Say Hey By Faith

0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.280 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.360 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:11.639 Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:21.000 new sermons every week. I hope you're blessed today. Our 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:23.560 year end offering will be amazing. I hope that all 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:27.200 of you will participate. We ask each family that's participating 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:29.800 to choose a word that reflects what you're believing God 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.800 for in this season of your life, and then I 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:34.360 usually pick a word for our whole church. 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:37.000 And this year is going to be really simple. 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.199 Our word that we're gathering around for this offering is 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:45.320 the word trust. Touch your neighbors, say I trust in God. 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:49.080 Come on, tell them again, say I trust in God. 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:55.000 So we'll call it our trust offering, not like a 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:56.680 trust fund or something like that. 0:00:57.920 --> 0:00:59.880 But in a way it is. In a way it 0:00:59.960 --> 0:01:01.680 is is because it's. 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:04.200 Us believing that our God, our Jehovah Jirah, has stored 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:06.679 up for us everything that we will ever need is 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:10.080 in his hand. How many have a testimony that all 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:11.880 you have needed his hand has provided. 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.119 I trust in God. 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:19.399 Oh yeah, tell your neighbor, I'm not so sure about you. 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:22.280 I don't know if I can trust you, but I 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:26.800 trust in God, and I think it will be amazing. 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:33.959 So I trust in God. And that's kind of the 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.479 subject I'll preach around for the next few weeks as 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:41.000 we've moved this year to a close, and today I'm 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:43.240 excited to journey with you into the scripture. 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:51.000 We're excited to see, well, God will speak to you today, y'all. 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:52.600 I was running out the house and this is the 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:54.800 only Bible I could I could find close by it. 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:56.880 I didn't feel like going back downstairs and getting the 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.520 regular ones, so I got this big. 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.560 Boy today, big boy Bible. 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.400 Not to beat the devil half to death with this 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:10.040 Bible today, I believe. 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:13.360 It all right. 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:22.640 In Hebrews chapter eleven, there is a scripture that leads 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:25.840 to a scripture that leads to a scripture that I 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:28.399 never thought about before today. But I want to share 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:32.760 it with you because I think it's gonna help us 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.560 to trust in God for where he's taking us. 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.000 Hebrews chapter eleven, Verse six. 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:43.720 I thought about only reading a few of these verses, 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:45.880 but they're all so good I figured they would be 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:47.480 offended if we left them out. So we're gonna need 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:51.000 to do verses six through sixteen? Can you handle that 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:55.200 all right? Did you wear your elastic waistband today? For 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:56.720 this word that I'm gonna get you fat? 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:57.120 Off of. 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:02.680 Hebrews eleven verse and without faith, it is impossible to 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.400 please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:11.720 that He exists and that he rewards those who earnestly 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:15.960 seek him by faith. Noah, when warned about things not 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:19.040 yet seen and holy fear, built an arc to save 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.200 his family. By his faith. He condemned the world and 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.840 became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:27.480 By faith. 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:31.079 Abraham, when called to go to a place he would 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:37.880 later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:41.040 he did not know where he was going. 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:45.400 You don't have that much faith, do you. I don't 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.760 think I do. Didn't know where he was going, but 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:51.040 he went by faith. 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:52.800 He made his home in the Promised Land, like a 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.920 stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.680 did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:01.840 the same promise, For he was looking forward to the 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:05.280 city with foundations whose architect. 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:07.120 And builder is God. 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:11.400 And by faith, even Sarah, who was past child bearing 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:15.640 age was enabled to bear children because she considered him 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:20.680 faithful who had made the promise. And so from this 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:25.960 one man and he as good as dead, came descendants, 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:29.760 as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:33.560 countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:38.080 were still living by faith. 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:38.800 When they died. 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:43.559 They did not receive the things promised. They only saw 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:48.840 them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:52.200 were foreigners and strangers on earth. 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.040 People who say such things. 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:59.919 Show that they are looking for a country of their own. 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.080 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:08.960 they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:14.400 looking for a better country. Somebody say, I'm believing for 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:20.240 a better one. I'm believing for a better one, a 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:26.600 heavenly one. Yeah yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:30.360 Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their god, 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:36.040 for he has prepared a city for them. Go back 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:38.960 to that first verse one more time. And without faith, 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:42.400 it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:46.200 to him must believe that he exists and that he 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:51.240 rewards those who earnestly seek him. Before you take your seat, 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:55.680 look at your neighbor and say, hey, come on. 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:56.160 You gotta do it. 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.600 You gotta look at your neighbor, all right, look at 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:03.200 the other one, the other neighbor. Hey, Now, why did 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:06.600 you do that? Why did you say hey? You don't 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:11.159 know how they're gonna respond. You did it because I 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:15.839 said so, for no other reason, right, I said, say hey, 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:21.000 you said hey. Okay, that's our lesson today. How to 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:28.760 say hey by faith? Say hey by faith one more time. 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:30.719 On your way to your seat, tell your neighbor, hey, 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.159 you may be seated online. 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:34.800 Just put it in the thing. 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:37.040 Put hey with the thing, the moji, and say hey, 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.880 let us know where you're from. Hey, everybody say hey 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:44.320 back to everybody online, everybody on YouTube. 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:45.440 Just put a hay in the chat. 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:50.240 Hey, Blakeney, Hey, Lake Norman, Hey, everybody pull up my 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:53.440 phone real quick, get in the YouTube comments and see 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:56.200 who's saying hey to us today from. 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:57.080 All over the world. 0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:00.839 I believe, by faith that they're saying hey all over 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:06.919 the world, don't you don't you amen? So anyway, y'all, 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:10.160 I think our phones have changed our relationship with faith. 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:14.800 Honestly, you agree? And what I mean by that isn't 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:16.640 just that your phone is listening to you? 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:22.560 And because why why did I just talk about it 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.080 three minutes ago and now it's all up in my phone? 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:28.520 If the phone isn't listening to me, why did I. 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:30.720 Talk to somebody about a tonal gym the other day 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:32.840 and there was tonal stuff on my phone? There has 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.360 never been tonal advertisements on my phone until three minutes 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:37.520 after I set it to a friend. 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:40.520 So why I don't trust my phone. 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:42.679 I don't trust Steve Jobs and he hadn't been alive 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:44.600 in several years, and I still don't trust him. I 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:46.960 think he's listening to me from somewhere right now, preaching 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:47.720 this message. 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:48.840 I don't trust any of it. 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:52.720 Okay, but that's not what I mean about the relationship 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:55.559 with our phone. I mean, there was a time where 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.920 if somebody called you on the phone, it took faith 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:05.560 to pick up the phone because you didn't know who 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:11.800 was on the other end of the phone. How many remember, Yeah, 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:16.440 it took faith before on the eighth Day when God 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:19.440 made caller id, it would take faith to pick up 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:22.280 on the phone because you didn't know who it was. 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:26.840 It could be your boyfriend, it could be a bill collector, 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:29.400 it could be somebody wanting you to help them move 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.760 next Saturday. It could be the person you've been dodging 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:36.640 on purpose. So then you get answering machine. You let 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.360 the answering machine pick up, You let them start leaving 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:42.920 a message you remember this, and then you pick up 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:44.520 like you just happened to walk in the house when 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:45.320 they started talking. 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:47.000 Because you're a liar. 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.040 Now, my mom did something one time that really takes 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.200 the cake. And I didn't ask her permission to tell this, 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:54.680 and I'm going to tell it to you to open 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:56.400 my sermon, because it's a good little story to set 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:59.640 up my premise. My mom had this one friend who 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:03.600 would call a certain time most every week, and when 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:05.360 it was around that time, within that window that that 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:07.240 friend would call, my mom would make me answer the 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:10.040 phone because she did not particularly enjoy talking to this friend. 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:12.800 So I kind of knew it was like my time 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.280 to be by the phone when this certain time rolled around. 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:18.080 And I'm not gonna say this woman's real name, but 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.640 let's call her Miss Martha. In the South, you use 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:23.720 mister and miss, and I know that's kind of old 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:26.360 fashioned too, but that's how you did it, Miss Martha. 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:28.160 Names have been changed to protect the innocent. 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:32.720 But when miss Martha call, I always knew when she 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:34.680 said is your mom there, that I had to. 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:36.320 Check with my mom before I said yes. 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:41.839 And so one day the phone rang around that time 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:44.880 and she said pick it up, and I picked it 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:49.120 up and I said, hell up and uh and I said, oh, hey, 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:54.120 miss Martha. And I looked at my mom to see 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:57.920 what's the move, because now she knows this, Miss Martha, 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:05.000 it's her move. And she's over there going and I'm like, 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:07.880 what do I tell her? She said, it is your 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.480 mom there, and she mouths to me, tell her I'm 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:16.880 in the shower. So I said, miss Martha, she's in 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:21.120 the shower. And then Miss Martha threw a curveball. She said, 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:26.760 all right, how about your dad? Now I got improvise, 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:34.400 and since I'm already lying, I just went with this, yes, ma'am, but. 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:45.480 He's in the shower too. She snatched that phone. Hey 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:52.240 Martha here. Anyway, we would take faith to pick up the. 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:56.480 Phone because it might be Martha, it might be Ed 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:59.400 McMahon calling you to tell you you want a million dollars. 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:01.960 But it doesn't take faith anymore because I know exactly 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:04.480 who this is. So I get to make a conscious 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:08.439 decision do I want to enter into this particular conversation. 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.240 It takes faith. This is what I'm trying to get 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:15.640 you to see. It takes faith to. 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:20.280 Enter into a conversation when you are not sure who 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:24.520 you will be conversing with. Should you choose to accept 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:30.319 the call? Shout amen, somebody? It takes faith. It takes 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:33.319 a certain amount of faith. And I know that a 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:37.320 lot of times we forget this, but even to say 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:41.600 that God is calling me to do something, it takes 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:44.480 a certain amount of faith to know that this is 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:45.959 really God on the other line. 