The Exchange Zone

0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.000 Well, this is an incredibly special worship experience. Today we're 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:06.000 about to go into the auditorium for a time of 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:09.080 worship and faith and the Word of God. It's our 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:12.879 game change your offering weekend. This offering goes toward expansion 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:15.760 and outreach and ministries just like this. And we're calling 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.200 on our etham, that's what we call our extended family 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:19.880 all around the world. And now I love it. It's 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:22.560 so exciting that people join us every single weekend, not 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:25.119 just here, but all over the world. Yeah, and we 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:27.160 don't want you to just consume the content. We want 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:28.800 you to contribute. We want you to be a part 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:31.080 of this move of God. So if you've been blessed 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:34.880 by this ministry, this is your opportunity make a sacrificial gift, 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:38.360 maybe a systematic gift, maybe one time, maybe a monthly 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:40.720 recurring gift. But we're calling on all of you who 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:44.600 consider this your etham, your extended family, your church family, 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:47.240 to make a difference today. As you do. Holly and 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:49.159 I are praying that God will bless your life in 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:52.280 amazing ways. So this is it. This is the opportunity 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:54.320 be a part of this move of God. Let's go 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:56.360 into worship. I think you're really going to have your 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:58.800 faith built during this time and the best is ahead. 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:03.400 We'll worship a little bit more in a few moments 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.560 after the sermon today as we get to bring our 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:07.920 game change you're offering. So many thousands didn't get to 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:10.600 last weekend because of the weather. We want everybody to 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.480 have that special moment. But the bad news is, just 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:18.800 about the time we got the snow cleared out, just 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.160 about the time we got the snow cleared out, we 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:28.880 get a report that there's a hurricane. And this is 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:32.320 terrible because we're out here trying to take a game 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:35.880 changer offering build the Kingdom of God. And then Christine 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:41.240 the hurricane wants to come preach on our game change 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:46.400 our series. Now, this woman of God, she hails from Australia. 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.600 Her husband's name is Nick. He is a great strategist 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:53.000 and a general in the Kingdom of God. We honor you, sir, 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:59.360 and your beard and your mountain biking. But she is 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:04.000 a voice of justice and truth for Jesus Christ all 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.760 around the globe and today on this occasion, God has 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.360 sent us a global force in this strategic moment. And 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:14.640 if you've never heard Christine Kane before you have not 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:18.280 lived until now. But the good news is there's a 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:22.440 hurricane in the house. She is the co founder of 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:26.440 a twenty one fighting human trafficking all around the world. 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:30.800 She is God's chosen vessel for this moment. Put your 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:41.799 hands together on every location, Welcome Christine the hurricane. Hey gosh, 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:47.400 how are you doing. I could not wait to be 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:49.959 with you. And did you all notice how beautiful the 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:53.760 weather was today? You know I brought the anointing, don't you. 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:56.480 That's I didn't want to say anything to Pastor Stephen 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:59.880 that you iced out last week, but come on, come 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:03.080 on this week, it is beautiful. I feel like I 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:05.040 am with family. In case you all don't know who 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:08.840 I am, I'm your craig cra oussy aunt and everybody 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.480 needs a crazy oussy aunt. And I'm so grateful. I'm 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.040 the bonus track. I've brought the bonus track, so we 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:18.480 had I'm normally the person on the other side of 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.280 the screen, so all our global eve family, and then 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:23.680 I'm you know, we got a thousand euro all like rabbits. 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:27.079 There's a Megian locations like you're like God, just omnipresent 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:29.560 all over the globe. There you are. But I am 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.280 normally and often no matter where I'm preaching in the world, 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:35.400 if the time zone works out, well, I get to watch. 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:39.360 I participate. I'm more than watch. I know you on 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:41.200 the other side of the screen are more than watching. 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:43.960 I am part of it all. And you know, I 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:46.040 always need a good sermon. So there's a pretty good 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.360 preacher here most Sundays, and so I just I just 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:51.840 come and I get my word from him, and then 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.200 you know, I quote him for the first minute and 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:56.760 then I say, as I always say, this is my word. 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:00.120 So it's really hard coming to this pulpit because when 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:02.240 you preach all past to Stephen sermons and then you've 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.200 got to come to his poolport, You're like, I literally 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:06.080 asked my husband, I'm going no, he's already preached that, 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:08.040 he's preached that that's where I got it from. I 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:11.080 can't do that. And so I had to actually go 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:14.840 to God, how was that? And which was awesome? But 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:17.440 I thank God he's raised your house up. I want 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.360 you to stay standing because I want to read something 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:23.120 over you that as I was preparing. This has nothing 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:24.640 to do with my sermon, but it's got everything to 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:27.240 do with this house. And you know when the Queen 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:31.839 of Sheba came to visit Solomon, King Solomon in the 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:34.360 Book of First Kings, chapter ten, it says, now when 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.320 the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:41.280 I want you to know that the sound of elevation 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:45.200 is around the world. What is coming out of this house. 