Sinking In The Storm

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.280 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:11.480 gives your. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:14.120 Perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:31.280 the message. Lift your name up. Lord. Thank you for 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:38.440 meeting us in the secret place. Lord. Thank you for 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:40.360 speaking to our hearts that it's going to be all 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:45.360 right and then we're gonna make it, and that you're 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:49.560 working your purpose out. Thank you for reminding us today 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:54.480 how big you are. God. Mountain is nothing to you. 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.440 That mountain is nothing to you. You're a big God, 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:06.080 a great God, a worthy God, a holy God, a 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:10.039 mighty God. I give you praise. Who are you great 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:14.319 mountain to stand before my God? I give you praise. Lord, 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:18.959 I worship you today. Not a shame to praise you, 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:23.440 not a shame to celebrate you. After everything you've done 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:28.360 for me, I owe you the praise. I owe you hollelujahs. 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:31.800 I owe you ten thousand more hallelujahs. 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:37.000 If I had ten thousand tomes still, it wouldn't be enough. 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:47.440 If I had ten thousand comes enough. So Lord, every 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:49.960 need in this room, every name in this room. You know, 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:52.560 we know the name that is above every name, the 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:55.520 name of Jesus in his name. Today we have gathered, 0:01:55.600 --> 0:01:59.160 touching and agreed that it shall be done Your Kingdom, 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:01.680 come on earth as it is in heaven in our lives. 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:06.360 Touchdown now, God. I know technically that's not how it works, 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:09.360 but just bring heaven to earth for a few moments. 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:11.960 Thank you Lord for letting us get out of the 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:15.800 hell of our own heads and our own mines, and 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:19.840 just worship you and say Your Holy Lord. For all 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:21.600 of the people who didn't jump when I said jump, 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:25.799 forgive them, Lord, don't give them a flat tire. They're 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:27.600 just a little sore and a little tired and a 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:30.880 little insecure about their rhythm. But it's all right, Lord. 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.960 We came with one purpose, and one purpose only to 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:38.240 praise your holy name. Great is your name, greatly to 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:42.440 be praise in Jesus name. Amen. Hunt ten people. 0:02:44.040 --> 0:03:00.840 Whoa this is the final week our series. 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:05.520 That's what I thought. You are sad. You are so 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:08.680 sad to see this series come to an end. But 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:11.440 I feel that you have no more need of teaching 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:14.480 about your mind and your thoughts. I think that we 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:19.040 have preached all the crazy out of you. If you're 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:20.880 standing next to your spouse, look at him and say, 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:25.000 pastor is delusional. Stand a b on your feet. I'm 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:27.680 gonna read the scripture right now. I'm so glad you're 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.919 here today. A special welcome to two of our locations. 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:36.720 Our Matthew's location is celebrating a sixteen year anniversary today, 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:42.960 Praise the Lord. Our Uptown location is celebrating seventeen years 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:49.520 of ministry today. That's amazing. That's as old as my 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:52.800 middle son. Y'all. I look at my son and Graham 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:58.000 sometimes and say, I got campuses older than you. Boy. Yeah, 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:01.600 it's good. Remember, Officer, when we used to drive around, 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:05.040 we would do Butler High School uptown, get back over 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:07.560 to Providence. This is early days of the church, because 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:11.320 we didn't have all of this sinking up between all 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:13.840 the campuses and you know, look in the camera and 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:15.560 welcome to the campuses. We didn't have all of that. 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:17.120 So if I had to get to the campus, I 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:18.880 had to get there when they were finishing the last song. 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.200 And they knew to always have a few extra songs ready. 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:25.719 But Josh is a police officer, so he was driving 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:28.240 like one hundred and ten miles an hour. Happy birthday 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:30.560 to Josh van Almen. By the way, those are some 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:35.800 good memories man, Me and you and that Nissan Maxima 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:39.440 just doing ministry at the speed of God. I mean, 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.680 just running there, huffing and puffing like I am right now, 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.720 after jumping around and spinning around. By the way, if 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:47.880 any of you want to be preachers one day, I 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:51.880 would not advise jumping and spinning before you preach. It 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:55.719 is very disorienting. But I just got excited about what 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:59.880 God can do. All of a sudden, I got to thinking, 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.480 what if God answered a prayer that some grandmother has 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:11.040 been praying for her granddaughter suddenly today. What if God 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:15.719 gave you clarity on something you've been confused about suddenly today. 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:18.719 What if you were walking out today and one of 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:26.839 the greeters was handsome and single suddenly today. So I'm 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:30.960 excited about Jesus. I want to preach about Jesus today. 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:35.280 From Matthew chapter fourteen, verses twenty two through thirty five, 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.880 first Bible story that I ever preached for our last 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:43.640 sermon in the series. That's what I thought, Tell your neighbor, 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:48.120 that's what I thought. I say, this is the last one. 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:49.800 I think it's the last one. If the Lord wants 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:51.800 me to keep going, I will. But my plan is 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:54.320 today to take some of the things we've been preaching 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:57.280 about and minister them to your heart. Welcome to all 0:05:57.320 --> 0:05:59.520 of our locations. Put it in the comment on YouTube. 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:05.120 That's what I thought. This is our final installment. Yeah, 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:07.279 this is the first Bible story that I ever preached, 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:09.120 so I always try to preach it at least once 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.680 a year, just to check in and see how dumb 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.320 I was the last time I preached it, or what 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:18.520 new thing God will show me. Glad you're here today. Welcome, 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:22.919 Welcome to the presence of God. Welcome to a new beginning. 