Elevation with Steven Furtick - Where You Meet With God

Episode Date: January 13, 2025

Don’t go for a goal without God this year. When you invite His presence in, He’ll be with you every step of the way, bringing things to the surface, and showing you what to reach for. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: http://ele.vc/tIepfr Scripture References:  2 Kings 6, verses 1-7See 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 thank you for your presence today, God. We do not take it for granted that we can call upon that name, that name that moves mountains, that name that saves souls. that name that forgives sin, that name that rolls away shame. That name, and that name alone, the name of Jesus, is our banner today. I'm thankful for thousands of people who are not ashamed to praise the name of Jesus today, who are not shy or quiet or too tired to praise the name of Jesus. I thank you for the chain break and power of your son Jesus today. I thank you for the

yoke-destroying anointing of your son Jesus today. I thank you for the great robbing presence of the Almighty God, the great I am, the person in the work of Jesus today. And we expect miracles in that name, healing in that name, breakthrough in that name. But we didn't come today just to see what we could get out of that name. We came to give that name the praise today. For your name is worthy. Jesus. Your name is worthy. Always has been, always will be.

No matter what we go through, you're worthy. No matter what we're facing, you're worthy. Never changes, never fails. Your great love. Grab the hand of the person on either side of you. We're going to make a connection right now by faith. And if you're watching online and you're not at one of our physical locations, that's all right. Just squeeze the hand of the person next to you.

And now say this out loud, God is in this moment. Father, we thank you and invite you into every single situation represented in this room. Good, bad, in between, epic or boring. You are the Lord of it all. I thank you for the wonderful time we've had today singing your praises. But worship is more than a song. So now, Lord, we bring you our lives, ourselves, every single part of us. I pray for the person on my right, the person on my left. I don't just pray for myself today.

Would you touch my brother, touch my sister? Touch them enough to let them know they can make it another week. Touch them enough to know that it's already worked out in heaven and it will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Touch them enough to know that there is nothing that escapes your all-seeing eye and that the wings of El Shaddai, the most high God, are hovering over your children today. I thank you, Lord, for your promise that he who dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

And I thank you that no weapon formed against your children will prosper. We thank you that the Church of Jesus Christ is being built, and the gates of hell will not prevail, have not prevailed, cannot prevail. For we know a name that is greater than Satan, greater than Satan, greater than me. darkness, greater than cancer, greater than depression, greater than diabetes, greater than sickness, greater than guilt. Grace that is greater, the name of Jesus, give him praise, children. That's your polite praise. Give him your party praise. Your mated praise. Some kind of way he's going to do it, praise. Be 2025, everybody. I thought I would give the year a catchy slogan. This is my

first year of 2025, so I thought I'd give you a range of options. If you really aren't that goal-oriented, just survive in 25. Touch your neighbor say survive. If you had a little more faith in that, look at them and say thrive in 25. If you got a little more faith than that, if you got faith like Lazarus, if you got faith like the women who went to the tomb with the spices when they said it was over, look at your neighbor and say, dead things come alive in 25. Oh, oh, I felt that when I said it in 25.

Yeah. Come on, Brandon. Come on, Chris. We're not going to sing anymore because I feel like preaching. This is my first sermon of the year. We're going to put that song on. We're going to get it out as soon as we can. I know a name.

We're not going to hold it hostage for two years like we do sometimes. That song is going into your ears so it can go into people's homes, into people's hearts, so you can call on the name of Jesus. Do we have a date, boys? February 14th, Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day. That thing's coming alive. That thing's coming alive on Valentine's Day.

Can I get an amen? That's great. You can be saying like, I don't have a date, but I know a name. Give it up for the great Brandon Lake, the great Christopher Brown. We got new music coming your way Friday. Suns of Sunday, God did. Get it on Napster.

It's good to be back. I haven't seen you all in a few weeks. Praise the Lord, everybody. I want to thank you also stay standing. I want to thank you for your amazing, remarkable, once-in-a-generation generosity for our church giving and our year-end offering over $10 million. Over $10 million. At least praise him on a 10 for 10 million dollars. That's so many people we can help.

That's so many schools we can build. That's so many people we can come to with water and with food and with clothes and with the gospel. Building and blessing and touching the world and preaching Jesus. We're going to build a campus in Greenville, South Carolina. We're going to build a campus in Raleigh, North Carolina. We're going to build a campus in Uptown, Charlotte. We're going to preach the gospel everywhere all around the world, and we're doing it together. High five your neighbors. Say, I'm alive in 25, and the church is alive.

Praise the Lord. Feeling good, Gavin. Feeling good, Graham. Feeling dangerous today. Fill a revival spirit today. You know, the Lord led me to a passage of scripture that I thought was so strange that I was nervous to preach it. But I find sometimes it's in the simplest pictures that he gives us that the greatest and most strategic breakthroughs occur.

I want you to join me for a moment today in 2nd Kings chapter 6 verses 1 through 7. I took a poll of 10 Christians, 10 people who went to Bible school. 9.7 of the 10 said, I've never heard that story preached before. So that means today this will be the best sermon on 2nd King 6, 1 through 6th, 3rd, 3rd seven you've ever heard. So I'm stacking the odds in my favor. You can't say anything else. You say, well, that's the best sermon I've ever heard about that scripture because it's the only one I've heard about that scripture. Now, I am rested, but I might be a little rusty, so I need your grace amens today while I'm preaching. I said I need your grace amens today.

We're going to get our timing down in the first 10 minutes so we can go to church here. I don't want you to miss anything that the Lord has for you. So lean in from the very beginning because I'll read you just three verses and then I'll tell you this very peculiar story in the scripture. And you'll wonder like I wondered why that scripture. That's what I wondered too, but then God showed me. Let's look together at Second Kings chapter 6, verse one and two. Just those two verses for now.

By the way, shout out to our Charleston, South Carolina pop up today. But you know, we were meeting in Charleston today. Welcome, welcome. They're still shouting. Valentine's not that excited. They don't care. What does it matter to them? You came out in the cold.

You know you get an extra dose of the Holy Ghost for coming out when it's below 40 degrees in the south. I'm going to tell you, good things are going to happen. Your car is going to get extra gas mileage this week because you came in the cold as long as it's a Tesla. Now, 2 Kings chapter 6, verse 1, the company of the prophets said to Elijah, look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan where each of us can get a pole and let us build a place there for us to meet. And he said, go.

Everybody shall go. Let me read that one more time before I give you my subject for you. today. Second King 6, verses 1 and 2. The Bible says, The company of the prophets said to Elijah, look, the place where we meet with you

is too small for us. Now, that's a problem. So verse 2, they said, let us go to the Jordan where each of us can get a pole and build a place there for us to meet. And he said,

go. Today I want to talk to for a few moments about where you meet with God, where you meet with God, and get you to think about that, because I believe it is the key to so many other things that you're worried about this year, where you meet with God. Father, we thank you that you're already here, don't have to beg you to come or entice you, and I pray that now you would make your presence so manifest that not a single one of us can excuse it or explain it away. When they leave, Lord, may they say not the music was good. May they not say, they kept it cold in that auditorium. May they not say it was crowded. We got to get out of here and get out of the parking lot. May they say, surely

the presence of the Lord was in this place. In Jesus' name, amen. On your way to your seat, touch your neighbor and say, God is here. And I'm glad you're here too. Never been easier to pretend we're places that were not. Tim, I had a Zoom meeting. with a professional that I pay the other day. I put that in because it's important. He has all kinds of trophies and awards every time we meet because we meet regularly. And I can always see all his trophies and awards, kind of like an ego wall so he can keep me convinced I need to pay him. I get it. I'm not judging it. And the other day I was meeting with him. And while I was looking, I was like, oh, man, maybe something's wrong with my eyes because some of the awards

started like disappearing. I was like, that's weird. I'm 44 now, so I know stuff's going to start just quitting. I'm like, is it the Zoom connection? Is it just midlife? What's happening right now? And then another award kind of started moving. And then it started moving around. I was like, well, now that's not the

connection. And they were pixelating and they were moving positions all over the wall. And I called his name. I'm going to make up a name. I said, brother. I said, why are the trophies moving around the wall? I said, is that a Zoom background? Are those not real trophies that I've been looking at the whole time? And he dropped his head.

And I knew that wasn't true because I know his credentials. He said, I just didn't want to distract you. I had a flood in the regular place we meet, and I didn't want to cause a disruption. So I just recreated that background, and I've been putting it up the next two. And I promise you those are real. And then the next time we met, I made him pick up stuff and show it to me to prove that you really did earn it. And I came away with a valuable lesson. It's never been easier to pretend like you're in a place and hope that nobody stops to ask you.

Are you really here? All this stuff that you show online? It's never been easier to show it on a lot. a screen even when you know you don't really have it in your life. To be going through a flood in one location, but to make it look like everything is fine in another. And again, I don't say this as a judgment, but just sometimes when we come to a little obscure text in the Bible that maybe we say, why, of all the passages, Pastor Stephen, I need a word for 2025. This is your first sermon of the year. Maybe you're watching this in 2038. Maybe I'm a holland.

floating over you preaching this right now. I don't know what they'll do in the future, but you're like, why this? We've got a whole Bible full of big miracles with big old red seas and towering Jericho walls and filthy graves and blind eyes being open. And you would choose to preach about a text as simple as the company of the prophet said to Elisha, look, the place, the place where we meet with you is too small for us, let us go to the Jordan where each of us can get a pole and let us build a place there for us to meet. And he said, go. So why would the Holy Spirit select this scripture for us on this pivotal week in our lives? And I have a reason that I think the Holy Spirit wants you to hear about this today. And it's first of all because most of the things that you struggle with in your

life have small beginnings. The better that you get with identifying and recognizing your struggle in the small stage, the less effort you will have to spend when that thing is full grown to sabotage you in the future. And I love these men in this passage. Okay, here's the situation. They are students of a great profit. Everybody say great profit. Not a pretty good profit, not a minor league prophet, a great prophet, the prophet of Israel who could call for God to intervene supernaturally, and he would, who could locate enemies supernaturally, and God's people would get the victory. A great prophet, Elisha, and he has gathered unto himself a great company of students. And the students are kind of looking around for a little while as this movement starts to grow.

please be aware that if God really blesses your life, blessing creates just as many problems as struggle does. So at some point, they begin to meet with one another, meet with one another, and they say, this sucks, man. It's crowded. This is ridiculous. This was fine when there were 50 of us. But who knows how many there were by that time, right? Eliasha has fixed a complete water system in one city. He has fixed a drought for several kings and turned the tide of the war. He's supplied a food supply for a widow. He's given a barren woman, a child, and then raised that child from the dead when the child died. All that's already happened. He healed a Syrian commander of leprosy by telling him to go dip in the Jordan River. So you've got to imagine.

imagine that it was at least double what it had been to start with, right? Because he had a double portion of Elijah, his predecessor's spirit on him, and he worked great miracles. And so they look at each other one day like, man, somebody ought to do something about this. It's crowded. You don't shower. There's no deodorant. It hasn't been invented. We got to do something about this. And I want to focus in for just a moment on verse one to show you where the Holy Spirit convicted me about my life. He told me that I live in verse one too often. And verse one is where they give the complaint. Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. And that's the whole verse one. And I wonder did you live most of last year in verse one and never make it to verse two?

What do you mean make it to verse two? Verse two, they say, let us go to the Georgia. where each of us can get a pole and let us build a place there for us to meet. And he said, Go. Verse one contains the problem. It's too crowded. This isn't working anymore. We don't fit here anymore. We don't like this. Y'all need to build a parking deck at Elevotion Church. This is too much. Y'all go too long and the services overlap and it's crazy. Y'all need to get us out of this high school auditorium and get us in a real building. You know, we've got to be a lot of the service. We're got problems around here. And the only thing about the problem is that God caused it. Because I bet you they prayed for people to come and be a part of their team. And now they're complaining

about something that they prayed for. Oh, you better wear your steel toe this year. Don't wear your crocs to this church this year. I'm walking up and down those rows this year, looking for the person who's like me. Now, this is my default setting. To pray about something, possess what I prayed for, complain about what I prayed for. But they didn't do that. They said the place is too small. Watch this, verse two. Let us go. So here's a challenge for you. I hope you'll accept it, but maybe you won't, and that's okay too, because I can just give you the challenge. I can't make you do it. Every time you are tempted to complain, it is an invitation to create instead. Every time you are tempted to complain, it should be a trigger or an invitation for you to create. I know the Bible says

do everything without complaining, but sometimes the complaining stage is the stage you have to make it through to get to the change stage. They were not rebuked for complaining, but they were blessed for continuing. Again, they were not rebuked for complaining. This place is too small. The prophet said, be grateful for what you have. No? He was more than willing, and that's the word I want us to come back to a few times today, he was more than willing to give them permission. And some of the things that we're praying about, complaining about, worrying about, and calling it prayer, God has already given us permission to fix. You ever worried about something and said you prayed about it? You ever

talked to everybody about it but the one who could do something for you? May this be the year that you stop complaining to people who can't change it anyway. Maybe that's where I need to be preaching from. Back there in the back. Where this is my year, where the Bible says, the company of the prophets, verse one, said to Elijah, and I've got to show you how cool the Bible is. A prophet speaks for God, right? A prophet represents God.

A prophet, we don't have prophets like this today because we all, as believers, have the Holy Spirit. Jesus is our great high priest. The Holy Spirit lives in you. You don't need me to get a word from God. If I'm off any day, God is still on. If I don't give you the word that you need, go back and read the scripture I read and God will preach it better than I did. If I fall down dead preaching this sermon today, somebody else will pick up the mic and preach it before I can get out of the door with the EMS. Because God's word is eternal.

It does not originate with men. It originates with God. And not only is it internal, eternal, internal, internal. And when we say the place where you meet with God, I want you to understand that that place is never meant to be a building. When I said, I want to talk to you today about where you meet with God, you're like, great, they're starting a building campaign. No, we already did that. I told you. We're building. Where I built the building. You're right here. And even if you don't have a building, we can put it on YouTube so we don't need all that. But maybe I am starting a building campaign today where you begin to build new patterns and recruit new people if necessary so that the presence of God permeates your life this year.

I want to talk to you about where you meet with God. Now, let me slow down because I get excited because y'all start drawing it out of me and it's your fault. When we think about a prophet, we think about somebody who speaks for God, and prophets do that in the Bible. Prophets can prophesy doom and judgment, and you see this a lot in the Bible. Prophets can also prophesy rain and blessing and life and increase. But in this situation, didn't you find it interesting that in verse one it says, the company of the prophet said to Elisha, not Elisha said to the company of the prophets. Why is that significant?

Because sometimes God commands you to do something clearly, clearly. There are some things that God has commanded you to do clearly. These are not opinions, suggestions, or advice. These are not influencers giving you their tips and techniques. These are the truths of God's. Word. They are eternal. And so God commands you clearly to flee sexual immorality. You don't have to pray about the affair that you're on the edge of having. You've got to run. flee sexual immorality. That's clear. I know another clear one that people don't like. Forgive others just as God and Christ

forgave you. That's clear. But Lord, which city should I live in? Should I live in Charlotte or Atlanta? or Roanoke or Raleigh, the Lord is going to use you in the city that you obey the clear thing that he showed you in. So if you don't forgive in Charlotte when you move to Atlanta, you're going to have just the same sewage that you had in Charlotte when you get to Atlanta because you didn't do what was clear. Wherever you go, there you are. And so a lot of the prayers we pray about moves we should make when we can't get ourselves to obey what God has clearly spoken. create confusion so that we don't take responsibility for our decisions. I'm not going to be like this the whole time. I will be hopeful in a moment.

But I just want to spend more time this year in verse two where they said, let us go to the Jordan where each of us can get a pole and let us build a place there for us to meet. Honestly, if this is my prayer, I'm saying, God, this place where we meet with you is too small, make us a bigger one. these people you put around me are not talented enough. Give me more talented people. God, this situation you put me in, it's not important enough. It's not exciting enough. God, move me to another place. But I want you to notice in verse two, they didn't ask the prophet for anything except permission. Let us go to the place by the Jordan, the transitional body of water, where the people

of God crossed over into Jericho. Let us go to the place where the vegetation is and the wood is, and the tools are and the resources are, and let us go build a place there for us to meet. Put that verse on the screen, verse two. And whoever's circling back there, circle the following words. Say, let us circle us, go to the Jordan, where each of us circle us again, can get a pole and let us circle us again, build a place there for us, circle us again to meet. That's their plan. We got a plan. Somebody shout, I got a plan. This is my year. I got a plan. Thrive in 25. I got a plan. I'm eating carnivore. I'm doing cardio. I'm drinking collagen. And then two weeks in, you got a cold, and where did that get you? I got a plan. We're going to go down here and build a place. It's going to be bigger. It's going to be better. It's going to be better. It's going to It's going to be amazing. I got my plan.

