The Frustration Of Expectation (Rich Wilkerson Jr.)

0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:04.720 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:07.200 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.560 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:12.600 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.320 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:19.439 How many are ready for the Word of God to 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:23.720 be preached? Get up on your feet. Pastor rich Wilkerson 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:27.360 is in the house. He is my friend. He is 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.000 the only adult who can keep me up after four 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:33.440 am to talk about the things of God. He pastors 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:36.120 the Great Bout Church. We love him so much. Come 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:38.960 on and give God praise Epham around the world for 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:51.440 Pastor Rich wilker Son. I know. Come on, church, Hey, 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:53.280 can we go ahead and lift up the name of Jesus. 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:56.200 Come on all around the world today. Come on, let's 0:00:56.240 --> 0:01:04.560 give Jesus the highest praise. Anybody thankful to be in 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:08.280 the House of God on this Sunday, anybody in his 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:10.920 sense that God is moving right now, not just in 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.360 the room. But we're believing that wherever you're watching this 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:16.160 from the e fam that the same power that's right 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:20.039 here right now. I'm believing. Come on, the same power 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:23.399 is right there today with you. Oh it's good to 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:26.800 be at Elevation Church. As you find your seat in 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:29.640 the room, we want to once again just welcome everybody 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:33.480 who's tuning in online. We're so grateful for the way 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:36.440 that this ministry continues to go forward and just make 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:39.520 a global impact. And I just got to say, what 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:41.679 in honor, what a privilege it is for me to 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:45.000 be back here in Charlotte, North Carolina. And I just 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:48.720 think the Elevation Church. Come on, anybody thankful that you 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:55.400 just go to the greatest church. In fact, I was 0:01:55.440 --> 0:02:03.120 here last week for the worship night. I'm a I 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:08.040 sense a revival coming. Man. This place was jammed packed 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:10.160 to the right. I mean, I'm telling you what a 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:14.560 tangible sense of God's presence and we get scared. When 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.120 Brandon Lake just did a full CrowdSurf. I was like, 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.160 I don't know if I got insurance for that, but uh, 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.079 it was. It was a powerful, powerful night. I said, 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:25.160 I just got up. I got to be in the room, 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:27.919 and I hope you understand just what you're a part 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:31.440 of here at Elevation Church. And any chance I get 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:33.160 to be up on this stage and any chance I 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:35.600 get to brag and give honor where honor is due 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:39.200 towards your pastors. I want to make sure I take 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:43.800 my chance. Anybody thankful for Pastor Stephen and Hally Ferdick, 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:48.160 come on in the chat right now, just tell them 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:50.880 that you love them in the chat, real love you, guys, 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:58.600 So so grateful for both of them. And here's what 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:00.880 I believe. And I'm a preacher, and so I make 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:04.480 things rhynd, but I just I believe that alignment is 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:08.200 even more important than assignment. And I just want to 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:10.480 make sure that I'm I'm being loud and clear that 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:13.800 I'm aligning myself with what I think is some of 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:16.359 the world's greatest leaders in the Body of Christ today, 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:18.400 because a lot of people miss this in life. A 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:20.280 lot of people get focused on what they're doing, but 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.880 they miss out on who they're doing it with and 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:26.800 what God has given you here in the leaders of 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.920 this house is just so tremendous. And the fact that 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:32.160 you get to be in this soil and in this space. 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:34.840 I just think that what's on their life, it begins 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:38.400 to overflow onto our lives. And I'm grateful that I'm 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:41.440 aligned with Pastor Stephen and Pastor Hally Ferdick. Come on, 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:45.400 anybody wants some to that verdict. Blessing on you. We 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:48.000 love you guys so much, and thank you for being 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:51.960 standard carriers. It's not easy what they do to continue 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:54.680 to press forward, to continue to see what others don't see, 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.120 to continue to push in. It can be lonely, it 0:03:57.120 --> 0:03:59.160 can be challenging, but they do it with such grace, 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.760 They do it with such they do it with such integrity, 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:03.800 and it gives so many of us around the world 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:05.880 a whole lot of hope. And so we love you. 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:07.520 Thank you so much for letting me be here. Yeah, 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:12.200 come on, we can thank God one more time for them. 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:16.960 I you know, sometimes as a preacher, it's a labor 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:19.800 of love as you open up God's word, and it 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.800 can be you're digging stuff out and you're looking for stuff. 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:26.160 But every once in a while, God just drops a 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:30.000 word into your heart that it just starts coming out 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.440 of you that you can't write fast enough. However you 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:35.200 put it together. And the message I have today, it 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:37.240 kind of came to me like that. Just this last week. 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:40.080 I just sensed as I was coming here to Elevation 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.039 Church that the word that I bring today. It's not 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:45.320 gonna be pretty, it's gonna be messy, and I'm gonna 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.560 preach it like I feel it today, which there is 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:49.719 a fire on the inside of me that I think 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:53.160 this is an on time right now word for elevation church. 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.839 And so I'm gonna need some help today, not just 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:58.000 from in the room, but in the chat online. You 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.200 could say amen, you could say I like that. You 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.240 could say preach it, white boy, I don't really care. 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:07.720 But today everyone is tapping into their inner Pentecostal We're 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:12.040 gonna all verbally engage. Come on. How many believes God 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:17.480 loves a loud church? One time this dude was like, yeo, Rich, 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:19.520 I don't like going to your church. It's just too loud. 