Staying Power (Appointment With An Angel)

0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:06.840 Church and this is our podcast and I wanted to 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:09.840 thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:12.360 Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:15.280 to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:20.400 Are you ready now? Ask the person next to you, 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.640 are you ready now? I remember when my dad told 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:25.560 me when I was a little boy. I was probably 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:28.520 Abby's age. I was probably nine one night when Friday 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:30.200 Night he popped some popcorn and told me, I think 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:36.240 you're ready for Rocky. He'd been waiting until my spiritual 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:42.120 maturity and infrastructure emotionally could handle Ivan Drago. Oh. Yeah, 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:43.720 when you start your kids on Rocky, you start him 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:46.279 on Rocky four. You don't start them in the Old 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:49.480 Testament with Apollo, Creed. You start them with Matthew, Mark, Luke, 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:53.040 and John. I have a whole theory on this, and 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.520 he started me with Rocky four. He walked me back 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:59.320 to Rocky one. I'm glad that I was out of 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:03.960 the house before Rocky five came out, because that's like 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:06.480 an apocryphal book that didn't really make the canon. In 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:10.160 my estimation, but I think you're ready. What I'm trying 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:12.279 to say to you is I think you're ready now 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:17.760 for Acts chapter twenty seven. When all this bull craft 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:19.760 started in the world, I wrote down a list of 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.080 sermons that I wanted to preach from, and it was 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:25.880 amazing to me how all of the texts that I've 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.959 seen so many times before it took on a new relevance. 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:33.759 Almost said, reverence like a revelation with it becomes relevant. 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.200 Sometimes you know something, but until you go through something, 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:40.360 you don't have to put into practice what you know. 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:45.759 And so revealence maybe that's a word revealance. It's when 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.960 something that you already knew, that had already been revealed 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:53.960 becomes relevant to your situation. Is when you get a 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:57.680 chance to put into practice what you've been preaching. And 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:01.160 I just want to encourage you today with a story 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:07.520 of Bible story that that may be the best story 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:19.440 that I could preach from. When Paul went through a storm, 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:23.240 not crazy, man, I was just thinking, it's my favorite 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:30.840 Bible story and it started with a storm. Do the 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:34.400 biggest storms make for the best stories in our lives? 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:40.000 I think sometimes they do. I think sometimes they do. 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:44.520 When we were on vacation, we took a hundred bike rides. 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:47.840 But the only one y'all remember is when we were 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:52.040 riding in the rain. That's the only one y'all talk 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.680 about is the one where it rained. We rode to 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:58.360 the store, We rode to the bowling we rode, We 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.640 rode up and down the streets. Often when we were 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:03.000 riding all around. We remember the bowling alley over at 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:05.200 the other place we went there. We were, Yeah, you 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:07.760 do when we went bowling into little thing Graham. You 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.079 don't remember the little bowling alley that I took you to, say, 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:13.520 They don't remember any of that. They don't remember the 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:15.959 bowling alley hall I paid like one hundred and twenty 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:18.480 dollars for us to bowl. They don't even remember it. 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:22.840 But ask them about the rain riders. Ask them about 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:24.919 when we were out and we got caught in the 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:29.079 rain and the torrential downpour started, just started out of nowhere, 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.160 and they can remember with vivid detail when we got 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:38.120 caught in the rain. The greatest stories usually revolve around 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:41.960 the biggest storms. If you are new to Christianity, we 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:46.720 like our metaphors so you hear us always talking about mountains, 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:50.360 but we're not talking about land masks. When we say mountains, 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:52.960 we're talking about other stuff. You know. When we say 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.120 God's going to move them ountain, they can mean almost anything. 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:58.240 In church. God's gonna move them mountain in my life. 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.360 What do you mean by that? It's gonna get me 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:04.320 a job. It's just a metaphor. You know, whatever's in 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.360 your way, God's gonna move it. We like these kind 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:08.880 of things. The Bible uses them and we like them too. 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:14.800 What's another one that we like. We're big on metaphors. Chains. Oh, 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:19.040 we love chains in church. Almost every elevation worship song 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:21.480 I've ever been a part of has a chain in it. Somewhere. 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:25.080 We love to break chains and shake chains and sometimes 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:28.200 we get creative the Sourus theology and call it a shackle. 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:30.480 But the bottom line is we love to sing about 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:36.000 this stuff, and we love to talk about storms, and 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:38.280 it's really just a metaphor for whatever we're going through. 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.480 I'm going through a storm right now. Old Country preacher said, 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.000 you're either you're either here's the thing about storms. You're 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:45.800 either in a storm, you're going through a storm, you're 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:47.360 about to go through a storm, or you've just been 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:52.159 through a storm, and I think that's true. And so 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.400 the storm that we'll see in Acts chapter twenty seven 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:58.159 is physical, but it doesn't have to be physical for 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:01.960 it to be practical in your life. Do y'all remember 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:06.919 when I preached on it will happen. Do you remember 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:10.200 when I preached it had to happen. Remember when I preached, 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:13.840 I'm glad it happened. Now you're ready for Rocky four. 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:20.080 And I didn't know what to call it, so I 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:24.880 made two titles. I'm super indecisive right now, and I 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:28.720 don't know whether you want to call this message. Well, 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:30.159 let me read the text and then I'll give you 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:33.880 the titles. In Acts, chapter twenty seven, Verse twenty, the 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:37.240 Bible says, when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:42.120 and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:45.520 hope of being saved. And after they had gone a 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:50.800 long time without food, after they had gone a long 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:55.200 time cooped up in the apartment, after they had gone 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:59.080 a long time without going out to a restaurant, I'm 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.080 preaching to somebody, after they had gone a long time 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:04.760 without putting on pants with a button, I'm just preaching 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:08.279 to quarantine situations, modernizing the text. After they had gone 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:12.240 a long time without good news, after they had gone 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:16.599 a long time without an increase, Paul stood up before 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.440 them and said, men should have taken my advice not 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:26.120 to sail from crete. We're gonna come back to that 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.560 in a minute. We're gonna talk about how sometimes you 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:33.279 give good advice, but you have bad timing. Holly's teaching 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:36.960 a study called missus betterhef on Wednesdays about being a wife, 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.040 and I think she should use that verse in there. Men, 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:45.719 you should have taken my advice. Paul had good advice, 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:48.679 but he had bad timing. But watch this in the text, 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:53.840 because the scripture says, then you would have spared yourselves 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:55.760 to this damage and loss. So, in other words, that 0:06:55.839 --> 0:07:07.080 could have been avoided. But now, now, now, now, now, now, 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:12.200 I'm waiting on y'all to shout back. Now, come on. 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:13.760 If y'alln't want to shout, I'm not gonna let you 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:15.360 come back because there's a lot of This is a 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:17.160 harder ticket to get to come to church right now 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:18.840 than the bulls in ninety eight. So you need to 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:25.960 shout now. Okay, now, he said, even though this could 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:30.000 have been avoided. There is something that you can do now, 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:36.040 and it does not really revolve around the situation. It 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.600 revolves around your state of mind. So watch this. Keep 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.760 up your courage, because not one of you will be lost, 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:46.600 only the ship will be destroyed. Last night, an angel 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:50.119 of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:54.720 stood beside me and said, do not be afraid, Paul. 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:59.960 You must stand trial before Caesar, and God has great 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.600 faciously giving you the lives of all who sail with you. 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:10.040 So keep up your courage. Men, or I have faith 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:16.840 in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:22.680 we must run aground on some island. On the fourteenth night, 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.680 we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, which 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:30.960 is the Mediterranean Sea, when about midnight the sailor sense 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.600 they were approaching land. They took soundings and found that 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.360 the water was one hundred and twenty feet deep. A 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:38.760 short time later they took soundings again and found it 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:42.679 was ninety feet deep. In case you're not following, they're 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:47.600 getting closer to crashing. The water's getting more shallow. That 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:50.760 means a crash is inevitable. And Paul already told them that, 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.000 but now they are experiencing the thing that he said. 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:54.920 And it's one thing to be told you're going to 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:58.880 go through a storm. It's one thing to see it 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.560 on a weather app It's another thing to get caught 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:05.840 in one. It's one thing to say everything happens for 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:10.360 a reason when someone that you don't really care about dies. 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:13.520 It's another thing to believe that when you have to 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:16.680 live without them. Oh, I'm going to preach in an 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:20.680 empty room. So he said that we're going to crash, 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.160 and then they were about to crash. And this is 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:24.920 what I wanted to share with you about today, because 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.080 I've never really paid much attention to this part of 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:31.760 the text. He said. Fearing that we would be dashed 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:35.840 against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:40.920 and prayed for daylight. In an attempt to escape from 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:44.760 the ship. The sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:49.400 pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:53.120 We're getting out of here. We're not staying around to 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:55.000 see what happens. If it's one hundred and twenty feet, 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:59.160 it's ninety. We're about to crash. And we're out. But 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:00.480 watch what Paul says that this is what I want 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:04.880 to appreach about today. Then Paul said to the centurion 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:09.920 and the soldiers. Unless these men stay with the ship, 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:15.440 you cannot be saved. So the soldiers cut the ropes 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:20.880 that held the lifeboat and let it drift away. The 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:23.240 thing I want to preach to you about today is 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:30.400 staying power, staying power. Spirit of God, We receive your 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.719 grace for the preaching of your word to every situation. 