The God Of Again

0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.280 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.360 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:10.000 Be sure to. 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:13.720 Subscribe so we can get you these new sermons every week. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:14.720 I hope you're blessed. 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:15.040 Today. 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:21.960 We want to welcome our EPAM around the world, our 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:25.880 global community of men and women, boys and girls, cats 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:34.000 and dogs, fish and lizards. Whoever's watching, all of y'all welcome, Welcome. 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:36.200 Let us know where you're watching from in the comments. 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:39.520 I have a word for you today. God has really 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:43.519 been speaking to me. I shared last week a message 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:50.920 about how God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:55.760 and then I said he's the God of also also, 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:01.480 meaning that God is bigger than your box, whatever you 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:03.840 have seen him as so far. He's more than that. 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:09.720 Your past is not greater than your potential. He's the 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:12.759 God of also who you are still unfolding, you're still becoming, 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:16.960 and that God's purpose is bigger than your plan. 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:19.920 And so we talked about the God of also. 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:23.320 This week, I'd like to continue in that same theme 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:28.000 and so also, not only is he the God of also, 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:29.880 but there's another thing I want to show you and 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:31.480 the Holy Spirit showed me how to do it. 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:33.959 He told me to use one verse and that this 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:35.600 one verse would help me launch my talk. 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:38.280 And then we'll talk about it, and we'll talk about 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.320 some more, and we'll talk about some more. But the 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:43.080 verse I want to show you to get started is 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:46.839 John chapter twenty one, Verse one. 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:53.400 Just real quick, setting this foundation, the writer says. 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:57.600 Afterward, Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the Sea 0:01:57.640 --> 0:01:58.280 of Galilee. 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:04.440 It happened afterward Jesus appeared again. 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:06.600 So today I want to talk to you about the 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:12.800 God of Again, the God of Again. I think this 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:14.440 is going to help you with some of the heaviness 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:20.680 you've been feeling from regrets and fears. He's the God 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:27.400 of also, and he's also the God of again, Spirit 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:29.120 of the Living God. Have your way now. I yield 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:31.320 myself to you. You are the music. I am the 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:36.600 instrument reach your people through me. I offer myself to you. 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:41.400 Speak to them through me. You get the glory, you 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:42.480 get the praise. 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:51.560 In Jesus' name. Amen, Amen, and they be seated. Just 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:52.320 something I don't normally do. 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:53.880 I'm going to give you all three of my points 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:59.360 at the beginning of my message. Number one God is 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:04.400 really into repetition. That's point number one. I'll give you 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:09.160 a minute to write that down. God is really into repetition. 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:16.120 All right, you got that number two, God is really 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:17.000 into repetition. 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:25.760 And point three, God. 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:32.320 Is really really really really really really really really into repetition. 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:35.840 Prove it to you. 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:40.800 We'll go to Jericho and ask the Israelites if God 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:44.440 is into repetition. When they had to walk around those 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:50.480 walls not only seven times, but seven days, Boom taking 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:54.680 a lap seeing nothing happen, Boom taking a lap seeing 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:59.560 nothing happening. Boom taking a lap seeing nothing happen, like 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:02.680 on that fourth day. Are you sure you heard from God, Joshua? 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:06.000 Or are we marching around the right walls? But God 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:08.160 is really into repetition? 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:12.040 Or if you don't. 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:15.760 Believe those people that God is really into repetition, ask 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:19.000 name in the Syrian commander who had leprosy. 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.919 You know I'm going with this. He had to dip 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:28.200 in the Jordan river seven times to be healed of 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:28.920 his leprosy. 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:33.000 You know about the fifth dip, you'd be kind of 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.560 embarrassed if you still had the same spots on your 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:40.479 skin that you had when it got started. But God 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:47.640 is really into repetition. Or ask that servant of the 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:50.480 Man of God, Elijah. Now this story is in one 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:54.320 King's eighteen. There's been a drought and Elijah, the prophet, says, hey, 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:57.160 there's a cloud starting to fill up with rain. And 0:04:57.200 --> 0:04:59.760 the man is like where. He's like, go look, He's like, 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.839 there's nothing there. It's like look again, It's like there's 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:06.200 nothing there. It's like, look again, there's nothing there. Seven 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:13.080 times he looked seven times. God is really into repetition. 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:19.800 I bring it up because maybe you're frustrated that you're 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:24.039 still going through something in your life that you thought 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:27.400 you would have gone through by now. 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:36.240 No zero percent frustration at Elevation Church today, just me. 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:44.880 I'm gonna repeat that again. Maybe you're frustrated because there's 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:49.120 something in your life. Maybe you're like Graham. Graham's real picky. 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:53.240 Holly is such a good cook that our kids have 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:54.320 gotten really picky. 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:56.880 Let me think how that works. She's too consistent in 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:57.360 the kitchen. 