1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:16,720 Thank you for listening to this message from Life House Church. 2 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:17,720 Good morning, Life House. 3 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,000 It's great to see everybody out here mingling together. 4 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,120 It's great to see all of you all like each other. 5 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:24,120 It's great. 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:25,120 We love that. 7 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,800 But this morning, as I mentioned earlier, Pastor Kip and Dixie are not with us, but 8 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:33,240 we do have the privilege of having our state youth and discipleship Bishop here with us. 9 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:34,520 That is Bishop Bill Woodruff. 10 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:38,960 He is a great gifted speaker, flowing in the Holy Spirit. 11 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:40,240 We are excited to have him this morning. 12 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:45,200 If you would just honor Bill as he comes and brings the words this morning. 13 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,720 Praise the Lord. 14 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,520 I said praise the Lord, amen. 15 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:58,560 Alright, Zach is going to come up and play that one chorus from the second song. 16 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,000 But before we get started, I know Pastor Kip is watching and I just want to thank you, 17 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,520 Pastor Kip, for the opportunity to minister this morning. 18 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:10,480 I know that you don't take lightly who you are allowed to stand behind this desk and 19 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:11,480 you shouldn't. 20 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:15,880 So I kind of honor a privilege that you trust me this morning. 21 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:20,400 If you would turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 17. 22 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:26,360 And as I was finalizing a few things just this morning, the scripture from the chorus 23 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:32,880 of the second song that we sang came into my mind and I was reminded that all things 24 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,880 work together for our good. 25 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:41,000 If we walk in the Spirit, if we walk with Christ, all things work together for our good. 26 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,920 I just want you to sing that chorus maybe into the bridge, I don't know. 27 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:52,920 But we just for a moment reflect on how good God is to us. 28 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:53,920 Amen? 29 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:54,920 Go ahead, man. 30 00:01:54,920 --> 00:02:15,920 Amen. 31 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:25,920 Amen. 32 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:35,920 Amen. 33 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:49,920 Amen. 34 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:59,480 For my future, for my good, for his glory and for his name. 35 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:04,080 So many times throughout scripture the Bible talks about for his name's sake. 36 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:08,240 Did you know that God cares about his name? 37 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:10,320 He cares about his reputation? 38 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:18,760 He cares about, in fact, when God was considering wiping out the children of Israel, Moses appealed 39 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,760 to God for his name's sake. 40 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:29,680 Like if you wipe out your people, what will the people of the land say about the God of 41 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:30,680 Israel? 42 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,600 That he wasn't strong enough to keep his people? 43 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:39,000 So Moses' appeal to God was for his name's sake. 44 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,200 For his name's sake, for the sake of his name. 45 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:44,800 We carry that name. 46 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,840 We carry that reputation. 47 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:53,360 And when we go out into the world, we represent Christ. 48 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:58,120 And when the world looks at us, they're judging God. 49 00:03:58,120 --> 00:03:59,360 Right? 50 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:06,800 And they look at our behaviors, they're saying, if that's what a Christian is like, dot, dot, 51 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:07,800 dot. 52 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,640 You see what I'm saying? 53 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,360 There's a responsibility there. 54 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:21,320 But it's also reciprocated in that what he does, he does for my good and for my future. 55 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:28,720 And I'm going to bring a passage from 1 Kings chapter 17 that is almost never about this 56 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:36,320 message, but this morning, God placed in my heart, already had the message completed, 57 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:44,320 already ready to preach, placed in my heart that your life is directed. 58 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,480 Your life is directed in everything that happens. 59 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:49,480 God does for your good. 60 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:51,080 Can we pray this morning? 61 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:56,520 Lord, I thank you for the opportunity and the privilege to minister your word. 62 00:04:56,520 --> 00:05:01,880 God, I pray that it wouldn't be my words, but that it would be your word going forth 63 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:06,080 out of my mouth, that you would anoint my mouth to speak your word. 64 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:12,560 We thank you for your word, that it lightens our path and it lightens our load. 65 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:17,240 God, anoint your word, that our ears would hear what you're trying to say to us this 66 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:22,000 morning and that our hearts would respond to your word. 67 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:28,960 Not my word, not my agenda, but your word, Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name. 68 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:32,240 Everybody said amen. 69 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:37,920 I'm going to read 1 Kings chapter 7 back for hanging with me this morning. 70 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,760 When he started singing that song, when he started singing that chorus, it was just confirmation 71 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:46,880 that we're going to talk about how God directs your path. 72 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:47,880 You are directed. 73 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:54,000 Now Elijah the Tishbite from Tishby in Gilead said to Ahab, as the Lord, the God of Israel 74 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:59,640 lives who I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my 75 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:00,640 word. 76 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:06,040 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah and said, leave here, turn eastward, hide in the 77 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,240 carousel ravine east of Jordan. 78 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:16,360 You will drink from the brook and I have directed, everybody say directed, the ravens to supply 79 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:17,360 you with food there. 80 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:22,080 So he did what the Lord had told him and he went to the carousel ravine east of Jordan 81 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:23,200 and stayed there. 82 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:28,440 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening 83 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:31,160 and he drank from the brook. 84 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:35,760 Sometime later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 85 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:39,400 Then the word of the Lord came to him, go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon 86 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:40,400 and stay there. 87 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:46,120 I have directed, everyone say directed, a widow there to supply you with food. 88 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:50,320 So we went to Zarephath and when he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering 89 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:51,480 sticks. 90 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:56,080 He called to her and asked, would you bring me a little water in a jar so that I may have 91 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:57,080 a drink. 92 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:02,680 And as she was going to get it, he called and bring me please a piece of bread. 93 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:07,840 She said, as surely as the Lord your God lives, she replied, I don't have any bread, only a 94 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:13,120 handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug and I'm gathering a few sticks 95 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:19,640 to take home to make a meal for myself and my son that we may eat it and then die. 96 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:24,680 Elijah said, don't be afraid, go home and do as you've said, but first make a small 97 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:29,360 loaf of bread for me from what you have, bring it to me and then make something for yourself 98 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:30,360 and your son. 99 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,600 For this is what the Lord the God of Israel said, the jar of flour will not be used up 100 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:42,400 and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land. 101 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,520 And she went away and did as Elijah had told her so there was food every day for Elijah 102 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:51,320 and for the woman and for her family for the jar of oil was not used up and the jug of 103 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:57,680 oil did not run dry in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. 104 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:02,520 I'm going to try to minister to you for just a few moments this morning on one last drop 105 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:09,640 of oil was the title that I woke up with, but I think it's Your Life is Directed is 106 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:10,640 what we're going to talk about. 107 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:16,800 Now I was talking with Bruce just a few seconds ago here on the second row and talked about 108 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:23,440 how my family comes from Elkhart, Indiana, it's a big RV industry in Elkhart, Indiana. 109 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:27,600 Everybody in my family, in Amanda's family for generations back has worked for Winnebago 110 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:34,800 or Suncraft or Patrick Industries or one of those companies that makes RVs. 111 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:39,360 And so my brother worked in the RV industry and he worked in cabinets and he worked by 112 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:40,840 the peace. 113 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,960 So he had a certain number of pieces he had to complete before he could go home that day 114 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:49,560 and he would tell stories of running through with 100 pounds cabinets on each shoulder, 115 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:54,320 running through the factory trying to get the number of pieces done. 116 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:55,600 Kind of a quota. 117 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:59,680 So I'm here ministering this morning, that's my background, all I know is quotas, right? 118 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:06,560 So I'm going to preach to you on an amen quota this morning. 119 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:07,960 Somebody already got it. 120 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:09,840 I need your help this morning. 121 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,400 And so there's a certain number of amens that need to be said and then I'll be done. 122 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,120 So the more you amen, the quicker I'll be finished. 123 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:18,520 Amen? 124 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:22,040 I think that'll work better second service because these folks know that I got to get 125 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,760 out of here and they know I'm bluffing. 126 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:29,840 But I want to have a little bit of fun but I want to talk about what the Lord does for 127 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:30,840 us. 128 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:32,400 It's been dry. 129 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:37,800 We've been in a drought here in central Pennsylvania this year. 130 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:44,840 But I feel like there's some folks that may feel dry spiritually that though the circumstances 131 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:50,640 of this world has converged into a chaos and there's no point in looking to the future, 132 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:56,320 you may be so consumed with worry that the trees in your path have blinded you that 133 00:09:56,320 --> 00:10:00,040 there's a forest beyond. 134 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:05,200 Somebody in the room may be in the place where this widow was where she, everything seems 135 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:09,120 hopeless and everything's, I'm just going to do this and then whatever. 136 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:13,040 We're going to cook a piece of bread and then we're just going to die I guess. 137 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,720 I mean that's the attitude that this widow woman had. 138 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,080 It's so bad that she had no hope. 139 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:22,640 But I'm here to tell you that God has a river. 140 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,560 God has a river that can supply every need. 141 00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:35,160 So we find Elijah and it just struck me this week that this is our introduction to Elijah. 142 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,680 Like the great prophet of the Old Testament, Elijah. 143 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:42,360 This is our introduction to him. 144 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:47,720 This is the first time, like the entire rest of First Kings is about Elijah. 145 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:49,240 But this is the introduction. 146 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:51,720 This is how we meet Elijah. 147 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:57,640 He starts out, the first mention of him in Scripture is, hey Ahab, it's not going to 148 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:01,160 reign until I say so. 149 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:05,880 It's how we're introduced to this great prophet of God, not, you know, he did this miracle 150 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,160 and this miracle and this miracle and then he stood up to the king. 151 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:14,400 We're introduced to him that he is in direct confrontation with the king of Israel. 152 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,680 Now this king is the son of Amri, Ahab, the son of Amri. 153 00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:24,680 Amri was a military general who killed the entire family of the royal family of Israel 154 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:26,160 and took over. 155 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:30,600 So this is his son who's now married a woman named Jezebel from a neighboring country and 156 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:34,280 brought in pagan gods to Israel. 157 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:40,440 And Elijah stands up to him and says, what you're doing is wrong. 158 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:48,520 And it begins a several chapter clash, feud between Elijah the prophet and the house of 159 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:54,320 Ahab that kind of culminates in the next chapter with 450 prophets of Baal on top of Mount 160 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,960 Carmel trying to call down fire. 161 00:11:57,960 --> 00:11:59,760 But it begins here. 162 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:06,880 It begins here with Elijah saying, it's not going to rain until I say so. 163 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:13,760 And so as a direct result of his obedience to God, Elijah finds himself on the run. 164 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:19,120 As a direct result of obeying God, he finds himself starving and thirsty because he stood 165 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,000 against the pagan queen. 166 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:27,760 We have to stand against a culture that we live in today that would just as soon we go 167 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:28,760 away. 168 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:33,120 Like the king and queen would have been happiest if Elijah had just gone off to that carat 169 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:37,600 ravine, disappeared from history and left them alone. 170 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:38,920 And that's the culture we live in. 171 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:44,320 They would rather the church just shut up and go away. 172 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,560 And that's the culture that we've entered into. 173 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:53,480 And if we don't, then there's a culture where we're going on in our nation right now that 174 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:59,600 if we don't just shut up and go away, then we come under attack. 175 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:03,040 But Elijah stands up against this pagan queen. 