The Limp Won’t Make You Late

0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.280 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.360 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:10.000 Be sure to. 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:13.720 Subscribe so we can get you these new sermons every week. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:15.040 I hope you're blessed today. 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:23.800 I want to welcome all of our locations. This campus, 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:25.240 our Valentine campus is called. 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.640 Our broadcast location. Let's welcome all of our EPAM all 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:30.640 around the world right now, who are joining us? 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:41.760 Hey, everybody today, the Lord gave me a word he 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:42.680 can give it to me today. 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:46.559 Gave it to me Monday, so I've been sitting with 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:48.639 it all week, so i can't wait to get to it. 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:50.360 So I'm not going to do any announcements. So I'm 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.360 just going to get right to it because I'm excited. 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:59.680 We're going to revisit Genesis chapter thirty two, the scripture 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.920 that I shared last week. We're going to jump in 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:07.920 at verse twenty four. Some things that the Lord has 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:12.680 been dealing with me about and some things I believe 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.880 he wants to assure you about. This will be a 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:20.400 word of assurance for somebody today. 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:25.000 Genesis chapter thirty two, verse twenty four, The. 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:27.640 Bible says, so Jacob was left alone and a man 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:32.000 wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:34.200 he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:36.880 Jacob's hip so that his hip. 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:39.320 Was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:43.240 The man said, let me go for his daybreak, but 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:46.039 Jacob replied, I will not let you. 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:48.000 Go unless you bless me. 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:51.560 And I talked last week about the blessing of letting go, 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:56.320 that sometimes it's not our strength, but our surrender that 0:01:56.440 --> 0:02:00.160 determines our ability to move forward in life. And specific 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:02.559 what Jacob was letting go of and this passage wasn't 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:05.640 the man. It was letting go of a previous version 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:06.240 of himself. 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.040 Because watch this. The man asked him, what's your name? Jacob? 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:13.080 He answered, now, he had pretended to be his brother Esau, 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:15.919 and we'll talk about that in a moment, but now 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:19.240 he's saying his own name. And when he said his 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:22.280 own name verse twenty eight, the man said, your name 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:24.200 will no longer be Jacob. 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:25.480 But Israel, because you have. 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:29.839 Struggled with God and with humans and have overcome. Jacob said, 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:30.880 please tell me your. 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.519 Name, but he replied, why do you ask my name? 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:37.800 Then he blessed him there so Jacob called the place 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:41.919 ten yell, saying it is because I saw God face to. 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:45.240 Face, and yet my life was spared. 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:48.079 Last verse, I want to read key verse for today, 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:52.360 Verse thirty one, Genesis, chapter thirty two. The sun rose 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:57.760 above him as he passed Tenniel, and he was limping 0:02:58.600 --> 0:02:59.560 because of his hip. 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:02.880 The sun rose above. 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:08.400 Him as he passed Tenneoh, and he was limping because 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:10.919 of his hip. Turn to your neighbor and say, I've 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:23.920 got good news. Tell them the limp won't make you late, and. 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.960 That good news. Let's pray. Father. 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:31.280 I commend your people to you now, and I ask 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:37.160 you to flow through me Holy Spirit, with clarity, supernatural accuracy, 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:42.120 and indelible power. Make an imprint on the lives of 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:47.080 your people, a mark that can't be erased. In Jesus' name, Amen, 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:49.680 touch your neighbor on your way to your seat, and 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:50.600 tell them I'm not late. 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:00.480 Praise God. 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:05.840 I think the reason that I'm perennially drawn to this 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:09.560 text is because it illustrates one of my favorite things 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.960 to teach people from the Bible, and that's the concept 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:18.520 of progressive revelation. And when I say progressive revelation, it's 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:22.080 not just so I can use big words so that 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:26.080 you don't get confused at certain points in your life 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:30.839 where you learn something that causes you to have to 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:34.279 unlearn everything you thought you knew up until that point. 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:39.440 Progressive revelation is the idea that as God is. 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.440 Going in the scriptures, we see more and more of 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:46.160 who He really is, and so you don't get all 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:49.400 of God just by reading the Book of Genesis. You 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:52.360 don't get all of God just by reading Genesis, Exis 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:55.960 of Vidgicus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, the Pinituke, or those first five 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:56.599 books of the Bible. 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.040 You don't get all of God. By reading all the 0:04:59.080 --> 0:04:59.320 way to. 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:01.680 The Book of Malachi I'm finishing the Old Testament, or Matthew, Martin, 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:05.880 Luke and John, or all of the Epistles, the letters 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:07.760 that Paul wrote to the Church, or James, or even 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:10.640 the Book of Revelation. You don't get all of God. 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:12.640 Even when you finish, if you go all the way 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:18.440 to the Book of Maps in the back, you still 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:24.240 will not have mastered God. This scripture is interesting, isn't it? 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:29.039 Because Jacob asked this angel for his name, and he's like, no, 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.880 not yet, I'm not going to tell you, I'm going 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.200 to make sure you know your name. But God's name 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.719 wasn't revealed until Moses came along, so that would be 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:43.520 many years later, it would be many centuries later. That's 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:46.960 what I mean by progressive revelation. Now, it's not like 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:51.320 God got his name when Moses came along. But there 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:55.120 are things that we know as we go. And so 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:58.679 when when I tell you today that you're not late 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.800 in life, that may be difficult for you to believe 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:09.520 because of what you thought you knew that you needed 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:13.960 to do by now, who you thought you needed to 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:18.160 be at this stage in your life. And the thing 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:23.640 about God's activity is that his revelation is on a schedule, 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:30.599 but this schedule is usually not seen by us. His 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.480 revelation is on schedule, and it's a schedule that you 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:34.919 can't see. 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:39.360 So write that down as a point today, Revelation is scheduled. 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:42.440 Revelation is scheduled. 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:45.560 Judging by the percentage of people who wrote that down 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:47.440 when I said write it down, we either need some 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:50.040 more elevation pins to hand out at the door, or 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:51.800 you'll need it an extra two hours of sleep. 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:52.960 I'm not sure which one it was. 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:58.760 It's hard for me to believe that I'm pastoring this 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:00.640 church going into our eighteenth year. 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:05.960 Yeah. 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:10.000 Why is so crazy is when I visioned myself starting 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:12.240 a church, I was sixteen, but I thought I'd start 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.000 the church when I was in my forties. So now 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:17.680 here I am in my forties and I've been pastoring 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.120 the church for eighteen years. 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:21.480 And that's just crazy to me. 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:25.520 And God set the schedule for when he wanted me 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:32.360 to do this. And then Holly, she's very Holly has 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:38.080 an interesting concept of time. Usually she's the one behind 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.560 schedule in certain areas of life. 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:43.480 She's doing a lot better with it. 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:45.520 There was one time where she was the one who 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:47.440 was early and I was running late. Usually in our 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:49.480 marriage it's you know that I'm waiting in the car 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:52.640 and she's running a little late. Very stereotypical male thing 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:54.720 to say in the sermon intro, but it was true 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:55.880 in our marriage, especially. 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:56.640 For the first few years. 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:59.320 But in one of our first conversations about this church, 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:02.320 she said, you know, I believe it's time for us 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:04.000 to go start this church. We were in our twenties, 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:05.960 we had only been married a couple of years, and 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:07.600 she said, I think it's time. I said, it's not time. 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:09.520 We're going to do it later. I'm going to go 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:13.320 do something else for twenty years and learn everything I 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:16.040 need to know, and then we'll start the church. And 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.200 so she pointed me to the resources that God had 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:20.960 given us, and she let me see that in that moment, 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:23.040 although we didn't feel like we had the experience that 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:24.800 we needed, and I didn't feel like that I had 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:28.320 the knowledge that I needed, that God's calling is more 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:34.760 important than human knowledge. So she was the person who 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:36.959 said to me, I believe it's time for us to. 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.120 Go do this, And the. 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:44.760 Stupidity of youth, aided by faith in God, led us 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:46.480 to start a church in our twenties. 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:47.600 Praise the Lord. 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:51.640 Now, the thing about that is at the time that 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:54.520 she made mention of that to me and I talk 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:58.480 about progressive revelation. There are a lot of mistakes that 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:02.360 I believe I made because I started the church so early, 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:05.079 that I probably would not have made if I had 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:08.960 been more mature. When I started the church at age 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:12.280 twenty seven, there were some things I didn't know yet 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:15.360 about human nature, and to be honest, some things I 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:20.719 didn't know about myself, my own deficits, my own psychological 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:24.240 garbage that I probably hadn't dealt with properly. There were 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:25.960 a lot of things that I still had to go 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:29.920 through to really know who I was. Remember in the 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:33.200 text that I read you, Jacob not only doesn't know 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:36.760 who God is fully, but he doesn't know who he 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:38.720 is fully yet either. 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:45.240 And he was ninety years old when this happened. 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:50.880 So tell somebody next to you, there's hope for you yet. 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.120 And one day I was just going through a list. 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:57.120 This was recent. 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.880 I was going through a list of all of the 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.240 dumb things that I did in the foundational stages of 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:07.880 our church that I regret now because looking back, I say, 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:10.240 that was so dumb that I set it up that way. 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:12.760 If I hadn't set it up like this, we wouldn't 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:13.480 be dealing with that. 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:16.320 Now I see that this was a bad idea. I 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:17.120 thought it was good. 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:19.400 But now this this thing that was so good thought. 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:21.600 I thought it was so good when we started, and 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:22.760 this thing that I said. 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:25.679 And now is just ah. And I'm just beating myself up. 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:28.839 That's my spiritual gift, just to beat the crap out 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:33.200 of myself. And so I'm doing all this jiu jitsu 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:37.480 on myself making myself feel bad, and again, with wisdom, 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:39.679 she steps in and says something that's so simple but 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:44.600 so wise. She's like, why are you punishing yourself for 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:49.600 decisions that you made with revelation that you didn't have 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:50.200 at the time. 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:56.040 Why are you punishing. 0:10:55.520 --> 0:11:00.559 Yourself over yesterday's mistake with today's revel. 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:02.880 The truth of. 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:05.560 The matter is that at every stage along the way 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:09.080 of leading this church, I've tried to do what I 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:13.840 thought was right in that season with the resources. 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:13.680 That I had. 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:17.959 And I can respect that, because even if I. 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:20.320 Came to see later then I could have done it better. 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:25.160 I did what was right at the time. 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:34.480 I led in the light that I had, with the 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.559 light that I had, with the knowledge. 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:41.320 That I had, with the wisdom that I had. Meager, 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:43.960 though she were, I. 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.600 Led this church the best I could in the light 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.720 that I had. I want to call your attention to 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:55.560 two parts of Genesis, chapter thirty two, Verse thirty one. 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.360 One says the sun rose above Jacob as he passed, 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:02.960 and the other says he was limping. 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.719 Now, for the rest of this message, I want to 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:06.440 talk about. 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.680 Those two physical elements, but I want to use them 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:13.840 symbolically for spiritual purposes for what you're going through in 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:18.920 your life. It says the sun rose that's number one, 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:23.240 and he limped. So there's two characters at play in 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:29.760 this text. There's the light and the limp. The light 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:33.800 and the limp. And what I want to make the 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:36.200 case to you about in your life Jacob's life. My 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:41.439 life today is that the light didn't stop the limp, 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.800 but the limp couldn't stop the light. 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:50.080 They're like preaching that today. 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:56.319 So here he is Jacob ninety plus years old, getting 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:58.600 ready to go deal with his brother Esau, who he 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:00.960 cheated out of a blessing twenty years earlier. 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.920 Jacob has spent twenty years in sort of a layover 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.800 situation at his uncle's house. 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:09.559 His uncle is named Laban. 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.880 As it often happens in life, what happened to him 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:17.480 during the layover was even more important than what happened 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.120 when he got to the destination. It was at Laban's 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.400 house that he met his wife, Leah. It was also 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.319 at Laban's house that he met his second wife, Rachel. 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.600 Turn to your neighbors, say you only get one just 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:34.320 the Old Testament progressive revelation, and. 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:35.760 So is it truth? 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:37.599 Sometimes the stuff that happens. 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:39.360 While you're trying to get where you're going becomes the 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:43.000 stuff that's the most important, and that while you're on 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:45.360 the way to where you're going, you stumble over what 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.439 you were actually supposed to do all along. I mean, 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:51.280 that is absolutely true in my life. 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:52.800 And yet we don't see. 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:54.720 By all the light that there is only the light 0:13:54.800 --> 0:14:00.439 that we have. Right now, somebody is living in the life, 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.480 but only a little bit of light. All night long, 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.360 Jacob has wrestled with a man. He's not sure who 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:09.240 the man is at first. He's not even really sure 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:11.240 who the man is when the match is over, but 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:13.680 he has a little bit of a better picture, a 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:19.000 little bit of a clearer picture, and he's wrestling, grappling, 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:23.960 and in many ways losing in this battle against this 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:27.840 opponent that he can't see. He is living in the 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:32.360 light that he has. And as daybreak comes and he 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.680 lets the man go, and he lets go of his 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.440 former self to receive his new identity, the light rises 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:40.000 over him. 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:41.840 He walks past nile. 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:44.440 He says, this is the place where I saw God. 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:49.760 The sun is rising and he's limping at the same time. 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:54.800 To me, that is very powerful to describe what it 0:14:54.920 --> 0:15:00.280 is like to walk with God. I remembered this funny story, 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:01.960 and Graham probably doesn't remember it, but one of his 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:04.239 early birthdays, I was out preaching in Oklahoma. 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:06.240 I wanted to be home for his birthday. 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:08.600 Somebody let us borrow you know what story I'm about 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:11.040 to tell. Somebody let us borrow their little plane, and 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:12.720 so we were gonna fly back that night so I 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:14.560 could preach at night and then fly back. 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:16.760 Remember this. We got on the plane. 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:18.920 The plane was very small, so it couldn't get really 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:20.880 above the weather, so we had to circle around all 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:21.480 these storms. 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:23.280 But I wanted to be back by his birthday. He's 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:24.720 finally had four or five at the time. 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:26.960 And we got on that plane and the pilot said, well, 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:28.760 we're going to be able to get you home. It's 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:30.680 just a matter of win because we're gonna have to 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:32.560 stop a bunch of times to refuel this plane because 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:34.400 the plane is very little and they can't hold much fuel, 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:35.960 and we're gonna have to fly around the weather. 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:36.800 So we don't know. 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:41.560 We took a three hour trip from Oklahoma City to Charlotte, 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:47.720 North Carolina, and twelve hours later, at seven am, I 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:49.920 walked in the front door and Graham was just waking 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:53.000 up on his birthday, and he said, how'd you get 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:53.640 here so quick? 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:00.760 Because he thought I left that morning. He thought I 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:01.520 left that morning. 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:06.600 He had no idea that I had been flying all 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:13.280 night to get there what he called quick. People ask 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:19.000 me sometimes how did Elevation Church grow so quick? Sometimes 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:22.720 people look at your life and they can't understand how 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:25.600 you are where you are, and they look at you 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:29.680 and they think it just came natural. But what they 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:34.360 don't see is I thought all night. I thought all 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:38.080 night to get here. I fought all night and half 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:41.120 the morning. I thought all night and half the morning. 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:43.760 And that's before my husband even woke up. That was 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:46.640 my second fight, and the kids were the third. Getting 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:48.840 them to get dressed was the third. I thought all 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:52.120 night to get here. There is a sense in which 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:55.920 Jacob business passage serves as a model for all of 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:59.720 us who have been going through things that others don't 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:03.680 see me showing up looking like we plan to get 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:04.840 there along. 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:07.320 But they don't really know what you. 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:10.760 Went through to get there, do they? They don't really 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:13.480 know what you went through to show up at the job. 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:14.520 Every day last. 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:17.440 Week do they, And you would never tell them that 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:20.320 because to tell them what you went through to get 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:24.280 there would make you feel a little vulnerable and insecure 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:28.120 because you don't think you're supposed to fight because nobody 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:31.480 else shows you their fight. You only see the fragments 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:34.439 of their life that shine through a screen light, and 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:36.760 so through the light of the screen, you can't really 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:40.040 see the struggles that other people deal with. So now 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:42.560 here you are in your life feeling like, oh, I 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:45.040 feel like I'm a little behind. Oh I feel like 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:48.000 I'm not where I'm supposed to be. Who says you're 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:51.080 not where you're supposed to be, Well, I'm not where 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.679 they are. Well, how do you know where they are really? 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:56.560 Because you don't know what they dealt with last night. 0:17:57.040 --> 0:17:59.400 You don't know what they were doing last night. 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:02.280 I don't know what's going through their mind right now, 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:06.240 So why would I compare myself with somebody I can't 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:13.840 see through? And I think it's worse than ever for 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:20.800 our kids, because now I gotta compare myself. 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:22.520 To the whole world at all times. 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:24.320 When I first. 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:26.840 Started learning how to play guitar, I just had to 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:28.120 be better than my friends. 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:36.719 In Monk's corner who also played guitar. There were three. Now, 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:39.240 I gotta look at a four year old in Japan 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:44.479 who can play Stairway to Heaven left handed on one string. 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:47.119 I suck. 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:51.360 And just about when you think you're doing pretty good, 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:52.400 here comes somebody. 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:56.280 Y'all, there is a man in our neighborhood. 0:18:56.320 --> 0:19:00.399 I testify God as my witness. I am not lying 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:02.320 that when we walked by. 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:10.240 His house yesterday, yesterday he was putting up his Christmas lights. 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:15.680 Pray for all the dysfunctional. 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:18.160 People who are clapping for that, like that's normal. 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:19.520 That's a demon. 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:25.680 That's a childhood trauma that needs therapy. Because it's November 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:30.119 fifth or sixth or something like that. It just got 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:34.840 cold three hours ago, and you're blasting simply having a wonderful. 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:38.000 He had music playing in his yard. All the kids 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:40.320 were out there, nobody was fighting. 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:41.919 I was like, what's wrong with me? 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:47.959 I don't even know where we keep our Christmas lights. 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:52.200 Holly's in charge of that. I'm not a man. I'm 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:52.960 not a good man. 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:01.239 With a kid, I start playing sports, I thought, well, 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:02.760 maybe I'll coach their team. 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:04.240 They start playing baseball. 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:10.920 I found out real quick the standards for coaching little 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:14.760 league baseball have changed since I played little league baseball. 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:18.440 Used to be you know, show. 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:24.080 Up, don't be drunk, don't yell at the umph. My 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:27.320 dad coached my team and he didn't ever play baseball, 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:28.920 didn't know about baseball. He went to the library and 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:30.760 checked out a book. I saw you see him reading 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:35.800 the book how to coach Little League Baseball. Times have changed. 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:38.240 He bought a rule book. He memorized the rule book. 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:40.280 He's out there teaching us to play baseball. He was, 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:43.400 he was, he was well, the team was worse than 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:48.560 he was. It was anyway, the whole season, all he. 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:51.440 Let us do was bunt because we were that bad. 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:57.760 So I'm out there thinking my boys, like, well, maybe 0:20:57.800 --> 0:20:59.560 I could, maybe I could coach the team. Maybe I 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:01.760 could go to the library, go over to the car catalog, 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:03.120 get a little book and learn how to coach. 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:04.640 And maybe that'd be a good memory for the kids. 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:06.000 Man. 0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:09.280 I don't remember if they were seven or five or nine. 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:10.119 I don't remember exactly. 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:14.560 It's all blurry, but they start talking to me pretty 0:21:14.600 --> 0:21:17.560 much before the boys were in middle school. You got 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:21.680 them on a travel team. Yet I'm like, a, who 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:25.439 what doing good? I'm doing good to get them out 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:28.320 there for every practice. Note if you don't have them 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:29.840 on a travel team. This is what the man pulled 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:31.359 me aside and explain. If you don't have him on 0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:34.879 a travel team by age ten, they'll fall behind. They 0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:37.919 won't even be able to make the middle school team. 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:41.880 I said, wow, looks like you're not making the middle 0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:52.400 school team. They learned to wrestle or something. And it's 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:55.680 nothing bad about travel teams or elite teams or AAU 0:21:55.880 --> 0:22:01.280 or any of that. That's all wonderful, except when your 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:05.119 whole life begins to kind of feel like that, where. 0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:10.840 I feel like I'm behind and I don't even know 0:22:10.920 --> 0:22:14.120 how I got behind, But it. 0:22:14.040 --> 0:22:20.360 Seems like everybody knows something, has something, sees something, and 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:21.040 can do. 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:22.880 Something that I can't do. 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:28.399 What I realized about Jacob's life as the sun was 0:22:28.520 --> 0:22:33.520 rising and he was limping, is that he was born 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:40.600 feeling behind. In the literal birth order of Jacob and Esau, 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:43.760 they were twins. 0:22:42.400 --> 0:22:46.000 Separated by only a few seconds, Jacob was. 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:48.560 Only going to get one third of the inheritance because 0:22:48.600 --> 0:22:51.359 that's the way it worked in those days, and. 0:22:51.320 --> 0:22:54.320 So when he was born, he came out grabbing his 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:55.240 brother's heel. 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:59.000 That's what the name Jacob means. It means heel grabber. 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:03.000 There was something in him, even in the womb, that 0:23:03.119 --> 0:23:07.680 was wrestling against his brother, something that felt like I'm. 0:23:07.480 --> 0:23:10.320 Behind and I can't be behind. 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:14.440 For all of his clutching and grasping at his brother's heel. 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:19.280 He still came out second. Now, at age ninety. 0:23:19.200 --> 0:23:22.119 He's very blessed because he's stolen a blessing in a 0:23:22.119 --> 0:23:25.960 birthright from his blind father Isaac. But yet there's a 0:23:25.960 --> 0:23:29.760 wrestling match that happens on his way to reconcile with Esau. 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:30.960 It's been twenty years. 0:23:30.800 --> 0:23:33.680 Since he's seen him, and as he's getting ready to 0:23:33.760 --> 0:23:36.200 go and face Esau and make it right with Esau, 0:23:36.240 --> 0:23:39.840 he hopes because Esau could kill him, an angel appears 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:44.360 and wrestles him to the point where his hip is wrenched, 0:23:45.040 --> 0:23:49.760 and he leaves the presence of the angel to face 0:23:49.800 --> 0:23:54.080 his brother. And the only evidence that he has that 0:23:54.160 --> 0:23:59.280 he's met with God is his limb. We think the 0:23:59.359 --> 0:24:02.960 evidence that we've been with God is that our situation 0:24:03.160 --> 0:24:08.239 gets better. We then take all of the evidence that 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:11.520 other people present to us of how good their life 0:24:11.640 --> 0:24:16.120 is and compared to them putting up their Christmas lights 0:24:16.359 --> 0:24:22.200 in April, compared to them whose kids are always on 0:24:22.280 --> 0:24:26.280 a field somewhere, getting better and better, and hitting coaches 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:28.960 and batting cages. And we can barely afford to buy 0:24:29.000 --> 0:24:31.280 the bat to begin with, So how would we pay 0:24:31.280 --> 0:24:34.560 for the bat, the pitching, the coaching lessons, the private 0:24:34.560 --> 0:24:35.680 coaching lessons, if we. 0:24:35.600 --> 0:24:37.200 Could compare to them. 0:24:38.040 --> 0:24:40.919 I came to announce to you today that nothing in 0:24:40.960 --> 0:24:46.399 your life is originated divinely by your comparison to people, 0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:56.199 only by your commitment to purpose. The starting place for 0:24:56.320 --> 0:24:59.600 contentment is commitment to purpose. 0:25:00.200 --> 0:25:01.359 Why is that important? 0:25:01.720 --> 0:25:05.359 Because the alternative to commitment to purpose is comparison to people. 0:25:06.720 --> 0:25:10.680 If I'm comparing myself to people, I'm always grabbing heels. 0:25:11.400 --> 0:25:15.160 If I'm comparing myself to people, I'm always feeling either 0:25:15.320 --> 0:25:17.120 better than or less than. 0:25:17.600 --> 0:25:20.320 But neither of those will bring you close to God. 0:25:21.359 --> 0:25:24.840 If I'm comparing myself to people, I'll always feel like 0:25:25.000 --> 0:25:29.919 I was born behind. And here's why. Because everybody in 0:25:30.000 --> 0:25:34.080 here has a limp. But some limps are more easily 0:25:34.160 --> 0:25:44.640 hidden than others. Some limps show up later in life. 0:25:43.480 --> 0:25:46.520 Some limps show up privately. 0:25:47.320 --> 0:25:52.920 Some limps show up in intimate relationships. Some limps show 0:25:53.040 --> 0:25:55.119 up in an inability to hold down a job. 0:25:55.880 --> 0:26:03.280 Some limps have catastrophic results. Some limps have insidious. 0:26:02.560 --> 0:26:04.840 Effects that no one can see. 0:26:04.880 --> 0:26:10.920 Some limps you carry alone. But everybody came in here limping. Yeah, 0:26:11.080 --> 0:26:15.000 you came, but you're limping. You've been limping this week. 0:26:15.240 --> 0:26:19.320 It's been a long week because you've been limping, limping. 0:26:20.119 --> 0:26:20.840 I'm limping. 0:26:20.880 --> 0:26:22.520 I'm here, but I'm limping. 0:26:22.920 --> 0:26:24.520 I love God, but I'm limping. 0:26:24.680 --> 0:26:27.160 I'm bringing this back from last week because something needs 0:26:27.240 --> 0:26:30.080 to break in our lives to where we stop showing 0:26:30.160 --> 0:26:33.120 up on Sunday and not getting what we really need 0:26:33.160 --> 0:26:36.359 from God because we don't want anybody to see where 0:26:36.359 --> 0:26:41.560 we really limp, or where you stop coming to church 0:26:41.720 --> 0:26:43.880 every time you have to limp in because. 0:26:43.600 --> 0:26:47.360 You feel too guilty. That's how shame operates. 0:26:48.000 --> 0:26:50.399 The time when you need to drag your behind to 0:26:50.440 --> 0:26:53.240 this church the most is the time where you've done 0:26:53.280 --> 0:26:56.240 the dumbest stuff in your life and you say, God, 0:26:56.280 --> 0:26:57.520 I need a course correction. 0:26:58.119 --> 0:26:58.359 God. 0:26:58.400 --> 0:27:00.520 I need you to top me off. I need you 0:27:00.600 --> 0:27:01.159 to fill me. 0:27:01.520 --> 0:27:03.520 I feel empty, I feel. 0:27:03.240 --> 0:27:04.919 Crazy, I don't feel. 0:27:04.680 --> 0:27:07.960 Like myself limp in here and see if the Lord 0:27:08.000 --> 0:27:12.040 won't lift you up. The Bible says, humble yourself. 0:27:11.840 --> 0:27:15.560 Under the mighty hand of God, and in due time. 0:27:18.040 --> 0:27:18.840 He'll lift you up. 0:27:21.240 --> 0:27:25.200 So watch this, somebody say, the light is coming. It's 0:27:25.200 --> 0:27:28.520 a new day dawning on Jacob. The sun is coming 0:27:28.600 --> 0:27:32.399 up over Jacob. The night is over, the wrestling is over, 0:27:32.720 --> 0:27:33.960 the struggle is over. 0:27:34.280 --> 0:27:35.240 He has let go. 0:27:35.320 --> 0:27:36.240 Of his old self. 0:27:36.480 --> 0:27:39.560 He has received a new name. He has been touched 0:27:39.560 --> 0:27:43.879 and transformed by God. He is carrying destiny. He is 0:27:43.920 --> 0:27:45.600 on his way to his purpose. 0:27:45.800 --> 0:27:48.680 But he's limping. 0:27:50.920 --> 0:27:57.320 Because the light doesn't stuck the limb. Just because you 0:27:57.520 --> 0:28:00.280 know doesn't mean you can do it. 0:28:00.080 --> 0:28:03.160 It just because God. 0:28:03.480 --> 0:28:06.639 Just because God shows you who is calling you to be, 0:28:06.680 --> 0:28:08.600 doesn't mean you yet have the courage to do it. 0:28:11.920 --> 0:28:14.160 Everything that I've become in my life, everything I've accomplished 0:28:14.160 --> 0:28:18.000 in my life that was worthwhile for God, I confess 0:28:18.040 --> 0:28:24.280 to you, I limped into it. What are you limping 0:28:24.320 --> 0:28:33.280 into today? The light is coming and Jacob is limping, 0:28:34.080 --> 0:28:38.560 and those are not mutually exclusive. I don't know if 0:28:38.560 --> 0:28:40.480 this is too deep, if I'm preaching it. Maybe if 0:28:40.520 --> 0:28:42.480 at the wrong time to the wrong people or something 0:28:42.560 --> 0:28:47.640 like that. I thought this was the right message because 0:28:48.200 --> 0:28:52.040 sometimes we get confused that we think when the light comes, 0:28:53.760 --> 0:28:59.760 the limping stops. We think that when we see Jesus, 0:29:00.800 --> 0:29:06.240 meet Jesus, receive Jesus, growing Jesus, that that means that 0:29:06.280 --> 0:29:09.320 we're automatically going to accelerate and reach the place where 0:29:10.000 --> 0:29:10.840 He's called us to be. 0:29:12.560 --> 0:29:18.560 The evidence of this meeting with Jesus was a limp 0:29:19.600 --> 0:29:23.440 that never left Jacob's life. So I suggest to you 0:29:24.520 --> 0:29:28.400 that some of the times of the greatest light will 0:29:28.400 --> 0:29:33.480 also be the times of the greatest limp. And the 0:29:33.520 --> 0:29:38.160 Bible says that Jacob limped all the way to the 0:29:38.200 --> 0:29:43.040 place where he met his brother aside, you can get 0:29:43.080 --> 0:29:43.720 their limping. 0:29:53.160 --> 0:29:55.240 Where God has taken you, where he's calling you, what 0:29:55.280 --> 0:29:57.400 he's drawing out of you, what he's using you to do, 0:29:57.520 --> 0:29:59.760 what he's moving you into, how he's maturing you, how 0:29:59.760 --> 0:30:00.440 he's growing you. 0:30:00.720 --> 0:30:07.360 It might not be pretty, that's all right, nobody's is all. 0:30:07.360 --> 0:30:08.480 The pretty people. 0:30:09.680 --> 0:30:20.400 Just have really hidden limbs, just really hidden limbs, and 0:30:20.480 --> 0:30:24.960 some of the people with the biggest strut are compensating 0:30:25.040 --> 0:30:36.040 for something that they're dragging behind them. Now imagine you're Jacob, 0:30:36.080 --> 0:30:37.719 and maybe this is how you feel in your life. 0:30:37.760 --> 0:30:40.520 He's coming up on something that is the most important 0:30:40.560 --> 0:30:41.760 meeting he's ever had. 0:30:42.840 --> 0:30:46.200 If this goes bad, Esau kills him. The stakes are high. 0:30:46.840 --> 0:30:48.280 How many WOUM say that's high stakes? 0:30:49.400 --> 0:30:50.640 And it's not like it's even going to be a 0:30:50.640 --> 0:30:52.840 close call because Esau is a skilled hunter. 0:30:53.720 --> 0:30:58.880 Jacob is a skilled cook. By the way, that's. 0:30:58.760 --> 0:31:01.200 Part of the reason that Jacob felt very insecure in 0:31:01.200 --> 0:31:05.120 his life because he never had his father's love. His 0:31:05.160 --> 0:31:08.360 father loved Esau, so one of the reasons he pretended 0:31:08.400 --> 0:31:09.920 to be his brother was to get the love of 0:31:09.920 --> 0:31:11.760 a father who expected him to be something that he 0:31:11.840 --> 0:31:14.160 could never become because it wasn't according to his purpose. 0:31:15.840 --> 0:31:19.520 Jacob isn't just limping at age ninety. He's been limping 0:31:19.960 --> 0:31:22.920 all of his life because of the love that he 0:31:22.960 --> 0:31:26.080 didn't get from the only one who could really confer. 0:31:25.800 --> 0:31:28.200 A blessing on him. He's limping. 0:31:28.520 --> 0:31:31.480 See, there is a reason if in your life you're 0:31:31.520 --> 0:31:34.000 not who you're supposed to be. Yet there's a reason 0:31:34.080 --> 0:31:38.360 for that. There's an explanation for him. Yeah, I would 0:31:38.440 --> 0:31:41.320 love to be a better wife, but it's hard for 0:31:41.400 --> 0:31:44.960 me because I didn't see that model. I've been limping. 0:31:46.080 --> 0:31:48.640 I would love to be a more patient person, but 0:31:48.760 --> 0:31:51.560 I grew up in a family where people exploded with 0:31:51.640 --> 0:31:55.160 their temper, and I am trying to unlearn that template 0:31:55.640 --> 0:31:58.200 so that I can change it and turn it around 0:31:58.520 --> 0:32:04.600 so my kids don't live with my limp. And I 0:32:04.640 --> 0:32:08.280 wish I was farther along, and I wish I had 0:32:08.320 --> 0:32:11.040 saved more money, but nobody taught. 0:32:10.760 --> 0:32:11.920 Me how to do this thing. 0:32:12.520 --> 0:32:17.360 So I went into debt trying to compensate for the love. 0:32:17.240 --> 0:32:18.240 That I didn't get. 0:32:18.760 --> 0:32:22.320 I went into debt trying to compensate for the approval 0:32:22.400 --> 0:32:26.280 that I didn't get. I've been limping my whole life. 0:32:26.720 --> 0:32:29.040 I've been struggling my whole life. 0:32:29.440 --> 0:32:31.920 And the truth of it is, some of the people 0:32:31.960 --> 0:32:34.960 that are critical of you would celebrate you. 0:32:35.160 --> 0:32:37.360 If they could understand how hard. 0:32:37.120 --> 0:32:40.400 It was for you to get to this point with 0:32:40.440 --> 0:32:49.760 your limp. And don't let them intimidate you when they 0:32:49.880 --> 0:32:59.240 show you their dance. Because everybody limps somewhere. Everybody limps somewhere. 0:33:01.040 --> 0:33:03.040 They're not farther along than you. 0:33:03.440 --> 0:33:06.840 They're just called to a different place than you, so 0:33:06.880 --> 0:33:09.800 they have a different pace from you. So when you 0:33:09.880 --> 0:33:13.360 get there on Thanksgiving and they say I thought you'd 0:33:13.360 --> 0:33:16.440 be married by now, say I thought you would have 0:33:16.520 --> 0:33:19.720 learned how to pray and let God lead me by now, 0:33:20.000 --> 0:33:23.120 and stop trying to manipulate my life. 0:33:23.320 --> 0:33:24.240 I'm not late. 0:33:30.160 --> 0:33:36.560 I'm moving this thing along. The man i'm gonna marry 0:33:36.600 --> 0:33:38.120 is still earning his millions. 0:33:42.080 --> 0:33:44.880 Yeah, I'm not late. 0:33:47.360 --> 0:33:49.240 I'm not late. This is a layover. 0:33:51.240 --> 0:33:55.760 I'm gonna get some blessings, some maturity, some strength, some lessons, 0:33:55.760 --> 0:33:56.880 some truth. 0:33:56.920 --> 0:33:59.800 I'm gonna get some things while I'm in Laban's house. 0:34:00.200 --> 0:34:03.120 Yeah, when I get where God is taking me, I 0:34:03.160 --> 0:34:04.440 got everything I need. 0:34:06.480 --> 0:34:14.040 Humble yourself. Tell your neighbor your limp won't make you late. 0:34:16.000 --> 0:34:19.200 Because what I love about Jacob is he's been up 0:34:19.239 --> 0:34:24.640 all night. He's tired, he's scared, he's afraid, he's in turmoil. 0:34:24.840 --> 0:34:27.680 He's got an ulcer. He's about the fight his brother. 0:34:27.960 --> 0:34:32.440 He doesn't know what's gonna happen next. He's uncertain, he's anxious. Pastor, 0:34:32.480 --> 0:34:34.040 I thought you were talking about Jacob. It sounds like 0:34:34.040 --> 0:34:36.799 you're talking about me. We're talking about all of us. 0:34:37.080 --> 0:34:40.279 We're talking about all of us. But the sun's coming up. 0:34:40.520 --> 0:34:43.360 The sun's coming up. The Sun's coming up. It's a 0:34:43.400 --> 0:34:46.440 new day in Jacob's life. And so watch what he does. 0:34:46.640 --> 0:34:49.000 Verse thirty one my favorite verse this week. I'll have 0:34:49.040 --> 0:34:51.800 a different favorite verse next week. I changed favorite verses 0:34:52.000 --> 0:34:54.919 Like most people change shoes. I change favorite versus every 0:34:55.000 --> 0:34:57.600 chance I get. Genesis thirty two, Verse thirty one, it says, 0:34:57.840 --> 0:34:59.279 and the sun rose. 0:35:01.960 --> 0:35:07.960 The light came, and he was limping. 0:35:09.680 --> 0:35:12.320 Now not only do I have to face he saw, 0:35:14.000 --> 0:35:17.440 but I gotta do it limping, and that means I 0:35:17.480 --> 0:35:22.839 can't even run. Has God got you in a place 0:35:22.920 --> 0:35:29.640 right now where you can't run from it? And did 0:35:29.640 --> 0:35:33.279 he do that intentionally? Is he trying to show you 0:35:33.320 --> 0:35:39.400 who you really are, who He really is? Have you 0:35:39.440 --> 0:35:42.239 been caught in the constant comparison trap where it is 0:35:42.280 --> 0:35:47.160 a cycle that makes you sick, a nauseating noticing of 0:35:47.160 --> 0:35:48.960 what everybody else has that you don't have. 0:35:50.719 --> 0:35:55.960 Wait up, I'm limping. I'm trying to catch you, but 0:35:56.040 --> 0:35:56.440 I can't. 0:35:58.280 --> 0:35:58.560 You know. 0:35:58.719 --> 0:36:04.000 Not only did Jacob feel this way, your great apostle 0:36:04.040 --> 0:36:08.440 Paul felt this way. He was writing to the Corinthian 0:36:08.520 --> 0:36:10.800 Church and they were doubting his credentials as an apostle. 0:36:11.600 --> 0:36:14.080 They said he didn't speak as well as a polus. 0:36:14.640 --> 0:36:17.000 So I wrote him a letter. When he got to 0:36:17.040 --> 0:36:20.560 about chapter fifteen of First Corinthians, that's a long letter, 0:36:22.640 --> 0:36:24.480 he started telling him how he really felt about it. 0:36:24.520 --> 0:36:29.080 He said, verse three, for what I received, I passed 0:36:29.080 --> 0:36:32.520 on to you as of first importance. Now that underscores 0:36:32.560 --> 0:36:34.840 the first part of my message. I started this message 0:36:34.840 --> 0:36:37.000 by telling you that we are all leading in the 0:36:37.080 --> 0:36:40.600 light that we have. That's what Paul said. He said, 0:36:40.719 --> 0:36:42.680 in the light that I have. I passed it on 0:36:42.719 --> 0:36:46.360 to you. Now Paul had more light than Jacob because 0:36:46.360 --> 0:36:50.280 he lived in the aftermath of the resurrection, not only 0:36:50.320 --> 0:36:53.040 the birth and death of Jesus Christ, but the resurrection. 0:36:53.200 --> 0:36:57.720 So he said, I received this revelation and I passed 0:36:57.719 --> 0:37:01.080 it on to you as a first important that Christ 0:37:01.239 --> 0:37:04.840 died for our sins according to the scriptures, and on 0:37:04.920 --> 0:37:07.280 the third that he was buried, that he was raised 0:37:07.320 --> 0:37:10.759 on the third day according to the scriptures, and that 0:37:10.840 --> 0:37:14.400 he appeared to Cephists as Peter, and then to the twelve. 0:37:14.440 --> 0:37:16.840 Now watch how long the list is that Paul gives, 0:37:17.000 --> 0:37:18.319 and I'll show you why I'm reading this. 0:37:19.040 --> 0:37:21.799 After that he appeared to more than five hundred of 0:37:21.800 --> 0:37:24.560 the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of 0:37:24.600 --> 0:37:26.880 whom are still living, though some of them have fallen asleep. 0:37:28.080 --> 0:37:31.560 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 0:37:32.560 --> 0:37:37.640 and last of all, he appeared to me, also as 0:37:37.680 --> 0:37:40.520 to one abnormally born. 0:37:42.040 --> 0:37:47.280 Last of all, if you ask for people to quote 0:37:47.280 --> 0:37:50.759 a scripture from the New Testament, the first ones that 0:37:50.800 --> 0:37:54.120 come to our mind are written by this guy, Paul. 0:37:54.880 --> 0:37:58.360 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. 0:38:00.080 --> 0:38:01.640 Learn the secret of being content. 0:38:01.880 --> 0:38:05.959 I am crucified with Christ, all of these wonderful things that. 0:38:05.880 --> 0:38:08.000 He passed on to us, the apostle Paul. 0:38:09.200 --> 0:38:12.680 And yet he said I was the last one that 0:38:12.760 --> 0:38:16.839 he appeared to in a literal chronological sense. He meant 0:38:16.880 --> 0:38:20.359 it that after Jesus had been taken up and they 0:38:20.400 --> 0:38:23.080 all got to see him in bodily form, he had 0:38:23.120 --> 0:38:27.120 to knock Paul down on the Damascus road, blind his eyes, 0:38:27.160 --> 0:38:30.520 and change his name from Saul to Paul, and bring 0:38:30.600 --> 0:38:33.799 him to a place of conversion. But he also meant 0:38:33.840 --> 0:38:35.960 it a little differently. Look at the verse again, verse eight, 0:38:35.960 --> 0:38:43.080 that says as to one abnormally born. Many believed that 0:38:43.120 --> 0:38:46.560 Paul was speaking here of the fact that the Corinthians 0:38:46.640 --> 0:38:49.920 called him names he was very small. 0:38:50.880 --> 0:38:56.239 That's literally what his name means, Paul means small. So 0:38:56.320 --> 0:38:58.040 there is much speculation among. 0:38:57.880 --> 0:39:03.239 Scholars that Paul was called the small one, the little one. 0:39:04.239 --> 0:39:07.439 There's even language in this text that makes us think 0:39:07.480 --> 0:39:10.400 that maybe Paul was calling himself some kind of freak. 0:39:11.800 --> 0:39:14.240 I'm a freak. I came last. 0:39:15.000 --> 0:39:17.880 He showed up to all the other apostles in physical form. 0:39:17.640 --> 0:39:20.720 But to me, I was the last one. 0:39:20.880 --> 0:39:25.240 And yet Paul says, even though I got a late start, 0:39:26.400 --> 0:39:29.719 even though I don't deserve it, even though I might 0:39:29.800 --> 0:39:31.759 be smaller than less than and. 0:39:31.800 --> 0:39:35.839 Have seen less than look at verse nine, for. 0:39:35.920 --> 0:39:39.040 I am the least of the apostles, and do not 0:39:39.120 --> 0:39:43.279 even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted 0:39:43.320 --> 0:39:46.440 the Church of God. Do you see how he's still 0:39:46.520 --> 0:39:50.400 limping over the life that he lived before he met Christ. 0:39:51.160 --> 0:39:52.160 He never got. 0:39:52.000 --> 0:39:55.280 Over that he was present at the stoning of Stephen, 0:39:55.360 --> 0:39:55.640 and he. 0:39:55.680 --> 0:39:56.560 Never forgot it. 0:39:57.239 --> 0:40:00.959 That guilt never went away from Paul, that shame never 0:40:01.040 --> 0:40:04.719 fully left him. He is still dealing with it and 0:40:04.760 --> 0:40:07.200 the church that he's trying to lead is throwing it 0:40:07.239 --> 0:40:07.640 back in. 0:40:07.640 --> 0:40:10.320 His face, and he says, I'm not going to argue 0:40:10.320 --> 0:40:13.440 with you about that. I'm not gonna pretend that I 0:40:13.440 --> 0:40:16.319 don't limp. I'm not gonna try to pretend like I 0:40:16.440 --> 0:40:19.480 was the first in line. I'm not here because I 0:40:19.600 --> 0:40:20.880 was the first in line. 0:40:21.480 --> 0:40:25.400 I'm here by faith, through grace and the grace of 0:40:25.440 --> 0:40:29.000 God that reached for me, that reached and pulled me 0:40:29.040 --> 0:40:31.920 from the back of the line. 0:40:32.120 --> 0:40:32.680 I came to. 0:40:32.640 --> 0:40:37.040 Preach to somebody who's been limping. I've been behind lately. 0:40:37.560 --> 0:40:40.160 I don't know what I need to know. I didn't 0:40:40.200 --> 0:40:41.480 get what I wanted to have. 0:40:41.640 --> 0:40:43.800 But watch what Paul said, give me the next verse. 0:40:44.040 --> 0:40:48.120 I'm the least. I don't deserve it. But by the grace. 0:40:47.800 --> 0:40:55.440 Of God, I am what I am. I'm not racing 0:40:55.520 --> 0:40:57.960 to become something that I'm not called to be. 0:40:59.320 --> 0:41:01.160 I am what I am. 0:41:01.640 --> 0:41:02.719 Somebody say, I. 0:41:02.680 --> 0:41:08.479 Am what I am, and where I am is where 0:41:08.520 --> 0:41:14.240 the great I am wanting me to be. So I'm limping, 0:41:15.600 --> 0:41:19.960 but I'm not late. So I'm not up to your standard. 0:41:20.760 --> 0:41:25.319 But I'm not living for your approval because I'm not 0:41:25.480 --> 0:41:30.680 created by your hand. Because my days aren't ordained in 0:41:30.840 --> 0:41:31.799 your book. 0:41:32.560 --> 0:41:35.000 I find somebody say I'm right on time. 0:41:36.560 --> 0:41:37.840 I'm right on time. 0:41:39.320 --> 0:41:43.600 Because watch this. The light is coming. The light is coming. 0:41:44.200 --> 0:41:47.879 The light is coming. The light is coming. The light 0:41:48.040 --> 0:41:48.560 is coming. 0:41:49.080 --> 0:41:50.719 I've been depressed, but. 0:41:50.800 --> 0:41:51.880 The light is coming. 0:41:52.560 --> 0:41:56.239 I've been down having rubble figuring it out, but the 0:41:56.320 --> 0:42:01.800 light is coming. I've been unsure, down on myself, rolling 0:42:01.840 --> 0:42:02.919 in his security. 0:42:03.440 --> 0:42:08.799 But the light is coming. The light is coming. The 0:42:08.920 --> 0:42:12.240 light is coming. The joy is coming. 0:42:13.200 --> 0:42:16.839 A new day is darning. I'm waking up. 0:42:18.080 --> 0:42:22.600 So what I always was, I am what I am 0:42:23.160 --> 0:42:26.960 by the grace of God, and the grace that brought 0:42:27.040 --> 0:42:31.360 me safe thus far will lead me home. If I 0:42:31.440 --> 0:42:34.920 gotta get their limpis, if I gotta get there a. 0:42:34.880 --> 0:42:37.560 Little behind, if I gotta get there. 0:42:37.600 --> 0:42:41.759 Tuesday, if I gotta put it back to Wednesday, if 0:42:41.800 --> 0:42:42.560 I gotta. 0:42:42.320 --> 0:42:46.239 Make up for it at the end of wedding three, 0:42:46.640 --> 0:42:49.000 I shall do it. 0:42:57.920 --> 0:43:01.840 And the Lord said, it's no coinci. Then I'm preaching 0:43:01.920 --> 0:43:03.280 this on daylight. 0:43:03.440 --> 0:43:09.160 Save these times Sunday, because something happened this morning. When 0:43:09.200 --> 0:43:12.840 you woke up, you had an extra hour you didn't 0:43:12.960 --> 0:43:16.400 know you have. God said, I'm gonna give you time 0:43:16.880 --> 0:43:18.880 I'm gonna restore the years. 0:43:19.320 --> 0:43:21.440 You're gonna have time to do it. 0:43:29.080 --> 0:43:32.439 Whoever is forrests hidden deep right now. And I don't 0:43:32.440 --> 0:43:34.080 want this shout to get in the way of your 0:43:34.080 --> 0:43:37.880 receiving this ministry, because it is a terrible thing to 0:43:38.000 --> 0:43:40.680 watch everybody else go ahead of you and feel like 0:43:40.719 --> 0:43:43.960 you're limping, to watch everybody else be happy and feel 0:43:43.960 --> 0:43:45.839 like there's some demon in you that won't let. 0:43:45.800 --> 0:43:48.480 You enjoy life, to watch everybody else. 0:43:48.320 --> 0:43:50.319 Move up in their career, and to feel like you 0:43:50.400 --> 0:43:53.759 keep moving backwards, staying plateaued. Every time you get a 0:43:53.800 --> 0:43:56.000 little momentum, you get a little set back. 0:43:56.320 --> 0:43:57.080 You're limping. 0:43:57.320 --> 0:44:00.680 But the grace of God came to Paul, if God 0:44:00.800 --> 0:44:03.839 came to Jacob, the light of God is dawning in 0:44:03.880 --> 0:44:05.239 your life to let you know. 0:44:06.480 --> 0:44:07.360 You're not late. 0:44:10.920 --> 0:44:12.840 In order for you to be late, there would have 0:44:12.880 --> 0:44:15.279 had to be something that God did not account for 0:44:15.800 --> 0:44:16.680 that happened. 0:44:16.320 --> 0:44:17.680 In your life. 0:44:17.840 --> 0:44:20.320 And if something happened in your life that God didn't 0:44:20.320 --> 0:44:21.880 account for, then he's not God. 0:44:25.000 --> 0:44:27.320 So the fact that God started. 0:44:26.920 --> 0:44:31.160 It means that he knows where it's supposed to be 0:44:32.280 --> 0:44:37.560 right now, means that when God called you, he accounted 0:44:37.600 --> 0:44:38.200 for traffic. 0:44:42.560 --> 0:44:46.719 I'm so tired of watching people beat themselves up over 0:44:46.760 --> 0:44:51.800 comparison that has nothing to do with their calling, asking 0:44:51.840 --> 0:44:54.359 little four year olds what college are you applying to. 0:44:55.480 --> 0:45:00.480 We've gone absolutely crazy in this culture to say to 0:45:00.520 --> 0:45:02.680 you that the spirit that gets on you, that has 0:45:02.719 --> 0:45:05.640 you subjecting yourself to a standard that has nothing to 0:45:05.680 --> 0:45:08.439 do with the spirit of God. It has to let 0:45:08.480 --> 0:45:19.640 you go right now, in the name of Jesus, put 0:45:19.640 --> 0:45:22.200 your Christmas lights up in February for all I care. 0:45:24.239 --> 0:45:27.600 I'm not late. I abide in Christ. 0:45:29.080 --> 0:45:31.320 And since I abide in Him, that means that everything 0:45:31.440 --> 0:45:33.600 in His season that is supposed to come forth is 0:45:33.640 --> 0:45:34.200 coming up. 0:45:34.680 --> 0:45:36.000 Somebody's shout is coming up. 0:45:37.239 --> 0:45:42.440 Say I abide in Christ, and everything in my life 0:45:43.080 --> 0:45:47.000 is coming up, is coming up. Say it again, I 0:45:47.040 --> 0:45:52.280 abide in Christ, and everything in my life is coming 0:45:52.360 --> 0:45:58.200 up lovely in abundance at just the right time. 0:45:59.280 --> 0:46:01.200 I dare you to give God a praise for that. 0:46:03.920 --> 0:46:14.759 Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. 0:46:14.840 --> 0:46:15.680 The light's coming. 0:46:15.760 --> 0:46:15.960 Man. 0:46:18.239 --> 0:46:20.680 I know it's been a dark night. You've been wrestling alone, 0:46:20.719 --> 0:46:23.319 you've been feeling behind your whole life. But the light 0:46:23.440 --> 0:46:27.000 is coming limp into it. 0:46:29.000 --> 0:46:30.520 I said, Lord, what do you want me to tell 0:46:30.560 --> 0:46:32.760 them about this message that they can never forget? 0:46:33.080 --> 0:46:42.120 He said, to tell him limp into it. Limp into it, because. 0:46:41.920 --> 0:46:44.360 One thing I love about Jacob he might have been limping, 0:46:44.440 --> 0:46:51.560 but he didn't lay down. And that's how you accomplish it, 0:46:53.120 --> 0:46:56.840 and that's how you make it, and that's how you grow, 0:46:58.360 --> 0:47:00.160 and that's how you know who God is. 0:47:00.160 --> 0:47:02.319 Is you limp into it. 0:47:05.560 --> 0:47:13.520 The beauty of today's limp, he said, it becomes tomorrow's lean. 0:47:17.480 --> 0:47:21.920 Follow me real quick, y'all got like three minutes for 0:47:22.000 --> 0:47:31.040 me to finish this message. M it'd be weird if 0:47:31.040 --> 0:47:33.000 I preached a message called You're not late and you 0:47:33.080 --> 0:47:37.200 told me to hurry up and finish my message. Be 0:47:37.280 --> 0:47:43.920 kind of ironic because I was reading about I was 0:47:43.960 --> 0:47:47.480 reading about the end of Jacob's life. Yeah, Minister l J, 0:47:47.640 --> 0:47:53.520 that'll be good. He uh, he lived fifty more years 0:47:53.600 --> 0:47:56.799 after this wrestling match. So guess what he saw didn't 0:47:56.840 --> 0:48:00.759 kill him. 0:48:00.920 --> 0:48:04.520 He Sau didn't kill him. He had to limp to Esau. 0:48:04.880 --> 0:48:08.200 In Genesis thirty three, verse four, the Bible says that 0:48:08.239 --> 0:48:12.520 he made his way toward Esau. Remember, he's limping and 0:48:13.120 --> 0:48:15.440 as Esau's coming toward and the Bible says verse four 0:48:15.560 --> 0:48:17.200 Genesis thirty three, Verse four, I got shit. 0:48:17.239 --> 0:48:22.400 It says that Esau ran to me Jacob, and the 0:48:22.440 --> 0:48:25.799 beauty of that is that Jacob couldn't run to it, 0:48:27.160 --> 0:48:32.200 so it ran to him. Did you hear what I 0:48:32.360 --> 0:48:33.000 just said to you? 0:48:36.160 --> 0:48:38.640 Because you've been thinking, well, if I would have had 0:48:38.719 --> 0:48:40.680 this opportunity sooner, I could have done it. 0:48:40.719 --> 0:48:43.280 But I can't now because look where I am now. 0:48:43.520 --> 0:48:47.719 No, no, no, you limped to it, and God will make 0:48:47.800 --> 0:48:56.719 it run to you. In fact, when the writer of 0:48:56.760 --> 0:49:01.239 Hebrews many centuries later, remember it's progress of revelation. We 0:49:01.320 --> 0:49:03.200 don't even know at this point in the story that 0:49:03.520 --> 0:49:05.200 Jacob and Esau are going to go. 0:49:05.239 --> 0:49:06.200 And you don't even know at. 0:49:06.080 --> 0:49:07.759 This point in the story that this is the nation 0:49:07.880 --> 0:49:10.160 of Israel that Jacob is carrying with them. We don't 0:49:10.200 --> 0:49:12.120 know any of that yet, and you don't know any 0:49:12.160 --> 0:49:17.880 of that yet. But it's all on God's schedule of revelation, 0:49:19.200 --> 0:49:21.239 so that at the end of Jacob's life. This is 0:49:21.280 --> 0:49:23.520 what the author of Hebrews said about in verse twenty, 0:49:23.840 --> 0:49:27.719 that by faith Hebrews eleven, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau 0:49:27.800 --> 0:49:28.959 concerning things to come. 0:49:29.200 --> 0:49:30.840 Now watch this, and this is how I want you 0:49:30.920 --> 0:49:32.680 to leave today. Verse twenty one. 0:49:33.160 --> 0:49:40.480 By Faith Jacob, when he was dying, fifty years after 0:49:40.520 --> 0:49:41.600 he wrestled with God. 0:49:42.120 --> 0:49:48.120 When he was dying, blessed each of. 0:49:48.120 --> 0:49:54.399 The sons of Joseph and worshiped leaning on the top 0:49:54.480 --> 0:49:55.240 of his staff. 0:49:57.640 --> 0:50:01.960 So what it means to me is that my limping 0:50:02.600 --> 0:50:07.080 today will teach me to lean tomorrow. 0:50:09.920 --> 0:50:15.440 The greatest blessing of Jacob's life happen not as he 0:50:15.600 --> 0:50:22.520 was running grabbing, but as he was leaning. So the 0:50:22.560 --> 0:50:27.399 Lord said, limp into it. But make sure that what 0:50:27.480 --> 0:50:32.640 you're leaning on can hold you as you do, because 0:50:32.640 --> 0:50:35.720 for what you're going through. You can't lean on the addiction. 0:50:36.080 --> 0:50:39.839 It won't hold you for what you're going through right now. 0:50:39.920 --> 0:50:44.040 You can't lean on your own understanding. It can't direct 0:50:44.080 --> 0:50:47.200 you for what you're going through right now. You certainly 0:50:47.280 --> 0:50:50.319 cannot lean on what other people are saying that you 0:50:50.360 --> 0:50:53.319 should do because they don't know either. They are just 0:50:53.360 --> 0:50:57.640 as lost as you, and they don't have the light. 0:50:57.800 --> 0:51:04.520 So today, if you've been limping and yet you see 0:51:04.520 --> 0:51:06.799 some light coming through, I want you to stand up, 0:51:06.840 --> 0:51:09.280 because I want to pray for you, in this moment 0:51:09.480 --> 0:51:12.240 and in this season of your life, that you would 0:51:12.239 --> 0:51:18.360 not lie down and die in the light, but that 0:51:18.480 --> 0:51:26.000 you would live to see the scheduled revelation of who 0:51:26.040 --> 0:51:28.160 God has created you to be and what He's called 0:51:28.200 --> 0:51:33.239 you to do. Father, in Jesus' name, I take a 0:51:33.320 --> 0:51:37.680 page from Hebrews chapter eleven, and I bless your people 0:51:37.719 --> 0:51:41.360 by faith for some of the things that were going 0:51:41.400 --> 0:51:43.359 forward into nothing. 0:51:43.080 --> 0:51:47.279 But faith will get us there. Nothing but faith will 0:51:47.280 --> 0:51:48.600 carry us forward. 0:51:49.880 --> 0:51:53.000 Specifically, now, I want to pray for someone who has 0:51:53.080 --> 0:51:56.520 been limping and thought that it made them less. 0:51:57.880 --> 0:52:00.000 And maybe the light that you want to give them today. 0:51:59.760 --> 0:52:03.759 Is knowledge that you've still got them right where you 0:52:03.800 --> 0:52:07.360 want them, and even just that would be enough to 0:52:07.480 --> 0:52:08.520 keep them going forward. 0:52:09.920 --> 0:52:15.279 Our eyes are on you, Jesus, the author and the 0:52:15.320 --> 0:52:17.440 finisher of our faith. 0:52:18.560 --> 0:52:21.040 We fix our eyes not on things that are seen, 0:52:21.120 --> 0:52:26.279 but things that are unseen, for what is seen is temporary, 0:52:27.440 --> 0:52:32.879 but what is unseen is eternal. Thank you for the light, 0:52:33.840 --> 0:52:36.960 Thank you for your word. Thank you for the Gospel 0:52:37.000 --> 0:52:40.160 of your son Jesus. Thank you that we don't wander 0:52:40.239 --> 0:52:42.440 like those in darkness, hopeless. 0:52:43.360 --> 0:52:44.880 Thank you that you have not left. 0:52:44.680 --> 0:52:46.920 Us in our ignorance, but you have given us the 0:52:47.040 --> 0:52:48.120 light of the revelation. 0:52:48.719 --> 0:52:51.040 And this in the face of Christ, the glory of God. 0:52:51.360 --> 0:52:52.200 We have seen you. 0:52:52.239 --> 0:52:54.520 Face to face, and yet we did not die. 0:52:54.760 --> 0:52:58.560 We call this place Panio, and we thank you for 0:52:58.600 --> 0:53:00.239 the light of the gospel flooding in. 0:53:01.640 --> 0:53:04.200 Thank you for new beginnings today. 0:53:05.600 --> 0:53:07.439 Right now I want to pray for somebody who needs 0:53:07.480 --> 0:53:11.200 to make this stay their new beginning, somebody who the 0:53:11.239 --> 0:53:13.560 Lord Jesus Christ is calling unto himself. 0:53:13.640 --> 0:53:18.000 Right now. You know, when the light comes and you. 0:53:17.960 --> 0:53:20.480 Can't see any way forward, but that next step, that's 0:53:20.520 --> 0:53:24.360 all God calls you to take. The very first step 0:53:24.360 --> 0:53:26.560 of faith, is to give your life to Jesus Christ. 0:53:26.560 --> 0:53:28.319 And right now it would be. 0:53:28.320 --> 0:53:32.000 My privilege and my honor if you say I've been 0:53:32.040 --> 0:53:34.600 far away from God and this message. 0:53:34.640 --> 0:53:36.319 Today I feel God drawing me back. 0:53:37.520 --> 0:53:41.279 And yes I'm limping, and yes I'm limited, and yes 0:53:41.320 --> 0:53:44.960 I've wasted some time, but I'm coming toward the light today. 0:53:46.560 --> 0:53:48.080 You take that one step toward him. 0:53:48.320 --> 0:53:51.640 He will carry you, he will rescue you, he will 0:53:51.680 --> 0:53:54.640 save you, he will cleanse you, he will forgive you, 0:53:55.040 --> 0:53:55.839 he will make you. 0:53:55.840 --> 0:54:02.040 A new creation. He will change your name. With head's 0:54:02.080 --> 0:54:03.160 ballot and eyes closed. 0:54:03.200 --> 0:54:05.839 All over this campus and all of our campuses, We're 0:54:05.840 --> 0:54:08.399 going to pray a prayer out loud for those who 0:54:08.400 --> 0:54:11.360 are coming to God, are coming back to God. Repeat 0:54:11.360 --> 0:54:15.000 this prayer after me, Heavenly Father. I am a sinner 0:54:16.000 --> 0:54:20.360 in need of a savior, and I believe that Jesus 0:54:20.480 --> 0:54:24.719 Christ is the Son of God and the savior of 0:54:24.760 --> 0:54:25.240 the world. 0:54:26.280 --> 0:54:30.640 And today I make Jesus the Lord of my life. 0:54:31.680 --> 0:54:36.279 I believe he died that I would be forgiven and 0:54:36.440 --> 0:54:42.040 rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. 0:54:42.880 --> 0:54:46.399 This is my new beginning. On the count of three, 0:54:46.480 --> 0:54:49.040 raise your hand. If you prayed that one, two, three, 0:54:49.080 --> 0:54:50.880 shoot your hand up. I want to celebrate with you 0:54:52.440 --> 0:54:52.840 thought that. 0:54:55.200 --> 0:54:55.880 The Lord. 0:55:00.200 --> 0:55:02.920 Along. Can we clap our hands? 0:55:03.920 --> 0:55:05.360 Can we celebrate together? 0:55:06.160 --> 0:55:07.319 Thank you Jesus. 0:55:08.719 --> 0:55:08.919 Hey. 0:55:08.920 --> 0:55:11.279 I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 0:55:11.800 --> 0:55:14.400 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 0:55:14.440 --> 0:55:17.040 get you all of these new messages as soon as 0:55:17.040 --> 0:55:19.839 they're available. I also want to take a moment and 0:55:19.960 --> 0:55:21.719 thank all of you who are a part of Elevation, 0:55:22.239 --> 0:55:25.600 whether you support us financially or serve with us or 0:55:25.960 --> 0:55:28.680 just share these messages. It's because of you that we're 0:55:28.719 --> 0:55:31.120 able to reach people all around the world. 0:55:31.360 --> 0:55:33.880 And if you want more information on how to be 0:55:33.920 --> 0:55:37.080 a part of Elevation, click the link in the description. 0:55:37.600 --> 0:55:38.600 Thanks again for listening. 0:55:38.600 --> 0:55:42.000 Make sure to leave a review, share the message and subscribe. 0:55:42.239 --> 0:55:51.680 God bless you.