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:02.719 I told her to clear the pantries and shut down 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:05.200 the kitchen for a month to get Graham to shut up, 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:09.839 because she said the other day, we're having chili tonight, 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:17.720 and he goes really again chili, and I'm like, yeah, 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:24.159 really again, chili. The chili is good if she wants 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:30.400 to cook it every night. But he's gotten picky because 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:37.040 she's too consistent. She's so consistent that he's gotten picky 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:40.880 with it. And the truth is, some of us God 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:44.839 has been too good to us, if I can say 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:49.960 it that way, that he's so consistent and he's so 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:53.480 good at being God that it's hard for us to 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:56.960 stay grateful because of all the stuff he just did. 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:03.080 They're like the sun came up the morning and nobody 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:08.839 praised him for it. I mean, most of us walked 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:09.840 into church today. 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.160 Our legs got us in here, and you know, and 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:17.320 then three songs in my feet are hurting. 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:19.000 When are we gonna sit down? 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:22.320 Are we gonna sing the same thing over and over 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:22.960 and over? 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:27.440 How much more? Does he know? Much more? How much more? 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.880 Much more? I don't know much more? Tell me how 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:31.960 much more are we gonna sing? 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:38.240 But God is into repetition, So sometimes I think it's 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:41.600 good when we just sing and give thanks to the Lord. 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:45.080 You know, Paul said, rejoice in the Lord always again. 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:51.120 I say rejoice, And sometimes we have to rejoice again 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:54.640 and again in order to remind our souls that God 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:59.000 has been good again and again. I mean, how many 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:04.680 have the testimony that he kept on blessing me. He 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.000 kept on blessing me many times. I even tried to 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:12.600 push God away, but he kept on blessing me. Sometimes 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:15.040 I ran so far I thought I couldn't receive it. 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:15.400 But he. 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.080 A lot of times, I was actually living a life 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:23.120 that was completely contradictory to the character in his word. 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:23.600 But he. 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:30.480 I'm using repetition to talk to you about the repetitious 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:34.960 nature of the grace of God. I mean, thank god, 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:39.720 he's into repetition. Thank God he's into continuing to wake 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.559 me up every morning and start me. 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:43.160 On my way. 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.040 Thank God, he's into just over and over again. Watch 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:53.000 this breathing out so that I can breathe in. And 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:55.640 that's why I don't mind praising him, because let everything 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.839 that has praise the Lord, and I figure that if 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:01.800 He's good enough to give the breath, I ought to 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:05.520 be grateful enough to give it back. I don't mind 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:09.600 giving him glory. I don't mind singing it one more time. 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:13.040 God is really into repetition. 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:15.000 If you don't ever know what to say to God. 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:18.360 Just start saying thank you Jesus, and then just say 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:21.040 it again, thank you Jesus. And then if you can't 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:22.520 think of anything to thank him for, it to say 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:26.520 thank you Jesus for your love, thank you Jesus for 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:27.800 the cross, thank you Jesus. 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:29.199 Because God is into repetition. 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:31.679 Now I don't just mean vain repetition where we just 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.280 say a lot of stuff, but I mean that kind 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:38.760 of I need to slow down. God is into repetition, 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:42.120 and I'm glad that he is because the fact that 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:46.640 he's into repetition means that he will keep on sustaining 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:54.040 me and keep on blessing me over and over again. 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:56.920 That's why I read you the scripture that I read you. 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:06.960 That afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples. I prayed 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:10.880 today that he would show up again to you. I 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:13.960 assume that you want to be his disciple and that 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:15.520 you want to see him, so I prayed that he 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:17.360 would show up again. 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:22.160 Everybody say again, that's the thing about it. 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:27.120 He's resurrected from the dead, and he already showed up 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:27.760 two other. 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:29.840 Times to his disciples. 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:33.040 They were kind of scared, so they were hiding behind 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:34.760 locked doors and he just walks through. 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:37.520 So he shows up. 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.240 Again to see Thomas because Thomas wasn't there the first time. 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:48.520 And then John said afterward, Jesus appeared again to his disciples, 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:52.280 which kind of makes you wonder, how many times do 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:54.640 you have to show up after you're raised from the 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.800 dead to get somebody convinced that you're the son of God. 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:02.760 We remembering in a funny memory with Elijah this week 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.040 because he turned eighteen and we're to my lawlest birthday 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.200 parties in the past, and that guy was talking about 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:12.280 family pictures and that made me traumatized. I hate nothing 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:18.760 more than taking family pictures. I'm telling you, man. I Well, 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:21.600 I'll just tell you one example. There was one time 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:25.240 when they were real little and Elijah kept picking on 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:28.840 Abby and Holly looks at him. And you know, when 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:33.680 Holly's in front of y'all, she's very sweet, there's another side. 