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:37.320 with every step of faith that he took. When the 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:39.640 Lord told him to go to a mountain and sacrifice 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:42.600 his son, he didn't know that God would provide a 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:44.840 ram in the bush and he wouldn't have to do it, 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:48.680 so he was tested. Now, this is something I would 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:51.040 love for you to write down. It's a little bit long, 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:55.400 but I think is powerful. When your faith is being tested, 0:07:57.120 --> 0:08:01.560 there is something God has already taught taught you that 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:07.520 he is calling you to trust in when your faith, 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:13.800 not if, but when, when your faith is being tested, 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:20.080 there is something that God has already taught you that 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:24.480 he is calling you to trust in. God would not 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:26.920 be giving you this test if he had not given 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:33.120 you the lesson. He's a good teacher. He wouldn't put 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:35.440 something in front of you that he didn't prep you for. 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:40.800 So we learned to shift in these seasons of testing, 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:45.280 to try to remember, God, what is it that you've 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:49.599 already taught me that you are calling me to trust in? 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:51.559 In this moment, let me say the whole sentence one 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:55.520 more time. When your faith is being tested by a 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:59.480 medical diagnosis, when your faith is being tested by a 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:03.040 dry season in your own soul, when your faith is 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:06.240 being tested by the way somebody is acting towards you, 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:09.920 that's unfair, but you can't stop it. When your faith 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:13.280 is being tested by doubts that just seem to keep 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:16.920 coming and multiply in your mind. When not if your 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:19.600 faith is being tested, you're in good company. 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:22.960 The father of our faith, Abraham. 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:25.840 Was tested, and when he was tested, not just once, 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:29.679 but many times, there was something that God had already 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:33.240 taught him that he was calling him to trust in. 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:37.360 So if your faith is being tested, and it will 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:40.720 be tested, and if it is not being tested today, 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:43.880 let me see you at two PM when your faith 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:45.160 is being tested. 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:47.000 There is something that. 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:50.679 God has already taught you that he is calling you 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:54.000 to trust in. Because there's a big difference between him 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:58.360 teaching it and me trusting it. And so this moment 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.200 in your life is about asking, in God, what have 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.720 you already taught me that you are calling me to 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:05.360 trust in? 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:06.000 Abraham? 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:11.960 Abraham, Abraham and God have a track record. By the 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:15.600 time he calls him to give his son back to God, 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:17.640 that God, who gave him the son, says, give it 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:19.960 back to me, which he has the right to do. 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:21.280 Everything comes from him. 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.840 But even in the midst of Abraham's confusion, there is 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:27.960 a sense of continuity. 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:28.400 For his calling. 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.160 The thing about trust when I said, God is calling 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.000 you to trust in something that he taught you. 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:38.680 The thing about trust is that trust is everything. 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:42.440 And the greatest way that I can exemplify this to 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:45.640 you is through Hebrews chapter eleven, verse eight. 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:47.760 God gives a. 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:50.240 Little bit of a reminder about something that happened forty 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:53.920 years earlier in Abraham's life that prepared him for this moment. 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:55.479 Now. I want to look at you right now. 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:57.800 Just because you don't feel ready for this moment doesn't 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:03.319 mean you're not prepared for it. Just because you're surprised 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:05.760 by it doesn't mean that you don't have the supply 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:06.480 for it. 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:09.920 Now. When Abraham was first. 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:12.640 Getting started out in his journey of faith following Y'ahweh, 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:14.280 he was seventy five years old. 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:17.760 They lived a lot longer than by the way, you. 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:19.600 Could have called it a midlife crisis, because he lived 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.360 to be about one point fifty one sixty. And the 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:25.520 Bible says in Hebrews chapter eleven, verse eight, a reminder 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.640 of something that happened when Abraham first got started. It 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:33.280 says by faith, Abraham, when called to go to a 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:37.800 place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:43.000 went even though he did not know where he was going. 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:45.439 That's about the craziest thing I. 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:48.280 Ever read in my life, y'all just sitting there looking 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:51.200 at me like he went to the grocery store. I 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:55.439 just told you, this man uprooted his entire life because 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:57.880 of a god he had never heard from told him 0:11:57.880 --> 0:11:59.520 to go to a place that he wouldn't give him 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:03.600 any details about, and there was no ways at on 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:08.480 Abraham's iPhone negative thirty four. So we went and obeyed, 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:12.600 even though he didn't know somebody say, even though, even 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:16.439 though even though he didn't know where it was leading, 0:12:16.520 --> 0:12:20.440 he set out in faith. And the thing about this 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:23.880 kind of trust in your life, my life, Abraham's life, 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:27.040 Simon's life, Martha's life, Mary's life, Moses's life. When we 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:29.360 go through all the people in the Bible, we get 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:32.160 a panoramic view of the patterns that apply to all 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:34.839 of us, kind of a sampler of what different people 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:36.760 went through that they had to trust God with and 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:39.800 steps that they took, and then we find ourselves following 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:44.880 in those footsteps. And trust is a funny thing because 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:49.520 the deeper the level of trust, the less the need 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:58.040 for details. The deeper the level of trust, the less 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:02.640 the need for details. Can I break it down. Holly 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:06.640 went to get her nails done yesterday. I trust her. 