Win Before You Begin (Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr.)

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:07.760 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:10.680 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.840 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.480 in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:19.479 Enjoy the message. How good it is to be in 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:22.160 God's house today? Anybody thankful to be in the Lord's 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:26.160 House on this Sunday morning, Clap your hands. I want 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:29.920 to welcome you to church right here. I'm at the 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:32.519 Balantine campus, but all of our friends on the e 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:34.599 Fam and really all over the world, all of our 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:37.200 locations were so grateful that you're tuning in. And I'm 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:40.280 just thinking about the Psalmist as he says, Oh, I 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:45.320 want to magnify the Lord. Let us exalt his holy name. 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:48.839 How many of you know that whatever you magnify in 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:52.120 your life gets bigger. There's something about as we begin 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.680 to worship God, we start making the name of God 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:58.160 bigger and bigger. In our situation. You might have some problems, 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:00.000 but come on, your God is bigger than every problem 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:04.680 you have. Come on and give him praise. And today 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:07.399 I think it's powerful that you're in church. To the 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:10.039 Psalmi stays, let us, let us exalt his holy name. 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:13.880 You know that faith is not just individual. Faith is communal. 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.600 That we need each other. And today, as we've gathered 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.480 in God's house, I believe he's right here with us, 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:22.320 and he's gonna minister, He's gonna speak to us. Can 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:24.560 we thank God for just the best worship team ever? 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:28.040 Shout out to Leland in the house, My friend Leland. 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.360 Leland sings like he's in heaven. I don't know some 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:39.040 of those notes that he is, but I'm like, dear Jesus, 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:43.080 Dear Jesus, my name is Rich. If we've never met before, 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:45.880 I hail from Miami, Florida. I lead a church called 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:48.960 Voo Church. And what an honor. Thank you so much, 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:53.320 What an honor it is to be with you today. 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:54.880 And if you've got a Bible, quickly turned to the 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:57.480 book of Deuteronomy. We're gonna read God's word from a 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:00.960 standing position this morning. Deuteronomy chapter twenty. I want to 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:02.360 give you one verse and then we're going to look 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:05.320 at about eight verses today. And as you're turning there, 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:07.720 it is always such a great privilege and such a 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.760 great honor to stand behind this pulpit. I thank God 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.080 for this house, and I thank God for the ministry, 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.079 the life and the leadership of Pastor Stephen and Holly Ferdick. 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.040 It is Pastor Appreciation Month, and your pastor is not 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:23.400 just your pastor, but really he pastors so many people 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:25.280 all around the world. Can we thank God for his 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:27.600 life and can we thank God for his ministry? Can 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:31.680 we clap our hands and make some noise today? It's 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:34.480 always funny preaching at elevation because there's very few pulpits 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:35.720 in the world that when you walk up to it, 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:39.680 there's almost like a gasp, like, Oh, someone drove in 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:42.720 today from Omaha and they were hoping to hear Pastor 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:46.480 Steven and you got rich. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:48.520 I do believe that God's going to minister to us. 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:50.960 And I was thinking about your pastor walking in because 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.840 for me, as as I come here year after year, 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:58.800 I get excited to share the word, but equally I 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.160 get excited to take a month just to put honor 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:04.280 where honor is due. I remember some years ago when 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.800 the Miami Heat when they were good pray for him. 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:10.440 They were in the Eastern conference finals, and my dad 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:14.560 he scored some tickets, and my dad's balling on a budget, 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.480 and so he got us nosebleed tickets. In fact, we 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:19.560 weren't just we weren't sitting up high. In fact, the 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:21.760 seats he had to stand up in the arena. Okay, 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:23.600 but we were just happy to be in the room. 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:26.040 But I remember watching the game from a distance. It 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.720 was almost like watching the game on delay. You're so 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:31.160 far away from the court. There was a couple of 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:33.320 times I was like, I bet I could hang with 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:37.960 these guys. That's from a distance. Since that time, I've 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:41.280 had a couple opportunities to sit on the court. And 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:43.000 how ma y'all know, sitting on the court, sitting on 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:46.000 the wood is a totally different game. You can see 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:48.400 guys sweat drop, you can hear what they're saying. One time, 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:50.800 I was like, foul and the guy looked at me. 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:52.960 I just sat down, never spoke again. Okay, I was like, 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:59.360 here's what I want to hear. Same game, different perspective. 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:05.320 Proximity brings perspective. And let me just say, as a 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:09.120 friend of this house, I've been up close and personal 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:12.320 with your pastor. He is a man of faith. He's 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:16.000 a man of integrity, he is a man of courage, 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:18.919 and I'm so grateful for what God has done in 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:21.680 his life for me. He's one of my heroes. He's 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:23.680 someone that I look up to and I just always 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:25.800 want to say to Elevation Church, you better take care 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:29.120 of that man. Pray for him, stand with him. We 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:31.080 love your pastor, Steve, and a pastor all like. Come on, 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:33.360 he makes the noise if we're grateful. It's a life 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.720 for the leadership a pastor Stephen Hollyford. We love you, guys. 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:39.520 We got your back today. Let me give you one 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:41.520 verse today and I'm gonna preach it like I feel it, 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:45.880 and I feel it today. Deuteronomy chapter twenty, verse one. 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:50.080 It says this, when you go to war against your 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:54.640 enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater 0:04:54.760 --> 0:05:00.200 than yours, do not be afraid of them because the 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:04.839 Lord your God. Oh I like this, because the Lord 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:09.680 your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:15.000 be with you. Yeah, you should just clap your hands. 