There's Another Door

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.560 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:14.760 Enjoy the message. 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:17.920 We have a little fun today. 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.799 I'm gonna take you to a Bible passage that. 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:23.119 We can all relate to. 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:30.240 Turn in your Bible or just watch the screen, whatever 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:32.640 you need to do. Let's go together to Mark chapter two, 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:40.440 verses one through twelve. And this passage practically preaches itself. 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:43.400 So God, get me out of the way. Say what 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:45.159 you need to say to your people. Help them hear it, 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:47.959 even if they're hard headed in Jesus name. Amen, that's 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:51.160 an honest preacher's a Two days later, when Jesus again 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:53.920 entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:57.240 So many gathered that there was no room left, not 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:01.800 even outside the door. And the word to them. Some 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:06.880 men came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.399 of them. All right, and since they could not get 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:13.160 him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.959 opening in the roof above Jesus, and after digging through 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:20.920 it lowered the mat. So we've got four men and 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:25.000 we've got a matt. This is March madness. It's the 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:29.960 final four. Whoa, you're so hateful, You are so hateful. 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.360 I worked on that joke for about three hours this week, 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:33.360 and look how you treated me. 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.160 I'll find me another church where they appreciate advanced humor. 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:38.800 I am one of these days, you're gonna look up here. 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.360 It's gonna be somebody not as funny as me, taking 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:45.399 my wit for granted. Kidding, I'm kidding. I see some 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:49.720 of the guests look at me. Now, let's get back 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:54.000 to the text. When Jesus saw their faith, he said 0:01:54.800 --> 0:02:01.440 to the paralytic son, your sins are forgiven. 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:04.560 What did their faith have to do with his sins? 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:13.240 Is it possible that your life affects more than your life? 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:18.000 Is it possible that your example affects more than your existence? 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:24.000 When he saw their faith, he said, your sins are forgiven. Now, 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:27.359 some teachers of the law were sitting there thinking to themselves, 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:31.959 why does this fellow talk like that. He's blaspheming who 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:38.480 can forgive sins? But God alone? Immediately, Jesus knew in 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:42.600 his spirit that this is what they were thinking in 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:46.040 their hearts. And he said to them, because he is 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:49.560 such a savage that he wins an imaginary argument. 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:51.320 He responds not to what. 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:53.560 They said, but to what they thought that they didn't 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:55.280 get the chance to say. 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:57.640 So, he knows your intentions. 0:02:57.680 --> 0:03:01.840 Touch somebody say, you can't fool You might be able 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:03.839 to fool me, but you can't fool God. He knows 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:08.400 your motivations, and he knows your thoughts too, So he 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:12.839 said to them. He responded to their thoughts, why are 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:16.400 you thinking these things? Which is easier to say to 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:21.520 the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up, 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:25.400 take your mat, and walk, but that you may know 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:27.920 that the son of Man has authority on earth to 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:28.840 forgive sins. 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:30.560 Dot dot dot. 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:34.720 He said to the paralytic, I tell you, get up, 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:38.400 take your mat, go home. And he got up, took 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:42.000 his mat, and walked out in full view of them. All. 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:46.520 This amazed everyone, and they praised God, saying, we've never 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:51.960 seen anything like this. This is remarkable, this is miraculous. 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:56.800 But verse two is really where my sermon hinges. So 0:03:57.000 --> 0:04:02.280 many gathered that there was no room left, not even 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:06.040 outside the door. Touch your neighbor, give them my title. 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:10.280 Say I got good news. I know your heart was broken, 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:16.280 I know you lost some things, but I got good news. 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:20.640 There's another door. Turn to your next neighbor, the one 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:22.360 you really wanted to talk to, and tell them there's 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:33.720 another door. So let's lay a principle here, overlay it 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:39.200 on this narrative from Mark chapter four. Here's the principle. 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:47.040 Life's biggest opportunities aren't always obvious. Life's biggest opportunities aren't 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:53.120 always obvious. After the fact, they seem obvious. You know 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:56.640 that it was an idiot that cut Michael Jordan from 0:04:56.680 --> 0:05:01.800 the team, But life's greatest opportunities are and always obvious. 