All I Do Is Wind! (Tim Somers)

0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:04.720 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:07.200 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.560 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:12.600 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.320 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:26.320 How many have you are ready for the Word of God? Well, 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:32.320 I am Tim Summers and I am the I'm the 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:40.320 youth pastor here at Elevation Church. So today it's gonna 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:44.080 get a little crazy. It's okay, I'm the youth pastor. 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:46.440 I can do. That gives me a license, gives me 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:49.640 a license to be a little crazy. What an honor 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:52.640 it is to be able to be on this stage 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:56.040 and on this platform. I consider it one of the 0:00:56.120 --> 0:01:00.760 greatest honors because if I if I have to like, 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:02.400 if you got to like I mean, I guess you 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:07.119 do get to pick your pastors. But in an alternate reality, 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:11.320 I got to pick any pastor in the world, no 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:15.800 doubt in my mind, no matter what season, time, it 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:21.200 would be the verdicts. Okay, Pastor Steven and Holly, your 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:27.679 entire family so grateful for you. Our family is grateful 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:31.720 for you. You have helped carry us through some tough seasons, 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.680 some great seasons, and uh, and we're ready to do 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:38.760 this for twenty five more years. Let's go. So we 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:41.600 love you. Thank you for all your sacrifice, the time, 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:46.319 the energy, the effort. Assignment after assignment, you have proven 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:49.760 yourself faithful. And we we we get to we get 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.760 to bask in all of that. And so thank you 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:57.800 so much. You know, the Word of God says that 0:01:57.800 --> 0:01:59.520 I'll be held accountable for the things that I say 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:01.440 and that that I don't say, And so I don't 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:05.560 take this moment lightly. And if you've never heard me 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:07.720 preach before, if you've never come to a rhythm night, 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:12.960 buckle up everyone, just like you know, just maybe just 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.079 do this. There you go, y'all remember back in the 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:24.160 day King of King's Lurida. Okay, Bucca, that's for you parents. See, 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:28.200 I can do both. Buckle up because we are about 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:30.560 to go crazy. And I gotta let you know if 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:36.160 I am extra, I am very very extra. But this 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:39.400 is really me. Every time after get up preaching, people like, 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:41.600 are you really like that? I'm like, go ask my wife. 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:44.560 I really am like that. Now. I like to be 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:48.760 quiet sometimes, but you don't see that, okay. And so 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:53.720 I'm a little ad d. Okay, I'm a little adhd right, 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:55.280 I like to be all over the place. I'm a 0:02:55.280 --> 0:03:02.120 little odd odd Oh, y'all got y'all gotta wake up. 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:05.919 Y'all gotta wake up for this. Y'all gotta wake up. 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:08.839 And if you're ready to hear it, like I'm ready 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:12.320 to appreciate, it's gonna be a good one. It's gonna 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:17.000 be a good one. It's gonna be a really good one. 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:23.320 We're gonna be in Jonah. Ha ha ha oh, the key standing. 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:31.440 You might not sit down the whole time. Jonah, Chapter one, 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:40.520 Verse one. Welcome to all of our epham. I'm glad 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:44.840 you're here. All the campuses shout out. Lake Norman's really 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:50.240 gonna like this one. Lake Norman's gonna like this one. Jonah. 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:53.720 Chapter one. Have you found it? You found it? Some 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:55.280 of y'all are going, yeah, hunh. You ain't got nothing 0:03:55.320 --> 0:04:01.160 in your hands, okay. Jonah Chapter one, verses one through four. 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:03.600 This is what it says. The word of the Lord 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:10.200 came to Jonah, son of Amati. Go to the great 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:15.120 city of Nineveh and preach against it because it's wickedness 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:20.600 has come up before me. But Jonah, Everyone say, but Jonah, 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:22.279 you know what, how about you say your name? Say 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:30.240 but but Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:34.320 for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.440 a ship bound for that port. Everyone say, port, that's 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:45.640 gonna be really, really key. After paying the fair, some 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:50.760 of us will pay to run away from God. Jonah, 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:53.599 what are you doing? You ain't making any sense right now? 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:58.400 Whoa we can relate? Can we relate? After paying the fair? 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:03.520 He went aboard and sailed for Tarsish to flee from 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:09.320 the Lord. And then the Lord send a great wind. 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:13.240 Everyone say wind, Then the Lord send a great wind 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:17.000 on the sea. Every time I hear but then the Lord, 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.039 I know it gets me crazy every time I hear, 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:23.760 but then the Lord, I feel like it's a walk 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:31.320 out song that sounds a lot like this ship. I 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:39.040 because God to win, no matter what him on my mind. 