Winded

wind was against him. Shortly before dawn, in the Last Watch of the night, the King James talks about the last watch of the night, Jesus went out to them walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. It's a ghost, they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them, take courage it is I. Don't be afraid. This is irrational because I don't care if it is you, Jesus.

It's weird that you're walking on water, so I'm still freaked out, even if you are the son of God. But Peter watched this. This is the part of story that usually gets preached about, and it's the part I'm gonna preach about too, because good Lord, if it's you, Peter replied, tell me to come to you on the water. Come me, he said. When Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and

beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, You of little faith, he said, why did you doubt? And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. I'm going to give this message tonight a one word title. I'm calling this man it's winded. Win did help us Holy Spirit penetrate through the surface, get deep inside where you can do your work in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, I know you're tired. You could be seen to take a seat,

take a rest. Y'all tire? I mean generally in life? Are you tired? How many of y'all work out so you can have extra energy? How many y'all work out consistently? How many y'all work out semi consistently. How many y'all going to start in January with the workout plan and enjoy the rest. I have a confession to make, all right, here's my confession. I work out a lot. I don't believe in cardio, believe in it. I'm believe in it.

I like lifting weights, heavyweights too. Man. I was in there squatting big weights the other day, proud of myself. Nobody was in there to see it but me. But I promise you I was squatting a lot of weight the other day. Good form too, going down real deep. I can bingch press pretty good. I can move some pretty good weights. I'm not saying I could enter a

competition or anything like that. I'm forty two and I do have a lot of injuries going on, and I think I'm gonna be on celebrates for the next seventeen years. The point I'm trying to make is that I like lifting heavy stuff. But when I went out to play pickleball with Elijah the other night, because he's got me on pickleball. Now y'all play pickleball, he figured out real quick how to beat me, make me run. Because no amount of biceps, triceeps, trapezoids, what's some other muscles, None

of it matters. Quadriceps, none of it matters when it comes to lung capacity. It's the fact of the matter is that when I got out there on the court, even though I work out four days a week, five days or six days, that we sometimes I work out every day, I mean just every day I'll get in there and do something. So why am I out of breath? Why am I huffing and puffing around this court like I weigh eight hundred and twenty pounds, like I'm on one of those intervention shows that you see where that

person can't get out of the bed. Why am I huffing and puffing like it's my last breath? Yeah? No cardio, right, thanks. It's an illustration, lady supposed to be the volunteers tonight, I got hecklers. I'm out there for five minutes. All the string training in the world isn't doing anything for me. I'm winded, and once he figured that out, bam, bam bam. If he can make me move enough, I'm out now.

I'm probably exaggerating the point, but it's kind of hilarious that I invest so much time into what I call exercise and I got seventeen year old wearing me out on a pickleball court. This isn't even a full tennis court. This isn't like the US Open or something like that. It's pickleball. How many I don't even know what pickleball is. I'm out there playing pickleball, just huffing and puffing and blowing stuff down. Anyway, That's not the kind of winded

that I want to talk about. But I want you to get the feel about it today, because you came in like that, some of you. The devil figured you out. He figured out if he can gets you running bam boom boom. That although you're really, really, really really good at Sundays, that sometimes your lack of cardio Christian cardio,

it tells on you. You know, it never crossed my mind all the times I preached on Peter getting up and walking to Jesus on the water, because let me tell you something right now, I have given Peter a thorough investigation this incident in his life. I never I don't know why I never thought of this, but I never really stopped to think about how tired the disciples

were at the moment that Jesus finally showed up. First of all, they rode all night by not with any kind of motor But secondly, this is not quite as obvious, but I think it's worth pointing out they just finished feeding twenty thousand people. I was five thousand, five thousand men and women and children. Twenty thousand is conservative. If Larry Brye was counting that, he'd call it fifty thousand. He has no integrity with numbers. Every other area I trust him, but with a number, uh uh, cut it

in half, divide it by three. That's the number. When he tells your number, I would never let him do my budget ever, love your skinner. When they finished this miracle, now think about how much energy this would take. First of all, there is the fact that they weren't really planning to feed twenty thousand people. Imagine the mental stress of having to feed five thousand men and women and children when you really didn't know where it was coming from to begin with. And even though what God did.

I want to stay here too long because it's not the real message, but I want to I want to bring you into the I want to bring you into the miracle, honestly, because even though it was amazing what Jesus did by feeding this hungry crowd, it was still exhausting. It was exciting. We just saw the most incredible thing

that Jesus did. I mean, he just kept breaking off pieces, and every time we thought we would run out, we would come back to him and he would give us more, and we would take it to them and come back to him. And it was amazing, but it had to be exhausting. When Easter, we had about eight or nine worship services just at the campus where I was preaching live. The day after Easter, I couldn't get out of bed.

The next I couldn't get out of bed because I back then before I had any good sense to play a video so I can be around past age forty five. I preached all of them live, one after another, and about Tuesday or Wednesday, when I still couldn't get my energy up, I started to feel like I wasn't honoring God because he had done such an amazing thing. I think we had two thousand people give their lives to Christ that Easter. And I was excite, exhausted. I was

exhaust excited, exhausted. I was so happy what God did. I was so thankful that he let us see it. I was so amazed that I got to be a part of something of that magnitude. I mean, that was absolutely incredible and I was absolutely exhausted. I thought it was a sin, but I was just winded. I thought I wasn't grateful. I thought, man, I should be running around giving God a shabbakh praise. I should be running around clapping my hands all you people. I should be

giving God praise for what he did. And all I want to do is just lay here because I gave everything that I had to give, and I'm winded. And it was wonderful. But I'm winded because guess what I had to preach the next Sunday and the next Sunday, and back then it was Saturday and Sunday. Any of y'all remember Saturday night church? See y'all do that with excitement. I'm having PTSD. I'm having PTSD from running from the

ball field over to the church's Saturday night. I'm trying to be a good dad, but I need to be a good pastor. And the people need a word from the Lord. But the kids need a dad on the silence. And I just told you everything I know about God last Saturday night, and now you want me to say something else. I get winded. I get winded. It's the worst thing in the world to have a job that you have to do when you yourself are winded, especially when you don't want to show anybody how bad your

cardiovascular conditioning really is. Yeah, winded, I said, Lord, that's a weird thing to call a message winded. You know why Why would I call it winded? He said, because in the text it says that the wind was against the disciples. But even before the wind started blowing against their boat, they were already exhausted. And that is a picture.

This is people here in church tonight. The people who are in here tonight are people who understand what it's like to try to worship God when you're winded and work for God yourself. I mean, it's not like you get to just sit around all week waiting for Sunday and praying. I came out here one Sunday to preach. Oh, I'm preaching hard to boom boom boom. I'm going for it. I feel no response from the people, no love from the people. I go backstage. I'm like, God, what was

the problem. Did I use the wrong text? Did I exegete it wrong? Did I dishonor you? Did I not put enough attention? And the Lord said, they're tired they're tired. It's an eight thirty am service. They're tired. Some of them are sleeping good anyway because they're worried about their job. Some of them are sleeping good anyway because they're sleeping in a separate bed from their spouse and they don't

know how to get the marriage working again. Some of them are sleeping that good anyway because they're staying up all night, playing out things that in their life, reliving things from their past, worrying about things in their future.

They are tired. And at that point, the Lord told me that I would need to stand up in my pulpit every week, and no matter how winded I was from my own life, that I would have to learn how to depend on Him, to depend on his wind, to depend on his spirit, not to need from the people a response in order for me to preach God's word. I'm appreaching a minute when I'm winded. When I'm winded, I am susceptible to forms of discouragement that I don't even pay any attention to when I'm full of energy.

When I'm winded, I am vulnerable to temptations that don't even incite or arouse my craving when I've got my full strength. When I'm winded, I start trying to give up on stuff that I fought the devil to get in the first place. When I'm winded. When I'm winded, I start thinking crazy stuff. When I'm winded, I don't even know if I can sit here with my family, even though I know I love them, but I don't know how to be present because I'm in three places

once I'm winded. And what's this. It's not that everything that's happening in my life is bad. What they just saw Jesus do was amazing and they're not complaining, but they are human. I want you to write something down. You had written anything else down tonight, and if you don't write anything else down, you write this now, so you have some notes from tonight to prove that you came here. The Holy Spirit does not consult human schedules. I know you don't want to hear that again, but

I'm gonna say it again. The Holy Spirit does not consult human schedules. Jesus did not turn to the disciples after the Feeding of the five thousand and say, y'all feel like ah, make a little trip. It wasn't any RSVP, it wasn't any kind of it was Look how the Bible says that in verse twenty two, I'm gonna show you this because y'all got Jesus in your head way too soft, I'll show you verse twenty two. Put on screen, y'all. Immediately Jesus made the disciples, no church vote, no sabbatical.

Jesus said, get in the boat. I see you on the other side, and that's it. That's it. So famously he sends them into a storm and they have to deal with the struggle of going through something that they did not foresee. What's interesting about this room is that I don't know if you've just been so in this church for two weeks or somebody was over here. We were celebrating ten years. What an amazing thing. What do you do again, Clemson? I don't remember what they said production.

That's really cool. Who was it back here that was doing the data entry? Yes, Cindy, Cindy. Has it ever been Wendy Cindy? And what I mean by that, let me clarify, Let me do this for the whole rom. I don't want to pick on Sindy, but well use Cindy for an example, because it works really well fanatically, Wendy, Cindy, all, how many of y'all are greeters in the church. Isn't it fun to greet people? When is fun to greet people? Isn't it fun to greet people when you got a

good eight hours? Isn't it fun to greet people when God just answered your prayer? And it fun to say welcome to elevation when you're happy to be there too. And Yet the measure of discipleship is not the enthusiasm that you bring to a task. When the waters are still and the lake is calm, and the stomachs are full. Watch this. Everybody in the crowd is leaving with a full stomach. The disciples are exhausted having to take the bread individually to five thousand family units. Do you know

how much cardio that involves? And then pick up all the basketfulls of broken pieces that were left over. You know how big and heavy the baskets were. This is a picture of why some people leave church on Sunday big smiles, Oh, that was wonderful. The ones who leave early before the invitation even happens, so they don't have to fight traffic with four cars in the parking lot while somebody's being snatched. There's just us tonight, Chris. Is why I'm not putting this a lot because some people

leave going, ah, that's wonderful. But sometimes you gotta leave saying I'm Sto'm success, I'm fired, I'm tired, I'm fired. I don't know how I feel, but I want to do what you want me to do. Jesus am I right about this. Don't trust the Christian who never breathes heavy. Don't trust the Christian who never cries tears. Don't trust the Christian who never comes in looking like they've been through hell, smelling like smoke. Was said, there was a fourth man in the fire. I said it. There's some

cardio for him. This is what it really feels like to do ministry. It's like, oh, that was amazing. I'm exhausted. I feel used by God. I feel used, I feel taken for granted. Pastor, you got that camera put in my house again? Yeah, I got one. Watch this. I got a camera that's way better than one in your kitchen. The Lord, show me what you've been dealing with in your spirit. So I'm gonna give you something that he gave me from my private stash. I don't let just

anybody have this in any What do you think. I'm talking about the Word of God and this is our volunteers. I love this church man. There is no place in the world like elevation. I don't care. I don't care. Tell the devils senate, there's no place. So when they take you for granted, when they take you for granted in what you do, you know what that means. You're good. It means that you have gotten so good at what you do that you are on par with oxygen. People

don't even think to thank the air. They just breathe in. When you get really good, Nobody says you showed up on time. They just assume that if you signed up to do it when you set you would do it. You meant come hell, come high water, come storm, come win come. If I set I would, I will. So that's one of my biggest goals in pressing. I want

to be good enough to be taken for granted. I want to get to the point where I told somebody the other day, the proof that you are really preaching is they stopped thinking about preaching and started thinking about Jesus in the middle of your preaching, that the Holy Spirit was speaking to them so much that you just became a ghost in a black hoodie. Nobody even cared who you were. At the end of the night. It

was the Holy Spirit speaking to their soul. And Yet the challenge of this that if we're honest, a lot of the times, as we are moving and maneuvering through the demands of our life, it is very difficult for us between breaths to see the big picture of all that God is doing. But I'm going to help us with that. If you came in winded spiritually, and this could be from the long marathon, many of you aren't

winded because of your role in the church. I understand that many of you that's your that's your happy place, that's the one time in the week where you feel like, man, this matters and I love this. Not very convincing. I kind of floated that out there, all right. See, I know what you're thinking, because you're like, yeah, yeah, I'm happy to be here, very glad to be here. No sooner do they get in the bow than they feel

the wind is against them. For all of you Christians who try to prove that you are in the will of God by the absence of contrary wind. In other words, we think that everything God gives us to do the proof that he called us to do it, it is that it's easy. It said from the moment they set out, the wind was against them. The crazy thing is if they would have turned around and went back, the wind

would have been blowing for him. But I can't go back because I had a word from God that he said he expected to see me on the other side. What we've been out here an hour and this wind keeps saying, we've been out here two hours. It's already late. The whole reason that the disciples wanted to send the crowds away in Matthew fourteen when the hunger arose is because it was already late. So now imagine it was

already late when they started feeding people. Do the math on how long it takes to get food distributed to five thousand family units. And now we got to go three more miles and they do against the wind. Well, here comes Jesus, And did you notice the Bible said he came about dawn, or more specifically verse twenty five, shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them. I'm gonna ask a question, and it's not rhetorical. Why did he wait so long? You're like he didn't know they were

in trouble. It's Jesus, and he was on a mountain so he could see them in the sea. Why did he wait? Well, he was up there on the mountain praying for them. Maybe was, But at this point I could use Jesus as a thirteenth rower, because y'all know

Judas wasn't rowing anything in the boat. Judas back there the other way, so when he show up at the last possible moment before the darkness goes away, so that they can have trouble recognizing him because the sky is not illuminated, so that they would have to trust him by faith, based on not what they saw with their eyes, but what they heard with their ears. And Peter, Peter goes, I want to do that. Peter just has to be different. It's not enough just to fall in line and road.

Peter does good. He starts walking to Jesus in the direction of Jesus. I don't know what kind of encouragement is going on. Jesus tells him to come. I don't know if he reinforced that over and over again. The text doesn't say it could be that this is all Jesus said, and that Peter had to go off of

that for the entire journey. I do know that Jesus wasn't exactly close to the boat, because if he had been close enough to the boat, they would have recognized him as Jesus, and they wouldn't have said, if it's you. So I know it's some distance and Jesus is coming up from some distance, and Peter's moving toward him for a long time. We don't really know how many steps he took, but he famously fell. And that's what the

Lord wants to speak to us about tonight. Is right there in verse twenty nine, where Peter got down out of the boat, walked on water, came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink. Cried out, Lord saved me. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. Oh you have little faith, he said, why did you doubt? Now that's a complicated question. Why did you doubt? It's not easy to explain the reasons that we begin to doubt what God has called

us to do. It's not as easy. You know, people will give you simplified solutions for spiritual struggles, Just trust the Lord and stuff like that. What about the trauma that makes it hard for me to trust anybody, especially of God that I can't even see. And when you tell me to trust the Lord, how do I know that it's Him that I'm trusting and not just my idea that I had when I stepped out in faith? That is a very complicated question. Why did you doubt?

Did somebody else's voice get in his head? It's a very complient. It's a complicated thing to describe your insecurities to somebody. A lot of people look at you, how handsome you are, how beautiful you are, how strong you are, how gifted you are, how talented you are? How uh, what's the word it means? Like bubbly? Your personality is what's the technical word? Effervescent? Is that right? Effervescent? And they look at you and they're like, she's so effervescent.

If I had her effervescence, Oh, man, Cindy, she's just so strong. Cindy is so steady and so consistent. But it gets it gets Wendy for Cindy too. Why did you doubt? Why were you having a conversation with yourself this week? Does it even really matter what I do? And does anybody really care that I do it? And am I even really good at it? You can get quiet. The Holy Ghost told me this message, so I'm not

confused about it. I know. And meanwhile the devil tells me the same stuff, So I know what that feels like. I know exactly what that feels like. I can't tell you exactly why I get in that place. I can't tell you exactly all of the psychological and neurological factors. I don't know all the things that accumulate in one's life to bring you to a point where you begin to doubt. When you're doing so good, you know, really staying on top of it, really doing good with the diet,

really doing good, stay and clean, really doing good. I'm gonna confess the word. I'm gonna think positive, I'm gonna have a Bible reading streak. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. It's really hard to understand what goes wrong in those moments when you sink so rather than answer that question, which is never explicitly answered in the text why did you doubt, probably because it's far too

complicated to be included in this simple story. I want to answer a simpler question, and instead of asking why did he doubt? I want to ask the question when did he doubt? The answer is in verse thirty. But when he saw the wind. There is nothing in this text that indicates that the wind got stronger at this moment and knocked Peter off of his balance. From all appearances, the wind was blowing at the same velocity as it had been blowing the whole time he stepped toward Jesus,

and he's walked a long way against the wind. It doesn't say when the wind picked up Peter fell. It doesn't say when the wind gained and started to gust and thrust with momentum. Peter fell because the wind got so bad. It doesn't say when the circumstances got worse Peter's faith weakened. You know, actually a lot of times when the circumstances get worse, that's when our faith actually locks in and gets stronger. Because now I know I

need God and I can't play around. Now I'm getting to the place of realizing that if I don't have Jesus, I'm gonna sink out here. No, no, no. It wasn't when the wind got stronger that Peter fell, It said, when he saw the wind, the same wind that had been blowing against him the whole time. It was blowing, but for so many steps, he wasn't paying any attention because he was locked on Jesus. For so many steps, he wasn't paying attention to how the waters moving to

so many friends. He wasn't paying attention to how it was rocking this way or that way, or the waves. He wasn't paying any attention to that. The wind didn't pick up. His focus changed, His eyes shifted, He started looking past the one he was walking toward, and when he did, he saw the win Wind? Did Peter fall? Wind? Did wind? Did winded? You start focusing on all the things that are going wrong so much that you forgot

that God brought you from a mighty long way? Whin did you'll forget that his blood prevailed that Calvary, that one drop was enough to come? When did you? When's did you become one of these? Hand in my pocket? Christian? You used to be wild, You used to be a worshiper. You used to be like David. You used to be undignified. You used to try when we say about the goodness of God. When did Maybe he got tired out. There is hard walking on the water. It's hard keeping your focus.

I've been rowing all night. I've been feeding people at him, planning to have come over. I've been smiling at people who came in grumpy. I've been trying to be nice. I've been trying to be guydd Win did your feelings. I'm not picking on Peter Man. It's hard enough for me some weeks to get a haircut and pick out a shirt and get up and grab a microphone and preach. So God knows. I love him for trying. But when he saw the wind, it what it wasn't like it

just started at that moment. Aha, that would make sense. But you've been doing this the whole time. We'll walk you through it sometime. We'll walk you through those moments where you quit caring. We'll walk you through those moments where you started believing. I was writing in my journal one day and the Lord gave me something very powerful and painful to hear. He said, you stopped believing that your faith can change situations. Now you use it as

a coping mechanism. You don't put your faith on stuff like you used to. When did when did? Why did he doubt? I don't know. I'm not Peter. Only he can answer that. I don't know when did? I don't know why did Peter die? I know when he did when he started looking at what was against him? Am I talking about Peter? Or am I talking about you? Wouldn't it? He foolish for you to get fixated on all of those who didn't love you and not receive from those who do. When did you get hard hearted?

You used to be open. You used to pray for other people. You used to do that, And you know what, when you prayed, you expected something to happen from it. You checked up on it. You were texting them ten minutes later. Did it happy yet? Okay, I'm gonna pray more. Okay, I'm a brand tongues. Did it happy yet? When did you stop being that little girl you used to sing to Jesus. You used to sit in your room and sing to Jesus. Devil stole your song because you went

in a storm. When did It's just a question. When did you take your eyes off of what Jesus was moving you toward and start only thinking about what was coming against you? Hey? Reality check? When did Jesus know there was going to be a storm when he told them to go? He knew exactly what these fools were about to face. Nah, he's not shocked. Hey, hey, everybody in here is struggling with well, I don't know if God can use me because I've been struggling with some

stuff in your life. Well, let's get that figured out. Let's don't just have you wallowing around and sin just wrecking your life and all that. But hey, hey, hey, when did God set you apart before you were born? So one Bible verse I would like you to learn is in the Coromans the New Testam Balgromans that says,

while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So if he called me Jeremiah one six and set me apart from my mother's womb, and then he saved me while I was still a sinner, why would he stop using me now just because I struggled with something? You know what else? I never really realized I love the Bible. I think I think I'd probably like preach this Bible story once a year and see if God will show me something new in it, because I never thought about how far Peter came before he fell. How did I

miss this? How could I? Really? It's in the text, y'all, in verse thirty one. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. We have already established that Jesus was at a far enough distance where they could not see him except through his silhouette. You mean to tell me Peter got all that way? The Bible didn't say. When he cried out, Jesus ran over and picked him up. I'm coming, Peter, No, the Bible said, immediately, Peter was within arm's reach of Jesus. And you want to fall now.

You are this close to your breakthrough. You are this close to being the person God. You are this close to your free You are this close to your kids turning around and coming back to God. You are this close to your miracle. Ah. No, I didn't columb this farm to fall down now. So it taught me a lesson. It taught me the times when I'm tempted to look away are going to be the times when I'm closest to where God is bringing me. The spirit says, you're close.

Keep coming, You're close, Keep coming. You're closer than you think you are. You're closer than you've been before. You're closer than my having me three orders. You're closer than you've ever been. You can't go down now, you can't tap out, now, you can't die now, you can't turn around now. That's nothing that does there too. I'm close, baby, That's why this witness rowing sous. The enemy knows I'm close. You're close. I don't know who this is for, but

you're close. Ah, You're so close. You are so close. See the Bible says that they worshiped him when he got in the boat and the wind died down. And that's one way to do it. Oh God, I'll worship you when this battle is over. Oh God, all worship you when I'm done with this situation. Oh God, I'll worship you when you restore the relationship. But why not worship him? Why you're still in it? Did your grace him in the middle of the store. When did your

rasion in the sealing of the night? When did paul that silence start to see that? Did night I'm preaching. I'm preaching. When did you start shrinking down your God to the size of your problems? When did you start telling you're you're all of your problems. When did you stop telling your problems how big your God is? Just telling God all the time, Oh my problems are so big. Oh my bills are so bad. Oh my cholesterol. Oh God. You can list that all day, or you can shift

your attention back on Jesus. I feel a shift happening in this room tonight. It's a subtle shift, but it's a saving shift. It's a small shift, but it's like a rudder. It's gonna turn the shift back in the right direction. Hallelujah. So so, so Jesus gets in the boat. How many want them in your boat tonight? Come on, I want him in my boat. I want him in my bom. I want him in my boat. He's not gonna come at your golf claft. You gotta really really want him in your bo You got to want him

in your boat. You got to want him in your boat. Oh God, oh God. So all right, all right, So if this word is for you received this next part, when did the disciples know why Jesus sent them into a storm. When they got to the other side, let me be your pastor for a moment. It won't make sense until the other side. I'm almost done, give me Verse thirty four. When they had crossed over, they landed at Gannessaret. And when the men of that place recognized Jesus,

they send word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him, and tim to let the sick just touch the edge of his gloak. And all who touched were here. When did they know why it was important to get through the storm? You reckon? It took about three healings. It says the whole city started coming to Jesus when they got there. Did it take five? Did it take ten? Do I hear twelve? Fifteen? Do I have a fifteen? Do I have a turn? I mean,

you know, certain disciples probably saw it real quick. Oh that's why we had to get here. Some of us are a little slower. How many ways is God going to have to show you that everything he takes you through, he takes you through for a purpose. Let everything that has led, everything that has If I'm still alive, if I'm still breathing, if I'm still standing, there's a reason he didn't let me go down. He's not through with you yet. If he said on to the other side,

he'll meet you there. You've got to get through it. You have got to get through it. I don't know who this is for or what you've been contemplating, but you have got to get through it. You have got to press through the doubt. You have got to get through the unbelief. You have got to get through the crowd. You have got to process the trauma. You have got to move through the emotions. You have got to get through it. It will make sense on the other side.

You don't know what's on the other side of your storm. Only he does. You don't know what's on the other side of your obedience. Only he does. You don't know who you told welcome to Elevation Church when they walked in someday, Only he does. You don't know who you gave a smile to. Only he does. Only he knows what's on the other side. Only he knows what he's taking you to. You don't know, You don't have to know. You just have to get through it. When did you

stop believing that God can get you through this. Touch three people. God can get you through this. Tell them God can get you through this. And you may not even know why. You may not even know why. You may not even know why I came all the way back here. Because this is Jody. Y'all, everybody say, hey, Jody, come on, this is Jody. This is his wife, Emily. If you can see her on the camera, she looks

a lot like Holly because they're sisters. Not only is Jody a David Crowder impersonator by day, he loves singing Joey, but he is also the instrument that God used after my mom taking me to church every single week as a little boy. Some plant, some water. D So when did I meet this bald beauty? When did I meet him? My junior year of high school? When did I When did I give my life to Christ? After he sat down with me for three hours at Alex's Restaurant in

Monk's Corner, South Carolina? When am I gonna hey? When am I gonna take my hand off his head? When I'm dang well ready? This is my volunteer night. I only get one a year, and after answering three thousand of my questions, I asked this man everything I could think of, because I wasn't sure that the God my mom had raised me to believe in was real. But that didn't stop her from taking me to church. Then so here comes Jody boom Put. My man was on

a traveling revival team Life Action Ministries. He was a singer on the Life Action Ministry's revival team, traveling with a revival called America You're Too Young to Die Truth under God? And then you know this whole story. He pulled me out of church the next night. The preacher wasn't even started his sermon yet. He grabbed me. He said let's go. And he sat in a room with me till two in the morning, and I told him

I what to give my life to God? I said, I didn't want to miss out on my high school experience, all the girls I would have been, you know whatever. But he sat with me. He sat with me. He said, all right, well, I'm gonna pray. I'm gonna just pray that you change your mind. I come back to him the next night, I say, what did you do to me? I think it worked. I think it were When did

let me ask this question? Elevation Church began two thousand and six when we had our first service nineteen eighty when Faith ferdiict well beautiful baby boy into the world, took him to church, dedicated my grandfather, dedicated me, and baptized me to the Lord in the Methodist Church. Yeah, that's one answer. When did when did this church, this

ministry begin? When a boy from one of Robins, Georgia sat down in a restaurant in Monks Corner, South Carolina and answered me when I said, well, where did the dinosaurs come from? Who asks this stuff? I did? And then I think about my mom's up there, and I think about JODI's right here, and I think about Lj's playing softly so I can start closing this sermon, and I think about me being in the middle of y'all,

even just how this feels right now. And I think about when you walked in the doors of our church for the first time, and I think about when God grabbed a hold of you and you said, you know what, I want to be a part of something bigger than me and God, don't let me fall in front of fifteen hundred people help me day. When did when did I know you? I know you feel sometimes like man, at least I do. Maybe you're just more mature than me. I know you feel like sometimes I can't keep doing

all this. It's too much. I can't keep fighting this, man. I just I don't. I don't feel like trying today. I don't feel like being me today. I don't feel like going into somebody else today. But I want you to take comfort in this that Jesus not only saw the storm before he sent them into it, he saw what was on the other side received that. I want you to just breathe as deep as you can, all right, I promise I won't turn it into yoga, but just

breathe as deep as you can. God said he wanted you to catch your breath before you leave here tonight. Sometimes it just knocks the wind right out of you. You can get one text knock the wind right out of you. But the moment that he fell, Jesus was right there, and he still is. There are miracles on the other side of this, you know that, right They got to take Jesus to Ganesseret so he could heal an entire city. You are carrying the presence of Christ,

and it's exciting and it's exhausting. But I promise you one thing. It's worth it. Well. If you enjoyed today's podcast, there are a couple things I'd love for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. He can also help us reach others by investing today at Elevation Church dot org, slash gift and thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast.