Elevation with Steven Furtick - Staying Power (Appointment With An Angel)

Episode Date: May 25, 2020

How could God ask us to have staying power in a place that feels hopeless? When what we really want to do is jump ship, it takes faith to stay. From a Bible story in Acts 27 verses 13-44, Pastor Steven Furtick preaches this sermon to our global online family of Elevation Church about the importance of having staying power in the storm. God promised us He would never leave us or forsake us, so rather than jumping to other things to try to alleviate our pain, we need to stay faithful to Him in seasons of struggle.  Pastor Steven talked about the power of praising God in the midst of the storm. Then, with a hopeful turn at the end of the message he alludes to the words of Jesus who on the day of pentecost told His disciples to, “stay in Jerusalem.” Pastor Steven explained as he brought the message to a powerful close that we need to stay in peace while we navigate our storms. It’s not what I go through that determines where I end up, it's who I listen to. We pray that as you listen to the voice of God through this sermon you will find staying power in the storm.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. Are you ready now? Ask the person next to you. Are you ready now? I remember when my dad told me when I was a little boy, I was probably Abby's age. I was probably nine. One night, one Friday night,

He popped some popcorn and told me, I think you're ready, but Rocky. He'd been waiting until my spiritual maturity and infrastructure emotionally could handle Yvonne Drago. Oh yeah, when you start your kids on Rocky, you start them on Rocky 4. You don't start them in the Old Testament with Apollo Creed. You start them with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I have a whole theory on this. And he started me with Rocky 4.

He walked me back to Rocky 1. I'm glad that I was out of the house before Rocky Five came out because that's like an apocryphal book that didn't really make the canon in my estimation. I think you're ready. What I'm trying to say to you is I think you're ready now for Acts chapter 27. When all this bullcraft started in the world, I wrote down a list of sermons that I wanted to preach from. And it was amazing to me how all of the text that I've seen so much.

many times before took on a new relevance. I almost said revelance, like a revelation with it becomes relevant. Sometimes you know something, but until you go through something, you don't have to put into practice what you know. And so, revelance, maybe that's a word, relevance. It's when something that you already knew that had already been revealed becomes relevant to your situation. It's when you get a chance to put into practice what you've been preaching. And I just want to encourage you today with a story of Bible story that may be the best story that I could preach from when Paul went through a storm. Not crazy, man? I was just thinking it's my favorite Bible story, and it started with a storm. Do the biggest storms

make for the best stories in our lives? I think sometimes they do. I think sometimes they do. When we were on vacation, we took a hundred bike rides, but the only one y'all remember is when we were riding in the rain. That's the only one y'all talk about is the one where it rained. We rode to the store, we rode to the bowling, we rode up and down the streets of Bluffton. When we were riding all around, we were riding all around, we Remember the bowling alley over at the other place? We went there. Yeah, you do when we went bowling in the little thing?

Graham, you don't remember the little bowling alley that I took you to? Say, they don't remember any of that. They don't remember the bowling alley, hall. I paid like $120 for us to bowl. They don't even remember it. But ask them about the rain riders. Ask them about when we were out and we got caught in the rain and the torrential downpour started, just started out of nowhere,

and they can remember with vivid details. when we got caught in the rain. The greatest stories usually revolve around the biggest storms. If you are new to Christianity, we like our metaphors. So you hear us always talking about mountains. But we're not talking about landmass when we say mountains. We're talking about other stuff, you know. When we say God's going to move a mountain, it can mean almost anything in church.

God's going to move a mountain in my life. What do you mean by that? Get me a job. It's just a metaphor. Whatever's in your way, God's going to move it. We like these kind of things. The Bible uses them, and we like them too. What's another one that we like? We're big on metaphors. Chains. Oh, we love chains in church. Almost every elevation worship song I've ever been a part of has a chain in it somewhere. We love to break chains and shake chains. And sometimes we get creative, thesaurus theology, and call it a shackle. But the bottom line is, we love to sing about this stuff. And we love to talk about storms. And it's really just a metaphor for whatever we're going through. I'm going through a storm right now. The old country preacher said, here's the thing about storms. You're either in a storm, you're going through a storm, you're about to go through a storm,

or you've just been through a storm. And I think that's true. And so the storm that we'll see in Acts chapter 27 is physical, but it doesn't have to be physical for it to be practical in your life. Do you all remember when I preached on It Will Happen? Do you remember when I preached it had to happen? Remember when I preached? I'm glad it happened.

