But Now Be Strong

0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:04.080 How are you doing, Christian amazing? Have you recovered from 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:07.520 tour fully? I was recovered last Sunday? Huh I felt 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:13.319 good last Sunday. Yeah, last Sunday was crazy? Were you here? 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:20.240 God is so faithful? I wanted to I wanted to 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:22.919 just mention real quick, how good of a timing this 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:25.320 is for you to be in church every week. Some 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:27.159 people are here for the first time or back for 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:32.240 the first time. This is a good one. This weekend, 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.480 we're getting ready, we're starting getting ready for our year 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:44.800 end offering. Why is that exciting? Because it builds our faith, 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:49.440 it shows our love for God. And we're inviting everybody 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:51.880 all over the world that's a part of this ministry 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:54.319 to be a part of this year end offering. Now, 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:59.600 the official date of the offering is December twelve. How 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:02.200 do y'all know it better than the pastor they already 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:04.920 talked about it, But we do it every year. It's 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:09.400 an opportunity for those who have been blessed by this ministry, 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:12.360 who God has used this ministry to change your life 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:17.119 to be a blessing. And so for thousands we'll begin 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:20.920 the process of tithing and putting God first in the 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:24.280 area of your finances with that first ten percent that 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.600 belongs to him anyway, the whole hundred is his. You 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:34.040 know that right, So for all of you who already 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:36.200 trust the Lord in that way, thank you for making 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:40.800 the ministry possible. For those of you who are praying 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.160 about it. We always do an above and beyond offering 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:46.800 every year, Holly and I have been doing that every 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:50.240 year for over fifteen years now. It's a privilege to 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:53.840 do it. It's a privilege to do it. It's an 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:56.640 honor to do it. When I look around and see 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.880 what God has done and what He's building. Nobody has 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:04.120 begged me to give. I invest in this ministry because 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:08.200 I believe in this ministry and I believe God's promise. 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:11.040 How about you? Do you believe? Do you take God 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:16.679 at his word? Well, this is an excellent time and 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:18.840 they'll share all the details about how to do it, 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:21.000 but I just wanted to mention it. I always pick 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:23.959 a word at it's been getting later and later. I 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:25.919 used to pick a word that we could focus on, 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.120 and I would pick it in the summer and then 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:32.160 they would make all these graphics and videos around that word. Lately, 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:35.320 I've been picking it just so late that I don't 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:37.720 even tell Hollywood it is until I tell the whole church. 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:41.480 And last week I was preaching the passage, the same 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:43.360 passage that I'm going to preach here today. I'm going 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:47.120 to continue what God started last week. God dropped something 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:54.000 amazing last week. And there was a scripture in Hagi 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.160 two nine that said that the glory of this present 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:01.519 house will be greater than the glory of the former house. 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:06.760 And we'll unpack it a little week by week. I'm 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.040 not going to preach about giving today. Okay, So if 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:12.040 you're like exit strategy, texting your church partner or something 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:14.800 like that, you don't need to do that. But our theme, 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:17.240 our one word that we're going to come around, is 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:23.840 a simple word better. Doesn't that feel good to believe 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:30.079 that whatever, whatever you've seen before, tell somebody you haven't 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:38.960 seen anything yet. Oh oh oh, you want to say it? Okay, 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:42.880 say it in the King James, you ain't seen nothing yet. 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:52.320 God is always bringing us into something better. So for 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:55.160 our year end offering, I wanted to mention that I 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:59.920 also want to celebrate the eleventh year anniversary of elevation 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:11.320 and Blakeney, let's give God praise for Elevation Blakeney. Oh yeah, 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:15.040 that's where I preached live for about five years before 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.279 we moved over here to Valentine, and I might go 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:21.479 back if you'll ever stop acting righting. I love it 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:25.239 over there. A lot of great stories in that place, 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:27.960 not the building, but the people saw God do amazing 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:31.279 things there. So Father, I thank you for your presence today. 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:36.039 Your presence is real, it's not abstract. We thank you 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:40.160 that your presence is more than just like energy. Your 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:43.680 presence is more than just feelings. Your presence is the 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.640 bedrock where I can come back to every time and 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:50.400 just know that you are with me in every moment. 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:53.520 I thank you for the promise that I have concerning 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:57.600 your presence, that in your presence is fullness of joy 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:04.240 at your right hand, pleasure Forevermore so, Lord, we want 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:08.000 to enjoy your presence today. We're taking a moment just 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:11.480 to put everything out of our mind that's causing confusion, 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:15.920 everything that's got us tied up in knots, everything that's 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:19.120 got us just like poppin' alka Seltzer with heartburn because 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:23.560 we're worried about it. Everything that's got us angry, frustrated, offended, 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:26.599 we're putting all that that doesn't get to play on 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.080 the movie screen right now, Lauren. But we want to 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:33.400 see your goodness, your love, your glory. We want to 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:36.200 see it revealed. We want to see Jesus. We want 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:38.400 to see the one who is and was and is 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:41.120 to come. We want to see him as he really is. 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:45.839 Reveal Jesus to us today through your word. It's in 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:51.440 his name. We pray. Amen. Everybody say amen. Act achieving. 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:59.040 All right, be seated. We're going back to Hagai chapter two. 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:04.080 So it's like, my mom cooks so much food. You're like, Mom, 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.200 what were you thinking that the whole football team was 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:10.120 coming over here? She over prepares. And I felt a 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:14.000 little bit like that last week. Honestly, when I look 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.240 back over my outline, I had four points and we 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:20.960 got to one. So I just put it in the 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:24.920 fridge and I figured, all right, well we'll we'll get 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:27.880 this out this week. And then God, God was speaking 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:30.360 to me in such a unique way. I'm excited about it. 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:34.880 I'm excited about it. Y'all sound excited too. I'm gonna 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:39.520 be honest, it feels exciting in here. It's amazing. Wow, 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:46.800 y'all quiet down now this church. Let me read you 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:49.559 this scripture. See if this will put a spark plug 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:54.359 in your spirit real quick. In the second year of 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.640 King Darius, on the twenty first day of the seventh month, 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:02.800 the word of the Lord came through the prophet Hagi. 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:10.160 The word of the Lord came through the prophet Hagi. 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:13.440 All right, so we got we gotta talk about that 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:16.840 for a minute. God is going to give you a 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:22.880 word for your weakness. The more you work the word 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:26.520 that He gives you, the more strength you will discover 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:31.920 that was there all alone. The word of the Lord 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.480 came through Hagi. And I love how God speaks through 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:40.240 people in seasons when we need it, don't you. And 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.480 this is what the Lord said to Hagi. Speak to Zarabebel, 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:49.400 son of Shialtl, governor of Judah, to Joshua's son of 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:53.160 Josephac the high Priest, and to the remnant of the people. 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:57.960 Ask them, so this is crazy, because God speaks. How 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:01.040 many need God to speak to you today? Put a 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:02.680 hand in the chat. Put a hand in the chat, 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:04.160 Put a hand in the chat. Put your hand in 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:05.800 the ear. I need God to speak to me. But 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:09.720 here's what's crazy. God doesn't speak with an answer. He 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:16.880 speaks with a question. Sometimes you will ask God for 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:22.240 an answer and he will answer with a question. One day, 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:24.480 I'm going to preach a sermon called the Blessing of 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:30.680 a better question. So a better question would be like, 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:34.040 instead of God, why did I have to go through 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:37.000 all that? It would be God, what do you want 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:40.480 to do now through the things that I went through? 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.280 And why is the devil so intimidated of me that 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:46.560 he brought all that against me? What is it in me? 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:54.080 That's a better question, because a bad question it would 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.320 be like, God, why did they reject me? Well, you 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.959 can never know that. Maybe they rejected you because they 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:03.760 they are stupid. Maybe they didn't see the value of you. 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:09.320 A better question is God, what were you using rejection 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:15.720 to protect me from? That's a better question. And so 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:20.040 we rejection proof our spirit by asking three questions, or God, 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:24.560 are you redirecting me through this rejection telling me that 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:27.000 this is not the one? God? Are you protecting me 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:29.360 from something that I can't see? And there was a 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:31.080 third one, but I forgot it. All right, Let's go on, 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:37.840 And he said, ask them, ask the people who of 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:42.839 you is left? Who saw this? House. Everybody say this 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:47.920 house good, good, good, good good, this house in its 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:52.520 former glory. How does it look to you? Now? Does 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:58.880 it not seem to you like nothing? But now be strong? 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:04.360 But now I feel you're anointing God. Be strong, But 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:10.679 now be strong. That's my title for this message today. 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:17.720 But now be strong. Say it, but now be strong. 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:22.400 Last night you were a little weak, But now be strong. 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:25.200 Three years ago you just gave into the temptation. But 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:27.760 now you're resisting the devil a little bit more. But 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:34.560 now be strong, Zorabebel, declares the Lord. Be strong. Joshua 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:37.840 was son of Joseph Aak be strong, brit be strong, 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:42.960 Might be strong, Holly, be strong, Elijah, be strong, all 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:46.520 you people of the land, declares the Lord, and work 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:52.160 for I am with you, declares the Lord Almighty. This 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:55.120 is what I covened with you. I didn't say nobody 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:58.240 would be against you. I just said that I would 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:03.920 be with you. God never promised the absence of problems. 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:07.840 He promised his presence right in the thick of it. 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:12.520 He said. I was with you in Egypt, and I'm 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:14.840 with you to this day, declares the Lord. My spirit 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:17.760 remains among you. Do not fear. This is what the 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:21.240 Lord Almighty says. In a little while, I will once 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.560 more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:29.080 the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:33.480 what is desired by all nations will come. And I 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:42.400 will fill which house, this house, this house, with glory, 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:46.840 says the Lord Almighty. The silver is mine and the 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:51.360 gold is mine, declares the Lord Almighty. And the glory 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:59.760 of this present house will be greater, better, greater than 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:03.760 the glory of the former house. Now it's not going 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:07.040 to have as much gold as the old house, because 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:10.800 Solomon's temple had a lot of gold, but it's going 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:19.880 to have more glory. Oh Jesus, the glory of this 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:21.760 present house will be greater than the glory of the 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:24.960 former house, says the Lord Almighty. And in this place 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:32.160 I will grant peace, declares the Lord Almighty. There's a 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:35.600 book called Making Peace with Your Past, and you may 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:41.160 have read it. There's a course or program that goes 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:44.000 along with the book, and millions of people had probably 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:47.080 benefited from it. I don't know. I never did the course. 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.400 I've always remember the title Making Peace with Your Past. 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:55.080 It's about dealing with the trauma that happens to you, 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:59.120 so that your trauma watch this doesn't become your template, 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:07.199 so that what you went through doesn't become the ceiling 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:13.719 of what you think can be possible in your life. 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:16.640 Like we discussed last week a little bit, you know, 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:20.720 not only are they building a temple, but they are 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:27.800 reinventing their template. They're getting a new blueprint for how 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:30.040 God is going to bless them now, and they need 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:34.400 one because they've been in Babylon for over fifty years. 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:39.439 And while they were in Babylon as exiles, almost an 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:44.720 entire generation died that had seen the former temple. So 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:47.959 now when we get to Haggai chapter two, the prophet 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:51.080 is encouraging the people because they have become two things 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:59.679 that you have become distracted and discouraged. Distracted and discouraged, 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:04.960 distracted in that they have lost their sense of priorities. 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:08.960 They have gotten comfortably settled now they've come back to 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:13.920 their homeland, but in the process of building the Lord's 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:18.360 Temple where God's presence would dwell at that time, they 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:23.400 got distracted by building their own houses. Never happens to you, 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:28.920 happens to me sometimes Sometimes I go to read my Bible. 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.320 Then I see a text. The text makes me think 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:33.760 of something else that I need to text. Before I 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:37.480 know it, I'm on Wikipedia searching about giraffes. How did 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:42.960 I get here? But it does put a question in 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:49.400 your mind? Are you distracted? And are you discouraged? Now? 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:52.520 I love how Guy's method because, as I mentioned, he 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:56.440 asks a question, who of you is left That's what 0:14:56.480 --> 0:15:01.920 we talked about last week. The remnant remnant it means 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:05.160 whatever is left over. Now get this picture. They're looking 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:08.760 at a city that is still for the largest part 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:13.200 in Ruin. When the Babylonians came to take the people out, 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:17.640 they actually destroyed everything that they left behind. Now at 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:21.320 this point they haven't seen Neemiah yet. You've heard of him, right. 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:23.520 He rebuilt the walls of the city, which was the 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:25.800 protection of the city. But he did that later. The 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:29.680 walls are still down. The infrastructure of the city was 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:32.520 completely shut down, or at the very least, it was 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:37.120 about as organized as the DMV. It was about like 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.280 the airport's security right about. Now, it's just it's a mess. 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:45.880 But in the middle of all of that mess, God 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:48.840 sends a messenger to ask a question, who of you 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:54.320 is left. You have to learn how to focus on 0:15:54.400 --> 0:16:02.760 what is left, not what is lost. Sometimes the distraction 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.360 is you thinking about something that you had in the 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:09.320 past that you don't have right now. Sometimes you are 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:12.600 missing things that God is bringing because you are missing 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:17.000 people that God removed. I'm not saying that everybody that 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:18.880 leaves your life is because God took them out because 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.240 they couldn't handle you on the next level. That's not 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:25.440 my message. But there was a word in there where 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:29.720 he said, speak to the remnant. There are only sixty 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:34.000 thousand Jews that came back. Talk to those, Speak to 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:37.120 the ones who are still here. Work with the strength 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:41.040 that you still have, Muster the energy that is left 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:45.360 in your body. Take the opportunity that you have seriously. 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.320 And that's the first r that we mention. But the 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.280 second one, I think, I think it's really important because 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:54.520 his second rhetorical question, he says, who of you verse 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:59.640 three is left that saw this house in its former glory? 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.240 And then the second question, it's also a rhetorical question, 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:09.479 how does it look to you? Now? What a question? 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:16.560 This is not just rhetorical, this is historical because there's 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:19.320 a few of these, a few of these returning exiles 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:27.280 who saw Solomon's temple firsthand, and they remember what they 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:31.960 think it was like. Oh, by the way, the future 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:34.720 and the past have one thing in common. They're both fiction. 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:44.200 The future you imagine for you, you you know, thirty pounds 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:49.960 lighter or or thirty million richer or whatever it is. 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:54.280 You know what I'm saying. Like that future, that future 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:57.800 is no more imaginary than the story you tell yourself 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:03.240 about how the past was. Because watch this, the future 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:06.480 is filtered through your ignorance. You don't know what's gonna 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.400 happen at one thirty today. You didn't even know cam 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.520 was coming back, did you. Nobody told you that, nobody 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:15.520 called you, nobody approved that with you. You You didn't see 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:18.560 that coming, And you really think you can predict what 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:20.560 it's gonna be, Like, I love people. You need to 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:22.680 make a ten year plan, Honey, I need a ten 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:25.560 minute plan. It's twenty twenty one. I need a ten 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:28.720 second plan. I need a way right now, in this moment. 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:36.600 Not to freak out. Now, no certificates you so far 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:38.200 out there in the future and see yourself married, or 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:40.560 see yourself divorced, or see yourself whatever condition you are 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:42.560 praying about. That's opposite of the condition that you prayed 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:47.240 yourself into. Right now, that's a fantasy, but so is 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:53.720 what we tell ourselves about our best. You know, nobody 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:58.080 ever really believed in me. I wish I could ask 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:01.400 all of your middle school teachers how much they had 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:04.119 to put up with out of you just not to 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:06.560 kick you out of school, because the truth is you 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:09.359 should have been expelled. The fact that they believed in 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:12.560 you is the fact that they graduated you and gave 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:15.280 you a C just to get you out of their class. 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:20.879 You know, I'm having fun with it, but it's real. 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:24.560 It's really it's really kind of a deep thing to 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:30.560 consider that sometimes what holds you hostage is a story 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:36.280 that you have told yourself that never really happened, like 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:40.760 you memorized it in your heart, and then with time 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:45.720 you look back and say, oh, well, maybe actually I 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:49.480 was part of the reason to blame for that, huh, 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.160 Because now I've seen the same exact pattern play out 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:58.320 in eight straight relationships. Maybe it wasn't eight dysfunctional devils 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:04.760 that I was dating. Maybe the smell is coming from 0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:11.679 inside the car. I'm gonna give y'all twenty seconds to 0:20:11.720 --> 0:20:18.280 wake up hear the word of the Lord. I think 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:20.280 it's something under the floor mats, I don't think. I 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:27.760 don't think it's And so the people who were there 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:32.439 to see it firsthand. You gotta imagine this amazing moment 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:37.760 right back from Babylon. Future is in front of us. Man, 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:40.399 maybe we can be a nation again, Maybe the glory 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:42.800 of God will visit us again. And at the moment 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:50.080 of great possibility comes the memory of the past, the 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:54.480 past as it never really was the past, as you 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:58.399 imagine that it was the past, as you remembered that 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:02.960 it was. I keep a list of stuff that I 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:06.359 did for my kids, So when they go to therapy 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:10.120 one day as adults, I'm gonna make sure their therapist 0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:13.679 gets that list before they start. Here's what they're not 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:18.119 telling you. Here's all the vacations that they don't remember. 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:21.040 Here's all of the times that I was nice to 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:24.800 them and didn't take their phone. Here's the time I 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:27.760 could have thrown them out a window, but I didn't 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:31.760 because I'm a good, good father, and I got a 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:43.159 list to prevent. It's been it's been traumatic. It's been traumatic. No, 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:46.159 it's really been traumatic for these people. This is not 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:51.320 like they the economy was shut down for months. Their 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:53.880 nation was completely destroyed. No, no, no, I don't mean 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:57.200 like the economy was destroyed and the stock market was fluctuating. 0:21:57.880 --> 0:22:00.080 I mean they had to they had to develop a 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:03.840 completely new template in Babylon. So now you've got two 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:07.280 things happening simultaneously, and you always do. You've got the 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:12.600 new generation who didn't see Solomon's temple. You've got the 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:16.120 older generation, specifically the priests, the Leevites, and the leaders 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:20.800 who saw the old one. And Ezra tells us what 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:26.480 happened that made Haggi's encouragement necessary. Go to Ezra chapter three. 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:33.200 Please right there on the y'all aren't flipping your bibles. 0:22:35.280 --> 0:22:38.239 You got it on your phone. See, this is one 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:40.880 of those things where as a preacher, I want to fuss. 0:22:41.080 --> 0:22:44.080 I remember when people used to bring their Bibles to church. 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:48.120 But you know what, I don't think that's necessarily better 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:51.000 than having it right there on your phone. Because if 0:22:51.040 --> 0:22:53.199 it's right there on my phone, I can just have 0:22:53.280 --> 0:22:55.880 it any time that the devil hits me. I could 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:58.080 just look at it. Nobody even knows that I'm reading 0:22:58.119 --> 0:23:01.000 my Bible. I'm acting like I'm paying attention. To this meeting. 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:03.280 Let me check my notes real quick. But I'm really 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:08.840 over here in Obadiah. So notice the temptation. Oh it 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:11.760 was better when people used to bring their Bibles to church. 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:15.120 Oh it was better before they didn't read them during 0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:21.359 the week back then. So now watch this. This is 0:23:21.359 --> 0:23:23.400 on the screen. Put it up on the screen. Ezra 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:26.560 chapter three, when the builders laid the foundation of the 0:23:26.600 --> 0:23:28.920 Temple of the Lord, I'm a preacher ready for this. 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:36.280 They lay the foundation, and the priests, the sons of Asaf, 0:23:37.280 --> 0:23:41.560 with their vestments and trumpets, and the Levites, the Sons 0:23:41.560 --> 0:23:46.200 of Asaf with symbols, took their places to praise the Lord, 0:23:47.040 --> 0:23:52.439 as prescribed by David, King of Israel. Next verse, please 0:23:53.240 --> 0:23:59.480 with praise and thanksgiving. They sang to the Lord. He 0:23:59.600 --> 0:24:05.040 is good, good, his love toward Israel endures forever. So 0:24:05.080 --> 0:24:12.199 they were singing, I am good, you are loved, I 0:24:12.240 --> 0:24:16.160 am good, you are loved. And all the people you'll 0:24:16.160 --> 0:24:19.200 get ready to act out the text gave a great shout. 0:24:24.160 --> 0:24:27.879 That's a medium shout. Wasn't a bad shout, but it 0:24:27.960 --> 0:24:34.120 wasn't a great shout. All the people gave a great shout. 0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:37.880 I want to see which campus can shout the loudest. 0:24:38.600 --> 0:24:40.760 Make a video of your campus and send it to 0:24:40.800 --> 0:24:47.639 me real quick. Ah, the people take a great shout, 0:24:49.280 --> 0:24:55.280 a great shut I'm coming a baby shout. No, no, no, 0:24:55.320 --> 0:25:07.360 that's a great shout, a great shout. Look at the foundation. 0:25:08.760 --> 0:25:12.400 This is amazing. We're gonna have a temple again. We're 0:25:12.400 --> 0:25:15.000 gonna have a temple again. We're gonna have a temple again. 0:25:15.160 --> 0:25:16.639 Touch three people and tell them we're gonna have a 0:25:16.640 --> 0:25:18.800 temple again. Touch twelve people. Tell them we're gonna have 0:25:18.840 --> 0:25:21.040 a temple again. That's twenty four people till we're gonna 0:25:21.040 --> 0:25:22.480 have a temple again. Oh, I heard about the temple. 0:25:22.480 --> 0:25:24.400 Always wish I could have a temple. My grandad would 0:25:24.400 --> 0:25:25.720 tell me about temple. You talk about the instances. He 0:25:25.720 --> 0:25:27.199 tell me about the bulls, tek about the prayer, time 0:25:27.200 --> 0:25:29.240 about the Holy of Holies, talking about sacrifice, about you 0:25:29.240 --> 0:25:30.800 told me talking about the mercy, talking about the press, 0:25:30.880 --> 0:25:32.640 time about the glory, tell me about the interesting, talking 0:25:32.640 --> 0:25:34.359 about the better. We have a temple. We have a temple. 0:25:34.359 --> 0:25:38.520 We're getting a temple. We're getting a temple. So they 0:25:39.040 --> 0:25:43.800 they start blowing trumpets, they start playing at at OHA's. 0:25:44.560 --> 0:25:49.240 They start having a party and praising God over the progress. 0:25:49.800 --> 0:25:55.240 You have to learn to prace God over progress, not 0:25:55.400 --> 0:26:02.440 just product. You have to learn that's what gives you momentum. 0:26:03.040 --> 0:26:07.560 That's what gives you momentum. You have to praise God 0:26:07.880 --> 0:26:13.160 for ten yards, not just touchdowns. You have to praise 0:26:13.320 --> 0:26:18.399 God for every trimester. You have to praise God. You 0:26:18.520 --> 0:26:25.000 have to do it, or you'll get distracted and discouraged 0:26:26.600 --> 0:26:31.960 like the Levites. Because while one generation is praising God, Oh, 0:26:32.359 --> 0:26:35.600 we're gonna have a temple, y'all. It's gonna be amazing. 0:26:36.000 --> 0:26:39.040 I can't wait to get in this temple and praise God. Oh, 0:26:39.119 --> 0:26:43.160 this is gonna be incredible. And here come the people 0:26:44.000 --> 0:26:48.960 who should be leading the praise party. And while the 0:26:49.320 --> 0:26:52.920 young people are blowing trump is you got trumpet sound 0:26:53.000 --> 0:26:56.480 or anything like that, get one ready, and we just 0:26:56.480 --> 0:27:04.600 do it real quick. It says verse twelve. Many of 0:27:04.680 --> 0:27:07.960 the older priests and Levites and family hads who had 0:27:08.000 --> 0:27:14.600 seen the former temple wept aloud when they saw the 0:27:14.640 --> 0:27:25.159 foundation of this temple being laid, while many others. But 0:27:25.240 --> 0:27:28.960 here's the problem. Thirteen. No one could distinguish the sound 0:27:29.040 --> 0:27:31.760 of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping 0:27:32.840 --> 0:27:38.879 because it all just started sounding like noise. Has it 0:27:38.920 --> 0:27:44.080 been noisy in your heart lately? You can't tell the 0:27:44.080 --> 0:27:46.600 difference of whose voice is this? Is this God or 0:27:46.640 --> 0:27:50.440 is this the devil? Or is it just my Twitter feed? 0:27:53.040 --> 0:27:56.000 Is this God? Is this the devil? Or is it 0:27:56.160 --> 0:28:03.360 just me? Is this fate or is this foolishness? How 0:28:03.400 --> 0:28:06.800 could a group of people from the same nation be 0:28:06.920 --> 0:28:11.760 standing at the same foundation and one of them pulling 0:28:11.800 --> 0:28:20.120 out trumpets, and one of them in tears, trumpets and tears, 0:28:21.880 --> 0:28:29.960 trumpets and tears, both at the same time, trumpets and tears. 0:28:31.119 --> 0:28:35.439 She shouting, come on now, he's sleeping in the same surname. 0:28:40.520 --> 0:28:54.920 Trumpets and tears. Celebration, devastation, expectation, disappointment looking at the 0:28:54.960 --> 0:29:00.560 same thing, one voice of saying this is a amazing 0:29:01.440 --> 0:29:09.800 one voice of saying in length, oh, oh, one went better. 0:29:10.000 --> 0:29:14.360 I mean we had solomon Temple and Solomon's temple it 0:29:14.440 --> 0:29:17.400 was so good, and it was so much gold, and 0:29:17.720 --> 0:29:23.320 Solomon's Temple, Solomon's Temple was visiting gonna be like it was, 0:29:23.560 --> 0:29:26.960 and I used to have so much more. And at 0:29:27.000 --> 0:29:37.280 some point the disappointment starts drowning out the faith has 0:29:37.960 --> 0:29:48.840 that been happening in your temple, in your temple where 0:29:48.880 --> 0:29:53.200 there's something to celebrate. Oh, by the way, the second 0:29:53.320 --> 0:29:55.280 art that I want to talk about, because I did 0:29:55.320 --> 0:29:58.480 rhymnet last week and apparently I'm only going to do 0:29:58.520 --> 0:30:09.240 one this week is reference. There is a point of 0:30:09.280 --> 0:30:12.240 reference that you could come to today in your temple. 0:30:12.200 --> 0:30:13.800 And I remember, your body is the temple of the 0:30:13.800 --> 0:30:18.760 Holy Spirit. So when we talk about temples and Solomon's temple, 0:30:19.120 --> 0:30:23.240 this temple, by the way, it is eventually, everybody say, 0:30:23.280 --> 0:30:25.959 eventually put it in the chat if you know how 0:30:25.960 --> 0:30:31.000 to spell it. Eventually it is eventually going to be 0:30:31.000 --> 0:30:34.400 between two and three times bigger than the one that 0:30:34.400 --> 0:30:41.040 they're weeping over. But right now it seems like nothing. 0:30:42.960 --> 0:30:47.920 You have to be strong in seasons where it seems 0:30:48.760 --> 0:30:53.880 like nothing, or it will always be what it is 0:30:54.040 --> 0:30:58.160 right now. And I don't know who needs this medicine. 0:30:58.440 --> 0:31:06.000 But wishing won't get the temple built. Wanting won't get 0:31:06.000 --> 0:31:14.200 the temple built. Waiting won't get the temple built. Well, 0:31:14.240 --> 0:31:16.400 the Bible says wait on the Lord. I know I 0:31:16.400 --> 0:31:18.960 wrote a song about it. I believe that Bible verse two. 0:31:20.280 --> 0:31:24.120 But when waiting on what God is going to do 0:31:24.760 --> 0:31:30.360 or wishing for what God used to do, replaces working 0:31:30.680 --> 0:31:35.640 with what God gave you. Right now, I mean right now, 0:31:35.840 --> 0:31:41.040 be strong, right now, Man up right now, square up 0:31:41.080 --> 0:31:44.160 with your enemies and say it's not gonna be what 0:31:44.320 --> 0:31:51.480 it was, It's gonna be better. Here o preaching, I 0:31:51.520 --> 0:31:58.160 feel like preaching. So the builders lay the foundation, and 0:31:58.200 --> 0:32:02.000 there's trumpets, and the builders the foundation, and there's tears. 0:32:02.120 --> 0:32:09.040 And it's not two different foundations. It's how you see it. 0:32:09.040 --> 0:32:12.800 It's how you see it. Three months ago, he was 0:32:12.840 --> 0:32:15.400 praising God because he could breathe, because he had COVID 0:32:15.440 --> 0:32:18.200 so bad he wondered, am I ever gonna breathe normal again? 0:32:19.440 --> 0:32:22.560 Made him almost cry with joy when he would breathe, 0:32:22.960 --> 0:32:25.200 talking about my buddy Chunk started the church with me. 0:32:26.720 --> 0:32:30.280 But you know, let a little time go by. He's 0:32:30.320 --> 0:32:37.320 Olympic level breathing again. Just auto breath, mister, auto breath. 0:32:41.000 --> 0:32:49.560 When you have been somewhere so low, you appreciate moments 0:32:49.600 --> 0:32:51.960 of joy. Look, look, look, look, look, look how am 0:32:52.000 --> 0:32:57.160 I saying this because I've been depressed. I've been depressed. 0:32:58.040 --> 0:33:00.760 I'm not glad I was depressed. I'm not glad. If 0:33:00.760 --> 0:33:03.520 you're going through depression. But one thing it did for 0:33:03.560 --> 0:33:08.680 me is it made me know how valuable choy is. 0:33:09.720 --> 0:33:22.120 It made me know how valuable happy is. That's the 0:33:22.160 --> 0:33:26.640 thing about the bottom. That's what shows you where to 0:33:26.680 --> 0:33:32.800 build from. But the problem is when you stop at 0:33:32.840 --> 0:33:37.520 the bottom, when you stop at the bottom and go, oh, well, 0:33:37.600 --> 0:33:40.560 this is the worst thing that ever happened to me, 0:33:41.080 --> 0:33:44.080 or this is what I never saw coming, and then 0:33:44.120 --> 0:33:47.280 you stop building. Do you know? That's what the people 0:33:47.320 --> 0:33:54.480 did for sixteen years after Ezra chapter three. So the 0:33:54.520 --> 0:33:57.360 first scripture I read you was actually the second scripture. 0:33:58.280 --> 0:34:00.000 The second scripture I read you was the first script 0:34:00.000 --> 0:34:07.640 sure chronologically. So what happened was they started building the 0:34:07.680 --> 0:34:11.160 people under twenty five. Really, they would have had to 0:34:11.200 --> 0:34:13.920 be really old to see Solomon's temple. They would have 0:34:13.920 --> 0:34:17.560 had to be like seventy and stuff. I'm not saying 0:34:17.600 --> 0:34:21.799 that's really old, but that's really old. That's a lot 0:34:21.800 --> 0:34:27.400 of experience. And watch this. Their experience became the enemy 0:34:27.760 --> 0:34:34.719 of their expectation. So people will tell you, oh, the 0:34:34.760 --> 0:34:42.960 benefits of experience, there are some benefits to inexperience. Why 0:34:42.960 --> 0:34:47.360 do you think Jesus didn't pick Bible scholars to be 0:34:47.400 --> 0:34:56.440 His disciples. There is a benefit of ignorance. There's a 0:34:56.480 --> 0:34:58.640 benefit to somebody who's just coming to the church for 0:34:58.680 --> 0:35:01.600 the first time today that you won't have if you've 0:35:01.600 --> 0:35:02.920 been here too. Now, there are benefits of being here 0:35:02.960 --> 0:35:04.600 a long time. I really appreciate people been here a 0:35:04.640 --> 0:35:06.480 long time. That's why I really celebrate. I used to 0:35:06.520 --> 0:35:07.840 go to to church to be like, let's welcome all the 0:35:07.880 --> 0:35:09.680 first time. Guess I'm like, why are you clapping for them? 0:35:09.680 --> 0:35:12.040 They didn't do anything yet, they're the first time. Guess, 0:35:12.239 --> 0:35:14.799 let's hear it for the fourteen year veterans. Let's hear 0:35:14.840 --> 0:35:18.200 it for everybody who's stuck with it. So I get that, 0:35:22.560 --> 0:35:29.680 But there is sometimes a benefit of not knowing that 0:35:29.760 --> 0:35:33.520 this temple is not really that great compared to the 0:35:33.600 --> 0:35:38.960 last one. When they came over to the worship night 0:35:39.000 --> 0:35:42.000 mom in Jacksonville, I said, I'm sorry, y'all, this was 0:35:42.040 --> 0:35:44.359 the lowest night we had because it was the eighth 0:35:44.480 --> 0:35:47.560 night of the tour. They said, the lowest night. It 0:35:47.640 --> 0:35:53.360 was awesome. They hadn't been to the otherwise. There is 0:35:53.400 --> 0:36:00.440 a benefit when you haven't been there yet, never had 0:36:00.440 --> 0:36:14.080 a temple. So they got the trumpets out while those 0:36:15.719 --> 0:36:23.839 who had the old template were in tears. Wow, one 0:36:23.840 --> 0:36:27.240 of the knights on tour, I had a real encounter 0:36:27.280 --> 0:36:29.120 with God, Okay, and it was one of those where 0:36:29.840 --> 0:36:32.160 sometimes God will comfort you, sometimes he will correct you. 0:36:33.239 --> 0:36:36.440 Sometimes he will comfort you, correct you, and then comfort 0:36:36.480 --> 0:36:39.600 you again like a little rebuke sandwich. You ever had 0:36:39.600 --> 0:36:45.839 the Lord do that? Be very tactful. So I'm out 0:36:45.840 --> 0:36:50.919 there in the particular night, all I could see because 0:36:50.960 --> 0:36:53.080 we had just done this elevation night worship thing, and 0:36:53.120 --> 0:36:54.839 I've still been processing it because I don't know how 0:36:54.840 --> 0:36:56.080 to talk to you about it. Because there was so 0:36:56.160 --> 0:36:58.600 much God showed me about our ministry and our future. 0:36:59.000 --> 0:37:02.120 There were times over the past two years where I wondered, 0:37:02.360 --> 0:37:06.440 have we seen our best days? Because you know, not 0:37:06.520 --> 0:37:10.759 everybody's gonna come back, and so you're really scared. You're 0:37:10.760 --> 0:37:14.759 really scared. But I kept going in these arenas night 0:37:14.760 --> 0:37:18.440 after night, man, and it was powerful because thousands of 0:37:18.440 --> 0:37:22.320 people be singing the songs we sing here, just singing 0:37:22.360 --> 0:37:29.239 them out, every single song like it's their favorite. Just amazing, 0:37:30.400 --> 0:37:33.440 and every song that they were singing was like a 0:37:33.520 --> 0:37:36.799 scene in my life from when I remember either when 0:37:36.800 --> 0:37:39.080 we wrote it or when our church sang it or 0:37:39.120 --> 0:37:41.760 a season it got us through. So it was crazy 0:37:41.800 --> 0:37:45.880 because there's a soundtrack like a song like do It Again. 0:37:46.719 --> 0:37:50.560 I've seen You Move the Mountains and they're watching one 0:37:50.600 --> 0:37:54.440 movie of how their nephew had cancer and got healed 0:37:54.480 --> 0:37:58.439 in and I'm watching another movie how when they came 0:37:58.480 --> 0:38:01.040 for me so hard, I was so discos i was like, well, 0:38:01.040 --> 0:38:02.680 maybe I'll just give up the church, you know what 0:38:02.680 --> 0:38:04.640 I mean, like just being kind of a whimp about 0:38:04.640 --> 0:38:07.680 the whole thing. But I'm remembering how God strengthened and 0:38:07.719 --> 0:38:13.840 sustained me. Brings us all to the same soundtrack with 0:38:14.000 --> 0:38:23.400 so many different movies, same foundation, totally different response. You know, 0:38:23.440 --> 0:38:27.040 I'm listening to a song like Rattle, remembering when I 0:38:27.120 --> 0:38:29.879 was writing the lyrics on the window of the room 0:38:29.920 --> 0:38:32.200 in my house where I work out, and I'd send 0:38:32.280 --> 0:38:34.080 a new lyric over to Chris and he had a 0:38:34.160 --> 0:38:35.920 mic set up in his living room because we couldn't 0:38:35.960 --> 0:38:38.080 be together because of the thing, so he would record 0:38:38.120 --> 0:38:39.560 the new line and send it to me, and we 0:38:39.600 --> 0:38:43.280 did that what about thirty times. So when we're rocking 0:38:43.320 --> 0:38:46.799 to Rattle, I'm not just partying. I'm praising God because 0:38:46.840 --> 0:38:53.000 it went from the window to the worship service. God said, 0:38:53.040 --> 0:38:58.240 I will open up the window. So I'm out there. Yeah, 0:38:58.480 --> 0:39:00.839 they're screaming it back, but we're all all scream and 0:39:00.880 --> 0:39:04.440 live for a different reason. Something we didn't think we 0:39:04.440 --> 0:39:10.000 would survive. But look at you right now, Look at you, 0:39:10.719 --> 0:39:25.040 right now, Look at you, bisto. It's your frame of reference. 0:39:26.239 --> 0:39:28.480 And this is what I had, this heart to heart 0:39:28.520 --> 0:39:30.560 with God, you know, like not out loud, just in 0:39:30.640 --> 0:39:33.360 my heart. The night that I told you about where 0:39:33.520 --> 0:39:39.840 we didn't sell as many tickets, still more people in 0:39:39.920 --> 0:39:41.799 the room that night than the town. I grew up 0:39:41.800 --> 0:39:48.640 in sad frame of reference, frame of reference. I'm looking 0:39:48.719 --> 0:39:51.200 up there and I'm like, look at all those empty 0:39:51.280 --> 0:39:55.680 rows up there. The Lord said this, he may as 0:39:55.719 --> 0:40:02.359 well said it in Hebrew and Greek. And because I'm 0:40:02.400 --> 0:40:04.799 telling you it was just like a sentence. He said, 0:40:05.560 --> 0:40:09.080 for almost a year you preached in an empty room. 0:40:09.560 --> 0:40:16.080 Now you want to complain about empty rows. You see, 0:40:17.120 --> 0:40:20.680 that's the devil. That's the devil. I went from being 0:40:20.719 --> 0:40:23.319 like all I need is Jesus and a camera, reach 0:40:23.360 --> 0:40:25.759 them for the gospel. But watch how entitled how quick, 0:40:25.960 --> 0:40:28.000 Watch how the devil can shift your frame of reference 0:40:28.000 --> 0:40:29.839 to where you used to feel like, Oh, my god, 0:40:29.880 --> 0:40:31.719 if we could ever just get back together again. But 0:40:31.760 --> 0:40:33.839 then we're back together again, and I'm going, oh, there's 0:40:33.880 --> 0:40:36.279 some empty seats up there. Maybe we didn't do it 0:40:36.320 --> 0:40:39.239 too good. Maybe we didn't. And it's almost like the 0:40:39.280 --> 0:40:51.520 Lord said, stop crying, dry your tears, and blow your trumpet, 0:40:55.280 --> 0:40:59.319 because if you really take a good panoramic look at 0:40:59.360 --> 0:41:04.200 the situation, you don't even deserve the stuff that God 0:41:04.280 --> 0:41:08.520 gave you. On the foundation, I mean, really, really, really, 0:41:08.800 --> 0:41:11.799 the mercy that i'm walking in, the favor that i'm 0:41:11.840 --> 0:41:15.400 walking in, the grace that I perceive, the breath I 0:41:15.520 --> 0:41:19.200 breathed in the day that i'm standing in, the strength 0:41:19.239 --> 0:41:24.880 to stand here that came from God. He said, the 0:41:25.080 --> 0:41:28.680 silver is mind and the gold is mind. And I 0:41:28.760 --> 0:41:32.280 want you to get grateful about what I gave you again. 0:41:32.760 --> 0:41:36.839 I want you to dance on the foundation. I want 0:41:36.880 --> 0:41:40.520 you to dance on the dirt floor. I want you 0:41:40.640 --> 0:41:44.640 to dance in an unemployment. I want you to dance 0:41:45.120 --> 0:41:49.560 in a season of heartbreak. Blowyard trump it, lift your 0:41:49.760 --> 0:41:59.279 voice and give you God great sound, a break sound, 0:42:00.360 --> 0:42:08.760 A great gray gray gray? Is that great? How great 0:42:08.920 --> 0:42:19.879 is your God? How pray is your prey. I'm gonna 0:42:19.920 --> 0:42:23.920 get fifty people a little space to try your tears 0:42:24.960 --> 0:42:29.320 and blow your trumpet. Lord law God damn hold me. 0:42:29.920 --> 0:42:40.360 I got roll. Whoa huh, Because y'all, I didn't know 0:42:40.400 --> 0:42:43.080 if we'd ever be back in the building a south again. 0:42:43.520 --> 0:42:53.720 I gotta blow this trumpet. I am free, sane, whoa. 0:42:54.239 --> 0:42:57.640 Because I've had the enemy try to get me so 0:42:57.840 --> 0:43:00.320 discouraged that I would just give him back up everythink 0:43:00.360 --> 0:43:05.200 God gave me I have. I've had seasons where I'm like, 0:43:05.320 --> 0:43:10.960 all right, God, these kids are yours. I'm so glad. 0:43:11.360 --> 0:43:16.640 But now but now, but now, but now, but now, 0:43:16.960 --> 0:43:25.080 but now, but now but now. I remember, you ever 0:43:25.080 --> 0:43:26.400 get an attitude and you don't even know where it 0:43:26.440 --> 0:43:29.680 came from, and it's kind of like faith, it's kind 0:43:29.680 --> 0:43:30.759 of like anger, and you don't know which one it is. 0:43:30.800 --> 0:43:32.960 I put you a little bit too far. This dude, 0:43:33.000 --> 0:43:35.319 one time, I never told you this story to be 0:43:35.520 --> 0:43:38.040 this guy. One time in Nashville. He was talking down 0:43:38.080 --> 0:43:41.879 to me right before we start church. He's talking down 0:43:41.920 --> 0:43:44.279 to me. He said, now, listen, you need to give 0:43:44.320 --> 0:43:45.799 me all your publishing and this and that and the 0:43:45.800 --> 0:43:47.440 other and you're not getting none of it, but you 0:43:47.520 --> 0:43:49.920 ought to thank me for it because you're a nobody. 0:43:52.560 --> 0:43:56.520 And he was. He was right in the sense of 0:43:56.560 --> 0:44:01.279 my illustrious, non existent career. I got on that verse 0:44:01.280 --> 0:44:05.160 I couldn't get out. Does it not seem to you 0:44:05.320 --> 0:44:10.280 like nothing? But now be strong? That's what Hag Guy said. 0:44:10.480 --> 0:44:14.840 That's what Hag Guy said. I want, I want to 0:44:16.040 --> 0:44:20.520 I want to be Hag guy for you today it 0:44:20.640 --> 0:44:27.759 seems like nothing. It's a foundation. But now I don't 0:44:27.800 --> 0:44:30.719 even know where it came from. But I told the 0:44:30.760 --> 0:44:34.560 guy on the phone over there Sycamore Comments, he's getting 0:44:34.560 --> 0:44:38.960 my Q Dobi Bowle in that where it is Sycamore 0:44:38.960 --> 0:44:42.120 Comments just moved to Charlotte. Nobody in the church hadn't 0:44:42.120 --> 0:44:48.520 even gone to Sunday morning. I interrupted him. I say, hey, 0:44:48.960 --> 0:44:52.600 appreciate it what you're saying. I'm out here starting at church. 0:44:53.760 --> 0:44:57.640 God called me to start it, and I know it's 0:44:57.719 --> 0:45:06.799 nothing right now, But one day I don't even know, 0:45:08.280 --> 0:45:11.359 because God knows I have my doubts. But in this 0:45:11.520 --> 0:45:16.960 moment something took me over. It was like I heard 0:45:17.080 --> 0:45:21.239 my voice, but I w wasn't making it talk. And 0:45:21.280 --> 0:45:24.160 I'm telling the guy like I had good sense one 0:45:24.239 --> 0:45:29.919 day this church that God is building. Now, the key 0:45:29.920 --> 0:45:32.319 about it was I didn't argue with him about who 0:45:32.400 --> 0:45:39.680 I was, see because I know what John says that 0:45:39.800 --> 0:45:44.279 without him I can do nothing. But see, I'm not 0:45:44.560 --> 0:45:51.760 without him. So I'm just an instrument. And without the breath, 0:45:51.880 --> 0:45:56.000 the trumpet sits there looking stupid. But if God breaths 0:45:56.200 --> 0:46:00.080 in that trumpet, if God breathes all that business, if 0:46:00.120 --> 0:46:04.439 God breathes on that marriage, if God breathes on that idea, 0:46:04.480 --> 0:46:10.080 if God breathes on a ministry, what's it? Go wants it? 0:46:14.320 --> 0:46:19.320 So I said one day, somebody shout one day, one day, 0:46:19.400 --> 0:46:22.680 it's gonna be a church and we're gonna write songs 0:46:22.960 --> 0:46:29.920 and sing up all over the world. I didn't scream 0:46:29.960 --> 0:46:35.120 at him like that, but I said that that's not 0:46:35.239 --> 0:46:45.400 the challenge to shout about it now. The challenge is 0:46:45.440 --> 0:46:58.759 to shout about nothing. Can I talk to you like 0:46:58.800 --> 0:47:03.440 I talked to my kids. Your comparisons are killing you. 0:47:07.400 --> 0:47:09.840 I said it last week, I'm gonna say it this week, 0:47:09.960 --> 0:47:11.600 and if you come back, I'll say it again the 0:47:11.600 --> 0:47:20.040 next week too. You keep comparing your foundation with other 0:47:20.080 --> 0:47:28.640 people's finishes, and so you are distracted and you are discouraged. 0:47:30.320 --> 0:47:33.600 But if you change your frame of reference, I mean 0:47:33.680 --> 0:47:37.919 really really change your frame of reference. Remember how Dad 0:47:38.000 --> 0:47:41.400 used to talk about heads of hair because he was 0:47:41.400 --> 0:47:44.279 a barber. We'd be going out to Ryan's Jaba, go 0:47:44.280 --> 0:47:48.400 to nice restaurants or where they had the yeast rolls. 0:47:48.480 --> 0:47:51.160 What was that one, the big fat, big fat yeast 0:47:51.200 --> 0:47:55.680 roll Quincy's, Quincy's. How not forget Quincy's, Oh Jerusalem, if 0:47:55.719 --> 0:48:03.120 I forget you. But when we would be eating, he 0:48:03.160 --> 0:48:06.680 would be doing calculation how many heads of hair he'd 0:48:06.680 --> 0:48:10.879 have to cut the pay for the meal heads of hair? 0:48:12.440 --> 0:48:15.640 And you know, and then today, you know, God will 0:48:15.640 --> 0:48:18.400 do a little something for you. I'll bless you a 0:48:18.440 --> 0:48:22.120 little bit and all of that. And I guess, like 0:48:22.160 --> 0:48:24.640 compared to some people, I don't have a lot, but 0:48:24.680 --> 0:48:26.680 I guess compared to some people, I have so much. 0:48:27.800 --> 0:48:32.600 And yet either one is a death trap sea if 0:48:32.640 --> 0:48:36.200 I think about my dad, who had to drop out 0:48:36.200 --> 0:48:38.600 of school when he was still in middle school to 0:48:38.640 --> 0:48:41.600 help with the family expenses, and I look at what 0:48:41.640 --> 0:48:46.279 God did through me are for me? Really it wasn't 0:48:46.280 --> 0:48:51.120 even me the foundation that he laid. I can get 0:48:51.200 --> 0:48:57.600 so grateful, so quick and stuff stops being such a 0:48:57.600 --> 0:49:05.440 big deal. I reframe. That's the word reframe. It's your 0:49:05.560 --> 0:49:15.960 frame of reference that makes you praise God. It's your 0:49:16.760 --> 0:49:23.160 frame of reference that makes you have a pity party. 0:49:24.640 --> 0:49:33.400 Same foundation, different frame. And honestly, some people probably if 0:49:33.440 --> 0:49:35.479 they had all the things that God gave me, they'd 0:49:35.480 --> 0:49:38.320 probably do much better with it, you know what I'm saying. 0:49:39.440 --> 0:49:42.840 And some people that you look at and you're jealous 0:49:42.840 --> 0:49:49.279 of the stuff that they are hiding from you, the 0:49:49.400 --> 0:49:55.319 expense of what you envy. The people you think you 0:49:55.320 --> 0:50:00.319 want to trade lives with, some of them would give 0:50:00.920 --> 0:50:14.439 anything to have what you think for granted, Graham asked 0:50:14.440 --> 0:50:16.239 me the other day, would you trade this and that 0:50:16.280 --> 0:50:20.799 to be Kanye? Oh, I'll be Kanye, I said, so. 0:50:20.840 --> 0:50:22.600 I get his creative brilliance and all that, but I 0:50:22.640 --> 0:50:29.720 don't get to be your dad. No bad trade deals 0:50:29.719 --> 0:50:34.279 off devil. I'm gonna be me. I'm gonna be me. 0:50:36.600 --> 0:50:39.000 I'm gonna dance over this foundation that God gave me, 0:50:39.960 --> 0:50:42.719 and I'm gonna work on it, and I'm gonna get 0:50:42.760 --> 0:50:46.400 better at it. And I'm gonna read the Seven Habits 0:50:46.400 --> 0:50:51.920 of highly Effective People and proverbs and Philippians. And I'm 0:50:51.920 --> 0:50:54.879 gonna do it, but I'm not gonna wish I was you, 0:50:57.239 --> 0:51:04.719 because wishing won't work, and neither were worrying. You've been 0:51:04.880 --> 0:51:16.880 so disappointed that you become distracted, discouraged, comparing the empty 0:51:16.960 --> 0:51:21.960 rose in the arena. What in the world has the 0:51:21.960 --> 0:51:27.640 devil got you focused on that is so bad that 0:51:27.719 --> 0:51:30.760 you can't just simply like look around for a moment. 0:51:33.360 --> 0:51:37.359 So I'm I'm working on it. You know it's hard 0:51:37.400 --> 0:51:41.960 for me. For me, I'm more of a tears than 0:51:42.000 --> 0:51:45.680 a trumpet person. I'm more of a what's wrong than 0:51:45.719 --> 0:51:49.279 what's right person? Glass half empty? Didn't I tell you 0:51:49.400 --> 0:51:51.719 last week? I'm not a glass half empty or a 0:51:51.719 --> 0:51:53.799 glass half full. I'm a hoospilled the water so I 0:51:53.800 --> 0:52:01.640 could put you. But I'm working on it. I'm working 0:52:01.719 --> 0:52:11.080 on what God gave me, what God gave me, And 0:52:11.160 --> 0:52:14.880 in't it crazy? Faris? Their enemies opposed the rebuilding to 0:52:14.960 --> 0:52:18.640 the temple, but they couldn't stop them. Yet what their 0:52:18.760 --> 0:52:25.200 enemies couldn't do, they could do to themselves. Sixteen years, 0:52:26.120 --> 0:52:29.560 the foundation sat there until the word of the Lord 0:52:29.600 --> 0:52:34.439 came through Hagod and said that what God is going 0:52:34.440 --> 0:52:39.960 to do next will be better than what he did before. 0:52:43.320 --> 0:52:57.040 Better will not be found in going backward. Tewod Corinthians 0:52:57.400 --> 0:53:02.880 three seventeen and eighteen says, now there's that word again. 0:53:04.280 --> 0:53:10.160 Now so they wrote the book making Peace with your Past. 0:53:11.800 --> 0:53:13.759 I wonder does somebody need to write a book called 0:53:13.800 --> 0:53:22.160 making peace with your present, with how it is, with 0:53:22.280 --> 0:53:29.200 how it really is the idolatry of tomorrow and the 0:53:29.239 --> 0:53:38.040 lie of yesterday. Now the Lord is the spirit. And 0:53:38.080 --> 0:53:44.320 where the spirit of the Lord was wrong? Answer Ferdick, 0:53:45.040 --> 0:53:50.480 Where the spirit of the Lord will be? Pay attention class, 0:53:50.520 --> 0:53:56.879 Pay attention class. Where the spirit of the Lord is, 0:53:58.080 --> 0:54:06.880 there is freedom. But now be strong. But now be strong. 0:54:08.080 --> 0:54:13.359 And we all who with unveiled faces. That's the old 0:54:13.440 --> 0:54:15.000 veil that they had to wear to look at the 0:54:15.040 --> 0:54:18.040 glory because Moses would come down wearing a veil, and 0:54:18.080 --> 0:54:20.200 so they couldn't see his face. But they don't need 0:54:20.239 --> 0:54:24.600 that anymore. Now we contemplate not the old glory, not 0:54:24.760 --> 0:54:32.879 the former glory, the Lord's glory. We are being transformed 0:54:33.680 --> 0:54:38.880 into his image. The hard part is God gives you 0:54:38.920 --> 0:54:43.640 an image of himself, that's who you're becoming. But the 0:54:43.920 --> 0:54:49.960 enemy gives you a different image. Worst case scenarios, past mistakes, 0:54:50.719 --> 0:54:54.400 other people's life. The Bible says, where the spirit of 0:54:54.440 --> 0:54:58.680 the Lord is, there is freedom. It is the freedom 0:54:58.920 --> 0:55:02.799 to become the version of me that God sees. It 0:55:02.880 --> 0:55:06.200 is the freedom to build the life with the resources 0:55:06.280 --> 0:55:12.520 he gave me that he called me to build. We 0:55:12.640 --> 0:55:15.479 are being transformed into His image. So when I say 0:55:16.120 --> 0:55:19.200 our word is we in the year is better, I'm 0:55:19.239 --> 0:55:20.919 not saying that because you're going to get a better 0:55:20.960 --> 0:55:26.399 spouse or a better house. I'm saying that He is 0:55:26.600 --> 0:55:35.040 transforming you the better image with ever increasing glory. And 0:55:35.120 --> 0:55:38.520 watch where it comes from. It comes from the Lord. 0:55:40.000 --> 0:55:48.520 It comes from the Lord, who is the spirit. The trumpet. 0:55:50.280 --> 0:55:57.800 Did you get a trumpet? I don't know. L J. 0:55:57.920 --> 0:56:13.600 Doesn't sound too much like a trumpet. Yeah, mh, LJ. 0:56:13.800 --> 0:56:15.759 This is about to put me in tears. Right now, 0:56:16.520 --> 0:56:20.520 you've a job. Oh you know what? You know what? 0:56:20.640 --> 0:56:35.400 We don't need it. They got one. If you believe 0:56:35.440 --> 0:56:38.880 the word that came through hag I. I want you 0:56:38.920 --> 0:56:43.800 to give God sixty seconds of chlor But now be strong. 0:56:47.400 --> 0:56:51.560 Yesterday's over, but now be strong. Lit your hands to 0:56:52.840 --> 0:56:55.600 come on. Open it up, Open it up, Open it up. 0:56:55.800 --> 0:57:00.680 River walk open eath, mam, open, open, open, open, Oh, oh, 0:57:00.800 --> 0:57:17.000 bit open, come on, open your mouth. Guess long, but 0:57:17.200 --> 0:57:21.880 now be strong say it. But now be strong. Not 0:57:22.040 --> 0:57:24.960 one day in the future when you get stable, but 0:57:25.120 --> 0:57:29.000 now be strong. Does it not look like nothing, But 0:57:29.280 --> 0:57:32.720 now be strong. The spirit of the Lord is here, 0:57:33.160 --> 0:57:37.840 But now be strong. I will grant peace in this place. 0:57:42.480 --> 0:57:45.240 When Joshuva got ready to fight the battle, he was 0:57:45.280 --> 0:57:50.920 looking at walls. God told him something very strange. He said, 0:57:51.000 --> 0:58:00.000 before the walls fall, blow a trumpet. That's the exact 0:58:00.440 --> 0:58:04.200 of logic. But when you have faith, when you have 0:58:04.400 --> 0:58:08.040 holy ghosts, have a increasing glory. The spirit of the 0:58:08.040 --> 0:58:10.760 Lord is here. Faith. When you got that hack ey 0:58:10.880 --> 0:58:14.840 word of the Lord, the glorious coming, the glorious coming. 0:58:15.200 --> 0:58:18.240 When you got that kind of faith, you announced to 0:58:18.360 --> 0:58:24.560 the enemy, I am strong in the Lord. He's strong 0:58:24.600 --> 0:58:30.680 in the Lord and in the power of his mind. 0:58:30.760 --> 0:58:35.280 Get back to work. Sixteen years you're going to stand 0:58:35.320 --> 0:58:38.360 there and cry over something that's never coming back. Be 0:58:38.520 --> 0:58:45.600 strong in the Lord and in the power of his mind. 0:58:47.160 --> 0:58:50.200 We give you glory. Lord. Some people will look at 0:58:50.240 --> 0:58:53.360 this sermon and they'll laugh at it. Oh, they look 0:58:53.440 --> 0:58:56.919 so stupid, shouting like that. Well, God, I'd rather look 0:58:56.920 --> 0:59:01.000 stupid shouting than be depressed cry. So I give you 0:59:01.040 --> 0:59:14.640 my shout, my Hollylujah, I give you glory, GLORI. We're 0:59:14.640 --> 0:59:18.960 not shouting over the finished product. We're shouting over the foundation. 0:59:22.680 --> 0:59:25.520 The deeper you dig, the higher you build. God, So 0:59:25.960 --> 0:59:28.800 thank you for everything you've dug out. Thank you for 0:59:28.880 --> 0:59:34.520 everything you've cleared away. Thank you even for the tears, 0:59:36.200 --> 0:59:45.400 because the tears taught us how to praise you. I 0:59:45.440 --> 0:59:47.840 pray for every man and woman, boy and girl who 0:59:47.880 --> 0:59:51.360 heard this word today, not just that the word would 0:59:51.400 --> 0:59:54.800 come through the microphone, but that it would get into 0:59:54.840 --> 1:00:04.320 their temple. And the glory of this present house, the 1:00:04.360 --> 1:00:07.800 one I'm looking at right now, the job you gave 1:00:07.880 --> 1:00:11.000 me right now, the place you put me right now, 1:00:11.920 --> 1:00:14.920 the challenge you gave me right now, the season you 1:00:15.000 --> 1:00:21.200 gave me right now, will be greater above anything I 1:00:21.200 --> 1:00:26.440 could ask, beyond anything I could imagine. We received this 1:00:26.520 --> 1:00:42.200 word right now in Jesus's name. Amen. Well, if you 1:00:42.280 --> 1:00:45.000 enjoy today's podcast, there are a couple things I'd love 1:00:45.000 --> 1:00:48.160 for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and 1:00:48.320 --> 1:00:51.440 review this podcast. You can also help us reach others 1:00:51.440 --> 1:00:54.920 by investing today at Elevation Church dot org, slash give 1:00:55.400 --> 1:00:58.200 and thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast