Then They Gathered

0:00:02.200 --> 0:00:04.760 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:07.240 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:10.600 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:12.639 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:15.360 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:18.599 Come in the kitchen with me and let me show 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:24.320 you something that God is speaking to me about. Lick 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:29.120 the bowl and taste and see that the Lord is good. 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:33.800 I love y'all so much. Acts Chapter one, verse four. 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:37.360 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, see 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:39.680 us in the Bible. Come in the kitchen, lick the ball. 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:42.280 He was eating with them, he gave them this command, 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:47.199 do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.640 father promise which you have heard me speak about. For 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.840 John baptized with water, but in a few days you 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:57.520 will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then they gathered 0:00:57.560 --> 0:00:59.520 around him and asked him, Lord, are you at this 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:04.240 time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:05.840 to them, it is not for you to know the 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:08.920 times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:12.440 But you will received power when the Holy Spirit comes 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:15.880 on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.000 and in all Judea and Samaria, into the ends of 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:22.119 the earth. After he said this, he was taken up 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:24.800 before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:28.760 their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:32.080 as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:36.720 white stood beside them, men of Galilee. They said, why 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:39.320 do you stand here looking into the sky? This same 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:43.880 Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:48.680 come back wow in the same way you have seen 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:53.040 him go into heaven verse twelve. And I'll stop. Then 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:56.280 the Apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the 0:01:56.320 --> 0:01:59.279 Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day walk from the city. 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:02.200 I lied, I need verse thirteen two to tell you 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:04.760 what I'm supposed to say. When they arrived, they went 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:09.320 upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:14.520 were Peter, John James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas Bartholomew 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.200 and Matthew James, son of Alpheus, and Simon the Zealot, 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.160 and Judas, son of James. They all joined together, I 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:24.399 promise this last verse. They all joined together constantly in prayer, 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.600 along with the women. I can't leave that out and 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.960 marry the mother of Jesus and with his brothers. Now, y'all, 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:34.960 I stared at this text so long. I didn't want 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:39.760 the familiarity of this text to eclipse its significance for 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:45.480 this moment. So the first thing that I kept seeing 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:48.600 was the word that y'all all shouted in this section 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:53.840 right here in Acts one, a power. You will receive power. 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:57.320 And for the longest I thought that was the message 0:02:57.320 --> 0:03:01.160 God had for us, that when we re leaves our pride, 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:06.240 we receive God's power. The Lord said, that is true, 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.760 and you can preach it sometime, but not this time. 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:12.560 That's not the message. So I said, well, what else 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:15.000 could it be? And there's all kinds of things that 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:19.240 that you see in this passage that are amazing, like 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:23.359 when they said this same Jesus will return like he 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:29.480 doesn't change. His nature, doesn't change, his character, doesn't change, 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:33.919 his purpose, doesn't change, not controlled by some political power. 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:37.720 What Jesus looks like. He's not made in our image. 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:41.119 We're made in his. So he doesn't change. We change 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:43.960 as we behold him. The Lord said, that's not the 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.400 message for Elevation leader either, And I thought, well, we're 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:49.840 running out of stuff here. Lord, that's the best stuff 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:52.760 in the passage. You know, what does it do not 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.880 leave Jerusalem? Does it do not leave? Am I supposed 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:58.200 to tell him don't run off and join another church, 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.960 you know, don't don't sign the divorce papers or whatever. 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:04.880 Is that the message do not leave? The Lord said no, no, 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:10.880 it's not there. And so what the Lord told me 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:14.720 to focus on today is in verse six, and this 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:24.200 is my message. Then they gathered. I want to preach 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:31.080 to you today on those three words. Then they gathered. 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:39.480 Then they gathered, say it one time before you take 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:53.400 your seat. Then they gathered, be seated. One of our 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.120 volunteers is kids play sports with our kids. And he 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:58.560 asked me right at the beginning, when he sew me 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.600 up here sweating on the stage. But Chris and John 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:06.400 sal and Jennohn Stools preaching back in February of twenty 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:09.000 he said, is that weird? I said what he said, 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:14.080 learning to preach in an empty room? And I said, 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:22.400 it's not learning to preach in an empty room, it's remembering. Huh. 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:24.279 I found out a long time ago. A lot of 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:30.440 spiritual growth isn't about learning anything. It's about remembering, remember 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:38.400 who you are the Book of First Simba. No, it 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:41.680 wasn't weird at all. It just took me to remember. 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:47.960 Like how David said, this is an unusual circumstance with 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:52.040 a nine foot giant whose helmet outweighs me. I really 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.520 didn't come here to fight, but I do remember how 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:58.479 to because I've done that before. I never thought this before, 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.200 but I have fought. And so the key in the 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:05.000 David and Goliath passage just to realize that the God 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:06.800 who delivered me from the Paul the line and Beryl 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.120 delivered from some circumcised philistine, that the enemy's changed, but 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.559 the power that you're fighting in doesn't. So every time 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:16.320 that you shift from one stage of your life to another, 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:20.400 or one mode of leadership to another, or when you 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.479 shift in the role that you're playing, you know, like 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:27.279 our campus pastors when everything shut down, and I'm not 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:29.039 trying to take us so far back because i know 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:32.320 we just got good news that everything is gonna and 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:34.720 I'm really hesitant to trust it. So I'm kind of 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:37.159 just like dipping my toe in feeling happy about that, 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:42.360 you know, But just to go back to that time, 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:45.279 a lot of them that were used to hugging people, 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:49.599 praying for people, and being with people basically did the 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:51.640 job as if they were hired at a call center. 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:57.920 And instead of, to quote the great lin Manuelmoranda, the 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:00.840 room where it happened, it was all of a sudden, 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:06.200 the zoom where it happened, and the adaptation of this 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:09.200 church in that time was one of the greatest proofs 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:11.160 that I've ever seen in my life of the grace 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:18.440 of God upon this ministry. There is a grace for adaptation. 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:25.720 There is a grape for adaptation. Just ask Moses, who 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:28.680 needed a sign that God was with him, and all 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:30.920 of a sudden, the shepherd's staff that he had carried 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:33.760 in the wilderness of his decision to kill an Egyptian 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:36.720 became the instrument as he threw it on the ground 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.000 and it turned into a snake to prove to him 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.960 that God can change anything. There is a grace for adaptation, 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.400 just as the disciples who were also in a desert 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:49.600 place trying to feed some hungry crowds. You know, crowds 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:54.200 become mobs real quick. I'll talk about that momentarily. So 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:57.160 on the verge of that turn, when you realize that 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:02.120 a crowd is not a church. A crowd is not 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:04.560 a church. Would you please write that down so you 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:07.600 can come back to it. A crowd is not a church. 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:13.160 That you understand. When the disciples came to Jesus and 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.880 placed the meager resource, you know, the feeding of the 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:19.880 five thousand into his hand, it became enough as he 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.960 touched it, as they brought it. There is a grace 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:27.360 for adaptation in your life. Right now. I want you 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:32.400 to know there is a grace for adaptation. There is 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.600 a grace for you by the supernatural power of the 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:38.160 Holy Spirit. In God taught words what Paul teaches and 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:42.400 Corinthians for us to express in our lives, realities that 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:46.040 we have no experience of. But God gives it to 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:49.920 us as we need it. That's the grace of adaptation. 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:54.280 And in Acts Chapter one, particularly, the Holy Spirit of 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:58.360 God is coming to these disciples who we listed a 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:04.840 moment ago, Peter, James and John, the famous ones, Philip 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:12.160 and Thomas, who make some cameo appearances. Bartholomew shout out, 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:17.240 Bartholomew I ever preached about him before. The women marry 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:22.319 the mother of Jesus and his brothers, they're all standing 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.400 at a moment where it's very different than it is 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:32.000 for us, because everything is changing in their world. It 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:34.240 was different to be a disciple of Jesus back then 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:36.840 because back then there was a lot of political unrest. 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:44.000 It was different. Everybody say, back then, you're so quick. 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:48.560 It was different back then because back in those times 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:53.199 there were many arguments about gender equality. And back then, 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:56.080 to be a disciple of Jesus was hard, you know. 0:09:56.520 --> 0:10:00.920 Back then it was complicated because as the Jewish believers 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:04.360 were becoming Christians, many within the religious communities saw their 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:09.880 conversion to Christ as traitorous to their identity nationally. It 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:13.400 was different than people used to divide themselves by things 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:16.319 like skin color or custom, and so it was really 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:19.400 different then. And the challenge becomes for me to bring 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:22.199 you out of this irrelevant context in which the Bible 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:28.600 was written. But there is grace for adaptation. And even 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:31.319 when you think about this, the way they would experience 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.839 the presence of God was changing as they stood on 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:39.360 the mount of Olives, which is itself a place of transition. Remember, 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:42.960 the olives only become oil as they are crushed, and 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:49.600 that's exactly what has happened to the disciples as their 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:54.960 tears are barely dried from watching Jesus die. It's only 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:58.800 been forty days, and now he's leaving them for good. 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:05.000 You felt like God left you a few times last year. 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.640 You felt like God left you, like maybe you did 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:14.960 something wrong and he took his hand off you. You 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:18.280 didn't tell your volunteer team that. I hope you didn't. 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:20.440 And that's too heavy for your volunteer team to know about. 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:25.720 If you're a leader, we carry things as leaders, don't we. 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:29.600 I'm not just talking about as a pastor. I mean 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:31.840 even if you're a leader in your home, or if 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:35.440 you're a leader in your business, or if you're leading 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:41.679 a volunteer team. Had a had a Gideon opportunity over 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:44.679 the last year, do you know what that is? Gideon 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:46.719 started with thirty six thousand and got down to three 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.199 hundred before God gave him the victory. How many of 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.120 y'all's volunteer teams is coming out of a Gideon season? 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:59.880 You still don't look like you're good with it. That's 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:04.400 I wanted to preach to you today about then they gathered. 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:13.720 Then they gathered. Back then, when they gathered, there was 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:18.600 no multi psych technology back then, when they gathered. There 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:24.280 was no nonprofit exemption for charitable giving. Back then, when 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:26.520 they gathered, there was no guarantee that they could worship 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:33.280 in safety. And I'm not talking about masks back then, 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:40.640 and they gathered, which is a miracle in itself that 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:44.640 they're together again. If you remember at the Cross, it 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:48.920 says that all of Jesus disciples, the one we just listed, 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:56.480 they all scattered when he died. So I was happy 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:04.080 to see in Acts chapter one, then they gathered that 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:07.400 although the disappointment and disfiguration of their picture of the 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:09.920 way the Kingdom of God would look when it came 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:14.920 in power had been completely devastating to their faith and 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:18.680 even caused them to fail, that God brought them back 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:24.679 to this moment to give them a divine, supernatural empowerment 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:29.760 for the task of taking the Gospel to the world. 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:37.880 They gathered everybody shall gather. We went through a season 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:44.360 where the way that we gathered changed so much. But 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:48.000 I found a verse that I want to show you 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:52.840 that all of you good Baptists. Are there any Baptist 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:57.680 in the house, Are there any recovering Baptists in the house. 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.560 I went to a Baptist school and before that I 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.520 spent a lot of time in Baptist Church before you know, 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:08.439 I grew up Methodists. But they always quoted this verse 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.200 in prayer meeting because nobody really came to prayer meeting. 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:14.640 I'm telling you the truth. There would be nobody at 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.880 prayer meeting because Brother Wilson would pray for fifty five 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:21.360 minutes and I'm hungry. So nobody came to prayer meeting, 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:23.920 not because they didn't love God, but brother Wilson didn't 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.120 know when to shut up, so it be a very 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.400 few people there, and it could feel kind of discouraging. 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:30.720 So somebody would quote at the beginning of the prayer 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:34.480 meeting Matthew eighteen nineteen. Again, I tell you truly that 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:35.920 if two of you on earth agree about anything to 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:37.960 ask for by the puck no Heaven, watch us verse 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.080 twenty for where two or three gather in my name, 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:44.040 there I am with them. I only ever heard that 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:47.280 verse as an excuse for bad attendance. You know, well, 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:51.000 the word says, if it's only two or three, Lord, 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.960 you're here with us, and we know sister Mary has 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:56.840 a cold, But Lord, is me and Wilson show up? Lord? 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:01.040 But I started quoting that verse with renewed fervor and 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:06.000 a revived vigor. Last year, I'd be looking out to 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.960 preach back in March, and the cameras were on, and 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:11.480 nobody was really in the room but Chunks over there 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:14.240 underneath the camera. And you know, Chunks loves the Lord, 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:16.680 but his face doesn't know he loves the Lord yet 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:19.400 when I'm preaching and he's my guy, he's my guy. Well, 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:21.320 I look over at Chunks and I'd be like, Lord, 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:23.520 you said two or three. I look at Holly. I 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:26.080 got Holly. I got Chunks. We can do this. Have 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:33.920 you ever had to gather something that was but what 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:38.320 I love about our church that I saw last year, 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:47.800 what's that We didn't stop gathering. We had to adapt, 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:54.800 but we gathered and we stood on the promise of 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:59.040 Matthew eighteen that was spoken by Jesus. If it's just 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:01.520 two or three, God, I have to count the cat 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.040 right now because I'm a part of Epham and I 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:07.360 didn't plan to be. But hold hands with me, little kiddie, 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:11.320 because the biple said, if two or three, I'll be two, 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:15.480 you'll be three. And let's phrase the Lord together. I'll 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:19.000 be Paul, you'll be silas, we gotta get out of 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:27.760 this prison. You'll stop. They gathered. Now watch this, not 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:36.960 the crowd. The crowd was long gone. And we talked 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:48.280 about gathered. Let's talk about they. They blind, Bartimaeus didn't gather. 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:54.240 The woman with the issue of blood who was healed 0:16:54.240 --> 0:17:02.680 by Jesus is not reporting as having gathered. We're where's Lazarus? 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:18.080 Isn't it crazy how certain seasons will thin out? Who 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:24.320 is your perception of they? And before we give the 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:29.000 disciples too much credit, they didn't stay till the end either. 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:40.960 Just John and the women. Just go to the narrative. 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.400 Go to your favorite Easter story. Look at the cross. 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:48.160 You're not gonna find loudmouth Peter. You're not gonna find 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:51.440 honest Thomas. Y'all remember we renamed him. None of them 0:17:51.440 --> 0:18:05.040 are there? Just John and Jesus Mama. Then they Yeah. 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:09.639 The the reason I was excited to come preach today 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:22.080 is I wanted to talk today. I still happy, you know. 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:28.080 Did you see Holly tear up? She teared up because 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:38.000 it's a difference between them and they. Yeah. Yeah, I 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:40.880 don't think you're perfect or anything like that. I would 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:43.800 have ever put that pressure on you. I don't think 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:46.880 there's people in this room, you know who haven't who 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:51.440 haven't struggled. I don't think you know there's there's thousands 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:54.840 of people right, so I'm not I would say, by 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:58.480 the law of averages that there are leaders in this 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.560 room who got high in the last day or two 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:05.119 and are still trying to press forward and still do 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:08.399 what God called you to do. I have to be 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:12.080 real about that, because if we think that the day 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:25.240 that God uses are the ones who never cussed anybody 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:32.320 out in target trying to get some toilet paper, I'm 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:35.720 gonna have to update that reference never cussed anybody out 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:39.320 at a gas pump and beat you over the head 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:43.600 with this gas pump. Look, that's not an excuse for 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:45.560 us to not grow up in the wisdom and maturity 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:49.760 of God. But it is a permission for us to 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:54.520 realize that there is grace for adaptation and you are 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:59.199 not yet all that you will be, but that doesn't 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:11.080 stop you from being. They shout, they they. I think 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:17.239 who you include in that day in your life is 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:22.600 maybe the biggest determining factor in where your life ends up. 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:27.919 In some days, you don't get to choose. Some of 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:38.320 that is determined by circumstances outside of your control. But 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:43.680 for me, this is my day, this is what God 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:51.480 called me to give my life to. They gather even 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:55.560 though Peter cut off Malcus's ear in the garden. He 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:59.080 gathered on the mount of Olives, even though he couldn't 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:03.480 stay away. While Jesus was sweating like drops of great 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:07.000 blood as the capillaries were bursting as he was preparing 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:11.440 to go to the cross, Peter, James and John were sleeping. 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:18.240 They gathered. What I'm trying to say, don't beat yourself 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:21.320 up too much where you can't receive the grace that 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:29.879 God gave you to change who needs this. Sometimes I 0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:38.200 don't feel like they honestly, Sometimes, as I observe myself 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:43.399 in contrast to the standard of Jesus Christ, you know, 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:45.960 there's a lot of unworthiness that can get in. And 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:48.160 what the enemy would love to do is to use 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:52.719 just to believe in the devil more than ever. Pastor Fernick, 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:56.520 I'll tell you right now, sleeps in the room next door. 0:21:56.560 --> 0:21:59.800 I see the NFL. I'll introduce you to him. I'll 0:21:59.800 --> 0:22:05.959 show you a picture. But what the enemy loves to 0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:12.480 do is to use the condemnation to keep you from 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:18.399 receiving the grace that would enable you to change, to 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:22.359 get you to think that you are not they. But 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:27.800 it said then they gathered the same ones that scattered 0:22:29.480 --> 0:22:36.080 at the cross gathered at the ascension, and there weren't 0:22:36.080 --> 0:22:39.880 many left. There weren't many left at the upper room. 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:43.639 One hundred and twenty, to be exact, one hundred and 0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:47.200 twenty young people we had when we start our church. 0:22:48.640 --> 0:22:55.199 The first Sunday we ever gathered one hundred and twenty one. 0:22:55.800 --> 0:22:57.640 I wish it was exactly one twenty, but I got 0:22:57.680 --> 0:23:01.280 to tell the truth that was one twenty one. But 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:04.000 let's pretend the one was Judas one hundred and twenty. Guy, 0:23:06.440 --> 0:23:08.480 we got to make this an illustration work. It's only 0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:13.600 what I got. And I'm telling you something about this 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:18.240 last season, y'all. Is there an acoustic guitar? Just bring 0:23:18.240 --> 0:23:22.080 me a guitar? Something about this season of church and ministry. 0:23:23.600 --> 0:23:26.120 I thought I should share this with you today. It 0:23:26.200 --> 0:23:31.480 brought me back to realizing that God didn't just give 0:23:31.600 --> 0:23:34.720 us a crowd called Elevation Church that buys tickets at 0:23:34.720 --> 0:23:39.520 tour stops and listens to songs on Pandora and watch 0:23:39.600 --> 0:23:44.360 us sermons on YouTube once every five weeks. God gave 0:23:44.440 --> 0:23:54.280 us a core of committed disciples, imperfect disciples, and we 0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:57.119 wanted to remind you is it coming. We wanted to 0:23:57.160 --> 0:23:59.040 remind you, I'm gonna do like the disciples and wait 0:23:59.080 --> 0:24:01.199 for the gift in the upper I'm waiting for it. 0:24:01.200 --> 0:24:05.239 I'm waiting for it. I came to remind you that 0:24:05.720 --> 0:24:14.880 you're still they. God gave us Holly a they when 0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:19.439 we were praying back in Dellwood Drive, three point thirty 0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:23.560 Delwood Drive, back in Shelby, our first home that we 0:24:23.680 --> 0:24:27.600 bought for ninety two thousand, five hundred dollars in Shelby, 0:24:27.640 --> 0:24:30.760 North Carolina, when we were there praying, and back then, 0:24:30.920 --> 0:24:33.399 back then, back then, back then, when we were praying 0:24:33.480 --> 0:24:42.520 back then, these are they? Does that blow your mind? Now? 0:24:42.520 --> 0:24:50.560 They're dysfunctional, just like us, and they got bad tempers sometimes, 0:24:50.600 --> 0:24:54.560 just like us. And they don't read their Bibles every 0:24:54.560 --> 0:24:58.920 morning like they should, just like us. Oh, you're a pastor. 0:25:02.119 --> 0:25:08.720 I'm a person too. When I'm there, Peter preached on 0:25:08.760 --> 0:25:14.040 the day of Pentecost after cussing to the girl at 0:25:14.080 --> 0:25:24.960 the campfire. All the days makes some noise, Yeah, when 0:25:25.320 --> 0:25:28.800 they see us like Elevation Church out in the community 0:25:29.040 --> 0:25:32.480 doing good and giving cars to single moms and giving 0:25:32.640 --> 0:25:35.360 education and supplying. I want them to say, there they 0:25:35.400 --> 0:25:40.560 go again, there they go again, acting like they really 0:25:40.600 --> 0:25:43.479 believe that it's more blessed to give than they received. 0:25:43.600 --> 0:25:47.080 But see, you know, there's there's there's a great value 0:25:47.119 --> 0:25:53.000 for me in realizing back back in the day, how 0:25:53.040 --> 0:25:58.240 when it was just one. We have these cool worship 0:25:58.320 --> 0:26:06.199 songs like graves into Guard the blessing, but we we 0:26:06.280 --> 0:26:12.639 would just sing like the old songs like Robin Mark 0:26:12.800 --> 0:26:20.359 songs like these are the days of Elijah declaring the 0:26:20.400 --> 0:26:23.760 word of the Lord, and these are the days of 0:26:23.800 --> 0:26:29.679 your servant Moses, righteousness being restored. And though these are 0:26:29.800 --> 0:26:36.400 days of great trial, of famine and darknesses, now pull up. 0:26:38.960 --> 0:26:41.840 I was the worship leader because I could afford me. 0:26:44.119 --> 0:26:48.399 I couldn't afford Carrie Job and Chris Brown, and I 0:26:48.440 --> 0:26:51.600 couldn't afford all of that. So it was just me saying, oh, 0:26:51.920 --> 0:26:56.400 he come ride in on the clouds, he dine in 0:26:56.480 --> 0:27:03.159 like the sun at the trumpet, call your scar of 0:27:03.359 --> 0:27:14.200 jubilee out of science, Sili this god like jehul Now 0:27:15.320 --> 0:27:24.040 what was the blessing for me of the last fourteen months, 0:27:24.480 --> 0:27:29.520 as our church has had to reinvent from the inside out, 0:27:30.080 --> 0:27:35.760 has been to realize, just like the disciples received the 0:27:35.760 --> 0:27:40.080 greatest gift of God's presence in between what they had 0:27:40.240 --> 0:27:46.240 already known and what they couldn't possibly predict, that God 0:27:46.400 --> 0:27:52.119 was creating for our church a space for what we 0:27:52.240 --> 0:27:59.840 didn't even know to pray for yet. And in January 0:28:00.880 --> 0:28:04.479 we got together with Elevation Worship in Maverick City and 0:28:04.560 --> 0:28:12.440 recorded this album called Old Church Basement. And even though 0:28:12.480 --> 0:28:15.480 the campuses are open and some people aren't going back, 0:28:15.560 --> 0:28:19.000 I mean, God love them. They'll go everywhere else but church, 0:28:19.160 --> 0:28:22.159 but God when it comes to church. All right, now, 0:28:22.200 --> 0:28:24.119 I'm gonna tell y'all that story. I wasn't gona tell you. 0:28:31.320 --> 0:28:36.920 I was at an establishment recently, and normally the people 0:28:37.280 --> 0:28:40.680 that are so nice that say we love your church, 0:28:41.040 --> 0:28:43.600 thank you for all that y'all do in the community. 0:28:43.880 --> 0:28:47.280 And usually they say y'all, which makes me feel good 0:28:47.600 --> 0:28:52.760 because this church is not me, it's they all right. 0:28:53.320 --> 0:28:56.320 So anyway, this woman was not saying any of that. 0:28:58.520 --> 0:29:05.040 She said. This woman said, what are y'all doing having 0:29:05.680 --> 0:29:08.520 church right now? I said, oh, man, well you know, 0:29:08.560 --> 0:29:11.680 there's multiple things. We have our online ministry for people 0:29:11.680 --> 0:29:13.640 who aren't able to come, and we do all that 0:29:13.840 --> 0:29:16.240 and it's amazing. And God positioned us for that because 0:29:16.640 --> 0:29:20.640 we look really smart when this pandemic hit, like we 0:29:20.760 --> 0:29:25.920 had foreseen the strategic global pandemic and we'd set up 0:29:25.920 --> 0:29:27.960 our online ministry so that we could have a dispersion 0:29:28.000 --> 0:29:30.200 of no no, no, no no no. That was just God 0:29:30.240 --> 0:29:31.960 setting us up. That was just the grace of God 0:29:31.960 --> 0:29:33.800 that he knew we needed for the transition. We given 0:29:33.840 --> 0:29:35.680 the glory for that. So I said, our teams are 0:29:35.720 --> 0:29:38.040 amazing and they can watch and we put all of 0:29:38.080 --> 0:29:40.440 that out. And I said, but I said, but the 0:29:40.440 --> 0:29:43.080 people who want to come, we open it up. It's safe. 0:29:43.240 --> 0:29:45.440 Our teams are doing a great job. Our volunteers are 0:29:45.440 --> 0:29:47.880 doing a great job. And she goes, I don't know 0:29:47.920 --> 0:29:52.080 if I believe you. That's a lot of people. I said, 0:29:52.120 --> 0:29:54.160 it is a lot of people. And what I'm telling 0:29:54.200 --> 0:29:58.880 you is you don't have to come. Is online nine thirty. 0:29:59.400 --> 0:30:09.760 You know, I just forgive me, Lord, I am day 0:30:10.560 --> 0:30:16.680 and and so. And I should have walked out. I 0:30:16.680 --> 0:30:19.680 should have walked out what I did. And she kept going, 0:30:19.920 --> 0:30:23.160 I mean, just going and going, and then it hit me, 0:30:23.880 --> 0:30:29.120 Wait a minute, she's arguing with me about having church, 0:30:30.800 --> 0:30:41.120 and she's standing right here with no mask on, one 0:30:41.160 --> 0:30:46.560 of those one of those saints of God, one of 0:30:46.600 --> 0:30:52.160 those that has nothing to do with my point. But 0:30:52.200 --> 0:30:57.000 what I'm saying was it was a gift for me. 0:30:58.080 --> 0:30:59.600 It was a gift for me. In the last year, 0:31:00.320 --> 0:31:02.480 I wasn't happy about people who lost their jobs. I 0:31:02.480 --> 0:31:04.880 wasn't happy about nurses working eighteen twenty hour shifts. I 0:31:04.920 --> 0:31:07.520 wasn't happy about kids not being able to go to school. 0:31:07.640 --> 0:31:11.040 I wasn't happy about people that were sick, obviously, people 0:31:11.240 --> 0:31:13.320 whose lives were hanging in the balance, and even those 0:31:13.320 --> 0:31:16.480 who lost loved ones. But what I became thankful for 0:31:17.760 --> 0:31:20.960 through the process of navigating ministry in the time of 0:31:21.000 --> 0:31:25.600 such isolation, was that the space that God left us 0:31:25.720 --> 0:31:27.960 was the room for something new that he wanted to do. 0:31:30.760 --> 0:31:35.320 And I never forget. I don't think I've told anybody this, 0:31:35.480 --> 0:31:39.040 maybe not even Holly, But we were writing this song. 0:31:39.080 --> 0:31:40.840 It was one of the last songs we finished for 0:31:40.960 --> 0:31:44.720 the album Old Church Basement, and the song was called 0:31:44.720 --> 0:31:50.400 Come Again. And Holly put in an air sermon last 0:31:50.400 --> 0:31:59.840 week and it talks about I'm open and so get 0:31:59.840 --> 0:32:02.680 this at a time where we have all of these 0:32:02.720 --> 0:32:06.320 empty seats in this church. We came in. It was 0:32:07.040 --> 0:32:10.760 a two night recording and everybody was tested before they 0:32:10.760 --> 0:32:12.960 came in and everything, and we did everything right, okay, 0:32:13.240 --> 0:32:16.160 And but then we came in here and we turned 0:32:16.160 --> 0:32:20.160 this whole church like right there where you're sitting, sir, yeah, 0:32:20.280 --> 0:32:22.840 right there with the hood right there. Yeah, well you two, 0:32:23.040 --> 0:32:25.120 but like right yeah, yeah, that's what I was talking too, 0:32:25.640 --> 0:32:29.040 right there, and the whole room was empty. And I 0:32:29.080 --> 0:32:31.600 asked Chandler and Brandon to meet me and finish the 0:32:31.600 --> 0:32:34.440 song because it needed to be finished. And it said, 0:32:34.840 --> 0:32:37.960 it's not a building you want to fill, it's my 0:32:38.080 --> 0:32:46.800 heart and that's all it said. And I didn't know 0:32:46.800 --> 0:32:48.240 what would come next, and we had to record it 0:32:48.320 --> 0:32:50.640 that night. We had written songs for six months and 0:32:51.000 --> 0:32:54.680 we just needed one more line. A building you want 0:32:54.680 --> 0:33:02.400 to feel. It's not hot, feel it up, God, feel 0:33:02.440 --> 0:33:06.120 it up, feel it up, feel it up, just trying 0:33:06.160 --> 0:33:07.920 stuff like an hour. I sat right there, I sat 0:33:08.000 --> 0:33:10.080 right there where you are, and the Chandler is on 0:33:10.080 --> 0:33:14.760 a piano and Brendan's on a microphone, and then a 0:33:14.760 --> 0:33:19.520 prayer came to me and I sang it, and I'm 0:33:19.520 --> 0:33:21.280 not the best singer, but I can get the job 0:33:21.320 --> 0:33:23.960 done when I need to. And I said, it's not 0:33:24.040 --> 0:33:27.840 a building you want a film, it's my heart. And 0:33:27.880 --> 0:33:29.600 I looked up at all the seats in this room, 0:33:29.640 --> 0:33:32.080 this room, Valentine. I know everybody's in different rooms, but 0:33:32.120 --> 0:33:37.160 this room that I'm in right now, and I said, 0:33:37.160 --> 0:33:41.479 this empty space, it's what you want it all along. 0:33:46.400 --> 0:33:48.240 And I'm looking at the empty seats and a part 0:33:48.240 --> 0:33:50.960 of me wants to cry because these seats are so expensive. 0:33:56.040 --> 0:34:01.560 This building costs so much money, like Ladon Norman and Riverwalk, 0:34:01.600 --> 0:34:06.160 and all these empty buildings give me an ulcer as 0:34:06.200 --> 0:34:14.440 a leader and a CEO, but as a pastor. What 0:34:14.520 --> 0:34:24.560 if this empty space is what God wanted to where 0:34:24.560 --> 0:34:29.560 When Jesus left the disciples in bodily form, he sent 0:34:29.680 --> 0:34:34.680 the spirit to live within. And when the spirit came, 0:34:34.760 --> 0:34:37.839 he said, greater works will you do in my name 0:34:38.880 --> 0:34:43.720 than I did in my body. But for the spirit 0:34:44.360 --> 0:34:55.400 to be received, the body had to be released before 0:34:55.600 --> 0:35:01.680 we shout about you will receive power. In X one eight, 0:35:03.920 --> 0:35:11.600 we have to talk about releasing our need to control 0:35:11.719 --> 0:35:14.759 or understand everything that God does, And isn't that the 0:35:14.800 --> 0:35:19.080 hardest thing in the world? After all we've been through together, 0:35:19.160 --> 0:35:21.600 y'all won't be honest with me. Isn't it the hardest 0:35:21.600 --> 0:35:25.799 thing in the world to release your death grip on 0:35:26.040 --> 0:35:30.239 your plans for God? Because you know what Jeremih twenty 0:35:30.320 --> 0:35:32.759 nine to eleven says, God says for I know the 0:35:32.800 --> 0:35:36.520 plans you have for me. Oh, it doesn't say that 0:35:38.040 --> 0:35:44.160 I know the plans I have for you. But the 0:35:44.280 --> 0:35:47.600 first step for those plans to be activated in a 0:35:47.640 --> 0:35:52.000 community or in an individual life is that you have 0:35:52.160 --> 0:35:56.200 to release the plans that were in the place where 0:35:56.440 --> 0:35:59.120 God wanted to do something that you didn't even know 0:35:59.200 --> 0:36:03.200 to pray for him to do. So the more I 0:36:03.600 --> 0:36:05.800 sang it, the more I understood it. This empty space 0:36:06.160 --> 0:36:08.279 is not that God isn't going to rebuild our church 0:36:08.360 --> 0:36:10.680 or our churches are gonna be full against. These buildings 0:36:10.719 --> 0:36:13.319 are gonna be full against, These buildings are gonna be 0:36:13.360 --> 0:36:16.720 full again. These buildings are gonna be full again. These 0:36:16.719 --> 0:36:20.200 buildings are gonna be full again. These seats are gonna 0:36:20.239 --> 0:36:23.759 be full again. That orange seat, that gray seat, It's 0:36:23.800 --> 0:36:26.560 gonna be full again. Shout is gonna be full again. 0:36:27.520 --> 0:36:29.719 It's gonna be Don't get used to having all that 0:36:29.800 --> 0:36:33.280 elbow room, baby, because I promise it's gonna be packed 0:36:33.280 --> 0:36:38.439 out again real soon soon, and very soon, somebody's coming 0:36:38.560 --> 0:36:41.640 to take your seat. We're not doing empty rows for 0:36:41.680 --> 0:36:44.759 the next three years. No, We're about to build this 0:36:44.880 --> 0:36:48.680 thing up for the glory of God. How prophesie of you, 0:36:49.160 --> 0:36:53.640 empty row, Here comes a sinner, Here comes a sinner. 0:36:54.480 --> 0:36:59.200 Here comes a sinner. Here comes a sinner, Here comes 0:36:59.239 --> 0:37:04.919 a sinner. Somebody shout here they come here, they come, here, 0:37:04.960 --> 0:37:10.000 they come, here, they come the line, the lane, here 0:37:10.080 --> 0:37:14.080 they come to hurry the broken. Here they come here, 0:37:14.160 --> 0:37:18.200 they come. Here they come, and the glory on the 0:37:18.320 --> 0:37:26.359 lower house shouting greater. Whoa, I'm feeling annointing on this 0:37:26.520 --> 0:37:33.920 empty row that represents everything that is exceedingly abundantly My Papa, 0:37:34.200 --> 0:37:37.759 that you ask for a matt, He's able to do it. 0:37:38.120 --> 0:37:49.600 Here they come boot, Oh God, then they gather. God said, 0:37:49.640 --> 0:38:02.000 I had to make some space for they space for 0:38:02.080 --> 0:38:07.600 the Huh. Make room, you remember, make room, make room. 0:38:07.960 --> 0:38:11.719 Stretch your tent curtains wide, Do not hold back, do 0:38:11.880 --> 0:38:14.520 not bear. You will not be ashamed. You will not 0:38:14.640 --> 0:38:18.600 be disgrace. That's the prophet I say. I'm preaching to us. 0:38:20.440 --> 0:38:22.200 I'll pour you out of blessing that you will not 0:38:22.280 --> 0:38:25.480 have room enough to receive it. Question, is that a 0:38:25.520 --> 0:38:37.120 promise or a problem? So I wonder is this what 0:38:37.239 --> 0:38:41.520 God wanted all along? Not the virus or any of that. 0:38:41.640 --> 0:38:43.719 Please don't misinterpret, y'all know me better than that, right, 0:38:44.360 --> 0:38:46.080 Come on, there's no trolls in here today. Are they 0:38:46.160 --> 0:38:56.320 trying to taste? Okay, okay, I'm just saying, then they gathered, 0:38:58.520 --> 0:39:04.319 then it would be one thing to say then they 0:39:04.360 --> 0:39:11.719 gathered after they had received the Holy Spirit. But the 0:39:11.760 --> 0:39:16.160 profundity of it is that they gathered while they were waiting. 0:39:23.239 --> 0:39:29.400 That's why I love y'all, because these are they that 0:39:29.480 --> 0:39:34.480 didn't wait, that didn't wait for restrictions to be lifted, 0:39:36.360 --> 0:39:40.279 that didn't wait to have more answers. You know what, 0:39:40.400 --> 0:39:42.520 the best thing Jesus said in Acts one was for 0:39:42.560 --> 0:39:44.560 those of us who are control freaks and have a 0:39:44.560 --> 0:39:47.439 hard time releasing the way it used to be. It 0:39:47.560 --> 0:39:52.640 is not for you to know. Did y'all skip over 0:39:52.680 --> 0:39:54.920 that part? I know you did. You wanted to get 0:39:54.920 --> 0:40:02.360 to the part you shall receive power but in the unknown, 0:40:02.360 --> 0:40:10.719 that's the space. I don't like not knowing. I don't 0:40:10.840 --> 0:40:15.360 like not knowing. I don't even like not knowing. In 0:40:15.480 --> 0:40:18.320 it funny, God gave me a sermon that he changed 0:40:18.320 --> 0:40:23.080 at the last minute while I was telling you that 0:40:23.160 --> 0:40:31.080 it's okay not to know. The Lord is funny, got 0:40:31.200 --> 0:40:36.719 jokes for it. But I wonder did God put this 0:40:36.840 --> 0:40:40.560 on the calendar because he knew the moment that we 0:40:40.600 --> 0:40:45.400 would be in as a as a global ministry. Then 0:40:47.000 --> 0:40:59.120 they gathered when after they scattered. So this is something 0:40:59.160 --> 0:41:01.839 God gave me too. He said, tell the church, tell 0:41:01.880 --> 0:41:06.279 the ministry across every location. This is not anymore. There's 0:41:06.400 --> 0:41:08.680 the local church and then there's the global church. It's 0:41:08.680 --> 0:41:17.200 one family. Now this is they, this is they, And 0:41:17.360 --> 0:41:19.360 the last year is forced us to be more creative. 0:41:19.400 --> 0:41:22.560 We had to figure out. Thank God for the teams 0:41:22.600 --> 0:41:25.640 that God gave us just to keep the gospel going 0:41:25.680 --> 0:41:28.600 out no matter what. That's amazing. And I'm talking about you. 0:41:33.920 --> 0:41:39.760 But the Lord said you were scathered to gather together. 0:41:40.640 --> 0:41:42.719 Let me say it again without messing up the point 0:41:42.840 --> 0:41:54.480 by mispronouncing the word. You were scattered to gather. What 0:41:54.600 --> 0:42:02.080 else is scattered together? Let's think about it. Someone twenty six, 0:42:03.239 --> 0:42:04.719 sit down. I have a little more teaching to do. 0:42:08.440 --> 0:42:11.360 This is a psalm of a scent, so means they 0:42:11.400 --> 0:42:14.960 would sing this song going up to church, going up 0:42:15.000 --> 0:42:17.400 to the House of the Lord, they would sing this. 0:42:17.400 --> 0:42:20.280 This one's a little different because it was written after exile, 0:42:22.760 --> 0:42:25.560 so it was a song about what God had done 0:42:25.560 --> 0:42:28.440 for them after they had spent a long time in 0:42:28.520 --> 0:42:32.839 another place. And that's what I thought was significant about this. 0:42:33.760 --> 0:42:36.480 And we have our songs of a scent, right, we 0:42:36.520 --> 0:42:38.560 have our songs that we sing in church as people 0:42:38.600 --> 0:42:42.600 are coming in. And sometimes that's the ones where those 0:42:42.600 --> 0:42:44.719 people who really like don't have a lot of rhythm. 0:42:44.800 --> 0:42:46.480 They just stand there and kind of watch and they 0:42:46.480 --> 0:42:48.920 wait for them. They're just waiting for the worship song. 0:42:49.000 --> 0:42:51.040 I just love the glory in the present. I don't 0:42:51.040 --> 0:42:52.759 want to walk how you walk on weather. I don't 0:42:52.800 --> 0:42:56.359 want to do any of that. It's fine, it's fine, 0:42:56.400 --> 0:43:00.719 it's fine, you don't have to do it. But the 0:43:00.760 --> 0:43:02.560 Lord gave his people a song for when they were 0:43:02.600 --> 0:43:04.239 going to the House of the Lord. And listen what 0:43:04.280 --> 0:43:05.640 he said. I want to read you the whole song. 0:43:07.400 --> 0:43:14.919 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion. We were 0:43:14.960 --> 0:43:18.960 like those who dreamed. We couldn't even believe that it happened. 0:43:20.360 --> 0:43:22.480 We could not even get our mind. We were like 0:43:22.480 --> 0:43:26.319 those who dreamed. It seemed so crazy, it seemed like 0:43:26.760 --> 0:43:30.480 a dream. Our mouths were filled for laughter. Now this 0:43:30.560 --> 0:43:33.120 is five eighty six p. See, they've been in exile. 0:43:33.200 --> 0:43:35.919 The people are coming back. This is the song. God 0:43:35.960 --> 0:43:44.560 gave them. Our tongues with songs of joy. Then everybody shout. 0:43:44.680 --> 0:43:51.120 Then then then it was said among the nations, the 0:43:51.200 --> 0:43:55.719 Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has 0:43:55.760 --> 0:44:02.920 done great things for them. Then it was said among 0:44:02.960 --> 0:44:09.839 the nations. Then verse three, when we came back, when 0:44:09.840 --> 0:44:14.319 we saw what God brought us through, then it was 0:44:14.360 --> 0:44:24.799 said among the nations, this is then this is then 0:44:27.120 --> 0:44:29.920 if you have ears to hear today God is saying 0:44:30.600 --> 0:44:37.280 this is. Then then they gathered. Then the nations will say, 0:44:38.239 --> 0:44:41.160 and it is a trick for you to always think. 0:44:41.520 --> 0:44:47.800 Then is somewhere out there when I get my teams 0:44:47.840 --> 0:44:52.480 back up, they ain't all coming back. Judas is dead. Okay, 0:44:53.120 --> 0:44:56.400 we gotta pick Matthias and build another thing. Right, we 0:44:56.520 --> 0:45:02.200 gotta cast some lots and get another disciple. I'm not 0:45:02.320 --> 0:45:04.440 calling that sweet lady who couldn't come back and be 0:45:04.480 --> 0:45:12.360 a greeter Judas, I'm just using an analogy. Then it 0:45:12.520 --> 0:45:16.640 was said, after we spend a time in a foreign place, 0:45:17.480 --> 0:45:20.200 but trusted in God to get us through it, that's 0:45:20.200 --> 0:45:24.400 what you've done, That's what you've not perfectly. Then it 0:45:24.480 --> 0:45:28.479 will be said. Then they gathered then, and the Lord 0:45:28.560 --> 0:45:33.560 is saying, this is then, this now or never. The 0:45:33.640 --> 0:45:37.120 Church either has a message or we don't have a message. 0:45:37.320 --> 0:45:39.360 We either are the bride of Christ or we're just 0:45:39.400 --> 0:45:45.880 playing around, just dating Jesus, just conveniently hooking up with 0:45:45.920 --> 0:45:50.600 God when we need something. This is then, and this 0:45:50.680 --> 0:45:54.680 is they. He said, when the Lord brought us back, 0:45:54.880 --> 0:45:58.359 we could not believe. When the Lord restored the God, 0:45:58.400 --> 0:46:02.480 would you restore the fortune of Zion? Would you visit 0:46:02.560 --> 0:46:06.279 your people again with an outpouring of wisdom, with a 0:46:06.320 --> 0:46:10.839 message of reconciliation God, with peace flooding our veins, so 0:46:10.880 --> 0:46:14.160 that we walk in the earth as Christ was, so 0:46:14.160 --> 0:46:16.520 that we stand in the stead of the Living God, 0:46:16.920 --> 0:46:20.520 urging men be reconciled to God. Turn the times of 0:46:20.560 --> 0:46:23.919 refreshing may come from the Lord. I declare that these 0:46:23.920 --> 0:46:27.440 are the days of Elijah These are the days of Esekiel, 0:46:27.760 --> 0:46:35.080 the dry bones becoming as flesh. This is then you 0:46:35.160 --> 0:46:39.959 are vain. We have gathered in the name of him 0:46:40.360 --> 0:46:45.040 who became sin, who knew no sin, that we might 0:46:45.160 --> 0:46:50.600 become the righteousness of God. And you are a chosen people, 0:46:50.960 --> 0:47:00.600 a royal priest, a holy nation. The Lord Word has 0:47:00.719 --> 0:47:05.680 done great things for them. The Lord has done verse 0:47:05.719 --> 0:47:15.279 three great things for us. We are filled with joy. 0:47:15.840 --> 0:47:21.960 Restore our fortune flory like streams in the Negath, like 0:47:22.040 --> 0:47:26.600 streams in the Negath. That's a dry place than Agath. 0:47:28.520 --> 0:47:33.000 Oh God, it barely reigns in the Negath. But when 0:47:33.040 --> 0:47:38.319 it does, it rips through so suddenly that if you're 0:47:38.360 --> 0:47:42.279 not ready for it, it'll wash you out. And in in 0:47:42.400 --> 0:47:47.960 a dry place so long. But this is then God, 0:47:48.280 --> 0:47:52.080 When when God releases his spirit, when God floods your heart, 0:47:52.280 --> 0:47:56.200 when God does what he said he would do, you 0:47:56.320 --> 0:47:59.800 have to be prepared beforehand, because it happens so suddenly. 0:48:00.880 --> 0:48:07.480 If you're not ready, you won't have room to receive them. 0:48:07.600 --> 0:48:15.680 Restore our Fortune's Lord, restore Goddess. In a season of 0:48:15.719 --> 0:48:20.000 restoring the years that the canker worm and the palmer 0:48:20.040 --> 0:48:30.000 worm and the coronavirus have eaten. But this is the 0:48:30.080 --> 0:48:34.959 verse that I thought I would leave you with, where 0:48:34.960 --> 0:48:45.680 he said, those who is so with tears, for everybody 0:48:45.760 --> 0:48:55.200 who has been mourning a disappointment in your life, for 0:48:55.880 --> 0:49:02.160 everyone who has been crying like the disciples cried at 0:49:02.160 --> 0:49:11.000 the cross, and your life has been scattered. The promise 0:49:11.160 --> 0:49:17.200 is that those who sow with tears will reap with 0:49:17.360 --> 0:49:23.920 songs of joy. And those wait, let me ask a question. 0:49:24.280 --> 0:49:29.080 Who are those that God is speaking to today? If this, 0:49:29.280 --> 0:49:33.359 you lift your hands to heaven. If this you lift 0:49:33.400 --> 0:49:34.840 your hands to heaven, you don't have to be in 0:49:34.880 --> 0:49:40.000 this room. You know that by now those who go 0:49:40.120 --> 0:49:47.560 out weeping carrying seed to sew, Because even though you've 0:49:47.560 --> 0:49:54.439 been weeping, you never stop sewing. That's the thing about it. 0:49:54.640 --> 0:49:57.480 Even though you've had you've had depression that's been in 0:49:57.520 --> 0:50:00.560 your own life, but you kept, you kept doing what 0:50:00.600 --> 0:50:02.759 God called you to do. You kept your eyes on 0:50:02.800 --> 0:50:08.000 the joy set before you. You kept sewing. So the 0:50:08.080 --> 0:50:13.520 promises that those who go out weeping carrying seed to sow, 0:50:13.920 --> 0:50:18.160 these are they that sowed anyway. These are those that 0:50:18.280 --> 0:50:24.040 gave anyway, These are those that prayed anyway. These are 0:50:23.560 --> 0:50:27.440 those that quoted Matthew eighteen over your two person e 0:50:27.520 --> 0:50:30.840 group on a zoom call in April. These are they 0:50:31.120 --> 0:50:36.480 that sewed anyway. So you're ready for this, Here comes 0:50:36.480 --> 0:50:39.520 the promise. Get ready. It's a gully washing promise, like 0:50:39.600 --> 0:50:43.920 a stream in a dry place, will return with songs 0:50:44.080 --> 0:50:52.680 of joy, carrying sheets with them. So for a season 0:50:54.080 --> 0:51:03.920 they weeked, but then they gathered. For a season they 0:51:04.000 --> 0:51:11.520 had to weep. But God said, it's reebig time for 0:51:11.760 --> 0:51:19.680 indue season. You're sorry if you faith not. If you 0:51:19.760 --> 0:51:25.040 faith not, these are they that did not faith. These 0:51:25.080 --> 0:51:28.959 are they that waited. Lift your hands up, stay that way, 0:51:29.680 --> 0:51:34.200 abo the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount 0:51:34.320 --> 0:51:41.200 up on wings like eagles, so running acrow wary they 0:51:41.200 --> 0:51:49.760 shall walk, eh not faith, These are they that waited. 0:51:52.960 --> 0:51:58.880 And now God, now that we have made room, not 0:51:59.000 --> 0:52:03.120 for our old period of church, now for our limited 0:52:03.120 --> 0:52:04.960 confides of what ministry looks like that was limited to 0:52:04.960 --> 0:52:09.080 physical buildings. But I believe that you scattered us for 0:52:09.120 --> 0:52:15.920 a season to gather a harvest for an eternal purpose. 0:52:24.360 --> 0:52:28.000 I can't say that again. He scattered you for a 0:52:28.120 --> 0:52:35.160 season to gather for an eternal purpose harvest unto himself. 0:52:38.480 --> 0:52:45.440 These are the days of the greatest ministry that we 0:52:45.480 --> 0:52:50.919 have ever seen. But it's been scattered, it's been all 0:52:50.920 --> 0:52:56.360 over the place God knows it has. Does that feel 0:52:56.360 --> 0:53:04.440 like your life, your mind, even your priorities? I felt scattered, 0:53:05.680 --> 0:53:10.319 really disoriented at times. Who cannot trust who's with me? 0:53:10.440 --> 0:53:13.000 What's going on? What will it be like on the 0:53:13.040 --> 0:53:26.000 other side. Then they gather from my heart. Thank you 0:53:26.080 --> 0:53:30.160 for sowing in the season when you were personally struggling, 0:53:32.760 --> 0:53:36.319 even if you scattered for a little while. Welcome back. 0:53:47.520 --> 0:53:50.080 There's room for you in the heart of God. There's 0:53:50.120 --> 0:53:52.200 room for you in the plan of God. There's room 0:53:52.200 --> 0:53:55.960 for you in the story that He's telling. And now 0:53:55.960 --> 0:53:59.440 we have all this room to receive from God whatever 0:53:59.480 --> 0:54:02.479 he wants to do next in our ministry. I thought 0:54:02.480 --> 0:54:06.240 I would end my portion of this time by turning 0:54:06.280 --> 0:54:11.640 our our auditoriums and living rooms and cafes where people 0:54:11.640 --> 0:54:16.080 are meeting. They got through that in cafes. I just 0:54:16.120 --> 0:54:21.160 imagine someone's in a cafe somewhere. But maybe we can 0:54:21.200 --> 0:54:25.880 make it in upper room for a moment. Maybe we 0:54:25.960 --> 0:54:32.480 can be one twenty. Maybe we can offer God our 0:54:32.480 --> 0:54:35.680 lives as a foundation on which to build whatever he 0:54:35.719 --> 0:54:39.279 wants to build next. But I don't want you to 0:54:39.320 --> 0:54:42.799 miss it, because I slipped this end. At the very end. 0:54:46.200 --> 0:54:52.120 They scattered seed in the dry season. Gather the harvest. 0:54:55.400 --> 0:54:59.480 You've got so much to look forward to. Please don't 0:54:59.480 --> 0:55:01.520 give up on God. Please don't give up on yourself. 0:55:01.560 --> 0:55:04.319 Please don't diminish your gifts. We've got so much to 0:55:04.400 --> 0:55:08.920 look for with you. And there's grace. There's grace for adaptation, 0:55:09.320 --> 0:55:15.680 there's grace for mistakes. But we've got to gather. We've 0:55:15.680 --> 0:55:23.760 got to gather. Then they gathered, They sowed in tears. 0:55:25.200 --> 0:55:33.359 They brought home a harvest. They sowed in tears, and 0:55:33.400 --> 0:55:39.480 they reaped enjoy. So Lord, we're going up there with 0:55:40.120 --> 0:55:46.440 Bartholomew and Philip and Peter, James and John, the sons 0:55:46.480 --> 0:55:50.120 of Thunder. They were so messed up they asked which 0:55:50.160 --> 0:55:51.560 one of them could sid at their right hand, your 0:55:51.640 --> 0:55:53.480 right hand and left hand, and you still let them come. 0:55:53.520 --> 0:55:57.000 So we're good coming up here with the women Mary 0:55:57.040 --> 0:56:02.239 Magdalen married, the mother of Jesus, and the brother. We're 0:56:02.280 --> 0:56:07.279 coming up like the one twenty, and we realize that 0:56:07.280 --> 0:56:10.960 you're reinventing us even in this moment, because we'll look 0:56:11.000 --> 0:56:16.640 back on this day where we gathered and felt so good, 0:56:18.520 --> 0:56:20.520 and then you send us out, and you scatter us 0:56:21.880 --> 0:56:26.480 that you might gather us again. Lord, I thank you 0:56:26.520 --> 0:56:28.560 for everybody in this room, beyond what they do in 0:56:28.600 --> 0:56:32.839 our church. God knows they're more than an usher. God 0:56:32.880 --> 0:56:35.440 knows they're more than not that these things are little, 0:56:35.480 --> 0:56:41.399 But God, they're walking in multiple roles. And I thank 0:56:41.440 --> 0:56:44.640 you that you scatter your people everywhere in the world. 0:56:44.680 --> 0:56:46.920 You put some to be dentists, and some to be doctors, 0:56:46.920 --> 0:56:48.960 and some to be lawyers, and some to be teachers. 0:56:49.920 --> 0:56:52.839 You've got your people everywhere. That's how your kingdom advances. 0:56:53.920 --> 0:56:58.640 As you scatter us so that you might gather unto yourself, 0:56:59.480 --> 0:57:07.200 a renewed people. Then they gathered whatever happens next Lord, 0:57:07.239 --> 0:57:11.640 in our local communities, whatever limitations are, unforeseen, turns or 0:57:11.640 --> 0:57:19.080 twists it takes. We're not leaving Jerusalem. We're waiting for 0:57:19.120 --> 0:57:26.960 the gift. So in this upper room right now, come 0:57:26.960 --> 0:57:37.959 Holy Spirit, Come breathe into these slang that they may live. 0:57:40.120 --> 0:57:41.880 I want to pray for somebody who's been out of 0:57:42.000 --> 0:57:49.439 church and they miss you and you miss them. Bring 0:57:49.480 --> 0:57:57.040 them back. Rejoice Signore we've got room for them. I 0:57:57.080 --> 0:57:59.000 want to pray for those who kept coming to church. 0:58:01.160 --> 0:58:03.800 But because we didn't really know, we just got so 0:58:03.960 --> 0:58:11.920 turned around and confused. But then they gathered without knowing 0:58:11.960 --> 0:58:18.040 the answers, they gathered in faith, and you moved. And 0:58:18.120 --> 0:58:23.880 now this same Jesus who was taken up, this this 0:58:24.040 --> 0:58:26.160 same power that raised him from the dead, it lives 0:58:26.160 --> 0:58:31.120 in us. Your church. Restore the fortunes of Zion. Lord, 0:58:32.800 --> 0:58:38.240 and the glory of the latter house will be greater 0:58:39.320 --> 0:58:42.280 than the glory of the former house. This is then, 0:58:43.560 --> 0:58:48.320 This is then, not when we were back in quadruple 0:58:48.360 --> 0:58:54.040 overflow at Valentine. No, no, no, this is then. Then 0:58:54.080 --> 0:58:59.120 they gathered. Then they gathered, Then they gathered. I thank 0:58:59.160 --> 0:59:03.000 you Lord for our gatherings. Tomorrow they'll be like some 0:59:03.080 --> 0:59:08.760 of them will be one ninth full. Then they gathered. Yeah. God, Yeah, God, Yeah, 0:59:08.800 --> 0:59:12.880 God redeemed the empty space, give us a new norm. 0:59:12.880 --> 0:59:16.160 We thank you that this ministry never stopped reaching. We 0:59:16.240 --> 0:59:19.160 reached more people in this last season than we ever reached. 0:59:19.440 --> 0:59:23.240 You did a greater work than our linds could company. 0:59:25.920 --> 0:59:29.400 So I release your people in the power of your spirit. Now, God, 0:59:30.080 --> 0:59:35.040 these ministry gifts that you've placed, their intelligence, their brilliance, 0:59:35.280 --> 0:59:40.880 their love, their compassion, their consistency, Be multiplied into the earth, 0:59:41.120 --> 0:59:47.800 Be multiplied into our cities, Be multiplied into your kingdom, 0:59:47.840 --> 0:59:54.360 Your kingdom. Come. You will be done on earth as 0:59:54.400 --> 1:00:05.520 it is in heaven. Then they gathered in Jesus' name. Amen, 1:00:07.480 --> 1:00:14.880 we love you, Thank you, scattered together. I hope you 1:00:14.920 --> 1:00:17.720 receive that word today. I hope it was just what 1:00:17.800 --> 1:00:20.720 you needed. I'm telling you, I felt like our whole 1:00:20.760 --> 1:00:23.760 church was supposed to experience it. I don't know if 1:00:23.800 --> 1:00:25.440 you heard what I said at the beginning, but I 1:00:25.480 --> 1:00:27.760 wasn't planning on showing that message to our whole church. 1:00:28.320 --> 1:00:30.000 But God gave me something and said, I want you 1:00:30.080 --> 1:00:32.520 to release it to everybody. And I believe it's what 1:00:32.560 --> 1:00:34.320 he's saying to us right now. It's what he's saying 1:00:34.360 --> 1:00:36.800 to me right now. And I prayed that this week 1:00:36.840 --> 1:00:39.520 God would just surround you with his favor. I know 1:00:39.560 --> 1:00:43.280 I've already prayed. I know I've already declared this over 1:00:43.320 --> 1:00:45.880 your life. But I pray that God would restore the 1:00:45.960 --> 1:00:50.320 fortunes of Zion, restore your joy, your peace. I prayed 1:00:50.320 --> 1:00:53.200 that he would restore your health, anything that you've been lacking. 1:00:53.280 --> 1:00:55.480 We agree with you in prayer that God is a 1:00:55.520 --> 1:00:58.200 restoer and a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. 1:00:58.680 --> 1:01:01.560 Thank you. Thank you to the thousands of you, tens 1:01:01.560 --> 1:01:04.200 of thousands of you who are a part of this ministry. 1:01:04.640 --> 1:01:07.960 Thank you forgiving financially. Maybe God would lead you to 1:01:08.000 --> 1:01:11.640 begin doing that right now. You know you're they right. 1:01:12.520 --> 1:01:14.880 You're the one that God is going to use. And 1:01:15.280 --> 1:01:17.800 I thank you so much for sharing these messages with others. 1:01:17.840 --> 1:01:20.240 That's how we spread the gospel. You'll always pick on 1:01:20.280 --> 1:01:23.400 me because it comes so close on these videos. Just 1:01:23.480 --> 1:01:25.480 like to get right up in your face, invade your 1:01:25.480 --> 1:01:28.160 personal space and let you know that it is an 1:01:28.160 --> 1:01:30.640 absolute privilege to minister the word of God to you. 1:01:31.080 --> 1:01:31.760 Bless you.