# Begin With Amen

An episode of [Elevation with Steven Furtick](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/216015753), 15 Mar 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-b0ed01477640/89f55dac-209a-4cd4-b43d-b40e014eaef4/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ff9164b2-aa64-410d-9ee1-b0ed0147765c

There are seasons and situations we write off — God could never use that. But Jesus already knew about it when He found you, and He’s got a plan to redeem it. You might be wondering how, because you can’t see it yet. This sermon is an invitation to believe. If you want to know what God can do through your life, follow and find out. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: ele.vc/tIepfr Scripture References: John 1, verses 43-51 John 1, verses 1-3, 12, 14 Psalm 27, verse 13 Revelation 22, verse 21 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
[0:06] Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
[0:09] Speaker 2: Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these
[0:11] Speaker 2: new sermons every week.
[0:13] Speaker 1: I hope you're blessed today. It's so good to be back.
[0:27] Speaker 1: I love it.
[0:29] Speaker 2: I'm excited today because I'm starting a brand new sermon series.
[0:36] Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. I didn't even tell anybody.
[0:44] Speaker 2: I hardly even told Holly. I put something down in
[0:49] Speaker 2: my phone over a year ago, and I've been saving
[0:52] Speaker 2: it for the season that I felt that the Lord.
[0:54] Speaker 1: Wanted me to release it, and that season is here.
[0:58] Speaker 1: So from now.
[0:59] Speaker 2: Until Easter, you're going to be in a special sermon.
[1:01] Speaker 1: Series, and the series is called Seeking Jesus. Seeking Jesus.
[1:10] Speaker 1: Praise the Lord.
[1:13] Speaker 2: Something to help us get past all of the distractions
[1:15] Speaker 2: that are in our life and seek Jesus, something to
[1:19] Speaker 2: help us tune out all the noise and seek Jesus,
[1:23] Speaker 2: something to help us stop scrolling so much and start
[1:25] Speaker 2: seeking Jesus. Stop digging through the dumpster to find a meal,
[1:30] Speaker 2: and start seeking the bread of life.
[1:32] Speaker 1: Seeking Jesus.
[1:34] Speaker 2: Stop groping around in the darkness looking for wisdom, and
[1:37] Speaker 2: start asking the one who is wisdom what to do
[1:40] Speaker 2: with our.
[1:40] Speaker 1: Lives Seeking Jesus.
[1:43] Speaker 2: I'm believing that he's going to speak to you, and
[1:45] Speaker 2: I'm excited about these next few weeks. I want you
[1:49] Speaker 2: to go ahead and be seated as the worship team
[1:52] Speaker 2: is dismissed as we set up our scripture and the
[1:56] Speaker 2: title of my first message for this new series.
[2:00] Speaker 1: It may sound backwards.
[2:02] Speaker 2: When I say it, but I promise you it'll make
[2:05] Speaker 2: sense by the end. Today I want to teach you
[2:08] Speaker 2: how to begin.
[2:11] Speaker 1: With amen, begin with amen. Thank you so much, LJ.
[2:17] Speaker 1: We're going to be in John chapter one, and.
[2:20] Speaker 2: Throughout the course of the series, I hope to be
[2:23] Speaker 2: able to give you several pictures of Jesus from the
[2:26] Speaker 2: New Testament that will help you to see him for
[2:29] Speaker 2: who he is. When I was in my thirties, I
[2:30] Speaker 2: did a series called Savage Jesus. I guess I'm getting
[2:34] Speaker 2: soft in my old age. Now I'm preaching about seeking Jesus. Now,
[2:39] Speaker 2: when we say seeking Jesus, as you find John chapter one,
[2:42] Speaker 2: verse forty three through fifty one in your Bible, John
[2:46] Speaker 2: chapter one, verse forty three through fifty one, understand that
[2:50] Speaker 2: when we say seeking Jesus, we're seeking someone, not something.
[2:57] Speaker 1: Here's the difference. The other day, Holly Loo lost her ring.
[3:03] Speaker 2: And I could see she was getting frustrated, and I said,
[3:06] Speaker 2: move aside.
[3:09] Speaker 1: The professional is on the job. I paid for it.
[3:12] Speaker 1: I guarantee you I'll find it. I will.
[3:16] Speaker 2: I'll stick my hand through your nostril to find it
[3:19] Speaker 2: if I have to. Ring was expensive, and I said,
[3:24] Speaker 2: I'll bet you'll find it in three seconds.
[3:25] Speaker 1: It wasn't three seconds, but it was only about two minutes.
[3:28] Speaker 2: I was seeking her ring, I found her ring, I
[3:31] Speaker 2: handed her her ring, and we were done. Because when
[3:35] Speaker 2: you're seeking a thing and you find it, you're done.
[3:40] Speaker 2: When you're seeking a thing and you get it, you finished.
[3:46] Speaker 2: Seek fine, finish that simple. When you're seeking someone, let's
[3:51] Speaker 2: use the context of marriage again. I gave Holly a ring,
[3:55] Speaker 2: made her my wife, and that's a relationship. So when
[4:00] Speaker 2: I found my wife, I didn't stop seeking. Because when
[4:06] Speaker 2: you seek a thing and you find it, you're done.
[4:10] Speaker 2: But when you seek someone and you find them, you
[4:13] Speaker 2: go deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper. An entire
[4:19] Speaker 2: marriage seminar was just presented in the first two minutes
[4:22] Speaker 2: of my sermon half of y'all missed it because you're
[4:24] Speaker 2: still getting your notes south just right at the top
[4:28] Speaker 2: of your page, right seeking Jesus week one, and then
[4:32] Speaker 2: put in your notes just say begin with a men.
[4:36] Speaker 2: We're studying the beginning of Jesus's ministry on Earth in
[4:39] Speaker 2: John chapter one. And if I was about twenty years younger,
[4:43] Speaker 2: I would say Jesus has motion. But since I'm not,
[4:47] Speaker 2: I'll just say his ministry is beginning with significant momentum.
[4:51] Speaker 2: John the Baptist, who was the man who jumped in
[4:54] Speaker 2: the womb, recognizing the voice or at least the frequency
[4:58] Speaker 2: of his cousin Jesus in Mary's womb, has pointed the way.
[5:03] Speaker 2: He said, look the lamb of God. Somebody say, look
[5:08] Speaker 2: the lamb of God. He had that ability to see Jesus.
[5:14] Speaker 2: He saw Jesus before Jesus was even visible. He knew
[5:18] Speaker 2: Jesus for who Jesus was, and he saw Jesus as
[5:22] Speaker 2: the Lamb of God that was prophesied and slain from
[5:26] Speaker 2: the foundations of the Earth. And John began to do
[5:30] Speaker 2: something very unusual in ministry. He began to give his
[5:33] Speaker 2: members to another pastor. I'm well, I was gonna say
[5:37] Speaker 2: I've never done that before.
[5:38] Speaker 1: But there are a few members that I've.
[5:39] Speaker 2: Gladly given to another pastor, but not the good ones.
[5:43] Speaker 2: Not the good ones. John the Baptist gave the good
[5:45] Speaker 2: ones to another pastor. He said, here you go, that's
[5:49] Speaker 2: the Lamb of God. Follow him.
[5:50] Speaker 1: One of those two was named Andrew.
[5:53] Speaker 2: And Andrew had a brother that went by the name
[5:56] Speaker 2: of Simon, and Simon had his name changed to Peter,
[6:01] Speaker 2: which means rock. So Jesus takes Simon, turns them into
[6:05] Speaker 2: Dwayne Johnson and they start the ministry. With y'all have
[6:09] Speaker 2: missed my corny jokes, I can tell you miss starving
[6:12] Speaker 2: where you know, there's at least three or four of
[6:16] Speaker 2: them at this point in John chapter one that are
[6:19] Speaker 2: following Jesus. Another great term that we want to talk
[6:23] Speaker 2: about today is following Jesus. And in John chapter one,
[6:28] Speaker 2: verse forty three. Let me go ahead and read the scripture. Now,
[6:31] Speaker 2: the Bible says the next day Jesus decided to leave
[6:34] Speaker 2: for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, follow me. Philip,
[6:39] Speaker 2: like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethseda.
[6:44] Speaker 2: Philip found Nathaniel and told him we have found the
[6:46] Speaker 2: one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom
[6:50] Speaker 2: the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
[6:56] Speaker 1: Nazareth.
[7:00] Speaker 2: Can anything good come from Nazareth? Nathaniel ast come and see,
[7:05] Speaker 2: said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said to him, here,
[7:09] Speaker 2: truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.
[7:14] Speaker 1: How do you know me, Nathaniel?
[7:15] Speaker 2: Last, Jesus answered, I saw you while you were still
[7:19] Speaker 2: under the fig tree before Philip called you. Then Nathaniel declared, Rabbi,
[7:26] Speaker 2: you are the son of God.
[7:27] Speaker 1: You are the King of Israel.
[7:30] Speaker 2: Jesus said, you believe because I told you I saw
[7:33] Speaker 2: you under the fig tree.
[7:34] Speaker 1: You'll see greater things than that.
[7:37] Speaker 2: He then added, very truly, I tell you will see
[7:42] Speaker 2: Heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending
[7:48] Speaker 2: on the son of Man. I'm gonna throw out a
[7:52] Speaker 2: few phrases and you finish them if you know them. Okay,
[7:55] Speaker 2: this is not going on your permanent record.
[7:57] Speaker 1: Just relax and take the test.
[7:59] Speaker 2: Say it out loud if you know it. And these
[8:02] Speaker 2: are not Bible verses either. You've got to know when
[8:05] Speaker 2: to hold them, no wind to fold them by the way.
[8:11] Speaker 2: You can play along online to just type it into comments.
[8:13] Speaker 1: Let's do another one. You're gonna get a little harder. Now.
[8:18] Speaker 1: You've got to crawl before you can.
[8:24] Speaker 2: Two for two, you got to crawl before you can walk.
[8:28] Speaker 2: How about this one. You've got to see it to.
[8:34] Speaker 1: Believe it. That's true, that's true.
[8:38] Speaker 2: Sometimes, you know, I just need proof. I'm not picking
[8:43] Speaker 2: on anybody. But if you tell me as a man
[8:47] Speaker 2: that you bench press over a certain amount.
[8:51] Speaker 1: And you don't look like you bench pressed.
[8:55] Speaker 2: I met a guy the other day that told me
[8:57] Speaker 2: he could bench over three hundred and I said, okay.
[9:01] Speaker 1: He said, you don't believe me. I said, no, I
[9:02] Speaker 1: would have to see it to believe it, because, first.
[9:04] Speaker 2: Of all, I don't know what kind of funky form
[9:06] Speaker 2: you got going on to get three hundred pounds up
[9:08] Speaker 2: in the air. You might be I don't know, you
[9:10] Speaker 2: might have you might break your back getting three hundred
[9:12] Speaker 2: pounds up in the air, So I don't really know
[9:14] Speaker 2: first of all that.
[9:15] Speaker 1: And secondly, never mind, he said, what do you mean?
[9:18] Speaker 2: I said, well, it just to be honest with you,
[9:21] Speaker 2: it just doesn't look like and then he goes, oh, yeah, well, no,
[9:29] Speaker 2: I can't do it now. In college, he said, in college.
[9:35] Speaker 1: The man was fifty two years old and.
[9:38] Speaker 2: Still as a frame of reference for his bench press number.
[9:43] Speaker 1: College.
[9:44] Speaker 2: Yeah, you look like college. Look like you graduated too.
[9:50] Speaker 2: You got to see it to believe it. And it's
[9:53] Speaker 2: the craziest thing nowadays. People just see things and believe
[10:00] Speaker 2: and without even verifying the source. One of my relatives
[10:02] Speaker 2: the other day said, I heard your friend and they
[10:05] Speaker 2: named my friend who's in ministry. They said, I heard
[10:07] Speaker 2: they're selling CBD oil in products now online to raise
[10:10] Speaker 2: money for their ministry.
[10:12] Speaker 1: Well, I know this person. This person would never do that.
[10:15] Speaker 2: That would be the last thing that they would do
[10:16] Speaker 2: to raise money for their ministry.
[10:18] Speaker 1: So I said, show me, show me.
[10:21] Speaker 3: The show me the post that you saw that would
[10:26] Speaker 3: cause you to believe that Joyce Meyer would be selling
[10:29] Speaker 3: CBD oil. Joy saying selling CBD oil.
[10:35] Speaker 2: I don't even think Joyce Meyer eats French fries.
[10:37] Speaker 1: She's so holy, it's the holiest person I know. You're
[10:42] Speaker 1: not gonna convince me.
[10:43] Speaker 2: You can bench three hundred and you look, you're not
[10:46] Speaker 2: gonna convince me.
[10:47] Speaker 1: Joyce Meyers. So I know her. You gotta show me
[10:52] Speaker 1: because I know her. Uh huh. You've got to see
[10:56] Speaker 1: it to believe it.
[10:57] Speaker 2: And that's not a bad thing to live by, even
[10:59] Speaker 2: when it comes to this church. Some of y'all who've
[11:01] Speaker 2: been around for a while remember when they were saying
[11:03] Speaker 2: that we had a water slide on.
[11:05] Speaker 1: The stage for baptisms.
[11:07] Speaker 2: And the worst part was they had a picture of it.
[11:11] Speaker 2: But you can't believe it because you saw a picture
[11:14] Speaker 2: of it.
[11:14] Speaker 1: Do you not understand photoshop? There were people calling our front.
[11:18] Speaker 2: Desk of our ministry, Well, I saw the picture, but
[11:21] Speaker 2: you never came to the church. And until you come
[11:25] Speaker 2: to the church, don't tell me about the picture that'll preach.
[11:32] Speaker 1: Don't tell me if you're not if you're not willing
[11:36] Speaker 1: to see it.
[11:38] Speaker 2: There's a sense I get in John chapter one, where
[11:40] Speaker 2: Philip is saying to Nathaniel, you've got to see it
[11:44] Speaker 2: to believe it. That's what Jesus taught Andrew and the
[11:48] Speaker 2: other disciple who wanted to see where he stayed. He said,
[11:51] Speaker 2: come and see, and they went and hung out and
[11:54] Speaker 2: got convinced. Now Jesus did not feel the need to
[11:57] Speaker 2: convince them.
[11:59] Speaker 1: And I need us.
[11:59] Speaker 2: To understand that we do not serve a Jesus who explains,
[12:04] Speaker 2: but the Jesus who demonstrates, So that even when he
[12:08] Speaker 2: taught the Kingdom of Heaven, he did it with parables
[12:11] Speaker 2: because it.
[12:12] Speaker 1: Was a demonstration, not an explanation. And so to seek Jesus.
[12:17] Speaker 1: This is all I'm trying to say.
[12:18] Speaker 2: By my first point, you have to follow to find out.
[12:26] Speaker 3: You can't know what God is like evaluating God.
[12:31] Speaker 2: You can't figure out what it's like to walk in faith.
[12:35] Speaker 2: You have to follow to find out. Put that into
[12:38] Speaker 2: comments and write it down as.
[12:40] Speaker 1: My first point. You have to follow to find out.
[12:43] Speaker 2: Now, most of us are used to calculating our decisions
[12:46] Speaker 2: in life, so we want to figure out and then follow.
[12:52] Speaker 2: Most of us would have never had the faith of
[12:54] Speaker 2: the first character that I mentioned, where Jesus said follow me,
[12:59] Speaker 2: and he did. I would need a little bit more
[13:02] Speaker 2: details then follow me.
[13:04] Speaker 1: I don't know the exact profession that Philip.
[13:07] Speaker 2: Gave up to do this, but it would take a
[13:09] Speaker 2: little bit more then follow me.
[13:11] Speaker 1: I at least need to know where we're sleeping tonight.
[13:13] Speaker 2: But Jesus is leaving for Galilee, which is where he
[13:16] Speaker 2: did his ministry, not where he was born. He was
[13:18] Speaker 2: born in Bethlehem. He ministered in Galilee, and that is
[13:20] Speaker 2: where he lived, and he's going back there for some
[13:22] Speaker 2: undisclosed reason. And he turns to Philip and says, follow me,
[13:25] Speaker 2: for what you'll find out if you follow me. When
[13:31] Speaker 2: God speaks, reason can never answer. God cannot be sought
[13:38] Speaker 2: at the level of mind.
[13:40] Speaker 1: God must be experienced at the level of spirit.
[13:45] Speaker 2: I don't know who I'm preaching to right now, but
[13:47] Speaker 2: you keep telling God when he shows you more, you'll
[13:50] Speaker 2: go more.
[13:52] Speaker 1: You keep telling God that you.
[13:53] Speaker 2: Will obey him once you understand the outcome.
[13:57] Speaker 1: But in matters of.
[13:58] Speaker 2: Faith, you know you have to follow to find out. Abraham,
[14:05] Speaker 2: go to a land. I will show you what's it
[14:08] Speaker 2: going to be like. You've got to follow to find out,
[14:12] Speaker 2: and you'll find out why I called you as you follow.
[14:16] Speaker 2: I cannot describe to you what the next season of
[14:19] Speaker 2: your life will be like. If you follow God in faith,
[14:21] Speaker 2: you will have to follow.
[14:24] Speaker 1: To find out. And this is where most of us would.
[14:27] Speaker 2: Have never gotten past John chapter one, verse forty three.
[14:30] Speaker 1: The whole thing would have ended right there.
[14:32] Speaker 2: Follow me, and we would have waited for details, and
[14:34] Speaker 2: he would not have given them, because Jesus does not
[14:38] Speaker 2: call you to figure out.
[14:40] Speaker 1: He calls you to follow.
[14:42] Speaker 2: And maybe that gives you relief, because there's a sense
[14:45] Speaker 2: in which some of you in your mind right now
[14:47] Speaker 2: are trying to figure everything out for the future of
[14:49] Speaker 2: your life and.
[14:49] Speaker 1: The next season of your life.
[14:51] Speaker 2: And maybe it can be an exhale for you or
[14:54] Speaker 2: a sigh of relief or a surrender to the Savior
[14:57] Speaker 2: to know that he never called you to figure out.
[15:00] Speaker 1: He just called you to follow. But how are we
[15:03] Speaker 1: gonna pay for it? Follow? But how is it gonna follow?
[15:07] Speaker 2: But what's gonna happen in three follow?
[15:09] Speaker 1: We might not even be here in three years. Have
[15:11] Speaker 1: y'all watched the news? I don't know about no three years.
[15:14] Speaker 2: I'm just following Jesus the best I can. Today, somebody
[15:17] Speaker 2: asked me, what's the ten year plan for the church?
[15:20] Speaker 2: I'm doing good to have a ten minute plan for
[15:21] Speaker 2: this sermon.
[15:22] Speaker 1: I don't even.
[15:23] Speaker 2: Really know what I'm gonna say after this first point
[15:25] Speaker 2: if you want to know the truth. But I'm trying
[15:27] Speaker 2: to follow, and as you follow, you find out that's
[15:31] Speaker 2: what Philip knew. I've got to find out there was
[15:33] Speaker 2: something in Philip that says, I want to find out.
[15:36] Speaker 2: I believe there's somebody in here who God is calling
[15:38] Speaker 2: you to follow him, and it is unseasonably difficult for
[15:42] Speaker 2: you to do that right now. But don't you want
[15:44] Speaker 2: to find out what your life can be in his hands.
[15:47] Speaker 2: Don't you want to find out how freedom feels when
[15:51] Speaker 2: you finally decide to forgive that person. Don't you want
[15:55] Speaker 2: to find out what it feels like to lay your
[15:58] Speaker 2: head down on your pillow at night knowing that you've
[16:01] Speaker 2: confessed your sin instead of continuing to hide it. Don't
[16:05] Speaker 2: you want to find out what it's like to get
[16:07] Speaker 2: beyond this selfish me first generation where I'm simply just
[16:12] Speaker 2: following the crowd, and I say goodbye to the crowd,
[16:15] Speaker 2: and I start following the Christ who is greater than
[16:18] Speaker 2: the crowd. And something in Philip I can't prove it,
[16:21] Speaker 2: but something in Philip I just infer it from the text,
[16:25] Speaker 2: and I deduce it from what is written that he said,
[16:28] Speaker 2: I don't know what my future is, but I want
[16:30] Speaker 2: to find out behind this man. You have to follow
[16:36] Speaker 2: him to find out, So sometimes.
[16:43] Speaker 1: You have to see it to believe it. Here's what
[16:48] Speaker 1: I want to talk about today.
[16:50] Speaker 4: Other times, you have to believe it to see it.
[16:59] Speaker 4: You have to believe it to see it.
[17:04] Speaker 2: Now, these are the moments in life where you have
[17:08] Speaker 2: no physical proof that what God spoke is true and
[17:14] Speaker 2: it actually contradicts the way you feel in that moment.
[17:18] Speaker 2: We're going to move on from Philip for a moment,
[17:20] Speaker 2: and we're going to move to this character called Nathaniel.
[17:22] Speaker 1: This is really who I wanted to talk to you
[17:24] Speaker 1: about today.
[17:25] Speaker 2: I was just telling you about Philip just in case
[17:27] Speaker 2: you can't figure out your life right now, but God
[17:29] Speaker 2: is calling you to follow anyway. That's probably not anybody
[17:31] Speaker 2: in here. You probably all got to figure it out.
[17:32] Speaker 2: But some of us are just trying to figure out
[17:33] Speaker 2: what to do. And we don't know what to do
[17:35] Speaker 2: about this situation with an aging parent, or this situation
[17:38] Speaker 2: with a struggling child, and we don't know what to
[17:39] Speaker 2: do about this issue in our body, and we're trying
[17:41] Speaker 2: to figure it out.
[17:42] Speaker 1: But God is just calling us to follow.
[17:43] Speaker 2: So that was for some of us, But for the
[17:45] Speaker 2: rest of you who have got it figured out, like Nathaniel, right,
[17:50] Speaker 2: Nathaniel has got it figured out because Philip found Nathaniel
[17:56] Speaker 2: and told him we have found the one Moses wrote
[17:59] Speaker 2: about in the Laws all of these prophecies that were
[18:02] Speaker 2: about Jesus.
[18:03] Speaker 1: And after meeting Jesus, he said, we found him.
[18:07] Speaker 2: And about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth,
[18:15] Speaker 2: the son of Joseph.
[18:18] Speaker 1: We are seeking Jesus in this season of our church, and.
[18:22] Speaker 2: As we seek him, we need to pay attention to
[18:24] Speaker 2: everything we can learn about him. And one of the
[18:26] Speaker 2: things that we need to learn from is the label
[18:28] Speaker 2: that was associated with him.
[18:30] Speaker 1: As he walked the earth.
[18:32] Speaker 2: They didn't call him Jesus the Savior yet.
[18:36] Speaker 1: He hadn't died for them yet.
[18:38] Speaker 2: They did not call him Jesus the Healer yet because
[18:40] Speaker 2: he hadn't performed any miracles yet, not yet. They would
[18:44] Speaker 2: see all of that as they followed, but at this
[18:48] Speaker 2: point they only knew him this way.
[18:50] Speaker 1: Watch Jesus of Nazareth.
[18:53] Speaker 2: It was common to call somebody by where they came
[18:55] Speaker 2: from back then, and then they call him the son
[18:58] Speaker 2: of Joseph. Well, that one's kind of complicated, isn't it,
[19:02] Speaker 2: Because remember Mary's story, and She's like, I promise Joseph
[19:05] Speaker 2: it was the Holy Spirit.
[19:08] Speaker 1: He came from a questionable background. So when he called
[19:13] Speaker 1: him Jesus of Nazareth.
[19:14] Speaker 2: Watched Nathaniel's response, and I was laughing at it as
[19:18] Speaker 2: I read it.
[19:19] Speaker 1: And maybe you didn't know why. He said verse forty six.
[19:23] Speaker 2: Nazareth, can any you said you found the Messiah and
[19:32] Speaker 2: he comes from Nazareth.
[19:33] Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right, Nazareth.
[19:34] Speaker 2: And then Nathaniel wants to know, can anything good come from.
[19:42] Speaker 1: There? Come and see, said Philip. Now, the reason that
[19:49] Speaker 1: Nathaniel had a.
[19:50] Speaker 2: Negative perspective of Nazareth is because it was small. And
[19:56] Speaker 2: I studied this week, y'all. I studied so much this week.
[19:59] Speaker 2: I have no idea how I'm gonna say Amen at
[20:01] Speaker 2: the end of this sermon. That's why I called the
[20:03] Speaker 2: sermon begin with Amen. So wherever we end, we'll just
[20:06] Speaker 2: end and come back next week.
[20:07] Speaker 1: I studied so much for this sermon. This is how
[20:09] Speaker 1: much I studied.
[20:09] Speaker 2: I was waking up last night every hour on the hour,
[20:11] Speaker 2: one am, two am, three am, at four am, I
[20:14] Speaker 2: had this horrible nightmare that on my way to preach,
[20:16] Speaker 2: I got in a terrible car accident. I went to
[20:18] Speaker 2: the hospital, and I was in the hospital. They had
[20:21] Speaker 2: me all hooked up, but I was trying to scan
[20:23] Speaker 2: my credit card to pay for the hospital visit, and
[20:25] Speaker 2: I was telling them I got to go teach the
[20:27] Speaker 2: series at the church.
[20:28] Speaker 1: I studied too much. That's how much I loved y'all.
[20:31] Speaker 1: Was I was my fictitious hospital bed. I got out
[20:35] Speaker 1: of my not really hospital bed to preach this to you.
[20:39] Speaker 2: And I studied and found out that Nathaniel came from
[20:44] Speaker 2: somewhere near Nazareth, but not Nazareth.
[20:46] Speaker 1: Follow me.
[20:48] Speaker 2: Nathaniel came from a place called Caina. Cano was also
[20:53] Speaker 2: in Galilee, but Cano was north of Galilee. Cano was distinguished.
[20:59] Speaker 2: Can was sophisticated. Cana was a wealthy place. Picture the
[21:04] Speaker 2: part of town where you drive through and judge the
[21:06] Speaker 2: people and say, it must be nice if I had
[21:08] Speaker 2: all their money.
[21:10] Speaker 1: That was Cana.
[21:11] Speaker 2: Cana was a place where if you came from there,
[21:13] Speaker 2: you were the sweatshirt straight out of Cana. You would
[21:16] Speaker 2: not feel like you came out of the mud. You
[21:19] Speaker 2: would feel like you came from privilege.
[21:21] Speaker 1: And so I'm not calling Nathaniel a snob.
[21:24] Speaker 2: I'm just saying that he looked down on where Jesus
[21:28] Speaker 2: came from. So when he says, can anything good come
[21:33] Speaker 2: from there? Come and see, he's giving a negative interpretation
[21:37] Speaker 2: of where Jesus came from based on his background. He
[21:42] Speaker 2: believes a certain thing about a certain place, and because
[21:46] Speaker 2: he believes a certain thing about a certain place, he
[21:48] Speaker 2: cannot accept a certain person that came from a certain place.
[21:52] Speaker 2: Only problem is John chapter one, verse one. John chapter one,
[21:57] Speaker 2: verse one says, in the beginning was the Word, and
[22:02] Speaker 2: the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
[22:06] Speaker 2: He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all
[22:11] Speaker 2: things were made. Through him, Jesus, all things were made.
[22:15] Speaker 2: Without him, nothing was made that has been made. And
[22:19] Speaker 2: the Lord stopped me and showed me something that Nathaniel
[22:23] Speaker 2: thought that Jesus came from Nazareth. But Jesus didn't really
[22:28] Speaker 2: come from Nazareth. If John chapter one, verse one through
[22:32] Speaker 2: three is correct, and through Jesus everything was made that
[22:37] Speaker 2: was made, that means Jesus didn't come from Nazareth. Nazareth
[22:41] Speaker 2: came from Jesus. And I came to preach about Jesus today,
[22:47] Speaker 2: Oh preach that better than your respondent.
[22:49] Speaker 1: Through him, all things were created.
[22:52] Speaker 2: He is not subject to what he made. He is
[22:55] Speaker 2: not subject to a human label. He is not a
[22:58] Speaker 2: baby that was born in a barn. He is the
[23:01] Speaker 2: preexisting God who in John chapter one, verse fourteen, became flesh,
[23:07] Speaker 2: that's incarnation, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory,
[23:13] Speaker 2: the glory as of the one who came from the Father.
[23:17] Speaker 2: So they said he came from Nazareth. He said, he
[23:20] Speaker 2: came from the Father. They said he came from a
[23:23] Speaker 2: small place. He said, I came from a place that
[23:27] Speaker 2: you've never seen. Because in the beginning, what's the Word?
[23:31] Speaker 2: And the Word was with.
[23:32] Speaker 1: God, and the word what's God?
[23:34] Speaker 2: And nothing exists without Him. And so all I'm saying
[23:38] Speaker 2: is God is bigger than your background. God is bigger
[23:42] Speaker 2: than your background. Oh, God is bigger than what you
[23:45] Speaker 2: think about him. God is bigger than your little tradition
[23:48] Speaker 2: about him. God is bigger than what you were taught
[23:51] Speaker 2: about him. God will come to places that you were
[23:53] Speaker 2: taught he'd stay away from. God will use people that
[23:56] Speaker 2: you taught. You were taught he hated. God will do
[23:59] Speaker 2: things that you you were taught were impossible.
[24:01] Speaker 1: God will do things.
[24:02] Speaker 2: Now I'm not saying I've seen all of it, but
[24:05] Speaker 2: sometimes you have to believe it to see it. So
[24:13] Speaker 2: if the enemy can keep you from believing it because
[24:17] Speaker 2: you've never seen it.
[24:19] Speaker 5: He can keep you from ever seeing it and experiencing it.
[24:24] Speaker 5: And he can keep you from seeing it if he
[24:27] Speaker 5: can keep you from believing it.
[24:31] Speaker 2: Wow, not Nazareth. Nothing good can come from Nazareth. Somebody say,
[24:46] Speaker 2: not Nazareth. Now for Nazareth, just put whatever in the blank.
[24:50] Speaker 2: You don't think God can use not heartbreak, not Nazareth. No, no, no,
[25:03] Speaker 2: nothing good can come from a broken heart. The Bible
[25:07] Speaker 2: says a broken in a contrite heart, he will not despise.
[25:10] Speaker 1: He will dwell in what you despise. Not Nazareth.
[25:17] Speaker 2: I know you didn't want to get a divorce, and
[25:18] Speaker 2: now you're saying not after a divorce. God can't use me.
[25:23] Speaker 2: I got a word for you. Follow him and find out.
[25:29] Speaker 2: One man said fool around and find out, but this
[25:32] Speaker 2: is the church version.
[25:34] Speaker 1: Follow him and find out.
[25:36] Speaker 2: I don't care what they called you, I don't care.
[25:38] Speaker 1: What they said about you. I'm gonna come over on
[25:41] Speaker 1: this side. I always come down that wrong side of
[25:43] Speaker 1: the steps.
[25:44] Speaker 2: God is looking for somebody today who will follow him
[25:48] Speaker 2: and find out.
[25:49] Speaker 1: No, God can't use me. I'm an alcoholic.
[25:52] Speaker 2: Follow him and find out what if God gives you
[25:54] Speaker 2: that same passion for his presence that you used to
[25:57] Speaker 2: have for a substance. Follow him and find out I
[26:01] Speaker 2: speak to somebody who's a drug dealer. Right now, you're
[26:04] Speaker 2: about to be a disciple, and you're about to turn
[26:07] Speaker 2: the chain of supply and demand on his head, because
[26:10] Speaker 2: when you get hooked into this vine, there's an unlimited supply.
[26:14] Speaker 2: And I don't care what they said about you, and
[26:17] Speaker 2: I don't care what you've said about yourself. I don't
[26:20] Speaker 2: even know what you've been labeling your kids.
[26:22] Speaker 1: I don't even know what the doctor told you to say.
[26:25] Speaker 6: But follow him and find out.
[26:28] Speaker 2: He's a healer, he's a wave maker, he's a shame breaker,
[26:31] Speaker 2: he's a stone roller.
[26:32] Speaker 1: Yes it is, and he came from Nazareth.
[26:42] Speaker 2: So if you're gonna seek Jesus, you might have to
[26:45] Speaker 2: look in Nazareth.
[26:46] Speaker 1: You might have to look in a dirty place.
[26:49] Speaker 2: You might have to get honest about what you're going through.
[26:52] Speaker 2: You might have to get authentic and quit pretending like
[26:55] Speaker 2: you have it together and stop saying, brace the Lord,
[26:57] Speaker 2: we're fine, and pick up the phone and call all
[27:00] Speaker 2: accounselor and say I need help, because the help might come.
[27:03] Speaker 7: From Nazareth, Nazareth, Nazareth, Nazareth. I kept saying it wrong
[27:12] Speaker 7: all week, Nazaus, like I was saying Lazarus and Nazareth.
[27:17] Speaker 1: And the Lord said, well, what did the two things
[27:18] Speaker 1: have in common?
[27:19] Speaker 2: I said, both were situations where everybody thought it was over,
[27:25] Speaker 2: and both were places where God displayed his glory. You
[27:30] Speaker 2: better follow him and find out. I know when the
[27:34] Speaker 2: Lord's speaking, I'm not moving. I am not moving to
[27:37] Speaker 2: my next point. It would be a shame for you
[27:41] Speaker 2: to lect the shame of where you came from, stop
[27:46] Speaker 2: you from seeing the glory of who you came from.
[27:53] Speaker 1: I gotta shown verse forbid. I got to show the verse.
[27:58] Speaker 2: Verse fourteen says the Word became flesh and made his
[28:03] Speaker 2: dwelling among us, and we have seen his glory, the
[28:07] Speaker 2: glory of the one and only Son who came from
[28:10] Speaker 2: the Father. Can anything good come from Nazareth, Nazareth, Nazareth
[28:15] Speaker 2: and Lazarus? Now?
[28:16] Speaker 1: Now, can anything good come from that? Well?
[28:20] Speaker 2: It depends because before he came from Nazareth, he came
[28:24] Speaker 2: from the Father.
[28:26] Speaker 1: Everything that God allowed to happen in your life.
[28:29] Speaker 2: Passed through his hands, and it has to go back
[28:32] Speaker 2: through his hands, and we have seen his glory. Now
[28:40] Speaker 2: they say you have to see it to believe it.
[28:41] Speaker 2: But back up to verse twelve. John Chapter one, verse twelve.
[28:45] Speaker 2: Yet to all who did received him, to those who
[28:48] Speaker 2: believed in his name, he gave the right to become
[28:52] Speaker 2: children of God.
[28:55] Speaker 1: See it.
[28:56] Speaker 2: Circle the word believed, justin believed in his name. Verse fourteen. Again,
[29:06] Speaker 2: and the word became flesh. That's Jesus and made his
[29:09] Speaker 2: dwelling among us. We have seen his glory circle the
[29:14] Speaker 2: word scene. Sometimes you have to see it to believe it.
[29:18] Speaker 2: I get that, But sometimes you have to believe it
[29:23] Speaker 2: to see it. See if I don't believe that God
[29:29] Speaker 2: is my provider, I won't see the provision.
[29:36] Speaker 1: You get it. It's a complete inversion.
[29:38] Speaker 2: That's why jesus Kingdom is upside down, but it's actually
[29:40] Speaker 2: right side up because it's a complete inversion. The Gospel
[29:44] Speaker 2: of John is not just about miracles. The Gospel of
[29:47] Speaker 2: John is not just happy meals being fed to a
[29:49] Speaker 2: crowd of five thousand. The Gospel of John is not
[29:51] Speaker 2: just water walking in storms. The Gospel of John is
[29:54] Speaker 2: not just unique conversations. The Gospel of John is themed
[29:57] Speaker 2: around belief. Belief, in the Son of God. Belief in Jesus,
[30:01] Speaker 2: not just what he did, but who he is.
[30:02] Speaker 1: It is the theme of the Gospel. Believe, believe, believe,
[30:07] Speaker 1: And he said to those who believe, you see the glory.
[30:11] Speaker 2: So when you believe God is a provider, it opens
[30:13] Speaker 2: your eyes to see provision that you were walking past
[30:16] Speaker 2: just the day before. And if I remind you today
[30:19] Speaker 2: that he's a provider, and if I force you by
[30:22] Speaker 2: faith to follow him and find out in your next
[30:25] Speaker 2: step of your life, you may see that He has
[30:28] Speaker 2: already made the plan to provide for the thing that
[30:30] Speaker 2: you're praying about.
[30:32] Speaker 1: And he may have already.
[30:33] Speaker 2: Worked out the situation that you are so worried about.
[30:37] Speaker 2: And I have found it to be true that if
[30:39] Speaker 2: I do not believe that he's my provider, I won't
[30:43] Speaker 2: see the provision.
[30:45] Speaker 1: Old Testament example. Let's do this class real quick.
[30:47] Speaker 2: In Second King's four, a woman came to Elisha, he
[30:50] Speaker 2: was the prophet, said my husband is dead.
[30:53] Speaker 1: I need you to help. I need you to provide
[30:56] Speaker 1: for me. The prophet said back, what do you have
[30:59] Speaker 1: in your house? Can I help you? She said nothing
[31:02] Speaker 1: except a jar of oil.
[31:06] Speaker 2: What happened the moment that she believed because the prophet said,
[31:10] Speaker 2: you have something in your house. She could see what
[31:14] Speaker 2: she was unable to see before she believed. So when
[31:18] Speaker 2: I believe that God is my provider, it opens my
[31:21] Speaker 2: mind and opens my eyes to begin to consider some
[31:24] Speaker 2: of the things that He's given me in my life
[31:26] Speaker 2: that may be in seed form right now. But just
[31:29] Speaker 2: because it's a seed doesn't mean it's not supply. Can
[31:35] Speaker 2: I give you another example. If I don't believe that
[31:39] Speaker 2: God has the power to do what I need him
[31:42] Speaker 2: to do, I will not see his power operate.
[31:47] Speaker 1: That's true.
[31:48] Speaker 2: Think about in the Old Testament Book of Joshua, chapter six,
[31:52] Speaker 2: and you see this group of people that has been
[31:54] Speaker 2: marching around a wall in a city called Jericho for
[31:59] Speaker 2: six days. Now, on the last day they march, they
[32:02] Speaker 2: start shouting, and you walk up to this army and say, what.
[32:06] Speaker 1: Are y'all shouting about?
[32:09] Speaker 2: Because you would expect to see something that they would
[32:12] Speaker 2: be shouting about, but nothing has happened yet.
[32:16] Speaker 1: They had to believe that the walls could fall.
[32:20] Speaker 2: Shout in faith to find out, I said, they had
[32:25] Speaker 2: to shout to find out. You can figure out, you
[32:30] Speaker 2: can count the walls, You could measure the walls.
[32:32] Speaker 1: You could climb the walls.
[32:33] Speaker 2: You could come up on the walls and pray over
[32:37] Speaker 2: the walls and anoint the walls with oil, and you
[32:39] Speaker 2: can take a seminar about the walls, and you can
[32:40] Speaker 2: have a Bible class about the walls. But nothing is
[32:43] Speaker 2: going to happen to those walls until you believe that
[32:47] Speaker 2: they can fall. And the proof of your belief is.
[32:50] Speaker 1: In your shout.
[32:52] Speaker 2: So when you shout, look, I know not everybody shouts
[32:55] Speaker 2: in church, and that's fine.
[32:56] Speaker 1: You don't have to. You don't have to shout out
[32:58] Speaker 1: loud in church to.
[32:59] Speaker 2: Get the content and the substance of what I'm saying.
[33:02] Speaker 2: But even when I preach, okay, listen to me, Even
[33:05] Speaker 2: when I preach once in a while, you ought to
[33:07] Speaker 2: say amen. And every once in a while when something
[33:12] Speaker 2: hits you and you believe by faith, even if it's
[33:16] Speaker 2: hard to hear. I used to have a preacher that
[33:18] Speaker 2: I sat under, and he'd always say, if you can't
[33:19] Speaker 2: say amen.
[33:20] Speaker 1: You ought to say ouch.
[33:22] Speaker 2: I got all these country preacher shenanigous. I could pull
[33:25] Speaker 2: him out anytime, all this Baptist preacher shenanigans. One guy
[33:29] Speaker 2: used to say, I don't preach for the praise of men. Amen, Amen,
[33:34] Speaker 2: God arone.
[33:37] Speaker 1: Amen.
[33:38] Speaker 8: I went.
[33:38] Speaker 2: I went to church one time with my dad. My
[33:40] Speaker 2: dad was I think most of y'all know about my dad.
[33:44] Speaker 2: He was kind of from a Nazareth situation. His dad
[33:48] Speaker 2: committed suicide. He dealt with alcoholism not only in his
[33:52] Speaker 2: family but in his own personal experience, and his life
[33:56] Speaker 2: was very rough as a boy. And I won't tell
[33:57] Speaker 2: you the story all over again because I know you
[34:00] Speaker 2: come every week and you've got all my stories and memorize.
[34:03] Speaker 2: But one time my dad wanted me to go to
[34:04] Speaker 2: church with him, and he was so excited to go
[34:07] Speaker 2: to church because the Lord turns.
[34:08] Speaker 1: His life round. And we went out to this little
[34:10] Speaker 1: church and place like Nazareth, just little town.
[34:13] Speaker 2: Four hundred people lived in Nazareth, by the way, well
[34:15] Speaker 2: there couldn't have been four hundred people in this town.
[34:17] Speaker 1: And we pull up to the church. I'm like, what
[34:19] Speaker 1: are you bringing me to?
[34:20] Speaker 2: And it is like independent Baptist fundamentalists, you know, just
[34:24] Speaker 2: absolute condemnation turned up.
[34:27] Speaker 1: To level eleven, like everybody was going to hell.
[34:31] Speaker 2: The president was going to hell, the Senator of the
[34:34] Speaker 2: state was going to hell.
[34:36] Speaker 1: Mickey Mouse was going to hell.
[34:37] Speaker 5: Y'all.
[34:37] Speaker 2: Remember when the Baptist hated Mickey Mouse for a minute.
[34:40] Speaker 1: It was a whole moment, cultural moment.
[34:42] Speaker 2: Is yelling at everybody, and he's preaching so hard, and
[34:45] Speaker 2: everybody in the church is in and everybody's saying Amen,
[34:49] Speaker 2: that's right, and preaching and all this stuff. And one
[34:51] Speaker 2: little boy, he couldn't have been more than eight years old.
[34:54] Speaker 2: He stands up on the pew while the preacher's preaching,
[34:56] Speaker 2: and he shouted something I never heard in my life.
[34:59] Speaker 2: He didn't say Amen, he didn't say praise the Lord,
[35:01] Speaker 2: he didn't say preach it. He hollers at the top
[35:03] Speaker 2: of his lungs, and this is what he says.
[35:06] Speaker 1: Let the wild hog, my man.
[35:12] Speaker 2: With a trademarch shout. I don't know what it meant,
[35:17] Speaker 2: but I felt it in my bones. I'm like, yes,
[35:21] Speaker 2: let the wild hog eat. Indeed, somebody shout amen, amen.
[35:29] Speaker 2: And when you shout amen, realize what you're shouting means.
[35:33] Speaker 1: So be it.
[35:36] Speaker 2: When you shout amen, it doesn't mean preach pastor Stephen.
[35:39] Speaker 1: When you say amen, you're not talking to me at all.
[35:42] Speaker 2: You're talking to the one that the word came from.
[35:46] Speaker 2: So when you say amen, you're saying God, let it
[35:50] Speaker 2: be like that in my life.
[35:52] Speaker 1: God, what you just spoke to me. I don't care
[35:56] Speaker 1: that my kid's on drugs.
[35:57] Speaker 2: If you say they'll be saved'll be saved.
[36:01] Speaker 9: So be it.
[36:03] Speaker 1: Somebody shout Amen, God.
[36:06] Speaker 2: If you say I'm coming out of this, I'm coming
[36:09] Speaker 2: out of this, so be it. If you say the
[36:12] Speaker 2: fire won't burn me, my clothes.
[36:15] Speaker 1: Won't even smell like smoke, so be it. Shout Amen.
[36:23] Speaker 2: I'm gonna turn this into a Pentecostal church by the
[36:27] Speaker 2: time it's all said and die. But it's not just
[36:30] Speaker 2: gonna be for the people who have an outward expressing personality.
[36:34] Speaker 2: It's gonna be for everybody who's been fighting against insecurity
[36:39] Speaker 2: and fighting against lives and fighting against the enemy. Telling
[36:42] Speaker 2: you that's all it's ever gonna be.
[36:45] Speaker 1: Nazareth. Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
[36:49] Speaker 2: Well, if God says something good can come out of.
[36:51] Speaker 1: This, then amen to what he says. And let every
[36:56] Speaker 1: man be a liar.
[36:57] Speaker 2: Because I got my own Amen. I love the worst
[37:03] Speaker 2: say that. But if you want to take it to
[37:12] Speaker 2: the next level, and you just might, then you can
[37:17] Speaker 2: do what Jesus did in.
[37:19] Speaker 1: John chapter one, verse fifty.
[37:22] Speaker 2: You know, Nathaniel comes toward Jesus, and I love Jesus
[37:27] Speaker 2: because watch this, he sees.
[37:28] Speaker 1: The best in me. I'm grateful.
[37:34] Speaker 2: That he knows the worst of me, but he sees
[37:38] Speaker 2: the best in me. You can't say that about anybody else.
[37:44] Speaker 1: You're still ken. My mother, she don't know the worst,
[37:48] Speaker 1: not the worst, not the worst. I'm not talking about
[37:54] Speaker 1: what she caught you for when you were in tenth grade.
[37:57] Speaker 2: I'm talking about what you still deal with. And God
[38:01] Speaker 2: knows that. That was Nathaniel's issue with Jesus. He said,
[38:03] Speaker 2: how do you know me? I thought about doing an illustration,
[38:06] Speaker 2: but I didn't have time to work it out in advance,
[38:09] Speaker 2: where I was just gonna walk up to somebody random
[38:11] Speaker 2: that that I didn't know and start saying stuff about him.
[38:14] Speaker 2: You know, how's your daughter she doing good over there
[38:18] Speaker 2: at Sanford University?
[38:20] Speaker 1: How's that new Honda Civic treatment you like it?
[38:23] Speaker 2: I was gonna find out from somebody else, and then
[38:26] Speaker 2: just so I was gonna walk down and there's no
[38:28] Speaker 2: way I could know all this and just freak them out.
[38:32] Speaker 2: And that's what it must have been like for Nathaniel
[38:36] Speaker 2: because he's like, we'll see about this Jesus of Nazareth.
[38:39] Speaker 1: Iin't never heard of Jesus from now the Bible. Don't
[38:41] Speaker 1: sayjess come come from nazer Say he's con come from
[38:42] Speaker 1: battal him. And I know my Bible, so he well,
[38:44] Speaker 1: he did come from Bethelhem. You just didn't dig deep enough.
[38:49] Speaker 1: So now Nathaniel, he's got kind of like a cynical
[38:52] Speaker 1: or skeptical attitude. He's like, I got to see it
[38:54] Speaker 1: to believe it. Show me this Jesus, Now this is crazy.
[38:58] Speaker 1: He's like, I got to see it to believe it.
[39:00] Speaker 1: Verse forty seven.
[39:03] Speaker 2: When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said of him, how's
[39:09] Speaker 2: that Honda Civic working out? How's your daughter doing there
[39:11] Speaker 2: at Samford University? Here truly is an Israelite in whom
[39:15] Speaker 2: there is no deceit. He knew something about him that
[39:17] Speaker 2: he shouldn't know. And Nathaniel said, how do you know me?
[39:21] Speaker 1: Are you a staler or a savior?
[39:27] Speaker 2: Jesus, I saw you while you were still under the victory,
[39:29] Speaker 2: before Philip called you, before Philip called before, before.
[39:36] Speaker 1: Before they called you. I knew you. Oh that's good news.
[39:45] Speaker 2: I'm so glad God picked me before I was born,
[39:47] Speaker 2: because after that he might not have wanted me.
[39:50] Speaker 1: I've done some dumb stuff since then.
[39:52] Speaker 2: I'm so glad he knit me together in my mother's womb.
[39:56] Speaker 2: I'm so glad he chose me and he saw me
[39:59] Speaker 2: on my fig tree. Under the fig tree was a
[40:04] Speaker 2: euphanism in Judaism. It wasn't a literal term. It meant
[40:08] Speaker 2: when you meditated. You know how, we might say I'm
[40:10] Speaker 2: in the lab. That doesn't mean you're a scientist. That
[40:14] Speaker 2: just means I'm working on something. You know how, you
[40:16] Speaker 2: might say I'm cooking. You're not really making spaghetti. You
[40:20] Speaker 2: mean I'm working on something. Under the fig tree was
[40:24] Speaker 2: the way they would describe meditating under the fig tree.
[40:28] Speaker 2: It could have been physical, too, but there is rabbinic
[40:31] Speaker 2: evidence to suggest that Nathaniel was meditating, and Jesus is saying,
[40:35] Speaker 2: I know what you've been thinking about.
[40:38] Speaker 1: In other words, I know what's in you.
[40:43] Speaker 2: And Philip may have found you, Jesus says, but who
[40:49] Speaker 2: do you think found Philip? This is the funniest thing
[40:53] Speaker 2: I've ever seen in the Bible. Y'all have been preaching
[40:55] Speaker 2: at this church for twenty years I preached for ten.
[40:57] Speaker 1: Years before that, and I never laughed harder reading the
[41:01] Speaker 1: Bible than I did this week.
[41:02] Speaker 2: Did you see in verse forty five where it says
[41:06] Speaker 2: Philip found Nathaniel and told him we have found the
[41:09] Speaker 2: one Moses wrote about in the Law.
[41:11] Speaker 1: I laughed when I saw that, because he said, we
[41:14] Speaker 1: have found the one. We found Jesus.
[41:18] Speaker 2: But all you got to do is back up to
[41:20] Speaker 2: Versus deceee why I laughed verse forty three. The next
[41:23] Speaker 2: day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee, finding Philip.
[41:29] Speaker 1: How quick we forget that I didn't find him? Uh huh.
[41:36] Speaker 1: I didn't choose him. He chose me.
[41:39] Speaker 2: You want to know why I'm here today, Not because
[41:42] Speaker 2: I found Jesus. The truth of the matter is some
[41:46] Speaker 2: of us weren't even looking, but he was. Some of
[41:50] Speaker 2: us weren't even seeking, but he was. Some of us
[41:53] Speaker 2: didn't even want to come to church, but something made.
[41:56] Speaker 1: To come, didn't it. Why? Because you had to get
[41:59] Speaker 1: this word. Philip didn't find Jesus.
[42:07] Speaker 2: Jesus found Philip, and the same is true of me.
[42:11] Speaker 2: It's my story is not the story of Stephen seeking Jesus.
[42:16] Speaker 1: My story is Jesus sought Stephen. He found me.
[42:21] Speaker 2: And the reason that's good news is if I found him.
[42:26] Speaker 1: That means I could lose him again.
[42:29] Speaker 6: But if he found me, I said, if he found me,
[42:35] Speaker 6: that means there's no valley too low, no mountain too high,
[42:39] Speaker 6: no road too far, no nater too small, no fin.
[42:43] Speaker 1: Too great, no saying too strong, no grain too deep.
[42:49] Speaker 1: He found me.
[42:52] Speaker 2: That's why I'm happy. That's why I'm excited. That's why
[42:56] Speaker 2: I'm confident.
[43:00] Speaker 1: The psalm is set in Psalm twenty seven, verse thirteen.
[43:04] Speaker 2: I would have despaired unless I believe that I would
[43:09] Speaker 2: see the goodness of the Lord in the land of
[43:13] Speaker 2: the Living.
[43:14] Speaker 1: Check out the verse.
[43:15] Speaker 2: I would have despaired, given up, quit no hope unless
[43:20] Speaker 2: I believe that I would see You say see it
[43:24] Speaker 2: to believe it. God says, believe it to see it.
[43:28] Speaker 2: And if you believe, the walls can fall. And if
[43:31] Speaker 2: you shout while you're still staring at him, and if
[43:33] Speaker 2: you start declaring over my family, my family is blessed.
[43:38] Speaker 2: I know everybody's acting dysfunctional right now, but my family
[43:42] Speaker 2: is blessed. The roots are blessed, the branches are blessed.
[43:46] Speaker 2: My body is blessed. My mind is blessed. Depressed but blessed.
[43:51] Speaker 2: Stressed but blessed. Confused.
[43:53] Speaker 1: He sees you under the fig tree.
[43:56] Speaker 2: He sees what you're crying about.
[43:58] Speaker 1: He sees what you're confused about. And he calls you anyway,
[44:02] Speaker 1: and he calls you while you are still under the
[44:10] Speaker 1: fig tree. And he told Philip, come and see. And
[44:16] Speaker 1: he told.
[44:17] Speaker 10: Nathaniel, Nathaniel, you think me seeing you under that tree
[44:24] Speaker 10: is a reason to believe Nathaniel, you ain't seen.
[44:31] Speaker 1: Nothing.
[44:33] Speaker 2: Yeah, think about all the things Jesus could have said,
[44:35] Speaker 2: I'm not done yet.
[44:36] Speaker 1: Think about all the things Jesus could have said to Nathaniel.
[44:40] Speaker 2: He could have said when Nathaniel came, look at it.
[44:43] Speaker 1: In verse forty seven, jaid.
[44:45] Speaker 2: He could said, he's I'm approaching, and he knows that
[44:49] Speaker 2: he just talked bad about Nazareth.
[44:51] Speaker 1: That's his hometown, y'all. He could have said, oh, here
[44:54] Speaker 1: he comes, Oh Nathaniel, Oh Nathaniel.
[44:59] Speaker 2: That doesn't all negative, Nate, aren't you glad he sees the.
[45:06] Speaker 1: Vest in you? He could say, oh, messed up, Matt.
[45:11] Speaker 1: But he don't see that stuff. He sees a miracle.
[45:16] Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm preaching too.
[45:17] Speaker 2: But he called you while you were still under the
[45:19] Speaker 2: fig tree.
[45:21] Speaker 1: He called you right in the middle of the messed
[45:23] Speaker 1: up mine. He called you right in the middle of
[45:24] Speaker 1: the mess Nazary. Can anything good come from Nasar? Follow
[45:30] Speaker 1: me and find out. That's what he's saying. He don't
[45:35] Speaker 1: call him negative, Nathaniel.
[45:38] Speaker 2: You know how we nicknamed the Bible characters according to
[45:40] Speaker 2: their absolute lowest point.
[45:43] Speaker 1: Doubting Thomas, What.
[45:45] Speaker 2: You mean, doubting Thomas, Thomas said, I'll go and die
[45:48] Speaker 2: with you.
[45:48] Speaker 1: Yeah, doubting Thomas. More like, honest Thomas.
[45:53] Speaker 2: If we could read your mind, if we could get
[45:54] Speaker 2: under your fig tree, everything else going up under daring
[45:57] Speaker 2: that good either. By the way, I just felt the
[46:02] Speaker 2: Lord drop this in my spirit, so I say it.
[46:05] Speaker 2: Some of you need to remember this. Who are raising
[46:08] Speaker 2: kids who are lost right now? The Lord knows where
[46:11] Speaker 2: to find him.
[46:22] Speaker 1: He found you, didn't he he found you.
[46:26] Speaker 2: That's why I called the sermons seeking Jesus, because I'm.
[46:33] Speaker 1: I realized that I'm not really the one seeking he is.
[46:38] Speaker 1: He is.
[46:40] Speaker 5: The seeking Jesus, not just the saving Jesus, not just
[46:48] Speaker 5: the healing Jesus.
[46:49] Speaker 1: He's the seeking Jesus.
[46:51] Speaker 2: And he's looking for one who's lost, and he'll leave
[46:54] Speaker 2: ninety nine to get him.
[46:55] Speaker 1: And a lady came up to me the other day
[46:57] Speaker 1: and she gave me a I brought one. She gave me.
[47:02] Speaker 8: A little Jesus. You can't even see that canyon. I said,
[47:12] Speaker 8: that's nice, thank you. I said, what am I supposed
[47:16] Speaker 8: to do with this? She said, no, just for the
[47:20] Speaker 8: love is cute. And I'm like, it is cute, thank you.
[47:24] Speaker 8: And I'm not hating on this, I mean, but something about.
[47:29] Speaker 11: It, something about something about many Jesus. And then she
[47:42] Speaker 11: told me, she goes, they're cool.
[47:44] Speaker 2: You can hide them different places and people can find them.
[47:47] Speaker 2: And I was preparing this message, thinking like, that's how
[47:50] Speaker 2: we think about him sometimes. Yeah, oh, isn't that wonderful. Well,
[48:00] Speaker 2: let me remind you what to think of when you
[48:02] Speaker 2: look at it.
[48:03] Speaker 1: Remember every time you pick it up.
[48:05] Speaker 2: Remember that this is just a reminder that I'm not
[48:09] Speaker 2: holding him.
[48:12] Speaker 1: He's holding me. Let's see, that's me.
[48:21] Speaker 2: And I'm not interested in shrinking Jesus down to where
[48:25] Speaker 2: I think. See, when my life really runs up on
[48:30] Speaker 2: the types of battles that I have to fight as
[48:32] Speaker 2: a brown man, I don't need many Jesus. I need
[48:37] Speaker 2: a mighty Jesus. You ain't seen nothing yet, Nathaniel. You
[48:45] Speaker 2: think that's something, he says. In verse fifty one, he says,
[48:50] Speaker 2: verily or truthfully, I tell you the truth.
[48:53] Speaker 1: You will see heaven open.
[48:54] Speaker 2: You will see angels ascending and descending.
[48:58] Speaker 1: On the Son of Man.
[48:59] Speaker 2: He's prophesied from Jacob in the Book of Genesis, but
[49:02] Speaker 2: he's prophesying about the cross. He's prophesying about salvation. He's saying,
[49:06] Speaker 2: you see nothing yet.
[49:09] Speaker 1: Put it back up. Verily, I say unto you. The
[49:12] Speaker 1: King James says.
[49:13] Speaker 2: Very truly, I tell you very true.
[49:16] Speaker 1: Woo ooh.
[49:16] Speaker 2: You need the original language to really get this. In
[49:20] Speaker 2: the original language.
[49:21] Speaker 1: He doesn't say very truly, I tell you no. He
[49:23] Speaker 1: says amen. Amen.
[49:28] Speaker 2: He says it twice twenty five times in the Gospel
[49:32] Speaker 2: of John.
[49:33] Speaker 1: Not in Matthew, not in Luke, not in Mark.
[49:36] Speaker 2: In John alone, Jesus is recorded twenty five times he
[49:40] Speaker 2: says amen, and then he says it again.
[49:44] Speaker 1: Now, let's break this down.
[49:45] Speaker 2: He said, very truly, I say to you, you ain't
[49:48] Speaker 2: seen nothing yet, Nathaniel. You are only getting started. You
[49:52] Speaker 2: want to see what it looks like to walk by faith.
[49:55] Speaker 2: Follow me and find out. Follow me with questions, follow me.
[49:58] Speaker 1: With doubts, Follow me with impurities.
[50:01] Speaker 2: I'll work them out. Follow me with sin, I'll wash
[50:04] Speaker 2: it away. Follow me just just seek me for who
[50:07] Speaker 2: I really am. Just follow me and you will find out.
[50:10] Speaker 1: Amen. Amen, I tell you will see heaven open.
[50:14] Speaker 2: But what is interesting about Amen in this culture is
[50:18] Speaker 2: not just that he said it twice, is that he
[50:22] Speaker 2: said it for himself. Normally, when someone makes a statement
[50:28] Speaker 2: of truth, someone who is listening will say amen in response.
[50:36] Speaker 1: But when Jesus, when Jesus.
[50:41] Speaker 2: I'm gonna put this one up here with you, LJ,
[50:43] Speaker 2: I don't need him right now. When my great big
[50:46] Speaker 2: water walk in Jesus, when he speaks the thing, he
[50:51] Speaker 2: doesn't wait to find out if you agree. If he
[50:55] Speaker 2: said it, that settles it.
[50:58] Speaker 1: Nobody's shout Amen.
[51:01] Speaker 6: He said I'm here, he's set, I'm free.
[51:04] Speaker 1: He's said I'm forgiven. He said I'm right to us.
[51:07] Speaker 1: He said I'm cleared.
[51:08] Speaker 2: He said it's done, it is vital, it is finished,
[51:13] Speaker 2: it is settled, it is rickedid Amen Amen again, Amen.
[51:20] Speaker 1: Amen, who amen? Amen?
[51:25] Speaker 2: Hot Five three people say amen and amen, Amen and
[51:28] Speaker 2: amen Amen, and amen, Amen.
[51:32] Speaker 1: And amen, And I got something for you. Loast watch this.
[51:36] Speaker 2: Not only did he say it twice, which means it's
[51:39] Speaker 2: a covenant. Not only did he say it for himself,
[51:43] Speaker 2: which means he'll fulfill it. He said it before the
[51:47] Speaker 2: truth that he spoke when he said it, because Jesus
[51:52] Speaker 2: doesn't need to wait for the amen.
[51:55] Speaker 5: He is the.
[51:57] Speaker 2: Amen of God in the again, where's my band?
[52:01] Speaker 1: What's the word?
[52:03] Speaker 2: And the word was with God?
[52:06] Speaker 1: And the word what God?
[52:12] Speaker 2: He said, Amen, whatever comes after it is true, he said.
[52:17] Speaker 8: Amen.
[52:18] Speaker 1: Nothing could cancel it.
[52:19] Speaker 8: He said.
[52:20] Speaker 1: Amen.
[52:21] Speaker 2: He says good as done, so be it.
[52:26] Speaker 1: Amen. Amen. The first words of John's.
[52:32] Speaker 2: Gospelar in the beginning the last words that John writes
[52:37] Speaker 2: in Revelation twenty two twenty one on the island of
[52:40] Speaker 2: pat Mos, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with
[52:44] Speaker 2: God's people.
[52:46] Speaker 1: Amen. And if you belie, you will see.
[53:04] Speaker 3: Jesus, not little Jesus, you will see King Jesus.
[53:13] Speaker 2: I want to start a series today called see.
[53:18] Speaker 1: King Jesus, the.
[53:23] Speaker 2: One who was and is and is to calm.
[53:30] Speaker 1: So be it and Amen.
[53:34] Speaker 2: When the King sneaks a word, it cannot be overturned.
[53:45] Speaker 1: Now I need the whole church to receive this song.
[53:49] Speaker 2: You stand up right where you are, and you throw
[53:52] Speaker 2: your hands in the air right now, and you say.
[53:55] Speaker 1: Amen to God.
[53:57] Speaker 2: Amen. I'm not waiting till list over to say a man, God,
[54:01] Speaker 2: I come into agreement with you right now. In the beginning,
[54:04] Speaker 2: what's the word? And in the end of thee Amen,
[54:07] Speaker 2: I'm starting with an Amen. I'm starting with the one
[54:10] Speaker 2: who called me.
[54:13] Speaker 1: Because when the kinks, he's be so Lord, he cannot
[54:17] Speaker 1: be over. It's as good as done. Amen, Heaven touches
[54:23] Speaker 1: he think you rather be reversed. It's the king.
[54:28] Speaker 2: So get the liars out the lies of the way.
[54:31] Speaker 12: They don't have the sign of safety.
[54:33] Speaker 1: So I want to see King Jesus.
[54:38] Speaker 2: Every worthy faces Yes, hey.
[54:41] Speaker 1: Amen, so celebrate the victory.
[54:45] Speaker 9: Na vandeh God, everybody else say simple, you will see
[54:53] Speaker 9: greater thing.
[54:55] Speaker 1: He said that it is done. It's done, so.
[55:00] Speaker 12: God and man, so man.
[55:07] Speaker 9: See the woman on the side and not me on
[55:10] Speaker 9: the s last say the first rum the univers. Let
[55:20] Speaker 9: me alphone made a shoot the alpha dang.
[55:24] Speaker 1: That's what I sing in the name the name Man Jasu.
[55:29] Speaker 2: S the ye game.
[55:31] Speaker 1: Give them all the places. Let's go.
[55:37] Speaker 9: God, this over con my testies is gone.
[55:43] Speaker 1: Maybe he said that it's charing in this job.
[55:48] Speaker 9: So me God, so the ti me, don't go over
[55:57] Speaker 9: me no happy Oh the core proma speak so so
[56:06] Speaker 9: so so.
[56:17] Speaker 1: Come on, let's go there.
[56:19] Speaker 12: So to Cris to add such a fun.
[56:30] Speaker 1: Uses crucified nails. You gotta believe that you're sees you stop.
[56:40] Speaker 9: Doing and belief.
[56:43] Speaker 1: That is said prophesied Dandy was.
[56:51] Speaker 12: Not being what you geez, you will see that s
[57:00] Speaker 12: things Madame Blaze.
[57:05] Speaker 9: Blade blaze blaze by.
[57:17] Speaker 2: Us something.
[57:23] Speaker 1: Said, he said, stop it st so.
[57:42] Speaker 9: You go sid soth.
[57:49] Speaker 1: Sbut again, so.
[57:53] Speaker 9: Let's go out and dot com us said yes, said
[58:22] Speaker 9: help me.
[58:22] Speaker 1: Bye, b bye.
[58:27] Speaker 9: Mothers Bye, Holly we sp hey, Hey, sorgu.
[59:03] Speaker 4: Hey.
[59:03] Speaker 2: I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did,
[59:06] Speaker 2: make sure to share it and subscribe so we can
[59:09] Speaker 2: get you all of these new messages as soon as
[59:11] Speaker 2: they're available. I also want to take a moment and
[59:14] Speaker 2: thank all of you who are a part of Elevation.
[59:16] Speaker 2: Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or
[59:20] Speaker 2: just share these messages, it's because of you that we're
[59:23] Speaker 2: able to reach people all around the world and If
[59:26] Speaker 2: you want more information on how to be a part
[59:28] Speaker 2: of Elevation, click the link in the description. Thanks again
[59:32] Speaker 2: for listening. Make sure to leave a review, share the
[59:35] Speaker 2: message and subscribe.
[59:36] Speaker 1: God bless you.

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