Elevation with Steven Furtick - I Can’t Stay Here (Earl McClellan)

Episode Date: June 24, 2024

Pastor Earl McClellan encourages you to keep moving because staying where you are isn’t an option. Get ready to take the next step after watching “I Can’t Stay Here.” To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: http://www.elevationchurch.org/giving/ If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: http://ele.vc/tIepfr  Scripture References:2 Kings 7, verses 3-9Ezekiel 2, verse 2Ezekiel 3, verse 24Acts 1, verse 8Acts 2, verses 1-4, 14-17See 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. Hello, Elevation family. You ready for a great day today or what? Hey, stay standing at every campus if you would not mind. I'm so, so honored. Privileged to be here with each and every one of you. I know I'm not as handsome as Pastor Stephen, but I love the same God as him for sure and excited to see what the Lord has in store for all of us today. It's another Sunday, or maybe somebody could be watching this at another point in time throughout the week, but for us right now, it's Sunday.

Another day at the beginning of a week that God has given all of us. It's an honor. Not everybody gets this gift. Not everybody has this moment right here. And this being such a life-giving, amazing church, weekend and week out, you know, we lift up the name of Jesus, but I do recognize that our weeks can sometimes be hard, right? You can come through just some stuff.

You don't have to raise your hand. I'm sure some of us have been through some things this week. We're like, I just got to get to church. I just got to get there. Maybe my wife's there this weekend. Let me get there. Maybe my husband's there. Let me just get there.

But maybe my breakthrough is there. I got to get there. But it is very, very possible for something to be interesting but not to be moving. It's possible for something to be very, very essential, but it not to be personal. And something can even be informational, but not transformational. We're going to be opening up the Bible in a few moments. and there's some things that might be interesting, but we're not just wanting them to be interesting. We want them to be moving.

Do you know for the nerds that are in the room and online right now, the Sun, S-U-N is the largest star in our galaxy. Some of y'all knew that. It's the one. This star right here actually, everything in our solar system revolves around it. It has the hottest part of the sun is at its core. I think some scientists believe the sun's actually going to burn out in like five billion years or something. I read that somewhere. See all that?

That might be interesting. It's not moving. You and I can't even exist without that S-U-N son, but even hearing that it's essential, but all that stuff doesn't even feel that personal. It might be informational, but it's not transformational. Today, we're not going to talk about the S-U-N-S-S-U-N. Today we're going to talk about the S-O-N sun. Colossans chapter 1 tells us that the sun is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation for from him and to him and through him are all things

and in him all things are held together. The Bible tells us that even heaven and earth, everything comes from him. He is the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything he might have the supremacy. We're going to talk today about the Son of God. And I pray that it's not just informational. I pray today that God would transform us from the inside out, that we would not leave wherever we are the same way we came in. Can you end this moment, lift your heart and lift your faith and say, God, move me today?

So God, in the name of Jesus, at every single location, wherever we may be. I thank you that today is not just another Sunday. Today is not just a day where we're opening up some old pages. No, God, we're opening your word and it's alive and active and sharper than any double-edged sword. Would you move us today? Would you change us today? Would you help us to look more like you?

Carry us, sustain us. push us forward in Jesus name we pray amen and amen to every location can we clap our hands come on can you give God praise and give somebody a high-five and say hey I'm a move today I'm a move today tell him I'm a move today and you may be seated I'm a move today I am fired up to be here at elevation church come on I love your pastors so much, both Pastor Stephen and Pastor Holly. They are two of the most authentic, life-giving, generous, kind people. I've ever had the opportunity to meet.

We actually had the opportunity to sit with them at a birthday party not too long ago. We had a mutual friend who was having a birthday party. And I wanted to tell you, your pastor got up and shared such life-giving words about this individual. and I just appreciate that someone that has as big of a world as he does is interested in making other people's worlds as big as they can possibly be. He is an individual that is like, how can I make you better? How can I lift you up? His wife as well, I'm going to tell you all this right now. Please be the best church you can possibly be to your pastors.

If you're not praying for him, start praying for him. They need to know that you got them covered. It's easy to comment, can you be the one to cover? Can you be the one that says, I have your back? Can you be the one to say, I love you so much? Even if the sermon that week, you feel like, man, that wasn't for me, that was for somebody else. You walk up and say that was a best sermon I've ever heard in my entire life. You speak words of life, words of encouragement, and don't just speak the words, serve.

jump on a team being an e-group these are the things pastor stephen and pastor holly are trying to build not something for themselves but something for the kingdom of god and something to lift and make your family all that god has called it to be don't waste this moment what a gift god has given you and me and this world in pastor stephen and pastor holly i'll yeah you can clap your hands for sure I'll say this last thing. I'm going to open up the text. I've got to say this last thing. Our church is 12 years old now.

And I remember before our church got started, reading Sun Stand Still. I remember seeing the videos of the baptisms that were happening. Remember we were sitting in our living room. There were only 12 of us who were on the team at that point in time. The whole church was in the living room at that point in time. And we're watching these videos. And it's been humbling to see all that God has done in and through our church shoreline city over the last 12 years. But I know if you dig deep into the soil of our church, you're going to see all this residue and all these seeds of elevation.

So I want to say thank you, church, for being faithful and lifting up the name of Jesus Christ the way you do because you have impacted our lives more than you can ever possibly imagine. I even shave my head to look like chunks. That's what I did. So, thank you, Junks, for keeping your head shaved too. Love you so much, Amy. Hey, we're going to open up God's word today. You guys ready? You guys ready?

Go with me. Go with me to Second King. Second Kings chapter 7. Second Kings chapter 7. We're going to begin reading in verse number three. If you didn't bring your Bible, going to put the verses on the screen so that you can follow along with us. 2 Kings chapter 7 verse number 3 it says now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate

they said to each other why stay here until we die if we say we'll go into the city the famine is there and we will die and if we stay here we will die so let's go over to the Arameen's and surrender. If they spare us, we live. If they kill us, then we die. Amen. For those of you like to take notes, the title of today's message is, I can't stay here. I can't stay here. I can't. All of us, you know this. All of us are some place. Duh. You're in a place right now. You're at one of our locations. You're online. You're in your living room. You're at a coffee shop. You're in some part of the world. You're in this building. You're in a chair. Yes, you're someplace physically, but all of us are someplace emotionally, financially,

financially, even professionally. You know, you went and got your master's degree and then you keep on interviewing but can't get a job because everybody's saying you're overqualified. You're like, what does that mean? Just give me a job. I'm somewhere, I'm somewhere emotionally, I'm somewhere relationally, some of us don't have a ring on our finger, we want to have a ring on our finger. We're at church this weekend to find our boaz. That's a church joke, boaz right there. You're someplace, you're someplace, even in our physical bodies, right? I mean, I know about y'all, but I've got this back fat that won't go away.

I keep on trying to do planks, but it's like, Earl, I ain't leaving. Okay, I'm staying right here with you. It's me and you for the rest of your life, brother. We're all some place. Every single one of us, and some of us are in a good place. And it's nice to be in a good place. When you're in a good place, like with your finances, you did the Dave Ramsey. Like, right, you did it.

You got your $1,000. I got my emergency fund. Yeah, I'm snowballing right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let my car break down. I got the money. You know, you're feeling good? I'm in a good place.

It's nice to be in a good place where things are clicking on all cylinders. Things are moving the right direction. It's like every three you take, it's nothing but net. You're like, yes, I'm feeling it. I'm good, I'm strong. A good place is great for sure.

But even, it's interesting, a good place can become a grave. You know this. If you stop growing, Even a good place can become a grave because you're like, my marriage is good. I'm just going to preserve it. You just can't preserve it. You got to keep going on date nights.

You got to keep telling her she's beautiful. You got to keep on pat your hubby on the booty and going, you're cute. That too much for you? Was that too much? That too much? I'm talking to spouses now. I'm talking to spouses, all right? You got to keep that fire alive.

A good place can become a grave if you don't keep growing. So we want to make sure we keep on growing. If your business is like at a place you never thought it would be, it's like it's in a good spot You can get into preservation mode. It's so possible like I don't want anything bad to happen But you didn't get there by not pursuing and taking a risk you got there because you trusted God and we're believing him for more So I just want to encourage you don't get just stuck in a good place trying to protect it no But when I say I can't stay here some of you aren't thinking about a good place You're thinking about a bad place, a tough place.

I can't stay here. I can't stay in this marriage like this. I can't stay here. I didn't sign up. I didn't say I do so I'd have a roommate. I'm trying to have my soulmate. I want to have a connection with someone. And now we're sleeping in different bedrooms and we're not talking about divorce,

but we're thinking about it. I can't stay here. I can't stay here with my debt. I can't stay here with how tired I am I so tired all the time. Why am I, why does it always feel like I'm way down? Why don't I have the joy that I used to have? Where did my fire go? Where did my energy go? Why, why am I waking up and I want to just stay in the bed? I can't stay here. I can't stay in this depression. I don't want this. I'm trying to muster all the smile I can to stand at the door and to greet people as they come in. But on the inside, I'm feeling like I'm dying. I'm smiling at you, but I need you to smile back at me. I can't stay here. Can somebody please help me? Can somebody please give me some hope? Can somebody please give me some strength? I can't stay

here, numb, maybe even lukewarm. There's a day like you're on fire for God, as they say. On fire. Excited about God. Couldn't help but keep your hands up. Now it's just like they're heavy. Like you're carrying two kettlebells and can't lift them. Way down.

I'm about you, but family drama too can be one of the hardest things to navigate. Man, oh man. I love my mother-in-law. I love her. Thank you, Jesus for. Family, family, family. Sorry about that, honey. But family.

Family, who. Remember when they were like, have kids? Remember they said that? Have kids. You need, you should have kids. I'm like, yeah, I can't wait. Now you're like, oh, my Lord. Put these kids back.

Can I get a refund on these kids right here? I love them so much. But it can be taxing. It can be difficult. It can be hard. It can be, oh, doctors bill. Oh, soccer game. Oh, football game.

Oh, camp. Oh, you need skills training here. And then you need skills training there. And then we got to go here. We got to get ready for college over there. And then I mean, you've got all this stuff. If you're a single person trying to navigate it, it's like I've got so much on my brain. I'm 16, 17 years old.

and I'm supposed to have everything figured out, and I don't have everything figured out. I don't know what college I'm going to. I don't know how I'm going to pay for college. I don't even know what's going to happen to my mom and my dad. Help me. Somebody, I can't stay here. So it brings us to our text in Second Kings, chapter 7, verses 3 and 4. There are four lepers.

and they are sitting there. Now, leprosy back in the day, this would be a disease. We don't know if it was like exactly leprosy. It just be some type of skin disorder, but it would make you unclean. At that point in time, you have certain rules

where you're not allowed to be around certain people. You can't touch certain things. And here are these four lepers, and they're all hanging out together. You have to read the rest of the, even chapter six and chapter seven, they really go together. But when you read them, you find out that the Arameans, the enemy's army, has surrounded the city, and they have been in camp around the city for so long. And they're basically suffocating God's kids to death. They're not letting any food or water in.

It got dark. I mean, it got very, very dark. Individuals were doing some of the most heinous crimes, even against their own family. You can read it. I don't want to say it because I might lose your attention. That's how horrific the things are that were going on in the text. So this is a tough place. It's a hard, difficult spot that they are in.

They are in a place they do not want to be like some of us. So they're sitting there outside the city gate. They're not allowed to go into the city because they're lepers. They're sitting there and they start talking to each other. And we get a look-seat into their conversation. And these guys, we find out, are crazy. You've got to have a couple friends like this just so you know you've got to have a couple leper friends. It's a little bit off.

You can't have everybody in your left. It's just real squeaky clean. You've got to have somebody to be like, I'll pull up right now. You've got to have a couple people like that in your life and in your corner. Don't get so saved that you can't throw hands, right? You want to make sure if something pops off, call your boy. So the lepers are sitting there and they say, okay, we're going to die here.

We're going to die. If we sit here, we're going to die. If we're going to the city, we're definitely going to die. but if we go to the enemy's camp they're probably going to kill us too but they might not kill us with the enemies camp maybe

they'll take us like as prisoners and we'll at least get some food so they're sitting there and this deductive reasoning they get to the place where they go I know if I stay in this exact same spot and I keep thinking

the exact same way and I keep doing the exact same thing then this right here is going to bring me to a place of death and I know I do not want to die right here so I've got to do something I like these guys I like these guys because they do not get hung up on what they can't do they start thinking about what can I do. They don't get hung up on what I don't have. They start thinking about what do I have. So for you and I, I am praying that while you are in, you and I are in those spots of frustration, we're in those places of like, okay, how do I get my company to that next level? How do I get my marriage out of this spot? How do I get my single life here? How do I get my thought life there? How do my physical

body here? How do my finances there? I don't want to stay here. I don't want to stay here. You and I get stuck so many times because I can't do this I can't do that I can't do this I can't do that But I'm trying to get you to see it from another perspective I wonder if the spirit of God today could help you and I learn from some lepers And some lepers would be sitting there outside the city gate and then decided to say I know some things I don't have But I do have some things that I can do at least as an enemy's camp that I can head to at least as a place I can go I wonder where you can go, I wonder what E group is there for you. I wonder what prayer group is there for you. I wonder what campus pastor wants to lay hands on you to help you get out of the spot that you're in. I wonder what friend is there. I wonder who is around you right now that you can't see them because you keep

thinking about what you don't have. And God's like, I have put you in a community of faith that will stand with you and stand beside you and help you become all that I've called you to be. What do you have. What do you have? What can you do? Because it's something. There's something you can do. It's something you do have. Because I can't stay here. If you're on a team and everybody on the team keeps telling you you're a complainer, I'm not a complainer, I'm not a complainer, but you're like, well, they keep saying you're complaining. Then you go, I'm not a complainer. Then maybe, maybe you're a complainer. And it's a frustrating place to be, but you go, I can't stay here. And instead of just ejecting yourself out of the place where God has you, maybe he's trying to change something on the inside of you because he knows what

he has for your future. So he's trying to tell you, hey, friend, friend, I love you, but you can't stay here with how you think everybody's against you. You can't stay here with how you see the world. You can't stay here with how you process information. You can't stay here with how you just skip past the Word of God. You can't stay here. With how you just skip past the Word of God. stay here with how you don't ever pray and how you don't ever give and how you don't ever serve you can stay here if you stay there you will die so these guys go look with me in verse number five come on keep on going with me we'll walk through the Bible here you guys ready you with me you with me verse number five look at dusk chapter 7 verse number five that dust they got up and went to the camp

of the arameans everybody say at dusk because that's important at dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arminians. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there. For the Lord had caused the Hermines to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army. So that they said to one another,

look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us. So they got up and fled in the, oh, in the dusk. There it is again. and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys, they left the camp as it was and ran for their lives at dusk. At dusk. At dusk, the four lepers decide, okay, let's go. And they get up and they throw on their jays. They didn't have jays. And they start walking. They start walking. They start walking at dusk. That's what verse five tells us. In verse number seven, it tells us at dusk is when the enemy, started running. So when the lepers got up over here, God caused the sound over there. They got up here, but something happened over there. Let me say it again. Let me say it again. They got up and took a

step here, and then God did a miracle over there. Honey, you can trust my phone. Just my phone. It doesn't, any phone. No, throw it to me. Come on, I can catch it. Come on. That's what I'm talking about. Thank you. I got hands. I got hands. Okay. So on my phone right here, it's iPhone 12. Sorry about that. I still have an upgraded cricket. Cricket wireless. Kid, if you got cricket, God bless you.

Do calls go through? With that being said, on my phone, I have the Nest app. Okay? Nest app. So I can get I can right now go to that app on my phone and if I change the temperature on my phone here all the way back home in Dallas the temperature changes at home I did something here but something happens all the way over there This is a picture of what happens in second Kings chapter 7. It's also a picture of prayer and

Mom, when you get on your knees and your kid is out at the party and you are praying here, if God begins to do something over there, it's like the alcohol does not taste the same over there. They go to, but they want to put it down because mom or dad is praying over here. There is something about taking a step here that God does. something over there and I need you and I to be a people that says God even if I don't see it I will take a step when it doesn't even make sense here there here here there this is how God works so you and I want to see it but you don't get to see it unless you take the step we say God shows me, then I'll take the step. God's like, no, no, no, we're not doing it like that. We're doing it

my way. And my way is the way of faith. My way is the way of trust. My way is the way that when the water is going crazy and the waves are crashing and it doesn't make any sense, that's when I want you to give. When it looks like the economy is going upside down, that's when I want you trusting me. When it doesn't look like things are moving the right direction, that's when I want you to say, God, it doesn't make sense in my brain, but I can't stay here. So I'm going to take the step you're calling me to take so I can do what you're calling me to do. And I can see a miracle that I would never see had I not taken the step. Let me show you a picture of my family.

All of them are prettyer than me. All of them are prettier than me. Okay, got my picture, my family. Look at this. Okay, here's the crew. Here's the crew. This is an older picture right here. Our 19-year-old now has cornrows, which I cannot do.

Because I'm bald. My wife's my best friend. Okay, so she's my sexy piece of dark chocolate. I love her so much. She and I, 27 years have been married now. It's gone by so fast. Still my best friend. I love her so much.

So I got my beautiful wife, okay? We met in college, and she liked me first. It was trying to, you know, it's a long story, y'all. We'll talk about it at another time. But I'm so, so blessed. And then we've got our 19-year-old son Parker, who is absolutely amazing. He's about to be a sophomore in college. Man, stolen our heart.

Then we've got Grayson. He's our nerd. I mean, nerd, nerd, and plays the cello and football and does the viola and knows stuff about the son. I mean, he's just a little bit. He's our nerd. We'll all be working for him one day. Okay, so we love him so much. And then we've got my favorite child, who's my daughter, because she's my daughter.

because she's my daughter. Girl dads, can I get an amen? Come on, can I get an amen, girl dads? I tell my sons this all the time. I like your sister more than you. That's why I say yes to her all the time, okay? You're lucky I'm feeding you tonight. Elle, what would you like? So love all of our kids so much. Our oldest, Parker, he's our biological son. Our last two are adopted. Something we always wanted to do since we were in college. And after we had Parker, we had Parker, and then we were like, we were both 50-50 on biological, but we were both 100% on adoption. So we were like, hey, let's go ahead and adopt, and then we'll just have some more kids later. So the adoption process ended up taking like two and a half years. So we ended up not having any more biological

kids. But when we first started the process, we drove about three hours up the road to our Adoption Center. And this was like the first meeting where they were going to tell all these prospective parents what the process was like. So they're sitting there and they're telling us all what the process is like. And they bring in lawyers and they even bring in birth moms who are making this courageous decision to find a forever home for their child. I mean, just something that it's a heart of sacrifice and love that I almost can't even comprehend. I mean, courageous, courageous birth moms and birth dads. We got to meet some of their adopt. of parents and then they sit you down there like okay oh what type of kid are you

looking for and you fill out this questionnaire and then at the bottom of it they're like how you're going to pay for it now for those you don't know adoption is not free should be but it's not I'm talking like 20,000 30,000 dollars now if you got it like it like oh 20,000 dollars that's nothing I can do it right there okay god bless you okay most of us we saw that on the line. My wife and I looked at each other. We're like, okay, how are you going to pay for this? We both, I wrote, give me that pen, honey.

By faith. I wrote that right there. And turned in my application with confidence. So we're driving back home, three-hour drive back home, and we're driving home. And I'm like, honey, how are we going to pay for this? I know we put by faith in the way. How are we going to pay for it the next morning at our church and go to a men's meeting? I'm at this men's meeting and we're setting up and this guy comes up to me and he says to me, hey, Earl, my wife and I heard that you're going to be adopting.

I'm like, man, how did you even hear that? We just started the process. Yeah, we're going to be adopting. He goes, well, my wife and I, we've never been able to have kids ourselves, but we just sold this piece of land and we want to be a part of your adoption story. Here's a check for $5,000. We took a step. then God was working there.

I didn't know that when we took the step here, that God was working over there. But this is how God always seems to do it. So I'm asking you, what step is God asking you to take that you're not taking because you think the step is dumb? You think the step doesn't make any. sense you don't have the resources for the step you don't have the connections for the step you don't

even think you have the favor for the step you don't have the education for the step and god's like since when did i ask you if you have all their credentials to do the thing that it's going to be done by my power my glory anyway take the step i can't stay here well counseling's not going to do anything for us How do you know if counseling is going to do anything for you? Maybe you take that step there and God starts working on your husband and her wife in that other bedroom. How do you know if you're going to get accepted to the school unless you send in the application? Go ahead and take the step here and see what God will do over there. How do you know if God can get you out of debt or not?

If you keep holding on to all your money, of course you're not going to see a miracle. But what if you started giving and saying, God, I'll live a life of general. I wonder what God will do on there push that little nest button pray give serve what is he asking you to do I don't know I know the Holy Spirit he has a way of talking to all of us exactly how we need to be talked to you know the thing that he's like you're like tang tang tang I wish that guy didn't come today tang I just wanted to encouraged today. I didn't want anybody saying anything that I had to do anything. I just wanted them to say something to me that could feel good about myself. And now here, so I'm not going to do

this. I'm not going to do this. But I pray that the Holy Spirit torments you in the best way possible, that he makes you so incredibly uncomfortable because there's more that God wants to do in you and through you. Dad, do you think God is done with you yet? Mom, do you think God is done with you yet? Retiree? Do you think God is done with you already? Just because you're third? 37 and you only play pickleball do you think God is done with you now I'm telling you He has so much more in store for you but you've got to take a step I can't stay Here I can't say here now now look keep on watch you look keep reading the text with me Keep on going keep on going. Keep on going. Okay, okay so they left they left they left go to verse number eight

number eight okay okay the men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp. The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp. Watch this. Entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Watch this. Then they took silver, gold. Fubu.

Just going to close. I don't even know what Fubu is. And went off and hid them. they returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also okay verse 8 they get to the camp nobody's there because god did something with the sound of the feet god did something with something small and he turned into something great god did something with something small but he turned into something great then they get there there there there and they start going yeah yeah yo look at this tent right

here. Y'all, this is crazy. Yeah, I'm drinking. Camera follow me. Camera follow me. Okay. Camera. Come up, boy. Pull up. It's crazy over here. There's nobody here. We can drink everything we want. They left their clothes. They left their silver. They start taking the stuff and hiding it, okay? These guys, I guess maybe we would do that too. I don't know. I don't know how I would act. Now remember, they haven't been able to be around anyone. This went with each other. They've been outcast. Everyone looked past them, disrespected them. And now it's like they got this whole big thing coming. Their direction, it's like, oh my goodness, I've never had it like this before. So now, now, now, now, look at this. Verse number nine. Verse number nine. Look at this.

Then they said to each other, what we are doing is not. This is the day of good news. And we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight punishment will overtake us. Let us go at once and report this to the royal palace. So in the middle of them grabbing all the stuff and hiding it, somebody realizes, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. We had nothing, we have all this, and I'm keeping it to myself. This ain't right. And I like that the text says, this is a day of good news. It's really a beautiful picture of the gospel that you and I,

You and I were lepers, outcasts, sinners, separated from God. And then we end up being drawn to a spot that we maybe thought would kill us. No, there's no way. There's no way I can't ever approach. I can't ever approach Jesus because of my sin and all my shortcomings and all my weaknesses and all my difficulties. But we get there and it's like, oh my goodness, I got an abundance of blessings. I got more coming my way than I ever thought possible. I used to be lonely, but now I've got more friends that I've ever had in my entire life.

I've had so many other pastors in my life that didn't have my back, but now I have a pastor. I've got campus pastor. I've got leaders that are praying for me, that are believing for God's best in my life. I've got them. I've got pastors with integrity and character pastors that I can trust. Oh my goodness, I've got this. I've got a taste. I've got a taste of heaven on earth.

I've got a taste that I used to be lost, but now I'm found. I got a taste that I used to be dead, but now I'm alive. I got a taste that I used to be broken, but now I've been put back together. I've got a taste that I used to be all up in my head, but now I found myself walking in freedom and joy and in life. I used to be a person that was just wandering around, and I didn't know which way to go, but then God in his grace and his mercy, he captured me and he pulled me up out of a glorious pit. How in the world can I keep this to my soul? I heard it said that bad things when they are kept secret, they usually tend to grow.

But good things, when you keep them secret, sometimes they actually tend to lose their power because there's something about you and I, tasting the goodness of Almighty God. And once I have tasted it, I cannot keep this to myself. I have to share it. I have to. So these guys go, okay, okay, I got good news.

I got good news. We're going to go back, we're going to tell everybody. And they go back, and they start telling everybody. And they start with the gatekeepers, because they can't. even going to the city so they talked to the gatekeepers gatekeepers look at your boys look at our clothes what did you get all that jewelry i'm telling y'all just up the road nobody's in the camp they got grills they got necklaces rings i'm telling you i'm telling you there is more up there than you can even possibly imagine it's better they're

you could ever even think. And the gatekeeper tell somebody else, tell somebody else, and it makes its way all the way to the palace. And then the king hears it. The king's like, oh man, I think they're trying to trick us. Those arameans are trying to trick us. But they weren't being tricked in actuality. God had worked a miracle because four lepers decided to not stay.

I was wondering, I was wondering, Who might eat because you won't. I was wondering, five years from now, 10 years from now, 15 years from now, I wonder what the ripple effect of your step might be. I wonder, I wonder, because we think, we think it's not going to matter. That's what they thought. It's not going to matter. I'll probably die.

It's probably going to end in nothing. It's probably going to fall flat on its face. Yes, it's a possibility that it could fail. But it's also a possibility that God could do something with your step that would absolutely change an entire generation. Dare I say elevation was a step that Pastor Stephen and Pastor Holly took. And you and I are on the other side of that. I am so thankful that there have been men and women of God years ago that said, I'm not going to stay comfortable.

I'm so glad they continue to take a step. And then God took that step. and he turned and he magnified that sound and before they knew it things were changing in a spot maybe they'd even get a chance to see so maybe the uh the wrestle you have in you you think it's just about you but there could be a teenager on the other side of your yes there's a business on the other side of your yes there's a grandchild on the other side of you yes i'm just praying that god would give you a picture i'm praying god would give you a picture, you're like, I'm not going to try out for the team. You don't know what God can do

with just a try it. I'm just telling you, I'm just telling you don't know what God will do with a step. When you begin to get uncomfortable, I can't stay here, I can't stay here, I can't stay here, I can't stay here, I can't stay here, I can't stay here in my mind, I can't stay here in my finances, I can't stay here in my spiritual life, I can't stay here in my mindset. I cannot stay here. You will be shocked. And what God will do with a step. A step. I was, when I was preparing this message, it just dropped into my heart. I have not preached this. This is what I honest. I prayed. I was like, God, what do I need to share with my beautiful elevation family? And this is the passage. God just dropped in my heart. I was like, Lord,

I got some better sermons I feel like than this. This is what dropped into my heart. And I was like, I was trying to turn into steps. I was like, okay, God, tell me what steps. Can I give me some steps to give to people? And I didn't get any steps. I felt the Lord tell me, impress of my heart, don't give steps. Invite them into an experience.

Ezekiel chapter 2, verse number 2, as he spoke, my feet. Next, Ezekiel, I think it's chapter 3, verse 24. Look at this. Then the spirit came into me and raised me my feet. Then Acts chapter 1 verse number 8, maybe you've read it, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Then one of my favorite passages in Acts chapter number 2. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Skipping all the way down to verse number 14, then Peter stood up. Look at again, the spirit standing someone up. Then Peter stood up with the 11, raised his voice and addressed the crowd.

Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk as you suppose it's only nine in the morning. No, this is what was spoken by the prophet toll

in the last days. God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see vision. Your whole men will dream, dreams, spirit. Pray over every location. I pray over every man. I pray over every woman. I pray over every teenager. I pray over every college student. I pray over every married person. I pray over every single person. I pray over every retiree. I pray over every single one of the of us that are online, that are at any location.

And in the name of Jesus right now, I ask that the Holy Spirit would fill us up from the top of our head to the souls of our feet. I thank you, O God, that what we need to do cannot be done in flesh. It cannot be done by our strength. It's not by might. It's not by spirit. So Spirit of the living God, would you raise us to our feet? Would you get us out of our heads?

surround us with the right people. And may we live our lives for your glory in the name of Jesus. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe,

you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot, and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an IHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.