Never Stop Knocking

0:00:09.480 --> 0:00:11.559 And I want to turn that around before we get 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:14.360 into the sermon, and I want to say how thankful 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:18.159 I am for you, and you are an answer to 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:22.000 prayer is what you don't realize. We started praying for 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:25.840 you before we ever had our first church service, that 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.240 the Lord would send us people who first of all, 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:34.040 that he would send people that needed Jesus. And do 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:42.480 you qualify it? I'm like, God, send people who need 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:46.080 you in their life as much as I do. And 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:48.640 then we prayed that he would send us people. You 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:51.640 remember the scripture where Jesus said the harvest is plentiful, 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:56.160 but the laborers are few. And so we asked the 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:59.200 Lord to send people who would not just want to 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:01.520 pull up to the all you can eat crab like 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:06.920 buffet and and just and just consume, but would really 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.800 want to bring to God an offering. And that's prayer, 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:15.640 that's giving, that service, that's worship. But you know who 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:18.319 you are, the thousands of you that actually make it happen, 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:22.080 that don't just come and go. I wonder if Best 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.520 or Steven's preaching today or is it one of them guests. 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:26.400 Some of them are pretty good. I don't luck all 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:31.760 of them, but they're all right, but some people just 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:36.440 show up in their life. It doesn't matter who's preaching, 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:46.280 because I know and you know that it's not about 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:50.880 a preacher a personality. It's about the purpose that God 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:55.840 has given us to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:01.280 into all the world. So all right, get it out 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.520 of your system. Twenty one seconds, I mean twenty two, 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:17.760 twenty twenty two, twenty two seconds. I'm ray, praisey woke. 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:24.960 It's our proc full out the cander. I a list 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:36.040 the Scripture of the Lord gave us for today. Stay 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:40.800 standing is from Acts chapter twelve, one of the coolest 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:44.799 Bible stories that you ever will read. Now. They're all inspired, 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:49.320 but some of them are more intriguing than others, at 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:53.480 least to me. This passage I preached to you back 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.880 in twenty nineteen. The only reason I know that because 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:58.960 I forget. You know, I don't always hunt to the 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:05.040 next sermon, because someday happens every seven days. But I 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:09.760 do write down when I preached certain things. The sermon 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:17.000 I've preached in July twenty nineteen was from this passage 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:21.040 called Knock Knock. All right, well, this is sort of 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:24.520 like a sequel, But I see it differently now in 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:29.160 the context of just what we're celebrating today and kind 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:32.760 of the redefinition that the Church is going through in 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:35.320 the world is going through. So I hope that you'll 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:39.880 find an admonistion. I think I believe by faith, you 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:48.840 will find an encouragement for yourself through this today. Verse one. 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:51.880 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:57.440 who belonged to the Church, intending to persecute them. He 0:03:57.480 --> 0:03:59.800 had James, the brother of John, put to death with 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:03.520 the sword. When he saw that this met with approval 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:09.640 among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter. Also. This 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:14.680 happened during the festival of unleavened Bread. After arresting him, 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:19.479 he put him in prison, handing him over to be 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:26.760 guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. He must 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:31.880 be powerful to be under this much attack. You must 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:41.080 be powerful to be up under this much attack. Wow. 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:46.000 Verse five. Ah. So Peter was kept in prison. But 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:51.280 the church, but the church, But the church, But the church. 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:59.680 But the Church was earnestly praying to God for him. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:01.839 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.520 Peter was sleeping between two soldiers down with two chains, 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.159 and Sentry stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:12.279 of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:16.040 It's the last minute, down to the wire, sudden death, overtime, 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:19.960 and here comes the angel. He struck Peter on the side. 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:23.680 What kind of angel hits you while you're asleep, blond side, 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:28.160 and woke him up. Quick, get up, he said, and 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:31.240 the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the angel said 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.839 to him, put on your clothes and sandals. You can't 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.440 leave naked. Cover up. I got somewhere for you to 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.280 go touch somebody, say, get dressed for what's next. Get 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:42.160 dressed for what's next. Get dressed for what's next, and 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:45.640 Peter did, so, wrap your cloak around you and follow me, 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:48.200 the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:50.160 but he had no idea that what the angel was 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:52.599 doing was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:55.279 They passed the first and second guards, came to the 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:57.960 iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:04.280 by itself, and then they win through it. They went 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:07.560 through it. That could be about you. How many of 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:11.240 you went through it? You don't even have to tell 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:16.240 me what it was, but you went through it. Irongate 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.800 opened by itself, and they went through it, and when 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:23.480 they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:30.000 angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:37.279 now I know, now I know without a doubt that 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:40.760 the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:46.160 Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:53.240 would happen, everything my enemies thought would happen, but it 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:57.640 didn't work. That's what Peter said, How many of you 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:01.080 have the same testimony that no weapon that was formed 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:11.400 against you? And when this had dawned on him, he 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:13.920 went to the house of Mary, the mother of John 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:18.240 also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.600 praying just a few more verses, stay with me. Peter 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:26.120 knocked at the outer entrance. A servant named Rhoda came 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.680 to answer the door, and when she recognized Peter's voice, 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:36.520 she was so overjoyed and excited she ran back without 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:43.240 opening it and exclaimed, Peter's at the door. Peter's at 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:47.120 the door, y'all, Peter's at the door. Shut up. Rhoda 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:51.400 were praying for Peter. But Peter's at the door. You're 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:57.000 out of your mind, they told her, and she kept insisting. 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:00.360 She kept insisting, there's a pattern in this past I'm 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:06.000 about to show you. When she kept insisting that it 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:10.160 was so, they said it must be his angel because 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:15.760 he's already dead by now. Wow, more faith to believe 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:21.640 that his angel came to the door than that God 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:27.920 actually answered their prayers for him. But this is the 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:35.200 verse I'll stop on. Peter kept on knocking, y'all like that. 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.640 I love that Peter kept on knocking. And when they 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:42.560 opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. So 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:45.120 I'll give you three titles for this message, depending on 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.160 what kind of sauce level you want. If you want 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:52.040 the mild message, title is called waiting for an Answer. 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:55.120 That's if you're a first time guest and you need 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:59.200 something kind of appropriate to right now. If you want 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:02.240 something a little bit more, just a little bit more 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:09.559 attitude on it, it could be called God's Gonna shock You. Yeah, 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:14.439 sound like y'all want to the tongue torch. Sweet sixteen 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:23.240 anniversary tied on? All right? Hear this? Never stop knocking? Never. 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:30.200 If there's one thing I've learned. If there's one thing 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.840 it taught me getting up here in this pulpit to 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:38.880 preach Jesus Christ, crucify, buried, risen from the dead and 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.520 soon to come again and present in this moment is 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:48.880 never stop knocking. So put it in the chat. Never 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:53.840 stop knock it. Put some knuckles in the chat. I 0:09:54.000 --> 0:10:01.480 will never stop knocking, you said Lord, asking it will 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:04.520 be given seeking we will find knocking. The door will 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:09.600 be open. We're asking in this moment that you would speak, infuse, 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:14.240 and impart faith and courage like only you can. We 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:16.319 thank you that we're standing in front of an open 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:21.040 door this day. We bless you for it. In Jesus' name. Amen, 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:26.360 you may be seated. I made y'all stand a long time, 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:34.080 didn't I That's all right? Love you. Christian good Man. 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:38.760 He's been with me almost all sixteen. I met him. 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:41.679 Listen to this when I was sixteen. I've known him 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:46.520 that long. A isn't that crazy? Asked him to start 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:51.800 a church with me. He said, nope, he did. We 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.400 were actually not the start. We were kind of already started. 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:56.839 I said, Chris, come out here and be my worship leader. 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.320 When the church started. I'm gonna tell you a few 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:02.960 old men today, just once a year. But I was 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:07.160 the worship leader, singing songs like these are the days 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:14.480 of Elijah declaring the word of the Lord, and these 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:20.000 are the days of somebody else in the Bible. It 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:23.520 was too much, though, like trying to lead worship. Plus 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.400 I knew that God would send people. I asked Chris. 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:30.280 He said, nope, I'm going to Nashville. I told him, 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.760 why don't should come here, build a church and make 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:39.640 Nashville come to us. That's true, isn't it. They're looking 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:41.520 at me like I'm some kind of liar up here. 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:44.480 You didn't say that I did. I say, you can 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:47.319 go to Nashville and maybe you make it, or maybe 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:54.240 you're a roofer in three years, and come here and 0:11:54.320 --> 0:12:01.440 build a church, write songs for people that they can 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:04.600 sing that will make them. And the first songs that 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:07.720 we wrote here sucked, but they've gotten better and better 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:14.520 and better. Never stop knock him because he told me no. 