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:49.839 Because what if it sounds like God, but it's really 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:54.439 just my ambition. What if it is kind. 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:56.120 Of like God, but I'm not sure if really it's 0:11:56.200 --> 0:12:00.520 just me being delusional. What if while I'm preaching today, 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:05.600 something leaps in your spirit while I'm talking, and you 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:09.080 believe that it's God's will for you to hear that 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:13.480 and act on it. Because the starting place of faith 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:17.240 is the word of God. Write that down somewhere where 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:19.719 you can remember it later this week when you're like, well, 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:21.880 I don't know if I should do this or not. Well, 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:24.760 the starting place of faith is the Word of God. 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:29.000 We cannot treat every whim that we have as if 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:31.840 it's the word of God and just say I have 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:36.720 faith because the starting faith of place is the Word. 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.000 Of God, the starting place of faith. I say that 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:40.880 backwards the start okay, the. 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:46.559 Starting place of faith is the Word of God. In fact, 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.880 the author of Hebrews wants you to know that you 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:54.080 can't even come to God to begin with without faith 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.959 verse success, and without faith, it is impossible to please God. 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:04.640 Anyone who comes to him must believe. 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:07.599 It does not say. 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.000 That the prerequisite for coming to God is that he 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:15.320 who comes to God must behave a certain way, but 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:19.360 to believe a certain thing. I was talking to a 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:21.080 guy the other day who said, I need to get 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:23.520 right with God. I said, and what do you think 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:25.200 it will take for you to get right with God? 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:28.280 And he said, well, I need to change some things 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:32.080 in my life. And I said, indeed you may, and 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.640 indeed I do too. But the starting place of your 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:43.000 relationship with God is not changed behavior. The starting place 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:48.080 of a relationship with God is belief belief. 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:52.559 It begins with belief. 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:59.000 Every fear you're experiencing in your life today begins with belief. 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:02.959 Of faith. That you will ever take. Every step you will. 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:04.960 Make in the direction of God's will for your life 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:11.320 will begin with belief, or it won't be sustainable. If 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:15.400 it does not start with faith, it will not be sustainable. 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.880 Any New Year's resolution that doesn't start with faith depends 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:25.600 on you. If it depends on you, when you run 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:31.080 out of strength, you run out of stamina. Any goal 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:32.920 that I established in my life, now, look, this is 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:36.120 something I'm making up. This is a principle that the 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:40.480 writer of Hebrews is sharing with a group of people 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:45.800 who are standing in between their old belief and their 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:50.560 new belief. Their old belief revolved around being right with 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:55.400 God through the works of the law. By performing these 0:14:55.800 --> 0:15:00.560 religious duties and by moving into these protocols, they could 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:04.520 approach God through the sacrifices of bulls and goats. 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:06.880 And now they've come into a. 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:11.400 Different relationship through Jesus, whereby we no longer come in 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:12.840 through our. 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:14.960 Works, but through our faith. 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:19.240 He says, anyone who comes to God must believe that 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:20.080 He exists. 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:22.720 And I know that you won't admit. 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:24.240 This, because when you come to church, you put on 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:25.920 your holiest face and you pretend like you have no 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:27.960 idea what I'm talking about when I say stuff like this, 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:30.520 But sometimes it takes faith just to pray, because you 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:32.160 wonder is anybody even really listening? 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:32.920 And does this matter? 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.680 That's why we can't sometimes pray for thirteen seconds without 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:42.200 losing our train of thought, because after thirteen seconds, I'm. 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:43.160 Like, am I crazy? Am I do? 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.080 I just have an imaginary friend, a grown up version 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:45.560 called God? 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:47.200 And is he really listening? If he is really listening? 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:48.480 And then what did my friend died last year? 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.200 He says, without faith, it is impossible to please God. 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:54.080 And not only is it. 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.400 Impossible to please God, but it's impossible to even. 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:57.720 Come to him. 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.160 Now, I show you this because I love it in 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.440 detail of a scripture, and you might have skimmed over this. 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:04.600 And I don't want you to. It says, without faith. 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:09.040 It is impossible to please God because he who comes 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:14.560 to God. So when you come to God, you don't 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:18.240 come to God because you were really good today and 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:20.280 He wants to hear from you because you. 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:21.200 Did really good today. 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.600 You don't come to God because you got something to 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.040 brag about and you want him to give you a 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:29.560 gold star for everything you did for him that day. 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:32.400 You don't come to God bringing him a list of 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:35.720 reasons that he should use you in, showing him your 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.600 resume for how valuable you would be for his kingdom. 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:42.440 You don't come to God because wow, if he could 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:44.760 really get hold of your life, then he could really 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:50.520 start changing the world. You come to God by by 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:54.720 by the very starting point of believing that I can 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:58.080 come to a God that I cannot see that he 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.960 is real. Somebody's shout, he's real. I need to do 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:08.960 a test. How many believe Jesus is real? I need 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:11.200 a few testimonies to happen. Just break out in every 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:13.160 section of the church. Look at your neighbors, say he's 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:13.679 real to me. 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:15.840 Tell him. 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:20.159 You can't make me doubt him. I know too much. 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:24.320 About him. 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.879 As a matter of fact, God is real to me. 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:29.600 God is realer to me than you are to me, 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:32.120 because you're in a body and. 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:33.960 You're a person, and you're sitting. 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:36.080 Next to me, and you might be here one day 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:39.280 and not hear the next. But God is real to 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:43.320 me because he is the one who was and is. 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:47.200 I feel like preaching today. Y'all help me pace. 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:50.240 My message, but just high five three people say he's real. 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:52.040 He's real. 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:55.720 So I come to God with the confidence that when 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.080 I roll over and see Holly in the morning, I 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:04.359 say hey, and I say hey to her because her 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:08.639 head is next to mine. I say hey because I 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:13.000 see her. When I turn to God, I have to 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:19.760 say hey, somebody say hey to somebody I can't see. 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:21.120 And not only can I not. 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:25.560 See him, sometimes I can't feel him. Will you be 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:28.439 real with me for fifteen seconds so I can start 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:34.680 this sermon today. It takes faith to start praying to God. 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:38.479 It takes faith to start declare. It takes faith to 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:42.399 believe that your sins are forgiven when you still feel 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:48.040 the guilt of Him. Because I can sing Jesus paid 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:51.040 it all. But it takes faith for me to say that, 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:54.720 because I'm carrying it with me and I still feel 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:56.800 a debt for the things that I did. 0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:03.000 But He's real. I believe that we believe this. 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.320 The writer of Hebrews is saying to the church that 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.240 they're all new. They're all new to this, and so 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:14.520 they're in between a place of working their way to 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:18.399 God and believing in the God that they can't see. 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:20.719 And he knows that they need encouragement. 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.480 So he says, first of all, anyone who comes to 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:27.000 God must believe that he exists or that he's real. 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:29.760 And that second thing, give me verse six again, that 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:33.879 he is a rewarder of those who earnestly seek him. 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:35.480 He is a rewarder. 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.560 Now, if you believe that he's real, but don't believe 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:42.520 he's a rewarder, you won't pick up the phone when 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:47.359 he calls, because you'll be suspicious about what he wants. 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.160 And you'll be sitting over there silently like my mom 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:59.600 going and we'll be saying, we'll give your life to God. 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:01.800 And but what is he gonna make me do if 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:07.879 I do give your life to God? Well, where is 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:08.520 he gonna make me? 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:12.800 Am? I gonna have to go? We're gonna I talked 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:13.400 to God one time. 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:14.960 This guy has so much money, and he thought that 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:15.920 God wanted his money. 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:18.119 And I thought that was funny. 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:22.280 I thought that was hilarious, that God has a need 0:20:22.280 --> 0:20:23.520 and he's gonna tell you about it. 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:27.800 So I'm trying to explaining about the streets. 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:30.760 Of gold and heaven. I was like, they pave what 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:35.280 we save. They paved the streets in heaven with what 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:38.840 we save up down here. And he was so concerned. 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:40.840 He was so concerned what God was gonna make him 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:43.879 give up because he didn't understand yet. He was starting 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:46.800 to believe that God is real, but he didn't see 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:47.800 God as a rewarder. 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:52.360 He saw the Lord as a liability. 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:56.639 And sometimes we are afraid to take the step that 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:58.760 God is calling us to take. 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:02.560 And accept his call because of what it might cost. 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:08.080 Into this premise and the tension. I would like to 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:15.199 talk to you about saying hey by faith, about the 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:17.320 fact that a relationship with God does not begin the 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:19.280 moment that you get your act together, but the moment 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:22.480 that you throw yourself on the mercy of God and say, 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:24.360 just as I am without one plea, but that Thy 0:21:24.400 --> 0:21:28.160 blood was shed for me, O Lamb of God, I come. 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:31.000 That is the faith that it takes to enter into 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:34.560 the presence of God. And when God prompts your heart, 0:21:34.680 --> 0:21:35.919 as he's prompting. 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:36.760 Many of you today. 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:41.520 To get right with Him, it is not a righteousness 0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:46.199 that you go for. It is a righteousness that is 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:51.600 ingrafted in you and gifted to you from. 0:21:51.359 --> 0:21:51.880 Time to time. 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:54.880 I think I need to say these things because when 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:58.960 we say faith, we mean a lot of different things. 0:21:59.359 --> 0:21:59.960 For some faith. 0:22:00.000 --> 0:22:03.800 It has come to me nothing more than an optimistic outlook. Well, 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:06.080 if that's your take on faith, it won't take much 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:09.639 to undo it, because when things don't turn out like 0:22:09.720 --> 0:22:13.560 they looked in your mind, in your life, you will 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:17.000 abandon your faith. On the other hand, for some, faith 0:22:17.080 --> 0:22:19.680 is a classification. They'll say it in a political sense. 0:22:19.720 --> 0:22:22.000 These are the people of faith, the faith community, as 0:22:22.040 --> 0:22:26.960 if faith were synonymous with a voting block, like people 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:29.359 of faith all vote one way, Like our God isn't 0:22:29.359 --> 0:22:34.280 bigger than your little, petty, little political, little agenda driven 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:37.720 boxes that you try to get us to check. God 0:22:37.720 --> 0:22:42.199 can't be contained that way, and neither can faith. For some, 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:44.360 faith means nothing more than the moment when you give 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:46.119 your life to Jesus, and then after that you're on 0:22:46.160 --> 0:22:47.679 your own to work your butt off and show them 0:22:47.720 --> 0:22:51.919 how grateful you are. So you receive Jesus by faith. 0:22:52.359 --> 0:22:54.679 Good luck with the rest of your life. Hope you 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:58.359 make it to heaven. The writer of Hebrews is encouraging 0:22:58.400 --> 0:22:59.600 these people to continue in the faith. 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:01.800 Now much what he does something so good. 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:05.159 He says, I know that what you're going through is 0:23:05.320 --> 0:23:08.679 new to you. I know that this trusting in the 0:23:08.800 --> 0:23:10.280 righteousness of Jesus. 0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:15.760 Now this is the gospel in one sentence, he died Jesus. 0:23:17.040 --> 0:23:25.879 Jesus died as if he sinned, so I can live 0:23:26.720 --> 0:23:27.520 as if I didn't. 0:23:32.160 --> 0:23:36.919 I love that when God showed it to me like that, because. 0:23:36.640 --> 0:23:38.200 I think if we're going to say we're putting our 0:23:38.280 --> 0:23:41.160 faith in something, we ought to know what we're believing. 0:23:41.880 --> 0:23:44.679 And what I'm believing isn't just that the situation is 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:47.720 going to turn out or turn around or make me 0:23:47.840 --> 0:23:50.199 happy or be everything I wanted it to be. 0:23:51.440 --> 0:23:53.960 But what I'm believing is. 0:23:53.280 --> 0:23:59.040 That Jesus died as if he sinned, so that I 0:23:59.080 --> 0:24:05.800 could live as if I didn't. He died as if 0:24:05.840 --> 0:24:10.600 he deserved to die, so I could live like I 0:24:10.680 --> 0:24:16.520 could never deserve to live in his grace. He died 0:24:17.560 --> 0:24:21.600 like a criminal so I could be called a child 0:24:21.720 --> 0:24:22.200 of God. 0:24:23.200 --> 0:24:27.480 That's what we believe. And so it begins with this. 0:24:28.040 --> 0:24:31.200 We come to God and we believe that he exists, 0:24:31.640 --> 0:24:34.360 and we believe that He is a rewarder of them 0:24:34.359 --> 0:24:37.560 that seek him. So this week, when you don't feel 0:24:37.600 --> 0:24:41.479 worthy to come to God, just remember he died so 0:24:41.600 --> 0:24:45.199 you could live as if you never sin so you 0:24:45.240 --> 0:24:49.040 could pray as if you never sin, so you could come. 0:24:48.960 --> 0:24:52.520 Boldly in his face and tell him what you need in. 0:24:52.480 --> 0:24:55.560 The time of your trouble, so that you can move 0:24:55.640 --> 0:24:59.560 forward from your past and not be stuck back in it, 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:02.720 and not drag around a shame that he broke two 0:25:02.800 --> 0:25:07.639 thousand years ago. This is what we believe. Somebody shout, 0:25:07.680 --> 0:25:12.800 I believe by faith. And so the next time the 0:25:12.840 --> 0:25:16.119 devil tells you you can't come to God and starts 0:25:16.119 --> 0:25:20.800 putting condemnation in your face, remember Romans eight one. There 0:25:21.160 --> 0:25:23.160 is therefore now. 0:25:23.160 --> 0:25:25.080 No condemnation for. 0:25:25.080 --> 0:25:31.920 Those who are in Christ Jesus. Then zilch zero zip nana. 0:25:31.960 --> 0:25:34.200 When the devil tries to condemn. 0:25:33.800 --> 0:25:38.639 You tell him, hey, devil, I appreciate what you're saying. 0:25:39.160 --> 0:25:42.440 I probably did do something wrong. I know I did 0:25:42.520 --> 0:25:45.320 stuff wrong. I can add some stuff to the list, 0:25:45.720 --> 0:25:49.199 but I got the faith to say, hey, devil is 0:25:49.359 --> 0:25:57.480 paid for in full. All right. 0:25:57.560 --> 0:25:58.359 Let me run a pole. 0:25:58.600 --> 0:26:01.000 How many of you the devil's been eating you up over. 0:26:00.840 --> 0:26:02.880 Something this week? All right? 0:26:02.920 --> 0:26:03.800 Do you have faith? 0:26:04.800 --> 0:26:08.400 Did he die for you? Was his blood enough for you? 0:26:09.400 --> 0:26:12.359 Did he satisfy the righteous requirements of the law in 0:26:12.400 --> 0:26:16.320 his body? Did the spotless Lamb of God lay down 0:26:16.400 --> 0:26:18.240 his life for you. 0:26:18.240 --> 0:26:19.120 You got faith. 0:26:19.920 --> 0:26:24.359 You believe that you got the faith to say, hey, devil. 0:26:25.240 --> 0:26:26.520 I hear your voice. 0:26:26.640 --> 0:26:30.840 But it is silence in the face of a greater voice, 0:26:31.200 --> 0:26:34.359 a greater grace, a greater coming at us. 0:26:34.480 --> 0:26:34.680 Come. 0:26:43.000 --> 0:26:45.920 He does something so good. He goes, I know this 0:26:46.000 --> 0:26:48.720 is new to you. How many of you live in 0:26:48.760 --> 0:26:50.480 God's way? Is new to you. I just want to 0:26:50.520 --> 0:26:54.040 see a show of hands. Yeah, it's just really you 0:26:54.119 --> 0:26:55.359 want to talk to you, sir, about can go home? 0:26:55.800 --> 0:26:57.720 Let's just stay here together for a minute. 0:26:58.320 --> 0:27:02.600 And really, if you didn't raise your hand, you. 0:27:02.560 --> 0:27:07.800 Haven't spoken with God lately, because it will always feel 0:27:07.960 --> 0:27:17.879 new to you if you are going forward. The only 0:27:17.920 --> 0:27:21.520 way for you to stop feeling that feeling off. 0:27:21.680 --> 0:27:23.920 And the writer describes it in a very particular way. 0:27:23.920 --> 0:27:25.360 He goes, Abraham. 0:27:25.440 --> 0:27:28.720 Remember, Abraham was the guy who got this all started. 0:27:29.680 --> 0:27:32.679 He was called the Father of faith, the father of 0:27:32.720 --> 0:27:33.320 many nations. 0:27:33.320 --> 0:27:35.480 That's what God calls him. That's not what he was. 0:27:35.960 --> 0:27:37.720 He didn't have a single son when God called him that, 0:27:38.320 --> 0:27:41.000 and he was seventy five when God called him. The 0:27:41.000 --> 0:27:43.560 Bible says about Abraham and verse number eight put it 0:27:43.640 --> 0:27:44.399 back up on the screen. 0:27:44.560 --> 0:27:46.160 This is the verse that I thought was so annoyted. 0:27:46.200 --> 0:27:48.480 It might break a yoke, and it might scare a devil, 0:27:48.480 --> 0:27:50.800 and it might bring somebody's heart back to a place 0:27:50.800 --> 0:27:54.840 a beating again, and said by faith Abraham when called 0:27:55.680 --> 0:27:59.120 to go to a place he would later receive as 0:27:59.160 --> 0:28:02.600 his inheritance, obeyed and went. 0:28:03.520 --> 0:28:05.400 The more I studied this word, the better. 0:28:05.240 --> 0:28:09.000 It got, because it actually is connected. Where it says 0:28:09.040 --> 0:28:10.840 by faith Abraham when called to go to a. 0:28:10.760 --> 0:28:11.800 Place he would later receive. 0:28:12.520 --> 0:28:15.480 It literally is juxtaposed in the grammar that it's written 0:28:15.480 --> 0:28:19.160 in in the Letter to the Hebrews as an immediate response. 0:28:20.160 --> 0:28:23.719 So what it means is that as he was being called, 0:28:23.760 --> 0:28:28.280 he went as soon as he was being called. So 0:28:28.400 --> 0:28:34.040 now you can measure your spirituality in inverse proportion the 0:28:34.119 --> 0:28:37.919 time that God tells you to do something, however long 0:28:38.720 --> 0:28:39.880 it takes you to do it. 0:28:41.520 --> 0:28:43.840 That's how immature you are in your relationship with Him. 0:28:45.120 --> 0:28:46.560 And I've got a lot of growing up to do. 0:28:47.360 --> 0:28:50.560 So I need this word because look at it again, 0:28:51.800 --> 0:28:53.760 he was called to go to a place he would 0:28:53.800 --> 0:28:55.760 later receive, So he's not going to get it right away. 0:28:57.040 --> 0:28:58.000 He obeyed and went. 0:28:58.880 --> 0:29:03.440 And this part will probably trip you up, even though 0:29:03.440 --> 0:29:08.920 he didn't know where he was going. Going without knowing? 0:29:10.840 --> 0:29:16.560 That is faith, isn't it answering and not even knowing? 0:29:17.720 --> 0:29:20.760 Is this really God? Is this really going to happen? 0:29:22.120 --> 0:29:23.800 At this point in the sermon, there are usually about 0:29:23.840 --> 0:29:26.400 ten reckless people who just used this as an excuse 0:29:26.440 --> 0:29:30.600 to quit your job and move to Canada. 0:29:31.200 --> 0:29:33.000 That's not the essence of the text, though, is it. 0:29:34.360 --> 0:29:36.520 Because it is not about a geographical location change. It 0:29:36.600 --> 0:29:39.480 is actually about staying in faith. 0:29:41.200 --> 0:29:43.800 Now, look, if we celebrate this text on the first level, 0:29:43.920 --> 0:29:45.280 is good Abraham? 0:29:46.080 --> 0:29:48.840 He went without. 0:29:49.960 --> 0:29:50.280 Knowing? 0:29:51.520 --> 0:29:54.800 That is that is worthy of our admiration that he 0:29:54.840 --> 0:29:58.080 did that. So the writer of Hebrew says, I know 0:29:58.120 --> 0:29:59.640 this is new for you. Let me call one of 0:29:59.680 --> 0:30:02.680 your familiar characters that you know so well, that actually 0:30:02.800 --> 0:30:05.000 is the hero of this entire faith system that you 0:30:05.040 --> 0:30:08.440 are coming from, And let me use it to juxtapose 0:30:08.520 --> 0:30:10.880 against what you now have in Jesus, that is the 0:30:10.920 --> 0:30:15.640 new and living way opened by his covenant. He says, Hey, Abraham, 0:30:16.200 --> 0:30:20.520 show us how to do it. Exhibit a exhibit Abraham, 0:30:20.760 --> 0:30:24.760 as he gives us this this case study. 0:30:24.440 --> 0:30:27.400 In faith. He says, by faith, Abraham. 0:30:27.600 --> 0:30:31.120 Was called to go somewhere he did not know, and 0:30:31.160 --> 0:30:34.280 he obeyed and went by faith. Put the scripture back 0:30:34.320 --> 0:30:35.719 up one more time, because I don't think we're done 0:30:35.760 --> 0:30:38.240 with it yet. It said he didn't know where he 0:30:38.360 --> 0:30:42.920 was going. And don't we love to celebrate when someone 0:30:43.040 --> 0:30:48.280 goes to something new. I don't really enjoy weddings. 