I Can’t Stay Here (Earl McClellan)

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.880 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:08.360 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:11.080 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.600 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:14.720 Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:19.480 Hello, Elevation family. 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:21.000 You ready for a great day today? 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:21.239 Or what? 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:25.480 Hey? Stay standing at every cabinis if you would not mind. 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:29.360 I'm so so honored privileged to be here with each 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:31.480 and every one of you. I know I'm not as 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:35.320 handsome as Pastor Stephen, but I love the same God 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.919 as him for sure, and excited to see what the 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:43.000 Lord has in store for all of us today. It's 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.279 another Sunday, or maybe somebody could be watching this at 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.440 another point in time throughout the week. But for us, 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:53.720 right now, it's Sunday and another day at the beginning 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:57.840 of a week that God has given all of us. 0:00:58.000 --> 0:00:58.640 It's an honor. 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.920 Not everybody gets this gift, not everybody has this moment 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:06.080 right here, and this being such a life giving, amazing 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:08.760 church week in and week out, you know, we lift 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:11.320 up the name of Jesus. But I do recognize that 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.119 our weeks can sometimes be hard, right, you can come 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:17.240 through just some stuff. You don't have to raise your hand. 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:19.840 I'm sure some of us have been through some things 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:22.880 this week. We're like, I just got to get to church. 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:25.880 I just gotta get there. Maybe my wife's there this weekend, 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:27.959 let me get there. Maybe maybe my husband's there. Let 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:31.119 me just get there. But maybe my breakthrough is there. 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:33.440 I gotta get there. 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:39.320 But it's very very possible for something to be interesting 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:46.880 but not to be moving. It's possible for something to 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:50.280 be very very essential but it not to be personal. 0:01:54.360 --> 0:02:03.840 And something can even be informational but not transformational. We're 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:06.360 gonna be opening up the Bible in a few moments, 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:10.240 and there's some things that might be interesting, but we're 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:12.280 not just wanting them to be interesting. We want them 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:16.960 to be moving. Do you know? For the nerds that 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:20.120 are in the room and online right now, the Sun 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:22.919 su and is the largest star in our galaxy. 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.040 Some of y'all knew that it's the one. 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:30.280 It's the this this star right here. Actually everything in 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:34.880 our in our solar system revolves around it. It has 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:37.360 the hottest part of the Sun is at its core. 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:40.720 I think some scientists believe the Sun's actually gonna burn 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:43.320 out in like five billion years or something. 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:44.320 I've read that somewhere. 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:49.239 See all that that might be interesting, it's not moving 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:55.360 you and I can't even exist without that su and Sun. 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:58.160 But even hearing that it's essential, But all that stuff 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:01.800 doesn't even feel that personal. It might be informational, but 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:08.519 it's not transformational. But today we're not gonna talk about 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:14.280 the Sun Son. Today we're gonna talk about the Son Son. 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:18.600 Colossians Chapter one tells us that the Sun is the 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:22.120 image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation. 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:25.239 From him and to him and through him are all things, 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:27.080 and in him all things. 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:27.680 Are held together. 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:31.880 The Bible tells us that even heaven and earth, everything 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:36.200 comes from him. He is the first born from among 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:38.400 the dead, so that in everything he. 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:40.040 Might have the supremacy. 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:44.000 We're gonna talk today about the Son of God, and 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:47.960 I pray that it's not just informational. I pray today 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:51.880 that God would transform us from the inside out, that 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:55.200 we would not leave wherever we are the same way 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:59.000 we came in. Can you, in this moment lift your 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:03.640 heart and your faith and say, God, move me today. 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:10.880 God changed me today. God opening my eyes today. I 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:16.800 need you so God, in the name of Jesus, at 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:22.120 every single location wherever we may be, I thank you 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:28.360 that today is not just another Sunday. Today is not 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:32.760 just today where we're opening up some old tages. No, God, 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:35.719 we're opening your word and it's alive and active and 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:41.040 sharper than any double edged sword. Would you move us today? 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:46.359 Would you change us today? Would you help us to 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:51.840 look more like you? Carry us? Sustain us, push us 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:56.719 forward in Jesus stain we pray, Amen and amen. At 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.000 every location, can we clap our hands? Come on? Can 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:02.400 you give God? Pray and give somebody a high five 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:05.479 and say, hey, I'm a move today. I'm a move today. 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:08.080 Tell him I'm a move today and you may be seated. 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:14.720 I'm a move today. I am fired up to. 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:18.000 Be here at Ella Patient Church. 