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:22.199 But I just you know, I have techniques that here 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:26.200 we are now that dude's been nominated for multiple Grammys. 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:34.679 You know what I'm saying, He said, Can I change 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:39.319 my answer? I said, yeah, I'm desperate. I'll still take you. 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:45.120 I have no pride. Everybody I started, well, it's kind 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:50.560 of a contrast. We're skinner. Yeah. I had him on standby, 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.520 come here, because I was like, I told him to 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:59.200 be on standby. I told him be ready to preach today. 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:02.680 But I'm using to preach. But he's not. He's not 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:05.880 gonna have to say anything. I asked him. I said, 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.280 I'm going to start a church. And here's the kicker. 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:14.160 I don't know where, and it is what he said. 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:19.840 I'm going with with, not not I'm going with you 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:25.080 just some Minnesota grammar. I guess that's how they talk 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:34.480 in Minnesota. Bad grammar, great faith. I'm going with Now, 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.360 this guy chunks, come here. Can you make it up 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:41.680 the stairs? Y'all? He's only like forty five, but he's 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:47.720 got so many injuries. This is like my this is 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.040 like my euro man. I love him so much. He's 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:52.080 like my guy. If he ever told me he would 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:53.880 stop doing it, I would tie him up and not 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:56.200 let him leave. I'll put him in the trunk. But 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:58.760 he was different. I said, I want you to start 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:01.640 the church with me, and he was, I'll pray about it. 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.000 You remember that list. You pulled me in the Sunday 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:08.640 school room and you had a list. Now, now, how 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:11.040 about this? And how about that? How about that? He 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:16.840 wanted answers, Right, I need some answers. What about this? 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:21.640 And what about that? Bo was amazing because even though 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:26.520 I couldn't answer give him any of his answers that 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:33.400 he wanted. In the absence of answers, he chose faith 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:36.880 at the last minute, like in the passage where the 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:39.640 angel showed up on the night. Couldn't you have showed 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:41.800 up three nights before I was about to get my 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:45.160 head cut off. Angel? But sometimes at the last minute, 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.440 and I had already given up on you. And Holly said, 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:51.880 wait for him. He's worth waiting for. He's worth waiting for. 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.360 He's supposed to be your guy's worth waiting for. I said, 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:57.360 I need an answer. How many of you have been 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.360 in a position lately where you say I need an answer. 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:02.520 I need an answer from God. I need an answer 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:07.000 from someone, he said. He said, I'm praying about it. 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:10.560 I said, I need an answer by noon on Thursday. 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:12.840 I gotta have an answer because I got to move 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:14.400 on because God has called me to do this. And 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:15.440 if you want to do it with me. I really 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:16.400 want you to do with me, but you don't do 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:17.680 it with me. I gotta find somebody else, and the 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:19.480 w me my second choice. But I gotta do it 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:20.800 because God told me to do it. You got to 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:30.800 noon Thursday, eleven fifty seven am on that Thursday, my 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:35.920 motorola ring. This is this is an anniversary. So we're 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:39.760 just telling old stories. And I said, I said, hey, 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:44.280 he said I'm in. We're in, and he and Amy 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:54.360 have been with us ever since. That's cool, y'all give 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:56.000 them a little bigger hand than that. For all the 0:15:56.000 --> 0:16:13.080 faith that it puts. People go on pretend like y'all 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.600 are those two guards that Peter was chained to. All right, 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:19.640 for a moment, just go with me here and think 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:24.160 about what kind of faith it took for Peter in 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:31.560 the passage to sleep while they were deciding whether or 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:36.520 not he would live. And think about who Peter was 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:40.080 and the kind of personality that he had in other 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:44.120 passages of scripture, and realize what a miracle it is 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:48.280 for the same disciple who ran down into the stern 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:51.160 of the ship one time in a storm and said, Jesus, 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:55.800 why are you sleeping? We're about to die and you 0:16:55.960 --> 0:17:01.240 don't care. Think about the transformation that has happened in 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:05.320 these years and the spirit that has empowered Peter to 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:10.080 be able to sleep between two guards. Actually it was 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:14.440 sixteen guards, wasn't it that I read that right? It was? 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.560 It wasn't a sweet sixteen It was four squads of 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:25.160 four soldiers that sixteen guards, sixteen people for one Peter. 