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:23.640 Is that good? Is that good? I want to speak 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:27.040 for a few moments. Say from this subject, When before 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:33.320 you begin, when before you begin, would you pray to 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:35.480 the Lord, thank you for your word. God. We believe 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:38.440 it's sharper than any double edged sword. Speak to us now, Lord, 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:40.960 as we read it, we invite it to read us. 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:45.560 Maybe we leave here different from how we came. Speak 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:47.960 to us. We love you, we praise you. And all 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:51.560 of God's people said, all of God's people said, if 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:53.640 you love Jesus, make a little bit of noise today, 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:57.800 all right, high five a couple of people and say 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:00.800 you're gonna win. Say you're gonna win. In the chat, 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:05.720 say you're gonna win. You're gonna win, You're gonna win, 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:15.680 win before you begin. I love the fact that all 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:18.560 throughout the scripture God invites us and tells us that 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:22.520 we're going to win. But notice he never says that 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:26.360 we won't have to fight. In fact, the longer I 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:29.279 walk with Jesus, the more and more I recognize that 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.799 the Christian life is not a dance. It's a battle. 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.760 And the first battle that we must always fight is 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:40.240 not an external one. It's always an internal one. It's 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.960 always the battle in your mind that you have to fight, 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:48.599 the war on the inside. I think many times we 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:50.360 go I want to change my life. Listen, you don't 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:53.160 change your life by changing your life. You change your 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.520 life by changing your mind. How many out there you 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.280 could just use some more peace? Anyone? Just you could 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:00.360 use a little more peace in twenty eight Not me, pastor, 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:03.240 I'm good, you know. I think most people I talked 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:06.359 to could use more peace in twenty twenty five. It 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:08.440 seems like everyone I talked to is dealing with this 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:11.920 mild grade of anxiety, this this little level of just 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:14.120 a restless soul. And in fact, you can just see 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:15.360 it as you talk to people like you ever asked 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:19.640 one how you doing? How you doing busy? Oh, moms 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.320 are busy, you know, dads are busy. Everyone talk to you, 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.320 how you doing busy? I talk to a student in 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:27.240 our youth industry today, sixteen years of age, just how 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:30.480 you doing? Brothers busy? I was like, Bro, you're sixteen. 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.760 You ain't got no job, you ain't got no wife, 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:35.440 you ain't got no kids. You aren't busy, you know. 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:39.680 But I think he speaks to a culture that's moving 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:43.760 so fast that what comes up and spills out of 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:46.840 his life is a restlessness of going. I could use 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.600 some more peace. Anybody thankful for a God that says 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:53.280 you can be warring on the outside, but you can 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:57.440 still have peace that passes all understanding on the inside. 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:02.280 My Bible says that his peace tra sends understanding. Let 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:04.040 me make that modern day. You might be in a 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.840 battle today that doesn't make any sense. You might be 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:10.200 up against a challenge today that is illogical. But praise 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:13.240 God for Jesus, we can be right there in the 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.920 midst of something that is illogical, but right smack in 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.560 the middle, he can give you a piece that doesn't 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:20.520 make any sense. I need you to clap your hands, 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:25.840 stir your faith a little bit today. God wants you 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:28.000 to win on the inside before you ever see a 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:32.560 win on the outside. Deuteronomy chapter twenty is powerful because 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:34.520 if you knowing about the Book of Deuteronomy, it is 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.800 the book of instruction that God is giving his law, 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:41.240 He's given his commands. And here in Deuteronomy twenty, what 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:45.640 we're discovering is that Moses is giving a battle briefing 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:49.120 before they go into war, which I like that it's 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:53.319 like before they actually step into a fight, he's giving 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:58.000 them instruction. He's teaching them how to win before they begin. 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:02.480 And what's really interesting, as he begins to teach long 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:06.760 before he actually puts weapons in their hands. He's wanting 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:10.640 them to win the war in their head before he 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.080 puts weapons in their hands. He wants to be with 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:17.880 the worry in their heart. I think as we teach 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:19.920 in this day and age, I think we all need 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:23.800 a framework from wherever we're operating from that we're not 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:30.280 fighting for victory. We're fighting from victory. And the only 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:32.840 way you're gonna fight from victory is when you actually 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:38.559 believe that God is for you. I know that kind 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:41.760 of sounds maybe cliche to some people, but many people 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:46.760 don't live with that revelation God is for you. Recently, 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:48.640 I had a little battle briefing of my own in 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:52.959 my house, not with soldiers, but with my children. I've 0:09:53.000 --> 0:10:00.360 got four kids, Wyat, Wild, Whalen, and Wolfgang. His name 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.640 is Wilkerson. That those were preacher's kids. Right there, everything's 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:06.480 got a rhyme or being alliteration, and I had to 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:09.280 grab the three bigs. I had to do a briefing 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:13.160 with them. I had gotten information from the babysitter that 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:18.280 particularly my daughter Waylan, had been pretty difficult all day long, 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:21.360 and so in my house I am the general if 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.960 you know what I'm I'm about. And so I lined 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:26.920 him up and I said, Waylon Wesley Wilkerson, I said, 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:30.280 were you being bad today? Is this really true? That 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:32.959 you were throwing tantrums like this? And all of a 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:38.760 sudden she just turned instantly into these beautiful princess tres Daddy, 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:45.480 I don't remember any other parents out there. Your kids 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:50.280 got short term amnesia. You don't remember. So I looked 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:52.880 at her older brother. His name is Wild, and trust me, 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:56.560 he lives up for the name Wild. I said, yo, Wild, 0:10:57.320 --> 0:11:00.480 was your sister bad today? He looked at me and said, oh, Dad, 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:06.120 it's been such a long day, homie. It's two fifteen 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:11.120 in the afternoon. I love my son Wild because what's 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:14.640 interesting is that Wild can fight all day long with 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:18.880 his sister, But the moment he senses that there is 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:23.480 judgment or someone potentially coming after his sister, he says, 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:27.959 not on my watch. Let me tell you something. Brothers protect, 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.720 but fathers fight. And I need some people in this 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.240 room to understand that when the enemy comes after your life, 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:38.200 whatever battle is coming your way, you need to settle 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:40.439 once and for all. There is a god who says 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.040 I will be with you. I will get into that 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:46.760 fight and I will fight on your behalf. So before 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:50.600 the enemy attacks, before the temptation comes, why not settle 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.360 it in your heart? God is for me. And if 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:57.440 God is for me, come on, who can be against me? 0:11:57.520 --> 0:11:59.800 Clap your hands, give God some praise in this house. 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:06.160 When before you begin, I want to make a couple 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:07.920 of observations, and I want you to take some notes. 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:12.400 But the scripture begins here in verse one, and Moses 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:16.160 comes out, and the instruction is when you go to war, 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:23.079 not if, but when, because you need to understand that 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:29.280 battles in life are not optional, they are inevitable. Like 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:31.439 you don't get to choose the fight. All you get 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:33.080 to choose is how you'll show up to the fight. 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:36.480 How you're going to show up to this fight? And 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.320 notice what it is that he says. He says, when 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:41.959 you go to war against your enemies and you see 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:47.559 horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, please 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:51.720 write this down today. Don't let what you see shake 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:56.400 what you know. Don't let what you see shake what 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:58.960 you know. When you see the chariots and when you 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:01.720 see an army of yours, how y'all know that fear 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:05.959 begins with your sight. What you see. It starts in 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:09.520 your eyes, and then it moves to your mind. Is 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:11.520 there anybody out there like me that all of a 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:15.240 sudden you can see something, and as you see it, 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.240 you can make it far worse. Your imagination can run 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:21.080 in the wrong direction. You can take one little thing 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:23.600 that you see and turning it into an entire Netflix series. 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:28.959 Just me. You see a text left on red and like, 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:34.480 that's it. Relationships over, I'm gonna be living with my 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:42.800 parents forever. You see one unexpected build, that's it. I'm done. 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:46.160 I'm never gonna make it. Dave Ramsey was right about me. 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.240 You see one uncomfortable conversation at work, like that's it. 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:55.120 They're gonna fire me. They're probably clearing out my desk 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.880 right now. Why is it? It's because it's not just 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:01.400 what we see. We don't just things. We script things. 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:08.480 We have a tendency that something begins with our sight. 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:10.480 But then all of a sudden, it's not the sight 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.640 that's the problem. It's the story we attach to the sight. 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:16.719 And here it is God saying, if you want to win, 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:19.160 before you begin, do not let what you see shake 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:23.480 what you know. You're gonna have to understand that faith 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.200 doesn't deny what you see. It's just confidence in what 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:29.800 you already know. Yes, I see chariots, but I know 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.960 my God. Yes I see problems in front of me, 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:36.680 but I know his promises. Yes, I see the odds 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.480 are stacked up against me, but I know the one 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:42.960 who has already overcome. Is there anybody in this house 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.200 who says I want to have an unshakable kind of faith? 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:52.640 Listen to the command. He says, do not be afraid. 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:54.600 Do you know that this is the most common command 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:58.000 in all of Scripture, Some three hundred and sixty five 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:01.480 times the Bible says do not be a Why Because 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:04.280 the Bible wants to remind you every day of the 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:07.760 year not to be afraid. Because if fear doesn't take 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:11.720 a day off, faith shouldn't take one either. And it's 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:14.240 not just what you see, it's what you say. And 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:17.120 you ought to start getting good at saying God's word 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.840 over every situation of your life. I will not fear. 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.760 The Lord is my Light and my salvation. Whom shall 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:27.840 I fear? Yay, though I walk through the valley of 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:30.520 the shadow of death, Oh Come on. I'm gonna preach 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:36.040 myself happy. I will not fear anybody out there today 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:38.720 in a valley. You could be in a valley and 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.040 bright there from the valley to Clare, I will not 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:46.560 be afraid. I know who my God is. Not just 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:51.320 what you see, it's what you say. But fear shakes us, 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:56.120 faith stands. Do you ever play that game Jenga? I 0:15:56.120 --> 0:16:00.360 can't play it anymore. It increases my anxiety. When that 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.160 thing starts wabbling, I'm like, oh no, it's like Rich, 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:05.320 it's not a real tower, man, chill out. But what 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:08.080 I've learned about the game is as you pull out bricks, 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:11.720 the top can be wabbling. But watch this. If the 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:18.120 foundation is sturdy, it doesn't fall. I want to encourage 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:23.800 you today that faith does not deny what you see. Faith 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:27.960 doesn't even stop the shaking. What faith does is it 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:34.960 gives you sturdy and stable ground to stand on. I 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.480 want you to see the sturdy ground that Moses gave. 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:42.560 Moses said it this way. He says, do not be 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:47.080 afraid of them, because the Lord, your God, who brought 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:51.360 you up out of Egypt, will be with you. See. 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:57.080 This is the thing with faith. Faith firmly looks at 0:16:57.080 --> 0:16:59.800 a situation and it can be shaking, but it makes 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:02.760 it decision that I'm building my life on the word 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:06.760 of God, on the rock of God. And so I 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:09.639 don't always know what it is that God is doing. 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:12.480 I can't even always see what God is doing, but 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:18.200 I do know what He's done. And here comes Moses. 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:20.520 He's like, I know you can't see the battle in 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:22.560 front of us about how God's going to do it, 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:26.159 but you do know what he has done. So you 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:28.560 might not be able to see God's plan, but you 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.000 do know his power. And you might not be able 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:34.280 to see your future right now, but come on, you 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:37.879 can remember your freedom. And you might not be exactly 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:41.560 where you want to be, but can anybody testify you 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:44.439 know you are not where you used to be. What 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:51.600 a miracle he came and found me. I want to 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:54.600 encourage you to operate in faith today because you don't 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:56.600 have to see what he's doing, but you know what 0:17:56.720 --> 0:18:00.280 he's done. You know enough about God to understand He's 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:02.720 gonna get you through this thing. If he brought you 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:05.560 up out of Egypt, he'll bring you through whatever circumstance 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:08.239 you're in now. If he parted the red sea. He 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.400 could part your situation. If he was faithful back then, 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:14.760 he'll be faithful right now. If he did it, then 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:24.919 anybody believe he could do it again. Don't let what 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:28.439 you see shake what you know. But watch what Moses 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:30.439 does here as he continues to speak. Let's look at 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:32.200 verse two. I haven't read this to you yet. Verse 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:35.120 two says this, when you're about to go into battle, 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:39.639 the priest shall come forward and address the army. He 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:42.840 shall say, here Israel today. You are going into battle 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.639 against the enemies. Do not be faint hearted or afraid. 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:51.000 Do not panic or be terrified by them. Write this down. 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:55.240 This is important. Don't let your worry be louder than 0:18:55.280 --> 0:19:00.679 God's word. This is unique. They're about to go to battle. 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.359 They don't send out a general, they don't send out 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:06.760 a colonel. There's no sergeant that comes out. Moses sends 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:10.119 out the priest. Can you imagine if you're in that army, like, well, 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:16.480 what's up here? What's going on here? You're sending out priests. Yeah, 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:22.120 it's because every warrior needs a preacher before the war. 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:26.960 The word. That's what I love about Sunday is I'm 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:28.800 so proud of you for being in church today. I'm 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:31.359 so proud that that's the habit of your life, because 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:34.560 as we gather here today, we're not just merely putting 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:37.520 on a church service. This is the briefing before the battle. 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:41.080 This is the strategy, and God's strategy is his spirit. 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:45.800 I don't think i'm speaking to spectators. I think I'm 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:50.640 speaking to soldiers. Anybody fighting for something today, anybody fighting 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:54.200 for purpose, fighting for your calling, fighting for peace, fighting 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:57.840 for joy, anyone fighting for their marriage, fighting for their family. 0:19:58.000 --> 0:19:59.760 Are there some dads out there that are fighting for 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:01.760 their it's going If you're a fighter in this house, 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:09.119 clap your hands for fighting. It's funny. Sometimes on Instagram 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:11.600 people will comment at me, why are you always yelling? 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:19.680 Calm down, bro? And I'm like, I'm yelling because every 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:22.960 week when people come into church, I want to make 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:26.880 sure that my voice is louder than whatever they've been 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:29.639 up against all week long. I want you to know 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:32.000 there is a God who is for you. There's a 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:35.160 God who's fighting for you. You don't have to be afraid. 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:40.440 Keth's gonna get you through this thing. Because we live 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:44.200 in a noisy world, and all week long, you're gonna 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:47.720 leave here, and you're gonna tune off from the link 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:50.679 today and all week long you're gonna be doing with 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:54.120 algorithms and people at work, and all of the voices 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:56.639 you're gonna hear is gonna be the voice of worry. 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:00.720 Even some of you right now listening today, it's your 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:03.480 own inner critic that speaks to you, and it's the 0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:07.240 voice of worry all day long. That word worry comes 0:21:07.280 --> 0:21:11.679 from an Anglo Saxon word, which means to strangle. How 0:21:11.720 --> 0:21:14.880 many of us were just we're being strangled by worry. 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:18.280 We're being strangled by the pressures of this life. I 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:23.160 wonder what's louder in your life? God's word or you'll worry? 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:27.919 Write this down. This is important. What you repeat in 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:34.240 peace will become your reflex under pressure. Let me say 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:36.040 that one more time. Put it in the chat. What 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:40.720 you repeat in peace will become your reflex under pressure. 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:45.280 This is really important because when life hits you, what's 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:47.280 going to come out of you? We could look at 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:49.480 the life of Jesus right Jesus in the wilderness. Remember 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:52.520 that after Matthew three, he's baptized and the Father speaks 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:55.399 over him, and immediately he goes into the wilderness to 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:59.520 be tempted by Satan. Notice, whenever Satan comes to attack you, 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:03.040 he always attack your identity. So the last thing that 0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:04.880 Jesus heard the Father say is this is my son, 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:07.360 whom I love, and I'm well pleased. The first thing 0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:09.840 out of the enemy's mouth is if you are the 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:14.240 son of God, gets you to question, what's this the 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:17.639 word of God? And what you'll see there in the wilderness. 0:22:17.720 --> 0:22:19.840 Jesus was tempted for forty days. And what Jesus is 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:22.400 actually doing is he's illustrating for us how to win. 0:22:22.840 --> 0:22:25.000 Because remember the Israelites, they went into a wilderness for 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:28.160 forty years, and they had been given the Book of Deuteronomy, 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:31.000 the Book of Instruction, but they never obeyed it, they 0:22:31.000 --> 0:22:32.840 never used it, they never applied it, and they found 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:37.159 themselves delayed forever, never getting out an entire generation. But 0:22:37.240 --> 0:22:40.120 here comes Jesus, and he doesn't take forty years. All 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:43.080 he needs is forty days. And every time the enemy 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:46.280 comes and tempts him, all Jesus does is he says, 0:22:46.400 --> 0:22:50.239 it is written. Why because it is written before it 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:54.320 is one, the word of God must come first. And 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:57.000 what's really fascinating is that as you study that entire 0:22:57.600 --> 0:22:59.720 dialogue back and forth between Jesus and the devil in 0:22:59.720 --> 0:23:02.080 masth you for what you find out is that every 0:23:02.080 --> 0:23:06.680 scripture that Jesus quotes is from the Book of Deuteronomy, 0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:11.520 as if to say, you always had the answer. The 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:14.399 same word I gave you back there in the wilderness 0:23:15.000 --> 0:23:19.080 is the same word that I'll use to defeat Satan. See, 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:23.239 Jesus understood that the word is a weapon. You do 0:23:23.280 --> 0:23:26.200 get that right, that this is a weapon. And if 0:23:26.200 --> 0:23:30.080 you don't train in the word, you won't triumph in 0:23:30.119 --> 0:23:36.280 the wilderness. Let me just go a little bit further. 0:23:37.000 --> 0:23:39.919 Satan when he comes to attack, Jesus uses the word, 0:23:41.320 --> 0:23:44.760 meaning you can't just read the word. You've got to 0:23:44.880 --> 0:23:49.160 learn the word. We got a lot of immature believers 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:51.880 in twenty twenty five, God bless everybody. But sometimes we're 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:54.040 just like you ever need a word from God? Go God, please, 0:23:54.640 --> 0:23:59.040 Oh God, God, God, God, you know where are you? You? You? You? 0:24:01.520 --> 0:24:03.720 I need a word? And so you ever do flip 0:24:03.720 --> 0:24:11.199 and read elevation way too mature today. Never flip and 0:24:11.240 --> 0:24:13.439 read flipping read goes like this. You know, it's like, 0:24:13.440 --> 0:24:14.680 oh God, I need a word. I need a word 0:24:14.720 --> 0:24:16.280 and you just flip and then you just hopefully you 0:24:16.280 --> 0:24:22.880 get a good word from God. But that's like Russian roulette. Man, God, 0:24:22.880 --> 0:24:24.159 I need a word. I need a word. Flip and 0:24:24.200 --> 0:24:35.080 read and Judas hanged himself. No, I need another word. 0:24:35.080 --> 0:24:42.000 I need Okay, go and do likewise. Wah. No, friends, 0:24:42.040 --> 0:24:45.160 it's not enough to read it. You gotta learn it. 0:24:45.160 --> 0:24:48.040 It's a weapon. And as you train in it, come on, 0:24:48.320 --> 0:24:51.840 you become lethal that when the enemy attacks you, you 0:24:51.960 --> 0:24:57.560 have a word to fight back. Come on, when pressure 0:24:57.640 --> 0:25:01.920 hit Jesus' life, the word came out of him. Pressure 0:25:02.040 --> 0:25:04.879 doesn't remove what's inside of you. It reveals what's inside 0:25:04.920 --> 0:25:12.000 of you. What happens if you squeeze an apple? You 0:25:12.080 --> 0:25:16.240 get what apple? Juice? Look at this, this is an amazing audience. Today. 0:25:17.080 --> 0:25:20.919 What happens when you squeeze an orange? You get what orange? 0:25:21.040 --> 0:25:22.960 My good? Give him a big round applause today. Wow? 0:25:25.600 --> 0:25:40.160 What happens when you squeeze a Christian complaining? Fear trouble? No, friend, 0:25:40.240 --> 0:25:43.320 when you squeeze a believer, you ought to get believer 0:25:43.480 --> 0:25:55.200 juice believer or juice believer? Juice believer? Juice? You ought 0:25:55.200 --> 0:26:08.640 to get believer juice, because believers ought to have fruit. Yeah, 0:26:08.640 --> 0:26:10.080 if you're a believer, you want to have fruit of 0:26:10.080 --> 0:26:16.000 the spirit, which means when attacks hit my life, when 0:26:16.040 --> 0:26:18.960 people lie about my name, when they choose me, when 0:26:19.040 --> 0:26:22.560 life squeezes me, I want love to be the result. 0:26:23.359 --> 0:26:26.040 When all of a sudden I'm dealing with the sorrows 0:26:26.040 --> 0:26:28.639 of life and the pressures of life, I pray that 0:26:28.960 --> 0:26:32.960 joy would be squeezed out of me. Believer, juice, I 0:26:33.040 --> 0:26:35.560 pray that when anxiety wants to hit my life, I 0:26:35.640 --> 0:26:38.600 pray that all of a sudden I'm feeling strangled by worry, 0:26:38.920 --> 0:26:42.680 I pray that peace would begin to erupt. It's believer juice. 0:26:42.840 --> 0:26:46.439 But how much more for kindness and goodness and gentleness 0:26:46.440 --> 0:26:50.840 and faithfulness, self control. Come on, all the fruit of 0:26:50.880 --> 0:26:53.840 the Holy Spirit, because last time I checked, the fruit 0:26:53.840 --> 0:26:58.080 of the Spirit still grows under pressure. Come on and 0:26:58.080 --> 0:27:02.959 clap your hands to make sure that fruit shows up. 0:27:05.080 --> 0:27:08.440 And so God has the priest go forward. Can you 0:27:08.480 --> 0:27:10.520 imagine be in that army, like what's going on here? Man? 0:27:11.760 --> 0:27:15.680 You're sending out the preachers. Yeah, we're going to battle. Okay, 0:27:16.160 --> 0:27:17.720 we need a strategy, and I'm gonna give you a 0:27:17.720 --> 0:27:22.040 sermon a sermon, But what is God trying to do? 0:27:23.040 --> 0:27:27.760 God is trying to get his external world into their 0:27:28.000 --> 0:27:32.439 internal world. God is trying to get his external word 0:27:33.440 --> 0:27:39.520 inside to shape their internal world. I gotta get the 0:27:39.560 --> 0:27:43.480 Word in you, because as the Word takes root in you, 0:27:43.640 --> 0:27:48.320 something's going to grow. Faith is going to grow. I 0:27:48.359 --> 0:27:51.200 have a friend who's a performance coach, and I love 0:27:51.280 --> 0:27:52.680 him so much, and he said to me something the 0:27:52.680 --> 0:27:54.119 other day that really struck me. He said, Rich, have 0:27:54.160 --> 0:27:58.399 you ever noticed that people tend to shape and design 0:27:58.480 --> 0:28:03.000 their external environment to mirror their internal one. Now, all 0:28:03.040 --> 0:28:05.720 of the gospel, just we understand is about inside out 0:28:05.800 --> 0:28:07.840 change that I have to have my heart change, and 0:28:07.920 --> 0:28:11.560 Jesus does that. But that shouldn't stop us that once 0:28:11.600 --> 0:28:15.560 we've had that moment of salvation take place, Maturity would say, 0:28:15.720 --> 0:28:18.879 let me set up an external world that impacts and 0:28:19.040 --> 0:28:22.080 influences my internal world. But so many people, if you 0:28:22.080 --> 0:28:23.880 just look at it, it's like their whole life is in chaos. 0:28:23.960 --> 0:28:27.000 Watch their environment around them will be in chaos. So 0:28:27.080 --> 0:28:29.399 many people, they start going through worry, and so what 0:28:29.440 --> 0:28:32.520 do they do? They feed into that worry. Many pool 0:28:32.600 --> 0:28:34.560 they feel lonely, So what do they do, they isolate, 0:28:34.640 --> 0:28:38.080 so their external environment begins to mirror what's happening on 0:28:38.120 --> 0:28:40.719 the inside. You know this to be true. That's why 0:28:40.760 --> 0:28:43.040 when you're having a bad it's like, Alexa play my 0:28:43.240 --> 0:28:50.240 depressed playlist, Tom all adult and some of y'all got crazy. 0:28:50.280 --> 0:28:52.680 Alexa play I want to cry in the shower playlist. 0:28:56.640 --> 0:29:00.240 They never heard that term misery loves company is true. 0:29:01.640 --> 0:29:04.560 That what we're feeling, we want our outside world to 0:29:04.760 --> 0:29:08.760 look like that. So often, and so all of a sudden, 0:29:08.960 --> 0:29:11.440 I'm feeling fear, So I put on the news to 0:29:11.560 --> 0:29:14.600 feed my fear. I'm upset. So now I go to 0:29:14.680 --> 0:29:17.240 TikTok and I scroll and I death scroll, just so 0:29:17.320 --> 0:29:22.040 I get angrier and angrier and angrier. But maturity somebody 0:29:22.040 --> 0:29:24.719 who wants to win. Before they begin, they say, all right, 0:29:24.720 --> 0:29:27.600 I don't feel this, but I gotta play faith. I 0:29:27.600 --> 0:29:30.280 don't want to worship, but I'm gonna play worship. I 0:29:30.320 --> 0:29:33.320 want to set up an external world that changes my 0:29:33.440 --> 0:29:37.440 internal world. I think sometimes we can we can overthink 0:29:37.480 --> 0:29:39.280 this because sometimes we can start thinking of ourselves. All right, 0:29:39.360 --> 0:29:41.920 that's it. I gotta change my environment. I gotta move cities. 0:29:42.720 --> 0:29:45.560 I gotta move churches, and sometimes those things are required, 0:29:45.560 --> 0:29:48.560 but more often not, it's smaller things. It's just creating 0:29:48.560 --> 0:29:51.520 small little habits to say, let me just do things 0:29:51.960 --> 0:29:54.360 that all of a sudden I can create an external 0:29:54.440 --> 0:29:57.200 world that begins to change. Let his word on the 0:29:57.240 --> 0:30:00.920 outside get in and shape my heart on the inside. 0:30:01.680 --> 0:30:03.160 One of the most practical things I think we can do. 0:30:03.280 --> 0:30:05.240 My my friend here, Adrian's got his phone, is we 0:30:05.240 --> 0:30:07.680 could start with this thing right here, this little devil 0:30:07.680 --> 0:30:13.480 in our pocket. I just go for the next fifteen 0:30:13.480 --> 0:30:15.320 minutes about how bad the iPhone is. You know, no, 0:30:15.400 --> 0:30:18.120 that's not the point. But this right here is one 0:30:18.120 --> 0:30:21.680 of the leading causes of our anxiety, of our restlessness. 