Never Stop Knocking

then we prayed that he would send us people. You remember the scripture where Jesus said the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. And so we asked the Lord to send people who would not just want to pull up to the all you can eat crab like buffet and and just and just consume, but would really want to bring to God an offering. And that's prayer, that's giving, that service, that's worship. But you know who you are, the thousands of you that actually make it happen,

that don't just come and go. I wonder if Best or Steven's preaching today or is it one of them guests. Some of them are pretty good. I don't luck all of them, but they're all right, but some people just show up in their life. It doesn't matter who's preaching, because I know and you know that it's not about a preacher a personality. It's about the purpose that God has given us to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ into all the world. So all right, get it out

of your system. Twenty one seconds, I mean twenty two, twenty twenty two, twenty two seconds. I'm ray, praisey woke. It's our proc full out the cander. I a list the Scripture of the Lord gave us for today. Stay standing is from Acts chapter twelve, one of the coolest Bible stories that you ever will read. Now. They're all inspired, but some of them are more intriguing than others, at least to me. This passage I preached to you back in twenty nineteen. The only reason I know that because

I forget. You know, I don't always hunt to the next sermon, because someday happens every seven days. But I do write down when I preached certain things. The sermon I've preached in July twenty nineteen was from this passage called Knock Knock. All right, well, this is sort of like a sequel, But I see it differently now in the context of just what we're celebrating today and kind of the redefinition that the Church is going through in the world is going through. So I hope that you'll

find an admonistion. I think I believe by faith, you will find an encouragement for yourself through this today. Verse one. It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the Church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter. Also. This

happened during the festival of unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. He must be powerful to be under this much attack. You must be powerful to be up under this much attack. Wow. Verse five. Ah. So Peter was kept in prison. But the church, but the church, But the church, But the church. But the Church was earnestly praying to God for him.

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers down with two chains, and Sentry stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. It's the last minute, down to the wire, sudden death, overtime, and here comes the angel. He struck Peter on the side. What kind of angel hits you while you're asleep, blond side, and woke him up. Quick, get up, he said, and

the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the angel said to him, put on your clothes and sandals. You can't leave naked. Cover up. I got somewhere for you to go touch somebody, say, get dressed for what's next. Get dressed for what's next. Get dressed for what's next, and Peter did, so, wrap your cloak around you and follow me, the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision.

They passed the first and second guards, came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and then they win through it. They went through it. That could be about you. How many of you went through it? You don't even have to tell me what it was, but you went through it. Irongate opened by itself, and they went through it, and when they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the

angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, now I know, now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen, everything my enemies thought would happen, but it didn't work. That's what Peter said, How many of you have the same testimony that no weapon that was formed

against you? And when this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying just a few more verses, stay with me. Peter knocked at the outer entrance. A servant named Rhoda came to answer the door, and when she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed and excited she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, Peter's at the door. Peter's at the door, y'all, Peter's at the door. Shut up. Rhoda

were praying for Peter. But Peter's at the door. You're out of your mind, they told her, and she kept insisting. She kept insisting, there's a pattern in this past I'm about to show you. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said it must be his angel because he's already dead by now. Wow, more faith to believe that his angel came to the door than that God actually answered their prayers for him. But this is the verse I'll stop on. Peter kept on knocking, y'all like that.

I love that Peter kept on knocking. And when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. So I'll give you three titles for this message, depending on what kind of sauce level you want. If you want the mild message, title is called waiting for an Answer. That's if you're a first time guest and you need something kind of appropriate to right now. If you want something a little bit more, just a little bit more attitude on it, it could be called God's Gonna shock You. Yeah,

sound like y'all want to the tongue torch. Sweet sixteen anniversary tied on? All right? Hear this? Never stop knocking? Never. If there's one thing I've learned. If there's one thing it taught me getting up here in this pulpit to preach Jesus Christ, crucify, buried, risen from the dead and soon to come again and present in this moment is never stop knocking. So put it in the chat. Never stop knock it. Put some knuckles in the chat. I will never stop knocking, you said Lord, asking it will