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:33.840 What kind of power was in Peter? What kind of 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:39.320 power is in you? Because you've been through some things 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:46.959 and you've been asking God for answers. Faith is the 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:56.440 ability sometimes to lay down and sleep and let Faith 0:17:56.520 --> 0:18:04.280 answer the questions. I'm picturing Peter's sleeping, and I'm realizing 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:08.600 in scripture that this is not the first time that 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:14.320 we've seen Peter asleep in the Bible. In the garden 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:17.679 of Gathsemone, y'all remember it. Raise your hand if you 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:21.400 remember the garden of Gethsemone, that place before Jesus went 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:27.480 to the cross where he gave his father an unqualified yes. Now, remember, 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.000 he asked God, if it's possible take this cup away 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:34.080 from me as he went to pay the price for 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.760 your sin, my sin. As he went to take on 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:39.720 the punishment that we rightly deserved. As he went to 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:43.040 be the sacrifice to atone for our sin, not trying 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:45.200 to use a bunch of fancy words, just to let 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:48.000 you know that, he canceled the debt that was stood 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:52.439 against us. But it cost him. It cost him, And 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:55.720 as he considered encountered that cost, he prayed, and he 0:18:56.000 --> 0:19:00.240 asked God, if there's any other way take this cup 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:04.720 from me. God did not answer by removing the cup 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:10.120 of suffering. He answered by filling Jesus with the strength 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:14.639 to endure what he had to do. And so for 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:18.760 the joy set before him, he endured the cross, despising 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:21.680 its shame, and then sat down at the right hand 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:31.320 of God. So if Jesus is seated, I can sleep Helvy, 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:35.639 my goodness, I feel like preaching to this, Oh, I 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.760 can sleep through anything. When I know that he's seated, 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:42.040 I can sleep through anything. I can rest through anything. 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.280 You know. In the garden of gethsemone, while Jesus prayed, 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:48.280 Peter slept, and he said, wake up. My soul is 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:52.160 in anguish. He's sweating like drops of blood, and Peter's sleeping. 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:54.800 He said that the spirit is willing, but the flesh 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:58.760 is weak. Peter was sleeping out of weakness in the garden, 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:02.720 but he's not I'm sleeping out of weakness in Acts 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:09.639 chapter twelve. He's sleeping from a place of knowing that 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:15.520 I am seated in heavenly places with Jesus. And if 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:20.920 I'm seated with him, it doesn't matter what Herod has planned. 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:27.000 It matters what God has purpose for my life. That's 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:33.640 how he slept, all right. I need to sit y'all 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:35.919 down before LB tackles me on this stage. I'm good 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:37.680 with y'all. I might call you back. I might not. 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:40.920 I hadn't decided yet. But no matter what, we come 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:43.960 to this text in Acts chapter twelve looking for we 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:52.880 certainly find an incredible picture of persistence. Persistence. On one hand, 0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:58.199 the passage is about peace. That Peter has peace to 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:00.960 sleep on the worst night of his life. And y'all, 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:07.040 they didn't have lu nesta in Acts chapter twelve. Isn't 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:12.800 that the sleep medicine. Peter didn't even have a white 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:15.960 noise on his iPhone to put on the white noise 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:23.280 that I'm thinking that this is a passage about peace 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:29.760 and persistent. Can remember that the church was earnestly praying. 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:35.280 I think the word earnestly is important because we let's 0:21:35.280 --> 0:21:37.760 be honest, and I know there's like five prayer warriors 0:21:37.760 --> 0:21:41.160 in this room, but for the other thousands of us, 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:46.440 we passively pray. Okay, I'm gonna say it stronger because 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:53.359 y'all are real fake right now, we worry out loud 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:59.720 and call it prayer too strong. I'm backing off, backing 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:08.880 off a dance celebration. We we give God our grocery list, 0:22:08.960 --> 0:22:14.600 like he's in Stacart. Holly said last week or whatever 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:17.280 week she preached, she said that was such a good thing, 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:19.879 she said, she said, telling God what to do is 0:22:19.920 --> 0:22:26.960 not praying. I was like, who are you? I like 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:29.320 what you just said, and you are right, and I 0:22:29.359 --> 0:22:33.320 had done that and it's exactly right. And you know, 0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:38.000 the church is praying for Peter, but it doesn't say 0:22:38.040 --> 0:22:44.919 what they were praying about for Peter. And remember, although 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:49.800 the passage gets kind of funny, it doesn't start funny. 0:22:48.920 --> 0:22:53.080 It It not only takes place in the time of famine. 0:22:53.440 --> 0:22:55.480 There was there was a feminine xt chapter eleven you 0:22:55.520 --> 0:22:59.040 can read about. But if this is chronologically, If if 0:22:59.080 --> 0:23:02.119 this is chronological, the next thing in sequence than at 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:05.240 the same time that the church in Jerusalem is recovering 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:11.440 from famine, Herod is persecuting the church, and he has 0:23:11.880 --> 0:23:18.119 just killed James. Do you think the church prayed for James? 0:23:21.800 --> 0:23:26.280 So understand when it says they are earnestly praying for Peter. 0:23:28.000 --> 0:23:35.080 That takes more faith when you've just lost James. Have 0:23:35.160 --> 0:23:37.480 you ever had to pray and ask God and believe 0:23:37.520 --> 0:23:41.919 God and trust God when he didn't answer the last 0:23:41.920 --> 0:23:46.640 thing that you prayed for. That's hard, whether we will 0:23:46.680 --> 0:23:51.280 admit it or not. Our faith deteriorates when our expectations 0:23:51.280 --> 0:23:58.000 are not met. I wrote a book called Sunstand Still 0:23:58.800 --> 0:24:03.320 early in the church. Y'all didn't even read that one. 