A Holding Pattern (Levi Lusko)

0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:02.840 Holly, and I wanted to say a special hello to 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:06.840 our Etham, our extended family around the world. You. Hey, 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:08.559 before we get into the message, let me tell you 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:11.320 about available. This is a special season for our church. 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:14.520 It's a tradition for the people of Elevation. Every year 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:18.520 we gather, we appreciate and anticipate, and we also give. 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.240 This is our yearly time for everybody who receives from 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:25.360 this ministry to give so that the ministry can go forth, 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:28.360 and this year we've themed it around the word available. Available. 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.960 That's all God has ever wanted is for us to say, 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:33.320 here I am, send me, use me. And you have 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:36.120 the opportunity to do that. So if you've been blessed 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:40.120 through the ministry, it's good to receive. It's even better 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:42.960 to give. If you want to make a donation, a 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:45.479 one time gift or a recurring gift, just be a 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.400 part of what God is doing here. We so appreciate it. 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.640 You can get all the details at Elevation Church dot org. 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.160 I'mosa sat Elevationworship dot Com. I guess you could go 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:56.720 there too, but the giving is at Elevation Church. What 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.280 you just did, you have Elevation Worship on your sweatshirt. Hey, 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:03.480 Elevationchurch dot org and you can select available. And we 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:06.600 use all of these resources to continue to preach the gospel, 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:10.039 not only in physical locations like this one, but through 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.039 the amazing opportunity God has given us to impact the 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:15.920 world through technology. And we want to thank all of 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:18.360 you who are apart. We couldn't do it without you. 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:20.920 Thank you for being a part of our family. Thank 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:22.720 you for being a part of this move of God. 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:26.000 Go to Elevationchurch dot org dot com if you're not 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.320 already there and be a part. This is going to 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.480 be an amazing, amazing season. And Holly and I are 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:39.960 believing that your best is ahead. Raise the Lord Church. Oh. 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:44.600 I love singing truth with my church. It feels good 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:48.960 to declare that this morning. Huh are you ready for 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:50.600 the word of God? Are you ready to hear from 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:55.240 God this morning? I've got the privilege of introducing our 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.960 guests preacher this weekend who's going to be delivering that word. 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:03.360 He is a great friend of our ministry, hailing from Montana. 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:06.400 He's the pastor of Fresh Life Church. Can you put 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:10.200 your hands together help me welcome Pastor LEVI. Let's go 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:14.320 to the poor pitch. Well, let's make some noise for 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:22.760 Jesus and the elevation man. It is a joy, It 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:25.520 is an honor. It is a privilege for my wife, 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:28.240 Jenny and my whole family to be here with you 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:31.080 at Elevation. We love you like family, honestly, thanks for 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:36.360 having us. It's a joy to be here. Pastor asked 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.000 me to come preach into the Available series. I was 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.160 excited and humbled by the chance. I got a message 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:44.000 that God gave me specifically for this this weekend, and 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:47.360 it's from Acts chapter nine. We've learned about being needers, 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:50.240 being feeders instead of needers. We've learned about how to 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:54.400 say the second yes, and we now know why. And 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:57.000 this weekend we want to try and figure out what 0:02:57.000 --> 0:02:59.480 to do when we're in a holding pattern. How do 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:03.600 we handle what do we do with? What about the 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.960 holding pattern? Acts chapter nine, And we're going to begin 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.720 in verse thirty six in what I consider one of 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:13.960 the most important movements in the Book of Acts. I 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.280 realize that's saying a lot, because there's some great stuff 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:19.079 in the Book of Acts. If you haven't read it, 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:21.200 the Bible's awesome. You should check it out sometime. It 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:24.720 is really good. I mean, even just Acts nine opens 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:28.120 with the saving of the Apostle Paul. Even the Apostle 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.560 Paul at one point didn't know Jesus. So no matter 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:33.040 who somebody is, no matter how far from God they 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:35.880 seem to be, he hated Jesus more than anybody until 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:37.160 he met him. And he's like, turns out, I love 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:39.720 green eggs in him. It's crazy as saying. Love the guy. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.280 And he spent the rest of his life preaching the Gospel. 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:44.840 So when I say to you, in a chapter that 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.760 includes the salvation of the guy who wrote thirteen books 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.920 of the New Testament, if in fact he didn't write Hebrews, 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:53.960 and if he did, it's fourteen. If he didn't it 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:55.600 is thirteen, that's still a lot of books of the Bible. 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:58.160 How many books of the Bible have you written? So 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.360 I just said to you that in a chapter that 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:04.000 includes the saving of the Apostle Paul, we are about 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:06.640 to read the story that I consider one of the 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:09.840 most important movements in the Book of Acts. We should 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:14.080 be giving our endivide attention. When the text says at Joppa, 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:18.200 could someone say at Joppa, and now the rest of 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:22.520 you at Joppa, there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:26.920 which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:30.640 works and charitable deeds, which she did. But it happened 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:33.920 in those days that she became sick and died. When 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:37.360 they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:42.400 And since Lyda was near Joppa and the disciples had 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:45.800 heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:51.160 imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Then 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:54.359 Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.120 they brought him to the upper room, and all the 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:04.919 widows stood by him him weeping, showing the tunics and garments. 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:10.520 Someone say, tunics and garments which she Dorcas, had made 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.240 while she was with them. But Peter put them all 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:19.040 out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:24.920 he said, Tabitha, arise, and she opened her eyes, and 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:29.440 when she saw Peter she sat up. Yeah, that's the 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:33.160 appropriate response. Really. All weekend long, everyone's been playing it cool, 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.000 like you've seen tons of people get up from the dead, 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:42.919 But that's a big deal. Then he gave her his 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:46.680 hand and lifted her up, and when he had called 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:49.920 the saints and widows. He presented her alive, and it 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:55.120 became known throughout all Joppa. I'll bet it did, and 0:05:55.320 --> 0:06:00.400 Minnie believed on the Lord. So it was, yeah, that's 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:04.080 a bigger miracle, actually believe it or not. So it 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:07.880 was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.480 a Tanner and father. We asked that you would speak 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:14.640 to us something clear, something special, something powerful, so that 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:17.280 our eyes may be opened, so that we may set up, 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.919 so that, taking you by the hand, we may stand 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:23.360 up and rise up to do all the things you 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:25.560 called us to do. And we asked that if one 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:29.760 person watching on YouTube, listening to the podcast, or here 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:32.240 with us today doesn't know you as savior, you would 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:35.520 draw them to yourself. And we ask this in Jesus' name, 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:41.800 and everyone said together. Traveling comes with its fair share 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:45.440 of unexpected surprises. You don't get to get on the 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:49.040 metal tube attached to rockets and travel across the country 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:53.640 without some things occasionally going sideways. And I think we 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:57.080 live in an era where we now accept as normal 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:01.920 what at a previous point in history was deemed impossible. 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:06.400 Prior to one hundred and fifteen years ago, there wasn't 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:10.560 an airplane. Thanks Kitty Hawk. Right, Hey, shout out North Carolina. Right. 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:13.560 There was never such a thing as air travel before 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.720 nineteen oh three, and so we have grown up all 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:22.120 our lives with normal what never existed for the vast 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:27.640 amount of human history. For Abraham Genghis Khan, for Abraham Lincoln, 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.360 never did anybody think about, I want to get from 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.440 Cleveland and I want to go to DC, and I'm 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:36.240 going to do that by hopping on an airplane. It 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.400 didn't exist. It wasn't something you could do. I live 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:42.600 in an area of the country that was a part 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.200 of the Lewis and Clark expedition. You know, these two 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:47.240 guys who set out with this band of people to 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.240 go from Saint Louis and end up in Oregon trying 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:53.040 to find water passage to get first back and forth 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:55.560 for the trade. And they were sent out by Jefferson, 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:57.680 and you know that the voyage was pretty great, straightforward 0:07:57.760 --> 0:07:59.720 up to Missouri from Saint Louis until they got to 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:01.480 where I live. And then if you look at the map, 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:05.880 there's like, right, yeah, welcome to my life, right Montana, 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:09.120 everything went sideways, and the Continental Divide and the mountains 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:11.040 and all that stuff. So it took them to all 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.040 this time, years and years and years to do what 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:16.120 we can do in an hour. And we're like, yeah, 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.000 but the flight was delayed on the internet was so 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:23.000 slow there like, of course things are going to go sideways, right, 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:25.800 and of course no one likes it. Right. There's there's 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:27.600 there's things that travel that are hard. It comes with 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.120 this fair share of surprises. I was in Louisiana the 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:31.760 other day and you know, needed to get somewhere. So 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.120 we called an uber and it's already a funny story, 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:38.040 West Monroe, Louisiana. It was an F one fifty with 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:42.320 a gun wreck an uber. My wife and I got 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:44.319 in this thing thing. We someone we need to text 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:46.280 a friend, leave a note. They may never find this. 