First Things First (Ben Graves)

0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:06.200 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:09.280 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:11.600 Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:13.680 new sermons every week. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.600 I hope you're blessed today. 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:23.720 Come on, Elevation Church. 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:26.120 Why don't we lift up the name of Jesus all 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:30.840 over this room? Come on, anyone gotta testimony a story? 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:38.600 Guys, that song? That song? You know, I don't know. 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:42.479 If you study church history, well you go back, Welsh Revival, 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.199 Great Awakening, as Zusa Street, go through any of them. 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:49.800 The common thread is as darkness began to prevail on 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:54.960 a culture, racism, brokenness, division, disunity. It was like at 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:58.200 the right time, God would look at the brokenness of 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:01.120 culture and say, that's my moment to pour my spirit out. 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:04.720 And I just want to prophesy and declare this. Can 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:07.840 we just say we're due for another great awakening, We're 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:10.679 due for an outpouring of God's told me spirit, do 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:12.240 it in our children. 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:13.520 O God, do it in our nation. 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:14.160 O God. 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:19.679 I'm just believing that's gonna be like the soundtrack. And 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:23.800 I'm just so grateful to be here. God is doing 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:27.800 a mighty thing in our day. Before we go a 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:30.440 step further, can we just make sure we give honor 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.480 where honor is due. Just before you cheer, Here's the 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:35.840 thing you need to know about Elevation Church. This is 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:39.840 a church that unapologetically believes that God's gonna plan a 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:41.480 hope in the future for the next generation. 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:43.640 So if you showed up. 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:46.720 To church today and you're like, why are all these 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:53.920 young people on stage, I'll just say this that there's 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:58.080 a cultural narrative that maybe the next generation is lost. 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:00.840 The next generation is too much on their phone. That 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:06.800 might be true, TikTok is infiltrating their culture and their 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:10.840 mind and they're lost. I just want to deliver a 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:16.200 different perspective that we're about to see. Thousands of students 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:22.360 from this community say I'm gonna lean into what God's doing, 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:25.560 and I just think the darker the world come on, 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:29.080 the more Taylor made anointing God has for this generation. 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.200 My Bible tells me this that in the last. 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:34.600 Days, what's going to happen the old men, but the 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:38.080 young men will dream dreams and prophesy, And I just 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.440 believe the best days are yet to come for the 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:46.360 next generation. And you serve it out of church that 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:51.280 your pastor's heart burns to see young people come to 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:55.959 find Jesus. So we'll put resources, we'll put time, we'll 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.480 put effort, we'll put music. So on behalf of what 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:00.240 God has done. 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:00.720 I know snow. 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:02.880 This this is how you honor a movement. You honor 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:06.080 a movement by bringing it forward. And can we just 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:07.919 take a moment right now and just give honor where 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:11.840 honor is due to Pastor Stephen and Holly Ferdick for 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.679 creating a space in a room for the next generation. 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:19.240 Thank you for being a role model to so many 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:22.480 young guys and girls like myself. We all just dream 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.840 one day could we just be like even half as 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:31.799 anointed in Jack his pastor Stephen Ferdick. Good lord, my 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:34.760 name is Ben Graves. I come from San Diego, California, 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:41.800 and uh yeah, the land of shamou SeaWorld really suffering 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:42.480 for the gospel. 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:43.320 Someone's got to do. 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:47.960 It is seventy five degrees year round. And my wife 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.040 and I Brooke, and our two beautiful babies. I think 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.320 we have a photo of them. We just send our love. 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:58.000 God's been so good to us. And that's our daughter 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:01.320 Banks and our little one Benji. I was thinking about 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:02.720 this last week. I'll let you sit in a moment 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:07.120 Maory scripture, but the one with the cute pigtails. The 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.480 craziest moment when she was born was, of course, like 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:12.480 when it's delivered and there's young people in the rooms. 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:16.000 I'll spare you the details, but there's this moment parents 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:17.599 in the room. You know, this moment where like you 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:19.640 kind of live in this fairy tale land of like 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.920 having nurses and doctors check in on you and they're 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:24.880 teaching you how to change a diaper, and then this 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:27.599 moment comes where you kind of sign your life away 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:32.240 on these documents and then the nurse just kind of goes, 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:36.960 see ya, and you're like holding a car seat you 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:39.560 learn how to put together on YouTube fifteen minutes prior. 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:42.640 I'll kind of look at my wife. 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:47.919 I'm like, they're just letting us leave, didn't even background 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:51.800 check me, and I'm a California driver. 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:52.640 Yellow means go. 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:56.160 But when that girl got in my car, all of 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:58.120 a sudden, I turned to sixty five years old, leaving 0:04:58.120 --> 0:04:59.719 my retirement community. 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:02.159 Slow down. 