Elevation with Steven Furtick - Now I Know Why

Episode Date: November 25, 2019

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This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Holly and I wanted to say a special hello to our EFAM, our extended family around the world. I love you guys. Hey, before we get into the message, let me tell you about available. This is a special season for our church. It's a tradition for the people of elevation. Every year we gather, we appreciate and anticipate.

And we also give. This is our yearly time for everybody who receives from this ministry to give so that the ministry can go forth. And this year we've themed it around the word. Available. That's all God has ever wanted is for us to say, here I am, send me, use me. And you have the opportunity to do that. So if you've been blessed through the ministry, it's good to receive. It's even better to give.

If you want to make a donation, a one-time gift or a recurring gift, just be a part of what God is doing here. We are so appreciated. You can get all the details at elevationchurch.org. I'm going to said elevationworship.com. I guess you could go there too. But the giving is at Elevation Church. What did you just did? You have Elevation Worship on your sweatshirt.

Hey! But Elevationchurch.org, and you can select available. We use all of these resources to continue to preach the gospel, not only in physical locations like this one, but through the amazing opportunity God has given us to impact the world through technology. And we want to thank all of you who are a part. We couldn't do it without you. Thank you for being a part of our family. Thank you for being a part of this move of God.

Go to Elevationchurch.org.com. If you're not already there and be a part, this is going to be an amazing, amazing season. And Holly and I are believing that your best is ahead. Last week, I preached on yes, and this week I want to preach on why. Yes is God's favorite word. He loves to say yes.

He loves to say yes. When you ask him, God, would you allow me to experience your presence? He loves to say yes. God loves to say yes to his children. When you ask anything according to his will, he hears you. He longs to do it. He loves to say yes. He loves to say yes when you ask him to heal your heart in places that it is broken by people who didn't know how to treat you.

He loves to say yes. God loves to say yes when you ask him, God, I'm lonely. Can I have your comfort right now? He loves to say yes to you. You have to come crawling in God's throne. room like some kind of fugitive, like you have to hide or Gabriel might throw you out. God would sooner throw an angel out of his throne room than turn away one of his children. He loves to say yes to you.

I don't know who this is for, but you need to know he loves to say yes. When you ask him to bless you, he loves to say yes. Now, sometimes he will bypass the blessing that you asked him for to give you the blessing that you didn't even know to ask for because he's able to do immeasurably more. more than we ask or imagine. God loves to say yes to the questions you didn't even know to ask. And that's what we talked about last week. And if you weren't here, I hate it for you.

But this week I just want to talk about why, which incidentally is my kid's favorite word. They love to hear yes, but they love to ask why. And that's what we want to center our teaching around today. The scripture, I don't make you stand for the whole service. in case you're just kind of wondering about that. I would like you to remain standing for just a moment in honor of the reading of God's Word. This is a picture in scripture from two different gospel accounts mentioned this one incident. For me, I use it as a way of kind of understanding generosity.

And it gives me a demonstration of the kind of life that I aspire to live. And I'm not saying I live this way, but I really want to. So I made a promise to God that I would try to preach from this scripture at least once a year, just to see how am I doing? Am I settling into complacency? Am I taking God's presence for granted like you'll see some people do in this text? Or do I value and honor him? And so that's what I want to preach about today. The scripture says in Matthew 26, verse 6, while Jesus was in Bethany, in the home of a man known as

Simon the leper. And you thought your nickname was bad. A woman came to him with an alabaster jar of on sale perfume. Did the Bible say something different? Okay. This woman came to him with a jar of reasonably priced perfume. Y'all pray for me. It's early.

Very expensive perfume. Something that cost her. Something that was significant to her. And so she took the expensive perfume and poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. They asked the question, why this waste? Why? Why this waste?

They asked. This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor. Aware of this, Jesus said to them, why? I love how Jesus fights why with why. Huh? I do this to my kids too. Why do we have to wash the dishes? Why do you expect to eat?

Look at somebody and say, fight why with why? Jesus said, why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor, you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. You may be seated in God's presence. Yeah, man, your kids will wear you out asking why.

True story? The parents that know what I'm talking about are too tired to even answer me. But it's how they learn about the world. So even this week, Abby was asking me why Christmas trees are a thing. So I googled it when she wasn't looking and then told her the answer. That's the best thing about your kids not having data on their phone. You can stay wise for a little while. Now, my boys, they're older.

They know everything. They're 14 and 12. They already know more than me. They stopped asking why years ago. But Abby's still in that stage of asking why. And she went on this whole thing. I'll put a video on the screen in a minute to show you of what it's like to be a parent. I want you to watch as my eight-year-old daughter deconstructs Christmas and then ask yourself the question, do you really want to have kids?

So just check this out. It's only a minute video. Based on trees. But Jesus born in a tree, no. He was born in a manger. Our gifts should be in a manger or around the manger or something. But Jesus was not born in a tree. We should not be celebrating a tree. We should be celebrating Jesus's birth.

But he died on a tree? What? He died on the cross. What's a cross made out though? Where this wood come from? A tree. But are we celebrating Jesus' death? No, that's Easter. Easter! Your Easter eggs and your Easter baskets should be under a tree. Because that's where Jesus died.

Did Jesus die on Christmas? No, he was born on Christmas. I want to tell you a little bit about why I give today. I want to explain that to you just from my heart. Earlier in the week, on Monday, I had a sermon prepared about the gospel going to the Gentiles, and the Lord was like, I hope you like that sermon. It's not for now. Because this week I want to talk about my why in hopes that you might find your why. How many of you are givers? It's kind of an interesting question to ask.

It's like, well, compared to what? And I remember early in our marriage when I made the decision about tithing, for instance. Tive means tenth. And it's the principle of putting God first in your finances. And it's like everything that God gives me came from him, and I want to return the first portion back to him. Now, the only people that start shifting around in their seats when I say the word give or tithe or anything like that are the greedy people, so don't worry about them. Because for those who give, you understand that it is the greatest privilege of your life

to give back to the God who gave everything that you have to you. And when Holly was working at Township 3 Elementary under Tropsey McCluny, which is the best principal name in history. Every check we got from the Cleveland County school system, I was proud to write 10 percent of it back to Christ Covenant Church. I started doing that in college. And then if I would go preach somewhere and they would give me pepperoni pizza and $300 for preaching to 12 kids on the weekend, I would come back home and the first thing I would want to do was to make sure 30 went to my church. Then as we begin to experiment with the offering, it became a great privilege to ask God.

out of all that you have given to us what can we give back to you I remember the first time I experimented with this was when the Lord was speaking to me about giving a month of the salary back to him and then when we did that there was a $5,000 I-N-G direct emergency fund that we had put aside and the Lord began to speak to us and when I say God would speak to us there was nothing out loud I wish it But it's more of a louder voice than out loud is something that you know inside of you. And that's how the Holy Spirit would speak to us. And I remember giving that emergency fund to our church at the time.

I wasn't the pastor of the church, but I remember giving that. As a matter of fact, I can look back at so many times in this church where we've been at this moment. And some of the greatest times that God grew my faith was in the process of me. I'll say it like this, getting to give back to God. And I say it like that because that's really how I see it. I never thought that I was doing God a favor by giving to him financially. Any more than I thought I was doing him a favor when I praised him with my songs, or any more

than I thought I was doing him a favor when I breathe in and breathe out. It's just a natural reflex of someone who has been born again to give back to the God who gave them life. Let all the givers take five seconds and thank God for everything he gave you. So we're in this season right now where I think that this woman in Matthew 26 has something to teach all of us about why we give to God, whether it's time that we give to God, whether it's money that we give to God, why do we do it? And I only preach once or twice a year about finances, but I'm always preaching about

giving. I'm either talking about what God has given you, that you've received, or what you offer back to him as a gift. And in this passage it talks about a woman who walked into a room full of men and had an intention to give something significant to Jesus. And I broke it down in my studying to three different whys or three different reasons that she would give. Her motive is not on the surface of the text, but I think that if we just don't just say that we just

study it for a moment we can see three different things one is worship one is wisdom and one is witness and those are the three things i want to preach about for just a moment is why this woman gave an expensive gift to jesus and it's as i study it and as i've reflected on it it's why i give too and i believe it's why so many of you give and this is a church that gives big no for real you are sitting around, maybe not the person right next to you, but somebody on your row is a big giver. That's why there's a Gaston. That's why there's a Lake Norman. That's why there's a Blakeney. That's why there's a river walk, formerly known as Rock Hill. That's why, because somebody was a giver. And now, so in this moment of time, I want to explain why. And a lot of people

ask me why a lot of things about Elevation Church? They ask me, why is the music so loud? They ask me, why do you holler when you preach? God's not deaf. Well, he's not nervous either. And if I holler, he's not going to jump. God doesn't have a panic attack when I yell. I see people get excited about other things. I'm excited about Jesus. Is that such a sin? So let's talk about worship.

Let's talk about the things that you wonder why. See, kids will ask why. Grownups just wonder. You don't ever stop asking why. You just stop asking it out loud. In this passage, the disciples were just plain about it. Why this waste? Think of the insult to their

rabbi that this accusation represented. Come on, he's a good teacher. But really, the whole bottle of perfume? I mean, come on, really. Like, the preacher, somebody asked me one time, why do they stand up on the front few rows when you start preaching horror? I was like, well, I don't know. Maybe you have to ask them.

Maybe they value the Word of God, like some sports fans value a touchdown by some people that they don't know, wearing some spandex. running around the field, talking about a fantasy football, and somebody that will never put anything in your real life, but God has given you grace and mercy with every rising of the sun. Oh, no, you would have to ask them. You'll act like, you'll take 10 seconds and give God worship. Well, go ahead. Well, anyway, the word worship is not talking about music.

Only in modern church culture have we taken the word worship and used it to describe a a genre of music. I've got my rock playlist, I've got my country playlist, I've got my hip-hop playlist, I've got my worship playlist. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Worship is not a genre. Worship doesn't start when somebody comes up and grabs a guitar on stage. Worship is not an activity that is confined to the realm or the expression of music.

When you really understand worship, you understand, let me say it like this, worthship. What is God worth to you? The problem with the disciples' question is that it devalued the woman's act because it devalued the presence of Jesus. One of the reasons they may have been so exasperated by what they saw to be too much. It's too much. I don't understand why people have to lift their hands in worship. Why do they do that? Maybe they have something they need to give to God.

Maybe they've been fighting all week and they're throwing up their hands to say, God, I need you. Maybe they're carrying something that is too heavy for them to carry alone. Would you stop judging somebody else's worship when you don't even know their warfare? They came in here fighting the devil, fighting depression, and now they got 30 minutes to say, God, I glorify you. They need a sea turned into a highway They need bones turned into armies

Why do I throw up my hands? Because I need him I need him like my morbin A daily bread man He's my present help He's my friend that sticks closer than a brother He's the one that never walked away He's the one that I can call to in the middle of the night

When nobody else will take my call or return my text He's the one that picks me up He's the one who's not ashamed to be identified with me He's the one who knows everything about me, even the dirty little dark stuff and still says I'm the righteousness of God He's the one who spilled his blood for me Excuse me if I'm excited to give him pray Yeah ever apologize for praising God everybody worship something Why not worship the one who made you?

Everybody worship something So apart from the practical value that Jesus only has one week to live and And this woman is anointing his body for burial with this expensive perfume that she saved up for something special. And she realizes now is the moment. And she realizes that now is the time. And she realizes that I should not look around and see what everybody else is doing because they have gotten used to Jesus. He's worthy. It's not a waste.

My dad used to walk around the house tearing the paper towels in half. But I didn't get it until, because at that stage of my life, I thought it was just weird. But one day my mom explained to me how poor he was growing up, and then I got it. You'll never understand what somebody does. You will never understand someone's actions. You will never understand. In this passage of Scripture, this woman is doing something that the others see it wasteful. Maybe there's something she was responding to that they had not experienced.

And I'm going to just go ahead and tell you right now, the woman in this text was someone who knew firsthand the grace of God. Do you know firsthand the grace of God? Because people who just hear about Jesus and they haven't really owned their faith? They don't understand this kind of worship. The worship that starts when the songs are over. the worship that begins when you reach down and say, God, you deserve this. You're worthy of this. So all of the men are at the table and the woman comes into the room.

Who is this woman? You ever wonder that, like the people in the Bible that it doesn't tell us much about their background? John Chapter 12. I'm going to show you why this woman was willing to worship. And it's a funny thing, Holly is a worship stalker. Y'all need to know this. She looks around the church for people who are worshiping, and then she just watches y'all. She told me about one of you, you're in the room right now, but I'm not going to call you

out by name. She's like, there's this one, at first it sounded kind of sketchy when she says, she said, there's this one man in the church that I love to watch him when he worships. I was saying, maybe he needs to find another, go to Forest Hill or something like that, you know what I'm saying? But she would see this particular person. He's in the church right now. I'm just not going to look anywhere near him.

But it wasn't like that. She said, no matter what song we're singing, it's not like a preference thing. There would just be, I look at him, he's just crying. And it wasn't like he wasn't one of these. He didn't bring a praise banner into the church or a chauffeur. He didn't like grow up. He didn't understand all of the protocol of it. But she was so moved when she saw.

How much worship meant to him. Because at the same time, you got somebody like sneaking in the back because they didn't want to really have to deal with the hassle of checking their kids in, so they time it just right to come there and eat kids. Then they slip out during the invitation. He wouldn't like that. He would be standing in line so he could get close to the front, and then he would just cry through the whole worship set.

And he didn't do like this like, I don't like this song. Why are they singing that over and over again? I don't understand. Okay. There's nothing better than him. No, there's nothing, there's nothing, there's nothing, there's nothing, okay? I get it, there's nothing, there's nothing. You want me to do?

But he would just cry. When she found out his testimony, what he had been through, she got it. Once she understood the depth, John Chapter 12, which follows, by the way, John 11, is a deep church. We teach the deep stuff. In John Chapter 11, Jesus raised a man. named Lazarus from the dead. In John chapter 12, the Bible says something very interesting. It says six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had

raised from the dead. But you can't understand my chapter 12 unless you understand my chapter 11. Please understand. Chapter 11 is a bankruptcy term in the U.S. tax code, but when I'm talking about it, I'm talking about a spiritual bankruptcy, that I know, that I know, that I know, that there were dead things in my life, that there was shame in my life, that there was nothing else for me to do but call on the name of the Lord. And the Bible says, verse two, here a dinner was given in Jesus's honor. Martha served while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard and expensive perfume. Now I understand. why it was such a natural thing for her to do to pour out something that was expensive and significant.

Because she had seen Jesus do something. See, this is the same story. John is recording it from his point of view. Matthew recorded it from his point of view. Matthew said, it was a woman who came in and poured out the oil. John said, let me tell you about the woman. She saw her brother in the tomb for days. Jesus showed up and said, rolled the stone away.

When he said and rolled the stone away, he called her brother out. So by the time he got to Bethany, and she knew, this is the one who raised my brother from the dead. This is the one who heard my cry and pitied my groan. This is the one who saw me through the deepest valley of my life. This is the one who stood by me in the dark time. This is the one who gave me help. This is the one who gave me strength. I don't give because it makes sense.

It's my worship. He's my God and he's worthy of it. All the worshippers shout real quick. So it's so important that we understand giving is worship. It's worship. Worship. It's saying, God, you deserve so much more. But out of what you've given to me, here it is.

