1 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 3 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,480 Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 4 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to 5 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:22,239 Speaker 1: There is a passage of scripture that has always fascinated me, 7 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:24,480 Speaker 1: and I knew it was the one to start this 8 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: series with because most of my sermon ideas come from 9 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: a text, usually a text in the Bible. But this 10 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: whole series came to me through a text on my 11 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 1: phone and somebody texted me, but I didn't have their 12 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: number in my contacts, but they had texted me before 13 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:44,239 Speaker 1: and their name was in the text. So you know, 14 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs is so smart, even from beyond the grave. 15 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: He made a suggestion on my iPhone and he said maybe, 16 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: and then it said it could be this person. And 17 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: when I saw it on my phone, I realized that 18 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 1: that would make an amazing way to spend several weeks 19 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: in the Word of God talking about those times where 20 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: we don't know if it's God or not, and so 21 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: we're trying to lead our families some of us, or 22 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: we're trying to get our education, or we're trying to 23 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: decide about jobs or dates, or trying to decide about 24 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: moving to a new house or new apartment, or just 25 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: trying to figure out what it is that we were 26 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: put here on earth for. But the series is called 27 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: Maybe God, Maybe God. We worship a God who can 28 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: be best explained as mystery, and yet we live in 29 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,959 Speaker 1: a culture that worships certainty. And so I want to 30 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: talk about that for several weeks with you. And I'm 31 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: so glad you're here. Touch somebody and say he's so 32 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: happy you're here. That preacher, That preacher is happy you're here. 33 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: That's true. I'm so glad you're here. And what I 34 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: need you to do right now is give your attention 35 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: just to this text in First Samuel, chapter three, where 36 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: we will encounter a young man who's encountering God. And 37 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: I pray that we will encounter God in the process today. 38 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: First Samuel three, verse one. The boy Samuel ministered before 39 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: the Lord under Eli. In those days, the word of 40 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: the Lord was rare. There were not many visions. One night, Eli, 41 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely 42 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: see was lying down in his usual place. The lamp 43 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: of God had not yet gone out. Touch somebody say, 44 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,359 Speaker 1: there's still time, There's still time. I know you might 45 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: have got off track in your life, but there's still time. 46 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:35,799 Speaker 1: I know there might be some things out of order 47 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,519 Speaker 1: in your house, but there's still time. I know you 48 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: might have wasted some years chasing your own ways, but 49 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: God brought you here because there's still time. God left 50 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: you here because there's still time. If you're still breathing, 51 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: there's still time. I got a friend named Perry Noble. 52 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,079 Speaker 1: His favorite quote is, if you're not dead, God's not done. 53 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: And I just believe that. I believe it. So the 54 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: light had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying 55 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: down in the house of the Lord, where the ark 56 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: of God, which symbolized the presence of God was, And 57 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:11,679 Speaker 1: then the Lord called Samuel, and Samuel answered, here I am. 58 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: And he ran to Eli and said, here I am. 59 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: You called me, but Eli said, I didn't call go 60 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: back to sleep, man, wake me up in the middle 61 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: of the night. I didn't call you. Go back and 62 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: lie down. So he went and lay down again. The 63 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: Lord called Samuel, and Samuel got up and went to 64 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: Eli and said, here, I am. This is really strange, 65 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: right like, because you expect when God calls it'll sound 66 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: so deep. So baritone Samuel apparently it sounded. It sounded 67 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: so much like what he was used to be around 68 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: that he ran to the place where he normally went 69 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: and he was like, here, I am, you called me, 70 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: my son, Eli said, I did not call, go back 71 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: and lie down, but you need an ambient, a weighted blanket, 72 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:25,839 Speaker 1: some milk, a cookie. Now, Samuel did not yet know 73 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: the Lord. The word of the Lord had not yet 74 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: been revealed to him. A third time, the Lord called Samuel, 75 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, here, 76 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: I am, you call me. I know you're messing with me. 77 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 1: Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 78 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: So Eli told Samuel go and lie down. If he calls, 79 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: you say speak Lord, for your servant is listening. The 80 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: title of this message is something that I have heard 81 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: people say to me of all ages, of all ethnicities, 82 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:03,280 Speaker 1: of all economic status positions. And I want you to 83 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: look at the screen for the title of my message. 84 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:11,160 Speaker 1: It goes like this, I'm confused about my calling. I'm 85 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: confused about my calling. I love God and I love 86 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: my family and I want to make a difference. But 87 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: look at somebody next to you and say you look confused. 88 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: Tell them I am, I'm confused about my call. Lord 89 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: have your way, speak your word. We're listening in Jesus' name. Amen, 90 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: Now be seated. You are forgiven. If when I say 91 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: calling you roll your eyes a little bit. It is 92 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: one of these terms that is so popular in culture 93 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:56,840 Speaker 1: that it almost means nothing anymore, and it can be 94 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: frustrating the older you get when people talk about lofty 95 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: ideals like finding your calling. You need to find your calling, 96 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: and you know, well, for most of us, that's way 97 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: outside of the realm of our everyday life where we're 98 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: trying to pay bills. It's like, you know, you need 99 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: to find your calling, and you're like, well, I'm doing 100 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: good to find my keys in the morning, and you 101 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:26,720 Speaker 1: want to talk about finding your calling. And as much 102 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: as I understand that, I also understand that there's a 103 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: reason that the majority of questions that I have been 104 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: asked as a pastor in these thirteen years going on 105 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: fourteen years, the reason for it is that there is 106 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: something inside of you that wants to find the thing 107 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: that you were made to do, and you will never 108 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 1: be satisfied with anything else. And no matter how much 109 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,840 Speaker 1: sex you have, money you make, friends you meet, no 110 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,840 Speaker 1: matter how big the house is that you build, no 111 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 1: matter how many cars you part in the driveway, there 112 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:05,359 Speaker 1: will always be something unsatisfied in you until you find 113 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: that thing that we call a calling. And yet, and yet, 114 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: so much damage has been done in popular culture by 115 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: the concept of calling that it actually makes us discontent 116 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: with our lives because rather than understand the real nature 117 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,679 Speaker 1: of a calling, we have a concept of a calling, 118 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: and often we spend our lives wishing that we were 119 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: doing something that God did not tell us to do. 120 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: So to break this first sermon down today, and there 121 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: will be several in this series, I'm praying that you 122 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: come to all of them. And I'm praying if you 123 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: can't come to all of them, you'll watch them all 124 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: because they're all online for free. And I can't figure 125 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: out a reason in the world why you couldn't spend 126 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: forty minutes with me on YouTube each week, even if 127 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: you have to do it while you're walking the dog, 128 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: even if you have to do it while you're falling asleep, 129 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: I'll put you to sleep. I don't mind. Whatever I 130 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 1: can get. I'll help you run on the treadmill. Just 131 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: whatever you have to do to get these messages. The 132 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: Bible says in verse one that in those days, while Samuell, 133 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: the twelve year old who was apprenticing in the tabernacle 134 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: because his mother Hannah, prayed that she could have a son, 135 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: and she had trouble conceiving. And when she finally had 136 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: the son, she dedicated him to the Lord. And she 137 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: dropped him off at age four and only saw him 138 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: once a year, and she put him under Eli, who 139 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: wasn't doing a very good job. He was letting his 140 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: sons run around in the tabernacle and have sex with 141 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: women at the entrance to the tabernacle, and he knew 142 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: about it, but he wouldn't do anything about it. And 143 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: he was letting his sons beat people up who had 144 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:42,079 Speaker 1: brought their sacrifice to the temple, and they brought their 145 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: sacrifice to God, but the priests took it for themselves. 146 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: Hofney and Phineas Eli's sons, would send their messenger out 147 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: to the tent and say, hey, Hoffney said, you got 148 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 1: to give him the fat portion, And the people who 149 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: came would be like, well, that's for the Lord. They 150 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:57,960 Speaker 1: can get the portion after it burns off. That's the 151 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: priest portion. But they had gotten confused about what it 152 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,319 Speaker 1: meant to honor God, and they had started honoring themselves 153 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: and their opinions and their desires, and they started treating 154 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: God as common. And so the Bible says something interesting 155 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: in verse one. It says, in those days, with all 156 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:18,200 Speaker 1: of that going on, the word of the Lord was 157 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 1: rare because they treated the Lord as common. The word 158 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:29,079 Speaker 1: of the Lord was rare. Because we live in a 159 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 1: day where it is so easy to get information but 160 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: so difficult to get truth. I figured this verse would 161 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: apply to us. Would you agree with me that we 162 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:48,680 Speaker 1: are drowning in information, drowning in opinion, drowning in agenda, 163 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:54,319 Speaker 1: drowning in projections, but starving for truth. You know I'm 164 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:56,959 Speaker 1: right about it. It's such a crazy time. You don't 165 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: know who to trust anymore. You don't know if it's real, 166 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: you don't know if it's fake, you don't know if 167 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: it's inflated. You don't know if it's a statistic. And 168 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:06,440 Speaker 1: let me give you a statistic. Eighty three percent of 169 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: statistics are made up that's a statistic. I made it up. 170 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,320 Speaker 1: It's a time where truth is hard to find. And 171 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that there wasn't access to the Bible. 172 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: God knows we have access to the Word of God. 173 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: You could pull out your phone right now and a 174 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 1: British person will read you the Bible on the Bible 175 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: app That made me think of something real funny. One 176 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 1: time Graham asked me do British people find American accents soothing? 177 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:41,560 Speaker 1: Probably not. But here's the thing about it. It's not 178 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: access to the Word of God. It's our attitude to 179 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: the Word of God. It's our attitude. It's why some 180 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: people can come into church and look narcoleptic in church. 181 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,560 Speaker 1: That's why some people can come into church and leave 182 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,680 Speaker 1: during the invitation, because God forbid it takes you seven 183 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:05,559 Speaker 1: minutes to get the cracker barrel. It's why some people 184 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: can click around to different sermons and be like, Ah, 185 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: I don't know Fredi's not on today. I'm gonna go 186 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:11,840 Speaker 1: over here to this one and that one. And that's 187 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: what seeing. When the Word of God becomes common to us, 188 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: we will have access to the Word of God, but 189 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: it will not have impact on our life and So 190 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: the first thing I wanted to mention is the culture. 191 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:32,439 Speaker 1: The culture in Eli's time was a culture of neglect, 192 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,200 Speaker 1: a culture where the value of who God was and 193 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: what he said was negotiable. Therefore there was an absence 194 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 1: of that special presence of God. The word of the 195 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 1: Lord was rare because the Lord of the Word had 196 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:53,520 Speaker 1: become common. And I just want to say to you 197 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 1: today that many of our cultural concepts of calling are 198 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:07,560 Speaker 1: really just self help, individualistic, ambition oriented delusions dressed up 199 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: in Christian cliches. And because you got a trophy when 200 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,000 Speaker 1: you were seven does not mean you get to play 201 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 1: Major League Baseball. And the culture of our day is 202 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:31,959 Speaker 1: kind of like, instead of worshiping God, we worship our 203 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 1: idea of God's will, And rather than being in relationship 204 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:42,440 Speaker 1: with God, we want God to be a resource who 205 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,960 Speaker 1: is more like Siri than he is like a savior. 206 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: I don't know if you come back next week the 207 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 1: way I'm starting to discern him, but we need to 208 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 1: get something straight right off the bat that until I 209 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: treasure the voice of God, value the voice of God, 210 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: hearken to the voice of God, make time for the 211 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:09,680 Speaker 1: voice of God, consecrate myself I can't get it by skimming. 212 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: I can't get it by just you know, running around 213 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: to this person and that person. It is the revealed 214 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: will of God that we're after. It is the revealed 215 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: will of God. Now, when I was in my twenties, 216 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: I did all this teaching and preaching. And now you know, 217 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: now that I'm wiser, I turned forty next year, you'll 218 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: better start working on my gift now, because it's a 219 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: big one. It's kind of cringey for me to look 220 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: back on the way I spoke about calling in my 221 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: twenties that probably left people feeling at the very least 222 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 1: confused at word, frustrated, and maybe even full of resentment 223 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: because the way it happened in my life is different 224 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: for all of us. Here's Samuel, who is receiving a 225 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: revelation of God. And in my life, I never heard 226 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,480 Speaker 1: anything audible that God said to me. I never, you know, 227 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: the Lord never said, Ardich Steve, what God called you 228 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: by your last nammey for someone I don't know, but 229 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:26,760 Speaker 1: he said. He never said, you know, preach to me 230 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: out loud. There were desires, there were opportunities. I noticed 231 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 1: some effectiveness. It's the weirdest thing. When I first got 232 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: up to pray for Pastor Mickey, who asked me to 233 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: pray at a Lions Club meeting. I noticed that people 234 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,600 Speaker 1: seem to be blessed as I prayed, and they connected him. 235 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 1: And it took Pastor Mickey to explain to me that 236 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: that was the hand of God on my life. I 237 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 1: didn't know that. If he hadn't been there to guide me, 238 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: I would have maybe thought I was just a charismatic speaker. 239 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: But he helped me to see that there was something 240 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: supernatural involved. And I was sixteen years old, and I 241 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: had someone who had been around long enough to see 242 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 1: some things to tell me it was special. Otherwise I 243 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,720 Speaker 1: wouldn't have known him. Now here's what I did with 244 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: that knowledge. I preached in my twenties that just like 245 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: God called me to preach, God has called each Christian 246 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 1: to do something. You agree with that. But here's the 247 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 1: part that I think was incomplete. While I'd be up 248 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: there saying to people, you need to find your calling. 249 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: You need to find your calling. You need to find 250 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: your calling. You need to find your calling. You need 251 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: to find your calling. You find your calling. You need 252 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: to find your calling. You need to find your calling. 253 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: You need to find your calling. You need to find 254 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 1: your calling. You need to find a calling, because he 255 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: gets annoying after a while. Right, It's like I'm just 256 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: trying to like I need a job. Man, I don't 257 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: know about a calling. I've seen a raise right now? 258 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: Is that it makes it sound as if it's something 259 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 1: that you can just get and just know. And yet 260 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: did you notice in the passage that even Samuel, who 261 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 1: was the link between the period of the Judges and 262 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: the monarchy of Israel a thousand years before Jesus, that 263 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 1: even Samuel, who none of his words fell to the ground, 264 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 1: even Samuel didn't get it right the first time. I 265 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: don't know why, but that encourages me just reading this 266 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: little story, to know that there's someone that God used 267 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: to do something great, and he called him and he 268 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 1: chose him. But even this great prophet didn't get it 269 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:46,960 Speaker 1: right the first time. I want to set you free 270 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: today from the feeling that you have to find your calling. 271 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: That's a cultural concept, it's not a biblical one. You 272 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: don't have to find your calling. In fact, if the 273 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: is correct, if Samuel is an illustration, then I don't 274 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:09,679 Speaker 1: have to find my calling because if I will serve 275 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: the purpose of the season that I'm in in my 276 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:18,439 Speaker 1: life right now, watch this, get ready to shout. My 277 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: calling will find me in that good news, Christian soldiers, 278 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,880 Speaker 1: aren't you too glad to know that? When Samuel heard 279 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 1: a voice and he didn't even know whose voice it was. 280 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:34,440 Speaker 1: And here's the thing about it, I want to talk 281 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:36,959 Speaker 1: about the culture, and then I want to talk about 282 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:42,160 Speaker 1: the contact, the contact, because when he first heard the voice, 283 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 1: it sounded like something he had heard before. Have you 284 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 1: ever noticed is hard to know the difference between when 285 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 1: you're speaking to you and when God is speaking to you. 286 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:55,159 Speaker 1: And watch out for the Christians who are running around 287 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,680 Speaker 1: so sure that it's God speaking to them. Those are 288 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,879 Speaker 1: the weird ones. Those are the crazy ones. I mean, 289 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:03,920 Speaker 1: I'm serious. You gotta watch out for him. And they're 290 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: here at Elevation, just like they're at every church, and 291 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:08,199 Speaker 1: they'll find you in the bathroom and they'll have a 292 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: word from the Lord for you, and they don't even 293 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,159 Speaker 1: know you. And it's weird because it's the bathroom. Can 294 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 1: I wash my hands? If God spoke to you, he'll 295 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 1: do it in the lobby. Now, let me finish using 296 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:19,120 Speaker 1: the bathroom. I'm serious because I'm a preacher and people 297 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 1: always think I want to be spiritual, and people will 298 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 1: stop me in the bathroom sometimes at a restaurant and 299 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 1: give me a word from the Lord. But if it 300 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: was really the Lord, he would have told you it's 301 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:27,399 Speaker 1: weird to talk to people in the bathroom and wait 302 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: till a man gets outside, because there is such a 303 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 1: thing as germs, and God doesn't cancel out germs. I 304 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: don't want your prophetic word. Well, I'm trying to so, 305 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: but because he gets weird, because he gets weird, we 306 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 1: still have to realize that the only way that the 307 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: will of God, or the word of God or the 308 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 1: voice of God can be recognized. That's what the Bible 309 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: said that Eli who was old, who couldn't see physically. 310 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: I've been on this thing lightly that we really need 311 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 1: people in our life who are older than us, who 312 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,640 Speaker 1: have been along the journey, and to respect the price 313 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:11,440 Speaker 1: that they paid, and to not just think that because 314 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:13,680 Speaker 1: they don't go on SoundCloud or because they don't have 315 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: a lot of Instagram followers, that they have nothing to 316 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:19,560 Speaker 1: teach us. I'm really seeing the value and people who 317 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:22,440 Speaker 1: they may not have the physical vision that they used 318 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 1: to have, but they can discern spiritual things. And Eli 319 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,439 Speaker 1: wasn't even a perfect priest. In fact, God was in 320 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: the process of moving him out of the way. And 321 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: even in that transition, because the whole passage is about transition. 322 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: It's Samuel transitioning from a boy to a man, from 323 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:44,240 Speaker 1: boys to men. I was just thinking, you know, it's 324 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:52,480 Speaker 1: hard to say goodbye. But when Eli is transitioning out, 325 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:56,679 Speaker 1: and when Samuel is transitioning up, and he's ultimately stepping 326 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:01,399 Speaker 1: into the thing God created him for. God deals with Samuel, 327 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:05,639 Speaker 1: but he does it through Eli. And whatever God is 328 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,120 Speaker 1: going to speak in your life is going to come 329 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 1: in the context of relationships. And I chose the word 330 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 1: contact to describe it because whoever you put around you 331 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:24,399 Speaker 1: the most will start to affect the voice inside of 332 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: you that speaks to you. And have you ever noticed 333 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: that God's voice sometimes in your life sounds like your wife. 334 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: Sometimes for me, it sounds like my kids. Sometimes in 335 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:42,400 Speaker 1: my life I've noticed that if I am not selective 336 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:47,440 Speaker 1: about my contacts, I will start hearing I don't mean 337 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:49,440 Speaker 1: like out loud voices. I don't want you to send 338 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,440 Speaker 1: me off after I've preached today or anything like that. 339 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: I mean the voice in my mind. A lot of 340 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 1: times when I was going through a counseling session to 341 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: try to understand myself better, the one thing that the 342 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 1: therapist would keep saying, is whose voice is that? You 343 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:08,920 Speaker 1: know these things you say to yourself, You go like, uh, 344 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: you know, I'm so stupid and you never get anything right, 345 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 1: and well, of course you screwed it up, you screw 346 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: everything up, you know all that. And she keeps saying, 347 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: whose voice is that? Whose voice is that? And I 348 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: didn't know if she was just trying to get me 349 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 1: to say, you know, it was my dad, you know, oh, 350 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 1: like the point of all therapy, my diapers were too tight. 351 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:31,760 Speaker 1: I got it. But what I realized is that most 352 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 1: of us who are not clinically insane don't actually hear voices. 353 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:40,440 Speaker 1: We process thoughts, right, so we say the voice of God? 354 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: How does the voice of God come into your life? 355 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:46,960 Speaker 1: Through thoughts? Through thoughts? And that's why Samuel was confused, 356 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,919 Speaker 1: right because he heard something, so he went where he 357 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,040 Speaker 1: knew to go. And I want to point out something 358 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: about this. He did the right thing, He did the 359 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: right thing. He ran noticed the Bible said that when 360 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,880 Speaker 1: he heard his name called Samuel. First of all, it 361 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,359 Speaker 1: didn't sound it didn't sound strange to him. It sounded 362 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 1: like what he was used to. So he ran because 363 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,680 Speaker 1: that's what he did, because he had the right passion. 364 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:22,679 Speaker 1: But he ran to the wrong person. Some of you 365 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: right now, you had the right passion, but you're running 366 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: to the wrong person or the wrong place. Now, this 367 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: is not only true in the case of Samuel. It 368 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: was true of Moses. God called him to deliver his 369 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 1: people from the Egyptians. Moses had the right passion, but 370 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 1: where he messed up. Listen to this, U see when 371 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: he killed the Egyptian it was the right passion, but 372 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,840 Speaker 1: it was misplaced. He tried to do it his way. 373 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: He didn't get it right the first time. And some 374 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,359 Speaker 1: of the things that you've gotten wrong in your life, 375 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: some of the mistakes that you've made, it was God's up. 376 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: But it was eli that you ran to. You ran 377 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:06,920 Speaker 1: to the thing that God was trying to remove out 378 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 1: of your life because that's what you were used to. 379 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,160 Speaker 1: You ran to the thing that you were familiar with 380 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,440 Speaker 1: because it's all your mind could understand. And so God 381 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: gave you a gift, but you used that gift for 382 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: you for a little while until you found out. Unless 383 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:23,800 Speaker 1: I offer the gift back to the giver, it's going 384 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,920 Speaker 1: to come back empty. But God brought you here today 385 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:30,119 Speaker 1: to let you know. That was my voice calling you. 386 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:33,679 Speaker 1: That was me that gave you that talent. That was 387 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,159 Speaker 1: me that made you good at that. That was me 388 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 1: that opened the door for you. That was me that 389 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 1: gave you that responsibility. That was me that gave you health. 390 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: That was me that gave you strength. That was Me 391 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:50,359 Speaker 1: that gave you that connection. It was him the whole time. 392 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,879 Speaker 1: It was It was the Lord that called Samuel, but 393 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: it was Eli that Samuel ran to. What are you 394 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:03,479 Speaker 1: running to? If you run, if you're running to something 395 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:07,720 Speaker 1: that is not your purpose, you feel it. You feel 396 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:09,359 Speaker 1: it in several ways. But one of the things I 397 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:12,680 Speaker 1: want to mention is I'm trying to surround myself in 398 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,680 Speaker 1: this stage of my life with people who bring out 399 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:19,159 Speaker 1: the God in me. And that's just me. Now. I 400 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: don't mean I'm going to be mean to people who 401 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: don't know the Lord, or I'm gonna go out and 402 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: live in a monastery or something like that. But you know, 403 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: there are some there are some texts that I don't 404 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 1: return in this stage of my life because I feel 405 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: like I'm in a season where I'm trying to do 406 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:41,399 Speaker 1: important things and my calling is valuable, and so my 407 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 1: contacts are very important because certain stuff is contagious, and 408 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: I know there are certain people. When I get around them, 409 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: I feel something rising me that lets me know I 410 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,720 Speaker 1: can overcome. And I need them around me. I need 411 00:24:57,760 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: them to rub off on me. I need them to 412 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,800 Speaker 1: speaking to my life. I need them to encourage me. 413 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: I don't need people who are laying back on the 414 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 1: last thing God did in this season of my life. 415 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:15,760 Speaker 1: I need people to push me forward. Yes I do, Yes, 416 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 1: I do. I gotta be careful reading the comments on 417 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,440 Speaker 1: my Instagram in this season because whatever I may contact 418 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: with I catch and see. I need the word of 419 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 1: the Lord. I need vision, I need hope, I need purpose, 420 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:41,639 Speaker 1: I need security. And so he runs to Eli, but 421 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:44,840 Speaker 1: Eli tells him is God you need to speak to 422 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 1: and the right contact in your life will always point 423 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,679 Speaker 1: you back to the only one who has real power. 424 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:54,719 Speaker 1: Thank you God for this word. I feel your spirit 425 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 1: on this one. This is gonna help you because the 426 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,480 Speaker 1: concept of calling that most of us have is that 427 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 1: you're going to go on a forty day fast in 428 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:04,360 Speaker 1: the Holy Land, and God's gonna speak to you when 429 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: you walk where Jesus walked and the Sea of Galilee. 430 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 1: But the Lord is not gonna speak to you on 431 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:11,160 Speaker 1: the Sea of Galilee from a voice on the water. 432 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:13,360 Speaker 1: He's gonna speak to you. And I know you don't 433 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:15,560 Speaker 1: want to hear it because it's sexy to thing that 434 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:18,760 Speaker 1: someday there's gonna be a voice that speaks from heaven. 435 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 1: It's not gonna be like that. It's gonna sound like Eli. 436 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: It's gonna sound like Eli. And it is through Eli 437 00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:38,120 Speaker 1: that God calls Samuel Eli. This isn't Billy Graham. This 438 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: is the dude who blew it. And this is how 439 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 1: bad he blew it. Watch what ultimately happens when Samuel 440 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:49,480 Speaker 1: laughter three times? Everybody say three times? How many times 441 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: do I have to tell you? One time, Holly, she 442 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: loses her temper with our kids a lot. Y'all pray 443 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:57,600 Speaker 1: for her. It's kiddy. It's a very patient mom. But 444 00:26:57,640 --> 00:26:59,440 Speaker 1: one time she was so mad at Elijah. He was 445 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,840 Speaker 1: only about or She said, how many times do I 446 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:04,680 Speaker 1: have to tell you? You You? Got this real fear look 447 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:12,439 Speaker 1: in his eyes, He goes three times. Look at the 448 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:16,640 Speaker 1: verse eight again a third time. How many are glad 449 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:21,439 Speaker 1: that God has called waiting that God will call you again? 450 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: Ask Jonah. Jonah wasn't even a talented preacher. He didn't 451 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:29,440 Speaker 1: have funny stories, he didn't have good charisma, he didn't 452 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: even like people. But God used him because when God 453 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: calls you, he will call back. You know how there 454 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: are some people when you call them, you have to 455 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,639 Speaker 1: call them, and so you're secretly hoping you get their 456 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 1: voicemail because you really don't want to talk to them anyway. 457 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: Some of you think God is like that, like he 458 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:49,439 Speaker 1: really wants someone else and he's really glad that he 459 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,080 Speaker 1: doesn't have to deal with you. But God wants you. 460 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,200 Speaker 1: God wants you. God shows you. God put the genetics 461 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,240 Speaker 1: in you, the DNA in you, the passion in you, 462 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,720 Speaker 1: the opportunit unity is for you. What God has for you, 463 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: it is for you. That's why you don't have to 464 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:09,000 Speaker 1: be jealous, insecure, bitter, resentful. That's why you don't have 465 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:11,680 Speaker 1: to get back. That's why you don't have to take revenge, 466 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: because what God has for you is for you. Y'all awake, 467 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: Somebody shout here I am. And that was really the answer, 468 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,199 Speaker 1: because it's not only the culture that confuses us in 469 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 1: our calling. It's not only our contacts sometimes, but it's 470 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:45,480 Speaker 1: the conflict of calling. The conflict of calling is great 471 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: on an internal and an external level. Now what Samuel 472 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 1: did next, What a beautiful little story right to show 473 00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 1: us that God repeats things one way I know he's speaking. 474 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:03,960 Speaker 1: You ever notice this when God is trying to get 475 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: your attention. It's kind of like when you're shopping for 476 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:10,720 Speaker 1: a certain car and you start seeing them everywhere. When 477 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:12,480 Speaker 1: God wants to get a message across to you, he'll 478 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 1: he'll put you in the market for it, and you 479 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 1: never even looked at anybody else's beats. But now you're like, well, 480 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: what's that one? How's that one different than that one? 481 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:23,880 Speaker 1: And this one and the other one? Because I'm in 482 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:25,760 Speaker 1: the market for God. When you get in the market 483 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: for God, you start noticing that He's He's been speaking 484 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 1: all along, just like just like there was there was confirmation. 485 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 1: I didn't have time to put this word in the sermon. 486 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: It starts with the letter see, so it could be 487 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,960 Speaker 1: a bonus point confirmation God. God will speak something over here, 488 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,360 Speaker 1: over here, over here, and you'll start noticing it. You'll 489 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:46,960 Speaker 1: start noticing little things, and then it'll you hear it 490 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: in the sermon, and then you hear it in a movie, 491 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: and then you hear it in a song, and then 492 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:52,360 Speaker 1: you hear it you see it on somebody's the back 493 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:54,800 Speaker 1: of their window, and then you hear it through your 494 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:56,959 Speaker 1: your husband, and then you hear it through and you 495 00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 1: just see it and just hear it, and you start 496 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:01,560 Speaker 1: seeing it and you start and then you have to discern, 497 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: which is to separate. That's what Eli did. He discerned 498 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: the Hebrew word is being. He discerned, he separated, He 499 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,800 Speaker 1: made a distinction. He had a discernment to know. This 500 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:14,920 Speaker 1: is the Lord calling the boy. So he said, when 501 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: it happens again, and this is the word of the 502 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: Lord for you when it happens again. When it happens again, 503 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 1: if it happens again, just say speak Lord. Your servant 504 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 1: is listening, and I want to show you something that 505 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: the Lord. Just show me. His greatest revelation happened in rest. 506 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: Eli didn't say, Oh, that may be God. You better 507 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 1: run out and catch him before he leaves. Well, if 508 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: God spoke to you, better chase him down. No, if 509 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:52,520 Speaker 1: it was God's speaking, he'll come back. All you got 510 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: to do is be in position for it. That's all 511 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: you've got to do. You don't have to find it, 512 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:01,840 Speaker 1: it'll find you. Trust me. God is not playing hide 513 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:05,400 Speaker 1: and seek in the Tabernacle. God is not running around 514 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,040 Speaker 1: the tent. Ha haha. If I hide behind this table 515 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 1: of showbred, Samuel will never find me back here. God's 516 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 1: not hiding behind the labor you know, He's not hiding. 517 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,160 Speaker 1: And even though God is always moving, he's never hiding. 518 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 1: That's what the Tabernacle was was a portable structure, and 519 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:30,880 Speaker 1: they set it up in the wilderness because they never 520 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 1: knew when God was going to say stop, and when 521 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: God was going to stay go. Why Because God does 522 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: not want you to depend on his will. He wants 523 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: you to depend on him. There's a difference. One is God, 524 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:43,440 Speaker 1: just show me what to do. That way I won't 525 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,760 Speaker 1: need you. The other one is God, I want you 526 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 1: wherever you lead me, wherever you take me, whatever it means, 527 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:57,160 Speaker 1: whatever it costs, and whatever it looks like. But here's 528 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:01,680 Speaker 1: the conflict. Because Samuel goes in and he lays down 529 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:07,600 Speaker 1: Bible says he didn't know the Lord yet he knew. 530 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: He knew how to bake the bread in the tabernacle, 531 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: that was his job. He knew how to open the 532 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: doors so people could come worship. He knew how to 533 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:17,760 Speaker 1: follow Eli around and get me this and get me that. 534 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,600 Speaker 1: But there's a big difference between the rituals of religion 535 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:29,040 Speaker 1: and a relationship with God. And if you're going through 536 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: the motions, like you know, singing songs, not really thinking 537 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:36,200 Speaker 1: about the words, just kind of singing them, or just 538 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:39,880 Speaker 1: kind of like hearing little forgettable things that I say 539 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 1: in my sermon that you know, you won't even remember 540 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:48,960 Speaker 1: what it was about fifteen minutes after I'm done. It's 541 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 1: possible that you don't know the Lord yet. I don't 542 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:57,239 Speaker 1: mean you're not a Christian, not necessarily. I don't mean 543 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:01,160 Speaker 1: you don't believe in God. Don't mean not necessarily. But 544 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:06,080 Speaker 1: to know Him is to know his voice. And when 545 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:09,600 Speaker 1: you know him like that, you can hear things that 546 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:13,280 Speaker 1: are hard to hear. But you can know that even 547 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,760 Speaker 1: when he says things that are hard for you to hear, 548 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:21,440 Speaker 1: he says them from a spirit of love, grace purpose. 549 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:30,600 Speaker 1: One of my friends is a real overtext. I can't 550 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:34,360 Speaker 1: keep up with him, and I love him, but my 551 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 1: thumb's hurt and I can't do it. And I don't 552 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: voice text because it's annoying because it corrects the wrong 553 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,240 Speaker 1: words the wrong way, and you can get in trouble 554 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:44,120 Speaker 1: that way and say something you didn't mean to say, 555 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:47,120 Speaker 1: end up firing somebody you meant to hire. But it changes. 556 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 1: It doesn't know because your voice anyway. One time he 557 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:54,240 Speaker 1: texted me, he said, how come our conversation is all 558 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:59,520 Speaker 1: gray on iPhone? When they text you, it's gray, when 559 00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: you text is blue. When he said that, I wondered 560 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:09,360 Speaker 1: if sometimes my relationship with God is all gray to 561 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 1: where he is speaking and he is prompting and he 562 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:19,720 Speaker 1: is provoking. But God can speak, speak speak. Three times 563 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:22,239 Speaker 1: he did it. God didn't say anything different the third 564 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:27,000 Speaker 1: time except this when he said, speak Lord, your servant 565 00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: is listening, and he laid down in his place. I 566 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:32,520 Speaker 1: got to hit that real quick. I know we're running 567 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:36,680 Speaker 1: out of time, but it says Samuel went and laid 568 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:39,440 Speaker 1: down in his place. That's first nine. Put it up. 569 00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 1: Samuel went and lay down in his place, in his place, 570 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 1: in his place. You will realize God's purpose when you 571 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,719 Speaker 1: get in your place, Touch somebody next to you, and 572 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:55,200 Speaker 1: say get in your place, because if God is dropping 573 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 1: off the mail but you're not home, you won't get it, 574 00:34:57,920 --> 00:34:59,640 Speaker 1: and you'll think he didn't send it, and you'll think 575 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:02,560 Speaker 1: he didn't speak. But I learned something with my friend. 576 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:05,960 Speaker 1: It was it was not just the conflict of the calling. 577 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:09,440 Speaker 1: It was the color. It was all gray. But the 578 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:14,200 Speaker 1: breakthrough is in the blue. It's not just when God speaks. 579 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,320 Speaker 1: It's when you get in your place and say, God, 580 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:20,799 Speaker 1: here I am the real me, the honest me, the 581 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,120 Speaker 1: open me, the ready me, the humble me, the broken 582 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:26,560 Speaker 1: down me, the me that is ready to do your will. 583 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:28,640 Speaker 1: Because I've done my will and I saw how that 584 00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:31,560 Speaker 1: worked out, and I'm ready to do your will. That's 585 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:34,640 Speaker 1: what Isaiah said. He said, I'm an unclean man with 586 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:37,799 Speaker 1: unclean lips. But if you'll take that coal and touch 587 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:41,360 Speaker 1: my lips, I'll speak for you. Because Holy, Holy, Holy 588 00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:45,120 Speaker 1: is the Lord God Almighty. So here I am. I'll go. 589 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:48,279 Speaker 1: Moses stood at a bush. He turned aside, took off 590 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,160 Speaker 1: his shoes and said, God, I'm slow of speech, I'm 591 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,480 Speaker 1: not eloquent, and you saw the things I did that 592 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:56,520 Speaker 1: put me in this predicament. But if it's you calling here, 593 00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 1: I am somebody shout here. I am Jeremiah. I'm too 594 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,279 Speaker 1: young for this, and your people are stubborn and you 595 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:05,760 Speaker 1: know they're not gonna listen. But if it's you calling 596 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:09,759 Speaker 1: me here, I am somebody shout here. I am. And 597 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,640 Speaker 1: the reason I'm confused about my calling is because I 598 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:19,160 Speaker 1: don't just have one. This is what I didn't know 599 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:23,359 Speaker 1: in my twenties because I felt like God called me 600 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:25,279 Speaker 1: to preach you. I felt like God called you to 601 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:27,640 Speaker 1: do something, put you somewhere. I mean, maybe it wasn't 602 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,840 Speaker 1: something big spectacular. Maybe you're not gonna do a halftime 603 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:33,560 Speaker 1: show at the super Bowl with it, but God called 604 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:35,640 Speaker 1: you to do something. I just saw your Patriots gear 605 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:37,600 Speaker 1: made me think of the super Bowl. God bless you man. 606 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:39,680 Speaker 1: Congratulations on that. I hope you're happy. Now. How many 607 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:41,160 Speaker 1: is it gonna take for you guys to shut up 608 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:43,680 Speaker 1: about it? But there's a there's a blessing in it. 609 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,000 Speaker 1: There's a blessing in it, even if it's a small thing. 610 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:48,600 Speaker 1: And you say, Okay, God called me to do this. 611 00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:51,000 Speaker 1: But then what happens is, look, I was called to preach, right, 612 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:52,839 Speaker 1: so I start preaching. I start going on preaching. I'm 613 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:54,960 Speaker 1: preaching everywhere, preaching everywhere they asked me to come preaching. 614 00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:56,800 Speaker 1: I'm preaching at the lock in I appreach. So I 615 00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:58,799 Speaker 1: preached some one time, so late at the night. It 616 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 1: was three am, and I had this sermon illustration where 617 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:03,200 Speaker 1: I would take a mirror and I'd break the mirror, 618 00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:05,840 Speaker 1: and I preach Genesis one twenty six about the image 619 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:08,120 Speaker 1: of God. And Holly can tell you we knew where 620 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:10,520 Speaker 1: the mirrors were in every walmart in the state of 621 00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:12,759 Speaker 1: South Carolina, because every time we get to a new 622 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:14,920 Speaker 1: little town to preach the fifteen kids, I'd go in 623 00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:16,400 Speaker 1: and get a mirror and then I'd break it with 624 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:18,520 Speaker 1: a hammer, and I say, this is what send us 625 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:21,360 Speaker 1: to you, you know, put the condemnation on the young people. 626 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,239 Speaker 1: Just put it on them. Are breaking mirrors. And one 627 00:37:24,239 --> 00:37:26,719 Speaker 1: boy went to the emergency room because the glass flew 628 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:28,319 Speaker 1: up and hit him in the eye. And I had 629 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,520 Speaker 1: to call his parents and tell him not to sue me. 630 00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:32,680 Speaker 1: I'm a man of God and I got a ministry, 631 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:34,840 Speaker 1: and if you assume me, God's gonna curse you and 632 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:37,080 Speaker 1: make you. But I didn't say that, but I was 633 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:40,120 Speaker 1: running around preaching. Right, But then I married Holly and 634 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:44,120 Speaker 1: I realized I'm called to be her husband too. Come on, 635 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:49,960 Speaker 1: it's the conflict of calling. It's complicated. You can make 636 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:53,760 Speaker 1: it sound sup. Well, find your calling which one? Because 637 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:56,760 Speaker 1: then I was called to be a preacher and a husband, 638 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:01,800 Speaker 1: and sometimes they needed different techniques. What if I walked home, 639 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:04,799 Speaker 1: I said, Holly, give him a seal of praise. It's 640 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:13,680 Speaker 1: different callings. That's three people, just I guess it just does. 641 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,400 Speaker 1: And then by the time I'm getting these callings, you know, 642 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:24,280 Speaker 1: I got how many? You got at least two callings 643 00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:26,319 Speaker 1: in your life, at least two things that you're responsible for, 644 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:30,959 Speaker 1: and they're in conflict. Sometimes Here she comes pregnant four 645 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:34,520 Speaker 1: years into marriage. Here she turns up pregnant. Now I'm 646 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:40,440 Speaker 1: called to be a parent. Now I'm called to you 647 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:43,600 Speaker 1: feel like you're not just putting on different hats, but 648 00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:48,480 Speaker 1: you actually have like different heads. I read that in 649 00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:50,279 Speaker 1: that Sitser book, The Will of God is a way 650 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:52,200 Speaker 1: of life. He said. I felt like I didn't just 651 00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:56,319 Speaker 1: have different hats, I had different heads. And this is 652 00:38:56,360 --> 00:39:02,760 Speaker 1: the conflict of calling. But the answer is allays availability, 653 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:10,840 Speaker 1: presence access. When he said speak Lord, your servant is listening. 654 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:16,200 Speaker 1: It created access not only for God's work to come 655 00:39:16,239 --> 00:39:19,719 Speaker 1: to him, but for God's work to come through him. 656 00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:25,399 Speaker 1: And what God said was difficult. He said, I'm transitioning. 657 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:29,799 Speaker 1: Not only am I transitioning you from an apprentice to 658 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:31,759 Speaker 1: a priest, from a priest to a prophet, but I'm 659 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:34,880 Speaker 1: transitioning Eli and his Son's out of the earth so 660 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:39,680 Speaker 1: that my purpose can be fulfilled. I'm transitioning. I'm transitioning, 661 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:41,800 Speaker 1: and you're gonna have to go through a difficult transition 662 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:44,520 Speaker 1: right now. But by the time we get to First 663 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:51,000 Speaker 1: Samuel four, verse one, the Bible says that Samuelil's word 664 00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:54,920 Speaker 1: came to all Israel. I was curious why I didn't 665 00:39:54,920 --> 00:40:00,520 Speaker 1: say God's word through Samuel. But by this point in 666 00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:05,360 Speaker 1: First Samuel four, because Samuel said, here I am speak Lord, 667 00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:08,680 Speaker 1: we have now gone from the word of the Lord 668 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:13,520 Speaker 1: was rare to the word of Samuel came to all 669 00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:17,520 Speaker 1: Israel because he had gotten to a point where he 670 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:20,760 Speaker 1: heard God's voice on the level that when he spoke, 671 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:25,680 Speaker 1: what he spoke came directly from the throne of God. 672 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,840 Speaker 1: God wants to get us to the place where we 673 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:33,000 Speaker 1: are not running around all the time talking about what 674 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:36,920 Speaker 1: we're gonna do one day. Some of you are using 675 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:41,400 Speaker 1: the concept of a calling as a crutch to not 676 00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:44,279 Speaker 1: fully embrace the season of life that you're in, and 677 00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:47,480 Speaker 1: that is not the will of God for you. And 678 00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:49,480 Speaker 1: you may be called to be a mom one day, 679 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:51,960 Speaker 1: but if you're not a mom right now, can you say, 680 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:54,400 Speaker 1: here I am to this season. And you may be 681 00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:56,839 Speaker 1: called to own your own business one day, but can 682 00:40:56,880 --> 00:40:59,759 Speaker 1: I just say that in the meantime, the only thing 683 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:03,239 Speaker 1: that God has ever wanted from you was all of you. 684 00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:06,520 Speaker 1: The only thing that God has ever asked of you 685 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:10,640 Speaker 1: is here I am. It's what Jeremiah said, It's what 686 00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:14,840 Speaker 1: Moses said, It's what Isaiah said, it's what Samuel said. 687 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:19,560 Speaker 1: And when he made himself available, the word of God 688 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:24,600 Speaker 1: became abundant. I want you to stand to your feet, 689 00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:30,120 Speaker 1: because God has been speaking your whole life. He's speaking 690 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:36,480 Speaker 1: through hard things. He's been speaking through painful things. He's 691 00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:41,600 Speaker 1: been speaking through pleasure, passion, he's been speaking through rejection, 692 00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:47,880 Speaker 1: he's been speaking through restlessness. It wasn't that God wasn't speaking, 693 00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:52,160 Speaker 1: is that the people had lost their ability to listen. 694 00:41:52,960 --> 00:41:56,400 Speaker 1: And so God said to Samuel, before you can speak 695 00:41:56,440 --> 00:42:00,879 Speaker 1: for me, I need you to learn to listen. This 696 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:03,360 Speaker 1: is what God wants to find tune in our lives 697 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:06,879 Speaker 1: over the next few weeks. This is what God wants 698 00:42:06,920 --> 00:42:09,240 Speaker 1: to do in your heart over the next few weeks, 699 00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:12,520 Speaker 1: because honestly, some of you are still running to Eli 700 00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:18,160 Speaker 1: when it's really God. Some of you are running trying 701 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:21,200 Speaker 1: to find something out there when God is trying to 702 00:42:21,239 --> 00:42:25,920 Speaker 1: speak to you in your place. That's what got me 703 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:28,000 Speaker 1: this time, because I didn't preach that last night, but 704 00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:31,360 Speaker 1: when I was speaking to you, God was speaking to me, 705 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:34,239 Speaker 1: and I try to listen, and he said, tell him 706 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,920 Speaker 1: stay in your place. Samuel didn't wake up that morning 707 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:41,399 Speaker 1: looking for a calling. And maybe that's the problem with us, 708 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:45,680 Speaker 1: Maybe that we've made this thing about calling and what 709 00:42:45,719 --> 00:42:48,520 Speaker 1: God has for my life. What if what God has 710 00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:56,719 Speaker 1: called you to first and foremost is himself. Wouldn't that 711 00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:03,239 Speaker 1: set you free? That the will of God is not 712 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:07,440 Speaker 1: which job, The will of God is not which school 713 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:10,440 Speaker 1: you put your kids in. My God. I was talking 714 00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:12,000 Speaker 1: to Buck the other day. One thing I love about 715 00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:14,960 Speaker 1: Monk's Corner better than Charlotte. There was two schools you 716 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:19,960 Speaker 1: could go to. There was just two. It was the 717 00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:23,080 Speaker 1: public one and the one that everybody that smoked weed 718 00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:25,680 Speaker 1: at the public one got sent to the Christian school. 719 00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:33,480 Speaker 1: But listen to me. We've made the will of God 720 00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:37,120 Speaker 1: a resource. It's not a resource. It's a relationship. It's 721 00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:45,239 Speaker 1: a relationship. It's a relationship. So I want us to 722 00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:49,800 Speaker 1: go through this next several weeks not looking for clarity, certainty, 723 00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:53,840 Speaker 1: but confidence to know that if I will make myself 724 00:43:53,880 --> 00:44:00,640 Speaker 1: available to this calling in this moment, his speak, he 725 00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:07,240 Speaker 1: will speak. Question is will you respond? What I've learned 726 00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:11,680 Speaker 1: to do now is not necessarily say this is God 727 00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:15,359 Speaker 1: or this isn't God. I got this new thing. It 728 00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:19,600 Speaker 1: may be God. I don't know. Only way for me 729 00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:22,840 Speaker 1: to find out, The only way I can experience the 730 00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:27,840 Speaker 1: breakthrough is in the blue. So speak, Lord, I'm listening. 731 00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:30,640 Speaker 1: Say that to your life, say that to your pain, 732 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:34,120 Speaker 1: Say that to what you think was your mistake. You 733 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:39,080 Speaker 1: know what your mistake may be, God, he may. I'm 734 00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:41,439 Speaker 1: gonna show you that next week. That's my sermon. Next week. 735 00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:44,040 Speaker 1: I am going to show you next week how your 736 00:44:44,200 --> 00:44:50,960 Speaker 1: mistakes are miracles in disguise, in disguise, the presence of 737 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:53,720 Speaker 1: the Lord is in this place. Would you lift your hands. 738 00:44:53,719 --> 00:44:56,080 Speaker 1: God is here. Father. I thank you for the word 739 00:44:56,120 --> 00:45:00,160 Speaker 1: that came forth today. We receive it. Somebody say I 740 00:45:00,200 --> 00:45:04,000 Speaker 1: receive it. Quit sitting there with your lips just puckered up, 741 00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:07,000 Speaker 1: just stressed out, open your mouth and say, I receive it. Lord. 742 00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:11,160 Speaker 1: Everything that you're doing in my life, everything that you're 743 00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:13,160 Speaker 1: calling me to be, all the things that you're doing 744 00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:15,640 Speaker 1: that aren't really about me. Lord, I don't want to 745 00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:19,960 Speaker 1: be self centered and just self consumed. I thank you 746 00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:23,080 Speaker 1: that the wind of your spirit is blowing. So I 747 00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:26,799 Speaker 1: set my sales on this new series. God, I'm not 748 00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:29,319 Speaker 1: asking you just to speak to me. I'm asking you 749 00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:31,760 Speaker 1: to open my eyes to see you in my ears, 750 00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:35,240 Speaker 1: to hear you. Open the eyes of my heart, open 751 00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:39,640 Speaker 1: my understanding, open my will to your will, and your 752 00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:46,440 Speaker 1: will be done in my life. Thank you for your presence, 753 00:45:47,719 --> 00:45:53,120 Speaker 1: Thank you for your purpose, Thank you for your provision. 754 00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:58,840 Speaker 1: Lift your hands high as you can say, speak Lord, 755 00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:05,759 Speaker 1: say it out loud, to speak Lord. I'm listening. I'm 756 00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:08,480 Speaker 1: gonna listen to my life. This week, I'm gonna listen 757 00:46:08,600 --> 00:46:13,160 Speaker 1: to I'm gonna listen to the still small voice this week. 758 00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:15,399 Speaker 1: Too much noise, too much noise. Word of the Lord 759 00:46:15,480 --> 00:46:17,680 Speaker 1: is rare when the Lord of the word becomes common. 760 00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:20,560 Speaker 1: I'm gonna look for you this week. I'm gonna find you. 761 00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:27,759 Speaker 1: I'm gonna seek you, seeking you fine. Thank you for 762 00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:30,439 Speaker 1: joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give 763 00:46:30,520 --> 00:46:33,360 Speaker 1: generously to this ministry. Is because of you that this 764 00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:36,319 Speaker 1: ministry is possible. You can click the link in the 765 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:40,720 Speaker 1: description to give now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash 766 00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:44,080 Speaker 1: podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, 767 00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:47,080 Speaker 1: you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 768 00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:49,640 Speaker 1: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 769 00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:51,799 Speaker 1: share it on your social stories and tag us at 770 00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:59,400 Speaker 1: Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.