0:30:22.760 --> 0:30:23.720 This is the whole thing that we carry with this 0:30:23.760 --> 0:30:27.040 all the time, just little people. No, no, no, no, no, no, 0:30:27.200 --> 0:30:30.320 you know this all day long. Let me just tell 0:30:30.320 --> 0:30:31.880 you when it comes to this thing, like here's just 0:30:31.880 --> 0:30:33.840 a base thing. You could have a friend tell me 0:30:33.920 --> 0:30:37.600 you got to parent your phone. Rich Wow. Wow, I said, 0:30:37.600 --> 0:30:39.560 what does that mean? He said, well, your kids go 0:30:39.600 --> 0:30:42.560 to bed before you, don't They said yes. He said 0:30:42.600 --> 0:30:44.520 you wake up before your kids, don't you. I said, yeah, 0:30:44.560 --> 0:30:46.360 I do. He said, why don't you do that with 0:30:46.400 --> 0:30:49.920 your phone. For some of us, it's like, just quit 0:30:50.040 --> 0:30:55.520 sleeping with your phone. Yeah, someboy all got your phone 0:30:55.560 --> 0:30:58.360 on your pillow at night. I don't know why I'm anxious. 0:30:58.480 --> 0:31:03.080 You don't. Can you imagine if you're an alcoholic, It's like, Man, 0:31:03.120 --> 0:31:07.400 I'm really struggling, but I sleep with Jack Daniels every night. 0:31:08.120 --> 0:31:12.160 You can't defeat the enemy if you're sleeping with the enemy. 0:31:12.200 --> 0:31:20.560 Come on, No, you gotta put it to bed at night. 0:31:21.480 --> 0:31:24.800 And maybe it shouldn't even sleep in your room. Maybe 0:31:24.840 --> 0:31:27.400 you should tuck it in another room, unplug it, and 0:31:27.400 --> 0:31:29.640 say good night, little phone, I'll see you in the morning. 0:31:32.360 --> 0:31:35.520 In fact, just little things just change your environment. Instead 0:31:35.560 --> 0:31:37.800 of putting your phone on your nightstand at night, why 0:31:37.840 --> 0:31:39.560 not swap that out and put this on your night 0:31:39.600 --> 0:31:46.840 stand at night? Why not just make a decision, even 0:31:46.880 --> 0:31:49.080 right here today, I want to win before I begin, 0:31:49.880 --> 0:31:55.280 I'm gonna go biblical before I go digital. Come on, 0:31:55.760 --> 0:31:58.920 come on, mean, why don't you just put your Bible 0:31:58.920 --> 0:32:01.240 on your nightstand? But if you don't read it, even 0:32:01.280 --> 0:32:03.160 if you don't get to it, let it be a 0:32:03.240 --> 0:32:06.920 trigger on the external side of you that before I 0:32:07.040 --> 0:32:09.400 go to bed at night, it's the last thing I see, 0:32:09.840 --> 0:32:12.040 and when I wake up in the morning, it's the 0:32:12.080 --> 0:32:16.080 first thing that I see. Faith comes by hearing and 0:32:16.240 --> 0:32:19.920 hearing the word of God. I might not feel it 0:32:19.960 --> 0:32:22.200 on the inside, but I want to put it on 0:32:22.280 --> 0:32:25.960 the outside to trigger my environment, to say I want 0:32:26.000 --> 0:32:28.120 God's word to get on the inside of you. Go on, 0:32:28.240 --> 0:32:30.560 clap your hand, make a little bit of noise, make 0:32:30.600 --> 0:32:35.360 a little bit of noise. Sometimes it's just a little cue. 0:32:35.800 --> 0:32:38.120 Sometimes it's just a little thing that the priests would 0:32:38.120 --> 0:32:41.160 come out before them. They might not have wanted a sermon, 0:32:41.200 --> 0:32:43.800 but they needed a sermon. It's like the more and 0:32:43.880 --> 0:32:46.720 more I grow in my life, when I'm feeling lonely, 0:32:47.000 --> 0:32:49.360 when I'm feeling depressed, I don't want to say, Alexa, 0:32:49.440 --> 0:32:53.160 play my depressed playlist. I want to say, Alexa, play 0:32:53.200 --> 0:33:02.880 my faith filled elevation worship playlist. Jesus be the who 0:33:03.000 --> 0:33:08.280 am I that you keep me on your mind. God, 0:33:08.320 --> 0:33:13.960 I'm just grateful for you. They say gratitude is the 0:33:14.000 --> 0:33:17.640 right attitude. When I hear that song, I want to 0:33:17.680 --> 0:33:21.920 run through a brick wall. Why Because faith has a sound. 0:33:22.360 --> 0:33:25.840 Peace has a sound, and what you play starts to 0:33:25.920 --> 0:33:30.320 shape your environment. It starts turning things around. You gotta 0:33:30.360 --> 0:33:33.880 get God's word louder than your worry. Let me hear 0:33:33.920 --> 0:33:38.240 the sound of faith, Let me hear the sound of peace. 0:33:39.160 --> 0:33:41.680 Let me hear the sound of joy in this house. 0:33:48.720 --> 0:33:51.880 I play it when I don't feel it. Who am 0:33:51.920 --> 0:33:56.000 I that you keep me on your mind? God? I'm 0:33:56.120 --> 0:34:03.080 just grateful for you. What a what a miracle? How 0:34:03.080 --> 0:34:05.240 did you do this in me? And yeah, I got 0:34:05.240 --> 0:34:07.920 some battles in front of me. But Lord, what I've 0:34:07.920 --> 0:34:10.080 seen you do time and time again is I know 0:34:10.120 --> 0:34:11.560 what you brought me out of. I don't know what 0:34:11.600 --> 0:34:13.799 you're doing, but I know what you have done. And 0:34:13.880 --> 0:34:16.839 if you are faithful back, then you'll be faithful again. 0:34:16.840 --> 0:34:21.359 I need you to praise God in faith today when 0:34:21.440 --> 0:34:26.839 before you begin, grab a seat, Grab a seat, Let 0:34:26.880 --> 0:34:29.480 me give you this last one. Look at verse five 0:34:29.520 --> 0:34:32.040 with me. We're just walking through the text today, just 0:34:32.080 --> 0:34:35.520 a Bible study on a Sunday. Pastor will be back soon, 0:34:35.680 --> 0:34:41.480 Please come back to church. Look at verse five. This 0:34:41.520 --> 0:34:44.000 is very interesting me. The officers shall say to the army, 0:34:44.600 --> 0:34:46.880 has anyone built a new house and not yet begun 0:34:46.920 --> 0:34:49.400 to live in it? Let him go home, or he 0:34:49.480 --> 0:34:51.640 may die in battle, and someone else may begin to 0:34:51.680 --> 0:34:54.640 live in it. Has they one planted a vineyard and 0:34:54.680 --> 0:34:58.040 not begun to enjoy it. Let him go home, or 0:34:58.080 --> 0:35:00.680 he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it. 0:35:00.719 --> 0:35:03.600 Has anyone pledged to a woman and not married her, 0:35:04.040 --> 0:35:07.000 Let him go home, or he may die in battle 0:35:07.560 --> 0:35:11.759 and someone else marry her. This is a very fascinating 0:35:11.800 --> 0:35:14.640 part because this is before the battle has begun, and 0:35:14.680 --> 0:35:18.200 here is the strategy of winning. I believe this last thought. 0:35:18.239 --> 0:35:19.640 I want you to get this deep in your heart. 0:35:20.000 --> 0:35:24.160 It's simply this, don't let your anxiety overthrow your order. 0:35:26.440 --> 0:35:28.560 When you study the Word of God, and you see 0:35:28.600 --> 0:35:30.680 when it says do not be anxious, it can be 0:35:30.719 --> 0:35:35.759 translated do not be torn apart, because that's what anxiety does. 0:35:35.840 --> 0:35:40.480 It makes us feel sin and it separates us. But 0:35:40.520 --> 0:35:43.080 if you really want to win in life, you really 0:35:43.080 --> 0:35:46.440 don't win until you become whole. Everything about our gospel 0:35:46.480 --> 0:35:50.000 is about an integrated life, mind, body, spirit, and soul 0:35:50.120 --> 0:35:54.799 coming together on all cylinders. And what's taking place here 0:35:55.440 --> 0:35:58.200 is that they give these instructions to the people and 0:35:58.200 --> 0:36:00.960 they say, Hey, has anyone like built a new house 0:36:01.000 --> 0:36:04.279 and you haven't gotten to live in yet leave. Has 0:36:04.320 --> 0:36:06.680 anyone about to get married and you haven't gotten to 0:36:06.719 --> 0:36:10.920 be with your leave? If anyone's planted a new vineyard 0:36:11.239 --> 0:36:15.680 and you haven't enjoyed it, leave, what's happening here? What 0:36:15.719 --> 0:36:16.840 I want you to see in the text is that 0:36:16.880 --> 0:36:19.480 God is not just interested merely in raising up fighters. 0:36:19.520 --> 0:36:23.200 He also is raising up families. And when we talk 0:36:23.239 --> 0:36:27.040 about things like contending and fighting back, it's not merely 0:36:27.160 --> 0:36:30.719 always in life about enduring. It's also about enjoying. That's 0:36:30.719 --> 0:36:32.600 what I love about Elevation Church. You don't just have 0:36:32.680 --> 0:36:34.799 to come to church. You get to come to church here. 0:36:35.520 --> 0:36:38.279 We're not just suffering through it. No, we enjoy the 0:36:38.320 --> 0:36:40.959 President of God. God is into your enjoyment. In fact, 0:36:40.960 --> 0:36:44.000 all the pleasures of life, every good gift came from above. 0:36:44.360 --> 0:36:46.040 What's meant to happen in the life of a Christian 0:36:46.080 --> 0:36:50.360 is every good thing that He's given you relationships, family, jobs, blessing. 0:36:50.640 --> 0:36:53.160 It is supposed to roll back up into praise and 0:36:53.280 --> 0:36:56.880 adoration of Him that I would give glory unto God. 0:36:56.960 --> 0:37:01.279 I'm blessed to be a blessing. But just see this 0:37:01.360 --> 0:37:05.240 category here. You've got a house, you've got a spouse 0:37:05.520 --> 0:37:08.000 and you've got a vineyard. By the way, if you've 0:37:08.000 --> 0:37:09.600 got a house and a spouse, all you're missing is 0:37:09.640 --> 0:37:16.160 a vineyard. But your house speaks about your home life. 0:37:16.360 --> 0:37:18.640 Your spouse speaks of your relationships, and your vinyard speaks 0:37:18.640 --> 0:37:22.200 around your work and what God has said, He said 0:37:22.360 --> 0:37:24.600 I care about all those things. Listen to me. One 0:37:24.600 --> 0:37:26.279 of the most spiritual things you will ever do in 0:37:26.280 --> 0:37:28.799 your entire life is go back home and get your 0:37:28.840 --> 0:37:33.560 house in order. If your home life is in chaos, 0:37:33.640 --> 0:37:39.080 your peace will always be in confusion. And many of 0:37:39.160 --> 0:37:42.160 us sometimes we think it's the really big, massive thing, 0:37:42.239 --> 0:37:45.879 but often it's the small thing. God is a god 0:37:45.920 --> 0:37:47.920 of order. I don't have enough time today, but I 0:37:47.920 --> 0:37:55.759 want to hear this order is the antidote to anxiety. Order. 0:37:58.520 --> 0:38:00.520 We don't serve a god of disorder, but a God 0:38:00.520 --> 0:38:05.960 of peace, meaning that when I get my life in order, 0:38:06.080 --> 0:38:08.439 peace will be the result. And I see so many 0:38:08.440 --> 0:38:11.000 people today and they're wondering why I feel so afraid, 0:38:11.719 --> 0:38:14.160 why I feel like I'm up against so many challenges, 0:38:14.680 --> 0:38:17.720 And it's because they're missing that peace on the inside. 0:38:17.840 --> 0:38:19.520 But if you want to win, before you begin, you 0:38:19.560 --> 0:38:23.880 better get your priority set. Everything about God, and his 0:38:23.960 --> 0:38:27.800 book is about priorities. Seek first the Kingdom of God, 0:38:27.840 --> 0:38:30.480 and all these things shall be added unto you. We 0:38:30.560 --> 0:38:33.279 have a whole generation that's chasing after the added things. 0:38:33.280 --> 0:38:36.680 But God says, if you'll put me first, I'll handle 0:38:36.760 --> 0:38:43.960 all of the additions. What is tithing, It's about putting 0:38:43.960 --> 0:38:47.120 God first? What is Sabbath about? Going God, I'm gonna 0:38:47.120 --> 0:38:49.240 cease one day of the week, and I'm gonna trust 0:38:49.280 --> 0:38:51.960 you like Chick fil A that as I work for 0:38:52.040 --> 0:38:54.239 six days and I take one day off. You're the 0:38:54.239 --> 0:38:56.680 God who can show up. You're the God who can 0:38:56.719 --> 0:38:59.400 do exceedingly, immeasurably more than we could ever ask forything. 0:38:59.520 --> 0:39:03.719 It's about order, and even for me, it's just good, 0:39:03.760 --> 0:39:06.759 like the order of my life. Number one, God tell 0:39:06.800 --> 0:39:12.200 this to my church today. Number two, my spouse. Number three, 0:39:12.360 --> 0:39:16.000 my children, I got four of them, Wyatt Wild Whalen 0:39:16.040 --> 0:39:20.600 a wolfgang. Number four, my family and friends watch this. 0:39:20.920 --> 0:39:27.800 Number five, my church. Number six, the community. There's a 0:39:27.840 --> 0:39:30.799 lot of preachers today that if they're not careful, they 0:39:30.840 --> 0:39:34.720 will prefer God's bride over their own bride. It's not noble, 0:39:34.760 --> 0:39:39.920 it's dangerous. I can't take care of God's children if 0:39:39.920 --> 0:39:45.480 I don't first take care of my children and listen. 0:39:46.040 --> 0:39:47.600 This is one of the things I love about your 0:39:47.640 --> 0:39:52.520 pastor is that he's got his priorities set. He doesn't 0:39:52.560 --> 0:39:56.239 bend to culture, he doesn't bend to naysayers and critics. 0:39:56.400 --> 0:40:00.399 He understands the assignment of God and with it, he's 0:40:00.440 --> 0:40:03.880 a leader worth following. Because you don't want an anxious priest. 0:40:04.400 --> 0:40:07.759 You don't want a disintegrated preacher. You want someone who's 0:40:07.840 --> 0:40:11.279 integrated in whole because you teach what you know, but 0:40:11.480 --> 0:40:18.359 you reproduce who you are very good. Yeah, And so 0:40:18.400 --> 0:40:20.759 God says, I want you to go home because I 0:40:20.800 --> 0:40:23.400 want to make sure that you are a whole before 0:40:23.400 --> 0:40:27.640 you fight. Let me show you this verse. It's verse 0:40:29.040 --> 0:40:31.080 I think it's verse number Is it first number eight? 0:40:32.160 --> 0:40:38.920 Can you bring that one up? Yeah? Verse eight. Is 0:40:38.960 --> 0:40:43.080 anyone afraid or faint hearted? Let him go home so 0:40:43.160 --> 0:40:46.080 that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too. Boo. 0:40:47.680 --> 0:40:49.320 I just want to remind some people to that Elevation 0:40:49.400 --> 0:40:54.520 church and those watching online. Fear is contagious. Yea. And 0:40:54.560 --> 0:40:56.440 so he says, Yo, if there's anybody in the camp 0:40:57.200 --> 0:41:01.080 who's afraid, leave now, because I can't let the rest 0:41:01.080 --> 0:41:04.120 of the company. That's who you are, a group of soldiers, 0:41:04.120 --> 0:41:07.000 not a crowd a company. I can't let you catch that. 0:41:08.400 --> 0:41:10.759 About two weeks ago, I woke up with a sore throat. 0:41:10.760 --> 0:41:12.640 Couldn't believe it. Went to the doctors. They said, Rich, 0:41:12.640 --> 0:41:14.719 you have strep throat. I said, I'm forty one years 0:41:14.760 --> 0:41:19.719 of age. I don't know you could get strep throat 0:41:19.719 --> 0:41:21.879 at forty one years of age, So like we might 0:41:21.880 --> 0:41:23.560 have to take your tonsils, I said you, the devil 0:41:23.640 --> 0:41:26.520 is a liar. You should have come from me when 0:41:26.520 --> 0:41:28.680 I was eight. There is no way you're having my tonsils. 0:41:28.680 --> 0:41:33.800 Bro Well, it just so happened that about seven days prior, 0:41:34.160 --> 0:41:38.640 my son, Wyat, my oldest, he had strep throat. It 0:41:38.680 --> 0:41:42.920 wasn't random. I caught it from Wyatt. I wonder today, 0:41:43.960 --> 0:41:46.279 some of the things that you're carrying you didn't start 0:41:46.280 --> 0:41:52.000 with that. You caught that along the way. You caught fear. 0:41:53.920 --> 0:41:57.319 You've been examining something outside of God's word. That's feeding 0:41:57.920 --> 0:42:02.440 your fear. A coworker gave you that, A fearful friend 0:42:02.480 --> 0:42:06.719 gave you that. An absentee father gave you that. The 0:42:06.719 --> 0:42:09.680 betrayal of a man or a woman. Something else gave 0:42:09.719 --> 0:42:12.200 you that, because my Bible says that you are not 0:42:12.320 --> 0:42:16.200 given a spirit of fear, but of love, power and 0:42:16.320 --> 0:42:18.520 sound mind. Come on and clap your hands if you 0:42:18.560 --> 0:42:24.399 believe our God has the antidote. He says, get your 0:42:24.400 --> 0:42:29.359 life in order. I just like telling some people there's 0:42:29.360 --> 0:42:30.880 some folks in your life right now. You gotta let 0:42:30.920 --> 0:42:35.280 them go check your circle. Fear is like secondhand smoke. 0:42:38.000 --> 0:42:40.360 It might not have started with you, but it doesn't 0:42:40.360 --> 0:42:43.520 mean that it won't affect you. And some of us 0:42:43.560 --> 0:42:46.920 are inhaling something from afar, and all of a sudden 0:42:46.960 --> 0:42:49.319 it's getting down into our heart and it's leaving us 0:42:49.320 --> 0:42:52.239 in a restless place. I think many times we find 0:42:52.239 --> 0:42:54.960 ourselves going, God, just take away the battles. But that's 0:42:55.000 --> 0:42:57.440 not the point of this message. It is one battle 0:42:57.480 --> 0:43:00.759 after the next. You're in the fight. It's a But 0:43:00.840 --> 0:43:02.160 what you have to learn is that God wants to 0:43:02.160 --> 0:43:04.600 mature you in the battle. He wants to strengthen you 0:43:04.640 --> 0:43:07.200 in the battle. He wants to give you peace and 0:43:07.360 --> 0:43:12.319 joy and love right there in the middle. All the 0:43:12.440 --> 0:43:15.160 water in the ocean can't sink a ship unless it 0:43:15.200 --> 0:43:20.400 gets inside the ship. I love how Pastor Steven's been 0:43:20.440 --> 0:43:24.440 preaching about the same lies new loops, because here's what's funny. 0:43:24.520 --> 0:43:27.840 I went to the doctor for my strep throat and 0:43:27.880 --> 0:43:30.000 at this point I'm just like, I want immediate results. 0:43:30.000 --> 0:43:32.440 I'm like, give me the shot. Bro. He's like, we're 0:43:32.480 --> 0:43:34.239 so sorry, we run backward with shots. We gotta give 0:43:34.239 --> 0:43:37.480 you antibiotics. I'm like, okay, two pills a day for 0:43:37.520 --> 0:43:43.239 ten days. Well, five days in I felt good. I 0:43:43.280 --> 0:43:46.680 went to elevation nights, had the spirit of God. I 0:43:46.719 --> 0:43:50.320 forgot that I had ever been sick, and then last 0:43:50.360 --> 0:43:55.600 week the virus came back. Today, as I stand on 0:43:55.640 --> 0:43:59.160 the stage, I'm back on antibiotics. See which, why are 0:43:59.160 --> 0:44:01.080 you telling me is I'm telling you this that sometimes 0:44:01.800 --> 0:44:05.040 we have to face the same fight again and again 0:44:05.680 --> 0:44:08.560 and again, and we have to keep coming back to 0:44:08.600 --> 0:44:10.719 it because if you don't confront it, you can't change it. 0:44:11.719 --> 0:44:14.239 And if you keep denying it, you'll never ever be 0:44:14.320 --> 0:44:16.839 delivered from it. I want to say to some people 0:44:16.880 --> 0:44:18.719 right now that are running from some stuff, listen to me. 0:44:19.040 --> 0:44:23.320 When you numb the pain, you also numb the blessing. 0:44:23.920 --> 0:44:29.200 When you try to escape the trial, you're also going 0:44:29.239 --> 0:44:33.120 to escape the teaching and the lesson in it. They 0:44:33.160 --> 0:44:36.560 go hand in hand. And some fights you just got 0:44:36.560 --> 0:44:38.640 to keep fighting. Some things you got to keep coming 0:44:38.680 --> 0:44:40.560 back to. Some things you got to keep going. God, 0:44:40.760 --> 0:44:45.799 I got to apply your word again. I was laying 0:44:45.840 --> 0:44:47.279 in bed with my son about two weeks ago, my 0:44:47.320 --> 0:44:52.399 oldest son, Wyatt, and we were recounting his really first 0:44:52.440 --> 0:44:53.880 trip to Disney World. I took him when he was 0:44:53.880 --> 0:44:57.160 four years of age, and I really traumatize my apologize 0:44:57.160 --> 0:44:59.560 for that. At four years of age, I took him 0:44:59.600 --> 0:45:05.479 on Mountain. I said, you're gonna love it. He came off, 0:45:07.160 --> 0:45:12.840 You ever cry so hard, you convince yourself you have asthma. 0:45:13.120 --> 0:45:17.439 I hate you. He's in therapy, so that's going good. 0:45:17.480 --> 0:45:23.200 But he said, Dad, I hate that, right. I'm so sorry. 0:45:23.239 --> 0:45:26.080 And every year we would talk about it, and I'm 0:45:26.080 --> 0:45:28.279 always like, why you gotta go on it again. You'll 0:45:28.280 --> 0:45:30.600 love it, You'll love it, you'll love it. He's like, no, Dad, 0:45:30.600 --> 0:45:32.040 I don't want to go, and I go, you'll love it, 0:45:32.080 --> 0:45:35.160 you'll love it. Well, we just went back, literally maybe 0:45:35.320 --> 0:45:39.600 six weeks ago, and at seven years of age. I 0:45:40.239 --> 0:45:41.719 had to bribe him a little bit I said, I'll 0:45:41.719 --> 0:45:43.760 get you two toys, one from Star Wars, one from Marvel. 0:45:44.000 --> 0:45:46.719 Don't come at me in the comments. I'm just trying 0:45:46.719 --> 0:45:50.600 my best out in these streets. He's like, you promise, 0:45:50.640 --> 0:45:52.440 He's like crying. I'm like, you're gonna love it, you know. 0:45:54.719 --> 0:45:56.719 But he went on Space Mountain. Of course, as we 0:45:56.760 --> 0:45:59.920 came off the ride, he's got his hands up laughing 0:46:00.040 --> 0:46:05.080 to me, goes Dad again again again, And I was like, son, 0:46:05.120 --> 0:46:07.120 I want to go again, but the way my budget 0:46:07.160 --> 0:46:10.279 set up, I only got I only got one lightning passed. 0:46:10.280 --> 0:46:12.120 And so I said it bro just next year. You know. 0:46:15.280 --> 0:46:16.600 I tell you that because the night I was laying 0:46:16.600 --> 0:46:18.400 in bed with him, just two weeks ago, we were 0:46:18.440 --> 0:46:21.760 talking about Disney World. I said, why, what's your favorite 0:46:21.840 --> 0:46:28.359 ride at Disney World? He said Space Mountain. I said 0:46:28.360 --> 0:46:30.880 why that makes me laugh because you told me that 0:46:30.960 --> 0:46:32.680 you were so afraid of it that you hated it. 0:46:32.880 --> 0:46:35.440 He said, I know, Dad, but I think they changed 0:46:35.480 --> 0:46:45.920 the ride. And I said, no, Sun, the ride didn't change. 0:46:47.320 --> 0:46:55.400 You changed. You changed. It didn't get easier, you got stronger, 0:46:57.080 --> 0:46:59.400 and the battles won't get lighter. You'll just get wiser 0:47:00.160 --> 0:47:03.320 and circumstances won't change, but you will. You will grow 0:47:03.440 --> 0:47:07.600 from the inside out. You will win from your mind. 0:47:07.760 --> 0:47:10.680 And even before you get in the battle, even before 0:47:10.719 --> 0:47:14.319 it begins, you're walking in with a winning mindset. I 0:47:14.440 --> 0:47:17.279 know who my God is, and if my God is 0:47:17.400 --> 0:47:20.280 for me, well he's brought me through in the past, 0:47:20.640 --> 0:47:23.440 he'll bring me through again. I know there's a mountain 0:47:23.480 --> 0:47:25.920 in front of me, but all I gotta do is 0:47:26.000 --> 0:47:28.640 agree with the word of God. And even this mountain 0:47:28.920 --> 0:47:32.960 has got to move. Anybody feel like moving to mountain today? 0:47:33.320 --> 0:47:41.160 Clap your hands, give God to pray. Let's just stand 0:47:41.160 --> 0:47:45.040 to your feet all over this place. One verse I 0:47:45.080 --> 0:47:46.759 did not read, and let me speak at over to 0:47:46.800 --> 0:47:50.000 you as we come to a close Deuteronomy, chapter twenty, 0:47:50.040 --> 0:47:56.080 verse four, The Lord your God goes with you to 0:47:56.239 --> 0:48:02.040 fight for you, to give you victory. May you step 0:48:02.040 --> 0:48:03.880 into this week knowing that you have a God who 0:48:03.960 --> 0:48:07.480 will fight for you and with you, and he will 0:48:07.520 --> 0:48:10.879 give you victory. I know it feels like it's been 0:48:10.960 --> 0:48:14.080 battle after battle, but I think a faith filled person 0:48:14.120 --> 0:48:16.399 looks back on their story and it says, actually, it's 0:48:16.440 --> 0:48:22.400 been victory after victory after victory after victory. I'm getting stronger. 0:48:23.400 --> 0:48:27.840 I'm getting stronger. And if you'll face it, listen to me. 0:48:28.239 --> 0:48:32.719 If you'll face it, God will fight with you. He 0:48:32.760 --> 0:48:35.600 didn't give you armor on the backside. You go back 0:48:35.640 --> 0:48:39.640 and read Ephesian six. There is no back play because 0:48:39.640 --> 0:48:41.399 He never meant for you to turn from this thing. 0:48:42.000 --> 0:48:44.399 He meant you to face it. And God says, if 0:48:44.400 --> 0:48:47.360 you'll face it, I'm a fight for you. I'm a 0:48:47.440 --> 0:48:49.880 fight for you. I'm a fight for you. I'm a 0:48:49.960 --> 0:48:54.520 fight for you. When I was a kid, I was 0:48:54.560 --> 0:48:57.600 obsessed with professional wrestling. Don't you tell me it's fake, 0:48:58.840 --> 0:49:02.319 It's real. And I used to love the tag team 0:49:02.440 --> 0:49:06.240 leading to Doom Road Warriors. I'll keep going, but I'll stop. 0:49:06.880 --> 0:49:08.560 There always be this moment in a tag team match 0:49:08.560 --> 0:49:11.279 where the guy's down. He's down. He's down, he's down, 0:49:11.320 --> 0:49:16.000 he's tired, he's weary. What his partner is outside reaching 0:49:17.040 --> 0:49:23.080 reaching kind of looks like the cross. But while I 0:49:23.239 --> 0:49:28.360 was stuck in my sin, Christ died for me. What 0:49:28.520 --> 0:49:31.800 a miracle. When I couldn't get to him, he came 0:49:31.960 --> 0:49:35.600 to me and he reached out. And all you gotta 0:49:35.680 --> 0:49:39.600 do is tag God in, because when that partner gets 0:49:39.600 --> 0:49:45.560 in the ring momentum is about to shift. A miracle 0:49:45.960 --> 0:49:48.720 is on the way. I came all the way to Charlotte, 0:49:48.760 --> 0:49:54.360 North Carolina to tell some people tag God in. Jesus 0:49:54.440 --> 0:49:57.880 is here and if you tag him in, victory is 0:49:57.960 --> 0:50:01.919 on the way. Lifts your hands, listen, your boys, come 0:50:01.960 --> 0:50:03.080 on in worship God. 0:50:03.560 --> 0:50:05.040 Hey, wanna fuck. 0:50:06.640 --> 0:50:09.680 Fucking Toto? 0:50:09.880 --> 0:50:10.399 This, sir? 0:50:11.480 --> 0:50:17.800 What lay a power? Jesus were saying? What a faith saying? 0:50:18.719 --> 0:50:26.280 Thus say in your family, how you save myself? Thous 0:50:26.520 --> 0:50:31.880 Daddy coming you raise me? Fut me, coach fun me 0:50:32.400 --> 0:50:42.960 ca water being co funding me? Case what fun wat 0:50:43.080 --> 0:50:47.080 a beer? Tag got it? Tag him in? Tag him in. 0:50:48.200 --> 0:50:53.680 Thank God for Jesus. Thank God for Jesus with your 0:50:53.680 --> 0:50:55.719 head out of your eyes blue and all of our 0:50:55.760 --> 0:50:59.920 locations and online, Thank God for Jesus for pieces not 0:51:00.000 --> 0:51:02.120 on a concept, that's a person. He is the Prince 0:51:02.960 --> 0:51:08.040 of peace. The Cross was God saying, you can tag 0:51:08.160 --> 0:51:11.400 Jesus in. If you'll face it, He'll fight with you. 0:51:12.360 --> 0:51:15.960 Victory is in front of you. I don't know what 0:51:16.000 --> 0:51:18.399 battles you're stepping into this week, but you can win. 0:51:19.320 --> 0:51:26.600 Before you begin. It's a battle briefing. You're getting battle ready. 0:51:26.800 --> 0:51:35.279 It's a battle plan. God. Thank you for your presence. God, 0:51:35.280 --> 0:51:37.680 anything's possible when your people show up and your presence 0:51:37.719 --> 0:51:40.920 shows up, it's an atmosphere of possibility. So the Lord, 0:51:40.920 --> 0:51:44.279 I pray for people today that are fighting, people that 0:51:44.320 --> 0:51:49.400 are dealing with anxiety, people dealing with fear. What I 0:51:49.440 --> 0:51:51.600 pray that your word would get into their heart and 0:51:51.680 --> 0:51:55.480 begin to shape and reshape their internal world even now, 0:51:56.719 --> 0:52:03.719 Peace that transcends, peace that passes. What a miracle. Who 0:52:03.800 --> 0:52:08.080 am I that you'd love me? Holy Spirit? I just 0:52:08.480 --> 0:52:12.960 send you at work today, people facing so many things. 0:52:13.280 --> 0:52:16.040 Would you meet him here right here, right now, stay 0:52:16.080 --> 0:52:17.680 with your head bowed and your eyes closed before we 0:52:17.800 --> 0:52:19.000 dismiss them, before we get out of here. I just 0:52:19.000 --> 0:52:21.520 want to get people an opportunity. The Bible says, believe 0:52:21.520 --> 0:52:23.359 in your heart and confess with your mouth, and you 0:52:23.400 --> 0:52:27.520 shall be saved. You can't achieve salvation, you receive it. 0:52:27.520 --> 0:52:31.040 It's by grace through faith, so that no man can boast. 0:52:31.080 --> 0:52:33.000 For God so loved the world that he gave as 0:52:33.040 --> 0:52:35.600 one and only son, that whoever believes in and will 0:52:35.640 --> 0:52:39.360 not perish. But I've everlasting life. That's the message in 0:52:39.400 --> 0:52:41.719 the anthem of Elevation Church, and that's what we bring 0:52:41.760 --> 0:52:43.520 week in and week out. If you're online or right 0:52:43.520 --> 0:52:44.560 here in the room, and that's you today, you say, 0:52:44.600 --> 0:52:46.400 I want to surrender my life over to Jesus. On 0:52:46.400 --> 0:52:47.440 the count of three, I want to give you an 0:52:47.480 --> 0:52:49.719 opportunity just to lift your hand up high enough and 0:52:49.760 --> 0:52:51.680 long enough, just to say I want to put my trust, 0:52:51.960 --> 0:52:55.279 my faith in Jesus. It happens in a moment. It's 0:52:55.280 --> 0:53:01.320 called tagging God in. You're getting stronger day by faith. 0:53:01.480 --> 0:53:03.759 On the count of three. If that's you, lay say rich, 0:53:03.800 --> 0:53:05.640 would you pray with me? I want I want to 0:53:05.680 --> 0:53:07.600 receive grace. I want to receive Jesus on the kind 0:53:07.600 --> 0:53:09.279 of three. Ready one the Bible says today is that 0:53:09.360 --> 0:53:11.760 day two. Don't look at your neighbors. Not about your neighbor. 0:53:11.760 --> 0:53:15.000 It's between you and Jesus. Ready, one, two, three. If 0:53:15.000 --> 0:53:17.120 that you looked up, that's me. That's me. Thank you God, 0:53:17.320 --> 0:53:23.439 Thank you God, Thank you Jesus. Online right there, come 0:53:23.440 --> 0:53:26.399 on elevation, lift your hands towards Heaven. We're gonna pray 0:53:26.440 --> 0:53:30.520 this prayer and we're seeing this chorus. Say dear Jesus, today, 0:53:31.239 --> 0:53:34.440 I give you my life. I turn from my ways 0:53:35.239 --> 0:53:40.719 and I receive your words. I believe and confess you 0:53:40.760 --> 0:53:43.920 are who you said that you are. Thank you for 0:53:44.040 --> 0:53:49.160 loving me, Thank you for saving me. Today I ask 0:53:49.600 --> 0:53:52.480 that you would give me the grace to follow you. 0:53:53.320 --> 0:53:56.760 Thank you for your peace, thank you for your joy, 0:53:57.520 --> 0:54:04.320 Thank you for your word. Miracle in Jesus' name. Come on, everybody, 0:54:04.719 --> 0:54:12.640 give God praise. Thank you for joining us. 0:54:13.000 --> 0:54:15.440 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:54:15.520 --> 0:54:19.000 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:54:19.480 --> 0:54:21.680 You can click the link in the description to give 0:54:21.760 --> 0:54:25.920 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:54:25.920 --> 0:54:29.720 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:54:30.000 --> 0:54:31.320 You can share it with your friends. 0:54:31.600 --> 0:54:33.880 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:54:33.960 --> 0:54:36.080 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:54:36.080 --> 0:54:36.919 Elevation Church. 0:54:37.000 --> 0:54:43.640 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.