Now you're ready for Rocky Four. And I didn't know what to call it, so I made two titles. I'm super indecisive right now, and I don't know whether you want to call this message. Well, let me read the text, and then I'll give you the titles. In Acts chapter 27, verse 20, the Bible says, when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and the storm continued raging. We finally gave up all hope of being saved. And after they had gone a long time without food, after they had gone a long time, cooped up in the apartment,

after they had gone a long time without going out to a restaurant, I'm preaching to somebody, after they had gone a long time without putting on pants with a button. I'm just preaching to quarantine situations, modernizing the text. After they had gone a long time without good news, after they had gone a long time without an increase. Paul stood up before them and said, men, should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete. We're going to come back to that in a minute. We're going to talk about how sometimes you give good advice, but you have bad advice. timing. Holly's teaching a study called Mrs. Betterhalf on Wednesdays about being a wife,

and I think she should use that verse in there. Men, you should have taken my advice. Paul had good advice, but he had bad timing. But watch this in the text because the scripture says, then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. So in other words, it could have been avoided. But now, now, now, now, now, now, Now, now. Now. Now. I'm waiting on y'all to shout back. Now. Come on. If y'all don't want to shout, I'm not going to let you come back. This is a harder ticket to get to come to church right now than the bull's in 98. So you need to shout. Now. Okay. Now, he said, even though this could have been avoided, there is something that you can do now. And it does not really. revolve around the situation, it revolves around your state of mind. So watch this. Keep up your courage because not one of you will be lost, only the ship will be destroyed.

Last night, an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar. And God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail. with you. So keep up your courage, men. Or I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island. On the 14th night, we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, which is the Mediterranean Sea. When about midnight, the sailors since they were approaching land. They took soundings and found that the water was 120 feet deep. Short time later,

they took soundings again and found it was 90 feet deep. In case you're not following, they're getting closer to crashing. The water's getting more shallow. That means a crash is inevitable. And Paul already told them that, but now they are experiencing the thing that he said. And it's one thing to be told you're going to go through a storm. It's one thing to see it on a weather app. It's another thing to get caught in one. It's one thing to say everything happens for a reason when someone that you don't really care about dies. It's another thing to believe that when you have to live without them. Oh, I'm going to preach in an empty room.

So he said that we're going to crash, and then they were about to crash. And this is what I wanted to share with you about today, because I've never really paid much attention to this part of the text. He said, fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. We're getting out of here. We're not staying around to see what happens. It's 120 feet. It's 90.

We're about to crash, and we're out. But watch what Paul said. This is what I want to preach you about today. Then Paul said to the Centurion and the soldiers, unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved. So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away. The thing I want to preach to you about today is staying power, staying power. of God, we receive your grace for the preaching of your word to every situation. There is not

a single situation I can think of in my mind that you are not greater than. There is not a wave that tosses in the sea that does not know the vibration of your voice. And when you speak, waves die down. And when you speak, fear bows down. And when you speak, waters part. You are God of the elements. You are God of all flesh. You are the God of this moment. And we worship you. And we received your word. In Jesus' name, put it in the chat. Amen. Amen. Come on David Patton, say amen. Staying power, Chase Colby. Staying power. Now, a lot of people have starting power. They did keto last week, and they'll be on Weight Watchers next week. But Paul had starting power. He also had staying power. People used to tell me it must have taken a lot of faith to start this church.