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.439 Dig a do do do do do do right? And 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.040 I said to the guy, how's your day going. He goes, 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:56.440 I'm tired. I'm tired. I go, I go, yeah, he goes. 0:08:57.000 --> 0:08:59.599 I said why. I thought he was gonna sae like 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.000 up all raccoon hunting or something, you know, fought an 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:06.199 alligator instead, he said, I just got back from London. 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:09.600 I was not expecting this. That was camo head to 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:12.520 toe Dirty John deeer hat was not expecting. Just got 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:14.960 back from England. Said wow, England, that's a long flight. 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:17.360 He goes, yeah, but they had beer on the plane, 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:19.920 so I drank till I fell asleep, and shoot, when 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:23.080 I woke up, we were there. I said. It's fantastic, 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:26.920 but one of the worst things that can happen on 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:28.840 a plane. You can feel it before you even hear 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:30.360 about it, because the captain will come on and tell 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:32.360 you about it. But I can almost always feel it 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:35.560 before I hear it. And that is the holding pattern, 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.320 because what happens is I'll be dead asleep and you know, 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.200 like Spider Man's got that what did his aunt may 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:47.439 call it a Peter tingle. It's like, hey, you embarrassing 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:51.000 me from my friends. It's a spidy sense, uh Peter tingle. 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:54.280 I'll feel it. I'll feel that whoo. And for four 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:56.360 minutes you're in that loop. It's a minute in the 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:58.920 straight and a minute two hundred and eight degree turns, 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:00.959 and another minute in the that's right. And I'll say, 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:04.880 my wife, this is not good to go. What we're delayed? 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.240 What do you mean? Do you feel that? It's the 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:09.480 holding pattern? And you look out the window, and sure 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:12.600 enough you're there, but you can't get there. A holding 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:15.720 pattern is when you're at your destination, you just can't 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:18.040 get to where you desperately need to be. I could 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:20.440 see it out the window. How many of you understand 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:22.240 there's some things in our life we can see it. 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:24.120 I just don't know how to get there. I'll come 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:26.400 all this way and I see right there where I 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.160 need to be. But it's that last ten percent. I 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:31.240 just can't seem to get down into the kind of 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:34.040 mother I want to be. I see what God called 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:37.520 me to do. I just don't know how to feel stuck. 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:42.520 I'm in a holding pattern. A holding pattern is full 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:48.320 of delays and full of disappointment, and we fear missed connections. 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:51.880 That's what we equate holding patterns with. I'm in this 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:54.440 holding pattern, and I'm in my head doing the math 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:56.240 on how long it's going to take me to get 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.240 to my gate, how much time I have to eat 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:00.960 up at a certain point. I'm on the Wi Fi 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:03.640 with United or with Delta, trying to get on another 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:07.040 fire right, and you missed your connection, You'll know I'm rebooked. 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:09.880 I'm missing that connection. I'm missing the night I'm afraid 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:11.680 I'm not gonna get to where I need to be 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:16.800 because of the I'm in a holding pattern. Is that 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:19.920 not the mood in Acts nine, all of the dreams 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:24.199 about this life suddenly cut short by illness. As Dorcas 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:28.480 has died. Her name is Tabitha. It's the Hebrew equivalent, 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:33.359 but it's the same meaning Dorcas Tabitha. They both mean Gazelle. 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:36.960 Now that, believe it or not, was a compliment. Just 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:40.480 like I call my wife Jenny, my brown eyed girl. 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:44.600 I when she calls my phone, the ringtone is my girl. Right. 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:47.200 That was what Gazelle meant in that day. It was 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:50.439 to say, you're fleet footed, You're beautiful, you're you're you're 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:53.560 you're quick. This this this compliment, this praise. That her 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:56.720 parents chose to call her a deer. And in the 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.160 Book of Proverbs, a wife has to be praised, is 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:03.160 beautiful and graceful as a deer. So to think of 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.800 this woman who not only had that name but lived 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.360 that life, what does the text say, I can't remember. 