be given seeking we will find knocking. The door will be open. We're asking in this moment that you would speak, infuse, and impart faith and courage like only you can. We thank you that we're standing in front of an open door this day. We bless you for it. In Jesus' name. Amen, you may be seated. I made y'all stand a long time, didn't I That's all right? Love you. Christian good Man. He's been with me almost all sixteen. I met him. Listen to this when I was sixteen. I've known him

that long. A isn't that crazy? Asked him to start a church with me. He said, nope, he did. We were actually not the start. We were kind of already started. I said, Chris, come out here and be my worship leader. When the church started. I'm gonna tell you a few old men today, just once a year. But I was the worship leader, singing songs like these are the days of Elijah declaring the word of the Lord, and these are the days of somebody else in the Bible. It

was too much, though, like trying to lead worship. Plus I knew that God would send people. I asked Chris. He said, nope, I'm going to Nashville. I told him, why don't should come here, build a church and make Nashville come to us. That's true, isn't it. They're looking at me like I'm some kind of liar up here.

You didn't say that I did. I say, you can go to Nashville and maybe you make it, or maybe you're a roofer in three years, and come here and build a church, write songs for people that they can sing that will make them. And the first songs that we wrote here sucked, but they've gotten better and better and better. Never stop knock him because he told me no. But I just you know, I have techniques that here we are now that dude's been nominated for multiple Grammys.

You know what I'm saying, He said, Can I change my answer? I said, yeah, I'm desperate. I'll still take you. I have no pride. Everybody I started, well, it's kind of a contrast. We're skinner. Yeah. I had him on standby, come here, because I was like, I told him to be on standby. I told him be ready to preach today. But I'm using to preach. But he's not. He's not gonna have to say anything. I asked him. I said, I'm going to start a church. And here's the kicker.

I don't know where, and it is what he said. I'm going with with, not not I'm going with you just some Minnesota grammar. I guess that's how they talk in Minnesota. Bad grammar, great faith. I'm going with Now, this guy chunks, come here. Can you make it up the stairs? Y'all? He's only like forty five, but he's got so many injuries. This is like my this is like my euro man. I love him so much. He's like my guy. If he ever told me he would stop doing it, I would tie him up and not

let him leave. I'll put him in the trunk. But he was different. I said, I want you to start the church with me, and he was, I'll pray about it. You remember that list. You pulled me in the Sunday school room and you had a list. Now, now, how about this? And how about that? How about that? He wanted answers, Right, I need some answers. What about this? And what about that? Bo was amazing because even though I couldn't answer give him any of his answers that

he wanted. In the absence of answers, he chose faith at the last minute, like in the passage where the angel showed up on the night. Couldn't you have showed up three nights before I was about to get my head cut off. Angel? But sometimes at the last minute, and I had already given up on you. And Holly said, wait for him. He's worth waiting for. He's worth waiting for. He's supposed to be your guy's worth waiting for. I said,

I need an answer. How many of you have been in a position lately where you say I need an answer. I need an answer from God. I need an answer from someone, he said. He said, I'm praying about it. I said, I need an answer by noon on Thursday. I gotta have an answer because I got to move on because God has called me to do this. And if you want to do it with me. I really want you to do with me, but you don't do it with me. I gotta find somebody else, and the w me my second choice. But I gotta do it

because God told me to do it. You got to noon Thursday, eleven fifty seven am on that Thursday, my motorola ring. This is this is an anniversary. So we're just telling old stories. And I said, I said, hey, he said I'm in. We're in, and he and Amy have been with us ever since. That's cool, y'all give them a little bigger hand than that. For all the faith that it puts. People go on pretend like y'all

are those two guards that Peter was chained to. All right, for a moment, just go with me here and think about what kind of faith it took for Peter in the passage to sleep while they were deciding whether or not he would live. And think about who Peter was and the kind of personality that he had in other passages of scripture, and realize what a miracle it is for the same disciple who ran down into the stern of the ship one time in a storm and said, Jesus,

why are you sleeping? We're about to die and you don't care. Think about the transformation that has happened in these years and the spirit that has empowered Peter to be able to sleep between two guards. Actually it was sixteen guards, wasn't it that I read that right? It was? It wasn't a sweet sixteen It was four squads of four soldiers that sixteen guards, sixteen people for one Peter. What kind of power was in Peter? What kind of power is in you? Because you've been through some things

