Elevation with Steven Furtick - You Must Be Important

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

We love comfort. But it may be getting in the way of God’s plan for our lives. See why being comfortable may not be what God wants for us.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. On your way to your seat, I know normally I would read my scripture while you're standing, and then after the text I would give you my title, but I want to do it different today. I'm wild and crazy, y'all. I'm going to give you my title and then my text. Whoa. All right, but I need your help.

Look at the person next to give them my title. Say, you must be important. Be seated. Amen. Hey, thank God for our worship team. Many are just getting back from tour. Chris Brown still smells like diesel fuel and Holy Ghost. Just rocking arenas with the presence of God all over the country and representing our church well.

Let's thank God for our team. It's cool, a lot of unseen heroes too. I should do a series called Hidden Figures about the people in the church that we don't see or nobody follows them, but they're very important. Have you noticed that, like, who we think is in the church? important sometimes maybe God doesn't think is as important. In culture, I mean, just like, have you noticed that? It seems like lately I'm praying more and more, God, show me what's important from your perspective. I'm afraid that I'll live my life, wasting my energy on things that seem important to me,

only to find out that they weren't as important as I thought they were. So I'm just praying more and more in the moment, just a very short prayer. God, show me what's important. And I'm praying it at the start of my week more, that God, there's a lot I could do this week, but I need you to show me the difference between what's urgent and what's important. Because some things that will be an emergency for other people cannot become my priority just because they didn't make a plan. And so this week I need you to show me the difference between what's important.

urgent and what's important. And sometimes it's urgent and important, but I need God more and more to show me what's more important. Lately, I find that it's not choosing between, you know, Netflix and Bible study. It's like, which show on Netflix or Bible study. I'm just kidding. I just want to take it there. No, it's two things that are equally, to me, equal priorities, because I know that I need to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. I don't always know what that looks like in this moment. Because my role in the kingdom consists of multiple roles. So on one level, I am a pastor who needs to prepare a sermon.

On another level, I am a dad with a kid who wants to throw the football. And I know you think that you're more important than my son's desire to throw a football. But the fact of the matter is, you know, if I dropped dead, there'd be another preacher standing here this weekend, but he's only got one dad. It's true. It's so true some of the things that I thought were more important in my 20s now that I'm like a wise sage at the age of 38. I'm realizing that I need God more and more to show me what's important now. What's important now? What was important to me in one season? may not need the same priority in this season. And that even applies to people.

I know that everybody is equally important. Somebody say, I know you're important to God, but God is an unlimited resource and he can love everybody equally. I'm not that much like God. I only have so much to give. Come on, there's only so many bags of chips in the vending machine of my heart. And I can't just have everybody grabbing everything out of me all the time. Eventually I will run out. So I need to be led by the spirit to know what's most

important in this moment, in this season of my life, what is the priority of God for me? In Mark's gospel, we are going to study today briefly a story that he thought was important to include to give us a full picture of Jesus as we're coming to know him. savage Jesus. It's been shocking to us some of the priorities that Jesus had and how much different those priorities are than maybe what we would have expected. When we see him stopping to heal a woman in Mark 521 and following on his way to heal a little girl, we are shocked, confounded and in some ways challenged because the one he was going to heal was the daughter of someone who was important. His name was Jairus. He was a synagogue leader. The woman who came up behind Jesus isn't even

given a name. Nobody really cared about women like that in this culture. He stops in route to the miracle that is more important and more urgent because the little girl has hours to live. In fact, while he stops to heal this unimportant woman, the important girl dies. Jesus isn't concerned about this because he is healer, yes, also he is resurrection. His priority in this moment is to show the people a deeper revelation of who he is. The only way for him to give them this revelation of the power of his presence is to upset their priorities and stop for something that they see as less important, so that when he gets to the scene which was more important,

the little girl is already dead. This provides an opportunity for him to do something that he couldn't have done if he had gone according to their priorities. Sometimes God will upset your priorities to show you his power in a new way. And I know it's hard to clap for that, but if God has been doing some unusual things in your life lately, and it seems difficult to get Jesus to follow your agenda. Maybe he is reordering your priorities.

