ECOS SUNDAY | LOOK AGAIN

good morning so glad to have you here this morning as we continue in our again series yes and it's discussion this week it is with pastor josiah pastor tim yeah pastor tim gets to sit down with one of his favorites and discuss the topic of elijah yes um about looking again right don't give it up you're right you're right yeah um but it's on the look again topic right you know this topic really encourages us to just look again and continue to look because sometimes god you know we think we're ready but we're not so god won't have us see what he wants us to see because we're not ready for it um but this continues now this just helps you um and encourages you to continue to look for that one yes exactly and look we are heading into service right now we're heading into worship i cannot wait for this entire experience we'll see you in there eco spam oh shout out our ecos everywhere new york fam connecticut new jersey all in places we love you guys [Music] so glad to be with you this morning come on let's put our hands together how many know that we serve a god who breaks in and breaks through in your circumstance in your life today's a good sunday to be in the house come on put our hands together [Music] i could is stand against your mind you've always been with us [Music] there is [Music] always been with us [Music] [Applause] is [Music] come is we say there is a kingdom there is the kingdom is show me [Music] is [Music] and break every chaser is is is there's nothing possible do you believe it this morning there is nothing impossible for our god he is the god of the breakthrough come [Music] on i have expectations because i know my father author of salvation he always [Music] is he always provides because he says what he means there's nothing in between in my heart i believe every word that he speaks [Music] is [Applause] [Music] rain came together he says what he means what is means there's nothing in between [Music] we're hanging on to every word that you speak come on i wonder if there's anybody hanging on to every word every promise that he's declared over your life that you are the head and not the tale you are above and not beneath you are blessed in this city you are blessed in the field come on listen this [Music] every word i'm gonna [Music] i will believe it i will be [Music] if is i will be what he means is [Applause] is good oh jesus come on right there where i just lift your voice lift your voice in adoration only lift our voice in adoration to the faithful one [Music] when i think back of your faithfulness when i think over my life this short 26 [Music] years [Music] never one day have you left [Music] holy spirit you've always been near at the lowest point in my life yet you love me you've seen me love unconditional love when i didn't know my mother would make it in the hospital god you made it away when my brother was sick with pancreatic cancer [Music] when i was seven years old it's your faithful head it's [Music] the bible says it's his kindness that leads us to repentance [Music] if you feel far from god this morning would you just lift your hand lift your heart towards heaven in a posture that says god i messed up god i didn't always do right but i know that your faithfulness will lead me back home god [Music] you will always provide a way for me god to make it back to you lord thank you jesus [Music] it's your steady hand it's your faithfulness you always come on every hand lifted right now father we thank you for your faithfulness so you always you always that yours is so sweet to trust in jesus just to take in my peace [Music] lord [Music] is [Music] is oh jesus [Music] [Music] oh jesus jesus [Music] this is a part of the service where you get to partner with us in a real specific and direct way you get to continue in worship we get to do this as a family in a unique way it's through our giving i want to say thank you we want to say thank you for those of you who have have personally decided to partner with us month after month you are making a huge difference there's no we have no one backing us there's not a conglomerate that is funding us we were not planted from another church we heard the voice of the lord and we said yes to god and god has been faithful and i want to tell you how much your giving and faithfulness and giving has meant to us this year we've been able to help women that have been um in homes to have food to eat because of what you've given you've helped us to go and partner with significant food hubs to help them be fed and their children be fed to not worry about where their next meal is going to come from we want to say thank you this year we also had a ahead of us a strategic partnering with a ministry called rescue a generation with a dear friend of ours jose rodriguez we believe in him they go into high schools and middle schools and carry the message of hope to to teenagers that are on the verge of making poor decisions or maybe have we are partnering with local and global entities to help bring christ in very real ways to people's lives so sometimes you hear digital you hear online and it goes into this vortex of just like this ethereal world we want you to know we have real people with real needs making real impacts we're a real family trusting god in real faith just like you and we want to say thank you for partnering with us because it matters i want to say draw your attention really quickly to the word of the lord psalm 41 and ask the lord how do you want me to what do you want me to share with your people regarding this offering and he let me actually right here psalm 41 it says god always blesses those who are kind to the poor and helpless they're the first ones god helps when they find themselves in any trouble the lord will preserve and protect them they'll be honored they'll be honored and esteemed while their enemies are defeated when they are sick god will restore them lying upon their bed of suffering he will raise them up again and restore back restore them back to health now i know many will say god doesn't have any favorites he may not have any favorites but he does honor and look at our actions i mean the scripture is very clear blessed are those who help the poor and the helpless that's what we've endeavored who are kind and help the poor and the helpless that's what we've been endeavored to do this year and with your help we've been able to do it and guess what every time you sow a seed and you partner with us in faith you're a part of that inheritance that god will be gracious and kind to you it's not like we're paying for miracles and paying for blessings he's a good father so he's going to bless us and take care of us and yet the scripture is clear to say that he will remember those when you in your day of trouble i don't know about you but i've hit some days of trouble when i needed god to remember the sacrifices that we made for his kingdom so i want to thank you we want to thank you for partnering with us but i also want to challenge you if you've been on the edge about i don't know what to do right now what a season to say you know what yeah let's do it together yeah that's partner let's get off the fence let's lock in let's tithe let's give offerings let's be consistent let's be faithful because guess what god didn't question whether he'd wake us up in the morning that's true god didn't question whether he'd be good to us this season god didn't question whether he keep us through a pandemic so let's not question whether we're going to give to his church let's do it to his work to his ministry let's do it with boldness and confidence ecos everywhere you know what we do we tithe generosity is about and we give our offering generosity is one of our core values and if you're a member you know we give and are tithed in our offering and if you are equals everywhere remember thank you for being faithful and partnering with us let's pray father we thank you right now for every member that is sowing consistently that they're tithed in their offering thank you jesus for your promises and your word that on the day in the day of trouble or affliction you will remember those who've been kind thank you that you've enabled us to help others who have been poor and helpless in this season thank you for the privilege to partner with your agenda on earth god we don't take it lightly i thank you father there's no entity like your body to partner with thank you for all the other things that are going on in the world that help the needy but there's no there's no entity like your body and thank you for the privilege we have to partner with your body with you in bringing about the kingdom of god we pray you bless both the gift and the giver in this time of giving they'd be overflowing with your goodness with intentionality and your purpose we declare the blessing of the lord over them in favor in jesus name amen good morning hey hey let's go i know this is all new it's all different we don't usually come to you in this way and do you know this guy by the way yeah i know this guy they know you i've been here since coving come on fax for sure covet hit and i was like what you doing huh winning on these streets in the middle of the night you available yeah sure you ready to track when about 35 minutes he lives an hour away uh this is josiah i love him so much he's did our family in our life and like you know we've mentioned if you've been rocking with us for any period of time then you know uh how much we love him and just his place here he's at home but a couple of weeks ago come on he uh shared a powerful teaching and he is the newest addition to ecos everywhere everywhere squad eco is everywhere shout out if wherever you're at just put wherever you're at put it in the comments that's right it's an honor to be here and go ring round two come on we talked about hope again hope again we're talking about look again come on look again look again this again series uh as we've been kind of reiterating throughout the the series was really birthed as i felt the father challenge us as believers to really begin to challenge you all to re-dig the places where you had the word of the lord and maybe you tried but didn't go how you thought it should have gone or would have gone and maybe you lost hope or got discouraged or maybe you just got burned out yeah but i felt the lord say go back and dig in those places and what you'd find is new grace for fresh assignment that actually we mentioned this before is attached to god's original intent good god we've been saying as a series principle god wants to do something new with regarding an original intent yeah so god has an original intent he wants to do something new in you regarding his original intention so we say that meaning that they're going to be some things that he awakens in you that you're going to say man this feels so familiar yeah but it's a new season it's a new place it's a new space god wants to awaken something in you that's divinely connected to the original intent that's very important in this series because we're not just doing everything all over again yeah some stuff was one and done never want to do that ever again but there are some things that are that are distinctly connected to god's original intention for our lives that we want to we want to capture those things and be fruitful in those areas all right so look again look again coming from the book of first kings initially okay so i want you to grab your bible are you ready for the word give me the word hey give me the word put it in the comments give me the word we say it because man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of our father the scripture is clear to tell us that the soil matters he's the incorruptible seed of the word of god but the soil can make a difference on the outcome all right so turn to first kings the 18th chapter the 41st verse and for those of you that are you're not usually like into the whole discussion teaching vibe you kind of want somebody to preach to you just hang with this philadelphia okay because the word is the word yeah and i really believe that this is going to help you think about maybe the scripture in a different perspective a different kind of way okay so i'm going to read the scripture first kings 18 41 beginning at the 41st verse going through the 45th verse then eli just said to ahab go tell go get something to eat and drink for i hear mighty rain storm coming so ahab went to eat and drink i'm reading from the nlt which is highly un unlike i usually do i think i've been in the new king james or king james version so ahab went to eat and drink but elijah climbed the top of mount carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees then he said to his servants go and look out toward the sea the servant went and looked then returned to elijah and said i didn't see anything seven times elijah told him to go and look finally the seventh time his servant told him i saw a little cloud about the size of a man's hand rising from the sea then elijah shouted hurry to ahab and tell him climb into your chariot and go back home if you don't hurry the rain will stop you i'll stop right there 44. familiar passage of scripture yeah one we've heard so many times we know that elijah has just done a mighty exploit in scripture he has called down fire there has been all kinds of manifestation of the glory of god and now he is calling an end to a drought yeah and he's prophesying that there's going to be rain yeah kind of reminds us of 2020 in many ways this whole drought situation this whole crazy year that we walk through and now the word of the lord is coming again to his people saying but pray for rain yeah and so and that the father would send the ring and so he the scripture says that he puts his head between his knees and the implication here of course is that he's praying that there would be rain but his servant goes out and his servant comes back and says no rain and ultimately no sign of rain right what do you do when there's no rain and no sign of rain yeah i think it's such a relevant um question and passage because um i feel like for many of us uh 2020 took the wind out of our sails if if you're like me uh in 2019 end of 2019 there were some things that were spoken over my life words that were spoken into my life and i think 2020 the last season felt like um that it had nullified some of the stuff that had been spoken now that's like as as simple as i can put it you know but that's as real as i can put it as well because there were some things that in the moment when i heard that when i heard those things you know when a word hits your spirit and you don't you may not even understand it but it hits your spirit in a way that like starts to resonate with you starts to almost like there's a vibration you know that it's god and there were some things that i had been told and heard and felt from the lord and and walking into beyond 2020 seasons where you you know it was god and then you step into another season that deflates you and it can often disappointment i talked about this last week disappointment can lead to a place where what felt so sure now creates uh feels so uncertain and um and this passage kind of reminds me of that because there is a there is a uh a declaration there is a there's there is a knowing that rain is coming yeah and and yet when they go to when he goes and looks for rain there's no rain yeah and it you could probably identify with this like words that have been spoken over your life but when you go looking for the promise or seeing the fulfillment or you're walking inside of your time your time timeline and you show up and there's no rain yeah and that's the place sometimes where i feel like it's it's easy to become disappointed and it's easy to lose faith in that spot so what we're talking about today is what does it look like to steward a word that you've been given and to to contend for that word to continue to agree with heaven even when these circumstances the circumstances of this life don't agree with heaven right absolutely like elijah is clearly like a powerful prophet he just called fire down from heaven the credibility is there surely he's not lacking faith surely he's not a lacking authority surely he's not lacking anything to see this word come to pass but here's the thing the devil is never intimidated by your last victory if you don't know how to leverage it wow say it again the devil is never intimidated by your last victory if you don't know how to leverage it all it is is your last win that's all it is to him it's like in in a game like you see nba teams that have these like five game series right you could win game one the team you're playing doesn't care that you won game one if you don't know how to leverage that momentum into game two right and so otherwise it's just like okay you won game one but we got five but you we've got to know how to leverage the previous victory into this now fight and so he's got the word of the lord he saw fire fall from heaven and now he's declaring reign yeah and he's got a steward this servant now has to go and go look out and see what you see yeah and can you imagine the servant has to come back and tell elijah this problem bro i know you just called like fire down from heaven and all like everybody's dead but uh no rain like you know if that's just like did he whisper that did he slide him a note you know they send like a little silent text like no rain don't don't ask me don't ask me in front of everybody no rain and no sign of rain because some of you could deal with the fact that um things didn't crack in 2020 because you were like but on the horizon 2021 here everything's better right but now you're in 2021 and about a quarter of the way through it and some of you are saying no rain and no sign of rain right how many times how many times did he go back seven times seven times can you imagine seven times like seven times again and again again no rain no sign of rain what about now no rain no sign of rain no rain no sign there i wonder if there's any point in which elijah is starting to say like did i miss did i miss or like you know was the questions come when time with time comes often sometimes questions yeah you know it's like wait we especially in our generation it's like i thought you would have moved by now i thought this would have happened by now and with time comes these questions of you know so of course after the first time second time elijah's probably like no third time no but i'm wondering yeah if like after the fourth time he's like um what's going on here this is different yeah and and the lord is always so intentional with uh everything but specifically with numbers and and i don't think there's any coincidence there that is is on the seventh time and i think the word for for us today is um we know that that seventh time that seventh day uh it signifies a completed work it signifies a day of rest and here's what i here's what i have noticed in my life is that um when i when i hear the word of the lord my nature as a recovering control freak is often to try to make it happen right um and sometimes i feel the rest in that but as soon as the pressure comes and it's not happening in my timeline then i start to want to control things and and the way i control that either is to say that wasn't a good word is how i deal with my disappointment it wasn't a word it wasn't the right word right or i'm gonna take it into my own hands and try to manufacture and make this happen and so i don't think that there's any coincidence that it is on the seventh time that that there is the sign of rain yeah because the lord is always calling us into rest he's always calling us into that place of rest because i think it's where we see his glory manifested in that place of disappointment our coping mechanisms our christian coping mechanisms sometimes just say like i guess it it wasn't his will yeah right and that's how we start managing and controlling what we can't understand but there's a there's an invitation here and for you and the words that you've received over your life an invitation back into rest yeah and not to control it not to try to manufacture it and not to discard it yeah but to steward the word of god is to believe it and to sit in it in a place of rest and the thing is is that like i love that she first said that you have to accept it yeah as it were it sounds simple but there are some people who wrestle with accepting god's word because of the cost because of what it means for your life because of um the toll that that it could take on on you on your family like it's legit a it's a costly word some of you wrestle with the fact of like where where would this money come from to fund this like where would the opportunity come for this to happen where's the open space going to be for me to do whatever it is and sometimes that can make you kind of disqualify the word but here's the thing you can't contend for a word and not believe the word at the same time yeah like you've got to go all in like god when when the word of the lord came to mary she said be it unto me concerning jesus that's got to be the starting point for the word in your life you've got to you've got to lay hold of the word and say okay be it unto me so right now in this moment actually while you're sitting right there i want you to just settle the matter yeah what did god say settle the matter because some of you are trying to steward a word that you haven't come in agreement with but you've got to come in agreement with that word you've got to line up with that word and say be it unto me okay you called me to minister to the gospel okay you called me to pray for the sick okay you called me to release music you called me to go into the marketplace you called me to be in government whatever the word of the lord is over you've got to just surrender and accept that word first say be it unto me and then you can stew it from that place because here's what then happens seven times and on the seventh time elijah elijah's servant does not come back with us it's a hurricane i see i see hurricane lucy on the horizon right over that hill it's going to rain cats and dogs he comes back and he says there's a cloud the size of a man's hand there's a cloud and it's a small cloud there's a sign that something is turning but it's a small sign there's there's a little bit of breakthrough and some of you at the little bit of breakthrough have actually become disappointed that two you can view little breakthrough in two different perspectives and there's so there's some people that see the little bit of breakthrough and say you mean i went through all of that you mean i went through all of these years you mean i went back not one time not two times but seven times you mean i sacrificed that you mean i gave up that you mean i lived through that for a cloud the size of a man's hand i can see right now some of you have been in that space you mean i went through that divorce you mean he left me you mean i went through all that embarrassment and you promised me vindication and you don't hit me back with this little small bit of a sign like just you went through all of the drama time that's one way that's one perspective to st to see this small miracle this small breakthrough but then there's another perspective that says it ain't much yeah but it's something yeah and i think with the with the supernatural what i always find i heard somebody say this and it resonated with me specifically concerning the prophetic was you know the little kleenex boxes and you pull a kleenex out and as soon as you pull it one out another one shows up that's what i found it like it is with faith sometimes because i only have enough faith to pull on one kleenex box you know and being obedient to what god is saying as you even deliver a word all he says sometimes is that guy yeah and so your faith is to go and say hey man my name's josiah this might sound weird right and then there's another there's something else and so as the servant sees the the cloud just the size of a man's hand the stewardship is to grab on what we see and pull it out and as god has given you glimpses in your life and he's giving you clouds the size of a man's hand and stewardship of what he's doing now is to pull it and believe for another one he's faithful and and this is how our faith grows my my knowing now is that when i see a little i know that i can pull on it and there will always be more yeah and so what is god showing you now that you can pull on and trust for the next that's how we steward even the word stewardship is to manage something that is not mine yeah we use stewardship as like control like how are you controlling what god is doing in your life it's managing what is not yours and here's the implication of that when god has given you a word to steward what heaven has done it has sent something to you from heaven that is not yours for you to be able to partner with in that moment and to manage what is not yours so when god said it to you it was a gift yes it was it was an entrusting yes but it was also the desire of heaven it was also the desire of him that was heaven's intention man that's a breakthrough for somebody right now because like what you need to know is that the breakthrough that you're actually contending for is actually god's idea yeah so i know you think that it's yours right no no it was his idea he it was his idea for your healing it's his idea for your breakthrough it's his idea to provide like you don't have to convince god to be good and that's what you said just a moment ago it's like god is faithful well i'm assuming in some ways that you've already got that premise in your life but maybe you don't and so you've got to settle that matter the intention of the lord the nature of god is that he is faithful he is good when i'm settled on the nature of god then that allows me to look again i can go back again i can see again when i know his nature is settled he is good why would i look again because he's good because he said it and because he's faithful and if he's faithful and he said it and he's good then i should look again because his nature is saying that in spite of what i'm seeing right now there's something that's going to turn because his nature is faithful i want to just declare that right now i know this is a sermon title but here's the intention i i encourage you to look again yeah just go back open that journal again and look again yeah i think here's a reality for some of us i'm scared of disappointment yeah i'm scared to go back and look at it because what what if it still hasn't happened yes um and and this has been a transitional um season for me it's been a transitional time but very practically last uh last monday a week ago um i was just i was spending some time with the lord and i was like hey i don't feel like you've said as much as i want to hear you say about what's happening right now and i went back and i looked again so for me i uh when i get words i save them into evernote it's under prophetic words and it's got time on there it's got what the word was and what i felt when the word was and so i went back and i looked at it again and um it was a special time not just just because of looking at what he had already said but i i watched how god was bringing fresh revelation to what what he had said in the last season and this is this is the beauty of the lord is when he speaks he always speaks in multiple dimensions right our mind goes to like the most surface level thing and yet he can shoot one arrow and hit every target and so a word from the last season spoke to that season and it spoke to this season i was looking back again in a time of uncertainty and and i was actually almost worried to go back and look again because what if there's nothing there that can serve me in this season it was almost the fear of like being disappointed and yet when i when i opened it up again and i looked again i saw that god had been faithful to speak about my season of uncertainty right now when i didn't understand it then and when i thought i understood it then and i did it he was faithful to be speaking about this season so very practically um stewarding the word of god in your life is to go back and look again stewarding the word of god for words you haven't gotten yet is to write it down put a date on it and hang on to that thing um i heard somebody say the way that we steward a miracle is to believe for another one the way that you steward a miracle is not to say oh i'm so grateful thank you so much okay cool peace but it's to believe for something greater and so the things that god has spoken in your life that have come to pass and you've seen the fulfillment here's how you steward it believe again yeah just look again trust again believe that he's going to be faithful again to speak again and go back and look again yeah we're going to begin to wrap up here but i really want to pray for you yeah there's another portion of scripture too we didn't really dive into that you actually brought up in second kings second kings chapter six yeah yeah the king of aram is frustrated because he he finds out that that this army keeps getting information and he finds out that it's it's elisha that's been giving the information so he sends an army and surrounds elisha and elisha's servant is there and elisha's servant looks out the window and sees that there is a whole army that has surrounded them and i think it's a picture of fear and anxiety it's a picture of looking at this life in this dimension it's it's like a it's a singular perspective and it's very earthly and what elisha says is god opened his eyes to see and when he prays that prayer he sees that there is an army of god that's it's bigger that's surrounding this entire army and um and i think that there are times when the the anxiety of the present circumstance inhibits our ability to see heaven's intentions for our life it inhibits our ability to even see and believe the word that he's already spoken this is not it's not um it's not an unprecedented miracle he's seen the faithfulness of god he's seen the favor he's seen the consistency of the miraculous over the prophet elijah's life and yet in that moment fear worry concern the surrounded feeling the suffocated feeling put him in a place where he could no longer see the supernatural he could no longer see heaven's intentions for their life and heaven's surrounding moment heaven's heaven's choice to surround the thing that has surrounded you yeah heaven's intention to see better for you heaven's intention to create an army that is going before you heaven's intention to protect you in the midst of difficulty heaven's intention to come against everything that has come against you heaven's intention to be bigger than any present circumstance and the and the prayer in that moment was open his eyes to see what he can't see right now yeah and i want to pray that over uh over our family today um and then let's and then let's close god i pray right now that you would help us to see what we've missed yes that you would help us to look again this time with heavenly eyes to see your intention for our life yes heaven's intentions for our life the word of god that is is is so much bigger than our even present reality we agree with heaven yes yes over every single person watching i pray that that um the fear the anxiety even the concern to to look again would be lifted and faith would rise god open our eyes to see what we're missing open our eyes to look again look again i pray for that single mom to just look again that single dad to look again yeah god i pray for that young adult that is just feels like it's just become such a time of busyness and and his eyes have just shifted to what's in front of him always feeling just to step behind i pray that he would open his eyes to look again and to see what you're speaking what you've spoken a greater reality just a greater reality than that than the one we're living in right now not one that that puts at us at a distance from the things that we uh have to accomplish in this life that not not a thing that puts us at a distance from your will and the assignment and the the expansion of the kingdom and the things that we have the ability and opportunity to steward in this life nothing that makes us detached god but something that makes us more present yeah in a greater reality than the one we're seeing right now in jesus name in amen amen i know that this word has been implanted in your heart there's two things we want you to take away from so much of what we said in looking again you need persistence that's what we see in first kings 18 and you often need perspective so when you are beseeching the lord in your times of looking again hold those two things up before the lord and the father will give you grace for one of those things be persistent in this place son or daughter or he'll give you a greater perspective to see his plan in the midst of it all if you have not given your heart to jesus that's the starting point you need to have a love encounter with a wonderful savior you can't go through life you weren't designed we were not designed to go through this life without christ do you realize that humans were made to be in relationship with god so of course your life is going to feel out of kilter and off balance without a relationship with god here's your moment it's really simple i want you to repeat this prayer after me from your heart lord jesus i acknowledge that i'm a sinner and i need a savior i believe that you are the son of god that you died for my sins that you rose again on the third day be the lord of my life forever amen if you prayed that prayer or maybe you didn't say those exact words but the center of your sentiments of your heart are aligned with that christ is the lord of your life he wants to be the lord of your life for the rest of your days just continue to surrender to him and we'd love to go on a journey with you you can text the word live to the number on the screen and let's go on the journey together did you guys enjoy pastor josiah and the word of god it's time for you to look again god's got great things in store now if you are joining us for our 10 a.m pacific standard time experience then right now we are going to the power rooms it's our online altar ministry where we see breakthrough freedom and deliverance come right into your home and into your heart we'll see you there be blessed [Music] man that was such a good and powerful discussion yes it is so great because you've you get answers to things you didn't even know you had questions for right and like for me personally in a discussion format i guess i tend to understand it a little bit better right and then you also get two perspectives and you get obviously you got pastor josiah pastor tim you know some of the wisest men i've met um yeah and honestly like you never know what you're gonna get from them the death the revelation that's true um and you know we always want you guys to share these messages obviously with everybody yeah but i know i have friends and i know you have friends that like um when it's more of a discussion session yes when you have a backup so make sure you take this opportunity to send this to them so that they could watch it as well and they're they're definitely going to get something from it yeah and i think our instagram live we're going to have like a discussion base so you can ask your questions invite people to come along and we'll see you guys later bye ecos you

Channel: Ecos Church

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Length: 53min 5sec (3185 seconds)

Published: Sun May 02 2021