176 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:08,520 Now Elijah is one of my favorite prophets and it's because he has so many mental issues, 177 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:10,160 emotional health issues, right? 178 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:17,080 Elijah, if he was alive today would be definitely diagnosed bipolar because you see him in one 179 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:22,400 chapter, he's on top of Mount Carmel, bring it on, 450 prophets, I don't care. 180 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:27,680 And then the next chapter he's hiding in a cave, running for his life after this great 181 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:28,680 victory. 182 00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:32,760 There's a lot of the Old Testament prophets that would probably be institutionalized in 183 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,200 our day and age. 184 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:42,040 Ezekiel sat in the middle of Main Street for a year with a skillet on his head, built 185 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:48,000 a sandcastle in the middle of Main Street and threw pebbles at it every day for a year. 186 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:52,880 And God said cook your food there on human dung and Ezekiel said I would never do that 187 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:54,960 and the guy says okay animal dung. 188 00:13:54,960 --> 00:14:00,360 So this is what he's doing and he's saying Israel you're so thick skulled that it's like 189 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:06,680 you've got a skillet on your head and Jerusalem's going to fall like I'm attacking this sandcastle 190 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:10,920 with sticks and stones, God's going to attack the city. 191 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:12,000 Pastor Kip did that. 192 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:18,560 If he went down to Main Street, High Street here in Carlisle, I promise they would lock 193 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:19,720 him up. 194 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:20,720 I promise. 195 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:24,960 Right, so these are what the prophets of Israel, they just boldness and went out and 196 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:26,760 did what God said. 197 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:31,160 But as a direct result of his obedience, he's on the run. 198 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:39,600 Have you ever been there where you did exactly what God said to do and it caused trouble? 199 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:45,320 Where you did exactly where God had you to be and there were challenges because of your 200 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,480 obedience to God? 201 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,000 That's where Elijah finds himself. 202 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,720 He stands against the pagan queen. 203 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:58,320 But then in chapter 19, he's hiding in the cave and he says God I'm the only one, I'm 204 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:02,600 the only one, I'm the only one willing to make a stand for you. 205 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:07,960 And God looks at him and says Elijah I got 7,000 just like you. 206 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,720 Whenever you feel like you're alone, like you're the only one making a stand for God, 207 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:17,160 whenever you feel high schoolers, when you go into your school and everything is against 208 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:22,440 the kingdom of God and you feel like you're the only one, can I just remind you that God's 209 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:25,560 got people everywhere? 210 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:29,400 And if we would just take a stand and recognize one another, we'd be shocked at how many people 211 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,680 love the Lord. 212 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:36,400 When I was in high school, I was convinced that I was the only one, only one that loved 213 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:38,120 the Lord. 214 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:42,240 My youth group, there were two middle schools in our town and the whole youth group went 215 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:45,320 to one middle school except me, I went to the other middle school. 216 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,480 So I'm sure that I'm the only Christian in this entire school. 217 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:52,680 Well, I find out later, like in high school years, that there were so many people that 218 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:57,760 loved the Lord and we were all just too scared in middle school to stand up. 219 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,360 And I feel like that's everywhere. 220 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:03,160 But God looks at Elijah and he says I've got 7,000. 221 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:08,080 I have a remnant of 7,000 just like you. 222 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,680 So Elijah is hiding from Ahab who's trying to kill him. 223 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:16,720 The clash between Elijah and Jezebel is just beginning, but in our text he stakes God's 224 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:18,160 reputation on it. 225 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,800 He says as surely as the Lord lives. 226 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:25,880 Wouldn't that be amazing if God's people had so much confidence that we're hearing from 227 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:31,160 the Lord, that we could state God as surely as the Lord lives, it's not going to rain 228 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:33,400 until I say so. 229 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:35,760 What kind of boldness is that? 230 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:37,120 What kind of relationship? 231 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,600 That's my prayer that I would hear the voice of God. 232 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:45,880 That I would have the kind of relationship with God where I could speak with confidence 233 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:47,960 and say this is what God is saying. 234 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:52,080 And as surely as God lives, this is the way it's going to be. 235 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:53,440 So there's no wind. 236 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:58,720 There's no rain in the land for three years. 237 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:00,840 Three years or into the third year. 238 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,800 So at least two years. 239 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:05,600 And so he stakes God's reputation on it. 240 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:06,960 No rain. 241 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:11,120 So God provides him a brook and had ravens feed him. 242 00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:16,520 So he goes to this brook and ravens are literally bringing him meat and bread every day so he 243 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,400 can eat. 244 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:23,480 And then the brook dries up and the ravens stop coming. 245 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,200 Why does the brook dry up? 246 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:27,800 Because there's no rain. 247 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:28,960 Right? 248 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:34,960 His obedience to God led him to a place where he gets dried up. 249 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:42,080 The thing that he's doing for the Lord leads him to a place where he's in need. 250 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:46,200 Some people get one word from the Lord. 251 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,080 They hear from God one time when they get saved. 252 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,280 They hear from God. 253 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:55,160 They begin walking in what God says and they never hear anything again. 254 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:59,200 And they never look for what are you saying to me today, God. 255 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:00,200 Right? 256 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:07,520 If Elijah had taken the first word, go to this brook and ravens will feed you. 257 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:11,840 When the brook dried up, if he had stayed there, he would have starved to death. 258 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:17,960 I just want to encourage somebody to get a new word this morning from the Lord that you've 259 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:20,360 been walking in what God said. 260 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:24,320 Somebody's been walking in what God said 10 years ago. 261 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:28,160 And God's got a fresh word for you because that word's dried up. 262 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,760 That thing, that season has passed. 