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.000 There is not a single situation I can think of 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:39.600 in my mind that you are not greater than. There 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:41.720 is not a wave that tosses in the sea that 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.840 does not know the vibration of your voice. And when 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:49.040 you speak, waves die down. And when you speak, fear 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:52.800 bows down, and when you speak waters part. You are 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.080 God of the elements, You are God of all flesh. 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.120 You are the God of this moment. And we worship you. 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:06.080 Receive your word in Jesus' name. Put it in the chat. Amen. Amen, 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:10.319 come on, David Patten, say Amen, staying power. Chase Colby, 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:13.439 staying power. Now. A lot of people have starting power. 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:18.319 They did keto last week and they'll be on weight 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:23.319 Watchers next week. But Paul had starting power, he also 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:27.760 had staying power. People used to tell me it must 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:29.640 have taken a lot of faith to start this church. 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:34.320 I guess. So the truth is I was just stupid, 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.200 didn't take a lot of faith, just had to be really, 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:41.680 really ignorant. That's all. Just do it in your twenties, 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:45.360 that's all you gotta do. Put it in the chat. 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:51.960 Do it in your twenties, because really, starting power is 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.640 celebrated so much more, and even sometimes people will celebrate leaving. 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:00.240 I've seen so many times in this church where someone 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:03.160 might leave from a ministry position and we throw a 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.880 party for him, and I'm thinking, like, well, that's great. 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:08.800 I mean, it's probably polite to throw a party for 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:11.240 somebody who leaves. And God calls different people to different 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:15.720 things in different seasons. But can we have some Can 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:20.200 we have some staying parties too? You know, just bring 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:22.400 a cake into the office. You've been here eight hundred 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:28.760 and seventy one days. Here's cake. You start your diet tomorrow. 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:43.600 You know, starting power, leaving power, staying power, staying get sexier. 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:50.360 The longer you live, it gets sexier. I don't think 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:52.520 you have to say it's sexy. Yeah, you know what 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.960 the problem is, we have such a hard time celebrating 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:57.760 the right things in our culture. I need to say 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:01.560 it just like that, because we live in a culture 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.480 where starting is sexy. Oh I'm gonna start a church. 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.719 Oh I'm gonna start a business. Oh I'm an entrepreneur. 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:10.600 Oh I'm gonna start a Bible reading plan. You started 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:14.920 fourteen Bible reading plans in twenty twenty before January was over. 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.360 You know which plan of the Bible plan God is 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:23.720 gonna bless the one you stay with, the one you 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:28.040 stay with. Do you know what situation you're gonna see 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:32.400 God work in the one you stay with? So I said, well, 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:34.240 I don't know which workout to do you know which 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:38.400 one's gonna work the one you stay with, stay with? 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.880 And I thought it was interesting that the apostle Paul 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:44.559 who showed us the power of starting. Now, you got 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:48.960 to remember, Paul knew how to get something started. He 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:53.880 started by some calculations fourteen churches in a time when 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:58.160 the concept of church was foreign junk. Somebody need some 0:13:58.200 --> 0:13:59.840 different people in the room this week is kind of 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:02.720 out there. He knew how to start a church in 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:05.240 a city that had never even heard the name of Jesus. 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.280 He would walk into a church, and step into a 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:11.360 synagogue and start preaching, and before you know it, there 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.959 would be such an uproar in the city that it 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:19.320 would start a riot in the streets. Paul can start 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:22.880 a church, Paul has start a riot. Paul has starts 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:26.240 something in a minute. But yet, in Acts chapter twenty seven, 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:29.520 he shows us that the greatest power is often not 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:34.160 in what you have the faith to start, but what 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:38.880 you have the faith to stay with. And when we 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.400 think about storms in the Bible, we think about Peter 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.440 who stepped out of the boat to walk on water, 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.520 and we never preach about John, who stayed in the boat. 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.160 But I've been wondering as a forty year old man 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:56.960 who has seen people come and go, and emotions come 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:00.920 and go, and moods come and go and and and 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:04.040 and fads and trends come and go, and the zeit 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:06.560 guy slips all around, and you never really know what's 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:08.840 going to be popular or in fashion one day to 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:11.720 the next, And church members come and go and and 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:14.720 and songs come and go and and and seasons come 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.320 and go, and trials come and go. As someone who 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:20.040 has seen this. I'm wondering, does it take more faith 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:22.320 to step out of a boat that Jesus told you 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:26.120 to get into or to stay in it believing that 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:31.080 if He called you to the other side, you can 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:35.479 stay through any storm. You can sleep through any storm, 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:40.960 you can praise through any storm. I got staying power. 