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:22.039 I was like, home, you're not gonna like heaven very much, 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:26.240 because the Bible tells me that all day long, twenty 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:29.040 four hours a day, seven days a week, they are 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:32.440 shouting around the throne room of Heaven. Holy, Holy, Holy 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:35.720 is the Lord God Almighty. Come on, somebody, We're gonna 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:42.280 bring Heaven down to earth today. We're gonna make it loud. Oh, 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:43.960 We're gonna get there. We're gonna get there. We're gonna 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:47.080 get the Romans Chapter eight. Romans, Chapter eight. I'm just 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:49.560 gonna read some verses and then I'm just gonna give 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:50.880 it to you how God gave it to me? Is 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:55.080 that okay? Thank God? Romans, Chapter eight, verse eighteen. This 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:57.320 is Paul the Apostle. He writes to the church in Rome, 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:02.240 and he says, I consider our present sufferings are not 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:07.320 worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:15.719 The Creation waits in eager expectation, someone say, expectation for 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:19.279 the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:23.680 was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:26.680 by the will of the one who subjected it. In 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:31.000 hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:35.200 bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:39.560 the children of God. We know that the whole creation 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:44.760 has been groaning, as in pains of childbirth, right up 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:47.080 to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:49.520 who have the first fruits of the spirit grown inwardly. 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:53.320 As we wait, someone say, wait, as we wait eagerly 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.760 for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.640 For in this hope we are saved, But hope that 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:04.479 is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.520 what he already has. But if we hope for what 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:13.040 we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:16.720 cow maing No. Patience is not the ability to wait. 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:23.040 Patience is all about how you wait. In the same way, 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:26.360 the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:29.679 know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:33.440 himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:36.560 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.680 the spirit. Because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:44.480 accordance with God's will. Sometimes you just read a passage 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:47.360 and it does all the heavy lifting for you. How 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:49.840 many sens today that God wants to speak to his church? 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:51.960 Come on, can you put your hands together? Can you 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.040 give God glory? And can you shame the devil for 0:07:54.120 --> 0:08:00.200 a moment. I've been married to the same woman for 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:06.320 fourteen years. Thank God. We have two beautiful boys. In fact, 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:08.640 my oldest son, who's three years of age. His name 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:12.000 is Wyatt Wesley Wilkerson. He's actually traveling with me here 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:16.000 today to Elevation Church. And my second born son. His 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:20.480 name is Wild Wesley Wilkerson. I know these names are 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:25.080 a mouthful. You know, www are their initials. We call 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:28.480 them Worldwide Web for short. You know, like, these names 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:30.640 are a mouthful, and our second born son, we kind 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:32.720 of we kind of got more than what we bargained for. 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:34.200 How mean, you know you got to be crazy to 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:41.640 name your kid wild? And Wild is wild. He's just 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:45.040 that's his deal. He's he's just totally wild and Wild's 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.599 one and a half. And as he's one and a 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:49.880 half right now, he's amazing because the day that he 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.920 came out of the womb, this boy has always had 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:57.120 direct intention. He's always had a clear motivation. I've always 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:59.240 been able to see that he knows what he wants 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:01.720 in life. But he's learning right right now. He's got 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.960 a vocabulary like four words, dad, dad, mama. He loves 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:07.400 to a pool. He's into the pool. His older brother 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:09.920 loves swimming. He likes swimming. The problem with Wild is 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:13.520 he don't know how to swim. This is like not 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:15.320 funny at all. This is like truly scary in my 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.480 house right now because this boy whose name is Wild 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:23.280 is wild. Literally the kid is a savage. He thinks 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:26.800 it's funny to throw himself into swimming pools. When you 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:30.080 pull him out of the water, he is laughing hysterically. 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:35.280 You're like, you're sick, bro, this is true. Last week 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.000 I take my son Wild to the pool, and what 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:40.400 this kid does is this kid, he has this whole thing. 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:42.760 He gets up to the pool deck, he gets on 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:46.199 his tippy toes, he leans forward, he puts his hands back, 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.200 he puts his butt back, and he looks over at 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:52.600 me as if to taunt me. Ha. It's like a 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:57.520 demonic laugh though, and then he hurls himself. The other day, 0:09:57.520 --> 0:09:58.920 he went to a pool deck. He gets over to 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:02.200 the hot tub, looking over there, he puts his arms back. 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:05.040 He throws himself into a hot tub, to which I 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:07.480 have to jump into the hot tub. I pull him 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:10.600 out of the water. He's laughing hysterically. I'm saying, Wild, 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:14.280 this is not funny, bro, This is not fun. Surviving 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:21.559 is fun, living is good. His challenge right now in 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:25.600 life is that he doesn't have the words to articulate 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:30.439 that which he wants. And what I'm noticing in my 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:32.960 little boy Wild right now is that it's not a 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:37.040 problem of whether or not he's living with expectation. No, 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:39.960 his challenge in life is that he finds himself unable 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:43.800 to manage the frustration of getting that which it is 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:48.240 he's anticipating. And I thought, on this Sunday morning, right 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:52.160 here at Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Ballantine Campus, and 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:55.000 all over the world to the Epham, if you would 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:56.960 give me the next thirty four minutes of your time, 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:58.880 I want to preach to you today from the subject 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:07.280 the frustrate of expectation, the frustration of expectation. I suppose 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:10.120 I just have a basic question, and that is, what 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:14.000 are you expecting God to do? We've gathered today all 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:16.600 over we're in our homes, we're in the church, and 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:19.280 we've come into God's house. I sure hope you've come 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:23.040 into God's house with some expectation. I sure hope you've 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:25.800 come in here believing for God to do something in 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:29.400 your life. I sure hope you've walked in today not 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:32.400 just thinking that you're just going to stumble into something. No. 