0:30:51.760 --> 0:30:56.240 Whatever. I really like him. I want to come back 0:30:57.520 --> 0:31:01.720 in like seven years and have the big party. But 0:31:01.800 --> 0:31:02.720 I know that's mean in. 0:31:02.760 --> 0:31:05.600 Everything, because that's like pessimistic or something like that. 0:31:05.720 --> 0:31:12.520 Right, I just can't get too happy right yet, for y'all, I. 0:31:12.480 --> 0:31:14.760 See everybody else's In many ways, I feel like I 0:31:14.800 --> 0:31:19.600 have a very dark heart, and I'm probably I'm probably 0:31:19.600 --> 0:31:22.360 confessing a very deep character flaw to you. But I 0:31:22.400 --> 0:31:24.920 would be much happier for you, Like I would love 0:31:24.960 --> 0:31:28.080 to show up at your twenty fifth thing. I would 0:31:28.160 --> 0:31:30.840 love then the longer it goes, the happier I could 0:31:30.840 --> 0:31:33.920 be for you, and the more inspired I can be 0:31:34.000 --> 0:31:36.600 for you. But you know, the Bible says for this 0:31:36.640 --> 0:31:39.960 call shaw man leave his father and mother, and there 0:31:40.040 --> 0:31:43.480 is a leaving and a cleaving, right, And so I'm 0:31:43.560 --> 0:31:50.440 really just confused why we so celebrate the leaving, but 0:31:50.560 --> 0:31:56.520 the cleaving, the commitment that it requires, what it takes 0:31:56.560 --> 0:32:00.840 to really cleave in your relationship with Jesus. 0:32:02.320 --> 0:32:05.760 It is worthy to celebrate that you left. 0:32:06.120 --> 0:32:09.480 A life of sin when you take a step of faith. 0:32:09.600 --> 0:32:13.760 It is worthy of celebrating that you have now stepped 0:32:13.800 --> 0:32:17.840 out into the unknown. And that's wonderful. And if God 0:32:17.880 --> 0:32:20.800 tells you to go start a business, I'll clap for you. 0:32:21.520 --> 0:32:24.280 But I'll clap for you, and I'll be happy for you, 0:32:24.760 --> 0:32:26.800 but not as happy for you as I can be 0:32:27.560 --> 0:32:31.840 when you call me in three years, five years and 0:32:31.880 --> 0:32:35.080 you say it's been a recession. But I stuck with 0:32:35.120 --> 0:32:39.360 it in the recession. And God showed me strategies for 0:32:39.520 --> 0:32:42.360 this business in the recession. 0:32:42.280 --> 0:32:44.640 And we had to lay some people off and we 0:32:44.720 --> 0:32:45.040 had to. 0:32:45.040 --> 0:32:48.239 Change a business model and that was really rough. And 0:32:48.280 --> 0:32:50.720 I had an ulcer and I asked the doctor to 0:32:50.800 --> 0:32:54.360 prescribe something for it, and it took three different medications, 0:32:54.640 --> 0:32:56.600 and I had a hard time knowing when to be 0:32:56.680 --> 0:32:59.040 home versus when to be at the office. 0:32:59.120 --> 0:32:59.920 But here I am. 0:33:00.000 --> 0:33:04.560 I'm still staying and standing and believing. And rains flew 0:33:04.960 --> 0:33:12.080 and winds came and the house stood firm. What I'm 0:33:12.160 --> 0:33:16.120 trying to say is that stepping out faith is great. 0:33:17.600 --> 0:33:22.360 So is staying faith. So is staying faith. 0:33:23.680 --> 0:33:27.040 Because in all the years I read about Abraham, I 0:33:27.160 --> 0:33:30.760 celebrated that he had the faith to go. He obeyed 0:33:31.400 --> 0:33:34.800 and went, And that's wonderful that he went. Here's all 0:33:34.880 --> 0:33:37.160 God told him, I'm gonna bless you. I'm gonna make 0:33:37.160 --> 0:33:39.520 you a great nation. All the nations of the earth 0:33:39.560 --> 0:33:43.080 will be blessed through you. You're gonna have descendants as numerous. 0:33:43.080 --> 0:33:44.880 I gotta calmed down, I gotta come down. He said, 0:33:44.880 --> 0:33:48.280 I'm gonna bless you. You're gonna have descendants as numerous 0:33:48.320 --> 0:33:51.160 as the stars in the sky, the sand in the seashore. 0:33:51.440 --> 0:33:58.360 And Abraham obeyed and went. What I never thought about, though, 0:33:59.440 --> 0:34:03.160 was after he obeyed and went, Oh, in that wonderful 0:34:03.200 --> 0:34:05.640 he went to a place he didn't know in' that wonderful, 0:34:06.960 --> 0:34:09.919 what I never wondered was what happened when he got there. 0:34:12.040 --> 0:34:16.319 Now look at verse nine. By faith, he made his 0:34:16.400 --> 0:34:24.040 home in the Promised Land like a stranger. In my imagination, 0:34:25.440 --> 0:34:29.759 I always kind of pictured Abraham go into the Promised Land, 0:34:30.480 --> 0:34:33.400 and when he got there, there was a parade for 0:34:33.480 --> 0:34:37.120 him in his honor. I know the Bible doesn't say that, 0:34:37.160 --> 0:34:38.920 and I know that's a stupid thing to think, but 0:34:39.000 --> 0:34:40.680 that's the way I thought of it. Maybe not an 0:34:40.719 --> 0:34:43.719 actual literal parade, but you know what I'm saying. It's like, 0:34:44.080 --> 0:34:46.360 you're here, Ding ding ding. You made it to the 0:34:46.400 --> 0:34:49.319 Promised Land. You're here, Abraham, congratulations. You have the faith 0:34:49.360 --> 0:34:50.280 to step out and I'll. 0:34:50.160 --> 0:34:50.600 Come on in. 0:34:52.200 --> 0:34:58.040 So when I read that by faith, he obeyed and went, 0:34:59.520 --> 0:35:01.640 and it was followed by by faith he made his 0:35:01.640 --> 0:35:04.839 home in the Promised Land. Like a stranger in a 0:35:05.000 --> 0:35:13.560 foreign country. He lived intense. See, here's what I want 0:35:13.560 --> 0:35:18.280 to tell you. It's possible to arrive at your promise 0:35:20.040 --> 0:35:32.160 and live in a tent. It's this feeling of I'm here. 0:35:33.800 --> 0:35:37.680 But this is way different than how it sounded when 0:35:37.680 --> 0:35:43.680 I left. Anybody there, I'm here. Remember when you were 0:35:43.680 --> 0:35:46.400 in seventh grade and all you wanted was your driver's license? 0:35:46.400 --> 0:35:47.000 You're driving? 0:35:49.560 --> 0:35:54.879 Where are you going? What you're going to do when 0:35:54.920 --> 0:35:59.719 you get there? Now, two things happen. He got there 0:36:00.560 --> 0:36:04.960 without knowing where there was. That in his self is complicated. 0:36:06.600 --> 0:36:09.000 I've heard people say things and I don't mean to 0:36:09.040 --> 0:36:10.520 pick on it. I'm sure I've said something like this, 0:36:11.800 --> 0:36:17.880 if I could just have clarity from God, clarity from God, 0:36:18.680 --> 0:36:22.120 and if he would just confirm his word to me, 0:36:22.719 --> 0:36:31.240 and I am waiting for confirmation is what I'm waiting for. Okay, 0:36:32.680 --> 0:36:37.319 confirmation comes after commitment. 0:36:40.160 --> 0:36:45.880 Mike drop, I gotta tell y'all where the good parts 0:36:45.920 --> 0:36:46.759 of the sermon is. 0:36:46.760 --> 0:36:49.560 Because you're confused about it, that's the good part of 0:36:49.560 --> 0:36:54.040 the sermon. He obeyed ask God was calling him like 0:36:54.160 --> 0:36:57.800 it wasn't even complete yet. It wasn't even a destination yet. 0:36:58.120 --> 0:37:00.640 It was just something that got moved bye. But then 0:37:00.680 --> 0:37:05.720 he got there hundreds of miles with hundreds of people, 0:37:06.280 --> 0:37:09.719 with a caravan full of people that he's responsible for. 0:37:10.680 --> 0:37:14.600 And he lived in tents. 0:37:16.400 --> 0:37:19.000 Have you ever had God bring you to a promise 0:37:20.080 --> 0:37:22.359 and then make you pitch a tent. 0:37:25.360 --> 0:37:29.279 It's like he brings you. Should we start passing out 0:37:29.280 --> 0:37:30.960 caffeine in the communion cups at the door. 0:37:31.680 --> 0:37:36.359 He brings you to a place, He brings you to 0:37:36.480 --> 0:37:41.880 a moment, he brings you to a relationship, he brings. 0:37:41.520 --> 0:37:43.480 You to a stage of life. 0:37:43.920 --> 0:37:47.920 He brings you to your anointing, he brings you into 0:37:47.960 --> 0:37:52.239 the area of your giftedness and you know this is it, 0:37:52.840 --> 0:37:59.960 but then you think, is this it? I could understand 0:38:01.120 --> 0:38:04.279 if he lived in a tent for a week while 0:38:04.320 --> 0:38:09.040 the apartment least was going through. I could understand if 0:38:09.040 --> 0:38:12.200 he lived there for six months while he found the 0:38:12.239 --> 0:38:13.920 best school district in Canaan. 0:38:15.400 --> 0:38:20.920 Abraham lived in tents the entire time he was in 0:38:20.960 --> 0:38:21.800 the Promised Land. 0:38:24.080 --> 0:38:27.759 So what I'm trying to say is you might be 0:38:27.880 --> 0:38:31.200 a pilgrim in something that God called you. 0:38:31.200 --> 0:38:34.160 To possess, and just. 0:38:34.200 --> 0:38:37.560 Because it doesn't feel stable doesn't. 0:38:37.200 --> 0:38:42.800 Mean it's not secure. Whoever is for You're. 0:38:42.680 --> 0:38:45.840 Gonna get it deep because I got it deep. Because 0:38:45.880 --> 0:38:50.239 there's times where I questioned God and my faith gets low. 0:38:50.719 --> 0:38:52.279 Did you really say to do this? 0:38:52.600 --> 0:38:55.719 Did you really say to forgive them sometimes even. 0:38:55.480 --> 0:38:56.839 When I get up here, God? 0:38:56.880 --> 0:39:00.000 Did you really tell me to preach this just because 0:39:00.239 --> 0:39:03.359 I don't feel it in the moment. Just because it's 0:39:03.520 --> 0:39:06.080 foreign doesn't mean it isn't yours. 0:39:08.239 --> 0:39:09.120 So here's what I. 0:39:09.080 --> 0:39:12.680 Want you to declare by faith. Say it's mine. 0:39:13.160 --> 0:39:13.800 It's mine. 0:39:14.000 --> 0:39:16.640 Now that sounds selfish because we're not supposed to talk 0:39:16.680 --> 0:39:20.160 in church about what we have and what God gave us. 0:39:20.320 --> 0:39:24.280 It's supposed to be all about him, but he said, 0:39:24.320 --> 0:39:28.680 I will bless you, he said I will make you, 0:39:29.680 --> 0:39:30.440 he said. 0:39:30.200 --> 0:39:31.200 I will guide you. 0:39:32.719 --> 0:39:37.640 And it's not really Him that we doubt, it's us. 0:39:51.239 --> 0:39:53.040 You ever had to hold on to the truth living 0:39:53.040 --> 0:39:59.800 in a tent. You ever had to suffer from clinical 0:40:00.000 --> 0:40:06.200 depression and show up smiling at an office building. You 0:40:06.280 --> 0:40:11.239 ever had your kid's not doing well, but you had 0:40:11.280 --> 0:40:17.279 to be there for somebody else's kid. Have you, then 0:40:17.320 --> 0:40:24.239 you've lived intents. It is being somewhere you're supposed to be. 0:40:24.360 --> 0:40:27.640 Say I'm supposed to be here, I'm supposed to be here. 0:40:27.719 --> 0:40:30.800 It's being somewhere you're supposed to be, but the accommodations 0:40:30.840 --> 0:40:38.600 aren't what you imagine. I was reading some definitions of faith. 0:40:39.000 --> 0:40:39.680 Check this out. 0:40:39.920 --> 0:40:43.360 It said that faith not only is it about our salvation, 0:40:43.480 --> 0:40:45.520 but there is a situational faith as well. 0:40:45.600 --> 0:40:46.360 Uh huh. 0:40:46.520 --> 0:40:49.080 And it is a faith that defies all contradictions and 0:40:49.120 --> 0:40:54.760 outward circumstances, but looks entirely to God and his promises alone. 0:40:55.760 --> 0:41:00.000 It is a faith that defies all contradictions and outward circumstances, 0:41:00.760 --> 0:41:05.560 but looks entirely to God and his promises alone. 0:41:05.880 --> 0:41:06.319 One said. 0:41:06.719 --> 0:41:11.840 Faith is living as if God's power for the present 0:41:11.960 --> 0:41:14.560 is real and his promise. 0:41:14.200 --> 0:41:19.240 For the future is secure. That's faith saving. Faith. 0:41:19.719 --> 0:41:23.399 He died as if he sinned so I could live 0:41:23.880 --> 0:41:30.399 as if I didn't. Faith is living as if I'm 0:41:30.400 --> 0:41:35.359 gonna say this again. Faith is living as if who 0:41:35.400 --> 0:41:40.280 am I preaching to right now? Faith is going forward 0:41:41.080 --> 0:41:44.640 as if you knew where you were going, and then 0:41:44.719 --> 0:41:48.720 going home and wondering am I there because you're living 0:41:49.280 --> 0:41:54.840 in a tent. Faith is saying I am fully forgiven 0:41:55.040 --> 0:41:58.640 by Christ, even as the waves of shame wash over you, 0:41:59.280 --> 0:42:01.800 and instead of drowning in the regret of that shame, 0:42:02.239 --> 0:42:05.760 you transform it by the power of grace into wisdom 0:42:05.840 --> 0:42:07.160 so that you never make. 0:42:07.040 --> 0:42:09.040 Those mistakes again. 0:42:10.680 --> 0:42:14.320 Faith is showing up to church as if you knew 0:42:14.320 --> 0:42:17.320 God had a word for you, even though you secretly 0:42:17.400 --> 0:42:21.200 wonder is he talking to someone else. Faith is picking 0:42:21.280 --> 0:42:24.239 up your tent and moving even though you don't know 0:42:24.320 --> 0:42:28.160 how far you'll have to go. Faith is making your 0:42:28.320 --> 0:42:32.359 home enjoy even though sorrow may last for the night. 0:42:33.200 --> 0:42:36.480 Faith is giving God praise for who he is when 0:42:36.520 --> 0:42:40.240 you can't even see what he's doing. Faith is reaching 0:42:40.280 --> 0:42:46.520 on your inside reserves and pulling from your experience to say, Hey, God, 0:42:47.400 --> 0:42:51.240 I need you right now. Faith will stretch a stick 0:42:51.280 --> 0:42:54.160 over the water. Faith will pick up a rock and 0:42:54.239 --> 0:42:57.880 hit a giant in the head. Faith will say, hey, Jesus, 0:42:58.360 --> 0:43:02.600 if it's you, tell me calm and Jesus will say back, 0:43:02.719 --> 0:43:05.680 come and Faith will walk on one word. 0:43:06.239 --> 0:43:10.200 Faith will step out on four letters. Faith will jump out. 0:43:10.080 --> 0:43:12.799 The boat and say, God, hold me up. 0:43:12.719 --> 0:43:14.360 By your righteous right hand. 0:43:14.920 --> 0:43:18.680 If you had not been on my side, my enemies 0:43:18.719 --> 0:43:20.280 would have swallowed me alive. 0:43:21.000 --> 0:43:26.240 So here I am God. Hey, God, is your man verdict? 0:43:26.600 --> 0:43:29.600 And I need you now? And I don't deserve it, 0:43:30.040 --> 0:43:31.839 but I receive it man. 0:43:31.880 --> 0:43:35.719 I claim it by faith. What do you need from 0:43:35.760 --> 0:43:39.879 God today? Claim it by faith? What do you need 0:43:39.920 --> 0:43:41.240 him to do in your body? 0:43:41.480 --> 0:43:43.600 Claim it? Bye? Faith? 0:43:44.080 --> 0:43:46.120 If what do you need him to carry you through? 0:43:46.600 --> 0:43:49.960 Claim it bye Faith? Clap those hands. 0:43:49.960 --> 0:43:57.279 If you've got a claim by faith. I don't have 0:43:58.640 --> 0:43:59.879 what you think I need. 0:44:02.800 --> 0:44:06.440 Oh, fath faith, faith, faith, faith, faith, Father, blessing the 0:44:06.520 --> 0:44:08.840 name of Jesus, bless her right now. Everybody shall faith 0:44:09.520 --> 0:44:13.520 by faith? Say by faith by faith? So how are 0:44:13.560 --> 0:44:16.680 you coming to God? After everything you've done by faith? 0:44:17.480 --> 0:44:19.279 How are you really believing that God is going to 0:44:19.320 --> 0:44:20.480 redeem the years when you're the. 0:44:20.440 --> 0:44:25.680 One who wasted them by faith? By faith? And here's 0:44:25.719 --> 0:44:26.239 what I love. 0:44:27.560 --> 0:44:32.680 He had to show up as a stranger to something 0:44:32.760 --> 0:44:37.919 God gave him. Have you ever had to show up 0:44:39.040 --> 0:44:43.960 as a stranger to something God gave you? I had 0:44:43.960 --> 0:44:47.000 a friend invite me over the other day and nobody 0:44:47.080 --> 0:44:51.040 knew I was coming. I was invited by my friend, 0:44:52.000 --> 0:44:55.440 but I was treated as a stranger by the people 0:44:55.440 --> 0:44:58.200 who had to let me in the door. They had 0:44:58.280 --> 0:45:02.440 no idea who I was. I waited, and I waited 0:45:03.040 --> 0:45:06.160 because I knew when my friend finds out I'm here, 0:45:07.040 --> 0:45:11.680 I'm gonna walk right past all these people who don't 0:45:11.680 --> 0:45:15.359 believe that I belong. I need three people to help 0:45:15.400 --> 0:45:17.960 me finish. I'll finish if I get three people. Three people. 0:45:22.440 --> 0:45:28.640 So he showed up as a stranger to a place 0:45:28.719 --> 0:45:30.040 God gave him. 0:45:30.800 --> 0:45:35.200 Is that not what Jesus did for us, who came 0:45:35.320 --> 0:45:38.520 to his own and his own received him. 0:45:38.600 --> 0:45:38.680 Not. 0:45:39.480 --> 0:45:41.239 He showed up in the earth. 0:45:40.960 --> 0:45:45.320 That he created, was rejected by the humans that he fashioned, 0:45:45.840 --> 0:45:49.239 was crucified by the ones he came to save. But 0:45:49.400 --> 0:45:52.920 because he showed up as a stranger, I could come 0:45:52.960 --> 0:46:06.080 to him as his child. How many are grateful for access. 0:46:06.160 --> 0:46:10.800 Just because it feels foreign doesn't mean it isn't yours. 0:46:17.320 --> 0:46:21.080 When you've heard a long time healing feels for it, 0:46:21.080 --> 0:46:25.759 it doesn't mean you won't be healed. You just might 0:46:25.800 --> 0:46:31.200 have to live in a tent. A tent is an 0:46:31.200 --> 0:46:35.520 interesting image because the New Testament also calls our mortal 0:46:35.560 --> 0:46:41.080 bodies a tent and tewod Corinthians five to four. Paul 0:46:41.160 --> 0:46:47.160 says that while we are in this tent speaking about 0:46:47.160 --> 0:46:51.799 our bodies were grown and are burden. Wait, I thought 0:46:51.840 --> 0:46:55.799 we were blessed. We're blessed, but. 0:46:55.840 --> 0:47:03.000 We're burden because we're living intents. I don't know if 0:47:03.000 --> 0:47:05.040 you're getting this or not. Help me. Are you getting this? 0:47:05.600 --> 0:47:07.879 I want to help you. You're living in a tent. 0:47:09.680 --> 0:47:13.799 It doesn't mean you're not in the promise. You're just 0:47:13.920 --> 0:47:21.680 living in the tent. It takes faith to say hey, 0:47:23.520 --> 0:47:25.920 It takes faith to welcome something into your life that 0:47:25.960 --> 0:47:27.400 you've never had before. 0:47:30.160 --> 0:47:34.320 And so often we are glorifying the goodbye. 0:47:35.400 --> 0:47:44.239 But we're not saying hello to the promise. Imagine Abraham 0:47:45.440 --> 0:47:51.760 walking through Canaan. Nobody knows who he is. He's living 0:47:52.560 --> 0:47:56.240 like a nomad, but he's the father of many nations. 0:47:57.680 --> 0:48:01.000 Can I prophesy this to you. You're bigger than what 0:48:01.040 --> 0:48:13.239 you're living in the bondage the dysfunction. Abraham was the 0:48:13.280 --> 0:48:16.520 most famous person that the writer of Hebrews could bring 0:48:16.600 --> 0:48:17.760 up to illustrate faith. 0:48:18.440 --> 0:48:21.279 But he showed up like a stranger. 0:48:22.560 --> 0:48:24.520 It takes faith to show up like a stranger. 0:48:26.120 --> 0:48:28.640 You think Abraham walked in Canaan and they were all like, Oh, 0:48:28.640 --> 0:48:29.959 you're Abraham, take over. 0:48:30.600 --> 0:48:35.000 This is great. He had to show up. 0:48:36.440 --> 0:48:36.960 In a tent. 0:48:39.320 --> 0:48:40.080 That's a stranger. 0:48:41.520 --> 0:48:43.480 I see you coming into your promise. I see you 0:48:43.520 --> 0:48:46.320 coming into your wholeness. I see you coming into the 0:48:46.360 --> 0:48:48.319 next season of your life, but you're coming in as 0:48:48.320 --> 0:48:48.920 a stranger. 0:48:51.840 --> 0:48:54.120 Stay. 0:48:55.239 --> 0:48:55.600 Stay. 0:48:57.160 --> 0:49:05.920 Faith feels foreign. Stay joy feels foreign. Stay peace feels 0:49:06.040 --> 0:49:07.960 foreign when all you've known is storms. 0:49:08.719 --> 0:49:09.759 Is stay. 0:49:10.920 --> 0:49:17.879 Because if you can stay in faith, watch what Abraham does. 0:49:18.239 --> 0:49:22.319 Oh you're gonna love this mishe hollie, this so does. 0:49:22.360 --> 0:49:23.439 I just appreached to her, y'all. 0:49:24.719 --> 0:49:25.399 Look what he did. 0:49:25.400 --> 0:49:30.200 In verse thirteen of Hebrews, Chapter eleven, all these people. 0:49:30.760 --> 0:49:32.280 Were still living by faith. 0:49:32.360 --> 0:49:37.160 When they died, they did not receive the things promised. 0:49:38.480 --> 0:49:44.200 They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. 0:49:45.880 --> 0:49:49.239 I see you welcoming your dream from a distance. I 0:49:49.280 --> 0:49:51.960 see you welcoming your prodigal child coming back home from 0:49:51.960 --> 0:49:55.359 a distance. You can't really see it yet, spell it yet, 0:49:55.440 --> 0:49:59.239 touch it yet, but it's coming from the distance. And 0:49:59.320 --> 0:50:01.959 they admitted that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 0:50:01.960 --> 0:50:02.600 And WA's what they did. 0:50:02.680 --> 0:50:04.680 Not only did they welcome it from a distance. For 0:50:04.840 --> 0:50:10.280 verse fourteen, people who say such things show that they. 0:50:10.120 --> 0:50:12.799 Are looking for a country of their own. 0:50:14.000 --> 0:50:17.120 So they saw it in the distance, and they had 0:50:17.160 --> 0:50:18.200 the faith to say. 0:50:19.160 --> 0:50:30.560 Hey, hey, joy, hey peace, Hey new beginning, Hey redemption. 0:50:32.600 --> 0:50:33.359 I welcome you. 0:50:34.840 --> 0:50:38.359 I'm not walking in it yet, I'm still living in 0:50:38.360 --> 0:50:39.160 this tent for a. 0:50:39.200 --> 0:50:41.960 Little bit, but I welcome you. 0:50:42.320 --> 0:50:44.440 Will you welcome the Holy Spirit in your life in 0:50:44.480 --> 0:50:48.640 this season. You're living in a tent, but you're not 0:50:48.760 --> 0:50:52.280 your body. Some of you are living in a very 0:50:52.400 --> 0:50:57.200 very hard situation, but you are not this situation. You 0:50:57.239 --> 0:51:01.120 are bigger than what you've been living in. You're walking 0:51:01.160 --> 0:51:05.960 as a nomad, but there are nations in you, purpose. 0:51:05.560 --> 0:51:13.239 In you, glory in you. I'm bigger than what I'm 0:51:13.239 --> 0:51:19.959 living in. So come on and say, hey, my faith. 0:51:20.640 --> 0:51:23.080 I see it in the distance, I feel it. Sometimes 0:51:23.200 --> 0:51:26.000 I get a glimpse of it. Sometimes I get a 0:51:26.000 --> 0:51:27.560 little bit of freedom. Then I go back, I get 0:51:27.560 --> 0:51:29.720 a little bit of relief. Then I come back. Welcome 0:51:29.760 --> 0:51:35.839 it in. Don't just believe in it, believe it in. 0:51:37.280 --> 0:51:39.240 Don't just believe in what he did. 0:51:39.040 --> 0:51:39.760 On the cross. 0:51:40.040 --> 0:51:43.279 Believe it in until it permeates you, until you. 0:51:43.280 --> 0:51:53.320 Know I am what he says I am. 0:51:53.360 --> 0:51:57.720 With everyone standing, there is an anointing on this word. 0:51:59.640 --> 0:52:06.560 There is say, heavy anointing on this word. I don't 0:52:06.560 --> 0:52:08.719 know who it was for. I don't know what you 0:52:08.800 --> 0:52:11.480 are living in. I don't know what tent you are 0:52:11.480 --> 0:52:15.040 disappointed by. I don't know exactly what God has called 0:52:15.080 --> 0:52:16.000 you to do or be. 0:52:16.920 --> 0:52:17.680 But I know this. 0:52:19.520 --> 0:52:24.680 If you will welcome it, you can walk in it. 0:52:24.680 --> 0:52:31.120 It begins with you saying yes to God and to 0:52:31.239 --> 0:52:31.919 agree with. 0:52:31.880 --> 0:52:37.920 Him concerning what he sees you to be. Abraham believed 0:52:37.960 --> 0:52:40.080 and so became. What might you become if you believe? 0:52:42.640 --> 0:52:44.800 If you didn't go back to what you came from, 0:52:44.800 --> 0:52:49.759 but said, hey, by faith, okay, God, this is a 0:52:49.800 --> 0:52:52.960 new thing for me. But people who talk this way 0:52:53.000 --> 0:52:58.760 are looking forward to a city with foundations whose builder 0:52:58.800 --> 0:53:04.480 and maker is God. And since the starting point is faith, 0:53:05.440 --> 0:53:07.439 I would like to invite you right now to pray 0:53:08.160 --> 0:53:13.000 a prayer. This prayer is specifically for all of you 0:53:13.440 --> 0:53:17.560 who have been distant from God. You don't bridge that 0:53:17.680 --> 0:53:21.600 gap by good behavior. You bridge that gap by faith. 0:53:22.640 --> 0:53:25.360 You put your total trust in faith in Him. Right now, 0:53:25.520 --> 0:53:28.160 you call on him, he will save you. You call 0:53:28.200 --> 0:53:30.719 on him, he will cleanse you. You call on him, 0:53:30.760 --> 0:53:33.240 he will lift your life from the pit and crown 0:53:33.320 --> 0:53:36.920 you with love and compassion. The Bible says it is 0:53:36.960 --> 0:53:41.040 by grace. We are saved through faith. It's the gift 0:53:41.080 --> 0:53:45.600 of God. It's the gift of God. Right now I 0:53:45.600 --> 0:53:48.400 would like to lead you in receiving this good gift, 0:53:50.239 --> 0:53:53.560 this gift of His grace, for a new beginning in 0:53:53.600 --> 0:53:56.399 your life. With heads bowed and eyes closed. Maybe you've 0:53:56.440 --> 0:53:59.560 never put your trust in Jesus Christ. Maybe you've done 0:53:59.600 --> 0:54:03.480 that once, but you haven't said hey to Him in 0:54:03.520 --> 0:54:06.239 a long time. And today He is calling you, and 0:54:06.280 --> 0:54:07.680 today he is welcoming you. 0:54:09.600 --> 0:54:10.120 Right now. 0:54:11.200 --> 0:54:13.120 If the desire of your heart is to believe in 0:54:13.239 --> 0:54:17.200 Jesus and turn from your old way of life and 0:54:17.239 --> 0:54:20.720 give him your everything. I assure you that he exists 0:54:21.600 --> 0:54:24.319 and that he is a rewarder of them who will 0:54:24.320 --> 0:54:27.759 diligently seek him all over this church and online. I 0:54:27.760 --> 0:54:30.000 want you to repeat this prayer after me. We're praying 0:54:30.040 --> 0:54:32.239 all together out loud for the benefit of those who 0:54:32.280 --> 0:54:35.239 are coming to God in this moment. Say, Heavenly Father, 0:54:36.680 --> 0:54:40.680 I am a sinner in need of a savior, and 0:54:40.719 --> 0:54:45.240 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God 0:54:46.160 --> 0:54:50.200 and the savior of the world. And today I make 0:54:50.360 --> 0:54:54.440 Jesus the lord of my life. I believe he died 0:54:55.320 --> 0:54:59.560 that I would be forgiven, and rose again to give 0:54:59.560 --> 0:55:06.239 me life. I receive this new life. This is my 0:55:06.400 --> 0:55:09.160 new beginning. On the counter of three shoots, your hand 0:55:09.200 --> 0:55:12.160 up if you prayed that one, two, three, all over 0:55:12.200 --> 0:55:13.799 the room, hands going up before. 0:55:13.560 --> 0:55:15.160 I even said three. 0:55:15.560 --> 0:55:20.400 Welcome God, bless you. We receive you with open arms. 0:55:21.280 --> 0:55:24.360 God receives you with open arms. This church receives you 0:55:25.239 --> 0:55:35.120 with open arms. Congratulations on your new beginning. Congratulations for 0:55:35.200 --> 0:55:37.359 all of those who just place their faith in Christ. 0:55:37.480 --> 0:55:39.800 First of all, let's clap our hands one more time. 0:55:39.600 --> 0:55:47.960 For them, it sounds like I plan this announcement with 0:55:48.040 --> 0:55:53.200 my message. But if you'll stop by the tent on 0:55:53.200 --> 0:55:55.360 your way out, there's a Bible we'd like to give you. 0:55:57.120 --> 0:55:59.759 Stop by the tent. Touch three. People say stop by 0:55:59.760 --> 0:56:00.720 the tim. 0:56:03.160 --> 0:56:07.080 Because what nobody knew was in that tent was the 0:56:07.120 --> 0:56:20.520 father of many nations. Say, hey, by faith, this is 0:56:20.560 --> 0:56:25.600 not a dating seminar, but I believe there are some 0:56:25.640 --> 0:56:28.719 things that God is bringing into your life that you 0:56:28.760 --> 0:56:33.440 are welcoming from a distance, and it may take a while, 0:56:34.200 --> 0:56:38.880 but don't let the tent fool you. By faith, it 0:56:39.000 --> 0:56:42.760 shall be Clap those hands one more time, everybody who. 0:56:42.600 --> 0:56:48.080 Receives it, Thanks for joining us today. We pray that 0:56:48.120 --> 0:56:50.320 God has spoken to you in a unique and powerful 0:56:50.360 --> 0:56:52.719 way through the message. Well, we are in our year 0:56:52.719 --> 0:56:54.880 in offering season as a church where we get the 0:56:54.920 --> 0:56:57.799 opportunity to reflect back on all the ways that God 0:56:57.800 --> 0:57:00.480 has been faithful to our ministry this year, but also 0:57:00.680 --> 0:57:03.040 to look ahead at what we're believing God for in 0:57:03.080 --> 0:57:05.360 the upcoming year. And each year as a church, we 0:57:05.400 --> 0:57:08.239 get to come around a special offering and offering that 0:57:08.280 --> 0:57:11.480 contributes to both outreach efforts in local and global cities 0:57:11.680 --> 0:57:14.520 and as well as the expansion of our ministry continuing 0:57:14.520 --> 0:57:17.280 to reach people all over with the hope of the Gospel. 0:57:17.480 --> 0:57:19.680 And we'd invite you to take part and participate in 0:57:19.720 --> 0:57:21.640 our year end offering. To do so, you can go 0:57:21.680 --> 0:57:24.200 to Elevationchurch dot org. Just click the banner there at 0:57:24.240 --> 0:57:26.280 the top, and then you'll be able to see everything 0:57:26.320 --> 0:57:27.880 that you need to be a part of our year 0:57:27.960 --> 0:57:30.800 end offering. You'll see two options. The first is to 0:57:30.840 --> 0:57:33.800 begin tithing. Maybe you've been wanting to prioritize God in 0:57:33.840 --> 0:57:36.520 your finances, but you haven't taken that step to make 0:57:36.560 --> 0:57:38.800 a commitment to doing so. This is a great place 0:57:38.840 --> 0:57:42.400 to begin. Or perhaps you've been giving consistently in this season, 0:57:42.480 --> 0:57:45.080 God may be challenging you to stretch above and beyond 0:57:45.080 --> 0:57:47.840 the tithe to give a sacrificial gift to our year 0:57:47.920 --> 0:57:50.560 end offering. If you're part of one of our physical locations, 0:57:50.600 --> 0:57:52.680 you can choose your campus there, or if you're part 0:57:52.680 --> 0:57:55.360 of our online ministry, of course, you'll choose Epham or 0:57:55.400 --> 0:57:58.000 online and then enter the amount that you'd like to give. 0:57:58.440 --> 0:58:00.200 We are believing for all the ways that God is 0:58:00.240 --> 0:58:02.360 going to stretch our faith in this season through our 0:58:02.440 --> 0:58:04.400 year end offering and we can't wait to see what 0:58:04.440 --> 0:58:07.080 God does through you. God bless and we'll see you soon.