I have my plan. Now, I had the plan last year, but this is different. I had this plan, I had the other year before that, and the year before that, but that was COVID. That doesn't count. I mean, this year is different. So we're going. Somebody shout, let's go.

And I give them credit for their initiative. Because I think sometimes when we're waiting for God to speak, he's waiting for us to step. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes when we're waiting for God to move, he's waiting for us to multiply what we've already been given. And so I congratulate these men for their initiative. They didn't just complain about the thing. They were willing to change the thing, to work toward the thing, to collaborate toward the thing. Are you, or are you waiting for something to happen externally when the Word of God is internal, internal and eternal. Nothing can stop it, and it can't be seen with human eyes. And so they get fired up. One of my friends who is an athlete tells me,

I don't know if this is going to encourage you, but I come to church because it helps me feel like I can do anything for about three days. I said, that's pretty good three days. That's pretty good shelf life. Three days, that's pretty good. Flowers can die quicker than three days. That's pretty good. He said, yeah, I thought I could do anything for three days. I said, but what happens on day four? He said, well, that's where it gets tricky. I said, no, it doesn't. Because you can go back to God between Sundays. You can go back to God. You can go back to God between hours. You can go back to God. You can go back to God as much as you want in any situation that you're in. And I think as simple as that sounds, we don't really practice that.

We don't really practice that. I saw something here that was to be celebrated. Let's go. We're going to build a bigger school. And Elijah, the prophet, is going to teach us. We're going to build something amazing for you, God. And many of us have started this year with good motives. I'm going to build something for my family.

I'm going to build something so I can take care of my kids. I'm going to build something for God. I'm going to build something to make a difference. I'm going to work on my body. I'm going to work on my mind. I'm going to work on my future. I'm going to work on my career. I'm going to work on myself.

I'm going to work on my temper. I'm going to work on my yoga. I started doing yoga last year. Just so I can keep it moving as much as I need to up here. I'm just increasing the arsenal this year. And you know what the thing about it is? Holly's better at it than I am. And I can lift so much more pounds than she can.

But the instructor that's working with us, she always is saying, beautiful Holly, beautiful Holly, and comes over to me and says, it gets better, Stephen. Like the only word she has for me is the word of false encouragement and delusional hope that I'll one day be flexible. And I found out something. When you're doing something new, it helps to have somebody who can give you personal attention. so you don't get confused and quit. And maybe the reason you had a plan last year and it fell apart in three days, three weeks, three months. Maybe the reason that your motivation sometimes only lasts three minutes. Maybe the reason it lasts too short sometimes is because you only get permission and a plan.

But this is a year where your plan will not be enough. because the most important things that will happen in your life this year will not be in your plan. The greatest things that God will bring into your life will not be on your vision board. They will not be manifested from the contours of your human mind or imagination. You will not see them coming so you won't have time to plan a parade. You will not see them coming so you won't have time to get in your stance. The most important things, and I'm going to show you in the text, What I'm talking about, the most important things that will happen in your life this year will not be a part of your plan.

How many can testify that there has already been an unplanned event that has superseded your planned year this year, and we're just getting started. So they're excited, man. We're going to go build a place. We're going to get a pole. We're going to build a place. And Elisha's going to teach us. And it's not like they're going to build a strip club. They're not doing something terrible.

They're not even doing something neutral. They're building something for God. Okay. We're going to build this for God, and God's going to bless us. I just need to stop right here and take a poll. How many have something you want to do for God this year in your life? Shout out what it is on three. One, two, three.

All right, cool. God heard all that. I don't need to. And some of what you said you're going to do for God this year, God was like, that's right. Go do it. And some of it, God was like, Why are you making a plan for a purpose that I didn't call you to just because you saw it in somebody else?

Let me tell you something, Hall. I don't want to build anything in my life from this point on that God gave somebody else the blueprint for. Because I've spent too much time, too much energy, lost too much joy, forfeited, too much contentment and peace, trying to build something that isn't even in my blueprint. And the prophet, Elias, and I need to tell you something about Elijah. Elisha is a little moody. You can't call a man of God moody. I sure can, because one time some boys called him baldy, and he called she bears out of the woods to debower them.

That's temperamental. That qualifies. So I think it would have taken a lot of nerve, don't you, to come up to the prophet and say, man, this place you got us meeting respectfully, we need to do a relocation. project. And Alicia says, go. And they look at each other. It's amazing. He said we could go. He's letting us do it. So he's going to let us use the stuff. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. And they're fired up. Let's go. We're going to build a house for God on three. House on three. House on me. One, two, three. House. Let's go. And suddenly, watch this. I don't read you this part of the story yet, but it's the best part of the story.

All of a sudden, as they're going to build something for God, with good intentions, with the permission of the prophet, he said we could do it. God said I'm a conqueror. God said I can do it. God said, this is my year. He's chains break. This is the year. Dead things come alive. We're going.

We're going. We're going. Put up verse three. Best verse I've read this year so far. Then one of them said, now, this is the kid in the class who raises his hand and says, Excuse me, teacher. How about that homework assignment? This is that kid.

