Elevation with Steven Furtick - An Ordinary Day

Episode Date: November 19, 2018

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This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, don't start clicking off. I promise we're going to 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 game changer. 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. me up. You see, I know it feels great up there. Hey, my name is Larry Brian. I get the privilege of opening up God's word with you today. And all my friends call me LB. At least my friends do. You can call me LB too. You can say, hey, LB. Oh, man, thank you. I'm glad to be here. And a truism we learned early in our churches, people may not always remember what you say, but they'll always remember the way you make them feel. I want to make sure that everybody who's here. That's a first time guest. Feels very welcomed today. I'd like you to give out at least

three displays of affection. You can give a hug, a high five, a handshake. I want you to welcome at least three people, at least three church appropriate displays of affection, mind you. After you have done that, you may be seated. Thank you. Worship team. Thank you so much. Hey, have you enjoyed this season we're in right now? Game Changer. Oh my goodness. It has been absolutely incredible. Week one, let's do a quick little review right here. Secret scorecard? My reason determines my reward. How many of you were blessed by week one of this series? My gosh. Now week two for all the warriors in the house. Pastor Stephen burned the place down. He talked about reverse your worry. Worship is worry in reverse. Like how many of you were blessed by that? How many of you were blessed by that? Oh my gosh. And so week one, week two, let's call it week three. This is week three. I get the privilege of delivering God's word today. Here's the title I want to give for today's message is this. For the note takers in the house, you would write this down, an ordinary day. An ordinary day. Say ordinary. And the text I'm going to be in today is going to be Acts chapter three is where I'll be.

And I remember when I came to faith, it was in my late 20s. I just finished. graduate school. And I had grown up in a home where religion really and faith was not really a part of it. If Jesus Christ was used in a conversation, it was more for colorful language than it was any kind of praise. And that was just kind of the world I grew up in. And I grew up Catholic. So, you know, I'd go to church a couple times a year. And I remember, like, in my darkest moments where I'm, like, in that dark place. Some of you know that dark place, like, that place that you don't feel like anybody should ever see that place that you're like, God is so disgusted with you. You can never lean into it. God leaned into that moment with me and he met me in that place and he radically,

radically saved me. And I remember getting my first Bible. I was 27. So I didn't own a Bible until I was 27. I remember taking the cellophane off of it and like smelling, I was like, oh, this is amazing. And then I went to a Bible study with some of you Baptists. Like, you know you. It's like Bibles. You're like, mm. Obadiah, Zephaniah. Like, what about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? I can't find them. I'm like, and I leaned over my buddy.

It's like, what page is that on? I didn't realize that. Then all the Bibles have the same. Like, what are you doing, Christians? That makes no sense. So I remember what it's like to get in a place that, depending upon the book you're going to go to, I may or may not open up my Bible.

Because they didn't want to look stupid because you know what? I felt very ordinary. And if you feel ordinary today, if you feel like you're an ordinary individual, I want you to know that you are positioned to be mightily used by an extraordinary God. He is not looking for the brightest. He's not looking for the tallest, the prettiest.

He's looking for the one that makes himself available today. And anybody who says, God, I make myself available, he will use you. That is the evidence of the story of the church, and it is how he has moved throughout eternity. So I just want to give you permission to be ordinary. Look at your neighbor, right left. Which one looks the most ordinary to you? I know. Don't tell him.

But in Acts chapter three is where I'm going to be. It says this. It says one day, Peter and John were going to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon. No, a man was lame from birth being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, look at us. So the man gave them his attention expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, silver or gold, I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk, taking him by the right hand, he helped him up and instantly his feet and ankles became strong. Now this story out of Acts Chapter 3 is really one of my favorite stories in the New Testament. I love it. It's really been a story that's played a pivotal part in the history of our church. But I love it because it has these two words that come together. One day. Oh, it's kind of like dynamite. You put these two ingredients together and something blows up. One day. And if you were to do a Bible study on it, just do that. Google it later.

One day, Bible verse. And you're going to see story after story of something incredible. It's giving me like scenes in a movie where you're like, what? The Southern translation was like, yo, check this out. Like that's, it's amazing. It's a place of potential and possibility. When you see these two words, it needs to alert your senses that, oh, something significant is about to happen. Something is about to go down that's going to change the direction of somebody else's life. This is a game-changing moment. One day is a game-changer.

Because when one day happens in your life, everything changes after it. And some of you are about to encounter one of those moments today. Today is that one day it's going to be a game-changer where whatever you walked in with is going to look very different when you walk out because God's about to do something in you. And these one-day stories have less to do. with God's promises being dropped into our laps. It has way more to do with people, ordinary people like you and me, who believe that with God, all things are possible.

Not some things, not a couple things, not a conditional faith that says, if it ever gets here, God, then it'll, no, all things. Because one day is a perspective. It is a perspective where you lean in expecting God to move. I don't know if it'll be today or tomorrow or next year or in 20 years, but my God will move. His promises are yes and amen in Jesus Christ. I believe it. That's a one-day perspective that's illustrated in the text. The other perspective that's illustrated in the text is another day. Say another day. And what we get to do is decide which one we

want to live. One day? Potential impossibility. Another day. Hey, honey, how was work today? It was just another day. Another day becomes another week and another month and another year and another decade. And now your kids are grown and you're looking at each other like, what did we just do with the last 20 years? And we've just wasted it just one day at a time. Another day is a perspective where you give up believing that God's promises will come to pass.

And you settle into autopilot and you are just being taken down the rivers of life, feeling like you're at the whims and the mercies of God and you're just flowing along. No, no, no, no. And the reality is one day and another day are both perspectives. One is leaning in, one is leaning back. And the reality is both of these are ordinary. Both of these are ordinary because the life you live is your ordinary. You get to decide which life you want to live. You have the ability through the person of Jesus Christ living inside of you. The one who spoke the world into existence. The one who raised Jesus. from the dead is living inside of you. And you get the ability to make a choice to say,

I will either live life in a one-day mental house, and God, I believe you're for me and not against me. Or I can live over here and just be like, it's just another day. All those other people get blessed. Just not me, those are for the extraordinary Christians, not ordinary folk. Because most of these one-day stories in the scriptures

are ordinary people believing in an extraordinary. God. And so when we started this ministry more than 12 years ago, we're coming up on her 13th birthday elevation church. You look good for a pre-team. I remember when we started this church, we were living in a little town called Shelby, North Carolina. And you know, heard of Shelby. It's about an hour away from Charlotte, for those of you that don't know it. It's halfway between Charlotte, North Carolina, and Asheville. It's not a destination location. It's like a stop for gas and then you keep going. It's it's Nazareth, you know. But we were living there, and pastor seems like,

hey, we got to get to Charlotte, we got to find a place to meet. We got to find a location. So I believe that God is for us. I believe that God is for this ministry. And I just drove to Charlotte and my little Ford Ranger expecting God's favor to be there when I got there. I've just acted like that. You know how you hang out with somebody that's bigger and stronger than you?

You feel tougher? Like, yeah, what's you got now, boy? My God is that big and my pastor's that strong. I believe it. I'm like, if God said it, it's going to happen. If pastor said there's this facility waiting for us in Charlotte, I'm like, it's there. And so I show up in Charlotte. The first place I stop is at a community college.

I walk in, go up to the vice president's office. Meanwhile, we had just picked the name for the church like a month before. And I walk into the vice president's office. I'm like, listen, my name's Larry Bri. I'm a part of a church called Elevation Church. We haven't even started yet, but we're going to change the world. And you want us meeting at your location. And she's like, well, the biggest room we got really only holds about 140 people.

I said, that's way too small. God's going to do something so much bigger than that. And she said, it's funny you showed up here today because this is actually my last day working at this location. She said, I start a new job on Monday at a place called the Levine Senior Center. She said, we're actually going to be building a building. And we were meeting with the trustees the other day. We haven't even broken ground on it. but we were talking about maybe it would be good for a church to rent our facility.

I said yes and amen. God wants us in that location. That's how we found our first location. We can clap for that. But the one day perspective says whether it's at the first stop, the 12 stop, or the hundred stuff. My God is going to say yes at some point. It's going to happen. See, one day has a persistence toward the promises of God.

