Don't drop it | Gamechanger | Christine Caine

well this is an incredibly special worship experience today we're about to go into the auditorium for a time of worship and faith and the Word of God it's our Gamechanger offering weekend this offering goes toward expansion and outreach and ministries just like this and we're calling on our eFam that's what we call our extended family all around the world I know I love it it's so exciting that people join us every single weekend not just here but all over the world yeah we don't want you to just consume the content we want you to contribute we want you to be a part of this move of God so if you've been blessed by this ministry this is your opportunity make a sacrificial gift maybe a systematic gift maybe one time maybe a monthly recurring gift but we're calling on all of you who consider this your eFam your extended family your church family to make a difference today as you do Holly and I are praying that God will bless your life in amazing ways so this is it this is the opportunity be a part of this move of God let's go into worship I think you're really gonna have your faith built during this time and the best is ahead we'll worship a little bit more in in a few moments after the sermon today as we get to bring our Gamechanger offering so many thousands didn't get to last weekend because of the weather we want everybody to have that special moment but the bad news is just about the time we got the snow cleared out just about the time we got the snow cleared out we get a report that there's a hurri-caine and this is terrible because we're out here trying to take a Gamechanger offering and build the kingdom of God and then Christine the hurri-Caine wants to come preach on our Gamechanger series now this woman of God she hails from Australia her husband's name is Nick he is a great strategist and a general in the kingdom of God we honor you sir and your beard and your mountain biking but she is a voice of justice and truth for Jesus Christ all around the globe and today on this occasion God has sent us a global force in this strategic moment and if you've never heard Christine Caine before you have not lived until now but the good news is there's a hurri-Caine in the house she is the co-founder of A21 fighting human trafficking all around the world she is God's chosen vessel for this moment put your hands together on every location welcome Christine the hurri-Caine I could not wait to be with you and did you all notice how beautiful the weather was today you know I brought the anointing don't you that's I don't want to say anything to Pastor Steven that I'm you I start last week but come on come on this week it is beautiful I feel like I am with family in case you all don't know who I am I'm your cray-cray Aussie aunt and everybody needs a crazy Aussie aunt and I'm so grateful I'm the bonus track I've brought the bonus track so we had I'm normally the person on the other side of the screen so all our global eFamily I mean you know we've got a thousand you're all like rabbits there's a million locations like you're like God just omnipresent all over the globe there you are but I am normally and often no matter where I'm preaching in the world if the timezone works out well I get to watch your I participate I'm more than watching I know you on the other side of the screen are more than watching I am part of it all and you know I always need a good sermon so this is a pretty good preacher here most Sundays and so I just I just come and I get my word from him and then you know I quote him for the first minute and then I say as I always say this is my word so it's really hard coming to this pulpit because when you preach all Pastor Steven's sermons and then you've got to come to his pulpit you're like I literally asked my husband I'm going now he's already preached that he's preached that that's where I got it from I can't do that actually go to God how was that which was awesome but I thank God he's raised your house up I want you to stay standing because I want to read something over you that as I was preparing this has nothing to do with my sermon but it's got everything to do with this house and you know when the Queen of Sheba came to visit this Solomon King Solomon in the book of 1 Kings chapter 10 it says that when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon I want you to know that the sound of Elevation is around the world what is coming out of this house and of course your you know your grammy-nominated songs which are absolutely phenomenal I have the privilege of sometimes being at the same events as your worship team which just represents this house so powerfully around the world but you know there's a sound that's coming out of here your Pastor I mean you've heard of the pulpit so if you've been a Christian for more than you know three minutes and most of you haven't here because your heathen so it's awesome that's what we love you're newly saved but you know the great preachers in in modern church history Charles Spurgeon in England and Dale Moody in Chicago and Jonathan Edwards on the East Coast let me just say this pulpit will go down in modern history as powerful as the pulpits of those people because of the gift on your Pastor it is awesome but she comes and she says when I heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord she came to testing with hard questions you ever tried to test your pastor with hard Christian sports she came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue I like this part with camels bearing spices I was gonna bring my camels it's Christmas and all but you know I left them in Australia and very much gold and precious stones and when she came to Solomon she told him all that was on her mind and Solomon answered all her questions there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her and when the Queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon the house that he had built I love this God loves having a house built the Bible says in Chronicles the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent we've come here around a Gamechanger offering weekend can I just tell you we are never apologetic a building about building an exceedingly magnificent house for God that goes around the world says the house that he had built the food on his table I just had some grits can I tell you the food on the table here in the south is like awesome and I don't know if Sheba got grits but I did the seating of his officials and the attendants of his servants their clothing his cup bearers and his burnt offerings that he offered to the house of the Lord there was no more breath in her and when I read that earlier this week I thought that's what it's like and for all of you on the other side of the screen because that's me every week it's breathtaking the Queen of Sheba came into Solomon's great temple she said my breath is taken away can I just say with the way that this house glorifies the king of kings and the Lord of lords and it carries the glory of God you are breathtaking Elevation Church you are breathtaking it is amazing what God is doing in and through this house in this generation and so I'm believing God that He's gonna speak to every one of our hearts today and you're gonna realize what a part of history you are I was in Copenhagen and I was raving about the beautiful architecture of that city in Denmark it's just stunning and I come from a nation that's only a couple of hundred years old so anything that's thousands of years old I'm in the architecture just the history is breathtaking I was going on and on and on to the cabdriver about how beautiful it was and I'm Greek so I'm highly emotive and I don't stop talking and so I was just going and he started to cry and I thought Christine you've really gone overboard this time but he pulled over and he said you know do you really think our city is this beautiful I said it's breathtaking it's just stunning and he said you know sometimes you can live right in the midst of it and not even see it and my prayer is that here at Elevation that you realize while you're in it that you're in the middle of a modern-day miracle the wonders that God is doing in and through this house is not normal it is breathtaking it is supernatural and God has chosen you to be a part of it so why don't you be seated and turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 12 I'm a coffee lover so Hebrews is one of my favorite favorite I couldn't resist I couldn't resist I'm sorry it's as dorky as that comes I've become that preacher I'm gonna read to you from Hebrews chapter 12 on both Greek and a woman so I only speak three ways hard fast and continuously so strap yourself in strap yourself in I love that I'm talking to so many locations all at once so now eFam I love that I'm on this side because I'm always on that side okay hi! sorry so here we go the Bible says in Hebrews 12 therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us also someone say me too let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God I love this passage of Scripture Hebrews chapter 12 right there after Hebrews 11 and you know I always love to say that even in Australia Hebrews 12 comes after Hebrews 11 sometimes you think because our toilets flush back to front in the way that yours do here in America maybe our Bibles are back to front but as in most translations we go Hebrews 11 the Great Hall of faith and then Hebrews chapter 12 so I'm saying that because it starts with therefore and when the word therefore falls in the Bible you've got to ask yourself the question what's it there for and it's there for coming out of this wonderful chapter talking about these men and women of God that were heroes of faith and the scripture tells us the writer to the Hebrews says we need to run with endurance in the same way that they ran before us and why I'm prefacing what I'm about to say with this is that sometimes we think when it comes to our Christian walk and especially in the Western culture that most of us are a part of we think that it's an individual sprint man I'm gonna run this race that God has called me to I'm gonna fulfill my destiny you know I'm going to flourish I'm going to maximize my potential you do you boo is the you know mantra of this generation is just like you know worst advice anyone could ever give anyone but anyway that's another sermon but here is the deal is you just run your little leg of the race and just don't worry about anyone else but scripture teaches us the opposite it says therefore then since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses you see there are others that have come before us we are part of an eternal divine relay this is not an individual sprint there are others that have come after us and it's very before us and it's very important that we remember that there are people that have come before us in the Christian faith because if we forget that others have run before us we might just forget that there are still others to come after us but when you remember that you're part of an eternal divine really you will know that in any relay race it doesn't matter how fast any individual runner is it doesn't matter how strong any individual Runner is if there is not a seamless exchange in the exchange zone whatever happened before falls to the ground and doesn't go anywhere and you know that in a race you want to increase momentum and you want to increase speed and the way that exchange happens 1.9 seconds 20 meters determines the entire race now I love relay races and because I'm a chick I'm predisposed to loving the women's 4 x 100 meter relay and when we were living in Australia in the year 2000 Australia hosted the Olympic Games that Nick and I got to go and watch the final of the women's relay now America on paper should have won you're the fastest women's 4 x 100 meter team the fastest team in history now out of the 16 Olympic Games before that the American team had one gold medal on nine of them they were the fastest team just so good but what happened was as we were watching this race what should have been just a easy win ended up with a bronze medal for the American team because what happened was coming into the second exchange they just got sloppy they got sloppy because they thought we're the fastest we're the best no one has beaten us before so here we go and they got sloppy and while they were sloppy thinking they'd already won but they're only in the second exchange the Bahamas and Jamaica just came alongside and just took off and then they just could not catch them after that and what should have been a gold became a bronze not because of a lack of skill talent or ability but because of a lack of a seamless exchange in the exchange zone they just got sloppy it is amazing how when you get sloppy in your Christianity you wonder why you don't finish your race in the way that you should you wonder when you get sloppy in your approach to an exchange zone because in our faith there are always divine moments of exchange whether you are either going to accelerate and gain momentum or you are either going to decelerate and then wonder why you didn't finish where you should have finished at both individually and corporately as a church churches that go from strength to strength don't miss the exchange zone when we have a moment like our Gamechanger offering weekend we realize this is a divine exchange zone we realize we're coming into an exchange zone where we're either going to gain momentum and acceleration or whether we are just going to be sloppy and so here's what happens in 2004 in the Athens Olympic Games I'm thinking America is gonna win again fastest team on paper but what happened is as Marion Jones came into the exchange zone to give the baton over to Lauren Williams she was a little bit fatigued so she came in slower than she normally would and she couldn't get the baton into the hand of Lauren Williams if you've ever seen it it's actually really moving because you can see you're trying to yell and say I'm not gonna reach you and so by the time she got it into Lauren's hand it was outside of the exchange zone the exchange happened too late and so the American team was disqualified again they were the fastest team should have gotten gold but if you do not hand over what needs to be hand over in the 1.9 seconds and 20 meters that you're supposed to you can miss that divine moment where you can actually accelerate and gain momentum impetuses everything to maintaining and sustaining momentum if you miss it if you don't serve when you should give when you should love when you should forgive when you should give mercy when you should if you don't do it in that moment you can miss that opportunity well then we get to 2008 and now we're in Beijing China and again fastest team on paper and America should have won but what happened was when they came into that third exchange they fumbled the baton and instead of passing it right they dropped it and so the team again lost the race not because they weren't the best or the fastest or the quickest but because they dropped the baton do you know how many drop batons there have been in the history of the church over the last two thousand years people that God anoints the house and citizen you can usher in the greatest revival that's ever been seen in modern day church but somewhere in the exchange zone we just dropped the baton and then we get to 2012 and of course 2012 London England all that happened the team was no faster than in the previous three Olympics it was no stronger than in the previous three Olympics but they got a gold medal simply because the three exchanges in the exchange zone was seamless so what is the point of this athletics lesson on a Sunday morning at church therefore then since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us Elevation also make sure that we carry our baton of faith to our generation that we don't drop the baton that we don't hand it on too late that we don't get sloppy with what God has blessed us with but we understand that the baton of faith is in our hands for our generation to our generation see you are not here by accident God knew exactly what would be happening on the planet in the year 2018 2019 he's God a perk of being God is you just know everything it's God and so he knew and when he looked at all of the people he created out of all of eternity he saw you and he plucked you out of eternity and he positioned you in time and he gave you gifts and talents for the purpose of serving your generation and he said I'm gonna plant you in this house because I've got a mantle and I've got an anointing on this house and we have so many issues on the earth today there is so much chaos and so much crisis and so much division and so much disunity and so much pain and so much heartache and so much injustice and so much suffering and it is easy to get overwhelmed by it all but I need to tell you the issue and the problems they've been our political problems and they're not moral problems necessarily and they're not education issues and they're not social issues it's a faith issue we've got too many unbelieving believers we need some believers that say I will carry the baton of faith for my generation I will carry the good news of the gospel to my generation I'll be light in the midst of darkness for my generation I will carry the baton of my faith to my family to my university to my school to my community to my mothers group you see tag church we're it where it some of us are thinking while I'm waiting and gods going no no you're it you have the baton of faith therefore then since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us also it's us what are you doing with the baton of faith we have an enemy that is trying to distract us from the one thing we're on the earth to do in case you're wondering what we're here to do you and I are personally responsible for the evangelization of planet Earth before the second coming of Jesus Christ so today when you're having lunch and all your friends are just trying to kind of you know belittle you and say who are you you're just little loser Christian and you know they say I'm a doctor I'm a lawyer I'm a Supreme Court judge what are you a little loser you just go well I'm personally responsible for the evangelization of the planet before the second coming of Jesus I don't know what you do that's what we are people why do we get up today why are we a church because we are here carrying the baton of faith in our kids ministry people telling people about the Word of God and about Jesus in a culture that is so antithetical to the gospel into the good news every time we come to church you're carrying the baton of faith every time you pray you're carrying the baton of faith every time you open that word you're carrying the baton of faith every time you sew into our game-changer offering you're carrying the baton of faith what if we don't do it what if we don't what if we're just here this is more than just a nice little self-help motivational come together that's not what we're here for we are part of an eternal divine relay this is every time we step in and we carry this baton of faith the eternal is touching the temporal we're stepping into this broken and fragmented world and we're saying we've got a baton of faith God has given us the responsibility in our generation to carry this baton of faith to our generation this is bigger than me what's happening this weekend is bigger than us what if we don't do it what if we just forget I want to show you what for me is the saddest piece of scripture in the Bible it's in the book of Judges so it's very scary when you go to Judges on a Sunday morning but we're going there today so in the book of Judges chapter two verse seven to ten and especially verse 10 the Bible says and the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel and Joshua the son of nun the servant of the Lord died at the age of a 110 years and they buried him with the boundaries within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath Harries in the hill country of Ephraim north of the mountain of gash and all that generation were also gather also were gathered to their fathers and here's the saddest scripture for me in the Bible and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel what why is carrying this baton of faith so important why is it so important that we don't stop as a church and get comfortable and complacent go well look at everything that's happening we've got our eFamily we've got locations all over the place what isn't that enough why can't we just just come to church I can got my little parking spot now I've got my seat that I love now my kids are in kit what about because see it's not just about us I wonder how on earth could another generation arise after Joshua one of the greatest leaders in the Bible he had come out of Egyptian slavery he had seen the Red Sea part I mean just imagine he saw the Red Sea part he was with Moses often at the tabernacle he went up to the mountain with Moses he saw Moses have a fit and smashed the Ten Commandments he saw it all he saw amazing things he had manna from heaven for 40 years he saw the provision of God he saw God do amazing things I mean he survived in the wilderness with a bunch of moaners grumblers and complainers and and still survived that that's a miracle itself he he knew understood the grace of God he saw the River Jordan pushed back he walked across that on dry ground he saw the walls of Jericho come down he went in and he possessed all the promised land he went literally from slavery to possession only two of them ever saw that but no I don't think it's worth clapping because after him and his generation died another generation arose that did not know the Lord miracles signs and wonders like have never been recorded before from slavery to possession from slavery to freedom and another generation see somewhere along the line they dropped the baton somewhere along the line they got so comfortable in the promised land so comfortable eating the fruit of their labors that they forgot they were part of an eternal divine relay and we are only ever one generation away from that so why are we sewing our seed today why are we part of this offering today because we're saying not on my watch I am not dropping the baton of faith on my watch we are carrying her from generation to generation and we're going to continue to have the baton of faith going on it's said and another generation arose who had not seen I need you to understand it's one thing to come to a building that you've not seen the miracle of God building it's just what you think has always been here but for those of us that were here when it was nothing and then we've seen the miracles of God so we're faithful to God but you see if you don't keep giving an opportunity to a generation and the generations to exercise their muscle of faith they won't know that there's a faith muscle to exercise and so what we're doing is giving people an opportunity where you can believe God now if you don't give every generation and every person regularly the opportunity to believe God for themselves they won't remember there's a God to believe and so what happened is the generation just ate the fruit of Joshua's labor and his generation but they didn't exercise their own faith so you go why do we do some things every year because we continue to say we got to exercise that faith muscle we've got to continue to have people believe in God or when we're gone they're not gonna know there's a God to believe they're not gonna know that there's faith that needs to be exercised so we must all continue to do that and then scripture goes on and says you know what how does this happen how do you do that and there's only three quick ways that this scripture tells us it says therefore then since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares this is how you run unhindered this is how you keep the baton of faith going from one generation to the next going from year to year in your own faith and keeps you passionately pursuing God and keeps you passionately hanging on to the baton of faith because what you find is some batons you once held on to a sacred you just throw away now like it really doesn't matter there was a time that you would never have thought about not going to church because you needed this for your very lifeline to even just exist every day but then you go well you know what if it's too cold I'm not going there was a time where you would have kept yourself morally pure because it was in the scripture you would do then you go you know what no one in our generation does it doesn't really matter we just throw it all away it's like no big deal there was a time when you would have always been in the word and said God I'm gonna be the first to give my offering I as a as a sign of thanks to you and a sign of faith for what's gonna happen in the future but you now you know what it doesn't really matter and we just throw batons away we dropped them in the exchange zone and we hang on to them and we miss that 1.9 second 20 meter opportunity to see the blessing of God in our own life it's all a matter of timing in the kingdom he's a god of time and a God of timing always always and how you go from strength to strength because that is the way upward through for a believer we're supposed to go from faith to faith from strength to strength from glory to glory but what happens in the exchange zone determines whether that's what happens to us or not and so what happens is we drop so the scripture says you know this is what you've got to do you've got to drop some stuff now you've got to drop the weights in the sins in two different words suggests to me that the writer of the Hebrews there's two different things a weight is not a sin a weight could be something that was good for a season but now it's not good it could even be some people that led you to the Lord and the truth is that they helped catapult you to where you are today but if you're honest you get into a faith environment like this you're full of faith you want to press on for the purposes of God and you get around those people and suddenly you've just taken five steps back God doesn't require that much of you you don't need to serve that much you need don't need to sew that much you don't need to give that much you don't need and so the people that once helped catapult you to where you are have now become a weight an anchor they're holding you back it could be a level of serving you've been willing to serve a church life at this level and it was good it's not a sin but the truth is if we're gonna break forth into all that God has for us as a movement you know what serving at this level has now become a weight your breakthrough is to start serving at this level and you're gonna start seeing things come true it could be a level of giving your believing God and oh I am too for next year for financial breakthrough for increase in my family's life and our ministry slot I'm believing God for it well it's not what people give to me that determines how much I'm going to get it's my giving that determines how much and how far we go so if I keep giving at this level which is not a sin it's really good actually if I keep giving at this level although it's not a sin this level of giving for me has now become a weight for where I want to go because my breakthrough is gonna be at this level of giving you could go we could talk about our thinking we could talk about every aspect of life what was once okay has now become a weight and an anchor so what do you need to drop to carry the baton of faith and run unhindered scripture says any athlete drops any additional weights if we're going into 2019 you want to talk about a game-changing year coming out of this series then we've got to drop some stuff some habits some attitudes some thoughts some bitterness some unforgiveness some unresolved issues some unaddressed addictions we need to drop some weights so that we can run unhindered and sin I know we don't like that word very much do we in the 21st century it's like offensive to people I know and so it's like we like to think I'm okay you're okay and it's because we've got a really warped view of it that the thing is who's got a bottle of water I'm just anyone got anything with a label on it and someone will throw me something come on you are awesome any bottle will do I just need this so say that I had a bottle here full of poison awesome poison and here it had you know poison and I ripped the poison label off and I put a new label on it and I put chocolate syrup and then I put it in your refrigerator you would think I'm cray-cray because the milder you make the label the more potent you make the poison and what we've done when we're too scared to say hey there is sin you know when I was diagnosed with cancer four years ago could you imagine what would have happened at the hospital in LA at UCLA hospital if I walked in and they did all the biopsies all the MRIs all of the tests and said oh we know that Christine's got cancer and it was right between my larynx and trachea so right on my voice box gee the devil is very very just he's not obvious is he I'm like you know what you can stick that in your pipe I'm going louder I'm going stronger I'm going further I'm going faster than ever before but anyway can you just imagine what would have happened if they went we know she's got cancer but we don't want to offend Christine we don't want to hurt her feelings and so what we're going to do is we're gonna tell her that she's got the flu and although we've got the cure for her particular type of cancer we're gonna say that she's got the flu and give her a Tylenol because we don't want her to feel bad or feel judged or feel condemned well what would we call that we would call that medical malpractice and we would sue those doctors and they would never practice again well I don't know why people expect me as a minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to commit spiritual malpractice because here is the deal there is an issue that we need to lay aside which is called sin but here is the good news there is an antidote to sin and it's called the blood of Jesus Christ it sets people free free it sets us free so the writer to the Hebrews says hey how about we lay aside the weights and the sins that's so easily ensnare us so that we can run our race unhindered so we got to drop some stuff now on this bonus track of the Gamechanger series what what do we need to drop so that we can move unhindered into 2019 and then he says run the race set before us there is a race set before you you have a baton of faith this is your moment now see most of us were like one day when when I get more than I'll give when I have more time then I'll serve when when when when there is no when one day over there run the race set before you now you've only ever got here there is no there because when you get there you're here and so you need to understand it's what you do here now that determines the there and then and so you've got to run the race set before you some of you are not running the race set before you because you're too busy scrolling through everyone else's race if you stop scrolling through everybody else's and run the race that is set before you you will finish your course and then he says fixing your eyes on Jesus you got to drop it now you've got a run right here now and then you've got to look up now because Jesus is what started this and Jesus is who were looking at at the finish line Elevation why we're not settling now why we're all coming around this offering in a few minutes why we all continue to believe God for an impact on the nations and the generations is because it's Jesus that is the head of this house it's Jesus that started this house it's Jesus that's at the finish line that we are looking for we have always been a church that's full of radical faith we carry the baton of faith when people think we're cray-cray we are we are just similar it's cool where that gate you're crazy I know I know I believe all the crazy stuff you're no virgin birth yet we're celebrating it in a couple of weeks let's see oxymoron virgin birth the okay virgin pregnancy awesome I'll tell my sixteen-year-old daughter do not try this at home I will not believe you it's not the case so no no physical bodily resurrection you I know I believe all the cray-cray stuff and the sky is gunna split he's gonna come back yup I believe it all I've drunk the kool-aid and you know what it's such good news that I'm gonna carry that baton of faith to my generation for my generation there is no greater news than the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that he's coming back to redeem our world that's what we're doing so how did it all start it started with radical passionate faith couple of kids 25 years old you remember our prompt day when Pastor Steven sat on the stage with so many interns and helped us to remember our memorial stones how this all started we weren't cool we weren't slick and we might be excellent but we're still not cool or slick we will be dorks for Jesus till the day we die it's just the way that it is a bunch of 25 year-olds starting a church in Charlotte that's foolish foolish but if we don't maintain that same radical faith then we are not going to continue to gain momentum and accelerate and I believe we are going to do that but you've got to be willing to be foolish for Jesus in a few moments we're going to give and you know what to other people in this day and age and it seems foolish but we're seeing with eternal eyes not natural temporal eyes and we're saying it might seem foolish to you but but we care about the generations well I want to just give you an example throughout scripture of people that took foolish risks of faith and ended up changing the world we could turn and circle all the way back to some of the names listed in Hebrews chapter 11 because where I started this morning was there for them so let's go back before the therefore and to understand Elevation we're part of this divine really we're part of the Hebrews 11 Great Hall of faith that's who we are we are we are part of that do you remember how foolish Noah would have looked when he was building an ark in the desert and there had never been rain before imagine all of his friends Noah what are you building an ark what's an ark mate dunno why are you building it cuz we're gonna have rain what's rain haven't got a clue you know we're bringing our offering for that what are we building an ark what for haven't got a clue but I know that God knows half the time in our Christian life that's what it's like we're building something that we don't quite know what for something that's coming that we haven't really got a clue but all we do is fix our eyes on Jesus and we know we're gonna keep building this thing and we're gonna keep moving forward and it's gonna keep happening can you imagine how foolish Moses looked he had a rod and he had a Red Sea in front of him that's what we look like in our generation his Red Sea's depart we don't know how some of these miracles are gonna happen and can you imagine all of the Egyptians going and all the Israelites going what are you gonna do Moses there's a sea I don't know I got a stick most things in my life is just I got a stick and truly for the future what we need to see even with all that we've accomplished in our 13 years it's the equivalent of a stick because we need some Red Sea's to part Sarah looked foolish at the maternity shopping section in Walmart what are you doing Sarah I'm about to birth a baby honey Wow thought your eggs dried up yeah well you know so much I could say right now but I'm just gonna go how foolish did the Israelites look marching around the walls of Jericho no cruise missiles no no just nothing how foolish do we look we're doing the same spiritually speaking marching around walls seeing demonic strongholds come down seeing hey it looks people like all of the injustice and the pain and the suffering and the chaos and the division on the earth they like what are y'all doing where we're building arks so we can gather and we can pray we can seek God we can fill altars with people being saved and people being delivered and people being healed and marriages being restored and children coming back to the key oh that's what we're doing no no we're marching looking foolish we know we know it's not cool but but but we're marching how foolish did David look with a nine-foot giant in front of him and he's got five little stones often that's how we think I've got my little slingshot and there's a giant how foolish did Esther look going into the king when she wasn't summoned she could have been killed for speaking up how foolish did Caleb look at 85 saying to Joshua I am NOT cashing in my 401k this is not happening there is no such word as retirement in the Bible I'm referring I'm not retiring at 85 I'm not I'm not doing that how foolish did Mary look at this time of the year a pregnant virgin teenage chick foolish how foolish did the wise men look following the star how foolish did Peter look stepping on the water out of a boat how foolish would the woman with the issue of blood have looked as she grabbed the hem of His garment how foolish did Paul and Silas look as they're sitting in prison and they're singing hallelujah here below and they're just like believing God how foolish did the little boy look with five fish and two loaves how foolish and of course of all of them how foolish did Jesus Christ look hanging on that cross half-naked people looking at him going that that's your Messiah that King of the Jews that's him you're all in over him covered a church every Sunday building buildings bringing a Gamechanger offering over him you even really believe that stuff it you really believe this is it well if we would carry on the Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith if we would continue to say we want to be counted into that cloud of witnesses we Elevation Church want to go down in history as people that dare to look foolish and believe God we might see exactly the same result as these people did because here is the deal everyone else can laugh but Noah and his family they were saved from the flood Moses did see the Red Sea part Sarah did give birth to Isaac the Israelites did see the walls of Jericho fall David did defeat Goliath Esther stopped the Jewish genocide Caleb did get Hebron Mary did give birth to Jesus Peter did walk on water the woman with the issue of blood she was healed Paul and Silas they were freed from prison the little boys lunch did feed 5,000 and Jesus Christ got off that cross he raised again from the dead he holds the keys to hell and death in his hand and my Bible says that the same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives on the inside of you and on the inside of me therefore Elevation Church we can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us so let us also run with endurance the race that is set before us in Jesus name in Jesus name Amen Church amen hey thanks for joining us online today we really believe this year-end offering can be a game-changer in your life now this is an opportunity to not just hear the message but to really be a part of it for some of you you may need to start by bringing the tide that's the first 10% now for others it might be to go above and beyond the tithe and bring an offering now either way we want everyone to participate in the Gamechanger year- end offering you can go to www.elevationchurch.org to find out everything that you need to know about how to give and how to participate in this year-end offering but one of the most important things is to just take a few minutes just head over to that website and set up your giving and make sure you choose Gamechanger in the drop-down menu to make sure that you're contributing specifically to our year-end offering so make sure that you do that on that site we're excited to see how God is gonna move in our church in this season and really believe that God wants to do something special in your life

Channel: Elevation Church

Views: 170,774

Keywords: elevation church, christine caine, elevation church christine caine, elevation church gamechanger, christine caine gamechanger, the exchange zone christine caine, elevation church the exchange zone, the exchange zone, gamechanger, sermons 2018, elevation church sermons 2018, christine caine 2018, christine caine sermons, church

Id: CH-kuotsD24

Length: 42min 42sec (2562 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 17 2018