And not only that, I can't prove it to you, but I think he was the smartest one in the whole group. I don't know his name, but what he did was so important, but he didn't know it was important. It seems incidental, but it's not. They're on their way. Everybody shot, let's go. Put it in the comments. Let's go. Look at your neighbor, say, let's go.

Tell them this year, let's go. Little louder, say this year, let's go. Right now, let's go. Get free. Let's go. Rise up. Let's go. Be more.

Let's go. Verse three, one of them said, I'm going to ask him. Wait, wait, wait, wait, no, no. He said we can go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know he said we can go. I know, but I'm asking. You can't ask him that.

Yes, I can. And yes, you better let go to me right now. I'm asking him. Because I don't just want his permission. Pray for me. I don't just want his permission. I don't just want his provision. I don't just want my plan.

One of them came back and said, Elisha, I might be out of Lai-Sha. be out of line. I don't know if you want to. I know you're busy. You got to kill little kids with bears and save kings. But, um, verse three, won't you please come with your servants? You can't ask him that. This is the prophet. That's the man of God. You got time to swing an axe with you, chopped down a tree with you, relocate to the messy Jordan banks with you. This is Elijah. Are you crazy? You ask him if you want. I'm not getting killed by a bear. I'm leaving well enough alone. No, no, no, no, no. I'm asking him. I'm asking him. Hey, Elijah, I appreciate the fact that you gave me the opportunity. I appreciate the fact that you're letting us go build.

That's real kind of you because you could have just told us to shut up and be content with what we have. But I'm not content with what we have if we don't have you. Now remember, the prophet represents what? The word of God, the presence of God. And so what I'm trying to say to you today is, I don't want you to go for your goal without your God. I don't want it to feel like you can do anything for three days. And then on the fourth day, it falls apart. And then on the fourth day, it falls apart. And you start thinking faith didn't work. It wasn't that faith didn't work. You put your faith in the faith rather than the God who gave the faith.

Because this year, I have a plan. I have provision. I have permission. But this year, my plan is his presence. This year, my plan is that everywhere, the soul of the soul of the world. my foot shall tread like Joshua, I believe that God is giving me this place as holy ground. This is the year where I move the church outside of a physical location, and I move it to my car, and I move it to my home, and I move it to my unchangeable situation, and I move it.

Touch somebody saying, move it. They came to Elijah. Oh, it's getting good now. And they said, the place we meet with you is too small. And they were right, but not how they thought that they were right. It wasn't only too small in the physical dimensions of it. It not only needed to be expanded physically, but the place where they thought they could meet with God was too small in their perception because God doesn't just want to come when you build it. He wants to be with you as you build.

I don't know if this makes sense. It does to me. It's helping me get my confidence for this year, because I've been in this too long to think that my plan is going to go down how I plan for it this year. So guess what? Presence is my plan this year. Somebody say, presence is my plan. Ask them, what's your five-year plan?

Ask them, what's your five-year plan? Tell them, presence. them for your 10-year plan. What's your 10-year plan? Presence. What do you mean by that? When I'm 10 years down the road or 10 minutes down the road, the God who is with me in this moment will not leave me nor forsake me until everything he spoke concerning his purpose for my life has been fulfilled. So this year, I got a plan, and the plan is his presence. Watch this. When I walk through the fire, I'm not alone. When I walk through the fire, I'm not alone. When I walk through the storm I'm not alone. He's with me on the boat. He's with me in the bowels of the furnace. He's with me in this...

That's the word of the Lord. Presence is the plan. Presence is the plan. Presence is the plan. God says you need a plan B this year. A plan B. Everybody say plan B. Plan B. That means if I need, if I'm in the wilderness, he'll be my water. Yeah, yeah. If I'm in a hard place, he'll be my pillow. If I'm in a sick bed, he'll be my physician. I got a plan B this year. The great I am is my plan B this year. His presence, the great I am. This is a shift in mentalities for all of us control freaks who think we are going to perfectly design our life. And I'm going to chop down a tree and I'm going to build a building. But the thing that you never saw coming is going to require the God that you're You keep forgetting to bring along. Beautiful, Holly.

Beautiful. Steven, would you like a few adjustments? I'm like, yes, I would. I'm not trying to twist my lumbar like a pretzel in here. I'm not trying to walk out of here like I'm 91 years old. I'm already walking like I'm 89. I need some help in here. Come over here and help me.

Help me, God. I'm using it as an analogy you understand. I'm not getting into new age mysticism and telling you to do yoga. I'm just saying, just like the Holy Spirit. Like the Holy Spirit, I need you to come along this year, and I need you to go with me this year, God. And God, I can't walk in this house without you. And God, I can't get on this Zoom without you.

And I'm tired of putting up plaques and trophies on a fake green screen back behind me, pretending like I'm doing better than I am. Come with us, Elisha. Come with me, Word of God. Come with me on the waters. Come with me in the wave. Come with me back to school. Come with me into this divorce.

Come with me into this addiction. With me into this crippling state, come with me into this contention, come with me into this argument, come with me into this text thread, come with me into this feet, come with me into this step, come with me into this heartbreak. Verse 3, Will you come with us, won't you come with us? We don't want to go without you, God. I don't want to preach without you, I don't want to teach without you, I don't want a dad without you, I don't want a husband without you, I don't want a man without you, I don't want it without you. I don't want a plan without the great I am. I want a plan B, because I don't even know what I need him to be till I get there.

That's why he said, I am that I am. So when you run up on a red sea, you got a plan B. You don't understand what I just said. You got a plan B. You don't even know you need him to be a parter of the waters until you're looking at a sea. So the C you didn't plan for, you got a plan B. God said, I'll be what you need me to be when you step your foot where you're looking at a C. you're going with an awareness of my presence.

