Plot Twist

0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.080 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.440 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:12.480 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:17.480 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message today. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:19.880 We're here together, sharing in God's presence, and I want 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:21.440 you to go with me to John four. Of course, 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:25.800 two weeks ago I preached a sermon about how I'm 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:29.400 tired on the inside, and then I took a week off. 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:34.120 I thought it was appropriate to preach I'm tired. And 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:38.720 our friend Robert Madou preached such an excellent message last week, 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:42.000 and I'm thankful for it. But God told me that 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:45.640 we should go back to the well for Father's Day, 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:52.200 and I thought, Lord, that's I don't mean to argue 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:55.480 with you. You You are the Lord el should I the 0:00:55.520 --> 0:01:00.040 maker of heaven and earth? But it's Father's Day and 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:03.520 John chapter four is about the woman at the well, 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:07.800 So this is Lord, maybe an appropriate text for us 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:11.080 to visit another time. But then he showed me that 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.319 he's kind of smarter than me, and he kind of 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:18.240 wrote the Bible and I I just preach it, and 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:20.920 it's good to have my daughter, of course, Holly, but 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:28.000 my daughter Abigail means father's joy. That's exactly exactly what 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:30.640 you are. And I love you so much, and I 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:33.440 love how you laugh at all. My dad jokes up 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:36.959 here preaching it just encourages me because there's only I mean, really, 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.600 there's one, two, three, four, five, six, seventy ninety. There's 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.360 eleven people in the room. And so if they start 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:47.000 getting rowdy, just know that they're trying to overcompensate and 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:49.760 you'll probably hear LB get loud in a minute. Don't 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.480 put any comments about he's too much, all right, The 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:55.200 world is too much right now, so excuse us if 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:57.400 we're too much trying to keep a little bit of joy, 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:01.080 had a little bit of faith. So if you need 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:03.240 to clear out a few chairs and do your think, 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:06.480 because this message today, wow, this is really, this is 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:10.160 really powerful. What God showed me. In John chapter four, 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:14.240 we see Jesus going through an unexpected place, and the 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:16.560 Bible says in verse four, now he had to go 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:20.119 through Samaria. And last week we dealt with that extensively, 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:23.520 or two weeks ago, rather the last time I was preaching, 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:28.720 I said that Samaria is a geographical term, but you know, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:32.200 you could also use wordplay and say that we all 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:38.360 have some area. And for the Jews, you know, they 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:43.520 they kind of divided themselves and Samaria represented a place 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.120 that they didn't want to go through, and they would 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:48.800 often they would often double the time of their trip 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:52.680 just so they wouldn't have to go through Samaria because 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:55.960 it represented division and resentment. And not only was there 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.359 ethnic tension in Samaria, but we are about to see 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:05.680 Jesus break a religious boundary and a Gendrey bounder. So 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:10.360 Jesus is a barrier breaker, and the sooner we realize that, 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:13.960 the less disappointed we are going to be when He 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:18.360 blesses and uses people that we don't even like and 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:22.680 people that don't look like us. And so, if you 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:24.360 want two points to write down just to get the 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:28.880 momentum flowing today, you don't get to choose who God uses, 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:32.079 and you don't get to choose what he does. And 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:34.840 that is on full display in John four. Because he 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:39.680 had to go through some area, and so do you, 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.960 and so do I. We all have to go through 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:49.320 some area, some areas the area of our life that 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:51.760 we kind of want to keep, you know, beneath the 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.080 surface that we kind of want to cover up, that 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.200 we want to work around, walk around. You know, we 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:01.640 develop all kinds of ways and coping meccan and excuses. 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:05.360 We don't really have real relationships because to have real 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:10.640 relationships we would have to go through some area where 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:15.880 we've been hurt before, where before we've been disappointed, and 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:20.280 so now to avoid being disappointed, we go around, we 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.800 work around. We never really hope for anything, because if 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:26.039 we don't really hope for anything, we can't be hurt 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.320 by anything. We all have some area that we want 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:34.719 to avoid. Jesus went straight through it. But I told 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:37.200 you that two weeks ago, so I know you already 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:44.000 mastered that class. The next versus may reward further study, 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:46.640 though in verse five it says, so he came to 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.880 a town in some area called Psychar, near the plot 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:54.320 of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's 0:04:54.320 --> 0:05:00.360 well was there, and Jesus tired, Jesus exhausted. Jesus fully God, 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:06.159 Jesus fully man, Jesus all authority, Jesus, all empathy, Jesus 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:09.680 the word made flesh. Jesus who came through over forty 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:13.599 generations just to be with us and to pay for 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:18.599 our sin. Sat down by the well. It was about noon, 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:22.400 and when a Samaritan woman verse seven came to draw water, 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:27.040 Jesus said to her, will you give me a drink? 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:29.599 And now they say Jesus is the answer, But the 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:33.039 answer just asked a question. My God. This is getting 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:37.080 this is getting rich. And in the tension of this text, 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:42.359 John parenthetically inserts his disciples had gone into town to 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:45.239 buy food. That was the biggest thing on their mind 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:50.839 was a meal, but Jesus was looking for a harvest. 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:54.599 They were thinking about a meal, and Jesus was thinking 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:58.840 about a harvest. They were thinking about a burger, and 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.960 Jesus was saying, thinking about a breakthrough. You know, God 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:08.000 has Ephesians three twenty kinds of ways of exceeding your 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:14.240 expectations and violating them in the process. Because nothing in 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:19.120 this text was expected. Even the woman was shocked. In 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:21.760 verse nine, she said to him, you are a Jew 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:24.640 and I'm a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.360 for a drink? For Jews to not associate with Samaritans. 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:31.400 And Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God, 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:32.680 and who it is to ask you for a drink, 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:34.200 You would have asked him and he would have given 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:39.919 you living water. Now, please skip with me all the 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.880 way past the conversation, because it's a good one. It's 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:47.239 a good conversation. This woman is not shy. This woman 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.159 does not accept easy answers and cliches and slogans and 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:54.720 bumper stickers and quotes on Pinterest. She just keeps asking questions. 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:59.360 It's a deep well. It's a deep well. And I'm 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.359 not talking about physically, although this well is one hundred 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:04.400 and six feet deep. You know it is because it's 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:07.000 still there. You can still go to Jacob's well to 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:10.920 this day, and you can actually drink from Jacob's well 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:15.200 to this day. But it's a deep well in her heart. Yeah, 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:20.440 it's a deep well in her belief. It's a deep well. 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:26.200 And after Jesus kind of spends some time with this 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:33.400 unlikely woman who was so ridiculed by society that she 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:35.520 had to sneak to the well during the hottest part 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:38.680 of the day, but so valuable to the creator that 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:42.920 he went out of his way to speak with her, 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:47.120 something pretty interesting happens in verse twenty seven, this is 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:49.920 what I want to preach about. I thought you were 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:56.600 already preaching, not at all. Just then, his disciples return 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:02.679 and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:06.760 But no one asked what do you want or why 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:10.560 are you talking with her? Then you're ready leaving her 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.720 water jar. The woman went back to the town and 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:17.760 said to the people, come see a man who told 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:23.400 me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah? 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:25.520 And they came out of the town and made their 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:29.480 way toward him. Just then verse twenty seven, the disciples 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:35.040 returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:37.880 And I know it's an odd Father's Day text, but 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.320 God told me to talk to you today on the 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:48.720 topic plot twist, Plot twist. I am officially deeming twenty 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:56.280 twenty the Year of the plot Twist. This year was 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:02.160 written by Stephen King and directed by Lucifer the Year 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:07.720 of the plot Twist. And you know, I was gonna 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:10.600 ask you because the disciples thought that they were just 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.640 going to get lunch, and they had no idea that 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:18.080 Jesus was going to break cultural barriers and every taboo 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:20.000 He was just gonna step through it like tick or 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:22.960 tape and not even care about the expectations of the 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:25.360 religious elite and talk to a woman as a Jewish 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.240 man with a Samaritan. They just wanted to get some food. 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.760 Plot twists. You know, just like we thought twenty twenty 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:35.880 we were just gonna do some crunches and lose fifteen pounds. 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:40.600 You didn't know you were gonna lose fifteen weeks. I 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:42.000 didn't know I was going to be preaching in an 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:44.920 empty room. For I don't mean that it's not empty, yell, 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:48.160 aren't nobody. It's just emptier. I didn't applot twist though, 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:52.480 plot twists. That's why I wanted to come out and 0:09:52.520 --> 0:10:02.920 preach the sermon early, because you know, following Jesus, you 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:08.200 had to kind of like surprises to really follow Jesus, 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:13.880 not to worship a religious tradition, but to follow Jesus. Yeah, 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:17.640 there's a difference, big difference everybody put in the chat, 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:22.040 big difference with extra eyes in the middle of big 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:32.079 big difference between you know, worshiping a tradition and pursuing truth. 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:39.440 And so Jesus is Jesus is Ah. He's constantly keeping 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:44.920 his disciples guessing, you know, constantly keeping God is constantly 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:52.240 keeping us guessing, isn't he? Do you like surprises? You 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:54.960 may have had a different answer if I had asked 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:59.160 you six months ago do you like surprises? But now 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.000 we're like, you know what, No, I'm good. I'm good 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:06.959 on surprises until twenty thirty two. I'm good on surprises. 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:09.000 But you're gonna be surprised about some things when you 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:13.000 get to heaven. One thing you're gonna be surprised about, 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.960 maybe is who is your neighbor in heaven next door 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:19.760 in the condominium. And you might be surprised who has 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:22.880 a bigger house than you in heaven. You know, who 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:27.000 God really used on Earth will not always be whose 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:32.839 name we knew, And even on earth, Jesus was, he 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:36.560 was full of surprises. I like that the disciples were 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:39.400 surprised because it lets me know that it's okay that 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:42.720 sometimes I get caught off guard because I thought God 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:44.560 was going to do this, and then he does that, 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:47.040 and I thought my life was going to look like this, 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.480 and then it looks like that, And I thought this 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:51.200 person was always going to be my friend, but I 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:53.080 didn't know they were gonna kind of stab me in 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.199 the back and go take what I tried to give 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:58.040 them and do something else with it. But that's okay 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:04.040 because his disciples were surprised too, and God is constantly 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:09.920 keeping us guessing. I almost wish I could read John 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:13.320 chapter four again for the first time, because now I 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:16.240 know how it ends, and it would have been cool 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.640 if I could have kind of, you know, wiped your memory. 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:23.920 Don't you wish you could see shawshank Redemption again for 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:27.240 the first time. It would be amazing just to see 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:32.440 Andy Defray crawl through the sewer to hear Morgan Freeman 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:36.440 narrate the life of Tim Robbins again, just for the 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:39.559 first time. It's still good, but I wish I kind 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:41.320 of wish I could see it because I didn't see 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.640 that coming the first time. Have you ever been watching 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:46.559 a movie and you just thought you knew exactly where 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:50.800 it was gonna go, but then you know, out of nowhere. 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:54.720 I remember the first time I saw a Beautiful Mind? 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:57.880 Did you see that movie? And I remember the first 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:00.320 time I saw it, it messed with my mind. I 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:04.040 did not see that coming. Have you ever been going 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:08.400 through your life, going through your day, just minding your 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:12.120 own business, like the disciples, trying to go get a burger, 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:16.560 and all of a sudden, God disrupts your expectation of 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:19.960 how your day was supposed to go. And sometimes God 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:23.920 doesn't even let you know it's him doing it. Now, 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:29.840 every disruption is not recognized as divine because the disciples 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:33.160 had no idea what he wanted. They still thought he 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:38.480 wanted Chick fil A closed on Sundays, but they didn't 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.800 know he was doing something much bigger than the number one. 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.640 He was doing something much bigger than a drive through. 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.800 And don't you know that God has scripted a much 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:55.440 bigger art for your life than how you feel this week. See, 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:57.920 we never know any given day, any given day, we 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:01.280 never know how any given we wake up, and we 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:05.079 never expect. It's never. It's never the things you expect 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:06.719 that set your life in a different direction. Have you 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:10.400 noticed this, It's never the things you expect. When you 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:12.319 came to that lunch and you sang me that song, 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:14.559 and then you never knew that we'd be writing songs 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:16.840 for elevation worship. You were just coming to the lunch. 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:18.840 You were just a new staff member. It's just the 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:20.760 little things. But you came to the lunch and you 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:22.440 were one of the first twelve in there and I 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:24.840 say who are you? And you say, and I say, 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:26.600 how do you doing? You? I see you seen me 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:28.280 a song, and you had a song. But you didn't 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:31.160 know when you woke up this morning. You never know. See, 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:35.200 that's why we have to continue to approach each day 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:38.280 like it is the day that the Lord has made, 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:43.440 because you never know. You never know. That woman didn't 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:47.440 know she was about to meet her maker. She didn't 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:52.560 know that she was about to meet a man who 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.200 could not only tell her everything that she had done, 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:57.840 but could show her what was within her that others 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:03.680 did not see. Plot twist. You came to get water, 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:09.680 but you're about to meet the well. Plot twist. Plot twist. 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:15.800 You accidentally clicked on this YouTube channel, but you're about 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:19.840 to get a word from God. You accidentally. I'm telling you, 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:23.640 it never ceases to amaze me the way that God 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:27.400 kind of sets things up. And just about when you think, 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:29.800 I mean, it's new, it's the hottest part of the day, 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:33.520 there's nobody around, nobody's expecting it. Jesus isn't supposed to 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:35.880 even be talking to this woman as a rabbi, And 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:40.320 just when she expected it, the least she received the 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:44.920 greatest revelation of her life. Now, for me, on Father's Day, 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:47.920 my dad was crazy in a good way, in a 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:51.280 bad way, It's like. And my relationship with my dad 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:55.920 was really really great, and it was really complicated. And 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:02.880 when he was diagnosed with als Lugarry disease and he 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:04.720 realized that he would die, but we didn't have an 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:10.800 exact timeframe for it, some really bizarre events transpired in 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.760 our house. And I don't like to talk about all 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.000 of it because it's not completely my story to share. 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:21.600 But even within my mom's decision to forgive him for 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:25.280 some things that he did during that period, there was 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:27.520 a little while and I was just reflecting on this 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:31.359 for Father's Day because me and Graham were throwing the baseball, 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.080 and you know, you connect all of that like to 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:36.440 when I was twelve and my dad throwing the baseball, 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:39.000 But then also I connected it to when I was 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:44.720 thirty two and we weren't even on speaking terms, and 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:48.240 how one Father's Day I hadn't spoken to him in months, 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:51.320 and every time we would speak, it would get into 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:53.800 a shouting match. And I don't think I had the 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:55.640 wisdom to know how to relate to him through his pain, 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:58.920 and he was and he was being a jerk. I mean, 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:00.880 I put that on the record. You know, he's in 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:03.000 heaven now. He made it in but he was being 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.760 a jerk and I was probably a little immature as well, 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:11.760 and it put us in a weird spot. And do 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:14.920 you remember where we were coming from? Was it Florida? 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:17.880 And we were coming on Father's Day? And I asked 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:19.920 you to drive and I made the list and I said, 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:22.520 I'm going to write a list of you know, thirty 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.800 two things that I remember from my dad that are good, 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:30.800 and let's take it by his house. And we stopped by. 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.600 And I won't tell the full story now many of 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:35.680 you have heard me tell it before, how I kind 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:37.440 of shove the list at him with a bad attitude 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:41.320 of happy Father's Day, you know, And it opened the door. 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:46.640 And really, through my mom's grace and compassion and forgiveness, 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:50.760 I was able to be a part of his life 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:52.480 like he was a part of mine as a boy 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:55.200 in the very last days. But but what I wanted 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:57.280 to tell you about, and I don't know who this 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:00.000 is for, because I didn't want to preach a messag. 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:05.080 It's just for fathers. But on Father's Day it got 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:09.199 me thinking about the plot twists of our life and 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:12.720 how important it is that we be attuned to what 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:16.240 the Holy Spirit is doing in us, because we never know. 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:22.879 Because I was preaching in twenty thirteen on a series 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:26.600 called the Expectation Gap, I shall probably pull that one 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.119 back out, because that's where we're living right now, the 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:33.000 gap between what you expect and what you experience. And 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:35.240 listen to this, Lucius. I don't know if you've heard 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:39.040 this story or not before, but it's the craziest story, 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.640 maybe that I've ever experienced. Because I preached the nine 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:48.359 thirty at Elevation Blatney and I usually preached the eleven thirty, 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:50.439 and we were about to go on our family vacation 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:56.280 for June, and something told me to just instead of 0:18:56.280 --> 0:19:01.119 preaching the eleven thirty, to run the sermon back. You know, 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:03.199 I don't go with every idea that I had and 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:04.840 just call it the Holy Spirit. I'd be in prison 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.560 if I did that, because sometimes I think some really 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:10.439 crazy thoughts and some days I'd never get out of 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:12.240 bed if I just went with what I felt. Somehow 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:14.600 one of those guys, but I just felt it. It 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:16.720 was like, you need to just play the thing back, 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:18.920 and I thought, you know again, I'm arguing with God, 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:21.280 you know, like you're not supposed to go through some 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:24.760 Maria Jesus, we don't do that. I'm like, well, God, 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:27.399 I'm going on a vacation for a few weeks. I'm 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:28.880 about to get a break. I don't need a break 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:31.280 at eleven thirty. So I just preached that and then 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:33.560 I'll get a break. But something told me to leave. 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:38.760 As I was leaving, something told me to stop by 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:44.159 and see my dad and my mom. And when I 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:47.919 walked in, my dad was so surprised. In fact, he 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:52.639 was just completely confused because his disease had progressed to 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:55.320 the point where he had very little movement, and my 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:58.080 mom was kind of doing everything for him, and hospice 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:01.879 was involved. But his mind was still very sharp. But 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:05.240 he had his iPad out and he was watching he 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.880 was about to watch the eleven thirty service of Elevation Church, 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:15.359 sorry worship experience we call it. And just as on 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:18.159 the iPad, I was coming on stage, I was walking 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:23.639 in his house. Anyway, you know, he couldn't move his 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:25.399 head around too much, but he looked back at the 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:27.159 iPad and looked at me and looked at the iPad, 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:29.159 and he said, how are you here? You're here, but 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:32.639 you're there, But you're here. How are you who's preaching? 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:36.760 If you're there? I said, Dad, I said, I decided. 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:39.200 I just decided to come over and see you, and 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:41.080 they're going to run back the nine thirty and I'm 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:44.159 going to watch myself preach with you. Because one of 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:47.640 the things that he had asked me for when we 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:50.240 were not speaking to one another, just just before we 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:53.880 stopped speaking to one another, he had asked me if 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:56.359 I could show him how much he meant to me 0:20:57.720 --> 0:21:00.679 by canceling something that was important, to show him that 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:04.600 he was more important. And I thought, well, that's childish. 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:06.199 Of course I care for you. I mean, look at 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:07.600 all I try to do for you, and I'm a 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:10.480 good son and this and that I'm a good good son. 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:14.320 This is who I am. He went having it, and 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:17.600 when I walked in, I realized, this is that moment 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:20.879 for me to be with him. And I sat on 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:24.520 the edge of the bed and he watched the sermon. 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:28.159 And it's really awkward watching yourself preach. It's painful. I 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:31.040 don't like to do it, but I did it. And 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:34.600 when I finished and walked off the stage, I promise 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:35.960 you I'm going to go back to John four in 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:38.919 a minute. But when I walked off the stage, my 0:21:39.040 --> 0:21:43.120 dad said, preach your man. Gone out the back door. 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.240 Time for Hubacca because Larry Hubatka would come out and 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:49.280 do the clothes and I'd go this way and Larrybaka 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:51.640 would go that way. And I hugged him. I said, 0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:53.600 I love you. I'll see you when we get back 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:59.720 from vacation. And my mom called me at one am 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:04.359 and said, your dad only has hours to live. He's 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:09.080 not speaking. You need to get here quick. And we 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:11.800 got there in the middle of the night, and we 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:16.760 sang his favorite hymns and then I ran out of 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:23.280 hymns and I started singing CCR and I ran out 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:26.080 of classic rock songs, and we sang and we sat 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.679 with him and and we sat with him, and I 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:36.520 was with him when he breathed his lass bread. But 0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:43.320 I told you that because you never know. That's why 0:22:43.320 --> 0:22:48.840 I told you that, Because you never know. You must 0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:54.480 go through some area and this woman who's just coming 0:22:54.520 --> 0:22:59.040 to get water finds out that while she's trying to 0:22:59.080 --> 0:23:04.000 fill her are God is trying to fill her, and 0:23:04.160 --> 0:23:09.919 she becomes the first evangelist to the Samaritans in the 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:15.600 time of the ministry of Jesus. Plot twist, plot twist. 0:23:18.000 --> 0:23:19.720 But that's not really what I wanted to preach to 0:23:19.720 --> 0:23:25.240 you about today. What really got my attention for Father's 0:23:25.320 --> 0:23:31.840 Day was in verse five, because verse five says, so 0:23:31.920 --> 0:23:38.840 he came to a town in Samaria called Psychar, near 0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:43.879 the plot near the plot of ground Jacob had given 0:23:45.119 --> 0:23:55.720 to his son Joseph near the plot near the see. 0:23:55.720 --> 0:24:00.560 When I read that verse, I realized this is national. 0:24:03.760 --> 0:24:07.160 I mean, of all the sermons that I have heard 0:24:07.200 --> 0:24:10.320 preached about this woman who had five husbands and she's 0:24:10.359 --> 0:24:13.080 living with the six, and you know, she's loose and 0:24:13.119 --> 0:24:16.359 she's thirsty. And I realized that this did not start 0:24:16.400 --> 0:24:20.800 with her. I realized that the conflict between the Samaritans 0:24:20.840 --> 0:24:25.160 and the Jews did not start in John chapter four, 0:24:26.920 --> 0:24:30.119 and even the phrase it said on the plot of ground. 0:24:30.280 --> 0:24:34.520 And why would John, who only had so many chapters 0:24:34.560 --> 0:24:37.600 to tell, only twenty one chapters to tell us who 0:24:37.720 --> 0:24:41.520 Jesus was, his glory full of grace and truth. He 0:24:41.560 --> 0:24:44.280 only has so much room, and he stops to tell 0:24:44.359 --> 0:24:47.399 us that it happened. I mean, I know about the woman. 0:24:47.680 --> 0:24:50.400 I know about her past, I know about her history. 0:24:50.600 --> 0:24:52.679 I know that Jesus taught her that they that worship 0:24:52.760 --> 0:24:54.800 the Father must worship in spirit and truth. And I 0:24:54.800 --> 0:24:56.680 know it's not about whether you're worship on this mountain 0:24:56.760 --> 0:24:58.919 or that mountain. I've read all of that, but I 0:24:59.000 --> 0:25:02.680 never took the time to realize that it was near 0:25:02.720 --> 0:25:08.600 the plot of ground that Jacob had given his son Joseph. 0:25:09.880 --> 0:25:11.639 Now do you see why I called you together early, 0:25:12.760 --> 0:25:16.840 because it took me all the way back to remember 0:25:16.880 --> 0:25:21.320 that he called a man named Abram out of ear 0:25:21.440 --> 0:25:26.240 of the Chaldeens. Abram was too old to have children. 0:25:27.000 --> 0:25:31.240 Plot twist, You're about to have a baby. His wife's 0:25:31.400 --> 0:25:35.640 womb was as good as dad. Plot twist. God can 0:25:35.680 --> 0:25:40.400 bring forth a fruitful situation from a barren womb. And 0:25:40.440 --> 0:25:44.959 then there's the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It 0:25:45.119 --> 0:25:49.200 wasn't even supposed to be the God of Abraham, Isaac 0:25:49.520 --> 0:25:53.400 and Jacob. It was supposed to be the God of Abraham, 0:25:53.480 --> 0:25:58.960 Isaac and Esau. But plot twist. Just about the time 0:25:59.040 --> 0:26:02.080 you think you know, oh what God is going to do? 0:26:02.560 --> 0:26:06.400 I love the story because Jacob got blessed out of order. 0:26:06.720 --> 0:26:08.600 And some of you are in a season of your 0:26:08.640 --> 0:26:12.080 life where you have told yourself that the story is 0:26:12.200 --> 0:26:15.120 never going to be any different. You are like this 0:26:15.200 --> 0:26:17.560 woman who came out to the well in the heat 0:26:17.600 --> 0:26:21.240 of the day to avoid the attention and the accusations 0:26:21.480 --> 0:26:24.560 and the condemnation of other people. And they have made 0:26:24.640 --> 0:26:27.160 up their mind about you, and they have limited you, 0:26:27.400 --> 0:26:29.879 and they have put you in a box, and they've said, oh, 0:26:29.920 --> 0:26:33.159 you're just this, or you're just that. But the barrier 0:26:33.280 --> 0:26:37.880 breaking God who stepped through forty one generations, the God 0:26:37.920 --> 0:26:44.920 of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not Esau. Esau was supposed 0:26:44.960 --> 0:26:48.600 to get the blessing. But God has a way of 0:26:49.880 --> 0:26:55.359 putting his right hand instead of his left hand. The 0:26:55.440 --> 0:26:58.320 right hand is the hand of blessing. The right hand 0:26:58.359 --> 0:27:04.840 is the hand of authority. It's called a plot twist. 0:27:05.320 --> 0:27:07.840 Are you all ready for me? Did you get your 0:27:07.880 --> 0:27:13.199 Starbucks Vinti Grande extra Carmel fro Pacino? I hope you, 0:27:13.400 --> 0:27:17.520 I hope you're ready for me? Because it said this happened, 0:27:17.680 --> 0:27:22.919 this amazing event where this woman that nobody expected to 0:27:23.000 --> 0:27:29.160 be used, Oh, they used her they used her, they 0:27:29.240 --> 0:27:33.440 used her. But God says, I see people use in you, 0:27:35.160 --> 0:27:38.920 but they don't know what's in you. And I'm gonna 0:27:38.920 --> 0:27:42.600 bless you in this season, even though you have told 0:27:42.640 --> 0:27:46.639 yourself this is all it can ever be. I mean, 0:27:46.680 --> 0:27:49.480 do you know how powerful that is? That this is 0:27:49.520 --> 0:27:54.600 the plot of ground that Jacob gave Joseph. It wasn't 0:27:54.640 --> 0:27:57.359 even supposed to be Jacob that the nation of Israel 0:27:57.400 --> 0:28:00.600 came through the plot twist you He didn't even get 0:28:00.640 --> 0:28:03.760 a high school degree plot twist. God doesn't need you 0:28:03.800 --> 0:28:07.399 to be educated, just available, just open, just humble, just 0:28:07.440 --> 0:28:12.399 a disciple, just committed plot twist, put it in the 0:28:12.480 --> 0:28:15.919 chat right now. He's the God of the plot twist. 0:28:16.080 --> 0:28:17.960 And I'm going to tell you how I know that 0:28:18.000 --> 0:28:22.919 he is. Not only does God bless the wrong people 0:28:22.960 --> 0:28:25.960 from an earthly perspective, like a woman at a will, 0:28:26.080 --> 0:28:29.800 or like a trickster named Jacob. Not only does he 0:28:29.880 --> 0:28:37.639 bring forth nations from people whose names carry baggage, or, 0:28:37.640 --> 0:28:39.040 in the case of the woman at the Well, people 0:28:39.040 --> 0:28:42.640 whose names we don't even know you ever thought about that? 0:28:43.160 --> 0:28:45.200 That wasn't on her birth certificate Woman at the Well, 0:28:46.520 --> 0:28:49.760 But God said, I'm going to take characters that other 0:28:49.800 --> 0:28:54.240 people think are just props, and I Am going to 0:28:54.400 --> 0:28:58.160 use them for a purpose that nobody can understand. You 0:28:58.240 --> 0:29:01.440 better get excited about this word, because God is using 0:29:01.520 --> 0:29:06.120 people in this season that we walk past. Now. I 0:29:06.160 --> 0:29:07.840 don't know if you want to hear this message or not, 0:29:07.880 --> 0:29:10.880 because we get pretty settled into our story, don't we, 0:29:11.760 --> 0:29:15.440 And we get pretty settled into our situation in our system, 0:29:15.560 --> 0:29:18.640 and we just want a burger, and we just want 0:29:18.640 --> 0:29:22.640 to drink, and we just want to survive it. And 0:29:22.680 --> 0:29:24.600 here we are in a year where most of us 0:29:24.680 --> 0:29:26.880 just want to go back to how it was, and 0:29:26.920 --> 0:29:28.760 how it is is not how it's supposed to be. 0:29:30.920 --> 0:29:35.720 And yet Jacob gave Joseph this plot of ground in 0:29:35.760 --> 0:29:39.040 psychcar near Samaria. Let me stop here for a minute. 0:29:39.960 --> 0:29:44.120 This is the area that everyone else avoided. It is 0:29:44.160 --> 0:29:52.200 the area that Jesus intended to go through. Jacob was 0:29:52.240 --> 0:29:56.560 the second born, Esau was the first born. God blessed 0:29:56.600 --> 0:30:01.320 the second before the first, and the last shall be first, 0:30:02.400 --> 0:30:07.480 and the first shall be last. You killed him by 0:30:07.520 --> 0:30:12.440 hanging him on the cross, but God raised him from 0:30:12.440 --> 0:30:19.520 the dead. Blood twist. That's all the gospel is. Let 0:30:19.520 --> 0:30:25.920 the weeks say I am straw blood twist. I love 0:30:25.960 --> 0:30:29.479 it. It It may be helpful for me to remind you 0:30:29.600 --> 0:30:32.600 at this point that the reason I look like I'm 0:30:32.640 --> 0:30:36.480 about to bust out of this suit with excitement, not 0:30:36.600 --> 0:30:41.120 with fat cells, not with cellulite, with excitement and enthusiasm. 0:30:41.520 --> 0:30:44.280 The reason I'm about to come unglued off this stage 0:30:44.840 --> 0:30:50.560 is because for twenty two years, Jacob thought Joseph was dead. 0:30:52.920 --> 0:30:58.040 So do you realize that the miracle happened through somebody 0:30:58.600 --> 0:31:04.480 that was as good as dead for twenty two years. 0:31:04.680 --> 0:31:06.680 I mean, you got to get in this mindset, not 0:31:06.800 --> 0:31:09.600 for twenty two hours, not for twenty two days, not 0:31:09.680 --> 0:31:12.320 for twenty two weeks, not for twenty two months. For 0:31:12.360 --> 0:31:17.280 twenty two years, Jacob thought I've lost Joseph. And Joseph 0:31:17.400 --> 0:31:21.960 was his favorite. Oh yeah, every parent has their favorite. 0:31:22.360 --> 0:31:24.760 It might change from moment to moment, but you have 0:31:24.800 --> 0:31:30.840 a favorite. You have a favorite, You have a favorite. 0:31:31.040 --> 0:31:33.360 My favorite is whichever one I'm talking to at that moment, 0:31:33.400 --> 0:31:35.720 telling them that they're my favorite. But Joseph had a coat. 0:31:35.960 --> 0:31:40.920 Joseph was the favorite. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers 0:31:41.240 --> 0:31:44.320 and left for dead, and when they went back and 0:31:44.400 --> 0:31:47.840 told Jacob that Joseph was dead, who was the first 0:31:47.960 --> 0:31:52.080 child of Rachel, who he really loved Joseph. Joseph is gone, 0:31:52.400 --> 0:31:54.960 meant to Jacob, I may as well die too, He said, 0:31:55.000 --> 0:31:57.160 you will bring my gray head down to the grave. 0:31:59.480 --> 0:32:02.720 So now do you understand that the plot twist in 0:32:02.800 --> 0:32:04.960 John chapter four wasn't just about a woman who came 0:32:04.960 --> 0:32:11.600 for a dream. It's about a god who takes things 0:32:12.960 --> 0:32:16.640 that you thought were dead, and things that you thought 0:32:16.680 --> 0:32:21.880 were over and things that you thought didn't matter, and 0:32:22.000 --> 0:32:26.200 things that you thought people people betrayed you, and people 0:32:26.360 --> 0:32:29.440 forgot about you, and people left you, and people ignored you, 0:32:29.520 --> 0:32:34.400 and people abandoned you. They betrayed Joseph. And so when 0:32:34.400 --> 0:32:38.280 it said that it was Jacob's well and that it 0:32:38.360 --> 0:32:43.640 was the well, the plot of ground that Jacob gave 0:32:43.680 --> 0:32:48.320 his son Joseph after twenty two years, can we visit 0:32:48.360 --> 0:32:51.280 the scene for a moment. It's in Genesis forty eight. 0:32:51.320 --> 0:32:54.520 It's really beautiful, man, because you got to think, like 0:32:55.920 --> 0:32:59.920 God sent Joseph to Egypt, and on one hand, his 0:33:00.040 --> 0:33:04.240 brothers betrayed him and they sold him. But on the 0:33:04.280 --> 0:33:09.600 other hand, Joseph saw after thirteen years of what seemed 0:33:09.640 --> 0:33:12.040 to be like a setback. And the reason I'm preaching 0:33:12.040 --> 0:33:14.160 it is because I think a lot of people are 0:33:14.160 --> 0:33:16.600 feeling like life is just one giant setback right now, 0:33:18.160 --> 0:33:21.160 and things have stalled out for you and it's not 0:33:21.320 --> 0:33:25.360 moving forward and it's not happening, and the plans that 0:33:25.440 --> 0:33:29.600 you made all got canceled and all got interrupted. God 0:33:29.640 --> 0:33:33.080 said to tell you that he's the god of a 0:33:33.120 --> 0:33:37.600 plot twist that just about the time you are ready 0:33:37.640 --> 0:33:41.120 to turn the movie off, don't turn it off. Just 0:33:41.200 --> 0:33:44.040 about the time that you are ready to stop believing 0:33:44.120 --> 0:33:49.160 in God. Don't stop believing in God. Yeah, just about 0:33:49.160 --> 0:33:51.520 the time you're ready to say, I will never see 0:33:51.600 --> 0:33:55.080 Joseph again. Because see, it was a famine that hit 0:33:55.160 --> 0:33:58.920 Canaan that made Jacob's sons go and find Joseph. Do 0:33:58.960 --> 0:34:02.120 you remember this. And when they went and saw Joseph, 0:34:02.200 --> 0:34:04.960 they didn't even know was him at first, but then 0:34:05.240 --> 0:34:08.640 eventually Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and said, is me. 0:34:10.120 --> 0:34:12.960 It's me, the one that you left for dead. I'm 0:34:12.960 --> 0:34:15.120 the one that God is going to use to provide 0:34:15.160 --> 0:34:20.520 for you plot twist. You remember his most famous verse 0:34:20.560 --> 0:34:25.160 in Genesis fifty twenty. You meant it for evil, God 0:34:25.239 --> 0:34:28.600 miant it for good. What does that mean? That means 0:34:28.640 --> 0:34:31.840 he's the god of a plot twist. That means he 0:34:32.080 --> 0:34:36.160 takes what the enemy meant for evil and uses it 0:34:36.200 --> 0:34:40.400 for good in your life, in your bloodline, in your generation, 0:34:40.960 --> 0:34:44.560 in our church, in our families, in our nation, in 0:34:44.600 --> 0:34:48.960 our world on this continent. God is a generational God. 0:34:50.920 --> 0:34:54.399 And he goes through some area, and he takes us 0:34:54.440 --> 0:34:57.880 through some areas, and he does some things in our 0:34:57.920 --> 0:35:01.920 lives in disappointed places. And when Jacob was getting ready 0:35:01.960 --> 0:35:07.759 to die, he called Joseph to his bedside. It's a 0:35:07.760 --> 0:35:10.440 really beautiful scene. This is great for Father's Day, okay. 0:35:10.640 --> 0:35:16.200 Genesis chapter forty eight. He said, uh, He said, Joseph, 0:35:16.560 --> 0:35:19.400 come in the room. I want to give a blessing 0:35:19.440 --> 0:35:24.719 to my grandchildren. Now. Genesis forty eight eleven is the 0:35:24.760 --> 0:35:27.560 one I want to focus your heart on for a moment. 0:35:28.560 --> 0:35:31.600 Israel said to Joseph, You're like, wait a minute, I 0:35:31.600 --> 0:35:37.240 thought you were talking about Jacob. I am the one 0:35:37.320 --> 0:35:43.400 named Jacob was also called Israel. Jacob means heel grabber, 0:35:44.400 --> 0:35:54.399 plot twist. Israel means prince with God. I'm telling you, man, 0:35:55.640 --> 0:35:58.040 Jesus looked at that woman, and he didn't see a whore, 0:36:00.000 --> 0:36:04.280 that's all worshiper. He looked at Jacob, and he didn't 0:36:04.320 --> 0:36:08.279 see a heel grabber. He saw a prince. I love 0:36:08.360 --> 0:36:11.520 him for that. I love him for all the times 0:36:11.520 --> 0:36:14.000 that he could have just given up on me. I 0:36:14.040 --> 0:36:16.880 love him for all the ways. You know, I'm screwing 0:36:16.960 --> 0:36:19.600 up things left and right as a pastor, as a parent, 0:36:19.640 --> 0:36:22.200 as a husband. I know I get it so wrong. 0:36:22.440 --> 0:36:25.239 But go ahead and clap your hands and praise hand emoji. 0:36:25.360 --> 0:36:28.400 If you know you serve the god of the plot twist, 0:36:29.239 --> 0:36:32.359 if you know that he knows your real name, your 0:36:32.520 --> 0:36:41.880 real righteousness is in Christ. Wow, so Israel also called. 0:36:42.280 --> 0:36:45.080 Jacob said to Joseph, the one he never thought he'd 0:36:45.120 --> 0:36:49.000 see again, the dream that he thought had died, the 0:36:49.000 --> 0:36:54.439 thing that he thought was over. What is your Joseph, 0:36:54.480 --> 0:36:55.880 what is the thing that you have given up on 0:36:55.920 --> 0:36:57.360 in your life? And you've said the stories over and 0:36:57.360 --> 0:36:58.480 this is the way it's going to be. And I'm 0:36:58.520 --> 0:37:00.719 just always going to struggle this, deal with this. I'm 0:37:00.760 --> 0:37:02.480 never gonna get over this, and I'm never gonna get victory. 0:37:02.600 --> 0:37:04.000 And I'm gonna sing the words to the song, but 0:37:04.040 --> 0:37:05.560 I don't really mean them or believe him anymore, because 0:37:05.560 --> 0:37:07.359 I'm just going through the motions and I'm just going 0:37:07.400 --> 0:37:11.600 through this. What is your Joseph? Now watch this Israel 0:37:12.719 --> 0:37:17.800 said to Joseph. I never expected to see your face again, 0:37:18.880 --> 0:37:28.480 and now God has allowed me to see your children too. 0:37:29.160 --> 0:37:33.520 He's the god of the blot twist. Not only did 0:37:33.560 --> 0:37:37.359 he let him see Joseph, but he used everything that 0:37:37.480 --> 0:37:42.480 Joseph had been through to save the whole family because 0:37:42.480 --> 0:37:49.680 he's the God of the blot twist. Not only did 0:37:49.680 --> 0:37:52.920 he minister to the woman, he sent the woman to 0:37:52.960 --> 0:37:57.960 go get the whole towel blot twist. He skipped the meal, 0:37:58.680 --> 0:38:03.560 but he reaped the harvest. God is the god of 0:38:03.600 --> 0:38:05.839 the plot twist. Now who is this for? If this 0:38:05.920 --> 0:38:08.239 is for you, just tell me right now, say this 0:38:08.320 --> 0:38:10.799 is for me. This is for me, This is for me, 0:38:11.040 --> 0:38:15.920 This is bred from heaven for me. God said to 0:38:15.960 --> 0:38:19.879 tell you that there's a plot twist happening in your 0:38:19.880 --> 0:38:23.920 life right now. He said to tell you that the 0:38:23.960 --> 0:38:27.480 things about you that you don't like, He's going to 0:38:27.680 --> 0:38:31.720 leverage them for greater grace to be released in your life. 0:38:31.920 --> 0:38:34.640 And I speak by the spirit of the Lord into 0:38:34.680 --> 0:38:39.640 your life. He is turning things around right now. And 0:38:39.719 --> 0:38:43.440 you will see Joseph again, and you will see provision again, 0:38:43.719 --> 0:38:47.200 and you will have joy again, and you will dance again, 0:38:47.520 --> 0:38:50.080 and you will shout again, and you will go to 0:38:50.160 --> 0:38:53.440 the House of God again, and you will rise again, 0:38:53.880 --> 0:38:57.200 and you will breathe again, and you will sing again. 0:39:00.680 --> 0:39:05.000 Thought I'd never see you again, Israel said to Joseph. 0:39:05.280 --> 0:39:08.640 It was the plot of ground that Jacob gave to Joseph. 0:39:09.280 --> 0:39:12.239 Never thought it would happen, but it did. God said, 0:39:12.320 --> 0:39:18.360 get ready for unexpected blessings in unlikely places. Through weakness. 0:39:18.640 --> 0:39:25.520 He is strong in your crushing oil comes forth. I 0:39:25.600 --> 0:39:28.040 know this is from God because he gave it to 0:39:28.080 --> 0:39:33.360 me so heavy I had to preach it early. I 0:39:33.360 --> 0:39:35.399 didn't want to forget how I felt when I read 0:39:36.640 --> 0:39:41.319 Jacob say to Joseph, I never expected to even see 0:39:41.320 --> 0:39:45.080 you again, and now I get to see your children too. 0:39:45.120 --> 0:39:47.840 God said, get ready for exceeding abundantly above all that 0:39:47.880 --> 0:39:52.839 you ever asked or imagine. And y'all, just in case 0:39:52.880 --> 0:39:55.600 you're new hero, I'm not necessarily talking about cars or 0:39:55.680 --> 0:39:59.719 raises or bonuses. God as much bigger than any of that. 0:40:02.040 --> 0:40:05.040 I'm talking about how God is renovating your heart in 0:40:05.120 --> 0:40:14.120 this season. It's a plot twist. God is setting me 0:40:14.200 --> 0:40:16.520 free from being so selfish. It's a plot twist. I 0:40:16.520 --> 0:40:25.160 thought it was about me, But Joseph was Joseph was 0:40:25.200 --> 0:40:36.920 still alive. Joseph is still alive. Yes, crazy thing, Jacob said. 0:40:38.719 --> 0:40:42.879 I didn't. I didn't think i'd ever see you again. 0:40:44.280 --> 0:40:51.759 But bring me my grandchildren, Manassa and Ephraim. Bring me 0:40:51.800 --> 0:40:54.879 those voice and bring them over here so I can 0:40:54.960 --> 0:40:59.560 bless them. Bring them here so I can bless them. 0:41:00.200 --> 0:41:03.640 You know that's what God likes to do. Right, Come 0:41:03.640 --> 0:41:06.040 here so I can bless you. Come here so I 0:41:06.080 --> 0:41:09.000 can bless you. Come here so I can bless you. 0:41:10.000 --> 0:41:11.920 That woman at the well, come here so I can 0:41:11.960 --> 0:41:14.080 bless you. He asked her for a drink, but he 0:41:14.120 --> 0:41:17.040 really just wanted to give her one. Come here so 0:41:17.120 --> 0:41:18.960 I can bless you. If you knew who you were 0:41:19.000 --> 0:41:20.759 talking to, you would ask me, and I would give 0:41:20.800 --> 0:41:22.959 you the water that never runs dry, and it would 0:41:22.960 --> 0:41:27.880 become within you a source, a spring of living water. 0:41:29.520 --> 0:41:33.880 Bring them here so I can bless him. And then 0:41:34.000 --> 0:41:39.680 Joseph removed them from Israel's niece bowed down with his 0:41:39.719 --> 0:41:42.719 face to the ground, and Joseph took both of them, 0:41:43.400 --> 0:41:46.799 Ephraim on his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and 0:41:46.960 --> 0:41:51.560 Manassa on his left toward Israel's right hand, and brought 0:41:51.560 --> 0:41:55.160 them close to him. All of this I saw when 0:41:55.200 --> 0:41:58.600 I saw it happened on the plot of ground that 0:41:58.719 --> 0:42:02.160 Jacob gave his son Joseph, and I thought about on 0:42:02.239 --> 0:42:06.480 Father's Day and every day, what am I giving to 0:42:06.560 --> 0:42:11.120 my children? What am I giving to the others in 0:42:11.160 --> 0:42:17.000 my life? I wonder what you're carrying. I wonder what 0:42:17.040 --> 0:42:20.000 the enemy is trying to convince you to give up on, 0:42:20.080 --> 0:42:25.640 because what you carry is so significant. I wonder. I 0:42:25.680 --> 0:42:29.279 wonder what's in your will. I wonder what wells you're 0:42:29.320 --> 0:42:31.879 digging in your life right now, through your worship, through 0:42:31.920 --> 0:42:35.440 your praise, through your prayers, through your study, through your commitment, 0:42:35.560 --> 0:42:38.560 through your openness, through the change that God is doing 0:42:38.640 --> 0:42:43.080 in your life. Now, watch this, he said, bring them here. 0:42:44.040 --> 0:42:48.799 I want to bless them. Joseph lining them up so 0:42:48.840 --> 0:42:53.480 that the oldest would get the right hand, Manassa the 0:42:53.560 --> 0:42:55.320 younger would get the left hand. They're both going to 0:42:55.400 --> 0:42:59.680 get blessed, but the oldest gets the bigger blessing? And 0:42:59.719 --> 0:43:08.560 what what Israel does? Verse fourteen, But Israel, but Israel, 0:43:09.680 --> 0:43:17.600 but God, but Israel. But God reached out his right 0:43:17.600 --> 0:43:23.799 hand and put his right hand on Ephraim's head, though 0:43:23.840 --> 0:43:28.560 he was the younger, though he didn't deserve it, though 0:43:28.600 --> 0:43:32.360 he wasn't supposed to be blessed first, though he wasn't 0:43:32.400 --> 0:43:36.360 expecting it, though it didn't make any sense, though it 0:43:36.480 --> 0:43:41.359 defied logic and customs and traditions. He had to go 0:43:41.400 --> 0:43:45.160 through Samaria. He had to keep you alive. You have 0:43:45.400 --> 0:43:48.840 to survive, you have to make it. You had to 0:43:48.960 --> 0:43:54.560 rise up. And he put his right hand on Ephraim's head, 0:43:55.320 --> 0:43:59.359 and he put his left hand on Manessa's head, even 0:43:59.400 --> 0:44:03.360 though mante what's the firstborn? And then he blessed Joseph 0:44:03.440 --> 0:44:07.759 and said, may the God before whom my father's Abraham 0:44:08.000 --> 0:44:12.600 and Isaac. Somebody shout, is generational, it's generational. It's generational. 0:44:12.800 --> 0:44:15.719 There's a bigger picture. I will not die here. I 0:44:15.760 --> 0:44:18.799 will not quit here. I will not become arrogant or 0:44:18.880 --> 0:44:23.400 discouraged or dismayed. I will not stop here. I gotta 0:44:23.440 --> 0:44:27.760 go through Samaria because the God of Abraham and Isaac, 0:44:27.840 --> 0:44:30.680 the God who has been my shepherd all my life 0:44:30.719 --> 0:44:33.960 to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from 0:44:34.000 --> 0:44:38.719 all harm. May he bless these boys. You want your 0:44:38.719 --> 0:44:42.160 Father's Day message, here's your Father's Day message. Get ready 0:44:42.160 --> 0:44:46.080 for a plot twist. You didn't have a dad, You're 0:44:46.080 --> 0:44:49.360 gonna be an amazing dad. Get ready for a plot twist. 0:44:51.440 --> 0:44:54.080 You gotta hurt in your heart that feels unhealed. God's 0:44:54.120 --> 0:44:56.480 gonna turn you into a healer. Get ready for a 0:44:56.520 --> 0:44:59.759 plot twist. You got some reasons why you don't feel 0:44:59.760 --> 0:45:02.880 like a very good person. Get ready for a plot twist. 0:45:03.160 --> 0:45:07.400 God loves Jacob. God loves Jacob. God loves Jacob. Jesus 0:45:07.520 --> 0:45:11.839 love that woman. God loves people just like you. And 0:45:11.880 --> 0:45:15.120 I know he's the God of the plot twist because 0:45:15.120 --> 0:45:22.680 his hands looked like this. Because his hands look like this. 0:45:24.200 --> 0:45:27.759 And when Joseph verse seventeen saw his father placing his 0:45:28.440 --> 0:45:33.919 right hand on Ephraim's head, he was displeased. I don't 0:45:34.040 --> 0:45:37.520 like this. You're not supposed to be doing this God. 0:45:37.560 --> 0:45:39.840 I'm supposed to be still half my job. I'm supposed 0:45:39.880 --> 0:45:43.480 to steal God. This is not But look what his 0:45:43.520 --> 0:45:49.040 father said verse nineteen, I know my son. I know 0:45:49.800 --> 0:45:53.560 he too will become a people, He too will become great. 0:45:54.840 --> 0:45:59.839 God's gonna use it all. God's gonna use it all. Nevertheless, 0:46:01.000 --> 0:46:05.719 his younger brother will be greater than he, and his 0:46:05.840 --> 0:46:08.160 descendants will become a group of nations. And he blessed 0:46:08.200 --> 0:46:12.960 them that day, And he blessed them that day. I 0:46:13.040 --> 0:46:17.400 pray that today would be a day of unexpected blessing 0:46:17.880 --> 0:46:22.960 in your soul, because you never know, man, you never know. 0:46:24.640 --> 0:46:27.000 Some of y'all are breaking curses and you don't even 0:46:27.080 --> 0:46:32.960 know it. You never know. You can't die, Joseph, you 0:46:33.000 --> 0:46:37.319 can't die. They're supposed to be a well with your 0:46:37.440 --> 0:46:43.440 name on it for a future generation. Yeah. I want 0:46:43.480 --> 0:46:47.759 to quit sometimes, but I can't. Yeah, I want to 0:46:47.840 --> 0:46:51.520 quit sometimes, but I can't. Yeah. Sometimes I hide under 0:46:51.560 --> 0:46:53.360 the covers, but I got to get out at some point, 0:46:54.239 --> 0:46:57.840 because this is bigger than me. This is bigger than me. 0:46:59.080 --> 0:47:06.560 It's bigger than air. It's about a harvest. Joseph was betrayed, abandoned. 0:47:06.600 --> 0:47:11.600 He said, you intended it for evil, It's all right. 0:47:12.960 --> 0:47:18.040 God used it for good. How did he know about 0:47:18.080 --> 0:47:22.480 the cross so much? Thousands of years before it happened. 0:47:23.320 --> 0:47:26.759 How did Jacob know Romans eight twenty eight all things 0:47:26.800 --> 0:47:28.920 work together for the good when it hadn't even been 0:47:28.920 --> 0:47:32.120 written yet, he knew that God is the god of 0:47:32.160 --> 0:47:35.800 a plot twist. And Jacob looked at Joseph and said, 0:47:35.920 --> 0:47:41.360 in your name, will Israel pronounce this blessing. May God 0:47:41.760 --> 0:47:46.279 make you like Ephraim and Manassa. And he put he 0:47:46.360 --> 0:47:49.480 from ahead of Manassa. And then Israel said to Joseph, 0:47:50.880 --> 0:47:56.799 I'm about to die, but God will be with you. 0:47:57.400 --> 0:48:00.000 I'm speaking to somebody. Tears are running down your face 0:48:00.480 --> 0:48:03.440 because that's God saying that to you. It's not a 0:48:03.480 --> 0:48:06.160 preacher saying that to you. A preacher can't say that 0:48:06.200 --> 0:48:09.640 to you. I'm not with you. God said, I will 0:48:10.040 --> 0:48:13.280 be with you and take you back to the land 0:48:13.320 --> 0:48:18.640 of your fathers. And to you I give one more 0:48:18.880 --> 0:48:23.319 ridge of land than to your brothers. The one who 0:48:23.560 --> 0:48:35.560 almost died got blessed double. This happened in Sidcar, near Samaria, 0:48:36.520 --> 0:48:43.320 on the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. 0:48:43.400 --> 0:48:48.120 I want to pray for you today. What I want 0:48:48.120 --> 0:48:51.800 to pray about is the fact that when Jacob spoke 0:48:51.840 --> 0:48:55.080 that blessing over Joseph. They weren't in Canaan, they were 0:48:55.080 --> 0:49:00.400 in Egypt. He was telling him about a land that 0:49:00.440 --> 0:49:03.440 he wasn't living in yet. And when we get up 0:49:03.480 --> 0:49:05.279 here and when we preach and when we say, God 0:49:05.280 --> 0:49:07.759 takes what the enemy means for evil and turns it 0:49:07.840 --> 0:49:11.319 for good. You know, that's really hard to receive when 0:49:11.360 --> 0:49:13.319 you look all around you and everything that you see 0:49:13.400 --> 0:49:17.400 is saying otherwise. But God said, I'm gonna bless you. 0:49:18.719 --> 0:49:22.680 I'm gonna bless you better than anybody else can curse you. 0:49:23.040 --> 0:49:25.480 I'm gonna bless you. When I make up my mind 0:49:25.480 --> 0:49:27.360 to bless you, when I make up my mind to 0:49:27.440 --> 0:49:31.239 use you, I will go through Samaria and send all 0:49:31.360 --> 0:49:37.960 the disciples to McDonald's just to meet with you, to 0:49:38.120 --> 0:49:42.240 show you what is within you. They call you Jacob, 0:49:43.640 --> 0:49:49.200 I call you Israel on the plot of ground that 0:49:49.400 --> 0:49:53.160 Jacob gave to Joseph. God, I thank you that there 0:49:53.239 --> 0:49:58.920 is an anointing on this word today to break generational 0:49:59.480 --> 0:50:04.719 bondage off of mindsets. I thank you that today new 0:50:04.800 --> 0:50:10.400 wells are being dug in this moment, not three months 0:50:10.440 --> 0:50:14.000 from now, when the country is in better shape or not. 0:50:14.120 --> 0:50:16.640 At some point in the future when we know what's 0:50:16.680 --> 0:50:20.200 gonna happen with our career or our industry. Right now, 0:50:20.840 --> 0:50:24.719 I am blessed. Right now. The hand of the Lord 0:50:24.800 --> 0:50:28.319 is on me, the younger before the older. You are 0:50:28.440 --> 0:50:32.080 doing it in your time. It's gonna be beautiful in 0:50:32.239 --> 0:50:37.279 your time. God. And I thank you right now that 0:50:37.440 --> 0:50:44.320 from Sweden to Zimbabwe, right down to your county, South Carolina, 0:50:44.520 --> 0:50:48.279 your people are blessed, not just the fathers, but the 0:50:48.440 --> 0:50:52.839 sons and the daughters and the mothers, single baron woman. Ah, 0:50:53.000 --> 0:50:56.120 thank you that a well, it's springing up in the desert. 0:50:56.440 --> 0:50:59.719 And I bless your name today because your people are 0:50:59.719 --> 0:51:03.840 bless us. And when you bless us and when you stigure, 0:51:04.360 --> 0:51:09.040 it is established. It is done on earth as it 0:51:09.120 --> 0:51:13.840 is in heaven. Your kingdom. Come, your will be not 0:51:14.120 --> 0:51:17.360 fuck hollow. It be your day. You churn, bless the 0:51:17.480 --> 0:51:23.560 be gold h turny for yes, listen, say your name, 0:51:23.800 --> 0:51:31.920 fuckingay you turny, fucking day you turney. Fuck come on 0:51:32.040 --> 0:51:37.840 and you're not sweary fucker say your journal turnary evil. 0:51:38.080 --> 0:51:42.600 It's a port twisted fuck. It's not over you journey 0:51:42.840 --> 0:51:48.800 is not over. It's a pot twist shotinue your marry 0:51:48.960 --> 0:51:53.120 me for your ministry. Can you tell me in your life? 0:51:53.440 --> 0:51:59.400 Said she just a port twist. My hey, you jes 0:52:00.120 --> 0:52:09.160 do you take what you concernty fuck you thurny fuck 0:52:12.640 --> 0:52:18.040 on the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph, 0:52:18.400 --> 0:52:24.520 that woman discovered living water. Today. I pray over every household, 0:52:24.560 --> 0:52:27.840 Oh God, cover them, Oh God, bless them. Indeed, Oh God, 0:52:28.600 --> 0:52:34.279 enlarge their hearts. Some things don't make any sense. Some 0:52:34.320 --> 0:52:40.040 things in our lives seem so hopelessly, hopelessly, ridiculously painful. 0:52:41.120 --> 0:52:45.279 I speak purpose over your people today. God, you sent 0:52:45.400 --> 0:52:48.120 me here with this water, You sent me here with 0:52:48.160 --> 0:52:51.520 this word. You are the water, You are the word. 0:52:53.760 --> 0:52:56.719 I gotta tell you one more thing. I was gonna leave, 0:52:56.719 --> 0:53:00.239 but I gotta tell you this. She came to get water, 0:53:01.520 --> 0:53:08.400 but she left her jar plot twist. She was already 0:53:08.440 --> 0:53:13.600 carrying what she came for. I'm trying to say, you've 0:53:13.600 --> 0:53:17.960 already got it, You've already got it, You've already got it. 0:53:18.080 --> 0:53:21.879 You already are enough. You already are enough. You already are. 0:53:22.200 --> 0:53:24.360 I don't care what they said, I don't care what 0:53:24.440 --> 0:53:30.800 the devil's been telling you. You already got it. So Lord, 0:53:31.880 --> 0:53:38.320 confirm your word today with signs and miracles and wonders. 0:53:39.160 --> 0:53:43.080 We thank you that your cross and your blood speaks 0:53:43.080 --> 0:53:46.759 a better word in Jesus' name. Come on and give 0:53:46.800 --> 0:53:50.279 God the greatest shout of braves and say, I receive it. 0:53:51.320 --> 0:53:55.440 I received the living water. Singing a few more times 0:53:55.440 --> 0:54:00.880 you sing, couldn't you? God? It's turning it on? Fuck, 0:54:01.800 --> 0:54:13.200 get ready, turn get ready. Thank you for joining us. 0:54:13.520 --> 0:54:15.960 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:54:16.040 --> 0:54:19.520 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:54:20.000 --> 0:54:22.160 You can click the link in the description to give 0:54:22.280 --> 0:54:26.200 now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for 0:54:26.280 --> 0:54:30.040 more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:54:30.520 --> 0:54:32.600 You can share it with your friends. You can click 0:54:32.600 --> 0:54:34.840 the share button, take a screenshot and share it on 0:54:34.880 --> 0:54:37.759 your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks 0:54:37.760 --> 0:54:39.160 again for listening. God bless you.