The Father Saw (When You Feel Invisible)

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.120 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:06.600 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:09.920 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.000 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:22.640 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:28.319 It's so awkward how they let the beat run and 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.600 you'll just look at me after the highlight video is over. 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:33.839 By the way, my son made that beat. Do the 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:40.559 dash on YouTube. Yes I'm his manager, and yes I'm 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:44.880 going to take a cut when he gets to that level. 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.400 I want to look at Matthew chapter six today, Matthew six, 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:51.640 verse one through four from the sermon on the mounth 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:55.360 that Jesus preached, and I want to get into a 0:00:55.520 --> 0:01:00.720 very deep topic. Don't worry about standing up in show today. 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:04.080 You probably need to sit still for this one. But 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:07.320 it's not bad. It's really good. But I just want 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:10.039 you to receive it. You know, sometimes I worry that 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.920 everywhere else you go in life, you're so focused on 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:16.280 what you need to do, and you come into church 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.080 with that same mindset. But in many ways, I want 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:20.880 this time to be the one part of your week 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.280 where you can receive. Now that doesn't mean you do 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:25.560 it passively, because you get more out of it if 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:29.840 you put something into it. But this message today comes 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:36.440 from this general spirit of the age Zeitgeist, where it 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:42.200 seems that our entire emphasis is on being seen. And 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:46.240 you're going to see that phrase seen two times in 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:49.160 this passage. But it's in direct contrast. And I want 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:51.360 to do my best, with the help of the Holy Spirit, 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:56.840 to illuminate or that God will illuminate exactly what we 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:00.960 need to see today. And I trust that He will 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.080 be careful. Verse one not to do your acts of 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:07.840 righteousness before men to be seen by them. If you do, 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.440 you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:15.600 So when you give to the needy, and right there, 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:17.959 you know most of us just heard the word give. 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:20.959 This is not a scripture about money. This is a 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:27.440 scripture about motives. He's using the vehicle of talking about 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:30.720 money to get to the idea of what are your motives. 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:33.800 And he says when you give to the needy, or 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.160 when you pray, or when you fast. He uses three 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:39.640 different examples in Matthew six. But when you are doing 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:45.919 something significant, don't do it to be seen. Okay, when 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.799 you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:54.400 as the hypocrites do on Facebook. And did I read 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:57.480 it wrong? I just got caught in twenty twenty four 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:00.280 a moment, but this is a this is a like 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:03.880 thirty a D. So I'm off on my dates. Okay, 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:06.400 do not do it like the hypocrites do in the 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:10.080 synagogues and on the streets. To be honored by men. 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:12.640 I tell you the truth. They have received their reward 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:16.520 in full. But when you give to the needy, do 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:18.800 not let your left hand know what your right hand 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:22.639 is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:27.680 Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:32.560 will reward you. The title of this message is the 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:37.480 Father Saw, The Father Saw. I want to pray one 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.560 more time if you would join me. Lord, your word 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:43.280 is powerful, and if I get out of the way, 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:47.320 it will do work. So remove me. I know that 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:50.520 it's my vocal chords right now, but I pray that 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:53.680 the voice would come from heaven now. If their hearts 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:56.440 are blocked by something that they are thinking about that 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:59.040 is not in this room, I pray that every thought 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:01.760 would be taken captive right now, so your word can 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:05.440 go forth, feed your people. God, use me to do 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:11.400 it in Jesus' name. Amen, this is my last service 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:13.680 of the weekend. I preached three and I forgot to 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:15.800 do this every other time, so I decided to do 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.000 it upfront on this service. Now. It's really good that 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:22.839 we saved it for last because my middle son, Graham, 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:31.839 is a wrestler and he won two state championships. Yeah. 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:34.600 Well the first one that he won, and it's kind 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:35.880 of like a what do you call it, like a 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:39.640 junior state championship or something like that, so it wasn't 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:43.520 necessarily like NCAA or something like that, but it was 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:47.839 a big deal to us. And I remember on the 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:50.000 way home from the first one that he won, because 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.120 we were both kind of surprised that he won it. 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:59.920 And when we sat down at Pizza Hut to celebrate, 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:05.160 which is what every great parent does at any juncture 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.479 of life, whether it's book it or a state championship, 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:11.160 Pizza Hut is the answer. How many know that you 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:13.200 store up for yourself treasures on earth, or you can 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:16.000 enjoy treasures at pizza Hut. That's in Matthew Chapter six, 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:20.400 verse twenty one through twenty three, and I said, man, 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:22.400 it's so good. I got to be here for it. 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:26.600 I said, imagine if I had missed it because it 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:28.600 was on a weekend and I had scheduled someone else 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:30.760 to preach so I could be there and watch it. 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.080 And he said something back to me. It's one of 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:36.919 those moments you live for as a parent. I said, 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.120 what if I had missed it? He said, well, if 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:41.960 you hadn't been there to watch, I probably wouldn't have won. 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:45.920 Like it was written straight out of a script from 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:48.919 Seventh Heaven, you know, like stuff your kid's never saying. 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:51.599 My house usually is more like the Simpsons than Seventh Heaven. 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:56.120 But this was at one moment and it took me 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:59.960 back having that trophy to the year was nineteen ninety 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.159 when I won first place. And I don't know if 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.560 you can get a close up of this. I never 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:11.960 won a Grammy, but I won the Somerville Takedown Tournament. 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:16.560 Come on, in the one hundred and ten weight pound 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:20.960 division ninety three. If I need to tell you something, 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:24.360 hold on. You might not want a clap yet. There 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:27.719 were only two other people in the weight class, and 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:39.800 they didn't give out trophies. So my dad on Christmas 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:45.520 Day there was an awkwardly wrapped present under the tree. 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:50.680 And my dad was not always the model father. He 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:54.039 did his best, but my mom was always there telling 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:56.200 him what he needed to do. And she said, get 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:59.840 that boy a trophy and wrap it and write him 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:02.000 an And I never forget what the note said is 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:05.120 that here is the trophy that I watched you win 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:21.920 that I think you deserve. So what do you do 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:27.120 when the world doesn't give out trophies? This message is 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:32.600 called the Father saw. Jesus makes a distinction in Matthew 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:36.520 chapter six between what people see and what God sees. 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:42.120 How many know there's a difference. And have you noticed 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:45.160 that the world hands out trophies sometimes for all the 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:48.600 wrong stuff? Y'all, Uncle, help me preach a bit today. 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:52.880 I'm gonna have to do this by myself. The world 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:57.840 will hand out trophies always for what is seen. But 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:02.320 we have a God who celebrates the unseen. He is 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:06.400 the king of a kingdom where what is unseen is 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:10.800 often more important than what is seen. The unseen is 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:13.320 often more important than the scene in the kingdom, but 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:17.520 the world celebrates the scene, and so people will congratulate 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.200 you for a new car, even though what they don't 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:29.320 know is you can't afford the payments. And the world 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:32.120 will celebrate you for getting a promotion. And it's good 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:34.120 if you get a promotion. I pray you get every 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:37.439 promotion God wants you to have this year. But people 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:42.440 will never come up to you and congratulate you for peace. Hey, 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:47.240 congratulations for your peace. They can't celebrate it because they 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:52.679 can't see it, and you can't celebrate what you don't see. 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:57.760 If you lose weight, people will celebrate you even if 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:01.840 you put it back on and lose it again year. Look, 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:04.679 if you really want people to celebrate you, let me 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:08.280 give you a fool proof way. Every year, gain thirty 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:11.240 pounds and lose it, and at least half of the 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:13.280 year people will tell you how much better you look. 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:17.600 But if you lose the weight and keep it off, 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.280 nobody walks up to anybody and says you still look 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:27.520 all right because they can't see that. So people don't 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:32.480 celebrate consistency. Can I teach a little bit before I preach? 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:35.920 One of the ways that I tell our staff that 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.600 you can know you're getting good at your job is 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:43.120 when people stop giving you compliments. In fact, one of 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.040 the ways that you can tell you're a good parent 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:47.640 is when your kids don't thank you for keeping the 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:54.760 heat on. They just walk up to the refrigerator like 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.560 stuff is supposed to be there. Am I right about her? 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:02.680 If your child ever tells you, hey, thank you for 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:06.400 indoor plumbing, that probably means you're not providing very well 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.200 at this moment in time, and it needs to get better. 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:15.520 And often the greatest proof that you're doing good in 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:19.760 God's sight is that you are taken for granted in 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:27.440 people's sight. And I know what I'm preaching about today 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:31.880 because when I first started preaching, people would pinch my cheeks. 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:35.080 I was seventeen years old and they would pinch my cheeks. 