WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:08.960 Today, I want to say happy Memorial Day on this uh holiday weekend. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:14.240 And uh, you know, those who show up to church on Memorial Day are the real ones. 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:20.399 You are here, ready to worship God, ready to grow, ready to be taught from God's word. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:39.280 And I'm grateful for those of you who are here on this Memorial Day weekend as obviously we celebrate and as we have a holiday weekend, as we think about those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, and then we now together we worship our King Jesus who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us as well, right, Church? 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:42.880 And we acknowledge him and we uh are thankful. 00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:44.240 I'm thankful to see you today. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:47.920 If I don't know you, I'm Forrest Lee Pastor here at Multiply. 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:55.920 And uh this last week we actually got to celebrate our graduating seniors and our student ministry. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:05.840 And uh I just want you all to know that uh not only are we ministering to students here at Multiply, we have students in ministry here at Multiply. 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:24.560 I just want to some of y'all may not know this because I haven't really talked about this very much, and so I want to kind of let you all know kind of behind the curtain of what has been going on, but literally we have students who have been coming to Multiply that are now serving and teaching other children about Christ and about God's word. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:34.400 They are ministering on Sundays, they're serving in various different capacities, and they're also meeting together in a small group throughout the week. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:43.920 And uh I just have to give it up for the leaders and the volunteers who have helped in ministering to students as our students have been ministering to others over the last couple years. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:57.760 Can you put your hands together for the Hoods and for the Jennings and for Amy and for for uh Lolita and a ton of different folks who have gone into serving and seeing the group that meets together? 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:02.000 We have a group of students who meet together weekly, and they had a game night this last Sunday night. 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:10.159 There's a picture in here of them meeting together and having a good time, and they're gonna be meeting throughout the summer and doing some fun things throughout the summer. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:11.360 Uh yeah, there they are. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:11.919 Look at them. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:14.560 They're very intense going through a game of spoons right there. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:17.919 They're not bored, they're playing spoons, they're very focused. 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:29.759 Um, and uh they're gonna be doing some fun things over the summer, and I would love for your student to jump in, and so you can sign them up out there at the next step station to be a part of the group. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:36.319 And um, I don't know about you, but I want to see God continue to do an amazing work in our students, don't you, church? 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:50.159 And we want to see them continue, not uh to be uh to be put to the side and pull them out and for them to be in this kind of little own thing, but for them to be built into the ministry that God's doing here in our church. 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:58.639 And for them to have opportunity for God's power and for his purpose to be flowing out of them even at a very young age. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.960 And it excites me to no end to see students that are growing. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:10.159 And I know for you, you as well as me, you want to see that group right now, that that group of youth, you want to see their group multiply, don't you? 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:12.000 I want to see it multiply. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:16.479 I know that God is gonna do it as we continue to see God move powerfully. 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:50.719 Now, we're in this last week of our series called Forged, and we have been walking through this idea and in kind of the analogy of a blacksmith, and how a blacksmith uses the fire and the hammer and quenching with water and to form something beautiful, and God also uses what happens to us in our life, even the trials and the hardships and the challenges, to make something out of beautiful out of us as well. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:54.639 And we're being forged through the fire. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:04:01.520 And last week we heard from Pastor Seth Nolan out of Nashville, Tennessee, a church planner who taught to us about the quenching. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:04.319 And if you missed his message, you want to hear it from last Sunday. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:26.000 Go to the website, go to sermons, listen to Pastor Seth's message as he taught to us about what it meant to be tempered, that the the blacksmith uses water to quench the metal after it comes out of the fire, and he does so that then the metal or the sword or the blade that it won't crack under pressure, that it's tempered, that it's been made strong. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:29.279 And we're gonna talk about something today that's even deeper. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:31.279 We're gonna talk about layering. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:39.040 And we're gonna talk about the manifold process today in the message that is called layers of grace. 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:40.879 Everybody say layers of grace. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:44.399 Now, I brought something with me today. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:51.439 I've been uh at the camp out for Memorial Day with my family, and uh uh I brought this giant knife up here today. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:54.079 Nobody get nervous, okay? 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:57.360 But uh this is a very special blade. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:00.800 This is a Damascus steel knife. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.199 This is a full-tang knife for the men in the room. 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:04.639 This is a good one, okay? 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:06.399 This is a nice knife. 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:25.120 And you can't really tell maybe from where you're sitting, but there's a beautiful and stunning pattern that is in this knife because this knife is unique because of the Damascus steel process that it is strong, and it's not just strong because of the metal, it's strong because of how it's made. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:28.800 It's strong because it's layered. 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:46.959 See, you can see uh in the picture there, there's there's these layers that go through, and and literally what happens is that as these knives are being made, the person who is forging them, they will take the blade and they will heat it up and they will layer it sometimes up to 200 times. 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:58.480 And so, like rings of a tree, these these layers upon layers there are they're folded on top of one another, they're reheated, and then they're forged and they're layered after layered after layered. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:14.000 And in between each layer, the blacksmith will put a flux, which is like a cleaning agent, that will expel impurities in the blade and will make sure that the bond is clean, that it's tight, that it's whole, that will hold, that it will, it will last. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:16.800 And it's extremely strong. 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:21.040 Now, here is a butter knife. 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:25.279 It's a little bit different, isn't it? 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.120 Now, it's also a knife. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:38.000 So if somebody said, hand me a knife, they could hand you this beautiful piece of artwork, or you could hand you this butter knife all the same. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.720 But this butter knife, as you know, uh, is not as strong. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.720 It's not been meticulously made over. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.839 I'm sure it was pressed in some factory. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:59.120 It still is utilized, but it hasn't quite gone through everything that this beautiful blade has endured. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:05.920 That's much stronger, that's more capable, that's able to do even more. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:21.199 And as we think about the things that we go through in life, oftentimes we can think that the challenges and the trials that we're experiencing, that they're just like as chaotic portions of our life and sometimes even random. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:27.839 But I wonder if these areas of our life aren't just chaos, they're opportunities to be crafted. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:32.480 Opportunities to be forged. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:35.920 And I wonder, is that true about you as well? 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:46.160 That the challenges that you're experiencing in life, they aren't just random, but with God, they're able to be layered with purpose. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:08:05.680 Just like the blacksmith will use a flux or a cleaning agent between each and every layer, you have the opportunity with God in the trials and the challenges that you're going through to allow God to refine you at every single layer of challenge that you're experiencing. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:11.920 Now, I want to go in deep with this because we're talking about layers and we're talking about this manifold process. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:32.879 And so oftentimes as we're walking through the fire and the challenges that we have in life, we are experiencing sometimes challenges and just feels like everything is piling up and it's just compiling and compiling, and there's a complexity of things that we're dealing with, and we're trying to figure out how in the world we can navigate through the challenges of our life. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:46.240 And I wonder if you would receive the fact that those moments that may not just be a compounding of trials and of hardships and complexity and feeling like you're drowning, maybe you can see it as strengthening your soul. 00:08:50.879 --> 00:09:13.519 It's not just about us just surviving in the face of adversity or bouncing back when we have had failure or had setbacks, but it's about us continuing on and wisely persevering with God in the middle of the challenges that we face. 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:20.879 That we don't just go through things, but we're formed by them. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:23.039 We're forged by them. 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:37.120 This process that we've been talking about of the heat and the hammer and the hold and the quenching, and then this manifold, multi-layered process that we're gonna talk about today. 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:46.159 I wonder if what feels like challenges are actually opportunities for craftsmanship in your life. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:59.600 Because the reality is, oftentimes when we're going through hard things, and this very week, there's people in the lives of our church, in the diversity of folks who come to our church. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:06.159 This has been one of the best weeks of some people's lives in our church, and some of the worst of weeks in people's lives in our church. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:07.200 I know that. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:11.679 I know that over the last week of what folks have experienced. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:17.360 And oftentimes, we don't want to go through the hard things. 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:24.720 We just want to get out of the fire as quickly as we can, and we can miss the opportunity to be forged. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:27.440 We just want it to stop. 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:33.519 We just want the whatever we're going through, whatever pain we're experiencing, we just want it to end quickly. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:40.559 And as we're going through the process of going through the fire, God is making something beautiful on the other side. 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:51.039 Now, last week, Pastor Seth preached out of James chapter one, and he talked about probably one of the most annoying scriptures in all the Bible. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:51.840 Can I say that? 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:52.879 I don't know. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:56.720 But it's James chapter 1, verse 2. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:04.320 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:11.919 Now, what that doesn't mean, and what he said last week, what that doesn't mean is that we throw a party every single time something difficult or hard happens in our life. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:13.679 That's not what we do. 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:22.960 But what it means is that we look for the joy and we're able to name the good of what is going to come from the present trial that we're in. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:38.480 And know that inside of this trial that we're going through, and specifically in verse 2, the book of James, it mentions trials of many kinds. 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:49.039 That Greek term there that we're going to press into today for the many kinds, it's this Greek word piki los. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:50.320 It's fun to say. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:50.960 Say it with me. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:52.320 Pikyl loss. 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:53.679 It's kind of fun to say. 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:55.200 Piky loss. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:14.240 And what this term means of these many kinds of these various trials with this Greek word pikyloss, what it what it means is that uh it means multifaceted, it means diverse, it means multicolored, it means manifold. 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:25.840 So, no matter if your trial is big or your trial is small, in the midst of it, think about what joy could come from it. 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:28.080 Consider it. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:33.679 Consider the fact that some joy could happen and let God work. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:42.960 See, as you're going through the layered, complex, unpredictable trials of this life, don't waste them. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:46.720 Don't waste them. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:51.600 Let God work in and through you. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:56.320 But oftentimes for me, I'm like, God, I don't want you to work on me. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:01.360 God, I'm good how I am right now. 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:03.919 Like, I don't want any of these trials you're talking about. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:08.559 This diversity of trials, like, just I don't need to grow. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:10.320 I've grown enough, Lord. 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:29.600 And maybe for some of you today, you've walked into the room, and maybe because some sin in your life that has caused some serious challenge, or maybe because of something that's been outside of your control, because you're living in a fallen world, you've got to let God layer purpose in your pain. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:32.000 That's the first big idea today. 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:37.120 You need to let God layer in purpose in what you're going through. 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:39.600 Because the world is going to tell you, you know what? 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:43.679 It's too complicated, it's overwhelming, it's too much. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:48.720 But is it possible that it's in those moments that God wants to do his deepest work? 00:13:52.879 --> 00:14:00.960 We're not just layering pain and purpose, we're also layering something else. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:08.960 One of the other books that we have looked at in this series is 1 Peter. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:16.799 And in 1 Peter chapter 4, we see that God is layering something else into us as well. 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:22.399 This is Peter verse 1 Peter verse 4, chapter 4, verse 10. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:33.200 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:35.360 There's that word again, pikilos. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:59.360 Something else that's layering into our lives is the multi-faceted, multicolored, diverse, picylose grace of God as well. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:11.279 See, I always, when I'm going through something difficult, I always just think God doesn't know what I'm going through. 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:18.639 How could God possibly understand what in the world I'm going through? 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:39.679 But what we see is that for every single diverse, manifold trial that we're going through, God can meet you with a tailor-fit, multifaceted, manifold grace for the situation that you're in. 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:46.000 And so you have to receive God's tailored grace in everything that you're going through. 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:51.279 See, God's meeting you in as many forms as trials as you're going through in life. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:52.559 Are you hearing me? 00:15:53.360 --> 00:16:08.960 That whatever thing that you're going through, this manifold, this multifaceted trial that you're experiencing, God also wants to deliver to you a tailored fit, multifaceted grace to meet you in the middle of that trial. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.360 Because he does know what we're going through. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:23.919 And as you're being pressed by that trial, God's pouring out his grace onto you. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:36.960 Sometimes the hardest thing isn't to believe in God's grace is to be still long enough to receive it. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:50.639 That means something needed to take five minutes this week behind a locked door or in your car or in a moment of quiet. 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:59.679 To receive the grace that God is trying to layer into your life. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:14.480 Say, God, you in prayer this week, you say, God, I receive the grace that you're giving to me, that you're sending to me, that you're layering into my life. 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:16.880 Now, what's the point? 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:22.480 Why in the world are there so many trials and challenges? 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:24.079 Why are there so many layers? 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:27.680 Why is there so many fires that we're in? 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:34.079 Our city has just experienced a ton of hardship with the floods that have happened. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:45.119 There was a meeting that happened just this week in this room of agencies and FEMA and several different organizations and churches from across the city that met together to talk about the continued flood relief. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:50.400 Are you aware of the fact that there's still over 50 children who are in hotels right now displaced because of the flood? 00:17:52.400 --> 00:18:13.039 And there was this big conversation that happened in this room of these agencies as we were just the hosts for this meeting of the CARES Coalition as they talked about different solutions and what to do as these 50 kids get out of school here in a week or two, and how to minister to them and how to help them, and what different things that these families are needing. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:20.400 And uh I I don't know about you, but if your family is in a hotel right now because you've lost everything, that seems like a complicated trial. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:32.400 But God has this big plan in what's going on. 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:35.440 What's the purpose? 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:36.640 What's the point? 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:54.480 There's so many layers, there's so many fires, and Paul is speaking to the church in Ephesus, and he's talking about some of the trials that he's going through, and he gives us this word in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 10. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:01.519 To the intent that now the manifold, there's that word again, pikilos. 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:10.880 To intend that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the what? 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:12.640 The church. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:17.119 To the principalities and powers in the heavenly realms. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:19.119 See. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:35.119 The manifold, the multifaceted, the many aspects of the wisdom of God. 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:41.759 That it at first the trial that you're going through, it doesn't make sense at first glance. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:56.480 But there's grace that's being delivered to you in the middle of the trial that you're on, and what's going to happen is by God's people, he's going to display his matchless wisdom through your life if you would just walk through the fire with him. 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:12.160 If you would just allow him to forge you in the midst of what you're going through, for us as followers of Jesus, we have to be the ones that let God's wisdom be revealed through you. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:13.119 That's the third thing. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:31.839 For us to let God's wisdom be revealed in and through your life, that you would be, you would be the living proof, the living proof of the fact that you can trust God now into eternity. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:44.880 That in the middle of the fire, in the middle of the challenge, in the middle of the hardship, you don't just walk away. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:21:01.039 Because it's possible for you to walk away and turn your back and not be a representation of God's wisdom to the world around you. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:05.279 You can choose to isolate. 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:09.519 To say, you know what, I've got this all figured out on my own. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:25.039 And to disconnect from what the Lord is trying to do in and through you, what he's trying to have you to receive his grace and then to reveal to the world. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:28.880 That you would just receive this signal. 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:37.839 I don't know why in the world, when you're driving down I-64 towards Louisville, there's a spot on I-64 where there's no cell phone service. 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:39.279 Y'all know what I'm talking about? 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:44.000 I mean, it's 2025, and we don't have cell phone service between here and Shelbyville. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:45.359 What is going on? 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:53.519 And it's so annoying every time that we get to that place, and I'm driving through there, and I'm like, why in the world is this some kind of a dead zone? 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:54.319 It's 2025. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:57.839 I should be able to talk to whoever I want to talk through all the way down the highway. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:18.240 And it's possible, it's possible, it's possible for us to shut off our mind, to shut off our heart, to shut off and harden up to where we find ourselves in this dead zone. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:27.759 But you gotta stay connected to the grace for wisdom to flow out of your life. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:46.720 To know that God's meeting you in the complex situation that you're trying to figure it out financially or with your health or with whatever's going on in your world right now, and in school and challenges and tests, or maybe it's relationships that are all messed up. 00:22:47.440 --> 00:23:00.880 And you, as you're going through the fire, you have to do everything that you can to stay connected to the signal that God's trying to send you and receive the grace that He's trying to receive, He's trying to send to you, so then you can reveal it to the world. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.799 So the message can be received. 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:13.519 So the communication of God's wisdom can go out. 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:33.920 Now, as we're being formed in this manifold process, as we're going through the fire, and there's layer on layer on layer, and fold on fold on fold. 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:39.279 What we see is that God is making something beautiful. 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:50.000 As Paul continues to speak to the Ephesians, he tells them in chapter 2, for it's by grace that you have been saved through faith. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:54.799 And this is not from yourselves, it's a gift of God. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:58.799 Not by works, so that no one can boast. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:10.640 For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:19.759 This word handiwork, workmanship, craftsmanship. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:21.839 It's polyema. 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:28.000 It's the Greek word that means beautifully made, a masterpiece. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:41.920 And as you're being forged in the fire, God, because of his grace that's being sent to you layer upon layer upon layer, that you could not earn on your own. 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:58.880 This salvation that comes from the grace of God, that we can walk out our faith, not of yourself or anything that you've done or I've done to be so great, so that we would not boast in ourselves, but instead we would acknowledge God's handiwork in our life. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:04.319 That we would acknowledge that we are his workmanship, that we are his masterpiece. 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:12.720 That as we walk out this life, he has already prepared in advance good works for us to accomplish. 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:16.480 God has a plan and a purpose for your life. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:20.079 And even in the pain, don't waste it. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.960 See the purposes that God can reveal. 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:29.359 Even in the trials, even in the fire. 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:32.720 Hear this from me. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:36.400 God's wanting to afford you. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:43.920 He's layering you, he's intentionally shaping his creation and molding you. 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:51.440 And if you don't hear anything else that I say today, listen to me. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:52.799 I want you to hear this. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:58.240 When the fire tests you, let faith forge you. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:12.079 Let the faith that's been given to you, not because anything that you've done, but everything that God has done for you already on the cross, and walking out of the grave. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:29.839 See, God's complex wisdom is on display through his people when we're forged through a variety of trials and we're upheld by a variety, by a multifaceted grace that only comes from God. 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:37.279 God is forging something manifold in you. 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:49.119 He's layering purpose that's tested by fire, that's revealing his wisdom to the world, and you're being forged into a masterpiece. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:52.799 Into a masterpiece. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:09.519 The grace that he's delivering to you is for your good and for your healing. 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:19.839 The wisdom that's being revealed through you is so that you would be God's instrument of his grace. 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:32.720 I debate on whether or not telling you this what's going on, but I just it feels it's so heavy on my heart. 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:47.759 Um a beautiful young couple that's in our church, Douglas and Cheyenne Bowman, earlier this week, uh they had their little baby girl, Miss Addie Jane, in the hospital. 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:55.039 And shortly after having the delivery, the doctors let them know that there was complications that were going on, and they rushed them to UK. 00:27:55.119 --> 00:28:05.519 And so last night I went to see Douglas and Cheyenne at the NICU at UK hospital with their little girl Addie Jane in the NICU. 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:14.720 And Addie's having some complications with her heart and with her breathing, and it's continuing to decline. 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:28.640 And I showed up last night and Douglas walked out and he met me, and he said, It's so crazy that you're here because we just got some news that Addy Jane has continued to decline. 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:31.440 And so I was I literally told Shine, Do you want to go to the chapel to pray? 00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:32.480 And then you showed up. 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:41.759 And I don't think you mind me telling you this because this shows a faith that God's working in and through him right now. 00:28:42.640 --> 00:29:00.000 As a father and as a follower of Jesus, and Pastor Daddy said that right before I got there, that he looked at Cheyenne and he said, Cheyenne, whether or not Addy Jane goes home with us or goes home to be with the Lord, either way, she still goes home. 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:04.960 Can you imagine a husband? 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:06.480 A father? 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:12.240 Looking at a mother and saying that to her. 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:16.720 Because of faith that's inside of him right now. 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:24.880 And as we walked out of the hospital, and we he walked me down to get some fresh air. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:29.359 And he said, Forrest, I can't, I can't stop thinking about this forge series that we've been in. 00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:33.200 And he said, I didn't think it was gonna look like this. 00:29:35.119 --> 00:29:37.279 But they're trusting God in the midst of it. 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:42.319 And so our volunteers this morning in our huddle, we all came together and we prayed healing over Addie Jane. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:48.240 Now I'm gonna ask you to pray healing over Addie Jane because last night in the hospital room we prayed healing over this little baby. 00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:51.759 And we're submitted to God to God's will. 00:29:53.359 --> 00:30:24.559 And either way, we know that that home is in her future, but it's in the middle of the complex, complicated, compounding trials that God is sending to you a multifaceted, multi-layered, tailor-fit grace for every single thing that you're going through in this life, if you will walk with Him. 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:31.119 I've been waiting four weeks to read this scripture to you. 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:32.480 Are y'all ready for it? 00:30:33.440 --> 00:31:33.119 We are premised, we are pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, shut down, but not destroyed, with the people of God, and the power against us, whatever comes against us, whatever the people of the spirits, whatever destroying us, because of the power of God and in the Holy Spirit, I've been looking at this people that in the power and in the women of God You're not abandoned, you're not forgotten, you're not shut down, you're in the forge, and it's God's manifold grace that's delivered to us, that allows us to live a life in belief of the where the layered grace and wisdom of God that's on display in your life. 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:42.079 And so, if you truly believe that God's layered wisdom was going to be displayed in your life through your trials, how would you change the way that you walk through your trials? 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:46.319 How would it change the way that you parent? 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:56.480 How would it change the way that you react when the fire comes to test you? 00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:08.160 Now, I want for us to be a people and to be a church that have believers in Christ, that our faith is strong. 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:16.799 And you're not questioning God's love for us as we go through the fire. 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:22.720 Because of one way or another, we're on our way home. 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:28.799 You may be in the room today and you've not yet given your life to Christ. 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:35.279 Can I tell you that today is the day for you to give your life to Christ so that one day you can be at home in heaven with Him? 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:37.839 Stop holding back. 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:42.240 There's no time to wait any longer. 00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:54.640 Give your life to Christ and receive the multi-layered, multifaceted, multicolored, beautiful grace that He wants to literally deliver to you, Tailor Fit today. 00:32:57.759 --> 00:33:09.440 And if you're a believer in Christ, make sure that your faith and your theology is strong in the midst of the forge that you may not be in right now, but we all know that trials and tribulations are to come. 00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:12.880 I want to pray for us all now. 00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:29.039 Father, on a week where some are celebrating milestones and the best weeks of their life, and others are in the middle of the forge. 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:38.720 Father, I pray right now, God, that you would show them that you are delivering your tailor-fit grace to them even right now. 00:33:40.400 --> 00:34:06.880 So, Father, I pray all across this room for everyone who claims to follow Jesus, that Lord, we would be ones who, as we're walking through the trials and the pain, Father, we are believing in your purposes and that you're going to reveal through your people, through your church, your manifold wisdom that every single one should receive. 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:26.719 And so I just want to, for a second, I want to, just like we prayed for little Addie Jane today, if you're right now, you're in the forge, you're in the fire, you're going through something that is complex and you feel like you can't overcome it, I want to pray for you right now. 00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:36.079 And so, if that's you, you're a follower of Jesus, or you're not yet following, but you're in the you're in the fire right now, and you need God's grace delivered to you, I want to pray that over you. 00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:38.159 So if that's you, would you raise your hand? 00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:39.519 Over here, I see you. 00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:40.719 Anybody else over here? 00:34:40.880 --> 00:34:43.199 You're in the forge, you're in the fire. 00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:52.239 Father, right now, for those that are hands raised to heaven, Father, I pray, God, right now, that you would deliver your tailor-fit grace to them. 00:34:52.559 --> 00:35:01.119 That, Lord, that they would know how much you love them, how much you care for them, how much, God, you want to mold, shape, and change them. 00:35:01.760 --> 00:35:10.000 That Father, that in every situation, God, you are present, you're there, you've not forsaken them, you've not given up on them. 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:15.599 But God, in the middle of the press, that you're delivering yourself to them. 00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:23.920 And now I want to pray in this room for anybody in this place who's not yet received you as Savior. 00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:26.159 You can put your hands down. 00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:32.800 If you've not received Christ as your Savior today, today is your day of salvation. 00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:35.519 Today is your day to give your life to Christ. 00:35:36.880 --> 00:35:44.159 So if you've not yet given your life to Christ today and you need to make the decision to give your life to Christ today, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand. 00:35:46.719 --> 00:35:48.800 If that's you, raise your hand, huh? 00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:51.119 I see you, brother. 00:35:52.000 --> 00:36:02.559 Father, right now with hands raised, if you have your hand up to receive salvation, pray Jesus, save me. 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:05.280 And your heart and your mind, Jesus, save me. 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:10.960 I believe that you're the Son of God, that you die on the cross for my sin. 00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:18.000 Forgive me, cleanse me so I can be in heaven with you one day. 00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:22.159 I give you my life as you gave yours for mine. 00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:24.880 Thank you for saving me. 00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:27.199 Now and to eternity. 00:36:27.679 --> 00:36:29.599 In Jesus' mighty name. 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:31.199 Everybody said. 00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:32.239 Amen. 00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:35.840 Church, will you put your hands together right now for new life in Christ? 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:39.760 As you stand right now, as we worship God, as we sing to Him. 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:40.639 Let's sing.