Maybe what was important to you then shouldn't be important to you now, and he's trying to show you an order of importance. That's how you can know when the presence of God is really increasing in your day-to-day life. It will shift your priorities. Goose bumps don't prove the presence of God. I get goosebumps off of Bruno Mars every time. Goose bumps him. Sometimes I kiss Holly.

Feelings don't prove the presence of God. What proves the presence of God in my life is when my priorities begin to align with His. And this is going to require a collision because cultural priorities are much different. Now we're ready for Mark Chapter 5. A story that Mark thought was important enough to include for us. Imagine you have to write a gospel account and you have to decide what's the most important teaching Jesus gave that you want to put in Mark 4 or what stories are you going to leave out. Because it's not like you could say, well that wasn't any good when he healed that blind

man. You know what I'm saying? Like it'd be hard to let something hit the cutting room floor, right? Yeah, well I mean he opened so many deaf ears. You've got to pick and choose which ones you're going to include. Stuff that Jesus did on his way to his appointments would have been our greatest accomplishment in our whole lifetime. And now Mark has to decide, all right, what are the most important stories? And so in order to do that, he has to choose one theme.

And he has to get this theme across because Matthew, who wrote a gospel account is going to have a theme? Luke is, John is. Mark's theme, he decides, is going to be to show the authority of Jesus. The authority of Jesus. And authority is illustrated, not explained. Can I talk about that? People who always need to tell you they're in charge aren't really in control. When you really have power, you don't have to shout.

Just walk through my house and watch Holly look at one of our kids a certain way, and you will see that power doesn't have to shout. I mean, there is a look she can give, and I don't know where the kids go after that. They crawl under parts of the house I've never seen off of one look. And this is a demonstration of Jesus' authority that I don't think you'll soon forget. Mirried it to you. Just relax and listen, okay. They went, Mark 5, verse 1, across the lake to the region of the garrisons.

When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he'd often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him, and that's called foreshadowing class. No one was strong enough to subdue him. And this is where we need a savage Jesus. Sweet tart Jesus can't help this man. Cutie pie Jesus can't bless this guy with a little cliche.

Icthus on the back of your car, Jesus, jewelry Jesus around your neck, can't do anything about this situation. But you might come to a point in your life where you've lost sight of who you are and whose you are. And in those moments, you don't want a little puny Jesus who's stands over on the side and waits till you rub your hands together and pull them out the bottle on Christmas and Easter or when you decide to bless him with your presence at church. No, in those moments, you're going to want a strong Savior with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. I'm talking about a savage Jesus.

Somebody shout, I got a great big God. Night and day, verse 5. Among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and cut himself with stones. In verse 6 is interesting, when he saw Jesus from a distance. Now, this is the first time he's seen Jesus, but this is not Jesus' first vision of him. He saw Jesus from a distance. Jesus did his ministry in Copernium. This account is from a Gentile region, the region of the garrisons.

No one knows exactly where that is, by the way. There's a lot of debate about it. I went over to a spot where they think this story might have happened last year, and he showed me how Jesus would go up. the mountains and pray early in the morning and late at night. And across the Sea of Galilee where Jesus has just traveled, the sound would have traveled. So if this man is crying out day and night, there's a good chance Jesus would have been up early while the man was up late.

And while the man was up late crying, Jesus was up late praying. And maybe one morning after hearing the man cry one more time, Jesus decided, today is the today for me to make my way toward this man and set him free. Could it be that God has heard your cry and he has heard the secret petitions and disappointments of your heart and he had you log on or show up today because today is the day that he came to see about you when you thought no one else was listening and you thought you were all alone. Could it be that he heard you? And now the man is the man is sees Jesus possibly before Jesus even lays eyes on the man. And he ran and fell on his knees

in front of him. Verse 7, he shouted at the top of his voice, what do you want with me? Jesus, son of the most high God. Oh, by the way, your first response to God will often be fear. When he shows up in your life in real power, there will be something in you that will resist that authority. Because it goes against everything that is ingrained in our humanity to be in the presence of one who is greater than us. And it often causes us to re-evaluate our priorities. Now, in this man's case, there is a specific reason that he falls on his knees and shouts, what do you want with me? Jesus, son of the most high God, in God's name, don't torture me. For Jesus had said to him, here it is, come out of this man, you impure spirit.

And Jesus challenged the spirit that was within the man. And the spirit. And the spirit, within the man resisted the challenge of Jesus because any time the enemy has occupied a territory for a while he won't let it go without a fight. Jesus asked him a question not for information but for revelation. He doesn't need to know this. He knows all things, but he asked the man because the man might know who Jesus is, but this man doesn't know who he is. And Jesus asked the man, what is your name? And the man responded, my name is Legion, for we are many. And he begged Jesus again and again, not to send them out of the area.

The demons beg Jesus, don't make us leave. And this is where the story gets interesting. Verse 11. And I promise you, the Bible is way more bizarre than you give it credit for. Exhibit A, verse 11. A large herd of pigs. We know we're not in Jewish territory anymore, right? Because there would not be a large herd of pigs.

Jesus has left his home turf and he's crossed over. And now he's in Gentile territory, the region of the garrisons. And there's a large herd of pigs standing nearby on the hillside feeding. And the demons beg Jesus, send us among the pigs, allow us to go into them. He gave them permission. You got to leave the man, but you can jump on the pigs. And the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. And the herd about 2,000 in number rushed down the steep bank into the lake and we're drowned.

I know you're worried right now that I'm going to find a way to preach about this in a way that applies to your life. But trust me, I've been doing this a long time. I've got a good track record. And I promise you there is a connection between you and these pigs. And if you give me a few minutes and pay close attention, I'll show you what it is. Verse 14, those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside. And the people went to see what had happened. And when they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there,

dressed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs as well. And then, then, then. the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. Touch them again and say, can I get your autograph? Touch them. Say, you must be important.

You must be important that Jesus would go through all this trouble to keep an appointment with you. Oh, I'm so sorry. I messed up. I started reading in the wrong place in the Bible. It happens. I'm sorry. This is my third time preaching it. You will have to forgive me.

I was supposed to start at Mark 435. And I started in Mark 5 and you can't understand Mark 5 without Mark 4, 35 through 41. So if you will forgive me for my slight oversight, I'm going to do what I should have done before. I want to tell you about the storm that came before the miracle. This passage of Scripture will preach all by itself because, watch this. How many of you are going through a storm in your life today? Just raise your hand. Or somebody close to you is going through a storm.

Raise your hand. Now see how easy it is to preach about storms? Did you see the high percentage of hands that went up? Except at Blakeney, they never raised their hands when I ask them to. But let me try this one more time. How many of you are going through a storm? You just came out of a storm, or you know there's probably a storm around the corner. Come on, be a meteorologist and touch your neighbor and say, there's a storm out on the ocean.

So let me read this to you because it's important. Somebody say it's important. That day when evening came, this is the same day. Remember, same day. Mark didn't divide this into chapter. We did that later. Mark's writing it all as one story. That day, when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples,

let's go over to the other side. Note, he doesn't tell him why. He doesn't say, because I've got an appointment on the other side. He doesn't tell them why. He just tells them what. Can you obey what God says when you don't know why? Can you just get in and go even though you don't know where this is going? If you believe he has all authority, you don't need full details to be obedient.

This is just for the obedient Christians who are willing to cross over. Now make a note of this. You can't cross over without conflict. Jesus is moving the mission forward. He's leaving the comfort zone of what do we call it? Capernium. Nahum, comfort. Capernum.

It's the place of the comforter. He's leaving the comfort zone. and he's moving into enemy territory. Like some of you are doing right now in your life, you are beginning to move forward in the things of God. You're changing your circle, you're changing your values, you have begun to prioritize the presence of God. But let me warn you, when you make God your priority,

the enemy will send a storm. You never cross over without conflict. Did you expect the devil would let you go without a fight? Did you expect that he would let you leave Egypt without sending his chariots to chase you down? You've been serving the devil 42 years, and now you decide to stand up and be a godly man, and you think it's just going to change overnight? As a matter of fact, I want to announce to you, the reason the storm is raging might not be because your Jonah headed away from the will of God.

It might be because you're crossing over into the calling that is on your life. That's what the conflict is all about. I know I should just calm down and talk to you, but sometimes when you're in a storm, sometimes you need somebody to holler at you and say, hey, you're going to make it through this. How do you know? Because Jesus said we're going to the other side, so you can't die into that. That's what I came to say. I've preached so many sermons about this storm, and I've told so many people that they can survive what they're going through.

But there's a more important question than will you survive. The better question to ask is, why did you survive the storm? Have you thought about, have you ever thought about how many things the enemy did even early in your life to try to stop you from having a relationship with God? Remember, this is Mark Chapter 4, not Mark Chapter 5. This man has not even seen Jesus yet, yet there is a storm that is sent to the Sea of Galilee to keep Jesus from getting to him. I know. You're like, well, how do you know the devil started the storm? Maybe it was just climate change.

Because it said Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves. Jesus doesn't rebuke natural elements. He rebukes demons. The same demonic oppression that was oppressed. that man was in that sea trying to stop Jesus from getting to the man. You were on the devil's hit list before you were ever born. There were things in your family line that were happening before you were born that were designed to keep you from being in church at this moment today.

Touch somebody say, you must be important. Because in spite of all the storms that had your name on them, in spite of all the winds and the waves and the hurricane forces. In spite of every attack, look at you in church. Look at you clapping. Look at you taking notes. Look at you praising God. Look at you believing for a brighter day. Look how you made it. You must be important. You'll survive. I know you're important. It takes boldness to call your sermon. You must be important. It takes boldness to call your sermon that, but I know it, not because of the car you drive, not because of the house you live in, not because I looked up how many Instagram followers you have, I know you're important because of your storm.

See, the size of your storm tells me something about your importance. The size of your storm lets me know the importance of your assignment. doesn't start a storm for somebody who he's not threatened by. If you're going through a storm, there's something so big on the other side. And if you... High five, three people say you must be important. Because that big bad devil's been huffing and puffing, and he thought he would blow your house down, but the trial deserved to prove your foundation. Come on, my house is on the rock. I can't. For so long, I thought the storm meant that God had left me, you know? But in this passage, the storm means he's on the way. Did you hear what I said?

If you're going through a storm right now, or if one happens to hit on Thursday morning, I want you to know that the storm is a sign that grace is on the way. The Bible says the storm came up suddenly. The moment Jesus started in the direction of the man, here came a storm, not because God wasn't with him, but precisely because he was headed in his direction. All right. So if that's true, if what I just said is true, that there is a storm that proves, nobody attacks what isn't valuable.

you if I went to play game seven today, LeBron wouldn't guard me? I promise you they would let me run all around that court and do whatever I wanted to do. They would hand me the ball gladly. Guard. Why would you guard someone who wasn't in a position to score? I know you're important. Look here, Brooke, when I prepared this message, I was like, everybody won't get this message, because they'll do this thing.

When I get to this man called Legion and I say, he was living among the people. the tombs and cutting himself with stones, they would disassociate themselves and say, well, I got some problems, but I'm not that bad. And when he says, my name is Legion, they'll back up off of him. And they'll disassociate in the text. And they'll say, well, I'm like the disciples going through a storm, but I'm not the man called Legion. Really?

Are you so sure? Because it said he lived among the tombs. So you don't go to dead places? Are you sure? Are you sure this isn't you? Somewhere in here, it may have. have a different demonstration, but it's the same dynamic. Because they said they would try to chain him up, and he would break the chains, and they couldn't hold him anymore, and he would hurt himself.

Are you telling me there's no area of your life where you're out of control? I started to study the text thinking I was like, Jesus, and who do I need to go help? The more I studied it, I thought maybe there's some legion in me. I don't mean demonic possession, but I do mean oppression. I've got my own chains. I'll tell you the greatest secret God ever showed me about you. Yes, you. He told me that all y'all are crazy.

True story. I was getting ready to preach one time, and I wanted to preach from my own dysfunction. And I was embarrassed to do it because I thought, like, everybody that I was preaching to had their act together, and why are you going to listen to a preacher that's crazier than you? And it was very interesting for me, the path that I went on, in those two years that I was learning this lesson watching millionaires who were miserable. And I realized the devil doesn't check your net worth before he tries to wreck your house.

And I saw really nice-smelling people with like country club memberships and stuff who drive eco-friendly cars and eat hummus and freaking out. on depression medication. Yeah. And once I found out y'all were crazy, I was no longer intimidated to preach this Bible like it really is. Once I realized that you might be out of control in your spending, your eating, your sexuality, if I kept going long enough, I'd clear the whole room out of self-righteousness. There would not be one more Pharisee spirit left to hear this sermon if I kept going.

Dare me to do it. I will name every demon in this room. Because once I stopped talking about the stuff you can't see, then I would move over to gossip. Some of y'all can't stop talking about people. You are so ugly to... Okay, see what I told you. I told you. I told you you were crazy.

I knew the man was crazy when he got on the boat. It didn't stop him from coming. That got me excited. I figure maybe he knows about my issues too. I am Legion, he said. Legion is 6,000 foot soldiers. That's a lot of demons. Jesus said, what is your name?

You know my name. Do you know yours? Do you know who you are? Or do you have so many different personas? You know, because we're all legion. We're all a little bit of legion. There are many mes. Somebody told me that Abby looks just like me.

They said, she's your mini me. I was like, you don't know how true that is. There are many me's. Huh? There's online you. There's Sunday morning you. That's the only one I ever get to see. But then I found out there's a Friday night you.

Don't make me interview your spouse, please. I will pull them up here and give them the mic. There's a you only she knows, he knows. There's a you that only you know. There's a you that cries out day and night. You don't cut yourself with stones, I understand that. But sometimes you inflict pain on yourself and you can't stop it. And you don't even know why you keep pushing people away.

You've been living among the tombs so long. Somebody's tomb is the mall. Somebody's tomb is pornography. Somebody's tomb is an addiction that if we named it in the room, you'd think, surely, that person wouldn't come to church. You'd be surprised how quick the demons run to Jesus. Those demons ran before Jesus and fell before him and said, don't make us leave. We got it like we wanted here.

We got these people on lockdown. But they knew that this man was important to Jesus. And they knew, they knew that they were about to have to vacate the premises of this man's personality and his psychology. And they knew that someone strong enough to subdue them had finally showed up in the region of the garrisons. Because you've tried everything else and you've run to everyone else. But I declare today you are in the presence of a greater grace.

And what works couldn't do and the law couldn't do and chains couldn't do and shackles couldn't do. God's about to do it in your life. Grace can do what change can't do. So now we get to the part about the pigs. We hadn't even got to the pigs yet. The pigs are the most important part. This is the part where I'm wondering why the demons, why the demons, why are the kids?

wanted to get inside the pigs. And on the surface, I understand that the devil never wants to give up any ground. You understand once he has established a foothold, how many of you don't believe in the devil? I want to see who hadn't had kids yet. That's all I'm trying to do. He doesn't want you to be the first one in your family, not to need drink to feel good about yourself. He doesn't want you to be the first one in your family, to be the first one in your family, to be the first one. able to stay stable in a relationship rather than running around. So what does he want?

He wants to stand guard in the area, and this is a brilliant strategy. I've got to give it to these devils. The devils are smarter than a lot of church people. They know how to get information, they know how to accomplish a purpose, and they know how to discern what is valuable. This is it. Stay with me. Are you with me?

Come on. Are you with me? Lean into this word. The word you resist is the one that you need. Jesus is in this house. The presence of God is in this place. The power of a mighty God is in this moment. Now, so Jesus says, you gotta go.

Let that man go. He's important to me. I went through the storm to get to him. I went through the thunder and the lightning to get to him. I went through bucketfuls of water bail out of Peter's boat to get to him. I came two hours across the Sea of Galilee. And I've only got three years to change the world. This man is a VIP.

I know everybody else has forgotten about him, but I want him. Now let me say something real quick. If he went through the storm for this man and he went to the cross for you, how valuable must you be? How much is your life worth? To God. And Jesus said, okay, you can go into the pigs and they went into the pigs because the demons The demons know two things.

One, pigs can't swim. But we all know that. What do the demons know that we don't know? I think the demons understood that the people in the region cared more about the pigs than they did about the man. This is 2,000 pigs. This represents a significant part of the portfolio of these pig owners. This is a region that is known for raising pigs.

So what does the enemy attack? Whatever you value the most. And yes, he knows what you value. And yes, he knows how to hit you where it hurts the most. And that's why he'll use people to get to your relationship with God. What's really most valuable is your relationship with God, but he knows if he can get people to offend you, you will do what the people did. You will send Jesus away because you were offended by people.

He knows where to hit you. He knows where your insecurity is. He knows your playlist. What you say to yourself about yourself? He knows your proclivities, your perversions. He knows what makes you feel ashamed. So he hits you there to make you lash out in anger. He knows how to keep you bound.

And since he couldn't stay in the man, the devil went into the pigs. If I kill the pigs, they'll send you. Jesus away. Let me hurt Job. This is when the devil had a meeting with God. He said, I've been going to and fro looking for somebody to devour. And God said, have you checked out, my boy, Job? Job's a bad, dude. This is an updated translation. It's a little more modern. Probably says it in your Bible. And the devil said, he's only serving you. He's only serving you because his herd is still intact. Let me touch his body.

Let me touch his children. The enemy will use anything to get to your faith. What he's after is your relationship with God, but he will use the pigs to get you to push away the presence of God. He knows exactly where you're vulnerable. Guess where you're the most vulnerable, wherever you place the greatest value. These pigs were worth $2 million in modern money. He said, if I can get in the pigs and make the pigs drown in the water, the people will

be so afraid because they lost their pigs that they will send Jesus away. I wonder where the enemy attacked you. I bet it was in the place of your greatest value. But guess what? I got good news. He only attacks what's valuable. So if he has attacked you lately, get ready to shout. Guess what that means about you?

You must be important. You, oh God, the devil knows more about your destiny than you do. There must be something on your life. Can I preach this like God gave it to me? God said some of you are breaking generational curses and you don't even know it. And that's why it's been so hard. And that's why it's been so strong and that's why it's been so dark Because you're so strong and you're so positioned and you're so important to his purpose

You must be important the devil wouldn't tie you up if he wasn't afraid of what would happen if you got loose I can't buy an amen but I don't need one this is good in my soul I said he wouldn't tie you up. It's the opposite. I thought the storm meant God had left me. I found out it meant that grace was on the way. I thought the shackles meant God couldn't use me. I found out that the shackles mean God is looking for someone who knows how to break chains.

Now, I just wonder, are there any chain breakers in the house today? I mean, you see chainbreakers, Rock Hill, chain breakers. If you're a chainbreaker and you know it, and you've been through some things and you have some issues, and you forgot who you were for a moment. But in the presence of God today, you're starting to remember, I am a child of God. Take a few moments and praise him. What's on the other side? Children on the screen, shout unto God with the voice of triumph. I don't care you belong to a country club.

Shout to God with the voice of trying. It must be important. He threw you in the fire so he could show Nebuchadnezzar that he is God. You must be important. He let you spend the night with the lions so he could shut the lion's mouth and demonstrate his strength. You must be important. He drowned all those horses in the Red Sea so that the nations would know that he is God. You must be important.

High five, everybody looks happy. Say, you must be important. How else do you explain the fact that you're still here? Everything that can be shaken will be shaken so that only that which cannot be shaken will remain. You know what it means if you're still here? You weren't shaken. The trial came. The foundation's quick, but the house stood firm because it wasn't on the sand.

This man was so important that Jesus. went through the storm to get to him. And you were so important that Jesus went through Gatsimony to get to you. And you were so important that he passed through the membrane of eternity into the construct called time to come to you. Don't you ever let the devil tell you against somebody else needs to raise those kids. Don't you ever let the devil tell you against somebody else belongs in that spot? Don't you, don't, and the next storm that comes, I want you to wave it on by. Because there must be something so great on the other side.

Listen, in my Bible it says something very strange. It says that when Jesus set the man free, the man went and got down in the boat. Because he was like, you are not leaving me here with these people. Look at verse 18. I didn't read it to you. I was saving it. As Jesus was getting into the boat. The man who was demon-possessed begged to go with him.

That's like if you're in my car on the way home, that would be weird. Now we've got to contrast because the demons are like, don't make us leave. And the man is like, don't make me stay. And it's sexy to want to step out into something new. And the brother is clothed and in his right mind, and he's amazed and he's grateful. And he wants to be on Jesus' team. So he's like, I'm going to come with you, all right?

It's cool, I promise. No more of that cutting and chain-breaking stuff. Let me keep the books. I see that guy you got Judas. I don't think he's see. A devil knows the devil, I'm telling you. Let me be your treasurer. But something happened so strange to me because I just read in Mark II where Jesus called

the disciples and he said, come follow me, leave what you know and follow me. And I'm going to show you how to do something new for my glory. And they had the faith to go. It takes a lot of faith to leave a situation you're familiar with. It takes faith to go. But Jesus did something kind of strange. He looked back at the man and he said, you can't follow me. Jesus didn't let him leave, but said, I need you to go home to the same situation that I delivered you in.

I'm not going to take you out of it. I took it out of you. I changed your condition, but I'm going to leave you in the circumstance because I want these people to know. Watch this. Go home and tell them how much the Lord has done for you. Give me my verse. Please, thank you.

And how he has had mercy on you. I want you to be a trophy. In fact, it's better than that. Look at verse 20. Touch somebody say, you must be so important. I don't know why the ushers let me sit next to you. You must be so important. And he went away and began to tell him the Decapolis, that's ten cities.

The man became a missionary. You know what we could call this sermon? From maniac to missionary. I need somebody crazy enough, because when the people see how much you've changed, sometimes God gives you the faith to go. Other times he gives you the grace to stay. And I think that's amazing too. amazing too. Because some of you are in a difficult place and all you want to do is escape.

Jesus take me with you. Let me get a new start. And sometimes in those moments and you know if you're in one where you just want to escape the situation or the pain of the trial, God says, I'm going to give you something better than the faith to go. I'm going to give you the grace to stay. See, you are so important to me. And the man who wasn't even living with the people became the first missionary to the Gentiles. He was the first one. Some of you are going to be the first. You are going to be the first to break a chain.

None of your friends have done it. None of your family did it. Nobody around you believes you can do it, and you didn't believe in yourself. But in this moment, the presence of the Lord is in this place. Because now I know who I am. I thought I was worthless. I believed that for years.

But now I know who I am. He came through all that for me. Now I know who I am because the enemy only attacks what's valuable. So now I know. Come on, I need about 70 more people who know who got this word and you know that you had to be here today. Not just so you could survive the storm, so that after you survived it, after you've lived through it, after you broke the chains off of your life, now God is ready to use you.

If you're ready to be used by God, why don't you glorify him right now in this moment? Come on, glorify him. I need some crazy people who don't... 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.