Choosing Your Chains

0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:04.480 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:06.960 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:10.320 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:12.360 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:19.040 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message now. Philippians, 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:24.880 Chapter one, verse twelve through twenty six. Paul speaking says, now, 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.600 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:30.920 has happened to me has actually served to advance the Gospel. 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:34.400 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.240 palace guard and to everyone else that I am get 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:44.279 ready for a strange phrase in chains for Christ. And 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:49.440 because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:52.800 have become confident in the Lord, and they're all the 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:57.720 more to proclaim the Gospel without fear. It is true 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:02.320 that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry. Paul said, 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:05.760 not everybody likes me. Touch somebody and say everybody's not 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:10.840 supposed to like you. In fact, look at the person 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:12.880 on your other side that you didn't want to look 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:18.520 at the first time, and tell them if everybody likes you, 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:27.880 you're not doing it right. It's true that some preach 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:30.120 Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:32.880 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:37.119 am put here. I really like how he said that 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:41.080 I am put here, not by accident, and not even 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.520 by the decree of evil humans. So I might have 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.080 been sentenced to prison by Rome, but I'm put here 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:52.160 for the purpose of God, for the defense of the Gospel. 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:56.040 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely 0:01:56.920 --> 0:01:59.320 supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:03.000 I am in chain. But what does it matter. The 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.440 important thing is that in every way, whether from false 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:09.480 motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:14.280 I rejoice. Not because everything is going right in my life, 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:19.400 not because I got a new car, not because I 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:24.920 got a ring, not because my circumstances caused me to 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:29.560 have a happy feeling and endorphins. But because of this 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.880 I rejoice, Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.679 I know that, through your prayers and God's provision of 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:39.720 the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:43.720 will turn out for my deliverance. And I eagerly expect 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:48.680 and hope at Pocara Dokia that I will in no 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:51.920 way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage, so that 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.440 now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.680 whether by life or by death. For to me, to 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:04.079 live is Christ and to die is Gain. I win 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:07.359 either way if the situation turns around or if it 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.440 stays the same. If I am to go on living 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.720 in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:21.200 Yet what shall I choose, I don't know. I'm torn 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:25.160 between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ. 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:27.400 I kind of want to get out of here. I'm 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:29.320 an old man now, and I'd like to see Jesus. 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:34.200 I got crowns waiting for me. It's better by far, 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:38.280 But it is more necessary for you that I remain 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:40.840 in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:43.360 will remain, and I will continue with all of you 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:46.520 for your progress and joy in the faith, so that 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:51.200 through my being with you again, you're boasting in Christ. 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:53.640 Jesus will abound on account of me. That's a whole 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:55.760 lot of versus. Let's get the bread and make the 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:59.360 sandwich as we go. Verse thirteen. I am in chains 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:04.520 for Christ verse twenty two. Yet what shall I choose? 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:09.440 And the title of the message is choosing your chains? 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:12.600 Ask the person next to you on your way to 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:15.360 your seat, do you want to be free? You may 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:25.120 be seated? God bless you. Now. My kids have been 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:29.679 saying something to me lately, really just the boys. Abby 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:31.960 doesn't say it, and they need to stop saying this 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:33.799 to me if they ever want to play Fortnite again. 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:37.719 But they keep saying you sound like an old man, 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:40.760 and not just you sound like an old man. I 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.160 can't even use my phone without being judged by them. 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:45.360 They tell me you did that like an old man. 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.520 You know, all of my extra movements, all of my 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:53.360 you know, three swipes when it only takes one, and 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:57.479 they tell me that sometimes in my sermons, they tell 0:04:57.520 --> 0:05:01.280 me the cringiest moments of my sermons, and it kind 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.840 of hurts my feelings until I remember that I pay 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:08.800 for everything, and then I gently remind them, don't let 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:12.719 these few gray hairs in my beard fool you. I 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:15.880 am still the coolest person that you know, and even 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.679 if I'm not, I can disconnect the technology that allows 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:20.960 you to communicate with all of your broke friends who 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:26.960 think they're cooler than me, I told y'all jet Lag. 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:31.880 So I kind of wanted to say that to Paul 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:35.800 reading Philippians One. I love the text. I've preached from 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:39.640 it a few times. But what struck me the most 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:44.240 about Philippians One on this particular voyage was how Paul 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:50.239 sounds sounds like an old man. He sounds like he 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.360 He has the kind of wisdom theologians call it the 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:57.480 weather or construct. He uses it throughout the letter. The letter, which, 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:00.400 by the way, he wrote from a prison cell. Four 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:08.240 letters that Paul wrote while in captivity, the Captivity Epistles, Colossians, Ephesians, Filemen, 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:14.279 and Philippians. And it's a paradox to begin with that 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:17.280 he could write the happiest book in the Bible in 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.960 a prison cell, and that he is writing about the 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:25.080 progress of the Gospel while he himself is on lockdown. 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:29.400 Won't that preach? Sometimes it's when you're in the worst 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.600 situation of your life that God is doing the most 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:37.320 through you. It's a true story. Sometimes when you feel 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:41.520 completely limited, you know, when you feel like you've completely 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:44.880 lost control, that's when God really has you in a 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.520 place of surrender. And that's where he can do the 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:52.520 deep work and get beyond the superficial cliche Christianity where 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.279 we know all the right answers and we think that 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:59.679 God is all about our parking spaces and trivial things. 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:02.440 And sometimes we go through a trial and we get 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.840 in a situation. Have you ever had God just take 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.600 the steering wheel from you? And it wasn't Carrie Underwood, 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:10.440 it was God, And all of a sudden you found 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.560 yourself completely out of control. How many control freaks do 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:15.440 I have in the room. I need to see where 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.720 the control freaks are. There are two things I don't 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.640 really like in life, and I'm comfortable admitting it now. 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:30.400 I don't like babies and I don't like airplanes. And 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:34.480 I don't like either because both are things that I 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:40.840 can't control. I don't like. I really don't like babies 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:46.920 on airplanes. That is my personal hell rapture. And we 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:49.920 were on seventy five hours of flights over the last 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.840 two weeks and Elijah was like, do you have any 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:57.239 tips for getting through the airport? Dad? And I said, oh, 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:01.840 you want that old man wisdom now? And I told 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:03.760 him what one of my friends told me. He said, 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:05.440 just keep saying to yourself over and over again as 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:07.280 you walk through the security line. I am not a human. 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:09.600 I have no rights. I am not a human. I 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:13.160 have no rights. And you'll be set up for success. 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:21.080 And so we're interested to see Paul. He's older now, 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:26.320 it's been decades since Jesus knocked him off his horse, 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:32.199 made him go blind so he could really see, took 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:35.559 away his physical sight so he could show him something spiritual, 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:40.040 knocked him down so he could raise him up. And 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:44.200 Paul has passed the point now of needing people to 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:47.160 like him. In fact, if I was preaching at youth X, 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:52.640 I would say Paul has zero left to give what 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:56.920 people think about him or say about him. Only one 0:08:57.000 --> 0:09:02.120 thing matters to him now, and it's called purpose. Not popularity, 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:11.760 purpose not promotion, purpose not prosperity in this physical razzle 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:17.319 dazzle bling sense, but purpose. Paul has passed the point 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:21.400 of needing people to validate him. And so he says 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:23.840 something really cool, And I'm actually going to get a 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:27.280 bracelet made off of Verse eighteen. You can look for it. 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:29.480 It'll be available at campus resources. You know how we 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:33.240 used to have WWJD bracelets. This one's going to be 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:39.760 called wd im and it comes from Philippians one eighteen. 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:45.079 This is paul slogan. He says, what does it matter? 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:49.000 Do you know how much better you would sleep at 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:53.679 night if you had that on your wrist? Do you 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:57.440 know how much stress would just disappear if you could 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.120 get Now, you don't really get this in your thirty 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:03.880 or maybe even in your forties. Paul is older now. 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.439 They've beat him. He's been shipwrecked. They called him a fake, 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:10.560 they called him a fraud. He kept preaching. They threw 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:13.400 him in prison. God busted him out. In fact, the 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:16.040 first time he went to Philippi, when he was getting 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:19.199 the mission started, they threw him in prison. And Paul 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:22.200 did what you always do when you're in prison, with 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:25.840 your feet in stocks and your back beaten raw, He 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:32.240 started singing praises to God at midnight. Because Paul knew something. 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:37.120 You can either let your chains break your praise, or 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:42.920 you can let your praise break your chains. Why y'all 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:45.000 get quiet while I was gone, y'all used to shout 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:52.120 at Elevation Church. And when he praised God at midnight, 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:57.400 all of the chains of all of the prisoners came loose. 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:03.760 Sometimes God will use your situation to set somebody else free. 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:07.840 Can I stay on that for forty five seconds? You 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:12.920 have been questioning what you have been going through, and 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:17.840 it's not even about you. God is using some of 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:24.679 you to break generational curses off of your children. There 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:28.440 are things that you struggled with that your children will 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:31.680 not have to struggle with like you struggled with them 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:36.640 because you were willing watch this to embrace the chains. 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:44.880 Some wisdom God can only give you after you've lived 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:49.080 a little while. Some wisdom God can only give you 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:53.480 when you've got that old man apostle Paul Swag where 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:57.640 he said it doesn't even matter. Hey, Paul, did you 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.560 hear they've got a fake Facebook account name on it? 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:06.719 And Paul said, right now, I hate to do this, 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.560 but can can we interrupt the sermon? I need you 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:12.160 to pray for me at every location, and I need 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:14.920 you to pray for me because I'm not that good 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:19.360 at this. I let stuff that doesn't matter weigh me 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:23.120 down to the point that I get so distracted. And 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:25.040 please pray for me right now. Would you stretch your 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:27.760 hands toward this stage and say, Father, I pray for 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:33.120 Pastor Stephen that he would stop being so stupid to 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:39.040 let stupid stuff sidetrack him from what really matters. Now, 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.160 put your hand on the person that's next to you 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.200 on your right and on your left, and say, God, 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:47.120 I pray for this person that they would stop being 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:52.920 so petty and letting little things ruin their day, contaminate 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:57.720 their joy, poison their spirit, and distract them from their destiny, 0:12:58.200 --> 0:12:59.959 so that they can get focused on what really matters 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:02.160 and realize that half the stuff they're worrying about, you're 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:04.520 already working out, so they don't need to have an ulcer. 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:07.199 They can throw up their hands right in the middle 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:09.800 of the storm and thank you for being Lord of 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:20.440 all in Jesus' name. Amen, what does it matter? What 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:23.280 does it matter? That's why you gotta go to your 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:29.560 twenty year high school reunion. I just went, and all 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:33.640 the people I was so obsessed with impressing I don't 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:39.160 even remember their names. Who are you again? That's why 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:43.520 I was preaching to the teenagers at you facts, because 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:47.760 if they can get on missing with what really matters, 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:52.760 if they can get a sense of what matters, it 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:56.440 doesn't matter what they say, It doesn't matter what they think. 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:58.880 They don't have a heaven or a hell to put 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:02.120 you in. They don't have a crown to crown you with. 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:07.520 People can't complete you, only Jesus can. Why would I 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:10.840 live for the approval of people who can't complete me? 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:17.400 Sorry Terry Maguire, sorry Renee Sellwegger. Only Jesus can't complete me. 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:32.080 It doesn't matter because what matters more. Now here's the key. 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:38.240 What matters more. This is your priority. And for Paul, 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:42.000 the priority was never a popularity. So some say this, 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:45.440 and some say that, and then eh and then man 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:50.360 and b ba bah. Paul's like, I'm old. Now I 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:54.000 know something, and this is what the old minister told 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.680 me when I was first getting started. He said, there 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.040 certain things in your ministry you will go through that 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:02.280 you will question. And I said, well, what would you 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:07.560 change if you could change anything? He said, why aren't 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:09.240 you getting your elevation pen ready to write down what 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:17.440 the old man said? He said, there's a lot of 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:21.640 stuff that I wouldn't choose, but there's nothing I would 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:29.520 change because now I've been through enough to know that. 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:33.000 It took some of the breaking to get to some 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:39.040 of the blessing, and it took some of the betrayals 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:44.080 to get to the blessing, and it took some of 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:48.520 the conflict to get to the calling, and it took 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:52.640 some of the weakness to get to the string. I 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:56.720 wouldn't change it. I wouldn't choose it. I thought this 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:01.160 was relevant because a lot of us in situations today 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:08.720 that we would not choose. Nobody chooses sickness. Nobody choose 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:12.000 as a kid who is off doing the opposite of 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.400 everything you raised them to do. And you find out 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:19.280 what Paul found out, you were never really in control. 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:23.640 The more you think you're in control, the younger your 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:34.920 kids are. I tell you, if it was my teenager, 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:37.840 if it was your teenager, you would be locked in 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:42.880 a room with prescription pills. Shut up, jet lag, jet lag, 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.080 jet la. I'll be nicer next week. We got a 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:49.960 lot of guests for it. Rained in Paul's just like 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:54.480 what everybody say, what you're going to keep me in 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:58.480 this prison? I got these chains, and I know it 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:03.840 looks like I'm chained to these Romans guards, but actually 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:11.480 these guards are chained to me. Now, I wouldn't choose 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:18.320 these chains. But actually, if it takes my chains to 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:24.160 set somebody else free, if it takes my pain. If 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:28.560 it takes going through a season of loneliness to really 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:33.679 discover joy, I would choose the change. I'd rather have 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:37.920 change on my feet and be free in my mind, 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:42.240 and free in my spirit, and free in my conscience. 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:51.879 Because Paul said to me, the important thing is, the 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:56.359 important thing is now. It's very important what you put next. 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:58.840 This is verse eighteen. Guys in the production room. The 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:04.679 important thing is whatever you put next will determine what 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:11.679 your joy is chained to. Whatever you put after, the 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:15.240 important thing is your joy will move up and down 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:20.840 with that thing. So whatever you choose to change your 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:24.520 joy to whatever priority if for you. No matter what 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:26.600 you would say, because we would all say that Jesus 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:28.119 is the head of our lives. You don't get up 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:29.919 and come out here to a place like this if 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:32.160 you're not going to say the right answer. But I'm 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:36.760 talking about reflected in your choices. If the important thing 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:43.119 is that people like you, then when people like you, 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:48.960 you will like you. If the important thing is that 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:53.359 God loves you, then when people don't like you, you you 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:59.760 still like you, because I'm accepted in the beloved. If 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:04.320 the important thing is comfort, than when everything is just right, 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:08.040 and when the climate is seventy two point four fahrenheit. 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:11.960 You will be happy about the climate or the environment. 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:14.920 But if the important thing to you is not comfort 0:19:15.280 --> 0:19:19.600 but calling, you can be in a miserable situation and 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:23.639 turn it into a ministry. I'm looking for somebody today 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:29.400 who is no longer concerned about popular opinion or personal preference. 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:31.920 But you've come to the place in your life where 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:35.520 you say, I want to know him. I want to 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:39.640 make him know. I want real joy, joy that the 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:43.119 world didn't give and the world can't snatch it back. 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.119 I missed you. Let me preach like I want to preach, 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:55.520 so you won't be tossed to and fro and yanked 0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:59.600 back and forth by the affairs of life. Paul says, 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:03.720 my my feet are locked and my hands are chained, 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:08.400 but my mind is free. I'm here, but the mission 0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:13.760 is moving forward, and the important thing is The important 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:19.600 thing is you get to choose what comes next, what 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:27.639 is your priority. And you can't have God's peace without 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:35.159 God's priorities. You can pray for it. But if you 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:42.679 tie your joy to how your husband treats you or 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:47.320 how the crazy girl in the cubicle next to you, 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:50.840 you knew she was crazy. Her eyes were crazy. You're 0:20:50.840 --> 0:21:00.480 gonna put your joy on crazy girl. I can't hook 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:05.919 my joy to that. I can't. I can't hook my 0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:11.199 joy to what the boss decides or what his boss decides. 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:16.800 My joy is not connected to my job. So I 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:21.680 gotta find something else. And for Paul, it was purpose, 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:27.920 not preference, not popularity. Someone say this, Some say that 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:35.840 wd im wwjd WWI don't care www dot, who cares? 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:42.240 Dot com? Www dot? Jesus Christ is my boss? Dot com? 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:45.240 Www is If he says I'm blessed, I'm blessed and 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:46.760 there's not a thing you can do to curse me 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:51.119 dot com. Www dot, I'm blessed with a car without 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:53.679 a car. Www dot. I don't need a watch to 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:56.639 be blessed. Www dot. If you break up with me, 0:21:56.680 --> 0:21:59.080 it's your loss because God has something special in me. 0:22:00.600 --> 0:22:09.480 What does it matter? And this is your choice. One 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:14.320 scholar said Paul must be going senile. He maybe took 0:22:14.320 --> 0:22:19.920 one too many to the head because he's in chains 0:22:20.000 --> 0:22:24.280 talking about a choice. I don't know if I want 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:33.520 to live or die, Paul. They didn't ask you. I 0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:35.440 love it when people say I didn't like that song 0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:47.000 Ya saying, Sunday, we didn't ask you when he put 0:22:47.000 --> 0:22:51.440 it as a choice, He's saying, I can't. I can't 0:22:51.520 --> 0:22:54.240 choose how long these chains stay on me. I'm still waiting, 0:22:55.480 --> 0:22:59.800 But I get to make a choice, not about what happens, 0:23:02.240 --> 0:23:08.879 but about my response. And I choose since God hasn't 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:14.560 removed these chains, since God hasn't fixed the situation, since 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:18.119 God hasn't fixed the relationship, since God hasn't given me 0:23:18.200 --> 0:23:20.960 the breakthrough yet, since I'm still dealing with the addiction, 0:23:21.359 --> 0:23:23.399 since it won't just go away like they told me 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:25.080 it would. And I prayed that one time, and I 0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:27.159 still went home addicted. And they told me that if 0:23:27.200 --> 0:23:29.119 I prayed this that the change would fall off. But 0:23:29.119 --> 0:23:32.480 the chains are still there. And since and since God 0:23:32.520 --> 0:23:36.400 won't remove the chains, I'm gonna ask him to use 0:23:36.480 --> 0:23:45.399 the chains. That's my choice. What shall I choose? You 0:23:45.440 --> 0:23:49.640 have a choice. To me, you always do the greatest 0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:52.960 gift God can give you as a choice, He said, 0:23:53.000 --> 0:23:56.639 I'm in chains for Christ. Christ didn't put these chains 0:23:56.680 --> 0:23:58.840 on me, But now that these chains are on me, 0:23:59.040 --> 0:24:04.680 I'm gonna let him use them. He didn't bring the disease, 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:10.040 He didn't bring the divorce. I wouldn't choose it. But 0:24:10.119 --> 0:24:13.840 if I can't change it, God, will you use these 0:24:14.040 --> 0:24:21.560 chains to change me, change others, make me an example 0:24:21.600 --> 0:24:25.479 of your grace. That's your choice, and God's not the 0:24:25.480 --> 0:24:30.919 only one who gives you a choice. This is what 0:24:31.040 --> 0:24:32.840 I was trying to explain to the youth, and I 0:24:32.840 --> 0:24:35.399 really think I was talking to my sixteen year old self. 0:24:36.520 --> 0:24:40.560 That's where I made the choice to follow Christ. Well, 0:24:40.640 --> 0:24:42.720 actually he made the choice. He chose me. I didn't 0:24:42.760 --> 0:24:45.960 choose him theologically speaking, but it was the moment that 0:24:46.000 --> 0:24:48.240 I became aware of his prevenient grace in my life 0:24:48.760 --> 0:24:51.840 and surrendered to what he was already doing. Yeah, that's 0:24:51.880 --> 0:24:59.760 how's better. And I was trying to get them to 0:24:59.760 --> 0:25:01.840 see how you know, over five hundred of them gave 0:25:01.840 --> 0:25:12.880 their lives to Christ during your fects most important choice 0:25:12.920 --> 0:25:19.400 they'll ever make. But the moment they come to that choice, 0:25:19.720 --> 0:25:26.800 the devil comes with little choices because the enemy sees 0:25:26.840 --> 0:25:32.680 their potential, and sometimes the enemy believes in your potential 0:25:32.800 --> 0:25:38.560 more than you do. And so you get around some 0:25:38.640 --> 0:25:44.000 friends and you're young, thirteen, fourteen, and they're looking at porn. 0:25:44.040 --> 0:25:47.359 It's just a little porn it's just one time porn, 0:25:48.800 --> 0:25:50.880 and they're calling you gay and weird if you don't 0:25:50.880 --> 0:25:53.639 look at it. So you look at it. It's just 0:25:54.200 --> 0:26:00.600 a choice. And they're drinking, they're smoking, they're vaping. So choice, 0:26:00.720 --> 0:26:03.200 it's not going to send you to hell. God's grace 0:26:03.200 --> 0:26:08.040 has got you covered. But it's just a choice. What 0:26:08.200 --> 0:26:16.200 you don't know until you know is that choices don't 0:26:16.240 --> 0:26:27.520 stay choices. They become habits. It's just one choice, just 0:26:27.560 --> 0:26:29.399 a little you turn up one time and then it's like, 0:26:29.440 --> 0:26:32.040 well maybe I'll do it again. And I lied to 0:26:32.080 --> 0:26:35.919 my parents one time. So you know, y'all think this 0:26:36.000 --> 0:26:41.359 is a youth sermon. If somebody would have preached this 0:26:42.480 --> 0:26:46.920 to a lot of us earlier, we could have seen 0:26:46.960 --> 0:26:50.960 the choice for what it was. But we didn't know 0:26:51.000 --> 0:26:54.520 what mattered. Then. We couldn't know what mattered then, you know. 0:26:54.640 --> 0:26:57.680 So it's just a little thing. But then it becomes 0:26:57.720 --> 0:27:01.040 a habit, and now you kind of you keep doing 0:27:01.080 --> 0:27:03.119 it and it doesn't quite hit It doesn't quite get 0:27:03.160 --> 0:27:04.600 you as high as it did the last time. You 0:27:04.640 --> 0:27:06.840 can do more of it. Now it takes a little more. 0:27:06.840 --> 0:27:08.160 It takes a little more. It takes you can handle 0:27:08.240 --> 0:27:11.560 us good. Then it becomes a habit, and now you 0:27:11.640 --> 0:27:13.640 know it's not just a glass of wine to relax. 0:27:13.720 --> 0:27:16.120 And oh, by the way, I always get scared when 0:27:16.119 --> 0:27:20.160 I do this part because it's not just sex and 0:27:20.280 --> 0:27:25.240 drinking that I'm talking about. Some of us gossip so bad. 0:27:25.720 --> 0:27:30.440 It would be better off if we were alcoholics. I mean, 0:27:30.520 --> 0:27:34.520 the damage we do with our mouths is way worse 0:27:34.560 --> 0:27:37.320 than what a bottle can do. Okay, So I'm not 0:27:37.480 --> 0:27:40.720 just talking about whatever specific sin you don't happen to 0:27:40.760 --> 0:27:52.240 struggle with. Some of us are so angry, just mad ah, 0:27:54.840 --> 0:27:58.639 And we used to get mad with good reason. It 0:27:58.680 --> 0:28:03.439 was a choice, but then it became a habit, and 0:28:03.520 --> 0:28:11.160 now it's automatic. You don't even choose anymore. Now it's 0:28:11.200 --> 0:28:15.800 the default setting. Now it's just what you do to 0:28:15.840 --> 0:28:19.960 get your way, and you hate yourself after you do it, 0:28:20.680 --> 0:28:22.840 but it got you what you wanted, so you do 0:28:22.880 --> 0:28:27.359 it again. And it's kind of like one time Paul 0:28:27.400 --> 0:28:30.400 was saying, I don't do what I want to do, 0:28:31.400 --> 0:28:34.480 I do what I want don't want to do. Who 0:28:34.480 --> 0:28:38.680 will deliver me from this body of death? And he 0:28:38.840 --> 0:28:43.600 wasn't saying this before he met Christ. He was saying 0:28:43.640 --> 0:28:49.000 this as a christ follower, I made some choices. The 0:28:49.120 --> 0:28:52.200 choice became a habit. I didn't know it was a 0:28:52.200 --> 0:28:54.720 big deal. At the time, it didn't seem like a 0:28:54.760 --> 0:28:58.560 big deal. I didn't forgive one person, and I let 0:28:58.640 --> 0:29:01.480 the bitterness get a hold of me. And then the 0:29:01.480 --> 0:29:04.200 bitterness was no longer just one person. I started getting 0:29:04.440 --> 0:29:07.719 mad at everybody, and I started blaming everybody. And now 0:29:07.800 --> 0:29:10.400 it's my habit. And now when something doesn't go my way, 0:29:10.640 --> 0:29:13.400 my first response is to blame all the people who 0:29:13.400 --> 0:29:15.480 weren't there for me, or if they would have, or 0:29:15.600 --> 0:29:18.360 if she would have. I started complaining. I made the 0:29:18.480 --> 0:29:21.160 choice to complain. And I used to just complain when 0:29:21.160 --> 0:29:24.360 things were really bad. But now now it's instead of 0:29:24.520 --> 0:29:26.960 Instead of his praise will continually be on my mouth. 0:29:27.200 --> 0:29:30.400 Now it's complaint is continually on myself. It's a habit. 0:29:30.600 --> 0:29:33.800 It's automatic. It's my first instinct. I can't even see 0:29:33.800 --> 0:29:36.000 what's right. I walk in the room and all I 0:29:36.040 --> 0:29:40.360 see is what's wrong. It's automatic, and before long it's 0:29:40.400 --> 0:29:49.480 not just what I do. It becomes my identity. Now 0:29:49.480 --> 0:29:57.000 it's who I am. I'm a slave to fear, I'm 0:29:57.000 --> 0:29:58.960 a child of God. But I feel like a slave 0:29:59.000 --> 0:30:08.000 to sin. I made a choice, became a habit became automatic. 0:30:09.840 --> 0:30:13.200 That's what the Bible says when it says, don't walk 0:30:13.240 --> 0:30:17.720 in the flesh the habits of the old life, the 0:30:17.760 --> 0:30:25.920 patterns of your perspective pre Christ, and just keep doing it. 0:30:25.920 --> 0:30:29.440 It's pulling on you. This pulls you back into it. 0:30:30.800 --> 0:30:34.960 You don't tell your e group about that stuff. You 0:30:35.040 --> 0:30:40.800 can't these these these these chains aren't the kind of 0:30:40.840 --> 0:30:46.960 change that you wear around your neck. These changes, the 0:30:47.040 --> 0:30:53.600 choices that become habits. Now it's automatic. You didn't even 0:30:53.640 --> 0:30:57.920 want to do it anymore, but you think it's who 0:30:57.920 --> 0:31:05.800 you are because your nature. You see that. I'm trying 0:31:05.800 --> 0:31:09.600 to show you. And I hope that you'll discuss this 0:31:11.000 --> 0:31:14.760 with your kids after church, and I hope that you'll 0:31:14.760 --> 0:31:19.200 discuss this with some people in your life that you 0:31:19.240 --> 0:31:26.880 can trust about the choices that became habits, that became automatic. 0:31:28.480 --> 0:31:31.760 I'm just offended all the time. Now. I made the 0:31:31.840 --> 0:31:36.760 choice to be offended. The person hurt me, and I 0:31:36.920 --> 0:31:41.440 chose to let that hurt on the inside, and I 0:31:41.440 --> 0:31:45.120 didn't let it heal. And now I'm pushing good people 0:31:45.160 --> 0:31:50.880 away because of who hurt me back then and I 0:31:50.920 --> 0:32:02.600 want you to see how today's choices come, tomorrow's chains 0:32:02.640 --> 0:32:13.480 come here Nick, Jake. It's crazy, it's crazy, how young 0:32:14.120 --> 0:32:21.600 this happens. Because Jake has a calling. Jake has a purpose, 0:32:22.680 --> 0:32:26.360 I said, Nick, because that's his dad. His dad is mcguiver. 0:32:27.440 --> 0:32:34.840 He fixes everything. Jake is a worshiper. The enemy knows that, 0:32:37.840 --> 0:32:40.920 so he wants to come to Jake early in life 0:32:41.800 --> 0:32:51.320 with a choice, certain friends, certain things, certain outlooks, and 0:32:51.880 --> 0:32:56.760 what he wants you to do. He wants to get 0:32:56.760 --> 0:33:01.880 you locked up, good and tight while you're young, because 0:33:01.920 --> 0:33:10.840 he knows what God put inside of you. H he 0:33:11.320 --> 0:33:14.560 knows that this young man could be a chain breaker 0:33:14.560 --> 0:33:21.240 in his generation. The enemy knows his purpose. So what 0:33:21.320 --> 0:33:26.720 he wants to do while you're young. Now, he's clever. 0:33:27.920 --> 0:33:32.520 The enemy is crafty, So he's not gonna He's not 0:33:32.600 --> 0:33:38.920 gonna come at Jake with the chain because if he 0:33:38.960 --> 0:33:43.400 comes it Jake with a chain, Jake's gonna run right. 0:33:46.680 --> 0:33:50.000 So he comes I'm helping somebody today. I feel it 0:33:50.000 --> 0:33:55.480 in my bones. With a choice. He wants to lock 0:33:55.560 --> 0:34:06.240 you in to thinking, believing, and insecurities early. So now 0:34:06.360 --> 0:34:09.680 later in your life, when you decide to pursue a mission. 0:34:10.400 --> 0:34:16.800 Go ahead, try to pursue a mission A Nope, Because 0:34:16.800 --> 0:34:21.759 I got you. And later in life, let's say he 0:34:22.000 --> 0:34:26.040 plants a sexual addiction in your mind at an early age, 0:34:26.200 --> 0:34:28.239 and then you get a wife, and now you want 0:34:28.239 --> 0:34:30.640 to love your wife and be a good man and 0:34:30.680 --> 0:34:33.600 be intimate with your wife in the way that God intended. 0:34:33.840 --> 0:34:40.040 But see you move toward intimacy. But I got you 0:34:41.000 --> 0:34:46.239 with a choice that became a habit, that became automatic. 0:34:47.239 --> 0:34:49.960 And now you can't treat a woman like a woman. 0:34:50.040 --> 0:34:53.040 You treat her like an object because I got you 0:34:53.920 --> 0:34:57.040 in chains. Jake, you're being real dramatic. You don't have 0:34:57.080 --> 0:34:59.440 to jerk that hard, just say yeah, they stand right there. 0:34:59.640 --> 0:35:04.120 He's got in these chains. So you want to make 0:35:04.160 --> 0:35:06.520 a change in your life later. But he got you 0:35:06.560 --> 0:35:11.160 in chains so early. And some of us spend decades 0:35:11.600 --> 0:35:16.600 being dragged around by the devil, being dragged around by 0:35:16.680 --> 0:35:20.640 decisions that we made in our past. That I got 0:35:20.719 --> 0:35:24.480 news for you are already covered by the blood of 0:35:24.560 --> 0:35:28.440 Jesus Christ. And I read in my Bible whom the 0:35:28.640 --> 0:35:33.120 sun sets free is free. Indeed, it means I don't 0:35:33.160 --> 0:35:36.840 have to spend the rest of my life being dragged 0:35:36.880 --> 0:35:40.560 around by the decisions of my past. I don't have 0:35:40.680 --> 0:35:44.080 to stay in these chains. I know a name that 0:35:44.160 --> 0:35:51.480 will break everything. I think we need to shout on 0:35:51.520 --> 0:35:56.080 this word, because some of us are chain to mindsets, 0:35:56.640 --> 0:36:01.360 and shame to scarcity, and same to pa and same 0:36:01.480 --> 0:36:05.919 to our imaginations, and shame to memories. But I read 0:36:06.000 --> 0:36:10.600 in John that whom the sun sets free is free indeed, 0:36:11.200 --> 0:36:23.399 And if you believe that, sound like you're free. Paul said, 0:36:23.440 --> 0:36:30.279 I've found another chain. This chain is called Grace. So 0:36:30.440 --> 0:36:35.080 let the devil know. I'm not chained to these Roman guards. 0:36:36.480 --> 0:36:43.000 I'm saying to Grace. That means I've found the love 0:36:44.160 --> 0:36:48.360 that will not let me go. Even if I try 0:36:48.400 --> 0:36:50.160 to get away. Go ahead, try to get away, Try 0:36:50.160 --> 0:36:53.319 to get away. He won't let me go. Even if 0:36:53.360 --> 0:36:56.439 I try to run, Try to run, he won't let 0:36:56.480 --> 0:36:59.160 me go. Pull as hard as you want to pull, 0:36:59.320 --> 0:37:02.880 take you pooh. I might be all, but I lived, 0:37:03.160 --> 0:37:05.760 and as long as I got to in my grip, 0:37:06.360 --> 0:37:10.720 you're not going anywhere. Full in the sun sets free 0:37:11.600 --> 0:37:22.840 is prase. Indeed, God is folling me closer. I'm changed 0:37:24.800 --> 0:37:34.160 to Grace. I'm no longer a slave to fear. I'm 0:37:34.160 --> 0:37:43.040 a China God, and I choose everything I've been through, 0:37:43.080 --> 0:37:46.759 even my shame, God's gonna use it to tell a 0:37:46.760 --> 0:37:51.600 greater story of grace. God's gonna use my chains to 0:37:51.640 --> 0:37:58.319 break somebody else's. My son won't have to go through 0:37:58.360 --> 0:38:03.080 what I went through. God's gonna use my chains to 0:38:03.200 --> 0:38:08.799 set somebody free. And He's got you. You get to 0:38:08.800 --> 0:38:14.160 make a choice today. Everybody in here is serving something. 0:38:16.320 --> 0:38:19.359 What do you want to serve? Who do you want 0:38:19.400 --> 0:38:29.520 to serve? Paul identified himself as a servant of Christ Jesus. 0:38:31.160 --> 0:38:34.759 What he meant was Grace is a bigger chain than 0:38:34.880 --> 0:38:40.239 said And no matter what my decisions might say about 0:38:40.280 --> 0:38:44.360 me or indicate otherwise, I am a child of God. 0:38:48.440 --> 0:38:51.879 I'm gonna wander sometimes, go I wander off, wander off, 0:38:51.880 --> 0:38:55.160 wonder off. Come on, try hard. I got you. I 0:38:55.239 --> 0:39:00.799 got you. Grace is stronger the don't assume me. If 0:39:00.840 --> 0:39:05.239 I break his wrist, it's for a good cause. I 0:39:05.320 --> 0:39:08.960 got you. I see in the spirit. God pull it 0:39:08.960 --> 0:39:13.880 on you today. You didn't even want to come to 0:39:13.960 --> 0:39:18.600 church today. Look at you right here in church. You 0:39:18.760 --> 0:39:24.360 made so many dumb decisions, and today you're standing in 0:39:24.400 --> 0:39:39.759 the presence of a chain breaking God. So so is 0:39:39.800 --> 0:39:47.520 your choice, worshiper, what will you choose? Paul made his choice. 0:39:48.400 --> 0:39:52.480 He said, I'm gonna let God use these chains to 0:39:52.600 --> 0:39:57.200 declare his grace. And for everybody who's stuck in a 0:39:57.239 --> 0:39:59.440 situation that you can't change right now, and sometimes that 0:39:59.520 --> 0:40:05.120 situation is yourself, I want you to make a decision, 0:40:05.760 --> 0:40:16.760 a choice, because choices, choices become habits. Yeah, you choose 0:40:16.800 --> 0:40:19.640 to trust God in this season of your life. And 0:40:19.680 --> 0:40:22.280 you know what, if you trust God a few times, 0:40:23.160 --> 0:40:29.000 guess what, it becomes automatic. And now you find yourself 0:40:29.080 --> 0:40:31.520 leaning not on your own understanding, but in all your ways, 0:40:31.560 --> 0:40:37.200 acknowledging Him. When you realize the devil has been lying 0:40:37.280 --> 0:40:40.080 to me this whole time. I'm not a slave to 0:40:40.160 --> 0:40:42.719 what they said. I'm not a slave to what they did. 0:40:43.880 --> 0:40:46.440 I am a child of God. If anyone is in Christ, 0:40:47.440 --> 0:41:02.600 he is a new creation. The old and the new 0:41:04.680 --> 0:41:09.360 has come. If you believe God is a chain breaker, 0:41:10.760 --> 0:41:12.839 I want you to stand on your feet right now 0:41:13.600 --> 0:41:19.080 and give him a midnight praise, a praise that breaks 0:41:19.200 --> 0:41:25.360 shames and chases anxiety away. Come on, you have to 0:41:25.400 --> 0:41:29.440 do better than that. If you are a serpent of 0:41:29.560 --> 0:41:33.040 the Most High God. And you know all power is 0:41:33.080 --> 0:41:36.200 in his hand and he got to prevent grave with 0:41:36.400 --> 0:41:41.359 all authority. Release the praise right now, all the free. 0:41:41.480 --> 0:41:44.920 He will lift your hands. You don't have to feel 0:41:45.000 --> 0:41:50.080 free to be free. It's the same breaking power. And 0:41:50.239 --> 0:41:57.840 then ah, my God is in this place power. She 0:41:58.239 --> 0:42:06.960 loves well. I hope you enjoyed the podcast today. If 0:42:07.000 --> 0:42:09.200 you did, there are just a couple things I'd love 0:42:09.239 --> 0:42:12.319 for you to do. Number One, subscribe to our show. 0:42:12.400 --> 0:42:15.440 That way, the most recent episode will always be in 0:42:15.480 --> 0:42:19.560 your feed, waiting for you ready when you are. And Secondly, 0:42:19.600 --> 0:42:22.080 if this ministry has impacted you and you'd like to 0:42:22.080 --> 0:42:24.480 help us continue to reach others, you can click the 0:42:24.520 --> 0:42:26.920 link in the description and you can give now and 0:42:27.120 --> 0:42:30.480 I'll see you next time on the Elevation Podcast