# Piece It Together

An episode of [Elevation with Steven Furtick](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/216015753), 27 Feb 2026, 44 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/cbb40a38-726f-4243-a86e-b0ed01477640/4228daf2-f06f-4f7f-947d-b3ee00fce810/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ff9164b2-aa64-410d-9ee1-b0ed0147765c

Potential is realized in pieces. In “Piece It Together,” Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church shows how God reveals purpose one step at a time, and teaches us to stop fixating on what feels missing so we can see the big picture He’s been building through every piece. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
[0:04] Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank
[0:06] Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope
[0:09] Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to
[0:11] Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.
[0:17] Speaker 1: Turn your attention to Mark chapter eight. We're in week
[0:19] Speaker 1: two of a series called Unqualified. How God uses broken
[0:23] Speaker 1: people to do big things. Turn to your neighbor and say,
[0:25] Speaker 1: I think he wrote this one for you. This sounds
[0:29] Speaker 1: like something you need to hear. Mark, chapter eight, verse eleven.
[0:34] Speaker 1: March Chapter eight, verse eleven. The Pharisees came and begin
[0:38] Speaker 1: to question Jesus to test him. They asked him for
[0:40] Speaker 1: a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, why
[0:44] Speaker 1: does this generation ask for a sign? Truly, I tell
[0:47] Speaker 1: you no sign will be given to it. And then
[0:49] Speaker 1: he left them, got back into the boat and crossed
[0:51] Speaker 1: to the other side. And I almost didn't even mention
[0:54] Speaker 1: those verses, but they're so important as I put this
[0:58] Speaker 1: sermon together that I wanted to catch them before we
[1:00] Speaker 1: got to fourteen through twenty one.
[1:02] Speaker 2: But here's the heart of the message.
[1:05] Speaker 1: The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one
[1:08] Speaker 1: loaf they had with them in the boat. Be careful,
[1:11] Speaker 1: Jesus war and then watch out for the yeast of
[1:13] Speaker 1: the Pharisees and that of Herod. Look up right, the
[1:17] Speaker 1: disciples are They discussed this with one another and said,
[1:20] Speaker 1: because we have no bread. Aware of their discussion, Jesus
[1:24] Speaker 1: asked them, why are you talking about having no bread?
[1:26] Speaker 1: Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?
[1:32] Speaker 1: Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears
[1:34] Speaker 1: but failed to hear?
[1:35] Speaker 2: And don't you remember.
[1:38] Speaker 1: When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
[1:40] Speaker 1: how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?
[1:44] Speaker 2: Twelve, they replied.
[1:48] Speaker 1: And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,
[1:50] Speaker 1: how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? They answered? Soothing,
[1:57] Speaker 1: And he said to them, do you still not under
[2:01] Speaker 1: when I broke the lows? How many basketfuls of pieces
[2:04] Speaker 1: did you pick up? Don't you remember the pieces? I
[2:09] Speaker 1: want to speak today from this subject? Piece it together,
[2:13] Speaker 1: Piece it together, And on your way down to your seat,
[2:17] Speaker 1: ask your neighbor do you still not get it? You
[2:20] Speaker 1: still not get it? You may be seated. God has
[2:27] Speaker 1: a calling for your life, but you're going to have
[2:29] Speaker 1: to piece it together. And my main reaction to the
[2:33] Speaker 1: text is essentially one of disbelief that the disciples could
[2:38] Speaker 1: have seen all that they saw and still not see
[2:40] Speaker 1: what was right before their very eyes. I mean, don't
[2:44] Speaker 1: you get it. There's not really a there's not really
[2:49] Speaker 1: an excuse. I don't want to come to their defense
[2:52] Speaker 1: that they're sitting in the boat with the one who
[2:55] Speaker 1: just performed two massive miracles and they're still worried about
[3:00] Speaker 1: missing pieces. Apparently somebody didn't do their job, and so
[3:06] Speaker 1: there's no lunch for the disciples. So Jesus is teaching
[3:09] Speaker 1: a lesson to the disciples that he's trying to take
[3:11] Speaker 1: them to the next level of their awareness and understanding
[3:15] Speaker 1: of who he is, what he came to do. As
[3:18] Speaker 1: he does it, he uses an analogy comparing yeast, which
[3:22] Speaker 1: is the self righteousness of the Pharisees who he just left,
[3:26] Speaker 1: comparing that self righteousness to the yeast that is in
[3:30] Speaker 1: the bread, and how if you allow yourself to get
[3:33] Speaker 1: a little self righteous, it's just a matter of time
[3:36] Speaker 1: before it takes over every area of your life and
[3:40] Speaker 1: well all they hear is bread, and so immediately they
[3:45] Speaker 1: start to argue. Some scholars would say that the verse
[3:48] Speaker 1: is actually incorrectly translated in English. Instead of saying it
[3:52] Speaker 1: is because we have no bread, they were saying something
[3:55] Speaker 1: more like, why don't we have any bread? Like Peter
[3:59] Speaker 1: Andrew whose job was it to bring the bread? But
[4:03] Speaker 1: regardless of the construction of the question in coin a Greek,
[4:08] Speaker 1: I think we can all relate to the premise that
[4:10] Speaker 1: life is largely about recognition. And I'm realizing more and
[4:15] Speaker 1: more of the importance of recognition in my day to
[4:18] Speaker 1: day life. Recognition, recognition of what is right before you.
[4:24] Speaker 1: Often and when we read the text, it's easy for
[4:26] Speaker 1: us to almost see the comedy in it that Jesus
[4:30] Speaker 1: was trying to talk to them about the yeast of
[4:32] Speaker 1: self righteousness and they're thinking about wheat and raw and pumpernickel.
[4:39] Speaker 1: But it's really it's really not fair for us to
[4:46] Speaker 1: do that, because, well, we have a benefit that the
[4:49] Speaker 1: disciples didn't have. For one, they did not know that
[4:53] Speaker 1: they were the main characters in Mark chapter eight, verses
[4:56] Speaker 1: fourteen through twenty one. You do realize that when people
[4:59] Speaker 1: were writing the Bible and where people were doing the
[5:03] Speaker 1: things that were written about in the Bible. They didn't
[5:04] Speaker 1: know they were gonna end up in the Bible. Okay,
[5:07] Speaker 1: so they weren't thinking, boy, this is going to be
[5:09] Speaker 1: a cool story that they're going to preach about an
[5:12] Speaker 1: elevation church in twenty sixteen. And we see a little
[5:16] Speaker 1: differently because we're looking back on it. Have you noticed
[5:19] Speaker 1: how many things look different when you're looking back on them,
[5:24] Speaker 1: and how difficult it is to see some things while
[5:28] Speaker 1: you're going through that you can see clearly when you're
[5:32] Speaker 1: looking back. Talk to me, this is why it is
[5:35] Speaker 1: so easy for you to give advice to a teenager.
[5:38] Speaker 1: But it was hard for you to be one. You
[5:41] Speaker 1: sucked when you were one. But now that you have one,
[5:45] Speaker 1: you can tell them what the big picture. That's the
[5:47] Speaker 1: other benefit we have. The disciples were inside the frame.
[5:52] Speaker 1: Is kind of hard to see the big picture when
[5:55] Speaker 1: you're in the frame. So it's easy for you to
[5:58] Speaker 1: see what they should have seen when you're not going
[5:59] Speaker 1: through what they were going through because they were worried
[6:02] Speaker 1: about lunch, and a lot of times in our lives,
[6:04] Speaker 1: I think we don't recognize the big picture because we
[6:08] Speaker 1: experience life in pieces to groups are contrasted in the scripture,
[6:17] Speaker 1: and Jesus direction here is an indication for us of
[6:21] Speaker 1: the kind of team he is choosing. We could go
[6:24] Speaker 1: back to the beginning of the Gospel record and find
[6:28] Speaker 1: Jesus piecing together his team, which even that to me,
[6:33] Speaker 1: says a lot about the way that God works in
[6:35] Speaker 1: our lives. Is that when God sent Jesus into the
[6:39] Speaker 1: world to save the world for a purpose, he didn't
[6:43] Speaker 1: send him with a pre assembled team to accomplish the plan.
[6:49] Speaker 1: We trained church leaders here over the last week and
[6:53] Speaker 1: many of them will ask this question, or a form
[6:56] Speaker 1: of it, where do you get your team? That makes
[6:58] Speaker 1: me laugh because you think there's a warehouse, because you
[7:02] Speaker 1: think there's a build a team store. You think you
[7:05] Speaker 1: can walk in and assemble the perfect team, or even better,
[7:08] Speaker 1: you think that God's going to give you everything that
[7:11] Speaker 1: you need all at once. When he calls you to
[7:13] Speaker 1: do something but touch somebody say you got to build it.
[7:17] Speaker 1: You got to build it. And Jesus was piecing together
[7:19] Speaker 1: as team, and he picked this guy and that guy.
[7:21] Speaker 1: But what's funny to me about it is he's moving
[7:24] Speaker 1: away from the team that you would have thought he
[7:27] Speaker 1: would have selected for an important mission. That's the Pharisees.
[7:30] Speaker 1: They were one of three Jewish groups. Their name literally
[7:33] Speaker 1: means set apart or separate ones. And not only had
[7:37] Speaker 1: they separated themselves from others, but in the process, they
[7:39] Speaker 1: had separated themselves from God. They were so focused on
[7:43] Speaker 1: a few extreme points of the law that they had
[7:46] Speaker 1: missed the big picture, to do justice, to love, mercy,
[7:50] Speaker 1: to walk humbly with your God. But they had become
[7:53] Speaker 1: so focused on the individual laws and requirements and rules
[7:58] Speaker 1: that they had missed the big picture. The Bible says
[8:02] Speaker 1: that they tried to qualify Jesus, the nerve, the audacity
[8:06] Speaker 1: for the creature, to attempt to qualify the creator. Who
[8:10] Speaker 1: in the world do you think you are? When you
[8:12] Speaker 1: tell somebody they're not good enough to be a Christian,
[8:15] Speaker 1: when you tell somebody that if they were a real Christian,
[8:18] Speaker 1: they would when you tell somebody to get this in
[8:20] Speaker 1: order and that in order, and then you can be
[8:22] Speaker 1: in my church. So Jesus moves away from all of that,
[8:26] Speaker 1: this perfection, this picture of perfection that they were trying
[8:30] Speaker 1: to present, and he moves forward into his mission. And
[8:33] Speaker 1: he's well into his mission now and he's using broken people.
[8:37] Speaker 1: In case you don't believe that they're broken, Let's just
[8:39] Speaker 1: talk about them a little bit. I pulled something up
[8:43] Speaker 1: that it was pretty funny to me. It said, if
[8:46] Speaker 1: Jesus had hired a management consultant firm to choose his team,
[8:52] Speaker 1: how would they have evaluated these guys that were in
[8:55] Speaker 1: the boat? And I want to read to you just
[8:59] Speaker 1: a hype of medical memorandum from the Jordan Management Consultant group.
[9:05] Speaker 1: I found this online and it was written to Jesus
[9:09] Speaker 1: and it says, dear Sir, thank you for submitting the
[9:13] Speaker 1: resumes of the twelve men you have picked for management
[9:16] Speaker 1: positions in your new organization. All of them have now
[9:22] Speaker 1: taken our battery of tests. We have not only run
[9:26] Speaker 1: the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews
[9:30] Speaker 1: for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant.
[9:36] Speaker 1: It is the staff opinion that most of your nominees
[9:38] Speaker 1: are lacking in background education and vocational aptitude for the
[9:43] Speaker 1: type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have
[9:47] Speaker 1: the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your
[9:52] Speaker 1: search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.
[10:00] Speaker 1: Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper.
[10:07] Speaker 1: Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The brothers James
[10:12] Speaker 1: and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above
[10:14] Speaker 1: company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend
[10:19] Speaker 1: to undermine morale. We feel that it is our duty
[10:23] Speaker 1: to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the
[10:25] Speaker 1: Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alpheus,
[10:29] Speaker 1: and Daddius definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered
[10:32] Speaker 1: a high score on the Manic Depressive scale. One of
[10:35] Speaker 1: the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man
[10:41] Speaker 1: of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen
[10:46] Speaker 1: business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is
[10:50] Speaker 1: highly motivated, ambitious and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as
[10:57] Speaker 1: your controller and right hand man. All of the other
[11:02] Speaker 1: profiles are self explanatory. All that just to ask, aren't
[11:07] Speaker 1: you glad that God doesn't pick people like people pick people?
[11:17] Speaker 1: This is only for the people who believe that you
[11:20] Speaker 1: don't deserve a spot on the team, but you're glad
[11:23] Speaker 1: you got one anyway. This is only for the people
[11:26] Speaker 1: who are familiar with your weaknesses, and you know deep
[11:30] Speaker 1: down that you know that, you know that, you know that,
[11:32] Speaker 1: you know that if God didn't look beyond your faults
[11:35] Speaker 1: and see your needs, you wouldn't even have a seat
[11:38] Speaker 1: in the church auditorium. But you got here by the
[11:42] Speaker 1: grace of God because he saw your potential. If you're
[11:49] Speaker 1: bold enough look at your neighbors, say I got potential,
[11:53] Speaker 1: I got potential, I got potential. See Jesus wants Jesus
[11:58] Speaker 1: wants his disciples to seat the potential. And I found
[12:01] Speaker 1: out that a lot of people are so quick to
[12:05] Speaker 1: recognize what's missing that they miss what's possible. Can I
[12:12] Speaker 1: break this down? Can I? Can? I? Can? I because
[12:16] Speaker 1: I really want to, because I really want to show
[12:18] Speaker 1: you what I study, because I really wanted to show
[12:20] Speaker 1: you that they're talking about bread. But Jesus said, I
[12:22] Speaker 1: am the bread of life. You don't need to worry
[12:24] Speaker 1: about who forgot about the bread. I am the bread.
[12:26] Speaker 1: If I'm in the boat, you're gonna have all you need.
[12:28] Speaker 1: I am your potential. I am your possibility, I am
[12:31] Speaker 1: your future, I am your hope.
[12:33] Speaker 3: I am the bread of life.
[12:40] Speaker 1: But it's possible that you have become so familiar with
[12:44] Speaker 1: your weaknesses that you can no longer see your potential.
[12:50] Speaker 1: In many ways, you see what you choose to see.
[12:54] Speaker 1: You see what you choose to see. It was about
[12:58] Speaker 1: two thousand and four when I speaking at a youth
[13:01] Speaker 1: camp and Holly told me, after one of the sessions
[13:04] Speaker 1: on a Wednesday night at the youth camp, it's time.
[13:09] Speaker 1: It's time to start the church that God put in
[13:12] Speaker 1: your heart when you were sixteen. Is time. She could
[13:16] Speaker 1: see that God had given us some people that were
[13:22] Speaker 1: in our lives for a purpose, and she said, it's time.
[13:26] Speaker 1: She could see it. I wasn't so quick to see it,
[13:29] Speaker 1: because all I could see was what I didn't have.
[13:33] Speaker 1: Where's the bread? We got me money? I'm twenty five.
[13:42] Speaker 1: That's all I can see. She saw what was possible.
[13:47] Speaker 1: I saw what was missing. You see what you choose
[13:51] Speaker 1: to see. Many ways, you see what you want to see.
[13:55] Speaker 1: You see what you've trained your eyes to see. All
[13:58] Speaker 1: they could see was no bread, But they missed the
[14:02] Speaker 1: one who was the source of their life. And it
[14:06] Speaker 1: happens all the time. It happens when they told the
[14:08] Speaker 1: Beatles they had no future as a band. It happened
[14:11] Speaker 1: when they told Walt Disney he lacked imagination all the time. See,
[14:16] Speaker 1: you can't trust just anybody to be your talent scout.
[14:20] Speaker 1: Let me say that another way. You can't trust yourself
[14:22] Speaker 1: to be your talent scout because you're too familiar with
[14:26] Speaker 1: your trouble to see your talent. Where's my bread? And
[14:30] Speaker 1: you're missing what's.
[14:32] Speaker 2: Right in front of you.
[14:33] Speaker 1: You can't even recognize your potential. See, potential is realized
[14:38] Speaker 1: in pieces. You're never gonna wake up one day and
[14:42] Speaker 1: feel like, well, now I've got what it takes. I
[14:45] Speaker 1: feel like I've crossed over the readiness line if you
[14:50] Speaker 1: do wake up and feel that one day. I haven't
[14:52] Speaker 1: had that day yet, and I'm looking forward to that day.
[14:54] Speaker 1: And maybe I'll revise a sermon when the day comes.
[14:56] Speaker 1: But as up to this point, I've been pastor in
[14:58] Speaker 1: ten years, and I never felt ready. I've never felt ready.
[15:01] Speaker 1: I've never felt ready. This might scare you, but I've
[15:03] Speaker 1: never felt ready to preach. I mean, I just I
[15:09] Speaker 1: just gotta go. I reckon this. You know it says
[15:11] Speaker 1: about eleven fifty three. I don't think Chris has any
[15:14] Speaker 1: more songs playing. Better get up there and do it.
[15:17] Speaker 1: I'm prepared, but I'm not ready, never gonna feel ready.
[15:21] Speaker 1: You're never gonna feel ready. I want to tell you
[15:23] Speaker 1: what I tell Holly when she says, I need five
[15:26] Speaker 1: more minutes. Baby, you gotta get ready on the way,
[15:29] Speaker 1: because if I wait for you to get ready for
[15:31] Speaker 1: us to leave, we're never gonna get there.
[15:33] Speaker 2: So get your makeup.
[15:34] Speaker 1: I'll drive. You can get ready on the way. Touch
[15:36] Speaker 1: three people say get ready on the way. I know
[15:42] Speaker 1: they didn't feel ready. I know they didn't look ready.
[15:47] Speaker 1: In two thousand and nine, there was a basketball player
[15:50] Speaker 1: who wanted to play in the NBA and I found
[15:56] Speaker 1: an article about his pre draft scouting report. And this
[16:02] Speaker 1: was a scouting report on his perceived weaknesses. There's a phrase,
[16:09] Speaker 1: perceived weaknesses. His perceived weaknesses through the eyes of a
[16:13] Speaker 1: former NBA coach. Listen to what they said about him.
[16:15] Speaker 1: There's fifteen of them. I'll share them all. Not a
[16:19] Speaker 1: true point guard, out of control at times, shot selection questionable,
[16:25] Speaker 1: stuck between one and two. Ability to defend position at
[16:29] Speaker 1: next level questionable, lateral quickness, versatility to defend multiple positions,
[16:35] Speaker 1: limited upside, questionable backup, fringe starter. College system makes him
[16:41] Speaker 1: difficult to evaluate. He went to a small school. We
[16:44] Speaker 1: don't know if he's going to make.
[16:45] Speaker 2: It in the big lease.
[16:47] Speaker 1: Average athleticism, average size, average wingspan, frail frame, relies too
[16:56] Speaker 1: heavily on outside shot. But yeah, well, Steph Curry's doing
[17:01] Speaker 1: all right in the NBA. He's doing all right in
[17:05] Speaker 1: the NBA. Aren't you glad? The scouting report is not
[17:10] Speaker 1: the last word over your life. All of those things
[17:20] Speaker 1: might have been true. All of those things might have
[17:22] Speaker 1: been true. But now that we're looking at now that
[17:25] Speaker 1: we're looking back, we can see what they couldn't see.
[17:29] Speaker 1: We can see Mark chapter eight, verses fourteen through twenty one.
[17:33] Speaker 2: We can put the pieces together.
[17:35] Speaker 1: Listen what the Warriors coach said. He said, I hope
[17:39] Speaker 1: that scout is no longer evaluating tech. Somebody say you
[17:43] Speaker 1: need to fire your scout. You need to fire your scout, Moses,
[17:47] Speaker 1: they're going to keep you out of the Promised Land,
[17:49] Speaker 1: talking about the giants and forgetting about the grapes. You
[17:52] Speaker 1: need to fire your scout. Listen what the GM of
[17:55] Speaker 1: the Warriors said. He said. What people who did didn't
[18:00] Speaker 1: like him, didn't see is that he's a tremendous worker
[18:04] Speaker 1: and cares about the game if you look back. If
[18:08] Speaker 1: you look back, he has gotten better every single year.
[18:13] Speaker 1: And if you liked him back then you saw a glimpse.
[18:20] Speaker 2: Of what he could become. God likes me.
[18:27] Speaker 1: It took me a while to figure that out because
[18:30] Speaker 1: I thought.
[18:30] Speaker 2: He needed me to be like the Pharisees.
[18:33] Speaker 1: I thought my life was too broken because I think
[18:36] Speaker 1: like this and respond like that. But I found out
[18:40] Speaker 1: he likes me. I found out he likes me. If
[18:46] Speaker 1: you liked him, you could get a glimpse of what
[18:50] Speaker 1: he could become. Some of you can't see what you
[18:53] Speaker 1: could be because you don't like who you are. When
[18:58] Speaker 1: you don't like yourself, you can't see the picture for
[19:03] Speaker 1: the pieces. You can't see what could become. It's kind
[19:10] Speaker 1: of hard to see the picture when all you have
[19:14] Speaker 1: is the pieces. It's kind of hard to see the provision.
[19:17] Speaker 1: That's the second thing I want to talk about. There
[19:19] Speaker 1: are three of these that all start with the letter P.
[19:22] Speaker 1: The first one was the potential, and the second one
[19:25] Speaker 1: was provision. Because potential is realized in pieces. Is putting
[19:29] Speaker 1: together what you have, not getting something that you're missing,
[19:33] Speaker 1: it's putting together what you have. I just said a
[19:35] Speaker 1: lot I said it real quick, so I need to
[19:37] Speaker 1: back up over it and drive by.
[19:38] Speaker 2: Real slow.
[19:40] Speaker 1: Is putting together what you have, Ezekiel, What do you
[19:43] Speaker 1: see in the valley? I see bones? But when they
[19:45] Speaker 1: came together, they became an army. A lot of churches
[19:49] Speaker 1: have a lot of potential, but because they won't come together,
[19:53] Speaker 1: they can't realize it. Potential is realized in pieces, and
[19:56] Speaker 1: so is provision. Jesus multiplied the loaves and they went
[20:01] Speaker 1: home with basketfuls of broken pieces because he saw the
[20:04] Speaker 1: potential in a little boy's lunch. The Bible says that
[20:08] Speaker 1: he fed five thousand, but that's not really true. It
[20:11] Speaker 1: was five thousand men that society didn't even count, the
[20:14] Speaker 1: women and the children. It was somebody that they didn't
[20:17] Speaker 1: even count that had the seed of the miracle that
[20:21] Speaker 1: they all received. Because God sees potential in small places
[20:27] Speaker 1: and in overlook people, and in David in the field
[20:30] Speaker 1: while his brothers are all lined up waiting to be
[20:33] Speaker 1: fitted for a crown and waiting to be anointed with oil.
[20:37] Speaker 1: But God calls for the one that nobody else saw
[20:39] Speaker 1: the potential in, just the youngest one, just the little boy,
[20:45] Speaker 1: just a fisherman in a taxkan the pieces together the potential,
[20:52] Speaker 1: and pieces together.
[20:55] Speaker 2: The provision, the provision.
[21:00] Speaker 1: Understand that your provision is released in pieces, you'll miss
[21:03] Speaker 1: it when it comes your emotional provision, your financial provision,
[21:13] Speaker 1: your relational provision is gonna come in pieces, and you'll
[21:20] Speaker 1: receive one piece in one season, and one piece and another,
[21:24] Speaker 1: and by the time you have everything you need, you
[21:26] Speaker 1: don't even remember when it exactly got there because it
[21:28] Speaker 1: came in pieces. I received my sermons in pieces. All
[21:38] Speaker 1: write sometime and go, that's pretty good that I write.
[21:40] Speaker 1: Someone's down. I go, that's pretty good, all right, someone's down,
[21:42] Speaker 1: and go that's pretty good, all right, someone else down.
[21:44] Speaker 2: That's pretty good.
[21:46] Speaker 1: And if I get enough pieces, it does a matter
[21:48] Speaker 1: of time before I have a picture. Oh that might
[21:53] Speaker 1: preach if I worked on it a little while. Comes
[21:56] Speaker 1: in in pieces, but the pieces don't look like the picture.
[22:05] Speaker 1: So what happens is you get stuck on one part
[22:08] Speaker 1: of your life where there's a missing piece. We don't
[22:12] Speaker 1: have any bread. One part bread is sitting in front
[22:15] Speaker 1: of you. We don't have any bread. It's stuck on
[22:18] Speaker 1: one thing. Feel horrible about yourself, stuck on one thing,
[22:23] Speaker 1: kicking button fifteen categories, making a C minus in one,
[22:27] Speaker 1: and all you can see is the sea stuck on
[22:32] Speaker 1: the missing piece. Confessing time, I was not the best
[22:36] Speaker 1: dad this week. Okay, not anything bad that I did.
[22:40] Speaker 1: I slapped my kid across the room, might have thought
[22:43] Speaker 1: about it once or twice, didn't do it, thought about
[22:45] Speaker 1: it before. I hadn't done it yet. It wasn't like that.
[22:49] Speaker 1: I was just busy.
[22:50] Speaker 2: I released a book, I.
[22:51] Speaker 1: Preached, I traveled, I preached, I trained, I got decermins
[22:53] Speaker 1: of things. I'm out everywhere.
[22:55] Speaker 2: So this week I.
[22:57] Speaker 1: Don't feel like I was like the best dad. I mean,
[23:00] Speaker 1: I don't feel like I've knocked it out of the
[23:01] Speaker 1: park as a dad. This week I didn't. I didn't
[23:04] Speaker 1: get Graham had his first baseball practice for the year.
[23:06] Speaker 1: I didn't take him to baseball practice. Somebody took him.
[23:09] Speaker 1: I didn't take him. He got took but I didn't
[23:16] Speaker 1: take him. But guess what if I don't sell a book,
[23:19] Speaker 1: he doesn't have a bat. So this week I gotta
[23:25] Speaker 1: sell some books so you can have a bat. And
[23:29] Speaker 1: next week I'll watch you swing it. Tell somebody piece
[23:31] Speaker 1: it together. I'm not gonna win it everything all at once.
[23:35] Speaker 1: I'm not gonna be everything to everybody all at once,
[23:38] Speaker 1: but my provision comes in pieces, so so I'm gonna
[23:41] Speaker 1: be I'm gonna be an excellent dad this week. I'm
[23:43] Speaker 1: gonna take him to school at least one day out
[23:46] Speaker 1: of the week. I'm gonna get that right. I bought
[23:51] Speaker 1: some Elijah. You don't even know I bought this yet,
[23:53] Speaker 1: but I bought, and I told miss Amy to keep it.
[23:56] Speaker 1: I bought something for us to play with together, because
[23:59] Speaker 1: you know, I just figure. Now, listen, people, I don't
[24:04] Speaker 1: even like Star Wars, but this thing looked cool to me.
[24:08] Speaker 1: Let's see, it's called the the Naboo Starfighter. Naboo Naboo Naboo.
[24:17] Speaker 1: All right, let's take a vote. How many say it's
[24:19] Speaker 1: Naboo Naboo Naboo. All right, We're gonna call it the ship.
[24:27] Speaker 1: This ship. I saw it. I thought, man, we can
[24:29] Speaker 1: play with that. And since I didn't get a lot
[24:31] Speaker 1: of time with them last week, we're gonna We're gonna
[24:35] Speaker 1: go home and fly this thing around. Doesn't matter that
[24:38] Speaker 1: I don't I'm not a Star Wars fan. My kids
[24:40] Speaker 1: love Star Wars, and we are gonna take this thing
[24:43] Speaker 1: and enjoy it. This week. I saw that picture.
[24:48] Speaker 3: I thought, Man, they're gonna love that.
[25:05] Speaker 1: I'm sorry, man, we I think they saw me a
[25:14] Speaker 1: broken ship. I'll take this back to target, cause.
[25:36] Speaker 2: I'm not supposed to.
[26:04] Speaker 1: What do you do when this doesn't look like this?
[26:21] Speaker 1: What do you do when the pieces don't look like
[26:28] Speaker 1: the picture, when the process doesn't look like the promise?
[26:44] Speaker 1: This is ridiculous. Look at this, this, this thing. I
[26:52] Speaker 1: bought a ship sixty nine dollars. Shit, this got holes
[27:00] Speaker 1: in it too. Pay sixty nine dollars for this. That's
[27:08] Speaker 1: not what I picture. But maybe maybe it's in pieces.
[27:23] Speaker 2: On purpose.
[27:29] Speaker 1: Abraham, come out of your tent and count the stars.
[27:34] Speaker 1: If you can't, okay, well, now as the stars are
[27:40] Speaker 1: in the sky, so shall your descendants be. He's got
[27:45] Speaker 1: the picture. But then, but then, but then, every I said,
[27:51] Speaker 1: but then, see, God will show you the picture and
[27:56] Speaker 1: then he'll hand you a piece. What am I supposed
[28:02] Speaker 1: to do with this? This is essentially what the first
[28:09] Speaker 1: year of marriage is like. By the way, it's when
[28:14] Speaker 1: you had a picture, but you got a piece. All
[28:23] Speaker 1: of the newly married people, you should look highly confused
[28:26] Speaker 1: at this point in the sermon, like you don't know
[28:28] Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. This is what parenting is like too.
[28:34] Speaker 1: Because you have a picture of raising children. I'm alwais
[28:38] Speaker 1: a world sanger. Okay, change a diaper. Come on, come on,
[28:49] Speaker 1: come on. I'm preaching, Donna. I'm preaching, Donna. You know
[28:51] Speaker 1: what I'm trying to get you to see that you
[28:56] Speaker 1: can't judge the picture by the peace. You can't judge
[29:01] Speaker 1: the picture by the piece. Some of you are giving
[29:05] Speaker 1: up on your picture because you're looking at your piece.
[29:09] Speaker 1: But if you get enough pieces, I say, if you
[29:12] Speaker 1: get enough pieces, if Jesus said, don't you remember the pieces?
[29:18] Speaker 1: If you get enough pieces, if you get enough pieces
[29:25] Speaker 1: and you have a hold on a second, I'm glad
[29:28] Speaker 1: I got one of these because this is gonna show
[29:32] Speaker 1: me how to make the pieces look like the picture.
[29:36] Speaker 1: Show somebody.
[29:42] Speaker 2: That's why people tell me it's.
[29:43] Speaker 1: Coming in pieces. It's coming in pieces. It's coming in pieces.
[29:46] Speaker 1: God's gonna give you everything you need, but he's gonna
[29:49] Speaker 1: give it to you in pieces. And you keep thinking
[29:52] Speaker 1: it's gonna come like a naboo nahboo, noo boo nahboo,
[29:56] Speaker 1: is coming in pieces, pieces, pieces, God said, bring me
[30:05] Speaker 1: your pieces. I know what to do is in pieces
[30:09] Speaker 1: on purpose, all kinds of pieces, all kinds of pieces.
[30:19] Speaker 1: I realize this thing isn't broken, but see it. It
[30:27] Speaker 1: looks broken, but it's broken in a way that I
[30:31] Speaker 1: can build with it. God said, I put some deficiencies
[30:36] Speaker 1: in your life because I want you to learn how
[30:38] Speaker 1: to be interconnected with others.
[30:41] Speaker 2: That's why I had to let you have.
[30:43] Speaker 1: Some broken places so I would have something to build on.
[30:47] Speaker 1: Peter James Shaw In pieces, it's in pieces. A lot
[30:55] Speaker 1: of churches don't realize their potential because they want to
[30:59] Speaker 1: have people with all the same sized pieces. But God said,
[31:04] Speaker 1: when I stocked that box, I put in all kinds
[31:07] Speaker 1: of pieces, fat pieces and skinny pieces, and long pieces
[31:13] Speaker 1: and short pieces. And yet in red, yellow, and black
[31:16] Speaker 1: and white. You know, I can't understand why anybody would
[31:22] Speaker 1: want their church to be all white or all black,
[31:33] Speaker 1: because for what I'm building, I need a lot of
[31:36] Speaker 1: different colored pieces. I don't just need one color. I
[31:41] Speaker 1: don't just need one type. Whoo whoo, the power of
[31:48] Speaker 1: the pieces. Don't you remember the pieces? It's such your
[31:56] Speaker 1: neighbor one more time and say there's power in the pieces. Ah, God,
[32:00] Speaker 1: So so you gotta see the potential in the pieces.
[32:04] Speaker 1: Potential is realized in pieces. You're never gonna feel like
[32:08] Speaker 1: you have what you need. But if you take what
[32:09] Speaker 1: you have and put it together with what you have,
[32:11] Speaker 1: and put it together with what you have, put together
[32:12] Speaker 1: with what they have and what they have, you're gonna
[32:15] Speaker 1: see the provision is released in pieces. And my third
[32:19] Speaker 1: point is purpose is revealed in pieces. Purpose is revealed
[32:27] Speaker 1: in pieces. Purpose is revealed in pieces. It means you
[32:32] Speaker 1: can't see it while you're in it. You can only
[32:36] Speaker 1: see it looking back, looking back. I see it now,
[32:43] Speaker 1: like I see this church now, and I realize Holly
[32:46] Speaker 1: was right. Well you can say amen now too, because
[32:52] Speaker 1: it's ten years in. But how about when we only
[32:57] Speaker 1: had one loaf of bread. It's easy to look back
[33:02] Speaker 1: and say, man, they were successful because they had this.
[33:06] Speaker 2: This said, yeah, you see the picture.
[33:11] Speaker 1: They saw them pieces. They didn't know what to do
[33:16] Speaker 1: with it either. Life handed them some pain, but they
[33:20] Speaker 1: built with it. Life handed them some crazy stuff, but
[33:25] Speaker 1: they pieced it together. And it's interesting because when you
[33:31] Speaker 1: see the finished.
[33:32] Speaker 2: Product of something.
[33:33] Speaker 1: Look at my book, and this pretty.
[33:39] Speaker 2: So pretty, They're so pretty.
[33:43] Speaker 1: It was made to look like a stained glass because
[33:47] Speaker 1: God uses broken people. He takes the pieces and puts
[33:53] Speaker 1: them together. I think Peter would have laughed if he
[33:58] Speaker 1: could have seen the cathedrals that would be built in
[34:01] Speaker 1: his honor. You think you ever imagine that there'd be
[34:04] Speaker 1: basilicas named after him. I visited some of the cathedrals
[34:09] Speaker 1: named after these jokers in the boat. But God knows
[34:15] Speaker 1: how to arrange the pieces. They didn't see it either.
[34:20] Speaker 1: They didn't know. Even when they died, they didn't know
[34:23] Speaker 1: we'd be preaching about them today. So you write a book,
[34:29] Speaker 1: and I'm proud of this book, and I hope you're
[34:32] Speaker 1: going to read it, and when you read it, you'll
[34:34] Speaker 1: see the picture. But I don't read it after I
[34:37] Speaker 1: write it because by the time you can see the picture,
[34:41] Speaker 1: I am through with the pieces. I am through. I
[34:44] Speaker 1: don't even know what's in her.
[34:45] Speaker 2: I don't care. I hope it's good.
[34:47] Speaker 1: Because I remember all the pieces of the process. You know,
[34:51] Speaker 1: And somebody will say, you raised great kids.
[34:53] Speaker 4: I did.
[34:56] Speaker 1: They see the picture? You see the pieces? They say, oh, man,
[35:00] Speaker 1: he's a great guy about Oh, they see the picture,
[35:09] Speaker 1: you see the pieces. One of the things about this
[35:15] Speaker 1: cover of this book is that it's like the twentieth
[35:18] Speaker 1: one that we did. It's like the twentieth one. It
[35:22] Speaker 1: was just back and forth and back and forth, finding
[35:25] Speaker 1: a last gasp desperation attempt to create something that the
[35:29] Speaker 1: publisher would accept them that I would also love. I
[35:31] Speaker 1: told Ryan hollings Worth, put a stained glass motif on it,
[35:35] Speaker 1: and if it could be Moses, I'd like it to
[35:37] Speaker 1: be Moses.
[35:39] Speaker 2: And he sent this back to me, and I knew.
[35:40] Speaker 2: I said, that's the one.
[35:41] Speaker 1: I don't even care what the publisher says about it.
[35:43] Speaker 1: I'm telling you that's the one I will self publish
[35:45] Speaker 1: this month. If they don't want to publish it, I
[35:47] Speaker 1: will publish it because that's my cover. I just I
[35:51] Speaker 1: love the cover. I thought that represented what I was
[35:55] Speaker 1: trying to say. Broke anyway. Well, he emailed me back
[36:00] Speaker 1: and said, I'm glad you liked the cover.
[36:02] Speaker 2: He said, but.
[36:05] Speaker 1: If it's okay, I just want to tell you one
[36:06] Speaker 1: little thing.
[36:07] Speaker 2: About the inspiration of it. He said.
[36:10] Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember, back around two thousand
[36:12] Speaker 1: and four, two thousand and five, you spoke at a
[36:17] Speaker 1: youth camp at Covenant College in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I was
[36:25] Speaker 1: a counselor at that youth camp. It was the first
[36:29] Speaker 1: time I had heard you speak. You didn't even know
[36:31] Speaker 1: me back then. I don't know if you remember that,
[36:35] Speaker 1: but and of course I did, because that was where
[36:40] Speaker 1: I was speaking when Holly looked at me and said
[36:43] Speaker 1: it's time. He didn't know that. I didn't know that.
[36:48] Speaker 1: His inspiration for the cover was the stained glass in
[36:52] Speaker 1: the chapel of Covenant College, which was the place so
[36:59] Speaker 1: you got to come a place in your life where
[37:01] Speaker 1: you're convinced that God is working all things together for
[37:06] Speaker 1: the good of those who love him and are called
[37:10] Speaker 1: according to his purpose. He said, he said, he said,
[37:20] Speaker 1: that's from the stained glass in that college chapel. You
[37:22] Speaker 1: probably don't even remember it. I said, oh yeah, I remember.
[37:29] Speaker 1: I remember how Holly saw the potential when all I
[37:36] Speaker 1: could see was the pieces. Because when you're looking at
[37:41] Speaker 1: something and it's right now, we got to have bread
[37:44] Speaker 1: right now, we got to have lunch right now. When
[37:46] Speaker 1: you're looking at something that close up, it doesn't look
[37:50] Speaker 1: like anything. I can't see it from here. I can't
[37:55] Speaker 1: see it. I see something. I'm busy, I'm trying. I'm
[38:03] Speaker 1: in church, I mean, but see, every time you take
[38:08] Speaker 1: a step, you see a little more with every step.
[38:16] Speaker 1: You see it a little more with every year that passes,
[38:20] Speaker 1: with every victory, with every defeat. So take another step. Okay, Okay,
[38:29] Speaker 1: I'm seeing something now here comes here, it comes here,
[38:31] Speaker 1: comes seeing something. So I'm gonna take another step. Okay,
[38:36] Speaker 1: I think something. I think something's happening. I think there's
[38:39] Speaker 1: a design to this. I'm trying to get you to
[38:42] Speaker 1: see your life in a new perspective. I'm trying to
[38:44] Speaker 1: get you to see that it's not random. I'm trying
[38:47] Speaker 1: to get you to recognize the beauty that God sees
[38:52] Speaker 1: in your brokenness and all things work together. You're gonna
[38:59] Speaker 1: see it in the pieces. You're gonna see it in pieces.
[39:05] Speaker 1: You're gonna see it in pieces, piece by piece.
[39:11] Speaker 5: Step my step.
[39:13] Speaker 1: If anybody's grateful for purpose, jump up on your feet.
[39:17] Speaker 5: And give Colim pray. I see it now. I see
[39:23] Speaker 5: it now, look at it.
[39:28] Speaker 2: Look at how beautiful that was.
[39:31] Speaker 1: But I can only see it looking back. The key is,
[39:39] Speaker 1: can you trust moving forward in what you'll only be
[39:44] Speaker 1: able to see looking back. I'm in this boat. I
[39:54] Speaker 1: don't have any bread. But now, last time he fed people,
[39:58] Speaker 1: and last time he fed people, and last time he
[40:01] Speaker 1: saw me through, and last time I'm gonna piece it together. Purpose, provision,
[40:13] Speaker 1: potential is in you. It's not a missing piece that's
[40:20] Speaker 1: keeping you from seeing God do big things in your life.
[40:27] Speaker 1: It's your ability to recognize the big picture in the
[40:31] Speaker 1: little pieces. The Pharisees wanted to sign. They said, we
[40:36] Speaker 1: need to sign, we need to sign. Well, he was
[40:40] Speaker 1: fulfilling the prophecies. He was speaking the word. They just
[40:44] Speaker 1: couldn't see it in pieces. We can see it now.
[40:48] Speaker 1: They couldn't see it. The disciples were so worried about bread.
[40:52] Speaker 1: But it's not about the brand. It's not about what
[40:57] Speaker 1: you don't have. It never was not about what you
[41:00] Speaker 1: can't do. It's not about what you did. It's about
[41:05] Speaker 1: seeing the potential, the provision and the purpose and your
[41:11] Speaker 1: broken pieces. Can I give you a word of advice,
[41:15] Speaker 1: bring him your broken pieces. You'd be surprised what he
[41:19] Speaker 1: can do with broken pieces. I need all the broken
[41:25] Speaker 1: people who are believing God for blessing in your life
[41:29] Speaker 1: to lift your hands and open your mouth and give
[41:31] Speaker 1: God a praise.
[41:33] Speaker 6: Holle see it now, I see it now.
[41:46] Speaker 7: See it tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to.
[41:58] Speaker 8: Take him at his word, just to rest upon his promise,
[42:12] Speaker 8: just to know.
[42:16] Speaker 7: The say the Lord.
[42:20] Speaker 1: I'm so glad.
[42:22] Speaker 8: I've learned to trust him.
[42:26] Speaker 4: Precious Geesus, save your friend, and I know that thou
[42:36] Speaker 4: art with.
[42:37] Speaker 1: Me, will be with me to the end. Lifter haas
[42:45] Speaker 1: Geesus Jesus, How I trust him?
[42:54] Speaker 2: How cruve him more?
[43:03] Speaker 9: Geeesus jeezus, rassius Jeeesus, Oh for grace to trust his.
[43:19] Speaker 1: Geezesustee Jesus trust how high brow him sass.
[43:37] Speaker 9: Esus, Geezus Christus Esus fuck.
[43:47] Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of
[43:49] Speaker 1: you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of
[43:52] Speaker 1: you that this ministry is possible. You can click the
[43:55] Speaker 1: link in the description to give now, or visit Elevation
[43:59] Speaker 1: Church dot org slash podcast for more information and if
[44:02] Speaker 1: you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share
[44:06] Speaker 1: it with your friends. You can click the share button,
[44:08] Speaker 1: take a screenshot and share it on your social stories
[44:10] Speaker 1: and tag us at Elevation Church.
[44:12] Speaker 2: Thanks again for listening. God bless you

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