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:46.400 Then retire for Fenu. And that's what I'm talking about. 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:53.640 That's what I'm saying. And I'm when Jesus walks on 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:57.719 the scene. You know that man got a theme song? Ah, 0:05:57.800 --> 0:05:59.920 I do is I don't know if he said DJ, 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.240 but he said, like DJ Gabriel or something. I don't know, 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:09.800 but I mean, Jesus needs that theme song. And and 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:13.760 just like every character in the Bible needs a theme song, 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:17.640 every preacher needs a title. And so my title is this. 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:24.640 All I do is wind. All I do is win. 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.520 You can find your way to your seat. All I 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:33.200 do is wind. All I do is win because it says, 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:38.479 then the Lord sent a great wind. Everyone say wind. 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:42.919 And here's what I want to do today is I 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:44.800 want to go through the Book of Jonah. Now I'm 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:48.440 not gonna read every single verse because I probably can't 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:50.080 keep your attention that long, okay, and only got a 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:52.520 certain amount of time. So but we're gonna go through 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:57.320 the Book of Jonah. And the thing about it is 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.920 that we all know, even if you're knew to church, 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:04.720 I can guarantee it. We all know about the story 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:09.640 of Jonah and well, thank you, I was really hoping 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:12.800 you were gonna get that Jonah and the Well, But 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:18.560 do we know about Jonah and Nineveh? Do we know 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:23.120 about Jonah and the place that he did not want 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:27.880 to go? The amount of opportunities that Jonah has to 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:31.880 follow God in this book of the Bible, just four chapters, 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.160 and I think there's only twelve verses per chapter. That's 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:40.200 a short amount of time. It's astonishing the amount of 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.520 opportunities given to Jonah a class participation. How many of 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:53.720 you like assignments, tests, homework projects? Okay, okay, okay. How 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:59.080 many of you like new opportunities, promotions, challenges? Come on? Right? Yeah, 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:03.760 yeah right. There's a lot more hands for opportunities than 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:08.320 there are for assignments. Okay, okay. I was talking to 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:13.840 Bishop Rios over here and he helped me with this. 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.480 He said, you know where the word opportunity actually comes from. 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:21.120 I said, oh, man, educate me. He said, it actually 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:27.800 is a nautical term. It's like boats, you know, water. Okay, 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:30.120 y'all were looking at me like what, yeah, we're going 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:34.040 to class today. It's a nautical term and it comes 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:40.560 from the phrase ob obi portunum. Okay, ob portunum. And 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:42.840 the interesting thing is this is what it means. It 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:48.360 means when your sale hits the perfect wind to get 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:53.680 you where you need to go, ob portunum. That's where 0:08:53.679 --> 0:09:00.679 the word opportunity comes from. Interestingly enough, the first that 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:05.400 God gave Jonah wasn't an opportunity. It was an assignment 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:12.880 right verse one. It says, go to the great city 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:18.119 of Nineveh and preach against it. That was the assignment. 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:25.960 And parents understand this concept thoroughly. I know I look young, 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:29.280 but I do have three kids. And okay, you were 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:34.880 supposed to laugh. Okay, I guess I'm getting older. I've 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.240 got kids. And how many of you have kids? If 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:39.000 I just put it in there, if you got kids, 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:43.360 this is very interesting. Anytime I try to tell my 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:48.000 five year old Genesis to go clean his room, I say, son, 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:51.000 you need to go clean your room. This happens daily 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:54.719 because he is a savage. Okay, he doesn't care, all right, 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:56.560 and I like it and I'm okay with it, but 0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:58.240 I'm like, I need to teach you a little bit, 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:02.720 so please go up upstairs and clean your room. It's like, okay, Dad, 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:09.360 can't wait, all right, I'm going goes upstairs there for 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:13.120 about ten minutes. If you're a parent for long enough, 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:18.400 you know he's not cleaning his room. It's not having it, 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:21.280 so you know it's a ten minute mark. All right. 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:26.520 Jennie says, Yah, Dad, what are you doing cleaning my room? Liar? Okay, 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:29.960 you walk up the stairs. You go into his room, son, 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:35.040 no progress has been made. I told you to clean 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:39.360 your room. He's like, I got distracted. I'm playing with 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:44.760 some toys. Look, I built a spider Man lego, right, 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:49.559 and then I go I proceed to say, if you 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:55.559 don't clean your room, you ain't getting the iPad tonight. 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:59.240 I feel a lot of judgment happening right now. Can 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:02.560 you give your kid an iPad? Yes? I did. I 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:05.960 don't need that right now? Okay, what is that? What 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:08.040 did I just give him? I just gave him an 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:11.720 opportunity to be able to get out of the situation 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:15.560 that he put himself in after I had given him 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:23.000 a assignment. Oh, parents are the great wind in which 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:29.120 teenagers and children go where they need to go. You 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:31.920 know you've heard the phrase dilayed obedience is disobedience, right, 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:33.720 I want to I want to say it a new way. 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:36.960 Your maturity in the Lord is how fast you will 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:42.679 obey God. Your maturity in the Lord is how fast 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:48.080 you will keep his commands. Obviously, Jonah didn't want to 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.880 go to Nineveh. Genesis doesn't want to clean his room. 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:53.520 We don't want to forgive our neighbor, We don't want 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:55.920 to have empathy for people who have experienced other things 0:11:55.960 --> 0:12:00.440 than us. I'm stepping on toes too early, too early, 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:06.160 isn't it? And did not want to necessarily do that. 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:11.360 That's not necessarily what I prefer necessarily anything that I 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:13.760 like or that I want. Right, this is what we 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:19.400 find out. You know, the best place in life is 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:24.199 when your wants line up with God's wants. And this 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:28.760 is what begins to happen in these four chapters with Jonah. 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:35.839 Because a side note, God's wants don't change, right. It 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:40.000 says he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:43.680 wants don't change. His assignment's m his opportunities my, but 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:48.520 his wants do not change. Do you think David wanted 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:55.160 to fight Goliath? Do you think Abraham wanted to sacrifice 0:12:55.160 --> 0:13:00.720 his son Isaac? Probably not. Do you think Daniel wanted 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:06.600 to be thrown in the lions den? Do you think 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:08.920 Paul wanted to go to Rome where he would be beheaded? 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:18.280 Do you think Jesus wanted to go to the gross? No? 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:22.800 But these were people of obedience, And I'm just realizing 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:26.040 that I just expressed that that was all men's stories. 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:28.920 There are women too in the Bible. That say that, 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:33.079 I'm sorry, women, I'm sorry. That's my fault. They were 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:39.120 given an assignment and then they obeyed. Everyone say obeyed. 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:43.880 Put John on the other hand, well, his journey was 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:48.360 a little different, and that's how I think maybe we 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:53.040 might be able to relate to him today. His journey 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:55.520 was a little bit different. He decided to take a 0:13:55.880 --> 0:14:01.319 different path than maybe what was intended. And so let 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:03.920 me get you through this first chapter. I'll give you 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:06.480 a little summary, because again, only have a certain amount 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:09.840 of time. Jonah was trying to run away from the Lord. 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:12.240 Notice I said trying. I gave some of it away. 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:17.280 He gets on a boat. Okay, a storm begins to rise. 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:21.880 Everyone's panicking on the boat. They're freaking out. Jonah's below deck. 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:26.280 They're in complete fright mode. And Jonah is straight chilling. 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:29.120 He ain't worried about it at all. You can read this. 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:33.200 It's in Jonah chapter one. He ain't worried. He ain't, 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:39.760 he ain't, he is not worried at all. Like, this 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:43.320 doesn't make any sense to me? How how does this 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:47.400 begin to fold out? Let me tell you something. You 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:50.160 know the name Jonah, Do you know what it means? 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:59.080 It doesn't mean sea or boats or watters. Jonah means dove, 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:06.680 d ove like the bird, not the soap. It means 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:11.920 dove right now. Birds have an ability to see a 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:20.680 storm coming, right, they see harm and then they escape. 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:26.400 But you know what's interesting is that the dove is 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:31.560 also the symbol of the Holy Spirit. Scripture says that 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:34.200 the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:41.520 power to conquer anything. Jonah saw himself like a bird, 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.920 but God's asking him to see himself like the Holy Spirit. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:51.680 How do you perceive yourself? How do you talk about yourself? 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.520 You know, you get to choose your name, You get 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:58.240 to choose what your name means, and you get to 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:02.440 choose what it's going to be like. So they're on 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:06.320 the boat, chilling but freaking out. Jonah's chilling. Everyone else 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:12.080 is freaking out, and they realize, oh, Jonah is disobeying 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:16.720 the Lord. He's running away from God. Storm wakes up 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:19.200 Jonah because how many you know that sometimes it takes 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:22.400 certain storms to wake you up, like why am I 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:28.320 going through this, well, maybe even sleeping through your life. 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:34.440 There's a storm rising. They're all freaking out. Jonah officially 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:40.880 wakes up and it's one vicious cycle after another, because 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:45.400 we've already gone through storm after storm after storm after 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:47.960 storm after storm, and how many other storms aren't fun 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:51.000 to be woken up by? Right? Have you ever been 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:53.240 working on by the storm. It's kind of scary, especially 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:56.600 as a kid. I'm experiencing that with Genesis right now. 0:16:56.920 --> 0:17:00.880 You know, I mean, rain starts seating. He's like worm mounted, Like, 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:06.000 good lord, son, it's gonna be fine. It's gonna be fine. 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:08.800 You know what else? Is it fun to wake up to? 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:17.720 Long division? Do you know what long division is? Jay? 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:23.479 You do? Because I didn't. My fourteen year old Brody 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:25.600 came it to me, Dad, can you help me with 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:28.160 this problem? I'm like, yeah, I'm a master, a math boy. 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:31.280 What's up? What's you got? A big dog? He's in 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.440 math still, he's not in algebra. Once it gets to algebra, 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:36.879 I'm done. Okay, comes out. It's like, I need to 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:42.919 know how to solve this problem. Looked at it. It's twelve. 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:50.360 It's like, Dad, I don't care that it's twelve. I'm like, what, 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:54.920 it's twelve. He's like, no, Dad, it is long division. 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:58.480 Like we're supposed to show our work. I'm like why 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:02.080 you gotta show your work. I want him to make 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:07.320 sure he knows the why. Okay, well you got to 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.159 show your works. Huh, EXAIDT, Well, the teacher wants to 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:13.200 know that. I know how to get to the answer. 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:20.000 I said. She that a bacon. I said, I might 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:23.880 have to preach on that boy. I said, you know what, 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:27.000 interestingly enough, we didn't even get to the problem. I 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:30.600 started preaching to him. I said. Christians think they got 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:36.440 the answers all the time. They're like, Jesus is the answer. 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:45.760 It's Jesus. It's Jesus. But you know what, sometimes we 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:52.000 don't know the whole equation. You see, you might be 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:57.880 the square root of your problem and Jesus is the answer, 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:05.960 but you gotta admit that I might be the problem. 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:09.160 They're like, Ryan and I came going storm after storm 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:14.400 after storm after storm after storm. There's a common denominator. 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:22.199 Let me tell you something. It won't always be what 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:26.720 you like. It don't when God asks you to do something, 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:29.080 he gives you an assignment, it won't always be and 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:32.000 most of the time it won't always be what you want. 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:38.439 You think about it. It's like God's like, all right, look, Ryan, 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:40.960 you need to stop gossiping. You're like, okay, yeah, you 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:42.760 know what You're right. Next day, your friend comes to 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:48.600 you with the juiciest news and you're like, abiding your cuticles. Yeah, 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:52.160 that's cool, man, that's cool. You're like a god's telling you, hey, 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:54.240 you should probably pay off your debt. This is probably 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:56.840 a good time to be mature in the Lord. Let's 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:58.280 pay off your debt. And then all of a sudden, 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:00.440 you're walking through sears and the man comes by. I says, 0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:04.399 I'll finance this fridge for seventy two months for you. Hey, 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:07.480 You're like, oh my gosh, are you serious. Okay, I'll 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:11.760 do it right. Like it's like when you ask God 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:17.480 for patience. Then the next morning you get in traffic 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:23.359 and you saying things that I can't say on the stage. Right, 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:25.840 this is this is what happens. This is what happens. 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:29.400 It's even little things like that. And if you don't 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:32.200 know where you're going, there will be people who will 0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:40.960 gladly take you where they're headed. So you got the 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:44.639 people on the boat freaking out. JOHNA wakes up. Jonah's like, 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.840 just throw me over the boat. It's my fault. So 0:20:48.440 --> 0:20:52.439 they do throw them over the boat. I'm like, do 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:54.000 I want to be in the storm in the boat 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:55.240 or do I want to be in the storm out 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:58.159 of the boat. I've seen deadliest catch. I'm choosing in 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:01.720 the boat. Okay, I'm not doing this. So all of 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:06.760 a sudden, a fish that's the theologically correct term fish. 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:09.240 More unlikely is probably a whale of some sort. So 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:16.080 you can't fit in a trout. But the fish swallows 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:19.159 up Jonah. And this man is in the belly of 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:23.480 the fish for three days, right, And you can realize 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:27.480 this is the point where Jonah starts to figure out 0:21:27.760 --> 0:21:32.040 it's not all about him. Now we are in Jonah two. 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:35.719 All of Jonah two, all of this entire chapter is 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:39.639 a prayer to God. That's good. It's it's just a 0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:42.000 it's just that's it. That's it. It's a prayer to God. 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:44.880 I'm gonna give you the first two verses. It says, 0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:47.640 from inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:52.480 He said, in my distress, I called to the Lord, 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:56.840 and he answered me. From deep in the realm of 0:21:56.880 --> 0:21:59.800 the dead, I called for help, and you listened to 0:22:00.760 --> 0:22:05.080 my cry. Have you ever cried out to God? You 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:06.600 know what that means, that means you just starting to 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:09.560 get a little bit deathsperate for God. And this is 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:13.440 where Jonah is. He's getting deathsperate. Okay, he's running away 0:22:13.480 --> 0:22:16.439 from the uh, from the assignment. He gets in the boat. 0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:19.000 Now the storm's going crazy. He gets thrown out of 0:22:19.040 --> 0:22:21.159 the boat. Now he's swallowed up by a fish, but 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:25.320 he's still alive. He's getting a little bit desperate for God. 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:27.159 And he begins to cry out, how many you know 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:30.600 that desperation can lead to determination? And this is what 0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:34.520 happens to Jonah right here in chapter two. Because when 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:39.240 you get grateful, you get faithful, and when you get faithful, 0:22:39.640 --> 0:22:43.280 you get fruitful. This is where Jonah is at. He's 0:22:43.320 --> 0:22:46.480 getting grateful, Lord, Lord, Lord, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm desperate. 0:22:46.520 --> 0:22:48.919 I need you. Why did I do this? Then he 0:22:48.960 --> 0:22:52.240 begins to get faithful, and then he begins to get fruitful, 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:58.199 starts out with this gratitude to God. Could it be 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:02.920 today that what you are facing, whatever campus that you're 0:23:02.960 --> 0:23:06.240 at Epham all over the world, could it be today 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:12.800 that whatever you are facing is a setup for you 0:23:12.880 --> 0:23:18.800 to step up? Because in this moment, Jonah realize it's 0:23:18.840 --> 0:23:21.399 time for me to step up. It's time for me 0:23:21.480 --> 0:23:24.080 to get out of the way. It's time for me 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:29.400 to begin the assignment that God has asked me chapters ago. 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:34.919 You see, the fish represents discipline here. Now, when I 0:23:34.920 --> 0:23:37.840 say discipline, don't be freaking out like I don't thank 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:41.400 my kids, don't don't don't, I don't need, I don't 0:23:41.400 --> 0:23:46.080 need the negative connotation of discipline. Okay, everyone should have 0:23:46.160 --> 0:23:50.280 some form of discipline. But this isn't a parent conference 0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:55.440 or anything like that. So if the fish represents discipline, 0:23:55.480 --> 0:23:59.600 here's what we have to understand. If God delivers us 0:24:00.200 --> 0:24:05.520 but never disciplines us, how will we ever learn If 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:09.720 you have kids, you really really really really really understand this. Right. 0:24:09.960 --> 0:24:13.320 If God saves you but never disciples you, how will 0:24:13.359 --> 0:24:19.919 you ever begin to discover your purpose? Okay, So deliverance 0:24:20.000 --> 0:24:26.120 comes with discipline, and salvation comes with discipleship. What we've 0:24:26.119 --> 0:24:29.080 got to understand is that the greater the anointing, the 0:24:29.119 --> 0:24:33.680 greater the attack. The greater the anointing that Jonah had 0:24:33.720 --> 0:24:36.000 on his life, the greater the breaking he had to 0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:39.000 go through. The greater the anointing that Jonah had on 0:24:39.040 --> 0:24:43.199 his life, the greater the crushing that he had to 0:24:43.280 --> 0:24:46.280 go through, and Jonah is feeling all of this in 0:24:46.320 --> 0:24:50.639 the belly of the fish. At this moment, Jonah is 0:24:50.720 --> 0:24:57.560 completely helpless, but not completely hopeless. Let me tell you something. 0:24:57.640 --> 0:25:01.159 You might feel like you're completely helped less, that you 0:25:01.240 --> 0:25:04.040 do not have the answers. You don't know where to go, 0:25:04.400 --> 0:25:07.840 you don't know who to turn to. You are at 0:25:07.880 --> 0:25:11.840 a loss of words. You've got doubt overfit feeling your 0:25:12.000 --> 0:25:14.800 mind and your soul and your spirit. I'm telling you 0:25:14.800 --> 0:25:18.000 you might be helpless, but I guarantee you're not helpless. 0:25:19.160 --> 0:25:25.639 I guarantee it. I guarantee it. It is not over yet. 0:25:26.280 --> 0:25:29.080 It is not done yet. He is not through with 0:25:29.119 --> 0:25:35.040 you yet, no matter where you are, no matter what's 0:25:35.040 --> 0:25:40.480 your fac seet. So then we get into Jonah three, 0:25:40.600 --> 0:25:44.240 and that three does the prayer. It says, then the 0:25:44.320 --> 0:25:48.320 Lord vomited him on to dry land. Obviously it was 0:25:48.320 --> 0:25:51.399 the fish, but the Lord made him do it. So 0:25:51.520 --> 0:25:54.240 Jonah three, it says, Then the word of the Lord 0:25:55.000 --> 0:26:00.160 came to Jonah a second time. Go to the the's 0:26:00.160 --> 0:26:04.800 a city of ninevah and proclaim to it the message 0:26:04.840 --> 0:26:08.879 I give you. Does this look familiar? It's the same 0:26:09.119 --> 0:26:14.320 exact scripture in Jonah IE. So if we continue within 0:26:14.359 --> 0:26:17.440 this chapter he obeys this time around, everyone give it 0:26:17.480 --> 0:26:22.160 up for Yonah. Thank you Jesus, hallelujah. He goes to Ninevah, right, 0:26:22.600 --> 0:26:25.040 He lets him know that within forty days the city 0:26:25.080 --> 0:26:27.800 would be overthrown. The king finds out. The king of 0:26:27.880 --> 0:26:31.160 Ninevah finds out, orders a fast. He say, all right, 0:26:31.520 --> 0:26:34.800 no more eating, no more drinking. We're having a prayer night. 0:26:35.840 --> 0:26:37.840 We need to get with the Lord. We need to 0:26:38.040 --> 0:26:42.800 turn from our evil ways, and God might show compassion 0:26:43.119 --> 0:26:45.320 towards us. This is what's happening in Jonah three. I'm 0:26:45.320 --> 0:26:47.000 just kind of running through it. Okay. Now, what you 0:26:47.119 --> 0:26:51.840 gotta understand is that NINEVH was ruthless, Okay. Ninavah was barbaric. 0:26:52.880 --> 0:26:57.960 Ninevah was what the kids call savages. Okay. This was 0:26:58.119 --> 0:27:00.639 not a city that you want want to live in, 0:27:01.040 --> 0:27:05.359 nothing like Charlotte. Okay. It was not a city you 0:27:05.480 --> 0:27:08.320 wanted to live in. And what you got to understand 0:27:08.800 --> 0:27:12.320 is that if God never presented Jonah with all of 0:27:12.359 --> 0:27:21.400 these opportunities, we would know nothing about Jonah. Literally all 0:27:21.440 --> 0:27:24.639 of these opportunities in the Book of Jonah. If he 0:27:24.800 --> 0:27:27.639 never did that, we would only have one verse in 0:27:27.680 --> 0:27:32.360 the entire Bible about Jonah in Second Kings. That's it. 0:27:33.320 --> 0:27:36.399 If God never presented those opportunities, we would not know 0:27:36.640 --> 0:27:44.040 much about Jonah. Jesus would have never mentioned him in 0:27:44.119 --> 0:27:49.320 the New Testament. So the whale was an opportunity, the boat, 0:27:49.840 --> 0:27:53.040 the storm was an opportunity. What you got to understand 0:27:53.160 --> 0:28:02.160 is opportunities are directions back to the assignment. Opportunities are 0:28:02.200 --> 0:28:06.119 directions back to the assignment that God has first given you. 0:28:06.200 --> 0:28:12.119 And so at this moment, Jonah begins to fulfill his assignment, 0:28:12.680 --> 0:28:16.560 and we get into Jonah three, verse ten, and this 0:28:16.640 --> 0:28:19.600 is what it says. When God saw what they did 0:28:19.680 --> 0:28:22.639 and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented 0:28:22.960 --> 0:28:26.440 and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. 0:28:27.040 --> 0:28:31.520 But to Jonah, this seemed very wrong. Have you ever 0:28:31.520 --> 0:28:37.480 thought God was wrong? And he became angry. He prayed 0:28:37.480 --> 0:28:39.720 to the Lord. Isn't this what I said, Lord? When 0:28:39.760 --> 0:28:42.080 I was still at home? This is what I tried 0:28:42.120 --> 0:28:45.560 to forestall by fleeting to Tarshis. I knew that you 0:28:45.680 --> 0:28:48.760 were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, and 0:28:48.800 --> 0:28:53.680 abounding in love, A God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, 0:28:53.800 --> 0:28:56.480 take away my life, for it is better for me 0:28:56.600 --> 0:29:05.440 to dive into lef add just angry, dramatic diva? Right? Just? 0:29:06.520 --> 0:29:09.920 I mean obviously none of us are anything like that. 0:29:10.040 --> 0:29:15.480 We don't get angry, we don't get dramatic. We're definitely 0:29:15.520 --> 0:29:19.080 not divas when it comes to what we want or 0:29:19.120 --> 0:29:25.040 our preferences. Am I right? Amen? Okay, got quiet. Here's 0:29:25.080 --> 0:29:28.840 a deal. Had we been writing this chapter, we probably 0:29:28.840 --> 0:29:32.560 would have shown Jonah in the city of Nineveh, carefully 0:29:32.640 --> 0:29:38.160 teaching the people all of the spiritual decisions. Interestingly enough, 0:29:38.400 --> 0:29:41.720 God did not write it this way. In fact, instead 0:29:41.760 --> 0:29:47.120 of meeting a rejoicing preacher, we meet a rebellious preacher. 0:29:48.200 --> 0:29:53.160 We see him angry at people and angry at God. 0:29:52.960 --> 0:29:56.520 We see an adult acting like a child. Here we 0:29:56.560 --> 0:30:01.640 see a believer acting like a un We see Jonah 0:30:01.800 --> 0:30:05.960 sitting outside the city, waiting for the judgment of God 0:30:06.000 --> 0:30:11.920 to fall on this city. And here's an amazing thing, 0:30:11.960 --> 0:30:15.520 and just a little side note that God sent a 0:30:15.600 --> 0:30:20.840 great awakening, in fact, one of the largest revivals in 0:30:21.000 --> 0:30:24.080 history under the preaching of a man who did not 0:30:24.240 --> 0:30:32.680 even love the souls of the people. He preached to. Now, 0:30:32.680 --> 0:30:34.440 what that does for anyone who puts God in a 0:30:34.480 --> 0:30:41.520 box is that breaks the box? Can God do that? 0:30:41.640 --> 0:30:43.920 I mean, I don't really know. You know, yeah, he's 0:30:43.960 --> 0:30:47.960 a god who restores. But we sound a lot like Jonah. 0:30:48.000 --> 0:30:54.160 But Jonah ran away from the Lord. So Jonah literally 0:30:54.400 --> 0:30:58.280 leads one of the biggest revivals in history. But now 0:30:58.520 --> 0:31:02.480 he is mad about it. He's angry, right, not only 0:31:02.560 --> 0:31:07.600 that the sun is boiling him to death. Okay, this 0:31:07.640 --> 0:31:11.000 is when we get into chapter four. How many of 0:31:11.040 --> 0:31:14.800 you know that there is nothing worse than being hot 0:31:14.840 --> 0:31:21.320 and angry. Okay, that's the devil's version of angry, like 0:31:22.320 --> 0:31:27.280 being hungry and angry. That's one thing being hot and angry. 0:31:28.200 --> 0:31:32.480 Who oh my goodness, some of y'all be turning into 0:31:32.520 --> 0:31:38.840 some damn its hot and angry. It's a little different, right, Like. Okay, so, 0:31:38.960 --> 0:31:41.600 how many of you ever done hot yoga before? Somebody 0:31:41.640 --> 0:31:47.120 are like, I've never shared this with my wife before, 0:31:47.400 --> 0:31:51.720 but I have done hot yoga one time we were married. 0:31:51.720 --> 0:31:54.560 Then I wanted to keep it in the past, but 0:31:54.560 --> 0:31:58.280 the Lord told me to bring it forth. I have 0:31:58.360 --> 0:32:01.960 done hot yoga time, and that'll probably be the last time. 0:32:02.640 --> 0:32:04.400 But how do you know how many you know that 0:32:04.640 --> 0:32:09.280 when the temperature rises, your true color start to show. 0:32:10.200 --> 0:32:13.680 It starts getting a little weird, right right, Like the 0:32:14.440 --> 0:32:21.920 temperature impacts your tolerance, and Jonah was not tolerating anything 0:32:22.640 --> 0:32:30.719 at all. So then the Lord provides a plant for shade. Okay, now, 0:32:30.760 --> 0:32:32.600 if you've read chapter four, you know you know where 0:32:32.600 --> 0:32:36.400 I'm going with this. Okay, he provides a plant for shade, 0:32:36.440 --> 0:32:40.200 and Jonah's like, Okay, yeah, I was angry. I was mad. 0:32:40.320 --> 0:32:41.880 Now I'm not thank you for the shade. I'm a 0:32:41.880 --> 0:32:45.120 little more comfortable. I appreciate it. The next night, the 0:32:45.160 --> 0:32:53.200 Lord provides a worm to eat the plant. Jesus just 0:32:53.200 --> 0:32:55.840 be having fun out there. He just be like, let's 0:32:55.840 --> 0:32:58.360 see what he's gonna do, And all of a sudden, 0:32:58.480 --> 0:33:03.440 Jonah is angry again, right in a vicious cycle, one 0:33:03.680 --> 0:33:07.640 after the other, right, Like, like it's kind of like 0:33:08.160 --> 0:33:11.760 what we experience. We experienced a promotion, but then we 0:33:11.800 --> 0:33:16.640 realize we got to work twice as much, Right, I 0:33:16.720 --> 0:33:19.800 got the shame. Yeah, I'm ready, let's go party Monday. 0:33:20.040 --> 0:33:24.040 What you want me to sixty seventy hours this week? 0:33:24.520 --> 0:33:27.280 Are you kidding me? Right? Like he provides an answer 0:33:27.320 --> 0:33:30.640 for you, but then that just gets you more questions 0:33:31.400 --> 0:33:33.880 that you have for him. And so you're like, oh wait, 0:33:33.960 --> 0:33:36.479 I would have been happy about that, but now I'm 0:33:36.560 --> 0:33:38.920 upset because now I have more questions than I had beforehand. 0:33:39.440 --> 0:33:43.120 Right he like, he provides a significant other for you. 0:33:43.160 --> 0:33:45.280 Come on, somebody all to single people saying, hey, that's 0:33:45.440 --> 0:33:52.680 me tonight. He provides a significant other. But now you 0:33:53.240 --> 0:33:59.640 have to change right now your accountability is well, maybe 0:33:59.640 --> 0:34:01.880 I should change because this is not going to work. 0:34:02.040 --> 0:34:03.479 This is something I had to do. I remember when 0:34:03.480 --> 0:34:05.080 I got married with my wife and I was like, 0:34:05.320 --> 0:34:09.839 oh my goodness, I just struck the jackpot. Okay, this 0:34:09.880 --> 0:34:16.399 is amazing. Oh my goodness. Two months in. Oh I 0:34:16.440 --> 0:34:20.759 am completely jacked up. I am ambassed up. Oh so 0:34:20.840 --> 0:34:23.880 you're not just gonna fit into my schedule. We have 0:34:23.920 --> 0:34:29.759 to create a new one. Oh okay. I can't just 0:34:29.800 --> 0:34:37.320 think about me. I gotta think about us. Oh okay. 0:34:38.040 --> 0:34:40.640 This is starting to make a lot a lot of sense. 0:34:41.560 --> 0:34:45.520 And then we get into the last two verses of 0:34:45.640 --> 0:34:51.560 Jonah for and it says, but the Lord said that 0:34:51.600 --> 0:34:54.879 you have been concerned about this plant, though you did 0:34:54.960 --> 0:34:59.120 not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up 0:34:59.160 --> 0:35:04.680 overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern 0:35:04.760 --> 0:35:07.560 for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are 0:35:07.600 --> 0:35:12.880 more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot 0:35:12.920 --> 0:35:16.840 tell their right hand from their left. A lot of 0:35:16.880 --> 0:35:19.400 times we tend to be concerned with the things that 0:35:19.440 --> 0:35:24.840 weren't meant for our concern. In this Book of Jonah, 0:35:25.000 --> 0:35:28.640 in these four chapters, God was using everything in his 0:35:28.840 --> 0:35:33.200 power to get Jonah back to the assignment that he 0:35:33.280 --> 0:35:36.800 had given him. From the very beginning, God was pushing 0:35:36.880 --> 0:35:43.080 Jonah back into his will, one opportunity at a time. 0:35:44.000 --> 0:35:46.040 And the reality is is that God was trying to 0:35:46.080 --> 0:35:53.920 make disobedience to the assignment as uncomfortable as possible. And 0:35:54.239 --> 0:35:58.960 we wonder, why, oh my Goddess, why is this? I 0:35:59.080 --> 0:36:01.600 mean to me, y'all think I'm exaggerating, But this is 0:36:01.600 --> 0:36:07.080 what we do. Ah, No one loves me, No one 0:36:07.160 --> 0:36:11.439 texted me on my birthday. That happened to me once. 0:36:16.440 --> 0:36:19.279 I'm not here to tell you that opportunities are bad. 0:36:21.000 --> 0:36:23.160 That's not the sermon here. I'm not here to say 0:36:23.160 --> 0:36:27.640 that opportunities are bad. But disobedience is disobedience is, and 0:36:27.680 --> 0:36:34.480 we tend to overlook the assignment and overpay for an opportunity, 0:36:34.760 --> 0:36:40.160 do we not. I found myself doing this. Wait, God 0:36:40.360 --> 0:36:43.160 told me to do that when I was fifteen, and 0:36:43.200 --> 0:36:50.960 at nineteen I now start walking in it. What why, 0:36:51.719 --> 0:36:57.080 why do we tend to do this? So you know 0:36:57.160 --> 0:37:01.839 about Jonah and the whale, about him running away, We've 0:37:01.880 --> 0:37:08.360 heard about Jonah and the worm. But when I read 0:37:08.520 --> 0:37:11.680 through this book, I realized Jonah led one of the 0:37:11.680 --> 0:37:15.440 biggest revivals in history. Mind you, it was the Ninavites, 0:37:15.440 --> 0:37:21.719 and one hundred and twenty thousand people were saved and 0:37:21.840 --> 0:37:29.520 delivered because of this assignment. This was the assignment from God. 0:37:29.560 --> 0:37:35.200 This was the plan all along for Jonah. The reality 0:37:35.320 --> 0:37:39.680 is is that we glorify opportunities and flee from assignments. 0:37:40.640 --> 0:37:43.160 We have got to be a generation that when God 0:37:43.239 --> 0:37:47.640 says to do something, yes, sir, how can I make 0:37:47.680 --> 0:37:50.680 it easier? What can I do now? We have got 0:37:50.719 --> 0:37:53.480 to take the assignment and begin to take a step forward. 0:37:53.920 --> 0:37:59.000 But it's nice to preach, it's really hard to live 0:37:59.040 --> 0:38:02.359 out because we begin to then like like we've begin 0:38:02.440 --> 0:38:07.719 to wrap opportunity in thinking that that is the assignment. Like, well, 0:38:08.080 --> 0:38:14.600 you know, I don't. I don't like like j J 0:38:14.719 --> 0:38:18.480 gets up. Hey guys, we should uh we should probably 0:38:19.400 --> 0:38:23.000 you know, churches, churches coming back in person. It's time 0:38:23.040 --> 0:38:37.720 to serf whoa, Let me get out of this building, 0:38:39.040 --> 0:38:40.880 let me get home, and no one's gonna ask me 0:38:40.920 --> 0:38:46.320 about it. I mean, it's as simple as that, fleeing 0:38:46.440 --> 0:38:49.400 from something that could be the very thing that leads 0:38:49.440 --> 0:39:00.839 you to the ultimate cause. What's interesting is that again 0:39:00.960 --> 0:39:03.840 I'm not saying opportunities are bad, but I am saying 0:39:03.880 --> 0:39:06.719 this is that that we do serve a God that 0:39:06.760 --> 0:39:10.000 even when we do flee from the assignment, God gives 0:39:10.080 --> 0:39:15.239 us opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to lead us back 0:39:15.280 --> 0:39:17.160 to the very thing that God asks us to do 0:39:17.719 --> 0:39:21.080 at the beginning. You know, this is why we do 0:39:21.440 --> 0:39:25.120 what we do here at Elevation Church for fifteen years now. 0:39:26.360 --> 0:39:29.600 This is this is this is why we we we serve. 0:39:30.120 --> 0:39:32.279 This is why we are opening up campus. This is 0:39:32.320 --> 0:39:35.120 why in the middle of the pandemic we were able 0:39:35.160 --> 0:39:38.840 to you know, continue to push things forward online with EPHAM. 0:39:38.920 --> 0:39:41.000 This is this is this is why we do kids ministry, 0:39:41.160 --> 0:39:43.640 this is why we do e Group's ministry, and to 0:39:43.640 --> 0:39:46.680 be honest. This is why we do youth ministry. This 0:39:46.520 --> 0:39:50.280 is this is this is it. It's not to fill 0:39:50.360 --> 0:39:57.719 a seat. You come only once a month anyways. It's 0:39:57.800 --> 0:40:04.640 not that sorry, I'm getting loose. It is to help 0:40:04.680 --> 0:40:11.359 you and to provide you an opportunity so that you 0:40:11.440 --> 0:40:15.920 can experience the fullness of the assignment God's given you. 0:40:18.920 --> 0:40:21.680 And we're passionate about it. This is why I love 0:40:21.760 --> 0:40:24.279 youth the industry. This is my twelfth year being a 0:40:24.320 --> 0:40:31.279 youth pastor and it's absolutely amazing. Why Because I love potential. Now, 0:40:31.320 --> 0:40:33.640 the thing that frustrates me the most is when kids 0:40:33.680 --> 0:40:40.640 walk away from their potential. But when they realize, oh yeah, 0:40:40.760 --> 0:40:43.560 I can do that. I don't have to be this tall, 0:40:43.760 --> 0:40:45.799 I don't have to be this smart. I can do that, 0:40:47.160 --> 0:40:50.440 and they're walking in opportunity, out their opportunity. They're realizing 0:40:50.480 --> 0:40:55.720 they're living out their assignment. You know. A week from now, 0:40:56.600 --> 0:40:59.880 on July eleventh, we're doing what we call Youth X 0:41:00.960 --> 0:41:03.719 in Youth Acts. If you've been fleeing from Tarsius or 0:41:03.760 --> 0:41:08.320 living under a rock. Youth AX is our annual summer 0:41:08.360 --> 0:41:11.879 camp and it's gonna look different this year, but we're 0:41:11.880 --> 0:41:14.560 doing a one hundred and sixty eight hour live stream 0:41:14.640 --> 0:41:19.640 continuous for middle schoolers and high schoolers for the youth 0:41:19.680 --> 0:41:22.680 of Elevation Church. And I'm telling you as a parent, 0:41:27.840 --> 0:41:31.480 this is easy. This is easy. My life was changed 0:41:31.480 --> 0:41:35.200 this summer camp. Most of your lives are changed. This 0:41:35.320 --> 0:41:38.680 summer camp. You realize something that doesn't fix everything, but 0:41:38.800 --> 0:41:44.399 you realize some things. And I'm like, they're really good 0:41:44.440 --> 0:41:48.040 ways that you can be involved. Tell your kid about it, 0:41:48.440 --> 0:41:53.759 make them go, my mom's going to be here. It's okay, 0:41:53.800 --> 0:41:56.279 that happens every time for me. I don't care. I'm 0:41:56.320 --> 0:42:01.560 here for you the parent. Okay, this is the best 0:42:01.600 --> 0:42:03.680 thing that you could And you know what's cool, It's like, yeah, 0:42:03.719 --> 0:42:06.040 we're opening up balance tine for all the services. We're doing, 0:42:06.080 --> 0:42:09.800 like twenty one services within seven days. It's gonna be astronomical. 0:42:09.960 --> 0:42:11.839 But if you're like, well, I don't only know, I'm 0:42:11.880 --> 0:42:17.320 just don't know. You know, that's too much town. Guess 0:42:17.320 --> 0:42:20.320 what It's gonna be live on our YouTube channel, Elevation 0:42:20.440 --> 0:42:26.000 Youth YouTube for the entire seven days. So create a 0:42:26.200 --> 0:42:31.719 moment in your home with them to go, all right, 0:42:32.280 --> 0:42:35.080 let's get the word of God in our lives all right, 0:42:36.520 --> 0:42:41.480 let's get the understanding of scripture in our lives. It's 0:42:41.520 --> 0:42:45.360 just a huge opportunity. It's a big one, and I 0:42:45.840 --> 0:42:47.680 don't want you to miss it, because when you look 0:42:47.719 --> 0:42:51.320 at Jonah and I end with this. God could control 0:42:51.360 --> 0:42:53.960 the wind and the waves in chapter one, he controlled 0:42:54.000 --> 0:42:56.640 the whale in chapter two, and he controlled the worm 0:42:56.680 --> 0:42:59.200 and the wind in chapter four. But he could not 0:42:59.320 --> 0:43:04.160 control Joan without the king's surrender. He couldn't do it. 0:43:05.600 --> 0:43:09.240 Everything in nature obeys the word of God accept human beings. 0:43:10.360 --> 0:43:15.719 Yet human beings have the greatest reason to obey the 0:43:15.760 --> 0:43:22.640 Holy Spirit. We have the greatest reason. You don't have 0:43:22.719 --> 0:43:25.680 to do another thing for me. Lord. I know that 0:43:25.760 --> 0:43:28.920 you are taking care of my family. You're protecting me. 0:43:29.520 --> 0:43:32.520 And even when I flee from some things, You're gonna 0:43:32.560 --> 0:43:35.720 send some whales my way. You're gonna send some folks 0:43:35.800 --> 0:43:39.680 my way. You're gonna help me. You're gonna send people 0:43:40.120 --> 0:43:48.240 my way. You're gonna send a church my way. Continue standing, 0:43:48.280 --> 0:43:51.239 and if you're not staying at campuses, you know do that. 0:43:52.440 --> 0:43:53.840 Here's what I want to do. What I believe is 0:43:53.840 --> 0:43:56.240 the most important part of what we do every single weekend. 0:43:57.520 --> 0:44:02.879 So I want to give you the coortunity to come 0:44:02.920 --> 0:44:06.879 into a right relationship with Jesus Christ. When you do that, 0:44:07.960 --> 0:44:12.040 you are coming back to the assignment that God has 0:44:12.040 --> 0:44:14.880 given every single one of us. And it says the 0:44:14.920 --> 0:44:18.560 scripture that you are to go into all the world 0:44:18.960 --> 0:44:25.720 and preach the Gospel with your life, with your actions, 0:44:25.960 --> 0:44:30.880 with how your kindness, with your love. And I think 0:44:30.920 --> 0:44:33.560 there are many people, maybe in this room, maybe at 0:44:33.560 --> 0:44:37.640 other campuses, maybe watching online, that you're saying, you know what, 0:44:37.719 --> 0:44:40.920 I have been fleeing. I've been taking a boat in 0:44:40.960 --> 0:44:43.480 the other direction when God has told me this is 0:44:43.520 --> 0:44:45.040 where I need to be, this is what I need 0:44:45.080 --> 0:44:49.279 to do. This is the next step. Today is an 0:44:49.280 --> 0:44:54.719 opportunity from the Lord, a divine appointment for you to 0:44:54.760 --> 0:45:00.360 get back on assignment. And so here's what gonna do. 0:45:00.360 --> 0:45:03.600 I'm gonna have everyone close their eyes and bow their heads. 0:45:03.600 --> 0:45:05.880 And if you're saying, you know what, I want to 0:45:05.920 --> 0:45:08.320 take this opportunity. I want Jesus to come into my life. 0:45:08.640 --> 0:45:10.120 I'm gonna ask you to pray this prayer for the 0:45:10.160 --> 0:45:11.920 benefit of those who are praying it for the very 0:45:12.200 --> 0:45:16.640 first time or people who are returning back. I want 0:45:16.640 --> 0:45:19.160 our church family to say it out loud, say, Dear Jesus, 0:45:20.040 --> 0:45:22.920 I thank you for who you are. I thank you 0:45:22.960 --> 0:45:26.840 for who the Bible says that you are. I believe 0:45:27.640 --> 0:45:30.720 that you died on the cross, you rose from the grave, 0:45:31.640 --> 0:45:36.319 defeating all sin, defeating all shame. Come into my life, 0:45:37.360 --> 0:45:42.320 make me a new creation. I'm ready for the assignment 0:45:43.200 --> 0:45:47.360 in Jesus' name. Amen, Come on, can we give it 0:45:47.440 --> 0:45:52.360 up for everyone? Put it in a chat. If you 0:45:52.480 --> 0:45:55.920 just came into a relationship, if you took the opportunity 0:45:56.400 --> 0:46:05.000 to come into assignment, you weren't here by mistake today, 0:46:05.880 --> 0:46:11.080 on this July fourth weekend. It's not a mistake. It's 0:46:11.080 --> 0:46:19.560 an opportunity. It's an opportunity. And I think I love 0:46:19.680 --> 0:46:22.560 moments like the moment we just had because I know 0:46:22.600 --> 0:46:27.400 we're like hey, people, it never gets old. To angels, 0:46:28.480 --> 0:46:31.600 it never gets old. They thrown apart. They probably, they 0:46:31.680 --> 0:46:37.560 probably play. All I do is win when when when 0:46:37.680 --> 0:46:44.400 them hands are going up, when the sales hit a 0:46:44.520 --> 0:46:48.799 perfect wind to get you where you need to go. 0:46:49.000 --> 0:46:50.759 Come on, raise your hands. I want to pray for you, 0:46:50.800 --> 0:46:53.520 and we'll go into worship. God. Thank you for the 0:46:53.560 --> 0:46:57.360 assignment of this moment right here. I pray that you 0:46:57.400 --> 0:47:00.560 would continue to pour out your spirit and pour out 0:47:00.640 --> 0:47:05.080 your love and pour out your encouragement through every parent, 0:47:05.520 --> 0:47:11.319 every teenager, every employee, every son, every daughter. Help didn't 0:47:11.480 --> 0:47:17.160 understand that we are building the church one assignment after another. 0:47:17.560 --> 0:47:21.359 We are grateful for you. We love you and Jesus same. 0:47:21.400 --> 0:47:29.920 We pray everyone said amen, thank you for joining us. 0:47:30.239 --> 0:47:32.680 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:47:32.760 --> 0:47:36.239 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:47:36.680 --> 0:47:38.879 You can click the link in the description to give 0:47:38.960 --> 0:47:43.120 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:47:43.120 --> 0:47:46.920 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:47:47.239 --> 0:47:49.279 You can share it with your friends. You can click 0:47:49.320 --> 0:47:51.560 the share button, take a screenshot and share it on 0:47:51.600 --> 0:47:54.479 your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks 0:47:54.480 --> 0:48:00.000 again for listening. God bless you