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:49.799 And of course you're you know your Grammy nominated songs, 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:54.839 which are absolutely phenomenal. I have the privilege of sometimes 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:57.600 being at the same events as your worship team, which 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:01.200 just represents this house so powerful around the world. But 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:03.840 you know there's a sound that's coming out of here, 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:06.520 your pastor, I mean, you've heard of the pulpits if 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.080 you've been a Christian for more than you know, three minutes, 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:10.839 and most of you haven't here because you're heathen. So 0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:13.880 it's awesome. That's what we love. You're newly saved. But 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.559 you know the great preachers in modern church history, Charles 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:21.440 Spurgeon in England and Deal Moody in Chicago and Jonathan 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:24.400 Edwards on the East Coast. Let me just say, this 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.960 pulpit will go down in modern history as powerful as 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:31.039 the pulpits of those people. Because of the gift on 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.400 your pastor. It is awesome. But she comes in and 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:35.800 she said, when I heard of the fame of Solomon 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:37.719 concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:40.440 him with hard questions. You ever tried to test your 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:44.400 pastor with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:48.160 very great retinue. I like this part with camels bearing spices. 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:50.320 I was going to bring my camels, it's Christmas and all, 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:52.760 but you know I left them in Australia, and very 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:55.200 much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:57.320 she told him all that was on her mind, and 0:05:57.360 --> 0:05:59.960 Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.200 the king that he could not explain to her. And 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.560 when the Queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.240 of Solomon, the house that he had built. I love this. 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:13.719 God loves having a house built. The Bible says in Chronicles, 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:15.400 the house that is to be built for the Lord 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:21.400 must be exceedingly magnificent. We've come here around a game 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:24.680 changer offering weekend. Can I just tell you we are 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:30.000 never apologetic a building about building an exceedingly magnificent house 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:33.520 for God that goes around the world. It says the 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:36.080 house that he had built, the food on his table, 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:38.200 I just had some grits. Can I tell you the 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.080 food on the table here in the South is like awesome. 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:43.240 I don't know if Sheba got grits, but I did. 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:46.400 The seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:49.919 they're clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:54.040 offered to the House of the Lord. There was no 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:59.400 more breath in her. And when I read that earlier 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:01.440 this week, I thought, that's what it's like. And for 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:03.159 all of you on the other side of the screen, 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:07.279 because that's me every week. It's breathtaking. The Queen of 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:11.960 Sheba came into Solomon's grade ten woy shes My breath 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:15.119 is taken away. Can I just say, with the way 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:17.920 that this house glorifies the King of Kings and the 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:21.360 Lord of Lords and carries the glory of God, you 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:25.880 are breathtaking. Elevation, Church, you are breathtaking. It is amazing 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:29.080 what God is doing in and through this house in 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:33.240 this generation. So I'm believing God that is going to 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:35.400 speak to every one of our hearts today and you're 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:38.320 going to realize what a part of history you are. 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.920 I was in Copenhagen and I was raving about the 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.840 beautiful architecture of that city in Denmark. It's just stunning. 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:47.880 And I come from a nation that's only a couple 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:51.280 of hundred years old, so anything that's thousands of years old, 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.040 I'm in. The architecture, just the history is breathtaking. And 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.000 I was going on and on and on to the 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.400 cab driver about how beautiful it was. And I'm Greek, 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:01.800 so I'm highly emotive and I don't stop talking, and 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:04.320 so I was just going and he started to cry, 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:07.160 and I thought, Christine, you've really gone overboard this time. 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.920 But he pulled over and he said, you know, do 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.840 you really think our city is this beautiful? I said, 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.800 it's breathtaking. It's just stunning. And he said, you know, 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.440 sometimes you can live right in the midst of it 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.600 and not even see it. And my prayer is that 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:26.120 here at elevation, that you realize while you're in it, 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:28.960 that you're in the middle of a modern day miracle 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:31.160 that one is God is doing in it through this 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:36.680 house is not normal. It is breathtaking. It is supernatural, 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:40.880 and God has chosen you to be a part of it. 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:42.560 So why don't you be seated and turned with me 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:47.080 to the Book of Hebrews chapter twelve. I'm a coffee lover, 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:53.360 so Hebrews is one of my favorite favorite I couldn't resist. 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:56.120 I couldn't resist. I'm sorry. It's as dorky as it comes. 0:08:56.160 --> 0:09:00.000 I've become that preacher. I'm going to read to you 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:04.040 from Hebrews chapter twelve on both Greek and a woman. 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:07.000 So I only speak three ways, hard, fast, and continuously. 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:12.200 So strap yourself in, Strap yourself in. I love that 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:14.720 I'm talking to so many locations all at once, and 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:16.640 now he fam I love being on this side because 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:19.240 I'm always on that side. Okay, sorry, So here we go. 