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:27.240 Welcome to a space where Grace reigns supreme and where 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:30.880 Jesus is Lord and King. Welcome to a place where 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:36.800 you can hear his word. Now, the Bible says a word. 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:38.880 We were just singing about this word in verse twenty two, 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:45.880 so it's appropriate. Immediately immediately Jesus made the disciples get 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:47.640 into the boat and go on ahead of him to 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:51.800 the other side. Well, he dismissed the crowd. After he 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:53.799 had dismissed them, he went up on a mountain side 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:58.080 by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:04.279 alone boat with the disciples. The boat was already a 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:08.680 considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:13.720 wind was against it. Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.600 to them walking on the lake. When the disciples saw 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:20.520 him on the lake, they were terrified. It's a ghost, 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:27.880 they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:32.560 said to them, take courage it as I don't be afraid. Lord, 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:35.920 if it's you. Peter replied, tell me to come to 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:40.160 you on the water. Come, he said. When Peter got 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.760 down out of the boat, walked on the water and 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:50.440 came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, it 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:55.120 was blowing the whole dime. But when he focused on 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:59.560 it what was against him. When he saw the wind, 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:04.640 he was afraid. Fear comes from focus. So does faith 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:11.720 change your focus? Increase your faith. That's why you feel 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:16.080 faith when you're in here, because you are focused in here. 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:20.080 And when he focused on what was against him, rather 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.880 than the one who was coming toward him, named Jesus, 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:30.880 he began to sink. He began to sink and cried out, Lord, 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:39.200 save me. Here it is again. Immediately Jesus reached out 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:42.240 his hand and caught him. You of little faith, He said, 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:45.840 why did you doubt? Why did you doubt? And when 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:47.760 they climbed into the boat, the wind died down, and 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:50.880 those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, truly, 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.120 this is the son of God. But go back to 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:56.120 that other verse real quick, in verse thirty. But when 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:59.360 he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:02.640 cried out, Lord, save me, And immediately Jesus reached out 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:04.520 his hand and caught him. I want to talk to 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:07.880 you today from this subject because this is how some 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:09.480 of you have been feeling. I want to talk about 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:16.079 sinking in the storm. Sinking in the storm. This is 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:20.200 the way it feels at times in our emotions, and 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:25.719 in our lives, and in our circumstances, sinking in the storm. 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:28.760 And there is a subtitle that you can give your 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:31.040 neighbor on the way to your seat, look at them 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:34.560 and say just that quick. Hit your other neighbor and 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:39.960 say just that quick, and you may be seated sinking 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:42.360 in the storm. Please put the title in the comments 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:46.160 on YouTube. Let's welcome our global EPHAM joining up with 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:50.160 us right now. Come on, y'all. I know you're getting seated, 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:53.680 but let's welcome our entire church family all over the world. 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:56.760 Let us know where you're watching from. I want to 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:00.280 talk to you today about sinking in the storm. Feeling 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:04.120 that you get sometimes that you're overwhelmed. The feeling that 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.640 you get sometimes that there's too much month and not 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.720 enough money, too much need and not enough me to 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:14.240 meet it. All that's spread thin feeling, that feeling that 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:18.199 you get, and it doesn't always announce itself, And all 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.120 of a sudden there is a storm and you find 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:25.679 yourself sinking in the storm. Any crazy how you can 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:29.520 be singing in the church and just a few days 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:34.520 later find yourself sinking in the storm. And this place 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:37.320 is a place that God has prepared for us, to 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:41.680 prepare us for the storms of our life. You cannot 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:47.120 be a student of Jesus without storms as your classroom. 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:51.280 Anything else would make you arrogant, anything else would make 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.880 you write a parenting book. And your oldest kid is three, 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.480 you're three months pregnant, talking about how to raise teenagers 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:01.600 God's way. What's wrong? Would you go through a storm 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.560 and then you'll have something to say in this season 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.080 of your life, God is calling you to be a 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:12.120 student of your storm. What does this have to do 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:16.800 with thinking? Well, it's amazing to me how quickly I 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:21.200 can go from stepping on the water, so to speak, 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:30.640 to sinking. And I can really shift quickly from being 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:36.200 focused on God to falling down and finding myself in 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:41.000 emotional states that do not resemble the fruit of the spirit. Okay, 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:45.120 just me, just me, look at your neighbors. Say. It 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:49.600 can happen quick. It can happen real quick. And if 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:51.760 your neighbor is looking like they don't know what I'm 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:53.960 talking about, cut them off in traffic on the way 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:57.959 out and see how quick they go from lifting their 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:04.120 hands to lifting one finger. It can happen just that quick. 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:08.640 Can it? Just even your phone can buzz in your pocket, 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:10.720 And it might not even be the person that you 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:12.200 don't want to hear from, with the news that you 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:15.560 don't want to hear, But just the buzz itself can 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:19.880 disrupt your peace. Can it? Even just even the buzz 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:21.880 in your pocket, it can feel like a shot collar, 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.160 just reminding you that your challenges are out there in 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.559 the world. Sometimes it can happen just that quick. Now. 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:41.320 I'm so glad that Jesus is a savior because I'm 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:46.400 a sinner, so I need one and I have sinful thoughts. 