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:35.280 I really believe it's the man of God. It's the 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:38.520 woman of God who actually comes in with a pursuit, 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.920 a passionate pursuit to say God, I came in today 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:44.840 because I have an expectation that you're going to do 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:50.880 something in my life. I got expectation today. I felt 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:53.080 like saying it this way that the Church of Jesus 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:56.600 Christ will never just stumble into a revival. You don't 0:11:56.760 --> 0:12:00.000 stumble into revival. Come on, the church praise for revival. 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:03.560 The church hopes for revival. The church believes for revival. 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:07.400 The church leans in and declares, there's gonna be a revival. 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:14.160 What are you expecting. It's important if you're gonna follow Jesus, 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:18.480 that you live life with expectation. The apostle Paul, he 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:20.480 writes to the church in Rome, I consider that our 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:25.200 present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:29.120 will be revealed in us. The creation waits an eager 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:32.680 expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. He's 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:35.280 trying to get the church to get their eyes on 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:40.120 something bigger. He's declaring out loud that the entire world 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.800 is waiting on the Church of Jesus Christ to rise 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:48.200 up and take her proper position, her proper place. That 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:50.760 there's something in us that the world is looking for. 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:54.520 He's saying, don't let your present pain make you forget 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.520 about your future purpose? Can I say it this way? 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:00.000 Your current situation is not in charge of your future, 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:05.839 your destination. Get your hopeself, start believing, start expecting. Expectation 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:10.319 means to live life with an anticipation that I'm believing 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:13.200 for more. And I just felt today that that there's 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.840 some people in the room and some people right now 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:18.320 in the epan that you need to hear today it's 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:24.000 time to raise your expectation. This word expectation, it is 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:29.720 the ingredient of faith that truly like, it's impossible to 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:32.560 have faith without expectation. But how me know, it's impossible 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:36.080 to please God without faith. And if we're gonna have faith, 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:39.280 we have to actually have this thing called expectation. I 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:41.920 remember that story in Acts chapter three. It is a 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.720 good story. It's about this guy who sits outside this gate, 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:47.000 and the gate's called Beautiful, and he sits there all 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:49.040 day and he just he asks for people as they're 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:50.840 coming by the gate, and he asks for money. And 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:53.840 one day Peter and John are walking by, you remember 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:56.560 this story, and as they're walking by this guy, he 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.240 just begs and asks them, hey, can you can you 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:01.680 can you give me some almost because his legs don't work. 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:04.360 He has no ability to walk or to move forward, 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:06.880 and so he just begs Peter and John to give 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:10.480 him some money. It's fascinating. The longer that we tend 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:12.480 to wait sometimes, the more we can begin to lower 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:17.560 our expectation. How me know that when I don't get 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:22.160 my expectation, the temptation is for me to lower my standard. 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:27.280 Because here's this man that he should be still believing 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:29.720 and dreaming to walk, but now he's lowered his standard, 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:32.040 and all he simply wants is some money. But as 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:34.680 Peter and John come by, they have a bigger dream 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:37.680 in mind for him. They're believing that something more can 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:41.040 take place. They look at this man, and this man says, hey, 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:43.920 can you give me some money? But what does Peter 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:46.240 and John say back to him? Peter and John, they 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:48.920 say back in Acts, chapter three, verse four. Peter looked 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:52.000 straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, look 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:57.920 at us. So the man gave them his attention expecting someone, say, expecting, 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:03.120 expecting to get something from them. Listen, before he can 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:07.120 raise his feet to walk, he must raise his expectation 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:13.040 to believe. Look at us, and the man looks up 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:16.000 with expectations. Isn't it funny As he looks up with expectation, 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:18.320 My guess is is that he's just expecting to get 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:21.760 some money. But what God says is God says, if 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:26.080 you will raise your expectation, I will exceed your expectation. 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:30.280 I will do more than what you thought. This man 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:33.120 is just hoping to get some money and a lot 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:35.160 of us today. I just hope maybe you came to 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:37.160 church and you're going, man, I really hope that Jesus 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.840 can change my day. But friend, I want you to 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:42.440 get something deeper in your soul today. Jesus Christ did 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.000 not die on a cross two thousand years ago to 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.720 simply change your day. Come on, we served the God 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:56.200 who died that he might change your very life. So 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:58.760 this man just gives a little bit of expectation, just 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.480 a little bit of expectation, probably just hoping to get 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:04.120 some money. But we serve the God who says, I 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:05.640 don't need a lot of faith, I just need a 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:07.720 little bit of faith. It's faith the size of a 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:11.000 mustard seed that can move an entire mountain. This man 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:13.920 has faith for something small, but God has plans for 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:16.840 something big because Peter and John look back at this man, 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:19.160 and they say, silver and gold we do not have. 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:22.040 But one thing we do have, we give it to you. 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:25.200 Get up and walk. You're leaving here today different from 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:27.600 how you came. Come on, is there anybody out there 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:31.120 who believes that if we raise our expectation, God is 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:34.200 going to do something in our midst He's got something 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:37.680 more for you today. The whole hearth is waiting an 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:43.400 eager expectation. You're called to live with an anticipation. I 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:45.200 felt the Lord say to me, to some of you today, 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:48.040 somebody gotta come back to your first love. You gotta 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:50.000 go back to the start. You gotta go back to 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:54.800 the beginning, go back to your early days following Jesus. 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:59.960 I love Nu Christians. New Christians are crazy. They actually 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:05.199 believe the Bible, like the whole thing. You ever meet 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:08.840 a new Christian, they're like early to church. You get there, 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:10.719 they're like they're in their seat, They're like they're doing 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:12.159 this stuff. You're like, what are you doing? They're like, 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:13.840 I'm stretching where she was about to start. You never know, 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:18.840 you never know. Come on, some of you all remember this, 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:22.480 Some of y'all remember this. Back when you believed, back 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:26.240 when you expected God to do things. Pastor gets up 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:27.680 and says, where were we need some people to serve. 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:30.439 Oh that's me, that's me, that's me right here. I 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.880 didn't tell you where. I don't care. I don't care. 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:36.399 What's two in the morning. I love two in the morning. 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:40.520 I love two in the morning. Remember when you used 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:45.360 to pray, God, just use me, just use me. If 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:48.000 you can use anything, you can use me. And then 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:50.240 God used you. Now you're complaining to God that he 0:17:50.359 --> 0:18:03.480 used you. God didn't it change you change? I was 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:06.640 here last week. This is just I just fifteen years 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:08.960 of a ministry that's been touching the world. And if 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:13.400 you're not careful, you will get so familiar with this crazy, 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:18.640 out of control, radical freakish move of God that the 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:24.480 world has never seen before. Maybe I should have come 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:28.480 to the staff meeting because I walked through that HQ 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:33.159 and I'm just like, what is this? And there's some 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:35.160 people that have been around this thing for a long time. 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:38.000 You've been around here for fifteen years. I just want 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:41.480 to encourage you today, do not get familiar with this thing. 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:45.600 God has not changed. He is still the same yesterday today, 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:50.480 and forever. You gotta get your expectation up. Go back 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:53.800 to your first love, go back to that beginning days 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:57.639 when you really believed God. I love Nuchritians. They just 0:18:57.680 --> 0:18:59.800 they build your faith. I walked up to this guy today, 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:02.719 Steven and this guy and brand new to church. He said, Pastor, 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:05.159 would you pray for me? I said, yeah, I mean 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:06.480 that's what I do. You know, I pray for you. Yeah, 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:08.680 I'll pray for you. He said, well, before you pray, 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:10.320 here's what I want you to pray for. I said, well, 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.359 is that he was pray for my shadow. I said, 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:18.240 what said, I want you to pray for my shadow? 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:20.639 I said, okay, why would I pray for your shadow? 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:24.200 He said, well, there's this girl in the cubicle next 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:27.000 to me at work and she just got diagnosed with 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:30.320 terminal cancer and she won't let me pray for her. 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:31.760 I told her I was a Christian, but she said, 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:33.360 I don't want you to pray for me. But then 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:36.880 I was reading in the Book of Acts that when 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:39.760 some of those apostles walk by, just their very shadow 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:47.120 touched them. Come on, where are the people of Elevation Church? 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:51.359 Raise your expectation? Come on? Your shadow is trouble for 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.199 the enemy. Come on, your shadow is a problem for 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:57.080 the devil. God's getting ready to break out in your life. 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:04.520 I said back to the mask that maybe you should 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:10.800 pray for me. Raise your expectation. The world is looking 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:13.159 for a church. The world is looking for the people 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:15.359 of God to rise up. The world is looking for 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:17.679 some people to carry a standard. Who would say, I 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:21.400 got expectation I want today? Are you in the game 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:22.960 of faith or are you on the bench of faith? 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.520 Because it's two totally different postures. I know I came 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:29.800 to get up all in your business today. I know 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:31.359 it's the month of June. I know there's a lot 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:33.960 of people on vacation. But we're building a church, and 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:36.680 the best days for elevation church are still in front 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:40.480 of us, not behind us, Because how do we know? 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:42.879 It's a much different posture when you're on the bench. 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:45.480 When you're on the bench of a game, you're distracted 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:48.239 with the crowd, you're looking at the audience, you're not 0:20:48.280 --> 0:20:51.720 really paying attention. But the moment you step into that game, baby, 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:54.360 I'm telling you what you take on a different posture. 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:56.760 You're ready for the ball to come your way. You're 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:01.399 eager you're wanting something to happen. My son wild he 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:03.440 gets up to that pool deck. He's got a stance. 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:05.840 He gets up on his tippy toes. He puts his 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:08.639 arms back, he gets his butt back, and he leans in. 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:10.920 I felt the spirit of God tell me to tell 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:14.080 some people at Elevation Church, it's tiptoe season around here. 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:16.480 It's time for you to lean in. It's time for 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:19.040 you to put your arms back. God get ready to 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:23.240 do that what you never see them do before. Come on, 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:31.080 church him a shout of praise. David Glory. I came 0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:35.199 in with expectation. I came in believing there's more. I 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:38.040 came in believing He's gonna set my family free. I 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:40.720 believe that cancer can go in the name of Jesus. 