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:07.440 And there's this portion of scripture that just reminds me 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.240 of this moment because I went in one moment from 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:12.839 just being ben to like an instant getting this new title. 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:14.120 Dad. 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:17.320 I didn't earn it. I didn't really know what it 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:19.640 all meant. But every day of my life. 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:22.839 Has been a journey of growing and maturing into this 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:23.600 title had been given. 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:25.560 And Paul writes something in two Corinthians want to read 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.760 this text for us today. He says this, that we 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:34.359 are now Christ's ambassador. I just felt for someone in 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:36.520 the room, like, what is an ambassador? It's just someone 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.920 who represents one kingdom inside of another. 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.520 And Paul doesn't say one day you will be. 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:49.159 He doesn't say maybe when you get a certain degree 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:49.640 you will be. 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:51.640 He just says you are. 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:56.000 Did anyone ever struggle with this reality that you go 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:57.960 from death to life? But there's still this part of 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:00.880 you that sometimes doesn't feel like walking in this call 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.360 of ambassadorship? And when I think of being an ambassador, 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.960 I think every person in this room, young or old. 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:07.400 You have been giving. 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:10.000 You have been given a sphere of influence, a domain 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:13.159 that you are called to be a leader and ambassador 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:16.320 representing the Kingdom of God in this kingdom here on earth. 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:18.039 You have been given a family. 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.279 Moms and dads catch this You've been given young people, children, 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:24.799 even the snatty toddlers. You have been given a domain. 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:29.880 And what I've just learned culturally, especially around this next generation, 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:33.280 is some of us have forfeited or not lived up 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:36.280 into this title of a representation of Christ. 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.880 Pleading to a world come back to God. Because we 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:39.799 spend a lot. 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.080 Of time looking at the brokenness and the turmoil of 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:44.320 the world, and some of us have just become like 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:49.520 professional pointer outers of all the broken things. In what 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:52.640 we do when we focus on out there is sometimes 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:57.240 we forfeit the territory God's given us here. And I 0:06:57.360 --> 0:06:59.280 just want to encourage someone. Maybe you felt like this 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:02.880 week you didn't live like an ambassador for Christ, felt 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:06.640 like you live for an ambassador of insecurity, an ambassador 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:10.320 of trauma. I just came today to say God's got 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:13.840 a special amount of grace that he wants to impart 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:17.320 into your heart this morning. Because here's what this next 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:20.760 generation needs. It needs moms and dads and aunties and 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:24.080 uncles and business owners and workplace leaders that would say, 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:27.640 I want to be a representation to this broken world 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:33.560 saying come back to God. So Jesus, this morning we 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:37.160 say use us. Father, we don't want to vacate what 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:40.840 you've called us to lead in love the words of 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.480 Paul God, we are we grab. 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:45.240 On to that. I am. 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.560 This is my core duty, this is my role. I'm 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:50.679 a son and daughter of God. But then he gives 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:55.640 me this mission to represent who Christ is, not just 0:07:55.720 --> 0:08:00.000 represent what he's against, but to represents who he is. 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:04.120 So God, today I pray that every individual in this room, 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:06.880 the sound of my voice, watching online, watching all over 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:10.480 the campuses, that today Lord, their hearts would be softened 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:12.360 and open to the reality. 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.600 That God, you want to use me. I didn't see it. 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:18.400 This way, but you want to use me. I'm just 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:20.440 a mom, but you want to use me. I'm just 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:23.640 a dad, but you want to use me. Today, God, 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:25.680 I pray that your Holy Spirit would move all over 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:29.160 this room. God, we don't want to leave this sing 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:33.439 transform us from the inside out. Jesus, we love you, 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:37.840 We praise you, and all God's beautiful people said, hey, man, come. 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:39.199 On, why don't we give God a shout of praise? 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.640 High five someone as you find your seat? 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:46.079 What up you dam how we doing? The merch looks good. 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:51.440 The merch looks good. 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:55.719 I am beyond excited for what God is going to 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:56.440 do today. 0:08:57.120 --> 0:08:58.240 If you have your Bible turned to the. 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:03.720 Book of Judges chapter six, through this portion of scripture. Really, 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.360 anytime we study the Old Testament in Israelites and the 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:09.679 people of God, think of them really as an archaeotype 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:13.080 of all of humanity in many ways, right like we 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:15.720 see them in bondage and slavery in Egypt, and what 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:16.400 does God do? 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:18.000 He frees them. 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:20.520 This is the very same thing Christ does from your 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:23.120 sin in bondage and slave and his Holy Spirit through 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:23.839 the blood of Jesus. 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:25.280 What does it do? It frees you. 