Elevation with Steven Furtick - The Power Of A Place (Jonathan Josephs)

Episode Date: September 1, 2024

The right place has the power to help us thrive and grow. Jonathan Josephs shows us how God uses our environment to fulfill His great purpose in “The Power Of A Place.” To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: www.elevationchurch.org/giving/ If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: ele.vc/tIepfr Scripture References:Acts 1, verses 4-9Acts 2, verses 1-5Ephesians 2, verse 101 Kings 17, verse 4Luke 15, verse 17Hebrews 11, verse 8See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Enjoy the message. We're about to jump into the message, but before we do, I wanted to let you know that Elevation Knights is back, September 24th through October 3rd. And if you live on the West Coast, we might be coming to a city near you. We're going to be in Seattle, Vancouver, Sacramento, L.A., Anaheim, Boise, Salt Lake City, and Denver. It's going to be an amazing night with Elevation Worship and a message from Pastor Stephen.

So go to Elevation Nights.com to get your tickets. We cannot wait to see you there. Now let's go to the message. Come on, keep your hands going. Let's take a moment and praise him for every time he's made away in our lives. For every time he's brought you through. Come on, I'm looking at some people with the testimony this morning. Miracle after miracle.

And last week, our pastor taught us what a miracle sometimes feels like. How many of you want to give God praise for super natural rest in your life? The enemy was throwing arrows at you and somehow by his hand, he gave you a peace. Come on, let's praise God one more time for his hand in our lives. Amen. Oh, it's so good to be in God's house together. Amen. Amen. Right about now, a concerned spouse is nudging her husband. She said, I told you to check and make sure Pastor Stephen was preaching on this Labor Day weekend. And if you're that husband, nudge your wife, say you're in the right place. You're in the right place. And I believe God has a word in the house for us today. I'm so grateful to be able to open up the scriptures. I know many of you here at Valentine, but if I haven't got a chance to meet you, my name's Jonathan. And I get the priest. privilege of serving here as the campus pastor at our Valentine location. Stay standing for just a moment until we get to the scriptures, but someone reminded me of this the other day. We were talking

and it brought back an old story to mind and just to share a little bit about me for a moment. About 12 years ago when I was in seminary, Pastor Stephen came to the school, Liberty University, where my wife and I were. And he had just released a book called Greater. And this book impacted me so much. He came to preach at the school and he was doing a book signing after. And I didn't necessarily care about getting the book sign, but I really wanted to meet Pastor Stephen. I had just so much respect for the anointing on his life. And I was in the habit of, I believe God had a call on my life. And so anytime I had the opportunity to be even near a great man or woman of God, I'd always ask them for prayer. And so in my mind, I thought, hey, if I can go to this book signing,

and I know there'll be a lot of people he's got to get through, but if I can maybe stay to the back of the line. Maybe I'll get a chance to meet Pastor Stephen and ask him to pray for me. And so I did that after he spoke. I was in the line. And every time someone would get behind me, I'd say, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. And at the end of that, and I'm sure it was a long day for pastor having preached and then done all these book signings, but he was so gracious to take a moment. And I just shared with him the call I felt on my life and asked him to pray. And he was so gracious to just take a moment and pray for me. And he wrote three words when he signed this book to Jonathan and Anna, three simple words that would profoundly shape my life. He wrote

greater things ahead. And those three words have meant the world to us. It would be just a few months later that my wife and I would move here to be a part of this incredible church. And we're so thankful for God that he called us and placed us here at elevation. And so this has been home for us. This is where all my kids were born real quick. Just show him a picture of my family real fast. if you got it. This is my son Zion and Elias and Olivia. She's everyone's favorite. Zion's in the room, but I can say that. We all just say she's our favorite. We love Olivia. And I'm so grateful that God's planted us here. And it won't take you long to realize if you're new here that this is not a perfect church. There's no such thing as a perfect church. But I'm so grateful for a healthy church

where the spirit of God is moving, where people are being reached with the gospel. Next week, when you come back for Block Party, you're going to see what it's all about is hundreds of people take the step of being baptized and publicly declaring their faith in Jesus. Amen. How many of you are grateful for God's house for what he's doing in this church? I'm excited to share this word with you today. We're going to be in Acts chapter 1, in Acts chapter 2. And this is the story about the coming of the Holy Spirit. All the Pentecostals make some noise. Let's pick up in verse 4. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, them this command. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the

