Elevation with Steven Furtick - Help Is On The Way

Episode Date: July 9, 2018

Waiting for help is never easy, but as Lake Norman Campus Pastor Chad Hampton teaches us, how we wait can make all the difference. To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: http://ele.vc/TI55jRSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. Well, my name is Chad Hampton, and I have the privilege of being the campus pastor at our Lake Norman location. I want to say, what's up, Lake Norman? I love y'all. Hope you're doing it. well. But it's an honor and a privilege to get to stand up here today and declare God's

word to you. And I'm always grateful for a pastor that would entrust me with this moment that would empower me to stand up on this platform where I know such a big price has been paid so that this platform could exist. And I don't stand on a pedestal today trying to display how good I am because a pedestal displays, but I want to stand on a platform because a platform declares how good God is. And so he's been good to me. He's been good to you. I want you to believe that today. So we're going to, we're going to go to John chapter four. And I believe that God wants to produce a faith in you today that is greater than whatever fear you might be facing today. So if you'll just lean in and you'll receive what he has to say, John chapter four verses 46 through 53.

It says, once more, he visited Cana in Galilee, talking about Jesus, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Copernum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. Unless you people see signs and wonders, Jesus told him, he'll never believe. The royal official says, sir, come down. before my child dies. Go, Jesus replied. Your son will live.

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired us to the time when his son got better, they said to him yesterday. Everyone say yesterday. Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him. Then the father

realized this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, your son will live. So he, and his whole household believed. Do you believe today? Do you believe that God's got a word for you? Because I don't know where you're at. I don't know what you're facing today currently. Maybe you're standing in this place between hope and reality, where you're hoping to get to, but the reality of where you are currently right now, and the two seem so far apart. But I've got good news. I want to declare something over your life today that help is on the way. I want to be. I want to

you to high five three people say help is on the way. You may be seated. Thank you worship team. Help is on the way. As I said earlier, my wife and I, we have the privilege of leading at the Lake Norman campus. So we thought it would be fitting since God had called us to lead that campus that we should live in the Lake Norman community. So about a year ago, we moved to Lake Norman. My wife, Jill, is here today. We've been married. for 14 years. 14 years. I actually have a picture of my family. You'll see Jill. You'll see my four kids.

Yes, I have four kids. McKenna, Ashton, Adeline, and Jude. And so we recently moved up to Lake Norman. And I don't know if you're like us, but, you know, with six people living under one roof, anytime we know that we're going to have company over, because we thought to ourselves, if we're going to live in this area, we should have some people over, get to know some people.

That's only fitting. And so we're having company over. And if you're like us, if you know that company's coming over, you go into a certain mode that's a little out of the ordinary. You start to build this fake house. Like, there's the house that we know exists during the week, but then there's the house that you're only going to see if you were to ever come over to our home. And you know how it is, maybe you're a couple and you're getting ready for company and you have to make it look like you don't actually live there. Like, don't sit on the couch. We can't make it look like the couch has been safe.

sat on, push all the chairs underneath the table because it can't look like we actually eat at that table. It cannot look like we live here. It has to be perfect because for some reason we think people will love us more if our house looks lovely. And so we're getting ready to have people over to our house and Jill's doing an amazing job working on the inside of the house. So I thought, as the guy, I could do my part, I could work on the outside of the house. And I actually like yard work. It's kind of therapeutic for me. So I get home from work. And I get home from work. And And I start mowing the lawn, and I start trimming the bushes. And as I'm working outside, I look over at our house that people are coming to in about two hours.

I look over and I'm like, oh, no. You see, we've got this covered porch on the front of our house. And there's these covers, there's these panels that had fallen down. They hadn't fallen on the ground there hanging from the roof right over the front door of our house. Now, this is unacceptable. I mean, I don't want people walking into my own. and having to duck because of the panels that are falling down. So I'm thinking, I've got to fix this.

And so I find the only ladder we have is like a three-foot step ladder. So it's not even a real ladder. And I go to the porch and I climb all the way up on the three-foot step ladder. And I proceed to push the panels back into place. But when I realize that the reason the panels are falling down is because the gutter is peeling off the front of my roof. So I think, okay, I could just pull the gutter up. off, push the panels back into place, push the gutter back up against the house, and no one will know the difference.

It'll look as good as new. That's what I thought. So I proceed to pull back the gutter when all of the sudden, not only does the gutter start to peel off the roof, but the wood, the nails, the shingles, y'all, the whole roof starts to come off the front of my house. You've got company coming over in an hour and 59 minutes. And I'm standing up on this three foot step ladder and I'm holding this roof up and I'm thinking all that comes to my mind in this moment is, oh crap, Jill is going to kill me.

Now some of you look at me like, you don't believe this. This is a great story to set up a sermon. I don't know how John Ford ties into this, but I promise this happened. I've got proof because what do you do when you're standing on a three foot step ladder and a roof is about to fall on top of you. What do you do? You let go with one hand, you pull out your phone, and you document this moment. How dumb was I? So check this out. I got a video real quick. Hey, what do you do when you're just trying to make a minor repair to the gutter, and then the whole gutter falls off the front of the house? What do you do? You stand here on a three-foot ladder,

and you hold it. So in that moment, I did what any smart guy would do in that moment. I didn't tell Jill, and I tried to fix it all by myself. So I'm standing here

holding up this roof. And I know this is a silly story, and I'm going to come back to it, and we're going to talk about John 4 in this royal official. I promise. But first thing I want to do today, is I really want to paint a picture because I believe there's many of us here at our locations watching online today. This represents an internal posture that we're carrying right now.

And it's a posture that represents us trying to hold up the broken pieces of our life right now. And it's getting heavy. And I don't know how much longer I can hold on. And I know I need to reach out. I know I need to tell somebody, but I'm worried about the reaction of others if I let them in on this struggle that's going on in my life. So I'm not going to tell anybody. I'm just going to try to fix it all by myself. And you know how that goes, because that's what I tried to do with the roof.

And the more I try to fix it by myself, the worse and worse at God. But I can't tell anybody because it seems like everybody around me is being celebrated right now. And I'm struggling. And their celebration is just magnifying this struggle that I have internally. And it's not just, let's be real, it's not just one circumstance today that we're trying to hold up. We've got compounded circumstances. It's one trouble on top of the next, on top of the next. And I'll say it this way, it's not just what is happening in our life today.

It's when it's happening. It's not just the trials. It's the timing of the trials. Really? I mean, it wasn't just that the roof was falling off, but I got company coming over in an hour and 57 minutes. It's the timing of these trials. This couldn't have come at a worse time. This royal official in John chapter 4, he's a busy guy.

He's a man of nobility. He's a man of prestige. He's got a position. He's working in Herod's government. He's a busy guy. He's got things to do today. And now his son is near death. Really?

Another burden? Another issue? Another trial? And as much as we're reluctant to reach out for help. Help is on the way. We've got to reach out for it. As much as we're standing with this internal struggle, I believe that God can give you the ability today. If you'll let them, if you'll surrender, I believe that he'll give you the ability today to flip the purpose of this posture.

This can go from a posture of struggle to a posture of surrender. From a posture of struggle to a posture of surrender. because really surrender is just an outward response to an inward struggle and surrender looks like this today. You responding outwardly like this. Help!

Help! I can't do this anymore. I can't hold on much longer. It's getting heavy. It's getting difficult. I need help. And I'm here today because I heard this could help.

I'm here today. I need help because my heart home is hurting. This royal official, his home was hurting. His son is at home sick near death. His home is hurting. He needs help. Somebody needs help. Today, help is on the way, but you've got to flip that posture from one of struggle internally to an outward response of surrender. And that word help is so powerful, because really it's twofold. When we cry out for help, we're acknowledging that we're hurting. But we're also asking the question. Should I keep holding on?

Yeah, I'm hurting, but is this worth holding on to in my marriage? In that business that God told me to start? Is this worth holding on to believing that God can heal my body? Is this worth holding on to believing that God will give us the family that we've been praying for? Is it worth holding on to this life? Is it still worth holding on to? I need help. So I did the right thing.

I asked Jill for help. After about 10 minutes and me standing up on that ladder looking like a fool and I swear that Toyota Camry is driven by three times at this point, they know I'm struggling, they're not helping and someone posted a picture, I guarantee it, hashtag good luck. And so I'm just, I need help. So I'm like, Jill, can you come outside? She comes out, she's like, what's going on? I'm like, the roof, the roof is falling off the house.

What? The roof is falling off the house. What'd you do? There's no time to explain. There's no time to talk about it. We got to do something. So she's like, what are you going to do? And if I can be honest with you, I love my wife. I love my wife with all my heart. She is my hero. But I knew in that moment, she's not going to help me fix this. Because we only had one ladder. And I was standing on it. It's not even a real ladder. So I'm like, she's not going to be able to help me fix this. There's nothing against my wife. I've seen her do things of superhero status before. Like one time our girls had these bunk beds and she took the top bunk bed off of the bottom bunk bed by herself, all by herself. And then when I helped her to put it back on top, I was struggling, helping her. Like, how did you do

that by yourself? She's got like these mommy muscles or something. Like God has gifted her with the specific anointing and ability, but I knew she couldn't help in this moment because she didn't have the resources, but I still needed someone to come alongside me. And some of us today we're not reaching out for help because we're looking at the people around us and we're going, I don't know if they can relate to my situation. I don't know if they can fix my problem. So I'm not even going to reach out today. But here's the deal. You don't need someone to fix the problem today. You just need someone to come alongside of you and say, it's going to be okay. You're going to make it. We're going to get through this together. You've got to reach out for help.

Help is on the way. And so it's just like, what are you going to do? I don't know. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to? No, wait. Not what. Who? Who? Our question needs to shift from a what to a who in regards to the help we're looking for. Who? Who can I ask? Who can I call? Who can I reach out to? Who? Who? Wait a minute. Scott. I was like, Jill. Call Scott. She's like, who's Scott? I'm like, I just met Scott two days ago at church. This is a real story, y'all. I am not making this. up. I just met Scott two days ago at church, and Scott owns a roofing company. And Scott just told me how he just got a job in our neighborhood fixing roofs. Scott's close by. Scott can help. Help is on the way. So let me talk about the royal official. The royal official, we know in John chapter 4 that he's in the presence of Jesus and he's asking Jesus for help. Jesus, please come down and heal my son. But stop, hold on. How did the royal official know that Jesus was close

by? He's living in Copernum. Jesus is 20 miles away in Cana. How did he know that help wasn't far away? Because I believe he had to start with who he had around him. I didn't get the revelation that Scott was close by until I first surrendered and reached. out to Jill. The royal official didn't get the revelation that Jesus was close by, and Jesus could help until he first reached out to those who were around him. God wants to get his resource to you through the relationships he's placed around you. That's why he's positioned you in a place like this today. That's why you're sitting at Melbourne. That's why you're sitting at Lake Norman. That's why you're sitting in Morrisville. He's placed you in this place for a purpose.

He's put people around you. You just have to reach out for the help. Help is on the way. And so this royal official goes, okay, Jesus can help. I heard that he performs miracles. I heard he can help. That's good enough for me. And this is where faith starts.

Do you see this? This is where faith begins in all of us. Because I never saw Scott fix a roof. But I heard he could. He owned a company. He owned a really nice truck. With the name of his company on the side of that truck, the royal official never saw Jesus heal anybody. But he heard he could.

Faith comes by hearing. And if you're here today because you heard that maybe this could help. I've got good news for you today. Help is on the way. You're in the right place. Even if you just heard that this could help, you're already walking in faith. So stick around you today. He's got something for you.

Faith comes by hearing. And so this royal official takes his first step out of what is known, out of what is certain, out of what is comfortable. He takes his first step out of Copernum to Cana. Oh, by the way, Copernum means comfort. God often calls us to step away from what is comfortable, what is known, what is certain. because I've learned this, that if I stay in the comfort of my gifts, I limit the power of God's grace that is for me in my life. This is where we step out of our gifts into God's grace. I just made these two crates, gift and grace on this platform.

I don't know if you can see it, but we've got to step out of our gifts, what we know, what we're able to do, trying to fix it by ourselves. We've got to step out of our gifts into God's grace. Gifts say, just do it. God's grace says, let me do it. Gifts say just do it. Grace says, let me do it. I just got that. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for that.

So we've got to step out of what is certain, what is known, what is comfortable. One of the greatest lessons that I've learned from our pastor is this lesson of courage over clarity. You see, probably the greatest prayer request I get from people when I ask them, how can I pray for you? They'll say, I need clarity. But what's the opposite of faith? Clarity, certainty. You don't need clarity. You need courage.

You need confidence in the one who called you to step out of what is comfortable, to step out of what is known, and step into his grace and walk in faith. I never saw him do it, but I heard he could. That's good enough for me. And so this royal official is now walking in faith towards Jesus to Cana 20 miles away to find help for his son. 20 miles walking to Cana. And again, this is a man of position. This is a man of title. I bet this was embarrassing.

I bet this was a little humiliating because here he is hanging out in Cana. And I'm sure people are like, what's he doing here? I mean, normally he's here to help us, and now he's asking us for help. And he's walking around, hey, can you help me? I need to find Jesus. Do you know where I can find Jesus? Because help requires humility. I remember just a few days ago, I'm at the grocery store with my son.

My son, Ashton's 11 years old. And I'm at the store with him, and we're picking up food to grill out for the 4th of July. And I'm like, actually, we've got to go to the store. We're going to get some burgers. We're going to get some brots. And then I need to get a grill brush because my grill is filthy. Can't be cooking burgers and brats on a filthy grill. So I know where the burgers and broths are, but then we're going to try to find the grill brush at the store.

So I get the burgers and brats. I'm like, okay, let's find the brush. And Ashton's like, okay, why don't you just ask someone for help? I'm like, no, we don't need to do that. I know where to find it. I know where this brush is. So we're walking around the store. Five minutes go by.

Dad, why don't you just ask somebody where the brush is? No, man, I mean, I just want you to see all that this store provides. So that's why we're just going on this tour. 15 minutes, Dad, just ask somebody for help. Fine, because help requires humility. So, you know, I find a gentleman. I'm like, excuse me, sir, do you know where the grill brushes are? And the response I didn't want over all responses was,

I don't work here. Well, you're wearing the same clothes as everyone else that's working here. Tip, if you shop at Target, don't wear a red shirt and khakis. So I found someone that works. there, they pointed me in the right direction, I found the grill brush. Ask for help. Help requires humility. And so this royal official, he finally comes upon Jesus because he asked for help. He says, Jesus, will you come down, heal my son? And look at Jesus' response in verse 48. Verse 48 of John 4. Jesus says, unless you people see signs and wonders, you'll

never believe. I mean, kind of harsh, Jesus. This man's son is dying. But here's what I believe happened. See, as he's inquiring as to where Jesus is and he's asking all these people, this is the same town where Jesus couldn't perform miracles because of the lack of faith. So people are going, ooh, maybe we get to see a show today. Maybe we finally get to see one of these miracles that we've been hearing about. So as much as Jesus is talking to the royal official, I believe he's also addressing the spectators because one thing I've learned about God. He's not as concerned with putting on a show as he is with strengthening our faith. So he's like, I've got to get rid of these spectators so I can speak to the one who's here because of their faith. And so the crowd disperses, the royal official leans in in verse 49.

He says, sir, sir, help requires humility. Some of us today were asking for help, but we're saying, so, you're going to help me? Help requires humility. He says, sir, come down before my child dies. See, in the royal official's eyes, he had authority above Jesus. In his eyes, in his government, in his government. He was above the person of Jesus, but he humbles himself. He comes under the name of Jesus, because at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, every tongue will confess that he is Lord.

Comes under the name of Jesus and says, sir, he humbles himself and he asks for help. Come down before my child dies. And in verse 50, Jesus says, go, your son will live. That's it. That's the response. I mean, if I could be honest, I might have wanted something a little different. I mean, Jesus, I just walked 20 miles to find you. I just humiliated myself in front of all these people to come find you.

And you're just saying, go? You're just giving me a word? Can you at least tell me when? My son will live? Because I remember when I was up on that ladder and Jill called Scott. And she told me, hey, Scott's coming. I'm like, good, help is on the way. Help is on the way.

My next question was, when? How long? When is Scott going to get here? Because aren't we interested in timelines when it comes to the promise of God in our lives? But as I look back at that moment, I'm so glad that Scott didn't give me a timeline. Because if he would have given me a timeline, my faith and my focus and my confidence would have been in the timeline of my help instead of the person who said, I'm going to help you. If there's one thing I've learned about our God, he is not a God of timelines.

He's a God of timing. He's a God of timing. and his timing is perfect. His timing is everything. Timing is everything. And so, this royal official, it says he takes Jesus at his word in verse 50. He takes Jesus at his word and he departs. If you notice what it says, he took Jesus at his word. He didn't just take a word. He took the word with him on his way back to Cana. See, sometimes we think, oh, he walked out of the presence of God. Yeah, maybe physically, but spiritually the presence of Jesus was just as with him because he had a word to walk on. And I love his response, how he just departed. He just took Jesus

at his word. He didn't sit around and wait for a different word. He didn't sit around and maybe wait for something that he was hoping for. Hey, maybe his word is better than my ways. So I'm just going to depart. I'm just going to take this word and I'm going to begin to walk on it. I'm going to begin to declare it over my life. Jesus said he'll live. Jesus said he'll live. So all the way home. I'm sure the royal official is saying, he'll live, he'll live. Jesus said it. So I'm going to see it. And this is where the devil loves to get in our mind. And he loves to play around. He loves to say things like, I know God said it, but you haven't seen it. I know God said you were healed, but you don't look healed. I know God said you were free, but it's only been a month. Things are going to get difficult. You're

going to go right back to what you've been depending on. And that's where we begin to declare the word that Jesus gave to us over our life. We put it in the face of the devil. We say, listen, I walk by faith and not by sight, devil. So the very fact that you're talking to me right now is the proof that you're terrified about the word that God has given me because you know if I begin to walk in this word, if I begin to declare it over my life, if I begin to believe it, something good might happen in my life. Help is on the way. So he's walking home. He's walking home. And look at what happens. Look at what happens in verse 51. Verse 51, while he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living.

Help is on the way. Hold up. While he was still on the way, help is on the way. I thought, I thought help was on the way. I'm going to sit here and wait for my blessing. I'm going to sit here and wait for my miracle. I'm going to wait for God to move. I love this picture. When he asked Jesus to come with him, Jesus never moves. Jesus just gave him a word. We're waiting on God to move, but his word is enough because his word can move in our life. I'm not waiting for my miracle. I'm going to wait on. He wasn't waiting for. He was waiting on. Help is on the way. To wait for means to sit, to be inactive, to disengage, but to wait on means to serve. It means to move. It means to trust in this word. Yeah, he didn't get the response he was looking for, but he got a word. And so I'm going to serve this word that Jesus has given me.

I'm going to wait on the word that he's given me. Help is on the way. And it reminds me of another passage in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31. It says, those who wait on the Lord. Not those who wait for the Lord. Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. And what I love about this picture, what I love about this moment is this royal official was walking. He was walking home on a word that Jesus gave him. He's waiting on the Lord. Help is on the way. What I love about this picture, those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They shall run and not grow weary. shall walk all the way back home, all the way back to Cana, and they will not grow weak. Help is on the way.

I'm not waiting for help today. I'm waiting on it. I'm not waiting for help. I'm waiting on it today. You're telling me that I just need to wait on the word that God has given me? Yeah, because that word can become a weapon in your life if you'll use it, if you'll wait on it, if you'll declare it over your life. life if you'll walk in it. I'll never forget. January 17th of 2014, my son Jude was two years old at the time, and we woke up, and Jude had gone into hypolidelemic shock. That means all the things

that were supposed to be functioning in his body weren't functioning. And my son was dying before my very eyes. I saw him turn gray. I saw him get cold. And I'm like, God, help. I can't control the outcome of this obstacle right now. This is out of my control. God, what am I going to do? What am I going to do when we get to the hospital and the doctors have no answers? What are we going to do? What are we going to do?

And I remember I got away. I locked myself in the bathroom, not because I had to use the bathroom, but because I just needed to get along with God and say, God, what are we going to do? And I remember Psalm 27 came to my heart. If we'll hide God's word in our heart, we won't sin against him. And I just begin to quote, That word. Psalm 27, over my life and over my son, I begin to serve the word of God in my life, in that

moment. Help is on the way. I'm not going to sit here and wait for a miracle. God, I'm going to wait on it because I believe that you've already given me the victory if I'll just declare it over this situation, if I walk in it. So Psalm 27, the Lord is my life and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid. I'm not waiting for it. I'm not waiting for help today. I'm waiting on it. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?

And that word that begin to come out of my mouth, begin to change the condition of my heart, and my faith begin to grow. And I begin to become stronger. Some of us were trying to fix the situation. We're trying to predict the outcome. And God's saying, you just need to be strong in this moment.

I haven't called you to be successful. I haven't called you to prosper. I've only called you to be courageous and strong. Let me take care of the rest. You're waiting to get strong before you take the first step. No, just step out in the instruction that I've already spoken. And let me work in your life. When we speak that word out of our mouth, the content of our conversation can change the condition of our heart.

This man walked on a word all the way back home to Cana. I believe Jesus told him to go so that his faith would grow. I'm not waiting for help. I'm waiting on it today. And I love what it says in verse 52, that when he inquired us to the time, his son got better. His servants said,

and servants is just another word for help. His help met him on the way. His help told him yesterday. Everyone say yesterday. Yesterday. At one in the afternoon, the fever left. And wait a minute. So the word that God spoke over my life yesterday has the same power.

Today, it's just up to me to walk in that word. It's just up to me to declare that promise over my life. I've just got to be willing. I've noticed something about the promises of God. That they're always first preceded with an instruction. Go, instruction. Your son will live. promise. Seek instruction and you will find promise. Knock instruction and the door will be open. Promise.

There's this word that keeps popping up in all these promises. Will. Your son will live. God, what are you telling us today? He's saying, I'm a God who is faithful. I will always respond. I will always answer you. I will always give you the word that you need in this season. but you've got to have the willingness to obey that word. You've got to have the willingness to wait on that word, to respond to that word. Help us on the way. Those who wait on the Lord, they should run in that grow weary. They will walk. Stand up on our feet at all our locations here in this place today. Some of us are waiting for a new word from God.

He's waiting for us to wait on the word. He's already given us. I've been coming to church for six months now, chat, a year, two years. and keep coming, keep arriving, but it's time to step from arrival to application. Not just arriving, but applying this word to your life, walking out of this place today. Some of you are going to reach out for help today. Help requires humility. You're going to surrender and say, God, I can't do this by myself anymore.

I'm experiencing this struggle, but as I surrender to you, you'll give me the strength. It's the struggle, surrender, strength. Some of you today, you're going to go back to that word God spoke yesterday. Because it still has the same power today. And you're going to begin to walk in that word and in that promise. Verse 53. One last thing. Verse 53.

It says, the father, the father realized this was the exact time. at which Jesus had said to him, your son will live, so he and his whole household believed. Do you notice what is being said in this verse? The father. I don't know if you caught it, but all throughout this passage, he's been called the royal official. He's been known by a position, but he realized in this moment, I can't work to help my position any longer. I've got to walk on this word. And now he's known as the father because he believed.

Because he reached out for help, because he humbled himself. And some of us were trying to help our position. We're trying to protect our position, our title today. God's saying, I want to take you from a place of position to purpose. If you'll just believe, if you'll just walk on this word, if you'll apply it, I want to give you purpose. Maybe you're in this place today. You're watching online. You're at one of our locations and you're going, Chad, you know, for me, I feel so far off.

Because for me, the roof fell down. The boy died in my story, Chad. I feel so far off from the plans and the purposes and the promises of God. Chad, what about me? I feel so far off. There's another story about a father and a son. In Luke 15, verse 20, it's a son who took his inheritance that his father had given him, and he lost everything.

He finds himself in a place of shame, a place of humiliation, a place of sorrow, He begins to talk to himself. He says, maybe if I go to my father, maybe if I go to my father, he can help. Chad, what about me today? Because everything's falling apart in my life. I want to give you the same instruction that Jesus gave the father, the royal official. Go home. Go home today. Chad, what do you mean? Go home? Well, all throughout this story in Luke 15, the son never says I'm going to go home. He says, I'm going to go home. He says, I'm going to go home. to my father. Because home is more of a person than it is a place. Will you run into the arms of your Heavenly Father today? Because he's calling you home. He's calling you back to him. And help is on the way. The verse says, while the son was a long way off, you feel far off today. While he was a long way off, his father saw him. His father ran to him and embraced him.

Gave him a hug, gave him a kiss and said, welcome home. Go home today. Run to your father. every head thought, every eye closed in this place. I want to give someone the opportunity to go home, to place your faith in Jesus in this moment. You're watching online at one of our locations here at Ballantyne. If you want to say yes to God, say yes to his plan, his purpose, if you want to reach out for his help, his grace, his mercy.

I want you to pray this prayer out loud. We're all going to pray it with you as a church family. If you're praying it for the first time, or maybe you're coming back to God today. Pray this and believe it with all of your heart. You're going home today. Say Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your son for me. I believe that Jesus is Lord.

I believe he's the Savior of the world. I believe he died and was raised to life, giving me life, giving me hope, and giving me a future. Today I give you my life, Jesus. From this day forward, I'll follow you. Head still bowed, I still close. If you just prayed that prayer in this moment, making Jesus the Lord of your life for the first time on the count of three at all of our locations, shoot your hand up in the air. One, two, three. If that prayer was for you, shoot your hand up.

Awesome. Hands going up. People making decisions. People placing their faith in Jesus. Come on church. Let's rejoice. Let's wait on his word. 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. This is an I-Heart podcast, Guaranteed Human.