The Sticking Point

0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdeck. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:07.040 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:10.400 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.440 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:21.960 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.360 Come on, everybody feels comfortable, just lift your hands. Everybody 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:31.640 who doesn't feel comfortable, lift your hands. King of King's, 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:35.760 Lord of lords. Jesus is your name. We bless you, 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:42.800 honor you, respect you, admire you, and adore you. But 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.760 really we want you to know that we need you. 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:52.479 We know that for the things that we encounter as 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:54.720 human beings that we cannot understand on the level of 0:00:54.720 --> 0:01:02.280 our existence, we need divinity. Would you direct the paths 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:09.720 of each of the precious people that you assemble together today. See. 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:12.080 I know that we think we decided to come to church, 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:17.040 but really you brought us to this place something that 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:19.840 you want to remind us of, something that you want 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:22.680 to show us, something that you want to reveal, and 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:27.039 whatever it is, clear out the debris of disappointment that 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:31.080 has accumulated in our souls this week a place for 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:35.280 your glory and your presence to dwell. We are your temple, 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:42.560 and we reverence you, and we worship you, and we 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:50.360 praise you in Jesus' name, and the whole church set together. Amen. Amen, 0:01:52.200 --> 0:02:04.520 come on, let's show the Lord that he's important to us. Well, 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:06.280 look at the person next to you and tell them 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:10.480 I love you so much. Tell them I love you. 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:15.840 Come on, tell them I love you like Homer loves 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:20.240 donuts on the Simpsons. Come on, tell them I love 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:28.400 you like Kanye loves Kanye. Tell them you're my number 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:32.040 one with the lemonade. Tell them right now, see if 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:35.079 they're saved. How many of you are saved delivered on 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:44.919 your way to heaven? Glad about it? God is so faithful. 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:47.040 We want to welcome all of our campuses. Let's do 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:49.679 that right now, Valentine. Let's welcome all of our locations 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:57.400 all over the Charlotte area Asheville, North Carolina, Greenville, South Carolina, Toronto, Canada, Melbourne, Florida. 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:02.160 Come on, let's thank God for Raleigh more a man. 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:08.120 Should we see who's watching on our epam our extended 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:11.760 family around the world. There's always many different cities in 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:15.240 states and nations watching somebody pull it up for me. 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:17.959 Go ahead and pull it up on the Elevation Church YouTube. 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:21.240 Make sure you go on the Elevation Church one because 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:24.840 it'll have the most viewers. You go over to Elevation Worship, 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:30.880 it's not as popular. So good, are you all gonna 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:35.840 get that new song? You never lost a battle? Are 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:38.480 you gonna get that on Friday? Make sure you get 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:43.200 that stream that that's gonna be so good. You can 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:45.200 just get it stuck in your head all the time. 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:48.360 Now how many you'll have that song stuck in your head? 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:51.160 We didn't sing it today, but which seems like a 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:53.760 strategic misfire that we're releasing it Friday and we didn't 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:57.560 sing it today. But anyway, it's a good song to 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:59.520 get stuck in your head. But I promise you your 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:02.800 wife would rather hear Tiffany and Chris sing it than you. 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:07.200 You can't sing, So download it, stream it and play it. 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:09.520 Let the professionals do it. You can sing along. Tell 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:18.920 me where you're watching from on the comments of YouTube. Oakland, California, Wisconsin, Seattle, Nigeria, Rockwell, 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:23.599 North Carolina. You have been to Rockwell? Have you heard 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:30.720 of it? I had neither. Uh Indiana Charlotte supposed to 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:35.560 be at church. You better have the flu and measles, 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:46.760 the mumps, the shingles or something. Uganda, Atlanta, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Brazil, Baltimore. 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:54.560 It's so fast, it's scrolling so fast. Guatemala, Dominican, Indonesia. 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.400 Ask somebody, where did you come from? And what are 0:04:57.440 --> 0:04:59.640 you cooking for lunch? Cannot come over? Ask them that 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:03.080 real Quie way, hey man, welcome our Epham around the world. 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:07.960 Let's give out. Let's give out seventeen hunks on our 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:33.480 way down to our seat? Can we do that? Are 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:38.520 you ready for the Word of God? Come on list? 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:46.760 Thank God for the worship team. It's the reason I 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:48.640 said that I don't know how else to transition them 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:51.160 off the stage, and I want to have to awkwardly 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:53.080 you can be seen. I want to talk to you 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:55.679 about something today that came up. In a creative team meeting, 0:05:56.600 --> 0:06:01.040 I was asked the question about songwriting and sermon writing, 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:05.360 which one do I enjoy more, to which I responded, 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:08.120 it depends on what part of the process you catch 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:12.640 me during, because there are certain times where a sermon 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.720 idea will come to me and I will feel enlightened 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:21.720 and spiritual and confident, can't wait to preach it, Get 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.680 me a new nine volte battery in my microphone, and 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:28.120 gather the people. I have something to say from heaven. 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.599 Then five minutes later, I look at the same idea 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:35.880 and it just seems so ridiculous and simple and basic. 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.800 And I basically tell y'all everything I know every week. 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:42.719 I'm just waiting on you to actually do it one time. 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:48.200 Just kidding. You're great, You're growing. I know you're disciple. 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:53.839 But it's like the process of creativity. It has certain 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:55.640 points in it. When I was talking about it, I 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:59.920 called it the sticking points, and as I talked to 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.520 about that creatively, I want to speak about it today. 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.159 That's the title of my message, is called the sticking point. 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:10.080 Because everything that you love in life is going to 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:13.440 have a part of the process that you don't like 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:16.760 and a part that is going to tempt you to quit. 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.800 And it doesn't mean you don't love it. I don't 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:22.800 know when we started thinking that we have to love 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.840 everything or like everything all the time. You know, I 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:28.280 quit my job because I wasn't feeling it. Well, were 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:34.320 you feeling indoor plumbing? Go back to work and pay 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:36.560 your bills, and I have to love everything all the time, 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:40.320 you know, because everything that you love is going to 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:44.280 have a part. I called it the sticking point. It's 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:50.760 going to have a part or parts that you don't prefer. Okay, 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:52.240 I can't tell if you're with me yet. Let me 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:55.040 take this a level deeper. Every person that you love, 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:04.520 look straight ahead, is going to have some parts that 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:08.880 you don't prefer. I'm gonna say it that way. It's 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:11.520 gentler than saying that you don't like or that you 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:15.760 want to change. Not me. I love everything about him 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:23.200 you're dating. It's been two weeks. I can tell because 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:26.480 every person. And there's a parable about this. Jesus said 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:28.960 that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:33.839 found a treasure and was excited, and so he liked 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.400 the treasure so much that he sold everything and bought 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:40.000 the field that the treasure was in. So if you 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:45.720 want the treasure, you've got to buy the field. This 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:52.200 isn't going good. We want the treasure, not the dirt 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:57.320 that comes around it. We want the treasure or the blessings, 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:02.000 or sometimes we want those thosefo moments. But even if 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:06.800 you love your marriage, there will be sometimes where you 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:11.320 just want to control the TV without any voting. You know, 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:15.720 even if you love your kids, there will be times 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:20.280 where you will secretly google adoption agencies to see I've 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.840 never actually done that. For the record, I'm getting hate mail. 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:29.560 But everything you love. Even preaching, there's times when when 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:33.440 I'm preaching that I feel the spirit. And then there's 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:35.720 times where I look at the wrong person in the 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:41.640 room and I feel another spirit, the spirit of stress, 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:45.320 the spirit of Aland even people will walk out sometimes 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:47.439 while you're preaching, and I called it when I was 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:50.840 talking to them, the sticking point. It's the moment where 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:53.760 you start to doubt what you were so secure in. 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:59.040 It's the moment where your mood doesn't match your mission, 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:01.720 but you've got to push through anyway because you've got 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:06.680 something important to do. It's the moment where, oh, I 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:09.760 didn't know that about you. When I said I'd do well, 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:16.400 you did, and now you do. The sticking point. For 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:21.400 a scriptural example, I thought of no better passage than 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:25.560 the classic Exodus, where God led his people out of 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:30.720 Egypt through the Red Sea. Did you notice what I said? 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:35.480 Am I set up through the Red Sea, not over 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:41.840 it on a boat? But through it on foot. You 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:45.160 are going through something right now, you are at a 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:48.720 sticking point. I don't know if it is a state 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:53.040 of mind, because sometimes we are stuck not in our situation, 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:58.560 but in our state of mind. Even recently, Holly pulled 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:01.520 up a picture from a few years ago when we 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:05.000 were flying home from Seattle and we got stuck in 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:09.240 Chicago overnight on a layover. We were laughing because we 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:12.359 were in such a bad mood. We were just remembering 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:17.439 how late it was. It was probably ten o'clock at night, 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:19.040 but let's make it two in the morning, just for 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:24.040 dramatic effect on the story, creative license. But it was late, 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:26.360 and our bags were checked and we had no clean underwear, 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:30.920 and we checked into this horrible hotel that American Airlines 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.640 had put on and we were stuck in Chicago, and 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:35.960 we were laughing about that. We weren't laughing when it happened. 