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:35.640 She looks at him, and I was scared. And she 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:36.600 wasn't even talking to me. 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:41.000 She said, how many times do I have to tell 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:45.480 you keep your heads off your sister? He's terrified. He's 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.080 only like, you know, seven at the time. He's terrified. 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:50.559 He looks at her goes three times. 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:52.920 I don't know. 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:57.480 Well, it's so funny. Three times, Like. 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:03.720 How many times will it take for you to hear 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:07.079 the words that are coming out of my mouth? 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:11.440 He's like, oh no, maybe three red. 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:18.679 And I wonder how many times does God have to. 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:26.559 Tell us certain things? Why'd you just squeal? Maybe God 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:28.800 has been trying to tell you something. And this is 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:30.760 a central question I really want to ask. 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:35.920 This will probably send some of you off and you 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:37.600 won't hear anything else in the sermon, But it's fine 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:39.800 because I want to give it to you. What does 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:44.000 God keep repeating that you keep resisting? 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:49.640 He said, say it again. I love when people say 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.720 that in my sermon. Like sometimes they'll say say it again, 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:54.240 and I'm like, I don't know what I just said. 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:58.199 I'm just following the Holy Spirit, but I will say 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:04.560 that again. Ask God been repeating that you have been resisting. 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:10.240 In the passage that I read you, Peter has gone fishing, 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:13.880 even though God is going to call him to be 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:16.760 a great apostle, Like Peter is going to go on 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:19.000 to be kind of like a pope to the. 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.240 Church in that day. You would have seen it that way. 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.599 Peter is going to go on to preach on the 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:24.520 day of Pentecost. 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:28.199 None of that has happened yet. The Holy Spirit hasn't come. 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:33.880 He's already seen Jesus, but Peter still needs something else, 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:35.000 and it's called. 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:40.080 Restoration. Restoration. 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.880 Not only does he need to see that Jesus is resurrected, 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:51.040 but he needs to personally be restored. The Holy Spirit 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:55.800 said that I would be ministering to people today who 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:59.560 you have seen the revelation of God, meaning that you 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:04.680 know you've experienced Him in your life. He has seen 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:08.839 you through certain seasons, but you are finding yourself in 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.640 a season today as I speak this message that things 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:16.960 have been so different and so difficult that you need 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:22.440 to see Him again in order to go forward. And 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:27.400 the good news is he is the God of again. 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.800 He's the God who will show up once and walk 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:36.960 through locked doors, show up twice, so doubting Thomas can believe. 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:40.720 And if that's not enough, he'll show up. 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:47.600 How many times? Three times? Three times? If that's what 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:48.720 it takes. 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:54.000 To get Peter to see not who Jesus is. Peter 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:57.920 already saw that, But what if what Peter needs to 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:02.800 see in this moment is who Peter is? There are 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:06.400 times in your life where God needs to show you 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:07.520 again who you are. 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:08.240 Because you forget. 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:14.280 God needs to show you what you're capable of because 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:17.440 you've talked yourself out of it. God needs to show 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:21.040 you that there's a future ahead of you, greater than 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:26.720 anything that is behind you. He's the God of again, 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:30.800 and he will tell you as many times as he 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.880 needs to tell you in order to get you to 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.760 see this truth. And that's because he's full of grace 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:40.360 and he's full of mercy, and he will bless you 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:41.160 again and again. 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:42.800 The same thing that is. 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:45.080 True of the blessing of God is also true of 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:49.080 the lessons of God. He will do it over and 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:54.080 over again until you get it. God will teach you 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:57.400 things over and over again until you learn them. 0:15:58.720 --> 0:15:58.800 Now. 0:15:58.760 --> 0:15:59.760 I don't know if you want to hear that or 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:00.480 not he will. 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.720 God will allow certain things in your life to stay 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:09.480 that way until you finally learn what He actually wants 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:10.000 you to learn. 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:11.120 Right. 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:13.880 God doesn't cancel the class because you burn the books. 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:18.640 God doesn't avinst you to the next level because you're tired. 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:22.080 There are certain things in our lives that God will 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:23.000 teach us over and over again. 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:23.640 In this passage. 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.480 Here is a pretty cool example of that, because let 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:28.360 me read a little bit more of it. It said, afterward, 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:34.040 Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the sea of Galilee. 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:37.160 It happened this way. I read you that verse. But 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:38.360 let's hear what happened. 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:42.160 Simon Peter Thomas, also known as Didamus Nathaniel, from cana 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:45.479 and Galilee. The sons of Zebedee and two other disciples 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:48.760 were together. I'm going out to fish, Simon Peter told them, 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:51.080 and they said, we'll go with you. So they went out, 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:54.640 got in the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.680 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.640 the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:03.840 He called out to them, friends, haven't you any fish? 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.560 No, they answered. He said, throw your nets on the 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.520 right side of the boat and you will find some. 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:12.920 When they did, they were unable to haul the net 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:16.960 in because of the large number of fish. Then the 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.280 disciple whom Jesus loved as John, who's riding this gospel, 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.280 said to Peter, is the Lord you think? As soon 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:25.520 as Simon Peter heard him say it's the Lord, he 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.080 wrapped his outer garment around him, for you're taking it off, 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:30.919 and jumped in the water. The other disciples followed in 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.600 the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:36.680 were not far from shore, about one hundred yards. 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:40.320 And when they landed they saw a fire of burning coals. 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:42.280 There with fish on it and some bread. And Jesus 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:44.679 said to them, bring some of the fish you have 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:48.240 just caught. So Simon Peter climbed back in the boat 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:51.160 dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.520 one hundred and fifty three. But even with so many, 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:57.080 the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, come 0:17:57.119 --> 0:18:00.280 and have breakfast. None of the disciples dared ask who 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:05.160 are you? They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:07.359 took the bread, gave it to them. This wasn't the 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:09.320 first time they'd seen him do this. By the way, 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.960 Jesus came, took the bread, gave it to them, did 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:16.680 the same with the fish. This was now the third 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:20.600 time Jesus appeared to the disciples. 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:23.320 How many third time? Three times? 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:27.080 This was the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:30.600 after he was raised from the dead. When they finished eating, 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:35.000 Jesus said to Simon Peter. Now here's the moment, Simon, 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:40.440 son of John, do you love me more than these? 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:41.440 Yes? 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:45.720 Lord, he said, you know I love you. Jesus said, 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:58.560 feed my lambs verse sixteen. Again, Jesus said, Simon, son 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:06.400 of John, do you love me? And Peter said, yes, Lord, 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:08.000 you know that I love you. Is this like a 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:12.360 riddle or something? Pete and repeat, We're on a boat, 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:14.040 Pete fell off? 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:19.440 Who was left? Pete and repeat? Were on a boat? 0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:24.440 Pete fell off? Who was left? Pete and repeat, We're 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:30.639 on a boat. Are you messing with me? Jesus? Is 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:34.159 this a riddle? No, it's not a riddle. It's a restoration. 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:37.720 Paul me follow me. 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:48.960 How many times did Peter deny Jesus? So how many 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:52.360 times does Jesus restore. 0:19:51.960 --> 0:20:02.560 Him to his first love? Somebody shout again. 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:09.960 I hear God saying again, over your life again, We're. 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:12.240 Going to do this until you get it. 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.679 I'm going to prove that I'm powerful until you believe 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:20.520 me to be faithful. I'm going to show you that 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:25.080 there's nothing too hard for me. Until you stop worrying 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:34.000 about stuff that I'm already working out in your life. 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:38.840 Shout again, Shout again, shout again. 0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:42.040 I'm using the message to preach the message because I 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:42.880 want you to get. 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:45.240 This word in your spirit. He's not the god of 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:46.720 one time. You better get it right. 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:49.480 He's not the god of Well, if you haven't learned 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:50.560 it by now, I guess. 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:53.359 You're just stupid. I mean, in that what we tell ourselves. 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:56.240 That's what I tell myself sometimes. How do I not 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:59.880 know this by now? How am I not over this 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:03.760 by now? How can I not do this by now? 0:21:04.400 --> 0:21:08.200 That's usually why we stop getting smarter, because we stop 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:11.919 asking stuff because something in us thinks I should know 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:12.879 this by now. 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:14.760 That's why we stay. 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:19.240 Broke, because we think we shouldn't know this about money 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:23.239 by now, so we pretend like we know, rather than 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:26.280 admitting that we don't know. And because we think we 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:29.000 should know by now, we never know because we won't 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:31.280 ask because we think. 0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:32.960 That God is frustrated with us. 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:35.359 And you know, we get this for a good reason, 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:41.399 because we're frustrated with us. So then we project the 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:47.040 same attitude on God that we carry within us. And 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:49.199 for many of us, the figure of God that we 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:58.280 have is an exasperated father saying, really again, you're praying 0:21:58.280 --> 0:22:05.840 to me about this again. You lost your temper again? Really, 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:11.800 you're asking me to help you with this again. That's 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:13.920 kind of how God sounds in my mind when I'm 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:17.280 in a bad place, when I haven't been spending time 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:19.280 in his presence, when I've just been letting the devil 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:20.040 get the best of me. 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:21.320 It's like I. 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:23.199 Almost want to go to God for stuff, but I 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:29.160 almost picture him going again. You need me to feel 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:34.119 you again. You mean to walk you through this again? 