Elevation with Steven Furtick - Little By Little (Rich Wilkerson Jr.)

Episode Date: December 28, 2020

Faith, change, growth… it all happens little by little. In this message from Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. of VOUS Church, we’re shown how faith isn’t an event, but a process – and that your waiting isn’t wasted. 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 faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. Hey, listen to this. Each year, we provide the opportunity to give toward the growth of our church, this ministry and the kingdom of God through a year-end offering. A couple of weeks ago, we all joined together to finish, 2020 with favor. Do you all remember? Thousands of you brought your best gift and offering of worship for the King of Kings,

committed to tithe for the first time. And I think that's absolutely amazing. And I want to congratulate you and tell you to expect God to move in a great and supernatural way in your life because of your faith. I want to tell you that. Somebody put it in the chat again or say it out loud if you're here. He made a way. And because of your giving, you made a way to give away. This is not how much we took in in the offerings so far, and there's still time to participate.

Elevationchurch.org slash favor. But I just felt this. It's not too late for favor. I don't know who this is for. It's not too late for favor. Even if you're watching this weeks after I preach it, and we're already well into the year 2029 living on Mars with Elon. It's not too late for favor, but this is what I wanted to celebrate and I knew you would want to rejoice in the Lord and give thanks about

the outreach money that we've given away already over one million dollars Given not to the church, but through the church. That's what's going back out Come on, let's give God a great praise for faithful people who know how to walk in the favor of God We walk by faith, not by sight. So on behalf of all of the pregnant mothers through the human coalition that we're helping, on behalf of those in Kenya, Haiti, and the Congo through the Medical Benevolence Foundation, on behalf of those in our community that are receiving financial literacy education, all of our mothers completing their degree across the country through a safe journey and community in schools,

I wanted to say thank you. You're the best church in the world. It's an honor to be your pastor. Holly and I love you. Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas? If not, put it in the chat, and I'll see if I can... I'll see if I can work something out. That'd be fun.

Everybody, if you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, put it in the chat, and I'm going to pick one person and send you what you didn't get. This week, I'm going to do that. Put it in the chat. But not until you've got it. on to Elevationchurch.org slash favor and given your tide in that order. Who's ready for the Word of God? Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. is in the house.

This is my friend. He and his amazing wife, Don Cherie, are two of the most brilliant lights for Jesus Christ burning on the planet today. They pastor the great Voo Church in Miami, Florida. We're honored to know you, honored to be friends with you. There's no one that we wanted to preach the last Sunday in the year. year but you. And trust me, this church has so many different people that come through, but I really prayed about it. Who should take us out of one year and into the other? And the Lord said, get rich.

Get rich. Everybody put in the chat, get rich. And right now you're about to get him. Merry Christmas, everybody. I brought you an amazing preacher. Welcome to Elevation Ministries Global Eiff. Pastor Rich Wilkerson. Shout a praise. Here right now. It is so, so good to be here. I just noticed that they took away the real pulpit. It gave me the miniature pulpit, but I like this. I love this church so very, very much.

And what an honor it is to be here. And all of the E-FAM, we're so glad that you're joining us on the last Sunday of the year. And how many think, man, it's not always how you start, but it's always about how you finish. Anybody grateful that you're finishing the year in church? I believe that God's going to speak to us today. if you're in the auditorium, why don't you maybe do a air fist bump and say, you look better than I remember. If you're in your living room, why don't you just hug that person because you're allowed to? Grab a seat all over the place.

Grab a Bible. That's the cutest pulpit I've ever had in my entire life. It is honestly such an honor, such a joy to be in Charlotte, North Carolina at Elevation Church. I just think that this is the greatest church. Anybody proud and grateful to be a part of Elevation Church? Oh, come on, we can do better than that. Come on. This is a church that's leading all across the world. For my wife and I, we just honestly count it as one of the real privileges of our life and of our ministry to get to come and be here and share today. And things like this, a ministry like this, doesn't just happen. It happens because God appoints a man and God appoints a woman and they give them a vision.

And I just got to say to Pastor Stephen and Pastor Hawley, I don't have the words to articulate. just how much your leadership and how much your friendship has meant in our lives. For many, many years from afar, we have watched from a distance and been inspired and quite frankly been so impressed with all that God has done with you. But it's been these last few years getting to be up close and personal with you that I haven't just been impressed. I have been deeply encouraged. And your life, it just speaks volume. And honestly, I've got a message on my heart, but more importantly, honestly, I feel almost more important than the message is for me to get up on this stage today after the year we just had, after the year that so many of us in the body

of Christ have gone through. And I just felt like it was part of my assignment to make sure I took a moment to say thank you. Thank you for being stable. Thank you for walking in character. Thank you for not flinching. Thank you for having integrity. Thank you for standing firm. Thank you for not backing down. Thank you for continuing to create. Thank you for continuing to have bold vision. Come on, somebody. Can we thank God for the man of God and the woman of God and what they have meant for all of us? Thank you, thank you, thank you. You make it look way too easy. Because what's happening here is not hard. It's impossible. And right before I came up on the stage, I was reminded that E.M. Bounds quote, the great scholar, he says, the church,

is looking for a method, but God is looking for a man. And people come from the east and the west, north and south, they come and see the method of elevation church. But guess what? You just got to get next to the man and the woman of God, and that's where it's happening. And I just came to honor you today. We give honor where honors do.

All glory to God, but we give honor today to Pastor Stephen and Holly. Come on one more time in the chat. Can we just let them know on the last Sunday how thankful we are for them? I love you. I got to do it. I got to do it. My name is Rich. I come from Miami, Florida. I lead a church called Voo Church. Really weird name for a church, but it's working out okay so far. My wife, Don Trey, she is here with me today. We just celebrated 14 years of marriage. I love you, baby girl. And our church, we launched it five years ago, and just so much of what's happening in Miami is due to the leadership of this house. And so what a joy, what a privilege it is to open up God's Word.

And I think this is an important Sunday. Because today, wherever you're tuning in from, I believe the fact that you're here, it says a whole lot about you. I know this has been a shaky year. This has been an uncertain year. But I'm believing that we are going to finish strong today. Mark Chapter 8 is where I want to read from. We're going to read a few verses. And then, you know, I had a great Christmas.

I hope you had a great Christmas. but we've had the holidays, and I'm just glad to be in church on this Sunday. This is like one of the few times I've gotten to preach in front of a live audience, so I'm already feeling a little bit more normal. My faith is already being built a little bit. And so for the next, I don't know, 30 minutes or so, I'm a holler like I got a word in my heart. And I'm going to trust God that those of you on the other side of this camera are sensing what we are sensing in this room today. Mark chapter 8

Look at me holding this Bible I left my Bible on the airplane The devil was already trying to mess with me Got off the airplane Left my preaching Bible Left my sword on the airplane But praise God for Pastor Stephen I got a different Bible

So it's going to work. Mark chapter 8 Here we go I hope this one's anointed Here we go Mark chapter 8 First 22 it says this It says they came to Beth Sadia And some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He, Jesus, took the blind man by the hand and led him

outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, do you see anything? He looked up and said, I see people. They looked like trees walking around. Watch this, verse 25, once more. Everyone say once more. Everyone say once more. Once more, Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened. His sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home saying, don't go into the village. I want to take a few moments today, and I want to use this text, the last Sunday of 2020, we made it. I want to preach from this subject, little by love. little. Little by little. And I believe this is going to be a word in your spirit. This is going be a word in your heart today. And would you just pray with me? Let's just invite God's presence

into this place. Let's invite God to do what only he can do through this word. Lord, we thank you that you're here. We thank you that you're moving. We thank you today, God, for this incredible year that we've walked through while it was at times turbulent. Lord, we believe that we're coming out stronger than how we started. I pray now today, God, that you would have your way in this place, that the EFAM that's watching, Lord, would sense your presence in a mighty way. Change us, transform us, heal us. May we never be the same again. We love you, Jesus. And in Jesus' mighty name, come on, if you agree with that prayer, all of God's people said? Come on, all of God's people said?

Amen. Come on, if you love Jesus, make a little bit of noise all over this place. Oh, come on, you can do better than that. Give them a big shout. I grew up in a strong, strict Christian home. In fact, I'm four generations' Pentecostal preacher. Amen. I like that. He knows the cue right there. Amen. I was just thinking about my childhood throughout this season. It's holiday season. And in my home, my parents just, they had rules for rules, right? They just, it was strict guidelines, just strong traditions. The fall is full of all these different holidays, you know, but in our house we would change holidays up or we would have traditions.

For instance, we didn't celebrate Halloween. It was Hallelujah Day. Where's the real saints at? Harvest Fest. Hello. What can you dress up? We're not goblins or skeletons. We're disciples.

I mean, how many disciples can you be, you know? How do you differentiate yourself, you know? I got an ear in my hand. I'm Peter. Okay, we get it. It's just how I grew up. Thanksgiving, we used to do these big recitals. Everyone had to come and perform at the Thanksgiving. Christmas, my mom used to have this closet, true story, in our house, that gifts that were given to us that she didn't think that we needed. True story. She would put them in the gift closet. Why? So that when we had a function the following year that we needed a gift, there was always a gift on supply to give. Pray for me. I know. My childhood was messed up. My first slow dance? Our God is an awesome God. I think some of y'all parents out there ought to make your kids dance to do it again.

I think we need to up the game with the DJ. The DJ at the party, his name was Crazy Larry. He had a renin' stinty tie on. He's like, all right, everybody, who's ready for the slow dance? Our God is an awesome God. I'm like, what is this? It's just my childhood. And we had traditions. I was just thinking about traditions on the way over here. And one of the traditions my mom had that I appreciate now is maybe your parents did this too, but every year, like clockwork, my mom used to have this food pantry, and she would take us inside the food pantry.

And on the backside of the door, she would line up all of my brothers. There's four of us. I have an older brother than two younger brothers. And every year she would line us up on this back of this pantry door, and she would measure our height. And every year, she would take a sharpie marker and she would mark the place of where a height is. And throughout the years, you know, it was fun to kind of come in there because you could see your growth from the year before. And to be honest with you, like most years, like there wasn't some big thing to see.

I think the one year I hit puberty, I gained a couple more inches than normal. But for the most part, if I'm being honest with you, the growth was gradual. In fact, if I'm really being honest, as I'm thinking about it, unless I'm not, I was measuring the growth, I wouldn't have even known I had grown. Because the growth was just little by little. I wonder today if this is actually how faith works. I wonder if some of us in this room and those of us that are watching online, I wonder if part of our problem, especially with 2020,

is that when we think about faith, we only have one category of words associated with faith. supernatural, phenomenal, suddenly, suddenly, immediate. And I'm not against these words. I like these words, but I'm concerned if these are the only words that are associated with your faith, what happens is we find ourselves in seasons where we are struggling. And the reason why we're struggling is because we only have one picture of what faith looks like. And there's people today that are watching on the last Sunday of the year and you're struggling in your faith. In many cases, you're frustrated with God.

Maybe you're disappointed with yourself. Maybe you're offended with other people. Why? Because you've got the wrong measuring stick. You say, why do I feel this way? Many of us, the big problem when it comes to our faith, if we could just really narrow it down, if we could just really simplify it,

if we could really get to the root problem, the problem is it's just all going too slow. It's just not happening as fast as I thought it would. I thought by now I would have had the promotion. I thought by now I wouldn't still be controlled by my schedule. I thought by now I would be married. Hello, there's still time in 2020. I thought by now we would have conceived a child.

I thought by now that I would have had a breakthrough. I thought by now I would have been healed. I thought by now I would have paid off my bills. I thought by now I would be farther than I really actually am. All but, friends, I wish today that we had a pantry door measuring stick for your faith. Because something tells me, if you could look back throughout the years, what you would discover is that mark by mark you have been maturing, you have been growing. It's just been gradual. It's just been little by little.

I know you're not where you want to be yet, but baby, you have come a long way. Come on, anybody thankful that you've come a long way on this journey? You're growing gradually. Say that out loud. Say, I'm growing gradually. I'm growing gradually. It's little by little.

I love the quote by J.R. Tolkien. He's the one who wrote The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and he says, little by little one travels far. God speaks to the Israelites in Deuteronomy and he says little by little you will take the nations. Don't be surprised when you ask God for miracles if he answers you with gradual change. I just think when I look back on this year, if I had the pantry door measuring stick, it wouldn't Wouldn't be impressive, it would just be little by little.

I'm further than when I started. See, what I love about God, and I just, this is just where I feel like we're supposed to end this year. What I love about God is not all of God's miracles are immediate. Some of God's miracles are progressive. They don't happen overnight. They happen over time. What if I told you, come on, Epham, I could teach you how to grow. I just can't teach you how to grow overnight.

What if I told you, I could teach you some principles and some keys and some think steps you could take? I just can't teach you how to grow overnight. I can teach you how to grow over time. And what I love about Mark chapter 8, the text that we have today in front of us, I just think it's such a great text for us to end this year on. Because what you have in Mark chapter 8 is you have a story of a miracle in motion. You have a progressive miracle. You have a gradual gain. You have a phenomenon in process. It's a slow grow. Sometimes when you grow, it feels slow. And today, I just want us to walk through the verses. And I want to encourage your spirit as you're coming to the end of this year. Do not miss the praise party. Why would you

want to step into 2020? Listen, I'm telling you right now, if you can get a revelation to praise God in 2020, there's no telling what the praise is going to be like in 2021. I would step into this year praising God with your spiritual family. But before we get there, let's just start right here today with Mark chapter 8. And let's look at this picture, this story of a little by little miracle. The scripture says in Mark chapter 8 verse 22, it says, they came to Bethesedia. And some people, everyone say some people. Some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.

I just want to stop because I want to give you the context of what's taking place in Mark 8. In Mark 8, Jesus has just finished feeding 4,000 people. And now he has got his crew, his posse, his disciples, and they are walking into this village known as Bethsaidia. And when he gets to Bethesadia, a group of people come over and they beg Jesus. They say, Jesus, please, can you touch this man who is blind? He can't see anything.

And we believe if you touch him, you can heal him. What I want to just stop for, just for a moment, because I just know that there's some faithful people that have been a part of Elevation Church for many years, that have been on the journey for a decade, that have been sewing, that have been giving, that have been praying. Please understand that God uses people to bring people to Jesus. I just, I just want you to see it. It's just, it's really simple. We don't know their names.

All we know is some people. See, if we're all being honest, no doubt, right? God gets the glory. He's the one who performs the miracle. But what you'll notice throughout the scriptures is the scriptures don't shy away from the fact that he invites you and I in to be a part of the process of the miracle. Remember it's in 1st Corinthians chapter 3 where Paul says,

I planted seed, Apollos watered seed, but only God makes it grow. He's giving God glory, but he doesn't stop or negate the simple truth that you and I get to plant, you and I get to water. And if you're watching it, I know there's some people that I watch today. If you just think about it for a moment, just consider how many people were a part of you coming to know Jesus? None of us can truly say it was just me and God. All of us have to say, oh, man, there was that coworker who kept inviting me. There was that friend that said, hey, why don't you turn your browser on to Elevation Church and listen to my pastor?

