The Lord Will Lighten Your Load

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.440 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:19.920 Enjoy the message. 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:36.520 Who love that. I feel like we might fly away 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:40.680 today if we really get a hold of that, really 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:41.959 starts singing about that. 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:50.199 Whoop high five. Your neighbors say, he's that good, and 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:54.320 there's so you don't even. 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:55.520 Know what I'm praising him for. 0:00:56.960 --> 0:00:58.720 If you did, you'd praise him with me. 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:02.040 If you did, you'd get up here higher. 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:05.480 If you did, you might start jumping. 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:08.560 You might start leaping. 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.760 It's all right. Get that cardio in. 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:16.840 Get that gratitude is. 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:19.520 Say my friend, this. 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:32.400 Path, I like it. 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:41.759 Get up, get my brazing you you know you leave 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:44.679 me the word you good. 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:56.960 Let everything. 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:06.040 That half pressed, Let everything everything that's out of. 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:08.520 Breast from jumping. 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:14.200 Chump a little more and thrice blow. 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:17.959 Come on the river walking, know you want to go in? 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:20.239 Come on, I'm town. 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:26.440 I need fifty jumpers and Blakeney, I need somebody in 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:28.160 your living room. 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:30.359 Get your calf bustles from. 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:35.880 Work out and get up on your feet and kid God, 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:42.680 this said right. 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:44.080 Here last seven. 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:57.399 Oh God, come on, clap those hands like you love Jesus. 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:53.760 I'm going right to my message. The spirit of the 0:03:53.760 --> 0:04:00.160 Lord is in this place. I'm going right to my message. 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:06.760 The spirit of the Lord is in this place. Shain's 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:08.880 gonna break today because the spirit of the Lord is 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:14.120 in this place. The annoying thing destroys the yoke. The 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:19.440 spirit of the Lord is in this place. I'm so 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:21.520 glad I listened to the Lord last night. He told 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:23.240 me to get a little extra sleep cause y'all were 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:24.200 gonna be ready today. 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:26.599 And I'm so glad I did. 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:31.280 I was imbedd at eight twenty pm getting ready for y'all, 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:40.320 and that's an hour earlier than my normal bedtime. And 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:46.360 now I'm stalling to catch my breath from jumping. Tell 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:52.520 your neighbor, I'm glad you're breathing. Tell him, I'm glad 0:04:52.520 --> 0:05:01.239 you brushed your teeth. We have a good time in church. 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:02.840 I said. 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:12.240 We have a good time in church doesn't mean we're 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:14.159 not going through rough patches in our lives. But we 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:18.920 have a good time in Church, welcome you here today. 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:21.520 All of our guests, all of our all of our 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:22.799 church family, welcome today. 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:24.160 So glad you're here. 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.240 Accidentally started preaching a sermon series a few weeks ago, 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.080 and I've been talking to you about when God calls 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:39.200 your name. I was trying to figure out what to 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:41.240 call the series, and finally, in my fourth week, the 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:42.880 Lord told me what to call it. 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:53.000 It's called called That's what's called Tell your neighbor. I'm 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:56.800 called called a lot of different things by a lot 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:01.240 of different people. I'm sure did you enjoy last week. 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:06.200 When I was talking about Martha Martha, and how many 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.440 of you felt seen when I was showing Holly be 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:14.599 pulled apart by the demands of life. How many of 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.000 you preached the message back to yourself a little bit 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:19.479 throughout the week when you felt yourself pulled here and 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:24.200 pulled there, and just reminded yourself that being present in 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:27.640 the moment that God has given you is always the priority. 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:32.480 Presence is the priority, even when your plan changes, even 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:36.839 when your problems are overwhelming. And let's see, we've done Moses, Moses, 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:41.000 we did Simon, Simon. These are the ones I've preached 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:44.640 so far, different people in the Bible that God called 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:50.120 their name, not once, but twice, just right there together, Moses, Moses, Simon, Simon, 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:56.080 Martha Martha. Today is Jacob Jacob Genesis chapter forty five. 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:00.719 And as many sermons as I've heard, or that you've 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:04.240 heard me preach on Jacob JJ, I've never preached from 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:09.200 this passage Genesis chapter forty five, first twenty five, and 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:11.160 then we'll go all the way to chapter forty six, 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:14.160 verse five. And you say that's a lot of scripture, Well, 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:16.200 I'm making up for all the Bible reading days you 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:22.000 skip this week, doing you a favor. Now, hear the 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:23.600 word of the Lord. The Lord has a word for 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:26.440 you today. I've been paying back and forth waiting for 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.040 you to get here. I'm so thankful for the way 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:32.840 that he speaks. Now, a little bit of background. The 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:36.280 children of Jacob have gone to Egypt, and they found 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.120 out not only is their food in Egypt while there's 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:42.200 a famine in Canaan, where they live, but that their 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:46.080 brother Joseph, who they betrayed years earlier, is in command. 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:48.640 And he has promised them if you will come back 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:51.880 and bring our father Jacob, I'll take care of you 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:56.160 everything that you did to me is not going to 0:07:56.200 --> 0:08:00.160 be held against you. I have moved past it, and 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.120 I'll take care of you. So with this message they 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:07.160 arrived to Jacob, who, remember, twenty two years earlier, was 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:09.920 told that his son was dead, or led to believe 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:12.640 that his son was dead, when in fact it wasn't true. 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:15.640 He'd been pushed in a pit, but he wasn't dead. 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.560 He was sold into slavery, but he wasn't dead. He 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.800 was falsely accused years later and went to prison, but 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:23.679 he wasn't dead. 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:26.400 And tell your neighbor somehow I'm still here. Just tell 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:27.560 him somehow I'm still here. 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:34.840 That's why I'm praising him. Now we pick up the 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:39.600 narrative in Genesis forty five, verse twenty five. So they 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:42.920 the brothers of Jacob, or the brothers of Joseph, rather 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:46.679 the sons of Jacob. So they went up out of 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:49.120 Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:55.680 father Jacob, and they told him Joseph is still alive, 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:58.880 and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:07.000 And his heart became numb. Isn't that unexpected? 