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:38.639 How many times are you gonna come to me and 0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:43.199 ask me to forgive you for this? But I found 0:22:43.200 --> 0:22:48.040 out that every time I come to God, it's a 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:51.840 compliment to him. 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:55.320 This changed my life. 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:57.320 Because when I come to Him and say, oh, I 0:22:57.359 --> 0:23:01.760 need more grace, he goes, I'm good at grace, And 0:23:01.840 --> 0:23:05.800 when you ask me for grace, you presume my power 0:23:06.160 --> 0:23:06.840 that I'm. 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:08.280 Good at what you asked me for. 0:23:09.359 --> 0:23:11.960 High five the preacher jed Johnny some encouragement out there, 0:23:13.920 --> 0:23:16.800 because when I come to God, he's not up there 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:18.720 going again. 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:22.359 I gotta show you again how to go and apologize. 0:23:22.640 --> 0:23:25.920 I gotta show you again how to work through this insecurity. 0:23:26.240 --> 0:23:29.400 I've been teaching you this since you were fifteen. Are 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:37.560 you stupid. That's not the language of Heaven. God goes. 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:56.240 Again. You hear the difference. Jesus appeared again again again. 0:23:57.600 --> 0:24:01.760 One of my kids, who shall remain nameless, asked, probably 0:24:01.760 --> 0:24:03.760 when they were really little, she was telling them, when's 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:04.320 the last time. 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:08.120 You changed clothes? They said four days ago? And she said, 0:24:08.280 --> 0:24:11.159 does that include your underwear? And this particular kid of 0:24:11.160 --> 0:24:13.440 ours said, you. 0:24:13.400 --> 0:24:21.440 Mean I have to change my underwear every day. When 0:24:21.480 --> 0:24:26.040 you do something over and over again in behavior, it's 0:24:26.080 --> 0:24:32.880 called a habit. When you do something again in music 0:24:33.680 --> 0:24:37.240 and it's a pattern that is pleasing, it's called a hook. 0:24:39.320 --> 0:24:45.480 When you do it again and again and again and again, 0:24:46.960 --> 0:24:50.880 it's a hook. And it just so happens that I'm 0:24:50.920 --> 0:24:56.280 preaching today about fishing, and they weren't fishing with a hook. 0:24:56.280 --> 0:24:58.320 They were fishing with a net. 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:05.399 The principle is the same, is that God wanted Peter 0:25:06.040 --> 0:25:10.879 to know I've hooked you, I've got you. 0:25:12.440 --> 0:25:15.560 I'm not letting you go. I'm not letting you off 0:25:15.560 --> 0:25:19.520 the hook. And you keep coming back to God, telling 0:25:19.600 --> 0:25:22.240 him over and over again in your mind. 0:25:21.960 --> 0:25:26.119 Why he should choose someone else, And as many times 0:25:26.119 --> 0:25:29.000 as you give him an excuse, he's going to give 0:25:29.040 --> 0:25:35.399 you a truth again and again and again and again 0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:39.320 and again and again and. 0:25:39.160 --> 0:25:42.560 Again and again. How many times are you gonna say it, Preacher? 0:25:42.840 --> 0:25:45.200 As many times as it takes for you to respond 0:25:45.200 --> 0:25:47.960 to this word that I'm feeling in my heart, and 0:25:48.040 --> 0:25:52.200 again and again and again. 0:25:53.960 --> 0:25:56.920 Oh there's a famous quote that they attributed to Albert Einstein, 0:25:56.960 --> 0:25:58.359 but I looked into it and I don't think he 0:25:58.400 --> 0:26:02.080 really said it, but still a great quote. Insanity is 0:26:02.160 --> 0:26:06.119 doing the same thing over and over again expecting a 0:26:06.160 --> 0:26:12.320 different result. Okay, I got a different version of that quote. 0:26:12.600 --> 0:26:20.120 Immaturity is doing something once in a while and wondering 0:26:20.160 --> 0:26:21.040 why it didn't work. 0:26:24.480 --> 0:26:25.560 If God is the. 0:26:25.480 --> 0:26:29.320 God of again, what makes you think you're gonna quote 0:26:29.320 --> 0:26:31.840 one scripture and the Devil's gonna run off of everything 0:26:31.880 --> 0:26:32.720 in your life you need. 0:26:32.680 --> 0:26:35.760 Him to leave? Come on? 0:26:36.960 --> 0:26:40.959 If God is the God of again, what makes us 0:26:41.000 --> 0:26:43.760 think we could just come to church once on Sunday 0:26:44.640 --> 0:26:47.159 and put a space of six days between us and 0:26:47.200 --> 0:26:51.919 God and just be Okay, I'm gonna need God to 0:26:52.000 --> 0:26:56.080 get in the gaps between Sundays for me to fight 0:26:56.119 --> 0:26:59.720 against the stuff that I'm struggling with, because he's the 0:26:59.720 --> 0:27:04.879 God again. That's not put these messages on YouTube for 0:27:05.000 --> 0:27:07.640 free so you can get it. 0:27:08.840 --> 0:27:11.399 And and some. 0:27:11.440 --> 0:27:12.600 Of you don't like you talk to you fast when 0:27:12.640 --> 0:27:14.199 you firally need the slow down. No, you need to 0:27:14.200 --> 0:27:16.399 rewind to get it again. 0:27:19.440 --> 0:27:21.600 YouTube even has a slowdown flumption. 0:27:21.960 --> 0:27:28.639 There's no excops, slow me down and get this world. 0:27:34.560 --> 0:27:41.080 I'll go as slow as you need me because I 0:27:41.240 --> 0:27:45.000 got something for you and I want you to get it. 0:27:45.359 --> 0:27:49.879 Oh, sometimes he will leave you in a season a 0:27:49.960 --> 0:27:53.720 little longer, and you'll think that he's being slow. But 0:27:53.840 --> 0:27:59.280 what you call his slowness is actually his love, because 0:27:59.640 --> 0:28:03.760 his slowness, as you perceive it, is his steadiness to 0:28:03.920 --> 0:28:08.199 prepare you, by his sovereignty for something that your eyes 0:28:08.359 --> 0:28:17.680 cannot see. I'm preaching he's the god of Again, don't 0:28:17.680 --> 0:28:20.520 be so discouraged by what you're still working through, because 0:28:20.600 --> 0:28:24.359 I guarantee you it takes all of us time. It 0:28:24.400 --> 0:28:27.240 takes everybody time. In marketing, they used to have a 0:28:27.320 --> 0:28:28.600 rule called the rule of seven. 0:28:28.680 --> 0:28:30.119 Have you ever heard of this? 0:28:29.720 --> 0:28:32.080 This is way back from like the thirties and stuff, 0:28:32.080 --> 0:28:34.280 way before social media. They said you have to touch 0:28:34.320 --> 0:28:36.880 somebody seven times with the message before they act on it. 0:28:37.200 --> 0:28:41.640 Seven times seven times before they see the product, and 0:28:41.680 --> 0:28:43.320 you have to show it to him. Here, show it 0:28:43.320 --> 0:28:45.400 to them there, show it like this, show him that. 0:28:45.440 --> 0:28:49.120 They said, on average this isn't completely scientific, but on average, 0:28:49.160 --> 0:28:54.920 it's at least seven. The walls of Jericho, it's at 0:28:55.000 --> 0:28:59.120 least seven. Name in dipping in the Jordan, it's at 0:28:59.240 --> 0:29:02.960 least seven. There's a cloud the size of a man's hand, 0:29:03.200 --> 0:29:09.200 it's at least seven. So do you want to dabble 0:29:09.400 --> 0:29:17.080 in seeking God? Because Hebrews eleven six says without faith 0:29:17.080 --> 0:29:20.240 it is impossible to please God. Because he who comes 0:29:20.240 --> 0:29:25.040 to God must believe that he is, and that He 0:29:25.280 --> 0:29:32.880 is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Knocked 0:29:32.920 --> 0:29:39.800 them that haphazardly dabble in him. They don't like me today, Hollyford. 0:29:41.760 --> 0:29:45.880 Do you want me to say that again? Should I say 0:29:45.880 --> 0:29:51.600 it again? Pete and Repeat were on a boat. Pete 0:29:51.600 --> 0:29:55.719 fell off, who was left all right? Peter was following Christ. 0:29:56.560 --> 0:30:03.560 Peter fell away who came to get him? And how 0:30:03.600 --> 0:30:06.560 many times did he come back for him? How many 0:30:06.600 --> 0:30:10.000 times did he restore him? I would suggest to you 0:30:10.440 --> 0:30:15.440 that even if you are not diligently seeking God, He's 0:30:15.480 --> 0:30:16.640 diligently seeking you. 0:30:26.240 --> 0:30:27.200 Don't you see it? 0:30:27.280 --> 0:30:31.320 How he kept coming for you all your life? Don't 0:30:31.320 --> 0:30:34.480 you see it? How when people gave up on you, 0:30:35.400 --> 0:30:40.080 he was there. Don't you see it? How even when 0:30:40.160 --> 0:30:44.680 your nets came up empty, even the empty nets were 0:30:44.760 --> 0:30:51.680 preparation for the greater blessing. Don't you see how even 0:30:51.720 --> 0:30:56.120 the rejections in your life were making room for something 0:30:56.160 --> 0:30:56.800 you did. 0:30:56.640 --> 0:31:03.680 Not know to expect that was next. Somebody shot next. 0:31:04.760 --> 0:31:05.360 I don't know. 0:31:05.440 --> 0:31:08.640 What's next, but I get a sense in my spirit 0:31:08.920 --> 0:31:16.320 that God is getting somebody ready for next, because he's 0:31:16.360 --> 0:31:21.560 the God of again. I don't think he brought you 0:31:21.680 --> 0:31:24.120 this far to leave you. I don't think he gave 0:31:24.200 --> 0:31:25.840 you this much to abandon you. 0:31:26.240 --> 0:31:27.680 I don't think he brought. 0:31:27.400 --> 0:31:30.200 You into this earth to step back from you and. 0:31:30.240 --> 0:31:31.880 Have you figure it out on your own. 0:31:32.240 --> 0:31:34.640 I think He's gonna show up in a great way 0:31:34.960 --> 0:31:47.600 in this next season of your life. So I was 0:31:47.640 --> 0:31:49.400 talking to this friend the other day and they were 0:31:49.520 --> 0:31:52.960 stuck in regret, and they just kept expressing over and 0:31:53.000 --> 0:31:56.120 over again their regret, and they said decision term. 0:31:56.200 --> 0:31:58.480 They said, I just feel like it's the one that 0:31:58.520 --> 0:32:00.680 got away. It's the one that got away. 0:32:00.840 --> 0:32:03.280 Now they were taking this as a sign that it 0:32:03.360 --> 0:32:05.880 was over and they would never get it back, and 0:32:05.920 --> 0:32:07.840 it was painful. And I could tell it was painful 0:32:08.360 --> 0:32:11.320 because it was an opportunity that they lost, and they 0:32:11.320 --> 0:32:14.080 couldn't get over what they lost, and they couldn't even 0:32:14.120 --> 0:32:15.160 think about what they had. 0:32:15.080 --> 0:32:17.920 Left because of what they lost. And I never liked to. 0:32:17.840 --> 0:32:20.120 Just say stuff that sounds like a fortune cookie, because 0:32:20.120 --> 0:32:20.800 I'm a preacher. 0:32:20.960 --> 0:32:22.280 I don't talk in sound bites. 0:32:22.520 --> 0:32:23.920 If you ever meet me and you say I'm having 0:32:23.960 --> 0:32:25.840 a hard day, I will not say rejoice on the 0:32:25.840 --> 0:32:29.080 Lord always again I say rejoice. I do that up 0:32:29.080 --> 0:32:31.280 here because I have a different roll up here. But 0:32:31.400 --> 0:32:33.720 this was a friend I was talking to, and I'd 0:32:33.720 --> 0:32:35.800 walked with this friend through some of it, and I 0:32:35.800 --> 0:32:37.560 could see that while they were saying the one that 0:32:37.600 --> 0:32:40.040 got away, they were literally. 0:32:40.000 --> 0:32:46.640 Like Peter fishing, fishing, fishing, like empty, empty, empty, and 0:32:46.680 --> 0:32:49.520 they couldn't find an explanation and they couldn't find a 0:32:49.560 --> 0:32:50.240 way forward. 0:32:50.480 --> 0:32:52.320 And so I let them say it a few times 0:32:52.320 --> 0:32:53.160 and I just listened. 0:32:53.720 --> 0:32:55.920 But like on the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh 0:32:55.920 --> 0:32:58.760 time they said the one that got away, something hit 0:32:58.840 --> 0:33:00.520 me and I said it, and I don't know if 0:33:00.520 --> 0:33:01.840 I made it up. I don't know if God gave 0:33:01.880 --> 0:33:03.640 it to me. I don't know if it was arrogant. 0:33:03.640 --> 0:33:06.320 I don't know if it was right or good or whatever. 0:33:06.760 --> 0:33:08.680 But the Lord said to say it to you today, 0:33:08.760 --> 0:33:10.840 so I'm gonna say it to you. They said, I 0:33:11.120 --> 0:33:14.280 just keep feeling like this is the one that got away. 0:33:14.640 --> 0:33:19.880 And I looked back and said, stop saying that. It's 0:33:19.960 --> 0:33:22.360 not the one that got away. 0:33:23.280 --> 0:33:31.320 It's the one that got you ready, got inside it. 0:33:31.320 --> 0:33:33.040 It's not the one that got away. 0:33:34.960 --> 0:33:38.160 Every time you let the nuts down and it came 0:33:38.240 --> 0:33:41.280 up empty, and you let him down, and it came 0:33:41.360 --> 0:33:44.240 up empty, and you let him down and it came 0:33:44.320 --> 0:33:48.240 up empty. All it was doing was holding the place. 0:33:48.880 --> 0:33:51.640 So when Jesus shows up, you'll be. 0:33:51.840 --> 0:33:56.440 Ready for what's on the other side. From the boat, 0:33:58.520 --> 0:34:00.680 somebody shot, I'm ready. 0:34:01.280 --> 0:34:02.000 I'm ready. 0:34:03.320 --> 0:34:05.680 High five seven. People say you're ready. 0:34:05.720 --> 0:34:07.800 Now you're ready. 0:34:07.840 --> 0:34:12.160 Now you're ready, Now you're ready. 0:34:12.200 --> 0:34:16.520 Now your nets are ready, your heart is ready. 0:34:16.920 --> 0:34:17.640 You're humble. 0:34:17.760 --> 0:34:22.000 Now you're wise, sir. Now you're with it. Now you're 0:34:22.080 --> 0:34:23.080 wider than sill. 0:34:23.239 --> 0:34:28.280 Now you're once, Now you're clean, Now you're open now 0:34:28.560 --> 0:34:34.400 you're humble. Now I'm already now. 0:34:36.239 --> 0:34:39.440 Glory to God. High five of them again and say 0:34:39.440 --> 0:34:45.160 I'm ready now, I'm ready now. In basketball they say 0:34:45.200 --> 0:34:46.120 nothing but net. 0:34:47.480 --> 0:34:49.400 And that's what Peter had as long as he was 0:34:49.400 --> 0:34:50.640 fishing without Jesus. 0:34:51.600 --> 0:34:53.840 But when he got to the other side of that bone, 0:34:54.600 --> 0:34:55.080 watch this. 0:34:55.719 --> 0:34:58.640 I came to say, stop focusing on the one that 0:34:58.719 --> 0:34:59.280 got away. 0:35:00.239 --> 0:35:02.759 God said to tell you, don't focus on anything in 0:35:02.800 --> 0:35:03.920 this season. 0:35:04.000 --> 0:35:11.000 Nothing but next, because what's coming, what is yet to be? 0:35:11.600 --> 0:35:18.960 He's great up, Oh, somebody's shut again. He's gonna do 0:35:19.080 --> 0:35:22.360 it again, but it's gonna be bigger. He's gonna do 0:35:22.480 --> 0:35:22.960 it again. 0:35:23.239 --> 0:35:33.719 What is gonna be greater? I'm gonna preach this thing 0:35:33.800 --> 0:35:34.560 till you believe it. 0:35:38.000 --> 0:35:40.440 How many times will he have to part water before 0:35:40.440 --> 0:35:42.160 you take the step when your ankle deep? 0:35:44.520 --> 0:35:45.920 How many times will he have. 0:35:45.920 --> 0:35:48.360 To kill Goliath before you get your rock and start 0:35:48.440 --> 0:35:54.200 swinging at everything in your life that is in front 0:35:54.239 --> 0:36:00.319 of you. There is something that God already did will 0:36:00.360 --> 0:36:05.880 not do it the same way, So stop expecting. 0:36:05.280 --> 0:36:12.080 To part seas with rocks. The rock is for Goliath, 0:36:12.120 --> 0:36:13.640 the staff is for the sea. 0:36:13.800 --> 0:36:21.239 God will use different tools in different seasons. But there 0:36:21.280 --> 0:36:27.880 is no one that got away, not with God. Prove it, Pastor. 0:36:28.640 --> 0:36:33.280 He came back to get Thomas. He didn't let Thomas 0:36:33.320 --> 0:36:36.279 get away, and he won't let you get away. And 0:36:36.320 --> 0:36:38.399 anything that's truly for you in your life, God won't 0:36:38.480 --> 0:36:45.080 let get away either. I think my favorite passage about 0:36:45.080 --> 0:36:47.160 the God of again, and I probably should stop preaching 0:36:47.239 --> 0:36:56.000 right now because I think you already got enough. You know, 0:36:56.120 --> 0:36:57.960 one of the biggest things that God has been teaching 0:36:57.960 --> 0:37:01.960 me lately is we can come back together next Sunday. 0:37:02.800 --> 0:37:06.440 And we could do it again. But I can't let 0:37:06.480 --> 0:37:09.879 you go because you might. You know, you might, you might, 0:37:11.120 --> 0:37:12.640 you might sleep in next Sunday. So I got to 0:37:12.640 --> 0:37:16.120 give you this while I got you picture with me. 0:37:16.200 --> 0:37:17.560 I give you this. You came all the way from 0:37:17.560 --> 0:37:24.279 New York for this? Did you really all right? New York? 0:37:26.560 --> 0:37:28.200 So I'm in a reference with a familiar Bible story. 0:37:28.200 --> 0:37:29.680 You probably heard it before, but you need to hear 0:37:29.680 --> 0:37:35.720 it again. There were two sons, one father. The younger 0:37:35.760 --> 0:37:37.120 son went to his father and said, I want my 0:37:37.200 --> 0:37:39.360 inheritance now, and he left and started living wild. This 0:37:39.400 --> 0:37:41.120 in Luke chapter fifteen. How many of you have heard this? 0:37:41.120 --> 0:37:43.040 Story before the story of Practison, Well you need to 0:37:43.080 --> 0:37:50.600 hear it. So this young man goes off, spends everything 0:37:50.600 --> 0:37:52.359 that he has. Once he sees that his friends aren't 0:37:52.400 --> 0:37:54.120 really his friends, but they are only with him as 0:37:54.160 --> 0:37:56.680 long as what is attached to him is flowing. 0:37:58.040 --> 0:37:59.080 Once that falls. 0:37:58.760 --> 0:38:02.160 Away, he realizes, Man, I'm living way beneath what I 0:38:02.200 --> 0:38:05.840 had back home. He goes home with the speech prepared, 0:38:07.160 --> 0:38:09.239 and he's really worried because he's been gone a long time, 0:38:09.280 --> 0:38:11.160 long enough for his dad to assume that he's dead. 0:38:11.239 --> 0:38:15.600 The older brother's back home doing his job when he's 0:38:15.640 --> 0:38:17.160 getting to the place, and I want to start at 0:38:17.160 --> 0:38:20.279 about verse twenty one of Luke fifteen. If I don't 0:38:20.280 --> 0:38:22.200 finish this today, i'll put it on YouTube this week 0:38:22.239 --> 0:38:23.560 for you and me and Holly. I'll sit down and 0:38:23.560 --> 0:38:25.880 break it down. I've been doing these little sermon breakdowns 0:38:26.120 --> 0:38:28.640 on YouTube, and I might do one on this. 0:38:30.640 --> 0:38:33.000 And you're going to listen to the message again Monday. Anyway. 0:38:33.040 --> 0:38:41.040 Right now, this is something that this is something that 0:38:41.120 --> 0:38:43.680 is really pivotal to me, me explaining and unpacking to 0:38:43.680 --> 0:38:44.919 you what I mean when I say he's the god 0:38:44.920 --> 0:38:48.160 of again, because the contrast of it is found here 0:38:48.480 --> 0:38:51.480 when this younger son who has run away from home 0:38:51.880 --> 0:38:54.600 is thinking about coming back, like you might be thinking 0:38:54.640 --> 0:38:56.839 about coming back today, Like I'm gonna try to get 0:38:56.840 --> 0:38:59.160 sober again. I'm going to really try this thing again 0:38:59.200 --> 0:39:00.880 of opening up to in my life. I'm going to 0:39:00.920 --> 0:39:02.920 really commit to this path again. I'm gonna pick up 0:39:02.920 --> 0:39:04.719 my Bible and to start simple reading Bible plan again. 0:39:04.760 --> 0:39:04.960 Whatever. 0:39:05.000 --> 0:39:06.880 It doesn't have to be so deep, but whatever it 0:39:06.920 --> 0:39:09.160 is that you're about to do again, this is this 0:39:09.239 --> 0:39:09.719 boy's fear. 0:39:09.760 --> 0:39:11.360 He has a hurdle across because he's. 0:39:11.239 --> 0:39:14.560 Thinking about his father and all the harm that he's caused. 0:39:15.560 --> 0:39:17.680 So he's getting to the place verse twenty one. Please, 0:39:18.239 --> 0:39:20.200 the son said the father, I have sinned against heaven 0:39:20.239 --> 0:39:23.239 and against you. I am no longer worthy to be 0:39:23.320 --> 0:39:30.040 called your son. Notice the word there in the verse against. 0:39:30.120 --> 0:39:30.640 Against. 0:39:31.760 --> 0:39:35.360 In his mind, he has made his father out to 0:39:35.400 --> 0:39:46.680 be against him, against him, against him, he has something 0:39:47.280 --> 0:39:51.399 against me. In this case, it's true, the father could 0:39:51.440 --> 0:39:54.080 have very easily chosen to disinherit this boy. 0:39:54.080 --> 0:39:57.120 He had the legal right. So he's thinking about what 0:39:57.160 --> 0:40:00.000 his father has against him, and that's what stops us. 0:40:00.960 --> 0:40:03.400 We think about what's against us and if we assume 0:40:03.480 --> 0:40:05.480 that at the heart of it all, God is actually 0:40:05.600 --> 0:40:08.480 against us, or life is against us, then we turn 0:40:08.520 --> 0:40:12.640 against ourselves. So we don't try again because of what's 0:40:13.360 --> 0:40:18.719 against us. Watch the story unfold because it's shocking. Verse 0:40:18.719 --> 0:40:23.440 twenty two. But the father said to his servants, quick, 0:40:24.320 --> 0:40:27.719 bring the best robe and put it on him. Put 0:40:27.719 --> 0:40:29.680 a ring on his finger, and sandals on his feet. 0:40:29.760 --> 0:40:31.520 Next verse, bring the fat and calf and kill it. 0:40:31.560 --> 0:40:34.360 Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of 0:40:34.400 --> 0:40:39.080 mine was dead and is alive. 0:40:40.960 --> 0:40:45.480 Say it, Say it again, Say it again. 0:40:46.440 --> 0:40:50.200 He thought he was coming to the god of against, 0:40:55.160 --> 0:40:57.239 but he found the God of. 0:40:58.680 --> 0:40:59.040 Again. 0:41:08.120 --> 0:41:12.040 Give him his road back, give him his ring back, 0:41:13.560 --> 0:41:17.760 give him his name back, give him his seat back. 0:41:19.360 --> 0:41:23.040 For this son of mine was dead. Wait, no, he 0:41:23.160 --> 0:41:28.160 wasn't dead, but I thought he was. And now he's alive. 0:41:29.320 --> 0:41:29.640 Again. 0:41:31.200 --> 0:41:33.800 Some of the things that God wants to bring alive 0:41:34.640 --> 0:41:36.719 again in your life. 0:41:37.040 --> 0:41:38.200 They're not really dead. 0:41:39.520 --> 0:41:46.279 They're just waiting for you to recognize them. Sometimes it's 0:41:46.320 --> 0:41:49.719 not about something that God needs to add. 0:41:49.440 --> 0:41:50.240 To our lives. 0:41:50.320 --> 0:41:55.799 It's about something that we need to remember again. So 0:41:55.960 --> 0:41:58.520 as many times a day as you need to say 0:41:58.560 --> 0:41:59.160 to yourself. 0:41:59.400 --> 0:42:02.240 I'm fully given by the blood of Jesus. Say it again. 0:42:04.480 --> 0:42:07.799 If you leave church in five minutes after Pastor Stephen. 0:42:07.520 --> 0:42:09.520 Is preaching, your cuss and ask. 0:42:09.320 --> 0:42:15.680 God for forgiveness again and again and again mid cuss word, 0:42:15.960 --> 0:42:19.400 cut yourself off between syllables and say, Father, help me 0:42:19.400 --> 0:42:22.160 not cuss like that anymore. I know my tongue needs 0:42:22.160 --> 0:42:28.000 to be tamed. Payment again, Taman takes time. Help me 0:42:28.040 --> 0:42:30.800 with this again, and God doesn't go again. 0:42:31.080 --> 0:42:36.400 He goes again again. Let's get you walking right again. 0:42:36.640 --> 0:42:37.960 Let's drill this again. 0:42:38.280 --> 0:42:40.839 If God is a good teacher, that means he knows 0:42:40.840 --> 0:42:41.719 how to get through to me. 0:42:42.080 --> 0:42:44.200 That means he knows how to make the adjustments. 0:42:44.440 --> 0:42:47.120 If God is a loving father, that means he will 0:42:47.160 --> 0:42:49.520 never run out of what I need more of. So 0:42:49.640 --> 0:42:52.640 when I come to him, he doesn't stand against me. 0:42:55.080 --> 0:42:59.640 He is there again for me as many times as 0:42:59.719 --> 0:43:03.560 I know need so. I stumbled upon something in my 0:43:03.680 --> 0:43:07.400 own life to help me recognize what God has already 0:43:07.440 --> 0:43:07.920 done for me. 0:43:08.440 --> 0:43:11.239 I share it with you in the spirit of encouragement. 0:43:11.800 --> 0:43:15.839 Many days in my life I have a complaining and 0:43:15.960 --> 0:43:20.160 grumbling spirit, and that leads to my anxiety, and it 0:43:20.239 --> 0:43:22.920 leads to me feeling resentful of all of the pressures 0:43:22.920 --> 0:43:23.560 in my life. 0:43:24.080 --> 0:43:26.680 I've had to learn how to deal with that again 0:43:27.200 --> 0:43:31.520 and again and again. I thought by now it would 0:43:31.560 --> 0:43:35.719 be easy. It still isn't. I thought by age. 0:43:35.480 --> 0:43:40.000 Forty three I would have a permanently set perspective. Maybe 0:43:40.000 --> 0:43:43.160 it happens when you turn forty four, but it definitely 0:43:43.200 --> 0:43:47.000 doesn't happen at forty three in my case. So I 0:43:47.080 --> 0:43:49.560 have to make all of these things that I say 0:43:49.600 --> 0:43:54.600 to myself again and again and again. Now, notice what 0:43:54.680 --> 0:43:57.359 the boy in the story was saying to himself again 0:43:57.400 --> 0:44:00.120 and again walking to his father. I'm not worthy, I'm 0:44:00.160 --> 0:44:03.400 not worthy, I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy. 0:44:03.520 --> 0:44:05.640 When you walk around saying that in some form to 0:44:05.680 --> 0:44:09.600 yourself day after day, year after year, you begin to 0:44:09.840 --> 0:44:12.080 become what you believe, and you believe what you repeat. 0:44:14.360 --> 0:44:15.480 Shall I say that again? 0:44:16.480 --> 0:44:18.600 You become what you believe, and you believe what you repeat, 0:44:18.760 --> 0:44:21.879 especially what you repeat within yourself. But the father gives 0:44:21.920 --> 0:44:24.560 him a better word, and he says, come back home again. 0:44:24.880 --> 0:44:29.040 He was dead, and now he is alive again. Let's celebrate. 0:44:31.120 --> 0:44:38.160 Sometimes you have to celebrate what remains in order to 0:44:38.160 --> 0:44:45.000 move forward and what hasn't been revealed, So I go 0:44:45.080 --> 0:44:47.000 into this place and forgive me if this is kind 0:44:47.000 --> 0:44:47.760 of dark or weird. 0:44:49.440 --> 0:44:52.560 Sometimes I ask myself the question, if I lost what 0:44:52.800 --> 0:44:56.520 mattered most to me, what would I give to have 0:44:56.600 --> 0:44:57.000 it back? 0:44:59.440 --> 0:45:01.719 And it's a next size that I do, and I 0:45:01.760 --> 0:45:05.080 find it helpful because in that what matters most to me. 0:45:05.280 --> 0:45:09.879 I start, of course with my salvation that Jesus paid 0:45:09.880 --> 0:45:12.560 the price for me, and that I I don't have 0:45:12.600 --> 0:45:15.880 to go to Hell, I don't have to live in condemnation. 0:45:17.200 --> 0:45:18.919 I don't have to carry the shame of the things 0:45:18.920 --> 0:45:21.399 that I've done. 0:45:22.440 --> 0:45:26.279 I can't think of a better gift, can you? Can you? 0:45:26.360 --> 0:45:27.799 If you can come up here and tell me. 0:45:27.719 --> 0:45:31.719 About it, just to know that it's all paid for 0:45:32.520 --> 0:45:40.840 by him. Yeah, And I go down the list and 0:45:40.880 --> 0:45:45.680 I get like technical because like right behind Jesus's Holly, 0:45:46.280 --> 0:45:48.800 they're kind of they're kind of similar. They're both always 0:45:48.800 --> 0:45:50.960 there for me, they're both amazing to me, they're both 0:45:51.000 --> 0:45:54.200 better than me. And then you see I'm earning points 0:45:55.440 --> 0:46:00.880 multitasking up here in this microphone and think about my wife. 0:46:01.320 --> 0:46:03.400 I think about my kids, and I think, if I 0:46:03.560 --> 0:46:08.439 lost them, what would I give to have them back? 0:46:09.760 --> 0:46:15.880 And the answer is everything? So what do I already have? 0:46:29.040 --> 0:46:31.200 Maybe like, well, I have lost this person in my 0:46:31.280 --> 0:46:35.240 life and I can't say that you still have his grace? 0:46:36.920 --> 0:46:38.880 What would you give to have that grace back if 0:46:38.920 --> 0:46:47.120 it went away? Everything? So what do you have right now? Everything? 0:46:49.440 --> 0:46:54.360 Sometimes you just need to remember again what you've already 0:46:54.400 --> 0:46:54.840 been given. 0:46:57.520 --> 0:47:01.640 Isn't it good for us to sometimes just stand in 0:47:01.640 --> 0:47:03.480 a situation and say, lord, I don't know what you're 0:47:03.480 --> 0:47:08.200 going to do next, but you already did this. You 0:47:08.320 --> 0:47:13.400 already gave me that, and if you did it before, 0:47:15.080 --> 0:47:18.640 it stands to reason you're gonna do it again. 0:47:20.040 --> 0:47:26.279 But even until you do, if I already have you, 0:47:26.360 --> 0:47:27.400 I already have everything. 0:47:27.440 --> 0:47:30.280 Try it sometime this week when the enemy starts speaking 0:47:30.280 --> 0:47:32.600 to you about how you're not going to make it 0:47:32.800 --> 0:47:35.399 and this time it's different and you can't recover from 0:47:35.480 --> 0:47:37.719 this and it will never be the same, and they're 0:47:37.760 --> 0:47:39.480 the one that you needed and you can't live without them, 0:47:39.480 --> 0:47:42.120 stop and say, wait a minute, if I have him, 0:47:43.480 --> 0:47:49.520 I have everything. That's what the father did with his 0:47:49.600 --> 0:47:52.040 older son because the older son, who stayed home, he 0:47:52.120 --> 0:47:55.080 was mad about the party. He said I'm not coming 0:47:55.120 --> 0:47:59.800 in there to celebrate this hooligan. He spent half our inheritance. 0:48:00.760 --> 0:48:04.200 Now you're spending money on beef patties, making them some 0:48:04.280 --> 0:48:08.440 brisket out here. I'm not coming in to eat the brisket. 0:48:08.480 --> 0:48:11.239 I hate my brother. And the Father said, look a 0:48:11.320 --> 0:48:13.680 verse thirty one. This is so powerful, he said, my son, 0:48:14.800 --> 0:48:20.560 you are always with me and everything I have it's 0:48:20.640 --> 0:48:21.880 already yours. 0:48:24.719 --> 0:48:25.480 Verse thirty two. 0:48:26.400 --> 0:48:29.880 But we had to celebrate and be glad because this 0:48:30.040 --> 0:48:31.359 brother of yours was. 0:48:31.920 --> 0:48:36.400 Dead and is alive again. 0:48:38.280 --> 0:48:41.560 And the God of again is standing over your life today. 0:48:42.440 --> 0:48:45.160 I promise that he is. I don't know what you 0:48:45.200 --> 0:48:47.560 got to walk through in this season. I don't know 0:48:47.600 --> 0:48:50.200 what doctors have told you, lawyers have told you, what 0:48:50.280 --> 0:48:53.040 the devil has told you, what insecurity has told you. 0:48:53.520 --> 0:48:55.399 I don't know what any of the symptoms in your 0:48:55.440 --> 0:48:58.080 body are saying, or any of the emotions in your 0:48:58.160 --> 0:48:59.000 soul are saying. 0:48:59.560 --> 0:49:05.920 But I know what the Father is saying again again again. 0:49:08.560 --> 0:49:10.600 As a matter of fact, let's just walk back and 0:49:10.680 --> 0:49:11.279 look at it. 0:49:12.120 --> 0:49:16.399 If he told the sun when to rise. 0:49:17.680 --> 0:49:24.120 And it did, he will again, how many believe he 0:49:24.160 --> 0:49:29.839 will again? Somebody shout he will again. And if he 0:49:29.880 --> 0:49:36.759 told the storm to be still and it did, he 0:49:36.800 --> 0:49:41.480 will he will. I need the whole church to agree 0:49:41.520 --> 0:49:45.640 with me. If he told the sea where. 0:49:45.400 --> 0:49:49.280 To split and it did, he will. 0:49:50.640 --> 0:49:54.759 And if he told the walls when to fall and 0:49:54.880 --> 0:49:57.120 they did, he will again. 0:49:57.920 --> 0:50:01.080 And if he told the change winsor. 0:50:00.680 --> 0:50:04.240 Break and they did, he will again. 0:50:05.080 --> 0:50:10.160 And if he told the bones come alive and they did, 0:50:10.400 --> 0:50:14.919 he will again. And if he told the stone roll 0:50:14.960 --> 0:50:18.320 away and it did. 0:50:17.840 --> 0:50:18.760 He will again. 0:50:19.480 --> 0:50:23.520 And if he told the grave let it go and 0:50:23.760 --> 0:50:31.320 it did, he will again and again and again and again. 0:50:33.640 --> 0:50:50.800 And again and again and again. It's not the one, no, no, no, it's. 0:50:50.680 --> 0:50:51.960 Not the one that got away. 0:50:53.440 --> 0:50:57.719 It's the one that got you ready for what's on 0:50:57.800 --> 0:51:02.399 the other side. I speak to every lost opportunity, every 0:51:02.400 --> 0:51:06.040 broken heart, every child of God standing in need of 0:51:07.040 --> 0:51:09.880 restoration through the Holy Spirit because of the regrets of 0:51:09.920 --> 0:51:12.160 your past. He is a redeemer and a rewarder of 0:51:12.200 --> 0:51:19.040 those who diligently seek him. And if he told the 0:51:19.080 --> 0:51:25.319 sun wind arise and it did, he will again. He 0:51:25.360 --> 0:51:25.960 will again. 0:51:26.360 --> 0:51:30.600 And if he told the storm to be still and 0:51:30.680 --> 0:51:32.760 it did, he will again. 0:51:33.200 --> 0:51:37.279 And if he told the seat where to split and 0:51:37.360 --> 0:51:39.520 it did, he will again. 0:51:39.960 --> 0:51:41.000 And if he told the. 0:51:40.920 --> 0:51:44.719 Wall seven times, when the fall seven times, and they did, 0:51:45.440 --> 0:51:46.280 he will again. 0:51:46.640 --> 0:51:50.799 And if he told the chains when to break and 0:51:50.840 --> 0:51:52.960 they did, he will again. 0:51:53.440 --> 0:51:58.319 And if he told the balls come alive and they did, 0:51:59.080 --> 0:51:59.840 he will again. 0:52:00.320 --> 0:52:05.040 And if he told the soul go away and it did, 0:52:05.960 --> 0:52:06.760 he will again. 0:52:07.160 --> 0:52:11.399 And if he throw the gray let it brow and. 0:52:11.480 --> 0:52:16.200 It did, he will again and again and again. 0:52:16.400 --> 0:52:17.799 Had a can't hand. 0:52:17.520 --> 0:52:20.160 A cat and a can't had a cat and a 0:52:20.280 --> 0:52:22.000 can't hang a cat, had. 0:52:21.840 --> 0:52:23.680 A cat hand jack, he's. 0:52:23.560 --> 0:52:27.920 A con came how gay trust. 0:52:27.960 --> 0:52:28.680 If he told the. 0:52:28.800 --> 0:52:33.240 Sun win the rots and the kid, he will again. 0:52:33.320 --> 0:52:34.280 He will lookad. 0:52:34.600 --> 0:52:36.320 And if he told the sun. 0:52:36.880 --> 0:52:41.160 So be steep and it did, it will again. He lookin. 0:52:41.480 --> 0:52:42.480 And if he told the. 0:52:42.560 --> 0:52:46.200 Seat where the slid, and it dan and he tip 0:52:46.440 --> 0:52:48.000 and will again he again. 0:52:48.280 --> 0:52:50.840 And if he told the walls you don't worry, he. 0:52:52.400 --> 0:52:55.680 And the kick, he will look at. And if he 0:52:55.800 --> 0:52:59.440 tore the chase, when the bray right right, and if 0:52:59.480 --> 0:53:03.560 they can't, we will again. If you do the falls 0:53:04.360 --> 0:53:08.480 to shop and they did, he will look at. 0:53:08.840 --> 0:53:10.640 And if he tell the song. 0:53:11.160 --> 0:53:22.239 Fell away, he he he will look on the play many. 0:53:24.080 --> 0:53:28.960 Man, you come man, he go again, you get back again, you'll. 0:53:28.880 --> 0:53:32.080 Get he will against you. 0:53:32.239 --> 0:53:33.840 Can you. 0:53:37.120 --> 0:53:43.560 Roll eyes and you can you will again. And if 0:53:43.600 --> 0:53:47.080 you do the sky again, he'll be steal a cat. 0:53:47.239 --> 0:53:50.520 And he did, he will look at. And if he 0:53:50.680 --> 0:53:55.680 don't the sea when the stick and you did, he 0:53:55.800 --> 0:53:59.399 will look at. And if he told the walls wait 0:53:59.480 --> 0:54:03.000 a did and he didn't give me he will a 0:54:03.080 --> 0:54:08.480 kid say, say he's lead the brooks, and they did. 0:54:09.280 --> 0:54:13.280 He will again if he call me to souls coming 0:54:13.360 --> 0:54:17.719 to hide, and they said, he will again, and I 0:54:17.920 --> 0:54:19.920 become a nothing the. 0:54:20.040 --> 0:54:23.920 Same that he can give me a again. 0:54:24.320 --> 0:54:29.839 And if you talk not so dang, you in let 0:54:29.920 --> 0:54:33.680 me down a kid, leave me daddy again. Leave him there. 0:54:33.800 --> 0:54:37.160 You can leave her there. We can live her there, 0:54:37.280 --> 0:54:37.600 you can. 0:54:38.080 --> 0:54:39.359 I know we will look at. 0:54:39.960 --> 0:54:44.600 Leave him again him here again, live a trapic t the. 0:54:44.640 --> 0:54:47.920 Water's loga there are cool. 0:54:48.080 --> 0:54:54.920 After milto of ch after ruche here it calls, so 0:54:55.160 --> 0:54:56.280 give day bart. 0:54:56.280 --> 0:55:00.400 Done one doesn't. Hey. 0:55:00.480 --> 0:55:02.759 I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 0:55:03.360 --> 0:55:05.920 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 0:55:06.000 --> 0:55:08.600 get you all of these new messages as soon as 0:55:08.600 --> 0:55:11.320 they're available. I also want to take a moment and 0:55:11.520 --> 0:55:13.240 thank all of you who are a part of Elevation. 0:55:13.800 --> 0:55:17.080 Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or 0:55:17.520 --> 0:55:20.239 just share these messages, it's because of you that we're 0:55:20.239 --> 0:55:23.200 able to reach people all around the world. And if 0:55:23.239 --> 0:55:25.680 you want more information on how to be a part 0:55:25.719 --> 0:55:29.640 of Elevation, click the link in the description. Thanks again 0:55:29.680 --> 0:55:32.600 for listening. Make sure to leave a review, share the message, 0:55:32.719 --> 0:55:33.480 and subscribe. 0:55:33.800 --> 0:55:34.400 God bless you.