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:23.080 The Bible says in Hebrews twelve. Therefore, since we are 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:26.280 surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:31.360 also someone say me too. Let us also lay aside 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:36.000 every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:39.480 us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:44.200 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who, 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:47.280 for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:52.560 despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:56.120 of the Throne of God. I love this passage of scripture, 0:09:56.480 --> 0:10:00.680 Hebrews chapter twelve, right there after Hebrews eleven. And you know, 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.280 I always love to say that, even in Australia, Hebrews 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:06.000 twelve comes after Hebrews eleven. Sometimes you think, because our 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:08.160 toilets flush back to front in the way that yours 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:10.600 do here in America, maybe our bibles are back to front. 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:13.360 But as in most translations, we go Hebrews eleven, the 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:16.760 Great Hall of Faith, and then Hebrews Chapter twelve. So 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:19.559 I'm saying that because it starts with therefore, and when 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:21.160 the word therefore is in the Bible, you've got to 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.440 ask yourself the question, what's it there four? And it's 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.520 therefore coming out of this wonderful chapter talking about these 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.480 men and women of God that were heroes of faith, 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:33.679 and the scripture tells us the writer to the Hebrews says, 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:37.160 we need to run with endurance in the same way 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:41.160 that they ran before us. And why I'm prefacing what 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:43.840 I'm about to say with this is that sometimes we 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:47.079 think when it comes to our Christian walk, and especially 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.120 in the Western culture, that most of us are a 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.400 part of we think that it's an individual sprint. Man, 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:54.520 I'm going to run this race that God has called 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:57.240 me to. I'm going to fulfill my destiny. You know, 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.000 I'm going to flourish. I'm going to maximum my potential. 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:03.040 You do you boo? Is the you know mantra of 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:06.240 this generation. It's just like, you know, worst advice anyone 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.560 could ever give anyone. But anyway, that's another sermon. But 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:11.120 here is the deal is you just run your little 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.560 leg of the race and just don't worry about anyone else. 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:17.080 But Scripture teaches us the opposite. It says, therefore, then, 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:21.160 since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:23.960 you see, there are others that have come before us. 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.760 We are part of an eternal divine relay. This is 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.160 not an individual sprint. There are others that have come 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:33.440 after us, and it's very before us. And it's very 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.120 important that we remember that there are people that have 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:38.520 come before us in the Christian faith, because if we 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:41.880 forget that others have run before us, we might just 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:44.840 forget that there are still others to come after us. 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:48.160 But when you remember that you're part of an eternal 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:50.920 divine relay, you will know that in any relay race, 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:55.160 it doesn't matter how fast any individual runner is, It 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:59.840 doesn't matter how strong any individual runner is. If there 0:11:59.880 --> 0:12:04.920 is it's not a seamless exchange in the exchange zone, 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:10.600 whatever happened before falls to the ground and doesn't go anywhere. 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.880 And you know that in a race, you want to 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:17.920 increase momentum and you want to increase speed, and the 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:23.959 way that exchange happens one point nine seconds twenty meters 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:30.000 determines the entire race. Now, I love relay races, and 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:32.920 because I'm a cheek, I'm predisposed to loving the women's 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.839 for by one hundred meter relay. And when we were 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:38.800 living in Australia in the year two thousand, Australia hosted 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:42.320 the Olympic Games and Nick and I got to go 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:46.280 and watch the final of the women's relay. Now, America, 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.920 on paper, should have won. You're the fastest women's for 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:53.800 by one hundred meter team, the fastest team in history. Now, 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:59.160 out of the sixteen Olympic Games before that, the American 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:01.600 team had won goal medal on nine of them. They 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:05.200 were the fastest team. Just so good. But what happened was, 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:08.800 as we were watching this race, what should have been 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:12.520 just a easy win ended up with a bronze medal 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.800 for the American team because what happened was coming into 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:20.200 the second exchange, they just got sloppy. They got sloppy 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:24.280 because they thought, we're the fastest, we're the best, no 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.680 one has beaten us before, so here we go, and 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:29.560 they got slopped. And while they were sloppy, thinking they'd 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:32.640 already won, but they were only in the second exchange, 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:38.679 the Bahamas and Jamaica just came alongside and just took off, 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:41.600 and then they just could not catch them after that, 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:44.120 and what should have been a gold became a bronze, 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.439 not because of a lack of skill, talent, or ability, 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.679 but because of a lack of a seamless exchange in 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:53.280 the exchange zone. They just got sloppy. It is amazing 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:56.480 how when you get sloppy in your Christianity, you wonder 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:59.480 why you don't finish your race in the way that 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.760 you should. You wonder when you get sloppy in your 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:06.000 approach to an exchange zone, because in our faith there 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.120 are always divine moments of exchange, whether you are either 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.080 going to accelerate and gain momentum or you are either 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:14.480 going to de accelerate and then wonder why you didn't 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.880 finish where you should have finished, both individually and corporately 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:20.720 as a church. Churches that go from strength to strength 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.840 don't miss the exchange zone. When we have a moment 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:26.640 like our game change are offering weekend, we realize this 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.680 is a divine exchange zone. We realize we're coming into 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:32.119 an exchange zone where we're either going to gain momentum 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:36.120 and acceleration or whether we are just going to be sloppy. 