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.560 So ever we look at the Israelites, it's like they're 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:32.319 kind of even like schizophrenic in their walk with God 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.840 because you see them being like the prize called chosen 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:39.320 people of God. But then you see them not be 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.480 able to let go of this love for other gods 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.079 and other nations and other cultures. And in Judges chapter six, 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:48.400 where we land, you got to remember that this is 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:51.199 before we ever saw King step onto the scene. And 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:53.559 a judge different than a judge in our culture. A 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:55.880 judge in our culture would you know, justify the law. 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:57.800 Judge in this day would have been almost like a 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.920 superhero given to the people of God, pointed to be 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:04.360 a deliverer, someone to call the people back. So watch this, 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.160 When the Israelites would drift from God, he would then. 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:08.440 Send a a judge. 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:11.400 Now you read the Book of Judges and you'll see 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:14.120 that there are twelve different judges mentioned in this book, 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.560 which tells us that they would drift, God would. 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:19.120 Send a judge. 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:21.520 They would then drift again, and God would send another 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:26.960 judge twelve different times. And that is because no human 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:29.160 being is the answer to the condition of their heart. 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.800 I mean Moses, Abraham, all the Old Testament, Gideon, Deborah, 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:38.000 all the judges, all of them are just a preview. 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:39.880 Pointing too. 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.600 We can't fix this, but God is sending someone who can, 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:46.920 and his name is Jesus, his only son. So we 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:49.760 see God send judges to try and call the people 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:50.680 back to God. 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:53.800 And then once again the people would fall and fall 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:54.120 and fall. 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.200 And where we find ourselves in this text today is 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.720 the reality that the people of God have once again 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:01.480 did evil in the eyes of the Lord. I want 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:03.400 to read this Judge chapter six one through six, and 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:05.960 it says this, the Israelites did evil in the eyes 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:07.600 of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:08.880 into the hands of the Midianites. 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:11.079 Because the power of midian. 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:13.640 Was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves and 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:18.400 mounting clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:22.119 the Midianites, Emmaclites and other Eastern peoples invaded the country. 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:24.360 They camped on the land. 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:26.120 And ruined their crops all the way to Gaza, and 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:29.880 did not spare a living thing for israel either sheet, 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:33.040 nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their live 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:37.520 stock in their tents like swarms of locusts. This is 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:41.200 fascinating imagery here, right, because we saw in the delivery 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:43.959 of God's people from Egypt. Do you remember how God 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:47.120 judged the emperor the time said he would send swarms 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:50.240 of locus. Now we see this imagery bought back into 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.240 the text again. It's like saying, the thing that God 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:54.040 used to judge the enemy is now the thing that 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.360 is conquering them in their oppression. Here. Oh, this is 0:11:57.400 --> 0:11:59.840 interesting because we see that no longer are the people 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:02.760 of God because at this point they have made it 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:06.720 to the promised land. So they've made it now to 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:08.160 what God has promised for them. 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:10.559 But read this, they're. 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:13.320 Getting so beat up and so defeated by the enemy 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:18.600 that they have literally vacated the promise, and the Bible 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.560 says they have made homes for themselves in mountain clefts 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:24.640 and caves. Now, I don't know if you've ever been 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:26.360 in a season where you feel like you're just getting 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.600 beat up left and right by the enemy, that you 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:31.640 feel like, man, I thought I conquered this thing, but 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:35.280 it keeps coming back into my current situation. Maybe some 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:37.840 of you today you feel like, man, I've had seasons 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:39.839 of winning in seasons of losing. I just want to 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.720 ease your heart a little bit. That's walking with Jesus 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:47.680 that oftentimes it doesn't always feel like up into the right. 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:50.679 But we see the people of God here make it 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:51.600 to the promised land. 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:55.800 And because they're so oppressed, because the enemy is running 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.840 ravage in their day, it says that they. 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:02.200 Vacate and they go and hide. 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:04.040 Like I just imagine, like what was one of the 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:07.360 dads one day, just like getting beat up and scrolling 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:17.560 zillow dingy dark cave, fix her upper. I think he 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:19.480 probably had a moment. I just imagine it this way. 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.200 There was one dad who was just so tired of 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:25.240 his food being plumbaged, of his life being. 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:25.800 Taken from him. 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:28.120 He looked at his kids and went, you know what, 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:32.360 I think we could take him up to this cave 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:35.280 and we could just hide out a little bit. The 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:38.760 many nights can't get us up there. And maybe just 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:42.240 one family went up and made themselves a little shelter, 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:45.280 and one night turned to two nights and three nights 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:47.520 into four knights, and other family saw, man, they're safe 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:50.920 up there, and then another family leaves. 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:51.400 And packs up. 