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:48.600 Come on, somebody, it's tiptoe season. Hands back, leaned forward. 0:21:48.600 --> 0:21:51.760 There's a posture to this. There's a posture to this. 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:57.159 Someone said, there's a posture to this. What's your expectation? 0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:01.320 What have you walked in here with today? Because God 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:05.040 is calling us to raise our expectation. And I can't 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:07.560 even teach you the message if I'm not even talking 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:10.359 to a room that came in believing for something I 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:12.800 can't even tell you the next part. If you don't 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:16.720 raise your expectation to believe that your best days are 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:23.560 still in front of you. So why don't we live 0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:33.320 with expectation? Oh? I know the answer, because every one 0:22:33.320 --> 0:22:38.560 of my expectations comes with this frustration. I know we're 0:22:38.560 --> 0:22:44.000 not going to shout at that part. Every one of 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:50.959 my expectations is coupled with frustration. You say, Rich, why 0:22:51.040 --> 0:22:54.959 does frustration come with expectation? Because expectation is an anticipation 0:22:55.640 --> 0:22:59.440 to believe for that which has not happened yet. How 0:22:59.480 --> 0:23:02.840 many no where I am to where God has called 0:23:02.880 --> 0:23:06.760 me to be, has this space in between. It's called 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:11.879 a gap, and fighting through the gap is frustrating to 0:23:11.920 --> 0:23:15.399 say the least. I remember when I was studying abroad 0:23:15.880 --> 0:23:19.760 in my university days. I did a semester of Brodic 0:23:20.040 --> 0:23:22.320 Cambridge and I got to go and visit London and 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:24.040 I was in the subway system. If you ever be 0:23:24.040 --> 0:23:26.119 into the subway system in London, if there's these signs 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:27.919 all of the place and it says mind the gap 0:23:29.400 --> 0:23:31.359 and this phrase, what it means is that for every 0:23:31.440 --> 0:23:34.920 platform that's there, there's this space in between the platform 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:38.119 to the train, and they want you to be aware 0:23:38.160 --> 0:23:39.720 of the gap so that you can get onto the train, 0:23:39.760 --> 0:23:44.600 that you might reach your destination safely and securely. And 0:23:44.640 --> 0:23:46.440 what I want to say to everybody who's watching today 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:48.719 and everyone who's in church today, is that we're not 0:23:48.760 --> 0:23:52.000 to be afraid of the gaps, but we must be 0:23:52.040 --> 0:23:58.239 aware of the gaps. But we must understand that if 0:23:58.280 --> 0:24:01.560 we're going to live life with expect it will constantly 0:24:01.600 --> 0:24:06.560 and continually be coupled with this word called frustration. See, 0:24:06.600 --> 0:24:08.800 a lot of people have the wrong idea about faith. 0:24:08.840 --> 0:24:11.399 They think faith is wishful thinking. I think faith is 0:24:11.440 --> 0:24:14.720 problem solving. A lot of people think that faith is 0:24:14.760 --> 0:24:16.399 like you know, pie in the sky. Now, faith is 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:21.840 work in the dirt, and it can be frustrating for 0:24:21.920 --> 0:24:25.320 you to dig up and for you to see all 0:24:25.320 --> 0:24:27.560 the things that God has called you to and all 0:24:27.600 --> 0:24:30.159 the things that God has spoken to you. Look at 0:24:30.160 --> 0:24:33.080 what the apostle Paul says. He says in Romans chapter eight, 0:24:33.160 --> 0:24:35.439 verse twenty. He says, while the whole world is waiting 0:24:35.480 --> 0:24:38.359 for this, the sons of God to be revealed. He says, 0:24:38.359 --> 0:24:41.360 for the creation was subjected to frustration. Everyone say frustration, 0:24:42.440 --> 0:24:44.119 not by its own choice, but by the will of 0:24:44.160 --> 0:24:47.240 the one who subjected it in hope that the creation 0:24:47.480 --> 0:24:51.960 itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and 0:24:52.000 --> 0:24:55.920 brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 0:24:56.800 --> 0:24:59.200 So what the apostle Paul is doing is he's laying 0:24:59.240 --> 0:25:01.720 out really beautiful theology that we must all understand that 0:25:01.800 --> 0:25:06.480 ever since are great great I don't know how many 0:25:06.480 --> 0:25:14.240 greats grandfather Adam, ever since he sinned, the whole world 0:25:14.359 --> 0:25:20.520 has been frustrated. Ever since that moment, there has been 0:25:20.560 --> 0:25:25.800 a gap from us to God. This is the gospel message. 0:25:26.200 --> 0:25:27.919 This is why we gather. This is why we can 0:25:27.960 --> 0:25:30.479 put a smile on our face even though life around 0:25:30.560 --> 0:25:33.359 us might be really troubling right now, because we have 0:25:33.480 --> 0:25:36.160 this eternal hope that we serve the God that when 0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:39.919 I couldn't get to him, come on, he came to me. 0:25:40.320 --> 0:25:48.320 Anybody thankful that Jesus came and closed the gap. Jesus 0:25:49.000 --> 0:25:56.080 closed the gap. And while my eternity is secure, my 0:25:56.200 --> 0:26:01.640 reality is frustrated. C. S. Lewis that if I find 0:26:01.680 --> 0:26:06.280 in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, 0:26:06.359 --> 0:26:11.240 the only logical explanation is that I was made for 0:26:11.359 --> 0:26:17.680 another world. What if I told you today that frustration 0:26:18.480 --> 0:26:22.720 is an indication that you are living with divine expectation. 0:26:24.760 --> 0:26:26.200 We got a whole bunch of people in the body 0:26:26.240 --> 0:26:29.919 of Christ today that are cursing their frustration. May I 0:26:29.960 --> 0:26:32.480 plead with the people of Elevation Church, don't curse it 0:26:32.880 --> 0:26:37.440 here it, don't curse it. Solve it, don't don't don't 0:26:37.440 --> 0:26:39.879 curse it, fight through it, don't don't don't curse it. 0:26:40.600 --> 0:26:44.920 Manage it, because there's a blessing on the other side 0:26:45.040 --> 0:26:48.920 of your frustration. See, I wish somebody would have told 0:26:48.920 --> 0:26:51.040 me this a whole long time ago, that frustration is 0:26:51.080 --> 0:26:54.919 not a curse. Frustration is a reality, and frustration is 0:26:54.960 --> 0:26:57.960 actually a gift. You say, rich, it's a gift. It 0:26:58.119 --> 0:27:01.119 certainly is a gift. And you need to reframe this today. 0:27:01.160 --> 0:27:02.600 You need to make sure that you start seeing your 0:27:02.640 --> 0:27:06.040 frustration as a gift, because frustration, many times, is an 0:27:06.040 --> 0:27:10.600 indication of the thing that you're called to do. Come on, 0:27:10.680 --> 0:27:14.720 if it bothers me so much, maybe it's because God 0:27:14.760 --> 0:27:18.199 believes I'm the one to solve it. Come on, if 0:27:18.200 --> 0:27:21.280 you're the only person who sees that thing, maybe it's 0:27:21.280 --> 0:27:25.119 because God is trusting you to solve that thing. Come on, 0:27:25.200 --> 0:27:27.920 if you're the only person who cares about it all 0:27:27.960 --> 0:27:31.199 the time, maybe it's because God has trusted you with 0:27:31.280 --> 0:27:37.200 an ability to actually bring communication to the vision. I'm 0:27:37.200 --> 0:27:38.960 not gonna lie. The other day I woke up and 0:27:39.000 --> 0:27:42.280 I was like, man, am I coasting? Like? Am I 0:27:42.359 --> 0:27:45.560 playing it easy? Like? Am I taking the safe path? 0:27:45.640 --> 0:27:47.119 I don't know, I don't know. I just this is 0:27:47.200 --> 0:27:50.639 just maybe you're watching right now, man I am I 0:27:50.720 --> 0:27:54.679 kind of mailing it in? Am I playing safe? Am 0:27:54.760 --> 0:27:58.239 I still dreaming? Are my best days really actually in 0:27:58.280 --> 0:28:04.320 front of me? But then I woke up frustrated and 0:28:04.440 --> 0:28:08.280 I said, oh, I'm still frustrated, And that tells me 0:28:08.640 --> 0:28:11.320 God is not done with me yet. I am still 0:28:11.359 --> 0:28:14.240 becoming who He has called me to become. He is 0:28:14.280 --> 0:28:17.560 still giving me vision, He's still putting expectation on the 0:28:17.600 --> 0:28:21.479 inside of me. My frustration is an indication that I 0:28:21.520 --> 0:28:25.920 still have divine expectation. Somebody, thank God that not all 0:28:25.960 --> 0:28:28.960 of your problems are solved yet. Somebody, thank God that 0:28:29.080 --> 0:28:32.280 you're still believing for more. Somebody, thank God that you 0:28:32.480 --> 0:28:39.360 still have some faith that works. If you want to 0:28:39.400 --> 0:28:42.800 see your expectation fulfilled. You're gonna have to get good 0:28:42.800 --> 0:28:47.760 with managing the frustration. And when I say managing frustration, 0:28:48.080 --> 0:28:49.560 this is where a lot of people get lost because 0:28:49.560 --> 0:28:52.520 a lot of people, what their challenge in life is 0:28:52.320 --> 0:28:54.840 is that they're not they're not managing frustration. They're trying 0:28:54.840 --> 0:29:03.480 to attain perfection. Frustration is not about perfection. Frustration is 0:29:03.520 --> 0:29:07.600 about making progress little by little, day by day, moment 0:29:07.640 --> 0:29:11.640 by moment. I'm closing the gap. See some gaps like 0:29:11.720 --> 0:29:13.640 come on, homi. Some gaps like I can manage, But 0:29:13.680 --> 0:29:16.120 there's other gaps. There's some people that are watching right now. 0:29:16.160 --> 0:29:19.520 You're a first generation Christian, you're believing for your parents 0:29:19.560 --> 0:29:21.880 to get saved. Come on, that's a gap that you're 0:29:21.880 --> 0:29:24.800 gonna need some supernatural power to come and help close 0:29:24.840 --> 0:29:29.280 that gap. But if you make your whole entire goal 0:29:29.400 --> 0:29:34.360 in life perfection, you're gonna find yourself in a constant 0:29:34.400 --> 0:29:39.800 state of frustration that leaves you depleted and disappointed. In fact, 0:29:40.800 --> 0:29:43.640 there's this psychological study it's called the silver metal syndrome. 0:29:43.680 --> 0:29:45.480 I don't know if you've ever heard this before, but 0:29:45.520 --> 0:29:47.360 there's a lot of people today that live life and 0:29:47.400 --> 0:29:50.360 maybe you're watching right now and you're anxious, or you're depressed, 0:29:50.560 --> 0:29:52.840 or you're depleted. A lot of that comes from this 0:29:53.240 --> 0:29:55.920 idea that you have to be perfect. So you go 0:29:55.960 --> 0:29:58.240 through life and you're going, it could have been better. 0:29:58.840 --> 0:30:02.640 How about this should have been better? It has to 0:30:02.680 --> 0:30:06.880 be better. They did a study and what they discovered 0:30:06.920 --> 0:30:10.720 is they discovered that silver medal winners, like in the Olympics, 0:30:11.120 --> 0:30:19.640 are more unhappy than bronze medal winners. You say, why 0:30:19.720 --> 0:30:22.640 is that rich? I mean one one finished further. Well, 0:30:22.640 --> 0:30:24.760 the silver medal winner, he's up on the podium and 0:30:24.760 --> 0:30:27.840 he's sitting in there and going, ah, I was so close. 0:30:29.080 --> 0:30:31.720 I was so close to being perfect. I should have 0:30:31.760 --> 0:30:34.880 been perfect. I should have been first. I'm not first, 0:30:34.960 --> 0:30:48.640 I'm second. But the bronze medal winner like this ain't 0:30:48.680 --> 0:30:53.480 so bad. He's like, it could have been worse. He goes, 0:30:53.560 --> 0:30:57.320 I was so close from nobody even knowing my name. 0:30:58.160 --> 0:31:01.520 But thank god I got myself up on the podium. 0:31:01.960 --> 0:31:05.960 We made it. Come on, somebody, anybody thankful. You might 0:31:06.000 --> 0:31:08.600 not be where you want to be yet, but anybody 0:31:08.680 --> 0:31:11.680 thankful that you're not where you used to be. We 0:31:11.880 --> 0:31:16.960 made it. It could have been worse. It could have 0:31:17.040 --> 0:31:23.280 been worse. Frustration is not about perfection. It's about progress. 0:31:24.760 --> 0:31:27.240 It's about waking up each day with a fight inside 0:31:27.240 --> 0:31:30.120 of you. It's about say, I'm solve this thing. If 0:31:30.160 --> 0:31:32.520 God put me here, he trusted me that I am 0:31:32.560 --> 0:31:34.720 the man for the job. I am the woman for 0:31:34.800 --> 0:31:37.800 the moment. I'm the right mom for this house. I'm 0:31:37.800 --> 0:31:40.560 the right dad for this home. I'm the right pastor 0:31:40.600 --> 0:31:43.680 for this location. I'm the right leader at this job. 0:31:43.920 --> 0:31:46.120 He has put me in a place if he called 0:31:46.160 --> 0:31:48.480 me to it, His grace is gonna get me through it. 0:31:50.840 --> 0:31:52.600 See this is our challenge. I want you to get 0:31:52.600 --> 0:31:56.800 this today because the enemy of your soul, the only 0:31:56.880 --> 0:31:58.800 thing he cares about when it comes to your life 0:31:58.880 --> 0:32:03.000 is your future. One thing I know about following Jesus 0:32:03.920 --> 0:32:08.000 is the future will always be more demanding than the past. 0:32:11.040 --> 0:32:16.480 What's the reward for passing the third grade? Fourth grade? 0:32:18.920 --> 0:32:20.760 It's just one test after another. In fact, how about this, Oh, 0:32:20.800 --> 0:32:23.959 this is gonna make someone really mad with with God. Uh, 0:32:24.720 --> 0:32:27.360 there's there's no like. There's there's no like. He isn't 0:32:27.360 --> 0:32:30.000 great on a curve. It's like pass or fail? Like 0:32:30.040 --> 0:32:31.600 you just how you know? You just keep taking the 0:32:31.600 --> 0:32:35.719 same test over and over again. Ask how he works 0:32:36.280 --> 0:32:38.880 and if you're gonna follow Jesus, He's always got more 0:32:38.920 --> 0:32:41.240 for you, and you're always stepping into more, which means 0:32:41.240 --> 0:32:43.360 you're always facing new frustration because we live in a 0:32:43.360 --> 0:32:46.080 broken world and what the enemy wants to do is 0:32:46.080 --> 0:32:48.760 the enemy he wants to mess up your future. In fact, 0:32:48.760 --> 0:32:50.680 when he said this way, the enemy doesn't care about 0:32:50.680 --> 0:33:00.120 your past, you do. Oh my god, Oh I helpe sobody. 0:33:00.440 --> 0:33:02.480 The only reason he brings up your past is because 0:33:02.480 --> 0:33:07.320 he wants to destroy your future. He doesn't care at 0:33:07.360 --> 0:33:11.600 all about what you did last year. He doesn't care 0:33:11.640 --> 0:33:16.400 about your you care about your past. It's messing with you. 0:33:17.640 --> 0:33:19.640 Look at what first, John says. I love this. This 0:33:19.680 --> 0:33:23.560 is so beautiful, He says, dear friends, now we are 0:33:23.720 --> 0:33:26.880 children of God. And what will be? Someone say what 0:33:26.920 --> 0:33:31.960 will be? And what will be has not yet been made. No, 0:33:34.040 --> 0:33:35.720 you know what that's saying to all of us. That's 0:33:35.720 --> 0:33:38.000 saying that if you are in Christ Jesus, you are 0:33:38.040 --> 0:33:41.720 still becoming and the only thing more important with who 0:33:41.760 --> 0:33:46.400 you are today is who you're becoming tomorrow. Here's why 0:33:46.400 --> 0:33:49.400 I find confidence today. I find confidence that Jesus could 0:33:49.400 --> 0:33:52.760 close my eternal gap. I'm thankful for the Holy Spirit 0:33:52.920 --> 0:33:55.320 who will help me close the gap from where I 0:33:55.360 --> 0:33:58.160 am today and where he wants me to be tomorrow. 0:34:01.040 --> 0:34:03.360 That's why the Apostle Paul says, in the same way, 0:34:03.400 --> 0:34:06.240 the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not 0:34:06.360 --> 0:34:08.240 know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit 0:34:08.320 --> 0:34:11.480 himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 0:34:11.760 --> 0:34:13.719 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of 0:34:13.760 --> 0:34:16.040 the spirit. Because the Spirit intercedes for the saints and 0:34:16.040 --> 0:34:19.080 accordance with God's will. That's a whole lot right there. 0:34:19.280 --> 0:34:22.520 But I'm just telling you that's powerful because when you 0:34:22.600 --> 0:34:24.880 begin to pray in the spirit, and some of you 0:34:25.120 --> 0:34:26.880 got different words for all that. All I'm saying is 0:34:26.880 --> 0:34:29.719 when you say God, Holy Spirit, you feel me. You 0:34:29.760 --> 0:34:31.480 start praying with me. At times you don't even know 0:34:31.520 --> 0:34:34.080 what you're praying. My son wild he doesn't have all 0:34:34.120 --> 0:34:36.520 the words right now. Sometimes he's like, ah, We're like, 0:34:36.520 --> 0:34:39.480 what's up, bro, But he's got an expectation. I'm telling 0:34:39.520 --> 0:34:41.440 you what. You don't need the Holy Spirit just to 0:34:41.440 --> 0:34:43.040 make it to Heaven. You need the Holy Spirit to 0:34:43.080 --> 0:34:45.240 help you get through the supermarket you need the Holy 0:34:45.280 --> 0:34:47.479 Spirit to help you in traffic. Come on, the Holy 0:34:47.520 --> 0:34:49.919 Spirit doesn't make me better than you. Holy Spirit makes 0:34:49.920 --> 0:34:53.719 me better than me, and he helps me close the 0:34:53.800 --> 0:34:59.839 gaps of my weakness. We need the Spirit of God 0:35:00.040 --> 0:35:03.960 our church. We need the Holy Spirit like never before. 0:35:04.560 --> 0:35:06.680 We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, with 0:35:06.760 --> 0:35:12.920 the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, 0:35:13.040 --> 0:35:16.359 has self control. The Holy Spirit is not about spiritual superiority. 0:35:16.560 --> 0:35:20.200 It is about spiritual survival. I can't make it without 0:35:20.200 --> 0:35:22.080 the Spirit of God. I'm not going to ever be 0:35:22.120 --> 0:35:23.719 able to fulfill all that He's called me to do 0:35:23.920 --> 0:35:32.479 unless the Spirit shows up. Someone say, mind the gap. 0:35:34.480 --> 0:35:36.960 We all have weaknesses. We don't need to be afraid 0:35:37.000 --> 0:35:40.600 of them, but we certainly need to be aware of them, 0:35:40.800 --> 0:35:44.840 and it's time that the Body of Christ reframes them. 0:35:45.000 --> 0:35:50.640 Frustration is not a curse. Frustration, many times is an 0:35:50.719 --> 0:35:55.759 indicator of what God's calling me to do. As the 0:35:55.760 --> 0:35:57.279 worship team makes their way up here, I want you 0:35:57.360 --> 0:36:02.640 to see this spectation is coupled with frustration, But if 0:36:02.640 --> 0:36:06.800 I manage the frustration well, it always leads to a revelation. 0:36:09.320 --> 0:36:12.400 We get the word revelation from the root word reveal. 0:36:13.800 --> 0:36:17.160 And I'm believing today that everything that you're hoping for 0:36:17.200 --> 0:36:20.400 and everything that you're believing for, that in due season, 0:36:20.520 --> 0:36:26.000 in due time, God will reveal it to you. But 0:36:26.040 --> 0:36:28.040 I want the Body of Christ to understand that there 0:36:28.120 --> 0:36:31.360 is a correlation between me managing my frustration and my 0:36:31.480 --> 0:36:38.919 capacity to receive revelation. Everybody wants revelation, but very few 0:36:38.920 --> 0:36:41.960 of us are willing to walk through the idea of frustration. 0:36:42.800 --> 0:36:44.440 Look at what the apostle Paul says as we get 0:36:44.440 --> 0:36:49.160 ready to close. He says in Romans chapter eight, verse 0:36:49.200 --> 0:36:51.319 twenty two, we know that the whole creation has been 0:36:51.360 --> 0:36:55.880 growing in the pains of childbirth right up to the 0:36:55.920 --> 0:36:59.040 present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have 0:36:59.080 --> 0:37:01.439 the first fruits of the spear grown inwardly, as we 0:37:01.520 --> 0:37:05.759 wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of 0:37:05.800 --> 0:37:10.799 our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But 0:37:10.960 --> 0:37:16.040 hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who 0:37:16.120 --> 0:37:20.719 hopes for what he already has. But if we hope 0:37:21.000 --> 0:37:24.520 for what we do not yet have, we wait for 0:37:24.640 --> 0:37:33.839 it patiently. The apostle Paul, he likens revelation to childbirth. 0:37:35.760 --> 0:37:41.560 You know, when a woman's pregnant, we say she's expecting that. 0:37:44.080 --> 0:37:47.719 My wife is weeks away from giving birth to our 0:37:48.400 --> 0:37:55.600 third child. Yeah, we can thank God for it. Some 0:37:55.640 --> 0:37:58.920 of you know our story. But we waited eight years 0:37:58.920 --> 0:38:03.600 to have kids. Waiting seasons on God are never wasted seasons, 0:38:05.400 --> 0:38:08.120 and we waited and it makes the miracle that much better. 0:38:08.200 --> 0:38:12.040 But my wife, she just weeks away. July second is 0:38:12.080 --> 0:38:14.360 her due date. We're having a baby girl. You know 0:38:14.400 --> 0:38:18.239 it's gonna be www something. If you've got w name, 0:38:18.320 --> 0:38:19.520 just put it in the chat right now. Just give 0:38:19.560 --> 0:38:22.440 us some names. We need some names. Wein Nona, Winter, Wendy, 0:38:22.520 --> 0:38:28.840 I don't know. How about Wanda Wilkerson. I like that 0:38:28.960 --> 0:38:32.440 right there, just felt the Holy Spirit right there, Wanda Wilkerson, 0:38:33.239 --> 0:38:41.080 Wanda Wesley Wilkerson. What I've learned about women who are expecting, 0:38:42.400 --> 0:38:44.120 women who are waiting for that which is on the 0:38:44.160 --> 0:38:47.600 end side of them to be revealed. What I've learned 0:38:47.600 --> 0:38:49.880 about a woman who's pregnant when she does it the 0:38:50.040 --> 0:38:54.799 right way. How many of you know that expecting a 0:38:54.960 --> 0:38:59.160 child to come and being pregnant is a complete reorder 0:38:59.200 --> 0:39:03.000 to your life. I think many times when it comes 0:39:03.000 --> 0:39:05.000 to us wanting God to reveal the thing that we're 0:39:05.000 --> 0:39:08.239 hoping for, when it comes to us believing God to 0:39:08.239 --> 0:39:11.480 do the thing that we've been praying for, because that's 0:39:11.480 --> 0:39:16.440 what hoping feels like. Hoping feels like waiting. Expectation feels 0:39:16.480 --> 0:39:20.440 like waiting. And you gotta understand that because I've been 0:39:20.440 --> 0:39:22.520 waiting for a long time. I know that's part of 0:39:22.560 --> 0:39:25.440 it that makes it more beautiful, that makes it sweeter. 0:39:25.760 --> 0:39:28.560 But you must understand that there's an order to revelation, 0:39:30.200 --> 0:39:32.520 and if you wait the right way, it's a reorder 0:39:32.560 --> 0:39:37.239 to your life. Because I've learned everybody wants revelation, but 0:39:37.320 --> 0:39:45.239 nobody wants elimination. Yo. The first thing they tell a 0:39:45.239 --> 0:39:48.520 woman when she's pregnant, the first thing, Yo, You're gonna 0:39:48.520 --> 0:39:52.360 have to cut every toxic thing that's going into your body. 0:39:52.760 --> 0:39:58.200 You can't be eight months pregnant smoking cigarettes. You can't 0:39:58.239 --> 0:40:02.120 be drinking at night with nine months being You can't 0:40:02.160 --> 0:40:05.879 be up dancing on the club floor all night long 0:40:06.000 --> 0:40:09.560 nine months. But you can't do that. Why Because the 0:40:09.640 --> 0:40:13.439 thing on the inside of you is so precious, it's 0:40:13.480 --> 0:40:18.279 so beautiful, that you can't risk anything jeopardizing that what 0:40:18.400 --> 0:40:24.960 you're waiting for. I wonder what are you pregnant with today? 0:40:25.719 --> 0:40:28.600 I wonder what are you willing to eliminate from your life. 0:40:28.680 --> 0:40:31.160 God is looking for a clean vessel that he might 0:40:31.160 --> 0:40:33.880 pour his spirit out upon. That you would say, God, 0:40:34.080 --> 0:40:38.200 I'm clean, I'm available. I'm ready to eliminate all that 0:40:38.239 --> 0:40:41.080 you need me to eliminate. I'm ready to stop whatever 0:40:41.120 --> 0:40:43.040 I need to stop in order for you to start 0:40:43.160 --> 0:40:45.360 whatever it is you want to start. Come on, somebody, 0:40:45.360 --> 0:40:52.520 give God some praise. It's a reorder some things I 0:40:52.560 --> 0:40:57.520 gotta eliminate. This is not condemnation. This is just going God. 0:40:57.880 --> 0:40:59.920 The thing that you've placed on the inside of me. 0:41:00.160 --> 0:41:02.760 It's so precious that I have to make a decision 0:41:02.960 --> 0:41:06.719 that I can't keep living that way. That's putting the 0:41:06.719 --> 0:41:10.239 thing on the inside of me at jeopardy. Everybody wants revelation, 0:41:10.600 --> 0:41:18.759 nobody wants preparation. Don't tell me about your expectation. Show 0:41:18.840 --> 0:41:24.000 me your preparation. I wonder to if God fulfills all 0:41:24.040 --> 0:41:30.919 your dreams, would you even be ready for it? Because 0:41:30.920 --> 0:41:32.560 when God comes and knocks on the door of your life, 0:41:32.560 --> 0:41:38.319 you can't say, yo, I'm busy, Come back later. You 0:41:38.360 --> 0:41:43.640 should be living like God is doing what you're believing for. 0:41:45.520 --> 0:41:49.399 You should be living like God is doing what you're 0:41:49.400 --> 0:41:53.440 believing for. If you ever get around pregnant, WM tell 0:41:53.480 --> 0:41:55.560 you what. It's a reorder. My wife isn't this thing 0:41:55.600 --> 0:42:02.320 called nesting. It's real, y'all, cleaning the getting the rooms ready. 0:42:02.320 --> 0:42:05.759 What is she doing? She's preparing for a baby to 0:42:05.840 --> 0:42:10.560 be revealed in the house. This week, our church released 0:42:10.560 --> 0:42:12.880 our very first ever worship project. We look up to 0:42:12.920 --> 0:42:16.040 Elevation Worship and Elevation Church in so many different ways. 0:42:16.080 --> 0:42:19.560 It's a huge miracle and we name the record I 0:42:19.640 --> 0:42:24.000 need Revival. You want to know why, because before we 0:42:24.080 --> 0:42:27.480 as a church say America needs revival or the church 0:42:27.600 --> 0:42:30.759 needs a revival, we have decided in our hearts that 0:42:30.800 --> 0:42:34.440 we would take personal responsibility that before I declared you 0:42:34.480 --> 0:42:37.120 need a revival, how may know I need a revival. 0:42:37.400 --> 0:42:39.759 I need God to do something in me before He 0:42:39.800 --> 0:42:44.200 does something through me. In fact, I got a revelation 0:42:44.280 --> 0:42:47.920 the other day. I'm not praying anymore for revival. I 0:42:48.040 --> 0:42:50.480 just decided that every single day of my life, I'm 0:42:50.520 --> 0:42:53.560 walking into every space. I'm walking into every room with 0:42:53.640 --> 0:43:01.560 a calm confidence, that I am a walking, talking revival. Somebody, 0:43:01.920 --> 0:43:09.680 you're reliable. It's a reorder. Everybody wants revelation, but nobody 0:43:09.719 --> 0:43:26.040 wants frustration. Childbirth is brutal. So I hear holding a baby, 0:43:26.640 --> 0:43:32.600 it's beautiful. How do you give birth? You have to 0:43:32.680 --> 0:43:37.000 keep breathing. You have to keep pushing. You have to 0:43:37.080 --> 0:43:41.759 keep waiting. You have to keep breathing, You have to 0:43:41.840 --> 0:43:48.440 keep pushing. Your frustration is not going to destroy the 0:43:48.480 --> 0:43:52.360 expectation on the inside of you. Keep breathing, keep pushing, 0:43:54.960 --> 0:43:57.520 keep waiting. I felt the spirit of God says, I'm 0:43:57.600 --> 0:44:02.680 up here. If the Lord says it's worth it, it's 0:44:02.760 --> 0:44:10.879 worth it. So live a life worthy of it. Elevation, Church, 0:44:10.960 --> 0:44:13.279 it's worth it. The labor, the pushing, the breathe, it 0:44:13.440 --> 0:44:17.000 is worth it. Live a life worthy of it. Staff 0:44:17.120 --> 0:44:21.440 is worth it. Live a life worthy of it. Campus 0:44:21.520 --> 0:44:23.400 Is it's worth it. Live a life worthy of it. 0:44:23.440 --> 0:44:27.399 You have no idea. All that is being revealed as 0:44:27.400 --> 0:44:29.640 you manage your frustration. I can hear a back of 0:44:29.800 --> 0:44:31.880 hundreds of years before Christ is up on the scene. 0:44:32.360 --> 0:44:35.040 His nation is under siege. He's a prophet, and he's 0:44:35.080 --> 0:44:38.239 looking around and saying, God, When am I going to 0:44:38.320 --> 0:44:40.680 see all that I've been praying for and hoping for 0:44:40.760 --> 0:44:43.680 and believing for. But a back, it says, I heard, 0:44:44.040 --> 0:44:47.200 and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound. 0:44:47.280 --> 0:44:52.000 Decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet 0:44:52.040 --> 0:44:55.040 I will wait, someone say, yet, I will wait. Yet, 0:44:55.080 --> 0:44:57.279 I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to 0:44:57.320 --> 0:45:00.680 come on the nation invading us. The pig tree does 0:45:00.760 --> 0:45:03.320 not bud, And though there are no grapes on the vines, 0:45:03.920 --> 0:45:07.160 though the olive crop fails in the fields produce no food, 0:45:07.680 --> 0:45:10.160 though there are no sheep in the pen and no 0:45:10.320 --> 0:45:15.440 cattle in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 0:45:15.840 --> 0:45:20.200 I will be joyful in God, my Savior. Can we 0:45:20.239 --> 0:45:22.440 just take a five second praise break all of this place. 0:45:23.080 --> 0:45:25.399 I might not have it yet, but I'm believing it's 0:45:25.440 --> 0:45:29.760 on the way. I'm lifting my expectation. I'm raising my expectations. 0:45:31.719 --> 0:45:33.959 It's coming in due season. It's coming in due time. 0:45:37.160 --> 0:45:39.000 My son wild he gets up to that pool deck 0:45:39.920 --> 0:45:42.359 and he gets on his tippy toes, and he puts 0:45:42.360 --> 0:45:46.960 his arms back, and he smiles over at me, and 0:45:47.040 --> 0:45:52.400 he says, Dad, I'm fixing to jump some of you today. 0:45:52.440 --> 0:45:56.480 You might say, Rich, what's wrong with your boy? Does 0:45:56.480 --> 0:46:00.560 he not know that he can't swim? Does he not 0:46:00.680 --> 0:46:03.560 know if he jumps into that water he is going 0:46:03.600 --> 0:46:08.520 to sink to the bottom. I can't explain if he 0:46:08.600 --> 0:46:12.680 knows that or not. What I do know is that 0:46:12.760 --> 0:46:16.560 my son has a revelation that every time he's jumped 0:46:16.600 --> 0:46:19.919 into the deep waters of the pool, his father has 0:46:19.960 --> 0:46:23.560 been right there to rescue him and save me. Come on, 0:46:23.640 --> 0:46:25.960 I came to serve notice on you today that this 0:46:26.040 --> 0:46:28.319 is your season to jump. Come on, this is your 0:46:28.320 --> 0:46:31.360 season to dive in. This is your season to swim. 0:46:31.400 --> 0:46:34.880 Come on, God's doing something bigger, God's doing something better. 