Shut Up and Shine (Holly Furtick)

that can only mean one thing. Holly Ferdick is bringing the word today. Come on, look at this artesian Bible cover. That must mean Holly Ferdick is preaching the word. Look at this hand drawn Bible study Philippians. Come on, let's thank God for Holly. I'm gonna leave her by herself in a minute. Last week I preached to her, and now you owe me pay backtime you got to preach to me. So I'm gonna go sit in my seat and I know that you're excited to hear God's word

from this woman. You should be, because who preaches to you today lives a better sermon than anything that ever comes from her lips. Trust me. I live with her and the stuff that she doesn't show on Instagram is the best stuff. People say to me. I just love Holly. I'm like, no, you don't. I love Holly because I know it and I know how deepro authenticity really is, and so I thank God for you. But I also

want to say this, Rebecca Summers. Where's Rebecca. I bet she's around the building somewhere doing a chat host or something like that, probably praying for somebody, or casting out a devil online something like that, doing a digital exorcism. She was saying at the Rhythm night that our team has been doing a great job for our youth. Make sure you subscribe to Elevation Youth on YouTube, Okay, so you can get the word. But she was saying I heard them do a panel one day and they were

saying who's influenced you the most? And she said you. I think she said a few other people, but you were in the top three. She said, Da Da Da Da Da and Holly Ferdick. And I was like, if you only knew, She's one of these people that the closer that you get, the better that she looks. Some people can impress from a distance, but impartation happens up close. Thank you, so right now I want you to take

this pulpit and minister to the people. I'm excited. I got a preview of the word, and I'm gonna sit down, just the two of us, just the one of you. Let's give it up today. Everybody's saying the Chad, welcome, Holly, well, hello, elevation. We're here together. Worshiping again is what we do every week. If this is super assignment, sure you come back, because we're here over and over again all day to day. If the message minister's to you, share it with someone

and tell them, hey, you can catch it again. I'm thirty eleven, thirty two, five, ten, Hey, all of them, we're here. We want to see you, and we want to be able to minister to you every week. I am just really excited that you have set aside the time today to worship with us. I know that God is going to speak to you as you focus your attention on Him for just the next few moments that we have together. You guys that are in the room can go ahead and be seated. This has been a

really incredible season of ministry. For our church. I just every time I get up on this stage, I just I'm so proud of our teams. And one of the teams at Elevation that has really risen to the occasion over the past six months is our E groups teams. It's one of my favorite teams. This is a small team. They're not nearly as big as our worship team. And maybe you've been worshiping with us for a while and you've heard us talk about E groups but you're not

exactly sure what they are. E groups are away for the people of Elevation Church to gather together in small groups and just support each other and go through life together and just offer a place for you to continue to grow in your faith. And thanks to technology, we have people from all over the world who come together each week. Sometimes they're in home, sometimes they're on Zoom. And I really want you to be a part of an E group. So if you're a part of an

E group, though, help me out. Tell the people in the chat what are they missing out on? Tell them how amazing your eGroup is, and just a few words, because nobody wants to read a whole lot of stuff. You know, the Bible says that the gates of Hell will not prevail against God's Church, and I believe that

we are stronger than ever. And so I just wanted to take a minute because I have the stage, and just officially invite you to join an E group because now is the time, because over the sixth the past six months, I have been working with our teams on a study on the Book of Philippians. Isn't it beauty full? Too? You can get a copy of the study and join us. Philippians is the most joyful book in the Bible, but yet did you know that it was written from a

prison cell? And so over the next five weeks, our groups are going to be setting aside time to read through the Book of Philippines together and just learn. We called it Philippians the Art of Contentment because Paul. How was it possible that Paul was able to have so much joy in the midst of a literal lockdown? And We're gonna study God's word together and we're going to talk about it. And I believe that God wants to speak to you through E groups in this season of

