Help Is On The Way

0:00:01.840 --> 0:00:04.400 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:06.880 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:10.239 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:12.280 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:17.120 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Well, 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:19.720 my name is Chadhampton and I have the privilege of 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:23.400 being the campus pastor at our Lake Norman location. I 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:26.360 want to say, what's up Lake Norman. I love y'all. 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:30.680 Hope you're doing well. But it's an honor and a 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:33.479 privilege to get to stand up here today and declare 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:36.159 God's words to you. And I'm always grateful for a 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:39.320 pastor that would entrust me with this moment, that would 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:41.440 empower me to stand up on this platform where I 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:43.680 know such a big price has been paid so that 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:46.919 this platform could exist. And I don't stand on a 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:50.000 pedestal today trying to display how good I am, because 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:52.280 a pedestal displays. But I want to stand on a 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.600 platform because a platform declares how good God is. And 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:59.960 so He's been good to me, He's been good to you. 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:04.080 I want you to believe that today. So we're going 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.760 to We're going to go to John chapter four, And 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:11.039 I believe that God wants to produce a faith in 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:14.240 you today that is greater than whatever fear you might 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:16.720 be facing today. So if you'll just lean in and 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:20.240 you'll receive what he has to say, John chapter four, 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:25.319 verses forty six through fifty three, it says once more 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:29.440 he visited Cana and Galilee talking about Jesus, where he 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.000 had turned the water into wine. And there was a 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:36.840 certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.120 this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.080 he went to him and begged him to come and 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:46.600 heal his son, who was close to death. Unless you 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:50.040 people see signs and wonders, Jesus told him he'll never believe. 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:56.240 The royal official says, sir, come down before my child dies. Go. 0:01:56.640 --> 0:02:01.360 Jesus replied, your son will live. The man took Jesus 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:03.640 at his word and departed. While he was still on 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:05.480 the way, his servants met him with the news that 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:08.560 his boy was living. When he inquired us to the 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.359 time when his son got better, they said to him, yesterday, 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:15.720 Everyone say yesterday, yesterday. At one in the afternoon, the 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.400 fever left him. Then the father realized this was the 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:21.520 exact time at which Jesus had said to him, your 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:25.960 son will live. So he and his whole household believed. 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.480 Do you believe today? Do you believe that God's got 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.800 a word for you? Because I don't know where you're at. 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:36.639 I don't know what you're facing today currently. Maybe you're 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:41.400 standing in this place between hope and reality where you're 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:43.680 hoping to get to. But the reality of where you 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:47.040 are currently right now in the two seems so far apart. 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:49.320 But I've got good news. I want to declare something 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:52.280 over your life today that help is on the wind. 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:55.200 I want you to hide my three people say help 0:02:55.320 --> 0:03:06.440 was on the wind. You may be seated. Thank you, 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:11.840 Worship team. Help is on the way. As I said earlier, 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:14.919 my wife and I we have the privilege of leading 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.320 at the Lake Norman campus, and so we thought it 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:21.600 would be fitting, since God had called us to lead 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:24.880 that campus, that we should live in the Lake Norman community. 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:28.520 So about a year ago we moved to Lake Norman. 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:30.800 My wife, jillis is here today. We've been married for 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:35.040 fourteen years. Fourteen years. I actually have a picture of 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.320 my family. You'll see Jill, you'll see my four kids. Yes, 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:42.520 I have four kids, McKenna, Ashton, Adeline, and Jude. And 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:46.240 so we recently moved up to Lake Norman. And I 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:48.160 don't know if you're like us, but you know, with 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:52.240 six people living under one roof, anytime, we know that 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:54.200 we're gonna have company over because we thought to ourselves, 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:55.480 if we're going to live in this area, we should 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:57.040 have some people over, get to know some people. That's 0:03:57.080 --> 0:04:00.240 only fitting. And so we're having company over. And if 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:03.200 you like us, if you know that company's coming over, 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.119 you go into a certain mode that's a little out 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:10.960 of the ordinary. You start to build this fake house, 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.560 like there's the house that we know exists during the week, 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.080 but then there's the house that you're only going to 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:18.560 see if you were to ever come over to our home. 