You get shut down in the first response and now you give up on the promises of God. Why are you so easy to push over? Do you know who your daddy is? Do you know what's living inside of you? Do you know what you're capable of? About a week after we found this location, I met with a church planting expert, who is an expert on planting churches in Charlottling.

He's like, Larry, you know it's virtually impossible for anyone to find a location to meet at within Charlotte because every outhouse and doghouse and middle school and high school has got a church meeting in it. That's this expert voice. I looked at him and said, I'm sorry, we already found a location. My God already provided before you even said it didn't happen. And some of you were listening to experts tell you what God cannot do in your life.

We were just ordinary people that believed in an extraordinary God. And it began with eight families selling their homes and quitting their jobs. This is my wife Janet here. We were one of those original eight families. We just celebrated 18 years of marriage. Isn't she lovely? I can't sing. But my reason determines my reward.

I'm not singing for you. I'm trying to score points with my girl. But we got the distinct privilege of being one of those original eight families. So if I take you back to 2005, this is 13 years ago. We're all living in Shelby, eight families. And we had met Pastor Stephen. First time I ever saw him preach, he was the only white guy in an all black gospel choir. He was at North Greenville College.

He was a senior at North Greenville College. That choir he was leading with about 60 people. And he knew how to clap on the two and four, but nobody. at the church I was at, knew how to really do that right. And he brings the all black gospel choir down, and he's leading the choir at the church, Rat and Shelby, there in North Greenville College in South Carolina. And I saw him preach. First time I ever saw him preach, he preached a sermon called God is great, God is good. I still have the VHS tape. Baldhead, goate, baggy clothes, and he burned the place down. And I said, this Joker is going to change the world. And I said, that's the church I want to

to be a part of. So when I heard that him and Hollywood were getting ready to start this thing called Elevation Church, I pulled him in my office, said, I'm coming with. I know it's really bad grammar. You don't end with a preposition, but it's because it was a blank line that says, wherever you go, I'm coming. And he said, what it means, if you want to be a part of this, you need to sell your house, quit your job, move to an unnamed city in an unnamed part of the country to be part of an unnamed church. Are you in? I'm like, who wouldn't sign up for that? No, I'm not kidding. Who wouldn't sign up for that? It's the greatest thing on the face of the earth. everybody right now says, I wish I would have done that. And you might not have had a chance to be a part

of the original eight, but you can get on the original eight spirit today. Because the spirit that launched our ministry is the same spirit that's moving here today. And there's so many new people coming to Elevation Church that you don't know the history. And it's hard to understand the story when you haven't read the previous chapters. I just want to show you some of those previous chapters about us. All eight families are signed up. We were part of a church there called Christ's Covenant Church, February of 2005 through the end of the year, we stayed underneath the umbrella of that ministry. All of us were tithing to that church. That's 10%, the first 10% we give to God. When we signed up to this thing called Elevation Church, pastor said, hey, here's what we're going to do.

We're going to sow seeds of sacrificial generosity that will produce fruit in the future. See, the blessing you see began to sacrifices that you'll never see. Because all eight families gave 10% to the church we're at because we believed in being faithful to church. But they said this new thing called Elevation Church, we're going to go 5% and 10% in. above and beyond it. So those eight families sowed seeds of generosity. It was not a couple fat cat stroking big checks. It was built upon people like Tyler and Amy Ford, John and Heather Bishop, ordinary people like chunks and Amy Corbett. None of us were experts in church work, but all of us loved God. We were ordinary people that worshipped an extraordinary God, and we wanted our lives to count. Because you know

there's a difference between success and significance. Success is what you build for yourself. self, significance is what you give away for God. And you can be extremely successful in life and yet have no significance. But I also know the opposite exists. Some of you feel like you are not successful in life, but you were one of the most significant people walking on the face of the earth. Because your significance is tied to your sacrifice. Not your size, not your status, not your number of followers, simply your sacrifice.

And what God wants is a sacrifice. and those eight families brought sacrifices. If I were to illustrate the church, let me give you an illustration. This first row, can you stand up right here? And then one, two, three, four, five, six. You six, could you stand up? Right there? That's good.

So 13 years ago, this is what we were. Eight families, 16 people. You know what we are today? 13 years later? We actually have 17 campuses. We've got more campuses today than we did people 13 years ago. Look what God won't do. Look what God.

won't do. You may be seeded. And I remember there was a game changer for us when we found the vision statement of our church. It's this, it's on the screen. This is why we started our church so that people, far from God, will be raised to life in Christ.

That's it. Say people far from God will be raised to life in Christ. Say people far from God. People far from God. We'll be raised to life in Christ. And we were praying for people. people before we ever saw their faces and knew their names. And without being melodramatic, we were praying for you before we ever met you. I have no idea what you were doing 13 years ago, Melbourne.

I have no idea what you were doing 13 years ago, someone watching online from Topeka, Kansas. But God knew the steps he would order in your life to bring you to the moment you're sitting in today. And we believe so strongly that the gospel is real, we wanted to bring a real sacrifice. because faith is not just believing for it, it is sacrificing toward it. There is a language and a lifestyle to faith. There is a language that says, I believe that with God all things are possible. That's the language of it, but that is just one part of it. The other part of us, I am going to live a lifestyle that will be persistent to see that happen.

There is a language and a lifestyle. And the lifestyle that God brought us eight families to a sacrifice. My wife and I, we sold her house, we quit her jobs, we cast in our stocks, or bonds or savings, put it all in the center of the table. Say, God, either you get all the glory or we look really stupid. I am glad option A worked out. But why were we doing it? Because we loved God that much and we wanted to see his glory on this earth.

We believed so strongly in the church, we weren't just going to make it a weekend activity. We were going to make it an everyday lifestyle. And I remember another game-changing moment when we're at the ministry we were at. We were moving into a new sanctuary space. So before all the families moved in, we had a chance to get on our knees on the cement and write names on the cement of people we wanted to come to faith. This was a game changer for me. Because I got on the cement in the middle of the sanctuary, and my wife and I, we wrote down

these names. We wrote down the name Luann. It's my sister. These are people we hope who come to faith in Jesus. Wrote down Dad. That's my dad. Wrote down Lance. That's my younger brother.

He's had diabetes since he was four years old and he's struggling right now to feel his feet. My brother Lonnie, my brother Butch, his real name is Leslie. Yep, you would too. My mom, my niece, Kalen, I started to write these names down. This was a game changer for me. Because I started to identify the people in faith that I wanted to see come to faith in Jesus. And from this began what we call our one-day teaching, which is based upon Acts chapter three. and in Acts chapter three it says one day Peter and John at the time of prayer went to the temple gate and so one day and here's the way that we teach the one day principle around here at

Elevation Church because a vision statement is people far from God raised to life in Christ that's the vision people far from God raised to life in Christ but if it's about a bunch of people and it's not about a person it is not personal personal is powerful so the way that I teach the one day principle is this who is close to to you, but far from God. Who is inside your relational networks, but outside the love of Jesus Christ? Who, if they died today, we spend eternity separated from him. Get this thing so personal. So whenever I would teach this, I would get people to write down in their notes. And I want you to do this in your notes right now or on your phone is a blank line. And put a name in it. For me, every time I taught this and I've taught it over 250 times, I use my sister's name Luann and I write it in the thing.

my sister, my oldest sister, she's six years older than me. She used to look out for me on the nights when dad was doing what his father did. See, my sister grew up in a world that she looked at her heavenly father and said, you must be just like my earthly father because my earthly father rejects me and treats me like this. Why on earth would my heavenly father want anything to do with me? So once she got to the age, she was old enough to decide, I'm out of this.

She said, peace out. I am done. But you know that when you're running from something, you start recreating it in your future. Because God's vision is never to run from something. It is to something. And my sister runs into life, recreating all of the havoc that she had in her past. And I would teach this one day principle like this.

If this were the one day Luan or your person were to come to church, what would you want him to experience? Who would you want them to meet? And now it became really, really personal to me. You want to know the vision of our church so that people far from God would be released to life in Christ. But it's not just a language. It's a lifestyle.

Because we would teach it like this. If that were to happen, I would be up all night praying. See, my family lives in Minnesota. And if they were to come here, oh my gosh, it is a miracle. And I would be up all night praying. And I'd be saying, God, please move. Please move in their life because life is so chaotic. She doesn't know you and she needs you, God.

And I get to this building early. And I'd pray over every single seat in the auditorium. I'd annoy in it with oil. I'd be speaking in tongues because I don't know which seat she's going to sit in. I don't know which seat's going to be the place of a miracle. I don't know what seat the shame is going to be washed away at. So I'm just going to pray over every single one of them. And then I'm going to go to the parking team, say, parking team, do you get it?

My sister's coming. She's just like me. She has no patience. And if more than three cars get backed up, she's going to turn around and go home. And if she gets in an accident on the way home and dies, she's going to hell. And if that happens, I'm going to kill you. Then I'm going to go to the greeters. I'm going to say, greeters, do you get it?

Because if you're talking to my sister, you're making her feel like everybody else. else thinks about her what she feels about herself. Because she works in a job where she's had a trucking company and she's the safety enforcer. So she gets to talk to truckers all day long and tell them to stop driving. And if you're a trucker and you're not driving, you're expressing your displeasure in colorful ways. She gets cussed out all day long in the job and then comes home to a house where her and her husband look at each other and they go to opposite ends of the house. Because the reality is, you know how long it's been since she's seen somebody say to her, I'm glad to see you.

Because in her honest moment, she would have tapped out long before, had it not just been for her little daughter, my niece, Kalen. But the greeters get it, and they make her smile, and they make you feel like you matter, and you're here today, and I love you. And they bring her in, and they take my niece to our EKids ministry. And my sister's world is spinning out of control, and the only thing she has is her daughter, and she's going to trust her to your hands? Man, you better speak in full sentences.

You better have all your teeth. You better get down on a knee. look that little girl in the eye and say, God loves you. You are so beautiful. Because if you don't do that, my sister, whose life is spinning out of control, she's going to feel like, how could I trust her to you? And if she brings her into the auditorium, her focus is on her daughter, not on the gospel. And we're not going to let that happen, but we're not just babysitting and eat kids. No, we're hiding the word of God, which will produce a harvest one day. And I lead that little girl sitting in the back seat, preaching the sermon, singing the songs. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

So she leaves her daughter and eat kids, and then she meets one of her ushers that gets the privilege to walk my sister to a seat where her life is going to be changed. And the worship begins, and she starts to tear up because I don't even know what is going on inside of me, but something's happening. Because you are created in the image of God. There is an indelible mark that he has left on your heart that is always pulling you back to the father. She cannot describe it, but she cannot stop it. and it's expressing itself through tears. And she's like, oh, could it be that there's something better? And then the gospel's preached.

And Pastor Stephen gets up here. And he stands here and he declares Jesus Christ crucified, died, buried, and resurrected for the forgiveness of sins. And my sister at the end says, could it be? That's what I've been looking for in my whole life. And if my sister's coming to church, that's what I want her one day experience to be like. my sister Luan who is it for you in that line make it personal some of you this church you're treating it too casually because you have not made it personal for you it's a game changer today because this is the day you make it personal and you make it be about a person if the extent of my faith is only

about me and what I get I have got a shallow faith and shallow values will lead to empty victories today is a day that we can dig for something deeper and not make it be about us But who is it? Who's in your line? Because for some woman here, it's her husband who's at home today. For some dad, it's their daughter that you got in a fight four years ago, and unforgiveness has fractured the relationship. Who is it for you? What would it look like if you were to develop a persistence as God? I don't know when it's going to happen, but I believe it will happen. That's one day. That's why we started this ministry for that. And as we started going through this ministry, my wife and I realized we cannot expect new blessings off of old sacrifices. I can't just live off of a house that was sold 12 years ago. I've got to bring a present day sacrifice today.

So my wife and I come to 2013, end of year giving series that year, was called Banner Years. And my wife and I said, we are going to give specifically to my sister Luann and her family. And at the end of year, we wrote down the word restoration. And we gave the biggest gift we have given. See, sacrifice is never about size. It's always about significance. Because if I were to tell you, the size. some of you would be like, that's a lot. Some of you would say that's a little. It's never about the amount.

It's about the sacrifice that it represents. God is not calling us to equal amounts, but he is calling us to equal sacrifices. And I want to challenge you this year to sacrifice in such a way that you show your faith. Not just talk about it. I'm talking you live your faith. That kind of faith. And we saw God move in my sister's family. And God had restored that marriage and he is restoring that family. Look at what God is doing, not just 13 years ago, but today. Then the next year comes along, the year after that, And our surround was the series we were in that year. And then we wrote down the word, salvation. This is actually the word.

This is my handwriting. Because we were able to convince Luann and John and Kalin to come to North Carolina for Carolina Christmas. And the person I've been teaching about for a decade that I didn't think would ever come to Elevation Church came. And in that moment, I got a chance to see my niece Kalen give her life to Christ. my brother-in-law John give his life to Christ and my sister Luann give her life to Christ won't God do it

and as I was reading Acts chapter 3 getting ready for today said God said you don't understand the whole story because you didn't read the previous chapters and God took me back to Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 2 it said everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs

performed by the apostles all the believers were together and had everything in common they sold their property and possessions, and gave to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. This is an ordinary day. The first century church in the book of Acts, an ordinary day is when they're gathering together, they're worshiping, they're sacrificing,

and they're giving. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. It was an ordinary day for them to see people come to faith in Jesus. And did you know that at Melbourne, one of our 17 locations on an ordinary weekend at one of our ordinary campuses last week, Melbourne, you had 28 people make decisions for Christ last week. At an ordinary weekend, at an ordinary campus, look what God can do when ordinary people make a one day their lifestyle. So I got it. Oh, Acts chapter 3, this beggar being healed began in Acts chapter 2. Because for Peter and John, this is what we do. This is who we are. This is our ordinary faith. As they walk into Acts chapter 3, they're ordinary one day. God's on at move. I'm living my life for

his glory. Their ordinary encountered this beggar's ordinary. The one day encountered, it's just another day. I'm asking, which one are you? Are you Peter and John? Are you the beggar? And when this ordinary collided with that ordinary, an extraordinary God showed up on the scene. Because the lesser must submit to the greater. And the greater glory that is in those people

caused that to submit. And that man's life was changed. It's been the story of our church since we started. Not just with those original eight families, but countless individuals who have, jumped in and been a part of this like John and Roddy Mullins right here. They showed up in 2006 just to get their adult daughter or church. They said, this is weird, but they said this is ordinary. And they've been here every since serving and sacrificing. People like Adam and Anita Bright Bill up at a Roanoke location.

They started coming to the Roanoke campus in 2014 during the surround series. He lost his job and they were pregnant. He received a severance, which they planned to live on for the next few months and prepared for the baby to come, but they felt God called them to give the whole severance at the year-end offering, and they wrote down the word trust. It didn't make sense, but they obeyed. Let me read that again. It didn't make sense, but they obeyed. That's ordinary faith. God, I don't have to understand it to obey it. I'm just going to do it. Within two weeks, Adam got a phone call and has offered a better job, more pay, sustainable job, less travel, so he can attend with his family. Lou and Kiera Torres at a Raleigh The Torres family joined the Raleigh campus 2015.

For the past four years, they've been trying to have a baby unable to conceive. Last year, during Waymaker, they gave sacrificial and wrote the word baby on their card with the belief that God was going to bring a baby their way. Little over two months ago, baby boy, David was born to this wonderful family. Won't God do it? Ordinary people having an ordinary faith. Bobby and Carla Sweeney at her Winston-Salem campus. Bobby and Carla were part of launching the Winston-Salem campus in 2017.

Their adult daughter, Stephanie has spina bifida. Been a long, hard journey caring for her through the mounting medical struggles. Their other adult daughter tree struggled with crippling postpartum depression over the past couple of years. They gave sacrificially during Waymaker, and they claimed the word trust. After trusting God through so many hard times with their family, saw the fruit of their faith when their daughter tree was baptized this past August. Won't God do it? Won't God do it?

I don't give to get. God's not a celestial vending machine that I pop in a couple quarters and push a blessing. Heck no. I give because every time I give it creates more space for him to occupy. God wants to be so consumed in your life. He wants to have all of you. The good parts, the bad parts,

the parts you want and the parts you don't. That's why we give because he is worth it and the gospel commands it. We just don't want to have a faith that believes for it. We want to live for it. And so when I wrote those names down, my brother Lance, he's not yet come to faith. My dad, he's not yet come to faith. He's in a retirement home and he's got severe dimension.

I saw him a couple weeks ago and now I'm like, God, how do I share the faith with him? And he doesn't even know who I am. I still believe God is sovereign. I don't know how, but I also believe God is sovereign and I have a responsibility. My responsibility is to keep sacrificing. God's responsibility is to keep saving. And I'm going to trust that he's going to do it even when it can't make sense. So one day isn't just for the stories that have happened.

One day is for the things that are waiting to be written. That's why I give. And what I didn't realize is when I wrote that blank line down, I didn't know it would encompass all of you. I didn't know what encompassed all of the people in Raleigh or Morrisville and Gaston. I also didn't know it would encompass my family. This last Easter, I got a text from one of her E-Kids director saying, Your daughter, Dalyan, she wants to give her life to Jesus.

So I sprinted across the building. I huffed and puffed the whole way there. But I got there, and my wife and I got a chance to lead our 10-year-old daughter in a prayer to give her life to Jesus this past Easter. I didn't know that when I signed up. I didn't know that. And so this past Easter when I called my sister Luan, and I said, hey, Dalyan just gave her life to Jesus. We're celebrating. She said, hey, Larry, when I come out there in August, I've been thinking about this for a while.

Now, this is the name I wrote down more than 13 years ago. She said, do you think you could baptize me? And then my daughter piles on. And my daughter says, hey, do you think I could get baptized with Auntie Lou? And so these baptisms happened a couple weeks. You'll take a look. It's my privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father of the Son. So that people, far from God, will be raised to life in Christ. People like my sister, your dad, you, your mother, your friends, your coworkers, ordinary people. would you stand your feet at all of our locations?

And Peter and John stepped out of Acts chapter 3, an ordinary day. In Acts chapter 4, the next chapter that's waiting to be written. They've been arrested at this point, put on trial for their faith. And they're taken before the religious leaders in Acts 413. It says this. It says, when they saw the courage of Peter and John, they realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men. They were astonished and took note that these men.

men had been with Jesus. Ordinary. An ordinary day. Ordinary people living in ordinary life in the hands of an extraordinary God. Because the word ordinary there, if in the original language, it's actually pronounced idiotas. Yep. If you feel ordinary, you are perfectly positioned to be used by God. He's not looking for the religious elite. He's not looking for those that prove their worth by how much biblical acumen they have. He's looking for ordinary people to step into ordinary situations and declare an extraordinary God. And it says, they could tell that these men had been with Jesus. Not just because of the testimony of their mouth, but the evidence of their life.

Faith is a language towards it, but it's also a lifestyle that believes towards it. That's what God wants us to do, is to walk out of here into the next chapter, but to have a one-day mentality says, God, with you, all things are possible. And we serve a Savior, a great God who was in heaven, glorious. But he said, I'm going to come down as an ordinary man. Take on ordinary flesh, live in an ordinary city, do ordinary things as he walked through his life. In ordinary flesh, an ordinary day with Jesus. Blind people seeing, the deaf hearing.

an ordinary day with Jesus is miraculous and then he crawled upon to an ordinary cross a cross that was killed used to kill ordinary convicts and he was numbered with us and if I measure my sacrifice against what Jesus did on the cross it looks insignificant but God is looking at you say whatever you bring me

that's significant because the significance of my life is always tied to my sacrifice. When you walk into your job tomorrow, well, they know that you've been with Jesus. And you go back into that classroom, put up with those little blessed souls. And you go to work with all those just wonderful people. Are they going to know that you've been with Jesus? Faith doesn't mean you don't doubt.

It just means that there's a game changer you go back to. Well, I hope you enjoyed the podcast today. If you did, there are just a couple things I'd love for you to do. Number one, subscribe to our show. That way, the most recent episode will always be in your feed, waiting for you, ready when you are. And secondly, if this ministry has impacted you, and you'd like to help us continue to reach others, you can click the link in the description, and you can give now. And I'll see you next time on the Elevation Podcast.

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