your life. We are not waiting for a virus to go away, to have church. We are the church. The church is not a building. The church is just a group of imperfect people coming together on a journey of faith. And we're not waiting until we can pack out a building. We're going to pack out homes and we're gonna pack out zoom. We have over one thousand groups signed up to do this study because you were not meant to go through life alone. So that's my commercial. Don't miss

out on this opportunities. Only five weeks, we have the perfect group for you. Go to philippianstudy dot com to find out more. But don't go right now because I have a message that I want to bring to you that I'm really really excited on because God has laid this one on my heart. Actually, it sparked in my heart years ago while I was leading any group for married women. I was teaching and we were studying, and I came across this verse in the Bible that said

that wives could win their husbands over without words. And I was so intrigued by this idea of winning someone over without words because I love words. If you know me, I am a very talkative person. Now, don't ask me how my weekend was unless you really want to hear every detail of the sleepover that we had this past weekend for Graham's thirteenth birthday, and how I had middle school boys and they're dirty socks and all over my house. I can't help it. I like stories, I like description.

I just I like talking. I've been this way my whole life. One of the nicest things that anybody ever said to me was I was in the middle of telling a story and they said, Holly, this story is so good, do not leave one detail out. Tell me everything. And I was like, I love you, You're my best friend. Here we go. Someone actually said that to me. Now sometimes I say that to other people because I don't know. Maybe doesn't mean that much people, but I love it.

People have been telling me to stop talking my entire life. When I was a child, on my report card, there was this common theme. When I was a kid, the teachers actually hand wrote our report cards, and on the back of it there were these little boxes where they could leave some personal thoughts and comments, and there was a theme all throughout my childhood that said something like this, Holly is a bright child who would do better to talk less. I can't help it. I'm a woman of

many words. And you know, actually sometimes this comes in handy when you have to talk to thousands of people from a practically empty room, right, But in normal settings, I have had to really learn how to rain this in. And one of the greatest lessons that I have had to learn in the area of being an over talker is that you don't have to say everything you think. This is really hard for me. I know it's not mean. Some of you may be better at this, but I've

really had to learn this lesson the hard way. One time when we were in college. I know my husband's told you how we traveled on a ministry team in this van in the summertime, and we traveled all through these small towns in South Carolina. And one particular day, we were driving through this really small town and I just blurted out, this town is really trashy looking. I would hate to live here. And the girl behind me and the seat behind me, she just quietly said she

was like, my whole family's from this town. I was like, oh, can I get this shoe emoji in the chat? If you're like me and you put your foot in your mouth, it's time or two or three or four in your life. I just I talk too much. I talk when I get excited. I talk when I'm nervous. Sometimes I talk because I'm bored. Sometimes I talk because I'm uncomfortable. I'm uncomfortable with silence. Actually, I just I don't I don't like silence, and so I just will. If you don't talk,

I'm gonna talk. And if I'm by myself, I even have my aarpods in with an audiobook playing because somebody needs to be talking. I talk too much my whole life. I have been trying to learn how to shut my mouth and think before I talk. Is there anyone out there who can relate to me? Please let me know that I'm not alone. I know that no one likes to be around someone who just dominates every space with the sound of their voice. And I'm trying to fix that. Okay,

I'm working on it. The Bible actually has a lot to say about talkers. Proverbs eighteen twenty one says the power of life and death is in the tongue. The psalmist prayed for God to put a guard over his mouth and James one of my favorite Bible verses, well, I wouldn't say favorite, but one that I've really had to tell myself over and over again. He says, be

quick to listen and slow to speak. And I think all of us, no matter how talkative we are, have experienced these moments where we realize the power of our words. Have you ever said something that you realize hurts someone deeply? Maybe unintentional, and it's not always a direct insult. I know we all have a time that we can remember when somebody directly insulted us, Like you know, I don't know. Lots of people have a story where their father said

You're never gonna amount to anything. Yeah, we all have times like that. But a lot of times we can hurt those that we love also with what we don't say, or or the thing the ways that we don't encourage them. I remember one particular time several years ago, and my husband's first book was finally finished, and they mailed a case of the books to our house, and I remember walking into the room and seeing this big box and

Stephen was there. He just cut it open and he reached out and he pulled out a copy of Son Stands Still by Steven Ferdick, and I picked up the book and I fanned through it and I said, really, big huh? And I saw my husband's shoulders visibly droop, and I was like, oh God, oh no, Can I get a rewind? I mean, it's amazing. Can I get a do over? Because as I thought, that's not what I meant to say, I realized that I had spent the last eighteen months watching this man agonize over every

word that was in that book. He went through revision after revision, He changed the cover ten times. This was his first book, This was his story. Did I say, my man, you're a published author. Nope. Did I say this book is gonna change people's lives? Nope? I just said the first thing that popped into my head. The font's kind of big huh hustle. Words hold weight, and what you choose to say and what you whoose not

to say is important. That's why we have to learn to pay attention to everything that comes out of our mouths. Can we talk about this today? We are living in a time where people do not consider the weight of their words. Now, some of us may be better at not saying everything that we think, but what about typing Our thumbs can sometimes cause more damage than our tongue.

Solomon wrote the power of life and death is in the tongue, But I wonder if he'd lived in twenty twenty, he might have said, the power of life and death is in the thumbs. There is so much noise going on in the world today, and it is hard to separate the truth from the fiction. It's hard to know when you have a feed coming through, and now we all know that our feed is just feeding us what

we want to be fed. And it's so hard to even have a voice when it feels like everyone is just shouting at each other are and not listening at all. I want to learn how to be part of the solution to the things that are going on around me, not just another person who's just adding to the noise. So today, since our groups are kicking off a study, remember you're going to join run Philippianstudy dot com. It's not too late. I wanted to preach from Paul's words

as well. God has been speaking to me so much about this topic and I'm just really excited to bring it to you today. So as we open up God's word, I just want us to all say a prayer together out loud, so you don't have to close your eyes. We'll just all collectively. If you're in your living room or in your car, it's okay, out loud, let's all say this. Lord, speak to me. I am listening. Amen. All right. If you have a Bible, look with me.

At Philippians, chapter two, verse fourteen. Because Paul has so much that he is going to teach us about our words. Says this, do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure children of God, without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Do everything without

grumbling or arguing, then you will shine. If you're looking, if you're sitting with someone, I want you to look at them. Tell them my sermon title say this, shut up and shine. Go ahead and put that in the chat. Don't worry. It comes right from the Bible. It's okay

to say shut up, shut up, and shine. So on the surface here it looks like Paul is giving us a pretty impossible command with the promise, But it's a promise that we're never going to achieve because out in the world are we supposed to do everything without grumbling

or arguing. But if you dig into this, these three small verses, I want to show you that Paul is trying to teach us that how the things that he's trying to teach just how the things that you do not say can sometimes have just as much power as the things that you do say. He's giving us if you look back at it, he's giving us two things to not do and two things to do. So he begins by telling us to do everything without grumbling or arguing. Maybe you're like me and you read it and you're like, yeah,

that's not going to happen. Everything like zero tolerance policy. This is gonna be hard because sometimes complaining is really fun and sometimes arguing is just necessary. Of some of the married people, give me an amen and the chat. When you read the Bible, though, it's important to understand who is writing these words, and where was he when he wrote them, and who was he writing them to, because when you put all of that together, the words become more than just commands of dues and don'ts and

this and that. They have context and they come alive. And the Book of Philippians is a letter written by Paul to the people at the Church of Philippi, a church that he planted, and a lot of scholars believe, based on Paul's words and his tone, that the people of the Church of Philippi, they were Paul's secret favorites.

These were his true friends, the people that he considered almost like family, because these people supported him as he traveled around and as he ministered and started churches all over. And now he's found himself in a Roman prison and the Philippians have just sent him a good old fashioned care basket and a love offering, and so he's sending them back a letter. And not only is he giving them words and an update on how things are going, but he's living out what he's saying to them from

a prison cell. And really he's warning them. He's saying in a way that you have to to approach a difficult circumstance, the way to approach it is not to complain, and the way to have lasting arguments is not to argue. Complaining and arguing are our default responses, but they can be extremely counterproductive in our lives. You see, complaining rarely

improves my circumstances. Now, obviously there are times when it's right to make a complaint, Like I have a friend who hates to bother her landlord, Like if she has a leak or something's broken, she doesn't want to bother her. And I'm like, that's like the one perk of renting. You don't have to fix stuff. It's okay to complain to your landlord. But someone once gave me a rule of thumb, and it's this, never complain about a situation

to a person who's powerless to change it. The kind of complaining that Paul is talking about here is the kind that keeps us stuck blaming something that's outside of our control. Have you ever tried to keep track of every time you complain? If you've been through missus better half, you've done this because we have this one week where we try to see how much negativity and how much complaining that we're putting out into the world. And I stole this little challenge from a book that I had

read and because it meant so much to me. And you wear a little bracelet or a hair tie or whatever on your wrist, and every time you catch yourself complaining, you switch the bracelet over to the other hand. And every time that I do this challenge, which I've done it a lot, because I've taught many many rounds of missus better half. I keep thinking, maybe I'm going to be better at it this time, maybe I'll have complain less. But I always just amazed at how much I complain

and I don't even realize. And by the end of the challenge, my bracelet is falling apart, and I'm starting to like punish myself because I'm so mad at them. My wrist is red. We say things all day long that we're not even aware of. Can you help me out if I'm my alone out here? Okay, let me know in the chat if you have said in the last twenty four hours any of the following things, just you know, give me the little hand raising emoji. All right,

I'm tired. I hate the car line at school, or some of you are like, I wish I missed the car line at school. Or did you say wearing a mask is so uncomfortable, or it's so hot, or it's so cold, or what an ugly day? My back hurts, I have nothing to wear, there's nothing to eat. Why doesn't anyone listen to me in this house? This I think I said all of those this week. Sometimes I

can get really creative with my complaints too. I can dress them up, make them all nice and cute, say something like I just I wish I had more time, or it must be young to be able to eat whatever you want, or maybe some of you have said this one this week? When is fall going to get here? Right? Sometimes I'll take my complaints and I'll focus them on another person. I might say something like I just I wish my friend would call me more, or I wish

my kids were more respectful. I found that as I have identified my complaints, they didn't really It didn't really make me feel better. I felt increasingly worse about my situation. Like when I wish that my kids were more respectful, it actually happened because one of them had a friend over and the friend was all like, yes, ma'am, and

missus verdick, where's the garbage can? I don't even think my own kids know where the garbage can is in my house, And so I'm like, I wish my kids were like that, you know, And now I'm like, God, I'm a terrible mom. It's my own fault. I mean, I'm their mother. I pick up their trash and don't. And so it started as wishing that a person in my life was different turned in to making myself out to be a bad mother, because complaining will spiral out of control so fast, and on the surface, it just

seems like a statement of the fact. But now my focus is on the negative, and so is everyone else's that's around me. And it's so easy to identify complaining in others. It's so easy to be like, yeah, my husband needs to stop complaining, but it's harder to see it when I'm the one that's doing it. Oh, I'm not complaining, I'm reviewing. I'm not saying that reviews aren't helpful. Actually they aren't helpful because usually the only people who

review products are the people who aren't happy with the product. Like, if you're happy with the product, you're not gonna go back and te ipe out a review. We live in a world, though, where people actually consider themselves professional complainers, professional yelpers. This is so messed up because negativity slows down your progress, it diverts your attention. And Paul is warning us that complaining is a slippery slope that can distract us from the things that we can actually control

in our lives, like my attitude. I can control my attitude. But watch how Paul doesn't only give us a command, but he gives he leads the way. He gives us an example, back in chapter one, Paul says this verse twelve Philippians one, verse twelve. Now, I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the Gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to

everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the Gospel without fear. It blows my mind that nowhere in the Book of Philippians will you find Paul describing his prison conditions. Nowhere does he say it's cold, I'm hungry, they're terrible. I got whipped the other day. He never even asks the Philippians to pray

for his release. He says, I must be in change for Christ, because revival is breaking out inside of my prison, and revival can break out wherever you are if you change your perspective Paul gives us throughout the book. He weaves in the antidote to complaining, and you know what that is, rejoice. Sixteen times in the Book of Philippians, Paul uses the word joy or rejoice. He says it over and over again again. I will say rejoice, rejoicing

the Lord. Always again I will say rejoice. And if Paul can look for the opportunity in a hard place, so can I. The minute that I catch myself complaining, I've gotta flip it. I have got to find something to rejoice about. So now I'm gonna use my over talking for my own benefit. If I'm gonna if I'm gonna talk, I'm gonna talk about the good things. I'm gonna find something. I'm gonna call myself back to joy

over and over and over again. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying, well, you know what, if you're just saying, if what you're just saying is keeping you stucked, and you should probably stop saying. Stop saying I wish our kids were young again. Stop saying I wish we had more money. Stop saying this house is too small, Stop

saying it is what it is. No you know the Israelites spent so much of the focused complaining about the wilderness and wishing that they were back in Egypt, that they missed out on the promise that was right in front of them. So Paul warns us he's got two things, complaining and arguing, because complaining keeps me suck in my circumstances, and arguing keeps me from experiencing true connection with those that I love. Can I find another honest person in

the chat? I'm saying that a lot today because I just I'm kind of burying my soul and I want to make sure that I'm not alone. But am I alone? Am I the only person that likes to have the last word? Sometimes I feel like I have multiple personalities because on one hand, I'm a total people pleaser, like I will go to great links to avoid conflict. But then there are a few people and a few topics, then well if you I'm just gonna put my boxing

gloves on. And my husband is looking at me right now because he knows that I have this one particular trigger, Like you can talk about politics, you can talk about policies, you can talk about theology, and I will cool as a cucumber. But if you bring up this one topic and I'm not gonna tell you what it is, because I'll just go off. It's kind of a hot topic anyway, and probably shouldn't say it on camera, But I'm just saying, there's just there's certain topics that I can't not argue about,

and then there's certain people. Lord knows, the three of my favorite people on the planet are Elijah, Graham, and Abby. But those three people, they are professional button pushers, and I will stoop to their level and I will argue with them, and I will lose my cool, and I will keep going and going and going because I am the adult and therefore I have the last word. The problem is that when I keep doing that, I'm not actually proving my authority to them. I'm more compromising, and

I'm down on their level. And any time that we need to win an argument with another person, we compromise the relationship somehow. So what I'm learning is that if

my goal is purely to win, I lose. Well. I may win the argument, I may walk away feeling proud I was right I put them in their place, but I have no concern for how the other person feels, and in the process of me winning, I've lost a small piece of the relationship that I have, and over time, piece by piece, I chip away at the opportunity to have a right relationship with a person in my life

that I love. See, when you argue with an attacking stance, you automatically put the other person in a defensive position. And when someone is defending, they're most likely not even hearing a word that you say because they are in protection mode. They're in defense mode. James said, Remember, be quick to listen, slow to speak. This means that while the other person is talking, I am paying attention to what they're saying. I'm not planning what I'm going to

say next. I'm actually seeking to understand. I'm not just airing out my own opinions. And then when I do speak, when it's my turn to speak, I choose words that are not abrasive or accusing. I told you that I have put my foot in my mouth way too many times to count, and so years ago I came across this verse and immediately put it to memory. It meant so much to me. It's Colossians four to six, and

it says, let your conversation. Always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. This verse is talking about how to defend the gospel to those who don't believe in Yes, we absolutely need to be passionate about the Gospel and the values that we have as believers in Christ. But if you come out the gate accusing and demeaning and come across like you are the enlightened one, you're never going to win anyone over. Put a little salt on those words.

Let the person know that you love them and that you hear them, and that you're listening to their side. If you are, if you do. Our pastor teaches us this all the time. I mean, God, he has been on fire the last few weeks, like absolutely. I told him that his message last week is in the top three, my top three messages of all times. Never ever in twenty years of marriage have I suggested that he preach on a passage of scripture. And he actually did until last week. So that was a win for me, and

I got my own personal sermon. If you miss it, you have to go back and watch it, because that's not my point. My point is that the last several sermons that he have preached have been sent around this idea about the questions that Jesus asked, and he told us that everything begins with a question, and buried deep in my notes, as I was flipping through, I came across this one line that I had written, where he said questions create access. Questions create access, but accusations close hearts.

If we're going to be quick to listen and slow to speak, we must learn how to ask questions, and we have to ask good questions. For instance, what are you thinking? That's not a good question Just because it has a little punctuation mark doesn't mean that it works, because you might as well tack on the word idiot to that. What were you thinking? You idiot? But if you say something like can you help me understand? It

communicates care, It communicates concern. It says I want to hear what you have to say, and I care more about us than I do about making my point. And Paul models this again for us back in chapter one. Let's see. He says, if you go to Philpy chapter one, verse seventeen, he's talking about the people who were preaching Christ for selfish gain, and he doesn't go around crusading after them and putting them all in their places. I want you to look at what he says. This is

verse seventeen. Preached Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? In every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. There are times where I have to ask myself does this really matter? Is this argument worth the damage that it might have on our relationship? And can I have the humility to let

it go? In those moments, I have to learn to take a second and think, quick to listen, slow to speak. And did you notice what Paul did? He called himself back to joy. He said, I'm going to fix my focus on the things that do matter. And what matters is that Christ is being preached. What matters is the person, not my point if the person matters to you, because the world does not need another opinion, but the world

desperately needs some better examples. Paul says, do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may be become blameless and pure children of God. Without fault and a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Crooked means bent in the wrong direction. But the way to redirect someone is not to shout, it's to shine. See I'm a talkative person. But not only am I a talkative person, I'm also a really

loud talker. Again, this kind of comes in handy in this sort of setting, but in day to day it can be really annoying. I don't know why I'm allowed talker. Maybe it's because I'm a middle child and I wanted to be heard in my family. Maybe it's because I have I actually do have a sister who's hearing impaired, and maybe my whole family talks loud. I don't know. I don't know why, and I don't even realize it.

Sometimes I have an out of body experience where I'm like, oh God, I'm yelling at this person and they're standing right in front of me. The thing that I'm learning, though, is that my life speaks louder than my voice ever can. When Paul says you will shine like stars in the sky, he's referring to a prophecy from the Book of Daniel. Somebody sent me this card this summer and they wrote this Bible verse on it, and I liked it because we do talk about shining like stars and missus better

half as well. And so I put it up on my desk, and I was sitting at my desk working and I looked up and I read this verse. I want to read it to you. It's in Daniel chapter twelve, verse three. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Daniel was amongst a people who did not worship God, and it was the life that he lived that impacted an entire nation.

Remember he's the one that knelt to pray every day, even though the king had made an order prohibiting prayer. It was his actions that made an impact, not his words. Have you ever watched a friend go through something, maybe a divorce or an illness, or maybe watch them try to navigate a difficult situation with their child. We all experience difficult situations that we didn't expect that come up along the way. But have you ever watched someone just

absolutely shine under the hardest circumstances. My friends, she had one of the most horrific years last year. I mean we joke about twenty twenty, but she lost her job, she had to move across the country, away from her home where she had lived for almost forty years, and try to rebuild her life. And then about a month after moving, she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. And every time we talked, she was just she was real.

She would tell me how she was scared. She was obviously alone in the way that she felt she was physically alone because her family was so far away, But somehow she would just always bring the conversation back to all the ways that God was working. And one day, through tears, she said, Holly, I know that God has this. I know that I'm going to get through it. Everywhere I go I see glimpses of him. Scott spoke to me today through the lady who checks me out at CBS.

I just know I'm gonna make it to the other side of this. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold fast to the word of life. How do you shine? How do we do this? Well? One you refuse to dwell on the negative and you let go of the need to be right, and then you hold firm to the word of life. What is God speaking to you in this season? Maybe you have no idea, You're like, I don't know. Okay, Well go back. Think what was the last thing that

God spoke to you. Maybe he whispered very softly to you about your attitude at work. Maybe it was something that had to do with doing things for others without having to be noticed. Maybe it was about focusing on all the things that you have to be grateful for in a season where things just really aren't turning out the way that you think. Maybe, like Daniel, he just

called you to spend time praying every day. And sometimes what we miss is that the best way to impact the people around you is to make a change in yourself in life. The most difficult lesson of all for me has been to understand that at the end of the day, the only person that I can really change is me. But it's not fun to change me. It's easier to try and change others and hope that when others change, my life will improve. Right. But when I focus, when I place my focus on all the things that

everyone else needs to change. What happens is I become someone I don't want to be. I become a nagging and manipulative woman, and then sometimes I give up on the nagging in the manipulation that I just become stubborn and withdrawn. And then I wonder why I'm never really making any progress in my relationships or in my personal life, because when I blame others' actions for my problems, I can never experience real change in my life. I love to tell this story about Graham and Abby. Years ago.

I asked them to go pack their lunches. It was the school night, and in our house, pack your lunch means grab a juice box and a lunch box and get some prepackaged snacks and then bring it to me and I'll put your sandwich in it. Okay, So no little beautiful little binto boxes or anything like that. So on this particular night, I said, Graham and Abby go fix your lunch, and I hear Graham yelling at Abby, Abby, pack your lunch, Abby, Mom said, pack your lunch. Abby,

You need to do it. Mom said, I just went on and on, and the kids have like the most incredible amount of patience and saying something over and over again, while I got tired of it, and I said, Graham, come here, come into the kitchen, and he comes in empty handed. He's a buddy, where's your lunch? And he goes, Oh, I forgot. Graham was so busy picking a fight with his sister and telling her what she needed to do,

that he neglected to pack his own lunch. And what I want to tell you today is pack your own lunch. You determined to be kind no matter how you're treated. You'd be the first one to apologize, even if you were only ten percent wrong, which you probably weren't ten percent wrong, but you'll be the first one to say I'm sorry. What does it matter? You determine that I'm gonna bow out of a conversation if it gets ugly somehow, I'm gonna get out of there. I'm not gonna I'm

not gonna go there talking about other people. You be generous with your time and your money, rich, expecting nothing in return, because God has the work that he wants to do in you. And if you say hyper focused on others and how they need to change and what they need to do, you might end up complaining that you don't have any lunch, You're gonna be hungry. Sometimes, the greatest impact that you will have on the people of your life will not be with the words that

you say. It will be with the life that you live. So can we just collectively all decide stop shouting at each other and just start shining brighter. I'm not saying that we can't be a voice for the voiceless. I'm not saying that we don't speak up against injustice. I'm just pointing out first John three eighteen. I learned this verse when I was a little girl. There was a song. I'm not going to sing the song, but it says this, let us not love with words or speech, but with

actions and in truth. I told you that last week's sermon was in my top three Stievelfredick sermons of all times. And if you miss it, it's called Just the Two of Us, you have to go back and watch it. But he preached about the Shunamite woman. So I'm hoping the most of you heard it, because the Shunamite woman, she was the epitome of knowing how to keep her mouth shut and go to the one who could fix her son. There was only one person who could fix him.

So you remember, the child died and she placed him on the bed, the prophet's bed that was in her home, and she set out to find Elisha. And she did not waste time arguing with her husband about how he should have brought the boy to her sooner, and this was his fault. She did not knock on her neighbor's door and request prayer. When Elisha's servant came out to her and he asked her if everything was all right,

she did not complain to him. She said, I'm fine, everything's fine, and she kept going where she knew she needed to be. But when she reached the prophet, the verse says that she actually knelt down, and it says she took hold of his feet, and she poured out her soul to him, to let go of what you cannot fix, and you hold firm to what you know, then you will shine among them like stars in the sky, as you hold firmly to the word of life. She knew that she had to get to the one who

had spoken life to her. Beautiful. He said, you're gonna have a son, and that was the promise that she was clinging to He said, I was gonna have the sun, so he did this, so he's the only one that can fix it. She was quiet when it came to speaking to others, but when she got in the presence of the Prophet, she poured out her soul to him, and she i refused to leave his presence because when you go to the source, you're never alone in your problem,

no matter how lonely you feel. So she stuck with them, and as they journeyed back to her home, she stayed close. And when they got back to her house, the Prophet went into the room with her child and shut the door. I like to think about how she thought she was going to go in with him and he shut the door.

And when my husband said that sometimes you have to stand outside the door while God goes in with your problems, I knew that that was a picture that I would never forget because I don't know about you, but I've had a few times in my life. I've had enough times in my life where I've had to stand outside the door and just like God handle my situation. And she stood there. She was quiet, and she was alone because sometimes the things that you go through, they're just

they're too personal to share in the moment. And so she just stood there while the prophet was behind the door with her child. And I keep wondering what could have possibly been going through her mind, because as a woman, it's like, I can fix this, I need to fix this. But she couldn't fix it. She had to stand outside the door and wait and hold firm to the promise

that God had given her. Because the thing that enables us to shine bright in the darkness, it's not only what we don't say, because that's a start, but it's what we cling to. You can cling to the promise that he will never leave you or forsake you. You can cling to the promise that the same Holy Spirit that lives inside of you, that he lives inside of the people that you love, and he's working on them, just like he's working on you. He's working on them.

You can believe that if he speaks to you, he can speak to them without without your mouth, he can speak to them, and you can cling to that promise. I have a friend whose son is just doing everything that he wants to do right now, and she's clinging to the promise that God has given her about her son. You can cling to the promise that he sees every tear that you cry, and he hears every prayer that you pray, because he does, so you cling to that. You cling to the promise that you serve a God

who really does turn everything for good. He does, He's done it before, he'll do it again. He really does turn graves into gardens. And the grave part is not fun, but the garden part you look back and can only have been God. And cling to that. And when you cling to that, your life will shine so bright that people can't help but see God glorified in your life. So, Lord, we just we open up our hands to you today.

Pray for the person who's watching this alone. Just whisper to them, tell them that they're not pray for the person who has been praying for their child for years and years and years, because just speak to them. Tell them that you love their child more than they do. We cling to you today, which you reveal to us the things that we need to let go of, and then which you just remind us, like you do, of the promises that you have spoken over our lives. Your

promises are good and precious. Your promises are yes and amen with buff you Lord, thank you saying Jesus name. I pray amen oooh that sermon. I know I'm biased, but I think what Holly just preached was the most relevant thing that she could have said. You know, we always talk about how hers and teaching is bringing the Word practically, but there was a prophetic element to that message today. And God gave her that message months ago, and I believe he wanted you to hear it right now.

He wanted us to experience it together in this moment. So I pray you received it today, and I want to thank you. Thanks to all of you who support this incredible, worldwide, thriving ministry that is bearing fruit all over this planet. And the Bible says that we shouldn't just love in word, but indeed action. And some of you who who give financially and who pray and share the Gospel and serve, you're just You're the best. So thank you. I want to thank you for continuing in

your generosity in this time. And I also wanted to encourage you to stay in touch. Those of you who attend a local elevation church, you know, check in with your campus pastor your campus team, make sure you're getting updates on in person worship experiences as more of those become a available hopefully in the days ahead, and for our EPM around the world, we're going to be right here for you every step of the way as we

navigate this moment in time together. Well, you heard the word, and now I want to make sure that you're subscribed to the channel. Thank you for your partnership in the gospel. I love you.