SPEAKER_00: Hey, it's an honor to be here.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Dustin Stradley.
SPEAKER_00: Do we have a table I can put this on?
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
SPEAKER_00: You got these teams are spectacular, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Put your hands together and thank God for all the volunteers.
SPEAKER_00: For your pastors, Pastor Forrest and Emily.
SPEAKER_00: Let's thank God for them.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says show double honor to those who teach and preach.
SPEAKER_00: And I am thankful for our friendship.
SPEAKER_00: It's been a year.
SPEAKER_00: I got to come here last November, I believe.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the last time I came to the uh the bluegrass cold weather.
SPEAKER_00: Um I tried to bring the 80-degree Orlando heat with me, but that did not succeed.
SPEAKER_00: But to see what God's done through you guys and through this church in just the past year is a miracle.
SPEAKER_00: And we are thanking God and celebrating with you all the way from Florida and our other locations because God really has his hand on this church over Multiply Church.
SPEAKER_00: So we're celebrating you.
SPEAKER_00: Let's thank God one more time for what he's doing in this place.
SPEAKER_00: That's like a golf clap.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, we can get a little bit louder than that.
SPEAKER_00: Pretend that your favorite NFL team is going to get a victory today.
SPEAKER_00: That same celebration you have on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.
SPEAKER_00: when your team wins.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, we can bring that to church.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm thankful for your faith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thankful for your humility.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thankful for just how you continually make yourself available to God and how you stepped out to plant this church and now to see all the lives that have been impacted.
SPEAKER_00: This new building that you're about to step into.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: What a blessing.
SPEAKER_00: Do you guys know you're stepping into a building?
SPEAKER_00: If it's your first time, now you know.
SPEAKER_00: It's coming up soon.
SPEAKER_00: I got to tour it last night.
SPEAKER_00: I got to put the yellow hard hat on with a little X on it.
SPEAKER_00: I said, if we're going to do this, we've got to do it right.
SPEAKER_00: Gotta wear the multiply hard hat in this place.
SPEAKER_00: But Frankfurt, Kentucky, had some good catfish last night.
SPEAKER_00: Some uh catfish and grits.
SPEAKER_00: Spectacular.
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
SPEAKER_00: And you guys are so hospitable.
SPEAKER_00: Let me show you a picture of my family.
SPEAKER_00: Can I do that real quick?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, good, because I am.
SPEAKER_00: This is my wife, Maddie, my daughter Jovi.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody say, Oh yeah, she's amazing.
SPEAKER_00: She's almost two years old.
SPEAKER_00: She has an expansive vocabulary.
SPEAKER_00: She's so much fun right now, being that age.
SPEAKER_00: Just like your daughter.
SPEAKER_00: She's grown so much in the last year.
SPEAKER_00: But also, I met my wife at church, fun fact.
SPEAKER_00: So any single people in the place, never know what God can do.
SPEAKER_00: So when Pastor Forrest tells you to go out to the tent to get connected, you never know who you're going to get connected to.
SPEAKER_00: So this is a picture of me getting to baptize my wife in 2016.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I did not know she was going to be my wife at the time.
SPEAKER_00: I don't look at everyone like that when they get in the baptism tank.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I might look at you and say I'm proud of you, but that's a different look.
SPEAKER_00: And uh we've been now married for five and a half years, got our first baby girl, and we get to do ministry together in the great country of Orlando, Florida.
SPEAKER_00: Home of Mickey Mouse.
SPEAKER_00: If you ever want a little bit of warm weather, come visit us.
SPEAKER_00: Just like I came to visit you in this 30-degree weather.
SPEAKER_00: My lips are chapped.
SPEAKER_00: Got the chills, but it's been a great time so far.
SPEAKER_00: Been on staff at Elevation Church for 10 years now.
SPEAKER_00: Never wanted to be a pastor, used to not like church, but God has a sense of humor.
SPEAKER_00: And when God gets a hold of your life, just like God wants to get a hold of some of you today, He can do great things.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, amen.
SPEAKER_00: I love the atmosphere of preparation, by the way, today.
SPEAKER_00: From worship to communion to prayer to just feeling your anticipation, you can feel that God is in this atmosphere.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You can feel that God wants to speak to someone today.
SPEAKER_00: Even if you didn't want to come to church today, it's not an accident that you're here.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a coincidence that you're here.
SPEAKER_00: God has you here for a reason.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe if you open your heart just for a moment, I'm only going to preach for five hours today.
SPEAKER_00: If you open your heart just for a few minutes, God's going to meet you in that place.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm thankful for my pastor too, Pastor Stephen Furtick, my mentor, my leader, my pastor.
SPEAKER_00: And so make sure you continue to pray for your pastors.
SPEAKER_00: Continue to lift them up and pray for them behind the scenes because they're putting in the work and all the volunteers as well.
SPEAKER_00: But can I dive into the word God put on my heart for you?
SPEAKER_00: This series, Bricklayers, because you are builders, multiplied church.
SPEAKER_00: You're getting a building, but it's not about the building, it's about the people.
SPEAKER_00: That's what the church is.