Why do you do a whole series about taking an offer? I just don't get it, man. I don't know. Why are you by a direct TV package for NFL games, man? I just don't get it. You invest in what you value. They saw it as a waste. She saw it as worship.

They said it doesn't take all that. She said he's worthy of so much more. And the reason that they called it a waste is because They did not understand her worship. What is he worth to you? I don't want to waste opportunities to worship him. No, I don't always feel like praising God. I don't always feel like, but I don't want to waste the chance to worship him.

And she knew, see, this is where the wisdom comes in, because it's worship and its wisdom. She knew that if I keep this, if I keep the perfume, then, you know, it's smell good for a little while. But watch what Jesus said. He said in Matthew 2613, wherever the gospel is preached, what this woman did will be told. So what she did, she never said a word. Isn't that amazing that she worship without words? Some of the greatest acts of worship will not be through things that are produced by your vocal cords. But Jesus said, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also?

And that's so true. And to really understand the kingdom of God and how God works, you understand the wisdom of giving. It's not just good to give. It's smart. It makes good sense to give. At least I think it does. Because everything I've ever bought on this earth started to depreciate. And none of it that I bought I can take with me.

And I've bought a lot of stuff. And I've regretted some of it. I have never regretted anything I have given to God, ever. And Judas is in the room. We know it was Judas because John's gospel says it. He's like, look at verse four. But one of his disciples, this is John 12, verse 4, but one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, why wasn't this perfume sold in the money given to the poor?

It was worth a year's wages. But what is he worth? What is he worth? Everybody worship something. Whatever you worship is what you give weight to. And every time I give to God, I'm talking about a financial gift. I'm talking about giving God, taking something that is temporary, like money, and giving it to God who is eternal. I see it, not only as an act of worship, I see it as a wise investment.

I used to tell them when we started the church. Oh, y'all should have heard me preach back then. I was ruthless when we started the church. Ruthless. I'd be up there saying stuff like, hey, we need your seat. If you're not going to do anything around here, help out into kids. We didn't. We have 400 seats in the backpack behind the pipe and drape, but I'm up there talking about, we need your seat.

I wanted everybody to understand that. But the only thing about it at that point was I was telling them, you're getting in on the ground floor of what God is doing. And some of the people that were there at that point are here today. And some of them because they gave is the reason why you're here today. I think you were worth it. I think you were worth it. For this ministry to be here in the year 2019, have you noticed the world has gone completely crazy?

And I could put an expletive in that sentence and it wouldn't be strong enough. Have you noticed that the world has gone completely crazy? And it makes what we're doing so much more necessary? So I think it's wise when great men of God said, to give what you are. cannot keep to gain what you cannot lose. You smell that? That's Mary's perfume 2,000 years after she poured it out. Wherever the gospel is preached, what this woman did will be told. It was worth it. It was worth it. I bought a rainbow vacuum cleaner. It wasn't worth it. I went to Disney World. It wasn't worth it.

I'm dead serious, y'all. It wasn't worth it. But when we started the church and we began to give like so many will do, you know what's crazy about the moment we're in right now is that the gospel has never been more needed and there have never been more opportunities to make it available. Right now, while I'm preaching to you, there are thousands of people around the world. I'm not talking about down the street in an Indian Trail and the kids had a flu- so they didn't come around the world that are connecting to this message. Does that matter to you?

Is it a value to you? We invest in what we value and this matters to me and for every time that I wrestled with God to be here to preach it was worth it if it breaks a chain off of your life. It was worth it if it helps your marriage stay together. It was worth it if after your marriage falls apart, it is it is it. is there for you to help you breathe in the moments where you feel your chest collapsing. If your kids come to Christ in this ministry, it's worth it. If you have a place where you can come and be accepted by the blood of Christ, it is worth it. It's worth it.

I'm telling you, it's wisdom for you to give to something that goes beyond you. Do you all believe me that there's people all over the world watching right now? They wake up in the middle of the night so they can catch it live. They could watch it later in the week. They don't want it later in the week. They want it when it's fresh out the oven coming like hot bread. I feel a caraba's anointing. Coming like hot bread to the table.

They want the hot bread. Put it on. I'm going to show them because I see some skeptics in the room. It's crazy how they clap when we're giving the outreach money away to help people. But then when we talk about giving it as an act of worship. to by eh. Judas always says, but I'm not looking for Judas's approval. I came for Jesus. I worship Jesus. I love Jesus. Judas didn't die for me. Jesus did. I'm not concerned about the critics. I'm concerned about the cross. So give me, I need a phone with YouTube on it. Elevation Church YouTube.

Now, I need this. This is going to be a demonstration of how the fragrance. Remember when Lazarus died and Martha was like, I can't open the tomb, it stinks in there? What a difference a chapter makes. In chapter 11, it smelled like death. In chapter 12, it smelled like perfume. See, we can fill the earth. I'm not talking about a little squirt.

I'm talking about filling the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the the Lord like the waters cover the sea. So here's what I want to do. On Epham Elevation Church, put one on Elevation Church, put one on my YouTube channel, JJ. Tim put it on the elevation worship, because we stream all over these things. And if you're watching this around the world, I want you to put where you are watching from and your name, and so I can let this church know that they're making a difference right now.

I'm scrolling right now, Elevation Church, YouTube. It's kind of weird watching myself preach on a five-second delay, but I'm going to do it because I love Jesus. High five, somebody say it's worth it. It's worth it. All over the world. From the Netherlands, from Latvia, from Kenya, from Detroit, from Florida, from Hungary, from Syracuse.

It's worth it. From California. It's worth it. From Singapore, from Brazil, from the Netherlands. Y'all, I came from Monks Corner, South Carolina, and now people are watching and joined up. I'm telling you, this is the ground floor of something special. This is a move of God.

I'm in on it. from Australia, from India, from Texas. I can't keep up. Look how worth it it is. Look how worth it. Hawaii, Nigeria, Pittsburgh, Columbia, with an O in the middle. You can't keep up.

You got the other one? This is the worship one. This San Antonio, New Orleans, Trinidad and Tobago, West Virginia. Did you have any idea when we started this church when I sat across at Golden Corral or when I told you when we were just getting ready to go off and start our lives and you came to follow me to college and met my wife's best friend and married her and then came on here to Charlotte? Could you imagine they be saying, hey, from Nepal, from the Ivory Coast, from Jamaica. I'm not making this up. I promise you. And as fast as I can scroll, so I needed you to know why.

And it's worship when you give. It's not just to pay the bills to build another building. It is to fill the world. You got the other one? Whose is this? Chicago, Connecticut, Cape Town, South Africa. Kenya, Kenya, all caps. They said it twice.

Brooklyn, Jamaica. Look, I can't keep up. I can't, God is stupid. Look, I got to put this in perspective for you. When I walk out, y'all stand up. It'll help me close quicker. Don't leave, don't leave. I'm just saying, it's worth it.

What is done for Christ is worth it. I had no idea you would be here when this was starting. But I believe that you were, when Jesus was dying on the cross, he was dying with your salvation in mind. Why did he die? Why? Because he thought you were worth it. And it's not only worship, it's not only wisdom, it's a witness. So it could be a witness in Belgium, in the Philippines, in Botswana, in London, in Aruba. Keep them coming.

I know I can't keep up. I can't get to all of them. I just love to see what God started. But when one woman broke a jar. Everywhere the gospel is preached, you have part in that. Like my kids are growing up in a church. I got one in this surface, and I'll have one in the next, and Abby's still too young. She's still asking about Christmas trees and stuff, so she's in E-Kids where they can handle that kind of questions.

But every time before I come out, I don't think I ever showed you this E, but every time, I don't know if you've seen it, Elijah. Every time I come out to preach, and I hope it's okay for me to show this, but the photographers here took pictures of the first time that each of my boys were in service graduating from E-Kids and sat on the front road to watch me preach. And they actually, these are really good photographers. They found a moment where the kids looked interesting. How hard is that? I'm telling you, we got great photographers at Elevation Church. Let's thank God for the photographers. There's Elijah.

It's something that I put right by when I walk out to preach to you. Before I come in here to connect with thousands of people or preach, I want to remember my why to build something that will be generational. Something that will be beyond just my one little life. I also like this one. You can see, I don't know who she is. There's Holly. Look at that admiration on her face for the man of God. I like that one because it has my shoe in there and it says, it's like my way of sand like,

blessed to the feet of them that bring good news. I'm very symbolic. I see a lot of stuff and love stuff. And then Graham's looking like, huh? But I see it and it just gives me, I need a why. I need a why. And it reminds me my why that my kids are going to grow up in a church. where people from all of...

I grew up in a church. It was a great church. It was 80 people in the church. The town was 6,000. And I never knew that when God sent us, it's still going, y'all. It's still going. This thing, look at this. Look whose lives you're touching right now.

Look how God is using you right now. It's a witness. And witness means two things, you know. It means that we have. have seen God, we have witnessed God do so much in our lives. And now we get to witness that to the world. That's what I'm passionate about. That's what I give my life to.

That's what I said yes to. I didn't know when I was saying yes to God that it was making a way for us to be together in this moment, but God did. And he brought us together. And it's so confusing. People will ask me, why do so many different types of people come? to your church. I mean, I look around, you've got young people, you've got less young people, you've got white people and black people, and Latino, Latino, you got all these different people.

You've got some religious people, some people who know the Bible cover to cover, some people that wouldn't know the Book of Ruth from a baby Ruth. Why? Why? Because all of us have a Lazarus, and all of us have a jar. When you hear us talk about this offering this coming up, I want you to see it as an opportunity to worship, an opportunity to witness, to see God move in your life. Would you bow your head for just a moment?

Epham sitting at your computers. You get in on this too. Put your face ID. Bow your head. All over the world right now. Malaysia, India. Nigeria, never imagined that this would be

and we get to do it together, y'all. Beautiful thing is Jesus has already paid the price for your salvation. There's nothing you do to earn his love. Philippines, Puerto Rico, Charlotte, somebody's playing hooky today. You get her next week. Alice, Texas, Ghana,

all kinds of countries. Kentucky. Praise the Lord. I just wanted you to know why. I didn't want you to think that the church needed to fix the toilets over there on one campus at Lake Dorman or something like that. It's not about that. It's about when you know you have an opportunity to be a part of something that God is doing, the privilege of giving. That's why we give.

Father, I thank you for each person that you have brought to this ministry and the ways that they've connected. Our extended family, our ephem around the world, stepping up, making a difference, preaching Jesus, shining light in dark places. Here at this campus, I preach live from the Valentine location where each week this pulpit represents an opportunity for somebody to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, his death, burial, resurrection, and his presence. Thank you for the way we experience breakthrough in this place, healing in this place, so many miracles.

Thank you for all you've done for us. Thank you for what you've given us. Thank you for every Lazarus you've called forth in our life. Thank you that you've taken us from death to life, from darkness to light. You've transformed You took us out of a kingdom of this world. You brought us into the kingdom of your son whom you love. We thank you for this opportunity that we have now in this season of our church to give back to you. It's a privilege. We thank you for everything that you have done in our lives to this point. We want to be a witness.

We want to say yes to you. We want you to use us in a way, in a powerful way, to preach hope, to distribute grace, to care for and look at the the poor to bind up the broken heart and that blind eyes could be open by the gospel. I thank you for the part that each person will play. Whenever you speak to them, I pray that they will break their jar. Everybody has a Lazarus, everybody has a jar. And I pray that during this season, that generosity would break forth from your church. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe,

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