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.280 I just wonder if they really meant for it to 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:58.640 become their home. I think what they thought was going 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:02.199 to be shelter for a night, without knowing it became 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:07.360 now their defense for life. And now the promised land 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:13.400 of God is running with the enemy, and the people 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:19.840 of God are hiding. Remember same people shouted walls of 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:25.120 Jericho fall down are now hiding watching the enemy run ravish. 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:27.840 And here's what I know about our life. We all 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:35.400 have Midianites. There are annoying things in our lives, sin tendencies, background, 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:39.760 family of origin, things that we sometimes feel like we have. 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:43.320 Tried and tried and tried, and you don't feel delivered. 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:45.720 It's things that are beating you up, things that keep 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:49.360 you feeling down. And I just learned that oftentimes in 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:52.240 my life, I have a tendency not to fight when 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:56.640 I get tired, but to hide in. Hiding in twenty 0:14:56.680 --> 0:15:00.120 twenty six is bougie, easy and accessible. 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:03.080 Because you ain't even got to go find a cave. 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:06.840 You can just hop on your phone. 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:08.680 I learned this thing as a dad. I was like, 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:11.680 I've get stressed, overwhelmed. 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:14.360 I'm like, I'm just gonna go take a bathroom break. 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:23.160 And then God invented something called YouTube golf. But I 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:27.160 got convicted by the Lord one day. Don't imagine it 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:28.800 too much, but I got it convicted by the Lord 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:35.960 because I could hear my kids outside, and the Lord 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:36.880 decid to me, you're hiding. 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:42.120 That's the domain I've called you to lead in, and 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:42.720 you're hiding. 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:45.840 I think for some of us, it's like I'm just 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:48.480 so overwhelmed with the pressure to provide. I mean, let's 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:50.400 just talk about being a mom or a dad. It's like, 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:53.080 now it's not even just can you raise kids to survive? 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:55.000 It's like, but can you make sure they get no 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:57.360 red forty and make sure that they eat perfectly, and 0:15:57.400 --> 0:15:57.880 make sure. 0:15:57.720 --> 0:15:58.480 They're working out. 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.600 Inject peptides into that early so that they just get strong, 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:03.880 and make sure you're watching all this stuff and learning 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:05.160 this book and you're raising them up. 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:06.920 And it's just this whole thing. And I've just learned this. 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:08.720 It's like, also, I got to provide, and also I 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:10.080 got to be fit, and also I got to make 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:11.720 sure they're in the right sports, and also I got 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:13.320 to make sure I'm smart, and I'm reading my Bible 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:16.040 and all of the different things sometimes can cause us 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:17.040 to leave and just hide. 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.440 But can I remind you you have. 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:26.680 Not been called to vacate the promised land, parent, young person. 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:29.400 You have been giving a sphere of influence. 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:31.600 And what I've learned is when a sphere of influence 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:35.800 is vacated by an ambassador, it becomes an open door 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:37.040 for the enemy to rampage. 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.000 And I wonder if you feel like. 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:43.000 There is chaos raving inside of your life right now, 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:46.480 and could it be because God has called you to 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:50.520 that domain to lead, to pray, to make sure you're interceding, 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:55.040 to be present. But you find yourselves like the Israelites 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:59.600 in this text oftentimes retreating and hiding and not leading. 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.440 They find themselves in caves. Well, the next time you 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:05.159 see a cave in scripture, you would see in the 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:07.439 Book of Second Kings, you would see a man named Elijah, 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.400 just after defeating an enemy, he finds himself hiding out 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:11.960 in in a cave. 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:14.720 You see this all over. 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:18.840 You see David, King David running from Saul, who's supposed 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:21.359 to be his mentor his king, who's insecure. In the 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.400 Bible says that David runs and starts to hide out 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:26.800 into a cave. When go to the New Testament, two 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:30.800 sisters Mary Martha, Jesus finds them weeping outside of a 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:36.719 cave as their brother is now Dad Lazarus. Go google 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:40.760 what an ancient tomb look like in Biblical times. Even 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:46.359 Jesus found himself inside of a cave. But you know 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.920 what every cave in scripture has in common. Let's look 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:53.840 at Elijah for a moment. What happens. He's depressed, he's anxious, 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:55.919 he wants to take his own life. Guess who shows 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:59.120 up the spirit of God and brings him a meal. 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:01.439 Go to King David. 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:03.960 What happens, He's depressed, he's insecurity. He's inside of a cave. 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:08.000 Guess who shows up. God sends brothers friends to lift 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:10.800 him up. Go to Mary and Martha. They're crying outside 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:14.440 of a cave. Jesus shows up, weeps with them, powerful, 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:20.880 and then says, Lazarus, get out that cave. Because God 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:23.680 is not afraid of caves. We serve a God who 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:27.360 is in the business of showing up to caves and 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:31.520 redeeming and calling out. Jesus three days in a cave. 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:33.600 We all know the end of the story, friends, that 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:36.280 he did not stay in that cave. But three days 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:38.800 later he got up out of the grave and defeated 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:39.879 sin death in the grave. 