I guess so truth is I was just stupid and take a lot of faith just had to be really, really ignorant that's all, just do it in your 20s that's all you got to do put it in the chat, do it in your 20s because

really starting power is celebrated so much more and even sometimes people will celebrate leaving I've seen so many times in this church where someone might leave from a ministry position and we throw a party for them. And I'm thinking, like, well, that's great. I mean, it's probably polite to throw a party for somebody who leaves and God calls different people to different things in different seasons.

But can we have some staying parties too? You know, just bring a cake into the office. You've been here 871 days. Here's cake. You start your diet tomorrow, you know. But starting power, leaving power, staying power. Staying, gets sexier the longer you live. It gets sexier.

I don't think you have to say it's sexy. Yeah, you know what the problem is? We have such a hard time celebrating the right things in our culture. I need to say it just like that. Because we live in a culture where starting is sexy. Oh, I'm going to start a church. Oh, I'm going to start a business. Oh, I'm an entrepreneur.

Oh, I'm a start a Bible reading plan. You started 14 Bible reading plans in 2020 before January was over. You know which plan of the Bible plan God is going to bless? The one you stay with. The one you stay with. Do you know what situation you're going to see God work in? The one you stay with. Somebody said, well, I don't know which workout to do.

You know which one's going to work? The one you stay with. Stay with. And I thought it was interesting that the Apostle Paul, who showed us the power of starting. Now, you've got to remember, Paul knew how to get something started. He started by some calculations 14 churches in a time when the concept of church was foreign. Junk's I'm going to need some different people in the room this week. It's kind of dead out there.

He knew how to start a church in a city that had never even heard the name of Jesus. He would walk into a church and say. step into a synagogue and start preaching. And before you know it, there would be such an uproar in the city that it would start a riot in the streets. Paul could start a church. Paul could start a riot. Paul could start something in a minute. But yet in Acts chapter 27, he shows us that the greatest power is often not in what you have the faith to start, but what you have the faith to stay with.

And when we think about storms in the Bible, we think about Peter. who stepped out of the boat to walk on water. And we never preach about John who stayed in the boat. But I've been wondering as a 40-year-old man who has seen people come and go and emotions come and go, and moods come and go, and fads and trends come and go, and the zeit guy slips all around and you never really know what's going to be popular or in fashion one day to the next, and church members come and go, and songs come and go, and seasons come and go and trials come and go.

As someone who has seen this, I'm wondering, does it take more faith to step out of a boat that Jesus told you to get into? Or to stay in it believing that if he called you to the other side, you can stay through any storm. You can sleep through any storm. You can praise through any storm. I got staying power. I love Paul because he gave advice to the men in the ship and he wasn't even a notical expert.

It may be some type of commentary on the arrogance of preachers that he's up there telling someone who owns the ship what he ought to do with it. And I used to tell them all the time, I'm not going to preach a parenting sermon until my kids are 50. until I'm out of the window of where God can boomerang my own teaching back on me. I'm not teaching anything about parenting. I'm not doing it. I'm not writing a parenting book. I'm not preaching a parenting series. You can preach this as us if you want to.

I'm not preaching any of it. I'm not doing it. And I really found out that most of the time people don't really want you to give them advice when they ask for it. They just want you to. to affirm what they already decided to do. And if you don't give them the advice, I'm going to save you a lot of time right now. You ready? It's not that they really want advice.

They usually want either attention or affirmation. Now what Paul says is true. He says this storm could have been avoided because he told them to stay. He did. They were loaded up for Rome. They went in a small boat and they stopped at an island where they were trends. transported to a larger boat, because this is a long voyage, man. We're going all the way to Rome.

Somebody say we're going all the way to Rome. We're going all the way to Rome. Paul always wanted to go to Rome. That's the interesting thing. He wanted to go to Rome, but what God doesn't tell you is that you don't always get to choose your transportation. Deeper? You know how the scripture says that God is taking us from glory to glory?