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:11.440 He gets the greatest news that he could ever hope 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:16.280 to receive, and instead of his heart being happy, his 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:17.800 heart goes numb. 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.839 Now after his heart goes numb. 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.079 The writer gives us a little bit of an explanation 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:27.360 as to why he was unable to receive this good report. 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:31.760 It said, for he did not believe them. But when 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.840 they told him all the words of Joseph which he 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.520 had said to them, and when he saw the wagons 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.720 that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:47.480 their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, it is enough, Joseph, 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:52.559 my son is still alive. I will go and see 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:56.880 him before I die. Now, Chapter forty six, verse one. 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.920 So Israel took his journey with all that he had 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.600 and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the Lord, 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:05.400 the god of his father Isaac. 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:08.640 And God spoke to Israel and visions of the night, 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:13.559 and said Jacob, Jacob, Jacob, Jacob. 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:19.480 And he said, here am I. That's presence, Here am I. 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:22.360 And then he said, I am God, the God of 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.720 your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:28.720 for there I will make you into a great nation. 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:31.959 I myself will go down with you to Egypt. 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.000 And I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:40.920 hand shall close your eyes. The one you said goodbye 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:43.800 to is going to be the one who says goodbye 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:45.960 to you in your dying breath. 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:48.520 And the final verse I want to read to you 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:49.360 before we preach. 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:55.960 Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:59.360 carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:04.439 in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:05.959 The prophetic word. 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.240 That I've been assigned to preach to you today may 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.240 come across on the surface as very simple, but it 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:13.600 is really the deepest belief that you could ever hold, 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:14.640 And it is this. 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:26.920 The Lord will lighten your load. The Lord will lighten load. 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:30.000 I know you had a lot on your mind even 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:34.440 coming in today, but the Lord will lighten your load. 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:37.679 I know sometimes people take advantage of you because you're 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:42.240 available to them, but the Lord will lighten your load. 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:44.600 I know you've done some bad things in. 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:46.720 Your life and you feel kind of guilty about them. 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:50.040 But the Lord will lighten your load. 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:52.600 I know you're trying to make a plan right now, 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:55.559 and stuff keeps moving, and stuff keeps shifting, and people 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:57.240 keep moving and people keep shifting. 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:01.000 But the Lord will lighten load. 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:02.800 I know you're stubborn and you don't like to ask 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:05.800 for a lot of help, but the Lord will lighten 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:07.079 your load. 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:09.080 I know your shoulders are tense. 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.640 You really need a massage today, but I'm gonna give 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:13.120 you a message today instead. 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:16.600 The Lord will lighten your load. 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.480 Turn around and tell twelve people, the Lord will lighten 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:20.960 your low. 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:23.360 Put it in the chat. The Lord will. 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:26.440 Lighten your load. Put it right there in the chat. 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:31.079 The Lord will lighten your load, and you may be seated. 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:39.040 You can rest for the rest of the message. 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:41.880 The Lord will lighten your load. 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:48.640 Now, I have a love hate relationship with simple sayings. 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:50.400 Like that the Lord will lighten your load. 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:53.520 On one hand, I think that the highest degree of 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.240 clarity in communication is simplicity. 0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:59.040 So really, for me, the art. 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.439 Of studying the scripture sure is to simplify the scripture, 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:05.280 to find one message in the scripture that we can 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:09.080 all take, whether we're twelve, or whether we're eighty two, 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:12.760 or whether, like Jacob here in this passage, we are 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:16.520 one hundred and thirty years old. Did you know Jacob 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.360 was one hundred and thirty years old when the Lord 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:22.160 told him, get up and go to a place three 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.280 hundred miles away, a place you've never been in, a 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.600 place that you will not recognize, a place that you 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.600 will not fit into, a place that you will be 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.199 tempted to reject. But I'm sending you to Egypt because 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:36.360 there's a famine where you are, and you have to move. 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:41.719 And Jacob is one hundred and thirty years old. As 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.000 we step into this moment of Jacob's life, I gave 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.760 a little bit of this away. I intended to save 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.040 it so I could tell the story and keep. 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:50.679 You in suspense. 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.760 But he is really on the verge of one of 0:13:55.760 --> 0:14:00.200 the greatest moments that he has ever experienced. In just 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:03.720 a few weeks, he will be reunited with his son, 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:08.280 the son that he mourned for twenty two years. But 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:11.000 you can't exactly call it a happy moment for Jacob either, 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:14.320 can you, Because as we saw in the scripture that 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:18.240 I read, sometimes you get good news, but you can't 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:23.320 take it in because of what you've been through. Sometimes 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:27.200 you can't receive truth because the truth has to work 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:32.960 its way through the trauma. Sometimes you can hear something 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:37.800 that actually is factual, but your frustration or your pain 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:41.880 or your failure will take you into a moment where 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:46.280 even though you hear the truth, even though you hear 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.840 the word, and even though it's something that you desire 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:58.000 to believe, unbelief does not unwind automatically through a process 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:02.160 of coming before the Lord and spending time with the 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.760 Lord and putting yourself in environments like this. Go ahead 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:06.360 and give yourself a hand for coming to church today. 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:10.520 By the way, I learned to look at it different. 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:12.720 I used to think I don't have time to go 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:16.800 to church if I was busy. Now I've learned that 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:19.040 when I'm really busy, I don't have time to not 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:25.640 come to church because I need to be in a 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:29.520 place where my heart is not numb. I need to 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.000 be in a place where I can be known by 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:36.840 God and accepted by Him. And so you wouldn't exactly 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:41.520 call this moment in Jacob's life happy, would you, Because 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.840 he's lost two decades plus two years with his son, 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:47.880 and he's kind of suspicious that his boys were the 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:52.400 ones who were up to it, and he's right. But 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:54.560 at the same time, there is a hope for him 0:15:55.080 --> 0:16:00.440 that maybe, just maybe I'm going to see Joseph. I'm 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:03.560 going to see Joseph. This is better than going to Disneyland, y'all. 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:07.880 I'm going to see Joseph. I've been told that Joseph 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.520 has secured a spot for me in Goshen, and I'm 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.320 gonna live off the fat of the land as the 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.760 father of Joseph, who has risen through all adversities like 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:17.720 a fruitful vine. 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:19.600 He climbed over every wall. 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:23.800 They shot their arrows at him, but Joseph's hand remained steady. 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:27.920 I'm going to see Joseph, at least, he hopes. But 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:33.000 here is the lesson from Jacob's response to the news 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:37.640 that Joseph may be alive. When you've been really hurt, 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:43.360 it is hard to keep hoping. When you have been 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:45.760 really hurt, it is hard. 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:46.520 To keep hoping. 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:50.160 And I promise you'all won't to press you the whole message, 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:52.080 But I just don't want to bring you in like 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:57.000 this is some glorious reunion and reconciliation, because if we 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:00.160 oversimplify and we make it a cliche, the Lord will 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.360 lighten your load. Then what happens when three hours from 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:06.760 now you get some bad news, or what happens when 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:08.639 you get to work tomorrow and your boss did not 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:10.680 get my sermon titled that the Lord wanted to lighten 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:15.560 your load, Then you get the memo the man of 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.520 God said the Lord would lighten my load. Well, they 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:21.119 are not the Lord, and they may put more on you. 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:22.760 Isn't that a dumb cliche? By the way, when we 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:25.440 say the Lord will never put more on you than 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:28.239 you can bear, Bible doesn't say that. 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:28.840 Read the Bible. 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.040 Stop quoting what you heard from your grandma without checking 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:31.960 it against the Bible. 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:35.119 She was approximating what she heard one time. 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.040 But the Bible says that no temptation has overtaken you, 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:39.200 and God will give you a way of escape. It 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:40.600 doesn't say that God won't put more on you than 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.560 you can bear. Chemo certainly will put more on you than. 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:42.880 You can bear. 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:49.560 So you won't get confused and think you're him. That's 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:53.600 actually God's job security to call you to do things 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.160 that you can't do without Him, so you won't get 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:57.800 there and be without Him and think you can do it. 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:00.639 I need the Lord in my life. 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:03.440 I need the Lord, and I have every six days 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:05.679 reminder when I come preach to you. And do you 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:08.800 know that my favorite thing to do that does not 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.320 involve my family is to be up. 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:13.399 Here and share the word of the Lord with you. 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:14.000 It really is. 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:17.399 But if you were to ask me two hours before 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:21.560 I get up here, are you excited to preach? I 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:23.879 would have a difficult time. If you hook me up 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.960 to a lie detector. Just say in a straight yes, 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:32.239 because I am excited. But and please don't tell all 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.159 the Pharisees that want to qute a scripture verse at 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:38.600 me when they hear this. I'm also anxious. I know 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:41.600 the Bible says don't be anxious, but that was Paul. 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:46.600 He's farther along than I am. I'm anxious. I'm anxious. 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:49.000 Will I say it right? I'm anxious? Will you hear 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:51.800 it right? I'm anxious? Will I leave the best part out? 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.400 I'm anxious? Will I say something that is not exactly 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:56.720 correct and maybe lead you astray? Even when I preach 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:58.400 about this kind of message. Let me tell what makes 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:01.760 me anxious. I'm scared that you will hear that Jacob 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:04.639 went to Egypt and use it as an excuse to 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:05.800 run away from something. 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:07.480 Hard in your life. 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:11.359 Because people will even take a phrase that you preach 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:14.439 on with a good intention, like the Lord said to Jacob, 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:17.080 don't be afraid to go to Egypt, and they will 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:20.600 somehow translate that into the Lord saying, quit your accounting 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:23.720 job even though you have four mouths to feed, and 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:27.240 open a coffee shop because you like coffee. But maybe 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.040 what the Lord is really saying is drink more coffee 0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:32.000 and keep accounting because you've got a whole family to 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:35.840 feed and those kids need to go to college. So 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:39.640 I'm worried about all of that. I'm worried about will 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:41.920 it be boring. I'm worried about will I say too much, 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:44.840 say too little? I'm just being honest. So I came 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:46.560 up with a way to explain it, and I thought 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:48.919 it might help you. Now, this is a trademark word, 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.760 and this word belongs to me, but you can borrow 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:55.919 it for the situations in your life where you feel 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:00.000 excited but you also feel anxious. 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:06.560 From now on, we call that anxcited. You got anything in. 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:09.000 Your life that you feel that way about today? So 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:10.760 if you if you ever asked me before I preach, 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:14.399 how do you feel, I'm gonna tell you I'm excited, 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:19.520 and you'll say, Pastor Steven, anxcited ain't a word, and 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:23.080 I'll say may it may not be a word, but 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:26.600 it is a reality. The fact is, if I focus 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:31.040 on getting it wrong, I'm gonna feel completely paralyzed. If 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:35.320 I focus on pleasing people, I'm gonna feel completely paralyzed. 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:38.600 If I focus on not leaving anything out, I'm going 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:40.440 to stand up here like I'm performing for you. 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:41.440 But the Saint Vegas. 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:45.040 If I focus on feeding you what God gave me 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:49.199 for what you're going through in your life, I'm excited. 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:51.959 So I want you to understand that both options are 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:56.439 always available. I can be anxious, I can be excited. 0:20:56.880 --> 0:21:00.160 I'm like Jacob. Sometimes I can't really name how how 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:03.160 I feel. I can't really name the season I'm in. 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:05.800 On one hand, I'm really happy to be in front 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:08.879 of you, I'm really I'm really thrilled with the prospect 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:10.960 of being a vessel for God to use it. On 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:14.440 the other hand, I'm terrified, and don't look at me judgmental, 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:16.280 because you don't like to give speeches or hear your 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:21.320 own voice either. So I'm excited, I'm anxious. I'm excited. 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:23.439 I don't know how to spell that, but I certainly 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:24.640 know what it feels. 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:27.919 Like I'm excited, and I believe there's somebody in the 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:31.359 room today that feels that way about this season of 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:38.800 your life. I'm excited. Tell your neighbor, I'm excited. I'm 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.200 kind of shaky in it, but I'm I'm, I'm, I'm 0:21:42.240 --> 0:21:43.280 I'm kind of looking. 0:21:43.080 --> 0:21:43.760 Forward to it. 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:47.760 I'm kind of relieved that things are changing, and I'm 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:50.119 kind of terrified that things will never be the same. 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:53.199 I'm kind of I'm kind of feeling a sense of 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:56.400 adventure in my life because I got fired, and I'm 0:21:56.440 --> 0:22:01.199 also watching my bank account and is running the wrong 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:06.280 way from abundance. It's moving in the wrong direction. So 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:09.480 I'm kind of excited to have free time, but I'm 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:12.120 kind of not excited. I'm a little anxious about having 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:15.760 less money because now I'm stretched and I'm stretching towards 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:18.760 something that i didn't expect, and in this season of 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:22.960 my life, I'm excited. Somebody asked me recently, what do 0:22:23.000 --> 0:22:25.080 you and Holly feel about being empty nester soon? 0:22:25.560 --> 0:22:26.320 I said, soon? 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:28.879 Abby as fourteen, why are you trying to run her 0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:32.520 out the house? Just started wearing makeup? Give me a 0:22:32.520 --> 0:22:37.480 few more years. I'm excited about my kids growing up. 0:22:38.040 --> 0:22:41.760 I'm excited about releasing them into the world. I'm excited 0:22:41.800 --> 0:22:44.200 about being in Charlotte. Some of you just moved here 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:46.639 in the last month. Some of you moved here to 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:48.080 be a part of this church. How do you feel 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:56.320 about it. I'm excited. That's an excited praise. That's I'm clapping. 0:22:56.440 --> 0:23:00.440 Sometimes I'm crying. Sometimes i miss my in. 0:23:00.400 --> 0:23:03.000 Austin, and I'm looking forward to meeting new ones here. 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:06.760 I'm just trying to tell you that sometimes the cliches 0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:10.800 that we use oversimplify the depth of the human experience, 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:17.480 and to remind you that you will always be both 0:23:20.560 --> 0:23:26.040 anxious and excited. Both look like shaking hands. Anxious and excited. 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:30.640 Both feel like sweaty palms. Anxious and excited. Both put 0:23:30.680 --> 0:23:34.359 butterflies in your stomach. But whether those butterflies are a 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:35.880 burden or a blessing. 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:39.159 Depends on which one you lean into. 0:23:41.240 --> 0:23:47.320 The news reaches Jacob Joseph is on the throne in Egypt. 0:23:47.320 --> 0:23:50.240 He is the prime minister of the most powerful nation 0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:52.760 on earth, and he has sent us with an instruction 0:23:53.080 --> 0:23:56.080 to bring you back. And he said, we don't even 0:23:56.119 --> 0:23:58.840 have to worry about bringing our own stuff with us, 0:23:59.480 --> 0:24:03.840 because when we get there, He's got us. I don't 0:24:03.880 --> 0:24:05.800 know who this is a word for, but when you 0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:12.040 get there, God's got you. Don't overbird in the process 0:24:12.200 --> 0:24:16.240 by overplanning your steps. I said, don't overbird in the 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:18.600 process by overplanning your steps. 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:21.520 When you get there, He's got you. 0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:25.080 And the process of God speaking to Jacob is a 0:24:25.160 --> 0:24:30.720 very complicated process because he's already changed his name to Israel. 0:24:31.560 --> 0:24:34.280 In fact, if you read the account in Genesis chapter 0:24:34.359 --> 0:24:38.480 forty six, you are forgiven. If you are a little confused, 0:24:38.560 --> 0:24:42.760 let's read it together again and see why it's confusing. Remember, 0:24:43.400 --> 0:24:46.920 Israel is Jacob's new name. It's not only the nation 0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:49.800 that he fathered, but it is the name he was given. 0:24:50.280 --> 0:24:54.040 It's the name of his strength. Jacob, on the other hand, 0:24:54.480 --> 0:24:57.479 is the name of his weakness. It speaks of his 0:24:57.600 --> 0:25:00.960 tendency to deceive and pipulate. 0:25:01.000 --> 0:25:02.960 And chase and compare. 0:25:03.880 --> 0:25:07.080 So the Bible says in Genesis forty six, at this 0:25:07.240 --> 0:25:13.760 pivotal moment in Jacob's life, so Israel took his journey. 0:25:13.840 --> 0:25:16.440 We're talking about a man whose name has been changed 0:25:16.880 --> 0:25:20.040 with all that he had and came to Beersheba and 0:25:20.200 --> 0:25:24.119 offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac, and 0:25:24.400 --> 0:25:26.400 God spoke to Israel. 0:25:26.760 --> 0:25:29.160 New name. God spoke to Israel. 0:25:29.440 --> 0:25:34.080 Strength. God spoke to Israel, which means prince. God spoke 0:25:34.160 --> 0:25:38.480 to Israel, the changed Jacob. God spoke to Israel in 0:25:38.720 --> 0:25:43.960 visions of the night and said Jacob, Jacob. So if 0:25:43.960 --> 0:25:48.400 his name is Israel, why are you speaking to Jacob? 0:25:48.920 --> 0:25:50.720 And I want to give you a principle to take 0:25:50.760 --> 0:25:53.879 with you today into every situation you encountered this week. 0:25:54.359 --> 0:25:59.840 Wherever God calls your Israel, you have to take Ja 0:26:00.440 --> 0:26:00.760 with you. 0:26:03.560 --> 0:26:04.920 It's gonna be good. In a minute. 0:26:05.359 --> 0:26:07.639 Let me work on this word for a minute, because 0:26:07.640 --> 0:26:10.920 you've been confused lately, because some habits have been sneaking 0:26:10.960 --> 0:26:12.840 back up on you that you thought you'd let go of, 0:26:13.440 --> 0:26:15.920 because some sins have been trying to strangle the life 0:26:16.000 --> 0:26:18.440 of you. But you thought you broke the chokehold. Because 0:26:18.480 --> 0:26:20.600 some things you said you never would do again, you 0:26:20.680 --> 0:26:21.680 started doing them again. 0:26:21.920 --> 0:26:24.040 And you're carrying it like a secret in your heart. 0:26:24.440 --> 0:26:26.800 Because somebody got up and told you that if you 0:26:26.920 --> 0:26:30.000 accepted Jesus, you would leave the old U behind. And 0:26:30.040 --> 0:26:33.399 that is true. Positionally, God no longer relates to you 0:26:33.480 --> 0:26:36.600 on the basis of any sin you committed. Every single 0:26:36.680 --> 0:26:39.320 one of the sins that you committed was nailed to 0:26:39.400 --> 0:26:43.119 the cross. Its effect was canceled. Your record is cleaning. 0:26:43.440 --> 0:26:46.680 Your sins have been blotted out. All of that is true. 0:26:46.720 --> 0:26:50.000 You have been delivered from the penalty of sin. You 0:26:50.040 --> 0:26:53.320 have been delivered from the power of sin. Sin is 0:26:53.400 --> 0:26:57.120 no longer your position. Sin is no longer your identity. 0:26:57.560 --> 0:27:00.679 But although you have been delivered from the power, although 0:27:00.720 --> 0:27:03.480 you have been delivered from the penalty, and although it 0:27:03.560 --> 0:27:07.359 is no longer your position, you still have some patterns 0:27:07.840 --> 0:27:12.600 called sin that go with you into your future called now. 0:27:13.000 --> 0:27:16.280 And I want to preach this because you are Israel, 0:27:16.640 --> 0:27:19.720 and you are Jacob, but you are kind of Israel, Acob. 0:27:22.640 --> 0:27:24.240 I'm a preacher till you get honest. 0:27:24.640 --> 0:27:27.520 I'm a preacher till you stop polishing your halo and 0:27:27.640 --> 0:27:30.480 pretending like you didn't cuss once this week. I'm a 0:27:30.560 --> 0:27:32.920 preacher till you stop pretending like you got. 0:27:32.720 --> 0:27:34.760 The right to make comments. 0:27:34.280 --> 0:27:37.520 In YouTube about other people's faith when you know good 0:27:37.560 --> 0:27:40.480 and well, you are not always on a church website. 0:27:40.680 --> 0:27:43.320 When you know good and well, there's some Jacob that 0:27:43.400 --> 0:27:56.040 came with you to chart. Aren't you just giving the 0:27:56.040 --> 0:28:00.600 people permission to sin? They're doing pretty good without remission. 0:28:00.800 --> 0:28:12.919 Ma'am trying to give you power, perspective, and presence that 0:28:13.000 --> 0:28:15.360 when God speaks to your Jacob, you don't run away 0:28:15.359 --> 0:28:18.840 and hide. 0:28:19.119 --> 0:28:21.920 Okay, something very meaningful. 0:28:22.840 --> 0:28:26.040 Always prepare three illustrations for each point, and then I 0:28:26.080 --> 0:28:28.960 try to stand in the room and figure out which 0:28:29.000 --> 0:28:31.880 one makes sense for right now. And usually if you're 0:28:31.920 --> 0:28:34.520 looking at me all stuffy, I'll go to the safe one. 0:28:34.720 --> 0:28:38.000 But today I feel kind of free. One time I 0:28:38.040 --> 0:28:42.400 apologize to Holly because I'm not always relaxed. We were 0:28:42.440 --> 0:28:44.520 on vacation and I said, I know you really liked 0:28:44.520 --> 0:28:47.480 this version of me. It had been three works three 0:28:47.480 --> 0:28:50.400 weeks since I had to work on a sermon, and 0:28:51.000 --> 0:28:54.320 three weeks of not having to be anxcited puts me 0:28:54.320 --> 0:28:56.280 in a very relaxed state of mind. 0:28:56.920 --> 0:28:58.480 Relaxed and lazy, real lazy. 0:28:58.520 --> 0:29:01.880 I get real lazy, I said, I know you love 0:29:01.960 --> 0:29:04.200 this version of me because I'm so men. You should 0:29:04.240 --> 0:29:06.960 see my southern small town charm come out. I'm speaking 0:29:07.000 --> 0:29:11.400 to everybody, holding doors, for everybody buying ice cream. 0:29:11.200 --> 0:29:13.520 For skaters that I used to would have said, their punks. 