Lame Excuses (Robert Madu)

0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.280 Hey, this is Stephen Fernick. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.360 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:11.639 Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:17.239 new sermons every week. I hope you're blessed today. 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:23.400 It's good to be in church on a Sunday. Are 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:27.040 you glad to be in the house of God Elevation 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:33.120 Amen across every location, even at home. I know you 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:35.479 just tore up your bathroom, your living room, praise and 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:40.600 you can sit down. I am elated and excited to 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:47.040 be back at Elevation Church. My name is Robert Madou 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:49.080 and I am not a guest here. I am for 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:51.720 real a part of the fam. I hope you know 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:55.080 that I have the privilege with my wife, a pastor 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:57.560 and a church in the great country of Texas called 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:01.120 Social Dallas. And I love my I love my church. 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:05.800 But if they ever start tripping, they have a get 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:07.320 sick of me. I know why I'm moving. I'm coming 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:11.000 straight to Charlotte and I'm just gonna get on staff 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:14.400 here at Elevation So Social Tallas fam, Y'll better treat 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:17.000 me right, treat my wife Taylor right. But it is 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:20.000 such an honor to be here. I love this house. 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:23.280 And I love your pastors. I love Pastor Stephen, I 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:25.880 love Pastor Holly. They are dear friends to my wife. 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:28.399 And I a you know, I said that about my 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:30.960 church treating me right. I hope y'all treat your pastors right. 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.440 So I mean, they're filling up arenas, and there's a 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.080 lot of cities, a lot of countries that would love 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:40.360 to have them. And I'm just in this season, especially now, 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:44.040 where I don't want familiarity to rob me of appreciation. 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.200 Sometimes often the greater the gift God has given you, 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:52.080 it's easy to take it for granted. And I pray 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:53.880 that is not the story of this church. I pray 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:57.240 you always honor, salute, and celebrate and church the gift 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.680 God has given you in the life of Pastor Stephen. 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.840 And how so can we just give them just some honor? 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.320 Come on, let them know we're covering you, We're playing 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.880 for you. Elevation nights, come on on, packing out of 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.400 readers all over the nation, and we got your coming 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:17.880 here at home. And it's good to have an elevation morning. 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:20.840 I'm excited to preach the word of God. I hope 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:22.720 you're ready to hear it. Are you ready to hear it. 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.200 I want to jump straight into it today. I want 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:29.360 you to go with me to the Gospel of John today, 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:32.200 the Gospel of John. If you don't mind, can we 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.280 stand to honor the reading of God's word? Is this cool? 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:34.840 I don't know. 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:36.560 You just sat down and got comfortable, But come on, 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:40.880 you war those shoes trying to be cute should put 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:44.080 some comfortable shoes on the elevation church. I want you 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:47.200 to go with me to the Gospel of John chapter 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:49.200 number five, and I want to look at verses one 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:53.320 through fifteen. John chapter five start at verse number one, 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:58.440 and we'll land at verse number fifteen. When you're ready 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:03.040 to read it, say yeah. If you need some time 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.400 to find John, say hold up. I heard one hold 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.320 up right here in this section, and I'm gonna wait 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:11.280 for you. I'mna wait for you across every location. E 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:15.280 family love you. John Chapter five will start at verse 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:22.320 number one and it declares afterward, Jesus returned to Jerusalem 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:26.280 for one of the Jewish holy Days, and inside the city, 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:30.080 near the sheep Gate was the pull of Bethesda with 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:36.040 five covered porches, crowds of sick people, blind, lame, or paralyzed, 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.720 lay on the porches and one of the men lying 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:44.760 there had been sick for thirty eight years. When Jesus 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:47.720 saw him and knew he had been ill for a 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:54.400 long time, he asked him who the answer is? Asking 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.600 a question. I want to fall before I even ask 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:01.680 where Jesus asked. And this is what I wish the 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:09.480 Bible could give us, facial expression and vocal intonation. Don't 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:10.960 you just we're just like just on the Bible app 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:13.240 If you could just pop up, we could actually see Jesus' 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:16.200 face and maybe hear his vocal intonation how he asked this, 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:19.080 Because there's really two different ways to ask this question. 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:22.680 You know, you could he could have said, do you 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:26.719 want to get well? That's an option. That's an option. 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:28.159 And I don't know if you ever felt like that, 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:30.560 he ever felt like God, he just just annoyed with you, 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:32.520 just a little bit, like how long is it going 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:36.320 to take you to get yourself together? So do you 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:39.520 want to get well? That's an option. Then again, I 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:42.200 can't imagine the creator of the universe being annoyed with 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:47.320 what he created. So maybe he had a different facial expression, 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:49.720 a different vocal intonation. Maybe the facial expression of a 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:56.920 chick fil a worker, just like, do you want to 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.960 get well? Because you know I can do that, right 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:02.040 my pleasure, I can do it. I can do it. 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:07.320 Maybe that's the way he asked it. But look at 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:14.159 this man's reply. I can't, sir, I can, for I 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.240 have no one to put me in the pool. When 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:19.960 the water bubbles up, someone else always gets there ahead 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:25.039 of me. Jesus told him, stand up, pick up your man, 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:30.800 and walk. Instantly, the man was healed, rolled up his 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:37.360 sleeping mat and began walking. This miracle happened on the Sabbath. 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:41.120 So the Jewish leaders objected. Of course they did, and 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:42.880 they said to the man who was cured, you can't 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:44.800 work on the sabbath. The law doesn't allow you to 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:48.720 carry that sleeping mat. But he replied, the man who 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:51.760 healed me told me pick up your man. 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:52.440 And all. 0:05:56.240 --> 0:06:00.440 Who said such a thing as that they demanded the 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:02.919 man didn't know. In the funny, you can be shouting 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:07.120 about stuff you don't even know. But Jesus disappeared into 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:11.159 the crowd. But afterward Jesus found him at the temple 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:14.000 and told him, now you are well, so stop sinning, 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:17.400 or something even worse may happen to you. Then the 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.240 man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:25.000 Jesus who had healed him. Can you say, amen, oh 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:28.560 that's good stuff. Elevation fam. I want to appreciate to 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:31.200 you today as always, not long, probably about four and 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:35.160 a half hours just using this as a title today. 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:43.640 Lame excuses, lame excuses. Look at your neighbor for the 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:48.000 last time, right in their face, and say, neighbor, it's 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:53.360 time for you to stop with the lame excuses. Come 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.000 on across every location. If you believe God's gonna speak, 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:59.280 would you give him some praise and advance. Come on, 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:02.200 I meet him for real. Get up and take your 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:08.320 mat and walk. Praise Father, have your way, speak to 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:12.560 our hearts today in Jesus' name. Amen, you may be 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:22.880 seated in the presence of the Lord. Lame excuses, elevation Fam. 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:26.760 It's crazy how much I can personally relate to this 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.560 man who is in our techs today. Not because I've 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:34.800 been lame for thirty eight years, but I have been 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:38.600 alive for thirty eight years. Matter of fact, this June 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:42.480 I turned thirty nine. Turn thirty nine. Oh yes, forty 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:46.280 is coming, y'all. Forty, it is coming on you board. 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:48.680 You know they say that in your twenties you are 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:52.480 obsessed with what other people think about you. In your forties, 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:56.040 you stop caring what other people think about you, and 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.400 then in your sixties you realize wasn't nobody thinking about 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:03.280 you anyway. So so I'm about to enter the stage 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:05.680 of my forties world. I just I don't care what 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:07.760 you think about me. That's what I'm entered in. And 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:09.320 don't don't get me wrong. I want to grow. I 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:10.920 don't want to be rude. I want to get better. 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:13.160 But I'm just in the season of life where I 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:16.160 know my strengths, I know my weaknesses, I know what 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.239 I'm good at, I know my deficiencies, I know my idiosyncrasies. 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:20.960 I mean, I know what I can do and I 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:24.119 know what I can't do. Like I can't do math, 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:27.640 I don't do numbers. My eight year old daughar, beautiful 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:29.280 baby girl, Evy, she asked me to help me with 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:31.720 her basic math homework the other day. I said no. 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:35.200 I said no, said, sweetheart, Daddy is a communicator, not 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:38.560 a calculator. You're gonna have to do this through this 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:40.560 on your own. I don't do math. I don't do numbers. 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:40.840 Yo. 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:44.160 I don't cook. I don't cook. I cannot cook anything. 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:46.839 You know how some men think that, like masculinity is 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:50.000 synonymous with grilling. I am not that dude. Okay, I 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:54.280 don't cook. I don't grill. Okay, I make reservations. That's 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:56.440 what I do, and I'm cool with that. It is 0:08:57.280 --> 0:09:00.600 what it is. I know my strains, and he says, yo, 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:05.080 I also know that I'm not good at texting people back. 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:09.640 I know, I know. I know that's the cardinal unforgivable 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:12.040 sin in this day and age in which we live. 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:14.560 I am so sorry. I have a phone full of 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:18.280 text messages that I have responded to in my head, 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:20.680 but it just hadn't got to my fingertips yet. Okay, 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.079 give me some grace. Okay, don't even ask me, I 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:24.760 did you get the text? Of course I got it, 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:26.760 you know I got it. Just give me some time 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:30.000 to respond. Okay. I got a wife, I got three kids, 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:31.959 I got a church. We got a pet dog in 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:34.439 these delivering a squirrel, and give me pis. I got 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.200 stuff going on. I get to it when I get 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:38.960 to it. It's just hard. And I'm telling I've learned 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:40.599 that people don't like it when you don't respond to 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.559 they tecks. They don't care what excuse you have. Matter 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:45.360 of fact, you ever tax somebody, If you ever tax somebody, 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:47.240 and all of a sudden you saw them start to reply, 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:51.320 and you see the little bubbles and then it just disappears. Oh, 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:53.760 your mind just starts jumping to all these stories about 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:56.480 what they could have done, what they could have said. Oh, 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:58.600 I'm telling you, I have all kinds of excuses for 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:01.760 why I didn't get back to your text message. But 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:04.720 no matter what I give, it always feels like a 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:09.959 lame excuse. You ever given a lame excuse? Lame excuse? 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:13.400 Why you were late for work? Really is traffic every day? 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:18.679 You ever given just a lame excuse? Lame excuses are 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:25.160 interesting because lame excuses, we think, exonerate us from our responsibility. 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.560 If we didn't, we wouldn't give the lame excuse. We 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:33.200 in our minds think that that lame excuse actually exonerates 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:35.960 us from the responsibility or the thing that we were 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:37.880 supposed to do. And I came to tell you that 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:42.679 it doesn't. You still have a responsibility. As a matter 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:44.480 of fact, I think the greatest gift God has ever 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:51.640 given humanity is responsibility. Response, response ability, the ability to 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:56.960 respond that God is looking for your ability to respond 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.080 to the call to the purpose, to the mandate he 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.640 is put on your life, and He is not interested 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:06.320 in your lame excuse. But isn't it crazy the lame 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.560 excuses that we give God. As a matter of fact, 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:12.840 your Bible is full. It is a repleat of examples 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:17.000 of people giving lame excuses, especially when God tells them 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:23.760 their purpose. Moses, go tell Pharoh, let my people go. 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:23.960 God. 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:30.120 You know what, I can't talk. Lame excuse, Kitty, You 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:34.079 are a mighty voy you no, you understand God. I'm 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.720 the least in my family. I can't really those things 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:43.000 like that. Lame excuse. Mary, the Holy Spirit's gonna overshadow you. 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:44.839 You're gonna give birth to the son of the Living 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.720 God where I don't even know, Joseph like that, how 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:56.800 is that going? Lame? Lame excuse? You laughing? But I'm wondering, 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:00.760 what lame excuse are you giving God, God right now 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.280 for why you haven't stepped into the fullness of your purpose? 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:08.480 What lame excuse are you telling him? Thinking that that 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:13.600 excuse exonerates you from the responsibility. In my text today, 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:16.160 we don't just run into a lame man. We run 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:20.400 into a man who has a lame excuse. And for 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:26.360 thirty eight years, y'all, thirty eight years, as long as 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:32.160 your boy has been living, this man has been lame. 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:37.440 Before you start judging people's lame excuse, maybe check the 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:42.280 environment from which the excuse came, because I think lame 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:48.640 excuses are birth from lame environments. Think about this man 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:53.160 for thirty eight years. We don't even know when this 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:56.240 lameness occurred, whether he's just been by the pool for 0:12:56.280 --> 0:12:58.600 thirty eight years, but either way you put it, for 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:03.520 a long time, this man has been stuck in one position, 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:09.199 not being able to move. You understand, during this time period, 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:14.040 there are no home rounds, there are no wheelchairs. You 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:17.880 would stay in one position. Anytime you wanted to move somewhere, 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:22.880 you had to do it yourself. And if you didn't 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:27.200 do it yourself, you were dependent on other people around 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:30.480 you to say, hey, could you help me? Hey, I 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:32.640 actually want to move over there, could you help me 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:35.719 get up? No wonder When he responds to Jesus, the 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.080 first words out of his mouth were I can't. I 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.600 don't have anybody to help me. There's nobody that can 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.640 put me in. It's easy to judge people's excuses if 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.520 you don't know their environment. What else does he have 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:52.560 to rely on? There's nobody else to pick him up 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:57.960 because his entire life he's learned to be dependent upon 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:02.320 other people. And how sometimes even your physicality will affect 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:07.080 your psychology. When you're lame, all you have to talk 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:10.319 to is other lame people. What you're gonna do today? 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:12.680 Man probably lay here. I'll stake of the same thought. 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:21.160 It affects your conversations, or you have his lame conversations. 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:23.160 You don't talk to people who are up, you talk 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.880 to people who are down. This is the challenge of 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.800 being lame. It affects your ability to work. This man 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:33.160 couldn't find a job. What do you do? What a 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:36.400 job do you apply for? He's even having to beg 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:39.280 probably just to get something, and he's laying there. And 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:43.680 I think so often we judge people's lameness, and we 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:48.400 judge their excuses without even taking the time to at 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:52.360 least see the environment from which the lame excuse came. 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:57.440 At least check the environment. This man was lame for 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:01.000 thirty eight years. Not only is he in his environment, 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:04.320 but let's look at the environment and which he is surrounding. 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:06.600 The Bible says that there was a pool. There was 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:11.280 a pool that the bethesda means house of mercy, but 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:14.120 it may as well be a house of misery, because 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:19.440 if you see this scene, there are broken people everywhere. 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:21.360 In fact, the Bible says a crowd. Another version of 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:23.520 says a multitude. The only place we see multitude and 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:25.600 others in the Gospels is really the feeding of the 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:27.520 fish in the Five blows. This is not a few people. 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.640 There's a lot of people. This is a multitude of 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:34.600 sick people. And some are blind, and some are lame, 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:38.800 and some are missing arms, and some are missing eyes. 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:41.720 Here's one thing about this whole environment of the people 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:45.040 a by the pool. They're all broken. It's not a 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.360 single person by the pool that has it going on. 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.240 It's not a single person by the pool that has 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:54.720 it all put together. Everybody at the pool is broken 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:57.440 in some area. There's some people that had some legs, 0:15:57.440 --> 0:15:59.200 and some people that didn't have arms, and some people 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.360 that had eyes, people that could hear. But no matter 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.200 where they were, everybody had some area of brokenness by 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.440 the pool. I'm going the paus right here since we 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:13.320 had the pool, and let you know that every single 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:17.320 person has some area of brokenness. I know you can't 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:19.400 see it because it's Sunday and they got their good 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:21.440 shirt on and all that Mary Kay and Mac makeup. 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.920 But I'm telling you they are not showing it well. 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:28.400 They are hiding their brokenness. All of us have some 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:31.360 area of brokenness. And I wish, just for once, if 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:33.240 we could have some people that would put away the 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:36.080 pretense and be honest and say, I don't have it 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:39.280 all together. I'm not really living how I'm posting. There 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:42.440 are still some areas of brokenness in my life. As 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:44.360 a matter of fact, you ought to thank God for 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:46.760 some of those areas of brokenness, because some of us 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:49.120 wouldn't pray if we didn't have brokenness. Some of us 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:51.320 wouldn't cry out to God if we didn't have brokenness. 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:54.960 But there's something about being broken. There's something that knowing 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:59.960 that you're afrail that actually makes you cry out to God. 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:02.560 I need you in this area. Everybody at the pool, 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:07.840 who ever, the whole spot full of broken people. I 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:11.320 wish I could see their Instagram and they TikTok because 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:15.240 you know, they didn't post what was broken, they posted 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:18.800 what was whole. The lame person just posting his arms 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:22.920 like yeah, I do up a body, no lower body, man, 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:26.399 just up a body. Person that's blind, got sunglasses on 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:28.760 so you don't see it. They just yeah, man, I'm cold. 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.320 Can't see the comments of the likes, but they just posted. 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.360 Isn't it funny how we like to show the good 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:39.080 parts we hide our brokenness. But everybody at the pool 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.080 was broken, and everybody at the pool had a belief system, 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:48.199 and the belief system was that whenever the water would bubble, 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:51.119 they believed that an angel would stir the waters, that 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:53.399 every time the water would bubble, the first person to 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:55.919 get in would get the healing. This is the belief 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:58.320 system of the broken people that you gotta be first, 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:01.040 that the first person is the one that's going to 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:02.919 get the blessing. And so I gotta fight and I 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.719 gotta do whatever I can to be first. This is 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:09.000 our generation. No wonder. All of us are fighting for attention, 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:11.199 No wonder. All of us are fighting for people to 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:13.360 validate us and look at us. Because we all think 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:15.320 if I could just be the first one to get in. 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:19.040 Now'll be the one that gets the breakthrough. I'll be 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.960 the one that gets the blessing. It's a generation of lame. 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:24.760 As a matter of fact, to me, that's what lame 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:28.800 stands for. Lame la m e who look at me? Everybody. 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:33.560 You want to see a lame life. Look at a 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:36.480 person who has put themselves in the center of their world, 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.679 and they're saying, look at me, everybody, as long as 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:42.760 I can be first to get in. And I can 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:45.560 see this man. I don't know who dropped him off 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:49.200 at the pool that day, but I wholeheartedly and earnestly 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:52.920 believe that the day he was first dropped at the pool, 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:56.120 he actually had excitement that he was gonna get healed. 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:58.560 Oh I can see him. I can see the first 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:00.520 day he was dropped by the pool. He's like, Oh, 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.200 I'm gonna get my breakthrough today. I'll see you over there. 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:05.439 Don't think you're gonna beat me. As soon as that 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:08.280 water bubbles up, I'm gonna be the first one in there. 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:10.520 And he was going with all the night and the 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:12.800 tenacity he could find. Come on. You know how it 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:14.879 is when you first start coming to church and you 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:16.639 start praising you how it used to be when you 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.640 first came to elevation. So you'd be like, oh, when 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:22.359 they're gonna start, man, I tell you what, go out, 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:26.720 Thank God, let's go. You don't see them people, It's like, 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:29.040 oh heaven, you can tell you just started coming, didn't you? 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:31.639 You knew you knew to this set? Howe right? You 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:34.280 need to get it together and don't take all that Oh. 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:36.080 I think when he first got to the pool, he 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:38.399 was excited. He couldn't wait. He's like, I'm gonna be 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:40.440 I'm gonna be the first one in that water. I'm 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:42.200 gonna get my heel and I'm gonna get my breakthrough 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:46.160 im and get everything I need. But year after year 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:53.440 of disappointment, year after year of not getting to the water, 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:57.280 year after year of people stepping over you and getting 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:01.040 in front of you. How mean you know, after a while, 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:07.880 thirty eight years, you start saying, maybe I'll never get 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:13.560 the healing. Maybe maybe I'll stop trying to even go 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:19.159 to the water. I think after thirty eight years, you 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:23.200 stop chasing to the pool and you just start relaxing 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:28.480 on the porch. You ever been on the porch? The 0:20:28.520 --> 0:20:32.280 porch is when you have gotten to the place where 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:36.919 you say it hurts to hope again, it hurts to 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:40.800 believe it. It is what it is. I guess I'll 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:44.679 never have a good marriage. It is what it is. 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:49.040 I guess I'll never get out of dead. It is 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:53.680 what it is. I guess my kids will never never 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:58.399 be set free. It is what it is. After a while, 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.679 when you've been hoping and believing for so long and 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:05.160 you've had so many disappointments, it is easy to relax 0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:08.080 on the porch and not even fight to get in 0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:11.399 the stirring of the water again. It is easy to 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:13.760 chill on the porch because at least the porch has 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:19.440 shade and I'm covered. You haven't seen people just sitting 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:22.280 on the porch and some houses they giving up on 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:23.800 life and they just sitting on the porch. Just watch 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:32.080 knock her down, Miss Johnson. Get some new grass. Yeah, 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:37.800 they s some new ground. Okay, just watching everybody else. 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:40.240 Guess how some people come to church. They're in the room, 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:45.399 they're just on the porch. We look at him, Yeah 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:46.200 he'll learn. 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:49.760 Yeah he's shouting the past the thieves message. 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:50.000 Yeah. 0:21:50.000 --> 0:21:51.879 I used to shout like that too, But now my 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:54.920 right toe hurts. Now I just sit down. Now they 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:56.760 know my heart, they know my heart. I just say 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.919 a man on my heart. I just that this is 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:02.800 what it is. This says what it is. 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:07.760 And he resolves to the porch, and he's given up, 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:10.680 and he probably stopped looking at the pool, and he 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:14.000 probably just kept looking up in the air, not even 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:17.440 looking for a miracle anymore. But here's what I love 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:20.160 about the story of this man. This man has proved 0:22:20.200 --> 0:22:22.679 positive that even in life, when you've gotten to the 0:22:22.720 --> 0:22:25.240 porch and you don't even want to fight for the pool, 0:22:25.480 --> 0:22:27.680 and you feel like giving up and thrown in the towel, 0:22:27.840 --> 0:22:30.160 and you can't even believe again, and you can't even 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:33.120 hope again, even when you're not even looking for a miracle, 0:22:33.320 --> 0:22:35.520 I'm so glad that a miracle will look for you. 0:22:36.960 --> 0:22:40.160 I'm so glad that even when we have laid on 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:42.560 the porch of life and we don't have any more 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:45.240 fight in us and we don't want to hope again, 0:22:45.440 --> 0:22:48.880 I'm so thankful for a savior that will come after us, 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:52.800 that will seek after us. Look at Jesus coming after 0:22:52.920 --> 0:22:55.679 this man. He didn't even know he was on the radar. 0:22:55.880 --> 0:22:58.040 He didn't even know he was on the schedule of 0:22:58.160 --> 0:23:00.840 the Kingdom, Kings and the Lord, the Lord. I don't 0:23:00.880 --> 0:23:03.480 know who this message is for. Maybe you're at home, 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:05.800 but I came to tell you. Even when you've given 0:23:05.880 --> 0:23:08.359 up and you've lost a hope, God has not given 0:23:08.440 --> 0:23:11.600 up on you. God will find a way to get 0:23:11.720 --> 0:23:14.760 to you. God will do whatever it takes to make 0:23:14.800 --> 0:23:18.200 sure you don't just relinquish to the porch when you've 0:23:18.240 --> 0:23:25.600 got so much purpose on your life. Look at Jesus 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:30.000 coming straight for this man who's been laying by the 0:23:30.040 --> 0:23:32.560 pool for thirty eight years. Oh, y'all, this message of 0:23:32.640 --> 0:23:39.160 my theology or my christology. Because understand, there's probably thousands 0:23:39.200 --> 0:23:43.080 of people at this porch. This is a festival. There's 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:47.440 a whole lot of sick people. And Jesus who steps 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:54.679 over all these people and come straight to him. Are 0:23:54.720 --> 0:23:56.439 you sure you want to clap at that? Can you 0:23:56.560 --> 0:23:59.760 imagine being one of the ones who was laying on 0:23:59.800 --> 0:24:02.679 the and to watch the King of Kings and the 0:24:02.760 --> 0:24:05.600 Lord of Lord he steps over him. Still, excuse me, 0:24:05.840 --> 0:24:08.320 don't watchy'a. Excuse me, no, no, no, no, I came straight 0:24:08.720 --> 0:24:14.760 for you. He came straight for this man so away 0:24:14.800 --> 0:24:17.560 with this notion. I only give my healing if I 0:24:17.560 --> 0:24:20.119 got faith. I'll only get the break through if I 0:24:20.160 --> 0:24:22.479 got enough faith to believe for it. You know when 0:24:22.520 --> 0:24:24.120 we feel sometimes like I gotta be like the woman 0:24:24.160 --> 0:24:26.040 with the issue of blood and press my weight through 0:24:26.040 --> 0:24:27.800 the prow See you, that's why he didn't get a breakthrough. 0:24:27.880 --> 0:24:32.040 You didn't have enough faith. Explain homeboy, right here, what 0:24:32.320 --> 0:24:36.600 faith does this man? He not even expecting it, as 0:24:36.640 --> 0:24:38.639 he just laying there. All of a sudden he sees 0:24:38.640 --> 0:24:42.960 the King of Glory going what somebody looking straight at him. 0:24:43.119 --> 0:24:46.080 This is the beauty of grace, This is the beauty. 0:24:45.880 --> 0:24:48.280 Of coming to Jesus. You don't even know to know 0:24:48.320 --> 0:24:51.199 that you need him. It's not for the work of grace, 0:24:51.480 --> 0:24:54.800 every healing, every miracle. It is not your merit. It 0:24:54.880 --> 0:24:57.359 is not your rupture, it is not your good behavior. 0:24:57.520 --> 0:25:00.639 It is nothing but the grace and the goodness of God. 0:25:02.720 --> 0:25:07.199 He is the great initiator. Look at Jesus, you tell 0:25:07.320 --> 0:25:09.520 my God his appointment. Excuse me, not today, not you, 0:25:10.119 --> 0:25:14.720 not to you, excuse me, excuse me? Coming straight for 0:25:14.800 --> 0:25:18.520 this man. And he looks at him, and he asked 0:25:18.560 --> 0:25:24.199 him a question. The answer ask a question. Excuse me, 0:25:26.160 --> 0:25:30.800 do you want to get well? Before I deal with 0:25:30.840 --> 0:25:35.200 that question, let me just talk about the questions of Jesus. 0:25:36.119 --> 0:25:38.119 I know I said he's the answer, asked him the question, 0:25:38.160 --> 0:25:41.919 and that's what we think. Jesus is the answer. But 0:25:42.040 --> 0:25:45.359 almost I'm starting to think that Jesus is the question, 0:25:47.240 --> 0:25:50.560 because Jesus will ask you the question that you don't 0:25:50.600 --> 0:25:52.240 even know to ask, so he can show you he's 0:25:52.280 --> 0:25:56.400 the answer. When I studied the Gospels, I'm blown away 0:25:56.440 --> 0:26:01.400 by how many questions Jesus asked. Your gospels, Jesus asked 0:26:01.400 --> 0:26:06.520 approximately three hundred and seven questions, three hundred and seven questions. 0:26:06.840 --> 0:26:10.520 Who he is asked in the Gospels one hundred and 0:26:10.600 --> 0:26:14.440 eighty three questions. Of those hundred and eighty three, he 0:26:14.480 --> 0:26:19.639 really only directly answers about eight of them. That's how 0:26:19.680 --> 0:26:22.000 your God rolls. You come to him with a question, 0:26:22.080 --> 0:26:24.440 who He'll hit you with a question and two stories 0:26:25.680 --> 0:26:27.120 you'd been like, wait a minute, what did I ask 0:26:27.160 --> 0:26:31.200 he told about? Mustard said, I'm confused. What. Oh, I'll 0:26:31.200 --> 0:26:33.320 tell you. We think he's the answered, but I'm telling 0:26:33.320 --> 0:26:36.080 you he is the question. Your God was always asking 0:26:36.200 --> 0:26:38.720 questions and matter of fact, the first words that emanate 0:26:38.760 --> 0:26:41.040 from the mouth of Jesus as a teenager and the 0:26:41.080 --> 0:26:44.760 temple was a question. Remember, Mary and Joseph lost them. 0:26:44.880 --> 0:26:47.320 They lost Jesus. Remember they couldn't find him and they 0:26:47.359 --> 0:26:49.840 lost them, and they said, hey, were you? We were 0:26:49.840 --> 0:26:52.600 looking alone for you? Boy? What's wrong with you? It's like, 0:26:53.280 --> 0:26:57.840 why were you looking for me? Didn't you know? I 0:26:57.920 --> 0:27:01.120 must be about my father's business. Jesus was always asking questions. 0:27:01.160 --> 0:27:06.480 He died on the cross with a question, My God, 0:27:06.640 --> 0:27:11.000 my God, why have you forsaken me? He got up 0:27:11.040 --> 0:27:13.960 from the grave with a question. Remember how he messed 0:27:14.040 --> 0:27:16.800 up Mary? She was at the tomb and here's Jesus resurrected, 0:27:16.840 --> 0:27:19.520 new body, new wardrobe. He's like, excuse me, who are 0:27:19.520 --> 0:27:24.879 you looking for? He's always asking question, where is your faith? 0:27:26.400 --> 0:27:30.440 Who do men say that I am? Who told you? 0:27:30.760 --> 0:27:30.840 That? 0:27:31.200 --> 0:27:36.159 God is asking questions all the time? Why does he 0:27:36.280 --> 0:27:40.480 ask questions? Because he wants to send you on a quest. 0:27:42.119 --> 0:27:44.439 Answers have a finality to it, and we live in 0:27:44.440 --> 0:27:46.760 a culture that just wants an answer. But you have 0:27:46.840 --> 0:27:49.320 a God that will give you a question to take 0:27:49.359 --> 0:27:52.320 you on a journey. Because he's trying to draw you 0:27:52.600 --> 0:27:55.960 into himself. He's trying to show you who he is, 0:27:56.160 --> 0:27:58.600 and you can't find that out in a moment. I'm 0:27:58.600 --> 0:28:02.679 telling you, questions are powerful. Questions will not allow you 0:28:02.760 --> 0:28:05.960 the luxury of staying on the surface. Questions always force 0:28:06.040 --> 0:28:08.520 you to go deeper into the deep things. I don't 0:28:08.560 --> 0:28:10.400 know who this is for, but this is your last 0:28:10.440 --> 0:28:12.800 year to lift shallow. God said he wants to take 0:28:12.840 --> 0:28:17.199 you deeper, and sometimes he's going to ask you the 0:28:17.320 --> 0:28:21.359 tough questions, the questions that you don't want to ask yourself. 0:28:21.800 --> 0:28:23.679 That's why if you got a good counselor after you 0:28:23.720 --> 0:28:26.280 sat on the couch and got a good deal at 0:28:26.280 --> 0:28:28.480 the right moment, they want to hit you with And 0:28:28.560 --> 0:28:30.720 how does that make you? 0:28:30.800 --> 0:28:31.119 See? 0:28:33.520 --> 0:28:37.879 Because there's something about the question that proves deeper beyond 0:28:37.920 --> 0:28:42.480 the surface. So he's asking this man, do you want 0:28:43.320 --> 0:28:47.880 to get well? Do you really want to get well? 0:28:48.440 --> 0:28:52.080 What is Jesus probing at this question? He wants to 0:28:52.120 --> 0:28:56.720 know what do you really want? What do you really desire? 0:28:57.520 --> 0:29:00.280 Because it's obvious to me that you have been at 0:29:00.280 --> 0:29:03.480 this pool for so long that you started to lose 0:29:03.760 --> 0:29:08.120 your desire to walk again, You started to lose your 0:29:08.240 --> 0:29:12.320 hope to walk again. And I'm wondering if there's somebody 0:29:12.360 --> 0:29:17.560 in here today that you've lost your desire. You stop dreaming, 0:29:18.480 --> 0:29:21.880 you stop believing, and you've made the final words of 0:29:21.920 --> 0:29:24.360 somebody who's truly giving up. It is what it is. 0:29:25.960 --> 0:29:28.760 And God sent me on assignment to tell you to 0:29:28.880 --> 0:29:34.000 dream again, to believe again, to hope again, to let 0:29:34.040 --> 0:29:36.640 you know that where you are is not again, that 0:29:36.720 --> 0:29:40.800 he can still do exceedingly abundantly above all you could ask, think, 0:29:40.920 --> 0:29:48.160 are imagine you want to get? Well, he's going after 0:29:48.880 --> 0:29:54.960 his desire. It's interesting the word desire has the word 0:29:55.120 --> 0:29:58.720 desire in it, and you've studied the etymology, it literally 0:29:58.760 --> 0:30:03.200 means of the vo of the Father, that desire is 0:30:03.280 --> 0:30:06.440 of the Father, subliminally suggesting to us that our desires 0:30:06.480 --> 0:30:10.840 should actually come from our father. This is why the 0:30:10.840 --> 0:30:13.560 Bible says, delight in the Lord and all your waste, 0:30:13.600 --> 0:30:17.200 and he will give you the desires of your heart. 0:30:17.600 --> 0:30:19.120 That's not a verse to just say, oh, he gonna 0:30:19.120 --> 0:30:21.280 give me whatever I want. Oh yeah, you'll give me 0:30:21.280 --> 0:30:22.800 the desires of my heart. Come on, y'all have the tesla. 0:30:22.840 --> 0:30:26.520 Let's come and let's go. No, it's as I delight 0:30:26.640 --> 0:30:30.120 myself in him. All of a sudden, his heart becomes 0:30:30.160 --> 0:30:32.480 my heart, and I start to see things the way 0:30:32.520 --> 0:30:35.520 he sees things, and I'll start wanting what he wants 0:30:35.560 --> 0:30:41.080 from me. And guess what. He doesn't just want you 0:30:41.120 --> 0:30:46.400 to walk. He wants you to walk home. He doesn't 0:30:46.480 --> 0:30:48.480 just want you up on your feet. He wants you 0:30:48.640 --> 0:30:52.120 up on your feet walking in the fullness of what 0:30:52.240 --> 0:30:55.400 he has for you. He wants your legs to be 0:30:55.440 --> 0:30:58.800 an outward sign of the inner wholeness that's on the 0:30:58.880 --> 0:31:01.360 inside of you. Because what good is it to have 0:31:01.480 --> 0:31:07.480 your legs restored if your heart is still far from him? 0:31:07.520 --> 0:31:09.760 What good is it for him to bless the business 0:31:09.840 --> 0:31:12.280 if you're not going to live a life of generosity 0:31:12.600 --> 0:31:15.720 and allow your life to be a conduit of generosity 0:31:15.760 --> 0:31:21.320 to help somebody else. What good is it for him 0:31:21.360 --> 0:31:23.160 to give you the house if you ain't gonna have 0:31:23.280 --> 0:31:27.640 nobody over the house and actually shed a gowns with him. 0:31:27.720 --> 0:31:30.120 You don't invite nobody to your apartment and you want 0:31:30.120 --> 0:31:33.800 a bigger house. Now, I'm just good by myself. I 0:31:33.840 --> 0:31:41.920 don't really do people. Okay, he wants he wants you whole. 0:31:43.240 --> 0:31:48.640 So he says, do you want to get well. He's 0:31:48.680 --> 0:31:51.560 also trying to get him to understand that when I 0:31:51.680 --> 0:31:54.640 heal you, you are now going to have to do the 0:31:54.800 --> 0:32:01.040 work of walking and wholeness. I think we come to 0:32:01.160 --> 0:32:04.800 church and we shout about the idea of being whole, 0:32:06.160 --> 0:32:11.560 but the actual work it takes we don't want. Do 0:32:11.640 --> 0:32:14.080 you want to get well? Because I'm about to hear 0:32:14.080 --> 0:32:16.240 you and guess what, You're gonna have to walk right 0:32:16.320 --> 0:32:23.320 into a job because you will have no more excuses 0:32:23.320 --> 0:32:27.480 once your legs have been here. Who later he will 0:32:27.480 --> 0:32:29.240 find this man in the temple and he had no 0:32:29.280 --> 0:32:31.080 clue who it was who healed him, and he actually 0:32:31.080 --> 0:32:33.360 tells him to stop sinning, and I'm curious what was 0:32:33.400 --> 0:32:36.239 he doing. I got the strange suspicion that homeboy might 0:32:36.280 --> 0:32:39.360 have went back to the same environment. Again. That's the 0:32:39.520 --> 0:32:43.040 challenge of actually getting up and getting whole, because once 0:32:43.120 --> 0:32:47.320 I get up, I have no more excuses. I have 0:32:47.400 --> 0:32:52.760 no more trushes. Actually I have no more friends. Who 0:32:52.840 --> 0:32:55.240 do you hang out with when you've been laying around 0:32:55.240 --> 0:32:59.040 with the same people for thirty eight years? See? Sometimes 0:32:59.240 --> 0:33:01.080 God on heal you you to a place where he 0:33:01.160 --> 0:33:03.560 wants to know are you okay with being whole, but 0:33:03.680 --> 0:33:06.160 still being by yourself. And as long as you know 0:33:06.400 --> 0:33:08.720 that I'm your child, as long as you know that 0:33:08.840 --> 0:33:11.160 I am the one that cares about you. Are you 0:33:11.280 --> 0:33:13.719 cool with that? Or do you need the camaraderie of 0:33:13.760 --> 0:33:18.040 other people to validate you? Sometimes you gotta walk by yourself. 0:33:20.760 --> 0:33:25.160 Say I would rather be by myself at home than 0:33:25.200 --> 0:33:28.080 to have some people that are benefiting from my brokenness. 0:33:31.080 --> 0:33:34.400 Who does he hang out with? Who does he talk to? 0:33:34.680 --> 0:33:37.080 Can you see him going back to the dudes by 0:33:37.120 --> 0:33:38.560 the port saying, oh, well, look at you. 0:33:40.120 --> 0:33:42.000 I don't know why he walked past me and then 0:33:42.040 --> 0:33:42.600 it healed you. 0:33:42.640 --> 0:33:44.360 I don't know what you did that was so special. 0:33:44.400 --> 0:33:46.080 Do you ever see those people that try to get 0:33:46.200 --> 0:33:47.920 mad just because of the favor and the grace of 0:33:47.920 --> 0:33:49.800 God that's on your life. And you're trying to tell 0:33:49.880 --> 0:33:52.040 him I can't explain it. I don't know why. Don't 0:33:52.080 --> 0:33:55.400 ask me ask him? 0:33:55.600 --> 0:33:58.040 Look at you got your little legs, got your little legs, 0:33:58.040 --> 0:33:58.640 thank you all that? 0:33:58.880 --> 0:34:01.280 Huh huh? Yeah, No, it's fine, it's fine. I don't 0:34:01.320 --> 0:34:02.800 know what you're talking about. Man, I had changed all 0:34:02.840 --> 0:34:04.840 you have changed. Look at you got your little legs, 0:34:04.880 --> 0:34:06.880 y'all stuck up. I'm not stuck up. I'm just up. 0:34:07.000 --> 0:34:09.160 You the one that stuck. Don't be mad just because 0:34:09.160 --> 0:34:11.520 he healed me. Don't be mad just because he delivered me. 0:34:11.719 --> 0:34:13.520 Don't be mad just because I'm not in that same 0:34:13.600 --> 0:34:23.440 cycling system of this funk. Do you want to get well? 0:34:25.320 --> 0:34:31.560 It's hard to do the work of being whole. It's 0:34:31.600 --> 0:34:35.920 hard to do the work of not just shouting about 0:34:35.960 --> 0:34:40.000 the idea of freedom, but saying God, I'm now going 0:34:40.080 --> 0:34:44.840 to trust you for every single step and keep walking 0:34:45.920 --> 0:34:50.400 and put away the excuses so I can be who 0:34:50.480 --> 0:34:54.279 you called and created me to be. Look at the 0:34:54.280 --> 0:34:56.440 person next to you and just just push him a 0:34:56.440 --> 0:35:04.120 little bit and say no more excuses, lame excuses. It's 0:35:04.160 --> 0:35:11.399 time to get up. Do you want to get well? Sir? 0:35:12.800 --> 0:35:19.560 I can't. I don't have anybody to help me. I 0:35:19.600 --> 0:35:23.080 don't have anybody to pick me up and put me 0:35:24.480 --> 0:35:26.880 into the water, and somebody always gets ahead of me. 0:35:28.160 --> 0:35:31.680 Isn't that crazy? He's looking in the face of Jesus 0:35:32.640 --> 0:35:40.160 and he's talking about the pool. He responds to a 0:35:40.200 --> 0:35:44.040 savior who asked a simple question, do you want to 0:35:44.080 --> 0:35:49.640 get well? That's like a yes or no question, but 0:35:49.719 --> 0:35:53.160 he goes into all these excuses, and in his excuses, 0:35:53.239 --> 0:35:56.960 he's talking about the pool. When Jesus is from in 0:35:57.040 --> 0:36:02.680 front of him. Jesus says, do you want to get well? 0:36:03.680 --> 0:36:08.480 And he's talking about the pool. It's John another one, 0:36:09.600 --> 0:36:14.279 the Living Water is in front of him, asking him 0:36:14.280 --> 0:36:16.960 do you want to get well? And he's talking about 0:36:17.000 --> 0:36:20.520 the pool. I'm wondering, are you talking about something that 0:36:20.680 --> 0:36:23.920 is peripheral to what is really important? When Jesus is 0:36:24.040 --> 0:36:26.319 right there in front of you, saying, now that I 0:36:26.360 --> 0:36:30.040 am here, the pool is no longer necessary. You need 0:36:30.080 --> 0:36:32.960 to look at me. I am the living Water. I 0:36:33.000 --> 0:36:35.799 am every single thing that you need. What I show 0:36:35.880 --> 0:36:39.160 up in your situation. Stop talking about the pool and 0:36:39.239 --> 0:36:42.839 all your excuses and start running after me. You don't 0:36:42.880 --> 0:36:46.879 need the pool anymore because I'm here. Oh I want 0:36:46.920 --> 0:36:49.799 to talk to somebody that's got all kinds of excuses 0:36:50.000 --> 0:36:52.720 about why you can't do something. Oh I'm too black, 0:36:52.920 --> 0:36:55.359 Oh I'm too white. Oh I'm too old. Oh I'm 0:36:55.360 --> 0:36:57.200 to this, Oh I'm to that. No no, no, no. 0:36:57.320 --> 0:37:00.600 As long as Jesus is with young, as he's standing 0:37:00.719 --> 0:37:03.719 right there in front of you, you got everything that 0:37:03.800 --> 0:37:10.759 you need. Why are you talking about the pool when 0:37:10.840 --> 0:37:16.680 the living water is right in front of you. So 0:37:16.719 --> 0:37:19.960 many times we put our hopes and dreams in past 0:37:20.040 --> 0:37:23.960 experiences and the way we thought it should go, that 0:37:24.080 --> 0:37:27.480 we're still looking at the pool when the Savior is 0:37:27.560 --> 0:37:31.480 right in front of us. We still coming to church 0:37:32.120 --> 0:37:34.759 thinking it's just another service, not knowing this could be 0:37:35.280 --> 0:37:39.360 the day where that stronghold of depression and anxiety is 0:37:39.440 --> 0:37:42.200 broken off of your life and nobody even has to 0:37:42.239 --> 0:37:44.400 lay a hand on you. But even as you stand 0:37:44.480 --> 0:37:46.960 there and lift up your hands in a worship, it 0:37:47.000 --> 0:37:49.640 can fall off of your life today. Why are you 0:37:49.760 --> 0:37:54.759 waiting for the future when he's right in front of you. 0:37:57.960 --> 0:38:01.080 Oh, I don't want to spend my life talking about 0:38:01.080 --> 0:38:05.840 what maybe then, or maybe later, or maybe the pool when. 0:38:05.680 --> 0:38:08.839 He is right there in front of me, Go on, 0:38:08.880 --> 0:38:15.000 what do you need? I love it because Jesus literally 0:38:15.080 --> 0:38:20.000 interrupts him. The Greek is crazy, it's abrupt. He says, 0:38:20.080 --> 0:38:24.400 get up, take up your mat, and wall I like that. 0:38:25.160 --> 0:38:28.000 He literally interrupts him and actually suggested in real language 0:38:28.120 --> 0:38:30.840 that if Jesus had not interrupted him, he would have 0:38:30.920 --> 0:38:33.719 kept on talking about all the excuses. Well, I have 0:38:33.800 --> 0:38:35.440 nobody to put me in the pulley. You don't understand 0:38:35.440 --> 0:38:35.880 what happened to me. 0:38:35.920 --> 0:38:37.400 When I was in Chiwn, I had this happened, and 0:38:37.440 --> 0:38:38.280 nobody have revalidated. 0:38:38.360 --> 0:38:44.160 Man, take your mad and walk. I feel like that's 0:38:44.200 --> 0:38:46.680 what God sent me to interrupt somebody that has all 0:38:46.760 --> 0:38:49.000 kinds of excuses and say, this is your day, diet, 0:38:49.800 --> 0:38:52.279 take your mad and walk. I know you got all 0:38:52.360 --> 0:38:54.319 kinds of reasons why it can't happen to you and 0:38:54.360 --> 0:38:56.239 why you feel like you can't do this or can't 0:38:56.280 --> 0:38:58.600 do that. But God sent this chocolate brother from Dallas, 0:38:58.600 --> 0:39:00.680 Texas to look you right in your face and say, 0:39:00.760 --> 0:39:03.560 get up, take up your mat and walk. This is 0:39:03.600 --> 0:39:06.279 your day to get up from living this level and 0:39:06.440 --> 0:39:08.960 rise up into all that God has called you to be. 0:39:09.400 --> 0:39:12.320 Get up, take your mat and walk out up that. 0:39:12.719 --> 0:39:14.680 He didn't say, I'm gonna do a six week series 0:39:14.719 --> 0:39:16.520 on how you can get up. He didn't say I'm 0:39:16.560 --> 0:39:18.439 on lay hands on you. He said, no, I'm gonna 0:39:18.440 --> 0:39:21.080 give you a word. And when I speak this word, 0:39:21.160 --> 0:39:23.720 you need to respond to the word that you heard. 0:39:24.120 --> 0:39:27.520 Oh who is this for? Somebody needs to respond to 0:39:27.680 --> 0:39:30.400 this word that I'm creature today and say enough for 0:39:30.520 --> 0:39:33.799 the excuses. I am who God says I am. I 0:39:33.880 --> 0:39:35.960 can have what he says I can have. I can 0:39:36.080 --> 0:39:39.400 step into whatever he wants me to step into. No 0:39:39.520 --> 0:39:46.920 more lame excuses. Get up, Get up, Get up from 0:39:46.960 --> 0:39:49.880 the pain of your past, Get up from that worry, 0:39:54.040 --> 0:39:57.600 Get up from the guilt, get up from the shame. 0:39:58.680 --> 0:40:02.279 I know it's been a long time. I know it's 0:40:02.320 --> 0:40:06.840 been so long, and it hurts to hope again. But 0:40:06.960 --> 0:40:12.399 when the Savior of the universe comes straight to you 0:40:13.560 --> 0:40:18.960 and ask you a question, throw away all your excuses 0:40:20.640 --> 0:40:25.080 and tell him what you want. Tell them what you need. 0:40:29.200 --> 0:40:40.640 Get up. Look at how powerful a command of God is. 0:40:41.880 --> 0:40:48.960 This man gets up and immediately his legs are strengthen y'all, 0:40:48.960 --> 0:40:54.480 his muscles have tightened. He didn't have to do any 0:40:54.480 --> 0:41:01.920 physical therapy. One word was enough for him to get 0:41:02.000 --> 0:41:07.480 up and start walking. Yo, when I sit on a 0:41:07.480 --> 0:41:09.800 plane too long, I need to like get a moment 0:41:09.880 --> 0:41:13.239 to get my But the word of God is so 0:41:13.360 --> 0:41:18.200 powerful that within the command is every single thing that 0:41:18.360 --> 0:41:21.040 you need. He didn't tell him take a step here, 0:41:21.120 --> 0:41:23.280 He did, just say thet's stretch. He said no, no, no, 0:41:23.440 --> 0:41:28.440 get up. He gets up. He says, oh and take 0:41:28.520 --> 0:41:34.520 your mad Ooh, can you see him carrying the thing 0:41:34.600 --> 0:41:38.399 he used to be relying on. I don't know who 0:41:38.400 --> 0:41:41.120 this is for, but there's things you've been relying on 0:41:41.800 --> 0:41:44.480 that you're gonna be holding now. He always would tell 0:41:44.520 --> 0:41:46.680 lame people to take their mat You know why, because 0:41:46.719 --> 0:41:48.920 anytime somebody sees you holding what you used to be 0:41:49.040 --> 0:41:53.239 laying on, it is a walking, living, breathing testimony. Matter 0:41:53.280 --> 0:41:55.040 of fact, there was a set up. He did it 0:41:55.080 --> 0:41:57.880 on the Sabbath on purpose because he wanted some people 0:41:58.040 --> 0:42:00.400 to see that man walk here. He wanted people to 0:42:00.440 --> 0:42:02.880 see him holding the thing that he used to be 0:42:02.960 --> 0:42:05.040 laying off. I don't know who this is for, but 0:42:05.200 --> 0:42:07.640 maybe there's something you're ashamed about. But this is the 0:42:07.680 --> 0:42:09.960 beauty of the grace of God. It's the same thing 0:42:09.960 --> 0:42:12.399 you've been ashamed about. That God can flip that thing. 0:42:12.640 --> 0:42:16.319 It'll actually become a testimony of his goodness, my testimony 0:42:16.400 --> 0:42:18.680 come his grace. So people will look at your life 0:42:18.760 --> 0:42:22.120 and saying, God can use and heal and set free 0:42:22.280 --> 0:42:25.200 somebody as broken as you. I know he can't do 0:42:25.280 --> 0:42:32.759 it for me too. He says, take your man, and 0:42:32.880 --> 0:42:38.879 he starts walking, walking right into opposition because here comes 0:42:38.880 --> 0:42:43.000 the religious system saying you can't do that. You gotta 0:42:43.040 --> 0:42:45.719 be ready for the opposition if you're going to get 0:42:45.800 --> 0:42:51.480 up from the excuses. And here's the danger. He didn't 0:42:51.520 --> 0:42:57.799 even know who it was that healed him. This is 0:42:57.840 --> 0:43:00.319 how I know this is just a soften work of raise. 0:43:01.640 --> 0:43:06.160 He wasn't even seeking for the healing God sought after him. 0:43:07.360 --> 0:43:10.160 He didn't even know it was Jesus who did it. 0:43:11.840 --> 0:43:14.480 Ooh the power of just obedience, of doing what He 0:43:14.600 --> 0:43:17.560 told you to do. But look at this savior who 0:43:17.600 --> 0:43:21.000 found him again and said, hey, hey, hey, I'm the 0:43:21.000 --> 0:43:26.319 one who did it. Stop sinning. You have no more excuses. 0:43:26.360 --> 0:43:30.640 Your legs a hole. Let those legs be an outward 0:43:30.920 --> 0:43:35.480 sign of the inner healing that has taking place in 0:43:35.520 --> 0:43:39.320 your life. I'm gonna ask headsby bowed and osby closed 0:43:39.320 --> 0:43:44.560 across every location today. I don't know who I came 0:43:44.640 --> 0:43:50.000 for today, but today's the day to put away the excuses. 0:43:52.320 --> 0:43:57.080 Enough is enough. Maybe you had your hopes and dreams 0:43:57.080 --> 0:44:00.680 in the pool. Maybe it was a maybe it was 0:44:00.719 --> 0:44:03.880 a career, maybe it was life playing out a certain way. 0:44:04.520 --> 0:44:06.879 But today, in the presence of Jesus, he is here, 0:44:08.000 --> 0:44:11.600 and he's saying what do you need? What do you 0:44:11.640 --> 0:44:18.680 want me to do? I'm asking you the question because 0:44:18.680 --> 0:44:23.200 I'm no longer giving you the opportunity to live your 0:44:23.239 --> 0:44:26.960 life shallow and on the surface. I want to go 0:44:27.080 --> 0:44:32.640 deeper so that you can be healed, not just externally, 0:44:32.719 --> 0:44:39.120 not just with blessing, but from the inside out. Heads 0:44:39.120 --> 0:44:42.120 are about hours of closed across every location. But if 0:44:42.120 --> 0:44:43.799 you're here today, and you'd be so honest to say, 0:44:43.800 --> 0:44:48.040 Pastor Robert, I know there's some excuses I've been making, 0:44:50.960 --> 0:44:55.320 and I think those excuses exonerate me from the purpose 0:44:55.400 --> 0:44:58.600 and the call. But today you sense God reminding you 0:45:02.120 --> 0:45:07.920 that I use earthen vessels, that it was never about you. 0:45:09.760 --> 0:45:13.960 But I'm a God that seeks after you, and I 0:45:13.960 --> 0:45:21.359 can use you quit disqualifying yourself. His strength is made 0:45:21.360 --> 0:45:24.800 perfect in your weakness. But just as a sign across 0:45:24.840 --> 0:45:26.719 every campus to say, hey, if I know what that 0:45:27.000 --> 0:45:29.960 excuse is that today I'm putting the lame excuse to 0:45:30.040 --> 0:45:32.120 the side, God, I'm gonna step into what you have 0:45:32.239 --> 0:45:34.120 for me. Would you just lift up your hand as 0:45:34.120 --> 0:45:36.359 a sign to say this for me, this for me? Yeah, yeah, 0:45:36.480 --> 0:45:38.879 thank you God, you know what that thing is. Thank 0:45:38.920 --> 0:45:41.719 you Jesus, I see those hands. Thank you God, you 0:45:41.760 --> 0:45:43.200 can put it right back down. I want to be 0:45:43.239 --> 0:45:47.319 real specific. If you're here watching online and you've never 0:45:48.040 --> 0:45:50.760 taken that first step, which to say, Jesus, my life 0:45:51.000 --> 0:45:56.000 is yours, maybe you made all the excuses. All church 0:45:56.040 --> 0:45:59.840 people are this and that. Can I tell you there 0:45:59.880 --> 0:46:03.879 are no perfect churches. And if you found the perfect church, 0:46:03.920 --> 0:46:06.560 as soon as you got there, you would ruin it 0:46:10.080 --> 0:46:15.920 because we're all broken. I'm telling you we all have areas, 0:46:15.960 --> 0:46:19.759 some area of brokenness. This is not a community of 0:46:20.000 --> 0:46:25.600 perfected people. It is a community of the redeemed. The redeemed. 0:46:28.680 --> 0:46:30.480 So what heads about in ours closed? If you've never 0:46:30.560 --> 0:46:32.799 surrendered your life to Jesus, I wouldn't love to give 0:46:32.840 --> 0:46:36.200 you that opportunity. Across every campus, even at home. God's 0:46:36.239 --> 0:46:39.160 presence knows no limits. If that's you today, say Pastor Robert, 0:46:39.200 --> 0:46:41.279 would you include me in this closing prayer? I need 0:46:41.280 --> 0:46:45.080 to give Jesus My life is so simple. Confess with 0:46:45.160 --> 0:46:48.080 your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ 0:46:48.200 --> 0:46:50.799 is Lord, that God raised him from the dead. If 0:46:50.800 --> 0:46:52.719 that's you, would you lift up your hand high enough 0:46:52.719 --> 0:46:54.600 and long enough to where I could see it. Yeah, 0:46:54.640 --> 0:46:58.319 thank you God, Thank you Lord. Anybody else thank you Lord. 0:46:58.680 --> 0:47:01.440 Yeah yeah. You don't have to clean yourself up to 0:47:01.480 --> 0:47:03.840 come to him. You come to him just as you 0:47:04.520 --> 0:47:07.759 are anybody else. Thank you. Jesus. Come on, can we 0:47:07.800 --> 0:47:11.320 pray this prayer as one big family? Come on across 0:47:11.320 --> 0:47:14.759 every location? Can we pray this? Say Dear Jesus, I 0:47:14.840 --> 0:47:20.359 need you. I cannot do life without you. Jesus, Thank 0:47:20.400 --> 0:47:24.560 you so much for living the life that I was 0:47:24.560 --> 0:47:28.520 supposed to live, for dying the death that I was 0:47:28.560 --> 0:47:33.719 supposed to die. You took my place. So my response 0:47:34.840 --> 0:47:38.000 is to give you everything. Forgive me of my sin, 0:47:39.320 --> 0:47:44.080 make me brand new. From this moment forward, I'm walking 0:47:44.120 --> 0:47:48.799 with you in Jesus' name, A man a man, A man, 0:47:48.960 --> 0:47:51.239 a man a man. Come on, if you meant what 0:47:51.320 --> 0:47:54.200 you prayed, Come on, can we all collectively just give 0:47:54.320 --> 0:47:57.360 King Jesus that be'st praise, that you're God. Oh, come on, 0:47:57.400 --> 0:47:59.480 give them some praise. I can see yourself getting up 0:48:00.160 --> 0:48:04.840 tard you're mad. No more excuses. I'm walking into what 0:48:04.920 --> 0:48:06.719 he has told me. God, bless you. Elevation. 0:48:07.880 --> 0:48:10.439 Hey, I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 0:48:11.000 --> 0:48:13.600 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 0:48:13.640 --> 0:48:16.239 get you all of these new messages as soon as 0:48:16.239 --> 0:48:19.040 they're available. I also want to take a moment and 0:48:19.120 --> 0:48:20.920 thank all of you who are a part of Elevation. 0:48:21.400 --> 0:48:24.759 Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or 0:48:25.160 --> 0:48:27.879 just share these messages, it's because of you that we're 0:48:27.880 --> 0:48:30.839 able to reach people all around the world. And if 0:48:30.840 --> 0:48:33.319 you want more information on how to be a part 0:48:33.360 --> 0:48:37.279 of Elevation, click the link in the description. Thanks again 0:48:37.320 --> 0:48:40.280 for listening. Make sure to leave a review, share the message, 0:48:40.320 --> 0:48:50.840 and subscribe. God bless you.