It's Worth The Dirt

0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:07.440 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:10.520 Church and this is our podcast. Be sure to subscribe 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:13.680 so we can get you these new sermons every week. 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:14.960 I hope you're blessed today. 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:23.759 Come on, somebody help me lift the name of Jesus. 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:28.080 Come on, let's live the name of Jesus. 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:34.320 Please, sir, the name of the mo name jeess Listen. 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:35.600 Redeems Jesus. 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:43.320 Listen to these unifl savor Jesus worrias Lord. He's Manuel 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:47.280 God with us and his name. 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:55.120 Tell me call wonderful, come flor mighty, die everlasting mother, 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.480 dingle pe hend Lord of Lord. 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:03.640 What is this Jesus? 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:09.800 What is na Jesus? Je see. 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:12.040 She Esus. 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:20.920 I be coming to your name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesa. 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:39.959 Every time, healing in the name of Jesus, Salvation in 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:43.319 the name of Jesus, Freedom, in the name of. 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:51.400 Jesus, no other name but Jesus, the only name that saves. Father. 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:54.320 I thank you today that when I don't know what 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:58.480 to do, I know who to call. I ask you today, Lord, 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:04.320 show up for your people. They've called on you, they've 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:08.600 cried to you. We believe in your word. Your word 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:12.560 says that if we call, you'll hear us. In the 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:18.120 day of trouble. I pray right now, Lord that for 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:23.480 every storm that may be happening, whether it's a physical 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:27.480 storm that the weatherman was talking about, or whether it's 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:31.880 an emotional storm that no one knows of, that you 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:41.880 would speak peace to it. Peace, Be still, Peace, Be still. 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:49.560 Yours is the voice that doesn't need a sound system. Peace, 0:02:53.280 --> 0:03:00.640 Be still. Yours is the power that never goes out. 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:08.960 Be still. But you reach around and hug seven people 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.320 and tell them this. The Lord is going to give 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:17.320 you extra blessings for being here today. Those of you online, 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.800 how are you doing? God is with you, mighty warrior. 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:26.280 Get out of the wine press, stop worrying about it, 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:30.720 and worship through it. God is with you in this storm. Yeah. 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:33.880 I don't care what the enemy is. The Bible says, 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:37.360 He'll prepare a table in the presence of your enemies. 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:42.560 Our God is great and greatly to be praised. Everybody, 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:46.320 say my God is great. Come on, either say it 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:48.160 with your lips or type it with your fingers, or 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:50.520 use your thumbs. Put it in the comments right now, 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:55.160 say my God is great. Tell them, yours is great too. 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.440 Come on, tell your neighbor we got the same God. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.880 Tell him he likes me better, but we're both his kids. 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:07.400 How many secretly feel like you're one of God's favorites? 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:14.400 Just slip your finger up right here. I want to 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.680 welcome everybody that's a part of our church, our global 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:20.240 e fam around the world. Let's welcome all those who 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:25.960 are joining us online today. You know, it's an interesting dilemma. 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:33.760 We've been hearing weather reports an apocalyptic storm that may 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:35.920 be coming. And while we take that seriously, and while 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:38.320 we'll be working with our outreach partners to help all 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.400 of those who are affected and to minister to those 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:43.640 who are in need, you know, it gets kind of 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:47.400 hard sometimes because there's always a report, there's always a 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:49.960 reason not to do something. And when we heard that 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.240 the storm was coming right here through where we live, 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:55.640 it was a conversation, you know, should we cancel church? 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.960 And something inside of me was like, this is Elevation Church, 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:06.039 and if anything, we can't cancel it. If anything, we 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:18.520 got to sneak up on the devil day early. So 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:22.560 that's what we're doing. We gathered together about fifteen hundred 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:27.919 of the most safe, sanctified people, and the Carolinas, some 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:32.880 from Virginia. I mean, these are watch this, these are 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:38.320 holy ghosts filled believers in the room today. That's right, 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:41.920 that's right. We checked all the U Version Bible reading 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:44.039 plans in the church, and the people with the perfect 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:47.760 streaks got to come to church today. So we're sharing 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:49.479 this with you a little early. The Lord is in 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:52.159 this place, and it's been an interesting day here in 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:56.200 the room. It's been interesting. Not only do they say 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.560 a storm is coming, but something happened that's never happened 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:02.239 in the twenty years of the church. The entire sound 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:08.040 system went out like five hundred times while we were 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:10.440 trying to transition into the sermon, and we kept on 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.800 having to sing the third and fourth and fifth verses 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:17.560 of songs that only have two verses. That was interesting 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.359 as well. And I started thinking about all of that, 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.919 and I thought, you know, Lord, well, maybe you didn't 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:30.679 want us to bring this message today. Maybe you didn't 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:33.720 want me to preach today. All these distractions and all 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:37.960 these hindrances and all these obstacles. Maybe you didn't want 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:41.520 me to have this service today. Maybe you didn't want 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:43.520 me to preach this work today, and something inside me 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:53.840 said no, Maybe the devil didn't see. We misinterpret when 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:55.560 things go wrong. Now I don't even know if my 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.800 MIC's gonna work for this whole sermon, but I need 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.680 every prayer, warrior, pray that this word would reach right 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:06.440 where it's supposed to go. We welcome you into the 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:10.080 presence of the Lord today. Wherever you are, whatever you're 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:14.240 going through, God has a word for you. And no 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:18.640 word from God will return. Boy Isaiah fifty five says, 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:21.960 as the rain falls from the heaven and waters the 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:26.320 earth and causes it to flourish, so will God's word 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.400 be that comes forth from his mouth. It will not 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:33.760 return unto him void. It will accomplish what he said 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:36.760 it to do. How many are excited about the word today? 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:41.920 Come on, clap your hands on your couch. Re'll call everybody. 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:46.880 Puts your name in the chat, and open your Bible. 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:53.400 Please to Matthew chapter thirteen, Matthew Chapter thirteen, verses thirty 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:58.080 one and thirty two, and Matthew Chapter thirteen, verse forty four. 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:03.680 Share a little scripture today with you that is really 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:07.080 going to help you in your life. And if while 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:12.320 I'm preaching the microphone pops and struggles and strains underneath 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:17.440 the weight of this anointing. I will scream so loud 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.320 that the dude in the back row will fall down 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:27.400 the stairs from the shock, until my voice is raw 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:30.080 and the Lord will speak. Now listen to this. This 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:34.560 is Matthew chapter thirteen, verse thirty one and thirty two, 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:40.600 and Matthew Chapter thirteen, verse forty four. Jesus told them 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:45.240 another parable. He said, the Kingdom of Heaven is like 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:49.000 a mustard seed which a man took and planted in 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:53.400 his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:59.520 Yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:04.080 plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:10.520 and perch in its branches. Wow verse forty four. The 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:14.760 Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:19.840 When a man found it, he hid it again, and 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:22.400 then in his joy, went and sold all he had 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:26.680 and bought that feel. I have a word from the 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:28.800 Lord for you today. The Lord told me to tell 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:37.080 you it's worth the dirt. It's worth the dirt. Father, 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:39.320 These moments in your presence are precious. We pray for 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:43.240 your protection and a hedge of your glory around each 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:45.280 of your children today, so that they can receive what 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:48.720 you speak, however it comes out. This is your word 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:53.720 and your church in Jesus' name. Amen, touch your neighbor 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:55.319 and tell him it's worth the dirt on your way 0:09:55.320 --> 0:10:00.680 to your seat. I know you had to wait this sermon, 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.320 but it's going to be worth it. 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:04.920 Now. 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:07.160 I have a feeling that this microphone is not going 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:09.000 to hold up today. But I think what I'm going 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.200 to do is I'm just going to preach this as 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:14.560 awkward as it needs to be preached, unless that becomes 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.440 so distracting that we can't take it. And if somebody 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:19.360 wants to run the target and buy me a megaphone, 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:23.920 I'll preach through that as well. You know, God is 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:30.440 so good. He teaches us to discern in different seasons 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:34.199 of our life whether or not something is worth it. 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:39.280 And maturity is learning to see when something will be 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:43.200 worth it and embrace it, and when it's not worth 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:47.840 it to walk away. That's what maturity is. Being mature 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:52.439 in your faith. It's about recognizing when it's worth it 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:56.600 and when it isn't worth it, and not only recognize it, 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:01.040 but walk away when it's not worth it. Tell your 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:05.280 neighbor just practice real quick saying it's not even worth it. 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.600 It's not even worth it. Some things are, some things aren't. 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.720 For years, when I would go watch Graham wrestle, usually 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:15.000 I'll spend my saturdays in a sweaty gym that smelled 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:18.600 like boy, smelled like the worst parts of a boy. 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.040 By about two o'clock in the afternoon, it would be 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:23.800 cooking in that oven. The reason I know that it 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:26.240 was worth it is because the first time he ever 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:30.240 won a big wrestling tournament, I said to him afterwards, Man, 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:32.400 I'm so glad I was here to see it. Now. 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:35.520 The reason that I almost wasn't there was because I 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:38.160 had to bring in a guest preacher to preach for 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:40.800 me in order to be at this tournament. And there 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:42.840 was a part of me sitting there like, man, thousands 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.480 of people that need the gospel, and then my son's wrestling. 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:47.960 I don't know what to do. Is it worth it 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.040 to not preach to go watch him in this tournament? 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.040 So he wins the whole thing, right, and we're sitting 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:57.720 at Pizza Hut where all of my food addiction issues 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:05.000 began with the book at club, I'm serious. All of 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:09.400 my food reward issues started in the fourth grade, reading 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.800 The Babysitters Club and getting pizza for it. Shouldn't have 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:17.319 confessed that. Well, We're sitting there at Pizza Hut celebrating 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:19.480 his gold medal, and I said, man, I'm so glad 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:21.360 I came. What if you'd have won the whole tournament 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:23.439 and I hadn't been here to see it? And he said, well, 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:25.480 if you hadn't been here to see it, I probably 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:29.920 wouldn't have won it. If you hadn't been here to 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:34.080 see it, I probably wouldn't have won it. So every 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:36.520 time I'd be hauling my butt into a gym with 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.600 some boy's feet propped up on the bleachers behind me, 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:41.760 I mean, at a wrestling tournament, they turned the whole 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:46.280 gym into a locker room. It's awesome, it's incredible, And 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.320 in a room full of half naked men packed to 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:51.400 the gills and me sitting there in the middle of 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:53.760 all of it with my OCD, I'm going, it's worth it. 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:55.240 It's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it. It's 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:56.839 worth it, not just because he's going to go to 0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:59.600 the Olympics, but because he told me it's worth it. 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:05.200 Tell somebody sometimes it's worth it. Sometimes you got to 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:09.600 preach with the mic popping because it's worth it. Sometimes 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:11.240 you got to come out the church a day early 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:17.439 on a Saturday because it's worth it. Sometimes it's worth it. 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:22.960 And wisdom is knowing when it's worth it. Wisdom is 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:25.400 the ability to hear that little whisper that God will 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:27.040 give you from time to time and say. 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:31.640 It's worth it. Stick with this, it's worth it. Log 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:35.480 on church online today. It's going to be worth it. Yeah, 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:39.120 keep trying to fix that relationship. It's worth it. 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:41.600 And sometimes it's just a little whisper. God will encourage 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:42.920 you in the moment where you feel like giving up, 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:45.800 and he'll say, no, no, no, it's worth it. Keep 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:49.240 doing it. It's worth it. Just whisper to your neighbors, 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:52.400 say it's worth it. Now, Tell them to say it's 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:55.800 worth it when it's worth it. But you know what, 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:58.400 I had a moment the other day, and it happened 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:00.880 when I was bending down to tie my shoes and 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:04.200 Holly was in the other room laughing at me, and 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:05.960 she said, Babe, you tying your shoes like you are 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.400 eighty eight. And I said, I know babe, I can't. 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:12.040 I can't help it. That's the price that I pay 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:19.520 for this physique. It just comes with soreness. And she said, yeah, 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.680 but the trade off, like you look great, but do 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:25.200 you really have to do you really have to go 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.040 that hard on leg day that you can't tie your shoes? 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:30.680 And I had a moment standing there in the closet 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:35.440 listening to my wife mock me, a moment of maturity 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:37.520 where I decided, you know what, She's right, this is 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:39.960 not worth it, even though that lady at the gym 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:41.880 fifteen years ago made fun of me and said do 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:44.960 you ever do leg day? And created a complex inside 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:47.080 of me. While I was wearing my shorts, I was 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:49.680 bending down to tie my shoes, and something just hit 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:53.600 me real quick, like, you know what, nobody is looking 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:57.280 at your ham strings. Nobody, not even Holly wants to 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:01.200 see your ham strings, So just wear some and cover 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:04.120 your quads. What are you trying to be a quad model? 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.560 And that was the last day I ever did heavy 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:11.520 squats because it's not worth it. I came to set 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:15.360 somebody free from leg day today. You're too old for that. Now, 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:18.400 you're not supposed to be going down that deep. If 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:20.560 the Lord would have made you have been down like that, 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.480 he'd have put hinges on your hips. It's not helping anybody, 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.880 and nobody is looking at your calves. Cover them up. 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:33.920 It's not worth it. Wear some baggy jeans, tie your shoes, 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:42.640 and be happy. In Matthew chapter thirteen, what a transition 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:46.560 full of out all the stuffs today on snow day. 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:52.040 In Matthew chapter thirteen, Jesus is giving a very important 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:57.280 lesson to his disciples on what's worth it, because he 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.600 knows there will be a time soon to come when 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.080 he goes to the cross, and their commitment to him 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:05.200 will be challenged by that cross. See, they left a 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:08.320 lot to follow him. They left their fishing businesses, they 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:12.640 left their tax collecting agencies. Many of them even left 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:18.440 their family's approval to follow this wonderworking rebel priest named 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.880 Jesus of Nazareth, who is considered a heretic by many. 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:24.280 And at the moment that he could have called the 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:26.440 legion of angels to get him down off the cross, 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:29.760 and didn't, I wonder did they? Wonder? Was it worth it? 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:34.520 And I wonder who I'm preaching to today? That wonders 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:39.080 is it worth it? Is it worth it for me 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:40.960 to keep serving God? It doesn't seem to be doing 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:44.400 me any good. Is it worth it for me to 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:46.920 keep being pure as a teenager? Everybody else is having 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:49.720 more fun than I am? Is it worth it for 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:51.400 me to be the weird kid that doesn't get invited 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:53.360 to the parties Because I have a standard of purity 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:59.680 and I have a direction of destiny. I have learned 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:02.280 that this stage of my life, how important it is 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:08.960 that we are not driven by external and others focused 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:14.119 metrics of what matters. You have to decide what is 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:18.480 worth it from within. You have to, or else you'll 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:22.560 jump on every trend, or else you will burn yourself 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:25.000 out and then ask God to light your fire. But 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:29.960 God can't light a fire when you don't have the 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:35.480 priorities to put His presence first in your life. And 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.400 I think this is your year to decide what's worth 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:42.600 it to you and to commit to what is and 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:46.080 to walk away from what isn't. This is not permission 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.960 to quit your job because I bet you like that check. 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:52.919 That check is kind of worth. It is kind of 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:55.160 worth It's kind of worth your boss's bad breath, isn't 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.679 it the health insurance is kind of worth it that 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:02.200 dental insurance make you put up with a lot of stuff. See, 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:04.159 I think it's very difficult for us in the moment 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:05.119 to know is it worth it. 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:07.040 It's easy to look back and say that wasn't worth 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:10.080 it. It's easy to look back and say that was worth it. 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:13.040 Where the Holy Spirit comes in is to look at 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:16.480 something and to realize this is worth it, and the 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:18.320 Lord will whisper it's worth it. 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.000 I know it doesn't look like much, but it's worth it. 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:23.480 I know it's hard for you and nobody's appreciating you, 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:25.840 but it's worth it. I've called you to it, and 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:28.760 then the Holy Spirit will whisper to you. Sometimes it's 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:32.280 not worth it. I know you want to tell them off, 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.280 save your breath. It's not worth it. I know you 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.920 want to put them in their place, and you can 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:44.199 do it, but it's not worth it. You're going to 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:47.440 be sore tomorrow if you go off today. Now you're 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:51.359 going to have to apologize and create more work for yourself. 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:53.920 Just put it in the comments. It's not worth it. 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:57.520 I learned that about leg day, but I'm still learning 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:01.800 it about life. I'm learning that it is not worth 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:05.280 it for me to respond to every criticism. I mean, 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:07.879 let's be honest, I've had my fair share of practice. 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:10.000 How many of y'all that go to this church have 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.480 ever heard somebody say something bad about me? How many 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:15.760 of you wanted to punch them in the mountain? I 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:20.480 love y'all. That's our real church right there. One of 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:22.720 my friends asked me one time, He's like, Pastor, don't 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:24.760 you feel like the staff you got around you is 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:27.000 too saved? Don't you feel like you need a few 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:30.439 barely saved, just out of prison ministry staff around you 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:33.240 just to handle the nonsense? I thought, No, it's not 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.320 worth it. Peter didn't get this. When they came to 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.400 get Jesus. He started cutting off ears, and Jesus said, 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:46.560 what is this? It's not worth it. Nothing can stop 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:48.480 me from going to the cross because that's what God 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:53.760 sent me to do. It's not worth it. That phrase 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:56.720 right there will set you free. It's not worth it. 0:19:56.720 --> 0:19:59.800 It's not worth it because if I defend myself to 0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:07.000 a critic and I win, what have I won? A 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:10.120 critic who changed their mind? What prize do I get 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.760 for changing their mind? If I change your mind, I 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:17.400 get what see. I might win an argument, but it's 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:22.560 too expensive because it cost me my peace. So I 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:28.000 rather keep my peace than win an argument. Jesus is 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:30.880 helping his disciples to discern what's worth it. And that's 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:33.160 what he's doing in your life right now. He's allowing 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:35.800 some things to be pruned, he's allowing some things to 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.400 be moved. He's allowing some people that were in your 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:40.439 life to move to a different circle. It's not that 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:43.200 you don't love them, It's just that you can't invest 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:45.879 in everybody in this season of your life. And so 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:49.520 God graciously moves people into different seasons so that you 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:52.040 can focus on what's right in front of you, so 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:55.640 God can show you what's worth it. That's why God 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:58.080 lets you have that really bad hangover, so you could 0:20:58.119 --> 0:21:00.720 realize this is not worth it. I don't want to 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:03.359 pass this crap on to my kids. I don't want 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:06.040 them to have to struggle with this addiction because it's 0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:11.440 not worth it. And in Matthew chapter thirteen, we get 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:15.159 two parables of seven that are mentioned by Jesus in 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:18.679 the Gospel of Matthew. They are the mysteries of the Kingdom. 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.240 One of those mysteries is the mystery of the mustard seed, 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:25.199 and one is the treasure in the field. And what 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:27.480 they both hold in common to me is not a 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:30.399 parent on the surface. He told them another parable, the 0:21:30.480 --> 0:21:33.199 Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:37.120 man took and planted in his field. That's a beautiful 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:41.119 scripture to me, because a mustard seed is indeed the 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:45.320 parabolic smallest seed that was known at the time, not technically, 0:21:45.400 --> 0:21:48.960 but it was commonly accepted to say it's as small 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:53.159 as a mustard seed. Go on, though it is the 0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:56.880 smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is 0:21:56.920 --> 0:22:01.520 the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:06.480 that the birds come and perch in its branches. To me, 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:09.440 this speaks to the temptation that I feel so often 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:12.960 in my life to dismiss something that God is doing 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:20.720 because of a small beginning. Because of a small beginning. 0:22:20.760 --> 0:22:23.880 I can think of so many examples in my life 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:30.880 where it was little until it wasn't a little thing 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:36.359 that almost seemed so inconsequential, and it was little until 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:39.520 it wasn't, And I found out when God speaks to us, 0:22:39.520 --> 0:22:44.320 he usually speaks little things. To us. It's worth it. 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:48.760 It's little until it isn't. What's the first thing that 0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:51.879 Jesus told Peter to do, not leave your nets and 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:54.760 follow me. He just said, put down the nets for 0:22:54.840 --> 0:22:58.080 a catch. Well, that's something that Peter did all the time. 0:22:58.600 --> 0:23:03.680 It was little until it wasn't. Because when Jesus told 0:23:03.760 --> 0:23:05.359 him to do the little thing, put down the nets 0:23:05.359 --> 0:23:09.000 for a catch, Jesus had a big thing in mind. Oh, 0:23:09.119 --> 0:23:13.480 somebody say, God's got something big for me. Come on, 0:23:13.600 --> 0:23:15.600 say you got to say that with some volume. Now, 0:23:15.880 --> 0:23:19.880 God's God something big for me. Say it again, God's 0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:23.359 got something big for me. It starts as a seed. 0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:28.720 And if you dismiss the seed, you miss the thing. 0:23:30.280 --> 0:23:32.719 The Kingdom of heaven. What's it like, Jesus tell us 0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:34.959 what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. It's like the 0:23:35.080 --> 0:23:40.159 smallest seed. It's almost microscopic, but it can be miraculous, 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:47.040 and it just takes time. Is worth it. It just takes time. 0:23:47.359 --> 0:23:51.800 It matters. It just takes time. And I have a 0:23:51.880 --> 0:23:55.440 phone full of proof that everything that God does big 0:23:55.520 --> 0:23:58.760 starts small. I have a phone full of voice notes 0:23:59.200 --> 0:24:02.280 that have songs that we sing in our church that 0:24:02.440 --> 0:24:05.720 started as a little melody idea that we hummed into 0:24:05.760 --> 0:24:07.760 the phone. If you heard it, you would think I 0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:11.320 was having a nervous breakdown. It doesn't sound like a song, 0:24:11.600 --> 0:24:14.920 it doesn't sound like anything. It sounds like a mumble. 0:24:15.160 --> 0:24:18.480 It sounds like a mustard seed. But God turns some 0:24:18.640 --> 0:24:23.280 of those mumbles into anthems that people can sing when 0:24:23.280 --> 0:24:27.080 they're looking at mountains. So now I remember, watch this. 0:24:28.000 --> 0:24:33.639 It's little until it isn't. It's little until it isn't. 0:24:34.320 --> 0:24:36.960 One day David was told by his father to carry 0:24:36.960 --> 0:24:40.200 some cheese and bread to the battle lines to his brothers. Well, 0:24:40.200 --> 0:24:43.280 that's a little thing. All he's doing at this point 0:24:43.320 --> 0:24:46.680 that I can tell is doing an uber driver's job 0:24:46.720 --> 0:24:49.840 with a king's anointing. But David sets out to do 0:24:49.960 --> 0:24:53.359 a little thing, and he takes his little cheeses and 0:24:53.400 --> 0:24:56.159 his little breads from watching his little sheep with his 0:24:56.280 --> 0:24:59.600 little self, the smallest brother, and he shows up little. 0:24:59.760 --> 0:25:01.960 But when he gets to the battle lines, he hears 0:25:01.960 --> 0:25:05.120 the shout of a big giant. This giant is nine 0:25:05.200 --> 0:25:08.159 feet tall. So now all of a sudden, what was 0:25:08.320 --> 0:25:11.560 little that morning, take this meal to your brothers turned 0:25:11.600 --> 0:25:14.000 into the biggest opportunity. 0:25:13.320 --> 0:25:18.520 Of his life, because it's little till it isn't. Say 0:25:18.560 --> 0:25:23.320 it it's little, till it isn't. This side, say it's little, 0:25:24.240 --> 0:25:25.639 this side, say till it isn't. 0:25:26.760 --> 0:25:29.560 Elijah the prophet told his servant, go check the sky. 0:25:29.920 --> 0:25:33.359 I hear the sound of the abundance of rain is 0:25:33.400 --> 0:25:35.840 getting stormy. I know there's been a drought in the land. 0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:39.119 And the servant came back seven times and said there's 0:25:39.160 --> 0:25:41.160 nothing there. And on the seventh time, not the six 0:25:41.240 --> 0:25:43.840 to seventh, he came back and said, well, I see 0:25:43.840 --> 0:25:47.399 a cloud, but it's it's little. It's just the size 0:25:47.600 --> 0:25:50.440 of a man's hand. And Elijah said, well, you better 0:25:50.480 --> 0:25:53.800 tell Ahab hitch up his chariots, because it might be 0:25:53.960 --> 0:25:57.199 little now, but it is loaded. And I came to 0:25:57.320 --> 0:26:01.200 preach to somebody's life. It might be little now, going 0:26:01.280 --> 0:26:03.960 back to get your degree. It might be little now. 0:26:04.280 --> 0:26:07.480 Having integrity on your job. It might be little now 0:26:07.720 --> 0:26:10.439 making your first appointment with a trainer. It might be 0:26:10.560 --> 0:26:13.560 little now. Putting the word of God in your kid's heart, 0:26:13.760 --> 0:26:16.959 dragging them to church. It might be little now breeding 0:26:17.000 --> 0:26:20.080 a verse a day. It might be little now, but 0:26:20.280 --> 0:26:23.840 little as much as God is in it. Little as much. 0:26:26.720 --> 0:26:30.760 Jesus was preaching. One day the crowds were hungry. He 0:26:30.920 --> 0:26:34.040 told the disciples to feed them, and he asked him, 0:26:34.080 --> 0:26:36.920 what do you have? They said, just a little bit. 0:26:37.200 --> 0:26:40.479 There's a little boy with a little lunch and a 0:26:40.520 --> 0:26:43.679 big crowd with a few loaves. And what we have 0:26:43.960 --> 0:26:47.920 is little and as little till it isn't. And when 0:26:47.920 --> 0:26:52.600 he touched it, what was little became leftovers. Because it's 0:26:52.640 --> 0:26:57.119 only little till it isn't. Come on, give God a 0:26:57.200 --> 0:27:01.760 little praise, little pray, little praise, little praise, little prays, 0:27:02.240 --> 0:27:05.960 little praise. I see a cloud the size of a 0:27:06.040 --> 0:27:10.159 man's hand. I see it rising in your life. Or 0:27:10.200 --> 0:27:14.280 maybe I should say, I see a cloud the size 0:27:14.320 --> 0:27:16.919 of a man's hand, and I see a seed the 0:27:17.040 --> 0:27:21.240 size of a mustard seed. And Jesus said, some of 0:27:21.240 --> 0:27:23.720 the most significant things God will do in your life 0:27:23.720 --> 0:27:27.920 will be some of the smallest things when they start. 0:27:29.000 --> 0:27:31.040 All right, if I send you all home right now, 0:27:31.880 --> 0:27:35.359 I think it was worth it just to encourage you 0:27:35.400 --> 0:27:39.199 with that much. It's little till it isn't. Can I 0:27:39.200 --> 0:27:42.159 break that down a little more? Though? I want to 0:27:42.160 --> 0:27:45.000 make it worth your while. Tell somebody it's worth it. 0:27:45.000 --> 0:27:47.679 It's worth it to come to church. It's worth it 0:27:47.680 --> 0:27:51.080 to put on your uncomfortable shoes and your pants that 0:27:51.119 --> 0:27:54.119 don't have an elastic wasteband and get in the House 0:27:54.160 --> 0:27:56.600 of God and get in a place where you can hear. 0:27:56.680 --> 0:27:58.919 And it is worth it to devote yourself to the 0:27:58.960 --> 0:28:02.080 word of God. And I'm gonna tell you something right 0:28:02.119 --> 0:28:05.960 now about the mustard seed that became a tree. And 0:28:06.000 --> 0:28:08.040 I don't know if you can kind of make this 0:28:08.119 --> 0:28:12.040 jump with me, But it's not only true about the 0:28:12.119 --> 0:28:19.800 kingdom that it's little until it isn't, But it's also 0:28:19.840 --> 0:28:34.200 true about compromise. It's little till it isn't. It's one 0:28:34.200 --> 0:28:39.640 glass of wine until you go through something that makes 0:28:39.680 --> 0:28:44.160 you need three and five and seven. I wish y'all 0:28:44.160 --> 0:28:47.720 would look at me like that, Well, I'm not allowed 0:28:47.720 --> 0:28:51.000 to have a standard in my life. I'm not telling 0:28:51.000 --> 0:28:53.760 you not to drink. What I am saying about this 0:28:54.400 --> 0:28:57.040 is that I had people make fun of me almost 0:28:57.080 --> 0:29:01.040 every year of my teenage and adult life when they 0:29:01.040 --> 0:29:03.760 found out that I have chosen I can't handle alcohol, 0:29:05.080 --> 0:29:08.120 and they're like, what do you think it's a sin? 0:29:09.000 --> 0:29:12.040 I'm like, no, I don't think it's a sin I 0:29:12.160 --> 0:29:21.440 just think for me is slippery. It's slippery because I 0:29:21.480 --> 0:29:25.760 know me and I am already addicted to enough stuff. 0:29:26.880 --> 0:29:30.120 I do not need to invite chemical demons into places 0:29:31.080 --> 0:29:33.760 where I already have plenty of this funtion. You know 0:29:33.800 --> 0:29:37.560 what I'm saying, I'm not inviting a gang of demons 0:29:37.600 --> 0:29:40.400 into my life. When my dad struggled with it, and 0:29:40.440 --> 0:29:43.840 his dad struggled with it, and the Lord gave me 0:29:43.880 --> 0:29:46.000 a real revelation about this. One day, I was watching 0:29:46.000 --> 0:29:47.760 a famous celebrity and they were on a talk show 0:29:47.800 --> 0:29:50.680 and they were celebrating like seventeen years of sobriety, and 0:29:50.680 --> 0:29:56.240 everybody clatform. Everybody clapped. Seventeen years sober. That's amazing. Everybody clatform. 0:29:56.400 --> 0:29:59.440 Everybody was clapping. The whole studio audience was clapping, and 0:29:59.520 --> 0:30:01.520 I thought, that's it's crazy. They will clap for that. 0:30:02.560 --> 0:30:04.600 But if a teenager decides I'm not going to drink, 0:30:04.680 --> 0:30:08.840 everybody will make you feel like a fool. So why 0:30:08.880 --> 0:30:11.720 do we celebrate after they have made such a mess 0:30:11.760 --> 0:30:14.960 that they need a miracle to make it right? But 0:30:15.080 --> 0:30:17.440 we can't celebrate when you put the measures in your 0:30:17.480 --> 0:30:20.120 life to keep you from the evil in the first place. 0:30:22.120 --> 0:30:28.200 So if we can celebrate recovery, we can celebrate precovery. 0:30:28.320 --> 0:30:30.720 It means that I can make some little decisions in 0:30:30.800 --> 0:30:34.160 my life that might keep a guardrail up for the future. 0:30:36.120 --> 0:30:42.560 Because it's little till it isn't. It's little till it isn't. 0:30:43.560 --> 0:30:46.360 And you're saying, what does this have to do with dirt? 0:30:47.640 --> 0:30:50.960 You said it's worth the dirt, that's your title. What 0:30:51.360 --> 0:30:58.880 does dirt have to do with decisions? I was looking 0:30:58.920 --> 0:31:01.840 at these parables, you know. The one I preached about 0:31:01.880 --> 0:31:04.160 a few weeks ago was the wheat and the weeds. 0:31:05.400 --> 0:31:08.320 I preached about that, how the enemy will always do 0:31:08.400 --> 0:31:11.400 something right beside whatever God does, in order to try 0:31:11.400 --> 0:31:14.320 to get you discouraged and get you to give up. 0:31:14.760 --> 0:31:16.600 And I do feel like that I'm preaching to a 0:31:16.640 --> 0:31:20.160 lot of people today who are discouraged either by the 0:31:20.240 --> 0:31:22.720 seeming insignificance of what God has called you to do. 0:31:22.840 --> 0:31:24.600 I mean, good Lord, what parent in the room has 0:31:24.640 --> 0:31:28.360 not been discouraged to think none of this matters. All 0:31:28.360 --> 0:31:30.160 the little things you do for your kids, all the 0:31:30.160 --> 0:31:31.920 things they don't say thank you for all the little 0:31:31.920 --> 0:31:34.160 pieces of advice you try to give, all the little 0:31:34.160 --> 0:31:35.960 things that you may do that go unnoticed, all of 0:31:35.960 --> 0:31:38.080 the little ways you try to correct. There's nobody in 0:31:38.080 --> 0:31:40.720 here who hasn't felt the idea of this isn't worth it, 0:31:41.920 --> 0:31:46.640 or at the very least, this isn't working, and it's 0:31:46.680 --> 0:31:49.120 not worth it. Because it's not working, it's not nothing's 0:31:49.160 --> 0:31:55.680 getting better. But notice something about the mustard seed. It 0:31:55.760 --> 0:32:05.360 became what it was in an unseen place. Notice the 0:32:05.440 --> 0:32:08.720 mustard seed was very small, the smallest of all seeds. 0:32:09.480 --> 0:32:14.840 Yet Verse thirty two says when it grows, it is 0:32:15.120 --> 0:32:17.280 the largest of garden plants. Now, I just need to 0:32:17.280 --> 0:32:20.600 preach this like its Bible study. Okay, I'm gonna talk 0:32:20.640 --> 0:32:22.840 to y'all, not like you're a Sunday morning crowd. I'm 0:32:22.880 --> 0:32:26.200 gonna talk to you like you're a seminary class. It 0:32:26.240 --> 0:32:31.040 doesn't say when it grows it becomes the largest of 0:32:31.080 --> 0:32:35.000 garden plants. It says when it grows it is the 0:32:35.120 --> 0:32:40.520 largest of garden plants. That means it already was when 0:32:40.520 --> 0:32:48.000 it went in the ground. It just needed somewhere to grow. 0:32:51.720 --> 0:32:54.800 What made the difference between the mustard seed being this 0:32:54.960 --> 0:32:59.600 big and being this big, What made the difference was 0:32:59.680 --> 0:33:06.080 the we don't like dirt. We don't like dirt. We 0:33:06.240 --> 0:33:11.040 like shine. We don't like dirt. We like dreams. We 0:33:11.080 --> 0:33:15.320 don't like dirt. We don't like dirty churches. We go 0:33:15.400 --> 0:33:18.600 around to churches, and if one church has a problem 0:33:18.640 --> 0:33:21.480 with it, we'll leave that church and go to another church. 0:33:21.840 --> 0:33:24.360 And you know, some of us, we're going from church 0:33:24.440 --> 0:33:27.440 to church looking for dirt. And we are drawn to 0:33:27.520 --> 0:33:31.040 the church because that church helped me and that church 0:33:31.120 --> 0:33:34.760 blessed me. But stay around any church long enough, you'll 0:33:34.760 --> 0:33:38.720 find dirt. I mean, even the purest church, even the 0:33:38.800 --> 0:33:41.080 church that says like we're the real church. We preach 0:33:41.160 --> 0:33:44.600 the real gospel. We preach the real truth. They got dirt. 0:33:45.760 --> 0:33:48.520 They've got dirt. I promise you. I have lived to 0:33:48.560 --> 0:33:52.720 see the days when some of the most judgmental people 0:33:52.760 --> 0:33:55.320 that I ever met in my life turned out to 0:33:55.360 --> 0:33:57.920 be the most jacked up people that I ever met 0:33:57.960 --> 0:34:00.640 in my life. And the reason they were mean is 0:34:00.680 --> 0:34:03.680 because they were so messed up, and rather than admit 0:34:03.760 --> 0:34:06.040 they were messed up, they just decided to be mean. 0:34:06.440 --> 0:34:07.880 So let me go ahead and save you a lot 0:34:07.920 --> 0:34:12.240 of trouble. This church has dirt. The person you're sitting 0:34:12.280 --> 0:34:15.840 next to has dirt. The person that you're sitting next 0:34:15.840 --> 0:34:18.120 to has some things that they carry with them that 0:34:18.160 --> 0:34:20.520 they're not proud of that if you meet them in 0:34:20.560 --> 0:34:23.319 the wrong place, they might not have a good response. 0:34:25.920 --> 0:34:29.240 But notice in the passage that it was the dirt. 0:34:29.320 --> 0:34:32.440 I'm not glorifying sin, but it was the dirt. It 0:34:32.600 --> 0:34:35.880 was something that we try to remove. It was something 0:34:35.880 --> 0:34:39.720 that we don't value that made the mustard seed become 0:34:39.880 --> 0:34:44.520 something that you would not see on the surface. This 0:34:44.719 --> 0:34:48.680 trial that you're going through, this shame that you're dealing with, 0:34:49.080 --> 0:34:52.359 this issue that you're pushing through. Whether or not you 0:34:52.400 --> 0:34:59.000 grow from it depends on how you interpret the dirt. 0:34:59.400 --> 0:35:03.040 Because if I see the dirt as a place to avoid, 0:35:03.280 --> 0:35:05.600 I will never go through the processes that will make 0:35:05.680 --> 0:35:08.720 me grow, and I'll run from church to church looking 0:35:08.760 --> 0:35:10.680 for a church with no dirt. But can I tell 0:35:10.680 --> 0:35:15.279 you something, You grow in the dirt. You grow in community. 0:35:15.640 --> 0:35:18.799 You grow when you have to work through conflict, quit 0:35:18.920 --> 0:35:25.040 switching people, and start letting God change you. It can't 0:35:25.160 --> 0:35:28.919 grow if it never gets planted. You can't grow if 0:35:28.920 --> 0:35:33.680 you never get planted. And yes, there come times to 0:35:33.760 --> 0:35:36.400 leave jobs, and yes there come times to leave relationships 0:35:36.400 --> 0:35:39.719 and yes, there comes time to leave churches. But I 0:35:39.719 --> 0:35:41.680 want to tell you that some of us never produce 0:35:41.760 --> 0:35:44.480 our potential because we are never planted in our purpose. 0:35:48.880 --> 0:35:52.760 And sometimes you just have to decide, this is worth it. Devil, 0:35:52.800 --> 0:35:54.680 you can't have it. This is worth it for fighting 0:35:55.320 --> 0:35:57.680 for me. Now that might not be devil. You can 0:35:57.719 --> 0:36:02.200 have that. I'll pay you to take it. This is 0:36:02.239 --> 0:36:08.920 not worth it, but this is worth it. The word 0:36:08.960 --> 0:36:10.680 of the Lord for somebody. Is this one's worth it? 0:36:11.760 --> 0:36:14.000 This one's worth it. I know it's small. I know 0:36:14.040 --> 0:36:15.959 you don't see it right now. I know it's taking 0:36:16.000 --> 0:36:18.280 longer than you thought. I know the momentum is tricky 0:36:18.360 --> 0:36:20.359 right now. I know the winds are against you. But 0:36:20.400 --> 0:36:23.560 this one's worth it. This is not just anything. You 0:36:23.600 --> 0:36:25.839 cannot keep this cycle up of running from things when 0:36:25.880 --> 0:36:28.480 they get hard, you will never grow that way. This 0:36:28.520 --> 0:36:31.880 one's worth it. And I know it's dirty. I know 0:36:31.960 --> 0:36:34.560 it's messy. I know is sloppy. I know it'll be 0:36:34.640 --> 0:36:36.480 easier for you to just hide. 0:36:36.560 --> 0:36:42.280 But this one is worth it. It's worth the dirt 0:36:42.840 --> 0:36:46.680 that's where it grew. It's worth the dirt that's where 0:36:46.719 --> 0:36:50.480 it learned to break through. It's worth the dirt. 0:36:52.719 --> 0:36:58.080 And yet there's another parable, another parable that Jesus told 0:36:58.080 --> 0:37:02.919 about dirt. He talked in Matthew thirteen forty four about 0:37:02.960 --> 0:37:07.160 how the Kingdom of Heaven is also like Now watch this. 0:37:08.520 --> 0:37:12.600 In the first parable, he's talking about a tree that 0:37:12.719 --> 0:37:15.239 has to go into the dirt to become what it 0:37:15.280 --> 0:37:19.800 already is. In this parable, he's talking about a treasure 0:37:21.160 --> 0:37:24.239 that is hidden in the dirt. But it does not 0:37:24.400 --> 0:37:27.440 lessen its value. For he said, the Kingdom of Heaven 0:37:27.520 --> 0:37:32.160 forty four is like a treasure hidden in a field. 0:37:33.080 --> 0:37:37.560 When a man found it, he hid it again, and 0:37:37.600 --> 0:37:41.560 then in his joy, he went and sold everything he had. 0:37:41.600 --> 0:37:45.120 He was happy, he was putting everything on e day, 0:37:45.239 --> 0:37:48.239 and happy because the Kingdom of God is like this 0:37:48.760 --> 0:37:51.880 is so precious, it's such a priority. The Kingdom of 0:37:51.920 --> 0:37:55.360 God is such a treasure. When he found it, he 0:37:55.520 --> 0:38:01.240 sold everything he had and bought the treasure. Right. Wrong. 0:38:03.560 --> 0:38:08.000 It does not say he bought the treasure. He bought 0:38:09.400 --> 0:38:13.000 the field. And the last time I checked, fields are 0:38:13.040 --> 0:38:18.080 made of and the last time I checked in Genesis one, 0:38:18.360 --> 0:38:26.800 verse seven, you are made of dirt. And when God 0:38:26.920 --> 0:38:32.440 created you, he reached down into the dirt. God didn't 0:38:32.480 --> 0:38:38.240 make you from stars. God reached down into the dirt, 0:38:39.080 --> 0:38:43.800 and when he breathed on what was dirty, the breath 0:38:43.840 --> 0:38:47.440 of what is holy. In Genesis, it says that the 0:38:47.480 --> 0:38:53.200 man became a living being because God says, the dirt 0:38:53.320 --> 0:38:57.120 is worth it. When I breathe on it, it's worth it. 0:38:57.480 --> 0:39:03.200 When I speak to it, it's worth it. Matthew thirteen 0:39:03.360 --> 0:39:06.960 forty four taught me about marriage. It says that a 0:39:07.000 --> 0:39:09.440 man found a treasure. The Kingdom of God is like 0:39:09.480 --> 0:39:12.040 a man who found a treasure, and he was so 0:39:12.200 --> 0:39:15.439 happy about the treasure that he sold everything he had. 0:39:15.520 --> 0:39:17.799 Number One, it taught me that marriage means I'm going 0:39:17.840 --> 0:39:21.120 to be broke buying stuff I don't even want. Number Two, 0:39:21.480 --> 0:39:26.040 it taught me that when I bought Holly her ring, 0:39:28.480 --> 0:39:31.719 y'all didn't know where I was going with that kind 0:39:31.719 --> 0:39:35.520 of marriage. Do y'all have, y'all? When I bought a ring, 0:39:35.800 --> 0:39:38.279 I spent every dollar I had on the ring three 0:39:38.320 --> 0:39:42.040 thousand dollars. Three thousand dollars in two thousand and two. 0:39:42.800 --> 0:39:47.680 Adjust that for inflation. Big money to your boy. But 0:39:47.800 --> 0:39:50.640 I did it. I was happy to do it. I 0:39:50.760 --> 0:39:53.360 met with this shady dude up in a pawn shop somewhere. 0:39:53.520 --> 0:39:55.320 I said, Now, how do I know it's real? He 0:39:55.400 --> 0:39:59.680 showed me all these papers. I believed him. Now I've 0:39:59.719 --> 0:40:04.399 up her ring for every decade that she has dealt 0:40:04.400 --> 0:40:09.360 with me, just to remind her, Just to remind her 0:40:10.040 --> 0:40:15.920 that is worth the dirt. Get that diamond a little 0:40:15.920 --> 0:40:19.240 bit bigger, just to remind her in case she forgets. 0:40:19.280 --> 0:40:22.600 I'm sure she doesn't. I've been looking back on that. 0:40:22.719 --> 0:40:25.880 Is anybody engaged in the room today, anybody engaged to 0:40:25.920 --> 0:40:32.879 be married for real? Where congratulations? You got a ring? 0:40:32.960 --> 0:40:41.320 In everything? A ring? Pop? Do you really have a fiance? 0:40:41.520 --> 0:40:47.880 Is that partra? Show me? Good job. I'm so happy 0:40:47.920 --> 0:40:50.480 for you. But this is one thing I want you 0:40:50.560 --> 0:40:52.480 to understand, and I really want to use this as 0:40:52.480 --> 0:40:56.399 an example for everybody in the room. When I put 0:40:56.400 --> 0:41:00.239 the ring on Holly's finger, I got done on when 0:41:00.239 --> 0:41:07.440 the Firman University, she said I do, But she didn't 0:41:07.480 --> 0:41:12.040 say I do to the diamond. She said I do 0:41:13.280 --> 0:41:17.600 to the dirt. So I just want to I just 0:41:17.640 --> 0:41:20.880 want to say, you're saying I do to the dirt. 0:41:22.280 --> 0:41:24.239 Because the men didn't buy the treasure, he bought the 0:41:24.280 --> 0:41:29.759 field that the treasure was at so when she said 0:41:29.800 --> 0:41:32.760 I do, she was saying I do to the dirt. 0:41:33.200 --> 0:41:35.400 That would have been easy at that point in our 0:41:35.440 --> 0:41:38.440 relationship for her to say I do to my anointing, 0:41:38.480 --> 0:41:42.279 because she'd seen me operate in ministry. She had seen 0:41:42.320 --> 0:41:44.360 me go and minister and I would I would preach 0:41:44.480 --> 0:41:47.080 just like I preached. Now, I was always passionate, I 0:41:47.160 --> 0:41:50.160 was I was, I was always edgy. I always said 0:41:50.160 --> 0:41:51.840 things that I went back and thought later I shouldn't 0:41:51.840 --> 0:41:53.799 have said it like that. But I always had heart. 0:41:53.960 --> 0:41:55.680 And she would see me try to break through a 0:41:55.760 --> 0:41:58.560 room and give people an opportunity to meet Jesus where 0:41:58.600 --> 0:42:00.440 they were. And I know that's one of the reasons 0:42:00.440 --> 0:42:02.000 that she fell in love with me. And I know 0:42:02.040 --> 0:42:04.279 that she was saying I do to my anointing because 0:42:04.320 --> 0:42:07.120 she felt like God had called us together to minister 0:42:07.400 --> 0:42:09.440 and it was a lifelong thing. And I know she 0:42:09.480 --> 0:42:13.040 said yes to my anointing, my treasure, But she was 0:42:13.120 --> 0:42:19.080 also saying, I do to my anxiety, because what she 0:42:19.239 --> 0:42:22.840 never could have known is that behind the anointing to 0:42:22.880 --> 0:42:27.759 preach is the anxiety that is the constant companion of 0:42:27.760 --> 0:42:32.960 God's call. And when she said I do to the diamond. 0:42:33.760 --> 0:42:38.759 She was saying, I do to the dirt. And the 0:42:38.760 --> 0:42:41.160 woman that has sat on the front row to hear 0:42:41.200 --> 0:42:43.640 me preach, and the woman that has been around the 0:42:43.680 --> 0:42:46.600 world to hear me preach, and the woman that has 0:42:46.640 --> 0:42:53.760 gotten two upgrades on her diamond goes home and accepts 0:42:53.760 --> 0:42:58.439 the dirt. Not that I'm a hypocrite, not that there 0:42:58.520 --> 0:43:01.160 is a darkness in my life that is the result 0:43:01.200 --> 0:43:05.800 of me not knowing God. But everybody has a treasure 0:43:06.960 --> 0:43:12.720 and a field. Everybody has a diamond and a dirt. 0:43:12.880 --> 0:43:14.920 You know, she said to me last night. I said, babe, 0:43:15.000 --> 0:43:17.680 I'm all out of whack. I'm preaching a day early. 0:43:18.000 --> 0:43:20.239 I don't know why I feel anxious. I'm sorry, I 0:43:20.320 --> 0:43:23.480 feel anxious so much. She said, Stop apologizing for it, 0:43:23.520 --> 0:43:26.760 and tell me how I can help you. What she's saying, 0:43:27.440 --> 0:43:32.919 she's saying. She's saying, I do the dirt. We need 0:43:33.040 --> 0:43:40.480 some people, whether it's husbands, wives, staff members at Elevation Church. 0:43:41.000 --> 0:43:47.600 We need some people Christians, believers, moms, dads, students. We 0:43:47.640 --> 0:43:50.080 need some people who will say, you know what, I 0:43:50.120 --> 0:43:52.680 don't just run around from field to field when it 0:43:52.719 --> 0:43:55.960 gets dirty. I don't just run around from trend to trend, 0:43:56.080 --> 0:43:59.120 chasing stuff to fix my life. I'm not a quick 0:43:59.200 --> 0:44:04.160 fixed Christian. And I do dirt, and you will find 0:44:04.239 --> 0:44:08.000 me praising God, and you will find me fulfilling purpose, 0:44:08.320 --> 0:44:11.360 and you will find me on my post. Because I 0:44:11.400 --> 0:44:14.400 didn't just say I do to the diamond. I don't 0:44:14.440 --> 0:44:17.520 just show up when a shiny I show up with 0:44:17.640 --> 0:44:22.680 a shovel. I do dirt. If the sound goes out, 0:44:22.920 --> 0:44:26.439 I'll say it again. If the snow comes down, I'll 0:44:26.440 --> 0:44:30.000 preach it early. If hell breaks loose, I'll come out 0:44:30.040 --> 0:44:34.760 on fire because I do dirt. If I go broke, 0:44:34.880 --> 0:44:38.200 I've never seen the righteous forsaken. If they hate me, 0:44:38.320 --> 0:44:44.840 he loves me. I go dirt because God does dirt. 0:44:45.680 --> 0:44:50.760 God does dirt, not only in creation but in incarnation. 0:44:51.680 --> 0:44:55.480 For God saw man in his dirt, in his filth, 0:44:55.880 --> 0:45:00.400 in his blood, in his works, in his salvation less stake, 0:45:00.840 --> 0:45:04.920 in his worst moment, and God from Heaven sent Jesus 0:45:04.960 --> 0:45:08.759 from a throne, from a throne to a cross, who 0:45:08.840 --> 0:45:13.400 would pay such a price for the sin of the world. 0:45:13.719 --> 0:45:21.160 Here's your king crucified. What's he saying? I do dirt? 0:45:23.719 --> 0:45:27.800 And when Jesus paid for you on Calvary, He didn't 0:45:27.920 --> 0:45:29.319 just buy diamonds. 0:45:29.840 --> 0:45:45.000 He bought dirt. I'm thankful for a God who does dirt. 0:45:47.000 --> 0:45:49.879 I'm grateful that He looks at me covered and all 0:45:49.920 --> 0:45:52.120 of the things that I should have cast off, and said, 0:45:52.920 --> 0:45:59.040 it's worth the dirt. It's worth the dirt is worth 0:45:59.080 --> 0:46:03.919 being misunderstood. Sometimes it's worth the dirt. This right here, 0:46:05.040 --> 0:46:10.759 this one's worth it. This one ain't. This one is. 0:46:12.400 --> 0:46:19.720 And when God whispers it's worth it, it's worth the dirt. 0:46:21.960 --> 0:46:27.520 Like a treasure hidden in a field. Can't see it 0:46:27.560 --> 0:46:31.880 on the surface. Write this down. You don't trip over treasure. 0:46:34.000 --> 0:46:39.839 You dig it out. Stop looking for God to put 0:46:39.880 --> 0:46:43.799 stuff on the surface. This one he dug for. It 0:46:43.920 --> 0:46:50.120 was hidden. If it ain't buried, it probably ain't treasure. 0:46:53.520 --> 0:46:56.239 And that's why in this season of your life you're 0:46:56.239 --> 0:46:59.080 having to fight through some difficulties. You're having to fight 0:46:59.120 --> 0:47:03.080 through some dirt. But the dirt served a purpose. It 0:47:03.200 --> 0:47:08.440 made the mustard seed. Watch this branch out now. Notice 0:47:08.840 --> 0:47:11.359 the baby seed was so small you couldn't see it. 0:47:12.120 --> 0:47:14.160 But in the end of the parable, Jesus said, this 0:47:14.239 --> 0:47:19.600 seed that is not big, it's little until it isn't. 0:47:19.760 --> 0:47:22.120 And by the end of this seed's time in the dirt, 0:47:23.520 --> 0:47:27.040 it had branches coming out the ground, showing verse thirty two. 0:47:27.080 --> 0:47:28.520 I want you to see it with your own eyes, 0:47:29.200 --> 0:47:31.239 he said, in The branches are so big that the 0:47:31.239 --> 0:47:35.759 birds come and perch in the branches. I don't know 0:47:35.760 --> 0:47:38.680 if you can receive this or not, but the battle 0:47:38.719 --> 0:47:41.480 that you have been going through in your life, the 0:47:41.520 --> 0:47:51.640 battle is for the branches, because when the tree gets 0:47:51.719 --> 0:47:54.839 done growing, it's going to be like this. Now it's 0:47:54.920 --> 0:47:58.280 like this, And you've been wondering, why is the devil 0:47:58.320 --> 0:48:01.479 picking on me? I'm nobody. Why is it so hard 0:48:01.480 --> 0:48:10.680 for me? I'm nothing. It's because of your branches. It 0:48:10.760 --> 0:48:14.560 is because that God wants to use you to bring 0:48:14.880 --> 0:48:19.600 generational blessing to people who will come after you. That's 0:48:19.640 --> 0:48:24.040 what the battle is about. I look back on this 0:48:24.200 --> 0:48:27.799 time in our church when the devil was after us 0:48:27.800 --> 0:48:30.080 when we were young, and I know why he came 0:48:30.120 --> 0:48:34.680 after us when we were young, because of you. If 0:48:34.680 --> 0:48:37.520 we died while we were young, we never would have 0:48:37.560 --> 0:48:42.000 reached you. If this church did not exist. If he 0:48:42.040 --> 0:48:45.120 could have snatched the seed Matthew Chapter three, verse three, 0:48:45.480 --> 0:48:47.960 if he could have taken the seed and scorched it, 0:48:48.000 --> 0:48:51.239 with the sun Matthew, Chapter thirteen, verse five. If he 0:48:51.280 --> 0:48:54.000 could have taken the seat and choked it out with 0:48:54.040 --> 0:48:56.920 the worries of this life, it would not be spreading 0:48:56.960 --> 0:48:59.200 to the earth today. And I would not be able 0:48:59.239 --> 0:49:01.960 to look into this camera and tell you that Jesus 0:49:02.000 --> 0:49:05.799 saves and Jesus cleanses, and God does dirt. And the 0:49:05.880 --> 0:49:11.319 cross is God saying I came for this and the 0:49:11.360 --> 0:49:17.319 battle was for the branches? Is that not true of you? 0:49:17.760 --> 0:49:20.360 Did God not know what was in you when he 0:49:20.480 --> 0:49:23.880 put you in the situation? And you've got to trust 0:49:23.920 --> 0:49:29.319 that it's worth the dirt. See, because I've seen God 0:49:29.440 --> 0:49:33.040 move mountains, I've seen God make ways, And now that 0:49:33.200 --> 0:49:37.480 I've seen what a tree can be, I understand what 0:49:37.560 --> 0:49:41.080 I am fighting for. I understand that the battle is 0:49:41.120 --> 0:49:44.920 for your branches. You've got to get free. You've got 0:49:44.960 --> 0:49:47.840 to get you've got to get back. You've got to 0:49:47.920 --> 0:49:51.120 bounce from this. You've got to recover, you've got to 0:49:51.200 --> 0:49:53.680 move forward. You got to show them what it looks 0:49:53.800 --> 0:49:56.920 like when we do it. Anyway, You've got to The 0:49:56.920 --> 0:50:01.120 battle is not over your sea. The battle is your tree. 0:50:01.239 --> 0:50:08.200 The battle is over your branches. And when I see 0:50:08.440 --> 0:50:11.160 what God is doing in this church, even when I 0:50:11.200 --> 0:50:14.200 see it in my own family. Do you understand that 0:50:14.280 --> 0:50:17.040 the devil has fought me so hard through the years, 0:50:19.080 --> 0:50:22.080 so many times I've wanted to quit. It's not worth it. 0:50:23.600 --> 0:50:25.880 And I know you felt that way too. If a 0:50:25.920 --> 0:50:30.719 preacher feels that way, surely you feel that way. I've 0:50:30.760 --> 0:50:33.800 preached the souls for a living. Sometimes all you feel 0:50:33.800 --> 0:50:40.440 like you do is organize chaos. But one night the summer, 0:50:42.120 --> 0:50:46.280 I was walking through our house and Elijah and Graham 0:50:46.360 --> 0:50:50.719 and Abbey were there upstairs. Down at the bottom of 0:50:50.719 --> 0:50:55.000 the stairs on a Sunday night, there was this we'll 0:50:55.040 --> 0:50:58.799 just show them real quick, this picture I want to 0:50:58.800 --> 0:51:02.279 give you. I don't know if you can see it 0:51:02.320 --> 0:51:12.280 real good. But that's shoes. That's the shoes of about 0:51:12.280 --> 0:51:17.719 one hundred teenagers. Those shoes smell. 0:51:19.320 --> 0:51:26.200 Like wrestling jem on a Saturday afternoon, same smell, And 0:51:26.320 --> 0:51:29.680 all these shoes at the bottom of my stairs, and 0:51:29.760 --> 0:51:31.440 all this noise in my house. 0:51:32.480 --> 0:51:37.880 And downstairs were the shoes. And upstairs in our house 0:51:39.120 --> 0:51:44.520 was Graham, Abby, Elijah's over there somewhere, my wife is downstairs. 0:51:44.520 --> 0:51:48.720 The shoes are at the thing, and upstairs with some kids. 0:51:48.760 --> 0:51:56.400 Now show them the video jumping, singing, praising the Lord. 0:52:08.000 --> 0:52:13.160 And the ceiling was shaken too, And the ceiling was shaken, 0:52:16.840 --> 0:52:22.759 and the ceiling was shaken. And I walked upstairs and said, 0:52:22.840 --> 0:52:25.800 y'all gotta get out. This is not the New Testament. 0:52:25.880 --> 0:52:28.000 I know they tore off the roof in the New Testament, 0:52:28.080 --> 0:52:32.840 but my homeowner's insurance doesn't cover it. Go outside. But 0:52:32.920 --> 0:52:37.200 I got the picture that downstairs. Show them the picture. 0:52:38.880 --> 0:52:50.800 Downstairs was the dirt, and upstairs, what's the worship? And downstairs, 0:52:53.440 --> 0:52:59.840 what's the dirt? And upstairs, what's the worship? And downstairs 0:53:02.000 --> 0:53:07.080 was the process, and upstairs was the praise. And I'm 0:53:07.120 --> 0:53:10.120 trying to get you to see that you can worship 0:53:10.280 --> 0:53:25.160 God because the turnt is worth it. God does. I 0:53:25.280 --> 0:53:27.920 prepared this word today hoping that it would go out 0:53:27.960 --> 0:53:31.920 online to our entire church community all over the world. 0:53:32.920 --> 0:53:34.440 But if one of you today. 0:53:36.960 --> 0:53:44.920 Needed to hear the whisper of God saying it's worthing, 0:53:46.440 --> 0:53:47.160 then it's working. 0:53:51.719 --> 0:54:00.279 Everybody does the diamonds, God does the dirk. With your 0:54:00.320 --> 0:54:03.719 head bowed and your eyes closed, receive the mystery of 0:54:03.719 --> 0:54:05.840 the parable of the mustard seed and the treasure in 0:54:05.880 --> 0:54:11.319 the field. Is that God does dirt. No matter what 0:54:11.360 --> 0:54:14.040 the enemy has thrown on your life. Just try to 0:54:14.080 --> 0:54:16.920 stop you from growing. It won't work. It's only going 0:54:16.960 --> 0:54:21.200 to grow you more. Yes, Lord, I'll say it again, 0:54:21.280 --> 0:54:27.040 It's only going to grow you more. Whatever it is, 0:54:29.000 --> 0:54:32.000 it's worth the dirt. It's worth you going through a 0:54:32.040 --> 0:54:38.759 season of repentance to live a life healed. It's worth 0:54:38.760 --> 0:54:43.680 the dirt. It's worth God stripping some things away so 0:54:43.719 --> 0:54:49.240 he can bring some things for it. There is treasure 0:54:50.120 --> 0:54:52.600 inside of you. I know people don't like it when 0:54:52.640 --> 0:54:54.359 I preach like this. They say, oh, well, tell them 0:54:54.360 --> 0:54:57.080 how sinful they are. You know that already. I came 0:54:57.120 --> 0:55:02.720 to remind you. God does dirt. He breathes on brokenness. 0:55:04.960 --> 0:55:09.520 It's worth it. Jesus stretched his arms because it's worth it. 0:55:10.360 --> 0:55:12.600 I encourage you today, say I do to the dirt. 0:55:13.760 --> 0:55:15.680 Make a commitment in your life. Lord, no matter how 0:55:15.680 --> 0:55:18.160 long it takes me, I believe you can wash me clean. God. 0:55:18.200 --> 0:55:22.000 Here I am again, dirty again, disappointed again. But I 0:55:22.040 --> 0:55:25.480 heard you do dirt. I heard you came from heaven, 0:55:25.560 --> 0:55:30.239 lived in a little town called Nazareth, and died on 0:55:30.280 --> 0:55:33.719 a cruel cross. The splinters in your back, and the lashes, 0:55:36.160 --> 0:55:38.400 the wounds in your side, the nails in your hands. 0:55:38.480 --> 0:55:41.319 I heard you do dirt. Father. Would you take my 0:55:41.360 --> 0:55:44.759 life today, all that I am, all that I'm not, 0:55:46.320 --> 0:55:51.959 my little loaves, my little mustard seed life, and bring 0:55:52.000 --> 0:55:57.040 branches forth from them. Father, I pray today for those 0:55:57.080 --> 0:56:01.879 who are feeling alone or abandoned, or for say, maybe 0:56:01.880 --> 0:56:05.719 they've even buried their hope. As I pray to you, Lord, 0:56:05.760 --> 0:56:08.440 I'm reminded that the seed appeared to be buried, but 0:56:08.520 --> 0:56:13.800 it was indeed planted. That means it served a purpose. 0:56:15.480 --> 0:56:17.240 I thank you that the dirt is serving a purpose 0:56:17.280 --> 0:56:20.239 in each of our lives. And I thank you that 0:56:20.280 --> 0:56:24.560 there is a treasure that the world cannot touch. We 0:56:24.640 --> 0:56:26.800 thank you that the Kingdom of Heaven is that treasure. 0:56:27.120 --> 0:56:30.200 You're worth it, Lord, not just what you do for us, 0:56:30.200 --> 0:56:32.919 but who you are to us. You are worth it. 0:56:33.640 --> 0:56:37.080 You're worthy of our worship, you're worthy of our praise, 0:56:38.040 --> 0:56:43.240 You're worthy of our lives. And now God, I commend 0:56:43.239 --> 0:56:47.839 these treasures in a field to you, the diamonds and 0:56:47.880 --> 0:56:51.000 the dirt. I thank you that you know what you're doing, 0:56:52.000 --> 0:56:54.840 you know where you planted them, and I thank you 0:56:54.880 --> 0:56:58.439 that they're growing by grace. Thank you for this word 0:56:58.480 --> 0:57:02.600 that we receive today. We will never be the same 0:57:02.680 --> 0:57:05.560 with head still bowed and eyes still closed. There's somebody 0:57:05.600 --> 0:57:07.520 who's hearing this message today, and you need to give 0:57:07.560 --> 0:57:10.880 your life to Jesus Christ. You don't have to clean 0:57:10.920 --> 0:57:13.759 yourself up to come to God. That's why God came 0:57:13.880 --> 0:57:16.760 to you. He does the cleaning, you do the coming. 0:57:17.720 --> 0:57:19.520 You come to him like you are, and you won't 0:57:19.600 --> 0:57:23.919 leave that way. Jesus will change you. Jesus will save 0:57:24.000 --> 0:57:26.360 you to the uttermost. Call on the name of the 0:57:26.360 --> 0:57:30.600 Lord and you will be saved. So I'm gonna pray 0:57:30.600 --> 0:57:32.560 a prayer right now, and if you want to give 0:57:32.600 --> 0:57:35.680 your life to Jesus, repeat this prayer after me. We're 0:57:35.720 --> 0:57:38.160 gonna pray it out loud in the room for the 0:57:38.160 --> 0:57:41.040 benefit of those all over the world who are coming 0:57:41.080 --> 0:57:44.000 to Christ in this moment. Repeat after me, Heavenly Father, 0:57:45.280 --> 0:57:49.360 I am a sinner in need of a savior, and 0:57:49.440 --> 0:57:54.040 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God 0:57:55.040 --> 0:57:59.400 and the Savior of the world. And today I make 0:57:59.520 --> 0:58:03.960 Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died 0:58:05.080 --> 0:58:10.320 that I would be forgiven was buried and rose again 0:58:11.320 --> 0:58:18.120 to give me life. I receive your life. Here's mine. 0:58:18.520 --> 0:58:23.880 I am a child of God. I am a new creation. 0:58:25.000 --> 0:58:27.000 On the counter of three. If you prayed that prayer, 0:58:27.160 --> 0:58:30.400 shoot your hand in the air one two, three, or 0:58:30.440 --> 0:58:32.680 if you're watching online to put it in the chat, 0:58:32.760 --> 0:58:38.480 say I receive Jesus. Come on, let's thank God all 0:58:38.520 --> 0:58:41.680 over the world. All over the world, everybody who just 0:58:41.800 --> 0:58:50.920 prayed that. Thank you Jesus for new beginnings. Hey, I 0:58:50.920 --> 0:58:53.880 hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, make 0:58:53.920 --> 0:58:56.520 sure to share it and subscribe so we can get 0:58:56.560 --> 0:58:59.720 you all of these new messages as soon as they're available. 0:59:00.120 --> 0:59:02.280 I also want to take a moment and thank all 0:59:02.280 --> 0:59:04.520 of you who are a part of Elevation. Whether you 0:59:04.560 --> 0:59:08.240 support us financially, or serve with us, or just share 0:59:08.280 --> 0:59:10.920 these messages, it's because of you that we're able to 0:59:10.960 --> 0:59:13.919 reach people all around the world. And if you want 0:59:14.080 --> 0:59:16.600 more information on how to be a part of Elevation, 0:59:17.160 --> 0:59:20.480 click the link in the description. Thanks again for listening. 0:59:20.480 --> 0:59:23.800 Make sure to leave a review, share the message, and subscribe. 0:59:24.160 --> 0:59:33.520 God bless you.