0:29:13.840 --> 0:29:17.000 But I'm buying ice cream. They smell like weed. I'm 0:29:17.040 --> 0:29:19.640 buying them ice cream telling them about Jesus. It's a 0:29:19.680 --> 0:29:22.160 great state. I said, I know you love this version 0:29:22.200 --> 0:29:24.440 of me. She said, yeah, I do, she said, but 0:29:24.520 --> 0:29:31.160 I love all of them. That was the biggest collective 0:29:31.240 --> 0:29:39.720 awe in church history. You made history today church, and 0:29:39.760 --> 0:29:40.760 that did something for me. 0:29:42.200 --> 0:29:43.240 It did something for me. 0:29:45.440 --> 0:29:47.960 Because I realized that she knew that we wouldn't be 0:29:48.000 --> 0:29:55.080 on vacation if I was never stressed, at least not 0:29:55.120 --> 0:30:00.400 staying indoors with plumbing. That meant a lot to That 0:30:00.440 --> 0:30:03.040 means a lot to a man, It means a lot 0:30:03.080 --> 0:30:06.920 to a woman when you appreciate the fact that the 0:30:06.960 --> 0:30:09.480 parts of me that are not that great come with 0:30:09.560 --> 0:30:13.520 the package, not so that I can continue to be 0:30:14.320 --> 0:30:17.240 a complete schizophrenic before I preach. 0:30:17.280 --> 0:30:22.000 But it unburdened me a little bit. And I'll tell 0:30:22.000 --> 0:30:22.320 you what it was. 0:30:22.360 --> 0:30:24.680 I'm going to give you four things that were a 0:30:24.680 --> 0:30:27.560 part of Jacob's journey today that you can practically apply 0:30:27.680 --> 0:30:33.400 to your wife, your life, or your wife. And the 0:30:33.440 --> 0:30:35.280 first one I've spoken of. But I want to be 0:30:35.320 --> 0:30:37.160 really clear. I want to talk to you about the weight. 0:30:38.520 --> 0:30:43.520 Write it down, please w eight weight, not waits in 0:30:43.560 --> 0:30:45.480 a period of time that lapses before you know a 0:30:45.520 --> 0:30:49.560 conclusion which would be appropriate to twenty two years that 0:30:49.600 --> 0:30:52.040 he has held in his heart the horror of losing 0:30:52.040 --> 0:30:55.880 his son Joseph. So it's kind of hard to get 0:30:55.920 --> 0:30:58.440 happy in five minutes when I've held this twenty two years. 0:31:00.120 --> 0:31:07.720 Have more compassion on people as they change, including you. 0:31:07.720 --> 0:31:10.120 You know how when you drive down the interstate they 0:31:10.120 --> 0:31:13.880 have way stations for truckers. I wish we could have 0:31:13.880 --> 0:31:18.200 one of those in the church for Christians, and we 0:31:18.200 --> 0:31:20.640 wouldn't be measuring whether you're down three pounds or not. 0:31:22.400 --> 0:31:25.800 I would love to know if you carried too much 0:31:25.880 --> 0:31:30.080 into this room today so that we could unburden you 0:31:30.160 --> 0:31:33.280 before you head back out, because you are dangerous with 0:31:33.400 --> 0:31:39.840 too much weight, and you're dangerous with too little weight. 0:31:40.400 --> 0:31:43.400 There are some responsibilities that God has placed on you 0:31:44.120 --> 0:31:46.360 that are the answers to the prayers that you prayed. 0:31:49.000 --> 0:31:51.400 The Lord was telling me one time that I was 0:31:51.480 --> 0:31:55.400 complaining about prayers that I had prayed six months ago 0:31:55.560 --> 0:31:56.520 being answered. 0:31:57.720 --> 0:31:58.280 You follow me. 0:31:58.400 --> 0:32:01.480 In other words, he did it, and then I got it, 0:32:02.440 --> 0:32:07.360 and it was heavy. Nobody ever tells you this. Blessings 0:32:07.400 --> 0:32:13.440 are heavy. Blessings are heavy. Everybody who's praying God will 0:32:13.440 --> 0:32:14.240 give you a baby. 0:32:14.600 --> 0:32:15.840 Blessings are heavy. 0:32:16.880 --> 0:32:20.800 I don't care eight pounds, ten pounds, twelve pounds. Abby 0:32:20.840 --> 0:32:22.400 said the other day she had a dream that she 0:32:22.520 --> 0:32:28.080 came out weighing one hundred and thirty pounds. And the 0:32:28.120 --> 0:32:30.720 truth of the matter is that the weight that Jacob 0:32:30.760 --> 0:32:31.680 is cared and I just want to talk to a 0:32:31.680 --> 0:32:35.120 little bit about today because he's carrying not only his 0:32:35.160 --> 0:32:41.880 own pain and his uncertainty, but the responsibility that his 0:32:42.000 --> 0:32:43.560 name represents an entire nation. 0:32:45.240 --> 0:32:49.040 Talk about weight, talk about heaviness. 0:32:50.200 --> 0:32:53.280 A few weeks ago, I talked about how heaviness and 0:32:53.360 --> 0:32:58.080 happiness sit at the same table, how heaviness and happiness 0:32:58.120 --> 0:33:00.840 live in the same heart. If we wait for the 0:33:00.880 --> 0:33:03.920 heaviness to go away to be happy, we will defer 0:33:04.080 --> 0:33:08.360 our joy and postpone it indefinitely. Waiting on a future 0:33:08.400 --> 0:33:10.880 time to praise God when all of your kids are 0:33:10.880 --> 0:33:14.440 doing well is a trap. Waiting on a future time 0:33:14.520 --> 0:33:16.760 to praise God when all your debts are paid off 0:33:16.880 --> 0:33:19.920 is a trap. Waiting on a future time to praise 0:33:19.960 --> 0:33:22.680 God when nothing in your body hurts is a trap. 0:33:23.480 --> 0:33:26.880 Waiting to praise God, waiting to enjoy your life, waiting 0:33:26.920 --> 0:33:30.640 to be thankful, waiting to smile, waiting to laugh until 0:33:30.680 --> 0:33:33.280 you know how this is going to turn out. Waiting 0:33:33.360 --> 0:33:35.760 until the outcome is clear for you to make a 0:33:35.840 --> 0:33:40.360 commitment to serve Jesus is a trap. And that's why 0:33:40.480 --> 0:33:44.400 Jacob had to set out with a heavy heart. Sometimes 0:33:44.600 --> 0:33:48.520 you have to head there heavy. Sometimes you have to 0:33:48.600 --> 0:33:52.080 move there weigh down. Sometimes you have to take a 0:33:52.120 --> 0:33:54.840 step forward knowing that I don't even know about the 0:33:54.840 --> 0:33:57.960 next one yet, but I will take this one. And 0:33:58.040 --> 0:34:00.400 so the process of coming to the Lord is to 0:34:00.440 --> 0:34:03.320 learn how to take the weight that he gives you. 0:34:03.840 --> 0:34:07.040 But I will remind you today that God can't help 0:34:07.120 --> 0:34:13.040 you carry something that he never called you to. One 0:34:13.120 --> 0:34:16.279 New Testament writer said to lay aside all the sin 0:34:16.719 --> 0:34:20.640 and the weight that easily besets you. Sometimes I think 0:34:20.680 --> 0:34:23.799 we're carrying sins that we won't give up. But other 0:34:23.880 --> 0:34:27.080 times I think we're carrying weights that aren't exactly sins, 0:34:27.760 --> 0:34:29.840 but are taking up the space in our life that 0:34:29.920 --> 0:34:33.000 could be used for trusting God, that could be used 0:34:33.040 --> 0:34:34.560 for creative solutions. 0:34:34.960 --> 0:34:36.880 If the devil wants to destroy you. 0:34:37.320 --> 0:34:39.880 He will get your mind so full of stuff that 0:34:40.080 --> 0:34:44.520 does not matter anyway, to get you moved. 0:34:44.160 --> 0:34:46.759 Off of what you are uniquely called to do. 0:34:49.120 --> 0:34:53.600 And to realize that Jacob in this moment is receiving 0:34:53.719 --> 0:34:57.280 good news, but he is still grieving what he's been through. 0:34:58.280 --> 0:35:04.839 Receiving good news but very excited about where he's going. 0:35:05.320 --> 0:35:08.840 May give you a little compassion for yourself. That I 0:35:08.920 --> 0:35:13.120 have this weight. It's not that my heart is hard, 0:35:13.560 --> 0:35:16.120 it's that it's heavy. 0:35:17.440 --> 0:35:20.719 And as he is considering this, I mean picture, he 0:35:20.800 --> 0:35:24.680 has to decide, am I going to believe that this 0:35:24.840 --> 0:35:28.160 is possible? Just like you are deciding Dove's nest? Am 0:35:28.200 --> 0:35:31.600 I going to believe that my recovery is possible? Just 0:35:31.640 --> 0:35:34.480 like you are having to decide? College student? Is it 0:35:34.560 --> 0:35:37.319 really worth it to live for Jesus? Just like you 0:35:37.400 --> 0:35:40.160 are having to decide in this season of your life. 0:35:40.400 --> 0:35:42.719 Am I going to call a therapist and start to 0:35:42.760 --> 0:35:45.200 work on this so that I don't just carry this 0:35:45.400 --> 0:35:48.520 forth as my template for the rest of my life. 0:35:48.719 --> 0:35:52.000 And as he is trying to decide whether to leave 0:35:52.200 --> 0:35:56.000 what is familiar and walk in what is fearful and 0:35:56.160 --> 0:36:00.920 point himself in the direction of the unexpected pregnant possibility. 0:36:02.000 --> 0:36:04.640 God has answered his prayers that for twenty two years 0:36:04.719 --> 0:36:09.080 lay dormant, not dead. The Bible says in verse twenty 0:36:09.080 --> 0:36:14.120 seven that as he was carrying this weight, everybody say wait, 0:36:15.239 --> 0:36:18.399 come on, say it loud, or say wait. I want 0:36:18.440 --> 0:36:20.600 you to say it as loud as it is heavy 0:36:20.640 --> 0:36:25.440 to you. One two three. Yeah. The crushing expectations that 0:36:25.480 --> 0:36:29.040 you had of yourself, the crushing disappointment of what didn't happen. 0:36:29.120 --> 0:36:30.720 And some of you are like, I'm doing good today. 0:36:30.840 --> 0:36:33.279 Way in next week, we'll check you next week. Something 0:36:33.280 --> 0:36:35.680 could happen between you know, something could get on something 0:36:35.719 --> 0:36:37.920 could get on your truck this week that could make 0:36:37.960 --> 0:36:40.760 you break down in tears and not be so arrogant. 0:36:40.800 --> 0:36:43.920 So never judge somebody because of what they are carrying. 0:36:45.640 --> 0:36:48.480 One side note, one side note. I met a man 0:36:48.560 --> 0:36:50.640 a year ago, and when I met him, I said, 0:36:50.800 --> 0:36:53.800 he is so arrogant. All he did was talk about himself. 0:36:54.000 --> 0:36:56.640 I've never met somebody so arrogant. I walked away and 0:36:56.680 --> 0:37:00.560 thought I have discernment. I saw him him again a 0:37:00.640 --> 0:37:03.400 year later. He said, I wanted to tell you something. 0:37:03.440 --> 0:37:05.600 The first time you met me, you couldn't have known this, 0:37:05.920 --> 0:37:08.239 but I had just received news the day before that 0:37:08.320 --> 0:37:10.719 I lost my job. I had been throwing up in 0:37:10.760 --> 0:37:13.400 a hotel room all night. So I apologize if I 0:37:13.440 --> 0:37:15.520 came across a certain way, and I'm like, you did, 0:37:17.320 --> 0:37:21.480 you did? And isn't it crazy that I couldn't even 0:37:21.560 --> 0:37:25.160 see who he really was because all I could see 0:37:25.239 --> 0:37:30.200 was what he carried. Tell your neighbor, I'm really a 0:37:30.200 --> 0:37:34.319 good person. Catch me at the right time. I'll buy 0:37:34.360 --> 0:37:40.240 you some ice cream. I see the Lord is speaking 0:37:40.239 --> 0:37:42.560 to Jacob while he's trying to move forward as Israel. 0:37:43.840 --> 0:37:44.160 I said. 0:37:44.160 --> 0:37:46.040 The Lord is speaking to Jacob while he's trying to 0:37:46.040 --> 0:37:50.000 move forward as Israel, and he's trying to decide, do 0:37:50.080 --> 0:37:50.520 I believe? 0:37:50.760 --> 0:37:54.600 How would you believe? These boys? Do you remember what 0:37:54.640 --> 0:37:54.960 they did? 0:37:55.000 --> 0:37:58.799 They brought Joseph's coat to their dad and said, is 0:37:58.840 --> 0:38:00.880 this the coat you gave Joseph? They were always jealous 0:38:00.920 --> 0:38:03.480 of him, and they dipped it in blood to make 0:38:03.520 --> 0:38:05.600 it look like he was muled by animals, and he was. 0:38:05.640 --> 0:38:08.719 They were the animals. Now he was on his way 0:38:08.719 --> 0:38:10.800 to Egypt, and God was using all of that sovereignly. 