And the thing is, he's already in you. It's an issue not of ability. It's willingness. That really blessed me how the prophet said, I don't even think I can do this like I want to, not in this setting. I'd have to be talking to a small group of people who felt like you've been in situations where you felt unwanted. And you notice the prophet said in verse 7.

two, he said, go. But what touched me was, he wanted to come. He was waiting to be asked. Because you keep assuming, well, if God wanted to do it, he'd do it. What if he's waiting to be asked? What if he wants you to involve him? Elijah didn't say to the school of the prophets to build a bigger place. They said to him, can we do it? Elijah didn't say, mind if I tag along? They said, will you come? It took me back to something. This is why it touched me. From when Elijah was very little, my Elijah, not the prophet. I don't know about when he was, that prophet was little, but my Elijah, he's so convincing and he's so persuasive, and he always has been. And then he started watching Ben Shapiro, and now he just wants to argue all the time.

But when he even wants to be sweet, I remember he wanted me to see The Avengers movie. I don't like superhero movies. I think they're stupid. So I'm like, man, we're not going to the Avengers. And I'm telling you, he went above like seven years old or something like that. He's very, way too young to be out this late because it was showing at 10 o'clock at night. And he's like, can we go see the 10 o'clock? I'm not taking you to Avengers at 10 o'clock. I don't like superhero movies. I don't like 10 o'clock. I don't like you after 10 o'clock. We're not doing this. That boy didn't say a word. He went away. I'm like, okay, good, we got that done. He comes back, doesn't say a word.

and brings me my shoes and puts him down at my feet. And he didn't say anything until he was almost all the way out the door. He said, I'll be in the car if you change your mind. How do you not take that kid to Stonecrest? And buy him popcorn and coke and caffeinate him and sugar him up. And he's up till 7 a.m. But I got a sermon illustration out of it. Bring God his shoes.

Bring God, oh, bring God, I know you hadn't done it yet. And if you don't want to, I trust you. But I'm going to be in the car if you change my mind. I'm going to be in my seated elevation if you change your mind. I'm going to be in therapy if you change your mind. I'm going to be working on this. Will you come? Ask your neighbor, will you come?

You'd be surprised what God would say yes. to if you'd get in the vehicle. You'd be surprised what God would say yes to if you'd bring him his shoes. Yeah, you'd be surprised where God would meet with you if you'd bring him along. Why wait until you've built the place to learn from the prophet? Why wait till you get the degree to celebrate the progress? Why wait till the chains are all the way broken to show somebody how to smash the first link like you did. Why wait for the presence of God when he is a very present help in the time of trouble? I'm trying to tell you he wants to come. He wants to come. He wants to come. Stop trying to rebuke anxiety in the name of Jesus. You don't get through anxiety by

rebuking anxiety in the name of Jesus. You receive the grace of Jesus for your anxiety. And the grace of Jesus in your anxiety becomes, watch this, the place where you meet with God. Put your feet on the ground and sit there and do your breathing exercises and do a downward dog in a hallelujah and make it the place where you meet with God. Because you're going to need him. Let's talk along the way. Elisha, you have so much to share. God, would you show me along the way, things that I think I'm going to learn when I get there? I think that's so important because I'm perfectionist. And I'm a complainer. I guess I'm supposed to be helping you, but this is helping me. I just saw, not only do I get stuck in verse one where I say, it's too small, it's not

working, I don't like this, it's terrible, I'm confined, and I complain. Sometimes I get stuck in verse two, let us go down and let us do it, and let us try. Here's my plan. And I never get to verse 3, his presence. Because when they got down there, look how Alisha responded. He didn't call a bear to kill this boy. He didn't tell him, you're ridiculous for wasting my time. You know how sometimes you think that God is too small? You think that what you're dealing with is something God can't handle.

And we all think that. We watch the news and we see crazy things that are happening in the world. And it's not that we think God is too small, but it doesn't seem like he's doing anything about it. Sometimes I don't think we realize how small God is willing to be to show how big he is. And that's why I chose this passage for my first sermon of this year. Because I thought if we talked about Goliath going down, you would wait for a big giant to trust God. And it's not the giants all the time that cause you to lose your momentum.

Man, I know how it is. I can do anything for three days, but that fourth day. I really love Jesus to about 9.45 a.m., and then 946, the devil meets with me. I know that feeling. But I believe that not every day presents a Red Sea, a Goliath, a burning bush. I mean, all these things are wonderful, and you know I love to preach about them. But I started my year with the sermon called, I don't know what your Bible heading says there, Autumn, but mine says, an axe head recovered.

That's all it said on the subject. An axe head recovered. Really, man, you've got a whole Bible full of nine-foot giants and raging seas, and you want to preach about an axe head? Yeah. Because I think the little moments with God that he wants you to have are the ones that are slipping away. And I think that's why the other stuff gets so big and takes you down. Because the prophet said, I'll go with you.

and verse 4 records what happened next. He went with them. Wonder what they talked about. Wonder if they talked at all. Wonder if they were able to ask him more specifically. How you think we should build it? You know, you can ask God stuff more specific. God, is there another way to say that?

Now, I have an advantage over you in this because every week I have to try to talk for God to you, and I'm done. So I get a lot of practice of just, God, is there another way to say that? I don't know. If I ever said that before, they're going to hear it, they're going to get it, I'm making any sense.

But that's the skill you need for your life, too, not just to preach. That's the skill you need for your life. The skill you need is the presence of God. Just right there in the middle of your Zoom meeting with your fake trophies and your shorts, your underwear going on under the desk, your tie up top. You don't have to say it out loud. You don't have to go off the screen just right there. God needs you for it.

Just those little moments. I really believe that because watch. Why did God include this boring story in the Bible? You think Elisha didn't do more fantastic miracles? He did. But the Lord wanted us to have seven verses to know what happens to us sometimes. And this is what I see for so many of the people that I pastor who I meet. And when I meet you, when I meet with you, you meet with God in your own time.

But when I meet you, sometimes I hear about the things that the enemy is tormenting you with. And it goes something like this. He went with them, verse four. They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. It's going good. I'm making progress. I apologized. I said, I'm sorry.

I actually sent the text. I actually looked up the help. I actually joined the gym. Now, I'm not going to go until about January 21st when it clears out. That's just strategic. But I'm making my steps. I'm clearing out that room. I'm going to do it this time.

Now, I got some food in the pantry. I got to clear out. I can't waste. I mean, I'm going to eat the peanut butter, but after that jar is gone, it's no more peanut butter. I'm going to kill the rest of the year. Cale, collagen, cardio, carnivore. I'm going to do it all this year. I'm going to be a vegan carnivore this year, and I'm going to cut down this tree.

And they began to cut down the tree. Now watch this. As one of them is cutting down a tree, the iron axe head fell into the water. And all of a sudden we go from let's go. Oh, no. Have you ever, be honest or I'll prophesy, have you ever been doing pretty good? Let's go. I got this.

And in the middle, verse 5 again, please, of doing what you believe God gave you permission to do, oh no, oh no. You're like, it's not a big deal, it's an axe head. it's a big deal to you, it's a big deal. Stop telling people that God doesn't care about this and God doesn't care about that. He numbers every hair on your head. He cares about everything that pertains to his child. And even Elisha, the rough and rugged prophet, who had no time for any nonsense, as this young man, it says one of them, you know, I wonder, somebody looked this up for me on chat, GPT later and send me a text about it. I wonder, was it the same one that asked him

to come, or was it a different one altogether? Because the one that's cutting down the tree, they don't have many tools you understand. This is not a very sophisticated operation. As he's cutting down the tree, boom, the head goes off the stick and it flies into the Jordan, and iron isn't supposed to be in water. Iron is supposed to be on wood. And when iron meets wood, it makes progress. But when iron meets water, you need presence.

Because the first thing he did when the axe had flew, he said, oh, no, my Lord. Who's he talking to? Elijah. Who do you talk to when it falls off? Who do you talk to when you fall? Who do you talk to when your momentum slips? This is so important. Oh, no, my Lord.

He cried out, it was borrowed. Oh, this is bad. I can't pay this back. Some of us are in situations this year that we can't. afford to waste another day, that we can't afford to waste another year, that we can't afford to just get through a month just barely hanging on. He said, I need help, and thank God help was there. Remember, if one of them hadn't gone back and asked him to come, there would have been no one to help when their plans stopped working. And this is what I'm saying about where you meet

with God and the prophet, the great prophet Elisha, who had the power to turn the tides of wars, had the time to help a boy get it back. God said he wants to help you get it back this year. God wants to help you get it back this year. If it's joy, he wants to help you get it back this year. If it's integrity, he wants to help you get it back this year. If it's the character to keep your commitments, he wants to help you get it back this year. If it's a vision for your family, he wants to help you get it back this year.

If it's a perspective on what really matters, he wants to help you get it back this year. And I want you to notice very carefully what the prophet did in verse 6. And this is what I see the Lord doing for us. The man of God asked the boy, where did it fall? Isn't that amazing? He could have said anything. The boy says, Oh, no! It was borrowed. Well, that was stupid. Why did you borrow it? You shouldn't be borrowing

stuff anyway. Hadn't you heard Dave Ramsey on the radio? You're not supposed to be in debt anyway. You need to go drive a Uber Eats and get it paid for. Don't worry about that. That's a good thing, because if that's popping, that means the devil does not want you to hear the next part of this message. So I'm very encouraged by that. And I want you all to fix it at the same time. The man of God said, where did it fall? Now, this is the message. This is the message. I was tricking you. I told you the other part was the message. This is the message. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float. Thanks for no thanks. I'm rocking on. I'm moving through. I'm walking on in Jesus' name. I want both of my hands to preach this part.

Because the Bible says, the Bible, I don't care about what your fear says. I don't care about what your generation before you says. I don't care about what a political party says. I don't care about what your wired mind says. The Bible says he didn't condemn him. He just guided him to the place and helped it to surface what he needed. He took a stick. He threw it there and made the iron float.

Aren't you grateful for the stuff that God is bringing to the surface this year in your life? Now, hang on. Y'all got six minutes and I'll finish this. If y'all don't have six minutes, I'll just preach this. I'll just preach it to Abby today and she can sit there and give me an offering afterwards. Y'all got six minutes. I want to finish this. I really want to finish this.

I really don't want to go home holding this. Because when he said when he showed him the place, verse 6, when he showed him the place where it fell, that is where the miracle happened. So I want you to see what happened. He was building and it broke. That is some of us in the room. While we were building what we felt like we were supposed to build, it broke. Our focus broke. Our momentum broke. Our streak broke. Our days of sobriety broke. It broke. The relationship broke. The heart broke. The passion broke. It broke because he was building. Now, when it broke, it flew into the water. So now it has been a functional axe head, and now it has fallen into the water. It does not belong in the water. Thank God for verse three, where he says, come with us. Because that means that God is with me not only when it's functional, but when it's falling. And so now I understand the key of this message and the key of this year and the key to restoration in your life is that God does not only want to be with you when you build it.

He wants to be with you when it breaks. And I want you to invite God into the places where it breaks this year. I want you not to pretend like you've got the trophies. Pretend like there hasn't been a flood. Pretend like you're in a great place. want you to make the place that you struggle the most, the place where you meet with God. And what is that place? Because notice, there is a part that God does, and there is a part that God does not do.

The Word of the Lord brought the iron, verse 6, please, to the surface, but it did not bring it to the shore. Verse 7. Lift it out, he said. I'm showing it to you. I'm revealing it to you. There are things that the Spirit of God will supernaturally reveal to you, but they must be practically recovered. Lift it out. You can't make iron float. God can. But sometimes something is floating, but it's not fixed yet. And this is where you meet God. grace is where God meets you. Faith is where you meet God. Lift it out, and then the man reached out his hand and took it. It's broken, but it's back. It's broken, but it's back. It's broken, but it's back.

My life is not exactly what I want it to be at this age and stage. broken, but it's back. I'm not on the right path that I set out to be on. It's broken, but it's back. And I hear a calling from the Holy Spirit this year to somebody's life who thinks that you can only meet with God when you are in a perfectly manicured environment full of meditative promises and meticulously kept character. No, no, no. The place you meet with God, is in the place you need him the most. If the axe head had not fallen off, there would have been no miracle. So I am telling you to stop waiting for a future place to meet God and experience his presence,

and take him to the place where the blade flung off your stick and watch him bring something up. Now here's the thing I learned, Dee. You've got to reach for it. The axe had did not swim to the boy. He reached for it. And I believe that God has given you something today, to show you something today, that he's calling you to reach for. He's not going to make you dive down to the bottom and find it.

You can't do that. That's what grace does. But what does faith do? Reach out and lift it up. This reveals what faith retrieves. May this be a year of recovery for you. May this be a year of clarity for you, for God to bring things out up out of the muddy Jordan River. May this be a year that you don't stand swinging your stick knowing this isn't working anymore.

May this be a year that you don't just keep pretending like everything's fine when you know your effectiveness is at the bottom of the water. May this be the year that you meet with God in weird places. May this be the year that you sneak into the bathroom and instead of pills, you take a prayer. May this be the year where you meet with God. I had a friend tell me one time, I said, I'm having my quiet time in the car these days. My devotion time with God Christians, we call quiet time. It's a little Christian ease for you. I'm going to do a whole series one year called Do You Speak Christianese?

I'm going to take every little thing we say that we don't even stop to define for people and say this is what that kind of means. And I told him I was meeting with God in my car a lot lately, and God was coming in my car, and I was playing all my worship CDs, John P. Key, Strength, and Hezekiah Walker and the Love Fellowship Tabernacle. I said, I have the best times with God in my car. Paul Belosh and Tommy Walker and all the integrity boys too. I said, I had the greatest meetings with God in my car. He said, those don't count. I said, it doesn't count. He said, no, it's not set aside time for God. You've got to set aside time for God.

God wants to know you're serious. You've got to set aside time for God. I believe that the place that you meet with God is too small if you believe that. Put up verse one again. The place where we meet with you is too small. If you want to meet with God in your breakfast, nook, all means play a Brandon Lake CD and do it. If you can find a CD player. But when you leave that place, you better meet with God in the next place, too, because the place you meet with God

is too small. If the only place you meet with God is when you get a Holy Ghost goose bump, the place you meet with God is too small. So everybody stand up on your feet, and I want you by faith just to stretch your hands up like you're reaching for something that was lost, that the enemy tried to steal. And just say this out loud, God, will you come with me? Now wait, shh, wait, wait, don't say anything. Answers yes. He already promised his presence. It lives inside of you. May this be the year where the place where you meet with God becomes the mountaintop of your victory and the valley of your midnight. The place you meet with God has been too small. If church is the only place you meet with God, the place you meet with God is too small.

Expand your expectation of God's presence. I declare over your life a year of expansion. Not just that you would get more stuff, but that you would get more Him. If you get more Him, you have everything. If you have not Him, you have nothing. May this be the year of His presence in your life. God, come with me to work this year. God, come with me as I struggle to sleep at night. God, come with me into the challenge this year. God, come with me into the uncertainty. Will you come? And he says, yes. And he says, when it falls, I'll show you where to reach to get it back. Put your hands down. Right now, there's somebody, heads about eyes closed. And this is your moment to meet Jesus. be saved. Listen to me. God is not waiting for you to come to him. He came to you. That is the

message of the gospel. So anytime you spend thinking, I'm going to work my way to God. That's not how this works. That's religion. That is not the gospel. The gospel is this. God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. What am I trying to say to you? I'm saying God has already done it. Now right now, if this is your moment, you say, I don't want to go into this year doing it by myself. I don't want to go into this year pretending like I've got it together. I want the grace of God.

I want to receive Jesus. I'm going to pray a prayer. If you repeat this prayer after me and mean it in your heart, the Bible says that God will hear you from heaven. And if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart, God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Everybody who's coming back to God today, your life is broken, but you can have it back. In Jesus name, repeat after me. Heavenly Father, today is my day of salvation. I am a sinner in need of a Savior, and I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

Today, I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died, that I would be forgiven and rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. This is my new beginning. On the count of three, shoot your hand up if you pray that. One, two, three. All over the room on every location. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Reach out and take it. It's the gift of God. Reach out and take it. It's the gift of God. Let's celebrate them, Church. Bring those Bibles around. Pass them down. 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. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.