SPEAKER_00: It's the people of God.
SPEAKER_00: And this church is filled with builders, and God is building his church on you.
SPEAKER_00: So I love this series that you're stepping into with bricklayers.
SPEAKER_00: But as you could tell, about 20 minutes ago, I was ready to jump up here uh prematurely because God put this word on my heart for you.
SPEAKER_00: But it comes from 2 Kings 4, 1 through 7.
SPEAKER_00: If you have your Bible, you can pull it out.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't, you can follow on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: You can use your phone too if you would like.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Kings 4, 1 through 7.
SPEAKER_00: You guys ready?
SPEAKER_00: Guys ready?
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to get you to talk back to me a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Is that okay?
SPEAKER_00: It's like we're having a coffee together, and if I was the only one talking, it'd be a really boring coffee day.
SPEAKER_00: So let's just have some conversation today.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Kings 4, 1 through 7.
SPEAKER_00: It said the wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah replied to her, How can I help you?
SPEAKER_00: Tell me, what do you have in your house?
SPEAKER_00: Your servant has nothing there at all, she said, except a small jar of olive oil.
SPEAKER_00: You know, one of the greatest strategies of the enemy is to get you to focus on what you don't have, what you wish you had, what someone else has.
SPEAKER_00: She said, I have nothing at all, except a small jar of olive oil.
SPEAKER_00: So then Elisha said to her, Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars.
SPEAKER_00: Don't ask just for a few, and go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons.
SPEAKER_00: Pour oil into the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.
SPEAKER_00: So she left them and she shut the door behind her and her sons, and they brought the jars to her, and she kept pouring.
SPEAKER_00: She kept pouring.
SPEAKER_00: And when all the jars were full, she said to her son, Bring me another one.
SPEAKER_00: But he replied, There is not a jar left.
SPEAKER_00: Then the oil stopped flowing.
SPEAKER_00: So she went around, told the man of God, and he said, Go sell the oil, pay your debts.
SPEAKER_00: You and your sons can live on what is left.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we just thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you've poured out more than we can even receive.
SPEAKER_00: And so I pray that you'll pour into us right now in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Every person in this room is battling something behind the scenes, something different, but you know their needs.
SPEAKER_00: So pour into them.
SPEAKER_00: Give them what they need in this moment, God.
SPEAKER_00: Open our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to put aside all the distractions, all the worry, and just fix our focus on you, the author and perfecter of our faith.
SPEAKER_00: It's in Jesus' name, everybody said.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Title of this message today is The Pouring is Preparation.
SPEAKER_00: The Pouring is Preparation.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to your neighbor if you have a neighbor.
SPEAKER_00: If not, you can just yell down the aisle.
SPEAKER_00: Say the pouring is preparation.
SPEAKER_00: The pouring is preparation.
SPEAKER_00: This woman in the passage is discouraged.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, I got to preach in Brazil last week.
SPEAKER_00: I had a translator with me the whole time.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm getting used to not needing to pause.
SPEAKER_00: For you want Forrest to come translate for you in Kentucky?
SPEAKER_00: Do you guys have like a different language in Kentucky?
SPEAKER_00: Some of you say, Yeah, we actually kind of do.
SPEAKER_00: But this woman was discouraged.
SPEAKER_00: She was defeated.
SPEAKER_00: She was in her darkest moment of desperation.
SPEAKER_00: She just lost her husband.
SPEAKER_00: Now she has more credit card debt.
SPEAKER_00: She can't pay the mortgage.
SPEAKER_00: She has more debt than she can repay.
SPEAKER_00: So the government's about to take her sons into slavery.
SPEAKER_00: And in her darkest moment of desperation, she cries out to Elisha, the man of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Elisha was a representation of God to the people during this time.
SPEAKER_00: So her crying out to Elisha, Elijah was like her crying out to God.
SPEAKER_00: Where do you turn when the unexpected happens?
SPEAKER_00: Do you go to God or do you go to people?
SPEAKER_00: Do you go to God or do you go to Facebook?
SPEAKER_00: Do you go to God or do you go to Netflix to numb the pain so you don't have to deal with the complexities?
SPEAKER_00: This woman in this moment of desperation, she cries out to God.
SPEAKER_00: She said, God, I don't know how I'm going to deal with this one.
SPEAKER_00: Where do you turn in your moment of desperation?
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's why some of you came to church today.
SPEAKER_00: You've been looking for answers.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know how you're going to work through this one in your marriage.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know how your kids are going to navigate the complexities they're fighting right now at school as they're being bullied.
SPEAKER_00: And you're crying out to God.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm here to tell you that God hears you, God sees you, God never left you.
SPEAKER_00: God will meet you in those moments of desperation.
SPEAKER_00: This also made me think of the woman.
SPEAKER_00: I know you guys are going to preach on Nehemiah throughout the series, and God's been preparing your pastor for it, and it's going to be powerful.
SPEAKER_00: But can we talk about some of the women in the Bible just today?
SPEAKER_00: Just today.
SPEAKER_00: God's going to use them to minister to you.
SPEAKER_00: There's another woman in the Bible, a woman with the issue of blood.
SPEAKER_00: She had an internal bleeding that she was fighting for 12 years of her life.
SPEAKER_00: She went to every doctor, she got no answers.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that she did not get better.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, she only got worse.
SPEAKER_00: And just when you get a few steps ahead, you get knocked right back down to where you were.
SPEAKER_00: This woman was doing everything she knew how to get answers, but in fact, she only got worse.
SPEAKER_00: And we didn't even know her name.
SPEAKER_00: In the Bible, she's known as the woman with the issue.
SPEAKER_00: And some of you have been fighting battles for as long as you can remember, and you begin to label yourself according to your issues.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'll always be a procrastinator.
SPEAKER_00: I'll always be a terrible mom.
SPEAKER_00: I'll never be able to provide for my family.
SPEAKER_00: And I know what it's like to battle something for so long.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how I'm going to shake it.
SPEAKER_00: I had an alcohol addiction for eight years of my life.
SPEAKER_00: I kept trying to fill this emptiness with turning to the bottle.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know how to put the bottle down.
SPEAKER_00: So then I turned to sex, then I turned to drugs.
SPEAKER_00: I went everywhere but God.
SPEAKER_00: Then I hit rock bottom.
SPEAKER_00: And some of you are at rock bottom today, and you don't know where else to turn.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why you came to church.
SPEAKER_00: I used to hate church, but I had nowhere else to go.
SPEAKER_00: And my friend said, What you're doing's not working.
SPEAKER_00: You should probably try something different.
SPEAKER_00: So he brought me to church.
SPEAKER_00: And it's in those moments that God will meet you where you are.
SPEAKER_00: Where do you turn in your moments of desperation?
SPEAKER_00: This woman, she cried out to God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the woman with the issue of blood, she was considered ceremonially unclean.
SPEAKER_00: So she wasn't invited to social functions like this.
SPEAKER_00: If she so much is brushed up against someone, they would also be considered ceremonially unclean.
SPEAKER_00: But for some reason, she heard about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: She heard that Jesus was going to be at a social gathering.
SPEAKER_00: So she shows up to the social gathering.
SPEAKER_00: She was an outcast.
SPEAKER_00: She was overlooked.
SPEAKER_00: And she gets down just close enough to Jesus to touch his robe.
SPEAKER_00: And immediately after twelve years of battling this issue, the bleeding stopped.
SPEAKER_00: She was healed of her issue.
SPEAKER_00: All it takes is one touch from Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: All it takes is one touch over your anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: All it takes is one touch over your depression.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you need a touch from God today?
SPEAKER_00: A touch over your family?
SPEAKER_00: A touch over your marriage?
SPEAKER_00: Not a rhetorical question.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you need a touch from God today?
SPEAKER_00: A touch over your finances?
SPEAKER_00: You need God to touch an area of your life.
SPEAKER_00: This woman, back to the other woman.
SPEAKER_00: I know there's two women, and we don't know either of their names.
SPEAKER_00: But in 2 Kings 4, 1 through 7, she lost her husband.
SPEAKER_00: She's about to lose her kids.
SPEAKER_00: She cries out to God in her moment of desperation.
SPEAKER_00: So let's see how the man of God replies to her.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 2, Elisha replies to her.
SPEAKER_00: He says, How can I help you?
SPEAKER_00: Tell me.
SPEAKER_00: What do you have in your house?
SPEAKER_00: Your servant has nothing there at all, she said, except a small jar of olive oil.
SPEAKER_00: Didn't seem like much to her.
SPEAKER_00: But God said, I can do a lot with a little.
SPEAKER_00: God said, all it takes is a little bit of faith.
SPEAKER_00: God said, all it takes is the faith the size of a mustard seed.
SPEAKER_00: And you can tell that mountain to throw itself in the ocean and it will be done.
SPEAKER_00: Just ask David.
SPEAKER_00: David was facing a giant.
SPEAKER_00: David reached into his pocket.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Well, God, don't have a lot.
SPEAKER_00: Just a few small rocks.
SPEAKER_00: But God said, In my hands, take the little that you have, watch what I can do.
SPEAKER_00: David began to sling those rocks, and God said, That giant that's standing in front of you today, and some of you are staring at some giants today.
SPEAKER_00: You're staring at some pressure that you don't know how to deal with.
SPEAKER_00: You're staring at some pain that you don't know how to cope with.
SPEAKER_00: You're staring at some anxiety that you do not know how to overcome.
SPEAKER_00: But God said, Bring the little that you have to me, and He wants to take down some giants in your life today.
SPEAKER_00: God wants to take out some depression in your life today.
SPEAKER_00: God wants to take out some worry in your life today.
SPEAKER_00: God can do a lot with a little.
SPEAKER_00: Turn your neighbor and say, God can do a lot.
SPEAKER_00: With a little.
SPEAKER_00: All it takes is a little bit of faith.
SPEAKER_00: A little bit of faith.
SPEAKER_00: Just ask the disciples when they were staring at thousands of people, but only had a few fish and a few loaves.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, I don't know how we're going to feed all these people.
SPEAKER_00: But then in Jesus' hands, he took the bread, he broke it, gave thanks to the Father, he multiplied it.
SPEAKER_00: What's the name of this church, by the way?
SPEAKER_00: Multiplied church.
SPEAKER_00: God wants to multiply some things in your life today.
SPEAKER_00: If you bring the little bit of faith you have to God, watch what God can do.
SPEAKER_00: So Elisha said, What do you have in your house?
SPEAKER_00: She said, Well, not a lot.
SPEAKER_00: Just a little bit of olive oil.
SPEAKER_00: Not enough to pay off the debt.
SPEAKER_00: Not enough to feed my family.
SPEAKER_00: But what was little to her was a lot to God.
unknown: Say that again.
SPEAKER_00: What was, let me think, what did I say?
SPEAKER_00: What was little to her was a lot to God.
SPEAKER_00: God can do much with little.
SPEAKER_00: When God's in it, all things are possible.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 3, Elijah then tells the woman, he said, Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars.
SPEAKER_00: Don't just ask for a few.
SPEAKER_00: I thought this was interesting.
SPEAKER_00: She came to God asking God to heal her of her issue and fix her problem and take care of her family.
SPEAKER_00: But then God tells her to go to people?
SPEAKER_00: What happens when you go to God?
SPEAKER_00: But God tells you to go to people.
SPEAKER_00: Like, God, do you know people?
SPEAKER_00: God, have you checked in on the people in my circle recently?
SPEAKER_00: Like the last time I shared that thing with my brother-in-law and ended up on Facebook.
SPEAKER_00: The last time I got into one of those small groups.
SPEAKER_00: The last time I served on one of them volunteer teams.
SPEAKER_00: Like people, God?
SPEAKER_00: And I realized it's really not that hard to go to God.
SPEAKER_00: He knows everything anyway.
SPEAKER_00: Even when I was really far from God, I still knew there was a God and I'd say, God, help me with this one.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how we're gonna overcome it.
SPEAKER_00: You know what's going on anyway.
SPEAKER_00: You know when I'm battling behind the scenes.
SPEAKER_00: But to go to people, it was bad enough that this woman just lost her husband.
SPEAKER_00: It was embarrassing that she didn't have anything to pay the bills.
SPEAKER_00: But now you want me to go from house to house, neighbor to neighbor, and invite them into the struggle.
SPEAKER_00: God, did you think this went through?
SPEAKER_00: I don't know that that's the best strategy.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm a pretty optimistic person, pretty positive person.
SPEAKER_00: So I see the glass half full, I can see the best in people, see the best in situations.
SPEAKER_00: But I don't know if I would have agreed with uh with what Elijah was asking of her.
SPEAKER_00: So to people.
SPEAKER_00: And it was a few years ago, I think it was probably 2000, 2019.
SPEAKER_00: I um and as much as I love people, because I do love people, I've always loved people.
SPEAKER_00: I love being around people in Kentucky, I love being around people in Brazil.
SPEAKER_00: Brazilians are crazy, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: They stay up till three in the morning, they don't eat dinner until 11 p.m.
SPEAKER_00: All they do is eat sushi and drink coffee.
SPEAKER_00: They're wild.
SPEAKER_00: But I just love all kinds of different people, different contexts, different cultures.
SPEAKER_00: I get to travel all over the world.
SPEAKER_00: I just love meeting people.
SPEAKER_00: I love people.
SPEAKER_00: But a few years ago, I found myself not wanting to be around people.
SPEAKER_00: Which is kind of hard when you're a pastor.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think Pastor Forrest would agree.
SPEAKER_00: It's like the day that he's like, Oh, I don't want to be around people, it's like, oh, okay, that's gonna be a little difficult because God's called you to lead a lot of people and take a lot of new ground.
SPEAKER_00: And I just thought, I'm having a bad day.
SPEAKER_00: So I put my smile on, came to church like many of us do.
SPEAKER_00: Smile on the exterior, but struggling on the interior.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe some of you are feeling that today.
SPEAKER_00: You gave a morning hug and said, Man, it's good to be here, but you're battling some things on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: And so I thought, I'm gonna go home after church, I'm gonna nap it out, and we'll be good to go.
SPEAKER_00: Good nap sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's practical.
SPEAKER_00: You just need to get more sleep.
SPEAKER_00: You just need to put down the TV for a moment, just get get some rest.
SPEAKER_00: Like take take a nap.
SPEAKER_00: Next day I woke up, really didn't want to be around people again.
SPEAKER_00: And I just felt something inside of me.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, man, I'm just having a bad, a bad week.
SPEAKER_00: All good.
SPEAKER_00: You have bad weeks, you have bad days, you have bad weeks.
SPEAKER_00: That bad week turned into a bad month.
SPEAKER_00: That bad month turned into bad six months.
SPEAKER_00: Bad six months turned into two years.
SPEAKER_00: And I had this paralyzing anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'd had stressful moments, but I'd never dealt with anxiety before.
SPEAKER_00: And if you've dealt with anxiety, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_00: It's those panic attacks that sneak up on you when you least expect them.
SPEAKER_00: It's the 3 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: wake-up call that wasn't your alarm.
SPEAKER_00: It's just your mind racing and you don't know how to turn it off.
SPEAKER_00: And so I went to counseling.
SPEAKER_00: Didn't seem to help.
SPEAKER_00: I'm crying out to God, like, God, please take this thorn away from me.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever this is on the inside of me, take it away in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I cast it out in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Anxiety didn't go away.
SPEAKER_00: So then I started using some essential oils.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, all right, well let me put some therapeutic, you know, lavender, you know, take some deep breathing.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's just it's practical.
SPEAKER_00: I just need to, you know, delete social media.
SPEAKER_00: Anxiety didn't go away.
SPEAKER_00: And then I was hanging out with 20 of our pastors.
SPEAKER_00: We were at uh a house in the mountains and we were having a little retreat together.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the guys, JJ, um, Jonathan Joseph's, he just stands up spontaneously and he said, just because we're all pastors in the room doesn't mean we're not fighting battles behind the scenes.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, and one of you in this room has something right now that you need to release to God.
SPEAKER_00: And you need to share with the group, and we're gonna pray with you.
SPEAKER_00: Immediately God said, This is your invitation.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Nope.
SPEAKER_00: I'm good.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, maybe it's Victors.
SPEAKER_00: You know, he's he's he's been going through a lot.
SPEAKER_00: Tell him, bro.
SPEAKER_00: Everything you've been telling me, tell them.
SPEAKER_00: So we stood there for about 20 minutes awkwardly.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, We'll wait.
SPEAKER_00: It was not awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Awkward.
SPEAKER_00: Opposite of awesome, awkward.
SPEAKER_00: And then immediately God said, This is your moment.
SPEAKER_00: And I just stepped forward and uh I didn't cry a lot at the moment.
SPEAKER_00: I cry more now that I have a baby girl.
SPEAKER_00: A little more sensitive.
SPEAKER_00: I probably cried once a decade up until that point.
SPEAKER_00: But that that day I I cried, ugly cried, like the snot, you know, hyperventilation, you know, like and they were like, dude, are you okay?
SPEAKER_00: And uh I said, no, I'm not.
SPEAKER_00: Um I have this uh uncontrollable anxiety and I don't know what to do with it.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know where it came from.
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't know how to get rid of it.
SPEAKER_00: I've been praying, I've been going to counseling, and and he just looked me in the eye, and what he said, I'll remember forever.
SPEAKER_00: He said, um He said, God hasn't given up on you.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody needed to hear that this morning.
SPEAKER_00: God hasn't given up on you.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, and we haven't either.
SPEAKER_00: He said, You're not cursed.
SPEAKER_00: These men all came around me.
SPEAKER_00: They laid their hands on me.
SPEAKER_00: They were gonna speak the word of God over me.
SPEAKER_00: For the first time in two years.
SPEAKER_00: The anxiety was released.
SPEAKER_00: Some things can only be released through relationships.
SPEAKER_00: God did not create you to do life alone.
SPEAKER_00: God created Adam.
SPEAKER_00: God created us for community.
SPEAKER_00: The enemy tried to use the pandemic to isolate us.
SPEAKER_00: Keep us in our home behind our screens.
SPEAKER_00: To not do this.
SPEAKER_00: But God created us for this.
SPEAKER_00: So when you guys talk about multiplying these new groups, the one that just started on Wednesday night, if you're not in a group, this is your invitation.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure you have plenty of excuses on why.
SPEAKER_00: We're all busy people.
SPEAKER_00: I get it.
SPEAKER_00: But God will say, I'll wait.
SPEAKER_00: Until the next one launches, and the next one launches, and the next one launches.
SPEAKER_00: You're not meant to do life in isolation.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe there's someone even sitting on your road today who has the very thing that you need.
SPEAKER_00: What was so comforting to me is to hear about five of the other guys say, I'm struggling with anxiety too.
SPEAKER_00: To say you're not battling this by yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you're in it, sometimes you feel like you're the only one.
SPEAKER_00: I can't share this with the guys.
SPEAKER_00: I'm supposed to be helping people do their anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a pastor.
SPEAKER_00: They said, bro, I'm struggling with anxiety too.
SPEAKER_00: I just overcame depression.
SPEAKER_00: Because God created us for community, God created us for relationship.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's why God wanted her to go to people to say, I'm gonna do a miracle in your life.
SPEAKER_00: But also I want all of these people around you to experience the miracle for their lives too.
SPEAKER_00: Invite them into your struggle.
SPEAKER_00: Watch what I can do.
SPEAKER_00: And so then the man of God tells her to go to all the people, grab some empty jars, take them back to the house.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 5, she left him, she shut the door behind her and her sons, and they brought her the jars.
SPEAKER_00: And as soon as they brought her the jars, she took the little bit of olive oil that she had and she began to pour.
SPEAKER_00: And she just kept pouring, and she just kept pouring.
SPEAKER_00: And as long as she kept pouring, the oil kept flowing.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah helped her to see something she already had, but overlooked.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be ashamed at your small beginnings.
SPEAKER_00: Multiplied church started small, it started as a small group.
SPEAKER_00: Look at it now, in a short period of time.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what is going to happen over the next year, in the next two years, in the next five years.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be ashamed at your small beginnings in your business, in your family.
SPEAKER_00: She took what she had and brought it to God.
SPEAKER_00: See it like God sees it, not like you see it.
SPEAKER_00: What she lost was painful, but what she had left was powerful.
SPEAKER_00: And as long as she kept pouring, the oil kept flowing.
SPEAKER_00: And God is telling someone today, keep pouring.
SPEAKER_00: He's looking at you today and saying, Keep praying.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, keep showing up.
SPEAKER_00: Don't give up on your kids.
SPEAKER_00: Don't give up on your marriage.
SPEAKER_00: Don't give up on that idea or that dream.
SPEAKER_00: Don't give up on your business.
SPEAKER_00: God said, keep pouring.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to someone right now and say, keep pouring.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to someone else and say, keep pouring.
SPEAKER_00: As long as she kept pouring, the oil kept flowing.
SPEAKER_00: There was never a shortage of oil.
SPEAKER_00: There's never a shortage of God's blessing.
SPEAKER_00: It never runs dry.
SPEAKER_00: But it requires that we keep being obedient, that we keep walking with Him, that we keep saying yes to God, that you keep showing up to church even when you don't feel like it.
SPEAKER_00: That you keep showing up even when you're tired.
SPEAKER_00: That you keep being present with your kids even after a long day at work.
SPEAKER_00: God said, keep pouring.
SPEAKER_00: And this took me to another woman in the passage.
SPEAKER_00: In Mark 14.
SPEAKER_00: Look at all these women with faith in the passages.
SPEAKER_00: Teach us something.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 14, Jesus is hanging out having a meal, and people are plotting on how they're going to take his life and how they're going to take him out.
SPEAKER_00: And a woman shows up to the table.
SPEAKER_00: And this is in verse 3, Mark 14, 3.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus was in Bethany, he was at the table in the home of Simon who had a skin disease.
SPEAKER_00: And a woman came with a special sealed jar.
SPEAKER_00: Probably very similar to this jar.
SPEAKER_00: And it contained very expensive perfume made out of pure nard.
SPEAKER_00: And she broke the jar open and poured the perfume on Jesus' head.
SPEAKER_00: And some of the people there became angry as she poured it out on him.
SPEAKER_00: For they said to one another, Why waste this perfume?
SPEAKER_00: It could have been sold for more than a year's pay.
SPEAKER_00: The money could have been given to the poor people, so they found fault with the woman.
SPEAKER_00: But then Jesus came to her defense.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Leave her alone.
SPEAKER_00: Aren't you thankful that even when people don't have your back, God has your back?
SPEAKER_00: That God understands you, that he empathizes with your pain, that he's with you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Leave her alone.
SPEAKER_00: Why are you bothering her?
SPEAKER_00: What she has done is a beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_00: You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.
SPEAKER_00: You can help them anytime you want.
SPEAKER_00: But it said in verse 8 that she did what she could.
SPEAKER_00: She poured the perfume on my body, Jesus said, to prepare me to be buried.
SPEAKER_00: God would never ask you to pour what you do not have.
SPEAKER_00: God said, Bring what you do have to me and watch what I can do.
SPEAKER_00: She did what she could.
SPEAKER_00: I know you guys have a tradition of a year-end offering coming up.
SPEAKER_00: You said December 3rd.
SPEAKER_00: Bricklayers.
SPEAKER_00: Year-end offering.
SPEAKER_00: And I've participated, I did the math this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I think 14 years worth of year-end offerings at my church now.
SPEAKER_00: And we used to talk about money in church.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, it's kind of weird.
SPEAKER_00: But I realized I'm not giving to church, I'm giving to God.
SPEAKER_00: Through the church.
SPEAKER_00: And the church is the vehicle God's going to use to get the resources to the people that God wants to get them to.
SPEAKER_00: Just like that foundation you guys are working with that you talked about earlier.
SPEAKER_00: Be thankful that God's using this ministry to take what you're investing into it to get the resources back out into the community to help people in need.
SPEAKER_00: But 14 years of year-end offerings.
SPEAKER_00: And at first, I thought, I don't know, like I really don't have much to pour, God.
SPEAKER_00: I took inventory of my house and looked around and God said, Well, bring me what you do have.
SPEAKER_00: And I knew that God called me to bring the tithe to him, 10% of my finances, and Malachi 3.10.
SPEAKER_00: If we have that, let's throw it.
SPEAKER_00: Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, modern-day place of worship, so that there may be food in my house.
SPEAKER_00: Only place in the Bible, God says, test me in this.
SPEAKER_00: He said, test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there would not be room enough to store it.
SPEAKER_00: Well, according to my budget at the time, I didn't have 10% to give.
SPEAKER_00: I had some uh car loans and some credit card debt.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna get there, God.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Bring me what you have.
SPEAKER_00: It's about the heart, not the amount.
SPEAKER_00: And so I started with 5%.
SPEAKER_00: I said, I'm gonna figure this out.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna invite someone in who's way further ahead of me in finance, and they're gonna help me put a budget together.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe I won't go out to Starbucks as much.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe I won't eat as much catfish and shrimp and grits, and I'll make some meals at home.
SPEAKER_00: God said, Bring me what you have.
SPEAKER_00: Watch what I can do.
SPEAKER_00: See if I will not open the floodgates of blessing.
SPEAKER_00: Now that doesn't mean always mean financial blessing, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: God's not a slot machine.
SPEAKER_00: You don't give to get something from Him.
SPEAKER_00: All right, let me put it in, God, pull it down, now give me something in return.
SPEAKER_00: No, we get to give.
SPEAKER_00: Giving is gratitude in action.
SPEAKER_00: That's what giving is.
SPEAKER_00: God said, bring the whole tithe to me.
SPEAKER_00: I know many of you are tithing, and many of you will start tithing and trusting God with 10% of what you have.
SPEAKER_00: If every believer trusted God with just that, just the minimum, we would never have a need in this world.
SPEAKER_00: We could feed every person, we could clothe every person, we could help every person.
SPEAKER_00: If every believer on planet earth trusted God according to his plan and said yes in that area.
SPEAKER_00: But then you have a year-end offering on December 3rd, where God's called us to go above and beyond the tithe.
SPEAKER_00: Like this woman in the passage where she took an expensive jar of perfume worth a year's wages.
SPEAKER_00: And the first year-end offering at our church, I was like, I mean, God, I'm barely, I don't, I don't, I mean, we're just now figuring out the tithe thing.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you want me to give?
SPEAKER_00: And we began to wrestle with God, God, what do you want us to give?
SPEAKER_00: What do you want us to pour out for this year-end offering?
SPEAKER_00: And he gave my wife and I an amount as we began to do it together after we got married, and it was never comfortable, never once comfortable.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes he asked us to give what we didn't have.
SPEAKER_00: Now, isn't that interesting?
SPEAKER_00: Kind of contradicts what I said five minutes ago.
SPEAKER_00: God would never ask you to give something you don't have.
SPEAKER_00: Well, in my experience, he's asked us to give something we don't have.
SPEAKER_00: But then God gave me one word every time he asked us to give something we didn't have, to pour out something we didn't have, God gave me one word.
SPEAKER_00: He said, yet.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have it yet.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the amount I'm asking you to pour out.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, well, here's my bank account, God.
SPEAKER_00: Here's my checking account, here's my savings account.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have that.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, yet.
SPEAKER_00: The yet is faith.
SPEAKER_00: If it was comfortable to me, if it made sense in my mind, if I could do the math, then there wouldn't be God math.
SPEAKER_00: My pastor talked about God math recently.
SPEAKER_00: God math doesn't make sense to us.
SPEAKER_00: But that's where faith comes in.
SPEAKER_00: And every single time, as we kept pouring, as we kept trusting, as we kept pouring back into the kingdom of God, God gave us exactly what we needed.
SPEAKER_00: He showed up in the most miraculous ways.
SPEAKER_00: Ways that we could not predict on the front end.
SPEAKER_00: But on the back end, only God.
SPEAKER_00: Only God.
SPEAKER_00: And so as you prepare your hearts for this year-end offering, ask God what He would have you give.
SPEAKER_00: And give according to what you have.
SPEAKER_00: For some of you, it's a few hundred bucks.
SPEAKER_00: For some of you, it might be a few hundred thousand dollars.
SPEAKER_00: We're not going to tell you a specific amount, but do what God tells you to do.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we want you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Because this is really not about an amount, it's really about faith.
SPEAKER_00: Bringing your little bit of faith to God.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I need big faith.
SPEAKER_00: God can do a lot with a little.
SPEAKER_00: That little bit of faith, watch how God will multiply it.
SPEAKER_00: And it said, as the woman came and she poured out the perfume on Jesus' head.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, some people are going to tell you you're crazy, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Like, why are you serving at that church, bro?
SPEAKER_00: That's a waste.
SPEAKER_00: You're crazy.
SPEAKER_00: Why are you going to that small group at that church?
SPEAKER_00: Why do you keep pouring your finances back into the kingdom of God or whatever you keep talking about, man?
SPEAKER_00: You're crazy.
SPEAKER_00: But what was a waste to others was worship to God.
SPEAKER_00: What's a waste in someone else's mind is worship to him.
SPEAKER_00: So she poured out what she had on the head of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus said this: He says, She poured the perfume on my body to prepare me.
SPEAKER_00: Pouring is preparation.
SPEAKER_00: When you guys poured generously, God's called the people of God to be generous, to tip that server really well, to love your neighbor really well.
SPEAKER_00: What you poured into last year's year-end offering, you had no idea that was preparation for a building that God already had in mind and set aside for you.
SPEAKER_00: But you were faithful and you said, okay, I'm gonna trust you, God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna keep pouring, I'm gonna keep praying, I'm gonna keep trusting.
SPEAKER_00: And now you're about to step into a building to reach more people with the gospel than ever before, to take new territory in Frankfurt, Kentucky.
SPEAKER_00: Your pouring is preparation for all the salvations to come.
SPEAKER_00: Your pouring is preparation for all the baptisms to come.
SPEAKER_00: Your pouring is preparation for all the generational curses that are going to be broken in this place.
SPEAKER_00: Your pouring is preparation for all the peace that God wants to bring into your life.
SPEAKER_00: God said, I will open the floodgates of blessing in your life.
SPEAKER_00: His blessings, they don't run dry.
SPEAKER_00: They don't run out.
SPEAKER_00: His oil, it keeps flowing.
SPEAKER_00: His peace never runs dry.
SPEAKER_00: His grace, it keeps flowing.
SPEAKER_00: And as long as the woman in 2 Kings kept pouring, the oil kept flowing.
SPEAKER_00: The oil kept flowing.
SPEAKER_00: As long as you keep pouring, the oil keeps flowing.
SPEAKER_00: The blessing keeps coming.
SPEAKER_00: And the woman who broke this jar open and poured out her perfume on Jesus' head.
SPEAKER_00: He said this in verse 9.
SPEAKER_00: He said, What I'm about to tell you is true.
SPEAKER_00: What this woman has done will be told anywhere the good news is preached all over the world.
SPEAKER_00: It will be told in memory of her.
SPEAKER_00: Her pouring.
SPEAKER_00: Here we are, thousands of years later, still sharing that story today.
SPEAKER_00: Exactly what Jesus prophesied during that time.
SPEAKER_00: That her story would be shared all over the world.
SPEAKER_00: Every time the gospel is preached, we're preaching the gospel today, and here we are in Frankfurt, Kentucky, in 2023, still talking about this woman.
SPEAKER_00: Because she had the courage to bring what she had to God and pour it out at the feet of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you think this is a message just about giving, you missed it.
SPEAKER_00: This is a message about the grace of God and that He wants to pour out more grace in your life than you can ash dream or imagine.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to pour out more favor in your life than you can ash dream or imagine.
SPEAKER_00: And there may be someone in this room today who's never received the grace of God.
SPEAKER_00: Someone bribed you to get to church today, said they were going to take you out to lunch after.
SPEAKER_00: And that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: God has you here for a reason.
SPEAKER_00: He's already poured out his blood for your sins, for your brokenness.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter what you did last night, doesn't matter what you did last week, doesn't matter what you did last year.
SPEAKER_00: God said, I see you and I love you.
SPEAKER_00: You're my son, you're my daughter, and I'm for you.
SPEAKER_00: And his grace, it just keeps pouring.
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you that.
SPEAKER_00: From a guy who tried to run from it, God just kept chasing me down.
SPEAKER_00: And he's chasing some of you down right now.
SPEAKER_00: He's pouring out his grace in this moment for you.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you'll stand to your feet, I want to give somebody an opportunity to accept that grace of God for the first time in their life today to receive God's love in your life today.
SPEAKER_00: So if you'll bow your head and close your eyes, the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, that you will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe there's someone in this room who needs to come back to God and declare that he is the Lord of your life, to receive a fresh outpouring of his grace.
SPEAKER_00: There's also someone in here who needs to receive it for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you'll just repeat this prayer after me for the benefit of all those who are coming to Christ for the first time, say, Heavenly Father, I come to you, a sinner, in need of a savior.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me.
SPEAKER_00: I believe God raised you from the dead, that I've been set free, I accept your mercy, I embrace your grace, and I'm choosing today to follow you for the rest of my life.
SPEAKER_00: Head still bowed and eyes still closed.
SPEAKER_00: If you just said that prayer to accept Jesus into your life on the count of three, if you'll just slide your hand into the air so I can acknowledge that decision with you, do not be ashamed, do not hesitate.
SPEAKER_00: God loves you, He's for you.
SPEAKER_00: I see a hand going up in the back already.
SPEAKER_00: One, two, three.
SPEAKER_00: Put them up in the air.
SPEAKER_00: I see you, praise God for you.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God for you.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we seal it right now in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for your sons and daughters.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you that your love just continues to pour out over our lives, God.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you that your grace continues to pour out over our lives, Father.
SPEAKER_00: For anyone who's feeling empty today, for anyone who's feeling dry today, who feels like they have nothing left to pour, God.
SPEAKER_00: We know that you specialize in using empty vessels.
SPEAKER_00: As long as they continue to pour themselves into the things of God, you will continue to fill them up and give them exactly what they need.
SPEAKER_00: So encourage someone in here today.
SPEAKER_00: Show them that you haven't given up on them.
SPEAKER_00: Show them that you want to do great things through them.
SPEAKER_00: God, show them that you are you are a faithful God.
SPEAKER_00: In tangible ways, God, show up tonight in their home.
SPEAKER_00: Show up tonight when they wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep, God, just to remind them that you've never forsaken them and that you never will, Father.
SPEAKER_00: We love you.
SPEAKER_00: It's in Jesus' name, everybody said.