Elevation with Steven Furtick - Need Meeters

Episode Date: August 6, 2018

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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. Kind of unintentionally went into a mini-series from Philippians. I want to share from Chapter 4. Holy Spirit, give me accuracy and precision to speak this word. May it get through my mouth, but may it come from your heart. In Jesus' name. Amen. Philippians chapter four, and I want to link this message with the other messages from Philippians One.

I'm not going to be dragging anybody across the stage in a chain this week. I figured it's a bad pattern. But I do want to go to this great passage of scripture that was originally like a PS that Paul put in his letter to the Philippian Church. and he just kind of tagged it on at the end to thank them for the gift that they sent to help him with his defense, his legal defense. And from a prison cell, he writes, and he's like, full of joy, which is counterintuitive, that you'd be in jail and have joy, or lose your job and still trust God and call him your provider, or be single but still know that you're not alone. Or maybe be wronged, but know that God is even using that.

to ultimately bless your life and to use you. And all of this is taught in the book of Philippians, but I find myself coming back to this section, which is like a PS, not only a postscript, to use an old letter-writing term, but also it's a perspective shift. So we're going to see the power of a perspective shift today. Philippians chapter 4, verse 10 through 19. I rejoice greatly in the Lord that you at last renewed your concern for me. I was laughing when I read that. He's like, thanks, I got your gift.

It's about time. I didn't think that was very good etiquette, very good thank you note etiquette. I got the gift finally. But then he clarifies. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I'm not saying this because I'm in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Just touch the person next to you and say, I'm good, I promise.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content. I wasn't born this way. I was born screaming my head off. I was selfish when I was two, but I'm maturing, and I have learned to be content. I've learned that you can completely. plain, but it won't do any good, and people won't like you. So I'm learning, amen, to be content, whatever the circumstances.

Because I know what it is to be in need. I know what it is to have plenty. I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. And I can do all this through him who gives me strength. I call that the international bench press verse, where you see these posters in every Christian school weight room all over the world. but it's got a little deeper meaning than that.

It's about the sufficiency of God's spirit in every situation. I just feel good today. I feel relaxed and happy about this message. Verse 14, yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only.

You were there for me. You were there for me, and I won't forget it. For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once. When I was in need, it's kind of confusing because he keeps going back and forth. Like, I don't need anything yet thank you for meeting my needs, but I don't need anything. And I'm like, well, Paul, if you don't need it, can we have it back? Because we need it. Look, not that I desire your gifts, what I desire is that more be credited to your account.

I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied now that I have received from Apaphroditis the gifts you sent. They're a fragrant offering and acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your own. needs. I wonder if Paul was just saying this to the church at Philippi, or will he say it to Elevation Valentine today too, and Elevation Toronto. And my God, in fact, I wonder, would you say this to the person next to you? My God will meet all your needs. And this part is important according to the riches of His glory in Christ, because I don't have what you need,

and I can't always be what you need. Because I got my own. needs and that's why I'm tired all the time is because people want me to meet their needs and I've got so many of my own if you only knew how much I needed you would leave me alone how many want to say this to your kids every once in a while not me I love my kids they're delightful but I think that's the most misunderstood verse in the whole book of Philippians and I want to spend some time with it today my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.

And see if we can get a fresh hearing for this verse in Paul's presence. And I want to speak to you today about need meters. Need meters. Some things you learn about your spouse very quickly, after marriage, some things you know going in, some things you find out progressively. I will never forget on our honeymoon learning. I learned a lot about Holly on our honeymoon. And yeah.

Yeah. But in church, the thing that I learned about her that I wanted to tell you about today is we have very opposite vacation personalities. When she gets relaxed, she gets quiet and boring. And when I get relaxed, I get playful. Some would say silly. Some would say obnoxious. But I say playful. And the reason I knew that this was going to be interesting in our relationship is because I thought she was mad. I thought she didn't like the cruise ship. And I was like, well, I know I couldn't afford the balcony room, but at least it's a princess cruise. I was proud of it, proud of the princess cruise. And no, but she was happy.

And she said something to me. I just remembered it when I was preparing this message. When I was jumping up and down on the bed in that little. room that they give you on the cruise ship, jumping up and down on the bed, maybe wanting to arm wrestle and making animal noises. She looked at me, and I've heard her say this to our kids, but this was the first time I heard her say it. She said, do you need attention? What I want to say publicly, Holly, yes. Yes, I need your attention, your affection, your tender mercies.

I need it all. All of it. Anything, I need it all. I don't know what I need. That's one thing I know at age 38 that I didn't know earlier on. I don't even know what I need. I don't. She wants to be a doctor, so she's like, well, where does it hurt?

And I don't know. It hurts. She'll ask me this, what kind of headache? The kind that hurts. And she wants to know, you know, what do you need? What do you need? And the frustrating thing about it is somebody can really love you. and want to meet your needs.

But two things. If you don't even know what you really need, how in the world would they know what you need and meet your needs that you don't even really know? I can see we've got some work to do today. Because some of us want to act like we have no needs, you know? I almost thought that's where Paul was going. I don't need it, but thanks.

But I mean, I don't need it. it. Sorry. And some people you can't even compliment them real good. It's terrible to try to compliment certain people. They'll make you feel so awkward, especially in church. Good sermon. It was God!

Wow, it wasn't that good, pastor. It was just okay. When we come to Christ, there's often an expectation, unrealistic expectation that he's going to take away our needs and he doesn't. In fact, if you are a Christian, you still have the same needs now that you're did before you met Jesus. The same needs, but they are now met in a different way. In other words, you still have the same need for approval.

But now, instead of trying to get it from another human who doesn't even fully like themselves, you are getting it from the all-sufficient, all-knowing, all-seeing, ever-present, ever-living, God, who gives you breath. and who intricately knit you together in your mother's womb. So it's not that I don't have needs. It's not that I don't have wants. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

That doesn't mean I never want anything, never need anything. It doesn't mean my appetite went away. It just means I go to a different buffet now. Amen. That means I eat off a different menu now. And sometimes we are so focused on people's behaviors that we can't discern the needs that drive the behaviors. And a lot of Christian teaching and preaching is focused on condemning behaviors without understanding the need. There is no need that you are currently meeting in your life that is an evil need or a bad need.

And many of us who have various addictions need to hear this exact point. And maybe you can even leave after I say this because this may be the whole reason God brought you here. you're not meeting the wrong need. You're just meeting it with the wrong means. This applies to overspending, overeating, over talking, over bragging, and yes, I hear you Facebook, over sharing. It applies to every sexual addiction. There's a certain shame that comes with sexual addiction, but there shouldn't be because all the addiction is is a valid need trying to express itself. It's a need for connection which is very good and very God. It is not good for man to be alone. But loneliness, if left untreated, becomes lust. That's all lust is. Is the need for connection being met through something that has no ability to satisfy the need

that it is trying to meet. So it becomes more and more and more and more and more. And Paul says, My God shall supply all your needs or meet all of your needs, not according to your resources, but according to his. And I'm glad about it. I'm glad that the only one who has what I need happens to be the only one who knows what I need. How many are glad about that? Let's give God five seconds a praise for knowing what we need and for being what we need. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Listen, Blakeney, when the wicked, even mine enemies came upon me, even they stumbled and fell. He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemy. No, he doesn't take the need away. He becomes what I need. He meets my need. Some of us are waiting for God to remove the need, but if he removed the need, he would remove the means by which he meets the need to remind you that he is what I need.

He not only gives it, he is it. Let's back up a little bit, and let's talk about your need meter. You know, spell it different. If we'd spell it like this. need, not that meters, but the other one. Need meter. Like, how needy are you? Like, what's your meter read?

If we could read the meter on your need today, if it was right there on your forehead. When you came in the house of God, what would we see if we could read your meter? What if we could read your joy meter today? Not your happy meter. Happy meter might be just caffeine. Starbucks can make you happy.

And yet there's this joy, this contentment. It's described in the scripture. Oh, don't let people smile. Confuse you because some people's bone structure is just arranged in their face. They look like they're smiling, okay? Some people just have, you know, resting blessed face. And they just look happy, but it's covering up a lot of stuff. Don't worry about that.

I'm saying like the thing that we can't see if we could see it. If you had a piece meter on your forehead today and we could see your piece meter, would it be like, ah? Or would it be like the gas gauge of a 16 year old who fills up $5 at a time? You know, filling up $5 at a time, a click at a time, a like at a time, a comment at a time. If we could see your meter, I'm going to help you next week in Triggered. I want you to come back and we'll discuss all of this in depth. Because here's what I've learned about this.

When joy is low, usually it's because entitlement is high. That's why the most joyful book in the Bible, according to many, was written in a prison cell because Paul has come to the point where he says, I don't need it. I don't need it. And he really means it. It's not like the one preacher who got up, you know, I don't preach for the praise of men, amen. Amen. Amen. He's really found a place.

He's really found a place of freedom from what he thinks he deserves. And once he's set free from what he thinks he deserves and what he expected it to be, ooh, that's good. That's good. God just gave me that for this particular worship experience. I didn't say it any other time. Once he set free from what he expected, he can receive what he needs. And sometimes what blocks us from. receiving what we need is what we expected we would get and when it doesn't show up like we expected we can't receive what we need can I move a little deeper into

this teaching you good okay the find Acts chapter 16 if you can find it in your Bible or if you want to look it up on your phone I always have a backup plan on the screen for you just in case case it was hectic getting out of the house it'll come up on the screen But we're flowing with last week's message and we're linking that message of how sometimes God uses a no in our life. And I know yes sounds better, but sometimes the no is more important. Sometimes what God doesn't give you and what God won't allow is just as important as what

he has given you and what he does give you permission to do. And that was a really, really interesting message. Even I could feel it as I was preaching it, this resistance to receive God's know with the same faith that you praise him for his yes. And when we get to married to our plans, we can miss God's purpose. And so God does something unusual in Acts 16 as Paul is taking the gospel out. And you have to understand that Paul isn't writing the principles in Philippians and of He's writing them in the context of historical relationship with people in the church, and he loved them.

And he's writing saying, thanks, got the gift, going to use it, don't need it. What I'm excited about is how God is going to use your gift to bless you. That's what he's saying. And it goes all the way back to how he met them to begin with. And how many would say that some people in your life right now don't understand you properly because they don't know your background? And they expect you to be farther along in certain areas, but you're like, if you only knew how good I'm doing to even be as far long as I am. I mean, I still cuss, but I used to beat people.

And why I think we really do Philippians 419 a disservice is because we strip it of its context. So I want to take you through something. Hopefully it won't be boring. But one thing I love about you is you let me love. lay a foundation when I teach. I don't feel the pressure to perform antics to keep you engaged. I thought we needed to look at this real quick to understand the stuff we shout over. My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches. And I'm sad, but that verse sounds great, so I'm going to shout over top of my sadness.

It's because we don't understand the means. We don't understand the means. So let's go back several years earlier. Paul is trying to get somewhere, verse 7, when they came to the border of Mycia. He's got Timothy with him. And they tried to enter Bethenia, but the spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. Wouldn't allow them to what? Wouldn't allow them to preach about Jesus.

Jesus stopped his own PR campaign. That's very, very, very unusual. very difficult for me to get my mind around until I get to the next verses and sometimes you do not understand at all what God is doing in the moment. Graham is so funny we were coming to church today and a lot of our staff kids went to camp last week and we had a staff advance last week and I was sharing with the staff all week and it was just a family event and family affair and Graham got to play Joseph in a skit in a small group at camp so he had the story of Joseph, the Old Testament, Joseph, on his mind. And they sent me a video of him down on the ground when Potipher's wife is accused in Joseph. Potipher's wife is called Hoddafer. And she was accused of trying to make advances. And Graham was on the ground saying, no, I didn't do it. But Graham asked me something. He said, do you think when the Bible says God was with Joseph? You think Joseph felt that way at the time? I don't know. It doesn't say how he felt. It states the fact after the fact.

But you can't really know what God is doing until he's done it. And you don't really know what you need until you get what you want and find out it isn't even what you thought it was. So Paul wants to go to Asia, blocked. Paul wants to go to Micea, blocked. And he does something that you've got to learn to do when you don't know what to do. Instead of going home, he goes into the place of active waiting. It means God. I'm not just waiting for you to do something.

I'm waiting on you. Like we used to not call them servers, it was waiters. I'm waiting on you. God, what would you like me to do in this season? So I'm praying for a new job, but I'm being nice at this one. Y'all don't want to help me preach. I'm praying for my kids' behavior to improve, but I'm not going to exemplify the exact behavior that I'm trying to correct by going off on them and demonstrate.

anger while I'm trying to correct anger. I'm actively waiting. And this place is called Troas. Bible says that since they couldn't get into Mycia, they went down to Troas. This is a place of transition. It's a port city. Asia Minor one side, Europe on the other. Where are we going? What's God doing? I don't know, but I'm not going home. I don't know, but I'm not giving up. I don't know, but I'm not losing sight. I don't know, but I'm not going to go into despair. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I thought it was God and I thought it was this and I moved to Charlotte or I moved to Raleigh or I moved to Winston and I had this idea and I had this plan, but God's purpose is greater than my plan. So I am in the place. I'm positioned to hear God's voice and God speaks to Paul in that place. God speaks to Paul. I believe he's going to speak to somebody here today too. During the night, verse 9, not in the day. Daytime when everything is pretty and you can see what you're doing. During the night, this is a theme in scripture, some of the greatest stuff God will show

you will be when you can't see with your eyes and when you can't feel with your emotions, when you can't understand with your mind. During the night, Paul had a vision of a man, a man of Macedonia, this big region in Europe with people who were not yet reached by the gospel. There were a lot of Jewish people in Macedonia, but not many believers yet, and certainly no church. And now I understand why God told Paul no, because God knew the real need.

The plans of a man are in his heart, but his steps are ordered by the Lord. God has a purpose and you have a plan, and sometimes he has to do away with one to get to the other. I'm preaching right to your heart today. Trying to get you to see this vision that Paul saw. It was a man of Macedonia. A what of Macedonia?

A man of Macedonia standing and begging him. Come over to Macedonia and help us. Paul was looking for an opportunity. God showed him a need. Could it be possible that you've been asking God, for an opportunity and God is showing it to you in the form of your greatest need. Would you be willing to receive that maybe the way God is speaking to you in this season is not by what you feel and not by what you think and not even by what you want when you try to

figure out your life and how others should act and how it needs to be? Have you got to the place like Paul where you say, I don't know what I really need. I need you to lead me, God. Somebody say, lead me, Lord. I don't want to lean on my own understanding. I need God to lead me. I don't need to lean on what I think I need

because I'll think I need one thing when I really need another. That's how I gained weight when we got married. I thought I needed an Oreo and I really needed exercise. Sometimes we think we need food, we really need a nap. Sometimes we think we think we need another person. What we really need to do is pray and ask God to get our minds right.

Sometimes we think we need people to treat us different. What we really need is to see people not as trees for us to pick the fruit from, but for soil for us to sow in. And God speaks to Paul and says, You want an opportunity? Here it is. And it's in the form of a need. God is trying to lead you through your need.

And my God will meet all your needs. How? With a need. God is God. He meets needs with needs. He's better than Christian mingle. God is a matchmaker. He's better than farmers only and Christian farmers only and God is in the business of meeting needs with needs.

Has your joy been low lately? Has your focus been off? Is your meat or reading need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need. Maybe God is going to show you a need that you can meet so that you can see. what you had all along that you have not been using. The plot thickens now. Paul's like, God, give me an opportunity, God, give me wisdom. God, God, God, God, God, give me, God, give me, God, give me, God, give me, God, give me, God, give me, God, give me, God give me, give me, God give me, give me, God give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, and Paul, there's no evidence that, but I'm just.

I'm imposing what I would be doing on Paul. I'd be praying God, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, and giving me, give me, give me, and the way God helps Paul is by showing him someone who needs help. Quiet? Y'all want me to get back to, and my God will meet all your needs. Paul wasn't saying that about himself. Paul was in prison thinking about somebody else's needs. Because he knew, if I focus on my needs right now, I'm going to be depressed because I am going to shrink my spirit to the size of my situation. So God, instead of focusing on what I need, what I think, what I want, What I don't.

Give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. I'm changing my prayer. Show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, what you're doing in the world. Show me what you've put in my kids. Show me what you're calling me to be in the season that I'm in. Show me who I can bless. Show me who I can encourage.

Show me 10 people I can text and tell them, you got this. Because I'm waiting on somebody to tell me you got this. But maybe the way I'm going to get it is to give it. Give them and they shall be given. Unto you, good measure, press down, shaking together, and running over. If you want joy, rejoice. If you want purpose, give praise. Give it if you want it.

I don't mean to holler at you. Sit down. Caught up in the moment. Give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. And the man came in the dream. And then it makes an interesting turn. How many of you love the little details that we slow down and point out in the Bible? When you read this thing slow and stop skimming, you'll be amazed how it had come alive.

You can't read this like BuzzFeed. The Bible is not BuzzFeed. When you treat it like that, you miss the blessing of it. Slow down and watch what's happening here. Watch what's happening here. Verse 7, when they came to the border of Mycilla, that's where they wanted to go. Look at verse 10. After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready.

Why did he shift from they to we? This is when Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, got on board with the mission, when Paul saw the vision. And what got me was, it took faith for Paul to go out on a mission after seeing a vision. How much more faith did it take for the people who didn't even see the vision Paul saw to go with him? Sometimes it's hard to follow something that you can't see for yourself. And Luke's like, Paul said he saw a man in Macedonia.

So we got, we packed up and went. We didn't debate. How many of you would have at least asked God for one confirmation before you got back out on the sea? Paul, you had a dream. And I think there's a blessing in immediate obedience when we set straight out and just give. I don't understand people who I'll meet in and they'll go, I've been coming to the church four years. Do you serve? No. You in the group? No.

You invite your friends? No. I don't usually ask them if they give. It's a little too. personal. You know, that's a weird thing to ask, isn't it? But then they'll say, let me know if you ever need anything. And I'm like, do you come? Do you see the people that God is bringing in each week? You see how some of them come in with a look in their eyes? Like, they might not make it. Do you see how God is unifying this church from so many different backgrounds? Not just skin color, but even belief system, ideology, and how God is centering us on Christ in a culture

that has never been more divided? Do you not see the need? The harvest is here, and the laborers are few. What do you mean if I need anything? It's right in front of you. Let's go. Let's do this. Let's build a church.

Have you brought a friend with you in the last couple months? invited somebody to come with you, to share it with you. God's not going to meet your needs independent of you. He's going to meet your needs through your willingness to meet someone else's. I want to spend the rest of my life preaching like this to help us see that my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches. Paul said that after he thanked the Philippians for meeting his needs. He said, now that you've met somebody else's needs, God is going to meet yours. And I just couldn't get over it.

How they had the faith to go out to Macedonia. There's like 300,000 people in Macedonia. And Paul saw one man in a vision. He's like, let's go. Let's go find that man that I saw my vision. How tall was he? I don't know. This is his eye color.

I don't know. God will show us when we get there. So they go. So they go. And verse 11 describes it. From Troas, we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrus. And next day we went to Neopolis. Side note, God doesn't take you there all at once. It's little stops along the way. Is this it? Is this it? Is this it? Is this it? How many can testify? God doesn't just take you there all at once. And he doesn't meet every need all at once, because then he knows you'd start thinking you didn't need him. So what he does is he leads you step by step, a little bit of light.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. Watch me walk and a light unto my path. Next step, next step, next step, next step. I'm going to bend down and buckle my shoe back because that's going to annoy me. It's probably been driving somebody crazy on the front row. It's just the little things. And God speaks through the little things. And he meets big needs.

Watch this. Through small acts of obedience. We went here. We went there. What's you looking for, Paul? I saw a man in Macedonia, and I'm looking for him, and they end up, watch this. From there, verse 12, we traveled to Philippi. Philippians.

That's the city. That's the place. That's where the first church in Europe or the Western world was started. This is how it started. This right here, through someone you've never even heard of. I know you've heard of Paul. I'm really not here to preach about Paul today. I'm going to show you somebody who doesn't get listed.

Samson. All he ever did is get a haircut, and we preach about him all the time. No? I want to introduce you to a woman. Let's hear it from the women. This is like the ultimate women's Bible. Holly, write a Bible study about this. because the Bible says that they traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony where a lot of the Roman generals would go to retire.

About 20 to 30,000 people lived in this one city. And then there's four districts of Macedonia. So Paul's really looking for a needle in the haystack. And there's not a lot of Christian. If there are any believers here, they're hiding. And there's not that many Jews either. I'll show you how I know that in a moment. But he gets there and God uses a need to lead him there.

Lead me, Lord. How did God lead with a need? How is God going to lead you into what he has next for your life? With a need. How is God going to choose who he uses through the people who are broken? He can't meet a need through someone who doesn't have a need. And he will often use you to alleviate the same pain that you yourself are experiencing. Because God leads with me.

God is leading me. What do you mean when you say that? You mean you feel good about it? Jesus didn't get to the cross feeling good about it. In fact, he prayed, Father, if it's possible, take this cup from me. I don't want to do it. I don't feel like doing it. But leave me, Lord.

If this is what they need to be redeemed, then let's do it. If you need me in Philippi, I wanted to go to Mysia, I wanted to go to Asia, I wanted to be married. I didn't want to be in this situation. I don't even like this right now, but God, lead me, show me the need and lead me through the valley of the shadow of death. God being my leader doesn't mean I won't go through anything. It means he won't leave me alone, and there's a reason I'm going through what I'm going through. God knows what I need. And so he says, we ended up in Philippi, the leader.

city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. And he doesn't talk about what they did over those couple days. And I wonder, you know, what do you do when you get to Philippi? It's 20, 30,000 people in the town and you saw one man in a vision. Do you walk around looking for him? Like, hey, I saw a man. Are you him? What do you do? One time me and Buck went on a mission trip, and Buck's on staff now. He's been on staff. God, I guess about coming up on eight years on staff, but we've been friends since college. We were on this mission trip, and he's a funny guy, but he doesn't like to show it a lot. He reminded me of this guy that we went on the mission trip with.

This dude was country. Oh, no, I don't mean like Monk's Corner Country. This dude was from Louisiana, and he was big country, and he would walk up and talk to anybody, and he had these little country sayings that I still don't know what they mean. He used to, we'd be getting ready in the morning and be like, you're ready. And he'd say, you're waiting on me, you're backing up. And the first part was understanding what he actually said. Like, please say that again.

And then he'd say what he said. If you're waiting on me, you're backing up. And I still wouldn't know what it meant, even though I understood what he said. But I had this flashback preparing this message. We were at a gas station. And there was another guy named Clint that was on the team. And he was from Australia, but he wasn't with us at the time there. They were somewhere else.

And a van full of people rolled up, and this guy, I'm going to call him Bob in case he watches. He's a pastor now. And Bob just walk up and talk to anybody, and they didn't understand the word he was saying, but he just walk up and talk to anybody. And he's walking up to him, where are you all from? And they said, Australia, mate? And he liked that. To him, that was exotic, you know, a van full of foreigners. I just got back from Australia, so that's the best accent I can do.

If you want to do Australian accent, just leave off random syllables all the time. They just leave crap off all the time and shorten everything. Australia, mate. He said, Australia! Hey, Australia! From Australia? The poor guy driving the van goes, Australia's a pretty big place, mate. There's more than one Clint.

So, Macedonia is a big place. It's not, Paul sees this vision, but he's not exactly sure. You ever notice how many times you're not exactly sure? Like, you sense God is leading you to do something, but it's a needle. Ooh, a need, a needle in a haystack. So I'm here, but I don't know what I'm looking for. I'm raising these kids, but I don't know if I'm doing it right. I'm trying to discipline them and be their friend.

Sometimes I don't know which one to be at which time. And I want them to love me, but I need them to fear me, so I don't know which one to be right now. And I'm trying to be patient, but I'm also trying to be proactive. And sometimes I don't know what's waiting on God and what's pushing ahead because I hear both. I hear step out the boat and I hear stay in the boat and I don't know what to do with the boat and boat. And I don't even have a boat and I'm going to like the water. So you got to look for a synagogue, right? That's where Paul would always start his preaching.

And to have a synagogue, you need, everybody say need. You need 10 men at least. But there's not 10 Jewish men to form a synagogue in Philippi. That's how desperate the city is for what Paul had. And that's why God had to tell him no about Micea and know about Aesia. and know about Asia because there was a more desperate need somewhere else. I wonder if God told you no for a reason. I wonder if God left you there for reason.

Paul's looking. You seen Clint? Clint? It's a big place, mate. I saw a man in a vision. And they go out one Sabbath and watch this since they knew that there wasn't a synagogue. Verse 13, on the Sabbath, we stayed outside the city. gate to the river where we expected to find a place of prayer.

You'll find what you're looking for, by the way. If you look for a place God is working, you will find it in every situation. Ask Lanny if God will show up in a hospital room. Ask him if God will show up in a desperate situation. Oh, yeah, God will show up at a custody hearing. Oh, yeah, God will show up in a bankruptcy. God will show up in a divorce. God will show up in a broken heart.

God will show up in a season of despondency. God will show up in a crisis. God will show up in national turmoil. God is here. I'm just looking for it. So Paul says, I didn't find what I expected and I didn't get what I wanted, but my God will meet all my needs. Now here's what God knew.

I've been waiting all week to show you this. So please be merciful if I'm too excited and you don't like my level of energy because I've had all week to get ready for this. There was a woman, let's hear it for the women one more time, who was what the Old Testament called a Godfeer. Now a Godfeer is a Gentile who believes in the Jewish God. So she's ready to receive the message about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, but she needs somebody to explain it to her.

Well, good news. There's somebody in Philippi who needs somebody to preach to. So somebody who needed the message got together with somebody who needed a congregation. God is a need meter. God is a matchmaker. God knows how to put you where you need to be to release what he gave you to care. Don't leave yet. I'm not done.

Some of you needed this word today, and that's why you almost didn't get to church. That's why you almost know I could catch it online. No, you needed this word. So you got in your car and you got to this church because you have a need. Well, God gave me the word and he gave you the need. And I declare that my God shall supply all your... Caring up my stuff. So said that we expected to find a place of prayer, but I bet they didn't expect this.

we sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. What did Paul see in his vision? A man from Macedonia. What did he see when he got to his assignment? A woman. God's not going to do it how you thought he was. It's not going to feel like you thought it would feel. He's not going to do it who threw you, who you,

He's not going to do it through the people that you wanted him to do it through because then you'd worship them, not him. No synagogue. Let's find a place of prayer. That's where they could gather informally and they would do it by the river. Let's go to the river. Let's go to the place we didn't find what we wanted, but God's going to give us what we need. Can I do a Bible study with JJ real quick? I want you preached a sequel to this. Next time you're in a pulpit. Do it from 1st King 17. Do it from the widow at Zarifat. Elijah needs food, she needs food. He sends somebody with the need to somebody with a need. When he gets there, he says to the widow, meet my need.

She said, no, you meet mine. And then Elijah says something that we can learn from. When you meet my need, God will meet your needs. Doesn't that sound like Philippians 4? And my God, I got what you sent. I got what you supplied. And now my God is going to meet your needs. needs because you stopped thinking so much about your needs and focused on somebody else's.

My God will meet all your needs. And there's one woman, and we need to put her in the list, you know. Good for Daniel, good for Noah, that old drunk, boat building drunk. But let's put Lydia in the list. Because one of the people listening, there's always somebody listening. You never know who's listening. You see how I'm preaching today like fighting something or like you see, see, because I never know who's listening. I never know who's listening.

And this week, somebody very famous was texting me about a message that I preached and one of my kids was like, how cool is that? I was like, it's really cool. You never know who's listening. But it might not be a celebrity that God wants to speak to the most today. It might be somebody, I'm not going to ask. ask you to raise your hand, but if I did, 90% of this church has never heard a sermon about Lydia. And yet if it weren't for her, there would have been no church in Philippi. It was just as important who was listening as it was who was preaching. And we've got to do away with the celebrity culture where God only uses people who have a certain number of followers

or who have reached an elevated status in the world's eyes. We are not all Paul. I'm not Paul, you're not Paul, but there was a woman named Lydia. And God was shown me this week in my study. You've got a church full of Lydia, some men, some women, but they're unlikely people who see themselves as unlikely, but they are the missing link. And when they begin to see themselves as a vessel and not just a receptacle, and when they begin to see themselves as the conduit through which I want to

and bless the people around them, the earth will not be able to contain the increase of the measure of the glory of the Lord. God is looking for Lydia. God shut down a whole apostolic tour because he was looking for Lydia. Paul didn't know her name, but he went where he thought he was supposed to go, because sometimes all you can do is obey the best you know how. Let that set you free. Paul didn't even know what he was looking for, but he was doing his best to be obedient. are you? Because if you will, you'll always find a Lydia. Lydia was a woman, verse 15, excuse me, 14,

from the city of Thyatira, formerly known as the kingdom of Lydia. So her name probably wasn't Lydia, but that's where she was from, and that's how they often referred to women in those days. and she was a dealer in purple cloth so purple's the expensive stuff if you deal purple cloth you make bank and I know it's cringy what I just said Elijah I don't even need to hear about it after the sermon Lydia didn't need money she needed a message

Paul had the message she had the money and when his need and her need met, the church in the West was born because God is a need meter, but God does not meet needs independently of his people. He uses us. There's a tendency in a church this size to look around and go, I don't think they need me here. So then you get all focused on yourself, you know? How is the sermon today? Yeah, a little long. It's all right. What do you talk about? Some guy named Philip.

Give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. But there's a perspective shift, there's a PS, there's a, Paul said, my God will meet all your needs. He said, I didn't even need the money. You needed the message. And so Paul shows up, Lydia's sitting down. He saw a man in the vision, but he sees a woman by the river. God shows up how he wants to show up through disappointment, sometimes through what seems to be a setback, sometimes through unexpected people, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshipper of God or a God fear. She was

close. You know there's people in your life who are close to the kingdom and they're waiting on somebody who would have the willingness? There are people in your circle who need the presence of God. put you in their life. And you're part of a church. At many of our locations, we have so many seats available. Everybody could bring somebody next weekend. We'd be full of everybody found one person who needed Jesus last week. Our church would double in one week.

And not even thinking about the impact of our eFAM that's watching online. I mean, we use social media to spread everything. Why not the message of the only name that saves? Why would you sit on a message? Why would you sit on something that has the power to say? I took the message across the sea. And sometimes I'm burdened that we just come to get our needs met. And we don't get them met because God doesn't meet your needs through thinking about your needs.

You've got to get outside of yourself and outside of your customs and outside of your traditions and outside of your expectations and outside of your entitlement. Paul said, it's not even about me. And this woman Lydia, I don't know a whole lot about her except for I'm thankful for her. And I feel like there are many Lidias watching me today whose names may never be known, but whose purpose is important. And watch what happened when Paul's need to preach met her need to hear. This woman who was sitting by the river says, the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. That means she decided to become a follower of Christ.

And when she and the members of her household, see, it's never just about you. It's not just about you. The first thing she did when she was touched by the power of God was to think about somebody else. God, who have you connected me to that needs you? That needs hope. That needs Jesus. And I love the language. It says, after those who were in her household were baptized, the people closest to her, she invited us to her home.

If you consider me a believer in the Lord, she said, come and stay at my house, and she persuaded us. And the Lord told me like this, he said, I opened her heart and she opened her house. And some of the people that you've preached to, I've opened their heart and I've blessed them, but they haven't opened their house yet. And they're in this big church just thinking about me and my needs and it's so easy to do and I do it all the time And so we sing about breakthroughs and blessings and it's good, it's good, it's good I promise man I help write the song I know a breakthrough is coming by faith I see you God God my God God told me to tell you be the breakthrough be the breakthrough

Be the breakthrough Be the breakthrough Be the breakthrough for somebody else And watch how God will break through for you Be the breakthrough for someone else It's time to turn to pain You've been rehearsing it over and over again

It's time to release it and ask God to use it God let you go through that for something God didn't just keep you through all of that So you could just be a survivor You are to be an agent of change and the world needs what we have, but we've got to give it. And God is looking for Lydia. And I want to pray for you right now.

I was intentional about this message going into my new series because it's going to be so helpful for people who are fighting demons. They don't even know they're fighting. They don't even know how to name. But the best thing we can do is not just come and get our needs met, But ask God to open our eyes to the needs of those who are around us. The harvest is plentiful. And I want to take a moment as the pastor of this church.

This is not a performance. This is a partnership. I'm going to say it again. This is not a performance. I can't do this by myself. This church was built on sacrificial people. Dan Horner and Eric Miller and guys have been with me for a long time who are willing to open their lives and say, yeah, there's people in my life who need Jesus, and there's things I have,

and there's resources, and the answer is yes. And I want to stand you up right now with no one leaving and disrupting the moment for someone. And I want you to get someone on your mind at every location. Campus pastors, I want you to get near the stage so you can agree in faith with this prayer. And I want to agree with you in faith concerning someone in your life who needs Jesus, someone who needs the Lord that God has put you in contact with. And I want to pray that you would have the eyes to see other people's need this week. That this week God would open your eyes. Oh God forgive us.

We've been praying, meet my needs. You've been trying to open our eyes to see the blessing that we already have in you. The only way for our needs to be met are to meet the needs of the world that you love. And God, we ask you now to use us. to use us. We want to see what you can do through us. We've seen what you can do for us. And we lose sight of it when we close our hearts. And so we offer ourselves to you as instruments. God puts somebody on their heart this week, somebody that they work with or live next to or something in. Maybe they'll have to ask a few times. But would you bring people here next week for this new series who need you and use us?

To meet those needs, we can't save them. That's not our job, but we can be a link. We could be a Lydia. We ask right now that you would do a great work through us in this series, that you would supply and meet every need according to your glorious riches. Well, I hope you enjoyed the podcast today. If you did, there are just a couple things I'd love for you to do. Number one, subscribe to our show. That way, the most recent episode will always be in your feed, waiting for you.

ready when you are. And secondly, if this ministry has impacted you and you'd like to help us continue to reach others, you can click the link in the description and you can give now. And I'll see you next time on the Elevation Podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.