0:46:35.080 --> 0:46:37.600 Come on, where are the Saints at today? Go'll lift 0:46:37.640 --> 0:46:41.200 your hands, don't lift your voice. Lift the expectation in 0:46:41.280 --> 0:46:44.719 this room. Maybe I'm gonna jump, Maybe I'm doing into 0:46:44.800 --> 0:46:49.080 the unknown. He'll rescue you. He'll be there. He's never 0:46:49.120 --> 0:46:51.880 failed anyone. He's not gonna start with you. Come on, 0:46:51.960 --> 0:46:56.000 Chris sting it out. Come on, Porson, whatever you got, 0:46:56.360 --> 0:47:04.120 come on from here. Come on, Cordy to his powers working. 0:47:06.560 --> 0:47:12.239 He's small. Did he knows? Oh? Then you ask Steak 0:47:12.440 --> 0:47:20.080 or Benage occord to his pi work in it. He's working. 0:47:20.200 --> 0:47:25.680 He sot to me it's morning. If he hunts, sleep 0:47:26.680 --> 0:47:35.759 jail a cordy to his power working sound smoking, how 0:47:35.960 --> 0:47:44.600 the shoes smarted, steak nage according to his power working 0:47:47.000 --> 0:48:12.440 smart any shop shop jo, You're enough, your enough to shine, shine, 0:48:20.280 --> 0:48:25.520 He's more than enough. He's all that you need. Keep waiting, 0:48:25.640 --> 0:48:28.000 keep breathing. There's a revelation coming. He's about to reveal it. 0:48:30.120 --> 0:48:32.880 What is hope. We don't hope for things that we have. 0:48:34.640 --> 0:48:38.160 We hope for what we do not yet have. There's 0:48:38.200 --> 0:48:42.320 a gap. I know it's frustrating, but you're not quitting today. 0:48:44.120 --> 0:48:47.520 You didn't. You didn't you didn't tune into elevation church 0:48:47.600 --> 0:48:50.919 to quit today. I hear God say, it's time to jump, 0:48:51.200 --> 0:48:53.799 it's time to die, it's time to swim. He will 0:48:53.880 --> 0:49:02.160 be right there to catch sheep. It's worth it. It's 0:49:02.239 --> 0:49:08.920 in the unknown that our God makes himself known. And 0:49:09.040 --> 0:49:13.160 the best days of this house, I just see it. 0:49:13.320 --> 0:49:17.040 The best days of this house are in front of you. 0:49:18.800 --> 0:49:22.000 No eye is seen and no ear has heard what 0:49:22.200 --> 0:49:25.359 God has in store. You're in the right place, at 0:49:25.400 --> 0:49:28.400 the right hour, at the right moment. God has fashioned 0:49:28.480 --> 0:49:32.360 you here. God has brought you here, come back to 0:49:32.440 --> 0:49:40.440 your first love. Stretching season, It's diptoe season, it's leaning season, 0:49:41.120 --> 0:49:44.560 it's arms back season. What's going to happen this week? 0:49:45.080 --> 0:49:47.200 What's God gonna do this week? I know I'm getting 0:49:47.239 --> 0:49:50.960 expectation today, but I'm ready for the frustration tomorrow. It's 0:49:51.000 --> 0:49:53.480 the struggle of today that produces the strength I need 0:49:53.600 --> 0:49:56.399 for tomorrow. I'm leaning in, I'm ready for the fight. 0:49:56.719 --> 0:50:01.440 I'm ready to push in. I'm believing for more, and 0:50:01.520 --> 0:50:04.719 your God is more than enough in that sense. The 0:50:04.800 --> 0:50:09.160 power of the spirit here today. Thank you, Holy Spirit, 0:50:11.640 --> 0:50:13.120 Thank you that you close every one of my gaps. 0:50:13.120 --> 0:50:15.400 If you're here in personally, but even right now online, 0:50:15.960 --> 0:50:17.640 would you just close your eyes? Would you just put 0:50:17.680 --> 0:50:20.840 your hands in a posture to receive. Lots of reasons 0:50:20.840 --> 0:50:27.640 why we raise our hands in church we surrender, But 0:50:27.719 --> 0:50:30.120 a big reason why we raise our hands in church 0:50:30.160 --> 0:50:32.200 is we're saying, God, I give up to give in 0:50:33.120 --> 0:50:34.560 that I might receive all that you have for me. 0:50:34.640 --> 0:50:37.560 I just sink. There's people today that are walking in 0:50:37.640 --> 0:50:47.000 immense frustration, challenged, tempted to lower their standards. The man 0:50:47.040 --> 0:50:48.719 in Act three was meant to be walking, but he 0:50:48.840 --> 0:50:54.000 had been reduced to begging. He doesn't just want to 0:50:54.040 --> 0:50:55.840 change your day, he wants he wants to change your 0:50:55.880 --> 0:51:00.840 life for you here today, and you're struggling challenge today, 0:51:01.360 --> 0:51:03.359 just with your hands up, we just pray for your Lord. 0:51:03.440 --> 0:51:05.320 I just thank you so much for every person in 0:51:05.360 --> 0:51:07.799 this room. I thank you for every person online right now, 0:51:08.400 --> 0:51:12.560 faithfully watching, faithfully participating a part of this house. Lord, 0:51:12.640 --> 0:51:15.359 I pray that the same power that conquered death, hell 0:51:15.440 --> 0:51:18.399 and the grave would transcend right now and meet people 0:51:18.520 --> 0:51:20.560 right where they are. That as we sing this song, 0:51:20.680 --> 0:51:22.759 that you are more than enough. God, I am not enough, 0:51:22.840 --> 0:51:24.960 but you are. And so we believe right now that 0:51:25.040 --> 0:51:27.200 your Holy Spirit is meeting people right where they are. 0:51:27.600 --> 0:51:30.920 And right now today, Jesus, they're being strengthened. They're getting 0:51:30.920 --> 0:51:33.399 a new revelation. Today. They're beginning to see the things 0:51:33.440 --> 0:51:35.839 they've been praying for, the things they've been hoping for. God. 0:51:35.880 --> 0:51:37.879 Today we're ready to reorder our life. God, We're ready 0:51:37.880 --> 0:51:40.160 to change things around. If I got to eliminate something, God, 0:51:40.239 --> 0:51:42.080 I want to start preparing right now. I want to 0:51:42.120 --> 0:51:45.480 manage the frustration I'm breathing I'm leaning in God, Do 0:51:45.640 --> 0:51:48.480 a new thing inside of me. Lord, do a new 0:51:48.560 --> 0:51:53.000 thing inside of me. Strengthen my legs, make me strong 0:51:53.120 --> 0:51:57.040 for the fight. Do a work today, Jesus. Inside of people, 0:51:58.360 --> 0:52:00.560 your heads are bawd, your eyes are closed. If you're 0:52:00.560 --> 0:52:03.359 watching today or here in person, and you've never met 0:52:03.400 --> 0:52:09.200 this Jesus, this God who came from heaven to earth 0:52:10.719 --> 0:52:12.520 that we might have a relationship with him. Here is 0:52:12.600 --> 0:52:16.080 the gospel in a sentence. Jesus Christ came, took everything 0:52:16.120 --> 0:52:18.040 that you deserved so that you could get everything that 0:52:18.160 --> 0:52:21.160 he deserved. And you cannot achieve him. You can only 0:52:21.239 --> 0:52:23.200 receive him. And how do you receive him through belief? 0:52:25.000 --> 0:52:27.719 You must raise your expectation to believe that he is 0:52:27.800 --> 0:52:29.160 who he said that he is, that he loves you, 0:52:29.280 --> 0:52:31.400 and that he's for you. He's not mad at you, 0:52:31.480 --> 0:52:33.840 He's madly in love with you. For God to not 0:52:33.960 --> 0:52:35.439 send his un in the world to condemn the world, 0:52:35.520 --> 0:52:37.360 but to save the world. If he wanted to condemn 0:52:37.440 --> 0:52:39.560 the world, he certainly would have sent a condemner. But 0:52:39.640 --> 0:52:41.600 instead he wanted to save the world. Therefore he sent 0:52:41.640 --> 0:52:44.799 a savior, and he came to close the greatest gap. 0:52:45.400 --> 0:52:49.560 The greatest gap, the most frustrating thing. He came to 0:52:49.600 --> 0:52:53.279 remind you that you were meant for another reality. And 0:52:53.320 --> 0:52:55.839 wherever you're at today, in this room or online, if 0:52:55.840 --> 0:52:57.239 you don't know Jesus on the count three, would just 0:52:57.280 --> 0:52:58.640 be bold? Would you just lift your hand u high enough, 0:52:58.680 --> 0:53:01.680 long enough right there? Online? That's you just that's me 0:53:01.840 --> 0:53:03.719 just in the chat, that's me on the count of three. 0:53:04.000 --> 0:53:07.680 If Jesus is speaking to you now and you want 0:53:07.719 --> 0:53:13.920 today to ask for his forgiveness, to receive his love, 0:53:14.480 --> 0:53:17.560 only count threeould you just let you have ready? One, two, three, 0:53:17.600 --> 0:53:19.840 I that's you. That's me, Richly, that's me. That's me. 0:53:20.280 --> 0:53:26.279 That's me. That's me. That's me. That's me. That's me. 0:53:27.160 --> 0:53:32.120 That's me. Come on, Epham and Elimation Church. When we 0:53:32.160 --> 0:53:33.919 lift our hands fords that if we pray this prayer together, 0:53:36.600 --> 0:53:38.120 we're gonna pray this prayer and then we're gonna sing 0:53:38.200 --> 0:53:40.600 with everything we've gone, pray this prayer out loud and say, 0:53:40.600 --> 0:53:46.560 dear Jesus today, Lord, I surrender. I give in to 0:53:46.640 --> 0:53:49.759 receive all that you have for me. Forgive me God. 0:53:50.480 --> 0:53:54.640 I turned towards you, believing that you have good things 0:53:54.719 --> 0:53:58.839 for me. I believe Jesus you are who you said 0:53:58.880 --> 0:54:03.560 that you are. Today, I wait patiently for all that 0:54:03.680 --> 0:54:07.560 you promised me for. I believe it will be revealed 0:54:08.400 --> 0:54:12.359 in due time in Jesus name. Come on, Elevation Church. 0:54:12.440 --> 0:54:16.560 We put our hands together on can we lift our hands? 0:54:17.160 --> 0:54:26.359 Come on? Can we lift our Thank you for joining us. 0:54:26.719 --> 0:54:29.120 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:54:29.239 --> 0:54:32.680 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:54:33.160 --> 0:54:35.359 You can click the link in the description to give 0:54:35.480 --> 0:54:39.360 now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for 0:54:39.480 --> 0:54:43.239 more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:54:43.719 --> 0:54:45.759 You can share it with your friends. You can click 0:54:45.800 --> 0:54:48.000 the share button, take a screenshot and share it on 0:54:48.080 --> 0:54:50.919 your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks 0:54:50.960 --> 0:54:52.320 again for listening. God bless you.