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:38.160 We were laughing looking at when it happened, you know, 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.280 two or three years ago. And remember that when we 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:44.520 got stuck in Chicago. Well, why were we stuck in Chicago? 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:48.719 Technically American Airlines. But if you take it apart a 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:54.080 little bit more, the city of Chicago is a city 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:58.080 that we like. We had visited there by choice before 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:03.440 when I preached for Steve Munsey and Jmatt. We stayed 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:07.440 over two extra days just so we could shop and 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:11.000 watch the Cobs. We we had a good time too. 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:14.720 We ate deep dish pizza. This was in my early 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:16.520 thirties when I could do it and just plank a 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:19.360 little bit and it will fall right off. But we 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:22.960 did some. We had marital enrichment in the hotel room 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:26.840 on that trip. That was a good trip. So there's 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:32.240 nothing wrong with Chicago. It wasn't. It wasn't Chicago. It 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:39.240 wasn't like it was Des Moines. I loved Yll so much. 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:43.280 You're so triggered my hands from there. When's the last 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:47.520 time you went to see her? Huh huh. It wasn't. 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:51.440 It wasn't the situation that we were stuck in. The 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:55.679 reason we called it stuck is because it wasn't on 0:12:55.720 --> 0:13:02.360 our schedule. You better get to the text. Verdict Exodus, 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:07.440 chapter fourteen, verse ten. The Israelites are leaving Egypt right 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:11.800 God heard their cry. They were stuck as slaves for 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:18.560 four centuries serving Pharaoh, who had taken away their building materials. 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:23.800 Increasing their requirements while reducing their resources. So they're stuck, 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:28.240 and God hears them, and God breaks through, and God 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:31.760 uses Moses to lead them out, because there comes a 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:36.280 period where God sees you stuck and realizes that you 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:40.040 cannot get yourself out of the situation. So he said, 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.840 I've heard the cries of my people, and I have 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.120 come down to visit them. And when he chose Moses 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.760 to do it, he knew all about Moses's brokenness, and 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:53.600 he knew all about Moses' reluctance. And he led them out, 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:57.080 and he compelled Pharaoh to let them go, not the 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:01.400 first time, not the second time, but after ten plagues 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:05.960 of negotiation. You know, sticking point is a negotiation term. 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:08.640 They talk about it in business. Well, we almost had 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:12.160 the deal done, but then the asking price was a 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:15.120 sticking point because they wouldn't let me finance it over 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:16.760 five years. They wanted me to pay it off in 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:19.760 three or or they wanted me to leave the septic tank, 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:21.360 and I wanted to dig it out and take it 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:23.600 with me. We hit a sticking point. You know, you 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:25.960 hit a sticking point in your faith, you hit a 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:29.160 sticking point in a relationship, You hit a sticking point 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:31.280 in your life, and you've come as far as you 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.440 can come. And then God comes down and he sees 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.400 you struggling, and he does for you what you cannot 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:42.120 do for you. And then don't shout. You come to 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:49.600 something that wasn't on your schedule. Exitus fourteen, verse ten, 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:53.440 when Pharaoh drew near. Wait, what's Pharaoh doing in the picture? 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:58.480 I thought we were done with him? No, okay? Can 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:02.160 I preach on half of a verse? Y'all got anything 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:06.240 to do after this? Or should we just? Okay? Complete 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:08.960 the sentence? If you grew up in church, complete the sentence. 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:17.160 Where God guides, he provides. True, let me add to it. 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:24.120 Where God doesn't guide, he still provides because He's so good. 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:28.120 Have you ever had God bless you when you were 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:33.920 going backwards and doing the wrong stuff? There's angels in 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:38.120 this section over here? Have you ever Elijah in the Bible, 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:42.560 he was running from Jezebel in the wrong direction from 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:46.640 his assignment. He lay down and wanted to die, even 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.400 though he had seen God do great things, and the 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:52.880 Angel made him a cake. He was going away from 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:57.120 his assignment, and God fed him with an angel food cake. Now, 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.800 don't look at me like the reason that you always 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:03.320 it's because you were always good. Some of you know 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:07.240 that you didn't deserve it. You didn't earn it, you 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:10.720 didn't pray enough to get it. You didn't quote Philipians, 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:14.160 you didn't always take the right turn or follow the 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:18.240 north star. But God tracked you down under a broom 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:22.400 tree and bless you anyway. I need some people who 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:26.200 are blessed anyway to shout, just ten seconds, just shout, 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:37.920 because He fed you even as you fled from him. 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:40.520 So where God guides, he provides. But even where God 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.880 doesn't God he'll still take care of you because you're his. 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:47.520 And then I wanted to add one more. See if 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.840 you could put this on Pinterest. Okay, because they're leaving Egypt, 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:57.360 here comes Pharaoh, their enemy behind them. They hear clickety clack, 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:04.520 clickety clack, clickety clack. That's Pharaoh's Lamborghini's. These are fast 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:08.359 cheeriots because they're here Pharaoh's best and they're being chased 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.920 down on their way out. And so they turn around 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:15.360 and see something that they can't go back to, look 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:19.480 forward and see something that they can't get over. Now 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:26.560 they got to go through it because where God guides. Now, 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:33.400 not that one, this one where God guides Pharaoh follows. Wow, 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.600 And so in negotiation terms, they've reached a sticking point. 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:42.920 Because here's a little business tactic. Okay, I'm gonna do 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:46.159 a seminar on negotiating right now. I'm not gonna charge you. 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:51.600 It's not forty nine dollars. You could just listen. If 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:55.359 someone is holding on to something in a negotiation, that 0:17:55.440 --> 0:18:01.560 means it's valuable. If they don't let it go easy, 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:05.720 that means it has great worth. I don't know who 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:07.879 I'm preaching to, but the devil hasn't been letting you 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:12.760 go easy. You've been trying to shake this for a 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:18.000 long time. And the reason, maybe the reason, if the 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:20.600 devil is real, and if destiny is a fact and 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:24.280 not just a concept or a fantasy, maybe the reason 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.280 that it's been so difficult for it to let you 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:35.120 go is because what you carry is of such great value. 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:39.400 I believe this in my core. Some of you are 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:43.080 at a sticking point right now, and Pharaoh won't let 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:47.880 you go easy because once you get through this, there 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:59.560 is great glory after this. If you're ever, if you're 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:01.640 ever in them stating with someone and they're like, oh, yeah, 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:05.040 I'll throw it in. It's nothing. Hey, you can have 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:08.280 that too, it's nothing. But if they ever pull it back, 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:10.280 you know, every time you try to get out of 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:13.240 depression and addiction and you try to stop with the pills, 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:15.040 and you try to stop with the porn, and you 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:22.400 try to stop with the complaint, this is a sticking 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:25.320 point for some of you. You've been flushing it, but 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:27.919 then you buy it again, and then you've been deleting it, 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:30.040 but then you put it back, and then you've been 0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:32.719 walking away from it, but then you feel drunk to it. 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:35.920 And I wanted to tell you that when you get stuck, 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:40.280 that means you're on the verge of something significant. God 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:53.720 has his hand on your line. That's the first half 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:57.639 of the first verse. And Pharaoh drew near where God 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:01.480 guides Pharaoh follows the proof of God activity in your 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:07.960 life will often be the increase of resistance. And behold, 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:10.680 the Egyptians were marching after them, and they fear greatly. Yeah, 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:14.159 I bet they did. This is not stuck in Chicago. 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.199 This is not this is not We're going to have 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:20.919 to catch the six thirty five am flight out Central 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:26.320 Standard Time. This is pulse's pounding panic triggered by the 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:33.040 trauma of a lifetime of bondage. And so they're standing there, 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:36.720 and this is one thing that happens. They start arguing 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:38.720 with Moses. Look at says verse eleven. They said to Moses, 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:40.919 because they're no graves in Egypt, that you've taken us 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:42.960 to die in the wilderness. What have you done to 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:45.880 us in bringing us out of Egypt? So now they're 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:49.960 fighting the one who's helping them. Parents. Don't worry about it. 0:20:52.000 --> 0:21:01.080 They'll thank you one day, maybe if you don't kill them. 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:04.399 Mm hmm. Is this not what we said to you 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:07.000 in Egypt? Verse twelve. Leave us alone that we may 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:09.399 serve the Egyptians. I never heard them say that. All 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:11.199 they were doing before they got out was praying to 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:18.280 get out. Well that's all, admit. Okay, when you get stuck, 0:21:20.400 --> 0:21:31.119 you get stupid. I'm not saying you are stupid, But 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:36.240 for me, some of the dumbest decisions I made was 0:21:36.280 --> 0:21:39.360 because I got sick of being stuck. So I'm gonna 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:46.760 just do something. Ah, sick of this? You know when 0:21:46.800 --> 0:21:56.480 you hit send? Oh no, unsend nonsense. Understand understand. I 0:21:56.600 --> 0:22:02.280 might have been the unsend button. But when you get stuck. 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:04.800 Elijah came in our room the other night, this was 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:09.440 Friday night, and we were both to sleep. We were 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:16.199 off duty on parenting for the night and our office 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:21.199 hours are you know, seven am to five pm, and 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:25.359 it's off duty. And he comes in the room laughing, 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:28.160 and we were both asleep, and he's like, you're not 0:22:28.200 --> 0:22:32.680 gonna believe this. He's laughing, and he had Jim Shorts, 0:22:33.320 --> 0:22:38.200 Mesh Elevation youth champion, Jim Shorts, hanging from this bracist. 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:44.679 He said, get it off, get it off. And I 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:46.879 was going to write, but I said, first, let me 0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:53.040 get a video real quick, let me show this. Listen. 0:22:57.440 --> 0:23:03.120 He stuck on d you from a whole bras out Jess, 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:16.320 look broh, because I wish you would look at your 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:21.360 neighbor and tell them when you get stuck, you get stupid. 0:23:32.160 --> 0:23:35.240 Maybe don't date anybody for six months until you heal 0:23:35.280 --> 0:23:41.960 from the last heartbreak. Because when you get I'm in 0:23:42.040 --> 0:23:48.640 Exodus fourteen, when you get stuck, you reach for stuff. 0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:53.239 You reach for the stuff that you flushed. When you 0:23:53.280 --> 0:23:57.400 get stuck, when you get lonely, when you get hungry, 0:23:57.720 --> 0:24:02.360 when you get tired. When you gets stuck, Ah now 0:24:02.400 --> 0:24:05.160 I got the whole thing hanging out my mouth. Ah 0:24:05.520 --> 0:24:08.639 Now I got a rainbow vacuum cleaner. Ah Now I 0:24:08.680 --> 0:24:17.520 got a timeshare. When you get stuck, I didn't do 0:24:17.680 --> 0:24:20.760 it because I didn't love God. I didn't because I 0:24:20.960 --> 0:24:26.000 was stuck. And when you hit the sticking point, everybody's like, 0:24:26.119 --> 0:24:31.920 come on, rejoice, I can. I'm stuck. I'm stuck in 0:24:31.960 --> 0:24:37.840 a memory. You're miss stuck in a memory. I'm stuck 0:24:37.880 --> 0:24:42.359 in a pattern. I'm stuck in a generational thing that 0:24:42.440 --> 0:24:45.560 started before I ever came to the planet. I'm stuck. 0:24:47.880 --> 0:24:53.119 I get stuck preparing these sermons. It's horrible. I'm not 0:24:53.160 --> 0:24:54.919 playing now. I know I've been showing you, you know, 0:24:55.040 --> 0:24:58.359 like illegal footage of my children and everything in church. 0:24:58.920 --> 0:25:03.120 Orthodontist is gonna kick me Monday. He's a great orthodontist too, 0:25:03.119 --> 0:25:06.959 doctor doctor hull yoshall look him up. He's great. He's 0:25:07.000 --> 0:25:10.960 got to fix that. Tomorrow. I'm gonna have we're gonna 0:25:10.960 --> 0:25:12.800 have some business for him. But when I get to 0:25:12.840 --> 0:25:17.440 prepare these sermons, I get stuck. And it's horrible because 0:25:17.440 --> 0:25:19.720 the sticking point it makes me want to just like 0:25:19.760 --> 0:25:24.120 give up on everything I've worked on. Please don't think 0:25:24.119 --> 0:25:27.600 that I'm preaching to you about preaching. That's too meta. 0:25:29.040 --> 0:25:31.280 I'm preaching to you about preaching because that's where I 0:25:31.320 --> 0:25:36.800 get stuck, and I figured you might get stuck sometimes too. 0:25:37.920 --> 0:25:41.320 I mean, when I go to prepare, it'll just be 0:25:41.440 --> 0:25:46.360 moments where none of it makes sense for everybody that's 0:25:46.400 --> 0:25:52.879 like forty and older, Like when you had antennas on 0:25:52.920 --> 0:25:56.439 the TV and you you could see the station, but 0:25:56.600 --> 0:26:00.879 not fully because you're watching your neighbors A before you 0:26:00.920 --> 0:26:05.920 guys say before b C. It's under the blood now. 0:26:08.000 --> 0:26:11.080 But it'll scramble and I won't even know where to start. 0:26:11.080 --> 0:26:12.239 I'll be like, I don't know what to say. I'm 0:26:12.240 --> 0:26:13.879 preaching about Moses coming through the Red Sea, and I 0:26:13.880 --> 0:26:15.760 already preached about that before, and it was just mea sing. 0:26:15.760 --> 0:26:17.280 You know, they already know they got through the Red Sea, 0:26:17.359 --> 0:26:19.359 so this Swiller alert won't be interesting. So maybe I 0:26:19.359 --> 0:26:21.720 should started with Abraham, because it is Abraham, Isaac Jacob. 0:26:21.720 --> 0:26:23.120 And then Joseph went to Egypt, and you never meant 0:26:23.119 --> 0:26:24.520 to get trapped in Egypt. You went there to get food. 0:26:24.560 --> 0:26:26.080 But sometimes you get trapped where you went to get food. 0:26:26.080 --> 0:26:27.760 And sometimes place where you go to Survior's place where 0:26:27.760 --> 0:26:29.640 you get stuck, maybe start there. But I already preached 0:26:29.640 --> 0:26:31.280 that a couple weeks ago, and to remember that they 0:26:31.320 --> 0:26:35.240 come every week. They don't ever miss. That's about burning 0:26:35.240 --> 0:26:36.520 bush because he went to the the burning bush and he 0:26:36.560 --> 0:26:38.280 was butcher was burning up, but it wasn't burn up. 0:26:38.280 --> 0:26:39.840 It would just burn it burn up. And maybe that's 0:26:39.840 --> 0:26:41.600 like us inside, because when your presence comes and our 0:26:41.600 --> 0:26:43.359 passion stays alive, even though we go through stuff and 0:26:43.440 --> 0:26:44.800 we burn what we don't burn up. And the proof 0:26:44.840 --> 0:26:46.320 of your presence is the fact that we're on fire, 0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:47.680 but we stay on fire even though we go through 0:26:47.680 --> 0:26:50.880 all kinds of hell. He has to do that. I'll 0:26:50.880 --> 0:26:52.600 come up the bricks and the straw, because you know, 0:26:52.840 --> 0:26:54.399 he hasn't really good to be talking about. Holly year. 0:26:54.440 --> 0:26:55.800 Sometimes you have all the mud, but you don't have 0:26:55.800 --> 0:26:57.119 the straw, and so you got to go get your 0:26:57.119 --> 0:26:58.879 own straw. And you didn't have a dad. So you 0:26:58.920 --> 0:26:59.920 try to be a dad and you don't have what 0:27:00.119 --> 0:27:01.200 you need to be what you're trying to be, and 0:27:01.240 --> 0:27:03.080 the devil use that as condemnation, try to keep you 0:27:03.119 --> 0:27:05.680 stuck in a slave as we are. And then after that, man, 0:27:05.720 --> 0:27:07.960 I'm like, oh my god, I need a nap. And 0:27:08.000 --> 0:27:09.760 I would just feel like, I don't know where to 0:27:09.800 --> 0:27:19.560 preach this sermon on Sunday and I'm stuck, and I 0:27:19.600 --> 0:27:24.199 get so stuck. I don't want to say anything. How 0:27:24.280 --> 0:27:27.879 y'all doing praise the Lord? And I figure you get 0:27:27.920 --> 0:27:30.800 stuck too, even if you don't preach sermons. I figure 0:27:30.840 --> 0:27:32.960 you go, you're not gonna have this meeting at the 0:27:33.000 --> 0:27:34.080 kids school, and I want to go down there and 0:27:34.080 --> 0:27:35.520 talk to Principle because I don't think principal is being 0:27:35.560 --> 0:27:37.280 fair to my kid. But I I don't teach my 0:27:37.320 --> 0:27:38.960 kids sometimes that people in fair life sometimes you got 0:27:38.960 --> 0:27:40.280 them go through things. Maybe the need to learn that. 0:27:40.720 --> 0:27:45.920 I figure you get stuck sometimes. I figure you get 0:27:45.920 --> 0:27:53.119 stuck too. Sometimes is a stuckond point. And this is 0:27:53.160 --> 0:27:57.880 not the first time that you've been stuck. And this 0:27:57.960 --> 0:28:01.120 is not the first time Moses was stuck. And that's 0:28:01.160 --> 0:28:03.800 the good thing about it. If he did it before. 0:28:06.520 --> 0:28:08.480 I just want to keep you breathing today because I 0:28:08.520 --> 0:28:12.840 know you've been stuck if he did it before. See, 0:28:13.680 --> 0:28:19.680 we get stuck, not always at the external circumstance. Sometimes 0:28:19.720 --> 0:28:26.800 we get stuck in ourselves, sometimes stuck as a state 0:28:26.880 --> 0:28:32.400 of mind. Chicago is a nice city, but you weren't 0:28:32.400 --> 0:28:36.439 supposed to be in Chicago. Sometimes we get stuck not 0:28:36.560 --> 0:28:39.160 in where we are, but where we were supposed to be, 0:28:39.240 --> 0:28:46.840 in our plan for our life. And so I'm stuck, 0:28:47.640 --> 0:28:51.920 not necessarily in what it is, but in what I 0:28:52.080 --> 0:28:54.920 thought it was going to be. I get stuck in 0:28:55.080 --> 0:28:59.440 supposed to. You have been stuck in supposed to. My 0:28:59.520 --> 0:29:03.880 kid for supposed to be Valedictorians. I was supposed to 0:29:03.920 --> 0:29:06.520 be married still I was supposed to. It can be 0:29:06.600 --> 0:29:11.160 very painful. I was supposed to by now. My retirement 0:29:11.200 --> 0:29:13.560 went out, and oh wait, I was supposed to be 0:29:13.640 --> 0:29:16.560 ready to quit working by now. I was supposed to 0:29:16.600 --> 0:29:20.160 be married. My roommate got married, and she's crazy, and 0:29:20.200 --> 0:29:23.040 I'm good person and I'm a Christian girl, and I 0:29:23.160 --> 0:29:26.840 sing in the choir and elevation Valentine, and I'm supposed 0:29:26.920 --> 0:29:28.920 to be married. Some of us are stuck in what 0:29:28.960 --> 0:29:35.240 we think we were supposed to be and get stuck. 0:29:36.800 --> 0:29:40.840 Didn't get stuck in the season. Every time in fall, 0:29:41.440 --> 0:29:45.040 I start to feel a little drained from the ministry 0:29:45.040 --> 0:29:49.360 of the year, and then depression can come in because 0:29:49.400 --> 0:29:53.680 it's the same same, same, same, same same. And then 0:29:54.440 --> 0:29:56.560 everybody else in the church is feeling the same way. 0:29:57.240 --> 0:30:02.800 And then I got to preach to y'all. So, like, 0:30:04.440 --> 0:30:06.200 you know, I grew up in the Low Country or 0:30:06.240 --> 0:30:12.440 South Carolina. You don't know where I'm going with this yet, 0:30:12.480 --> 0:30:16.440 hang on. They used to take their trucks out on 0:30:16.480 --> 0:30:20.400 Friday night and get stuck on purpose, called it muddon. 0:30:23.280 --> 0:30:26.480 But I found out something now. You don't get stuck 0:30:26.480 --> 0:30:33.680 in anything shallow. If you feel stuck, that means you're 0:30:33.680 --> 0:30:38.880 in the deep stuff. Maybe God is doing something deep 0:30:38.880 --> 0:30:43.479 in your life when you feel stuck. Maybe when you 0:30:43.520 --> 0:30:46.520 feel stuck, you're building strength. I mean that's the only 0:30:46.560 --> 0:30:49.360 way you really build strength, right, is to get to 0:30:49.520 --> 0:30:52.440 that sticking point, to get to that point where you 0:30:52.480 --> 0:30:54.800 can't push through. I know you lift weights all the time, pe, 0:30:55.200 --> 0:31:03.360 how about you bench press five thirty five? All right, 0:31:03.480 --> 0:31:05.600 five thirty five. I'm making this up. I didn't hear 0:31:05.600 --> 0:31:07.880 what he really said, but he's big, and you know 0:31:07.920 --> 0:31:10.240 he's in there. I used to have this spotter in 0:31:10.320 --> 0:31:13.000 high school. I didn't bench press five thirty five, but 0:31:13.120 --> 0:31:15.840 he would stand over me and the moment I started 0:31:15.840 --> 0:31:17.760 to struggle, he would just lift the whole weight off 0:31:17.800 --> 0:31:22.640 of me. I thought, well, man, that's not a good spotter. 0:31:24.760 --> 0:31:28.800 That's not a good God to never let you have 0:31:28.960 --> 0:31:34.960 any weight. That's not a good God to never let 0:31:35.040 --> 0:31:39.640 you have any challenge. How would he grow your faith? No, 0:31:39.800 --> 0:31:42.920 see a good spotter. You're on Rep. Eleven right, five 0:31:43.080 --> 0:31:48.000 thirty five Rep eleven Ah, And I'm just a little stuck. 0:31:48.560 --> 0:31:51.400 And God is standing over your life. I need you 0:31:51.480 --> 0:31:55.440 to know this. And he sees where you're stuck, that 0:31:55.680 --> 0:31:58.720 sticking point, and he says, I'm not gonna take it 0:31:58.840 --> 0:32:02.560 off of you. I'm gonna give you a lift. Have 0:32:02.720 --> 0:32:06.920 you ever had God be your stutter? I declare, the 0:32:07.000 --> 0:32:11.320 God of angel armies is standing over your life, and 0:32:11.480 --> 0:32:15.560 if you feel stuck, he will do what you cannot do. 0:32:16.360 --> 0:32:26.720 He is your strength. He knows how to get me 0:32:26.960 --> 0:32:30.200 past the point where I'm stuck. But now watch this. 0:32:30.320 --> 0:32:34.719 You may not like this. The first sticking point that 0:32:34.760 --> 0:32:39.920 Moses encountered was not Pharaoh. The first sticking point that 0:32:39.960 --> 0:32:43.160 Moses encountered, and maybe the greatest one, is that he 0:32:43.240 --> 0:32:50.640 tried to negotiate with God and he got stuck. He 0:32:50.720 --> 0:32:53.280 got stuck at the Burning Bush before he got stuck 0:32:53.280 --> 0:32:58.720 at the Red Sea. God's like, I chose you. Now 0:32:58.720 --> 0:33:01.760 he's already stuck sheep for his father in law, Jethro. 0:33:02.760 --> 0:33:06.360 He's been doing that forty years because he got mad 0:33:06.400 --> 0:33:09.840 at somebody and killed him. Because when you get stuck, 0:33:09.880 --> 0:33:14.040 you get stupid. And so now he's doing some things, 0:33:14.920 --> 0:33:18.480 doing something that's the consequence of his decision. And then 0:33:18.480 --> 0:33:21.280 the Lord speaks to him. He's like, I chose you 0:33:21.320 --> 0:33:24.040 go to Pharaoh and tell him let my people go 0:33:25.160 --> 0:33:28.960 with the hand motions. You go to Bible school, Pharah Pharaoh, okay, 0:33:29.080 --> 0:33:34.160 And so Moses is stuck. He's like, give me chapter four, 0:33:34.240 --> 0:33:36.040 verse one, Exibus four, verse one, and he showed this 0:33:36.640 --> 0:33:42.720 because you might be stuck in yourself. He said. But behold, 0:33:43.000 --> 0:33:45.400 they will not believe me. But you hadn't even talked 0:33:45.440 --> 0:33:48.880 to them yet, or listen to my voice, for they 0:33:48.920 --> 0:33:51.120 will say. They will say the Lord did not appear 0:33:51.160 --> 0:33:52.960 to you. Know, there's two things about this that are wrong. 0:33:53.120 --> 0:33:55.280 One is on other people, and two it's about a 0:33:55.280 --> 0:34:05.080 future event you can't control either. So he's stuck, and 0:34:05.920 --> 0:34:11.080 he's stuck for good reason. It's because he knows himself. 0:34:13.160 --> 0:34:19.400 He knows Moses, you know you, and to negotiate with 0:34:19.520 --> 0:34:22.680 God is usually like nah, I better not try that. 0:34:25.440 --> 0:34:31.200 So I'm stuck in myself and he's already. Isn't this crazy? 0:34:31.320 --> 0:34:35.000 He's telling himself a story of what's gonna happen. You've 0:34:35.040 --> 0:34:38.600 been stuck in a story of what's going to happen? 0:34:40.000 --> 0:34:43.960 Wake up in the middle of the night sometimes just like, Ah, 0:34:44.080 --> 0:34:47.680 I'm in a king's eze bed. Everything's good, got the 0:34:48.280 --> 0:34:50.440 beautiful woman in the world sleeping next to me. Ah, 0:34:50.520 --> 0:34:54.160 I'm screaming. I'm stuck in a story of what might 0:34:54.200 --> 0:34:57.640 happen tomorrow or what has happened before. You ever been 0:34:57.680 --> 0:35:01.640 stuck in a story? Have you ever been stuck in yourself? 0:35:03.640 --> 0:35:06.000 Have you ever been stuck in a story about yourself? 