It's In The Middle

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.399 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:18.400 Enjoy the message. We're focused this week on the word 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:22.200 of salvation. You know, when Jesus was dying on the cross, 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:27.440 he said to a thief that was crucified with him. You, 0:00:27.520 --> 0:00:31.240 of course would know that the crucifixion was not an 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:33.720 anomaly in Jesus' time. It was a common form of 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:38.360 capital punishment. And so Jesus died the death of a 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:41.440 common criminal beside two common criminals. 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:43.160 One of them mocked him. 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:45.760 Said, if you were really who you say you are, 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:48.640 you would get down off that cross, and you would 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:54.080 get us down to save us. And while one mocked him, 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:59.520 the other one, who was on his right side, recognized 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:05.440 the distinction of his divinity, or at least his innocence, 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:13.320 and said, we deserve this and you don't. And sir, 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:16.520 I'm not quite sure who you are, but when you 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:22.360 come into your kingdom, remember me. And Jesus said today 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:26.160 somebody shout today, I'm going to wake you up. You're 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:29.280 going to talk back to me today, least at Valentine. 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.280 I can't do anything about concord. I'm not there. But 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:35.840 somebody at Valentine in the back of the room from Jackson, Mississippi, 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:40.959 or Toronto, Canada, or Charlotte, North Carolina, shout today, today 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:47.040 you will be with me in paradise the word of Salvation. 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:52.480 I had the privilege this weekend to perform my brother's 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:56.960 wedding ceremony. I don't do a lot of weddings, but 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:01.200 I'm good at them. I just typically preach on Saturday nights. 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:05.120 Our campus pastors do such an excellent job with the 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:08.679 wedding officiating, so I was kind of nervous doing his ceremony. 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:11.840 I don't want to mess up my man's wedding because, 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:14.400 hey man, he's got this girl here at the altar 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:15.880 and he might not get this chance again. 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:17.720 She might change her mind, so we got to get 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:18.360 this done. 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:20.520 It's my little brother, but he's a lot taller than 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.679 me and he serves in the United States Air Force. 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:25.960 And they honored me. Yeah, praise the Lord. 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:29.720 Yeah, he's cool. 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:31.320 He could beat me up but I got mind game 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:33.560 on him, so he doesn't He doesn't know that. But 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:37.000 he asked me to do his wedding and his fiance 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:39.560 brook and they asked me to come, and I was. 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:41.440 I was privileged to do it. Holly said I did 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:43.960 a good job. In fact, she said exactly this. She said, 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.840 you did so good officiating that wedding. She said, I 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:50.920 kind of wish I could marry somebody else so you could. 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:51.280 Do the wedding. 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:58.480 Wasn't sure how to receive that compliment. I rebuked her 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:07.160 a twisted compliment. But anyway, I only bring it up 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:12.560 because truth be told. Although I really love the opportunity 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:15.519 to do the wedding, I kind of have a problem 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:19.640 not with weddings. I'm not anti marriage. Do not send 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:22.880 me emails. Send them all to Jonathan Joseph' your Valentine 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:27.280 campus pastor. It's not that I'm against love. I'm nothing 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:30.480 against it. It's just that can we all agree, especially 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:31.840 those of us who have. 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.359 Been married for more than ten years. 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:37.320 That marriage has very little to do with the flower 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:41.480 arrangement that you choose, or how many layers of cake. 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:42.640 That you can roll. 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:44.440 Out that you're not going to eat anyway, because only 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.640 the top one is real and all the other stuff. 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:48.360 Is just decoration. 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.760 Come on, it doesn't matter how many shades of magenta 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:55.640 your bridesmaids are standing there dressed it. What happens in 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:59.400 marriage happens in the middle. Somebody shout us in the middle. 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:02.920 That's my sermon today. I want to say, it's in 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:05.360 the middle that a marriage is made. It's in the 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:08.040 middle that a Christian grows. It's in the middle that 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.760 you find out what you're made of. This sermon is 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:12.080 like a TUTSI rull pop. 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:14.240 What you bought it for is in the middle. 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:17.039 And I admire the thief, and I'm thankful that he 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:19.800 was saved on the cross. But most of us don't 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.240 get to be in paradise the day we get saved. 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.440 The fact of the matter is we don't get raptured 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.080 up to Heaven the moment we make Jesus Christ the Lord. 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.240 Of our lives. We are left here on. 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:33.360 This or so that we can bring Heaven into our situation. 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.160 It's in the middle. 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:48.080 And the way that we typically focus. 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:48.800 On the moment. 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:50.640 You know, I believe that God can save you in 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.600 a moment. I really do. If you're here today, and 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:57.080 you're thinking that you have to you have to memorize 0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:00.479 some Bible verses, or there's some certain habit that you 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:02.160 have to correct in your life, or y'll tired of 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:02.720 hearing me preach. 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:03.480 I've been preaching to. 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:06.160 Y'all for eleven years now, and for eleven years I've 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:09.440 been saying this same message. God can save you in 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:11.440 a moment. If you believe in your heart that God 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:14.440 raised him from the dead, and confess with your mouth Jesus. 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.120 Is Lord, you shall be saved. 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.520 I know it because that thief did not have to 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:22.800 enroll in a theological school, he didn't have to go 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:25.719 through a Catechism class, he didn't have to prove the 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:29.240 legitimacy of his faith by giving up certain things. Come 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:36.440 as you are, don't expect to stay that way. And 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:41.320 Jesus said today you will be with me in paradise. 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.200 Part of me thinks that would be kind of nice 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:52.120 if I could just be married and stay married without 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:57.960 a process. Well, I'm kind of a process preacher, I 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:02.039 really am, because one of my core is that God 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:03.960 is in the process. 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:06.200 Don't get me wrong. 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:10.960 He can move in a moment, something can happen in 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.279 your soul. When the word of God goes forth, that 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.200 is so strong that the chains are broken and you 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:17.400 are never the same. 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:20.240 Why not today? 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:24.000 The apostle Paul said that today is the day of salvation. 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:27.760 He said that to the Corinthian Church Backxlett, and he said, 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:29.440 now is the time of God's favor. 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:32.719 Somebody shout now, not when you get your. 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:34.719 Act together, not when people approve of you. 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:39.640 Now, now is the hour. 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:42.800 Today is today. 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:50.120 And the privilege of my life is seeing someone in 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:56.400 a moment make a decision to follow Christ in a moment, 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:01.279 for the weight to be lifted, for the change to 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:09.960 be broken in a moment. Yet, what about the middle 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:12.920 Because I know that He can save me in a moment, 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:15.560 and I know that when I die in a moment, 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:17.440 in the twinkling of an eye, to be absent from 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:18.440 the body, he has to be present with the Lord 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:19.240 I'm going to have when I die. 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:19.840 And I'm glad about it. 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:21.320 And I don't have to fry and burn, and I 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:26.680 know all that, and I'm real glad about it. But 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:28.720 one thing the thief and I did not have in common, 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.880 because we both deserved the cross that Jesus died on. 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.800 But I didn't get to go to Paradise the moment 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:43.320 that I trusted Christ with my life. So this message 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:49.720 is not about paradise. This message is about process. This 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:54.480 message is not about flower girls. This message is about 0:07:54.520 --> 0:08:00.440 the fight for faith in the middle. And I want 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:02.200 to present it to you in a way today that, 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:06.040 hopefully in the next twenty nine minutes can help you 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:09.720 to understand why it is that sometimes even though you 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:14.760 got saved, you don't feel saved and what to do 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:17.400 in the middle. Touch your neighbors say, I need to 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:23.160 know what to do in the middle, because when I die, 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:25.520 I'm dead, I'm gone, I'm in heaven. I'm there but here, 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:29.480 and now I need God. See the thing about me 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:33.800 is I got saved, but I still need some saving. 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.920 Maybe you don't, but I still look. 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:39.920 Look real good at the person next to you, and 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:40.720 see if they look. 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:41.920 Like they still need saving. 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.080 See if they look like there are still some times 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:51.040 in their lives. Come on Blakeney that they still need saving. 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:57.720 It's a seven mile journey, and the miracle. 0:08:57.720 --> 0:08:58.400 Is in the middle. 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:02.480 Did you notice that's not from this Amayas road where 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:06.439 Jesus just shows up beside these two disciples held you 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:08.520 don't put too much of this on Instagram stories because 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:09.920 I don't want them to see it. I want them 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:11.520 to have to watch it online later. Those of them 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:13.480 are sitting home in the snow. Don't be putting it 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:15.360 online right now. I want them to catch it later. 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:19.640 And Jesus just shows up right in the middle of 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:20.599 their conversation. 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:24.320 It's a man named Cleopus, and some scholars. 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:27.720 Suggests perhaps his wife, his companion, and he were not 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.839 expecting the presence of Christ to show up. But he 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:34.360 showed up in the middle of their disappointment. He showed 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:37.719 up in the middle of their disillusionment. He showed up 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:40.600 in the middle of there, we thought, so he showed 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.079 up in the middle of the what now he showed 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:46.199 up in the middle. God will meet you in the middle. 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:51.840 It's in the middle. And they walked. They they walked, 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:55.440 the Bible says seven miles from Jerusalem to Amais. And 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.360 when they got there checked us out in Luke twenty 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:02.880 four to twenty eight. When they arrived and approached the place, 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:08.320 the village that in their mind was their destination, the 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.280 village called Amaeis. When they got to the place they 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:17.000 thought they were going Jesus continued on I love the 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:23.199 next two words as if he were going further. 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:25.840 Like he's a man on a mission. 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:33.520 He's got people to see and things to do, and 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:35.960 only thirty nine and a half days before he has 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:38.360 ascended to the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:40.720 from whence he shall come to judge the quicken the dead. 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:46.560 And so he acts as if show him again, as 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:54.040 if he were going further. And sometimes it feels as. 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.520 If God is leaving you. 0:10:56.679 --> 0:11:00.560 I would suggest that some of the moments when it 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:04.960 feels as if he's walking away from you, he is 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:09.480 creating a desire within you so that if you draw 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:14.120 near to him, he will draw near to you. God 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:18.320 is trying to set your faith free from the need 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:19.400 to feel. 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:19.960 It, to have it. 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:29.000 As if somebody say, as if the next time the 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.760 devil tries to tell you God has left you, that 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:34.959 God has abandoned you, look him right in the eye 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:37.720 and say, with your hand on your hip, in your 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.880 best white girl teenager voice, say as if, as if 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:45.000 he would leave me, he said he would never leave me, 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:50.199 never forsake me, never abandon me. He will stop what 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:54.040 he's started high his and he is mine. And he's 0:11:54.160 --> 0:12:01.120 with me in the middle as if he were going further. 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:06.480 And they asked him to come in and stay with them. 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:12.320 Now, professional pointer, be careful when you ask Jesus to 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:17.320 come in, because if he comes in, he's going to 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:24.120 take over. So God is not going to settle for 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:28.360 a shout out. He's not going to make himself a 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.040 cot in the foyer of your heart. 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:35.200 He's coming in the kitchen. He's coming in the kitchen. 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:37.400 I feel God on that, and I don't know why 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:38.760 I touch somebody say he's coming. 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:40.959 In your kitchen. He's coming in your kitchen. 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.760 He wants to get into the ingredients. Watch what Jesus does. 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:48.160 He walks in this is verse thirty. He sits down 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:53.240 at the table, takes their bread. Remember it's Cleo's house. 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:59.160 But Jesus reaches right across the table, takes Cleo's bread, 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:01.640 and he just starts doing stuff. 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:02.160 See. 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:04.560 I need you to know that God is. 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:08.040 Not going to come into your life and stay on 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:11.400 standby so that when you kind of sort of need 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:14.199 him and maybe can fit him into your schedule. Maybe 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:16.600 I can get a little Jesus juice when my boyfriend 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:20.600 isn't calling me back maybe I'll see Jesus when he 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:24.640 comes into your life. I feel the spirit of God. 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:26.600 It's all up in me right now. 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:27.240 I feel it. 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:31.959 God said, I'm taking over. Today is the. 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:36.000 Day of salvation. I'm taking over your thoughts. I'm taking 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:44.880 over your magna. Said, I'm taken over your desires. Salvation 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.760 is total surrender. This is how I used to preach 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:49.160 when I was twenty three man. 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:50.719 This is how I. 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.160 Used to preach to people who thought that God could be. 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:54.880 A part of their life. 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.240 If God gets in your life, he's gonna get all 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:00.960 up in the middle of it. God is gonna change 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:03.600 who you have listed in the contacts of your iPhone. 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:05.080 God, don't hear me. 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:07.760 God is gonna change who you friend on Facebook. 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:09.119 God is gonna. 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:11.920 Change what you're doing eleven thirty on Friday night. God 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:13.839 isn't just gonna wait for you to get to church 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:17.280 on Sunday morning and bless you with a goosebump. God 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:23.200 wants I know where to preach. I know where the 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:23.720 love is. 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:24.880 It's in the middle. 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:42.280 Somebody shout us in the middle, anyway, Is it okay? 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:49.480 Jesus doesn't ask any permission. He sits down at Cleo's 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:57.400 kitchen table, takes Cleo's bread, blesses CLO's bread, breaks the bread, 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:02.360 and gives the bread. And when he gives the bread 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:06.760 that he broke, which is also the bread that he blessed, 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:12.360 which is also the bread that he took. When he 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:20.000 takes over your life, he blesses your life. But the 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:24.560 same hands that bless your life are the. 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:30.000 Same hands that must be trusted when your life is broken. 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:35.240 I mean, when your heart is in a million pieces. See. 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:38.640 I need to preach this because sometimes we think when 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:42.680 we get saved that everything is gonna be sanitized and 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:45.600 everything is gonna be safe. And we think that when 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:47.760 we get safe. See, this is the kind of preaching 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:51.400 that will help you when life is doing its best 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:55.760 to tear you apart. You can know, beyond the shadow 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.840 of a town, somebody shut up, still saved. 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:03.240 I'm saved when i'm happy. I'm saved when i'm sad. 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.760 I'm saved when they're with me. I'm saved when they 0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:10.600 walk away. I'm saved when i'm up. I'm saved when 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:14.440 i'm down. I'm saved when i'm blessed. I'm saved when 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:18.240 i'm broken. I'm saved in the palace, I'm saved in 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:18.720 the pit. 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:22.200 God is with me. 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:30.760 In the middle. Three things I don't want to give you. 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:33.680 Three things I want to give you about the middle. 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:42.920 I was saved, it happened, I will be saved. I'm 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.520 going to be with him forever. But I need him 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:52.680 to be with me in the middle. This is not 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:57.080 a moment to moment contractual arrangement with God, because we 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.480 kind of think like his grace will save you, and 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.040 his grace will get you to Heaven. You're on your 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:07.800 own in between. I want to declare that the same 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:14.040 grace that will get you there wherever you're there is 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:19.680 is with you here. If you will believe the words 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:27.960 coming out of this country preacher's mouth today that God 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:32.000 is in the process, and number one, the gift is 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:39.160 in the middle. They sat down to eat with Jesus, 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:42.480 but they didn't even do what they sat down to do, 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:46.359 because while he was breaking the bread, the process of 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:49.760 the way that he broke the bread revealed his presence 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:54.760 to them. God is in the process. 0:17:55.680 --> 0:18:00.359 And the gift is in the middle. 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:06.000 Today, you will be with me in Paradise. What an 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:11.400 awesome promise to that thief but I got a better 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:15.800 one for you, because that's pretty good, right. I mean, 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:21.080 come on, you're a dying thief and you're trying to 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:24.720 slip in before the door closes. You're trying to get 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:27.840 on Noah's ark and it's already halfway out in the water, 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:34.720 and with your drowning, dying breath, you half heartedly make 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.720 a request just in case it works and that guy 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:42.520 got in. Okay, today you will be with me in paradise. 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:48.439 But God has made you a better promise for he 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:49.800 says to each one of us. 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:52.240 Today, help me. 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:57.600 Say God, not today you will be with me in paradise, 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:03.680 but today I will be with you in the process. 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.360 You see, to me, that's even better. That I have 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:16.679 not only his statement, but I have his spirit. I 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:22.199 am sealed with a guarantee that He is with me, 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:26.000 not just when I raised my hand, not just when 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:27.600 I went down in the baptismal waters. 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:30.000 That was awesome. Your wedding was beautiful, and. 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:33.400 We all appreciate so much the catering service. 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:39.000 But we're not waiting, please, like God. 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:41.800 Left you on earth to wait to go to heaven. 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:44.040 Have you noticed that so much of what. 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:46.199 We talk about in terms of salvation has to do 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:51.360 with us getting out of here, like Christianity is God's. 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:52.639 Cosmic evacuation plan. 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:00.480 But what out. 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:05.480 The middle? See the gift is in the middle. Can 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:07.840 I show you something Peter said one time? Peter knew 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:10.240 something about the middle because one time he was in 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:14.560 the middle of the sea, in the middle of the storm. 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:18.159 All of a sudden, in the middle of the sea, 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:22.119 in the middle of the storm, here comes somebody walking 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:25.240 toward him. And he's not quite sure, but he thinks 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:29.280 it might just be Jesus. So he cries out in 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:33.160 the middle of the sea, in the middle of the storm, 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:34.000 if it's. 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:35.320 You, tell me to come. 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:38.480 And he gets out the boat and he does pretty good, 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:41.160 and by the time he gets where he's going, God 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:44.040 reaches down and grabs him. That's a picture of the 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:47.520 grace to get started and the grace that will be 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:48.480 there in the end. 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:50.399 But what about the middle. 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:59.240 He was walking on water above what could have killed him, 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:01.879 and all of a sudden in the wind and the 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:05.280 waves on the right and the left caused him to 0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:06.959 lose his focus. 0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:09.960 On the man in the middle, and he sinks. 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:14.320 And so Peter says, sometimes you are so focused on 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:17.760 what's behind you. I'm preaching to somebody, and you are 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:22.879 so focused and concerned and anxious about what's ahead of you, 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:25.800 you are missing the presence of God. He is not 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:28.919 the great I was, and he is not the great. 0:21:28.680 --> 0:21:30.639 I will be. He is the. 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:34.560 Great I am, and his presence is not just what 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:38.800 heaven one day. The Kingdom of God is that hand. 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:39.680 He's here. 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:41.560 In the middle. 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:47.719 And a little later in his life, Peter was writing 0:21:47.720 --> 0:21:50.359 to a persecuted church who was going through a fiery trial, 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:53.439 and they were in the middle of it, and he 0:21:53.480 --> 0:21:56.280 said to them, this is like one Peter one, verse nine. 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:03.639 He said, you are receiving I've been studying this all week. 0:22:03.920 --> 0:22:05.600 I hope you'll like this as much as I did. 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:10.120 Sometimes it's tough because I've been thinking about it all week, 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:13.080 and you have a real job and real bills, and 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:15.040 I'll just get up here trying to tell you this stuff. 0:22:15.040 --> 0:22:17.000 And I don't know if. 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:20.720 You see it, But he said, you are receiving the 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:25.879 end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:26.560 What was he saying? 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:30.960 One day it will be complete and there will be 0:22:31.000 --> 0:22:35.880 no need. But you don't have to wait until one 0:22:35.960 --> 0:22:45.280 day when children show us how to do this better 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:49.720 than because adults are so goal focused, and we think 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:52.639 that things have to be a certain way before we 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:55.760 can enjoy God's presence, before we can enjoy what God's 0:22:55.800 --> 0:22:59.840 given us. So we set certain destinations in our mind. 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:03.560 When it gets like that, then I'll be complete. 0:23:04.880 --> 0:23:07.720 But God wants to teach you how to. 0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:12.639 Get it in the middle. I believe this is life changing. 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:19.440 I believe this is life changing. I was riding my bike. 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:23.960 We don't do this much, just on vacation. I'm scared 0:23:23.960 --> 0:23:25.840 to ride my bike on the road the way some 0:23:25.880 --> 0:23:28.320 of y'all drive with elevation church stickers on your car. 0:23:29.400 --> 0:23:32.520 Scare me to death. But we were riding through. 0:23:32.960 --> 0:23:34.080 We were riding. We were riding. 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:36.879 We were on family vacation and we had rented bicycles, 0:23:36.880 --> 0:23:39.560 and we were riding to a restaurant and it started 0:23:39.600 --> 0:23:43.120 raining outside, and I started going through all this negative 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:46.280 cycle of emotions about the rain, and I knew it 0:23:46.320 --> 0:23:48.800 was going to rain, and I told Holly was going 0:23:48.880 --> 0:23:49.680 to rain, and she. 0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:50.840 Said it wasn't going to rain. 0:23:50.880 --> 0:23:53.000 And I was raining, and we're too far to turn 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:54.119 around and go back home. 0:23:54.440 --> 0:23:56.040 And so now we got to ride in the rain. 0:23:56.520 --> 0:23:57.920 All of a sudden, I see Elijah. 0:23:58.000 --> 0:23:59.959 He pulls around me, and he shouts at the top 0:24:00.240 --> 0:24:06.879 of his lungs, epic because he saw a mud puddle. 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:12.400 And for him, the mud puddle looked like the perfect 0:24:12.720 --> 0:24:19.399 thing to aim at riding in the rain. Now to 0:24:19.480 --> 0:24:23.560 me it was annoying. To him, it was epic. I 0:24:23.680 --> 0:24:27.600 was already steering to go around it, and he was 0:24:27.680 --> 0:24:32.480 going right. When I thought about that picture, I thought 0:24:32.520 --> 0:24:36.639 about some of you going to work this week, and 0:24:36.720 --> 0:24:46.200 I saw you not aiming around the thing that you see. 0:24:46.480 --> 0:24:49.159 They don't want me to preach like this, because we 0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:52.320 just want to talk about heaven and the streets of gold. 0:24:52.600 --> 0:24:55.040 And when we get there one day, when I'm flying 0:24:55.040 --> 0:24:58.480 around with wings and me and Anthelm are drinking hot. 0:24:58.240 --> 0:24:59.680 Tea and the southphires. 0:25:00.119 --> 0:25:04.399 No, it's here, and now it's in the Monday and 0:25:04.440 --> 0:25:08.959 the mundane. It's in the mud, It's in the dirtiest 0:25:09.000 --> 0:25:12.119 in the See. God is a gardener. He likes to 0:25:12.200 --> 0:25:15.600 get down in the mud, down in the dirt, down 0:25:15.680 --> 0:25:19.080 in the disappointment. God is in the middle. The gift 0:25:19.240 --> 0:25:19.919 is in the middle. 0:25:20.160 --> 0:25:23.160 I see you riding your bike. I see you puddling 0:25:23.240 --> 0:25:24.800 through the puddle this week. 0:25:24.840 --> 0:25:27.919 I'm not going around it, Grace, look at me, Thirling. 0:25:28.240 --> 0:25:29.359 It's in the middle. 0:25:31.040 --> 0:25:32.680 Shout somebody. 0:25:34.960 --> 0:25:39.680 Colors so sleepy. All right, let me illustrate this. Come here, Jonathan, 0:25:39.720 --> 0:25:40.960 and I'm coming coming, Come and come and come and 0:25:41.000 --> 0:25:43.880 come here, Jonathan, Come here. Do you remember write this down? 0:25:43.920 --> 0:25:46.040 This is point number two. I'm closing real quick because 0:25:46.040 --> 0:25:47.720 I know y'all got to go and I don't want 0:25:47.720 --> 0:25:50.160 to stop. But if this is number two in my message, 0:25:50.200 --> 0:25:51.880 So if you need to leave, if you've got something 0:25:51.920 --> 0:25:53.720 to do, leave right now, because I'm in the middle, 0:25:53.880 --> 0:25:55.680 and when I get to the end, it's gonna be 0:25:55.720 --> 0:25:58.080 worth it. But this is the middle of my message. Now. 0:25:58.119 --> 0:26:01.399 I was thinking about an ill stration. Some of you 0:26:01.480 --> 0:26:05.240 will remember it that I preached this illustration. I was 0:26:05.280 --> 0:26:08.159 trying to illustrate, can you'll help me? I was you 0:26:08.240 --> 0:26:13.960 be cleo, you be cleat, and I. 0:26:13.920 --> 0:26:21.880 Was preaching on confidence, and I talked about how far 0:26:22.040 --> 0:26:22.640 I feel like. 0:26:22.640 --> 0:26:28.439 I have to go, and then I exactly sit down, 0:26:28.520 --> 0:26:30.199 sit down, he says, sit out, He's got me. 0:26:30.320 --> 0:26:31.760 Come here, come here, he's got me. 0:26:32.920 --> 0:26:34.639 You got somebody else still in this road that can 0:26:34.680 --> 0:26:37.480 help to okay, okay, come on, come on, because he 0:26:37.560 --> 0:26:39.720 said he said, he said my point before I could 0:26:39.720 --> 0:26:41.000 say it, So I figured he should help me. 0:26:41.000 --> 0:26:41.640 With this illustration. 0:26:42.160 --> 0:26:43.600 And this guy, this is perfect. 0:26:43.640 --> 0:26:48.399 You know how perfect this is because not only is 0:26:48.520 --> 0:26:50.600 the gift in the middle, but watch my second point. 0:26:50.600 --> 0:26:53.600 You won't believe this. The goal is in the middle. 0:26:53.880 --> 0:26:58.280 And see, man, God knew you needed to help me 0:26:58.320 --> 0:27:03.760 with this. Com So come come, come here, come all 0:27:03.800 --> 0:27:05.960 the way, stay right there, stay right there, stay right there. 0:27:06.880 --> 0:27:10.520 So we were talking about in that sermon illustration about 0:27:10.520 --> 0:27:15.440 how sometimes you have to look back and see how 0:27:15.600 --> 0:27:22.880 far God has already brought you. So salvation means I 0:27:22.920 --> 0:27:24.960 am not what. 0:27:24.840 --> 0:27:25.760 I once was. 0:27:27.000 --> 0:27:30.040 How many can say that I am not what I 0:27:30.080 --> 0:27:33.920 once was. But the same time you raise your right hand, 0:27:34.240 --> 0:27:36.480 how many of you could lift your left hand and say, 0:27:36.840 --> 0:27:38.440 but I'm not what I want to be. 0:27:39.359 --> 0:27:39.840 That's you. 0:27:40.880 --> 0:27:41.560 That's you. 0:27:41.560 --> 0:27:42.760 You are what I want to be. 0:27:43.320 --> 0:27:46.120 Okay, And I chose you because you're much better looking 0:27:46.160 --> 0:27:46.640 than him, to. 0:27:46.600 --> 0:27:52.080 Be what I want to be. And so we talked 0:27:52.080 --> 0:27:53.960 about living in the. 0:27:53.920 --> 0:27:59.920 Gap and so what I expect when I hear about saltha, 0:28:01.000 --> 0:28:03.400 you know, like in a wedding ceremony, they say, and 0:28:03.440 --> 0:28:10.640 the two will be calm, one flesh. Notice they will become. 0:28:12.520 --> 0:28:14.960 They will become. But it's not going to happen there 0:28:15.000 --> 0:28:18.320 at the ceremony. It's going to happen in the kitchen 0:28:19.440 --> 0:28:21.480 when we're trying to decide who does the dishes. 0:28:23.920 --> 0:28:24.920 They won't help me preach. 0:28:24.960 --> 0:28:25.720 They just want to go to. 0:28:25.680 --> 0:28:32.359 Heaven when we all get to her the awesome. But 0:28:32.480 --> 0:28:37.600 in the meantime, here I am, and I'm not living 0:28:37.600 --> 0:28:38.360 in paradise. 0:28:39.400 --> 0:28:40.600 I'm living in process. 0:28:42.320 --> 0:28:44.840 Help me preach, please, or I will leave this stage 0:28:44.960 --> 0:28:45.560 right now. 0:28:46.360 --> 0:28:48.040 I don't need to know the third point. I know 0:28:48.120 --> 0:28:52.640 it already. 0:28:53.360 --> 0:28:57.240 And here I am in the middle and I. 0:28:57.200 --> 0:29:00.640 Look back and it's awesome because I'm not what I was. 0:29:01.120 --> 0:29:02.720 If anyone is in Christ, he has a new creation. 0:29:02.760 --> 0:29:04.640 The old has gone, the newest come. I am not 0:29:04.920 --> 0:29:10.520 what I was, And I found out that if I 0:29:10.560 --> 0:29:15.080 will walk with God, he will change me and conform 0:29:15.200 --> 0:29:20.400 me to the image of Christ. Now my expectation is 0:29:20.440 --> 0:29:24.240 watch this, that as I move toward God's purpose for 0:29:24.320 --> 0:29:28.760 my life, as I get closer and closer to God, 0:29:29.600 --> 0:29:30.880 that this guy will shrink. 0:29:33.000 --> 0:29:35.640 Guess what, Let me show you something. 0:29:36.480 --> 0:29:39.840 The Bible says that when they recognize Jesus in the 0:29:39.840 --> 0:29:42.280 process when he broke the bread and gave the bread, 0:29:42.320 --> 0:29:43.960 watch what happened next. Can we go back to Luke 0:29:44.000 --> 0:29:48.240 twenty four thirty one, The moment they recognized him, he 0:29:48.400 --> 0:29:51.160 disappeared from their sight. 0:29:52.400 --> 0:29:53.400 So this is what happens. 0:29:53.400 --> 0:29:56.400 And this is going to explain a lot of why 0:29:56.440 --> 0:30:02.080 you don't feel like a good Christian, why you don't 0:30:02.080 --> 0:30:02.960 feel like you're growing. 0:30:03.280 --> 0:30:04.040 Don't get me wrong. 0:30:04.280 --> 0:30:08.440 Salvation is a gift, but it is a gift that 0:30:08.520 --> 0:30:19.480 you must grow into. My expectation is that as I 0:30:19.560 --> 0:30:23.440 walk with God, and as I make decisions to follow him, 0:30:24.200 --> 0:30:26.640 and I make decisions to eliminate certain things from my 0:30:26.720 --> 0:30:29.560 life that are causing me to drain energy and focus 0:30:29.640 --> 0:30:34.560 that could be applied towards my purpose, that this gap 0:30:35.600 --> 0:30:38.520 behind me will get bigger and the gap in front 0:30:38.560 --> 0:30:41.480 of me will get smaller. But guess what God does 0:30:42.600 --> 0:30:45.440 when you take a step, when you make a move, 0:30:47.000 --> 0:30:50.200 when I step, you step, watch this God moves too. 0:30:54.200 --> 0:30:55.640 You're going to love this gold digger. 0:30:56.360 --> 0:31:02.320 See, in my mind, the goal was stay right there 0:31:02.600 --> 0:31:03.880 that this gap goes away. 0:31:05.200 --> 0:31:06.680 Here's what God knows. 0:31:07.960 --> 0:31:12.840 If you think that you have arrived, arrogance is sure 0:31:12.920 --> 0:31:13.360 to follow. 0:31:15.840 --> 0:31:18.000 So what God is gonna do? I need to do this. 0:31:18.000 --> 0:31:19.320 This is version two point zero. 0:31:19.960 --> 0:31:23.480 God is gonna make sure that as you grow, when 0:31:23.520 --> 0:31:28.400 I step, you step, the gap stays. So you look 0:31:28.440 --> 0:31:31.440 back and you say, oh, look, I'm moving forward. But 0:31:31.560 --> 0:31:34.520 you look forward and it doesn't feel like you've gone anywhere. 0:31:34.920 --> 0:31:37.560 But I want to let you know you're right where 0:31:37.640 --> 0:31:38.400 you need to be. 0:31:39.120 --> 0:31:43.400 See, you need grace for both gaps. 0:31:44.440 --> 0:31:50.000 Here. It is the same grace that created this gap 0:31:50.440 --> 0:31:52.600 between where I was and. 0:31:52.480 --> 0:31:54.920 Where I am. It's the grace I need. 0:31:55.000 --> 0:31:58.840 I step you step to keep moving forward. So God 0:31:58.960 --> 0:32:02.320 says to everyone who's in the middle of something right now, 0:32:02.720 --> 0:32:05.880 in the middle of change, in the middle of process, 0:32:06.280 --> 0:32:08.600 in the middle of the coming, in the middle of 0:32:08.640 --> 0:32:11.520 a storm, in the middle of the fire, you step less, 0:32:11.560 --> 0:32:16.920 step gets stepping, step, stay in the middle, stem, stay 0:32:16.920 --> 0:32:23.200 in fame, step, stay in courage, step, stay least, stay. 0:32:22.880 --> 0:32:25.840 In my hand, stay in the storm. 0:32:26.120 --> 0:32:27.880 I wh you in the time. 0:32:28.520 --> 0:32:29.680 God is in the middle. 0:32:33.920 --> 0:32:34.840 I'm in the middle. 0:32:40.720 --> 0:32:45.440 I need I need both both gaps. I need a 0:32:45.480 --> 0:32:49.400 gap that makes me grateful and a gap that makes 0:32:49.440 --> 0:32:57.040 me grow. So ye'll better sit down. I gotta start closing, 0:32:57.080 --> 0:33:00.480 and I'm I want to preach about these gaps. I 0:33:00.480 --> 0:33:02.120 don't know why it is that we think that the 0:33:02.160 --> 0:33:04.080 first gap is the grace of God and the second 0:33:04.080 --> 0:33:07.720 gap is anything but the same grace that did that. 0:33:09.160 --> 0:33:09.800 Will do this. 0:33:10.120 --> 0:33:14.560 He who began a good work and you will be 0:33:14.640 --> 0:33:21.600 faithful to complete it. So the disciples get where they're 0:33:21.600 --> 0:33:27.080 going to Amais and God says, oh, you thought that 0:33:27.240 --> 0:33:34.600 was the final stop. No, it's just the middle. Oh man, 0:33:34.640 --> 0:33:37.880 if you could see your life like God sees your life, 0:33:38.800 --> 0:33:42.600 you wouldn't give up in the middle. The good stuff 0:33:42.600 --> 0:33:49.920 happens in the middle. I love Netflix because I can 0:33:50.040 --> 0:33:53.640 just pause it. And sometimes if the tension is real 0:33:53.720 --> 0:33:57.080 high in a show, I'll pause it not to stop it, 0:33:57.520 --> 0:34:00.880 but I want to see where we're at on the timeline. 0:34:01.920 --> 0:34:02.880 Now here's what I know. 0:34:05.760 --> 0:34:09.520 If there's unresolved conflict in the show, I want to know, 0:34:09.800 --> 0:34:13.839 Wait a minute, how much time is left? Because if 0:34:13.840 --> 0:34:16.719 we're still in the middle, come on, somebody. 0:34:17.040 --> 0:34:19.120 Your dream is. 0:34:18.960 --> 0:34:22.040 Not over, your purpose is not finished. 0:34:22.480 --> 0:34:23.680 This is not the end. 0:34:24.080 --> 0:34:25.200 It's just a mass. 0:34:30.920 --> 0:34:34.120 We know what the disciples didn't know. We know the 0:34:34.200 --> 0:34:36.640 crosses at the end, we know the grave. 0:34:36.800 --> 0:34:42.399 Is it his final destination. It's just a mantle. It's 0:34:42.480 --> 0:34:43.120 just the middle. 0:34:46.800 --> 0:34:52.120 The gifts is in the middle, The goal is in 0:34:52.200 --> 0:34:52.680 the middle. 0:34:52.880 --> 0:34:55.600 I press toward the mark. 0:34:55.800 --> 0:35:02.800 Forgetting what is behind. I will not quit in the middle. 0:35:03.120 --> 0:35:06.120 Encourage somebody next to you. It's just the middle. It's 0:35:06.320 --> 0:35:09.400 just the middle. This is just the middle. This is 0:35:09.480 --> 0:35:16.600 not the end. It is just the middle. And I 0:35:16.640 --> 0:35:23.600 think it is significant that when they reached Amais and Jesus. 0:35:24.640 --> 0:35:26.280 Revealed his presence. 0:35:27.360 --> 0:35:32.080 Through the scars that he suffered for their salvation, he 0:35:32.200 --> 0:35:34.480 disappeared so. 0:35:34.360 --> 0:35:35.520 That they would turn around. 0:35:36.719 --> 0:35:38.400 And when they got to the place they thought they 0:35:38.440 --> 0:35:40.719 were going, they found out surprise. 0:35:41.880 --> 0:35:42.960 Look at verse thirty two. 0:35:43.239 --> 0:35:46.160 They got up and they start talking to each other, 0:35:47.000 --> 0:35:50.480 and they said to each other, we're not our hearts 0:35:51.280 --> 0:35:57.560 burning within us while he talked with us in the 0:35:57.600 --> 0:36:02.480 middle on the road as we went. 0:36:03.760 --> 0:36:08.479 In the mill. That's where you get it, that's where 0:36:08.520 --> 0:36:11.719 you grow. That's where he shows. 0:36:11.560 --> 0:36:17.000 Up in the middle, in the middle of the night, 0:36:18.480 --> 0:36:25.319 when it's just you and pastor pillow and nobody left 0:36:25.320 --> 0:36:32.200 the text, you will hear his voice. 0:36:31.000 --> 0:36:31.640 In the middle. 0:36:34.520 --> 0:36:38.080 Whoever this is for, and whatever you're in the middle of, 0:36:39.719 --> 0:36:42.919 I want you to look at the cross again, because 0:36:42.960 --> 0:36:45.560 the Bible says that what they thought was the end 0:36:46.200 --> 0:36:50.279 emaeis where they intended to stay in disappointment and eat 0:36:50.280 --> 0:36:53.719 some bread and go to bed. Once they saw who 0:36:53.800 --> 0:36:56.839 was with them all along and realized what had been 0:36:56.880 --> 0:37:00.600 happening along the road that seemed to them trivial in 0:37:00.719 --> 0:37:04.920 something as mundane as a seven mile walk, they turned around, 0:37:04.920 --> 0:37:08.440 they got up, and they returned at once to Jerusalem. 0:37:08.480 --> 0:37:11.040 And you thought this series seven mile miracle was about 0:37:11.080 --> 0:37:14.960 the first seven miles, and you thought salvation was just 0:37:15.000 --> 0:37:20.240 about God getting you out. But the second seven miles 0:37:21.480 --> 0:37:27.720 is when you turn back around and stop running from. 0:37:28.000 --> 0:37:29.640 What God saved you out of. 0:37:31.360 --> 0:37:36.600 And start running toward what God saved you for. 0:37:37.719 --> 0:37:44.120 And they got up at once in a moment and 0:37:44.239 --> 0:37:48.880 returned to Jerusalem. 0:37:48.960 --> 0:37:51.680 This may be the strongest message on salvation that God 0:37:51.719 --> 0:37:56.200 has ever given me, because when I looked at the 0:37:56.360 --> 0:38:00.319 cross where he died, and I realized. 0:38:01.840 --> 0:38:05.760 That he died on a hill called Galgatha. 0:38:05.320 --> 0:38:09.480 Which is the place of the skull in Hermaic, and 0:38:09.520 --> 0:38:13.120 on one side of him was one thief, and on 0:38:13.120 --> 0:38:17.359 one side of him was another and the cross that 0:38:17.400 --> 0:38:20.400 brought our salvation was right. 0:38:20.239 --> 0:38:27.440 There in the middle. I realized. 0:38:28.280 --> 0:38:31.560 That the way that he died is symbolic of the 0:38:31.560 --> 0:38:37.280 way that I now live. I am crucified with Christ. 0:38:38.440 --> 0:38:44.319 Nevertheless I live yet not I, but Christ lives in me. 0:38:44.680 --> 0:38:49.120 And the life that I now live, I now live. 0:38:49.440 --> 0:38:51.240 It is here now. 0:38:51.400 --> 0:38:54.000 If you're looking for the grace of God, don't look 0:38:54.040 --> 0:38:58.480 to your deathbed, and don't look to your past. 0:39:00.840 --> 0:39:02.480 He is the great I am. 0:39:02.600 --> 0:39:05.239 If you're looking for the grace of God, put your 0:39:05.239 --> 0:39:11.399 eyes on that middle cross between two thieves. On your left, 0:39:11.480 --> 0:39:15.640 you'll see your past. On your right, you'll see your future. 0:39:16.840 --> 0:39:19.479 But don't look at your past. You're not going that way, 0:39:20.680 --> 0:39:24.399 And don't even worry about your future. God is already there. 0:39:25.600 --> 0:39:28.480 If you're looking for the grace of God, it's in 0:39:28.520 --> 0:39:32.280 the middle. How need somebody to praise God right here, 0:39:33.000 --> 0:39:37.000 right now for his grace in the middle. 0:39:43.640 --> 0:39:46.600 He is with me in the middle. He is with 0:39:46.800 --> 0:39:47.440 in the middle. 0:39:50.000 --> 0:39:53.800 And maybe stand please, Maybe it's not about God getting 0:39:53.800 --> 0:39:58.480 me out. Maybe the reason he died is because he 0:39:58.520 --> 0:40:00.719 wanted to get in. 0:40:03.440 --> 0:40:07.480 Your faith is hanging between two thieves. 0:40:08.719 --> 0:40:16.000 What was is gone what will be is unknown. If 0:40:16.040 --> 0:40:19.120 you're looking for the grace of God, if you're looking 0:40:19.160 --> 0:40:24.240 for the glory of God, the glory is in the middle. 0:40:27.280 --> 0:40:28.080 I know it's in the. 0:40:28.000 --> 0:40:34.719 Middle because when Shadrak, mishak can a Beenda Gole got 0:40:34.719 --> 0:40:36.880 thrown in the fire, God didn't get them out of 0:40:36.920 --> 0:40:41.319 the fire, but lated not when the flames were at 0:40:41.360 --> 0:40:42.880 their highest, seven times. 0:40:42.600 --> 0:40:43.920 Hotter than they normally. 0:40:43.680 --> 0:40:47.560 Were, because they would not bow before the Babylonian king. 0:40:48.200 --> 0:40:50.759 The scripture says that a fourth man went in the 0:40:50.760 --> 0:40:52.560 furnace with the three who were thrown in. 0:40:52.920 --> 0:40:54.239 God didn't get them out. 0:40:56.400 --> 0:41:05.640 He got in the middle with them. Now, if you 0:41:05.680 --> 0:41:07.960 know this message is for your soul, just raise your 0:41:07.960 --> 0:41:09.319 hand if you know it's for your soul. 0:41:10.800 --> 0:41:11.440 I want. 0:41:13.400 --> 0:41:16.960 I want the same grace that got me out of 0:41:16.960 --> 0:41:22.440 my sin to lead me into everything that God saved 0:41:22.440 --> 0:41:26.920 me for. I want to learn to see His power, 0:41:27.160 --> 0:41:31.839 not just in my perfection. I mean even the thought 0:41:31.880 --> 0:41:34.839 that I'm going to reach that on this earth is ridiculous. 0:41:36.760 --> 0:41:39.960 I want God's presence in the process. 0:41:40.320 --> 0:41:44.439 When he took it, he blessed it, he broke it, 0:41:45.360 --> 0:41:49.680 and gave it. And that's where they in the middle 0:41:51.280 --> 0:42:00.000 common middle, mundane middle. The miracle is in the middle, 0:42:01.520 --> 0:42:04.120 not when you get out, but while you are in it. 0:42:05.600 --> 0:42:07.960 I know you're still struggling with the addiction man, And 0:42:08.000 --> 0:42:09.560 I know even your wife doesn't. 0:42:09.280 --> 0:42:11.000 Know because you're scared to tell her. 0:42:11.560 --> 0:42:14.359 God is with you in the middle, not just when 0:42:14.360 --> 0:42:15.800 you've been five years clean. 0:42:15.920 --> 0:42:18.880 God is with you in the pig pen. He is 0:42:19.000 --> 0:42:20.480 with you in the middle. 0:42:20.840 --> 0:42:23.920 And the same grace that stayed. 0:42:23.520 --> 0:42:26.480 With you in the pig pen is going to bring 0:42:26.520 --> 0:42:26.919 you out. 0:42:27.000 --> 0:42:30.279 Don't you dare quit. This is just the middle. This 0:42:30.320 --> 0:42:31.280 is just the middle. 0:42:31.480 --> 0:42:38.480 This is just the middle. God is with you in 0:42:38.520 --> 0:42:39.000 the middle. 0:42:39.760 --> 0:42:46.520 Well, his presence is here. John said, I looked and 0:42:46.520 --> 0:42:50.960 saw a throne in This is a beautiful picture because 0:42:50.960 --> 0:42:54.920 he said that the throne was sitting in the middle 0:42:56.360 --> 0:42:56.960 of praise. 0:42:57.239 --> 0:42:58.920 I want us to do something right now. 0:42:59.360 --> 0:43:04.360 This may be a little uncomfortable for you, but the 0:43:04.440 --> 0:43:08.400 reason you've been feeling stressed out and worn out, and 0:43:08.480 --> 0:43:10.839 the reason you've been trying to do what Jesus did 0:43:10.880 --> 0:43:13.520 not do on the cross, which is save himself. The 0:43:13.600 --> 0:43:16.800 reason you've been trying, the reason you've been so strained, 0:43:16.840 --> 0:43:19.360 and the reason that you've been so drained is because 0:43:19.400 --> 0:43:21.920 you've been trying to save yourself and you've been at 0:43:21.960 --> 0:43:26.880 the center. If you are looking for the peace of God, 0:43:26.920 --> 0:43:28.759 if you are looking for the power of God, if 0:43:28.760 --> 0:43:33.080 you are looking for the presence of God, it's in 0:43:33.120 --> 0:43:33.640 the middle. 0:43:34.600 --> 0:43:36.399 And for him to be in the middle, you can't 0:43:36.400 --> 0:43:36.879 stay there. 0:43:40.440 --> 0:43:51.280 So lift your hands, say glory and praise, power and strength. 0:43:53.360 --> 0:43:55.480 This is what they're singing in heaven around the throne. 0:43:55.520 --> 0:43:59.680 Worthy is the Lamb of God. We're singing it now. 0:44:01.120 --> 0:44:06.160 Salvation belongs to our God, to the Lamb who sits 0:44:06.200 --> 0:44:15.719 on the throne, the power to Minion, majesty forever and ever. 0:44:18.719 --> 0:44:27.160 Put him at the center for it despite grace. You 0:44:27.280 --> 0:44:32.920 have been said through faith, not of yourselves. It is 0:44:32.960 --> 0:44:36.759 the gift of God. Come on, if you're in the 0:44:36.760 --> 0:44:38.840 middle of a storm right now, I need you to 0:44:38.880 --> 0:44:42.840 lift your hands and call on in Glory'll show up 0:44:42.880 --> 0:44:46.319 in the middle of your storm, in the middle of 0:44:46.360 --> 0:44:51.440 your struggle. Come on, he's in the midst of his people. 0:44:51.760 --> 0:44:56.520 Here have it the graces of this people and thrown 0:44:56.600 --> 0:44:57.000 him out. 0:45:04.400 --> 0:45:05.520 Thank you for joining us. 0:45:05.840 --> 0:45:08.279 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:45:08.360 --> 0:45:09.080 this ministry. 0:45:09.440 --> 0:45:11.840 Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:45:12.280 --> 0:45:14.480 You can click the link in the description to give 0:45:14.600 --> 0:45:18.719 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:45:18.760 --> 0:45:22.560 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:45:22.840 --> 0:45:24.160 You can share it with your friends. 0:45:24.440 --> 0:45:26.719 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:45:26.760 --> 0:45:28.879 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:45:28.920 --> 0:45:29.759 Elevation Church. 0:45:29.840 --> 0:45:36.440 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.