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Welcome To The River. 
City Church podcast and a 

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message by our lead. 
Pastor Jason Powers our prayer 

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is that this message would 
Inspire and encourage you, build

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your faith. 
And point you to the 

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life-changing love of Jesus, may
you enjoy the goodness of God as

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you follow him today, if you 
have your Bible and I hope you 

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do or you have it on your phone 
or your iPad or smoke signals or

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however. 
It is it, you get it. 

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You can be in first Kings 
chapter 17, we're going to spend

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most of our time their day. 
It's one of my favorite stories 

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that one My favorite characters 
in scripture but before I want 

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to just kind of recap we're in 
Lent, right? 

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And lent is a season where it's 
kind of a on the church 

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calendar. 
It's a season where we say no to

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our flesh by giving up something
so that we can say yes to the 

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Lord and it can be difficult. 
But what we saw last week was 

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why about how that kind of helps
us build habits? 

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And I saw a quote, this week 
that is usually incorrectly 

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attributed to Aristotle. 
That said we are what we 

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repeatedly. 
Italy, do Excellence, then is 

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not an act, but a habit. 
Right. 

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Excellence is a habit when we do
things the right way over and 

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over and over again, we just get
used to doing those things so 

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that it becomes what we do. 
Now, what you can do in this 

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situation, based on the 
conversations that we've had 

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over the last couple weeks, 
since you can replace that word 

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excellence with Christianity, 
right? 

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Christianity then is not an act,
but it is a habit. 

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It is this habit of the Kingdom,
Come On Earth as it is. 

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In heaven, were God's will, and 
his rule in his Reign reign. 

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Over us and with us before. 
And so what we've talked last 

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week about it was like these 
building these spiritual habits.

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So that we saw how Jesus 
responds to the crowds. 

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And the people into a situation 
to scarcity was very different 

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from his disciples and he said 
the way and it was Jesus 

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response. 
Was a habitual response. 

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And so, we saw some of those 
things as what makes up this 

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church season of Lent. 
And so the question is, how are 

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you doing with lint? 
Some of you said, hey I'll give 

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up food. 
I'll fast one day a week. 

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Some of you said I'll give up, 
you know, face. 

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Book I'll get up. 
My lint was I said I'm going to 

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give up noise, right? 
Gonna go real spiritual sure 

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I've got specifically what that 
meant was in my car. 

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I'm not going to listen to the 
radio right? 

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And when I go for a walk I walk 
twice a day. 

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I'm not going to listen to my 
are pods, whatever like this. 

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And so I did it. 
And I was like, do I felt so 

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spiritual? 
I was like, Lord. 

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I'm just gonna listen to you and
I'm gonna hear you, what's crazy

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was all I could hear in my head 
the whole time was my own 

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neuroses, right? 
You know what I like? 

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You know what it sounded like 
anxiety. 

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Right? 
It sounded like, like, all this 

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stuff, right? 
And so, do you know what I did 

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about Thursday? 
At? 

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Turn the radio back on. 
And you know what that means I 

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failed lent. 
And so, I stand here today to 

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Rosato, I don't do that. 
Do you know why? 

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Because winning or failing at 
lent, is not what your salvation

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is about. 
The point of Lent is to do 

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exactly that. 
Do you know what? 

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I realized this length. 
This length is like I said I was

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going to do this for 40 days. 
I went like a Time. 

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So in that moment, when I turn 
it on, I'm listening to Morgan 

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Walnut, probably. 
It's probably like a, you know, 

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a worship song. 
So, I, you know, mitigated the 

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things that the guilt a little 
bit, right? 

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But, that moment, I just go, 
wow, Lord, I am not nearly as 

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spiritual as I would like to 
pretend my flesh is way stronger

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even than I was aware of and 
even something like turning the 

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radio off for 40 days. 
Is just outside of my ability to

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do it. 
And Lord, I am weak, and I 

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really need you. 
And, you know what I heard when 

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I, when I sensed, when I did 
that to Yuri from the Lord, like

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he was just mad at me. 
No, he's like is like let's do 

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it. 
Let's go because that's what 

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Grace is, right? 
And so now what I had to realize

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the number one, I am not who I 
thought I was for myself and 

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whatever disappointment. 
I encountered in that moment, I 

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had to come to the realization 
that I didn't meet that same 

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disappointment in the Lord. 
Is different from me. 

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He was unusual unique distinct 
from who I am. 

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So, we're continuing with lent, 
or continuing to kind of try to 

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understand this kind of weird 
and and even goofy kind of 

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season that goes on around it. 
And the idea is the more that we

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practice these disciplines, 
right? 

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The idea is what I wish I would 
have done. 

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Was that when I had those 
anxieties, I would have taken 

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that anxiety. 
I don't know. 

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Said, Lord. 
I'm really freaked out about 

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this. 
My kids are going to graduate in

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a year now. 
My Lord, I'm really freaked out 

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that it's not all. 
All in there, right? 

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I'm worried that we're not going
to have enough money, I'm 

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worried about this. 
And instead of that I'm just 

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like, no, I would rather just 
drown that out, right? 

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Because, like, for three or four
days, I tried to make sense of 

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all that, right? 
And so, but the idea is the 

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longer that you walk into that, 
the longer that you discipline 

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yourself with those practices, 
the more you begin to be 

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transformed, right? 
And the more that you say, yes 

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to God, and the more you become 
transformed, the more you become

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to be empowered, right? 
And the idea behind empowered is

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having the power to Live well in
this world which we've seen come

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up, looks will look a lot like 
the Garden of Eden, not so much 

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in, just like the plants and the
trees and all that, but 

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invocation in worship and 
relationship and all of that, 

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right? 
So we're going to be in first 

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Kings chapter 17 today and we're
going to see something that is 

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there going to be relevant for 
us. 

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But it's important because we're
gonna look at the Prophet Elijah

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and kind of what it may be the 
defining experience in Elijah's 

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life. 
Right now, we're going to kind 

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of make some correlations to 
lent, but it's really important 

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that we know that we Understand,
Elijah wasn't practicing lint, 

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right? 
Like last week, when Jesus fed 

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the 5,000 that wasn't like his 
Linton exercise right there just

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going through life doing their 
things, living out their 

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vocation and they're all that 
and God used them in that moment

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and we can learn from it and we 
can teach front, right? 

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Okay. 
So let's see what it looks like.

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We're in First Kings, chapter 17
and I'm going to start and when 

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we're going to cover a lot of 
ground today, okay? 

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But I'm going to try to move 
fast First, Kings chapter 17. 

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Now Elijah the tishbite. 
I just not Elijah, forgive me. 

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Elijah, the tishbite of Tish be 
in Gilead said to Ahab. 

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Ahab was the king of the 
Northern Kingdom of Israel. 

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And he said as the Lord the god 
of Israel lives before whom I 

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stand, there shall be neither do
narain these seven years except 

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by my word. 
Now, Elijah is standing in his 

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office. 
What we call the office of the 

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prophet and what the prophet 
does is prophesied to the king. 

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You're staring down a drought 
and a A drought is going to come

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and the only reason, the only 
way that drought is going to end

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is when I say so now let me just
ask you are you bold enough to 

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do that? 
You bold enough to go into the 

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governor's office and stand 
there and just be like, hey gov,

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guess what? 
Not rain, not do not miss. 

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Not nothing until I say. 
So that's a lot, right? 

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Like you put yourself on the 
hook there. 

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Okay. 
So what would make a person do 

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that? 
That's the question. 

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Who would Do that. 
So he goes on verse 2 and the 

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word of the Lord came to him. 
Came to Elijah, and he said, 

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depart from here and turn 
Eastward and hide Yourself by 

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the Brook cherith, which is east
of the Jordan. 

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You shall drink from the brook 
and you shall command the Ravens

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to feed you there. 
So, God tells Elijah. 

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I want you to go say this to the
king and when he says it to the 

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king, he says God says, alright.
Elijah now you got to get out 

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there and you got to go stay by 
this Brook. 

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And I'm going to take care of 
you there and where you go 

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there, that's going to be good. 
Now the question is, can we do 

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this? 
Can you do you as a Christian? 

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Have the authority to go to the 
governor and say it's not going 

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to rain. 
Well let's see, we're going to 

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go to Deuteronomy chapter 11 
real quick context for chapter 

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of due to its ver Deuteronomy is
the people of God, the company 

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of Israel, the whole nation 
standing down on the mountain 

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ready to go into the promised 
land and God is telling them the

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Covenant the agreement, right? 
We've talked about covenants, go

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back a couple weeks. 
The Covenant was God saying this

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is the agreement between us 
write. 

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The law is going to come and as 
you obey the law you're going to

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live and you're going to have 
this blessing and Prosperity, 

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right. 
So here's what we read, 

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Deuteronomy, chapter 11, verse 
16 God through. 

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Moses says this to the people of
Israel, take care, lest your 

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heart, be deceived and you turn 
aside and serve other gods and 

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worship them, right? 
So he's saying don't be 

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idolaters verse 17, then the 
anger of the Lord will be 

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kindled against you, and what? 
And he will shut up the Heavens 

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so that there will be no rain. 
And the land will yield, no 

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fruit. 
And you will perish quickly off 

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the good land that the Lord is 
giving you. 

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So Elijah didn't just go to the 
King on his own accord God had 

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told the people of Israel when 
you do this, when you forsake 

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me, when you start worshiping 
other gods and other things, 

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then the rain is going to dry 
up. 

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And you're like, well, God. 
That's kind of petty, isn't it? 

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Right. 
Here's the thing. 

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Who makes it rain God. 
So, if you go back to the 

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Garden, right? 
And Adam and Eve were standing 

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there right in God, had provided
everything for them. 

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What was the Temptation that 
Adam and Eve faced Adam? 

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Eve, wouldn't it be better to 
take this fruit? 

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That's good for food. 
That's pleasing to the site and 

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it's pleasing to make you wise, 
right? 

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Wouldn't it be easier to just 
take that fruit and get all of 

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that Adam and Eve rather than 
just waiting on God? 

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That's better right? 
When you drive it as have all 

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the stuff without God and Adam 
and Eve were like, heck, yes, it

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would. 
So they took it and they eat it.

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Now what's going on in that is 
this mindset. 

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That says, we want all your 
stuff. 

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God, we just don't want you. 
And so, what we're finding is 

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the The same thing played out 
here, the Israelites want, all 

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the gods stuff like rain, 
agriculture crops sustenance. 

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They just don't want all that 
God stuff, obedience 

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faithfulness confession of sin, 
right? 

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So God told them, when you 
forget sake, The God Who makes 

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it rain? 
You are left inescapably Without

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Rain. 
If you reject The Rainmaker, you

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reject rain So now for three 
years in Israel, there is 

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neither, Drew Drew do nor rain 
drop for 3 years. 

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So now, we go 18, and you got to
know, like, so put yourself in 

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Elijah's place. 
Every morning you wake up and 

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you're like still no rain, I'm 
still right? 

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I've still got you got to feel 
kind of smug, right? 

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You probably walk around like 
this a little bit kind of got a 

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little strut Little Swagger in 
your step and then we come to 

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verse chapter 18, right? 
You switch over and we're going 

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to be in verse 17 and Elijah. 
And Ahab. 

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Cross paths right here, right? 
And when Ahab, the king of 

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Israel. 
Now, now raining over a nation, 

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that is not only in drought, but
in famine and things are bad. 

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When Ahab met Elijah Ahab said 
to him, is it? 

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It, you you troubler of Israel? 
Now, let's stop real quick. 

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And we're just gonna see this in
just a second. 

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Let me ask, was it. 
Elijah's fault that there hadn't

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been rain. 
See, the role of the Prophet is 

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to tell the people why, right? 
Why is it? 

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Not raining? 
Because your hearts have turned,

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it's written in the Covenant. 
We've said right? 

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And so Ahab now is trying to 
spinach on putting. 

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Hey, it's you you troubler of 
Israel and verse 18 and Elijah 

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answered. 
I'm not troubled Israel but you 

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have and your father's Just 
because you have abandoned the 

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Commandments of the Lord and you
have followed the Bales now. 

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Therefore, send and gather all 
Israel to me at Mount Carmel, 

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and the 450 prophets of Baal and
the four hundred prophets of 

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asherah, who are eating at 
Jezebel's table. 

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So let's get to know our friends
Ahab and his wife Jezebel rule, 

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over the Northern Kingdom of 
Israel. 

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You have 450 prophets of Baal 
and you have 400 prophets of 

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asherah, okay? 
So the Bales and the Astros were

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both. 
Fertility Gods, Astros at 

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goddess, fertility, goddess. 
And so what is the fertility 

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gods and goddesses, do they make
it what rain rain allegedly 

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because they are statues. 
They're not real, they don't 

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have life. 
They are Idols, but the crate. 

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The great thing about an idol. 
You know why we like Idols? 

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Because they asked way less of 
us in return, right? 

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Because they're not like real 
and so we can just kind of do 

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whatever we want. 
And so what Elijah says is, like

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know there's idolatry going on. 
And so what he says is well, 

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let's just then. 
Figure it out. 

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Let's see how it goes, right? 
And so he calls the people to a 

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choice which is what the prophet
does makes this case. 

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And he calls people to a choice.
We go to verse 18 and verse 21, 

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Elijah came near to all the 
people. 

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And he said, how long will you 
go limping between two different

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options and it presents a 
choice. 

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If the Lord is God, follow him, 
but if Baal then follow him and 

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this is great. 
The people did not answer him a 

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word you Get a sense of the 
people are standing there going.

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We'll see, Elijah. 
Man, this is the prophetic voice

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00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:54,400
forever, right? 
We see Joshua and Joshua, 

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00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,500
chapter 15, right? 
Choose for yourselves this day 

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who you serve? 
But for me, and my house, we 

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will serve the Lord, right? 
Like this is what a prophet 

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does. 
Is he calls us to make a choice?

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So Elijah stands on this on this
mountain, on Mount Horeb and he 

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calls and they get there and he 
stands. 

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And he says, you're going to 
make a choice today. 

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And so he says, here's the game,
the game is, you ready, trial by

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fire? 
The God, Who Answers by fire? 

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He is the one who is really God.
So, there are prophets of Baal 

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and asherah, they get together. 
And they make this Altar and 

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they get Our sacrifice and they 
lay it on the, on the altar of 

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sacrifice, and they do it, and 
then they start dancing and they

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start calling on their gods and 
they start worshiping. 

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And at first, it's like this 
kind of innocuous goofy. 

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It's like a VeggieTales thing 
around like they're dancing 

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around and being goofy, right? 
And Elijah's making fun of him 

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like, oh, maybe he's on it. 
Maybe he's taking a nap. 

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You should. 
You should yell louder because 

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if you yell louder than then, 
he'll hear you at one time. 

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00:13:45,100 --> 00:13:47,200
He's like, maybe he's in the 
bathroom. 

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00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:50,100
Like maybe he's indisposed at 
this point and so it starts to 

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00:13:50,108 --> 00:13:53,400
be this Frenzied pitch like 
this, this frenetic energy and 

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00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:57,300
it gets dark, they start cutting
themselves, they start bleeding,

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00:13:57,300 --> 00:14:02,900
and it turns into this satanic 
ugly, Pagan ritual. 

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00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:10,000
And the thing that we get is no 
rain for all their dancing for 

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00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,800
all, they're calling for all, 
they're crying for all of their 

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00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,300
worship. 
For all of their, what all the 

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00:14:15,300 --> 00:14:18,300
things that are doing, what 
their gods couldn't do, and 

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00:14:18,300 --> 00:14:25,500
didn't do was make Make It Rain.
And so he calls them to this 

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00:14:25,500 --> 00:14:27,800
choice. 
And this is what we find in 

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00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:30,300
first. 
I was right right now as we do 

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00:14:30,300 --> 00:14:35,000
this lint, that we're in, is a 
prophetic act, okay? 

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00:14:35,100 --> 00:14:38,900
So lent is this prophecy and I 
don't know that you've ever 

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00:14:38,900 --> 00:14:41,400
thought of yourself as a 
prophet, but as part, by 

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00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,100
participating in Lent, lent is a
part, is a prophetic act. 

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00:14:45,100 --> 00:14:48,600
So the idea is in Lent, what 
we're doing is we are ordering 

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00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:52,900
our lives around a kingdom, that
others can't see and hear. 

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00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,000
The idea, say you give up food, 
which is kind of the traditional

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00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,800
faster on that you give up food.
What we're saying to the world 

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00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,200
is my life, my spirit, my 
condition, my world will be 

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00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:06,000
better if by giving up food, 
then it will be if I hang onto 

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00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:07,700
it and everybody in the world 
goes. 

303
00:15:07,700 --> 00:15:11,500
That's just crazy. 
No it's not like that. 

304
00:15:11,500 --> 00:15:17,000
And so lent for 40 days what 
we're saying is watch and see 

305
00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,900
what happens. 
See what happens when we give up

306
00:15:19,900 --> 00:15:24,200
something good for something. 
Our see how that goes. 

307
00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:28,700
So they all show and they're all
failing and they're all going 

308
00:15:28,700 --> 00:15:32,800
crazy and cut themselves, right?
And then we go down to verse 36 

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00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:36,800
and so they go on all day. 
And finally, I just had enough. 

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00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:41,100
And the time of the offering 
Elijah, the prophet came near 

311
00:15:41,300 --> 00:15:44,700
and he said, oh Lord God of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. 

312
00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,500
Let it be known this day, that 
you are God and Israel. 

313
00:15:48,700 --> 00:15:52,700
And that I am your servant and 
that I have done all of these 

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00:15:52,700 --> 00:15:55,000
things. 
Things that your word answer me 

315
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,400
O Lord answer me that this 
people may know that You O Lord 

316
00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,700
Our God and then you have turned
their hearts back real quick. 

317
00:16:01,700 --> 00:16:06,500
Who is the focus of Elijah's 
prayer him or God God. 

318
00:16:06,500 --> 00:16:08,700
And so what Elijah does is he 
says, okay God. 

319
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,400
Here we go. 
So he builds an altar and he 

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00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,200
prepares the sacrifice and then 
he does something different. 

321
00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,200
He digs a big trench around the 
whole thing like a big hole and 

322
00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,000
he says, hey go get water, so 
they get water and they start to

323
00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,700
pour it around the Altar and 
they poured around, they pour 

324
00:16:22,700 --> 00:16:24,200
it. 
The altar then they port on the 

325
00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,500
sacrifice. 
And the thing is drenched so 

326
00:16:26,500 --> 00:16:30,400
much so that there is water 
standing in the trench and what 

327
00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,000
Elijah is going is like it's 
trial by fire and everybody's 

328
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,800
like good we're going to win 
like because hey terrible that 

329
00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:38,600
the bails didn't happen but at 
least now we know that Elijah's 

330
00:16:38,700 --> 00:16:42,000
not going to get his right and 
so here we go, verse 38. 

331
00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,100
And the fire of the Lord fell 
and consumed, the burnt offering

332
00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:48,800
and the wood, and the stones, 
and the dust, and it licked up, 

333
00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:50,100
the water that was in the 
trench. 

334
00:16:50,100 --> 00:16:52,900
And when all the people saw it, 
they fell on their faces and 

335
00:16:52,900 --> 00:16:56,300
said the Lord. 
He is God, the Lord, he is God 

336
00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,700
and you think Elijah was 
strutting when it didn't rain 

337
00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:05,000
bro. 
Can you imagine Fire from heaven

338
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:09,500
and it comes and it's fire is so
hot that it the water it looks 

339
00:17:09,500 --> 00:17:12,200
out the water. 
How does fire consume water 

340
00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:14,099
right and so it takes it and it 
burns. 

341
00:17:14,099 --> 00:17:18,000
All this stuff up and Elijah has
now shown that there is a God in

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00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,000
heaven and all of the people see
it. 

343
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,000
And this is the prospect of 
Prophecy that we love. 

344
00:17:23,099 --> 00:17:26,300
We want to be prophets like this
and everybody will see us and 

345
00:17:26,300 --> 00:17:28,300
they will come and they will 
fall down and they will know 

346
00:17:28,300 --> 00:17:30,100
that there is a God in heaven 
and I will be a part of it. 

347
00:17:30,100 --> 00:17:34,400
You're welcome. 
Lord, you some You in this room,

348
00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,400
maybe your story. 
Is you sent a child. 

349
00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,700
One of your kids to a VBS 
somewhere or to a Bible School 

350
00:17:40,700 --> 00:17:42,700
somewhere and your kid came 
back. 

351
00:17:42,700 --> 00:17:46,300
Just looking like Jesus. 
I just being kind and being a 

352
00:17:46,308 --> 00:17:48,200
humble, right? 
And I can't tell you as a pastor

353
00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,600
in 20 years, how many parents 
I've talked to, who the first 

354
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:55,000
encounter they had with? 
Jesus was a child, whose life 

355
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:56,800
was transformed. 
And that's the prophetic. 

356
00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,100
They live differently in front 
of the people. 

357
00:17:59,100 --> 00:18:01,800
And what Elijah was doing, was 
living differently in front of 

358
00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:03,300
his people where he says, I'm 
not worried. 

359
00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:05,500
About your rituals and not worry
about your routines. 

360
00:18:05,500 --> 00:18:07,500
I'm not worried about all of 
that stuff. 

361
00:18:07,500 --> 00:18:11,800
I believe in a God who is able 
to overcome even what I do. 

362
00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:15,000
So, the Lenten practices, I 
believe in a God who is able to 

363
00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:19,800
satisfy me, even when I don't 
eat enough, I'm able to face a 

364
00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:24,000
God who is able to satisfy me, 
even if I don't, whatever if I 

365
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,100
don't care for myself or 10 of 
myself or provide for myself or 

366
00:18:27,100 --> 00:18:31,300
put myself first, I serve a God 
who is able to look at me and 

367
00:18:31,300 --> 00:18:35,700
care for me and tend to me and 
that What we want and sometimes 

368
00:18:35,700 --> 00:18:39,500
it works out that way. 
Listen, sometimes you go through

369
00:18:39,500 --> 00:18:41,700
Lynn and someone invites you to 
lunch and just go man. 

370
00:18:41,700 --> 00:18:45,100
I'm giving up lunch for Lent and
I really can't and maybe some of

371
00:18:45,100 --> 00:18:47,500
those people will look at you. 
And they'll go, what's lent? 

372
00:18:48,100 --> 00:18:49,400
Tell me about that. 
Why are you doing it? 

373
00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,900
And you start talking about them
and maybe they unpack and they 

374
00:18:51,900 --> 00:18:54,100
start telling you their story 
and they start talking about an 

375
00:18:54,108 --> 00:18:56,300
experience they had with God or 
a knee that they had. 

376
00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,200
And sometimes the opportunity 
just opens up, I'll tell you, it

377
00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,600
can happen like that but 
sometimes it happens like this. 

378
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,800
You go to chapter, 19 and a have
told Jezebel all that Elijah had

379
00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,500
done and how he had killed all 
the prophets with the sword and 

380
00:19:08,500 --> 00:19:12,100
then Jezebel sent a messenger to
Elijah saying, May the gods do 

381
00:19:12,100 --> 00:19:15,100
to me and more. 
Also, if I do not make your life

382
00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,000
as the life of one of them by 
this time tomorrow morning. 

383
00:19:18,100 --> 00:19:21,800
In other words, this queen 
wasn't impressed by Elijah's 

384
00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:24,000
fire from heaven. 
And so she sent an email to 

385
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,600
Elijah and she says, when I see 
you, you're dead. 

386
00:19:30,100 --> 00:19:35,000
Now come on bro. 
Just called fire from heaven. 

387
00:19:35,500 --> 00:19:38,700
You think I'm worried about 
Jezebel and the prophets of 

388
00:19:38,700 --> 00:19:41,200
Baal, you think our Mike but 
listen we got to at least 

389
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,900
acknowledge and we got to at 
least contend with the reality. 

390
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,900
Not everybody is impressed by 
your ball of fire as everyone 

391
00:19:47,900 --> 00:19:50,300
else. 
You may fast for lunch and you 

392
00:19:50,300 --> 00:19:53,600
may give up who you met fast an 
entire day week, you may give up

393
00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:55,800
Facebook and all this and you 
may give up something and it may

394
00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:58,800
be nourishing your soul and 
you're feeling you give up and 

395
00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,200
you And you're talking to your 
friends about your Lenten 

396
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,600
journey and they make start, 
they may roll their eyes at you.

397
00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:08,600
They may think you're crazy. 
They might call you names, you 

398
00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:12,600
might hear holier-than-thou, 
they might call you a hypocrite.

399
00:20:12,900 --> 00:20:16,300
You're trying to show that the 
world can operate a man, doesn't

400
00:20:16,300 --> 00:20:18,700
live by bread alone, but by 
every word you're trying to show

401
00:20:18,700 --> 00:20:21,400
the goodness of the Lord and 
people will miss you and they 

402
00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,600
will get cranky and they won't 
understand you. 

403
00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:25,900
And they'll condemn you and 
they'll say all kinds of things 

404
00:20:25,900 --> 00:20:28,000
about you. 
And at that point, what do we 

405
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,400
do? 
Because the Reality is it 

406
00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:30,600
shouldn't matter? 
Should it? 

407
00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,800
If you just know you can like 
when the Lord tells you got what

408
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:36,700
you need and call down fire and 
he's provided. 

409
00:20:36,700 --> 00:20:39,400
Elijah story is just so good. 
You should go read all of it how

410
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,300
God had provided form, right? 
And so sometimes we feel like 

411
00:20:42,300 --> 00:20:47,400
God is done and sometimes when 
it gets really bad, what we do 

412
00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:51,100
is Verse 3, it says he was 
afraid. 

413
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,600
And he arose, and he ran for his
life. 

414
00:20:56,300 --> 00:21:00,600
And he came to Beersheba which 
belongs to Judah and he left his

415
00:21:01,100 --> 00:21:05,200
servant there. 
I mean there's lots of kind of 

416
00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:08,900
ways to look at this I could but
what I know, I don't know. 

417
00:21:08,900 --> 00:21:11,100
Like maybe he just looked. 
It was oh my gosh wolf of 

418
00:21:11,100 --> 00:21:13,700
Fireball won't save it. 
Like if something that audience 

419
00:21:13,700 --> 00:21:16,500
and big doesn't have maybe if it
won't work then then nothing I 

420
00:21:16,508 --> 00:21:18,300
haven't. 
Maybe he was mad at God. 

421
00:21:18,300 --> 00:21:19,800
Maybe not whatever but here's 
what I know. 

422
00:21:20,300 --> 00:21:22,600
Elijah had done everything that 
he could he seemed to have done.

423
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:24,600
Every single thing that he was 
asked to do. 

424
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:28,000
He had seen miraculous and 
mighty signs from God and it 

425
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:32,600
didn't have the impact and the 
effect that he wanted to and he 

426
00:21:32,700 --> 00:21:36,300
Afraid. 
And so listen, here's what I 

427
00:21:36,300 --> 00:21:40,100
love about the scripture. 
The people that had holds up are

428
00:21:40,100 --> 00:21:43,400
just like you and me, have you 
ever been afraid? 

429
00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:45,600
Have you ever run? 
Have you ever been angry? 

430
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,200
At God, have you ever prayed for
something and ask for something 

431
00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:50,700
and wanted for something and 
waited for something and believe

432
00:21:50,700 --> 00:21:54,900
like God was going to do it and 
said and shown and then didn't 

433
00:21:54,900 --> 00:21:57,800
happen. 
What do you get when you don't 

434
00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:00,700
get what you want, when you 
don't get? 

435
00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,000
Well, God had a as asking for. 
But here's the thing, this is so

436
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,100
important. 
As we talk about Lynn and this, 

437
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,100
this thing may change 
everything. 

438
00:22:08,300 --> 00:22:10,300
You, and for all of us, here's 
the idea behind lent because 

439
00:22:10,300 --> 00:22:12,700
we're given stuff up and it's 
important and we're fasting and 

440
00:22:12,708 --> 00:22:14,300
we're praying and we're doing 
all these things. 

441
00:22:14,300 --> 00:22:16,200
We're trying to be prophetic, 
but here's the deal. 

442
00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:21,100
You cannot speak for God and 
Advance your own agenda. 

443
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:25,000
There's this sense and Elijah. 
That what Elijah wanted to do 

444
00:22:25,100 --> 00:22:28,900
was win and it's easy to wrap it
up and go Elijah Elijah and I 

445
00:22:28,908 --> 00:22:31,700
want to win for your say, God I 
want to win, so you look good. 

446
00:22:31,700 --> 00:22:33,200
But at the end of the day, there
was something. 

447
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:37,000
Elijah where Elijah wanted one 
thing and God said, no and 

448
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,600
Elijah. 
Splits Liza runs. 

449
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,700
So if you have ever felt 
yourself running from God or 

450
00:22:43,700 --> 00:22:47,000
ignoring God, or turning the 
radio up, so you don't have to 

451
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:48,800
listen to the voices in your 
head. 

452
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,800
What I'm saying is you may be in
good company, you may be right? 

453
00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,500
And the place where something 
amazing is going to happen. 

454
00:22:55,500 --> 00:22:59,600
Because again, Elijah now is 
confronted with what do you do 

455
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:01,900
when you don't get what you 
want? 

456
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:06,200
So if the prophetic message of 
lint isn't and it isn't, are you

457
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,500
listening the message of Lent 
isn't If you give something up, 

458
00:23:09,500 --> 00:23:11,900
God will do whatever you want 
him to the message of Lent 

459
00:23:11,900 --> 00:23:13,500
isn't. 
If you give something up, God 

460
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,600
owes you somehow and and only 
good and righteous things are 

461
00:23:16,608 --> 00:23:17,600
coming. 
So, here's the question. 

462
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,400
Then why do we do it? 
Why would we want to do this? 

463
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:23,600
Right? 
What is prophetic about this 

464
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,700
message of Lent, right? 
Where we just say, hey between 

465
00:23:26,700 --> 00:23:29,400
this day and Easter, we're going
to say no to our flesh. 

466
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,400
Were going to say no to our 
desires and our appetites. 

467
00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:33,400
That something that's important.
And we're going to say no to 

468
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,100
that. 
Why would we do that? 

469
00:23:35,100 --> 00:23:37,100
What is the message, right? 
So here we go. 

470
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:39,600
Sorry. 
In verse 4, we're looking at 

471
00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:41,600
Elijah and Elijah himself after 
this, right? 

472
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,200
Do you know where he's at? 
Elijah himself went a Day's 

473
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:48,000
Journey Into the Wilderness. 
Real quick side note, man, a lot

474
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,400
happens in the wilderness, 
doesn't it? 

475
00:23:50,700 --> 00:23:53,100
Here's the thing, side note, 
this isn't the message with this

476
00:23:53,100 --> 00:23:55,600
is important for you. 
Some of you may find yourself in

477
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,600
a moment of wilderness and 
appeared of wilderness right 

478
00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,500
here where you just feel dry and
desiccated and emptying your 

479
00:24:00,500 --> 00:24:02,500
soul. 
And your question is Lord, why 

480
00:24:02,500 --> 00:24:04,800
have you forsaken me? 
I've been through seasons of 

481
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:07,500
wilderness my life and I just 
want you to know, it feels like 

482
00:24:07,500 --> 00:24:10,800
every That you take could be the
last one, but here's been my 

483
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:12,900
experience, my experience with 
the Lord. 

484
00:24:12,900 --> 00:24:15,900
But also, what I believe is in 
the scripture when we find 

485
00:24:15,900 --> 00:24:18,900
ourselves entering into a season
of wilderness, God is not taking

486
00:24:18,900 --> 00:24:23,600
things from us. 
He is calling us to himself, we 

487
00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:26,500
find God in the wilderness. 
The Apostle Paul got his 

488
00:24:26,500 --> 00:24:30,200
ministry in the wilderness, Adam
was created and the Wilderness. 

489
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,100
The people of Israel went into 
the Wilderness for 40 years to 

490
00:24:33,100 --> 00:24:35,500
find God, Jesus went into the 
Wilderness, we're gonna look at 

491
00:24:35,500 --> 00:24:38,100
that next week, a lot stuff 
happens in the world. 

492
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,200
And so, if you're in a season of
wilderness where just seems like

493
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,300
things won't grow, I want to 
tell you don't give up, don't 

494
00:24:44,300 --> 00:24:48,000
quit what the Lord may be 
challenging in you as this kind 

495
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,000
of sense of spiritual 
entitlement, right? 

496
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,900
Like if I'll do five minutes of 
hard labor, then the Lord must 

497
00:24:52,900 --> 00:24:53,900
do. 
What I said, he may be 

498
00:24:53,900 --> 00:24:56,400
disciplining that out of you. 
He may be showing you that what 

499
00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:58,800
he has for, you is better even 
than what you can conceive of. 

500
00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,300
But if you're in a Wilderness 
place, just know, you may be 

501
00:25:01,300 --> 00:25:02,600
right on the verge of something 
great. 

502
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,800
So Elijah goes into the 
Wilderness and he comes and he 

503
00:25:04,808 --> 00:25:08,800
sits down under a broom tree. 
And he's asks that he might Die.

504
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,500
And so listen what I want to 
tell you is if you're in here 

505
00:25:11,500 --> 00:25:14,100
and you're depressed or you're 
down or you're suicidal or you 

506
00:25:14,100 --> 00:25:17,300
thought about suicidal and the 
shame and guilt of that has 

507
00:25:17,300 --> 00:25:19,900
racked you or crushed you. 
Or maybe you've been in a place 

508
00:25:19,900 --> 00:25:22,600
that told you, that, that kind 
of perspective and mindset is 

509
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,500
unspiritual or unhealthy. 
What you can respond is, I'm 

510
00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:31,600
just like the Prophet Elijah who
said I've had enough, take my 

511
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:35,600
life, he prayed that God would 
take his life. 

512
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:40,400
I should put my finger, I was 
verse 5 and he laid down and he 

513
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,600
slept under a broom tree and 
behold an angel touched him and 

514
00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,100
said to him arise any and let me
just pause real quick and say 

515
00:25:47,100 --> 00:25:49,300
what I've said before and I'll 
say it again and I say this with

516
00:25:49,300 --> 00:25:52,300
the straightest face imaginable 
more than you can imagine, this 

517
00:25:52,300 --> 00:25:54,300
may be the truest thing that you
here today. 

518
00:25:54,500 --> 00:25:58,800
Sometimes the most spiritual 
thing that you can do is have a 

519
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:03,500
snack and take a nap. 
Because Elijah running from the 

520
00:26:03,500 --> 00:26:08,300
fear of the Lord was tired. 
It's exhausting, it's 

521
00:26:08,300 --> 00:26:11,200
exhausting, and so he stops. 
And what does the Lord dude and 

522
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,000
kick him in the ribs and go? 
What are we waiting for? 

523
00:26:13,300 --> 00:26:15,100
Well, you waiting for, you know 
the Lord. 

524
00:26:15,100 --> 00:26:18,300
Does he feeds him? 
And you know what he does? 

525
00:26:18,300 --> 00:26:23,700
Then Put some back to sleep 
because sometimes the most 

526
00:26:23,700 --> 00:26:28,200
spiritual thing you can do is 
take two naps because you're 

527
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:35,800
really, really, really tired. 
And so he goes in verse 7 and 

528
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,200
the angel of the Lord came again
a second time and touched him 

529
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:40,600
and said, arise and eat for the 
journey is too great for you and

530
00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,300
heroes and he ate, and he drank 
and he went in the strength of 

531
00:26:43,308 --> 00:26:46,200
that 40 days and 40 nights and 
Horeb the Mountain of God. 

532
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,000
And so, I went like one week 
without giving up my thing and I

533
00:26:49,008 --> 00:26:51,400
had to confront the Lord like 
Lord, I'm really hungry right 

534
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:52,900
now. 
I'm hungry for noise that will 

535
00:26:52,900 --> 00:26:56,000
drown out the voices in my head 
and I'm hungry in the Lord, just

536
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,300
lets me rest and just lets me 
stop and he lets me have piece, 

537
00:26:59,300 --> 00:27:00,600
right? 
But then we get up and we get 

538
00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,300
going and I try again and I try 
to take the noise away and I To 

539
00:27:03,300 --> 00:27:05,800
call myself and settle. 
And for 40 days, I'm going to do

540
00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:09,500
this and this rhythm of probably
failing and not getting up and 

541
00:27:09,500 --> 00:27:11,800
reimagining and going on. 
And what we come to find is that

542
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:16,000
lent is a long journey to 
discover The God, Who satisfies 

543
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,500
us because that's what's behind 
lent. 

544
00:27:18,500 --> 00:27:21,700
Do you know why I give up food? 
So I know that even when my 

545
00:27:21,700 --> 00:27:24,800
belly is hungry, my soul can be 
satisfied. 

546
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,000
Do you know why I give up noise?
So that I know that even when 

547
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,600
the voices in my head are loud 
and out of control, it's 

548
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,800
possible to wait. 
It out. 

549
00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:36,800
So last week in the message I 
said something dumb, I talked 

550
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:39,500
about the discipline of 
Simplicity and how neat that 

551
00:27:39,500 --> 00:27:41,200
would be. 
And I went home and I felt a 

552
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:42,800
nice red Lord's. 
It's like, well, you should just

553
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,800
like practice, what you preach? 
And I was like, that's dumb, I 

554
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:47,700
don't have to do that. 
I just tell them what to do and 

555
00:27:47,700 --> 00:27:51,700
I get to do whatever I want. 
I didn't really say that, but I 

556
00:27:51,700 --> 00:27:53,800
wanted to say it is what I was 
thinking is what I was feeling, 

557
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:55,200
right? 
And so you know what happens, I 

558
00:27:55,208 --> 00:27:58,800
walked in and I get home right? 
And I opened my t-shirt drawer 

559
00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:04,000
and I realized I have a problem 
because they just like, flew out

560
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,100
at me. 
And I realized something in this

561
00:28:06,100 --> 00:28:08,200
quest for Simplicity, this is 
going to sound dumb. 

562
00:28:08,300 --> 00:28:09,500
The try. 
This is my journey, right? 

563
00:28:09,500 --> 00:28:12,400
Don't like doing this is a 
significant part of me. 

564
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:17,600
Get some aspect of my identity 
from the guy who wears goofy 

565
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:22,500
t-shirts. 
I know I laughed at myself, but 

566
00:28:22,500 --> 00:28:28,400
I went and I laid 40, t-shirts 
out, and I spent hours agonizing

567
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:33,200
over which ones weren't 
important enough to keep So 

568
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,800
dumb, but I'm looking over this 
and good. 

569
00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:41,900
I gave away 15 t-shirts. 
I'm fine, it's fine, we're good,

570
00:28:41,900 --> 00:28:46,600
it's fine, right? 
But the question is, the 

571
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:48,000
question that I had to confront 
that moment? 

572
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,400
Am I? 
What I where am I? 

573
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,700
What you see in my that quirky 
46 year old guys, not afraid to 

574
00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:56,800
wear t-shirt or whatever, who am
I, right? 

575
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,400
And so, what I had to do the 
process of Lynn and the process 

576
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,200
of Simplicity, and that is like,
Lord, I'm gonna bet and I'm 

577
00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:05,100
going to take a risk that if I 
get away from these things. 

578
00:29:05,100 --> 00:29:08,000
And if I give away things that 
seem costly and important and 

579
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,300
significant to me, if I give 
those things away law. 

580
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,700
Would that I'll still have you 
and that somehow all still find 

581
00:29:13,700 --> 00:29:16,200
that all the things that I think
are going to die aren't gonna 

582
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:18,000
die. 
And guess what, I'm happy to 

583
00:29:18,008 --> 00:29:20,400
report that even though I gave 
away all those t-shirts, most of

584
00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:21,700
you still showed up this 
morning. 

585
00:29:21,700 --> 00:29:24,200
So thank you. 
You're like affirmation to me, 

586
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:28,900
that this is important, right? 
But here's the deal in Lent, 

587
00:29:28,900 --> 00:29:32,800
when we say no to things, right?
When we're giving up, t-shirts, 

588
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,600
or food, or music, or Sound or 
Facebook, or whatever it is, 

589
00:29:35,700 --> 00:29:40,700
what we are doing is we are de 
facto, rejecting all Those 

590
00:29:40,700 --> 00:29:44,100
things, we are rejecting the 
gospel of more because the whole

591
00:29:44,100 --> 00:29:47,400
world tells you you need more 
more money, more food, more 

592
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,900
clothes, more house, more car, 
more stuff, more people, more 

593
00:29:49,900 --> 00:29:53,600
friends, more approval, or 
whatever and Lynn says, no, I 

594
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:55,800
reject know. 
I'm Waking this baby up. 

595
00:29:55,800 --> 00:30:00,900
I'm so sorry. 
She's like Lentz says, I refuse 

596
00:30:00,900 --> 00:30:06,500
to play by rules that tell me. 
I must have more to be. 

597
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:08,000
Okay. 
So it says, I will intentionally

598
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,700
and deliberately do with less 
and you can Just expect your 

599
00:30:11,700 --> 00:30:15,200
heart to break, you can expect 
parts of you to bleed and suffer

600
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,400
and grief because it is hard 
because we get attached to our 

601
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:21,600
stuff. 
But the point of Lent is for us.

602
00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:23,000
To say when we look around our 
lives ago. 

603
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,300
Look, I've invested myself, and 
t-shirts, and jobs and food, and

604
00:30:26,300 --> 00:30:28,700
all of this stuff and we look 
around our life and we just go, 

605
00:30:28,700 --> 00:30:32,000
I don't feel like this is the 
promised land and here's what's 

606
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:36,700
importantly listening. 
The conclusion that we must draw

607
00:30:37,100 --> 00:30:40,300
is all of the stuff that I have 
accumulated it. 

608
00:30:40,500 --> 00:30:43,700
Cannot give me what I want, or I
would already have it. 

609
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:50,800
And so, what lent does is aligns
our lives with that reality. 

610
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,900
That what we seek is an out 
there to be accumulated? 

611
00:30:56,200 --> 00:31:00,300
It is a gift from the Lord and 
it is, in fact, the Lord 

612
00:31:00,300 --> 00:31:03,500
himself, right? 
See, that's what happens. 

613
00:31:03,500 --> 00:31:05,100
That's the prophetic Act of 
Lent. 

614
00:31:05,100 --> 00:31:07,700
The profits that the prophetic 
act that lent is when we go out 

615
00:31:07,700 --> 00:31:11,700
into the world, and we are 
pursuing This faction in ways 

616
00:31:11,700 --> 00:31:15,700
that the others can't or won't, 
right? 

617
00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,400
When we just say, no, I believe 
that God has goodness for me. 

618
00:31:20,100 --> 00:31:24,700
Even if I say no to that to sex,
drugs rock and roll food, 

619
00:31:24,700 --> 00:31:26,600
whatever, whatever it might be 
that we're putting out, right? 

620
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:29,200
When they just say, I don't have
to find my Identity or my person

621
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:34,800
or myself in that. 
So we have Elijah on his way to 

622
00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,800
the Mountain of God. 
That sounds good right? 

623
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:41,700
For 40 days and what allies is. 
On those 40 days is he's 

624
00:31:41,700 --> 00:31:43,700
practicing his practicing, his 
speech. 

625
00:31:43,900 --> 00:31:46,900
Now, you probably have a speech 
for God. 

626
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:52,900
I'm curious how many of you have
had the faith actually say your 

627
00:31:52,900 --> 00:31:56,400
speech to God. 
And for 40 days, Elijah goes and

628
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:59,000
he is practicing. 
And when he gets to verse 9, he 

629
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:01,300
tells him. 
Then he came to a cave and he 

630
00:32:01,300 --> 00:32:04,000
lodged in it and behold the word
of the Lord came to Elijah and 

631
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,800
he said to him, what are you 
doing here? 

632
00:32:06,900 --> 00:32:10,100
Elijah and let's say to use. 
What are you doing here? 

633
00:32:10,100 --> 00:32:13,700
Why are are you here today? 
What are you looking for? 

634
00:32:17,100 --> 00:32:20,500
And Elijah said, I have been 
very jealous for the Lord. 

635
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,900
The god of hosts for the people 
of Israel have forsaken, your 

636
00:32:24,900 --> 00:32:27,000
Covenant. 
They have thrown down your 

637
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,200
altars, and they have killed 
your prophets with the sword. 

638
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:36,400
And I even, I alone am left. 
Elijah goes to God, and knows 

639
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,100
God, I did. 
What you asked? 

640
00:32:38,700 --> 00:32:40,800
I went to Ahab, I prophesied, 
right? 

641
00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:43,700
I said that, it wouldn't rain. 
I stood on a mountain, thousands

642
00:32:43,700 --> 00:32:46,300
of people standing around me and
I pray that they would see you. 

643
00:32:46,300 --> 00:32:51,500
And they Get it and you let me 
down him feel like that you ever

644
00:32:51,500 --> 00:32:54,900
pray for the thing and get sick.
Anyway, you ever pray for the 

645
00:32:54,900 --> 00:32:58,200
Rays and get laid off. 
You ever pray for the spouse and

646
00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:00,900
five years into marriage? 
You go, I wish I had done it 

647
00:33:00,900 --> 00:33:03,400
different. 
I wish I had waited. 

648
00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,600
I wish. 
Have you ever just feel like 

649
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:11,500
God, let you down? 
Well, the prophetic response and

650
00:33:11,500 --> 00:33:16,500
lent, lent, reveals what we 
believe that God is like The 

651
00:33:16,500 --> 00:33:18,900
Elijah thought, what? 
I sometimes believe that God is 

652
00:33:18,900 --> 00:33:20,800
coin-operated. 
Like if you'll just put in the 

653
00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:22,400
right number of prayers or the 
right, the? 

654
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:24,900
Right number of spiritual 
disciplines and you can pretty 

655
00:33:24,900 --> 00:33:27,300
much make God do what you want 
within reason, right? 

656
00:33:27,300 --> 00:33:30,300
Like, you know, God's not going 
to, you know, automatic like 

657
00:33:30,300 --> 00:33:33,400
God's not going to give me a 
Ferrari, but he might give me a 

658
00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:35,600
nice parking space at HEB, 
right. 

659
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,600
And so this, what what happens 
is, as we go further down this 

660
00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,400
road as we say no to 
increasingly more and more 

661
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:43,800
things we begin to feel like, 
hey, I'm getting pretty 

662
00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:45,700
spiritual here. 
I'm doing pretty good. 

663
00:33:45,900 --> 00:33:49,000
And what it does is, it forces 
us content with what do we think

664
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:51,400
God has to do. 
Now that I'm fasting? 

665
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,400
Do we believe that God is 
obligated to me in some way 

666
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:58,100
because of what I do. 
Yes, I do. 

667
00:33:58,900 --> 00:34:01,900
I do, oh my Lord, I'm a pastor 
bro. 

668
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:04,400
I got start a church like we're 
buying buildings. 

669
00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:08,000
Lord you need me. 
Lord and Lords like, hmm, maybe 

670
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:13,000
less than you think. 
What do you think God is like do

671
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:16,199
you think God is angry? 
You think God is distant. 

672
00:34:16,199 --> 00:34:18,600
Do you think God is far away? 
Do you think that God looks at 

673
00:34:18,608 --> 00:34:21,699
your sacrifice? 
And says, it's not enough, it's 

674
00:34:21,699 --> 00:34:27,600
not enough. 
Listen, the worst message in the

675
00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,100
world. 
The church is given to people as

676
00:34:30,100 --> 00:34:33,000
the message that to be here. 
You have to be right all the 

677
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,500
time, that's not the message. 
There's nothing about that 

678
00:34:36,500 --> 00:34:38,699
message. 
That is anything like what Jesus

679
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:41,300
said, in fact, it's the opposite
of the message. 

680
00:34:41,300 --> 00:34:43,699
Jesus, entire Ministry was 
filled with people have been 

681
00:34:43,699 --> 00:34:46,600
passed over by the religious 
stuff because he wanted to give 

682
00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:49,100
them something new. 
Something that couldn't be 

683
00:34:49,100 --> 00:34:52,400
manipulated something that 
couldn't be coerced or taken by 

684
00:34:52,500 --> 00:34:55,600
force. 
He wanted to Give them himself 

685
00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:57,900
but we believe that God is like 
us. 

686
00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,300
That's the message in the 
garden. 

687
00:34:59,300 --> 00:35:04,000
We want a God, who is like us a 
God, who is easily manipulated 

688
00:35:04,100 --> 00:35:09,600
God who can be bought and sold 
or we want to God that we can 

689
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:14,100
manipulate What do you think God
is liking this season? 

690
00:35:15,300 --> 00:35:19,200
Is God a God who sees your need 
and is unmoved and unconcerned 

691
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,300
or do you see as your God? 
That you know, that he's a 

692
00:35:22,300 --> 00:35:24,400
watchmaker. 
God got the whole thing turned 

693
00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:26,500
on and start going. 
And now he's just checked out 

694
00:35:26,500 --> 00:35:28,200
and he's waiting for anybody to 
die and get there. 

695
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:30,800
So we can have the party. 
Where do you think God is like 

696
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:34,200
and this season because Elijah 
gives God his speech. 

697
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:40,300
Now, listen, Elijah speech was 
pretty accusatory, right towards

698
00:35:40,300 --> 00:35:43,100
God, you let me down. 
I'm the only one left God and 

699
00:35:43,100 --> 00:35:45,300
you're not helping me. 
I'm doing your work. 

700
00:35:45,300 --> 00:35:49,000
What I want to say is some of 
you, you may need to give God 

701
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,800
your speech today. 
Today, may be the day that you 

702
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:55,200
need to tell him all the things 
that you haven't been telling 

703
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:58,300
him because they're in there and
you're holding onto them and you

704
00:35:58,308 --> 00:35:59,900
may need here. 
So what does God say right? 

705
00:35:59,900 --> 00:36:05,600
This is how you know, right? 
What does God say, verse 11 And 

706
00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:07,700
God said, go out and stand on 
the mountain before. 

707
00:36:07,700 --> 00:36:09,600
Lord, you're like great, I'm 
gonna get a spanking. 

708
00:36:10,100 --> 00:36:12,900
God's about to just whack me 
with this right? 

709
00:36:13,100 --> 00:36:16,000
Go stand on the mountain and 
behold the Lord passed by, and a

710
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,900
great and strong wind tore, the 
mountains and broke in pieces 

711
00:36:19,900 --> 00:36:23,800
the Rocks before the Lord. 
My just ripping the cave apart 

712
00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:25,400
and can you imagine if you're 
Elijah right? 

713
00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:27,400
Like you're ducking from the 
rocks and shrapnel. 

714
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:30,000
You're like I'm about to get it 
guys about to destroy. 

715
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,700
He's he's about to blow up. 
Blow me up with this piece, 

716
00:36:32,700 --> 00:36:36,700
right? 
But the Lord was not in the wind

717
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,200
and after the wind an earthquake
came, you know, this is I'm 

718
00:36:40,208 --> 00:36:42,700
gonna fall, I'm gonna fall on 
the ground into the diner at the

719
00:36:42,700 --> 00:36:45,100
Lord wasn't in the earthquake. 
And after there's Quake, a fire,

720
00:36:45,100 --> 00:36:46,900
Elijah knew about the fire, 
right? 

721
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:49,800
He saw fire from down so down. 
Oh, this is where God is great. 

722
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:51,200
Yeah, gonna burn all the stuff 
forever. 

723
00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:55,900
And so the fire comes down. 
The Lord was not in the fire. 

724
00:36:59,300 --> 00:37:03,000
And when Elijah heard it, he 
rapped 08 Lord was not in the 

725
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:04,800
fire. 
And after the fire, the sound of

726
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:08,100
a low whisper the low whisper, 
we talk a lot about semantics, 

727
00:37:08,100 --> 00:37:09,500
right? 
Like Hebrew words, know that 

728
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:11,700
that low whisper? 
It seems like every time a new 

729
00:37:11,700 --> 00:37:14,100
translation of scripture comes 
out, they change this, right? 

730
00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:18,100
Some in the Old King James, it 
called a still Small Voice, some

731
00:37:18,100 --> 00:37:22,500
call it the sound of a gentle, 
whisper a silent whisper, right?

732
00:37:22,900 --> 00:37:25,200
I heard one translation that I 
write, the said it sounded like 

733
00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:28,900
the sound of sheer silence. 
Because what lent does? 

734
00:37:29,100 --> 00:37:32,500
It confronts us with what we 
think God is like and then it 

735
00:37:32,500 --> 00:37:37,000
confronts us with what he is, 
really like and it's so 

736
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,100
important. 
I'm so grateful that God showed 

737
00:37:39,100 --> 00:37:41,600
Elijah the wind and he showed 
him the earthquakes and he 

738
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:44,700
showed him the fire because 
Elijah was used to all of those 

739
00:37:44,700 --> 00:37:47,400
things. 
Wasn't he Elijah had seen the 

740
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:51,500
fire from heaven, Elijah had 
seen the big demonstrations and 

741
00:37:51,500 --> 00:37:53,700
what was the problem with the 
big demonstrations? 

742
00:37:53,700 --> 00:37:57,200
They didn't do what he thought 
they were going to do, did they?

743
00:37:57,900 --> 00:38:00,300
He thought if he could just get 
From having and everybody was 

744
00:38:00,300 --> 00:38:03,700
going a lot of people did and it
was great but not Jezebel and 

745
00:38:03,700 --> 00:38:06,100
didn't do it for her, right? 
And we could you go if I could 

746
00:38:06,100 --> 00:38:08,500
just get the miracle if I could 
just get the big check if I 

747
00:38:08,500 --> 00:38:10,700
could just get the Deliverance, 
I can just sit here and what I'm

748
00:38:10,700 --> 00:38:13,300
saying is Miracles are important
to their significant but they 

749
00:38:13,300 --> 00:38:16,000
don't do what we think they're 
gonna do. 

750
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:18,400
We don't do what we hope they're
going to do. 

751
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:22,000
And so Elijah goes to God with a
stinging amend and the stinging 

752
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:25,500
rebuke and you let me down and 
God shows all of the things that

753
00:38:25,500 --> 00:38:28,500
Elijah had seen before in the 
wind and the power and God 

754
00:38:28,500 --> 00:38:29,900
wasn't in those. 
And then I'll hide you goes. 

755
00:38:30,100 --> 00:38:32,300
God shows, hey, Elijah, how 
about we try something 

756
00:38:32,300 --> 00:38:35,700
different? 
Maybe I'm just the God who 

757
00:38:35,700 --> 00:38:37,500
doesn't yell at you. 
Elijah. 

758
00:38:37,500 --> 00:38:39,300
See, you think when God can get 
you? 

759
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:41,100
He just wants to yell at you, 
right? 

760
00:38:41,700 --> 00:38:47,200
God has every chance. 
And instead of yelling, he 

761
00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:51,900
simply stands with him at the 
cave or the entrance of the cave

762
00:38:51,900 --> 00:38:55,700
with earthquake and fire, 
debris, everywhere, and all 

763
00:38:55,700 --> 00:39:01,100
around and he is simply with him
simply in his presence. 

764
00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:04,200
This is so important for us 
because I don't know where Are 

765
00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:07,900
on your long journey towards God
but it is so important that we 

766
00:39:07,900 --> 00:39:12,400
really get this idea that when 
just because God doesn't answer 

767
00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:16,800
us, doesn't mean that he's weak.
And it doesn't mean that he's 

768
00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:20,200
checked out and it doesn't mean 
that he don't care, it doesn't 

769
00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:23,300
care and it doesn't mean that 
your prayer is an important to 

770
00:39:23,300 --> 00:39:25,000
him. 
What it means is he's not in the

771
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,200
fire and the wind and the worth 
girthquake and all that, he's 

772
00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:31,100
not in all those big things. 
He's in the quiet and he's in 

773
00:39:31,100 --> 00:39:34,500
the silence and he's sitting 
there still and Waiting but I 

774
00:39:34,500 --> 00:39:38,400
keep wanting to turn on that, 
dang radio and I keep wanting to

775
00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:41,300
drown out that sound. 
I want the fire and I want the 

776
00:39:41,300 --> 00:39:43,400
earthquake. 
I want the win because those are

777
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:45,600
flashy, and God says, I can do 
that. 

778
00:39:45,700 --> 00:39:50,000
I can have that, but I think 
what Elijah needed was rather 

779
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:52,800
just a God, who would be with 
him? 

780
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,200
And so what does God say now to 
Elijah? 

781
00:39:57,900 --> 00:40:01,900
And behold there came a voice to
him and he said again, what are 

782
00:40:01,900 --> 00:40:06,000
you doing here, Elijah? 
And Elijah hasn't changed his 

783
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:06,900
voice. 
Hasn't changed. 

784
00:40:06,900 --> 00:40:09,000
I have been very jealous for the
Lord. 

785
00:40:09,500 --> 00:40:13,200
The god of hosts for the people 
of Israel, have forsaken, your 

786
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,600
Covenant thrown down your 
altars, and killed your prophets

787
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:18,500
with the sword. 
And I even, I only am left and 

788
00:40:18,500 --> 00:40:20,500
they seek my life to take it 
away. 

789
00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:23,600
And you know what? 
God doesn't do here, he doesn't 

790
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:25,000
go Elijah. 
You're wrong. 

791
00:40:25,100 --> 00:40:27,400
Oh no lies, you. 
Misunderstood you all this. 

792
00:40:27,500 --> 00:40:28,400
You know what? 
He tells him. 

793
00:40:28,700 --> 00:40:34,300
Lord said go. 
Return on your way to the 

794
00:40:34,308 --> 00:40:37,300
Wilderness of Damascus. 
That's a 40-day journey that way

795
00:40:37,300 --> 00:40:39,100
and then an extra day on top of 
that. 

796
00:40:39,100 --> 00:40:41,800
You got a long, wait back wiser,
go. 

797
00:40:42,500 --> 00:40:44,100
And when you arrive you shall 
know. 

798
00:40:44,100 --> 00:40:47,600
Anoint hazael to be king over 
Syria and jehu the son of 

799
00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:49,200
nimshi. 
Ocean shall anoint. 

800
00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:52,400
To be the king over Israel and 
Elisha the son of shaphat of 

801
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:54,300
Abu. 
Mahalo you shall anoint to be 

802
00:40:54,300 --> 00:40:56,900
the prophet in your place and 
the one who escaped from the 

803
00:40:56,900 --> 00:40:59,800
sort of hostile shall Jay who 
put to death and the one who 

804
00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:02,700
escaped from The Sword of jehu 
shallow, Elijah put to death 

805
00:41:02,700 --> 00:41:06,000
yet, I will leave 7,000 in 
Israel. 

806
00:41:06,100 --> 00:41:09,600
All the knees that have not 
bowed to bail and every month 

807
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:12,100
that has not kiss that have 
mouth, that is not kissed him. 

808
00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:14,500
And God says Elijah, you're 
struggling. 

809
00:41:14,500 --> 00:41:17,600
You're lonely, you're afraid. 
You're all of those things, 

810
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:21,000
Elijah, and that is real, but 
Elijah, you don't know what 

811
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,100
you're talking about. 
You are not alone. 

812
00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:26,500
And so what he says to Elijah is
go, Elijah. 

813
00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:31,200
You are created to be a prophet,
go be a prophet. 

814
00:41:31,500 --> 00:41:33,800
When kings go, anoint prophets 
and all this. 

815
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:37,800
So what lent does is Lent 
returns us to our prophetic 

816
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:40,400
vocation? 
Do you remember in the garden? 

817
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:43,300
What we were created to do? 
We were created to stand between

818
00:41:43,300 --> 00:41:47,700
God and His creation and speak 
order into the chaos, to 

819
00:41:47,700 --> 00:41:51,400
multiply the goodness of 
creation at no point. 

820
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:55,300
Were we to sit down and our lawn
chairs and just nap while things

821
00:41:55,300 --> 00:41:57,200
grow wild. 
And in fact, when we find 

822
00:41:57,200 --> 00:41:59,000
ourselves getting in trouble, 
when we're standing around, 

823
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:03,100
Naval gating contemplating, the 
relative Worth of all the trees.

824
00:42:04,300 --> 00:42:06,500
And so what God says is Elijah, 
I hear you. 

825
00:42:06,500 --> 00:42:08,900
I have heard your complaints. 
I have heard your distress. 

826
00:42:08,900 --> 00:42:12,700
I know you Elijah things aren't 
what they seem right now. 

827
00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:16,800
Go do what you're supposed to 
do. 

828
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:18,900
Go be what you were supposed to 
be. 

829
00:42:18,900 --> 00:42:24,500
And what we as his people are 
not supposed to be, is driven by

830
00:42:24,500 --> 00:42:30,100
our appetites. 
We are not to be people who jump

831
00:42:30,100 --> 00:42:33,600
at everything that makes us feel
something, or think something, 

832
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:37,400
or Believe something. 
And what lent does is it puts 

833
00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:41,000
our money, where our mouth is it
chooses that thing that says, I 

834
00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:43,700
think this thing, maybe a 
hang-up for me and so what I'm 

835
00:42:43,708 --> 00:42:47,700
going to do is spend 40 days 
wrestling with that thing and 

836
00:42:47,700 --> 00:42:51,200
maybe I fail more than I win. 
Maybe I fail every single day 

837
00:42:51,300 --> 00:42:53,900
but by the end of forty days, 
I'm going to have taken a 

838
00:42:53,900 --> 00:42:57,100
journey with that to the Lord. 
See, that's what you got to do. 

839
00:42:57,100 --> 00:43:01,300
You can only take your journey, 
you can't wrestle with God. 

840
00:43:01,300 --> 00:43:03,700
The same way you can go home and
throw 15 t-shirt. 

841
00:43:03,900 --> 00:43:06,200
Away out of your drawer and it 
may not mean a single thing to 

842
00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:09,400
you because that's not your 
journey, but you do have a 

843
00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:13,400
journey and you have to wrestle 
with that and you have to find 

844
00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:16,800
God and that place and the way 
that he does that is by, when we

845
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:19,700
start saying, hey God is this a 
thing that's not the thing and 

846
00:43:19,700 --> 00:43:22,700
you said it out, there will be a
thing and it'll hurt and you 

847
00:43:22,700 --> 00:43:25,600
won't be able to go days or 
minutes without it. 

848
00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:28,600
And when that thing comes rather
than changing the topic and 

849
00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:33,400
changing the subject, what we do
is, we sit in that place and we 

850
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:36,500
let the Lord Lord love us until 
we understand it until we get it

851
00:43:36,500 --> 00:43:38,200
until we receive it. 
And you know what that does? 

852
00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:40,300
It flies in the face of 
everything that tells us we have

853
00:43:40,300 --> 00:43:44,300
to win this Christianity thing. 
It's not about winning it, it's 

854
00:43:44,300 --> 00:43:46,800
about being with Jesus, about 
being transformed and being 

855
00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:50,400
changed like him. 
And that takes a long, long 

856
00:43:50,500 --> 00:43:52,100
time. 
So, what we do is you take your 

857
00:43:52,100 --> 00:43:54,700
heart to the Lord, not to 
Twitter. 

858
00:43:56,200 --> 00:44:01,400
You know, what Elijah did is he 
accused God, God, you set me up,

859
00:44:01,700 --> 00:44:04,400
God, you told me to speak to the
king to the prophet. 

860
00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:07,300
You told me to speak to the 
powers that be and I did, and 

861
00:44:07,300 --> 00:44:09,400
you didn't do anything. 
So when you look around, wearing

862
00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:12,300
like whole world's going to hell
the Lord's like, yeah, but I got

863
00:44:12,300 --> 00:44:14,800
you. 
So we're okay and you're right, 

864
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:18,100
but I'm all alone and he's like,
you can't possibly know that 

865
00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:22,500
you're not possibly alone but 
you're not responsible for that 

866
00:44:22,500 --> 00:44:23,700
either. 
You're responsible for what I've

867
00:44:23,700 --> 00:44:25,800
called you to do. 
Have I called you to give up 

868
00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:28,400
now. 
Noise and sound or drink or food

869
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:32,600
or what my promise to you is the
Lord is never taken away 

870
00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:35,300
anything from you. 
That is better than what he 

871
00:44:35,300 --> 00:44:39,400
wants to give you. 
And take her vocation seriously 

872
00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:42,800
listen or about to move into a 
new neighborhood where people 

873
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:45,100
don't know us and they don't 
know what we're about and they 

874
00:44:45,100 --> 00:44:48,100
don't know what we're like. 
And my guess is in a very short 

875
00:44:48,100 --> 00:44:50,700
while there may be more of them 
than us. 

876
00:44:50,700 --> 00:44:54,000
And the Temptation is going to 
be to just blend in and move in 

877
00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:56,700
or the greater Temptation. 
Made it be to start to get a 

878
00:44:56,700 --> 00:44:59,000
little disgruntled, a little 
bothered, a little bit worried 

879
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:01,100
about what all these new people 
are coming and what we want to 

880
00:45:01,108 --> 00:45:03,600
say is we have prayed for these 
new people. 

881
00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:07,300
These are the people that the 
Lord has done, but listen, if 

882
00:45:07,300 --> 00:45:10,500
you love River City because of 
the spirit, if you love River 

883
00:45:10,500 --> 00:45:12,500
City because of the kindness. 
And because of the grace, you 

884
00:45:12,508 --> 00:45:17,100
need to know the reason that 
exists is because this because 

885
00:45:17,100 --> 00:45:18,800
of you. 
So my encouragement to you is 

886
00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:22,300
don't get overwhelmed when the 
hordes of masses come and they 

887
00:45:22,300 --> 00:45:24,800
complain and they cry and they 
Grumble and they take all the 

888
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:28,100
good parking spots and they take
your senior far just know, the 

889
00:45:28,100 --> 00:45:31,100
Lord has called us to this. 
And so we stand on what the Lord

890
00:45:31,100 --> 00:45:33,500
has called us. 
We stand as a prophetic, witness

891
00:45:33,500 --> 00:45:37,400
to the goodness of the Lord, 
when we do what God has called 

892
00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:38,800
us. 
Us to do. 

893
00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:41,800
We see his fruit, we see his 
life and so far we haven't seen 

894
00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:43,200
the building that can contain 
it. 

895
00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:48,500
And so we say, Lord. 
Restore us to our vocation in 

896
00:45:48,500 --> 00:45:50,600
this world of bring order to the
chaos. 

897
00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:56,100
Jesus make us like you give us 
your spirit. 

898
00:45:56,100 --> 00:45:59,000
So I pray for those today who 
maybe feel disillusioned or 

899
00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:01,900
disgruntled, feel like you've 
let him down or you've baton 

900
00:46:01,900 --> 00:46:04,400
switched and you've promised 
they haven't delivered and 

901
00:46:04,400 --> 00:46:06,700
whatever. 
And Lord, I pray that today that

902
00:46:06,700 --> 00:46:10,800
your ear would be absolutely 
filled up with the stories of 

903
00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:13,400
your from your people that we've
been carrying around. 

904
00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:17,500
I pray that by the end of the 
day, your people at River City 

905
00:46:17,500 --> 00:46:21,900
will be completely divested of 
their grumbling and we will have

906
00:46:21,900 --> 00:46:25,600
heard from you or maybe you just
want us to wait to hear from 

907
00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:29,300
you. 
I pray that we would But I pray 

908
00:46:29,300 --> 00:46:31,800
father that we would take up 
this invitation to be a 

909
00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:34,100
prophetic witness in the world, 
and it's not about whether we 

910
00:46:34,100 --> 00:46:36,600
eat meat or listen to our are 
pods. 

911
00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:40,700
It is about whether we hear the 
voice of our very good God. 

912
00:46:41,000 --> 00:46:46,000
Crying out in the wilderness, 
May we be your people, Jesus 

913
00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:52,100
thoroughly satisfied, in you 
forgive us for filling our 

914
00:46:52,100 --> 00:46:56,700
bellies and our hearts with less
than fill us with you. 

915
00:46:56,700 --> 00:47:01,400
Jesus, that we may be satisfied 
and I pray that the world would 

916
00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:04,400
see how good is our God who 
loves us so well. 

917
00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:08,600
Jesus. 
We ask these things because we 

918
00:47:08,600 --> 00:47:13,700
love you because we need you and
because you alone are worthy and

919
00:47:13,700 --> 00:47:15,400
you alone have the authority to 
make it. 

920
00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:20,200
So Amen, thank you for joining 
us today. 

921
00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:23,400
River City Church is all about 
experiencing and expressing 

922
00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:25,200
God's love in our lives and 
community. 

923
00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:28,800
And we hope that you've been 
able to experience that today as

924
00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:30,400
grateful. 
As I am, that you've spent this 

925
00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:33,900
time, listening in this morning,
this podcast is no substitute 

926
00:47:33,900 --> 00:47:36,400
for full participation in a 
local church. 

927
00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:39,900
I love it when River City people
listen to other pastors, but it 

928
00:47:39,900 --> 00:47:42,900
is those who show up week after 
week Faithfully, giving their 

929
00:47:42,900 --> 00:47:45,900
support and time and resources, 
that make all of this possible 

930
00:47:46,400 --> 00:47:48,900
if we can help. 
Get connected to a local church.

931
00:47:49,100 --> 00:47:51,400
Pray for you or support you in 
any way. 

932
00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:54,100
Click the link in the 
description and let us know if 

933
00:47:54,100 --> 00:47:56,200
you'd like to financially 
support the ministry of River 

934
00:47:56,200 --> 00:47:58,000
City. 
Click the give link on our 

935
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:01,100
website in the description. 
Don't forget to subscribe, and 

936
00:48:01,100 --> 00:48:02,900
don't forget to share this with 
your friends. 

937
00:48:03,100 --> 00:48:06,000
Thanks so much for listening. 
May the Lord bless, and keep you

938
00:48:06,000 --> 00:47:48,900
in all Grace and peace. 
Get connected to a local church.

939
00:47:49,100 --> 00:47:51,400
Pray for you or support you in 
any way. 

940
00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:54,100
Click the link in the 
description and let us know if 

941
00:47:54,100 --> 00:47:56,200
you'd like to financially 
support the ministry of River 

942
00:47:56,200 --> 00:47:58,000
City. 
Click the give link on our 

943
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:01,100
website in the description. 
Don't forget to subscribe, and 

944
00:48:01,100 --> 00:48:02,900
don't forget to share this with 
your friends. 

945
00:48:03,100 --> 00:48:06,000
Thanks so much for listening. 
May the Lord bless, and keep you

946
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:07,500
in all Grace and peace.