SPEAKER_01: Hello everyone, I'm Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Steve Holt.
SPEAKER_01: I want to welcome you to the Road Church podcast.
SPEAKER_01: Each week we go into God's Word.
SPEAKER_01: We teach chapter by chapter and verse by verse.
SPEAKER_01: We are here to build the Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world.
SPEAKER_01: So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life.
SPEAKER_01: Today, be encouraged by our guest speaker.
SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the road.
SPEAKER_02: I hope your Christmas uh festivities were awesome.
SPEAKER_02: I hope time with your family was just amazing.
SPEAKER_02: As Steve mentioned last week and just now, this is my last Sunday here as a staff member of The Road.
SPEAKER_02: I have a bed with myself to see if I'm gonna cry today, so I'm trying.
SPEAKER_02: Keyshan, the camera guy, was already making me wanna cry, so we'll see how long I can last.
SPEAKER_02: But we are moving to Denver to plan on my church called Welcome Home Church, and just a little bit of the history of that.
SPEAKER_02: When I came on staff in 2020, the Lord told me you'll be here for 35 years and then we'll move.
SPEAKER_02: And I completely forgot that he said that.
SPEAKER_02: Until I think I was talking to Pastor Al and just telling him everything that's happening, and then I walked out the room, and God was like, Do you remember what I told you?
SPEAKER_02: You'll be here for 35 years.
SPEAKER_02: And November, this past November was five years.
SPEAKER_02: I've been here at the road.
SPEAKER_02: And so you everything just seems to happen according to his plan, and I'm just so grateful that we are walking in his plan for us.
SPEAKER_02: So for our church, the reason why it's called Welcome Home Church is we were having a prayer meeting here at the beginning of the year, and I was praying for the young people, and I just kept on saying, Welcome home, welcome home.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, actually, I kept on saying, Come back home, come back home, come back home.
SPEAKER_02: And I didn't think much about it, but when I asked the Lord, what should be the name of this church?
SPEAKER_02: He instantly reminded me of that moment.
SPEAKER_02: I was saying, come back home, calling the young people back home into the Father.
SPEAKER_02: And so that is why we're calling it Welcome Home Church, because we want them to come back home to the Father who loves them so much more than they can even imagine.
SPEAKER_02: And so, from that base, the whole plan for the church is simple: just to build a community that's focused on Jesus and disciple them to be mature men and women, and specifically to disciple them to walk in the image of God and to do the works of God.
SPEAKER_02: Because for my generation, I'm tired of hearing how God moved back in the day.
SPEAKER_02: How, oh, you're so awesome, God moved, this happened.
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, yeah, it must be nice.
SPEAKER_02: I want to see that for myself.
SPEAKER_02: And that is kind of the burning desire for my generation.
SPEAKER_02: We want to see God move in our generation, and that's why we want to equip and disciple people how to do the works of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And so that's kind of a little bit of an overview.
SPEAKER_02: If you want to have more if you want to know more information, just go to our website on Mutu Ministries, because you're not official.
SPEAKER_02: I still have a website.
SPEAKER_02: We have a website now, we're official.
SPEAKER_02: And on there we'll have we'll talk more about it and we'll be sending newsletters to just to give more detail.
SPEAKER_02: But what I want to do is I just want to say thank you because I wouldn't be here in this position that we're about to launch a church if it wasn't for the people in my life.
SPEAKER_02: Honest first thing, Pastor C for the opportunities.
SPEAKER_02: For those who ever heard me speak for the first time, you know that uh it was a little rough back in the day.
SPEAKER_02: And all those opportunities that I've had over the past five years, I've grown into who I am today, whether you think I'm good or not.
SPEAKER_02: At least I was better than I was yesterday.
SPEAKER_02: So I want to just thank Steve for all those opportunities.
SPEAKER_02: And I also want to thank my father-in-law, who at the beginning of my journey, he was very instrumental in just helping me understand who I am as a preacher and just challenging me to go beyond what I thought I was.
SPEAKER_02: And then I also want to thank Jerry.
SPEAKER_02: On the past this past year, Jerry has just been mentoring me.
SPEAKER_02: We've been meeting almost weekly, and this is what I say about Jerry.
SPEAKER_02: I thought I knew what a leader was.
SPEAKER_02: And then after meeting with Jerry, I realized I had no idea what leadership was about.
SPEAKER_02: And so he has just challenged me, he has done so much, and I'm so grateful.
SPEAKER_02: And obviously, my wife, who's helped me be here, she's she's honestly the reason why I'm confident that the church will be successful because of who she is and how God has used her in my life and just encouraging me.
SPEAKER_02: And the pastors, like Pastor Ryan and Mandy, they walked with my wife and I in our marriage counseling, and he married us.
SPEAKER_02: So, like relationships like that, they've just been wow, I can't even quantify how important they've been in my life.
SPEAKER_02: I am so grateful.
SPEAKER_02: And all of you, all the words that you've told me over the past five years, just encouraging, like Pastor Andy.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I can go on and on and on.
SPEAKER_02: All of you have just been instrumental in just helping us be who we are today, and I just want to say thank you as we take this next step.
SPEAKER_02: We are nervous, we're excited, we are all the feelings that you can imagine.
SPEAKER_02: And the main thing that I want to leave with you tonight or today is something that actually I think about all the time in the past three months, is overcoming the what-ifs in 2026.
SPEAKER_02: See, this message is mainly for me.
SPEAKER_02: It's you're just here to hear what I'm speaking to myself.
SPEAKER_02: Because I have so many what-ifs in my mind and in my heart.
SPEAKER_02: What if we fail?
SPEAKER_02: What if we step out and nobody shows up?
SPEAKER_02: What if my accent is a big deal and they can't just get over that?
SPEAKER_02: What if?
SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure I'm not the only one with that question.
SPEAKER_02: What if 2026 is just as bad as 2025?
SPEAKER_02: What if my hopes and dreams for 26 don't happen?
SPEAKER_02: What if?
SPEAKER_02: What if I'm not as good as I thought I was?
SPEAKER_02: What if I misheard what God told me?
SPEAKER_02: What if?
SPEAKER_02: And so this is I found it just perfect to talk about this because the things that the Lord was speaking to me about this journey that we're about to go into has been very encouraging, and I just want to share some of those things with you so that you can be encouraged.
SPEAKER_02: The same way you've encouraged me, this is my turn to encourage you.
SPEAKER_02: That as we go into 2026, we must overcome the what-ifs of life.
SPEAKER_02: See, in 2017, when I made a faith journey from Cincinnati to here, I didn't know anybody, I didn't know anything.
SPEAKER_02: I just knew God told me to come to Colorado Springs.
SPEAKER_02: And the verse that he spoke to me was Hebrews 10, 35 to 39.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward, for you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise for yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry.
SPEAKER_02: Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
SPEAKER_02: But we are not of those who draw back to pedition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
SPEAKER_02: This is the verse that and I I'm about to get excited, so just bear with me.
SPEAKER_02: Because the what ifs that have been, I mean, it's been a series of what if, what if, what if, what if.
SPEAKER_02: And thank God we have God Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: And thank God we have the scriptures, because whenever I read this verse, verse 39 especially, but we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
SPEAKER_02: I am reminded that we serve a powerful God who is no He has no small hand that He can do and He did great things, and He still wants to do great things.
SPEAKER_02: And if you think about the context of Hebrews, this verse, this book was written to a persecuted church, and the writer was trying to encourage them and tell them, Don't give up on your faith.
SPEAKER_02: Yes, I know you're about to go through various trials, yes, I know you're about to be beheaded, yes, I know you might be stoned, yes, I know that you might be whipped, but don't give up on your faith because we serve a powerful God, and we are not of those who quit, we are of those who move forward to the saving of the soul, and that is my message to you today.
SPEAKER_02: We are not of those who quit, we are not of those who let the waters of this world confuse us and prevent us from stepping into what God has called you to do, because each and every one of you in this room, you have great things to do for the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: God did not create you to just be a bum in this world, but He created you to accomplish mighty things that you can even comprehend.
SPEAKER_02: But if you let the waters of the enemy prevent you and keep you bound, then you are letting the devil win, and we don't want to do that.
SPEAKER_02: We don't want to let the devil win on us.
SPEAKER_02: We want to make sure that we step on his neck and tell him you are defeated and we are gonna stand in the victory that Christ paid on the cross for.
SPEAKER_02: So my for us to overcome the what ifs in 2026, we must be mindful of three things.
SPEAKER_02: We must discern his voice, we must have endurance, and we must walk by faith.
SPEAKER_02: It's important for us to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit because once you know that you know that you know that you know the Holy Spirit has spoken to you, faith is born.
SPEAKER_02: Once we discern the voice of the Holy Spirit and know his direction, faith is born in our heart and doubt is born in our flesh.
SPEAKER_02: Listen to this verse in Mark.
SPEAKER_02: This is Mark 9, 23, 24.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus said to him, If you can believe all things are possible to him who believes, immediately the father of the child cried and said with tears, Lord, I believe.
SPEAKER_02: Help my unbelief.
SPEAKER_02: This is all of us.
SPEAKER_02: We believe that God is powerful, we believe that God created the heavens and the earth.
SPEAKER_02: We believe that God parted the right sea with the breadth of his nostrils.
SPEAKER_02: We believe that God had the sun stand in the book of Joshua.
SPEAKER_02: We believe that.
SPEAKER_02: See, what ifs are the doorway for doubt and unbelief?
SPEAKER_02: I remember when I first moved here from Cincinnati, and I was this is God provided a place to stay.
SPEAKER_02: He had done so many miracles, but for some reason I forget I forgot all about all the other miracles that he did.
SPEAKER_02: And I needed him to come through again.
SPEAKER_02: And I remember I called my friend from back home and I just asked him to help me.
SPEAKER_02: And then he just he said this, why don't you just come back home and just try again next year?
SPEAKER_02: And then when he said that, this thing in me rose.
SPEAKER_02: And I told him this, and I hope he didn't come across as disrespectful.
SPEAKER_02: I was like, I can't do that because if I do that, I'm saying God is not powerful.
SPEAKER_02: I can't come back home because when I do that, I'm saying that I did not hear from God.
SPEAKER_02: But I knew that I knew that I knew that I knew God told me to move, and that is the power of rescinding his voice.
SPEAKER_02: When there was no way, there was literally no way for me to get out of that situation, but I knew God told me to be here, and I don't care how what he had to do, I knew that he will make a way for me.
SPEAKER_02: When the what ifs begin to rise, our anchor is what we know God has told us.
SPEAKER_02: I know God has told me to go to Denver.
SPEAKER_02: I know that God has told me to go and build this church, I knew God told me to come to this city.
SPEAKER_02: That was my anchor when everything was against me.
SPEAKER_02: I could stand on that and tell the lies.
SPEAKER_02: Not today.
SPEAKER_02: My God will make a way for me.
SPEAKER_02: Look at Abraham in uh Romans 4.18.
SPEAKER_02: Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping, believing that he will become the father of many nations.
SPEAKER_02: For God had said to him, That's how many descendants you will have.
SPEAKER_02: Abraham's faith was what in what God told him, not in the natural reality.
SPEAKER_02: In the natural reality, he should not have a son.
SPEAKER_02: But he knew that he knew that he knew, and every time he stepped out of his tent and looked to the sky, he saw all the stars and he was reminded of what God told him.
SPEAKER_02: And God told him, You will have descendants, as many as those stars that you see.
SPEAKER_02: What has God told you that you buried in the heap of doubt?
SPEAKER_02: What has God spoken to you?
SPEAKER_02: That the water's have made it so easy for you to say, I can't do that.
SPEAKER_02: What are the dreams that God put in your heart?
SPEAKER_02: Thank God we just went through the book of Joshua and we know that Caleb didn't even inherit his inheritance till he was over 80?
SPEAKER_02: So age is not a number to the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: What are those things that God has spoken to you?
SPEAKER_02: What if have buried it?
SPEAKER_02: Let us revive those words in 2026.
SPEAKER_02: Let us challenge ourselves and say, God, I believe.
SPEAKER_02: I believe that you're gonna do what you told me.
SPEAKER_02: Yes, it was 30 years ago, but God, I believe.
SPEAKER_02: Yes, I tried and I failed miserably, but God, I believe.
SPEAKER_02: See, the mandate that God has given me is to go and disciple Denver.
SPEAKER_02: And when every time I say it, I'm just like, how is that even possible?
SPEAKER_02: I am a kid from Kenya, I didn't even know why people existed until I was 12 years old, and now you're sending me into their cities, but I know that I know that I know that's what he's told me.
SPEAKER_02: And as much as I can try to run away from it, I don't think I can.
SPEAKER_02: Because it's consuming me.
SPEAKER_02: Every time I go to Denver and I see these young people, and the story I keep telling people the first time we went to pray, it was 2 p.m.
SPEAKER_02: in the afternoon.
SPEAKER_02: 2 p.m., mind the time.
SPEAKER_02: Sun's out in the middle of the day, summertime, and in the middle of this park, I could just hear music, and I'm a curious guy, so I told Brie, we gotta go find out what's going on.
SPEAKER_02: So I walked, and she was like, You just go, I'll wait for you.
SPEAKER_02: So I walked through that crowd of people, and I had to walk like this because the the way they were dressed, what they were doing, I couldn't now look at it.
SPEAKER_02: This was 2 p.m.
SPEAKER_02: in the afternoon, and they were doing activities that you do in the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, and there were kids not too far.
SPEAKER_02: That is when I saw that, I actually got excited.
SPEAKER_02: I was like, yes, I have job security.
SPEAKER_02: I'm coming to do something that is actually needed, but that's the mandate that I have to go and disciple those young people and turn a whole city to look like the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_02: And so, yeah, it sounds fine when I say it, but what is your dreams?
SPEAKER_02: What is God telling you?
SPEAKER_02: Because yes, I'm the one who's gonna go and labor and pray and do all those things, and it's easy to cheer someone else to do their thing.
SPEAKER_02: But God wants you to do your thing.
SPEAKER_02: So, what is he telling you?
SPEAKER_02: For us to overcome what ifs in 2026, we must discern his voice.
SPEAKER_02: For us to overcome what ifs in 2026, we must have endurance.
SPEAKER_02: Now, in the New Testament, there are two Greek words that can be translated endurance, patience, or long suffering.
SPEAKER_02: The first word is macrophemia.
SPEAKER_02: And this word has been translated as endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance, forbearance, and it means slowness in avenging wrongs.
SPEAKER_02: The self-restraint which does not hastily retaliate a wrong.
SPEAKER_02: Notice it a wrong is done, and you are completely justified in dealing with it, but you do not rush into it.
SPEAKER_02: You compose yourself and then deal with it.
SPEAKER_02: So, and the other Greek word that can be translated as uh steadfastness, constancy, or endurance is hype actually, let me say this right, hupamane.
SPEAKER_02: And hupamane in the New Testament is a characteristic of a man who's not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.
SPEAKER_02: And so, and I think this should be perfect.
SPEAKER_02: So hupamane is a temperament which does not hastily, wait, which does not easily succumb under suffering, and macrothenia is a self-restraint which does not hastily retaliate or wrong.
SPEAKER_02: The one is opposed to cowardice or despondency, and the other to wrath and revenge.
SPEAKER_02: And so I'm gonna just read some scripture so you can see how these two words look like in the scriptures.
SPEAKER_02: So the first example is in Romans 9, 22 to 23.
SPEAKER_02: Now, what if God, even though he was quiet, willing to demonstrate his anger and make known his power, patiently put up with people who deserved punishment and were ripe for distractions?
SPEAKER_02: What if he did this in order to make known the riches of his glory to those who are the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory?
SPEAKER_02: So the Greek word here abuse is macrophymia, and it means slowness to avenging wrongs.
SPEAKER_02: God did not rush in punishing people, but he chose to restrain himself so that his glory can be manifested.
SPEAKER_02: And the other uh verse I want to show you is in Luke 8:15.
SPEAKER_02: But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
SPEAKER_02: Now that is the Greek word hupamane.
SPEAKER_02: And hupamane is the word, it means one who will not will not be swerved from his deliberate purpose, even under suffering, great trials and sufferings.
SPEAKER_02: And you can see how the two look different.
SPEAKER_02: And so, whenever you're reading the New Testament, just make sure to look up what word are they using for patience.
SPEAKER_02: And the famous one of the Greek word hupamane is James 1, 2 to 3.
SPEAKER_02: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience or hupamane.
SPEAKER_02: And hupamane is what we need.
SPEAKER_02: Hupamane is endurance that we need to overcome all the what ifs that we face.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm gonna reread the verse that I read at the beginning in Hebrews 10 35 to 39.
SPEAKER_02: And actually, let's turn, let's all turn there because I want to do some fun stuff with this verse.
SPEAKER_02: Thank those in this room can already figure out what we're gonna do.
SPEAKER_02: So Hebrews 10 35 to 39.
SPEAKER_02: Hebrews 10 35 to 39.
SPEAKER_02: Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
SPEAKER_02: For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
SPEAKER_02: Yet for a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry.
SPEAKER_02: Now the just shall live by faith, by if by if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him, but we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
SPEAKER_02: And that endurance that we read there is a Greek word once again, hupamanae.
SPEAKER_02: And what I want us to do, I want us to beautiful chaos, verse 39.
SPEAKER_02: Now, for those who have no idea what that means, beautiful chaos is when we all read the scriptures together.
SPEAKER_02: It's beautiful because you're reading the Bible, but it's chaotic because you all have different translations.
SPEAKER_02: So let's all read verse 39.
SPEAKER_02: Are we all there?
SPEAKER_02: Give me the nod of approval.
SPEAKER_02: Yes?
SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
SPEAKER_02: Let's all read.
SPEAKER_02: One, two, three, go.
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
SPEAKER_02: That was uh I was sad.
SPEAKER_02: Let's try that again.
SPEAKER_02: And this time, let's put some oomph in it.
SPEAKER_02: Let uh you ate breakfast this morning, right?
SPEAKER_02: You're not hungry?
SPEAKER_02: I think we can do better than that.
SPEAKER_02: Let's try it again.
SPEAKER_02: And let's not finish weak.
SPEAKER_02: Let's finish strong.
SPEAKER_02: Alright, one, two, three, go.
SPEAKER_02: There's always someone with uh the amplified who's always reading forever.
SPEAKER_02: But we are not of those who quit, and put the next uh words up because I want all of us to read this together.
SPEAKER_02: We are not of those who quit, but we are those who endure until the fulfillment of God's promise.
SPEAKER_02: Let's do it again.
SPEAKER_02: We are not of those who quit, but we are that's who we are.
SPEAKER_02: We don't quit.
SPEAKER_02: We have hupamane.
SPEAKER_02: We will stand and stand and stand and stand until we see what God has promised us to come to pass.
SPEAKER_02: Because the trick of the enemy is very simple.
SPEAKER_02: I'll scare you really, really, really big and see what you'll do.
SPEAKER_02: He can't because he can't do anything more than that.
SPEAKER_02: He can just fill your mind with doubt, he can fill your mind with what-ifs and see what you'll do.
SPEAKER_02: And once he's done that, now it's up to you.
SPEAKER_02: What are you gonna do?
SPEAKER_02: Are you gonna stand in what God is telling you to do, or are you just gonna let the lies of the enemy sway you?
SPEAKER_02: We need hupamane, we need endurance, and I'm gonna reread this definition again.
SPEAKER_02: In the New Testament, the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings, by even the greatest trials and sufferings.
SPEAKER_02: So I asked you, congregation, what is your deliberate purpose?
SPEAKER_02: What is it that God has told you this is what I want you to do?
SPEAKER_02: Are you gonna let the trials which are just part of being a Christian?
SPEAKER_02: And it doesn't have to be something crazy, like in my case, planning a church.
SPEAKER_02: It can just be, are you are you gonna choose to walk out in the image of God?
SPEAKER_02: Are you gonna choose to walk in love?
SPEAKER_02: And your greatest trials is just dumb people.
SPEAKER_02: Because we all experience those.
SPEAKER_02: Are you gonna choose to walk in holiness when everything on television is telling you not to?
SPEAKER_02: Are you gonna choose to be a bearer of the image of God?
SPEAKER_02: That is the deliberate purpose that God has for each and every one of us.
SPEAKER_02: And are we gonna let the trials, even the greatest trials and sufferings, sway us from that reality?
SPEAKER_02: We need hupamane, we need to endure.
SPEAKER_02: When you read the martyrs, I hope I'm saying that right, from the early church, what they had to go through, seeing Stephen being stoned in Acts chapter 10, and his deliberate purpose was to look like Christ, and so he let that happen because that is what looking like Christ meant for him.
SPEAKER_02: When you hear the Emperor Nero, what he did to the Christians, and none of them gave up, none of them chose to deny the faith.
SPEAKER_02: That was the deliberate purpose.
SPEAKER_02: So, what is your deliberate purpose in 2026 that you know God has put on your heart to accomplish?
SPEAKER_02: To overcome what ifs in 2026, we must have hopomine.
SPEAKER_02: To overcome what ifs in 2026, we must walk by faith.
SPEAKER_02: And now we all know this, but I'm just gonna say this for make sure we are all on the same page.
SPEAKER_02: We know chapters and verses were added later in the scriptures in the uh 13th century, and they added them for easier reference.
SPEAKER_02: And so when you we've been reading the end of Hebrews chapter 10, and obviously Hebrews 10 flows easily into Hebrews 11.
SPEAKER_02: And Hebrews 11 is famously known as the Hall of Faith chapter, and Hebrews 11 1, we all know this verse.
SPEAKER_02: Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
SPEAKER_02: As you know, English is my second language, and when I was being taught English, they taught us things called grammar and conjunctions.
