November 24, 2024 • 61 mins
Don’t let the disappointment of this season cause you to quit growing and relying on God. Have a funeral for your expectations, leave it with God, and let Him open your eyes to what’s next.
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Scripture References:
Luke 24, verses 13-35
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.
Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
I want to give you this in obedience to the
Holy Spirit. One time in college, I was feeling like
I wasn't worthy to worship the Lord.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
And we went in a meeting and everybody was worshiping,
and I felt just so dry inside. And the reason
I felt dry is because of the things that I
was dealing with.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
And I just bring it down a little bit. I
want to tell them this.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I was dealing with some things that I thought made
me unworthy to worship God. So you know, three or
four songs had gone by, and I couldn't lift my hands.
They felt heavy, and I couldn't open my mouth because
I felt like a hypocrite.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
You ever felt like that before?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Just heavy with burdens or maybe the hypocrisy of the
things that you struggle with.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
So you kind of hesitate because you're heavy. You hesitate
because you feel like a hypocrite, and.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Boy, the Lord gave me something in that moment that
really changed my life. And this has been over twenty
five years ago, but I still remember it. I was
just trying to pray and I was like, Lord, I
don't feel worthy to worship. I don't feel like I
deserve to worship.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And it was as if.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
The Holy Spirit whispered to me. After I said I
don't deserve to worship. I don't deserve it, he said back,
so what I do. So that was a shift for
me because it went from what I deserve to what
he deserves. And if you can just make that shift,
(01:39):
you know, I know, we're moving into that time of
the year where everybody's preaching at you about an attitude
of gratitude and how you're supposed to be grateful when
you've got to be with all those people just a
few days from now and then see them again three
weeks later at Christmas.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
You know, all the tension and the stress that we
don't mention.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Okay, y'all are going to fake, fake, fake me out
in church today, like you're looking forward to seeing everybody,
But even just the stress of the season, it can
put you in a place of pressure and maybe even
the fulfilled potential of the year where you feel like man,
I fell short of so many things. None of that
changes what God is worthy of. And so even if
(02:18):
you don't feel grateful, gratitude can be a focus before
it's a feeling, and that would just be so powerful
for you to get sixteen years old, if you would
get that at age sixteen, Nothing you ever do changes
how worthy God is.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
So the heavier your hands feel, lift them higher. That's
called a sacrifice of praise. When you feel like you're
a hypocrite, reach out for him. He's righteous, he's holy.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
You've never needed him more than you need him in
those moments you didn't even make it to church.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
You're at home watching this. Lift your hand, say scare
your roommate and.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Tell him God is worthy. Hug my praise. Clock those
same hands. He's worthy, Hug my praise just like you
want to slap the devil.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Clock those hands, because He's still worthy of all my praise.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
High five to seven people say he's so worthy, he
deserves it.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And when you gave out all your high fives, clap
your hands for Jesus one more time, come up.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
For Jesus High, say Clopas for.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
Jesus, I love my job man.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I get to encourage you and speak truth to you.
And today we are going to encounter a very interesting
story scripture, maybe one of the weirdest things Jesus ever did,
and it comes toward the very end of his earthly ministry.
Now notice I said earthly ministry, because he's still ministering.
(04:14):
Jesus didn't stop healing when he went to heaven. Jesus
didn't stop saving when he went to heaven. Jesus didn't
stop delivering and breaking chains and making ways when he
went to heaven. In fact, he said one time, if
I leave, greater things will be possible because of the
Holy Spirit who I will send in my name. But
(04:34):
after Jesus was resurrected from the dead, on the day
he got up from the grave, he did something so strange,
and I want to share it with you today.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Found in Luke chapter twenty four, verse thirteen.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Through thirty five. We won't read all of that. If
you're doing the math, we won't read all of that.
But I wanted to give you the homework as well,
because when the sermon is over, then you can begin
to live it out Luke, Chapter twenty four, verse thirteen.
(05:07):
And if you haven't found it by now, we're just
gonna do it on the screen. The Bible says, Now
that same day, two of them were going to a
village called Amaeus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were
talking with each other about everything that had happened.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
And as they talked and.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up
and walked along with them. Tell your neighbor, you can't
see him, but he's with me. Come on, tell him again,
Say be nice to me.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Jesus is with me today.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
He was with me in the car when I was
cussing people out getting into the parking lot. He'll be
with me when I leave. Just because you're not aware
doesn't mean he's not there. Now, remember that Thursday, around
the table, Jesus slipped up beside them, and it says
(06:10):
in verse sixteen in the strange but they were kept
from recognizing him. Wow, you would think they would know
who Jesus was at this point.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Very important public figure. He's just been the.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Central character of a targeted investigation which led to his
execution in the most public space possible in front of thousands,
and they were kept from recognizing him, and he asked them.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I love Jesus. What y'all talking about?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Jesus said, y'all, Jesus was very southern in his saferness.
What are you discussing together as you walk along? And
they stood still, their faces downcast. And now we see
how sad they really are about the fact that Jesus
was crucified. And so they stood still, their faces downcast,
and one of them, named Cleophus, asked him, are you
(07:05):
the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the
things that have happened there in these days?
Speaker 1 (07:11):
What things? He asked, Jesus is just so cool? What
things they're talking about?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
The things he just went through, and he's pretending like
he doesn't know about it. What things about Jesus of Nazareth.
He is who they're talking about, and they don't know it.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
About Jesus of Nazareth, they replied, he's a prophet, powerful
in word, indeed before God and all the people, the
chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be
sentenced to death.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
And they crucified him. But we had hoped that he
was the one who was going to redeem Israel. What's more,
it was the third day since this took place. In addition,
some of our women amazed us. They went to the
tomb early this morning, but they.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Didn't find his body.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Can you hear just a hint of irony in this narrative?
They didn't find his body.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Wonder what that means.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
They came and told us they had seen a vision
of angels who said he was alive. Then some of
our companions went to the tomb and found it just
as the women had said, But they did not see Jesus.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Wait, who didn't see Jesus them?
Speaker 5 (08:25):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Because he's right here with you, but you don't see
him for who he is. And this next verse might
sound harsh, but it came from Jesus, so take it
up with him. And this is my central two verse
scripture for today. He said to them, how foolish you are,
and how slow.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
To believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not
the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter
his glory?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
How foolish you are, and how slow.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
To believe all that the prophets have spoken. How foolish
you are and slow to believe all the prophets have spoken.
Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and
then enter his glory?
Speaker 1 (09:12):
I want to give you a word today.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Turn to your neighbor and say, I know you've lost
some things.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
I know it.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Looks like it's over. Now here's the word. Tell them,
don't let the funeral fool you.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Come on, wake up and tell them again. Say don't
let the funeral fool you. This is the word of
the Lord. Don't let the funeral fool you.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
I don't know who this is for, but don't let
the funeral fool you. No matter how much you've cried,
Christ is alive. What a message for Christmas season. Emmanuel
is still with us.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Don't let the funeral fool you. Well, I've already preached,
but sit down and let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
We've all had experiences, literally, if not metaphorically, of funerals
that were disingenuous with good intentions. When I say disingenuous
with good intentions, I'm simply saying.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
That what they say about the person after they're dead.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Really has very little resemblance to how they felt about
them when they were alive.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And you know that's true.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
We've all been to that funeral where we wanted to
check in the casket and wonder, is this the same person.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
That you hated so much that you just spoke so
eloquently about.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
And I understand that in a season that brings up
memories of those that we love and have lost, even
using the word funeral might locate you in a dark place.
But I don't mean for it too, because the truth
of the matter is that everybody in here is going
through a funeral of some kind. And we are not
(11:17):
just saying goodbye to people in our lives, but sometimes
we're saying goodbye to.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Seasons that we love.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I try to be attentive to the season that I'm
preaching in, and I think that the leaves that were
falling from all of the trees this week just reminding
me that the branches will soon be bare, but not forever.
It reminded me of the cyclical nature of the things
that we come to depend on in our lives, and
(11:44):
that those trees that are naked now will come to
be covered again. Just take this in for a moment.
I want to start slow because I want to get
you to understand that sometimes you rush right past the
revelation and that God wants to.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Give you because you only recognize what is being taken away. So,
in the.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Spirit of full disclosure, when my dad went to be
with the Lord about ten years ago, it was at
the end of a very difficult season.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Of us relating to one another.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
But my mom stepped in and did the right thing
and took care of him until he died, and he
was suffering from als and it was a.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Very brutal death.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Now, I would love to tell you that I was
an amazing son through all of this, and I was
the best son I could have been then. But I've
grown now, and looking back on the path that our
relationship traveled, I'm pretty sure there are many things that
I could have done better, and yet I refused to
(12:52):
stay imprisoned in the regret of what I could have
done differently.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I would rather move forward with the lessons that I
I learned for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
And one of the things that my dad kept saying
over and over again when we were fighting and we
couldn't get along, he kept saying, it can't end like this.
And I felt him on that you know, it can't
end like this. It can't end with us estranged, and
it didn't. I often tell the story about the craziest
thing that ever happened to me. I was preaching the
(13:26):
nine thirty service, and I used to preach three times
on the weekend, Saturday night, nine thirty eleven thirty. But
after I finished the nine thirty, something told me to
go see my dad.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Now, this was so out of the ordinary for me.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Josh can tell you When I told him I'm leaving now,
he said, you're leaving. It's only nine thirty. You still
got the eleven thirty. I said, run back to the nine thirty.
At the eleven thirty, I'm supposed to go see my dad.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
And he said okay.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And when we went to my dad's house, it was
as if God had perfectly timed it because he was
laying in the bed. Now he could still speak at
this point, he hadn't lost his ability to think or speak,
and he could.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Still say a lot of stuff, good stuff and bad stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And when I walked in, he was watching me step
up to the stage to preach, and he was so confused.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
By that because he said, wait, how are you here?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And there.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I said, the internet, Dad, It's called the internet. It's
the one I preached before.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
And he said, uh, but you're you're there and you're here,
and I said, I know, it's confusing. I decided to
leave early to come watch the sermon with you. And
I couldn't have known, no way I could have known
that when I left him that day after watching myself
preach with him, well, I was supposed to be preaching
somewhere else, that I would get a call at midnight
(14:49):
from my mom saying, you need to come. If you're
coming hospicet, he only has a few more hours. And
he hung on for days after that. And I'm telling
you this story, and I don't really I want to
tell it to you, but I feel like it might
help somebody because I think about how it could have ended.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Had my mom not forgiven him.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I think about how it could have ended had we
not dropped our pride and come together for a purpose.
I think about what the last conversation with him could
have been, because I had no idea it.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Was the last one.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
But I'm thankful that the last time we talked, it
was me obeying God to come and preach the best
sermon that I ever preached that nobody heard which was
a message of reconciliation that happened after a time of
great strain. I never got to speak to him again.
(15:43):
I got to be by his side when he died
several days later, because he completely faked us out and
acted like he had a few hours and he stayed
around a few days, and I sang so many hymns
to him. I ran out of songs about God, and
I had to start singing Tom Petty and Whody and
the Blow and everything I knew on the guitar. But
(16:04):
it took me back, and I want to get to
this passage in just a moment. But I felt compelled
to frame it first of all from a relational frame
because at the beginning of all of my difficulties with
my dad, and how many of you raise a pinky
at me if this is you have a relational tension
in your life right now that will surface around this
time of year. Just your pinky, Okay, wiggle your toes.
(16:30):
I know you're sitting next to him. You can't do
the pinky thing. Wink at me, scratch your right ear,
pull on the left load. When it all began with
my dad, I spoke with a very wise friend and
I was afraid of how it would end, and we're
going to talk about that, how it will end. I
(16:52):
was so afraid of how it would end. In that moment,
I didn't know if my dad would kill himself. He
had threatened that. I didn't know if he wouldn't speak
to us us. That was certainly a possibility. And my
wise friend said something to me that I've lived by
ever since. He said, Stephen, you can't control the outcome
(17:14):
of his decisions, but you can adjust your expectations in
this situation. He said, I know your dad is still living,
but you need to have a funeral for your expectations,
because you keep expecting him to act a certain way,
(17:35):
and every time he doesn't.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Act that way, you lose your faith. You keep expecting
him to act a certain way. And every time that you.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Put your picture of how he is supposed to be
and how this is supposed to be on a pedestal,
every time you elevate that, you set yourself up to
be let down, and you are let down over and
over and over again because of your expectations of the relationship.
So he said, have a funeral for your expectations. And
(18:10):
then when I had a physical funeral for my dad.
Years later, there had already been a funeral before the
funeral for the expectation of what I thought he should do.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
But I found out when you have a.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Funeral for your expectations, God replaces them with grace. When
you have a funeral for your expectations of how your
kids need to turn out, God will give you grace
to raise them and stop comparing to others. When you
have a funeral for your expectations of where you're supposed
(18:47):
to be at this point in your life, God will
give you grace to accept where you are on the
way to where you're going.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Every thirty four year old in this room is not
created equal. Some of you will bloom leg and your
branches will reach wide.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
But it is having a funeral for the expectation of
when the bloom needs to occur that allows the roots
to grow down deep enough to sustain the structure that
will accommodate the fruit. I'm trying to say that God
is not through with you yet.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
God is not through with you yet. God is not
through pruning your branches yet. But every pruning.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Process in the hands of the master gardener that we
call God is designed.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
To produce fruit in the future that your eyes.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Have not seen, and your ears have not heard, and
it has not entered into your heart. So why would
you preach about a funeral on Thanksgiving? Why, Pastor Stephen,
would you preach an Easter sermon a few weeks before Christmas?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Because the Lord told me to.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
He told me that a lot of us in this
room are like these two men in this passage, Cleaphus
and his buddy, who are leaving Jerusalem after the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ headed back home to a place called Amaeus.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Amaeus is not a famous place.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Amais is not even technically known by archaeologists today.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
As to its it's that back it's exact location.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
But the thing about Amais that I do understand for
these two men is it's the only place they know
to go.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
It's the only place they know to go. It's home
for them.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
And they're walking there, and they're talking as they walk
about their deep disappointment in what didn't happen, in what
didn't happen, their deep disappointment in what Jesus didn't do.
There are a few honest people in this church who
(20:54):
are not so concerned with showing you their haylo, that
they will wave at me right now and say, there
are some things in my life that I am disappointed
that haven't happened yet that were supposed to happen by now.
And this is the situation in Luke twenty four, when
(21:15):
all of a sudden a stranger begins to walk beside them.
You say, he wasn't a stranger. He was the Savior,
not as far as they knew, not as far as
they understood. You know, you think when God shows up
in a situation, it's going to be immediately obvious that
it's him because you already have an idea of what
(21:36):
He's going to do when he shows up.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
You know, when God shows up.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
When God turns this around, I am going to know
it because I have a list of what he's supposed
to do. And when God does what he's supposed to do,
I'll know it's him. But suppose that God knows what
he is supposed to do better than you know what
he's supposed to do.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
For everybody who struggles with us.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Suppose that God knows what you're supposed to have more
than you know what you're supposed to have.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
For everybody who struggles with insecurity.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Suppose that God knows what you're supposed to be good
at more than you know what you're supposed to be
good at.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Suppose God knows.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
What you don't need that you keep trying to create
and fake like you have. Suppose that God knows what
schedule is supposed to be happening even as you stress
over how far behind you feel. Suppose that God brought
you here today to have a funeral for the way
you thought it was supposed to go. And I know
(22:40):
we're supposed to be thankful in this season, and I
know we're supposed to be grateful, and I know we're
supposed to eat macaroni, But what if before the macaroni?
And I'm going to eat macaroni. I only eat macaroni
twice a year. I'm going to start the day with
Bojangles and Chick fil A biscuits. I'm gona half sweet,
(23:04):
I'm gonna have savory. I'm gonna find a sour biscuit too.
I'm gonna eat every biscuit that God ever made.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Watch me work this thing.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
I'm gonna have an eight thousand calorie day on Thursday,
and I'm gonna feel no shame about it. Y'all pray
for me about three am Friday morning, because you'll know.
I'm suffering the effects of all of my premeditated bad decisions,
and I.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Don't feel bad about it.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Now does your neighbors say I don't feel bad about it?
Speaker 1 (23:34):
That had nothing to do with anything.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Except suppose God knows before the situation happens the ends
to which he intends to use it. I feel so
annointed to tell somebody today, you don't know how it's
supposed to go.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
You don't and you don't even know when it's over.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Okay, So the band helped me and they didn't even
realize it. Today we were singing a song that says,
that's why I owe you praise. Y'all love that song, Chandler.
They don't love it too much. Give you another chance
so we don't feel bad. Y'all love that song that
me and Chandler and Kristin John Shrow. When I listen,
(24:29):
I wrote the song with them, but I was confused
about when the song was over. As a matter of fact,
there are so many different parts to that song that
I kept thinking it was time for me to preach
because of the last song before the sermon.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
So I kept getting ready to come out on the
stage to preach. You know, I was preparing what I
was gonna say.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Give him praise, whatever I was gonna say, and I'm
getting it ready. But every time I went to come out,
they did another part. And so I was like, all right,
I'll wait thirty seconds cause I'm fired up to get
out here. I'm ready get going up and studying all
week on pre j right now, and I'll get ready
to come around the corner. And they start another part
and another part and another part, and they just kept
(25:08):
on prison and I just kept on waiting, And even
though I wrote it, I didn't know when it was
going to be over. I mean, technically that's my song,
but even in my own song, there was more to
come that I did not know about while I was
(25:29):
waiting backstage.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
And I know it's your life, and I know it's
your marriage, and I know it's.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Your business, but you don't get to say when it's over.
You don't you don't get to say when you're done giving.
There was one man in Scripture who had so much
stuff he decided to build bigger barns to accommodate all
of his extra grain. But the Lord said, you fool,
This life, this life that you claim for your own,
(25:59):
will be the means, and it from you this very night.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Then who will get.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
What you have prepared? Because when you stop giving, you
stop living. You don't get to tell God when you're
done giving him your life. You don't get to tell
God when you're done being generous. You don't get to
tell God when you're done trusting people. You don't get
(26:24):
to tell God.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
When your heart is so broken you can't go on.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Because these two men in the scripture are leaving Jerusalem,
leaving the place of Jesus's funeral, which is also the
place of his resurrection, but they don't know that yet.
(26:48):
It's the place of his death, but it's also the
place of his greatest demonstration, but they don't know that yet.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
I wonder what you don't know yet.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
I wonder what Jesus has already done that you don't
even know yet. I wonder who he's already spoken to
on your behalf that you don't know yet. I wonder
who's moving to Charlotte right now to be your wife
that you don't know about yet. I wonder about who
he's moving out of their position in the job so
(27:19):
you can have the job you've been praying for that
you don't even know yet. I wonder who's moving out
of that house so you can move in that you
don't even know about yet. I wonder what he's preparing
you to share at AA that somebody else needs to
be set free.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
That you don't even know about yet.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
I wonder what kids you're gonna have on your knees
one day that you don't even know about yet. I
wonder what praise you're gonna be giving him next November
that you.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Don't even know about yet.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
I just thought of something, y'all.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Let's give this November a name. You ready, let's call it?
How can we call it? He got no shave November?
What else they got? How about don't know November?
Speaker 2 (28:15):
I like it. It's got a good ring to it,
don't know November. Because they're telling you you're supposed to
be thankful, But how can I be thankful when I
don't know how it's gonna turn out?
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Well, this is don't know November.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
How am I supposed to praise him in advance for
a way that I don't know how he's gonna make.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
It's don't know November.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
How are you supposed to praise him when you don't
even know where the supply is gonna come from. See
back in September, I didn't praise him, But I'm.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
In a different season.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Now.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
This is don't know November. This is don't know. But
he's still worthy. He's working on it right now. November. Yeah,
you know, I don't know. Tell your neighbor. I don't know.
And I love how Jesus.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
I watched this, y'all said, now let me teach you.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Jesus walks up and walks with.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Them, even though everybody said, even though they are headed
in the wrong direction, that'll blow your mind. They are
leaving Jerusalem at the very moment that the resurrection is validated.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
I mean, this is the.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Moment when they should be celebrating, and they're sad because
they don't believe. Jesus said that I didn't. He said,
how foolish you are and slow to believe all that
was spoken about the Messiah, that he had to suffer
first and then enter into his glory. So I remember
(29:52):
when I first heard the sermon that I.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Need to follow Jesus. I don't remember hearing the sermon
where Jesus followed me. This is that sermon.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
This is that moment in your life when you couldn't
follow him any farther forward, when you couldn't hear his
voice clearly, and he followed you away from Jerusalem. Remember
he would tell the disciples to stay in Jerusalem, but
when they strayed from where they were supposed to be
(30:28):
staying in.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
He went with them.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
This is a different perspective on praise, because now I'm
not praising God for all the times that I followed him,
when I did what I was supposed to do, when
I thought what I was supposed to think. I'm praising
God for all the times that.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
I went away and He followed me. Now they're going
to clip this on the internet. They're gonna clip this.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Somebody's going to say this is heresy to say that
Jesus follows us. We don't have a God who follows us.
We follow him, and I understand that. I understand that
he's God and we're not. I understand that it's his ways,
not my ways. I understand all of that. I also
understand that I am not always fully capable of doing.
Speaker 6 (31:17):
It right, and I need a Jesus who When I
don't follow him, he says, fine, fool, I'll.
Speaker 7 (31:27):
Follow you, and I'll follow you, and I'll talk with you,
and i'll walk with you.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
And Jesus says, I'll even ask you questions that I
already know the answer to. What things? Somebody say, what things?
That's what Jesus said. He said, you're talking about the
things that have happened. What things fill me in?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Now we have a savior who's worthy to be followed,
a savior who never needs to be filled in following
people who he's asking to fill him in.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
What is happening in this text? This is a complete
reversal from.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
The way that we expect God to operate in our lives.
And yet all of the honest ones in this room
will know that the praise that hits the deepest is
from the realization of all of the times when you
were three miles away from Jerusalem, four miles away from Jerusalem,
five miles away from Jerusalem. Some of you won't admit it,
(32:29):
but you are just one more fight away from drinking again.
Some of you won't admit it, but you are just
one more fight away from leaving all together. Some of
you won't admit it, but you have been so close
to going off.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
The deep end.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Oh, it would surprise everybody sitting around you if they knew.
But it does not surprise the Savior because he saw
you walking away, and he made a way for him
to be.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
With you as you walk away.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
So I'm trying to say you're not too far gone.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
In fact, you're ready.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
You're only one thought away from a praise. You're only
one thought away from a breakthrough. You're only one thought
away from joy, one thought away from a new beginning.
Feel the Holy Spirit? Might I feel God setting somebody
free from this funeral that you've been having in your
mind because you've been putting to death your expectation of
(33:25):
grace because of your own mistakes. But I found out
about a Savior that no matter which direction I'm headed in,
if I'm following him, that's great. But if he has
to follow me, he'll do that too. So there will
never be a day. There will never be a moment.
There will never be a decision, there will never be
(33:47):
a distinction, there will never be a dysfunction, there will
never be a thing that you will do what things.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
There will never.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Be an event that can separate you from the love
of a savior.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Who will follow you when you can't follow him.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Now, if I had my preference, I would follow him always.
I would follow him always. But sometimes I'm a fool
Sometimes I'm too foolish to follow. What do you do
(34:22):
when you've been too foolish to follow? What do you
do when you know that at least fifty one percent
of your kid's behavior is because of stuff they saw
you do? Maybe I'll just go start my Thanksgiving early
felt kind of cold when I said that. Notice the
same Jesus that followed them confronted.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Them, Where are you going? Hey, Hey, where are you going?
What's your tomia? What things? What things are you Tomai?
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Why are you talking about Jesus when you could talk
to him? I think it's really important who you talk
to when you are going through certain things. How do
you can testify, either by positive or negative experience in
your life, that.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Who you talk to when you're going through things depends
on what you have left when you get done. I'm
gonna say that again. That was too good, and Holly
didn't write it down. Who you talk to?
Speaker 2 (35:28):
When you go through things, determines what you have left
when you get done. And I thought the fact that
at least they had each other was comforting to me
to talk to about their disappointment, to talk to about
what was supposed to happen versus what actually.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Did to talk to? Who do you talk to.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
When you're disappointed? And I hope as somebody besides yourself
you cannot keep your own counsel in seasons of chaos.
I know you went to Duke. Don't care. This is
don't know November, and don't care Christmas. Don't care where
(36:12):
you went to school. It doesn't say that the men
weren't educated. It says that they were disappointed. And Jesus,
being in very nature God, who did not consider equality
with God something to be grasped, but made himself a servant,
made himself a servant, comes up alongside them and begins
(36:36):
to speak with them. And he says, you're being foolish
because you thought the funeral was the end. Bring me
my computer screen, y'all. I told him I might need
the screen for this message. I said, if the people
look really engaged, I'm.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Going to bring out the screen. So boy, bring out
the screen. Yeah, it's one of those days.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Now, everybody clap your hands as they come, because it's awkward.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
While we wait, I want.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
To show you a word from the Lord that came
to me, and I'm not preaching this text in order
to give you all of the details of it. I
actually preached seven weeks on this one story, seven years ago,
and that is all online for free, and you can
go watch all of the ways that I took every
single word of this text and tried to bring all
of the meaning out of it that I could. But today,
(37:38):
just as a backdrop, I want to tell you, don't
let the funeral fool you. Don't let this season of
your life, this season of the relationship, this season of
your struggle with the thing inside of yourself become a
stop sign causes you to quit growing and coming toward God. So,
(38:05):
then if we were to make this on the screen
and I was to.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Tell you, don't let the funeral fool you, first thing
I want to show you in the scripture.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
What happened after Jesus followed these boys, because this is
the best part all the way down here where he
said what things and they said about Jesus and Nazareth,
and then this part I love when he said, how
foolish you are. And then he said you're slow to believe.
(38:44):
And then he said, did not the miss I have
to suffer these things?
Speaker 1 (38:49):
These things?
Speaker 2 (38:51):
And then enter his glory, And beginning with Moses and
all the prophets, he explained to them what was said
in all the scriptures concern himself. So Jesus told them
about Jesus.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Forget what you heard, Forget what you thought.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Forget the fact that you were taught that God will
only be with you if you're following him faithfully.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
Forget what you heard.
Speaker 8 (39:23):
Forget what you thought, Forget what you told yourself at
the funeral, Forget the story that you have been telling yourself,
because when Jesus died, it was a part of the story.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
Now let me break this down.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Real, good things happen in our lives that become a
part of our story, and we can't change those. So
you step outside of your integrity, And now you realize
this changed my story forever. Jesus didn't step outside of
his integrity. The people who killed him did. He did it,
But now even their sin became.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
A part of the story.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Now it was the part of the story that was
the most redemptive, but it was the hardest to recognize
as redemptive. So the part of the gospel story where
our sin was being paid for was the part of
the story that discouraged these men and made them want
to walk away. In other words, the moment that Jesus
was dying, he was doing the most.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
When he was.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Teaching, that was good. When he was healing, that was good.
When he was opening blind eyes, that was good. When
he was raising Lazarus, that was good. But when he
was dying, it wasn't just a good thing. It was
the thing that was the.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Thing that he came to do.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
And while he was doing the thing that he came
to do, they were interpreting the thing that would bring
them redemption as being the thing that made it all worthless.
When you're hurting, your interpretations become distortive. When you are hurting,
your interpretations cannot be trusted. When you are hurting, you
(41:05):
will see the best thing is the worst thing. When
you are hurting, you will be attracted to unhealthy people
who will enable you rather than healthy friends who can
help heal you. When you are hurting, you will run
to things that will numb you, rather than running to
things that can set you free. When you are hurting,
your interpretation of events cannot be trusted.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
And that's when we need Jesus.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
I need Jesus to walk with me. I need Jesus
to wake up with me. I need Jesus to lay
down beside me. When I lay down and I'm tossing
and turning about the storms that I'm facing. I need
Jesus to help me know which door is him, because
every open door is not God. I need Jesus to
(41:56):
let me know which calls.
Speaker 1 (41:57):
To pick up.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
I need Jesus to let me know which text to sin.
I'm trying to say that I need him every hour
the story before I break this all the way down
in the scripture? Am I breaking this down good as
whoa man?
Speaker 1 (42:12):
It's good to me.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
So Grandma didn't ask permissions, So I ask for future
forgiveness for telling this story. He was fussing at us
the other day because we were leaving and we had
just left for tour, but we needed to leave and
get a few days away after tour to recover, and
Graham said something very funny, and he's seventeen years old now,
but he said I still need parents.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
You would think he would be happy we were going
out of town. But he is such a good kid.
There's nothing that he wanted to do that he couldn't
do when we were there and he wanted parents, and
Ally said, you have parents.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
We flew you out for four days of tour, and
you had all your friends over this weekend and we
were here the whole time.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
We're just leaving for three days. And he said, why
don't need you on the weekend.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
What a phrase? What a confession? I don't need you
on the weekend. I just need you when I want you.
I just need you when it's convenient. I'm not saying
he's a bad kid. He's a great kid. But what
if that's our attitude toward God? What if we need
(43:26):
him for all of it? What if we need him
for every single bit of it? What if he wants
to be in all of it? What if God is
waiting for you to pray his presence into your panic attack?
Speaker 1 (43:44):
What if he wants to be in that with you too?
Speaker 2 (43:47):
What if he will follow you down an amaeis road
going the wrong way?
Speaker 1 (43:53):
When you say I'm spiraling out of control? Here, God,
I'm spiraling out of control again, and I'm tempted to
sabbathae go because I'm spiraling. And what if Jesus is
just waiting to.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
Be more than your weekday savior, more than just the
one that you need when things go wrong.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
And the Bible says that he began to expound.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
Don't you wish you could have heard this sermon him
everything that was in the scriptures concerning himself.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
That would be an amazing sermon.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
And it would take two or three hours to walk
these seven miles because it said it was a seven
mile row. So over the course of two or three hours,
this man gives a whole series where he tells them
who he is, and they still don't get it.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
That's the irony of the text.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
As they approached the village to which they were going,
Jesus continued on as if he were going farther.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
Keyword, well, two words, as if.
Speaker 2 (44:56):
And you say, why would Jesus continue on as if
he were going going farther? Because sometimes God delights to
be invited, to be invited.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
You say, well, isn't he present everywhere? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
But he permeates you when you ask him to he's present,
but he permeates when you give permission, because watch this.
This is more than just hospitality, y'all. He acted like
he was going farther. He was like, well, good chat,
hope you learn something.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
They still don't know it's Jesus. How do they not
know it's Jesus.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
They're still at the funeral. He's supposed to be in
the ground. They don't believe the angel, they don't believe
the report.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
They don't believe the women.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
They don't believe what they heard, and they can't even
believe what they're seeing.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
They don't recognize him, but they urged him strongly, stay
with us, for it is nearly evening. Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening. The day is almost over.
So he watched this, went in to stay with them.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
And my favorite thing about the text is not even
that he followed them going the wrong way down the road.
My favorite thing about the text is not even that
he gave them an amazing summary and entire semester's worth
of education in how he was the rock in the wilderness,
and how he was the rod of Aaron, and how
(46:29):
he fulfilled everything that Moses spoke of, and how He
was the cloud by day and the fire by night.
Not only do I love the fact that he talked
to them along the way, I love verse thirty and
thirty one, because once he got inside the house with them.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
The Bible says, when he was at the table with them.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
He took brad, gave thanks, He took a bow jangle's biscuit.
Speaker 1 (46:57):
Gave thanks, and he broke it and began to give
it to them. Everybody shout this word.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
Then then and only then, You mean they heard a
master's level class from the master, and they still didn't
get it. No, then and only then, after the bread
had been broken, then.
Speaker 1 (47:29):
Their eyes were opened.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
I'll say it again in case there's been a breaking
in your life lately. After the bread had been broken,
then their eyes had been opened. But not before the
bread had been broken, not when he spoke it, when
he broke it. Something about the breaking of the bread
(47:54):
helped them to see who he really was, because now
they realized he was just killed on the cross. He
gave his life on the cross. He wasn't just hung
there by humans, He was sent there by God. He
wasn't just dying physically, He was paying the price spiritually.
(48:15):
And it was only after the breaking that the revelation came.
There are some revelations that only come after the breaking.
They don't come before, They only come after. They don't
come before you go through, they only come after. But
for everybody who's been broken lately, I got good news.
(48:37):
After the breaking comes an opening.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
Now your eyes be open. Now your ears be open,
Now your road be open. Now your red save part.
Say it out.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
Loud, this is not the end.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
Give God praise for it. This is not the end.
For a moment it looked like it was over. But
this is.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
Maybe I should write it on the board, y'all seemed
like you need some extra help.
Speaker 1 (49:16):
This is not the end. Say it to your neighbor.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
This is not the end.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
Tell him you can do better than him anyway. This
is not the end. Tell him you were bigger than
that place. Anyway. This is not the end. It wasn't
ready for you anyway.
Speaker 2 (49:46):
This is not the and you couldn't handle it back then.
But this is not the And now put my scripture
back on the screen, and I'm gonna bring this thing
full circle today. For somebody who has been standing at
a funeral and weeping over a loss and weeping over
(50:08):
a regret, and weeping over a mistake, and punishing yourself
over a mistake, and saying that this is the end,
and thinking that this is the end, and the enemy
has been telling you that this is the end, and
you will never recover from this, and nobody will ever
love you after this, and there is no way back
from this, and you cannot climb out of this, and
you cannot recover from this, and there is no redemption
(50:30):
in this, and there is no light coming, and there
is no help coming for everybody who the enemy has
been telling you is the end, gives me Verse thirty one.
Speaker 1 (50:41):
Please.
Speaker 2 (50:42):
Then then.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
The Lord spoke to me and said, this is not
me because that because there's gonna be a Then there's
(51:11):
gonna be a Then there's.
Speaker 2 (51:13):
Gonna be a Then you hear me today, I can't
put my faith on this word for you.
Speaker 1 (51:20):
I can appreciate when it's gonna take your faith, because
that's gonna be a Then dip their eyes were open.
That's gonna be a there. That's gonna be a there.
Laid down in breathe.
Speaker 4 (51:35):
Then June up with the keys. There's gonna be a there.
Speaker 1 (51:39):
There's gonna be adad.
Speaker 4 (51:41):
When dog gets finished with this, it won't be a
fill of roup. It will be a celebrating day shout
like this already there, Then.
Speaker 2 (52:16):
You get to make the decision. Now what's on the
other side of Then they left me.
Speaker 1 (52:24):
Then I went into isolation and died alone. Or they
left me.
Speaker 2 (52:30):
Then I went to work on what was inside of
me that made me feel like I wasn't a person
without them.
Speaker 1 (52:35):
Then it got so bad we could barely speak. But then.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
I slapped them and cussed them out and spit in
their face. Or then I decided I would try to
find a way in that didn't involve my.
Speaker 1 (52:52):
Ego which was too big to fit through the door.
And then you can't die in this because there will
be a then then then then then.
Speaker 2 (53:15):
I don't even know if you remember, but you gave
me the sermon. Holly was talking to me the other
day and I was telling her something.
Speaker 9 (53:24):
Such a sad story like Cleopus and his companion about
the sad things that had happened.
Speaker 1 (53:34):
And they were real, y'all.
Speaker 2 (53:36):
We must say, they were disappointed and devastated because of
real life events. It wasn't that that didn't happen. It
was just that the then was in progress. Then their
eyes were open when he broke the bread. Only what
is broken can be really blessed. So after the breaking,
(54:03):
expect a revelation. After I got done telling Holly my story,
she said, yeah, but then, because I was going through
a part of our history where somebody had.
Speaker 1 (54:17):
Really hurt us, I mean really hurt us, she said, yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:22):
But then and she told me the thing that happened,
they hurt us that wouldn't have happened if they didn't.
And just when she reminded me of that, she said,
but then it gave me faith for my future because
I realized that just like farmers plant seeds and don't
cry about losing them, there are certain things in your
(54:47):
life and in my life that are waiting for the
appropriate time to come forth. Don't let the funeral fool you.
Speaker 1 (54:58):
You keep saying this is this is the end. It's
not the end.
Speaker 2 (55:03):
It's just pre then, because one day maybe you'll be
talking to somebody and you'll say, I was about ready
to give up, but then, And I think the real
skill of living Austin is to be able to trust
God enough that you leave the.
Speaker 10 (55:22):
Then with him, Because maybe what was most significant about
the bread was not just the fact that he broke it,
but whose hands it was in.
Speaker 2 (55:42):
Jesus was supposed to be the guest. What is he
doing serving the bread? It is the moment you let
him take over that you see who he really is.
So I thought, with everyone standing across every location, the
most annointed moments that I've preached all year, I don't
(56:03):
know if you can feel it or not. And you
don't have to feel it. Even if all you feel
is grief. Don't let the funeral fool you.
Speaker 1 (56:10):
There will be a then, There will be a then,
and you get to make a decision about this.
Speaker 2 (56:18):
Then, when you are relaying this story in the future,
do you want to tell about the time that you
were walking away from God down a road called e
Maya seven miles and you kept going.
Speaker 1 (56:31):
And you stayed home because you were disappointed?
Speaker 2 (56:34):
Or do you want to talk about how the bread
was broken and then your eyes were open and watch
verse thirty two.
Speaker 1 (56:39):
I got to give you this.
Speaker 2 (56:40):
It says they recognized him in the breaking of the bread,
and they asked each other, we're not our hearts burning
within us while he talked with us on the road
and open the scriptures to us. Then they got up
at once and returned to Jerusalem, where they were supposed
to be. All along, I believe God's and some of you,
(57:00):
back to where you belong today, Back to the kind
of person you really are, back to the kind of
hope you really possess.
Speaker 1 (57:07):
Back to the role.
Speaker 7 (57:10):
That you occupy so brilliantly with integrity when your faith
is engaged.
Speaker 2 (57:15):
They went back to Jerusalem, and there they found the
eleven and those with them assembled together. Ain't it crazy
how God already had the party getting started while they
were still in the funeral. Don't let the funeral fool you,
you might miss the party. And there was a prayer
meeting happening in Jerusalem, and verse thirty four says they said,
(57:36):
it's true. The Lord has risen and appeared to Simon.
And then the two told what had happened on the
way and how Jesus was recognized.
Speaker 1 (57:48):
By them when he broke the bread.
Speaker 10 (57:50):
Then then this is your then, baby, this is.
Speaker 1 (57:57):
Your Then.
Speaker 2 (58:00):
Even be grateful for the breaking if you put it
in his hands.
Speaker 1 (58:06):
So I want to.
Speaker 2 (58:07):
Pray for you, because I started this sermon saying we
have to have a funeral for our expectations, our funeral,
for the way that we thought things would turn out,
our funeral, for the way we thought people should appreciate us,
our funeral, for our funeral, for our path that we
thought we would be on.
Speaker 1 (58:23):
At this point in our life. But don't have the
funeral and bury your faith.
Speaker 2 (58:31):
Have the funeral for your expectations, and watch God resurrect
your faith.
Speaker 1 (58:39):
And so I'm trading you, see it. I am trading
my expectation.
Speaker 2 (58:45):
Of others for faith in God. To let me know
there is a then, and it's in his hands. Put
your hands just like this, like you're receiving something from
somebody you trust, and just tell the Lord it's in
your hands. Put that in the comments, say it out
(59:05):
loud if you're in the room, It's in your hands.
That is what is significant about the breaking bread in
Luke twenty four. That is what's significant about your future.
That is what is significant about this moment.
Speaker 1 (59:20):
It's in his hands.
Speaker 2 (59:23):
And so now, Father, I place these people that I've
preached this message to into your hands, the one who
was handed over for death but rose again in life.
In your hands are the keys of death, hell and
the grave.
Speaker 1 (59:40):
God.
Speaker 2 (59:40):
Today, whatever it is that we need to let go
of in order to go forward.
Speaker 1 (59:44):
We do that now, and we might have to do
it one hundred times again today.
Speaker 2 (59:47):
But that's all right because we have learned the difference
between the end and a next step waiting to happen.
So we stand before you today, empty hands, full hearts.
I want to thank you for the person that you
(01:00:08):
met today on the road away from you. I want
to thank you for the person today who was running
full speed from your love, but you track them down.
Speaker 1 (01:00:20):
I want to thank you today for the.
Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
Person whose eyes were opened to see your presence in
their life.
Speaker 11 (01:00:26):
Oh that's how God is working. Oh that's how God
is moving. Oh that's how it's coming to pass. Oh
this is where God wanted me to be. Oh, this
is what God is wanting me to learn. I thank
you for this, and I thank you for them.
Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
You can click the link in the description to give now,
or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more information,
and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (01:01:00):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (01:01:01):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (01:01:06):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you.
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.
Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
I want to give you this in obedience to the
Holy Spirit. One time in college, I was feeling like
I wasn't worthy to worship the Lord.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
And we went in a meeting and everybody was worshiping,
and I felt just so dry inside. And the reason
I felt dry is because of the things that I
was dealing with.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
And I just bring it down a little bit. I
want to tell them this.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I was dealing with some things that I thought made
me unworthy to worship God. So you know, three or
four songs had gone by, and I couldn't lift my hands.
They felt heavy, and I couldn't open my mouth because
I felt like a hypocrite.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
You ever felt like that before?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Just heavy with burdens or maybe the hypocrisy of the
things that you struggle with.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
So you kind of hesitate because you're heavy. You hesitate
because you feel like a hypocrite, and.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Boy, the Lord gave me something in that moment that
really changed my life. And this has been over twenty
five years ago, but I still remember it. I was
just trying to pray and I was like, Lord, I
don't feel worthy to worship. I don't feel like I
deserve to worship.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And it was as if.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
The Holy Spirit whispered to me. After I said I
don't deserve to worship. I don't deserve it, he said back,
so what I do. So that was a shift for
me because it went from what I deserve to what
he deserves. And if you can just make that shift,
(01:39):
you know, I know, we're moving into that time of
the year where everybody's preaching at you about an attitude
of gratitude and how you're supposed to be grateful when
you've got to be with all those people just a
few days from now and then see them again three
weeks later at Christmas.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
You know, all the tension and the stress that we
don't mention.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Okay, y'all are going to fake, fake, fake me out
in church today, like you're looking forward to seeing everybody,
But even just the stress of the season, it can
put you in a place of pressure and maybe even
the fulfilled potential of the year where you feel like man,
I fell short of so many things. None of that
changes what God is worthy of. And so even if
(02:18):
you don't feel grateful, gratitude can be a focus before
it's a feeling, and that would just be so powerful
for you to get sixteen years old, if you would
get that at age sixteen, Nothing you ever do changes
how worthy God is.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
So the heavier your hands feel, lift them higher. That's
called a sacrifice of praise. When you feel like you're
a hypocrite, reach out for him. He's righteous, he's holy.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
You've never needed him more than you need him in
those moments you didn't even make it to church.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
You're at home watching this. Lift your hand, say scare
your roommate and.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Tell him God is worthy. Hug my praise. Clock those
same hands. He's worthy, Hug my praise just like you
want to slap the devil.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Clock those hands, because He's still worthy of all my praise.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
High five to seven people say he's so worthy, he
deserves it.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And when you gave out all your high fives, clap
your hands for Jesus one more time, come up.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
For Jesus High, say Clopas for.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
Jesus, I love my job man.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I get to encourage you and speak truth to you.
And today we are going to encounter a very interesting
story scripture, maybe one of the weirdest things Jesus ever did,
and it comes toward the very end of his earthly ministry.
Now notice I said earthly ministry, because he's still ministering.
(04:14):
Jesus didn't stop healing when he went to heaven. Jesus
didn't stop saving when he went to heaven. Jesus didn't
stop delivering and breaking chains and making ways when he
went to heaven. In fact, he said one time, if
I leave, greater things will be possible because of the
Holy Spirit who I will send in my name. But
(04:34):
after Jesus was resurrected from the dead, on the day
he got up from the grave, he did something so strange,
and I want to share it with you today.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Found in Luke chapter twenty four, verse thirteen.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Through thirty five. We won't read all of that. If
you're doing the math, we won't read all of that.
But I wanted to give you the homework as well,
because when the sermon is over, then you can begin
to live it out Luke, Chapter twenty four, verse thirteen.
(05:07):
And if you haven't found it by now, we're just
gonna do it on the screen. The Bible says, Now
that same day, two of them were going to a
village called Amaeus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were
talking with each other about everything that had happened.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
And as they talked and.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up
and walked along with them. Tell your neighbor, you can't
see him, but he's with me. Come on, tell him again,
Say be nice to me.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Jesus is with me today.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
He was with me in the car when I was
cussing people out getting into the parking lot. He'll be
with me when I leave. Just because you're not aware
doesn't mean he's not there. Now, remember that Thursday, around
the table, Jesus slipped up beside them, and it says
(06:10):
in verse sixteen in the strange but they were kept
from recognizing him. Wow, you would think they would know
who Jesus was at this point.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Very important public figure. He's just been the.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Central character of a targeted investigation which led to his
execution in the most public space possible in front of thousands,
and they were kept from recognizing him, and he asked them.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I love Jesus. What y'all talking about?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Jesus said, y'all, Jesus was very southern in his saferness.
What are you discussing together as you walk along? And
they stood still, their faces downcast. And now we see
how sad they really are about the fact that Jesus
was crucified. And so they stood still, their faces downcast,
and one of them, named Cleophus, asked him, are you
(07:05):
the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the
things that have happened there in these days?
Speaker 1 (07:11):
What things? He asked, Jesus is just so cool? What
things they're talking about?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
The things he just went through, and he's pretending like
he doesn't know about it. What things about Jesus of Nazareth.
He is who they're talking about, and they don't know it.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
About Jesus of Nazareth, they replied, he's a prophet, powerful
in word, indeed before God and all the people, the
chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be
sentenced to death.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
And they crucified him. But we had hoped that he
was the one who was going to redeem Israel. What's more,
it was the third day since this took place. In addition,
some of our women amazed us. They went to the
tomb early this morning, but they.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Didn't find his body.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Can you hear just a hint of irony in this narrative?
They didn't find his body.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Wonder what that means.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
They came and told us they had seen a vision
of angels who said he was alive. Then some of
our companions went to the tomb and found it just
as the women had said, But they did not see Jesus.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Wait, who didn't see Jesus them?
Speaker 5 (08:25):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Because he's right here with you, but you don't see
him for who he is. And this next verse might
sound harsh, but it came from Jesus, so take it
up with him. And this is my central two verse
scripture for today. He said to them, how foolish you are,
and how slow.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
To believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not
the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter
his glory?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
How foolish you are, and how slow.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
To believe all that the prophets have spoken. How foolish
you are and slow to believe all the prophets have spoken.
Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and
then enter his glory?
Speaker 1 (09:12):
I want to give you a word today.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Turn to your neighbor and say, I know you've lost
some things.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
I know it.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Looks like it's over. Now here's the word. Tell them,
don't let the funeral fool you.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Come on, wake up and tell them again. Say don't
let the funeral fool you. This is the word of
the Lord. Don't let the funeral fool you.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
I don't know who this is for, but don't let
the funeral fool you. No matter how much you've cried,
Christ is alive. What a message for Christmas season. Emmanuel
is still with us.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Don't let the funeral fool you. Well, I've already preached,
but sit down and let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
We've all had experiences, literally, if not metaphorically, of funerals
that were disingenuous with good intentions. When I say disingenuous
with good intentions, I'm simply saying.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
That what they say about the person after they're dead.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Really has very little resemblance to how they felt about
them when they were alive.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And you know that's true.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
We've all been to that funeral where we wanted to
check in the casket and wonder, is this the same person.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
That you hated so much that you just spoke so
eloquently about.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
And I understand that in a season that brings up
memories of those that we love and have lost, even
using the word funeral might locate you in a dark place.
But I don't mean for it too, because the truth
of the matter is that everybody in here is going
through a funeral of some kind. And we are not
(11:17):
just saying goodbye to people in our lives, but sometimes
we're saying goodbye to.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Seasons that we love.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I try to be attentive to the season that I'm
preaching in, and I think that the leaves that were
falling from all of the trees this week just reminding
me that the branches will soon be bare, but not forever.
It reminded me of the cyclical nature of the things
that we come to depend on in our lives, and
(11:44):
that those trees that are naked now will come to
be covered again. Just take this in for a moment.
I want to start slow because I want to get
you to understand that sometimes you rush right past the
revelation and that God wants to.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Give you because you only recognize what is being taken away. So,
in the.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Spirit of full disclosure, when my dad went to be
with the Lord about ten years ago, it was at
the end of a very difficult season.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Of us relating to one another.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
But my mom stepped in and did the right thing
and took care of him until he died, and he
was suffering from als and it was a.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Very brutal death.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Now, I would love to tell you that I was
an amazing son through all of this, and I was
the best son I could have been then. But I've
grown now, and looking back on the path that our
relationship traveled, I'm pretty sure there are many things that
I could have done better, and yet I refused to
(12:52):
stay imprisoned in the regret of what I could have
done differently.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I would rather move forward with the lessons that I
I learned for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
And one of the things that my dad kept saying
over and over again when we were fighting and we
couldn't get along, he kept saying, it can't end like this.
And I felt him on that you know, it can't
end like this. It can't end with us estranged, and
it didn't. I often tell the story about the craziest
thing that ever happened to me. I was preaching the
(13:26):
nine thirty service, and I used to preach three times
on the weekend, Saturday night, nine thirty eleven thirty. But
after I finished the nine thirty, something told me to
go see my dad.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Now, this was so out of the ordinary for me.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Josh can tell you When I told him I'm leaving now,
he said, you're leaving. It's only nine thirty. You still
got the eleven thirty. I said, run back to the nine thirty.
At the eleven thirty, I'm supposed to go see my dad.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
And he said okay.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And when we went to my dad's house, it was
as if God had perfectly timed it because he was
laying in the bed. Now he could still speak at
this point, he hadn't lost his ability to think or speak,
and he could.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Still say a lot of stuff, good stuff and bad stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And when I walked in, he was watching me step
up to the stage to preach, and he was so confused.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
By that because he said, wait, how are you here?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And there.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I said, the internet, Dad, It's called the internet. It's
the one I preached before.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
And he said, uh, but you're you're there and you're here,
and I said, I know, it's confusing. I decided to
leave early to come watch the sermon with you. And
I couldn't have known, no way I could have known
that when I left him that day after watching myself
preach with him, well, I was supposed to be preaching
somewhere else, that I would get a call at midnight
(14:49):
from my mom saying, you need to come. If you're
coming hospicet, he only has a few more hours. And
he hung on for days after that. And I'm telling
you this story, and I don't really I want to
tell it to you, but I feel like it might
help somebody because I think about how it could have ended.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Had my mom not forgiven him.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I think about how it could have ended had we
not dropped our pride and come together for a purpose.
I think about what the last conversation with him could
have been, because I had no idea it.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Was the last one.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
But I'm thankful that the last time we talked, it
was me obeying God to come and preach the best
sermon that I ever preached that nobody heard which was
a message of reconciliation that happened after a time of
great strain. I never got to speak to him again.
(15:43):
I got to be by his side when he died
several days later, because he completely faked us out and
acted like he had a few hours and he stayed
around a few days, and I sang so many hymns
to him. I ran out of songs about God, and
I had to start singing Tom Petty and Whody and
the Blow and everything I knew on the guitar. But
(16:04):
it took me back, and I want to get to
this passage in just a moment. But I felt compelled
to frame it first of all from a relational frame
because at the beginning of all of my difficulties with
my dad, and how many of you raise a pinky
at me if this is you have a relational tension
in your life right now that will surface around this
time of year. Just your pinky, Okay, wiggle your toes.
(16:30):
I know you're sitting next to him. You can't do
the pinky thing. Wink at me, scratch your right ear,
pull on the left load. When it all began with
my dad, I spoke with a very wise friend and
I was afraid of how it would end, and we're
going to talk about that, how it will end. I
(16:52):
was so afraid of how it would end. In that moment,
I didn't know if my dad would kill himself. He
had threatened that. I didn't know if he wouldn't speak
to us us. That was certainly a possibility. And my
wise friend said something to me that I've lived by
ever since. He said, Stephen, you can't control the outcome
(17:14):
of his decisions, but you can adjust your expectations in
this situation. He said, I know your dad is still living,
but you need to have a funeral for your expectations,
because you keep expecting him to act a certain way,
(17:35):
and every time he doesn't.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Act that way, you lose your faith. You keep expecting
him to act a certain way. And every time that you.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Put your picture of how he is supposed to be
and how this is supposed to be on a pedestal,
every time you elevate that, you set yourself up to
be let down, and you are let down over and
over and over again because of your expectations of the relationship.
So he said, have a funeral for your expectations. And
(18:10):
then when I had a physical funeral for my dad.
Years later, there had already been a funeral before the
funeral for the expectation of what I thought he should do.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
But I found out when you have a.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Funeral for your expectations, God replaces them with grace. When
you have a funeral for your expectations of how your
kids need to turn out, God will give you grace
to raise them and stop comparing to others. When you
have a funeral for your expectations of where you're supposed
(18:47):
to be at this point in your life, God will
give you grace to accept where you are on the
way to where you're going.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Every thirty four year old in this room is not
created equal. Some of you will bloom leg and your
branches will reach wide.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
But it is having a funeral for the expectation of
when the bloom needs to occur that allows the roots
to grow down deep enough to sustain the structure that
will accommodate the fruit. I'm trying to say that God
is not through with you yet.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
God is not through with you yet. God is not
through pruning your branches yet. But every pruning.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Process in the hands of the master gardener that we
call God is designed.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
To produce fruit in the future that your eyes.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Have not seen, and your ears have not heard, and
it has not entered into your heart. So why would
you preach about a funeral on Thanksgiving? Why, Pastor Stephen,
would you preach an Easter sermon a few weeks before Christmas?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Because the Lord told me to.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
He told me that a lot of us in this
room are like these two men in this passage, Cleaphus
and his buddy, who are leaving Jerusalem after the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ headed back home to a place called Amaeus.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Amaeus is not a famous place.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Amais is not even technically known by archaeologists today.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
As to its it's that back it's exact location.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
But the thing about Amais that I do understand for
these two men is it's the only place they know
to go.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
It's the only place they know to go. It's home
for them.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
And they're walking there, and they're talking as they walk
about their deep disappointment in what didn't happen, in what
didn't happen, their deep disappointment in what Jesus didn't do.
There are a few honest people in this church who
(20:54):
are not so concerned with showing you their haylo, that
they will wave at me right now and say, there
are some things in my life that I am disappointed
that haven't happened yet that were supposed to happen by now.
And this is the situation in Luke twenty four, when
(21:15):
all of a sudden a stranger begins to walk beside them.
You say, he wasn't a stranger. He was the Savior,
not as far as they knew, not as far as
they understood. You know, you think when God shows up
in a situation, it's going to be immediately obvious that
it's him because you already have an idea of what
(21:36):
He's going to do when he shows up.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
You know, when God shows up.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
When God turns this around, I am going to know
it because I have a list of what he's supposed
to do. And when God does what he's supposed to do,
I'll know it's him. But suppose that God knows what
he is supposed to do better than you know what
he's supposed to do.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
For everybody who struggles with us.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Suppose that God knows what you're supposed to have more
than you know what you're supposed to have.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
For everybody who struggles with insecurity.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Suppose that God knows what you're supposed to be good
at more than you know what you're supposed to be
good at.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Suppose God knows.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
What you don't need that you keep trying to create
and fake like you have. Suppose that God knows what
schedule is supposed to be happening even as you stress
over how far behind you feel. Suppose that God brought
you here today to have a funeral for the way
you thought it was supposed to go. And I know
(22:40):
we're supposed to be thankful in this season, and I
know we're supposed to be grateful, and I know we're
supposed to eat macaroni, But what if before the macaroni?
And I'm going to eat macaroni. I only eat macaroni
twice a year. I'm going to start the day with
Bojangles and Chick fil A biscuits. I'm gona half sweet,
(23:04):
I'm gonna have savory. I'm gonna find a sour biscuit too.
I'm gonna eat every biscuit that God ever made.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Watch me work this thing.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
I'm gonna have an eight thousand calorie day on Thursday,
and I'm gonna feel no shame about it. Y'all pray
for me about three am Friday morning, because you'll know.
I'm suffering the effects of all of my premeditated bad decisions,
and I.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Don't feel bad about it.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Now does your neighbors say I don't feel bad about it?
Speaker 1 (23:34):
That had nothing to do with anything.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Except suppose God knows before the situation happens the ends
to which he intends to use it. I feel so
annointed to tell somebody today, you don't know how it's
supposed to go.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
You don't and you don't even know when it's over.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Okay, So the band helped me and they didn't even
realize it. Today we were singing a song that says,
that's why I owe you praise. Y'all love that song, Chandler.
They don't love it too much. Give you another chance
so we don't feel bad. Y'all love that song that
me and Chandler and Kristin John Shrow. When I listen,
(24:29):
I wrote the song with them, but I was confused
about when the song was over. As a matter of fact,
there are so many different parts to that song that
I kept thinking it was time for me to preach
because of the last song before the sermon.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
So I kept getting ready to come out on the
stage to preach. You know, I was preparing what I
was gonna say.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Give him praise, whatever I was gonna say, and I'm
getting it ready. But every time I went to come out,
they did another part. And so I was like, all right,
I'll wait thirty seconds cause I'm fired up to get
out here. I'm ready get going up and studying all
week on pre j right now, and I'll get ready
to come around the corner. And they start another part
and another part and another part, and they just kept
(25:08):
on prison and I just kept on waiting, And even
though I wrote it, I didn't know when it was
going to be over. I mean, technically that's my song,
but even in my own song, there was more to
come that I did not know about while I was
(25:29):
waiting backstage.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
And I know it's your life, and I know it's
your marriage, and I know it's.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Your business, but you don't get to say when it's over.
You don't you don't get to say when you're done giving.
There was one man in Scripture who had so much
stuff he decided to build bigger barns to accommodate all
of his extra grain. But the Lord said, you fool,
This life, this life that you claim for your own,
(25:59):
will be the means, and it from you this very night.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Then who will get.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
What you have prepared? Because when you stop giving, you
stop living. You don't get to tell God when you're
done giving him your life. You don't get to tell
God when you're done being generous. You don't get to
tell God when you're done trusting people. You don't get
(26:24):
to tell God.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
When your heart is so broken you can't go on.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Because these two men in the scripture are leaving Jerusalem,
leaving the place of Jesus's funeral, which is also the
place of his resurrection, but they don't know that yet.
(26:48):
It's the place of his death, but it's also the
place of his greatest demonstration, but they don't know that yet.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
I wonder what you don't know yet.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
I wonder what Jesus has already done that you don't
even know yet. I wonder who he's already spoken to
on your behalf that you don't know yet. I wonder
who's moving to Charlotte right now to be your wife
that you don't know about yet. I wonder about who
he's moving out of their position in the job so
(27:19):
you can have the job you've been praying for that
you don't even know yet. I wonder who's moving out
of that house so you can move in that you
don't even know about yet. I wonder what he's preparing
you to share at AA that somebody else needs to
be set free.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
That you don't even know about yet.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
I wonder what kids you're gonna have on your knees
one day that you don't even know about yet. I
wonder what praise you're gonna be giving him next November
that you.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Don't even know about yet.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
I just thought of something, y'all.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Let's give this November a name. You ready, let's call it?
How can we call it? He got no shave November?
What else they got? How about don't know November?
Speaker 2 (28:15):
I like it. It's got a good ring to it,
don't know November. Because they're telling you you're supposed to
be thankful, But how can I be thankful when I
don't know how it's gonna turn out?
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Well, this is don't know November.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
How am I supposed to praise him in advance for
a way that I don't know how he's gonna make.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
It's don't know November.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
How are you supposed to praise him when you don't
even know where the supply is gonna come from. See
back in September, I didn't praise him, But I'm.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
In a different season.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Now.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
This is don't know November. This is don't know. But
he's still worthy. He's working on it right now. November. Yeah,
you know, I don't know. Tell your neighbor. I don't know.
And I love how Jesus.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
I watched this, y'all said, now let me teach you.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Jesus walks up and walks with.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Them, even though everybody said, even though they are headed
in the wrong direction, that'll blow your mind. They are
leaving Jerusalem at the very moment that the resurrection is validated.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
I mean, this is the.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Moment when they should be celebrating, and they're sad because
they don't believe. Jesus said that I didn't. He said,
how foolish you are and slow to believe all that
was spoken about the Messiah, that he had to suffer
first and then enter into his glory. So I remember
(29:52):
when I first heard the sermon that I.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Need to follow Jesus. I don't remember hearing the sermon
where Jesus followed me. This is that sermon.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
This is that moment in your life when you couldn't
follow him any farther forward, when you couldn't hear his
voice clearly, and he followed you away from Jerusalem. Remember
he would tell the disciples to stay in Jerusalem, but
when they strayed from where they were supposed to be
(30:28):
staying in.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
He went with them.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
This is a different perspective on praise, because now I'm
not praising God for all the times that I followed him,
when I did what I was supposed to do, when
I thought what I was supposed to think. I'm praising
God for all the times that.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
I went away and He followed me. Now they're going
to clip this on the internet. They're gonna clip this.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Somebody's going to say this is heresy to say that
Jesus follows us. We don't have a God who follows us.
We follow him, and I understand that. I understand that
he's God and we're not. I understand that it's his ways,
not my ways. I understand all of that. I also
understand that I am not always fully capable of doing.
Speaker 6 (31:17):
It right, and I need a Jesus who When I
don't follow him, he says, fine, fool, I'll.
Speaker 7 (31:27):
Follow you, and I'll follow you, and I'll talk with you,
and i'll walk with you.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
And Jesus says, I'll even ask you questions that I
already know the answer to. What things? Somebody say, what things?
That's what Jesus said. He said, you're talking about the
things that have happened. What things fill me in?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Now we have a savior who's worthy to be followed,
a savior who never needs to be filled in following
people who he's asking to fill him in.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
What is happening in this text? This is a complete
reversal from.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
The way that we expect God to operate in our lives.
And yet all of the honest ones in this room
will know that the praise that hits the deepest is
from the realization of all of the times when you
were three miles away from Jerusalem, four miles away from Jerusalem,
five miles away from Jerusalem. Some of you won't admit it,
(32:29):
but you are just one more fight away from drinking again.
Some of you won't admit it, but you are just
one more fight away from leaving all together. Some of
you won't admit it, but you have been so close
to going off.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
The deep end.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Oh, it would surprise everybody sitting around you if they knew.
But it does not surprise the Savior because he saw
you walking away, and he made a way for him
to be.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
With you as you walk away.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
So I'm trying to say you're not too far gone.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
In fact, you're ready.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
You're only one thought away from a praise. You're only
one thought away from a breakthrough. You're only one thought
away from joy, one thought away from a new beginning.
Feel the Holy Spirit? Might I feel God setting somebody
free from this funeral that you've been having in your
mind because you've been putting to death your expectation of
(33:25):
grace because of your own mistakes. But I found out
about a Savior that no matter which direction I'm headed in,
if I'm following him, that's great. But if he has
to follow me, he'll do that too. So there will
never be a day. There will never be a moment.
There will never be a decision, there will never be
(33:47):
a distinction, there will never be a dysfunction, there will
never be a thing that you will do what things.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
There will never.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Be an event that can separate you from the love
of a savior.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Who will follow you when you can't follow him.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Now, if I had my preference, I would follow him always.
I would follow him always. But sometimes I'm a fool
Sometimes I'm too foolish to follow. What do you do
(34:22):
when you've been too foolish to follow? What do you
do when you know that at least fifty one percent
of your kid's behavior is because of stuff they saw
you do? Maybe I'll just go start my Thanksgiving early
felt kind of cold when I said that. Notice the
same Jesus that followed them confronted.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Them, Where are you going? Hey, Hey, where are you going?
What's your tomia? What things? What things are you Tomai?
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Why are you talking about Jesus when you could talk
to him? I think it's really important who you talk
to when you are going through certain things. How do
you can testify, either by positive or negative experience in
your life, that.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Who you talk to when you're going through things depends
on what you have left when you get done. I'm
gonna say that again. That was too good, and Holly
didn't write it down. Who you talk to?
Speaker 2 (35:28):
When you go through things, determines what you have left
when you get done. And I thought the fact that
at least they had each other was comforting to me
to talk to about their disappointment, to talk to about
what was supposed to happen versus what actually.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Did to talk to? Who do you talk to.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
When you're disappointed? And I hope as somebody besides yourself
you cannot keep your own counsel in seasons of chaos.
I know you went to Duke. Don't care. This is
don't know November, and don't care Christmas. Don't care where
(36:12):
you went to school. It doesn't say that the men
weren't educated. It says that they were disappointed. And Jesus,
being in very nature God, who did not consider equality
with God something to be grasped, but made himself a servant,
made himself a servant, comes up alongside them and begins
(36:36):
to speak with them. And he says, you're being foolish
because you thought the funeral was the end. Bring me
my computer screen, y'all. I told him I might need
the screen for this message. I said, if the people
look really engaged, I'm.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Going to bring out the screen. So boy, bring out
the screen. Yeah, it's one of those days.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Now, everybody clap your hands as they come, because it's awkward.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
While we wait, I want.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
To show you a word from the Lord that came
to me, and I'm not preaching this text in order
to give you all of the details of it. I
actually preached seven weeks on this one story, seven years ago,
and that is all online for free, and you can
go watch all of the ways that I took every
single word of this text and tried to bring all
of the meaning out of it that I could. But today,
(37:38):
just as a backdrop, I want to tell you, don't
let the funeral fool you. Don't let this season of
your life, this season of the relationship, this season of
your struggle with the thing inside of yourself become a
stop sign causes you to quit growing and coming toward God. So,
(38:05):
then if we were to make this on the screen
and I was to.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Tell you, don't let the funeral fool you, first thing
I want to show you in the scripture.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
What happened after Jesus followed these boys, because this is
the best part all the way down here where he
said what things and they said about Jesus and Nazareth,
and then this part I love when he said, how
foolish you are. And then he said you're slow to believe.
(38:44):
And then he said, did not the miss I have
to suffer these things?
Speaker 1 (38:49):
These things?
Speaker 2 (38:51):
And then enter his glory, And beginning with Moses and
all the prophets, he explained to them what was said
in all the scriptures concern himself. So Jesus told them
about Jesus.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Forget what you heard, Forget what you thought.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Forget the fact that you were taught that God will
only be with you if you're following him faithfully.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
Forget what you heard.
Speaker 8 (39:23):
Forget what you thought, Forget what you told yourself at
the funeral, Forget the story that you have been telling yourself,
because when Jesus died, it was a part of the story.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
Now let me break this down.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Real, good things happen in our lives that become a
part of our story, and we can't change those. So
you step outside of your integrity, And now you realize
this changed my story forever. Jesus didn't step outside of
his integrity. The people who killed him did. He did it,
But now even their sin became.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
A part of the story.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Now it was the part of the story that was
the most redemptive, but it was the hardest to recognize
as redemptive. So the part of the gospel story where
our sin was being paid for was the part of
the story that discouraged these men and made them want
to walk away. In other words, the moment that Jesus
was dying, he was doing the most.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
When he was.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Teaching, that was good. When he was healing, that was good.
When he was opening blind eyes, that was good. When
he was raising Lazarus, that was good. But when he
was dying, it wasn't just a good thing. It was
the thing that was the.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Thing that he came to do.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
And while he was doing the thing that he came
to do, they were interpreting the thing that would bring
them redemption as being the thing that made it all worthless.
When you're hurting, your interpretations become distortive. When you are hurting,
your interpretations cannot be trusted. When you are hurting, you
(41:05):
will see the best thing is the worst thing. When
you are hurting, you will be attracted to unhealthy people
who will enable you rather than healthy friends who can
help heal you. When you are hurting, you will run
to things that will numb you, rather than running to
things that can set you free. When you are hurting,
your interpretation of events cannot be trusted.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
And that's when we need Jesus.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
I need Jesus to walk with me. I need Jesus
to wake up with me. I need Jesus to lay
down beside me. When I lay down and I'm tossing
and turning about the storms that I'm facing. I need
Jesus to help me know which door is him, because
every open door is not God. I need Jesus to
(41:56):
let me know which calls.
Speaker 1 (41:57):
To pick up.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
I need Jesus to let me know which text to sin.
I'm trying to say that I need him every hour
the story before I break this all the way down
in the scripture? Am I breaking this down good as
whoa man?
Speaker 1 (42:12):
It's good to me.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
So Grandma didn't ask permissions, So I ask for future
forgiveness for telling this story. He was fussing at us
the other day because we were leaving and we had
just left for tour, but we needed to leave and
get a few days away after tour to recover, and
Graham said something very funny, and he's seventeen years old now,
but he said I still need parents.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
You would think he would be happy we were going
out of town. But he is such a good kid.
There's nothing that he wanted to do that he couldn't
do when we were there and he wanted parents, and
Ally said, you have parents.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
We flew you out for four days of tour, and
you had all your friends over this weekend and we
were here the whole time.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
We're just leaving for three days. And he said, why
don't need you on the weekend.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
What a phrase? What a confession? I don't need you
on the weekend. I just need you when I want you.
I just need you when it's convenient. I'm not saying
he's a bad kid. He's a great kid. But what
if that's our attitude toward God? What if we need
(43:26):
him for all of it? What if we need him
for every single bit of it? What if he wants
to be in all of it? What if God is
waiting for you to pray his presence into your panic attack?
Speaker 1 (43:44):
What if he wants to be in that with you too?
Speaker 2 (43:47):
What if he will follow you down an amaeis road
going the wrong way?
Speaker 1 (43:53):
When you say I'm spiraling out of control? Here, God,
I'm spiraling out of control again, and I'm tempted to
sabbathae go because I'm spiraling. And what if Jesus is
just waiting to.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
Be more than your weekday savior, more than just the
one that you need when things go wrong.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
And the Bible says that he began to expound.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
Don't you wish you could have heard this sermon him
everything that was in the scriptures concerning himself.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
That would be an amazing sermon.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
And it would take two or three hours to walk
these seven miles because it said it was a seven
mile row. So over the course of two or three hours,
this man gives a whole series where he tells them
who he is, and they still don't get it.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
That's the irony of the text.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
As they approached the village to which they were going,
Jesus continued on as if he were going farther.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
Keyword, well, two words, as if.
Speaker 2 (44:56):
And you say, why would Jesus continue on as if
he were going going farther? Because sometimes God delights to
be invited, to be invited.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
You say, well, isn't he present everywhere? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
But he permeates you when you ask him to he's present,
but he permeates when you give permission, because watch this.
This is more than just hospitality, y'all. He acted like
he was going farther. He was like, well, good chat,
hope you learn something.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
They still don't know it's Jesus. How do they not
know it's Jesus.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
They're still at the funeral. He's supposed to be in
the ground. They don't believe the angel, they don't believe
the report.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
They don't believe the women.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
They don't believe what they heard, and they can't even
believe what they're seeing.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
They don't recognize him, but they urged him strongly, stay
with us, for it is nearly evening. Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening. The day is almost over.
So he watched this, went in to stay with them.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
And my favorite thing about the text is not even
that he followed them going the wrong way down the road.
My favorite thing about the text is not even that
he gave them an amazing summary and entire semester's worth
of education in how he was the rock in the wilderness,
and how he was the rod of Aaron, and how
(46:29):
he fulfilled everything that Moses spoke of, and how He
was the cloud by day and the fire by night.
Not only do I love the fact that he talked
to them along the way, I love verse thirty and
thirty one, because once he got inside the house with them.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
The Bible says, when he was at the table with them.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
He took brad, gave thanks, He took a bow jangle's biscuit.
Speaker 1 (46:57):
Gave thanks, and he broke it and began to give
it to them. Everybody shout this word.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
Then then and only then, You mean they heard a
master's level class from the master, and they still didn't
get it. No, then and only then, after the bread
had been broken, then.
Speaker 1 (47:29):
Their eyes were opened.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
I'll say it again in case there's been a breaking
in your life lately. After the bread had been broken,
then their eyes had been opened. But not before the
bread had been broken, not when he spoke it, when
he broke it. Something about the breaking of the bread
(47:54):
helped them to see who he really was, because now
they realized he was just killed on the cross. He
gave his life on the cross. He wasn't just hung
there by humans, He was sent there by God. He
wasn't just dying physically, He was paying the price spiritually.
(48:15):
And it was only after the breaking that the revelation came.
There are some revelations that only come after the breaking.
They don't come before, They only come after. They don't
come before you go through, they only come after. But
for everybody who's been broken lately, I got good news.
(48:37):
After the breaking comes an opening.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
Now your eyes be open. Now your ears be open,
Now your road be open. Now your red save part.
Say it out.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
Loud, this is not the end.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
Give God praise for it. This is not the end.
For a moment it looked like it was over. But
this is.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
Maybe I should write it on the board, y'all seemed
like you need some extra help.
Speaker 1 (49:16):
This is not the end. Say it to your neighbor.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
This is not the end.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
Tell him you can do better than him anyway. This
is not the end. Tell him you were bigger than
that place. Anyway. This is not the end. It wasn't
ready for you anyway.
Speaker 2 (49:46):
This is not the and you couldn't handle it back then.
But this is not the And now put my scripture
back on the screen, and I'm gonna bring this thing
full circle today. For somebody who has been standing at
a funeral and weeping over a loss and weeping over
(50:08):
a regret, and weeping over a mistake, and punishing yourself
over a mistake, and saying that this is the end,
and thinking that this is the end, and the enemy
has been telling you that this is the end, and
you will never recover from this, and nobody will ever
love you after this, and there is no way back
from this, and you cannot climb out of this, and
you cannot recover from this, and there is no redemption
(50:30):
in this, and there is no light coming, and there
is no help coming for everybody who the enemy has
been telling you is the end, gives me Verse thirty one.
Speaker 1 (50:41):
Please.
Speaker 2 (50:42):
Then then.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
The Lord spoke to me and said, this is not
me because that because there's gonna be a Then there's
(51:11):
gonna be a Then there's.
Speaker 2 (51:13):
Gonna be a Then you hear me today, I can't
put my faith on this word for you.
Speaker 1 (51:20):
I can appreciate when it's gonna take your faith, because
that's gonna be a Then dip their eyes were open.
That's gonna be a there. That's gonna be a there.
Laid down in breathe.
Speaker 4 (51:35):
Then June up with the keys. There's gonna be a there.
Speaker 1 (51:39):
There's gonna be adad.
Speaker 4 (51:41):
When dog gets finished with this, it won't be a
fill of roup. It will be a celebrating day shout
like this already there, Then.
Speaker 2 (52:16):
You get to make the decision. Now what's on the
other side of Then they left me.
Speaker 1 (52:24):
Then I went into isolation and died alone. Or they
left me.
Speaker 2 (52:30):
Then I went to work on what was inside of
me that made me feel like I wasn't a person
without them.
Speaker 1 (52:35):
Then it got so bad we could barely speak. But then.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
I slapped them and cussed them out and spit in
their face. Or then I decided I would try to
find a way in that didn't involve my.
Speaker 1 (52:52):
Ego which was too big to fit through the door.
And then you can't die in this because there will
be a then then then then then.
Speaker 2 (53:15):
I don't even know if you remember, but you gave
me the sermon. Holly was talking to me the other
day and I was telling her something.
Speaker 9 (53:24):
Such a sad story like Cleopus and his companion about
the sad things that had happened.
Speaker 1 (53:34):
And they were real, y'all.
Speaker 2 (53:36):
We must say, they were disappointed and devastated because of
real life events. It wasn't that that didn't happen. It
was just that the then was in progress. Then their
eyes were open when he broke the bread. Only what
is broken can be really blessed. So after the breaking,
(54:03):
expect a revelation. After I got done telling Holly my story,
she said, yeah, but then, because I was going through
a part of our history where somebody had.
Speaker 1 (54:17):
Really hurt us, I mean really hurt us, she said, yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:22):
But then and she told me the thing that happened,
they hurt us that wouldn't have happened if they didn't.
And just when she reminded me of that, she said,
but then it gave me faith for my future because
I realized that just like farmers plant seeds and don't
cry about losing them, there are certain things in your
(54:47):
life and in my life that are waiting for the
appropriate time to come forth. Don't let the funeral fool you.
Speaker 1 (54:58):
You keep saying this is this is the end. It's
not the end.
Speaker 2 (55:03):
It's just pre then, because one day maybe you'll be
talking to somebody and you'll say, I was about ready
to give up, but then, And I think the real
skill of living Austin is to be able to trust
God enough that you leave the.
Speaker 10 (55:22):
Then with him, Because maybe what was most significant about
the bread was not just the fact that he broke it,
but whose hands it was in.
Speaker 2 (55:42):
Jesus was supposed to be the guest. What is he
doing serving the bread? It is the moment you let
him take over that you see who he really is.
So I thought, with everyone standing across every location, the
most annointed moments that I've preached all year, I don't
(56:03):
know if you can feel it or not. And you
don't have to feel it. Even if all you feel
is grief. Don't let the funeral fool you.
Speaker 1 (56:10):
There will be a then, There will be a then,
and you get to make a decision about this.
Speaker 2 (56:18):
Then, when you are relaying this story in the future,
do you want to tell about the time that you
were walking away from God down a road called e
Maya seven miles and you kept going.
Speaker 1 (56:31):
And you stayed home because you were disappointed?
Speaker 2 (56:34):
Or do you want to talk about how the bread
was broken and then your eyes were open and watch
verse thirty two.
Speaker 1 (56:39):
I got to give you this.
Speaker 2 (56:40):
It says they recognized him in the breaking of the bread,
and they asked each other, we're not our hearts burning
within us while he talked with us on the road
and open the scriptures to us. Then they got up
at once and returned to Jerusalem, where they were supposed
to be. All along, I believe God's and some of you,
(57:00):
back to where you belong today, Back to the kind
of person you really are, back to the kind of
hope you really possess.
Speaker 1 (57:07):
Back to the role.
Speaker 7 (57:10):
That you occupy so brilliantly with integrity when your faith
is engaged.
Speaker 2 (57:15):
They went back to Jerusalem, and there they found the
eleven and those with them assembled together. Ain't it crazy
how God already had the party getting started while they
were still in the funeral. Don't let the funeral fool you,
you might miss the party. And there was a prayer
meeting happening in Jerusalem, and verse thirty four says they said,
(57:36):
it's true. The Lord has risen and appeared to Simon.
And then the two told what had happened on the
way and how Jesus was recognized.
Speaker 1 (57:48):
By them when he broke the bread.
Speaker 10 (57:50):
Then then this is your then, baby, this is.
Speaker 1 (57:57):
Your Then.
Speaker 2 (58:00):
Even be grateful for the breaking if you put it
in his hands.
Speaker 1 (58:06):
So I want to.
Speaker 2 (58:07):
Pray for you, because I started this sermon saying we
have to have a funeral for our expectations, our funeral,
for the way that we thought things would turn out,
our funeral, for the way we thought people should appreciate us,
our funeral, for our funeral, for our path that we
thought we would be on.
Speaker 1 (58:23):
At this point in our life. But don't have the
funeral and bury your faith.
Speaker 2 (58:31):
Have the funeral for your expectations, and watch God resurrect
your faith.
Speaker 1 (58:39):
And so I'm trading you, see it. I am trading
my expectation.
Speaker 2 (58:45):
Of others for faith in God. To let me know
there is a then, and it's in his hands. Put
your hands just like this, like you're receiving something from
somebody you trust, and just tell the Lord it's in
your hands. Put that in the comments, say it out
(59:05):
loud if you're in the room, It's in your hands.
That is what is significant about the breaking bread in
Luke twenty four. That is what's significant about your future.
That is what is significant about this moment.
Speaker 1 (59:20):
It's in his hands.
Speaker 2 (59:23):
And so now, Father, I place these people that I've
preached this message to into your hands, the one who
was handed over for death but rose again in life.
In your hands are the keys of death, hell and
the grave.
Speaker 1 (59:40):
God.
Speaker 2 (59:40):
Today, whatever it is that we need to let go
of in order to go forward.
Speaker 1 (59:44):
We do that now, and we might have to do
it one hundred times again today.
Speaker 2 (59:47):
But that's all right because we have learned the difference
between the end and a next step waiting to happen.
So we stand before you today, empty hands, full hearts.
I want to thank you for the person that you
(01:00:08):
met today on the road away from you. I want
to thank you for the person today who was running
full speed from your love, but you track them down.
Speaker 1 (01:00:20):
I want to thank you today for the.
Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
Person whose eyes were opened to see your presence in
their life.
Speaker 11 (01:00:26):
Oh that's how God is working. Oh that's how God
is moving. Oh that's how it's coming to pass. Oh
this is where God wanted me to be. Oh, this
is what God is wanting me to learn. I thank
you for this, and I thank you for them.
Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
You can click the link in the description to give now,
or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more information,
and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (01:01:00):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (01:01:01):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (01:01:06):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you.
Host
Steven Furtick
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