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.640 I didn't check my phone to see if she actually 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:12.480 went to get her nails done. I didn't ask her 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:14.840 how long she was going to be there. Who's going 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:19.560 to be doing your nails. What kind of acrylic are 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:21.880 you planning to get today? And are you going to 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:24.560 pay for the extra twenty dollars thing where they put 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:26.760 the little things on the things on top of the things. 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:27.840 Because I trust. 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:29.480 Her, she won't spend it if we don't have it, 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:31.319 and she won't lie to me about it. If she does, 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:34.000 she'd tell me I spent twenty I don't even have 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:36.360 to ask her. Just go get your nails done. I 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:41.520 trust her. This is not a marriage seminar. This is 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.040 not a parenting seminar, but let's pretend like it is 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.880 because it involves a father and a son with teenagers. 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:49.400 How many of you have teenagers? 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:54.880 When you trust your teenagers, you are delusional, just kidding. 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:57.720 When you trust your teenagers. 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:00.640 Because you know they can develop a t record, that 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:03.439 you trust them, right, And if you have a teenager 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.040 that you feel like you can trust as much as 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:07.120 you can trust. 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:11.040 Any person, including you, because some of. 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:13.200 Y'all can't even trust the teenager that's still living in you. 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:15.800 So how in the world would you completely trust your teenager? 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:23.160 But when they have exemplified trustworthy behavior, even though they 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.880 have a sinful nature, it changes things. 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:27.440 If you don't trust your teenager. 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:31.960 Every time they want to go somewhere, you need details. 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:35.920 So they will ask you, can I go to the movies, 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:40.840 and you will say I need some details. Somebody put 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:43.840 it in the chest, say details. Tell your neighbor I 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:44.640 need details. 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:46.160 Tell them. 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:50.880 If I don't trust you, I need details. So can 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:55.880 I go to the movie? What movie? What theater? Who 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:57.800 are some of the actors in the movies? So I 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:00.000 can see if you really plan on seeing this movie? 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.960 What time is it playing? Who else is going to 0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:05.840 be on your role? What seat are you sitting in? 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:10.200 Show me a screenshot of those seats right now? Will 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:12.720 there be popcorn involved? How much butter do you plan 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:16.760 on pumping on that popcorn? Because the less I trust you, 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.960 the more I need details. If I trust you, can 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:22.000 I go to the movies? 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:23.240 Sure? 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:28.400 Be home at eleven thirty. We don't need the details if. 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:34.480 We have the trust, and the deeper the level of trust, 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:36.200 the less the need for details. 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:38.840 The guy who started the. 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.360 Church with me, he could walk up to me right 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:43.880 in the middle of preaching right now and put a 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:46.480 contract here and say I need you to sign this 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:48.720 while you're preaching, and I would keep preaching and sign 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:49.920 it and hand it back to him. 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:51.400 I wouldn't ask him what it was about. 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:54.680 Maybe you think I'm an idiot, but we've had experiences together. 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:56.640 It would not matter what. 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.720 That particular document said. It is through the now. The 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:03.080 first time I met him, I needed details. 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:04.480 Now, let me tell. 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:06.800 Y'all something because I really want to set this frame 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:09.960 so that we don't get lost in an epic story 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:13.360 about killing your son or your daughter, which is not 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.880 what the text is about. It's about trust. God is 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:19.880 not calling you to kill your child, you might wish 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:25.440 from time to time, but using humor just to lighten 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:27.600 the mood so we don't get caught in something that 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:30.400 we can't understand and contextualize in our day. This is 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:34.240 about trust. The test that you're in right now is 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:37.920 about trust. When we started the church, I have eight 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:40.800 families who I asked to come with me. This was 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:44.160 twenty years ago. Twenty one years ago. I said, I'm 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:48.080 called to start a church, and I believe y'all are 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:51.680 called to come with me. But here's all I told him. 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:54.400 I said, we're going to start a church in a 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:57.600 big city somewhere in America. 0:16:57.760 --> 0:16:59.040 That was the whole pitch. 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.960 I had not read the sales books yet about how 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:05.840 to sell people on your vision. 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:08.960 And as a matter of fact, I didn't really. 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:10.760 Want them to know what city we were going to 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:12.520 because I didn't know yet. 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:14.000 And I believe that God knew. 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.359 And I didn't want them to make a commitment based 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.760 on a city. I wanted them to make a commitment 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:25.080 based on a calling. I didn't want them to commit 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:28.000 if we were going to Miami because they liked warm weather. 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.760 I wanted them to commit even if we went to Minnesota. 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:35.000 But I didn't want to tell the Minnesota so that 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:36.399 they would say yes and then they'd have to go 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:40.399 to Minnesota, because I wanted to trick them into trusting God, 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:40.960 not me. 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:45.840 Because I look back on that, I think, my goodness, how. 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:49.520 Did they trust so much when they were told so little? 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.480 Somewhere in the United States of America. We couldn't have 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:56.920 known we would be in such a wonderful city as Charlotte, 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:03.199 North Carolina. We couldn't have known. And I'm not comparing 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:07.000 y'all to Abraham. But even though they didn't know, they 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:12.040 decided to go. Let's go, let's go do it. They said, 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:16.840 we're young and dumb, let's go, might as well find 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:18.280 out if God can use us. 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:19.280 Let's go. 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:24.920 There's something invigorating even talking to you about me reliving those. 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:26.439 Let's go moments of our faith. 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:30.120 There's something exciting even just to remember, like, I don't 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:32.560 even know what it means to start a powerful church, 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:33.560 but I don't want to do it. 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:34.960 Lord, let's go. 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:40.960 And when God said to Abraham, let's go, Abraham didn't 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:42.960 say there are a few things I need to know, 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:47.479 which lets me now that trust is not only a 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:51.920 product of time, it is a product of character. This 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:55.520 was not Abraham's third time following God. 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:56.520 It was his first. 0:18:57.320 --> 0:18:59.240 It's not like he had a list of things to 0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:01.640 point back to where. Well, God, you led me there 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:03.119 and it worked out. You told me to take that 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:04.720 job and I got a raise, and you told me 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:07.119 to marry them and they turned out to be wonderful. No, 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:12.360 this is God saying it's me, God, let's go. And 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:17.119 when God says let's go, you can resist it, and 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:19.719 you'll get more and more miserable. 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:20.040 As you fight it. 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:23.679 When God says let's go, it's time for you to 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:28.159 leave this toxic state and forgive them and move on 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:31.760 from what you've been holding them hostage about. When God 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:35.000 says let let's go, and you won't move on past that. 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:38.399 You will feel stuck in yourself. 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:41.960 Until you obey the spoken word of the sovereign God. 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:46.199 When God says let's go, you might not even get 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:50.840 to ask him where. But if God can be trusted, 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.320 then the deeper the level of the trust, the less 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:58.480 the need for the details. So God says let's go, 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:01.359 and you don't ask him where. You just say which 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:05.240 shoes should I put on? Can I wear something with heels? 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:09.119 Or should I wear something flat? When God says let's go, 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:11.760 when he invites you into a new way of living, 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:14.520 when he tells you it's time to pursue growth and 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:17.760 stop staying stagnant in the grumblings of your past. 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:20.280 When God says let's. 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:23.760 Go, if you trust him enough, you won't even need 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:28.800 the details. And by the way, the more that I 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:32.960 trust you, the less details I need to give you too. 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:38.159 If I don't trust you, I gotta tell you everything. 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:42.680 But in my relationship with God, if I really trust him, 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:45.400 why would I need to get him all the details 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:46.439 of how he needs to leave me? 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:52.639 And I want to live in this for a minute. 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:56.240 I love y'all when y'all feel uncomfortable when I'm preaching. 0:20:57.480 --> 0:21:00.199 That's how I know I heard from God because there 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:03.760 are some of you right now whose faith is being tested. 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:06.120 But when your faith is being tested, realized that there's 0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:08.960 something that God already taught you that he is calling 0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:09.800 you to trust him in. 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:14.040 And the deeper the level of trust. Notice I said deeper, 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:14.560 not higher. 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:18.800 The deeper the level of trust, the less the need 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:23.920 for the details. How did Abraham trust so much when 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:26.720 he was told so little? I'm gona close my eyes 0:21:26.720 --> 0:21:28.240 so y'all won't feel like I'm judging you when you 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:30.320 answer this, raise your hand if you would have needed 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:32.600 a little more detail than Abraham received in order to 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:35.800 leave everything that you knew and set out, but he didn't. 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:40.360 I give you the scripture again, and I can't believe 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:42.840 those of you who did not raise your hand right there. 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:45.200 You won't even go to a party if you don't 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:50.679 see the entire guest list. Some of us won't even 0:21:50.760 --> 0:21:52.399 leave the house unless we plot out where all the 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:54.240 bathrooms are going to be. You know, I got to 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:56.119 know where, though, And if you drive a tesla, you 0:21:56.160 --> 0:21:57.960 got to know where every charging station is, or you 0:21:58.000 --> 0:21:58.600