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:39.440 Now I got this beard, and my cheeks aren't so 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:43.160 soft to pinch anymore. And I figure that if I'm 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:46.199 really doing my job preaching, you'll stop thinking about how 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:48.920 good the preacher was, and you'll start being able to 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:52.360 hear what God is saying to you. But now I 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:54.800 need you to know that In Matthew chapter six, Jesus 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:58.439 says that there is a tremendous temptation to do things 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:02.840 to be seen by people and whether that means that 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.280 we live our lives like a reality TV show through 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.320 the vehicles of Instagram and Facebook, showing people certain scenes 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.199 of our life that present an image that we would 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.000 like them to think is really us, while secretly feeling 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:15.480 lonely because the discrepancy between our real life and our 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.840 projected life is becoming more distant, and that distance creates 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.319 the illusion of feeling like an impostor. Even though you 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:23.240 are doing the best that you can, you are showing 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:25.320 something that is better than what you are, and so 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:27.920 people will congratulate what they think you are, but secretly 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.280 who you are is dying inside because nobody sees it. 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:38.640 And I'm preaching this whole series because our need to 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:42.080 be seen by others can keep us from being known 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:46.520 by God. I don't mean that God doesn't know you. 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.000 He knows everything about you. He's the only one who does. 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:52.720 But we see the contrast in Matthew Chapter six, Let's 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:55.480 look at it again. He says, be careful when you 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:58.320 do what you do that you don't do it to 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:02.080 be seen. How many things in my life am I 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:09.240 doing to be seen? There is no worse feeling than 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:14.520 that of invisibility. You know, when you are doing your 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:18.040 very best and it goes unrecognized, it makes it kind 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:21.560 of harder to want to keep doing it. And when 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:27.080 you feel unseen, especially by the people whose attention and 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:31.960 approval you crave the most, it can create a compulsion 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:34.400 in your life to start doing things that are not 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:39.080 even really consistent with your character in order to receive 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:42.840 from people a confirmation that can be taken away just 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.720 as easily as it was given. But we are not 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:52.679 citizens of this kingdom, which celebrates and compliments all the 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:56.640 things that are seen. We are citizens of the kingdom 0:12:56.880 --> 0:13:00.920 where Jesus has things like this. When you do something 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:04.880 in secret, your father sees it, and he will reward 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:09.679 you according to what he sees. So my message is, 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:18.600 if you have felt unappreciated, uncelebrated, unnoticed, and insignificant in 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:23.719 this kingdom, what is unseen is often what is most significant. 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:32.520 Now not in the world. In the world, we we 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:38.160 correlate scene with significant. But I'll tell you what. You 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:42.240 could take this pulpit away and I could still preach 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:44.480 my sermon because I really don't need my notes. They're 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:47.760 just like Linus's blankets, just like a security thing for me. 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:49.840 I really have the message in my heart. So you 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:54.280 could take this away and I could still preach. But 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:58.680 if the signal that's causing this microphone to make a 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.520 sound were to drop out, you could no longer hear 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:06.320 the message. Why because what is invisible is often what 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:14.959 is most valuable. And yet can I keep going. I'm 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:16.320 gonna do it, whether you want me to or not. 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:20.320 I got you now, Whether we will admit it or not, 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:26.320 we are so good at celebrating the wrong stuff. People 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:31.720 will always, especially the crowd, give us rabbits. The crowd 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:36.760 will always celebrate the wrong thing. People will always celebrate 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.480 what they can see. And another thing that people will 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:44.680 always do is celebrate a gift rather than celebrating character. 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:53.360 We celebrate the wrong stuff. Now, if you do it 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.480 in secret, and this could refer to anything in your life. 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:59.840 If you do, if you do what you do according 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:03.800 to your values, not according to external validation, then you 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:09.920 understand the meaning of the Father. Saw the sacrifices that 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.840 you made that no one else really pointed out, the stuff, 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:17.360 Nobody gave you a trophy for. What would it be 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.520 like this year for us to live with God as 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:25.560 our audience and not our dysfunctional friends and family members 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.520 who are secretly so caught up in their own crap 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:34.480 that they can't celebrate us because they're waiting for us 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:40.160 to celebrate them. Now. I struggle with this because it's 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:42.800 hard for me to live my life for an invisible audience. 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.760 And they used to sing a song in the children's 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:49.400 church where I grew up that said, be careful, little eyes, 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:51.920 what you see? Did you all have this song in 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:55.920 children's church? Be careful, little ears, what you hear? The 0:15:56.000 --> 0:16:00.640 creepiest children's Bible song ever for the father up above 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:05.000 is looking down with love. It's like this doesn't feel 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:09.320 very loving. This steals invasive. Okay, so you remember the song. 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:14.800 Every move I'm made, every breath take, I'll be watching you. 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:16.960 It was like the beat was so good to the song. 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:25.400 I didn't realize it's a stalker. But he said, your father, 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:29.480 who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:34.440 Say this out loud, my reward. Y'all can't mumble this part. 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.280 Y'all are so loud about the wrong stuff. Get loud 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:41.800 about this shot us say my reward is from the 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:44.960 Lord touch. Somebody say I don't need a trophy. I 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:47.440 don't need a trophy. I don't need a trophy for 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:51.960 everybody who was not appreciated, for everybody who was not celebrated, 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:55.840 for everybody who was unwanted, even abandoned. I want you 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:58.600 to know your father saw who left you, He saw 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.440 who should have been there. And when my father and 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:04.960 mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me off. 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:09.000 My father saw when people mistreated me, and I could 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:11.400 have got even, but I put it in his hands. 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:15.040 He saw it, and my reward is with the Lord. 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:21.639 Ten seconds to celebrate the presence of God in your life. 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:25.640 Come on from the front to the back, nephews Toakaston, 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:36.280 give him praise if you know he was watching. So 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:42.000 how good are you at celebrating the unseen? Do you 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.960 celebrate those moments in your life where God is making 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:50.800 you stronger but your biceps aren't getting bigger. People will 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:55.320 celebrate your biceps. Oh man, you go tickets to give 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:57.840 you the ticket to the gun show. People have fifty 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:04.640 thousand cliches to compliment your because people celebrate what they see. 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:08.400 But nobody ever came up to me and said, hey man, 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:18.199 your contentment is like gains bro and we all know 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:22.240 which is more valuable. But we live in a world 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:26.600 where what is visible is celebrated more than what's valuable. 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:32.040 So if you move toward the clap of the crowd, 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:38.000 they will lead you right off the cliff. I'm gonna 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:41.040 stop right here, but you see the illustration. If I 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:43.480 keep following that clap, where am I going to end up? 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:48.560 If you keep chasing clout right now, what's it going 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:50.639 to be like when the people that you live to 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:58.560 please are no longer even paying attention. Your friend might 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:02.320 move to Alabama. Now the person that was your whole 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:06.760 soul source for affirmation is gone to another nation, I 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:12.120 mean state. And the Lord said to tell you that 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:14.920 he saw it. Now, we don't need to be afraid. 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:18.440 This is not a verse about retribution. You know your 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.639 father who sees what is done in secret. Some people 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:23.920 hear that like a threat. And when I said that 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:26.639 your father sees what is done in secret, you were like, 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:31.240 oh God, oh no, that's the worst news I heard 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:36.159 all day. He's not speaking about punishment, he's speaking about reward. 0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:39.879 He's trying to get us to see that we're seeing 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:46.199 whether people do or not. Okay, I get it, Pastor, 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:53.159 he sees me I get it, Do you really? Or 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:58.320 are you still buying stuff? Are you still giving away things? 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:03.760 Are you still One thing that I've learned is we 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:07.280 don't graduate from our need to be approved by people 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:13.400 when we graduate high school. We still live for approval. 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:20.640 It just gets more expensive. I can't preach it any 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:23.720 harder than this. I dressed like a highlighter and everything 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:30.520 so y'all can see me today. And when God gave 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:33.480 me this message, he said, call it the father saw 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:39.880 the father saw, because they thought nobody saw, but I did. 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:43.520 And since you can't see the father visibly or hear 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:47.320 the father audibly, I want to deliver the message today 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:55.320 that he saw. He saw what you didn't get. He 0:20:55.400 --> 0:20:59.679 saw that integrity that you had. He saw when you 0:20:59.680 --> 0:21:03.880 didn't go off Now Wednesday you did, but then Thursday 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:05.480 you got it together and you didn't do it again. 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:10.520 So see, we got to celebrate the times where we 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:15.879 do get it right now, I'm bad at this. Stand up. 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:17.320 If you're like me and you have a hard time 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:19.320 celebrating your successes. Stand up if you're like me and 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:21.280 you have a heart time celebrating your successes. Stand up 0:21:21.320 --> 0:21:23.359 if you let me have a hard time celebrating your successes. 0:21:24.640 --> 0:21:26.520 All right, let's take a moment. Since we're so hard 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:28.200 on ourselves and we have a hard time celebrating ourselves 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:30.119 on every location, let's celebrate the fact that we had 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:32.040 the self awareness to stand up and know that we're 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:39.160 hard on ourselves. See how weak that was, Like, I'm 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:43.240 not clapping for that. Sit down, I gotta work on 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:46.320 y'all for a minute. We are so bad at this. 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.080 Me and Holly went on a hike to Crowder's Mountain Friday, 0:21:49.800 --> 0:21:52.840 and while I was busy beating the imaginary opponent to 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:56.040 the top of the hill, I was thirty steps ahead 0:21:56.080 --> 0:22:01.600 of her and she was looking at the view. She said, 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:05.000 she said, I said you. I said you need to 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:09.560 keep up. She said, you need to slow down. The 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:12.520 views getting good, and I was like, I know it. 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:22.520 But she was talking about the the landscape, and I 0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:24.879 realized it was an analogy for what she brings to 0:22:24.920 --> 0:22:27.840 my life that is so irreplaceable. Holly is great at 0:22:27.840 --> 0:22:32.840 celebrating herself. She really is. She does not need lessons 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:37.159 in this. She came downstairs the other day celebrating her 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:40.600 workouts and that she had, you know, made it to 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:43.760 a certain point in her workouts, and I'm the kind 0:22:43.800 --> 0:22:47.320 of person that you know, I'll do the workout and 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:50.320 then think about the fact that you know, somebody else 0:22:50.359 --> 0:22:52.800 could have lifted more, and I'll just do this all 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:56.679 the time. Really, I struggled to celebrate myself, and I 0:22:56.760 --> 0:23:02.040 used to think that was godly, because, after all, the 0:23:02.080 --> 0:23:08.919 Bible says, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:12.440 You notice people who quote that verse are never really 0:23:12.480 --> 0:23:17.959 that humble, and they don't even know what verse it is. 0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:20.560 The next time somebody quotes the Bible verse that you 0:23:20.680 --> 0:23:22.440 to beat you over the head with it, ask them 0:23:22.440 --> 0:23:26.120 what chapter and verse, ninety nine percent chance they'll shut up. 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:34.560 I'm not talking about pride. I'm talking about process and 0:23:34.720 --> 0:23:39.200 progress and being able to say, in certain moments of 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:45.360 your life, nobody else saw it, but the Father saw. Otherwise, 0:23:45.400 --> 0:23:47.080 you're going to be waiting for people to give you 0:23:47.119 --> 0:23:53.560 trophies that don't even exist. Oh, by the way, if 0:23:53.560 --> 0:23:58.440 they gave the trophy real quick example, they can take 0:23:58.480 --> 0:24:02.879 it back. They can change their mind about you. So 0:24:02.920 --> 0:24:05.879 I have to get calibrated. I feel annointed to preach today. 0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:09.720 Is it just me? I feel annointed to get us 0:24:09.760 --> 0:24:12.200 set free? Watch this. We talk about getting set and 0:24:12.240 --> 0:24:16.080 free from sin and shame. We need to get set 0:24:16.119 --> 0:24:26.280 free from people. Not that we don't care about them, 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:30.400 but we can't be controlled by them. I can't even 0:24:30.480 --> 0:24:33.760 let you control this message, because what if the best 0:24:33.760 --> 0:24:35.720 thing I say is the thing you're not ready to hear. 0:24:37.160 --> 0:24:39.919 What if you don't like the taste of the medicine, 0:24:40.000 --> 0:24:42.199 I gotta mash it up in the apple sauce and 0:24:42.240 --> 0:24:46.400 give it to you anyway, because I cannot be controlled 0:24:46.440 --> 0:24:50.280 by a crowd and deliver God's word. Now, you cannot 0:24:50.359 --> 0:24:54.600 be controlled by a cultural ideal of success and really 0:24:54.640 --> 0:24:59.040 receive the affirmation that comes from God alone. And today 0:24:59.200 --> 0:25:02.679 is the day for somebody that you get a different audience, 0:25:03.320 --> 0:25:07.080 not the audience that is external, because they will always 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:10.000 clap for what is visible. But if you know you 0:25:10.080 --> 0:25:12.879 have a God on the inside of you that is 0:25:12.920 --> 0:25:16.239 the treasured possession of your life and the strength of 0:25:16.280 --> 0:25:20.399 your soul, give in praise right now and celebrate his 0:25:20.560 --> 0:25:23.760 presence in your life that if you don't have anything else, 0:25:24.160 --> 0:25:30.119 you've got him and he is enough. Y'all do what 0:25:30.160 --> 0:25:32.480 you wanna do. I'm gonna take twenty seconds and celebrate 0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:36.520 that word. Thank you Lord for loving me. Thank you 0:25:36.600 --> 0:25:39.639 Lord for choosing me. Thank you Lord for keeping me. 0:25:40.080 --> 0:25:42.680 Thank you Lord for forgiving me. Thank you that you 0:25:42.760 --> 0:25:46.360 didn't just see my mistakes, but you saw my potential. 0:25:50.880 --> 0:25:55.919 The father saw, The father saw, He saw the tears 0:25:55.960 --> 0:25:58.639 you cried while you were waiting because you wouldn't compromise 0:25:58.760 --> 0:26:02.440 just to fit in. The father saw, the father saw. 0:26:05.040 --> 0:26:08.520 And so when we when we celebrate the unseen, write 0:26:08.520 --> 0:26:12.600 that down on your page. Celebrate the unseen, because what 0:26:12.720 --> 0:26:17.280 is most seen is not always what's most significant. You know, 0:26:17.320 --> 0:26:21.959 the devil can't defeat you, right, He's a defeated foe. 0:26:22.560 --> 0:26:24.240 Now if it were you against him and be like 0:26:24.280 --> 0:26:27.919 Connor McGregor, you know, be over in forty seconds. But 0:26:28.600 --> 0:26:32.359 did y'all see that I need my money back? That 0:26:32.520 --> 0:26:35.879 was sixty dollars for forty seconds of fighting. If I 0:26:35.960 --> 0:26:37.399 do the math on that, and I can't do it 0:26:37.440 --> 0:26:39.760 off the top of my head, that's a very expensive 0:26:40.080 --> 0:26:42.480 dose of violence that I purchased last night on the 0:26:42.560 --> 0:26:44.600 UFC fight. If you'll know what I'm talking about, don't worry. 0:26:44.640 --> 0:26:50.159 I was praying. But when we say that that that 0:26:50.520 --> 0:26:52.439 the devil, you know, the devil is doing this and 0:26:52.480 --> 0:26:53.960 that in my life. There's only two things he can do. 0:26:54.000 --> 0:26:56.000 He can't defeat you the Cross of Jesus. Christ defeated 0:26:56.040 --> 0:27:00.480 the devil once and for all. He is a defeated foe. 0:27:01.320 --> 0:27:03.359 You don't run from him. He runs from you. You 0:27:03.520 --> 0:27:08.440 resist him, and he flees. But and this is really important, 0:27:08.480 --> 0:27:10.879 because this is where it happens before I take you 0:27:10.920 --> 0:27:15.639 over and into this next section of the teaching. Understand 0:27:16.000 --> 0:27:19.360 that since he can't defeat you, he will always try 0:27:19.400 --> 0:27:24.959 to distract you or discourage you. Because he can't defeat you, 0:27:25.000 --> 0:27:27.800 because greater is He that is in you than he 0:27:27.880 --> 0:27:31.359 that is in the world. Now, he can't defeat you, 0:27:32.560 --> 0:27:37.240 but he can distract you. Distract you with what others 0:27:37.280 --> 0:27:41.000 are doing. He could distract me as a pastor with 0:27:41.040 --> 0:27:46.040 how other churches reach people. He could distract me as 0:27:46.080 --> 0:27:48.719 a man of how other parents are raising their family. 0:27:49.359 --> 0:27:50.960 And certainly I can learn from that. But if I 0:27:50.960 --> 0:27:54.040 get so distracted by how you're doing it, I might 0:27:54.080 --> 0:27:56.360 miss the uniqueness of how God made me to do it, 0:27:58.160 --> 0:28:02.600 and then I become discouraged, distracted and discouraged. He wants 0:28:02.680 --> 0:28:08.160 to distract you so you crash, or discourage you so 0:28:08.200 --> 0:28:16.240 you quit. This message finds many of us distracted and discouraged. 0:28:18.880 --> 0:28:20.879 And when we come to this point, it is the 0:28:20.920 --> 0:28:24.960 revelation that the Father saw that enables us to get 0:28:24.960 --> 0:28:30.159 our focus back. You cannot preach a message like this 0:28:30.480 --> 0:28:34.480 about the unseen celebration without at least bringing up the 0:28:34.520 --> 0:28:38.440 parable of the prodigal son. I don't think the message 0:28:38.440 --> 0:28:46.040 would be complete without Luke fifteen. For Jesus, it was 0:28:46.240 --> 0:28:50.160 difficult to get the people to perceive what he was 0:28:50.160 --> 0:28:55.080 saying when he preached sermons. So he would preach on 0:28:55.120 --> 0:28:57.080 the kingdom of having blessed, are the porn spirit for 0:28:57.120 --> 0:28:58.760 their kingdom, of having blessed and meet for them inherit 0:28:58.800 --> 0:29:01.160 the earth, blessed those more of the to bless those 0:29:01.160 --> 0:29:03.400 who hunger, thirst rusts. They'd be feel blessed peacemakers. They 0:29:03.480 --> 0:29:05.960 be called chidren of God. He would teach about the kingdom. 0:29:06.000 --> 0:29:08.040 It was a very different kind of kingdom. It was 0:29:08.160 --> 0:29:13.840 an invisible kingdom. It was an unseen kingdom. But he 0:29:13.880 --> 0:29:17.040 would use these things called parables. How many of you 0:29:17.120 --> 0:29:20.560 have heard of parables? Yeah, you've heard of them. But 0:29:20.720 --> 0:29:23.040 Jesus is the one who created that format of teaching 0:29:23.960 --> 0:29:26.600 or adopted it and elevated it to his highest level 0:29:27.080 --> 0:29:29.640 to show us what something looks like that we can't 0:29:29.640 --> 0:29:32.520 see with our eyes. So he would take something that 0:29:32.640 --> 0:29:35.640 we can see and use it to illustrate something that 0:29:35.720 --> 0:29:38.680 we can't see, in order to help us to understand 0:29:39.080 --> 0:29:42.160 that what is unseen is often more real than what 0:29:42.320 --> 0:29:47.000 is seen. So a lot of times, the things that 0:29:47.120 --> 0:29:50.240 you can't measure are the things that are actually that 0:29:50.320 --> 0:29:55.480 actually matter the most. Right, joy matters more than money. 0:29:56.520 --> 0:29:59.600 I promise you, it does. I promise you it does. 0:30:00.040 --> 0:30:02.040 I'm not rich enough to know this, but I do 0:30:02.200 --> 0:30:06.320 know some people who have everything and nothing simultaneously, because 0:30:06.360 --> 0:30:09.920 if you can't enjoy it, why have it? So what 0:30:10.120 --> 0:30:13.280 is unseen is more important than what is seen. You 0:30:13.400 --> 0:30:15.440 can see the boat, but you can't see the fact 0:30:15.480 --> 0:30:17.360 that the people riding on it don't even like each other. 0:30:19.680 --> 0:30:22.360 What is unseen is more important than what is seen. 0:30:22.480 --> 0:30:25.360 This is the principle of the kingdom, the kingdom of God, 0:30:25.600 --> 0:30:28.080 not the kingdom of the world. The kingdoms of this 0:30:28.160 --> 0:30:31.280 world clapp for what they can see. Oh you got followers, Ah, 0:30:31.400 --> 0:30:34.480 you got status, Ah, you got a BMW. All of 0:30:34.600 --> 0:30:37.640 that is fine, But I want to know what's happening, 0:30:38.040 --> 0:30:40.400 not under the hood of your car, but in the 0:30:40.640 --> 0:30:45.200 interior of your soul. Do you have something that can't 0:30:45.640 --> 0:30:56.480 be taken away? Now? Jesus' most famous parable was about 0:30:56.520 --> 0:30:59.280 a son who went to his father and took his 0:30:59.440 --> 0:31:03.440 share of the inheritance before his father died, and Jesus 0:31:03.560 --> 0:31:07.200 was illustrating two different things in this parable. The first 0:31:07.280 --> 0:31:09.400 one was about the father and the second thing was 0:31:09.440 --> 0:31:12.400 about us. And I want to read it to you. 0:31:13.120 --> 0:31:15.760 I'll read it not in its entirety, but enough where 0:31:15.800 --> 0:31:20.760 you get a sense, because it's very powerful to see 0:31:20.800 --> 0:31:25.960 what the father saw. You know, we often preach this 0:31:26.560 --> 0:31:30.200 passage just to talk about how this young man in 0:31:30.240 --> 0:31:33.640 the passage is, as you'll see, making some bad decisions, 0:31:33.720 --> 0:31:36.800 and we'll talk about how no matter what you've done, 0:31:36.840 --> 0:31:39.640 you can always come home to God. And all of 0:31:39.720 --> 0:31:43.600 that is true. I hope you know that that in 0:31:43.720 --> 0:31:48.440 this kingdom you're always welcome. The times where you feel 0:31:48.440 --> 0:31:51.080 like you deserve God the least are the times when 0:31:51.080 --> 0:31:54.800 you need his presence the most. It's so important you 0:31:54.880 --> 0:31:57.760 pray when you're struggling, not just when you feel like 0:31:57.800 --> 0:32:01.040 you're on top of it. Is so important that if 0:32:01.040 --> 0:32:03.200 you struggle with an addiction that you pray even while 0:32:03.200 --> 0:32:05.520 you're drunk, even while you're high. You need to pray 0:32:05.640 --> 0:32:08.800 even when you're in the middle of it, because he's 0:32:08.880 --> 0:32:12.840 the god of the mountain and the god of the valley. 0:32:15.440 --> 0:32:18.280 But the primary point of this passage is not about 0:32:18.320 --> 0:32:21.520 what the son did. It's about what the father saw. 0:32:23.680 --> 0:32:28.520 And Jesus is teaching about this concept of the outcast 0:32:28.600 --> 0:32:31.320 being welcomed into his kingdom. And he continued in verse eleven. 0:32:31.360 --> 0:32:32.920 There was a man who had two sons. The younger 0:32:32.960 --> 0:32:35.280 one said to his father, father, give me my share 0:32:35.320 --> 0:32:38.760 of the estate. So he divided his property between them. 0:32:40.440 --> 0:32:43.760 I never noticed the word them, but it means that 0:32:43.880 --> 0:32:47.960 both brothers got their share. And you know what else. 0:32:48.440 --> 0:32:51.680 The older one got more by Jewish law, he got 0:32:51.720 --> 0:32:53.680 two thirds of the estate. Younger brother got a third. 0:32:54.520 --> 0:32:59.240 Which one's more two thirds or one third? Your kid, 0:33:01.920 --> 0:33:04.200 I know we went to public school. But come on, now, 0:33:05.840 --> 0:33:09.040 the older brother got more. But I want you to 0:33:09.120 --> 0:33:12.920 notice that the younger brother left. Says that he set out, 0:33:13.040 --> 0:33:15.600 got together all he had Verse thirteen, set out for 0:33:15.640 --> 0:33:17.600 a distant country, and there squandered his wealth. And while 0:33:17.760 --> 0:33:21.280 living after he spent everything. There was a severe famine 0:33:21.280 --> 0:33:25.560 in that whole country, and he began to be in need, 0:33:25.720 --> 0:33:28.480 so he went and hired himself out to a citizen 0:33:28.560 --> 0:33:31.480 of that country. I need those of you who really 0:33:31.560 --> 0:33:33.479 know God to pray for someone who needs to hear 0:33:33.520 --> 0:33:36.120 this next part, because it's just where they are. He 0:33:36.280 --> 0:33:39.280 hired himself out to a citizen of that country who 0:33:39.440 --> 0:33:43.680 sent him to his fields to feed pigs, and it 0:33:43.800 --> 0:33:47.320 got so bad for him when he got disconnected from 0:33:47.360 --> 0:33:49.880 what his father's resource had made available to him. He 0:33:51.080 --> 0:33:54.320 had the seene resources of his father, but he no 0:33:54.480 --> 0:33:57.880 longer had the unseen reality of his relationship to him, 0:34:01.000 --> 0:34:03.120 and he longed to fill his stomach with the pods 0:34:03.160 --> 0:34:05.400 that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 0:34:07.240 --> 0:34:09.799 He's waiting for something to be given to him by 0:34:09.840 --> 0:34:15.520 people that only his father has. So he's eating what 0:34:15.600 --> 0:34:19.600 the pigs eat. He's feeding off of what the world 0:34:19.680 --> 0:34:24.279 feeds off of. He's scrolling and clicking and liking and 0:34:24.360 --> 0:34:28.080 deleting and filtering and cropping and snapping and clicking and 0:34:28.600 --> 0:34:32.520 liking and loving and clicking and checking and subscribing and 0:34:32.680 --> 0:34:37.080 unsubscribing and everything that is in his feed is only 0:34:37.200 --> 0:34:49.000 making him more hungry. What people are most likely to 0:34:49.160 --> 0:34:55.520 celebrate is often what is least likely to satisfy. And 0:34:55.640 --> 0:34:59.919 while he was in this starved state, the Bible says 0:35:00.080 --> 0:35:03.760 that verse seventeen, he came to his senses. He's waiting 0:35:03.920 --> 0:35:06.640 for something to be given that he had all along. 0:35:07.719 --> 0:35:09.960 And he came to the point that I'm praying we 0:35:10.080 --> 0:35:13.880 come to during this series where we realize that they 0:35:14.000 --> 0:35:19.320 can't give it. It can never come from outside. It 0:35:19.520 --> 0:35:23.000 has to come from within. Do you hear me preaching 0:35:23.080 --> 0:35:26.200 to you today. It has to come from within. It 0:35:26.360 --> 0:35:29.680 has to come from spirit, It has to come from source. 0:35:30.160 --> 0:35:33.040 It has to come from Father. It cannot come from 0:35:33.080 --> 0:35:36.000 your friends. Your friends can be a conduit, but they 0:35:36.080 --> 0:35:39.320 cannot be the sole content of what your soul receives. 