263 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:35,040 And God's got something fresh for you and you're still walking in what you heard 10 264 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:36,880 years ago. 265 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:38,240 And that's where Elijah is. 266 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:39,520 He's at this brook. 267 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:40,720 God says to go to the brook. 268 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:41,840 He goes to the brook. 269 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:47,680 There's provision there and then it dries up because there's no rain in the land. 270 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,960 So then God talks to him again and says, go to the village of Zarephath. 271 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:57,720 I've directed a woman there to feed you, say directed. 272 00:18:57,720 --> 00:18:59,360 So God directed the ravens. 273 00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:03,840 They bring food, meat, and bread to him. 274 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:10,200 Then God says, I have directed a widow. 275 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,920 So Elijah walks into town. 276 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:21,480 God has told him that there's a widow there that God has directed to feed him. 277 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,880 That God didn't tell the widow that he had directed. 278 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:30,720 Because directed here doesn't mean that God says to the widow, hey, Elijah's coming to 279 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,160 town and you need to feed him. 280 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:39,120 It means that God has directed her path to converge with his. 281 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:46,840 God has directed her life to be in a place where it intersects with Elijah's life. 282 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:49,960 And I think we need to look for these God moments. 283 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:56,140 I think we need to look for these opportunities where God has, if God has the entire world 284 00:19:56,140 --> 00:20:01,840 in his hand, there are so many, has anyone ever heard of the butterfly effect? 285 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:07,000 That one butterfly pollinating one plant instead of another can have an effect on winds that 286 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,800 creates a hurricane five years later. 287 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:18,200 Everything in this world is so interconnected that we could never imagine what this action 288 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,240 has an effect on another action. 289 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:23,400 But my God has that all under control. 290 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:28,400 He understands every action and what cause and effect is going to happen leading to what? 291 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:33,120 And what intersections of your life with your life are going to lead to a word from the 292 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:37,480 Lord that will change somebody else's life? 293 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:44,000 And if we would just be sensitive to the fact that God has interactions happening all the 294 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:51,240 time that we need to look for and take advantage of and hear the word of the Lord, God didn't 295 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:52,840 tell the widow to feed him. 296 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:59,920 God directed her into his path and him into hers. 297 00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:04,600 If I was telling this story, and most preachers were telling this story, it would be there 298 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:08,800 was a widow woman in Zarephath who had just a little bit of flour left and just a little 299 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:13,600 bit of oil left and she prayed to God one night and she woke up the next morning and 300 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,160 there were three bags of groceries on her doorstep. 301 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:19,080 Isn't that amazing? 302 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,840 Everybody prays the Lord. 303 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:27,600 Because that's the story we get excited about, that there's a need and God miraculously provides 304 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:29,840 for that need. 305 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:36,760 But this story is there's a widow who's out of food and God sends her a prophet who has 306 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,640 no food. 307 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,200 That's the solution. 308 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:48,960 The solution to her problem is a problem. 309 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:54,640 She's going to make one last fire with what few sticks she can gather together to make 310 00:21:54,640 --> 00:22:03,400 one last cake and take the last cup of flour and the last drop of oil and instead of sending 311 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:10,040 her a man with a bag of groceries, God sends her a starving hungry prophet who's hungry 312 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,360 for something she didn't have. 313 00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:17,000 Elijah's our main character here but I just want to take some time to look at the life 314 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,240 of this woman. 315 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,560 What did the future hold for her? 316 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,320 And her mind, death. 317 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:27,800 Like we're going to eat one last time and then we're going to die. 318 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:39,160 But really, looking beyond that, her future probably involved begging, near starvation, 319 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:43,400 or somebody probably would have helped her not die. 320 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:49,200 Maybe she would have had to sell herself or her son into indentured servitude to provide 321 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:50,760 for them. 322 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:54,400 It's not a good future that she's looking at. 323 00:22:54,400 --> 00:23:01,680 But God directs her path to intersect with this prophet to give her a future. 324 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:05,920 Romans 8.28 says, moreover, we know that those who love God who are called according to his 325 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:10,800 plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good. 326 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:11,800 That's the J.B. 327 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:13,720 Phillips translation. 328 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:18,440 Everything that happens fits into a pattern for your good. 329 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:23,480 The one we're more familiar with is all things work together for those who love God, for 330 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:28,560 the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose. 331 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:30,160 Everything fits into a pattern. 332 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:36,120 The prophet says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, 333 00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:40,760 but in all your ways submit to him and he will make your path straight. 334 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:44,000 King James says he will direct your path. 335 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,920 Everybody say direct one more time. 336 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:48,360 He will direct your path. 337 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:52,800 The better translation there is that he'll make your path straight. 338 00:23:52,800 --> 00:24:02,680 He will put you on a path for good things and even the bad things will work to good 339 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:06,520 like starving almost. 340 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:11,280 He shows up and he says, bring me water. 341 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,840 That involves effort and service and she's willing to bring him water. 342 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:19,200 Oh, and oh, by the way, give me some food. 343 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:23,880 She could draw water from him and it's just work and it's just effort and it's just service 344 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,920 and that's something we should all aspire to. 345 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:32,040 But when he says bring me food, now we're talking sacrifice. 346 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:38,200 We go from effort and service to a life of sacrifice where you give up what you think 347 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:42,960 you need because God has something better. 348 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:48,800 I said we need to give up what we think we need because God has something better. 349 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:54,400 She obeyed God in the face of starvation and her attitude, if I know this woman, I don't, 350 00:24:54,400 --> 00:25:01,880 but if I did, I feel like I know her well enough to say, well, gonna die anyway. 351 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:05,400 Might as well give him the last one too. 352 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:15,440 But for whatever reason, whatever her motivation is, she gives him that last little bit. 353 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,800 Don't let the details derail your destiny. 354 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:24,200 See, I'm the kind of person that I wanna know exactly what is going to happen. 355 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,920 Okay, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna go here. 356 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:35,360 Tell me what's gonna happen so that I can prepare myself for, I'm a contingency man. 357 00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:42,400 And what I do in camps and conferences, having 18 different contingencies, like if this happens, 358 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,360 we'll do this and if this happens, we'll go this direction. 359 00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:46,840 If this happens, we're gonna do this. 360 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,360 That's a superpower, right? 361 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:58,520 But in my household, that is a handicap because my wife is amazing, wonderful, energetic, 362 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:00,920 and spontaneous. 363 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,760 It's that spontaneous part that gets me sometimes. 364 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:12,520 Right, because I wanna know exactly what is going to happen so I can plan for every contingency. 365 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:17,080 And then you walk with God, you don't get to know sometimes. 366 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:20,440 Like I don't know the things that have worked together for good. 367 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:23,840 I don't know conversations that have happened that I'm not aware of. 368 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:28,640 I don't know, you know, the classic example is I don't know what car accident I barely 369 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,640 missed because I've walked back to forget my keys. 370 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:38,960 Right, we don't know what could have happened, should have happened, would have happened, 371 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:40,240 didn't happen. 372 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:48,600 But God has all the interactions under control. 373 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,440 Don't let the minutiae hinder the ministry. 374 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:54,400 I wanna know how. 375 00:26:54,400 --> 00:27:02,120 I'm a logistics person and I wanna know what resources we have to accomplish this goal. 376 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:06,280 I wanna know how the goal is gonna be accomplished. 377 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:09,600 And Elijah walks into this town, he doesn't know how. 378 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:14,440 He just knows God said go there, I've directed a widow to feed you. 379 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:18,880 And when he gets there, the widow has no food. 380 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:20,800 Don't let the details derail your destiny. 381 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:24,680 Don't let the minutiae hinder the ministry. 382 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,600 Don't let the stuff stop up the strategy. 383 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:30,200 I wanna know why. 384 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,520 I wanna know what, I wanna know how, and I wanna know why. 385 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:33,920 Why are we doing this? 386 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:38,360 And what different could we do, what could we do different to accomplish that goal with 387 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:39,560 less resources? 388 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,080 What could we do different to accomplish that goal? 389 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,080 When I was a youth pastor, I had spreadsheets. 390 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:46,480 Now I'm old. 391 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:53,680 I literally had a grid of the things we were trying to accomplish, fellowship, discipleship, 392 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:55,400 ministry, worship. 393 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:56,840 These are the things we're trying to accomplish. 394 00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:03,600 And the target groups are our core, our committed, the congregation, the crowd, and the community. 395 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:09,640 And I had a grid that not every event had to cover one of those things, but everything 396 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,080 we did had to cover all of them. 397 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:16,680 So that, you guys remember the see-through, what do they call those? 398 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:20,680 Transparencies, that we used to put lyrics on the, yeah, we didn't used to have TVs in 399 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:21,680 church kids. 400 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:27,440 We used to put, so I would lay them every event that we had on top of each other, and 401 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:31,240 it had to fill every point in the grid through the transparent. 402 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:32,240 It's bad. 403 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:33,580 It's a problem. 404 00:28:33,580 --> 00:28:34,760 Please pray for me. 405 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:39,120 But I want to know why we're doing this and what we could be doing different to accomplish 406 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:41,160 the same goal. 407 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:44,360 And God doesn't tell us that sometimes. 408 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:49,880 He sends us into a situation that seems hopeless, that there's no resources, and He makes a 409 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:51,160 way miraculously. 410 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:52,160 Why? 411 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:54,120 For my good. 412 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:56,200 For my future. 413 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:57,880 For His glory. 414 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:02,320 That's the hardest thing that I had to learn as a Christian. 415 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:10,960 It gives God more glory if the answer circumvents my expertise. 416 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:16,160 It gives God more glory if I can't. 417 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:24,000 That's really hard for a person like me, but in my weakness, He shows His strength. 418 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:29,360 If you don't have the resources, if you don't have the ability, if it is a hopeless, impossible 419 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:35,080 situation, I'm praying for some impossible situations. 420 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:36,400 Why? 421 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:43,400 Because they produce testimony that there is no way it was my skills or ability. 422 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:47,400 There is no way that man could have manipulated that. 423 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,120 It's all God. 424 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:50,840 It's all God. 425 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:52,920 I'm praying for some of those situations. 426 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,960 Let me tell you, some of those situations are messy. 427 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:57,840 I walked into a church. 428 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:03,120 My bishop sent me into a church in Charleston, West Virginia that had been reporting regularly, 429 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:04,120 consistently. 430 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:10,040 They sent in their church reports, 26 people, $5,200 every month. 431 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:12,000 But the pastor never came to state events. 432 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:17,520 We hadn't heard from him in a long time, and the pastor died. 433 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:22,640 We walk into this situation, and my bishop had gone before and had talked to the director 434 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:27,040 who was living in the parsonage, and he knew something wasn't right there. 435 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:30,480 He sends me in on Sunday morning to preach. 436 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:37,120 When I walk in, I'm met at the door by 26 men asking if they can still live here now 437 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:38,720 that the pastor is dead. 438 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,520 He said, what? 439 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:47,240 I go down into the basement, and all the Sunday school classes are set up with bunk beds. 440 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:50,960 There are 26 men living in this church. 441 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:57,360 As I begin to dig a little bit deeper, the former pastor had been a chief of police. 442 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:04,640 He made an arrangement with the state of West Virginia to take parolees who were convicted 443 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,560 sex offenders into the church. 444 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:10,360 If you out on parole, I learned a lot. 445 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:11,840 I didn't know this. 446 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:16,600 You have to have a place that you're staying, and nobody wants to take convicted sex offenders. 447 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,600 He created a place where they could come and live. 448 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:23,600 He had created a halfway house, except it wasn't a halfway house. 449 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,520 It wasn't transitional housing because nobody was transitioning out. 450 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:31,000 There are guys that had been living there for 10 years. 451 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:36,840 26 of them paying him $200 a month for a program that didn't exist. 452 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:43,560 $5,200 that he was reporting is tithe, but it wasn't tithe, and it wasn't a program. 453 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:44,560 He was charging them rent. 454 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:48,000 He was charging 26 guys rent to live there at the church. 455 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,580 There was no church there. 456 00:31:49,580 --> 00:31:52,640 It was a halfway house, except it wasn't at all. 457 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:59,480 He had an arrangement with the prison system, and that was all that there was. 458 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:05,160 Just about three months before that, the district overseer of that district retired. 459 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:09,520 The guy who replaced him was his associate, who had a background in counseling. 460 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,200 In fact, he owned his own counseling company. 461 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:17,080 He had his doctorate in counseling, and not only did he own his own counseling company, 462 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:21,680 but his specialty, his number one client was the state of West Virginia prison system, 463 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:24,840 and his specialty was trauma. 464 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:28,400 He had counseled most of the men that were living in this church, didn't know that they 465 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:29,480 were living in the church. 466 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,640 He met them when they were in jail. 467 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:38,920 An impossible, crazy situation that we walked into that God had just put the man as district 468 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,960 overseer two months before who knew how to solve it. 469 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:43,960 He came in. 470 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:44,960 We disbanded the church. 471 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:46,680 He created a program. 472 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:48,320 He got it licensed. 473 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:52,760 He legitimized everything and put an end date on it that these people had to transition 474 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:54,720 out in 12 months. 475 00:32:54,720 --> 00:33:00,200 Now the church of God has a transitional housing situation in Charleston, West Virginia that 476 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:06,480 is an amazing, amazing program, because God put the man in charge as district overseer 477 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:10,160 two months before we discovered there was even an impossible problem. 478 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:15,800 The one person in the entire church of God who could fix it, God had just placed there 479 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:17,920 two months before. 480 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:21,880 Those are the kind of miracle stories that I want to see. 481 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:27,080 There's no way, there's no way that a state overseer could have known that there was a 482 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:33,800 problem appointed a pastor on purpose who could fix the problem that much in advance 483 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:39,240 two months before the problem had reared its ugly head. 484 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:43,000 But I walked into that church, 26 guys wanting to know, do we still get to live here? 485 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:46,600 I said, I don't know, I'm just the youth director. 486 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:51,440 You're going to have to ask the bishop about that one. 487 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:56,540 But God worked it out because that's what he does. 488 00:33:56,540 --> 00:34:01,160 Not because of my bishop's ability to appoint the right pastor, not because we even knew 489 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:03,840 what needed done. 490 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:09,240 The state office doesn't know how to deal with that, but God does. 491 00:34:09,240 --> 00:34:13,680 God places it perfectly in order. 492 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,840 Your paths are directed. 493 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:19,920 Can we say directed one more time? 494 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:20,920 Hallelujah. 495 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:31,640 I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but Elijah and Elisha, Elisha was the protégé 496 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,760 of Elijah and he asked for a double portion. 497 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:42,200 We know that Elijah did twice as many miracles as Elijah did, but a lot of the miracles are 498 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:45,400 very, very similar. 499 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:46,960 It's clear through scripture. 500 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,480 Scripture makes it clear that this is the same anointing. 501 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:53,920 We've got Elijah here who prays for this widow. 502 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:55,360 Her oil doesn't run out. 503 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,240 Her flour doesn't run out until rain comes. 504 00:34:58,240 --> 00:34:59,240 Hallelujah. 505 00:34:59,240 --> 00:35:00,240 Praise the Lord. 506 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:04,520 That's amazing, miraculous power through this difficult season. 507 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:11,280 Elijah has a similar story, but in Elisha's story, he tells the widow, go to your neighbors, 508 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:15,640 go to your friends, and gather as many vessels as you can. 509 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:18,680 Gather as many vessels as you can. 510 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:24,560 As many vessels as you gather, that's how much oil will flow. 511 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:27,120 She kept pouring out and pouring out and pouring out. 512 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:31,000 As long as there were still vessels, there were still oil, and as soon as the vessels 513 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:35,080 were all full, the oil stopped. 514 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:40,320 She went and sold the vessels back to her neighbors full of oil, and it created provision 515 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,120 for her family for years to come. 516 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:47,200 Sometimes there is work required. 517 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:51,440 Sometimes there is something different that needs to happen, some effort that needs to 518 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:52,440 go into it. 519 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:56,160 It's not just blindly walking around, well, God's going to take care of everything, and 520 00:35:56,160 --> 00:36:00,240 it doesn't matter how smart or how dumb or how informed or how uninformed I am, God's 521 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:03,360 going to take care of everything because He directs my paths. 522 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,360 It takes some effort. 523 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:11,560 I love this second story because it talks about anointing. 524 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:15,760 Oil in the Bible symbolizes anointing, and I believe that everyone in this room has an 525 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:16,760 anointing. 526 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:20,360 If you're a believer, you have an anointing. 527 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:24,360 We are not called to just come to church and be here. 528 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:25,960 We're all ministers. 529 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:31,040 Ephesians 411 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture because it's so misquoted. 530 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:33,960 How many know Ephesians 411? 531 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:34,960 What do we call that? 532 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:37,120 We call it the five-fold ministry. 533 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:40,760 God gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. 534 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:43,880 We call it the five-fold ministry. 535 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:49,760 That's a bad name because we look at those as ministers, apostles, prophets, evangelists, 536 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,680 pastors and teachers, those are the ministers. 537 00:36:52,680 --> 00:37:01,400 Ephesians 411 says He gave those five offices to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. 538 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:07,920 The church does what the church is supposed to do when the saints are doing ministry. 539 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:12,920 The five-fold offices are equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry. 540 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:18,360 I'll go as far as to say that Pastor Kipp is not your minister. 541 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:19,360 He's your apostle. 542 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:20,360 He's your prophet. 543 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,560 He's definitely your pastor and teacher. 544 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:25,920 But you're the ministers. 545 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:27,440 Everyone in this room is the minister. 546 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:32,520 The more oil that's poured out, the more oil that fills up. 547 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:38,120 The more anointing that is poured into each of you, when I see a church going and doing 548 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:44,440 a missions trip, when I see the minister, I've never seen a church like this that has 549 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:46,160 so many... 550 00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:52,240 We walked in here just before the Christmas barrage. 551 00:37:52,240 --> 00:37:57,840 There was a video that showed 432 ministries that you guys were doing over Christmas. 552 00:37:57,840 --> 00:37:59,920 I don't know if you guys remember that or not. 553 00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:02,440 I'm like, oh my word. 554 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:09,240 I don't even know how to process this because most places I'm going begging people to recognize 555 00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:11,920 that their pastor isn't the minister that they need to be doing ministry. 556 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:14,800 This church is doing that. 557 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:17,960 But I'm here to tell you that you're doing it under an anointing. 558 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:23,960 That you have a calling, you have a gifting, you have an anointing that as you walk out, 559 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:28,480 as you walk out into this world, people should feel the impact of the presence of God in 560 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:29,800 your life. 561 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:34,200 That that oil isn't just flowing in your pastor, that that anointing isn't just flowing in 562 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:35,200 your pastor. 563 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:38,800 But as you do these things, you're the hand and feet of Jesus and there's an anointing 564 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:42,600 and a power behind the ministry that you do. 565 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:46,240 And I see too many churches like, I love friend day. 566 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:47,240 I think it's great. 567 00:38:47,240 --> 00:38:51,160 I was just at a church that was advertising their friend day, get your friends here and 568 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:53,320 we'll get them saved. 569 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:54,320 That's great. 570 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:59,400 But what if God's people knew how to lead people to the Lord and that you didn't just 571 00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:04,480 get an invite to your friends and family, that you made an impact on your friends and 572 00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:08,760 family and you led them to the Lord and they came in worshiping and ready to do works of 573 00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:13,600 service and it goes on and on and on. 574 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:17,000 And that's the second story. 575 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:23,080 And this woman builds Elisha a room that anytime he comes to town, he can stay in this room 576 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:26,120 because she didn't want just a visitation. 577 00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:30,320 She wanted a habitation of the presence of God. 578 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:39,160 And I feel like too many people today treat God like an estranged father that he gets 579 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:41,760 visitation every other weekend. 580 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:44,440 Right? 581 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:48,200 But it's time that we give God full custody of our hearts. 582 00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:53,040 That it's not just in every other weekend, come to church when I feel like it when I 583 00:39:53,040 --> 00:40:01,640 can, but that everything that you do is being directed by God. 584 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:04,880 Every step that you take is being directed by God. 585 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:10,040 And I'm not trying to be weird here, but I'm telling you that when we give our life to 586 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:21,800 Christ, that means giving each step to him to be directed for our good and for his glory. 587 00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:25,400 That everything we do brings glory to God. 588 00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:31,400 That every situation that we find ourselves in, the answer isn't necessarily the most 589 00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:33,840 obvious natural answer. 590 00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:41,240 It's not, you know, woman is starving to death, her son starving to death, and God miraculously 591 00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:45,200 provides three bags of groceries. 592 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:48,920 The prophet walks in and says, yeah, I'm starving too. 593 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:53,960 Just do something about that and make a sacrifice to the Lord. 594 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:58,640 And he multiplies the oil and the bread and it doesn't run out for two and a half or three 595 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:04,960 years, however long it wasn't raining in the land that God does it. 596 00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:12,160 And then the prophet goes from there to fight 450 people on the Mount Carmel and God answers 597 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:14,280 by fire. 598 00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:19,760 This is just the beginning of the battle that Elijah is in against the forces of darkness, 599 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:20,960 but it starts. 600 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:29,680 We're introduced to Elijah when God directs his path to a little widow woman who doesn't 601 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:31,560 know what she's going to do for her next meal. 602 00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:32,920 Isn't that amazing? 603 00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:35,440 Isn't that amazing? 604 00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:38,680 Can we stand together in the house? 605 00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:49,520 Listen, it's not enough for me to just know about him and hold him in a distance. 606 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:53,800 The Bible said that it's not even enough that there'll be some people at the end times that 607 00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:58,720 say we cast out demons and we prophesied in your name and Jesus will say, depart from 608 00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:02,920 me, I didn't know you. 609 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:04,640 I have to know him. 610 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:08,880 The writer of Philippians said to know him and the fellowship of his suffering and the 611 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:14,840 power of his resurrection, I need to know him. 612 00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:21,360 Don't be anxious for anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, 613 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:23,280 present your request to God. 614 00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:27,880 And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds 615 00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:30,880 in Christ Jesus. 616 00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:39,520 Think about your heads this morning. 617 00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:44,640 Too many Christians live unnecessarily anxious lives. 618 00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:46,160 What do they say about me if? 619 00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:47,160 What will happen if? 620 00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:49,160 What will people think if? 621 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:55,760 Who will get angry if I do this and who will get angry if I don't do this? 622 00:42:55,760 --> 00:43:01,600 And worry and anxiety become obvious in every tentative step, every facial expression, every 623 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:08,480 text, and the melancholy of their voice and in the droop of their heads. 624 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:15,040 First Peter 5.7 says cast your cares on him because he cares for you. 625 00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:22,440 Another translation says you can throw the full weight of your anxiety on Jesus because 626 00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:25,840 you're his personal concern. 627 00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:34,040 If you're here this morning before I go any farther and you say, man, that sounds amazing. 628 00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:37,400 I would love to have my steps directed and know that everything was going to work for 629 00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:38,400 good. 630 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:40,160 Now that doesn't mean everything's going to be beautiful. 631 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:41,160 Right? 632 00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:46,520 Elijah was literally starving at the beginning of this story. 633 00:43:46,520 --> 00:43:49,280 But even that worked to his good. 634 00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:53,600 You may be standing here and saying I would love to see that happen in my life, but I'm 635 00:43:53,600 --> 00:43:54,600 not a Christian. 636 00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:55,600 I'm not a believer. 637 00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:57,160 I don't walk with God. 638 00:43:57,160 --> 00:43:58,160 I don't talk with him. 639 00:43:58,160 --> 00:43:59,400 He doesn't talk to me. 640 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:04,640 If you're here this morning and you want to get right with God, you don't have right 641 00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:08,480 relationship with him and you want right relationship with him. 642 00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:10,120 If that's you, just lift up your hand. 643 00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:11,800 Put it right back down. 644 00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:12,800 Thank you. 645 00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:13,800 Is there somebody else? 646 00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:15,600 You're not sure if you died today. 647 00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:23,240 If you'd go to heaven or to hell and you want to be sure, if that's you, just lift up your 648 00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:24,280 hand and put it right back down. 649 00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:27,680 Is there somebody else? 650 00:44:27,680 --> 00:44:28,680 I'm not going to call you out. 651 00:44:28,680 --> 00:44:29,680 I'm not going to call you up. 652 00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:32,680 That's not why we're here. 653 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:35,040 But I want to pray for you. 654 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:41,680 If that's you, just lift up your hand right now and put it right back down. 655 00:44:41,680 --> 00:44:46,320 Is there somebody else? 656 00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:49,840 Thank you for the one. 657 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:54,080 If you're here today and you say, I have a need that I have been anxious about, that 658 00:44:54,080 --> 00:44:55,800 I've been worried about. 659 00:44:55,800 --> 00:45:03,560 Again, I'm not going to call you out or call you up. 660 00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:04,760 I just want you to lift up your hand. 661 00:45:04,760 --> 00:45:05,760 Put it right back down. 662 00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:06,760 Thank you. 663 00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:08,800 One, two, three, four, five, seven. 664 00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:11,040 Is there somebody else? 665 00:45:11,040 --> 00:45:18,240 You've been genuinely anxious about a need to the point that it's not healthy. 666 00:45:18,240 --> 00:45:23,720 Yeah, thank you. 667 00:45:23,720 --> 00:45:25,720 Thank you. 668 00:45:25,720 --> 00:45:36,400 If you're here this morning and you say, I want to have that kind of relationship, I 669 00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:43,360 don't yet and want to have that kind of relationship where I know that my paths are directed by 670 00:45:43,360 --> 00:45:47,560 him and I could stake his name on it. 671 00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:49,840 That whole Elijah is surely the Lord liveth. 672 00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:51,880 This is the way it's going to be. 673 00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:54,320 I don't have that and I want that. 674 00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:56,720 I want more direction in my life. 675 00:45:56,720 --> 00:46:02,160 I want to have that kind of relationship with God where I feel his direction in my life. 676 00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:04,480 If that's you, just lift up your hand and put it right back down. 677 00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:06,920 Thank you all over the place. 678 00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:09,840 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 679 00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:13,000 I want to pray for all of you that raise your hand, but first I want to pray for the person 680 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:17,360 that wasn't sure about their salvation. 681 00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:22,960 The Bible says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 682 00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:25,200 There's two hindrances to salvation that I see. 683 00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:30,000 One is that people are so proud that they don't think they need a savior and the other 684 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:34,280 is that they're so humble that they don't think they're worthy of a savior. 685 00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:38,880 Whatever of those you are, you've raised your hand and said, I want to get right with God. 686 00:46:38,880 --> 00:46:42,880 I just want you to know that you've been loved with an everlasting love. 687 00:46:42,880 --> 00:46:52,640 Even though the wages of sin is death, Jesus took that death on him when he died on a cross 688 00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:57,480 and it's not your punishment anymore if you'll accept his sacrifice. 689 00:46:57,480 --> 00:47:02,880 All you have to do is say, I accept your sacrifice, Jesus. 690 00:47:02,880 --> 00:47:08,480 Your punishment is placed on him and you're given the gift of eternal life. 691 00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:09,760 I accept your sacrifice. 692 00:47:09,760 --> 00:47:12,280 It's that simple. 693 00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:19,200 For those that raise your hand regarding anxiety in the name of Jesus, I come against every 694 00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:21,960 anxious moment and every sleepless night. 695 00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:28,320 I come against every attack of the enemy that would confuse and hinder God's people. 696 00:47:28,320 --> 00:47:34,960 I cancel every assignment of the enemy and just because we don't see the solution doesn't 697 00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:40,040 mean that you're not working all things together for our good. 698 00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:48,320 We believe and receive from you your word to us that tells us to be anxious for nothing 699 00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:53,160 and that all, oh, hallelujah, in the name of Jesus, somebody's receiving freedom right 700 00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:55,460 now. 701 00:47:55,460 --> 00:48:01,880 In the name of Jesus, we receive that word to be anxious for nothing and that you are 702 00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:03,840 working things together. 703 00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:09,000 Not everything is good, but everything working together is for our good. 704 00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:11,800 We receive it in Jesus' name. 705 00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:16,160 And right now, let's just lift up our, if you feel comfortable, lift up your hands all 706 00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:17,400 over this house. 707 00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:20,340 God, we receive your direction. 708 00:48:20,340 --> 00:48:22,360 We want to hear your voice. 709 00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:30,080 We want to walk in your anointing in this church and we receive your direction. 710 00:48:30,080 --> 00:48:39,800 God that we could speak with the boldness of someone who hears your voice. 711 00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:45,000 From this day forward, God, we're listening. 712 00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:50,240 We're listening to hear your voice. 713 00:48:50,240 --> 00:48:57,240 We step with you because our lives are directed. 714 00:48:57,240 --> 00:49:06,840 Thank you for tuning in to this message from Life House Church. 715 00:49:06,840 --> 00:49:11,000 We pray that you were impacted powerfully by this message. 716 00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:15,120 If you have been personally affected by our ministry and you would like to partner with 717 00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:23,920 us as we love God, love people every day, visit our website at www.lifehousecog.com.