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:13.080 She was full of good works and charitable deeds. That's 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:16.080 the one that's gonna get sick unfairly and die. The 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:18.720 one who's blessing everybody, the one who's going about doing good, 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:23.360 full of good works, full of charitable deeds, which, believe 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:26.080 it or not, is true of every single one of you, 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:31.600 Every Christian, every person is full of good works. God 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:33.680 has planned for it to be so. In the Book 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:40.480 of Ephesians, we're told that we are all his workmanship, masterpiece, poem, painting, 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:43.800 and He has crammed us full of good works which 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:49.240 God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. So 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:51.560 if you could see God, imagine God in his factory 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.600 planning you before the world was framed. He was grabbing 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:57.240 stuff off the shelf, pouring it in and on all 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:00.880 sorts of different kinds and varieties and shape and styles. 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:07.800 But he crammed your destiny full of good works that 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:12.439 He has been dreaming about since before you were ever born. Now, 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.080 let me ask you this question, why is it if 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:19.080 every Christian has been crammed full in their destiny of 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:21.600 good works, why is it that not every Christian is 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:24.840 living a beautiful life and changing the world like Dorcas did, 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:28.280 Because so many of us stopped there, but Dorcas did not. 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:32.960 Dorcas was not just full of charitable deeds and full 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.440 of good works. But the text says she's full of 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:41.320 these things which she If we don't do the things 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.720 that God has planned for us, we end up full 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:47.320 of it. A lot of Christians are just full of it. 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:50.640 Come on, che your neighbors, are you full of it? 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:55.280 Don't be full of it? You see? The problem with 0:13:55.360 --> 0:14:01.720 spiritual constipation is if you take in but you never 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:05.760 give out, you just are stuff and bloated and sick. 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:10.840 So God doesn't just give us the strength for willing, 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.440 He gives us the strength for doing. We must not 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:19.040 stop at good intentions. Being willing is not enough. You 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:21.120 can say I'm willing and able, But in the event 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:23.560 of a water evacuation, someone's got to open that door 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:26.600 of someone's got to extend the slide out. Someone's gotta 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:28.880 be there. You gotta do the things He planned for 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:30.440 you to do. How long are you going to talk 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:32.280 about that business? How long are you going to talk 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.440 about serving? How long are you to talk about one day? 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:36.800 I'm gonna give one Nay, I'm gonna do this one Nay, 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:38.720 I'm gonna write this up. One day, IM gonna write 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:40.520 this book. Come on, don't be full of it? You 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:45.040 gotta do it. You gotta rise up and take action. 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:48.640 Now you say to me, well, how do you asking 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:50.240 for a friend? How do you how do you do that? 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:56.040 How do you do what you're full of the answer 0:14:57.080 --> 0:15:01.480 is in your hand. It's in your hand. The answer 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:05.320 to doing what's in your heart is using what's in 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:09.200 your hand. It's in the text. Did you notice it? Tabitha, 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.200 change the world, Dorcas, even a Dorcas can change the 0:15:12.200 --> 0:15:16.600 world right through using what's in her hand. We learned 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:18.880 week one in the series that the big movement for 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:23.280 being available to availing ourself to a God who's able. 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:26.200 He's endlessly able. God is able to make all grace 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:28.040 abound towards you. But why do so many not walk 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:29.600 in that grace that he's able to make a bound 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:33.520 towards you. So many don't avail themselves to that power 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:48.120 because we get stuck on me me me, me, me, me me, me, me, me, me, 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:52.520 me me, and they never get to sew. So the 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:56.120 movement to availing yourself to the power that God's able 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:59.440 to give to you is the movement from me to sow. 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.280 And that's what Dorcas did, because the text says she 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:10.880 made what tunics and garments. She was a seamstress. Our 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:19.560 sister had a passion for fashion. And when she had 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.440 all these dreams in her heart of changing the world, 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:27.000 she looked down and she saw a needle around her 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:32.360 neck was a measuring tape, and she said, I wonder 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:36.240 if and so listen to me. To get from me 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:43.080 to sow, she used a needle pulling thread. Come on, 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:47.800 don't live your life focused on me, unnamed, I call myself. 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:50.800 Use what's in your hand. If it's a needle pulling thread, fine, 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:53.320 whatever God has given you in your hand, he wants 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:56.160 to use that to unlock and unleash what's in your heart. 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:02.240 At least that's what Doe Ad, a female deer. Dorcas 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:05.720 teaches us. Hey, it's a sound of music all up 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:12.000 in here, all right. So in Dorcas, we have a 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:17.719 holding pattern, a pattern for how to hold. And you 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:21.640 can't sew a complicated project if you don't have a pattern. 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:24.040 How many of you know you got to go down 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:26.119 to joe An Fabrics, and you got to go to 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:31.000 Hobby Lobby. You got to get you to Michael's Arts 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:35.480 and Crafts Supply and buy a pattern and a pattern 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:37.920 is what you lay out on top of your fabric, 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:40.800 so you know the shape that you'll cut out before 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:44.560 you use your thread to sew. So I believe in 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:46.600 Dorcas we're given a different way of looking at our 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:49.720 holding patterns by making sure we understand that we have 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:52.800 a pattern, a pattern for how to hold, a pattern 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:54.640 for how to hold what's in our hand, so God 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:57.880 can unlock what's in our heart, for that is God's desire. 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:01.080 The problem and the disconnect us, there's so many of 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:03.040 us look at what is in our hand, and we 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.840 see no connection to what's in our heart, so we 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:10.240 do nothing. Think about a crowd of people and you 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:12.159 need to you need to feed them. What's in your hand? 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:13.760 Five of those and new visies? Well, this can't do 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:17.960 anything for that, Therefore I'll do nothing. What's in your hand? Well, 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:20.639 freedom for God's people from the Egyptians. What's what's in 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:23.000 your heart? Rather freedom from God's people from the Egyptians. 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:25.280 What's in your hand? A staff? If you give God 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:27.600 what's in your hand a staff, he'll unlock what's in 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:29.920 your heart. If you give God your loaves, he'll feed 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:31.960 the craft. What's it? What's in your hand? A cup, 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.160 what's in your heart, rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. Use 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:38.280 your cup, Nehemiah, use what's in your hand, you give 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.160 it to God. Don't stop, don't stop believing just because 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:43.760 you don't understand how it's connected. Use what's in your hand, 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:47.560 Use your needle, use your cup, use your staff, use 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:50.520 your resources. It doesn't feel like it's enough, But God 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:53.359 is able to make all grace a bound towards you. 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:55.480 You just got to get under his plan, get under 0:18:55.520 --> 0:19:00.000 his authority, get under his his reiin and so that's 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.480 that's what Dorcas did. So in her we find a pattern, 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.600 a pattern for how to hold, a pattern for how 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:10.080 to have a light touch, a pattern for how to 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:15.919 have a longer vision, and a reason to no longer 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:19.400 give into the excuses that fill our heart when we 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.600 look at what's in our hand and we barely see 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:25.600 enough for ourselves, much less for for how God could 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:29.960 do anything else. We get talked out of using our 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:33.520 resources to do God's work, don't we We say stupid stuff, 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:35.920 well like will I give my time so I don't 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:37.560 need to give my money? You know what I say 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:44.320 to that? I say, a vela bull, avela bull, aren't 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:46.280 you glad that Jesus didn't just give us his time, 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:48.679 but he gave us his blood as money. Come on, 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:52.639 blood money more precious than gold or silver. He didn't 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:55.960 come just to give us his time. You know. Margaret Thatcher, 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:57.600 she used to be the Prime Minister of England in 0:19:57.600 --> 0:19:59.840 the eighties. She said, no one would be talking about 0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:01.960 the Good Samaritan if he only gave time. But he 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:04.880 had money too. Someone had to pay the bill at 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:07.080 the end. Someone had to buy the bandages. Someone had 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:09.159 to give the oil and the wine. Hey listen, if 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:11.720 we're gonna reach Orlando, if we're gonna reach this country, 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:16.040 it's gonna take money. Ministry takes money. We need to 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:19.720 have resources, not just time. Don't don't fall into available. 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:23.480 I got I got another one. How about how about this? 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:27.200 How about Well, God doesn't need my money, This church 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:33.879 certainly doesn't need my money. Look at all this fancy everything, boveyla, 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:38.440 stay with me, bull. Yeah, God doesn't need your money, 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:43.600 but you need his blessing. Warren Whersby said, you know, 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:47.359 a God who paves the streets of his heaven with 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:50.720 gold does not ever fear going broke. If you don't 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:54.480 give but you might go broke if you don't, because 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:57.600 he has promised to bless you as you lean into 0:20:57.720 --> 0:21:00.199 his work. Bless you, he said, I'll open up the 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:03.919 heavens over you. Just participate. Just trust me. Put me 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:06.960 to the test. See if I'm not able to make 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:09.680 all grace abound towards you. You just gotta get from 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:11.960 me to So come on, don't just live your life 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:14.800 out for a name you call yourself. Use your needle, 0:21:14.960 --> 0:21:18.199 pull some thread, give it to God, trust him, give it, 0:21:18.400 --> 0:21:23.240 put him to the test. Available bull about how about 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:28.359 this one? Other people have more, so if I had more, 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:34.040 I would give more. Availabull You'd be exactly as generous 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:36.439 with a million dollars as you are with ten thousand dollars. 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:39.280 You'd be exactly as generous with a thousand as you 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:41.639 are with the hundreds. It's a hard issue. If it 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:50.040 don't start small, it's never going to get bigger. I 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.800 wonder if you thought I would take my wife on 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:55.000 a date, but I don't have enough money. Look, you 0:21:55.040 --> 0:21:57.160 can make your wife feel like a princess at Costco 0:21:57.760 --> 0:22:03.520 getting the samples girl, anything you want Aisle twelve, fourteen 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:06.560 and nineteen and then you could work your way up 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:09.480 to a hot dog and twenty out soda combo. It's 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:12.480 a heart thing. There's a lot of people who can 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:14.720 afford file at minn and wrapped in bacon, who treat 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:18.560 their wives like a dog. It's a heart issue. It's 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:21.640 a romance issue. The most important thing is to give 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:24.920 her you, and so that's really where it begins. And generosity, 0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:27.879 like romance works on any level, and that's why the 0:22:28.000 --> 0:22:32.679 tithe is so fair and generosity is all over Tabitha's story. 0:22:32.960 --> 0:22:35.840 Three things. Jot them down. She gave what she could, 0:22:36.680 --> 0:22:41.160 which was a lot tunics and garments, but that's misleading 0:22:41.800 --> 0:22:46.159 because tunics and garments actually means cloaks and capes. My 0:22:46.240 --> 0:22:48.360 wife and I just got invited to a black tie event, 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:50.480 had never been invited to a black tie event before. 0:22:50.480 --> 0:22:54.800 We live in Montana, you guys, and we were like, 0:22:55.000 --> 0:22:56.440 what do you do? We had to of course google it? 0:22:56.520 --> 0:23:00.879 What does that even mean? And can't a lot about 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:03.960 things that I know I don't want to know about 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:07.359 cocktail dress versus a formal gown. My wife and I 0:23:07.440 --> 0:23:09.320 went to this store called Rent the Runway where you 0:23:09.359 --> 0:23:11.560 can rent address. You don't have to buy it, and 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:13.480 I sat to thank god they had a coffee shop. 0:23:13.520 --> 0:23:14.800 You know, I don't know if I would have survived, 0:23:15.440 --> 0:23:17.639 But all these dresses, there's a lot to it. And 0:23:17.800 --> 0:23:20.920 that's the stuff that Dorcas was given out, the stuff 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:23.160 that would cause a widow to have dignity walking through town, 0:23:24.080 --> 0:23:27.680 because uncovered by a cape, without a cloak, everyone could see. 0:23:27.800 --> 0:23:29.639 No one took care of them. But you take a 0:23:29.680 --> 0:23:32.080 widow and you give her a cloak and a cape, 0:23:32.080 --> 0:23:33.680 she's able to walk through town and feel it just 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:36.640 as special as everybody else. That was Dorcas's passion. I'm 0:23:36.680 --> 0:23:38.720 going to give every woman dignity. I'm going to give 0:23:38.760 --> 0:23:41.679 every woman the chance to walk through town without anybody 0:23:41.720 --> 0:23:46.080 looking at him. Funny, and so Dorcas had, of course 0:23:46.200 --> 0:23:48.680 to have a lot of money to spend money on 0:23:48.760 --> 0:23:50.880 the materials to make such things, and to be able 0:23:50.920 --> 0:23:53.480 to do that on top of whatever else she was doing, 0:23:53.800 --> 0:23:56.160 bove and beyond how she would give at church, above 0:23:56.200 --> 0:23:59.040 and beyond anything else she was doing. And so I 0:23:59.040 --> 0:24:00.680 would just say to you, you might go, I can't 0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:02.600 afford to give like that. Well, God's not calling you 0:24:02.640 --> 0:24:04.399 to do what she could do. God's calling to do 0:24:04.480 --> 0:24:07.119 what you can do. The great danger on December seventh 0:24:07.160 --> 0:24:10.520 and eighth is not that you won't do what someone 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:12.159 else can do. It's that you won't do what you 0:24:12.320 --> 0:24:14.800 can do. He's called you to use what's in your hand, 0:24:14.880 --> 0:24:17.760 not your neighbor's hand. He's called you to use the 0:24:17.800 --> 0:24:20.639 resource he's entrusted to you. God never looks at the 0:24:20.680 --> 0:24:23.080 portion of a gift. He will not be looking next 0:24:23.119 --> 0:24:25.960 week and going just the size of the gift. He 0:24:26.000 --> 0:24:28.760 would be looking at the proportion of the total that 0:24:28.800 --> 0:24:31.879 you've been entrusted with that it represents. He looks at 0:24:31.920 --> 0:24:36.720 our contribution and measures it against our capacity. You could 0:24:36.760 --> 0:24:39.320 give one hundred thousand dollars next Sunday, and some of 0:24:39.359 --> 0:24:41.320 you should. Some of you should give more than that 0:24:41.440 --> 0:24:44.160 because the heart and the trust of this ministry over 0:24:44.200 --> 0:24:46.160 the years. Some of you should just really say yes 0:24:46.200 --> 0:24:48.920 to accelerating the vision. But you could give one hundred 0:24:48.960 --> 0:24:51.640 thousand dollars gift next weekend, and God not be impressed 0:24:51.680 --> 0:24:53.879 with it. If it's not something that's going to cost you. 0:24:53.880 --> 0:24:55.480 If it's not if it's like, well, that's what I'll 0:24:55.480 --> 0:24:58.120 spend on landscaping next year. To think of someone who 0:24:58.160 --> 0:25:00.480 could give a seven hundred dollars gift, and it could 0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:03.440 cause God to be pushing the angels over because he 0:25:03.560 --> 0:25:05.960 says that's going to cost them something that was a 0:25:06.040 --> 0:25:08.960 difficult yes, out of what they've been entrusted. That means something. 0:25:09.200 --> 0:25:11.920 So my encouragement to you would be to say, I'm 0:25:11.920 --> 0:25:13.680 going to use what's in my hand to have this 0:25:13.800 --> 0:25:16.639 be weighty. Make sure when you hold that check that 0:25:16.720 --> 0:25:19.119 it's weighty to you, that it's not flippant to you, 0:25:19.680 --> 0:25:22.320 that it's not something you can easily do. Make sure 0:25:22.320 --> 0:25:25.359 it's something that causes you to stretch. I believe so 0:25:25.480 --> 0:25:28.359 much in the stretch. And if this church was going 0:25:28.440 --> 0:25:30.920 to do nothing of the good things they're going to 0:25:30.960 --> 0:25:33.879 do with this outreach, if it was ten twelve percent 0:25:34.000 --> 0:25:35.520 going to outreach, if it wasn't going to be a 0:25:35.640 --> 0:25:38.600 million dollars plus given to charity that is not run 0:25:38.680 --> 0:25:42.200 by the church, Hello homelessness and giving food out and 0:25:42.320 --> 0:25:44.200 beds for the home, all that stuff. If it was, 0:25:44.480 --> 0:25:46.280 it would be worth it, probably just for the stretch 0:25:46.320 --> 0:25:49.800 in our own lives. Because there's a text that troubles me, 0:25:49.960 --> 0:25:51.800 and it says this in the time of the year 0:25:51.840 --> 0:25:54.400 that the Kings went out to battle. David stayed home. 0:25:54.840 --> 0:25:57.720 King David stayed home. He should have gone out to battle. 0:25:57.720 --> 0:25:59.320 Every year there was a time of the year that 0:25:59.400 --> 0:26:02.159 a king was supposed to go fight, go to battle, 0:26:02.359 --> 0:26:03.840 live on the field, not in the palace, live in 0:26:03.880 --> 0:26:06.520 a tent, be hungry, go through difficulty, and that kept 0:26:06.560 --> 0:26:09.000 him on his edge. That kept him, That kept him scrappy, 0:26:09.320 --> 0:26:11.320 that kept him from getting fat and lazy, that kept 0:26:11.359 --> 0:26:14.399 him from getting complacent. In the time of listen, in 0:26:14.480 --> 0:26:16.119 the time of the year that the kings was supposed 0:26:16.160 --> 0:26:18.119 to go to battle, Davids stay home. Do you know 0:26:18.119 --> 0:26:23.720 what happened next? Her name is Bathsheba. Kings become fools 0:26:23.760 --> 0:26:26.880 when they stop going out to war, and we must 0:26:27.000 --> 0:26:29.359 every year stretch ourselves and stay on our edge. Come on, 0:26:29.720 --> 0:26:31.560 it's just just just a sentim what God's calling us 0:26:31.680 --> 0:26:34.400 once again to go all in once again, once again, 0:26:34.440 --> 0:26:37.200 to fight once again. I believe so much in the 0:26:37.280 --> 0:26:39.720 heart for this, this this offering, which is to say, 0:26:39.840 --> 0:26:43.200 let's fight. Let's let's not get into cruise control, let's 0:26:43.200 --> 0:26:45.040 not believe this thing's so big it'll take care of 0:26:45.119 --> 0:26:47.600 itself if no one gives Come on, what if everybody 0:26:47.640 --> 0:26:50.760 thought that way, Let's stretch, Let's fight. Let's go to 0:26:50.880 --> 0:26:53.960 war with the enemy. Let's go to war with with 0:26:54.160 --> 0:26:57.399 with young people being lost to heroin. Let's go to 0:26:57.560 --> 0:27:00.359 war with the generation that's cutting it cell just to 0:27:00.440 --> 0:27:04.160 feel something and reach them with the love of Jesus Christ. 0:27:05.440 --> 0:27:08.040 She gave what she could. She gave while she could. 0:27:08.320 --> 0:27:13.040 Second point, while she could. Did Tabitha know when she 0:27:13.320 --> 0:27:15.159 went to work in her workshop that she was going 0:27:15.240 --> 0:27:19.040 to get sick soon? Did Tabitha have any idea that 0:27:19.160 --> 0:27:21.960 she was in the final stretch of her life? Do 0:27:22.119 --> 0:27:26.280 any of us? Death is a lot of things that 0:27:26.359 --> 0:27:28.320 comes to us a lot of ways, but tragically often 0:27:28.359 --> 0:27:32.399 it's a surprise, and we always must live with an 0:27:32.400 --> 0:27:36.040 awareness of our mortality and therefore the preciousness of whatever 0:27:36.160 --> 0:27:38.320 time is in front of us. What if she had said, 0:27:38.640 --> 0:27:40.640 you know, I've got some things happening with my business. 0:27:41.000 --> 0:27:42.800 You know, I've got this guy, Ralph Lauren, who's going 0:27:42.840 --> 0:27:44.800 to be buying some stuff down the road, and eventually 0:27:44.880 --> 0:27:46.520 I'll have more than I'll do something for the widow. 0:27:46.600 --> 0:27:48.720 Though she did it when God struck her with the idea, 0:27:49.119 --> 0:27:51.040 She did it when God prompted her. She did it 0:27:51.119 --> 0:27:53.560 when God called her. She realized, God's going to clothe 0:27:53.560 --> 0:27:55.840 these widows, whether he uses me or not. Like Mordecai 0:27:55.880 --> 0:27:58.120 said to esther, God's going to do his thing, whether 0:27:58.200 --> 0:28:00.879 without you. Honey, come on, so pony the courage and 0:28:01.000 --> 0:28:05.520 get you before the king. God will raise up another 0:28:05.640 --> 0:28:08.840 church to bless. If elevation won't fight, he'll do his 0:28:09.040 --> 0:28:11.280 work in the earth. He's not dependent on any one 0:28:11.320 --> 0:28:13.720 of us. So there is no question God's going to 0:28:13.800 --> 0:28:17.080 do it. But why not you? Why not me? Why not? Now? 0:28:17.400 --> 0:28:19.399 We have been brought into the kingdom for such a 0:28:19.560 --> 0:28:24.359 time as this last week we learned that Mary poured 0:28:24.359 --> 0:28:27.280 out the oil and Judas said, wey this waste, and 0:28:27.359 --> 0:28:29.920 Jesus said, stop it. She knows what others don't know. 0:28:30.920 --> 0:28:33.360 I'm about to die, and she did this in light 0:28:33.400 --> 0:28:35.159 of my burial. How did she know that because she 0:28:35.240 --> 0:28:37.439 always sat at his feet, and those who sit at 0:28:37.480 --> 0:28:40.600 his feet know things other people don't know. And she 0:28:40.840 --> 0:28:43.320 was paying attention while the disciples were fighting about who's 0:28:43.320 --> 0:28:45.640 greatest in the kingdom, to Jesus saying I'm about to die, 0:28:45.880 --> 0:28:47.640 and she goes, well, if a king's gonna die, he's 0:28:47.640 --> 0:28:49.720 got to be anointed. For burial. So she poured this 0:28:49.800 --> 0:28:51.760 out and anointed his feet. Listen to me, when Jesus 0:28:51.840 --> 0:28:54.080 Christ hung on that cross, his feet smelled like mirth 0:28:54.160 --> 0:28:58.400 because of her. It was the only anointing his body 0:28:58.440 --> 0:29:01.840 ever got. What about his The women came, didn't they? Yeah, 0:29:01.840 --> 0:29:04.680 but he was already risen. So had she not acted 0:29:04.760 --> 0:29:06.880 when she did, he would have gone to the grave 0:29:07.120 --> 0:29:10.040 unannointed for burial. So let me ask you this question. 0:29:10.480 --> 0:29:13.640 Are you going to miss the opportunity of a lifetime 0:29:13.720 --> 0:29:15.760 that's passing in front of you? Because it's only good 0:29:15.800 --> 0:29:17.720 for the lifetime of the opportunity. Come on, let's not 0:29:17.760 --> 0:29:20.360 miss our moment. We were born for this, brought into 0:29:20.360 --> 0:29:23.800 the kingdom for such a time as this. She gave 0:29:24.800 --> 0:29:28.560 while she could. Thirdly, and finally she received more than 0:29:28.600 --> 0:29:34.680 she gave. And so it always is because God will 0:29:34.800 --> 0:29:39.040 not be outgiven. It's just he's too competitive for that. 0:29:39.360 --> 0:29:42.120 I can't put it any other way than that. We 0:29:42.360 --> 0:29:45.600 think we can bless God and we walk away with 0:29:46.400 --> 0:29:49.000 more than what we gave to him. Is that not 0:29:49.080 --> 0:29:51.200 in the story you looked at last week where Owin 0:29:51.280 --> 0:29:53.680 poured out oil on his feet and wiped it up 0:29:53.680 --> 0:29:57.000 with her and walked away saying goodbye. But what was 0:29:57.040 --> 0:30:01.560 in her hair still she smelled like what she poured out, 0:30:01.600 --> 0:30:03.920 and everywhere she went she was able to shift the 0:30:04.040 --> 0:30:07.200 atmosphere and change the smell of the room because of 0:30:07.280 --> 0:30:09.200 what she thought was no longer in her life, but 0:30:09.320 --> 0:30:11.480 now was more a part of her than ever before. 0:30:13.960 --> 0:30:16.280 And so it will be for you. You will give 0:30:16.400 --> 0:30:20.280 saying goodbye to your gift. But things we send to 0:30:20.320 --> 0:30:21.880 heaven because that's what you're gonna do. We don't give 0:30:21.880 --> 0:30:23.680 to the local church. We give through the local church. 