0:38:10.840 --> 0:38:14.239 But in that moment, all Jacob felt with sadness, and 0:38:14.280 --> 0:38:18.520 he kept that coat for twenty two years. It's all 0:38:18.520 --> 0:38:21.319 he had left of his son. And now these same 0:38:21.360 --> 0:38:23.439 boys they've gone down to Egypt. They found out there's food. 0:38:23.480 --> 0:38:25.919 There's gonna be five more years of famine. And Joseph says, come, 0:38:25.920 --> 0:38:27.480 I got you. When you get here, I got you. 0:38:27.840 --> 0:38:31.440 So they go back to Canaan and they say, Dad, 0:38:31.680 --> 0:38:32.239 we gotta go. 0:38:32.760 --> 0:38:33.600 Joseph's alive. 0:38:33.760 --> 0:38:36.239 He's gonna take care of us, and there's hope in 0:38:36.239 --> 0:38:39.359 his heart, and there's happiness in his heart. And the 0:38:39.440 --> 0:38:44.040 weight almost watched this. It almost keeps him from going. 0:38:46.480 --> 0:38:48.359 I love this word in the Bible put up verse 0:38:48.400 --> 0:38:55.600 twenty seven. But when they told him the words of Joseph, 0:38:56.080 --> 0:38:59.719 which he had said to them, now get ready to 0:38:59.719 --> 0:39:02.959 shed a little bit, because this part that comes next 0:39:03.080 --> 0:39:03.960 is really important. 0:39:04.640 --> 0:39:08.000 It was one thing to hear their words, because. 0:39:07.760 --> 0:39:10.640 They've said a lot of things and they've lied about it. 0:39:10.640 --> 0:39:12.360 It is one thing to believe people. 0:39:13.280 --> 0:39:16.239 It is one thing to believe a preacher, But it 0:39:16.360 --> 0:39:21.160 is another thing when God gives you evidence of his 0:39:21.320 --> 0:39:26.000 presence that you can't deny. And I believe I'm talking 0:39:26.040 --> 0:39:28.840 to about two hundred and twenty five people today somewhere 0:39:29.239 --> 0:39:29.640 in this. 0:39:29.640 --> 0:39:33.160 Room at Valentine, that. 0:39:33.200 --> 0:39:36.719 Your heart has been heavy, but you've got evidence that 0:39:36.800 --> 0:39:40.920 God is not quite through with you yet. And now 0:39:40.960 --> 0:39:43.360 the devil would love for you to look past the evidence. 0:39:43.440 --> 0:39:44.040 But watch this. 0:39:44.760 --> 0:39:48.120 The Bible says that he was trying to believe, trying 0:39:48.160 --> 0:39:50.520 to take it in, trying to wake up his heart, 0:39:50.840 --> 0:39:55.120 trying to revive his spirit, trying to convince himself, trying 0:39:55.160 --> 0:39:57.960 to get a move on, trying to make a plan, trying, 0:39:57.960 --> 0:40:00.239 but his heart was numb and he couldn't move my 0:40:00.320 --> 0:40:04.600 verse when he heard the words of Joseph, which he 0:40:04.640 --> 0:40:07.680 had said to them secondhand, and. 0:40:08.960 --> 0:40:11.759 When he saw the wagons. 0:40:13.160 --> 0:40:15.200 That's the second word I want you to write down 0:40:15.560 --> 0:40:21.080 is wagons. Because I got weight. I'm going through some things. 0:40:21.600 --> 0:40:25.800 I've got weight, I've got unanswered questions. I've got weight. 0:40:26.440 --> 0:40:29.560 There are some people who have disappointed me. I've got weight. 0:40:29.680 --> 0:40:33.960 Somebody say I've got weight, But I've also got wagons. 0:40:35.560 --> 0:40:38.280 And this is the part where if you are Pentecostal, 0:40:38.400 --> 0:40:42.200 even by five percent, I want you to look out 0:40:42.239 --> 0:40:46.440 your window today spiritually speaking, and look at all the 0:40:46.480 --> 0:40:50.560 wagons that God has sent to bring you where. 0:40:50.360 --> 0:40:51.400 You're supposed to be. 0:40:53.560 --> 0:40:57.080 Now we've got a choice to make because I'm excited, 0:40:58.200 --> 0:41:02.040 because I'm heartbroken, but I'm hopeful, and the weight is 0:41:02.080 --> 0:41:04.120 trying to get me to stay depressed. 0:41:04.800 --> 0:41:07.120 But the wagons are calling me to move on. 0:41:07.920 --> 0:41:10.200 And I want to know which one is your faith 0:41:10.280 --> 0:41:13.360 in the weight or the wagons. 0:41:14.440 --> 0:41:15.719 Plus, God sent me. 0:41:15.680 --> 0:41:20.200 With a prophetic word for somebody. You'll got wagons waiting 0:41:20.239 --> 0:41:24.399 for you. You'll got transportation waiting for you. 0:41:27.840 --> 0:41:30.040 Hot five everybody you can reach and. 0:41:29.960 --> 0:41:34.759 Say, here come the wagons, Here come the wagons. 0:41:37.000 --> 0:41:39.960 And there is no way, oh feel like, testify, there 0:41:40.000 --> 0:41:43.080 is no way i'd be here. There is no way 0:41:43.160 --> 0:41:47.160 i'd be here if it had not been for the wagons. 0:41:51.760 --> 0:41:54.440 All right, you'll help me get happy about the wagons, 0:41:54.760 --> 0:41:58.640 the wagons, the wagons, the wagons. Jacob's like, I don't 0:41:58.680 --> 0:42:00.319 know if this is true. I don't believe these boys. 0:42:00.320 --> 0:42:02.120 These boys are rascals. These boys are liars. 0:42:02.239 --> 0:42:05.040 Reuben's a liar, Simeon's a liar, Judah is a liar. 0:42:05.160 --> 0:42:08.080 Who can I trust? All my boys are dysfunctional. All 0:42:08.160 --> 0:42:10.400 this weight is too much for me. I've been twenty 0:42:10.400 --> 0:42:12.520 two years in this condition. I don't know if I 0:42:12.520 --> 0:42:15.360 should believe this. And while he's listening to them, he 0:42:15.480 --> 0:42:19.560 is stuck in the weight. But when he saw the wagons, 0:42:21.880 --> 0:42:26.799 when he saw those wagons, when Joseph sent his brother's back, 0:42:27.160 --> 0:42:31.480 he said, take the best wagons that Egypt has to offer. 0:42:31.600 --> 0:42:35.040 Hold on, let me ask my boss, Pharaoh. I gotta 0:42:35.080 --> 0:42:37.600 go get my dad and bring him back. Would you 0:42:37.680 --> 0:42:41.600 let me borrow some wagons? Pharaoh said, yeah, I'm not 0:42:41.760 --> 0:42:44.880 even there. I don't even worship their same God, but 0:42:45.000 --> 0:42:47.680 I will send them the transportation to bring them here 0:42:47.760 --> 0:42:50.919 to eat. God doesn't even have to use the right 0:42:51.000 --> 0:42:57.240 thing to get you where you're supposed to go. Gott, 0:42:57.760 --> 0:43:00.799 Can I say it like I feel it. God's gonna 0:43:00.880 --> 0:43:04.959 use some stupid stuff to get you there. God's gonna 0:43:05.040 --> 0:43:10.080 use some ridiculous things to get you there, some weird wagons. 0:43:10.880 --> 0:43:14.960 What are these wagons? I never seen wagons like this before. 0:43:15.200 --> 0:43:19.279 Aren't these Pharaoh's wagons? Yeah, but they're under God's jurisdiction. 0:43:22.520 --> 0:43:25.279 So I'm explaining how God came to get him with 0:43:25.440 --> 0:43:34.799 the wagons. Because God knew he had a limp, and 0:43:34.880 --> 0:43:38.680 he knows where you're weighty, and he knows where you're wheat. 0:43:38.480 --> 0:43:44.440 And that's what the wagons are. For give me the 0:43:44.520 --> 0:43:50.080 verse again. Ain't that anointed? Mom? I said, ain't that annoyed? Mom? 0:43:50.280 --> 0:43:52.279 If my mom doesn't think it's annoyed, I need to 0:43:52.280 --> 0:43:58.200 shut it down. But when he saw the wagons, are 0:43:58.200 --> 0:44:00.520 you back there justin? Can you circle when he saw 0:44:00.560 --> 0:44:06.400 the wagons? Oh, when he saw the wagons that Joseph 0:44:06.440 --> 0:44:09.360 had sent to carry him. I want you to circle 0:44:09.440 --> 0:44:14.800 carry too, because I think that's the key right there 0:44:16.320 --> 0:44:20.239 for the Lord lightning your load today. I don't think 0:44:20.280 --> 0:44:21.920 he needs to take something off of you. I think 0:44:21.920 --> 0:44:23.239 he needs to put something under you. 0:44:28.160 --> 0:44:28.560 Wow. 0:44:29.040 --> 0:44:34.600 The Lord will lighten your load, not by decreasing the weight, 0:44:34.680 --> 0:44:36.880 but by sending the wagons. 0:44:37.120 --> 0:44:39.600 Wow, what are your wagons? 0:44:40.280 --> 0:44:45.359 And why won't you get in them? Why you keep 0:44:45.400 --> 0:44:48.520 not joining an e group? You think the whole group 0:44:48.560 --> 0:44:51.200 has COVID? But you you're gonna go catch nothing from him? Maybe, 0:44:51.200 --> 0:44:54.560 but Jesus might catch some joy, might catch some peace, 0:44:54.640 --> 0:44:57.359 might catch some better habits, might catch some accountability, might 0:44:57.360 --> 0:44:59.400 catch some spiritual discipline, might catch a. 0:44:59.440 --> 0:45:01.960 Dave Ramsey budget makeover. You might catch something good. 0:45:03.320 --> 0:45:05.480 Keep praying about the weight of your financial burden, but 0:45:05.520 --> 0:45:09.600 you won't get on the wagon. Get on the wagon. 0:45:11.080 --> 0:45:16.160 Limp to the wagon. You can get on the wagon. Weeping, 0:45:16.719 --> 0:45:22.240 just get one. You can get on the wagon. Worried, 0:45:23.160 --> 0:45:26.840 just get on. You can get on the wagon with 0:45:26.960 --> 0:45:30.279 all of your weight. These are good wagons. These are 0:45:30.360 --> 0:45:37.319 trustworthy wagons because Joseph sent them, because God sent them, 0:45:37.480 --> 0:45:40.200 and he will help you carry what he called you 0:45:40.280 --> 0:45:45.319 to and nothing that he didn't, which is why it 0:45:45.400 --> 0:45:49.680 becomes so important. I talked about the weight. I talked 0:45:49.680 --> 0:45:52.520 about the wagons. Can I talk for a moment about 0:45:52.560 --> 0:45:57.400 the worship? Okay, this is important. He sets out in 0:45:57.440 --> 0:46:00.400 the wagons. He says, all the wagons are here. That 0:46:00.600 --> 0:46:04.200 must mean it's true. And I use this to illustrate 0:46:04.800 --> 0:46:06.719 all the things that God is sending in your life, 0:46:06.719 --> 0:46:08.279 to convince you that He's with you, in spite of 0:46:08.320 --> 0:46:11.399 all of your feelings saying that he isn't. They are there. 0:46:12.920 --> 0:46:16.640 Sometimes you can't see the wagons through your weeping. So 0:46:16.680 --> 0:46:19.440 he gets on right. And I would love to read 0:46:19.480 --> 0:46:20.880 the whole chapter to you where it lists all the 0:46:20.880 --> 0:46:22.680 people he had to take, because you would start to 0:46:22.680 --> 0:46:25.400 feel how weighty it is, and you would start to 0:46:25.440 --> 0:46:28.279 identify he has to take them their children and some 0:46:28.360 --> 0:46:30.359 grandchildren because he's one hundred and thirty and he has 0:46:30.400 --> 0:46:33.919 accumulated a lot. Now they're on there with animals, They're 0:46:33.920 --> 0:46:35.440 on there with people, They're on there with people that 0:46:35.520 --> 0:46:39.040 act like animals. I did not mean to describe your 0:46:39.040 --> 0:46:43.080 family vacation. But let's make this real. Let's make this live. 0:46:43.360 --> 0:46:46.200 Just leave this in BC. Let's bring it to right now. 0:46:46.880 --> 0:46:49.759 Let's bring this to your life. He's on the wagons, 0:46:50.719 --> 0:46:52.640 but he's still worried. And I think this is the 0:46:52.680 --> 0:46:58.760 part that that maybe can help you Wednesday to worship 0:46:58.800 --> 0:47:02.600 God Wednesday. I don't really I don't really preach with 0:47:02.680 --> 0:47:06.120 the intention for you to worship God's Sunday. I want 0:47:06.160 --> 0:47:10.960 you to worship Wednesday when it's weighty, when. 0:47:10.800 --> 0:47:13.320 You are on your way and you're worried. 0:47:13.760 --> 0:47:18.440 So in Genesis forty six, verse one, it looks like 0:47:18.440 --> 0:47:20.640 they're going straight to Egypt to get the food, because 0:47:20.640 --> 0:47:24.239 that's where the food is. That's where Joseph is. But Israel, 0:47:24.960 --> 0:47:29.879 the better part of Jacob, took his journey with all 0:47:29.920 --> 0:47:33.799 that he had, including Jacob. I'm gonna say it again, 0:47:34.880 --> 0:47:37.320 your silence does not intimidate me from making my point. 