0:35:39.760 --> 0:35:41.800 And if they give it, they can take it. But 0:35:41.880 --> 0:35:44.800 when he came to his senses, he realized something. My 0:35:45.000 --> 0:35:50.080 father has what I'm hungry for. My father has what 0:35:50.200 --> 0:35:55.640 I'm starving for. Look here we have church what the 0:35:55.760 --> 0:35:58.439 world needs. But if we act like the world acts 0:35:58.520 --> 0:36:02.279 and chase what the world says, we cannot celebrate the 0:36:02.440 --> 0:36:13.360 fullness of what we've been given. He said, my father's 0:36:13.520 --> 0:36:18.200 minimum wage employees are better off than I am. They're 0:36:18.360 --> 0:36:22.440 throwing food away and I'm begging for scraps. So the 0:36:22.560 --> 0:36:25.520 Bible says, because he was hungry. You know it is 0:36:25.640 --> 0:36:28.800 good when you get hungry. Blessed are those who hunger 0:36:28.920 --> 0:36:32.560 and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. But 0:36:32.719 --> 0:36:36.279 the wrong appetites can never be satisfied. And when you 0:36:36.400 --> 0:36:40.120 are starving for status, you will stuff your soul with 0:36:40.239 --> 0:36:43.799 what can never satiate the true need. But he got 0:36:43.880 --> 0:36:46.920 up and he decided, I don't have to live like this. 0:36:47.600 --> 0:36:50.080 I don't have to chase this. I don't have to 0:36:50.239 --> 0:36:52.640 beg for it. I don't have to wait for it. 0:36:53.080 --> 0:36:57.279 It's not mine by behavior, it's mine by birth. And 0:36:57.600 --> 0:37:01.040 I have a father, and I'm nowhere he lives, and 0:37:01.239 --> 0:37:04.920 he didn't move, and I can go back right now, 0:37:08.400 --> 0:37:15.319 KINGO the kingdom is in ann So he said, I'm 0:37:15.480 --> 0:37:18.359 starving to death. I will set out and go back 0:37:18.440 --> 0:37:22.719 to my father, and I will say to him, father, 0:37:25.239 --> 0:37:29.040 he practiced his speech. Well, it's just he's practicing what 0:37:29.120 --> 0:37:32.000 he's gonna say. He's writing a speech he will never 0:37:32.200 --> 0:37:43.280 even need. You're gonna see it. He makes his speech 0:37:43.320 --> 0:37:45.759 in his mind. He never makes it with his mouth. Father, 0:37:45.960 --> 0:37:48.200 No I say it like this, Father, No, I say, 0:37:48.560 --> 0:37:54.200 father practicing, practicing in the pig pin. Father. By the way, 0:37:54.440 --> 0:37:56.760 the Bible never says that the boy's heart was repentant. 0:37:56.800 --> 0:38:04.600 It just says he was hungry. Even if you come 0:38:04.640 --> 0:38:06.759 to God for the wrong reasons, he has what you need. 0:38:14.440 --> 0:38:16.560 One brother told me one time, I don't mean to judge, 0:38:16.880 --> 0:38:19.880 which is a clear indication that what they are about 0:38:19.960 --> 0:38:24.880 to say is going to be the most religiously phariseical 0:38:25.280 --> 0:38:27.040 thing that's ever come out of a human beings mouth. 0:38:27.239 --> 0:38:29.200 I don't mean to judge you. But over there at 0:38:29.200 --> 0:38:33.800 Elevation Church, you've got a lot of sinners. I was like, 0:38:33.880 --> 0:38:38.399 what do you want to come? I wish you would 0:38:38.480 --> 0:38:42.880 categorize somebody else sloppy, messy, petty self talking about you 0:38:42.920 --> 0:38:44.640 got a lot of sinners. He said, some of them 0:38:44.760 --> 0:38:47.160 just come to church because there's pretty girls at Elevation. 0:38:50.280 --> 0:38:53.719 So you don't think pretty girls need pretty men to 0:38:53.800 --> 0:38:56.359 get married and have pretty babies and serve a pretty god. 0:38:58.600 --> 0:39:00.360 I don't care what you come for, care what you 0:39:00.440 --> 0:39:10.320 get when you get here. Amen, Thank you Jesus. I 0:39:10.440 --> 0:39:14.200 came for the music. But I got the message. Amen, 0:39:15.480 --> 0:39:18.400 and he came on home. He came home. You come 0:39:18.440 --> 0:39:21.600 home and your soul. You know, he came home physically. 0:39:21.640 --> 0:39:25.919 Some of us need to come home mentally home. True, 0:39:26.040 --> 0:39:30.520 you we keep wanting to be seen, but we're not 0:39:30.640 --> 0:39:32.920 really known because we're only showing the parts of us 0:39:33.000 --> 0:39:36.600 that we think are acceptable. But then you come to 0:39:36.680 --> 0:39:39.400 this place in life and you go. I got to 0:39:39.440 --> 0:39:43.600 go where I'm known. It was fun getting approval from 0:39:43.680 --> 0:39:46.080 people while I was the one paying the bills. But 0:39:46.200 --> 0:39:50.120 now I'm broke, and now I know where I can go. 0:39:51.040 --> 0:39:53.000 And having that home base is so important for a 0:39:53.040 --> 0:39:57.919 fifteen year old, a fifty year old, an eighty year old. 0:40:01.520 --> 0:40:06.240 So he comes on over. He says, h I have sinned. 0:40:06.719 --> 0:40:08.840 Going His speech goes on and on forever. You know 0:40:09.320 --> 0:40:11.279 all these ways we beat ourselves up, that God never 0:40:11.360 --> 0:40:13.960 beats us up. I sinned against Heaven and against you. 0:40:14.040 --> 0:40:16.080 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. 0:40:17.400 --> 0:40:20.520 You see it. He is connecting his belonging to his behavior. 0:40:22.680 --> 0:40:26.560 He's connecting his sense of self worth to his decisions. 0:40:29.000 --> 0:40:31.080 But why I wanted to preach this message is what 0:40:31.239 --> 0:40:35.920 happens next. All of that is good But verse nineteen 0:40:35.960 --> 0:40:39.080 and twenty is why I stood up to preach today 0:40:39.280 --> 0:40:42.200 for you. I am no longer worthy to be called 0:40:42.239 --> 0:40:44.080 your son. Make me like one of your hired men. 0:40:45.320 --> 0:40:48.080 So he got up and went to his father. But 0:40:48.239 --> 0:40:53.000 while he was still a long way off, his father saw. 0:40:55.680 --> 0:40:59.759 The father saw, can you put my title back up 0:40:59.800 --> 0:41:05.200 on the screen. The father saw, while he was still 0:41:05.239 --> 0:41:12.799 a long way off, his father saw him. He saw 0:41:12.880 --> 0:41:17.200 past his clothes that were dirty, He saw past the 0:41:17.320 --> 0:41:19.120 stench of the pigs that he had been living with, 0:41:19.320 --> 0:41:22.719 and the decisions that he had made. He saw past 0:41:22.760 --> 0:41:26.040 the offense and the foolishness and the waste, and he 0:41:26.160 --> 0:41:36.840 saw him. God sees you, and he was filled with compassion. 0:41:38.840 --> 0:41:43.239 I ran to him. A rich man doesn't do this 0:41:43.760 --> 0:41:50.200 in Jewish culture. But he saw him. He saw his son, 0:41:51.800 --> 0:41:53.600 even though he looked like a slave at the moment. 0:41:54.760 --> 0:42:02.160 He saw his son. God sees his daughter. God sees 0:42:02.239 --> 0:42:08.040 the unique you underneath all the layers and labels. The 0:42:08.160 --> 0:42:12.080 father saw. The word of the Lord to you today 0:42:12.239 --> 0:42:15.840 is The father saw. He saw the mistakes that you 0:42:15.880 --> 0:42:17.239 were going to make before you made them, and he 0:42:17.320 --> 0:42:22.080 called you anyway. He saw every sin you would commit 0:42:22.360 --> 0:42:26.279 after he forgave you, and he forgave you anyway. The 0:42:26.360 --> 0:42:31.760 Father saw. When he looks at your life, he doesn't 0:42:31.800 --> 0:42:35.040 see the decisions you made. He sees the death of 0:42:35.080 --> 0:42:36.960 his son and the righteousness of Christ, and he no 0:42:37.080 --> 0:42:39.359 longer sees you through the lens of any of your 0:42:39.400 --> 0:42:43.920 life's lowest moments. The Father saw me through the finished 0:42:43.960 --> 0:42:53.719 work of his son, Jesus Christ. The Father saw, and 0:42:53.800 --> 0:42:59.520 the Father said, I see, my son, I see the 0:42:59.600 --> 0:43:03.239 next of your life. I see this turning around. I 0:43:03.840 --> 0:43:06.040 see how I'm gonna use this thing in your life. 0:43:06.440 --> 0:43:08.960 I see how this dry season that you've been through. 0:43:09.120 --> 0:43:11.040 I've been preparing the ground. I've been telling the ground've 0:43:11.040 --> 0:43:13.880 been breaking up the ground. The Father saw. Now, now, 0:43:13.960 --> 0:43:18.560 do you have the faith to celebrate what you cannot see, 0:43:20.640 --> 0:43:23.200 to know that God sees something in you that people 0:43:23.280 --> 0:43:28.040 don't see in you, That your father sees in you 0:43:28.200 --> 0:43:33.960 what you might not even see in yourself. The Father saw, 0:43:36.000 --> 0:43:39.279 and he embraced his son because he saw who he 0:43:39.400 --> 0:43:43.759 really was. With everyone standing all over the church and 0:43:43.840 --> 0:43:52.320 no one moving, I want you to see for a 0:43:52.400 --> 0:43:58.600 moment what the Father saw, because it comes a point 0:43:58.640 --> 0:44:03.040 in your life where people have said so much about you, 0:44:03.120 --> 0:44:05.040 and you've said so much about yourself that you no 0:44:05.160 --> 0:44:11.360 longer see what the Father saw. You know. I was 0:44:11.400 --> 0:44:15.319 asking God last year, in a moment of doubt, self doubt, 0:44:15.400 --> 0:44:19.040 what do you see in me? Why do you use me? 0:44:19.960 --> 0:44:26.360 Not special, not that holy, so far from perfect? What 0:44:26.480 --> 0:44:29.640 do you see in me? And I didn't hear a 0:44:29.719 --> 0:44:31.640 voice out loud, and never have, But it was an 0:44:31.680 --> 0:44:36.600 impression that he said, I see myself. I put a 0:44:36.640 --> 0:44:38.319 piece of me in you. In fact, I put all 0:44:38.400 --> 0:44:41.960 of me in you. And the moment you can see 0:44:42.200 --> 0:44:48.000 past the patterns of behavior that identify you as a 0:44:48.120 --> 0:44:52.839 sinner and a slave, and begin to see yourself as 0:44:52.920 --> 0:44:57.040 the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, that I am 0:44:57.120 --> 0:45:03.040 a child of God. It is that revelation that's what 0:45:03.320 --> 0:45:06.520 changed my life. It was not changing my behavior. It 0:45:06.680 --> 0:45:10.800 was the revelation that God sees the real me, and 0:45:10.920 --> 0:45:14.120 he loves the real me, and he chose the real me, 0:45:14.560 --> 0:45:19.320 the quirky me, the weird me, the goofy me, the 0:45:19.440 --> 0:45:22.759 dumb me, to make the same mistake over and over again. Me. 0:45:23.239 --> 0:45:26.640 He sees past all that people see. He sees past 0:45:26.760 --> 0:45:31.759 every pretense, every pretension. He sees past every surface construct 0:45:32.000 --> 0:45:40.440 and he sees me. The Father saw. Maybe nobody else did, 0:45:40.520 --> 0:45:44.600 but he saw. He sees the desires of your heart. 0:45:47.040 --> 0:45:51.640 He sees where you're weak. He is compelled to come 0:45:51.719 --> 0:46:00.560 closer in that place. Jesus said that God, every hair 0:46:00.640 --> 0:46:08.120 on your head. What a picture to me that speaks 0:46:08.160 --> 0:46:12.120 of proximity. You can't count the hairs on my head 0:46:12.200 --> 0:46:17.520 unless you're close. God doesn't just see me at a distance. 0:46:18.800 --> 0:46:22.600 He sees me up close, and he sees himself and me. 0:46:24.840 --> 0:46:27.240 Some of us here have a hard time receiving that word. 0:46:28.200 --> 0:46:30.520 It sounds like syrup. It sounds like a fairy tale. 0:46:30.560 --> 0:46:33.000 It sounds like something that belongs to another world. But 0:46:33.080 --> 0:46:35.120 there is something on the inside of you trying to 0:46:35.200 --> 0:46:37.640 tell you right now. What that man is saying is 0:46:37.719 --> 0:46:40.080 truth from heaven. This is the bread of Heaven. This 0:46:40.239 --> 0:46:42.400 is the word of God. He sees you. And I 0:46:42.520 --> 0:46:44.400 know people don't notice. And I know a lot of 0:46:44.480 --> 0:46:47.960 times you feel uncelebrated, unappreciated, and ineffective. In fact, some 0:46:48.120 --> 0:46:49.840 of you have been thinking, even this week, would it 0:46:49.880 --> 0:46:54.800 really even matter if I was here? Would the people 0:46:54.880 --> 0:46:59.879 in my life be better off without me? The Father saw, 0:47:01.600 --> 0:47:05.520 My father saw, he saw something in you that looked 0:47:05.600 --> 0:47:10.120 like him, and he brought you into this situation, this 0:47:10.200 --> 0:47:13.360 space and time. I just want to pray for you 0:47:13.440 --> 0:47:15.160 for a moment, because you're gonna leave here and see 0:47:15.160 --> 0:47:17.560 all kinds of images of things that make you think 0:47:17.600 --> 0:47:19.840 your life is down here. But I want you to 0:47:19.880 --> 0:47:22.120 see something for a moment in your spirit. Close your eyes, 0:47:22.160 --> 0:47:30.040 lift your hands. We celebrate your presence. God, you have 0:47:30.160 --> 0:47:35.080 really really been there for us. Your arms stayed open, 0:47:35.160 --> 0:47:37.920 your fridge stayed full, you kept our bed ready for 0:47:38.120 --> 0:47:40.160 us for when we came back to this moment, and 0:47:40.239 --> 0:47:44.439 we're coming home and our souls this year. We're coming 0:47:44.480 --> 0:47:47.719 home and our souls this year. We're not eating pig 0:47:47.760 --> 0:47:52.320 food this year. We're not just gonna stuff ourselves with 0:47:54.760 --> 0:47:59.319 whatever is most available. But we're coming to your table today. God, 0:47:59.480 --> 0:48:02.880 not in a matas forracle sense, but really now, in 0:48:03.000 --> 0:48:08.200 this moment, I asked that you would fill us, be 0:48:08.320 --> 0:48:12.920 full of You, full of truth. I really want to 0:48:12.920 --> 0:48:17.319 pray for the teenagers. God. I don't want them living 0:48:17.360 --> 0:48:23.200 with pigs. I don't want them feeding on the pods 0:48:23.239 --> 0:48:24.960 that come from the plants that they would have never 0:48:25.040 --> 0:48:29.200 even looked at before. But now they got so desensitized 0:48:29.440 --> 0:48:32.960 to it. God, I prayed that they would, that they 0:48:33.000 --> 0:48:36.360 would move back to the place where the Father sees. 0:48:36.400 --> 0:48:38.080 We thank you that even if we're at a distance, 0:48:38.160 --> 0:48:42.440 you see us. I call that one home today that 0:48:42.520 --> 0:48:45.600 you know by name. Lord, I don't know the name, 0:48:46.440 --> 0:48:50.760 but you do. And as somebody who's hearing this message, 0:48:50.800 --> 0:48:54.120 and it's like, Oh my God, that's just for me, 0:48:55.800 --> 0:48:59.000 that's just for me. That's what I needed in this moment. 0:48:59.040 --> 0:49:04.840 Would you see your word? Heads bowed, eyes closed, with 0:49:05.000 --> 0:49:09.719 everyone praying, I want to invite somebody to come home 0:49:09.800 --> 0:49:13.279 to the God who made you in this moment, he's 0:49:13.320 --> 0:49:17.920 already running towards you. My father saw his son in 0:49:18.000 --> 0:49:21.719 the distance. He so loved the world, and he so 0:49:21.840 --> 0:49:23.600 loved you that he gave his only son that whoever 0:49:23.640 --> 0:49:26.640 believes in him will not perish, would have everlasting life. 0:49:28.120 --> 0:49:31.680 And it's by grace that we're saved through faith, not 0:49:31.880 --> 0:49:35.400 of works. It's a gift of God, so that no 0:49:35.480 --> 0:49:39.120 one can boast. And in this moment, whether watching online 0:49:39.239 --> 0:49:42.200 or here in one of our buildings, if you're ready 0:49:42.239 --> 0:49:46.800 to come home today and place your full faith in 0:49:46.880 --> 0:49:49.279 the work of Jesus Christ, what he accomplished on the 0:49:49.320 --> 0:49:52.239 cross when he died for your sin and believed that 0:49:52.280 --> 0:49:54.560 he was raised from the dead so you could have 0:49:54.680 --> 0:49:56.359 new life. I want to pray with you right now. 0:49:57.400 --> 0:49:59.960 I wish I could do it one on one, but God, 0:50:00.000 --> 0:50:03.320 God is God is right there with you in this moment, 0:50:03.680 --> 0:50:05.840 and He's been calling you and you know it. I 0:50:05.920 --> 0:50:07.839 want to pray for you right now, and I want 0:50:07.880 --> 0:50:10.359 you to pray with me. This is a prayer of faith, 0:50:10.440 --> 0:50:12.319 and if you will pray this from your heart, we're 0:50:12.320 --> 0:50:14.960 going to pray it out loud. God will hear you, 0:50:15.680 --> 0:50:18.279 and your sins will be forgiven and you'll be a 0:50:18.360 --> 0:50:20.640 new creation in his name. The Word of God says, 0:50:20.719 --> 0:50:24.400 so he is more than enough. With heads about and 0:50:24.480 --> 0:50:26.960 eyes closed, praying out loud as a church family together 0:50:27.080 --> 0:50:29.560 for the benefit of those who are coming to God 0:50:30.200 --> 0:50:34.279 or coming back to the Father. Let's pray together, Heavenly Father. 0:50:36.040 --> 0:50:40.759 I am a sinner in need of a savior, and 0:50:40.880 --> 0:50:45.800 today I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I 0:50:45.920 --> 0:50:50.439 believe he died that I would be forgiven and rose 0:50:50.480 --> 0:50:55.719 again to give me life. I receive this new life. 0:50:56.560 --> 0:51:01.279 This is my new beginning. I am a child of God. 0:51:02.440 --> 0:51:04.000 If you pray that shoots your hand up on the 0:51:04.040 --> 0:51:06.760 count of three to one, two three, I'm gonna celebrate 0:51:06.880 --> 0:51:09.680 you all over this church. Come on, shoot it up high, 0:51:10.719 --> 0:51:15.000 not tim and shoot it shoot it up high. Come on, 0:51:15.160 --> 0:51:21.320 can we celebrate everybody who just came home? Thank you 0:51:21.440 --> 0:51:23.920 for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who 0:51:23.960 --> 0:51:26.960 give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that 0:51:27.040 --> 0:51:29.920 this ministry is possible. You can click the link in 0:51:30.000 --> 0:51:34.000 the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch dot org 0:51:34.120 --> 0:51:37.760 slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, 0:51:38.120 --> 0:51:40.760 you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 0:51:41.120 --> 0:51:43.360 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:51:43.440 --> 0:51:45.520 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:51:45.560 --> 0:51:48.120 Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.