A Problem For My Problem (Jonathan Rivera)

0:05Speaker 1:Hey, this is Stephen Furtick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these new sermons every week. I hope you're blessed today.

0:21Speaker 2:Church, stay standing for a moment.

0:25Speaker 3:Been thinking a lot about this moment, and before I do anything else and before I preach the word of God, I want to take a moment.

0:32Speaker 2:To just honor your pastors and honor your church. There's some people that.

0:36Speaker 3:You know from afar. You don't know them up close, but even though you don't know them, they have an impact on you. Like I remember when Kobe died and I cried like if a family member died because even though I didn't know him, he had made an impact on my life. Recently, I went to the movies and watched Spider-Man and I cried a lot.

0:58Speaker 2:Because I felt like even though I don't know Spider-Man, he is real. But I felt like even though I don't know him, I know him.

1:04Speaker 3:And he's made an impact on my life from afar. And I can't tell you the kind of impact that Elevation Church and Pastor Stephen and Holly Furtick have made on my life. I can't talk about my relationship with Jesus. I can't talk about my ministry. I can't talk about my life without talking about Elevation Church and Elevation Worship.

1:26Speaker 2:And Pastor Steven and Holly.

1:28Speaker 3:Come on, if you love your church, if you love your pastors, can you make a little bit of noise today? Come on, all of our campuses, can you make a little bit of noise today? Do me a favor, high five five people and let them know I'm glad you.

1:40Speaker 2:Came to church today. Glad you came to church. After that, you can go ahead.

1:45Speaker 3:Take a seat. Take a seat, take a seat. Is anybody happy to be in God's house today? Can we say thank you to the worship team for leading us today? Come on. If you love my friend, Graham Furtick, you make a little bit of noise today. Got a word that I've been praying over and preparing, and I really feel like it's going to be an encouragement.

2:14Speaker 2:To somebody in this room today. But before I go into the work, can I introduce you to my family really quickly? Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is a picture of my wife. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Your boy did good. Your boy did good. He gave me a Colombian queen. Someone say hallelujah.

2:34Speaker 3:Now I'm about to show you a picture of my son. When I show you this picture of my son, I need you to absolutely.

2:39Speaker 2:Lose your mind.

2:40Speaker 4:Are you ready?

2:40Speaker 3:This is my son, Tobias. Come on, put that picture up on the screen for me.

2:45Speaker 2:Yeah, that's my boy. That's my boy.

2:49Speaker 3:Also, the last thing that I'll do, I need to give a special shout out. I am a proud Puerto Rican from Orlando, Florida. And so shout out to Elevation Orlando. Shout out to Elevation Melbourne. So thankful for what God's doing in our city and in our state.

3:04Speaker 2:Is anybody ready for the word of God today?

3:07Speaker 3:I need you to do three things for me. Number one, I need you to take some notes. I heard y'all take notes at Elevation Church.

3:12Speaker 2:Is that true? Show me your notebook. Show me your notebook. Show me your notebook. Does anybody have a Bible in the room? Show me your Bible. Show me your Bible. Show me your Bible. I like big Bibles and I cannot lie. Today I need you to take some notes.

3:26Speaker 3:Write some stuff down because you can't remember what God told you if you don't remember.

3:31Speaker 2:What God told you.

3:31Speaker 3:You're going to want to go back and remember what God spoke to you today. Somebody say amen. That's the second thing that I need you to do. I heard that at Elevation Church, y'all talk back to the preacher.

3:40Speaker 2:Is that right? Now, I want you to.

3:42Speaker 3:Know, you don't talk back to the preacher because we just like to have ruckus and noise.

3:48Speaker 2:When you talk back, when you say amen, it's actually.

3:50Speaker 3:An expression of faith, saying, God, I received that word from my life. Somebody say amen. Come on, where's my amen corner today? Where's the people who.

3:59Speaker 2:Are saying, is it over here? Is it over here? Is it over here? Is it over here? Is it over here? No, it's over here.

4:06Speaker 5:I feel like it's over here.

4:07Speaker 2:I feel like it's over here. Y'all, my amen corner today.

4:11Speaker 3:Last but not least, I want you to open up your heart because I truly believe that today, someone say today, God has a word that he wants to share with you. If you got a Bible, I want you to go to Philippians chapter one, verses 12 through 14. Reading the book of Philippians, which is really a letter. It's a letter from the Apostle Paul. Apostle Paul is one of the most important people in all the Bible.

4:34Speaker 2:He's an apostle. He wrote two thirds of the New Testament.

4:37Speaker 3:And in my mind, he's kind of the goal. He writes this letter to a group of people that are worried about him. And he wants to encourage them. because right now he's in prison. And his situation doesn't look very promising and doesn't look very hopeful. But he writes them to encourage him and he has this peculiar passage.

5:00Speaker 2:That I would like to share with you today. Philippians 1, 12 through 14, here's what it says.

5:05Speaker 3:Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to.

5:08Speaker 2:Me has actually served to advance the gospel.

5:13Speaker 1:Pause.

5:14Speaker 3:He's saying, me being in prison behind bars, in chains, has actually served to advance the gospel. And 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.

5:38Speaker 2:In the Lord.

5:40Speaker 3:And dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

5:45Speaker 2:Taking notes tonight.

5:46Speaker 3:Over the next few minutes, I'd like to speak to you from this thought.

5:50Speaker 2:A problem for my problem. A problem for my problem. I'll say it again. A problem.

5:58Speaker 3:For my problem. Can you bow your heads and close your eyes? Let's pray over the preaching of God's word.

6:03Speaker 2:Lord, we love you. This is your house and we are your people.

6:07Speaker 3:And I pray that today as we look into your word, you would speak to us through your spirit in the ways.

6:12Speaker 2:That only you can.

6:13Speaker 3:And in the end, we promise to give you all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. In Jesus' name, can someone shout out amen? Come on, if you're ready for the word of God today, can you make a little bit of noise?

6:27Speaker 2:Last thing, I got to give a shout out.

6:29Speaker 3:I am the campus pastor at Southeastern University, and I heard that Elevation College might be in the room today.

6:37Speaker 4:Come on.

6:37Speaker 3:Shout out to Elevation College. Excited about what God's doing with you guys. Real quick, make some noise if you love history. You're a history buff. You like history. All right, let's.

6:49Speaker 2:Do this one.

6:49Speaker 3:This will get some more amens. Raise your hand if you like a good documentary. You like a documentary. I'm worried about you. Because all y'all are watching documentaries about murderers and serial killers, and that's the reason why you can't sleep at night.

7:05Speaker 2:But I love history. I love biographies. I love documentaries.

7:09Speaker 3:I love hearing the story of how something became what it became, or how someone became what they became. I love documentaries, and I love stories, especially about things that I'm passionate about.

7:22Speaker 2:So for example, I love Apple. I've got an iPhone, I've got an iPad, I've got an iMac, a lot of i's. I got all of them.

7:29Speaker 3:And I want to hear the story of how Apple started as a company. And when I started doing research, I saw something I'd never seen before. See, most people have heard of a guy named Steve Jobs. Raise your hand if you heard of Steve Jobs.

7:40Speaker 2:Put your hands down. Raise your hand if you ever heard of a man named Steve Wozniak. Raise your hand. Fewer people. Put your hands down. There's one name that most people have never heard of. They've heard of Steve Jobs. They've heard of Steve Wozniak. But many people have never heard of a man named Ronald Wayne.

7:58Speaker 3:The reason why is because Ronald Wayne isn't part of the story the way that Steve and Steve are.

8:05Speaker 2:See, here's what happened.

8:05Speaker 3:50 years ago, April 1st, 1976, there was three co-founders of the Apple company, not two. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Ronald Wayne did some pretty important stuff. He was actually part of creating the first manual for the first Apple computer. Not only did he do that, he was also the one who created the first ever Apple logo. It wasn't an Apple, it was actually something else. Can you put that picture on the screen? This is the first ever Apple logo that was ever created. Ronald Wayne did that. And because of his work, he was going to receive 10% of the Apple company. But something happened.

8:49Speaker 3:After 12 days, he quit. Couldn't handle the stress. Couldn't handle the worry. Couldn't handle the anxiety. Steve and Steve were driving him crazy. Maybe they didn't like him because his name wasn't Steve. Because then it would have been Steve, Steve, and Steve. But it was Steve, Steve, and Ronald. They didn't like the sound of that. So here's what he does, he quits and he sells his 10% of the company.

9:12Speaker 2:For $ 800.

9:13Speaker 3:Now we all know Apple went on to be a real small mom and pop shop in San Francisco.

9:23Speaker 2:It's actually not what happened.

9:26Speaker 3:Apple goes on to be one of, if not the biggest company in the entire world. Quick question, would you like to know how much is $ 800? His 10% of Apple stock will be worth.

9:39Speaker 2:50 years later in 2026. $ 200 billion. That's not an M with a B. Billion, billion.

10:03Speaker 3:Now once you look at me I Have a question that I would like to ask you today Have you ever seen somebody quit too soon? Have you ever seen somebody that threw in the white towel and Too soon. Have you ever seen someone quit on a job too soon? Quit on a friendship too soon? Quit on a marriage too soon? Quit on a dream too soon? Have you ever seen somebody quit.

10:37Speaker 2:On God too soon?

10:41Speaker 3:See, what's sad about that is the possibility of what could have been and what should have been and what would have been but did not happen because sometimes we give up too soon and we miss out on everything that god had in store for us came to encourage somebody at elevation church today look at me it's too soon to quit look at your neighbor say neighbor it's too soon to quit look at your other neighbor your second option and let your neighbor know neighbor it's too.

11:09Speaker 2:Soon to quit One day, you and I will stand before God. You and I will stand before Jesus and we will give an account for.

11:20Speaker 3:The life that we lived. And he will ask us, what did you do with the life that I gave you? What did you do with the talents that I gave you? What did you do with the family that I gave you? What did you do with the resources that I gave you? There's actually a scripture about this in the Bible. There's something called the judgment seat of Christ. There's going to be a judgment around eternity, but then there's going to be a judgment for the believers, for followers of Jesus, where Jesus is going to talk to you about the life that you live. Second Corinthians 5.10, here's what it says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. I remember hearing preachers preach about this text and talking about how one day we're going to stand before Jesus and we're going to give an account for the life that we lived. But the preacher preached it in an interesting way. Maybe you've heard this before. Maybe you and I listened to the same preacher. He would say, one day you're going to get to heaven and there's

12:13Speaker 3:going to be a gigantic screen. Has anyone heard this before?

12:20Speaker 2:There's going to be a screen in heaven and God's going to play a movie of your life. And people are going to see.

12:28Speaker 3:The good things that you did, but they're also going to see the bad things that you did.

12:31Speaker 2:Do you want people to watch a movie about all the bad things that you did?

12:35Speaker 3:And the whole time that I'm watching it, I'm thinking, I just hope my mom isn't there to watch the movie. Because there's a season, there's parts of that movie that are not PG-13. And I don't want my mother to see. See, the older that I got, I came to two conclusions. The first thing is this.

12:54Speaker 2:The Bible doesn't say anything about a TV screen. The preacher added that part. That part's not there. And then the second thing is this.

13:01Speaker 3:Even if that is true, even if everyone that I know will see all the mistakes that I made and all the bad things that I did and the sins that I committed, I don't have to be worried about that because Jesus died on the cross for me.

13:12Speaker 2:I'm covered by the blood of Christ. I've been redeemed.

13:15Speaker 3:There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

13:20Speaker 2:Play the movie. I'm not worried about it. Now, here's the thing. Like I mentioned, the movie part isn't in the Bible.

13:31Speaker 3:But you know what will be worse than a movie about all the mistakes that you made and all the things that you committed? I remember my youth pastor told me one time, you know what will be worse than that? Could you imagine God played a movie of the life that you could have lived? <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL>.

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14:07Speaker 3:Because you allow life to get in the way. Listen to me, that is horrible. I hate to think about that.

14:14Speaker 2:You know why?

14:14Speaker 3:Because the only thing harder than obedience is regret. The only thing harder than saying yes to.

14:22Speaker 2:God is wishing you would have said yes to God. See, God has so much in store for our lives, our marriages, our children, our families, our businesses, our church, our callings. God has so much in store for us.

14:34Speaker 3:But all of that, listen to me, is on the other side of something called perseverance.

14:42Speaker 2:Somebody say perseverance. Someone shout out perseverance. Perseverance.

14:46Speaker 3:Let me give you Miriam Webster's definition of perseverance. Perseverance is continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. Let me put that in plain English for you. You need to push past the pain. You need to push past. past the pain. Can you say that with me? Push past the pain.

15:14Speaker 2:Say it one more time. Push past the pain. I kinda like this. Push past the pain. Only do it when I put my hands toward you.

15:23Speaker 3:Ready?

15:23Speaker 2:Push past the pain. Watch this. Push past the.

15:28Speaker 1:Pain.

15:29Speaker 2:Give yourselves a round of applause.

15:32Speaker 3:The truth is, pain is part of the human experience. I want y'all to know today, I confess to you, my back hurts.

15:44Speaker 2:My knee hurts. My life hurts.

15:48Speaker 3:Pain is part of the human experience and there's all kinds of pain. And I came today to church to let you know that God cares about your pain. God doesn't cause all pain. Breaks God's heart. Some of the things that you've had to go through, it breaks my heart as a pastor. Some of the things that you've had to walk through. I bet if I walked around and passed the microphone, I'd hear so many stories of things that people are even walking through right now in this church. And nobody would know. They could be sitting on your left, sitting on your right, behind you or in front of you. They have no idea what you're walking through. There's all kinds of pain. There's relational pain.

16:26Speaker 3:There's emotional pain. There's physical pain. There's financial pain. But what I love about the Bible is the Bible is a book that doesn't run away from pain.

16:36Speaker 2:Actually read the Bible. If you've ever really read the Bible, here's what you see. A lot of pain. A lot of brokenness.

16:45Speaker 3:The Bible doesn't run away from pain, which brings me to the book of Philippians, where we find our passage today. Philippians is an interesting book. See, Philippians is written by the Apostle Paul.

16:56Speaker 2:Someone say Paul.

16:58Speaker 3:And the book of Philippians is written in prison. It's a prison epistle. Someone say prison. Look at your neighbor and say neighbor. I don't want to go back to prison. Your neighbor's like, you went to prison? I didn't know who I was sitting next to, dang.

17:17Speaker 2:The book of Philippians is written by Paul.

17:20Speaker 3:It's written in prison, but there's one additional factor that makes it an interesting book. Theologians, scholars, they call the book of Philippians the book of joy. The epistle of joy, the letter of joy, which to me sounds like an oxymoron. Paul writes a book in prison and is the epistle of joy. That feels like a contradiction because how do you have joy while you're sitting in a prison cell? That doesn't feel like the appropriate response to chains. So Paul, he's trying to encourage the church in Philippi. The people are worried about him and he's trying to encourage them and he's saying all these encouraging things and he's speaking about joy.

18:08Speaker 2:But as I'm listening to this, I gotta be honest. I'm thinking to myself, Paul, are you faking it? Just tell me the truth. Are you struggling?

18:14Speaker 3:Are you not okay? Just tell me what's really going on. Are you faking it?

18:17Speaker 2:Are you lying?

18:19Speaker 3:Is the situation actually worse than you wanna be honest about? Because Paul, this doesn't feel genuine. You're in prison, but you're talking about Joy, I used to ask the same question about my mama.

18:31Speaker 2:Mom, if you're listening, I'm sorry.

18:34Speaker 3:Because my mom would fight with me on Friday, and my mama would spank me on Saturday. My mother didn't believe in gentle parenting. My mother, she's Pentecostal and Puerto Rican. She believed in the laying on of hands, if you know what I'm talking about.

18:51Speaker 2:Oh, you in therapy too, anyways. So my mama would argue with me on Friday. She would spank me on Sunday, on Saturday, but she would sing on Sunday. We had a bad week. But my mama would show up to church. Maybe you know this song.

19:10Speaker 4:I've got a joy like a river. Joy like a river.

19:15Speaker 2:Sing with me.

19:16Speaker 4:Joy like a river in my soul. I got a joy, joy. Joy like a river. Joy like a river in my soul.

19:31Speaker 2:But she wasn't singing on Saturday. She was spanking. Singing and spanking. She's doing both. I think about my mom and I think about Paul and I've got a question. Which one is it? Is it joy or is it chains? Is it praise or is it pain? Which one is it?

19:55Speaker 3:Because it doesn't feel like both of those can go together, but the answer is it's actually both.

20:00Speaker 2:It's praising in my pain.

20:04Speaker 3:And not allowing my pain to stop my praise. Someone say perseverance today. We see this in first in Acts chapter 16. This is not Paul's first time in prison. He is a repeat offender. Says Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas are in prison. Pastor Jonathan preached about this a couple of weeks ago. Paul and Silas, they're in prison. And the Bible says they're praying and singing hymns. And the other prisoners were listening to them. And suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And at once all the prison doors flew open and everyone's chains came loose. That's a powerful sermon.

20:42Speaker 3:I could preach that sermon. That's a powerful story. I believe that God can set people free. I believe that God does miracles. I believe that God does the impossible. I believe that God sets chains loose and brings freedom. But what do you do when you're singing about joy, but you're still in chains? Coming to church on Sunday, you're serving, you're worshiping, you're giving, you're listening, but your kid's still acting up. And you still can't sleep. And your spouse still isn't coming to church. And that addiction keeps knocking at your door and you still can't.

21:17Speaker 2:Find a job. The apostle Paul can relate.

21:21Speaker 3:See, at the very top, we read Philippians chapter one, verses 12 through 14. In this moment where Paul is writing this, he's still in prison. He's still in chains, but he says something interesting about his experience. He says in verse 12, now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance.

21:43Speaker 2:Someone say advance. The gospel.

21:47Speaker 3:When he says what has happened to me, he's talking about his chains. These chains are advancing the gospel. What has happened to me, me being in prison, me being in chains, unfairly, unjustly, and I'm here for preaching the gospel. Have you ever done everything right and still things go wrong? You come in a church, you're trying to get right. You're trying to lead your family the right way. You're trying to honor God at your workplace. You're trying to honor God in your relationships. You're trying to.

22:19Speaker 2:Do the right thing and the wrong thing happens.

22:23Speaker 3:Paul says, what has happened to me, being in prison, has actually served to advance the gospel. He's talking about it like it's a good thing. He even talks about it in a way where it almost implies, listen to me, that he's grateful for it. How can you be grateful for the pain that you're going through? How can you celebrate the struggle that you're living in?

22:47Speaker 2:Now listen to me, I don't think Paul likes pain. He's not a masochist. I don't think anybody likes pain. It's like when I talk to people who go on a diet. Nobody likes a diet.

22:59Speaker 3:If someone tells you they like a diet, they're either lying to you or trying to.

23:03Speaker 2:Sell you something.

23:06Speaker 3:Nobody likes a diet, but here's what they do like. They like the results that it produces. I've been living long enough and following Jesus long enough, and I've read the Bible long enough to notice I don't understand why, but pain produces. Produces, produces something on the inside of you. James would say in chapter one of his book, he would say, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you go through trials of all many kinds, because it is producing.

23:44Speaker 2:Someone say produce.

23:46Speaker 3:I don't know why pain does it the way it does, but pain produces. See, I'm not thankful that you went through the divorce. I'm not thankful that you lost the job. I'm not thankful for the betrayal. I'm not thankful that I lost those people. I'm not thankful that I went through that season. I'm not thankful that they lied about me.

24:03Speaker 2:It hurt me. It broke me.

24:05Speaker 3:It did something to me. But listen to me on the other side of it. Pain produced something that success couldn't produce. Pain produced something that money couldn't produce. Pain produced something that promotion couldn't produce. Pain produced something that that relationship couldn't produce. Pain produced something that fame couldn't produce.

24:24Speaker 2:Pain produced something that an answered prayer couldn't produce. Pain.

24:30Speaker 3:Produces, and I don't thank him for the pain, but I do thank him for how he used the pain to produce something in me that I could not produce in myself.

24:39Speaker 2:Listen to me, if you've ever been on the other.

24:41Speaker 3:Side of pain and looked back and said, thank you, Jesus, can you make a little bit of noise today? If he got you through, if he did something in you, he made you stronger, he made you wiser, he made you better, he made.

24:54Speaker 2:You more loving, he made you more compassionate.

24:56Speaker 3:I don't understand why it works that way, All I know is that pain produces. What has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.

25:08Speaker 2:That's the other thing. The gospel is advancing.

25:12Speaker 3:I want someone to know today, there's nothing that could stop the gospel. There's nothing that could stop the kingdom of God. There's nothing that could stop the word of God. There's nothing that could stand in the way of my Jesus. It doesn't matter what TikTok says. It doesn't matter what Instagram says. It doesn't matter what the news says. It doesn't matter what you hear on the street. The gospel is on the move. Your God and my God, listen to me, he's always working. Look at your neighbor, say labor.

25:40Speaker 3:I said labor, neighbor. Let them cook. Tell your other neighbor, neighbor, let them cook. What I love about God is how he moves the gospel forward in ways that we could never imagine. Like God is always looking for Forrest Gump. He's always looking to do things in a way that you and I wouldn't have done it. He always does things in.

26:11Speaker 2:A way where you and I couldn't see the potential of it.

26:13Speaker 3:But God did. Someone say God did. Paul's situation isn't looking good. He is in chains. He's in prison. This feels like a loss. The show is over, bro. Throw up the white flag. Hang up the jersey. But Paul doesn't do that.

26:34Speaker 1:See.

26:35Speaker 3:Paul's a preacher, but how do you preach behind bars? Paul is a church planter. How do you plant churches in chains? Paul goes on to say, as a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

26:56Speaker 2:Context matters.

26:57Speaker 3:Someone say context. If you're not careful, you'll skip over a pretty significant detail. In this passage. That's why you need context. Someone say context. Paul says, it has become clear throughout.

27:09Speaker 2:The whole palace. Everybody knows. The security guard knows. The secretary knows.

27:14Speaker 3:The housekeeping team knows.

27:19Speaker 2:Everybody knows. I'm in chains.

27:21Speaker 3:But then he says this other phrase, the whole palace guard. If you read that, you're like, well, what does that mean? How many people is that? In Roman culture, the palace guard was also known as the praetorian guard. The praetorian guard was a small army of a thousand soldiers.

27:41Speaker 2:And they all know about Paul. You know why?

27:43Speaker 3:Because in Roman prisons, what they would do is they would get the prisoner, they would put him in chains, but he wasn't just left in the prison cell by himself. What they would do is they would put a soldier on his right and they would put a soldier on his left. If you could use your imagination for a second, I just got a feeling Paul was an evangelist. He was going to talk to everybody, even if they didn't want to listen. I can imagine someone sitting next to him, amen, What's your name?

28:13Speaker 2:Julio? Nice to meet you, Julio. Julio, you Puerto Rican? I went to Puerto Rico one time. It was a good time, man. I like Mofongo, you know. Julio, you see these chains? I'm in chains, but I'm free.

28:34Speaker 3:And I want you to know, you might be free, but you still in chains.

28:40Speaker 2:But I believe God's going to set you free, Julio. He's going to do something in your life. What's your name? James? What's up, James? You doing good? Yeah, I'm all right. James, y'all on rotation, right? What's your shift? What time you got out of here?

29:07Speaker 3:Four? Four?

29:09Speaker 2:Y'all on rotation?

29:09Speaker 1:Four?

29:10Speaker 2:That's cool. Listen to me. While you're here, we're going to talk, James. Have you heard about Jesus? You haven't heard about Jesus? I want you to know Jesus heard about you. He's going back. And guess what?

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29:35Speaker 3:<HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> his chains he turned his prison guards into his congregation Philippians is a prison epistle. Ephesians is also a prison epistle. That means that he wrote Ephesians in prison and he wrote Philippians in prison. And there's this interesting thing at the end of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter six, it says that he starts talking about the full armor of God, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the sword of a spirit. What does that sound like to you?

30:20Speaker 3:It sounds like a Roman soldier. What does that mean? That he did not allow his circumstance to stop his message from going forward. He said, listen to me, I'm going to write what's going on. I'm going to make a message out of this mess. And I'm going to believe that in spite of my chains and in spite of the bars and inside this prison cell, the message of the gospel is still.

30:43Speaker 2:Going to move forward.

30:45Speaker 3:What has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.

30:54Speaker 2:I'm going to finish with this. I'm going to start landing this plane.

30:58Speaker 3:Paul is preaching the gospel in the midst of his pain. And the soldiers are coming to Christ in the midst of his pain.

31:05Speaker 2:But watch this. And the church is being encouraged by his pain. How are you encouraged by somebody else's pain? But that's what's happening. Look at what the next verse says. Verse 14.

31:19Speaker 3:And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and.

31:27Speaker 2:Dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. That's interesting. You know why?

31:37Speaker 3:See, Paul's preaching. And then he goes to prison. And then people see the correlation.

31:44Speaker 2:He preached. He went to prison.

31:48Speaker 3:And they see him in prison and they say, now I want to preach. But preaching is what landed him in prison. Why would you want to go to prison? Why would you want that pain? Why would you have that experience? Not only do they have more confidence, they have less fear. They're not afraid of the prison. They're not afraid of the soldiers. They're not afraid of the bars. So why would Paul's chains encourage them to preach if they know the end result? And what is it that is making them less afraid? If you've heard nothing else that I've said today, I want you to hear this.

32:34Speaker 3:Could it be that Paul's chains removed the mystery behind what was on the other side I wanna.

32:47Speaker 2:Say that one more time.

32:48Speaker 3:Could it be that Paul's chains removed the mystery behind what was on the other side of pain, on the other side of the prison, on the other side of the chains, on the other side of the soldiers?

33:03Speaker 2:What do I mean by that? In plain language, they.

33:05Speaker 3:Don't have to guess what's going to happen when they go through their worst moment. I remember when I got my first tattoo, I had a younger brother who passed away and me and a group of friends and his parents, we went and got a tattoo in his honor. And I remember we're getting the tattoos, but I looked at my friend, I said, you go first.

33:27Speaker 2:I'd never gotten a tattoo before. I said, you go first. He said, why? Why won't you go? I said, because I want to see what the pain looks like.

33:38Speaker 3:I want to see it first. And if I could see it, I feel like I can endure it. See, you know what I wanted to do in that moment?

33:49Speaker 2:I wanted to remove the mystery of pain.

33:55Speaker 3:I wanted to remove the mystery of what was on the other side of that experience. See, they saw Paul preach and they saw Paul get arrested and they saw Paul go through his worst moment, but on.

34:08Speaker 2:The other side of it, look at me, he was all right. He was still in prison. I'm not trying to minimize his pain. He was in prison. He was in chains.

34:18Speaker 3:He was surrounded by soldiers, but he was all right. Which means if you're taking those, I want you to write this down.

34:25Speaker 2:Which means I don't have to be afraid anymore. See, y'all remember the movie Home Alone? By the way, part two is the better one. But there's a scene in Home Alone where Kevin comes out and he says, I'm not afraid anymore. I'm not afraid anymore.

34:53Speaker 3:I think we need to walk out of church today and look at the enemy and let him know, hey, I want you to know, devil, I'm not afraid anymore.

35:01Speaker 5:I'm not worried about what's going to come my way.

35:04Speaker 2:I know who my God is. I know who's with me. I've seen other people's stories and.

35:09Speaker 6:I saw how.

35:10Speaker 3:They made it through, which means I'm going to.

35:13Speaker 2:Make it through too. I'm going to be all right. Sit down for just a moment. Sit down for a moment. I'm almost done.

35:25Speaker 3:The good news is that you and I have examples of this all over the Bible.

35:32Speaker 2:All over the Bible.

35:35Speaker 3:Moses is standing in front of an ocean with millions of people behind him and Pharaoh's.

35:42Speaker 2:Shoulders at his neck. But in the end, he was alright. David is sent to go take some Lunchables to his brothers. He's a cheese boy. Comes with a little picnic basket and some sandwiches. See, he's a giant. And he said, I'll take care of that giant.

36:10Speaker 3:And David, listen to me, because if you're not careful, you've heard the story so many times that you don't.

36:14Speaker 2:Realize the impact of it. David thought a giant. But in the end, David was all right. Daniel is in the lion's den with a lion looking him face to face. And in the end, Daniel was all right.

36:34Speaker 3:Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego get thrown into a fire because they will not bow down to the king, and at the end of the story, they come out of the fire untouched, and the king even said, I feel like I see a.

36:49Speaker 2:Fourth man in the fire, and it looks like the son of man. They went through the fire, but in the end, they were all right.

37:01Speaker 3:And the angel comes down to Mary and says, Mary, I know you're young and I know that you haven't.

37:08Speaker 2:Been married yet.

37:10Speaker 3:But Mary, you will give birth to a son, Emmanuel, God with us.

37:19Speaker 2:And Mary said, let it be as you have said. And in the end, Mary was all right.

37:29Speaker 3:Paul is in prison Soldiers, prison bars, chains. And somehow in the end, Paul was all right.

37:45Speaker 2:He said, I'm all right.

37:47Speaker 3:He said, even if they take my life, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

37:55Speaker 2:Even if I'm not right here, I'm going to be all right up there. You ain't got to worry about me. I'm going to be just fine. Paul was all right. This last one. Jesus is on a cross. A sign over his head. The king of the Jews. People mocking him. If you're really the son of God, come down from that cross and show us who you are. Nails in his hands. Nails in his feet. A spear in his side. Wine in his mouth. People mocking him. And guess what? Jesus dies. But Jesus, he died.

38:34Speaker 3:They took him down and they put him in a grave, but he didn't stay in the grave.

38:38Speaker 2:He was there for one day. He was there for two days.

38:41Speaker 3:But on the third day, the Bible says he is resurrected.

38:45Speaker 2:He comes out of the grave.

38:46Speaker 5:You might have seen him on a cross, but I want you to know Jesus is doing just fine.

38:53Speaker 2:He's resurrected.

38:54Speaker 5:He's got a glorious body.

38:56Speaker 2:He's sitting at.

38:57Speaker 3:The right hand of the Father.

38:59Speaker 5:Interceding for you and interceding for me. He has to go to the cross. He has to go to the jail. He has to go through the hurt.

39:08Speaker 2:But in the end, I want you to know, Jesus is all right. Which means that if he died, He resurrected.

39:22Speaker 3:And if he came out of the grave, it means that you and I will too. stand on your feet this morning church I'm.

39:36Speaker 2:Almost done if God could take.

39:44Speaker 3:Jonathan Rivera broken Puerto Rican kid on the city bus single handicapped mom going from one painful event to another painful event fighting every day to try to move forward called to preach but he's got a stuttering.

40:09Speaker 7:Problem if God could do it with David And he could do it with Moses. And he could do it with Daniel. And he could do it with Mary. And he could do it with Jesus. And he could do it with me. It also means he could do it with you.

40:38Speaker 3:This is why testimonies are so important. The Bible says that we overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. I remember I grew up in a church where once in a while we would have a testimony night and the elderly lady would come to the front and the pastor would give her the mic, but he held the mic because he didn't know what she was going to say. And so the elderly lady would come to the front and she would say, pastor and church, I want you to know that six months ago I went to the doctor and the doctor gave me a report and I looked at the doctor and I told the doctor, listen, doctor, I don't believe you.

41:14Speaker 2:I believe my God. And I know he's going to heal me and he's going to restore me.

41:19Speaker 3:And the doctor said, that's fine, ma'am. But I want you to come back in six months so we could check on you. Which, by the way, go check with your doctor. Go to the doctor, all right? Take your vitamins, kids. Take your vitamins. She says, I came back to the doctor six months later and he shows the report and he says, ma'am, I can't explain this.

41:38Speaker 2:I don't know what happened.

41:39Speaker 3:I can't scientifically prove what took place, but I saw cancer and there's not cancer anymore. I saw a sickness and there's no sickness anymore. I saw a disease and there's no disease anymore.

41:51Speaker 2:She's got a testimony. Someone shout out testimony.

41:55Speaker 3:Then somebody else will come to the mic and they will say, a year ago, me and my wife were going through a really rough patch. We're going through a tough situation. And the truth is we had divorce papers on the table. And we didn't move it off the table, but we didn't sign it either. We knew stuff was rough, but we didn't know what was going to happen. And then we came to church on a Sunday. And there was a word that the pastor gave. And on the way home, we just started crying. Because we felt like God was doing something in our heart. And we felt like God wanted us to fight for our marriage. And we came to let you know today, church, that we ripped up the divorce papers. And God's working on our marriage.

42:37Speaker 3:And we're still coming to church. And we're trying to be faithful. And we're restoring our family. And God's working on us. And it's one day at a time. But I want you to know, we're going to be all right. Today.

42:53Speaker 2:Today.

42:55Speaker 3:My encouragement to you is all over the Bible, there is proof that you don't have to be afraid of what's on the other side. Someone say the other side. Do me a favor real quick. If you're in this room today and you've got a testimony of God's faithfulness.

43:12Speaker 2:In your life, in your marriage, in your kids, in your business, in your body, in your mind, right where you are, lift up your hand. Listen to me. I just get, no, keep it up, keep it up, keep it up.

43:35Speaker 3:I just gave you a bunch of reasons to believe that you're going to make it, that God's going to get you through, that you and I are going to be all right.

43:52Speaker 2:I don't got to be afraid anymore. And listen to me. That is a problem for my problem. I don't know what problem you walked in with today. I don't know what situation you.

44:04Speaker 3:Might be walking through with your marriage, with your kids, with your business, at your job, in your health, in your mind. I don't know what you're walking through today, but I want you to know that.

44:15Speaker 2:Your problem has a problem.

44:17Speaker 3:His name is Jesus. And I know that right now you might be afraid of your problem, but your problem is afraid.

44:25Speaker 5:Of your God, which means that today, it doesn't matter what you're going through, It doesn't matter what prison you find yourself in.

44:32Speaker 2:It doesn't matter what change you might have in your life. Guess what you could do? You could still lift up your hands. You could still lift up your voice. You could still say hallelujah.

44:41Speaker 5:You could still say thank you, Jesus, because I might be here right now, but I don't got to be afraid because I know what's on the other side of this, and the truth is that I know I'm going to.

44:54Speaker 2:Be all right. I'm going to walk out of this with a testimony.

44:57Speaker 5:I'm going to walk out of this with a story of God's goodness. I'm going to walk out of this with a story of God's faithfulness.

45:04Speaker 2:Come on.

45:06Speaker 8:I'm giving all that I am. You gave me chance after chance. After chance.

45:16Speaker 2:After chance.

45:21Speaker 8:I'm lifting.

45:23Speaker 2:I'm lifting both of my hands.

45:26Speaker 8:Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am. Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance. Who am I that you keep me on?

45:49Speaker 6:God, I'm just grateful for you.

45:55Speaker 2:God, I'm just grateful for.

45:58Speaker 3:You.

46:00Speaker 8:And all my life, you've been.

46:03Speaker 2:Right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you.

46:09Speaker 8:I'm really, really grateful. Think, who am I? Who am I? That you keep me on your mind. God, I'm just.

46:18Speaker 3:I'm.

46:18Speaker 8:Just grateful for you.

46:19Speaker 2:God, I'm just grateful for you.

46:22Speaker 8:All my life, all my life, you've been right here by my side.

46:29Speaker 6:God, I'm just grateful for you.

46:33Speaker 2:I'm really, really grateful.

46:35Speaker 8:I survived. I survived. And I'm here to testify.

46:41Speaker 2:You better testify, testify.

46:43Speaker 6:I'm just grateful. You gotta testify, testify Sing I'm alright, I'm alright God I'm just grateful for you God I'm just grateful for.

47:04Speaker 1:You Hey, I hope you enjoyed the podcast. And if you did, make sure to share it and subscribe so we can get you all of these new messages as soon as they're available. I also want to take a moment and thank all of you who are a part of Elevation. Whether you support us financially or serve with us or just share these messages, it's because of you that we're able to reach people. all around the world. And if you want more information on how to be a part of Elevation, click the link in the description.

47:41Speaker 1:Thanks again for listening. Make sure to leave a review, share the message and subscribe. God bless you.