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:24.039 Come on. I love your pastors so much, both Pastor 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:29.360 Steven and Pastor Holly. They are two of the most authentic, 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:33.760 life giving, generous, kind people I've ever had the opportunity 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.599 to meet. We actually had the opportunity to sit with 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:39.400 them at a birthday party not too long ago. We 0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:41.680 had a mutual friend who was having a birthday party, 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:45.320 and I wanted to tell you your pastor got up and 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:49.120 shared such life giving words about this individual, and I 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:52.760 just appreciate that someone that has as big of a 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:57.240 world as he does is interested in making other people's 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:00.800 worlds as big as they can possibly be. He is 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:04.920 an individual that is like, how can I make you better? 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:08.240 How can I lift you up? His wife as well. 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.479 I'm gonna tell you all this right now. Please be 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:14.520 the best church you can possibly be to your pastors. 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:17.280 If you're not praying for him, start praying for him. 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:21.320 They need to know that you got him covered. It's 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:23.880 easy to comment. Can you be the one to cover? 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:27.320 Can you be the one that says I have your back? 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:29.600 Can you be the one to say I love you 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:33.560 so much? Even if the sermon that week you feel like, man, 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:35.880 that wasn't for me, that was for somebody else, you 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.080 walk up and say that was the best sermon I've 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:41.120 ever heard in my entire life. You speak words of life, 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:44.799 words of encouragement, and don't just speak the words serve. 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:52.480 Jump on a team, being an e group. These are 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:57.160 the things Pastor seven and Pastor Holly are trying to build, 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:02.200 not something for themselves, something for the Kingdom of God 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.520 and something to lift and make your family all that 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.920 God has called it to be. Don't waste this moment. 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:12.760 What a gift God has given you and me and 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:16.280 this world. And Pastor Stephen and Pastor Holly'll yeah, you 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:18.280 can clap your hands for sure. I'll say this last thing. 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:19.960 I'm gonna open up the text. I gotta say this 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:24.400 last thing. Our church is twelve years old now, and 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:29.000 I remember before our church got started reading Sun Stands Still. 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:36.160 I remember seeing the videos of the baptisms that were happening. 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:39.080 Remember we were sitting in our living room. There were 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:42.280 only twelve of us who were on the team at 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:44.200 that point in time. The whole church was in the 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:46.600 living room at that point in time. And we're watching 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.920 these videos and it's been humbling to see all that 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:53.000 God has done in and through our church Shoreline City 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:56.600 over the last twelve years. But I know if you 0:07:56.800 --> 0:07:59.240 dig deep into the soil of our church, you're going 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:03.080 to see all this residue and all these seeds of elevation. 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:05.720 So I want to say thank you church for being 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:09.000 faithful and lifting up the name of Jesus Christ the 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:11.880 way you do. Because you have impacted our lives more 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:15.320 than you can ever possibly imagine. I even shave my 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:20.240 head to look like chunks. That's what I did. So 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:22.240 thank you, Chunks for keeping your head shaved. 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:23.840 To love you so much. Amy. 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:25.840 Hey, we're gonna open up God's word today. You guys 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:28.040 read it? You guys ready, go with me? Go with 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:39.320 me to second Second King, Second Kings, Chapter seven, Second Kings, 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:44.280 Chapter seven. We're gonna begin reading in verse number three. 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:47.559 If you didn't bring your Bible, gonna put the verses 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.120 on the screen so that you can follow along with us. 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:55.320 Second Kings, Chapter seven, Verse number three. It says, now 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:59.560 there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:04.600 the city gate. They said to each other, why stay 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:06.320 here until we die? 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:09.960 If we say, we'll. 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:13.160 Go into the city, the famine is there and we 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:17.400 will die. And if we stay here, we will die. 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:20.559 So let's go over to the camp of the Arameenes 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:21.760 and surrender. 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:27.719 If they spare us, we live. If they kill us, 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:31.000 then we die. 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:37.200 Amen. For those of you like to take notes, the 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:44.960 title of today's message is I can't stay here. I 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:52.719 can't stay here. I can't All of us. You know this, 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:58.520 All of us are someplace. Duh, you're in a place 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.040 right now. You're at one of our location. You're online, 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:03.720 you're in your living room, you're at a coffee shop, 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.680 you're in some part of the world. You're in this building, 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:10.000 you're in a chair. Yes, you're someplace physically, but all 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:17.720 of us are someplace emotionally, financially, mentally, even professionally. You know, 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:19.960 you went and got your master's degree, and then you 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:22.040 keep on interviewing but can't get a job because everybodys 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:24.240 saying you're overqualified. You're like, what does that mean? Just 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:30.440 give me a job. I'm somewhere. I'm somewhere emotionally, I'm 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:33.280 somewhere relationally. Some of us don't have a ring on 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:36.079 our finger. We want to have a ring on our finger. 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:39.520 We're at church this weekend to find our boas. 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:42.600 That's a church stoke boas. 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:48.120 Right there, You're some place. There's someplace even in our 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:50.319 physical bodies, right. I mean, I don't know about y'all, 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:52.679 but I've got this backfat that won't go away. 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:54.640 I keep on trying to do planks. 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.880 But it's like Earl, I ain't leaving, okay, I'm staying 0:10:56.920 --> 0:10:57.880 right here with you. 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:00.240 It's me and you for the rest of your life. 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:06.520 Brother, we're all some place, every single one of us, 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:08.200 and some of us are in a good place. And 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:11.040 it's nice to be in a good place. When you're 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:13.240 in a good place, like with your finances, you did 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.520 to Dave Ramsey, like, right, you did it. You got 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.640 your thousand dollars, you got my emergency fun. Yeah, I'm 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:24.080 snowballing right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, let my car break down. 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.280 I got the money. You know, you're feeling feeling good. 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:29.520 I'm in a good place. 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:32.200 It's nice to be in a good place where things 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.880 are clicking on all cylinders, things are moving the right direction. 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:39.440 It's like every three you take it's nothing but net 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:44.319 You're like, yes, I'm feeling it. I'm good, I'm strong. 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.439 A good place is great, for sure, But even even 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:49.439 it's interesting, a good place can become a grave. 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:53.720 You know this, If you stop growing. 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:56.040 Even a good place can become a grave. Because you're like, 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.120 my marriage is good. I'm just gonna preserve it. You 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.120 just can't press. You gotta keep going on date nights. 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:05.000 You gotta keep telling her she's beautiful. You gotta keep 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:07.760 on patting your hubby on the booty and going you're cute. 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:10.400 That too much for you? 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.679 With that too much? That too much. I'm talking to 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:15.320 spouses now, I'm talking to spouses. 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:19.200 All right. You gotta keep that fire alive. 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:21.720 A good place can become a grave if you don't 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.160 keep growing. So we want to make sure we keep 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:26.920 on growing. If your business is like at a place 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:28.600 you never thought it would be, it's like it's in 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.760 a good spot. You can get into preservation mode. It's 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:34.920 so possible. Like I don't want anything bad to happen. 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:38.679 But you didn't get there by not pursuing and taking risks. 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:42.000 You got there because you trusted God, and we're believing 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.120 him for more. So I just want to encourage you. 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:46.600 Don't get just stuck in a good place trying to 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:52.000 protect it. No, But when I say I can't stay here, 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:55.520 some of youall aren't thinking about a good place. You're 0:12:55.520 --> 0:13:03.360 thinking about uh bad place. Tough. I can't stay here. 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:10.520 I can't stay in this marriage like this. I can't 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:14.800 stay here. I didn't sign up. I didn't say I 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:20.880 do so i'd have a roommate. I'm trying to have 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:23.240 my soulmate. I want I want to I want to 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:26.000 have a connection with someone, and now we're sleeping in 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.520 different bedrooms and we're not talking about divorce, but we're 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:34.640 thinking about it. I can't stay here. I can't stay 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:38.040 here with my dad. I can't stay here with how 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:41.160 tired I am? Why am I so tired all the time? 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:43.040 Why am I or why does it always feel like 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:45.160 I'm way down? Why do I Why don't I have 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.200 the joy that I used to have? Where'd my fire go? 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.720 Where where'd my energy go? Why? Why am I waking up? 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:54.080 And I want to just stay in the bed? I 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:57.480 can't stay here. I can't stay in this depression. I 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:00.360 don't want this. I'm I'm trying to muster all this smile. 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.679 I can to stand at the door and to greet 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:06.480 people as they come in, but on the inside, I'm 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:09.560 feeling like I'm dying. I'm smiling at you, but I 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:13.400 need you to smile back at me. I can't stay here. 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:17.040 Can somebody please help me? Can somebody please give me 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:19.800 some hope? Can somebody please give me some strength? I 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:32.320 can't stay here numb, maybe even lukewarm? Is the day 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:37.000 like you're on fire for God? As they say, on fire, 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:42.040 excited about God? Couldn't help, but keep your hands up. 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:48.600 And now it's just like they're heavy, Like you're carrying 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:53.920 two kettlebells and can't lift them way down. 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:56.800 How about you. 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.520 But family drama too, can be one of the hardest 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:05.440 things navigating. Man. Oh man, I love my mother in law. 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:10.080 I love her. Thank you Jesus for. 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:15.200 Family. 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:16.080 My family. 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:18.560 Family. Sorry about that, honey, but family. 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.520 Family. Who remember they were like, have kids? Remember they 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:26.640 said that have kids? You need you, need you to 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:28.760 have kids. I'm saying, yeah, I can't wait. Now you're like, 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.960 oh my lord, can I put these kids back? Can 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:37.320 I gotta get a refund on these kids right here? 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:39.560 I love them so much. 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.920 But it can it can be taxing, it can be difficult, 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:46.480 It can be hard. It can be oh doctor's bill, 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:51.520 Oh soccer game, Oh football game, Oh camp. Oh you 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:54.960 need skills training here, and then you need skills training there, 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:57.400 and then we gotta go here, we gotta get ready 0:15:57.400 --> 0:15:59.560 for college over there, and then we I mean, you 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.480 got all this stuff if you're a single person trying 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:07.080 to navigate, I've got so much on my brain. I'm sixteen, 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:10.880 seventeen years old, and I'm supposed to have everything figured out. 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:14.040 And I don't have everything figured out. I don't know 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:16.880 what college I'm going to. I don't know how I'm 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:19.320 gonna pay for college. I don't even know what's gonna 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:23.440 happen to my mom and my dad. Help me, somebody. 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.440 I can't stay here. 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:31.640 So it brings us to our text. 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.800 In The Two Kings, chapter seven, verses three and four, 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:43.840 there are four lepers and they are sitting there now 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:45.840 leprosy back in the day. 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:49.040 Well, this would be a disease. 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:51.080 We don't know if it was like exactly leprosy. It 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:53.360 guess to be some type of skin disorder, but it 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:56.960 would make you unclean. I mean, at that point in time, 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:01.200 you have certain rules where you're not allowed to be 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:05.280 around certain people, you can't touch certain things. And hear 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:09.919 these four lepers and they're all hanging out together. You 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:13.280 have to read the rest of the even chapter six 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:14.480 and chapter seven, they. 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:16.960 Really go together. But when you read them. 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:21.080 You find out that the aramines, the enemy's army has 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:24.919 surrounded the city and they have been encamped around the 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:29.800 city for so long, and they're basically suffocating God's kids 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:34.879 to death. They're not letting any food or water in 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:39.119 it got dark. I mean it got very very dark. 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:43.880 Individuals were doing some of the most heinous crimes, even 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:46.360 against their own family. You can read it. I don't 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:49.160 want to say it because I might lose your attention. 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:52.359 That's how horrific the things are that we're going on 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:58.240 in the text. So this is a tough place. It's 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:01.880 a hard, difficult spot that they are in. They are 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:04.840 in a place they do not want to be like 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:12.320 some of us. So they're sitting there outside the city gate. 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:15.040 They're not allowed to go into the city because they're lepers. 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.320 The sitting there and they start talking to each other 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:22.520 and we get a look seat into their conversation. 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:27.640 And these guys we find out are crazy. 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:29.920 You gotta have a couple of friends like this, just 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:32.399 so you know, you gotta have a couple leper friends 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:38.200 and a little it's a little bit off. You can't 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:40.080 have everybody in your left it's just real squeaky clean. 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:42.720 You gonna have somebody to be like I'll pull up 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:44.520 right now. You gotta have a couple of people like 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.480 that in your life and in your corner. Don't get 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:49.680 so saved that you can't throw hands right. You want 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:56.760 to make sure if something pops off, call your boy you. 0:18:57.119 --> 0:19:02.760 So you're the leopers are sitting there and they say, Okay, 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:08.240 we're gonna die here, We're gonna die. We sit here, 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:13.160 we're gonna die. If we're going to the city, we're 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:17.720 definitely gonna die. But if we go to the enemy's camp, 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:23.399 they're probably gonna kill us too. But they might not 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:35.159 kill us with the enemies camp. Maybe they'll take us 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:38.760 like as prisoners, and we'll at least get some food. 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:44.600 So they're sitting there in this deductive reasoning, they get 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:45.760 to the place where they go. 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:51.119 I know, if I stay in this exact same spot. 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:57.440 And I keep thinking the exact same way, and I 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:02.600 keep doing the exact same thing thing, then this right 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:05.840 here is going to bring me to a place of death. 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:11.440 And I know I do not want to die right here, 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.040 so I've got to do something. I like these guys. 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:18.440 I like these guys because they do not get hung 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:23.880 up on what they can't do. They start thinking about 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.240 what can I do. They don't get hung up on 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:30.639 what I don't have. They start thinking about what. 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:32.159 Do I have. 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:35.160 So for you and I I am praying that while 0:20:35.200 --> 0:20:37.560 you are you and I are in those spots of frustration. 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:39.760 We're in those places of like, Okay, how do I 0:20:39.800 --> 0:20:41.560 get my company to that next level? How do I 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:43.240 get my marriage out of this spot? How do I 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:45.000 get my single life here? How do I get my 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:47.320 thought life there? How to get my physical body here? 0:20:47.359 --> 0:20:48.920 How to get my finances there? I don't want to 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:50.120 stay here. I don't want to stay here. I don't 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:51.960 want to stay here. You and I get stuck so 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:54.240 many times because like I can't do this, I can't 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:56.040 do that, I can't do this, I can't do that. 0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:57.920 But I'm trying to get you to see it from 0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:01.040 another perspective. I wonder if this period of God today 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:03.840 could help you and I learn from some lepers, and 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:06.800 some lepers would be sitting there outside the city gate 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:10.040 and then decided to say, I know some things I 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:12.960 don't have, but I do have some things that I 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:16.080 can do, at least as an enemy's camp that I 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:18.840 can head to, at least as a place I can go. 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:22.200 I wonder where you can go. I wonder what e 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:25.160 group is there for you. I wonder what prayer group 0:21:25.280 --> 0:21:28.040 is there for you. I wonder what campus pastor wants 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:30.200 to lay hands on you to help you get out 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:33.119 of the spot that you're in. I wonder what friend 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:35.880 is there. I wonder who is around you right now 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:38.240 that you can't see them because you keep thinking. 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:39.320 About what you don't have. 0:21:39.480 --> 0:21:42.280 In God's like, I have put you in a community 0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:45.680 of faith that will stand with you and stand beside 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:47.320 you and help you become all that I've. 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:47.760 Called you to be. 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:58.000 What do you have? What do you have? What can 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:04.159 you do? Because it's something, there's something you can do, 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:11.240 it's something you do have. Because I can't stay. 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:12.720 Here. 0:22:15.200 --> 0:22:19.399 I can't. If you're on a team and everybody on 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:21.400 the team keeps telling you you're a complainer, but you say, 0:22:21.400 --> 0:22:23.280 I'm not a complainer. I'm not a complainer. But you're like, oh, well, 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:24.600 they keep saying you're complaining. Then you I'm not a 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:26.960 complain I'm coming out a complainer. Then maybe maybe you're 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:33.520 a complainer. And it's a frustrating place to be, but 0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:37.359 you go, I can't stay here, And instead of just 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:40.000 ejecting yourself out of the place where God has you, 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:42.600 maybe he's trying to change something on the inside of 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:44.959 you because he knows what he has for your future, 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:47.320 so he's trying to tell you hey, friend, friend, I 0:22:47.440 --> 0:22:51.200 love you. But you can't stay here with how you 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:54.760 think everybody's against you. You can't stay here with how 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:57.760 you see the world. You can't stay here with how 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:01.600 you process information. You can't stay here with how you 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:04.320 just skip past the word of God. You can't stay 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:06.960 here with how you don't ever pray, and how you 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:09.560 don't ever give, and how you don't ever serve. You 0:23:09.720 --> 0:23:13.920 can't stay here. If you stay there, you will die. 0:23:15.320 --> 0:23:17.600 So these guys go, look with me. In verse number five, 0:23:17.840 --> 0:23:19.239 come on, keep on going with me. We'll walk through 0:23:19.240 --> 0:23:20.600 the Bible here. You guys, ready, you're with me, You 0:23:20.720 --> 0:23:20.960 with me? 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:22.080 Versu five. 0:23:22.160 --> 0:23:26.000 Look at dusk, Chapter seven, Verse number five. At dust 0:23:26.040 --> 0:23:28.880 they got up and went to the camp of the Aramians. 0:23:29.880 --> 0:23:33.680 Everybody say, at duska, that's important. At dusk they got 0:23:33.760 --> 0:23:35.160 up and went to the camp of the Aramians. When 0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:38.120 they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there. 0:23:39.960 --> 0:23:44.639 For the Lord had caused the airmens to hear the 0:23:44.800 --> 0:23:49.720 sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so 0:23:49.880 --> 0:23:53.280 that they said to one another, look, the King of 0:23:53.400 --> 0:23:56.960 Israel has hired the hit Tight and Egyptian kings to 0:23:57.080 --> 0:24:00.200 attack us. So they got up and fled in the 0:24:01.119 --> 0:24:06.240 oh in the dusk, there it is again, and abandoned 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:11.320 their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the 0:24:11.560 --> 0:24:16.520 camp as it was and ran for their lives. At dusk, 0:24:16.720 --> 0:24:20.680 at dust, the four lepers decide, okay, let's go, and 0:24:20.800 --> 0:24:23.000 they get up and they throw on their jays, then 0:24:23.160 --> 0:24:27.719 have jays and they start walking. They start walking. They 0:24:27.760 --> 0:24:30.439 start walking at dusk. That's what verse five tells us, 0:24:30.600 --> 0:24:32.600 and a verse number seven it tells us at dusk 0:24:32.960 --> 0:24:36.120 is when the enemy started running. So when the when 0:24:36.160 --> 0:24:41.240 the lepers got up over here, God calls the sound 0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:48.359 over there. They got up here, but something happened over there. 0:24:49.560 --> 0:24:51.040 Let me say it again. Let me say it again. 0:24:51.640 --> 0:24:56.040 They got up and took a step here, and then 0:24:56.280 --> 0:24:59.480 God did a miracle over there. 0:25:03.560 --> 0:25:04.560 Honey, you can trust with my phone. 0:25:04.640 --> 0:25:07.800 Trust my phone. It doesn't any any phone. It's no 0:25:07.920 --> 0:25:09.040 throw it to me. Come on, I can catch it. 0:25:09.119 --> 0:25:11.040 Come on, That's what I'm talking about. Thank you. I 0:25:11.119 --> 0:25:13.800 got hands. I got hands Okay, so on my phone 0:25:13.880 --> 0:25:15.760 right here is iPhone twelve. Sorry about that. I still 0:25:15.760 --> 0:25:18.160 have an upgraded cricket cricket wireless. 0:25:18.520 --> 0:25:22.399 Uh kid, If you got cricket, God bless you. 0:25:22.880 --> 0:25:32.320 Uh do calls go through with that being said? Uh uh? 0:25:33.520 --> 0:25:37.200 On my phone, I have the next app, okay, next 0:25:37.240 --> 0:25:40.040 that so I can get I can right now go 0:25:40.200 --> 0:25:43.560 to that app on my phone. And if I changed 0:25:43.640 --> 0:25:51.040 the temperature on my phone here, all the way back 0:25:51.119 --> 0:25:57.480 home in Dallas, the temperature changes at home. I did 0:25:57.680 --> 0:26:03.080 something here, but something happens all the way over there. 0:26:04.600 --> 0:26:07.400 This is a picture of what happens in Second King 0:26:07.600 --> 0:26:08.240 chapter seven. 0:26:08.520 --> 0:26:10.000 It's also a picture of prayer. 0:26:10.359 --> 0:26:12.760 Mom, when you get on your knees and your kid 0:26:12.960 --> 0:26:16.200 is out at the party and you are praying here. 0:26:16.840 --> 0:26:22.399 If God begins to do something over there, it's like 0:26:22.520 --> 0:26:27.719 the alcohol does not taste the same over there. They 0:26:27.840 --> 0:26:31.440 go to but they want to put it down because 0:26:31.640 --> 0:26:35.640 Mom or God is praying over here. There is something 0:26:36.080 --> 0:26:42.000 about taking a step here that God does something over there, 0:26:42.400 --> 0:26:44.679 And I need you and I to be a people 0:26:45.040 --> 0:26:48.080 that says God, even if I don't see it, I 0:26:48.320 --> 0:26:52.080 will take a step when it doesn't even make sense 0:26:58.400 --> 0:27:05.120 here there here there. 0:27:06.400 --> 0:27:07.359 This is how God works. 0:27:08.680 --> 0:27:11.359 See you and I want to see it, but you 0:27:11.440 --> 0:27:13.960 don't get to see it unless you take the step. 0:27:16.160 --> 0:27:18.360 We say, God, show me. Then I'll take the step. 0:27:18.400 --> 0:27:20.439 God was like, no, no, no, no, We're not doing 0:27:20.520 --> 0:27:23.960 it like that. We're doing it my way, and my 0:27:24.080 --> 0:27:26.159 way is the way of faith. My way is the 0:27:26.200 --> 0:27:29.200 way of trust. My way is the way that when 0:27:29.280 --> 0:27:32.280 the water is going crazy and the waves are crashing 0:27:32.520 --> 0:27:34.960 and it doesn't make any sense, that's what I want 0:27:35.000 --> 0:27:37.200 you to give. When it looks like the economy is 0:27:37.280 --> 0:27:40.200 going upside down, that's when I want you trusting me. 0:27:40.440 --> 0:27:42.919 When it doesn't look like things are moving the right direction, 0:27:43.280 --> 0:27:45.439 that's when I want you to say, God, it doesn't 0:27:45.520 --> 0:27:48.400 make sense in my brain, but I can't stay here. 0:27:48.680 --> 0:27:50.800 So I'm gonna take the step you're calling me to take, 0:27:51.040 --> 0:27:52.560 so I can do what you're calling me to do, 0:27:52.640 --> 0:27:56.000 and I can see a miracle that I would never 0:27:56.359 --> 0:27:59.600 see had I not taken the step. Let me let 0:27:59.640 --> 0:28:01.639 me share it. Picture my family their way. All of 0:28:01.720 --> 0:28:03.760 them are prettier than me, all of them. All of 0:28:03.800 --> 0:28:05.399 them are prettier than me. Okay, got my picture of 0:28:05.400 --> 0:28:07.480 my family. Look at this. Okay, here here's the crew. 0:28:07.520 --> 0:28:10.080 Here's the crew. There's an older picture right here, our 0:28:10.160 --> 0:28:12.359 nine year old now house corn rows, which I cannot 0:28:12.400 --> 0:28:19.000 do because I'm involved my wife's my best friend. Okay, 0:28:19.119 --> 0:28:21.239 so she's my sexy piece of dark chocolate. I love 0:28:21.240 --> 0:28:23.680 her so much. She and I twenty seven years have 0:28:23.760 --> 0:28:27.840 been married. Now it's gone by so fast. Still my 0:28:27.960 --> 0:28:31.040 best friend. I love her so much. So I got 0:28:31.080 --> 0:28:33.800 my beautiful wife. Okay, we met in college and she 0:28:34.080 --> 0:28:36.600 liked me first and was trying to you know, it's 0:28:36.640 --> 0:28:39.320 a long story, y'all will talk about it at another time, 0:28:40.640 --> 0:28:43.239 but but I'm so so blessed. And then we've got 0:28:43.280 --> 0:28:46.760 our nineteen year old son, Parker, who was absolutely amazing. 0:28:46.880 --> 0:28:50.240 He's about to be a sophomore in college. Man stolen 0:28:50.360 --> 0:28:53.120 our heart. Then we've got Grayson. He's our nerd, I 0:28:53.280 --> 0:28:57.280 mean nerd nerd and plays the cello and football and 0:28:57.760 --> 0:29:02.600 does the viola and knows stuff about the sun. I 0:29:02.680 --> 0:29:05.160 mean he's just a little bit. He's our nerd. We'll 0:29:05.200 --> 0:29:07.120 all be working for him one day, Okay, So we 0:29:07.240 --> 0:29:09.800 love him so much. And then we've got my favorite child, 0:29:10.200 --> 0:29:16.840 who's my daughter. Because she's my daughter, girl, Dads, can 0:29:16.880 --> 0:29:17.680 I get an amen? Come on? 0:29:17.800 --> 0:29:18.520 Can I get an amen? 0:29:18.600 --> 0:29:18.760 Girl? 0:29:18.880 --> 0:29:21.040 Dad's I tell my sons this all the time. I 0:29:21.240 --> 0:29:25.360 like your sister more than you. That's why I say 0:29:25.480 --> 0:29:28.240 yes to her all the time. Okay, you're lucky. I'm 0:29:28.240 --> 0:29:33.440 feeding you tonight, Elle, What would you like so love 0:29:33.560 --> 0:29:37.200 all of our kids so much? Our oldest Parker, he's 0:29:37.360 --> 0:29:41.480 our biological son. Our last two are adopted, something we 0:29:41.520 --> 0:29:44.120 always wanted to do since we were in college. And 0:29:44.880 --> 0:29:48.000 after we had a Parker, we had Parker, and then 0:29:48.040 --> 0:29:50.960 we were like, we were both fifty to fifty on 0:29:51.240 --> 0:29:53.760 biological but we're both one hundred percent on adoptions. She 0:29:53.840 --> 0:29:55.640 were like, Hey, let's go ahead and adopt and then 0:29:55.680 --> 0:29:59.160 we'll just have some more kids later. So the adoption 0:29:59.280 --> 0:30:01.200 process ended up taking like two and a half years, 0:30:01.320 --> 0:30:04.240 so we ended up not having any. 0:30:04.120 --> 0:30:05.840 More biological kids. 0:30:06.040 --> 0:30:09.800 But when we first started the process, we drove about 0:30:09.840 --> 0:30:12.440 three hours up the road to our adoption center and 0:30:12.520 --> 0:30:15.280 this was like the first meeting where they were going 0:30:15.360 --> 0:30:18.080 to tell all these prospective parents what the process was like. 0:30:18.320 --> 0:30:19.920 So they're sitting there and they're telling us all what 0:30:20.040 --> 0:30:21.720 the process is like, and they bring in lawyers, and 0:30:21.720 --> 0:30:25.440 they even bring in birth moms who are making this 0:30:25.640 --> 0:30:29.000 courageous decision to you know, find a forever home for 0:30:29.120 --> 0:30:32.280 their child. I mean, just something that it's a heart 0:30:32.320 --> 0:30:36.480 of sacrifice. And love that I almost can't even comprehend. 0:30:36.760 --> 0:30:40.240 I mean courageous, courageous birth moms and birth dads. We 0:30:40.320 --> 0:30:42.760 got to meet some of their adoptive parents and then 0:30:42.800 --> 0:30:44.920 they sit you down. They're like, okay, what type of 0:30:45.000 --> 0:30:46.200 kid are you looking for? And you fill out this 0:30:46.280 --> 0:30:48.240 questionnaire and then at the bottom of it, they're like, 0:30:48.560 --> 0:30:53.400 how are you going to pay for it? Now, for 0:30:53.480 --> 0:30:57.560 those who don't know, adoption is not free. Should be, 0:30:57.840 --> 0:31:03.959 but it's not. I'm talking like twenty thirty thousand dollars. Now, 0:31:04.080 --> 0:31:06.800 if you got it like that, congratulations to you. You're like, oh, 0:31:06.880 --> 0:31:08.680 twenty thousand dollars, that's nothing I can do with the 0:31:08.760 --> 0:31:08.920 right that. 0:31:09.080 --> 0:31:13.840 Okay, God bless you. Okay, most of us. 0:31:15.800 --> 0:31:19.040 We saw that on the line. My wife and I 0:31:19.080 --> 0:31:20.440 looked at each other. We're like, okay, how are you 0:31:20.440 --> 0:31:23.200 gonna pay for this? We both I wrote give me 0:31:23.240 --> 0:31:27.000 that pen, honey by faith. I wrote that right there 0:31:29.000 --> 0:31:43.000 and turning my application with confidence. So we're driving back home, 0:31:43.120 --> 0:31:45.960 three hour drive back home, and we're driving home, I'm like, honey, 0:31:46.320 --> 0:31:47.440 how are we gonna pay for this? 0:31:47.560 --> 0:31:49.400 I know we put by faith in, how are we 0:31:49.480 --> 0:31:50.560 going to pay for it? 0:31:50.680 --> 0:31:53.040 The next morning, at at our church to go to 0:31:53.080 --> 0:31:56.640 a men's meeting. I'm at this men's meeting and we're 0:31:56.640 --> 0:31:59.440 setting up and this guy comes up to me and 0:31:59.600 --> 0:32:02.560 he said, to be hate earl. My wife and I 0:32:02.720 --> 0:32:04.440 heard that you're going to be adopting. I'm like, oh, man, 0:32:04.480 --> 0:32:06.160 how don't you even hear that we just started the 0:32:06.280 --> 0:32:08.960 process that yet, Yeah, we're going to be adopting as well. 0:32:09.320 --> 0:32:11.080 My wife and I we've never been able to have 0:32:11.360 --> 0:32:15.200 kids ourselves, but we just sold this piece of land 0:32:15.800 --> 0:32:18.200 and we want to be a part of your adoption story. 0:32:18.360 --> 0:32:30.240 Here's a check for five thousand dollars. We took a 0:32:30.320 --> 0:32:44.520 step here, then God was working there. I didn't know 0:32:45.520 --> 0:32:48.960 that when we took the step here that God was 0:32:49.040 --> 0:32:54.400 working over there. But this is how God always seems 0:32:54.960 --> 0:32:59.760 to do it. So I'm asking you, what step is 0:33:00.000 --> 0:33:03.960 God asking you to take that you're not taking because 0:33:04.040 --> 0:33:06.920 you think the step is dumb. You think the step 0:33:07.080 --> 0:33:09.720 doesn't make any sense. You don't have the resources for 0:33:09.840 --> 0:33:12.320 the step, you don't have the connections for the step. 0:33:12.480 --> 0:33:14.720 You don't even think you have the favor for the step, 0:33:14.800 --> 0:33:17.800 you don't have the education for the step. And God's like, 0:33:18.040 --> 0:33:21.440 since when did I ask you if you have all 0:33:21.520 --> 0:33:24.800 their credentials to do the thing that it's gonna be 0:33:24.960 --> 0:33:33.680 done by My power, my glory. Anyway, take the step. 0:33:34.240 --> 0:33:37.560 I can't stay here. Well, counseling's not gonna do anything 0:33:37.640 --> 0:33:39.840 for us. How do you know if counseling is going to. 0:33:39.880 --> 0:33:43.040 Do anything for you? Maybe you take that step there and. 0:33:43.120 --> 0:33:45.400 God starts working on your husband and or wife in 0:33:45.480 --> 0:33:48.320 that other bedroom. How do you know if you're gonna 0:33:48.320 --> 0:33:51.280 get accepted to the school unless you send in the application. 0:33:51.680 --> 0:33:54.160 Go ahead and take the step here and see what 0:33:54.280 --> 0:33:56.920 God will do over there. How do you know if 0:33:57.000 --> 0:33:59.520 God can get you out of debt or not? If 0:33:59.560 --> 0:34:02.320 you keep holding on to all your money, of course 0:34:02.400 --> 0:34:04.800 you're not gonna see a miracle. But what if you 0:34:04.920 --> 0:34:08.600 started giving and saying, God, I'll live a life of generosity. 0:34:09.040 --> 0:34:11.120 I wonder what God will do. 0:34:14.040 --> 0:34:14.239 There? 0:34:16.280 --> 0:34:21.880 Push that little nest button, pray. 0:34:23.239 --> 0:34:28.600 Give sir? What is he asking you to do? I 0:34:28.640 --> 0:34:31.160 don't know. I know the Holy Spirit he has a 0:34:31.239 --> 0:34:33.279 way of talking to all of us exactly how we 0:34:33.360 --> 0:34:35.000 need to be talked to. You know the thing that 0:34:35.080 --> 0:34:37.600 he's like, You're like, dang, dang, dang. I wish that 0:34:37.640 --> 0:34:42.480 guy didn't come today, Dang, I just wanted to be 0:34:42.600 --> 0:34:45.160 encouraged today. I didn't want anybody saying anything that I 0:34:45.239 --> 0:34:47.120 had to do anything. I just wanted them to say 0:34:47.200 --> 0:34:49.440 something to me that could feel good about myself and 0:34:49.560 --> 0:34:51.680 now here. So I'm not gonna do this. I'm not 0:34:51.760 --> 0:34:54.600 gonna do this, but I pray that the Holy Spirit 0:34:54.719 --> 0:34:57.520 torments you in the best way possible, that he makes 0:34:57.560 --> 0:35:01.919 you so incredibly uncomfortable, because there's more that God wants 0:35:02.000 --> 0:35:04.560 to do in you and through you. Dad, you think 0:35:04.640 --> 0:35:05.879 God has done with you yet? 0:35:06.120 --> 0:35:06.359 Mom? 0:35:06.440 --> 0:35:09.080 Do you think God is done with you yet? Retiree? 0:35:09.239 --> 0:35:11.680 Do you think God is done with you already? Just 0:35:11.760 --> 0:35:14.800 because you're thirty seven and you only play pickleball? Do 0:35:14.920 --> 0:35:17.600 you think God is done with you? Now? I'm telling 0:35:17.719 --> 0:35:21.200 you he has so much more and sore for you. 0:35:21.360 --> 0:35:26.759 But you've got to take a step. I can't stay here. 0:35:29.239 --> 0:35:30.000 I can't stay here. 0:35:30.160 --> 0:35:32.680 No. Now, Look, keep on watching, look, keep reading the 0:35:32.719 --> 0:35:34.440 text with me, keep on going, keep on going, keep 0:35:34.440 --> 0:35:36.759 on going. Okay, Okay, so they left, they left, They left. 0:35:36.800 --> 0:35:39.479 Go to verse number eight. It's a brak Okay, Okay. 0:35:39.560 --> 0:35:45.160 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp. 0:35:47.480 --> 0:35:50.480 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp. 0:35:50.880 --> 0:35:56.719 Watch this, entered one of the tents and ate and 0:35:56.960 --> 0:36:05.200 drank watch this. Then they took silver gold fu boo 0:36:05.520 --> 0:36:07.600 just getting close. I don't even know what foo boo is, 0:36:08.120 --> 0:36:15.040 and went off and hid them. They returned and then 0:36:15.080 --> 0:36:19.320 to another tent and took some things from it and 0:36:19.440 --> 0:36:19.799 hit them. 0:36:19.840 --> 0:36:23.920 Also. Okay, first eight, they get to the camp. 0:36:24.000 --> 0:36:26.320 Nobody's there because God did something with the sound of 0:36:26.400 --> 0:36:29.680 the feet. God did something with something small, and he 0:36:29.800 --> 0:36:33.399 turned into something great. God did something with something small, 0:36:33.440 --> 0:36:36.040 but he turned into something great. Then they get there, 0:36:36.239 --> 0:36:44.719 there's nobody there, and they start going, yeah, yo, look 0:36:44.800 --> 0:36:53.799 at this tent right here. Ha yo, this is crazy. Yay, 0:36:53.880 --> 0:36:56.799 I'm drinking. Camera follow me, camera, follow me, okay, camera 0:36:56.960 --> 0:37:11.200 from hah ah. Pull up, boy, pull up. It's crazy 0:37:11.360 --> 0:37:16.160 over here. There's nobody here. We can drink everything we want. 0:37:17.760 --> 0:37:23.160 They left their clothes, they left their silver. They start 0:37:23.320 --> 0:37:29.680 taking the stuff and hiding it. Okay, these guys, I 0:37:29.719 --> 0:37:31.200 guess maybe we would do that too. I don't know. 0:37:31.239 --> 0:37:34.759 I don't know how I would act. I remember, they 0:37:34.760 --> 0:37:38.200 haven't been able to be around anyone. This' been with 0:37:38.280 --> 0:37:44.600 each other. They've been outcasts. Everyone looked past them, disrespected them, 0:37:45.800 --> 0:37:47.440 and now I was like, they got this whole big 0:37:47.560 --> 0:37:52.279 thing coming their direction. It's like, oh, my goodness, I've 0:37:52.360 --> 0:37:56.640 never had it like this before. So now now now, 0:37:56.760 --> 0:38:00.400 now look at this verse number nine versnumber nine, goodness, 0:38:01.239 --> 0:38:06.920 look at this. Then they said to each other, what 0:38:07.120 --> 0:38:15.359 we are doing is not right. This is a day 0:38:15.400 --> 0:38:19.799 of good news, and we are keeping it to ourselves. 0:38:21.440 --> 0:38:24.880 If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let 0:38:24.960 --> 0:38:27.760 us go at once and report this to the royal Palace. 0:38:29.920 --> 0:38:34.120 So in the middle and then grab it all the 0:38:34.160 --> 0:38:41.600 stuff and hiding it. Somebody realizes, wait wait wait, wait, 0:38:41.800 --> 0:38:52.080 wait wait wait wait, we had nothing and now we 0:38:52.280 --> 0:39:01.960 have all this, and I'm keeping it to myself. This 0:39:02.080 --> 0:39:05.360 ain't right, and I like that. The Texas this is 0:39:05.440 --> 0:39:11.240 a day of good news. It's really a beautiful picture 0:39:11.239 --> 0:39:14.880 of the gospel that you and I, You and I 0:39:15.160 --> 0:39:24.759 were lepers, outcasts, sinners, separated from God, and then we 0:39:25.000 --> 0:39:29.399 end up being drawn to a spot that we maybe 0:39:29.400 --> 0:39:31.319 thought would kill us. Like no, there's no way, there's 0:39:31.360 --> 0:39:33.399 no way. I can't I can't ever approached, I can't 0:39:33.400 --> 0:39:35.560 ever approached Jesus because of my sin and all my 0:39:35.640 --> 0:39:38.560 shortcomings and all my weaknesses and all my difficulties. But 0:39:38.680 --> 0:39:40.120 we get there and it's like, Oh my goodness, I 0:39:40.120 --> 0:39:44.400 got an abundance of blessings. I got more coming my 0:39:44.440 --> 0:39:48.320 way than I ever thought possible. I used to be lonely, 0:39:49.080 --> 0:39:50.640 but now I've got more friends that I've ever had 0:39:50.719 --> 0:39:54.640 in my entire life. I've had so many other pastors 0:39:54.680 --> 0:39:56.319 in my life that didn't have my back, but now 0:39:56.400 --> 0:39:58.680 I have a pastor. I've got campus pastors. I've got 0:39:58.760 --> 0:40:00.880 leaders that are praying for me, that are believing for 0:40:00.960 --> 0:40:03.080 God's best in my life. I've got them. I've got 0:40:03.160 --> 0:40:06.440 pastors with integrity and character, pastors that I can trust. 0:40:06.640 --> 0:40:07.719 Oh my goodness, I've got this. 0:40:07.960 --> 0:40:10.800 I've got. I've got a taste. I've got a taste 0:40:10.840 --> 0:40:13.920 of heaven on earth. I've got a taste that I 0:40:14.040 --> 0:40:16.279 used to be lost, but now I'm found. I got 0:40:16.360 --> 0:40:18.560 a taste that i used to be dead, but now 0:40:18.600 --> 0:40:21.040 I'm alive. I got a taste that I used to 0:40:21.080 --> 0:40:23.359 be broken, but now I've been put back together. I've 0:40:23.360 --> 0:40:25.279 got a taste that I used to be all up 0:40:25.320 --> 0:40:27.680 in my head, but now I found myself walking in 0:40:27.800 --> 0:40:30.400 freedom and joy and in life. I used to be 0:40:30.560 --> 0:40:33.120 a person that was just wandering around and I didn't 0:40:33.120 --> 0:40:34.680 know which way to go. But then God and his 0:40:34.760 --> 0:40:37.520 grace and his mercy, he captured me and he pulled 0:40:37.560 --> 0:40:40.320 me up out of a glorious spit. How in the 0:40:40.480 --> 0:40:50.879 world can I keep this to my self? I heard 0:40:50.920 --> 0:40:58.280 it said that bad things, when they are kept secret, 0:40:59.360 --> 0:41:06.320 the usually tend to grow. But good things, when you 0:41:06.440 --> 0:41:13.080 keep them secret, sometimes they actually tend to lose their power. 0:41:15.360 --> 0:41:21.640 Because there's something about you and I tasting the goodness 0:41:21.719 --> 0:41:26.920 of Almighty God. And once I have tasted it, I 0:41:27.120 --> 0:41:34.719 cannot keep this to my self. I have to share it. 0:41:38.680 --> 0:41:43.279 I have to. So these guys go, okay, okay, I 0:41:43.360 --> 0:41:47.160 got good news. I got good news. We're gonna go back. 0:41:47.680 --> 0:41:51.000 We're gonna tell everybody. And they go back and they 0:41:51.040 --> 0:41:53.680 start telling everybody, and they start with the gatekeepers because 0:41:53.680 --> 0:41:55.200 they can't even go into the city. So they talk 0:41:55.200 --> 0:42:02.920 to the gatekeepers. Gatekeepers, look at your boys, look at 0:42:02.960 --> 0:42:05.600 our clothes, Like, what you get all that jewelry? I'm 0:42:05.680 --> 0:42:11.120 telling y'all, just up the road. Nobody's in the camp. 0:42:12.560 --> 0:42:20.640 They got grills, they got necklaces rings. I'm telling you, 0:42:21.360 --> 0:42:24.400 I'm telling you, there is more up there than you 0:42:24.440 --> 0:42:30.040 can even possibly imagine. It's better than you could ever 0:42:30.560 --> 0:42:35.879 even think than the gatekeeper. Tell somebody else, tell somebody else, 0:42:36.040 --> 0:42:37.640 and it makes its way all the way to the palace, 0:42:38.239 --> 0:42:41.000 and then the king hears it. The King's like, oh, man, 0:42:41.640 --> 0:42:43.680 I think they're trying to trick us. Those are Oromians. 0:42:43.680 --> 0:42:45.960 They're trying to trick us. But they weren't being tricked. 0:42:46.160 --> 0:42:51.600 In actuality, God had worked a miracle because four lepers 0:42:51.760 --> 0:43:03.360 decided to not stay here. I was wondering. I was 0:43:03.480 --> 0:43:15.759 wondering who might eat because you won't stay there. I 0:43:15.880 --> 0:43:20.640 was wondering five years from now, ten years from now, 0:43:21.080 --> 0:43:22.279 fifteen years from now. 0:43:22.520 --> 0:43:25.600 I wonder what the ripple effect of your step might be. 0:43:28.600 --> 0:43:32.160 I wonder. I wonder because we we think, we think 0:43:32.360 --> 0:43:33.439 it's not gonna matter. 0:43:33.640 --> 0:43:34.399 That's what they thought. 0:43:34.520 --> 0:43:38.960 It's not gonna matter. I'll probably die, it's probably gonna 0:43:39.080 --> 0:43:43.239 end in nothing. It's probably gonna fall flat on its face. Yes, 0:43:43.400 --> 0:43:46.720 it's a possibility that it could fail, but it's also 0:43:46.880 --> 0:43:50.320 a possibility that God could do something with your step 0:43:50.600 --> 0:43:54.200 that would absolutely change an entire generation. 0:43:54.840 --> 0:43:58.040 Dare I say elevation was a step. 0:43:57.840 --> 0:44:00.800 That Pastor Stephen and Pastor Hall he took, and you 0:44:00.920 --> 0:44:02.759 and I are on the other side of that. I 0:44:02.920 --> 0:44:05.720 am so thankful that there have been men and women 0:44:05.840 --> 0:44:08.960 of God years ago that said I'm not going to 0:44:09.040 --> 0:44:13.000 stay comfortable. I'm so glad they continue to take a step. 0:44:13.280 --> 0:44:15.920 And then God took that step, and he turned and 0:44:16.040 --> 0:44:19.479 he magnified that sound, and before they knew it, things 0:44:19.560 --> 0:44:29.200 were changing in a spot. Maybe they didn't even get 0:44:29.239 --> 0:44:36.719 a chance to see you. So maybe the wrestle you 0:44:36.920 --> 0:44:45.600 have in you, you think it's just about you, But 0:44:45.719 --> 0:44:47.759 there could be a teenager on the other side of 0:44:47.840 --> 0:44:53.360 your yes. There's a business on the other side of 0:44:53.440 --> 0:44:57.239 your yes. There's a grandchild on the other side of 0:44:57.320 --> 0:44:59.320 your yes. I'm just praying that God would give you 0:44:59.400 --> 0:45:01.680 a picture on raying, God would give you a picture. 0:45:01.680 --> 0:45:03.520 You're like, I'm not gonna try out for the team. 0:45:03.600 --> 0:45:05.640 You don't know what God can do with just to 0:45:05.760 --> 0:45:08.000 try it. I'm just telling you. I'm just telling you 0:45:08.160 --> 0:45:12.120 don't know what God will do with a step when 0:45:12.200 --> 0:45:15.520 you begin to get uncomfortable. I can't stay here, I 0:45:15.600 --> 0:45:18.640 can't stay here, I can't stay here. I can't stay here. 0:45:18.880 --> 0:45:21.520 I can't stay here. I can't stay here. I can't 0:45:21.560 --> 0:45:23.600 stay here in my mind I can't stay here in 0:45:23.640 --> 0:45:26.640 my finances, I can't stay here in my spiritual life. 0:45:26.880 --> 0:45:30.400 I can't stay here in my mindset. I can not 0:45:31.080 --> 0:45:39.160 stay here. You will be shocked and what God will 0:45:39.200 --> 0:45:46.359 do with a step. The beautiful thing about this as 0:45:46.440 --> 0:45:53.680 we all can take a step. I was when I 0:45:53.760 --> 0:45:57.120 was preparing this message. It just dropped into my heart. 0:45:57.200 --> 0:45:59.600 I have not preached this. This is what I honest 0:45:59.640 --> 0:46:01.880 I pray. I was like, God, what do I need 0:46:01.960 --> 0:46:05.320 to share with my beautiful elevation family? And this is 0:46:05.360 --> 0:46:07.879 the passage God has dropped in my heart. I was like, Lord, 0:46:07.880 --> 0:46:09.600 I got some better sermons. I feel like in this 0:46:11.680 --> 0:46:14.640 This one dropped into my heart and I was like 0:46:14.719 --> 0:46:16.719 I was trying to turn into steps. I was like, okay, God, 0:46:16.760 --> 0:46:18.720 tell me what steps can give me give some steps 0:46:18.800 --> 0:46:20.920 to give to people. And I didn't get any steps 0:46:23.360 --> 0:46:27.719 and get any steps. I thought, the Lord tell me, 0:46:28.080 --> 0:46:32.839 impress them my heart, don't give steps, invite them into 0:46:32.880 --> 0:46:33.640 an experience. 0:46:37.960 --> 0:46:46.440 Ezekiel, chapter two, verses two. As he spoke, the. 0:46:46.520 --> 0:46:53.800 Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet 0:46:56.560 --> 0:46:59.960 next to Ezekiel. I think it's Chapter three, verse twenty four. 0:47:00.840 --> 0:47:07.560 Look at this. Then the Spirit came into me and 0:47:07.719 --> 0:47:13.560 raised me to my feet. Then Acts chapter one, verse 0:47:13.680 --> 0:47:17.960 number eight. Maybe you've read it, but you will receive 0:47:18.080 --> 0:47:24.480 power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you 0:47:24.520 --> 0:47:27.840 will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, 0:47:28.200 --> 0:47:33.560 and to the ends of the earth. Then one of 0:47:33.680 --> 0:47:41.520 my favorite passages in Acts chapter number two, when the 0:47:41.640 --> 0:47:45.800 day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 0:47:46.719 --> 0:47:49.239 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind 0:47:49.320 --> 0:47:52.359 came from heaven and filled the whole house. Oh where 0:47:52.400 --> 0:47:55.600 they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues 0:47:55.640 --> 0:47:58.279 of fire that separated and came to rest on each 0:47:58.360 --> 0:48:00.680 of them. All of them were filled with the Holy 0:48:00.800 --> 0:48:03.279 Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the 0:48:03.320 --> 0:48:05.799 Spirit enabled them, shipping all the way down to verse 0:48:05.880 --> 0:48:09.280 number fourteen. Then Peter stood up, looking again the Spirit 0:48:09.680 --> 0:48:13.000 standing someone up. Then Peter stood up with the eleven, 0:48:13.440 --> 0:48:16.800 raised his voice and addressed the crowd. Fellow Jews and 0:48:16.920 --> 0:48:19.720 all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain 0:48:19.880 --> 0:48:23.120 this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. These 0:48:23.239 --> 0:48:26.960 people are not drunk as you suppose. It's only nine 0:48:27.000 --> 0:48:30.600 in the morning. Know this is what was spoken by 0:48:30.680 --> 0:48:34.840 the puffet Toul in the last days. God says, I 0:48:35.000 --> 0:48:39.640 will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons 0:48:40.080 --> 0:48:43.399 and tartars will prough a sigh. Your young men will 0:48:43.520 --> 0:48:47.640 see visions, your old men will train dreams. 0:48:48.760 --> 0:48:54.480 I felt, I felt that all of a sudden, all 0:48:54.600 --> 0:48:59.560 of a sudden, all of a sudden, all of a sudden, 0:49:00.600 --> 0:49:05.160 all of a sudden, the spirit of the Living God 0:49:05.760 --> 0:49:09.960 would sell us up and raise us to our feet. 0:49:10.000 --> 0:49:14.839 And is gonna come up sudd it's good, would come 0:49:14.960 --> 0:49:15.880 up seven. 0:49:16.760 --> 0:49:19.680 I'm all on the sun. 0:49:21.440 --> 0:49:23.440 It's gonn come on of the sand. 0:49:25.280 --> 0:49:30.240 It still come on the sandst come. 0:49:30.680 --> 0:49:37.640 Standing see me coming mother the sad. It's gonna come 0:49:37.719 --> 0:49:38.960 on the side. 0:49:39.120 --> 0:49:39.759 Come home. 0:49:44.320 --> 0:49:48.800 It's gonna come on the sun. Come on. His spirit 0:49:48.920 --> 0:49:49.480 is breaking. 0:49:51.920 --> 0:49:53.120 Let's gonna come. 0:49:53.000 --> 0:49:53.880 Up on the sand. 0:49:55.760 --> 0:50:07.360 It's gonna come up the sun. Pass well, let you see, 0:50:08.080 --> 0:50:15.279 but you're out. Let me say time side, I pay 0:50:15.400 --> 0:50:16.080 to come out. 0:50:17.160 --> 0:50:22.960 Let's say he will come me go peace. 0:50:23.640 --> 0:50:34.920 The straight side. Come on. 0:50:35.320 --> 0:50:39.399 Let me see walty Jim. 0:50:40.640 --> 0:50:43.799 Every game with chi side. 0:50:46.000 --> 0:50:56.120 Come Holy Spirit. I pray over every location. I pray 0:50:56.160 --> 0:50:59.960 over every man. I pray over every woman. I pray 0:51:00.000 --> 0:51:03.400 pray over every teenager. I pray over every college student. 0:51:03.719 --> 0:51:06.640 I pray over every married person. I pray over every 0:51:06.719 --> 0:51:10.359 single person. I pray over every retiree. I pray over 0:51:10.520 --> 0:51:13.560 every single one of us that are online, that are 0:51:13.640 --> 0:51:16.960 at any location. And in the name of Jesus, right now, 0:51:17.400 --> 0:51:20.560 I ask that the Holy Spirit would fill us up 0:51:20.840 --> 0:51:23.160 from the top of our head to the soles of 0:51:23.239 --> 0:51:26.000 our feet. I thank you, o God, that what we 0:51:26.200 --> 0:51:29.840 need to do cannot be done in flesh. It cannot 0:51:29.920 --> 0:51:33.200 be done by our strength. It's not Pie, Mike, it's 0:51:33.320 --> 0:51:37.840 not by power, but it is Pie your spirit. So 0:51:38.160 --> 0:51:41.080 Spirit of the Living God, what you raise us to 0:51:41.239 --> 0:51:43.800 our feet? Would you get us out of our heads? 0:51:44.200 --> 0:51:46.920 Would just surround us with the right people, and may 0:51:47.000 --> 0:51:49.160 we live our lives for your glory. 0:51:49.600 --> 0:52:52.719 In the name of Cheese, thank you for joining us. 0:52:53.080 --> 0:52:55.480 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:52:55.600 --> 0:52:59.040 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:52:59.480 --> 0:53:01.960 You can click the link in the description to give now, 0:53:02.600 --> 0:53:06.440 or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information. 0:53:07.040 --> 0:53:10.120 And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You 0:53:10.200 --> 0:53:12.200 can share it with your friends. You can click the 0:53:12.280 --> 0:53:14.520 share button, take a screenshot and share it on your 0:53:14.560 --> 0:53:16.960 social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. 0:53:17.080 --> 0:53:18.680 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.