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:41.639 So here's what I know for your life. 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:44.400 You might have been hiding, you might be in secret, 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:45.480 you might being. 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:47.840 Broken, But good news that we serve a. 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:50.520 God who loves to show up in caves and call 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:53.720 his sons and daughters back home. Come on, can I 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:56.840 get an amen in the house of God today. He's 0:18:56.880 --> 0:18:59.359 in the business of showing up in dark places. The 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:03.760 Bible says, while we were still sinning, I'll be super 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.240 playing with you while you were hiding, while you were 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:08.199 getting drunk, while you were messing up while you were 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:10.840 running from God. Fill in the blank with whatever that 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:13.719 sin issue is. The Bible says that while you were sinning, 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:19.399 that's when He shows up. So some of us, what 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:20.960 we do is we go, Man, I'm just in a 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:22.720 bad season. I've been hiding in. What we do is 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:25.000 we double down and we make a lifestyle. What if 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.000 God's called to be something you get called out of 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:30.520 and today what I believe God is doing in a 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:32.120 lot of our lives. You need to meet the man 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:34.159 who will show up to your cave today and he 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:36.359 will call you home with his grace, his mercy, and 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:38.480 his Holy Spirit. What he wants to do in and 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:40.840 through your life you have no idea, But here's what 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:41.159 I know. 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:42.600 You have been given a territory. 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.680 You have been given a promise in This next generation 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:50.160 needs leaders and parents and people who will not vacate 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:52.880 the promise in the place God's given me in sit 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:55.480 and hiding. But the spirit of the Living God, here's 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.000 what I know. There's a tailor made anointing for you, Mom, 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:02.200 a tailor made anointing for you to do the thing 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:04.720 God's called you to do. You do know this, God 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:06.719 will never call you to do something, but not equip 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:10.119 you through it. So in every season you are in, 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:13.879 remind yourself this today that even if I've been hiding, 0:20:13.920 --> 0:20:17.480 the hiding doesn't define me and it's not where you 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:20.600 were called to live. I get it, it's been a 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:21.800 hard season. I get it. 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:25.040 Things have been difficult, But you can't live there. 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:31.240 There's too much a stake. Who else is coming for 0:20:31.320 --> 0:20:36.119 this next generation? Many of us are just like, so, 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:41.960 you've Passor's job. It's a preacher's job. It's Bryce Crawford's 0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:43.920 job on Instagram, whatever you're looking for, it's their job. 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:47.000 We need to take a hard look in the mirror 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:49.680 and go no, no, no. If God's placed me here, 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:52.919 that means he wants to use me to reach people 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:56.479 out there. And we got to stop complaining about the 0:20:56.520 --> 0:20:59.720 cave and start stepping into the anointing God has given 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:03.440 us to lead this next generation to the purpose of Jesus. 0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:04.360 How do we do it? 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:06.600 Teach them how to pray, teach them how to read 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:09.480 your Bible, teach them how to intercede. They need to 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:14.240 watch Christians not be hiding, but Christians being ambassadors. 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:19.400 Because we speak for who God. 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:23.960 The guy who stars into this galaxy, the guy who 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:27.119 formed you in your mother's room, the one who holds 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:28.320 all this in the Palla's hands. 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:33.520 You speak for for him. I don't think you're hearing this. 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:38.080 God says, you speak for him when you cry out 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:42.320 to a broken world come home, which means the authority 0:21:42.359 --> 0:21:45.399 of God is on your life. In your call for 0:21:45.440 --> 0:21:47.840 young people to come back to Jesus, for coworkers to 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:50.760 come back to Jesus, he has anointed you and given. 0:21:50.560 --> 0:21:51.639 Him your power. 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:55.959 So reading this text, they find themselves syndicate and Jesus 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:57.600 shows up this time with a conversation. 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:00.000 If you know this narrative, it's beautiful and it's powerful. 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:01.760 But we see he shows up. 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:03.600 In verse eleven, he says, the Angel Lord sat down 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:06.160 in the oak of Oprah, which belonged to josh Sebreezia, 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:09.119 where Sun Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:11.640 to keep it from the midy nights. Verse twelve, when 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:14.840 the Angel Lord appeared to Gideon and he said, the Lord. 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:19.320 Is with you, mighty warrior. Now where does he find Gideon? 0:22:20.200 --> 0:22:22.040 We don't really know much proby about threshing wheat, but 0:22:22.119 --> 0:22:24.320 here's what I've just learned about it is Normally the 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:26.280 wheat threshing would take place on the top of a 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:30.080 mountain where wind could blow through and help them to 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:33.119 collect the wheat. So he's doing a work on should 0:22:33.119 --> 0:22:35.119 be on top of a mountain, but he's doing it 0:22:35.160 --> 0:22:39.320 inside of a wine cave. So he's trying to mow 0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:40.360 his lawn in his backyard. 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:42.600 This thing doesn't make. 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:46.720 Sense because when you're operating from a place of fear 0:22:46.760 --> 0:22:50.320 and hiding, oftentimes you'll be trying to do the right thing, 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:54.760 but it just won't make sense. And where we find 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:59.080 Gideon here is operating in fear. He's operating in fear. 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:01.240 We took my little daughter on a flight not too 0:23:01.240 --> 0:23:04.120 long ago, and I remember we were kind of taken off, 0:23:04.119 --> 0:23:06.800 and I was surprised how chill she was about the 0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:07.720 whole flying experience. 0:23:08.320 --> 0:23:10.040 And we're kind of. 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.000 Beginning our descent back into San Diego and I kind 0:23:13.000 --> 0:23:14.560 of look over at her and the windows open. She 0:23:14.560 --> 0:23:16.520 can see out the window. I look over it and 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:18.760 I go, hey, Mabe, isn't this cool. 0:23:18.800 --> 0:23:19.280 We're flying. 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:24.679 She's like yeah, goes back to playing whatever's playing, and 0:23:24.720 --> 0:23:26.640 I go no, and I start to explain to her. 0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:27.680 Look out there. 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:32.640 We're in the air and see the little people down there. 0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:37.119 We're way above them. She's like, yeah, I go, no, 0:23:37.200 --> 0:23:38.680 see the cloud right there, We're going to go through 0:23:38.680 --> 0:23:39.040 the cloud. 0:23:39.080 --> 0:23:39.440 We're hot. 0:23:39.480 --> 0:23:42.880 I'm trying to explain this to her, and then all 0:23:42.880 --> 0:23:47.000 of a sudden we go under some cloud cover and 0:23:47.040 --> 0:23:51.760 it clicks in her head and she goes shut the window, 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:53.399 shut the windows, shut the window, shut the window. 0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:58.880 And for the rest of the flight, I would try 0:23:58.880 --> 0:24:00.680 and open that window. No, shut the window, shut the window, 0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:01.240 shut the window. 0:24:04.080 --> 0:24:07.239 She got a lens of fear and it changed how 0:24:07.280 --> 0:24:11.240 she operated on the flight. And I think some of 0:24:11.280 --> 0:24:15.160 us when we look backwards and we look at what 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:18.560 happened to us. We looked at what happened to Mom, 0:24:19.160 --> 0:24:20.879 look to what happened to Grandma, We look at what 0:24:20.920 --> 0:24:23.199 happened in our twenties. We look at what happened. It 0:24:23.240 --> 0:24:24.680 has given you a lens of fear. And how you 0:24:24.720 --> 0:24:27.359 see the future. What is fear? 0:24:28.280 --> 0:24:30.480 It's just imagining a future without God in it. 0:24:34.160 --> 0:24:37.719 And I just think for you today, stop being so 0:24:37.840 --> 0:24:40.680 focused on what's in front of you that you forget 0:24:40.720 --> 0:24:43.639 who's above you. Because can I remind you in your 0:24:43.680 --> 0:24:47.800 fear that you might see turmoil, you might see no 0:24:47.880 --> 0:24:50.800 way out, you might see brokenness and all of this 0:24:50.960 --> 0:24:52.720 in front of you. But some of us seed a 0:24:52.840 --> 0:24:55.639 pause on a Monday morning and look up to heaven 0:24:55.840 --> 0:24:58.359 and say, God, give me a perspective, give me a 0:24:58.400 --> 0:25:01.119 fresh lens, so for me to see my kids, my family, 0:25:01.160 --> 0:25:04.560 my future like you see them God. Because he says 0:25:04.600 --> 0:25:10.240 this to Gideon, mighty warrior. He didn't find them like 0:25:10.480 --> 0:25:14.879 bench pressing. You didn't find him sharpening a spear. 0:25:16.240 --> 0:25:17.280 He finds him hiding. 0:25:19.080 --> 0:25:23.840 And that's because God sits in his prophetic future. He 0:25:23.920 --> 0:25:26.760 sits in his future, and he's calling him out, speaking 0:25:26.800 --> 0:25:30.320 identity to him before he steps into it. And what 0:25:30.400 --> 0:25:32.280 many of us do is we hear the prophetic word 0:25:32.280 --> 0:25:36.080 of God over our life, ambassador, and we go, there's 0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:39.560 no way man, not me. Have you seen my past? 0:25:40.240 --> 0:25:42.720 Have you seen what I've walked through? Have you seen 0:25:42.720 --> 0:25:46.800 what I've done? I am not that, but can I 0:25:46.880 --> 0:25:50.399 remind you sometimes you got to turn down the voice 0:25:50.440 --> 0:25:53.200 of lies in your mind, and you need to get 0:25:53.200 --> 0:25:56.080 the voice of God in your prophetic future and your destiny, 0:25:56.080 --> 0:25:59.240 calling you who you are, mighty warrior. Ambassador, Son and 0:25:59.320 --> 0:26:02.080 daughter of God. This is what God does to his 0:26:02.119 --> 0:26:05.720 own son. Before Jesus ever does an act of ministry, 0:26:05.920 --> 0:26:07.000 what does the voice. 0:26:06.720 --> 0:26:09.919 Of the Father speak over him? Identity? 0:26:11.480 --> 0:26:14.040 Now, this has been like, this is gospel, this is Bible. 0:26:14.200 --> 0:26:16.760 This is called atomic habits that came out. That is 0:26:16.800 --> 0:26:19.800 now like reiterating the same thing. Atomic Habit says this 0:26:19.920 --> 0:26:22.360 that before you can ever change what you get. 0:26:22.200 --> 0:26:25.040 The outcome, you got to change what you do. 0:26:26.119 --> 0:26:29.320 But before you can change what you do, you gotta 0:26:29.440 --> 0:26:32.840 change who I am. He says, identity drives what you do, 0:26:32.880 --> 0:26:35.760 and what you do drives what you get. I love 0:26:35.800 --> 0:26:39.080 this because this is the gospel. Before you ever have 0:26:39.160 --> 0:26:42.720 to earn anything, do anything, he just affirms your identity, 0:26:42.800 --> 0:26:46.080 son and daughter of God. Now, a lot of times 0:26:46.080 --> 0:26:48.280 what we do is we go I'm so broken and 0:26:48.320 --> 0:26:50.159 I'm so in this mess that what I do is. 0:26:50.119 --> 0:26:53.800 I gotta fix what I do. So I'm gonna drind 0:26:53.840 --> 0:26:55.240 harder and work harder. 0:26:54.960 --> 0:26:56.720 And make sure I fix my habits and fix my 0:26:56.760 --> 0:26:58.200 screen time and fix all the things. And those things 0:26:58.200 --> 0:27:00.720 aren't all bad, but we get so don't focus on 0:27:00.760 --> 0:27:04.000 what we do that we forget the rootsources. I just 0:27:04.000 --> 0:27:05.760 got to get a fresh word from God and identity 0:27:05.760 --> 0:27:06.960 over who I am. 0:27:07.200 --> 0:27:08.280 And here's what I've learned. 0:27:08.600 --> 0:27:10.879 There is no way you can operate in freedom if 0:27:10.880 --> 0:27:12.000 you see yourself as a slave. 0:27:14.000 --> 0:27:15.440 There is no way you will see. 0:27:15.280 --> 0:27:17.520 Yourself as an ambassador if you see yourself as a 0:27:17.680 --> 0:27:21.240 havoc to the kingdom of God. When God called you, 0:27:21.800 --> 0:27:27.040 he knew your background. God's not in heaven like confused. 0:27:26.920 --> 0:27:32.160 On who you are. Oh, in the nineties, dang. 0:27:33.920 --> 0:27:37.280 Must have missed that part, all right, never mind send 0:27:37.320 --> 0:27:41.520 the kids back. When God called you, he knew your mess, 0:27:41.520 --> 0:27:43.399 he knew your breakup, he knew the everything that had 0:27:43.400 --> 0:27:45.240 ever happened to you. And still what does he do? 0:27:45.560 --> 0:27:50.240 He calls you, mighty warrior. Gideon gets this prophetic call 0:27:50.440 --> 0:27:53.600 from God. And for some of you today, what you 0:27:53.640 --> 0:27:54.960 need to get you out of this cave is you 0:27:55.040 --> 0:27:55.359 just need. 0:27:55.280 --> 0:27:59.359 To be reminded you're called you're a leader. 0:28:00.640 --> 0:28:04.520 God puts something on the inside of you. God doesn't 0:28:04.560 --> 0:28:06.120 need another dad for those kids. 0:28:06.119 --> 0:28:06.639 He needs you. 0:28:08.880 --> 0:28:11.040 God could have had somebody else leave the business, but 0:28:11.080 --> 0:28:11.800 he put you there. 0:28:13.000 --> 0:28:14.840 So some of you got to get some confidence back 0:28:14.920 --> 0:28:15.399 today and go. 0:28:15.680 --> 0:28:18.600 If God's placed my feet in this family, if God's 0:28:18.600 --> 0:28:21.560 face my feet in this place. That means God wants 0:28:21.600 --> 0:28:24.480 to use me to for his kingdom. So this is 0:28:24.520 --> 0:28:27.760 good news for us. So so Gideon, who ReBs up, 0:28:27.880 --> 0:28:29.800 so he So Gideon has this moment. Here's mighty warrior 0:28:29.800 --> 0:28:32.080 from him, because God sees who he's becoming, not just 0:28:32.080 --> 0:28:35.040 who he is. And God will always speak to who 0:28:35.119 --> 0:28:38.640 you are becoming to help you get a picture and 0:28:38.680 --> 0:28:40.000 to guide your next step. 0:28:40.600 --> 0:28:41.560 This is why I love the Bible. 0:28:41.560 --> 0:28:43.880 It says, it's a lamp unto our feet, not a 0:28:43.920 --> 0:28:46.640 headlight fifty feet in front of us. So you need 0:28:46.640 --> 0:28:48.920 the word of God to just step into the identity 0:28:48.960 --> 0:28:49.600 that next step. 0:28:50.400 --> 0:28:52.320 So he speaks this into you, and then Gideon goes 0:28:52.360 --> 0:28:53.320 on this whole rant. 0:28:53.320 --> 0:28:55.520 He gives a ted talk on twenty reasons why God 0:28:55.600 --> 0:28:59.920 shouldn't use him and whatever do this before You're like, 0:29:00.040 --> 0:29:02.280 God's like pumping your heart, like go pray for that 0:29:02.320 --> 0:29:08.960 person over there, And you're like, haven't I coffee yet? 0:29:10.800 --> 0:29:14.760 They have tattoos? I don't, I don't know whatever reason. 0:29:15.640 --> 0:29:18.960 Watch what Gineon does in this response. He says, pardon me, 0:29:19.000 --> 0:29:25.120 my Lord. He tries to correct God. But if the 0:29:25.120 --> 0:29:27.200 Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us. 0:29:28.360 --> 0:29:30.640 I just imagine he's got this like weak, whimpy voice. 0:29:30.680 --> 0:29:33.640 I don't know where are all the wonders of our 0:29:33.680 --> 0:29:36.240 ancestors told us about when they said to the Lord, 0:29:36.320 --> 0:29:38.520 not bring you up out of Egypt. But now the 0:29:38.520 --> 0:29:41.600 Lord has abandoned us. Look at this, he's speaking like 0:29:41.640 --> 0:29:43.880 this is fact that God. 0:29:43.720 --> 0:29:48.040 Has abandoned him. Who's standing in front of him? 0:29:49.120 --> 0:29:52.240 He goes on and on, pardon me, my Lord, how 0:29:52.280 --> 0:29:53.479 can I save Israel? 0:29:54.160 --> 0:29:58.600 My clan is the weakest in Messiah. I'm the least 0:29:58.640 --> 0:30:00.959 in my family. The Lord answered, watch this. 0:30:01.760 --> 0:30:07.280 He doesn't rebuttal, he doesn't correct him. Gideon gives the 0:30:07.320 --> 0:30:09.320 list of the reasons why he shouldn't be used. 0:30:09.200 --> 0:30:10.360 And what does he say. 0:30:11.320 --> 0:30:15.120 I'll be with you, and some of you have memorized 0:30:15.120 --> 0:30:17.480 and gotten so obsessed with why God can't use you. 0:30:19.520 --> 0:30:21.000 And here's what I love about God. Every time I've 0:30:21.000 --> 0:30:22.400 come to God and be like, no, it's not me, 0:30:23.200 --> 0:30:27.440 I'm not the guy. God doesn't like fight with me. 0:30:28.360 --> 0:30:32.280 He's like, yeah, I know you're weak, No, I know 0:30:32.360 --> 0:30:33.000 you're shortcoming. 0:30:34.320 --> 0:30:39.240 Yeah, I know who your mom was, Yeah, I know 0:30:39.280 --> 0:30:42.880 what you did in high school. But I'll be with 0:30:42.920 --> 0:30:48.520 you because all you need is the Lord on your side. 0:30:49.120 --> 0:30:51.320 And what I've learned is you can line up every 0:30:51.480 --> 0:30:54.800 excuse of why God can't use you, and his response 0:30:54.880 --> 0:30:57.800 back will be I know, but I'll be with you 0:30:57.840 --> 0:31:01.719 anyone grateful that in your weak moment, God doesn't neglect you, 0:31:01.960 --> 0:31:04.480 he doesn't run from you, but he says, I'll stand 0:31:04.520 --> 0:31:09.040 by your side. Translation, you plus God is all you need. 0:31:10.920 --> 0:31:13.240 I love the workout program, and I love you're getting 0:31:13.240 --> 0:31:14.040 down in theology. 0:31:14.120 --> 0:31:16.240 I love you're going to church. It's awesome. But you 0:31:16.480 --> 0:31:20.320 plus God is all you need. Some of you think 0:31:20.440 --> 0:31:23.560 I'm just not him. I'm not hurt. 0:31:23.960 --> 0:31:25.800 Some of you gotta get the confidence, getna give. So 0:31:25.800 --> 0:31:28.520 Gidding gets the confidence. Finally, now he's like, okay, I'll 0:31:28.560 --> 0:31:30.840 do it. There's this testing moment and they go back 0:31:30.880 --> 0:31:32.880 and forth, and finally God proves like, I'm for real, 0:31:32.960 --> 0:31:34.880 You're gonna be the one to deliver my people from 0:31:34.880 --> 0:31:35.520 the Midia Nites. 0:31:36.120 --> 0:31:38.680 And Gideon gets his call. He's like, Okay, let's do it. 0:31:38.720 --> 0:31:42.400 And if I'm Gideon, I'm thinking, Okay, let's get the 0:31:42.400 --> 0:31:45.480 strongest boys, start. 0:31:45.200 --> 0:31:48.160 Sharpening the spear. Let's put power. 0:31:48.200 --> 0:31:53.440 By Kanye west On ah, hey, let's rally the boys. 0:31:53.640 --> 0:31:57.320 We're going to war. We're watching Saving Private Ryan together. 0:31:57.360 --> 0:31:59.680 We're getting fired up, and we're gonna take down these 0:31:59.720 --> 0:32:05.440 Median knights. And watch what God says back to him 0:32:06.720 --> 0:32:07.560 that night. Lord said to. 0:32:07.600 --> 0:32:12.040 Him, take your father's bowl in the second bowl seven 0:32:12.120 --> 0:32:14.880 years old, and pull down the altar to bail that 0:32:14.960 --> 0:32:18.960 your father has, and cut down the astral pole that 0:32:19.040 --> 0:32:21.960 is besides it, and build an altar to the Lord, 0:32:21.960 --> 0:32:24.760 your God, on top of the stronghold there with stones 0:32:24.800 --> 0:32:27.160 laid in due order. Then take the second bowl and 0:32:27.240 --> 0:32:28.880 offer as a burnt offering with the wood of the 0:32:28.920 --> 0:32:32.120 astro that you shall cut down. So Gidding gets the 0:32:32.200 --> 0:32:35.240 confidence to go take down the enemy. Feel this, you 0:32:35.240 --> 0:32:39.200 feel real confident, like, yeah, this addiction right in the 0:32:39.280 --> 0:32:43.000 me today. This mean person on the freeway. 0:32:42.760 --> 0:32:45.360 Ran in to me today. You get fired up. The 0:32:45.360 --> 0:32:46.120 God's gonna using. 0:32:48.400 --> 0:32:50.440 And God doesn't say the enemy is the midy knights. 0:32:50.440 --> 0:32:53.600 Watch me, does He says, before you go to the battlefield, 0:32:54.840 --> 0:32:57.640 go to your backyard. 0:32:58.680 --> 0:33:07.000 Totch this. The enemy wasn't the enemy. The enemy was 0:33:07.000 --> 0:33:07.720 in their backyard. 0:33:09.640 --> 0:33:12.040 The Bible says that there was an altar a statue 0:33:12.800 --> 0:33:14.440 to the false god of Bail and this culture. 0:33:14.480 --> 0:33:17.200 Bail would have been the God that represents. 0:33:16.720 --> 0:33:19.560 Productivity, success, sexuality, all the things that they would go 0:33:19.600 --> 0:33:20.320 to in this culture. 0:33:21.080 --> 0:33:23.000 Now this isn't starting Judge's sakes. Go back to Judge 0:33:23.040 --> 0:33:25.840 chapter one. God gives a. 0:33:25.920 --> 0:33:28.200 Very simple commandment to the people of God when it 0:33:28.200 --> 0:33:31.239 comes to the enemy nation. He doesn't say play with them, 0:33:31.280 --> 0:33:32.840 he doesn't say invite them in their house. He says 0:33:32.960 --> 0:33:38.280 drive them out. In all of Judges, you see a 0:33:38.320 --> 0:33:41.719 different people group, a different nation come through their lives 0:33:42.480 --> 0:33:44.680 and instead of them following what God said, drive them out, 0:33:44.720 --> 0:33:45.200 you know what he does. 0:33:45.240 --> 0:33:45.560 They do. 0:33:46.040 --> 0:33:49.680 They take some as workers, try and monetize what God 0:33:49.720 --> 0:33:52.320 asks them to drive out. They take some as wives, 0:33:54.320 --> 0:34:00.600 and what God had called bondage they've kept around for 0:34:00.720 --> 0:34:01.800 generation and generation. 0:34:02.600 --> 0:34:03.600 Now this is interesting. 0:34:03.720 --> 0:34:06.000 God says, go to your father's house, which tells me 0:34:06.000 --> 0:34:06.680 Gideon would have. 0:34:06.640 --> 0:34:07.240 Grown up. 0:34:08.840 --> 0:34:14.600 Watching his dad worship Bail, call himself a part of 0:34:14.640 --> 0:34:18.280 the people of God, but worship Bail. 0:34:20.520 --> 0:34:22.240 So for Gideon, he was just used to this. 0:34:24.040 --> 0:34:26.160 And the call from God to Gideon before it's go 0:34:26.200 --> 0:34:29.719 to the battlefield, he says, go deal with that thing 0:34:29.760 --> 0:34:34.080 in your dad's house because it's been running through the generation. 0:34:34.920 --> 0:34:37.919 But Gideon, it's about to run into you, and watch 0:34:37.960 --> 0:34:41.080 this Gideon. Many theologians believe Gideon was actually a nickname. 0:34:42.440 --> 0:34:44.719 Hacker, that he would. 0:34:44.520 --> 0:34:51.399 Have gotten from being good at chopping wood. So when 0:34:51.400 --> 0:34:56.360 God calls him, Gideon thinks it's to like be a warrior. 0:34:57.680 --> 0:35:01.000 God's looking at his nickname and go, I'm gonna use 0:35:01.040 --> 0:35:03.879 what you've been good at in your life, and you're 0:35:03.880 --> 0:35:07.879 gonna use it to cut down a false alter. Now, 0:35:07.920 --> 0:35:10.160 when it happens, it says the fire God. 0:35:10.160 --> 0:35:10.839 He says, don't just. 0:35:10.760 --> 0:35:13.760 Cut it down, but build a new altar to King Jesus, 0:35:13.760 --> 0:35:17.120 to God. And when it happens, the Bible tells us 0:35:17.120 --> 0:35:18.320 this that his father looks. 0:35:18.120 --> 0:35:19.200 At him and gives him a new name. 0:35:20.040 --> 0:35:22.560 From the rest of this book, he's no longer called Guineon. 0:35:22.600 --> 0:35:28.920 He's called Jerubal, which means let bail contend with me. 0:35:32.239 --> 0:35:34.120 And here's what I came to preach. 0:35:33.840 --> 0:35:38.160 To somebody today that some of us, the war is 0:35:38.160 --> 0:35:43.840 not out there. The war is not that candidate. The 0:35:43.880 --> 0:35:47.920 war is not that issue. The war is something in 0:35:47.960 --> 0:35:53.960 my heart. It's pride. It's insecurity. I think very similar. 0:35:54.640 --> 0:35:58.120 Before you saw God give the people of God forty 0:35:58.200 --> 0:36:01.440 years of freedom, he asked them to first tear down 0:36:01.440 --> 0:36:05.040 this altar. And I've learned this that every family passes 0:36:05.080 --> 0:36:10.040 something down. For some of us, it's watches, it's cars, 0:36:10.080 --> 0:36:14.520 it's things, it's last names. But many of us are 0:36:14.600 --> 0:36:16.560 very familiar with maybe the darker things that have been 0:36:16.560 --> 0:36:22.359 passed down addiction, security, divorce, brokenness. 0:36:23.520 --> 0:36:25.799 In my family, my grandfather, he. 0:36:25.800 --> 0:36:28.120 Just passed away just a couple months ago, and who 0:36:28.120 --> 0:36:31.720 were at his memorial? And my grandfather was a pastor 0:36:34.640 --> 0:36:37.239 and man for more than forty plus years of his life. 0:36:37.520 --> 0:36:43.080 He struggled with deep addiction. It messed up so many relationships, 0:36:43.840 --> 0:36:48.440 blew up a church, blew up a marriage, blew up 0:36:48.480 --> 0:36:51.840 relationship with his kids. It was like this thing he 0:36:51.880 --> 0:36:58.160 could not get over. But about twelve years ago he 0:36:58.239 --> 0:37:01.560 looked back at his life said I've made a mess. 0:37:03.239 --> 0:37:06.080 But something in him said, I still got some time 0:37:06.080 --> 0:37:10.920 in front of me. About twelve years ago, he got clean, 0:37:11.000 --> 0:37:15.920 He did work, and he started ministry. Anytime a guy 0:37:15.960 --> 0:37:24.520 would know we can play, the attends Life Church. 0:37:24.520 --> 0:37:25.040 And any time a. 0:37:25.040 --> 0:37:28.400 Guy at Life Church would have a similar addiction, his 0:37:28.480 --> 0:37:29.480 pastor would call wrong. 0:37:30.800 --> 0:37:31.920 For twelve years of his life. 0:37:31.800 --> 0:37:33.520 He just met with men, and met with guys, and 0:37:33.560 --> 0:37:35.560 met with husbands and met with people struggling with people 0:37:35.560 --> 0:37:38.800 who are broken. My brother and I and our family 0:37:38.840 --> 0:37:40.480 got to Sitisen a memorial. 0:37:41.960 --> 0:37:42.879 Not with the name of. 0:37:43.200 --> 0:37:52.440 Sinner, addict, marriage wrecker, moral failure. We sat in the 0:37:52.440 --> 0:37:55.359 front road of his memorial and watched dude after dude 0:37:55.480 --> 0:38:02.600 after dude get up on stage with tears in their eyes. Say, 0:38:02.680 --> 0:38:06.520 Ron saved my marriage in my darkest moment. He showed 0:38:06.600 --> 0:38:09.480 up when I didn't think I was gonna make it. 0:38:09.920 --> 0:38:13.960 He invited me to his house. I was thinking about 0:38:13.960 --> 0:38:17.799 the sit in the memorial. His name could have been 0:38:17.800 --> 0:38:21.480 a lot of things, but somewhere he made a decision. 0:38:22.760 --> 0:38:23.960 I'm not gonna let it define me. 0:38:26.000 --> 0:38:29.560 And I wonder today if I say, Dad in the room, 0:38:29.960 --> 0:38:31.600 who your name needs to be changed, the one that 0:38:31.640 --> 0:38:35.280 contended with addiction. There's a mom in the room today 0:38:35.280 --> 0:38:37.840 that your name needs to be changed, the one who contended. 0:38:37.840 --> 0:38:39.640 For your kids. 0:38:39.680 --> 0:38:42.360 Someone in the room today says, I contended for my college, 0:38:42.840 --> 0:38:45.480 I contended for my high school. Because there is a 0:38:45.560 --> 0:38:47.440 name for you on the other side of you. Embracing 0:38:47.480 --> 0:38:50.800 the grace of Jesus. And here's what I know. Fifty 0:38:50.880 --> 0:38:53.680 years or so he might have messed up, But the 0:38:53.719 --> 0:38:56.760 twelve years of faithfulness unlocked fifty plus years and fifty 0:38:57.000 --> 0:39:09.080 other people's lives, what's your legacy gonna be. I know 0:39:09.160 --> 0:39:13.200 it's been hard. I know hiding has gotten comfortable. But 0:39:13.360 --> 0:39:16.400 God today, like Gideon, is saying it's time to tear 0:39:16.440 --> 0:39:20.759 that thing down. I know it's been living in your backyard. 0:39:20.840 --> 0:39:22.560 I know it's been in your heart. I know it's 0:39:22.600 --> 0:39:23.480 been in your mind. 0:39:23.600 --> 0:39:24.640 But enough is enough. 0:39:25.920 --> 0:39:29.080 But don't just tear it down and stay there. You 0:39:29.200 --> 0:39:32.120 build a new altar unto me. Because when you tear 0:39:32.200 --> 0:39:34.600 down the sin and the brokenness of your life and 0:39:34.640 --> 0:39:37.960 receive grace and you make it worship unto God, what 0:39:38.080 --> 0:39:40.400 He will do is use you in ways you can 0:39:40.480 --> 0:39:43.960 never imagine. He'll send you to people that need your help. 0:39:44.040 --> 0:39:46.600 He'll break off things in your life to help you 0:39:46.640 --> 0:39:47.320 break off. 0:39:47.160 --> 0:39:47.960 Things in others. 0:39:48.160 --> 0:39:50.520 God's got a plan, it a purpose for your life. Friends, 0:39:52.560 --> 0:39:54.560 you weren't called to ki, you weren't called to a cave. 0:39:54.640 --> 0:39:58.480 You weren't called to hide. And I hope one day. 0:40:00.040 --> 0:40:02.240 There would be people that would tell stories of you your. 0:40:02.080 --> 0:40:08.120 Life that would be they helped, they sent me free. 0:40:08.600 --> 0:40:10.040 So today, when we stand up to our feet all 0:40:10.040 --> 0:40:10.399 over this. 0:40:10.400 --> 0:40:23.799 Room, some of us need to build a new altar 0:40:23.840 --> 0:40:24.239 right now. 0:40:25.800 --> 0:40:26.279 Would you do this? 0:40:26.320 --> 0:40:31.800 Would you just put your hand over your heart and 0:40:31.920 --> 0:40:32.959 the best way you know. 0:40:34.960 --> 0:40:38.960 What'd you just say, God, I give you everything in 0:40:39.000 --> 0:40:40.760 my life that is holding me back. 0:40:40.560 --> 0:40:41.520 And keeping me hiding. 0:40:42.640 --> 0:40:45.360 And today God, I say, in this room, at this place, 0:40:45.960 --> 0:40:49.719 I'm building a new altar to you. God, use my 0:40:49.800 --> 0:40:53.640 weakness as worship. Use what should have taken me out 0:40:53.680 --> 0:40:55.319 as help for another individual. 0:40:57.120 --> 0:40:58.400 It's not in our strength. 0:40:58.400 --> 0:41:01.920 But today we remind our heart that the Lord is 0:41:01.960 --> 0:41:03.840 on our side. 0:41:03.880 --> 0:41:04.120 God. 0:41:04.160 --> 0:41:08.480 Today, would new stories be written, would generational curses be broken? 0:41:09.160 --> 0:41:11.920 And God, would you raise up an army of ambassadors 0:41:11.920 --> 0:41:14.960 for Christ that would plead to their territory, to their 0:41:15.000 --> 0:41:17.920 promised land. There is nothing that is going to stop them. 0:41:17.960 --> 0:41:20.399 The Bible says this that the gates of hell will 0:41:20.440 --> 0:41:23.759 not prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ, which means 0:41:23.760 --> 0:41:26.359 the safest place we can be is in the one 0:41:26.440 --> 0:41:30.480 place in the bride in the church saying God, protect 0:41:30.520 --> 0:41:33.520 me and use me. Oh God Father, we want to 0:41:33.560 --> 0:41:36.520 be ambassadors for you. So, Father, right now I pray 0:41:36.600 --> 0:41:39.319 for a supernatural infusion of faith. 0:41:40.760 --> 0:41:42.040 To our hearts, to our minds. 0:41:42.080 --> 0:41:44.719 I right now pray sins of addiction to fall off 0:41:44.760 --> 0:41:45.960 in the mighty name of Jesus. 0:41:47.440 --> 0:41:49.280 Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 0:41:49.320 --> 0:41:51.840 And right now declare freedom over moms and dads and 0:41:51.880 --> 0:41:55.920 business owners and young people in this room. Today, Father, 0:41:56.000 --> 0:41:58.799 we thank you that our past does not disqualify us. 0:41:58.680 --> 0:42:03.239 But it makes room for your glorified So today. 0:42:02.920 --> 0:42:05.160 God, we say, use us as a living offering, a 0:42:05.160 --> 0:42:06.080 living sacrifice. 0:42:06.080 --> 0:42:07.480 Would it be worship unto you? 0:42:07.840 --> 0:42:10.160 Everything that we are, every breath we take, we want 0:42:10.160 --> 0:42:13.960 to glorify you King Jesus. So Father, we give you 0:42:14.040 --> 0:42:17.719 the honor, we give you the glory, and we give 0:42:17.719 --> 0:42:18.360 you the praise. 0:42:19.760 --> 0:42:23.400 And all God's people said, amen, and amen and amen. 0:42:23.480 --> 0:42:25.120 Come on. Can we lift up a shout of praise 0:42:25.160 --> 0:42:27.520 all over this room? Come on, as God been good 0:42:27.520 --> 0:42:29.960 to you, as he set you free. Can I see 0:42:29.960 --> 0:42:31.640 a hand wave if you're saying I want to be 0:42:31.760 --> 0:42:34.360 used by God in this next generation. I want to 0:42:34.400 --> 0:42:37.640 be an ambassador for King Jesus. Come on, the enemy's 0:42:37.680 --> 0:42:40.120 got a plan for gen z but God's got a 0:42:40.160 --> 0:42:41.160 better one. 0:42:40.880 --> 0:42:42.160 And it's my name in it. 0:42:42.400 --> 0:42:44.640 I'm not gonna allow the gates of hell to prevail 0:42:44.680 --> 0:42:46.480 on my family or my kids. 0:42:46.640 --> 0:42:48.040 Come on, give God a shout. 0:42:47.840 --> 0:42:53.920 Of praise all over this room. 0:42:53.960 --> 0:42:56.560 Hey, I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 0:42:57.080 --> 0:42:59.640 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 0:42:59.680 --> 0:43:02.319 get you all of these new messages as soon as 0:43:02.320 --> 0:43:05.120 they're available. I also want to take a moment and 0:43:05.200 --> 0:43:07.000 thank all of you who are a part of Elevation. 0:43:07.520 --> 0:43:10.840 Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or 0:43:11.239 --> 0:43:13.960 just share these messages, it's because of you that we're 0:43:13.960 --> 0:43:16.400 able to reach people all around the world. 0:43:16.640 --> 0:43:19.120 And if you want more information on how to be 0:43:19.160 --> 0:43:22.360 a part of Elevation, click the link in the description. 0:43:22.880 --> 0:43:23.880 Thanks again for listening. 0:43:23.880 --> 0:43:27.239 Make sure to leave a review, share the message, and subscribe. 0:43:27.520 --> 0:43:36.880 God bless you.