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:21.000 And you know how it is is maybe you're a 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:23.839 couple and you're getting ready for company and you have 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.919 to make it look like you don't actually live there, Like, 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:29.200 don't sit on the couch. We can't make it look 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:31.240 like the couch has been sat on. Push all the 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:33.520 chairs underneath the table, because it can't look like we 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.080 actually eat at that table. It cannot look like we 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:38.800 live here. It has to be perfect because for some reason, 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:40.640 we think people will love us more if our house 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:44.480 looks lovely. And so we're getting ready to have people 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:47.000 over to our house, and Jill's doing an amazing job 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:49.719 working on the inside of the house. So I thought, 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:52.320 as the guy, I could do my part. I could 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:55.160 work on the outside of the house. And actually like 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.479 yard work. It's kind of therapeutic for me. So I 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:01.560 get home from work and I start mowing the lawn 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:05.200 and I start trimming the bushes. And as I'm working outside, 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:07.560 I look over at our house that people are coming 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:11.000 to in about two hours. I look over and I'm like, oh, no, 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:14.360 you see, We've got this covered porch on the front 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:18.600 of our house, and there's these covers, there's these panels 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:21.960 that had fallen down, hadn't fallen on the ground, there 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:25.440 hanging from the roof right over the front door of 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.719 our house. Now this is unacceptable. I mean, I don't 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:30.760 want people walking into my home and having to duck 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.520 because of the panels that are falling down. So I'm thinking, 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:35.640 I got to fix this, and so I find the 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.520 only ladder we have. It's like a three foot step ladder, 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:41.320 so it's not even a real ladder. And I go 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:43.520 to the porch and I climb all the way up 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.359 on the three foot step ladder, and I proceed to 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:51.040 push the panels back into place. But when I realized 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:54.039 that the reason the panels are falling down is because 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:56.480 the gutter is peeling off the front of my roof. 0:05:56.520 --> 0:06:00.360 So I think, okay, I could just pull the gutter off, 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.520 push the panels back into place, push the gutter back 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:08.160 up against the house, and no one will know the difference. 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:11.200 It'll look as good as new. That's what I thought. 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:14.640 So I proceed to pull back the gutter, when all 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:17.240 of a sudden, not only does the gutter start to 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:24.240 peel off the roof, but the wood, the nails, the shingles, y'all, 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:25.760 the whole roof starts to come off the front of 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:30.800 my house. We've got company coming over in an hour 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:33.599 and fifty nine minutes, and I'm standing up on this 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.719 three foot step ladder and I'm holding this roof up, 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:39.400 and I'm thinking that all that comes to my mind 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:45.359 in this moment is, oh crap, Jill is gonna kill me. 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:49.640 Some of y'all look at me like you don't believe this, 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.320 Like this is a great story to set up a sermon. 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:54.560 I don't know how john Ford ties into this, but 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:58.640 I promise this happened. I've got proof, because what do 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:00.840 you do when you're standing on a three step ladder 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:02.599 and the roof is about to fall on top of you? 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:06.039 What do you do? You let go with one hand, 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:08.880 You pull out your phone and you document this moment? 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:11.440 How dumb was I? So check this out. I got 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:15.080 a video real quick. Hey, what do you do when 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:18.200 you're just trying to make a minor repair to the 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:20.720 gutter and then the whole gutter falls off the front 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:23.880 of the house. What do you do? You stand here 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:33.600 on a three foot ladder and you hold it so 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:38.920 in that moment I did. I did what any smart 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:42.280 guy would do. In that moment, I didn't tell Jill, 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:47.680 and I try to fix it all by myself. So 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:52.320 I'm standing here holding up this roof, and I know 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:55.000 this is a silly story, and I'm gonna come back 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.080 to it, and we're gonna talk about John for in 0:07:57.120 --> 0:08:00.320 this royal official I promise. But first thing I want 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:02.800 to do today is I really want to paint a 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:06.800 picture because I believe there's many of us here at 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:12.000 our locations watching online today. This represents an internal posture 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:17.000 that we're carrying right now, and it's a posture that 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:22.320 represents us trying to hold up the broken pieces of 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:26.480 our life right now, and it's getting heavy and I 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.560 don't know how much longer I can hold on, and 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:31.400 I know I need to reach out. I know I 