Dysfunctional Comfort

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.440 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:17.800 Enjoy the message. Let's pick up right. 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.320 There at Mark, chapter one, verse fourteen with the second 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:24.560 installment of Savage Jesus. After John was put in prison, 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:28.160 Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:32.960 The time has come, he said, Kingdom of God is near. Repent, 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:38.839 believe the good news. Jesus walked beside to see if Galilee. 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:41.800 He saw Simon. That's the guy who got his name 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:45.000 changed to Peter. Because God doesn't call you what other 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:48.159 people call you. He doesn't call you what you call yourself, 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:51.600 you call yourself a failure. He calls you a masterpiece 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:56.160 of grace, a canvas waiting to be painted on. So 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.200 that's who Simon is. And we believe that Peter gave 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.640 Mark the recollect action for this gospel account. Mark was 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:05.319 writing down a lot of the memories of Peter. That's 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:08.360 what scholars tell me. Anyway, I wasn't there. Let's continue. 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:13.240 He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:16.440 into the lake, for they were fishermen. Come follow me, 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:19.039 Jesus said, and I'll make you fishures of men. 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:22.920 And once they left their nets, followed him. 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:25.600 When he got a little farther, he saw James, son 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:28.800 of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat preparing 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.479 their nets, getting ready to go do what they did 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:35.400 without delay, which is Mark's favorite phrase in scripture. It's 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.759 translated different ways, but it's immediately or suddenly. 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:40.120 He writes that way. 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:42.600 It's breathless the account that he gives of the life 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:45.679 of Christ, because knowing that he has no time to 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:49.560 waste in getting to the cross, he can't really take 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:52.080 a lot of time with trivial details, and so he's 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:54.800 just giving us not the whole exchange that happened. I 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:57.800 don't think Jesus just walked by and said, come follow me, fishersmen, 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:00.000 and they went with him. I think there was a conversation. 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.480 But we are given the essence of the conversation so 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:04.240 that we can know that Jesus did not come to 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:08.000 give us cute cliches and Hallmark cards, but instructions and 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:10.800 commands that are best for our life, to lead us 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:13.640 in the way everlasting and without delay. 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:14.880 He called them. 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:17.760 He did not wait for them to understand their calling 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:22.520 before he gave it to them. That interesting, he did 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:26.080 not wait for them to go through confirmation classes. He 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.679 did not give them ministerial training. He simply gave them 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:34.120 a calling. And they left their father Zebedee in the 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:38.600 boat with the hired men and followed him. So there's 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:40.360 a commonality. I'm going to read more than that, but 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:43.960 i'll break it up. The commonality is that in both 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.800 of these cases, you have Andrew and Simon who became Peter. 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.280 You've got John and James. And watch what they had 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.240 to do to come into their calling. Verse eighteen says 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:59.079 at once they left their nets, and then again. 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:02.239 In verse twenty without the life they left their father. 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.679 So the first pattern I see emerging here about following 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:10.280 Christ to really follow Christ, is that coming into my 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:17.320 calling means coming out of my comfort zone. And I 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:21.120 want to preach this point fully, but I don't want 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:23.320 to take long on it because it's not my main point. 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:28.200 It is the context of Christianity, though, that Christ did 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:32.639 not come to make us comfortable. I think in order 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:37.160 to understand your relationship with someone, you have to understand 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.160 the function. And I want to speak to you for 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:44.320 a few moments today on dysfunctional comfort. That's my topic, 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:49.920 dysfunctional comfort. And when you don't understand the function of something, 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:53.520 you are more than likely to get hurt or break 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:57.720 it trying to engage it. So that's why I had 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:01.720 to explain to my boys that the treadmill in our 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:10.920 house is not a toy. It's a coat wrap. When 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:13.400 I saw them taking their little sister, Abby and they 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:16.640 were putting her on the treadmill at speed eight. 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:17.479 Point five. 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:21.880 And putting her on the treadmill, and they told me 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:28.159 they were playing checkout at Target. This is not the 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:33.960 function of the treadmill. And your sister is worth more 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:37.200 than fifteen cents, that's what they were telling her. That's 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:41.360 why she was crying. You only rang up for fifteen cents. Sorry, Abby, 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.559 you're not that expensive. I had to shut it down. Why, 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:49.240 that's not what the treadmill is for. But when you 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:52.280 don't know what something is for, you will know how 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:57.560 to use it. You won't understand how to relate to people. 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.000 If you do not understand the nature of a relationship. 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:04.320 Most of the dysfunction in my relationships came because I 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.960 violated the nature of the relationship. I either tried to 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:10.359 get something from someone that they could not give me 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:13.919 that they were not designed to deposit in my life, 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:16.200 or I tried to give. 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:18.200 To somebody something. 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:22.000 That they didn't ask for or didn't want to receive 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:26.320 from me. But without understanding the nature of a relationship, 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:33.599 you will you will have relational frustration and dysfunction because 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.919 you don't understand what that person was in your life for. 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.440 It's kind of weird how some of the people that 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:43.599 you try to help the most, or that try to 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:45.640 help you the most, there ends up being more hurt 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:49.280 in those relationships than any other relationship. 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:50.560 When my dad. 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:52.800 First got really sick, and we did not know it 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:55.279 was als yet, but we knew that he needed some help, 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:58.000 I started trying to pay for everything, and I started 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:00.920 trying to take care of everything. The process of trying 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:03.280 to take care of his physical needs, I stopped meeting 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:04.960 the emotional need that he had to be a. 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:08.200 Dad to me. And so when I started acting like I. 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:12.840 Was the dad, it created a disfunction in our relationship 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:14.599 that almost broke it apart. 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:16.400 And a lot of that was my fault. 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:18.320 Because I was ignorant to the fact that when you 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:21.880 try to give somebody something in a relationship that is 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:25.719 not the primary need they have of you, it will 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.839 be a good intention with a bad result. How many 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.559 know what I'm talking about on some level, On some level, 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:33.159 try to make your kids your best friends. 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:36.159 They're not, They suck. Treat them like it. Now. I 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:36.760 love my kids. 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.640 I'm just saying sometimes is going to be Sometimes it's 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:43.440 going to have to be a dad moment and just 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.239 not a buddy moment. And I don't have any examples 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:49.159 of that, because in our home it's perfect and we 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:51.280 pray a lot. But here's what I wanted to say 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:53.719 about that. I think a lot of the problems in 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:57.320 our relationship with Christ are because we do not understand 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:02.400 his primary function in our lives lives. I think a 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.520 lot of us associate Christ primarily with comfort. 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:10.600 We come to church for comfort, and. 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.480 People will leave churches sometimes because they'll say. 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:17.000 I was uncomfortable. 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:22.000 People left Jesus one time because he fed them food. 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:24.160 Comfort food. They loved it. 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:28.560 Then he turned around and said something very uncomfortable. Eat 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:33.320 my flesh, drink my blood. We're out of here. That 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:37.040 made me kind of uncomfortable. That cannibalism part of his sermon. 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:39.440 Food was good, but I don't know, it's not worth 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:44.119 all that it made them uncomfortable. Okay, now the Holy Spirit, 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.520 can I teach you a little theology class? I paid 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:50.239 eighty thousand dollars to go to school and learn this stuff. 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:53.960 I got to share it. Sometime when the. 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:56.200 Holy Spirit was coming, Jesus said, I'm going to send 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:57.280 you a comforter. 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:00.640 So the Holy Spirit not only convicts, he comforts. The 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:04.080 primary role of the Holy Spirit is comfort. Okay. 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:07.240 The primary role of Jesus when he was on the 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:09.520 earth was not comfort. 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:13.640 It was confrontation. I know you don't like that. 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:16.760 I know you want Jesus to speak to you in 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:20.360 aphorisms that cause you to feel better about yourself each day. 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:22.680 But the primary function of. 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:24.520 Jesus, I'll show it to you here in the scripture 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:29.120 in a moment, was not to comfort the people, but 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:34.640 to confront the systems that kept the people in bondage 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:39.200 and in captivity. It's important that we understand this because 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:43.280 if we misunderstand the reason that Christ came, we will 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.160 be confused about how we come to him, and we 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:46.880 will begin. 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:50.720 To associate the presence of God in our lives with comfort. 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:54.439 And we will associate the devil with confrontation and conflict. 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:58.320 But sometimes it is the devil who is giving you comfort, 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:01.439 and it is God who is putting you in conflict. 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:04.760 What if I just dropped the mic, walked off the 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:06.920 stage right there, and we thought about it for forty 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:12.160 five minutes. Because you have been blaming the devil for 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:22.240 God's handiwork, and to come into your calling will require 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:25.000 you to come out of your comfort zone. Peter had 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:28.840 to leave his nets. James had to leave poor Zebedee 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:33.600 in the boat. C isze, I gotta go. I'm gonna 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:36.200 fish for men. Notice I'm gonna be doing the same 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:40.280 thing fishing, but for a different purpose, not for profit, 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:44.360 but for people. Now, when God calls you, he doesn't 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:47.400 always make you change your career. I'm so tired of 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.480 people quitting their job and starting a coffee shop because 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:53.360 they like coffee. You need to be good at business. 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.480 If you like coffee, you can go to Starbucks. You 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.280 need to be good at marketing to start a coffee shop. 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:03.280 Calling is not about address, and it's not about vocation. 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:05.440 Calling is about vision. 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:08.360 It is about the level at which you see the 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:09.320 gift that God. 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:10.360 Has placed in your life. 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:13.800 So Jesus said, I see a gift in you to fish. 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.280 You have tenacity, you have a certain set of skills, 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:20.760 but I am going to apply your aptitude to a 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.600 higher avocation. In other words, come follow me, and I'm 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.960 going to enlarge your capacity. I'm going to bring you 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:31.160 into calling. But in order for you to find your calling, 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:40.360 you've got to forsake your comfort. We typically want both simultaneously, 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:53.160 abs and no planks, a divine calling and no discomfort. 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:58.120 But coming into your calling means coming out of your 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:05.920 comfort zone, no certainty, no contract. Follow me and I 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:10.920 will show you as you go. That sounds almost exactly 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:14.960 like Abraham go to the land. I will show you. 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:20.440 That's an uncomfortable proposition. But if I'm gonna bless you 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.200 so you could be a blessing, you are going to 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.280 have to learn to be uncomfortable. I'm not going to 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:30.120 call you to do something that is outside of your competency. 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:34.400 I'm gonna use what you're good at. I'm not gonna 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:38.959 put you on the voice. If you can't sing, please 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:40.840 bless us by keeping it in the shower. If you 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:43.160 can't sing, you see what I'm saying. It's not beyond 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:45.560 your competency, but it's going to be beyond your comfort. 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:50.319 You're gonna feel stretched by this. And so they didn't move. 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:55.640 One interesting thing is they didn't move or relocate. Instead, 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.839 the call of God was for them to repent. This 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:02.360 word does not mean really bad about yourself. It means 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:07.080 change your mind, to change the way you think about 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:09.160 the reason that you're here, and to change the way 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:11.880 that you think about what you're going through, and to 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.400 change the way you think about who really is in 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.040 the seat of authority in your life. So follow me, 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:24.000 forsake the familiar, and walk in faith. The greatest enemy 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:28.959 of faith is not fear, It is familiarity. 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:31.319 Fear is an ally of faith. 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:34.240 Fear puts you in a place where you know you 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:37.720 need something greater than yourself, which makes connection with God possible. 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.000 Fear can lead to faith, but familiarity can keep you 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:49.040 stuck in predictable cycles that are pitiful. But because they're predictable, 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.520 you will stay in them unless something calls you out. 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:54.520 What was interesting to me. 0:12:54.520 --> 0:13:00.000 About this introductory context is that if you'll remember one time, 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:03.360 Peter had been fishing all night and he caught nothing, 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:04.959 and Jesus said, throw your nets and you'll catch a 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:07.400 lot of fish, and they did. I thought this was 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:10.600 that same time, because you know, there's four different gospels. 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:15.440 I did my research and found out that this was 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:20.000 the first time they were called, and so Jesus did 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:24.320 not call them out of their failure or frustration. What 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:28.440 they were doing was working, but there was a higher purpose. Now, 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:31.600 a lot of times it's easy for us to give 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:33.559 all that we have to Christ when we've come to. 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:35.280 The end of ourselves. 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.720 But when God calls you out of your success into 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:44.959 something sacrificial, will you still obey? 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:48.600 Will you come out of your comfort zone? 