Bonus Episode: Root Check (Holly Furtick)

0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:05.320 Welcome to the Elevation Church Podcast. We've got a special 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:08.560 bonus podcast for you today from our very own Hollyfordict. 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:11.360 She recently shared this message with the women of our 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.880 church at our annual event called Reflect. But this message 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.599 is for everyone. We're excited for you to hear it 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.360 and learn how we can all end this year strong. 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:27.600 Enjoy the message? Are you ready for a message? All right? God, 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.440 we thank you so much that we can be here 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:34.839 together tonight. And together looks different this year, but together 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:37.599 this year is beautiful because you are here, and you 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:41.040 are in our presence, and you are coming together with 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:44.640 us across our screens and across our worlds. And so God, 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:48.720 we unite our hearts together, we unite our faith together, 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:52.080 and we open up our minds in our ears because 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.320 we want to hear from you. Lord. Would you speak 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:59.680 to us now, say Jesus, and my prayam many. All right, 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:03.440 So twenty twenty it's been a really special year. And 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:05.640 I don't know if you're like me, but I am 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:09.120 just really thankful that it's November. Not that I think 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:12.600 that the clock is gonna, you know, strike twenty twenty one, 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:15.280 and all of this crazy madness is going to go away. 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:18.240 But as the year winds down and I'm beginning to 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:22.360 reflect on the last nine months, I'm like, wow, a 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:28.120 lot of crazy stuff happened, and like, you know, crazy good, crazy, weird, 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:32.800 crazy bad, And you know what, though, I'd like to 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.319 focus on the good stuff that have happened. There have 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:37.760 been some really cool moments, right, And we've had some 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:42.200 great conversations with our families being forced to be together, 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:46.960 and we've made some great memories. And I'm just starting 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:48.640 to see that, in spite of all the craziness, all 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.400 the madness, that I have actually learned a few new 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:55.200 things this year. Did anybody else learn anything new this year? Like? 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:59.760 Did anybody learn how to cook this year? My friendly 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:01.920 this year? She called me the today, she's a holly. 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.240 I cooked four times this week? Aren't you proud of me? 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:10.040 Did anyone learn how to teach kindergarten this year? Did 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:16.480 anyone learn how to cook, teach kindergarten and work remotely 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:18.400 all at the same time? And I don't know if 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:20.920 I would say that I like mastered those things, but 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:22.680 I did give it my best shot. It's suft for 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:26.280 the kindergarten part, Thank god. I don't have any kindergarteners. 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:30.840 But I did also learn how to remove my own fingernails. 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:32.639 I mean not the actual nail, but you know that 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:36.200 like heavy nail polish that we love to get put on. 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:39.839 And so I thought that we could take a few 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:43.480 moments to look back at all of the beauty blunders 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:46.160 of twenty twenty. As I get started, you know, I 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:48.920 like to start with something funny, and this is reflect 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:50.639 and so it's good to laugh at ourselves. So I'll 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:53.880 start with myself. Here's a picture that I posted back 0:02:53.919 --> 0:03:00.200 in March on Instagram. There I am two hours, two 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:04.400 hours with foil. I was completely incapacitated with foil on 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:07.040 my fingers, soaking those bad boys off because I didn't 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.200 have the little drill you know that they use and 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.960 get them off in twenty minutes. Did anyone just chew 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.480 their nails off? Be honest, Type it in the chat. 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:18.720 Just give me the teeth, EMOCHI, Okay, type it in 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.680 the chat. So now I've been honest with you. Type 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:23.520 it in the chat. If you attempted to wax your 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:30.440 own eyebrows, cut your own bangs. We saw some really 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:34.600 bad bang cuts on Instagram. Abby and I one night 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.000 we wanted to experiment, so we put a semi permanent 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:42.280 pink hair dye on her hair. And Amy has a 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:46.520 lot of hair, and it turned out really great, except 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:48.960 that I spent the next two weeks trying to get 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.200 the dye out of my kitchen sink. So that was 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.640 a little beauty blender for me. Did anyone else attempt 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:57.360 to dye their own hair? I read that Madison read 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:00.520 that's a company that sells at home air kids. Adrian 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:04.320 said she dyed her own hair. Their profits increased seven 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:08.880 hundred and fifty percent during the spring. Of all of 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:11.320 you trying to dye your hair at home, how many 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.040 of you took the approach that, no matter what, you 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.520 were going to wait it out. I think you were 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.080 the same women who realized how many days you could 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.839 actually go without showering before anyone in your family noticed. 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:26.960 I love memes, and I love I try to fill 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.719 my Instagram feed with things that make me laugh. So 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:32.240 I wanted to share with you my absolute favorite meme 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.960 of quarantine. It says coming out of quarantine like So, 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:39.320 I want to know which one you related to the best. 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:43.200 Is it the brows or the roots or the eyelashes 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:49.560 and the fingernails. So okay, the men have no clue 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:54.200 how hard quarantine was on us. It was. There were 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.120 some really hard things that we went through and that 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.200 we had to learn. Put that slide back up because 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.800 my message to and my inspiration from my message comes 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:05.040 from that top right picture. So I want you to 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.200 type it in the chat if you can relate to 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:11.599 needing to get your roots done. I took to Instagram 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:14.200 to ask some of you to send me pictures of 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:20.279 your roots, and that was hilarious. I laughed so hard 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:24.000 that I snorted Chelsea Reynolds, mostly at your picture that 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:26.640 you sent me. Would you like to see a couple 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:28.680 of them that people said me? I did get these 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.520 ladies permission, by the way. Okay, so here we go. 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.719 I just want to highlight a couple just you guys 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:37.880 can go through go through it a little faster. Just 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:41.520 got to see some of these ladies up close. Her 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:47.080 eyelashes look good, though. Let's see another one. Oh, I 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:50.080 like that one. My friend Jess Stack, he was our 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.719 campus pastor wife in Raleigh. She wins the prize for 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.080 the longest routs during quarantine, and she did tell me 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.160 that I could share this picture although, fun fact, I 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.200 got it from her because I texted my friend who's 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:04.240 her hairdresser. I said, did you get there's Jess? Did 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:06.159 you get any good pictures of people with risins? She 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:10.119 sent me this picture of Jess, and bless your heart, Jess, 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:14.240 thanks for sharing that picture with you. Tonight, it is 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:19.840 time for a root check. So look at your neighbor 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.320 if you're sitting with someone, and say, let me check 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:25.520 your roots. If you're watching on zoom, just put your 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:27.560 head up to the camp. I'm just kidding. You don't 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:29.880 have to do that, but do turn in your Bible 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:35.000 to Jeremiah seventeen, verse seven. Let me get mine up here, 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.880 Here we go. I just got a little verse I 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:41.720 want to read. You says this, But blessed is the 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:45.839 one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.200 They will be like a tree planted by the water 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.600 that sends out its roots by the stream. It does 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:53.799 not fear when heat comes. Its leaves are always green, 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.760 It has no worries in a year of drought, and 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:03.000 it never fails to bear. I love the Bible, and 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.039 I love this passage because it paints for us a 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:10.120 beautiful picture of a person who is like a tree. 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.520 And I want to be a tree that has roots 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.800 that go so deep that no matter what the world 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:20.120 throws at me, no matter what happens to me, I 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:25.440 can operate from a place of strength. And it is November, ladies, 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.800 and we all know that this is the busiest season 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:30.960 of the year, and it's in the middle of the 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:35.160 craziest year ever. And I just was wondering if there's 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:37.680 anybody else out there, And you're like me, and you're like, 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.200 by god, I'm going to finish this year strong. Are 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:44.080 you with me? So denight we're going to talk about 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.560 how to have roots that never fail to bear fruit. 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.040 It's easy to be to say that you want to 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:54.000 be a woman with roots, you know, like that woman 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:57.480 who can just handle business, a woman who's a source 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:00.720 of strength for everyone around her, not somebody who's perfect, 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:02.840 but just you never you know, anyone it just seems 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:06.240 to have poised no matter what happens to her. We 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:10.040 all want to be that kind of woman that seems 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:12.960 to just be able to handle any situation. Can you 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.480 think of a woman in your life who has roots, 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:19.880 a woman who has weathered some storms and some droughts, 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:23.040 but always seems to come out on the other side 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:27.120 bearing fruit. Have you ever thought like, I don't know 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:29.920 how she does it. I don't know how she handles it. 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:33.680 I can tell you this right now. Strong women do 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:38.280 not happen by accident. Like, Okay, do you know a 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:42.040 woman who has a killer body? What is the thing 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:47.160 that everyone asks her? How do you do it? Why 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:49.400 do we ask this question? Like we all know the 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:53.599 answer to this question. The answer is diet and exercise. 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:58.920 Anyone who has ABS does not eat French fries. And 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:02.280 yet I keep like, maybe there's she has found some 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:08.559 you know, magic tea that just shrinks her belly after 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:13.080 she eats the French fress. Strength does not happen overnight. 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:18.960 It happens over time, day in and day out, staying faithful, 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:23.440 staying present, working on becoming the best version of yourself 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:27.840 that you can be. And this is hard work because 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:31.200 the easy thing to do is to just blame others 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.840 for my situation. The easy thing to do is to 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:38.160 stay angry and to stay easily offended by every little 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:42.560 thing that doesn't go our way. It's also easy to 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.720 try really hard for one day. Have you ever done this? Like, Okay, 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:49.320 I'm gonna wake up at five and I'm gonna read 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:52.160 my Bible and I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna fast too, 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.960 and then by noon you are on the phone screaming 0:09:56.000 --> 0:10:00.280 at customer service driving through McDonald's. I have now you 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:02.360 Gus McDonalds. I'm just you said you were gonna fast, 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:04.760 and now you're driving to McDonald's. And you know, it's like, 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:08.359 I remember the first time I took a group fitness class. 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.400 Remember I've told you I've never been MVP before. Okay, 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:16.000 So I did not take my first group fitness class 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:20.160 until I was over thirty. And there was this woman 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:22.000 that went to our church and she taught this class 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.520 called body Pump. And anybody ever take body pump before. 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:28.640 It's not very popular class anymore, but at the time 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:32.720 there was this class where you would lift weights to music. 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:37.160 So I show up at the class and the instructor 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:40.000 comes over to me. She was not one of those 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.760 people who ate French fries, and she just says to me, 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.680 she was like, hey, listen, just start light. You can 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.520 even just use the bar because the weights can get 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:53.640 really heavy. And I was like, I can do this 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.120 with the weights. I mean, I don't want to look stupid, 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:02.600 and so very stubbornly I completed the class with the weights. 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:05.120 I probably look stupid anyway trying to do it with 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:09.280 the weights. And when I tell you that I was 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:14.120 sore when I was walking to my car. Oh, guys, 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:19.080 when I woke up the next morning, I said to 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:21.199 my husband, I said, I think I am the flu. 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:26.840 I could not move like I could not move for 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.280 about a week. I could barely go up the stairs. 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.079 I was like an old lady. My kids were like, 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:34.160 there were babies at the time. They were like, mommy, 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:38.120 I'm like, kid, do it. I don't think I went 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.800 back to that class for like a year. That's not 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:44.400 how you build strength. That's not how you get strong 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:46.960 by going to one class one time. You get strong 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:50.760 little by little, day by day. A tree doesn't grow overnight. 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.560 A tree takes the time to put down roots. And 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:56.920 if you want to be a strong woman, a woman 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.400 who fights for the things in your life that are 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:03.080 important to you, you're going to have to have some roots. 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:09.120 Time under tension creates strength. And Jeremiah says that this 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:12.199 tree is planted by the water, and it sends out 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:16.199 its roots by the stream. You see. The most important 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:21.600 part of the tree happens below the surface. It happens 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:25.440 in the places where people cannot see. And I want 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.360 us to finish this year strong. I don't want to 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.480 go limping across the finish line into twenty twenty. I 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:33.280 want to look back on this year and say, you 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.240 know what, twenty twenty threw some stuff at me, but 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.640 I think I'm stronger for it. How do we do this? 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:42.520 How do we do this? We've got to check our roots. 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:44.319 So I want you to turn in your Bible to 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.800 Luke chapter one, and I want to show you a 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:53.559 woman who had weathered some pretty tough droughts and storms. 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.559 And I believe that she has a few things that 0:12:56.600 --> 0:12:59.160 she can teach us tonight about how to have some 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.680 deep roots. So we're gonna look at the life of Mary. 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:06.640 Start with me. In verse twenty six, it says this, 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.640 in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:13.000 angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in gallery Galilee, to 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.840 a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:19.240 a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:23.360 angel went to her and said, greetings, you are highly favored. 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:27.400 The Lord is with you. And Mary was greatly troubled 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:31.000 at his words and wondered what kind of greetingness might be. 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.000 But the Angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:39.720 for you have found favor with God. You will conceive 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:41.640 and give birth to a son, and you are to 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.920 call him Jesus. He will be great, and he will 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.040 be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:48.880 God will give him the throne of his father David, 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:52.439 and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:56.800 will never end. How can this be, Mary asks the angel, 0:13:57.160 --> 0:14:00.720 Since I am a virgin, and the Angel and the 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:04.640 Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:08.200 the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:10.199 to be born will be called the Son of God. 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:12.920 Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child, 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.880 and her own her old age, and she who has 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:19.400 said to be unable to conceive as in her sixth month, 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:24.640 for no word from God will ever fail. I am 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:28.160 the Lord's servant, Mary said, May your word to me 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:34.680 be fulfilled, and then the Angel left her. Mary had 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.960 a massive calling on her life. She was going to 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.520 be the mother of the Messiah. She was going to 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:45.640 raise God. I don't know what it's like to raise God. 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.400 I do know what it's like to attempt to raise children, 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:53.160 and that is a massive calling. And we know nothing 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:56.840 about Mary prior to this passage of scripture. As the 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.840 story unfolds, we find out that she's a girl for 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:03.160 Nazareth who's engaged to be married, and an angel comes 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:07.120 to her and says, greeting, Have you ever thought about 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:09.360 all of the ways that God spoke to people in 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:11.880 the Bible up until this point, up until Jesus came. 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:15.640 He spoke through dreams, he spoke through a burning bush, 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:19.400 he spoke through a talking donkey, he spoke through writing 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:23.440 on the wall, and even occasionally an audible voice. But 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:26.760 we come to this passage and we find Mary and 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:29.960 where was she when the angel came to her? What 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:33.360 was she doing? The passage doesn't say that she was 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:36.680 in church, or that she was kneeling in prayer, that 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:39.160 she was sleeping and he came to her in a dream. 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:41.760 It just simply says that an angel came to her. 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.640 And I wonder if God just knew that he could 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:50.760 interrupt any old day in Mary's life that she had 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:55.320 such an awareness of God's presence that she was ready 0:15:55.560 --> 0:16:00.440 to receive from him during her everyday life. And I'm 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:03.400 just wondering, are you aware of God's presence in your 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:07.480 everyday life? Or is your day so loud and so 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:11.440 crowded and so back to back to back that God 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:15.680 would have to strike lightning to get your attention. It's 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:17.840 so popular for us to talk about self care right now, 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.560 and self care it really is important. But what if 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:24.840 self care was not about a girl's night out or 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.880 a day at the spa. What if self care was 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:32.160 not letting your calendar get so full? What if self 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:36.560 care was about saying no to another thing that you 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:39.240 were asked to do, or another sports team for your kid. 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:43.960 What if self care is about taking a break from 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:49.840 social media. I'm talking to myself. But if you think 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:54.160 that being aware of God's presence means that you get 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:56.840 up and pray at five am, that's great and if 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.920 you can do that, you should. I think getting up 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:04.520 is awesome. I just can't do it. I have tried, 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:08.440 and when I get up early, I just fall back asleep. 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:12.760 It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I splash cold 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:15.119 water on my face doesn't matter. I mean, I just 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:18.080 can't get up early. And I do think that setting 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.560 aside time to read and study God's word and pray 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:25.760 and listen to music. I do believe that those things 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.800 are essential for my strength, and I do practice those 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.800 things in my everyday life. It's just that I have 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:35.720 to look for pockets. You may not have an hour 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:40.720 to spend every day in prayer and on your knees, 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:42.520 and it's a beautiful thing, like I said, if you do, 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:45.760 But do you have any pockets? Like? What do you 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:49.000 do on your commute to work? What do you do 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:52.000 when you're sitting at your kids sports practice. I've sat 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:56.040 at a lot of sports practices and play Candy Crush 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:57.959 on my phone. I'm just gonna be honest with you. 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.040 What is playing in the background while you're doing laundry? 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.280 What do you do on your lunch break at work? 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:05.159 Who do you talk to or what do you watch? 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.240 Are you pulling up are you pulling up the news 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:12.120 or Netflix or Instagram or even here's a really hard 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:13.760 one for me to say. What's the last thing you 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:18.600 do before you fall asleep at night? Mary had space 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.600 in her life for God. And we live in a 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:26.000 day and time where we are so lucky because we 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:29.240 can fill the space in our life with the most 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:33.439 amazing summons from the most incredible preachers around the world, 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:37.000 and worship music is at our fingertips and audio books 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:39.600 and podcasts. But if you don't have a plan, then 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:43.119 you're gonna end up scrolling feeds during every extra second 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:47.680 that you have during your day. And while I am 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:51.520 on the topic about making space in your life, I 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:56.399 just want to say that some of us, I feel like, 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:02.800 are letting church slip through our fingers. When we first 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.560 went into quarantine, you got up early and you got 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:07.720 your family up, or you got to your kitchen table 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:09.720 and you had your coffee and you had your TV on, 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:14.399 and you gave God your full attention. But now maybe 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:18.560 you're just catching it later on YouTube. And by the way, 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:21.880 our buildings are open. I don't know if you knew that. 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:26.080 But also, just about every church that I know is 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:31.560 somehow safely meeting together. And if you're not careful, if 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.960 you let the important things slip through your fingers, you're 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:38.080 gonna find yourself in a very difficult storm and you're 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:40.520 not gonna have the roots to get you through because 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:43.719 you have not made God's presence a priority in your life. 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:47.640 It's time for us to wake up, ladies and position 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:51.360 ourselves to hear God speak to us. Because the strength 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.399 that you need in the next season is that we're 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:57.360 right here in the things that God is speaking to you. Now, 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:02.480 are you aware? Mary aware? And the Angel comes to 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:06.000 her and tells her you have found favor with God. 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:08.800 You're gonna give birth to the son of the Most High, 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:10.600 and the power of the Holy Spirit is gonna come 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:15.240 upon you. And what did Mary say? She said, I 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:21.520 am the Lord's servant. Made a word to me, be fulfilled. Now, 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.760 if they were me, if I were married, when the 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:28.120 Angel came to me and said that, I'm not sure 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:31.359 that I am the Lord's servant, would be the first 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:34.320 thing out of my mouth. You know, like, I have 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:37.040 some things that I would want to know, like if 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:40.639 you qualifying? Like God, did you know that I'm just 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:43.760 a girl and I don't know nothing about raising no baby? 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:49.960 Or God? Did you? Did you? I don't think anybody's 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:55.840 gonna believe me. I mean, a virgin pregnant. How is 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.520 that gonna go? God? I mean, I'm not good enough. 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:02.600 I'm not shruck, I'm not smart enough. What about my past? 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:04.960 What about the things that I've done, the mistakes that 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:07.199 have Mammy, God, you don't want to use me? I 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:10.280 mean I think that you could use her, or you know, 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:13.800 I was actually thinking Lord, that that maybe I could 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:17.480 have a more upfront calling than rather like behind the 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:21.280 scenes calling. Maybe God, I could be a prophetess instead 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:27.399 of a diaper changer. But Mary accepted the calling that 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.720 God had placed on her life. And you've got to 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:35.119 have the root of acceptance in your life because if 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:38.240 you don't, you're going to abandon your calling at the 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:41.520 first sign of trouble. Because the thing about a calling 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:47.280 is your calling is only for you. You can't trade 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:50.760 it for someone else's. Although I know sometimes we look 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:52.520 at somebody else you're like, God, Okay, why didn't you 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:55.359 call me to do that? That looks like so much 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:59.800 more fun than than this. You can't return it for 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:03.359 a different one. I like to return things. It's like 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:05.800 a habit that I have. I like to order things 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:08.320 online and then try them on and then return them. 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:11.840 You can't return your calling. You can either reject it 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:17.760 or you can accept it. And I am so guilty 0:22:18.480 --> 0:22:21.760 of rejecting my own calling. Not outright, of course, I 0:22:21.760 --> 0:22:24.000 mean like, of course Mary was never gonna be like God, 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:26.239 I'm not gonna do that. It's more subtle. It's not 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:29.760 like Jonah, who went in the opposite direction of where 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:33.000 God was calling him. I think I can just sometimes 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:39.640 let myself get stuck, and some days, if I'm being honest, 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:44.760 I'm unwilling to put in the work that's required to 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:47.960 accomplish the things that God wants me to do. I'm 0:22:48.000 --> 0:22:49.880 just gonna say it this way. It's kind of hard 0:22:49.880 --> 0:22:51.280 for you to come out of my mouth, but I'm 0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:55.399 lazy and I would rather watch YouTube videos of someone 0:22:55.440 --> 0:22:58.000 else's day in the life than actually live mine with 0:22:58.080 --> 0:23:01.600 the purpose that God has given me. Someday, Just can 0:23:01.640 --> 0:23:03.960 I be honest? I mean, is anybody with me? And 0:23:04.320 --> 0:23:06.280 some of you were giving me the praise hands that 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:11.240 it took me years. There were years where I just 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:13.800 simply did not want to put in the work that 0:23:13.960 --> 0:23:16.160 was required to preach a good sermon. My husband would 0:23:16.160 --> 0:23:17.399 be like, I want to you to preach. I'm like God, 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:20.399 I'm not good at preaching, But you know what it 0:23:20.440 --> 0:23:23.240 takes work to write a good sermon, and you know 0:23:23.280 --> 0:23:25.200 what else it takes to put a good sermon together, 0:23:26.240 --> 0:23:30.399 reading your Bible. But at the time, I think it 0:23:30.440 --> 0:23:33.679 was easier for me to hide behind the idea that 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:37.400 I wasn't good enough, that I didn't have what it takes. 0:23:38.440 --> 0:23:42.399 Was that really it, I'm not sure that it was. 0:23:42.480 --> 0:23:46.159 I mean, I'm sure that I struggled to have confidence, 0:23:46.200 --> 0:23:49.000 but I really don't think that I was willing to 0:23:49.040 --> 0:23:52.119 put in the work to live out the things that 0:23:52.160 --> 0:23:56.840 God was calling me to do. And you're enough. You 0:23:56.960 --> 0:24:01.560 have everything that you need to do what God is 0:24:01.680 --> 0:24:04.680 calling you to do, but it doesn't mean that it's 0:24:04.720 --> 0:24:10.359 not going to be hard. Repetition over time creates strength, 0:24:10.359 --> 0:24:12.040 and you might be thinking like, well, I don't really 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:15.000 know what I'm called to do. I have an answer 0:24:15.040 --> 0:24:19.440 for you. It's really simple. You're called to do whatever 0:24:19.480 --> 0:24:23.320 God has placed in your life right now. Not one 0:24:23.359 --> 0:24:25.720 day when I get married, not one day when I 0:24:25.800 --> 0:24:28.320 have more money, not one day when I have my 0:24:28.400 --> 0:24:32.040 own house I'll have people over. I just want you 0:24:32.119 --> 0:24:35.040 to hear me say tonight, the best person to raise 0:24:35.080 --> 0:24:39.439 your kids, is you, the best person to do your job? 0:24:39.880 --> 0:24:43.399 Is you the best person to speak up for that 0:24:43.680 --> 0:24:48.280 cause that's just so burden on your heart. That's your calling. 0:24:48.720 --> 0:24:52.159 It's you. You are called to the place that you 0:24:52.240 --> 0:24:56.680 are right now. Your high school, your neighborhood, your co workers. 0:24:57.000 --> 0:25:01.119 They need to see you confidently in the calling that 0:25:01.160 --> 0:25:04.320 God has given you. And when you go through something hard, 0:25:04.760 --> 0:25:07.240 all the people around you are going to see your 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:11.840 strength and your resilience and your dependence on God as 0:25:11.880 --> 0:25:17.240 you go through whatever your challenges are. Challenges are unavoidable 0:25:17.520 --> 0:25:20.000 in life. And we like to think that of Mary 0:25:20.040 --> 0:25:24.159 when the Angel visited her, and how glorious and beautiful 0:25:24.240 --> 0:25:27.240 that was. But what about Mary when nobody did believe 0:25:27.280 --> 0:25:30.200 her that she was pregnant? What about that hard part? 0:25:30.520 --> 0:25:32.800 What about the part where Mary had to give birth 0:25:32.920 --> 0:25:35.600 to a baby in a barn? I mean talk about 0:25:35.600 --> 0:25:38.719 giving birth during COVID. Mary gave birth to a baby 0:25:38.720 --> 0:25:42.320 in a barn. What about the hard part where Mary 0:25:42.359 --> 0:25:45.200 stood at the foot of the cross and watched her 0:25:45.240 --> 0:25:51.359 son experience the most unimaginable pain and rejection. And I 0:25:51.480 --> 0:25:54.000 believe that it was in those moments that Mary had 0:25:54.040 --> 0:25:57.399 to come back to that encounter with the angel and 0:25:57.440 --> 0:26:01.159 she had to remember what she was chosen for. She 0:26:01.240 --> 0:26:05.440 said all right, I am the Lord's servant. Write this down. 0:26:06.440 --> 0:26:11.800 This is deep, This is really deep. I can do 0:26:13.040 --> 0:26:20.920 hard things. You can You can do hard things. Nobody 0:26:20.960 --> 0:26:26.440 ever said that a calling was easy. Having a calling 0:26:26.880 --> 0:26:30.520 requires you to have strength so that you can move 0:26:30.920 --> 0:26:37.000 through the difficult times. And the minute that Mary accepted 0:26:37.040 --> 0:26:42.879 her calling, she went into action. Look at this all right, 0:26:42.920 --> 0:26:47.040 So we've got verse thirty eight, and Mary says, I 0:26:47.080 --> 0:26:50.200 am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled? 0:26:50.200 --> 0:26:53.760 And then the angel left her. At that time, Mary 0:26:53.880 --> 0:26:57.920 got ready and hurried to a town in the hill 0:26:57.960 --> 0:27:03.240 country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 0:27:03.680 --> 0:27:06.639 Let me ask you a question. When God gives you 0:27:06.720 --> 0:27:14.360 a direction, what is your response? Time. God uses people 0:27:14.600 --> 0:27:19.159 who hear his word and move, and it starts with 0:27:19.280 --> 0:27:22.160 the small things, because if you can't hear and act 0:27:22.200 --> 0:27:24.960 in the small things, then you won't be able to 0:27:24.960 --> 0:27:26.639 do it in the big things. I promise you. I 0:27:26.640 --> 0:27:28.600 know you think if God just call me to do 0:27:28.680 --> 0:27:30.800 something big, then I would do it. But I don't 0:27:30.800 --> 0:27:32.760 want to do this small thing. But let me tell you, 0:27:32.800 --> 0:27:36.199 the small things are practiced for the big things. And 0:27:36.240 --> 0:27:39.480 I just wonder tonight, what is the last small thing 0:27:39.840 --> 0:27:42.600 that God asked you to do. Maybe he asked you 0:27:42.640 --> 0:27:45.520 to apologize to someone. Did you do it? Maybe he 0:27:45.600 --> 0:27:48.159 asked you to begin the process of forgiveness. And I 0:27:48.200 --> 0:27:50.280 know that forgiveness is complicated, and I'm not saying they 0:27:50.320 --> 0:27:52.960 have to go, you know, be friends with that person again. 0:27:53.000 --> 0:27:56.320 But maybe he just whispered into your spirit. I want 0:27:56.359 --> 0:27:58.520 you to start to forgive that person. I know they 0:27:58.600 --> 0:28:01.680 hurt you, but forgiveness is you. Did you do it? 0:28:01.720 --> 0:28:04.399 Maybe ask you to start an e group or a 0:28:04.440 --> 0:28:08.399 Bible study in your home. Becoming a woman of action 0:28:09.000 --> 0:28:14.360 takes practice, and the absolute best thing that you can 0:28:14.440 --> 0:28:16.640 do for the people in your life that you love 0:28:16.960 --> 0:28:20.359 is be a healthy person yourself. It's to be a 0:28:20.480 --> 0:28:24.600 woman who is able to hear God's voice and act 0:28:24.680 --> 0:28:29.280 on it in the simplest, smallest ways. You put down 0:28:29.320 --> 0:28:33.199 your phone and you spend time with your child, or 0:28:33.200 --> 0:28:36.560 maybe you send a text message. God just put somebody 0:28:36.600 --> 0:28:39.600 on your heart, so you send it. It's the small things. 0:28:40.760 --> 0:28:44.400 God is good and he is patient, but he is 0:28:44.480 --> 0:28:47.200 not going to give you step two before you do 0:28:47.280 --> 0:28:51.200 step one. Now, the good news is that step one 0:28:51.400 --> 0:28:54.640 is still right there waiting for you right now. A 0:28:54.760 --> 0:29:00.640 woman who takes action understands that better is not out there, 0:29:00.960 --> 0:29:05.080 Better is right here, right now, and that woman is 0:29:05.120 --> 0:29:07.680 able to look around and figure out what is the 0:29:07.720 --> 0:29:09.680 next step that God wants me to take? What is 0:29:09.720 --> 0:29:12.120 something that I can do right now? And so what 0:29:12.160 --> 0:29:15.560 does Mary do? She goes to see Elizabeth. And this 0:29:15.640 --> 0:29:17.320 is the part of the story that really gets me. 0:29:18.240 --> 0:29:21.040 I'm really passionate about this, and I want you to 0:29:21.160 --> 0:29:27.880 understand that strong women understand the power of attachment. When 0:29:27.960 --> 0:29:31.960 I am confident in my calling, I don't need to compete. 0:29:32.400 --> 0:29:36.000 I don't need to compare. I simply need to align 0:29:36.080 --> 0:29:41.520 myself with those who can confirm what is already inside 0:29:41.560 --> 0:29:45.880 of me. You are never intended to live out your 0:29:46.000 --> 0:29:49.200 calling alone. And I'm not talking about having a husband. 0:29:50.040 --> 0:29:53.400 I am talking about having a group of women around 0:29:53.440 --> 0:29:55.440 you who will support you. But you have to get 0:29:55.440 --> 0:29:57.880 the order right first. You've got to get the order 0:29:57.960 --> 0:30:01.040 right first. Mary was aware, so she was able to 0:30:01.080 --> 0:30:03.280 hear from God when he spoke to her. Then she 0:30:03.440 --> 0:30:05.840 accepted the calling that God had placed on her life. 0:30:05.960 --> 0:30:09.680 Then she acted, and so she knew, what is the 0:30:09.680 --> 0:30:12.160 step that I need to take. Well, I'm gonna have 0:30:12.240 --> 0:30:15.200 a baby, so I better get around someone who's a 0:30:15.240 --> 0:30:17.120 little bit farther down the road for me. And the 0:30:17.160 --> 0:30:21.719 angel happened to tell me your cousin Elizabeth has also conceived. 0:30:22.560 --> 0:30:26.240 Now you might be thinking she talks about friendship every year. Yes, 0:30:26.280 --> 0:30:30.719 I do, because I still see women who don't get it. 0:30:31.480 --> 0:30:35.840 We need each other. I need you and you need me. 0:30:38.320 --> 0:30:40.920 Over the past year or so, I've become obsessed with elephants. 0:30:40.920 --> 0:30:42.360 And you may have caught onto that tonight, because we've 0:30:42.360 --> 0:30:45.680 got an elephant necklace, and we've got a elephant ornament. 0:30:45.720 --> 0:30:48.360 We've got all these fun things. And it's because well, 0:30:48.400 --> 0:30:51.960 it all started with a fiction book by Jodypico. I 0:30:51.960 --> 0:30:54.120 don't know if anybody is a Jodypico fan. I am 0:30:54.240 --> 0:30:57.160 a fan of fiction, and those of you who know 0:30:57.280 --> 0:30:59.680 me know that I just I love stories. So I 0:30:59.720 --> 0:31:02.800 listen to this book it's about elephants, and it got 0:31:02.800 --> 0:31:05.280 me really intrigued. So then I watched some YouTube videos, 0:31:05.280 --> 0:31:08.160 and I watch documentary. Then I listened to a memoir. 0:31:08.560 --> 0:31:10.760 It's just a whole thing. So I want to share 0:31:10.760 --> 0:31:12.720 with you a couple of things that I learned about 0:31:12.760 --> 0:31:16.480 elephants because they are an incredible species. They are among 0:31:16.800 --> 0:31:21.640 the most intelligent species of animals. Their intelligence can rival 0:31:21.680 --> 0:31:26.640 that of primates and dolphins and whales. Elephants can solve 0:31:26.680 --> 0:31:30.600 complex problems. They can recognize their reflection in the mirror 0:31:30.640 --> 0:31:33.280 self awareness shout out to reflect five years ago if 0:31:33.280 --> 0:31:36.360 you were here. Elephants can dance to the beat of music, 0:31:36.960 --> 0:31:42.440 and they can even communicate with each other through infrasonic 0:31:42.840 --> 0:31:45.440 sounds like these sounds that are inaudible to the human 0:31:45.520 --> 0:31:50.640 ear when they communicate six miles apart. But that's not 0:31:50.680 --> 0:31:54.320 the best part about elephants to me. Elephants are a 0:31:54.400 --> 0:31:57.520 matriarchal society. So this means that they kick the boys 0:31:57.520 --> 0:32:02.080 out when they become teenagers and they operate as a unit. 0:32:03.040 --> 0:32:06.160 They care for each others young The older teach the 0:32:06.200 --> 0:32:09.400 younger how to watch for danger, how to find water 0:32:09.480 --> 0:32:12.840 in a drought. They grieve with each other when one 0:32:13.200 --> 0:32:16.360 loses a baby. They slow down when someone in their 0:32:16.440 --> 0:32:20.360 herd is sick or injured, and they have this thing 0:32:20.440 --> 0:32:23.440 that they do when one of their own is vulnerable. 0:32:24.480 --> 0:32:26.960 They circle up. When should I look at this picture 0:32:27.000 --> 0:32:31.560 that I have for you? Keep it up there because 0:32:31.800 --> 0:32:35.400 as you see, the elephants are in a circle, but 0:32:35.520 --> 0:32:38.640 the strong ones are facing out. And I want you 0:32:38.680 --> 0:32:40.920 to notice that there are some that are obviously older 0:32:40.920 --> 0:32:44.720 and bigger than others. There are some children there that 0:32:44.800 --> 0:32:48.320 are learning this is what we do. This is a 0:32:48.560 --> 0:32:52.720 herd of elephants, And most likely what they're doing is 0:32:52.720 --> 0:32:55.360 they're either protecting the young from danger, which I don't 0:32:55.360 --> 0:32:56.960 think that's what's happening in this picture because we have 0:32:56.960 --> 0:32:58.680 the little wed and kind of poking his head out. 0:32:59.360 --> 0:33:02.480 Most likely what they're doing is one of their own 0:33:03.320 --> 0:33:06.800 is in labor, and so when one of their own 0:33:06.920 --> 0:33:10.240 is giving birth to something and they're in a vulnerable position, 0:33:11.080 --> 0:33:16.080 they circle up. They huddle around each other to protect 0:33:16.520 --> 0:33:20.680 their own from the outward danger that she is facing 0:33:20.720 --> 0:33:22.720 in that moment. And ladies, I don't know if you've 0:33:22.720 --> 0:33:25.440 ever had the honor of having some women come around 0:33:25.480 --> 0:33:27.440 you during a time of need, but it is a 0:33:27.480 --> 0:33:31.800 beautiful thing to experience. I'm trying to get you to 0:33:31.880 --> 0:33:35.720 see tonight that, yeah, having roots does require you to 0:33:36.240 --> 0:33:37.880 do some things on your own, to be aware of 0:33:37.920 --> 0:33:40.080 God's presence and to accept your calling and be ready 0:33:40.120 --> 0:33:43.320 to act. And when you see that direction from God, 0:33:43.400 --> 0:33:48.400 but you're also going to need others to support you 0:33:49.160 --> 0:33:52.200 on your way. And every time I say something about 0:33:52.240 --> 0:33:57.400 the importance of female friendships, someone inevitably says or comments 0:33:57.400 --> 0:34:00.440 on my Instagram or whatever. They say something like, well, 0:34:00.480 --> 0:34:03.600 I've tried, and I'm just too hurt and I am 0:34:03.720 --> 0:34:08.600 just gonna go it alone. And I thought about that tonight, 0:34:08.680 --> 0:34:10.960 and I thought about all the teenage girls who are 0:34:11.000 --> 0:34:14.000 out there watching shout out to my elevation youth. I 0:34:14.080 --> 0:34:16.600 know that many of your groups are meeting together, and 0:34:17.400 --> 0:34:19.560 I just want to say to all the teenage girls 0:34:19.560 --> 0:34:22.680 who are hearing me talk about having a group of 0:34:22.680 --> 0:34:27.000 women around you, that mean girls are a real thing. 0:34:28.320 --> 0:34:32.720 And unfortunately they don't go away when you graduate high school. 0:34:34.360 --> 0:34:38.040 But I wonder tonight if maybe you're using the wrong 0:34:38.120 --> 0:34:42.080 criteria for your support system. What you want to do 0:34:43.200 --> 0:34:46.720 is get yourself around someone who's a little bit farther 0:34:46.800 --> 0:34:49.320 down the road from you, maybe not in age, maybe 0:34:49.360 --> 0:34:55.360 just immaturity, in maturity, not im maturity. Someone that you 0:34:55.440 --> 0:34:58.240 look up to for who they are, not what they wear, 0:34:59.120 --> 0:35:02.520 someone that they you admire for the person that they are, 0:35:02.560 --> 0:35:05.239 not how many followers that they have. And I'm not 0:35:05.320 --> 0:35:09.640 just talking to the teenage girls anymore, Ladies. When Mary 0:35:09.760 --> 0:35:15.240 got to Elizabeth, Elizabeth immediately confirmed what was already happening 0:35:15.280 --> 0:35:19.200 inside of Mary. She celebrated her, and she brought her 0:35:19.239 --> 0:35:22.520 into her life. The Bible tells us that Elizabeth was 0:35:22.560 --> 0:35:26.359 six months pregnant and that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for 0:35:26.400 --> 0:35:27.719 three months. I don't know if you could do the 0:35:27.760 --> 0:35:33.560 math on that, but I think that Mary stayed until 0:35:33.600 --> 0:35:38.799 Elizabeth gave birth. And I don't know about you, but 0:35:38.920 --> 0:35:42.920 I think when it came time for Mary to give 0:35:42.960 --> 0:35:47.640 birth to her own child alone in a barn, I 0:35:47.719 --> 0:35:50.840 just wonder whose voice was in her head because she 0:35:50.960 --> 0:35:56.520 got herself around somebody who could help her. Check your 0:35:56.560 --> 0:36:00.759 roots tonight? Who is around you? Who is cheering you on? 0:36:01.760 --> 0:36:04.359 Who has fault with you? Who is griefed with you? 0:36:04.400 --> 0:36:06.200 Maybe you don't know where to start. I have an 0:36:06.200 --> 0:36:09.040 idea for you. Who are you watching with right now? 0:36:10.040 --> 0:36:13.080 You see? I have some friends in this room whose 0:36:13.080 --> 0:36:15.759 friendship means everything to me. Some of them live here 0:36:15.800 --> 0:36:17.800 in town. A few of them got on an airplane 0:36:17.840 --> 0:36:21.040 during a pandemic to come and see me. And these 0:36:21.120 --> 0:36:23.839 ladies are more than just people that I hang out 0:36:23.880 --> 0:36:28.680 with for fun. These women have We've prayed each other 0:36:28.800 --> 0:36:33.600 through things. We've prayed each other through cancer and loss, 0:36:33.960 --> 0:36:38.799 We've prayed each other through ministry and kids. And there's 0:36:38.840 --> 0:36:41.799 some women in this room that mean the world to me. 0:36:42.719 --> 0:36:45.040 And in a few minutes we're going to get to 0:36:45.160 --> 0:36:47.840 share with each other what God is speaking to us. 0:36:48.040 --> 0:36:50.560 And I really hope that you'll take the time to 0:36:50.640 --> 0:36:54.400 dig in on the route of friendship tonight. The whole 0:36:54.440 --> 0:36:56.439 reason I didn't want you to watch alone is because 0:36:56.520 --> 0:37:00.799 I am so sick of virtual relationships. I want us 0:37:00.800 --> 0:37:03.520 to have face to face conversation. Zoom and face sight. 0:37:03.640 --> 0:37:06.799 It counts, but you've got to look somebody in the 0:37:06.880 --> 0:37:14.080 eyes and say help or can I help you? But 0:37:14.160 --> 0:37:17.480 if you don't build it now, that's the thing about roots. 0:37:17.680 --> 0:37:20.960 You got to build them before the storm comes. You 0:37:21.040 --> 0:37:24.239 have to send them out to the stream, before the 0:37:24.360 --> 0:37:28.200 drought comes, because if you don't build those relationships now, 0:37:28.200 --> 0:37:31.640 you won't have them when you need them. And you 0:37:31.680 --> 0:37:36.719 know what, it is an amazing thing, a beautiful thing 0:37:37.120 --> 0:37:40.520 to feel the support of other women in your life 0:37:40.600 --> 0:37:44.480 during a difficult time. But it's also a privilege to 0:37:44.680 --> 0:37:48.840 do it for someone else when you walk alongside a 0:37:48.880 --> 0:37:52.680 friend through a divorce or a loss, or a sickness 0:37:52.960 --> 0:37:56.560 or infertility, you experience a level of friendship that a 0:37:56.600 --> 0:38:01.920 girl's night out is never going to provide. It takes vulnerability, 0:38:02.239 --> 0:38:08.879 takes relationship takes time. Remember roots take time. So Elizabeth, 0:38:09.160 --> 0:38:17.239 she confirms what's inside of Mary. She says, blessed is 0:38:17.280 --> 0:38:21.640 she who has believed that the Lord fulfill his promises 0:38:21.680 --> 0:38:26.800 to her. And then Mary begins her prayer and she says, 0:38:27.320 --> 0:38:31.799 my soul glorifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God, 0:38:31.880 --> 0:38:35.040 my savior, for he has been mindful of the humble 0:38:35.160 --> 0:38:39.040 state of his servant. He picked me, and from now 0:38:39.080 --> 0:38:43.320 on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty 0:38:43.360 --> 0:38:49.320 One has done great things for me. Holy is his name. 0:38:50.239 --> 0:38:53.200 See it was good for Mary to have Elizabeth to 0:38:53.320 --> 0:38:56.839 confirm what God had called Mary to do. But there 0:38:56.920 --> 0:39:02.359 comes a time when the affirmation that you need has 0:39:02.400 --> 0:39:07.719 to come from within yourself, with your own mouth, when 0:39:07.840 --> 0:39:12.600 you begin to worship God. Before Mary saw any fruit, 0:39:13.239 --> 0:39:17.040 she had to center her focus on who her God was. 0:39:17.120 --> 0:39:20.319 To her, he was her Savior, the Mighty One, who 0:39:20.320 --> 0:39:24.160 had done great things for her. Worship like this only 0:39:24.239 --> 0:39:28.799 flows from someone who has a living, breathing relationship with 0:39:28.880 --> 0:39:32.759 her father. She goes on to just quote scripture. She 0:39:32.880 --> 0:39:36.120 just pieces it together from the different prophecies in the Bible. 0:39:36.320 --> 0:39:39.520 It's scripture that she had planted in her spirit as 0:39:39.560 --> 0:39:42.840 a child, and it poured out of her mouth because 0:39:42.960 --> 0:39:45.840 long before she was visited by an angel, she was 0:39:45.880 --> 0:39:51.600 putting down roots. Mary focused her faith on the one 0:39:51.640 --> 0:39:54.799 who had called her. She didn't list out all the 0:39:54.840 --> 0:39:57.799 things that could go wrong. She didn't think about all 0:39:57.880 --> 0:40:01.080 the hardships that would lay ahead, because by God, if 0:40:01.120 --> 0:40:04.160 she had, she probably wouldn't have accepted this calling. But 0:40:04.239 --> 0:40:08.480 she stayed focused on who God was and who she 0:40:08.880 --> 0:40:12.640 was in Christ. And this makes sense when we read 0:40:12.640 --> 0:40:15.839 it about Mary the mother of Jesus. But these are 0:40:15.960 --> 0:40:19.400 things that we must put into action in our own lives. 0:40:20.040 --> 0:40:22.440 This is the root that you draw from on the 0:40:22.600 --> 0:40:26.480 days where you feel weak, when you feel like you 0:40:26.520 --> 0:40:30.760 don't have what it takes, when perhaps no one knows 0:40:30.840 --> 0:40:35.760 exactly what you're going through because it's just too personal, 0:40:36.040 --> 0:40:40.239 too soon, or you just can't verbalize it. Sometimes the 0:40:40.280 --> 0:40:46.760 affirmation that you need has to come from within. Several 0:40:46.760 --> 0:40:50.319 weeks ago, I woke up to the start of a 0:40:50.440 --> 0:40:54.480 very long day, and I had a million and one 0:40:54.520 --> 0:40:56.680 things to do, some of them small, some of them big. 0:40:56.680 --> 0:40:58.960 And I already told you I'm not a morning person. 0:40:59.120 --> 0:41:02.960 So when my alarm went off at six am, I 0:41:02.960 --> 0:41:06.440 immediately was feeling overwhelmed. And I just, I don't know 0:41:06.440 --> 0:41:07.799 if you ever feel like that when you wake up. 0:41:07.800 --> 0:41:09.480 I feel like that when I wake up almost every morning, 0:41:09.520 --> 0:41:13.360 but this morning I actually was like deserved to feel 0:41:13.360 --> 0:41:16.080 that way. And so I woke up and I just 0:41:16.280 --> 0:41:19.920 everything just felt so heavy, and I dragged myself out 0:41:20.000 --> 0:41:23.319 of bed and headed to the bathroom and I thought 0:41:23.400 --> 0:41:29.040 to myself, I can do this. And my husband sat 0:41:29.120 --> 0:41:32.359 up in bed and he said what can you do? 0:41:33.080 --> 0:41:35.359 And honestly, I was shocked, and I was a little 0:41:35.360 --> 0:41:38.200 bit embarrassed because I didn't realize that I had said 0:41:38.200 --> 0:41:42.239 it out loud. I felt like he was like invading 0:41:42.280 --> 0:41:46.400 my space. And I was like, oh, and I realized 0:41:46.440 --> 0:41:50.400 I said out loud, I can do this. And so 0:41:50.440 --> 0:41:54.080 when he said what can you do, I looked at 0:41:54.160 --> 0:41:59.000 him and I said everything. It probably wasn't like that. 0:41:59.040 --> 0:42:03.960 It was probably more like everything everything that I have 0:42:04.040 --> 0:42:08.160 to do today, I can do it. I promise you. 0:42:08.239 --> 0:42:10.920 I not get this right ninety nine times out of 0:42:10.920 --> 0:42:16.080 one hundred, but that particular day, in the darkness of 0:42:16.560 --> 0:42:20.120 my bedroom and in the darkness of the morning, somehow 0:42:20.280 --> 0:42:25.040 my soul was able to top those roots that I 0:42:25.080 --> 0:42:28.680 had spent time, and I was reminded of Philippians four thirteen. 0:42:28.719 --> 0:42:31.640 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. 0:42:32.480 --> 0:42:35.360 My goal for you tonight was for you to come 0:42:35.440 --> 0:42:38.080 and for you to feel refreshed, and for you to 0:42:38.120 --> 0:42:41.520 just take a deep breath, and for you to feel encouraged. 0:42:42.200 --> 0:42:45.520 But most of all, I wanted you to hear me 0:42:45.600 --> 0:42:54.759 say you can do this. You can finish twenty twenty strong, everything, 0:42:55.760 --> 0:42:59.479 everything that you were called to do, and not one 0:42:59.800 --> 0:43:05.560 thing extra. You are a chosen child of the Most 0:43:05.920 --> 0:43:10.000 High God, and you are a rooted woman, and you 0:43:10.480 --> 0:43:16.360 can finish strong because together we're not gonna limp across 0:43:16.560 --> 0:43:20.760 the finish line to twenty twenty. Together, we're gonna help 0:43:20.840 --> 0:43:24.200 each other, we're gonna pray for each other, we're gonna 0:43:24.280 --> 0:43:27.200 lift each other up. And on those mornings where we 0:43:27.320 --> 0:43:32.000 just feel alone and overwhelmed, we're gonna tap that root 0:43:32.080 --> 0:43:35.040 that's deep inside of us, and we're gonna say, all right, God, 0:43:35.160 --> 0:43:39.160 I can do this. Whatever it is that you've called 0:43:39.200 --> 0:43:42.520 me to do, God, I can do it, and I'm 0:43:42.520 --> 0:43:46.320 gonna do it with a good attitude, and I'm gonna 0:43:46.360 --> 0:43:50.480 do it because I am empowered by the Holy Spirit. 0:43:51.040 --> 0:43:54.960 Remember the Angel said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. 0:43:54.960 --> 0:43:59.120 You are not alone. You're not alone physically, and you're 0:43:59.160 --> 0:44:02.600 not alone spear Vitruly, everything that God has called you 0:44:02.680 --> 0:44:05.719 to do, He's gonna put in your spirit, and He's 0:44:05.760 --> 0:44:09.480 gonna give you his spirit, and together you're going to 0:44:09.640 --> 0:44:14.080 accomplish the amazing things that God has put right in 0:44:14.360 --> 0:44:21.840 front of you. Right now. You can do this everything, everything, 0:44:22.880 --> 0:44:27.240 everything that you're called to do, and not one thing extra. 0:44:28.719 --> 0:44:31.360 So I want to pray for you tonight. I just 0:44:31.360 --> 0:44:36.000 want to take a minute and pray over you God, 0:44:37.640 --> 0:44:42.520 Thank you for this night. Thank You for these women 0:44:43.360 --> 0:44:49.360 that are gathered literally all over our world. Thank You 0:44:49.400 --> 0:44:54.240 that we live in a day and time where nothing 0:44:54.280 --> 0:44:58.800 can stop your church, nothing can stop us from meeting together. 0:45:03.480 --> 0:45:11.520 Just take a breath, breathe in and realize that you 0:45:12.280 --> 0:45:19.279 are chosen child with the most high King. And I 0:45:19.320 --> 0:45:21.280 want to pray for those of you who are tired 0:45:23.080 --> 0:45:26.640 and overwhelmed, And God, would just whisper to you in 0:45:26.680 --> 0:45:33.200 this moment, here's your strength. I want to pray for 0:45:33.239 --> 0:45:38.960 the one who is busy. God, for those of us 0:45:38.960 --> 0:45:42.520 who are busy, and when we head into the busiest 0:45:42.560 --> 0:45:45.680 time of the year, it's just busy on top of busy, 0:45:45.760 --> 0:45:50.400 on top busy. Would you show us the pockets of 0:45:50.480 --> 0:45:54.560 time that we have. Would you whisper to our spirit 0:45:55.320 --> 0:45:59.560 when we're scrolling in the wrong places, when we have 0:45:59.600 --> 0:46:04.600 a minute it to hear a word from you to 0:46:04.719 --> 0:46:07.400 recenter our focus and worship you. Would you just whisper 0:46:07.440 --> 0:46:10.040 it to us? Would you give us a song to 0:46:10.160 --> 0:46:12.839 get us through the end of the Yeard, you give 0:46:12.920 --> 0:46:16.959 us a word, You give us a verse. God, show 0:46:17.040 --> 0:46:21.040 us those little pockets of time. And I believe that 0:46:21.080 --> 0:46:24.440 when we when we center our focus on You, when 0:46:24.480 --> 0:46:27.280 we see that pocket and we come to you. God, 0:46:27.680 --> 0:46:29.400 so You're going to give us that little bit of 0:46:29.440 --> 0:46:32.359 strength that we need for the next thing that you've 0:46:32.400 --> 0:46:38.359 called us to do. God, help us to fight, help 0:46:38.400 --> 0:46:46.480 us to keep fighting, Help us to realize that in 0:46:46.520 --> 0:46:53.560 You we're stronger than we think we are. Make us 0:46:53.600 --> 0:46:57.160 aware of your presence in this place right now. For 0:46:57.280 --> 0:47:01.560 every person that's watching in this moment, maybe in a 0:47:01.600 --> 0:47:04.520 couple of hours or in a couple of days. God, 0:47:04.560 --> 0:47:09.120 you're not bound by time. Your spirit can reach through 0:47:09.200 --> 0:47:12.719 a screen and grab our hearts when we give you 0:47:12.760 --> 0:47:16.520 our time and our focus and our faith. And that's 0:47:16.520 --> 0:47:19.920 what we're doing right now, right here, in this moment. 0:47:23.040 --> 0:47:25.600 Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of 0:47:25.640 --> 0:47:28.640 you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of 0:47:28.680 --> 0:47:31.600 you that this ministry is possible. You can click the 0:47:31.600 --> 0:47:35.360 link in the description to give now, or visit Elevationchurch 0:47:35.520 --> 0:47:38.759 dot org slash podcast for more information and if you 0:47:38.880 --> 0:47:42.080 enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it 0:47:42.120 --> 0:47:44.440 with your friends. You can click the share button, take 0:47:44.440 --> 0:47:46.799 a screenshot and share it on your social stories and 0:47:46.840 --> 0:47:49.719 tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God 0:47:49.719 --> 0:47:56.000 bless you.