There was that spouse who was gracious Come on, there was that book that captured you There was that song that melt you There was that grandmother who never quit praying for you Come on, anybody thankful out there For a loved one who said, I'll stand in the gap, I'll keep on praying I will be a part of the some people I wonder today

Do we want to be a part of the some people That's how God moves He finds some people that will say no, serving is not beneath me. Therefore, leadership is not beyond me. It's just about some people. The question comes to all of us, and this is the question you have to ask. Do you care more about titles or testimonies? Because we don't get their names. I could just camp here all day. It doesn't say deacon so-and-so. It doesn't say pastor so-and-so. It doesn't say Mr. Mrs. It just says some people. Just some people. I'm just part of the some people. I'm just here

to help be a vehicle. I'm just here to help people meet Jesus. Talk about this favor offering. There's still time to be a part of this offering. But please make no mistake about it. This money is designated to help accelerate the vision. We've got great programs. We've got great expansion ideas. It's awesome the things that elevation is going to do. This is one of the trustworthy places that you can sow a seed. This is healthy, healthy soil. Listen, seed is cheap, soil is expensive. Find a place that's got some healthy soil. Take your little and watch how God will turn it in to Allah.

Come on, somebody. This is healthy soil. But let's just be real. You want to know why we're giving in the favor offering? You want to know why we're giving above and beyond at the year end? It's not so the budgets can be met. It's not so we can turn the lights on. It's because we want to see people who are far from God, people who are desperate.

We want to see them encounter the love of Jesus Christ. Come on, somebody, give him praise today. I want to be a part of the some people. I don't care about a title. I just want the end of my life that I wasn't collecting titles. I was collecting testimonies. I saw God move in my lifetime. No, you don't know my name.

but I got a feeling you're going to know his name. I saw God move. I saw God meet our needs. I saw God heal blinded eyes. I collected testimonies. You got to decide. Do you want titles or do you want testimonies? Do you want testimonies?

These people, they just want to see God move and they bring this man to Jesus. And they're like, Jesus, they beg him. We don't know their names. Please touch him. Now you can read this and quickly, if you can read this, And quickly, if you don't just do a little bit of context study, you would miss how scandalous this request is. Jesus at the time is considered a rabbi, a Jewish rabbi. And rabbis, they don't go around touching people that are sick or touching blinded eyes.

Why? Because the paradigm or the theology or the thinking of the day was that your ailment or your sickness was a result of your sin. And so rabbis couldn't touch something that was considered sinful because that would make them unclean. But thank God that Jesus is not some regular rabbi. Thank God that Jesus stepped out of divinity and wrapped himself up in humanity. And he came to touch the messiest areas of our life. He came to touch the broken areas, the areas that you have been hiding, the areas that you don't want anybody to see or notice.

He came to take your mess, turn it into greatness. Because whatever he touches, he always transforms. Whatever Jesus touches, he transformed. Anybody out there thankful that God touched you? Come on, anybody in the chat right now, can you just witness and testify? He touched me. He touched me. Church is funny to me because, right, there's things that we say in church sometimes

that we don't always think about how hilarious they are. You know, like we have all these cliches and things that we do. Even right now today, I'm doing things that only a subculture of Christians would understand. You know, God is good. All the time. Let go and let go. You guys know my message. Covered by the blood of the lamb.

Can you, like, imagine if you're a guest covered by, I don't want that. I was preaching one time Pastor Stephen at a conference. I'll never forget it. And the preacher was good. He had the group going and they were fired up. And some preachers can just say the coolest stuff from the microphone. I haven't learned this yet, but he was preaching. He was like, I don't drop F bombs.

I drop J bombs. I'm like, what does that even mean? We're like, nobody knows what it means, but it's provocative. and it certainly gets the people going. He goes, I don't have an AK-47. I have a John 316. They went, Grat,

gr-r-rat. People were standing going, oh, I was like, I don't want to do that. So I think it's real good in your living room. Well, no. It's not a demon.

It's the Holy Spirit working. I'm thankful that God touched me. He touched me. We started our church five years ago, and I remember as we started to grow, It started to grow, and it was actually quick growth. We went from one service to two services, to three services, to four services, to five services. At one point, we were in six services in a small little auditorium in Winwood,

9am, 11 a.m, 1 p.m, 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m. I'd preach all six of them. I was just, ah, let's go, you know. You'd get done. You're like, I think I need therapy. And it was hard starting the church because, you know, you're trying to build a culture, and you're trying to get people to lean in and believe. And I remember at the time, it was really difficult because we were trying to build up the parking lot team. And in Miami, we have what you kind of call, what would you say?

What would I say? The weather is unpredictable. It's not hot, it's hot, hot. It doesn't rain. It rains. It's all the second power, okay? And like, to this day, I've never met. Only at Elevation Church will you find someone who's like, I am called to park cars for Jesus.

Like most people don't, that's not their spiritual gift, you know. They're like, nah, dog, I'm not, I'm going to be on the stage, bro. You know, like not the parking lot. And it was these early days. And so I was trying to build morale. And so I would go out to the parking lot. And that's been the first 15 minutes, you know, let's go. Do it for Jesus.

You know, parking the cars, rallying the team. Let's go, guys. That I'd run in. I'd preach my message. Then I'd get out to the parking lot. They thought it was a magic trick. They were like, weren't you just in there? I'm like, no, no, no, I'm just that good, you know?

And parking these cars. And I'll never forget one time. It made me laugh so hard. I'm in the parking lot. It's about 15 minutes in the service, and I've got a bunch of the guys around me who are parking the cars, and this woman drives in. And when she drives in, she can't believe that I'm out there. And so she's way over in the distance, but she turns her car around and she starts driving it over towards me. She's getting excited. I like people. I'm like, oh, she's excited. I'm excited. And she just starts to pray. She's just testifying. She's like, oh, God is good.

She's going off. She's praising God. And she rolls her window down. I've got a group of people now around me. She's like, Pastor Rich, oh, this is such a miraculous moment meeting you, I want to let you know that last weekend, you touched me. What, ma'am? Excuse me? Lower your voice. She wouldn't stop. She said, oh, you touched me. Oh, he touched me. Oh, Rich, you touched me. And finally, after the third time, I understood what she meant. And I said, oh, I kind of laughed. Shut up, please. I said, ma'am, respectfully, no, I did not. But I know who did. His name is Jesus Christ. King of kings, Lord of Lords, and he's still touching people today.

Is there anybody out there who's thankful that God touched you to transform you? That when he found you, he didn't leave you in your brokenness. He took you on a journey. He's still touching people today. Oh, he touched me. And Jesus, they bring this man to Jesus and he touches the blind man, but notice about Jesus, when Jesus touches you, he always touches you to take you on. a journey. He doesn't leave us here. It's little by little. The scripture says in verse 23,

it's just beautiful. Jesus, would you touch this man? Would you touch this man? He's not afraid of your broken area. He's not afraid of your hidden area. He touches us. And he grabs the man by the hand. The scripture says, verse 23, he took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Took him outside the village. I just want you to see this. He hasn't healed the man yet. Please heal him. He grabs his hand and walks him outside the village. I don't know what it was about the village. I don't know why Jesus doesn't do the miracle in the village.

What I do know is that when it comes to Jesus, I do know that environment is so very, very important. What I do know is that many of us, the reason why we can't find ourselves sustaining change is because we continue. to live in a toxic environment. And I can't say for certain as to why Jesus didn't just heal him right there, but something in my spirit tells me it's because Jesus is sensitive and he's doing something quite significant in the man's life. I believe that Jesus is taking this man on a journey. And the reason why he's taking the man on the journey is because he wants to give him spiritual

sight before he gives him physical sight. Better to be blind walking with Jesus than to be able to see and go alone. And so Jesus, Jesus. Jesus graciously, mercifully grabs him by the hand and just starts walking with him. Why? Because Jesus is establishing faith in his life. Faith is not about physical sight. In fact, by definition, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see. It is impossible to please God without faith. We don't walk by sight. We walk by faith. Why do we need faith? We do not need faith to simply get an external blessing, simply to get our back pain to go away, to simply see disease gone. I believe in all that stuff. If you got sickness in your body, we're going to pray

and plead the blood of Jesus over you. But please understand, it's far more important than that. The reason why Jesus gives you faith is because you need faith to follow Jesus. You don't need physical eyesight to follow Jesus. You're going to need some faith to follow Jesus. And before Jesus gives this man physical sight, he says, I'm going to give you internal faith. I don't know what it is. But I have discovered that some of the most deep and intimate things that God has done in my life have not happened with the crowd. They have happened in places of solitude. Please learn today.

There is a difference between being around God and being alone with God. I'm misgathering in person. I can't wait for the day that I can get back in that room. Faith is tangible. You ever been in a room before? Like, man, there's something in this thing. There's something going on in here. It's called faith.

The problem is a lot of people walk into a faith environment and they convince themselves they're on fire for Jesus. But when they get out into the storms of life, they discover they were just sensing the heat from everyone else around them. Faith comes from solitude. Solitude is different from isolation. Isolation leads to loneliness. Solitude leads to fulfillment. I'm not alone when I'm alone with Jesus. I'm not lonely when it's just me and Jesus.

And to get that kind of faith, he has to take me outside of the village. I have to get away from the crowd. I'm glad that we're gathering today. I want to plant a seed of faith in your heart that you will reap as you step into 2021. But please listen to me. We do not just need faith on Sunday. No, sir. We need faith when our world has fallen apart.

We need faith when our marriage is barely hanging on. We need faith when we find out from the doctor, it's cancer and there's no answer. Oh, come on, somebody. Is there anybody out there who wants God to establish faith in your life? He's serving the man. Faith is not about spiritual superiority. It's about spiritual survival. I won't make it without this lesson.

Come home now. Anyone feel like you got taken out of the village in 2020? It's been nine months since our church has gathered. But I wonder, I wonder, is Jesus just get in person one by one and just saying, hey, your faith is getting deeper? I know you feel like you're blind, but you're about to see better than you've ever seen before. Just keep walking. You don't just need faith for healing. You need faith to follow.

And the scripture says in verse 23, watch this. It's just kind of, when Jesus spit on the man's eyes. and put his hands on him. Jesus asks, do you see anything? Can we just stop for a moment? Jesus takes him. He still hasn't healed him. He's walked him outside the village.

Now he's talking to him. And the first thing he does is he spits on the man's eyes. How bad you want to get healed? Spit on me, Lord. You know what's fascinating to me about this text is there's seven different accounts of Jesus healing blind men in the New Testament. And every time Jesus heals someone who's blind,

he does it a different way. But I wonder, I just wonder, you know, sometimes I read the stories and I just try to put myself into the story. I just wonder if this man, while he's with Jesus, I wonder if he's kind of frustrated. I wonder if he's like, I wonder if he's heard of the other stories where Jesus has healed people. I wonder if he's going, you know, like, I know we're walking, but I'm still not seeing anything. I wonder if he's disappointed because all of the other stories that he's heard about. Jesus did it quickly. but it seems like with him he's doing it slowly.

Many of you that are in the chat today, you're watching and you're so frustrated because you're looking around left and right and you're comparing your today to somebody else's and you're going, but they're growing and they're flourishing. I don't know if that's really the case. I just wonder if every time you check in on them, all you're seeing is the marks on the pantry door. That you weren't there for the gradual growth. you weren't there for the little by little. You're comparing your slow to their fast, and it's leaving you in a place that you are discouraged.

Jesus spits on the man's eyes, and he asks the man, he says, do you see anything? I think this is a profound question, because ultimately this is one of the questions that Jesus was constantly and continually trying to get across in his ministry on the earth. In fact, it's a fun word study, like grab your concordance if you got some time, before the new year and look up the word C in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and you will discover it just shows up over and over and over again. That in all of Jesus' ministry, one of his greatest frustrations was trying to get those around him to see what he could see.

Can I just speak to the eFAM and everybody right now at home? What you see today is still in the beginning stages for what I believe all that Pastor Stephen and Pastor Holly still see for tomorrow. It's so important that we continue to create an environment that we can learn how to see the way that they see because God gives us leaders who have vision. And God is asking you today, do you see anything? What do you see? Do you see anything? And it's important to God that you start to see. I'm not talking about physical eyesight.

I'm talking about seeing with spiritual eyes that God wants to give you a vision. Close your eyes. What do you see? faith is the absence of sense. Faith doesn't make sense. And God gives us a vision. Why? Because vision gives pain purpose. Many of us we keep quitting and we keep backing down because we lose the vision. We don't see anything. And God says, what do you see? Vision gives pain purpose. Vision creates passion and vision gives direction. I want to say it to you this way today. Where you're headed is better than where you have. have been. There is more to come in 2021. Come on, somebody, if you believe it. Thank God in advance. What do you see? And the man in verse 24, he looked up and said, I see people. They look like trees walking around. What a peculiar thing to say. He opens his eyes and says, I see trees,

and they look like people walking around. I think it's really peculiar because obviously he's not seeing clearly yet still. Jesus has touched him. Jesus has walked with him. Jesus has spit on him. I could preach that one of these days. And now Jesus has asked him, do you see? And the man still goes, no, I see people. They look like trees walking around. What a peculiar thing to say. I heard one preacher one time say, oh, this is because the man was now seen with spiritual lenses. And the people walking around that looked like trees, well, that's because that's a metaphor of playing the long game. and that you and I, we're called to be like trees planted by living water.

We're not called to be like the grass that withers and fades. We're called to be like trees that bend and do not break. I thought that was beautiful, but I'm just not that spiritual. I'm a little bit more practical than that. I think the obvious reason why the man looks up and says, I see people and they look like trees, is because the man still does not have his eyesight back. And what we are witnessing is we are witnessing a grass.

gradual miracle. We are witnessing a miracle in process. I don't know, I just, I got to make an observation. If you were born blind, you would not know what people look like. If you were born blind, you wouldn't know what trees look like. It leads me to believe that this man was not born blind, but instead this man lost his vision along the way. I wonder if you're watching today in this year 2020 has taken your vision. vision. I wonder if this year has taken your dream. I wonder if this year has taken your calling. I wonder if you lost your marriage. I wonder if you lost your business. I wonder if you lost some friendships. Can I prophesy today? Can I declare to every home and household that which

the devil stole? I declare you can get it back in Jesus. Come on somebody give him praise all over this place. Give him praise today. I'm going to need some help, worship team. You can get it back. That what you lost. I declare you in Christ Jesus. Because verse 25 says once more. Everyone say once more. Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Oh, can I tell you today that you serve the once more God? Come on, anybody believe in the once more God? The miracle, working power of Jesus. Friends, this is grace. This is grace that God comes to us when we cannot get to him and he touches us once more. Once more. I grew up in church and we used to have these things called altar calls. And in the church, I grew up in, yo, you don't, you're there.

My dad would preach. If he saw me talking, he would call me out in the sermon. Hey, boy, shut up. I just wet my pants. And I can just remember so many times every service, an altar call. You ever have that moment where you just, you're in God's presence and the man or the woman that's bringing the word? It's like, it's coming right for you. You get that moment where your heart's beating, you know, your palms are sweating. It's not an Eminem song, it's the Holy Spirit.

I can just remember throughout my teenage years just, how many, you know, people talk about these moments that like just, that's the day I give my life to Jesus and I never wavered. That's not my story. I don't know how many times I walked that long aisle. I don't know how many altar calls I responded to, but it was a lot. Thank you, God, for your grace. And I just remember coming to the altar and going, God, come on, you can't forgive me again. God, it's the same thing.

I know, I'm here. I did it again. I lost it again. I messed up again. do you have any more chances? Do you have any more opportunities? And every time, every time. And he's saying it right now, God, how much more? He says, once more. Once more. Once more. Once more. I'm not finished with you. Being confident of he who began a good work and you will carry it out into completion. Once more. Scripture says in verse 25, it says, then his eyes were opened. His sight was restored.

And he saw everything clearly. that word restored means to be brought back to its original state anyone ever have that thought in 2020 can we get a do-over remember the nintendo when that game wasn't working when you pulled it out i felt like that a couple of times in 2020 reset please reset please god god's like restore to the original state this is why jesus came he came on a restoration mission ever since genesis three when man sinned and shame has come into the world and death Jesus came, not just to save us. He came to restore us. I have this old Jeep and it sits in my driveway. I've had it since I was 17.

It's paid off. It's just this beautiful car. I just love it. It's just been a part of my childhood and I've just kept it. I don't drive it much. In fact, I haven't driven it for like six months. And the other day I wanted to use it and I came out. And when I opened the door, I was shocked because the whole entire car was full of mildew and mold.

The steering wheel was green. and the front seat was green. I said, how on earth did this happen? The car wouldn't start it, wouldn't work. And then I discovered that I had just, I left the window just cracked just a little bit. Just a little crack. Let the rainwater get in.

Isn't it amazing that when we just leave a little crack to a heart, how the enemy can get a foothold? And some of us, it was just a little bit of dishonesty, but it just started to corrupt that heart. It was just a little window in the marriage in 2020, and it's just the thing deteriorating. It was just a little bit of, just a little bit of a lack of character when it came to our business. It was just a little bit of not serving, a little bit of not giving.

And I don't know what happened, but I reminded of when the theologian, when Solomon says, above all else, guard that heart. For it's the wellspring of life. Keep that window close. Don't you open up that window. It seeps in. and lets the wrong stuff in. And it's just a little bit.

But Jesus, he doesn't shy away. He touches the man. And when he touches the man, once more, his eyes are restored. Back to the original state, he can see clearly. Eugene Peterson, he says it this way. He says that the man could see clearly with 2020 vision.

Anybody feel like it took 2020 to give you 2020 spiritual vision? Anyone feel like out there that you had to go through some shaking, you had to go through some turbulence, you had to go through some pain, that your eyes might be opened up? Oh, I want to say to people out there right now that some of you, you have been waiting a long time. Some of you, you are on the brink of giving up, but I would say don't give up. Hang on. Keep on waiting. Some of you're going, I just been waiting so long. No, no, no, friend. You are not waiting. God is restoring. I know, but I've been waiting so, so long. No, no.

You're not waiting. God is restoring. God is bringing you back to the original state. Keep the window up. Keep your heart sealed up. Keep it closed up. He's bringing you back. He's restoring you. Some of you know the story of Don Shri and I. We went eight years on an infertility journey. Eight years could not have kids. Talk to doctor after doctor. Couldn't seem to find the miracle. I love our God. Scripture says he gives every good and perfect gift. God doesn't have a good plan for you, friend. He has the best. planned for you. We came to a revelation somewhere on the journey. It feels like we're blind

out here in the village. But guess what? It's better to be blind with Jesus than to have eyesight and have a baby in our hands. If we never get a baby, Jesus is more than enough. Our family is complete in Jesus. But don't you just love God? Eight years of trying. That number eight means the number of new beginnings. January of 2018, my wife gave birth to our firstborn son, Wyatt Wesley Wilkerson. He's a miracle boy. We were happy. We thought we won the lotto. Yo, I got a son, yo.

This is my son whom I love and am well pleased. But God's like, nah, no, I'm the God who gives you double for your trouble. And so that's why this past October in 2019, my wife gave birth to our second born son, Wilde, Wesley Wilkerson. I'm like, I got two boys. I can't even carry my blessing. I can barely hold them. We're good, God. We're good. But God's like, nah, nah, nah. That ain't cool. I'm still working something in your life. Don Shree can't be in that house with three men. She's going to need a companion herself. That's why I'm proud to announce in July of 2021. My wife is going to have our third child. It's a baby girl. The vision seems slow for you're not waiting. He's restoring. He's restoring. This year's been long, but he's restoring. He's restoring.

I got to go. I got to go. I got to go. But I love Jesus. He does this progressive near. Didn't happen overnight. It happened over time. My Jeep, it just got restored.

I drove it to my friend. I said, bro, help me. And over time, he just turned it back. And it's in good condition. Restoration is possible. It just might not happen overnight. This is what the Lord show me. This is what Jesus says. I just, I got to go.

Jesus says, okay, does this miracle. What does Jesus say? It's the last verse 26. He says, Jesus sent him home saying, don't even go into the village. Someone would say, don't go back to the village. I don't know what's up with this village. I don't know what Jesus saw that we don't see. But I do know that sometimes people, they get healed, but they go right back to the place that hurt them. I know that some people

they find freedom, but they go right back to the place that enslave them. Some people, they step into the light, and the moment they step in the light, they find themselves running back to the darkness. Don't go back to the village in 2021. Come on, someone say, don't go back to the village. Don't go back to the village. Don't go back to the thing that was holding you back.

I don't know why Jesus said don't go into the village. Because really, the only thing. evidence I have about the village is good stuff. This is the people who brought the man. This is the some people who brought the man to Jesus. And it got me thinking, maybe Jesus says, don't go back to the village, not because the village is bad, but maybe it's just a simple of the fact that it's because the village is big. The village isn't bad. It's just it's big. You know what I've learned on my journey?

That gradual miracles are no place for the masses. Arenas don't gather for practice. Crowds don't show up backstage. Theaters don't fill up to witness the process. And I think Jesus was saying, if you go back to that village, Big only knows how to celebrate big. And if you're measuring stick, is simply reduced down to this word big,

you're going to always feel small. Some of you just keep going, God's going to do a big thing. God's going to do a big thing, but you have not defined what a big thing is. And if you just take that miracle right back to the masses, they're just going to go to the lowest common denominator. And if they would have gone back to the village, the village would have said, oh my goodness, Jesus is a healer.

He opens blinded eyes. And that would have been very true, and that should be celebrated. But I believe Jesus was saying, if you start celebrating the wrong thing, you're going to repeat the wrong thing. I opened up your physical eyes, but I did something much deeper. For there will be a day when you can't see again. But this time you will know you can keep on walking little by little, bit by bit, moment by moment, day by day. You will know, I'm not just a healer. I'm a savior.

It's little by little. overestimate what we can do in one year and clearly underestimate what God could do over 10 years. God, I'm choosing to follow you day by day, moment by moment, little by little. Just a little bit. I'm just growing. It's gradual. I know you can't see it much, but I'm becoming. where I'm headed, it's better than where I've been. The only thing more important with who I am today is who I'm becoming tomorrow. And so you don't see much today, but little by little, I'm growing. How do you build a good marriage, little by little by little?

How do you build a great church, little by little by little? How do you build a business, little by little by little? How do you build healthy friends? Little by little. It's little by little by little. You need a new measuring stick. You need a new measuring stick. It's little by. I just want to pray for people before we sing.

Because I just sense the power of the Holy Spirit. some of you are so disappointed, so hurt, so frustrated, and some of God's greatest miracles are not immediate. They are. Church, can you lift your hands towards heaven? Lord, I thank you for every person right now who's listening at the sound of my voice. I thank you for every person on the other end of that screen. And Lord, I prophesy and declare today that they are growing gradually, that little by little, Lord, they are making gains. I pray that today, Lord, they wouldn't give up, they wouldn't back down, but they would be full of faith. God, we don't just want to celebrate the immediate. We don't want to get lost in the hype. Lord, we want you to make us holy. We want you to make us strong. We want you to make us deeper. God, I pray for Elevation Church.

Lord, I believe the best days are in front of this church. Lord, I believe that we're just scratching the surface of all the things you're going to do and want to do. But Lord, today we commit once again. It doesn't have to happen overnight. But God, what you did in the first 15 years, Lord, we're signing up again for another 15 years. If you can use anything, Lord, use us. We're available to you. We want to be used by you. We're going to grow slow. We're going to stay on the path.

We're still standing even after a pandemic. We're still standing even though the world has been divided. And we're united under the name of Jesus. So we commit again to plant seed, to water seed, to plant seed, to water seed, to plant seed, to water seed, to plant seed, to water seat and we're going to trust. I know you are blessed by that word. Oh man, thank God that he sends who we need to speak and he says what we need to hear in the moment when we need it the most. Hope you had a great Christmas. We're praying for you as we enter another year. We know that nothing magical is going to happen because the calendar changes, but we are believing for a fresh perspective like we heard about today. And I want to thank all of you who gave an arguing to our

favor offering. There's still time to do it. You know, if you believe in what this ministry is doing, get the word out by investing and also by sharing. If you're not subscribed to this channel, and if you've never shared a link with somebody, do that, man. It's just a wonderful way for us to build God's kingdom together and see as will done on earth as it is in heaven. But you'd be blessed, and we'll see you real soon. Holly and I love you very much.