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:39.360 And so here's what happens in two thousand and four 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.920 in the Athens Olympic Games. I'm thinking America is going 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:46.000 to win again, fastest team on paper. But what happened 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:49.000 is as Marion Jones came into the exchange zone to 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:52.720 give the baton over to Lauren Williams, she was a 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:55.200 little bit fatigued, so she came in slower than she 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:59.840 normally would and she couldn't get the baton into the 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.520 and of Lauren Williams. If you've ever seen it, it's 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:04.800 actually really moving because you can see you trying to 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:07.080 yell and say I'm not going to reach you. And 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.280 so by the time she got it into Lauren's hand, 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:15.640 it was outside of the exchange zone. The exchange happened 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:19.360 too late, and so the American team was disqualified again. 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:22.760 They were the fastest team, should have gotten gold. But 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:25.560 if you do not hand over what needs to be 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.560 hand over in the one point nine seconds and twenty 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:31.440 meters that you're supposed to, you can miss that divine 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.760 moment where you can actually accelerate and gain momentum. Impetus 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:39.280 is everything to maintaining and sustaining momentum. If you miss it, 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:41.840 if you don't serve when you should give, when you should, love, 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:44.760 when you should forgive, when you should give mercy when 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:46.840 you should if you don't do it in that moment, 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:50.360 you can miss that opportunity. Well, then we get to 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:53.000 two thousand and eight and now we're in Beijing, China, 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:57.720 and again fastest team on paper and America should have won. 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:02.240 But what happened was when they can into that third exchange, 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:05.640 they fumbled the baton and instead of passing it right, 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:11.200 they dropped it. So the team again lost the race, 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:14.520 not because they weren't the best or the fastest or 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:17.760 the quickest, but because they dropped the baton. Do you 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.760 know how many drop batons there have been in the 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.000 history of the Church over the last two thousand years, 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.760 people that God anoints a house and says you can 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:30.200 usher in the greatest revival that's ever been seen in 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.040 modern day church. But somewhere in the exchange zone, we 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:37.200 just dropped the baton. And then we get to twenty twelve, 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:41.600 and of course twenty twelve London, England. All that happened. 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.640 The team was no faster than in the previous three Olympics, 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:47.320 it was no stronger than in the previous three Olympics, 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.600 but they got a gold medal simply because the three 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:55.080 exchanges in the exchange zone were seamless. So what is 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:58.360 the point of this athletics lesson on a Sunday morning 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:02.920 at church? Therefore, well, then, since we are surrounded by 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:07.320 so great a cloud of witnesses, let us elevation also 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:11.159 make sure that we carry our baton of faith to 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:14.760 our generation. That we don't drop the baton, that we 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:17.240 don't hand it on too late, that we don't get 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:20.240 sloppy with what God has blessed us with. But we 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:23.800 understand that the baton of faith is in our hands 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.960 for our generation, to our generation. See you are not 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:31.600 here by accident. God knew exactly what would be happening 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:34.640 on the planet in the year twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen. 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.439 He's God. A perk of being God is you just 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:42.240 know everything. It's God. And so he knew. And when 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:43.920 he looked at all of the people he created out 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:48.000 of all of eternity, he saw you, and he plucked 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:51.639 you out of eternity, and he positioned you in time, 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:54.639 and he gave you gifts and talents for the purpose 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.480 of serving your generation. And he said, I'm going to 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:00.760 plant you in this house because I've got a mantle 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.520 and I've got an anointing on this house. And we 0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:07.720 have so many issues on the earth today. There is 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.560 so much chaos and so much crisis, and so much division, 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:14.919 and so much disunity, and so much pain and so 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:18.560 much heartache, and so much injustice and so much suffering. 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:20.680 And it is easy to get overwhelmed by it all. 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:23.040 But I need to tell you the issue and the 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:25.560 problems that they're not political problems, and they're not moral 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:29.320 problems necessarily, and they're not education issues, and they're not 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:32.760 social issues. It's a faith issue. We've got too many 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:35.960 unbelieving believers. We need some believers that say, I will 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:39.560 carry the baton of faith for my generation. I will 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:42.840 carry the good news of the Gospel to my generation. 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:46.480 I'll be light in the midst of darkness for my generation. 