0:30:24.760 --> 0:30:27.440 And just like Dorcas's soul went to heaven, and so 0:30:27.640 --> 0:30:32.160 would come back. Because when death interests the equation in 0:30:32.280 --> 0:30:36.160 God's hands, a soul that we say goodbye to, it's 0:30:36.200 --> 0:30:39.880 always see you later. It's always until next time. And 0:30:40.040 --> 0:30:42.160 what's true of a soul is true of a seed. 0:30:42.480 --> 0:30:44.400 They thought it was goodbye to Dorcas, but it was 0:30:44.480 --> 0:30:46.760 until next time. And that's always true with every believer, 0:30:46.840 --> 0:30:49.080 whether God raises us from the dead on this side 0:30:49.080 --> 0:30:52.480 of eternity or not, it's always until next time. You 0:30:52.560 --> 0:30:55.080 might write rip rest in peace on a grave, but 0:30:55.120 --> 0:30:57.880 I'm telling you something in Jesus' name, It's always raised 0:30:57.920 --> 0:31:00.640 in Power's that's what's gonna happen. And when God gets 0:31:00.680 --> 0:31:06.000 his last word. So she received more than she that 0:31:06.240 --> 0:31:09.120 gave because she gave these dresses out. But what does 0:31:09.200 --> 0:31:12.480 she get? I count three things? Number one she got resurrection. 0:31:13.880 --> 0:31:15.640 Would the widows have sent for Peter if they would 0:31:15.680 --> 0:31:20.280 not have been clothed by Dorcas? It says when Peter came, 0:31:20.360 --> 0:31:23.640 they stood there holding these saying, you got a raiser 0:31:23.720 --> 0:31:26.720 from the dead. Look what she did. Who's going to 0:31:26.760 --> 0:31:31.080 weep when you die? How will you live? Like Mark 0:31:31.120 --> 0:31:34.800 Twain said, so that when you die, even the undertecker, sorry, 0:31:34.840 --> 0:31:38.720 you're dead, How will you live a life so big 0:31:38.920 --> 0:31:42.120 and so massive that because of you, while you were alive, 0:31:42.600 --> 0:31:46.840 hungry people were fed, Naked people were clothed. The gospel 0:31:46.960 --> 0:31:49.680 was preached to the imprisoned and to the poor. We 0:31:49.920 --> 0:31:52.840 can live in Jesus' name, such a big, beautiful life, 0:31:53.160 --> 0:31:55.440 that there will be people on this earth who are 0:31:55.520 --> 0:31:58.720 sorry that we died. And she was brought back. And 0:31:58.760 --> 0:32:01.640 how surprised she must have been, because normally you die 0:32:01.680 --> 0:32:04.320 and go to the pearly gates, and who do you see, Peter? 0:32:04.960 --> 0:32:06.920 She left the pearlygates came back to earth, and there 0:32:06.920 --> 0:32:13.120 he was. But it wouldn't have happened had she not given. 0:32:14.040 --> 0:32:17.520 She also participated in revival, the text says verse forty two, 0:32:17.800 --> 0:32:22.240 and many believed all around Jappa her gift occasioned, her death, 0:32:23.000 --> 0:32:28.040 occasioned her resurrection, occasioned the salvation of a city, many 0:32:28.080 --> 0:32:30.800 of them. But that's not it, because there's a third r. 0:32:31.400 --> 0:32:36.360 It's resurrection, it's revival and its relocation. God, it seems, 0:32:36.600 --> 0:32:39.600 was doing something bigger than anyone could understand, as this 0:32:39.760 --> 0:32:42.120 all was a part of a bigger plan to get 0:32:42.200 --> 0:32:46.120 Peter to Joppa, because the text ends with verse forty three, 0:32:46.160 --> 0:32:48.120 So it was that he stayed there in Japa with 0:32:48.240 --> 0:32:51.320 Simon a Tanner many days now. Japa is an interesting 0:32:51.360 --> 0:32:52.920 word because you hear it, you go, wait, that sounds 0:32:52.920 --> 0:32:55.040 so familiar. Why does it sound familiar? Well, if you 0:32:55.080 --> 0:32:56.680 read the Old Testament, you find that it was in 0:32:56.880 --> 0:33:02.360 Joppa that Jonah said, no, God has this thing. Pastor 0:33:02.440 --> 0:33:05.080 mentioned it last weekend about wanting to reach the Gentiles. 0:33:05.160 --> 0:33:07.120 It was never meant to stay Jewish, It was never 0:33:07.240 --> 0:33:09.440 meant to stay in one sect, and never meant to 0:33:09.480 --> 0:33:11.560 stay in one country. He was always intending to get 0:33:11.600 --> 0:33:13.840 it to the whole world, always intending to go global 0:33:13.920 --> 0:33:17.960 with it. I wrote this sermon without knowing that Pastor 0:33:18.040 --> 0:33:21.040 had simultaneously been writing a sermon about getting a message 0:33:21.080 --> 0:33:24.240 to the gentiles, and suddenly God changed him and shifted 0:33:24.280 --> 0:33:26.760 him to Mary, not knowing that this weekend God was 0:33:26.800 --> 0:33:28.560 going to send me to speak about getting the gospel 0:33:28.560 --> 0:33:31.000 of the gentiles. But how did God do something so 0:33:31.240 --> 0:33:36.520 big through a woman who pulled thread with a needle 0:33:38.680 --> 0:33:43.240 in her Listen to me saying yes, she said yes 0:33:43.320 --> 0:33:52.040 to the dress. She undid what Jonah had done, And 0:33:52.360 --> 0:33:55.200 you better say yes, or you'll find yourself like Jonah 0:33:55.280 --> 0:33:58.280 in a different kind of holy pattern, stuck at sea world. 0:34:00.760 --> 0:34:06.080 In her saying yes, she unwittingly played part in a 0:34:06.200 --> 0:34:09.560 plan to get Peter. You keep saying that why was 0:34:09.560 --> 0:34:11.920 it so important to get Peter to Joppa? Oh, you 0:34:12.000 --> 0:34:14.480 don't know about Acts ten. There was gonna be a 0:34:14.520 --> 0:34:18.880 guy named Cornelius, a commander in the Roman army, and 0:34:19.000 --> 0:34:21.520 he was going to be praying, believing for salvation, but 0:34:21.680 --> 0:34:24.520 not knowing if God would have him a gentile. And 0:34:24.600 --> 0:34:27.359 in the middle of his prayer session, an angel would 0:34:27.440 --> 0:34:30.560 show up and the Angel would say, your prayers, Cornelius, 0:34:30.719 --> 0:34:33.360 and your alms have come up. Your alms, your prayers, 0:34:33.440 --> 0:34:35.840 your gifts have come up before God. He has seen you, 0:34:36.160 --> 0:34:38.759 and so now send men. Say it with me to 0:34:39.080 --> 0:34:44.640 Joppa and send for Simon, whose surname is Peter. It 0:34:44.800 --> 0:34:50.719 was all about getting Peter to Joppa. You see, we're 0:34:50.760 --> 0:34:53.359 afraid when we find ourselves in a holding pattern, not knowing. 0:34:53.400 --> 0:34:54.640 I see where I want to be, but I don't 0:34:54.640 --> 0:34:57.120 know how to get there. We think it's about misconnections. 0:34:57.400 --> 0:35:00.400 I came to tell you it's about making connections in 0:35:00.600 --> 0:35:04.360 your holding pattern. God is preparing you for what you know. 0:35:04.560 --> 0:35:08.160 Not come on, we gotta get Peter to Joppa because 0:35:08.200 --> 0:35:10.600 Peter's got the keys, and the guy with the keys 0:35:10.680 --> 0:35:12.320 needs to get brought to the city to meet the 0:35:12.400 --> 0:35:14.800 guy that by the angel. You feel like God doesn't 0:35:14.840 --> 0:35:17.120 see you. You feel like God doesn't know you. But 0:35:17.280 --> 0:35:20.160 you are a certain disciple to him. You are loved 0:35:20.239 --> 0:35:23.120 by him. He's got plans for you. So use what's 0:35:23.160 --> 0:35:25.879 in your hand to unlocke what's in your heart. At 0:35:25.920 --> 0:35:28.919 the death of Tabitha, they saw only death, they saw 0:35:28.960 --> 0:35:32.239 only a grave. But our godsaw garden a garden that 0:35:32.280 --> 0:35:34.560 would extend to Charlotte, a garden that would extend all 0:35:34.640 --> 0:35:37.920 across North Carolina and all across the United States, to 0:35:38.040 --> 0:35:41.960 every tide, every time, every language. So let's lean in, 0:35:42.480 --> 0:35:46.360 let's not miss out, let's participate, let's make ourselves available. 0:35:46.520 --> 0:35:51.520 Come on singing out all across the church. Thank you 0:35:51.600 --> 0:35:54.080 for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who 0:35:54.120 --> 0:35:57.120 give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that 0:35:57.200 --> 0:36:00.120 this ministry is possible. You can click the link in 0:36:00.200 --> 0:36:04.160 the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch dot org 0:36:04.280 --> 0:36:07.920 slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, 0:36:08.280 --> 0:36:10.920 you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 0:36:11.280 --> 0:36:13.520 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:36:13.600 --> 0:36:15.680 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:36:15.760 --> 0:36:18.279 Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.