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.920 need to tell somebody, but I'm worried about the reaction 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:38.079 of others if I let them in on this struggle 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:39.960 that's going on in my life. So I'm not going 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:41.800 to tell anybody. I'm just going to try to fix 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:44.360 it all by myself. And you know how that goes, 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:45.760 because that's what I tried to do with the roof, 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:47.280 and the more I try to fix it by myself, 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:49.680 the worse and worse at God. But I can't tell 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.800 anybody because it seems like everybody around me is being 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.920 celebrated right now and I'm struggling, and their celebration is 0:08:57.000 --> 0:09:00.960 just magnifying this struggle that I have into And it's 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.640 not just let's be real, it's not just one circumstance 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:08.240 today that we're trying to hold up. We've got compounded circumstances. 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:10.320 It's one trouble on top of the next, on top 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:11.959 of the next. And I'll say it this way, it's 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:15.760 not just what is happening in our life today, it's 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:19.200 when it's happening. It's not just the trials, it's the 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:22.600 timing of the trials. Really. I mean, it wasn't just 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.040 that the roof was falling off, but I got company 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:28.360 coming over in an hour and fifty seven minutes. It's 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:31.319 the timing of these trials. This couldn't have come at 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:35.200 a worse time. This royal official in John chapter four, 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:38.199 he's a busy guy. He's a man of nobility, he's 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.880 a man of prestige. He's got a position. He's working 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.760 in Herod's government. He's a busy guy. He's got things 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:46.600 to do today. And now his son is near death. 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:52.200 Really another burden, another issue, another trial. And as much 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:55.959 as we're reluctant to reach out for help, help is 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:59.000 on the way. We've got to reach out for it. 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:03.480 As much as we're standing with this internal struggle, I 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.719 believe that God can give you the ability today if 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:10.000 you'll let him, if you'll surrender, I believe that he'll 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:13.440 give you the ability today to flip the purpose of 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:17.120 this posture. This can go from a posture of struggle 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:23.640 to a posture of surrender, from a posture of struggle 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:29.959 to a posture of surrender, because really, surrender is just 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:34.959 an outward response to an inward struggle, and surrender looks 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:40.400 like this today, you responding outwardly like this. Hell, Hell, 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:45.120 I can't do this anymore. I can't hold on much longer. 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:50.080 It's getting heavy, it's getting difficult. I need help. And 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:54.280 I'm here today because I heard this could help. I'm 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:58.440 here today. I need help because my home is hurting. 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:02.360 This royal, his home was hurting. His son is at home, sick, 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:06.000 near death. His home is hurting. He needs help. Somebody 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.920 needs help today. Help is on the way. But you've 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:12.120 got to flip that posture from one of struggle internally 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:16.160 to an oward response of surrender. And that word help 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:20.480 is so powerful, because really it's twofold. When we cry 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:24.600 out for help, we're acknowledging that we're hurting, but we're 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:31.040 also asking the question should I keep holding on? Yeah? 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:35.640 I'm hurting, but is this worth holding onto? In my marriage? 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:40.480 In that business that God told me to start. Is 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.480 this worth holding on to? Believing that God can heal 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.880 my body? Is this worth holding on to believing that 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:50.480 God will give us the family that we've been praying for. 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:54.520 Is it worth holding on to this life? Is it 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:59.640 still worth holding on to? I need help? So I 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:04.360 did the thing. I asked Jill for help. After about 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.320 ten minutes and me standing up on that ladder looking 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:08.280 like a fool, and I swear that Toyota camera is 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:10.720 driven by three times. At this point, they know I'm struggling. 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:13.079 They're not helping. And someone posted a picture I guarantee 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:16.199 it hashtag good luck. And so I'm just I need help. 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:23.080 So I'm like, Jill, can you come outside? She comes out, 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:27.400 She's like, what's going on? I'm like, the roof. The 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:31.640 roof is falling off the house. What the roof is 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:34.360 falling off the house? What'd you do? There's no time 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.840 to explain, there's no time to talk about it. We 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:38.560 just we got to do something. So she's like, what 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:40.440 are you gonna do? And if I can be honest 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:42.320 with you, I love my wife. I love my wife 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:44.080 with all my heart. She is my hero. But I 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:47.240 knew in that moment she's not gonna help me fix 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:51.840 this because we only had one ladder and I was 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:55.080 standing on it. It's not even a real ladder. So 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:56.840 I'm like, she's not gonna be able to help me 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:59.120 fix this. That's nothing against my wife. I've seen her 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:01.719 do things of superher real status before, Like like one 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:04.040 time our girls had these bunk beds, and she took 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:06.480 the top bunk bed off of the bottom bunk bed 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:09.840 by herself, all by herself, And then when I helped 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:12.640 her to put it back on top, I was struggling 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:15.640 helping her, like how did you do that by yourself? 