A Lesson In Letting Go

0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:07.040 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:10.400 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.440 it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:15.160 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:20.720 We prophetically declare that the favor of the Lord is 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:25.520 upon you and your household. We declare it over not 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:29.280 only you, but your children, and not just them, but 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:35.320 your children's children one thousand generations, the blessing of the Lord. 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.320 We bless you today in the name of Jesus. We 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.080 bless you in the mighty name of Jesus. We bless 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.240 you in the name that is above every name. Come on, 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:49.959 lift your hands right where you're at and receive this blessing. 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:54.680 You are blessed in the city, in the field. You 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:58.160 are blessed. In your coming. You're going, you are blessed. 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.480 You are above and not beneath. You're gonna make it 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:05.400 because you're blessed. You can smile through the storm because 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:13.240 you're blessed. Allelujah. I just want to minister this to 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.319 you because it's not like a greeting card. Man. That 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:20.480 is the eternal word of God that we're speaking over 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:25.319 your life today. Now you receive them. You push all 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:28.640 that unbelief to the side. You push all of that 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:32.440 distraction to the side, and you receive it. Put your 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.400 bowl of cereal down and receive it. Those frosted flakes 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:39.919 are blocking you from receiving the favor of God. Somebody, 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:43.679 but I'd rather have favor than frosted flakes. Tell Tony, 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.280 I said that too. I'm so excited about it because 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.680 right now as we put the blessing on you, I 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:53.680 do this for my kids almost every night, and you 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:57.120 can ask them, they're here, come here, Abbi every night. 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:00.840 Is that true? Can you see her in the camera? 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:04.760 Put the camera on. Have you real quick? Come here? 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.360 Do I? Is it true or not that at least 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:12.720 five out of seven nights, because kids will call you 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:16.120 out like every night they do not every night, not 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:20.600 every night. Kids will expose you five out of seven nights. 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:25.560 We put that blessing on you. We declare that over you, 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:28.360 that the Lord bless you and keep you, make his 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:32.080 face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:35.440 Lord turned his face toward you and give you Shalon 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:40.000 it's more than it's not the kind of peace that 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:43.720 means I don't have any problems, because you're gonna have problems. 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:47.720 Jesus said, in the world you will have trouble. But 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:54.160 take heart, I have overcome the world peace. I give 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.480 you my peace. I leave with you, and I do 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.920 not give as the world gives peace. And since the 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:05.079 world didn't give peace, the dal Jones can't take it away. 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:08.960 Since my job didn't give me peace, I'm preaching Lucia's 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:12.160 I'm preaching. I'm preaching. I say, preach your dad, preaching 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:17.400 march preach of daddy. Anyway, Come here, boy, don't I 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.120 put that blessing on you every single every single night, 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:23.400 two things we go. Don't go to bed without Rick 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:25.440 Biotto and the blessing. Now, y'all get out of here. 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.320 I gotta preach. Hey where you going? Hey, Hey, Hey, 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:34.040 come back, leve you. That's swiggy Lish right there, shwiggy 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:38.640 Lish and fou flush. That's their code names. What's your nickname? 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:40.800 Have you got a nickname? If you got a nickname, 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:44.080 put it in the chat. So I want to I 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.600 want to say also happy while you're putting your nickname 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.560 in the chat, there's like a twenty second delay. Happy 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:53.680 birthday to my brother today. He turns thirty seven years old. 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:59.520 His government name. Yeah, come on, guys, they're like pastors 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:01.680 kind of filter. Let's bring the table and maybe he'll 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:03.960 read a scripture and settle down. That's right, Thank you 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:08.560 so much. Amazing, And he turned thirty seven. He is 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:12.040 about to be a dad, and we're sending love to 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:19.200 Matthew Lyles Ferdick. His nickname is Maxwell Murder. I call 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.800 him that because of Rancid, but that's not in the Bible. 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:26.560 You know. Jesus changed names too, but he usually didn't 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:28.960 do it after punk rock songs. But I call him 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:33.080 Maxwell Murder, killing him. So happy birthday to my brother. 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:37.240 I would wish you a happy birthday too. Just let 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:38.920 me know when it is. I'll get you a gift 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.080 in the mail. What do you want for your birthday? Hey? 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.640 I got another question? And are we welcome in your home? 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:46.560 This is kind of intrusive. We just showed up in 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:48.560 your home here. We are just all up in your 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:50.160 living room, all up in your kitchen. Some of y'all 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:52.680 are still in bed. It's kind of close quarters for 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:55.919 coming up in your bedroom. It's kind of unless you 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:58.680 welcome us. So if we're welcome, let's see, I'm seeing 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:02.080 some nicknames in here. Some of them look kind of sketchy. 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:04.960 I'm not going to say these out loud. This could 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:07.200 get out of hand. In the chat forget, I asked 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.440 that here's the question after we preach today. After we 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:13.200 preach today, Normally i'd welcome you to church. You're not 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.880 welcome in the church building right now. Never thought i'd 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.440 say that you're not welcome here. You are absolutely not 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:22.240 welcome in this church. But we're bringing church to you today. 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:25.320 If that's all right, If you make a little space, 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:27.960 we want to come in and bring you the Word 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:32.080 of God. Come on. The grass withers, the flower fades, 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:37.520 viruses come, things change, things close, but the Word of 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.880 God stands forever. So if you will open your home 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.039 today and your heart, what I want to know is 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.159 what are we having to eat after I preach? What 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:50.960 are you cooking? If you were here in the South Charlotte, 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:55.120 North Carolina, where I preach from, or Monk's Corner, South Carolina, 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.080 where you saw an awesome outreach segment, shout out Pastor 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:01.720 Shawnwood and Freedom Church, All the saints and believers there 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:05.919 the church in Monk's Corner. But we would cook you 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:10.920 some boiled peanuts, some chicken bog. It wouldn't be low 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:14.320 car but it would be a blessing to your intestines. 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.200 So what would you cook if we were coming over, 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:23.039 if Tiffany was coming over, if Dom was coming over 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:25.440 with his drum kit and setting up in your living room, 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:28.080 what would you cook for us? Pot roast eggs sounds good, 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:34.040 brought sounds good, steaking bread holds post real quick. It's 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.880 coming fast. I'm getting a little sick to my stomach. 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:40.440 I'm eating too much too fast. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:44.680 and pancakes. Pasta with homemade Marinera sauce. Amanda says, keep going, 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:46.760 let's see some more. What else is on the menu. 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:50.360 I'm going to decide whose house to come to, Zachiah, 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:54.520 I'm coming to your house. Indonesian noodles. That sounds delicious, 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:58.480 bow tie pasta, what you want to eat? Ale? We're 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:03.920 getting many invitations. Cracker barrel, Holly said, is what I've 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.520 got today. Hey, I'm so glad you're in quarantine that 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:10.560 the Lord gave me a wife that can cook we've 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:15.400 been eating good. We've been eating good at lockeh Haven. 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:21.520 Nothing to complain about their barbecue. Now, y'all can't cook 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:24.720 barbecue like we can cook barbecue. If you don't have 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:28.400 a mustard based barbecue, I'm not coming. I am not coming. 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:30.640 Just forget about it. I don't care how much you 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:34.600 love Jesus. If your barbecue is in mustard bass, your 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:38.000 experience with the Holy Spirit is limited. I'm not coming. 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:46.320 Steak tacos, ramen noodles on a budget. Okay, okay, Lord 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:50.280 bless their bank account. They're offering me the cheapest possible food. 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:56.320 Sloppy Joe's crab salad. You ever had crab salad skinner? 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:02.880 Did they make that in Minnesota? Sounds like a delicacy? Gone, 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:04.960 We'll just do this all day. I was gonna read 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:11.120 the scripture. But is this making you hungry? Oh? Man? Well, 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.080 I don't know what we're gonna eat in the physical, 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:19.680 But man, do I have a meal? I got food 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:26.239 to eat? You know? Not Ally give us the mena 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:30.480 that comes from heaven. God, give us your words, feed 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:35.680 us till we want no more. In Jesus' name, I'm 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:39.640 excited about it. This is part two of a series 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:43.080 that we started last week. Last week was just the appetizer, 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:47.560 and here comes the main dish. This new teaching is 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:53.480 called looking forward to Normal, And no, I didn't get 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:55.840 it wrong, because I know we're supposed to be getting 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:59.520 back to normal when they lift the restrictions, or they 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.199 let us go back to work, or let our kids 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:06.320 go back to school so that they can actually learn 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.000 something instead of pretending to learn something while the door 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.960 is closed, like I'm sure mine are doing. But one 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:15.120 of the things that's so important for us is that 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:19.360 we learned the lessons of this season in preparation for 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:22.200 the next. And I don't know about you, but God 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:25.040 has really been teaching me some things in this season 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:28.560 and I can't wait to share the next installment today. 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:31.959 If you would take your Bible real quick, and if 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:34.480 you have a physical copy of the Bible, grab that. 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:37.680 The reason I'm saying that is probably you're watching this 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.000 on your phone, so I don't want you to multitask 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:44.320 on the same device. Get your physical copy of God's Word. 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:46.160 If you can't, I'm going to put it on the 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:47.920 bottom of the screen for you in just a moment. 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:50.480 But what I'd really like you to do is to 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:53.560 have your own copies so you can underline and write 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:57.520 in it, and we bless you today and we speak 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:02.040 this word over your life. All right, I'll be calm 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:07.199 down now. Elbe's really happy to be here. He's been 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:12.160 cooped up in the house. You know what's funny about it. 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:14.199 I think some people would pay to come to church 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:22.040 right now. My oldest son, Elijah, he's a business minded guy. Apparently, 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:23.720 he was like, Dad, I think you could charge for 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:27.120 tickets when church starts back. He said, that might be 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:29.480 the new ways. Well, we're not going to do that, 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.400 but certainly is a privilege. I feel like it's a 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:34.920 privilege to minister to you, and I'm so thankful for it, 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:36.400 and I want to make the most of the time. 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:38.800 And even when somebody said, come on, man, get to 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:41.560 the word. What else do you have to do? Let's 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:45.199 hang out for a minute. I was actually driving yesterday 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:47.600 just to get somewhere point A to point B. Don't worry. 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.440 I had my you know, my hasmat suit on and 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.400 I was trying to get to somewhere and people were 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:56.640 driving crazier than ever, and I was kind of like, 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:59.600 where are y'all going in such a hurry people riding 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:03.199 up on me. I'm like, where are you going right now? 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:05.360 What are you in a hurry for? Unless you are 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.760 a first responder slowed down? The world is over. You 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:12.360 don't have to speed anymore. But it's just something about 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.679 the pace and the patterns, and it's really hard to 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.480 let go of something that you've never known any different then. 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:22.719 So like, if you're used to a certain pace, or 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.840 if you're used to a certain set of priorities, or 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:29.480 you're used to certain principles that you have assumed to 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:31.240 be true all of your life, it can be very, 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:35.560 very difficult to embrace something new. And what I was 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:37.760 saying last week, you'll sit down because I'm going to 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:41.360 read a lot of scriptures today. But I was saying, 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:45.760 how when God's people left Egypt in the Exodus, And 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.280 I'm going to pick right up there in Exodus fourteen, 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:51.959 and then I'm going to go right back over to 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:56.599 Romans twelve. You're like, that's the same scriptures as last week. Absolutely, 0:11:56.720 --> 0:12:01.640 revelation requires repetition if it's going to become real in 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.000 your life. They say in marketing, you need to hear 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:09.199 it seven times. So I want to reinforce this message. 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.720 But actually I want to give even more context than 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:14.360 I did last week, and I want to back up 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:19.960 to Exitus fourteen, verse five, as God's people were coming 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.640 out of Egypt, and somebody put it boldly in the 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:27.800 Chat in all calves, I'm leaving Egypt. I'm leaving Egypt. 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:31.440 You know, Egypt was the place where they went to 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:35.440 be fed for a little while, but then they needed 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.960 to be freed from the place they were fed in. 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:43.200 And I think that's a powerful picture, is that for 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:48.240 certain seasons in our life, certain things meet needs. The 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:54.000 process of growing in God is the process of releasing 0:12:54.080 --> 0:13:00.120 something in order to receive something. And while that sounds 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:01.960 really cool because I made it all start with the 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:06.679 letter are, it is very difficult to do. And that's 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:09.120 why we really need to walk through this with the Israelites, 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:13.120 because we're like, come on, Moses led you out of Egypt, 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:19.040 aren't you grateful? Well, not exactly totally grateful. I'm kind 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:24.240 of fearful. I'm kind of fearful. And Exodus fourteen, verse 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.079 five gives us some detail. After the people of God 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:30.480 have left Egypt, remember how many plagues were their Graham 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:37.560 in the Bible. In Egypt, you had the frogs, remember 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:41.480 the gnats, all the plagues that God used. Remember, okay, 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:45.200 it's the same number as the commandments. How many commandments? 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:48.920 Ten commandments, ten plagues? And God did all of that 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:53.280 because he said, unless I force Pharaoh to let you go, 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:59.959 he won't. Certain changes are not embraced. They must be forced. 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:07.760 They must be forced certain changes. If you want your 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:11.360 muscles to grow, you can't nicely ask them to grow. 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:16.600 That has to be forced. And the only way you 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:19.440 can force a muscle to grow is to bring it 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:23.320 to the point of failure so that the fibers break down. 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:27.000 Am I getting this right? Chunks and grow back stronger. Now, 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:28.720 I'm going to tell you an illustration of that that 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:30.880 I put on Instagram this week. But after I read 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:34.840 my scripture, the Bible says in Exodus fourteen, verse five, 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:38.040 are you ready for the word? I've already started preaching it. 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:41.440 When the King of Egypt was told that the people 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:46.320 had fled, that his entire workforce had left the building, 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:53.680 Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. Underline, that changed 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:57.920 their minds. They changed their minds about them because remember, 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:00.800 Pharaoh didn't want to let them go. But then there 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:04.920 was one plague, two plagues, three plagues, four plagues, five plagues, six, seven, eight, nine, 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:09.600 ten plagus. And after the first borns died, the people 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:13.640 of God left. And I will point this out. It's 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.240 not my message, but I will point it out. What 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:24.440 represented death to Pharaoh represented freedom to God's people. It 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:29.400 was the same event, but Pharaoh's plagues became their freedom. 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:32.960 And the reason I point that out is I think 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:37.120 we have a choice how we viewed certain things. I 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.880 think we have a decision which side we live on, 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:44.640 to work with God or to work against God, to 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:47.560 cooperate with the things that He allows in our lives. 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:51.200 And someone may ask, well, did God send COVID nineteen? 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:54.520 Did God send coronavirus? I'll know you have to ask him. 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:59.600 I am not God's PR department. They'll always ask preachers, well, 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.600 where is God and all this preacher, and they're confused 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:06.920 because that's not my job. Here's one way that it 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:10.240 came to me. I don't work in God's PR department 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:14.160 where I'm trying to spend stuff like, oh, well, you know, well, 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:15.880 the Lord sent this, so the Lord did that. I 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:18.160 don't know what the Lord did. He didn't consult me 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:22.320 on any of this. If he had it, we would 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:25.240 be a lot different. And he consult you either before 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.200 you get all high and mighty. I don't think God 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.200 puts you on a zoom call either to check with 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.200 you about the last six weeks. Did he. If he did, 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:33.760 let me know, because we want to get a message 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:35.240 to you to tell him some other stuff that we 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:36.640 want him to do instead of the stuff he's doing 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:38.960 right now. But watch this. Here's the thing I found out. 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:47.720 I found out that it really doesn't matter who causes it, 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:52.080 if it's from God or if it's not from God. 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:55.080 And I don't really know the difference. Sometimes. What I 0:16:55.120 --> 0:17:00.960 know is that through God, through it's kind of like 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:04.159 his hands. Whatever happens in our lives, it has to 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:08.480 pass through his hands. So whether it came from his 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.639 hand or whether it was from the enemy is not 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:16.320 the most consequential thing. The most consequential thing is will 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:19.280 I partner with what God is doing, even if it's 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:23.520 not what I prefer? Or will I resist it, or 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.480 will I push against it? Or will I go with it? 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:31.600 And so the Israelites are being set free from Pharaoh, 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:34.720 and just about the time that freedom is in sight, 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.760 just about the time that it looks like they're going 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.240 to make it to this landfloon with milk and honey, 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.480 the land of the Canaanites and Parasites and Hittites and 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:46.280 Jebuzides and Cellulites and all these enemies that we have 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:50.400 to fight in this modron. That's a real enemy. That's 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:52.760 a real enemy, the cellulits. Some of y'all are fighting. 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:58.800 You're fighting the virus of overeating right now. But listen 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:01.120 to what happened when they got there. It's a serious moment, people, 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:05.000 you'll quick making light of the word of God. Pharaoh 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:07.560 changed his mind and said, what have we done? Now? 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.400 Listen to this verse five. We have let the Israelites 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:16.320 go and have lost their services. We have let the 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:22.000 Israelites go and have lost their services. So we had 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.520 his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:30.720 He took six hundred of the best chariots. The enemy 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:34.960 uses the heaviest artillery on the people who are carrying 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:38.399 the greatest purpose. Y'all won't shout, y'all won't put a 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:42.760 fire emoji in the chat. And so if a lot 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:46.480 is coming against you, that means God has put a 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:50.240 lot in you. And one of the things that God 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.200 is showing us in this season is what he put 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:56.040 in us. And you know how He's doing that by 0:18:56.080 --> 0:19:00.680 shutting down everything around us. Because sometimes the only way 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:03.399 for you to see what is within you is that 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:08.239 everything that is not within you. I put it like this. 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:13.560 When I preach to a crowd, I sometimes get carried 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.920 by their energy. But when I'm preaching and there's only 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:21.920 three people in the room, Alejandro on camera two and 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:23.960 Eric's sitting there like he's doing a job, but he 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:25.760 really just wanted to get away from his kids for 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:35.760 a few minutes. Something different has to kick in. Something 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:38.320 different has to kick in, And so we think a 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:40.160 lot of the times, y'all stop with the fire emoji's 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:41.840 calm down for a minute. You're gonna turn down the chat. 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:49.920 But sometimes the Lord allows something around us to shut down, 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:54.840 to die, so that something within us can come alive. 0:19:56.320 --> 0:20:00.960 And Pharaoh said, I changed my mind about letting them go. 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:06.359 The message titled today is called a lesson in letting go, 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:13.240 a lesson in letting go, And I just want you 0:20:13.280 --> 0:20:15.760 to put that right there in the comments. If you're 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:18.720 watching this later on YouTube, just put this is a 0:20:18.800 --> 0:20:21.840 lesson in letting go, because there's so much we're learning 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:27.720 right now. We may not know we've learned it until way. 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:31.800 On the other side of it, you don't really realize 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:36.200 life lessons until later. You know that, right, it's later 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:38.080 that you say, oh, it was good for me that 0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:40.880 I was afflicted because this taught me that. Oh, it's 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:43.520 good for me that they told me no because I 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:45.159 didn't want to date them anyway. If I would have 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:48.080 married them, I would be in therapy right now. And 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:51.840 it's later that we see the lessons. A lot of 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:55.560 times it's later that we see the lessons. And now 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:58.359 we can read about Exodus fourteen. You know, the children 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:00.320 of Israel while they should have trusted God through the 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:02.119 Red Sea, and God was going to make away. But 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:06.160 it's easy to say that. On the other side of it, 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:08.440 it's so easy to look back and say, well, you know, 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:12.760 he made away where there was no way. But you know, 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:16.800 that's when you're looking back. What really takes faith is 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:20.760 to look forward at something and to believe that he's 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:23.560 going to make away when you can't see it. A 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:27.520 lesson in letting go. And God told Moses from the 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:32.080 beginning that freedom is not going to come easy. Certain 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:37.520 freedoms in our life have to be forced. That sounds bad, right, 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:41.080 but it's true. The only way that God sets us 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:44.159 free from certain things, so he has to take them away. 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:50.119 And sometimes what God allows to be removed from our 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:52.439 life is just as important as what He allows to 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:55.280 be brought into our life. And yet this is a 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:57.320 season where a lot of us are having to learn 0:21:57.400 --> 0:22:02.000 to appreciate things. Remember, like I said last week, the 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:05.520 things you were complaining about in February you would be 0:22:05.560 --> 0:22:10.479 praising God for in April, all of the annoying people. 0:22:10.680 --> 0:22:13.000 You just wish you could have a different cast of 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:16.119 characters than the four you're stuck inside with. And I 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:19.080 figured out how much people are saying that they're finding 0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:22.200 a rhythm in quarantine is depending on how big their 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:28.040 house is it's like, oh yeah, man, this is kind 0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:33.480 of cool, or how grown their kids are, or some 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:36.960 people it's do they have any human interaction? And so 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:40.119 I've been thinking a little bit about the fact that 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:43.480 a lot of times in my life, the lesson God 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:48.359 is teaching me is to appreciate something. Here's what I 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:49.960 want to ask you and maybe you can answer it 0:22:50.880 --> 0:22:53.080 on chat. What is God teaching you to appreciate in 0:22:53.119 --> 0:23:00.960 this season? Very simple but maybe worth some reflection. And 0:23:01.000 --> 0:23:04.000 I'm going to wait for you to respond, and we say, well, 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:08.960 God is teaching me to appreciate my livelihood. You know, honestly, 0:23:09.040 --> 0:23:11.720 I had really gotten so caught up in what I 0:23:11.720 --> 0:23:15.960 didn't like about my job that I forgot the fact 0:23:15.960 --> 0:23:18.680 that having one is a blessing that I can't take 0:23:18.720 --> 0:23:25.000 for granted. Sometimes the only way that God gets us 0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:27.639 to appreciate something is to allow it to leave for 0:23:27.640 --> 0:23:32.760 a little while. That doesn't mean that this global pandemic 0:23:32.840 --> 0:23:34.560 is a plague sent by God, but I think God 0:23:34.600 --> 0:23:36.680 can use it to teach us to appreciate some things, 0:23:36.720 --> 0:23:39.640 don't you. I wish they would let us get back 0:23:39.640 --> 0:23:42.800 in this church and sing rattle. I wish they would 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:45.680 the first time. I'm telling you, the first time Elevation 0:23:46.080 --> 0:23:48.640 Church gets to come back and sing Rattle in person, 0:23:48.960 --> 0:23:51.399 because I've been watching y'all online. Y'all are losing your 0:23:51.440 --> 0:23:53.840 minds online. When we get in a building and sing it, 0:23:54.240 --> 0:23:58.400 you better wear a motorcycle helmet. I wish they would 0:23:58.480 --> 0:24:00.159 let us get I wish they would let us le's 0:24:00.160 --> 0:24:03.199 get back together. Man, we're going to We're gonna really 0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:04.960 have a good time. But you know what, the very 0:24:05.000 --> 0:24:08.880 same thing that we long for today is something that 0:24:08.920 --> 0:24:12.920 we had been living in for so long that God 0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:16.800 is teaching me to appreciate some things. How about you. 0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:20.639 He's teaching me to appreciate some things that I had 0:24:20.680 --> 0:24:25.920 become so accustomed to, accustomed to used to. You get 0:24:26.000 --> 0:24:29.280 used to the things that God gives you to the 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:33.560 point that you can become used to the people that 0:24:33.600 --> 0:24:38.160 God gives you. You can get used to simple moments, 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:40.960 things that used to be annoying, You learn to appreciate. 0:24:41.240 --> 0:24:44.359 Don't you What is God teaching me to appreciate in 0:24:44.400 --> 0:24:48.640 this season? Isn't its interesting how the children of Israel, 0:24:49.080 --> 0:24:51.000 all they wanted to do was get out of Egypt, 0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:53.640 Get out of Egypt, get out of Egypt. But when 0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:56.760 they went through the Red Sea into the wilderness, they 0:24:56.880 --> 0:25:00.280 wanted the food that they had in Egypt. He took 0:25:00.440 --> 0:25:05.200 leaving Egypt to really appreciate it. And now God was 0:25:05.200 --> 0:25:07.360 trying to bring them out of it. But there are 0:25:07.400 --> 0:25:10.560 some things that we need to appreciate, and we can 0:25:10.600 --> 0:25:15.840 only appreciate them in season sometimes where we don't quite 0:25:15.880 --> 0:25:19.160 have them in the same form anymore. Does that make sense? 0:25:19.200 --> 0:25:22.200 Because God is teaching me to appreciate some things. He's 0:25:22.280 --> 0:25:25.000 revealing things to me that I did not appreciate enough, 0:25:25.920 --> 0:25:29.440 like things I just took for granted, things I just 0:25:29.480 --> 0:25:33.119 thought would always be this way. And so one of 0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:35.159 the things that's happening in this season for all of 0:25:35.240 --> 0:25:39.280 us is God is not only teaching us to appreciate 0:25:39.440 --> 0:25:44.439 certain blessings, but He is resetting the baseline of what 0:25:44.480 --> 0:25:50.480 we consider a blessing. Can I preach, Lucia? The Bible says, 0:25:51.000 --> 0:25:55.399 let everything that hath a new car, praise the Lord. 0:25:57.560 --> 0:26:04.359 Let everything that hath perfec circumstance, praise the Lord. Sorry, 0:26:04.400 --> 0:26:06.840 it's been a while, maybe I'm rusty on the scriptures. 0:26:07.280 --> 0:26:14.760 Let everything that hath bread. So that's the new baseline 0:26:14.800 --> 0:26:19.639 for being grateful. That's the new baseline. Before God gives 0:26:19.720 --> 0:26:22.439 us a new blessing. He wants to give us a 0:26:22.480 --> 0:26:27.000 new baseline. Did you just breathe? Praise him? Are you 0:26:27.160 --> 0:26:31.960 still here? Praise him? Did he wake you up? Praise him? 0:26:32.280 --> 0:26:36.000 Did he sustain you? You might not like the taste 0:26:36.040 --> 0:26:39.680 of Mena, but if you've got something to eat. Praise him. 0:26:40.080 --> 0:26:42.639 You might not like who you're sitting next to on 0:26:42.680 --> 0:26:45.600 the couch, but praise him that you've got somebody to 0:26:45.720 --> 0:26:49.520 sit next to. Grab that hand and squeeze it and say, 0:26:49.840 --> 0:26:53.080 if you've got a pulse, praise him, if you've got breath, 0:26:53.320 --> 0:26:56.400 If he gave you another day, Why am I screaming? 0:26:56.440 --> 0:27:03.600 There's nobody in the room. My new baseline to praise 0:27:03.680 --> 0:27:07.120 him is just thank you for keeping me alive. You're 0:27:07.160 --> 0:27:10.159 all over me. You kept me in my right mind. 0:27:10.440 --> 0:27:14.679 I should be going crazy, but you did it anyway 0:27:15.560 --> 0:27:18.480 in view of God's mercy, offer your body as a 0:27:18.520 --> 0:27:21.680 living sacrifice. I start with the fact that he kept 0:27:21.760 --> 0:27:23.919 me another day. I start with the fact that he 0:27:24.000 --> 0:27:26.800 did not owe me real estate today. I start with 0:27:26.840 --> 0:27:28.920 the fact that the boundary lines have fallen in pleasant 0:27:28.920 --> 0:27:32.560 places for me. He is my portion, he is my strength, 0:27:32.800 --> 0:27:35.480 he is my rock. And the storm can come, but 0:27:35.560 --> 0:27:43.879 it can knock my house down. A new baseline for praise, 0:27:44.920 --> 0:27:49.679 and then he's not only teaching me to appreciate some things, 0:27:50.720 --> 0:27:54.520 and he's not only resetting some things, but he's teaching 0:27:54.560 --> 0:28:00.080 me to release some things. Uh huh. If you are 0:28:00.119 --> 0:28:02.200 a control freak and you want to stay that way, 0:28:02.440 --> 0:28:05.760 log off right now. If you are a control freak 0:28:05.760 --> 0:28:08.200 and you want to stay that way, you better search 0:28:09.600 --> 0:28:14.560 dance videos cat videos in the YouTube box right now 0:28:15.320 --> 0:28:17.440 and just get off this stream, because right now I'm 0:28:17.440 --> 0:28:22.920 coming for every control freak because I is one. You 0:28:23.160 --> 0:28:27.639 like my English, and God is homeschooling us right now. 0:28:31.480 --> 0:28:35.159 God is teaching me some things about release. Now. I 0:28:35.200 --> 0:28:38.640 promise you i'd give you this illustration because it comes 0:28:38.640 --> 0:28:41.640 back to my mind all the time. Now, Chris has 0:28:41.640 --> 0:28:44.400 been over to the little workout room that we have 0:28:44.440 --> 0:28:46.560 at the house. I'm so thankful for that little workout 0:28:46.600 --> 0:28:48.360 room because I hide there for like six hours a 0:28:48.400 --> 0:28:51.640 day sometimes. Right now, I'm not too proud to tell 0:28:51.680 --> 0:28:54.600 you that's one of my secrets to survival. Right now, 0:28:55.560 --> 0:28:57.960 I'm not even lifting weights half the time. I'm not 0:28:58.000 --> 0:29:00.880 even lifting weights one tenth of the time. Makes me 0:29:00.920 --> 0:29:05.880 feel good to be around some dumbells, though, And honestly, 0:29:06.000 --> 0:29:08.880 like certain sermon ideas come to me when my body 0:29:08.920 --> 0:29:10.720 is moving, and so I kind of try to incorporate 0:29:10.720 --> 0:29:15.200 the two. But I had the flashback the other day 0:29:15.840 --> 0:29:19.160 from when I guess about three years ago, was it 0:29:19.160 --> 0:29:23.760 three years ago, my elbow started hurting all the time, 0:29:23.800 --> 0:29:27.360 and Chunk said, that's called golfer's elbow. Now, he used 0:29:27.360 --> 0:29:30.040 to be a physical therapist. So I'm like, I know 0:29:30.120 --> 0:29:32.000 you went to school for this crap, but I've never 0:29:32.040 --> 0:29:35.080 played golf, so you're gonna have to explain to me 0:29:35.120 --> 0:29:38.200 how I got golfer's elbow. I played golf twice in 0:29:38.280 --> 0:29:41.840 my life with my dad after he had a six 0:29:41.920 --> 0:29:44.240 pack of beer, and neither time did we finish the 0:29:44.320 --> 0:29:46.640 nine holes because it went so bad. So I have 0:29:46.960 --> 0:29:50.680 never ever in my life played golf as a grown man. 0:29:50.840 --> 0:29:54.360 So you explained to me how I have golfer's elbow? 0:29:54.480 --> 0:29:56.720 Is that right? Is a golfer's elbow? Yeah? I can 0:29:56.760 --> 0:29:59.080 never remember his tennis elbow and golfer's elbow, and one 0:29:59.120 --> 0:30:01.120 is one thing, one the other. But the thing I 0:30:01.160 --> 0:30:07.800 wanted to say to you was my elbow hurt. And 0:30:07.880 --> 0:30:11.680 I told him that my elbow was hurting because I 0:30:11.720 --> 0:30:15.360 had been lifting too heavy. You know, isn't that a 0:30:15.400 --> 0:30:18.959 man's way of explaining things. Problem is, I've just been 0:30:19.000 --> 0:30:23.600 lifting too much weights. It's these ninety five pound dumbbells. 0:30:23.640 --> 0:30:27.400 I've just been pushing myself too hard, and he said 0:30:27.400 --> 0:30:29.400 politely because I pay him, right, so he has to 0:30:29.400 --> 0:30:33.680 say this a certain way. But he said, actually, it's 0:30:33.720 --> 0:30:38.840 not the amount of weight that caused the injury. It's 0:30:38.880 --> 0:30:42.040 not how much weight you were lifting. It is how 0:30:42.040 --> 0:30:48.760 hard you were gripping it. I'm coming for the control freaks. 0:30:49.920 --> 0:30:52.240 I'm coming for the people who, even when you pray 0:30:52.320 --> 0:30:54.760 for your kids, you're not really praying. You're just giving 0:30:54.800 --> 0:31:00.200 God a punch list of ways to make them. I'm 0:31:00.240 --> 0:31:05.360 not in his image but yours. I'm coming for everybody 0:31:05.400 --> 0:31:07.920 who had a plan for this first part of the 0:31:08.000 --> 0:31:12.000 year and now you can't really find your rhythm, you 0:31:12.040 --> 0:31:16.160 can't find your groove. And it's understandable and it's completely normal. 0:31:16.440 --> 0:31:19.000 But what Chunks told me this is so powerful, and 0:31:19.000 --> 0:31:21.040 I'm going to say it way better than he said it. Okay, 0:31:21.200 --> 0:31:23.640 but this is how I heard it. I heard him say, 0:31:23.840 --> 0:31:27.240 you could lift a lot more. If you will loosen 0:31:27.240 --> 0:31:33.600 your grip, you can lift a lot more. How much 0:31:33.640 --> 0:31:37.360 time do you'll have today? God said, if you'll hold 0:31:37.440 --> 0:31:43.280 it differently, you can handle it. So here's what I'm noticing. 0:31:44.240 --> 0:31:47.000 If I take it day by day, or hour by hour, 0:31:47.160 --> 0:31:51.000 or moment by moment, I'm good. It's only when I 0:31:51.040 --> 0:31:55.600 get too far out or too far back. Either one 0:31:55.680 --> 0:31:59.200 is a mistake. I can handle Sunday on Sunday, but 0:31:59.240 --> 0:32:02.240 I can't handle Saturday on Sunday. And I can't handle 0:32:02.320 --> 0:32:05.400 Monday on Sunday. But this is the day, somebody say, 0:32:05.480 --> 0:32:08.120 this is the day in the chat, this is the 0:32:08.200 --> 0:32:11.680 day that the Lord has made forgetting what is behind. 0:32:11.840 --> 0:32:14.600 I can't fix that. I got a grip on something 0:32:14.680 --> 0:32:17.240 behind me, and I can't go toward what God is 0:32:17.240 --> 0:32:20.520 put in front of me. But I press toward the 0:32:20.640 --> 0:32:25.040 mark for the prize of the high calling. God said, 0:32:25.160 --> 0:32:29.960 you can get there if you let go. Let go, 0:32:30.920 --> 0:32:35.120 let go, let go. Oh man, that preach is so good. 0:32:35.360 --> 0:32:41.240 Why is it so hard to do? Help? Let go 0:32:41.360 --> 0:32:46.360 and let God? Uh huh, you're gonna pay my light bill? No, 0:32:46.440 --> 0:32:50.720 but let go and let God. Well, God didn't offer me. 0:32:50.840 --> 0:32:53.440 God didn't offer me a rent chet. I know, brother, 0:32:53.480 --> 0:32:58.400 But let go and let God. Okay. I don't think 0:32:58.440 --> 0:33:04.560 it's really about letting go of your responsibilities. I don't 0:33:04.560 --> 0:33:07.520 really think it's about what I think it's about releasing 0:33:08.480 --> 0:33:11.000 is the things you could never control to begin with. 0:33:12.880 --> 0:33:16.000 And all God is doing, and some of our lives 0:33:16.000 --> 0:33:20.160 in this season is showing us how little control we 0:33:20.200 --> 0:33:26.200 had to begin with. I just can't wait to get 0:33:26.240 --> 0:33:29.920 back to normal. What you mean by that? We mean 0:33:29.920 --> 0:33:34.200 by normal? All right? Are you talking about are you 0:33:34.280 --> 0:33:37.640 talking about your point of reference? Are you talking about 0:33:38.120 --> 0:33:40.680 the way things were? And is that what you call normal? 0:33:41.480 --> 0:33:48.360 Because the way things were is not necessarily what's normal. Okay, 0:33:48.760 --> 0:33:51.760 the way that you were raised is not necessarily what 0:33:51.960 --> 0:33:56.880 was normal. That's what you know, But that's not necessarily normal. 0:33:57.800 --> 0:34:00.800 It was not normal for God's peace people to be 0:34:00.800 --> 0:34:05.560 beat and mastered and miserable. But that's what they wanted 0:34:05.560 --> 0:34:09.680 to go back to. Why that's what they knew. Now 0:34:09.920 --> 0:34:13.440 a lot of us, what we know is negative thinking. 0:34:14.360 --> 0:34:17.759 So in a time where we are uncertain, what we 0:34:17.880 --> 0:34:21.760 have to unlearn is what we've known. And I'm glad 0:34:21.800 --> 0:34:26.080 for everything that God teaches me. But one of the 0:34:26.120 --> 0:34:30.080 greatest lessons that I need in the season is not 0:34:30.120 --> 0:34:33.680 what I need to learn, but what I need to unlearn? 0:34:36.840 --> 0:34:42.280 What do I need to unlearn? See, we're addicted to information, 0:34:42.400 --> 0:34:44.480 We're addicted to knowledge. We think, oh, I'm going to 0:34:44.560 --> 0:34:47.120 learn this, I'm going to learn that, and so We're 0:34:47.160 --> 0:34:49.879 not all going back to normal at any point. I mean, 0:34:50.080 --> 0:34:52.520 just try to go outside right now and look at 0:34:52.560 --> 0:34:56.200 everybody that has a mask on and gloves on, and 0:34:56.239 --> 0:34:58.120 tell me that you think in three weeks we're just 0:34:58.160 --> 0:35:00.160 gonna all go back to dapping each other up and 0:35:00.239 --> 0:35:02.239 hugging each other. You go go to hug somebody and 0:35:02.280 --> 0:35:03.960 they're gonna fight you like you pulled a gun on them, 0:35:04.040 --> 0:35:06.080 because we're not going back to normal, at least not 0:35:06.160 --> 0:35:09.480 for now. So now we have to find balance in between. 0:35:09.520 --> 0:35:11.560 And that's where you have to find The balance is 0:35:11.600 --> 0:35:15.600 in between. I'm not in Egypt, I'm not in Canaan, 0:35:16.080 --> 0:35:18.240 and there's something ahead of me that makes me uncertain. 0:35:18.640 --> 0:35:22.160 This is where we have to unlearn our point of 0:35:22.200 --> 0:35:27.480 reference that we've called normal. So now husbands and wives 0:35:27.480 --> 0:35:30.440 are fighting more than ever before, and some are coming closer. 0:35:32.680 --> 0:35:35.800 What determines what becomes your new normal in this season? 0:35:35.960 --> 0:35:39.040 Can I appreciate this real quick? Is not whether God 0:35:39.120 --> 0:35:45.440 changes your heart, but whether you change your habits. And 0:35:45.480 --> 0:35:48.640 that's what I mean by a new normal. I'm not 0:35:48.719 --> 0:35:52.480 necessarily sure about when mass gatherings will be back, or 0:35:52.680 --> 0:35:55.040 what the economy will do next. That's not my specialty. 0:35:55.239 --> 0:35:57.560 But I know that what God is doing in this 0:35:57.680 --> 0:36:01.680 season is trying to at me free from things that 0:36:01.719 --> 0:36:05.160 I never needed to begin with. And I want to 0:36:05.200 --> 0:36:08.960 say this right to your pessimism. You don't need that anymore. 0:36:11.080 --> 0:36:14.799 You don't need that anymore. Certain things that were survival 0:36:14.880 --> 0:36:18.240 skills to you before are a death trap to you now. 0:36:19.800 --> 0:36:22.040 And the only way you die here is if you 0:36:22.120 --> 0:36:27.160 stay here. So we're looking forward to normal, right, Romans 0:36:27.280 --> 0:36:29.759 twelve one and two. Let's go back there for just 0:36:29.800 --> 0:36:32.920 a moment. Put verse one on the lower thirds. Therefore, 0:36:32.960 --> 0:36:38.280 I urge you. You hear Paul, He's like, please, please 0:36:39.000 --> 0:36:44.560 learn this lesson in this season. Please learn this lesson 0:36:45.120 --> 0:36:48.960 of letting go. Now. For the believers, he's talking to 0:36:49.040 --> 0:36:52.239 the church at Rome. There's Jewish believers, there's Gentile believers. 0:36:52.840 --> 0:36:56.200 And there's an old sacrificial system, you know, the blood 0:36:56.200 --> 0:36:58.680 of bulls and goats that took away sin for a 0:36:58.680 --> 0:37:03.320 little while. But now Jesus Christ, who tore the veil 0:37:03.400 --> 0:37:06.880 by his sacrifice and paid the price once and for 0:37:06.960 --> 0:37:12.440 all for sin, who offers mercy freely, is standing before them, 0:37:12.480 --> 0:37:15.560 and they no longer need to make those old sacrifices. 0:37:17.760 --> 0:37:22.440 But it's hard to let go of what you've been 0:37:22.440 --> 0:37:25.560 holding on to for so long, even if it's not 0:37:25.600 --> 0:37:29.600 working anymore. It's really hard to let go. It's like, 0:37:29.680 --> 0:37:31.200 but this is how we're used to it. He's going, No, 0:37:31.320 --> 0:37:36.520 I beg you see it differently. I beg you. I 0:37:36.560 --> 0:37:44.520 beg you to let go. It's not normal. It's just old. 0:37:46.440 --> 0:37:51.960 It's just old. That's just just because you're used to 0:37:52.000 --> 0:37:57.879 it doesn't make it normal. So after he gets done 0:37:57.920 --> 0:38:00.680 telling them that there's a new way, somebody say, there's 0:38:00.680 --> 0:38:02.560 a new way, a new way, a new way. That's 0:38:02.560 --> 0:38:04.840 what he opened by his blood. That's what he opened 0:38:04.840 --> 0:38:07.760 on the cross. That's what he opened along with his tomb. 0:38:07.880 --> 0:38:11.440 He opened a new and living way so that you 0:38:11.480 --> 0:38:14.799 could be watched. This a living sacrifice. How does that 0:38:14.880 --> 0:38:17.719 even work? In order for something to be sacrificed, it 0:38:17.760 --> 0:38:21.600 has to die, right, The old way has to die 0:38:22.200 --> 0:38:25.399 for the new way to come alive. And that's what 0:38:25.480 --> 0:38:29.200 Paul is preaching in Romance. And then comes the verse 0:38:29.640 --> 0:38:31.279 that I really want us to sit with for a 0:38:31.280 --> 0:38:38.080 moment in Romans twelve, verse two, Paul gives a didactic 0:38:38.840 --> 0:38:44.280 or a teaching or a lesson In letting go. He says, 0:38:44.680 --> 0:38:46.759 if you are going to hold on to the old 0:38:46.760 --> 0:38:48.200 way of doing it, and I don't know what that's 0:38:48.200 --> 0:38:50.040 going to mean to you. After I get done preaching this, 0:38:50.239 --> 0:38:52.680 you will have to reflect on that. I don't know 0:38:52.760 --> 0:38:55.960 if it's the way you communicate. I don't know if 0:38:56.000 --> 0:39:00.400 it's something in this season that it actually quit working 0:39:00.440 --> 0:39:03.560 a long time ago. Man, we have like three clocks 0:39:03.560 --> 0:39:05.880 hanging around our house that haven't told time in years. 0:39:06.840 --> 0:39:09.560 I don't know why they're still hanging there. It's probably 0:39:09.560 --> 0:39:12.319 more trouble to take them down. So we rather have 0:39:12.400 --> 0:39:14.719 something that doesn't work on the wall than take five 0:39:14.719 --> 0:39:18.080 minutes and bring it down. And a lot of us 0:39:18.120 --> 0:39:22.160 are stuck in something that is old, and we froze. 0:39:22.280 --> 0:39:26.320 We froze at a point in time where it's like, Okay, 0:39:27.320 --> 0:39:29.120 this is what I have to do. And for those 0:39:29.200 --> 0:39:31.919 of us who are used to doing it a certain way, 0:39:32.640 --> 0:39:35.719 when God brings us a new blessing, it looks like 0:39:35.760 --> 0:39:41.600 a threat and we can't receive it because of what 0:39:41.640 --> 0:39:45.799 we can't release. I feel annointed like I'm seventeen years 0:39:45.840 --> 0:39:49.080 old preaching my first sermon. I love the word because 0:39:49.080 --> 0:39:51.200 he said, I urge you brothers and sisters in view 0:39:51.239 --> 0:39:54.719 of God's mercy, to offer yourself living sacrifice. This is 0:39:54.760 --> 0:39:59.680 your proper and true active worship. So verse two in 0:39:59.680 --> 0:40:06.520 that context says, do not conform write that word down, 0:40:07.160 --> 0:40:16.319 conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed. LB. 0:40:16.440 --> 0:40:17.759 Don't push me. I don't want to preach right now. 0:40:17.800 --> 0:40:24.799 I want to teach. Be transformed. Conform transform now. You 0:40:24.800 --> 0:40:26.120 don't need me to do this for you, but I'm 0:40:26.120 --> 0:40:27.759 going to do it anyway. I'm going to write both 0:40:27.800 --> 0:40:32.280 of those words on a flash card. Come on, we're homeschooling. 0:40:32.320 --> 0:40:39.360 We're homeschooling. We're homeschooling. Graham present, I'd be present, Holly present. 0:40:40.160 --> 0:40:42.760 If you're here, say present. Come on, class is in session, 0:40:43.480 --> 0:40:47.280 Come on, classes in session? Say it in the chat present, present, present, present, present, 0:40:47.320 --> 0:40:48.880 I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here for it. 0:40:48.880 --> 0:40:51.040 I'm here for it. All right, I'm gonna write this down. 0:40:51.200 --> 0:40:54.680 Last week, y'all were making fun of my handwriting. Somebody 0:40:54.719 --> 0:40:57.680 said that my R in the word normal looked like 0:40:57.719 --> 0:41:01.839 a twelve, and you're exactly right. The question is did 0:41:01.840 --> 0:41:05.000 I do it on purpose? To illustrate the twelve tribes 0:41:05.000 --> 0:41:15.239 of israel I. Guess you'll never know. Yeah, it's just 0:41:15.360 --> 0:41:17.759 two ways of looking at it. One is conform and 0:41:17.760 --> 0:41:21.759 one is transformed. I just wanted to write them down. Yeah, 0:41:21.800 --> 0:41:24.040 please get past my calligraphy and get the point. Okay, 0:41:25.120 --> 0:41:28.239 this is the right way. This is the wrong way. 0:41:30.040 --> 0:41:33.160 And what makes it right and wrong is this one 0:41:33.280 --> 0:41:36.920 conform is the way the world works from the outside in. 0:41:38.960 --> 0:41:42.920 This one transform is the way God works from the 0:41:42.920 --> 0:41:46.360 inside out. And here's how the Lord was showing me 0:41:46.440 --> 0:41:49.359 the other day. He said, in this season, remember there's 0:41:49.400 --> 0:41:53.879 a lesson in letting go. In this season, I am 0:41:53.960 --> 0:41:58.479 teaching you to learn to set your agenda from within, 0:42:01.880 --> 0:42:05.680 to be guided by the Holy Spirit, to let me 0:42:05.760 --> 0:42:09.000 fulfill my purpose for your life. Now that your plans 0:42:09.000 --> 0:42:13.800 have been interrupted. This is really hard because one of 0:42:13.880 --> 0:42:16.080 the things we're having such a difficulty with right now 0:42:16.160 --> 0:42:19.680 is we haven't even had the funeral for what we 0:42:19.800 --> 0:42:23.239 expected this year to be. And now you've got a 0:42:23.239 --> 0:42:27.040 preacher up here talking about having faith for what's going 0:42:27.080 --> 0:42:31.319 to happen next. And this causes me to really sympathize 0:42:31.320 --> 0:42:34.359 with the Israelites. You know, they were leaving Egypt and 0:42:34.400 --> 0:42:36.399 they had to rush out in the middle of the night. 0:42:37.360 --> 0:42:41.440 They had to leave so quickly they never got to 0:42:41.520 --> 0:42:45.240 say goodbye. You're like, well, they didn't want to say goodbye. 0:42:45.400 --> 0:42:48.399 Of course they did, even though it was killing them. 0:42:48.640 --> 0:42:53.600 It was what they knew. So what we're dealing with 0:42:53.680 --> 0:42:56.479 right now is a lot of us. Our plans got 0:42:56.480 --> 0:43:00.399 canceled and we didn't even get to say goodbye. Even 0:43:00.440 --> 0:43:03.000 if it isn't really what we wanted, it's what we knew. 0:43:04.080 --> 0:43:05.919 And when you don't get to say goodbye, you don't 0:43:05.920 --> 0:43:10.440 get closure. So now I'm living in this space where 0:43:10.880 --> 0:43:12.799 I thought I was gonna get to walk down the 0:43:12.840 --> 0:43:14.800 aisle with my daughter and marry or this year. Not you, 0:43:14.840 --> 0:43:16.719 I'm telling somebody else. I thought I was going to 0:43:16.760 --> 0:43:19.120 get to go, you know, be at my graduation. I 0:43:19.120 --> 0:43:21.520 had some momentum in my business. I was working on 0:43:21.560 --> 0:43:23.800 this steal, I was working on that thing. I was 0:43:23.840 --> 0:43:26.080 actually getting my act together. I had this and that 0:43:26.360 --> 0:43:28.440 and the other, and no sooner did the year start 0:43:28.520 --> 0:43:30.640 until you had to bury it and trust God with it. 0:43:30.760 --> 0:43:37.200 And we didn't even get to say goodbye. So this 0:43:37.360 --> 0:43:43.520 is a challenge of letting go, letting go of something 0:43:44.080 --> 0:43:46.040 when you don't even know what you're reaching for yet. 0:43:49.400 --> 0:43:51.600 I mean, if you if you asked me to let 0:43:51.680 --> 0:43:55.280 go of broccoli for briars, I can do it because 0:43:55.280 --> 0:43:57.320 I like what I'm grabbing more than what I'm letting 0:43:57.360 --> 0:44:00.720 go of. But what if it's a miss three bucks. 0:44:01.480 --> 0:44:04.040 I don't know about this yet. I don't know you're 0:44:04.080 --> 0:44:06.560 talking about a new normal. I don't know about that. Now. 0:44:06.560 --> 0:44:08.680 We all have moments of both. We all have moments 0:44:08.680 --> 0:44:11.280 where we're like, man, this is actually kind of nice. 0:44:12.239 --> 0:44:15.360 Everything got canceled. It's kind of nice. I kind of 0:44:15.520 --> 0:44:17.359 needed to get a break. Man. Now it's like a 0:44:17.400 --> 0:44:19.920 forced break on all of humanity. It's like a global 0:44:19.960 --> 0:44:26.359 snow day unless you're sick or someone you love sick, 0:44:26.480 --> 0:44:29.080 or unless something dries up that you were depending on, 0:44:29.719 --> 0:44:32.719 or unless it might So we're going back and forth. 0:44:32.760 --> 0:44:35.040 It's like, I want to get back to normal, but 0:44:35.080 --> 0:44:38.480 I kind of want to go into something new. It's like, man, 0:44:38.520 --> 0:44:40.439 I can't wait for everything to get started back again. 0:44:40.480 --> 0:44:42.640 But it is kind of nice having meals with my family. 0:44:43.440 --> 0:44:47.440 I wasn't doing that before. I kind of need some 0:44:47.560 --> 0:44:50.319 job stability. But you know what, I've been wondering if 0:44:50.360 --> 0:44:52.640 I really even want to work there anyway. I don't know. 0:44:52.719 --> 0:44:54.960 I don't know which one. I'm trying to find my 0:44:55.040 --> 0:44:58.440 balance in between. Now, the lesson of letting go is 0:44:58.960 --> 0:45:03.160 not only that external events cause us to let go, 0:45:04.239 --> 0:45:09.880 but the way God changes us is transformation from the 0:45:10.080 --> 0:45:19.160 inside out. Isn't that really relevant while you're stuck inside that? 0:45:19.160 --> 0:45:22.920 That's the way God changes things, the way the world 0:45:22.920 --> 0:45:26.120 works from the outside end. Oh no, what's the job 0:45:26.160 --> 0:45:28.960 market doing, what's the economy doing? When are they gonna 0:45:28.960 --> 0:45:31.239 lift this? And when are they gonna lift that? The 0:45:31.360 --> 0:45:34.840 way God does it is like you got Paul and 0:45:34.920 --> 0:45:39.000 you got Silas and they are stuck in an inner cell. 0:45:39.480 --> 0:45:43.120 But when they are stuck in a tight space is 0:45:43.160 --> 0:45:46.760 the moment that they understand We've got to give God 0:45:47.120 --> 0:45:51.800 the greatest praise in the tightest space. This is a 0:45:51.920 --> 0:45:56.440 time for more faith, more hope, more optimism. Your anchor 0:45:56.520 --> 0:45:59.520 has really got to grab hold right now because you 0:45:59.560 --> 0:46:03.480 don't know, oh what's next? And that's where God lives 0:46:03.480 --> 0:46:08.200 in the mystery. And yet our our old mind, our 0:46:07.960 --> 0:46:12.080 our our conformed mind, this is the way it's supposed 0:46:12.160 --> 0:46:14.839 to work. Is it possible that God is trying to 0:46:14.880 --> 0:46:20.440 get you to unlearned the way the world works, so 0:46:20.480 --> 0:46:24.719 you can see how he works. What does God want 0:46:24.760 --> 0:46:29.120 me to unlearn? I can't handle it anymore. Sure you 0:46:29.160 --> 0:46:34.040 can if you listen your grip, if you believe that 0:46:34.080 --> 0:46:36.120 He's with you, no matter what the next season looks like. 0:46:37.800 --> 0:46:41.080 You could bench press how much do you bench Chris 0:46:41.400 --> 0:46:44.400 three oh five? You could bench press three ninety five. 0:46:46.200 --> 0:46:50.560 You could lift it if you weren't gripping it so tight. 0:46:51.880 --> 0:46:56.040 You could lift it. You could lift it if you 0:46:56.120 --> 0:46:59.560 weren't gripping it like this. He said, it's your grip 0:46:59.560 --> 0:47:03.800 that's heard you, not the weights. You're actually strong enough. 0:47:04.880 --> 0:47:11.160 Christ is actually in you. You actually have a new nature. Now. 0:47:11.239 --> 0:47:16.240 You just need a new normal. You have a new heart. 0:47:17.560 --> 0:47:23.120 You just need new habits. What's in front of you 0:47:23.280 --> 0:47:28.040 is greater. You just gotta let go of some things 0:47:28.040 --> 0:47:30.919 that you know. And I don't want to do it either. 0:47:31.800 --> 0:47:34.799 I like what I know. That's why I know. I 0:47:34.880 --> 0:47:37.319 mean hamburger steak and green beans from cracker burrel, because 0:47:37.320 --> 0:47:39.479 that's all I avery. I don't even have to ask 0:47:39.520 --> 0:47:43.359 what she ordered me. I like what I know. God 0:47:43.480 --> 0:47:45.480 do a new thing, but make it just like what 0:47:45.520 --> 0:47:50.719 I've known before. And so when we get knocked up 0:47:50.719 --> 0:47:53.239 our balance. That's that's from the inside. That's that's how 0:47:53.239 --> 0:47:57.920 God transforms us. He destabilizes the outside in order to 0:47:58.000 --> 0:48:02.000 strengthen the core. That's what he's doing in my life 0:48:02.080 --> 0:48:09.600 right now. He's teaching me to release. Release. If you 0:48:09.800 --> 0:48:11.560 just do it physically, you could feel what I'm saying. 0:48:12.160 --> 0:48:14.200 Get the tightest script you can right now, right there. 0:48:14.960 --> 0:48:17.200 I mean to the point where you feel your blood 0:48:17.200 --> 0:48:20.319 and your toes cutting off because everything in you is constricted. 0:48:21.920 --> 0:48:25.160 And that's how your that's how your soul feels right now. 0:48:25.320 --> 0:48:29.600 This is how your mind is. You're closed minded. Keep 0:48:29.600 --> 0:48:32.000 the tight grip. Now, this is a this is an 0:48:32.080 --> 0:48:34.440 illustrated point. This is a what do you call it 0:48:34.480 --> 0:48:37.560 when you teach things by showing them? This is a 0:48:37.560 --> 0:48:41.040 an object lesson that's it. That's it's an object lesson grip. 0:48:41.080 --> 0:48:43.360 It's so tight you feel like you can't take it anymore. 0:48:44.440 --> 0:48:48.759 And I release. Release. That's what's going to happen when 0:48:48.800 --> 0:48:51.400 you look around at what you have left, instead of 0:48:51.440 --> 0:48:57.799 dwelling on what you've lost, release what do you want 0:48:57.800 --> 0:49:02.839 me to release? Pastor Stephen? Not the steering wheel. Don't 0:49:02.880 --> 0:49:12.160 release that, just release your need to know, and once 0:49:12.200 --> 0:49:21.480 you release that, look how much strength you have. Look 0:49:21.520 --> 0:49:25.000 how much praise you have. Come on, do it right there. 0:49:25.160 --> 0:49:28.280 I wish somebody would start pressing something right now, forgetting 0:49:28.520 --> 0:49:32.359 what is behind and straining toward what's ahead. It's not 0:49:32.400 --> 0:49:36.360 gonna be easy. Freedom is not easy, he told Moses. 0:49:36.400 --> 0:49:41.680 It wouldn't be easy. He told him, it's not gonna 0:49:41.719 --> 0:49:47.600 be easy when all you've known is bondage. Blessing seems 0:49:47.680 --> 0:49:55.840 strange when all we've known is busy, busy, busy, busy, busy. 0:49:56.480 --> 0:50:01.759 Rest feels like something to be resistant when all we've 0:50:01.920 --> 0:50:05.919 known is worshiping idols. Worshiping the true and living God 0:50:05.960 --> 0:50:11.200 who lives within feels foreign. But God said, you have 0:50:11.280 --> 0:50:13.839 the strength that you need if you will release what 0:50:13.920 --> 0:50:16.759 you can't carry, what you can't control. That's what he's 0:50:16.840 --> 0:50:24.600 teaching me. The lesson of letting go. Pharaoh did what 0:50:24.680 --> 0:50:30.600 we cannot do, is that he changed his mind. Wow, 0:50:32.160 --> 0:50:34.799 did you see that in the text. I never saw 0:50:34.800 --> 0:50:36.920 it in my whole life until just when I was 0:50:36.960 --> 0:50:40.080 preparing the sermon. And I promise you there's a lot 0:50:40.120 --> 0:50:41.680 more inside of me than what I'm going to say 0:50:41.680 --> 0:50:43.360 in this one session. So I'm going to keep the 0:50:43.360 --> 0:50:46.760 teaching going another week after this, at least another week, 0:50:47.920 --> 0:50:51.000 until you are so free from what you can't control, 0:50:51.360 --> 0:50:54.200 until you are so free from the fear of what 0:50:54.239 --> 0:50:57.160 the future holds, until you are able to stand in 0:50:57.239 --> 0:51:00.360 this moment and bear the weight of your calling. Because 0:51:00.360 --> 0:51:03.160 you're shedding everything that doesn't come from Him, You're shedding 0:51:03.160 --> 0:51:05.960 everything that's not productive. You are pruned of everything that 0:51:06.000 --> 0:51:10.160 doesn't serve a purpose in this season of your life. 0:51:10.440 --> 0:51:13.680 So Pharaoh said, I don't want to I don't want 0:51:13.680 --> 0:51:16.880 to let him go. Did you see in verse five? 0:51:17.200 --> 0:51:22.120 He changed his mind and said, we have let them go. 0:51:24.640 --> 0:51:29.799 You know what the Lord showed me, Holly. It took 0:51:29.840 --> 0:51:32.400 ten plagues to get Pharaoh to let God's people go. 0:51:33.080 --> 0:51:36.879 It wasn't easy. Stuff had to be killed, stuff had 0:51:36.920 --> 0:51:40.960 to be eliminated, water had to turn to blood. God 0:51:41.000 --> 0:51:43.919 even had to tell the frogs to start croaking. That's 0:51:43.920 --> 0:51:46.560 how much it took. God even had to bring in 0:51:46.600 --> 0:51:50.520 the frogs to bring his people into freedom. It wasn't easy. 0:51:51.800 --> 0:51:55.040 It wasn't easy for Jesus to die for me. He prayed, 0:51:55.560 --> 0:51:58.160 if there's any other way, let this cup pass for me. 0:51:58.200 --> 0:52:03.280 It wasn't easy. Jesus. Jesus did not purchase my freedom 0:52:03.320 --> 0:52:04.799 at a low cost. It was free to me, but 0:52:04.840 --> 0:52:06.960 it was costly for him. It was not easy for 0:52:07.040 --> 0:52:10.880 him to set me free. But here's the crazy thing 0:52:10.920 --> 0:52:15.960 about it. After the people were free from Pharaoh, they 0:52:16.000 --> 0:52:20.200 wanted to go back. And here's what I realized. It 0:52:20.280 --> 0:52:24.640 was easier for God to get Pharaoh to let his 0:52:24.719 --> 0:52:28.480 people go than it was for him to get his 0:52:28.600 --> 0:52:40.960 people to let Pharaoh go. It was easier for God 0:52:41.719 --> 0:52:45.600 to get his people out of Egypt than it was 0:52:45.680 --> 0:52:50.920 for Him to get Egypt out of his people. It 0:52:51.000 --> 0:52:55.360 is easier for God to change your heart because that 0:52:55.440 --> 0:52:57.919 happens in a moment. You know the Bible verse. If 0:52:57.960 --> 0:53:01.759 anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The 0:53:01.800 --> 0:53:05.040 old is gone, the new has come. It's not God 0:53:05.239 --> 0:53:09.520 making your heart new that is hard. It's making your 0:53:09.640 --> 0:53:14.399 habits new to come into alignment with the new heart 0:53:14.440 --> 0:53:18.920 that He's given you. And God said, in this season, 0:53:19.600 --> 0:53:23.840 I want to shatter the patterns that have kept you 0:53:23.960 --> 0:53:28.440 in prison and set you free in your life to 0:53:28.600 --> 0:53:33.000 worship Me. Not just the three day journey into the wilderness, 0:53:33.520 --> 0:53:36.640 not just out of Egypt, not just out of a location, 0:53:37.120 --> 0:53:39.759 but out of a lifestyle, out of a way of 0:53:39.880 --> 0:53:43.200 doing things, out of a way of gripping things. In fact, 0:53:43.800 --> 0:53:48.799 God is trying to set me free from me the 0:53:48.840 --> 0:53:57.160 worst master of all. How I overthink, overcompensate. God is 0:53:57.160 --> 0:54:00.239 trying to set me free from thinking I have to 0:54:00.239 --> 0:54:04.960 be the center. God is sending me free. And yet 0:54:05.800 --> 0:54:10.000 it was easier, Nats Frogs, All of that was easy 0:54:10.040 --> 0:54:11.880 for God. All he had to do was speak it, 0:54:11.920 --> 0:54:15.960 and it immediately happened. It was easier for God to 0:54:16.040 --> 0:54:20.719 get Pharaoh to let his people go than it was 0:54:20.800 --> 0:54:25.120 for him to get Pharaoh. I messed it up, Chris 0:54:25.640 --> 0:54:29.560 rewind it. It was easier for God. See, this is 0:54:29.560 --> 0:54:31.880 so revolutionary for me. I can barely even say it 0:54:31.920 --> 0:54:34.200 to you because God is just speaking this to me. 0:54:34.480 --> 0:54:36.880 I've never seen it like this before. I thought, you know, 0:54:37.040 --> 0:54:38.520 he will not let you go un less a mighty 0:54:38.560 --> 0:54:42.640 hand compels him. That's external, that's conform. God's gonna make 0:54:42.760 --> 0:54:45.719 him let you go. But what's harder is not God 0:54:45.800 --> 0:54:49.400 making Pharaoh let you go. It's getting you to let 0:54:49.480 --> 0:54:53.200 Pharaoh go. It's getting you to release the thing that 0:54:53.239 --> 0:54:57.040 you thought you needed, and to say, if I have 0:54:57.120 --> 0:54:59.000 God's presence, if I have God's power, if I have 0:54:59.040 --> 0:55:00.839 his provision, I can stand on his promise. I can 0:55:00.880 --> 0:55:05.040 stand on his word. I don't need to pay anybody back. 0:55:05.760 --> 0:55:09.359 God's got me. See, if you're used to being bitter, 0:55:09.400 --> 0:55:13.120 if you're used to getting offended, it is easier for 0:55:13.200 --> 0:55:16.000 God to forgive you for your offenses than to get 0:55:16.040 --> 0:55:20.040 you to start forgiving other people of theirs. It is easier. 0:55:22.000 --> 0:55:25.000 It is easier for God to tell Pharaoh, let my 0:55:25.160 --> 0:55:28.520 people go, than for God to tell his people, let 0:55:28.600 --> 0:55:33.719 Pharaoh go, let it go. We have to let it go. 0:55:34.280 --> 0:55:36.960 I don't mean that we can't take moments and feel sad. 0:55:37.120 --> 0:55:40.080 I don't mean that we cannot appreciate certain seasons. But 0:55:40.160 --> 0:55:44.279 God is teaching me in this season. I can't receive 0:55:44.800 --> 0:55:47.720 what is now when I hold to what is old. 0:55:49.880 --> 0:55:54.919 So God is setting me free in this season. He's 0:55:54.960 --> 0:55:57.360 not telling Pharaoh to let me go. He already delivered me. 0:55:59.000 --> 0:56:01.560 He's not telling Sins let me go. He already delivered me. 0:56:02.600 --> 0:56:05.400 He's not telling Shane to let me go. He already 0:56:05.400 --> 0:56:08.839 delivered me. He's telling me to let Shane go. Why 0:56:08.880 --> 0:56:12.000 would I reach back and pull back down off the 0:56:12.080 --> 0:56:15.719 cross sin that he already died. Why would I try 0:56:15.760 --> 0:56:21.000 to purchase something that is already provided. Let it go 0:56:22.160 --> 0:56:26.640 for I know the plans I have for you. You 0:56:26.760 --> 0:56:30.920 don't know, you don't need to know. I know the 0:56:31.080 --> 0:56:36.040 exceeding abundantly above all you ask or a mechant or 0:56:36.040 --> 0:56:40.319 a plan or propheside. I know the plans I have 0:56:41.440 --> 0:56:48.480 for you. So I'm not going back to normal. I'm 0:56:48.480 --> 0:56:54.359 looking forward to freedom. I'm looking forward to freedom. Let 0:56:54.360 --> 0:56:56.960 me see, I'm getting set free from petty in this 0:56:57.080 --> 0:57:03.319 season stupid stuff. I'm not gonna worry about so much anymore. God, 0:57:03.360 --> 0:57:05.719 if you will just let me out the house, I 0:57:05.840 --> 0:57:12.719 promise you I will be nicer in target. It's so 0:57:12.880 --> 0:57:19.080 crazy how we tell ourselves it's normal. But what if 0:57:19.120 --> 0:57:22.000 it's just old. If anyone is in Christ, he is 0:57:22.000 --> 0:57:24.080 a new creation. The old is gone, the newest come. 0:57:24.320 --> 0:57:29.280 And now God is trying to give new habits for 0:57:29.360 --> 0:57:34.600 a new heart. I don't know who needed to hear 0:57:34.640 --> 0:57:41.000 this today, but it's a lesson in letting go. The 0:57:41.040 --> 0:57:45.080 only way for them to step into freedom was to 0:57:45.080 --> 0:57:50.080 completely leave Egypt. And I just think, in our own 0:57:50.080 --> 0:57:51.680 way and our own hearts, we kind of have to 0:57:51.680 --> 0:57:53.760 have a funeral look, I'm telling our staff right now, 0:57:54.640 --> 0:57:59.680 we are not going back to church as usual anymore, 0:58:00.000 --> 0:58:03.480 and we're going back to Best Buy to purchase a 0:58:03.520 --> 0:58:09.240 cassette tape. We're not going back. I don't know what's next. 0:58:10.240 --> 0:58:13.520 I don't need to know what's next. All I've got 0:58:13.520 --> 0:58:19.920 to do is follow forward, watch this, loosen my grip, 0:58:21.360 --> 0:58:24.760 and press toward what's next. I'm pressing toward us next. 0:58:24.760 --> 0:58:26.480 I'm pressing toward us next. Do I have to tell you? 0:58:26.480 --> 0:58:29.240 Put it in the chat press toward. I'm pressing. I'm pressing. 0:58:29.440 --> 0:58:32.640 I'm pressing toward what's next. And I know that the 0:58:32.680 --> 0:58:36.560 patterns of this world, the way that the world works, 0:58:38.000 --> 0:58:42.960 was already weird. The way the world was wired was 0:58:43.040 --> 0:58:46.160 already weird. If you take the word wired and scramble it, 0:58:46.200 --> 0:58:49.640 you'll get weird. And the way the world was wired, 0:58:49.680 --> 0:58:53.160 the patterns of this world keep playing, is soothing, the 0:58:53.200 --> 0:58:56.320 way this world was wired, and it hastens me the 0:58:56.360 --> 0:58:58.240 way and I got too much to say, so push 0:58:58.320 --> 0:59:00.439 me to close because we got to get the next 0:59:00.440 --> 0:59:05.320 people in the building. Apparently, Oh nobody's coming. The way 0:59:05.560 --> 0:59:11.400 the world is wired is weird. The way the world 0:59:11.480 --> 0:59:18.440 had gotten before this virus was already sick. We already 0:59:18.480 --> 0:59:22.240 didn't know what and who was really important. We were 0:59:22.280 --> 0:59:25.120 already so addicted to celebrity that we even turned our 0:59:25.160 --> 0:59:29.760 government into a reality show. It was already sick, It 0:59:29.880 --> 0:59:33.560 was already messed up. You want to go back to that. Now? 0:59:34.640 --> 0:59:38.120 God is rewiring the way it works in our hearts, 0:59:40.560 --> 0:59:42.440 the way that we talk to each other and speak 0:59:42.520 --> 0:59:46.919 to each other with no civility. How divided we were. 0:59:48.480 --> 0:59:50.520 How if you like this person, then I don't like you. 0:59:50.600 --> 0:59:53.600 And if you support that person that was already weird. 0:59:55.240 --> 0:59:58.680 God is bringing us into something that he sees as 0:59:59.240 --> 1:00:03.520 or more normal, more than normal. What if what God 1:00:03.600 --> 1:00:06.200 is bringing you into is more normal than what you've knowne? 1:00:06.200 --> 1:00:09.200 Would you embrace that? Would you let go of your 1:00:09.240 --> 1:00:14.160 expectations to receive a new grace, a new wind, a 1:00:14.200 --> 1:00:18.840 fresh felling? Isn't it crazy? How for the last couple 1:00:18.840 --> 1:00:23.520 of years, even in our cultural dialogue, we talk about 1:00:23.560 --> 1:00:29.760 canceling people. Somebody says something we don't like, canceled, Somebody 1:00:29.800 --> 1:00:32.040 does something we don't like. Cancel, Somebody says something that's 1:00:32.040 --> 1:00:34.440 out of bounds with what we thought. Canceled, canceled, cancel, 1:00:36.120 --> 1:00:41.080 and now that everything is canceled. It's like, oh, you'll 1:00:41.080 --> 1:00:45.400 want to cancel stuff. Now everything is canceled, And I 1:00:45.400 --> 1:00:47.680 can't help but think about Hebrews that says everything that 1:00:48.240 --> 1:00:50.800 can't be shaken will be shaken, so that only what 1:00:50.960 --> 1:00:56.200 can't be shaken will remain. There are certain things that 1:00:57.000 --> 1:01:02.520 cannot be canceled. There are certain things that will always 1:01:02.600 --> 1:01:07.800 be true. They've been true all along, but have they 1:01:07.840 --> 1:01:12.680 become true to you? God wants to give us some 1:01:12.760 --> 1:01:16.360 new truths to hold to in the season, some new 1:01:16.400 --> 1:01:19.880 things to believe. It's not that the truth is new, 1:01:20.280 --> 1:01:24.400 it's just new to you. Limitations are coming off in 1:01:24.440 --> 1:01:29.120 this season. Thank you Lord. If I let go, if 1:01:29.160 --> 1:01:32.320 I let go of what was limiting me. Sometimes it's 1:01:32.400 --> 1:01:35.840 just a belief. Sometimes it's just a way of seeing another. 1:01:36.920 --> 1:01:39.360 So Lord, I'm letting go of limitations. I'm letting go 1:01:39.400 --> 1:01:42.400 of labels. What do I need to let go off? 1:01:44.960 --> 1:01:49.200 Because I'll never make it to the other side if 1:01:49.200 --> 1:01:55.360 I don't let go. I have to let go to 1:01:55.440 --> 1:02:00.480 move forward. Thank you Holy Spirit for your ministry today. 1:02:01.520 --> 1:02:05.000 It has been so good to receive from you the 1:02:05.080 --> 1:02:10.479 things that you want to speak. We spend too much 1:02:10.520 --> 1:02:14.000 time listening to every other voice but yours, and it 1:02:14.120 --> 1:02:19.200 costs us because you're always speaking over our lives, that 1:02:19.280 --> 1:02:23.400 which is pure, lovely, true, good, report, virtue, and praise, 1:02:23.520 --> 1:02:31.240 always speaking. Sometimes we just need our minds changed. So God, 1:02:31.240 --> 1:02:32.760 there are things we want you to change in our 1:02:32.760 --> 1:02:35.840 world right now. People who are unemployed, we ask you 1:02:35.880 --> 1:02:38.520 to give them a job. People whose bodies are not 1:02:38.560 --> 1:02:40.640 functioning properly, we ask you to give them a healing. 1:02:41.760 --> 1:02:44.400 People who need direction from you, or people who need 1:02:44.440 --> 1:02:47.880 protection from you. Give it God, But while we're at it, 1:02:47.920 --> 1:02:55.080 asking you to change stuff, change us, not just conforming 1:02:55.080 --> 1:03:01.720 our situation, but transforming our minds. I put my mind 1:03:01.800 --> 1:03:05.520 on the altar today. The way I think about others, 1:03:05.520 --> 1:03:07.280 the way I think about the world, the way I 1:03:07.320 --> 1:03:13.360 think about what's normal. Show me your normal, God, Show 1:03:13.400 --> 1:03:20.720 me your normal. Pray that right now. Show me your normal. God, 1:03:20.760 --> 1:03:24.720 Show me your normal. Show me what the garden of 1:03:24.880 --> 1:03:28.800 Eden is like when they were naked and unafraid. Show 1:03:28.840 --> 1:03:30.760 me what it's like to not have to hide behind 1:03:30.760 --> 1:03:34.040 fig leaves. Show me what it means to be made 1:03:34.040 --> 1:03:36.640 in your image. I thank you for your anointing, God 1:03:36.840 --> 1:03:41.320 to bring us into a new normal. Help us to 1:03:41.400 --> 1:03:50.920 let go of pharaoh, for perhaps we've become our own pharaoh, 1:03:51.280 --> 1:03:54.560 keeping ourselves in a mindset that you're trying to deliver 1:03:54.640 --> 1:03:59.760 us from. Give us the miracle of a new mind, 1:04:01.040 --> 1:04:06.720 touch the way we think, new normal, new neural pathways, 1:04:07.600 --> 1:04:15.120 new heart, new habits. Teach us to release this, to 1:04:15.200 --> 1:04:20.440 release that grip on our future, release that grip on 1:04:20.480 --> 1:04:24.840 our weaknesses, release that grip on controlling other people, release 1:04:25.000 --> 1:04:29.160 that grip on things that we can't control, to receive 1:04:29.200 --> 1:04:34.640 the strength that only you give. Heads bowed, eyes closed. 1:04:34.640 --> 1:04:37.840 In every living room and kitchen, hospital room, prison, everywhere. 1:04:37.880 --> 1:04:40.000 You're watching this right now in your car, you may 1:04:40.040 --> 1:04:41.600 want to pull your car over because I want to 1:04:41.640 --> 1:04:46.200 pray right now for somebody to become a new creation 1:04:46.640 --> 1:04:54.160 in Christ. The old has gone, the newest come. Jesus 1:04:54.280 --> 1:04:58.760 Christ died on the cross to save sinners, to deliver 1:04:58.920 --> 1:05:02.680 you from the body of death, to give you a 1:05:02.760 --> 1:05:06.520 hope and a future through his resurrection. Right now, if 1:05:06.560 --> 1:05:08.680 you want to give your life to Jesus Christ and 1:05:08.800 --> 1:05:12.960 let go and surrender your own strength, your own trying 1:05:13.960 --> 1:05:15.960 and receive his grace right now, in this moment, I 1:05:16.000 --> 1:05:19.880 want to pray with you praying out loud right now, Epham, 1:05:19.920 --> 1:05:22.400 all across the world, pray with me for the benefit 1:05:22.400 --> 1:05:25.360 of someone who is coming to Jesus Christ in this moment. 1:05:25.400 --> 1:05:29.480 Repeat after me, Heavenly Father. I am a sinner in 1:05:29.560 --> 1:05:33.880 need of a savior, and today I receive your grace. 1:05:34.960 --> 1:05:41.200 This is my new beginning. I believe Jesus Christ died 1:05:41.240 --> 1:05:45.360 on the cross to forgive my sin and rose from 1:05:45.360 --> 1:05:51.160 the dead to give me life. I receive this new life. 1:05:51.400 --> 1:05:56.120 I am a child of God. I am a new creation. 1:05:57.120 --> 1:05:59.120 Now on the count of three, if you just prayed that, 1:05:59.480 --> 1:06:03.120 I want you to put in the chat. I receive Jesus. 1:06:03.440 --> 1:06:07.880 I receive Jesus. One two three. Type it like you're 1:06:07.960 --> 1:06:12.560 raising your hand. Type it like you're surrendering. Type it 1:06:12.680 --> 1:06:17.240 like you're receiving. Come on a new beginning, like you're 1:06:17.280 --> 1:06:21.680 breaking out of the past, breaking out of shame, breaking 1:06:21.760 --> 1:06:24.440 out of the tomb, and coming out of the grave. 1:06:25.000 --> 1:06:33.880 I received Jesus. We rejoice, we rejoice, we rejoice. I 1:06:34.080 --> 1:06:40.040 receive Jesus. I receive Jesus. I see it flying across 1:06:40.080 --> 1:06:44.000 the chat all over the world. Let it fly, new beginnings, 1:06:44.320 --> 1:06:47.520 Come on, let it be God. Amen to the glory 1:06:47.560 --> 1:06:50.400 of God. Come on y'all to start clapping your hands 1:06:50.440 --> 1:06:53.240 if you can. If you can't jump up and down, 1:06:53.600 --> 1:06:56.440 if you can't jump up and down, wiggle your pinky toe, 1:06:56.680 --> 1:07:02.680 come on and give God praise for his glory. Thank 1:07:02.720 --> 1:07:06.560 you Jesus. I believe I could go ahead and preach 1:07:06.680 --> 1:07:11.360 next week right now. God is so good. God is 1:07:11.400 --> 1:07:13.840 so good. Look at all those people receiving Jesus. Look 1:07:13.880 --> 1:07:18.680 at that hey elevation Church, Epham. That's your giving that 1:07:18.800 --> 1:07:22.280 makes that possible. That's your prayers that makes that possible. 1:07:22.600 --> 1:07:25.880 That's what God is doing through you. The devil is 1:07:25.920 --> 1:07:29.400 a liar. Nothing can stop the Church of Jesus Christ. 1:07:29.880 --> 1:07:35.400 Nothing neither height, nor death, nor angels, nor demons, nor 1:07:35.480 --> 1:07:40.080 the present, nor the future, nor a virus nor anything 1:07:40.200 --> 1:07:51.560 else shall be abl Wow. So listen, I'm looking forward 1:07:52.160 --> 1:07:54.920 to normal. I don't know what it's gonna be, but 1:07:55.440 --> 1:07:58.760 my faith is trained to see God in crazy situations. 1:08:00.040 --> 1:08:03.439 See a red sea, I see a highway, You see 1:08:03.440 --> 1:08:07.040 a wall, I see a ramp, you see a staff, 1:08:07.080 --> 1:08:10.560 I see a water parting Baton. Come on, I dare 1:08:10.600 --> 1:08:14.520 you to stretch your faith with me. We're moving forward, 1:08:15.160 --> 1:08:19.559 step by step. A lesson and letting go. I need 1:08:19.600 --> 1:08:21.799 you to do me a favor in just a moment 1:08:21.840 --> 1:08:24.120 before we leave this room. Don't lug off. Don't lug off. 1:08:24.640 --> 1:08:27.280 Don't lug off. I promise you can heat it back 1:08:27.320 --> 1:08:29.280 up in the microwave. Don't log off, don't lug off. 1:08:30.120 --> 1:08:33.000 I need you to share this message with somebody if 1:08:33.040 --> 1:08:37.760 it blessed you. It's going live again. We're broadcasting this 1:08:37.840 --> 1:08:40.920 message like every two or three hours on this day, 1:08:41.160 --> 1:08:43.360 and if you're watching it later, you can share it 1:08:43.400 --> 1:08:45.640 from the archive. I have a feeling this message is 1:08:45.680 --> 1:08:48.200 going to be relevant for a minute. I don't think 1:08:48.200 --> 1:08:52.160 this is going to expire by next Thursday. So share 1:08:52.200 --> 1:08:54.920 this with somebody. Just tell them here is a lesson 1:08:55.040 --> 1:08:58.479 in letting go, and then let them know God's got 1:08:58.520 --> 1:09:01.240 this and send it to him and see how God 1:09:01.280 --> 1:09:03.320 will move and come back. You know what, Normally I 1:09:03.320 --> 1:09:04.880 wouldn't tell you to come back because we need to 1:09:04.920 --> 1:09:09.000 seek for you. Guess what we got to overflow. You 1:09:09.080 --> 1:09:12.440 can come back and get this again and take your notebook. 1:09:13.800 --> 1:09:15.920 Come on, she knows she's cooking good when we all 1:09:15.960 --> 1:09:19.000 go back for seconds. I believe this is a second 1:09:19.040 --> 1:09:22.040 helping kind of sermon, So get back on either now 1:09:22.120 --> 1:09:24.600 or later. Sit with this word, digest it. Some of 1:09:24.640 --> 1:09:26.639 you run off too fast. You just boom boom boom 1:09:26.640 --> 1:09:29.559 boom boom, eating all that gumboat and then just run off. 1:09:30.400 --> 1:09:32.800 Don't do it, you get a heartburn. Sit with this 1:09:32.920 --> 1:09:34.599 for a minute. Talk to each other. You know. One 1:09:34.640 --> 1:09:36.800 of the great new normals. You don't have to fight 1:09:36.920 --> 1:09:38.960 anybody in a parking lot right now to get out 1:09:39.000 --> 1:09:41.880 of church. You don't have to walk past any hyperactive 1:09:41.920 --> 1:09:44.439 greeters trying to get you to sign up for any group. 1:09:44.960 --> 1:09:47.439 Just sit and say, well, you need to let go 1:09:47.520 --> 1:09:50.479 of now. Listen. If you're doing this with somebody from 1:09:50.520 --> 1:09:53.000 your family, don't say here's what you need to let 1:09:53.040 --> 1:09:57.840 go of. Ask a question, or maybe men, men, get 1:09:57.880 --> 1:09:59.679 your family for a minute, say hey, sit down quitting 1:09:59.720 --> 1:10:02.240 each other, put that down, shut up, one up, shut up, 1:10:02.240 --> 1:10:05.280 put you one up. In the images, here's what I 1:10:05.320 --> 1:10:07.439 need to let go of and set an example and 1:10:07.520 --> 1:10:09.160 talk about the word of God. Let it be on 1:10:09.200 --> 1:10:11.479 your lips, dwell on it, meditate on it. That's how 1:10:11.520 --> 1:10:15.400 you get free. Lord. I thank you that your word 1:10:15.439 --> 1:10:19.320 went forth with power. I felt it. I felt it 1:10:19.479 --> 1:10:26.920 surging through the screen, touching situations, touching mindsets, and recreating routines. 1:10:27.800 --> 1:10:29.920 Thank you for the new paradigm you're bringing us into. 1:10:30.680 --> 1:10:33.760 The premises of this world are broken and limited, but 1:10:33.880 --> 1:10:37.280 your word lives forever. Thank you for it. I know 1:10:37.320 --> 1:10:41.799 it will not return voy in Jesus' name. Amen, somebody 1:10:41.840 --> 1:10:44.160 clap your hands right now, like you receive the reign 1:10:44.200 --> 1:10:49.640 of the Word of God. I just got out of 1:10:49.680 --> 1:10:56.719 the pulpit about forty five minutes ago. Holly and Graham 1:10:56.840 --> 1:10:58.760 and Ivy are waiting for me. I had to stay 1:10:58.760 --> 1:11:04.400 behind for a few minutes because out of what we 1:11:04.560 --> 1:11:10.360 just preached. God just keep speaking to me, keeps unfolding 1:11:11.320 --> 1:11:14.519 about the new normal. Oh man, I hope you're getting 1:11:14.520 --> 1:11:17.680 a lot out of this. This is like changing my paradigm, 1:11:17.760 --> 1:11:21.200 changing my life. I'm so thankful to be able to 1:11:21.200 --> 1:11:24.080 share these messages with you. I'm going to continue this message. 1:11:24.080 --> 1:11:28.080 If God gives me strength. Next week, I'm going to preach. 1:11:28.479 --> 1:11:31.960 I'm telling you, I don't know. Three new messages just 1:11:32.040 --> 1:11:35.519 came to me and I can't wait to continue it. 1:11:35.840 --> 1:11:38.240 I'm really thankful for how God is speaking in this season. 1:11:38.960 --> 1:11:42.799 We need his word more than daily bread. It's our weapon, 1:11:43.200 --> 1:11:46.880 it's our sword. And make sure that you're tuned in, 1:11:47.680 --> 1:11:51.599 locked into what God is speaking. Is my friend always says, 1:11:51.920 --> 1:11:55.479 stay locked in. Make sure you subscribe and like and 1:11:55.560 --> 1:11:58.080 share and comment, all these things to help us get 1:11:58.080 --> 1:12:01.759 the word out. Thank you for your general. Like I mentioned, 1:12:01.760 --> 1:12:05.479 is because of you that are Partner's Etham Church family 1:12:06.160 --> 1:12:08.559 that we can keep this going forward. The Word of 1:12:08.600 --> 1:12:11.240 God is greater than any challenge in the world. And 1:12:11.479 --> 1:12:13.000 I love you. I can't wait to share the next 1:12:13.000 --> 1:12:14.200 part with you. I'm going to have a lot of 1:12:14.439 --> 1:12:16.960 content coming your way in the meantime this week, so 1:12:17.080 --> 1:12:19.880 make sure to follow, subscribe, hit the bell, you know 1:12:19.920 --> 1:12:23.439 what to do. I see you soon. I love you.