Flip The Bag

0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:04.480 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:06.760 Church and this is our podcast and I wanted to 0:00:06.760 --> 0:00:09.719 thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:12.280 Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:20.200 to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:23.599 Part four is usually the best when it comes to 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.200 rocky movies, and this is part four of the Kingdom 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:29.320 Cloud series. I want to share some time today in 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:32.320 Matthew chapter twenty five. Please find that always look it 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:34.000 up on your phone if you can. That way you 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:35.960 can highlight what I say that matters to you, go 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:37.760 back and see it in the week, and that way 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:41.440 you can kind of record or bring if you want 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:44.520 to bring the real paper the scrolls with you to church, 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.600 You're always welcome to do that as well. I got 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:51.200 this big old Bible, y'all. When I preach from this one, 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:55.240 it's a heavy sermon. Abby calls this Bible fat cat. 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:58.639 So the deal is, I'm supposed to give her this one. 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:01.960 She's ten. I preach through each Bible for a few years, 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:03.680 then give it to one of the kids. So Abby 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:05.959 gets this one here in a few years but I 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.240 get to put a few more miles on it, including 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:11.399 tonight with Matthew chapter twenty five, or this morning if 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:15.600 you're watching it another time at another location. So much 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:21.520 to consider. This passage may be familiar to you as 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:25.440 the parable of the Talents, It's pretty well known, pretty 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:29.200 well known passage. I was so excited when God gave 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:31.760 me permission to preach it. I have to feel a 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.160 scripture to preach it. I don't have to feel it 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:36.400 for it to be true, but I have to have 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:40.319 a personal connection to preach it with integrity. And so 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:42.560 when I saw this this week, I was like, Oh, 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:49.520 let's go. Let's go, because I love it. Being a parable, 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.400 of course, has a confluence of the practical application for 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:57.240 our lives as well as theological construct to help us 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:01.720 understand God. So it really addresses both realms. And the 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.640 Kingdom of God is always concerned not only with eternity, 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:11.560 but with groceries, migrains. The Kingdom of God is concerned 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:17.960 with grades and scholarships and the things that you really 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:21.400 care about. God cares about too. So we might be 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:25.160 surprised to see God presented in this light. For all 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:29.920 of us who only think of him as being a 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:34.920 god who focuses on peace. He speaks here in this 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:39.079 parable about prophet not profit like you know, I'm a prophet, 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.320 not that kind of prophet, not with the pH profit 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:48.560 like money. But he's using it for an illustration to 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:51.040 get us to think about something deeper. So that's how 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:54.240 parable works. And in this parable, I want to just 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:56.920 read the whole thing to you and you just relax. 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.320 I know you've probably heard it before. Let's just go 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:03.600 over it again to cover old ground. But when I 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:06.639 read it this time, I'm going to say it. I'm 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.240 going to say a little bit differently, just to help 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:11.760 us see what God wants to illuminate today. Again. It 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:14.959 will be verse fourteen like a man. So when he 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:17.160 says it will be, he's talking about the Kingdom of God. 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:20.440 It's a succession of parables where he's talking about the 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:23.840 importance of being prepared. It will be. The Kingdom of 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:26.080 God will be because you can't see it, so I've 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.200 got to tell you what it's like. It's like a 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:33.440 man who is going on a journey who called his 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:37.200 servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one, he 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:42.080 gave five bags of gold to another two bags, and 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:46.280 to another one bag. So commonly in the King James 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:50.160 they use the word talent, which is a weight. It's 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:54.120 a measuring weight, a talent, not meaning like a gift 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:58.200 and ability. Now in the thirteenth century, our English concept 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:01.000 that came from the Latin concept of talent was derived 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.920 from this. But here it is a measurement of weight. 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:07.440 So when it says bags of gold, they're kind of 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:11.840 the translators here are giving us an image of what 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:13.920 the talent would be like. He says five bags of 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:17.240 gold or five talents. Two bags of gold, two talents, 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:20.080 one bag of gold, one talent. Now hold on to that, 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.360 and let's keep reading. The man who had received five 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:27.560 bags of gold Verse sixteen went at once and put 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:30.599 his money to work, and gained five bags more So 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:33.440 also the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:37.760 But the man who had received one bag went off, 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:42.599 dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.880 After a long time, the master of those servants returned 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:50.039 and settled accounts with them. The man who had received 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:55.039 five bags of gold brought the other five. Master. He said, 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:59.000 you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See I 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:02.680 have gained five. I have more, show off. But his 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:05.599 master wasn't mad about it. He was proud of him. 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:09.120 He did what he was supposed to do. His master replied, 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.839 well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful with 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:15.320 a few things. Few things. I'll put you in charge 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:18.120 of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. The 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.119 man with two bags of gold also came Master. He said, 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:23.880 you entrusted me with two bags of gold. See I 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:28.159 have gained two more. His master replied, well done, good 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:30.560 and faithful servant. You have been faithful with the few things. 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:33.640 I will put you in charge of many things. Come 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:37.800 and share your master's happiness. Then the man who had 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:42.240 received one bag of gold came Master. He said, I 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:46.160 knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:49.239 have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:51.280 This is a weird way to suck up to the boss. 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:57.000 So I was afraid went out and hid your gold 0:05:57.000 --> 0:06:00.520 in the ground. I wonder what gold is in the 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:04.960 ground because of fear in this room today, and as 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.080 I posed that question, I want us to consider the 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:10.920 master's reaction. He said, here is what belongs to you, 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:18.640 and his master replied, you wicked, lazy servant. Yikes, Jesus, 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:23.200 this is what God is like. So you knew that 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:25.920 I harvest where I have not sown, and gather where 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:29.160 I have not scattered seed, Well, then you should have 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:32.520 put my money on deposit with the bankers so that 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:35.480 when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:39.279 And let's stop with these verses. Verse twenty eight. So 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.400 take the bag of gold from him and give it 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.520 to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.280 will be given more, and they will have an abundance. 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.920 Whoever does not have, even what they have will be 0:06:54.960 --> 0:07:00.120 taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside in 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.520 to the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:09.040 of teeth. This seems harsh, Pastor Stephen, I'm just reading 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:14.200 the Bible you brought with you to church. Now, since 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:16.040 y'all didn't like verse thirty, let me back up to 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:19.600 verse twenty eight. Take the bag of gold from him 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:22.680 and give it to the one who has ten bags. 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:25.280 I'm gonna give you two titles for this message, and 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:27.920 you can choose the one you like better. If you 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.680 are a churchy person with a lot of religious tradition, 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:40.680 this sermon is called the Kingdom's Secrets of Stewardship. If 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:43.560 you like your sermons a little edgier, I want to 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:54.360 call this message flip the bag. Let's do it. I 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:58.760 had a dream last night that I didn't really figure 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.200 out why I had it, but it was my sermon 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:05.040 working its way into my subconscious. In the dream, Chunks, 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:09.040 we were sitting around the table at the Lavine Senior Center, 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.080 one of the first places our church met. I say 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:15.680 one of the first places, because the first place we 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:18.760 met was in me and Holly's home on Dellwood Driving, Shelby, 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.360 North Carolina, and then we meet at Chunks at Amy's 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:23.920 house the next week. So we were a multi site 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:28.640 church from the very beginning. One church, two locations, we 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:31.560 used to like to say, but it was only four 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:35.080 of us by this point. In the dream that I 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:38.120 was dreaming, we were sitting around the table, and you know, 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:40.040 dreams are weird, so it wasn't the same people at 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:41.560 the table and the dream, but it brought me back 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:43.840 to that moment in time where I called a meeting 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.320 to tell our staff. At the time, I called them staff, 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:50.480 even though I wasn't paying them a dime. I just 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:54.800 started calling them staff, but I called them all together 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:57.320 to say, we need to decide when we're going to 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:02.640 go to two services. And half the room started telling 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:06.520 me reasons that we shouldn't go to two services. We 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:12.080 need double volunteers, we'll need to have to stay there 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:14.199 later and tear down, and we have to be out 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:16.840 by this time. And there were about five reasons. So 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:19.320 I stopped and restarted the meeting. Now, sometimes you have 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:22.199 to restart a meeting and clarify what you meant to 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:24.400 say as a leader, and I apologize to those in 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:26.839 attendance and said I asked your forgiveness. I was a 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:32.360 little unclear when I started. I wasn't asking y'all, this 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:35.560 is my bad. I phrased it as a question, you know, 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:38.880 like take that question mark delete it. I wasn't asking 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:44.679 if we're going to to services. We are going to 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:48.920 to services. I'm just trying to figure out June or July. 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:56.679 That's all this meeting is for today. This ministry is 0:09:56.760 --> 0:10:02.480 reaching not only through two services or three services at 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:09.640 Valentine where I preach, or two campuses or three campuses, 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:16.360 but twenty different physical locations. Meeting not just in the 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:21.120 state of North Carolina, but meeting in far flung lands 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:30.040 like Winston, Salem, Rono, Virginia, Toronto, Canada, Melbourne, Florida, Orlando, Florida. 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:34.880 And then they have this thing called the Internet that 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:42.559 takes the message all over the world. And we were 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:46.520 talking about two services. I don't know if we should 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:51.440 go to two services. That's that's crazy. Now I want 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:54.120 to ask you a question. What if we didn't double it? 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.840 Maybe I shouldn't ask you. Maybe I should ask somebody 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:04.200 who this ministry is helping them get through a very 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:09.080 very difficult, painful divorce or separation or custody battle. Or 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:12.120 maybe this ministry is helping them keep breathing while they're 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:15.320 fighting addiction, or maybe is helping them keep living a 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:18.040 little bit even though they have some health problems. Maybe 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:22.120 I should ask them. Or maybe their kids are interested 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.040 in God again because of our awesome e kids volunteers. 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:34.040 What if we didn't double there's a popular misconception that 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:40.360 you are stuck with what you start with, and so 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.320 what we typically do, if we're left to our own 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:48.280 natural calculative devices, is to take whatever we think we've 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:52.240 been given. In the text, there's three different measurements of wealth. 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:55.400 And I even love the phrase if I can mind 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.480 this a little bit for the richness in it. It 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:01.200 says that the kingdom is like a and who went 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:06.280 for a journey. This represents Jesus no longer being physically present, 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:08.840 or as we called it last week, when he ghosted 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:13.360 his disciples, did y'all hear it? And when he left 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:15.400 his spirit with them? But he didn't leave them, but 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.360 he changed the way he related to them. So now 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:21.760 the Kingdom of God is like God has given you 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:27.120 the phrase here is he entrusted his wealth to them. 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:29.440 I just kept reading that over and over this week. 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:31.760 He entrusted his wealth to them, and I knew it 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:34.520 wasn't about money and k it was a parable using 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:40.400 a symbolic physical representation of something spiritual. And I realized 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:44.160 again the scandal of the thought that the Master gave 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:50.560 something to the servant, that the Master gave something to 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:56.520 the servant, and that he trusted the servant. Now you 0:12:56.600 --> 0:13:03.040 will hear a lot of sermons about trust God. Is 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:14.520 it possible that God trusts you more than you trust him? 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:19.960 Can we say this, God trust me? Sure he does. 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:25.760 He trusted you with something he trusted you if you 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:27.480 live to be seventy one. I'm not sure if you 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:29.440 will if you keep on staying up late like you 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:31.240 are and running yourself ragged. But if you lift to 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:34.520 seventy one, you will take over the course of your 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:39.080 lifetime somewhere close to you ready for this seven hundred 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:48.720 and fifty million breadths. I googled that because I thought like, 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:53.840 sometimes we think we don't have much, and really, to 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:56.920 put this text in context brings forth the revelation of it. 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:00.679 Touch somebody sayel lift the bag. I don't mean by 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:02.320 that what Kwavo meant by it. I don't know what 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:06.000 bag he was talking about I'm talking about. I don't 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.720 want to clarify that I'm talking about. I'm talking about 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:12.199 the bag that God gave you. Now, I tend to 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:14.120 think on a scale of one to ten, and it's 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.240 interesting in the passage that by the time it gets done, 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.960 one who started with five bags has ten. That's double. 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:24.360 One who started with two bags has four, that's double. 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:28.160 One who started with one bag as one that's not double. 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:31.480 Instead of being proud of the man who had the 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:35.320 wisdom to put the money somewhere safe, the master rebuked 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:39.160 him because it was not his to hide. I need 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:42.160 to preach an anointed word for somebody who has a 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:46.280 gift inside of you. It's not yours to hide. So 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.440 you don't get to tell God what you will or 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:53.520 won't do with the seven hundred and fifty million breasts 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:57.480 that he gave you. In fact, the scripture says, let 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:02.400 everything that has breadth raise the Lord, because he put 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:06.160 it in you. It is only right that you utilize 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:08.800 the breadth that he gave you to serve the gipper 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:16.880 who gave you the gift to begin with. He entrusted 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:21.120 them with his wealth, the god who speaks oceans with 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:25.320 a syllable of his word, they separated from the dry land. 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:28.960 He said, I'm gonna give you something. I'm gonna give 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.120 you five. I'm gonna give you two. I'm gonna give 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:35.960 you one and the one with one, the one with one. 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:39.600 I did a little research this week. Asked a few people, 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:42.640 you know the parable with the five bags, two bags 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:47.680 and one bag? Which one are you? Nobody said five, 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:53.560 a few said two. Almost everyone I asked, and it 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:55.840 was a small sample size. I only asked four people. 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:00.360 I made it sound like a barner research pull. It 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:04.280 was really informal, but they mostly said one. And I 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:08.840 get that because I have had people misunderstand our ministry 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:13.120 that did not see where we started. Can I preach 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:18.280 this if you did not see where I started, Please 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:23.360 do not judge where I'm at if you didn't see 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:30.160 where I started. I've always considered myself kind of a 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:35.920 one talent man. I can't fix anything. My mom, I 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:37.640 don't know what was up with this. She was texting 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.040 me pictures of my ninth grade report cards today as 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:43.200 if to give me sermon material for the fact that 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:46.320 I'm a one talent student. But the thing about it was, 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:48.360 I didn't go to Harvard, I didn't go to Princeton. 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:52.160 I didn't go to anything like that. And even in preaching, 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.040 you know, a lot of times I will feel an 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:58.320 insufficient vocabulary to communicate the vast riches of the expense 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.160 of God's glory. And when I think about how to 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:04.119 put into words what I want to say, you know, 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:07.840 the devil will try to get me to downplay the 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:14.600 deposit that God gave me in order to diminish the 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:21.760 gift in my eyes. But I found out something, and 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.360 this is what we really want to unleash on insecurity today. 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:27.920 This is what I want to give you to help 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:34.399 you flip the bag. It's not about how many bags 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:39.320 you start with, is how quick you can flip it, 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:52.160 because God is a multiplier. If God speaks to you 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:56.600 today through this message, the very best thing you can 0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:00.480 do about it is to flip it quick before the 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:05.159 devil snatches it back when you come to church or 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:08.000 when you watch on YouTube. However you consume this message, 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:12.360 the best thing you can do. See because to link 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:14.960 a few parables for you. In Matthew thirteen, Jesus said 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:16.600 that the Kingdom of God is like a man who 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:19.000 scattered seed. And some of it fell along the path. 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:21.959 Some of it fell on shallow ground, some of it 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.520 got scorched by the sun, some of it got shooked 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:26.919 by the thorns. Some of it fell on good ground. 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:29.920 But it said that some of it immediately got snatched. 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:33.000 Now hold that thought of all the times that God 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:37.159 has spoken to you and distractions snatched it, or a 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:40.399 confrontation snatched it, or a fight in the car on 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:45.120 the way home snatched it, or just the next thing 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:48.200 that you have to do snatched it. Or a text 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:50.639 message coming through while you're trying to read on your Bible, 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:53.040 app snatched it and got you another place. Now think 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:56.480 about that, and let's read again. Give them Matthew twenty five. 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:58.280 I'm so full tonight, y'all. I don't know how I'm 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:01.160 gonna get this all out. But it said that he's 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:03.159 like a man going on a journey. And it said 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:06.200 when he went on his journey, the man verse sixteen, 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:10.040 who had received five bags of gold went at once 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:14.159 and put his money to work, you know. And it 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:16.200 doesn't say that about the one who got one bag, 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:21.359 doesn't say that he went at once. I never noticed 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.600 it said it once, But I think it's very important 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:26.720 for what becomes of what God speaks into our life 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:30.760 and what God does. If I preach today and before 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:34.920 you go to sleep tonight, you share with somebody, Ay siri. 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:41.640 If you share that before I before I even get 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:44.800 done saying this message, If you are already thinking, wow, 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:49.399 I could share that with someone? What that does? You 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.879 take the word that you were given, you multiply it 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:56.919 so quickly before the enemy can snatch it, and it 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:00.680 begins to bear fruit in your life because you treat 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:04.280 it as seed. When you treat the word as seed 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:08.040 and you invest it back, either through sharing it with 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:10.440 someone else or acting on it. You know, you got 0:20:10.440 --> 0:20:12.800 to act on what God gives you before you talk 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:17.040 yourself out of it. You gotta act on it. There 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:19.080 will be no amount of notes that you can take 0:20:19.119 --> 0:20:22.119 from a sermon that will give you the victory in 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:25.359 your life. There will be no amount. It is. It 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:28.400 is when you flip it, that is, to convert it 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:32.880 from word form into flesh form. There are so many 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:36.119 things that God has spoken to you that got snatched 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.280 before they ever did what they were intended to do. 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:43.160 So here's the principle. It is not how many sermons 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:47.080 you hear that determines how much you grow. Some people 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:57.560 are professional sermon hearers, professional Bible highlighters. You should see 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:01.320 their highlight array. They got forty eight flavors of highlighter. 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:05.879 They got blueberries scented highlights. You know. But it is 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:11.400 not it is not the amount of bags that I get. 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:17.680 That's why you can see a professional athlete or a 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:22.399 musician and up broke after making millions. You're like, well, 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:27.040 dang man, I mean you serious right now? That guy's broke. 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:30.840 That guy made twenty three million dollars when he was nineteen. Yeah, 0:21:31.080 --> 0:21:33.080 if you would have made twenty three million dollars when 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:36.040 you were nineteen, you'd be dead with your dumb, foolish self. 0:21:36.280 --> 0:21:39.080 You would have killed yourself. At least that guy is alive. 0:21:43.520 --> 0:21:47.080 So I started thinking, yell, all right, aching, okay, just 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:49.680 checking on you Saturday night is different. We just talk 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:52.600 on Saturday night. It'll be polished for the sermon tomorrow. 0:21:52.640 --> 0:21:58.640 But when I went through it, I was like, Wow, 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:02.600 the one with five went at once. He flipped it quick. 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:05.959 He flipped it quick. He flipped it quick. He flipped 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:07.880 it quick. I'm gonna do it right now. I'm gonna 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:10.080 do it right now. I'm over my Bible right now, 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:12.400 not after I read Facebook, because after I read Facebook 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:14.600 for five minutes, I will lose my faith in humanity 0:22:14.680 --> 0:22:16.680 and God. I got to read it right now. First 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:18.920 thing gonna wake up. I gotta flip it right now, 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:22.679 right now, right now. And when he did it at once, 0:22:23.040 --> 0:22:25.320 he went to work it once. But the master stayed 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:28.199 away a long time, so it took time for it 0:22:28.240 --> 0:22:33.880 to mature. But he acted on it immediately. And that's 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:38.879 what the guy with two did. Now, the beautiful symmetry 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:44.800 of the passage is that the man who handed his 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:49.440 master for talents experienced the same joy as the man 0:22:49.440 --> 0:22:54.320 who handed him ten. Yeah, I'm really blessed by that. 0:22:55.800 --> 0:22:59.399 It's not about how many bags they handed the master. 0:23:00.480 --> 0:23:05.520 It was in the process of trusting that joy was born. 0:23:08.480 --> 0:23:12.240 So means that regardless of what you've been given in 0:23:12.280 --> 0:23:15.000 your life. Because you're like, I'm the one talent guy, 0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:19.320 you haven't talked about him yet, I'm about to about 0:23:19.359 --> 0:23:23.320 to talk to all the one bag one baggers, one 0:23:23.359 --> 0:23:27.359 bag Billy, let's give him a name, one bag Billy. 0:23:28.119 --> 0:23:30.800 At first, he's kind of excited, you know, he's like, ah, 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:37.080 cool man. Remember only three servants got any bags. This 0:23:37.160 --> 0:23:41.320 dude is rich. He's going on trips and stuff. This guy, 0:23:41.560 --> 0:23:45.280 this guy has much property. But he's one of the 0:23:45.280 --> 0:23:50.280 three that got trusted. Remember when you attach your security 0:23:50.560 --> 0:23:54.080 to stuff or your significance to status is never Now. 0:23:55.240 --> 0:23:58.440 I wonder if one bag Billy was happy for a 0:23:58.440 --> 0:24:05.480 little while. But then he runs into Tommy. Yeah, two 0:24:05.480 --> 0:24:12.080 bag Tommy. So Billy's like, Tommy, what's up man? And 0:24:12.080 --> 0:24:14.680 and and Billy's like, it's the best day of my life. 0:24:14.680 --> 0:24:17.680 And Tommy's like me too. Did you get the bag? 0:24:19.160 --> 0:24:27.640 And uh, Tommy's like the bag? No, I got bags, bags, 0:24:28.600 --> 0:24:33.520 you know bags. I got one bag. Well, here comes Freddy. 0:24:35.040 --> 0:24:40.360 Now Freddy's coming up. I got five backs from the Master. 0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:52.920 Five back Freddy, two bag, Tommy, one bag, Billy. See 0:24:52.920 --> 0:24:56.600 because the reason that that billy got afraid and hid 0:24:56.720 --> 0:25:03.800 what he had is because he went on Instagram. I'm 0:25:03.800 --> 0:25:07.560 gonna preach like it twenty twenty. I'm gonna bring this 0:25:07.640 --> 0:25:11.919 parable to modern times. And he went on Instagram on 0:25:12.000 --> 0:25:17.640 Tuesday and it was too talent Tuesday on Instagram, five 0:25:17.720 --> 0:25:22.960 talent Friday on Instagram, and old one bag Billy starts thinking, 0:25:23.880 --> 0:25:27.200 I wonder why. I wonder why only they got one bag. 0:25:27.280 --> 0:25:29.920 I feeling pretty good about my bag to I saw 0:25:30.040 --> 0:25:37.240 you bags. I feel pretty good about my little vacation 0:25:37.440 --> 0:25:41.720 till you start talking about Italy. He went to Italy. 0:25:41.800 --> 0:25:49.359 Huh hmm. Went to Myrtle Beach. I thought it was 0:25:50.720 --> 0:25:54.600 I used to like Myrtle Beach. He went to Milan. 0:25:54.680 --> 0:25:57.040 It's all right, yeah cool, No, I like Myrtle Beach. 0:25:57.080 --> 0:26:01.760 I'm more of a local kind of guy. Now I 0:26:01.800 --> 0:26:05.679 got this bag. Now feeling bad about the bag that 0:26:05.720 --> 0:26:10.600 the master gave me because it's how we count it 0:26:10.600 --> 0:26:15.679 that matters. It's how we count it. And when we 0:26:15.720 --> 0:26:19.440 hear this, we feel bad for Billy. We're like, oh man, 0:26:19.520 --> 0:26:23.760 poor Billy, she's just walking around with this bag. Let's 0:26:23.800 --> 0:26:26.439 look in the bag. Can we look in the bag? 0:26:27.440 --> 0:26:29.800 We live in a world that worships the bag. We 0:26:29.920 --> 0:26:37.879 never even look what's in it. So what was a talent? 0:26:38.600 --> 0:26:42.560 What was a talent? It's a weight? How much money 0:26:42.600 --> 0:26:44.800 do you have to have of silver coins? Let's don't 0:26:44.800 --> 0:26:50.399 even talk about gold to weigh a talent? That is 0:26:50.720 --> 0:26:55.080 six thousand days of pay for a day laborer, one talent. 0:26:57.119 --> 0:27:03.880 Now you can't convert the economics from Palace Stein to Ballentine. 0:27:07.760 --> 0:27:11.560 But put a note. I gotta put that in tomorrow. 0:27:11.600 --> 0:27:17.520 That was really good. That was really good. But now 0:27:17.600 --> 0:27:22.919 watch this. It would be somewhere around one point for 0:27:23.359 --> 0:27:26.960 what we would call million, because we have words for this, 0:27:27.080 --> 0:27:31.880 right million. So I was reading I feeling bad for Billy. 0:27:31.920 --> 0:27:34.040 I was like, dang man, I probably would have hit 0:27:34.080 --> 0:27:36.119 it too. I would have been ashamed to work with 0:27:36.160 --> 0:27:40.359 a million. If I was friends with Tommy and and Freddie, 0:27:41.760 --> 0:27:44.160 I probably would be I'd probably hide in my mind too, 0:27:45.280 --> 0:27:48.879 until I realized something, Look at me, it's still a million. 0:27:51.960 --> 0:27:57.760 That's a lot. Oh, not to you. A million's not 0:27:57.800 --> 0:28:00.600 a lot. To you, how many of you? A million 0:28:00.720 --> 0:28:02.320 is a lot, and you will take it if somebody 0:28:02.400 --> 0:28:10.080 wants to cash at it. It's still a million. But 0:28:10.160 --> 0:28:13.800 now when we read it in contrast to two and five, 0:28:14.200 --> 0:28:18.800 it sounds small. But put it back in context, it's 0:28:18.840 --> 0:28:23.159 still a million. When you start thinking, you know, I 0:28:23.160 --> 0:28:26.879 don't have anything to feel good about right now. I 0:28:26.920 --> 0:28:30.359 don't have anything to be proud of right now. I 0:28:30.480 --> 0:28:32.639 just want you to look at the devil some this 0:28:32.720 --> 0:28:35.679 week when he's telling you you don't have anything and 0:28:35.720 --> 0:28:39.120 you are not anything, and just only you and the 0:28:39.200 --> 0:28:42.120 devil will know what this means. Say it's still a million. 0:28:43.520 --> 0:28:47.480 It's still a million. One time, come on, y'all better 0:28:47.520 --> 0:28:50.600 help me preach. I will preach through the Super Bowl 0:28:50.600 --> 0:28:56.640 if you don't start. And I got real arrogant one 0:28:56.680 --> 0:28:59.080 time because the church was growing and we had like 0:28:59.120 --> 0:29:03.280 a holiday week and there were only eight thousand people 0:29:03.320 --> 0:29:11.560 in church, only eight thousand people in church, and one 0:29:11.680 --> 0:29:17.080 staff member showed me my million, said how many people 0:29:17.960 --> 0:29:23.640 lived in the town you grew up in Wow. It 0:29:23.760 --> 0:29:31.840 was six thousand, six thousand, and what I needed was 0:29:31.920 --> 0:29:36.719 to break down my blessings, to break down my bag 0:29:38.000 --> 0:29:42.720 and remember it's still a million. Like, here's what I mean. 0:29:43.240 --> 0:29:48.360 If God never does anything else for me, he has 0:29:48.440 --> 0:29:51.760 been so good to me, let me explain it to you. 0:29:52.200 --> 0:29:56.080 He canceled my sins. He did not treat me as 0:29:56.200 --> 0:30:00.760 my sins deserve. No, I'm serious. He gave me a 0:30:00.840 --> 0:30:05.200 purpose for living. He gave me a hope. He called me, 0:30:05.680 --> 0:30:08.800 he brought me into the kingdom. He put a crown 0:30:08.920 --> 0:30:13.560 on me. He gave me seven hundred and fifty million breads, 0:30:13.840 --> 0:30:16.640 and how to use a few to think him while 0:30:16.680 --> 0:30:21.200 I still can't. You want to thank him right now 0:30:21.240 --> 0:30:24.040 for your million. You ought to thank him right now 0:30:24.120 --> 0:30:26.760 for your bag. You ought to thank him right now 0:30:26.800 --> 0:30:38.800 for your blessing. Still a million is still a million. 0:30:39.560 --> 0:30:41.880 Break it down. You got a lot once you start 0:30:41.920 --> 0:30:48.800 counting it. Come on, let's count to a million. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, 0:30:49.120 --> 0:30:51.720 nine ten. See when you break it down, it doesn't 0:30:51.720 --> 0:31:00.240 sound so little anymore. Break down your blessings and then 0:31:00.240 --> 0:31:08.000 invest it back. Flip the bag. Flip the bag. One 0:31:08.040 --> 0:31:14.640 becomes two two becomes four. See I found this out. Man. 0:31:15.080 --> 0:31:18.280 Now we don't have time to do the illustration. But 0:31:18.320 --> 0:31:22.560 would you rather have a million dollars today or a 0:31:22.600 --> 0:31:28.800 penny today? But I'm going to double it every day 0:31:28.920 --> 0:31:33.040 for thirty days. So I asked Graham last night. You 0:31:33.240 --> 0:31:36.480 just know that because it obviously is connected to the 0:31:36.520 --> 0:31:39.479 illustration because they said a penny. But Graham is twelve. 0:31:39.520 --> 0:31:43.360 So I asked him the question. He thought for a minute. 0:31:43.760 --> 0:31:45.800 The first thing he said is it's a real offer. 0:31:45.840 --> 0:31:49.880 Is is hypothetical? Because how much do I need to 0:31:49.880 --> 0:31:53.800 think about this? Put it on calculator. Put it on calculator. 0:31:54.240 --> 0:31:58.040 So if we do it, and you can probably imagine 0:31:58.560 --> 0:32:02.000 the first day that we double, it's still not going 0:32:02.080 --> 0:32:06.600 to be much. It's still going to be like significantly 0:32:06.680 --> 0:32:09.680 less than a million dollars. It's going to be two cents. 0:32:10.280 --> 0:32:12.640 But I'll give it to give to me. I know 0:32:12.680 --> 0:32:15.280 we don't really have time, but if you just double 0:32:15.320 --> 0:32:21.040 it point o one times two. I did that right, Okay, 0:32:23.280 --> 0:32:29.680 times to count for me? That's four times two times, 0:32:29.800 --> 0:32:36.560 two times two times two time, two times two times two. 0:32:37.080 --> 0:32:39.479 Now it's still only ten dollars and twenty four cents. 0:32:42.600 --> 0:32:44.480 But what if you double it and keep doubling it. 0:32:46.600 --> 0:32:53.840 All all discipleship is is doubling. All we can do 0:32:53.920 --> 0:32:56.000 is parents, is try to double the values that we 0:32:56.040 --> 0:32:58.880 think are important imperfectly as we model them before our kids, 0:32:58.880 --> 0:33:00.840 and apologize when we think they're or wrong, and just 0:33:00.880 --> 0:33:03.040 try to invest something that has been invested in us. 0:33:03.360 --> 0:33:05.960 All my mom did raising me was try to take 0:33:06.000 --> 0:33:09.760 what she had and apply it toward what she saw. 0:33:10.840 --> 0:33:14.720 And I'll be honest with you, you know it wasn't much. 0:33:16.120 --> 0:33:18.480 She would set aside like fifteen dollars every week to 0:33:18.520 --> 0:33:21.120 send me over to Jack Cribs Garage to learn guitar. 0:33:22.520 --> 0:33:25.840 Before that, my dad would cut Harold Staley's hair to 0:33:25.840 --> 0:33:27.880 get him to give me a guitar lesson, because I 0:33:27.880 --> 0:33:29.360 think at that point it was hard for them to 0:33:29.360 --> 0:33:32.640 afford the lessons, so it was an exchange. And then 0:33:32.680 --> 0:33:35.400 my mom dipped pine cones and sold them around holidays, 0:33:35.440 --> 0:33:38.280 dipped them in scented wax, and then she would sell that, 0:33:38.360 --> 0:33:41.080 put that money aside, drive me to Jack Cribs Jack 0:33:41.120 --> 0:33:45.120 Cribs Garage. He would sit on the freezer for the 0:33:45.320 --> 0:33:48.120 lesson and you would get the chair. It was a high, 0:33:48.200 --> 0:33:53.200 really high class operation there. But that was a good 0:33:53.280 --> 0:33:56.080 man who taught me, who taught me beach music. I 0:33:56.080 --> 0:33:58.520 didn't want to learn beach music, but beach music set 0:33:58.520 --> 0:34:01.160 the foundation for punk rop. I didn't learn a lot 0:34:01.200 --> 0:34:03.560 of chords. To this day, I don't know a lot 0:34:03.600 --> 0:34:06.840 of music theory. I know a little bit. But it's 0:34:06.880 --> 0:34:12.160 not how many chords you know. It's not how many 0:34:12.160 --> 0:34:16.120 bags you have. It's not how much education you have. 0:34:17.600 --> 0:34:20.720 It really isn't it really isn't. I mean, I promise 0:34:20.760 --> 0:34:30.280 you there are educated fools and there are brilliant idiots. 0:34:36.640 --> 0:34:39.960 All Billy had to do, all Billy had to do 0:34:40.000 --> 0:34:43.799 because now I've written songs. Now that God his grace. 0:34:43.920 --> 0:34:46.120 Because one way you flip the bag is you collaborate. 0:34:47.520 --> 0:34:50.239 And my favorite collaborator in the world is Chris Brown. 0:34:50.280 --> 0:34:53.319 There's nobody creatively bet that I would rather collaborate with 0:34:53.360 --> 0:35:01.600 than Chris. And now it's not how many chords I know. 0:35:02.280 --> 0:35:06.120 It's whether or not that enough people can come together, 0:35:06.200 --> 0:35:11.840 put their preferences aside, and move something forward and flip 0:35:11.920 --> 0:35:17.920 the bag. And flip the bag. It's still a million 0:35:19.600 --> 0:35:22.160 I tell you, I don't know that many guitar chords. Well, 0:35:22.200 --> 0:35:29.800 compared to most of y'all. I'm Mozart, you understand. And 0:35:30.120 --> 0:35:32.400 if the man with one, if Billy would have just 0:35:32.520 --> 0:35:35.640 kept on. Oh man, well this is not much. You 0:35:35.680 --> 0:35:39.839 don't have to stay stuck with what you started with. Look, 0:35:39.880 --> 0:35:44.960 I'm still going. That's ten thousand now, still not a million. 0:35:46.200 --> 0:35:50.080 But we haven't got the thirty yet, and so the enemy. 0:35:51.320 --> 0:35:54.440 Oh I messed it up up, but twenty two. All right, 0:35:54.440 --> 0:35:56.520 I gotta start all over. Y'all. Hang type for a second. 0:35:57.760 --> 0:36:01.640 It won't take long. Hold on if you keep doing 0:36:01.719 --> 0:36:03.920 I did it last night with Graham. I promise you 0:36:03.960 --> 0:36:06.959 I practiced this. It's hard to talk at the same time. 0:36:07.280 --> 0:36:10.200 But if he kept doubling it, if it keep doubling it, 0:36:10.239 --> 0:36:12.040 if I keep doubling, if I keep doubling, if I 0:36:12.080 --> 0:36:13.920 keep showing up, if I keep showing up. Okay, I 0:36:13.960 --> 0:36:15.920 didn't get much out of church this week. Honestly, I 0:36:15.960 --> 0:36:18.440 was distracted by pastor shirt. It was bright, hurt my eyes. 0:36:19.480 --> 0:36:21.520 But if I keep coming, if I keep coming, if 0:36:21.560 --> 0:36:23.480 I keep doubling, touch somebody say, flip the back, flip 0:36:23.520 --> 0:36:26.120 the back, flip the back, flip the back. In thirty days, 0:36:26.160 --> 0:36:29.200 there we are. We're back at ten. Thy now's twenty. 0:36:29.440 --> 0:36:32.400 Now it's forty one. Oh. Now it's getting interesting because 0:36:32.440 --> 0:36:35.279 now I see we started two services, so we could 0:36:35.320 --> 0:36:38.400 start two campuses. This is not a church growth seminar. 0:36:38.800 --> 0:36:41.080 I'm trying to get you to think about the time. 0:36:41.160 --> 0:36:44.879 You have, the talent, you have, the treasure, you have, 0:36:45.160 --> 0:36:51.880 the friendships, you have, the skills, you have double double double. 0:36:53.840 --> 0:36:57.400 We're almost there, We're almost there. If you would have 0:36:57.440 --> 0:37:01.440 took the penny, you could have had five million, three 0:37:01.520 --> 0:37:07.640 hundred sixty eight thousand, seven hundred and nine dollars and 0:37:08.080 --> 0:37:11.800 twelve cents. And you're like, you can keep the change. No, 0:37:11.880 --> 0:37:18.239 don't keep it, don't give it. What flip it? You 0:37:18.360 --> 0:37:20.279 saw what we could do with one if we take 0:37:20.360 --> 0:37:24.160 twelve and do that thirty days. So now, do not 0:37:24.800 --> 0:37:29.400 allow the devil to diminish the gift God gave you. 0:37:29.920 --> 0:37:33.000 Do not allow the devil to tell you your best 0:37:33.080 --> 0:37:37.760 years are behind you. I came to declare your blessed 0:37:37.880 --> 0:37:43.400 days are still up ahead. Flip that bag. Flip that bag. 0:37:43.680 --> 0:37:46.839 In the name of Jesus. It is not nothing, It 0:37:46.960 --> 0:37:50.279 is more than enough. There is a gift inside of you. 0:37:50.640 --> 0:37:54.480 That man did not deposit it came from the master 0:37:58.000 --> 0:38:01.520 y'all aren't shouting like people who just found out. I've 0:38:01.560 --> 0:38:09.440 got something eternal down inside of me. So he said, 0:38:09.960 --> 0:38:17.520 flip the bag. It starts with your belief about God. 0:38:20.920 --> 0:38:31.840 B a g belief about God. Until you flip that, 0:38:33.920 --> 0:38:38.960 you will always operate in fear like Billy instead of 0:38:39.000 --> 0:38:43.560 faith like Freddy. You will always hide what God gave 0:38:43.600 --> 0:38:46.600 you the way that the text ends where you were like, oh, 0:38:46.640 --> 0:38:50.399 that doesn't sound like my loving, good good Father. Throw 0:38:50.480 --> 0:38:56.440 him out, gnashing of teeth. That was his experience of 0:38:56.480 --> 0:38:59.960 the Master, that was based on his perception that was 0:39:00.120 --> 0:39:03.560 not rooted in reality. Do you know how I know? 0:39:04.440 --> 0:39:07.600 Here's how I know. He said, I knew you were 0:39:07.600 --> 0:39:13.840 a harsh man. I knew you harvest where you didn't scatter, 0:39:14.000 --> 0:39:17.120 and you reap where you didn't sew. See, he thought 0:39:17.160 --> 0:39:19.719 God was trying to get something out of him that 0:39:19.800 --> 0:39:22.719 God didn't put in him. Here's what I know about God. 0:39:23.520 --> 0:39:26.640 Here's what I believe about God. He never makes a 0:39:26.680 --> 0:39:36.759 withdrawal where he did not make a deposit. So the 0:39:36.800 --> 0:39:40.400 proof of God's power and presence and provision in your 0:39:40.440 --> 0:39:44.759 life is the demand. The demand proves the deposit. It 0:39:44.880 --> 0:39:48.760 shows you that He trusted you with something. He trusted 0:39:48.760 --> 0:39:53.640 you with something. I want to trust God, but I 0:39:53.640 --> 0:39:58.799 got to start understanding he trusted me, just like you 0:39:58.880 --> 0:40:01.120 trusted me with your time today by being here. And 0:40:01.160 --> 0:40:05.040 I take that very seriously. God trusted you with something. 0:40:05.680 --> 0:40:10.480 How seriously do you take it? God trusted us with 0:40:10.560 --> 0:40:13.840 the church. And it could have stayed one service, It 0:40:13.840 --> 0:40:17.439 wouldn't have bothered me much. When I had that dream 0:40:17.480 --> 0:40:19.480 and I was seeing the church small again, I was like, Oh, 0:40:19.560 --> 0:40:27.279 that was fun. Wasn't complicated. I mean, honestly, like, if 0:40:27.280 --> 0:40:30.359 we didn't double the church, what bothers me about it 0:40:30.400 --> 0:40:33.920 is you wouldn't be here. And I don't know what 0:40:34.000 --> 0:40:37.520 you've received through this ministry, but I know it started 0:40:37.520 --> 0:40:43.520 with a bag. It started with a belief about God. 0:40:44.400 --> 0:40:48.160 It starts with a belief about your gift. You know. 0:40:48.200 --> 0:40:50.120 The biggest flip in the passage is just to see 0:40:50.200 --> 0:40:55.319 like that all three of them received something, to see 0:40:55.320 --> 0:41:00.879 it as a gift. So where the enemy comes and goes, hey, man, 0:41:00.920 --> 0:41:03.799 that's that's not enough time to do that. A lot 0:41:03.840 --> 0:41:05.480 of us we don't spend time with God because we 0:41:05.560 --> 0:41:09.680 keep waiting on a week. You might have to catch 0:41:09.680 --> 0:41:15.200 some time with God in the car. Okay, you might 0:41:15.239 --> 0:41:17.440 have to turn off I'm gonna personalize this message to 0:41:17.480 --> 0:41:21.000 me serious XM satellite radio channel thirty four Lithium where 0:41:21.040 --> 0:41:24.080 they play the nineties music that God likes, but turn 0:41:24.120 --> 0:41:28.440 off the worship music. And sometimes you'd be like, this 0:41:28.480 --> 0:41:30.240 is all the time I'm gonna have to day to breathe. 0:41:31.840 --> 0:41:33.839 When I was in college, I remember I used to 0:41:34.320 --> 0:41:38.080 go in the bathroom sometimes between classes and just go 0:41:38.120 --> 0:41:40.759 in like a stall and just try to take three 0:41:40.760 --> 0:41:42.600 to five minutes because I was in a morning person, 0:41:42.640 --> 0:41:45.120 so I'll sleep right up to class. And I didn't 0:41:45.120 --> 0:41:47.080 get my time with God then, so then the devil 0:41:47.080 --> 0:41:49.280 will be like, oh, you didn't spend time with God, 0:41:49.560 --> 0:41:51.080 He's not gonna bless you today. I'd be like, I 0:41:51.160 --> 0:41:53.080 meet God in the bathroom. God will meet me right 0:41:53.080 --> 0:41:59.560 in there in that stall. And so to stay in 0:41:59.640 --> 0:42:03.120 a scae city mindset is the enemy's objective to get 0:42:03.160 --> 0:42:06.360 you to think about all the things that other people 0:42:06.400 --> 0:42:09.440 have and and to be honest with you, it's going 0:42:09.480 --> 0:42:12.560 to go psychological as well. You're going to start to 0:42:12.560 --> 0:42:16.520 feel like, well, I'm just a messed up person. That's 0:42:16.520 --> 0:42:18.920 the problem. I'm just not one of these good people. 0:42:18.920 --> 0:42:22.400 I'm just not one of these stable people. I'm crazy. 0:42:22.719 --> 0:42:26.040 I was raised by crazy. I was raised by third 0:42:26.120 --> 0:42:29.160 generation crazy. Crazy came before crazy, be got crazy, be 0:42:29.200 --> 0:42:33.920 got crazy, begot me. And if that's going on in 0:42:33.960 --> 0:42:39.520 your mind too, you will hide what is his. You 0:42:39.520 --> 0:42:43.400 will hide what is his. So what I mean is 0:42:43.440 --> 0:42:46.200 when we live afraid and when we don't double what 0:42:46.239 --> 0:42:49.920 we've been given, not only do others miss out, but 0:42:50.000 --> 0:42:52.480 we end up in a place of darkness and isolation, 0:42:53.640 --> 0:42:57.080 wondering what we could have done with one bag. So 0:42:57.120 --> 0:42:59.239 I want to say to you that as I look 0:42:59.280 --> 0:43:05.960 over my life, I think I've done a lot with 0:43:06.000 --> 0:43:10.640 what God gave me. And yet there comes a point 0:43:10.640 --> 0:43:14.080 where all of us must decide do we want to 0:43:14.120 --> 0:43:17.480 double it again? Or should we stay in a scared 0:43:17.520 --> 0:43:21.719 place or a scarce place? And I just want to 0:43:21.760 --> 0:43:25.440 pray with you about that before we dismissing the enemy 0:43:25.520 --> 0:43:29.480 tries to snatch what was said? Would you stand up 0:43:29.480 --> 0:43:32.680 with no one moving at any location? Matthews, Lake Norman, 0:43:34.880 --> 0:43:39.120 Who else is with me right now? Elevation University City, Melbourne. 0:43:40.760 --> 0:43:46.440 Remember it was one campus, one service, double double. God 0:43:46.480 --> 0:43:49.200 is doing that in your life right now, and some 0:43:49.280 --> 0:43:52.680 of it you won't see. Some of the things God 0:43:52.719 --> 0:43:57.040 will do through you will happen after you're done. But 0:43:57.120 --> 0:44:02.240 at least double the deposit we're moving in this series 0:44:02.320 --> 0:44:07.480 from the first half was really about our identity, and 0:44:07.560 --> 0:44:11.160 this is really going to be about our stewardship. I'm 0:44:11.160 --> 0:44:12.919 gonna pick it up again next week and I'm gonna 0:44:12.920 --> 0:44:14.759 continue along these lines. How many of you are going 0:44:14.800 --> 0:44:23.960 to be here for next week's message? Yeah, but can 0:44:24.000 --> 0:44:29.400 we make a deal before you come back? Double something 0:44:29.440 --> 0:44:33.560 that you got, even if you just take some time 0:44:33.600 --> 0:44:36.040 this week, Like, hey man, I'm gonna send that sermon link. 0:44:36.040 --> 0:44:38.359 When does it come up again? Oh? On Monday? Okay, 0:44:38.360 --> 0:44:39.759 I'm gonna send it. I'm gonna send it to so 0:44:39.800 --> 0:44:44.399 and so or or I'm actually gonna take one line 0:44:44.400 --> 0:44:46.080 from that sermon put it on my mirror. I'm gonna 0:44:46.080 --> 0:44:48.799 put it still a million on my mirror, and I'm 0:44:48.840 --> 0:44:50.759 gonna start counting things that God has given me in 0:44:50.760 --> 0:44:54.080 my life and counting people. I did a thing at 0:44:54.120 --> 0:44:56.080 the beginning of the year where I just wrote down 0:44:56.280 --> 0:44:59.320 a few starters. I will I can. I have a 0:44:59.600 --> 0:45:03.160 flipped it. I wrote down all the people in my 0:45:03.160 --> 0:45:05.400 life and how much they love me. I'm filled in 0:45:05.440 --> 0:45:08.279 the blanket, said Holly will And I wrote down all 0:45:08.280 --> 0:45:11.160 the things that Holly will do. You know. She will 0:45:11.160 --> 0:45:14.719 cook for me, she will walk with me, she will 0:45:14.760 --> 0:45:17.000 listen to me, she will encourage me. And by the 0:45:17.000 --> 0:45:19.280 time I got them breaking down the bag, I realized 0:45:19.280 --> 0:45:21.959 how much was really in it. Some of us don't 0:45:22.000 --> 0:45:25.279 really tap the resources that were put in our life 0:45:25.719 --> 0:45:27.359 because we just stare at me. We We go, oh, it's 0:45:27.360 --> 0:45:30.480 just a wife. No, no, no, there's treasure in that relationship. 0:45:30.680 --> 0:45:33.880 There's gold in that relationship. There is gold in some 0:45:33.960 --> 0:45:42.319 of your friendships. It's like being at Elevation Church and 0:45:42.440 --> 0:45:44.640 just kind of like you come in, you go and 0:45:44.680 --> 0:45:47.440 you bury it in the ground, Like what do you 0:45:47.480 --> 0:45:53.320 preach about again? I know something he was saying, Tommy, Timmy, 0:45:54.800 --> 0:45:58.000 what God said was flip the bag. Father, We thank 0:45:58.040 --> 0:46:01.080 you for what you put in our lives, divine treasure 0:46:01.080 --> 0:46:02.880 in each vessel. We thank you for the oil that 0:46:03.000 --> 0:46:08.000 flows from heaven. Would you just turn your palms up 0:46:08.040 --> 0:46:09.399 to Heaven. You don't have to lift your hands all 0:46:09.400 --> 0:46:11.560 the way, just like you're receiving something from God. There 0:46:11.560 --> 0:46:17.400 you go, Lord, You've already given so much. We're all 0:46:17.640 --> 0:46:21.280 standing here holding at least a million least a million 0:46:21.360 --> 0:46:25.160 reasons to be grateful. It means so much to us, 0:46:25.200 --> 0:46:29.200 Lord that you chose us to be born, that you 0:46:29.239 --> 0:46:32.080 gave us the gift of life, that you gave us 0:46:32.120 --> 0:46:36.560 almost a billion breaths. With every one of those, God, 0:46:36.600 --> 0:46:39.000 we have an opportunity to rely on you, to trust you, 0:46:39.360 --> 0:46:43.359 to take inventory of what you've entrusted to us. We 0:46:43.400 --> 0:46:45.000 want to ask you to help us because we'll get 0:46:45.000 --> 0:46:47.399 so focused on what's on the bag that we never 0:46:47.440 --> 0:46:50.719 get to what's in it. We look at labels and 0:46:50.760 --> 0:46:54.520 things like that. We need your help to sort through 0:46:54.520 --> 0:46:57.840 it and just really start from a place of what 0:46:57.960 --> 0:47:01.319 we've been given. So I just want to bless your 0:47:01.360 --> 0:47:05.080 people tonight by reminding them Lord that they are the 0:47:05.080 --> 0:47:08.600 head and not the tail, above only and never beneath God. 0:47:08.640 --> 0:47:12.120 Even if situations come to steal their faith, their faith 0:47:12.200 --> 0:47:14.960 is not rooted in situations. So I just ask right 0:47:15.000 --> 0:47:17.960 now that in this moment of holy ground and quiet 0:47:17.960 --> 0:47:21.400 from the world, that we would receive what we need 0:47:22.120 --> 0:47:25.240 from you. We thank you that the Kingdom of Heaven 0:47:25.320 --> 0:47:29.800 is within us, never far from us. We want to 0:47:29.840 --> 0:47:32.640 take what we've been given in not live in fear 0:47:33.880 --> 0:47:39.440 or frustration, but to really turn it into faith. If 0:47:39.440 --> 0:47:42.399 you gave it to us, you put it in us. 0:47:43.960 --> 0:47:48.759 Thank you Jesus. If you put your hands down and 0:47:48.840 --> 0:47:50.880 keep your heads about and your eyes closed, there's someone 0:47:50.880 --> 0:47:53.600 in here. It may be one, and it may not 0:47:53.680 --> 0:47:58.000 even be in this room. But I want to give 0:47:58.000 --> 0:48:02.600 you the opportunity to give your life to God, to 0:48:02.680 --> 0:48:06.520 trust your life to God. You never really did that 0:48:06.560 --> 0:48:11.319 before you went to church and things like that, but 0:48:11.400 --> 0:48:15.600 you never really gave God your life. You tried to 0:48:15.600 --> 0:48:17.680 be a better person, but you never really had that 0:48:17.719 --> 0:48:21.200 surrender moment of salvation. And I want to offer that 0:48:21.320 --> 0:48:24.359 to you right now while the spirit of the Lord 0:48:24.400 --> 0:48:28.480 is heavy in this place. So what we do we 0:48:28.520 --> 0:48:30.640 pray a prayer because the Bible says that if you 0:48:30.760 --> 0:48:34.720 confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe 0:48:34.760 --> 0:48:36.919 in your heart that God raised him from the day, 0:48:37.160 --> 0:48:42.040 you will be saved. It's by grace. We're saved through faith. 0:48:43.520 --> 0:48:45.680 All we have to do is trust in the work 0:48:45.719 --> 0:48:49.160 that Christ already did on the cross. So if you 0:48:49.200 --> 0:48:52.520 want that relationship with God a new beginning today to 0:48:52.560 --> 0:48:55.080 really give him your life, turn it over to him. 0:48:55.480 --> 0:48:57.640 It'd be my privilege to pray with you right now, 0:48:57.640 --> 0:48:59.680 and we're going to pray out loud as a church family. 0:49:00.080 --> 0:49:02.200 If you repeat this after me, God will hear your heart. 0:49:02.920 --> 0:49:08.879 Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son 0:49:08.960 --> 0:49:13.080 of God and the Savior of the world. And today 0:49:13.960 --> 0:49:18.240 I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe 0:49:18.239 --> 0:49:23.399 you died for my forgiveness and rose again to give 0:49:23.440 --> 0:49:28.360 me life. I receive this new life. I am a 0:49:28.440 --> 0:49:32.520 child of God. This is my new beginning. On the 0:49:32.560 --> 0:49:34.400 count of three, shoot your hand up if you prayed 0:49:34.400 --> 0:49:41.120 that one, two, three. Celebration A celebration, A celebrate, A celebrate. 0:49:42.160 --> 0:49:47.439 Come on, let's celebrate them across every location. Put those 0:49:47.480 --> 0:49:53.799 hands together and thank God for the one. Thank you 0:49:53.840 --> 0:49:56.359 for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who 0:49:56.400 --> 0:49:59.360 give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that 0:49:59.400 --> 0:50:02.360 this ministry is possible. You can click the link in 0:50:02.400 --> 0:50:06.480 the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch dot org 0:50:06.520 --> 0:50:10.239 slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, 0:50:10.520 --> 0:50:13.240 you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 0:50:13.520 --> 0:50:15.799 You can click the share button. Take a screenshot and 0:50:15.840 --> 0:50:17.960 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:50:18.000 --> 0:50:25.560 Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.