1 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,680 You know, one of the first things Pastor Kevin did when he 2 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,560 became the lead pastor at the church was he said, I 3 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,400 want to call them gatherings instead of 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,080 services. I want to call them gatherings because of the way the 5 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:24,880 family of God comes together. And. 6 00:00:25,900 --> 00:00:29,540 And I have always appreciated that. That the way the 7 00:00:29,540 --> 00:00:32,700 Lord brings the gatherings of the family together. 8 00:00:33,100 --> 00:00:36,900 And that's what I see in 9 00:00:36,900 --> 00:00:40,660 this room. Ooh, I'm ringing a little bit. That's what I see in this 10 00:00:40,660 --> 00:00:44,260 room. When we come together to worship up here and when we come together like 11 00:00:44,260 --> 00:00:47,020 this. Guys, can I tell you, I don't know 12 00:00:48,780 --> 00:00:52,550 what an energizer bunny feels like, but I have a pretty good 13 00:00:52,550 --> 00:00:56,230 idea. It feels like when you stand in with your brothers and your 14 00:00:56,230 --> 00:00:59,590 sisters and there's just a charge 15 00:01:00,150 --> 00:01:03,670 in the room, there is just something where we can stand with one another 16 00:01:03,990 --> 00:01:07,030 and worship this God that we call our God. 17 00:01:07,510 --> 00:01:11,150 And I will always encourage you to do that. I 18 00:01:11,150 --> 00:01:14,750 know sometimes it may feel like, oh, no, they're gonna make us come to the 19 00:01:14,750 --> 00:01:18,470 front again. It isn't. It's cause we wanna hide in your midst 20 00:01:18,470 --> 00:01:22,320 is what it is. But actually what it is is we want you to 21 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:26,120 experience that. You know, it's like when your brothers and sisters come and lay 22 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:29,840 hands on you. And it's not just one person praying and you can just 23 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,600 sense the presence of the Holy Spirit and you feel like you're covered. 24 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,120 That's what it is. Like if you've never come forward 25 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,040 and just been a part of mass worship. Now, some of 26 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,880 you were in mosh pits when you were young and you're 27 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,600 like, oh, I can't go up and be with them. I'm sure there's video out 28 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,200 there somewhere would prove otherwise. Anyway, I just 29 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,920 wanna encourage you. And at the end of this gathering, at the end 30 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,280 of this teaching, I'm gonna offer you another opportunity 31 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:03,080 because there's something that I was sensing in my spirit earlier as I was 32 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,840 worshiping. And it's exactly what they've been saying is he 33 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,520 is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of our praise, and we 34 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,320 have come together to worship him. Right? Our eyes are 35 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,010 set on him. Well, last week we talked about 36 00:02:19,210 --> 00:02:22,890 seeing the goodness of the Lord, right? And how the 37 00:02:22,890 --> 00:02:26,690 stars. On the fourth day, when the stars were created in the canopy of the 38 00:02:26,690 --> 00:02:30,490 heavens, the word said that they were set in place to mark sacred 39 00:02:30,490 --> 00:02:34,290 times and that we would be witnesses. The stars 40 00:02:34,290 --> 00:02:38,010 are witnesses. And we are witnesses of what the Lord is doing. 41 00:02:38,410 --> 00:02:42,050 And my encouragement last week was to allow the Lord to 42 00:02:42,050 --> 00:02:45,810 hide you in the cleft of the rock and to be still and know 43 00:02:45,810 --> 00:02:49,470 that he was God until you saw his goodness pass by. And if you 44 00:02:49,470 --> 00:02:53,030 remember, I said, don't judge a moment, don't judge a season 45 00:02:53,110 --> 00:02:56,790 until you see God's goodness in it. Right? And so 46 00:02:57,030 --> 00:03:00,630 that is my heart, and that is what I believe the charge is to do, 47 00:03:00,950 --> 00:03:04,070 but rightly so. After the gathering, 48 00:03:05,030 --> 00:03:07,910 someone came up and said, what if I cannot see his goodness? 49 00:03:08,710 --> 00:03:12,430 What if I've been standing and I've been waiting for a long time and 50 00:03:12,430 --> 00:03:15,910 I have not been able to see him in this situation? 51 00:03:16,470 --> 00:03:19,680 And I just said, you know, what if that is the case and you've been 52 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:23,000 standing a long time and you still can't see the goodness? 53 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,680 Can you just remember his faithfulness? 54 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,600 Can you remember his faithfulness in your life over time? 55 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:34,480 Can you trust him, knowing that he is 56 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:38,200 sovereign, knowing that he is holy and knowing that he is good? 57 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,720 In the midst of moments where it's difficult to be still 58 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,690 and see his goodness, can you just trust 59 00:03:45,690 --> 00:03:49,370 Him? Can you just trust Him? We are going to 60 00:03:49,370 --> 00:03:52,810 jump back into that same passage of Scripture a little bit, because when I left 61 00:03:52,810 --> 00:03:56,250 you last week, I had shared with you the 62 00:03:56,250 --> 00:03:59,890 idea and the concept if we are witnesses in the 63 00:03:59,890 --> 00:04:02,970 earth, and According to Hebrews 12, we are 64 00:04:03,210 --> 00:04:07,050 surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses that 65 00:04:07,050 --> 00:04:10,690 we are a part of that. We are part of that bigger picture with 66 00:04:10,690 --> 00:04:14,290 them. I felt like it was really important to go and see. Okay, 67 00:04:14,290 --> 00:04:18,109 well, what was the encouragement in that? What came after that? 68 00:04:18,109 --> 00:04:21,709 Because if you can't see him in the moment, you can still know 69 00:04:21,709 --> 00:04:25,109 he's there. You can still, by faith, know and trust him 70 00:04:25,269 --> 00:04:28,709 when you cannot see how this moment is going to go. 71 00:04:28,869 --> 00:04:32,589 He is a good God. That much you can know. Amen. So 72 00:04:32,589 --> 00:04:36,389 we are going to stand and we are going to read Hebrews 73 00:04:36,389 --> 00:04:39,069 12 if you would stand with me, because we are going to touch on this 74 00:04:39,069 --> 00:04:41,749 cloud of witnesses for just a moment, 75 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,400 see what the Lord has to do with that. So, all right, guys, 76 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,480 let's read this thing. Therefore, since we 77 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,160 are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, 78 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:58,360 let us throw off everything that hinders. Stop just a 79 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:00,400 second. What are we throwing off? 80 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:06,960 Part of it. The part we don't like. All of it. 81 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,640 Let us throw off, because we are part of those witnesses. 82 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,710 Let us throw off everything that hinders and 83 00:05:14,710 --> 00:05:18,470 the sin that so easily entangles. And let 84 00:05:18,470 --> 00:05:22,150 us run with perseverance the race marked out 85 00:05:22,150 --> 00:05:25,590 before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, 86 00:05:25,990 --> 00:05:29,670 the pioneer and perfecter of faith, for the 87 00:05:29,670 --> 00:05:33,190 joy Set before him. He endured the cross, 88 00:05:33,590 --> 00:05:37,190 scorning the shame and sat down at the right 89 00:05:37,190 --> 00:05:39,690 hand of the throne of God. Consider 90 00:05:40,730 --> 00:05:42,730 who endured such opposition 91 00:05:44,330 --> 00:05:48,090 so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 92 00:05:48,250 --> 00:05:52,010 Look for a second at that third verse. What does it say? It says, 93 00:05:52,090 --> 00:05:55,210 consider him, consider him. 94 00:05:55,690 --> 00:05:59,050 Why? So that you will not grow weary 95 00:05:59,210 --> 00:06:03,050 and lose heart. We grow weary and we lose heart 96 00:06:03,210 --> 00:06:06,890 when we consider everything but him, when our eyes 97 00:06:06,890 --> 00:06:10,560 get on everything but. But him, the one who for the 98 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,480 joy set before him, endured the cross 99 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,560 scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of 100 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:21,240 God. And guys, he is still standing. He is still sitting at the right 101 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:25,000 hand of God. Nothing is lost in this. So consider 102 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,560 him so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Father, God, I 103 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,200 thank you so much for your word. I thank you for your truth. I thank 104 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,960 you Lord. As my granny used to say, the truth will stand when 105 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,730 the world's on fire. And I thank you Lord, for your truth. 106 00:06:41,130 --> 00:06:44,810 May it burn our hearts. May it 107 00:06:44,810 --> 00:06:48,570 burn in our hearts. Father, let my stuff fall in your 108 00:06:48,570 --> 00:06:52,290 stand in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. God 109 00:06:52,290 --> 00:06:56,049 is so faithful. He's so good. I couldn't get out of this passage of 110 00:06:56,049 --> 00:06:58,570 scripture. I've been living in it this week 111 00:06:59,610 --> 00:07:03,130 because I was thinking about another gentleman came up last week and he said, 112 00:07:03,290 --> 00:07:06,850 you know, I've been doing that all week. You just described my life. I've been 113 00:07:06,850 --> 00:07:10,690 sitting outside looking up at the stars and seeing the goodness of 114 00:07:10,690 --> 00:07:14,430 God sitting under those stars. And guys, I just want 115 00:07:14,430 --> 00:07:17,190 to ask you at least once or twice this week 116 00:07:18,230 --> 00:07:21,790 or 17 times because that's a little bit more 117 00:07:21,790 --> 00:07:25,550 memorable than once or twice. Go out and sit 118 00:07:25,550 --> 00:07:29,270 on your step, sit in the grass, sit outside, 119 00:07:29,430 --> 00:07:32,990 get a lawn chair after dark and look up at the 120 00:07:32,990 --> 00:07:36,710 sky. Look up at these stars that are still marking time, 121 00:07:36,790 --> 00:07:40,590 sacred seasons. Look up at them. Because see, the word of God says, the 122 00:07:40,590 --> 00:07:43,940 heavens declare the glory of God. 123 00:07:44,180 --> 00:07:48,020 And sometimes we need to recenter and we need to refocus 124 00:07:48,020 --> 00:07:51,700 and we need to allow the heavens to declare 125 00:07:52,100 --> 00:07:55,780 the goodness of God. One version says, the heavens speak 126 00:07:55,940 --> 00:07:59,540 of him, the heavens speak of him. 127 00:08:00,100 --> 00:08:03,740 And that is where I would like to encourage you this week to 128 00:08:03,740 --> 00:08:07,440 spend some time with him, bringing your 129 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,120 focus in to his presence. I 130 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:14,800 really feel like this will be an abbreviated teaching this morning, but 131 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,280 you never know because things happen. 132 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,640 But I was looking at this passage of scripture and the thing that kept staying 133 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,680 with me was, consider him, 134 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,200 consider him, consider him so that you do not grow. 135 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,000 Has anybody been weary of. Has anybody Been tired? 136 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,400 Has anybody been distracted? Has anybody got their eyes 137 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,200 off of the Lord? Has anybody got their eyes on circumstances or 138 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,840 situations or pains or diagnoses 139 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:50,600 or you've gotten your eyes off center and see, when we 140 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,120 come into this room, I want us to focus 141 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,960 on him. I want us to focus on Him. I grew up on a farm, 142 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,680 and we had horses, and we would put blinders on those 143 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:05,070 horses because did you know that with the 144 00:09:05,070 --> 00:09:08,630 positioning of a horse's eyes, they can look to the sides? 145 00:09:08,710 --> 00:09:12,190 It's pretty funky when they do that. I'm just saying. But they can look to 146 00:09:12,190 --> 00:09:15,870 the sides, but they can see behind them, too. And so they're 147 00:09:15,870 --> 00:09:19,510 skittish. And so you put blinders on them in order to 148 00:09:19,510 --> 00:09:23,190 take them across something that they don't trust. Like a 149 00:09:23,190 --> 00:09:26,990 gate that we would put across the branch or the creek. We 150 00:09:26,990 --> 00:09:30,550 call it a creek, you put a gate across it that you would have to. 151 00:09:30,550 --> 00:09:34,160 When you would have to take those horses over something that they couldn't really 152 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,800 trust, you had to put blinders on them so that all they could see 153 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,560 was you, and all they could see was that you 154 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:43,160 were gonna take them to that place. 155 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:48,160 Sometimes in our faith walk, we get so 156 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,960 distracted by the things on the side and the things 157 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,480 that are behind us and the things that are happening. And we need 158 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,440 to add prayer and fasting and studying the Word 159 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,140 and focus on Jesus Christ so that we 160 00:10:03,140 --> 00:10:06,980 keep our eyes on him. Because here's the cool thing, guys. 161 00:10:06,980 --> 00:10:10,780 He is the author of your book. Even if you don't like 162 00:10:10,780 --> 00:10:14,100 the chapter you're in, there's another chapter coming, 163 00:10:14,580 --> 00:10:18,220 okay? And it says that all the days of your life 164 00:10:18,220 --> 00:10:21,940 were written, were ordained before even one of them came to be. 165 00:10:22,100 --> 00:10:25,740 There is nothing that is happening in your life that caught God 166 00:10:25,740 --> 00:10:29,500 by surprise. There's nothing. And you can trust 167 00:10:29,500 --> 00:10:33,310 him. You can trust him. God is. Pours into 168 00:10:33,310 --> 00:10:37,070 us so that in good seasons and bad seasons and testing 169 00:10:37,070 --> 00:10:40,750 seasons and trying seasons, we can remain fixed 170 00:10:41,230 --> 00:10:44,910 on him. To remain fixed on Him. And that's what 171 00:10:45,150 --> 00:10:48,870 this says. It says to consider him. And see, when 172 00:10:48,870 --> 00:10:52,270 we think of the word consider, we're like, oh, I will consider 173 00:10:52,430 --> 00:10:55,470 these things. No, this is a verb. 174 00:10:56,350 --> 00:10:59,950 This is an active verb, to consider. And what's 175 00:10:59,950 --> 00:11:03,630 interesting is that this particular word is only used 176 00:11:03,630 --> 00:11:07,410 one time in the whole Bible. In the Old Testament. In the 177 00:11:07,410 --> 00:11:11,210 New Testament, it's only used one time. And it is 178 00:11:11,210 --> 00:11:15,050 literally, it means, okay, I can spell the word 179 00:11:15,050 --> 00:11:18,290 for you, but I can't really say it. But it is a N, a L, 180 00:11:18,290 --> 00:11:19,850 O G, I, Z, O, M, A, I. 181 00:11:24,250 --> 00:11:26,970 I felt like I just went through the Alphabet anyway. 182 00:11:28,170 --> 00:11:31,340 But it literally means to add weight 183 00:11:32,060 --> 00:11:35,900 to this thing that you are considering, this weight that you're gonna be, 184 00:11:35,980 --> 00:11:39,780 this thing that you're gonna ponder, that you're gonna set your mind on, that 185 00:11:39,780 --> 00:11:43,620 you're gonna engage in. And he's saying, add weight to 186 00:11:43,620 --> 00:11:47,420 what I'm doing. Add weight to what the Lord is doing 187 00:11:47,580 --> 00:11:51,340 in this moment. Actually, one of the other things 188 00:11:51,340 --> 00:11:55,140 it says, compare it to everything else. Compare it to 189 00:11:55,140 --> 00:11:58,820 everything else. Every other instance, every other thing that 190 00:11:58,820 --> 00:12:02,440 might be happening in your world, in your life, what spoken. 191 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:06,920 Compare his goodness to that. 192 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:10,800 And add weight in your situation to the 193 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,520 goodness of God. And add weight to the fact that we are part of 194 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,959 so great a cloud of witnesses and we are still marking 195 00:12:17,959 --> 00:12:21,640 sacred times on this planet to add weight 196 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,400 to that. And here's what it says so that you will not grow weary 197 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:29,200 and lose heart. God, you can't lose heart. You can't grow weary. We 198 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,000 don't. Ain't nobody got time for that. 199 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:36,760 We just don't. We just don't have time for that. We're still running 200 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,560 a race. We are still running a race. And not 201 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:44,040 only are we running a race, we got people behind us in that race. 202 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:47,880 And we are setting the pace for that race. And we have got to 203 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,920 finish strong. No matter what God is calling us to do, 204 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,690 we finish strong. Our middle son, Matthew, 205 00:12:56,730 --> 00:13:00,490 decided he felt like the Lord told him to run a marathon. 206 00:13:00,730 --> 00:13:04,170 And so he trained for that marathon. He trained for 207 00:13:04,330 --> 00:13:08,010 probably a year or two, trained for that marathon, 208 00:13:08,810 --> 00:13:12,170 and it was scheduled and he was gonna come and run that. 209 00:13:12,810 --> 00:13:16,650 And Covid happened. Covid hit. And it 210 00:13:16,650 --> 00:13:20,370 was early enough in that season to where they weren't okay with you 211 00:13:20,370 --> 00:13:24,090 hanging out outside together either. You were limited to the number of people. 212 00:13:24,090 --> 00:13:26,070 They cancele that marathon. 213 00:13:28,630 --> 00:13:31,750 And Matthew said, I wasn't 214 00:13:32,070 --> 00:13:35,790 running that race for them. And he decided to 215 00:13:35,790 --> 00:13:39,030 get up on a typical day. Could have been a Tuesday, Justin. 216 00:13:40,870 --> 00:13:43,750 Or he could have slept in on a Tuesday afterward, we don't know. 217 00:13:44,470 --> 00:13:47,830 He sent me his GPS location. 218 00:13:48,470 --> 00:13:52,160 And I watched that man, boy in my eyes, 219 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,520 but that man, I watched him run around warehouses 220 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:59,440 and neighborhoods and all around the city, 221 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,800 all by himself, running the marathon that God had 222 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,320 called him to run. Because he wasn't running that race for anybody 223 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,960 else. He was running it because God told him to. And he said, I knew 224 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,000 I had to go out 14 miles if I was gonna come back 14. 225 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,080 You know, he's like, I was gonna go out A little bit further than I 226 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,710 intended to. Guys, you're running the 227 00:14:20,710 --> 00:14:24,350 race for him. What he has called you to do, he has 228 00:14:24,350 --> 00:14:27,910 called you to do. And I. I want us 229 00:14:27,910 --> 00:14:31,710 to throw aside every weight that would hinder us 230 00:14:31,710 --> 00:14:35,510 from accomplishing and going and running the race that God has called us to 231 00:14:35,510 --> 00:14:39,230 run. Amen. Because every single one of you have 232 00:14:39,230 --> 00:14:42,750 something that God has poured into you that he is 233 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:47,240 waiting and watching you to run. You know what? I don't believe for a second 234 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,680 that Matthew ran alone. I believe there was a wind 235 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,960 with him. I believe that there was someone. Because we are never 236 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:58,640 alone. We're never alone. There's a 237 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:02,480 song in that. Oh, my goodness. But here's the thing. So we do not 238 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:06,120 grow weary and lose heart. Why, 239 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,880 if you jump back, if you go home today, I want you to get 240 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,460 your Bible. If you have a paper one, I hope you do. 241 00:15:15,300 --> 00:15:18,940 I want you to go to Hebrews 10 and jump 242 00:15:18,940 --> 00:15:22,580 down. You got it up here, Hebrews 243 00:15:22,580 --> 00:15:25,940 10. So do not throw away your 244 00:15:25,940 --> 00:15:29,620 confidence. It will be richly. What confidence 245 00:15:29,940 --> 00:15:33,540 in your abilities, in the way that you do things. No, 246 00:15:33,780 --> 00:15:37,100 guys, you know what? I had this dream. Just leave that there. I'm going to 247 00:15:37,100 --> 00:15:40,620 let that camp there. I had this dream, and in my 248 00:15:40,620 --> 00:15:44,020 dream, I was in a really nice hotel room, hint, hint, Hal 249 00:15:44,020 --> 00:15:47,780 Laughlin. Anyway, it was a really 250 00:15:47,780 --> 00:15:51,300 nice place, but it was nighttime. And the curtains were 251 00:15:51,300 --> 00:15:55,020 drawn, you know. Cause if you're near the ocean, if 252 00:15:55,020 --> 00:15:58,340 you'll open the curtains, there's the ocean. Well, it was nighttime in my dream, and 253 00:15:58,340 --> 00:15:59,500 you couldn't really see it, 254 00:16:02,140 --> 00:16:05,820 but I could hear it. And, man, it sounded like it was right on 255 00:16:05,820 --> 00:16:09,380 my doorstep. And so I pushed the curtains back and I 256 00:16:09,380 --> 00:16:13,200 pushed, opened the doors, and I stepped out onto the edge of this balcony. 257 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,840 And I couldn't see anything, but I could hear 258 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:20,520 everything. I couldn't see what was 259 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:24,120 beyond my balcony, but I knew who 260 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,800 created those waves. I knew who made 261 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,080 that water. And the scripture tells me that his 262 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:35,240 voice is the sound of many waters, right? And so 263 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:39,160 I was afraid. But I went all the way to the edge and 264 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,500 I just heard the Holy Spirit just say, will you trust me? 265 00:16:43,380 --> 00:16:46,740 Will you trust me? Now, let me tell you why that's funny. 266 00:16:46,980 --> 00:16:50,620 Because when I was a kid, it was difficult for me to learn to 267 00:16:50,620 --> 00:16:53,780 swim. And I used to fake being able to swim. 268 00:16:54,900 --> 00:16:58,580 I know. How do you fake being able to swim? I'm 269 00:16:58,580 --> 00:17:02,020 gonna need some help over here. The way you fake being able to swim 270 00:17:02,260 --> 00:17:05,860 is you use one leg and one arm, and on the surface, you 271 00:17:05,860 --> 00:17:08,340 Pretend to swim while you hop with your left foot. 272 00:17:14,939 --> 00:17:18,379 I thought I was swimming so sublimely across the 273 00:17:18,379 --> 00:17:21,739 surface when what everybody else was seeing was this. 274 00:17:24,619 --> 00:17:27,419 Because I wanted one foot on the ground. 275 00:17:29,099 --> 00:17:32,579 I wanted to be able to be in control, and I 276 00:17:32,579 --> 00:17:36,240 couldn't trust that. And so what I was having 277 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:40,040 going on on the surface in my mind looked like, oh, 278 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,440 that girl knows how to swim. But my left leg was 279 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,240 cramping under the water because I wasn't 280 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:51,080 being able to do it. So to me, this dream 281 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,360 showed me God's sense of humor from one standpoint. To go, 282 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,600 you want to keep your foot on the bottom, even in a pool, and I'm 283 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:04,360 asking you to step into something. You have no idea. 284 00:18:05,430 --> 00:18:09,150 You have no idea. And I said, but, Lord, in my dream, I 285 00:18:09,150 --> 00:18:12,910 said, but, Lord, I can't touch bottom there. And he said, the point is 286 00:18:12,910 --> 00:18:16,470 not to touch bottom. The point is to trust 287 00:18:16,470 --> 00:18:20,150 him. Because as long as we can touch bottom, 288 00:18:20,230 --> 00:18:23,910 we are still in control. But once you're in over your 289 00:18:23,910 --> 00:18:27,750 head, baby, it doesn't matter how deep you go, because it's 290 00:18:27,750 --> 00:18:31,510 all him. It's all Him. And so what was in 291 00:18:31,510 --> 00:18:34,600 my spirit is, do you trust him? 292 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:39,160 Do you trust him? When you are in a situation that you don't 293 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:42,920 know anything other than that first step that he's calling you 294 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,680 to? You don't know how wide that 295 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:49,720 ocean is or how high those waves are, 296 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,200 but you know someone who does. And see, we don't back 297 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:57,960 up and we don't back down because that's not what God has called 298 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:01,680 us to do. No matter what's coming at you, that is not your 299 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:05,330 option. I'm just gonna call you up in that. We do not back 300 00:19:05,330 --> 00:19:09,010 up. In chapter 10, it says this. Do 301 00:19:09,010 --> 00:19:12,570 not throw away your confidence, not your confidence in how good you are, how fast 302 00:19:12,570 --> 00:19:16,130 you can run, and that you can actually swim with both feet, 303 00:19:16,290 --> 00:19:19,650 you can't do that. It will be richly rewarded. You need to 304 00:19:19,970 --> 00:19:23,650 persevere. You need to persevere so that 305 00:19:23,650 --> 00:19:27,090 when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has 306 00:19:27,090 --> 00:19:30,870 promised. Oh, guys, come on. Grab this. We. For in 307 00:19:30,870 --> 00:19:34,590 just a little while. For in just a little while. 308 00:19:34,830 --> 00:19:38,550 He who is coming will come and will not delay. Never 309 00:19:38,550 --> 00:19:42,350 lose sight of that. Never lose sight of that. The world 310 00:19:42,350 --> 00:19:46,149 wants you to put you in a state of perpetual. Oh, well, he's not 311 00:19:46,149 --> 00:19:49,910 coming back. You don't know when he's coming back. But I know he's 312 00:19:49,910 --> 00:19:53,550 coming back. And it says, just a little while. He who is coming 313 00:19:53,710 --> 00:19:57,510 will come and will not delay. And that's why we can't give up. That's why 314 00:19:57,510 --> 00:20:01,350 we can't faint. That's why we can't back down. And it says, 315 00:20:01,910 --> 00:20:05,150 but my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no 316 00:20:05,150 --> 00:20:08,830 pleasure in the one who shrinks back. But we do 317 00:20:08,830 --> 00:20:12,150 not belong. Say this one with me, guys, read that last part. 318 00:20:12,390 --> 00:20:15,990 We do not belong to those who shrink back and 319 00:20:15,990 --> 00:20:19,550 are destroyed. But to those who have faith and 320 00:20:19,550 --> 00:20:23,390 are saved. We do not belong to the ones 321 00:20:23,390 --> 00:20:27,150 who shrink back. You are cut 322 00:20:27,150 --> 00:20:30,630 from better cloth than that. If I can quote Granny again. 323 00:20:30,710 --> 00:20:34,370 You are cut from better cloth than that. You are the sons 324 00:20:34,370 --> 00:20:38,210 and daughters of the most high God. And so 325 00:20:38,370 --> 00:20:42,010 we do not shrink back. We consider him and his 326 00:20:42,010 --> 00:20:45,650 goodness and what he's done. My 327 00:20:45,650 --> 00:20:49,250 encouragement is this. It doesn't say, 328 00:20:50,210 --> 00:20:54,010 run the race better than everybody else. It doesn't say, 329 00:20:54,010 --> 00:20:57,850 look really good when you're running it. It doesn't say, you 330 00:20:57,850 --> 00:21:01,570 are never gonna fall once you start this race. You are 331 00:21:01,570 --> 00:21:05,230 never gonna stumble when what it 332 00:21:05,230 --> 00:21:09,070 says is, keep going, Keep going. Persevere. 333 00:21:09,070 --> 00:21:11,630 Did you know? It's not perseverance unless it's hard. 334 00:21:12,590 --> 00:21:15,710 It's not perseverance if you're enjoying what you're doing. 335 00:21:16,910 --> 00:21:20,350 Perseverance costs us something. And when you continue 336 00:21:20,750 --> 00:21:24,590 over time to follow after him, to run the race, 337 00:21:24,830 --> 00:21:27,950 whether anybody sees how you're running or not, 338 00:21:28,350 --> 00:21:31,950 finish your race. Finish the course that God has laid out for 339 00:21:31,950 --> 00:21:35,530 you. Some of you have stopped. Stopped 340 00:21:36,330 --> 00:21:39,530 at times in my life where I've been like, oh, Lord, that looks too hard. 341 00:21:39,850 --> 00:21:43,370 That looks too hard. And then you know what I see in those moments? 342 00:21:44,090 --> 00:21:47,530 Anybody in here old enough to remember the commercials about Nesty 343 00:21:47,530 --> 00:21:48,090 Plunge? 344 00:21:51,130 --> 00:21:54,930 That's what I see. Just trust 345 00:21:54,930 --> 00:21:58,330 fall. Not with humans. 346 00:22:00,020 --> 00:22:03,740 With him. Trust fall. Go, God. This 347 00:22:03,740 --> 00:22:07,180 is what I believe that you said. I'm gonna need some worship leaders out here 348 00:22:07,180 --> 00:22:10,940 because we're gonna worship. Because I do believe what he said when we 349 00:22:10,940 --> 00:22:14,660 were talking earlier. He's worthy of praise. And when you've got a 350 00:22:14,660 --> 00:22:18,300 spirit of heaviness, we're gonna put on a spirit of praise in a minute, and 351 00:22:18,300 --> 00:22:19,460 we are gonna worship him. 352 00:22:24,020 --> 00:22:26,880 God finishes what he starts. 353 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,600 God finishes what he starts. His people finish 354 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:35,360 what they start through his strength, by his wisdom. And 355 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:38,720 if your race has not finished yet, you're not finished yet. 356 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,680 So we're gonna run our race together, aren't we? You know what the scripture 357 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,160 that stayed in my heart all 358 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,640 week was When Jesus looked out over Jerusalem and he said, 359 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:53,350 jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I longed for. Gather 360 00:22:53,350 --> 00:22:57,030 you in my arms. How I longed to gather 361 00:22:57,030 --> 00:23:00,710 you in my arms. But you wouldn't have it. You wouldn't 362 00:23:00,710 --> 00:23:03,910 have it. And what's in my spirit today is a 363 00:23:03,910 --> 00:23:07,590 gathering. What is in my spirit today is a calling up to 364 00:23:07,590 --> 00:23:11,390 go. God finishes what he starts. And I don't know where you are in your 365 00:23:11,390 --> 00:23:15,150 life, but I do know where God is in your life. And he is watching 366 00:23:15,390 --> 00:23:19,030 to see if you are ready to take that step, if you are 367 00:23:19,030 --> 00:23:22,670 ready to just trust him and run the race that he's called 368 00:23:22,670 --> 00:23:26,350 you without excuses. Not going well. I can't run 369 00:23:26,350 --> 00:23:29,790 that anymore. I can't do that anymore. This is my reason. 370 00:23:30,190 --> 00:23:34,030 What if you just trust him? And what if you move over 371 00:23:34,030 --> 00:23:37,510 to the edge of that balcony because you don't have to see it to hear 372 00:23:37,510 --> 00:23:41,270 his voice. You don't have to see him to know that he's there. What 373 00:23:41,270 --> 00:23:44,270 if you just step over to the edge of that balcony, 374 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,960 catch the sound of what God is doing, and make 375 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:52,360 a decision to persevere and 376 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,120 stay and take that step into the 377 00:23:56,120 --> 00:23:59,800 unknown and trust Him. Don't shrink back. 378 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:03,960 Do what God has called you to do. And here's the beautiful part of it. 379 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,720 You don't have to do it by yourself. You don't have to be 380 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,680 alone. Matthew ran that marathon. 381 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:13,200 We got a whole lot of people 382 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:19,280 that'll run with you, that'll walk with you, 383 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,640 that'll have conversations with you that need to be had. People 384 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:27,120 who will hug you and love you and care for you and 385 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,880 cover you when you need to be covered. That's what the body 386 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,600 of Christ does. That's what the great cloud of witnesses. 387 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:38,200 I think when I always picture it this, I always picture them, like, 388 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:42,000 leaning over. I don't think they have to lean over to look 389 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,760 through the clouds, but that's how I picture it. But I see them. And 390 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,320 we are surrounded. We're surrounded 391 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,800 by so great a cloud of witnesses. And one day when we 392 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:57,080 join them, if he tarries, 393 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,640 we'll be part of that, watching as our sons 394 00:25:02,370 --> 00:25:06,050 and our daughters and our grandchildren and our 395 00:25:06,050 --> 00:25:09,770 great grandchildren stand witness to what God is doing in 396 00:25:09,770 --> 00:25:13,570 the earth. God is good. And we 397 00:25:13,570 --> 00:25:16,770 don't shrink back. We don't back up. 398 00:25:17,490 --> 00:25:21,130 We stay focused. We fix our eyes on 399 00:25:21,130 --> 00:25:24,850 Jesus. We fix our eyes on the author and 400 00:25:24,850 --> 00:25:27,410 the finisher of our face. 401 00:25:29,100 --> 00:25:32,820 Author and the finisher. So here's what I have asked the worship team to do. 402 00:25:32,820 --> 00:25:35,340 Because I know they're not tired enough from what they did earlier. 403 00:25:36,620 --> 00:25:39,260 I have asked them, we are going to do two Songs. 404 00:25:42,540 --> 00:25:43,340 And if you 405 00:25:46,620 --> 00:25:50,420 just need to make a declaration in your life, we're getting ready to 406 00:25:50,420 --> 00:25:53,980 speak Jesus. We're going to speak Jesus over our families. 407 00:25:54,710 --> 00:25:58,550 We're gonna speak Jesus over our church. We're gonna speak Jesus over our life. We're 408 00:25:58,550 --> 00:26:02,270 gonna speak Jesus over our kids. We're gonna speak Jesus over our 409 00:26:02,270 --> 00:26:04,390 communities. Because that's what it's about. 410 00:26:05,750 --> 00:26:09,550 That's who it is about. It is about Jesus. It 411 00:26:09,550 --> 00:26:13,270 is about his redeeming power and all 412 00:26:13,270 --> 00:26:16,550 that he is. And we are witnesses and we 413 00:26:16,550 --> 00:26:20,230 testify of the goodness of God. So I'm gonna invite you to a 414 00:26:20,230 --> 00:26:23,970 gathering. Yeah, I just came up with that. Anyway, 415 00:26:25,410 --> 00:26:28,690 I want you to gather with me. Will you come down here? We're going to 416 00:26:28,690 --> 00:26:32,450 gather. We're going to make a declaration of. I speak Jesus. If you are 417 00:26:32,450 --> 00:26:35,570 physically capable of coming, I just. 418 00:26:36,130 --> 00:26:39,730 In the words of Paul, I beseech ye, therefore, brethren, 419 00:26:42,290 --> 00:26:45,570 because you know what I need 420 00:26:46,130 --> 00:26:49,830 the family of God together. And 421 00:26:49,830 --> 00:26:53,590 we're going to speak. I speak Jesus. And then there's something else. We're going to 422 00:26:53,590 --> 00:26:57,190 shift, and you might not have danced in a 423 00:26:57,190 --> 00:27:00,750 while, but clogging is an 424 00:27:00,750 --> 00:27:01,310 option. 425 00:27:04,910 --> 00:27:08,430 I didn't really mean that. River dance. 426 00:27:09,470 --> 00:27:12,880 Whatever. We are going to go into the. The final song is 427 00:27:13,190 --> 00:27:17,030 Praise. I praise. I praise 428 00:27:17,030 --> 00:27:20,870 when I feel it. Come on up, guys. You get up closer. 429 00:27:22,630 --> 00:27:24,150 I praise when I don't. 430 00:27:30,150 --> 00:27:33,950 Everybody, do your hands still work? Can you point 431 00:27:33,950 --> 00:27:37,390 like this and go. Can you make a declaration? I speak 432 00:27:37,390 --> 00:27:41,150 Jesus. I speak Jesus over my family. 433 00:27:41,470 --> 00:27:45,110 I speak Jesus over every situation. We're 434 00:27:45,110 --> 00:27:48,830 gonna go there, and you can't leave after I speak Jesus, because 435 00:27:48,830 --> 00:27:52,630 we are gonna put on a garment of praise for a spirit of 436 00:27:52,630 --> 00:27:55,989 heaviness. And we are gonna watch God go. 437 00:27:55,989 --> 00:27:59,830 Amen. Let's go, worship team. Hey, sound people, push 438 00:27:59,830 --> 00:28:03,670 the buttons. All the way up. All the 439 00:28:03,670 --> 00:28:05,950 way up. Yeah, let's go.