0:35:10.120 --> 0:35:12.680 I mean, rejection is painful, but Moses takes it to 0:35:12.719 --> 0:35:18.120 a new level. This is not rejection. He rejects himself 0:35:18.160 --> 0:35:22.160 before anybody else has the chance to. This is like 0:35:22.280 --> 0:35:27.799 advanced level. This is prejection. Huh, Well, I'm not even 0:35:27.800 --> 0:35:31.560 gonna try. It's a story of my life. Everything always 0:35:31.560 --> 0:35:38.279 goes wrong. I mean, I see this. I don't want 0:35:38.280 --> 0:35:40.800 to do a dating seminary. We already did a negotiation 0:35:40.920 --> 0:35:43.520 seminar when you ask her out on a date like, 0:35:43.760 --> 0:35:46.920 I know you've got don't mine too. I mean you 0:35:50.120 --> 0:35:54.920 gotta have some confidence to it. Man walk up to 0:35:55.000 --> 0:35:56.800 her like, hey, I didn't know if you wanted to 0:35:56.840 --> 0:36:03.720 go Tuesday or Wednesday. Come on, I'm helping you. Name 0:36:03.840 --> 0:36:09.240 your kid Larry, that's my legal first name. But Moses 0:36:09.360 --> 0:36:12.680 is like, I can't do this. I know me, I 0:36:12.719 --> 0:36:16.680 don't have it. I can't do it. He's stuck in 0:36:16.760 --> 0:36:21.400 a story about himself. Now, the bigger story does not 0:36:21.520 --> 0:36:28.160 revolve around you. Remember that. When we get stuck in ourselves, 0:36:28.280 --> 0:36:31.240 we miss the whole point that God is doing something 0:36:31.280 --> 0:36:34.880 that is bigger than you. It's bigger than what's wrong 0:36:34.960 --> 0:36:38.120 with you. It's bigger than what you didn't do. It's 0:36:38.120 --> 0:36:41.080 bigger than the time you waste it, and is certainly 0:36:41.120 --> 0:36:50.239 bigger than the opinions of others. So God makes this 0:36:51.160 --> 0:36:54.440 kind of like pep talk. He's like, what is that 0:36:54.560 --> 0:36:57.560 in your hand? What is that in your hand? Which 0:36:57.640 --> 0:36:59.960 this wouldn't make me feel any better if I've got 0:37:00.040 --> 0:37:02.839 to lead a whole nation until the most powerful man 0:37:02.840 --> 0:37:07.439 in the world let my people go uh yeah, yeah, 0:37:07.520 --> 0:37:10.560 yeah yeah. It's like, what is that in your hand? 0:37:10.880 --> 0:37:14.640 And Moses says, give me the verse a staff. The 0:37:14.840 --> 0:37:20.480 ESV calls it a staff, but technically it's a stick 0:37:23.920 --> 0:37:28.160 for every sticking point in your life. God has given 0:37:28.200 --> 0:37:36.719 you a stick, and you've got one right now. In 0:37:36.840 --> 0:37:39.839 order for Moses to see what that instrument could be, 0:37:40.600 --> 0:37:43.480 he had to release it and throw it down on 0:37:43.520 --> 0:37:48.000 the ground. When he released it on the ground, it 0:37:48.120 --> 0:37:52.879 became a snake. Until you surrender it, you will never 0:37:53.040 --> 0:37:57.520 see what it could be. I'm gonna bridge this thing. 0:37:58.120 --> 0:37:59.680 I'm going home in a minute. But let me tell 0:37:59.719 --> 0:38:02.880 you something right now. If you will release it, if 0:38:02.960 --> 0:38:05.640 you will put it before God, if you will say, 0:38:05.680 --> 0:38:10.280 here's my intellect, here's my will, here's my understanding, here's 0:38:10.320 --> 0:38:14.560 my ability, you will watch it transform. It will transform. 0:38:14.640 --> 0:38:18.360 It became a snake to become a sign because Moses 0:38:18.440 --> 0:38:21.319 needed to know this is really God, because he was 0:38:21.400 --> 0:38:24.200 stuck in himself. And when you need to get out 0:38:24.200 --> 0:38:27.160 of yourself, you have to release what God has given 0:38:27.239 --> 0:38:29.720 you so he can show you what it can become. 0:38:32.360 --> 0:38:35.640 But then he had to do something crazy. He had 0:38:35.640 --> 0:38:37.839 to do something that I would never do. He had 0:38:37.880 --> 0:38:40.200 to do something that you only do if you really 0:38:40.239 --> 0:38:45.879 love nature. He had to pick up the snake because 0:38:45.880 --> 0:38:47.760 when he first released it and it became a snake, 0:38:47.800 --> 0:38:53.760 he ran from it because he was smart, not because 0:38:53.800 --> 0:38:59.120 he didn't have faith, but because he had intelligence. But 0:38:59.160 --> 0:39:03.160 then God called him to reach for what he had 0:39:03.200 --> 0:39:07.160 been running from. I promise you, I feel the Holy 0:39:07.200 --> 0:39:13.919 Spirit so strong right now. And when he did it, 0:39:13.920 --> 0:39:18.960 it turned back into a stick. A stick is something small, 0:39:21.000 --> 0:39:24.719 but it would be that same stick. I need you 0:39:24.800 --> 0:39:27.440 to know this because you've never been through this challenge before. 0:39:30.120 --> 0:39:33.680 You've never been twenty four before. You've never been sixty 0:39:33.760 --> 0:39:38.120 one before. You never been a wife before, you never 0:39:38.200 --> 0:39:41.000 been a mom before. I never been a dad before. 0:39:41.080 --> 0:39:46.760 This is my first rodeo. You've never been through this before. 0:39:46.880 --> 0:39:50.920 This wasn't on my schedule. And I don't feel like 0:39:50.960 --> 0:39:53.120 I'm what I'm supposed to be for what I'm up against. 0:39:55.000 --> 0:39:57.080 Can I tell you what God told Moses by the 0:39:57.120 --> 0:40:00.920 power of the Holy Spirit, that when you stand in 0:40:00.960 --> 0:40:04.919 front of those red seas in your life, God took 0:40:04.960 --> 0:40:09.760 him back and showed him the same stick, the same 0:40:09.800 --> 0:40:12.879 stick that God had changed into a snake and back 0:40:12.920 --> 0:40:17.319 into a stick that same stick, and he told him 0:40:17.360 --> 0:40:20.560 an Exodus fourteen, verse sixteen, I want you to take 0:40:20.600 --> 0:40:24.120 your stick and point it at what you're going through. 0:40:26.800 --> 0:40:29.680 I want you to take your stick, and I want 0:40:29.719 --> 0:40:31.399 you to point it at what you can't get over. 0:40:32.960 --> 0:40:35.239 I want you to take your stick. Keep the verse up, 0:40:35.400 --> 0:40:38.640 because this is right from the Bible, and raise your staff. 0:40:39.600 --> 0:40:43.880 I know as small, it always feels small. I know 0:40:44.000 --> 0:40:47.080 that some of you are visited by the perpetuable spirit 0:40:47.160 --> 0:40:50.839 of a never enough. But it becomes enough. When you 0:40:50.920 --> 0:40:55.480 stretch it. It becomes enough. When you use it, it 0:40:55.560 --> 0:41:00.000 becomes enough. This is the miracle of faith. Why because God, 0:41:00.000 --> 0:41:05.160 God changes things. Say it. God changes things. That's what 0:41:05.200 --> 0:41:10.800 he does. God changes things. He turns mourning to dancing. 0:41:11.120 --> 0:41:16.400 He changes things. He gives beauty for ashes. He changes things. 0:41:16.760 --> 0:41:22.280 He turns shame into glory. He turns crosses into empty tombs, 0:41:22.680 --> 0:41:28.040 he turns graves into gardens, He turns phones into armies, 0:41:28.440 --> 0:41:32.920 he turns sees into highways. And if you will stretch 0:41:33.239 --> 0:41:36.919 what He gave you over what's your going through, You're 0:41:36.960 --> 0:41:42.400 gonna get through that. I declare it, I decree it. 0:41:43.400 --> 0:41:50.000 God said it. That sells it back up Pharaoh. I've 0:41:50.080 --> 0:42:04.960 come it through. Oh, I know it feels small, and 0:42:05.000 --> 0:42:07.480 I know for many of your energy has been diminished 0:42:07.480 --> 0:42:09.799 by what you've gone through. And I know some of 0:42:09.840 --> 0:42:12.560 you feel too young, and some feel too old, and 0:42:12.640 --> 0:42:15.680 some feel too in between, and some feel too Shut 0:42:15.800 --> 0:42:29.759 up and trust your stuff. Don't do something stupid like 0:42:29.880 --> 0:42:36.160 give up and quit just because you feel tired. I 0:42:36.239 --> 0:42:38.719 felt tired from the nine thirty and I came out 0:42:38.760 --> 0:42:40.480 and preached this one, and I had to get in 0:42:40.520 --> 0:42:45.000 a freezing cold shower to wake up. Because you need 0:42:45.040 --> 0:42:49.600 this word. So I grabbed my stick and preached it 0:42:50.440 --> 0:42:53.200 because I can't stop doing what I'm called to do 0:42:53.680 --> 0:43:05.680 just because I'm tired. But you will have to trust 0:43:06.719 --> 0:43:12.000 that it is enough, not that God is enough, but 0:43:12.000 --> 0:43:15.160 that what He gave you is enough for where he 0:43:15.239 --> 0:43:19.640 put you. This is a sticking point, and if you 0:43:19.680 --> 0:43:22.120 sit there and try to negotiate with God, you will 0:43:22.160 --> 0:43:26.760 miss it. Saddest thing in the world is that Moses 0:43:26.840 --> 0:43:30.240 never even went into the Promised Land. He got stuck. 0:43:33.320 --> 0:43:35.720 He hit a rock with his staff, the same staff 0:43:35.880 --> 0:43:38.160 that he raised over the sea, and the water's parted 0:43:38.200 --> 0:43:41.520 and they got through. He took that staff because he 0:43:42.080 --> 0:43:45.040 was tired of the people, and he struck the rock twice, 0:43:46.000 --> 0:43:48.239 and God said, now you can't go in because you 0:43:48.280 --> 0:43:53.680 don't trust me enough. Everything you love will have a 0:43:53.719 --> 0:43:56.880 part of the process that you will not like, including 0:43:56.960 --> 0:44:08.640 following Jesus. Did Jesus love the Father? Then why did 0:44:08.680 --> 0:44:11.239 he ask in the Garden of Gothsemone if there's any 0:44:11.280 --> 0:44:14.320 other way? I don't want to do it, because everything 0:44:14.400 --> 0:44:17.799 that you love will have a part that you don't like. 0:44:19.840 --> 0:44:22.440 I'm so sick of my generation thinking that we always 0:44:22.440 --> 0:44:27.640 have to feel happy to move forward. Sometimes we can 0:44:27.680 --> 0:44:29.719 do it because we love God enough, and we love 0:44:29.760 --> 0:44:33.160 people enough, and we're called and because we have a style. 0:44:33.520 --> 0:44:36.920 I gotta stick I gotta stick it out, I gotta persevere. 0:44:37.160 --> 0:44:39.600 I have a purpose, I have a reason, I have 0:44:39.719 --> 0:44:46.520 a calling. And no, you can't have me back, Pharaoh. No, 0:44:47.520 --> 0:44:53.440 come too far to get stuck here. Some of you 0:44:53.560 --> 0:44:58.680 came from broken homes and broken families and busted situations, 0:44:58.880 --> 0:45:01.520 and God would not bring you out here to drown you. 0:45:01.840 --> 0:45:06.040 He's dealing with your enemies. Stretch your stick and trust 0:45:06.080 --> 0:45:16.480 your stuff and go forward and stand there. It's a 0:45:16.520 --> 0:45:21.640 small thing. And if you trust him enough to stretch 0:45:21.680 --> 0:45:23.640 the small thing over the bigger thing. I don't know 0:45:23.640 --> 0:45:28.880 what that is for you. I'm going slow because I 0:45:28.920 --> 0:45:33.759 need you to imagine and I need you to see 0:45:33.760 --> 0:45:39.799 yourself on the other side of this, what it's going 0:45:39.880 --> 0:45:44.359 to be like when you're helping somebody else and all 0:45:44.400 --> 0:45:47.359 the hell that you went through isn't wasted, but it's invested. 0:45:55.320 --> 0:45:57.360 It's the dumbest thing. But I just saw a picture 0:45:57.480 --> 0:45:59.719 like Popeye or something of you just getting strong in 0:45:59.719 --> 0:46:04.600 your spirit because you're pushing past the sticking point. Now 0:46:04.840 --> 0:46:07.919 you got a spot her and God is not gonna 0:46:07.960 --> 0:46:13.400 let it fall on you. But you got to imagine. Okay, Okay, 0:46:14.480 --> 0:46:20.840 I will rejoice again, I will sing again. Okay, Okay, 0:46:21.120 --> 0:46:25.320 my children are gonna be free because I fought for this. Okay, Okay, 0:46:25.480 --> 0:46:34.960 I'm gonna do it. But but you will have to commit. 0:46:37.239 --> 0:46:39.319 You will have to You will have to walk through it, 0:46:40.719 --> 0:46:43.360 and that means you'll have to walk through something that 0:46:43.440 --> 0:46:45.399 feels like it could collapse on you at any time. 0:46:47.680 --> 0:46:52.200 The story goes that he stretched the staff, he trusted God, 0:46:53.160 --> 0:46:58.160 and God made a Don't you love this? An interstate 0:46:58.200 --> 0:47:03.239 highway through the sea. Who else can do that? Who 0:47:03.239 --> 0:47:05.880 else can turn a sea into a highway, a stick 0:47:05.880 --> 0:47:08.960 into a sake, a great only God can do it. 0:47:11.960 --> 0:47:16.560 So the ability to walk through something that God is 0:47:16.560 --> 0:47:20.680 holding up for you. You can't stick your right foot 0:47:20.680 --> 0:47:23.440 in and your right foot out. You can't hokey pokey 0:47:23.480 --> 0:47:28.640 through the red sea. It's going to mean saying that God, 0:47:28.680 --> 0:47:32.520 I'm going to see this through. Must stay in this 0:47:32.640 --> 0:47:36.200 uncomfortable place. I would rather stay stuck and have you 0:47:36.280 --> 0:47:38.799 deal with what you need to deal with. I would 0:47:38.880 --> 0:47:42.160 rather stay stuck and see your purpose for my life fulfilled. 0:47:45.200 --> 0:47:47.319 Because when you're standing in front of something you've never 0:47:47.360 --> 0:47:52.600 seen before, hold on to what you know. You got 0:47:52.600 --> 0:47:59.320 to stick. You got to stick. And when it happens 0:47:59.320 --> 0:48:02.399 this week, when you hit the sticking point, if it's 0:48:02.400 --> 0:48:04.880 a mood, or if it's a I don't want to 0:48:04.920 --> 0:48:06.839 say this, but if it's a mother in law, or 0:48:09.200 --> 0:48:10.840 or if it's something real, deep and dark that we 0:48:10.880 --> 0:48:15.120 can't talk about out loud, when you hit it, use 0:48:15.160 --> 0:48:29.320 your stick. Small, Trust, imagine, commit and know that spells stick. Small. 0:48:30.600 --> 0:48:36.799 Trust God. It doesn't feel like much, but it's enough. Trust, Imagine, 0:48:37.400 --> 0:48:44.520 commit and know, Father, as your word has gone forth 0:48:44.560 --> 0:48:50.239 today I have experienced such a joy of seeing these 0:48:50.239 --> 0:48:54.120 people receive this personal word, and on the other side 0:48:54.200 --> 0:48:58.600 of the camera, watching through a screen somewhere as someone 0:48:59.239 --> 0:49:03.160 who needed this message, and sitting in this room is 0:49:03.160 --> 0:49:06.640 someone who is at a sticking point, and what they 0:49:06.680 --> 0:49:12.320 do next will determine so much about whether they stay 0:49:12.360 --> 0:49:16.920 stuck or move forward. Everyone's standing at all of our locations, 0:49:16.960 --> 0:49:22.239 no one leaving. Thank you, Lord, Glory to your name, 0:49:23.719 --> 0:49:30.479 Thank you Jesus, Blessed be your name. Holy is your name? 0:49:31.880 --> 0:49:40.799 Worthy is your name? Worthy is your name? Worthy is 0:49:40.840 --> 0:49:47.720 your name? When they got through to the other side, y'all, 0:49:47.920 --> 0:49:52.360 they started singing. But sometimes you got to sing on 0:49:52.400 --> 0:49:59.120 the wrong side. Worthy is your name. Sometimes you've got 0:49:59.160 --> 0:50:01.239 to sing when you feel pain, and you've got to 0:50:01.280 --> 0:50:04.920 offer God the sacrifice of praise. And I wish there 0:50:04.920 --> 0:50:08.319 were about one thousand people in Elevation Valentine, and a 0:50:08.320 --> 0:50:10.520 few hundred at Blakeney, and a few hundred of Gaston 0:50:10.800 --> 0:50:15.040 that would just lift your hands and begin to worship gods. 0:50:15.080 --> 0:50:18.000 Begin to thank him that he turns seas into highways, 0:50:18.080 --> 0:50:22.200 you servles. Begin to thank him that he turns mourning 0:50:22.280 --> 0:50:26.880 to dancing. Your season, to thank him that he steals 0:50:27.000 --> 0:50:32.640 wins and ways only and the things that only he 0:50:32.680 --> 0:50:37.040 can do. Shooter mort It's a dance and the glory, 0:50:37.120 --> 0:50:41.239 and only he deserves you give beauty for his name 0:50:41.360 --> 0:50:46.719 is gret. His one is your shame. Easy and it 0:50:46.920 --> 0:51:00.359 will come to new kid. Shoot cercasy in weodser all 0:51:04.360 --> 0:51:08.880 ho mercy coming to believe that come. I'll say it 0:51:08.960 --> 0:51:20.040 like you bim in long pay so youo Turisey shoot 0:51:20.200 --> 0:51:34.399 tr balls it too, Dorcy Jody, Thank you for joining us. 0:51:34.719 --> 0:51:37.160 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:51:37.239 --> 0:51:40.719 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:51:41.200 --> 0:51:43.640 You can click the link in the description to give now, 0:51:44.280 --> 0:51:47.600 or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more 0:51:47.640 --> 0:51:51.440 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:51:51.719 --> 0:51:53.759 You can share it with your friends. You can click 0:51:53.800 --> 0:51:56.040 the share button, take a screenshot and share it on 0:51:56.080 --> 0:51:58.919 your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks 0:51:58.960 --> 0:52:05.279 again for listening, Leshm