# It's Worth The Dirt

An episode of [Elevation with Steven Furtick](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/216015753), 25 Jan 2026, 1 h 00 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/cbb40a38-726f-4243-a86e-b0ed01477640/f10a02a6-2080-4df2-ada8-b3dd001cc44e/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ff9164b2-aa64-410d-9ee1-b0ed0147765c

Wondering if you should give up because progress feels slow? Wisdom isn’t choosing what’s easiest, it’s choosing what’s worth it. If you’re tempted to quit because it’s hard, remember: God uses pressure and patience to prepare you for something greater. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: ele.vc/tIepfr Scripture References: Matthew 13, verses 31-32, 44 Genesis 2, verse 7 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
[0:07] Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. Be sure to subscribe
[0:10] Speaker 1: so we can get you these new sermons every week.
[0:13] Speaker 1: I hope you're blessed today.
[0:20] Speaker 2: Come on, somebody help me lift the name of Jesus.
[0:25] Speaker 1: Come on, let's live the name of Jesus.
[0:28] Speaker 3: Please, sir, the name of the mo name jeess Listen.
[0:34] Speaker 1: Redeems Jesus.
[0:35] Speaker 2: Listen to these unifl savor Jesus worrias Lord. He's Manuel
[0:44] Speaker 2: God with us and his name.
[0:47] Speaker 3: Tell me call wonderful, come flor mighty, die everlasting mother,
[0:56] Speaker 3: dingle pe hend Lord of Lord.
[1:00] Speaker 1: What is this Jesus?
[1:04] Speaker 2: What is na Jesus? Je see.
[1:11] Speaker 1: She Esus.
[1:12] Speaker 2: I be coming to your name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesa.
[1:20] Speaker 4: Every time, healing in the name of Jesus, Salvation in
[1:40] Speaker 4: the name of Jesus, Freedom, in the name of.
[1:43] Speaker 1: Jesus, no other name but Jesus, the only name that saves. Father.
[1:51] Speaker 1: I thank you today that when I don't know what
[1:54] Speaker 1: to do, I know who to call. I ask you today, Lord,
[1:59] Speaker 1: show up for your people. They've called on you, they've
[2:04] Speaker 1: cried to you. We believe in your word. Your word
[2:08] Speaker 1: says that if we call, you'll hear us. In the
[2:12] Speaker 1: day of trouble. I pray right now, Lord that for
[2:18] Speaker 1: every storm that may be happening, whether it's a physical
[2:23] Speaker 1: storm that the weatherman was talking about, or whether it's
[2:27] Speaker 1: an emotional storm that no one knows of, that you
[2:31] Speaker 1: would speak peace to it. Peace, Be still, Peace, Be still.
[2:43] Speaker 1: Yours is the voice that doesn't need a sound system. Peace,
[2:53] Speaker 1: Be still. Yours is the power that never goes out.
[2:59] Speaker 1: Be still. But you reach around and hug seven people
[3:09] Speaker 1: and tell them this. The Lord is going to give
[3:12] Speaker 1: you extra blessings for being here today. Those of you online,
[3:17] Speaker 1: how are you doing? God is with you, mighty warrior.
[3:22] Speaker 1: Get out of the wine press, stop worrying about it,
[3:26] Speaker 1: and worship through it. God is with you in this storm. Yeah.
[3:30] Speaker 1: I don't care what the enemy is. The Bible says,
[3:33] Speaker 1: He'll prepare a table in the presence of your enemies.
[3:37] Speaker 1: Our God is great and greatly to be praised. Everybody,
[3:42] Speaker 1: say my God is great. Come on, either say it
[3:46] Speaker 1: with your lips or type it with your fingers, or
[3:48] Speaker 1: use your thumbs. Put it in the comments right now,
[3:50] Speaker 1: say my God is great. Tell them, yours is great too.
[3:56] Speaker 1: Come on, tell your neighbor we got the same God.
[4:00] Speaker 1: Tell him he likes me better, but we're both his kids.
[4:04] Speaker 1: How many secretly feel like you're one of God's favorites?
[4:07] Speaker 1: Just slip your finger up right here. I want to
[4:14] Speaker 1: welcome everybody that's a part of our church, our global
[4:17] Speaker 1: e fam around the world. Let's welcome all those who
[4:20] Speaker 1: are joining us online today. You know, it's an interesting dilemma.
[4:27] Speaker 1: We've been hearing weather reports an apocalyptic storm that may
[4:33] Speaker 1: be coming. And while we take that seriously, and while
[4:35] Speaker 1: we'll be working with our outreach partners to help all
[4:38] Speaker 1: of those who are affected and to minister to those
[4:41] Speaker 1: who are in need, you know, it gets kind of
[4:43] Speaker 1: hard sometimes because there's always a report, there's always a
[4:47] Speaker 1: reason not to do something. And when we heard that
[4:50] Speaker 1: the storm was coming right here through where we live,
[4:52] Speaker 1: it was a conversation, you know, should we cancel church?
[4:55] Speaker 1: And something inside of me was like, this is Elevation Church,
[5:00] Speaker 1: and if anything, we can't cancel it. If anything, we
[5:06] Speaker 1: got to sneak up on the devil day early. So
[5:18] Speaker 1: that's what we're doing. We gathered together about fifteen hundred
[5:22] Speaker 1: of the most safe, sanctified people, and the Carolinas, some
[5:28] Speaker 1: from Virginia. I mean, these are watch this, these are
[5:33] Speaker 1: holy ghosts filled believers in the room today. That's right,
[5:38] Speaker 1: that's right. We checked all the U Version Bible reading
[5:41] Speaker 1: plans in the church, and the people with the perfect
[5:44] Speaker 1: streaks got to come to church today. So we're sharing
[5:47] Speaker 1: this with you a little early. The Lord is in
[5:49] Speaker 1: this place, and it's been an interesting day here in
[5:52] Speaker 1: the room. It's been interesting. Not only do they say
[5:56] Speaker 1: a storm is coming, but something happened that's never happened
[5:58] Speaker 1: in the twenty years of the church. The entire sound
[6:02] Speaker 1: system went out like five hundred times while we were
[6:08] Speaker 1: trying to transition into the sermon, and we kept on
[6:10] Speaker 1: having to sing the third and fourth and fifth verses
[6:13] Speaker 1: of songs that only have two verses. That was interesting
[6:17] Speaker 1: as well. And I started thinking about all of that,
[6:20] Speaker 1: and I thought, you know, Lord, well, maybe you didn't
[6:23] Speaker 1: want us to bring this message today. Maybe you didn't
[6:30] Speaker 1: want me to preach today. All these distractions and all
[6:33] Speaker 1: these hindrances and all these obstacles. Maybe you didn't want
[6:38] Speaker 1: me to have this service today. Maybe you didn't want
[6:41] Speaker 1: me to preach this work today, and something inside me
[6:43] Speaker 1: said no, Maybe the devil didn't see. We misinterpret when
[6:53] Speaker 1: things go wrong. Now I don't even know if my
[6:55] Speaker 1: MIC's gonna work for this whole sermon, but I need
[6:58] Speaker 1: every prayer, warrior, pray that this word would reach right
[7:02] Speaker 1: where it's supposed to go. We welcome you into the
[7:06] Speaker 1: presence of the Lord today. Wherever you are, whatever you're
[7:10] Speaker 1: going through, God has a word for you. And no
[7:14] Speaker 1: word from God will return. Boy Isaiah fifty five says,
[7:18] Speaker 1: as the rain falls from the heaven and waters the
[7:22] Speaker 1: earth and causes it to flourish, so will God's word
[7:26] Speaker 1: be that comes forth from his mouth. It will not
[7:29] Speaker 1: return unto him void. It will accomplish what he said
[7:33] Speaker 1: it to do. How many are excited about the word today?
[7:37] Speaker 1: Come on, clap your hands on your couch. Re'll call everybody.
[7:41] Speaker 1: Puts your name in the chat, and open your Bible.
[7:47] Speaker 1: Please to Matthew chapter thirteen, Matthew Chapter thirteen, verses thirty
[7:53] Speaker 1: one and thirty two, and Matthew Chapter thirteen, verse forty four.
[8:00] Speaker 1: Share a little scripture today with you that is really
[8:03] Speaker 1: going to help you in your life. And if while
[8:07] Speaker 1: I'm preaching the microphone pops and struggles and strains underneath
[8:12] Speaker 1: the weight of this anointing. I will scream so loud
[8:19] Speaker 1: that the dude in the back row will fall down
[8:22] Speaker 1: the stairs from the shock, until my voice is raw
[8:28] Speaker 1: and the Lord will speak. Now listen to this. This
[8:30] Speaker 1: is Matthew chapter thirteen, verse thirty one and thirty two,
[8:35] Speaker 1: and Matthew Chapter thirteen, verse forty four. Jesus told them
[8:40] Speaker 1: another parable. He said, the Kingdom of Heaven is like
[8:45] Speaker 1: a mustard seed which a man took and planted in
[8:49] Speaker 1: his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds,
[8:54] Speaker 1: Yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden
[8:59] Speaker 1: plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come
[9:04] Speaker 1: and perch in its branches. Wow verse forty four. The
[9:10] Speaker 1: Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.
[9:15] Speaker 1: When a man found it, he hid it again, and
[9:19] Speaker 1: then in his joy, went and sold all he had
[9:23] Speaker 1: and bought that feel. I have a word from the
[9:26] Speaker 1: Lord for you today. The Lord told me to tell
[9:28] Speaker 1: you it's worth the dirt. It's worth the dirt. Father,
[9:37] Speaker 1: These moments in your presence are precious. We pray for
[9:39] Speaker 1: your protection and a hedge of your glory around each
[9:43] Speaker 1: of your children today, so that they can receive what
[9:45] Speaker 1: you speak, however it comes out. This is your word
[9:48] Speaker 1: and your church in Jesus' name. Amen, touch your neighbor
[9:53] Speaker 1: and tell him it's worth the dirt on your way
[9:55] Speaker 1: to your seat. I know you had to wait this sermon,
[10:00] Speaker 1: but it's going to be worth it.
[10:04] Speaker 5: Now.
[10:04] Speaker 1: I have a feeling that this microphone is not going
[10:07] Speaker 1: to hold up today. But I think what I'm going
[10:09] Speaker 1: to do is I'm just going to preach this as
[10:11] Speaker 1: awkward as it needs to be preached, unless that becomes
[10:14] Speaker 1: so distracting that we can't take it. And if somebody
[10:17] Speaker 1: wants to run the target and buy me a megaphone,
[10:19] Speaker 1: I'll preach through that as well. You know, God is
[10:24] Speaker 1: so good. He teaches us to discern in different seasons
[10:30] Speaker 1: of our life whether or not something is worth it.
[10:35] Speaker 1: And maturity is learning to see when something will be
[10:39] Speaker 1: worth it and embrace it, and when it's not worth
[10:43] Speaker 1: it to walk away. That's what maturity is. Being mature
[10:47] Speaker 1: in your faith. It's about recognizing when it's worth it
[10:53] Speaker 1: and when it isn't worth it, and not only recognize it,
[10:57] Speaker 1: but walk away when it's not worth it. Tell your
[11:01] Speaker 1: neighbor just practice real quick saying it's not even worth it.
[11:05] Speaker 1: It's not even worth it. Some things are, some things aren't.
[11:10] Speaker 1: For years, when I would go watch Graham wrestle, usually
[11:12] Speaker 1: I'll spend my saturdays in a sweaty gym that smelled
[11:15] Speaker 1: like boy, smelled like the worst parts of a boy.
[11:19] Speaker 1: By about two o'clock in the afternoon, it would be
[11:21] Speaker 1: cooking in that oven. The reason I know that it
[11:23] Speaker 1: was worth it is because the first time he ever
[11:26] Speaker 1: won a big wrestling tournament, I said to him afterwards, Man,
[11:30] Speaker 1: I'm so glad I was here to see it. Now.
[11:32] Speaker 1: The reason that I almost wasn't there was because I
[11:35] Speaker 1: had to bring in a guest preacher to preach for
[11:38] Speaker 1: me in order to be at this tournament. And there
[11:40] Speaker 1: was a part of me sitting there like, man, thousands
[11:42] Speaker 1: of people that need the gospel, and then my son's wrestling.
[11:46] Speaker 1: I don't know what to do. Is it worth it
[11:48] Speaker 1: to not preach to go watch him in this tournament?
[11:50] Speaker 1: So he wins the whole thing, right, and we're sitting
[11:53] Speaker 1: at Pizza Hut where all of my food addiction issues
[11:57] Speaker 1: began with the book at club, I'm serious. All of
[12:05] Speaker 1: my food reward issues started in the fourth grade, reading
[12:09] Speaker 1: The Babysitters Club and getting pizza for it. Shouldn't have
[12:12] Speaker 1: confessed that. Well, We're sitting there at Pizza Hut celebrating
[12:17] Speaker 1: his gold medal, and I said, man, I'm so glad
[12:19] Speaker 1: I came. What if you'd have won the whole tournament
[12:21] Speaker 1: and I hadn't been here to see it? And he said, well,
[12:23] Speaker 1: if you hadn't been here to see it, I probably
[12:25] Speaker 1: wouldn't have won it. If you hadn't been here to
[12:29] Speaker 1: see it, I probably wouldn't have won it. So every
[12:34] Speaker 1: time I'd be hauling my butt into a gym with
[12:36] Speaker 1: some boy's feet propped up on the bleachers behind me,
[12:39] Speaker 1: I mean, at a wrestling tournament, they turned the whole
[12:41] Speaker 1: gym into a locker room. It's awesome, it's incredible, And
[12:46] Speaker 1: in a room full of half naked men packed to
[12:49] Speaker 1: the gills and me sitting there in the middle of
[12:51] Speaker 1: all of it with my OCD, I'm going, it's worth it.
[12:53] Speaker 1: It's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it. It's
[12:55] Speaker 1: worth it, not just because he's going to go to
[12:56] Speaker 1: the Olympics, but because he told me it's worth it.
[13:00] Speaker 1: Tell somebody sometimes it's worth it. Sometimes you got to
[13:05] Speaker 1: preach with the mic popping because it's worth it. Sometimes
[13:09] Speaker 1: you got to come out the church a day early
[13:11] Speaker 1: on a Saturday because it's worth it. Sometimes it's worth it.
[13:18] Speaker 1: And wisdom is knowing when it's worth it. Wisdom is
[13:23] Speaker 1: the ability to hear that little whisper that God will
[13:25] Speaker 1: give you from time to time and say.
[13:27] Speaker 6: It's worth it. Stick with this, it's worth it. Log
[13:31] Speaker 6: on church online today. It's going to be worth it. Yeah,
[13:36] Speaker 6: keep trying to fix that relationship. It's worth it.
[13:39] Speaker 1: And sometimes it's just a little whisper. God will encourage
[13:41] Speaker 1: you in the moment where you feel like giving up,
[13:42] Speaker 1: and he'll say, no, no, no, it's worth it. Keep
[13:45] Speaker 1: doing it. It's worth it. Just whisper to your neighbors,
[13:49] Speaker 1: say it's worth it. Now, Tell them to say it's
[13:52] Speaker 1: worth it when it's worth it. But you know what,
[13:55] Speaker 1: I had a moment the other day, and it happened
[13:58] Speaker 1: when I was bending down to tie my shoes and
[14:00] Speaker 1: Holly was in the other room laughing at me, and
[14:04] Speaker 1: she said, Babe, you tying your shoes like you are
[14:06] Speaker 1: eighty eight. And I said, I know babe, I can't.
[14:09] Speaker 1: I can't help it. That's the price that I pay
[14:12] Speaker 1: for this physique. It just comes with soreness. And she said, yeah,
[14:19] Speaker 1: but the trade off, like you look great, but do
[14:22] Speaker 1: you really have to do you really have to go
[14:25] Speaker 1: that hard on leg day that you can't tie your shoes?
[14:28] Speaker 1: And I had a moment standing there in the closet
[14:30] Speaker 1: listening to my wife mock me, a moment of maturity
[14:35] Speaker 1: where I decided, you know what, She's right, this is
[14:37] Speaker 1: not worth it, even though that lady at the gym
[14:40] Speaker 1: fifteen years ago made fun of me and said do
[14:41] Speaker 1: you ever do leg day? And created a complex inside
[14:44] Speaker 1: of me. While I was wearing my shorts, I was
[14:47] Speaker 1: bending down to tie my shoes, and something just hit
[14:49] Speaker 1: me real quick, like, you know what, nobody is looking
[14:53] Speaker 1: at your ham strings. Nobody, not even Holly wants to
[14:57] Speaker 1: see your ham strings, So just wear some and cover
[15:01] Speaker 1: your quads. What are you trying to be a quad model?
[15:04] Speaker 1: And that was the last day I ever did heavy
[15:06] Speaker 1: squats because it's not worth it. I came to set
[15:11] Speaker 1: somebody free from leg day today. You're too old for that. Now,
[15:15] Speaker 1: you're not supposed to be going down that deep. If
[15:18] Speaker 1: the Lord would have made you have been down like that,
[15:20] Speaker 1: he'd have put hinges on your hips. It's not helping anybody,
[15:24] Speaker 1: and nobody is looking at your calves. Cover them up.
[15:28] Speaker 1: It's not worth it. Wear some baggy jeans, tie your shoes,
[15:33] Speaker 1: and be happy. In Matthew chapter thirteen, what a transition
[15:44] Speaker 1: full of out all the stuffs today on snow day.
[15:49] Speaker 1: In Matthew chapter thirteen, Jesus is giving a very important
[15:52] Speaker 1: lesson to his disciples on what's worth it, because he
[15:57] Speaker 1: knows there will be a time soon to come when
[15:59] Speaker 1: he goes to the cross, and their commitment to him
[16:02] Speaker 1: will be challenged by that cross. See, they left a
[16:05] Speaker 1: lot to follow him. They left their fishing businesses, they
[16:08] Speaker 1: left their tax collecting agencies. Many of them even left
[16:12] Speaker 1: their family's approval to follow this wonderworking rebel priest named
[16:18] Speaker 1: Jesus of Nazareth, who is considered a heretic by many.
[16:22] Speaker 1: And at the moment that he could have called the
[16:24] Speaker 1: legion of angels to get him down off the cross,
[16:26] Speaker 1: and didn't, I wonder did they? Wonder? Was it worth it?
[16:31] Speaker 1: And I wonder who I'm preaching to today? That wonders
[16:34] Speaker 1: is it worth it? Is it worth it for me
[16:39] Speaker 1: to keep serving God? It doesn't seem to be doing
[16:40] Speaker 1: me any good. Is it worth it for me to
[16:44] Speaker 1: keep being pure as a teenager? Everybody else is having
[16:46] Speaker 1: more fun than I am? Is it worth it for
[16:49] Speaker 1: me to be the weird kid that doesn't get invited
[16:51] Speaker 1: to the parties Because I have a standard of purity
[16:54] Speaker 1: and I have a direction of destiny. I have learned
[16:59] Speaker 1: that this stage of my life, how important it is
[17:03] Speaker 1: that we are not driven by external and others focused
[17:09] Speaker 1: metrics of what matters. You have to decide what is
[17:14] Speaker 1: worth it from within. You have to, or else you'll
[17:18] Speaker 1: jump on every trend, or else you will burn yourself
[17:22] Speaker 1: out and then ask God to light your fire. But
[17:25] Speaker 1: God can't light a fire when you don't have the
[17:30] Speaker 1: priorities to put His presence first in your life. And
[17:35] Speaker 1: I think this is your year to decide what's worth
[17:38] Speaker 1: it to you and to commit to what is and
[17:42] Speaker 1: to walk away from what isn't. This is not permission
[17:46] Speaker 1: to quit your job because I bet you like that check.
[17:50] Speaker 1: That check is kind of worth. It is kind of
[17:52] Speaker 1: worth It's kind of worth your boss's bad breath, isn't
[17:55] Speaker 1: it the health insurance is kind of worth it that
[17:57] Speaker 1: dental insurance make you put up with a lot of stuff. See,
[18:02] Speaker 1: I think it's very difficult for us in the moment
[18:04] Speaker 1: to know is it worth it.
[18:05] Speaker 7: It's easy to look back and say that wasn't worth
[18:07] Speaker 7: it. It's easy to look back and say that was worth it.
[18:11] Speaker 7: Where the Holy Spirit comes in is to look at
[18:13] Speaker 7: something and to realize this is worth it, and the
[18:16] Speaker 7: Lord will whisper it's worth it.
[18:18] Speaker 1: I know it doesn't look like much, but it's worth it.
[18:21] Speaker 1: I know it's hard for you and nobody's appreciating you,
[18:23] Speaker 1: but it's worth it. I've called you to it, and
[18:25] Speaker 1: then the Holy Spirit will whisper to you. Sometimes it's
[18:28] Speaker 1: not worth it. I know you want to tell them off,
[18:34] Speaker 1: save your breath. It's not worth it. I know you
[18:37] Speaker 1: want to put them in their place, and you can
[18:39] Speaker 1: do it, but it's not worth it. You're going to
[18:44] Speaker 1: be sore tomorrow if you go off today. Now you're
[18:47] Speaker 1: going to have to apologize and create more work for yourself.
[18:52] Speaker 1: Just put it in the comments. It's not worth it.
[18:55] Speaker 1: I learned that about leg day, but I'm still learning
[18:57] Speaker 1: it about life. I'm learning that it is not worth
[19:01] Speaker 1: it for me to respond to every criticism. I mean,
[19:05] Speaker 1: let's be honest, I've had my fair share of practice.
[19:08] Speaker 1: How many of y'all that go to this church have
[19:10] Speaker 1: ever heard somebody say something bad about me? How many
[19:13] Speaker 1: of you wanted to punch them in the mountain? I
[19:15] Speaker 1: love y'all. That's our real church right there. One of
[19:20] Speaker 1: my friends asked me one time, He's like, Pastor, don't
[19:22] Speaker 1: you feel like the staff you got around you is
[19:24] Speaker 1: too saved? Don't you feel like you need a few
[19:27] Speaker 1: barely saved, just out of prison ministry staff around you
[19:30] Speaker 1: just to handle the nonsense? I thought, No, it's not
[19:34] Speaker 1: worth it. Peter didn't get this. When they came to
[19:37] Speaker 1: get Jesus. He started cutting off ears, and Jesus said,
[19:40] Speaker 1: what is this? It's not worth it. Nothing can stop
[19:46] Speaker 1: me from going to the cross because that's what God
[19:48] Speaker 1: sent me to do. It's not worth it. That phrase
[19:53] Speaker 1: right there will set you free. It's not worth it.
[19:56] Speaker 1: It's not worth it because if I defend myself to
[19:59] Speaker 1: a critic and I win, what have I won? A
[20:07] Speaker 1: critic who changed their mind? What prize do I get
[20:10] Speaker 1: for changing their mind? If I change your mind, I
[20:13] Speaker 1: get what see. I might win an argument, but it's
[20:17] Speaker 1: too expensive because it cost me my peace. So I
[20:22] Speaker 1: rather keep my peace than win an argument. Jesus is
[20:28] Speaker 1: helping his disciples to discern what's worth it. And that's
[20:30] Speaker 1: what he's doing in your life right now. He's allowing
[20:33] Speaker 1: some things to be pruned, he's allowing some things to
[20:35] Speaker 1: be moved. He's allowing some people that were in your
[20:38] Speaker 1: life to move to a different circle. It's not that
[20:40] Speaker 1: you don't love them, It's just that you can't invest
[20:43] Speaker 1: in everybody in this season of your life. And so
[20:46] Speaker 1: God graciously moves people into different seasons so that you
[20:49] Speaker 1: can focus on what's right in front of you, so
[20:52] Speaker 1: God can show you what's worth it. That's why God
[20:55] Speaker 1: lets you have that really bad hangover, so you could
[20:58] Speaker 1: realize this is not worth it. I don't want to
[21:00] Speaker 1: pass this crap on to my kids. I don't want
[21:03] Speaker 1: them to have to struggle with this addiction because it's
[21:06] Speaker 1: not worth it. And in Matthew chapter thirteen, we get
[21:11] Speaker 1: two parables of seven that are mentioned by Jesus in
[21:15] Speaker 1: the Gospel of Matthew. They are the mysteries of the Kingdom.
[21:18] Speaker 1: One of those mysteries is the mystery of the mustard seed,
[21:22] Speaker 1: and one is the treasure in the field. And what
[21:25] Speaker 1: they both hold in common to me is not a
[21:27] Speaker 1: parent on the surface. He told them another parable, the
[21:30] Speaker 1: Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a
[21:33] Speaker 1: man took and planted in his field. That's a beautiful
[21:37] Speaker 1: scripture to me, because a mustard seed is indeed the
[21:41] Speaker 1: parabolic smallest seed that was known at the time, not technically,
[21:45] Speaker 1: but it was commonly accepted to say it's as small
[21:49] Speaker 1: as a mustard seed. Go on, though it is the
[21:53] Speaker 1: smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is
[21:56] Speaker 1: the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so
[22:01] Speaker 1: that the birds come and perch in its branches. To me,
[22:06] Speaker 1: this speaks to the temptation that I feel so often
[22:09] Speaker 1: in my life to dismiss something that God is doing
[22:13] Speaker 1: because of a small beginning. Because of a small beginning.
[22:20] Speaker 1: I can think of so many examples in my life
[22:24] Speaker 1: where it was little until it wasn't a little thing
[22:31] Speaker 1: that almost seemed so inconsequential, and it was little until
[22:36] Speaker 1: it wasn't, And I found out when God speaks to us,
[22:39] Speaker 1: he usually speaks little things. To us. It's worth it.
[22:44] Speaker 1: It's little until it isn't. What's the first thing that
[22:48] Speaker 1: Jesus told Peter to do, not leave your nets and
[22:51] Speaker 1: follow me. He just said, put down the nets for
[22:54] Speaker 1: a catch. Well, that's something that Peter did all the time.
[22:58] Speaker 1: It was little until it wasn't. Because when Jesus told
[23:03] Speaker 1: him to do the little thing, put down the nets
[23:05] Speaker 1: for a catch, Jesus had a big thing in mind. Oh,
[23:09] Speaker 1: somebody say, God's got something big for me. Come on,
[23:13] Speaker 1: say you got to say that with some volume. Now,
[23:15] Speaker 1: God's God something big for me. Say it again, God's
[23:19] Speaker 1: got something big for me. It starts as a seed.
[23:25] Speaker 1: And if you dismiss the seed, you miss the thing.
[23:30] Speaker 1: The Kingdom of heaven. What's it like, Jesus tell us
[23:32] Speaker 1: what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. It's like the
[23:35] Speaker 1: smallest seed. It's almost microscopic, but it can be miraculous,
[23:40] Speaker 1: and it just takes time. Is worth it. It just takes time.
[23:47] Speaker 1: It matters. It just takes time. And I have a
[23:51] Speaker 1: phone full of proof that everything that God does big
[23:55] Speaker 1: starts small. I have a phone full of voice notes
[23:59] Speaker 1: that have songs that we sing in our church that
[24:02] Speaker 1: started as a little melody idea that we hummed into
[24:05] Speaker 1: the phone. If you heard it, you would think I
[24:07] Speaker 1: was having a nervous breakdown. It doesn't sound like a song,
[24:11] Speaker 1: it doesn't sound like anything. It sounds like a mumble.
[24:15] Speaker 1: It sounds like a mustard seed. But God turns some
[24:18] Speaker 1: of those mumbles into anthems that people can sing when
[24:23] Speaker 1: they're looking at mountains. So now I remember, watch this.
[24:28] Speaker 1: It's little until it isn't. It's little until it isn't.
[24:34] Speaker 1: One day David was told by his father to carry
[24:36] Speaker 1: some cheese and bread to the battle lines to his brothers. Well,
[24:40] Speaker 1: that's a little thing. All he's doing at this point
[24:43] Speaker 1: that I can tell is doing an uber driver's job
[24:46] Speaker 1: with a king's anointing. But David sets out to do
[24:49] Speaker 1: a little thing, and he takes his little cheeses and
[24:53] Speaker 1: his little breads from watching his little sheep with his
[24:56] Speaker 1: little self, the smallest brother, and he shows up little.
[24:59] Speaker 1: But when he gets to the battle lines, he hears
[25:01] Speaker 1: the shout of a big giant. This giant is nine
[25:05] Speaker 1: feet tall. So now all of a sudden, what was
[25:08] Speaker 1: little that morning, take this meal to your brothers turned
[25:11] Speaker 1: into the biggest opportunity.
[25:13] Speaker 5: Of his life, because it's little till it isn't. Say
[25:18] Speaker 5: it it's little, till it isn't. This side, say it's little,
[25:24] Speaker 5: this side, say till it isn't.
[25:26] Speaker 1: Elijah the prophet told his servant, go check the sky.
[25:29] Speaker 1: I hear the sound of the abundance of rain is
[25:33] Speaker 1: getting stormy. I know there's been a drought in the land.
[25:36] Speaker 1: And the servant came back seven times and said there's
[25:39] Speaker 1: nothing there. And on the seventh time, not the six
[25:41] Speaker 1: to seventh, he came back and said, well, I see
[25:43] Speaker 1: a cloud, but it's it's little. It's just the size
[25:47] Speaker 1: of a man's hand. And Elijah said, well, you better
[25:50] Speaker 1: tell Ahab hitch up his chariots, because it might be
[25:53] Speaker 1: little now, but it is loaded. And I came to
[25:57] Speaker 1: preach to somebody's life. It might be little now, going
[26:01] Speaker 1: back to get your degree. It might be little now.
[26:04] Speaker 1: Having integrity on your job. It might be little now
[26:07] Speaker 1: making your first appointment with a trainer. It might be
[26:10] Speaker 1: little now. Putting the word of God in your kid's heart,
[26:13] Speaker 1: dragging them to church. It might be little now breeding
[26:17] Speaker 1: a verse a day. It might be little now, but
[26:20] Speaker 1: little as much as God is in it. Little as much.
[26:26] Speaker 1: Jesus was preaching. One day the crowds were hungry. He
[26:30] Speaker 1: told the disciples to feed them, and he asked him,
[26:34] Speaker 1: what do you have? They said, just a little bit.
[26:37] Speaker 1: There's a little boy with a little lunch and a
[26:40] Speaker 1: big crowd with a few loaves. And what we have
[26:43] Speaker 1: is little and as little till it isn't. And when
[26:47] Speaker 1: he touched it, what was little became leftovers. Because it's
[26:52] Speaker 1: only little till it isn't. Come on, give God a
[26:57] Speaker 1: little praise, little pray, little praise, little praise, little prays,
[27:02] Speaker 1: little praise. I see a cloud the size of a
[27:06] Speaker 1: man's hand. I see it rising in your life. Or
[27:10] Speaker 1: maybe I should say, I see a cloud the size
[27:14] Speaker 1: of a man's hand, and I see a seed the
[27:17] Speaker 1: size of a mustard seed. And Jesus said, some of
[27:21] Speaker 1: the most significant things God will do in your life
[27:23] Speaker 1: will be some of the smallest things when they start.
[27:29] Speaker 1: All right, if I send you all home right now,
[27:31] Speaker 1: I think it was worth it just to encourage you
[27:35] Speaker 1: with that much. It's little till it isn't. Can I
[27:39] Speaker 1: break that down a little more? Though? I want to
[27:42] Speaker 1: make it worth your while. Tell somebody it's worth it.
[27:45] Speaker 1: It's worth it to come to church. It's worth it
[27:47] Speaker 1: to put on your uncomfortable shoes and your pants that
[27:51] Speaker 1: don't have an elastic wasteband and get in the House
[27:54] Speaker 1: of God and get in a place where you can hear.
[27:56] Speaker 1: And it is worth it to devote yourself to the
[27:58] Speaker 1: word of God. And I'm gonna tell you something right
[28:02] Speaker 1: now about the mustard seed that became a tree. And
[28:06] Speaker 1: I don't know if you can kind of make this
[28:08] Speaker 1: jump with me, But it's not only true about the
[28:12] Speaker 1: kingdom that it's little until it isn't, But it's also
[28:19] Speaker 1: true about compromise. It's little till it isn't. It's one
[28:34] Speaker 1: glass of wine until you go through something that makes
[28:39] Speaker 1: you need three and five and seven. I wish y'all
[28:44] Speaker 1: would look at me like that, Well, I'm not allowed
[28:47] Speaker 1: to have a standard in my life. I'm not telling
[28:51] Speaker 1: you not to drink. What I am saying about this
[28:54] Speaker 1: is that I had people make fun of me almost
[28:57] Speaker 1: every year of my teenage and adult life when they
[29:01] Speaker 1: found out that I have chosen I can't handle alcohol,
[29:05] Speaker 1: and they're like, what do you think it's a sin?
[29:09] Speaker 1: I'm like, no, I don't think it's a sin I
[29:12] Speaker 1: just think for me is slippery. It's slippery because I
[29:21] Speaker 1: know me and I am already addicted to enough stuff.
[29:26] Speaker 1: I do not need to invite chemical demons into places
[29:31] Speaker 1: where I already have plenty of this funtion. You know
[29:33] Speaker 1: what I'm saying, I'm not inviting a gang of demons
[29:37] Speaker 1: into my life. When my dad struggled with it, and
[29:40] Speaker 1: his dad struggled with it, and the Lord gave me
[29:43] Speaker 1: a real revelation about this. One day, I was watching
[29:46] Speaker 1: a famous celebrity and they were on a talk show
[29:47] Speaker 1: and they were celebrating like seventeen years of sobriety, and
[29:50] Speaker 1: everybody clatform. Everybody clapped. Seventeen years sober. That's amazing. Everybody clatform.
[29:56] Speaker 1: Everybody was clapping. The whole studio audience was clapping, and
[29:59] Speaker 1: I thought, that's it's crazy. They will clap for that.
[30:02] Speaker 1: But if a teenager decides I'm not going to drink,
[30:04] Speaker 1: everybody will make you feel like a fool. So why
[30:08] Speaker 1: do we celebrate after they have made such a mess
[30:11] Speaker 1: that they need a miracle to make it right? But
[30:15] Speaker 1: we can't celebrate when you put the measures in your
[30:17] Speaker 1: life to keep you from the evil in the first place.
[30:22] Speaker 1: So if we can celebrate recovery, we can celebrate precovery.
[30:28] Speaker 1: It means that I can make some little decisions in
[30:30] Speaker 1: my life that might keep a guardrail up for the future.
[30:36] Speaker 1: Because it's little till it isn't. It's little till it isn't.
[30:43] Speaker 1: And you're saying, what does this have to do with dirt?
[30:47] Speaker 1: You said it's worth the dirt, that's your title. What
[30:51] Speaker 1: does dirt have to do with decisions? I was looking
[30:58] Speaker 1: at these parables, you know. The one I preached about
[31:01] Speaker 1: a few weeks ago was the wheat and the weeds.
[31:05] Speaker 1: I preached about that, how the enemy will always do
[31:08] Speaker 1: something right beside whatever God does, in order to try
[31:11] Speaker 1: to get you discouraged and get you to give up.
[31:14] Speaker 1: And I do feel like that I'm preaching to a
[31:16] Speaker 1: lot of people today who are discouraged either by the
[31:20] Speaker 1: seeming insignificance of what God has called you to do.
[31:22] Speaker 1: I mean, good Lord, what parent in the room has
[31:24] Speaker 1: not been discouraged to think none of this matters. All
[31:28] Speaker 1: the little things you do for your kids, all the
[31:30] Speaker 1: things they don't say thank you for all the little
[31:31] Speaker 1: pieces of advice you try to give, all the little
[31:34] Speaker 1: things that you may do that go unnoticed, all of
[31:35] Speaker 1: the little ways you try to correct. There's nobody in
[31:38] Speaker 1: here who hasn't felt the idea of this isn't worth it,
[31:41] Speaker 1: or at the very least, this isn't working, and it's
[31:46] Speaker 1: not worth it. Because it's not working, it's not nothing's
[31:49] Speaker 1: getting better. But notice something about the mustard seed. It
[31:55] Speaker 1: became what it was in an unseen place. Notice the
[32:05] Speaker 1: mustard seed was very small, the smallest of all seeds.
[32:09] Speaker 1: Yet Verse thirty two says when it grows, it is
[32:15] Speaker 1: the largest of garden plants. Now, I just need to
[32:17] Speaker 1: preach this like its Bible study. Okay, I'm gonna talk
[32:20] Speaker 1: to y'all, not like you're a Sunday morning crowd. I'm
[32:22] Speaker 1: gonna talk to you like you're a seminary class. It
[32:26] Speaker 1: doesn't say when it grows it becomes the largest of
[32:31] Speaker 1: garden plants. It says when it grows it is the
[32:35] Speaker 1: largest of garden plants. That means it already was when
[32:40] Speaker 1: it went in the ground. It just needed somewhere to grow.
[32:51] Speaker 1: What made the difference between the mustard seed being this
[32:54] Speaker 1: big and being this big, What made the difference was
[32:59] Speaker 1: the we don't like dirt. We don't like dirt. We
[33:06] Speaker 1: like shine. We don't like dirt. We like dreams. We
[33:11] Speaker 1: don't like dirt. We don't like dirty churches. We go
[33:15] Speaker 1: around to churches, and if one church has a problem
[33:18] Speaker 1: with it, we'll leave that church and go to another church.
[33:21] Speaker 1: And you know, some of us, we're going from church
[33:24] Speaker 1: to church looking for dirt. And we are drawn to
[33:27] Speaker 1: the church because that church helped me and that church
[33:31] Speaker 1: blessed me. But stay around any church long enough, you'll
[33:34] Speaker 1: find dirt. I mean, even the purest church, even the
[33:38] Speaker 1: church that says like we're the real church. We preach
[33:41] Speaker 1: the real gospel. We preach the real truth. They got dirt.
[33:45] Speaker 1: They've got dirt. I promise you. I have lived to
[33:48] Speaker 1: see the days when some of the most judgmental people
[33:52] Speaker 1: that I ever met in my life turned out to
[33:55] Speaker 1: be the most jacked up people that I ever met
[33:57] Speaker 1: in my life. And the reason they were mean is
[34:00] Speaker 1: because they were so messed up, and rather than admit
[34:03] Speaker 1: they were messed up, they just decided to be mean.
[34:06] Speaker 1: So let me go ahead and save you a lot
[34:07] Speaker 1: of trouble. This church has dirt. The person you're sitting
[34:12] Speaker 1: next to has dirt. The person that you're sitting next
[34:15] Speaker 1: to has some things that they carry with them that
[34:18] Speaker 1: they're not proud of that if you meet them in
[34:20] Speaker 1: the wrong place, they might not have a good response.
[34:25] Speaker 1: But notice in the passage that it was the dirt.
[34:29] Speaker 1: I'm not glorifying sin, but it was the dirt. It
[34:32] Speaker 1: was something that we try to remove. It was something
[34:35] Speaker 1: that we don't value that made the mustard seed become
[34:39] Speaker 1: something that you would not see on the surface. This
[34:44] Speaker 1: trial that you're going through, this shame that you're dealing with,
[34:49] Speaker 1: this issue that you're pushing through. Whether or not you
[34:52] Speaker 1: grow from it depends on how you interpret the dirt.
[34:59] Speaker 1: Because if I see the dirt as a place to avoid,
[35:03] Speaker 1: I will never go through the processes that will make
[35:05] Speaker 1: me grow, and I'll run from church to church looking
[35:08] Speaker 1: for a church with no dirt. But can I tell
[35:10] Speaker 1: you something, You grow in the dirt. You grow in community.
[35:15] Speaker 1: You grow when you have to work through conflict, quit
[35:18] Speaker 1: switching people, and start letting God change you. It can't
[35:25] Speaker 1: grow if it never gets planted. You can't grow if
[35:28] Speaker 1: you never get planted. And yes, there come times to
[35:33] Speaker 1: leave jobs, and yes there come times to leave relationships
[35:36] Speaker 1: and yes, there comes time to leave churches. But I
[35:39] Speaker 1: want to tell you that some of us never produce
[35:41] Speaker 1: our potential because we are never planted in our purpose.
[35:48] Speaker 1: And sometimes you just have to decide, this is worth it. Devil,
[35:52] Speaker 1: you can't have it. This is worth it for fighting
[35:55] Speaker 1: for me. Now that might not be devil. You can
[35:57] Speaker 1: have that. I'll pay you to take it. This is
[36:02] Speaker 1: not worth it, but this is worth it. The word
[36:08] Speaker 1: of the Lord for somebody. Is this one's worth it?
[36:11] Speaker 1: This one's worth it. I know it's small. I know
[36:14] Speaker 1: you don't see it right now. I know it's taking
[36:16] Speaker 1: longer than you thought. I know the momentum is tricky
[36:18] Speaker 1: right now. I know the winds are against you. But
[36:20] Speaker 1: this one's worth it. This is not just anything. You
[36:23] Speaker 1: cannot keep this cycle up of running from things when
[36:25] Speaker 1: they get hard, you will never grow that way. This
[36:28] Speaker 1: one's worth it. And I know it's dirty. I know
[36:31] Speaker 1: it's messy. I know is sloppy. I know it'll be
[36:34] Speaker 1: easier for you to just hide.
[36:36] Speaker 8: But this one is worth it. It's worth the dirt
[36:42] Speaker 8: that's where it grew. It's worth the dirt that's where
[36:46] Speaker 8: it learned to break through. It's worth the dirt.
[36:52] Speaker 1: And yet there's another parable, another parable that Jesus told
[36:58] Speaker 1: about dirt. He talked in Matthew thirteen forty four about
[37:02] Speaker 1: how the Kingdom of Heaven is also like Now watch this.
[37:08] Speaker 1: In the first parable, he's talking about a tree that
[37:12] Speaker 1: has to go into the dirt to become what it
[37:15] Speaker 1: already is. In this parable, he's talking about a treasure
[37:21] Speaker 1: that is hidden in the dirt. But it does not
[37:24] Speaker 1: lessen its value. For he said, the Kingdom of Heaven
[37:27] Speaker 1: forty four is like a treasure hidden in a field.
[37:33] Speaker 1: When a man found it, he hid it again, and
[37:37] Speaker 1: then in his joy, he went and sold everything he had.
[37:41] Speaker 1: He was happy, he was putting everything on e day,
[37:45] Speaker 1: and happy because the Kingdom of God is like this
[37:48] Speaker 1: is so precious, it's such a priority. The Kingdom of
[37:51] Speaker 1: God is such a treasure. When he found it, he
[37:55] Speaker 1: sold everything he had and bought the treasure. Right. Wrong.
[38:03] Speaker 1: It does not say he bought the treasure. He bought
[38:09] Speaker 1: the field. And the last time I checked, fields are
[38:13] Speaker 1: made of and the last time I checked in Genesis one,
[38:18] Speaker 1: verse seven, you are made of dirt. And when God
[38:26] Speaker 1: created you, he reached down into the dirt. God didn't
[38:32] Speaker 1: make you from stars. God reached down into the dirt,
[38:39] Speaker 1: and when he breathed on what was dirty, the breath
[38:43] Speaker 1: of what is holy. In Genesis, it says that the
[38:47] Speaker 1: man became a living being because God says, the dirt
[38:53] Speaker 1: is worth it. When I breathe on it, it's worth it.
[38:57] Speaker 1: When I speak to it, it's worth it. Matthew thirteen
[39:03] Speaker 1: forty four taught me about marriage. It says that a
[39:07] Speaker 1: man found a treasure. The Kingdom of God is like
[39:09] Speaker 1: a man who found a treasure, and he was so
[39:12] Speaker 1: happy about the treasure that he sold everything he had.
[39:15] Speaker 1: Number One, it taught me that marriage means I'm going
[39:17] Speaker 1: to be broke buying stuff I don't even want. Number Two,
[39:21] Speaker 1: it taught me that when I bought Holly her ring,
[39:28] Speaker 1: y'all didn't know where I was going with that kind
[39:31] Speaker 1: of marriage. Do y'all have, y'all? When I bought a ring,
[39:35] Speaker 1: I spent every dollar I had on the ring three
[39:38] Speaker 1: thousand dollars. Three thousand dollars in two thousand and two.
[39:42] Speaker 1: Adjust that for inflation. Big money to your boy. But
[39:47] Speaker 1: I did it. I was happy to do it. I
[39:50] Speaker 1: met with this shady dude up in a pawn shop somewhere.
[39:53] Speaker 1: I said, Now, how do I know it's real? He
[39:55] Speaker 1: showed me all these papers. I believed him. Now I've
[39:59] Speaker 1: up her ring for every decade that she has dealt
[40:04] Speaker 1: with me, just to remind her, Just to remind her
[40:10] Speaker 1: that is worth the dirt. Get that diamond a little
[40:15] Speaker 1: bit bigger, just to remind her in case she forgets.
[40:19] Speaker 1: I'm sure she doesn't. I've been looking back on that.
[40:22] Speaker 1: Is anybody engaged in the room today, anybody engaged to
[40:25] Speaker 1: be married for real? Where congratulations? You got a ring?
[40:32] Speaker 1: In everything? A ring? Pop? Do you really have a fiance?
[40:41] Speaker 1: Is that partra? Show me? Good job. I'm so happy
[40:47] Speaker 1: for you. But this is one thing I want you
[40:50] Speaker 1: to understand, and I really want to use this as
[40:52] Speaker 1: an example for everybody in the room. When I put
[40:56] Speaker 1: the ring on Holly's finger, I got done on when
[41:00] Speaker 1: the Firman University, she said I do, But she didn't
[41:07] Speaker 1: say I do to the diamond. She said I do
[41:13] Speaker 1: to the dirt. So I just want to I just
[41:17] Speaker 1: want to say, you're saying I do to the dirt.
[41:22] Speaker 1: Because the men didn't buy the treasure, he bought the
[41:24] Speaker 1: field that the treasure was at so when she said
[41:29] Speaker 1: I do, she was saying I do to the dirt.
[41:33] Speaker 1: That would have been easy at that point in our
[41:35] Speaker 1: relationship for her to say I do to my anointing,
[41:38] Speaker 1: because she'd seen me operate in ministry. She had seen
[41:42] Speaker 1: me go and minister and I would I would preach
[41:44] Speaker 1: just like I preached. Now, I was always passionate, I
[41:47] Speaker 1: was I was, I was always edgy. I always said
[41:50] Speaker 1: things that I went back and thought later I shouldn't
[41:51] Speaker 1: have said it like that. But I always had heart.
[41:53] Speaker 1: And she would see me try to break through a
[41:55] Speaker 1: room and give people an opportunity to meet Jesus where
[41:58] Speaker 1: they were. And I know that's one of the reasons
[42:00] Speaker 1: that she fell in love with me. And I know
[42:02] Speaker 1: that she was saying I do to my anointing because
[42:04] Speaker 1: she felt like God had called us together to minister
[42:07] Speaker 1: and it was a lifelong thing. And I know she
[42:09] Speaker 1: said yes to my anointing, my treasure, But she was
[42:13] Speaker 1: also saying, I do to my anxiety, because what she
[42:19] Speaker 1: never could have known is that behind the anointing to
[42:22] Speaker 1: preach is the anxiety that is the constant companion of
[42:27] Speaker 1: God's call. And when she said I do to the diamond.
[42:33] Speaker 1: She was saying, I do to the dirt. And the
[42:38] Speaker 1: woman that has sat on the front row to hear
[42:41] Speaker 1: me preach, and the woman that has been around the
[42:43] Speaker 1: world to hear me preach, and the woman that has
[42:46] Speaker 1: gotten two upgrades on her diamond goes home and accepts
[42:53] Speaker 1: the dirt. Not that I'm a hypocrite, not that there
[42:58] Speaker 1: is a darkness in my life that is the result
[43:01] Speaker 1: of me not knowing God. But everybody has a treasure
[43:06] Speaker 1: and a field. Everybody has a diamond and a dirt.
[43:12] Speaker 1: You know, she said to me last night. I said, babe,
[43:15] Speaker 1: I'm all out of whack. I'm preaching a day early.
[43:18] Speaker 1: I don't know why I feel anxious. I'm sorry, I
[43:20] Speaker 1: feel anxious so much. She said, Stop apologizing for it,
[43:23] Speaker 1: and tell me how I can help you. What she's saying,
[43:27] Speaker 1: she's saying. She's saying, I do the dirt. We need
[43:33] Speaker 1: some people, whether it's husbands, wives, staff members at Elevation Church.
[43:41] Speaker 1: We need some people Christians, believers, moms, dads, students. We
[43:47] Speaker 1: need some people who will say, you know what, I
[43:50] Speaker 1: don't just run around from field to field when it
[43:52] Speaker 1: gets dirty. I don't just run around from trend to trend,
[43:56] Speaker 1: chasing stuff to fix my life. I'm not a quick
[43:59] Speaker 1: fixed Christian. And I do dirt, and you will find
[44:04] Speaker 1: me praising God, and you will find me fulfilling purpose,
[44:08] Speaker 1: and you will find me on my post. Because I
[44:11] Speaker 1: didn't just say I do to the diamond. I don't
[44:14] Speaker 1: just show up when a shiny I show up with
[44:17] Speaker 1: a shovel. I do dirt. If the sound goes out,
[44:22] Speaker 1: I'll say it again. If the snow comes down, I'll
[44:26] Speaker 1: preach it early. If hell breaks loose, I'll come out
[44:30] Speaker 1: on fire because I do dirt. If I go broke,
[44:34] Speaker 1: I've never seen the righteous forsaken. If they hate me,
[44:38] Speaker 1: he loves me. I go dirt because God does dirt.
[44:45] Speaker 1: God does dirt, not only in creation but in incarnation.
[44:51] Speaker 1: For God saw man in his dirt, in his filth,
[44:55] Speaker 1: in his blood, in his works, in his salvation less stake,
[45:00] Speaker 1: in his worst moment, and God from Heaven sent Jesus
[45:04] Speaker 1: from a throne, from a throne to a cross, who
[45:08] Speaker 1: would pay such a price for the sin of the world.
[45:13] Speaker 1: Here's your king crucified. What's he saying? I do dirt?
[45:23] Speaker 1: And when Jesus paid for you on Calvary, He didn't
[45:27] Speaker 1: just buy diamonds.
[45:29] Speaker 9: He bought dirt. I'm thankful for a God who does dirt.
[45:47] Speaker 1: I'm grateful that He looks at me covered and all
[45:49] Speaker 1: of the things that I should have cast off, and said,
[45:52] Speaker 1: it's worth the dirt. It's worth the dirt is worth
[45:59] Speaker 1: being misunderstood. Sometimes it's worth the dirt. This right here,
[46:05] Speaker 1: this one's worth it. This one ain't. This one is.
[46:12] Speaker 1: And when God whispers it's worth it, it's worth the dirt.
[46:21] Speaker 1: Like a treasure hidden in a field. Can't see it
[46:27] Speaker 1: on the surface. Write this down. You don't trip over treasure.
[46:34] Speaker 1: You dig it out. Stop looking for God to put
[46:39] Speaker 1: stuff on the surface. This one he dug for. It
[46:43] Speaker 1: was hidden. If it ain't buried, it probably ain't treasure.
[46:53] Speaker 1: And that's why in this season of your life you're
[46:56] Speaker 1: having to fight through some difficulties. You're having to fight
[46:59] Speaker 1: through some dirt. But the dirt served a purpose. It
[47:03] Speaker 1: made the mustard seed. Watch this branch out now. Notice
[47:08] Speaker 1: the baby seed was so small you couldn't see it.
[47:12] Speaker 1: But in the end of the parable, Jesus said, this
[47:14] Speaker 1: seed that is not big, it's little until it isn't.
[47:19] Speaker 1: And by the end of this seed's time in the dirt,
[47:23] Speaker 1: it had branches coming out the ground, showing verse thirty two.
[47:27] Speaker 1: I want you to see it with your own eyes,
[47:29] Speaker 1: he said, in The branches are so big that the
[47:31] Speaker 1: birds come and perch in the branches. I don't know
[47:35] Speaker 1: if you can receive this or not, but the battle
[47:38] Speaker 1: that you have been going through in your life, the
[47:41] Speaker 1: battle is for the branches, because when the tree gets
[47:51] Speaker 1: done growing, it's going to be like this. Now it's
[47:54] Speaker 1: like this, And you've been wondering, why is the devil
[47:58] Speaker 1: picking on me? I'm nobody. Why is it so hard
[48:01] Speaker 1: for me? I'm nothing. It's because of your branches. It
[48:10] Speaker 1: is because that God wants to use you to bring
[48:14] Speaker 1: generational blessing to people who will come after you. That's
[48:19] Speaker 1: what the battle is about. I look back on this
[48:24] Speaker 1: time in our church when the devil was after us
[48:27] Speaker 1: when we were young, and I know why he came
[48:30] Speaker 1: after us when we were young, because of you. If
[48:34] Speaker 1: we died while we were young, we never would have
[48:37] Speaker 1: reached you. If this church did not exist. If he
[48:42] Speaker 1: could have snatched the seed Matthew Chapter three, verse three,
[48:45] Speaker 1: if he could have taken the seed and scorched it,
[48:48] Speaker 1: with the sun Matthew, Chapter thirteen, verse five. If he
[48:51] Speaker 1: could have taken the seat and choked it out with
[48:54] Speaker 1: the worries of this life, it would not be spreading
[48:56] Speaker 1: to the earth today. And I would not be able
[48:59] Speaker 1: to look into this camera and tell you that Jesus
[49:02] Speaker 1: saves and Jesus cleanses, and God does dirt. And the
[49:05] Speaker 1: cross is God saying I came for this and the
[49:11] Speaker 1: battle was for the branches? Is that not true of you?
[49:17] Speaker 1: Did God not know what was in you when he
[49:20] Speaker 1: put you in the situation? And you've got to trust
[49:23] Speaker 1: that it's worth the dirt. See, because I've seen God
[49:29] Speaker 1: move mountains, I've seen God make ways, And now that
[49:33] Speaker 1: I've seen what a tree can be, I understand what
[49:37] Speaker 1: I am fighting for. I understand that the battle is
[49:41] Speaker 1: for your branches. You've got to get free. You've got
[49:44] Speaker 1: to get you've got to get back. You've got to
[49:47] Speaker 1: bounce from this. You've got to recover, you've got to
[49:51] Speaker 1: move forward. You got to show them what it looks
[49:53] Speaker 1: like when we do it. Anyway, You've got to The
[49:56] Speaker 1: battle is not over your sea. The battle is your tree.
[50:01] Speaker 1: The battle is over your branches. And when I see
[50:08] Speaker 1: what God is doing in this church, even when I
[50:11] Speaker 1: see it in my own family. Do you understand that
[50:14] Speaker 1: the devil has fought me so hard through the years,
[50:19] Speaker 1: so many times I've wanted to quit. It's not worth it.
[50:23] Speaker 1: And I know you felt that way too. If a
[50:25] Speaker 1: preacher feels that way, surely you feel that way. I've
[50:30] Speaker 1: preached the souls for a living. Sometimes all you feel
[50:33] Speaker 1: like you do is organize chaos. But one night the summer,
[50:42] Speaker 1: I was walking through our house and Elijah and Graham
[50:46] Speaker 1: and Abbey were there upstairs. Down at the bottom of
[50:50] Speaker 1: the stairs on a Sunday night, there was this we'll
[50:55] Speaker 1: just show them real quick, this picture I want to
[50:58] Speaker 1: give you. I don't know if you can see it
[51:02] Speaker 1: real good. But that's shoes. That's the shoes of about
[51:12] Speaker 1: one hundred teenagers. Those shoes smell.
[51:19] Speaker 10: Like wrestling jem on a Saturday afternoon, same smell, And
[51:26] Speaker 10: all these shoes at the bottom of my stairs, and
[51:29] Speaker 10: all this noise in my house.
[51:32] Speaker 1: And downstairs were the shoes. And upstairs in our house
[51:39] Speaker 1: was Graham, Abby, Elijah's over there somewhere, my wife is downstairs.
[51:44] Speaker 1: The shoes are at the thing, and upstairs with some kids.
[51:48] Speaker 1: Now show them the video jumping, singing, praising the Lord.
[52:08] Speaker 1: And the ceiling was shaken too, And the ceiling was shaken,
[52:16] Speaker 1: and the ceiling was shaken. And I walked upstairs and said,
[52:22] Speaker 1: y'all gotta get out. This is not the New Testament.
[52:25] Speaker 1: I know they tore off the roof in the New Testament,
[52:28] Speaker 1: but my homeowner's insurance doesn't cover it. Go outside. But
[52:32] Speaker 1: I got the picture that downstairs. Show them the picture.
[52:38] Speaker 1: Downstairs was the dirt, and upstairs, what's the worship? And downstairs,
[52:53] Speaker 1: what's the dirt? And upstairs, what's the worship? And downstairs
[53:02] Speaker 1: was the process, and upstairs was the praise. And I'm
[53:07] Speaker 1: trying to get you to see that you can worship
[53:10] Speaker 1: God because the turnt is worth it. God does. I
[53:25] Speaker 1: prepared this word today hoping that it would go out
[53:27] Speaker 1: online to our entire church community all over the world.
[53:32] Speaker 1: But if one of you today.
[53:36] Speaker 11: Needed to hear the whisper of God saying it's worthing,
[53:46] Speaker 11: then it's working.
[53:51] Speaker 1: Everybody does the diamonds, God does the dirk. With your
[54:00] Speaker 1: head bowed and your eyes closed, receive the mystery of
[54:03] Speaker 1: the parable of the mustard seed and the treasure in
[54:05] Speaker 1: the field. Is that God does dirt. No matter what
[54:11] Speaker 1: the enemy has thrown on your life. Just try to
[54:14] Speaker 1: stop you from growing. It won't work. It's only going
[54:16] Speaker 1: to grow you more. Yes, Lord, I'll say it again,
[54:21] Speaker 1: It's only going to grow you more. Whatever it is,
[54:29] Speaker 1: it's worth the dirt. It's worth you going through a
[54:32] Speaker 1: season of repentance to live a life healed. It's worth
[54:38] Speaker 1: the dirt. It's worth God stripping some things away so
[54:43] Speaker 1: he can bring some things for it. There is treasure
[54:50] Speaker 1: inside of you. I know people don't like it when
[54:52] Speaker 1: I preach like this. They say, oh, well, tell them
[54:54] Speaker 1: how sinful they are. You know that already. I came
[54:57] Speaker 1: to remind you. God does dirt. He breathes on brokenness.
[55:04] Speaker 1: It's worth it. Jesus stretched his arms because it's worth it.
[55:10] Speaker 1: I encourage you today, say I do to the dirt.
[55:13] Speaker 1: Make a commitment in your life. Lord, no matter how
[55:15] Speaker 1: long it takes me, I believe you can wash me clean. God.
[55:18] Speaker 1: Here I am again, dirty again, disappointed again. But I
[55:22] Speaker 1: heard you do dirt. I heard you came from heaven,
[55:25] Speaker 1: lived in a little town called Nazareth, and died on
[55:30] Speaker 1: a cruel cross. The splinters in your back, and the lashes,
[55:36] Speaker 1: the wounds in your side, the nails in your hands.
[55:38] Speaker 1: I heard you do dirt. Father. Would you take my
[55:41] Speaker 1: life today, all that I am, all that I'm not,
[55:46] Speaker 1: my little loaves, my little mustard seed life, and bring
[55:52] Speaker 1: branches forth from them. Father, I pray today for those
[55:57] Speaker 1: who are feeling alone or abandoned, or for say, maybe
[56:01] Speaker 1: they've even buried their hope. As I pray to you, Lord,
[56:05] Speaker 1: I'm reminded that the seed appeared to be buried, but
[56:08] Speaker 1: it was indeed planted. That means it served a purpose.
[56:15] Speaker 1: I thank you that the dirt is serving a purpose
[56:17] Speaker 1: in each of our lives. And I thank you that
[56:20] Speaker 1: there is a treasure that the world cannot touch. We
[56:24] Speaker 1: thank you that the Kingdom of Heaven is that treasure.
[56:27] Speaker 1: You're worth it, Lord, not just what you do for us,
[56:30] Speaker 1: but who you are to us. You are worth it.
[56:33] Speaker 1: You're worthy of our worship, you're worthy of our praise,
[56:38] Speaker 1: You're worthy of our lives. And now God, I commend
[56:43] Speaker 1: these treasures in a field to you, the diamonds and
[56:47] Speaker 1: the dirt. I thank you that you know what you're doing,
[56:52] Speaker 1: you know where you planted them, and I thank you
[56:54] Speaker 1: that they're growing by grace. Thank you for this word
[56:58] Speaker 1: that we receive today. We will never be the same
[57:02] Speaker 1: with head still bowed and eyes still closed. There's somebody
[57:05] Speaker 1: who's hearing this message today, and you need to give
[57:07] Speaker 1: your life to Jesus Christ. You don't have to clean
[57:10] Speaker 1: yourself up to come to God. That's why God came
[57:13] Speaker 1: to you. He does the cleaning, you do the coming.
[57:17] Speaker 1: You come to him like you are, and you won't
[57:19] Speaker 1: leave that way. Jesus will change you. Jesus will save
[57:24] Speaker 1: you to the uttermost. Call on the name of the
[57:26] Speaker 1: Lord and you will be saved. So I'm gonna pray
[57:30] Speaker 1: a prayer right now, and if you want to give
[57:32] Speaker 1: your life to Jesus, repeat this prayer after me. We're
[57:35] Speaker 1: gonna pray it out loud in the room for the
[57:38] Speaker 1: benefit of those all over the world who are coming
[57:41] Speaker 1: to Christ in this moment. Repeat after me, Heavenly Father,
[57:45] Speaker 1: I am a sinner in need of a savior, and
[57:49] Speaker 1: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
[57:55] Speaker 1: and the Savior of the world. And today I make
[57:59] Speaker 1: Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died
[58:05] Speaker 1: that I would be forgiven was buried and rose again
[58:11] Speaker 1: to give me life. I receive your life. Here's mine.
[58:18] Speaker 1: I am a child of God. I am a new creation.
[58:25] Speaker 1: On the counter of three. If you prayed that prayer,
[58:27] Speaker 1: shoot your hand in the air one two, three, or
[58:30] Speaker 1: if you're watching online to put it in the chat,
[58:32] Speaker 1: say I receive Jesus. Come on, let's thank God all
[58:38] Speaker 1: over the world. All over the world, everybody who just
[58:41] Speaker 1: prayed that. Thank you Jesus for new beginnings. Hey, I
[58:50] Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, make
[58:53] Speaker 1: sure to share it and subscribe so we can get
[58:56] Speaker 1: you all of these new messages as soon as they're available.
[59:00] Speaker 1: I also want to take a moment and thank all
[59:02] Speaker 1: of you who are a part of Elevation. Whether you
[59:04] Speaker 1: support us financially, or serve with us, or just share
[59:08] Speaker 1: these messages, it's because of you that we're able to
[59:10] Speaker 1: reach people all around the world. And if you want
[59:14] Speaker 1: more information on how to be a part of Elevation,
[59:17] Speaker 1: click the link in the description. Thanks again for listening.
[59:20] Speaker 1: Make sure to leave a review, share the message, and subscribe.
[59:24] Speaker 1: God bless you.

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