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:48.080 I love Paul because he gave advice to the men 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:52.560 in the ship and he wasn't even a he wasn't 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:59.480 even a nautical expert. Is maybe some type of commentary 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.840 on the arrogance of preachers that he's up there telling 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:05.520 someone who owns the ship what he ought to do 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:09.760 with it. And I used to tell them all the time. 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.080 I'm not going to preach a parenting sermon until my 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:16.760 kids are fifty, until I'm out of the window of 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:20.520 where God can like boomerang my own teaching back on me. 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:24.480 I'm not teaching anything about parenting. I'm not doing it. 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:26.760 I'm not writing a parenting book. I'm not preaching a 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:29.080 parenting series. You can preach this is us if you 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:31.560 want to. I'm not preaching any of it. I'm not 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:37.600 doing it. And I really found out that most of 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.720 the time people don't really want you to give them 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:45.120 advice when they ask for it. They just want you 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:49.400 to affirm what they already decided to do. And if 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:50.960 you don't give them the advice, I'm gonna save you 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:53.160 a lot of time. Right now, you're ready. It's not 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:57.000 that they really want advice. They usually want either attention 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:05.040 or affirmation. Now, what Paul says is true. He says 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.400 this storm could have been avoided because he told them 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:13.240 to stay. He did. They were loaded up for Rome. 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:16.679 They went in a small boat and they stopped at 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:19.000 an island where they were transported to a larger boat. 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:21.360 Because this is a long voyage. Man, we're going all 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.280 the way to Rome. Somebody say, we're going all the 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:26.480 way to Rome. We're going all the way to Rome. 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:30.560 Paul always wanted to go to Rome. That's the interesting thing. 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:34.439 He wanted to go to Rome. But what God doesn't 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:36.840 tell you is that you don't always get to choose 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:45.160 your transportation. Deeper, you know, the scripture says that God 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.720 is taking us from glory to glory. I believe that 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:52.600 we go from glory to glory, strength to strength. I 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.879 believe that I believe God is taking you somewhere. I 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:59.040 believe God is moving you forward. I believe that God 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:02.240 has promised that we will go from glory to glory, 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:04.840 but he just didn't tell us exactly how we're going 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:13.399 to get there. So when we pray for something in 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:18.679 our lives, we don't get to choose transportation. This is 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:21.840 not uber x uber black uber extreme. God does not 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:27.760 let you choose the luxury of the transportation. And so 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:31.399 Paul is doing something he always wanted to do, going 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:34.880 to room to preach the gospel. But he's headed there 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:40.159 in a ship as a prisoner in chains, not how 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:42.919 we say change, where it can mean just anything, and 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.679 not just how we say storm, where it could mean 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:47.960 I have a headache and I can't find that advilo. 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:55.560 There it is. He's in physical chains, in a literal storm, 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:59.320 but he has an appointment to go to Rome. Now, 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:00.920 I want to tell you something that nobody's told you 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:02.639 in a few weeks. You're ready, you have an appointment. 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:07.320 It's been a while since you've heard that, right, I 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:09.679 want to tell you something that you haven't heard for 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:14.240 a while. You have an appointment, and just by faith, 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:16.439 go ahead and say it right now in this chat 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:21.960 on YouTube on Facebook, say I have an appointment. Come on, 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:25.880 I'm preaching to somebody because you have an appointment. Now, 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:29.440 what happens in our hearts is that we get disappointed. 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.560 We get disappointed in the way that God does certain things. 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:38.399 We get disappointed in the people that don't help us 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:42.280 along the way. But just because you're disappointed in people, 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:46.200 don't jump off the ship and drown in the sea. 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:50.160 Did you hear me? Just because people let you down, 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:54.560 don't give up on God, who never will just because 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:58.800 you lost a job, don't stop trusting that God is 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:04.480 my provider. Jehovah Jirah, that's still his name, Jehovah Rafika. 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:08.680 He's still a healer. I'm still gonna get there. I'm 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:18.240 still going to Rome. I got an appointment. Some of 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:20.120 the stuff that you're going through right now is getting 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:22.320 you to the places that you ask God to take you, 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:29.000 but you just don't like how you're getting there. So 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:32.640 we could preach a series on this, how many want 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:38.320 me to preach a whole series on the appointment in 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:42.200 the storm? Did you know that you have an appointment 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:46.280 in the storm? Paul knew something in the storm that 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:50.120 the other people didn't know. What did he know? How 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:52.719 could you stand up and tell people after they've been 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:57.280 through fourteen days of the tempest and the billows and 0:20:57.560 --> 0:20:59.840 you know what other words for a storm, the lightning 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:03.160 and the thunder and the breakers? How can you tell 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:06.399 them when the winds are blowing knocking you sideways? You know, 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:10.240 and and and and and and Peter's wig comes flying 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:12.679 off in the storm. How are you going to tell me? 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:15.320 How are you going to tell me in the storm 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:18.439 to stay with the ship when you already told me 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:26.200 it was going to break apart? How could God call 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:33.160 you to stay with something that is breaking, and yet 0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:37.440 it is staying with the breaking that produces the blessing. 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:48.399 It's breaking. It's breaking, not my boat, my heart, my heart. 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:54.920 My heart is breaking. Did you know that the place 0:21:55.000 --> 0:21:58.879 God promises to dwell not visit, it's the broken and 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:03.120 contrite heart. What does that mean? That means that when 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:10.159 my heart is breaking, it is important that I abide 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:16.320 in God's love so that I can experience his presence 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:22.399 in a greater measure. It may not be your boat 0:22:23.680 --> 0:22:28.080 that is broken today. It may be your heart. It 0:22:28.119 --> 0:22:32.600 may be your business. It may be it may be 0:22:32.720 --> 0:22:37.240 the number in your bank account that is screaming, you 0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:45.160 are broke, all right, So I am broke. God's not right, 0:22:45.560 --> 0:22:47.720 all right? So this is how I want to preach 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:51.320 to get people through a storm, Isn't that? Isn't that 0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:54.160 what we've been saying, that that we're in the same storm. 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:56.960 But we're not in the same boat. And you will 0:22:57.000 --> 0:22:59.920 remember that it is not what you go through that 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:04.600 determines where you end up. Many people went through betrayal 0:23:04.600 --> 0:23:08.560 worse than you went through, and they're not bitter and 0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:13.679 you are. Many people were disappointed more than you were disappointed, 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:16.840 and yet they still have strong faith and you don't. 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:21.200 Many people are struggling with their daily needs more than 0:23:21.200 --> 0:23:25.199 you are, and they're less worried than you are about it. 0:23:25.200 --> 0:23:27.880 It is not what I go through that determines where 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:34.040 I end up. It's not it's who I listened to. 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:42.080 Paul said, you should have taken my advice. I told you, 0:23:43.760 --> 0:23:45.800 I told you to stay in the harbor. They set 0:23:45.840 --> 0:23:47.720 out to go to Rome. They got caught up in 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:50.840 a storm, they lost their course, and this is what happens, right, 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:55.880 you get blown off course. Oh no, this was not 0:23:55.920 --> 0:23:59.399 on our GPS. Back in the day we had tripped. 0:23:59.680 --> 0:24:02.680 What was called trip tick and triple A. They didn't 0:24:02.680 --> 0:24:05.920 put this on my trip tick. This wasn't on my itinerary. 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:08.680 You get blown off course, then you start freaking out 0:24:08.800 --> 0:24:10.280 and now you're like, oh my god, I was going 0:24:10.359 --> 0:24:12.840 to retire in twelve years, but now I see this situation. 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:17.080 When you get blown off course, you have got to 0:24:17.160 --> 0:24:21.480 decide at that point, who will I listen to? And 0:24:21.480 --> 0:24:25.080 what will I guide by? Who will I listen to? 0:24:26.440 --> 0:24:30.320 What will I guide by? Now? These are the questions 0:24:31.760 --> 0:24:38.360 that you must answer in this crisis of your life. 0:24:36.760 --> 0:24:41.479 This is the heart of what God is asking today. 0:24:41.800 --> 0:24:48.080 Who will you listen to? And what will you guide by? 0:24:49.000 --> 0:24:51.600 Paul said, this is not a good time to sail, 0:24:52.440 --> 0:24:56.160 and they sailed anyway. Paul said, we ought to stay 0:24:56.160 --> 0:24:58.320 here in this harbor. For the reason they didn't want 0:24:58.320 --> 0:24:59.760 to stay in the harbor when Paul told them to 0:24:59.760 --> 0:25:03.200 stay is because it says it was undesirable to winter there. 0:25:04.520 --> 0:25:06.840 So rather than stay in a place they didn't like, 0:25:08.640 --> 0:25:14.800 they sailed into something that would destroy them. Rather than 0:25:14.960 --> 0:25:19.080 stay in a place that they didn't like, they sailed 0:25:19.080 --> 0:25:23.199 into something that would destroy them. See, it's not the 0:25:23.200 --> 0:25:26.160 first storm that you have to worry about the first 0:25:26.160 --> 0:25:29.120 storm is the storm that you can't control. It started 0:25:29.160 --> 0:25:31.840 raining Friday here in Charlotte. It looked like God got 0:25:31.880 --> 0:25:35.360 sick of everybody. And I was like, oh, the governor 0:25:35.480 --> 0:25:37.240 led us to stay at home order. And at the 0:25:37.280 --> 0:25:40.480 same time, this storm comes out of nowhere, and I'm like, Lord, 0:25:41.240 --> 0:25:44.080 are you speaking? I'll stay inside. I'm sorry, Lord, Oh, 0:25:45.000 --> 0:25:47.640 I know what to do. Out of nowhere. Storms are 0:25:47.720 --> 0:25:54.200 like that one text message can change the next three 0:25:54.280 --> 0:25:58.840 years of your life in eighty characters. Out of nowhere. 0:25:59.760 --> 0:26:02.240 That it's the first storm, the when you can't control 0:26:02.359 --> 0:26:05.320 and you can't do anything about the current crossing, the 0:26:05.359 --> 0:26:07.880 current and the stormy conditions. I mean, some storms are 0:26:07.920 --> 0:26:11.479 just seasonal. Some storms can't be avoided. Some storms. I mean, 0:26:11.520 --> 0:26:14.680 I can't control what happens in China, or I can't 0:26:14.720 --> 0:26:17.720 even control what somebody does in Michigan. I can't. I 0:26:17.720 --> 0:26:20.680 can't control certain things. But God said to tell you, 0:26:21.000 --> 0:26:28.959 don't create a second storm by your decisions. See, you 0:26:29.000 --> 0:26:32.520 can ask God to protect you in the first storm. God, 0:26:32.560 --> 0:26:34.320 I don't know what to do. You do, God, I 0:26:34.320 --> 0:26:36.639 can't do anything about this. You can. But what a 0:26:36.680 --> 0:26:39.399 lot of us have been doing in this season of uncertainty. 0:26:39.760 --> 0:26:42.720 We have been creating second storms that are worse than 0:26:42.720 --> 0:26:46.880 the first. So let me break this down all the way. 0:26:47.040 --> 0:26:50.320 Like I'm like, I'm cutting up some filet mignon where 0:26:50.359 --> 0:26:53.480 the two year old can eat it. This is a 0:26:53.720 --> 0:26:56.520 This is a good word for anybody who you've been 0:26:56.800 --> 0:26:59.960 you've been dealing with depression, but you've been you've been 0:27:00.160 --> 0:27:08.639 drinking to get through it. Now, depression is something that 0:27:08.720 --> 0:27:11.400 happens to a lot of us. I mean, I don't 0:27:11.400 --> 0:27:14.760 know anybody who hasn't had a season of darkness in 0:27:14.800 --> 0:27:20.400 their life. But if I try to drive out darkness 0:27:20.400 --> 0:27:27.280 with darkness and I depend on something in the darkness 0:27:28.240 --> 0:27:30.720 that is going to make me addicted to something even 0:27:30.760 --> 0:27:35.440 when the light comes up, the second storm is worse 0:27:35.480 --> 0:27:42.560 than the first. I have to be really careful, Like 0:27:43.119 --> 0:27:47.640 if my kids do something that makes me mad, I said, 0:27:47.640 --> 0:27:49.560 I wouldn't preach a parenting sermon, but here's a little 0:27:49.560 --> 0:27:54.679 technique that I've learned. Don't let your response be a 0:27:54.760 --> 0:28:00.600 bad example for the behavior you're trying to correct. Screaming. 0:28:03.640 --> 0:28:06.679 I think this is contradictory. I think my kids are 0:28:06.680 --> 0:28:11.280 confused right now. Now. Now, a lot of us are 0:28:11.320 --> 0:28:14.399 dealing with loneliness right now in this season. That's a 0:28:14.440 --> 0:28:18.200 storm that you can't always control. But if you run 0:28:18.280 --> 0:28:22.600 to places in the storm that are more dangerous than 0:28:22.600 --> 0:28:28.680 the storm itself. How many times have you left a 0:28:28.760 --> 0:28:34.400 place that you didn't like? Some of you all loved 0:28:34.400 --> 0:28:39.000 the church you didn't like. And the problem is you 0:28:39.040 --> 0:28:50.480 can't change if you never stay staying power, staying power. 0:28:51.800 --> 0:28:56.160 Paul was a church planter. Anything you plant is only 0:28:56.200 --> 0:29:01.200 as good as the roots starting power without staying power. 0:29:02.760 --> 0:29:05.640 Oh man, I'm excited about this quarantine. I'm excited. I'm 0:29:05.640 --> 0:29:11.680 got time to spend with the Lord. Now you and 0:29:11.720 --> 0:29:16.560 the Lord got lonely. And now I don't know who 0:29:16.600 --> 0:29:18.000 this is for, but I'm going to say it because 0:29:18.000 --> 0:29:20.080 I feel like this by the spirit of God. Don't 0:29:20.120 --> 0:29:25.000 run to a relationship to solve loneliness. That is a 0:29:25.040 --> 0:29:28.960 compromise of your character. The second storm might be worse 0:29:29.000 --> 0:29:34.600 than the first. Don't run to something because you're lonely. 0:29:36.480 --> 0:29:40.560 That is ultimately that is ultimately going to put you 0:29:41.400 --> 0:29:46.080 in a condition where you end up like the sailors 0:29:46.080 --> 0:29:53.120 in verse twenty. We have no hope. We have no hope. See, 0:29:53.160 --> 0:29:57.040 because what they were guiding by went away. I don't 0:29:57.040 --> 0:29:58.560 know if you saw this in verse twenty, I'd love 0:29:58.600 --> 0:30:00.000 it if we could put it back on the screen, 0:30:00.040 --> 0:30:04.480 please Act twenty seven to twenty, because I think this 0:30:04.520 --> 0:30:07.160 is where it gets tricky to steer. You know, as 0:30:07.160 --> 0:30:09.520 long as you kind of have a reference point to 0:30:09.640 --> 0:30:13.480 know what's normal, or what's good, or how much time 0:30:13.840 --> 0:30:17.400 these things really help in life. But in verse twenty, 0:30:17.400 --> 0:30:20.480 I felt it was relevant to our situation. He said, 0:30:20.760 --> 0:30:25.760 when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, When 0:30:25.760 --> 0:30:28.360 neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the 0:30:28.440 --> 0:30:32.720 storm continued raging. Now the storm could rage and they 0:30:32.800 --> 0:30:36.760 could keep believing, But when the stars disappeared, they lost hope. 0:30:38.480 --> 0:30:43.520 When what you were guiding by goes away and every 0:30:43.600 --> 0:30:48.600 day just looks the same and feels the same, now 0:30:48.600 --> 0:30:50.360 I get the feeling like this is endless. Now I 0:30:50.400 --> 0:30:52.520 get the feeling like maybe these chains are never going 0:30:52.600 --> 0:30:55.760 to break, this storm is never going to cease. They 0:30:55.800 --> 0:30:59.400 lost hope, And we know they lost hope because Luke 0:30:59.400 --> 0:31:02.520 says they lost hope. And the only way Luke could 0:31:02.560 --> 0:31:04.720 know they lost hope is because they must have been 0:31:04.720 --> 0:31:09.640 saying there's no hope. I mean, come on, it's not 0:31:09.680 --> 0:31:12.120 like hope is something that you can see on someone's forehead. 0:31:12.920 --> 0:31:15.480 How's your hope? You know there's no meter for that. 0:31:16.760 --> 0:31:18.400 It's not a video game. You don't have a little 0:31:18.400 --> 0:31:25.600 power bar. Right. They must have been saying it's hopeless. 0:31:27.160 --> 0:31:33.000 They must have been saying that. Paul stands up and 0:31:33.040 --> 0:31:37.840 he decides that what you go through doesn't determine where 0:31:37.880 --> 0:31:39.680 you end up. What you go through doesn't determine where 0:31:39.720 --> 0:31:45.280 you end up. Who you listen to determines where you 0:31:45.400 --> 0:31:51.240 end up. Because I think right now you are walking 0:31:51.320 --> 0:31:55.520 through a valley between two voices. One is wisdom, one 0:31:55.560 --> 0:32:05.040 is worried, one is gratitude, one is grum blame, one 0:32:05.120 --> 0:32:11.600 is blame. One is faith. Now wait, pastor Steve, Wait 0:32:11.680 --> 0:32:17.239 Pastor Stephen with a pH Wait, wait a minute. The 0:32:17.240 --> 0:32:19.120 opposite of faith is doubt. No no, no, no no no. 0:32:19.960 --> 0:32:23.240 Doubt doesn't keep you from having faith. Doubt gives you 0:32:23.320 --> 0:32:30.800 something to have faith for it. But blame will block 0:32:30.840 --> 0:32:37.240 faith every time. Blame will always block faith. So Paul 0:32:37.280 --> 0:32:39.920 watch him shift. He's like, y'all still listen to me. 0:32:40.080 --> 0:32:42.760 But if I blame you, I can't trust God. If 0:32:42.800 --> 0:32:45.280 I blame you, it is going to block me from 0:32:45.320 --> 0:32:49.240 receiving what I need from God in this moment. So 0:32:49.320 --> 0:32:51.360 you should have listened to me. We could have avoided this. 0:32:51.600 --> 0:32:53.440 How many know and will be honest to say, there 0:32:53.480 --> 0:32:55.360 are some storms I went through in my life that 0:32:55.400 --> 0:32:58.920 I could have avoided. Come on, points your fingers up 0:32:58.960 --> 0:33:01.560 to the air like this. It could have been avoided. 0:33:01.760 --> 0:33:03.640 It could have been avoided. I mean, some of the 0:33:03.680 --> 0:33:06.320 things in my life that I blamed on the devil 0:33:06.360 --> 0:33:09.000 were really a decision. They both start with the letter D. 0:33:09.440 --> 0:33:16.840 But some storms can be avoided. Ask Jonah, Ask Jonah 0:33:16.920 --> 0:33:21.000 if some storms can be avoided. The only reason Jonah 0:33:21.040 --> 0:33:23.600 went through a storm is because he had an appointment. 0:33:24.760 --> 0:33:28.200 God said, I'd rather take you to us through a storm. 0:33:28.520 --> 0:33:31.360 I'd rather take you through a hard time than have 0:33:31.480 --> 0:33:36.160 you waste your life in the wrong place. Now, we 0:33:36.240 --> 0:33:38.400 gotta get you there. If I have to send a 0:33:38.440 --> 0:33:40.760 storm to get you there, if I have to shut 0:33:40.800 --> 0:33:43.040 it down to get you there, if I have to 0:33:43.080 --> 0:33:46.360 remove people and comfort to get you there, You're gonna 0:33:46.440 --> 0:33:51.760 get there if you listen to the right voice. Paul 0:33:51.800 --> 0:33:54.200 stood up and said, I hear you talking about how 0:33:54.240 --> 0:33:56.760 there's no hope, and I hear you talking about how 0:33:57.240 --> 0:33:59.680 it's gonna get worse, and I hear you talking about 0:33:59.720 --> 0:34:02.080 how it's just this and it's just that. And I 0:34:02.120 --> 0:34:05.800 hear Democrats talking, and I hear Republicans talking, and I 0:34:05.840 --> 0:34:08.560 hear people using this for a political purpose, and I 0:34:08.600 --> 0:34:10.560 hear all this. But let me tell you, I have 0:34:10.600 --> 0:34:14.960 an appointment. As a matter of fact, last night I 0:34:15.000 --> 0:34:18.360 had an appointment. I didn't see it on my calendar. 0:34:18.560 --> 0:34:22.719 It was off the books. Paul said, last night, an angel, 0:34:23.480 --> 0:34:27.640 an angel, an angel. Come on, I have an appointment 0:34:28.200 --> 0:34:32.919 with an angel, with an angel. I got angels all 0:34:32.960 --> 0:34:38.200 around me, protecting me and keeping me. I got angels 0:34:38.600 --> 0:34:43.040 on my side. I've got glory out a head. I 0:34:43.160 --> 0:34:50.279 got angels. I'm here because my angel said, you have 0:34:50.280 --> 0:34:54.760 an appointment with an angel, and you got an angel 0:34:54.800 --> 0:34:57.919 telling you right now you're gonna make it. In fact, 0:34:57.960 --> 0:35:01.400 you're gonna be better. Ignore my button puffed open in 0:35:01.480 --> 0:35:04.520 my shirt. I'm trying to binge press the word of God. 0:35:04.560 --> 0:35:08.120 Today is getting rough up here. But tell somebody, I 0:35:08.160 --> 0:35:11.239 got an angel. It's all right, it's all right. I 0:35:11.280 --> 0:35:15.560 got an angel. I got an angel. I got an angel. Now, 0:35:15.600 --> 0:35:19.160 who you're gonna listen to? Your angel or your enemy. 0:35:19.719 --> 0:35:23.279 My angel said, I'm gonna make it. My angel said, 0:35:23.280 --> 0:35:26.880 I'm right out time. My angel set is working for 0:35:27.080 --> 0:35:35.759 my I got staying power. I got staying power. I 0:35:35.840 --> 0:35:38.960 love what the angel said to Paul. You can't die 0:35:39.000 --> 0:35:42.120 in this storm. You have an appointment in Rome. You 0:35:42.200 --> 0:35:44.920 have to stand trial and Caesar. Can I give you 0:35:44.960 --> 0:35:47.640 the good news? You're not gonna die in this trial. 0:35:48.040 --> 0:35:50.200 Can I give you the bad news? You got a 0:35:50.239 --> 0:36:03.520 bigger one ahead, greater things, bigger storms, better stories. I 0:36:03.560 --> 0:36:07.359 got an angel, I got an appointment. So Paul's like, oh, 0:36:07.480 --> 0:36:10.120 I can't die. Did you ever watch a TV show 0:36:11.440 --> 0:36:14.640 and you knew? I remember we started watching that zombie 0:36:14.680 --> 0:36:17.640 show back before that looked just like the news. What 0:36:17.680 --> 0:36:24.319 was it called The Walking Dead? And the trailer used 0:36:24.320 --> 0:36:26.239 to come on, don't send me a thing about the 0:36:26.520 --> 0:36:28.480 Word of God in the Walking Dead. It's in the Bible, 0:36:28.480 --> 0:36:31.080 the Walking Dead, the Third Day, Jesus, Christ, Lazarus, all 0:36:31.120 --> 0:36:34.680 of us all in there, same stuff, All right, edit 0:36:34.719 --> 0:36:39.040 this out. But I saw the trailer and I saw 0:36:39.080 --> 0:36:43.080 that the same guy that was in the first episode, 0:36:43.120 --> 0:36:45.320 he was still in it because we watched it later. 