Holy Spirit. Then they gathered around him and asked, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it's not for you to know the times or the dates the father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power. Everyone say power. You will receive power. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hit him from their sight. So Jesus ascends into heaven. Fast forward, Acts 2. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Everyone say place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven.

and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now they were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. Back to Acts chapter 2, verse 1 for a moment. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

I want to talk to you this morning about the power of a place. The power of a place. High five, your neighbor is you take your seat. Say there's power in this place. Come on, tell them like you believe it. There's power in this place. Earlier this year, our pastor led us through a series through the Book of Acts and talking about the role of the Holy Spirit. How many you remember that series just in the spring? It was so impactful for me. And one of my favorite messages in that series was a sermon he preached called Places Everyone. So consider this message, like not a part two, but maybe a spinoff series of that incredible message our pastor preached. But that sermon got me thinking about the power of places in our life. And the way God uses places, the places he puts us in to unfold his purposes and plans. When we talk about the ways God works in our lives, I think all of us would agree that God uses people in our lives, right?

when I say that maybe a mentor or a leader comes to mind who disciples you really made a difference in your life. Maybe what comes to mind is the person who invited you to church or shared the gospel with you for the first time. Maybe you think of a praying grandmother. Everyone, we all would agree. God uses people in our lives. But more and more, even in my own life, God is beginning to reveal to me how he uses places. Everybody say places, places. I want to give you an example from nature real quick.

quick to kind of set up this point. I don't know what you like to do. Sundays after you leave church. How many do you like to go home and watch football? Is that your thing? I'll tell you how cool I am. After church on Sundays, you know what I like to do? I like to go home and watch nature documentaries. That's my thing. The simultaneously informative yet relaxing voice of David, sorry, Sir David Attenborough. And one of the things I saw recently was this. Show him the picture of these trees real quick. These are California redwoods. Redwoods. These are the tallest trees on the planet and some of the fastest growing trees. Look at that. Something incredible, though, happened about 100 years ago. Someone took these trees from where they were native to in California,

and they decided to plant them in New Zealand. And when they planted these trees that were already massive, already rapid growing trees, already remarkable in their own right. When they took them from their native environment of California and planted them in a new environment of New Zealand, something incredible happened. You ready for this? Any nature lovers in the house today? When they planted these trees in New Zealand, in the nutrient-rich volcanic soil of New Zealand, these trees that were already remarkably fast growing grew, three times faster in New Zealand than they did in their native land of California.

The environments you place yourself in matters. There is potential on the inside of you, but how quickly you get there and some of the things that God will unfold in your life have less to do with your potential and more to do with the places that you find yourself in. You can put yourself in a place that you are not native to and watch God as the accelerate your life in ways you never could have thought or imagine. Places matter to God. One thing Jesus would often do throughout the scriptures is he would tell these parables to illustrate what the kingdom of God was like. And as Jesus would tell these parables, he would use the place he was in to teach principles, right? So he would tell a parable about

a lost sheep, probably as he was standing next to a field filled with sheep. He would use the place to illustrate the principle, or he'd tell a parable about a fig as he's standing next to a fig or a vineyard while he's near a vineyard. And one time in Matthew 13, he tells a parable about a sower who goes out to scatter seed. And the Bible says that as the sower went in scattered seed, it fell in four different places. Everybody say places. The seed fell in four different places. Some of it fell in a place where it was snatched up by birds. Some of the seed fell in a place where it was so rocky, it couldn't get roots. So when the sun got hot, they withered away. Other seed fell in a place where it was choked out by thorns, and other seed

fell on good soil where it produced fruit. If you're looking at Matthew 13 in your Bible, it'll probably have a heading like The Parable of the Sower. But a better name for this parable is the parable of the places. Because what determined the outcome of that seed was not the potential within the seed, and it wasn't the sower. The sower knew what he was doing. What determined the outcome of that seed was the place that the seed landed. Your life is like a seed. And the places you find yourself in can either accelerate you, grow you, expand you, feed you, or if the good environment can accelerate and grow your life in the same way, the wrong environment can squander you, starve you, suffocate you from the purposes that God has for your life.

This is the power of a place. This is why it's so important that when someone gives their life to Christ, that we help them get connected to this church. Because if they receive the seed of God's grace into their heart, but they go back to the same people and the same environments, it's one thing to have Jesus in your heart, but you're going to be frustrated when you feel like you're not transforming if you have Jesus in your heart, but keep going to the same places, the same bars, the same club. We've got to help people get out of the environment that they were in and into a life-giving environment. where the purposes of God can begin to unfold. I'm so grateful God planted me in this house, in this soil, in this soil. Because I've seen God do incredible things. I always knew God's hand was on my life.

I knew I would see God do incredible. I never could have imagined some of the things I'd get to see God do because of where he planted me. I remember one author saying, he said, if you want to see a move of God, put yourself in a place where God is moving. If you want to see God move in a big way. How many of you want to see God move in a big way in your life? If you want to see God move in a big way in your life, put yourself in a place where God is moving. That's true for so many areas of our life. If you want to see a miracle in your life, put yourself in a place where God is still doing miracles.

If you want to see your marriage thrive and prosper, put yourself in a place where you're surrounded by healthy miracles, by healthy marriages. If you want to see God do something, get in a place where the story. spirit of God is moving. When you plant yourself in a place where the spirit of God is moving and watering, there is no limit to what God can do in and through your life. And like I mentioned, the same is true, the opposite way. Like if you put, man, I love nature so much. Here's my third nature analogy. But if you put a fish in a small aquarium, it will limit how much it can grow. Many of us are limited, not by our potential, but by our places. In Luke, In one passage of scripture, Jesus comes across a man who had been paralyzed since birth,

and the scripture says that he was laying near a pool called Bethesda. And the scripture specifically points out that at this pool that there was a great number of sick and ill people. And Jesus goes up to this man who was laying by this pool and he asked him a question. He says, do you want to get well? And of course, the answer to that is obvious for this man who's been laying by this pool for you. Do you want to get well? the man says, yes, I want to get well. Interestingly enough, Jesus doesn't say to him, you're healed.

Jesus says, pick up your mat and go. When the man expresses that he wants to get well, the first thing Jesus tells him to do is change your environment. Because if you want to walk, the first thing you need to do is stop hanging around lame people. When you want to see God do something different in your life, often God will force you out of environments that you're native to, places that are comfortable for you in order to bring you into his purposes. Amen? I didn't forget about the Book of Acts.

Let's go there for a minute. Talk about the potential of a place. This little upper room, this little upper room where God would send his spirit. And the effects of that for the last 2,000 years have been resounding and trembling throughout the whole earth. And on the day of Pentecost, one thing you need to know is that the day of Pentecost, the day of Pentecost, was one day in a festival called the Feast of Weeks. And during the Feast of Weeks, this is where the Israelites would celebrate when God gave the law, the Torah, to Moses, and thus started the nation of Israel. So the Feast of Weeks is where they would celebrate,

the beginning of the Hebrew people becoming a nation. Now for us, as believers, when we think about the day of Pentecost, it's not about God sending His law, but God sending His Spirit. And it's not about the birth of a nation, but the birth of God's church that since that day, when he poured out his spirit, has been resonating throughout the whole earth, to Ukraine, to Brazil, to Toronto, to Charlotte, North Carolina, all the beautiful expressions of the body of Christ that came out of that moment when God birthed his church in that little upper room. It's the potential of a place.

And sometimes I read this story, and I think it would be so cool to have been one of the apostles in that room on that day? It would have been so amazing to be in that place as God sends the spirit and all of a sudden it fills the house and it fills the people. And this scripture will go on to say that right after that Peter and the other 11, they stand up and they give one of the most beautiful expressions of the gospel message of Jesus Christ. And that day, 3,000 people get added to the church. What would it have been like to been in the middle of a move of God like that? I think, oh, it would be so cool to be in the upper room. But think with me for a seven. what this must have felt like for the apostles who are there. See, for three years, they've been

following Jesus from place to place. Remember, he called them out of the, for Peter, he said, leave your fishing boat, leave the thing that's not only comfortable for you, but also lucrative for you, and come and follow me. And so for three years, these disciples have been following Jesus from place to place. Everybody say place. And then they watch Jesus as he gets crucified in a place called Galgotha. They even told him Jesus don't do it, but it was his purpose and plan all along to go to that place and give his life. And so in their pain

and confusion and grief, they watched them get crucified and just when things couldn't get more confusing, three days later, they go to the tomb and what happens, he wasn't in that place. The angel said, he's not here. He's risen. And then they meet the resurrected Jesus.

And from that point, for another 40 days, they're with the resurrected Jesus. And in some of his last words to them, before he ascends into heaven, he says, wait in Jerusalem. Wait in Jerusalem. He says, my father's going to send you the gift of the Holy Spirit, but you need to wait in Jerusalem. How many patient people in the house of God today? Self-identified patient people. This is how I know I wouldn't have been a good disciple, because I'm not very good at waiting. So when we call it the upper room, we think, what an amazing moment that happened.

happened in that place. But for the disciples, this wouldn't have felt like a move of God. This would have felt like a waiting room, a waiting room, a waiting room. They're in that place. And it would be 10 days from when Jesus ascended to when he would send the gift of His Holy Spirit, 10 days. But they don't know that. They don't know that. They don't know if it's going to be three days, seven days, 10 days, a hundred days. In some of his last words to them, he says, stay in Jerusalem and wait, and wait. So they go to this place and they're simply waiting. Imagine how confusing this was for them. You know the worst thing about when you're waiting? Like for me, I always think about when you go to a restaurant and the wait is taking a little bit longer than you expect, and you're debating in your mind,

do I just leave and go somewhere else? And yet there's something deep down in your spirit, telling you that the moment I walk out of this door, they're going to call my name, right? It's this lingering feeling. The moment I leave this place, they're going to say, Joseph's, your table is ready, and I won't be in that place. So you just wait, you wait, you wait, when's it going to come, when's it going to come? One thing I want you to know is that places, that places where you find yourself waiting are places of preparation. Preparation is connected to a place. When you find yourself, in that tormenting space where you don't, I know God's getting ready to do something,

but I don't know when or exactly what he's going to do. Those are spaces of preparation. A couple weeks ago, our pastor taught us about this when he talked about King David. Remember, David was anointed as king, and yet despite being anointed by the prophet Samuel to be the king of Israel, he did not possess the throne right away. And our pastor taught us how David spent years running away from the current king, King Saul, who was trying to kill him. So he finds himself living in the wilderness and hiding in caves. And our pastor said something so profound to us. He said, kings are only formed in caves. That cave was a waiting room. That cave was a place of preparation for King David. God knew everything he had in store for David. God knew everything

that David would become. But in that cave, God was forming in something in him. for the purposes that he had for him. Consider Joseph for just a moment. Joseph is an amazing character in the Bible. In fact, he would have such profound and prophetic dreams about the way that God was going to use them that when he told his family, they got so jealous of him that they sold him into slavery.

And through a series of unfortunate events, Joseph finds himself in a prison cell. Something incredible happens in that prison cell. We call it a prison, but it was a waiting room. God was preparing him in that place. Because in that waiting room, the Bible calls them, it calls him Joseph the dreamer. But in that waiting room, in that prison cell, something significant happens in Joseph's life. It's not Joseph who's dreaming in that prison cell, but the other prisoners. Catch this for a moment. When you really begin to operate in the

anointing that God has placed on your life, you start to see the people around you, start the, stay with me for a minute. When you really start walking in the grace God gave you to be an encourager, you'll see that the people around you start encouraging. When you begin to walk in the grace God gave you to be generous, you'll see the people. So it's not Joseph having, it's not Joseph the dreamer having dreams, it's the other prisoners. And in that waiting room, in that prison cell, these other prisoners are having dreams and Joseph begins to interpret their dreams. Did you catch what happens in his life, it's in that waiting room that Joseph goes from Joseph the dreamer to Joseph the dream interpreter. The prison cell was the place where Joseph learned how to use

his gifts not to serve himself, but serve others. Come on, any of you've been in that place where you thought it was all about you and God put you in circumstances where you learned that what he gave you and what he put in you and what he put on your life wasn't just for you, but for others as well. Oh, he went from a dreamer to a dream interpreter. And I want you to know today that when you are in that place of waiting, I need you to see it as a place of preparate. It is possible that in that place, God is preparing you for what he's prepared for you. God is preparing you for what he's prepared for you. This is what Ephesians 2.10 says. It says that we are God's handiwork created to do good works which he prepared for.