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:49.880 I will carry the batona my faith to my family, 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:54.199 to my university, to my school, to my community, to 0:18:54.320 --> 0:19:01.920 my mother's group. You see tag church where it some 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:05.240 of us are thinking, well, I'm waiting, and God's going no, no, no, 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:11.200 you're it. You have the baton of faith. Therefore, then, 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:14.400 since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:19.320 let us also it's us, what are you doing with 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:22.959 a baton of faith? We have an enemy that is 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:26.159 trying to distract us from the one thing we're on 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:29.040 the earth to do. In case you're wondering what we're 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:32.080 here to do, you and I are personally responsible for 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:34.320 the evangelization of planet Earth before the second coming of 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:38.080 Jesus Christ. So today when you're having lunch and all 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:40.240 your friends are just trying to kind of, you know, 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:41.920 be little you and say who are you? You're just 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:44.000 a little loser Christian. And you know they say, I'm 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:45.960 a doctor, I'm a lawyer, I'm a Supreme Court judge, 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:47.399 what are you a little loser? You just go, well, 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:49.640 I'm personally responsible for the evangelization and for planet before 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:51.399 the second Coming of Jesus. I don't know what you do. 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:54.560 That's what we are here for. Why did we get 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:57.320 up today? Why are we at church? Because we are 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:00.000 here carrying the baton of faith in our kids, ministry, 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.520 people telling people about the Word of God and about 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:09.720 Jesus in a culture that is so antithetical to the 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:12.520 Gospel and to the good News. Every time we come 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:15.240 to church, you're carrying the baton of faith. Every time 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:18.080 you pray, you're carrying the baton of faith. Every time 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:20.600 you open that word, You're carrying the baton of faith. 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:24.000 Every time you sew into our game changer off it, 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:27.560 you're carrying the baton of faith. If we don't do it, 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:30.320 what if we don't what if we're just here. This 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:32.840 is more than just a nice little self help motivational 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:36.520 come together. That's not what we're here for. We are 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:39.920 part of an eternal divine relay. This is every time 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:41.920 we step in and we carry this baton of faith, 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:46.160 the eternal is touching the temporal. We're stepping into this 0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:48.639 broken and fragmented world, and we're saying we've got a 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:51.760 baton of faith. God has given us the responsibility in 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:55.600 our generation to carry this baton of faith to our generation. 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:58.399 This is bigger than me. What's happening this weekend is 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:00.679 bigger than us. What if if we don't do it, 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:03.879 what if we just forget? I want to show you 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:06.879 what for me is the saddest piece of scripture in 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:09.200 the Bible. It's in the Book of Judges. So it's 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:12.080 very scary when you go to Judges on a Sunday morning. 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:15.120 But we're going there today. So in the Book of Judges, 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:20.560 Chapter two, verse seven to ten, and especially verse ten, 0:21:20.600 --> 0:21:22.400 the Bible says, and the people served the Lord all 0:21:22.440 --> 0:21:25.280 the days of Joshua, and all the days of the 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:28.680 elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:31.080 work that the Lord had done for Israel. And Joshua, 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:33.360 the son of None, the servant of the Lord, died 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:35.479 at the age of one hundred and ten years, and 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:37.720 they buried him with the boundaries within the boundaries of 0:21:37.720 --> 0:21:40.560 his inheritance in tim Nath Harry's in the hill country 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:43.760 of Ephraim, north of the Mountain of Gash, and all 0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:48.160 that generation were also also were gathered to their fathers. 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:51.120 And here's the saddest scripture for me in the Bible. 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:55.359 And there arose another generation after them who did not 0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:58.440 know the Lord or the work that he had done 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:02.680 for Israel. Why is carrying this baton of faith so important? 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:05.320 Why is it so important that we don't stop as 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:07.720 a church and get comfortable and complacent and go, well, 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:10.160 look at everything that's happening. We've got our e family, 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:13.640 We've got locations all over the place. Isn't that enough? 0:22:13.640 --> 0:22:15.679 Why can't we just just come to church. I can 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:18.280 got my little parking spot. Now, I've got my seat 0:22:18.280 --> 0:22:20.320 that I love. Now my kids are in kid what 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:24.160 about because it's not just about us? I wonder how 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:27.359 on earth could another generation arise after Joshua, one of 0:22:27.400 --> 0:22:30.280 the greatest leaders in the Bible. He had come out 0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:33.960 of each Egyptian slavery. He had seen the Red Sea part. 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:36.480 I mean, just imagine he saw the Red Sea part. 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:40.280 He was with Moses often at the tabernacle. He went 0:22:40.400 --> 0:22:42.840 up to the mountain with Moses. He saw Moses have 0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:45.600 a fit and smash the Ten Commandments. He saw it all. 0:22:45.880 --> 0:22:49.520 He saw amazing things. He had manner from heaven for 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:53.000 forty years. He saw the provision of God. He saw 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:55.480 God do amazing things. I mean, he survived in the 0:22:55.480 --> 0:22:58.000 wilderness with a bunch of murmous grumblers and complainers and 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:02.000 still survive. That that's a mirror itself. He knew, understood 0:23:02.040 --> 0:23:05.040 the grace of God. He saw the River Jordan pushed back. 0:23:05.280 --> 0:23:08.679 He walked across that on dry ground. He saw the 0:23:08.720 --> 0:23:11.560 walls of Jericho come down. He went in, and he 0:23:11.680 --> 0:23:15.120 possessed all the promised land. He went literally from slavery 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:19.040 to possession. Only two of them ever saw that. But no, 0:23:19.520 --> 0:23:23.439 I don't think it's worth clapping, because after him and 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:28.560 his generation died, another generation arose that did not know 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:34.920 the Lord. Miracles, signs and wonders like had never been 0:23:34.960 --> 0:23:40.640 recorded before, from slavery to possession, from slavery to freedom, 0:23:40.840 --> 0:23:45.560 and another generation, somewhere along the line, they dropped the baton. 0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:49.000 Somewhere along the line, they got so comfortable in the 0:23:49.000 --> 0:23:53.000 promised Land, so comfortable eating the fruit of their labors, 0:23:53.000 --> 0:23:56.120 that they forgot they were part of an eternal divine relay. 