0:36:45.560 --> 0:36:48.640 But I saw that he was still in it in 0:36:48.719 --> 0:36:52.400 the current season, so he took some of the suspense 0:36:52.480 --> 0:36:58.520 out of the first season, the second season, the third season, 0:36:59.160 --> 0:37:03.279 the fourth season, the fifth season. Now, when you have 0:37:03.400 --> 0:37:05.960 a word from God concerning your life, and it could 0:37:06.000 --> 0:37:08.359 be simple, he said he would never leave me nor 0:37:08.440 --> 0:37:11.759 forsake me. So if he's going to stay with me, 0:37:12.280 --> 0:37:17.279 then whatever happens in this storm, I already saw. I 0:37:17.360 --> 0:37:22.280 already saw season six. They can't kill Rick. It doesn't 0:37:22.360 --> 0:37:26.719 matter how many walkers, they can't kill him. He's gonna 0:37:27.880 --> 0:37:32.239 I saw the season finale. I got the deck zum, 0:37:32.680 --> 0:37:35.880 I got them, I got it, I got him, that 0:37:36.120 --> 0:37:42.800 got saying power, I got the Holy Ghost. I wish 0:37:42.840 --> 0:37:46.439 we could high five our neighbors, but tell somebody, I'm 0:37:46.480 --> 0:37:56.000 in the season finale, staying power. Staying power. That's why 0:37:56.040 --> 0:38:00.440 we're celebrating today, not that we avoided the storm, but 0:38:00.640 --> 0:38:08.360 that we stayed in the storm. Gouds were amazed his 0:38:08.400 --> 0:38:09.719 teacher because he does one of the authority and now 0:38:09.760 --> 0:38:12.000 was one of their teachers of the law and showed 0:38:12.040 --> 0:38:16.919 them a parable certain men build a house. Do you'all 0:38:16.960 --> 0:38:19.600 know this story. It's kind of like the Big Bad Wolf, 0:38:19.600 --> 0:38:21.480 but it's the Big bad storm. He said, two men 0:38:21.520 --> 0:38:23.840 build a house. I'll say, I'll show you what he's like. 0:38:23.840 --> 0:38:25.560 Who comes to me and puts my words into practice. 0:38:25.600 --> 0:38:26.880 He's like a wise man who build his house on 0:38:26.880 --> 0:38:28.439 the rock. The rains came down streams, rose, the winds 0:38:28.440 --> 0:38:29.799 blue and beat against that house. Yet it did not 0:38:29.800 --> 0:38:32.239 fall because I had a sound foundation on the rock. 0:38:32.880 --> 0:38:37.719 You got that. Rains came down streams, rose, winds blew 0:38:38.480 --> 0:38:41.120 and beat up the house. That's what happened to the 0:38:41.120 --> 0:38:44.279 first house. That's the man who had faith. Somebody say, 0:38:44.320 --> 0:38:46.799 I have faith, I have faith. I have faith. I 0:38:46.840 --> 0:38:48.919 have faith, I have faith, I have faith. But let's 0:38:48.920 --> 0:38:50.400 what happen to a second man. He was foolish. He 0:38:50.400 --> 0:38:53.200 didn't do what Jesus had instructed. Instead, he built his 0:38:53.239 --> 0:38:56.800 house on a sandy foundation, now a strong foundation. He 0:38:57.000 --> 0:38:59.560 built his house on something that was not stable. And 0:38:59.600 --> 0:39:02.600 it says that the storm came, the winds blew, rains 0:39:02.600 --> 0:39:04.440 came down streams, rose, winds blom, beat against the house. 0:39:04.480 --> 0:39:06.560 Rank came down streams, rose, winds blow and beat against 0:39:06.560 --> 0:39:10.640 the house. Rank came down. What happened to win? That's 0:39:10.640 --> 0:39:12.920 what happened to the man who did the right thing. 0:39:16.719 --> 0:39:30.600 Same storm, same storm, same storm. What I wanted to 0:39:30.640 --> 0:39:35.319 preach today was the storm is over. I thought that 0:39:35.360 --> 0:39:38.640 would be cool. I thought that would get a lot 0:39:38.640 --> 0:39:44.279 of views on YouTube, the storm is over. But the 0:39:44.320 --> 0:39:50.280 Lord said, you can't preach that in good conscience because 0:39:50.400 --> 0:39:53.239 like these men who were headed to Rome, and they 0:39:53.239 --> 0:39:56.560 didn't know how much longer the storm would rage. You've 0:39:56.600 --> 0:39:59.799 got to teach people how to keep their hope in 0:39:59.800 --> 0:40:06.200 a storm. The Lord said, you've got to preach on 0:40:06.480 --> 0:40:12.520 staying power. You've got to tell people to stay in faith. 0:40:13.520 --> 0:40:17.200 And doesn't it take faith to stay Huh? Come on, 0:40:17.320 --> 0:40:19.879 be honest. It's just us. There's not even anybody else 0:40:19.920 --> 0:40:22.440 in the church. It's just you and somebody you live with. 0:40:22.520 --> 0:40:24.160 And you can't even be honest with me like this. 0:40:24.440 --> 0:40:26.359 How are you ever going to survive in the real world? 0:40:26.600 --> 0:40:33.439 Doesn't it take faith to stay, to stay grateful when 0:40:33.520 --> 0:40:38.359 everything in you wants to complain. To stay grateful, that 0:40:38.400 --> 0:40:42.280 takes faith. Come on, man, step out of the boat. 0:40:43.120 --> 0:40:45.080 I know this message is probably going to be my 0:40:45.160 --> 0:40:52.520 least dude sermon of all time, but stay because that's 0:40:52.560 --> 0:40:54.200 not the only thing I can control right now. And 0:40:54.239 --> 0:40:56.440 that's what he said. Would save them. If you stay, 0:40:56.480 --> 0:41:03.760 you will be saved. That's when they tunted Jesus. They said, 0:41:03.960 --> 0:41:09.439 come down on that cross, do something amazing. He said, 0:41:09.480 --> 0:41:17.400 I am, I am, and see he couldn't come down 0:41:17.480 --> 0:41:20.479 and save you at the same time, and God send 0:41:20.480 --> 0:41:22.520 me with the word. You can't come down right now. 0:41:23.239 --> 0:41:26.960 You are like Neo Mayah rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. 0:41:27.200 --> 0:41:30.480 He said, I can't come down. I hear what Sandbalad 0:41:30.560 --> 0:41:32.799 is saying. I hear what they're saying. I hear, but 0:41:32.920 --> 0:41:36.200 I can't come down right now. I'm doing a great work, 0:41:36.440 --> 0:41:39.200 and the spirit of God says I'm doing a great 0:41:39.280 --> 0:41:42.360 work in your life. You can't come down now to 0:41:42.480 --> 0:41:46.160 a lower level. You can't come down now. You can't 0:41:46.200 --> 0:41:52.200 give up hope now, not now. Somebody said, now now, 0:41:52.360 --> 0:41:56.000 I gotta stay in this moment and let patience habits 0:41:56.400 --> 0:42:02.840 perfect work. The proof of faith is not change, it's patience. 0:42:03.680 --> 0:42:10.400 Patience is the active ingredient in faith. Patience. He decided 0:42:10.440 --> 0:42:14.440 to stay. He could have called legions of angels and 0:42:14.480 --> 0:42:17.640 they would have come at his beckon call, but he stayed. 0:42:18.480 --> 0:42:23.200 He stayed. He stayed, I wonder who will be saved? 0:42:23.440 --> 0:42:31.000 If you stay, you'll save your own life if you stay, 0:42:31.840 --> 0:42:36.040 if you stay praising. It was a little bit of 0:42:36.080 --> 0:42:41.479 oil on that. Stay praising, stay praising. Pretend to touch 0:42:41.520 --> 0:42:44.840 three people socially distanced, touch your neighbor, and say, I 0:42:44.960 --> 0:42:48.720 stay praising. I stay praising. I stay praising because because 0:42:49.000 --> 0:42:53.040 I've decided that that is my survival. That you hear me. 0:42:53.360 --> 0:42:56.520 This is not this is not This is not some 0:42:56.560 --> 0:43:02.719 sort of extracurricular activity where I appreciate the President and 0:43:02.800 --> 0:43:07.040 the governor saying that we are essential, you know, essential business. 0:43:07.320 --> 0:43:09.600 But I knew that way before the President said it. 0:43:12.000 --> 0:43:15.360 I knew that way before the governor said it. I 0:43:15.440 --> 0:43:19.759 knew we were essential. This is essential for me. I 0:43:19.960 --> 0:43:23.319 have to praise him. I've got to praise him. I'm 0:43:23.400 --> 0:43:27.200 under obligation to praise him. He gave me life itself. 0:43:27.520 --> 0:43:30.640 If I don't praise him, the rocks will cry out. 0:43:31.200 --> 0:43:37.360 I got to praise him. I stay praising. It takes 0:43:37.560 --> 0:43:44.200 faith to stay. It takes faith to stay. To stay 0:43:44.360 --> 0:43:50.680 encouraged while the storm is raging, to stay optimistic when 0:43:50.680 --> 0:43:57.960 the world is pessimistic, To stay expectant when you've been disappointed, 0:44:00.160 --> 0:44:05.960 To stay sweet when the world is sour. But staying power. 0:44:09.320 --> 0:44:15.360 That's what they experienced on the day of Pentecost, because 0:44:15.400 --> 0:44:18.960 before Jesus left, he said, I need you to do 0:44:19.000 --> 0:44:20.520 something that's going to be hard for you to do. 0:44:20.640 --> 0:44:32.400 Right now. Stay in Jerusalem Jeru Salem, Salem Peace. Stay 0:44:32.400 --> 0:44:37.200 in the city of peace, even though there's a riot 0:44:37.200 --> 0:44:44.520 in the streets. Stay in the city of peace. Takes 0:44:44.520 --> 0:44:48.080 faith to stay in a state of peace, takes faith 0:44:48.120 --> 0:44:49.959 to stay in a boat when a storm is raged, 0:44:49.960 --> 0:44:52.440 and takes faith to stay in the middle of the sea. 0:44:52.520 --> 0:44:56.000 Is said that they weren't saved until they cut the ropes. 0:44:58.560 --> 0:45:00.360 The Lord told me to tell you cut the opes. 0:45:03.239 --> 0:45:05.560 Quit trying to escape the stuff God is using to 0:45:05.640 --> 0:45:11.160 change you. You can't be changed unless you stay. You 0:45:11.160 --> 0:45:15.680 can't be saved unless you stay. You gotta stay. You 0:45:15.719 --> 0:45:17.920 can't bear more fruit when he's pruning you unless you 0:45:17.960 --> 0:45:22.600 abide in the vine, if you cut yourself off. But 0:45:22.680 --> 0:45:27.560 if you stay, he said, I'm gonna make you more fruitful. 0:45:29.200 --> 0:45:32.560 And that's what Paul had in mind, right because he 0:45:32.640 --> 0:45:36.120 always wanted to go to Rome. So no matter how 0:45:36.120 --> 0:45:40.120 the storm raged, no matter how the boat rocked, he said, 0:45:40.120 --> 0:45:45.759 I'm going to Rome. I have an appointment would you 0:45:45.760 --> 0:45:52.040 say it by faith? I have an appointment, the Lord said, 0:45:52.040 --> 0:45:55.560 I've appointed you. I've chosen you to bear much fruit. 0:45:57.080 --> 0:45:59.319 And the proof that I've appointed you to bear more 0:45:59.400 --> 0:46:05.759 fruit is that I am pruning you. Staying with the 0:46:05.800 --> 0:46:11.400 ship means cutting the ropes. But if I keep on 0:46:11.520 --> 0:46:14.960 trying to find a way out of it, how can 0:46:15.000 --> 0:46:20.239 I be changed through it? Lord? I thank you for 0:46:20.280 --> 0:46:27.319 the faith to stay, the faith to stay. You gave 0:46:27.360 --> 0:46:33.080 me this word, and you told me when I studied 0:46:33.080 --> 0:46:37.120 that someone was hearing two voices right now, and they 0:46:37.120 --> 0:46:42.160 don't see any stars to guide by. The calendar has changed, 0:46:42.200 --> 0:46:47.120 their rhythm has changed. They can't even go to the 0:46:47.120 --> 0:46:49.879 stores they used to go to. Right now. When they 0:46:49.920 --> 0:46:55.319 go there, it looks like the rapture, the apocalypse. Don't 0:46:55.320 --> 0:46:56.799 know what to do. Do I go in? Do I 0:46:56.840 --> 0:46:59.920 go out? I don't have any answers for that. Lord, 0:47:00.040 --> 0:47:04.600 I'm just a preacher. But you told me to tell 0:47:04.600 --> 0:47:06.879 them that if they will stay in Jerusalem, they will 0:47:06.920 --> 0:47:14.239 receive power. So God give us the faith to stay. 0:47:14.480 --> 0:47:17.279 Look at me, look at me, look at me. You 0:47:17.360 --> 0:47:20.440 stayed with this whole sermon. Don't click off now. I know, 0:47:20.520 --> 0:47:23.120 I know, I know, I hear the kids in the background, 0:47:23.239 --> 0:47:30.640 Come shut up, stop scraming, stay with me, because the 0:47:30.719 --> 0:47:35.239 thing I want to show you this so powerful, is 0:47:35.280 --> 0:47:38.319 that the only way they could receive the power of 0:47:38.360 --> 0:47:45.960 God was to stay in the place of peace. Keep 0:47:45.960 --> 0:47:54.799 your peace, Keep your peace. You hear me. You got 0:47:54.840 --> 0:47:58.960 six hundred employees and you don't know how to rebuild 0:47:59.200 --> 0:48:05.560 the organize to accommodate the new situation. God has given 0:48:05.600 --> 0:48:12.880 you the power not only to survive the storm, but 0:48:13.000 --> 0:48:15.880 he gave you the power for miracles on the other side. 0:48:16.719 --> 0:48:20.360 Now I have the faith to believe that if we 0:48:20.440 --> 0:48:24.920 cut the ropes today, whether that's someone who's without a 0:48:25.040 --> 0:48:27.640 job and just trying to raise their own family, or 0:48:27.640 --> 0:48:29.840 whether you are looking for wisdom as a leader and 0:48:29.880 --> 0:48:31.520 you don't know how to lead the people because you've 0:48:31.560 --> 0:48:34.040 lost what you are guiding by. I hear the spirit 0:48:34.080 --> 0:48:36.960 of God saying what Paul said, stay with the ship. 0:48:38.320 --> 0:48:42.560 Stay with the ship. Now you say, how can I 0:48:42.600 --> 0:48:47.359 stay with it when it's breaking? No, no no, no, Paul 0:48:47.400 --> 0:48:49.200 didn't promise that the ship was going to look the 0:48:49.200 --> 0:48:53.320 same when they got to the shore. He didn't say 0:48:53.360 --> 0:48:56.839 it would look the same. He said, you're gonna make 0:48:56.880 --> 0:49:08.600 it anyway. The disciples that accompanied Jesus through his ministry 0:49:08.680 --> 0:49:11.560 did not follow him to the cross, except John. But 0:49:11.640 --> 0:49:15.359 he made it anyway. What he started with he did 0:49:15.400 --> 0:49:18.240 not finish with on the cross, but he made it anyway. 0:49:19.080 --> 0:49:21.680 And now we look to Jesus and we hear the 0:49:21.719 --> 0:49:25.960 echo of Paul preaching to us, saying, last night an 0:49:26.000 --> 0:49:29.480 angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve, 0:49:30.760 --> 0:49:32.759 he will never leave me, nor for say there was 0:49:32.800 --> 0:49:36.320 an angel beside me. That's how I have staying power. 0:49:37.239 --> 0:49:41.480 That's how I can make it. Because this boat, this 0:49:41.600 --> 0:49:44.480 boat is not going to ever sail again. It's going 0:49:44.560 --> 0:49:49.839 to break apart. You know what's crazy. God got them 0:49:49.920 --> 0:49:55.239 there on the pieces of the boat, even though the 0:49:55.280 --> 0:50:00.200 storm broke it apart. I promise you I'm about to 0:50:00.239 --> 0:50:02.880 close this message and you won't have to put up 0:50:02.880 --> 0:50:06.360 with me again for another week. But I want to 0:50:06.400 --> 0:50:10.040 show you that the same boat that broke apart. Look 0:50:10.080 --> 0:50:17.120 at verse forty. You want verse forty I may preach 0:50:17.160 --> 0:50:29.160 this again next week. It said I'm way off. Yeah. 0:50:29.440 --> 0:50:34.839 Verse forty four is the one because the rest were 0:50:34.880 --> 0:50:36.640 to get there. Someone I said, you're gonna get there. 0:50:36.680 --> 0:50:38.640 You're gonna get there. You're gonna get there. Make eye 0:50:38.680 --> 0:50:41.000 contact with somebody. Y'all are looking at each other. Say 0:50:41.040 --> 0:50:43.120 you're gonna get You can't catch Corona looking at somebody. 0:50:43.160 --> 0:50:44.879 All right, you can look at you can still look 0:50:44.880 --> 0:50:46.520 at people. That's still legal. It's still legal to look 0:50:46.560 --> 0:50:50.160 at somebody. All right, you're gonna get there. You're gonna 0:50:50.200 --> 0:50:54.600 get there on planks or other pieces of the ship. 0:50:55.400 --> 0:51:02.080 In this way, everyone reached land safely. So the revelation 0:51:02.280 --> 0:51:07.120 is this, It was still the same ship. It just 0:51:07.160 --> 0:51:12.600 looked different. And he is still the same God in 0:51:12.680 --> 0:51:15.560 this season of your life, even if it looks different, 0:51:16.600 --> 0:51:19.360 and he is still the God of all grace. It 0:51:19.560 --> 0:51:23.280 just looks different. And listen to the Elevation Church, Blatney 0:51:23.600 --> 0:51:27.160 River Walk, Gaston. I don't forgot the names of all 0:51:27.160 --> 0:51:30.320 the campuses. It's been so long, but we're still the church. 0:51:30.360 --> 0:51:34.799 It just looks different. I do need to tell the 0:51:34.800 --> 0:51:40.560 devil though we're still here. We're still here. We're still here. 0:51:42.040 --> 0:51:44.640 I might be watching in a bath robe buss me, 0:51:45.320 --> 0:51:50.200 but I'm still blessed. I'm still here. So you'll get 0:51:50.280 --> 0:51:53.719 huffed and you can pump and you can blow the 0:51:53.840 --> 0:51:58.560 house down, But I got the faith to flow. I 0:51:58.680 --> 0:52:05.000 got the faith some Megan, I got the fath some Megan, i' 0:52:05.200 --> 0:52:09.080 gonna make it, Bob Faith, I'm gonna do it by faith, 0:52:09.600 --> 0:52:15.640 ip gonna make it. I've restarted this video seven times, 0:52:16.320 --> 0:52:19.840 but I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you 0:52:19.880 --> 0:52:23.760 for being a part of our ministry. Our family loves you. 0:52:23.760 --> 0:52:26.520 You're grateful for you. On behalf of all the people 0:52:26.600 --> 0:52:29.440 who are being blessed by this ministry. I want to 0:52:29.480 --> 0:52:33.399 thank you for staying, for being planted in the House 0:52:33.400 --> 0:52:37.200 of God in this season of so much uncertainty. Those 0:52:37.239 --> 0:52:39.920 of you who give you know who you are. Those 0:52:39.960 --> 0:52:42.200 of you who pray you know who you are. Those 0:52:42.239 --> 0:52:45.160 of you who share the message you know, just something 0:52:45.200 --> 0:52:48.960 so simple as to share on your social media it 0:52:49.080 --> 0:52:51.799 really makes a difference, And I just want to thank 0:52:51.800 --> 0:52:53.799 you for it. They always tell me to remind you 0:52:53.840 --> 0:52:58.799 to subscribe, So subscribe. I reminded you that way we 0:52:58.880 --> 0:53:03.200 can stay connect. Staying power. There's power and connection. There's 0:53:03.239 --> 0:53:05.440 power in the Word of God. And if you've enjoyed 0:53:05.440 --> 0:53:09.480 seeing Graham over here in my left shoulder, let us 0:53:09.520 --> 0:53:10.920 know in the comments, let me know in the comments 0:53:10.920 --> 0:53:13.400 where you're watching from and what God spoke to you. 0:53:13.719 --> 0:53:16.879 I see you next time. Where'd you go? Nice going, 0:53:17.600 --> 0:53:17.960 See Sa