In other words, it means that God is shaping you. God is forming you. God is working on your life for what he has already prepared in advance for you to do. So picture the apostles in this upper room waiting for God to send a spirit, knowing what God promised them, but not knowing when he was going to do it. But in that place, God was preparing them for something so significant. They never could have met. When Peter left his boat, He never could have imagined that on that day, he would be preaching and 3,000 people would give their lives to. He never could. But God is preparing you for what he's prepared for you. I don't want to miss out when God calls my name. When he calls me, I want to be in the place he told me to be. So Jesus said, wait in Jerusalem because my father's getting ready to send you something.

I know even as I say that some of you are like, I hate the place I'm in. right now. Maybe you feel stuck in a job. Maybe you're out of school where it feels like you don't belong and everything within you wants to get up and leave that place because it's so painful and so uncomfortable. But I want you to know that even when you're in that place, your father has not forgotten you. It could just be that he's preparing you for what he's prepared for you. When Jesus tells them, wait in Jerusalem, it's interesting to me. They go to this, we call it the upper room. But if you remember before Jesus went to the cross, he sent them into Jerusalem and he said, go prepare a place for the Passover meal. The first communion, the last supper would take place.

This was the same room that they had prepared not too much earlier for the Passover supper with Jesus. So when Jesus ascends into heaven and they're left not knowing what to do, they don't go to a new place. They go to a prepared place. And sometimes when you find yourself in the place where you're not sure what God is going to do or when God is going to do it, I want to encourage you to stay in the place he last told you to be. Stay in the place that he put you because your father, he hasn't forgotten about you and he's getting ready to do something in your life. So don't leave Jerusalem. Don't walk away just yet. God is preparing you for what he's prepared for you. Not only as preparation connected to a place, but what I love in this scripture is that God's provision is connected to a place as well.

Are you with me? One thing, there's so much I could tell you about my wife, Anna, but two things you need to know. One is she's a really good cook. Amen? The other thing is she's a really good mom. In fact, my kids eat every single day. That's how good of a mom she is. Every single day.

So when Anna cooks a meal for our family, as much as I think my boys would love to eat their dinner in the playroom or up in their bedroom, when Anna makes a meal for our kids, she takes what she prepared and she puts it on the table. And she says, boys, time to come eat. And as much as they'd like to eat somewhere else, and I'm not judging you if you're a family who eats on the couch or eats on the floor or whatever. But in our family, she takes what she prepared and she puts it on the table and says, boys, come and eat. In other words, they need to come to the place where the food is that they want to eat. I want you to know that God is a good father. God is a good father. He knows how to feed you as his sons and as his daughters.

He's a good father. But God is not Uber Eats. God does not take provision to where you are. God puts his provision to where you're supposed to be. That's what he said to Elijah, 1st King 17. He said, I'm going to supply food for you down at the brink. I'm even going to do it in a miraculous way. I'm going to send ravens to feed you there.

But Elijah, you got to be in the place. I told you to be so that I can feed you. Provision is connected to a place. Your father knows how to feed you, but you got to be in the place he told you to be. Consider for just a moment with me, the story of the prodigal son. The Jesus tells this parable again of a son who asks, his father early for his inheritance. And it says, he left his father's house and he went into a distant country where he squandered everything that he had been given. And then look at this in

verse 17. This boy who's gone off to a distant country, squandered everything his father has given him. He hires himself out to work with the pigs. And while he's with the pigs, he's getting envious of what the pigs are eating while he's out there starving. In a verse 17, it says, and when he came to his senses, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have food to spare? And here I am starving to death. How many of my father's hired servants have food to eat? And yet I'm out here starving as a son.

In other words, the provision of his father had nothing to do with his position and everything to do with his location. I heard our friend Pastor Darius, Did you catch what I just said? It had nothing to do with his position and everything to do with his location. Our friend Pastor Darius Daniels, he was preaching this. He said, as long as the son was in the father's house, he never knew what it felt like to be hungry. And you have to know, as a child of God, you have access to the refrigerator of your father. But it is in the house. Touch your neighbors say, it's in the house. You've got to be in the place that God.