0:47:38.360 --> 0:47:43.440 You bring you with you. You bring you with you. 0:47:44.560 --> 0:47:46.759 If you get a promotion, I hope you're a good 0:47:46.800 --> 0:47:50.799 boss because you bring you with you. If you get 0:47:50.840 --> 0:47:55.320 a partner, you bring you with you. If you have kids, 0:47:55.800 --> 0:47:58.640 you bring you with you. And all they are going 0:47:58.719 --> 0:48:01.160 to do is show you you in a funhouse mirror. 0:48:03.920 --> 0:48:06.840 You'll bring you with you. So when it says Israel 0:48:06.880 --> 0:48:10.040 took his journey, and then people say enjoy the journey, 0:48:10.560 --> 0:48:13.720 I hate that cliche. How am I supposed to enjoy 0:48:13.760 --> 0:48:17.920 the journey with seventy jokers that I can't trust with 0:48:18.000 --> 0:48:21.080 the land that I'm headed to that I have never seen, that, 0:48:21.160 --> 0:48:24.239 I cannot research that, I can't even really understand what 0:48:24.280 --> 0:48:26.920 it's going to be like with the sadness of my 0:48:27.040 --> 0:48:30.120 past following me here. So Israel took his journey. 0:48:29.880 --> 0:48:33.439 With all that he had and came to Beersheba. 0:48:33.640 --> 0:48:37.480 Beersheba is on the border of southern Canaan. 0:48:37.520 --> 0:48:40.480 What does that mean? It's right there on the edge 0:48:40.600 --> 0:48:41.680 of going to Egypt. 0:48:42.040 --> 0:48:45.239 If he gets past Beersheba, he's going all the way. 0:48:45.640 --> 0:48:48.439 So he stops there, and watch what he does when 0:48:48.440 --> 0:48:51.600 he stops. He takes some of those animals that were 0:48:51.640 --> 0:48:55.040 in that wagon that would have represented something that he 0:48:55.120 --> 0:49:00.640 accumulated in Canaan. And he offered sacrifices to the God 0:49:01.120 --> 0:49:08.439 of his father Isaac. Next verse and God spoke. Verse one, 0:49:08.600 --> 0:49:18.440 he offered sacrifices and God spoke. He gave God something, 0:49:19.520 --> 0:49:24.239 and God gave him something. I am not saying that 0:49:24.320 --> 0:49:28.600 this is a transaction, but it is a fact. Worship 0:49:29.160 --> 0:49:38.360 is Heaven's strategy to unburden the human heart. Worship is 0:49:38.680 --> 0:49:42.640 Heaven's strategy to see you with your messed up mind, 0:49:43.000 --> 0:49:45.879 to see you with your jacked up habits, to see 0:49:45.920 --> 0:49:49.000 you with your cluttered state of mind, to see you 0:49:49.120 --> 0:49:51.880 in all of your burdenedness. 0:49:51.480 --> 0:49:55.480 And to say, let me lighten your load. 0:49:56.760 --> 0:50:04.840 And when he offered sacrifices, God spoke and said Jacob, Jacob, 0:50:05.600 --> 0:50:10.600 And he said here I am, I'm here, I'm excided 0:50:11.440 --> 0:50:17.080 about this journey. And verse three says then the Lord said, 0:50:17.120 --> 0:50:20.000 I am God. Now aren't you glad that both of 0:50:20.040 --> 0:50:25.319 those are true? You're still Jacob, but he's still God. 0:50:26.320 --> 0:50:28.360 Wow. 0:50:30.280 --> 0:50:31.960 I told you I had a word for you today, 0:50:34.280 --> 0:50:36.160 and the word is you need to worship. When you 0:50:36.200 --> 0:50:43.040 feel the weight, pull the wagon over and worship. Uh, 0:50:43.520 --> 0:50:46.279 what do you mean, pastor Steve, I'm driving right now. 0:50:46.400 --> 0:50:50.160 Should I lift my hands? Put your hands on ten 0:50:50.239 --> 0:50:57.640 and two and worship and worship and rehearse the greatness 0:50:57.640 --> 0:51:14.840 of God until you get the frustrations of your Jacob, Jacob, Martha, Martha, Simon, Simon, Moses, Moses, 0:51:15.600 --> 0:51:16.400 I am God. 0:51:16.640 --> 0:51:17.280 I don't care. 0:51:17.160 --> 0:51:19.239 Who you think you are or who you're not. You're 0:51:19.239 --> 0:51:21.440 not bound by any of that. I am God, the 0:51:21.480 --> 0:51:24.000 God of your father. By the way, Isaac made an 0:51:24.000 --> 0:51:27.880 offering in Beersheba too, so did Abraham. This was a 0:51:27.920 --> 0:51:31.880 significant place for Jacob, but he was having to do 0:51:31.960 --> 0:51:34.960 something his father's never did. And when you come to 0:51:35.000 --> 0:51:37.200 a place where you've never seen a model for it, 0:51:37.800 --> 0:51:39.719 when you come to a place where you've never seen 0:51:39.760 --> 0:51:42.319 an example for it, when you've come to a place 0:51:42.320 --> 0:51:44.520 where you didn't have anybody to show you the way, 0:51:44.760 --> 0:51:47.440 when you come to a place and you don't know 0:51:47.840 --> 0:51:57.760 how worship, worship, and the Lord will lighten your load. 0:51:58.719 --> 0:52:02.759 I'm not talking about singing. He didn't sing. He sacrificed. 0:52:04.440 --> 0:52:08.080 True worship is you giving up something that you weren't 0:52:08.080 --> 0:52:11.880 meant to carry. The Lord will lighten your load. Before 0:52:11.920 --> 0:52:15.279 you go forward into this next thing. I see you 0:52:15.320 --> 0:52:19.839 giving up what people think about it. That's worship. When 0:52:19.840 --> 0:52:22.239 you give up what people think about it and you 0:52:22.280 --> 0:52:23.160 get serious. 0:52:22.880 --> 0:52:24.960 About what God has said about it, that's worship. 0:52:26.239 --> 0:52:29.080 Some of us cannot move forward in strength because we 0:52:29.120 --> 0:52:33.120 are too stuck in status. When you give up on 0:52:33.200 --> 0:52:36.160 what people say about it, people think about it. 0:52:36.120 --> 0:52:38.200 Whether you're going to be embarrassed about it. 0:52:38.520 --> 0:52:42.160 When you worship and you say, God, you're so sovereign, 0:52:42.160 --> 0:52:45.719 look at all of these wagons you sent. I'm telling you, 0:52:45.960 --> 0:52:48.360 if you want to get from weakness to strength in 0:52:48.440 --> 0:52:54.040 your spirit this week, start counting wagons instead of telling 0:52:54.120 --> 0:52:56.480 them how much it weighs. Start thinking them for wagons. 0:52:56.719 --> 0:52:59.080 Look at what you've done for me, God, Look at 0:52:59.120 --> 0:53:01.439 what you've brought to me. God, look at how you've 0:53:01.480 --> 0:53:07.800 helped me. And the Lord said Jacob. Jacob, I am God. 0:53:08.160 --> 0:53:10.719 I know this isn't the same way that your fathers went. 0:53:11.000 --> 0:53:13.200 I know this isn't the same strategy that they had, 0:53:13.360 --> 0:53:14.480 but I'm the same God. 0:53:14.760 --> 0:53:18.200 So do not be afraid to go down to Egypt. Now. 0:53:18.239 --> 0:53:20.000 I don't know what you need to put in that sentence, 0:53:20.040 --> 0:53:23.319 but leave it up there. Do not be afraid too. 0:53:23.520 --> 0:53:24.240 There are two. 0:53:24.080 --> 0:53:28.000 Specific times in scripture that God says specifically what not 0:53:28.120 --> 0:53:31.279 to be afraid of. He tells Joseph, do not be 0:53:31.360 --> 0:53:34.640 afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what 0:53:34.800 --> 0:53:38.200 is in her is of me. And he tells Jacob, 0:53:38.239 --> 0:53:41.040 do not be afraid to go to Egypt, even though 0:53:41.040 --> 0:53:42.400 it seems dangerous. 0:53:42.719 --> 0:53:45.279 Even though it seems risky, remember I'm not telling you 0:53:45.320 --> 0:53:46.360 to start a hair salon. 0:53:47.200 --> 0:53:50.560 Egypt does not represent just whateverthing you want to do. 0:53:51.360 --> 0:53:54.160 It is what God has called you to do that 0:53:54.280 --> 0:53:57.279 you are afraid to do, that you are unfamiliar with. 0:53:57.600 --> 0:53:59.359 Do not be afraid to do it. 0:53:59.480 --> 0:54:04.120 Watch the for there in the unfamiliar place, There in 0:54:04.200 --> 0:54:05.279 the place nobody in. 0:54:05.239 --> 0:54:07.000 Your family has lived in before. 0:54:07.480 --> 0:54:10.320 They're in the place where you thought Joseph was dead, 0:54:10.560 --> 0:54:11.240 but he's. 0:54:11.040 --> 0:54:12.359 Actually waiting for you. 0:54:12.840 --> 0:54:13.080 There. 0:54:13.160 --> 0:54:15.800 I will make you into a great nation. 0:54:16.120 --> 0:54:23.840 Verse four, I my self will go down with you 0:54:24.840 --> 0:54:31.800 to Egypt, to the hospital, into your senior years, into 0:54:31.880 --> 0:54:37.800 the ninth grade. I myself, God says, will go down 0:54:37.960 --> 0:54:40.840 with you. In other words, I'm gonna lighten your load, 0:54:42.040 --> 0:54:45.440 because not only do you have weight, and not only 0:54:45.480 --> 0:54:48.960 do you have wagons and Not only do you have worship, 0:54:49.440 --> 0:54:53.200 but when you worship me, the weight lifts, and your 0:54:53.320 --> 0:54:58.760 wagons have wings. And I'm carrying you because I got wings. 0:55:02.080 --> 0:55:05.960 I put wings on your wagons. I put strength in 0:55:06.040 --> 0:55:10.440 your weakness. I put a step in your limb. I 0:55:10.640 --> 0:55:15.279 put power in your spirit. I put wings on your wagons. 0:55:17.760 --> 0:55:21.520 My wagons have wings, y'all. I'm gonna get there because 0:55:21.520 --> 0:55:25.680 He's with me. My wagons have wings. Yeah, I've got 0:55:25.760 --> 0:55:29.399 weight on me. Yeah, I've got burdens about the future. Yeah, 0:55:29.400 --> 0:55:33.080 I'm excited about it. Yeah, I'm still Jacob, but I'm 0:55:33.080 --> 0:55:39.240 not traveling alone. Because they that wait on the Lord 0:55:40.400 --> 0:55:48.279 will renew their strength. They will mount up on wings 0:55:49.760 --> 0:55:55.640 like eagles. I'm going to each of them on eagles wings. 0:55:56.520 --> 0:55:57.960 I'm going on wings. 0:55:59.320 --> 0:56:03.560 The God did not grow weary they start walking. 0:56:03.760 --> 0:56:09.120 I think I'm going in the straight. I'm the glory 0:56:09.640 --> 0:56:10.360 of God. 0:56:12.640 --> 0:56:16.560 My wagons have wings, My wagons have wings. 0:56:16.920 --> 0:56:20.120 I got a hate sooth all around my family. 0:56:20.640 --> 0:56:23.720 My wagons. 0:56:23.760 --> 0:56:27.440 Don't be surprised when I rise a puppet the Lord. 0:56:27.480 --> 0:56:30.360 That's lighten my load. 0:56:33.400 --> 0:56:39.040 My wagons have wings, My tears have intention, my worship 0:56:39.120 --> 0:56:39.880 has purpose. 0:56:47.160 --> 0:56:47.480 I know. 0:56:49.040 --> 0:56:57.839 You're carrying a lie, but you're carried to your wagons. 0:56:59.000 --> 0:57:04.040 Have wings. He's going with you. I don't know where 0:57:04.040 --> 0:57:06.600 you're going. You don't either, but I know one thing. 0:57:08.000 --> 0:57:10.239 He's going with you. 0:57:10.280 --> 0:57:12.800 Give my camera. I speak to your burden soul today. 0:57:13.239 --> 0:57:13.920 He's going with you. 0:57:16.000 --> 0:57:18.000 Well, while back, I was doing ministry with somebody that 0:57:18.080 --> 0:57:20.320 was tag team. I looked over at them before we 0:57:20.360 --> 0:57:23.040 went up. I could see he was so nervous. I 0:57:23.120 --> 0:57:24.560 put my arm around him. I said, you do it already. 