The Beauty Of Being Stuck (Robert Madu)

0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:04.480 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:06.960 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:10.320 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:12.360 it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.920 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:19.640 We welcome you once again into the presence of God. 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:22.160 It's a little bit different this weekend, but I'll tell 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:24.440 you one thing I know for sure, there is a 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:28.160 word from God in the house. Pastor Robert Madeu is 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:30.760 about to come preach the word. And let me tell 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:34.880 you something when we were talking on the phone when 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:38.040 all of this craziness started to unfold around this weekend 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:41.360 of March fourteenth and fifteenth, and we didn't know from 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:44.040 moment to moment what the restrictions would be. Number One, 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:48.800 my friend, this amazing gift of a human being, showed 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:52.120 no hesitation about coming to minister. We had planned it, 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:55.320 of course, months ago. But one thing that he asked 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:57.920 me was, are you sure you don't want to cancel me? 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:01.720 And everything is being Hansel right now? Do you just 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:03.960 need to preach? And I said, trust me, I'm going 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:06.520 to speak to our people. I'm going to speak to 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:08.600 all of the people who are part of our church family. 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:11.720 But God put it in you what we need this weekend. 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:16.560 God knew, Hey, there is no finer communicator of the 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:21.119 Gospel of Jesus Christ that I know than Pastor Robert Madeu. 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:23.880 So I know that God's word is in him. Today, 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.280 Let's act like there's one hundred thousand people in this 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:40.560 room right where you are received my friend, Pastor Robert Madou. Oh, 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:45.319 anybody loved Jesus in this place today? Come on, wherever 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:48.000 you are, can you give Jesus the biggest handclap of 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:51.560 praise that you got? Oh, come on, you can do 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:53.680 better than that. You got a reason to give him 0:01:53.720 --> 0:02:03.040 some praise today. Whoo. I tell you what greetings to you. 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:05.720 Whether you've being a part of the EPHAM for a 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:09.519 long time or whether you're part of EPAM by demand today, 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:12.520 I want you to know this. Whether you're watching this 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.080 in a coffee shop with some friends, or in a 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:16.960 living room or in the kitchen, or whether it's just 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:20.160 you and your bathrobe with your cats. You gotta know 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:23.880 what today is. You gotta know what today is. Hear me. 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:28.040 Today is the day that the Lord has made Come on, 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:31.040 we got to rejoice and be glad in it. Come on, 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:33.440 wherever you are, would you give King Jesus just the 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:35.880 best praise that you've got. God, we still bless you, 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:42.520 we still magnifying me. You're still worthy of the praise. Hallelujah. 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.880 You may be seated all the spiritual staff that are here. 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:50.639 And I tell you what, I am incredibly honored and 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:54.440 privileged to be back here at Elevation. I think this 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:56.880 is like my fourth time here, so I'm for sure 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:00.600 a part of the family by now. And I want 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:02.760 you to know, especially in times like these, it's just 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.560 proof positive that the Church of Jesus Christ gets to 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.560 shine brighter. Just lets us know that the church is 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.120 not a building you come to. It's not some organization 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:14.959 that you join. Church is really a family where you belong. 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.400 And I'm just thankful not just for the Church at large, 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:22.000 but I'm thankful for Elevation Church. It has already had 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.080 a plan in place and just doing what they've been 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.400 doing to make sure come on, that the Gospel of 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:29.200 Jesus Christ keeps going out wherever you are. You ought 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:31.680 to thank God for this church. You ought to type 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:35.400 a man put a fire emoticon. If you're thankful, come 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:40.600 on for Elevation Church. And it's incredible and this church 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:43.680 is making an impact literally around the world. But I'm 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:46.960 thankful for Pastor Stephen Hollyforded for saying yes to the 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:50.480 call of God. And I got to say this, Pastor 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:53.120 Stephen is one of the most important and powerful voices 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:57.480 of this generation, not just by sermon by song. But 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:59.640 what I'm so thankful for is that he's a friend. 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:02.160 He's an incredible fan. And I thank God for you 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:03.960 and for your wife and your family. Come on, can 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.760 we celebrate the great Man of God? Come on, y'all 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:12.920 can do better than that. We'll blessed. So I'm glad 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:14.760 to be here. I bring you greetings from the great 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:17.880 country of Texas. And uh, we're gonna have church at 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:20.479 here today. If somebody asked me, what you're gonna preach, 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.159 so I'm gonna preach. But I'm really just I'm really 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:26.120 just giving a news report. That's what I'm doing. I'm 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:29.640 giving a news report. Puson the gospel is good news. 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.040 I find it interesting that whenever somebody's reporting the news, 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:37.159 they call that person the anchor It's interesting that whatever 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:42.320 story you let sink into your soul, it will navigate 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:45.520 your life. And today I want the Gospel of Jesus 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.640 Christ to sink into your soul today. So I'm gonna 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.880 preach it like I feel like. Are you ready? Come on, 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:53.360 let's jump straight into this word today, Go and meet 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.360 to Acts Chapter three. Acts Chapter three. I want to 0:04:56.360 --> 0:05:00.240 look at verses one through ten, and wherever you are 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:04.039 watching this, make sure you get in responsive shout like 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:09.440 the NBA season was still going on. Don't touch anybody, 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:13.520 but give God some praise. Acts Chapter three. We're gonna 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.560 start at verse number one and we'll land in verse 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:21.040 number ten. When you're ready to read it, say yeah, 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:26.080 you need some time, Say hold up, all right. It 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:33.720 says one day, it's already good. One day, Peter and 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:35.360 John are going up to the temple at the time 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.760 of prayer at three in the afternoon. Now, a man 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:42.520 who was a lame from birth was being carried to 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.800 the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:49.040 day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:51.880 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:56.000 asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as 0:05:56.080 --> 0:06:01.039 did John, and Peter said, look at us. So the 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.520 man gave them his attention, expecting to get a little 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:10.440 something from them, and Peter said, silver or gold, I 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:15.320 do not have. First thing Pete said to him is 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:19.880 bro I ain't got it. That's actually where a lot 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:23.640 of people get stuck in life. A lot of people 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.880 get stuck because you're fully aware of what you do 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:30.000 not have. In fact, I found that the enemy is 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:33.440 proficient at reminding you of what you do not have. 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:35.800 He'll tell you you come on, not only one you 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:38.200 ever been scrolling through the ground heard the enemy loud 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:39.840 in your ear saying you ain't got that. You ain't 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:41.599 got that. You better be scared. You don't got this. 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:44.360 You don't got that. He loves to remind you of 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:47.720 what you do not have. But thank God for that comma. 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.760 There's power in the punctuation. Peter didn't stop at what 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:53.520 he did not have. He goes, but what I do have? 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:57.479 He says, I got something. What I do have, I 0:06:57.560 --> 0:06:59.280 give you, and I'm not giving it in my name, 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:04.840 in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk and 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:06.800 taking him by the right hand, he helped him up 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:09.840 and Instantly, the man's feet and ankles became strong. He 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:12.080 jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:15.160 went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:17.560 and praising God. And when all the people saw him 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:21.040 walking and praising God, they recognized him. They said, hold up, 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.480 as the same man who used to sit begging at 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:28.320 the temple gate called beautiful. They were filled with wonder 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.679 and amazement at what had happened to him. Can you say, 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:37.840 a man, I'm intrigued about this man who is stuck 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:42.720 at a gate called beautiful. Certainly at this time in 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:47.520 our nation, many of us feel stuck right now. Look 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:52.000 at where he's stuck. He's stuck at a gate called beautiful. 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:53.920 I want to talk to you today just using this 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:59.040 as a title, the beauty of being stuck, the beauty 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.600 of being stuck. Would you just look at somebody around 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.680 you and say there's a beauty Again, don't touch them, 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:07.400 but you better look at him and say wow. Come on, 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:12.520 say there's a beauty to being stuck. Come on, let's pray. Father. 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:15.200 I thank you for your word, but I thank you 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:19.720 that even in tumultuous times, you are our peace Lord. 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:22.560 We can hang on to you, Holy Spirit, speak to 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:26.280 our hearts today. God, We've not come to be entertained. 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:30.080 We have come to hear from you, So speak to 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:34.520 our hearts in Jesus' name. Everybody said, oh, come on, 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:41.800 everybody said, the beauty of being stuck. It's anybody been 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:48.600 to an airport lately? I have? I have. I flew 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:53.680 in yesterday and for the first time, after fifteen years 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:57.960 of traveling, almost three million miles flown. I got to 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:03.520 the airport and the airport was peaceful. Oh, it was feathful. 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.520 I'm telling you. There was no crazy lines. There were 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:09.120 just a few people on the flight. People. I flew 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:13.199 from Dallas to Charlotte for three dollars and fifty five cents. 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:17.000 It was awesome. It was peaceful. And you're laughing because 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:21.480 you know that generally the airport is chaotic. Generally it 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:26.440 is absolutely crazy. It is stressful to travel. In fact, 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:28.959 I've often said that if you really want to test 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:32.680 your faith, book you a flight. Okay, just book you 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:34.920 a flight, all right. If you really think you full 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:38.920 of the spirit, fly spirit, and then come holler at 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:43.320 your boy, because it is stressful in these traveling streets. 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:45.400 In fact, the Bible says. The Bible says that the 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:53.800 fruit of the spirit. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness. 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:57.680 Don't forget that last one self control. If you are 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.360 a believer, then that fruit should be evident in your life. However, 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:03.959 you're watching online or you hear in the room, You're like, man, Robert, 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.880 I got all that fruit, but you've never flown before. 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:10.040 How do I say this. I don't believe you. Okay, 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:13.120 I do not believe you because the airport is designed 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:15.560 to suck the fruit of the spirit out of you. 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:19.040 The whole airport system is orchestrated to make you lose 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:23.800 your sanity and your Christianity. So as a consequence, over 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:27.760 the years, I've developed what I call Robert's rules of flying. Okay, 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:29.280 I won't bore you with all of them, but I'll 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:33.320 just give you one. I do NonStop flights only. Okay. 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:35.520 I'm not about that connection life. Just take me from 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:39.480 Dallas to my destination. Okay, I'm a NonStop ninja. The 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:42.800 only problem with my rule is the reality that there 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.320 are just some places in life. If you're going to go, 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:49.319 you will have to stop and make a connection. Oh 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:51.040 that I'll a preach. I might say that again later. 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.199 So the challenge for me is when my departing flight 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:57.400 is late and I got to connect in another city. 0:10:57.760 --> 0:10:59.760 And when I get in that connecting city, I got 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:03.160 one one point five minutes to get to my next gate. 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:06.040 And to add to that, I landed at gay A one. 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.360 But my connecting gate is at Gates Z ninety nine, 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.920 and I got one point five minutes to get to 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:16.160 Gates Z ninety nine church. At this point, I only 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:18.920 got three options. Okay, I can miss my flight, ain't 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.120 gonna happen. I can call for that cute little cart 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:23.600 to carry me there and gonna happen. I'm a grown mayor. 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:27.440 Or I can just run with everything I got, like 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:31.200 Usain Bolt or Forrest God. Just run to make this flight. 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:33.280 This happens all the time. One day I was running 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:35.240 with everything I got, just trying to get to Gate 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:37.320 Z ninety nine. But one day I was running and 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:40.360 I just saw something in the distance. I saw something 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.720 that reminded me of the goodness of God. I saw 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:45.920 something that lets me know that God is still in 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.000 the miracle working business. I saw something that lets me 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:52.360 know that God can do exceedingly abundantly above all that 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:54.800 you ain't ask or think. I saw one of those 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:58.520 who wait for it move ain't walkways. I've never seen 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:02.040 those before, those a move in walkways. See, I'm about 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.920 to have church on the move walkway because to me, 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:09.679 the move and walkway is just like having the favor 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:12.040 of God on your life, because how many know if 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.160 you just start walking on that move and walkway, it 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.719 is gonna expedite your journey. It can get you that 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.160 quicker than you could have in your own strength and 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:23.200 your own talent and your own ability. I love a move. 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:31.320 The only problem now with the move and walkway, My 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:36.000 only issue with the move and walkway, My only frustration 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:42.359 with the move and walkway are the people on the 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:49.000 move and walkway who refuse to move. Oh what is rajo? 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.160 This one I can't even talk about today? What is rawchaw? People? 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:54.839 Why in the world would you be standing with your 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:57.319 bigg suitcase that should have been checked? Why are you 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:06.280 standing on the move just frustrating people standing the move 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.760 and walk away. I think my frustration with you people 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:14.240 who are watching online right now, it's not that you're standing. 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:16.640 If you're standing at any other place in the airport, 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.599 I would be cool with it. I think my frustration 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:25.000 stems from the fact that you have brought stagnation on 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:31.080 a mechanism that was created for movement. Yeah, that's my frustration, 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:36.400 is that you have brought stagnation and stuckness to something 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:39.800 that was actually designed to move you further and faster. 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:42.920 And any time you have stagnation in a place that 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:46.760 was created for movement, you will always have frustration or 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:49.680 always have frustration. Come on, this is traffic. I don't 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:51.640 mind sitting down for an hour looking out of a 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.080 window listening to some music. Come on, if I'm in 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.640 my house, that's catching the vibe, I don't want to 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.120 do it in my car. Come on. That's why some 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.560 of you right now are in your mind in your house, 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:06.240 because you are not created to be stuck. And anytime 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:09.840 you have stagnation in a place created for movement, you 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.400 always have frustration. And I'm wondering today if the reason 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:15.559 why so many of us are frustrated with our lives 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:18.920 and where we are is because our lives have become 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:23.800 stuck still in stationary when God created us for movement. 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:27.560 Could it be possible even plausible today. The reason you're 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:30.160 annoyed with where you are is not because you're stuck 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:33.360 in doors. It is because your life has become stuck 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:37.600 and God created you for movement. Because you do know 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:40.000 that God is a god of movement. Oh, come on. 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:42.840 He has always taken you somewhere. He has always taken 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.480 you from faith to faith. He's always taken you from 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.320 strength to strength. He's taken you from glory to glory. 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.800 God is a God of movement. Come on. That's why 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:55.480 the Bible says that the steps of the righteous, the 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.520 steps are ordered by the Lord, not the stuckness. The 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.800 steps are ordered the Lord. Why are the steps ordered? 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:06.120 Because God is a God of movement. One of the 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.280 first things God shows us in the Bible is that 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:10.360 He is a God of movement. Sore, like, get us 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:12.120 a scripture for it, Robert, I'll give you a scripture, 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:15.400 just a chapter one. Chapter one. It says, in the beginning. 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:18.040 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:20.800 and the earth was without form and void, and darkness 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:22.640 covered the face of the deep, and the Spirit of 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:26.400 God was moving over the face of the waters. The 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:28.680 first thing that God revealed about himself, is that I 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:32.160 am a God that moves on your behalf. In fact, 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:35.800 to me, Genesis was just the commencement of a symphony, 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.800 the beginning of a symphony with God, the cosmic conductor 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:41.680 just pulls out his big old omnipotent baton and just 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:45.600 began the melody of movement. Because everything he made it 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:48.720 had to move. Everything that he created it had a cadence, 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:51.000 It had a pace to it. Not a single thing 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:54.560 he made got the luxury of stagnation. Everything he created, 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:57.800 he said, let there be light, but the whole solar 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:02.240 system in place. And once everything was set, oh yeah, 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:05.920 y'all can't be still. Get to move it. And all 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:12.480 of a sudden and everything just started moving. Everything start 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:15.280 even right now. We are move right now, we are. 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:19.440 You can't even feel it, but we are moveing right now. See. 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:21.560 That's why you gotta stop judging what God is doing 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:24.440 in your life based off of how you feel. Sometimes 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:26.680 it has nothing to do with your feelings, nothing to 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:29.280 do with what you see. Even when you can't see it, 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.800 He is moveing even right now in this nation. He 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:37.600 is moving. God is a god of movement. Everything he 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:40.800 made it had to move, he said, let there be 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:44.440 water and told the water to get to move. It said, water, 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:49.080 you can't be still. Now that's mosquitoes. Get to move it, 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:53.480 and the water started moving. Every animal he made it 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:56.200 had to move. Looked at the cheetah and told the 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:58.440 cheetah to get to move. And can you see that 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:03.320 cheetah keeps. Everything he made it had to looked at 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:06.400 a turtle and had the nerve the audacity to tell 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.679 a turtle to get to move it. The turtle was like, God, 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:11.199 I'm an introvert. I don't want to come out of 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:13.960 my shell. He's like, now, you still gotta move. You 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:15.840 ain't gotta be as fast as the cheetah, but you 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:21.200 still gotta move. And here comes the turtle. Everything God 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:24.119 made it had to move. He reaches down and dirt 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:27.679 creates man breathing to him the breath of lives. And 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:31.760 guess what your heart started doing. It started move. Man. 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:33.439 Come on. That's why when you go to the doctor 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:36.560 for your checkout, he puts in his headphones and he listens. 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:38.919 You know what he's listening for. He's listening for that 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:42.320 same beat that began in the beginning. And if there's 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:45.840 a regularities in that beat. That means there's something wrong 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:48.400 in your body. See, this is why I give God 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:51.760 the best praise no matter what's coming against me. Not 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:55.000 because my life is perfect. I'm praising up because I'm 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:59.160 still here, I'm still alive, I'm not dead. I still 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:02.119 got a purpose, and that alone is enough for me 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:06.200 to give God some praise. Oh, I'm telling you, your 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:09.440 praise ain't quarantined. Ided you to just take ten seconds 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:12.800 and give God some praise, like you're thankful that you 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:16.960 still here, that you still standing, that there is breadth 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:23.280 in your body, that everything that has breath. Praise the Lord. 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:30.120 I feel like preaching. Now, God is a God of movement. Oh, 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:32.440 you don't believe God's a God in movement. You don't 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:35.119 believe he's a God in movement. People. Two thirds of 0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:42.199 his name is God. He defeated death, hell, and the grave. 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.480 He's about to ascend back to the right hand of 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:47.840 the Father. But before he leaves, the disciples of looking 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:49.600 at him, like, hold on, can we get like a 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.800 commission or something like a great Commissioner's all? You want 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:58.119 a commission? All right, go into all the world and 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:02.600 preach the Gospel to every living making disciples of all nations. 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:09.080 God is a god movement challenge. The problem that occurs 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.679 is that God is a god in movement. But humanity, 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:15.320 you and I, we have this tendency, We got this 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:19.879 propensity to always get stuck. Have you noticed this is 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:23.080 about us, how we love to get stuck. I'm not 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:24.919 even talking about what's going on in the world right now. 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:27.119 I'm just talking about just natural stuff, like like you 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:30.040 go to the same four restaurants some of y'all all 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.239 the time, Samone, I don't know what to do on 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:34.240 this weekend because when you go to church, you sit 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:38.640 in the same section, in the same seat every weekend. 0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:40.440 I know, we've been to church for years. Don't even 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:42.040 check out the left of the right side of sanctuary. 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:44.720 You just sit in the same spire all the time. 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:48.040 Gets stuff. We get stuck in relationships. Some of y'all 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:51.600 dating the same people, same girl, got a different name, 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:54.480 but it's the same girl, it's the same person. Just 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:58.320 get stuck. We get stuck. It is intrinsic within our DNA, 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:02.399 even a theologically, that all that is wrong with the 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:06.520 world today is because humanity got stuck. Adam and Eve, 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:08.840 they got stuck. They didn't keep it moving. They got 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:12.000 stuck at the wrong tree, listening to the wrong voice, 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:14.679 so they made the wrong choice, and now we are 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:19.280 reaping the ramifications of their decisions that they made when 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:23.600 they were stuck, and intrinsic within our DNA is this 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:28.600 sickness of stuckness. My text today is an Acts chapter three, 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:32.119 and no doubt there's a man who is stuck. But 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:34.600 I mentioned Genesis chapter three would have an eve because 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:38.240 I think there's actually a connection, there's a synergy between 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:41.720 Genesis chapter three and Acts chapter three, because if you 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:43.480 look at Acts chapter three just at a micro level, 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:45.520 which we will look at today, you're going to see 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:48.320 a man who is stuck, who is lame, excuse me, 0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:53.720 lame from birth, outside the temple gate, begging no access 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:55.960 to the presence of God, and one day Peter and 0:20:56.040 --> 0:21:00.080 John full of the Holy Spirit, raise him up. If 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:01.600 we brought them the scope of this text and look 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:04.240 at it really at a macro level, keeping Genesis Street 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:06.159 in mind, I submit to you that this man is 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:09.800 really just a picture of the spiritual condition of humanity, 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:14.080 because every single one of us spiritually were lame from birth. 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:18.160 Oh you know you were born lame, right born lame. 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:22.120 You came out the womb spiritually speaking, completely lamee saying 0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:24.240 be like, oh, Robert, I'm a good person. No lame. 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:28.000 You were born spiritually lame, and I'll prove it to you. 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:31.000 Have you noticed nobody had to teach you how to lie? 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:35.520 What class did you take on selfishness? No? Not one? 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:38.439 At two you perfected the art of nahm. That's why 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:40.120 some of y'all freaking out right now, just getting all 0:21:40.160 --> 0:21:42.960 the toilet paper, Just all the toilet paper. You don't 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:45.680 want to say nothing, nobody just it is in our DNA, 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:52.879 just to get stocked, to be selfish, narcissistic, individualistic people. 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:54.919 This is what sends it to us. We had no 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:58.159 access to the presence of God. So really, Peter and 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:00.919 John raising this man up, it's a picture of what 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:04.040 the Cross did. It is the cross of Jesus Christ 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.000 that raised me up. I don't have to be a 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:10.560 becker now I actually have access to the presence of God. 0:22:10.800 --> 0:22:14.040 I can approach the throne of Grace with confidence, not 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:16.120 because of what I did, but because of what He 0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:19.040 did on the cross. It is the blood of Jesus 0:22:19.040 --> 0:22:24.400 that gives me access. So there is a synergy between 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:28.080 Acts chapter three, in Genesis chapter three, because in Genesis 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:31.240 chapter three, when Adam and Eve took of that forbidden 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:35.720 fruit and all of humanity God stuck. In that moment, 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:38.080 we were all stuck. And it's not the way it 0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:41.920 works in the Bible. This is how my exogetical imagination works. Think, 0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:43.479 let me just pause wherever you are, just Lena, get 0:22:43.480 --> 0:22:45.040 a little water to break real quick. You can give 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:46.520 God some praise while I get a little water break 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:49.520 real quick. Boy, you can do better than that. Give 0:22:49.560 --> 0:22:54.679 them some praise. There's no smooth way to do that. 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:57.199 You just got to give God praise. When Adam and 0:22:57.200 --> 0:23:01.240 he had got stuck. I think that moment, all of 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:02.760 a sudden, It's not how this is in the Bible. 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:04.720 This the way my mind works. All of a sudden, 0:23:05.200 --> 0:23:08.320 God the Father, Son Holy Spirit immediately call an executive 0:23:08.320 --> 0:23:11.320 Trinity team meeting in heaven. God the Father's Son, Holy 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:13.320 Spirit all three there one oh at the same time, 0:23:13.440 --> 0:23:15.720 and they look down and God the Father goes, y'all, 0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:19.800 see what I see? They stuck. You know, they can't 0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:22.159 get themselves out. So one of y'all gonna have to 0:23:22.200 --> 0:23:25.320 go down there and get him out, and immediately Jesus 0:23:25.359 --> 0:23:27.840 looks at the Holy Spirit and says, well, can nobody 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:31.439 move like you? So haunt you go down there and 0:23:31.560 --> 0:23:34.560 get them out, and the Holy Spirit's like, nah, nah, no, Jesus, 0:23:34.560 --> 0:23:36.480 don't play. Don't play. Come on, come on, you know 0:23:36.480 --> 0:23:38.560 I'm acts chapter two, you Matthew chapter one. Don't try 0:23:38.560 --> 0:23:40.639 to jack up the Bible. Jesus, nah nah nah, you 0:23:40.720 --> 0:23:42.080 to save the other world. You go down there and 0:23:42.119 --> 0:23:43.639 get him out. And Jesus like you right, you're right. 0:23:43.680 --> 0:23:46.199 I'm tripping, and Jesus, check this out, gets on the 0:23:46.240 --> 0:23:50.080 balcony of Heaven, jumps off the balcony of Heaven. It 0:23:50.119 --> 0:23:53.199 was a forty two generation jump, but he lands in 0:23:53.240 --> 0:23:56.240 the womb of a virgin named Mary. I'm a Christmas 0:23:56.560 --> 0:23:58.240 and all of a sudden, Mary goes ooh, I'm not 0:23:58.320 --> 0:24:02.880 feeling good, so she called. He calls her fiance josephin 0:24:02.920 --> 0:24:05.280 says I need to talk to you, and Joseph's like, yeah, 0:24:05.320 --> 0:24:08.119 we need to talk. Why you've been so distant lately? 0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:11.000 What you don't want to get married anymore? Mary's like, no, Joseph, 0:24:11.000 --> 0:24:13.040 don't do that. You know I love you. Don't play here, 0:24:13.119 --> 0:24:14.959 come here. He's like what he's like, here, come, and 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:18.840 she takes Joseph's hand puts it on her stomach. Joseph goes, WHOA, 0:24:18.960 --> 0:24:22.119 some just moved. She goes, yeah, that's what he does. 0:24:22.560 --> 0:24:25.320 All of a sudden, there is tension in their relationship, 0:24:25.600 --> 0:24:28.360 so Mary calls her pregnant cousin Elizabeth. He says, girl, 0:24:28.359 --> 0:24:31.199 I gotta see you, and Mary takes an uber to 0:24:31.280 --> 0:24:34.080 her pregnant cousin Elizabeth's house. But when she gets to 0:24:34.080 --> 0:24:37.440 the uber, she steps out and meets her pregnant cousin Elizabeth, 0:24:37.560 --> 0:24:40.080 and they both waddle up on each other like two 0:24:40.160 --> 0:24:43.199 penguins in Alaska meeting for the very first time. And 0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:45.879 Elizabeth goes, girl, you ain't gonna believe this. I have 0:24:46.040 --> 0:24:48.919 not felt my baby move and weeks, but as soon 0:24:48.960 --> 0:24:51.040 as you got out of that uber, girl, my baby 0:24:51.080 --> 0:24:54.240 started kicking and moving around. I don't know what's on 0:24:54.280 --> 0:24:56.879 the inside of you, but it's making my baby move 0:24:57.240 --> 0:25:00.320 on the inside of me. And Mary goes, yeah, that's 0:25:00.320 --> 0:25:02.680 what he does. All of a sudden, Elizabeth goes, I 0:25:02.760 --> 0:25:05.160 can numb believe you took an uber down here, girl, 0:25:05.200 --> 0:25:08.120 you are pregnant, and Mary goes, yeah, and the uber 0:25:08.200 --> 0:25:11.840 driver was weird too. Elizabeth goes, really, what was his name? 0:25:12.160 --> 0:25:15.360 Mary goes John, Elizabeth goes, whom I like that name. 0:25:15.920 --> 0:25:19.920 Fast forward thirty years later, John the Baptist is baptizing 0:25:19.960 --> 0:25:22.720 people in the Jordan River, and please believe that the 0:25:22.800 --> 0:25:26.159 water is still moving from the same cadence of creation. 0:25:27.840 --> 0:25:30.560 And John almost drowns a dude in the middle of 0:25:30.560 --> 0:25:33.639 the baptism because he looks in the distance and says, 0:25:33.680 --> 0:25:37.520 behold the lamb of God that takes away the sins 0:25:37.600 --> 0:25:39.720 of the world. This is the one I was telling 0:25:39.800 --> 0:25:43.000 y'all about. I'm baptizing you with water, but He's gonna 0:25:43.000 --> 0:25:46.880 baptize you with fire and with the Holy Spirit. Somebody 0:25:46.880 --> 0:25:49.159 else to give him some praise wherever you are. I 0:25:49.240 --> 0:25:53.840 feel like preaching it live. All of a sudden, All 0:25:53.880 --> 0:25:56.440 of a sudden, John and Jesus meet in the water 0:25:56.520 --> 0:25:59.240 and it goes in slow motion, and one of John's 0:25:59.240 --> 0:26:02.520 disciples Lord, he goes, yo, you know this dude, And 0:26:02.600 --> 0:26:05.720 Jonna's like, yes, I know this dude. He is the dude. 0:26:06.080 --> 0:26:08.560 And what's crazy is the first time we met we 0:26:08.560 --> 0:26:13.920 were in water. Now we're meeting again in water. This 0:26:14.000 --> 0:26:17.040 must be a destiny moment you know the story. He 0:26:17.080 --> 0:26:21.159 baptizes Jesus. The Heaven's open up. Jesus starts moving in 0:26:21.200 --> 0:26:24.720 the earth, healing the sick, raising the dead. He gets 0:26:24.720 --> 0:26:27.159 to the cross and defeats Shin, gets up from the 0:26:27.200 --> 0:26:30.439 grave and defeats death, and then he ascends back to 0:26:30.520 --> 0:26:34.320 heaven and the Trinity Executive team meeting is readjourned, and 0:26:34.359 --> 0:26:36.720 the Holy Spirit and God the Father look at Jesus 0:26:36.880 --> 0:26:39.719 and go, man, you killed that thing. And Jesus goes, 0:26:39.760 --> 0:26:41.560 you know, I did the best that I could. And 0:26:41.600 --> 0:26:43.320 then they look at the Holy Spirit and say it's 0:26:43.359 --> 0:26:45.480 on you. Now. Holy Spirit goes, I know, I know, 0:26:45.600 --> 0:26:48.520 I know. The Holy Spirit gets on the balcony of Heaven, 0:26:49.119 --> 0:26:52.639 jumps off the balcony of Heaven, but lands in the 0:26:52.760 --> 0:26:57.000 upper room at chapter two, and suddenly a sound, there's 0:26:57.040 --> 0:27:00.440 a mighty rushing wind begin to fill. Some people who 0:27:00.560 --> 0:27:02.800 was stuck in a room was that I'm still gonna 0:27:02.840 --> 0:27:05.440 wait for the promise, even though I'm stuck and can't 0:27:05.480 --> 0:27:08.600 go out, His Presidence can come in and all of us, 0:27:08.640 --> 0:27:12.040 son and all of them. I feel with the Holy 0:27:12.119 --> 0:27:16.119 Spirit in the speaking tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 0:27:16.640 --> 0:27:21.639 And in that room was Peter and John. Now I'm 0:27:21.640 --> 0:27:23.560 at my text. By the way, I just gave you 0:27:23.560 --> 0:27:25.840 the whole Bible like in ten minutes when a it's cool, 0:27:25.880 --> 0:27:28.440 just sit there. Sorry, I just sit side. And in 0:27:28.440 --> 0:27:34.359 that room it was Peter and John. Peter and John go, well, 0:27:34.600 --> 0:27:37.480 we just got power to be his witnesses to Jerusalem 0:27:37.520 --> 0:27:39.920 today and Samarian to the ends of the earths s 0:27:40.080 --> 0:27:42.920 would have started in Jerusalem. So Peter and John say, hey, 0:27:42.960 --> 0:27:47.440 what do we do. Well, let's go pray. Let's go pray. 0:27:47.600 --> 0:27:49.240 Let's go to the church and pray. Can you see 0:27:49.240 --> 0:27:56.480 Peter and John walking together to Elevation Church to pray? Peter, 0:27:57.160 --> 0:28:04.720 who and John together going to church? Peter and John 0:28:04.800 --> 0:28:07.840 quick question, what are these two dudes still doing hanging out? 0:28:08.680 --> 0:28:11.240 You realize they don't have to hang out anymore. Jesus 0:28:11.240 --> 0:28:14.080 already ascended to heaven. The only thing that connected them 0:28:14.359 --> 0:28:16.800 was that Jesus hand picked them. He selected them. They 0:28:16.800 --> 0:28:18.400 don't got to hang out anymore. Well in the world 0:28:18.440 --> 0:28:23.840 are Peter and John going to church together? You realize 0:28:23.840 --> 0:28:28.240 they're a walking contradiction. Peter and John, Come on, one 0:28:28.240 --> 0:28:30.880 of these things is not like the other. First of all, 0:28:30.960 --> 0:28:36.080 Peter is much older. John is younger. Okay, let's bring 0:28:36.080 --> 0:28:42.280 it to you. John is walking on TikTok. Peter is 0:28:42.280 --> 0:28:47.360 still on Facebook. Peter and John takegether. But Peter and John, 0:28:47.360 --> 0:28:51.920 they are walking contradiction people. John is a lover, Peter 0:28:52.280 --> 0:28:57.400 is a cusser. They are completely different. When John got 0:28:57.440 --> 0:29:00.000 ready to express his love and his loyalty to Jesus, 0:29:00.120 --> 0:29:01.760 he would put his head on the chest of Jesus. 0:29:01.800 --> 0:29:05.000 He loved to cuddle with Jesus. When Peter got ready 0:29:05.040 --> 0:29:08.840 to express his loyalty for Jesus, Homeo put out a sword, 0:29:08.960 --> 0:29:12.720 a switchblade, cut a dude's ear all the way off. 0:29:13.080 --> 0:29:14.960 Jesus had to heal it real quick, Like, Peter, what 0:29:15.160 --> 0:29:18.280 are you doing. Peter's like, I'm with you, Jesus, I'm 0:29:18.320 --> 0:29:20.200 right to die. I don't know about him, but I'm 0:29:20.200 --> 0:29:25.200 with you. Peter and jud Johnson introvert. He's always to himself. 0:29:25.240 --> 0:29:28.360 Peter gonna say something crazy. I'm just trying to figure 0:29:28.360 --> 0:29:31.080 out how a gangster and Gandhi are going to church 0:29:31.120 --> 0:29:34.680 together talking about it's gonna be a good service. Peter 0:29:35.880 --> 0:29:41.880 jel They're a walking contradiction. Oh maybe that's the point. 0:29:42.960 --> 0:29:45.680 Maybe that's the point. You understand. The healing of this 0:29:45.760 --> 0:29:49.160 layman is the first miracle after the birth of the 0:29:49.160 --> 0:29:51.600 New Testament Church. I submit to you, this is in 0:29:51.640 --> 0:29:55.760 the ordinary miracle. This is a prototype miracle by which 0:29:55.760 --> 0:29:58.040 God is trying to show the church today how his 0:29:58.280 --> 0:30:01.800 power moves in the earth. Perhaps the reason that Peter 0:30:01.960 --> 0:30:05.400 and John are walking together as a walking contradiction, it's 0:30:05.400 --> 0:30:07.400 because God is still trying to get the church today 0:30:07.440 --> 0:30:12.040 to understand that what the culture calls a contradiction, the 0:30:12.200 --> 0:30:17.280 Kingdom calls collaboration. Oh what the culture sees as the 0:30:17.320 --> 0:30:20.880 greatest place of division and separation. How you know, in 0:30:20.960 --> 0:30:24.560 the Kingdom of God, it is the greatest place of collaboration. 0:30:25.000 --> 0:30:28.520 It is the place where lame people can get up again. 0:30:28.920 --> 0:30:31.080 And I want to challenge some of y'all, especially in 0:30:31.120 --> 0:30:33.360 this day and age in which we live, where everybody's 0:30:33.360 --> 0:30:35.960 trying to keep us divided. I know we're divided now 0:30:36.040 --> 0:30:38.200 because we can't touch each other. I'm talking about divided 0:30:38.280 --> 0:30:41.360 in the church, focusing on the contradiction, and I'm telling 0:30:41.440 --> 0:30:45.240 the power is in our ability to collaborate in spite 0:30:45.280 --> 0:30:48.719 of the contradiction. Come on, somebody. This is the power 0:30:48.760 --> 0:30:51.520 of the church. The power of the Church is not 0:30:51.640 --> 0:30:54.640 that we have all everything in common. The power is 0:30:54.640 --> 0:30:57.760 in our differences. But in spite of our differences. If 0:30:57.800 --> 0:31:00.480 we can agree that Jesus Christ is the law to 0:31:00.560 --> 0:31:03.280 the glory of God the Father, if we can agree 0:31:03.400 --> 0:31:06.400 that broken people need to be restored and lay people 0:31:06.440 --> 0:31:10.360 need to get up, if we could just collaborate, Oh, 0:31:10.440 --> 0:31:14.480 I wonder what God would do. It's a trick of 0:31:14.560 --> 0:31:17.560 the enemy to get us to focus on the contradictions. 0:31:17.800 --> 0:31:20.520 You black, I'm white. Oh you're a democrat, I'm a Republican. 0:31:20.600 --> 0:31:24.800 Focusing on the contradictions. I'm telling you our power is 0:31:24.840 --> 0:31:28.520 in our ability to collaborate in spite of the contradictions. 0:31:29.200 --> 0:31:32.160 Isn't it crazy that the first miracle after the birth 0:31:32.200 --> 0:31:36.560 of the New Testament Church was a collaboration between one 0:31:36.560 --> 0:31:41.480 disciple that had a big heart, John and another disciple 0:31:41.720 --> 0:31:45.719 that had a big mouth, Peter. And perhaps it was 0:31:46.640 --> 0:31:50.760 perhaps it was John's compassion that noticed the lame man 0:31:51.560 --> 0:31:54.640 that it took Peter's courage. You know, hey, bro, get 0:31:54.760 --> 0:31:57.240 up and I'm i gonna feel sorry for you. Get 0:31:57.680 --> 0:32:01.360 I still got a knife in my pocket. Get and 0:32:01.440 --> 0:32:07.000 y'all was like Peter Love collaboration. Can't just talk about 0:32:07.320 --> 0:32:10.360 Peter and John. Come on, They're not the star of 0:32:10.400 --> 0:32:12.160 the text today. I think the star of the text 0:32:12.200 --> 0:32:13.760 is a man that many of us right now in 0:32:13.800 --> 0:32:17.160 our world can relate to. It's this man who is 0:32:19.000 --> 0:32:22.240 who is stuck. I didn't tell the camera man I 0:32:22.280 --> 0:32:23.960 was gonna do this, but y'all got all kinds of 0:32:24.000 --> 0:32:29.040 cameras everywhere here, so I know we could. But often 0:32:29.080 --> 0:32:30.680 when I preach a text like this, I will do 0:32:30.800 --> 0:32:35.120 this because I want to feel, even if it's just 0:32:35.160 --> 0:32:39.600 for a moment, who I'm preaching about what they had 0:32:39.640 --> 0:32:42.440 to go through. Can you think about, even in our 0:32:42.480 --> 0:32:44.320 current context today, we don't understand where many of our 0:32:44.400 --> 0:32:47.880 disable to disabled brothers and sisters have to face. Can 0:32:47.920 --> 0:32:53.480 you imagine in Biblical antiquity, no wheelchairs, no hove arounds. 0:32:54.080 --> 0:32:58.720 It was the epitome of being stuck. Somebody dropped you off. 0:32:58.760 --> 0:33:01.920 You better get comfortable, you're gonna be there for a while. 0:33:02.760 --> 0:33:04.600 And I thought about this. The only thing that didn't 0:33:04.600 --> 0:33:09.800 work in this man's life were his legs. Everything else worked, heartbeating. 0:33:10.000 --> 0:33:13.920 I sein cognitive capabilities there. Homeboy probably had good teeth. 0:33:16.200 --> 0:33:19.880 All that was shut down because one thing didn't work. 0:33:20.920 --> 0:33:24.360 It affected his economy, he's got a bag, It affected 0:33:24.400 --> 0:33:28.160 his relationships. Know, when you're stuck, you can only talk 0:33:28.200 --> 0:33:33.160 to other stuck people. Because Lane recognized his life just 0:33:33.240 --> 0:33:36.240 stuck because one thing didn't work. Any crazy how one 0:33:36.360 --> 0:33:39.960 issue in your life can affect everything. Look at our world. 0:33:40.160 --> 0:33:45.240 One thing has affected everything. One thing is shut down 0:33:45.240 --> 0:33:47.479 this whole life. And you get stuck. And when you've 0:33:47.520 --> 0:33:49.200 been stuck for a while, you start developing what I 0:33:49.240 --> 0:33:54.280 call systems of stuckness. Start doing what you gotta do 0:33:54.360 --> 0:33:57.440 to get around, Start getting comfortable, because this is the 0:33:57.440 --> 0:34:01.560 way that life is going to be. Start having stuck 0:34:01.600 --> 0:34:05.240 conversations with other stuck people. You've been stuck conversation, Hey, bro, 0:34:05.280 --> 0:34:07.200 what you're gonna do today? Man? Probably lay here for 0:34:07.240 --> 0:34:09.120 a little bit. I was thinking the same thing. I'm 0:34:09.120 --> 0:34:12.080 probably gonna lay here. So you've had stuck conversations with 0:34:12.200 --> 0:34:15.319 other stuck people, just the same thing they talk about 0:34:15.360 --> 0:34:18.400 now gonna be the same thing. Human just stuck. Stuck. 0:34:18.480 --> 0:34:20.480 There's not the worst of being stuck. But how many 0:34:20.560 --> 0:34:22.520 know some of you experienced it. Have you ever been stuck? 0:34:22.680 --> 0:34:26.440 But experience God raising you up. Oh, this is a 0:34:26.480 --> 0:34:29.440 beautiful thing that when you've been stuck. Maybe it's happening 0:34:29.440 --> 0:34:31.520 for some of you right now. You heard a word, 0:34:31.719 --> 0:34:34.200 you heard a worship song when you were Panican, but 0:34:34.280 --> 0:34:36.520 you realize that the favor of the Lord was upon 0:34:36.560 --> 0:34:39.400 you. You You ever been stuck and had God raised you up? 0:34:39.440 --> 0:34:42.319 It's a beautiful thing to be raised up when you've 0:34:42.360 --> 0:34:45.640 been stuck. Well, the problem is you spend so much 0:34:45.680 --> 0:34:48.760 time being stuck. You still got relationships with the stuck people, 0:34:49.320 --> 0:34:51.040 and don't you try to go back and have those 0:34:51.040 --> 0:34:54.319 same stuck conversations. But the jokes ain't funny anymore. You're 0:34:54.320 --> 0:34:56.040 trying to figure out when the world did I ever 0:34:56.480 --> 0:35:01.000 have in common with you? You still doing You're fifty 0:35:01.080 --> 0:35:03.080 years old, You're still trying to turn up in the club. 0:35:03.200 --> 0:35:05.440 You must just still the same thing. And then they 0:35:05.440 --> 0:35:07.799 got the nerve to look at you and say, mmm, 0:35:08.080 --> 0:35:11.000 seem like you're changing. Yeah, it seem like something different 0:35:11.000 --> 0:35:12.879 about you. It seems like you're changing, as if it's 0:35:12.920 --> 0:35:15.120 a bad thing. How many No, that is the point 0:35:15.160 --> 0:35:18.360 of life. You are supposed to be changing. Come on, 0:35:18.400 --> 0:35:19.920 I don't want to be who I always want was 0:35:20.160 --> 0:35:22.600 I want to be everything that God has created and 0:35:22.719 --> 0:35:26.879 ordained me to be. You better believe I'm changing every day. 0:35:27.000 --> 0:35:31.000 I'm changing. I seem like you change. It seemed like 0:35:31.040 --> 0:35:33.279 you stuck up. No, I'm not stuck up. I'm just up. 0:35:33.440 --> 0:35:39.080 You stuck. That's why the conversation ain't working anymore. God 0:35:39.160 --> 0:35:43.480 raises you up when you've been stuck. But that's not 0:35:43.560 --> 0:35:45.040 really what I want to talk about. All that was 0:35:45.040 --> 0:35:50.240 my intro. I think the thing that I missed about 0:35:50.280 --> 0:35:54.280 this text of the Bible says, every day they dropped 0:35:54.320 --> 0:35:57.600 him off in front of the temple. Come on, not 0:35:58.040 --> 0:36:02.000 just on a weakened experience, not just once a week, 0:36:02.680 --> 0:36:07.120 every day they dropped this man and from the temple game. 0:36:07.840 --> 0:36:09.480 So if he got dropped every day, that means there 0:36:09.480 --> 0:36:11.960 are two people in this passage that nobody ever talks about. 0:36:13.560 --> 0:36:16.560 I've never talked about him. Everybody talks about Peter and John. 0:36:16.560 --> 0:36:19.560 But if he got dropped at the temple gate every day, 0:36:20.320 --> 0:36:22.560 that means there are two other people in this passage 0:36:22.719 --> 0:36:26.040 that nobody ever talks about. And guess what, I invited 0:36:26.040 --> 0:36:28.799 them to Elevation Church today. I'm gonna ask them to 0:36:28.800 --> 0:36:31.719 come out real quick, because everybody is focused on the 0:36:31.800 --> 0:36:38.279 lame man and Peter and John. But I want to know. Yeah, 0:36:38.480 --> 0:36:47.040 everybody talks about the lame man. Everybody talks about Peter 0:36:47.120 --> 0:36:51.880 and John. How come nobody talks about y'all because he 0:36:51.960 --> 0:36:55.759 got dropped every day? Come on, I study, I did 0:36:55.800 --> 0:36:58.319 my due diligence. I did an etymologicalspiratory on this word. 0:36:58.360 --> 0:37:01.120 Every day. Guess what every day means? Or a day? 0:37:02.320 --> 0:37:06.160 Every day? They dropped him every day? Do you know 0:37:06.200 --> 0:37:07.920 what every day means? Now? Which is gonna be interesting 0:37:08.239 --> 0:37:12.560 because we're gonna keep our distance here. That means Sunday, 0:37:13.400 --> 0:37:18.520 you came, you picked him up, don't touch them. Come on, 0:37:18.560 --> 0:37:21.040 I just want to abide to the rules. You picked 0:37:21.080 --> 0:37:25.440 him up, you picked him up, You carry him from 0:37:25.440 --> 0:37:29.480 where we lived to the church. You would hold out 0:37:29.520 --> 0:37:31.480 your cup in bed, Just hold out your cup, hold 0:37:31.480 --> 0:37:33.680 out your cup and bed. Maybe y'all would come back 0:37:33.680 --> 0:37:37.239 about five o'clock, pick him right back up, drop him 0:37:37.239 --> 0:37:40.719 back off, and then go about your day. That's Sunday, Monday. 0:37:41.560 --> 0:37:43.560 Here come these two again. Let's give him a name. 0:37:43.560 --> 0:37:46.960 Billy and Bob. Nobody talks about Billy and Bob. Everybody 0:37:46.960 --> 0:37:50.240 talks about Peter and John. That means Monday, you come, 0:37:50.440 --> 0:37:52.640 you pick them up, You carry him all the way 0:37:52.640 --> 0:37:55.960 over here to the church, you hold out the cop 0:37:56.520 --> 0:37:59.719 and bag. You come back about five o'clock, drop him 0:37:59.719 --> 0:38:02.680 back at the house, then you go home. That's Tuesday. 0:38:03.080 --> 0:38:05.640 Wednesday morning, Ding dong. Here come Billy and Bob again. 0:38:06.120 --> 0:38:07.560 They pick him up. Just pretend like you're going to 0:38:07.600 --> 0:38:09.040 don't touch keep it this, Pretend like you gonna pick 0:38:09.080 --> 0:38:10.440 them up. Pet like, don't touch them dewath and you 0:38:10.440 --> 0:38:12.359 pick him up again, and then you come back over 0:38:12.400 --> 0:38:14.399 here and you drop off at the church, holds out 0:38:14.400 --> 0:38:16.400 his cup and bags. They come back about five o'clock 0:38:16.480 --> 0:38:21.560 and then drop him off. That's what every single day. 0:38:22.800 --> 0:38:27.239 Can you imagine the laborious nature of picking him up 0:38:28.000 --> 0:38:33.080 every day, holding out his cup, begging, picking him back up, 0:38:33.840 --> 0:38:36.279 drop him off. And I hope I'm not bringing my 0:38:36.280 --> 0:38:39.400 own presupposition to his biblical passages. But I think one 0:38:39.440 --> 0:38:42.759 of those days, after every day, maybe Billy and Bob 0:38:42.800 --> 0:38:44.479 did out the contents of their heart for like a week, 0:38:45.440 --> 0:38:46.880 scratch that they go to the elevation. They did it 0:38:46.920 --> 0:38:51.000 for like a month every day. I think one of 0:38:51.000 --> 0:38:55.319 those days Billy and Bob dropped them off. He held 0:38:55.320 --> 0:38:59.879 out his cup. He came back about five o'clock looking 0:39:00.120 --> 0:39:05.080 that cup. Yeah, you see what I'll see. There's money 0:39:05.080 --> 0:39:07.480 in that cup. You see what they just did. They 0:39:07.560 --> 0:39:09.960 got their cut. Actually, you took too much. Put some back, 0:39:09.960 --> 0:39:11.640 put some back. Don't do that. Don't do that. Yeah, 0:39:11.680 --> 0:39:16.200 put some back. Now that you have your cut, then 0:39:16.239 --> 0:39:20.239 you pick them back up, not for real. Then you 0:39:20.280 --> 0:39:29.279 take them home. And now they have become collaborators to 0:39:29.360 --> 0:39:35.080 a sick system, somebody who's stuck. How many know at 0:39:35.120 --> 0:39:42.319 this point, Billy and Bob don't want him healed. They 0:39:42.360 --> 0:39:48.920 don't want him home. It would affect their pockets. They 0:39:48.920 --> 0:39:56.360 have become, maybe unbeknowing, the beneficiaries of his brokenness and 0:39:56.440 --> 0:40:01.040 his stuckness. That's why whenever you are stuck, you got 0:40:01.040 --> 0:40:04.560 to check your environment. You got to check who's around 0:40:04.640 --> 0:40:07.319 you and make sure you got to check what you're 0:40:07.360 --> 0:40:12.960 hearing and make sure nobody is benefiting from your stuckness. 0:40:14.120 --> 0:40:18.000 And Billy and Bob could be anybody. Billy and Bob 0:40:18.040 --> 0:40:20.640 could be the news that you're watching. Billy and Bob 0:40:21.400 --> 0:40:23.840 could be a friend. Billy and Bob could be somebody 0:40:23.920 --> 0:40:25.640 a dating some of you. It's awkward because you sit 0:40:25.760 --> 0:40:29.160 next to your Billy and Bob right now. But in 0:40:29.200 --> 0:40:32.160 your life, whenever you're stuck, there will always be Peters 0:40:32.160 --> 0:40:34.400 and John's who are trying to pull you up out 0:40:34.480 --> 0:40:36.920 of your stuckness. They're trying to call you into your 0:40:36.960 --> 0:40:40.120 purpose and your destiny. But there will also be Billies 0:40:40.360 --> 0:40:44.239 and Bob's who want you to stay stuck and not 0:40:44.320 --> 0:40:47.120 step into what God has for you. Thank you so much, 0:40:47.160 --> 0:40:49.520 y'all were brilliant, especially for not touching anybody. Y'all, play 0:40:49.520 --> 0:40:54.200 something real soft and make me sound spiritual. Later we'll 0:40:54.200 --> 0:40:57.560 find out that system of getting picked up and dropped off. 0:40:57.640 --> 0:41:04.160 Don't miss this that went on for fourty years. Forty years. 0:41:05.080 --> 0:41:09.440 Can you imagine forty years? Every day, get picked up, 0:41:10.760 --> 0:41:15.799 hold out my cup, make a few bucks, give them 0:41:15.840 --> 0:41:21.719 their cut, go back home. Forty years, get picked up, 0:41:23.239 --> 0:41:28.160 hold out my cup, make a few bucks, give them 0:41:28.160 --> 0:41:33.480 their cut, go back home. Forty years. After forty years, 0:41:33.520 --> 0:41:37.920 you're just the robot, just going through the motions. Some 0:41:38.000 --> 0:41:41.120 of you I just described your life. You call it 0:41:41.160 --> 0:41:47.480 your job. Go to work, get picked up, make a 0:41:47.560 --> 0:41:52.359 few bucks, give the eye, arrest their cut, go back home. 0:41:52.640 --> 0:41:56.960 Is that why God created you. No, He came that 0:41:57.000 --> 0:42:01.600 you might have a life and life more ab no 0:42:01.600 --> 0:42:03.480 matter where you are, no matter what's going on, even 0:42:03.520 --> 0:42:06.319 in our world right now. You were not created to 0:42:06.440 --> 0:42:12.239 be stuck. God created you from movement. He's taking you somewhere. 0:42:13.040 --> 0:42:15.719 I love it because even after forty years of that system, 0:42:15.800 --> 0:42:20.240 even after forty years, the Bible says, one day, after 0:42:20.360 --> 0:42:23.640 forty years of going through the motions, after forty years 0:42:23.640 --> 0:42:26.960 of never looking up, after forty years of no hope, 0:42:27.040 --> 0:42:30.120 after forty years of the monotonous routine of just going 0:42:30.160 --> 0:42:33.440 through life and not living life. After forty years, the 0:42:33.520 --> 0:42:39.000 Bible says, one day, after forty years, one day, come on, 0:42:39.080 --> 0:42:40.960 don't tell me that you've been stuck in whatever you're 0:42:41.000 --> 0:42:43.239 stuck in too long. You can have the hope of 0:42:43.440 --> 0:42:46.359 one day, somebody watching me right now, this is your 0:42:46.560 --> 0:42:50.759 one day that even after being stuck some of you physically, 0:42:50.800 --> 0:42:53.800 some of you spiritually, some of you for so many years, 0:42:54.000 --> 0:42:58.440 you can have a one day. One day after forty years, 0:42:59.080 --> 0:43:01.520 he hears voices for the Holy Spirit who say, look 0:43:01.560 --> 0:43:05.400 at us. Bible says that he gave Peter and John 0:43:05.480 --> 0:43:11.120 his attention, expecting to get something. He gave them his attention, 0:43:11.440 --> 0:43:14.000 because if God can get your attention, then he can 0:43:14.040 --> 0:43:17.120 shift the direction of your life. If he can get 0:43:17.160 --> 0:43:20.759 your attention, he'll exceed your expectation. But he's got to 0:43:20.800 --> 0:43:23.880 get your attention. I believe even right now, everything some 0:43:23.920 --> 0:43:25.959 of us are going through, God is just God trying 0:43:25.960 --> 0:43:28.279 to get your attention. He's trying to say, come to me, 0:43:28.560 --> 0:43:33.000 you gotta get out of being Stock gave him his 0:43:33.080 --> 0:43:38.160 attention expecting to get something. Peter and John said, silver 0:43:38.200 --> 0:43:41.279 and gold I do not have. But what I do have, 0:43:42.280 --> 0:43:45.680 that's what I give you. Isn't it crazy that his 0:43:45.800 --> 0:43:49.440 greatest miracle was on the other side of his greatest disappointment. 0:43:51.040 --> 0:43:52.880 Can you see him? He finally has Peter trying look 0:43:52.920 --> 0:43:55.320 at him. He's like, woh, I'm about to get paid today. 0:43:56.040 --> 0:43:58.360 They're like, hey, we ain't got it. He's like, what 0:43:58.360 --> 0:44:01.800 what you're looking at me for? Then? Isn't it crazy 0:44:02.360 --> 0:44:05.360 that his greatest miracle was on the other side of 0:44:05.360 --> 0:44:09.280 his greatest disappointment? Because sometimes God will tell your dream 0:44:09.360 --> 0:44:12.960 known if you got the wrong dream, Because sometimes when 0:44:12.960 --> 0:44:16.799 you're stuck, you will downgrade the dream to fit your reality. 0:44:17.120 --> 0:44:19.400 But God never calls you to downgrade your dream to 0:44:19.400 --> 0:44:22.919 fit your reality. Now when he wants to exceed your expectation. 0:44:23.440 --> 0:44:25.759 Silver and gold I do not have. But what I 0:44:25.800 --> 0:44:29.040 do have I give you in the name of Jesus 0:44:29.120 --> 0:44:32.239 Christ of Nazareth. Oh, I need somebody that knows there's 0:44:32.280 --> 0:44:36.400 power in that name. In the name of Jesus Christ 0:44:36.520 --> 0:44:40.600 of Nazareth. I love Peter because he's just name. Drop him. 0:44:40.800 --> 0:44:42.960 Come on. You know people that don't know about that 0:44:43.120 --> 0:44:46.600 kingdom clouds. But sometimes if you don't drop a name, 0:44:46.840 --> 0:44:49.200 you better drop a name that they get. Somebody back 0:44:49.320 --> 0:44:52.920 up again. Drop the name that is above every single name. 0:44:53.280 --> 0:44:56.040 Drop the name that can heal the sick. Drop the 0:44:56.120 --> 0:44:59.160 name that can raise the dad. Drop the name that 0:44:59.200 --> 0:45:02.000 can open up the come on, drop the name that 0:45:02.080 --> 0:45:06.759 can turn grades to godness. Drop the name of Jesus. 0:45:07.719 --> 0:45:16.960 Somebody get up, somebody can Hallelujah. Judy, thank you for 0:45:17.040 --> 0:45:19.600 joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give 0:45:19.680 --> 0:45:22.560 generously to this ministry. Is because of you that this 0:45:22.680 --> 0:45:25.520 ministry is possible. You can click the link in the 0:45:25.520 --> 0:45:29.480 description to give now or visit Elevation Church dot org 0:45:29.560 --> 0:45:33.239 slash podcast for more information, and if you enjoyed the podcast, 0:45:33.560 --> 0:45:36.240 you can subscribe you can share it with your friends. 0:45:36.560 --> 0:45:38.840 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:45:38.880 --> 0:45:41.000 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:45:41.000 --> 0:45:43.560 Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.