I Know The Way | Holly Furtick | Elevation Church

Well we bring you greetings today you know it's weird I can't see you I can't see your face but I can see you in the chat and I just want to welcome a few of you let me know where you're watching from today this ministry is reaching all over the world today we pray that wherever you are that this this time of worship will reach you so right now I'm looking on my YouTube feed and I'm looking to see who you are and where you're from so that way we can just have one big choir today I see Donna from Harrison Arkansas it's good to see you Donna I see Chris Chris Christian from London I see patty from Ballentine this is the building I'm in Ballentine let me tell you something patty it looks really different here today it looks like the rapture happened and we missed it today I'm telling you is it's just really something to get used to I wish we'd all been ready Chris did the rapture happening we missed it well God's presence is still in the place wherever you're watching from whether that's Pittsburgh Pennsylvania ICU Jakarta Indonesia Wow Vermont is joining us today you don't see Vermont in the chat a lot I just wanna I want to put out a campaign for a Vermont succumbs to coming a little stronger next week all right on Easter hey we're having Easter next weekend did you hear that the resurrection wasn't canceled say that again pastor verdict the resurrection will be televised thank you Lord the resurrection has not been canceled I might use that for the title of my sermon for for Easter the resurrection has not been canceled put it in the chat if you know that's true God is still raising up the dead things in our life when we speak the name of Jesus and believe in faith miracles still happen miracles still happen bodies are still being healed how does that song go bodies are still being raised bodies are still being the resurrection has not been cancelled amen we can't go into that again Brenna's start speaking in tongues and all the Baptist people log off the stream so we can't do it India is here in New York City is here praise the name of the Lord New Jersey is here that's right the resurrection has not been canceled I'm still here devil I'm still here from Kansas I'm still here from Romania I'm still here from Kingsville Texas the resurrection has not been canceled I see you so we're gonna see you next weekend for when we're not closing the sermon is about to happen in a minute but I'm gonna I'm gonna just put out a word that Easter this Easter is going to be magnificent and what we're gonna do we're gonna bring resurrection to your home we're gonna bring resurrection to your home resurrection power to your home and how many of you could use some resurrection power right now just even for your energy or your emotions or your patience or your or your checking account I mean to get personal God is so good and what we're really deciding in this season I was telling the church a few weeks ago I gathered some of our leaders online these are people who serve and give and make such a difference and I was showing them that because they continue to honor God especially in the area of finances this ministry is positioned for a miracle position for a miracle and a lot of times I think when we say a miracle we're thinking about the miracle that we want to see but what about the miracle that we need to be that's important right now that's important so if you've been following we've been trying to show you as a church family I'm like stuck on this one camera let me give this camera some love yeah I feel like I'm really really like this these other two cameras are probably feeling really left out hello other camera so I was sharing with them how when we trust God we crown him as king by the decisions that we make and so this is the season of our lives my life your life Chet's life Holly's life where we decide is Jesus King and not like a Burger King you know Burger King is like have it your way Burger King is the Jesus who was feeding the 5,000 and then it when it when he said eat my flesh and drink my blood I am the bread of life then many followed him no more and they decided they didn't want that kind of King and that's kind of what happened leading up to Easter week we call this Palm Sunday all around the world and it represents the triumphant entry we call it when Jesus came into Jerusalem but he was riding on a donkey which is such a crazy transportation means for a king it's a prophecy in zechariah 9:9 it said that your king will come but he's gonna be riding on a donkey or a Colt and so when he came into Jerusalem they were like Hosanna Hosanna you know which means save now help us and and they they threw their cloaks on the road for their king but you know by the time he got to the cross on Friday they they had kind of decided maybe that they didn't want this kind of King maybe they wanted the kind of king that always met their expectations that liberated them from everything oppressive but the way into his kingdom was through suffering and sometimes we don't like to think about that but it doesn't make it any less true and in a time like this where there is so much suffering and so much uncertainty and so much confusion and so much despair and I'm not talking about what's going on in the world I'm from what what's going on in my heart and your heart and we're praying for those who are on the front lines and those who are putting their own bodies and lives at risk to help us through this time and we're praying for them but we also have to make a decision who's on the throne in our hearts and what I thought was so cool chunks I I copied the text that you showed me from I'm not gonna say his name but one of our one of our og elevators original glory fires that's what LG stands for in this pulpit he has been in the church for I want to say a decade or more he's not some fly-by-night click online oh I'm gonna check out five different churches on YouTube and see which one I like ah he's saying something I don't like imma skip that one he's not that kind of church member he's in it all the way and so I copied this let me find it real quick what he texted to to his campus pastor listen to this is such a great message for us as a church as we are positioned to be a miracle as we are positioned to reach people during this time he was sharing after our leadership event he said I'm so thankful for this message he said I have gotten caught up into doing what I say I will never do and that is listened to a lot of news and opinions that are negative that draw you into dark places funny how addicting it is and once you start it's hard to quit like eating carbs it's so cool to see how we at elevation have been able to help other churches and even increase our outreach and grow in a time everyone else is shrinking it made me very excited to know we have been a part of this somebody put it in the chat on position for a miracle and then he goes on to say I have questioned my giving decisions at times who wouldn't you know the the first thing that you want to do when things are unstable is tried to hold on tighter and so he says I have invested a whole lot into elevation I started to think it wasn't very prudent but I realized now I have a diverse giving portfolio I like that he's watching the Dow Jones go down but he's watching the kingdom of God moved forward he said I have a diverse giving portfolio heavily loaded with growth stocks and then he spells it out in case in case we're slow I mean elevation and not so much in investments on this earth last night he said seeing what the church has done up lifted my spirits knowing that I had zero Rhett's in my giving it's truly a high-growth high-yield investment with the great e are our eternal rate of return I just made that up he says in parentheses now listen to this this is what I want to say to you cash is king is the mantra right now in business it is the oxygen to get you through this on certain time delay payables stay on top of receivables and liquidate slow moving inventory get and keep cash the next 90 days will be extremely tough and many won't survive we know if we can survive we will thrive on the other in he says I believed and have focused on cash is king and it hit me I was being a heretic Christ is king Christ is kid right here on the verge of Easter Sunday we declare Christ is king that's what you ought to type right now in the chat Christ is king and my rock and where my refuge is yes cash is extremely important and we will focus on cash flow management but there can only be one king he hasn't failed me yet and we especially need to remember that now he said I should write a song about that a crazy thought hit me and this really blessed me because you know we sing songs to God but where our treasure is that's where our heart is so listen what he said a crazy thought hit me what if I give a big check now in a time of uncertainty and everyone and everything is saying that would be stupid in a time when we were losing money and should reduce or eliminate giving what if I wrote the single largest check that I've ever written to the church and then he asked how much is that because he didn't have the record and then he did it and I just think that's awesome because the man who sent that text is watching right now and because of you and your faithfulness to Jesus Christ were positioned for a miracle because you crown Christ as king not just with your lips Hosanna Hosanna Hosanna but with your life and I want to thank God for the thousands of you who do that you pray you give you serve and we're not stopping Christ is king if you believe it put it in the chat and don't just put it in the chat tell your checkbook come on tell your you got to tell your emotions Christ this camp and everything that comes against him must bow in the name of Jesus if you believe it give me about a 19 20 second praise break right now just to declare Christ this game price this game price this game come on you don't have to be Kanye to know Jesus Christ is king of kings we crown him King so thank you thank you for your continued generosity positioning us we've reached record numbers of people during this time and we're gonna keep on reaching so join me this Friday remember 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time with the rebroadcast at 10:00 Eastern Time and you can do the math on your time zone we're gonna be having a special Good Friday time of communion prayer and worship with me and Holly and our team and then on Easter Sunday we're going to add a special extra service for 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time we're just gonna have Church all day we're gonna have Church for until Jesus comes back again if you didn't already come and we missed it we're gonna keep being here showing up Jesus Christ is king of kings and Lord of lords I'm excited about it are you excited about the world of God thank you Jesus well I'm bringing out the secret weapon today Holley verdict is preaching the Word of God everybody say hey Holly come on say it in the chat so she can see you say it from Wales and where else from welcome her from all over the world this is my wife this is the love of my life this is my partner this is my that somebody said that that Holly was their favorite Furtick and they were like no offense but Holly's my favorite Furtick I was like hey man I'm the president of the fan club I am the president of your fan club you live what you teach you're a better woman than even you are a minister but today as you look into that camera and welcome the world into the presence of God I pray that God would use you thank you life to bring comfort healing hope and perspective to each and every one of us God thank you for your servant for this woman of God bless it as she who comes in the name of the Lord in Jesus name Amen come on receive Holly not with a kiss but just tell her hello babe did you just get choked up while you were praying for me I think he did I really think he did that that touches me um I just want to say welcome to everyone who's joining us this morning happy Palm Sunday my kids have been doing online school as I know many of yours are too and my kids actually have daily check-ins where their teachers take role and they type in the chat here so I thought I could take role this morning I used to be a teacher so let me know if you're here where you're watching from give me some love maybe tell me who's watching with you I have my daughter Abby here this morning she's sitting with her dad in my very small tearing section and um you know speaking of Abby's dad who got choked up praying for me there is no way to begin to describe the gifting and the anointing that is on my husband's life it can truly only be experienced and he has helped us through so many tough seasons and this one is no exception I wish you could see the way he is leading our staff our teams our church we are on the move and we have a general who is leading the charge and I don't know if you're grateful for him but I'm grateful for him so what you type in the chat we love you Pastor Steven because messages have just been as always they inspire me and they encourage me and they challenge me and they're relevant all at the same time and I really don't know how he does it and also I want to say I am so proud of our church I know that my husband just read that amazing text message and we have gotten to see every week how our church is giving back to our communities all around and I just want to encourage you and invite you to be involved in our church more now more than ever our campus pastors at all of our campuses are Sam they are available they're praying for people get involved on your campus Facebook page God is moving and God is working and he is ministering to us during this time and our step I am so proud of our staff from eat kids to outreach to all of our pastoral staff so I just want to encourage you don't drawback during this time move forward get more involved and allow us to to speak over you and encourage you and pray for you and and and retweet I'm not even on Twitter I don't know why I'm saying retweet but but share the things that are going on with our church and invite your friends to join in what's going on I feel like people are thirstier than ever right now and they're more open because I mean in reality their home and their board and so it's this message and these the messages of this church are speaking to you share it personally share it text someone and say this really helped me I think that you'll like it there's so much content coming out of our church right now and I am so proud of to be a part of this movement and to to be included among the generous people of Elevation Church it's just such an amazing time to be to be a part of the family of God so okay I am really excited to get to speak to you this morning because God has been speaking so much to me over the past few weeks and I I truly I'm bursting I cannot wait to share it with you I believe that you are going to be blessed by this today so would you do me a favor and wherever you are just turn your hands up in a posture of receiving and I'm gonna pray for us so Lord we join our hearts together we join our faith together all across this world from people who are in their living rooms in their bedrooms in their kitchens in their workplaces God we join our faith together and we collectively ask that you would speak to us our hands are open as a symbol that we want to receive a word from you today would you speak to us God we you are listening it's in Jesus name I pray amen all right so several weeks ago back when our children went to this place called school my husband and I decided to go on a hike on his day off and here in Charlotte you can drive about an hour to find a decent hike so this particular day I did a little bit of research and I decided that we were gonna go to moral Mountain State Park and I looked on the park website because I wanted to find the most challenging hike and so I decided that we were gonna hike Sugarloaf trail now I don't know if you've ever tried to hike the state park trails I don't even know if the state parks in other states are different than the ones here in North Carolina but I personally have found in my limited experience that the maps make everything look so easy on paper Sugarloaf trail is the orange triangles all you have to do is follow the orange triangles but it's a totally different story when you actually get on the trail because the trails overlap and it can be tricky to stay on the one that you want you would think follow the orange triangles is easy but it's just not not for us so almost every time that we go hiking which really isn't that much we start on one trail and then we finish on another and it usually isn't that big of a deal as long as you end up at your car right I mean look the the FIR DEQ's we aren't the most skilled when it comes to hiking we're a little bit better at Netflix but sometimes we have to force ourselves to go outdoors and when we do we don't regret it so anyway this particular time I am determined that we are going to stay on sugarloaf trail because I wanted to count as my exercise for the day and the park information said Sugarloaf has the best incline it actually described it as strenuous but don't get excited if you live in Colorado don't picture free solo this is the foothills of North Carolina okay so I told Stephen because maybe I should back up and explain to you that my husband doesn't have a very good sense of direction I hope he doesn't get mad at me her tell you this but this very morning this very morning he told me that he got lost coming to Valentine from our house and he says he just misses her the thing is he had so much on his mind he's just so brilliant and so creative that he can't pay attention to the turn so when anyway that's not the point when we go on a hike I'm in charge of where to go and so I said to him I was like this is gonna be the problem is I don't have the greatest sense of it's not my sense of direction it's more of my ability to stay on track and pay attention but I'm in charge and so I said this is gonna be so easy all we have to do is follow the orange triangles so everything starts off great we're walking at a nice pace and we're talking without being interrupted I think we are even holding hands at one point and the trail is so peaceful and we even walk through this really cool tunnel of like baby pine trees that were growing up I think I have a picture there we are aren't we cute don't we look like we're enjoying the great outdoors so we're weaving our way down the trail and just like I expected we start getting blue squares and white circles along with our orange triangles and I get to talking and like I always do and I realize at one point I haven't seen an orange triangle in a little while and so I keep talking and acting like everything's okay and we continue on and I keep thinking the orange triangles are gonna reappear but they don't it doesn't feel right because what the trail is getting easier and I started saw a picnic table so I remembered okay a while back we passed a split in the trail so I think we need to double back and take the other path and I can start to feel Pastor Steven tents up because he does not like to be lost he doesn't want to be lost in a car he doesn't want to be lost walking in a city and he certainly does not want to be lost hiking in the woods remember we're Netflix people so some of you might be thinking what's the big deal me being last is an adventure not to him so we're on the second path and we come to this tunnel of baby pine trees and I realize that now we're walking back to our car and so I say okay I think we need to turn around again and Stephen looks at me I swear he looks at me and he says Holly I'm not going to be lost much longer and I said don't worry I know exactly where we are now I know the way I totally arrived thankfully when we circle back one more time I finally spotted the little orange triangle on a tree off in the distance on a very small trail and we were back on track we had a great day today I want to talk to you about what you should do when you feel like Pastor Steven and you're thinking I can't be lost for much longer so the title of my sermon is I know the way have you ever noticed that when you start to feel lost at first you coach yourself you say things like everything's fine orange triangles are gonna start to appear very soon you start telling yourself phrases I love idioms I always misuse them but I I just love them so you know I'll start telling myself phrases like things are off to a rocky start or it's just a bump in the road and I just need to stay the path and then maybe you progressed to the phase of questioning your decisions I thought this was what I was supposed to do I thought I was supposed to take this new job I I felt like the Lord was leading us here but now I'm not so sure maybe I maybe I heard wrong maybe I I did the wrong thing and then the next phase for me is disappointment and I start to tell myself things like this is not how I thought this hike would be I thought we would just hold hands and stay on the trail and climb to the top thing see the beautiful view but here I am circling frustrated lost and then I start to worry because I realized that I can't continue to live in this place this feeling of being lost I can't be here much longer I can't keep acting like everything's okay I can't keep pretending like I know the way to go I thought that God was leading me here but now I'm not so sure and now I can't hear him and I can't feel him and I don't know the way anymore and then I tell God I I God I just I don't know how much longer I can last today I want to look with you at Psalm 77 because this passage of Scripture has kind of loud this passage of Scripture is about a man who has lost his way and he can't feel God anymore and I feel like he has so much to teach us so I've got the verses coming up let's look at Psalm 77 verse 1 I thought I might try sitting for a while because you know I used to be a teacher and teachers they said Psalm 77 says I cried out to God for help I cried out to God to hear me when I was in distress I sought the Lord at night I stretched out untiring hands and I would not be comforted the man is having trouble sleeping he he's in distress and his mind won't let him rest and I have had so many conversations with friends lately telling me that they're having trouble sleeping we're all worried what's keeping you up at night might not be the same thing that's keeping me up I'll just tell you what's keeping me up I'm just gonna be honest and have a little honest moment here I keep worrying that I have the virus and to the point where about a week ago I had a really bad allergy attack and I woke up in the middle of the night coughing and I couldn't go back to sleep because I started making a case am I am I alone in this can somebody please tell me in the chat if this has happened to me I keep making the case that I'm in the early stages of the virus and I started thinking and laying awake night my eyes are wide open and I'm thinking of all the people that I've been in contact with and what if I exposed people you know I went to the grocery store what if I got some some persons sick and then I start worrying about what what about my family who will take care of my family if I get really sick and what if my kids get sick what if Pastor Steven gets sick and he can't preach to anyone anymore anybody help me out have you been there have you been awake at night worrying about your finances losing sleep because I'm afraid and the psalmist goes on to say I remembered you God I groaned I meditated he's trying to do all the right things but my spirit grew faint you kept my eyes from closing I was too troubled to speak I thought about the former days the years of long ago I remembered my songs in the night nighttime questions they're so dark they built they keep you on this loop that takes you nowhere and you can't get your mind settled and you can't get rest he says my heart meditated he's trying to get a hold of himself but then he starts asking crazy questions listen to this he says will the Lord reject forever will he never show his favor again has his unfailing love vanished forever has his promise failed for all time has God forgotten to be merciful to me has he in his anger withheld his compassion is God mad at me can you relate to this because I can when I get anxious I start to jump to these crazy conclusions and then I start to search for an answer for everything so I plan out these elaborate vinson Aereo's and then I find myself worried about problems that don't even exist what do you do when you find yourself in this place I want to share with you today some of the things that God has been showing me about how to break this cycle in my mind and the psalmist is about to show you don't you love the Bible I love the darkness and the humanity in this Psalm I love knowing that I'm not the only one who goes through periods where God feels far away he says God can you are you hearing my cry I am crying out to you so I want to show you what he does next but spoiler alert he's not gonna show us the way out we actually never know who even wrote this Psalm what he was going through or how he got out of it in the end he's going to show us how to shift our perspective perspective is everything because I found that my initial response to every situation in my life a hundred percent of the time is how does this affect me what if I get sick what about my canceled plans this is not the way I thought this would go and then after I do that I turn it on God just like the psalmist and I think I know why it's easier to blame God than to take responsibility from my own heart and my own attitude so it's easier for me to say God are you hearing me what about your promises God you must be angry with me but thankfully the psalmist doesn't stop there and we won't either do you remember my husband's sermon from a few weeks ago called there's a hole in your story if you miss that sermon you have to go back and watch it because he said this and and it's forever in my mind he said don't let doubt and self-centeredness cut you off in the middle of your story it's okay to feel the doubt it's okay to think about how you're being affected by this situation but realize that we are in the middle of the story right now and you can feel those feelings but you can't stop there you can't lose faith you can't keep circling in this loop of making up stories you have to get to the next part so if part 1 of this Psalm is my worries part two is his waist and verse 10 is the shift the shift from going from myself to my God look at this says then I thought to this I will appeal the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand watch this because he's about to go from what is to worship he's going to shift his focus from self what if God has forgotten me to the character and the nature of God he says I will remember the deeds of the Lord I will remember your miracles of long ago he's forcing himself to remember he says I will consider all of your works and meditate on all of your mighty deeds your ways God our holy what God is as great as our God he's reminding himself about who his God is you are the God who performs miracles you display your power among the people with your mighty arm you redeemed your people the descendants of Jacob and Joseph your Thunder was heard in the whirlwind your lightning lit up the world the earth trembled and quaked we serve a big God he says your paths led through the sea your way through the mighty waters though your footprints were not seen you led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron sometimes the only way forward is to circle back this is so beautiful to me what do you do when you're awake in the night instead of circling on all of those questions in all of those stories you stop and you remember how great and how powerful our God is he's a good God he's a miracle working God he's a deliverer he is the God who makes himself known to his people and his promises do Stan what has God done for you can you take a second and look back over your life because he's been there for you he's provided for you and what makes you think that he's going to stop now I don't know about you but this is not my first dark night the problem is when you're in the middle of the night it's hard to remember the things that you have come through for some reason it always feels like it's never been this bad before but if you can just force yourself to remember he was with me the last time he will be with me all the way through this one I love the part where he says your way was through the sea you're digging deep you've got to remember how God parted the Red Sea and he brought his people through on dry land what does the song say we just sing it you make seas into highways instead of worrying about what is coming you've got to use all of that energy all of that fear and reach annal it to recall the times where he was with you in the past the times where he made a way through for you I wish we could shout about all the times that he was with us I wish we could play popcorn we used to do that when I was a teenager in youth group and you would just shout out things and I wish you would shout out in the chat that when you were sick that He healed you in your body when you were going through a divorce he was with you all along the way when you lost your job he provided for you tell me the ways that God has been with you because I know that we serve a God who makes a way for us though his footprints were not seen at the time when I look back look at the verse again it says your path made a way through the mighty waters though your footprints were not seen even when you don't see it he's working and this psalm closes by telling us that he leads us like a flock I love all of the metaphors in the Bible that remind us about the Lord being our shepherd it's it's truly throughout the Bible but my favorite one and probably yours too is Psalm 23 the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside still waters he restores my soul he guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake what a comfort it is to know that our Shepherd is leaving his flock and he knows where the green pastures are he leads us to the water when we're thirsty he is with us every step of the way and when I think about God being our guide I think about a few years ago we got to go to Israel and of course we hired a guide cuz that's what you do when you go to Israel otherwise you would just roam around and wonder what things were our guide his name was Rea and it was Rea Scott job as our guide to take us around to all of the famous sites in the Bible that we could squeeze into our ten-day trip so of course you want to hit the Garden of Gethsemane and the tomb and Mount Carmel where Elijah called down the prophets and the Mount of Olives where Jesus fed the 5,000 the Jordan River in the upper room and we wanted to see all of these sites we had a list of the things we wanted to do but while we were driving from place to place our guide were a microphone and he was constantly pointing things out to us along the way from within the bus he would say this is an olive grove look out to the left this is an olive grove and then he would teach us and he would say olive trees are stable enough to live thousands of years through droughts and through storms and and the oil that comes from olives is what represents the Holy Spirit and he would just teach us all along the way I remember one particular day we were on our way to the Sea of Galilee and he pulled the bus over to the side of the road he said we got out here I'm telling you we were we were literally on the side of the road the highway with cars going past and we walked up this rocky hill and he said I want to show you this is a cistern this is what a cistern looks like a cistern is where Joseph's brothers threw him when they were about to throw throat what do they sell him into slavery and then he began to teach us about shepherds and he told us he said the Shepherd's would live just outside of town right here you see how you can see the town off in the distance and he'd say they would live right here and they would while the sheep were having babies and the lambs were young they would stay just outside of the city so that the Sheep could drink from these cisterns but as soon as the lambs were old enough to travel they would go up to two hours away from the city and lead the sheep to graze in greener pastures near the springs the things that he showed us along the way we're as memorable to me as the famous sites that we had come to see and I think about if I had gotten on the bus each day and put my headphones in and taken a nap and gone to the destination I would have missed out on so much of the experience of seeing and taking in everything around me and and it has opened up my eyes to when I when I read a passage like he guides he guides us in paths of righteousness for his name's sake I can picture the Shepherd's leading their sheep to the greener grass God is your guide and he is revealing himself to you all along the way every day he's trying to show you this is my grace here's my joy and sometimes I think that I miss what's right in front of me because I'm worried about what's down the road he guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake it goes on to say even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me it comforts me to know that as we walk through Valley the shadow of death my shepherd is with me the whole way and by the way it's not death it's just a shadow and as you walk through the valley just make sure to keep going and when you're up at night and the shadows are so scary if you can shift your focus you'll find that the Shepherd your Shepherd is right there leading you through he's your guide he's not your over driver your rod and your staff they comfort me you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies and this is my favorite verse in Psalm 23 it says you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows couple years ago I came across this book it's called a shepherd looks at Psalm 23 it's by a man named Philip Keller who was an actual Shepherd and in this book he takes you through verse by verse explaining the psalm from a Shepherds perspective isn't it amazing how God can take a passage of Scripture that's so familiar like Psalm 23 I memorized it when I was a little girl in kindergarten I have a very vivid memory of my kindergarten teacher having our class recited but then he can use that same passage of Scripture and bring you comfort throughout your life if you'll just go back to sometimes when I am in a season of feeling lost I go back to the passages of scripture where God has already spoken to me before and God used this book in my life a couple years ago to just make this passage come alive and and a couple of weeks ago right before everything started shutting down God just brought Psalm 23 he led me back to this passage of Scripture and I pulled out this book and I went to my favorite chapter and it's the chapter on this verse he anoints my head with oil and he talks about nose flies now I know that you did not turn on Church today to hear about nose flies but I have to tell you about this and I promise you it's going to help you so so I'm sorry it's a little bit gross but just stick with me nose flies attack sheep in the summer time and what happens is they'll land on the sheep's moist nose and sometimes they'll crawl inside and lay eggs in the sheep's nose cavity and let me just read to you from the book it says this their attacks the Flies on animals can readily turn the golden months of summer time into a time of torture for the sheep and drive them to almost distraction for this for release from this agonizing annoyance he tells us that the sheep will deliberately beat their heads against trees and rocks and posts or brush and then he goes on to say because of all of this when the nose flies hover around the flock some of the sheep will become frantic with fear and panted and panic in their attempt to escape their tormentors some may run so much that they drop from sheer exhaustion and on some occasions they may refuse to graze in the open at all and when I pulled this out and I read this I was like this is me right now I'm afraid of the flies that have not even landed on me yet and I'm running around getting groceries stalking my pantry and my freezer like the world is over watching the news and the numbers and making up scenarios and unable to rest unable to graze exhausted with worry irritated with my kids but listen to this at the first sign of the flies among the flock he will apply an antidote of oil to their heads once the oil has been applied to the sheep's head there was an immediate change in behavior gone was the aggravation gone the frenzy gone the irritability and the restlessness instead the sheep would start to feed quietly again and then soon lie down in peaceful contentment he anoints my head with oil he anoints your head with oil so maybe sitting down and tuning in and watching Church today may have been that breath of fresh air that you needed a time for you to recenter your focus but one hour a week is not enough oil the book says that the Sheep has to have the oil applied regularly to protect them from the Flies throughout the summer and so do you he anoints my head with oil my cup overflows my cup cannot overflow if my head is not first anointed so when I feel myself getting irritated with everyone around me when I feel the frenzy and the fear creeping in when I start spiraling into my what-if scenarios I need a fresh anointing for me this could come in several different ways it might mean that I turn the TV off and turn on a sermon or I turn on some worship music it might mean that I get off of Instagram and I open up my Bible app and I don't just open it up randomly and try to find a random passage of Scripture but I select a Bible study plan and a passage of Scripture that I can read through and that every time I pick up my Bible and I pick up my phone I know where I'm going in the scripture it may mean that in the morning when I wake up that I listen to a scripture reading rather than checking the number of confirmed cases that happened overnight sometimes for me it's just a moment alone when I when I feel myself becoming overwhelmed and I feel myself getting getting irritated with everyone around me I just take a step back and I take a moment and I take a couple of deep breaths and I say a prayer for help and as I'm breathing I just inhale God's grace and then I exhale a prayer of gratitude God thank you that you are with me in this moment God helped me it's a cry for help as leavers in Jesus we have access to the Holy Spirit who stands by ready to give us exactly what we need moment by moment but he will not compete he will not compete with CNN and Netflix and Facebook he anoints my head with oil my cup overflows there in that order for a reason you can't overflow and out those around you until you are first anointed with oil I know you don't know the way I know some days that you're faking it I know right now that we are all taking this day by day sometimes minute by minute don't wear a mask wear a mask it's a scary time when our entire world is collectively facing an obstacle where we cannot see a way through and we have no idea how much longer it's going to last but you know what we do have we have God's Word and it is a lamp unto our feet and it is a light unto our paths when we're lost it is our light and if you will meditate on the words in this book God will speak to you and he will calm your heart I want to close with Jesus's words to his disciples because I believe Jesus has something that he wants to say to us today these are God's words for us during our time together this is John 14 and Jesus is talking to his disciples and he says do not let your hearts be troubled that's a word for me today don't let your hearts be troubled he says you believe in God believe also in me my father's house has many rooms is that we're not so what I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am you know the place where I am going and then Tom speaks up bless his heart thank you thomas for asking what everybody is thinking don't you love the person who asks a question that everybody's thinking so thomas says lord we don't know where you were going so how can we know the way and jesus answered to him I love Jesus's answer to him jesus said I am the way the truth and the life I don't ask to know the way because I know the way he is the one who was with you in the past he's the one who is with you on this journey right now in this moment today and like I said he stands by with the oil that you need for each moment and we can find comfort that he has gone before us into our future to prepare a place for us what if what God is doing for you in this time is giving you an opportunity for you to know him deeper for you to truly know him as your Prince of Peace for you to come out on the other side of this trial knowing Emmanuel God with us Thomas was completely missing the point just like we all do he was like Lord we all know the way he was concerned about the destination he was concerned about the end and Jesus is saying you don't need to know the end because you know me I am the way I am with you right here right now in this very moment you're not lost you may feel lost but you know the way so tonight when you wake up worried just whisper to yourself I know the way tomorrow when you're tired of being alone in your house day after day after day maybe you only have your pets to keep you company you say this out loud I am NOT alone I know the way mom's when you're wondering how you're going to make it to bedtime take a breath inhale inhale God's peace exhale I know the way if you're tired of feeling lost if you're tired of just I can't feel this way much longer just remember you know the way I know the way what a word Wow I just got home and uh I just wanted to record a video and just pray with you I thought what Holly said today was so personal and so powerful and so appropriate for the season that we're in that many of us just feel confused and maybe even aimless restless but we know the way the way the truth and the life that's what Jesus called himself so right now let me just agree with you in prayer God would you lead us like the shepherd that you are each moment of the days ahead and help us to hear your still small voice as you call us to green pastures of your presence I pray for my brother or my sister whatever their need is today I know you're able to meet it according to your glorious riches in Christ thank you that your wisdom and your peace are ours in abundance in Jesus name amen thank you so much for your love for your support those of you who give to support this ministry just so we can keep the gospel coming to people so we can keep telling them about who Jesus is and what God is able to do Holly and I love you our elevation Church family we're standing strong we're here for you don't forget to subscribe let us know how we can be praying for you see you real soon okay love you god bless

Channel: Elevation Church

Views: 321,344

Rating: 4.9334764 out of 5

Keywords: elevation church, pastor steven furtick, furtick steven, elevation church sermons, 2020 sermons, holly furtick, elevation church holly, holly furtick sermons, i know the way, i know the way holly furtick, i know the way holly furtick elevation church, female preachers, holly furtick 2020 sermons, steven furtick, holly furtick 2020

Id: BviBZyzNd7U

Length: 53min 21sec (3201 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 05 2020