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:05.640 Holly paid me a compliment Friday. I think it was 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:09.159 a compliment. She said, I didn't know what I was 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:13.200 getting when I married you. What I took that to 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:16.240 mean is is so much better. What I took that 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:19.280 to mean is it's an Ephesians three twenty kind of thing, 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:24.920 exceeding abundantly above all that she asked or imagined. I 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.719 think that's what she meant. I did not clarify. Sometimes 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:32.400 assumption is a beautiful marriage tool. But I just took 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.080 it like that anyway. She said, I didn't know what 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:38.200 I was getting when I looked across the North Greenville 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:42.880 University cafeteria and saw that silly boy with a buzz 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:47.240 cut and an extra large Superman T shirt that I 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:50.200 bought for a dollar twenty five at Goodwill. She didn't 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.800 know that there was a Superman inside that silly shirt. 0:05:54.720 --> 0:05:55.960 I'm just talking a little bit. 0:05:58.560 --> 0:05:59.520 This is what she said. 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:03.440 She said, I didn't know what I was getting when 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:09.480 I married you. Because life's greatest opportunities. I'm having fun 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:16.680 to enjoy my life. This is scriptural. This is scriptural. 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:24.000 This is thoroughly scriptural. Life's greatest opportunity. Moses deliver a nation. 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:31.880 I am calling you to deliver an entire people group. 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.880 So what will you give me as a sign? Your stick, 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:40.400 the stick in your hand that you are using to 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:43.880 shepherd sheep is the sign that I'm going to give you. 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:47.640 But I am going to point to your calling through 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:52.919 something that to you seems common. So God disguises calling 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:59.560 as common. God wraps calling in diapers and allows the 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:02.359 Savior of the world to be born in a barn. 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.920 So much so that the people he came for missed him. 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:12.240 Because life's greatest opportunities aren't always obvious. It was interesting 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.960 to me that callings can appear common on the surface, 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:19.640 to the point that Gideon was called a mighty warrior 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.200 while he was hiding in a wine press. Why would 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.920 God hide such a mighty calling in such a wimpy man. 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:30.720 Because sometimes Superman wears a baggy shirt. Sometimes God uses 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:34.720 earthen vessels to release something that has precious value. I 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:38.960 preaching to somebody today who has been deceived about your destiny. 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:41.080 You thought God was going to show up in your 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:44.600 situation looking like Superman. Instead, God shows up in your 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:48.120 situation looking like a mustard seed. The seed doesn't look 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.080 like the tree. It shares the genetic code of the tree, 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:54.280 but according to the exterior, there is nothing to associate 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:56.640 the seed with the tree. And might it be that 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:58.880 what God is doing in your life right now is 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:01.640 not obvious. But that does not mean that there is 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:05.160 no opportunity for He says, when I open a door. 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:06.400 No man can shut it. 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:09.240 And when I decide to do something through your life, 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:16.120 no season, no person, and no human limitation can stop me. 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:23.360 I was always interested to learn that. After David made 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:26.680 his biggest mistake by sleeping with Bethsheba and having her 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.400 husband Uriah killed on the front lines of battles, he 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:31.560 went in and had another baby because the one that 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.000 was born from his mistake died. But the next one 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.600 he had was named Solomon, who was the wisest man 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.360 who ever lived at that point in time. And David's 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:46.320 greatest wisdom was born after his biggest mistake. Now, it's 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:50.679 not always obvious. It's not always obvious that you are 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:56.960 becoming wiser. Usually wisdom feels like dumb decisions. While you 0:08:57.000 --> 0:09:00.720 are gaining wisdom, often you have to gain will at 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:05.000 the expense of today for tomorrow. It's very powerful. It's 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:07.800 the principle I preach a lot, and I forgive you 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:09.760 if you're a little bored right now, because this is 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:12.319 pretty much what I try to say every single week. 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:16.720 I try to show you how reward dresses as responsibility. 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.280 God is not going to put the reward right in 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:23.440 front of you. He is going to wrap it in responsibility. 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:26.200 David had no clue that Goliath was waiting for him. 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:28.360 He just knew he had bread to take to his brothers. 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:32.720 It was his responsibility that unlocked his reward. If he 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:36.080 had waited for the possibility of an opportunity to demonstrate 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:42.000 his warriorness, if he had waited for Goliath to show up, 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.920 he never would have had the opportunity to see what 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.200 God could do through him. But it was in his 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:57.800 assignment that his giant was waiting. Now, if this is true, 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:02.199 it gives a whole new meaning to what John chapter 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:06.400 eleven says that when Jesus heard Lazarus was sick, he 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:11.520 stayed where he was a little while longer, because Jesus 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:16.560 is about to show all of those in Bethany that 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:20.920 resurrection is not an event but a person. I am 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:25.720 the resurrection. But if Jesus shows up and heals Lazarus 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.120 when they want him to, he will not have the 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:31.840 opportunity to reveal who he is that they don't yet 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.560 perceive him to be. And so, in his waiting, which 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:39.120 seems cruel to Mary and Martha, he is actually staging 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.319 a miracle so that when he gets there and Lazarus 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:46.480 has been dead, it's a good thing, because resurrection dresses 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:50.800 like death. Sometimes God lets something in your life die, 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:52.520 but don't worry when it dies. 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:54.280 Resurrection is who. 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:57.000 He is and what he does. And if you can 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.320 get the stone rolled away long enough to believe for 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:02.480 a little while, I hear a voice calling Lazarus out 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.080 of the grave. See the grave clothes wrapped up the 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:07.800 revelation of who Jesus was. When he got on the 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:11.280 scene and said, Lazarus, come forth, the grave clothes had 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:14.000 no choice but to fall off, because the voice of 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:18.040 the Lord unwraps death to present resurrection. Who he's a 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:29.920 miracle today. I came to priest to you. And the 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:37.160 greatest opportunities are not always obvious. The greatest opportunities are 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:41.800 often hidden. Jesus even taught in parables to hide the 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:44.280 wisdom of God from the people who wanted to understand 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:48.520 it with their human minds. He didn't want the elite 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:50.800 to get it, and so he put. 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:51.560 It in parables. 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:58.240 He hid it hid, He hid the kingdom. The kingdom 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:05.200 didn't come announcing itself with trumpets and red carpet. It 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:08.760 wasn't obvious. It came looking like conflict now. Mark Chapter 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:15.520 two is the first of five conflict dialogues where we 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:23.480 see this carpenter from Nazareth doing ministry in Galilee. Having 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:27.320 to confront the wisdom of this world to reveal the 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:32.080 wisdom of God. He's teaching one day, and so many 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:33.560 people have come to see him. 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:35.120 The crowd has gathered. 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:39.480 In Mark's gospel, the crowd is not necessarily a positive thing. 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:42.680 We would think that if Jesus was trying to build 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:46.560 a ministry, he would need a crowd. Jesus is so 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:48.920 savage sometimes if the crowd got too big, he would 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:51.120 start running people off by saying stuff they didn't want 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:53.920 to hear. He really would, and you'll have to read 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:57.320 how he fed people and they were happy. But after 0:12:57.320 --> 0:12:59.720 they ate their happy meal, he turned around and said, 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:01.920 I'm not burger king. I know I'm mixing restaurants, but 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:02.880 go with the illustration. 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:04.040 He said, if you. 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:05.760 Eat my flesh and drink my blood, then you can 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:10.000 have this kingdom. And they say, WHOA. I was into 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:13.400 the miracles, but this, uh, this took a dark turn, 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:18.040 this cannibalism thing, and even the disciples couldn't understand that. 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:20.959 But Peter did. After and when he was recounting to. 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:24.480 Mark so Mark could write this gospel account, he talked 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.880 about the crowd. The crowd had gathered and they were 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:31.920 listening to Jesus preaching, and the Bible tells us about 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:37.080 four men who brought their friend and they could not 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:41.880 get in because of the crowd. They had high hopes, 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:44.559 you could say that their hopes were through the roof 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:52.760 ah great expectations. But then they were met at the door. 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:54.520 There are, by the way, there are four. 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:58.400 Doors in this passage that are not obvious, four doors 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.880 in this passage, this passage, and in our lives that 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:06.600 are not obvious, because life's greatest opportunities are not always obvious. 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.160 So they come to the front door and they can't 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:09.520 get in. 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:12.400 This represents the door of disappointment. 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:15.960 How disappointing it must have been that after you have 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:18.679 carried your friend all this way only to find out 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:21.760 at church that not only is there no room in 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:25.560 the main auditorium, but they're not even seating in overflow. 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:29.880 Thank you very much, you can watch live stream. 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:35.880 These men were met at the door with disappointment. And 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:41.440 so if they had subscribed to the theology that many 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.640 of us live our lives according to, they would have 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:49.720 turned around and gone home because obviously everybody say, obviously 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:55.720 it's not God's will for our friend to get healed today. 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:59.720 If it were God's will for our friend to be 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:04.360 healed today, we would have gotten in the door. But 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:08.680 these boys, these boys, I wonder, do I have four 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:14.120 crazy ones? Just four? These boys said, we did not 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:19.040 carry you all this way with your heavy self to 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:23.120 turn around and go home. Now, now I think these 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:26.720 boys had a little bit of a well maybe this 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:29.760 is the Monk's corner in me. But I picture their conversation. 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:33.120 I picture these boys. These boys didn't drive a priest. 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:38.400 That's what I'm trying to say. These boys, they're mad 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:42.359 at the door with disappointment. Not to mention the man's disappointment. 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.840 He's learned to deal with disappointment. His entire life is 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:49.360 a disappointment. He can't walk, he can't dance, he can't 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.120 do what other people do. But they've come this far. 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:57.200 I said, they've come this far, and they didn't come 0:15:57.240 --> 0:16:02.320 this far to go home. So Bubba says the Tommy, Hey. 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:11.360 Man, I was uh, I was looking around. I didn't 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:14.480 see no security cameras right back right around the south entrance. 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:15.880 Man, I reckon, wonder if you could. 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:28.360 Uh Bubba and Tommy and who else? Uh ah rufus. 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:34.880 Ruf rufous, that's the last one, I promise. 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:41.480 He said, what what do you reckon? If we uh? 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:45.920 If we get around there and they they're they're whispering 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:49.000 because they don't They don't want the man on the 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:54.680 mat to know what they're about to do. 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:56.440 Don't tell everybody all your plans. 0:16:56.480 --> 0:17:04.800 Just sometimes sometimes you just got to do stuff. You 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:08.080 don't always ask permission. Sometimes it's better to ask forgiveness. 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:14.679 What if we what if we went up? I know 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:17.800 we can't get in, so what if we went up? 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:23.800 Sometimes you gotta change levels. You let me get behind 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:29.360 my pulpit. Sometimes the reason you can't get in that 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:33.480 door is because it wasn't your door. God is calling 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:34.119 you higher. 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:35.520 Who am I preaching to? 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:40.560 Sometimes the reason you got rejected is because it was 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:44.680 the wrong level of relationship. And if those people would 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:49.880 have liked you, it would have actually limited. I'm caffeinated today. 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:54.520 High five. Somebody say go higher. Come on, when they 0:17:54.600 --> 0:18:06.720 go low, we go high. He's calling me higher. So 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:11.919 they go up and they do not find a door. 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:15.280 They make a door. Have you ever had to make 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:19.200 your own door? Nobody gave me money to start this church. 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:24.399 Nobody sponsored me officially, I wish they would have, but 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:26.280 you know, I'm kind of glad they didn't because I 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.480 had to learn how to dig. And sometimes one of 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:31.719 the greatest things that can happen to you in your 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:34.680 life is to be turned away at the front door 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:39.359 because you discover another door. Somebody shot there's another door. 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:42.720 This is not the normal door. This is not for 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:45.480 normal people. This is not for people who want to 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:48.280 quit because the Wi fi was a little slow, or 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:51.960 skip church because it was forty three degrees. No, this 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:59.960 is for the people who have determined. Somebody shot up determined. 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:06.840 Now we have a fruit through view of faith. We 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:09.160 think of faith as being something to fall back on. 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:09.800 Not Mark. 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.560 Mark mentions faith four times in his Gospel, and none 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:18.320 of them represent an attitude. 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:19.920 They always represent actions. 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:28.840 Faith to Mark is something you can see. Actually, it's 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:33.040 something that you can see in response to something that 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:39.840 you cannot see. Faith is the substance of things hoped 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:45.600 for and the evidence of things not seen. So it 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:49.119 is something that you can see in response to a 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:53.159 hope that you can't see. That's a series right there, 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:55.040 there's another door. 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:57.080 There's another door. 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:04.280 And when Jesus verse five saw saw their faith not 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:08.280 heard their faith. It wasn't that they talked about how 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:12.679 much they trusted God, it's that they refuse to go 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:18.960 home that easy. Yeah, I'll tell you this real quick, 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:20.160 just a little side thing. 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:21.359 Me and Chris were turning to write a song. 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:24.199 The other day, and I said, I know this is 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:26.800 the fifty first revision on this song, but I want 0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:29.159 the devil to know I'm gonna keep coming because I 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.240 feel like we're supposed to finish this song. Chris Brown 0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:34.680 looked back at me and said, if that joker doesn't 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:37.880 know that by now about us, he hadn't been paying attention. 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:42.640 Because I'm gonna tell you something. I'm not always the smartest, 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:45.680 but I don't turn around the first time somebody tells 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:48.280 me you can't come in this story. That's just not 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:49.160 how I'm wired. 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:49.800 Now. 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:53.040 It's fine, it's fine. If you don't like me, you 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:57.159 don't have to, but I'll find somebody who does. It's fine. 0:20:57.359 --> 0:20:59.800 Some people when I started Elevation didn't want to come 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:02.119 because they said it was a cult. And that's fine, 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:05.720 but I'll find another way. See if you just got 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:11.680 four good friends, just four good friends, and sometimes if 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:15.720 you don't have four, father son Holy Spirit and me. 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:30.080 That's four. We're gonna do this. Those boys, those boys 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:34.920 were like, we ain't going home. He's heavy. No, no, 0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:36.720 no sermon. We will put him up on that roof 0:21:37.040 --> 0:21:39.600 and we're gonna dig through that mud and we're gonna 0:21:39.600 --> 0:21:40.120 make a door. 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:42.119 We're gonna make a door. 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:44.840 I'm gonna get through to my kid, one way or another. 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:48.080 I'm not just gonna give up on him. Not that easy. 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:50.840 I'm gonna find a way to get through. I might 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:52.359 have to shut up. I might have to speak up. 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:54.360 If that doesn't work, I'll do the other. I might 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:56.000 have to hug him. I might have to hit I 0:21:56.080 --> 0:22:02.639 might have to try some different ways. But now we 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:06.240 come to the to the door on the ceiling. There's 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:07.560 another door. If you can't get in the front door, 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:09.439 go up, it says another door. You gotta make it. 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:10.840 It's to look like a door. You got to dig 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:13.320 through it. There's a door, but you can't see it. 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:15.760 It's not visible, it's not something you can see. It 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:18.520 takes faith. If faith is something you can see in 0:22:18.560 --> 0:22:20.920 response to something that you can't see. So make a door, 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:22.159 make a door, Make a door. Tet so much, say, 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:23.520 make a door and make a door, make a door, 0:22:23.560 --> 0:22:28.080 and make a door, and Jesus respected their carpentry. Jesus 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:34.640 liked their work. He actually in verse five, he's preaching 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:41.520 and there's a distraction overhead. Now he's not even healing 0:22:41.880 --> 0:22:46.520 this day. It's not even on his agenda to see 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:53.719 sick people. Some of life's greatest opportunities are not always obvious, 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:56.919 and some of God's greatest invitations will. 0:22:56.760 --> 0:22:58.320 Show up in the form of interruptions. 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:03.920 And he's preaching, and he's probably doing a really good job, 0:23:05.359 --> 0:23:08.919 just going off context cluse. He is the word, so 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:11.400 if he preaches what he is, it's probably pretty good. 0:23:12.400 --> 0:23:13.040 Got a big. 0:23:12.880 --> 0:23:18.959 Crowd, and all of a sudden, Peter says something Matthew 0:23:18.960 --> 0:23:19.440 doesn't say. 0:23:19.480 --> 0:23:21.200 Matthew describes the incident. 0:23:22.600 --> 0:23:27.800 Heh he simplifies in Matthew nine, verse two, Matthew says, 0:23:27.840 --> 0:23:29.960 some men brought to him a paralytic lying on the mat. 0:23:30.320 --> 0:23:32.400 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 0:23:32.480 --> 0:23:36.280 what did Matthew leave out the fact that they ripped 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:40.359 off this dude's roof. It sounds so nice when Matthew 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:42.560 says it, It just looks so easy. And they brought 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:44.240 their friend, and Jesus healed them. 0:23:44.240 --> 0:23:48.440 Now something, did you hear that. 0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:52.280 Jesus is preaching? You know? 0:23:52.400 --> 0:23:54.120 Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts 0:23:54.119 --> 0:23:55.399 them in PHPs like a wise man to builds house 0:23:55.400 --> 0:23:55.600 on the rock. 0:23:55.640 --> 0:23:57.359 Ranking down streams rows when blue begets that house, he 0:23:57.400 --> 0:24:00.639 didn'tvolvek that foundation on the rock. And right about the 0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:04.119 time he's right about the time he's making his point, 0:24:05.119 --> 0:24:08.600 here comes a sound. Remember that Mark is writing what 0:24:08.680 --> 0:24:12.000 Peter told him to write. And consider that most scholars 0:24:12.080 --> 0:24:15.000 believe that it was Peter's house that Jesus was preaching at. 0:24:16.040 --> 0:24:22.600 So Matthew remembered the healing, Peter remembered the roof. It's 0:24:22.640 --> 0:24:29.320 funny to me, it's perspective. Did you hear that? Keep preaching, 0:24:29.359 --> 0:24:31.399 keep preaching, keep preaching. We're gonna check it out. But 0:24:31.520 --> 0:24:35.080 about the time that the dirt starts falling from the 0:24:35.080 --> 0:24:37.679 from the mud on the ceiling, are you willing to 0:24:37.680 --> 0:24:42.159 get your hands dirty, by the way, or are you 0:24:42.320 --> 0:24:45.240 too afraid to mess up your manicure to go after 0:24:45.320 --> 0:24:50.040 your miracle? I could preach manicures or miracles. The choices yours, 0:24:55.520 --> 0:24:57.280 and they had to drop him. You can't get him 0:24:57.280 --> 0:25:02.320 all the way down, and here comes the dirt, and 0:25:02.359 --> 0:25:03.200 here comes the man. 0:25:03.840 --> 0:25:07.520 We'll call him Matt. We don't know his thing. 0:25:11.000 --> 0:25:16.720 Jesus says, I like your style, boys. That's what I 0:25:16.800 --> 0:25:24.080 did when I came down, through your dirt, through your shame, 0:25:24.800 --> 0:25:27.480 through your sin. I like it boys. 0:25:29.320 --> 0:25:29.920 And now. 0:25:34.960 --> 0:25:39.480 Rufus and Bubba, Willie and Jimmy all looking in. Now 0:25:40.080 --> 0:25:45.359 what's going to happen next? And Jesus leans down and 0:25:45.440 --> 0:25:54.719 says to the man, son, your sins are forgiven. And 0:25:54.800 --> 0:26:01.760 Willie says, what did he say? And Jimmy says, sounded 0:26:01.800 --> 0:26:06.960 like he says something about sins. And Willie says, did 0:26:07.000 --> 0:26:13.040 he say anything about healing? And Jimmy says, no, just 0:26:13.080 --> 0:26:18.840 something about sins. And Rufus says, that's good that he 0:26:18.920 --> 0:26:22.640 forgave his sins. But ken he fix his legs too 0:26:22.680 --> 0:26:28.080 while he's at it. Because they did not bring the 0:26:28.119 --> 0:26:33.200 man before Jesus to get him forgiven. They brought him 0:26:33.240 --> 0:26:37.679 before Jesus to get him healed. So the question is 0:26:38.320 --> 0:26:42.760 what do you do when God bypasses what you want 0:26:43.320 --> 0:26:54.680 to give you what you need. The most obvious thing 0:26:54.800 --> 0:26:59.080 to do is to heal the man, But sometimes before 0:26:59.400 --> 0:27:04.120 God can do what is obvious and change your situation, 0:27:05.119 --> 0:27:08.919 he wants to work within you so that when He 0:27:09.160 --> 0:27:13.280 changes your situation, you will be ready. 0:27:15.400 --> 0:27:16.000 To receive that. 0:27:18.000 --> 0:27:22.520 In the Jewish mind, sin and suffering were highly connected, 0:27:23.000 --> 0:27:26.240 so it was often assumed that if you were suffering, 0:27:26.320 --> 0:27:28.920 it was because of sin. Jesus dispels this in John 0:27:28.960 --> 0:27:31.919 chapter nine, when the man born blind was declared to 0:27:31.920 --> 0:27:35.119 be not a sinner, but blind so that the works 0:27:35.119 --> 0:27:37.200 of God and the glory of God might be revealed. 0:27:37.920 --> 0:27:42.879 We can't always connect situations with behavior. Yet it's something 0:27:42.880 --> 0:27:50.240 that he said, before I do anything for you, I 0:27:50.359 --> 0:27:54.960 want to do something in you. And that's where it 0:27:55.000 --> 0:28:00.399 takes faith, because the substance of things hope for and 0:28:00.440 --> 0:28:05.639 the evidence of things not seen to know that God 0:28:05.720 --> 0:28:08.720 is working. And you know, I think God for in 0:28:08.720 --> 0:28:10.760 this passage. I think God that this man had friends 0:28:12.000 --> 0:28:14.159 who believed for him what he might not have been 0:28:14.160 --> 0:28:15.400 able to believe for himself. 0:28:17.480 --> 0:28:19.080 And if I were preaching this at. 0:28:20.440 --> 0:28:24.320 At what's it called now youth X used to be 0:28:24.320 --> 0:28:27.159 called student takeover. I can't keep up with all the names. 0:28:27.320 --> 0:28:29.320 I would preach the message around who are your four 0:28:33.440 --> 0:28:36.600 that's really important? Who are your four. You got to 0:28:36.600 --> 0:28:39.760 have the right four because the wrong four would have 0:28:39.840 --> 0:28:40.800 dropped him off at the door. 0:28:40.840 --> 0:28:42.800 But the right for we're willing to put him where 0:28:42.800 --> 0:28:43.640 he belonged. 0:28:43.320 --> 0:28:45.600 At the feet of Jesus. Now are they bringing you 0:28:45.680 --> 0:28:53.840 to Jesus or driving you away? But to me, they're 0:28:53.840 --> 0:28:58.640 not the primary heroes in the passage, because other than Jesus, 0:28:58.680 --> 0:29:01.440 the most important people in the passage are the people 0:29:01.440 --> 0:29:05.560 who doubted him. I want you to notice something, and 0:29:05.600 --> 0:29:08.520 please pay attention to this. It's going to revolutionize the 0:29:08.560 --> 0:29:10.480 way that you see some of your resentments in life. 0:29:12.160 --> 0:29:15.080 When Jesus saw what the friends did for the man, 0:29:15.760 --> 0:29:19.080 he forgave him. But the man was still on the 0:29:19.120 --> 0:29:24.080 mat when he heard the thoughts of the critics, or 0:29:24.120 --> 0:29:29.840 we might say haters. What the haters thought got the 0:29:29.880 --> 0:29:37.080 man healed. What his friends did got him forgiven what 0:29:37.160 --> 0:29:41.320 his haters thought got him healed. I thought I'd give 0:29:41.360 --> 0:29:45.560 you fifteen seconds to praise God for your haters. You 0:29:45.640 --> 0:29:48.719 might want to do it. Did anybody ever doubt you? 0:29:49.520 --> 0:29:53.360 Did anybody ever walk away from you? Did anybody ever 0:29:53.400 --> 0:29:57.080 stop supporting you? Did anybody ever walk away when it 0:29:57.160 --> 0:30:01.440 got a little tight? Thank God? Right? Now because sometimes 0:30:01.520 --> 0:30:07.040 God will use judas more than he uses theater. This 0:30:07.120 --> 0:30:09.920 is a messy message. This is a message for the 0:30:09.960 --> 0:30:11.520 people who are ready. 0:30:11.280 --> 0:30:14.360 To thank God. Not just for the ways he blesses me. 0:30:14.480 --> 0:30:17.400 That feel good, But I think it for my pain. 0:30:17.880 --> 0:30:21.800 I think it for my heartbreak. I thinking for my disappointment. 0:30:27.440 --> 0:30:31.760 I thank him for my opposition. That's the second door. 0:30:31.960 --> 0:30:35.880 It's the door of opposition. One time Paul said, I'm 0:30:35.960 --> 0:30:37.760 staying in ephesis a little while. 0:30:38.040 --> 0:30:40.800 And the reason I'm staying is not because the temperature 0:30:40.880 --> 0:30:44.200 is so great and the cuisine is so wonderful. I'm 0:30:44.240 --> 0:30:48.640 staying because there is a great and effective door of 0:30:48.800 --> 0:30:51.840 ministry that God has opened for me. And you know 0:30:51.920 --> 0:30:55.200 how I know there's an open door because there are 0:30:55.280 --> 0:30:59.360 many who oppose me. The reason that I know that 0:30:59.400 --> 0:31:03.440 God is blessing is because the enemy is so busy, 0:31:03.800 --> 0:31:06.960 and he would not be busy if God was not 0:31:07.880 --> 0:31:11.240 blessing me. Come on, I'm gonna give you one more chance. 0:31:11.880 --> 0:31:15.280 Thank him for the conflict, Thank him for the confusion. 0:31:15.880 --> 0:31:18.840 Thank him, thank him, thank him, think him. Thank him 0:31:18.840 --> 0:31:23.400 for the thorn his crisis sufficient, thank him for the loneliness. 0:31:23.720 --> 0:31:28.440 Thanked for the wilderness, taken for the nose. Somebody say, yes, 0:31:36.680 --> 0:31:40.000 if there had been no haters, he wouldn't have got you. 0:31:42.760 --> 0:31:45.440 If there had been no weakness, you wouldn't be strong. 0:31:46.880 --> 0:31:51.240 If there had been no resistance, you wouldn't be so resilient. 0:31:54.840 --> 0:32:00.120 There are many who oppose me, but the opposition, I'm 0:32:00.120 --> 0:32:02.320 gonna calm down and say it for all the intellectual people. 0:32:03.360 --> 0:32:13.320 The opposition proves the opportunity. Okay, investment terms, the really 0:32:13.320 --> 0:32:17.480 good investments you don't know about unless you have money. 0:32:18.160 --> 0:32:22.440 It's a barrier to entry. The investments that most of 0:32:22.520 --> 0:32:27.000 us can invest in are not the best investments. The 0:32:27.040 --> 0:32:30.520 best investments are reserved for people. Now, I'm saying this 0:32:30.600 --> 0:32:35.680 about money, but I mean it about battles and trials. See, 0:32:35.840 --> 0:32:41.080 the biggest battles are reserved for the people that God 0:32:41.160 --> 0:32:44.360 has his hand on, that he put a deposit in, 0:32:44.800 --> 0:32:48.680 and you cannot be defeated because if he opened the door, 0:32:49.200 --> 0:32:57.880 nobody can shut it. So quit blaming your haters and 0:32:57.880 --> 0:32:58.640 write them a thank you. 0:32:58.640 --> 0:33:03.480 No, remember that. 0:33:03.440 --> 0:33:06.760 Youth pastor that stood up at inside elevation. Were you 0:33:06.800 --> 0:33:09.600 in here? Anna? He said, there's a lot of critics. 0:33:09.640 --> 0:33:11.720 I'm just getting started in ministry what do I do 0:33:11.760 --> 0:33:14.680 about the critics? I said, That's what I said to him, 0:33:14.800 --> 0:33:18.960 said right there, right in that section, sit down this 0:33:18.960 --> 0:33:20.840 week and write three thank you notes to him. 0:33:21.520 --> 0:33:22.800 From experience, I know. 0:33:24.240 --> 0:33:26.400 That God will use some of that stuff to strip 0:33:26.440 --> 0:33:32.360 away your self sufficiency. And if everybody is clapping for you, 0:33:33.360 --> 0:33:36.360 the crowd is not always your friend. 0:33:39.120 --> 0:33:40.360 So write them a thank you note. 0:33:40.840 --> 0:33:43.320 Because honestly, every time we have a baptism in the church, 0:33:43.360 --> 0:33:46.680 I think about it because the only reason we do 0:33:46.720 --> 0:33:49.000 baptisms every week instead of two or three times a 0:33:49.080 --> 0:33:51.360 year like we did for years, is because of that 0:33:51.400 --> 0:33:54.480 new story that they ran about us, where they said 0:33:54.480 --> 0:33:56.040 we fake baptisms in the church. 0:33:56.680 --> 0:33:57.920 I still don't know exactly what a. 0:33:57.920 --> 0:34:00.960 Fake baptism looks like, but I don't care because it 0:34:01.040 --> 0:34:03.320 gave me an idea. If you're going to hit us 0:34:03.320 --> 0:34:06.160 at the point of our baptisms, what we'll do is 0:34:06.680 --> 0:34:09.160 not two or three times a year, But how about 0:34:09.320 --> 0:34:12.200 if every single week we put it in the devil's 0:34:12.239 --> 0:34:17.520 face that you can't stop when God opens a door. 0:34:17.880 --> 0:34:28.479 I don't even care what they say. Let's just let's 0:34:28.520 --> 0:34:33.000 while we're at it, let's ban the word hater. Because 0:34:33.040 --> 0:34:35.279 most of us don't have haters. We just have people 0:34:35.280 --> 0:34:40.800 who don't agree with us, and we label that haters. Okay, 0:34:41.120 --> 0:34:44.880 your coach is not your hater because he is not 0:34:45.000 --> 0:34:46.640 going to play you right now. 0:34:47.200 --> 0:34:48.920 Your coach is a trainer. 0:34:49.280 --> 0:34:51.719 He is teaching you that you are not good enough 0:34:51.800 --> 0:34:58.480 yet to get playing time. Timmy. The reason, the reason, Timmy, 0:34:58.640 --> 0:35:02.800 you're not playing, tim is because you're not a player yet. 0:35:03.120 --> 0:35:06.760 So thank your coach. He's not a hater. He's teaching 0:35:06.800 --> 0:35:09.760 you to be a player. So you need to thank 0:35:09.800 --> 0:35:12.279 that boss who was hard on you. My boss is 0:35:12.280 --> 0:35:15.200 a hater. No, you're late to work. Your boss is 0:35:15.239 --> 0:35:18.000 not a hater because she expects you to be on time. 0:35:18.160 --> 0:35:20.560 I saw a supervisor. Just give him some praise right 0:35:20.600 --> 0:35:24.520 there on the a throw and Valentine, thank God for it. 0:35:24.640 --> 0:35:32.600 Because the opposition is the opportunity. I'm so annointed to 0:35:32.600 --> 0:35:36.160 say this to you right now. It feels like a 0:35:36.200 --> 0:35:41.440 freight train. This word is coming through the roof, is 0:35:41.480 --> 0:35:44.240 coming through the teachers of the law. Jesus is preaching. 0:35:44.320 --> 0:35:46.720 Jesus is healing. Nothing can stop it. Jesus is preaching. 0:35:46.800 --> 0:35:49.720 Jesus is healing, nothing can stop it. And he uses 0:35:50.440 --> 0:35:53.640 the opposition to bring the man healing. Now, what is 0:35:53.680 --> 0:35:55.640 God using in your life right now that you are 0:35:55.680 --> 0:36:04.959 trying to get away from There's another door. There's another door, 0:36:06.719 --> 0:36:13.680 and this door, this door is called obedience. The first 0:36:13.719 --> 0:36:16.439 door is disappointment, the second one is opposition. This one 0:36:16.520 --> 0:36:24.560 is obedience, and it is the kind of obedience that 0:36:24.640 --> 0:36:38.080 has to trust God in an impossible situation. See what 0:36:38.160 --> 0:36:43.440 the friends did got the man forgiven, but there was 0:36:43.440 --> 0:36:48.239 something that he had to do to be healed. And 0:36:48.320 --> 0:36:51.040 it is by grace we are saying through faith. It's 0:36:51.080 --> 0:36:55.120 the gift of God. It's not of works, but faith 0:36:55.120 --> 0:36:59.959 expresses itself in works. Please don't sleep on me, brother, 0:37:00.120 --> 0:37:06.759 this is very important. It is your faith express Jesus said, 0:37:07.440 --> 0:37:11.319 so that they may know who I am. It's not 0:37:11.360 --> 0:37:15.040 even about you anymore. And it's not about your dysfunction, 0:37:16.640 --> 0:37:20.680 and it's not about your limitation, not anymore. This is 0:37:20.719 --> 0:37:23.680 bigger than you. So I want you to do what 0:37:23.719 --> 0:37:26.520 you can't do. I want you to do what you've 0:37:26.520 --> 0:37:28.160 never been able to do. And the proof of my 0:37:28.200 --> 0:37:31.080 presence is going to be in enabling you to do 0:37:31.120 --> 0:37:38.800 something practical. Get up, take that thing that they carried 0:37:38.840 --> 0:37:42.479 you in and lowered you down on what you came 0:37:42.880 --> 0:37:47.640 in on. You're going out with, but instead of it 0:37:48.760 --> 0:37:51.400 holding you, you'll. 0:37:51.120 --> 0:37:52.680 Be holding it. 0:38:00.800 --> 0:38:07.239 Help me, God, help me right now, because somebody's still 0:38:07.280 --> 0:38:12.799 lying on that mat. And you got resurrection power on 0:38:12.880 --> 0:38:16.960 the inside of you. It's on the inside of you, 0:38:18.320 --> 0:38:22.319 but you got to walk it out. That man came 0:38:22.360 --> 0:38:27.160 in through the roof, but he left out the same 0:38:27.239 --> 0:38:29.640 door that they wouldn't. 0:38:29.360 --> 0:38:30.560 Let him through when he got there. 0:38:33.719 --> 0:38:36.280 And what I'm declaring today by the spirit of God 0:38:36.440 --> 0:38:43.759 is if you will get up, you can get up. 0:38:45.400 --> 0:38:50.520 If you will forgive, you can forgive, if you will 0:38:50.840 --> 0:38:53.400 be whole. I'm not saying the mat will go away. 0:38:54.040 --> 0:38:56.400 I'm saying that you will not spend the rest of 0:38:56.440 --> 0:39:00.239 your life lying down on it and blaming others for 0:39:00.320 --> 0:39:06.600 the condition that you're in. So get up in front 0:39:06.640 --> 0:39:10.360 of all of these other people. Think about the courage 0:39:10.360 --> 0:39:14.400 that this demonstration requires. Because the people that are watching 0:39:14.440 --> 0:39:17.719 this man are not even cheering for him. They don't 0:39:17.760 --> 0:39:20.160 even like the fact that he interrupted the service, and 0:39:20.200 --> 0:39:23.279 that Jesus thinks he can forgive him. So now he 0:39:23.360 --> 0:39:25.959 has to get up and walk in front of people 0:39:26.040 --> 0:39:28.960 who don't want him to. Now he has to get 0:39:29.040 --> 0:39:31.560 up and take his first steps. When most of us 0:39:31.600 --> 0:39:34.799 took our first steps, somebody was cheering us on. But 0:39:34.880 --> 0:39:37.160 he has to do it in the face of conflict. 0:39:37.840 --> 0:39:40.080 He has to do it in the face of doubt. 0:39:40.120 --> 0:39:42.759 He has to do it in the face of critics. 0:39:43.040 --> 0:39:44.880 He has to do it in the face of people 0:39:45.080 --> 0:39:47.480 who didn't even want him in the room. And I wonder, 0:39:48.800 --> 0:39:54.040 are you willing today in the face of adversity, in. 0:39:54.000 --> 0:39:57.680 The face of weakness, in the face of everything that has. 0:39:57.560 --> 0:40:01.600 Been against your entire family, our whole life. Will you 0:40:01.800 --> 0:40:18.040 get up? Will you? 0:40:18.080 --> 0:40:19.240 Will you become a door. 0:40:21.680 --> 0:40:25.120 When God wants to show people who he is, he 0:40:25.239 --> 0:40:31.880 picks somebody with an issue. 0:40:30.520 --> 0:40:35.120 And he wants to show who he is through you. 0:40:35.320 --> 0:40:40.120 Somebody say, there's another door. This is the door of revelation. 0:40:42.840 --> 0:40:45.879 And the people were not amazed when the roof came off. 0:40:46.160 --> 0:40:48.080 They were amazed when the man got up. 0:40:49.719 --> 0:40:53.000 They were not amazed even by Jesus's preaching. They were 0:40:53.040 --> 0:40:57.640 amazed by the man's demonstration. And there are some of 0:40:57.680 --> 0:41:01.400 you that are about to become a door for people 0:41:01.480 --> 0:41:05.680 to see Jesus through your life. And here's who He's 0:41:05.719 --> 0:41:10.080 gonna pick. The people who were paralyzed, who have made 0:41:10.120 --> 0:41:10.759 a decision. 0:41:11.040 --> 0:41:12.400 I may not be able to get. 0:41:12.280 --> 0:41:15.560 Rid of my issue, but my issue is not keeping 0:41:15.600 --> 0:41:20.879 me from Jesus. See, there's another door. And when you've 0:41:20.920 --> 0:41:23.640 done all that you can do, and you've tried all 0:41:23.680 --> 0:41:26.920 that you know to try, and self help isn't helping, 0:41:27.520 --> 0:41:30.200 and people have stopped believing in you a long time ago, 0:41:30.480 --> 0:41:34.759 and truth be told, you've given up on yourself. But 0:41:34.880 --> 0:41:36.960 God called me to be like those four men and 0:41:37.040 --> 0:41:39.960 carry you today and put you at the feet of Jesus. 0:41:41.280 --> 0:41:44.239 Let me tell you about Jesus. Jesus is not your 0:41:44.280 --> 0:41:48.760 average preacher. He is the Way, the truth, and the life. 0:41:49.239 --> 0:41:53.040 He is the Resurrection, He is the good Shepherd. He 0:41:53.280 --> 0:41:57.880 is the true Vine. And in John chapter ten, verse nine, 0:41:58.080 --> 0:42:01.080 when he got ready to say who he wants, he said, 0:42:01.360 --> 0:42:04.879 I am the door. So if you want to come in, 0:42:05.320 --> 0:42:08.680 come on in. If religion locked you out, come on in. 0:42:08.960 --> 0:42:09.840 If your sin. 0:42:09.800 --> 0:42:13.000 Kept you out, come on in. I am the door. 0:42:22.640 --> 0:42:28.879 And because I'm the door, nothing can come into your 0:42:28.920 --> 0:42:42.360 life without first going through me. So I've allowed some 0:42:42.440 --> 0:42:44.960 things in your life that you don't like right now, 0:42:46.480 --> 0:42:50.200 but don't let them paralyze you another day, because all 0:42:50.200 --> 0:42:54.319 I'm asking you to do is walk through this door. 0:42:55.239 --> 0:42:57.760 That's all I'm asking you to do. I'm not asking 0:42:57.800 --> 0:43:03.799 you to be perfect, but I do expect progress. I 0:43:03.880 --> 0:43:09.919 am the door. Your ex husband is not your dad 0:43:09.920 --> 0:43:14.920 who wasn't there is not your own opinion of yourself 0:43:14.960 --> 0:43:23.800 is not. I am the door. And when I open 0:43:23.880 --> 0:43:35.879 the door in your life, no mistake, no sickness, no situation, 0:43:37.800 --> 0:43:40.680 even if they roll a stone to seal the entrance 0:43:40.719 --> 0:43:46.000 on Friday, I am the door. And when I speak 0:43:46.400 --> 0:43:55.040 up the resurrection power come. My praise is a door give. 0:43:55.080 --> 0:43:57.880 There's some praise right now. 0:43:57.920 --> 0:44:09.680 Don't you miss this moment? Assist the door. Stand up 0:44:09.680 --> 0:44:19.279 at every location. No one leaving shut those doors. There's 0:44:19.320 --> 0:44:25.080 another door. And the Lord gave me this message as 0:44:25.120 --> 0:44:31.280 an announcement, not as an intellectually stimulating conversation or amount 0:44:31.320 --> 0:44:35.920 of log for your entertainment purposes. But you are standing 0:44:38.200 --> 0:44:40.279 at an open door, and the door is open. But 0:44:40.320 --> 0:44:43.839 it's not always obvious. It doesn't look like a door, 0:44:43.880 --> 0:44:49.799 does It looks like a ceiling, looks like disappointment, looks 0:44:49.880 --> 0:44:52.520 like looks like teachers of the law, looks like opposition. 0:44:54.080 --> 0:44:56.640 It looks like a command to do something you can't do. 0:44:56.680 --> 0:45:00.720 It looks like obedience. It looks like Jesus. It looks 0:45:00.760 --> 0:45:06.080 like revelation. It looks like the word made flesh. This 0:45:06.160 --> 0:45:21.560 is your door. This is your door, This is your door. 0:45:23.000 --> 0:45:24.680 I know it didn't work out the way you plan. 0:45:26.160 --> 0:45:31.920 I understand that. I know it's disappointing. That's fine. Be disappointed, 0:45:31.960 --> 0:45:39.000 but don't die in it. Don't die at an open door. 0:45:40.960 --> 0:45:46.600 Something on the other side. There's another door. There's another door. Yes, Lord, 0:45:46.640 --> 0:45:51.880 I'll say it again, there's another door. It might not 0:45:51.960 --> 0:45:55.200 be who you expected, what you expected, when you expected. 0:45:54.760 --> 0:45:58.960 How you expected. There's another door. 0:46:00.120 --> 0:46:03.520 Fill your horn with oil and be on your way. 0:46:04.239 --> 0:46:06.000 For the one who has the key of bath and 0:46:06.120 --> 0:46:09.560 says what I open, no man can shut. 0:46:15.440 --> 0:46:16.040 And behold. 0:46:17.360 --> 0:46:25.800 Jesus said, I stand at the door. That's me knocking. 0:46:27.200 --> 0:46:29.759 That's me trying to get your attention through the circumstances 0:46:29.760 --> 0:46:34.399 of your life. That's me. And if you open it, 0:46:35.600 --> 0:46:38.040 I will come in, heads bowed, eyes closed. There's somebody 0:46:38.040 --> 0:46:40.240 in this place who needs a relationship with Jesus. 0:46:40.640 --> 0:46:41.520 That's him at the door. 0:46:43.080 --> 0:46:45.440 That's not a preacher, that's not an emotion that's the 0:46:45.480 --> 0:46:48.279 spirit of God. Heads bowed, eyes closed. Right now, if 0:46:48.280 --> 0:46:50.759 you're far away from God, you hear him knocking on 0:46:50.800 --> 0:46:53.480 your heart today he wants to come in. All you 0:46:53.520 --> 0:46:56.880 have to do is believe it's my grace through faith. 0:46:57.160 --> 0:46:58.160 Faith opens the door. 0:47:00.120 --> 0:47:02.080 So with hedge about and eyes closed on every location, 0:47:02.120 --> 0:47:03.440 I'm going to lead you in a prayer right now. 0:47:03.440 --> 0:47:05.319 If you want to come home to God or come 0:47:05.360 --> 0:47:05.800 to Him. 0:47:05.640 --> 0:47:07.960 For the first time, this is your moment. This is 0:47:08.000 --> 0:47:08.440 your door. 0:47:08.880 --> 0:47:11.560 All praying together as a church family, repeat after me, 0:47:11.600 --> 0:47:17.560 Heavenly Father. I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, 0:47:18.520 --> 0:47:23.480 and today I make Jesus the Lord of my life. 0:47:23.640 --> 0:47:26.640 I believe in my heart that God raised him from 0:47:26.680 --> 0:47:31.200 the dead, and I confess with my mouth that Jesus 0:47:31.320 --> 0:47:36.640 is Lord, and I believe I am saved. This is 0:47:37.480 --> 0:47:41.200 my new beginning. With head still bout and eyes still closed. 0:47:41.239 --> 0:47:42.960 If you just prayed that on the count of three, 0:47:43.080 --> 0:47:46.560 shoot your hand up boldly, come forth, one, two, three, 0:47:46.680 --> 0:47:49.560 all over this room, all over our campuses, all over 0:47:49.640 --> 0:47:54.319 Lake Norman, all over Matthew's online. Right now, let's glorify 0:47:54.440 --> 0:47:58.840 God for this new beginning. Somebody just step through and 0:47:58.960 --> 0:48:04.040 open door. Somebody just stepped into a resurrected future. I 0:48:04.080 --> 0:48:08.120 can't hear your church. Let's praise God like somebody just 0:48:08.200 --> 0:48:16.200 came running back home. Thank you for joining us. Special 0:48:16.200 --> 0:48:19.040 thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. 0:48:19.400 --> 0:48:22.319 Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You 0:48:22.360 --> 0:48:24.759 can click the link in the description to give now 0:48:25.320 --> 0:48:29.200 or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information 0:48:29.719 --> 0:48:31.680 and if you enjoyed the podcast. 0:48:31.400 --> 0:48:34.120 You can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 0:48:34.400 --> 0:48:36.680 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:48:36.719 --> 0:48:38.839 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:48:38.880 --> 0:48:39.719 Elevation Church. 0:48:39.800 --> 0:48:41.440 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.