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:18.520 Don't She's got like these these these mommy muscles or 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.960 something like God has gifted her with a specific anointing 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.160 and ability. But I knew she couldn't help in this 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:26.280 moment because she didn't have the resources. But I still 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.960 needed someone to come alongside me. And some of us 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:30.880 today we're not reaching out for help because we're looking 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:32.640 at the people around us who're going I don't know 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:35.240 if they can relate to my situation. I don't know 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:37.480 if they can fix my problem, So I'm not even 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:39.800 gonna reach out today. But here's the deal. You don't 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.120 need someone to fix the problem today. You just need 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:44.400 someone to come alongside of you and say it's gonna 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:46.840 be okay, you're gonna make it. We're gonna get through 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:49.640 this together. You've got to reach out for help. Help 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:53.720 is on the way. And so Ji's like, what are 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:54.760 you gonna do? I'm like, I don't know. What am 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:56.360 I gonna do? What am I gonna do? What am 0:13:56.400 --> 0:14:02.440 I gonna? No? Wait, not what? Who? Who? Our question 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:06.520 needs to shift from a what to who in regards 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:10.120 to the help we're looking forward. Who who can I ask? 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:13.560 Who can I call? Who can I reach out too? Who? Who? 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:18.800 Wait a minute, Scott. I was like, Jill, call Scott. 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:21.320 She's like, who's Scott. I'm like, I just met Scott 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.240 two days ago at church. This is a real story. 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:26.840 I'm not making this up. I just met Scott two 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:30.360 days ago at church, and Scott owns a roofing company, 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:32.880 and Scott just told me how he just got a 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:37.760 job in our neighborhood fixing roofs. Scott's close by. Scott 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:41.160 can help. Help is on the way. So let me 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:44.920 talk about the royal official. The royal official we know 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.080 in John chapter four that he's in the presence of Jesus, 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:51.520 and he's asking Jesus for help. Jesus please come down 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:55.600 and heal my son. But stop. Hold on, How did 0:14:55.600 --> 0:15:00.720 the royal official know that Jesus was close by. He's 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:05.120 living in Capernaum, Jesus is twenty miles away in cana 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:11.120 How did he know that help wasn't far away? Because 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:14.080 I believe he had to start with who he had 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:18.000 around him. I didn't get the revelation that Scott was 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:21.560 close by until I first surrendered and reached out to Jill. 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:25.680 The royal official didn't get the revelation that Jesus was 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.920 close by and Jesus could help until he first reached 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:32.240 out to those who were around him. God wants to 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:36.440 get his resource to you through the relationships he's placed 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:39.320 around you. That's why he's positioned you in a place 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:41.960 like this today. That's why you're sitting at Melbourne. That's 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:44.440 why you're sitting at Lake Norman, that's why you're sitting 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:48.840 in Morrisville. He's placed you in this place for a purpose. 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.360 He's put people around you. You just have to reach 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:56.240 out for the help. Help is on the way, and 0:15:56.240 --> 0:16:00.880 so this royal official goes okay, Jesus can help. I 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:03.680 heard that he performs miracles. I heard he can help. 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:07.680 That's good enough for me. And this is where faith starts. 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.800 Do you see this? This is where faith begins in 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:17.480 all of us. Because I never saw Scott fix the roof, 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:23.960 but I heard he could. He owned a company. He 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.920 owned a really nice truck with the name of his 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.960 company on the side of that truck. The royal official 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.520 never saw Jesus heal anybody, but he heard he could. 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:37.080 Faith comes by hearing. And if you're here today because 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:39.840 you heard that maybe this could help, I've got good 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:42.560 news for you today. Help is on the way. You're 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:44.880 in the right place. Even if you just heard that 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:48.960 this could help, you're already walking in faith. So stick around, 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:52.640 keep listening. God's gonna help you today. He's got something 0:16:52.720 --> 0:17:00.000 for you. Help us on the way. Faith comes by here. 