0:57:24.560 --> 0:57:25.000 He said no. 0:57:26.200 --> 0:57:27.480 I said why not? He said, I don't know what 0:57:27.520 --> 0:57:32.200 to do up there. I said, I'm not good at much, 0:57:33.200 --> 0:57:37.560 but i'm good at this. The Lord's prepared me. So 0:57:37.720 --> 0:57:40.160 we go up there. I don't want you to worry 0:57:40.160 --> 0:57:44.120 about anything. I'm going up there with you, and if 0:57:44.120 --> 0:57:47.720 you stop talking mid syllable, I'll pick it up and 0:57:47.760 --> 0:57:49.760 say the next syllable like we meant to do it. 0:57:50.800 --> 0:57:58.960 Because I could tell he was carrying weight, so I 0:57:59.360 --> 0:58:03.760 told him, I'll be your wings. I could see a 0:58:03.760 --> 0:58:06.120 tear come in his eye because he was carrying so much. 0:58:08.240 --> 0:58:12.880 I'll be your wingman, That's what I was telling him. 0:58:12.920 --> 0:58:14.800 And then I looked him in his eye and I 0:58:14.840 --> 0:58:17.160 said something to him, And I believe that the Lord 0:58:17.200 --> 0:58:21.240 would say this to each of his children today too. Hey, hey, 0:58:21.960 --> 0:58:38.480 I won't let you fail. And I know every skeptical 0:58:38.520 --> 0:58:40.640 in your bone, is every bone in your body that 0:58:40.720 --> 0:58:44.160 skeptical is screaming right now? Then then why did my 0:58:44.200 --> 0:58:46.520 best friend die of cancer? Then why did the business feel? 0:58:46.680 --> 0:58:50.120 Then why did the marriage feel? Maybe it wasn't a failure. 0:58:52.400 --> 0:58:58.080 Maybe even maybe even when they died, their purpose on 0:58:58.240 --> 0:59:03.680 earth was just getting started. Maybe the business that failed 0:59:03.760 --> 0:59:05.560 wasn't the one that you were called to run. Did 0:59:05.600 --> 0:59:09.640 you think about that? Maybe God's failures or foundations. 0:59:11.920 --> 0:59:12.560 And I want you. 0:59:12.520 --> 0:59:18.360 To let him lighten your load today because I'm gonna 0:59:18.360 --> 0:59:20.800 tell you something, Jacob, if you try to ride in 0:59:20.840 --> 0:59:24.560 that wagon and you let Jacob steer, you won't make 0:59:24.600 --> 0:59:25.640 it where you're supposed to be. 0:59:26.720 --> 0:59:28.400 The word of the Lord came to Israel in the. 0:59:28.480 --> 0:59:32.040 Night to speak to the part of you that knows 0:59:32.080 --> 0:59:35.840 that worship gives me wings and it can be just 0:59:35.880 --> 0:59:38.760 the smallest transition in your life. I'm telling you, I 0:59:38.800 --> 0:59:41.760 know there are people in here today who are carrying weight, 0:59:41.880 --> 0:59:42.959 unimaginable weight. 0:59:43.760 --> 0:59:45.440 But stand on your feet right now. 0:59:47.960 --> 0:59:52.480 And in the presence of your God, the God of Abraham, 0:59:52.560 --> 0:59:56.400 the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, Jacob, Jacob, 0:59:57.320 --> 1:00:02.560 the God of Simon, Simon, God of Martha, Martha, the 1:00:02.600 --> 1:00:08.720 God of Abraham, Abraham, the God of Moses, Moses. That 1:00:08.800 --> 1:00:12.760 God knows your name, knows your needs, he knows your limp, 1:00:13.040 --> 1:00:17.200 he knows your loss, and he wants to give you 1:00:17.240 --> 1:00:23.800 wings on your wagon today. The truth is, if you're here, 1:00:23.840 --> 1:00:31.120 it's because you are carried. Somebody say, I'm carried. That 1:00:31.240 --> 1:00:35.200 verse really spoke to me, Man in verse five, where 1:00:35.240 --> 1:00:38.560 it says Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of 1:00:38.640 --> 1:00:43.080 Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their 1:00:43.080 --> 1:00:47.439 wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 1:00:49.000 --> 1:00:52.440 You know how, I know you can because you're carried. 1:00:53.880 --> 1:00:55.200 Say that out loud as a confession. 1:00:55.240 --> 1:00:55.600 I can. 1:00:56.760 --> 1:01:03.120 Because I'm carried. I can make it through this. I 1:01:03.160 --> 1:01:06.560 can find a solution. I can forgive them, I can 1:01:06.720 --> 1:01:07.920 continue to work through this. 1:01:08.320 --> 1:01:12.480 I can recover. I can say it. I can because 1:01:12.520 --> 1:01:13.160 I'm carried. 1:01:14.400 --> 1:01:16.280 And some people will see that and they'll think that 1:01:16.320 --> 1:01:24.760 your confidence is cockiness. I'm not cocky. I'm carried. I'm carried. 1:01:26.080 --> 1:01:31.840 My confidence is in the fact that God is carrying me. 1:01:33.280 --> 1:01:37.560 Don't you see how his hand has carried. 1:01:37.240 --> 1:01:40.320 You this far? Then why wouldn't you let him lighten 1:01:40.400 --> 1:01:40.840 your load. 1:01:41.080 --> 1:01:43.400 I imagine Jacob getting back on the wagons, and they 1:01:43.400 --> 1:01:46.360 felt a little lighter because he took a few of 1:01:46.360 --> 1:01:50.160 those animals and sacrificed him. I imagine him getting back 1:01:50.200 --> 1:01:53.560 on the wagon and feeling a little bit lighter because 1:01:53.600 --> 1:01:56.760 he was reminded who he really was. I see him 1:01:56.760 --> 1:02:00.280 getting on the wagon. It's a little bit lighter because 1:02:00.280 --> 1:02:00.840 you can't. 1:02:00.640 --> 1:02:05.280 See it, but my wagon has wings. Be prepared. This week, 1:02:05.360 --> 1:02:10.200 somebody is gonna tell you look different. Have you lost weight? 1:02:11.560 --> 1:02:18.520 Tell them, yeah, tell them two things happen. Come on, 1:02:18.600 --> 1:02:20.800 look at your neighbor and say two things happen today. 1:02:22.680 --> 1:02:28.280 Tell them I lost weight and I got wings. Now, 1:02:28.360 --> 1:02:30.160 let's take twenty seconds and worship the. 1:02:30.120 --> 1:02:32.880 Lord for what he did in this place. You'll sing 1:02:32.880 --> 1:02:33.320 a little bit. 1:02:34.400 --> 1:02:41.760 Come on, worshippers, worshippers, where are the worshippers? FU say, 1:02:42.920 --> 1:02:47.000 get your hands off, get your hands up, get your 1:02:47.040 --> 1:02:48.600 wings back, Get your wings back. 1:02:49.000 --> 1:02:57.640 These chapel zuway care the Lord is in these Please 1:02:58.440 --> 1:02:59.840 the Lord is it. 1:03:01.000 --> 1:03:01.680 I'm carrying. 1:03:01.760 --> 1:03:03.520 I'm carrying for me. 1:03:04.400 --> 1:03:07.320 I'm carry I'm carrying this I for sake. 1:03:07.960 --> 1:03:08.280 Cat. 1:03:09.040 --> 1:03:14.640 The Lord is here these place. Flord is here, the space. 1:03:16.280 --> 1:03:24.080 Come fo please speed travel Cat. The Lord is in 1:03:24.520 --> 1:03:25.120 this clip. 1:03:25.400 --> 1:03:28.960 Hold on, get these wings se so you can rise 1:03:28.960 --> 1:03:34.960 Obama and naked. He won't let you nail, He won't forsaken, 1:03:36.160 --> 1:03:37.520 He will not leave you. 1:03:37.760 --> 1:03:46.480 Art this class right here, right now, here's God speed. 1:03:48.080 --> 1:03:50.640 Trivels. Cat. 1:03:51.400 --> 1:03:56.440 Flord is here, the slap Flord is in this. 1:04:01.400 --> 1:04:04.800 That's bowed, eyes closed. God is here. 1:04:05.280 --> 1:04:09.480 He's here to forgive sin. He's here to heal hearts. 1:04:10.480 --> 1:04:14.240 He's here to make new. Right now, there are hundreds, 1:04:14.280 --> 1:04:16.440 if not thousands, of people under the sound of my 1:04:16.560 --> 1:04:21.400 voice who desperately need to give your life to Jesus. 1:04:21.440 --> 1:04:25.920 Today. You cannot carry it any longer. You cannot do 1:04:26.000 --> 1:04:28.840 it by yourself any longer. You were not meant to. 1:04:29.280 --> 1:04:32.520 He died for you, He rose again to give you life. 1:04:32.600 --> 1:04:35.360 It is by grace you are saved through faith. This 1:04:35.560 --> 1:04:37.960 not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not 1:04:38.120 --> 1:04:40.120 of work, so that no one can boast. 1:04:40.800 --> 1:04:42.960 And today God brought you to this place so that 1:04:43.000 --> 1:04:43.800 you could be saved. 1:04:44.240 --> 1:04:46.680 So right now, I'm going to lead you in a prayer, 1:04:46.720 --> 1:04:49.040 whether you're online or in the room, And if you'll 1:04:49.080 --> 1:04:51.400 repeat this prayer after me and believe it in your heart. 1:04:51.920 --> 1:04:53.800 The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth 1:04:53.840 --> 1:04:55.600 that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God 1:04:55.680 --> 1:04:59.080 raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Right now, 1:04:59.200 --> 1:05:01.320 the hand of Heaven is stretching to you in the 1:05:01.360 --> 1:05:05.080 person of Jesus Christ. Will you receive this gift. This 1:05:05.120 --> 1:05:07.520 is a new beginning for you. This is a defining 1:05:07.600 --> 1:05:10.720 moment for you. God is calling your name right now, 1:05:11.240 --> 1:05:12.160 and I want to lead you. 1:05:12.120 --> 1:05:12.600 In this prayer. 1:05:12.640 --> 1:05:14.760 Whether you're coming to Him for the first time or 1:05:14.800 --> 1:05:17.280 you've wandered in your coming back, this is your day. 1:05:17.640 --> 1:05:20.600 This is your moment. He's calling your name. Call on 1:05:20.720 --> 1:05:23.840 his name and you will be saved. Repeat after me 1:05:23.880 --> 1:05:26.560 as a church family, out loud, Heavenly. 1:05:26.160 --> 1:05:31.560 Father, today is my day of salvation. 1:05:32.640 --> 1:05:36.560 I am a sinner in need of a savior, and 1:05:36.600 --> 1:05:41.000 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God 1:05:41.880 --> 1:05:45.919 and the Savior of the world. And today I make 1:05:46.040 --> 1:05:50.320 Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died 1:05:51.440 --> 1:05:55.720 that I would be forgiven and rose again to give 1:05:55.800 --> 1:06:01.880 me life. I receive this new life. This is my 1:06:02.040 --> 1:06:05.800 new beginning. I am a child of God. 1:06:06.560 --> 1:06:08.200 On the counter of three shoots. Your hand up. 1:06:08.240 --> 1:06:13.000 If you've prayed that one, two, three all over the room. 1:06:13.000 --> 1:06:17.240 That's right, that's right, that's right. 1:06:17.360 --> 1:06:21.120 Zevil you lost another one, and another one, and another 1:06:21.200 --> 1:06:24.240 one and another one into the. 1:06:24.040 --> 1:06:28.040 Family of God, born again by the spirit of grace. 1:06:28.880 --> 1:06:32.480 Let's give Jesus a great sound of brad. 1:06:36.280 --> 1:06:37.080 Glory to God. 1:06:39.280 --> 1:06:41.880 Praise the Lord for all the new lives. Thank you 1:06:41.960 --> 1:06:45.040 for staying till the very end. Thank you for coming 1:06:45.080 --> 1:06:48.280 to church today. Thank you for showing up in the 1:06:48.320 --> 1:06:52.080 presence of God. Campus pastors, you could take it. Did 1:06:52.120 --> 1:06:56.520 you receive a word from God today? If you received 1:06:56.520 --> 1:06:59.160 a word from God, let me hear you make some noise, 1:07:01.520 --> 1:07:02.680 shout hallelujah. 1:07:02.760 --> 1:07:03.760 If you received it. 1:07:09.240 --> 1:07:11.440 I know I've preached along. But you won't even have 1:07:11.480 --> 1:07:13.880 to fight traffic today because you. 1:07:17.960 --> 1:07:23.840 You got ways. I lost weight and I got ways, 1:07:25.320 --> 1:07:26.280 so I can make it. 1:07:27.280 --> 1:07:33.000 Because now unto him who is able to do immeasurably more, 1:07:33.880 --> 1:07:36.000 then we ask big. 1:07:36.720 --> 1:07:42.480 Or imagine to here big glory through Christ Jesus in 1:07:42.560 --> 1:07:44.880 the Church now and forever. 1:07:45.000 --> 1:07:45.800 You're dismissed. 1:07:45.840 --> 1:07:52.439 I love you, Thank you for joining us. Special thanks 1:07:52.440 --> 1:07:55.040 to those of you who give generously to this ministry. 1:07:55.360 --> 1:07:58.320 Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You 1:07:58.320 --> 1:08:00.800 can click the link in the description to give now 1:08:01.320 --> 1:08:05.200 or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information 1:08:05.720 --> 1:08:08.480 and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 1:08:08.760 --> 1:08:10.080 You can share it with your friends. 1:08:10.360 --> 1:08:12.640 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 1:08:12.720 --> 1:08:14.840 share it on your social stories and tag us at 1:08:14.840 --> 1:08:15.680 Elevation Church. 1:08:15.760 --> 1:08:17.400 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.