0:23:56.800 --> 0:23:59.840 And we are only ever one generation away from that. 0:24:00.240 --> 0:24:03.240 So why are we sowing our seed today? Why are 0:24:03.280 --> 0:24:05.879 we part of this offering today? Because we're saying, not 0:24:06.200 --> 0:24:09.800 on my watch, I am not dropping the baton of 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:13.240 faith on my what we are carrying her from generation 0:24:13.760 --> 0:24:17.320 to generation, and we're going to continue to have the 0:24:17.359 --> 0:24:22.120 baton of faith going on it said another generation arose 0:24:23.200 --> 0:24:26.720 who had not seen I need you to understand. It's 0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:29.800 one thing to come to a building that you've not 0:24:30.240 --> 0:24:34.359 seen the miracle of God building. It's just what you 0:24:34.440 --> 0:24:37.640 think has always been here. But for those of us 0:24:37.680 --> 0:24:40.320 that were here when it was nothing, and then we've 0:24:40.359 --> 0:24:42.520 seen the miracles of God. So we're faithful to God. 0:24:43.560 --> 0:24:46.040 But you see, if you don't keep giving an opportunity 0:24:46.520 --> 0:24:51.440 to a generation and the generations to exercise their muscle 0:24:51.560 --> 0:24:54.679 of faith, they won't know that there's a faith muscle 0:24:54.720 --> 0:24:58.960 to exercise. And so what we're doing is giving people 0:24:58.960 --> 0:25:02.160 an opportunity to go, you can believe God. Now, if 0:25:02.200 --> 0:25:06.639 you don't give every generation and every person regularly the 0:25:06.720 --> 0:25:10.440 opportunity to believe God for themselves, they won't remember there's 0:25:10.480 --> 0:25:13.760 a God to believe. And so what happened is a 0:25:13.880 --> 0:25:18.240 generation just ain't the fruit of Joshua's labor and his generation, 0:25:19.560 --> 0:25:22.439 but they didn't exercise their own faith. So you go, 0:25:22.520 --> 0:25:25.560 why do we do some things every year because we 0:25:25.680 --> 0:25:28.760 continue to say, we've got to exercise that faith muscle. 0:25:29.040 --> 0:25:32.200 We've got to continue to have people believe in God, 0:25:32.320 --> 0:25:34.640 or when we're gone, they're not going to know there's 0:25:34.640 --> 0:25:36.960 a God to believe. They're not going to know that 0:25:37.000 --> 0:25:40.040 there's faith that needs to be exercised. So we must 0:25:40.040 --> 0:25:42.840 all continue to do that. And then scripture goes on 0:25:42.920 --> 0:25:46.160 and says, you know what, how does this happen? How 0:25:46.200 --> 0:25:48.840 do you do that? And there's only three quick ways 0:25:49.000 --> 0:25:51.520 that this scripture tells us. It says, Therefore, then, since 0:25:51.520 --> 0:25:53.560 we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 0:25:53.640 --> 0:25:57.400 let us also lay aside every weight and the sin 0:25:58.080 --> 0:26:01.359 that's so easily ensnares. That's how you run unhindered. This 0:26:01.480 --> 0:26:03.960 is how you keep the baton of faith going from 0:26:03.960 --> 0:26:06.440 one generation to the next, going from year to year 0:26:06.520 --> 0:26:09.920 in your own faith, and keeps you passionately pursuing God, 0:26:10.160 --> 0:26:13.080 and keeps you passionately hanging on to the baton of faith. 0:26:13.080 --> 0:26:15.720 Because what you find is some batons you once held 0:26:15.760 --> 0:26:18.359 onto a sacred you just throw away now, like it 0:26:18.400 --> 0:26:20.680 really doesn't matter. There was a time that you would 0:26:20.680 --> 0:26:23.439 never have thought about not going to church because you 0:26:23.560 --> 0:26:26.399 needed this for your very lifeline to even just exist 0:26:26.480 --> 0:26:27.840 every day. But then you go, well, you know what, 0:26:27.960 --> 0:26:30.399 if it's too cold, I'm not going. There was a 0:26:30.440 --> 0:26:33.200 time where you would have kept yourself morally pure because 0:26:33.200 --> 0:26:34.800 it was in the description you would do it. Then 0:26:34.840 --> 0:26:36.800 you go, you know what, no one in our generation does. 0:26:36.800 --> 0:26:38.720 It doesn't really matter. We just throw it all away. 0:26:38.760 --> 0:26:41.560 It's like no big deal. There was a time when 0:26:41.600 --> 0:26:44.320 you would have always been in the word and said, God, 0:26:44.320 --> 0:26:46.720 I'm going to be the first to give my offering 0:26:47.040 --> 0:26:49.640 as a sign of thanks to you and a sign 0:26:49.720 --> 0:26:51.600 of faith for what's going to happen in the future. 0:26:51.600 --> 0:26:53.359 But now, you know what, it doesn't really matter, and 0:26:53.359 --> 0:26:57.199 we just throw batons away. We drop them in the 0:26:57.240 --> 0:27:00.320 exchange zone and we hang on to them. This that 0:27:00.359 --> 0:27:03.919 one point nine second twenty meter opportunity to see the 0:27:03.960 --> 0:27:06.480 blessing of God in our own life. It's all a 0:27:06.480 --> 0:27:09.080 matter of timing in the Kingdom. He's a god of 0:27:09.320 --> 0:27:14.200 time and a god of timing always always, and how 0:27:14.280 --> 0:27:16.320 you go from strength to strength, because that is the 0:27:16.359 --> 0:27:19.280 way upward. For a believer, we're supposed to go from 0:27:19.280 --> 0:27:24.000 faith to faith, from strength to strength, from glory to glory. 0:27:24.119 --> 0:27:26.560 But what happens in the exchange zone determines whether that's 0:27:26.600 --> 0:27:29.360 what happens to us or not. And so what happens 0:27:29.400 --> 0:27:31.280 is we drop. So the scripture says, you know, this 0:27:31.320 --> 0:27:32.480 is what you've got to do. You've got to drop 0:27:32.560 --> 0:27:35.480 some stuff. Now, you've got to drop the weights and 0:27:35.520 --> 0:27:38.240 the sins in two different words. Suggest to me that 0:27:38.240 --> 0:27:41.200 the writer of the Hebrews is saying there's two different things. 0:27:41.200 --> 0:27:43.560 A weight is not a sin. A weight could be 0:27:43.600 --> 0:27:48.360 something that was good for a season, but now it's 0:27:48.400 --> 0:27:50.280 not good. It could even be some people that led 0:27:50.320 --> 0:27:53.000 you to the Lord, and the truth is that they 0:27:53.040 --> 0:27:55.119 helped catapult you to where you are today. But if 0:27:55.160 --> 0:27:57.399 you're honest, you get into a faith environment like this, 0:27:57.480 --> 0:27:59.159 you're full of faith, you want to press on for 0:27:59.200 --> 0:28:01.680 the purposes of God, and you get around those people 0:28:01.680 --> 0:28:04.720 and suddenly you've just taken five steps back. God doesn't 0:28:04.760 --> 0:28:06.680 require that much of you. You don't need to serve 0:28:06.680 --> 0:28:08.440 that much. You need don't need to sew that much. 0:28:08.440 --> 0:28:10.080 You don't need to give that much. You don't need, 0:28:10.359 --> 0:28:12.919 and so the people that once helped catapult you to 0:28:12.920 --> 0:28:15.320 where you are have now become a weight and anchor. 0:28:15.840 --> 0:28:18.720 They're holding you back. It could be a level of serving. 0:28:18.920 --> 0:28:20.800 You've been willing to serve at church life at this 0:28:20.920 --> 0:28:23.159 level and it was good. It's not a sin. But 0:28:23.200 --> 0:28:24.920 the truth is, if we're going to break forth into 0:28:24.960 --> 0:28:27.359 all that God has for us as a movement, you 0:28:27.359 --> 0:28:30.480 know what, serving at this level has now become a weight. 0:28:31.680 --> 0:28:34.760 Your breakthrough is to start serving at this level and 0:28:34.800 --> 0:28:37.240 you're going to start seeing things come through. It could 0:28:37.280 --> 0:28:40.040 be a level of giving. You're believing God, and I 0:28:40.080 --> 0:28:43.480 am too. For next year, for financial breakthrough, for increase 0:28:43.520 --> 0:28:46.440 in my family's life and our ministries. I'm believing God 0:28:46.480 --> 0:28:49.560 for it. Well, it's not what people give to me 0:28:49.720 --> 0:28:52.320 that determines how much I'm going to get. It's my 0:28:52.440 --> 0:28:55.320 giving that determines how much and how far we go. 0:28:55.640 --> 0:28:59.040 So if I keep giving at this level, which is 0:28:59.080 --> 0:29:01.280 not a sin, it's really good. Actually, If I keep 0:29:01.320 --> 0:29:04.680 giving at this level, although it's not a sin, this 0:29:04.800 --> 0:29:07.040 level of giving for me has now become a weight 0:29:07.200 --> 0:29:09.440 for where I want to go because my breakthrough is 0:29:09.480 --> 0:29:12.440 going to be at this level of giving. You could go, 0:29:12.520 --> 0:29:15.120 we could talk about our thinking, we could talk about 0:29:15.160 --> 0:29:18.960 every aspect of life. What was once okay has now 0:29:19.000 --> 0:29:21.600 become a weight and an anchor. So what do you 0:29:21.640 --> 0:29:23.800 need to drop to carry the baton of faith and 0:29:23.880 --> 0:29:29.840 run unhindered? Scripture says, any athlete drops any additional weights. 0:29:30.040 --> 0:29:33.000 If we're going into twenty nineteen, you want to talk 0:29:33.040 --> 0:29:36.480 about a game changing year coming out of this series, 0:29:36.800 --> 0:29:40.200 then we've got to drop some stuff, some habits, some attitudes, 0:29:40.440 --> 0:29:44.960 some thoughts, some bitterness, some unforgiveness, some unresolved issues, some 0:29:45.200 --> 0:29:49.880 unaddressed addictions. We need to drop some weights so that 0:29:49.920 --> 0:29:52.160 we can run unhindered and sin. I know we don't 0:29:52.200 --> 0:29:53.920 like that word very much, do we In the twenty 0:29:53.960 --> 0:29:56.760 first century. It's like I'm offensive to people I know, 0:29:57.080 --> 0:29:59.080 and so it's like we like to think I'm okay, 0:29:59.080 --> 0:30:01.120 You're okay, And it's because we've got a really warped 0:30:01.240 --> 0:30:03.400 view of it. The thing is, who's got a bottle 0:30:03.400 --> 0:30:07.120 of water? I'm just anyone got anything with a label 0:30:07.160 --> 0:30:09.479 on it, Someone will throw me something. Come on, you 0:30:09.520 --> 0:30:12.000 are awesome. Any bottle will do. I just need this, 0:30:12.120 --> 0:30:15.640 so say that I had a bottle here full of poison, 0:30:16.680 --> 0:30:21.120 awesome poison, and here it had, you know, poison, and 0:30:21.160 --> 0:30:23.479 I ripped the poison label off and I put a 0:30:23.480 --> 0:30:26.960 new label on it, and I put chocolate syrup, and 0:30:27.000 --> 0:30:30.000 then I put it in your refrigerator. You would think 0:30:30.000 --> 0:30:34.920 I'm Graig Gray because the milder you make the label, 0:30:35.120 --> 0:30:38.800 the more potent you make the poison. And what we've 0:30:38.880 --> 0:30:42.160 done when we're too scared to say, hey, there is sin. 0:30:42.240 --> 0:30:45.000 You know, when I was diagnosed with cancer four years ago, 0:30:45.560 --> 0:30:48.160 could you imagine what would have happened at the hospital 0:30:48.160 --> 0:30:51.239 in La at UCLA Hospital if I walked in and 0:30:51.680 --> 0:30:53.920 they did all the biopsies, all the MRIs, all of 0:30:53.960 --> 0:30:58.479 the tests, and said, oh, we know that Christine's got cancer. 0:30:58.840 --> 0:31:01.960 And it was right between my larynx and trakia, so 0:31:02.080 --> 0:31:06.080 right on my voicebox. Gee, the devil is very, very just. 0:31:06.120 --> 0:31:08.040 He's not obvious, is he. I'm like, you know what, 0:31:08.120 --> 0:31:10.080 you can stick that in your pipe. I'm going louder, 0:31:10.120 --> 0:31:13.080 I'm going stronger, I'm going further, I'm going faster than 0:31:13.120 --> 0:31:19.000 ever before. But anyway, can you just imagine what would 0:31:19.000 --> 0:31:20.880 have happened if they went, we know she's got cancer, 0:31:20.880 --> 0:31:23.520 but we don't want to offend Christine. We don't want 0:31:23.520 --> 0:31:26.160 to hurt her feelings. And so what we're going to 0:31:26.200 --> 0:31:28.040 do is we're going to tell her that she's got 0:31:28.040 --> 0:31:31.080 the flu. And although we've got the cure for her 0:31:31.120 --> 0:31:33.840 particular type of cancer, we're going to say that she's 0:31:33.880 --> 0:31:36.440 got the flu and give her a Tayler knole because 0:31:36.520 --> 0:31:39.400 we don't want her to feel bad, or feel judged 0:31:39.480 --> 0:31:41.960 or feel condemned. Well, what would we call that. We 0:31:42.000 --> 0:31:45.960 would call that medical malpractice, and we would sue those 0:31:46.000 --> 0:31:48.400 doctors and they would never practice again. Well, I don't 0:31:48.440 --> 0:31:50.200 know why people expect me, as a minister of the 0:31:50.240 --> 0:31:53.440 Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to commit spiritual malpractice. 0:31:53.520 --> 0:31:56.040 Because here is the deal. There is an issue that 0:31:56.080 --> 0:31:58.480 we need to lay aside, which is called sin. But 0:31:58.640 --> 0:32:01.520 here is the good youth. There is an antidote to sin, 0:32:01.600 --> 0:32:04.800 and it's called the Blood of Jesus Christ. It sets 0:32:04.920 --> 0:32:09.560 people free, it sets us free. So the writer to 0:32:09.600 --> 0:32:12.959 the Hebrews says, hey, how about we lay aside the 0:32:13.000 --> 0:32:17.239 weights and the sins that so easily ensmeare us so 0:32:17.280 --> 0:32:20.240 that we can run our race unhindered. So we've got 0:32:20.240 --> 0:32:24.040 to drop some stuff now on this bonus track of 0:32:24.040 --> 0:32:26.040 the Game Changer series. What do we need to drop 0:32:26.480 --> 0:32:30.080 so that we can move unhindered into twenty nineteen? And 0:32:30.120 --> 0:32:33.240 then he says, run the race set before us. There 0:32:33.280 --> 0:32:35.840 is a race set before you. You have a baton 0:32:36.000 --> 0:32:38.880 of faith. This is your moment now. See most of 0:32:38.960 --> 0:32:41.280 us were like one day when when I get more 0:32:41.360 --> 0:32:43.880 than I'll give. When I have more time, then i'll serve. 0:32:44.120 --> 0:32:47.040 When when when? When there is no when? One day 0:32:47.080 --> 0:32:50.520 over there? Run the race set before you. Now you've 0:32:50.520 --> 0:32:53.520 only ever got here. There is no there because when 0:32:53.520 --> 0:32:56.320 you get there, you're here. And so you need to 0:32:56.440 --> 0:32:59.920 understand it's what you do here now that determines that 0:33:00.200 --> 0:33:03.200 there and then and so you've got to run the 0:33:03.400 --> 0:33:06.760 race set before you. Some of you are not running 0:33:06.800 --> 0:33:09.040 the race set before you because you're do busys scrolling 0:33:09.080 --> 0:33:16.920 through everyone else's race. If you stop scrolling through everybody 0:33:17.080 --> 0:33:22.560 else's race and run the race that is set before you, 0:33:22.560 --> 0:33:27.440 you will finish your course. And then he says, fixing 0:33:28.640 --> 0:33:31.080 your eyes on Jesus, you got to drop it now. 0:33:31.920 --> 0:33:34.840 You've got to run right here now and then you've 0:33:34.840 --> 0:33:38.200 got to look up now because Jesus is what started 0:33:38.200 --> 0:33:40.920 this and Jesus is who we're looking at it the 0:33:40.960 --> 0:33:44.440 finish line elevation. Why we're not settling now, why we're 0:33:44.480 --> 0:33:47.080 all coming around this offering in a few minutes, why 0:33:47.160 --> 0:33:49.640 we all continue to believe God for an impact on 0:33:49.680 --> 0:33:53.320 the nations and the generations, is because it's Jesus that 0:33:53.440 --> 0:33:55.520 is the head of this house. It's Jesus that started 0:33:55.520 --> 0:33:58.080 this house. It's Jesus that's at the finish line that 0:33:58.160 --> 0:34:00.400 we are looking for. We have always He's been a 0:34:00.520 --> 0:34:03.920 church that's full of radical faith. We carry the baton 0:34:03.920 --> 0:34:05.680 of faith. When people think we're great, great, we are. 0:34:06.480 --> 0:34:08.720 We are just settler. It's cool where they get you're crazy. 0:34:08.760 --> 0:34:11.439 I know, I know. I believe all the crazy stuff. 0:34:11.480 --> 0:34:13.800 You know. Virgin birth, yep, we're celebrating it in a 0:34:13.800 --> 0:34:17.640 couple of weeks. That's it, oxymoron. Virgin birth, Okay, virgin pregnancy. Awesome. 0:34:17.800 --> 0:34:19.279 I tell my sixteen year old daughter, I do not 0:34:19.280 --> 0:34:21.040 try this at home. I will not believe you. It's 0:34:21.040 --> 0:34:24.319 not the case. No, no, But I do. I have 0:34:24.480 --> 0:34:27.160 physical bodily resurrection. I know, I believe all the great 0:34:27.239 --> 0:34:29.560 great stuff. And the sky's gonna split, He's gonna come back, Yep. 0:34:29.600 --> 0:34:31.759 I believe it or I've drunk the kool aid. And 0:34:31.840 --> 0:34:34.480 you know what, it's such good news that I'm gonna 0:34:34.520 --> 0:34:38.240 carry that baton of faith to my generation. For my generation, 0:34:38.400 --> 0:34:41.279 there is no greater use than the resurrection of the 0:34:41.320 --> 0:34:44.839 lot Jesus Christ, and that he's coming back to reteem out. Well, 0:34:45.200 --> 0:34:47.680 that's what we're doing. So how did it all start? 0:34:48.719 --> 0:34:53.879 It started with radical passionate faith. Couple of kids twenty 0:34:53.880 --> 0:34:59.000 five years old. You remember a prompt day when Pastor 0:34:59.040 --> 0:35:01.200 Stevens sat on the stage with so many interns and 0:35:01.640 --> 0:35:04.440 helped us to remember our memorial stones. How this all started. 0:35:05.239 --> 0:35:08.880 We weren't cool, we weren't slick, and we might be excellent, 0:35:08.880 --> 0:35:10.920 but we're still not cool or slick. We will be 0:35:10.960 --> 0:35:12.880 doalks for Jesus till the day we die. It's just 0:35:12.920 --> 0:35:16.239 the way that it is. Bunch of twenty five year 0:35:16.280 --> 0:35:21.279 olds starting a church in Charlotte. That's foolish, foolish. But 0:35:21.360 --> 0:35:25.560 if we don't maintain that same radical faith, then we 0:35:25.600 --> 0:35:28.640 are not going to continue to gain momentum and accelerate. 0:35:28.680 --> 0:35:30.560 And I believe we are going to do that, but 0:35:30.600 --> 0:35:32.880 you've got to be willing to be foolish for Jesus 0:35:33.120 --> 0:35:35.000 in a few moments, we're going to give and you 0:35:35.040 --> 0:35:37.000 know what to other people in this day and age. 0:35:37.000 --> 0:35:40.360 And this seems foolish, but we're seeing with eternal eyes, 0:35:40.560 --> 0:35:43.640 not natural temporal eyes, and we're saying it might seem 0:35:43.680 --> 0:35:46.520 foolish to you, but we care about the generations. Why 0:35:46.520 --> 0:35:49.360 I want to just give you an example throughout Scripture 0:35:49.480 --> 0:35:52.759 of people that took foolish risks of faith and ended 0:35:52.840 --> 0:35:56.040 up changing the world. We turn and circle all the 0:35:56.040 --> 0:35:58.840 way back to some of the names listed in Hebrews 0:35:58.920 --> 0:36:02.640 chapter eleven, because where I started this morning was therefore then, 0:36:03.440 --> 0:36:06.520 So let's go back before the therefore and to understand elevation. 0:36:06.560 --> 0:36:08.200 We're part of this divine realized. We're part of the 0:36:08.239 --> 0:36:10.879 Hebrews eleven Great Hall of Faith. That's who we are. 0:36:10.960 --> 0:36:13.320 We are, we are part of that. Do you remember 0:36:13.480 --> 0:36:15.440 how foolish Noah would have looked when he was building 0:36:15.440 --> 0:36:19.120 an arc in the desert and there'd never been rain before. 0:36:19.239 --> 0:36:21.280 Imagine all of his friends, Noah, what are you building 0:36:21.560 --> 0:36:26.759 an arc? What's an arc? Mate? Don't know? Why are 0:36:26.760 --> 0:36:29.040 you building it? Because we're gonna have rain? What's rain? 0:36:29.200 --> 0:36:34.040 Haven't got a clue? You know? We're bringing out offering 0:36:34.120 --> 0:36:36.000 for that, what are we building an ark? We're more 0:36:36.120 --> 0:36:38.440 haven't got a clue, but I know that God knows 0:36:39.080 --> 0:36:41.200 half the time. In our Christian life, That's what it's like. 0:36:41.560 --> 0:36:44.360 We're building something that we don't quite know what for 0:36:44.840 --> 0:36:47.080 something that's coming that we haven't really got a clue. 0:36:47.120 --> 0:36:49.320 But all we do is fix our eyes on Jesus 0:36:49.400 --> 0:36:51.319 and we know we're going to keep building this thing, 0:36:51.360 --> 0:36:53.840 and we're going to keep moving forward, and it's gonna 0:36:53.920 --> 0:37:00.400 keep happening. Can you imagine how foolish Moses looked He 0:37:00.440 --> 0:37:01.680 had a ride and he had a red sea in 0:37:01.719 --> 0:37:03.840 front of him. That's what we look like in our generation. 0:37:04.400 --> 0:37:06.960 There's red seas to part. We don't know how some 0:37:07.000 --> 0:37:08.840 of these miracles are going to happen. And can you 0:37:08.880 --> 0:37:11.920 imagine all of the Egyptians going and all the Israelites going, well, 0:37:11.920 --> 0:37:14.040 what are you going to do? Moses? There's a sea? 0:37:14.280 --> 0:37:18.640 I don't know, but I've got a stick most things 0:37:18.719 --> 0:37:22.520 in my life, it's just I got a stick, and 0:37:22.560 --> 0:37:24.560 truly for the future and what we need to see, 0:37:24.600 --> 0:37:26.880 even with all that we've accomplished in our thirteen years, 0:37:26.880 --> 0:37:29.600 it's the equivalent of a stick because we need some 0:37:29.640 --> 0:37:34.120 red seas to part. Sarah looked foolish at the maternity 0:37:34.760 --> 0:37:39.560 shopping section in Walmart. What are you doing, Sarah, I'm 0:37:39.560 --> 0:37:42.640 poud to birtha baby. Honey, Wow, I thought your eggs 0:37:42.680 --> 0:37:50.600 dried up. Yeah, well, you know so much I could 0:37:50.640 --> 0:37:54.680 say right now, but I'm just gonna go. How foolish 0:37:54.680 --> 0:37:56.880 do the Israelites look? Marching around the walls of Jericho, 0:37:57.719 --> 0:38:00.560 No cruise, missiles, no nuke, just nothing. How fooish do 0:38:00.560 --> 0:38:04.280 we look? We're doing the same, spiritually speaking, marching round walls, 0:38:04.840 --> 0:38:08.480 seeing demonic strongholds come down. Seeing it looks people like 0:38:08.719 --> 0:38:10.760 all of the injustices and the pain and the suffering 0:38:10.800 --> 0:38:12.400 and the chaos and the division on the earth. They're like, 0:38:12.400 --> 0:38:15.640 what are you all doing? We're building arcs so we 0:38:15.680 --> 0:38:18.279 can gather and we can pray and we can seek God, 0:38:18.320 --> 0:38:20.680 and we can fill altars with people being saved and 0:38:20.680 --> 0:38:23.200 people being delivered and people being healed, and marriage is 0:38:23.239 --> 0:38:25.879 being restored and children coming back to the king. Oh 0:38:25.880 --> 0:38:29.720 that's what we're doing. No, No, we're marching, looking foolish. 0:38:29.800 --> 0:38:32.960 We know, we know it's not cool, but we're marching. 0:38:33.280 --> 0:38:36.200 How foolish did David look with a nine foot giant 0:38:36.640 --> 0:38:38.640 in front of him, and he's got five little stones. 0:38:38.640 --> 0:38:41.520 Often that's how we think. I've got my little sling 0:38:41.600 --> 0:38:44.200 shot and there's a giant. How foolish did they still 0:38:44.239 --> 0:38:48.239 look going into the king when she wasn't summoned, she 0:38:48.320 --> 0:38:51.239 could have been killed for speaking up. How foolish did 0:38:51.280 --> 0:38:53.480 Caleb look at eighty five saying to Joshua, I am 0:38:53.520 --> 0:38:55.759 not cashing in my four oh one game. This is 0:38:55.800 --> 0:38:58.320 not happening. There is no such word as retirement in 0:38:58.360 --> 0:39:00.440 the Bible. I'm refiring. I'm not reaching im siring at 0:39:00.440 --> 0:39:04.040 eighty five, I'm not I'm not doing that. How foolish 0:39:04.040 --> 0:39:08.160 did Mary look this time of the year, a pregnant, virgin, 0:39:08.760 --> 0:39:14.120 teenage chick. Foolish? How foolish did the wise men look 0:39:14.120 --> 0:39:17.960 following the star? How foolish did Peter look stepping on 0:39:18.080 --> 0:39:20.600 the water out of a boat. How foolish would the 0:39:20.600 --> 0:39:22.400 woman with the issue of blood have looked as she 0:39:22.760 --> 0:39:26.080 grabbed the hem of his garment. How foolish did Paul 0:39:26.120 --> 0:39:29.200 and Silas look as they're sitting in prison and they're 0:39:29.239 --> 0:39:32.480 singing Hallelujah here below, and they're just like believing God. 0:39:33.880 --> 0:39:36.359 How foolish did the little boy look with five fish 0:39:36.440 --> 0:39:41.560 and two loaves? How foolish? And of course of all 0:39:41.600 --> 0:39:44.120 of them, how foolish did Jesus Christ look hanging on 0:39:44.160 --> 0:39:48.240 that chriss half naked, people looking at him going, that's 0:39:48.320 --> 0:39:53.960 your Messiah, that king of the Jews, that's him. You're 0:39:54.000 --> 0:39:58.720 all in over him, coming to church every Sunday, building buildings, 0:39:58.719 --> 0:40:03.040 bringing a game changer over him. You even really believe 0:40:03.080 --> 0:40:07.799 that stuff, you really believe this is it? Well, if 0:40:07.840 --> 0:40:12.600 we would carry on the Hebrews eleven Hall of faith, 0:40:13.320 --> 0:40:15.520 if we would continue to say we want to be 0:40:16.320 --> 0:40:19.839 counted into that cloud of witnesses, we Elevation Church want 0:40:19.840 --> 0:40:22.480 to go down in history as people that dared to 0:40:22.520 --> 0:40:25.880 look foolish and believe God, we might see exactly the 0:40:25.880 --> 0:40:28.439 same result as these people did. Because here is the deal. 0:40:28.719 --> 0:40:32.160 Everyone else can laugh. But Noah and his family, they 0:40:32.200 --> 0:40:35.640 were saved from the flood. Moses did see the Red 0:40:35.680 --> 0:40:39.920 Sea part. Sarah did give birth to Isaac. The Israelites 0:40:40.040 --> 0:40:44.000 did see the walls of Jericho fall. David did defeat Goliath, 0:40:44.400 --> 0:40:49.120 Esther stop the Jewish genocide. Caleb did get hebron. Mary 0:40:49.360 --> 0:40:52.719 did give birth to Jesus Peter did walk on water. 0:40:53.080 --> 0:40:55.400 The woman with the issue of blood, she was healed. 0:40:55.640 --> 0:40:59.320 Paulam silas they weren't free from prison. The little Boy's 0:40:59.440 --> 0:41:04.239 lunch feed five thousand and Jesus Christ got off that cross. 0:41:04.320 --> 0:41:07.400 He raised again from the dead. He halts the keys 0:41:07.520 --> 0:41:10.920 to help a debt in his hand, and not Bible 0:41:11.120 --> 0:41:15.560 says than the same spirit the race Jesus Christ from 0:41:15.560 --> 0:41:19.440 the dead lives on the inside of you and lives 0:41:19.680 --> 0:41:24.280 on the inside of me. Deaf Elevation Church, we can't 0:41:24.600 --> 0:41:29.759 do all things for Christ. Jesus strength enough, so let 0:41:30.360 --> 0:41:36.080 us also run with insurance the race that is set 0:41:36.160 --> 0:41:45.279 before us in Jesus' name, In Jesus' name, Amen Church, Amen, Amen, Amen. Hey, 0:41:45.280 --> 0:41:48.080 thanks for joining us online today. We really believe this 0:41:48.160 --> 0:41:51.879 year and offering can be a game changer in your life. Now, 0:41:51.880 --> 0:41:54.640 this is an opportunity to not just hear the message, 0:41:54.760 --> 0:41:56.600 but to really be a part of it. For some 0:41:56.719 --> 0:41:59.000 of you, you may need to start by bringing the tide. 0:41:59.040 --> 0:42:01.480 That's the first ten percent. Now. For others it might 0:42:01.560 --> 0:42:04.840 be to go above and beyond the tithe and bring 0:42:05.120 --> 0:42:08.879 an offering. Now. Either way, we want everyone to participate 0:42:09.160 --> 0:42:12.120 in the game Changer Year End Offering. You can go 0:42:12.200 --> 0:42:16.239 to Elevation Church dot org to find out everything that 0:42:16.280 --> 0:42:18.160 you need to know about how to give and how 0:42:18.200 --> 0:42:20.920 to participate in this year end offering. But one of 0:42:21.000 --> 0:42:23.759 the most important things is to just take a few 0:42:23.800 --> 0:42:26.400 minutes just head over to that website and set up 0:42:26.440 --> 0:42:29.120 your giving and make sure you choose game Changer and 0:42:29.160 --> 0:42:32.320 the drop down menu to make sure that you're contributing 0:42:32.440 --> 0:42:35.520 specifically to our year end offering. So make sure that 0:42:35.560 --> 0:42:37.520 you do that on that site. We're excited to see 0:42:37.520 --> 0:42:40.120 how God is going to move in our church in 0:42:40.200 --> 0:42:42.839 this season and really believe that God wants to do 0:42:42.920 --> 0:42:47.280 something special in your life.