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:05.880 And so this royal official takes his first step out 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.280 of what is known, out of what is certain, out 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:12.520 of what is comfortable. He takes his first step out 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:19.240 of Capernaum to cana. Oh. By the way, Capernaum means comfort. 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:24.080 God often calls us to step away from what is comfortable, 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:27.479 what is known, what is certain, because I've learned this 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:32.680 that if I stay in the comfort of my gifts, 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:37.119 I limit the power of God's grace that is for 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:40.600 me in my life. This is where we step out 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:44.880 of our gifts into God's grace. I just made these 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:47.600 two crates gift and grace on this platform. I don't 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:48.919 know if you can see it, but we've got to 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:52.080 step out of our gifts. What we know, what we're 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:54.399 able to do, trying to fix it by ourselves. We've 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:58.159 got to step out of our gifts into God's grace. 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:02.119 Gifts say just do it. God's grace says, let me 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:05.680 do it. Gifts say just do it. Grace says, let 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:07.359 me do it. I just got that. Thank you, Holy 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:10.639 Spirit for that. So we've got to step out of 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:14.560 what is certain, what is known, what is comfortable. One 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:17.640 of the greatest lessons that I've learned from our pastor 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:24.960 is this lesson of courage over clarity. You see, probably 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:28.520 the greatest prayer request I get from people when I 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:30.479 ask them how can I pray for you, They'll say, 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:34.159 I need clarity. Yeah, but what's the opposite of faith 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:40.399 clarity certainty? You don't need clarity, you need courage. You 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:43.040 need confidence in the one who called you to step 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.199 out of what is comfortable, to step out of what 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:49.320 is known, and step into His grace and walk in faith. 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:51.640 I never saw him do it, but I heard he could. 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:54.280 That's good enough for me. And so this royal official 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:59.440 is now walking in faith towards Jesus to Cana, twenty 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:06.560 miles away to find help for his son, twenty miles 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:10.840 walking to Cana. And again, this is a man of position, 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:15.480 this is a man of title. I bet this was embarrassing. 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:18.760 I bet this was a little humiliating because here he 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:21.000 is hanging out in Cana and I'm sure people are like, 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:24.080 what's he doing here? I mean, normally he's here to 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:26.520 help us, and now he's asking us for help, and 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:29.040 he's walking around, Hey, can you help me? I need 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:31.040 to I need to find Jesus. Do you know where 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:36.520 I can find Jesus? Because help requires humility. I remember, 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:39.960 just a few days ago, I'm at the grocery store 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.679 with my son. My son asks. He's eleven years old, 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:47.600 and I'm at the store with him and we're picking 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:49.560 up food to grill out for the Fourth of July, 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:53.280 and I'm like, Asta, we gotta go to the store. 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:55.200 We're gonna get some burgers, we're gonna get some brats, 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:58.480 and then I need to get a grill brush because 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:01.520 my grill is filthy. Can be cooking burgers and brats 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:04.560 on a filthy grill. So I know where the burgers 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:05.919 and brats are. But then we're going to try to 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:09.720 find the grill brush at the store. So I get 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:11.879 the burgers and brots. I'm like, okay, let's find the brush, 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:14.280 and Ashton's like, okay, why don't you just ask someone 0:20:14.320 --> 0:20:15.920 for help. I'm like, oh, we don't need to do that. 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:17.720 I know where to find it. I know where this 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:21.000 brush is. So we're walking around the store. Five minutes 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:23.840 go by, Dad, why don't you just ask somebody where 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.200 the brush is? No, man, I mean, I just want 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:28.200 you to see all that this store provides. So that's 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:32.920 why we're just we're going on this tour fifteen minutes. Dad, 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:36.960 just ask somebody for help, fine, because help requires humility. 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:39.480 So you know, I find a gentleman. I'm like, excuse me, sir, 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:40.960 do you know where the grill brushes are? And the 0:20:41.000 --> 0:20:44.960 response I didn't want over all responses was uh, I 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:51.399 don't work here. Well, you're wearing the same clothes as 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:54.800 everyone else that's working here. Tip if you shop at Target, 0:20:54.840 --> 0:21:00.680 don't wear a red shirt and khakis. So I found 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:03.000 someone that worked there. They pointed me in the right direction. 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:06.920 I found the grill brush. Ask for help. Help requires humility, 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:10.000 and so this royal official he finally comes upon Jesus 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:13.159 because he asks for help. He says, Jesus, will you 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:16.680 come down heal my son? And look at Jesus's response 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:20.720 in verse forty eight verse forty eight of John four, 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:24.280 Jesus says, unless you people see signs and wonders, you'll 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:28.080 never believe. I mean, kind of harsh, Jesus, this man's 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:31.200 son is dying. But here's what I believe happened. You see, 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:33.280 as he's inquiring as to where Jesus is, and he's 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:35.640 asking all these people. This is the same town where 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:37.760 Jesus couldn't perform miracles because of the lack of faith. 0:21:37.760 --> 0:21:39.440 So people are going, oh, maybe we get to see 0:21:39.440 --> 0:21:41.479 a show today. Maybe we finally get to see one 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:43.679 of these miracles that we've been hearing about. So as 0:21:43.760 --> 0:21:46.080 much as Jesus is talking to the royal official, I 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:49.160 believe he's also addressing the spectators, because one thing I've 0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:51.480 learned about God, he's not as concerned with putting on 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:54.320 the show as he is with strengthening our faith. So 0:21:54.359 --> 0:21:56.120 he's like, I got to get rid of these spectators 0:21:56.320 --> 0:21:58.440 so I can speak to the one who's here because 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:04.399 of their faith. And so the crowd disperses. The royal 0:22:04.400 --> 0:22:11.680 official leans in in verse forty nine, he says, Sir, sir, 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:16.719 help requires humility. Some of us today we're asking for help. 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:21.360 We're saying, so you're gonna help me. Help requires humility. 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:25.560 He says, sir, come down before my child dies. See, 0:22:25.560 --> 0:22:28.600 in the royal official's eyes, he had authority above Jesus. 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:32.119 In his eyes, in his government, he was above the 0:22:32.160 --> 0:22:35.600 person of Jesus. But he humbles himself. He comes under 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:37.320 the name of Jesus, because at the name of Jesus, 0:22:37.359 --> 0:22:39.320 every needs shell bow, every tongue will confess that he 0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:42.320 is lord. Comes under the name of Jesus and says sir. 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:46.240 He humbles himself, and he asks for help, come down 0:22:46.280 --> 0:22:49.000 before my child dies. And in verse fifty Jesus says, 0:22:49.080 --> 0:22:57.960 go your son will live. That's it. That's the response. 0:22:59.080 --> 0:23:00.679 I mean, if I could be honest, I might have 0:23:00.720 --> 0:23:03.879 wanted something a little different. I mean, Jesus, I just 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:07.679 walked twenty miles to find you. I just humiliated myself 0:23:07.720 --> 0:23:10.840 in front of all these people to confind you. And 0:23:10.880 --> 0:23:14.760 you're just saying go, You're just giving me a word. 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:18.040 Can you at least tell me when my son will live? 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:20.959 Because I remember when I was up on that ladder 0:23:21.680 --> 0:23:24.440 and Jill called Scott and she told me, Hey, Scott's coming. 0:23:24.480 --> 0:23:26.199 I'm like, good, help us on the way, help us 0:23:26.200 --> 0:23:30.359 on the way. My next question was when, how long? 0:23:31.080 --> 0:23:34.040 When's Scott gonna get here? Because aren't we interested in 0:23:34.080 --> 0:23:37.199 timelines when it comes to the promise of God in 0:23:37.200 --> 0:23:39.080 our lives? But as I look back at that moment, 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:41.880 I'm so glad that Scott didn't give me a timeline, 0:23:42.000 --> 0:23:44.199 because if you would have given me a timeline, my 0:23:44.359 --> 0:23:47.480 faith and my focus and my confidence would have been 0:23:47.480 --> 0:23:50.080 in the timeline of my help instead of the person 0:23:50.080 --> 0:23:54.320 who said I'm gonna help you. If there's one thing 0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:56.840 I've learned about our God, he is not a god 0:23:56.880 --> 0:24:01.080 of timelines. He's a god of timing, God of timing, 0:24:01.119 --> 0:24:05.400 and his timing is perfect. His timing is everything. Timing 0:24:05.680 --> 0:24:11.239 is everything, And so this royal official it says he 0:24:11.280 --> 0:24:14.720 takes Jesus at his word in verse fifty, he takes 0:24:14.800 --> 0:24:18.240 Jesus at his word and he departs. If you notice 0:24:18.240 --> 0:24:21.720 what it says, he took Jesus at his word. He 0:24:21.760 --> 0:24:25.320 didn't just take a word. He took the word with 0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:30.120 him on his way back to Cana. See, sometimes we think, oh, 0:24:30.160 --> 0:24:33.280 he walked out of the presence of God. Yeah, maybe physically, 0:24:33.720 --> 0:24:35.960 but spiritually, the presence of Jesus was just as with 0:24:36.040 --> 0:24:38.439 him because he had a word to walk on. And 0:24:38.480 --> 0:24:40.800 I love his response how he just departed. He just 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:43.320 took Jesus at his word. He didn't sit around and 0:24:43.320 --> 0:24:45.520 wait for a different word. He didn't sit around and 0:24:45.560 --> 0:24:47.840 maybe wait for something that he was hoping for. Hey, 0:24:47.880 --> 0:24:51.360 maybe his word is better than my ways. So I'm 0:24:51.359 --> 0:24:53.480 just gonna depart. I'm just gonna take this word and 0:24:53.480 --> 0:24:55.760 I'm gonna begin to walk on it, and I'm gonna 0:24:55.760 --> 0:24:58.080 begin to declare it over in my life. Jesus said 0:24:58.240 --> 0:25:01.080 he'll live. Jesus said he live. So all the way home, 0:25:01.160 --> 0:25:03.800 I'm sure the royal official is saying he'll live. He'll live. 0:25:03.920 --> 0:25:05.919 Jesus said it. So I'm gonna see it. And this 0:25:05.960 --> 0:25:07.880 is where the devil loves to get in our mind, 0:25:08.000 --> 0:25:09.760 and he loves to play around. He loves to say 0:25:09.760 --> 0:25:12.080 things like, I know God said it, but you haven't 0:25:12.119 --> 0:25:14.359 seen it. I know God says you were healed, but 0:25:14.440 --> 0:25:16.720 you don't look healed. I know God says you were free, 0:25:16.800 --> 0:25:19.280 but it's only been a month. Things are gonna get difficult. 0:25:19.359 --> 0:25:20.800 You're going to go right back to what you've been 0:25:20.840 --> 0:25:23.000 depending on. And that's where we begin to declare the 0:25:23.040 --> 0:25:25.879 word that Jesus gave to us over our life. We 0:25:25.960 --> 0:25:28.199 put it in the face of the devil. We say, listen, 0:25:28.280 --> 0:25:30.960 I walk by faith and not by sight, devil. So 0:25:31.080 --> 0:25:33.360 the very fact that you're talking to me right now, 0:25:33.520 --> 0:25:36.359 it's the proof that you're terrified about the word that 0:25:36.480 --> 0:25:39.120 God has given me, because you know, if I begin 0:25:39.200 --> 0:25:41.280 to walk in this word, if I begin to declare 0:25:41.320 --> 0:25:43.640 it over my life, if I begin to believe it, 0:25:43.840 --> 0:25:48.040 something good might happen in my life. Heapens on the way. 0:25:51.040 --> 0:25:53.760 So he's walking home. He's walking home, and look at 0:25:53.760 --> 0:25:56.280 what happens. Look at what happens in verse fifty one, 0:25:57.480 --> 0:26:00.200 verse fifty one. While he was still on the way, 0:26:00.560 --> 0:26:03.440 his servants met him with the news that his boy 0:26:03.800 --> 0:26:07.760 was living. Help us on the way, Hold up, while 0:26:07.760 --> 0:26:12.680 he was still on the way, help us on the way? 0:26:14.119 --> 0:26:19.760 I thought I thought help was on the way. I'm 0:26:19.760 --> 0:26:22.080 gonna I'm gonna sit here and wait for my blessing. 0:26:22.800 --> 0:26:25.280 I'm gonna sit here and wait for my miracle. I'm 0:26:25.320 --> 0:26:27.520 gonna wait for God to move. I love this picture 0:26:27.640 --> 0:26:30.280 when when he asked Jesus to come with him, Jesus 0:26:30.320 --> 0:26:32.680 never moves. Jesus just gave him a word. We're waiting 0:26:32.680 --> 0:26:35.600 on God to move. But his word is enough because 0:26:35.640 --> 0:26:39.840 his word can move in our life. I'm not waiting 0:26:39.880 --> 0:26:43.639 for my miracle. I'm gonna wait on. He wasn't waiting for. 0:26:44.600 --> 0:26:47.760 He was waiting on. Help is on the way. To 0:26:47.840 --> 0:26:51.720 wait for means to sit, to be inactive, to disengage. 0:26:51.840 --> 0:26:54.960 But to wait on means to serve. It means to move. 0:26:55.240 --> 0:26:57.399 It means to trust in this word. Yeah, he didn't 0:26:57.400 --> 0:26:59.639 get the response he was looking for, but he got 0:26:59.680 --> 0:27:02.240 a war. And so I'm gonna serve this word that 0:27:02.359 --> 0:27:05.280 Jesus has given me. I'm gonna wait on the word 0:27:05.560 --> 0:27:10.080 that he's given me. Help is on the way. And 0:27:10.119 --> 0:27:14.320 it reminds me of another passage in Isaiah, chapter forty, 0:27:15.240 --> 0:27:20.320 verse thirty one. It says those who wait on the Lord, 0:27:21.720 --> 0:27:25.080 not those who wait for the Lord. Those who wait 0:27:25.640 --> 0:27:29.560 on the Lord shall renew their strength. And what I 0:27:29.600 --> 0:27:32.399 love about this picture, what I love about this moment 0:27:33.040 --> 0:27:37.000 is this royal official was walking. He was walking home 0:27:37.400 --> 0:27:41.399 on a word that Jesus gave him. He's waiting on 0:27:41.920 --> 0:27:44.600 the Lord. Help is on the way. What I love 0:27:44.600 --> 0:27:47.960 about this picture. Those who wait on the Lord will 0:27:48.040 --> 0:27:52.520 renew their strength. They shall run and not careery. They 0:27:52.600 --> 0:27:55.480 shall walk all the way back home, all the way 0:27:55.520 --> 0:27:58.920 back to Cana and they will not grow weak. Help 0:27:59.040 --> 0:28:05.119 is on the way. I'm not waiting for help today. 0:28:06.119 --> 0:28:09.920 I'm waiting on it. I'm not waiting for help. I'm 0:28:10.000 --> 0:28:15.199 waiting on it today. You're telling me that I just 0:28:15.240 --> 0:28:17.880 need to wait on the word that God has given me. Yeah, 0:28:17.920 --> 0:28:21.000 because that word can become a weapon in your life. 0:28:21.040 --> 0:28:23.359 If you'll use it, if you'll wait on it, if 0:28:23.400 --> 0:28:25.920 you'll declare it over your life, if you'll walk in it, 0:28:26.359 --> 0:28:31.800 I'll never forget. January seventeenth of twenty fourteen, my son 0:28:31.960 --> 0:28:34.240 Jude was two years old at the time, and we 0:28:34.320 --> 0:28:39.080 woke up and Jude had gone into hypobylemic shock. That 0:28:39.160 --> 0:28:41.160 means all the things that were supposed to be functioning 0:28:41.200 --> 0:28:44.480 in his body weren't functioning. And my son was dying 0:28:45.080 --> 0:28:48.440 before my very eyes. I saw him turn gray, I 0:28:48.480 --> 0:28:53.000 saw him get cold, and I'm like, God, Help, I 0:28:53.040 --> 0:28:56.320 can't I can't control the outcome of this obstacle right now, 0:28:57.120 --> 0:28:58.760 this is out of my control. God, What am I 0:28:58.760 --> 0:29:00.600 gonna do? What am I gonna do? When we get 0:29:00.640 --> 0:29:03.160 to the hospital and the doctors have no answers? What 0:29:03.200 --> 0:29:04.760 are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? And 0:29:04.800 --> 0:29:07.440 I remember I got away. I locked myself in the bathroom, 0:29:07.560 --> 0:29:09.240 not because I had to use the bathroom, but because 0:29:09.280 --> 0:29:11.080 I just needed to get alone with God and say, God, 0:29:11.640 --> 0:29:14.120 what are we gonna do? And I remember Psalm twenty 0:29:14.160 --> 0:29:17.440 seven came to my heart. If will hide God's word 0:29:17.480 --> 0:29:20.400 in our heart, we won't sin against him. And I 0:29:20.480 --> 0:29:24.480 just begin to quote that word Psalm twenty seven over 0:29:24.520 --> 0:29:27.640 my life and over my son. I begin to serve 0:29:27.720 --> 0:29:30.280 the word of God in my life in that moment, 0:29:30.440 --> 0:29:32.560 Help is I'm the way. I'm not gonna sit here 0:29:32.680 --> 0:29:34.960 and wait for a miracle. God, I'm gonna wait on it. 0:29:35.000 --> 0:29:37.560 Because I believe that You've already given me the victory. 0:29:37.680 --> 0:29:40.640 If I'll just declare it over this situation, if I 0:29:40.680 --> 0:29:43.000 walk in it so Psalm twenty seven. The Lord is 0:29:43.000 --> 0:29:45.920 my life, then my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The 0:29:45.960 --> 0:29:48.720 Lord is the stronghold of my life? Of whom shall 0:29:48.760 --> 0:29:50.880 I be afraid? I'm not waiting for it. I'm not 0:29:50.920 --> 0:29:53.400 waiting for help today. I'm waiting on it. The Lord 0:29:53.440 --> 0:29:56.240 is my life, then my salvation, whom shall I fear? 0:29:56.440 --> 0:29:58.880 And that word that begin to come out of my 0:29:58.960 --> 0:30:02.880 mouth begin to change the condition of my heart, and 0:30:02.960 --> 0:30:05.720 my faith begin to grow, and I begin to become stronger. 0:30:05.840 --> 0:30:08.160 Some of us were trying to fix the situation. We're 0:30:08.160 --> 0:30:10.360 trying to predict the outcome of God, saying, you just 0:30:10.400 --> 0:30:12.960 need to be strong in this moment. I've been called 0:30:13.000 --> 0:30:15.480 you to be successful. I haven't called you to prosper. 0:30:15.640 --> 0:30:18.680 I've only called you to be courageous and strong. Let 0:30:18.720 --> 0:30:20.640 me take care of the rest. You're waiting to get 0:30:20.680 --> 0:30:23.280 strong before you take the first step. No, just step 0:30:23.320 --> 0:30:26.560 out in the instruction that I've already spoken, and let 0:30:26.600 --> 0:30:31.240 me work in your life. When we speak that word 0:30:31.240 --> 0:30:35.320 out of our mouth, the content of our conversation can 0:30:35.400 --> 0:30:39.440 change the condition of our heart. This man walked on 0:30:39.520 --> 0:30:43.800 a word all the way back home to Cana. I 0:30:43.840 --> 0:30:46.920 believe Jesus told him to go so that his faith 0:30:48.000 --> 0:30:54.720 would grow. I'm not waiting for help. I'm waiting on 0:30:54.880 --> 0:30:59.000 it today, and I love what it says in verse 0:30:59.040 --> 0:31:02.080 fifty two that when he inquired us to the time 0:31:03.200 --> 0:31:07.600 his son got better, his servants said, and servants is 0:31:07.640 --> 0:31:10.200 just another word for help. His help met him on 0:31:10.240 --> 0:31:16.280 the way. His help told him yesterday. Everyone say yesterday. Yesterday, 0:31:16.960 --> 0:31:18.760 at one in the afternoon, the fever left. And wait 0:31:18.800 --> 0:31:22.000 a minute. So the word that God spoke over my 0:31:22.040 --> 0:31:27.920 life yesterday has the same power today. It's just up 0:31:27.920 --> 0:31:30.040 to me to walk in that word. It's just up 0:31:30.080 --> 0:31:33.960 to me to declare that promise over my life. I 0:31:34.120 --> 0:31:37.320 just gotta be willing. I've noticed something about the promises 0:31:37.360 --> 0:31:41.880 of God that they're always first proceeded with an instruction. 0:31:43.440 --> 0:31:50.880 Go instruction, your son will live. Promise. Seek instruction and 0:31:50.960 --> 0:31:57.040 you will find promise. Knock instruction and the door will 0:31:57.400 --> 0:32:01.520 be open. Promise. There's this word that keeps popping up 0:32:01.560 --> 0:32:06.960 in all these promises. Will your son will live? God, 0:32:06.960 --> 0:32:09.080 what are you telling us today. He's saying, I'm a 0:32:09.120 --> 0:32:12.440 God who is faithful. I will always respond, I will 0:32:12.440 --> 0:32:15.080 always answer you. I will always give you the word 0:32:15.240 --> 0:32:17.800 that you need in this season. But you've got to 0:32:17.840 --> 0:32:20.720 have the willingness to obey that word. You've got to 0:32:20.760 --> 0:32:23.880 have the willingness to wait on that word, to respond 0:32:23.960 --> 0:32:26.680 to that word. Help us on the way to wait 0:32:26.760 --> 0:32:29.360 on the Lord. They no d They're not so weary. 0:32:29.560 --> 0:32:38.240 They will walk and not faith sin up on our feet. 0:32:38.680 --> 0:32:42.600 At all our locations here in this place today, some 0:32:42.680 --> 0:32:45.440 of us are waiting for a new word from God. 0:32:45.480 --> 0:32:47.360 He's waiting for us to wait on the word he's 0:32:47.360 --> 0:32:50.600 already given us. They said, I've been coming to church 0:32:50.640 --> 0:32:54.440 for six months now, chat a year, two years. I 0:32:54.560 --> 0:32:59.040 keep coming, keep arriving. But it's time to step from 0:32:59.280 --> 0:33:05.720 arrival to application. Not just arriving, but applying this word 0:33:05.760 --> 0:33:07.920 to your life. Walking out of this place today, some 0:33:08.000 --> 0:33:10.200 of you are going to reach out for help today. 0:33:11.360 --> 0:33:14.280 Help requires humility. You're gonna surrender and say, God, I 0:33:14.320 --> 0:33:17.480 can't do this by myself anymore. I'm experiencing this struggle. 0:33:17.960 --> 0:33:20.600 But as I surrender to you, you'll give me the strength. 0:33:20.960 --> 0:33:26.240 It's the struggle surrender strength. Some of you today, you're 0:33:26.240 --> 0:33:29.840 gonna go back to that word God spoke yesterday because 0:33:29.840 --> 0:33:33.400 it still has the same power today, and you're gonna 0:33:33.400 --> 0:33:37.240 begin to walk in that word. And in that promise, 0:33:37.880 --> 0:33:46.640 verse fifty three. One last thing, Verse fifty three, it 0:33:46.720 --> 0:33:54.160 says the father. The father realized this was the exact 0:33:54.200 --> 0:33:56.960 time at which Jesus had said to him, your son 0:33:56.960 --> 0:33:59.560 will live, so he and his whole household believed. Do 0:33:59.600 --> 0:34:03.640 you notice is being said in this verse the father. 0:34:04.920 --> 0:34:06.760 I don't know if you caught it, but all throughout 0:34:06.800 --> 0:34:11.799 this passage he's been called the royal official, he's been 0:34:11.800 --> 0:34:15.640 known by a position, but he realized in this moment, 0:34:15.760 --> 0:34:19.600 I can't work to help my position any longer. I've 0:34:19.640 --> 0:34:22.520 got to walk on this word. And now he's known 0:34:22.560 --> 0:34:25.560 as the Father because he believed, because he reached out 0:34:25.600 --> 0:34:28.040 for help, because he humbled himself. And some of us 0:34:28.080 --> 0:34:30.680 were trying to help our position. We're trying to protect 0:34:30.840 --> 0:34:33.440 our position, our title. Today God saying I want to 0:34:33.440 --> 0:34:36.480 take you from a place of position to purpose. If 0:34:36.520 --> 0:34:39.080 you'll just believe, if you'll just walk on this word, 0:34:39.280 --> 0:34:41.440 if you'll apply it, I want to give you purpose. 0:34:47.560 --> 0:34:50.879 Maybe you're in this place today, you're watching online, you're 0:34:50.880 --> 0:34:55.319 at one of our locations, and you're going Chad. You know, 0:34:55.360 --> 0:34:59.799 for me, I feel so far off because for me, 0:35:00.719 --> 0:35:05.960 the roof fell down, the boy died in my story, Chad, 0:35:07.320 --> 0:35:10.080 I feel so far off from the plans and the 0:35:10.080 --> 0:35:13.000 purposes and the promises of God. Chatd what about me? 0:35:13.800 --> 0:35:18.040 I feel so far off? Well, there's another story about 0:35:18.040 --> 0:35:22.360 a father and a son in Luke fifteen, verse twenty. 0:35:23.040 --> 0:35:25.839 It's a son who took his inheritance that his father 0:35:25.920 --> 0:35:29.640 had given him and he lost everything. He finds himself 0:35:29.640 --> 0:35:32.560 in a place of shame, place of humiliation, a place 0:35:32.560 --> 0:35:36.640 of sorrow, and he begins to talk to himself. He says, 0:35:37.040 --> 0:35:40.480 maybe if I go to my father, Maybe if I 0:35:40.520 --> 0:35:44.520 go to my father, he can help chat what about 0:35:44.520 --> 0:35:47.160 me today? Because everything's falling apart in my life. I 0:35:47.200 --> 0:35:50.479 want to give you the same instruction that Jesus gave 0:35:50.840 --> 0:35:58.960 the father, the royal official, go home, go home today, 0:36:00.080 --> 0:36:03.560 and go home. Well, all throughout this story in Luke fifteen, 0:36:05.160 --> 0:36:06.960 the son never says I'm gonna go home. He says, 0:36:06.960 --> 0:36:09.960 I'm gonna go to my father, because home is more 0:36:09.960 --> 0:36:12.040 of a person than it is a place. Will you 0:36:12.160 --> 0:36:15.120 run into the arms of your heavenly Father today because 0:36:15.120 --> 0:36:18.799 he's calling you home. He's calling you back to him, 0:36:18.800 --> 0:36:22.000 and help is on the way. The verse says, while 0:36:22.000 --> 0:36:24.080 the son was a long way off, you feel far 0:36:24.160 --> 0:36:26.480 off today. While he was a long way off, his 0:36:26.560 --> 0:36:30.560 father saw him. His father ran to him and embraced him, 0:36:30.680 --> 0:36:33.399 gave him a hug, gave a kiss, and said, welcome home. 0:36:33.719 --> 0:36:37.440 Go home today, Run to your father. Every head thought, 0:36:37.480 --> 0:36:40.719 every eye closed in this place. I want to give 0:36:40.719 --> 0:36:44.600 someone the opportunity to go home. To place your faith 0:36:44.600 --> 0:36:48.239 in Jesus in this moment you're watching online at one 0:36:48.239 --> 0:36:51.400 of our locations here at Valentine. If you want to 0:36:51.400 --> 0:36:54.920 say yes to God, say yes to his plan, his purpose, 0:36:54.920 --> 0:36:56.800 if you want to reach out for his help, his grace, 0:36:56.840 --> 0:36:59.560 his mercy. I want you to pray this prayer out loud. 0:36:59.600 --> 0:37:01.359 We're gon we all gonna pray it with you as 0:37:01.400 --> 0:37:03.640 a church family. If you're praying it for the first time, 0:37:04.080 --> 0:37:06.400 or maybe you're coming back to God today, pray this 0:37:06.719 --> 0:37:09.160 and believe it with all of your heart. You're going 0:37:09.200 --> 0:37:14.080 home today. Say Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your 0:37:14.160 --> 0:37:20.080 son for me. I believe that Jesus is Lord. I 0:37:20.160 --> 0:37:24.040 believe he's the savior of the world. I believe he 0:37:24.120 --> 0:37:29.000 died and was raised to life, giving me life, giving 0:37:29.040 --> 0:37:32.759 me hope, and giving me a future. Today, I give 0:37:32.760 --> 0:37:37.400 you my life, Jesus, from this day forward, I'll follow 0:37:37.480 --> 0:37:40.000 you had still boid, I still close. If you just 0:37:40.040 --> 0:37:42.320 prayed that prayer this moment, making Jesus the lord of 0:37:42.360 --> 0:37:44.040 your life for the first time, on the counter of 0:37:44.040 --> 0:37:46.279 three at all of our locations, shoot your hand up 0:37:46.280 --> 0:37:49.640 in the air. One, two, three, if that prayers for you, 0:37:49.719 --> 0:37:53.799 shoot your hand up. Awesome hands going up, People making decisions, 0:37:54.000 --> 0:37:57.880 people placing their faith in Jesus. Come up, church, Let's rejoice, 0:37:58.640 --> 0:38:01.799 Let's wait on this worship. Let's thank you for his help. 0:38:02.040 --> 0:38:05.600 Let's think a mos goodness is worst grace he deserving. 0:38:06.040 --> 0:38:10.000 Come on, let's chant, let's worship it. Well. I hope 0:38:10.000 --> 0:38:12.440 you enjoyed the podcast today. If you did, there are 0:38:12.480 --> 0:38:14.560 just a couple of things I'd love for you to do. 0:38:14.840 --> 0:38:18.319 Number One, subscribe to our show. That way, the most 0:38:18.360 --> 0:38:21.520 recent episode will always be in your feed, waiting for 0:38:21.640 --> 0:38:25.160 you ready when you are. And Secondly, if this ministry 0:38:25.160 --> 0:38:27.640 has impacted you and you'd like to help us continue 0:38:27.640 --> 0:38:29.719 to reach others. You can click the link in the 0:38:29.719 --> 0:38:32.600 description and you can give now and I'll see you 0:38:32.760 --> 0:38:35.240 next time on the Elevation Podcast.