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New Number Same Name | Pastor Steven Furtick | Elevation Church - YouTube

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Transcript:

(00:00) hey before we get to today’s message I want to make sure that you know that elevation nights might be coming your way these nights are so special it’s an arena full of people who’ve come together to worship God and to hear a powerful message from the Lord through my husband which is my favorite part of the night I never leave one of these nights without feeling inspired and encouraged and I want that for you too so February 25th through March 6th we want you to join us head over to Elevation nights.com to see if we’re

(00:34) coming to a city near you and grab your tickets now let’s jump in to today’s [Music] [Applause] [Music] message Isaiah 43 Isaiah chter 43 Isaiah chter [Applause] [Music] 43 Verse number 19 19th anniversary the 19th verse of Isaiah 43 Isaiah 43 verse 19 19 see I am doing a new

(01:40) thing now Pastor Holly already told you we’re entering our 20th year of ministry today but before we go to year 20 the Lord wants to give us something from verse 19 see I am doing a new thing everybody shout the next word now it Springs up do you not perceive it I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the Wasteland today I want to talk to you from a formal sounding topic but I’m going to make it really plain in just a few moments I have I want to talk to you on our 19th Church anniversary at elevation as we enter our 20th year of

(02:25) ministry about our future and our former our future and our former and I don’t know if that title’s going to hit like I want it to so let me give you title number two new number same name new number same name father I thank you for your word as it goes forth may it go forth with penetrating Insight with holy spirit Power may it go forth with healing medicine to those who need it who are standing on the brink in the precipice of a new season of their life asking you what’s next and feeling nervous perhaps they’re concerned for

(03:07) one of their friends one of their children perhaps they’re concerned for their mother their father someone who’s not in this room with them perhaps they’re concerned about their own health perhaps they’re thinking about this job that they’ve just taken and whether it was the right one or whether they’re going to get the call back perhaps they’re praying their way through a season of loneliness you know those needs but from this place this Pulpit that you have entrusted to me for these moments I decree and declare that the

(03:31) Eternal wisdom of almighty God will go forth it will not be checked by a demon it will not be hindered by Satan it will break through and penetrate the life that it was intended to effect and I give you the glory in advance because it is your word and it is your work and it is your church and so it is your praise in Jesus name amen amen amen you may be [Applause] seated of all of the questions people ask me before a church anniversary this has to be the dumbest I say that lovingly when they say if you could go back and start all over again would you

(04:23) do it no and sometimes they say it even more extreme than that don’t you just sometimes want to go back to the early days and start the church all over again no don’t want to do that again um back to those days when you weren’t here it was terrible before you got here let me tell you it’s terrible before you got here tell the person next to you this church sucked before you showed up tell them that on every Loca every location Riverwalk University City one of the things that um I always aim to do as I stand before

(05:03) you and I hope that you sense this is give you a good grounding in the context of this scripture before moving to the application because I understand that you can pretty much make the Bible say something that it never really meant to say or was intended to say and although I read you that verse about I’m doing a new thing for verse 19 and I am going to preach that verse today I thought’ be helpful if we establish a little bit of context and go back to the top of this to get a sense of who is Isaiah and why is he saying

(05:41) this and who is he saying it to so I want to back up to verse 16 I gave you to verse 15 in the back but I’m going to go to verse 16 for now and this first sentence this is something I really feel strongly about he said this is what the Lord says now I think you should Circle that in your Bible or highlighted or something because that’s what we’re trying to get to every time we come together as a church this is what the Lord says I don’t know if you’ve noticed but it’s never been harder to hear from God not because we don’t have access to

(06:18) his word but because we have so many voices attacking his voice to the point where many of us are confused and we can’t tell what’s God and what’s the algorithm sometimes we can’t tell what’s God and what’s just us worrying and calling it prayer the biggest wrestling match of my life standing before you each and every week is to figure out what comes after this phrase this is what the Lord says notice that the text doesn’t remark this is what the Lord said [Music] right it would be one thing for us to just gather together weekly have a short

(07:06) history lesson on people who lived in the past that is designed in order to keep us from ever feeling challenged to bring the word of God into our everyday life so that God just remains a mere Superstition in our life someone that Grandma used to talk about that we run to for Comfort when our lives feel unstable but the cuttingedge ministry of goel El preaching is to come with the word of God Timeless and eternal written in the pages of scripture not to be altered taken away from or added to not one jot nor one tit from this thing is

(07:40) supposed to be altered and to bring it into the Contemporary experience of a diversity of personalities ethnicities this is what the Lord says and I never feel ready to preach just because I have three points I never feel ready to preach just because I have a story I never feel ready to preach just because my voice feels strong I only feel ready to preach when I can feel you getting what you need from your God when that happens get out of my way get out of my way because once I sense that God has given me what he

(08:19) wants you to have once I sense that God has put something in my spirit for your situation this is what the Lord says and Isaiah goes on we’re going to follow his thought pattern for a moment before we come to my main point today this is what the Lord says he who made a way through the sea a path through the mighty Waters who drew out the Chariots and horses the Army and reinforcements together and they lay there never to rise again extinguished snuffed out like a wick now we’ve gone two verses and we still have haven’t gotten

(09:00) to What God Says think of Isaiah as someone who is introducing a guest speaker if on our anniversary today I was coming to bring up a guest speaker I would come before you and I would begin to give background information on that speaker the reason for giving background information on the speaker you might lean in to hear what they have to say especially if you don’t know who they are because I want you know hey know Pastor Steven’s definitely my favorite preacher Pastor Holly’s my second I’m saying this factiously by the way I

(09:38) don’t care who your favorite preacher is it matters What God Says anybody God wants to use in your life that’s fine with me but I would want to build credibility for a speaker that you were not familiar with so I might say they’ve written three best-selling books or they’ve done amazing work uh with the homeless community in their city or they have been recognized and regarded as one of the Premier experts on or they’ve pastored their Church 37 years and they’ve been married 34 years happily married for 32 of those 34 years and I

(10:13) would begin to build your interest and your confidence in the speaker by giving you a bit of their background Isaiah says this is what the Lord says go back to verse 16 briefly for me please I want to break break this down and he proceeds not to give the direct word of God but indirectly he begins to describe the works of God at a time that was at least 700 years in the past now every Bible student will know that this is a flashback to an event in the scripture called The Exodus this is when God brought his people out of Egypt they did not get all

(10:57) the way to the promised land their unbelief blocked them from that but God brought them through Raging Waters the Red Sea he drowned the Chariots of the Egyptian pharaoh and all of those chariots laid there never to rise again it’s as if Isaiah is bringing God into the frame for the people to hear from and he says to them the Lord has a message for you and before I tell you what he says let me remind you what he does so good this is not one of the Gods of Babylonia who was crafted by human hands this is not one of the Gods of Assyria

(11:39) that was dreamt up by a human imagination this is the god who’s about to speak to you who made a way through the sea a path through the mighty Waters I’m about to preach who drew out the Chariots and horses the Army and reinforcements together and they lay there never to rise again so before you hear what God is about to say to his people remember what he did to their enemies so that you have confidence that that the god that is fighting your battles today has been here before God has been here before even if

(12:14) you haven’t been here before God goes ahead of you into everything you call today in fact when you talk about the future God doesn’t have a word in his vocabulary for that that’s in your dictionary not his God doesn’t talk about future God talks about eternity and God who sits out of time gives you a box called time so you don’t go crazy and he allows you to think about the future because you cannot compartmentalize well and so he allows you to think of something called tomorrow even though to him God tomorrow

(12:47) is already history let me remind you that God who has already been into your future has proven himself faithful in your past and that’s what you expect me to preach about on an anniversary Sunday right Look What the Lord Has Done Right that’s what I want to preach on an anniversary Sunday because what he’s done is comfortable and comforting what he’s done I have a frame of reference for I never understood why people shouted over Isaiah 43:19 in verse 19 he says see I am doing a new thing and everybody shouts and I think that’s

(13:33) strange in a couple of weeks we’re going on elevation nights and we’ll be sharing in different cities the love of Jesus and the Gospel of Jesus and we’ll be sharing songs and you know how to really lose a crowd in an arena like that just tell them we want to share a new song with you one you never heard before if they cheer for that they’re being polite they don’t want a new song I even see y’all do it on Sundays poor Chris can we give it up for Chris the real Chris Brown our Chris Brown I’m just getting to the point in

(14:19) my life where I thank God for consistent people and Chris is so consistent every week I watch him out here and and and he has the hard line the hardest line to say you know we just finished singing Graves into Gardens or Gyra or something like that and now he has to look you right in your eyes and say are y’all ready to sing a new song church and y’all are faking it too because you’re you’re polite nice yeah want to sing a new song new doesn’t always feel improved at first does it new doesn’t always feel improved at

(15:03) first one of the things about God’s word that is so wonderful to me is that although it’s foundational and does not change it is always fresh therefore it’s always relevant when God gets ready to speak to you about a situation in your life he will remind you of some of the roads that he’s already LED you through but he doesn’t stop there because after Isaiah reads the resume of this God we’ve come to worship and serve mentioning the central event in Israel’s history the one that they couldn’t stop celebrating

(15:40) about seven centuries later the first time that he speaks on behalf of God because that’s what prophets did he says a word we would not expect to hear in this context for after he says God Drew your enemies out into the water killed the horses and Chariots of those who were chasing you gave you a Great and Mighty Deliverance made your way through clean so you could praise him today right after he says that in verse 18 he gives the first instruction from God and it is counterintuitive and you are forgiven if it’s surprising to

(16:15) you forget well then why are you mentioning it why are you mentioning what I meant to forget wow ain’t that strange I love studying the Bible with y’all CU we would just read right over this right God is doing a new thing I’mma have a new wife I’mma have a new kid when I get home I read a book one time it was called how to have a new husband in 21 days and they’re talking about taking the same husband and if you do this you can change him and you can manipulate him and just compliment him when he carries the groceries in and he’ll think

(16:49) he’s strong and he’ll carry the groceries more how to have a new husband in 21 days that is not Isaiah’s message in fact Isaiah is saying now that I have have reminded you of all of these former things that God has done forget the former things say that real quick forget the former forget the former forget the former forget the dress you used to fit into the people you used to want to see at the party forget the drugs that you used to get high on right that’s what he’s talking about no no he’s talking about things God did now I get it if he’s

(17:34) saying forget the things that you used to sin with but he’s actually saying forget the things that you used to celebrate and I studied it and I studied it and I said well Lord should we not celebrate the anniversary should we not put up all the old pictures of when you made a way and we had no money and we had no no connections and you built this church is it a sin to celebrate what you did and so as I read it it became clear to me why so many of us stay stuck in the past and we cannot grow by the way there is one thing that you can do that

(18:14) God can’t do grow he doesn’t grow you do Graham said to me one time recently he said corn dogs fell off I said what does that even mean can you say that in English he said corn dogs used to be so big remember when corn dogs were big they fell off and I told him they didn’t corn dogs didn’t fall off you grew up see the difference he thinks corn dogs changed corn dogs don’t change corn day dogs this is the Bible say corn dogs are the same yesterday today and forever but you changed you changed and as we are being changed by

(19:12) the glory of the Lord we see more of his glory as we are changed by him and we begin to realize that a lot of what we call growth is forgetting what we thought we [Music] knew so a a lot of what we call going forward we will forget what we thought God had promised as we learn what he really promised a lot of our problem is when we overlay our preferences on God’s promises and I’m going to take that further so you better let that one sink in when you overlay your preference over God’s promise yeah but here’s the even

(19:52) worse part you lay your preference over God’s promise and then you attach God’s promise to your plan and that’s not how this works so Isaiah is speaking to people about the Exodus which happened 700 years ago and he’s speaking to them about their Exile which they’re currently in because they’re in a place called Babylonia and they were taken there by Nebuchadnezzar but they’re going to be led out by Cyrus and he says I’m doing a new thing but I want to remind you of the old thing but no sooner does he remind them

(20:29) of who is speaking then he says this is what the Lord says forget forget the former and I don’t think this means that we can’t go shopping for Iron Maiden t-shirts as some of us are want to do I don’t think that God is against Nostalgia I don’t think that God is against memory but I’m very conflicted about those of us who are staying stuck in a stage of our spiritual growth and calling it our whole story remember the Red Sea was not the finish line for the people of God it was the foundation and is it possible that

(21:15) you’ve been taking something in your life that was meant to be a foundation and treating it as a Finish [Applause] Line and I’ll tell you some of the things that we say when we’re trying to take foundations nobody sees a foundation of a house and then pays the Builder the full amount unless you’re a fool if you’re building a house and they put up the foundation keep low that money back because they’ve got still more to do and when God lays a foundation in your life and you call it finished you end up crossing the Red Sea

(21:49) getting through the waters and spending 40 years in a Wilderness so I hear Christians often say things like um I’m just a sinner saved by grace I saw a bumper sticker one time that said Christians aren’t perfect just forgiven now I understand the heart of that we’re saying we’re not better than you it’s not like we don’t cuss our kids out we just don’t do it in church this is the praising church I forgot uh but when you say Christians aren’t perfect just forgiven if if that helps you to receive God’s grace for where

(22:31) you’re at that is a wonderful truth but if it causes you to remain or the way the prophet Isaiah put it he said don’t dwell on it don’t dwell on the past let me show you this in verse 18 it’s right there in the text he says forget the former things do not dwell on the past then why did you spend two verses telling me about the past if you don’t want me to dwell on it so God saysi gave you those experiences to draw from not to dwell on the difference I gave you those experiences to draw from not to dwell on to dwelling it is to live in something

(23:17) that God intended to be temporary okay when there is a truth spoken over your life concerning what God has given you concerning who God has called you concerning who he has who who he has made you to be let’s get that phrase embedded who he has made you to be when God has planted that truth inside of you that is a foundational truth but the foundation is not meant to be the finish line of your faith and so then if you just imagine this you’re building a house they pour the foundation you set up tents and pay them full

(23:55) price and you have no indoor plumbing you certainly have no marble countertops and you paid for them and you got no running water and you paid for it it’s paid for but you’re not living in it it’s paid for but you said no I’m going to live in this tent see a lot of Christians and they don’t realize what’s already been paid for so now I’m living down in something that Jesus blood already purchased more than but I can’t see past what I’ve been through so I figured this Red Sea was meant to be the result the Red Sea was

(24:37) just the road to get where I was going it wasn’t the place I was meant to stay so I’m going to fight every single one of you that says man the good old days of Elevation Church back when we used to be at Providence High School Providence High School if you think the good old days of Elevation Church Church you were not setting up at Providence High School or tearing down all that shows me is you weren’t a volunteer that’s why you thought it was the good old days it is a perspective of Praise that you get when

(25:15) you see oh God brought me through that but he did not lead me to that as my destination I declare over your life today that everything you have seen God God do was a foundation he is not done building in your life he is not done building in your bloodline he is not done building on your experience he is not done building through your pain forget how far you’ve come what I thought I was supposed to remember how far I’ve come and last week I did a good little message because I preached on look forward not far and I was illustrating that when we

(26:02) tend to get too far out ahead of ourselves man I prayed before our 20th year of ministry started today I said Lord let me give them the plan for the next 20 years of the church I started praying that in January I was praying it up till 9:29 church started at 9:30 and the Lord said nope not 20 years how about 20 minutes how about 20 minutes get up and preach the word this is what the Lord for your current situation you know why we want God’s plans to be so far in the future because we’re not committed to his presence in our daily

(26:38) [Applause] life this is what the Lord says this is what the Lord says now the Lord’s going to speak to you in many ways through your life I didn’t give them Hebrews 1:1 but it came up in my spirit so I’m GNA find it in my own big fat Bible and read it to you right now my small print Bible my Bible that I could read 19 years ago when we started this church back when I could find the book of Hebrews chapter [Applause] 1 begins our 20th year of ministry in the past God spoke to our ancestors I’m not being silly this is

(27:25) the scripture for real in the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times in various ways that’s what I want you to get at many times in various ways in the past verse two but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he also made the universe now what that makes me think is God’s been doing this a long time he’s consistent say that out loud God is consistent God is put it in the chat God is consistent consist the worlds were

(28:03) framed by the word of God so when Isaiah says this is what the Lord says God didn’t just start speaking you just started listening he’s just waiting for us to tune in when we start our worship service at church we’re just joining with what heaven is doing around the clock because he’s consistent he’s consistently holy that’s why the Angels call him holy holy holy when you say it three times it underscores not only the sign ific of it but the consistency of it God doesn’t take an off day from doing the right thing Jesus was without

(28:35) sin and yet he was made to become sin so that we who had sinned could become the righteousness of God through him that’s what he means by his son who created the universe Jesus did not become God when he was born he was always God He will always be God he is Alpha and Omega he’s consistent he was there from the foundation of the world the the world was framed by the very word of God that is coming into your heart today he’s consistent say it again he’s consistent he didn’t just start feeding his people when he gave them Mana in the

(29:11) wilderness he’s consistent he’ been feeding them all of their life he’s consistent God can find so many ways to feed his children if it’s not Mana in the wilderness it will be the fruit of Canaan but I’ll tell you one thing he’s consistent and he’ll feed you whether it’s Ravens bringing you food which were considered unclean bringing to a Hebrew Prophet a bird that was considered unclean by the Jewish religion God can feed you anywhere you are and he can find you anywhere you are and he can fill you anywhere you are because he

(29:43) formed you now whoever forms you knows what to fill you with whoever forms you knows what to fill you with and the one who knows your future formed you before your future begin because the prophet Isaiah said and excuse me the Prophet Jeremiah his buddy he said in Jeremiah 1:5 before you were born I formed you in my mother’s womb I was knit together because he was formed and so all of my days he has been faithful all my life he has been so so good that’s the consistency of God he is a consistent friend he doesn’t duck out

(30:20) when it’s a liability to know your name or your number he’s a consistent friend he’s a friend that sticks closer than a brother he knows how to celebrate your wins with you because he’s consistent he’s not intimidated like some of your friends when you’re doing good and they only want to come around when you’re doing bad because misery loves company he’s consistent he’ll step into your good moment and he can be proud of you past the point where other people can because he has no insecurities he’s consistent he has no insufficiencies

(30:50) he’s consistent he doesn’t run out of energy he doesn’t get tired of carrying you he doesn’t say could you pray to me tomorrow it’s kind of late right now I’m not really a night person he’s consistent he’s not waiting for you to get the eye boogers out of your eyes he’s a morning person too he’s consistent he doesn’t sleep he doesn’t Slumber he’s consistent he doesn’t come off his throne when one party wins an election or another one wins the next one he’s consistent he’s Israel’s King and your creator he’s consistent he is consistent so

(31:20) consistent that he’ll walk with you not only through the joys and the mountaintops of your life but in the Sorrows of your life he’s not ashamed to be associated with you he’s consistent if you hadn’t caught any fish he’ll tell you where to throw the net out again cuz he’s consistent he’s so consistent he’s worthy of Praise when your feelings are telling you that you’re not worthy of his love he’s consistent he’s consistent he relates to you on the basis of what he did for you not what you do for him so even if you hadn’t done it right

(31:48) lately he’s consistent when people walk out of your life they walk out of your life for different reasons he stays in your life for one reason because you’re his he’s consistent he’s a good father he’s consistent if your father wasn’t a good father he’ll pick up where your father and your mother forsake you then the Lord will take you up because he’s consistent I’m celebrating today that he’s consistent that I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread he’s consistent that there’s never been a time that I called to him and he

(32:21) was busy with another one of his kids that he liked more he’s consistent even when I was trying to run away to Tara she got me to Nineveh in the belly of a whale because he has many vehicles to get his voice to where he wants it to go he’s consistent if there is one thing I love about God is that he’s consistent how many have found him to be consistent and you can testify and come into agreement that he’s consistent but he’s also creative and I don’t know if you know any creative people but sometimes creativity and

(33:03) consistency don’t get along so well if you’ve ever lived with an artist sometimes they don’t know how to make their bed up if you’ve ever lived with somebody who was creatively gifted sometimes they’re a little sporadically wired God is consistent but he’s also created and I was praying Lord give me something special to show them today this is our anniversary it’s the beginning of our 20th year of ministry I want us to have a 2020 Vision come on Lord and what he spoke to me was something beautiful he began to speak to me as I

(33:39) was falling asleep and waking up and he took me to a text because I think at my heart I’m a Storyteller if you ever do the math on my sermons a lot of them are based around stories and so the prophetic Declaration of Isaiah and the story of the people coming through the Red Sea and the the mention of the author of Hebrews about the supremacy the superiority the sufficiency of Jesus Christ Our Savior it all kinds of kind of finds a a Unity Point in my mind in two of the Miracles that Jesus did and I won’t belabor them but I do want to show

(34:13) them to you in their entirety in Mark chapter 8 Jesus heals a blind man now what drew me to this passage initially was the Lord told Isaiah see I am doing a new thing and so I started realizing a lot of us don’t have a supply problem we have a sight problem it’s not that God hasn’t spoken we just can’t see and realizing that one of the most frequent Miracles that Jesus performed in the scripture was the healing of blind eyes I went and studied different people that he healed of blindness because I believe we all have spiritual

(34:51) blindness blind spots things that we say well if I could go back I’d do it different but I didn’t know that five years ago I didn’t know that I was hurting my child I was trying to discipline them but now I see that I was too harsh I did I didn’t mean to I was trying I was trying to provide for my family but I ended up kind of abandoning them emotionally and in an attempt to give them what I didn’t have which was money growing up I didn’t give them what I did have which is love and I’m looking back and I was blinded by that and so

(35:18) the healing of the Savior and the new thing that God is doing often brings restoration of spiritual sight what Paul called The Eyes Of Your Heart being enlightened and in Mark chapter 8 there is a mention of a man I don’t believe we get his name in the scripture but Jesus did something amazing for it now I don’t know when you’re watching this but if you’re about to go to lunch this might ruin your appetite it’s kind of gross Mark chapter 8 please they the disciples in Jesus came to Betha and some people brought a blind

(35:55) man to Jesus and begged Jesus to touch him pay attention to every detail that you can it will reward your attention if you pay attention to every detail in this little story he took verse 23 the blind man by the hand led him outside the village when he spit on the Man’s eyes and put his hands on him Jesus asked do you see anything I told you this is not a very appetizing miracle I need to read that again because you didn’t even react to it and it’s so weird and he had spit on the Man’s eyes we just glossed over that

(36:33) like that’s just something people do like he did a Hail Mary over him or something he spit on the Man’s eyes and then put his hands on him and Jesus asked do you see anything he looked up and said um you did pretty good I see people they look like trees walking around now I’m going to point out to you real quick the fact that he knew what trees looked like means that he had been able to see at sometime in the past so he’s restoring his sight some things God wants to bring you back to you really do know what it

(37:08) means and he said I see it but it’s blurry have you got any blurry blessings in your life right now I see it but it’s blurry it’s it’s working but it it seems it seems a little off can can you I don’t want you to spin on me again but can I get a second touch can I get a second touch the Bible says something very powerful Once More Jesus put his hands on the Man’s eyes and then his eyes were open his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly Jesus sent him home saying don’t even go into the village what a great story if that were the

(37:44) passage we were preaching from we would say every Miracle is messy every Miracle is messy spit in your eyes is messy we would also say that many miracles in your life life happened over the period of time because there were two touches involved but we’re not viewing this miracle in isolation because Jesus is consistent but he’s also created and here’s what I mean go to Mark chapter 10 another blind man this one whose name we do know give me my Mark 10 please then they came to Jericho so this is a different town Betha Mark 8 Jericho

(38:29) Mark 10 as Jesus and his disciples together with the large crowd were leaving the city a blind man same condition barus which means son of tus was sitting by the roadside begging next verse when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he could hear but he couldn’t see he began to shout because he could shout though he couldn’t see he’s using everything that he has available Jesus he calls the name son of David have mercy on me many rebuked him and told him to be quiet but he shouted all the more son of David have mercy on me

(39:05) I’m using restraint cuz everything in me wants to preach don’t you let them shut you up don’t you let them shut you down don’t you let them call you crazy they tried to do it to me for almost 20 years and if I had listened to everything they said about me I wouldn’t be here preaching to your beautiful self so don’t you dare Miss what God has for you down the road man y’all are easy to preach to today come back next week somebody in here is making a difference what verse were we on many rebuked him and told him to be quiet but

(39:43) he shouted all the more son of David have mercy on me and Jesus stopped and said call him so they the disciples get ready called the blind man called the blind man cheer up on your feet he’s calling you throwing his cloak aside he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus what do you want me to do for you Jesus asked him and the blind man said Rabbi I want to see now I can’t prove it in the text because the text says that the blind man threw his cloak I can’t prove it in the text because the the text says that he shouted loud I can’t

(40:25) prove it in the text but I think when he said I want to see Peter and the other disciples backed up a little bit cuz the last time Jesus did what he’s asking him to do and maybe maybe they even said to the guy hey man you might want to you got to change your clothes you know just to prepare you this can be kind of traumatic if you’re not expecting it just to let you know but but watch this Jesus Is A Healer he’s consistent he doesn’t tell the man no I don’t feel like healing check back Thursday Thursday is my healing day

(41:07) because he’s consistent but the same savior who is consistent is also creative which means he is not constrained which means he doesn’t have to do the same thing this time that he did last time which means that he’s going to heal the man but this time watch it’s a little different Jesus just said go verse 52 your faith has healed you and immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road and Bartholomew and Andrew and John and James and Peter are like wait Jesus you forgot to spit you got to spit remember the the

(41:57) chapter 8 when Jesus did I mean when you when you got to spit on him like it’s not going to work if it doesn’t spit I mean you spit on that guy and you still had to do it twice if you’re taking notes as a disciple here’s what you’re writing down because you never seen anything that’s amazing before right j walking around healing blind eyes and stuff so you’re keeping notes okay we’re going to have to do this without him one day so what does he do okay so he spits and then the first touch doesn’t really work so you got to do it

(42:21) twice okay and then Jesus Walks right up on this man named barus and the man’s screaming and the like you’re not supposed to scream and Jesus is like I don’t mind him screaming don’t bother me and the man throws his cloak and Jesus is like let him throw off anything he wants to and Jesus looks straight at that man and heals him how he wants to how he chooses to he’s healing you but maybe not how you want him to maybe not how you’re used to Isaiah said Remember When the sea split it’s not going to split this time instead verse 19 I’m doing a new

(43:11) thing even now it Springs up the song you’re singing from 700 years ago the sea split this time the water isn’t going to split it’s going to Spring but it’s still water and and I wonder is this not the wisdom of God because he knows we’ll get addicted to Miracles and not be dependent on him so he says you wanted me to do it like that nah I’m not splitting to see this time this time is coming from a different place now you assume that God isn’t speaking I wonder are you just not seeing and he’s speaking because the same savior that

(43:55) spit in the Man’s eyes didn’t spit this time this time he just spoke because he’s creative so he doesn’t have to spit he can speak he can spit he can spit while he speaks like me a lady told me one time I sit on at least the fourth row cuz Watching You Preach is like being at SeaWorld I got to get out of the Splash Zone she said you spit when you speak and see God doesn’t always have to spit when he speaks he’s consistent but he’s creative sometimes the fact that he is so creative causes you to forget how consistent he is because while you’re

(44:38) waiting for him to spit he’s just speaking one word go one word from God this is what the Lord says go and I came into the first weekend of our 20th year of ministry to declare to you that not only is this the Praise Church but this is the proclamation church this is the proclamation Church where the word of the Lord reaches beyond the barriers of a physical campus or location beyond the demographic of a certain socioeconomic Stratus or class beyond the backgrounds that we’ve all experienced up to this point God said

(45:19) forget all of that I am not defining your life by the former this is the most beautiful thing he gave me in so long because after he said forget the former thing verse 20 he said even the Wild jackles and the owls know how to honor me because I provide water in the wilderness the sea is not splitting this time it doesn’t need to the same people aren’t going to call you this time they don’t need to it’s not going to feel the same way this time it doesn’t have to he said I provide water in the wilderness and so the animals honor me I’m waiting

(46:00) for the verse to come back up so I can finish it out and streams in the Wasteland to give drink to my people watch this My Chosen that’s who you are my people My Chosen verse 21 the people I thorned for myself that they may Proclaim my praise leave the verse and let’s Splash around in this water for a minute he said I want you to forget the former because you are the people I formed for myself and since he is God and is not limited by time he formed you for a future that only he knows so everything you feel insecure about let it go it’s

(46:54) not going to matter because he is your former what do you mean former the same Hebrew word that Isaiah uses for former is translated as Potter and planner so what’s he saying let go of your plan so I can show you my purpose let go of every plan that you made without God on let go of every plan that you made by Consulting your past let go of every plan that was limited to the people you have around you right now there’s new Rivers new streams new blessings new wells new beginnings and what has stayed the same

(47:49) for 20 years now in this church is the name the name of Jesus [Applause] The Great I Am in flesh incarnate in action the name of Jesus the numbers have changed the numbers have changed greatly I used to preach to a room full of 19 people my passion wasn’t lower I didn’t talk softer I screamed louder cuz I was desperate and Youthful nothing changed about that when the numbers change but it’s an amazing thing how sometimes God is speaking to you you don’t recognize him because it doesn’t come from where you expect it

(48:47) w I have one friend in my life who changes his phone number about every 10 months every time he changes his number and he knows exactly who he is I don’t even bother anymore to replace his old name with his new name I just put a year out beside it and let’s say his name is is John I have John 2019 John 2020 John 2021 first quarter John 2021 2 quarter in my phone I got his name like 14 times times but he hasn’t changed just where he’s calling me from same name new number same name new number I commit to you a fresh and a new on this the

(49:52) beginning of our 20th year and anybody who needs to leave I’m going to give you a second to do it before I close this message thank you so much now y’all look at me I don’t care how many or how few God sends us there is one name that is able to save in this ministry there is one name that is able to heal in this ministry there is one name that is able to get your kids off drugs in this ministry there is one name that is able to put your heart back together in this ministry and as long as the name of Jesus is being proclaimed this is what the Lord

(50:33) says there will always be a current word over this house there will always be a fresh word over your life and father I just thank you today thank you Lord for your word in our Wilderness you showed me before I stood up to preach God that this is what you have to say to this people on this day and you gave me a word for this occasion but I don’t believe it was just for our church anniversary I believe in my heart because I know you to be good that you are too consistent to ever change and you are too creative to do

(51:15) the same thing the same way twice so we thank you that Although our world feels unstable unsteady and changing all around us there has never been a more important time for us to look toward your faithfulness with your heads bowed and your eyes closed there’s somebody here that God is calling to for salvation I would like to give you the invitation today whether online or in the room to receive Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord there is no more important decision than this there is no more important decision not where you’re

(51:54) going to live not who you’re going to marry who your heart belongs to who you trust in for the Salvation of your soul this is the most important decision you will ever make this has always been a church where people are welcome to come as they are but it’s also a church where God’s not going to let you stay that way right he wants to change you called you chosen so right now heads bow eyes closed if this is your moment and you’re ready to commit your life to Christ or recommit your life to Christ I’m going to lead you in a

(52:25) prayer this prayer is not magical but the power of God when you pray this prayer is miraculous and right now in this moment if you’re ready to come to God and be forgiven of your sins I want you to repeat after me and the whole church is going to pray with you pray this heavenly father Heaven father today today is my day my day of salvation Salvation I am a sinner I am a s in need of a savior in need of a savior and I believe I believe that Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Son of God and the savior of the world the

(53:04) savior of the world and today today I make Jesus I make Jesus the Lord Of My Life The Lord Of My Life I believe he died I believe he died that I would be forgiven I will be forgiven and rose again rose again to give me life to give me life this is this is my new beginning my new beginning I am I am a child of God child of God if you prayed that shoot your hand up on the count of three 1 2 2 three and we’re praising God with you praising God with you awesome man awesome on every location we celebrate you on every come on this is the Praise

(53:43) church this is the Praise Church you know what we got to do right you know what we got to do right we got to give God the biggest praise we’ve given him in our 20th year 5 4 3 2 1 20 seconds of great [Music] [Applause] PR pass those Bibles around yeah take that Bible man get in it find out this is what the Lord says right right never wait till you get to church to hear what the Lord says the devil follows you around all week so don’t wait till Sunday to suit up what a privilege what an honor I love being your pastor Holly loves it too come on

(54:41) up with me babe I got you can I tell you one more story I left out of my sermon and then I’ll let the campus pastors all close you mind if I close here um um okay take this for me real quick I was going to tell you this but I feel like maybe it was for this moment when we were in Los Angeles a couple of years ago doing one of our elevation nights I found myself on the brink of something like what I’ve heard a panic attack is before I went out to preach now I begin to understand that because of the adrenal fatigue of doing

(55:20) that so many nights in a row I really have to manage my energy but there was a moment before I went out to preach to the people of God and I thought I’m not going to be able to do it tonight combined with fatigue was the fact that I was a little bit a struck by how many people were coming to be a part of the ministry and it blew my mind and it didn’t make me think I’m the man look at me now it made me think God what in the world am I doing here and I began to remember my past almost so vividly that although I’m thankful for it it kind of

(55:49) became a limitation on what I thought the Lord could do through me because what is a boy from a town of 6,000 people doing preaching to 14,000 in LA and it kept getting worse because they kept telling me about different people that were coming that night and some of them were very well known and as I was just freaking out with God for a moment Holly walked in when she did I had a sort of flashback of all of the ministry that we’ve done together since we were 18 years old and all of a sudden I was no longer in Los Angeles California

(56:22) preaching to 14,000 I was back in a little town called Lis South Carolina preaching to 14 I was no longer in California at all I was in Cowpens South Carolina preaching to six wow and I realized something in that moment that gave me confidence that I’ve held on to through many situations in my life and maybe it’ll bless you too I realized that although the numbers are much bigger the faithfulness of God has always been the same and as I looked at Holly and I began to remember all of those times that we stood and saying Lord I

(57:01) Lift Your Name on High and every move I make in you I’m making you make me move Jesus and Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary and As the deer panth for the water and I realized I got the same girl and the same God so after I say this I’m going to dismiss you so campus pastors you better take it right now I don’t know what this new season of your life is intimidating you with threatening you with I don’t know what’s in your past that haunts you or what you wish you could go back to but I declare Isaiah 43:19 over every

(57:46) man woman boy girl and family in elevation church today see I am doing a new than now it Springs up thank you Lord now it Springs up do you not perceive it thank you God and watch what God is doing I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the Wasteland so everybody believes that the God who was with you then is with you now amen give him an eternal praise amen I love you God bless you let’s do this 20 20th year right God is with you God is for you have a great day happy anniversary Church hey thank you for watching the

(58:38) Elevation Church YouTube I want you to subscribe that way you can know when we go live and post new content make sure leave me a comment let me know what spoke to you today where you’re watching from and what we can pray for you about and if you’d like to support the ministry financially you can click the give button now and help us continue reaching people around the world for Jesus Christ thanks again I’ll see you next time