I believe that. We go from glory to glory. strength. I believe that. I believe God is taking you somewhere. I believe God is moving you forward. I believe that God has promised us that we will go from glory to glory, but he just didn't tell us exactly how we're going to get there. So when we pray for something in our lives, we don't get to choose transportation. This is not Uber X, Uber Black, Uber Extreme. God does not let you choose the luxury of the transportation. And so Paul is doing something he always wanted to do, going to Rome to preach the gospel.

But he's headed there in a ship as a prisoner in chains. Not how we say chains where it can mean just anything. And not just how we say storm where it could mean I have a headache and I can't find that Advil, oh, there it is. He's in physical chains in a literal storm, but he has an appointment to go to Rome. Now, I want to tell you something that nobody's told you in a few weeks. You ready? You have an appointment.

It's been a while since you've heard that, right? I want to tell you something that you haven't heard for a while. You have an appointment. And just by faith, go ahead and say it right now in this chat on YouTube, on Facebook, say, I have an appointment. Come on, I'm preaching to somebody because you have an appointment. what happens in our hearts is that we get disappointed. We get disappointed in the way that God does certain things.

We get disappointed in the people that don't help us along the way. But just because you're disappointed in people, don't jump off the ship and drown in the sea. Did you hear me? Just because people let you down, don't give up on God who never will. Because you lost a job, don't stop trusting that God is my provider. Jehovah Jira, that's still his name. Jehovah Rafica, he's still a healer. I'm still going to get there. I'm still going to Rome. I got an appointment. Some of the stuff that you're going through right now is getting you to the places that you ask God to take you, but you just don't like how you're getting there.

So we could preach a series on this. And then he want me to preach a whole series on the appointment in the storm? Did you know that you have an appointment in the storm? Paul knew something in the storm that the other people didn't know. What did he know? How could you stand up and tell people after they've been through 14 days of the tempest and the billows and, you know, what other words for a storm? the lightning and the thunder and the breakers.

How can you tell when the winds are blowing, knocking you sideways, you know, and Peter's wig comes flying off in the storm? How are you going to tell me in the storm to stay with the ship when you already told me it was going to break apart? How could God call you to stay with something that is breaking? And yet it is staying with the breaking that produces the blessing. It's breaking. It's breaking. Not my boat, my heart, my heart. My heart is breaking.

Did you know that the place God promises to dwell not visit is the broken and contrite heart? What does that mean? That means that when my heart is breaking, it is important. It is important that I abide in God's love so that I can experience his presence in a greater measure. It may not be your boat that is broken today. It may be your heart. It may be your business.

It may be the number in your bank account that is screaming, you are broke. All right, so I am broke. God's not. All right, so this is how I want to preach to get people through a storm. Isn't that what we've been saying, that we're in the same storm, but we're not in the same boat? And you will remember that it is not what you go through that determines where you end up. Many people went through betrayal worse than you went through, and they're not bitter. And you are.

Many people were disappointed more than you were disappointed, and yet they still have strong faith. And you don't. Many people are struggling with their daily needs more than you are, and they're less worried than you are about it. It is not what I go through that determines where I end up. It's not. It's who I listen to. Paul said, you should have taken my advice.

I told you. I told you to stay in the harbor. They set out to go to Rome. They got caught up in a storm. They lost their course. And this is what happens, right? You get blown off course. Oh, no.

This was not on our GPS. Back in the day, we had trip, what was it called, triptych in AAA. They didn't put this on my triptych. This wasn't on my itinerary. You get blown off course, then you start freaking out. And now you're like, oh my God, I was going to retire in 12 years. But now I see this situation. When you get blown off course, you have got to decide at that point, who will I listen to?

And what will I guide by? Who will I listen to? What will I guide by? Now these are the questions that you must answer in this crisis of your life. This is the heart of what God is asking today. Who will you listen to and what will you guide by? Paul said, this is not a good time to sail, and they sailed anyway. Paul said, we ought to stay here in this harbor for a little while.

The reason they didn't want to stay in the harbor when Paul told them to stay is because it says it was undesirable to winter there. So rather than stay in a place they didn't like, they sailed into something that would destroy them. than stay in a place that they didn't like, they sailed into something that would destroy them. See, it's not the first storm that you have to worry about. The first storm is the storm that you can't control. It started raining Friday here in Charlotte. It looked like God got sick of everybody. And I was like, oh, the governor led off the stay-at-home order. And at the same time, this storm comes out of nowhere.

And I'm like, Lord, are you speaking? I'll stay inside. I'm sorry, Lord. I walk out. I know what to do. Out of nowhere, storms are like that. One text message can change the next three years of your life in 80 characters. Out of nowhere. That's the first storm, the one you can control. And you can't do anything about the current crossing, the current and the stormy conditions. I mean, some storms are just seasonal.

Some storms can't be avoided. Some storms, I mean, I can't control what happens in China or I can't even control what somebody does in mission. Again, I can't control certain things, but God said to tell you, don't create a second storm by your decisions. See, you can ask God to protect you in the first storm. God, I don't know what to do. You do.

God, I can't do anything about this. You can. But what a lot of us have been doing in this season of uncertainty, we have been creating second storms that are worse than the first. So let me break this down all the way like I'm cutting up some filet mignon. Two-year-old can eat it. This is a good word for anybody who you've been dealing with depression, but you've been drinking to get through it.

Now, depression is something that happens to a lot of us. I mean, I don't know anybody who hasn't had a season of darkness in their life. But if I try to drive out darkness with darkness and I depend on something in the darkness that is going to make me addicted to something even when the light comes up, the second storm is worse than the first. I have to be really careful, like, if my kids do something that makes me mad, I said I wouldn't preach a parenting servant, but here's a little technique that I've learned. Don't let your response be a bad example for the behavior you're trying to correct. Stop screaming! I think this is contradictory. I think my kids are not. I think my kids are not. I think my kids are are confused right now. Now, a lot of us are dealing with loneliness right now in this season.

That's a storm that you can't always control. But if you run to places in the storm that are more dangerous than the storm itself, how many times have you left a place that you didn't like? Some of you left a church you didn't like. And the problem is you can't change if you never stay. Stay in power. Paul was a church planter. Any time you left a church planter. Any time you left a church, you didn't like. you plant is only as good as the roots, starting power without staying power. Oh, man, I'm excited about this quarantine. I'm excited. I'm got time to spend with the Lord now. You and the Lord got lonely. And now, I don't know who this is for, but I'm going to say, because I feel like it's by the Spirit of God. Don't run to a relationship to solve loneliness

that is a compromise of your character. The second storm might be worse than the first. Don't run to something because you're lonely that is ultimately going to put you in a condition where you end up like the sailors in verse 20. We have no hope. We have no hope. See, because what they were guiding by went away. I don't know if you saw this in verse 20. I'd love it if we could put it back on the screen please.

X-27-20. Because I think this is where it gets tricky to steer. As long as you kind of have a reference point to know what's normal or what's good or how much time, these things really help in life. But in verse 20, I felt it was relevant to our situation. He said, when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging. Now, the storm could rage and they could keep believing, but when the stars disappeared, they lost hope. When what you were guiding by goes away

and every day just looks the same and feels the same, now I get the feeling like this is endless, now I get to feeling like maybe these chains are never going to break, this storm is never going to cease, they lost hope. And we know they lost hope because Luke says they, lost hope. And the only way Luke could know they lost hope is because they must have been saying there's no hope. I mean, come on. It's not like hope is something that you can see

on someone's forehead. How's your hope? There's no meter for that. It's not a video game. You don't have a little power bar. They must have been saying, it's hopeless. They must have been saying that. Paul stands up. And he decides that what you go through doesn't determine where you end up. What you go through doesn't determine where you end up. Who you listen to determines where you end up. Because I think right now you are walking through a valley between two voices. One is wisdom, one is worry.

One is gratitude, one is grumbling. One is blame, one is faith. Now wait past your Steve, wait Pastor Stephen with a pH. Wait, wait a minute. The opposite of faith is doubt. No, no, no, no. Doubt doesn't keep you from having faith. Doubt gives you something to have faith for.