God told you to be out here starving as a son when your father has everything that you need. In the presence of the Lord is the fullness of joy. At his right hand, pleasures evermore. My father has everything that I need. The house of God is one of the primary places your father will feed you. I know we live in a day and age where people say, I'm just not into church, I'm spiritual, I connect with God everywhere, and I get it. God is omnipresent.

If you like to go on a walk and he speaks to you, that's amazing. You should have a place in your home where you read your scriptures and pray and God speaks to you. But I want you to know that the house of God is one of the primary places that your father will feed you with what you need. So people now say, oh, church is just a building. Just a building? Now when I think about how my father met me and this is not a building, this is the house of God. Let me show you a table real quick. Let me show you a table.

For the last eight years, I've had the privilege of being the campus pastor here, and one of the great privileges of that is that every single week I get to sit at this table right here. This table. This table. And some of you are like, Pastor JJ, that's not a table. That's a chair. No, no, no, no. It might look like a chair to you, but for me, that's a table. this is the place where my father feeds me. This is the place where he speaks to me. This is the place where he's comforted me. This is the place where he's corrected me. This is the place where he's given me. This is the place where my father feeds me. And so for me, I want to be at my father's table. And whether it's our pastor or anyone else who stands behind that pulpit, I want to be in the house of God. Because my father, knows what I need. And one of the things I see time and time again as a pastor is sometimes people will come to church and come to God when their life is falling apart. And God is so good that the moment you come to him, he embraces you with open arms and he clothes you and he feeds you. And yet some of us get so used to being full that we forget what it felt like to be hungry. And so we begin to drift away from the house of God and wonder, has God forgotten me? Has God forsaken me? Did he forget to feed you?

No, he didn't forget to feed you. He's putting food on the table every week, but God needs to feed you in the place he called you to be. One of the most amazing things about this church is that you can show up week after week and get fed, and you never have to give a single dime to this ministry. Because there's someone else on your row right now who believes so much in what God is doing in this place,

that they give sacrificially to see the gospel go forward, to build a banquet table for the master so that all can come and eat of his goodness to taste and see that the Lord is good. But if this is the place where God feed you, I don't know why you wouldn't give to help put food on the table. There's someone else who needs to eat. The world needs what our father has. This is the house of God. Provision is connected to a place, to a place. This is the place where my father feeds me.

So he says to them, wait in Jerusalem because my father's going to send you the gift. Provision. The gift. The gift of what? The gift of the Holy Spirit. Of all the ways that God can provide for you in your life, the greatest provision of your father will always be the gift of his presence. I love the Holy Spirit. I love to know that no matter what I'm walking through, that God is with me. So he says, wait in Jerusalem. My father is going to send you the gift. He's going to provide for you in that place. He's going to send you the gift of the Holy Spirit. And when he sends you the Spirit, you will receive power.

And he says, and when you receive power, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. In other words, not only is provision connected to a place, but purpose is connected to a place as well. when God begins to do something in your life, it's always for a purpose greater than you. He says, I'm going to give you my spirit, but it's not just for your comfort, although the apostles did need comfort. I'm going to give you my spirit, and it's not just for guidance, although they wouldn't need God. He said, I'm going to give you my spirit, and when I do, you will receive power. Power to be my witnesses.

There was a purpose that God was beginning to unfold through their lives that they would need the Holy Spirit for, purpose is connected to a place. When God spoke to Abraham, he said, he gave him an incredible promise for his life. He said, I'm going to bless you, Abraham. And through you and your seed, I'm going to bless the entire earth. And after he gives him this promise, he says to him, so go to the place, I will show you. God had a specific purpose for Abraham, but that purpose would unfold in a specific place. And the scriptures tells us in Hebrews that Abraham left the place he was native to. He left his home country and he set out looking for the place that God had established for him, whose builder and architect was God, because God had a purpose for his life,

but it would unfold in the place. So it took obedience for Abraham to move and leave what was native to him and begin to step into what God had in store for him. Purpose is connected to a place. I love reading the scriptures when I think about all the people that God used in a significant way, Many times before God used them, he moved them. This blessed me because I'm an immigrant. My dad's an immigrant.

His dad was an immigrant. His dad was an immigrant. I come from a long line of immigrants. Then I read in the scriptures how God moved Abraham. God moved Isaac. God moved Jacob. God moved Jeremiah. God moved Nehemi, Naomi, Root.

All these people that God used in a significant way he first moved. And what's crazy to me is I love, as I'm getting to know people in our church. Often I ask them, brought you to Charlotte. And you know what? They tell me God. I'm like, no, no, just give me a, tell me, like, was it a job? Did you have grandchildren? What, God? And I'm beginning to see more and more. No, that's really how he works. That sometimes God had a purpose for someone so he would lift them up from the place they were native to and begin to move them to another place so that his purposes and plans could unfold. Just last night, we were at a couple of cells for dinner. They shared with us how all the

reasons they thought they were moving to Charlotte and all the other purposes that God had in store for them. Often when God is getting ready to use someone, he'll move them from a place that they're native to, move them to a place so his purposes can unfold in their life. Purpose is connected to a place. This is what I've been excited to show you in this passage. Because I'm reading how Jesus is going up to the Father. And before he does, he tells them, Wait in Jerusalem because my father's going to send you the spirit there. And all along I'm asking myself the question, why Jerusalem? Why Jerusalem?

It's his spirit. God could have sent his spirit anywhere. So as Jesus ascends, why didn't he let them just kind of get on their way and when he was ready, send the spirit to where they are? Why Jerusalem? Well, I told you earlier that the day of Pentecost was part of a festival called the Feast of weeks. And one of the things that came along with that festival was that in Deuteronomy 1616, God says that during this feast, every Jewish person, no matter where they live,

needed to migrate back to Jerusalem. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. So Jesus speaks to the disciples and he says, stay in Jerusalem. I'm going to send you the gift of my spirit. And when I do, you're going to be a witness in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and get this, and to the end. And to the end. And you're, of the earth. So this is where Acts chapter 2, verse 5 comes in. Because every time I read Acts chapter 2, I think about them in that house. They're praying, the apostles, the other women, they're praying, and God sends a spirit, fills the house like a mighty rushing wind, and tongues of fire land. I never paid attention to Acts chapter 2, verse 5. The purpose of this place. Now, there were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

Do you see it? Do you see it? God says, wait in Jerusalem because as he's preparing to send his spirit, at the same time, he's bringing people from every nation under heaven. So when Peter opens up that door, there are nations at his doorstep. And Peter begins to open up his mouth and through the power of the Holy Spirit, every person hears that gospel message in their own language. He says, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The apostles wouldn't go to the ends of the earth because God was bringing the nations to them. This is the power of a place that God might just be arranging things where you find yourself right now.

wait in the place he told you to be. God is up to something that you might not see, but his plans and purposes are unfolding in your life. 18 years ago, when Pastor Stephen and Holly and Chunks and Amy and the core team were getting ready to launch a church deciding, where do we go, where do we go? And they picked Charlotte in North Carolina. I remember Chunks telling me all along he's going,

Charlotte wasn't where he wanted to be. He kept saying, why Charlotte? Why Jerusalem? Why Charlotte? because of the purposes that God had in this place. I want to do something real quick. If you're a, if you moved here from another country or one of your parents moved here from another country, would you stand up right now?

And right now in the chat, people from every nation under heaven joining us. Put it in the chat where you're joining us from right now. Why Charlotte? Why Charlotte? This church has started. at Providence High School just down the road. Who could have imagined what was in God's heart for this ministry? Who could have imagined what God had in store?

Who could have imagined that from this place, the gospel of Jesus Christ would touch the nations of the earth, that he would draw nations to this place. This is the power of a place. There's something beyond what we could expect, beyond what we could imagine, beyond what we could dream. Why Jerusalem? Because as God's getting ready to send his spirit,

He's drawing nations. And that day, 3,000 people would hear the message of Jesus and surrender their lives to him. And they would go back to the place they came from. And in their own tongue, begin to spread the message. That's how the gospel of Jesus began to ripple throughout the earth. This is the purpose of a place.

Who knows what God has in store for you? I asked Jeannie to sit in this worship experience in that seat. because she was reminding me the other day that it was seven years ago that her dad who immigrated here came to our church, sat in that seat, and stood to give his life to Christ. And it would just be a few months after that that unexpectedly he passed away. I said, Gina, you got to sit in the circle. It'll make sense to you when you hear the power of a place.

What was in God's heart when he brought him all the way here to be in this place, to be in this place, so that he can. could receive something from God so that when he'd go to a better place, he would have the gift of God's grace in God's eternal life. Some of you who stood earlier, I don't know all your reasons for moving to America. Maybe you were leaving a good situation and you sacrificed a lot. Maybe you were leaving a better. You might as thought you were coming here for a better life. I want you to know God brought you here for a greater purpose. There is something on your life that God wants to do. He's drawing you to.

this place. Stand up for me. Look at this. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. It's interesting to me that first God

filled the place and then he filled the people. And that's how it works in our lives that God will bring us to a place where he's got something that he's been preparing for us, something that we never could have met, something that went beyond what we even believed our potential could be and it provides for us in that place. And through his spirit, he fills the place and then he fills the people. And when Pastor Stephen preached that sermon places everyone, he says, first God changes you and then he changes the places you go. When you come into the

presence of God, and he touches you and he ministers to you and he fills you, then wherever you go, you bring the presence of God with you, into your school, into your workplace, into your home. First, God filled the place, and then he filled the people. This is not just a building wherever you are today, down in Orlando in Greenville and Concord in Toronto, wherever you're watching from joining us. This is not just a building. This is the house of God. This is where he feeds me. This is where his purposes unfold in my life.

This is where he fills me. And sometimes we have to have a moment like Jacob where he looked at something as simple as a rock and he anointed and he said, surely this is the house of God. And I wasn't aware. Surely this is the house of God. How many of you have that testimony about this place today?

Say it with me. Say surely. This is the house of God. First he filled the place, then he filled the people. God brought you here because there's something on your... Don't leave the place he told you to be. Don't run so quickly from places that are uncomfortable. Don't run so quickly from places that are painful.

God may just be preparing you there for what he has in store for you. This is the power of a place. Did you receive something from this message today? I had a real simple prayer this morning that just at its most basic level that for some of you, it would produce gratitude in your heart for the church that you get to be a part of. This is a special place. Sometimes we can take it for great. We get so used to being full.

We forget what it felt like to be hungry. This is the house of God. For others of you, I was praying that God would remind you of the purposes that he had for you. and some of the reasons he brought you from the place you were and put you in this place. Y'all blessed me the other day when you were sure how how much God blessed you when you left Guatemala and how he's opening up all those doors for you to do ministry now. What a blessing. It's the power of a place.

The power of a place. There are things in the heart of the Father for you. He sees you. He sees you. And he's getting ready to do something. So don't leave Jerusalem. Don't leave the place that he called you to be. When I think about the power of a place, of course, I think about what Jesus did for us.

I think about how he took the place I deserved when he went to that cross. I think about how he could have called angels down to rescue him as he hung there, but he stayed and he bled and he died so that we could take his place as the righteousness of God. He stayed in that place so that we could be forgiven. He stayed in that place so we could have. life. And right now, if you'll give me the honor, I'd love to take a moment just to lead you in a prayer because there's someone watching online right now or someone watching at one of our campuses right now. And God brought you to this place today. So just like Jeannie's dad, you could receive the gift of God's

salvation. You don't know what tomorrow holds, but God knows the plans and purposes he has for you. He brought you to this place today so that you could make the greatest decision of your life and give Jesus a place in your heart. Would you let them take the throne? We're going to bow our heads and close our eyes right now. And I want to lead us in a prayer for those who are making a decision today to give their life to Jesus. Would you pray with me? Say, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the Savior of the world. I believe he died and rose again to forgive my sin and give me life. I receive your grace by faith, coming to my life and make me new.

Head still bowed, eyes still closed. If you just prayed that prayer today to begin a relationship with God, when I count the three, would you be bold enough to shoot your hand up in the air? Be my privilege to celebrate what God has done in your heart today. On three, one, two, three. Shoot your hand up, hold it up high. God bless you, my sister. God bless you, my brother.

Come on, can we thank the Lord in this place. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry is because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe, you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot, and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.