SPEAKER_02: And we know now is a conjunction.
SPEAKER_02: And this Hebrews 11:1, it says, now faith, the author, the Holy Spirit, is combining what he's got done saying in chapter 10 with chapter 11.
SPEAKER_02: And all through chapter 10 is about standing your ground and enduring the pain and trials that come with just being a Christian, and then he transitions that into chapter 11.
SPEAKER_02: And what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us is we cannot walk by faith without first having endurance.
SPEAKER_02: And the best example I can give you is this we've all booked hotel rooms outside the city or another country.
SPEAKER_02: We've done we've done that many times.
SPEAKER_02: And when you are booking your room, you don't know the hotel room, especially if it's another country.
SPEAKER_02: You don't know the hotel room, you don't even know if the hotel exists.
SPEAKER_02: You just know this website tells me if I book this thing, I'm gonna have a room.
SPEAKER_02: And then you get a thing called a confirmation number.
SPEAKER_02: And that confirmation number is proof that you have a room somewhere in that hotel, and that confirmation number is faith.
SPEAKER_02: Faith is proof that whatever God is telling you that He's gonna do for you, He's gonna do it.
SPEAKER_02: Regardless of what happens, you have that confirmation number.
SPEAKER_02: So when you show up to that hotel whenever you decide to, and then they tell you, actually, we can't have a room for you.
SPEAKER_02: Some for some reason the hotels are full, or whatever reason, they just don't have a room.
SPEAKER_02: What will you tell them?
SPEAKER_02: Well, I have this confirmation number.
SPEAKER_02: And this confirmation number tells me that I have a room in this building.
SPEAKER_02: So you do what you have to do to give me my room.
SPEAKER_02: And you will not leave that lobby until you have your what?
unknown: Your room.
SPEAKER_02: Your room.
SPEAKER_02: So now that's endurance.
SPEAKER_02: That's how faith and endurance work.
SPEAKER_02: Endurance is what will keep you in the lobby to fight until you get your room.
SPEAKER_02: But the confidence that you have is in your confirmation number, which is your faith.
SPEAKER_02: That tells you your room will be made available.
SPEAKER_02: Regardless of whether they have to build a new room, your confirmation number tells you you're gonna get your room.
SPEAKER_02: And if they can't help you, what will you do?
SPEAKER_02: Call the manager.
SPEAKER_02: And what will they do?
SPEAKER_02: They will even give you the room for free because you have your confirmation number.
SPEAKER_02: And that is how faith and endurance works.
SPEAKER_02: Endurance is what will keep you fighting, but faith is our confirmation number that you know I have a room.
SPEAKER_02: And so when we're reading Hebrews 11:1, or anything about faith, remember, faith is our confirmation number.
SPEAKER_02: Now, faith, confirmation number, is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
SPEAKER_02: When God tells you, like when I moved here from uh Cincinnati, God spoke to me through Philippians 4.19.
SPEAKER_02: I will supply all your needs according to my riches and glory.
SPEAKER_02: That was my confirmation number.
SPEAKER_02: And I knew, yes, I have no idea what's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_02: I have no connections, but I know I have my confirmation number.
SPEAKER_02: And when I get to springs, I know God will provide for me.
SPEAKER_02: And he did, but that was where I had my faith, and I had to pray, I had to stand in that hotel lobby and fight until the provision came.
SPEAKER_02: And so for us to have this kind of faith, we've we see in Hebrews 10:17, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
SPEAKER_02: See, faith comes when we hear the word of God because we trust and we trust that he will do what he says.
SPEAKER_02: That's why we have faith.
SPEAKER_02: I know that God will provide my needs.
SPEAKER_02: I know that, I know he's a big God.
SPEAKER_02: So I'm not worried about that.
SPEAKER_02: And I know my job is to get myself to that hotel and fight for my hot confirmation for fight for my room.
SPEAKER_02: And so when God spoke to me about coming here to this city of ours, and he told me Philippians 4.19, I'll take care of you.
SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm not gonna say I wasn't worried, because that would be a lie.
SPEAKER_02: I was very worried.
SPEAKER_02: And actually, what happened was I will never forget this.
SPEAKER_02: It was day two.
SPEAKER_02: I was in off uh film one chestnut, uh, super eight right there, because that's all I could afford.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and uh I'm like, okay, this is my last I only paid, I only paid for two nights.
SPEAKER_02: Uh first night, I'm I was like, I'm not gonna worry about anything, I'm just gonna stay in this room, watch movies, and just for try to forget the situation that I'm in.
SPEAKER_02: And then the next day, the reality set in, like, uh, this is the last night.
SPEAKER_02: What are you gonna do tomorrow?
SPEAKER_02: And then I was like, okay.
SPEAKER_02: I put my Kim Walker Smith on, my favorite song is this day, I still believe.
SPEAKER_02: I love that song.
SPEAKER_02: I played that song on repeat.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I went to my scriptures, Philippians 4.19.
SPEAKER_02: That is my verse that to this day I claim God wrote that verse for me.
SPEAKER_02: And so I looked at it, I read it, and for two, three hours, and I'm not exaggerating, I went to praying.
SPEAKER_02: And I wasn't necessarily praying to convince God to do something.
SPEAKER_02: He already spoke in his word, he already told you he'll supply all my needs.
SPEAKER_02: What I was trying to do, and this is what we sometimes miss with faith, what I was trying to do, I was trying to get my mind and heart in alignment with what he's doing.
SPEAKER_02: Because once I'm in alignment with God, then everything falls in place, and that's what faith is.
SPEAKER_02: Faith is not you trying to have a big enough faith to convince God to do something, faith is you submitting to what he's already told you and watch him come to come through for you.
SPEAKER_02: See, our job in faith is just believing that he'll come through, and then his job is making sure that what he says to come will come to pass.
SPEAKER_02: So I believe and obey, and he brings it to pass.
SPEAKER_02: And so when I was in that hotel room and I prayed, and I stood on Philippians 4.19, and I prayed and I prayed, and I told myself, actually, what I well, what I actually did was I stood, because the bed was there, I stood over here, and I imagined the devil over here lying to me, telling me, Oh, you're gonna, you're not gonna have money, you're gonna go back home, you're gonna all the lies.
SPEAKER_02: And I imagined pointing my finger at him and telling him, I went to my scriptures, and I said, God says right here in Philippians 4 19, if you can read, My God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory, and so I will not not have a place, I will not be broke, I will not suffer, but God will come through for me.
SPEAKER_02: And I did that over and over and over.
SPEAKER_02: And then the next day, when and this is how God works.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this was not part of this uh sermon, but here we are.
SPEAKER_02: This is how God works.
SPEAKER_02: My senior in college, my roommate, we were friends like the whole time I was in college, and I told him in passing one day that I'm moving to Springs.
SPEAKER_02: And then we graduated, we went our separate ways, we didn't even talk for like almost a year.
SPEAKER_02: And then he remembered that I told him I'm moving in the springs.
SPEAKER_02: And then he texted me one day randomly, when are you planning to move here?
SPEAKER_02: I was like, Well, I'm gonna move like in August.
SPEAKER_02: August of 2017 is when I moved.
SPEAKER_02: And then he's like, Oh, perfect.
SPEAKER_02: That's when I'm gonna be in the city.
SPEAKER_02: My parents just moved them, like, oh, sure, awesome.
SPEAKER_02: So we connect, I don't think much about it.
SPEAKER_02: His dad was a missionary, and we went to his offices, I think he was off Gunda Gods, and we'll we walk in and he's telling everybody my story.
SPEAKER_02: Now, the lady working in the front desk, she does not work there.
SPEAKER_02: She was a substitute because the lady who does work there, for some reason she was sick that day.
SPEAKER_02: And so he tells her my story.
SPEAKER_02: Instantly she goes, Oh, perfect.
SPEAKER_02: We we are empty nesters, we have a huge house in Black Forest.
SPEAKER_02: Why don't you come and stay with us?
SPEAKER_02: And I was just like, Okay, let me go.
SPEAKER_02: I already packed, I was ready.
SPEAKER_02: I'll go bring my cars, my clothes to your house.
SPEAKER_02: But God came through.
SPEAKER_02: I had no idea.
SPEAKER_02: He had already been working on this from them when I met him all those months ago, and I told him I'm moving in springs, God orchestrated that we'll be in this in this city at the same time with no plans, and that is how faith works.
SPEAKER_02: Our job is to believe that God will do what he says he'll do, and his job is to come to pass to bring to pass what he has promised us.
SPEAKER_02: And listen to Abraham again, and I read this earlier, but I just want to read it again.
SPEAKER_02: Romans 4 18.
SPEAKER_02: Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping, believing that he will become the father of many nations.
SPEAKER_02: For God has said to him, That's how many descendants you will have.
SPEAKER_02: God told Abraham, You will have a son.
SPEAKER_02: Now, Abraham didn't try to be the person to bring that promise to come, all you had to do is to obey.
SPEAKER_02: All you need to do is for this work, I need to go be with my wife.
SPEAKER_02: That's his part, and God's part was to bring the promise to pass.
SPEAKER_02: And we all know what happens, but Abraham's faith step was to go and be with his wife.
SPEAKER_02: So when the Holy Spirit was teaching me about faith steps, he showed me this picture of it was me walking on this path, and I was it was super, super cloudy.
SPEAKER_02: I couldn't see beyond, I couldn't even see my next step.
SPEAKER_02: I just saw where I was, and I knew I was on the edge of the cliff, but I couldn't see what the other side is.
SPEAKER_02: I'm just surrounded by clouds.
SPEAKER_02: And in the vision, the Lord tells me, take a step, and I tell the Lord, if I take a step, I'm gonna fall off because this is the end.
SPEAKER_02: And he says, Take a step.
SPEAKER_02: And we go back and forth for a little bit, and in the vision, I take a step, and then when I take us the next step, the clouds disappear, and come to find out I'm in the middle of the road with all this ground left.
SPEAKER_02: And he told me this that is what faith steps look like.
SPEAKER_02: You think you're on the edge of the cliff, and so you're afraid to take the step, but then when you take the step, you realize that you're walking in the arms of God.
SPEAKER_02: So, because a faith step is when you say, I'm gonna take this step, whether I fall or not, because that's what I tell myself in the vision.
SPEAKER_02: If I choose to fall or not fall, I don't care.
SPEAKER_02: I know God will hold me.
SPEAKER_02: And so I took the step and I was in the middle of the ground, and there was no cliff, and I was able to do or keep walking in the vision.
SPEAKER_02: See, the biggest lie is when we think that we're making the the biggest lie is that we think when we make the faith step, we will fall into failure.
SPEAKER_02: But the reality is we will fall into his arms, and that is what a faith step is you're falling in the arms of God because when you fall, he got you.
SPEAKER_02: When you take the wrong turn in the in in the in your attempt of taking a faith step, he'll hold you.
SPEAKER_02: Walking by faith is you saying, If I mess up or not mess up, I know you're gonna hold me, I know you got my back, I know that uh there's really no failure in the kingdom of God because he will take what you the worst thing that you've done and turn it for your good.
SPEAKER_02: See, to overcome what if in 2026, we must walk by faith and take those faith steps, like Abraham did when he took the step in knowing his wife, and Isaac was born.
SPEAKER_02: We must take our faith step and do what God has told us to do.
SPEAKER_02: Because God will hold us, God will protect us, God is there.
SPEAKER_02: Remember, even with Abraham when he went to kill, sacrifice Isaac, better word, sacrifice Isaac.
SPEAKER_02: He thought this is it, but what did God do?
SPEAKER_02: On the other side, the ram was always going up.
SPEAKER_02: Provision was already being made available.
SPEAKER_02: Every step he took, and this is in my mind, was the one step the ram was taking, and the more he was obeying God, the more the provision was coming, becoming available, and when he was ready in full obedience, the provision was made available, and that is why we take faith steps.
SPEAKER_02: Like in this journey for us in Denver, I asked God three things I need a job, place to stay, and a place to meet.
SPEAKER_02: Provided of a job.
SPEAKER_02: I applied three different places and I stopped.
SPEAKER_02: And this company pursued me until they rearranged their whole plan because they wanted me to start two months ago.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I can't, I'm I'm still working, and they so they rearranged their plan for me to start in January.
SPEAKER_02: Places stay.
SPEAKER_02: Josh had this amazing word that helped Bree and I in finding the place, and the place is exactly what Brie, because we have like in our index cards, we wrote exactly what we want in our house, and it's everything that we asked for.
SPEAKER_02: So he's already done two out of the three, and I know that I know that I know he's gonna provide a place for us to meet.
SPEAKER_02: But what we have to do is obey and take our face steps in that direction of Denver.
SPEAKER_02: So I challenge you today, take your faith steps and remember there is no edge of the cliff because when you take that next step, you're walking in the arms of God, and that is the safest place to be.
SPEAKER_02: To overcome what if sin 2026, we must discern the voice of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: We must have endurance and we must walk by faith.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to the Road Church Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.
SPEAKER_00: For more information about the Road Church and to find more content like this, go to theroad.org.
SPEAKER_00: That's theroad.org.