WEBVTT - Come Through Drippin 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:05.080 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:07.160 and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.480 for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:12.680 builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to see 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:18.640 God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Welcome 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:23.640 to the praise party, I said, welcome to the praise 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:30.520 party all over the world. We'd like to welcome you 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:34.320 into our home. This is our family. I pray that 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:37.440 whatever campus you're watching on the presence of God is 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:41.360 permeating that atmosphere like it's permeating this one. There is 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:45.680 a sense of hope, eagerness, and really a purity of 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.800 faith that is in this room tonight. It's the kind 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:52.440 of atmosphere that makes it easy for God to move 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:54.840 because He doesn't have to try to get our attention. 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:59.959 He already has it. And so now that we're here 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:04.399 and we made it, let's really seize this opportunity to 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.160 go into the Word of God and to see what 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:09.880 He would speak to us on this occasion. I might 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:12.520 as well let you know upfront, because I believe in 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:15.560 being honest and direct that I am absolutely ready and 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:26.119 prepared for you tonight. I heard that you were coming, 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:31.720 and I cooked something. I feel like that I know 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.959 exactly what God wants me to say, what he wants 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:38.640 us to do, and what he has said that he 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:42.200 will do for us if we will do what He's 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:44.039 going to tell us to do. That he already told 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:47.160 me that I'm going to tell you over the next 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:51.240 few moments. To me, this is a very precious night. 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:55.400 I started having the praise party in twenty thirteen, right 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:57.560 around the time that Holly and I got so old 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:00.280 that we were having trouble staying up and in the 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:05.520 ball drop, I said, this is pitiful. What we need 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:08.520 to do is start our year with some other people 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:13.119 that are having trouble, stay in a wake, and maybe 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:15.920 if we all caffeate together and come together and seek 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:19.639 God together, we can start the year with a disposition, 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:27.399 a belief, and an expectation of greater things. I want 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.200 to say thank you to the church family that I pastor. 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:33.240 I know there are many guests here and our evam 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.600 around the world, but I wanted everybody to hear this 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:40.280 what I'm about to say. I am really really becoming 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:42.720 more and more aware of what a privilege it is 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:46.040 and a sacred trust. It is that you would allow me, 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.400 as a leader in Holly, as a leader in our family, 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.120 to have this part in your life, to be able 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:56.079 to minister to you in those moments of your life 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:57.519 where you don't know if you can go on, or 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:01.960 where you're seeking direction from above, to be able to 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:05.320 stand in this spot week in and week out for 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:07.720 another year and declare the word of the Lord has 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.000 nothing to take for granted. And I want to thank 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:11.880 you for allowing me to be on the journey with you. 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:16.000 That's a real privilege wherever you are in the world. 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:20.360 Just I know our church feels this way. It is 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:24.120 an honor to minister God's word to you. It's really 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.760 a great privilege and a joy. And so stand up, 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:28.639 just in case, love you to just in case you're 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:32.679 starting to nod off. Stand up, and I want to 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:36.080 read you the scripture. And it is a familiar scripture 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:41.360 and it is an epic scenario. It's found in Exodus 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:47.400 chapter fourteen. You like that one. I feel so good 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:52.839 up here right now. Anything could happen tonight. I mean, 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:55.200 I don't know if it was the thirteen cups of 0:03:55.240 --> 0:04:02.600 coffee or the Holy Ghost work in tandem. But I 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:04.520 just feel good because normally on a weekend, I have 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:07.720 to behave and there's a lot of constraints, and I 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:15.240 just feel like tonight should be our night, you know 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:18.480 what I mean. Like usually we have to kind of 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:21.080 just tone it down in case there's guests and visitors 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:22.720 and all that. But I don't want to do that tonight. 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:28.640 I don't want to do that night. No, no, no, 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:30.920 I didn't put on my best jean jacket just to 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:40.560 come in here. But this scripture in Exodus fourteen is 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:44.360 of course all about transition and victory, so it's appropriate 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:47.920 for tonight. But let me read it to you. Verse 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:52.200 twenty six Exodus fourteen. Then the Lord said to Moses, 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:56.040 stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:59.960 waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their cherry 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:04.840 and horsemen. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.480 and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:13.760 The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:18.880 them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.800 the chariots and horsemen, the entire army of Pharaoh that 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.719 had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:33.960 them survived. But the Israelites went through the sea on 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:42.400 dry ground with a wall of water. On their right 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:47.000 looked to your right, and on their left looked to 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:51.280 your left. Okay, while you'll turn in two different directions, 0:05:52.440 --> 0:06:00.880 it's a universal kind of thing. But the Israelites went 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:07.760 through the sea on try ground. But the Israelites. This 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.680 is how you can tell I belong to God because 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:22.400 I went through the sea on try ground. Do me 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:26.680 a favor. Since this is a party, everybody participate and 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:28.680 look at your neighbor on your right or your left. 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:31.640 You choose. I'm gonna leave that much up to you. 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:34.440 But now let me tell you what to tell them. 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:37.800 You're gonna give them my title. Tell them this, say 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:43.839 I don't know what you went through in twenty eighteen, 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:52.080 but you made it. And tell them hold on, no, 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:57.159 that's not it. That's not it. We're not done. Tell them, 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:02.760 since you came through, you might as well come through 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:39.679 trip it. Please be seated. How many of you twenty 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:41.720 eighteen didn't go like you planned for it to go. 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:52.440 Messed up your workout plan when your knees started hurting, 0:07:55.880 --> 0:08:01.160 you were paying off some stuff, and then you're transmission 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:08.200 and plan for that, which is why, of course I 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:15.360 don't come up here and do the predictable preaching maneuver 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:22.280 where I challenge you to make New Year's resolutions, because 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:33.720 resolutions are cheap, resilience is priceless. I want to lay 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:35.480 a foundation for what I want to say from the 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:38.760 text from a study that was done. The article was 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:41.560 printed in The New Yorker several years ago, and I 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:43.440 saved it because I thought it would be helpful for 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:46.480 us to look at it at some point in the future, 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:50.520 and that point is now. And the writer of the article, 0:08:51.280 --> 0:09:00.520 George Banano Banano, if you're watching, George I tried, was 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:05.440 talking about how the central element of resilience is perception 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:12.480 and that there is no such thing, strictly speaking, as 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:17.480 a traumatic event. The reason he came to this conclusion 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:23.079 was because he interviewed children, over six hundred of them, 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:27.760 who had gone through the worst possible situations imaginable, and 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:31.640 found out that many of the children who went through 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:36.680 the worst situations came out with the greatest emotional stability 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:43.440 and sense of connectivity. And so from that he concluded, listen, 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:48.920 that events are not traumatic until we experience them as traumatic. 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:57.079 And he wasn't necessarily negating the post traumatic stress of 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:02.000 growing up in a broken home or going to war 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.480 and then coming back to a situation that is so 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:11.440 foreign to the experience of the battle that you thought 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:15.400 that you cannot find your own equilibrium. But what he 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:18.880 was saying is much deeper than that. He said that 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:25.120 to call something a traumatic event belies the fact, and 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:34.880 so he coined a term PTE, not PTSD, which is 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:39.160 a very real thing, no doubt, But his term was 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:44.520 potentially traumatic event, which he argues is a more accurate 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:48.000 way to look at the things that we go through 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:53.240 in our lives. The theory is straightforward, every frightening event, 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:58.320 or you might insert painful event, no matter how negative 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:02.720 it might seem from the sideline, has the potential to 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:08.920 be traumatic or not to the person experiencing it. I 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:10.320 don't know if you agree with that, or if it 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:12.200 was a little bit boring and you didn't pay much attention, 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:18.240 but wake up now. He's making a distinction between what 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:23.440 we went through and what we do with what we 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:28.200 went through. I couldn't think of a more appropriate group 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:31.880 of people to come and share this evening with us 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:36.360 than the Israelites in this the birth of their nation 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:41.560 as such, and their escape from Egypt, where they had 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.640 been slaves for over four hundred years, as God told 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:48.320 Abram that his people would be in Genesis chapter fifteen, 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:53.320 many years earlier. But now as they are coming out 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.000 of that season of their life, they are carrying with 0:11:56.200 --> 0:12:01.040 them much of the trauma from what they experienced in Egypt, 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:06.040 and they're escaping this place that had become so painful 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:11.120 for them because of the unrealistic and inhumane pressure that 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:15.560 they were under as slaves or servants in Egypt under 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:19.719 a taskmaster who did not know Joseph and did not 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:24.440 remember or regard the people of God as special. The 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:28.000 trauma of what they had been through in that four 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:31.120 hundred years would be impossible to cover in forty minutes tonight. 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.040 And I hope you'll give me a little grace as 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:38.360 I kind of brush past some things that probably for 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:45.920 them would be much more, much more traumatic than my 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:49.480 summary would lead you to believe. But you understand that 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:54.520 they were so oppressed in this period of being in Egypt. 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:58.200 Not only were they forced to do a job that 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:01.280 they weren't paid for, but they were forced to do 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.719 it with not enough materials. By the way, have you 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:08.160 ever felt that way like trying to raise kids and 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:10.440 get through life and do what you need to do 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:12.480 in the world. And I'm not comparing us to them, 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:15.040 but many of the things that they went through, while 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:19.680 not similar situationally, might have a similar psychological effect in 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:23.800 that what they went through had left them traumatized in 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:27.520 a sense. And tonight I have to believe that the 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:30.800 reason you came here, whether you thought you came here 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:34.559 for this reason or not, is that there are some traumas, 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:39.480 even if they're micro traumas, that God wanted to deal with, 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:43.120 some tears in the tissue of the muscle fiber that 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:47.599 God wanted to deal with specifically and surgically in the 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:49.800 way that only his spirit can. And he brought you 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:52.200 here tonight, maybe under the pretense of just having nothing 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:54.920 else to do, or maybe there was a girl who 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:57.760 asked you to come, And maybe you're more excited about 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:00.679 after church than during church. You're stuck with me for 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:02.000 a few minutes. I'm gonna talk to you for a 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:06.360 few minutes while I can with this microphone and talk 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.480 to you about some of the things that you went through. 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.199 And also I would add to that that you probably 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:16.080 came to celebrate a little bit. I mean, it's not 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:20.080 like everybody here tonight had the worst year of their life. 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:24.000 I can never understand that why we're so why we're 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:29.680 so hasty to want to leave this year. One of 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:31.280 the ways I can tell when my life is out 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:33.200 of alignment is when I'm in a hurry for no 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:38.600 good reason. Like it's one thing to be in a hurry, 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:40.240 and there's a reason that I'm in a hurry, and 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:41.880 I can point to the next thing on my schedule 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.160 that I'm trying to get to. But when I'm in 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:48.280 too much of a hurry and there's nowhere that I'm going, 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:52.520 it's a sign that something is wrong in my life. 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.200 It's a sign that something is not working right. And 0:14:55.280 --> 0:15:00.440 so now we find the Israelites not serving Pharaoh in 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:06.320 building the different construction projects that he has ordered to 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:10.640 be built, but they are escaping Egypt, which is interesting 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:19.960 in itself because originally they escaped to Egypt because there 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:24.320 was a famine at home, But over a period of 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:29.960 many years and a transition of leadership, what they escaped 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:37.920 to they became enslaved by Sometimes this happens in all 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:42.160 of our lives, is that we're so tired of being 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:48.400 alone that we escape to a relationship that in the 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:52.480 end produces a worse loneliness than being alone ever could. 0:15:55.760 --> 0:16:00.760 Sometimes we cry tears because we escape to something that 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:05.720 we ultimately become enslaved by. Sometimes the thing that we 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:08.320 run too is more dangerous than the thing that we're 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:12.120 running from, and it wasn't their fault. Sometimes we make 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:15.320 decisions to run to certain things. But really they had 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:17.560 to go to Egypt, not only to fulfill the prophecy 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.120 which extended into the New Testament, which we know at 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:22.640 Christmas time that out of Egypt I've called my Son, 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:26.240 which ultimately projects into the very life of Jesus Christ himself. 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:28.920 It's an arc of a narrative that God was creating 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.960 for deliverance for his people before they were ever born. 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:41.480 But now they're in transition, and transition is dramatic, even 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:46.480 the good kind. Even when God blesses you in the 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.720 way that you asked him to, a lot of times 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:53.800 you find out that what you ask God for way 0:16:54.000 --> 0:17:00.720 more than you were prepared to carry. Ever had your 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.520 prayer request turn into your praise report and then turned 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:13.280 back into your prayer request. And so transition is traumatic, 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:20.160 whether I'm devolving into a dire circumstance or whether God 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:25.119 is elevating me and developing me into something greater. Transition 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:29.359 is always traumatic. And so perhaps tonight you're not bringing 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:34.520 your traumas to church. Maybe you're bringing some trophies to church. Hey, 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.440 I had a pretty good year. You know. Some things 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:40.600 happened for me this year that I never thought could happen. 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:43.600 And some things happened for me this year that I 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:46.159 really had looked forward to for a long time. But 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:48.960 I had some things happened for me this year, Like 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:51.879 I had a breakthrough in an area that I'd been 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.120 running up against the same thing over and over again. 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:57.800 I had a breakthrough somebody that I was praying for. 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.240 They got better this year. Something that I've been struggling 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:03.159 with for a long time. I don't struggle with it 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:05.080 as much anymore. I mean, still there, but it's not 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.640 overwhelming me. It's not overcoming me. It hadn't been as 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.159 dark this year. I've experienced some of the goodness of 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:13.680 the Lord that at once I only forecasted this year 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:16.480 came into my life, and it reigned over my life. 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:19.240 And I'm here tonight not only to bring before the 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.960 Lord my traumas, but my trophies, because I want to acknowledge, 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:28.040 before my blessings turn into pride, that I want to 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:33.879 turn back to praise God for every victory that he 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:36.960 gave me this year. And make no mistake about it, 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:40.400 every mountain that I stood on this year, I did 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:46.639 not get there alone, not at all. I'm not smart enough, 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:52.760 I'm not sharp enough, I'm not connected enough. And so 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:58.840 whatever state of transition we find ourselves in any given 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:02.919 moment of our life, it can be traumatic. Yet the 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:09.840 men said that the experience is not inherent in the event. Rather, 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:13.800 it is your perception of the event and how much 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:18.600 resilience you have. The children of Israel were nothing if 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:24.240 not resilient. They were resilient even when they didn't have 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:28.959 a lot of resources. They were resilient, even when they 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:33.119 were complaining. They were resilient, even when they had a 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:37.760 bad attitude. They were resilient. In fact, the Bible says 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:42.000 something kind of weird, says that the more that Pharaoh 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:47.480 oppressed them, the more they multiplied. And I don't know 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:52.159 if I'm looking at anybody tonight that just turned stuff 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:56.480 into this year, that transformed and converted stuff this year 0:19:56.520 --> 0:20:00.280 that happened in your life that might have caused other 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:06.679 people to quit. But look at you in church after 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:12.359 all that. Come on, nudge somebody next year say after 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:20.040 all that, look at me, after all that, I'm still cute, 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:27.600 after all that, I'm not petty or bitter after all that. 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:31.880 Don't get me wrong, I have a reason to be 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:35.359 and I could be in a in a sour state 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:39.320 of mind tonight, but I decided to do it differently. 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:43.760 This year. I decided to bring all my trauma and 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:51.520 all my trophies into the presence of God. Come on, 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:56.119 here's somebody say, I came through Now. One difference between 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:58.840 us and the Israelites is that they came through something 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:01.119 physical that you could see. Did you see it in 0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:04.480 the text? It's really beautiful how the text paints the picture. 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:06.240 And it's not only the event that it describes, but 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:08.879 it's the entire trajectory of deliverance that is depicted in 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:10.560 the whole Book of Exodus, which is one of the 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:12.760 major themes of the Bible from beginning to end. For 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:14.959 many years, I thought salvation was just what we were 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:18.600 saved from. But the big picture of God's purpose for 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:21.680 your life and my life is what we're saved too. 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:25.400 And so on this journey to freedom, not just from sin, 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:35.000 but freedom too, they're going, this is the crazy thing 0:21:35.000 --> 0:21:39.159 about God. When he brings you out of something, he 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:47.760 does not let you choose your escape route. Because I 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:51.639 should probably talk about this, because there is a Bible 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:54.320 verse that says God will not allow you to be 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:57.800 tempted beyond what you are able. That with the temptation, 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:01.399 he will provide the way of a us escape. But 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:04.800 it promises he will provide the way of escape. It 0:22:04.840 --> 0:22:07.159 does not promise that he will let you pick the 0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:11.320 way of escape. It is not a multiple choice. It 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:14.800 is not a choose your own adventure escape route. So 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:18.360 God's way of escape is not up for debate. When 0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:23.360 God calls you out, he leads you sometimes strange ways, 0:22:25.400 --> 0:22:29.800 Which is why they must have been so disappointed when 0:22:29.840 --> 0:22:35.719 Moses took them on those backcountry roads to camp out 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:40.240 right in front of the Red Sea, because it would 0:22:40.280 --> 0:22:42.280 have been shorter. Even the Bible says it would have 0:22:42.280 --> 0:22:45.520 been shorter. It wasn't just their opinion. The Bible says 0:22:45.760 --> 0:22:47.960 It would have been shorter if they would have gone 0:22:48.000 --> 0:22:52.280 through Philistine country, but they weren't ready for war yet. 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:57.879 A lot of times, when God brings you from point 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:01.719 A to point B, he takes you on a zigzag 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:05.080 because he knows, and I don't mean to hurt your 0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:09.480 feelings how fragile your faith is, even if you don't, 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:18.000 so he brings them out on a way of escape. 0:23:18.040 --> 0:23:20.960 That to them must have seemed long, but they could 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:24.399 deal with it. They didn't complain about that. What must 0:23:24.400 --> 0:23:28.840 have seemed really weird to them was when they heard 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:35.679 the wheels of the chariots, the horsepower of the engines 0:23:36.080 --> 0:23:40.720 of Pharaoh's six hundred chosen chariots, coming up behind them, 0:23:41.119 --> 0:23:44.120 when they thought they had left Egypt and they were 0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:48.520 done with that. Now we're at the text in verse 0:23:48.560 --> 0:23:52.760 twenty six where the Lord said to Moses, stretch out 0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:54.879 your hand. I'm so excited to share this with you. 0:23:54.920 --> 0:23:57.320 God showed me something this week that was so cool, 0:23:57.560 --> 0:24:01.920 because the first time Moses stretched out his hand, which 0:24:01.960 --> 0:24:05.640 had a staff in it, the sea parted so that 0:24:05.680 --> 0:24:09.160 the Israelites could go through, so that they could walk 0:24:09.200 --> 0:24:13.120 through what they shouldn't have been able to walk through. Now, 0:24:13.160 --> 0:24:15.560 there are some things that God did in your life 0:24:15.600 --> 0:24:19.160 this year with a strong east wind that if He 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:23.280 didn't do those things, you wouldn't have been able to 0:24:23.320 --> 0:24:27.240 go through. Within yourself, come on a minute, within your 0:24:27.280 --> 0:24:32.199 own strength, with your DNA and with your dad and 0:24:32.240 --> 0:24:35.560 your mom and their genes still kicking around in a 0:24:35.600 --> 0:24:40.159 cage fight inside of you, you would not have gone 0:24:40.240 --> 0:24:43.600 through it. You would have stopped in the middle of it, 0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:46.160 and you would have drowned. But one thing about God 0:24:46.280 --> 0:24:49.480 is he is only known by the evidence of what 0:24:49.560 --> 0:24:53.800 he does. He has not experienced directly. The Bible says 0:24:53.840 --> 0:24:56.639 that the reason they went through is because a wind 0:24:56.720 --> 0:24:59.800 blew from the east and made the waters stand at 0:24:59.800 --> 0:25:03.760 a so that the people could go through. Now, you 0:25:03.800 --> 0:25:07.119 can't see wind, You can only see the effects of 0:25:07.160 --> 0:25:10.120 the wind. You ask me how I know God is real. 0:25:10.640 --> 0:25:14.080 I can't point to his nose or his ears. I've 0:25:14.119 --> 0:25:17.480 never heard his audible voice. But there are just some 0:25:17.560 --> 0:25:21.840 things in my life that don't make sense unless there 0:25:21.960 --> 0:25:26.119 was a wind blowing. There are just some things, how 0:25:26.119 --> 0:25:30.160 about you. There are just some things that I went 0:25:30.280 --> 0:25:34.719 through that I know me and I would not have 0:25:34.920 --> 0:25:38.240 had the grace to go through it if there hadn't 0:25:38.240 --> 0:25:48.520 been something working with me. Now let's get into the text. 0:25:48.520 --> 0:25:52.600 There's a good part. Does somebody say, come through? So 0:25:52.720 --> 0:25:55.640 Moses is stretching out his staff so the people can 0:25:58.440 --> 0:26:02.879 trying to get you tonight. I'm trying to get you 0:26:02.960 --> 0:26:07.080 tonight to come through. I think it would be a 0:26:07.200 --> 0:26:11.479 shame for you to be stuck in an inferior version 0:26:11.520 --> 0:26:16.040 of yourself, clutching onto a beta blessing when there is 0:26:16.080 --> 0:26:20.360 an update available in this house tonight by the spirit 0:26:20.400 --> 0:26:24.760 of God. So I'm trying to get you to come through. 0:26:29.560 --> 0:26:31.920 But by the time verse twenty six hits, they've already 0:26:31.920 --> 0:26:36.200 done that. They're already on the other side. I mean 0:26:36.240 --> 0:26:38.680 you already, you already made it through twenty eighteen. You 0:26:38.680 --> 0:26:40.560 don't have to come to church for that. The odds 0:26:40.600 --> 0:26:43.240 are good. You wouldn't have died over these three hours 0:26:43.240 --> 0:26:44.960 that you're going to be in church. You were good. 0:26:45.000 --> 0:26:48.520 That's not why you came. That is not why you came. 0:26:50.800 --> 0:26:56.399 And sometimes we get so focused on whatever we went through, 0:27:01.920 --> 0:27:07.520 and it makes sense because it's traumatic. I get it, well, 0:27:07.560 --> 0:27:09.280 I really don't. I shouldn't say that. That's not fair 0:27:09.280 --> 0:27:10.359 for me to say because I don't know what you 0:27:10.359 --> 0:27:13.600 went through, So how dare me stand up here and 0:27:13.640 --> 0:27:18.399 say I know what I don't know? I know what 0:27:18.440 --> 0:27:23.080 I went through this year, and it wasn't all stuff 0:27:23.080 --> 0:27:25.040 that you could see, like this water that was on 0:27:25.119 --> 0:27:28.640 either side of the Israelites. To me, it'd be easier 0:27:29.440 --> 0:27:33.240 if everybody could watch you go through what you went through, 0:27:33.880 --> 0:27:36.199 so they could have some pity on you and be 0:27:36.320 --> 0:27:40.720 extra nice to you, give you extra sprinkles on your cupcakes, 0:27:40.760 --> 0:27:44.240 because after all, if I went through what you went through, 0:27:44.920 --> 0:27:48.000 I'd be in a bad mood too. Wouldn't be cool 0:27:48.040 --> 0:27:51.280 if everybody could see what you went through and they 0:27:51.280 --> 0:27:57.399 could experience, you know, be nice. But every storm that 0:27:57.440 --> 0:28:00.159 we survived this year wasn't something that other people could see. 0:28:03.359 --> 0:28:05.520 It's one thing when you walk through something physical, like 0:28:05.560 --> 0:28:07.920 certain things you go through, people see you going through it. 0:28:07.920 --> 0:28:11.200 It's like, man, I heard your husband has cancer. We 0:28:11.280 --> 0:28:14.360 got you and pray for you. We're gonna get through 0:28:14.400 --> 0:28:17.399 this together. You're gonna come through this. We're gonna do it. 0:28:19.000 --> 0:28:21.840 When when you lose your job, you know, people hear 0:28:21.880 --> 0:28:23.600 about that. Maybe you don't even want them to, but 0:28:23.640 --> 0:28:26.560 they hear about it. And then it's kind of embarrassing 0:28:26.600 --> 0:28:28.480 on one hand, because everybody's coming up to you and 0:28:28.480 --> 0:28:30.800 we're praying for you. If you need anything, let us know. 0:28:30.880 --> 0:28:35.080 I know you're going through right now. And although that's 0:28:35.119 --> 0:28:37.280 a little humiliating on one hand, is helpful on the 0:28:37.280 --> 0:28:39.360 other because then you get to be the beneficiary of 0:28:39.680 --> 0:28:46.200