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:51.680 They knew how to fish, they were good at fishing. 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.480 They had a system set up by which their fishing 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:57.360 could put food on their table, and he called them 0:13:57.400 --> 0:13:59.360 out of their comfort zone. 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:00.880 Now, where they went next. 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:04.760 Is really critical to our understanding of the nature of 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.080 God's calling on our lives. Verse twenty one says they 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:08.400 went to Capernaum. 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:09.200 I've been there. 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:14.400 I've actually been to Capernaum, and our guide Aria said 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:15.600 that I was saying it wrong. 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:19.120 He said, not Copernaum, keffer Nahum. 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.440 Took me seven times to say it, and till he 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:28.960 was satisfied, he said, kefar ke far nahom nahm ke 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:34.640 far village nahom comforter. Like the minor prophet Nahom. He says, hey, 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:39.160 ke far ken far nahm. Now kevar cavar nahom stress on. 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:39.560 The k kep. 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:41.960 Don't matter what matters what it means, what it means 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:47.320 village of the comforter. In't that cool? He said, you 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:49.720 call it Copernaum, and you'd missed the whole point. 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:52.040 It means village. 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:57.920 Nahom comforter, village of the comforter. They went to Capernaum, 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:00.200 hold that it's really important to what I want to say. 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:03.680 They went to Kephar Nahum, and when the Sabbath came, 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:07.240 Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach as 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:08.200 a guest speaker. 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:13.640 This was customary. The people were amazed at his teaching. 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:18.160 Ooh, this is good preaching, pastor Amen, because he taught 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:21.480 them as one who had authority, not as the teachers. 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.440 Of the law. But remember I told you last week. 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:31.800 The greatest proclamation of the gospel is not explanation, it's demonstration. 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:35.320 I've said that in case you're not good with your words, 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:39.040 you might preach the gospel louder than me without saying 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:41.640 a thing, just by how you do your business, or 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:43.560 how you treat people, or how. 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:44.720 You respond to your wife. 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:48.920 So Jesus is proclaiming the word of God, explaining or teaching, 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:55.480 and they're amazed. Ooh wow, ahoh ah. Hashtag amazing, hashtag authority, 0:15:55.600 --> 0:16:01.240 hashtag this guy just then Verse twenty three, a man 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:08.320 in their synagogue, who's synagogue, who's synagogue. Jesus is just 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.120 a guest preacher. He's not the senior pastor. He's just 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:12.880 getting to Comperrenahim. Now he's going to base his whole 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:18.880 ministry out of Nahoum. He's going to do a couple 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:23.960 dozen miracles. Twenty two Biblical miracles are in Nahom, village 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.680 of the Comforter. And so Jesus comes and he calls 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.080 the disciples. He gets his circle right. He does not 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:33.000 call the people who make him comfortable. He calls the 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:38.560 people who will make him effective. Even to say that 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:43.960 coming into your calling means coming out of your comfort zone. 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.080 Should be validated by the fact that for. 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:50.560 Jesus to save you, he had to step out of heaven. 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:56.400 For Jesus to fulfill his calling as the lamb slain 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:59.680 from the foundation of the earth, he had to lay 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:04.000 the richest and glory of heaven aside. And here we 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:08.240 stand sometimes, and we we will not step away from 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:14.440 our heated seats and luxury lives and broken beliefs long 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.640 enough to get outside of our comfort zone and step. 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:19.280 Into our calling. 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:23.000 Well, now Jesus is in Copernium, but he does not 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:25.280 come just to comfort the people. 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.359 He comes to confront. 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.760 The system that has imprisoned the people. 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:34.880 What happens next has never. 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:36.840 Happened to me in a sermon, and I pray that 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:37.600 it doesn't. 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:39.720 Just then, I've had a lot of stuff happen while 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:41.560 I preach. I've had people get up and walk out. 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:43.560 I don't know if they're mad or had a full bladder, 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:45.119 I don't know, but I've had people. 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:46.040 Get up and walk out. 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.359 I've had people say weird things, dearing my sermon, Do 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:50.640 weird things dear my sermon? Never had this, and please 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:53.879 don't try today. Just then, a man in their synagogue 0:17:54.240 --> 0:18:00.439 who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out. Just 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:04.760 then a man who was in their synagogue. Now, listen, 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:07.760 you don't just go to synagogue because you feel like 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:11.280 it every first Sunday or on Easter and Christmas. He 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:14.960 was a part of their synagogue, so it stands to 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:18.880 reason he had been there many times before. He had 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:22.639 sat and listened to the teaching and instruction. As little 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:25.240 as we know about him, we have reason to believe 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:29.359 he was a regular. A man in their synagogue who 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:35.199 was possessed by an evil spirit or an unclean spirit, 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.760 or maybe your version of Bible says a demon or 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:43.000 the King James says, a devil. It doesn't matter what 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:48.800 you call it. It was dysfunctional. Something dysfunctional in this 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:55.120 man stood up when Jesus spoke. Something dysfunctional in this 0:18:55.240 --> 0:19:00.600 man cried out when Jesus spoke with authority, and evil 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:06.080 spirit cried out, what do you want with us, Jesus 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.800 of Nazareth, have you come to destroy us? 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:15.159 I know who you are, the Holy One of God. 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:17.920 Be quiet, Jesus says, sternly. 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:19.400 Come out of him. 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:24.200 He didn't need a seance, he didn't need seven steps, 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:27.360 just the virtue of the power. 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:30.000 I feel like preaching the Bible today. 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:36.200 The power of his word made flesh in this man, 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:41.879 drove the dysfunction out of the man. Come out of him, 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:45.679 you unclean spirit. I don't think Jesus screamed it. I 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:48.439 don't think he had to. Real power can whisper and 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:51.440 get its point across. 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:54.919 The evil spirit shook. 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:58.720 Jesus didn't touch the man, but he started shaking, and 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:03.480 the man was violently convulsing on the floor. But even 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:05.280 though the demon put up a fight, it had to 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:11.120 come out when Jesus spoke. I can't tell if y'all 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:13.479 met me in church today or if I'm doing this 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:14.200 by myself. 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:17.600 Because I think we need to speak to some things. 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:21.440 In the presence of God today that have occupied space 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:27.080 in our spirit and in our minds, and in our families, 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:32.560 and in our schools and in our generational bloodline. 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:34.080 Somebody shall come out. 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:42.639 And the spirit came out with a shriek. The power 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.040 of God is not always pretty. See this man is 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:49.000 shaking on the floor. We just want a nice clean 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:53.320 pat with roses and chrysanthemums, and we walk down the 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:57.359 aisle and accept Jesus and everything is all right. But 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:00.280 some stuff in your life will not come out less 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:01.119 it is confronted. 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:05.200 It has to be confronted or it will not come out. 0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:10.480 Shout it again in the back, come out, come out. 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:13.200 And the spirit obeyed Jesus. 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:16.439 What I can't figure out, and this is what I've 0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:19.000 been studying this week in preparation for our time together, 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:24.000 is why this man was able to sit in their 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:30.880 synagogue for so long, and the evil spirit was comfortable 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:40.000 in church. But when Jesus showed up, I said, when 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:44.920 Jesus showed up, when the Son of God showed up. 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:48.239 I'm not preaching this one for everybody. This is just 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:52.359 for a fuel of y'all. When Jesus shows up, power 0:21:52.480 --> 0:21:56.720 shows up. When Jesus shows up, Demon's trimple. 0:21:57.160 --> 0:21:58.720 When Jesus shows. 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:03.359 Up, dysfunction, nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. And 0:22:03.440 --> 0:22:07.560 we came to declare today to every evil sphearing in 0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:22.960 our city, come out in the navel Jesus, how many 0:22:23.040 --> 0:22:29.679 times had he been to church possessed by this demon? 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:31.159 Don't get caught up on demon. I know some of 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:33.240 y'all are so scared right now looking for the exist 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:37.360 We're not gonna do anything like that. If you make 0:22:37.440 --> 0:22:45.600 this Bible passage about demons. You missed the entire demonstration 0:22:47.040 --> 0:22:50.040 of authority because we don't call it demons anymore. In 0:22:50.080 --> 0:22:52.959 the ancient world, everything was a demon, running nose demon. 0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:58.440 I'm serious. Mental illness was demon. They didn't have tests 0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:00.879 and pills and all this. It was just a demon. 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:05.560 Now do demons still exist today? Yes? But do we 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:07.080 call them dysfunctions instead? 0:23:07.880 --> 0:23:13.359 All right, I won't do it, but I was thinking 0:23:13.359 --> 0:23:14.800 about having you raise your hand if you came from 0:23:14.800 --> 0:23:17.320 a dysfunctional family. Reason I won't do it Number one 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:20.840 might cause you some tense conversations on the way home. 0:23:21.600 --> 0:23:26.479 I'm looking out for my teenagers. But I did it 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:27.639 one time. I did it one time. I said how 0:23:27.680 --> 0:23:29.280 he came from a dysfunctional family, and I thought I 0:23:29.280 --> 0:23:35.560 would minister to twenty percent of the room. Every hand. 0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:37.200 Went up. 0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:45.719 When I think about the dysfunctions in my life, I 0:23:45.720 --> 0:23:49.399 have to be honest with you. I don't like to 0:23:49.440 --> 0:23:53.800 say this, but some of my dysfunctions I've really learned 0:23:53.800 --> 0:23:59.520 to love. I don't love the dysfunctions. I don't love 0:23:59.560 --> 0:24:02.560 the devil. I love sin, but sometimes I love the 0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:03.399 way it makes me feel. 0:24:05.400 --> 0:24:08.600 That was too real for him. 0:24:08.640 --> 0:24:10.440 You know, I church people are if you say anything 0:24:10.480 --> 0:24:13.080 that resembles real life, they stop shouting. If you put 0:24:13.119 --> 0:24:14.480 Jesus on a horse coming out the. 0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:15.360 Clouds, they shout. 0:24:16.040 --> 0:24:22.199 But when you say stuff like this, dysfunction can be comfortable, right, 0:24:24.119 --> 0:24:31.160 dysfunction can dysfunction can be a snuggie. I mean, if 0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:33.800 you really want to feel good, quick, let me tell 0:24:33.800 --> 0:24:38.240 you the best way to do it. Criticize somebody women. 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:46.879 Can we talk about this? How fun it is to 0:24:46.960 --> 0:24:48.000 be critical of others? 0:24:49.760 --> 0:24:56.159 It is amazing how quickly my dysfunction. 0:24:56.640 --> 0:25:00.439 Is swallowed up when I picked somebody who has a 0:25:00.480 --> 0:25:05.080 different dysfunction that I don't happen to struggle with and 0:25:05.320 --> 0:25:09.199 put all of my energy rather than confronting my own dysfunction. 0:25:10.200 --> 0:25:12.920 If I can spend five minutes judging yours. 0:25:12.960 --> 0:25:18.919 Come on, can we be honest? It's fun. Listen, It's fun. 0:25:19.240 --> 0:25:22.160 That's why they call it this fun sun. 0:25:25.040 --> 0:25:28.720 It's fun. It's fun to talk about all other people's apparent. 0:25:30.560 --> 0:25:32.720 It's amazing to talk about all other people just spend 0:25:32.760 --> 0:25:34.119 their money on what you would do if you were 0:25:34.200 --> 0:25:35.000 sounded down dull. 0:25:35.320 --> 0:25:47.399 It's amazing. I love it. I love my dysfunction the 0:25:47.440 --> 0:25:50.200 way that it comforts me. I love. 0:25:50.840 --> 0:25:56.879 Here's my favorite dysfunction. I love to indulge my insecurities. 0:25:59.000 --> 0:26:03.440 It feels humble, but really what it does It gives 0:26:03.480 --> 0:26:12.760 me an excuse to not fulfill my calling. But it's comfortable. 0:26:14.280 --> 0:26:16.200 So rather than come up to the level God has 0:26:16.200 --> 0:26:21.000 called me to, I indulge the insecurity. That's just the 0:26:21.040 --> 0:26:25.040 way I am. 0:26:25.160 --> 0:26:28.480 What'd you say? What did you say? Come out of? 0:26:28.520 --> 0:26:28.600 What? 0:26:29.119 --> 0:26:30.400 Come out of? 0:26:30.400 --> 0:26:33.280 The insecurity that has imprisoned you? 0:26:34.200 --> 0:26:35.280 This is a word for. 0:26:35.359 --> 0:26:40.640 Somebody who has gotten comfortable in your dysfunction. 0:26:42.520 --> 0:26:46.920 In fact, I want to take you to. 0:26:47.280 --> 0:26:51.280 Another passage real quick that shows you the devil's strategy. 0:26:51.400 --> 0:26:53.240 How many of you would like to know the devil's 0:26:53.280 --> 0:26:56.560 strategy for keeping you defeated? Three of y'all? 0:26:56.600 --> 0:27:01.240 All right, I'm gonna do it for three, three of y'all. 0:27:01.320 --> 0:27:02.320 Because Paul. 0:27:03.600 --> 0:27:06.800 Writes something in Second Corinthians chapter one that I have 0:27:06.920 --> 0:27:12.520 always loved as a counseling scripture. When people are going 0:27:12.560 --> 0:27:15.320 through hard things, I will often share this verse with them, 0:27:15.320 --> 0:27:18.639 because really the whole passage is good, but two verses 0:27:18.680 --> 0:27:20.960 in particular, where it talks about. 0:27:20.760 --> 0:27:23.879 How sometimes when you go through something in your life. 0:27:23.880 --> 0:27:26.520 You're not going through it for you, But there is 0:27:26.560 --> 0:27:28.760 somebody who will go through something that will need what 0:27:28.800 --> 0:27:30.960 you will have after you get through what you're going through, 0:27:31.000 --> 0:27:33.439 and you will have it to give them. It is 0:27:33.480 --> 0:27:37.760 the function of comfort. It is the function of comfort. 0:27:37.800 --> 0:27:41.840 Comfort has a specific function. The comfort of Christ comes 0:27:41.880 --> 0:27:45.040 into our life not so that we can only be comforted, 0:27:45.160 --> 0:27:48.639 but that we can comfort others. If you search the 0:27:48.640 --> 0:27:52.879 scripture for comfort, you will find many commands to comfort others, 0:27:52.920 --> 0:27:55.439 and you will find many promises that God will comfort you, 0:27:55.800 --> 0:28:02.640 but you will never find permission to comfort yourself. What 0:28:02.680 --> 0:28:05.760 the devil wants us to do is to learn to 0:28:06.200 --> 0:28:12.600 run for comfort and cover to places outside of our calling, 0:28:13.640 --> 0:28:16.760 so that he can keep us comfortable in our dysfunction, 0:28:17.880 --> 0:28:21.119 so that we will never see our destiny come to pass. 0:28:22.440 --> 0:28:25.359 When Paul says it, he says, praise be to the 0:28:25.400 --> 0:28:29.600 God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father 0:28:29.720 --> 0:28:33.320 of compassion and the God of all comfort. Well, see, 0:28:33.359 --> 0:28:36.280 Pastor Stephen, you said that Jesus didn't come to comfort us, 0:28:36.359 --> 0:28:39.160 and there Paul says that he did. And so I'm 0:28:39.160 --> 0:28:41.560 going with Paul. Hang on for another verse. And see 0:28:41.560 --> 0:28:43.000 if you still want to sit there and argue with 0:28:43.040 --> 0:28:45.040 me after I've been all up in these books all week. 0:28:45.680 --> 0:28:52.560 Verse four says, who comforts us in all our dysfunction? 0:28:55.320 --> 0:28:56.880 No, see, that's what the devil does. 0:28:59.080 --> 0:29:05.000 The devil wants to comfort you in your dysfunction until 0:29:05.320 --> 0:29:10.440 you no longer see it as a problem, until it 0:29:10.520 --> 0:29:14.920 becomes so normal that you can go to church with 0:29:15.040 --> 0:29:19.240 an evil spirit and take it to lunch and take notes, 0:29:19.920 --> 0:29:26.240 but not take action. But Christ came to confront your dysfunction. 0:29:29.160 --> 0:29:30.640 Praise be to the. 0:29:30.600 --> 0:29:33.080 God and Father of our Lord. Jeis Christ, Father Compassion, 0:29:33.480 --> 0:29:36.080 who comforts us in all our Give me the verse 0:29:36.400 --> 0:29:43.680 all our trouble, all our trouble. Comfort can become dysfunctional 0:29:43.800 --> 0:29:45.240 when we get it from the wrong place. 0:29:47.400 --> 0:29:53.120 Some of us have comfort foods. Way, look at it me. 0:29:55.960 --> 0:29:59.040 Like you never ate the whole bag. Okay, let me 0:29:59.080 --> 0:30:02.160 try another route, since you're gonna be all dietary about 0:30:02.160 --> 0:30:07.880 this point. Some of us have comfort friends. Here we 0:30:07.920 --> 0:30:11.560 go help me, holy ghosts. I feel demons striking while 0:30:11.560 --> 0:30:12.400 I appreci this word. 0:30:13.040 --> 0:30:14.640 Some of us have people. 0:30:14.320 --> 0:30:17.520 In our lives who are good to us, but they're 0:30:17.560 --> 0:30:18.480 not good for us. 0:30:23.000 --> 0:30:25.400 I don't mean to call you out. 0:30:25.880 --> 0:30:29.760 But could it be possible that your comfort is keeping 0:30:29.800 --> 0:30:35.560 you from your calling, That you have put yourself in 0:30:35.640 --> 0:30:41.520 a space that seems safe, but you are sabotaging, silencing 0:30:41.560 --> 0:30:45.640 the power of God in your life because you love comfort. 0:30:47.520 --> 0:30:49.280 Praise me to the God and Father of our Lord, 0:30:49.320 --> 0:30:51.040 Jesus Christ, father of all compassion and the God of a. 0:30:51.080 --> 0:30:54.240 Comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles. 0:30:55.960 --> 0:31:00.880 In all our troubles, you mean God will use to 0:31:00.920 --> 0:31:07.680 bring me comfort. Yes, and not only that, but God 0:31:07.760 --> 0:31:09.800 will disrupt my comfort. 0:31:10.920 --> 0:31:13.120 To confront my dysfunction. 0:31:16.520 --> 0:31:21.160 So when I'm going through trouble, let me be a 0:31:21.200 --> 0:31:28.200 little slower to ask God to rebuke the devil. Maybe 0:31:28.240 --> 0:31:35.880 the trouble is the means of transformation. When God calls 0:31:35.880 --> 0:31:39.960 you out. Sometimes it is uncomfortable. 0:31:42.480 --> 0:31:42.880 Sometimes. 0:31:42.960 --> 0:31:44.760 The way I gauge the presence of God when I'm 0:31:44.800 --> 0:31:50.280 preaching is by how uncomfortable people look in their seats. 0:31:50.280 --> 0:31:51.520 I didn't do that when I first started preaching. 0:31:51.520 --> 0:31:53.120 When I first iarp preaching, I thought they clapped I. 0:31:53.000 --> 0:31:53.360 Was doing good. 0:31:53.400 --> 0:32:03.080 Now I understand when you squirm. My favorite is when 0:32:03.120 --> 0:32:07.920 the Holy Spirit has you pinned so up against your 0:32:08.000 --> 0:32:12.640 chair and I'm like about to send the medical team 0:32:12.680 --> 0:32:15.600 to check your pulse. That's when the presence of God came, 0:32:15.640 --> 0:32:23.680 when you got most uncomfortable. As long as we associate 0:32:23.800 --> 0:32:30.719 Jesus with comfort, we will miss him. Because Jesus comes 0:32:32.280 --> 0:32:42.280 to confront, not to condemn. There's a difference. Confrontation has 0:32:42.320 --> 0:32:47.160 the intent and the means to change you. Condemnation does 0:32:47.200 --> 0:32:50.120 not God soul of the word. He gave a son 0:32:50.320 --> 0:32:52.680 not to condemn the world, but that the world through 0:32:52.760 --> 0:32:55.560 him might be saved. The spirit of Christ is not 0:32:55.600 --> 0:32:57.920 to condemn, but the spirit of Christ. 0:32:57.640 --> 0:33:01.480 Will confront, confront. 0:33:02.640 --> 0:33:06.840 And my question today is what have we allowed to 0:33:06.920 --> 0:33:13.280 become too comfortable in our presence to occupy space that 0:33:13.440 --> 0:33:18.160 belongs to God. That man sat in their synagogue week 0:33:18.240 --> 0:33:21.719 after week, day after day, and the demon said nothing 0:33:22.400 --> 0:33:23.600 until Jesus came. 0:33:23.960 --> 0:33:27.440 The evil spirit the dysfunction stayed silent. 0:33:27.920 --> 0:33:32.040 But the proof of the presence of God is not 0:33:32.280 --> 0:33:35.719 always comfortable feelings. Sometimes the proof of the presence of 0:33:35.760 --> 0:33:41.840 God is disruption. Sometimes the proof of the presence of God. 0:33:42.160 --> 0:33:43.320 Is that one thing in. 0:33:43.240 --> 0:33:47.000 Your life dies so that something else can come alive. 0:33:50.680 --> 0:33:53.400 I don't think we recognize him when he comes because 0:33:53.440 --> 0:33:56.200 we don't understand what he came for. But I'll show 0:33:56.200 --> 0:33:59.040 you one thing that demons knew more about who Jesus 0:33:59.160 --> 0:34:03.720 was than the churchece did. When Jesus spoke, they said, oh, 0:34:04.480 --> 0:34:07.760 you came to get rid of us. Oh this is 0:34:07.840 --> 0:34:12.160 our eviction. Notice, Oh this is the promised one. The 0:34:12.280 --> 0:34:15.520 church people were still taking notes, and the demons were 0:34:15.520 --> 0:34:20.200 popping prozac. Because the demons know the name at which 0:34:20.280 --> 0:34:24.200 every name must bow, the name at which every tongue 0:34:24.280 --> 0:34:28.400 must confess. That Jesus Christ is Lord. And if he 0:34:28.560 --> 0:34:31.480 is Lord, fear has got to go. And if he 0:34:31.640 --> 0:34:32.960 is Lord, turn. 0:34:32.800 --> 0:34:33.600 This back up. 0:34:33.920 --> 0:34:37.040 And if he is Lord and has the keys of death, 0:34:37.080 --> 0:34:48.520 Hell and the Gray, there is nothing. I think we 0:34:48.600 --> 0:34:50.840 get too comfortable sometimes with our dysfunction. 0:34:52.760 --> 0:34:53.720 I do. I think we. 0:34:55.080 --> 0:34:57.239 The devil doesn't want us to get uncomfortable because then 0:34:57.280 --> 0:35:03.200 we would change. So he will make it so comfortable 0:35:03.239 --> 0:35:06.160 for us to be dysfunctional that we don't seek anything different. 0:35:09.040 --> 0:35:10.640 I don't hear a lot of people get into baptism 0:35:10.719 --> 0:35:15.520 tank and say, you know, I got a raise, I 0:35:15.560 --> 0:35:20.839 got married, The ring was seven carrots, and I went 0:35:20.880 --> 0:35:24.279 to elevation. I hear a lot of times where they 0:35:24.280 --> 0:35:31.040 say something shifted in my life. I lost something, I 0:35:31.080 --> 0:35:34.600 went through something, I faced the consequence of something, and 0:35:34.680 --> 0:35:41.920 at that point in my discomfort, God used my trouble 0:35:42.680 --> 0:35:46.800 to confront my dysfunction. So can I say something to 0:35:46.840 --> 0:35:48.320 everybody who's in trouble today. 0:35:49.360 --> 0:35:52.960 This is not just a test, This is a confrontation. 0:35:53.680 --> 0:35:57.520 This is an opportunity that God wants to use to 0:35:57.640 --> 0:36:01.239 confront what you have called normal and to call you. 0:36:01.280 --> 0:36:02.440 Into something greater. 0:36:03.040 --> 0:36:06.239 I believe the spirit of Jesus Christ is in you. 0:36:06.560 --> 0:36:09.160 And if the Spirit of Christ is in you, greater 0:36:09.360 --> 0:36:12.520 is he that is in you than he that is 0:36:12.560 --> 0:36:15.600 in the world. So we're going to take eighteen seconds 0:36:15.800 --> 0:36:20.480 and issue the command to every insecurity, to every fear, 0:36:21.120 --> 0:36:26.360 to every doubt, to every regret, come out in the 0:36:26.440 --> 0:36:29.480 enable Jesus. 0:36:35.680 --> 0:36:36.640 I will not. 0:36:37.120 --> 0:36:42.279 Become comfortable in the darkness when God has called me 0:36:42.360 --> 0:36:47.480 into the light. That's what the devil's telling his demons. 0:36:47.600 --> 0:36:53.279 Keep them comfortable, Keep them comfortable, keep them comfortable, keep 0:36:53.320 --> 0:36:57.000 them comfortable, Keep them so comfortable that what I died 0:36:57.040 --> 0:37:01.759 to set them free from will take up residence in them. 0:37:02.880 --> 0:37:05.040 Keep them comfortable. 0:37:06.040 --> 0:37:09.440 One of my friends gave me some good advice, because 0:37:09.480 --> 0:37:12.080 I was telling him something that somebody said about me 0:37:12.120 --> 0:37:13.279 that I heard through somebody else. 0:37:13.520 --> 0:37:16.880 How dysfunctional is this? He said? 0:37:17.800 --> 0:37:19.880 He said, how did how did you find out that 0:37:19.960 --> 0:37:22.200 they said it? I said, well, the person told me 0:37:22.520 --> 0:37:25.080 that somebody told them. 0:37:25.120 --> 0:37:26.920 And he said, oh, okay, Well here's what to do 0:37:26.960 --> 0:37:27.279 about that. 0:37:27.760 --> 0:37:31.200 Don't ask the person what the other person said about 0:37:31.200 --> 0:37:37.640 you next time, ask them why that person felt comfortable 0:37:38.080 --> 0:37:47.280 saying it about you to them. I never had anybody 0:37:47.280 --> 0:37:50.040 say anything bad to me about Holly. I don't think 0:37:50.040 --> 0:37:51.320 they would feel very comfortable. 0:37:56.480 --> 0:38:01.480 So what did I do? What was it? Capernaum compernaum, 0:38:01.480 --> 0:38:03.680 the village of the comforter. 0:38:05.520 --> 0:38:10.560 Were they so comfortable in their religion that they missed 0:38:10.560 --> 0:38:12.200 the revelation of Jesus Christ? 0:38:13.680 --> 0:38:14.640 You know what's sad? 0:38:14.880 --> 0:38:18.000 Capernaum is the place keffer nahum, sorry sorry, sor sir 0:38:18.560 --> 0:38:21.239 ke for naeum. 0:38:21.360 --> 0:38:23.319 That's how we say it. That's the authentic way that 0:38:23.400 --> 0:38:24.440 we say it. Okay. 0:38:26.080 --> 0:38:30.360 It was the place where Jesus based his ministry, and 0:38:30.400 --> 0:38:33.080 it was the place that he cursed before his ministry 0:38:33.160 --> 0:38:38.360 was over. In Matthew eleven, he gave some woes, actually 0:38:38.400 --> 0:38:40.560 wanted to give them verse twenty two, because it's important 0:38:40.560 --> 0:38:41.320 to the context. 0:38:42.239 --> 0:38:44.399 Matthew eleven twenty You got it. 0:38:45.719 --> 0:38:49.719 Jesus began to denounce the cities here it is in 0:38:49.760 --> 0:38:53.560 which most of his miracles had been performed, because they 0:38:53.600 --> 0:39:00.319 did not change their minds they saw the miracles, did 0:39:00.360 --> 0:39:05.800 not change their mind and their direction. The third city 0:39:06.000 --> 0:39:11.759 that he renounced or denounced is a city called Copernaum, 0:39:12.040 --> 0:39:14.960 the place where he lived, the place where he based 0:39:14.960 --> 0:39:18.000 out of, and the place where he most mightily displayed 0:39:18.080 --> 0:39:19.800 his glory. And look what he says about them in 0:39:19.880 --> 0:39:27.720 verse twenty three. And you Capernaum kephar Nahum, village of 0:39:27.760 --> 0:39:29.920 the Comforter, Will you. 0:39:29.880 --> 0:39:31.239 Be lifted up to the skies? 0:39:31.320 --> 0:39:34.000 After all that you've seen, after all that you've been 0:39:34.000 --> 0:39:39.680 exposed to, after hosting the presence of the eternal living 0:39:39.680 --> 0:39:43.120 Word of God, will you be lifted up? 0:39:44.160 --> 0:39:47.800 No, you will go down to the depths. 0:39:47.800 --> 0:39:52.080 If the miracles that were performed in you had been 0:39:52.120 --> 0:39:54.480 performed in Sodom, that wicked city that was judged for 0:39:54.520 --> 0:40:00.719 its pride and arrogance, it would have remained to this day. 0:40:02.160 --> 0:40:04.400 But I tell you it will be more bearable for 0:40:04.440 --> 0:40:07.040 Sodom on the day of judgment than for you. Why 0:40:07.120 --> 0:40:15.600 because you got too comfortable. You got too comfortable. Your 0:40:15.719 --> 0:40:20.960 name was a prophecy of what would ultimately be your undoing. 0:40:23.120 --> 0:40:28.400 When I love comfort more than I love Christ, and 0:40:28.440 --> 0:40:32.080 I run for comfort, I run from calling. 0:40:32.520 --> 0:40:34.840 You will not be lifted up. You will be brought. 0:40:34.640 --> 0:40:41.000 Down because you ran to comfort outside of Christ. You 0:40:41.080 --> 0:40:44.200 ran to religion, You ran to others, You ran to 0:40:44.280 --> 0:40:48.520 familiar fears. You ran back into insecurity, and you will. 0:40:48.600 --> 0:40:56.320 Not experience your calling because you got stuck in your comfort. 0:40:57.800 --> 0:41:01.759 Are you stuck in your comfort? Has it become dysfunctional? 0:41:03.239 --> 0:41:06.319 Have you learned to tolerate things in your life? The 0:41:06.360 --> 0:41:10.359 works of the devil that Jesus came to destroy. He 0:41:10.440 --> 0:41:13.520 came to save us from our sin, but he also 0:41:13.600 --> 0:41:14.840 came to set us free from it. 0:41:16.200 --> 0:41:17.960 And the spirit of Christ is in this place. 0:41:19.360 --> 0:41:21.880 And you don't have to stay stuck in comfortable dysfunction 0:41:22.680 --> 0:41:23.359 another day. 0:41:25.320 --> 0:41:25.520 You know. 0:41:25.560 --> 0:41:27.040 I don't think it has to be loud, and I 0:41:27.040 --> 0:41:29.320 don't think we have to scream and shout sometimes Sometimes 0:41:29.320 --> 0:41:33.319 I think the loudest response is a decision in your 0:41:33.320 --> 0:41:41.040 heart to say I am going to confront this, come out, 0:41:43.600 --> 0:41:50.160 Come out for you who have been living in the 0:41:50.239 --> 0:41:54.200 year twenty and eleven, in twenty twelve and the relationship 0:41:54.200 --> 0:41:58.799 that didn't work, come out. For you who have been 0:41:58.840 --> 0:42:03.879 living in the of an event that has passed, come out. 0:42:05.520 --> 0:42:08.120 For you who have been living in a complacent place 0:42:08.920 --> 0:42:12.600 of mediocre faith and lukewarm. 0:42:12.160 --> 0:42:20.279 Commitment to Jesus, come out. He's in the place. This 0:42:20.320 --> 0:42:22.200 is an eviction notice. 0:42:24.080 --> 0:42:27.480 To let everything in our lives that is keeping us 0:42:27.560 --> 0:42:29.799 from the high calling of God in Christ. Jesus know, 0:42:31.120 --> 0:42:36.400 we serve notice on you this day. We serve notice 0:42:36.440 --> 0:42:42.279 on you, this moment. We serve notice on you in 0:42:42.320 --> 0:42:44.360 the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. 0:42:45.520 --> 0:42:50.080 We're coming out of our dysfunction. We are coming out 0:42:50.800 --> 0:42:51.879 of our excuses. 0:42:52.320 --> 0:42:55.320 We are coming out of our complacency. 0:42:55.480 --> 0:42:59.799 We are coming out. I'm coming out. 0:43:02.000 --> 0:43:05.680 I don't want the comfort that comes from dysfunction. I 0:43:05.719 --> 0:43:07.840 want the comfort that comes from God. 0:43:08.080 --> 0:43:09.719 And if the spirit of the Lord is. 0:43:09.680 --> 0:43:12.879 Here, there is liberty here to break every chain. 0:43:13.400 --> 0:43:14.560 Come out in the name of. 0:43:14.560 --> 0:43:22.160 Jeson if he came out of his grave. 0:43:22.680 --> 0:43:24.279 I'm coming out of mind. 0:43:33.320 --> 0:43:34.600 Praise me to the God and Father of our Lord, 0:43:34.680 --> 0:43:36.080 Jesus Christ, the God of all comfort. 0:43:36.320 --> 0:43:37.320 He is in this place. 0:43:37.560 --> 0:43:39.640 I want to pray for you right now on the 0:43:39.719 --> 0:43:41.960 level that God is speaking to you. I pray the 0:43:41.960 --> 0:43:44.920 Holy Spirit will give me accuracy. Yes, thank you for standing. 0:43:44.960 --> 0:43:46.879 I want you to stand right now. And if there's 0:43:46.960 --> 0:43:49.799 something that God is speaking to you about in your life. 0:43:49.880 --> 0:43:51.920 That is dysfunctional. 0:43:52.800 --> 0:43:56.319 That you have become comfortable with, and you want to 0:43:56.680 --> 0:44:00.719 pray a really crazy prayer today that God would disrupt 0:44:00.719 --> 0:44:05.040 your comfort to confront your dysfunction so that you can 0:44:05.040 --> 0:44:08.480 behole and have life more abundantly and not just go 0:44:08.560 --> 0:44:11.520 to heaven when you die one day, but know the 0:44:11.520 --> 0:44:13.880 fullness of the power of God on this earth. The 0:44:13.920 --> 0:44:16.200 Holy Spirit is in this place. The comforter is here. 0:44:17.280 --> 0:44:21.960 The Comforter is here. So if it's you, I want 0:44:21.960 --> 0:44:23.560 you to lift both your hands in the air like 0:44:23.600 --> 0:44:28.799 you're not ashamed of the presence of God. And see 0:44:28.840 --> 0:44:31.879 when you did that, you said something. You said, I'm 0:44:31.880 --> 0:44:36.640 coming out with my hands up. I'm coming out in 0:44:36.719 --> 0:44:40.880 full surrender. I'm not coming out in my own opinion 0:44:41.040 --> 0:44:43.360 or my own strength. I'm coming out in the power 0:44:43.440 --> 0:44:46.640 of God. And I declare and decree in this moment 0:44:46.760 --> 0:44:48.600 that the name of Jesus in the blood of Christ 0:44:48.840 --> 0:44:51.279 is greater than all that I've done. I declare that 0:44:51.280 --> 0:44:53.439 the blood of Jesus has spoken a better word over 0:44:53.440 --> 0:44:53.920 my life. 0:44:54.600 --> 0:44:55.759 Now, God, by the. 0:44:55.719 --> 0:44:58.280 Authority that you have invested in me, by the power 0:44:58.320 --> 0:45:00.400 of your word and the name of Jesus Us, and 0:45:00.440 --> 0:45:01.040 the gift. 0:45:00.840 --> 0:45:03.320 Of your Holy Spirit, to preach the Gospel. 0:45:03.160 --> 0:45:06.239 I command everything that is not like you to come 0:45:06.280 --> 0:45:08.960 out of your sons and daughters. Everything that has kept 0:45:08.960 --> 0:45:12.120 them bound, everything that has kept them broken, everything that 0:45:12.120 --> 0:45:14.560 has kept them depressed, everything that has kept them in 0:45:14.600 --> 0:45:15.839 cycles of dysfunction, that. 0:45:15.800 --> 0:45:16.680 They cannot break. 0:45:16.920 --> 0:45:19.840 We declare right now, in the name of Jesus, change 0:45:19.880 --> 0:45:20.480 are breaking. 0:45:20.840 --> 0:45:23.000 Miracle working power is in this place. 0:45:23.440 --> 0:45:28.920 Evil spirits come out, evil spirits come out, Thoughts up 0:45:28.920 --> 0:45:32.839 to see come out, Discouragement come out. In the name 0:45:32.920 --> 0:45:34.920 of Jesus. Shames are falling. 0:45:35.160 --> 0:45:38.720 In the presence of a mighty God, one greater than April, 0:45:38.760 --> 0:45:39.600 have one. 0:45:39.560 --> 0:45:40.640 Greater than Moses. 0:45:40.960 --> 0:45:44.880 The name of Jesus, the name and wish every need will. 0:45:44.800 --> 0:45:50.840 Plow every talk to us. Jesus Christ is God. Jesus 0:45:51.719 --> 0:45:58.040 declare that death. Thank you for joining us. 0:45:58.320 --> 0:46:00.799 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:46:00.840 --> 0:46:04.360 this ministry is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:46:04.800 --> 0:46:07.000 You can click the link in the description to give 0:46:07.080 --> 0:46:11.239 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:46:11.239 --> 0:46:15.040 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:46:15.320 --> 0:46:16.640 You can share it with your friends. 0:46:16.960 --> 0:46:19.239 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:46:19.280 --> 0:46:21.399 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:46:21.400 --> 0:46:22.279 Elevation Church. 0:46:22.320 --> 0:46:28.920 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.