My Confidence Is Coming Back

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.120 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:04.840 Church and. 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:05.840 This is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:07.800 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.719 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.880 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.440 in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:14.720 Enjoy the message. 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:19.360 Are you excited for the Word of God today? Let's 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:25.640 get to it. Look at Hebrews Chapter ten, verse thirty 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:29.240 five through thirty seven, and this is a scripture that 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:31.520 is so loaded with power. I almost feel like I 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:35.120 could read it, drop the mic, walk off the stage 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:36.400 and not even say anything about it. 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:37.720 But I'm not going to do that. I'm and keep 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:39.200 the mic and talk about it for a little while. 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:40.080 Let me read it. 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:45.720 It says, so, do not throw away your confidence. It 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:53.560 will be richly rewarded. Now you need to perseverere so 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.560 that when you have done the will of God, you 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:59.960 will receive what He has promised. 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:06.319 Four in just a little while. Touch your neighbors say. 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:08.440 It won't be long now, It won't be long. Now, 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:11.480 in just a little while. 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:20.800 He who is coming will come and will not delay. 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.000 Instead of giving this message a title, I just want 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:25.919 us to make a faith declaration together. 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:26.440 You're ready. 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:29.400 Now, I need you to say this loud and proud, 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:33.320 so you convince the devil that you mean business. Shout 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:35.640 out so loud your neighbor gets startled when you say it. 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:38.320 You're ready, Come on in every location, Are you ready? 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:39.600 Say this? 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:45.640 My confidence is coming back. Tell five people yours is too. 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:53.840 Yours is too my confidence. You may be seated, God bless. 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:57.600 You coming back. 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:04.880 It's coming back quickly. That God kind of confidence, not 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.560 that Instagram confidence posting something taking it down four times 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:09.320 if it doesn't. 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:10.640 Get enough likes in three minutes. 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:13.840 Letting half my body hang out of my clothes so 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:15.400 somebody will tell me I look good. 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:22.600 That's not confidence, that's compensation. I want a God kind 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:23.480 of confidence. 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:28.799 It's important that I say that because confidence has a context. 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:30.600 If I were to say it in a Biblical context, 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.760 it would mean something different than in a Kardashian context. 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:38.200 You just want to get no slightment to any Kardashians. 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:40.280 No Kardashians were harmed in the making of this sermon. 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:43.640 I'm just saying that context is important, and the writer 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.760 of Hebrews has a daunting task in that he is 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:50.960 trying to strengthen and reconstruct, in some ways, the confidence 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:56.920 of a group of Christians who are in crisis. In 0:02:57.040 --> 0:03:04.919 order to do this, he employs to rhetorical devices. He 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:15.240 uses contrast and context. Contrast and context. He's speaking to 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:19.520 them in the midst of a trial, really a crisis 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:24.880 of confidence, and he's trying to get them focused on 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:30.600 Christ in their crisis. Because remember when Peter did that, 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:35.400 when he focused on Christ in his crisis, he transcended 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:36.640 the laws of buoyancy. 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:39.960 And it's amazing what you can get up above when 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:43.080 you focus on Christ in your crisis. 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:46.840 In order to bring them to this focal point of 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:51.360 Christ in crisis, he starts in Hebrews chapter one by 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:55.880 giving them a context of the superiority of Christ and 0:03:55.960 --> 0:04:00.400 the New Covenant in this setting. In this context, he 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:03.400 presents them with a picture of a Christ who is better, 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:09.640 better than the angels theological term the superiority of Christ. 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:13.200 But we would just say he's better. He's better than 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:16.480 anything you can name. He's better than anything you can inhale. 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:19.800 He's better than anything you can snort. He's better than 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.720 anything you can chug. He's better than anything. 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:22.960 You can date. 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:25.760 He's better than anything that you can give your life to. 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:28.200 He's better. Somebody's shout, he's better. 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:31.480 He's better than the mediator of the old covenant. 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:32.200 That's Moses. 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:34.800 And it is in this context that he must present 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:40.240 to the people a motivation for perseverance by establishing their 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:45.400 confidence in crisis. And so not only does he provide 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:48.520 a contrast the mosaic sacrificial system and the. 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:51.920 Temple cultic law to the hope that we have in. 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:55.280 Jesus Christ, that the sacrifice has been made once and 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:57.159 for all. 0:04:57.240 --> 0:04:58.839 You know how I know it's been made once and 0:04:58.880 --> 0:04:59.200 for all. 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:01.760 I saw your car coming into the parking lot today, 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:05.040 and I didn't see any bulls or oxen on. 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:07.120 The bike rack of your vehicle. 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:09.360 I didn't see you with the knife to slit their 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:11.719 throats so that you could make atonement for your sins. 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:15.839 Why because you came in with confidence that Christ is enough, 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:20.600 that Christ is enough to atone for my sin and 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.080 to make write all of my mistakes. And the author 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:27.159 of Hebrews is re establishing the confidence of people who 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:29.719 have lost their confidence. I found out in life you 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:31.520 can lose a lot of things and get them back 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:36.000 if you keep your confidence. The devil cannot take your calling. 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:39.479 The Bible says that the gifts in calling of God 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:40.560 are without repentance. 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:44.000 He doesn't change his mind when you lose your way. 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:47.360 So since the devil can't take your calling, he attacks 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:51.840 your confidence because if he can get you to give 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:55.680 him your confidence, he can keep you from functioning in 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:56.279 your calling. 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:58.720 If he can get you to believe that. 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:01.680 You're raising your kids just like your mom raised you, 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:05.120 and your mom raised you in a way that was 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:08.560 detrimental and destructive, he can get you to repeat the 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:13.920 patterns and miss the opportunity for progress. Because he stripped 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:16.840 you of your confidence. You can have a great calling 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.880 and no confidence. Joyce Meyer says, and she's coming for 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:21.920 a Code Orange revival, so maybe she'll tell you when 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:25.520 she comes. She said, a believer without confidence is like 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.880 a jet without fuel, sitting on the runway. All that equipment, 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:32.360 but no power to get up above the circumstances. That's 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:35.760 how sister Joyce said it. Ask your neighbor got confidence? 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:38.800 Remember they used to have got milk? Well, I want 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:43.800 to know got confidence? Christians without confidence? It should be 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:48.880 an oxymoron. I mean, the whole context of the Gospel 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:53.040 is confidence. If it doesn't make you more confident, it's 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.240 not the gospel. If you ever heard something preached to 0:06:56.279 --> 0:07:00.160 you and you walked up from it like crap, you're 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.359 the gospel in the correct context. And the author of 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:07.280 Hebrews is giving some context to the crisis, perhaps he 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.840 should preach to our nation right about now, because I 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.280 hear people saying weird stuff. They say, this is the 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:20.200 worst it's ever been. Really, really, it's worse than it's 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.960 worse than slavery, worse than it's ever been. I mean, 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:25.400 there are some things that are bad, but can we 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:29.760 put it in context. One time I was at a 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:32.920 pastor's roundtable and a young white pastor who wasn't much 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:35.640 older than me spoke up and said, our nation is. 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:37.160 More divided than it's ever been. 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:40.320 And he shouldn't have said that in that context because 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:43.880 there was an older African American pastor, probably over the 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.400 age of seventy, who had lived through segregation. And he 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:50.840 spoke up and said, young man, I appreciate your sentiment, 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:55.720 but allow me to provide some context. And about fifteen 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:59.360 minutes later, that white guy wanted out of the room. 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:02.840 Asked me the other day he said, Daddy, are all 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:08.120 presidential elections this crazy? Because he's only ten and he's 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:12.720 looking for some context. And of course it took me 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.840 a moment to think through all of the presidential elections 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:19.040 that I've witnessed. In two thousand, it was pretty crazy. 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.520 We barely found out who was the president by the 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:24.280 time their term was over. I don't know if anybody 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:28.760 remembers that, but it was. It was crazy then. And 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:32.240 I've explained to him how in the context of you know, 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:35.000 other parts of the world, we have a pretty peaceful 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:38.080 transition of power when you put it in context, and 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:42.240 some cultures power doesn't change hands unless blood runs in 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:46.160 the street. So I want to give him a context. 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:51.040 Sometimes you've lost your relationships because you've lost your context. 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:54.079 That is, someone will do one thing to offend you, 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:56.600 and in the light of that one thing that they 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:59.480 did to offend you, you will walk away from the 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:01.880 hundreds of things that they did that caused you to 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.640 love them. The devil is a master of trying to 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:08.680 create a crisis in your life by causing you. 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:10.239 To lose your sense of context. 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:12.280 I'm laughing because a lady over on my right side 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:14.600 was hitting a man I don't know what that was about. 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:17.720 But touch somebody and say, keep it in context. 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:19.280 That's what you. 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:21.800 Gotta do, Eve, because the serpent will come up to 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:24.000 you and say, did God really say you can't eat 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:26.240 from any tree in the garden? And you got to 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:27.959 remember God didn't say he can't eat of any tree. 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:30.079 He said, don't eat of that tree. But the enemy 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.280 wants to take it out of context, to get you 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:33.720 to look at all the things you can't do and 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:36.000 miss all the things you can do, and to get 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.640 you to think that Christianity is boring, or that it's 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:40.880 about rules and regulations, to take it out of the 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:44.840 context of relationships. But how many of you know that 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:49.040 we have a great high priest whose name is Jesus, 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:52.760 and the author of Hebrews wants to help you get 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:57.959 your confidence back. But you can't have confidence without context. 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.880 Could I would love to back up just a few 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:08.520 verses and provide a context for this admonition where he says. 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:15.520 Do not throw away your confidence see us a pretty powerful. 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:22.440 Admonition exhortation within itself, but when you give it its 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:25.080 full context, it's even more powerful. Would it be all 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:26.840 right if I backed up just a few verses and 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:27.840 give you some context. 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:31.040 I would love to give you the whole Book of Hebrews. 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:32.640 I didn't think it'd be good for us to do 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:34.800 the whole book in one day, but maybe we could 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:38.959 hit verse nineteen real quick, where he's encouraging this community 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:45.280 of faith that is an identity crisis, losing friends because 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:50.439 of their faith, suffering loss in their personal life, in 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.920 their relationship with their possessions because of their faith. And 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:58.720 he says, therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have somebody shouted, 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:01.559 we have confidence. 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.720 Now. We may not be accessing our confidence right. 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:08.640 Now, but we have it. How many of you have 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:12.240 a phone? How many of you are talking on it 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:16.559 right now? Just because you have it doesn't mean you're 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:21.280 using it. Sometimes we think we need more confidence, when 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.719 all we really need to do is use the confidence 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:29.079 that we already have by virtue of the power of 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:29.920 Christ in us. 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:31.240 I feel like preaching a. 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:35.840 Little bit today because somebody's going to get their confidence back. 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.480 By the time I put my microphone down, the Lord 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:42.600 told me some of you have been losing your confidence, 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:45.520 but he wants you to know that you have confidence 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:51.080 to enter the most holy place that was the place 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:54.600 where only the high priest could go. And even he 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:58.040 couldn't go in the wrong way, or he wouldn't come out, well, 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.440 he would come out. Body would have to drag him out, 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.640 because the presence of God was so strong in the 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:06.920 most Holy Place that if you. 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:09.239 Didn't go in ceremonially clean. 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.320 You would fall down dead in the presence of the 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:15.679 glory of God. How many are glad for a new Covenant? 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:20.720 I think the whole top section of Blakeney would fall 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:23.640 over dead if you had to be clean to come 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.920 to church today, I think the whole I think the 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:29.480 preacher would fall dead on the stage if you had 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:31.760 to be clean to come to church. And so he's 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:35.920 he's talking about this new Covenant and he's excited about it, 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:39.120 telling them come on in to the most Holy Place. 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.480 How do you come in by the blood of Jesus, 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:46.439 by a new and living way open for us through 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.880 the curtain that is His body. And since we have 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:53.360 a great high priest over the House of God, let 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:57.120 us draw near to God with the sincere heart and 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:01.560 with the full assurance that faith brings our hearts sprinkled 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:04.520 to cleanse us from a guilty conscience. 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.680 And having our bodies washed with pure water. 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:09.960 I was only going to read verse nineteen, but the 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:12.520 context of this is so powerful. I think I ought 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:14.280 to keep going? How many think I ought to keep going? 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:17.839 Come on, this is the covenant, the promise of God. 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.200 This is your relationship with him. Describe to find and 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:22.600 elaborated upon. 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:24.040 Let us hold. 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:28.439 Unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:32.959 is faithful, He who promised is faithful. You hadn't always 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:35.560 been faithful to him, but he's always been. 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:36.640 Faithful to you. 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:41.280 And let us consider how we may spur one another 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:45.960 on toward good deeds, not giving up meeting together as 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:51.480 some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another. 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:56.000 And all the more as you see the day approaching. 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:59.760 And so he's helping me before he tells me to 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:02.720 keep my confidence, He's helping me to see where my 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:09.439 confidence comes from. Let's talk about where Christian confidence comes from. 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:11.559 Because there are three things he mentioned in the text 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:13.400 I just read, and they all start. 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:13.679 With the letter C. 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:19.120 At least they will when I get done with them. 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:26.360 Helps me remember them better. He mentions, your conscience, it's 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:30.000 kind of hard to have full confidence when you have 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:36.720 a troubled conscience. It's kind of hard for me to 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:40.080 get up and preach to you when I have things 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:43.040 in my life, areas in my life where I haven't 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.240 been obedient. You know, there have been time before I've 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:48.040 been getting ready to preach, and before I could come 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:49.600 out on the stage, I had to make a phone 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:53.040 call and get something right, because if I come up 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:56.560 here in my conscience isn't clear. I don't mean that 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:58.280 I have to be perfect when I get up. If 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:00.720 that were the case, only J than Joseph will be 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:06.200 allowed to preach at Elevation Church. But I'm saying some 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:10.800 of you lost your confidence because you violated your conscience, 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:15.600 and so now in relationships you can't really look people 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:20.240 in the eye because of what you're hiding, because of 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:28.040 text messages you hope your wife doesn't see, because of 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:33.600 unresolved bitterness and forgiveness that God has initiated but you 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:38.360 have not completed. The devil is really masterful at this, 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:41.000 because if he can't get your calling without your confidence, 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:46.200 he'll get to your confidence through your conscience. So then 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:48.280 he will tempt you with something that he knows will 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:54.160 define or defile rather your conscience. And now, because you 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:58.440 have a defiled conscience, you have no confidence. To come 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:02.280 into the presence of God requires confidence. The presence of 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:04.760 God is the only place where your conscience can be cleansed. 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:06.000 We just read it in Hebrews. 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.680 He said that the most holy place the presence of God, 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:13.520 that place of surrender, that place of contact with God. 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:16.760 That's the place where the blood of Jesus is sprinkled 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:21.040 to purify your conscience. But if you don't have confidence, 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:24.240 you won't come in. So now the only place where 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.080 God can heal your conscience you don't go into. 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:28.600 Because you've lost your confidence. 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.320 You stop coming to church at the time when you 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:36.040 needed church the most. I'm gonna look at the camera 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:40.040 because somebody's watching me online today. You almost came, but 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:42.840 you felt guilty about something, and you let the devil 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:46.160 tell you that you couldn't come. But the context of 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.880 my relationship with God is not my behavior, is the 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:53.920 blood of his son. It was already shed. And when 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:58.440 those drops hit the crowd, mercy hit my life. Grace 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:03.360 covered my sin, His compassion cover all the wrong things 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:06.400 I had done, will do, and even the things I'm 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.600 doing right now, so I can come on in to 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:13.359 the presence of God with my head held high like 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:16.439 a child of the King. I'm not a slave to fear. 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:19.520 I'm a child of God, my spirit Christ. 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:22.800 How I'm a father. I needs your help. I'm in 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:24.720 a crisis. Come on in. 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.640 Hear the voice of God saying to somebody, come on in, 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:36.800 Come on in. I know what you did last summer. 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:40.320 Come on in. I know what you did in your twenties. 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:41.119 Come on in. 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:46.640 I know what you did at nine forty seven am. 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:49.600 Come on in. Tell somebody say, come on in. 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.440 We need you to know that the context of Christian 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:57.480 confidence is not your ability to conform to a set 0:17:57.520 --> 0:17:58.440 of behaviors. 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:00.640 That's the old covenant. 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:04.680 That's bringing a turtle dove to church and sacrificing it. 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:10.320 But we have a great high Priest, and he is 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:15.520 the context of my confidence. A context of my confidence 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:18.840 is a clear conscience. And then you know what else 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:25.480 I need. I need a community. I know your confidence 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:26.520 has been shaken lately. 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:33.080 That's why you need some people. Would you tell the 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:35.520 person next to you, I need people like you in 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:44.400 my life. I really do, I really do. 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:49.160 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:50.120 in the habit of doing. 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:57.240 I need people in my life because. 0:18:56.960 --> 0:18:59.000 I really believe if I hadn't grown up at Monk's 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:01.480 Corner United Method Church and it Jackie didn't tell me 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:03.280 God has a special plan for your life. When I 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:05.240 first got saved, I might have gone right back to 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:07.840 the way I was living. The temptation that is being 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:10.800 countered by the author of Hebrews is the temptation to 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:16.159 turn back that no sooner do you get started in 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:19.840 the pursuit of a promise from God than you lose 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:22.439 your confidence and turn back. You lose your confidence because 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:26.439 certain people don't like it. Certain people don't understand it. 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:29.440 Certain people aren't going the same way as you. Certain 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:32.639 people don't support or endorse your decision to be a 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:34.120 disciple of Jesus Christ. 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:39.520 That's why you need certain other people, certain other people. 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:41.640 You can't do this alone. 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:45.359 I like to say, back in the early days when 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:48.600 I first started preaching, you have to follow Christ for yourself. 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:50.600 But you cannot follow Christ by yourself. 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:54.600 So I need a new community. 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:58.560 I need a new community, somebody to look me in 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:01.320 the eyes from time to time and say I think 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:02.160 you still got it. 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:04.560 I think you ought to press on. 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:07.560 If you don't have those people in your life, there 0:20:07.600 --> 0:20:09.720 is no hope for you holding on to your confidence. 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:14.880 Because everybody in their head has a little confidence committee. 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:21.800 They sit around that table, and you have the committee 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:23.440 member called past experience. 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:27.480 And boy, he'll speak up real quick when you decide 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:31.439 to do something for Gott. You tried that once, how'd 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:31.800 that go? 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:36.000 He'll show you the treadmill that you bought, it's now 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:43.920 a cote rack. And then there's past experience. And let's 0:20:43.920 --> 0:20:48.240 see who else sits at the table. You got past experience, 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:50.720 and maybe you got the committee. 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:55.080 Member of self loathing and doubt and all these people. 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.919 If you don't have one time the profit. 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:05.400 Elisha needed to teach his protege faith because they were 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:10.719 surrounded by enemies. And that's all that the protege could see. 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:14.240 That's all he could see, what was against him. I 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:18.080 took away his confidence. He cried out, oh my Lord, 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:23.320 what shall we do now? Sometimes that's that's the only 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:26.000 prayer you can pray. 0:21:27.840 --> 0:21:31.679 And Elisha gave him a different context. 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:36.719 When he prayed, open his eyes, Lord, that he may see. 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:39.680 And when he blinked and opened his eyes again, nothing 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:41.600 had really changed except. 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:44.520 His vision opened his eyes. 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:47.680 The second time he saw that what was surrounding them 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:51.200 was surrounded by the armies of the Living God. 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:54.040 You know, I believe. 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:57.680 God wants to bring people in your life who can 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:04.800 surround what surrounded you until you see the protection, the provision, 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:11.240 and the promise of God coming to pass in your life. 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:12.119 I'll be honest. 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:14.480 There are certain people I look for when I preach 0:22:15.200 --> 0:22:16.800 because they boost my confidence. 0:22:18.560 --> 0:22:23.440 Certain people I look away from real quick Taylor secret. 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:26.720 The right side of this Valentine campus is really spiritual. 0:22:27.280 --> 0:22:31.760 They will shout you down, only to be matched by 0:22:31.800 --> 0:22:33.359 this intersection. 0:22:34.440 --> 0:22:35.440 And the people in the. 0:22:35.440 --> 0:22:40.240 Back as well as the left side of the room. Look, 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:41.880 give me a wide shot. Can you show the other 0:22:41.920 --> 0:22:44.639 campuses how we built this room. We built this Valentine 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:51.000 campus where you can't sneak in, you can't fall asleep. 0:22:51.280 --> 0:22:55.760 Somebody will see you. We wanted you to know when 0:22:55.800 --> 0:22:56.360 you come to. 0:22:56.440 --> 0:23:01.960 Church you're surrounded, because you might up to church in trouble, 0:23:02.240 --> 0:23:06.800 and we and tempted and tested and try, but somebody 0:23:06.840 --> 0:23:12.360 shall I'm surrounded. Come on, tell seven people you're surrounded. 0:23:12.680 --> 0:23:15.280 Even if you want to go back, I won't let you. 0:23:15.560 --> 0:23:18.040 Even if you want to fall short. I'm not about 0:23:18.040 --> 0:23:21.280 to let you quit. You've come too far by faith. 0:23:21.480 --> 0:23:23.160 We're gonna lean on him together. 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:31.760 We're going forward surrounded, got a community even within our staff. 0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:32.479 It shocked me. 0:23:32.520 --> 0:23:35.639 On Wednesday, I've been teaching our staff and one of 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:39.320 the subjects I brought up was confidence. And in between sessions, 0:23:39.680 --> 0:23:42.800 we were singing one of my favorite new songs that's 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:45.440 gonna be recorded for the new album, and we sang 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:46.440 it today in church. 0:23:46.840 --> 0:23:48.560 Many of you be watching on TV and you won't 0:23:48.560 --> 0:23:49.480 get to hear it yet. 0:23:49.720 --> 0:23:53.080 But the song says, I believe I'll see you do 0:23:53.119 --> 0:23:56.480 it again. I believe I'll see you do it again. 0:23:58.359 --> 0:24:00.600 And we were singing it and the staff singing it, 0:24:00.640 --> 0:24:04.040 and there's a line in that song that says, this 0:24:04.359 --> 0:24:09.399 is my confidence. You never failed me yet, this is 0:24:09.480 --> 0:24:11.879 my confidence. And the Spear of the Lord spoke to 0:24:11.920 --> 0:24:15.679 me and said, go up on stage right now. And 0:24:15.720 --> 0:24:18.199 I was supposed to introduce Holly for her session, and 0:24:18.600 --> 0:24:19.800 the Lord told me she won't mind. 0:24:20.960 --> 0:24:26.080 She can wait and give an alter call for your staff. 0:24:27.800 --> 0:24:30.040 And I said, Lord, you mean that I got staffed 0:24:30.040 --> 0:24:34.600 that aren't saved. He said, well, yeah, probably that too. 0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:37.080 But that's not the kind of alter call. I mean, 0:24:38.280 --> 0:24:38.880 I'm skidded. 0:24:40.000 --> 0:24:43.240 And he said, I want you to call for people 0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:47.520 who are having a crisis in confidence. So when I 0:24:47.520 --> 0:24:48.800 did it, I said, I want you to come forward. 0:24:48.840 --> 0:24:50.439 If you're having a crisis in confidence, I want you 0:24:50.440 --> 0:24:51.240 to come to the stage. 0:24:51.760 --> 0:24:53.040 I thought three people would come. 0:24:53.880 --> 0:24:56.920 I turned around, and all of a sudden, they didn't 0:24:56.960 --> 0:25:00.160 come to the stage. They started coming on the stage. 0:25:00.560 --> 0:25:04.480 They misunderstood my instruction, and it wasn't three of them. 0:25:04.960 --> 0:25:08.120 It was more people that came to the stage than 0:25:08.160 --> 0:25:09.080 stayed in the seats. 0:25:10.440 --> 0:25:11.280 And the next thing I know. 0:25:11.240 --> 0:25:14.159 I was surrounded by these staff members and I went 0:25:14.240 --> 0:25:15.080 through everything in my head. 0:25:15.080 --> 0:25:16.640 I was like, did they hear what I said? 0:25:16.640 --> 0:25:19.359 Because I didn't say if you struggle a little bit 0:25:19.359 --> 0:25:21.199 with your confidence, you know, because if you give an 0:25:21.240 --> 0:25:23.200 altar call broad enough, you can get the whole room 0:25:23.240 --> 0:25:23.520 to come. 0:25:24.320 --> 0:25:27.960 You know what I'm saying. If you felt. 0:25:27.680 --> 0:25:31.840 Defeated, come, you know, you could just stretch it out 0:25:31.880 --> 0:25:33.560 if you're here today. 0:25:35.400 --> 0:25:37.200 But I didn't say, if you, you. 0:25:37.160 --> 0:25:40.040 Know, weren't outfit today and you're not feeling so good 0:25:40.040 --> 0:25:43.119 about it anymore, you feel kind of fat, come on 0:25:43.200 --> 0:25:45.240 to the stage and pray over your outfit. 0:25:45.400 --> 0:25:47.520 I said, a crisis and confidence. 0:25:48.000 --> 0:25:50.920 And over half my staff came and I prayed with 0:25:51.000 --> 0:25:54.120 them for about twenty minutes, and I said, we are 0:25:54.160 --> 0:25:58.159 going to leave some chains on the stage today. But 0:25:58.240 --> 0:26:00.160 probably the best thing I did for him was turn 0:26:00.240 --> 0:26:04.400 around and give them some context that there are times 0:26:04.440 --> 0:26:10.200 where the pressure to preach becomes so great, and my 0:26:10.400 --> 0:26:14.000 doubt in my own ability to lead the church becomes 0:26:14.000 --> 0:26:18.400 so strong. There have been times where I have fantasized 0:26:19.440 --> 0:26:24.000 about just walking out on independence and hoping maybe a 0:26:24.119 --> 0:26:30.480 truck will come. I know I seem confident up here, 0:26:31.840 --> 0:26:34.440 and maybe I shouldn't tell you this. Some of y'all 0:26:34.440 --> 0:26:36.080 are going to pray for me, write me a prescription 0:26:36.200 --> 0:26:39.000 or something like that. I'm not saying I walk around 0:26:39.000 --> 0:26:41.960 feeling that all the time. I'm not saying I'm suicidal. 0:26:42.280 --> 0:26:42.800 I was just. 0:26:42.840 --> 0:26:49.239 Trying to get them to see that their lack of 0:26:49.320 --> 0:26:53.080 confidence does not have to be the death of their calling. 0:27:00.640 --> 0:27:02.600 And the Devil's got some of you right now. 0:27:03.720 --> 0:27:09.080 You are at that Hebrew's ten crossroads of confidence, trying 0:27:09.119 --> 0:27:12.159 to decide whether to stay and raise your children or not, 0:27:14.040 --> 0:27:18.479 trying to decide whether continuing to pursue Christian values is 0:27:18.560 --> 0:27:20.600 even possible, or should you just. 0:27:20.600 --> 0:27:23.160 Give into the addiction and go back the other way? 0:27:24.119 --> 0:27:25.480 Trying to decide. 0:27:26.040 --> 0:27:28.080 I called my staff on the stage, and I even 0:27:28.160 --> 0:27:30.920 shared that about my own life, because I have seen 0:27:31.400 --> 0:27:37.000 too many callings abandoned at the crossroads of confidence. 0:27:39.480 --> 0:27:41.880 And if you just would have pressed on a little more, 0:27:42.359 --> 0:27:43.800 you would have seen the breakthrough. 0:27:43.960 --> 0:27:47.320 The author said, in just a little while, he who 0:27:47.359 --> 0:27:52.280 is coming, he who is coming, will come and not delay. 0:27:52.600 --> 0:27:54.800 When the devil really puts the pressure on. 0:27:55.400 --> 0:27:59.280 That's a side that you are in proximity to the 0:27:59.400 --> 0:28:06.400 promise that you've been pressing toward. We're praying on the stage, 0:28:07.480 --> 0:28:10.879 and I felt my confidence coming back, and it just 0:28:10.960 --> 0:28:11.320 hit me. 0:28:11.600 --> 0:28:14.240 If that was my staff, and they are paid to be. 0:28:14.280 --> 0:28:24.879 Christians, what's going on in the congregation, what's going on 0:28:24.960 --> 0:28:25.400 out there? 0:28:26.600 --> 0:28:28.000 What is the devil telling you? 0:28:28.320 --> 0:28:31.280 If he's telling the preacher, you know, you probably preached 0:28:31.280 --> 0:28:33.159 your best sermons by now, and they all heard everything 0:28:33.160 --> 0:28:35.840 you got to say. You know, you built that Valentine 0:28:35.840 --> 0:28:40.400 building too big, Never gonna fill that one up. That's 0:28:40.400 --> 0:28:43.320 what he's saying to me. I can't imagine. I mean, 0:28:43.360 --> 0:28:50.040 I'm the man of God. I can't imagine what he's 0:28:50.080 --> 0:28:54.000 telling you. I can't imagine the mistakes that he's bringing up. 0:28:55.040 --> 0:28:57.360 I can't imagine the dumb decisions that he replays in 0:28:57.360 --> 0:29:02.960 your mind. Just that five clip that runs randomly every 0:29:03.040 --> 0:29:07.920 time you go to step out, I can't imagine. And 0:29:08.000 --> 0:29:11.360 so he mentions, He says, you need a clear conscience, 0:29:11.840 --> 0:29:14.920 and only the blood of Jesus can do that. And 0:29:14.960 --> 0:29:19.080 you have the blood of Jesus. So be confident when 0:29:19.120 --> 0:29:21.120 you come before God. Come before him with confidence. And 0:29:21.160 --> 0:29:22.160 you need a community. 0:29:22.360 --> 0:29:24.960 Guy says something to everybody who came to church. Oh God, 0:29:25.160 --> 0:29:26.320 I know you're struggling a little bit. 0:29:26.400 --> 0:29:28.040 I know you got some things, but you're around the 0:29:28.080 --> 0:29:30.840 right people right now, and we're going to do this together. 0:29:34.520 --> 0:29:38.520 But it's going to take consistency. 0:29:40.000 --> 0:29:44.720 Don't give up meeting together. Encourage one another all the more. 0:29:44.720 --> 0:29:49.200 As you see the day approaching. You see his biceps. 0:29:49.400 --> 0:29:51.880 They didn't get like that one time in the gym. 0:29:53.960 --> 0:29:57.240 The first time he went to pick up the forties, 0:29:58.360 --> 0:30:00.960 they were real heavy and he it was grunting on himself. 0:30:01.120 --> 0:30:04.320 Now he just picks up the eighties in the nineties 0:30:05.120 --> 0:30:10.200 because he picked up the fifties and the sixties. Confidence 0:30:10.320 --> 0:30:17.800 comes from consistency. Well, I guess you're not confident. You 0:30:17.840 --> 0:30:20.200 only let me preach to you once every three months. 0:30:22.920 --> 0:30:29.120 You only open your Bible on special occasions, Like, I 0:30:29.120 --> 0:30:33.840 guess you're not confident? How could you be? Confidence comes 0:30:33.840 --> 0:30:40.360 through consistency. They were interviewing Serena after she won her 0:30:40.840 --> 0:30:45.320 what was it, her four and thirty second Grand Slam title, 0:30:46.000 --> 0:30:49.080 tied the record. They said, how do you deal with 0:30:49.160 --> 0:30:52.120 the pressure of this big moment and rise to the 0:30:52.160 --> 0:30:54.840 occasion as you have so many times? And I left 0:30:54.840 --> 0:30:58.440 at her response, it was instant classic. She said, well, 0:30:58.480 --> 0:30:59.680 I've played a lot of tennis. 0:31:04.240 --> 0:31:06.600 I thought that was so great. How do you deal 0:31:06.760 --> 0:31:09.200 with the big moments? Well, I played a lot of tennis. 0:31:10.880 --> 0:31:14.760 You see somebody who has a lot of confidence, they 0:31:14.760 --> 0:31:15.600 tell you how they got it. 0:31:15.960 --> 0:31:17.280 They prayed a lot of prayers. 0:31:19.360 --> 0:31:24.480 Yeah, how softly Serena speaks after she wins, I played 0:31:24.480 --> 0:31:25.320 a lot of tennis. 0:31:25.520 --> 0:31:27.920 You see somebody who asked tremendous peace in their heart. 0:31:28.440 --> 0:31:29.800 They forgave a lot of people. 0:31:33.720 --> 0:31:37.440 You see somebody who knows how to persevere through dry 0:31:37.520 --> 0:31:41.000 seasons and hard times. They read a lot of Bible verses, 0:31:46.280 --> 0:31:50.960 and so he sets confidence within the context of a 0:31:51.000 --> 0:31:56.360 clear contest, within the context of a strong community, within 0:31:56.400 --> 0:32:00.959 the context of a commitment to consistency. And now he says, 0:32:01.480 --> 0:32:04.160 let me get to my preaching part. How'd you like 0:32:04.200 --> 0:32:09.120 that set up? This won't take long, So do not 0:32:09.800 --> 0:32:12.640 throw away your confidence. 0:32:13.960 --> 0:32:22.040 It will be richly rewarded. Don't do it. Don't throw 0:32:22.480 --> 0:32:27.720 away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded. 0:32:27.880 --> 0:32:32.720 And you need to persevere so that when you have 0:32:32.800 --> 0:32:36.000 done the will of God, you will receive what he 0:32:36.560 --> 0:32:39.840 has problemise. Now, it's interesting to me that in order 0:32:39.880 --> 0:32:41.760 to get them to press forward, he tells them to 0:32:41.800 --> 0:32:45.800 look back. In verse thirty two, the writer says, if 0:32:45.840 --> 0:32:47.840 you want to go forward, here's what you need to do, 0:32:48.120 --> 0:32:53.000 remember those earlier days. This fascinates me because I've always 0:32:53.000 --> 0:32:55.560 been told that the way to gain confidence is to 0:32:55.600 --> 0:32:58.320 not look back. You know, you can't think about the past, 0:32:58.360 --> 0:32:59.480 can't think about what happened. 0:32:59.480 --> 0:33:00.719 You just got to even behind. 0:33:01.120 --> 0:33:04.360 Well, in this particular instance, the author advocates a type 0:33:04.400 --> 0:33:07.880 of memory management that will actually build your confidence. 0:33:08.320 --> 0:33:10.760 Remember those earlier days. 0:33:11.000 --> 0:33:14.680 After you had received the light, when you endured in 0:33:14.760 --> 0:33:17.240 a great conflict, full of suffering. 0:33:17.760 --> 0:33:20.680 He says, You've been through much worse than this, and 0:33:20.760 --> 0:33:21.280 you made it. 0:33:22.280 --> 0:33:23.600 Do you know what I know. I don't know what 0:33:23.640 --> 0:33:25.160 you've been through. I don't know what it looked like. 0:33:25.200 --> 0:33:26.440 I don't know how horrible it was. 0:33:26.480 --> 0:33:28.280 You could tell your story, I could tell my story. 0:33:28.480 --> 0:33:30.440 I know one thing about you. You made it. 0:33:32.040 --> 0:33:37.880 You're still here. I know that about you. I don't 0:33:37.880 --> 0:33:40.800 even have to know your name. I just know by 0:33:40.880 --> 0:33:42.719 the fact, by the virtue of the fact that you 0:33:42.760 --> 0:33:46.560 showed up, that you made it. And so sometimes it's 0:33:46.640 --> 0:33:50.760 just as simple as remembering that you made it. You know, 0:33:50.840 --> 0:33:53.440 when I'm stressed out and we're opening a new campus 0:33:53.440 --> 0:33:56.600 and I just flew back from Australia and a jet 0:33:56.680 --> 0:33:59.200 lagged and tired, and one of my best friends in 0:33:59.240 --> 0:34:02.040 the ministry is going through a terrible crisis and I'm 0:34:02.040 --> 0:34:04.520 walking through that with him, and all of it's hitting 0:34:04.520 --> 0:34:06.600 on the same weekend, and I'm coming out to open 0:34:06.640 --> 0:34:08.920 a campus and police are being shot in the streets 0:34:08.960 --> 0:34:10.960 and young men are being gunned down in the streets 0:34:11.000 --> 0:34:13.919 and I'm managing how to talk about that and open 0:34:13.960 --> 0:34:16.840 a campus, and you know, and my best friend is 0:34:16.880 --> 0:34:20.400 going through something, and everything's going and I haven't slept 0:34:20.400 --> 0:34:22.240 and I'm coming out and part of me is telling 0:34:22.239 --> 0:34:24.600 God backstage, I can't do this, I can't do this. 0:34:24.800 --> 0:34:26.400 And you know, when I start talking like that, the 0:34:26.400 --> 0:34:27.839 spear of the Lord will speak back to. 0:34:27.800 --> 0:34:29.839 Me, and all he says, is this really. 0:34:32.160 --> 0:34:37.200 Because I thought I remembered you in a white jeep Cherokee, 0:34:37.960 --> 0:34:42.200 a nineteen ninety white jeep Cherokee where you would leave 0:34:42.239 --> 0:34:44.839 on a Thursday and you would go preach at. 0:34:44.760 --> 0:34:52.880 A youth rally in Squirrelville, Georgia. And you would go 0:34:52.920 --> 0:34:56.440 preach at the youth rally Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Saturday night. 0:34:56.520 --> 0:34:58.000 You would leave, stop. 0:34:57.719 --> 0:35:01.680 At the gas station, get six diet and dues, drive 0:35:01.800 --> 0:35:04.880 back to Shelby, North Carolina, through the middle of the 0:35:05.000 --> 0:35:07.200 night and get back and lead worship, be there for 0:35:07.239 --> 0:35:10.520 the rehearsal at seven am and have everything set up 0:35:10.600 --> 0:35:12.640 for the worship team and you would lead the music. 0:35:12.680 --> 0:35:14.840 And then Sunday night you go to Charlotte and do 0:35:14.960 --> 0:35:17.480 your little core team meetings for your church plan that 0:35:17.560 --> 0:35:18.720 you were asking me to bless. 0:35:18.880 --> 0:35:20.719 And you would have the families there and no. 0:35:20.760 --> 0:35:23.000 New people would have showed up, but you would pre 0:35:23.080 --> 0:35:25.480 trite through it, and you wouldn't get discouraged, and you 0:35:25.480 --> 0:35:27.920 wouldn't get defeated, and you wouldn't get disappointed. 0:35:28.000 --> 0:35:29.480 But you'd just pretrike through it. 0:35:29.680 --> 0:35:32.200 And you stand up and say things boldly, and then 0:35:32.200 --> 0:35:35.640 you get up Monday morning with a hangover, holy hangover, 0:35:36.080 --> 0:35:39.280 and you would get in your write jeep Cherokee again 0:35:39.520 --> 0:35:42.719 and drive to Greenville. And sometimes you have Elijah three 0:35:42.760 --> 0:35:46.120 months old screaming in the backseat, and Holly and Elijah 0:35:46.120 --> 0:35:48.000 would go with you and you drop them off at 0:35:48.000 --> 0:35:50.360 your in laws house, and then you go to seminary 0:35:50.560 --> 0:35:53.799 and you'd sit there from nine am to nine pm 0:35:53.840 --> 0:35:55.920 in a systematic theology class. 0:35:56.040 --> 0:35:58.520 And you get back to Charlotte and you do it again, 0:35:58.760 --> 0:36:01.080 and you do it again. You do it again, and 0:36:01.120 --> 0:36:03.320 you did it before, and you can do it again. 0:36:03.560 --> 0:36:05.880 And you did it before, and you can do it again. 0:36:06.120 --> 0:36:08.680 You did it before, you can do it again. And 0:36:08.800 --> 0:36:11.840 some stands up on the inside of me and I tell. 0:36:11.719 --> 0:36:14.560 The devil, I'm that same dude that ran up and 0:36:14.600 --> 0:36:17.640 down the roads of I twenty six and I eighty 0:36:17.680 --> 0:36:21.120 five in a cheap Cherokee with the newborn baby. I 0:36:21.200 --> 0:36:24.400 believe God. Then I believe God. Now I saw him 0:36:24.480 --> 0:36:26.920 come through, then I'll see him come through again. 0:36:27.080 --> 0:36:31.479 I've seen him move a mountain, and I believe. Somebody said, 0:36:31.560 --> 0:36:32.120 I believe. 0:36:34.840 --> 0:36:39.720 I'm gonna preach until your confidence comes back. 0:36:41.560 --> 0:36:44.200 How do you get it back? You get it back 0:36:44.719 --> 0:36:46.160 in the gap? Touch? 0:36:46.200 --> 0:36:48.120 Somebody say, you get it back in the gap? 0:36:49.960 --> 0:36:51.160 Can I talk about the gap? 0:36:52.000 --> 0:36:53.799 Give me eight minutes? Come here, man, help me preach 0:36:53.960 --> 0:36:56.880 about the gap. Please please please come here, JJ, help 0:36:56.920 --> 0:36:59.640 me preach about the gap. Who else should help me 0:36:59.680 --> 0:37:02.399 preach about the gap? I think Jared Hogan's beard should 0:37:02.400 --> 0:37:04.160 help us preach about the gap. 0:37:04.800 --> 0:37:06.440 Come on, there's this gap. 0:37:06.640 --> 0:37:09.640 He said that after you have done the will of God, 0:37:10.239 --> 0:37:14.960 you will receive what he has promised. So we're on 0:37:15.000 --> 0:37:18.640 a journey and we're making progress. But in the midst 0:37:18.680 --> 0:37:21.360 of our progress we lose our confidence. Where do we 0:37:21.400 --> 0:37:27.200 lose it? We lose it in the gap. There's always 0:37:27.239 --> 0:37:31.160 a gap, he said. There is a space of time 0:37:31.200 --> 0:37:35.319 between when you have done the will of God and 0:37:35.719 --> 0:37:40.200 when the will of God becomes a parent in your life. 0:37:40.200 --> 0:37:45.640 There's a space. There's a gap. So these gentlemen will 0:37:45.680 --> 0:37:46.560 each represent something. 0:37:46.640 --> 0:37:46.879 JJ. 0:37:47.840 --> 0:37:53.520 You represent where I want to be and you, sir 0:37:54.080 --> 0:37:55.439 name please LaMarcus. 0:37:55.680 --> 0:38:02.600 LaMarcus is going to represent where I am, and I'm frustrated. 0:38:03.920 --> 0:38:04.520 In the gap. 0:38:05.680 --> 0:38:08.600 Where I am is not where I want to be. 0:38:09.920 --> 0:38:13.279 Who I am is not who I want to be. 0:38:14.320 --> 0:38:20.600 I'm in the gap. So here I get discouraged, and 0:38:20.640 --> 0:38:23.399 here I get weary, and here I want to quit, 0:38:24.600 --> 0:38:30.160 and here I want to withdraw. See, the church that 0:38:30.239 --> 0:38:33.799 the writer of Hebrews is addressing are not so much 0:38:34.600 --> 0:38:40.120 walking away from their faith as they are weakening in it. 0:38:40.120 --> 0:38:42.720 It's not a matter of we don't believe in Jesus anymore. 0:38:43.719 --> 0:38:47.319 It's a matter of wanting to withdraw from believing for 0:38:47.400 --> 0:38:51.319 the fullness of the promise of life in Him. And 0:38:51.520 --> 0:38:54.200 I would think that's where most people in church struggle 0:38:54.480 --> 0:39:00.319 is in this gap between where I am where I 0:39:00.320 --> 0:39:06.000 want to be. So there is another gap, and this 0:39:06.080 --> 0:39:09.520 is where Jared's gonna help us, because this second gap 0:39:12.760 --> 0:39:18.399 is the distance not between where I am and where 0:39:18.440 --> 0:39:24.040 I want to be, but this gap is the distance. 0:39:24.480 --> 0:39:30.360 Between where I was and where I am. Come on, 0:39:30.480 --> 0:39:33.279 talk to me, somebody, talk to me. We're gonna put 0:39:33.280 --> 0:39:37.239 it in context today. We're gonna put it in context. Today. 0:39:38.160 --> 0:39:41.200 You've been wanting to quit because all you see is this. 0:39:41.880 --> 0:39:44.280 But every once in a while, I'm almost done. 0:39:44.440 --> 0:39:47.000 Every once in a while, you need to look back 0:39:47.040 --> 0:39:50.520 over your shoulder, look back with me, and remind the devil. 0:39:50.840 --> 0:39:53.480 I'm not where I want to be. I'm not who 0:39:53.520 --> 0:39:56.839 I'm gonna be, but I'm not who I was. So 0:39:56.920 --> 0:40:00.560 I think if I already made it this far, if 0:40:00.600 --> 0:40:04.640 I've already seen this much, if I've already believed God 0:40:04.719 --> 0:40:08.719 through so much breaking and through so many battles, I 0:40:08.760 --> 0:40:10.000 think I'll press. 0:40:09.800 --> 0:40:13.560 On and see what the end is gonna be. 0:40:18.960 --> 0:40:23.359 In that good, in that good, I got it back 0:40:23.400 --> 0:40:24.000 in the gap. 0:40:24.719 --> 0:40:25.600 I got it back. 0:40:25.440 --> 0:40:28.520 When I look back and realize that God is. 0:40:28.520 --> 0:40:30.719 Still with me. And so you're gonna have to get 0:40:30.760 --> 0:40:34.239 your confidence back in the gap. Somebody shot My confidence 0:40:35.160 --> 0:40:37.880 is coming back, and I need you to understand that 0:40:37.960 --> 0:40:39.480 my situation didn't change. 0:40:39.320 --> 0:40:42.759 Yet, but the return of my confidence for seeing the 0:40:42.800 --> 0:40:46.440 improvement of my situation in just a little while, He 0:40:46.640 --> 0:40:49.120 who is coming will come and not delay. 0:40:49.360 --> 0:40:50.440 But I'm not waiting for. 0:40:50.440 --> 0:40:53.440 Him to come back for my confidence to be restored. 0:40:53.760 --> 0:40:56.759 I'm gonna raise him right now. I'm gonna bless him 0:40:57.080 --> 0:40:59.399 right now. I'm gonna believe that right now. 0:40:59.440 --> 0:41:00.520 Come on, help, let me preach. 0:41:00.840 --> 0:41:04.040 The spirit of God is in this place, and my 0:41:04.280 --> 0:41:13.440 confidence is coming back. See because in that gap is 0:41:13.480 --> 0:41:17.160 every lion and every bear that I've already killed. So 0:41:17.320 --> 0:41:21.800 come on, Goliath, my confidence is coming back. 0:41:23.040 --> 0:41:26.319 My confidence is coming back. 0:41:28.560 --> 0:41:32.400 I don't know the way forward, but the same God 0:41:33.680 --> 0:41:35.360 who got me through that gap. 0:41:39.600 --> 0:41:43.600 Is with me in this one. Clap your hands, get God. 0:41:43.680 --> 0:41:43.919 Praise. 0:41:44.040 --> 0:41:50.400 Come on, clap your hands, get God. Do you know 0:41:50.440 --> 0:41:54.640 what praised us? Everyone's standing, everyone's standing. Do you know 0:41:54.680 --> 0:41:55.480 what praised us? 0:41:57.000 --> 0:42:07.240 Praise puts your problem in context. When you praise God 0:42:07.280 --> 0:42:10.680 with your mouth, when you praise God in your mind, 0:42:11.520 --> 0:42:15.840 when you praise God in your heart, it puts your 0:42:16.600 --> 0:42:21.680 problem in the context of God's power. 0:42:25.360 --> 0:42:29.320 Some of you allowed your problem to weaken your confidence. 0:42:30.320 --> 0:42:32.120 This is beautiful the way the Lord gave it to me. 0:42:32.120 --> 0:42:33.759 I'd like to give it to you, and I get 0:42:33.800 --> 0:42:34.879 out of your way. 0:42:36.000 --> 0:42:38.320 He said, do not throw away your confidence. 0:42:39.560 --> 0:42:43.040 The reason that spoke to me is because a lot 0:42:43.040 --> 0:42:46.920 of us would blame life experiences and circumstances, and even. 0:42:46.719 --> 0:42:48.280 The devil for taking our confidence. 0:42:50.640 --> 0:42:54.280 Something that happened to using someone said to us something 0:42:54.280 --> 0:42:57.319 someone did to us. But the author of Hebrews didn't 0:42:57.360 --> 0:43:02.520 talk about other people or the devil. He said, your 0:43:02.560 --> 0:43:06.440 confidence is your responsibility. 0:43:07.800 --> 0:43:11.880 Do not throw away your confidence. 0:43:13.360 --> 0:43:15.480 For those of you who have lost confidence in your 0:43:15.520 --> 0:43:16.799 life today, listen to me. 0:43:17.520 --> 0:43:19.400 Nobody took it from you. They can't. 0:43:21.360 --> 0:43:23.640 Nobody can take away from you what they didn't give 0:43:23.719 --> 0:43:30.440 to begin with. When you lose your confidence, it's because. 0:43:30.440 --> 0:43:33.040 You gave it away. Here's the good news. 0:43:33.640 --> 0:43:37.400 If you're the one who gave it away, you're the 0:43:37.480 --> 0:43:38.120 one who. 0:43:37.960 --> 0:43:42.239 Can get it back. Come on, Church, take it. Take 0:43:42.280 --> 0:43:42.840 it back. 0:43:44.080 --> 0:43:49.080 Take back your confidence, take back your hope, take back 0:43:49.160 --> 0:43:53.120 your future, take back your dream. 0:43:53.160 --> 0:43:55.880 Take back your calling. Take it back. 0:43:56.200 --> 0:43:59.560 In the name of Jesus, we have a great high priest. 0:44:00.080 --> 0:44:01.360 The cortness rip. 0:44:01.520 --> 0:44:04.880 The veil is gone, the blood is set, The place 0:44:05.040 --> 0:44:08.160 is me, The way is before you, the past is 0:44:08.320 --> 0:44:09.400 behind you. 0:44:09.440 --> 0:44:10.760 Get up a sell a friend. 0:44:18.480 --> 0:44:24.880 So we say with confidence Hebrews thirteen six. 0:44:27.040 --> 0:44:29.200 The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. 0:44:30.320 --> 0:44:33.319 No no, no, that's not how we say it. We 0:44:33.480 --> 0:44:40.960 say it with confidence. How would you say it if 0:44:41.000 --> 0:44:43.759 you were confident? Let me hear you try it. 0:44:44.239 --> 0:44:56.760 So we say with confidence. Now I'm not the devil, 0:44:58.040 --> 0:45:02.080 but if I were, I would not be convinced. So 0:45:02.200 --> 0:45:07.480 we say, with the Lord is my helper, I will 0:45:07.560 --> 0:45:08.560 not be afraid. 0:45:09.600 --> 0:45:12.520 Let me see how that felt. I say. We tried 0:45:12.520 --> 0:45:13.279 it at another time. 0:45:13.719 --> 0:45:17.080 So we say with confidence, for. 0:45:17.280 --> 0:45:20.879 Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. Try 0:45:20.880 --> 0:45:21.280 it again. 0:45:21.719 --> 0:45:26.239 So we say, with confidence, the Lord is my helper. 0:45:26.480 --> 0:45:30.040 I will not be afraid. The Lord is my helper. 0:45:30.160 --> 0:45:33.200 I will not be afraid. For Lord you matter help 0:45:33.200 --> 0:45:36.560 the devil. I will not be afraid. For Lord is 0:45:36.640 --> 0:45:40.680 my helper. I will not be afraid. I will not fear. 0:45:41.080 --> 0:45:43.600 My God is still be My God. 0:45:43.480 --> 0:45:46.160 Is still great. My God is too faithful. 0:45:46.480 --> 0:45:49.560 My God is too good, My God is too wise, 0:45:50.000 --> 0:45:51.560 My God is too awesome. 0:45:51.880 --> 0:45:53.560 It's gracious to a mason. 0:45:53.960 --> 0:45:58.719 I've come to the farm to quit, and my confidence 0:45:59.320 --> 0:45:59.800 is coming. 0:46:05.040 --> 0:46:06.160 Thank you for joining us. 0:46:06.440 --> 0:46:08.920 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:46:09.000 --> 0:46:12.480 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:46:12.920 --> 0:46:15.399 You can click the link in the description to give now, 0:46:16.000 --> 0:46:19.239 or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for. 0:46:19.200 --> 0:46:22.239 More information, and if you enjoyed the podcast, you. 0:46:22.200 --> 0:46:25.120 Can subscribe You can share it with your friends. You 0:46:25.160 --> 0:46:27.600 can click the share button, take a screenshot and share 0:46:27.600 --> 0:46:30.399 it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. 0:46:30.480 --> 0:46:32.120 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.