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:50.280 All of my thoughts aren't holy thoughts, good thoughts, pure thoughts, 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:54.360 and so I need Jesus for my sinful thoughts, which 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:58.000 can become sinful actions, which can become sinful patterns, which 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.440 may not send me to hell, but may make my 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:04.000 life on earth feel like a living hell. I'm so 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:07.200 grateful that Jesus is a savior, and I am also 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:11.240 so thankful that he is not a surface level savior. 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:16.920 That he doesn't just save me from hell when I die, 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:19.839 but he saves me from the hell in my head 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:24.400 as he transforms my mind and brings me through life's challenges. 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:29.520 I need salvation in my soul. That's my mind, my will, 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:34.120 my emotions. I need Jesus to teach me how to think. 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:37.760 And in this passage that we just read, there's a 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:43.200 conversation between the student of Jesus and Jesus the Savior, 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:49.719 and Jesus is watching him sink in the storm. By 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:53.000 the way, have you been feeling like you're sinking in 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:55.920 a storm lately in your life. And it doesn't have 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:58.840 to even be bankruptcy. It doesn't even have to be 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:02.320 something so catastrophic that everybody would take up money for 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:04.360 you if they knew about it. It doesn't have to 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:06.280 be the worst thing that ever happened in your life. 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:09.080 I just found that a lot of times I find 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:13.560 myself in like a funk or maybe even a full 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:18.640 blown feeling of depression. And in those moments when God 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.480 is watching me sink into those states, I'm grateful that 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.760 He does not give me surface level answers like church 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:30.760 people do. Because church people will tell you rejoice in 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:34.240 the Lord always, but they ain't rejoicing in the Lord. 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:36.640 They only been rejoicing in the Lord because they had 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:39.200 a good week. Catch them next week and they might 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:42.560 have a different answer. It can happen that quick. And 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:46.480 Jesus watching Peter fall in the middle of a storm 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.040 that had been raging all night. Remember he's been going 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:51.640 through this all night, and he steps out, and he's 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:56.320 walking and he's sinking, and he cries out, Lord save me. 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.760 I think that's such an important phrase. One great theologian 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:01.520 who just went to be with the Lord. Doctor John 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.920 MacArthur used to say, a lot of us refuse Jesus 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:07.800 as Lord, but we want to use Jesus as savior. 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:14.000 So I think it's important that he called him Lord 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.600 before he called on him to save him. I'm trying 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:20.480 to say that God wants far more for your life 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:22.880 than to just save you from stupid stuff that you do. 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:25.920 He wants far more for your life than to just 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:28.360 clean up the messes that you make because you never 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:31.880 spend time with him. God wants far more for your 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:35.000 life than to have to redeem years that you waste 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:39.960 because you never get aligned with him. And so now 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:43.240 Peter calls out, Lord, save me, and the Bible says, 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.080 immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. Now 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.840 we focus a lot, and I really preached this a 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:51.680 lot at age sixteen. How Peter had the faith to 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:56.680 step out when Jesus said, come, somebody shall come. That's 0:15:56.720 --> 0:15:59.840 a command. When Jesus gives a command, you can obey 0:15:59.920 --> 0:16:03.280 it with confidence. When Jesus gives a command, you don't 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.200 have to start doing the math on how it's going 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.760 to work out. When Jesus gives a command. He already 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:11.920 has the details in mind for how he will meet 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:14.800 that need before you even know about the need. So 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:19.840 when he says, come, take a step, and then we 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:25.080 talk so much about the command that we neglect the 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:29.080 question that I think is just as powerful as the command. 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:32.520 He said, come, Peter's coming, He said, walk. Peter's walking. 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:36.280 He gave the word, and Peter is walking, not on water, 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.920 but on one word from Jesus. I could preach a 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:43.560 whole message about walking on one word, just one word 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:45.680 that God gives you, and you can hang on through 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.080 something that you never would have made it through without 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:51.520 that word, one word from Jesus, the command to come. 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:56.760 But then comes the question. After he caught him, he said, 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:01.880 you of little faith, why did you doubt? Why did 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:06.040 you doubt? Because if I can get beneath the surface 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:11.240 of why you're sinking, I can maybe stop it from 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:15.280 happening so quickly next time. A lot of times we 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:18.920 sink into things and we don't stop and ask why. 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.520 A lot of times we get triggered by something. And 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:29.720 after you get triggered, see you get trapped. You don't 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:33.719 even realize how you got triggered until you're already trapped. 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:36.840 I'll break it down for you. I can see we 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:40.040 need a little real life example right now. When Holly 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:42.560 and I first got married, we went on a cruise. 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:46.600 I saved up for the cruise. It was a Princess cruise, 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:48.879 which is a little step up from some of the 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.199 other cruises you can buy. I was so proud of 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.360 that cruise and so broke after I paid for it. 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:57.560 Three days on the cruise, she was very quiet one day. 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:02.040 And when she got quiet on that cruise, it triggered 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:05.000 something inside of me that I didn't know because I 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:10.199 equated quiet with board. So when she got quiet, I 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:14.000 started to get angry because she was quiet. For Holly, 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:20.120 quiet means relaxed. Quiet means nobody telling me to do anything. 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:22.959 I don't have to talk. I love you. We're together 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:25.520 just being This is what she was saying. Your essence 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:31.960 alone is so captivating. We don't even need a conversation. 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:38.960 But I interpreted her quiet as boredom, and we would 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:42.280 fight for years in our marriage. Anytime she would get quiet, 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:45.000 I would think, you don't like it here, This isn't 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.240 good enough for you. Your dad took you on better vacations. 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:53.600 What you don't need my vacation. No, I'm relaxed. But see, 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.960 just in such a stupid illustration like that, you see 0:18:56.960 --> 0:19:00.560 how years can go on because I'm reading her mind 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:06.080 with information that is not true data, and I am 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.840 triggered by something that isn't even true. But by the 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.200 time I recognize what I'm triggered by, I'm already trapped 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.120 in it. And now we're fighting. And so now it's 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:17.320 not that we never get triggered in our marriage. But 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:19.000 here's what we do, and I want to teach you 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:22.280 how to do this. We catch it quicker, We catch 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:26.560 it quicker. Don't your neighbors say, catch it quicker, Catch 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:29.960 it quicker before you blow up on them, before you 0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:33.359 go off on them, before you hit sind on the text, 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:37.520 proofread it, hire yourself as a copy editor, and check 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:40.119 that thing one more time. Do you really want to 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:43.200 say you never? Do you really want to say you always? 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:47.040 Do you really need six exclamation points? Is it really 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:51.120 worth that emoji? Is that emoji worth the emotional expense 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:53.120 of what you are going to spend the next week 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.160 cleaning up? And all of that could have been canceled 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:58.760 if you would have caught it quicker and read the 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:01.359 text and walk up in the morning with fresh eyes 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:03.280 and said, I think I'll just have a conversation. But 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:07.880 we get triggered and then we get trapped. And that's 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:10.639 why the Lord sent a preacher to you today to 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:16.840 give you truth, because the truth can keep you out 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:21.560 of the trap. Preach the word, Larry Stevens Vernick Junior. 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:26.919 I believe I will. So when you start sinking, you 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:29.560 get beneath the surface. And this is what we need 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:30.080 to learn to do. 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:30.239 Now. 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:32.960 They'll tell you that in therapy, if you go to therapy, 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:36.119 they'll talk about triggers and traps and cognitive distortions. And 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:38.800 you sound like you've been in therapy. Best or Seed, 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:48.520 no comment. We need therapy, we also need theology to 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:52.879 produce real faith and real change in our life. So 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:55.239 I want to show you something that I couldn't end 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:58.679 the series without showing you from Isaiah fifty five and 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:02.240 overlay it for this situation that you're facing in your life. 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:07.040 The situation Peter faced where he's stepping, stepping, stepping, doing 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:11.440 pretty good and then sinking and doesn't even really understand why. 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:16.040 Look at Isaiah chapter fifty five, and I was debating 0:21:16.080 --> 0:21:19.240 where to start, because the whole passage is so rich. 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:23.359 But for the sake of time, I think i'll start 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:31.040 around verse six seven. It start six Isaiah fifty five, 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:38.800 verse six. Yeah, I did on purpose. Isaiah fifty five, 0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:43.080 verse six. Now listen to me. This is an invitation 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:45.800 to all of you who have been sinking in the storm. 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:50.879 The Lord offers you an invitation. The wind is the 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:55.600 trigger and the sinking is the trap, and sometimes you 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:57.399 feel like you're drowning in it before you even know 0:21:57.440 --> 0:22:00.000 what it is. But this is the word of the Lord, 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:03.199 and this will be very rich to you for the 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:07.199 trials that you're going through. The Lord says, seek the 0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:11.080 Lord while he may be found, call on him while 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:14.680 he is near. Let's read that again, Seek the Lord 0:22:14.720 --> 0:22:18.199 while he may be found, Call on him while he 0:22:18.320 --> 0:22:21.520 is near. I'm coming back to that, call on him 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:26.520 while he's near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:32.600 the unrighteous their thoughts. So this is interesting language. I'll 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:34.520 read the whole passage, but that's where I want to 0:22:35.280 --> 0:22:39.280 camp out around verse six or seven. Let the wicked 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:41.240 forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:42.879 turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on 0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:45.199 them and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:50.520 For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are my 0:22:50.640 --> 0:22:57.240 ways your ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher, 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:04.920 higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than 0:23:04.960 --> 0:23:08.600 your ways. God says, I know how to do my job. 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:14.280 God says, I know who to let leave you. God says, 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:16.159 I know who to bring into your life. That is 0:23:16.200 --> 0:23:21.119 a challenge for you. You keep praying to be a masterpiece, 0:23:21.280 --> 0:23:23.679 and every time I send someone to be the sandpaper, 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:26.359 you push them away. But I know what tools to 0:23:26.440 --> 0:23:29.360 you to turn you into the disciple that I want 0:23:29.400 --> 0:23:32.560 you to be. He says, my ways are higher than 0:23:32.560 --> 0:23:34.919 your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the 0:23:35.040 --> 0:23:39.359 rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do 0:23:39.480 --> 0:23:42.000 not return to it without watering the earth and making 0:23:42.000 --> 0:23:44.679 it butt and flourish, so that it yields seed for 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:47.359 the sower and bread for the eater. So is my 0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:51.399 word that goes out from my mouth. I hear Jesus 0:23:51.480 --> 0:23:55.120 saying come. When I read Isaiah fifty five, I feel 0:23:55.119 --> 0:23:58.960 the echo of this prophecy. In Matthew chapter fourteen, I 0:23:59.000 --> 0:24:01.440 feel the power of one word from God? He says, 0:24:01.760 --> 0:24:05.520 so is my word just one word? So is my 0:24:05.720 --> 0:24:08.679 word the full counsel of the Word of God has value, 0:24:08.920 --> 0:24:12.680 but just one singular word that goes from my mouth. 0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:16.200 It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish 0:24:16.240 --> 0:24:20.080 what I desire and achieve the purpose. Many are the plans, 0:24:20.400 --> 0:24:22.720 but it is the purpose for which I scent it 0:24:23.200 --> 0:24:25.639 that will be accomplished. So why did Jesus send a 0:24:25.680 --> 0:24:29.240 disciple into a storm that he knew was going to happen? 0:24:30.080 --> 0:24:33.119 And why does God allow challenges to our faith instead 0:24:33.160 --> 0:24:36.439 of just bolstering us with the Bible so that we 0:24:36.480 --> 0:24:41.639 avoid them? And Isaiah chapter fifty five gives an interesting strategy. Okay, 0:24:41.760 --> 0:24:44.120 let me teach you what Isaiah is teaching here. He says, 0:24:44.160 --> 0:24:46.879 you can seek the Lord, you can call on him, 0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:50.120 but you have to be willing verse seven to forsake 0:24:50.200 --> 0:24:55.720 your ways and your unrighteous thoughts. Now that's interesting language 0:24:56.280 --> 0:24:59.480 to say that I'm going to forsake a thought. That's 0:24:59.520 --> 0:25:03.040 crazy to me me because when you say forsake something, 0:25:03.480 --> 0:25:07.320 it's something that you have become very attached to. You 0:25:07.359 --> 0:25:10.680 don't forsake something that you don't even know, You don't 0:25:10.720 --> 0:25:14.600 even know it. To forsake something is to walk away 0:25:14.600 --> 0:25:18.080 from something that it is assumed you have responsibility for. 0:25:18.880 --> 0:25:21.600 So when God says I will never leave you nor 0:25:21.720 --> 0:25:27.000 forsake you, forsaking has baked into it the idea that 0:25:27.040 --> 0:25:29.760 I am responsible for this. I'm not saying it right. 0:25:29.920 --> 0:25:39.320 I say it. You can drop a thought like this book. 0:25:40.040 --> 0:25:46.119 You can drop a thought he said, forsake your ways 0:25:46.840 --> 0:25:50.680 because My ways are higher, and your thoughts that are 0:25:50.720 --> 0:25:55.760 not from God. And how many times have I been 0:25:55.880 --> 0:26:00.720 drowning in my mind and in my life because of 0:26:00.760 --> 0:26:06.960 the thought that I wouldn't drop about my situation? How 0:26:07.000 --> 0:26:14.680 many times have I clung to an offense while I'm 0:26:14.960 --> 0:26:22.159 drowning in my bitterness and I am asking God to 0:26:22.200 --> 0:26:26.040 help me forgive. But if I don't drop, I'm gonna 0:26:26.040 --> 0:26:30.679 do it again. If I don't drop the thought, I drown. 0:26:32.119 --> 0:26:33.760 That's what I'm trying to say. Now. I said it 0:26:33.760 --> 0:26:36.280 the way I want to say it. Tell your neighbor 0:26:36.720 --> 0:26:40.760 drop it or drown. That's the only two options you 0:26:40.840 --> 0:26:43.879 have right now, because you can't afford to play around 0:26:43.920 --> 0:26:46.720 with this right now, because there's too much at stake 0:26:47.119 --> 0:26:50.280 at this juncture of your life. Right now, it's drop 0:26:50.320 --> 0:26:54.280 it or drown. You've got to stop thinking childishly about 0:26:54.280 --> 0:26:56.960 this and waiting on people to come around and make 0:26:57.000 --> 0:26:59.120 it right. And you just got to get your heart 0:26:59.200 --> 0:27:01.440 right with God. And you've got to let him show 0:27:01.480 --> 0:27:04.000 you what he's going to do from the place that 0:27:04.040 --> 0:27:05.919 you're at, not the place that you want it to be. 0:27:08.000 --> 0:27:11.359 Punch your neighbors say, drop it. Drop it so you 0:27:11.400 --> 0:27:14.680 don't drown. Drop it so you don't keep sinking. Drop 0:27:14.720 --> 0:27:17.040 it so it doesn't weigh you down. Drop it so 0:27:17.119 --> 0:27:19.359 you don't miss the last the next season that God 0:27:19.400 --> 0:27:22.480 wants to give you crying about the season that you lost. 0:27:22.800 --> 0:27:26.120 You better drop this thing. And the thing about dropping 0:27:26.119 --> 0:27:28.760 a thought is it's kind of hard for me to 0:27:28.880 --> 0:27:35.320 drop my thought until I understand that God can also 0:27:36.160 --> 0:27:40.040 drop a thought. This is one thing I'm ready to 0:27:40.080 --> 0:27:43.800 preach today. This is one thing that me and God 0:27:44.200 --> 0:27:48.640 have in common. We can both drop thoughts. I can 0:27:48.680 --> 0:27:50.280 take a thought in my mind. I can take a 0:27:50.359 --> 0:27:53.760 tempting thought. I can take a bitter thought. I could 0:27:53.800 --> 0:27:56.240 take an angry thought. I can take a victimized thought. 0:27:56.240 --> 0:27:58.399 I can take a catastrophizing thought. I can take a 0:27:58.400 --> 0:28:00.600 wicked thought. I can take a thought, and I can 0:28:00.640 --> 0:28:03.560 look at it, and I can separate myself from the thought, 0:28:03.840 --> 0:28:07.480 and by the grace of Jesus, by the grace of God, 0:28:07.920 --> 0:28:10.920 by the power of the Holy Spirit, I can look 0:28:10.960 --> 0:28:13.520 at the thought and realize that just because I think 0:28:13.560 --> 0:28:17.240 it doesn't mean I have to be it. So I 0:28:17.280 --> 0:28:21.960 can drop a thought. And how dumb would it be 0:28:22.640 --> 0:28:26.080 for you to drown on this sea because of something 0:28:26.119 --> 0:28:29.840 you won't drop. How dumb would it be? The Bible says, 0:28:29.920 --> 0:28:33.399 forsake your thoughts when they're not God's ways. His ways 0:28:33.400 --> 0:28:36.359 are higher. So when He shows you the higher way, 0:28:36.760 --> 0:28:38.720 don't stay down in the way you did it, the 0:28:38.760 --> 0:28:40.280 way they did it, the way you thought you were 0:28:40.280 --> 0:28:45.120 gonna do it. Drop your thoughts so God can drop 0:28:45.240 --> 0:28:50.760 his What you mean, God can drop a thought? I 0:28:50.840 --> 0:28:56.920 mean like airdrop. I mean like how I could take 0:28:57.000 --> 0:29:01.920 my phone and put it next to your phone, and 0:29:01.960 --> 0:29:11.200 if it's near enough, you can choose to share with 0:29:11.280 --> 0:29:15.959 me what's on your phone On my phone. If we 0:29:16.000 --> 0:29:20.280 are close enough to connect, you can drop something to 0:29:20.320 --> 0:29:23.959 me that I didn't come with. And now you know 0:29:24.760 --> 0:29:27.520 why it was important for you to be at church 0:29:28.040 --> 0:29:32.720 today so you could get close to God and close 0:29:33.120 --> 0:29:36.360 to somebody, fist pump your neighbor and say, I'll drop 0:29:36.400 --> 0:29:40.440 you some faith today. Fist bump them real quick and 0:29:40.480 --> 0:29:44.440 say I got something for you. Tell them I'll air 0:29:44.560 --> 0:29:47.440 drop you some peace today. I'll air drop you some 0:29:47.640 --> 0:29:50.479 joy today. The Bible says that if two of you 0:29:50.560 --> 0:29:52.960 will agree, well we got a lot more than two, 0:29:53.040 --> 0:29:56.960 baby boy. And the holy ghost in me is the 0:29:57.000 --> 0:29:59.960 holy ghost in you. And if you came a little 0:30:00.160 --> 0:30:03.800 empty today, there is a word from God. And if 0:30:03.840 --> 0:30:07.040 you don't feel it right now, then grace him by faith. 0:30:07.480 --> 0:30:10.560 Know something clicks in your spirit and you get the 0:30:10.800 --> 0:30:18.600 sense I think I'm gonna be all right. Top five 0:30:18.680 --> 0:30:23.840 your neighbor, like your air dropping something. Oh that's good, 0:30:23.880 --> 0:30:27.520 isn't it? Isn't that good to know that God can 0:30:27.600 --> 0:30:30.320 drop you a thought. Forget about a human They might 0:30:30.360 --> 0:30:33.240 not have it. But if I'm close enough to Jesus, 0:30:34.000 --> 0:30:37.280 what I didn't get from other people, what I didn't 0:30:37.320 --> 0:30:42.120 have in my flesh, God did by sending his son. See, 0:30:42.320 --> 0:30:49.120 so you can drop a thought, and so can God. 0:30:50.000 --> 0:30:53.320 And the moment you drop your low thought, the moment 0:30:53.400 --> 0:30:56.560 you drop your human thought, the moment you drop your 0:30:56.880 --> 0:31:01.480 sinking thought. Notice the Bible says that immediate lee, Jesus 0:31:01.560 --> 0:31:07.640 reached out his hand and caught him. Why did Jesus 0:31:08.560 --> 0:31:17.240 catch him at that moment and instead of keeping him 0:31:18.200 --> 0:31:22.520 from the storm. Good question, because probably wouldn't be a 0:31:22.560 --> 0:31:27.640 good story. Second thing I want to mention to you 0:31:29.120 --> 0:31:33.480 is what Jesus was doing before he joined the disciples 0:31:33.480 --> 0:31:37.960 on the rough sea. When you get in those situations, 0:31:38.080 --> 0:31:42.200 doubt in fear, flooding your heart, drowning in doubt, flooded 0:31:42.240 --> 0:31:44.840 with fear, drowning in doubt, flooded in fear. Oh, it 0:31:44.880 --> 0:31:47.280 came so quick. I don't know what to do. There 0:31:47.320 --> 0:31:49.360 is something that Jesus models for us that is so 0:31:49.440 --> 0:31:54.480 important to remember. And at our Elevation Night's events, if 0:31:54.480 --> 0:31:57.720 you ever come, you'll see a very special moment that 0:31:57.760 --> 0:31:59.560 we have that we host each night in each city 0:31:59.640 --> 0:32:02.600 where we sing the song the Blessing. And before we 0:32:02.680 --> 0:32:05.440 sing it, I have Abby and Holly join me on stage, 0:32:05.520 --> 0:32:07.840 and Abby, since she was about eleven years old, comes 0:32:07.920 --> 0:32:10.200 up and reads the scripture. She has it my memory 0:32:10.200 --> 0:32:12.120 now of course numbers chapter six, verse twenty two through 0:32:12.160 --> 0:32:15.120 twenty four. She'd say it backwards now, but the first 0:32:15.120 --> 0:32:16.520 time asked her to do it. I was like, would 0:32:16.520 --> 0:32:18.160 you mind coming up and reading the scripture that the 0:32:18.160 --> 0:32:19.960 blessing comes from and sang it over the people. I 0:32:19.960 --> 0:32:23.800 think it'll be really special. And I was expecting her 0:32:23.800 --> 0:32:26.120 to be nervous to do that. I was like, would 0:32:26.160 --> 0:32:27.280 you like to do it? Would it be too scary. 0:32:27.320 --> 0:32:28.640 It's like, let me be scary. I'd love to do it, 0:32:29.040 --> 0:32:32.720 just very confident, very quickly. She got up the first 0:32:32.800 --> 0:32:35.120 night and nailed it, and she has nailed it every 0:32:35.160 --> 0:32:38.800 single night well. On the last tour. On the last tour, 0:32:41.000 --> 0:32:42.840 I made a few changes to how I wanted to 0:32:42.880 --> 0:32:45.960 present it. And when I made a few changes and alterations, 0:32:46.480 --> 0:32:49.120 you know, I saw her start to get a little uncertain. 0:32:49.200 --> 0:32:50.880 She was like, well, no, wait a minute. If Dad 0:32:50.920 --> 0:32:52.800 announces the scripture here and it comes after this song, 0:32:52.800 --> 0:32:55.320 because when things change like that, it could be destabilizing, 0:32:55.640 --> 0:32:57.840 even if you really know what you're doing. I am 0:32:57.920 --> 0:33:01.480 coming for you today, because things can change on you 0:33:01.520 --> 0:33:03.080 and you're like, no, wait, I know how to do this, 0:33:03.160 --> 0:33:05.320 but not like right here, like this right now, not 0:33:05.400 --> 0:33:07.080 with them right here right now. I'm just kind of 0:33:07.280 --> 0:33:10.160 be stabilized. So she was kind of complaining to Holly 0:33:10.200 --> 0:33:14.160 that Dad is changing the schedule, and Dad is changing 0:33:14.160 --> 0:33:16.000 the order of elevation nights, and this is going to 0:33:16.040 --> 0:33:18.000 mess up my flow. And Holly pulled her to the 0:33:18.040 --> 0:33:20.120 side and she said something, and I was very proud 0:33:20.160 --> 0:33:22.320 to hear her tell Abby this. She said, Abby, if 0:33:22.320 --> 0:33:24.720 there is one thing I have learned in over twenty 0:33:24.800 --> 0:33:28.680 years of doing ministry with your dad, it's that if 0:33:28.720 --> 0:33:30.920 you are with Dad on stage, you don't need to 0:33:30.960 --> 0:33:45.880 worry if he is near you. If you're next to Dad, 0:33:46.680 --> 0:33:54.360 he won't let it go bad. Abby. Even if you 0:33:54.600 --> 0:33:58.200 drop the line in the middle, even if you say Halley, 0:33:58.440 --> 0:34:04.080 he'll say Lujah. Even if you say praise the he'll 0:34:04.080 --> 0:34:08.839 say Lord. He is not going to let it go bad. 0:34:08.880 --> 0:34:11.680 If you are next to Dad, he won't let it 0:34:11.960 --> 0:34:15.320 go bad. And you got to think. The Disciples have 0:34:15.440 --> 0:34:18.040 been doing ministry with Jesus for a little while now. 0:34:18.080 --> 0:34:21.960 This is Matthew chapter fourteen, not Matthew chapter one. They've 0:34:22.000 --> 0:34:24.640 seen some things, and they've even been through storms. But 0:34:24.760 --> 0:34:28.520 this one is different because the last storm they went 0:34:28.560 --> 0:34:31.279 through with Jesus, he was on the boat with them. 0:34:32.920 --> 0:34:35.879 This one's a little different because they just got done 0:34:35.920 --> 0:34:39.040 with a spectacular miracle and I want to tell you 0:34:39.080 --> 0:34:42.680 something about spectacular things that God does in your life. 0:34:43.239 --> 0:34:46.440 Just as quickly as you start to celebrate the spectacular, 0:34:47.239 --> 0:34:51.920 a new struggle can show up just that quick. Somebody 0:34:51.960 --> 0:34:56.080 say it just that quit. I mean they just picked 0:34:56.120 --> 0:34:59.960 up the leftovers. They just dismissed the crowds. Jesus says, 0:35:00.080 --> 0:35:02.520 I need you boys to go to the next appointment, 0:35:02.719 --> 0:35:05.799 But he conveniently leaves out the detail that you are 0:35:05.840 --> 0:35:09.400 going to encounter a violent, furious squall on the open 0:35:09.480 --> 0:35:12.160 sea getting to where I'm sending you. But I'm not 0:35:12.239 --> 0:35:14.920 telling you about that part because, as I taught you 0:35:15.040 --> 0:35:21.000 last week, details follow obedience. So when Jesus gives a command, 0:35:21.360 --> 0:35:24.000 he does not have to give you every single component 0:35:24.080 --> 0:35:26.800 of that command. He wants to put you in school 0:35:26.840 --> 0:35:29.640 to know. Will you be my disciple if I don't 0:35:29.640 --> 0:35:32.240 give you the details, will you do what I told 0:35:32.239 --> 0:35:34.200 you to do when you don't know where it's leading? 0:35:34.520 --> 0:35:38.520 And into this atmosphere. The disciples are straining in the 0:35:38.560 --> 0:35:41.560 boat all night long. I mean, you really can't see 0:35:41.600 --> 0:35:44.279 it from Matthew's account. It says in Mark's account that 0:35:44.320 --> 0:35:47.399 they were straining at the oars. It means that they 0:35:47.400 --> 0:35:51.319 were all rowing together all night long, but Jesus was 0:35:51.360 --> 0:35:55.240 not physically with them. What was Jesus doing? In Matthew 0:35:55.320 --> 0:35:58.960 Chapter fourteen, verse twenty two, the Bible says, immediately after 0:35:59.239 --> 0:36:02.279 sending the crowd away, dismissing them and sending them home, 0:36:02.480 --> 0:36:04.360 and the disciples in the boat to go to the 0:36:04.400 --> 0:36:06.920 next appointment and go on ahead of him to the 0:36:06.960 --> 0:36:10.719 other side while he dismissed the crowd verse twenty three. 0:36:11.040 --> 0:36:13.799 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a 0:36:13.880 --> 0:36:22.120 mountain side by himself to pray. Later that night, he 0:36:22.400 --> 0:36:26.840 was there alone next verse, and the boat was already 0:36:26.840 --> 0:36:30.319 a considerable distance from land. You don't have to be 0:36:30.440 --> 0:36:35.400 nervous when you're next to Dad. But now I'm in 0:36:35.440 --> 0:36:40.520 a season where the boat is out here and Jesus 0:36:40.600 --> 0:36:45.680 is back there. Yet note what Jesus is doing. He 0:36:45.840 --> 0:36:51.240 is praying. Watch this. Jesus is getting alone with God 0:36:51.680 --> 0:36:59.320 to get aligned with God. And sometimes when you're facing 0:37:00.080 --> 0:37:03.279 all of these crazy thoughts in your life, you've got 0:37:03.320 --> 0:37:06.600 to remember to get alone with God to get aligned 0:37:06.600 --> 0:37:11.399 with God. Alone with God, to get aligned with God. 0:37:11.960 --> 0:37:17.120 He's praying on a mountain. My ways are higher. See 0:37:17.160 --> 0:37:20.560 remember the people wanted to make Jesus an earthly king, 0:37:21.920 --> 0:37:25.040 but he came to die on a criminal's cross, and 0:37:25.080 --> 0:37:27.600 at this moment in his life, it was really important 0:37:28.200 --> 0:37:32.160 that he did not follow the crowd's recommendation for his 0:37:32.200 --> 0:37:35.720 next step, because to follow the crowd at this moment 0:37:36.160 --> 0:37:38.440 would have pulled him off of the path of his 0:37:38.520 --> 0:37:42.920 father's purpose. Are you in that moment, pulling at you 0:37:42.960 --> 0:37:46.319 from one side, pulling at you from the other, one 0:37:46.320 --> 0:37:49.040 person telling you that you need to be skinnier, one 0:37:49.040 --> 0:37:51.239 person telling you that you could stand to put a 0:37:51.239 --> 0:37:54.360 little meat on the bones. I went on Holly's Instagram 0:37:54.360 --> 0:37:56.800 feed the other day. I didn't know they were telling 0:37:56.880 --> 0:38:00.799 women to eat protein and creatine to be reserved for 0:38:00.840 --> 0:38:03.719 teenage boys. When did the women get to do the 0:38:03.719 --> 0:38:07.240 protein and creatine that's supposed to be our thing? Man? 0:38:07.440 --> 0:38:09.560 Now she's being told. I'm like, what are you doing, Holly? 0:38:09.600 --> 0:38:12.080 You're lifting weights? Used to do cardio. She's like, yeah, 0:38:12.160 --> 0:38:14.359 that's what I'm supposed to do now, And if you're 0:38:14.400 --> 0:38:17.279 not careful, you'll be lifting a weight and drinking a 0:38:17.320 --> 0:38:20.600 protein shake and putting on weight and losing weight because 0:38:20.640 --> 0:38:23.239 they will change it in three years. We are only 0:38:23.280 --> 0:38:26.160 three years away from them telling us that creatine causes 0:38:26.239 --> 0:38:28.279 cancer and it makes your mom hates she gives you 0:38:28.360 --> 0:38:30.480 bad breath and make all your babies born to form. 0:38:30.760 --> 0:38:33.399 I mean, they're changing it all the time. So if 0:38:33.440 --> 0:38:36.600 I don't ever get alone with God, I can't be 0:38:36.719 --> 0:38:40.959 aligned with God because it's too much noise, it's too 0:38:41.040 --> 0:38:50.640 much crowd. I'm sinking. Am I sinking because I'm not sitting? 0:38:52.080 --> 0:38:56.000 And if I would sit with God sometimes, or even 0:38:56.120 --> 0:38:58.280 just in a moment where I'm about to walk into something, 0:38:59.400 --> 0:39:03.799 if I was myself and say, oh, Lord, you know 0:39:03.880 --> 0:39:06.839 I'm about to be triggered in here. Well, I don't 0:39:06.840 --> 0:39:09.759 want to get trapped. Lord, you know it's about to 0:39:09.760 --> 0:39:12.920 be windy when I walk into this situation. I wonder 0:39:13.000 --> 0:39:16.560 what one moment with God could do for you this 0:39:16.600 --> 0:39:21.319 week before you go into a windy condition. Just a 0:39:21.360 --> 0:39:24.359 moment with him. Now, Jesus, he's up there praying all night, 0:39:25.440 --> 0:39:28.520 and he has to because what He's about to do 0:39:28.600 --> 0:39:31.880 is so amazing. When he lands on the other side, 0:39:32.280 --> 0:39:35.320 he is going to heal the sick. But the disciples 0:39:35.320 --> 0:39:38.000 don't know that. When he lands on the other side, 0:39:38.000 --> 0:39:41.920 there is a revival waiting. But the disciples don't know that. 0:39:42.360 --> 0:39:46.640 All they know is they're going through a storm. And 0:39:46.680 --> 0:39:48.839 may I remind you you have no idea what God 0:39:48.880 --> 0:39:51.960 has on the other side of your storm. You have 0:39:52.000 --> 0:39:53.799 no idea how He's going to use you. You have no 0:39:53.920 --> 0:39:56.399 idea how He is going to unleash something that could 0:39:56.440 --> 0:40:00.400 have never otherwise been unleashed in your life. See now, 0:40:00.400 --> 0:40:03.720 I see the passage a little bit differently. In Matthew 0:40:03.800 --> 0:40:09.439 chapter fourteen, when it says Peter began to sink, put 0:40:09.440 --> 0:40:12.759 that back up there for a minute. It says Peter 0:40:13.680 --> 0:40:15.960 began to sink, and he cried out, Lord, save me, 0:40:16.040 --> 0:40:18.880 verse thirty one. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and 0:40:18.880 --> 0:40:23.960 caught him. You have little faith, I realized as I 0:40:24.000 --> 0:40:25.759 read that over and over again, and I thought about 0:40:25.800 --> 0:40:28.080 Jesus spending all night praying alone on the mountain and 0:40:28.120 --> 0:40:31.120 making intercession for us and Heaven. Right now I realized 0:40:32.040 --> 0:40:38.160 that Peter wasn't the only one sinking. Jesus was too. 0:40:42.239 --> 0:40:46.040 Y'all think I'm a hero itic. Hold on, I got 0:40:46.040 --> 0:40:53.520 to explain this the right way. Thinking has two different meanings. 0:40:54.920 --> 0:41:05.160 If you spell it si NK, it means going down. 0:41:07.080 --> 0:41:11.759 But if you spell it sync. It's more than a 0:41:11.760 --> 0:41:19.279 boy band. It means if you've got something on your 0:41:19.360 --> 0:41:23.160 phone that I need on my phone, and we get 0:41:23.920 --> 0:41:30.680 close enough, we can sink. So maybe this passage isn't 0:41:30.719 --> 0:41:38.120 about a sinking Peter. Maybe it's about a sinking savior. 0:41:38.560 --> 0:41:46.600 Phone drop moment, Phone drop moment, Phone drop moment, Because 0:41:46.640 --> 0:41:50.000 now I realize, no, no, keep celebrating, keep celebrating. I 0:41:50.040 --> 0:41:54.120 need a way to preach this. Now I realize that 0:41:54.280 --> 0:41:57.840 the whole time he was on that mountain, he was 0:41:57.960 --> 0:42:05.000 praying for Peter, because while Peter was sinking, Jesus was sinking. 0:42:06.239 --> 0:42:11.080 And my way are higher than your ways, and my 0:42:11.280 --> 0:42:16.640 thought are higher than your thought. So I came to declare, 0:42:17.080 --> 0:42:24.799 you're not going down. Jesus is praying for you. He's 0:42:24.920 --> 0:42:29.520 praying for you. He's praying for you. He sees you 0:42:29.680 --> 0:42:33.440 in this storm, he sees you in this dilemma. He 0:42:33.640 --> 0:42:41.760 sees you, and he's sinking. He's sinking. Sometimes you gotta 0:42:41.840 --> 0:42:45.520 sink in the storm, not go down in the storm, 0:42:45.760 --> 0:42:48.520 but hook up with God and say, if it's you, 0:42:48.960 --> 0:42:52.240 tell me to come, give me a worse, show me away, 0:42:52.520 --> 0:43:00.440 send me a path, make me away. God, Your neighbor, 0:43:00.520 --> 0:43:04.000 you look like you're sinking. I'm sinking with a C. 0:43:04.520 --> 0:43:07.480 I'm sinking with a what yo? When I got this phone. 0:43:07.640 --> 0:43:10.400 I remember, I got this new phone, and none of 0:43:10.440 --> 0:43:12.279 the stuff was on it that was supposed to be 0:43:12.360 --> 0:43:15.760 on it for a little while. And if I would 0:43:15.760 --> 0:43:18.120 have assumed that the new phone was worse because all 0:43:18.160 --> 0:43:21.000 of the old pictures, all of the old songs, all 0:43:21.040 --> 0:43:23.319 of the old data, all of the old files was 0:43:23.360 --> 0:43:25.799 not on the new phone, I would have been incorrect. 0:43:26.040 --> 0:43:28.680 Because everything that was on my phone before I got 0:43:28.680 --> 0:43:31.319 the new one was still there. It was just in 0:43:31.440 --> 0:43:34.080 something called the cloud. Now I don't know where the 0:43:34.120 --> 0:43:37.360 cloud technically is. I kind of get it, but I 0:43:37.400 --> 0:43:41.800 thought about Isaiah fifty five. As high as the heavens 0:43:41.840 --> 0:43:46.760 are above the herd, so or my ways above your ways. 0:43:48.239 --> 0:43:50.720 I tell your neighbor, I got something in the cloud. 0:43:51.239 --> 0:43:54.680 I got a promise that's yes, and amen, I got 0:43:54.680 --> 0:43:58.080 a sure work for God. He put me here, he 0:43:58.320 --> 0:44:08.200 called me here, and so it was sinking. It was sinking. 0:44:08.560 --> 0:44:13.240 Jesus didn't leave them. He was sinking. He was sinking. 0:44:13.520 --> 0:44:16.000 He had to let them struggle a little while so 0:44:16.080 --> 0:44:18.640 they could know who he is. As a matter of fact, 0:44:18.880 --> 0:44:21.359 they didn't even call him the son of God till 0:44:21.400 --> 0:44:23.879 the wind died down, So how could they know who 0:44:23.920 --> 0:44:26.160 he was when the wind died down? If the wind 0:44:26.200 --> 0:44:28.960 never blew. I'm telling you you're gonna know God in 0:44:29.000 --> 0:44:31.640 a way that you couldn't have known God had you 0:44:31.760 --> 0:44:38.879 not been a student of this storm. How much better 0:44:38.920 --> 0:44:41.440 would you feel about the storm if you knew that 0:44:41.520 --> 0:44:45.319 God was sinking you in the storm, that He was 0:44:45.440 --> 0:44:49.520 bringing things, pictures and sounds that had to come to 0:44:49.600 --> 0:44:52.200 the phone. And how dumb would you be to throw 0:44:52.200 --> 0:44:58.840 it away because it hadn't sink yet. Yeah, even Peter 0:44:59.000 --> 0:45:03.480 was sinking. He is still Simon at this moment. He 0:45:03.520 --> 0:45:08.440 hadn't sync yet. I said, he hadn't sync yet. Where's 0:45:08.480 --> 0:45:11.080 my real church at I know we always got spectators, 0:45:12.160 --> 0:45:14.800 but I said, don't give up. You hadn't sync yet. 0:45:15.080 --> 0:45:18.719 That's not good grammar. Yeah it is, and it's good theology. 0:45:19.040 --> 0:45:22.880 No eye see, no ear has heard, neither has it 0:45:23.080 --> 0:45:28.719 entered into the heart of a man. Okay, Okay. So 0:45:28.840 --> 0:45:31.359 I'm driving to church today, right and I'm like, Lord, 0:45:31.360 --> 0:45:33.480 I'm excited to preach, but I need one more illustration 0:45:33.840 --> 0:45:36.200 to tell him how to get in sync, how to 0:45:36.440 --> 0:45:39.440 get in sync, Yeah, exactly, how to get in sync, 0:45:39.680 --> 0:45:42.120 how to get in sync, And so it's so much 0:45:42.239 --> 0:45:44.920 easier to do it when you've got somebody in the 0:45:44.920 --> 0:45:47.799 boat rowing with you, which is why when I come 0:45:47.800 --> 0:45:50.880 to church on Sunday, I always bring Abbey with me. 0:45:51.160 --> 0:45:53.480 If I can get her to wake up on time, 0:45:53.880 --> 0:45:56.560 I beg her to come with me, because she unlocks 0:45:56.600 --> 0:45:58.440 my love. And I don't want to come up here 0:45:58.440 --> 0:46:00.560 in front of y'all and not have love. And if 0:46:00.600 --> 0:46:03.319 I can ride to church with Abby and unlock my love, 0:46:03.560 --> 0:46:05.239 I can talk to you from the love that I 0:46:05.280 --> 0:46:07.319 have for her, and through that love, hopefully I can 0:46:07.360 --> 0:46:09.680 communicate God's word. And hopefully I will not be like 0:46:09.719 --> 0:46:14.040 playing symbols, just shouting stuff and spelling stuff and saying stuff, 0:46:14.200 --> 0:46:16.640 but hopefully my love will come through. And one of 0:46:16.640 --> 0:46:19.400 the practices that we have in driving to church is 0:46:19.440 --> 0:46:22.960 a playlist that consists of songs that will lift our spirits, 0:46:23.280 --> 0:46:26.320 a playlist of songs that are not Taylor Swift, although 0:46:26.360 --> 0:46:29.880 she's fine, and that are not Gracy Abrams. But Sunday 0:46:29.880 --> 0:46:31.919 mornings are not for Gracy Abrams. Just for the grace 0:46:31.960 --> 0:46:33.680 of God is for the glory of God. So I 0:46:33.719 --> 0:46:35.440 hand her a phone and she picks out the songs, 0:46:35.560 --> 0:46:39.080 and today she picked out a shout no want, I 0:46:39.360 --> 0:46:42.399 shall not Want, and we start singing the last verse 0:46:42.400 --> 0:46:43.960 of shall not one. I remember when we wrote it 0:46:44.000 --> 0:46:46.160 and we were talking about when this life is over, 0:46:46.200 --> 0:46:48.640 I'm gonna live again, gonna trade this cross for a crown. No, 0:46:48.719 --> 0:46:50.719 it's not the end. When he calls my name, I 0:46:50.719 --> 0:46:53.200 will take my wrestlers. I'm mansioning glory and you're gonna 0:46:53.200 --> 0:46:55.359 meet me there and I shall no Want. And I 0:46:55.400 --> 0:46:57.640 told Abby, you know what song inspired me? Because a 0:46:57.640 --> 0:46:58.960 lot of times on Sunday I use it as a 0:46:59.000 --> 0:47:01.320 catch up time to show her songs that I listened 0:47:01.320 --> 0:47:03.040 to when I was her age that made me love 0:47:03.080 --> 0:47:05.920 worship and gospel music like I love it. Oh, I mean, 0:47:05.960 --> 0:47:08.239 I show her some great stuff today, I said, I 0:47:08.280 --> 0:47:11.480 need to show you He'll welcome me by John p 0:47:11.640 --> 0:47:14.840 He and the New Life Community Choir from circ About 0:47:14.920 --> 0:47:17.760 nineteen ninety four. Because you need to hear He'll welcome 0:47:17.800 --> 0:47:20.640 me to understand shall not Want. Because if I never 0:47:20.680 --> 0:47:22.800 heard He'll welcome me, I went in the road shall 0:47:22.840 --> 0:47:25.160 not Want. So I need to play he'll welcome me. 0:47:25.400 --> 0:47:28.239 And when the song came on, I got dangerous on 0:47:28.320 --> 0:47:31.000 the driving because it's a fast song. It's not a 0:47:31.040 --> 0:47:33.400 slow song. And then all of a sudden, I couldn't 0:47:33.400 --> 0:47:35.759 stop my hands from clapping. I mean, I'm supposed to 0:47:35.840 --> 0:47:38.440 be driving. I don't have a tesla, and I'm just clapping. 0:47:38.560 --> 0:47:40.840 Put my hands off the wheel, and I'm singing every 0:47:40.880 --> 0:47:43.799 ad lib, every single ad lift, every single ad live. 0:47:44.040 --> 0:47:48.840 I'm living this life, just live up dead and with 0:47:49.080 --> 0:47:51.920 a lord. I know that aunts out man. I'm a 0:47:52.000 --> 0:47:58.160 tender watchers out shall stray with him? I say, who love? 0:47:58.320 --> 0:48:02.279 This is Junn. I know every adelote in the night, 0:48:02.680 --> 0:48:05.880 I know them all. He to be going, he to 0:48:05.960 --> 0:48:10.520 be going. I'm clapping, I'm praising. I feel like I 0:48:10.680 --> 0:48:13.400 just snorted cocaine or something. I'm so excited and I 0:48:13.480 --> 0:48:16.440 never did that before. For the record, for the record, 0:48:16.880 --> 0:48:20.040 for the record, for the record, But I'm clapping my 0:48:20.160 --> 0:48:25.399 head all of a sudden, Abby start just to troll 0:48:25.520 --> 0:48:34.920 me started. That's the one in the three, that's the 0:48:34.960 --> 0:48:46.359 white people be. She's literally killing my spirit, killing my 0:48:46.400 --> 0:48:57.480 spirit if she won't get in se see if we're 0:48:57.520 --> 0:49:01.839 gonna do this ah end up on your feet. If 0:49:01.880 --> 0:49:05.800 we're gonna do this, if we're gonna do this together, 0:49:06.800 --> 0:49:10.080 we gotta get in this boat and clap. 0:49:09.800 --> 0:49:18.799 Our hands like you know that Jesus is praying for you, 0:49:20.680 --> 0:49:23.760 that Jesus is coming. 0:49:25.400 --> 0:49:32.200 Few two three fourths, Flap those hairs like you're from 0:49:32.239 --> 0:49:43.040 North Carolina, like you're from Pearl, North Carolina. Whoa, whoa. 0:49:46.800 --> 0:49:51.480 And when the wind died down. First thirty three says, 0:49:51.800 --> 0:49:56.480 when the wind died down, when the wind died down, 0:49:57.080 --> 0:50:02.960 they worshiped, They worshiped, They worked them, They works them. 0:50:03.239 --> 0:50:28.279 They works up from sacond the second I know it, so, 0:50:28.520 --> 0:50:33.560 God said, as high as the heavens are a buff 0:50:33.600 --> 0:50:39.920 e earth, so are my ways above your ways. Stop 0:50:40.000 --> 0:50:48.080 doing it your way, and get his sink, get his step, 0:50:48.640 --> 0:51:02.920 get his sink, get his step. That's those hands. And 0:51:03.239 --> 0:51:09.360 just like this room shifted when we got in sinc 0:51:12.320 --> 0:51:17.080 God said, when I send you a word from heaven, 0:51:17.680 --> 0:51:23.680 my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are 0:51:23.719 --> 0:51:29.319 not your thoughts. So do what the disciples did. When 0:51:29.360 --> 0:51:33.520 you feel what the disciples felt, and when you feel 0:51:34.320 --> 0:51:38.640 like you're starting to sink in the storm, the Bible says, 0:51:38.800 --> 0:51:43.640 call on the Lord, for he is near, and get 0:51:43.680 --> 0:51:46.880 what he has for you and beg him to save you. 0:51:47.480 --> 0:51:51.160 And do you not realize that Jesus was not late 0:51:51.400 --> 0:51:55.040 to save Peter? Because the Bible says that the moment 0:51:55.160 --> 0:51:59.879 that he called the name of Jesus, immediately he reached 0:52:00.080 --> 0:52:05.560 out his hand. Why because while Peter was sinking, Jesus 0:52:05.680 --> 0:52:15.919 was sinking. That's what I came to tell you. That's 0:52:15.920 --> 0:52:22.080 why I came to tell you. Wow, That's what I 0:52:22.120 --> 0:52:24.320 came to remind you is that you're not really alone 0:52:24.320 --> 0:52:28.120 in the boat. That's why I came to encourage you 0:52:28.120 --> 0:52:31.440 when your life feels barren and dry, that as the 0:52:31.520 --> 0:52:33.680 rain falls from the heaven and waters the earth. What's 0:52:33.719 --> 0:52:43.960 that synchronization? That's y N means together, cramous means time, synchronize. 0:52:44.560 --> 0:52:46.160 God knows how to bring it together at the right 0:52:46.160 --> 0:52:49.239 time the rainfalls in the season is supposed to. It's 0:52:49.320 --> 0:52:54.880 amazing now Jesus knew just the right moment to step 0:52:54.920 --> 0:52:59.239 in that boat. Don't you think that Jesus was at 0:52:59.360 --> 0:53:04.440 least trolling them this much to wait until just before 0:53:04.440 --> 0:53:07.239 the dawn to show up. And does it feel like 0:53:07.280 --> 0:53:09.640 maybe right now he's running a little behind your schedule? 0:53:09.640 --> 0:53:13.239 As well, that's okay. In fact, Mark's Gospel says that 0:53:15.120 --> 0:53:17.080 Jesus pretended like he was going to pass them by, 0:53:18.360 --> 0:53:23.040 and they thought. Everybody say, they thought he was a ghost. 0:53:24.920 --> 0:53:27.400 Maybe this thing isn't a ghost. Maybe it's God coming 0:53:27.440 --> 0:53:29.920 to get you. Maybe the thing you're afraid of is 0:53:29.920 --> 0:53:32.320 the thing that God is using to answer your prayer. 0:53:32.480 --> 0:53:40.919 Maybe it's him. Let's see, you don't know that when 0:53:40.920 --> 0:53:44.160 you're in the storm. You really don't know. It was 0:53:44.200 --> 0:53:48.839 God in the storm till the storm is over, and 0:53:48.880 --> 0:53:52.239 then the wind died down, and then they worshiped. But 0:53:52.320 --> 0:53:55.360 if you can be like Jesus and sink before the storm, 0:53:56.000 --> 0:54:00.799 you won't sink in it. That's what I wanted to 0:54:00.800 --> 0:54:04.239 tell you. That's what I wanted to remind. 0:54:03.960 --> 0:54:04.239 You of. 0:54:07.840 --> 0:54:11.520 The seed and the soil in Isaiah, the rain and 0:54:11.600 --> 0:54:14.319 the earth and the Kingdom of God and the earth. 0:54:14.560 --> 0:54:23.520 It's all about synchronization. Synchronization. Yeah, because I won't let 0:54:23.520 --> 0:54:27.760 you sink. You won't let me sink. That was beautiful 0:54:27.760 --> 0:54:29.920 what you told. Have you stay next to Dad, He 0:54:29.920 --> 0:54:33.359 won't let it go bad. And watch this Peter only 0:54:33.400 --> 0:54:37.880 started to sink. You're like, well, it didn't turn out 0:54:37.920 --> 0:54:41.240 too good for Peter. The Bible says he started to sink. 0:54:42.920 --> 0:54:48.040 But this is not called the drowning disciple. It's just 0:54:48.120 --> 0:54:50.960 the one who slipped for a minute. Yeah, I don't 0:54:50.960 --> 0:54:52.480 know where you've been slipping. I don't know where you've 0:54:52.520 --> 0:54:57.399 been sinking. Just that quick, just that quick, just as 0:54:57.480 --> 0:55:00.680 quick as he called his name. That all you have 0:55:00.719 --> 0:55:02.120 to do is call on the name of the Lord, 0:55:02.160 --> 0:55:05.319 and you will be saved. Bow your heads right now, 0:55:05.360 --> 0:55:09.680 all over this room, at every location. The Bible says 0:55:09.680 --> 0:55:11.719 that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall 0:55:11.800 --> 0:55:14.640 be saved. It is by grace, through faith you are saved, 0:55:14.640 --> 0:55:16.600 not of yourselves. It is a gift of God. Lest 0:55:17.000 --> 0:55:20.799 anyone should boast means all you got to do is 0:55:20.840 --> 0:55:23.200 reach for him. He's already right there, And just that quick, 0:55:24.040 --> 0:55:26.160 he'll forgive your sins. Just that quick, he'll wash you 0:55:26.200 --> 0:55:28.680 with this blood. As quick as you repent, he'll forgive 0:55:29.560 --> 0:55:34.040 turn to the Lord today, forsake your ways and embrace 0:55:34.120 --> 0:55:37.080 His heads bowed, eyes closed. If you're watching online, maybe 0:55:37.080 --> 0:55:38.879 you didn't even plan to join us today. But God 0:55:38.920 --> 0:55:42.000 had a plan for you, and at this moment He 0:55:42.040 --> 0:55:45.200 has synchronized this moment, so that this word would hit 0:55:45.280 --> 0:55:48.440 your heart in this moment today, for those of you 0:55:48.480 --> 0:55:50.960 who want to give your life to Jesus Christ for 0:55:51.040 --> 0:55:53.120 the first time or come back to God, I'm going 0:55:53.160 --> 0:55:55.440 to lead you in a prayer right now. It's a 0:55:55.480 --> 0:55:58.319 simple prayer like the one that Peter prayed. Lord, save me, 0:55:59.400 --> 0:56:03.600 Save me from my sin, Save me from myself. I 0:56:03.640 --> 0:56:05.319 believe that you died for me, and now I want 0:56:05.360 --> 0:56:07.600 you to live in me. Save me. God. This is 0:56:07.600 --> 0:56:09.719 my new beginning. And right now, if that's your heart, 0:56:09.760 --> 0:56:11.919 I want you to bow your head, close your eyes, 0:56:11.960 --> 0:56:14.560 and we're praying out loud together for the benefit of 0:56:14.560 --> 0:56:18.120 those who are coming to God. Repeat after me, Heavenly Father. 0:56:19.600 --> 0:56:23.879 I am a sinner in need of a savior, and 0:56:23.960 --> 0:56:28.720 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God 0:56:29.760 --> 0:56:34.359 and the savior of the world. And today I make 0:56:34.480 --> 0:56:40.720 Jesus the Lord and savior of my life. I believe 0:56:40.719 --> 0:56:45.200 he died that I would be forgiven and rose again 0:56:46.160 --> 0:56:51.680 to give me life. I receive this new life. This 0:56:51.880 --> 0:56:56.520 is my new beginning. I am a child of God. 0:56:57.360 --> 0:56:58.960 On the counter, three shoots your hand up. If you 0:56:59.000 --> 0:57:02.840 prayed that one two, three, put them up together. That's amazing. 0:57:03.760 --> 0:57:13.280 That's amazing, incredible God, blessing, incredible, incredible. Praise the Lord. 0:57:14.520 --> 0:57:19.840 Praise the Lord. We're bringing you a Bible, praying for you. 0:57:20.960 --> 0:57:23.840 We're here for you, we love you, for all of you. Hey, 0:57:23.840 --> 0:57:26.760 don't leave. I'm about to bless you. Don't leave before 0:57:26.760 --> 0:57:28.800 you get the blessing. Stop stop, stop, stop, stop stufstalk, 0:57:29.760 --> 0:57:35.680 thank you. We leave in sync, and then I'll say 0:57:35.720 --> 0:57:44.120 bye bye bye. All right, Praise the Lord. Campus fastors. 0:57:44.120 --> 0:57:46.040 You can give e group instructions. Do I need to 0:57:46.080 --> 0:57:54.560 say anything? JJ talk to talking again some other believers. 0:57:55.360 --> 0:57:58.080 Just sync down. Ask somebody next to you who you 0:57:58.120 --> 0:58:01.960 got in your boat? Ask them? Are they rowing in 0:58:02.000 --> 0:58:07.400 the right direction? Join hands together. We're gonna pray together 0:58:07.480 --> 0:58:13.160 and get out of here. And we're gonna take what 0:58:13.280 --> 0:58:16.600 we got here on the mountain today, and we're gonna 0:58:16.600 --> 0:58:20.040 carry it into the storm that we face tomorrow. And 0:58:20.120 --> 0:58:23.440 even if we don't see it coming, Jesus does, because 0:58:23.480 --> 0:58:26.200 the whole time they were in the boat straining, he 0:58:26.280 --> 0:58:29.440 was on the mountain praying. He is a sinking savior. 0:58:30.240 --> 0:58:32.920 He caught Peter immediately when he fell, because he is 0:58:32.960 --> 0:58:37.800 a sinking savior. And you won't go down. Because now 0:58:37.880 --> 0:58:45.560 unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, immeasurably 0:58:45.640 --> 0:58:48.960 more than you ask or imagine, to him, be gloried 0:58:48.960 --> 0:58:54.240 through Christ Jesus in the Church, now and forever. Amen. 0:58:55.160 --> 0:58:58.680 If you love him, say amen. If this same thing 0:58:58.760 --> 0:59:05.560 you know is say amen. Now you are business. God blessing. Well. 0:59:05.600 --> 0:59:09.280 If you enjoyed the series, I sure love preaching it 0:59:09.320 --> 0:59:13.120 to you. I love you God. Don't sink this week, 0:59:13.280 --> 0:59:17.440 sink sink. Get with God. Man. He's gonna show you, 0:59:17.560 --> 0:59:21.479 He's gonna use you, He's gonna show you up. We're 0:59:21.480 --> 0:59:28.600 praying for you. Thank you for joining us. 0:59:28.920 --> 0:59:31.360 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:59:31.440 --> 0:59:32.160 this ministry. 0:59:32.520 --> 0:59:34.920 Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:59:35.360 --> 0:59:37.560 You can click the link in the description to give 0:59:37.640 --> 0:59:41.600 now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for 0:59:41.640 --> 0:59:45.600 more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:59:45.920 --> 0:59:47.960 You can share it with your friends. You can click 0:59:48.000 --> 0:59:50.240 the share button, take a screenshot and share it on 0:59:50.280 --> 0:59:52.840 your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. 0:59:52.920 --> 0:59:54.560 Thanks again for listening. God bless you