Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
Speaker 1: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
Speaker 1: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2: Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving
Speaker 2: in your life.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the message.
Speaker 3: Come on, somebody help me lift the lad.
Speaker 2: Come on, let's live the name of Jesus. Pair the
Speaker 2: name of Mama name Jesus. Listen redeems, Jesus, listens unifl
Speaker 2: saor Jesus, glorious Lord, He's Manuel gone with us and
Speaker 2: his name. Tell me came wonderful come flor mighty die
Speaker 2: everlasting Mother.
Speaker 3: Ding up peve head, Lord of Lord. What's his name?
Speaker 2: Jesus? What she seesa ivy coming for your name.
Speaker 3: Je Jesus, Jesus, if be.
Speaker 2: Time, healing in the name of Jesus, Salvation in the
Speaker 2: name of Jesus, Freedom, in the name of Jesus, no
Speaker 2: other name but Jesus, the only.
Speaker 1: Name that saves. Father. I thank you today that when
Speaker 1: I don't know what to do, I know who to call.
Speaker 1: I ask you today, Lord, show up for your people.
Speaker 1: They've called on you, They've cried to you. We believe
Speaker 1: in your word. Your word says that if we call,
Speaker 1: you'll hear us. In the day of trouble.
Speaker 2: I pray right now, Lord that for every storm that
Speaker 2: may be happening, whether it's a physical storm that the
Speaker 2: weatherman was talking about, or whether it's an emotional storm
Speaker 2: that no one knows of, that you would speak peace
Speaker 2: to it. Peace, be still, Peace, be still. Yours is
Speaker 2: the voice that doesn't need a sound system.
Speaker 1: Peace be still. Yours is the power that never goes out.
Speaker 1: Peace be still.
Speaker 3: But you reach around and hug seven people and tell
Speaker 3: them this.
Speaker 2: The Lord is going to give you extra blessings for
Speaker 2: being here today. Those of you online, how are you doing?
Speaker 2: God is with you, mighty warrior. Get out of the
Speaker 2: wine press, stop worrying about it, and worship through it.
Speaker 1: God is with you in this storm.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't care what the enemy is.
Speaker 2: The Bible says He'll prepare a table in the presence
Speaker 2: of your enemies. Our God is great and greatly to
Speaker 2: be praised. Everybody say my God is great. Come on,
Speaker 2: either say it with your lips or type it with
Speaker 2: your fingers, or use your thumbs. Put it in the
Speaker 2: comments right now. Say my God is great. Tell him
Speaker 2: yours is great too. Come on, tell your neighbor we
Speaker 2: got the same God. Tell him he likes me better,
Speaker 2: but we're both his kids. How many secretly feel like
Speaker 2: you're one of God's favorites? Just slip your finger up
Speaker 2: right here.
Speaker 1: I want to welcome everybody that's a part of our church,
Speaker 1: our global e fam around the world. Let's welcome all
Speaker 1: those who are joining us online today. You know, it's
Speaker 1: an interesting dilemma.
Speaker 2: We've been hearing weather reports an apocalyptic storm that may
Speaker 2: be coming. And while we take that seriously, and while
Speaker 2: we'll be working with our outreach partners to help all
Speaker 2: of those who are affected and to minister to those
Speaker 2: who are in need, you know, it gets kind of
Speaker 2: hard sometimes because there's always a report, there's always a
Speaker 2: reason not to do something.
Speaker 1: And when we heard that the storm.
Speaker 2: Was coming right here through where we live, it was
Speaker 2: a conversation, you know, should we cancel church?
Speaker 1: And something inside of me was like, this.
Speaker 2: Is Elevation Church, and if anything, we can't cancel. So
Speaker 2: if anything, we got to sneak up on the devil
Speaker 2: day early.
Speaker 1: So that's what we're doing.
Speaker 2: We gathered together about fifteen hundred of the most safe,
Speaker 2: sanctified people and the Carolinas.
Speaker 1: Some from Virginia.
Speaker 3: I mean, these are watch this. These are holy ghosts
Speaker 3: filled believers.
Speaker 1: In the room today. That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2: We checked all the Uversion Bible reading plans in the church,
Speaker 2: and the people with the perfect streaks got to come
Speaker 2: to church today. So we're sharing this with you a
Speaker 2: little early. The Lord is in this place, and it's
Speaker 2: been an interesting day here in the room. It's been interesting.
Speaker 2: Not only do they say a storm is coming, but
Speaker 2: something happened that's never happened in the twenty years of
Speaker 2: this church. The entire sound system went out like five
Speaker 2: hundred times while we were trying to transition into the sermon,
Speaker 2: and we kept on having to sing the third and
Speaker 2: fourth and fifth verses of songs that only have two verses.
Speaker 1: That was interesting as well.
Speaker 2: And I started thinking about all of that, and I thought,
Speaker 2: you know, Lord, well, maybe you didn't want us.
Speaker 1: To bring this message today. Maybe you didn't want me
Speaker 1: to preach today.
Speaker 2: All these distractions and all these hindrances and all these obstacles.
Speaker 1: Maybe you didn't want me to have this service today.
Speaker 1: Maybe you didn't want me to preach this work today,
Speaker 1: and something inside me said no.
Speaker 2: Maybe the devil didn't see we misinterpret when things go wrong.
Speaker 2: Now I don't even know if my MIC's gonna work
Speaker 2: for this whole sermon, but I need every prayer warrior
Speaker 2: praying that this word would.
Speaker 1: Reach right where it's supposed to go. We welcome you
Speaker 1: into the.
Speaker 3: Presence of the Lord today. Wherever you are, whatever you're
Speaker 3: going through.
Speaker 2: God has a word for you, and no word from
Speaker 2: God will return void. Isaiah fifty five says, as the
Speaker 2: rain falls from the heaven and waters the earth and
Speaker 2: causes it to flourish, so will.
Speaker 1: God's word be that comes forth from his mouth.
Speaker 2: It will not return unto him void. It will accomplish
Speaker 2: what he said it to do. How many are excited
Speaker 2: about the word today? Come on, clap your hands on
Speaker 2: your couch, roll call everybody, puts your name in the chat,
Speaker 2: and open your Bible. Please to Matthew chapter thirteen, Matthew
Speaker 2: Chapter thirteen, verses thirty one and thirty two, and Matthew
Speaker 2: Chapter thirteen, verse forty four. I'm going to share a
Speaker 2: little scripture today with you that is really going to
Speaker 2: help you in your life. And if while I'm preaching,
Speaker 2: the microphone pops and struggles and strains underneath the weight
Speaker 2: of this anointing, I will scream so loud that the
Speaker 2: dude in the back row will fall down the stairs
Speaker 2: from the shock, until my voice.
Speaker 1: Is raw and the Lord will speak. Now, listen to this.
Speaker 2: This is Matthew chapter thirteen, verse thirty one and thirty two,
Speaker 2: and Matthew Chapter thirteen, verse forty four. Jesus told them
Speaker 2: another parable. He said, the Kingdom of Heaven is like
Speaker 2: a mustard seed which a man took and planted in
Speaker 2: his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds,
Speaker 2: Yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden
Speaker 2: plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come
Speaker 2: perch in its branches. Wow verse forty four. The Kingdom
Speaker 2: of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When
Speaker 2: a man found it, he hid it again, and then
Speaker 2: in his joy, went and sold all he had and
Speaker 2: bought that feel. I have a word from the Lord
Speaker 2: for you today. The Lord told me to tell you it's.
Speaker 1: Worth the dirt. It's worth the dirt. Father, These moments
Speaker 1: in your presence are precious.
Speaker 2: We pray for your protection and a hedge of your
Speaker 2: glory around each of your children today so that they
Speaker 2: can receive what you speak.
Speaker 1: However it comes out. This is your word and your
Speaker 1: church in Jesus' name.
Speaker 2: Amen, touch your neighbor and tell him it's worth the
Speaker 2: dirt on your way to your seat.
Speaker 1: I know you had to wait for this sermon, but
Speaker 1: it's going to be worth it now.
Speaker 2: I have a feeling that this microphone is not going
Speaker 2: to hold up today, But I think what I'm going
Speaker 2: to do is I'm just going to preach this as
Speaker 2: awkward as it needs to be preached, unless that becomes
Speaker 2: so distracting that we can't take it. And if somebody
Speaker 2: wants to run the target and buy me a megaphone,
Speaker 2: I'll preach.
Speaker 1: Through that as well. You know, God is so good.
Speaker 2: He teaches us to discern in different seasons of our
Speaker 2: life whether or not something is worth it. And maturity
Speaker 2: is learning to see when something will be worth it
Speaker 2: and embrace it and when it's not worth it to
Speaker 2: walk away. That's what maturity is. Being mature in your faith.
Speaker 2: It's about recognizing when it's worth it and when it
Speaker 2: isn't worth it. And not only recognize it, but walk
Speaker 2: away when it's not worth it. Tell your neighbor just
Speaker 2: practice real quick saying it's not even worth it.
Speaker 1: It's not even worth it. Some things are, some things aren't.
Speaker 2: For years, when I would go watch Graham wrestle, usually
Speaker 2: I was spending my saturdays in a sweaty gym that
Speaker 2: smelled like boy, smelled like the worst parts of a boy.
Speaker 1: By about two o'clock in the afternoon, it would be
Speaker 1: cooking in that oven.
Speaker 2: The reason I know that it was worth it is
Speaker 2: because the first time he ever won a big wrestling tournament,
Speaker 2: I said to him afterwards, Man, I'm so glad I
Speaker 2: was here to see it.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: The reason that I almost wasn't there was because I
Speaker 2: had to bring in a guest preacher to preach for
Speaker 2: me in order to be at this tournament. And there
Speaker 2: was a part of me sitting there like, man, thousands
Speaker 2: of people that need the gospel, and then my son's resting.
Speaker 1: I don't know what to do.
Speaker 2: Is it worth it to not preach to go watch
Speaker 2: him in this tournament? So he wins the whole thing, right,
Speaker 2: and we're sitting at pizza hut where all of my
Speaker 2: food addiction issues began.
Speaker 1: With the book at Club.
Speaker 2: I'm serious, all of my food reward issues is started
Speaker 2: in the fourth grade reading The Babysitters Club and getting
Speaker 2: pizza for it.
Speaker 1: Shouldn't have confessed that.
Speaker 2: Well, We're sitting there Pizza Hut celebrating his gold medal,
Speaker 2: and I said, man, I'm so glad I came. What
Speaker 2: if you'd have won the whole tournament and I hadn't
Speaker 2: been here to see it? And he said, well, if
Speaker 2: you hadn't been here to see it, I probably wouldn't
Speaker 2: have won it. If you hadn't been here to see it,
Speaker 2: I probably wouldn't have won it. So every time I'd
Speaker 2: be hauling my butt into a gym with some boy's
Speaker 2: feet propped up on the bleachers behind me, I mean,
Speaker 2: at a wrestling tournament, they turned the whole gym into.
Speaker 1: A locker room. It's awesome, it's incredible, And.
Speaker 2: In a room full of half naked men packed to
Speaker 2: the gills and me sitting there in the middle of
Speaker 2: all of it with my OCD, I'm going, it's worth it.
Speaker 1: It's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it. It's
Speaker 1: worth it.
Speaker 2: Not just because he's going to go to the Olympics.
Speaker 2: But because he told me it's worth it. Tell somebody
Speaker 2: sometimes it's worth it. Some times you got to preach
Speaker 2: with the mic popping because it's worth it. Sometimes you
Speaker 2: got to come out the.
Speaker 4: Church a day early on a Saturday because it's worth it.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's worth it. And wisdom is knowing when it's
Speaker 1: worth it.
Speaker 2: Wisdom is the ability to hear that little whisper that
Speaker 2: God will give you.
Speaker 1: From time to time and say it's worth it. Stick
Speaker 1: with this, it's worth it. Log on church online today,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be worth it. Yeah, keep trying to fix
Speaker 1: that relationship. It's worth it. And sometimes it's just a
Speaker 1: little whisper.
Speaker 2: God will encourage you in the moment where you feel
Speaker 2: like giving up, and he'll say, no, no, no, it's
Speaker 2: worth it.
Speaker 1: Keep doing it. It's worth it. Just whisper to your neighbor,
Speaker 1: say it's worth it. Now. Tell them to say it's
Speaker 1: worth it when it's worth it.
Speaker 2: But you know what, I had a moment the other day,
Speaker 2: and it happened when I was bending down to tie
Speaker 2: my shoes and Holly was in the other room laughing
Speaker 2: at me, and she said, Babe, you're tying your shoes
Speaker 2: like you are eighty eight, and I said, I know, babe,
Speaker 2: I can't. I can't help it. That's the price that
Speaker 2: I pay for this physique. It just comes with soreness.
Speaker 2: And she said, yeah, but the trade off, like you
Speaker 2: look great, but do you really have to do you
Speaker 2: really have to go that hard on leg day that
Speaker 2: you can't tie your shoes? And I had a moment
Speaker 2: standing there in the closet listening to my wife mock me,
Speaker 2: a moment of maturity where I decided, you know what,
Speaker 2: She's right, this is not worth it, even though that
Speaker 2: lady at the gym fifteen years ago made fun of
Speaker 2: me and said do you ever do leg day?
Speaker 1: And created a complex inside of me.
Speaker 2: While I was wearing my shorts, I was bending down
Speaker 2: to tie my shoes, and something just hit me real quick, like,
Speaker 2: you know what, Nobody is looking at your ham strings. Nobody,
Speaker 2: not even Holly wants to see your ham strings. So
Speaker 2: just wear some sweats and cover your quads. What are
Speaker 2: you trying to be a quad model? That was the
Speaker 2: last day I ever did heavy squats because it's not
Speaker 2: worth it. I came to set somebody free from leg
Speaker 2: day today, you're too old for that. Now, you're not
Speaker 2: supposed to be going down that deep.
Speaker 1: If the Lord would have.
Speaker 2: Made you have been down like that, he'd have put
Speaker 2: hinges on your hips. It's not helping anybody, and nobody
Speaker 2: is looking at your calves.
Speaker 1: Cover them up.
Speaker 3: It's not worth it.
Speaker 1: Wear some baggy jeans and tie your shoes and be happy.
Speaker 2: In Matthew chapter thirteen, what a transition full of out
Speaker 2: all the stuffs today on snow day. In Matthew chapter thirteen,
Speaker 2: Jesus is giving a very important lesson to his disciples
Speaker 2: on what's worth it, because he knows there will be
Speaker 2: a time soon to come when he goes to the
Speaker 2: cross and their commitment to him will be challenged by
Speaker 2: that cross.
Speaker 1: See, they left a lot to follow him.
Speaker 2: They left their fishing businesses, they left their tax collecting agencies.
Speaker 2: Many of them even left their family's approval to follow
Speaker 2: this wonderworking rebel priest named Jesus of Nazareth, who is
Speaker 2: considered a heretic by many. And at the moment that
Speaker 2: he could have called the legion of angels to get
Speaker 2: him down off the cross, and didn't.
Speaker 1: I wonder did they wonder? Was it worth it? And
Speaker 1: I wonder who I'm preaching to today that wonders is
Speaker 1: it worth it?
Speaker 2: Is it worth it for me to keep serving God?
Speaker 2: It doesn't seem to be doing me any good. Is
Speaker 2: it worth it for me to keep being pure as
Speaker 2: a teenager? Everybody else is having more fun than I am?
Speaker 2: Is it worth it for me to be the weird
Speaker 2: kid that doesn't get invited to the parties Because I
Speaker 2: have a standard.
Speaker 1: Of purity and I have a direction of destiny.
Speaker 2: I have learned at this stage of my life how
Speaker 2: important it is that we are not driven by external
Speaker 2: and others focused metrics of what matters.
Speaker 1: You have to decide what is worth it from within.
Speaker 2: You have to, or else you'll jump on every trend,
Speaker 2: or else you will burn yourself out and then ask
Speaker 2: God to light your fire.
Speaker 1: But God can't light a fire when you.
Speaker 2: Don't have the priorities to put His presence first in
Speaker 2: your life. And I think this is your year to
Speaker 2: decide what's worth it to you and to commit to
Speaker 2: what is and to walk away from what isn't.
Speaker 1: This is not permission to quit your job, because I
Speaker 1: bet you like that check. That check is kind of
Speaker 1: worth It is kind of worth it's kind of worth
Speaker 1: your boss's bad breath, isn't it?
Speaker 2: The health insurance is kind of worth it That dental
Speaker 2: insurance make you put up with a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1: See.
Speaker 2: I think it's very difficult for us in the moment
Speaker 2: to know is it worth it. It's easy to look
Speaker 2: back and say that wasn't worth it. It's easy to
Speaker 2: look back and say that was worth it. Where the
Speaker 2: Holy Spirit comes in is to look at something and
Speaker 2: to realize this is worth it, and the Lord will
Speaker 2: whisper it's worth it. I know it doesn't look like much,
Speaker 2: but it's worth it. I know it's hard for you
Speaker 2: and nobody's appreciating you, but it's worth it. I've called
Speaker 2: you to it, and then the Holy Spirit will whisper
Speaker 2: to you. Sometimes it's not worth it. I know you
Speaker 2: want to tell them off, save your breath. It's not
Speaker 2: worth it. I know you want to put them in
Speaker 2: their place, and you can do it, but it's not
Speaker 2: worth it. You're going to be sore tomorrow if you
Speaker 2: go off today.
Speaker 1: Now you're going to have to apologize and create more
Speaker 1: work for yourself. Just put it in the comments.
Speaker 2: It's not worth it. I learned that about leg day.
Speaker 2: But I'm still learning it about life. I'm learning that
Speaker 2: it is not worth it for me to respond to
Speaker 2: every criticism. I mean, let's be honest, I've had my
Speaker 2: fair share of practice. How many of y'all that go
Speaker 2: to this church have ever heard somebody say something bad
Speaker 2: about me?
Speaker 1: How many of you wanted to punch them in the mountain?
Speaker 2: I love y'all. That's our real church right there. One
Speaker 2: of my friends asked me one time. He's like, Pastor,
Speaker 2: don't you feel like the staff you got around you
Speaker 2: is too saved? Don't you feel like you need a
Speaker 2: few barely saved, just out of prison ministry staff around
Speaker 2: you just to handle the nonsense? I thought, No, it's
Speaker 2: not worth it. Peter didn't get this. When they came
Speaker 2: to get Jesus, he.
Speaker 3: Started cutting off ears, and Jesus said.
Speaker 1: What is this? It's not worth it.
Speaker 2: Nothing can stop me from going to the cross because
Speaker 2: that's what God sent me to do.
Speaker 1: It's not worth it. That phrase right there will set
Speaker 1: you free. It's not worth it.
Speaker 2: It's not worth it because if I defend myself to
Speaker 2: a critic and I win, what have I won? A
Speaker 2: critic who changed their mind? What prize do I get
Speaker 2: for changing their mind? If I change your mind, I
Speaker 2: get what.
Speaker 1: See.
Speaker 2: I might win an argument, but it's too expensive because it.
Speaker 1: Cost me my peace. So I rather keep my peace
Speaker 1: than win an argument. Jesus is helping his disciples to
Speaker 1: discern what's worth it.
Speaker 2: And that's what he's doing in your life right now.
Speaker 2: He's allowing some things to be pruned. He's allowing some
Speaker 2: things to be moved. He's allowing some.
Speaker 1: People that were in your life to move to a
Speaker 1: different circle.
Speaker 2: It's not that you don't love them, It's just that
Speaker 2: you can't invest in everybody in this season of your life.
Speaker 2: And so God graciously moves people into different seasons so
Speaker 2: that you can focus on what's right in front of you,
Speaker 2: so God can show you what's worth it. That's why
Speaker 2: God lets you have that really bad hangover, so you
Speaker 2: could realize this is not worth it. I don't want
Speaker 2: to pass this crap on to my kids. I don't
Speaker 2: want them to have to struggle with the sediction because
Speaker 2: it's not worth it. And in Matthew chapter thirteen, we
Speaker 2: get two parables of seven that are mentioned by Jesus.
Speaker 2: In the Gospel of Matthew, they are the mysteries of
Speaker 2: the kingdom. One of those mysteries is the mystery of
Speaker 2: the mustard seed, and one is the treasure in the field.
Speaker 1: And what they both hold in common to me is
Speaker 1: not a parent on the surface.
Speaker 2: He told them another parable, The Kingdom of Heaven is
Speaker 2: like a mustard seed which a man took and planted
Speaker 2: in his field. That's a beautiful scripture to me, because
Speaker 2: a mustard seed is indeed the parabolic smallest seed that
Speaker 2: was known at the time, not technically, but it was
Speaker 2: commonly accepted to say it's as small as a mustard seed.
Speaker 2: Go on, though it is the smallest of all seeds,
Speaker 2: yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden
Speaker 2: plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come
Speaker 2: and perch in its franchis. To me, this speaks to
Speaker 2: the temptation that I feel so often in my life
Speaker 2: to dismiss something that God is doing because of a
Speaker 2: small beginning. Because of a small beginning. I can think
Speaker 2: of so many examples in my life where it was
Speaker 2: little until it wasn't a little thing that almost seemed
Speaker 2: so inconsequential, and it was little until it wasn't, and
Speaker 2: I found out when God speaks to us, he usually
Speaker 2: speaks little things to us.
Speaker 1: It's worth it. It's little until it isn't. What's the
Speaker 1: first thing that Jesus told Peter to do, not leave
Speaker 1: your nets and follow me.
Speaker 2: He just said, put down the nets for a catch. Well,
Speaker 2: that's something that Peter did all the time. It was
Speaker 2: little until it wasn't. Because when Jesus told him to
Speaker 2: do the little thing, put down the nets for a catch,
Speaker 2: Jesus had a big thing in mind. Oh, somebody say,
Speaker 2: God's got something big for me. Come on, say you
Speaker 2: got to say that with some volume. Now, God's God
Speaker 2: something big for me. Say it again, God's God something
Speaker 2: big for me. It starts as a seed. And if
Speaker 2: you dismiss the seed, you miss the thing. The Kingdom
Speaker 2: of heaven.
Speaker 1: What's it like, Jesus tell us what the Kingdom of
Speaker 1: Heaven is like. It's like the smallest seed.
Speaker 2: It's almost microscopic, but it can be miraculous, and.
Speaker 1: It just takes time.
Speaker 2: Is worth it.
Speaker 1: It just takes time. It matters. It just takes time.
Speaker 2: And I have a phone full of proof that everything
Speaker 2: that God does big starts small. I have a phone
Speaker 2: full of voice notes that have songs that we sing
Speaker 2: in our church that started as a little melody idea
Speaker 2: that we hummed into the phone. If you heard it,
Speaker 2: you would think I was having a nervous breakdown. It
Speaker 2: doesn't sound like a song, It doesn't sound like anything.
Speaker 1: It sounds like a mumble. It sounds like a mustard seed.
Speaker 2: But God turns some of those mumbles into anthems that
Speaker 2: people can sing when they're looking at mountains. So now
Speaker 2: I remember, watch this. It's little until it isn't. It's
Speaker 2: little until it isn't. One day David was told by
Speaker 2: his father to carry some cheese and bread to the
Speaker 2: battle lines.
Speaker 1: To his brothers. Well, that's a little thing.
Speaker 2: All he's doing at this point that I can tell,
Speaker 2: is doing an uber driver's job with.
Speaker 1: A king's anointing.
Speaker 2: But David sets out to do a little thing, and
Speaker 2: he takes his little cheeses and his little breads from
Speaker 2: watching his little sheep with his little self, the smallest brother,
Speaker 2: and he shows up little. But when he gets to
Speaker 2: the battle lines, he hears the shout of a big giant,
Speaker 2: this giant nine feet tall. So now all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: what was little that morning? Take this meal to your
Speaker 2: brothers turned into the biggest opportunity of his life. Because
Speaker 2: it's little till it isn't. Say it it's little, til
Speaker 2: it isn't. This side, say it's little, this side, say
Speaker 2: till it isn't. Elijah the prophet told his servant, go
Speaker 2: check the sky. I hear the sound of the abundance
Speaker 2: of rain is getting stormy. I know there's been a
Speaker 2: drought in the land. And the servant came back seven
Speaker 2: times and said there's nothing there.
Speaker 1: And on the seventh time, not the six to seventh, he.
Speaker 3: Came back and said, well, I see a cloud, but
Speaker 3: it's it's little. It's just the size of a man's hand.
Speaker 2: And Elijah said, well, you better tell Ahab hitch up
Speaker 2: his chariots, because it might be little now.
Speaker 3: But it is loaded. And I came to preach to
Speaker 3: somebody's life.
Speaker 2: It might be little now going back to get your degree.
Speaker 2: It might be little now having integrity on your job.
Speaker 1: It might be little now.
Speaker 3: Making your first appointment with a trainer.
Speaker 2: It might be little now putting the word of God
Speaker 2: in your kid's heart, dragging them to church.
Speaker 3: It might be little now breeding a verse a day.
Speaker 1: It might be little now.
Speaker 3: But little as much as God is in it, little
Speaker 3: as much.
Speaker 2: Jesus was preaching one day, the crowds were hungry.
Speaker 3: He told the.
Speaker 2: Disciples to feed them, and he asked him, what do
Speaker 2: you have? They said, just a little bit. There's a
Speaker 2: little boy with a little lunch and a big crowd
Speaker 2: with a few loaves. And what we have is little
Speaker 2: and as little till it isn't. And when he touched it,
Speaker 2: what was little became leftovers. Because it's only little till
Speaker 2: it isn't. Come on, give God a little praise, little pray,
Speaker 2: little brave, little praise, little prays, little braves, little braids.
Speaker 2: I see a cloud the size of a man's hand,
Speaker 2: I see it rising in your life. Or maybe I
Speaker 2: should say I see a cloud the size of a
Speaker 2: man's hand, and I see a seed the size of
Speaker 2: a mustard seed. And Jesus said, some of the most
Speaker 2: significant things God will do in your life will be
Speaker 2: some of the smallest things when they start. All right,
Speaker 2: if I send you all home right now, I think
Speaker 2: it was worth it just to encourage you with that much.
Speaker 2: It's little till it isn't. Can I break that down
Speaker 2: a little more? Though, I want to make it worth
Speaker 2: your while. Tell somebody is worth it. It's worth it
Speaker 2: to come to church. It's worth it to put on
Speaker 2: your uncomfortable shoes and your pants that don't have an
Speaker 2: elastic waistband and get in the House of God and
Speaker 2: get in a place where you can hear. And it
Speaker 2: is worth it to devote yourself to the word of God.
Speaker 2: And I'm gonna tell you something right now about the
Speaker 2: mustard seed that a tree. And I don't know if
Speaker 2: you can kind of make this jump with me, But
Speaker 2: it's not only true about the kingdom that it's little
Speaker 2: until it isn't, but it's also true about compromise.
Speaker 1: It's little.
Speaker 2: Till it isn't. It's one glass of wine until you
Speaker 2: go through something that makes you need three and five
Speaker 2: and seven.
Speaker 1: I wish y'all would.
Speaker 2: Look at me like that, Well, I'm not allowed to
Speaker 2: have a standard in my life. I'm not telling you
Speaker 2: not to drink. What I am saying about this is
Speaker 2: that I had people make fun of me almost every
Speaker 2: year of my teenage and adult life when they found
Speaker 2: out that I have chosen I can't handle alcohol, and
Speaker 2: they're like, what do you think it's a sin?
Speaker 5: I'm like, no, I don't think it's a sin. I
Speaker 5: just think for me is slippery. It's slippery.
Speaker 1: Because I know me and I am already addicted to
Speaker 1: enough stuff. I do not need to invite chemical demons
Speaker 1: into places where.
Speaker 2: I already have plenty of this function. You know what
Speaker 2: I'm saying, I'm not inviting a gang of demons into
Speaker 2: my life. When my dad struggled with it, and his
Speaker 2: dad struggled with it, and the Lord gave me a
Speaker 2: real revelation about this. One day, I was watching a
Speaker 2: famous celebrity and they were on a talk show and
Speaker 2: they were celebrating like seventeen years of sobriety, and everybody clatform.
Speaker 2: Everybody clapped. Seventeen years sober. That's amazing. Everybody clatform. Everybody
Speaker 2: was clapping. The whole studio audience was clapping. I thought,
Speaker 2: that's crazy. They will clap for that. But if a
Speaker 2: teenager decides I'm not going to drink, everybody will make
Speaker 2: you feel like a fool.
Speaker 1: So why do we celebrate after.
Speaker 2: They have made such a mess that they need a
Speaker 2: miracle to make it right? But we can't celebrate when
Speaker 2: you put the measures in your life to keep you
Speaker 2: from the evil in the first place. So if we
Speaker 2: can celebrate recovery, we can celebrate precovery. It means that
Speaker 2: I can make some little decisions in my life that
Speaker 2: might keep a guardrail up for the future. Because it's
Speaker 2: little till it isn't. It's little till it isn't. And
Speaker 2: you're saying, what does this have to do with dirt?
Speaker 2: You said it's worth the dirt, that's your title. What
Speaker 2: does dirt have to do with decisions? I was looking
Speaker 2: at these parables, you know. The one I preached about
Speaker 2: a few weeks ago was the wheat and the wats.
Speaker 2: I preached about that how the enemy will always do
Speaker 2: something right beside whatever God does, in order to try
Speaker 2: to get you discouraged and get you to give up.
Speaker 1: And I do feel like that I'm preaching to.
Speaker 2: A lot of people today who are discouraged either by
Speaker 2: the seeming insignificance of what God has called you to do.
Speaker 2: I mean, good Lord, what parent in the room has
Speaker 2: not been discouraged to think none of this matters. All
Speaker 2: the little things you do for your kids, all the
Speaker 2: things they don't say thank you for, all the little
Speaker 2: pieces of advice you try to give all the little
Speaker 2: things that you may do that go unnoticed, all of
Speaker 2: the little ways you try to correct. There's nobody in
Speaker 2: here who hasn't felt the idea of this isn't worth it,
Speaker 2: or at the very least, this isn't working, and it's
Speaker 2: not worth it. Because it's not working, it's not nothing's
Speaker 2: getting better. But notice something about the mustard seed.
Speaker 1: It became.
Speaker 2: What it was.
Speaker 1: In an unseen place. Notice the mustard seed was very small,
Speaker 1: the smallest of all seeds.
Speaker 2: Yet Verse thirty two says when it grows, it is
Speaker 2: the largest of garden plants.
Speaker 1: Now, I just need to preach this like its Bible study.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm gonna talk to y'all, not like you're a
Speaker 2: Sunday morning crowd. I'm gonna talk to you like you're
Speaker 2: a seminary class. It doesn't say when it grows it
Speaker 2: becomes the largest of garden plants. It says when it
Speaker 2: grows it is the largest of garden plants. That means
Speaker 2: it already was when it went in the ground. It
Speaker 2: just needed somewhere to grow. What made the difference between
Speaker 2: the mustard seed being this big and being this big,
Speaker 2: What made the.
Speaker 1: Difference was the dirt. We don't like dirt. We don't
Speaker 1: like dirt. We like shine. We don't like dirt. We
Speaker 1: like dreams. We don't like dirt. We don't like dirty churches.
Speaker 2: We go around to churches, and if one church has
Speaker 2: a problem with it, we'll leave that church and go
Speaker 2: to another church. And you know, some of us, we're
Speaker 2: going from church to church looking for dirt. And we
Speaker 2: are drawn to the church because that church helped me
Speaker 2: and that church blessed me. But stay around any church
Speaker 2: long enough, you'll find dirt. I mean, even the purest church,
Speaker 2: even the church that says like we're the real church.
Speaker 2: We preach the real gospel. We preach the real truth.
Speaker 2: They got dirt. They've got dirt. I promise you. I
Speaker 2: have lived to see the days when some of the
Speaker 2: most judgmental people that I ever met in my life
Speaker 2: turned out to be the most jacked up people that I.
Speaker 1: Ever met in my life.
Speaker 2: And the reason they were so mean is because they
Speaker 2: were so messed up, and rather than admit they were
Speaker 2: messed up, they just decided to be mean. So let
Speaker 2: me go ahead and save you a lot of trouble.
Speaker 2: This church has dirt. The person you're sitting next to
Speaker 2: has dirt. The person that you're sitting next to.
Speaker 1: Has some things that.
Speaker 2: They carry with them that they're not proud of that
Speaker 2: if you meet them in the wrong place, they might
Speaker 2: not have a good response.
Speaker 3: But notice in the passage that it was the dirt.
Speaker 3: I'm not glorifying sin, but it was the dirt.
Speaker 1: It was something that we try to remove.
Speaker 2: It was something that we don't value that made the
Speaker 2: mustard seed become something that you would not see on
Speaker 2: the surface. This trial that you're going through, this shame
Speaker 2: that you're dealing with, this issue that you're pushing through.
Speaker 2: Whether or not you grow from it depends on how
Speaker 2: you interpret the dirt. Because if I see the dirt
Speaker 2: as a place to avoid, I will never go through
Speaker 2: the processes that will make me grow, and I'll run
Speaker 2: from church to church looking for a church with no dirt.
Speaker 1: But can I tell you something, You grow in the dirt.
Speaker 1: You grow in community.
Speaker 2: You grow when you have to work through conflict, quit
Speaker 2: switching people.
Speaker 3: And start letting God change you.
Speaker 2: It can't grow if it never gets planted. You can't
Speaker 2: grow if you never get planted. And yes, there come
Speaker 2: times to leave jobs and yes, there come times to
Speaker 2: leave relationships, and yes there comes time to leave churches.
Speaker 2: But I want to tell you that some of us
Speaker 2: never produce our potential because we are never planted in
Speaker 2: our purpose. And sometimes you just have to decide, this
Speaker 2: is worth it. Devil, you can't have it. This is
Speaker 2: worth it for fighting for me. Now that might not
Speaker 2: be devil.
Speaker 1: You can have that. I'll pay you to take it.
Speaker 1: This is not worth it, but this is worth it.
Speaker 1: The word of the Lord for somebody. Is this one's
Speaker 1: worth it? This one's worth it.
Speaker 2: I know it's small. I know you don't see it
Speaker 2: right now. I know it's taking longer than you thought.
Speaker 2: I know the momentum is tricky right now. I know
Speaker 2: the winds are against you. But this one's worth it.
Speaker 1: This is not just anything.
Speaker 2: You cannot keep this cycle up of running from things
Speaker 2: when they get hard, you will never grow that way.
Speaker 2: This one's worth it. And I know it's dirty. I
Speaker 2: know it's messy, I know is sloppy. I know it'll
Speaker 2: be easier for you to just hide. But this one
Speaker 2: is worth it.
Speaker 6: It's worth the dirt that's where it grew. It's worth
Speaker 6: the dirt that's where it learned to break through. It's
Speaker 6: worth the dirt.
Speaker 2: And yet there's another parable, another parable that Jesus told
Speaker 2: about dirt. He talked in Matthew thirteen forty four about
Speaker 2: how the Kingdom of Heaven is also like Now watch this.
Speaker 2: In the first parable, he's talking about a tree that
Speaker 2: has to go into the dirt to become what it
Speaker 2: already is. In this parable, he's talking about a treasure
Speaker 2: that is hidden in the dirt.
Speaker 1: But it does not lessen its value.
Speaker 2: For he said, the Kingdom of Heaven forty four is
Speaker 2: like a treasure hidden.
Speaker 1: In a field.
Speaker 2: When a man found it, he hid it again, and
Speaker 2: then in his joy, he went and sold everything he had.
Speaker 2: He was happy, he was putting everything on eBay, and
Speaker 2: happy because the Kingdom of God is like this is
Speaker 2: so precious, it's such a priority.
Speaker 1: The Kingdom of God is such a treasure.
Speaker 2: When he found it, he sold everything he had and
Speaker 2: bought the treasure.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: Wrong.
Speaker 1: It does not say he bought the treasure. He bought
Speaker 1: the field.
Speaker 2: And the last time I checked, fields are made of
Speaker 2: and the last time I checked. In Genesis one, verse seven,
Speaker 2: you are made.
Speaker 1: Of dirt.
Speaker 2: And when God created you, he reached down into the dirt.
Speaker 2: God didn't make you from stars. God reached down into
Speaker 2: the dirt, and when he breathed on what was dirty.
Speaker 3: The breath of what is holy.
Speaker 2: In Genesis, it says that the man became a living
Speaker 2: being because God says, the dirt is worth it. When
Speaker 2: I breathe on it, it's worth it. When I speak
Speaker 2: to it, it's worth it. Matthew thirteen forty four taught
Speaker 2: me about marriage. It says that a man found a treasure.
Speaker 2: The Kingdom of God is like a man who found a.
Speaker 1: Treasure, and he was so happy about the treasure that
Speaker 1: he sold everything he had.
Speaker 2: Number One, it taught me that marriage means I'm going
Speaker 2: to be broke buying stuff I don't even want. Number Two,
Speaker 2: it taught me that when I bought Holly her ring,
Speaker 2: y'all didn't know where I was going with that kind
Speaker 2: of marriage. Do y'all have, y'all?
Speaker 1: When I bought a.
Speaker 2: Ring, I spent every dollar I had on the ring
Speaker 2: three thousand dollars. Three thousand dollars in two thousand and two.
Speaker 2: Adjust that for inflation. Big money to your boy.
Speaker 1: But I did it.
Speaker 2: I was happy to do it. I met with this
Speaker 2: shady dude up in a pawn shop somewhere. I said, Now,
Speaker 2: how do I know it's real? He showed me all
Speaker 2: these papers. I believed him.
Speaker 1: Now I've upgraded her ring for every decade that she
Speaker 1: has dealt with me, just to remind her, Just to
Speaker 1: remind her that is worth the dirt.
Speaker 2: Get that diamond a little bit bigger, just to remind her.
Speaker 1: In case she forgets. I'm sure she doesn't. I've been
Speaker 1: looking back on that.
Speaker 2: Is anybody engaged in the room today, anybody engaged to
Speaker 2: be married.
Speaker 1: For real? Where congratulations, you got a ring and everything?
Speaker 1: A ring?
Speaker 3: Pop?
Speaker 1: Do you really have a fiance? Is that part true?
Speaker 1: Show me, good job. I'm so happy for you.
Speaker 2: But this is one thing I want you to understand,
Speaker 2: and I really want to use this as an example
Speaker 2: for everybody in the room. When I put the ring
Speaker 2: on Holly's finger, I got down on one knee at
Speaker 2: Furman University.
Speaker 1: She said I do, But she didn't say I do
Speaker 1: to the diamond. She said I do to the dirt.
Speaker 2: So I just want to I just want to say,
Speaker 2: you're saying I do to the dirt. Because the men
Speaker 2: didn't buy the treasure he bought the field that the
Speaker 2: treasure was at. So when she said I do, she
Speaker 2: was saying I do to the dirt. That would have
Speaker 2: been easy at that point in our relationship for her
Speaker 2: to say I do to my anointing, because she'd seen
Speaker 2: me operate in ministry.
Speaker 1: She had seen me go and minister and I would
Speaker 1: I would preach just like I preached. Now, I was
Speaker 1: always passionate, I was I was. I was always edgy.
Speaker 2: I always said things that I went back and thought
Speaker 2: later I shouldn't have said it like that.
Speaker 1: But I always had heart. And she would see me
Speaker 1: try to.
Speaker 2: Break through a room and give people an opportunity to
Speaker 2: meet Jesus where they were.
Speaker 1: And I know that's one of the reasons that she
Speaker 1: fell in love with me.
Speaker 2: And I know that she was saying I do to
Speaker 2: my anointing because she felt like God had called us
Speaker 2: together to minister and it was a lifelong thing. And
Speaker 2: I know she said yes to my anointing, my treasure,
Speaker 2: But she was also saying, I do to my anxiety,
Speaker 2: because what she never could have known is that behind
Speaker 2: the anointing to preach is the anxiety that is the
Speaker 2: constant companion of God's call.
Speaker 1: And when she said I do to the diamond, she
Speaker 1: was saying, I do to the dirt.
Speaker 2: And the woman that has sat on the front row
Speaker 2: to hear me preach, and the woman that has been
Speaker 2: around the world to hear me preach, and the woman
Speaker 2: that has gotten two upgrades on her diamond goes home
Speaker 2: and accepts the dirt. Not that I'm a hypocrite, not
Speaker 2: that there is a darkness in my life that is
Speaker 2: the result of me not knowing God. But everybody has
Speaker 2: a treasure in a field.
Speaker 1: Everybody has a diamond and a dirt, you know, she
Speaker 1: said to me last night.
Speaker 2: I said, Babe, I'm all out of whack. I'm preaching
Speaker 2: a day early. I don't know why I feel anxious.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry I feel anxious so much. She said, Stop
Speaker 2: apologizing for it, and tell me how I can help you.
Speaker 1: What she's saying, she's saying. She's saying, I do the dirt.
Speaker 2: We need some people, whether it's husbands, wives, staff members
Speaker 2: at Elevation Church. We need some people Christians, believers, moms, dads, students.
Speaker 1: We need some people who will say, you know what,
Speaker 1: I don't just run around from field to field when
Speaker 1: it gets dirty.
Speaker 2: I don't just run around from trend to trend, chasing
Speaker 2: stuff to fix my life.
Speaker 3: I'm not a quick fixed Christian.
Speaker 2: I do dirt, and you will find me for raising God,
Speaker 2: and you will find me fulfilling purpose, and you will
Speaker 2: find me on my post. Because I didn't just say
Speaker 2: I do to the diamond. I don't just show up
Speaker 2: when a shiny I show up with a shovel.
Speaker 3: I do dirt.
Speaker 2: If the sound goes out, I'll say it again. If
Speaker 2: the snow comes down, I'll preach it early. If hell
Speaker 2: breaks loose, I'll come out on fire because I do dirt.
Speaker 2: If I go broke, I've never seen the righteous forsaken.
Speaker 3: If they hate me, he loves me. I do dirt
Speaker 3: because God does dirt.
Speaker 2: God does dirt, not only in creation but in incarnation.
Speaker 2: For God saw man in his dirt, in his filth,
Speaker 2: in his blood, in his works, in his salvation less stake,
Speaker 2: in his worst moment. And God from heaven send Jesus.
Speaker 3: From a throne, from a throne to a cross, who
Speaker 3: would pay such a price for the sin of the world.
Speaker 2: Here's your king, crucified.
Speaker 1: What's he saying?
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 3: Dirt?
Speaker 2: And when Jesus paid for you on Calvary. He didn't
Speaker 2: just buy diamonds. He bought dirt.
Speaker 1: I'm thankful for a God who does dirt.
Speaker 2: I'm grateful that He looks at me covered and all
Speaker 2: of the things that I should have cast off, and said,
Speaker 2: it's worth the dirt. It's worth the dirt. It's worth
Speaker 2: being misunderstood. Sometimes it's worth the dirt. This right here,
Speaker 2: this one's worth it. This one ain't.
Speaker 1: This one is. And when God whispers it's worth it,
Speaker 1: it's worth the dirt. Like a treasure hidden in a field,
Speaker 1: can't see it on the surface. Write this down. You
Speaker 1: don't trip over treasure. You dig it out. Stop looking
Speaker 1: for God to put stuff on the surface. This one
Speaker 1: he dug for. It was hidden. If it ain't buried,
Speaker 1: it probably ain't treasure.
Speaker 2: And that's why in this season of your life you're
Speaker 2: having to fight through some difficulties. You're having to fight
Speaker 2: through some dirt. But the dirt served a purpose. It
Speaker 2: made the mustard seed. Watch this branch out now. Notice
Speaker 2: the baby seed was so small you couldn't see it.
Speaker 2: But in the end of the parable, Jesus said, this
Speaker 2: seed that is not big, it's little until it isn't.
Speaker 2: And by the end of this seed's time in the dirt,
Speaker 2: it had branches coming out the ground, showing.
Speaker 1: Verse thirty two.
Speaker 2: I want you to see it with your own eyes,
Speaker 2: he said, in the branches are so big that the
Speaker 2: birds come and perch in the branches. I don't know
Speaker 2: if you can receive this or not, but the battle
Speaker 2: that you have been going through in your life, the
Speaker 2: battle is for the branches, because when the tree gets
Speaker 2: done growing, it's going to be like this. Now it's
Speaker 2: like this, and you've been wondering, why is the devil
Speaker 2: picking on me? I'm nobody. Why is it so hard
Speaker 2: for me? I'm not that it's because of your branches.
Speaker 2: It is because that God wants to use you to
Speaker 2: bring generational blessing.
Speaker 1: To people who will come after you. That's what the
Speaker 1: battle is about.
Speaker 2: I look back on this time in our church when
Speaker 2: the devil was after us when we were young, and
Speaker 2: I know why he came after us when we were young,
Speaker 2: because of you. If we died while we were young,
Speaker 2: we never would have reached you. If this church did
Speaker 2: not exist, if he could have snatched the seed. Matthew
Speaker 2: Chapter three, Verse three, if he could have taken the
Speaker 2: seed and scorched.
Speaker 1: It with the sun. Matthew, Chapter thirteen, verse five.
Speaker 2: If he could have taken the seat and choked it
Speaker 2: out with the worries of.
Speaker 1: This life, it would not be spreading to the earth today.
Speaker 2: And I would not be able to look into this
Speaker 2: camera and tell you that Jesus saves and Jesus cleanses,
Speaker 2: and God does dirt.
Speaker 1: And the cross is God saying I came for this
Speaker 1: and the battle was for the branches? Is that not
Speaker 1: true of you?
Speaker 2: Did God not know what was in you when he
Speaker 2: put you in the situation?
Speaker 3: And you've got to trust that it's worth the dirt.
Speaker 2: See, because I've seen God move mountains, I've seen God
Speaker 2: make ways, And now that I've seen what a tree
Speaker 2: can be, I understand what I am fighting for. I
Speaker 2: understand that the battle is for your branches. You've got
Speaker 2: to get free. You've got to get you've got to
Speaker 2: get back.
Speaker 1: You've got to bounce from this.
Speaker 3: You've got to recover, you've got to move forward. You
Speaker 3: got to show them what it looks like when we
Speaker 3: do it.
Speaker 1: Anyway.
Speaker 2: You've got to The battle is not over your sea.
Speaker 2: The battle is over your tree. The battle is over
Speaker 2: your branches. And when I see what God is doing
Speaker 2: in this church, even when I see it in my
Speaker 2: own family, do you understand that the devil has fought
Speaker 2: me so hard through the years, so many times I've
Speaker 2: wanted to quit.
Speaker 1: It's not worth it.
Speaker 2: And I know you felt that way too. If a
Speaker 2: preacher feels that way, surely you feel that way. I've
Speaker 2: preached the souls.
Speaker 1: For a living. Sometimes all you feel like you do
Speaker 1: is organize chaos. But one night the summer, I was
Speaker 1: walking through our house and Elijah and Graham and Abbey
Speaker 1: were there upstairs.
Speaker 2: Down at the bottom of the stairs on a Sunday night,
Speaker 2: there was this we'll just show them real quick, this
Speaker 2: picture I want to give you.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you can see it real good.
Speaker 1: But that's shoes. That's the shoes of about one hundred teenagers.
Speaker 2: Those shoes smell like wrestling jem on a Saturday afternoon,
Speaker 2: same smell. And all these shoes at the bottom of
Speaker 2: my stairs, and all this noise in my house and
Speaker 2: downstairs were the shoes.
Speaker 1: And upstairs in our house.
Speaker 2: Was Graham Abby Elijah's over there somewhere. My wife is downstairs,
Speaker 2: the shoes are at the thing, and upstairs with some kids.
Speaker 1: Now show them the video jumping, singing, praising the Lord.
Speaker 2: And the ceiling was shaken too, and the ceiling was shaken,
Speaker 2: and the ceiling.
Speaker 1: Was shaken. And I walked upstairs and said, y'all gotta
Speaker 1: get out. This is not the New Testament.
Speaker 2: I know they tore off the roof in the New Testament,
Speaker 2: but my homeowner's insurance doesn't cover it.
Speaker 3: Go outside.
Speaker 1: But I got the picture that downstairs. Show them the picture.
Speaker 1: Downstairs was the dirt, and upstairs, what's the worship? And
Speaker 1: downstairs was the dirt? And upstairs, what's the worship? And
Speaker 1: downstairs was the process, and upstairs was the praise.
Speaker 2: And I'm trying to get you to see that you
Speaker 2: can worship God because the turt is worth it.
Speaker 1: God does dirk.
Speaker 2: I prepared this word today hoping that it would go
Speaker 2: out online to our entire church community all over the world.
Speaker 1: But if one of you.
Speaker 4: Today you needed to hear the whisper of God saying
Speaker 4: it's working, then it's working. Everybody does the diamonds.
Speaker 1: God does the dirk.
Speaker 2: With your head bowed and your eyes closed, received the
Speaker 2: mystery of the parable of the luster, to see it
Speaker 2: in the treasure in.
Speaker 1: The field, is that God does dirt.
Speaker 2: No matter what the enemy has thrown on your life
Speaker 2: to try to stop you from growing, it won't work.
Speaker 1: It's only going to grow you more. Yes, Lord, I'll
Speaker 1: say it again, It's only going to grow you more.
Speaker 2: Whatever it is, it's worth the dirt. It's worth you
Speaker 2: going through a season of repentance.
Speaker 1: To live a life healed. It's worth the dirt. It's
Speaker 1: worth God stripping some things away so he can bring
Speaker 1: some things for it.
Speaker 2: There is treasure inside of you. I know people don't
Speaker 2: like it when I preach like this. They say, oh, well,
Speaker 2: tell them how sinful they are.
Speaker 1: You know that already. I came to remind you. God
Speaker 1: does dirt. He breathes on brokenness. It's worth it.
Speaker 2: Jesus stretched his arms because it's worth it. I encourage
Speaker 2: you today, say I do to the dirt. Make a
Speaker 2: commitment in your life. Lord, no matter how long it
Speaker 2: takes me, I believe you can wash me clean.
Speaker 1: God.
Speaker 2: Here I am again, dirty again, disappointed again.
Speaker 1: But I heard you do dirt.
Speaker 2: I heard you came from heaven, lived in a little
Speaker 2: town called Nazareth and died on a cruel cross. The
Speaker 2: splinters in your back, and the lashes, the wounds in
Speaker 2: your side, the nails in your hands.
Speaker 1: I heard you do, dirt. Father.
Speaker 2: Would you take my life today, all that I am,
Speaker 2: all that I'm not, my little loaves, my little mustard
Speaker 2: seed life, and bring branches forth from them. Father, I
Speaker 2: pray today for those who are feeling alone, or abandoned,
Speaker 2: or forsaken.
Speaker 1: Maybe they've even buried their hope.
Speaker 2: As I prayed to you, Lord, I'm reminded that the
Speaker 2: seed appeared to be buried, but it was indeed planted.
Speaker 2: That means it served a purpose. I thank you that
Speaker 2: the dirt is serving a purpose in each of our lives.
Speaker 2: And I thank you that there is a treasure that
Speaker 2: the world cannot touch. We thank you that the Kingdom
Speaker 2: of Heaven is that treasure. You're worth it, Lord, not
Speaker 2: just what you do for us, but who you are
Speaker 2: to us. You are worth it. You're worthy of our worship,
Speaker 2: you're worthy of our praise, You're worthy.
Speaker 1: Of our lives.
Speaker 2: And now, God, I commend these treasures in a field
Speaker 2: to you, the diamonds and the dirt.
Speaker 1: I thank you that you know what you're doing.
Speaker 2: You know where you planted them, and I thank you
Speaker 2: that they're growing by grace. Thank you for this word that.
Speaker 1: We received today.
Speaker 2: We will never be the same with head still bowed
Speaker 2: and eyes still closed. There's somebody who's hearing this message today,
Speaker 2: and you need to give your life to Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: You don't have to clean yourself up to come to God.
Speaker 1: That's why God came to you. He does the cleaning,
Speaker 1: you do the coming. You come to him like you are,
Speaker 1: and you won't leave that way.
Speaker 2: Jesus will change you. Jesus will save you to the uttermost.
Speaker 2: Call on the name of the Lord and.
Speaker 1: You will be saved.
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna pray a prayer right now, and if
Speaker 2: you want to give your life to Jesus, repeat this
Speaker 2: prayer after me. We're gonna pray it out loud in
Speaker 2: the room for the benefit of those all over the
Speaker 2: world who are coming to Christ in this moment. Repeat
Speaker 2: after me, Heavenly Father, I am a sinner in need
Speaker 2: of a savior, and I believe that Jesus Christ is
Speaker 2: the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
Speaker 3: And today I make Jesus the Lord of my life.
Speaker 2: I believe he died that I would be forgiven, was
Speaker 2: buried and rose again to give me life.
Speaker 1: I receive your life. Here's mine.
Speaker 3: I am a child of God.
Speaker 1: I am a new creation on the counter of three.
Speaker 2: If you prayed that prayer, shoot your hand in the
Speaker 2: air one two, three, or if you're watching online to
Speaker 2: put it in the chat.
Speaker 1: Say I perceive Jesus. Come on, let's thank.
Speaker 2: God all over the world, all over the globe, everybody
Speaker 2: who just prayed that.
Speaker 1: Thank you Jesus for new beginnings. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for
Speaker 2: more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
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Speaker 2: Elevation Church.
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.