and you've been asking God for answers. Faith is the ability sometimes to lay down and sleep and let Faith answer the questions. I'm picturing Peter's sleeping, and I'm realizing in scripture that this is not the first time that we've seen Peter asleep in the Bible. In the garden of Gathsemone, y'all remember it. Raise your hand if you remember the garden of Gethsemone, that place before Jesus went

to the cross where he gave his father an unqualified yes. Now, remember, he asked God, if it's possible take this cup away from me as he went to pay the price for your sin, my sin. As he went to take on the punishment that we rightly deserved. As he went to be the sacrifice to atone for our sin, not trying to use a bunch of fancy words, just to let you know that, he canceled the debt that was stood

against us. But it cost him. It cost him, And as he considered encountered that cost, he prayed, and he asked God, if there's any other way take this cup from me. God did not answer by removing the cup of suffering. He answered by filling Jesus with the strength to endure what he had to do. And so for the joy set before him, he endured the cross, despising its shame, and then sat down at the right hand

of God. So if Jesus is seated, I can sleep Helvy, my goodness, I feel like preaching to this, Oh, I can sleep through anything. When I know that he's seated, I can sleep through anything. I can rest through anything. You know. In the garden of gethsemone, while Jesus prayed, Peter slept, and he said, wake up. My soul is in anguish. He's sweating like drops of blood, and Peter's sleeping. He said that the spirit is willing, but the flesh

is weak. Peter was sleeping out of weakness in the garden, but he's not I'm sleeping out of weakness in Acts chapter twelve. He's sleeping from a place of knowing that I am seated in heavenly places with Jesus. And if I'm seated with him, it doesn't matter what Herod has planned. It matters what God has purpose for my life. That's how he slept, all right. I need to sit y'all down before LB tackles me on this stage. I'm good with y'all. I might call you back. I might not.

I hadn't decided yet. But no matter what, we come to this text in Acts chapter twelve looking for we certainly find an incredible picture of persistence. Persistence. On one hand, the passage is about peace. That Peter has peace to sleep on the worst night of his life. And y'all, they didn't have lu nesta in Acts chapter twelve. Isn't that the sleep medicine. Peter didn't even have a white noise on his iPhone to put on the white noise that I'm thinking that this is a passage about peace

and persistent. Can remember that the church was earnestly praying. I think the word earnestly is important because we let's be honest, and I know there's like five prayer warriors in this room, but for the other thousands of us, we passively pray. Okay, I'm gonna say it stronger because y'all are real fake right now, we worry out loud and call it prayer too strong. I'm backing off, backing off a dance celebration. We we give God our grocery list,

like he's in Stacart. Holly said last week or whatever week she preached, she said that was such a good thing, she said, she said, telling God what to do is not praying. I was like, who are you? I like what you just said, and you are right, and I had done that and it's exactly right. And you know, the church is praying for Peter, but it doesn't say what they were praying about for Peter. And remember, although the passage gets kind of funny, it doesn't start funny.

It It not only takes place in the time of famine. There was there was a feminine xt chapter eleven you can read about. But if this is chronologically, If if this is chronological, the next thing in sequence than at the same time that the church in Jerusalem is recovering from famine, Herod is persecuting the church, and he has just killed James. Do you think the church prayed for James? So understand when it says they are earnestly praying for Peter.

That takes more faith when you've just lost James. Have you ever had to pray and ask God and believe God and trust God when he didn't answer the last thing that you prayed for. That's hard, whether we will admit it or not. Our faith deteriorates when our expectations are not met. I wrote a book called Sunstand Still early in the church. Y'all didn't even read that one. Go get that book and you will hear. You will hear my version of faith before I lost my dad

to als. I don't take it back. I believe God can do anything. I haven't changed what I believe about God. It's just that on the other side of some unanswered prayers. Because you don't think I asked God to heal my dad. You don't think I asked him for a miracle and sat by his bed and watched him breathe his last breath. Anyway, and then it becomes a challenge. The next time you're faced with something that seems impossible, you are tasked with having to believe God on the other side of your

last unanswered prayer. I think what really draws me into this text for our anniversary on this day because I prayed a lot about it. I mean, I think I've got sermons for the next year, just that I went through looking for this one for today because I wanted to see God, what do you want me to say to our church? What do you want me to say to them as individuals? What do you want me to say about the moment that we're in kind of on

the other side, maybe of a pandemic. Maybe my favorite word of twenty twenty and twenty twenty one and twenty twenty two is maybe now I got that, maybe faith that in maybe this or maybe that. And the problem is as a leader, people want answers, and we don't have any right now. In the absence of answers, what grows could be either one for you could be cynicism. Some of you have gotten really really mean the last two years because in the absence of answers, you have

allowed anger to grow. I'm mad that I can't control it. I'm mad that nobody will tell me what to do. I'm mad that I'm wearing a mask and they're not, or they're wearing a mask and I'm not. I'm mad that I don't know whether to wear a mask. I'm mad that you're looking at me because I'm wearing a mask. I'm mad that you're looking at me because I'm not. I'm mad because I can't figure out with somebody tell me what to do. I need answers. When's the church

going to open back up? I heard that for a year. I was like, it's still open. It's still open. I said that all through the pandemic. What you mean when is oh, oh oh, We've never been through anything like this before. Herod was cutting off heads in the church for vail. We are we are so silly, we are so silly. We think it's the first time that there has ever been unanswered questions in the history of the

Christian faith. That's one reason I like this passage is because they're still praying in the face of a prayer that God just didn't answer. The miscarriage, the end of the relationship, the addiction that they went back to the relapse give us a little different shade of meaning, doesn't it When I said the church is earnestly praying to know that James just had his head cut off and there's no expectation that anything different will happen to Peter.

That's a dangerous place because in that place, if the devil knocks in that place and tries to tell you this is how it will always be, you can't really believe all that stuff that you were singing about mountains moving and chains breaking. God doesn't really do that stuff, or he does it for other people or not for you. It can deteriorate your faith. I am impressed by how this church in Acts twelve and this global body of believers that I'm speaking to around the world never stop

knocking in the midst of a global pandemic. That's amazing to me. It might not be amazing to you. But I have other friends who pastor churches, and they're not pastors anymore because while they were pastoring in the pandemic, their church wasn't supporting them. I don't have that deestimony. That's why I can cry if I think about it, Because y'all kept knocking that blesses my heart. Do you know what that means to me? To know we'll go online, we'll go in the building, we'll do whatever we have

to do, We'll do whatever needs to be done. And so, what can the devil do with the church that won't stop knocking even if James Head gets caught off? Question? What can the devil do with a believer that won't stop believing even when the worst case scenario is on your doorstep? What can the devil do with the faith that can't sleep but to a sixty soldiers, never stop, Never stop, because sometimes you've got to knock and say, God, it's me again. Remember me. Sometimes you gotta get on

God's nerves. Sometimes you gotta call God until you think he's about to block your number. Sometimes you gotta stalk the Holy Spirit. Ah, don't take your joy from me. Ah, I will not. I'll prove it to you with the Bible. Jacob said, I will not let go unless you bless me. If I wrestle all night, if it cost me my popularity, if I have to let go of some things, I want to see God's Kingdom come in my life. Never stop knocking, Never stop knocking, Never stop believing that it

can still happen. I said, still, that means you have a reason to believe it can't. Now, Jesus said, asking it will be given to you. Seek and you will find knock and the door be open. Here's problem, Matthews. Have to seven verse seven. You read that like it's a one time thing. You read that like you said, tap, I didn't come to preach about a soft knock. This is a message for the hard knocks, when you have had the crap beat out of you, when you have had the mess beat up, when you have had your

faith tried, just trying to bring everybody together. I don't want to beat devised when you have been through it. Don't try to get God to explain it. What blew my mind about this text. Sit down, JJ, he's excited is if Peter had been me, I don't think he would have gotten out of prison. And if Peter had been some of us, he would have stood at the door for three days. The sixteen soldiers would attracted him down and cut off his head, even though God set

him free. But it said Peter kept on knocking. When it really matters to you, you knock even through the no when it matters. Peter had been with Jesus, he'd been filled with spirit. He preached on Day of Pentecost. He's come too far to just no three tons bupah booh, book. Peter's knocking his yell. I know he was yelling too, because it said that she recognized his voice. Let me in. God is waiting to hear your voice. He's waiting for you to call on him. Mother's prayers can only take

you so far. God wants to hear your voice quits. May twenty twenty two be the year that you stop standing there during worship thinking it's a concert. I don't care who's up here singing. God wants to hear your voice off key one note, you are enough one note, one note? How many one note knockers do I have? Somebody said doe, because God is not looking for my melody. God wants to see me move move, So let me pretend like I'm the angel for a minute. Okay, they

were the guards. I was Peter. Now I'm the angel. This is the only time in the whole week that I would compare myself to an angel. Trust me about that. But get up. That's what the angel did you know? That picture of the angel that you have up in your house, that little precious angel. This angel, this angel had this This angel looks like a UFC fighter. All right, get up, get dressed. I want to show you this verse because I want to show you why most of

us stay in prison. We stay in prison to ourselves. We stay in prison to our we stay in prison to our past, we stay in prison to our preference. Says, we stay in prison to our pain. Am I preaching? Is it just that anniversary anointing? Because I read through what the angel told Peter, and I noticed something about the interaction that's different than how I relate to God. This angel, by the way, I want to be serious about the angel. For a moment, it represents an appearance

of God. But Peter doesn't know that yet, and that's important to point out. You won't always know that it's God. In fact, sometimes you'll think the opposite. If somebody hits me, I don't think it's an angel. Isn't that crazy? God shows up in the first thing he does bah and some of us have been through the BAB Have you been through the BAP? What if that's not the devil? What if that's the angel. What if that slap across the face lovingly is from your good, good love a father.

What if he loves you enough that he would rather strike you than allow the enemy to slay you. Now, don't try this at home. But this is an aggressive angel. It's an aggressive attempt to get Peter free. And the angel doesn't have time to explain to Peter. So Peter just has to move forward by faith without explanations. Say all three of us move forward by faith without explanations. And here's what it says. He struck Peter seven part

by on the side, woke him up. Quick get up, he said, and the chains fell off Peter's dress, and just had to put on your clothes and sandals, Peter did, So wrap your cloak around you and follow me, the angel told her. So I wrote some notes about that. Here's what I would have said to each of those commands. There are three. Quick get up, I would have said, how I'm chained to these guards? How do you expect me to get up when I'm chained to something bigger

than me? Have you ever felt like that? How you expect me to get up when I'm chained to something bigger than me? So I would have said, how notice this, Peter got up and then the chains fell off, not the other way around. You know how I wanted to work. The chains fall off, then I'll get up. God just give me the desire and I'll obate. No, No, you obey,

and you develop the desire as you obey. That's why you can't say things like I'm just not one of those kind of people and limit yourself to your current state of progress, because the freedom comes through obedience. How many of you have been delivered from something in your life that one time you thought is stronger than me. I'll never be free of this, And now, by the grace of God, you're free. You didn't get free by

asking more questions. You got free by taking action. True, so you reached out to somebody, you went to God with it. You prayed, you not, but you did more than that. There was something that you did, and there is something that God is giving you to do right now, not something not not an explanation. Because Peter could have said, how's this, how am I supposed to get up? I'm happy sleep, the guards are here. No, he got up and the chains fell. He didn't get an answer. He

just took an action. How good is that? How good is that? Because he could he could have waited for an answer until his head was rolling on the floor next to James, but he acted. I don't know what that means to you, but I know that I never get anywhere by waiting for God to explain everything. Never. Oh, I do actually get somewhere. It's a nice little town called Depression, USA, Anxiety, North America. That's where I end up. That's the only place that ever takes me. Then then

the angel says something else makes no sense. He said, put on your clothes and sandals. Now I'm going to ask why for what? So I can look good for my execution. So then we ask why. Now, what's the point why? Well, Peter has learned a lot because he used to be that why guy. He used to be the one always questioning, confronting Jesus. This passage is so much richer if you know Peter's natural personality, because it gives you hope that anybody can change. He was the

craziest one of all of all of these disciples. He was the one that he is the dumbest one too. Sometimes he was telling Jesus stuff like you can't go to Jerusalem. They're going to kill you, and Jesus is like new Sledge. I told you three times I have to die. That's why I came, because you're a sinner and I got to save you. If I don't bleed, you don't get a breakthrough. So you better let me go. Now. He's just doing what God's telling him to in the

absence of answers. The Angel didn't say good news, we're getting out of jail. He just said get up, then show you everything all at once. One guy asked me the other day, this is funny, So what's the ten year plan for elevation Church. I wanted to say back, I'm looking for it ten minute plan for elevation Church, because that's crazy right now, and none of us really know all of the outcomes of how things are going

to be. And it takes faith to stand up here and preach to you people every week because you want answers, and all I have to give you is commands from God's word, not from my mouth. But the promises of God are not automatic either, So he acts on the first one, he acts on the second one. I think that's a beautiful scripture put on your clothes and sandals verse eight. And Peter did so, I would have said why he just did? So? This is how we can take as a model for our unanswered questions. Could be

anything God, when am I going to have somebody? Or God, when is this going to turn around? Are God? When's it gonna happen? But you'll get your head cut off if you stay stuck in how And if you stay stuck in why. This is the third thing, This might be the biggest, the hardest one of all. Y'all wrap your cloak around you verse eight and follow me. Now, what would you have asked? Where he said I'm going with?

I would have been like, as long as the temperature is good and the job market is solid and the cost of living is love. But I love LB because he just said I'm going with. And that's what reminded me of Peter Lbe. You remind me of Peter because you do dumb stuff sometimes. This man, this man almost drove through the gate of a storage unit to get a prop that I needed one Sunday because he couldn't get the code in. He was backing up the truck to run into the gate. So you're kind of dumb,

but I like you because you will do it. You will do it, you will do it. He said, I'm going with where with Peter is going. Peter is going with the Angel, So you gotta let God know I'm going with I'm going with Even if Psalm twenty three becomes a reality, Yay, though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil. Why because you are with me. Say it out loud.

God is with me, and that's my confidence. And that's what I know, and that's how I hold on in this season, and that's why I'm not gonna let my head hang low. That's why I'm not gonna have a panic attack about this. That's why I'm not going to control the situation by human means and flesh. That's why I'm not gonna send in Abraham to sleep with Hagar and try to produce a promise from God in human strength, because God is with me and the Angel took him

out of the gate. Let's don't even stop and preach about the gate open by itself, how it was motion activated. I wonder if some of the things I'm not going to preach this point, but I could that You're standing there waiting for an answer, and God is waiting for an action, and it's like the church is praying knocking. That's how prayers described to Matthew seven. Ask to begin and seek you' find knock the door be open. They're praying, which is a kind of knocking. While they are knocking

on God's door. God is knocking on theirs. Right now. Peter's at the door and he knocks, and there's no answer. They have no idea that what they're praying for actually happen. So I'll tell you why. I really was crying when I came up here for the little opening song. And I don't want to talk about it, but I will, because I'm standing in an answered prayer. Not only this church that the Lord Jesus allows us to pastor, but all the times that I stood in this church with

you and I needed God to Preachers have prisons. Peter's not the only one. You're not the only one. I stood and had to sing songs of lyrics that I wrote while I was laughing at the reality that they could even be true. It's almost laughable that they're praying for the one who's standing at the door and they don't want to interrupt their prayer meeting to praise God

for the answer. And the Lord said to me today, because you know, hey, man, I got a sermon to preach, and I got another one to preach after that, and another one to preach. He said, pause for a moment in between knocks about what's next, and take a moment to notice what I've already done. In other words, open the door. I prayed for Holly while she was going through things, and I was standing next to her holding her hand today while we were singing do it again,

And we sang that song all different times. We sang it when the media was saying that we were a cult and that we were putting liquor in the communion cups or whatever the people said about us through the years, putting water slides in the church, all kinds of crap people said. And really, y'all, really, really really really really, if they can through that, surely we can make it through anything together if we don't stop knocking it. Some things you need to sleep through. Other things you need

to act on. Some things you need to pray about, other things you need to act on. Now, what if the Lord, this is my final question. I really could

preach all day because I get excited. I didn't hear much enthusiasm about that wrap it up pastor heard there's pizza out there, some weird And yet maybe when I finished preaching today, you could take a moment in between all the knocking that you've been doing, all the changes that you need God to make, all the things that you're asking God, and you know, maybe you're not even asked God for I personally think that the church wasn't

even asking God to keep Peter alive. I think they were asking that He would give Peter peace, and that's why Peter was sleeping. So my favorite verse, y'all, has been for years. This is the one that I put in Remember JJ, when I signed your book, Ephesians three twenty, is that what I put in your book. He stood in the back. He's the campus pastor at Valentine. He stood in the back of a book line at Liberty University where I was speaking because he wanted to say

thank you for the ministry of Elevation Church. He stood there for I don't know how long, till everybody was gone, and I put Ephesians three twenty and he said he was from Toronto, GTA, and I took that as greater things ahead, GTA, because I'm corny. I'm corny, and I put GTA greater things ahead Ephesians three twenty. Now, unto him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask. All right, let he who has ears, she who has ears to hear, hear what I'm about to say next.

Exceedingly more is at the door right now. Let he that has an ear to hear hear what the spirit is saying to the church, because they're praying on this level. God help Peter before he dies to feel your presence. And God's like, Nah, I'm gonna one up you on that. Watch this. I'm gonna give you what you didn't even think to ask me for because you didn't think it

was possible. If you don't stop knocking, watch this. If you will be like in this season of your life, you can't be like one of these little weak Christians that the first time something happens that you have to park at the back of the parking lot in Target, you say, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? This is my God, simony. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. You can't go out of this church.

And the first time you feel a bad feeling, or think of bad thought, or get a temptation, you'll just give into it. You gotta be one of those who won't stop knocking. By the grace of God, something more is at the door. I will live and not die. I will live and not die. And the gates of hell will not free them. Come on, let's give him sixty seconds. Afraid. Come on, worship teams, get out there, get out here. Come on, come on, come on, come up, Come on, come on, give them a great price. Let's

knock on the door of heaven. Let's knock on the door of heaven. Come on, get your fist in the air. Like this, God said, never stop nothing, never stop nothing, never stop knocking. Hey, road out after the door. Peter is alive. And I declare, by the grace of God that upon this rock God will build his church. And guess who Jesus said back to Peter every time Peter knocked on that door, And let the devil know. God is still building now. I'm preaching to people today who

are not perfect, but are persistent. And that's how I feel about this church. Maybe we can make a T shirt that says this not perfect but persistent. Actually don't make the listen. That sounded better in my head, but it's good for a sermon. And Peter kept knocking. God might shock you some of the things that you thought were as good as dead. I know sometimes you have

to let it go. James did lose his head. God wanted to give us a side by side example that whether it ends the way you didn't want it to, or whether you have unanswered questions and you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow morning, never stop knocking, no matter what you feel through mental illness, never stop knocking. Get a doctor, get new friends, get a new pattern. Take some time, but don't stop praying just because you've been through pain. And in the absence of answers, sometimes

the greatest faith grows. I want to sing build your Church one time on our anniversary again, across all of our locations. I want us to sing it in defiance of everything the devil did to try to take you out, but to let him know we're still knocking. We're still knocking. Well, Lord, you bless me today. I don't know who else the word was for, but I receive it. Lift your hands

if you receive it. Father, I thank you for moms and dads and sons and daughters who, although like Peter, might be sleeping between some situations that make them really scared right now and make them really sad right now, that between that place where the church was praying in the place where Peter was in prison, your grace made the difference. I just declare your grace over every home, over every person who's joining right now online. I speak

your peace into their home. God, I speak your power in our soul that would be strengthen in our inner man. I thank you Lord, that strength is rising up by faith through the preached word of God today. And we're gonna say it like Peter said to the angel. We're gonna say it like LB said it to me. We're going with. We're going with. We thank you that there are angels all around us right now. We thank you

that your spirit is inside of us. We declare what Jesus said, Lift those hands, hide, say aloud, the gates of hell will not prevail upon this rock. You build your church. Let's sing at one time like it's our birthday. Come on church, Lift a mighty shot of praise. Well, if you enjoy today's podcast, there are a couple things I'd love for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate,

and review this podcast. You can also help us reach others by investing today at Elevation Church dot org, slash give and thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast.