hey don't start clicking off I promise we're gonna get to the preaching in just
a moment but I'm excited about this this is a very special tradition at Elevation
and we want to speak to all of you who call our church home especially our
extended family our eFam around the world because once a year we have a special
series it's really more than a collection of teachings it's a faith
experience for all of the people who are part of our ministry at Elevation and
this year our theme is Gamechanger I think one of the most exciting things
that God is doing in our ministry is to open the doors of our ministry beyond
our walls what I mean by that is we are amazed at the thousands and thousands
and thousands of you who are letting us know that you're impacted by this
ministry in another zip code in another state in another country maybe
eventually on another planet but what I wanted to mention to you is that you can
be a part of this beyond just consuming many of you have been blessed by God to be
a blessing and I wanted to ask today would you be willing during this special
time of year to make a one-time donation to the ministry or maybe partner with us
on a monthly basis through recurring giving I believe God could use your gift
to enable this ministry to continue to reach to continue to break paradigms to
continue to lift up Jesus and I wanted to ask you personally to go to
elevationchurch.org and you can see the ways to give there but most importantly know
that we feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to minister the Word of
God not only to you but to challenge you to partner with us in reaching people
for the gospel I believe your gift today could be a game-changer so don't put it
off right now elevationchurch.org you can find all of the details I hope you
enjoy this message and thank you for being a part of the family I want to
share with you from a scripture that really demonstrates something that
I think is difficult to do in our lives but will be so helpful to us we're in a
season called Gamechanger it's our year end series we're taking a moment to pause
reflect and respond to God's goodness in our lives and so from the scriptural
foundation today I want to help you see something that I think will help you to
carry forward with you into the next season of your life momentum for what
God has already done is something significant and what he wants to do is
even greater and I believe that I believe that with all of my heart for
myself and my family and for you and your family and for our church and so
with that spirit of faith today let's go to the Word of God Joshua chapter 4
verses 1 through 9 and as I read this story to you over the next few moments I
want you to pay attention to the details of it okay because on the surface this
story is really very simple the people of Israel are crossing into the Promised
Land they haven't fought any battles yet but
it's already theirs because God has promised to give it to them so they're
coming to realize what God has already revealed and he showed it to them for
many generations but now they're coming into that moment where they're having to
actually believe that what God spoke in their lives and what God spoke that they
haven't seen come to pass yet is about to happen and so I think this is an
appropriate scripture for for where we are as a church and maybe for where you
are as well and I pray that God will help me deliver it today are you excited
I'll be honest it's not very convincing but I am I'm excited enough for all of
us so we'll do it anyway Joshua chapter 4 verse 1 when the whole nation to
finish crossing the Jordan the Lord said to Joshua choose 12 men from among the
people one from each tribe and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle
of the Jordan from right where the priests are standing and carry them over
with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight so Joshua called
the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites one from each tribe and said
to them go over before the Ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan each
of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of
tribes of the Israelites to serve as a sign among you in the future when your
children ask you what do these stones mean tell them that the flow of the
Jordan was cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord when it crossed the
Jordan the waters of the Jordan were cut off these stones are to be a memorial to
the people of Israel forever so the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them
they took 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan according to the number of the
tribes of the Israelites as the Lord had told Joshua and they carried them over
with them to the camp where they put them down Joshua was set up the twelve
stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests
who had carried the Ark of the Covenant had stood and they are there to this day
would you look at the person next to you and give them my sermon title tell them
it's mine to manage look at your other neighbor I know they
were your second choice but they're important to the Lord as well and tell
them it's mine to manage it's mine to manage how many of you have children how
many of you have children who have a phone or an electronic device with a
data plan it's a big debate around my house when will our children be old
enough to be entrusted with data real First World problems I get it but you know
parenting is challenging it's a great privilege but I find it to be
challenging and I find it to be exhilarating and I find it to be
exhausting and one woman wrote me on YouTube and said I think you had kids
too soon you're always complaining about them and I prayed for her in tongues
but you know the the more of a privilege you see something to be the more of a
responsibility you feel toward it so complaining isn't always a sign that
you don't care you're not grateful you have an attitude of gratitude gratitude
is not an attitude gratitude is an action and then the action of being
grateful leads to a feeling of gratitude but God would not command you to be
grateful if gratitude was a feeling because you can't command a feeling
doesn't work that way God instead instructs you to praise Him
one psalmist said it this way he said this is the day that the Lord has made I
will rejoice and be glad in it this is the day that the Lord has made I will
rejoice and be glad in it oh this is the day this is the day that the Lord has
made hey this is the day this is the day that the Lord has made now who made it
who made it now I will rejoice I will rejoice and be glad in it so God made it
but I get to manage it touch somebody say it's mine to manage and what I do
with this day is up to me so when I when I gave my oldest kid his phone I said I
wrapped it it was his birthday and I wrapped it and I said this phone has
data and this phone is is yours not really
for your birthday I am giving you my phone to use which means that this phone
the contents thereof and the communications that shall be initiated
thereby are under my jurisdiction
one good parent clapped when I said that
and I dare you to put a passcode on that phone that I don't know I dare you to
put a passcode on that phone you change your passcode and I will change your
destiny but it was a principle in the modern age of stewardship that is it's
really the same principle you know that God has been trying to teach us all
along that it's His to give and it's ours to manage and the moment you begin
to understand that about your life your your money y'all don't like this sermon
already this is the motivational part takes take some of the pressure off to
realize that it's His to give it's mine to manage say it out loud it's His to give
mine to manage so I didn't make the day but I will rejoice in it so He gave me
the day and now it's mine to manage that's a really powerful distinction to
know that there are certain things that God has given you under your
jurisdiction one of those things is your joy I will rejoice and be glad in it and
so this is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it
regardless of if the traffic is congested I don't manage the traffic but
I am I am hahaha I like it this way my joy is my
job no matter what happens when I get to my job no one can steal
my joy because my joy is not under anyone elses jurisdiction see what I'm
saying it's mine to manage and one time I made
the mistake of saying that somebody stole my joy and the sphere of the Lord
really corrected me on that like they stole your joy there your joy is not
their job and if they sol it you should have done a better job locking the door
so they couldn't get to it you need a better security system if someone else
can steal your joy then you've got your joy hiding out there in the open where
anybody can see it and snatch it and so this principle emerges in the book of
Joshua can I tell you a little bit about this historic incident I'm so thankful
for the gift of your attention today I find it a great privilege that you would
lean in to the Word of God and allow these words to be spoken I think it's
amazing I want to make it worth your while I want to tell you a bit about
this passage of Scripture it's really amazing what God is doing for his people
here because the nation of Israel is under new management under new
management and this this this promise that God began making generations ago is
now about to come to pass this this land that they're going to possess is is
going to become theirs but it's really God's but it's theirs it's theirs to
possess but it's gods to give so it's God's and it's theirs and Joshua is the
person God is using to bring it to pass now Moses was the leader that brought
the people out of Egypt where they spent several centuries enslaved to the
systems of that nation and now they're no longer just wandering around in the
wilderness like they did under Moses for over 40 years but they're coming into
their own land they're coming into their own spacious place they're coming into
their own homes and they're coming into their their own community that God has
been in the process of forming it's gonna require a different mindset
because up until this point in their life
they have existed on the miracles that God provided like God gave them manna
when they were in the wilderness because they didn't have quail like they had in
Egypt that their masters would give them to feed them but now they're coming into
their own and the manna that used to fall from the sky it was miraculous how
it came down they would just walk out their front door and there it would be
Amazon Prime on the doorstep that the the drone would drop it off and they
would have enough for the day but the thing that's about to happen to them in
just a moment is that they're gonna cross over into this land where the
manna is going to stop coming and they are going to have to learn to manage in
a different way so they're going to have to mature in their mindset and I guess
one way that you could say it is they are they're having to learn how to
manage their miracle and this is something you don't hear taught enough
in settings like these because we often tell you to expect a miracle and to
believe for a miracle and to receive for a miracle but how many know that you are
responsible to manage your miracles I'll prove it to you from the text cuz you're
acting kind of suspicious and I don't blame you it sounds weird because a
miracle is something that God does it's something that God gives but the the
cooperation between heaven and humanity has always been this it's God's to give
but it's mine to manage it's my Father's to give but it's mine to manage and so
God is bringing his people through the the Jordan River how many of you have
something God has brought you through this year did God bring you through it
I'm gonna give you 12 seconds to praise him for something that he brought you
through
we all have a Jordan that we came through and the interesting thing about
the Jordan River is it's mentioned a lot in Scripture but not because it's a big
body of water it's only like 15 yards wide at its widest points and it's not
the deepest body of water that's not what makes it significant what it
symbolizes gives it its biblical significance in that the people of God
saw the Jordan River as representing transitions and new beginnings you see
it a lot in the prophetic record like Elisha got Elijah's mantle in the Old
Testament and he crossed the Jordan River it's not a big river but it's
symbolic it's significant not because of it's size not because of it's scope
physically and not because of its geographical implications but because of
what God did there now they're standing at this place this body of water and God
does something amazing He does it in a very particular way he tells the priest
to stand in the middle of the Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant that's
where they kept the Ten Commandments they represented the presence of God and
when the priests put their foot in the water the water stopped flowing to
provide passageway for the people to cross through God did not carry His
people across the Jordan He enabled His people to cross over
this is how a lot of us live our lives waiting for God to carry us over
something when He is waiting for us to cross you see me Def Leppard it is true
my kids one time when they were real little we were in a public restroom and
they were washing their hands and they had their hands out like this and
nothing was happening because I realized they were used to the faucet being
automatic and it wasn't an automatic faucet and I watched and I stood back to
see how long they would stand there with their hands under the faucet waiting for
something to happen without turning the faucet on and finally in compassion I
told I told my oldest child I said this is not an automatic faucet I know that
you're used to the water just coming on like this see when you've had manna
falling out of the sky for so many years you're used to just something falling
down out of it just because you put your hand there but it's going to require an
action it's gonna require so the water didn't stop flowing until the people start
walking and when they start walking the water stopped flowing and people pass
through and the priest stood in the middle of the Jordan which must have
taken faith for them to stand in the middle of the Jordan not knowing if it
was gonna continue to pile up in a heap or if it was gonna flood over them but
the leaders had the faith to stand in the middle of the Jordan isn't that
significant that it said it was in the middle of the Jordan isn't that the hardest
thing in life to do is to manage the middle because I understand that God has
made me promises and that He knows the end from the beginning but I don't I
don't know the end from the beginning I know the plans I have for you declares
the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a
future well I'm glad that God knows the plans He had for me but I don't know the
plans He has for me and so the
challenge isn't believing that He knows how this is going to end my challenge is
standing in the middle and believing that what He spoke is indeed significant
it's different when you're in the middle it's a lot different it it was it was
weird a few a few weeks ago they had a baptism testimony on the on the screens
and I love the baptism stories do you love those stories that they tell if it
was your child you might love it you know what I'm saying like if it was
somebody that you knew and loved I I try to always picture like I always picture
if that was my brother or if that was my sister and when I hear somebody share
a testimony I always listen for the details and one thing that I noticed
that they normally share in their story they'll share a sermon that where God
spoke to them and a few weeks ago the young lady sharing the sermon that she
shared shared a sermon that I remember preaching and thinking that it was the
worst sermon that I ever preached because it's different when you're doing
it now it was a year later and she was talking
about that story that sermon and in her story she referenced that sermon as a
turning point in her relationship with God and here's what I remember I
remember how I felt while I was doing it and I realized that even though I felt
nothing while I was preaching it she was sitting somewhere in that room maybe not
even in the room where I was preaching it and she was she was having a
completely different experience hearing it than I was preaching it but it's
different when you're in the middle of it
huh it's different when you're raising your kids believing that they're
receiving the values that you're trying to impart to them because when you are
teaching your kids responsibility they do not thank you and recognize you for
being a voice of wisdom and an encouraging force of good in their lives
it's different when you're in the middle of it and see the reason that we can
sometimes look at the biblical miracles and experience them and celebrate them
is because we know how they end but it's different when you're in the middle of
it it's it's different when you're in the middle of it when you're having to
stand in the middle of something and say no my God I know that you're faithful
and I know that you're good but I don't feel that you're faithful and I don't
feel that you're good right now that's called a sacrifice of praise that's
where you have to dig somewhere deeper than your feelings or your knowledge or
your certainty or your circumstance or your bank account God show me how to
manage the middle I have a hard time with that I don't have a hard time being
excited about the beginning and I don't have a hard time celebrating the end but
this middle teach me how to manage the middle oh one of my best friends pastors
a big church and they had three years where they didn't grow in fact they they
went backward I said what was the problem in those three years when you
didn't grow he said middle management we got so large the organization got so big
that there was a layer of people in the middle who started to block the values
that were a part of the organization in the early days and it was middle
management it wasn't the people that were executing
the job it wasn't the the the vision had changed it was what happened in the
middle that almost cost us the momentum of what God was doing I
wonder is that how it happens in our lives
I wonder if sometimes the reason that joy stops flowing the reason that faith
stops growing the reason that sometimes we lose our sense of perspective about
who God is is it's not the end it's not the beginning it's middle management we
don't know how to manage the middle we don't know how to deal with Monday so we
shout good on Sunday but I need a sermon I need a M.M.A. sermon I need some Monday
Morning Application I need something to help me manage this middle because I'm
not fighting the devil on Sunday morning I'm fighting him on Tuesday at 3:37
so the key to this Joshua says take 12 stones 12 stones January February March
April May June July August September October November December 12 months
twelve stones twelve tribes twelve disciples twelve everybody say twelve
take twelve pile them up and in the future when your children ask you what's
up with these stones or like my kids ask me what's up with these cassette tapes I
still got some when your children ask you tell them what the Lord did tell them
tell them take them to show them the stones and tell them we didn't know if we were
gonna make it through but God did something only he could do and we made
it somebody shot I made it tell the person next to you you have no idea what
I've been through
look at them right in the eye and say and God brought me over and look at them
one more time and say how about you ask them have you been through anything
imagine this imagine this they come through the Jordan let's play the story
out for a moment they come through the Jordan God brings them through they set
up the stones God does a great miracle they go on to fight battles but they
sent up the stones to remember what God did in that moment it's very beautiful
and then they go forward into the land and they they fight they fight many
battles and God gives them many victories but every once in a while
maybe they come back with their kids and they show him the stones because they
let the stones in Gilgal and then they moved on to conquer Canaan and you know
how it is when when somebody is reflecting on something and they get
nostalgic and maybe maybe the parents start telling the children we didn't
know if we were gonna make it Joshua was our new leader and we had
never we'd never been this way before and he told us he told us that if the
priest would stand in the middle the waters would stand at attention until
the people passed through so we hurried through as fast as we could we ran
through the Bible says in Joshua chapter 4 verse 21 they hurried through they
didn't have a whole lot of faith just enough to get through it they were worse
they were dancing through the middle they were running through the middle let
me tell you something when you got the devil chasing you sometimes all you can
do is get through it you don't look flashy you're not shooting you're not
flossing you're not doing nothing but running for your life so they got
through it but they said God got us through it that's amazing
amazing cuz we didn't know it was amazing and the ark was there and it represented the
presence of God oh I wish you could have been there son it was just so amazing
and we didn't know if we were gonna be able to do it but we did God did it
it wasn't us okay God did it okay and they and they say that and then so so maybe a
few years go by maybe they go back to the place
again and they look at the stones but you know
maybe maybe the stone are they're still there they haven't gone anywhere but the
story starts to get lost a little bit and maybe a few years later they they're
telling their children they're like oh yeah it's pretty cool I mean we got through it
I mean God did it but we were the ones who had to walk because if you know like
God didn't God didn't carry us through but what we got through it and then a
few more years passed and maybe they're telling their kids again making another
trip and they're telling ya those stones they're cool Joshua made us get him out
the middle of the Jordan it was it was weird we were ready to move on
but Joshua let me tell you how I know that the story stopped being told
because when you get to the end of Joshua's life you read in Judges chapter
2 verse 10 just this verse just this verse I want to show you and I want you to
think about the space between when Joshua led the people through the Jordan
and when the next generation arose it says that after that whole generation Joshua's
generation had been gathered to their ancestors another generation grew up who
knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel Joshua's generation
set up the stones the next generation didn't even know the story what happened
somewhere along the way between Joshua chapter 4 and Judges chapter 2 they stop
telling the story something changed about the story somewhere in that space
and God if I'm just preaching this for one person help me to do it now because
they have been telling themselves the wrong story and now their faith is
feeling feeble and now their worship has been weakened and they are in a cycle of
the dependence on false gods because they stopped telling the story
the story of salvation is this I was lost and dead in my sin I had no hope in
myself I could not save myself I could not help myself I could not lift myself
I would not have made it if He had not reached out and with a mighty hand and
an outstretched arm He died for me He came into my life He intersected me at
the point of my sin and while I was still a sinner Christ died for me
why are you screaming because I've got a story that didn't start with me
it started with the mercy of God
and the enemy doesn't want you to tell this story see he wants he wants you to
lose your testimony they kept the stones the stones are still there to this day
but they stop telling the story you know you can have all of the the monuments of
religion but loose your relationship with God you can have all the stones in
the world you can come to church you can you can still live a life that's between the lines but if
the truth were told today some of us have stopped telling the story
we've lost our our testimony you have a testimony there are things that God has
done for you that only He could do and nobody else can tell it for you and
nobody else can tell it like you it can happen it can happen in your own heart
it can happen in a generation it can happen within a lifetime it could
happen within three years you can actually have God do something amazing
for you and have the stones to prove it some of you are sitting next to the
woman that you asked God to give you but now you want out of your marriage the
problem isn't your marriage it's your management
I'll go back here this I'm not scared to say this stuff we need to manage our
miracles God has been good to us God has been more than enough He is a provider
He is Jehovah-jireh He did bring you through He did bless you He did make a
way He is more than enough He is El Shaddai He is a great king
He is a good father
touch somebody say manage your miracle it's God's to give but it's yours to
manage
I told Elijah if you crack the screen I'm not replacing it it's yours to
manage if you crack the screen or if you here's here's what happens to me let
me tell you something sit sit down let's talk I sometimes I I stop telling
myself the testimony because to me sometimes it seems it seems small
you know something happened between when they cross the Jordan I don't know
exactly what it is I think there's evidence to support this
hypothesis they fought a lot of battles between Joshua chapter 4 and Judges chapter 2 and
I wonder if the battles became bigger in their minds than the blessings and I
wonder if they started telling themselves the stories that centered
around their struggles rather than God's sovereign hand that saw them through the
struggles I wonder if they got in survival mode to the point that they
stopped telling the story and I wonder if when they saw God do all these other
things I wonder I wonder if they just didn't go back to the stones they were
they were placed on the bank of the Jordan back where they started and
sometimes when you don't go back where you started and remember what God did
where you started you lose perspective when you get where
you're going oh man I I feel so guilty for chin this point it's so easy for me
to get caught up and consumed in my own convenience and my own drama my own
insecurities my own dysfunction and a lot of times I'll be honest with you I
don't share what God is doing in my life because it doesn't seem big cuz I can
compare it to something else and it seems small it seems small like these
stones you know at one point in your life you're really grateful for it but
then at some point it can lose the significance
I was asking somebody the other day if I could hear their testimony and it's a
church word right testimony people don't really talk like that except in courts
in church you know what I mean like it's just a real churchy thing to say and
they were like well when I was 12 and they were 53 I was like not that
testimony you can't fight today's devils if you don't have today's
testimony there needs to be a current work that God is doing in your life yep
yes He saved me and I want to talk about that but what is He doing in my life
today another generation that knew not the Lord nor what He had done for Israel
this is this is your testimony you know it can be a tiny testimony it doesn't
have to be a big rock you can fight the devil with a little rock ask David you
can fight a big giant with a little rock if you know how to throw it I said you
can fight depression with a little rock if you know how to throw it you can
fight discouragement with a little tiny little tiny testimony
well I don't have a big testimony I've pretty much all my life I've been serving the
Lord I never have never was on drugs and women and running round I
pretty much grew up in that come on man you don't have to have a meth lab in your
garage to have a testimony you don't have to be fresh off death row
to have a testimony you don't have to have 14 children by 14 women to have a
testimony a testimony it can be the smallest thing like a few weeks ago I was
getting ready to come out and preach and I want to tell you this cuz cuz Joshua
said tell them tell them what God did for you tell them tell them about it
preach it teach it you overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your
testimony there is power in your personal testimony so a few weeks ago I was
getting ready to preach I didn't feel like preaching oh I love the Lord I believe
His Word and I believe He's coming again I just didn't feel like preaching
on that Saturday night weather was nasty I didn't feel like preaching so I was
having a little pity party I hate to tell you this but I was I was being so
childish and but then I had this moment I was like FaceTime one of your friends
and get them to pray for you because the service was about to start and so the
staff was out doing staff stuff so they couldn't come pray for me so I was going to FaceTime
one of my friends who didn't have a Saturday night service and he didn't
answer apparently Judah Smith had better things
to do than pray for his friend pray that the Carolina Panthers will
wreak havoc upon the Seattle Seahawks today to punish him for not being there
in my time of FaceTime need you don't want to FaceTime Furtick I hope you go
down today royally then I call Craig Groeschel that's my pastor that's my guy
and he didn't answer and he always answers he didn't answer and I was
running out of time cuz I needed to get out there and preach so I said this
little pitiful prayer you know not the kind I pray in front of people I was
like oh Lord
since nobody wants to pray for me I'm always praying for everybody else I
guess I'll go on preach I pray for myself and I start praying you know this
real mumbly grumbly grumpy prayer a little bad attitude prayer a little like
kids going to make up the bed fine that kind of prayer have you ever had that
level of faith where it's like fine faith fine God
fine I'll pray for myself so I start praying Father in the name of Jesus out loud I
say that when I said Father in the name of Jesus the moment I got it out of my
mouth Father in the name of Jesus my phone rang my phone hardly ever rings my phone
I mostly communicate by text I don't do a lot talking on the phone and my phone
rings and it hardly ever rings it never rings at that time of day and it said
No Caller ID
but I'm not making this up I say I should answer this I say hello this deep
voice comes on the phone what are you doing
the voice of none other it could only be Bishop TD Jakes that's like my favorite
preacher since I'm like this big since I started wanting to be a preacher this
was my favorite preacher and here he is calling me what are you doing and I was
like hey Bishop JakesI was just going out to preach for the Saturday night service he said oh well
since this is a bad time let me just pray for you before you go
out there and preach real quick Father in the name of Jesus anoint him with your spirit and fill him with
your wisdom give him words to say from Heaven I'm telling you I'm telling you I'm
not waiting until something to me I need to fight the devil sometimes with a
phone call there are little things that God has done for me moments where I
called His name and there was nobody there to answer and then all of a sudden
something from heaven with no caller ID and God reached out and God dried my
tears and God strengthened me and God upheld me with a mighty hand
and an outstretched arm
you need to tell these stories you need to tell these stories stop telling
yourself the story that nobody cares about you and that you're alone and that
it doesn't matter another generation who didn't know what the Lord had done for
Israel because they stopped telling the story and when you stopped preaching the
gospel to yourself and reminding yourself that the Son of God accepted
and chose you and brought you out of Egypt and brought you out of sin and
brought you through the Red Sea and brought you through the Jordan and
brought down the Jericho walls and brought you out of bondage and brought
you out of fear
please hear me when you stop telling that story you lose your strength the
children of Israel went through 15 cycles of disobedience to God and not
only did they go through 15 cycles of disobedience to God through 15 different
judges but they went through 420 years of dependence
on gods that could not save them because they stopped telling the story
what story have you been telling yourself what story have you been
telling your children what story you know what I was thinking what story is
our church telling in this day because you know God has done amazing things for
us but sometimes it really rips my heart out when I see a campus pastor giving an
invitation in our church and people get up and start leaving so they can beat
traffic out the parking lot while somebody's soul is on the line
that really hurts my heart because when we started the church we weren't
starting the church to have a Christian entertainment center where we could give
people a little anecdote and a little song and a little goose bump and they
could get to lunch is that the story we're telling that we gathered together
when it's convenient and we consume spiritual food but we never contribute
this is why I think it's important that we have traditions like our our year end
offering because God is inviting a new generation to tell the story and it's is
so vital in this moment that you realize that the gospel is God's story but it's
ours to manage we are stewards of the story that God is telling in the world
today what a privilege it is come on can we praise Him for the privilege
do you know the hymn this is my story
this is my song praising my Savior all the day long this is my story this is my song
praising my Savior all the day long
stand to your feet I want to pray with you now you're in
the middle of a story right now that God is telling through your life you're in
the middle of it the priest stood in the middle the stones came from the middle
everything good that God does in our life comes from our ability to recognize
it in the middle and sometimes what happens I know you feel like you've come
to the end you feel like um is this for you you feel like you get to the end of
something you get to the end of your own strength you get to the end and
sometimes the season shifts in your life and and something is always ending as
something else is beginning the Jordan is both it's it's their exodus from the
wilderness and it's their entrance into Canaan
it's happening all at the same time right and so you think you're at the end
of something your ability to manage that that emotion in the middle of it
determines what happens next in your life remember this Moses died on Mount
Nebo looking at the promised land Joshua led the people into the land that God
had promised Moses the difference wasn't what God had promised God promised Moses
and Joshua the same result the difference wasn't the promise the
difference was how they managed the miracle in the middle of it God gave
Moses a miracle He parted the Red Sea but Moses stayed stuck in what other
people said Moses managed according to his fear not his faith God gave Joshua
the same promise and Joshua said even in spite of our fear even in spite of our
failures even in spite of the fact that there are more out there than there are
in here we're going forward in the name of the Lord with His presence as our
banner and we are standing in the middle and we will stand in the middle until
everything that God has spoken comes to pass
I wonder is there anybody who's willing to get in the middle of it and take your
stand and declare I will see the goodness of the Lord in my generation in
my life that's what I want to pray for you about and if you lift your hands
right now I'll do it because the Lord is in this moment the Lord is very present
even in your pain and I believe that God is even present in some of the mistakes
that you've made Lord right now would you visit the heart of each of your sons
and daughters with a reminder maybe like those 12 rocks that the people piled up
give us a rock of remembrance today that we can build on the firm foundation of
your faithfulness the victory is yours to give but it's mine to manage God
remind me of the responsibility that You have given me and teach me to lean on
Your grace as I do give me the faith to stay standing in the middle with the
waters all around me and to worship you in this moment
with our heads bowed and our eyes closed I wonder is there somebody here
today who needs to receive the grace of God for the salvation of your soul the
forgiveness of your sin I wonder is there someone here today who needs to
begin a relationship with God or maybe you want to reconnect in that
relationship with God you've been feeling for a long time like
you're far from Him but it's not true He's near and if you call on His name He
is in this moment and He longs to come and live inside of you He longs to allow
you to follow Him even when you don't know what's next
it's very it's very simple what the Bible says about salvation it is by
grace that you are saved through faith it's the gift of God it's not of works
so that no one can boast that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead you will be
saved that's the promise of God doesn't
require good works you can't stack enough stones to climb your way to
heaven it doesn't work like that God's not watching your behavior to see
whether or not He'll relate to you He's already done through the person of His
son Jesus all that needs to be done for you to have a right relationship with
Him and right now in this moment I want to pray with you and every location we're
gonna pray out loud as a church family for the benefit of those who are coming
to God or coming back to God but we'll all pray out loud together
repeat after me Heavenly Father I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of
God and today I make Jesus the Lord of my life I believe He died to forgive my
sin and rose again to give me life I receive this new life this is my new
beginning on the count of three if you just prayed that prayer shoot
your hand up I want to celebrate with you one two three come on as a testimony
shoot your hand up that's a lot of hands that's a lot of hands let's praise God
for it come on let's praise God for it I said let's praise God for it
salvation let's praise God for it
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For more infomation >> 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻 & 𝗷𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗵𝗼𝗼 ❝ ｎｅｘｔ ｔｏ ｙｏｕ ❞ - Duration: 1:08. 
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