But blame will block faith every time. Blame will always block faith. So Paul, watch him shift. He's like, y'all still listen to me. But if I blame you, I can't trust God. If I blame you, it is going to block me from receiving. what I need from God in this moment. So you should have listened to me.

We could have avoided this. How many know and we'll be honest to say? There are some storms I went through in my life that I could have avoided. Come on, point your fingers up to the air like this. It could have been avoided. It could have been avoided. I mean, some of the things in my life that I blamed on the devil were really a decision. They both start with the letter D, but some storms can be avoided.

Ask Jonah. Ask Jonah if some storms can be avoided. The only reason Jonah went through a storm is because he had an appointment. God said, I'd rather take you to us through a storm. I'd rather take you through a hard time than have you waste your life in the wrong place. Now we've got to get you there. If I have to send a storm to get you there, if I have to shut it down to get you there, if I have to remove people and comfort to get you there, you're going to get there. if you listen to the right voice.

Paul stood up and said, I hear you talking about how there's no hope, and I hear you talking about how it's going to get worse, and I hear you talking about how it's just this and it's just that, and I hear Democrats talking, and I hear Republicans talking, and I hear people using this for a political purpose, and I hear all this, but let me tell you, I have an appointment. As a matter of fact, last night I had an appointment. I didn't see it on my calendar. It was off the books. Paul said, last night, an angel, an angel, come on, I have an appointment with an angel, with an angel.

I got angels all around me, protecting me and keeping me. I got angels on my side. I've got glory out of head. I got angels. I'm here. My angel said. You have an appointment with an angel. And you got an angel telling you right now you're going to make it.

In fact, you're going to be better. Y'all ignore my button popped open in my shirt. I'm trying to benchpress the Word of God today. It's getting rough up here. But tell somebody I got an angel. It's all right. It's all right. I got an angel.

I got an angel. I got an angel. Now, who are you going to listen to? Your angel or your enemy. My angel said I'm going to break it. My angel said I'm right on time. My angel said it's working for my... I got staying power.

I got staying power. I love what the angel said to Paul. You can't die in this storm. You have an appointment in Rome. You have to stand trial in Caesar. Can I give you the good news? You're not going to die in this trial. Can I give you the bad news?

you got a bigger one ahead. Greater things. Bigger storms. Better stories. I got an angel. I got an appointment. So Paul's like, oh, I can't die. Did you ever watch a TV show?

And you knew? I remember we started watching that zombie show. Back before, that looked just like the news. What was it called? The Walking Dead. And the trailer used to come on. Don't send me a thing about the Word of God in the Walking Dead. It's in the Bible, the Walking Dead.

Third day, Jesus Christ, Lazarus, all of it. It's all in there. Same stuff. All right. Edit this out. But I saw the trailer and I saw that the same guy that was in the first episode, he was still in it, because we watched it later, but I saw that he was still in it in the current season. So it took some of the suspense out of the first season, the second season, the second season. season, the third season, the fourth season, the fifth season. Now, when you have a word from God

concerning your life, and it could be simple, he said he would never leave me nor forsake me. So if he's going to stay with me, then whatever happens in this storm, I already saw, I already saw season six. They can't kill Rick. It doesn't matter how many walkers. They can't kill him. He's going to I saw the season finale. Power. I wish we could high-five our neighbors, but tell somebody I'm in the season finale. Staying power. Staying power.

That's what we're celebrating today, not that we avoided the storm, but that we stayed in the storm. God's are amazed his teacher because he taught us one of that authority and he's one of their teachers of the law. And he shared with them a parable. man built a house? Do you know this story? It's kind of like the big, bad wolf, but it's the big bad storm. He said, two men build a house. I'll show you what he's like who comes to me and puts my words into practice.

He's like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rains came down, streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house. Yet it did not fall because it had a foundation on the rock. You got that? Raines came down, streams rose, winds blew, and beat up the house. That's what happened to the first house. That's the man who had faith. Somebody say, I have faith.

I have faith. I have faith. I have faith. I have faith. But listen to the second man, he was foolish. He didn't do what Jesus had instructed. Instead, he built his house on a sandy foundation, not a strong foundation. He built his house on something that was not stable.

And it says that the storm came. The winds blew, streams, rose, winds blew and beat against the house. Rain came down, streams rose, winds blew and beat against the house. The rain came down. What happened to the wind? That's what happened to the man who did the right thing. thing. Same storm. Same storm. What I wanted to preach today was the storm is over. I thought that would be cool. I thought that would get a lot of views on YouTube. The storm is over. But the

Lord said, you can't preach that in good conscience. Because like these men who were headed to Rome, and they didn't know how much longer the storm would rage. You've got to teach people how to keep their hope in a storm. The Lord said, you've got to preach on staying power. You've got to tell people to stay in faith. And doesn't it take faith to stay? Huh? Come on, be honest, it's just us.

There's not even anybody else in the church. It's just you and somebody you live with and you can't even be honest with me like this. How are you ever going to survive? the real world. Doesn't it take faith to stay? To stay grateful? When everything in you wants to complain? To stay grateful. That takes faith. Come on, man, step out of the boat. I know this message is probably going to be my least viewed sermon of all time, but stay. Because that's not the only thing I can control right now. And that's what he said would save them. If you stay, you will be saved. That's when they taunted Jesus.

They said, come down off that cross. Do something amazing. He said, I am. I am. And see, he couldn't come down and save you at the same time. And God sent me with the word, you can't come down right now. You are like Neumaya, rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. He said, I can't come down.

I hear what Sanballot is saying. I hear what they're saying. But I can't come down right now. I'm doing a great. And the Spirit of God says, I'm doing a great work in your life. You can't come down now to a lower level. You can't come down now. You can't give up hope.

Now, not now. Somebody shout, now. Now I got to stay in this moment and let patience have its perfect work. The proof of faith is not change. It's patience. Patience is the active ingredient in faith. He decided to stay. He could have called legions of angels, and they would have come at his beck and call, but he stayed.

He stayed. He stayed. I wonder who will be saved if you stay. You'll save your own life if you stay. If you stay praising, oh, it's a little bit of oil on that. Stay praising. Stay praising. Pretend to touch three people.

socially distance touch your neighbor and say, I stay praising, I stay praising, I stay praising, because I've decided that that is my survival. You hear me? This is not some sort of extracurricular activity where I appreciate the president and the governor saying that we are essential, essential business. But I knew that way before the president said it. I knew that way before the governor. said it. I knew we were essential. This is essential for me. I have to praise him. I've got to

praise him. I'm under obligation to praise him. He gave me life itself. If I don't praise him, the rocks will cry out. I got to praise him. I stay praising. It takes faith to stay. It takes faith to stay, to stay encouraged while the storm is raging. To stay optimistic when the world is pessimistic, to stay expecting when you've been disappointed, to stay sweet when the world is sour, but staying power, that's what they experienced on the day of Pentecost. Because before Jesus left, he said, I need you to do something that's going to be hard for you to do right now. Stay in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Salem, Salem, peace.

Stay in the city of peace. Even though there's a riot in the streets, stay in the city of peace. Takes faith to stay in a state of peace. Takes faith to stay in a boat when a storm is raging. It takes faith to stay in the middle of the sea. It said that they weren't saved until they cut the ropes. The Lord told me to tell you, cut the ropes. trying to escape the stuff God is using to change you.

You can't be changed unless you stay. You can't be saved unless you stay. You got to stay. You can't bear more fruit when he's pruning you unless you abide in the vine. If you cut yourself off, but if you stay, he said, I'm going to make you more fruitful. And that's what Paul had in mind, right? Because he always wanted to go to Rome. So no matter how the storm raged, no matter how the boat rise.

He said, I'm going to Rome. I have an appointment. Would you say it by faith I have an appointment? The Lord said, I've appointed you. I've chosen you to bear much fruit. And the proof that I've appointed you to bear more fruit is that I am pruning you. Staying with the ship means cutting the ropes. But if I keep on trying to find a way out of it, how can I be changed through it?

Lord, I thank you for the faith to stay. for the faith to stay, the faith to stay. You gave me this word, and you told me when I studied that someone was hearing two voices right now, and they don't see any stars to guide by. The calendar has changed, their rhythm has changed. They can't even go to the stores they used to go to right now. When they go there, it looks like the rapture, the apocalypse. Don't know what to do.

Do I go in? Do I go out? I don't have any answer. for that, Lord. I'm just a preacher. But you told me to tell them that if they will stay in Jerusalem, they will receive power. So God give us the faith to stay. Look at me, look at me, look at me. You stayed with this whole sermon. Don't click off now. I know, I know, I know. I hear the kids in the background. Come, shut up. Stop screaming. Stay with me because the thing I want to show you that's so powerful, is it the only way they could receive the power of God was to stay in the place of peace. Keep your peace. You got 600 employees and you don't know how to rebuild the organization to accommodate the new situation. God has given you

the power not only to survive the storm, but he gave you the power for miracles on the other side. Now I have the faith to believe. that if we cut the ropes today, whether that's someone who's without a job and just trying to raise their own family, or whether you are looking for wisdom as a leader and you don't know how to lead the people because you've lost what you are guiding by. I hear the Spirit of God saying what Paul said, stay with the ship. Stay with the ship. How can I stay with it when it's breaking?

No, no, no. Paul didn't promise that the ship was going to look the same when they got to the shore. He didn't say it would look the same. He said you're going to make it anyway. The disciples that accompanied Jesus through his ministry did not follow him to the cross except John, but he made it anyway. What he started with, he did not finish with on the cross, but he made it anyway. And now we look to Jesus, and we hear the echo of Paul preaching to us saying, last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve.

He will never leave me nor for safety. There was an angel beside me. That's how I have staying power. That's how I can make it. Because this boat is not going to ever sail again. It's going to break apart. You know what's crazy? God got them there on the pieces of the boat,

even though the storm broke it apart. I promise you I'm about to close this message and you won't have to put up with me again for another week. But I want to show you that the same boat that broke apart, look at verse 40. You want verse 40? I may preach this again next week. It said, I'm way off. Yeah, verse 44 is the one because the rest were to get there. Somebody said, you're going to get there.

You're going to get there. You're going to get there. Make eye contact with somebody. Y'all aren't looking at each other. Say, you can't catch Corona looking at somebody, all right? You can still look at people. That's still legal. It's still legal to look at somebody. All right? You're going to get there. You're going to get there on planks or other pieces of the ship. In this way, everyone reached land safely. So the revelation is this. It was still the same ship. It just looked different. And he is still the same God in this season of your life, even if it looks different. And he is still the God of all grace.

It just looks different. And listen to me, Elevation Church, Blateney, Riverwalk, Gaston. I don't forgot the names of all the campuses. It's been so long. But we're still the church. It just looks different. I do need to tell the devil, though, we're still here. We're still here.

We're still here. I might be watching in a bathrobe this week, but I'm still blessed. I'm still here. And you can blow the house to float. Make it. I'm going to make it by face. I've restarted this video seven times, but I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for being a part of our ministry.

our family loves you. You're grateful for you. On behalf of all the people who are being blessed by this ministry, I want to thank you for staying, for being planted in the house of God in this season of so much uncertainty. Those of you who give, you know who you are, those of you who pray, you know who you are, those of you who share the message. You know, just something so simple as to share on your social media, it really makes a difference. and I just want to thank you for it. They always tell me to remind you to subscribe. So subscribe.

I reminded you. That way we can stay connected, staying power. There's power in connection. There's power in the Word of God. And if you've enjoyed seeing Graham over here in my left shoulder, let us know in the comments. Let me know in the comments where you're watching from and what God spoke to you. I see you next time. Where'd you go?

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