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:08.600 Go get that book and you will hear. You will 0:24:08.640 --> 0:24:15.600 hear my version of faith before I lost my dad 0:24:15.640 --> 0:24:19.320 to als. I don't take it back. I believe God 0:24:19.359 --> 0:24:22.480 can do anything. I haven't changed what I believe about God. 0:24:23.920 --> 0:24:28.240 It's just that on the other side of some unanswered prayers. 0:24:28.320 --> 0:24:32.160 Because you don't think I asked God to heal my dad. 0:24:33.720 --> 0:24:35.840 You don't think I asked him for a miracle and 0:24:35.880 --> 0:24:41.040 sat by his bed and watched him breathe his last breath. Anyway, 0:24:42.600 --> 0:24:45.800 and then it becomes a challenge. The next time you're 0:24:45.840 --> 0:24:49.919 faced with something that seems impossible, you are tasked with 0:24:50.840 --> 0:24:55.680 having to believe God on the other side of your 0:24:55.760 --> 0:25:02.760 last unanswered prayer. I think what really draws me into 0:25:02.800 --> 0:25:05.800 this text for our anniversary on this day because I 0:25:05.840 --> 0:25:08.120 prayed a lot about it. I mean, I think I've 0:25:08.119 --> 0:25:10.520 got sermons for the next year, just that I went 0:25:10.520 --> 0:25:13.840 through looking for this one for today because I wanted 0:25:13.840 --> 0:25:16.280 to see God, what do you want me to say 0:25:16.320 --> 0:25:20.040 to our church? What do you want me to say 0:25:20.440 --> 0:25:22.280 to them as individuals? What do you want me to 0:25:22.280 --> 0:25:24.639 say about the moment that we're in kind of on 0:25:24.680 --> 0:25:28.960 the other side, maybe of a pandemic. Maybe my favorite 0:25:29.000 --> 0:25:32.639 word of twenty twenty and twenty twenty one and twenty 0:25:32.680 --> 0:25:36.760 twenty two is maybe now I got that, maybe faith 0:25:37.800 --> 0:25:40.840 that in maybe this or maybe that. And the problem 0:25:40.920 --> 0:25:43.440 is as a leader, people want answers, and we don't 0:25:43.440 --> 0:25:50.240 have any right now. In the absence of answers, what 0:25:50.440 --> 0:25:56.080 grows could be either one for you could be cynicism. 0:25:56.480 --> 0:26:00.480 Some of you have gotten really really mean the last 0:26:00.560 --> 0:26:04.159 two years because in the absence of answers, you have 0:26:04.200 --> 0:26:08.480 allowed anger to grow. I'm mad that I can't control it. 0:26:08.760 --> 0:26:10.880 I'm mad that nobody will tell me what to do. 0:26:11.200 --> 0:26:14.159 I'm mad that I'm wearing a mask and they're not, 0:26:14.280 --> 0:26:16.240 or they're wearing a mask and I'm not. I'm mad 0:26:16.280 --> 0:26:18.320 that I don't know whether to wear a mask. I'm 0:26:18.359 --> 0:26:20.120 mad that you're looking at me because I'm wearing a mask. 0:26:20.240 --> 0:26:21.720 I'm mad that you're looking at me because I'm not. 0:26:21.960 --> 0:26:24.680 I'm mad because I can't figure out with somebody tell 0:26:24.760 --> 0:26:34.520 me what to do. I need answers. When's the church 0:26:34.600 --> 0:26:36.720 going to open back up? I heard that for a year. 0:26:36.920 --> 0:26:44.439 I was like, it's still open. It's still open. I 0:26:44.520 --> 0:26:48.240 said that all through the pandemic. What you mean when 0:26:48.359 --> 0:26:51.040 is oh, oh oh, We've never been through anything like 0:26:51.119 --> 0:26:54.400 this before. Herod was cutting off heads in the church 0:26:54.480 --> 0:27:02.440 for vail. We are we are so silly, we are 0:27:02.560 --> 0:27:06.280 so silly. We think it's the first time that there 0:27:06.280 --> 0:27:09.919 has ever been unanswered questions in the history of the 0:27:10.000 --> 0:27:14.399 Christian faith. That's one reason I like this passage is 0:27:14.520 --> 0:27:20.359 because they're still praying in the face of a prayer 0:27:20.359 --> 0:27:31.800 that God just didn't answer. The miscarriage, the end of 0:27:31.840 --> 0:27:38.439 the relationship, the addiction that they went back to the 0:27:38.520 --> 0:27:43.280 relapse give us a little different shade of meaning, doesn't 0:27:43.280 --> 0:27:46.359 it When I said the church is earnestly praying to 0:27:46.480 --> 0:27:50.199 know that James just had his head cut off and 0:27:50.240 --> 0:27:54.320 there's no expectation that anything different will happen to Peter. 0:27:55.640 --> 0:28:01.399 That's a dangerous place because in that place, if the 0:28:01.520 --> 0:28:06.080 devil knocks in that place and tries to tell you 0:28:06.800 --> 0:28:09.760 this is how it will always be, you can't really 0:28:09.800 --> 0:28:12.879 believe all that stuff that you were singing about mountains 0:28:12.920 --> 0:28:16.840 moving and chains breaking. God doesn't really do that stuff, 0:28:17.119 --> 0:28:20.000 or he does it for other people or not for you. 0:28:20.320 --> 0:28:27.200 It can deteriorate your faith. I am impressed by how 0:28:27.480 --> 0:28:31.560 this church in Acts twelve and this global body of 0:28:31.600 --> 0:28:35.320 believers that I'm speaking to around the world never stop 0:28:35.400 --> 0:28:40.959 knocking in the midst of a global pandemic. That's amazing 0:28:41.000 --> 0:28:43.360 to me. It might not be amazing to you. But 0:28:43.600 --> 0:28:46.440 I have other friends who pastor churches, and they're not 0:28:46.480 --> 0:28:50.280 pastors anymore because while they were pastoring in the pandemic, 0:28:50.480 --> 0:28:54.960 their church wasn't supporting them. I don't have that deestimony. 0:28:55.400 --> 0:28:57.360 That's why I can cry if I think about it, 0:28:57.760 --> 0:29:03.560 Because y'all kept knocking that blesses my heart. Do you 0:29:03.600 --> 0:29:08.320 know what that means to me? To know we'll go online, 0:29:08.760 --> 0:29:11.560 we'll go in the building, we'll do whatever we have 0:29:11.680 --> 0:29:14.920 to do, We'll do whatever needs to be done. And so, 0:29:15.280 --> 0:29:18.840 what can the devil do with the church that won't 0:29:18.840 --> 0:29:23.560 stop knocking even if James Head gets caught off? Question? 0:29:24.640 --> 0:29:28.600 What can the devil do with a believer that won't 0:29:28.640 --> 0:29:33.200 stop believing even when the worst case scenario is on 0:29:33.280 --> 0:29:38.320 your doorstep? What can the devil do with the faith 0:29:38.800 --> 0:29:46.160 that can't sleep but to a sixty soldiers, never stop, 0:29:46.680 --> 0:29:53.680 Never stop, because sometimes you've got to knock and say, God, 0:29:53.720 --> 0:29:58.440 it's me again. Remember me. Sometimes you gotta get on 0:29:58.520 --> 0:30:03.000 God's nerves. Sometimes you gotta call God until you think 0:30:03.000 --> 0:30:06.640 he's about to block your number. Sometimes you gotta stalk 0:30:06.680 --> 0:30:10.320 the Holy Spirit. Ah, don't take your joy from me. Ah, 0:30:10.560 --> 0:30:12.719 I will not. I'll prove it to you with the Bible. 0:30:12.920 --> 0:30:17.360 Jacob said, I will not let go unless you bless me. 0:30:17.720 --> 0:30:21.680 If I wrestle all night, if it cost me my popularity, 0:30:22.120 --> 0:30:27.960 if I have to let go of some things, I 0:30:28.000 --> 0:30:32.080 want to see God's Kingdom come in my life. Never 0:30:32.760 --> 0:30:44.640 stop knocking, Never stop knocking, Never stop believing that it 0:30:44.640 --> 0:30:49.840 can still happen. I said, still, that means you have 0:30:49.880 --> 0:30:53.720 a reason to believe it can't. Now, Jesus said, asking 0:30:53.800 --> 0:30:55.160 it will be given to you. Seek and you will 0:30:55.240 --> 0:30:58.840 find knock and the door be open. Here's problem, Matthews. 0:30:58.920 --> 0:31:01.120 Have to seven verse seven. You read that like it's 0:31:01.160 --> 0:31:06.440 a one time thing. You read that like you said, tap, 0:31:10.160 --> 0:31:15.040 I didn't come to preach about a soft knock. This 0:31:15.080 --> 0:31:21.680 is a message for the hard knocks, when you have 0:31:21.840 --> 0:31:25.640 had the crap beat out of you, when you have 0:31:25.760 --> 0:31:27.920 had the mess beat up, when you have had your 0:31:27.920 --> 0:31:33.520 faith tried, just trying to bring everybody together. I don't 0:31:33.560 --> 0:31:37.120 want to beat devised when you have been through it. 0:31:39.880 --> 0:31:48.040 Don't try to get God to explain it. What blew 0:31:48.120 --> 0:31:55.760 my mind about this text. Sit down, JJ, he's excited 0:31:59.720 --> 0:32:03.040 is if Peter had been me, I don't think he 0:32:03.040 --> 0:32:06.719 would have gotten out of prison. And if Peter had 0:32:06.760 --> 0:32:09.240 been some of us, he would have stood at the 0:32:09.320 --> 0:32:13.880 door for three days. The sixteen soldiers would attracted him 0:32:13.880 --> 0:32:15.520 down and cut off his head, even though God set 0:32:15.560 --> 0:32:20.440 him free. But it said Peter kept on knocking. When 0:32:20.440 --> 0:32:25.640 it really matters to you, you knock even through the 0:32:25.720 --> 0:32:33.800 no when it matters. Peter had been with Jesus, he'd 0:32:33.800 --> 0:32:35.600 been filled with spirit. He preached on Day of Pentecost. 0:32:35.640 --> 0:32:39.440 He's come too far to just no three tons bupah booh, book. 0:32:40.920 --> 0:32:43.400 Peter's knocking his yell. I know he was yelling too, 0:32:43.440 --> 0:32:49.640 because it said that she recognized his voice. Let me in. 0:32:51.640 --> 0:32:56.880 God is waiting to hear your voice. He's waiting for 0:32:56.920 --> 0:33:01.960 you to call on him. Mother's prayers can only take 0:33:02.040 --> 0:33:09.200 you so far. God wants to hear your voice quits. 0:33:09.880 --> 0:33:12.800 May twenty twenty two be the year that you stop 0:33:13.040 --> 0:33:19.080 standing there during worship thinking it's a concert. I don't 0:33:19.120 --> 0:33:23.640 care who's up here singing. God wants to hear your 0:33:23.720 --> 0:33:39.400 voice off key one note, you are enough one note, 0:33:40.120 --> 0:33:43.080 one note? How many one note knockers do I have? 0:33:43.440 --> 0:33:57.280 Somebody said doe, because God is not looking for my melody. 0:33:58.280 --> 0:34:07.760 God wants to see me move move, So let me 0:34:07.800 --> 0:34:09.520 pretend like I'm the angel for a minute. Okay, they 0:34:09.520 --> 0:34:12.040 were the guards. I was Peter. Now I'm the angel. 0:34:13.080 --> 0:34:15.840 This is the only time in the whole week that 0:34:15.840 --> 0:34:18.160 I would compare myself to an angel. Trust me about that. 0:34:18.880 --> 0:34:25.000 But get up. That's what the angel did you know? 0:34:25.040 --> 0:34:27.759 That picture of the angel that you have up in 0:34:27.800 --> 0:34:34.680 your house, that little precious angel. This angel, this angel 0:34:34.760 --> 0:34:39.560 had this This angel looks like a UFC fighter. All right, 0:34:41.320 --> 0:34:43.920 get up, get dressed. I want to show you this 0:34:44.000 --> 0:34:46.120 verse because I want to show you why most of 0:34:46.200 --> 0:34:51.040 us stay in prison. We stay in prison to ourselves. 0:34:51.040 --> 0:34:56.160 We stay in prison to our we stay in prison 0:34:56.200 --> 0:35:00.239 to our past, we stay in prison to our preference. Says, 0:35:01.680 --> 0:35:05.280 we stay in prison to our pain. Am I preaching? 0:35:08.320 --> 0:35:13.319 Is it just that anniversary anointing? Because I read through 0:35:13.360 --> 0:35:17.160 what the angel told Peter, and I noticed something about 0:35:17.160 --> 0:35:20.239 the interaction that's different than how I relate to God. 0:35:20.680 --> 0:35:22.480 This angel, by the way, I want to be serious 0:35:22.480 --> 0:35:25.400 about the angel. For a moment, it represents an appearance 0:35:25.440 --> 0:35:32.399 of God. But Peter doesn't know that yet, and that's 0:35:32.440 --> 0:35:36.799 important to point out. You won't always know that it's God. 0:35:38.840 --> 0:35:43.440 In fact, sometimes you'll think the opposite. If somebody hits me, 0:35:44.760 --> 0:35:49.239 I don't think it's an angel. Isn't that crazy? God 0:35:49.280 --> 0:35:53.359 shows up in the first thing he does bah and 0:35:53.440 --> 0:35:58.200 some of us have been through the BAB Have you 0:35:58.200 --> 0:36:01.160 been through the BAP? What if that's not the devil? 0:36:03.440 --> 0:36:07.760 What if that's the angel. What if that slap across 0:36:07.800 --> 0:36:12.399 the face lovingly is from your good, good love a father. 0:36:14.760 --> 0:36:17.239 What if he loves you enough that he would rather 0:36:17.400 --> 0:36:26.799 strike you than allow the enemy to slay you. Now, 0:36:26.800 --> 0:36:32.400 don't try this at home. But this is an aggressive angel. 0:36:34.719 --> 0:36:39.000 It's an aggressive attempt to get Peter free. And the 0:36:39.120 --> 0:36:43.640 angel doesn't have time to explain to Peter. So Peter 0:36:44.320 --> 0:36:49.560 just has to move forward by faith without explanations. Say 0:36:49.560 --> 0:36:54.280 all three of us move forward by faith without explanations. 0:36:55.239 --> 0:36:59.719 And here's what it says. He struck Peter seven part 0:36:59.800 --> 0:37:03.640 by on the side, woke him up. Quick get up, 0:37:04.480 --> 0:37:08.360 he said, and the chains fell off Peter's dress, and 0:37:08.520 --> 0:37:10.239 just had to put on your clothes and sandals, Peter did, 0:37:10.280 --> 0:37:12.840 So wrap your cloak around you and follow me, the 0:37:12.880 --> 0:37:15.080 angel told her. So I wrote some notes about that. 0:37:16.160 --> 0:37:18.080 Here's what I would have said to each of those commands. 0:37:18.120 --> 0:37:26.479 There are three. Quick get up, I would have said, 0:37:26.480 --> 0:37:34.120 how I'm chained to these guards? How do you expect 0:37:34.120 --> 0:37:37.080 me to get up when I'm chained to something bigger 0:37:37.120 --> 0:37:42.359 than me? Have you ever felt like that? How you 0:37:42.400 --> 0:37:45.359 expect me to get up when I'm chained to something 0:37:45.400 --> 0:37:50.839 bigger than me? So I would have said, how notice this, 0:37:53.000 --> 0:38:04.400 Peter got up and then the chains fell off, not 0:38:04.520 --> 0:38:08.080 the other way around. You know how I wanted to work. 0:38:09.239 --> 0:38:14.920 The chains fall off, then I'll get up. God just 0:38:15.000 --> 0:38:19.320 give me the desire and I'll obate. No, No, you obey, 0:38:19.840 --> 0:38:25.680 and you develop the desire as you obey. That's why 0:38:25.719 --> 0:38:28.200 you can't say things like I'm just not one of 0:38:28.239 --> 0:38:32.120 those kind of people and limit yourself to your current 0:38:32.160 --> 0:38:38.600 state of progress, because the freedom comes through obedience. How 0:38:38.600 --> 0:38:40.359 many of you have been delivered from something in your 0:38:40.360 --> 0:38:41.840 life that one time you thought is stronger than me. 0:38:41.880 --> 0:38:44.000 I'll never be free of this, And now, by the 0:38:44.040 --> 0:38:48.480 grace of God, you're free. You didn't get free by 0:38:48.560 --> 0:38:53.480 asking more questions. You got free by taking action. True, 0:38:54.000 --> 0:38:57.879 so you reached out to somebody, you went to God 0:38:57.920 --> 0:38:59.560 with it. You prayed, you not, but you did more 0:38:59.600 --> 0:39:02.080 than that. There was something that you did, and there 0:39:02.239 --> 0:39:06.640 is something that God is giving you to do right now, 0:39:07.080 --> 0:39:10.200 not something not not an explanation. Because Peter could have said, 0:39:10.920 --> 0:39:12.839 how's this, how am I supposed to get up? I'm 0:39:12.840 --> 0:39:15.399 happy sleep, the guards are here. No, he got up 0:39:15.480 --> 0:39:19.799 and the chains fell. He didn't get an answer. He 0:39:19.880 --> 0:39:24.879 just took an action. How good is that? How good 0:39:24.960 --> 0:39:29.120 is that? Because he could he could have waited for 0:39:29.200 --> 0:39:31.799 an answer until his head was rolling on the floor 0:39:31.840 --> 0:39:36.080 next to James, but he acted. I don't know what 0:39:36.080 --> 0:39:38.759 that means to you, but I know that I never 0:39:38.840 --> 0:39:46.600 get anywhere by waiting for God to explain everything. Never. Oh, 0:39:46.640 --> 0:39:50.080 I do actually get somewhere. It's a nice little town 0:39:50.160 --> 0:39:56.719 called Depression, USA, Anxiety, North America. That's where I end up. 0:39:56.880 --> 0:40:00.319 That's the only place that ever takes me. Then then 0:40:00.360 --> 0:40:03.360 the angel says something else makes no sense. He said, 0:40:03.680 --> 0:40:06.320 put on your clothes and sandals. Now I'm going to 0:40:06.400 --> 0:40:13.040 ask why for what? So I can look good for 0:40:13.120 --> 0:40:18.120 my execution. So then we ask why. Now, what's the 0:40:18.160 --> 0:40:24.160 point why? Well, Peter has learned a lot because he 0:40:24.280 --> 0:40:27.400 used to be that why guy. He used to be 0:40:27.440 --> 0:40:30.480 the one always questioning, confronting Jesus. This passage is so 0:40:30.600 --> 0:40:34.239 much richer if you know Peter's natural personality, because it 0:40:34.239 --> 0:40:38.200 gives you hope that anybody can change. He was the 0:40:38.320 --> 0:40:41.600 craziest one of all of all of these disciples. He 0:40:41.719 --> 0:40:43.879 was the one that he is the dumbest one too. 0:40:43.960 --> 0:40:47.239 Sometimes he was telling Jesus stuff like you can't go 0:40:47.280 --> 0:40:49.400 to Jerusalem. They're going to kill you, and Jesus is 0:40:49.400 --> 0:40:51.359 like new Sledge. I told you three times I have 0:40:51.400 --> 0:40:53.359 to die. That's why I came, because you're a sinner 0:40:53.360 --> 0:40:55.120 and I got to save you. If I don't bleed, 0:40:55.160 --> 0:40:59.120 you don't get a breakthrough. So you better let me go. Now. 0:41:00.080 --> 0:41:03.319 He's just doing what God's telling him to in the 0:41:03.440 --> 0:41:09.120 absence of answers. The Angel didn't say good news, we're 0:41:09.160 --> 0:41:12.600 getting out of jail. He just said get up, then 0:41:12.680 --> 0:41:16.239 show you everything all at once. One guy asked me 0:41:16.320 --> 0:41:20.319 the other day, this is funny, So what's the ten 0:41:20.400 --> 0:41:25.000 year plan for elevation Church. I wanted to say back, 0:41:26.200 --> 0:41:31.240 I'm looking for it ten minute plan for elevation Church, 0:41:31.840 --> 0:41:35.160 because that's crazy right now, and none of us really 0:41:35.200 --> 0:41:37.480 know all of the outcomes of how things are going 0:41:37.520 --> 0:41:40.040 to be. And it takes faith to stand up here 0:41:40.120 --> 0:41:43.680 and preach to you people every week because you want answers, 0:41:43.840 --> 0:41:46.359 and all I have to give you is commands from 0:41:46.360 --> 0:41:53.279 God's word, not from my mouth. But the promises of 0:41:53.280 --> 0:41:57.120 God are not automatic either, So he acts on the 0:41:57.160 --> 0:41:59.440 first one, he acts on the second one. I think 0:41:59.440 --> 0:42:02.320 that's a beautiful scripture put on your clothes and sandals 0:42:02.880 --> 0:42:07.239 verse eight. And Peter did so, I would have said 0:42:07.280 --> 0:42:13.640 why he just did? So? This is how we can 0:42:14.280 --> 0:42:20.040 take as a model for our unanswered questions. Could be 0:42:20.080 --> 0:42:22.640 anything God, when am I going to have somebody? Or God, 0:42:22.680 --> 0:42:24.240 when is this going to turn around? Are God? When's 0:42:24.239 --> 0:42:27.680 it gonna happen? But you'll get your head cut off 0:42:29.080 --> 0:42:32.719 if you stay stuck in how And if you stay 0:42:32.719 --> 0:42:35.719 stuck in why. This is the third thing, This might 0:42:35.719 --> 0:42:40.000 be the biggest, the hardest one of all. Y'all wrap 0:42:40.040 --> 0:42:44.080 your cloak around you verse eight and follow me. Now, 0:42:44.120 --> 0:42:50.319 what would you have asked? Where he said I'm going with? 0:42:51.440 --> 0:42:54.960 I would have been like, as long as the temperature 0:42:55.640 --> 0:42:59.160 is good and the job market is solid and the 0:42:59.200 --> 0:43:03.200 cost of living is love. But I love LB because 0:43:03.239 --> 0:43:06.720 he just said I'm going with. And that's what reminded 0:43:06.760 --> 0:43:09.840 me of Peter Lbe. You remind me of Peter because 0:43:09.840 --> 0:43:15.080 you do dumb stuff sometimes. This man, this man almost 0:43:15.239 --> 0:43:18.879 drove through the gate of a storage unit to get 0:43:18.880 --> 0:43:21.240 a prop that I needed one Sunday because he couldn't 0:43:21.280 --> 0:43:23.560 get the code in. He was backing up the truck 0:43:23.680 --> 0:43:26.240 to run into the gate. So you're kind of dumb, 0:43:27.560 --> 0:43:30.360 but I like you because you will do it. You 0:43:30.400 --> 0:43:32.600 will do it, you will do it. He said, I'm 0:43:32.640 --> 0:43:39.920 going with where with Peter is going. Peter is going 0:43:40.400 --> 0:43:45.200 with the Angel, So you gotta let God know I'm 0:43:45.200 --> 0:43:51.759 going with I'm going with Even if Psalm twenty three 0:43:52.120 --> 0:43:56.960 becomes a reality, Yay, though I walk through the valley 0:43:58.040 --> 0:44:00.920 of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil. 0:44:01.000 --> 0:44:06.520 Why because you are with me. Say it out loud. 0:44:06.520 --> 0:44:10.000 God is with me, and that's my confidence. And that's 0:44:10.000 --> 0:44:11.880 what I know, and that's how I hold on in 0:44:11.960 --> 0:44:14.360 this season, and that's why I'm not gonna let my 0:44:14.440 --> 0:44:16.880 head hang low. That's why I'm not gonna have a 0:44:16.880 --> 0:44:19.160 panic attack about this. That's why I'm not going to 0:44:19.239 --> 0:44:22.920 control the situation by human means and flesh. That's why 0:44:22.960 --> 0:44:25.880 I'm not gonna send in Abraham to sleep with Hagar 0:44:26.160 --> 0:44:29.280 and try to produce a promise from God in human strength, 0:44:29.440 --> 0:44:39.239 because God is with me and the Angel took him 0:44:39.280 --> 0:44:42.040 out of the gate. Let's don't even stop and preach 0:44:42.040 --> 0:44:47.480 about the gate open by itself, how it was motion activated. 0:44:51.440 --> 0:44:53.560 I wonder if some of the things I'm not going 0:44:53.600 --> 0:44:56.640 to preach this point, but I could that You're standing 0:44:56.719 --> 0:45:02.680 there waiting for an answer, and God is waiting for 0:45:02.840 --> 0:45:14.240 an action, and it's like the church is praying knocking. 0:45:15.280 --> 0:45:18.560 That's how prayers described to Matthew seven. Ask to begin 0:45:18.600 --> 0:45:21.800 and seek you' find knock the door be open. They're praying, 0:45:22.040 --> 0:45:26.080 which is a kind of knocking. While they are knocking 0:45:26.160 --> 0:45:32.879 on God's door. God is knocking on theirs. Right now. 0:45:32.920 --> 0:45:38.880 Peter's at the door and he knocks, and there's no answer. 0:45:40.800 --> 0:45:43.439 They have no idea that what they're praying for actually happen. 0:45:47.280 --> 0:45:48.879 So I'll tell you why. I really was crying when 0:45:48.880 --> 0:45:50.680 I came up here for the little opening song. And 0:45:50.680 --> 0:45:52.080 I don't want to talk about it, but I will, 0:45:55.280 --> 0:46:12.640 because I'm standing in an answered prayer. Not only this 0:46:12.719 --> 0:46:19.120 church that the Lord Jesus allows us to pastor, but 0:46:19.239 --> 0:46:21.120 all the times that I stood in this church with 0:46:21.239 --> 0:46:30.280 you and I needed God to Preachers have prisons. Peter's 0:46:30.320 --> 0:46:34.600 not the only one. You're not the only one. I 0:46:34.680 --> 0:46:37.759 stood and had to sing songs of lyrics that I 0:46:37.800 --> 0:46:41.640 wrote while I was laughing at the reality that they 0:46:41.680 --> 0:46:47.360 could even be true. It's almost laughable that they're praying 0:46:47.440 --> 0:46:50.680 for the one who's standing at the door and they 0:46:50.680 --> 0:46:53.879 don't want to interrupt their prayer meeting to praise God 0:46:53.920 --> 0:47:00.600 for the answer. And the Lord said to me today, 0:47:01.640 --> 0:47:04.680 because you know, hey, man, I got a sermon to preach, 0:47:04.680 --> 0:47:06.360 and I got another one to preach after that, and 0:47:06.400 --> 0:47:10.320 another one to preach. He said, pause for a moment 0:47:12.080 --> 0:47:18.680 in between knocks about what's next, and take a moment 0:47:19.360 --> 0:47:27.880 to notice what I've already done. In other words, open 0:47:27.920 --> 0:47:32.399 the door. I prayed for Holly while she was going 0:47:32.400 --> 0:47:35.440 through things, and I was standing next to her holding 0:47:35.440 --> 0:47:38.120 her hand today while we were singing do it again, 0:47:38.200 --> 0:47:42.399 And we sang that song all different times. We sang 0:47:42.440 --> 0:47:45.319 it when the media was saying that we were a 0:47:45.480 --> 0:47:48.800 cult and that we were putting liquor in the communion 0:47:48.840 --> 0:47:51.200 cups or whatever the people said about us through the years, 0:47:51.480 --> 0:47:54.000 putting water slides in the church, all kinds of crap 0:47:54.040 --> 0:47:58.120 people said. And really, y'all, really, really really really really, 0:47:59.120 --> 0:48:04.640 if they can through that, surely we can make it 0:48:05.160 --> 0:48:13.920 through anything together if we don't stop knocking it. Some 0:48:14.000 --> 0:48:16.640 things you need to sleep through. Other things you need 0:48:16.680 --> 0:48:19.280 to act on. Some things you need to pray about, 0:48:19.600 --> 0:48:23.120 other things you need to act on. Now, what if 0:48:23.160 --> 0:48:27.680 the Lord, this is my final question. I really could 0:48:27.680 --> 0:48:30.759 preach all day because I get excited. I didn't hear 0:48:30.840 --> 0:48:34.680 much enthusiasm about that wrap it up pastor heard there's 0:48:34.719 --> 0:48:46.120 pizza out there, some weird And yet maybe when I 0:48:46.200 --> 0:48:51.280 finished preaching today, you could take a moment in between 0:48:51.320 --> 0:48:55.280 all the knocking that you've been doing, all the changes 0:48:55.360 --> 0:48:57.759 that you need God to make, all the things that 0:48:57.800 --> 0:48:59.759 you're asking God, and you know, maybe you're not even 0:48:59.760 --> 0:49:03.760 asked God for I personally think that the church wasn't 0:49:03.800 --> 0:49:08.920 even asking God to keep Peter alive. I think they 0:49:08.920 --> 0:49:11.640 were asking that He would give Peter peace, and that's 0:49:11.640 --> 0:49:20.040 why Peter was sleeping. So my favorite verse, y'all, has 0:49:20.120 --> 0:49:21.839 been for years. This is the one that I put 0:49:21.880 --> 0:49:26.000 in Remember JJ, when I signed your book, Ephesians three twenty, 0:49:26.840 --> 0:49:29.040 is that what I put in your book. He stood 0:49:29.040 --> 0:49:31.480 in the back. He's the campus pastor at Valentine. He 0:49:31.520 --> 0:49:33.800 stood in the back of a book line at Liberty 0:49:33.880 --> 0:49:36.640 University where I was speaking because he wanted to say 0:49:36.640 --> 0:49:39.240 thank you for the ministry of Elevation Church. He stood 0:49:39.239 --> 0:49:42.000 there for I don't know how long, till everybody was gone, 0:49:42.320 --> 0:49:44.799 and I put Ephesians three twenty and he said he 0:49:44.920 --> 0:49:49.600 was from Toronto, GTA, and I took that as greater 0:49:49.719 --> 0:49:54.200 things ahead, GTA, because I'm corny. I'm corny, and I 0:49:54.280 --> 0:49:57.799 put GTA greater things ahead Ephesians three twenty. Now, unto 0:49:57.840 --> 0:50:06.200 him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask. 0:50:08.640 --> 0:50:11.399 All right, let he who has ears, she who has 0:50:11.480 --> 0:50:13.760 ears to hear, hear what I'm about to say next. 0:50:15.160 --> 0:50:25.600 Exceedingly more is at the door right now. Let he 0:50:25.719 --> 0:50:28.560 that has an ear to hear hear what the spirit 0:50:28.640 --> 0:50:34.800 is saying to the church, because they're praying on this level. 0:50:35.160 --> 0:50:39.600 God help Peter before he dies to feel your presence. 0:50:39.880 --> 0:50:43.600 And God's like, Nah, I'm gonna one up you on that. 0:50:46.160 --> 0:50:50.160 Watch this. I'm gonna give you what you didn't even 0:50:50.200 --> 0:50:53.120 think to ask me for because you didn't think it 0:50:53.200 --> 0:50:58.480 was possible. If you don't stop knocking, watch this. If 0:50:58.520 --> 0:51:02.080 you will be like in this season of your life, 0:51:02.560 --> 0:51:06.440 you can't be like one of these little weak Christians 0:51:06.680 --> 0:51:10.000 that the first time something happens that you have to 0:51:10.080 --> 0:51:12.760 park at the back of the parking lot in Target, 0:51:13.000 --> 0:51:16.120 you say, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 0:51:16.440 --> 0:51:19.799 This is my God, simony. Nevertheless, not my will, but 0:51:19.920 --> 0:51:22.360 yours be done. You can't go out of this church. 0:51:22.520 --> 0:51:24.440 And the first time you feel a bad feeling, or 0:51:24.440 --> 0:51:26.799 think of bad thought, or get a temptation, you'll just 0:51:26.840 --> 0:51:29.520 give into it. You gotta be one of those who 0:51:29.560 --> 0:51:34.080 won't stop knocking. By the grace of God, something more 0:51:34.239 --> 0:51:39.600 is at the door. I will live and not die. 0:51:40.360 --> 0:51:44.880 I will live and not die. And the gates of 0:51:45.160 --> 0:51:53.600 hell will not free them. Come on, let's give him 0:51:53.600 --> 0:52:00.239 sixty seconds. Afraid. Come on, worship teams, get out there, 0:52:00.280 --> 0:52:03.600 get out here. Come on, come on, come on, come up, 0:52:04.680 --> 0:52:11.920 Come on, come on, give them a great price. Let's 0:52:12.000 --> 0:52:15.680 knock on the door of heaven. Let's knock on the 0:52:15.840 --> 0:52:25.040 door of heaven. Come on, get your fist in the air. 0:52:25.160 --> 0:52:30.880 Like this, God said, never stop nothing, never stop nothing, 0:52:31.360 --> 0:52:36.600 never stop knocking. Hey, road out after the door. Peter 0:52:37.480 --> 0:52:48.600 is alive. And I declare, by the grace of God 0:52:49.600 --> 0:52:55.040 that upon this rock God will build his church. And 0:52:55.160 --> 0:53:04.600 guess who Jesus said back to Peter every time Peter 0:53:04.680 --> 0:53:09.280 knocked on that door, And let the devil know. God 0:53:09.320 --> 0:53:14.200 is still building now. I'm preaching to people today who 0:53:14.200 --> 0:53:19.840 are not perfect, but are persistent. And that's how I 0:53:19.840 --> 0:53:21.600 feel about this church. Maybe we can make a T 0:53:21.719 --> 0:53:28.040 shirt that says this not perfect but persistent. Actually don't 0:53:28.080 --> 0:53:31.360 make the listen. That sounded better in my head, but 0:53:31.440 --> 0:53:38.439 it's good for a sermon. And Peter kept knocking. God 0:53:38.560 --> 0:53:42.480 might shock you some of the things that you thought 0:53:42.480 --> 0:53:44.319 were as good as dead. I know sometimes you have 0:53:44.360 --> 0:53:48.160 to let it go. James did lose his head. God 0:53:48.239 --> 0:53:52.000 wanted to give us a side by side example that 0:53:52.080 --> 0:53:54.000 whether it ends the way you didn't want it to, 0:53:55.600 --> 0:53:57.880 or whether you have unanswered questions and you don't know 0:53:57.920 --> 0:54:07.799 what's going to happen tomorrow morning, never stop knocking, no 0:54:07.880 --> 0:54:12.280 matter what you feel through mental illness, never stop knocking. 0:54:14.760 --> 0:54:20.120 Get a doctor, get new friends, get a new pattern. 0:54:20.239 --> 0:54:26.160 Take some time, but don't stop praying just because you've 0:54:26.200 --> 0:54:32.800 been through pain. And in the absence of answers, sometimes 0:54:32.840 --> 0:54:39.000 the greatest faith grows. I want to sing build your 0:54:39.080 --> 0:54:43.279 Church one time on our anniversary again, across all of 0:54:43.320 --> 0:54:47.919 our locations. I want us to sing it in defiance 0:54:48.840 --> 0:54:52.279 of everything the devil did to try to take you out, 0:54:54.200 --> 0:55:07.120 but to let him know we're still knocking. We're still knocking. Well, Lord, 0:55:07.160 --> 0:55:10.840 you bless me today. I don't know who else the 0:55:10.880 --> 0:55:15.520 word was for, but I receive it. Lift your hands 0:55:15.520 --> 0:55:20.000 if you receive it. Father, I thank you for moms 0:55:20.000 --> 0:55:25.280 and dads and sons and daughters who, although like Peter, 0:55:25.440 --> 0:55:30.120 might be sleeping between some situations that make them really 0:55:30.160 --> 0:55:32.720 scared right now and make them really sad right now, 0:55:34.480 --> 0:55:36.920 that between that place where the church was praying in 0:55:37.000 --> 0:55:41.399 the place where Peter was in prison, your grace made 0:55:41.400 --> 0:55:46.959 the difference. I just declare your grace over every home, 0:55:49.760 --> 0:55:53.480 over every person who's joining right now online. I speak 0:55:53.520 --> 0:55:57.480 your peace into their home. God, I speak your power 0:55:58.880 --> 0:56:01.280 in our soul that would be strengthen in our inner man. 0:56:02.520 --> 0:56:04.839 I thank you Lord, that strength is rising up by 0:56:04.920 --> 0:56:09.799 faith through the preached word of God today. And we're 0:56:09.800 --> 0:56:12.600 gonna say it like Peter said to the angel. We're 0:56:12.600 --> 0:56:16.839 gonna say it like LB said it to me. We're 0:56:16.840 --> 0:56:23.319 going with. We're going with. We thank you that there 0:56:23.320 --> 0:56:26.920 are angels all around us right now. We thank you 0:56:27.000 --> 0:56:30.480 that your spirit is inside of us. We declare what 0:56:30.600 --> 0:56:33.880 Jesus said, Lift those hands, hide, say aloud, the gates 0:56:34.640 --> 0:56:40.440 of hell will not prevail upon this rock. You build 0:56:40.440 --> 0:56:43.560 your church. Let's sing at one time like it's our birthday. 0:56:44.320 --> 0:56:48.920 Come on church, Lift a mighty shot of praise. Well, 0:56:48.920 --> 0:56:51.400 if you enjoy today's podcast, there are a couple things 0:56:51.440 --> 0:56:54.719 I'd love for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, 0:56:55.040 --> 0:56:58.040 and review this podcast. You can also help us reach 0:56:58.080 --> 0:57:01.560 others by investing today at Elevation Church dot org, slash 0:57:01.719 --> 0:57:05.160 give and thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast.