Too Close to Quit // Grit Don't Quit // Bianca Olthoff

so you've been coming for a while you know that I I was a lifeguard in fact I always say I am a lifeguard and I was a lifeguard for eight years and I my motto now is move over David Hasselhoff old Hoff is here okay you're welcome yes and it's funny God's got a fun sense of humor because I was a lifeguard as my very first job and now in a different season of life I feel like I am saving lives but through the word of God through the gospel so God's funny but one thing you might not know is that I was a swim instructor and then uh from a swim instructor I became a swim coach and I was actually uh courted by an Olympic Training team here in Southern California to coach six seven and eight-year-olds and uh it was my first week on the job I was so excited and I got to meet one of the top swimmers his name was Kevin Kim Kevin Kim was six years old so tiny and one of the cutest little Korean kids I have ever seen in my life I mean his mom called him little frog and once he got into the water I realized why but he came in one of those if you're familiar with Sanrio Hello Kitty KIRO KIRO kuropi it's the little frog and he came in at akirokiro kurupi pool robe that when put on his hood it had ears it was the cutest little thing and these KIRO KIRO kuropi goggles and he came in and little six-year-old like most children kind of struggle in certain words and he had a speech impediment where he couldn't say his ours and it was is the most precious thing he was one of my favorite kids well I tossed him in the pool and I timed his 25 yard swim and I kind of thought to myself this kid is inordinately fast so I had a couple other seven-year-olds and eight-year-old hop in the pool with him and before I knew it Kevin Kim had beaten all these kids in the 25 meter swim so that weekend was a swim tournament and I was so excited because as the coach of this Division I picked my top three swimmers and I put my money on Kevin Kim because this kid was so fast I was so excited once the officiant said on your marks get stuck get ready go guess what Kevin Kim is swimming in the water and he is at least eight arms lengths ahead of any of the swimmers including the eight-year-olds I if I'm honest with you I felt like I was bad like yeah that's my kid that's right I taught him everything he knows yes go Kevin Kim the Frog like we're screaming hooting and he comes up to the wall and he does his swim flip at the wall and he's heading back down for a 50 meter swim now in all of our practices I was timing 25 meters what I never really figured out was his time for the 50 meters so as he is halfway through the length of the second lap there's only two laps in this race get with me because I had a little moment of panic when all of a sudden as he's halfway through the lane he picks up his arms behind his head and he rolls over on his back to float Kevin Kim is floating on his back and I'm looking at this in sheer panic and I'm screaming Kevin and Kevin looks at me and says I'm tired because he couldn't pronounce his arms and I'm looking at him like Kevin swim I'm tired and he's trying to breathe and I'm like keep going before I knew it every single one of the swimmers in this heat had passed Kevin Kim and he was five feet from the wall that week we had a conversation and I made him a promise Kevin if you continue to listen to me and swim your laps you will never lose again what I believe is that there are people in this room who you feel like Kevin you feel like you have all the talent all the skill and yet you've come to a place and point in your life where you're looking up at God and you're saying I'm tired you want to quit today I want to be the coach on the sidelines that's screaming at you Sean don't quit Bob Peterson behind the camera that makes this video come across to people around the world don't you dare quit Victoria don't quit the title of today's message is too close to quit too close to quit do me a favor and turn with me in your Bibles to Joshua chapter 6. grab your Bibles your pins your highlighters your notebook and as you are turning there it's okay if you didn't bring one we have a Bible for you at the Welcome Center or the scriptures are on the screen but a value for me is that we dive into God's word and a little bit of context to make sure that we are on the same page as we dive into this narrative out of Joshua 6 is that the children of Israel were cruelly oppressed for over 400 years under the oppressive hand a pharaoh and uh and finally the cries of the people made it to the ears of the Lord and the Lord sent a rescuer by the name of Moses who freed them from slavery and took them through to a point in a place called the Red Sea and God miraculously opened up the Red Sea so the children of God can walk on dry ground to the other side and they're about to go into a land that was promised to them in fact in Exodus 33 the Lord makes a promise to Moses that's why this land is called the promised land go to the land I promised you so there they're about to embark on the promised land and Moses sends out 12 Spies twelve spies representing the 12 tribes of Israel they're on the edge of the promised land this is everything that God has promised them 12 Spies went into the promised land and they all came back out and two out of the twelve had the perspective and the faith to say yes there's Giants in the land but we are more than able to take them because our God is good but a group of people 10 people put fear and doubt into the hearts of 2 million if you do the odds Joshua and Caleb were two and two million you know what those odds are that's one in a million Joshua was a one in a million leader and here Joshua Moses had gone to be with the Lord and Joshua is now after 40 Years of wandering in the desert it's about to embark on going into the promised land there was a river separating the promised land from the desert and this River was called The River Jordan and Joshua put his foot into the River Jordan and guess what it dried up and yet again a generation removed the people of God moved across dry ground over something that was once wet now this is where we pick up the story but this is wildly important because for the children of Israel and for Kevin Kim and maybe even for you today sitting in this room watching online on YouTube or on the podcast you need to hear this simple truth if you don't Envision the end you'll give up in the middle I never knew that Kevin Kim didn't have the endurance he had all the skill all the strength all the speed but he didn't have the endurance maybe you just need a reminder right now get a vision of your future because if you don't Envision the end you'll give up in the middle look at Joshua chapter 6 verse 1. now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because somebody said because if you brought your Bible Circle it in your Bible because we're going to come back to this in a second because of the Israelites no one went out and no one came in and the Lord said to Joshua see I have underlined have I have delivered Jericho into your hands along with it's king and fighting men March around the city once with all the armed men do this for how many days Church six days have seven priests carry trumpets of rams horns in front of the Ark on the seventh day March around the city seven times there's a theme Here stay with me with the priest blowing trumpets when you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets have the whole Army give a loud shout and the wall of the city will collapse and the Army will go up everyone straight in do you know what that is that's a promise God made a promise to Joshua and in this room much like those embarking onto promised land or promises that God has given them this room is full of people that have been promised things by God but just because God promised it doesn't mean that we possess it seen the pages of scripture the Bible is full of promises not just for Joshua and the children of Israel and not just for the Uber holy and and super righteous no no God's promises us for everyone in fact scripture says that every promise in Christ is yes and amen do you know you have a promise of a future plans for good and not of evil to give you a future to Hope as it says in Joshua do you know that you are not ignored or forsaken or forlorn no but that you are loved and chosen and seen and anointed called to pull down strongholds a select and Royal generation that's what first Peter tells us there are promises made for the people of God and you know what just breaks my heart what makes me so sad what Grieves me is how people in the church people who claim to be followers of Jesus are quitting stopping short or walking away because the promises of God feel so far for them now there's no judgment I'm not I'm not saying oh you shouldn't feel those feelings but but I I hear people and I talk to people people who have said yeah I'm leaving the church because that person offended me they said something to offend me are you going to walk away from your community because your feelings were hurt I don't want I don't want it I don't want to say that it doesn't hurt but can we Matthew 18 15 can we go to that brother and say hey what you said offended me rather than walking out and piecing out in a community or what about what about people that are walking away from their marriage because they just feel like I'm just I'm just tired of the same old same old with the same person doing the same old same old thing with the same old same old repeating the same old same old or maybe you've been praying and believing in fact you bought a king-sized bed prophesying that one day there will be someone a spouse that you love and adore that's going to sleep in that bed with you and that bed is still empty or maybe you've been praying God God the spouse that I prayed for now I'm praying Lord that you just kill them God I don't want to do this anymore guilty guilty laugh guilty laugh yeah don't forsake your promise do you know the children of God needed in that moment of feeling just like there is a walled city that is barred up in front of us you know what the children of God needed do you know what we need today when we feel like there is Walled cities in front of us spiritual resiliency spiritual resiliency now I've studied the topic of grit and resilience for the last two years I feel like I've been pregnant with this thing I've been working on what was a project and it turned into a concept and then it began to embark on writing a book all while not knowing that the word for our church this year was resilient faith and it I know it sounded like ulterior motives but it didn't in fact when uh when we sat around and started sensing what God was speaking for our church when resilient Faith came to the top I was like no no no let's not do it let's not do it because I was working on a book on grit and resilience and I didn't want it to seem as if there was a dovetail but something's in the water and God is speaking to his people because I'm seeing people far too strong far too equipped far too talented far too fast who are quitting like Kevin Kim five feet from the wall I've come here to yell that you are grittier than you think well what is grit grit is passion and perseverance toward a goal despite significant obstacles now if you're in here today and you are full of vigor and you're full of faith and you can scale any wall and your faith will have you leap over hurdles like there ain't a thing guess what we are so proud of you I'm proud of you give me your secrets amen but I also know that there's people in this room that just feel exhausted you've been doing everything right you've been loving the Lord and serving the lord you're serving at church you're tithing you're doing everything right and yet Everything feels so wrong you are exhausted of honoring the Lord and trying so hard and not seeing results you are frustrated with having faith and talking to God and believing for others in yourself and that it feels as if your pres your prayers have fallen on deaf ears God are you there God do you hear me now there's a ton of scientific research and data from universities like MIT in Harvard and UC Berkeley which is phenomenal and I called through all that data but it is dense and to be honest with you sometimes a little bit boring but one of the things that kind of rose to the top in all these scientific studies is is these three attributes and I had them all rhyme with P because I am a preacher by nature and I can't help it but I call these the three p's of resilience in fact we're going to lay these as a grid over Joshua six what we just read and you will see the grit and the resilience of the children of God have for the notetakers the three p's are resilient of resilience our perspective you have to have the right perspective ability the ability to Pivot and lastly perspective what is the pain that is revealing the purpose in the midst of all this and do you know that these characteristics perspective the ability to Pivot finding purpose out of the pain that it precludes your gender your ethnicity your nationality your social economic status you don't have to be born into poverty or be in a place of privilege that that resilience and grittiness and perseverance can be found for all of us we just know we just need to know how to do it and I chose this passage out of Joshua 6 because I firmly believe that we will see the children of God stay in their calling and pursue their purpose because they're gritty and that's what I want this series is a five-week series that is birthed out of our word for the year which was resilient faith and here we are revisiting again halfway through to remind our congregation to remind our church but most importantly to remind ourselves that we may be down but we are not out if you want to build grit if you want to be a gritty gangster if you want to have a resolve to be resilient in your life what you need to do is know how to change your perspective you have to learn with speed to change your perspective well what is perspective perspective is an honest assessment of our reality while maintaining hope an honest assessment of your reality while maintaining hope so perspective a Christian perspective isn't like I'm gonna stick my head in the sand and put on Elevation Worship and just say God is good all the time and all the time God is good I'm going to read by one year devotional I'm going to be a Hermit it's gonna be us for No More Jesus Paid It All no no no everything's okay no no that's delusion I'm not talking about fake faith I'm talking about an honest assessment of my life sucks right now but I know because I'm not dead my God is not done my faith is in the Lord he has promises that he has given me through his word that have been confirmed through other people and God is Whispering me a led to a land that I have not seen and have not been and though there are giants we will overcome because the Lord has given this land unto me now for the Israelites there was the promise what was the promise land land thank you Victoria I hear you yes 500 points for you the promise the children of Israel was land but there's a problem and there's always a problem standing before God's promises and your possession we don't like that part no I'm gonna tell on us preachers you know what US preachers love we love preaching the promises of God because everyone gets hypey yeah promises I'm loved I'm chosen that's right me and Jesus you know we don't like talking about what it costs what you're calling costs there's always a price associated with the possession of your promise and so many people don't want to pay the price in the course of this series we want to highlight is that we are resilient people of Faith who believe that though this reality is not what we want what we like or what we have chosen we have hope that God is not done there's always a problem always a problem to your possession of the promise for the children of Israel it was the city of Jericho look at verse one we read it let's read it again now that Gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites oh that is so bad that is so bad it's good like how bad of a people group are you that people are so scared of you they gotta lock the windows hide your kids hide your wife lock the doors lock the windows cause the children of God are coming their way now the the people at Jericho they had heard about the children of God Yahweh they say those Jews they say only one God and their God freed them from 400 years of slavery that God part of the Red Sea for them that God dried up the Jordan River for them to walk in yeah those people are now at our doorstep that's why it was completely barred up they were on lockdown and the City of Jericho according to theologians was impossible to get into but how many know impossible is where God begins impossible is the ingredient that God's like oh I have that now we can do a miracle so maybe the thing that in your life feels so barricaded and tightly shut up isn't because it's not yours to have but maybe maybe maybe the enemy knows that if you enter in and if you receive that promise there's little going back on your faith in believing God that the promise is actualized in your life does that make sense the enemy wants to keep you out from inheriting and receiving the promise that God has given you and then God says something comical I hear people say the Bible is boring you know there's nothing funny about it are you kidding me I think this is so comical like God's got jokes this is irony at its best look at verse two see I have delivered Jericho into your hands her time out I'm a writer and as an author I feel like having a conversation yo Yahweh let me break it down about present tense we can't use present tense and and and future tense when those things don't align but see in the economy of God he has the power to say I have delivered Jericho into your hands he's the God of all power who though the battle is waging we know that Victory is the Lord's so the problem with verse 2 is verse 1. that the city is tightly barred up so what do we do when what God has said doesn't look like what we see what do we do when the promises of God that we have received have it manifested in our midst have it materialized in our midst that's where I am I know what God has spoken for my life I know what God has spoken for this church I know what I have seen so what happens when what is in front of me and what I see doesn't look anything like what God has said what do we do when you're praying you're fasting you're believing and it feels like everything that you've dreamed or felt or heard or believed is nowhere close to you that's the moment where people quit and walk away the enemy likes to use our problems to mess with our perspective see Jericho was in a large city but it was a walled City and the Conquering of this city would set the Cadence the tempo the pace for the other cities because after Jericho there's AI after AI there's other cities and so this is this is the PACE Center it all started with Jericho Joshua crosses the Jordan in a miraculous way and everyone is celebrating and you get into the promised land to be met by a walled City like are you serious ah but Josh good old Joshua was around to see the Red Sea part Joshua was one of the spies that went into the promised land 40 years before Joshua was one that came back and said though there are giants in the land we're more than able Joshua was there when he put his foot into the River Jordan and it split so it doesn't matter what he sees Because he believes in what God has said and that's what I want for our church that's what I want for our community that's what I want for me in this season because what do you do when you look up and all you see is walls the truth is Let's Tell in ourselves as Christians in this cultural moment we are quitting because we have the wrong perspective we look and all we see is walls and I want you to look at whatever is staring at you in the face and I don't want you to look at it as a sign of the thing that you're not supposed to have I want you to look past it I don't want you to look at the walls I want you to keep your perspective looking up so that we like the psalmistkin says I look to the Heavens to see where my help comes from my help comes from a maker of heaven and Earth don't look at the wall keep your eyes focused on the on the maker and just as God promised Joshua a physical land we have been promised spiritual blessings but just because God promised it doesn't mean we possess it so the enemy will erect walls to keep us out he will put red duct tape yellow caution tape he'll barred up he'll barricade it and that's my story many of you have heard this but girls like me first generation American girls like me we don't graduate high school tub of our class we don't go to college on a full ride scholarship as a Bill Gates Millennium scholar we don't go to grad school on a full ride scholarship and graduate grad school with the 4.0 subtle Flex thank you Yahweh shout out okay but girls like me do get rejected from Seminary because of my gender what do we do when what God has said about your calling doesn't look like what you see maybe you're sitting in here today and you heard Caesar's message about her body being a temple and yet you've wrestled with your weight and your health your whole life I get it I feel you I'll walk that same path maybe your doctor has said that you are genetically predisposed to obesity because your mama and her mama and her mama's Mama have all been obese and so you're thinking this is my lot in life when you know the spirit of God is Whispering First Corinthians 13 over you that your body is the temple one to give glory to God and if you believe there's a purpose for your life and you believe that you've got to take care of that body or maybe you come from a family where no one is married people are either shacking up or divorcing you're looking at Generations upon generations of divorce and your family's just like just file for divorce shouldn't be this hard just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist I want people to start looking to the heavens and said the walls that are in front of them because if you don't Envision the end you'll give up in the middle you have to have a vision for your family and a vision for your life and a vision for your wealth and a vision for your health and a vision for your academics you have to have a vision because it's going to get hard and if you don't Envision the end you'll give up in the middle we're tempted to quit because we have a wrong perspective what is it another thing that we need to build our Grit we progress even if we don't see progress is that the wrong and fastest on the wrong syllable no church I'm going to say it again say it again you guys that's funny I'm giving you my best today okay please laugh please laugh we progress even without the progress see in Newton's third law of motion it says for every reaction for every action there's an equal reaction meaning I step on the gas pedal the car goes forward I step on the brake the car stops and as a PR as a action-oriented community and culture we do something for God God does something for me now I want to break this down in the text to see how that is not the case as we see for the children of Israel and I want us to imagine being there in the pages of scripture God has a conference call with Joshua and he's like hello Josh this is the assignment it's not going to look like anything you've ever seen before but we're going to make it through look at verse three March around the city once with all the armed men do this for how many days have seven priests carry trumpets of Ram's horns in the front of the Ark and on the seventh day March around the city seven times with priests blowing the trumpets when you hear them sound a long glass on the trumpets have the whole Army give a loud Shout then the wall of the city will collapse and the Army will go up everyone straight in hmm that's the action plan now for me I'm all about motivation I'm all about goal setting like I am so neurotic I love things super organized I'm the person who has a to-do list for my to-do list in fact in fact I'm the crazy person that writes things on my to-do list that I've already done can I get a witness anyone else in here struggling with OCD yeah yeah yeah why because we love the power of saying I have accomplished that even though it's already done yes now I believe that the children of God there's probably some crazy people in there like me like Dr Cynthia to Alba who were just like wait a minute I want to see progress what's going on here God okay so Joshua I remember I imagine Joshua thinking okay so we're gonna March around the city walls and and then God will give us a sign that Victory draws near a brick will Buckle from the wall maybe there'll be a Shake Rattle and a roll we'll get some movement people will be ooh ah Yahweh that's not what happens in the economy of God it doesn't work that way see we have our plans we have our goals and then the Lord shouts pivot you know a characteristic of gritty people we have plans but we also have a deep ability to Pivot a Hallmark of gritty people or people that say I've been trying to do it this way and it's not working so I have to find another way if I can't scale the wall I've got to find a way to get around it this is the third thing to build our grit and resilience gritty people have the ability to Pivot and isn't that the way life operates sometimes God gives us a game plan and we are like are you sure maybe for you you had a job in Corporate America and you had the c-suite and you had power naps and power lunches and you wore a power suit and you use PowerPoint presentations and all of a sudden the Lord has called you to parent and you're changing 75 baby diapers and the Lord is like pivot maybe you have a wonderful job and you're making lots of money but there's this this gnawing nag at your heart that the Lord is calling you to Ministry and you don't understand it because you're like I'm making so much money here and I'm providing for my family and you want me to take a pay cut and serve your people and be underappreciated because church people honestly are hard to deal with sometimes yeah the Lord shouting pivot maybe you've been dating somebody for three years you might even be engaged and you're like okay this is the person I'm gonna marry and the Lord is gently whispering to you that's not your partner and you're confused and you're saying but we've been dating for so long and I thought I was going to marry him the Lord is shouting pivot and this is how things work because you're going to have to walk by faith not by sight what happens when what you see doesn't look like what God has said now if you've been around vacation bible school or this church you know how this story ends they March around the wall once a day for Six Days on the seventh day they March around seven times and the walls come tumbling down it's a victory people celebrate there's high fives there's chest bumps there's fist bumps I mean it's a party but I find it significant that the number six in the Bible represents something is any word nerd in here know the biblical number or significance for the number six and what it signifies in the Bible man that's right all the Bible scholars are in this service well done yes six represents the number of man so if they walked six days the number of men and nothing changed so here's what I want us to do I want us to March even when it doesn't make sense well you do what God has asked you to do even if it doesn't work out the way that you want it to work out well you march when nothing makes sense see this message is for someone who has lost their perspective this message is for someone who who knows that the Lord is calling them to Pivot this message is for someone who has grown weary because their progress isn't obvious I want you to know that just because your progress isn't obvious doesn't mean your faith isn't working it means you got to keep on moving even when bricks don't fall and even when windows don't break it and you know what we see here from the children of Israel it's obedience they didn't get a sign that their faith was working they just simply obeyed because maybe in the circling God is more concerned about what is going on internally then what is going on externally maybe God cares more about what the process and the ACT is doing to you than the way you feel about what is going on look at what Joshua tells his people in verse 8. when Joshua had spoken to the people the seven priests carrying seven trumpets before the Lord went forward blowing their trumpets in the ark of the Lord's Covenant followed them the Ark of the Covenant is is is represented the presence of God and I just want to let you know here at tfhoc we don't want to move without the presence of God why do we worship why do we want you to show up on time why do we want you to get into community group because to get together the presence of God is where two or three are gathered there God is we worship God we extol his name we fight for the presence of God just like they did walking around Jericho verse 9 the armed guards marched ahead of the priest who blew the trumpets and the rear guard followed the ark all this time the trumpets were sounding but Joshua had commanded the Army do not give a war cry do not raise your voices do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout then Shout Sometimes the best strategy is to shut up in March because the more that you talk about it the more likely you are to talk yourself out of it notice that Joshua didn't tell his leaders how long they would have to March God told Joshua you're going to do this for six days but we just read right now Joshua didn't give him a road map no Joshua went out that first day and he knew that it was going to be six but the people of God didn't look at verse 11. so he had the Ark of the Lord carried around the city circling at once then the Army returned to camp and spent night there now this is speculation here but but I believe as the children of God were walking around the walls of Jericho that the people of Jericho maybe on day one they felt like oh no the children of Israel are laying out a map and seeing our weak points of Entry they're building a game plan but then on day two they're like they're still walking around this is odd then day three those people are straight crazy what do they think we're going to do just March us to death then maybe day four they start hurling rocks and try to aggravate the children of Israel but by day five they're now hurling insults let me tell you something child of God there will be people who will look at you and laugh they will hurl insults they will wonder what you're doing and I'm begging you by the mercies of Christ not to listen to them not to let them Badger you or pull you off of task I'm going to ask you about the mercies of Jesus Christ to shut up and March do nothing do nothing do nothing until the Lord tells you to do it look at verse 12. Joshua got up early the next morning and the priest took the Ark of the Lord the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward marching before the Ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets the armed men went ahead of them the rear guard followed the Ark of the Lord while the trumpets kept sounding on the second day they marched around the city once returned to Camp they did this for how many days and what does six represents yes they had no idea how many days they were gonna have to do this and isn't that just like life I mean it would be nice it would be nice if you walk into your chemo appointment the doctor says after these three treatments of chemo you will be cancer-free wouldn't that be awesome you go into your counseling session your therapist is like five more sessions and you are Problem free you go meet with your pastor and you're like three more sessions of marital counseling and you will be perfect like wouldn't that be awesome okay you all came with your church faces thank you is that just me no okay great wouldn't it be nice to know Kevin you're five feet from the wall wouldn't that feel real good yeah but see when you're on the third lap and you are saying God I'm still addicted to weed I love you but I I can't give it up wearing your fourth lap and you're saying God I'm making the payments on my credit card but this debt is so overwhelming I'm always going to be debt free when you're on day five and you're still bickering with your spouse thinking this is going to end in something that I don't even want to say what do you do then what do you do then shut up and March don't say anything we give up because we lose perspective we give up because we don't know how to Pivot we give up because we don't think that our progress is obvious so this is what we need to do we need to find purpose in the pain we need to find purpose in our pain this doesn't make sense God my reality isn't what I want or like but God but you got but you Paul speaks about running our race Paul speaks about running our race or in Kevin Kim's situation swimming his race and Paul says to run your race and not quit and I'm screaming at Kevin Kim in the same way that I'm screaming at you and saying you're too close to quit it's just one more lap it's one more sacrifice it's one more yes it's one more Act of obedience it's one more I Surrender my life to God it's just one more time because though you might be exhausted this could be your sixth lap and you might not even know it you might be so close to the wall and not even know it you might be so close to freedom and not even know it you might be so close to Redemption and not even know it you might be so close to Financial Freedom and not even know it you might be so close to Restoration and not even know it you might be so close to Salvation and not even know it you might be so close so don't quit that's the story of Florence Chadwick a woman from San Diego California who in her era and her time during the 1950s and 60s was an incredible athlete that people grossly underestimated until she became the first person not the first woman the first person to swim both sides of the English Channel she had heard about someone who had swam from the shores of California to the island of Catalina and she said I want to do that so much training and practice had went in and the day came for the the race and her mom and her coaches weren't a dinghy that were swimming alongside of her to keep out for danger sharks and encourage her with words of encouragement 16 miles into the 26 miles that it takes from California to Catalina there was a dense heavy fog that came over the California ocean if you're familiar with it this dense fog is disorienting she lost her sense of direction she's fatigued and exhausted but she kept swimming and swimming and swimming until she got to a point through tears and exhaustion she said I quit I don't know where I'm at and I can't go on they pulled her into the Lifeboat and as the fog dissipated she was gutted to see that she was one mile from the shore of Catalina she was weeping devastated but she goes home and she begins to swim again lap after lap after lap after lap after lap and the very next year she says she's going to swim to Catalina so she set out to sea with a Lifeboat with her mom and her coaches looking out for sharks and other things of danger while encouraging her to keep going and there's a thick dense heavy fog that rolled over the water except she told herself been here before I know what this feels like so swim and swim and swim and swim until her feet touch the shores of Catalina two hours faster than the only man who had ever completed it because this is what happens when grits don't quit wouldn't it be a shame if you gave up now wouldn't it be a shame if you gave up right now wouldn't it be a shame if you are one lap away from God doing the impossible see because six is the number of man but you know what the number seven is oh seven is the number of completion and Perfection what man could not do for six days God did in seven and I want the skeptic and the doubter who's sitting in here saying well how do I know I'm on the sixth day I'm tired and you're just gonna keep me make walking act like every day is your sixth day and one day it will be okay I want us to be a congregation where we March and we March and we March and the moment that God says give me a shout of Victory we stand to our feet and we say The God Who Made Us A promise is faithful to complete it so church I'm gonna let you know where we're going we have never done this in tfhoc history but I firmly believe it's in the Bible I want to be scriptural I want to be biblical I've never done this in our church before but this is what we're going to do when I say give God a shout of Victory we are going to shout so loud that the demons in Hell begin to power that Satan himself begins to shiver and say the people of God are coming up against us they're bringing light into Dark Places there is a confidence in them that that doesn't matter what wall is in front of them it doesn't matter what sin they're currently in it doesn't matter Their Fear their doubt it doesn't matter the divorce that they're in it doesn't matter their credit card debt it doesn't matter their lack of Education it doesn't matter what they don't have because they serve a God who has gone before them and The God Who promises faithful so the father's house Orange County can we give a shout of Victory because the battle to the Lord oh no no give a shout of Victory oh let the demons cower because we serve a God who is strong so we're gonna worship God in spirit and truth because the victory Belongs to the Lord

Channel: The Father's House OC

Views: 15,997

Keywords: Faith, Jesus, Holy Spirit, God, Love, Bible, Bianca Olthoff, Matt Olthoff, The Fathers House OC, Hope, Peace, Trials and Tribulations, Jesus Christ, Healing, Church, Transformation, Church Sermons, Prayer

Id: rbI151eK6JA

Length: 40min 41sec (2441 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 13 2023