Elevation with Steven Furtick - I Am Number 12 (Dharius Daniels)

Episode Date: April 12, 2021

Having big faith will always make you different. In “I Am Number 12,” Dr. Dharius Daniels of Change Church teaches us to embrace what makes us unique and step out in faith — even if it feels like we’re the only one.See 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. Elevation Church, every location can we put our hands together and give Jesus the best praise we got. Hey, let's pray to you. together. I believe preaching should lead from and to prayer. Father, we are grateful. The fact that we're able to worship you this week is evidence of your faithfulness. Your faithfulness is not ordinary. It's been great. Today we're reminded of the testimony of the scriptures that when we were faithless, you were faithful. And even when we walked away from you,

You've never walked away from us. We thank you for that today. Thank you for your goodness that's been demonstrated all around us. We pause for this cause of expressing Thanksgiving for things that we've taken for granted this week. Things we've looked over. We declare that no matter what it is, it doesn't change who you are. We declare your goodness to our souls this morning. We pray your blessing on this gathering.

You're the only one that could say something to all of us, but say something different to each of us at the same time. So locate us through your word. Find us wherever we are. Speak to us in a way that lets us know that we are seen by you, known by you, cared about by you. I thank you for this. And I pray for the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, your anointing, to equip me to teach your word to your people.

And knowing you like we know you, we already have what we've asked you for. So we thank you for these things in the name of the one that saved our life. His name is Jesus. If you love them, one more time, putting your hands together. Listen, if you're in the room's physical locations, you can be seated. So glad to be with you today. an honor. I feel like I'm y'all cousin now. We're family. And so it's so good to be here. As always, I just want to give a major shout out to my friend and my brother. I got a Wednesday

morning appointment with him every Wednesday via YouTube. Every Wednesday, while I'm working out today, I listen to sermons. I don't listen to a lot of them, but I listen to him each week. He just adds such tremendous value to my life as a person, as a leader, and also as one of the greatest communicators of God's word around the world. We celebrate him today. The incredible leadership he provides to his amazing wife, Holly, the kids love the natural family and this spiritual family. This incredible team you got here. And, you know, I've been trying to do this church thing for a while doing the best I can. I've learned, though, you don't go as far as your dream.

You go as far as your team. So shout out to this incredible team that God has sent to this house and is using to change lives around the world. So it's something I want to share today as I was thinking through and praying about what direction to go. I was reminded of a concept that really started stern in my heart several years ago. And I did some teachings on it then, but it's reemerged because I'm in the process now. I'm writing my next book, and it's kind of going to be birthed from this concept. And so it's just, it's all in me. I can't get away from it.

So now you're going to have to suffer for it today because I want to share and unload this. I want to read a small part of a scripture found in the gospel of Matthew chapter number 14. I want to look at verse 28, and I want to read just a couple of verses there, and I want to use that text as a launching pad to leap into our lesson. Y'all ready for the word today? Yes. Matthew chapter 14, verse 28 says this. This is Peter talking. He says, Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water.

come jesus said then peter got down out of the boat walked on water and came toward jesus then peter got down out of the boat walked on water and came toward jesus then peter got down out of the boat walked on water out of the boat walked on water and came toward jesus then peter got down out of the boat walked on water out of the boat walked on water and came toward Jesus. Then Peter got down out of the boat. He walked on the water and he came toward Jesus. I want to use this scripture as a foundation for this lesson in our time together today. I want to talk from this subject. I am number 12. I am number 12. Family, there are a number of words that can be used to describe those of us who have accepted Jesus as the leader of our life and the forgiver of our sin. Number of words the Bible uses. None of those words

imply or suggest normal. All throughout Scripture, we see an array of adjectives that the authors of Scripture use to describe and depict the nature and character of God's people. And none of those adjectives in any way suggests normal. The Bible uses words like salt, light, special, chosen, royal, blessed, beloved, anointed, peculiar, chosen, head, not tell, above only, not beneath. All of these words are used by the authors of scripture to articulate to us who we are. My question is why? If I am that, why do you have to tell me that? And maybe it's because just because something is a spiritual truth doesn't mean it's my personal experience.

That the question that we need to, I believe, ask and answer is really a question that can be answered by this sage named Solomon when he says in his collection of thoughts and axioms, a book of the Bible called Proverbs, when he says this, as a man or woman, thinks in their heart, So is he. Which means maybe one of the reasons God reiterates and regularly repeats to us who we are from his perspective is because God knows we will always live in a way that's consistent with the way you see yourself. Am I making sense here? Maybe he's trying to do some holy and healthy brainwashing. Paul would call it, I know that was a little harsh word, Paul would call it then mind renewal. That's better it. Yeah, he was mind renewal.

He wants to retrain the brain because he knows you're going to behave in a way that's consistent with the way you see yourself. So like in Numbers 13, when I tell you, you can defeat the enemy and occupy Canaan, you're going to see the giants and look at yourself and see yourself as a grasshopper. So you're not going to fight a fixed fight. not because of who you are, but because of how you see yourself. And what if I told you that in this season of many of our lives, what God's trying to do is not just trying to change our mind about the world or change our mind about external and existential things. Maybe what God's trying to do is to change your mind about you.

Maybe what God's trying to do is to get you to see yourself the way he sees you so that you can behave in a way. that's consistent with the way he sees you and not the way you see yourself. All throughout Scripture, we see this. And I believe this pattern in Scripture is a picture of a principle. I've affectionately entitled the principle of exception. I think last time we were here we talked about the principle of perspective. But this principle is the principle of exception.

What's an exception, there is? An exception is an anomaly. It's a deviation. It's an abnormality. It's a rule breaker. You do know your God is a rule breaker. You do know last week we celebrated God breaking the ultimate rule. Because nobody goes in a tomb and stays there three days.

and then gets up. But God, who's the God of the exception, knows how to break a rule. Is there anybody watching, anybody that can look back over your life and remind yourself that he broke some rules for me? That the only reason I'm saying in the membrane is because he broke some rules for me?

He's a rule breaker. You know what grace does? Breaks rules. A theologian, Slymarker, calls it scandalous. When he describes grace, he uses the word, scandalous. He said, that's just not right. For God to give me what I don't deserve, it's a principle of exception. Here's the principal family.

What happens with them does not dictate and determine what happens with me. What happens with them does not dictate and determine what happens with them. what happens with me. It suggests that previous patterns are not accurate indicators of future possibilities. It means that you can't just lump me into some statistical category and then tell me because I fit certain criteria and certain statistics that that's going to dictate my destiny. I can't say what happened with everybody else, but I do know that I serve the God who breaks rules. He's the God of the exception. And what happens with them does not dictate and determine what happens with me. I know there may be people who went through what you're going through

and who didn't recover, but God's the God of the exception. I know maybe the likelihood of us overcoming some of the obstacles that we are facing. Maybe that likelihood is low, but just because something is unlikely doesn't mean it's impossible. God is the God of the exception. What happens with them does not dictate and determine what happens with me. It means that you can't look at them and then tell me based on what happened with them what God wants to do with me. I shouldn't even be here today. I'm from Kilmichael, Mississippi, population 630 people. Your pastor's from Monks Corner, South Carolina. I don't even know where that is, but I know God is able to look at your history and say that has absolutely nothing to do with your destiny.

See, I want you to catch this. Exceptionism is not the same as exceptionalism. I want to be clear on that. What we're saying from a not culture, but from a Christian perspective of this, we're not saying we're better than. We're saying we're different from. This is not a declaration of superiority. This is a declaration of distinction. And what we're saying is our distinction is not always in our experiences.

Our distinction is oftentimes in our outcomes. What does that mean? It means that we may go through some of the exact same things that other people go through. But our distinction is not in that we don't go through. Our distinction is the way we come out. We may go in the same thing, but we're not going to come out. the same way. I may go in the fiery furnace, but I'm going to come out not smelling like smoke. I may go in the lion's den, but I'm going to come out not being consumed.

We go through where others go through, but we don't have to come out the way others come out. This is not a denial of norms, but rather a belief that we don't have to be limited by them, governed by them, or imprisoned by them, or defined by them. There are always exceptions. Why can't you be one of them? If you do research most people that go in lion's dens, don't come out. But with Daniel, God made an exception. If you were to do a focus group, you discover women in their 90s don't have babies.

But with Sarah, God made it. an exception. If you would do a survey regarding whether or not screaming at walls will make walls fall down. But when Joshua instructed Israel to do that with the walls of Jericho, God made an exception. Teenagers don't defeat giants who've been trained in military warfare their entire life with a slingshot and a rock, but with a dude named David, God made an exception. And watch this, watch this, dead men, don't go in a grave, stay there three days, and then get up early Sunday morning. But with Jesus, God made an exception.

And the same God that did it for Daniel, that did it for the Hebrew boys, that did it for Joshua, that did it for David, that did it for Jesus, is the same God that's doing it right now. I've seen you move. You move the mountains, and I believe I'll see you do it again. He's the God of exceptions. I said he's the God of exceptions. And there's a word that's often used to describe those that understand and embrace this principle. Now, I recently been exploring, if you're in the room, you can, sit down, please.

I've recently been exploring this concept because right now, I've been recently working on these messages, and I'm working on this message around grace. One of the things I've been struggling with is like, you know, I think most Christians understand grace, conceptually. I just think, I don't think most Christians actually receive it. I think, I think, Conceptually, they could say, yes, I get God doesn't judge me. That I get God's going to respond to me according to the finished work of Jesus. And everything that I do is simply in response to that finished work. It's not a substitute to that finished work because if it's finished, it's finished.

So I think most Christians would agree with that conceptually. But if I would say, do you struggle with condemnation? They'd probably say, yes, I do. Why? because you understand, but understanding it and embracing it is something different. So there's a word that we can use to describe those that not only understand this principle of exception, but embrace it. And I think our foundational passage here in Matthew gives us an amazing example of this adjective, this word. And the word is water walkers. What's that

Because that's an exception. Water workers, those that walk on what other people drown in. One writer, one writer noted that the Bible is inundated with examples of people who do walking. God walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of day. Enoch walked with God. Abraham walked to Mount Moriah. Moses walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. Joshua walked around the walls of Jericho.

The disciples walked on Amas Roe. Jesus walked the Via della Rosa. All throughout Scripture, we see examples of people walking. But here in Matthew chapter 14, we see something different. Because in all the other examples I mentioned, people are walking on the ground. In Matthew chapter 14, we see an exception. We see two people. This is important.

Two people walking on water. Yeah, it's really interesting. Contextually what happens here, I think we picked up in the latter part of the story, but contextually, this instance, this story transpires right after Jesus, Matthew records Jesus performing a miracle with two fish and five loaves of bread. So powerful. Verse 22 actually begins with the word immediately, saying, as soon as Jesus is finished performing this miracle, he tells his disciples.

Now, I want you to get on a boat, I want you to go to the other side, and I'm going to pull up on you later. That's what he says. Get in this boat. You go to the other side, I'm going to pull up on you later. The disciples do exactly what he said. They get in the boat, and the Bible says that Jesus does this. He goes off to a solitary place to pray. This is so interesting to me, family.

So he puts them on the boat. sends them ahead of him. He goes off to a solitary place to pray, which means they have a head start. The Bible says they have a head start of hours. They have a head start of hours. They're rowing or sailing for hours. And then all of a sudden, in the middle of the night, they see Jesus walking. They've been rowing, but he's walking. I want you to catch this. They had to invest some sweat equity to get to where they were. They probably had to do some straining.

Even if they had to put up a sail, they had to strain. If they had to row, they had to strain. They're straining, but Jesus is stepping. They have a head start, but he catches up. Because while they are exerting energy and effort, he's praying. And so because he reset himself spiritually, he was able to accelerate himself naturally. I'm going to say that one more time because he reset himself spiritually. He was able to accelerate himself naturally.

See, some places we're trying to get to by straining and rowing and grinding, not realizing that to get to some places you can get there quicker if you've got spiritual stamina. So it's okay to take a moment and say, I got to pause for the cause and reset myself spiritually because while you are rowing your way there and while you have a head start, God knows how to get me there another way right on schedule. And I want to encourage somebody right now who's standing on the shore and you see people ahead of you. They're ahead of you professionally.

They're ahead of you relationally. You waiting to walk the aisle. they've already walked the aisle, they're ahead of you spiritually. I want to let you know that God is the God of exception, so this means he's the God of acceleration. He'll help you make up for lost time. This is interesting. Listen to this, family. They see this silhouette walking on the water, and Peter asks, Lord, is it you?

Here's my question. If you've been walking with me, eating with me, learning from me, being mentored by me for three years, how do you not know what I look like? And maybe it's because, before we judge Peter, maybe it's because God doesn't always show up looking like God in a storm. Texas, they were dealing with some turbulent sea and wrestling with the storm. And Jesus shows up and Peter's like who is that? Because God doesn't always look like God in a storm And so we got to be careful because the text says they said it's a ghost They said what we got to be careful because in a storm you will prematurely

label something one thing and then when the storm is over you'll look back and say oh that was God I'm telling somebody the thing you're calling pain in this season you're gonna look back in another season and say that was God. The thing you're saying is a closed door in this season. You're going to look back in another season and say, that was God. Let me help my singles who are ready to mingle. The thing you're calling a breakup in this season, you're going to look back in the next season and say, that was God. Because God doesn't always show up looking like God in a storm. There are doors that closed in my face in certain seasons of my life that cause me pain and feelings of rejection and inadequacy.

And now I look back at some of those seasons and say, that wasn't rejection. That was God. That was protection. He was protecting me in a season where I didn't have the discernment to avoid walking through the wrong door. So Peter says this. He says, okay, Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you on the water. And the Bible says, we read it together, Jesus said, come. Peter said, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water.

And the Bible says, Jesus said, come. Peter said, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water. And the Bible says that Jesus says, come. Sometimes we don't walk on water because come is not enough. Jesus didn't say come, then I'm going to suspend. gravity and then you're going to walk on water. Jesus didn't say, come, I want you to take 12 steps to the left and 12 steps to the right. Because some of us are wired like me, and we're very detail-oriented. I don't want to just come, I won't know where we're going, which route are we

taking? How long is it going to take for us to get there? But sometimes in dealing with God, sometimes if we're going to walk on water, sometimes if we're going to be the exception, we've got to learn how to go on a come. So you've got to learn how to be able to move with the information that I give you at the pace that I give it to you. Because God will never inform us incompletely, but he will inform us incrementally. He says, I'm going to give you more information on the way. He says, I give you the information that you need, not the information you prefer. And the Bible says this, steps down out of the boat, walks on water. But Matthew tells us he does that to come toward Jesus.

So he's not trying to walk on water, simply to walk on water. He's not trying to spiritualize his ego and his ambition. He's not trying to do something major just to do something major. He's not trying to blow up just to blow up. He's trying to get to Jesus. But I saw something. It's interesting to me. The text only says that Peter does it, but all the disciples were in the boat.

But only Peter had enough whatever. And there are a number of words we can put in there. Faith, naivity, I don't know. But only Peter stepped out. Are y'all ready for this? There are 11 others in the boat. Peter looks at the 11 and says, I'm number 12. I'm not built for the boat.

I'm wired for the water. I'm not better than you, but I'm different. And if you're okay in the boat, that's okay. But I'm not. But I can't make my personal decision based on where the majority is sitting. So Peter says, I see what the 11 are doing. But what I'm doing is I'm looking at Jesus. And I've got to make a decision.

Who's going to influence what I do more? The one walking on the water or the 11 sitting in the boat? I'm going to tell you if you're going to be a water walker, there are times where you're going to have to make a decision to say, I'd rather be like Jesus than the 11 sitting in the boat. Can you imagine the pressure he felt? Can you imagine the pressure he felt? The 11 whispering to themselves?

He got out of there anyway. Can you imagine his struggling emotionally, but he got out of there anyway? Because I don't know how big this boat was, but Matthew says, we read this, that Peter got down out of the boat. Because that's the only way. We're able to exemplify this principle of exception. Because to get over the ego, to get over the insecurity, to get over the potential embarrassment, you've got to go down. humility because all wrestling with the ego is is wrestling with pride and I believe on today that I'm preaching in a number 12 church preaching for a number 12 pastor preaching to some number 12 people

God would not put you under the leadership of a number 12 pastor and call you to be a part of a number 12 church if he intended for you to live a number 11 life. You got a number 12 destiny on you. You are a rule breaker. You are a deviator. You are a testament of the miraculous miracle working power of God. You're number 12. So that means you got to be okay. Sometimes being the only one that's not in the boat. Listen to me. I know it's just weird math, but you can't be number 12 if you're not okay being the only one. Because sometimes number 12s are the only one in the room. Only one on the board. Only one taking that approach. Only one that says, I'm not going to allow my age to defy and dictate what I can and cannot do. That God is sovereign. If he's sovereign, he can do anything for.

any reason and any season. And so culture may try to limit you because of your age or because of your gender or because of your socioeconomic status. But God is a God that will blow up the cultural categories and the social norms and perform exceptions. You're number 12. And the struggles that number 12 have is they don't want to leave the 11th. in the boat, but they can't live with themselves if they don't go toward Jesus. It's tension, because there's the pressure to fit in and stand out at the same time. It's not wanting to be weird for weird's sake. It's not wanting to be different for different sake. It's not wanting to be an anomaly, just to be an anomaly.

It's an authentic internal tension. I feel. connection with the 11 and I want to be okay with the boat. I want to be okay with the boat. I just gave and I believe I'm talking to people. God burden my heart with this message. I believe that God is talking to people through the scriptures. Affirming and reaffirming. This is who you are.

And sometimes number 12 doesn't mean just doing different things. Sometimes it means doing the same thing. the same things different ways. Because everybody walks. That's the same thing. But what Peter did is he walked on water. He did the same thing a different way. Am I making sense? So I want to share really quickly three things here that I see in this text that I think are incredibly important for those of us who want to walk out what we see portrayed in this passage. Here's number one. The first thing we got to do is this. We got to embrace our uniqueness. Now notice I didn't say understand your uniqueness. I said embrace it because your uniqueness will always feel like awkwardness until you get to a season where God shows you its relevance.

I'm going to say that one more time. Your uniqueness will feel like awkwardness until God gets you to a season where he shows you its relevance. Your uniqueness will feel like awkwardness until God gets you to a season where he shows you its relevance. So when we look at Peter, he was impulsive. He's always been that way. Temperamental, unpredictable, at times borderline volatile, but that wiring was redeemed by God. And that same uniqueness and that same weirdness was something that God used to cause him to step out of the boat and to walk on water because he had to get to a season where he saw its relevance. There are some things that feel weird about you that are one of the most valuable things about

you. But God's got to get you to a season where he shows you, this is why I wired you this way. Embrace your uniqueness. Number two, you're going to have to embrace the weakness. Number two, going to have to walk in the wind. See, I stopped reading the story. with Peter getting out of that boat walking on water. That's an amazing place to end, but it's not the end of the story. The Bible says Peter gets out of the boat and he walks on water,

and the text says, as long as he keeps his eyes on Jesus, he's able to walk on the water. But the story says he sees the wind. And when he sees the wind, and when he sees, he the wind, he takes his eyes off of Jesus and begins to sink. Notice this now. The text says he sees the wind. Listen to me, family. You can't see wind. You can feel wind. You can hear wind. You can't see wind. You can only see what the wind is affecting. And when Peter starts looking at what the wind is affecting, what does that do? It takes his focus. And when he lost this focus, he lost this balance. And when he lost this balance, he began to sink. Peter didn't lose vision. He lost focus. So he was able to walk a little while and begin to sink.

I want to tell you, if you're going to be number 12, if I'm going to be number 12, we've got to walk with the wind. If we're waiting for the wind to stop blowing, that's not going to happen. You might be in a season where the wind's not blowing right now, but keep living. Something's going to blow in your direction. And if it doesn't blow on you, it's going to blow on something around you. It might blow in the home. It might blow on the spouse.

Might blow with the children. Might blow in the workplace. And the question is, can I keep on walking when the wind is blowing? Because the wind can't destroy you. But you're being distracted can cause you to destroy yourself. Walking in the wind means I have to do more than have strong faith. Walking in the wind means I need to have long faith. The question isn't just how strong is my belief, is how long can I believe?

Can I keep walking when the wind is blowing? And I want to tell somebody who's dealing with some wind right now to keep on walking. With tears in your eyes, keep on walking. With confusion in your mind, keep on walking. With despondency and discouragement in your heart, keep on walking. You've got to walk in the wind. and pray in the wind and believe in the wind. Embrace your uniqueness.

Walk in the wind. Last point. Number three, scream for the Savior. It's in the text. The Bible says that as Peter took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink. But he didn't allow the sinking to cause him to go silent.

Listen to me. every water walker will sink, but you don't have to drown. Peter sank, but he didn't drown because he knew to scream for the Savior. And the Bible says that Jesus not only picked him up, but he walked him back to safety on the boat. What am I saying? See, watch this. water walkers may sink, but they don't have to allow their pride to cause them to drown. He said, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to scream for the Savior.

And all throughout scripture, Old Testament and New Testament, I've seen this. And I'm so like, I think God's helping me be more balanced, but I'm so like analytical that I would see like this pattern of these exuberant, outburst in the Bible. And then I grew up in church. I've been in church my whole life. 41 years and nine months. I would see that. Like, oh, that's cool. I didn't quite get it. Jericho Wall, they shouted. Blind Bartimaeus, Mark 10, Jesus is walking by, scream, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. The Cyro-Fanishan woman who wanted Jesus to intervene with her daughter, She was persistent. The disciples said, send her away.

She cries after us. Nobody coming for them. They came for Jesus. She bothering us. The metaphor here is not literal screaming. That's not what I'm trying to get across. This is what I'm trying to get across here. That his screaming for the Savior was a revelation of his reliance and not just his own steps.

I'm just telling you no matter how good a stepper you are, you're going to hit a space where you sink. that no matter what you do, God's not going to let you do it without God. And so these pleas that you see in scripture where people are raising their voices, they are expressions of faith because you don't call on people to help that you don't believe can help. And you don't call on people to help that you don't believe will help. It didn't quite make sense to me until I was reading the Psalms. I'm done. I was reading the Psalms and this is what the psalmist says.

He says, through the praise of youth, you have established a stronghold around my enemies. So I say, wait a minute, praise a stronghold, a stronghold in the Bible's like a fence. I say, oh, this isn't just spiritual. This is mental. That when I begin to remind God of who he is, I'm not really reminding him because he hadn't forgot. My praise reminds me of who God is. And when I'm reminded of who God is, that produces offense.

and a stronghold and some negative thoughts that we're getting through can't get through and doubt that was getting through can't get through and hopelessness that was getting through can't get through because my praise doesn't just remind God of who he is it reminds me of who he is and I want someone who's watching someone who's in this room every location every home in your own way will you just take a moment and remind yourself of who your God is You're not number 11, number 12. And a message, a message, this message, I think it's more than just a message. I think it is the testimony of Jesus, different destiny of those who are courageous enough.

Listen to me, to make a decision to be like the one walking on the water and not the 11 sitting in the boat. I want to pray for, I want to pray for you, but you know what I want to pray for? I don't pray for two things. I know I needed these in my journey. I'm sure your pastors needed these and his. I don't know of another pastor that preaches as good as him and then write songs and then leads. How do you do that? That's different, isn't it?

But I'm going to tell you two things it takes to do that. I want to pray for this, for us. It takes courage, number one. Because this is one thing to have clarity, it's another thing to have the courage to actually step out of that boat and to be who you feel like you've been called to be. Sometimes it's not just courage to do some things. Sometimes it's courage just to be. It takes courage. And then two is going to take resilience because the wind's going to blow. And you're going to be tempted to get back in the boat because it feels easier in there.

But every time you're tempted to do that, this is my prayer. I don't know if a preacher has ever prayed this for you. I'm going to pray that God gets on your nerves. I'm going to pray that he agitates you where they infect you with a holy discontent. So that every time you start going back to that boat, there's an internal alarm that goes off on the inside of you that says to you, you're not built for this. So Father, I pray right now for people all over the world. world that are watching this and you're speaking to them affirming to them who they are and who they've been called to be. I pray that you would grant us two things. I pray for courage. I pray for,

I pray for courage to step out of that boat even if our feet are trembling. To walk on water if our legs are shaking. I pray for courage to do it anyway. I thank you for this. And Lord, I pray for resilience. I pray for long faith. I pray for faith to finish, to walk in the midst of the wind. And I just thank you that you're releasing this today, that you're adding value to your people in this way, and that you are losing number 12s all over the world to be who they've been called and created to be. And may it be said of us, as it was said of the early church, These are they that have turned the world upside down in Jesus' name. Amen.

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